There's some two-part news today out of Germany, which seems only fitting for a game called Alter Ego. German publisher bitComposer has announced that it will be releasing the latest adventure by Future Games in the first quarter of 2010, on Nintendo Wii as well as PC.

Referred to by the developers as the "successor" to Black Mirror, the new horror-themed mystery sends players back to the late 19th century in a small English town called Plymouth, where a ruthless arisotrat has recently been buried. Local legends tell of his many cruel crimes, but he was never brought to justice during his lifetime. Since his death, however, a series of gruesome murders has occurred, and the town is now gripped in panic and fear. Players will control two different characters, a thief named Timothy Moor and Police Detective Bristol, to investigate from two different angles and ultimately expose a dark, hidden secret.

No specific release details have been revealed yet, but the game is scheduled for release in both North America and Europe. In the meantime, additional information can be found at the game's official website.

One of the most highly acclaimed DS adventure series is ready to take an all-new platform by storm next year, as Capcom has announced ports of the first three Ace Attorney games, to be released through WiiWare over the first half of 2010.

The popular anime courtroom series stars young defense lawyer Phoenix Wright, who must pull out all the stops to defeat a host of ruthless prosecutors and get his clients acquitted. The series is characterized more by its quirky characters and zany antics than any resemblance to real legal proceedings, and the Wii version will be adapted for the home console by having players "present evidence with the wave of the Wii remote or press suspicious testimonies by wiggling it."

The first game in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, will offer only the first four episodes from the original release, with the DS-specific case no longer included. The game is expected to release in January 2010, with the next two games, Justice for All and Trials and Tribulations, to follow in March and May, respectively. Each game will cost 1,000 Wii Points ($10.00 USD).

Last week Big Fish served up a little tease of its upcoming Mystery Case Files adventure, but today offers a much bigger taste, with the first screenshots, a lengthy new trailer, and release details for not one but two versions of Dire Grove.

The sixth installment in the popular casual game series, and the second to focus heavily on traditional adventure gameplay, Dire Grove sends players following in the footsteps of four graduate students who mysteriously vanished. After finding their rental car, abandoned during a sudden snow storm, players must explore the area in and around the secluded English town of Dire Grove in search of scattered tapes that reveal additional information about the events that led to their disappearance. Much of the storyline will be presented through live-action film clips in a game that's promising to be much more ambitious than its predecessors, with a projected 10-15 hours of gameplay.



How soon you can expect Dire Grove will depend on which version you choose. The game will debut on November 25th with a "Collector's Edition" exclusively for members of the Big Fish Games portal. This enhanced version will come with an in-game strategy guide, video outtakes, concept art, desktop wallpapers, and some bonus gameplay as well, giving players "access to hidden content and additional hidden-object scenes" that won't be available in the standard edition. The Collector's Edition comes with a higher price tag, however, as the game will retail for $19.95 with no coupons or credits applicable. The regular version of the game will be sold with the usual price and conditions, and will be released in early December.

For more details about Dire Grove and the Mystery Case Files series, you'll find them at the official website.

We’ve known about Coven for quite some time, but could only wonder what it would look like until today. At last, the creators of Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches have released the first screenshots and a trailer for their upcoming game.

The trailer gives some historical insight to the mystery of the game, introducing the foreboding location of Castle Avon and the Welsh harbour town of Glendowershire. Players player must investigate the dark mysteries of the castle and solve the mystery of why Megan Jones was hung as a witch.



Coven will display some stylistic changes from Rhiannon, including a much larger setting to explore, characters to interact with, and according to the developers, even include “within the expectations of our target players, a light sprinkling of action here and there.”

No firm release date has been set for the game, though it’s expected some time next year. More information about Coven can be found at Arberth Studio’s official site.

Fans of solitary, puzzle-centric adventures can finally prepare themselves for a little bit of utopia next year, as a small European studio called Wax Lyrical Games has announced production on its debut title, Wittard: Nemesis of Ragnarok.

Wittard sends players into a small indoor city called 'The Utopia'. A "pleasure dome" designed by the eccentric architect Baron Wittard, the city was due for its grand opening two years ago, but "that event never happened. A chain of mysterious events has now left the Utopia abandoned and silent. People have gone missing. Electromagnetic disturbances are increasing. These happenings all point to Wittard's desolate Utopia. Armed with only a camera and a torch, you must journey there alone to explore its winding corridors, its secret passageways, and its gloomy halls."

In this first-person "adventure-puzzle" game with 360-degree camera panning, players must explore the lonely remains of the once-impressive city in order to expose a terrible secret the local townsfolk claim was kept by Wittard himself. The developers are promising non-linear gameplay in this "massive and mysterious ruin in the middle of nowhere" that players can explore at leisure.

Though Wax Lyrical has no firm distribution plans in place, they do intend to release the game both on disc and through digital distribution, and are currently targeting completion some time in the first quarter of next year. For more details about the game in the meantime, pop on over to the official website.