Gaming is for Girls: "Maniac Mansion" gets an update

Rhianna Pratchett scripting new "Overlord" games
Terry Pratchett's daughter, Rhianna, is one busy lady with all these video game franchises she's working on, and she's just added more notches to her gaming belt. Rhianna has been signed to pen scripts for "Overlord II" — the PS3 and Xbox 360 sequel to "Overlord." She'll also be penning scripts for "Overlord: Dark Legend" — Wii and "Overlord: Minions" — DS, coming sometime next year.

Rhianna Pratchett sounds a bit like her dad when she says, "Writing for games is part alchemy, part narrative woodwork and part swimming in shark-infested waters wearing ham pants, so it’s a real honor to be nominated for Overlord."

BioShock 2 trailer spotted. Color us intrigued.
We thought "BioShock" was a superb game, wonderful story, great characterizations and, of course, some old-time music all wrapped up in an art deco bow. Seems the next "BioShock" title will be called "BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams," and it looks intriguing. The teaser trailer is unlocked on the newly released PS3 version of "BioShock" and shows a character we assume to be a "little sister" (young girls in the game) having aged to around 10 or so we would think, standing to the right of a shot as some sort of cityscape arises around her.

Another clue may be the "BioShock" logo itself, which is barnacled and ones opens releasing a butterfly. Is the city of Rapture somehow heading to dry land?

RARE hint at "Killer Instinct" title with piñata cards?
Seems like developer RARE is up to something with a "Killer Instinct." New piñata animal cards for "Viva Pinata" seem based on characters from the "Killer Instinct" games. This isn't the first time RARE has used tease tactics by showing off "Killer Instinct" tie-ins in other games; the same occurred in "Diddy Kong Racing" some years ago.

The rumor mill suggests RARE is almost certainly working on a new "Killer Instinct" title. On the off chance you're unaware, "Killer Instinct" is a fighting title.

Hands on with "Diablo III" looks positive
Euro gaming site Eurogamer has been playing "Diablo III" and seems to be suggesting it's going to be something special. The "Diablo" games have always been a firm favorite with many who love their fantasy RPG adventure, and this is in no small part due to the simplistic nature of the game interface, all wrapped up in a deep story and cool characters.

It seems the simple interface will remain, which is great as it means fans of the series don't have to worry about it being hacked to pieces when it worked fine in the first place. Release date on this one is still TBA, but we think it's one PC gamers should definitely have on their radar.

LucasArts files new trademark for "Maniac Mansion"
Oh please let it be a new game and not just an update to an old trademark! "Maniac Mansion" was (in our humble opinion) one of the best graphic adventure games ever made. It released way back in 1987 and featured a group of friends trying to rescue the girlfriend of one of them (yeah, we know — yawn). Anyway, sexism aside it was the inherent humor and B-movie settings that made "Maniac Mansion" just adorable. A remake or even re-release would be most welcome. XBLA please, LucasArts.

At Lesbian Gamers this week, we've got the usual fill of gaming news items we thought were interesting, along with a look back at the girls from the TV series "Bits" and a fun piece on Massive Dynamic and N64 linkage. We've also got our “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” competition which is still running, so get your entries in.

At Lesbian Geek we look at gaming vests that let you feel the pain, along with the talk brewing of a Xena reunion movie.