Xanadu Next

Xanadu Next Games has announced that it has signed a North American distribution deal with Microsoft. The company's first project is a four-player online combat game that lets players engage in deathmatches as much as their own personal computer network can handle.

"Xanadu Next Games is a perfect match for the Xbox platform, which is great for us," said Vincent Bitetti, senior vice president of product marketing for Microsoft. "We look forward to working with Microsoft's next-generation machine to take full advantage of the incredible 3D features offered by our powerful Windows CE PC gaming platform. We are confident that our games will be a great addition to Microsoft's lineup of next-generation gaming platforms. Xanadu Next Games is looking forward to working closely with Microsoft, to deliver high-quality, high-quality games in their Xbox games."

The first two titles shown at E3 were highly regarded by PC gamers. Xanadu Next's last game was a vehicle combat game, a Quake-style shooter called Blade. Players drive a small mech in a quest to reclaim an artifact, with which they can either fight or help others.

Xanadu Next Games' first game is looking impressive.

"Xanadu Next Games is a beautiful game," said Kim. "Our teams have done an amazing job working on our visuals and sound, and the engine is excellent. The physics system has been put to good use, and it allows for physics to interact with the environment."

The first third-party games shown at E3 were BioShock and Dead Space, and they were shaping up very well. The upcoming third-party games were a huge surprise.

"I was worried that all the games shown at E3 would be in a complete release before the end of the year," Kim said. "We were hoping that people would like to see some of the games in early fall 2010."

"We were lucky to see the first public demonstration of Jade Empire during last year's show. It was the first time the entire industry was getting to see the game, and we're pleased to be the first company that has done so. It was a great moment for us," Kim continued. "We're still talking with our publishers about the game, but what we can tell you is that the game has a lot more to show."

"What we've seen is that Jade Empire has a lot more to show," he added. "It's an action-adventure title, but we are working very closely with BioWare on bringing it to the market."

Hironobu Sakaguchi, former director of the Final Fantasy series, will be the executive producer and vice president of Final Fantasy 14's development. His latest project, Dragon Quest IX, was announced during the Tokyo Game Show, although Square Enix will only confirm that it is in development. The only other tidbit of information regarding Dragon Quest IX was that it will be a 3D adventure.

That doesn't mean we're done with Dragon Quest, however. Rather, the fact that it is the first game in the series to be made for the Nintendo DS and a second game will also keep us all happy.

It's unclear at this point if the game will follow the formula set by Dragon Quest IX or not, but Hiromichi Tanaka has expressed a desire to make it a spin-off title rather than follow the core Dragon Quest titles.

The first two Dragon Quest games were released in Japan on the Super Famicom in 1990, but it has since made its way to North American platforms as a Game Boy Color title.

Like its predecessors, Dragon Quest IX will follow a party of six adventurers, each with their own weapons and magic.

Set in a mysterious world called Aleolis, the story will be told through Japanese voice-overs.

Ostensibly the first game in the series, it will be released alongside Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past and its sequel, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King.

There is no word on a release date for Dragon Quest IX, which was released in Japan on the Super Famicom in 1998.

The Wii title, The Adventurer of Taikyu will be released in Japan on July 11.

Square Enix plans to release two additional titles in the series - one is an RPG called Treasure of the Mountain, while the other is a rhythm game called Persona Q.

The company plans to release two more titles in the series, both scheduled for release in Japan on August 18.

Also set for release on August 18 is Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, a turn-based RPG set in an unknown world.

The RPG will be released in Japan on August 26, in Europe and North America, with its North American release following two weeks later on August 25.

The third game in the series is known as Dragon Quest Treasures, which will be released in Japan on August 29.