Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a story in six words.  His response, which he allegedly claimed was his best prose work,  was “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” These six words give the reader everything they need to hear and leaves enough space for their imagination to play out the exact events.

Darkfate, a game from Kevin Soulas, falls from the same minimalist tree. Using scaled-back graphics and fantastic audio, it emphasizes imagination and storytelling over actual gameplay. While it successfully gets its point across, it fails to remember that it has to be played.

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With the multiplayer beta set to commence on March 8th for Xbox 360 users (sadly no word yet on a beta for PS3 or PC) Bizzarre Creations have put up a list of details of what to expect from this taster up on their blog. In addition, they also confirmed a release date of May 25th for the US and, as usual, a slightly later release of May 28th for Europe after it was previously delayed.

Blur‘s unique fusion of licensed automobiles and frenzied power-ups make for some intriguing gameplay prospects, which Bizarre Creations hopes will inject some new life into the racing genre.

2010 is shaping up quite nicely for racing game fans – along with Blur, there’s Split Second, Modnation Racers, the new Criterion developed Need For Speed and the newly announced Test Drive Unlimited 2 to look forward to. Oh and Gran Turismo 5, assuming that will be released in this millennium.

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Little Red Riding Hood with an axe?  What will they think of next?  American McGee posted two concept art pieces on his flickr that he plans to take to GDC and hopes his idea is picked up by a lucky developer.

The photos are hand drawn by two two artists from the veteran developer’s Spicy Horse studio in Shanghai.  From the photos, the concept is pretty straightforward: Little Red Riding Hood with a bloody axe taking down the Big Bad Wolf. Read more… »

It seems that laying people off is in vogue this week. First Activision fires the heads of Infinity Ward. Now today EA announced that it has laid off the team behind Steven Spielberg’s Boom Blox series.

Word got out about the lay offs when, now-former, Electronic Arts Los Angeles senior software engineer Jeff Dixon posted “The Boom Blox team was laid off today,” on Linkedln. According to Dixon, fourteen people lost their jobs. Read more… »

For those who’ve always been interested in game design since the day you were born, the Princeton Review has compiled an extensive list of the best design schools found around the country.  And while I know many of you had your heart set on ITT Technical Institute, you may want to throw some college applications out to some of the listed schools.

The Princeton Review surveyed an array of colleges with design majors and based their rankings off of academic selection, faculty experience, and student’s life after college.  While the results aren’t too surprising, you may find a quality technical school or university within your state that will segway into your dream job. Read more… »

It might not be official, but the first footage of the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta has leaked onto the net and it’s smoking hot!  It shows off a ton of stuff like new moves, new weapons, new gameplay modes, and jetpacks!  I mean who doesn’t like jetpacks, am I right?

Of course if you aren’t really a fan of Halo you’ll probably watch this video and think to yourself, “yep that looks like Halo”.  I wouldn’t blame you, because to the untrained eye it really does just look like more of the same.  Trust me though, there is a ton of stuff in this trailer to get excited about.  Hit the jump to watch the video and see for yourself. Read more… »

This is potentially exciting stuff. A group of the biggest names in independent development have banded together to create the Indie Fund – a theoretical honey pot for fledgling independent developers to dip into to get their own projects off the ground.

Given the huge amount of independent games that never see the light of day because of the unwillingness of publishers to take a risk, or the lack of capital for the developer to go it alone, this could be a great leap forward for the whole Indie scene.

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Since it first saw release in South Korea in August of 2001, Ragnarok Online (or RO for short) has built a huge following.  It has since been released all over the world – its player base growing exponentially in the process.  In fact, there are over three million registered users in North America.  In a post WoW world, that’s not too shabby.

While fans wait for the sequel to arrive, Ragnarok Online 2: The Gate of the World (which has been in limbo since it was announced in 2005), they must tide themselves over with Ragnarok DS, from publisher XSEED and developer GungHo Works. Read more… »

Today Sony announced that they have acquired LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule and will be integrating it into the Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios family.

While the specific terms of this acquisition are unknown, Sony did state that it was, “a strategic move to continue to secure excellence in game development for current and future PlayStation platforms.” Read more… »

Between yesterday and today, loose lips have been sinking the ship at Infinity Ward.  While details are scarce, two studio heads have been terminated from their positions.

The news was first brought to the public’s attention when G4 reported that studio heads Vince Zampella and Jason West met with Activision and neither were seen again… by the staff.  Reportedly, relations between the developer and publishers have been fairly tense, and all hell broke loose yesterday afternoon when “a bunch of bouncer-types” appeared outside their offices. Read more… »

We’re back in action for another week of What Are YOU Playing?, where we ask you, the readers, to tell us about the bevy of titles that have been holding your attention for the past seven days.

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom received a huge wrap here at Gamer Limit, while Aliens vs. Predator proved once again that both series should be left to die a respectful death – if that’s even possible anymore.

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