Square Enix sure loves teasers. Earlier this month, they revealed a screenshot for a new game in the pages of Official PlayStation Magazine. Now they have another teaser, this time in the form of a website.

Remember the other week when a rumored mysterious screenshot supposedly hinted at a new Square Enix game? Well, we got that screenshot now! And true enough, the guy shown in the picture is most definitely not Sephiroth!

Square Enix sure has a lot on their plate right now - to now hear them come up with yet another new franchise is quite surprising. Nonetheless, it seems that that just might be the case if recent rumors from Japan are to be true. A screenshot has surfaced showing something completely new, something completely mysterious - yet something quite familiar too.

We can't open the week without some speculation, now can we? Today we hear of the latest batch of rumors from UK's OPM publication. Though this batch of rumors come from the Official PlayStation Magazine, they do touch on some cross-platform franchises. (EA, I'm looking at you!). PSP 2 rumor, check. Rumors of sequels, check. Rumors of spin-offs, check.

The rumor that Crysis will get ported to the PlayStation 3 is so old that I'm beginning to think it's actually true. The latest Official PlayStation Magazine UK has an all new batch of rumors we can chew on, and if there was any justice in the world, they're all true. Check 'em out after the link!

(Editor's note: With all the events happening around the gaming industry this week, we've been churning out news reels like cuh. ray. zee.)

Busy, busy week, folks! Both Sony and Microsoft held their Gamer's Day events this week and we've got a lot of updates from both! We've also got the skinny on the recently launched WiiWare service, and what's this? Guitar Hero has... drums? Time to get the ball rolling, head over to the full article!

We just got word that former gaming magazine editor John Davison has just opened up a new gaming website for parents. This particular website reportedly aims to be the "video games guide for parents" and was established due to the alleged proliferation of violent titles.

John Davison is not at all a stranger to the video game industry. He used to be the editor of magazines EGM as well as the Official PlayStation Magazine for U.S. Check the full story by clicking the "read more" link below.

The results are in: chosen as this year's Ultimate Game of the Year in the Annual Golden Joystick Awards is (dun dun dun) Gears of War! Gears of War also won the All-Nighter Award, Editor's Choice Award and is the Xbox Game of the Year.

Other winners of the 25th Annual Golden Joystick Awards are the Nintendo Wii, which won Innovation of the Year, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade as the Online Game of the Year, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as the Nintendo Game of the Year, and God of War II as the PlayStation Game of the Year.

Here are the other winners of the Golden Joystick Awards:

• Girls' Choice Game of the Year 2007: Guitar Hero II
• Family Game of the Year 2007: Wii Sports
• Handheld Game of the Year 2007: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
• Mobile Game of the Year 2007: Final Fantasy
• Soundtrack of the Year 2007: Guitar Hero II
• Developer of the Year 2007: Codemasters
• The Total Film One to Watch 2007: Assassin's Creed
• Retailer of the Year 2007: Game
• Publisher of the Year 2007: Nintendo
• PC Game of the Year 2007: The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar

Here's to another year of great games!

Future, the company that publishes the "Official" line of gaming magazines has reported significant growth in readership from its web and print portfo;ios in the past months thanks in large part to the Xbox 360 and Nintendo wings.

Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine is now officially the fastest-growing game publication in the United Kingdom, circulating 65,673 copies during the past year, clinching a total annual growth of 54 percent.

The Official Nintendo Magazine also did well as a result of the immense and still growing popularity of the DS handheld and the Wii console. The rise in readership was tallied at 35 percent which translated in 47,925 total copies sold.

Future reported declines in the circulation of the Official PlayStation Magazine but explained that this is due to the seasonal lull in game industry activity. It also said that recovery was promising after Blu-ray demo discs were included with each issue after June.

Slow activity was also observed in the multiplatform publications under Future along with its PC-gaming interests. However, it said that its websites GamesRadar and CVG attract 3.25 and 1.56 million users a month respectively.

 

Rockstar Games' gruesome Manhunt series gets another addition, this time following the story of a Dr. Daniel Lamb and his bloody escapades through the help of one psychotic Leo Kasper, who is more than happy to teach Lamb the art of maiming and dismembering not-so-friendly people.

The Official Playstation Magazine was hearty enough to describe some of the kill feats you can pull on unsuspecting vic-err-guards, like thrusting a syringe to an enemy's eye to finish him off, or ripping off his testicles with a pair of pliers. Whoops, there goes Jack Thompson on his way to OPM right now...

No character from the first Manhunt, yes even James Earl Cash, will be making an appearance in Manhunt 2 coming for the Wii and the PSP. The story instead follows that of Dr. Daniel Lamb who works for The Project, a collective behind a top secret drugs-based weapons program. He soon finds himself inside a private asylum, where he soon breaks out from.

With Leo Kasper, Lamb dodges enemies and takes them down with style, in the old Hasty, Violent and Gruesome flavors. He can also use the environment to kill his adversaries, all the while using loud ambient sounds to drown out his victim's screams of agony. Players will have to follow a button combo closely while hidden in shadow to regulate breathing. If an enemy happens to come near, Lamb could get caught for his huffing and puffing.

He can also climb objects and crawl out of harm's way, and use guns to perform stealthy kills.