Activision plans to reboot its very promising True Crime franchise with a new iteration entitled True Crime. In development over at ModNation Racers developer United Front Games, True Crime follows the story of detective Wei Shen as he infiltrates one of Hong Kong’s most notorious crime syndicates, the Triads.

Set in Hong Kong, True Crime takes gamers through a wide variety of story missions and sandbox activities. The game also introduces handfuls of intriguing characters for gamers to interact with as they navigate through a truly unique and dangerous city.

“As our Spike TV VGA reveal trailer shows, we are dedicated to creating both an exceptional open-world gameplay experience through our combat, free-running, shooting and driving mechanics, as well as a rich story with memorable recurring characters. We want players to feel like an undercover cop experiencing the moral dilemmas and life and death situations of the HK underworld,” said Stephen van der Mescht, Executive Producer at United Front Games. True Crime is in development for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Michael Jackson maybe gone, but he’s not forgotten. One gamer may note of this with there very amazing tribute to  Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, using the characters within the Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic arcade title. The characters in the video are performing “Smooth Criminal”.

It’s been along time since UFC fans have had the pleasure of playing a video game with their favorite fighters within the virtual octagon. So long, in fact, that THQ had to build the game from the ground up with the help of the developers over at Yuke’s Media Creations, in order to “make up for the mistakes of previous title”. However, one can only wonder what’s so different; what makes this game so good and worth the wait?

When playing through UFC one of the many things you’ll notice is how well UFC 2009 Undisputed translates one of the most complex hand-on-hand combat sports into a enjoyable experience. The game has three fighting positions that can be executed during a fight: on your feet, the clinch, and your ground game. These positions blend together nicely, and depending on which moves you execute, in whatever position, you can execute a number of different combinations.

However, if I were to give you some advice, I’d say to go through the in-depth tutorial. Firstly, because it’s a requirement; but also because you’ll need it. And don’t try the online mode unless you have gone through at least half of the game’s career mode. This is because UFC 2009 Undisputed isn’t a game in where you just pick it up and start playing. Every fighter within this game has their own unique fighting style – Muay Thai, kickboxing, boxing, Brazillain Jui-Jitsu, wrestling, and Judo. You’ll have to learn each fighter’s style before you take anyone one.

Speaking of fighting, UFC 2009 Undisputed’s in-ring combat really puts an emphasis on realism. The title’s hand-to-hand combat has to be the most detailed part of it. Depending on your distance from your opponent, you can perform different strikes. The same goes for the clinch, but there’s a different aspect to it. In addition, to add the realism, the makers of Undisputed digitally recreated actual referees and corner men to add to the experience. But the real star is the amazing commentary from Joe Rogen and Mike Goldberg – the commentators from the actual events.

UFC 2009 Undisputed gives you the ability to create your own Ultimate Fighter – starting from the bottom, fighting your way to the top. But you’ll have to balance your Ultimate Fighter’s scheduling and training throughout your calender in the career mode, because it can ultimately affect your fights in the future. However, there are three major things that you’ll focus on during your time before a match: strength, speed, and cardio. Along with that, you can spar against AI opponents, gaining points to fill up any of your sixteen fighting style bars, which help customize which position your fighter’s really good at.

Graphically, everything looks sound within the octagon. The 80+ fighters look and fight like their reality-based counterparts, and the frame rate stays solid throughout a match. They developers were even nice enough to add damage calculation to the character models, and, when blood flies from one of these injured spots, it will stay on the floor for the whole match.

I have only a few problems with UFC 2009 Undisputed. Firstly is that flash knockouts happen way too often. Being a man that loves to fight tectonically, when a flash knockout happens out of the blue, it angers me and many players like me. Also, the soundtrack could have a lot more sounds featured throughout, because Undead can only rock for so long. Another thing is, they could have added the fighters walking into the virtual octagon much like they do on the televised events.

Closing Statement:

While it’s easy to say that Undisputed has its problems, there’s no denying that it’s a great fighting game. It’s atmospheric, and the characters feel and sound authentic. It seems that THQ have found themselves a yearly title that can hopefully stand the test of time. If you’re a fan of any fighting game, this is something that you should give a try.

Score: A-

That’s right. It seems just weeks after the release of THQ’s hit fighting game UFC 2009 Undisputed, EA has announced a title to counter that.

During the EA Press Conference, Peter Moore revealed that EA has plans to release EA Sports MMA, which is a Mix Martial Arts title coming to the system hear you (360 and PS3).

“With Fight Night Round 4 set to deliver a knockout with industry-leading visuals and genre-defining gameplay later this month, I couldn’t be more excited to announce the expansion of our combat sports strategy with EA Sports MMA coming in 2010,” said EA Sports President Peter Moore.

“Fans have been begging EA Sports to get into the cage, and EA Sports MMA will put them in control of the sport’s unique combat experience while finally, in an immersive interactive experience, capturing the raw intensity that has made mixed martial arts one of the fastest growing sports in the world. We’re ready for the fight.”

Normally, Dragon Ball games have a generic fighting system and they do not seem to differ with their predecessors. But, that looks like if it’s all about to change on the DS, once again.

Following in the same steps as Dragon Ball: Origins, a Dragon Ball game for the DS (not Dragon Ball Z), Namco Bandai have revealed, in the pages of Shonen Jump, the return of Goku on to the DS.

Dragon Ball Z Story: Saiyajin Raishû, as it called in Japan, is a RPG which you meet all known heroes from the Dragon Ball Z seires – Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, Krilin, and Yamcha.

Anyway, even if the scenario has not yet been official announced, we know however that it opens in a martial arts tournament. And judging by the artwork, first revealed by the Japanese magazine, it will be held during the first of the serie. Release scheduled is for next spring in Japan.