Eschborn/Frankfurt, Germany, 21 August 2009:  bitComposer Games announced today Jekyll & Hyde, a new PC adventure based on the famous novel, ‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,’ by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Jekyll & Hyde is currently being developed by Weimar-based Pixelcage, a co-production with bitComposer Games and public media subsidy firm Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung. The release of Jekyll & Hyde is planned for the third quarter of 2010.

Set in London during the 19^th century, the game features a young Dr. Jekyll, who seeks a cure for the plague but instead unwittingly creates a potion that awakens his dark alter ego, Mr. Hyde. Alternating between the roles of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, players will search for an antidote to the epidemic while slowly uncovering a conspiracy involving an occult sect. The investigation will lead players deeper and deeper into London’s mysterious underworld.

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Radical Interactive has released a tips and tricks guide in video form for their latest release, Prototype. Hints, Tips and Stupid Helicopter Tricks may point out a few things you didn’t already come up with on your own. It also has some less useful more fun ideas for you.

Prototype is a mature rated game as you might figure since the main character eats people, so you can download the Prototype Tips & Tricks Trailer off FileFront. Mind the age gate.

You may recall that in the Zero Punctuation: inFamous vs. Prototype video review, Yahtzee said he couldn’t honestly choose a winner because they were equally fun. Then he issued a challenge to the developers saying he’d base which game was best on whichever studio submitted “the best picture of the other game’s main character wearing women’s bra.”

To everyone’s surprise and delight, both Radical and Sucker Punch took up the gauntlet. The die is cast, the submissions weighed and a winner has been declared.
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It’s a holiday weekend, and normally that means more time for gaming. So, what are you going to play? If you’re not sure, or you’re looking for something new, Stardock has a sale going on right now that is definitely worth a look.

If you’re not familiar with Stardock’s digital distribution platform, Impulse, this would be a good time to give it a look. After all, they’re offering some great deals, like Call of Duty 4 for just $34.99 and Sins of a Solar Empire with its expansion for just $29.99.

The sale also includes titles like the complete Unreal series, Prototype, Red Faction Guerilla, and more. You can get your copy of Impulse and check out all the deals at ImpulseDriven.com

You can also see the full list of games on sale, along with their prices, after the break.

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Have you ever really felt bad about the way you feel after playing a game you were looking forward to?

Of course you have, I think it might be one of the few constants of the gamer experience – disappointment when a game fails to live up to its potential and promise. Well, Prototype is one of those experiences for me.

It has all the ingredients of a smashing good time – a super powered hero, a sandbox city, even a conspiracy relating to the military industrial complex manipulating people for their own nefarious ends only to have it go wrong somehow.

Well, despite the mix of interesting pieces, the sum of Prototype just ends up coming out as a fairly bland experience. Maybe my expectation was improperly set by the history of the developer. These same talented folks turned out one of the best super hero games ever developed – Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction. That title featured a super powered hero running around in a sandbox New York city setting solving missions and running side missions just like Prototype but somehow the fun factor seemed to be higher in that title.

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After last week’s stellar review of inFamous, Zero Punctuation pits Cole McGrath and his thunder god impression against Protoype. The main character Alex Mercer is more of a “you are who you eat,” type of guy.

I thought this comparison piece of InFamous and Prototype was rather inevitable actually. Early on in their development cycles I often became confused over the two games only being able to straighten it out because one main character eats people and the other… doesn’t. What with all the government interference in the natural order of things coming back to bite them in the ass, in Prototype’s case literally, they seem very similar at first glance.

A more detailed Impression of inFamous is available on Gaming Today.

The Cult of Rapture, 2K Games’ official information arm for the incredibly popular Bioshock games leaked some truly interesting images along with a blog describing the process of evolution that the series’ big adversary and future protagonist is going through to prepare for the upcoming Bioshock 2.

Between the first BioShock and the sequel, you’ve seen a lot of concept art for Big Daddies. The logic behind this concept art went beyond different designs and suit combinations. The artists had to imagine what the very first Big Daddy would have on him — this Big Daddy had to feel like he was a rough draft or a work-in-progress, an amalgam of Big Daddies to come. The first Big Daddy was a test case, and in making the perfect prototype, 2K Marin drafted many, many prototypes themselves.

Since the new game places players in the role of the Big Daddy prototype its interesting to see the possible choices the developers considered. You can find links to the images below. I particularly like the hulking gray suited Big Daddy design myself, but the near-final draft is also included showing a more svelte, streamlined and human looking character.

There’s a new spin on the rumor that Microsoft’s Project Natal for the Xbox 360 doesn’t work for everyone. The peripheral free motion control system based on near infrared technology was demonstrated at E3 2009. In a live Paradise demo, media personality N’Gai Croal was unable to steer his car with his hands although his foot controls worked fine.

VGChartz has put a new angle on this conspiracy theory. Author Jacob Mazel cites an article published in the Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing in 2005 on Reliability of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in People With Dark Skin Pigmentation to support his theory that Microsoft knew the prototype Natal system had trouble distinguishing N’Gai’s motions because of his melanin rich skin. He says he saw N’Gai later that day wearing light colored shoes. He believes this is the reason the Natal demo was so restricted and videos demos of black celebrities trying out the system, like the one following the break, were shown.

The glitch experienced during his demo could have been a known problem that Microsoft couldn’t avoid because of N’Gai’s re pore with the Games Industry. It could also have been a fluke in an otherwise well tested system…

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The Sony press conference for E3 2009 is set to prepare gamers for the return of a juggernaut. Sony’s had a tough year for its PS3 console, but things are looking up. This is Sony’s year to make the most expensive console on the market profitable. With God of War III, Heavy Rain, Batman Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 2 and MAG on the horizon, this year’s E3 press conference promises to give gamers a reason to pick up a PS3. I’ll be blogging live as Sony wows gamers with 364 new PS3, PSP and PS2 titles. Check out the running commentary after the break.

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Activision line up for E3 2009 is chock full of win. The full review has something for everyone showcasing remakes of classic games and sequels with fresh IPs for E3 return to its glory days. Speed demons can hook up with Blur and Tony Hawk: Ride to get their adrenaline rush on. Gamers will wax nostalgic over the updated re-envisioned Wolfenstein, the granddaddy of the FPS, then take a look at it’s latest progeny Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat 2.

Music fans have new bands and features to bump and grind to with Guitar Hero 5 and can explore new genres with DjHero. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is ready for show and sci-fi buffs can get their fill with Singularity and PROTOTYPE. I’m putting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in with sci-fi because I can’t quite make the leap to call them superheroes. Get the full list complete with details on each game after the break.
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