Late Night Consoling

Activision has released initial details of Neversoft's next entry in its longrunning yearly Tony Hawk skating series. Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is in development for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS, and is said to offer the greatest amount of freedom and most customization available in Tony Hawk game to date. Unlike last year's Tony Hawk titles, which were split into Tony Hawk's Project 8 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for Wii, Nintendo DS, and eventually PlayStation 2, this year will feature a single unified game across all platforms.

Proving Ground will include a video editor, new moves for Nail the Trick, and the ability to transition seamlessly from single-player to online play. "Tony Hawk's Proving Ground drops players into the skateboarding world like never before," said Neversoft president Joel Jewett. "This is the largest, deepest and most compelling Tony Hawk game ever. You can skate the best lines, define your own style and produce your own videos. You can even take it further by tricking out your own Skate Lounge, where you can hang out and skate with others online."

Neversoft's Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is set to ship for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS this fall. Activision sent over several screenshots taken from the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Following last weekend's announcements in Tokyo, publisher Square Enix's North American operations have confirmed numerous games for planned domestic release.

TOSE's Dragon Quest Monsters - Joker (NDS), the first game in the Dragon Quest Monsters RPG series to feature online play, will be released in North America in Q4 2007. The game was released in the Japanese market last December.

8ing and Genius Sonority's sword-swinging RPG, Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (Wii), has been confirmed for a North American release but has not yet been given a release date projection. When first announced, the game was intended as a Wii launch title.

Two titles from the so-called Ivalice Alliance--a loose series of games set in Ivalice, the backdrop to the Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII franchises--were also confirmed. Square Enix and Think & Feel's Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings (NDS), the real-time strategy sequel to Final Fantasy XII, will be released this winter in North America. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, a PSP remake of Square's Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1), is set to ship in North America this October. There was no mention of a North American release for Final Fantasy Tactics A2, the sequel to Square's Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA) and another member of the Ivalice Alliance.

Finally, Square Enix reiterated that its newly announced game, The Last Remnant, will be seeing a simultaneous release in North America and Japan. The game has no stated release projection.

Sony Computer Entertainment America sends word that Evolution Studios' PlayStation 3 off-road racer MotorStorm will be getting a new game mode next month. Time Attack mode will allow players to compete against ghost racers to beat their own best times, or to download other players' ghost racers via online leaderboards and race against up to seven other virtual players.

Along with the new mode will come a spate of general game updates including numerous improvements to the online lobby, an increased buddy list size, various bug fixes, and the ability to toggle display of player tags during online races. For the full list, check out the official details.

MotorStorm's Time Attack mode and update will be available June 7, 2007.

Atari today released a new content pack for Eden Studios' Xbox 360 version of Test Drive Unlimited. Test Drive Collection Volume 4 contains the Dino 246 GT, Ferrari Challenge Stradele, Cadillac Cien, RUF RK Spyder, Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster, and TVR T440R. The pack is currently available for 350 Microsoft Points ($4.37).

Available separately as a free download is the Saturn Curve. Both the Saturn Curve and the Test Drive Collection Volume 4 may be obtained via the Xbox Live Marketplace.

This week's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays release will be an unusual free giveaway of the sidescrolling space shooter Aegis Wing. The game is based on an original design by three interns at Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade division, with the upcoming final version having received some development polish from Uno (X360) developer Carbonated Games.

Aegis Wing will be freely downloadable for "a limited time" as of Wednesday, May 16.

Two of this week's three Virtual Console additions for Wii are themed around ninja, as Tecmo contributes its classic action game Ninja Gaiden (NES, 1 player) and Hudson Soft offers Irem's Ninja Spirit (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player). Rounding out the list is Namco's familiar round hero, Pac-Man, who is present in his NES incarnation (1-2 players). Pac-Man and Ninja Gaiden are available for 500 Wii Points ($5) each, while Ninja Spirit runs 600 Wii Points ($6). All three games are now available.

As always, check back on Tuesday for official Shacknews reviews of all three games.