Fresh after his adventures with the Titans, Crash Bandicoot is at it again! Sierra Entertainment has announced Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant, where Crash has to save his friends from Neo Cortex, who's back with a new device of ultimate evil... and can send out text messages too. Details and screenshots in the full article.

As Nintendo probably hoped, independent gaming studios are lining up for Wii Software, gunning for the chance to make it big in the wake of the Nintendo Wii's success. And like Nintendo of America announced, WiiWare games are definitely coming this year with Steel Penny Games' latest addition to the WiiWare collection announced to arrive sometime before the second half of 2008. More details at the full story.

Does it really matter if it's Xenon, Cell Broadband Engine, or Broadway? Is it that important to have high RAM and big storage spaces? How is it that much of a deal if a controller is wireless, rumble enabled, and capable of motion-sensing? This generation of video games sure demands powerful hardware like we've never imagined, but what exactly is a "next-gen" experience?  Let's take a look at "next-gen" gaming, and this blogger's thoughts on the video game industry today. Hit that link below to find the full article.

Sierra and Radical Entertainment's Crash of Titans (Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP) is the fourteenth game in the Crash Bandicoot series and has quite a few novel features that fans will enjoy. The one addition that stands out the most though is Crash's new ability called "jacking."

Some of the larger enemies (titans, as they're called) can be jacked by Crash to make them do his bidding. While it may seem like a no-brainer to just keep taking over opponents, it is very important to choose the right titan for each stage. To help you make your decision, here are some facts (with screenshots) about each one:

The first enemy on the list is the Ratcicle, one of the biggest assets of Neo Cortex's mutant army. After you jack it, you gain the Freeze Punks ability which launches two ice beams that will freeze anything it hits. The unit is listed with a threat level of three out of a maximum of five making it a good all around mount. 

  

The second titan - Scorporilla - looks like a cross between a scorpion and a gorilla (duh!). Rumor has it that even Neo Cortex feels nervous when around these behemoths. While jacking one of these creatures is no easy task, it is well worth the effort. The special ability this mount gives Crash is called Ground and Pound, a move which has your new best friend pounding the island with both hands sending a dust cloud at your foes. No one will question the fact that it is rated at a threat level of four out of five.

  

The rest of the titans, their bios, and screenshots in the full article!

Buy: [Crash of the Titans (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Crash of the Titans (Nintendo Wii)]
Buy: [Crash of the Titans (PSP)]
Buy: [Crash of the Titans (Nintendo DS]

Crash may be the naughty and fun-loving critter that we love for most of the time, but there are times in a video game character's life when he has to stop, think seriously and take the side of the angels in a noble cause. He's set to stop Dr. Neo Cortex in Crash of the Titans on the Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation Portable and mobile platforms later this year but before he does, he's got more important things in mind.

Crash is currently involved in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's School & Youth program which aims to raise awareness and support from America's youngsters about various blood cancers. He'll be appearing in posters, leaflets and different activities to drum up the campaign and get help where it's needed.

If you haven't heard, Crash has been part of the same movement before. Last year, the Society and Vivendi Games have joined forces in a similar plight and ended up with US$ 18 million in funds to donate to research institutions. They hope to top that this year by bringing in more kids to the scene.

Vivendi's executive vice president of Human Resources expressed the company's sense of honor in the part they are playing to fight blood diseases and said, "Crash is a bandicoot with a big heart; he’s brave, he’s loyal and he’s always ready for a good fight and a great cause. We feel this is a winning combination for a tremendous cause."

Crash Bandicoot is one of the most popular platform-type video game franchises of all time, selling more than 35 million copies of its games ever since its field day in 1996.

Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot was one of the top video game titles for the original PlayStation (PSOne). Now that Radical Entertainment has taken over the reins of the franchise with Crash of the Titans, we have to say that the development studio really has to deliver lest it wants disappointed bandicoots fans right at its doorsteps

Well, Radical Entertainment wasn't afraid to showcase Crash of The Titans during E3 and so far, the comments from those who've seen it are good. We're giving you now the opportunity to judge for yourselves as we share with you the official assets shown at the event.

Aside from the Wii version, Crash of the Titans will also have PC, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS and mobiles version.

See the other screenshots and trailer video after the jump!

If there's one thing we noticed about the new Crash Bandicoot, it's those new arm tattoos he's sporting. They don't look half bad, actually, even if they aren't magical or do anything other than make him marginally edgier.

Radical Entertainment's Crash of the Titans has the edgy bandicoot taking on all manner of beasties as he fights to get Doctor Neo Cortex off of his beloved island. In the video, you'll get to see him beat up baddies, control enemies by putting a magical mask on them, and use his new minions to dominate the battlefield with their own special maneuvers. Sweet, right?

Did we mention that Crash can now hover by spinning really, really fast?

In any case, before we get ahead of ourselves, let's go back and enjoy the video first, alright?

We all know that deep down inside, every gamer wants to star in a game. If putting your face on Crash Bandicoot's latest foe is your thing, O2 UK and Vivendi have something in store for you.

To promote the simultaneous release of Crash of the Titans to the PC, PS2, Wii, DS, and mobiles, the "Crash the Game" contest will give fans a chance of fame.

It's easy to earn the privilege of having your face on DIMBO, Crash's new enemy: you can either download Crash Bandicoot mini games from O2 UK Games Arcade on O2 Active or send e-mails if you're already an O2 user. You have until July 1 though, so better hurry.

President Paul Maglione of Vivendi Games believes that Crash of the Titans is Sierra's biggest launch for consoles and PC this year, and starring in the game would give the winner unlimited bragging rights.

More contest details available on the O2 WAP portal.

NiGHTS into Dreams, or just NiGHTS, is being rumored for some time to make a come back on Wii. Even video game online site Spong mentioned the other day that the new title has been confirmed 100% to them by both Nintendo and Sega.

Everything good now? Well, not exactly, especially after another site, CVG, has spoken with game creator Yuji Naka. According to Naka, who was sober during the short talk, he is not interested to re-visit his old Sega properties. His exact words were, "At present, I have no such intentions."

Yuji Naka left Sega around more than a year ago and started his own game development studio PROPE. Quite curiously, PROPE's initial capital was somewhere around 10 million Yen or roughly around US$ 84.69 million. 10% of this capital came from Sega, giving them a "first dibs" option to publish games developed by PROPE.

NiGHTS into Dreams was originally launched in 1996, alongside more popular video game titles Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot. Sega recently had a community poll in its official website regarding old games fans would like to see return. As expected, NiGHTS was the popular choice.

We came across several interesting Wii bits from gaming site Codename Revolution. According to the site, several local distributors have already listed Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and Madden 08.

If the site's sources are correct, we should be seeing these sports-themed video games sometime in August of this year.

Then here comes the more juicy part. Codename Revolution received a tip regarding mysterious title Crash of the Titans. Quite unfortunately though, there are no hints whatsoever as to what kind of game this is.

Some are speculating that this could be Crash Bandicoot. Vivendi announced back in July of 2006 that it will be resurrecting the much-loved marsupial on Wii. If you want to stretch the line a little but further, the 80s hit Clash of the Titans is being planned for a remake and video game-movie tie in.

But all this is mere speculation right now. The important thing is that fans are assured that more titles will be available for all of us Wii owners.