Aliens: Colonial Marines Exterminated? Aliens RPG set to hatch?

Dammit! I had suspected that Gearbox's Aliens: Colonial Marines title might be in serious risk of an airlocking, as news on its development has been sketchy at best. Looks like my fears were realized. I'm seriously disappointed though - this is probably my all-time favorite movie license. [sigh] Game over, man! (Sorry, someone had to say it...)

In more uplifting news, Obsidian Entertainment, the development team behind Neverwinter Nights 2 and KotOR II, are apparently working on an Aliens-themed RPG for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC! Until then, I guess I can only cradle my pulse rifle in anticipation.

Mirror's Edge Demo: My Brain is Officially Blown

Oh. My God. I just finished playing through the Mirror's Edge demo (released today on both XBL and the Playstation Store). Wow.

You've never played anything like this before - trust me - and that's perhaps what excites me the most about this game. We're not just talking new IP - this is an entirely new genre. Maybe one could argue that ME is simply a first person implementation of the original Prince of Persia, but even at this early stage I'd have to argue that it's something more.

Now, I've been playing first person games for what - let's say 15 years now? I'm confident though, that I have never experienced this level of perspective and immersion. Dice has absolutely nailed their design concept.

I can only assume that the camera position and field of view were tuned, tweaked, and tortuously tested. The player is provided with a sense of position, motion, and inertia that, properly blended with an intuitive control set, make precarious, vertigo-inducing rooftop free running feel somehow natural and fluid. As you flow across the rooftops, you are in a body - not just floating along in a disembodied camera, all FPS-style.

Then there's the art design, and its implementation via the in-game engine. The city is beautiful, crisp and bright, yet stark, and the framerate blazes along smoothly. Your Kung Fu is indeed impressive, Dice.

Play this demo.