I don’t even think I can name all of the games coming out that have caught my eye. There’s just so many I want to try (or buy) and Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X is one of those. UbiSoft has now stated that the game will have photo realistic satellite images from GeoEye’s IKONOS satellite. Oh man, that sounds good.

“High-resolution satellite imaging is moving from the black world of intelligence to the white world of commerce and Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X will bring that reality to gamers,” said Mark Brender, vice president, corporate communications and marketing at GeoEye.

“With video game graphics becoming more realistic, the use of high-quality photographic ground textures in H.A.W.X adds true photo-realism to the air combat experience.”

Now to see how it’s all going to come together with the flying controls, etc is going to be interesting. One thing of note, I’ve only played one bad Tom Clancy game (Ghost Recon 4 I believe) so I’ll be up checking this one for sure.

I had a few emails recently about the new Star Trek Online game and people were speculating as to the level of customization they might have. Well here’s a tidbit I found on the develover’s blog.

Will I be able to trick out my Bird of Prey with green flame decals to show off when I decloak to “pwn Federation nubs”?

Captain Geko: One of Cryptic Studios’ hallmark features in all of its games is giving players ultimate customizability when it comes to their characters. We are fully utilizing our character creation technology in Star Trek Online to include customizing both characters and starships. You will be able to customize your ship’s geometry, as well as its color, decals and fleet insignia.

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How cool is that? I’m not sure if that’s a game I’ll be playing or not, but the whole idea seems pretty incredible.

There’s a new free 1.5 update coming for Warhawk on Wednesday that will add Trophies (yay!), tutorials, and some other stuff. Not only that, but the 3rd expansion pack is coming out on Thursday called “Fallen Star” that adds the new Tau Crater map.

Tua Crater is an island centered around a crashed capital ship and the there will be one other very cool addition, the jetpack. Once you enter a vehicle or mount a turret you’ll have a jetpack and after that, you’ll be able to use both items. How about bailing out of a Warhawk before it crashes or launching a air attack after loosing a tank? There is a deeper look at how the jetpack works at PlayStation Blog.

The new expansion will be $8 and from the sounds of it, it could be worth the money just for the entertainment value alone.

Bionic Commando Rearmed has accomplished something quite impressive. The game has sold over 130,000 units in its first week of release. That’s a real impressive feat.

While I have to admit, throwing out a number like 100,000 seemed pretty overzealous after seeing how hard digital titles are to sell, I still hoped we could reach that lofty goal. Boy, did I miss the mark.

7 days — over 130,000 units.

Holy fiddlesticks! That may not seem impressive compared to package titles that sell in the millions but compared to other digital titles that is a friggin JUGGERNAUT!

And while, it’s great to have my first title be not only a critically acclaimed one but also a financial success, there is a bigger picture at play here that we need to look at. Consumers voted with their dollars. They basically have sent the message loud and clear:

We are tired of meta-emulated crap.
We want the titles of yesteryear to be paid the proper respect.
We want them done right.
And if the price is right, we’ll buy.

Basically, we have set a standard in digital gaming. The bar has been raised and you have let developers around the world know that if they invest the time, money, and heart into making (and remaking) some great games, you will support that initiative.

That’s the way it should be. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store…

It’s good to be a gamer.

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Very cool stuff. I’m going to have to go check out more about this game because I honestly know very little about the actual gameplay.

Someone had spoken to me recently about a game they heard of the could do upto 64 players online in battle and Battlefield Heroes is that game. The problem is that to have that many players in a free-to-play online shooter would require a PC with high specs and that’s not what DICE or EA wants for the game.

Ben Cousins, DICE’s executive producer of the Battlefield series explains:

“We have really good 16-player matches [but] the engine supports up to 64 players and we reduced that because we want to have a sensible minimum spectrum of player and also for the servers - the servers are slightly less costly to run than previous Battlefield games.”

“Really we’d like to have huge 64-player crazy Battlefield Heroes matches but that’s not possible at the moment - that’s something that we’d look at maybe in the future, maybe we would have special access to 64-player games potentially.”

We’ll just see how things turn out after the closed Beta testing, but I suspect that this is going to be a very cool and widely played game.

I downloaded the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed demo from the PlayStation Network the other day and I have to say that the single short level it has was one of the best Star Wars games I’ve ever played. It reminded me a bit of Knights of The Old Republic as far as having the behind the character view, but the gameplay and specifically the Force powers were awesome.

Right from the beginning I felt like a very powerful Force user and I was able to cause incredible amounts of damage. Tossing Stormtroopers around like ragdolls or lifting (and hurling) incredible large items with the power of the Force is great fun. Past games seem to limit your powers and let you grow over time. This one starts you out very strong and I imagine you’ll just get stronger. The full game should be quite incredible and I look forward to getting it. The graphics were top notch as expected and all the fighting motions work very, very well.

I’d say just from playing the demo that this is one Star Wars game you’ll certainly want to own.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The new Bond game planned to come out is 007: Quantum of Solace, and if there’s one thing that strikes me from the screen shots I’ve seen…it’s that the masked bad guys look stupid and it doesn’t look very good overall. Hmmm, that’s two things. Maybe these screens are for the Wii or DS version. now that would make some sense. Maybe.

This video is excellent! Some guy named Levinator25 posted a YouTube video months ago that showed a glitch in the Tiger Woods 08 game where Tiger could walk on water just like Jesus. Now EA strikes back in their promotion of the next game. Burn!

Electronic Arts announced that The Sims 3 can be purchaced via digital download and retailers on February 20, 2009. The “Collector’s Edition” will be available on the same date and will include an exclusive in-game Italian-Style Sports Car.

EA press release:

“The feature-set includes a new seamless, open neighborhood, new Create-a-Sim, new unique personality traits, new unlimited customization and new gameplay that’s quick and rewarding.”

Damn that game is addicting.

Now this will be good news to some of you Wii race driving fans. You now will be able to have true Force Feedback. Logitech is bringing out a wheel for the Wii system that will do exactly that.

Easy to set up and store, the Logitech Speed Force Wireless features a one-piece design that is convenient to use whether you’re sitting on your couch, arm chair or living room floor. The built-in gas and brake controls are located on the wheel itself and the expandable lap rest is easily adjusted – allowing for comfortable game play without the need to use a table or a desk. Plus, familiar Wii controls make navigating game menus a snap. With Logitech’s 2.4 GHz wireless technology, you can enjoy lag-free racing from up to 30 feet away from the console.

It should be out just before Christmas and run about $99.99 US.