Strategy Informer  

Gabe Newel, co-founder of Valve Software thinks gamers are smart people. In fact, he credits gamers as knowing more about making good games than the people who work for the game publishers. Newel is quoted in the latest Game Informer as saying, "It seems by and large that gamers are incredibly smart; the average gamer seems to know more about what makes a good game than the average person at a publisher."

The PlayStation Network was updated yesterday with WipEout HD, although many gamers are claiming that they are experiencing crashes and game freezing while playing the futuristic racing game online.

Members from the official European PlayStation forums have done a bit of detective work, and discovered that the crashes are only happening to those people that have a large list of friends on the network, a number over 50 it seems.

Codemasters today announced the forthcoming release of the first downloadable content pack for Race Driver: GRID with the reveal of the '8 Ball' pack coming this autumn for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The premium 8 Ball pack is set to feature eight thrilling new cars to race and two new online events to compete in. Each vehicle is beautifully realised and was carefully selected as a thoroughbred racing car with a unique personality to deliver a stunning race experience.

A price point for Wipeout HD was revealed at the end of last week, and today Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced the official release date for the exclusive PlayStation Network title. It will be released on September 25th for $19.99.

Ok it's time for a new competition! We've managed to get approval for 5 free games from GamersGate for this competition. Hence, the winner of this competition will get to pick any game from GamersGate of his/her choice. They got a lot of great up to date games over there so be sure to check them out.

To celebrate the launch of the game on PC DVD-ROM our friends at SEGA have given us 5 e-GeForce 9600 GT 512MB graphics cards to give away. These high-spec graphics cards from EVGA feature NVIDIA® SLI™ technology, next-generation superscalar GPU architecture and full Microsoft® DirectX® 10 shader model 4.0 support.

Psyonic Studios today announced that Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars, an arena-based online vehicle sports game for the PlayStation Network that brings anitmated vehicles in sport-like gameplay.

The game features vehicles with incredible physics-based maneuverability, including boosters for launching high into the air or accelerating at break-neck speed on the ground. In the air, cars can roll, flip, jump, dodge or spin. In this team-based soccer-inspired game, the vehicles maneuver to perform breathtaking saves, awe-inspiring shots on goal, and gruesome demolishes of opponent cars. These abilities, combined with the players' own creativity, create a unique and thrilling experience every time.

Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi, in an interview with IGN, has said there are "no plans in the works for GT5 yet" - nodding to 2009, or even 2010.

Instead they remain "focused" on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and getting the updates out. Later this year damage modelling is expected to get patched in.

EA has announced its lineup for E3:

Electronic Arts today unveiled the games it will feature at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center July 15 – 17. The games -- scheduled to ship on multiple platforms in 2008 and early 2009 – include riveting graphics, deep stories and online, socially connected experiences. EA’s portfolio covers many genres and platforms for core gamers and new players alike.

KOEI announced today that Fatal Inertia EX will be released on the PlayStation Network July 15th. The game’s European release follows its successful US launch which was accompanied by a very positive critical response.