Square Enix is working on a fewHalo: Reachfigures and I must say, they look better thanthe McFarlane line that’s inthe works. The Play Arts figures come in at about 8 to 10 inches each and appear to be pretty intricate. As Colette mentions in her video preview, these figures are only prototypes and may not actually be released. Hopefully Square gets the clear as these are pretty rocking. Check out Tomopop for more toy coveragefrom San Diego Comic-Con 2010....

Jon Hare, the designer between such classics as Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder, has diminished much hyped Nintendo 3DS by writing it off as a hardware gimmick, and expressing concern at the system’s approach to graphics over gameplay. “The Nintendo 3DS take is interesting, but in my eyes it is just a hardware gimmick which might do well,” says Hare. “I am not interested in the limitations and demands of graphical engines....

Before Seth Killian became the community manager at Capcom-Unity, he was merely one of the world’s foremost fighting game enthusiasts and co-founder of EVO; the most serious fighting game tournament on the planet. Back before Destructoid existed, I used to go to shoryuken.com all the time to read about EVO and what Seth and his crew were organizing next. Their unyielding dedication and endless passion for competitive fighting games was something I could relate to, then and now....

Shane Kim, Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment corporate vice president for strategy and business development, is to retire from the company after nineteen years of service, possibly because his job title was too long. His job is to be taken by Microsoft Game Studios general manager Phil Spencer, while chief financial officer Dennis Durkin will fill the new position of Xbox group chief operating officer. “Shane’s been an instrumental leader in the evolution of Microsoft Game Studios and the Xbox business — from the early days ofFlight SimulatorandGolfto the launch of the original Xbox, to the successful launches for two of the biggest entertainment franchises in the industry —HaloandGears Of War,” says Xbox senior vice president Don Mattrick....

Did that headline grab your attention? Good! Considering how many sloppy, hastily-designed games there are up on the Xbox LIVE Indie Games channel, even this far after launch, it’s easy to lose faith and simply write the whole lot of ’em off altogether. Not everyone trying to make games falls into that category, thankfully. We’ve got guys likeNathan Fouts(Weapon of Choice), who are more than willing to take the time needed to put out a quality product....

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimwon’t be pulling cheap stunts such as the legendary horse armor when it comes to downloadable content according to director Todd Howard. He promises that any upcoming DLC will be substantial, giving off an “expansion pack” feel. “They’ve been really successful and we like making them,” said Howard, talking about expansions. “Right now I can say that we’d like to do less DLC but bigger ones — you know, more substantial....

When Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey left Visceral Games to form Activision’sSledgehammer Games, everyone was left wondering just what the heck the studio’s first project would be. If you guessedCall of Duty, you win absolutely nothing … but you are correct. Activision was in a talkative mood today, and revealed its current plans for the massively popular franchise. First up, there’s the Sledgehammer announcement: the studio is working on an all-newCall of Dutygame set in the “action-adventure” genre, and it is to be released in 2011....

Kindly Dtoid reader Jayeugene sent us a picture of the above “gamer snack pack” fromZipper Interactive, which inevitably leads me to the question: What kind of obscure foreign crack are these f*cking marketing people smoking? What kind of game tie-in is this supposed to be? What does powdered lemon lime electolyte drink have to do withSocom? You know, I’m so in the mood for Naval Special Warfare Command today, but before I get on that, I need … a fruit bar?...

[Update:Sony has posted photos and hardware specifications of the NGPhere. The CPU is a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, and here’s the size of the unit: 7.17″ (width) × 3.29″ (height) × 0.73″ (depth). You can check out 13 photos of the NGP in the gallery. In addition, Sonyhas confirmedthat “NGP will be able to play PSP titles, [PSP] minis, [PSOne] classics, video and comics from the PlayStation Store.”] At PlayStation Meeting 2011 in Tokyo today, Sony officially announced the successor to the PSP....

This January THQ is tossing out some extra special content forSmackDown vs. Raw 2009. Avid players will finally get some much needed Superstar additions, while PlayStation 3 owners will get some exclusive content. The content is dubbed Roster Update Pack 1. Sadly, THQ apparently expects owners of the game to either have credit cards or the ability to quit beating on their wives long enough to be bothered with download times....

The PlayStation 3’s on-again-off-again compatibility story has been a bugbear for a number of gamers out there. As someone who owns a PS3 without the backwards compatibility and who has the PS2 in his stepson’s bedroom, this is a very annoying problem that has resulted in my not purchasing a number of PS2 games in recent years. Still, a new rumor has popped up that mayprovide an answer. As you may know, certain PS3’s had either a PS2-compatible chip (US and Japan) or emulation software (Europe) that allowed them to play PS2 games....

If you’re an Android owner like myself, chances are you’re probably more than a little envious of all the great games that wind up on the App Store. Luckily, every so often one of those titles makes its way over to the Droid Market and helps make life on the Wild West of mobile devices a little more bearable. Such is the case this week withSpace Invaders: Infinity Gene. It’s taken two years but Taito’s latest shooter is finally making its way onto Android devices....

I’m usually good about resisting the urge to impulse buy from Steam, but jeez, the current week-long promotion for theStar Wars Collectionis calling for me. For $49.99, which is half price, you get13 separate games. Quite a few of them are actually worthwhile, too! On top of this mega bundle, there will be a new daily LucasArts deal from now through the September 19. Today, it’sStar Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Editionfor $7....