LOS ANGELES — Devoted Tron fans were granted an early look at the trailer for Tron Legacy Saturday.

Both Tron Legacy director Joseph Kosinski and original Tron helmer Steven Lisberger were on hand to introduce the two-minute trailer, screened in an Imax theater here as part of an ongoing viral promotion for the movie. Kosinski called his sequel the “first movie in which an actor plays against a younger version of himself,” alluding to Jeff Bridges reprising his role of Kevin ..read the full article

The box art of Super Mario Galaxy 2 has been unveiled. The gameplay will be similar to the first Super Mario Galaxy, with a focus on platforming based on and around 3D planets with varying sizes and landscapes. The Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be out on May 23rd, 2010 exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. [DigitalBattle]

Square Enix has recently announced the release date for the Just Cause 2 demo. This much awaited demo will hit Xbox Live, PSN and Steam starting on March 4th (next week), while the full version of the game will be out on March 26th. [VG247]

Two weeks in, and The Tester has not yet been canceled. Probably because it’s not on TV.

The Tester, a reality show available through the PlayStation Network, follows the adventures of 11 contestants as they attempt to win a series of contrived challenges and convince a panel of expert industry judges to please send them home so they can see their families again and not have to live in a converted warehouse on a Sony studio lot. In the end, one ..read the full article

Blizzard hopes to have StarCraft II on store shelves in the first half of 2010.

Chris Sigaty, production director of StarCraft II, revealed the game’s targeted launch window in an interview for Blizzcast, an official podcast focusing on games created by Blizzard. Sigaty also stated in the interview that the current beta test of the game should last for around three months.

StarCraft II is the sequel to a 1998 real-time strategy game that puts players in control of one of ..read the full article

Atari re-released its classic arcade game Missile Command as a free, multiplayer browser game Thurdsay.

The new edition of the game was created by social gaming outfit OMGPOP. The fresh take on Missile Command can be played at OMGPOP’s website or via its own dedicated site, where you’ll find lots of information about the history of the game. Either way, the game has hooks in it that connect you to OMGPOP’s social network service and all the achievements and messaging that ..read the full article

Here are two unveiled pictures of Skate 3’s box art. FYI, the tag line for Skate 3 is “Team Up. Throw Down”. The game is set in a new city called “Port Carverton” that will be made up of four districts. The game will be launched in May 2010 on both Sony PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. Watch the video after the jump.

[Joystiq]

Check out the new trailer from Nintendo’s upcoming Super Mario Galaxy 2 title. For your info, the game will hit US on May 23rd for the Nintendo Wii platform. Watch the trailer after the jump.

[YouTube]

SAN FRANCISCO — Nintendo’s Wii console might not sell as well this year as it did in 2009, executive vice president Cammie Dunaway said Thursday.

Speaking to Wired.com during the company’s media summit at the W hotel in San Francisco, Dunaway said that at this point in the lifecycle of Nintendo’s home console, sales might not continue to climb. “It’s natural that at this point in the lifecycle, going in to our fifth year, that we’re probably not going to sell ..read the full article

If you only listen to one two-hour podcast about Final Fantasy XIII, make it this week’s Active Time Babble.

I’m usually on 1up’s Retronauts, but just this once Parish let me on his role-playing game podcast because, well, I actually played an RPG just recently. Also, I really liked doing this show: JP, co-host Kat Bailey, Christian Nutt and I all have strong opinions about FFXIII’s total wackiness and I think it made for a solid discussion.

And quite spoiler-free, as I ..read the full article

SAN FRANCISCO — High-quality Wii games from third parties may be few and far between, but Guilty Party could buck that trend.

Guilty Party, unveiled Wednesday at a Nintendo media briefing, is best thought of as a more complex version of the murder-mystery board game Clue. It’s the first collaboration between Stubbs the Zombie creator Wideload Games and its new corporate overlords at Disney. From all appearances, it’s a match made in heaven: Wideload’s penchant for comedy and family-friendly party games ..read the full article

TOKYO — Blockbuster movies and videogames are often compared to amusement park “thrill rides.”

At the AOU Expo this past weekend, I saw a new arcade game that looks to bridge the gap between the two, offering players a ride to go along with their pretend violence.

Dead Storm Pirates, created by Namco Bandai, is a two-player shooter that raises and lowers the players’ seats inside the enclosed cabinet. The movement gives the action on screen a lot more weight: When our ..read the full article

Tickets for five preview screenings of Tron Legacy go up for grabs today at 4 PM Eastern.

The screenings were announced yesterday as part of a viral advertising campaign masterminded by 42 Entertainment. The campaign culminated with the discovery of a new site dubbed Pit Cell, where fans found the details for five screenings, to be held on March 27 at IMAX theaters in New York, Los Angeles, London, Toronto and Sydney.

Considering the fact that Tron Legacy doesn’t come out ..read the full article

Buy Battlefield: Bad Company 2 used and you’ll miss out on some free content, publisher Electronic Arts has said.

EA announced Thursday that it will give two new downloadable levels to players that buy new copies of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The maps will be available on March 2, the same day that the multiplayer shooter launches on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Like most new games from Electronic Arts, Battlefield comes with a code printed on a card that’s tucked ..read the full article

After Universal won a bidding war last year over the movie rights to Asteroids, Atari now hopes to launch a movie based on the classic arcade game Missile Command.

The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that the venerable game company has been actively pitching studios on the Missile Command concept. There’s a good chance, says the Times, that the project will wind up at Fox through former Newscorp CEO Peter Chernin’s production company.

Missile Command, developed by Tempest creator Dave Theurer, ..read the full article

The latest installment of King of Fighters video game series has been announced by Osaka-based game developer SNK Playmore. The new King of Fighters XIII will run on the Taito X2 arcade system board. SNK is expected to reveal more about this new fighter game next month. We will keep you posted. [Kotaku]

Nintendo of America has made an announcement concerning the upcoming Nintendo DSi XL release date for the North American market. The announcement was made during the Nintendo Summit this morning, and based on their statements, the DSi XL will hit US on March 28th for a retail price of $189.99. As a reminder, the DSi XL features dual 4.2-inch screens and comes bundled with a super-sized stylus. [Kotaku]

SAN FRANCISCO — I’m more excited about Super Mario Galaxy 2 than about any other game at Nintendo’s summit. And why shouldn’t I be?

Available in the U.S. this May, Galaxy 2 is the sequel to one of the best games of the past few years. Super Mario Galaxy perfected the 3-D Mario game, with gravity-based gameplay mechanics that spawned tons of unique level designs and surprising styles of play. Galaxy 2 exists because the development team just didn’t stop coming ..read the full article