The PC community’s seminal city building franchise is about to get a makeover. SimCity Societies, the latest game in Electronic Arts’ long running SimCity franchise, is notable not only for adopting a new naming convention, but also for being handed off to a new developer for the first time since the series was created by Maxis in 1989.

The game, which was first showcased as part of a cover story in the July issue of Games for Windows magazine, is now being helmed by Tilted Mill Entertainment, a much less proven studio known for lesser strategy titles such as Caesar IV and Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile.

However, the studio is not without talent, having been founded by several developers who left Impressions Games, and who have worked on previous iterations in the Caesar franchise, as well as 1999’s incredibly addictive Pharaoh. So, while SimCity Societies promises a somewhat questionable shifted focus on “social energy” on top of constructing your dream metropolis, there are plenty of reasons for this game to keep your strategy compass pointing north.

According to a statement released by EA, the upcoming game will allow players to create “cultures, societal behaviors and environments” for their cities, which will be able to take a variety of forms. Examples offered by EA include artistic cities, haunted towns, green cities, and spiritual communities. Sure, this is a step away from the pure armchair city planning that we are used to, but this actually sounds like it will draw the game closer to EA’s hugely successful The Sims series, which if accurate could make SimCity Societies terrific…and terrifically addictive.

The trick will be striking a balance between the old and the new, and deciding what elements players have come to love about SimCity can be cut without alienating the vast majority of long time fans. Key to this will be the game’s continuing focus on city building, with SimCity Societies supporting more than 350 building types, each of which will be able to be combined, connected and re-arranged freely. As each city evolves, players will be able to unlock new buildings that “can help advance – or regress – their society,” says the EA statement.

Another feature players can expect are resources called “social energies,” that can be mixed and matched in order to decide their city’s overall direction. These energies are divided into six different categories, including industry, wealth, obedience, knowledge, devotion, and creativity, and together drive the behaviors of a city and its inhabitants.

We will report more on this game as we find out anything else. SimCity Societies is currently expected to ship in November 2007.

Capcom announced today that they had reached an agreement with Valve to bring a collection of Capcom’s current and future PC games to the Steam digital distribution service. Under the agreement, PC versions of the following titles would be made available over Steam as well as future PC titles:

• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
• Onimusha 3
• Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

This agreement makes Capcom the first major Japanese software publisher to sign on with Steam.

“Capcom is a worldwide leader in development and publishing of action adventure titles,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. “This initial set of Capcom titles coming to Steam, as well as those coming at a later date, are a perfect fit for the millions of action gaming fans connecting to Steam each week.”

The first title, DMC3, will be available on Steam later this week with Onimusha 3 slated for a few weeks from now. Lost Planet is slated for a June 26th debut and Super Puzzle Fighter II will be released sometime later this year.

For more information on the Steam network, visit http://www.steamgames.com/

The more recent Prince of Persia games were absolutely wonderful and this Wednesday you can take a trip back to where things all began as Prince of Persia Classic makes its way onto Xbox LIVE Arcade.

[quote]Return to ancient Persia to battle the evil Vizier Jaffar and his men – but don’t take forever to save the princess! “Prince of Persia Classic,” will be available for download on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 beginning Wednesday, June 13, at 9 a.m. GMT (1 a.m. PDT).

In Ubisoft’s “Prince of Persia Classic,” gamers take on the role of the prince as he embarks on a mission to rescue the princess before she has to wed the wicked Jaffar – all of which must be accomplished in under 60 minutes! Jumping across platforms and avoiding traps, the prince must collect bottles of potions to keep his power bar charged as he duels enemies on his way to the princess.[/quote]

For 800 MS Points you can nab the ported version of the original Prince of Persia game complete with the following features:

• Enhanced character designs, animations and visuals
• New traps, puzzles and enemies to tackle further augment the classic experience
• 12 Achievements will be available – ranging from the simple (finding the sword in the first level) to the near impossible (finding all the potions in the game or finishing the game without dying!)
• The title will feature 3 different leaderboards:
  • Normal Mode: Complete the game as fast as possible, which saves at the end of each level
  • Time Attack Mode: Complete the game as fast as possible – but be prepared to start from the beginning if you fail to save the Princess in under 60 minutes
  • Survival Mode: Complete the entire game in under 60 minutes – without dying

Nintendo announced their newest additions to the Wii Shop Channel this morning and the titles include Lode Runner (NES), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis), and Golden Axe II (Genesis). All three titles will go live at 11am CST.

Lode Runner, which was a game I never really got into back in my NES days, will set you back 500 Wii Points while the other titles will each cost 800 Wii Points.

[quote]Lode Runner(R) (NES(R), 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points):
This landmark action-puzzle game has been a worldwide fixture in video games from the moment of its inception until today, producing many sequels and related products along the way. The player controls the hero, or “Runner,” who collects gold nuggets located around every stage, all the while avoiding capture by enemy robots. The action itself is simple, but the stages are designed as increasingly challenging puzzles, and none of the 50 stages is as easy as it seems. The Runner avoids enemies by digging holes in the floor to the right and left of his positionA