After revealing 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand (Xbox 360, PS3) for its May issue, Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine's upcoming June issue is revealing the next-gen resurrection of Splatterhouse. Splatterhouse and its sequels are considered to be the arcade games which paved the way for survival-horror titles. Head over the full article to see what else is there for the June EGM issue.

Ubisoft, Sony's sports game division, and Midway's Mortal Kombat development team were all named by Electronic Gaming Monthly's Editor-in-Chief Dan Hsu as companies that banned the gaming magazine from covering their products after receiving negative reviews. More details await at the full article.

Electronic Gaming Monthly, or EGM, is known for its rumors bin - and its biting and mostly unforgiving reviews. We found a thread at NeoGAF detailing the important parts of EGM's September issue. We'll skip the abysmal scores of Lair and Blue Dragon, instead, we'll give you the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption details and the issue in question's rumors bin.

The lucky guys at EGM were able to preview Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The verdict? They pointed out four things in particular. More action since there is more shooting, though exploration is still a big part of the game. Also, they mentioned a "lock-on free shooting" feature. Second point is the Wii controls, they indicated that it adds to the game's experience.

Third, they mentioned that the ship plays a major role in the game as players can use it as a mobile save point. Also, there were hints of aerial combat on the ship's options as well. Lastly, it was pointed out that "no Samus talking".

Next up is the rumors bin. Six were mentioned for the issue, most notable perhaps is the one about the maker of Jeanne d'Arc and Dragon Quest VIII - Level 5 is going to announce four new RPGs at the coming Tokyo Game Show (TGS). It was also said that Square Enix will start remaking another RPG franchise, Dragon Quest. Reportedly, it will be starting with Dragon Quest 4 for the DS.

EGM also ventured to speculate about the failure rates of Xbox 360s; apparently, Microsoft is "funneling all the best 360 parts to the elite model".

They also took a shot at Electronics Arts' Def Jam, saying that the next one in the franchise will be better than Icon. Another interesting piece of info is the one about IO Interactive, devs of Kane and Lynch. According to the report, IO will be making - or is already making - a kids' game.

Lastly, they reported that the next James Bond video game will be using Call of Duty 4's game engine.

What do you think? For now, we'll put all of these into rumors bin until they are given official confirmation.

Electronic Gaming Monthly's rumor mill is rolling again, with some interesting bits that raised our eyebrows. First up, Bionic Commando which was rumored to be available on PSN, is actually getting a next-gen makeover.

Level 5, in charge of creating the epic White Knight Story for the PS3, is said to be working on four other RPGs that will be announced at Tokyo Game Show this September. These mystery titles won't be hitting consoles exclusively, as handhelds could also use some love.

Here's what caught our interest the most: Dragon Quest remakes are actually bound to come. While Yoichi Wada debunked his own claim of DQ goodness before Dragon Quest IX makes its groundbreaking appearance on the DS, it's not impossible to see remakes after. According to the rumor,the DQ IV remake will see a DS release.

Now we've been skeptical as to whether LucasArts would actually allow a Knights of the Old Republic title to slip by and get shoved into an MMO. But as a recent report from Electronic Gaming Monthly pointed out, one of the mystery MMO titles suspiciously linked to the Star Wars franchise just might be the next installment to the KOTOR series, too.

 

The report stated, "BioWare has formed a new online team to create a Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic massively multiplayer online game." Okay, barring Star Wars: Galaxies 2 from coming to light, other rumors also persist that the recent DS development team formation was to bring the PC-only Dragon Age to the Nintendo DS handheld. That title isn't even in the final stages (or officially announced in the final stages) yet, and BioWare's working on bringing it over to the DS already?

Last but certainly not the least is also the peeping rumor that the PlayStation 3 could also have the opportunity to join the Dragon Age bandwagon. Yes, it's not a KOTOR claim or anything like before, but at least this one seems a little more fitting, if a rumor had was ever "fitting. "

But because BioWare isn't giving any new official word on EGM's reports, we have yet to confirm that these rumors are actually credible. We'll be keeping tabs on announcements.

For a good while now, we've been hearing various reports and rumors about the recent sale that Ziff Davis is intending to make. Well, apparently, the whole issue is expected to be finally put to rest "in the next day or two". Normally, this would have been good news.

The element in this whole saga which has been keeping the industry at the edge of their seats is the fact that Ziff Davis owns the widely popular gaming website 1UP.com, and its offline counterpart, Electronic Gaming Monthly. One has to remember that EGM has already been churning out reviews and features since the days of the NES, while 1UP has already established itself as one of the prime resources of gaming-related news on the web, so the prospect of these being sold off by its parent company will most definitely have major implications.

At the moment, many are waiting with bated breath on how the whole deal will affect the staff of both 1UP and EGM (and along with staff comes the content, of course), what sort of changes will the public be looking forward to, and whether these changes will be for the better or otherwise. Many have fears about the outcome of the deal, especially after the Official Playstation Magazine was cancelled just last November.

In the meantime, we'll be keeping an eye out for updates on this matter, so stay tuned.

Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes A Day doesn't really sound like the kind of fun you'd want to have on your DS, but it would seem that Nintendo has taken the risk with this game, with the intent of revolutionizing the gaming industry by placing brain exercises side by side with entertainment.

Released earlier this year, Brain Age was the first of a planned series of brain games from Nintendo. In it are several timed activities such as word and number puzzles, connect-the-dots exercises and other challenges. At the end of the game, the "brain age" is tracked on a graph to show progress over the weeks and months that the brain-exercise regimen is completed. The goal, ultimately, is for the brain age to be at least equal to or below the player's actual age.

This game was developed not only for entertainment, but more importantly, to tap into a growing body of medical research suggesting that brain teasers and problem-solving games can improve memory and brain function in older people, even those with dementia. Concurrently, researchers are now trying to quantify the effects of gaming in relation to aging. Some groups such as the Alzheimer's Association even recommend puzzles for therapy, all under the theory that these may improve memory, attention and problem-solving while warding off mental decline, thereby reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

The popular number game Sudoku by Ubisoft and Perplex City also cater to such interests, along with other games such as MSN Games' Hexic, Bejeweled, Mozaki Blocks, Bespelled and Scrabble Blast! These "brain food" games are claimed to aid brain function as well as aid in combating memory loss.

John Davidson, editorial director for Ziff Davis' video game magazines, including Electronic Gaming Monthly, has this to say about the emerging puzzle games: "(Nintendo's) Brain Age, I'm sure, will be a huge phenomenon. The challenge is getting people to try it, because once they do, they'll be hooked. ... It taps in nicely to the emerging puzzle-culture thing that's gaining some momentum."

At the rate things are going for these brain-exercise games, the time will soon come when our grandparents will want to have their own Nintendo DS. Now, THAT I have to see!