First 4 Figures latest in their amazingLegend of Zeldaline of statues has started pre-orders on their next addition with Wolf Link and Midna. The statue is a 1/4 scale, 15 inch figure comes in two versions and either one is going to make your wallet cry. The normal run isgoing for $329.99and thelimited edition one is $349.99. Only 350 pieces are being produced of the limited run and this one will let you light up Midna’s hair....

Microsoft’s X10 event is going on right now here in San Francisco and we just learned that theHalo: Reachbeta begins on July 20, 2025. This beta is for the multiplayer mode and anyone that ownsHalo 3: ODSTwill be able to get in on the beta. TheHalo: Reachbox art was also shown off today and the picture you see above comes courtesy from one of Geoff Keighley’s ten cell phones. Halo: Reachis promising to spice up theHaloformula and I’m definitely looking forward to this beta....

Zombies? Cars? Guns? Sold! Activision has officially revealedBlood Drive, a post-apocalyptic combat racer where you’ll not only battle other drivers, but flesh-eating zombies in an arena… where you’ll fight to the death! We’re told to expect undead frat boys, cops, strippers, and more. Basically, this sounds like my formative college years, and I love it. The game will feature six environments, including drop-in and drop-out multiplayer modes. It is, as you’d expect, rated M....

Somemore Avatar newsfor you this morning, as Microsoft has discussed integrating them into new games in a manner similar to Nintendo’s Miis. Come to think of it, I never considered Avatars beinganything like Miisuntil now. Xbox Live GM Eric Kilgore has been talking about Avatars in Seattle, discussing how gamers and developers can utilize them. “We think it’s really important that these things can scale between in game and out of game, and how we can use them on the web,” explained Kilgore, who spoke of using Avatars to represent gamers on forums and Facebook profiles, places outside of the 360’s dashboard environment....

You may have heard that The 3rd Birthday’s Aya Brea will get some costume changes, with the most notable being the ability to change intoFinal Fantasy XIII‘s Lightning. Tetsuya Nomura has now revealed a few more details about the upcoming PSP game, including a bit about how the costumes will be accompanied by voice changes. Talking to Dengeki, Nomura said that costumes will come with different voice acting. According to him, we will be able to feel the strength of Aya’s voice actress....

Because you’ve been dying for another collection of Atari classics, Atari has announcedAtari’s Greatest Hits: Volume 1for the Nintendo DS. The title will feature 50 different games, includingAsteroids,Pong,Centipede,Adventure,Tempest, and more. Love the classics but not sold on another retro collection? Here’s the hook — single cartridge multiplayer! 20 of the collection’s titles will allow you to share game data with another DS for multiplayer, includingSpace DuelandPong. If playing alone is your thing, maybe you’ll just be interest in the game’s extras, including Atari trivia (scores can be posted to Atari....

[Editor’s note: Did I just promote Atlas? Ironically enough,BioShock’stwist was ruined to me because of Atlas. Thanks, dick. — CTZ] There is more than one way to destroy. You can obliterate, crush, and maul in a game, but there is only one true way to destroy a game itself. Spoilers. Yes, spoilers. This can destroy in such a potent way that is not comparable to others. Games can come crashing down from the highest peaks of joy and bliss with just a few words....

In response to Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman’s notion that videogame companies may not be paying enough for licensed music, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick bites back. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kotick takes off the gloves and calls the comments not “respectful of how much we’ve done to bring new audiences into the market.” “When you look at the impact it can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen, or Metallica,” he says, “it’s really significant, so much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse....

A couple days ago wementioned an old Microsoft promotionthat indicatedAlan Wakewould be at the Tokyo Game Show this year. The formAlan Wakewas going to take at the show was previously unknown to us, so we decided to kid around a little bit at the game’s expense. As it usually turns out, Remedy has confirmed ontheir official forumsthat the game will not be seen in any capacity at TGS this year. The following is the statement Markus Maki of Remedy gave in response to a forum member:...

[Update:More Pokemon videos ahoy after the jump viaGoNintendoand thePokemonNewsNetworkHD. We got some footage of the legendaryVictiniin battle, info on the game’s story and characters, and the unveiling of even more new Pokemon. I like that sexy fish.] Pokemon Black/Whiteis coming out in Japan in a little over a month. After that, all this pre-release thrill will be gone. Through hackers and hardcore Pokemaniacs, each and everynew Pokemonwill be found and posted on the internet, all within days of the games’ release....

You know that Apple tablet you keep hearing about? Rumors are flying, pointing to everything from Apple’s answer to netbooks to this latest, a game system. It’s actually both, according to one person who claims to have seen the device; it’s a netbook that plays games. This big-assed 10-inch iPod touch screen thing will sync and Wi-Fi stream from other devices in your home, says the unnamed analyst that peeped it....

Those hoping for some split-screen action withBattlefield 3‘s co-op modeare due a disappointment, as DICE has confirmed it’s online only. My commiserations to all those who have friends in real life. “No, you have to be online to do it.” DICE general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson, proving that I wasn’t lying in the first sentence of the article. The lack of split-screen is always a bone of contention among a certain cross-section of the gaming public, and it seems strange that so many co-op games omit what was once a mandatory part of the co-operative experience....

Platinum Games has earned itself a reputation as a maker of terrific games that never sell very well, but if the impressive performance ofBayonetta‘s Xbox Live demo is anything to go by, Hideki Kamiya’s sexy action game might stand a chance at success … in Japan, anyway. The stats show thatBayonettawas 2009’s most downloaded Xbox Live Japan game, beating out such hot properties asLost Planet 2,Forza Motorsport 3andLeft 4 Dead 2....