'Aliens vs. Predator' Goes Back To Original Dev, While EA Preps 'G.I. Joe' Movie Game

It's a day of licensed game news, with Sega revealing intentions to develop a third "Alien" title, a new "Aliens vs. Predator" in the hands of original series developer Rebellion. Electronic Arts also confirmed a game based on the live action "G.I. Joe" film.

***

While I'm still waiting see if Activision's new "Transformers" game is any good, there are new licensed games for which people can have unrealistic expectations. Today, "Aliens vs. Predator" and "G.I. Joe" joined those ranks.

If you're confused at the news of a new "Alien" game, don't be. Sega's already announced two "Alien" games so far -- "Aliens: Colonial Marines" from Gearbox and an as-of-yet unrevealed "Aliens" RPG from Obsidian -- neither of which have been released yet.

"Aliens vs. Predator" is promising because Sega's handed the reigns over to Rebellion, the studio that popularized the game franchise. The original shooters scared the bejeezus out of PC gamers, though Rebellion's most recent effort, a botched PSP adaptation of the "Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem" movie, was not terribly inspiring.

This big-budget "Aliens vs. Predator" is due to arrive on unspecified platforms in early 2010. In the press release, Sega notes that the release dates of the other "Alien" games have been adjusted, but provided no details.

Over at Electronic Arts, the publisher has revealed it's developing a "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" video game to coincide with the release of the live-action movie (based on the cartoon) coming this summer from director Stephen Sommers.

"G.I. Joe" will feature 12 different playable characters and allow players to take on COBRA in split-screen co-op. The game is coming to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP, DS and mobile.

EA will show the summer 2009 release for the first time at the New York Toy Fair taking place February 15-17.