The creators of survival horror game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem today teased a spiritual successor to Silicon Knights' 2002 GameCube game called Shadow of the Eternals.

Image credit: IGN

The game's teaser trailer on IGN points out that the title is in development at Precursor Games, an all-new outfit.

According to comments made by IGN staff on Twitter, Silicon Knights founder and president Denis Dyack is attached to the project in some form.

A crowd-funding campaign for Shadow of the Eternals will go live on Monday, though further details were not divulged.

The original Eternal Darkness originated as a Nintendo 64 project before being shifted to the GameCube, where it was the platform's first M-rated game.

Journalist Katie Couric has reached out to gamers upset over her recent hour-long report on violent and addicting games.

Writing on Twitter today, Couric encouraged her followers to tweet messages that speak to the positive side of violent games.

"Passionate gamers upset [with conversation about] whether violent video games can contribute to [violent] behavior. Tweet the positive side of violent [violent] games? Thanx!," she wrote.

Couric followed that tweet up with another stating that she would like to use the comments for an upcoming show. She did not give any additional information about this program.

On Monday, Couric aired a special report on her show, Katie, called "Are Video Games Ruining Your Life?" It included testimony from Daniel Petric, who cited video games as being a "catalyst" for shooting and killing his mother on October 20, 2007, as well as medical experts.

Apple is closing in on 50 billion app downloads, the iPhone and iPad maker announced today. The company also launched a special countdown page with a live ticker constantly climbing toward the milestone.

The person who downloads the 50 billionth app will receive a $10,000 App Store gift card, while $500 gift cards will be given to the individuals who download the first 50 after that.

To mark the milestone, Apple also revealed (via VentureBeat) the top 25 most downloaded free and paid apps. Facebook has the top free app, followed by Pandora, and Instagram.

The first game to reach the free list was Words with Friends Free (6), followed by Temple Run (9), Angry Birds Free (13), Draw Something Free (14), Fruit Ninja Free (18), and Pac-Man Lite (23).

Games dominated the top 25 paid app list, with Angry Birds the number one overall app, followed by Fruit Ninja, Doodle Jump, Cut the Rope, and Angry Birds Seasons. Also on the list is Minecraft: Pocket Edition (23), The Sims 3 (25), and Plants vs. Zombies (12).

The iOS app store launched in 2008. At press time, 49,255,738,404 total apps had been downloaded.

Lollipop Chainsaw developer Grasshopper Manufacture has pointed the finger at publishers for poor sales of the studio's games.

In an interview with GamesIndustry International, studio boss Goichi "Suda51" Suda complained of a "wall" between creativity and sales, and that the differences in size posed challenges.

"Grasshopper does have a very strong base; it's just that because we were so indie, publishers were always [treating us] differently," Suda said.

Grasshopper has worked with Warner Bros., Capcom, Ubisoft, and EA, amongst others.

"Each publisher operates a different way, has different strategic ideas, so in terms of sales, what they did, was they kept creating what they thought was good. But in terms of publishing, it was a different company's strategic choice.

"So we believe that back then, when we were completely indie without a group company to be together with, we weren't able to translate our creative directly into sales because that was the part where there was always a wall between creative and sales transition wise," argued Suda.

Grasshopper says it will have more impact on the publishing of its unannounced next game, due after the upcoming release of Killer Is Dead, now that it's been bought by Japanese publisher GungHo. Suda believes that being part of a bigger group will allow for a more consistent strategy between creativity and publishing.

"Now that we're one big group together and we'll be publishing our own titles as Grasshopper, we believe that the creative side and the sales side will have a better connection," he added. "We definitely believe that it will transfer to good sales because we will be able to choose our own strategy," concluded Suda.

Grasshopper Manufacture's next game, Killer is Dead, is scheduled to be released this summer and will be published by Xseed Games in North America, Deep Silver in Europe, and Kadokawa Games in Japan.

Nintendo will ship the all-new 3D Mario for Wii U by October 2013, CVG has learned based on discussions with executive-level retail representatives. No further details were divulged.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced the game during a Nintendo Direct presentation in January. The game will be playable at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo, scheduled for June 11-13 in Los Angeles, California.

Developing the new 3D Mario game for Wii U is Nintendo EAD Tokyo, the team behind Mario Galaxy, Mario Galaxy 2, and Super Mario 3D Land.

The new 3D Mario game is one of many marquee titles Nintendo is looking towards to help spur Wii U sales. Other games coming to the platform in 2013 include Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, and The Wonderful 101.

Also in development for the Wii U are new Mario Kart, Zelda, Smash Bros., and Yoshi games.

The Wii U has struggled thus far, selling 400,000 units in 2013 and 3.45 million systems overall since launch. Nintendo's plan to turn things around includes releasing major first-party titles on a regular basis beginning in August with Pikmin 3 and better communicating the novelty of the system.

It appears Nintendo has censored the latest Fire Emblem: Awakening downloadable content.

As NeoGAF and IGN point out, the Summer Scramble DLC in North America and Europe censors out Tharja's behind, which is presented in full in the Japanese version.

A pictorial breakdown of the two versions is available below.

IGN reports that everything else in the DLC, including images of other characters in swimsuits, was not altered in any way. Nintendo has not commented on the matter.

South Park: The Stick of Truth will launch in 2013 as previously announced, an Ubisoft representative confirmed with Videogamer today.

No further update on how the game is progressing was provided, but the representative said South Park: The Stick of Truth is still "scheduled for release in calendar 2013."

Ubisoft purchased the game for $3.2 million in January as part of the THQ bankruptcy auction.

South Park: The Stick of Truth was supposed to launch March 5, 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. If past arrangements still hold, downloadable content for the game will come first to Xbox Live.

Former publisher THQ delayed the game in November, with then-president Jason Rubin saying he believes the game has the potential to be one of 2013's biggest.

"I believe South Park's market opportunity is significant," Rubin said at the time. "It is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated titles of calendar 2013. It is also an expansive title, encompassing multiple television seasons' worth of content. THQ is committed to giving gamers no less than the rich South Park game they have been waiting for and deserve."

South Park: The Stick of Truth is one of three titles developer Obsidian Entertainment is currently working on. The studio is also building isometric role-playing game Project Eternity and a next-generation title.

The previously revealed Fuse demo will launch May 7 on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, publisher Electronic Arts announced today.

The demo supports up to four player co-op online or two-player local split-screen. In the demo, players take on the role of four operatives and must protect mankind from Fuse, the nefarious alien energy source stolen by a paramilitary organization called Raven.

Fuse is the first multiplatform title from Insomniac Games, the studio most famous for its work on the Resistance franchise. It launches May 28 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and will not have an online pass or microtransactions.

The game was announced during the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, when it was known as OverStrike.

Google has hired industry veteran Noah Falstein as Chief Game Designer, though it is unclear what his duties at the technology giant will be. The news comes by way of TechCrunch, which spotted Falstein's updated LinkedIn resume, stating he joined Google last month.

Falstein has been in the games business since 1980, holding positions at LucasArts, 3DO, and DreamWorks Interactive. Most recently, he launched The Inspiracy, a consultancy firm for game production and design.

As part of his consulting work, Falstein worked with Remedy Entertainment to review a "major revision" to Alan Wake during a two-week "course correction" procedure.

No specifics about Falstein's position at Google have been specified, but TechCrunch points out that he has previously shown a significant interest in making "Serious Games." Falstein defines the endeavor as "using games, game technology, or game industry techniques for a purpose other than pure entertainment."

Fallout and Elder Scrolls company Bethesda will open a playtest lab at the id Software offices in Dallas, Texas, the publisher has announced. Gamers who apply and are accepted will get to play upcoming Bethesda titles and give feedback on their experiences.

"We are looking for people of all skill levels who enjoy playing games. We're interested in your feedback, whether you are a person that only plays games once in a while or the hardcore gamer that plays everything," Bethesda explained.

Those interested in participating can apply through the lab's website

Gamers must be 18 years of age or older to participate. Most play tests will last an hour or two and transportation will not be provided. In addition, fans cannot participate in Bethesda playtests if they work for a game developer or publisher, or if they are a journalist.

All gamers accepted into the Bethesda playtest lab must sign a non-disclosure agreement and display a government-issued photo identification. Participation is strictly voluntary and no compensation, outside of swag, will be provided.

All testing will take place in Dallas, Texas, though applications from anywhere in the United States will be accepted. No international applications will be considered.

Sony has dated its E3 2013 press Conference for Monday, June 10 at 18:00 PT/21:00 ET.

In the UK, the conference will take place on Tuesday June 11 at 02:00 BST.

Sony will likely use its press conference to show off more about the PlayStation 4, the next-generation console it announced in February and will launch globally later in 2013.

In previous years Sony has livestreamed its E3 press conference online.

Three other press conferences will be running ahead of Sony's on June 10: Microsoft at 09:30 PT, Ubisoft at 13:00 PT, and EA at 15:00 PT.

Nintendo has said it will not be holding a press conference at E3 this year, while Microsoft will be showing the software line-up for its next-generation Xbox during the show.

E3 2013 will take place from June 11 through 13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Open-world massively multiplayer online shooter Defiance has netted one million registered players, developer Trion Worlds has announced. The milestone comes one month after the game launched for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on April 2.

Trion Worlds also shared a number of in-game achievements, saying Defiance players have killed more than 500,000,000 hellbugs to date. In addition, players have driven 50,000,000 miles in the game and battled one million Arkfalls.

Defiance is a transmedia effort from Trion Worlds and TV network SyFy. The show of the same name broke records at the network, netting 2.7 million viewers for its debut episode. The premiere was SyFy's most-watched scripted series debut for adults in seven years.

Peter Molyneux, outspoken former Lionhead Studios boss, has commented on the possibility of a Fable MMO. Speaking with IGN, he said the idea is nothing new.

"When we were brainstorming what to do next in Fable, there was always a, 'Maybe we should go and do the MMO route?'," Molyneux said. "There were theories about how you would level up and class up and what the classes would be and so on, but we never got out of the brainstorming segment of that."

Molyneux explained that a Fable MMO could work "quite well" if the "charm" of the series--that being the world of Albion and its humor--were kept intact.

"I can see that that would work. The thing about Fable is that it was such a rich world. It was, well, what the name says it is. It’s all about Fable and Albion and this idea of legends and humour. RPGs are great for MMO transitions," Molyneux said.

"I can see that that concept works, and works quite well. I think the charm of Fable was in the feeling of the world and definitely the humour," he added. "If they keep that in an MMO, then there’s no reason why it shouldn’t do reasonably well, I don't think."

Lionhead Studios hired MMO veteran John Needham last month to replace Molyneux, who left the company in March 2012 to create independent studio 22 Cans.

Needham was formerly the CEO of Marvel Heroes developer Gazillion Entertainment, and before that City of Heroes maker Cryptic Studios. He's also been chief financial officer at Sony Online Entertainment.

Lionhead Studios' most recent title was the Kinect-exclusive Fable: The Journey. The studio currently has no announced games, though it has been hiring for a next-generation MMO-like game since May 2012.

Late last month, the company posted a job ad for a senior services engineer, who should have a "passion for playing online/multiplayer/MMO games."

Microsoft will announce its next-generation ambitions during a intimate event in Redmond, Washington on May 21.

Plans to resurrect the Zone of the Enders series have fallen flat, series creator and Metal Gear Solid boss Hideo Kojima has confirmed.

Kojima spoke about the cancellation last night on his radio show (via Siliconera), saying that plans to continue the mech-battling series with a sequel to 2003's Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner have been scrapped, and that the development team working on the project have disbanded.

The Enders Project was originally announced in May 2012 during a Konami event in Japan, with Kojima hinting at a new setting for the now-cancelled sequel.

The decision to cancel the game was made after the recent Zone of the Enders HD Collection did not live up to the expectations of the series' fans. The development team has said it is working on patching the PlayStation 3 version of the game to improve its performance, but an Xbox 360 version of the patch is not currently in the works.

Zone of the Enders HD's switch from 30fps to 60fps disrupted the smooth combat of the originals, the developer has concluded.

Kojima finished by asking fans, once again, if they would like to see a new Zone of the Enders game.

Aliens: Colonial Marines publisher Sega and developer Gearbox Software have responded to the false advertising claims alleged in a class action lawsuit.

"Sega cannot comment on specifics of ongoing litigation, but we are confident that the lawsuit is without merit and we will defend it vigorously," said a Sega spokesperson to Kotaku.

Gearbox also called the suit "beyond meritless" in a statement. "Attempting to wring a class action lawsuit out of a demonstration is beyond meritless. We continue to support the game, and will defend the rights of entertainers to share their works-in-progress without fear of frivolous litigation," said a spokesperson for the Borderlands 2 developer.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in a Californian court by firm Edelson LLC, claimed that the final game "bore little resemblance" to the early footage of Aliens: Colonial Marines shown in demos and gameplay trailers.

Aliens: Colonial Marines launched this year to a negative reception: GameSpot awarded the game a 4.5 in its review. Controversy surrounding the game continued, with posts by frustrated ex-developers, and questions over how much of the game was outsourced to other studios.

One of the Aliens: Colonial Marines developers, TimeGate Studios, has recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

Section 8 developer TimeGate Studios, which also contributed to Aliens: Colonial Marines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week in a Texas bankruptcy court.

Polygon obtained court documents that show the developer has a number of creditors and total liabilities ranging from $10 million to $50 million. Those claiming to be owed money include Epic Games, Agora Games, and DJ2 Entertainment, as well as a local pizza shop asking for $34.80.

Also listed as a top creditor in the bankruptcy filing is Southpeak Interactive, which published the original Section 8. The company is owed an "unknown" amount, according to the documents.

A TimeGate Studios representative could not be reached for comment.

TimeGate Studios' bankruptcy filing comes a month after the Sugar Land, Texas developer lost a fraud appeal case against Southpeak Interactive, facing $7.35 million in damages and the loss of the Section 8 license as a result.

The company laid off an unspecified number of people in early March.

The studio's current project is free-to-play stylized PC shooter Minimum. It is unclear how this projected will be affected going forward.

Former Microsoft higher-up and longtime Fable designer Peter Molyneux has offered his take on how Microsoft should handle the approach to its next-generation console. Speaking with Edge, Molyneux said he would like to see Microsoft make the platform game-centric above all else.

"What I would do is double-down on what this console is for: it's for playing games," Molyneux said. "It's for playing console games for this massive, incredibly loyal audience of gamers out there. When they start to mix all this other stuff in there I’m kind of slightly like: 'look, I don't want another way of looking at Facebook'. You know, I've got all the ways of looking at Facebook. I don't want another way of looking at Netflix. Just give me what I've paid my £299 for, and that is to play amazing, incredible computer games."

Molyneux left Microsoft in 2012 to start independent studio 22Cans. He suggested he was briefed on the next Xbox before he left the company, but is now only "kind of" aware of the approach Microsoft plans to take with the new platform.

The designer may have a role to play in Microsoft's next-generation announcement next month. He revealed earlier this week that there are 50 layers left in his latest game, Curiosity, and that he expects the center of the cube to be reached May 21, the same day as the next Xbox reveal.

"There's an interesting opportunity, possibly, for me to’ well, I can't say any more than that. There may be some words from me around that time. I'm not saying any more," Molyneux said.

Microsoft has previously suggested the next Xbox will be much more than just a destination for games. The company said its ambition for the platform's reveal event next month is to highlight the "beginning of a new generation of games, TV, and entertainment."

Microsoft also recently hired former CBS television executive Nancy Tellem to develop "interactive and linear content for Xbox" at a new production studio in Los Angeles to help make the Xbox platform an all-in-one destination for entertainment.

GameSpot is owned by CBS

[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, Gearbox Software confirmed the fourth and final expansion for Borderlands 2 is indeed called Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep. It will launch June 25 as a free download for owners of the game's Season Pass and $10 separately.

GameSpot will have impressions of the content ahead of its release.

The original story follows below

The name of the final Borderlands 2 downloadable content may have been revealed.

Image credit: Stealthy Box

Gearbox Software writer Anthony Burch tweeted an image (at right), revealing the content is called Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep. The tweet has been been deleted, but not before Stealthy Box was able to capture it.

A Gearbox Software representative was not immediately available to comment.

The $30 Borderlands 2 Season Pass includes four expansions, three of which (Captain Scarlett and Her Captain's Booty, Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage, and Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt) have already been released.

As was previously announced, the fourth and final Borderlands 2 expansion will launch by June 2013.

Indie publisher Ripstone Games has unveiled Men's Room Mayhem, a toilet-management simulator for the PlayStation Vita.

Ripstone boss Phil Gaskell describes the game as a mix of mobile hit Flight Control and 1971 movie Carry On At Your Convenience!

"In Men’s Room Mayhem you’re hired as the janitor of your very own chaotic men’s room. You’re responsible for directing patrons, keeping everywhere sparkling clean and steering patrons away from trouble," said Gaskell.

The game will also award score bonuses for observing etiquette, such as leaving a one urinal space between people going about their business. Waves of restroom visitors will increase as the game progresses, making the game more difficult. Players will control the comings and goings of the toilets by using the Vita touchscreen.

Men's Room Mayhem is being published by Ripstone and developed by Sawfly Studios, an indie team made up of ex-Studio Liverpool staff. Ripstone has previously overseen the release of Big Sky: Infinity and Knytt Underground.

No release or price for Men's Room Mayhem was mentioned by Sony.

Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection, a comprehensive compilation pack for PlayStation 3, will not come to Xbox 360 due to size issues.

Hideo Kojima explained during his online radio show (translated by Kotaku), that the bundle is only possible on PS3 because the console uses Blu-ray while the Xbox 360 uses DVD.

"I'm sorry to say an Xbox 360 version isn't being released, because an Xbox 360 version of Metal Gear Solid 4 hasn't gone on sale," Kojima said. "To explain the situation, the amount of data in MGS4 is just too enormous."

If Metal Gear Solid 4 were to release on Xbox 360, it would span up to seven discs, it was suggested. Still, Kojima said he would like to one day see the Collection on an Xbox platform, either this generation or next.

"I want to put it [The Legacy Collection] out [on Xbox 360]," Kojima continued. "But we won't be releasing it. When it's the next [Xbox] console, maybe we can release it [The Legacy Collection or Metal Gear Solid 4]."

Microsoft's next Xbox is rumored to feature a Blu-ray optical drive. The console is expected to be officially announced during an intimate briefing May 21 at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.