Weekly News (04/01/2010 - 10/01/2010)

LOST - The newest promotional image for the final season of LOST, adeptly titled The Lost Supper (see what they did?), has been released by ABC. No doubt riddled with cryptic clues as to what to expect, this Locke-centric image gives a taster of who might be returning to the infamous Island.

Project Natal - Jon Burton from games developers Traveller's Tale's has expressed concern over the viability of Microsoft's attempt on the casual gaming market - Project Natal. For those who have not seen the Minority Report-esque interface should see this video.

He particularly states that "lag issues" will disadvantage the technology over it's competitors and describes Sony's alternatives as both "cheap and accurate". Project Natal is expected to hit stores Christmas 2010.

Final Fantasy XIII - The first Western review for Final Fantasy XIII has been released. What is most surprising is the score, a draw dropping 7.9/10. Whilst this is by no means a bad score, given the huge regard many gamers have for the Final Fantasy series it is a shock. The most notable flaw identified by Now Gamer is that the game "does not come together properly"; however particular praise has been given to the games graphics. Check out the full written review here.

Heavy Rain - Sony have released details regarding the special edition version of Heavy Rain. The edition will retail for the very reasonable price of £39.99 and will be exclusive to HMV.com and HMV stores. The box will include, amongst other things, a copy of the games soundtrack.

Sales - Xbox 360 was crowned the winner of 2009, well at least in terms of software sales. Thanks to the dedication of Xbox owners Bill Gates is now £459 Million better off outselling it's competitors including the Wii. At least the recession is being kind to someone.

Xbox Live - Microsoft is hoping to bring a little bit of Sony's Home into your living room with Game Room. Game Room allows players to create an interactive virtual arcade which can be used by Xbox Live Avatars. Friend's can even visit your arcade giving others a chance to see your retro gaming collection. Personally, I feel this is likely to be more of a gimmick than a selling point, but we will have to wait and see.

Call of Duty - It is looking more likely that Call of Duty 7, the follow-up to Treyarch's World at War, will be set in Vietnam according to a source close to the developer. The game will offer a more character driven plot akin to Modern Warfare and will borrow from films such as Platoon and Apocalypse Now. The only downside for me is that we will not be hearing Bauer's shouting in a Call of Duty game again anytime soon.

Blu-ray - Blu-ray discs are likely to be getting even bigger with Sony and Panasonic announcing plans to increase the size of discs by around 8GB. It is likely that Sony's Playstation 3 will support this technology via firmware update but it does help to illustrate the pace of change in technology.

and finally.....

Tiger Woods PGA Golf - Despite recent controversies Tiger Woods will remain the front man for EA's PGA Golf Series. A recent spokesman at EA describes how their "relationship with Tiger has always been rooted in golf. We didn't form a relationship with him so that he could act as an arm's length endorser". Whether the next game in the Tiger Wood's series will feature his extracurricular activities remains to be seen.