According to the game manual for Professor Layton and the Curious Village, the second game in the trilogy should be hitting US shores soon. Game Life is reporting that like it's Japanese Counterpart, the US version of Professor Layton contains a password entry screen that can only be unlocked by playing the game's sequel. The game manual states that the secret password "will be revealed in the sequel."

Of course we have certainly been promised games before that never materialized, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for this one. I've played a little bit of the Japanese version and was absolutely enthralled until I couldn't get any further due to my ignorance of the language. As soon as I can finish all this writing today you can bet I'll be diving into the US version and the prospect of a sequel leaves me dancing a mad jig.

Professor Layton Sequel Confirmed For U.S. [Game|Life]

Eidos Montreal Confirms Deus Ex 3

Eidos has thrown wide the doors to its new Montreal, Québec development studio, and despite their promise to deliver AAA titles, their first game has absolutely nothing to do with roadside service contracts. Instead they has announced that they are hard at work on Deus Ex 3, the next title in the critically acclaimed FPS / RPG hybrid, rumored since May. Gamasutra spoke to Eidos Montreal GM Stéphane D'Astous, who once again lied about AAA titles.

"We're only working on AAA, major titles. We're going to be developing only major AAA games, using only next-gen technology."

Eidos Announces Deus Ex 3, Talks New Montreal Studio [Gamasutra]

Take Two Confirms Manhunt II Hack

For those who missed it, hackers had allegedly de-blurrified the AO content in Manhunt II to play on PSP. Now Take Two has confirmed the rumor.

Multiple edits were made to revise Manhunt 2 for its M-rated version. Hackers apparently have altered one of those edits to produce an illegally modified version of the game that can only be played on an unauthorized, modified PlayStation Portable handheld system...Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said, "I stand behind the game and the ESRB ratings process. It is unfortunately the case that no one in the entertainment software industry is immune from hacking...We would also like to emphasize that Manhunt 2 is intended for an audience aged 17 and above.

BREAKING: Rockstar Confirms Manhunt 2 PSP Hack [gamepolitics]

It's Official: Spore Coming To The Wii

In a recent interview with UK's Guardian Unlimited, Will Wright has finally confirmed that a version of Spore is being developed for the Wii. And despite the different controls, Wright seems to like working on the platform.

We're doing Spore on the Wii, and we did MySims. It takes signifcant re-thinking to work out how you're going to do it. PS3 and Xbox 360 are similar enough that you can basically use the same system for both. So it comes down to what the interesting major platforms are and which markets we want to hit.

While this is probably one of the most noteworthy portions of the article, the rest of it is worth a read just to find out what the likes of Will Wright has as his home game set up, what kind of games he likes to play and of course, his take on the never ending debate on the effect of video games on children. A nice little read for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Q&A: Will Wright, creator of the Sims
[via GoNintendo]

Luke Plunkett can finally rest easy as the game that brought us the most horrific fursuit of all time has been confirmed as coming to the Nintendo Wii in 2008. Capcom has made an official announcement at their event in London, as reported by the folks at Eurogamer. This gives me a chance to finally finish the game on the system that almost seems like it was custom designed around the celestial paintbrush mechanic. Along with the painting, combat will also feature motion-controlled attacks. I hope you all enjoyed the PS2 test run - Okami is finally coming home.

Okami confirmed for Wii [Eurogamer]

Sure Super Smash Bros Brawl has been pushed back into 2008, but there's still going to be a ton of games to choose from for the Wii and DS. Check out the full list of release titles on the jump and keep an eye of for Link's Crossbow Training on the Wii and Assassin's Creed on the DS to name a few.

"Because of Wii and Nintendo DS momentum, third-party publishers are supporting our systems like never before," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Their lineup of diverse games is testament to how we make the population of gamers a little bigger every day."

Doors opened for the second TGS press day at 10 am sharp. Immediately, a huge mob descended on the Level 5 booth, and the wait clocked in at 90 minutes by a few minutes after 10am. (Level 5 is of course the developer behind Professor Layton, Dragon Quest IX and Jeanne D'Arc.) Remember: this is a press day. So if journalists and industry types are willing to wait an hour and a half to get a free demo DS cart of upcoming Level 5 titles Inazuma Eleven and Professor Layton and the Devil's Box, just imagine how brutal the public days will be. Hell! Hit the jump for the mass of people.

That's Haiti in Your Resident Evil 5

Msoft Investigator Confirms Halo 3 Manual

Remember that leaked Halo 3 manual we posted about late last month? The one we weren't sure was real or not? Turns out it is real after all. Well according to Microsoft's freelance attorneys it is.

We recently received an email from an "Internet Investigator" on behalf of Microsoft asking us to take down the images from the manual because they were, he claimed, an infringement on the trademark rights of Microsoft Corporation. Of course that's not even close to true, since they are, in fact, part of a legitimate newsworthy story... one we can now confirm is legit. Too legit, in fact, to quit. Hit the jump for the scary letter from Microsoft's Internet Investigator.

Leaked Halo 3 Manual?

Xbox 360 Falcon Chips Are Coming This Year

Microsoft: HDMI Coming to Premium 360s

Jaffe's Big News

SCEA today confirmed what we reported yesterday: The company has signed an exclusive game development deal with a new studio formed by David Jaffe and Scott Campbell. Their first Playstation game will be released in 2008.

Jaffe, the developer of GOW and other games, and Campbell, founder of Incognito, formed Eat, Sleep, Play in Utah under the SCEA Santa Monica Studios banner. As part of their multi-year-multi-title deal the studio will be creating Twisted Metal(R): Head On for PlayStation 2, which is scheduled to be released this winter. Twisted Metal: Head On will feature lost levels from the never released Twisted Metal: Black(R) Part II and a documentary on the series.

"We are extremely pleased to be working with David and Scott and supporting them in their new endeavor," said Shuhei Yoshida, senior vice president, product development, SCEA. "Through hit after hit, they have established themselves as two of the most talented individuals this industry has ever seen, and I look forward to seeing what kind of further gaming innovation they can bring to the PlayStation brand through our new development deal."

Hmmm, I hope Jaffe has more light to shed on this news. I'd love to hear what the new studio's first big project will be. Release after the jump.

Kaz Says SIXAXIS Is Not The Final PS3 Controller

Peter Moore Resigns, Mattrick Steps In

Microsoft just confirmed the news we exclusively broke two hours ago: Peter Moore resigned from Microsoft.

Moore will be replaced by Don Mattrick, a former president of EA and current external adviser for Microsoft, who will now lead the Interactive Entertainment Business for Microsoft. While the official release says that Moore "has decided to move his family back to the Bay Area for personal reasons and has secured another opportunity in the video games industry", we've heard that calls have already started going out within the industry confirming that the other "opportunity" is EA where he will head up EA Sports.

When we last spoke with Moore, just a week ago, he was comfortable in his element but did seem a bit more haggard than usual, perhaps because of his back-breaking E3 schedule or perhaps because he had this on his mind. Moore will stay with Microsoft through August before returning to the San Francisco Bay area.

The real question is when he will be getting those Madden cover-up tats. Hit the jump for the full on release.