You know you can never go wrong with an LotR game that lets you play as an Ent. I mean - how cool is that?! Yay for spreading wanton destruction as a walking, talking tree! Watch out for next year then: Pandemic Studios just announced over the presswire that LotR: Conquest will be released simultaneously for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and DS on January 9 of next year. Check out a new trailer (and some old screens) in the full article.

Due to unfavorable business circumstances, Stormfront Studios was forced to shut down, leaving its 33 employees wandering about looking for new work. It's always sad to hear news like this, especially when the studio already worked on notable franchises such as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Eragon (Xbox 360, PSP, PC) and other games. More in the full article.

In an official announcement heralded via press wire, Ubisoft proudly touted their agreement with Twentieth Century Fox on developing a video game adaptation of James Cameron's "Avatar," a feature film that would realign the filmmaker firmly within the Hollywood blockbuster types.

 

Cameron, known for his renderings of "Titanic," "True Lies," "The Abyss," "Aliens," "The Terminator," and "Terminator 2: Judgement Day," is now recreating a new, surreal world on the Earth-like paradise of Alpha Centauri. The stories plot places an ex-Marine between physical conflicts occurring among life forms, called the Na'Vi, and emotional conflicts stirring within himself, as he struggles to conform his human mind inside an alien body.

And with special effects veterans WETA Digital ("The Lord of the Rings," "King Kong") contracted by Cameron to create a captivating alien world complete with photo-realistic sceneries, life and cultural detail into the highly-anticipated motion picture, he is giving Ubisoft complete freedom to develop the game independent of the movie experience. Cameron himself stated:

I told the Ubisoft team I wanted them to be free to do their very best work, and not think of this as a movie-based game. They responded with a fully realized presentation which captured the soul of the world and the characters, while promising to be a knockout game on its own terms. Their passion inspired my confidence that they are going to do something transcendental.

With more than six months to go, Ubisoft plans to release the game simultaneously with the motion picture's premier on May 2009. But on which platform the game will be released has not been stated officially, beckoning us to reconsider a multi-platform release as with all other movie-based game releases. More on the genre and other details of the game as they roll in.

For the girl gamers out there looking for ways to let your voice be heard, we're announcing a poll just for you. Gamergirlsradio.com, Gameinatrix.com and the KRT Ladies have just announced the opening of their Girl Gamer Awards poll, which is your chance to say which your favorite game is, be it for the console (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii), portable (DS, PSP), or PC.

Winners of this poll will be granted the "Girl Gamer Approved" seal, with this poll hopefully increasing awareness among publishers and developers regarding what sort of products women involved in the gaming industry want.

The polls begin this March 28, and will run until April 29. Voting will be conducted at the Gameinatrix site, although the ladies are also suggested to check out the awards nominees in the list below:

Platformer

• New Super Mario Brothers
• Loco Roco
• Elebits
• Yoshi’s Island
• Rayman Raving Rabbids

RPG/Action/Adventure

• Zelda:Twilight Princess
• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
• Oblivion:Elder Scrolls

FPS

• Gears of War
• Rainbow 6: Vegas
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
• Call of Duty 3

Game of the Year

• Viva Pinata
• The Sims 2
• Gears of War
• Rainbow 6:Vegas
• Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

The full list awaits after the jump!

Clover was born with a mission: to produce creative, innovative games. Two years ago, Capcom claimed that the industry had grown stale on a diet of recycled sequels and genres and that the time was right to look past muscles, cars, football, and guns and introduce some truly original (obscure) content and ideas into the scene. So starts Clover.

There were some hits on Clover's part: Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, and Okami were all artistically original and were amazingly fresh. The problem is that they were only critical hits. The hardcore and the appreciative loved them. They "got it" because they were fresh, bold, and at times satirical. Nobody else did.

Capcom is after all in the business of making money. It's only logical that they drop a venture that isn't profitable anymore. We as gamers can't really blame them and zealously (fan-boy-ish-ly) call them evil. So what exactly can you blame on Capcom?

The full article awaits after the jump!