News Bytes

Demos, Blast Factor add-on infect PS3

An add-on for Bluepoint Games' downloadable arcade shooter Blast Factor arrived in the PlayStation 3's online PlayStation Store today. Dubbed Advanced Research, the expansion adds 11 enemies, seven specimens, seven bosses, and seven music tracks to the game for $4.99.

Also added to the online store were demos of Starbreeze's comic-inspired first person shooter The Darkness and Ubisoft Paris and Red Storm Entertainment's tactical military FPS Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2.

Fatal Intertia demo slays Xbox Live

A demo of Koei Canada's futuristic racer Fatal Inertia hit Xbox Live Marketplace. Powered by Epic's Unreal Engine 3, the game is slated to hit arrive in stores this September.

Stubbington goes public with Secret

Former EA executive producer and Midway VP Darrin Stubbington has been named vice president of production at Sega's Secret Level studio. He will now manage the company's development teams, specifically those working on the upcoming Iron Man and Golden Axe.

Insomniac publishes PS3 development tips

Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3) and Ratchet & Clank Future (PS3) developer Insomniac Games unveiled a new portion of its official website. Titled R&D, it focuses on the technical details of the company's PlayStation 3 efforts, such as dynamic SPU code and VNC configuration.

"The R&D page on the Insomniac website is meant to share knowledge with fellow studios about PS3 development while giving our fans a detailed look into how we make our games," explained Insomniac CEO and founder Ted Price. "This page will also help explain our production philosophies."

New Fallout 3 site, same old release date

Bethesda relaunched its official site for Fallout 3 (PC, PS3, X360), complete with a diary entry from executive producer Todd Howard and new wallpaper. Sadly, the game is still slated to release in the fall of 2008 and not a moment sooner.