This fall looks to deliver another epic clash of the video game bands. Konami is set to join the console skirmishes with its new Rock Revolution, and developer Zoe Mode has been tapped to work on it. A new feature is primed to give the rhythm genre some breaths of freshness, and you can find out what it is by reading the full article after the jump.

Given that this year's biggest games are Nintendo's Wii Fit and Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), you guys might be thinking there's just too little space for both games to survive in the market. Well, that's not Zoe Mode's Ste Curran thinks. In an interview, both games can actually co-exist. Details in the full article.

Develop Magazine's Industry Excellence Awards broke records after gathering 500 games industry executives last night. Among them, 17 different companies and individuals claimed the 18 awards over 15 categories.

A panel of industry experts voted for the best in different categories to reward various creative achievements in game development - from visual arts to innovation. The diversity of the list gives us nothing but a positive outlook, and assurance that the market won't run out of good games if these guys are around.

Here's the list of winners that deserve our cheers:

• New Console IP - MotorStorm (Evolution/SCEE External Development)
• New Handheld IP - Crush (Zoe Mode)
• Best Use of a License - Lego Star Wars II (Traveller's Tales)
• Visual Arts - Rare (for Viva Piñata)
• Audio Accomplishment - FreeStyle (for B-Boy)
• Publishing Hero - Sega
• Innovation - Real Time Worlds (for Crackdown)
• Tools Provider - Havok
• Best Use of Online - Eden Studios (for Test Drive Unlimited)
• Services & Outsourcing - Babel Media
• Recruitment Company - Datascope
• New UK Studio - Realtime Worlds
• Handheld Studio - Rockstar Leeds
• Business Development - Blitz
• Independent Developer - Traveller's Tales
• In-house Developer - Ubisoft France
• Development Legend - Ian Hetherington
• Grand Prix - Sony

We're not sure about the exact criteria, but a good guess would say Sega earned the "Publishing Hero" award for having plenty of titles in all flavors under its belt. With Rockstar Leeds' big games in its arsenal (GTA: Liberty City/Vice City Stories), it's no surprise why the company is branded the best "Handheld Studio."

Sony's Grand Prix Award is due to 12 months of extensive support for internal and external developers to create cutting edge next-gen games.

"Doctor Stiles! The patient is reaching critical condition!" Yeah, well, I might not be a master at surgical procedures using a stylus or Wii remote, but maybe using a SIXAXIS perhaps? The game is called Bacterius in Japan, but in other shores, we know it quite well as none other than Nucleus. Or, if you wanna be smarty-pants about it, it's "the fl0w meets Blast Factor game" for the PSN (with a Trauma Center theme too).

We've got a couple of new screens for Nucleus today, all magnified to high-res love. The game is just about ready to roll out. But as to when specifically, we can't quite get a hold of a date yet.

   

Take your scalpel, more high-res pics behind the Full Article link.

  

More news today regarding the soon to be released PlayStation Network game, Bacterius. After checking out the official site, it's now time to check out more of the action via screenshots.

Ogle all you want, because we have 16 in-game images served up for you today, so there's definitely a lot to go around. Anyhow, we personally think it is reminiscent of flOw, but that perception is not to be taken negatively. We here at QJ really did enjoy flOw, and we think it's a good thing that more and more games like this are coming out for the PlayStation 3.

Anyway, enjoy these screens, and be sure to come back for more!

   

More Bacterius screens after the jump!

It should be remembered that LucasArts sealed the fate of rhythm-based video game title Traxion earlier this year when it announced that it will no longer be publishing the title. It felt like the decision was not appreciated by Kuju Entertainment (who's now changed their name to Zoe Mode) as the developer severed its publishing agreement with LucasArts.

Today, Zoe Mode head Ed Daly mentioned that they are still considering pushing through with the project and that they may even market Traxion as a PSP and an iPod game. Daly commented,

The terms of the deal with LucasArts are still confidential, so I can't comment on the details - but we have retained the rights to the IP and we're now looking at what we can do with the IP and the technology and what it's potential is. There's a long history of games that have been canned and came back as great proposition.

However, Ed Daly also shared that their studio is busy at the moment with other projects such as SingStar and EyeToy titles for Sony as well as unannounced next-gen titles. He added that when they find the time and the manpower, Traxion might even go next-gen,

When the teams free up the idea might find place on next-gen formats, or mobile phones or even iPods - there's plenty of use for the tech, but we just need to figure out what that will be and then build the resource so we can take the next step with it.

On a related matter, Ed Daly also revealed that Zoe Mode will be coming up with another music-puzzle game that will be released on the PlayStation Network (PSN) and/or Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). The concept is different in such a way that the game will be controlling the music instead of the other way around. He shared then,

It's interesting as there is no longer that one straightforward route to market and we're able to think that maybe we are better off investing a bit more in the self-publishing route. There are only a finite number of companies or publishers willing to invest so certain games we aren't always going to chase a traditional publishing deal for them.

When Sony touted its hardware-musclebound PlayStation 3 game console as a total entertainment system, it wasn't kidding. The machine does a lot more than let you play high-end games, play Blu-ray movies and occasionally cure cancer. Now, it can also be used to record and edit pictures, videos and audio with the help of an outfit called Zoe Mode.

Sony introduces a camera that attaches to the PS3 simply called Eye. It comes with a program called EyeCreate developed by Zoe Mode where users can manipulate media to their liking and upload them to popular video site YouTube.

"It's really, fun - pure old school stuff. You'd never get a chance to make anything like that elsewhere in the industry these days," says studio head Ed Daly of the new dimensions that the product brings to the PS3.

Essentially, what the system does is capture images with Eye and saves them to the PS3's hard drive. From there, users will have the ability to access what Daly calls "a YouTube-esque back end" that will include a number of upload and community features. Eventually, the peripheral hopes to have significant applications when the PS3 Home online community picks up some steam.