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While Epicenter’s Rock of the Dead has only been announced for the Wii, the developer says “there’s no reason why” we couldn’t see it on other platforms.

Speaking with Epicenter’s Bryan Jury for my preview, I’m told that there’s a definite possibility we could be seeing its “kill monsters with your guitar peripheral” on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

“We’re also looking into other platforms as well,” he tells me. “Nothing’s finalized at this point, but we feel like there’s no reason why this kind of gameplay wouldn’t be able to work on other platforms with, you know, the obvious graphical and other enhancements. We’re definitely checking out all of our options at this point.”

When the game was first announced for the Wii, my reactions were mixed. The concept certainly appealed to me, but since I do my rock gaming exclusively on another platform, I thought I’d be left out in the cold. Judging from your comments on our preview, you felt the same way. According to Jury, they’re listening.

“People listen, publishers listen, people with money actually do listen and read message boards,” he admits. “And because people were really interested in this game for the 360 and PS3, we are talking to people to actually bring it out on those platforms.”

I also wondered if there’d be any chance I could use my other peripherals — a microphone or even a drum set — to rock the dead. I suggest letting out a blood-curdling metal howl, in the style of Judas Priest’s Rob Halford, to explode a zombie’s skull. Jury laughs at my brilliant idea, and admits that it’s something the team had considered.

“These are things we have absolutely explored,” he says, “and kind of seen how it plays out. Currently we only have guitar support, but you never know what we’ll be able to announce in the next couple of months.”

In the meantime, I’ll work on my falsetto. Just in case.

Ubisoft has announced that its currently developing Shaun White Skateboarding, set to hit shelves this holiday. No word on which platforms the game is in development for, but the history of Shawn White Snowboarding (Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) is probably a good indication 

The game is supposedly “an innovative twist and fresh take on the skateboarding and action-sports genre,” whatever that means. White also says that he’s been working on the game with Ubisoft for awhile, and that it will “melt minds.”

I’ll admit ignorance here — I had no idea White was a skateboarder, in addition to being an Olympic-medal-winning snowboarder. So… neat? I will say this, though — the outline of the dude’s crazy hair makes an awesome dot for an “i.” Just check out that logo!

Did you get your Blur multiplayer beta key? We gave out, like, a thousand of them. Our community manager, Hamza Aziz, was not amused when I told him he was doing that.

But when Activision offered them to me, I just had to make sure you guys had an opportunity to get in on it. Because it looks pretty sick, if you ask me. It goes live next Monday, March 8 and… wait a second, I didn’t get a beta key. We had 1,000 of them and I didn’t get a single key?

Enjoy the video. I’ve got some calls to make.

Fun fact: Irrational Games’ Ken Levine once was asked to write a romantic comedy vehicle for Christian singer Amy Grant, probably best known for her hit single, “Baby Baby.”

Long before Levine was working on games like System Shock 2, Freedom Force, and BioShock, he had aspirations to become a Hollywood screenwriter. When Hollywood came knocking, asking Levine to rewrite a script called Devil’s Advocate (not to be confused with the 1997 Keanu Reeves film of the same name), he grudgingly obliged. Levine says the final product, a story about “a devil who comes to Earth to corrupt an incorruptible human” (to be play by Grant), was “f*cking terrible.”

The film was never produced, but Levine got his check and went on a spending spree, which included picking up a VCR and the Sega Master System.

This amazing tidbit was part of the latest episode of the “Irrational Behavior” podcast, where the studio’s finest reveal past employment horror stories. I’d suggest you share yours, but it’s pretty hard to top “I had to write a romantic comedy for Amy Grant.”

Originally set for an April 27 release date, Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption has been hit with a minor delay.

Publisher Take-Two Interactive announced the delay in First Quarter fiscal 2010 financial results report; the title is now set to ship in North America on May 21, 2010.

The short delay comes after the recent rumors of internal developmental issues, with one source saying the title “was a complete disaster for most of 2009 and previous… it has since turned around a little bit, but there are huge problems with it still.”

Last I saw it, the game looked pretty damned solid, and that was in the summer of 2009. Let’s hope the slight delay will allow Rockstar to put on that extra coat of polish, because Red Dead Redemption is one of my most eagerly anticipated titles for 2010.

I hope you like Traveler’s Tales’ LEGO games, because you’re stuck with ‘em for another six years.

The Warner Bros. owned TT Games has announced that it has extended its agreement with LEGO to create videogames based on LEGO-ized properties through 2016. This year will see the release of LEGO Harry Potter: Year 1-4, but TT has previously released LEGO Batman, LEGO Indiana Jones, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Rock Band, and Bionicle titles. 

As for what other properties TT could start working with in the LEGO space, that’s up in the air. LEGO will be releasing a Prince of Persia set to coincide with the release of the film… now that could be interesting, eh? Or my hope — an M-rated LEGO Predator, thank you very much.

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Atari has finally announced Test Drive Unlimited 2, the long-rumored sequel to Eden Games’ 2006 open world racer.

Despite Atari and Eden saying the game is a step forward, everything they’re currently telling us about it sounds an awful lot like the original. That means a persistent online playing environment that blends both the single-player and multiplayer experiences. The sequel will also bring vehicle damage, weather effects, and day and night cycles.

Also fresh will be “a brand new island” to explore, but what’s unclear is if said island will be Hawaiian — the first game had players racing around O’ahu. Perhaps eagle-eyed readers might be able to spot landmarks or something in the three images released today.

The game’s scheduled for a fall release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows. Was anyone still waiting for this sequel?

According to GameTrailers TV host and all-around man of the industry Geoff Keighley, we can expect a new Tomb Raider reveal as early as next week.

“I’ve heard rumblings of a new Lara Croft project that’s gonna be at GDC,” he tweeted earlier today.

These “rumblings” come after Crystal Dynamics art director Darrell Gallagher told Gamasutra that no less than two projects were in the works at the developer. One of them could be (and probably is) the rumored and leaked Tomb Raider reboot. The leaked details pegged the game as an open world adventure, with a survival horror feel.

As someone who’s been knee deep in appointment schedule, I should probably mention that… yeah, I shouldn’t be talking about this. With GDC just around the corner (that corner being this week, “around the” referring to next), we just might have something Lara-related for you soon enough.

There are three truths in life — death, taxes, and a God of War sex mini-game.

But according to the game’s director, Stig Asmussen, Kratos almost didn’t get down with a little bump n’ grind in his latest adventure on the PlayStation 3, God of War III.

“I was like, ‘I’d rather not have it in there at all,’” Asmussen told UGO, explaining that there was an internal debate over whether or not to include one. He says he wasn’t sure if there was a point in including it, despite its “popularity” in previous games, where it was include to show that Kratos was a “man’s man” that gets what he wants. That point was obviously found for the third title; the final version does include a sex mini-game.

“It’s not just you going in there, finding some corner and having sex with somebody. It’s something that guides you through the story. You get information more than just a fluff moment,” he explains.

If the sex is as epic as the game’s first 30 minutes, gamers are in for a real treat. Read Chad’s impressions of the game’s opening sequence (spoiler: he really liked it), and check back next Monday, March 8 at 12 PM EST for my full review.

God of War 3 Game Director Wanted to Leave Out Sex Mini-game [UGO]