Following suit of Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil: Code Veronica X is being re-released as an HD title. What does that mean? In a nutshell- slightly improved graphics. Usually HD remakes are nothing to write home about, and Resident Evil 4 wasn’t much of exception. The resolution was brought up a teeny, tiny notch… but hey, I won’t complain. I loved Resident Evil 4, so the chance to play it without having to dust off the Gamecube was welcomed.

Code Veronica X is looking to be a bit of a different story. Rather than the basic port most of the Resident Evil games have gotten in the past (Resident Evil 2 and 3 on the Gamecube were NO different than their original PS1 counterparts), Code Veronica X boasts numerous improvements. Everyone is unanimously impressed with the addition of dynamic lighting where characters and objects actually cast shadows. Other additions include widescreen support, updated menus and prettier cut scenes. Sadly, the FMVs remain the same, with no extra shine added. Bummer, but we’ll take what we can get.

Here’s a video giving us a comparison of the original PS2 and HD versions.

I’m a huge fan of the Resident Evil series (Okay, 5 was terrible…) and there’s no doubt I’ll be putting my grubby hands all over it. Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD will be available on the Playstation Network and the XBOX LIVE Marketplace September 27^th.

Certain Affinity sent us over a note today and wanted to let you guys know that if you’ve enjoyed Crimson Alliance since its debut on Xbox Live Arcade during the Summer of the Arcade, there is a new downloadable content expansion set to hit the marketplace. The new expansion is called Vengeance and set to be made available for download on October 12 for the low low price of 240 Microsoft Points.

The Expansion pack contains new campaign levels pitting players in a race against time to hunt down and destroy two dangerous new threats. Also included is a new Challenge Map called “Fistful of Coins,” which allows users to test their skill against an increasingly deadly onslaught of enemies, with mountains of gold at stake. New loot, new enemies, and new challenges await in the first downloadable content expansion pack for Crimson Alliance.

If you’re looking forward to upcoming release of Dead Island, Deep Silver announced today that you’ll be able to extend your Dead Island experience into your Xbox LIVE Avatar.

You’ll be able to choose between different outfits and items to tag on your Avatar. Read below to to check out what outfits and items you’ll be able to use on your Avatar.

[Xbox.com]

Gamers can choose the outfits from any of the four protagonists of Dead Island:

· former Hong Kong police officer Xian Mei, assassin character and sharp weapons expert
· ex-football star Logan, the all-rounder in the team and throwing expert
· one-hit-wonder-rapper Sam B, the tank character and blunt weapons expert
· and professional bodyguard Purna, leader character and firearms expert.

Additionally, items from Dead Island will be available for the players’ avatars – e.g. a paddle symbolising the melee combat focus in the game – or from the famous trailer – like the Hawaiian shirt known from the fat zombie or the father’s brown polo shirt. Additional Dead Island fan items range from themed apparel to props

Ubisoft has today announced that they are releasing some new DLC for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood on the 360 and PS3. It’s called “The Da Vinci Disappearance” and will be available in March 2011 for 800 Allards. It includes both single-player and multiplayer content. As you would expect, the single-player mode deals with Leonardo Da Vinci getting kidnapped by the Hermeticists. They’re an underground cult dedicated to transforming mankind apparently. Ezio will go after the cheeky gits by finding stolen paintings in order to retrieve Leo before it’s too late. There will be two new locations to play in too.

The multiplayer part of the DLC includes one new map, four new characters (Dama Ross, Knight, Marquis, and Pariah) and two new game modes (Escort and Assassinate). The new map is called Alhambra and its set in Spain’s Albaicin of Granada.

Capcom has announced some post-launch DLC for Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Shadow Mode will be a series of DLC packs that will let you fight against “custom-built computer opponents, modelled after famous players and specific themed teams”. The first few batches of DLC in this vein will be modelled on Capcom’s illustrious staff members. Shadow Mode will be released sometime in March, after the game is launched on 18th February on the PS3 and 360.

Bethesda has confirmed that the first DLC pack for Fallout: New Vegas will be released on the PS3 and PC on Tuesday, 22nd February. Dead Money was previously exclusive to the Xbox 360. However, the more important news is that there will be three brand new DLC packs in the coming months.

They will all launch simultaneously on the 360, PS3 and PC. Our Bethesda PR contact didn’t have much to say on the newly confirmed DLC, but apparently they will “have details to share with you on all of those soon”. Intriguing.

EA has officially announced that they will officially be releasing a demo for Dragon Age 2 on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The demo will be released on 22nd February, with that changing to the 23rd if you’re looking for the PS3 version and live in Europe. The demo includes the game’s prologue, and you will be able to pick from three classes to play as. After you have completed the demo, you will unlock the Hayders Razor for the full game. It increases health, mana and combat skills apparently.

Ubisoft’s Jade Raymond has confirmed that survival disaster game I Am Alive has been shifted from a retail release to an Xbox Live and PlayStation Network downloadable title. It will be released this year. Other than that, we don’t have any more info about it yet.

SEGA has today announced SEGA Rally Online Arcade. It’s a new title based on SEGA Rally Revo and SEGA Rally 3. It will be released on the PlayStation Network and the Xbox Live Arcade, with both versions supporting online multiplayer with up to five others.

“We’ve blended our hit arcade racing series with the best elements from the console versions to bring our fans the SEGA Rally experience in compact, downloadable format,” said Haruki Satomi, Vice President of Digital Business at SEGA. “Whether they’re new to the SEGA Rally series or they’ve participated in countless races over the years, we’re confident everyone will enjoy the wide variety of features included in this fan favourite.”

Also expect the Championship Battle mode and Time Attack to return. There will be 14 rally cars to choose from as well as online leaderboards. A release date hasn’t been confirmed yet, but SEGA was adamant that it will be released this year.

Oddworld Inhabitants has announced a HD remake of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. UK developer Just Add Water will be handling development duties. “It’s basically Abe’s Oddysee being redone in a 3D physics engine as a 2D side-scrolling platformer,” series creator Lorne Lanning said.

“So the way Just Add Water wants to approach it, we thought was very smart; they are not trying to reinvent any wheels. It’s like, ‘Can we make that experience in a new engine, with new tech, in the old way?’”

A release date and platform haven’t been announced yet. Abe’s Oddysee originally came out on the PS1 and PC back in 1997. There were a few sequels afterwards and the series did pretty well. Recently, all the games have been put into a bundle that’s available to download from Steam in a collection entitled “Oddbox”.

A HD remake of Stranger’s Wrath will be released on PSN later this year. Lanning believes that Microsoft is blocking an Xbox Live Arcade version of the game being released. “We have Stranger all ready to go on XBLA, but the answer keeps being no,” he said. “We’re still talking to them and we’re hoping to work it out.”

Capcom has announced that MotoGP 10/11 will be released on 18th March in Europe. There will be a demo of the game released on the PlayStation Store and the Xbox Live Marketplace before then in February. The demo lets gamers play as Danny Pedrosa and Andrea Davizioso on the Mugello track. It has both Championship and Time Trial modes, too.

EA has announced Dead Space 2: Severed. It’s the first DLC pack for Dead Space 2, and adds two standalone chapters to the single-player game. The protagonists for Severed are Gabe Weller and Lexine Murdock, the two main characters from Dead Space: Extraction. Characters control Weller, a Sprawl Security Guard. His and Lexine’s story takes place at the same time as Isaac’s adventures in Dead Space 2. EA hasn’t put a date or price on the DLC yet. Dead Space 2 will be released in Europe this Friday.

Demos for Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 have now been released on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The Bulletstorm demo clocks in at 1.08GB, and is due to be released on the PlayStation Network tomorrow. It features the Echo mode; a co-op mode that tracks and compares player scores while people play through campaign locations. The Crysis 2 multiplayer demo is exclusive to the 360, and that comes in at a respectable 1.80GB. It features the Skyline map and two game modes: Team Instant Action and Crash Site.

Crytek have announced that a multiplayer demo for Crysis 2 will be released exclusively on the Xbox Live Marketplace on Tuesday 25th January. Quite why a previously PC-exclusive franchise is getting a 360 exclusive demo is beyond us, but there we go. The content of the demo hasn’t been confirmed yet, but that trailer up there might be some indication. Crysis 2 will be released on the 360, PS3 and PC on March 25th.

EA has announced that they will be releasing a demo of Bulletstorm on the Xbox Live Marketplace on 25th January and the PlayStation Network on 26th January. The demo includes Echo mode, which is a co-operative mode that tracks and compares player scores whilst they shoot about some campaign locations. Apparently the demo only has one map, which is a collapsed building. Players will have to traverse that and shoot people in the face, because war never changes.

Essentially, the aim of the game is to kill bad guys as creatively as possible. The Skillshot system will mark you on your creativity, with big points being awarded for doing something flashy. The demo will also let gamers unlock upgrades to use in the main game’s Anarchy multiplayer mode, including the Crimson Leash and Stealth Armour.

Ilomilo is a weird game. It comes across as this odd cutesy thing with bizarre-looking characters an odd gameworld and nothing more. The presentation is muddled up in its own rubbish and it doesn’t offer the best of first impressions. Despite this, what lurks beneath the ridiculous aesthetics and the “plot” (one dude wants to meet another for some afternoon tea) is a cheeky little puzzler.

Ilo and Milo are two thumb-shaped dudes that like meeting together every day in the park for a brew and a biscuit. Apparently, they get upset when they have to go home. The game follows their progress as they try to meet each other in each of their world’s levels. It’s not exactly a lightening plot, and macabre individuals like myself will scoff at the lack of blacks.

However, the gameplay is something quite lovely. You have to switch between Ilo and Milo (or play as just one if you want to do online co-op) to make them meet in the middle of a level. It isn’t as easy as it sounds, as both are on different paths and you have to solve a variety of puzzles to get them on the same one. The puzzles may seem simple, but there’s a pleasant amount of exploration on offer here that always serves to complicate matters.

The puzzles may include creating bridges, rising platforms, directing animals to eat away parts of a level and even some naughty gravity-changing. It’s an effective mix that can get tough, but you will never rip your controller to bits like with a tricky Japanese game. What can be annoying though is that some levels will force you to restart due to some glitches. These are mainly created by the gravity-changing elements, where sometimes it can be impossible to get to another/the same gravity pad to get back to your previous state.

The problem with Ilomilo is that it is too simple and basic. There just isn’t a whole lot to do in order to keep you interested. In a world when we can get instant gratification anytime we please, our entertainment needs to do more all of the time to keep us plugged in to the action. What’s on offer here is great for simple puzzle folk, but people wanting a bit of fire to their games will be left disappointed. Coupled with the presentation, it is fair to assume that core players just won’t feel connected to what’s going on here.

Verdict: Ilomilo is technically entertainment and looks pleasant enough, but the presentation is just too weird. We can’t connect to the experience and that lets down a game that could have been so much more. Puzzle fans will enjoy what’s on offer here if they can really get into the game, but even that’s a challenge.

EA has unveiled the first piece of Dragon Age 2 DLC. It will be called The Exiled Prince. Expect a new companion and missions in the pack for the sum of $7 or 560 Allards. If you buy the Signature Edition of Dragon Age 2 then you can get the DLC for free. The Signature Edition is the same price as the regular edition for anyone that pre-orders the game before 11th January.

Capcom has slapped a date on Bionic Commando Rearmed 2. It will be released on the PlayStation Network on 1st February in the US and on the Xbox Live Arcade on 2nd February. The PSN version will cost $14.99 and the XBLA release will set you back 1200 Allards.

Microsoft has announced that the 2011 Xbox Live Arcade House Party promotion will be starting on February 16th. It will include the new Beyond Good & Evil HD revamp, Hard Corps Rising, Bejewelled Blitz, Full House Poker and Torchlight.

Atari has announced Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale for the PC, XBLA and PSN. It will be released in spring 2011 and is currently under development at Bedlam Games. Expect lots of the usual fantasy stuff (Realms under attack by some evil dude) and a multiplayer mode that has a “riveting” narrative apparently.