Classic Wolfenstein heads for 360

by Alfred Hermida
Technology editor, BBC News website, in Amsterdam

Microsoft wants the Xbox 360 to be a media hub

The grandaddy of first-person shooter games, Wolfenstein, is getting a new lease of life on the Xbox 360.

A fresh version of the venerable PC game is being prepared for Microsoft's next generation console by legendary games studio id Software.

The game, which fuses Nazis, science fiction and horror, is widely regarded as the original first-person shooter.

The Xbox 360 console is due to go on sale in late November in the US and early December in Europe.

Shooting star

Wolfenstein 3D was originally released on the PC in 1992, with a Mac version following in 1994.

Though it was limited as a game, it is widely credited as setting the example for the generation of first-person shooters that followed it, such as Doom and Quake.

Since then, Wolfenstein has been through various incarnations for the PC, Mac and the original Xbox.

The new version was announced at the Microsoft XO5 press event in Amsterdam.

The head of id Software Todd Hollenshead turned up at the event to reveal that work was underway on a new chapter in the Wolfenstein series for the Xbox 360.

The game is provisionally called Wolfenstein Xbox 360 and will be developed by id partners, Raven Software. Raven is also working on another id title for the Xbox 360, Quake 4.

The new game will also be available for the PC and is due to be published by Activision.

The story is based on the familiar Wolfenstein theme of players going behind enemy lines in Nazi Germany to stop experiments with the occult which threaten to alter the course of World War II.

Among the other new games announced at XO5 were urban crime game Crackdown, sci-fi adventure Too Human and sci-fi role-playing game Mass Effect.