Mark your calendars Pokemon fans, Nintendo is teasing some big news reveal for the latest entry in the Pokemon series.

“We’ve got big Pokemon X and Pokemon Y news coming up next Saturday,” said the official Pokemon Twitter account. “Stay tuned!”

Nintendo has managed to stay tight lipped so far. We know that it will be the first installment in the sixth generation of Pokemon, and that there will be a swathe of new Pokemon to find and capture. X & Y will also be the series first foray into the world of 3D. By 3d, we just don’t mean the 3Ds’ stereoscopic capabilities, but fully rendered 3D models and environments. But that’s pretty much all that’s slipped through.

Nintendo has promised same major changes to the series formula. Feel free to discuss how you would like the franchise move forward. And be sure to check back on April 6th for the big news update.

At GDC this week, Kojima has finally stopped beating around the bush and revealed that Ground Zeros and The Phantom Pain coalesce to form Metal Gear Solid V. Rumors around the connection between The Phantom Pain and its connection with the Metal Gear Solid series have been swirling around ever since it debuted at the VGA’s, and now, the wraps are finally off. In an interview with Game Trailers, Hideo Kojima disclosed quite a lot of information regarding the newly announced title.

To start off, Kojima explained why all the ambiguity and the reason for using The Phantom Pain as a ruse.

“There are several reasons for this. One is that I think core fans, myself included in this, wanted to do something really interesting in the social space. You know I think it’s been kind-of dull lately and we wanted to do something to energize the community,” he explained. “The second reason for doing this is we wanted to evaluate the FOX Engine. So we wanted to put the game out without revealing that it was Metal Gear Solid and just see how well it would do just based on the visuals of the FOX Engine.”

Kojima admitted that they knew that fans would be quick on the heels of the mysterious link between Metal Gear Solid and The Phantom Pain right from day one, which they were. And that he was glad they did play along. As for the supposed CEO of Moby Dick Studios, the man interviewed by Geoff Keighley a few weeks back was in fact a real person. Kojima revealed that he himself wanted to be in the interview masqearading as like he did in the Game Trailers interview, but his busy preparations for GDC prevented him from doing so.

“We  knew from the beginning that it wouldn’t be a secret – we wanted fans to realize it. It was kind-of service to the fans saying, ‘Hey, here’s the inside joke. We know that you know what it is, but just play along with it.’ We’re happy that fans did realize what it was and did play along with it.”

From what we can dissect from the gameplay reveal trailer, it’s evident that a new voice actor for Snake and Big Boss is at the helm. David Hayter, the man who voiced Snake so far announced on twitter that he wasn’t even contacted regarding the project. Kojima also explained why he took this decision.

“I can say, yes, it will be a new person. I can’t say who it is yet. What we’re trying to accomplish here is recreate the Metal Gear series. It’s a new type of Metal Gear game, and we want to have this reflected in the voice actor as well” said Kojima.

Metal Gear Solid V will be taking some bold new turns for the franchise, by embracing a open world structure in favor of the more linear narrative driven gameplay of past entries which Kojima himself describes as “on-rail”. The biggest question lingering on everybody’s minds is whether Ground Zeros and The Phantom Pain will be two separate games released individually, or if they’ll both be sold as a single package. We’ve got to wait for a little longer to get our answers as Kojima couldn’t comment on how they’re going to distribute them just yet.

What he did reveal is that Ground Zeros is actually a prologue to The Phantom Pain and is set immediately after the events of Peace Walker. The Phantom Pain on the other hand is a much bigger game in terms of scope and length to Ground Zeros. It takes place nine years after the events of Ground Zeros. In fact, Kojima says that the purpose of Ground Zeros is to make players come to grip with the open world structure and new mechanics, so that they feel right at home with The Phantom Pain. We’ll be seeing old faces return as well as plenty of new characters.

There are still plenty of questions surrounding Metal Gear Solid V, and judging by the series track record, we’ll have the answers only when the game hits shelves. The game is currently only announced for the PS3 and Xbox 360, with no mention of a release on next gen platforms. Which is odd, as we’re sure that current gen consoles are not capable of reproducing the visuals which we saw in the debut gameplay, which by the way, was running on a PC.

Be sure to check out Game Trailers for the full interview, and feel free to let us know your thoughts on the game below.

Nintendo has rolled out a brand new trailer for their 3DS rhythm game HarmoKnight. The video showcases some on screen gameplay as well as player input. Have a look after the brake.

HarmoKnight is a rhythm platformer game developed by Game Freak, the same guys who have brought us all those incredible Pokemon games. It’s their first non Pokemon title since 2005’s Drill Dozer for the DS.

Players control a young boy named Tempo as he traverses through the world of Melodia is hopes of defeating the nefarious Gargan and his army of Noizoids. You run through auto-scrolling stafes while actions such as jumping and attacking are performed by you, corresponding with the rhythm of the game.

HarmoKnight is now up for grabs from Nintendo’s eshop for $14.99. If you’ve already picked it up, let us know your impressions over at the comments section below. Stay tuned for more news and updates.

Speaking at Crystal Dynamic’s panel at GDC, studio head Darrell Gallagher revealed that the Tomb Raider reboot has managed to raise the bar of week one sales of the franchise. The game enjoyed the biggest opening of the year yet, with over 3.4 million physical copies shipped so far.  It’s Crystal Dynamics biggest game yet, with the Single Player component being handled by the California branch, while the multiplayer was passed on to Eidos Montreal in Canada.

“It’s been the biggest week one sales in franchise history, and we’re only a few weeks into that launch right now, and it’s been the biggest opening so far in 2013,” stated Gallagher. “So, we’re happy with the outcome. It’s certainly in a place where we feel like we’re on the road to achieving everything we wanted to.”

The latest Tomb Raider sits at the second position when it comes to sales figures of the franchise, only being overtaken by the series’ debut which has racked up 6 million is sales. But it’s hardly been a month since the reboot launched and it’s safe to assume that it’s well on its way to overtaking the original.

However, these numbers still aren’t lofty enough for Square Enix, which “failed to meet” their target. It puzzles us how a game which has had the biggest opening in the first quarter still doesn’t manage to reach the brake-even point. Development budgets are ballooning at a staggering rate and it looks like Square Enix invested more than they should have.

Frostbite 3 isn’t the only next gen engine that’s giving Nintendo’s platform a pass. At GDC this week, Epic confirmed that the next iteration of Unreal Engine will not support the WiiU. When Mark Rein, Vice President at Epic Games was asked by Kotaku if Unreal Engine 4 would run on the WiiU, he replied with a small burst of laughter, “no”.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the WiiU’s hardware is considered dated even by today’s standards, and is on par if not better than that of the PS3 and Xbox 360. Rein explains that Unreal Engine 4 is targeted at next-gen consoles and the WiiU just lacks the hardware to be feasible.

”I just laugh at the question…Unreal Engine 4, we’re not PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or Wii U. It’s next-gen technology. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

“Our goal for Unreal Engine 4 console-wise is next-gen consoles. That’s really what our energies are focused on,” he further added. “If you want to make a Wii U game, we have Unreal Engine 3, and it’s powering some of the best games on the Wii U already.”

On a side note, Unreal Engine 4 will also be skipping the PS3 and Xbox 360. This is the second blow to Nintendo during the same week. It looks like Nintendo will have to rely on first party titles to push sales, as it’ll have a very hard time keeping up with the competition. It’s a shame though, as Epic has demonstrated that despite its scalability, Unreal Engine 4 is capable of showcasing some truly spectacular visuals as showcased here.

Microsoft is launching a brand new program on April 1st which sets out to reward loyal fans for investing on Xbox Live Arcade. The incentive scheme is called “MyPunchcard“, and it grants gamers with in game avatar items or MS points for playing and purchasing Arcade games.

There are three ways in which you can earn these rewards. Playing any combination of arcade games for over 20 hours unlocks a free avatar items. Those who purchase four Arcade games at 400 MS Points each will receive a free one month membership to Xbox Live. And finally spending over 3200 MS Points on Arcade games will fetch you 800 MS Points in return.

These rewards can only be earned by Xbox Live Gold members, and Major Nelson promises that those gamers who manage to tick all the boxed over the month of April will be included in the list of “VIP Exclusives”. What that actually grants you is still up in the air.

This is definitely a wily attempt by Microsoft to get people to invest more time and money on Xbox Live Arcade. And considering that XBLA does boast some great titles with more on the horizon, this might actually end up working out. Let us know your thoughts on the matter below.

Warner Bros has sent out word that it’s offering a piece of the pie early. A demo for Injustice: Gods Among Us will be landing on PSN on April 2nd, and on Xbox Live a day later. Sorry Wii U owners, you’re out of luck here. There was no mention of the contents of the demo, but we expect them to throw in one or two characters and stages.

For the unacquainted, Injust: Gods Among Us is a 2D fighting game which pits some of the most prominent figures in the DC Universe against each other. It’s being developed by the same minds that’s responsible for the Mortal Kombat franchise. It bears a lot in common with 2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot, which is evident in the developer’s signature bloody and brutal combat. One neat addition is interactive environments. Successfully landing a heavy blow near the edges of the stage will launch the opponent into another part of the level. Not to mention, they are quite spectacular to watch.

Injustice: Gods Among us will be available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U on April 16th in North America, and on the 19th in Europe. A iOS version was also announced, but details are scarce at the moment.

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Following the debut of  the World Series Racing videos with “The American Dream”, Codemasters has revealed the next trailer in the pipeline, which shifts to spotlight to Europe. The video details a slew of nEuropean cars, locations and racing clubs which will be featured in the game. Check it out after the brake.

Players can race through the magnificent scenery offered by the track Côte d’Azur, or burn their rubber at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal and the streets of Cental Paris. GRID 2 offers the complete package – track racing, street racing and dirt racing. So no matter what your taste is, you’ll have something to savor. Additional European locations that can also be found in the full release are Brands Hatch (Track Racing), Barcelona (Street Racing) and the Red Bull Ring (Track Racing).

New cars from Europe include the Volvo S60 BTCS, the Gomez Competition, the BMW Motorsport 320 TC and Chevrolet Cruze Touring Car, the former two are showcased in the trailer. Here’s a full list of confirmed cars so far:

• BMW E30 M3 Sport Evolution (Evo3)
• BMW Motorsport 320 TC
• Caterham-Lola SP300R
• Ford Focus ST 2013
• Gomez Competition GC 10.1
• McLaren F1 GT
• Mercedes Benz 190E 2.5 Evo 2
• Mercedes Benz SLS GT3
• Pagani Huayra
• Volvo S60 BTCS

The TrueFee handling system that GRID 2 brings to the table lends each car its own sense of character and control.

More Locations and Cars will be revealed in the coming weeks. Judging by the track record, we expect Asia to get its share of the spotlight next week. GRID 2 hits the track for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 28th in North America, and on the 31st in Europe. Stay tuned for more updates.

505 Games has just disclosed the first batch of commentators that will be featured in the upcoming Ashes Cricket 2013.  Mark Nicholas, Lead commentator for Channel 5 in the UK and Australia’s Channel 9, will be joined by ex-England head coach and Sky Sports pundit, David Lloyd and ex-Australian international and Channel 9 commentator Michael Slater.

All 3 commentators are regarded as some of the best in their field, passing witty comments and jokes that could lighten up even the most drab matches.

For the benighted, Ashes is a tournament that is held on a yearly basis between the two biggest names in Test Cricket, England and Australia and is renowned for the fierce competitive nature between these two teams. Codemasters, the developers of the previous entries in the franchise, have passed the torch to Melbourne-based studio Trickstar Games.

“Whether listening on the radio or watching on TV, commentary is a key part to the overall experience,” said Ralph Pitt-Stanley, General Manager for UK & Export at 505 Games. “It was therefore important we faithfully replicated this in ASHES CRICKET 2013 and with Bumble, Nicholas and Slater we have three of the finest and most loved commentators in the game today.”

These commentators are only the first batch, and you can expect 505 Games to reveal more as we draw closer to the game’s release, which is on 21st June for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Battlefield 4 managed to drop jaws all across the show floor when it was unveiled at GDC this week. The Frostbite 3 engine churned out some spectacular visuals, as well as ratcheting up the level of destruction. There’s no arguing that the game was running on a high-end PC. DICE didn’t disclose the specifications of the PC, but AMD has spilled the beans today. Surprisingly, the game was running on the yet to be released AMD 7990 Dual-GPU.

The 7990 consists of two GPU cores based on the “Tahiti” core found on the 7970.  The card was dragged through out last year by AMD, which gave consent to AIB partners to launch graphics cards with their own designs. However, a reference design from AMD themselves never really materialized, until this week’s GDC. AMD has announced that they’ve gone back on the drawing board to deliver the most powerful graphic card on the planet. As you can see from the picture above, the card is a beast. It uses three 90 mm fans to cool a complex heatsink cooling the two GPUs which should gorge at almost any game that you throw at it.

“AMD and EA DICE are proud partners in gaming, with a recent history that includes the award-winning Battlefield 3 in 2011. That relationship continues today with the world’s first public demonstration of Battlefield 4, powered by the AMD Radeon HD 7990—the world’s fastest graphics card! Today’s unveiling not only demonstrates the commitment EA DICE makes to state-of-the-art PC graphics, it stands as further proof that the critically-acclaimed Graphics Core Next architecture in the AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series is the best choice for truly advanced PC games” read a statement issued by AMD.

“This is is only a preview series today, so I’m going to have to hold back some of the details for you guys, but this is not only the world’s fastest graphics card, this thing is whisper quiet with these three fans over here. This thing delivers massive performance and this is really the gamer’s dream card”  commented. Matt Skynner, general manager of AMD’s graphics business unit.”

AMD’s 7990 is going to lock shoulders with Nvidia’s recently released Titan graphic card. Expect the card to be priced around the bracket $800-$1000.