Well, they always said good things come to those who wait. After completing all of the fine-tuning and further enhancement in Alone in the Dark's PS3 version, Atari and Eden Studios were prompted to give the game a bit of a name change (err, name extension, rather). Most of the changes in the PS3 version are gameplay tweaks, but content-wise, it'll remain the same as all its counterparts ...except for one so-called "epic" bit during Episode 6. More info and a new trailer in the full article.

While preemption is the best cure, it's good to know that there's always remedy to fall back on to make up for that lack of preemption. In the case of Alone in the Dark's (PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii) developers, that's what they're doing with the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. Finding the Xbox 360 version problematic, they improved the PS3 version; and finding that the PS3 version is now way better than the 360 one, they're patching the latter to keep up with the new and improved PS3 version. There's all the love in the family.

Have you always been asking yourself, where did Phil Harrison go? Well, he joined Infogrames. The ex-Sony Computer Entertainment president now plays a significant role in Atari's slow comeback - though that would be an understatement in itself. He is the president of Atari-parent Infogrames, after all. More at the full story.

Develop has recently announced the list of finalists nominated to receive awards offered by the Develop Industry Excellence Awards. Set for the region of UK and Europe, the awards will be held during the Develop Conference & Expo to be held this year at Brighton. Again.

 

Top of the nominees list is Realtime Worlds (Crackdown), bagging a whopping seven nominations. Evolution Studios (MotorStorm), Rare (Viva Piñata), SCEE Studio Liverpool (Formula One Championship Edition), and independent developer and publisher Introversion (DEFCON) get three nominations a-piece. Other nominees include GSC Game World (S.T.A.L.K.E.R.) from Russia, EA DICE (Battlefield series) and Avalanche from Sweden, Opera from Norway, and Fishlabs from Germany.

Some of the big names nominated for the 2007 awards night include Eidos Hungary, Ubisoft France development studios, Eden Studios, and Kynogon. The fate of these nominees will be decided by a panel of almost 100 industry experts who choose only excellence over anything else. Stuart Dinsey, publisher of Develop magazine, stated:

In a period which has seen the launch of two home consoles, the continued improvement of Xbox 360 and PC software, and the mobile games market emerge as a genuine creative and commercial alternative to the more traditional games platforms, only the most excellent titles have any chance of standing out from the crowd.

Two other special awards, Development Legend and overall Grand Prix, will be given away in the awards night on July 25 to be honored to individuals, companies, or titles deserving in the eyes of the magazine's editorial staff.

Talk about being off the radar for approaching-eternia. The last time we had anything from Eden Studios' Alone in the Dark: Near Death Investigation was back in mid-September of last year. Now we get to see something about this game, only it's not much, really. Over in the Continent, Xbox 360 Only reports that Atari plans to have Alone in the Dark out for "simultaneous release" in the "fourth trimester of this year", according to the English translation on the site.

"Fourth trimester of this year." (4th 3mester) Must be the new math... Now with "simultaneous release", it could mean for its three platforms, 360, PS3, and PC. Anyway, Xbox 360 Only didn't clarify or reveal anything else from what they've read from Atari's "release list". It still first within Atari's projected fiscal year 2008 release (April 2007-March 2008 - wait, isn't this the 2007 fiscal year?) schedule for Alone in the Dark. Right now, we just want to see more new details of this game see the light of day. Being alone in the dark can get pretty lonesome, pretty quick.

Eden Studios has generously presented Alone in the Dark's demo with a few more words concerning the gameplay. Even though this survival-horror game (no, Eden Studios says it's called action-driven suspense) is expected to ship for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime in 2007, there's a lot of preview details that makes us anticipate its release. Some of these are about weapons, cars, visual effects, mysterious action locations, and the retailing of the game itself.

One key feature of the survival horror game is the weapon system. Players can choose their guns and items from Edward Carnby's left and right pockets. They can easily be accessed and tucked away again. Then, player immersion can go a long way down to the use of cars. Moving the analog stick allows players to position themselves from the driver's seat to the backseat or act as triggermen.

Camera angles and visual effects allow players to get a real taste of action. These are evident on the motion blur, dense lighting, and depth of field. But the real suspense lies in the fact that all the action happens in New York's Central Park. Unbeknownst to many, this might just answer some of the mysteries lurking in the conspiracy theories that add suspense to the game.

No word on pricing yet, but there's a possibility that you can buy Alone in the Dark per episode as you would a regular TV series. Eden Studios says it's much like buying a whole or part of a TV season on the Internet or in stores. More details about this game will soon come out, and expect us here at QJ to give you the latest updates.