Rare working on FPS for new Xbox

It seems the studio behind FPS classic Goldeneye and not-so-good Perfect Dark Zero are hard at work on titles for the next-generation Xbox console.

Advertising for a position through game job agency Amiqus, the listing says the developer would favour a candidate with “experience in the action/adventure or FPS genres”.

“The successful candidate, ideally with experience in the action/adventure or FPS genres, will be joining at a time where the studio is looking to move into new areas and develop new IPs for future platforms,” it reads.

The listing seems to confirm Microsoft is hard at work on new titles for the much rumoured Xbox 720.

Since being acquired by Microsoft for $375 million back in 2002, Rare has gone on to produce the likes of Kameo, Viva Pinata and the Kinect Sports titles for the Xbox 360. But many critics have claimed the developer’s best days are behind them with recent titles failing to live up to the quality of past classics such as Perfect Dark, Jet Force Gemini and Donkey Kong 64.

Last month former Sega design chief Simon Woodroffe became the new creative director of Rare. Woodroffe said at the time: “I am looking forward to getting stuck into making incredible games that will be worthy additions to the pedigree of this studio.”

Could a new Perfect Dark game be on the horizon? Are Rare still capable of producing great FPS games? Let us know in the comments section below.

GoldenEye Reloaded launch trailer

Launch trailer released for Goldeneye Reloaded

Activision has released a launch trailer for Goldeneye Reloaded ahead of it’s arrival later this week (November 4th).

The shooter, which is a reimagining of Rare’s 1997 classic Goldeneye, has gone quietly under the radar in recent weeks with the BF3 and MW3 hype machines hitting full stride.

Developer Eurocom also worked on the critically acclaimed Wii version, released last year, created a new engine for the 360 and PS3 versions.

The game’s online multiplayer will support up to 16 players and expect the new co-op ‘M16 Ops Mode’ to play similarly to Modern Warfare 2’s spec-ops missions.

Whether the game can live up to the heights of the N64 original is debatable, but you can enjoy the trailer for Mr Bond’s latest (sort of) adventure below:

Goldeneye Reloaded Stealth Walkthrough

Goldeneye Reloaded Multiplayer Trailer

Vote for Best Shooter at 2011 Golden Joysticks

It’s been a big year for FPS shooting games, and that’s reflected in the 2011 Gamesmaster Golden Joystick Award shortlist, with several of the nominees in the Best Shooter category also having a good chance of potentially claiming the Ultimate Game of the Year in the world’s longest-running videgame awards.

The shortlist for your votes in the Best Shooter category are:

• Brink
• Bulletstorm
• Call of Duty: Black Ops
• Crysis 2
• Dead Space
• F.3.A.R.
• Goldeneye 007
• Halo Reach
• Homefront
• Killzone 3
• Medal of Honor
• Red Faction Armageddon
• Singularity
• Vanquish

If we had to try and predict the winner, seeing as it’s entirely based on user votes, we’d probably go for Black Ops due to the record-breaking number of sales, and continued success of the series, but there are a few titles that could cause an upset (Crysis 2, Halo Reach, Killzone 3 for example, although platform exclusives are at a big disadvantage).

The Ultimate Game of the Year also includes several shooters:

• Bulletstorm
• Call of Duty Black Ops
• Fallout New Vegas (Also in the RPG category)
• Killzone 3
• Portal 2 (Which is also in the Best Action/Adventure category)

In the Mobile Gaming category, N.O.V.A 2 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance is a possible FPS winner.

And finally, there’s the One to Watch category with:

• Aliens: Colonial Marines
• Battlefield 3
• Bioshock Infinite
• Farcry 3
• Halo 4
• Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

That’s a lot of voting to get done, so you better start now! About the only big release not getting a mention is Duke Nukem Forever, which despite reasonable sales has had a very mixed reception.