After getting discarded by Activision, Square Enix obtained the publishing rights United Front Games’ reboot of the True Crime series in August 2011. Today, the publisher revealed that since they hadn’t obtained the rights to the True Crime IP itself, the project will now carry the label Sleeping Dogs, and is well on its way to meeting its projected  release date.

Sleeping Dogs is being developed by United Fronts Games with Square Enix’s London studio supervising the project. The game will place gamers in the boots of an undercover cop, as he sets out to rid the presence of the Triads in the gritty open world of Hong Kong island . Great emphasis will be placed on the combat system, which is promised to deliver “intense shoot-outs, adrenaline-fuelled street races and intense, brutal martial arts combat.”

“From the moment you pick up the controller and experience the blend of driving, close combat and shooting you know you’re playing something fresh and a bit special,” said Lee Singleton, General Manager of Square’ Enix London Studios. “Sleeping Dogs has one of the best melee combat systems out there – it’s super brutal with devastating takedown moves, and when added to UFG’s proven heritage in driving games, a first class story and the vibrant backdrop of the Hong Kong underworld we get a fiery recipe with fun written all over it.”

“Working on Sleeping Dogs has been such a huge passion for the team at United Front Games and we’re really pleased to be working with Square Enix London Studios,” added United Front’s Stephen Van Der Mescht. “The extensive experience both our studios have in creating compelling openworld gameplay and rich and rewarding combat makes for a perfect partnership. Working together we can make sure that Sleeping Dogs is the most intense and immersive experience it can be.”

Sleep Dogs will be available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC sometime during the second half of this year. In the meantime, you can check the brand new live action trailer below.

A demo for Final Fantasy XIII-2 has been confirmed.

The taster will launch presumably before the game’s January 31st launch (via Siliconera).

PlayStation Network’s Japan store will also receive a demo for Capcom’s Asura’s Wrath.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is currently scheduled for ar elease on Janaury 31st in North America and February 3rd in Europe.

Crystal Dynamics has confirmed they’re working on another IP, in addition to its Tomb Raider reboot.

Square Enix community manager Meagan Marie said on the site’s blog:

2012 will prove to be a very exciting year for Crystal Dynamics, more so than any in recent memory. Not only will our team be eating, sleeping, and breathing Tomb Raider, but we’ll also be hard at work preparing to reveal exciting new intellectual property to the world. Additionally, the New Year marks Crystal Dynamics’ 20th anniversary. Despite the studio’s veteran status, Crystal Dynamics is always eager to grow. We’ll be working even harder in 2012 to produce product that positions us as a top tier innovator within the industry. We’re excited for this New Year, and for our new vision of Tomb Raider. As always thank you to long-time franchise fans and studio followers.

Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher added:

2012 is going to be the biggest year in Crystal’s history. We have a ton of great content lined up from our teams and we can’t wait to pull the wrapper off some of the amazing things we have been putting all of our efforts into.

Tomb Raider is currently scheduled for a release during Q4, 2012.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 – Square Enix’s latest title in the long-running RPG series has released in Japan and we’ve a rather solid screenshot comparison featuring both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the title which will give you a proper idea about the visual prowess of the game across both platforms.

Without further ado, here’s the comparison shots below.

We think the PlayStation 3 version looks marginally better thanks to better lightning and sharper textures. However, both the versions look very good. Which one do you think looks better? Let us know below.

The Video Game Awards show trailer for Hitman Absolution has been unveiled.

Hitman Absolution is currently scheduled for a release during 2012.

Although Square Enix has shunned rumours that a possible remake of Final Fantasy VII is on the cards, it appears fans are determined to experience the game with upgraded visuals.

A team of spanish developers have now taken up an initiative to remake the game using the Unreal Engine and has released the first video and screenshots of their work. Needless to say it looks rather good, proving that Square might not be making a wrong decision if they decide to do a proper remake.

We hope Square takes note of this. You can watch the video and screenshots below.

You can find more details regarding the project over here.

Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase has discussed the possibilities of a Final Fantasy VIII remake.

Speaking to OXM, the long time producer for Square Enix’s franchise said:

If I may speak as a game creator, if we were to produce a remake of VII, for example, I would be really tempted to delete things and add new elements, new systems or whatever because if we were to make exactly the same thing now, it’d be like a repeat. It’d be an issue of repetition and not as much fun to make such a game. So I’d be really interested in rearranging games or reshaping games into something slightly different even though it’s supposed to be the same game. But if we did that, the fans might be disappointed or ‘this is not what I was expecting’ so in that sense maybe some might say that it’s better to let memory be memory.

When we play the games we made years ago, sometimes we think ‘oh, that is not really cool’ or ‘that probably should have been a bit better than that’ and that sort of thing. But on the other hand, those slightly negative features and bits, for some of the really enthusiastic fans of these titles, that gives the game extra flavour or personality or whatever. So maybe they would rather we didn’t do anything about it and we just leave it in as it is. It’s very difficult to decide what we should we keep in and what we should take out.

Final Fantasy XIII-2, Kitase’s current project, releases late January in the US and early January in European territories.

Square Enix has released a new trailer for Final Fantasy XIII-2 entitled ‘Battle In Valhalla’.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is currently scheduled for a release in Japan next month come December 15th. A western release is due late January in North America, and the opening phase of February for Europeans.

The opening CG cinematic video of Final Fantasy XIII-2 has been leaked. It shows Lightning and various others and contains some spoilers. Watch it below if you don’t mind the spoilers.

The game’s out next year for PS3, and Xbox 360.

Final Fantasy has been present in the industry for over a decade now. We’ve seen a considerable quantity of cosplays relating to Square Enix’s action role-playing game series in the past, and now another cosplay has emerged showcasing one of the main characters – Lightning – of the forthcoming title in the IP, Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Check out the stunning cosplay of Lightning below:

Thanks, Volodkin.