OMG | Black Isle Studios Returns! ... With No One From Black Isle Studios Onboard

The KING of PC RPG's, Black Isle Studios, is BACK — is what we would be saying if Black Isle Studios didn't scatter to the winds aeons ago, its top talent now working in far flung pockets of the gaming industry.

But, Interplay seems excited about it.

Square-Enix CEO Feels FFVII Is Franchise's Best

I feel like an age-old struggle is grinding away into dust - finally.

Some will tell you that when fanboys wage war, there are no winners. Final Fantasy VII fanboys, however, just won, big time.

At a recent shareholders meeting, Square-Enix CEO Yoichi Wada was asked about the public's ever-present clamor for a remake of 1997's JRPG classic. See? Even nameless, faceless moneybags who know nothing of the franchise want an FFVII remake. What's the holdup?

[OMG] Tetsuya Nomura Talks FFVII Remake

Ok, I'll let you down slow, first. That headline is... rather misleading, yes.

When the premier Square Enix art director spoke to Japanese gaming pub Famitsu recently, he wasn't confirming that they were considering remaking one of the most beloved JRPGs of all time, he instead gave some insight into why it'll never happen. :[

Read on to see what the zipper-happy character designer had to say - there's also a previously unheard behind-the-scenes tidbit about FFVII that may interest you... :]

[OMG] Diablo 3's Dark, Disturbed Secret

See that image above? Fill your eyes. Cherish it.

Where we're going, the most depraved and desensitized are given cause to shudder.

User "Zerofire" on the European Battle.net brought this evil upon us. His mortal meddling in the demonic world of Diablo 3 has caused a rift, through which unspeakable horror creeps and threatens all.

Read on to see harrowing, unedited footage of Zerofire's discovery...

[OMG] Johnstown's Inclined Plane: Ancient Anime Hero

Videographer Kenji Wakabayashi shoots one of the cars on Johnstown's Inclined Plane - photo by John Rucosky

[Editor's note: This story comes from OMNIpixel's parent publication, The Tribune-Democrat. More specifically, it was written by the lovely Kelly Urban. That being said, it was too geeky to pass up for our purposes. Certainly, one of the weirdest things I've seen happen in Johnstown...]

The world’s steepest vehicular incline plane is going anime.

A Japanese film crew from Total Planning Office Co. based in Toyko was in Johnstown Tuesday shooting footage of the Inclined Plane that will be used in a children’s animated series that is to air on TV Tokyo next year in April.

Skyrim + Kinect = FUS ROH MY GOD YES

Look here. Look at this video above. Consume it. 

This is why you bought Kinect - aside from Kinectimals. After mysteriously trademarking "Fus Ro Dah" yesterday, Bethesda announced today via press release that its 2011 Game of the Year will soon enjoy Kinect voice command support for the Xbox 360 version.

[OMG] Shadowrun Sequel a Kickstarter Success

Guess who's getting the Kickstarter love? Ancient FASA fossil ("FASSIL") Jordan Weisman. Who's Jordan Weisman? Who's Jordan Weisman?! The guy who created high fantasy/cyberpunk romp Shadowrun, that's who. 

Shadowrun, the subpar Xbox 360 multi-player shooter from 2007, you say? NO - Shadowrun, the exemplary pen-and-paper RPG from back in the day that was ported triumphantly to 16-bit consoles in the 90s and ported crappily to the Xbox 360 in 2007. 

Now, through the crowd-sourced power of Kickstarter, Weisman and his team at Harebrained Schemes are getting another shot at reviving the dark, mystical world of Shadowrun for a new generation.

Their Kickstarter page blew up yesterday, nailing down their $400,000 goal in 28 hours. They'll be using that cash to bring a rightfully single-player Shadowrun to iOS/Android tablets and PCs.

Find out what the world of Shadowrun is all about and watch the HBS Shadowrun Returns pitch video (and subsequent "thank you" video) after the break.

[OMG] Is the Baldur's Gate series getting an HD reboot?

Strange rumblings out of the PCRPG realms today...


Kotaku reported that after 11 years of inactivity, the official Baldur's Gate series site has creaked and moaned back to life. It now sports a cryptic message:

"The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny, chaos will be sown by their passage.

So sayeth the wise Alaundo" 

Trent Oster, former BioWare developer and founder of Beamdog has accepted responsibility for this shameless fanboy-pandering. The line is an obvious reference to the BGII expansion pack, "Throne of Bhaal." What's even more curious is the hidden message inside the source code of the BG site. 

Hit the jump to read what it says and engage the Speculatron-9000.

World Record Get! 1000-man FPS catches Guiness' attention

And now for something MuchDifferent...

Last Sunday, the Swedish non-profit tech firm MuchDifferent garnered worldwide interest when it hosted the first browser-based 1000-man FPS match.

Their title, "Man vs. Machine" will now be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest team-based online deathmatch in history. 

MAG who?

Do you hear that? It's the tinny groaning of servers the world over when I type, "1000-man FPS." Read more to see video of this epic showdown.