Team NINJA has officially unveiled their "definitive" version of their fighter series, Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate. The new version will be published by Tecmo Koei and will feature new modes from Dead or Alive 5 Plus, new stages and new fighters, including the first ever DOA appearance of Momiji and levels from the Ninja Gaiden series.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is a great addition to our franchise,” said Yosuke Hayashi, Team NINJA leader. “The game has a lot to offer and we’re excited that our fans will have the opportunity to enjoy an experience that delivers on our signature high energy fighting entertainment.”

Those looking forward to getting their hands on the newest revision of the DOA fighter will be happy to know that Ultimate will contain variety of single-player modes including story mode, but also retain the online battles that allow players to smack heads against each other in a variety of modes. Said lineup also appears to include the return of Leon, a fighter who debuted in Dead or Alive 2.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate will be making its way to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with a release date to be revealed later in the year.

Konami has revealed their QY 2012/2013 report, listing a 15 percent year-on-year loss in its digital entertainment and pachinko divisions but saw a growth in its social gaming sector thanks to the Dragon Collection.

Net revenues for Konami amounted to 226 billion Yen ($2.4B) which is down 15 percent compared to their earnings of 266 billion Yen last year. Net income saw an even larger loss, with 13.2 billion Yen earned ($140M), a decrease of 42.8% compared to last year's reported income of 23 billion yen.

Konami's largest losses were reportedly in the pachinko sector, where revenue fell more than 70 percent compared to last year. In the digital entertainment Konami reported more favourably, only seeing loss of 17.1 percent in year-on-year revenue. The release of titles like Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance did however help boost earnings through solid worldwide performances.

Finances for the company were however helped by the success of the new Metal Gear Solid Social Ops social title, as well as the launch of Dragon Collection which operates in partnership with Japanese social networking service GREE. The Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game series was also continuing strong performance, recently being recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's largest trading card game tournament for their Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series held in the U.S.

Dead Island and Call of Juarez Developer Techland have released a new trailer for their recently announced Hellraid, showing a few snippets of gameplay from the upcoming first person dungeon crawler.

Hellraid is a first-person co-op slasher that offers a single-player, story-driven campaign of hack & slash action and unique, competitive cooperation multiplayer that pits four players against the armies of hell -- and each other -- in a battle for points, rewards and fame.

Watch the video below. Hellraid is due in 2013 for PC, Xbox 30 and PlayStation 3.

NetherRealm Studios has revealed the first in-game footage of Batgirl, Injustice: Gods Among Us' next DLC character to join the DC Comics roster. The trailer reveals this Batgirl to be Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Commissioner Gordon who was paralyzed by Joker in the original DC Comics 'The Killing Joke' graphic novel.

Utilising the training from Batman and Robin, Batgirl shows off her moves against an aptly themed Joker dressed in his tropical vacation garb which was the outfit worn in the graphic novel. No date was sadly given on when Batgirl will be available but a price of 400 Microsoft Points and $7.35 for the PSN was offered. Presumably the Killing Joke costume pack will also be released alongside Batgirl, as was the case with the launch of Lobo.

For those wondering when the Wii U copy of Injustice: Gods Among Us would be gaining all these DLC packs, fear not as NetherRealm revealed through the game's official Twitter that we can expect "DLC for the Wii U version of Injustice: Gods Among Us to be available this summer. Stay tuned for more details."

Stardock has announced that the space strategy title Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion will be expanding with its first DLC pack, Forbidden Worlds.

The war between the loyalists and the rebels within the TEC, Advent and Vasari continues within the depths of Trader Space. Yet, this sector of the galaxy has far more worlds and history than any of the factions are aware. The need to survive forces each to expand into the unknown, discovering worlds of hazard, wealth, risk, and mystery. Most ominously, the Trader factions have been loathe to expand to these worlds due to the dark myths that surround them.

According to the announcement the DLC will be launching on June 5 for $5 and will include new planet types, planet specialization, technologies, planetary bonuses and additional Steam achievements.

Four new planet types to colonize and exploit (Barren, Ferrus, Greenhouse, Oceanic), each created with beautiful high-res textures.

New Planet Specialization System: Dedicate your worlds to either social or industrial output. Devoting your planet to social improvements will increase its population and culture, at the cost of trade income and ship production. Choosing an industrial path will limit your growth and culture, but make your planet a trading and ship building powerhouse.

15 new research subjects allow the races to conquer and expand onto the forbidden worlds.

Discover 40 new planet bonuses during your exploration of the galaxy, unlocking the dark past of the Sins’ universe.

Unlock five new Steam Achievements and display your mastery of forbidden space

The Forbidden Worlds DLC will be available direct from Stardock, as well as on Steam and other stores.

Flying Wild Hog, the Polish studio behind the sci-fi shooter Hard Reset (AusGamers 7.5/10), has revealed their next project as a "total re-imagining" of Shadow Warrior, to be published be Devolver Digital of Serious Sam and Hotline Miami fame.

An official website currently features only a single image with a slain member of the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia.

Shadow Warrior was originally released in 1997, developed by Duke Nukem 3D creators 3D Realms on the Build Engine. Like Duke, the game featured a lot of tongue in cheek humour, and political incorrectness --most notably its heavy use of Japanese racial stereotyping. It's unknown if those elements will be revived of modernised for the new game.

The announcement also indicates that Blade Analyzer Pro, a peculiar software product that Devolver Digital launched on Steam Greenlight yesterday, is likely to be some manner of marketing for the Shadow Warrior game. The publisher describes the application as "the latest consumer software product from Zilla Enterprises' weapons division and is designed to identify and catalog all manner of swords, knives, and other blades of historical significance" --Zilla Enterprises being the primary antagonists of the original Shadow Warrior.

For those looking at getting their hands on the HD version of previously 3DS-only Resident Evil: Revelations will be happy to know that a demo will be arriving next week according to Capcom (thanks ShackNews).

Available for play on PC, Wii U, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 14, the demo will offer a look at the claustrophobic hallways of the Queen Zenobia and give those eagerly awaiting a chance to try the title before putting down any hard earned cash. Check out the latest trailer below which shows off some of the unique features in the Wii U version.

Resident Evil: Revelations will be released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Wii U on May 24th.

SEGA has sent word that Creative Assembly's upcoming large-scale strategy game Total War: Rome 2 will be making its way to Australia on September 3 for both digital and physical formats. Those looking to pre-order the title can do so through the SEGA store but a handy collection of other retailers is available here and also Steam for PC (thanks TiT).

Those who do pre-order any of the editions on offer will receive the first DLC for Total War: Rome II for free. This first DLC, the Greek States Culture Pack, adds three additional playable factions to the game: Epirus, Athens and Sparta. These factions have their own unique units, buildings, missions and win conditions alongside a distinct tech tree and, in the case of Sparta, will present a considerable challenge to the advanced player wishing to restore the famous city state to its former glory.

For anyone in need of the full package, a Collector's Edition will be available for pre-order through select retailers and will include an impressive amount of physical ware including a complete, fully-functional Onager, or Roman siege catapult.

The Total War: ROME II Collector’s Edition will be produced in a single, extremely limited run; only 22,000 individually numbered copies will be manufactured. The CE contains a wealth of custom, Roman-themed games and items, bound in a leather-effect presentation box, complete with gold logo and magnetic closure

For the full Collector's Edition run down swing by the SEGA store.

Total War: Rome II will be available on PC.

Volition has released a new trailer for Saints Row IV, this time featuring an extended section of gameplay that was previously only shown within the confines of the PAX East expo in Boston.

The six minute clip is narrated by Senior Producer Jim Boone and previews several new features in the expansion turned full sequel, such as a mech suit, a dubstep gun, and an assortment of super powers. Check it out below.

Saints Row IV is due on August 23rd 2013 for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Indie developer Wolfram von Funck has unveiled a new gameplay video for his in-development solo title Cube World, a voxel-based open-world RPG that takes inspiration from various titles including Minecraft, Diablo and Zelda.

While no release date has yet been given on when exactly this ambitious project, the new in-game video offers a look at just what exactly you can get up to in Cube World. Crafting, climbing, shooting magic from a staff, backflips, gliding, exploring, boss fights, cats, stealth and also a short glimpse at sailing are just some of the features on offer in this quite expansive world.

Check out the video below for a look at just what you can do in Cube World, and also a glimpse at the really cool looking map overlay as well. Swing by the official blog site for more info on the game.

Thanks to the folks at Tripwire Interactive, we have a number of beta keys to give away for the next title in the Red Orchestra franchise, Rising Storm.

Rising Storm is the next game in the award-winning Red Orchestra franchise. You know the great gameplay, innovative features and realistic audio and graphics of RO2 - Rising Storm will take this to the Pacific Theater, adding even more features, new levels, new weapons and new factions. The game will allow the player to fight across iconic locations from the famous island-hopping campaigns in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, as the US Army and Marine Corps fight it out with the Imperial Japanese army and Special Naval Landing Forces.

Players will experience beach assaults, jungle fighting, close quarters night fighting and more across Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Saipan, among other iconic battles. The player is able to take the part of either side – American or Japanese – battling it out online in multiplayer on up to 64-player servers.

To grab yourself a beta key, simply be a member of AusGamers and head over to our giveaway page and you'll see the button to claim a unique key. Follow the instructions on the page to access the beta client on Steam and get playing.

Update: Sorry, we're out of keys already - we've asked for more, so stay tuned!

While Vancouver-based studio SKS Games may not have the longest history in video game development, after successfully publishing their first game last year titled End Night on iPad, the team comprised of Australian expat special effects artists - who have worked on films like Tron Legacy and 300 - have taken those bold visual styles into their debut PC title, a first-person open-world survival horror called The Forest.

As you would guess from the title, the game takes place in a forest after you are left stranded from a freak plane crash. You'll have to stay alive by trusting your survival instincts and learning how to build a shelter, hunt for food, maintain warmth, farm for food and set traps as you find you are sadly not the only one living in this forest.

As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants.

Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.

SKS's Mick Solomons revealed that inspiration for The Forest came from various cult classic films like The Descent and Cannibal Holocaust. Solomons also explained that as the player you'll be able to choose "between combat with crude weapons or taking the stealthy approach" when it comes to fighting enemies.

Currently The Forest is expecting an alpha release later this year on PC, but has also just been placed on Steam Greenlight for community voting. The Steam page also mentions support for virtual reality goggles Oculus Rift, which will definitely help intensify the first-person horror elements.

According to a report by The Guardian, results from a recent Microsoft survey indicate that almost £30.9 Million worth of in-app purchases in games and other software on smartphones and tablets each month, are being made by children using their parent's devices unsupervised (thanks Polygon).

28% of parents surveyed said that their children had made app and in-app purchases without their permission, and of those parents, 83% said they had suffered from "bill shock" – noticing an increase in their "monthly bill statement" – as a result.

When asked to estimate how much these purchases had added to their monthly bill, these parents – the 83% of the 28% – claimed an average of £34.18. Microsoft has done the maths to suggest that this equates to a "monthly spend on unauthorised apps and in-app purchases" of just under £30.9m.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to The Guardian that the £34.18 figure is "for parents whose kids made app/in-app purchases without their permission, who also had bill shock – for these parents the bill shock amount averaged an additional £34.18 on their monthly bill".

The report explains that Microsoft hopes to combat the issue somewhat with their Kid's Corner initiative on the Windows Phone platform, a safety tool aimed at making it easier for parents to lock their systems down. But given Windows Phone's limited share of the smartphone and tablet markets, it's unlikely to make a big difference on its own --particularly when 17% of parents surveyed apparently share their device passwords with their kids.

Careless parenting obviously not being limited to the UK, the amount of revenue being generated in this manner globally must be quite boggling, and further challenges the ethics behind microtransation-driven free-to-play games.

Evolution Studios' PlayStation 4 exclusive driving title DriveClub looks set to be "one of the biggest titles for Sony from a DLC perspective" according to the latest issue of Game Informer magazine, as outlined by Gaming Everything (via VG247).

The site also details several other features that the racing title will offer, including the ability to play the game in an offline single-player session which will track everything you do in a single profile. The game will also be heavily online focused as well, reportedly having "lengthy multi-stage events that take place over a number of days."

The title also looks to be pushing user-generated content, with "user-created race challenges encouraged" and the chance to create events "based on different parameters: car type, track, time of day, weather, etc." The use of apps outside of the console game will also allow user to create challenges, offering a more "on-the-go" option to the game.

The game is also being described as not being a "simulation-based racer" but instead a more arcade-styled title with damage to cars not determining car handling.

DriveClub has yet to be given an official release date, however expect to hear more at Sony's E3 2013 conference.

Capcom has released their FY 2012-13 Proposed Budget, posting a 14.6 percent increase in sales for the year to 94.07 million Yen ($950M) however their net income has suffered a 55.8 percent drop to 2.97 million Yen ($30M). The company states that the significant drop in net income is due to recent restructuring costs as the company shifts focus for a future in which it expects development costs to rise on next-generation consoles.

As a result, consolidated financial results for ended March 31, 2013 increased in net sales but decreased 17% in operating income from the previous year due to increased cost of sales and higher selling, general and administrative expenses. Also, net income decreased due to special loss relating to the cost of business restructure that was necessitated by the overhaul of the development system.

Digital sales for the company saw their flagship title Resident Evil 6 selling 4.9 million units, however subsequently plateaued. As a result of this, the title did not meet Capcom's projection which were initially 7 million but was then downgraded to 5 million, however saw another shift from 5 million to 4.9 million. In contrast though the newest Dragon's Dogma franchise has become a "greater-than-expected hit product in the domestic market, which has high profitability, and became an unprecedented million seller in the recent years as an original title."

Titles "Minna to Monhan Card Master" and "Resident Evil: Outbreak Survive" also saw a large increase thanks to the increasingly widespread smartphone market, with both titles reaching more than two million memberships each. Capcom's first Wii U title, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, was also a "smash hit" however its package sales were generally soft.

Capcom also revealed future forecasts, with the company expecting a high profit at the next fiscal year ending March 31, 2014 with 97,000 million yen in net sales and 12,000 million yen in operating income. Development will also take a new direction, moving resources to growing area of "online games (mobile, PC online and downloads for consumer games)," but also ensuring large-scale titles such as Monster Hunter 4 and Lost Planet 3 are focused on domestic and overseas markets. A shift of focus will also be implemented in preparation for higher development costs in the next-generation console lineup.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developer Turbine have today announced that the closed beta for their upcoming free-to-play DC Comics-inspired MOBA Infinite Crisis has now launched. To celebrate the new milestone, Turbine has revealed a new Champion Profile video featuring the infamous Joker.

A homicidal maniac who terrifies even Gotham's worst criminals, The Joker cavorts into fights blasting opponents with explosive dolls and boxing glove-adorned RPGs. He is the master of turning innocent props into deadly weapons as he employs his contraptions to corral his opponents into a fatal trap.

For those looking to jump in on the action make sure you've signed up for the closed beta at the official website, and check out the video below.

Infinite Crisis is expected to launch later this year on PC.

Publisher Electronic Arts has reportedly elected to forgoe licensing deals with weapons manufacturers for the use of their firearms in its videogames, but will continue to feature the equipment in upcoming titles (from Reuters, thanks GI International):

"We're telling a story and we have a point of view," EA's President of Labels Frank Gibeau, who leads product development of EA's biggest franchises, said in an interview. "A book doesn't pay for saying the word 'Colt,' for example."

Put another way, EA is asserting a constitutional free speech right to use trademarks without permission in its ever-more-realistic games.

Legal experts say there isn't a single case so far where gun companies have sued video game companies for using branded guns without a license.

But EA's legal theory is now being tested in court. Aircraft maker Bell Helicopter, a unit of Textron Inc, has argued that Electronic Arts' depiction of its helicopters in "Battlefield" was beyond fair use and amounted to a trademark infringement. EA preemptively went to court, suing Bell Helicopter to settle the issue.

Whether EA will be taking a similar approach with similar deals like vehicle licensing in racing games is unclear, but the publisher's claim "politics and NRA comments critical of game makers had nothing to do with its decision" on the firearms move suggests it's possible.

Update: tech blog Ars Technica claims that EA, nor it's biggest competitor Activision have directly paid licensing fees to feature firearms products in the games in the past, so this report is simply a continuation of that strategy.

After the PlayStation 4 unveiling offered no news on the next title in the series, Sony has announced that more details on the Gran Turismo franchise will be revealed at an event set to commemorate the series' 15th anniversary, according to a post on the official website.

The event will be taking place at the Silverstone Circuit raceway in Northamptonshire, U.K on May 15, with series designer and producer Kazunori Yamauchi said to be at the event to "provide an update on the future of the Gran Turismo game."

Yamauchi-san is set to provide an update on the future of the Gran Turismo game at Silverstone. His passion for all things automotive is evident in the ever-increasing levels of realism and attention to detail in Gran Turismo, and the huge range of cars for which it is famous. Strong relationships with the many manufacturers that have featured in the franchise have led to some fascinating co-operations with the automotive world; such as the Red Bull X2010 ultimate race car, GTbyCitroën concept, a design co-operation for a display featuring on the real Nissan GT-R and an innovative new app developed for the Toyota GT86.

Jim Ryan, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe stated that "the Gran Turismo franchise continues to be extremely important to PlayStation,” while also mentioning that "15 years of GT was an event worth celebrating along with our colleagues from the Americas, Asia and Japan."

A new teaser video was also released alongside the announcement, which offers a look at some fancy racing cars and the series' logo counting upwards to five before finishing with a cursor. Check it out below.

Activision Blizzard has today revealed their latest financial report for the first quarter of 2013, and with it news that Blizzard's MMO, World of Warcraft, has again dropped in subscriber numbers, down to 8.3 million subscribers from last reports of 9.1 million (via ShackNews).

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated during the financial conference call that the company is "concerned" about the recent drop . "While we have had a solid start to the year, we now believe that the risks and uncertainties in the back half of 2013 are more challenging than our earlier view, especially in the holiday quarter," he told investors in a prepared statement. "The shift in release dates of competing products, the disappointing launch of the Wii U, uncertainties regarding next-generation hardware, and subscriber declines in our World of Warcraft business all raise concerns, as do continued challenges in the global economy."

Kotick believes that in "releasing new content more frequently" the still number one MMO will be able to soften the recent subscriber drops, although admits that numbers for the title will still be down by the end of the year, citing recent competition from free-to-play titles as the major concern. Kotick also added that "we want to make it easier for lapsed players to get back into the game."

Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime also stated that competition from China's more prominent free-to-play titles played a part in the subscriber drop, with a decrease in the casual player amount as well. Morhaime also said that when casual players return, the company needs to make it easier for them to do so.

"It is important to use the transition from when players leave and then come back to make the experience less overwhelming," Morhaime said. Blizzard also plans to continue looking at player behavior and preferences when creating and releasing content updates for the MMO, one of which is coming later this month. "People consume content quickly. We need to create more innovative content to keep people engaged."

Developer DICE has confirmed that ongoing denial of service attacks on the server infrastructure for Battlefield 3 are behind the disruptions to the game's multiplayer component over the last several days.

Despite our security measures, we have been working around the clock to mitigate the impact of an ongoing denial-of-service attack on our Battlefield 3 game infrastructure over the last several days. While the motives are unclear, the focus of the attack has been interference with network communications preventing access to multiplayer gameplay. At this point, no user data is involved. We share your frustration about the impact this has had to our service and the ability for many of you to play Battlefield 3. We are working tirelessly to mitigate the problem.

Although the games servers themselves are hosted by third party companies around the world, their operation is dependent on centralised infrastructure of the Battlelog service for cheat protection, game stat tracking and persistent item unlocks.