Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway comes out next month, and if you’re planning to get the game on PC, Steam might have the best deal going right now. From now until the game launches in September, anyone who pre-orders the game through Valve’s download service will receive a copy of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 for free. That should let you get your tactical World War II shooter fix for the next few weeks. I’m still not sure how I feel about Hell’s Highway. I played some of it at E3 and was fairly unimpressed, but at that moment it was being easily eclipsed by some much more high-profile titles.

Via Steam

Develop 100 ranks the world’s games development studios based on the revenues their products made at UK retail in 2007. This year, not surprisingly, the top honor goes to Nintendo and I have listed the Top 20 here for you.

1. Nintendo (£129.83m)
2. EA Canada (£68.78m)
3. Ubisoft Montreal (£52.17m)
4. Konami (£41.67m)
5. Infinity Ward (£39.6m)
6. EA Black Box (£37.31m)
7. Maxis (£36.84m)
8. Bungie (£31.45m)
9. Sega Studios Japan (£27.7m)
10. Traveller’s Tales (£27.06m)
11. Ubisoft France (£25.37m)
12. Yuke’s (£24.5m)
13. Amaze Entertainment (£24.07m)
14. EA LA (£22.49m)
15. Capcom (£22.3m)
16. Rebellion (£20.13m)
17. EA Redwood Shores (£19.99m)
18. Vicarious Visions (£17.56m)
19. A2M (£17.5m)
20. Hudson (£16.22m)

It was no surprise to see that EA took nine of the spots considering that they own many a gaming studio across the globe. Criterion, and BioWare which are also owned by EA were listed as well and maybe even a few that I missed. I expect EA to become the majority share holder for both Heaven and Hell eventually.

For the full list click here.

SEGA today revealed details of the latest foray into the Alien franchise, this time a squad-based first-person shooter titled Aliens: Colonial Marines. Given the thumbs-up from 20th Century Fox, SEGA and Gearbox Software plan on releasing the game for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in late 2008.

In Aliens: Colonial Marines, players are part of a United States Colonial Marine squad and must prepare to face an Aliens assault with an original story penned by renowned writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. The game promises to retain the atmospheric look and feel of the original films while leveraging next-generation technology to create a new interactive Aliens experience – sansSigourney Weaver.

Classic Aliens weaponry such as pulse rifles and flamethrowers will be at your disposal as well as brand-new equipment and skills within a squad-based combat system. Featuring claustrophobic environments, a brooding soundtrack, and a surprises, players must battle against the alien hordes in different levels, some of which include the familiar and stark interiors of the abandoned Sulaco along with environments created specifically for the game.

Aliens: Colonial Marines will feature a story driven single-player mode and an all-new four player co-op mode allowing players to share the experience with three friends. In co-op mode, each player will assume the persona of a United States Colonial Marine and have a distinct role to play in the completion of every mission. Additionally, more multiplayer modes will be revealed later in the year.

Check back often for screenshots and more information regarding Aliens: Colonial Marines along with a concrete release date when one becomes available.

Via: Press Release

Randy Pitchford is looking for a few good men, or women for that matter. Over on the Gearbox forums, he has posted a butterfly inducing announcement regarding the fact that he is hiring for a huge new project. Here is an excerpt:

“I’ve started a new project. It’s big. It’s, like, look-at-our-line-up-and-imagine-something-even-bigger kind of big. I’m Directing it myself. I can’t mention it publicly yet. When you find out what this is, you’ll likely agree that I can’t oversell this one………I’m looking for some talent from outside of Gearbox to join us for this one. Specifically, we need a super senior artist – lead artist or art director level. “

He also mentions the fact that he will be at DICE and GDC in Feb, so if you are indeed serious about applying for any of the job listings, email him and let him know you plan on going so he can meet with you personally.

Not only is this good news for people in the industry looking for a job, but for gamers as well because it just adds to the speculation of what this BIG project might be. We can pretty much expect that whatever this mystery project is, we will not get our grubby paws on it until close to 2010 because Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway and Borderlands have yet to ship; plus they have the Aliens project still going on. However, if it is anything like other games they have touched, it is indeed something to get excited about.

For more information on this grand opportunity or just to be nosy, click here.

Want to go to college and learn the ins and outs of software programming, but don’t have the funds? Well, thanks to Gearbox, some lucky students will get to learn this valuable skill thanks to a new scholarship program. Gearbox Software (Brothers in Arms) is pledging $50,000 in scholarships and support to the Fellows Scholars program at The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University. Not only will Gearbox be offering much needed financial support for art creation, level design and software programming graduate students, they will also be providing ans audio and lab professional mentors for students during their study.

“The only thing growing faster than our industry is the critical need for new and creative talent,” said Randy Pitchford, CEO and president of Gearbox. “I think it is clear that the videogame industry has the vast financial support and consumer demand it needs to continue its global growth. But what I and many industry leaders are very worried about is hiring and retaining world class talent. That’s why programs like The Guildhall at SMU need our support.”

Since SMU began The Guildhall program in 2004, 15 of their graduates have become employed by Gearbox, and several of these graduates have a major role in the development of Borderlands which is scheduled to hit the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime around Christmas 2008. The Guildhall has a 95% placement rate and more than 180 graduates are currently working at 70 different videogame studios around the globe. Offering both a Master’s degree and a graduate Professional Certificate of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development, with specializations in art creation, level design and software development – this definitely sounds like an integral step for anyone who is interested in these fields to take.

For more information, please visit: GamesIndustry.biz, for the full article and SMU for more information on this exciting program.

With all the hoopla and fuzzy feelings of E3 2007 slowing fading away, news broke regarding the Game Critics Awards Best of E3 2007 winners just in time to get everyone interested again. Rock Band won three awards, Electronic Arts took home the most awards by coveting six of them, and the Xbox 360 had 11 different winning titles slated to appear on their console.

Here is a breakdown for you:

Best of Show
Rock Band
(Harmonix/MTV Games/EAP for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Original Game
LittleBigPlanet
(Media Molecule/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for PS3)

Best Console Game
Mass Effect
(Bioware/Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)

Best PC Game
Crysis
(Crytek/EAP)

Best Handheld Game
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
(Nintendo for Nintendo DS)

Best Hardware/Peripheral
Rock Band Instruments
(Harmonix/MTV Games/EAP for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Action Game
Call of Duty 4
(Infinity Ward/Activision for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Bioshock
(Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, Xbox 360)

Best Role Playing Game
Mass Effect
(Bioware / Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)

Best Racing Game
Burnout Paradise
(Criterion Games/Electronic Arts for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Sports Game
Madden NFL 08
(Electronic Arts for All Platforms)

Best Fighting Game
Virtua Fighter 5
(Sega for Xbox 360)

Best Strategy Game
World in Conflict
(Massive Entertainment/Sierra for PC)

Best Social/Casual/Puzzle
Rock Band
(Harmonix/MTV Games/EAP for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Best Online Multiplayer
Halo 3
(Bungie/Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)

Special Commendation for Graphics
Killzone 2
(Guerilla Games/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for PS3)

For the full breakdown, visit mmoabc.com.

Wars provide for some great settings for video games, though I have much preferred warcraft over anything based in reality. But have you noticed the amount of games based on World War II?

Next-Gen-Biz.com has a feature exploring the WWII phenomenon, starting out with mentioning that twenty-six WWII based games were released in 2006. That’s more than two per month.

Don’t get me wrong, Medal of Honor was a great game, and the sequels impressive. But it’s a sub-genre that has been exhausted. It would be nice to get some variety.

And, okay, the second world war did involve the entire globe, so there are a lot of different backdrops and setting that could be explored. This is one of the reasons in the feature why the sub-genre is so pervasive.

But really, two per month?

The press blackout on the Gearbox Software forums has ended. Randy Pritchard of Gearbox broke the long silence with a post last night.

You can expect to see much more coverage from all your favorite sites, as Pritchard says, “We’re ready to start talking again. We’re ready to start showing the game.” Apparently this forced silence has been good for the team, and hopefully, good for the game. Plenty of information to follow, as Pritchard says, “By the end of May, news and information should start trickling out. Then, the trickle will turn into a stream. I’m going to be on the road pretty much non-stop until the last week of May.”

Here’s hoping the game lives up to the hype this is sure to generate.