Where Indie Nation is concerned, I usually make a quick plug for the game before the jump, then halfheartedly tell you to download the game first andmaybehit the jump later to hear my disjointed, irrelevant thoughts on it. I’m not going to do that this time, becausePhotopiais too damn good, and too damn important, to be spoiled by my ramblings. My thoughts on the game can still be found after the jump, but I must insist:do not hit the jump until you have played through the entire game....

[Update: The Facebook page has changed to a new teaser loop, showing Altaïr‘s birth date and a symbol of a double-headed bird holding the Apple of Eden and a blade — an image of which is now in the gallery] Another tiny piece got revealed in theAssassin’s CreedFacebook tease-a-thon. This time it shows the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, thesealof Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I (1494-1566) and a date: June 24th, 1459....

For the past couple of weeks, Jack Black has been going around dressed up as Eddie Riggs fromBrutal Legendpromoting the game at various venues. His latest appearance as the roadie hero took him on The Jimmy Kimmel Show last night where he talked up the game and did some OUTRAGEOUS JACK BLACK ANTICS!The entire interview is split up in five videos on YouTube where Jack talks about the game, taking steroids, does some pushups and talks about his birthday....

If you already have thefantastic PSN titleJoe Danger, you can skip ahead to the next post. This is for those that haven’t tried the game yet. There’s a demo coming for Joe Danger. I don’t know what took them so long. If I were Hello Games, I would have been showing this bad boy off in demo form from day one. It’s never too late, I guess. Tomorrow the North American PlayStation store will be updated, and the demo will be available....

If Microsoft’s Kinect were a person, I’m guessing it would be a socially busted nerd, so it wouldn’t know any better. I’m imagining that it would blurt out its guess for a woman’s age without hesitation. Then you’d facepalm and tell it how much of a dork it is. Microsoft’s latest patent for its Kinect sensor can measure bodily proportions in a 3D space and guess a user’s age. Beyond offending women, a good use of this tech would have the sensor guessing age to lock out age-restricted games for the young’ins....

Metal fans with a close eye on the upcomingGuitar Hero: Metallicahave already seen the game’s full track list. They’re also no doubt excited by the inclusion of Mercyful Fate’s “Evil,” a brutal metal track with lyrics like “”I’d love to hear you cry/I’d love to feel you die.” But Mercyful Fate’s lead singer, King Diamond (a.k.a. Kim Bendix Petersen), is hinting that he might play a bigger role in the game than has been revealed....

Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda has claimed that “hardly anyone” plays first-person-shooter games on the PC anymore, claiming that Halo essentially killed the entire market. Apparently this also proves that Kinect will be a success because ofreasons. “Halodid an awesome job of building a first-person shooter exclusively for the console, and now hardly anyone plays first-person shooters on the PC anymore,” claims the executive in charge of sunglasses. “If you think about the way that first-person shooters evolved, they started on the PC....

The above is a six-ish minute clip of the upcomingLeft 4 Dead, and despite seemingly lifting the game’s title from a non-existent DMX film (co-starring Sisqo and Ernie Reyes Jr.), the game looks awesome. I’ve always had a thing for zombies that stopped just short of being sexually aroused by corpses, but if the developers toss in a hidden ‘Shark vs Zombie’ level, I might have to reconsider that stance....

Having formulated plans for almost every eventuality once the dead rise, or the virus breaks out, or whatever flavor of zombie apocalypse you prefer, the brief time I had my hands onLeft 4 Deadat PAX resulted in a horrifying revelation. If the zombie apocalypse ever actually happens and I’m forced to fend for myself with whatever I’m lucky enough to have at hand I am well and truly screwed. The high population center scenarios ofLeft 4 Deadaren’t the kind of thing for which zombiphiles usually prepare....

Ubisoft’s new RTSTom Clancy’s EndWarkicked up a fair amount of interestwhen it was announced. The early teasing incited a great deal of intrigue, and when the game was revealed to be an apocalyptic real time strategy game predominantly using a voice command interface, eyebrows were raised all over in consideration of exactly how successful such a bold move would be. I’ve now had a chance to sit in on a preview which Ubisoft set up at Leipzig in order to show the press exactly what it is it has in mind....

Our full review ofMushroom Men: The Spore Warshas yet to be published (be patient), but here’s a bit of a spoiler — the music (and sound design) is excellent. So it’s good news to hear that Les Claypool, the musician behind the game’s soundtrack, plans to add lyrics to the arrangements. “I’m writing some lyrics for stuff and [creating] arrangements and making them into actual songs,” the musician toldMTV Multiplayer....

Ever since the gaming community first laid eyes on Nintendo’s Wiimote,Star Warsgeeks from around the world have been chomping at the bit to get their sweaty hands on a game that lets them truly experience the thrill of lightsaber battle. Well if we’re not reading too much into what Jim Ward of LucasArts recently said at theHollywood & Games Summitpanel in Los Angeles, such a game prototype exists — and is being enjoyed by the Lucasart’s crew....

PS3 fans are in for a real treat, with news that a Korean ratings board has revealed the imminent arrival ofLimboon the PlayStation Network. One of the greatest Xbox Live Arcade games of all time going multiplatform? Very, very cool! Limbois a mysterious and darkly amusing game about a little boy who dies a lot. Environmental puzzles, worked out through repeated death, makes up the experience, and it’s a beautiful, morbid, atmospheric adventure that’s well worth checking out....