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Technology company AMD reckons the next Xbox will be so powerful it will be capable of reproducing graphics on a par with James Cameron’s movie blockbuster Avatar.

AMD, rumoured to be providing the graphics technology powering the next Xbox, said in the latest issue of the US version of the Official Xbox Magazine (reported by the Examiner) gamers should expect radical improvements to AI and physics.

Director of ISV relationships at AMD, Neal Robison, said the unannounced console will allow developers to make every pedestrian in a game such as Grand Theft Auto or Saints Row have a totally individual mentality so they react to the player in different ways.

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International fighting game tournament in Las Vegas to feature panels by Capcom and Namco Bandai.

The upcoming Evolution 2K11 tournament, one of the largest fighting game events in the world, will be held later at the end of the month at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, specifically from July 29 to 31. Of course, the event isn’t just a huge tournament featuring Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and other fighting games. Shoryuken.com recently revealed the numerous panels featured at this year’s gathering/tournament.

Expect to watch high-level play at this year’s Evo.

One of the highlights include a panel called “Inside the Mind of the Beast: Daigo Umehara Exposed!” where Capcom senior community manager Seth Killian talks with EVO 2009 and 2010 Street Fighter champion Daigo Umehara about tactics, player reads, and tournament-level thought processes. A special “Beast” shirt from Meat Bun will also be available on sale to commemorate the legacy of Umehara. The t-shirt will be sold at $20 and will be limited. The showcase will be held on July 29 at 2pm PST.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3’s producer Ryota Niitsuma will also be on stage to share behind-the-scenes processes during the fighting game’s development cycle in a panel called “MvC3: Past, Present, and Future”. Niitsuma will be accompanied by battle system designer Hidetoshi “Neo_G” Ishizawa. The panel is held on July 29 at 4pm PST.
A panel on the upcoming Konami-published fighting game Skullgirls will also be held, where project lead Mike “Patron Saint of Combo Videos” Z talks about the innovations of the game and how it’s a true refinement to the genre.

Namco Bandai will be talking about their upcoming projects at EVO 2K11. Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada, game designer Michael Murray and community manager Rich Bantegui will share more details about the future of Tekken, Tekken Hybrid, and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for the arcade. SoulCalibur V director Daishi Odashima will also join in and talk more about the fifth installment of the upcoming weapon-based fighting game. This panel is held on July 30 and starts at 2pm PST.

Finally, Capcom and Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono will talk about new directions and development plans for the upcoming game Street Fighter X Tekken in a self-titled panel. It will be held on July 30 at 4pm.

For the complete list of all of the panels, head down to Shoryuken.com. On a related note, check out GameSpot’s interviews with two Evo 2K11 representatives from Singapore: “Gackt” Eng Ghim Kee and Kun-Xian “Xian” Ho.

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The Australian is reporting that the South Australian government is officially planning to remove the MA15+ for video games in favour of an R18+ classification. The move would see all games that are rated MA15+ at a national level move on to an R18+ rating inside South Australia…

Well look what the cat dragged in, it’s the IGN AU Pubcast! – our distinctly Aussie take on the traditional podcast, blending our love of gaming with beer and toilet humour – and a liberal dose of intelligent debate.

On this week’s Pubcast, we get a very special visit from Academy Award-winning …

Well look what the cat dragged in, it’s the IGN AU Pubcast! – our distinctly Aussie take on the traditional podcast, blending our love of gaming with beer and toilet humour – and a liberal dose of intelligent debate.

On this week’s Pubcast, we get a very special visit from Academy Award-winning …

Once again, the GamesRadar UK team sits down to talk about games, much like they do pretty much all day anyway, only there’s a camera on them. Reason? It’s Monday, of course! So now you can get right up to speed with the gaming events and happenings you may have missed over the weekend. The format is simple – five news topics, each with one minute for discussion. After the minute’s up… BING! No, we don’t all head to the search engines to settle arguments, it’s actually our awesome bell denoting the end of the discussion. But enough procrastination, let’s have at it.

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Ubisoft has announced the Uplay Passport, which is a one-time use code included in new games. The code will provide Xbox Live and PSN users access to “bonus content, exclusive offers, and online multiplayer play.”

Other companies have incorporated a similar systems of encouraging people to pass over previously owned games and buy new copies, like Sony’s Project Ten Dollar and EA’s Online Pass… …

So now Saints Row: The Third’s wonderfully violent, balls-out juvenile approach has my full attention, I’m totally bummed to admit that I’m not up on just about anything that went down in Saints Row 2. Luckily, lead writer Steve Jaros is here to walk you through the recent “Power” announcement trailer in the video above, and his commentary will shed some insight on recent events, as well as bring Steelport newbs up to speed. …

Activision is looking to seize control of ModernWarfare3.com after the website was found redirecting to the official Battlefield 3 website…

Activision is looking to seize control of ModernWarfare3.com after the website was found redirecting to the official Battlefield 3 website…