"Working on the Nintendo Wii was a pretty exciting thing for us. We were excited about the unique controls and what they brought to the gamer," explains Steve Papoutsis in this new dev diary. Extraction, the Wii-exclusive prequel to Dead Space, as with many Wii games, takes advantage of multiple control modes, depending on whether you use the Wii Remote or Zapper. Either way, the game utilizes some clever Wii-specific tricks, like switching to alt-fire by simply turning the controller on its side.

The footage showcased in the latest dev diary highlights some of the best visuals we've seen on Wii so far. One of the co-op segments highlighted in the video combines puzzle-solving and monster-blasting in a rather smartly designed (and terrifying) way. Even worse, the two players will have to switch off during the puzzle as enemies continue to jump in. With so many clever ideas being thrown about, Extraction may have a shot at making us all scream in terror.

We're not ones to judge, but when we go down to the country club (haha, just go with it), we try to avoid wearing our CEC Mining Hazard Suit. You see, someone in Tiger Woods 10 clearly likes hitting the links in the same outfit worn by Isaac Clarke in Dead Space. Actually, could it be Isaac? Hmmm.

An added bonus: Wearing the suit will unlock the "No Known Survivors" achievement for 35 points. Now we can't help but wonder if Tiger Woods will show up as a skin in Dead Space 2. Or as a suit made of skin ... ewwww. Check out someone teeing off in the CEC Mining Hazard Suit after the break.

[Via 360 Sync]

We've seen Dead Space: Extraction for the Wii before, and we've seen it again at this year's E3, but have we gotten our hands on it yet? The answer is a very guided yes. We took the space survival horror for a spin at EA in an appropriately darkened room with lead designer Wright Bagwell, and we're happy to report that it does indeed contain several poop-your-pants moments, despite the fact that it's on rails.

Head beyond the break for the full report, and peep the new images in the gallery below. Quickly, before your light runs out and you have to shake your hand like it's holding a can of spray paint for more illumination.

Nintendo's press conference was mostly designed for "a wider demographic," but there was some visceral violence from Visceral's Dead Space Extraction during the show. Check out the video above and try to survive.

EA has released a little Dead Space Extraction teaser just prior to the game's big coming out party at E3 next week. The on-rails Wii shooter will have players blasting Necromorph limbs on Aegis VII, just prior to the events of Dead Space. The game will release in September, but we expect to have some hands-on time with the game and its co-op gameplay next week.

Electronic Arts has narrowed its previously announced fall release window for Dead Space Extraction. The Wii-exclusive experiment is set to slice into retail shelves (and necromorphs' limbs) in North America on September 29. Adventurers overseas have a bit more waiting to do, with the game expected to ship in Europe on October 2.

Extraction promises a number of new features over the original Dead Space, including co-op gameplay as well as new weapons and enemies. We were left impressed following our recent time with the upcoming "guided first-person shooter experience," and assuming our limbs can take all that twisting we look forward to turning back the alien scourge this fall.

You might want to sit down for this (you look tired). Judging by an update to Electronic Arts' Pratik Patel's LinkedIn page, work on Dead Space 2 is already underway. The engineering guru updated the page to include his role on the still as-yet-unannounced sequel, on which he is serving as the game's technical/development director.

Hardly shocking, we know. Like a necromorph's limbs, any real doubt of Dead Space getting a sophomore outing was severed with EA's own Frank Gibeau and Glenn Schofield admitting as much just days after the original's release. Nothing else is yet known, though with E3 just around the corner and Dead Space Extraction dismembering Wii shelves later this year, we don't expect to be retiring our trusty plasma cutter any time soon.

[Via Supererogatory]

Ammunition is not the only scarcity in Dead Space Extraction. In fact, flashlights seem even more difficult to come by, as miners on Aegis 7 are left to keep their wits about them basked in the comforting greenish hue of a "glow worm." The game's equivalent of glow sticks, glow worms offer an unlimited source of light that must be recharged by shaking the Wii remote.

As mentioned following our recent time with the game, the mechanic, which is described in greater detail on EA's Dead Space blog, certainly ups the scare factor. Still, we can't help but wonder if -- after 10 or so hours of vigorous shaking -- these glow worms will leave us clutching our arms, reeling from a wholly different kind of strategic dismemberment.

With the renaming of EA Redwood Shores to Visceral Games came the announcement that the rechristened studio would focus on generating new intellectual properties. While the studio is working on new IPs, Visceral's general manager Glen Schofield told GameSpot, "If the right license came along--the right movie, the right book or whatever--we'd do that as well." Stating that Visceral wouldn't just be "The New IP House," Schofield pointed to Capcom as a good example of a company that produces great original IP that can be turned into franchises, something he hopes to see happen for Dead Space.

Dead Space, according to Schofield, has moved 1.4 million copies across the Xbox, Playstation and PC. Schofield is satisfied with the numbers given the economic conditions when the game launched last October. He adds that used sales and rentals probably add up to 3 or 4 million people having played the game. Schofield has high hopes for the upcoming Dead Space: Extraction for Wii, saying that both Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil 4 sold very well.

Regarding Dante's Inferno, Schofield says turning the epic poem into a video game has been fairly simple, noting that the nine circles of Hell translate perfectly into nine different game sections. Adapting the story, said Schofield, is simply "a writing exercise." Remember that, kids: Turning a 14th century Italian poet into a sword-wielding badass is a writing exercise.

EA Redwood Shores (aka EARS), an internal development studio within EA, was suffering a bit of an identity crisis. Known for making some of EA's best and brightest stuff -- including last year's Dead Space and the upcoming Dante's Inferno -- the studio just didn't feel right with such a ... less than descriptive name. That changed today, as its parent company EA announced a rebranding of the studio, now dubbed Visceral Games.

And while the studio is still working on the aforementioned Dante's Inferno as well as the now Wii-ified spin-off of Dead Space, titled Dead Space: Extraction, it's also apparently working on "two other unannounced titles." Little did we know! The studio claims to be identifiable as one with a "focus on creating intense action-oriented intellectual properties," a claim that needs little substantiation considering its back catalog. Now, can we hear a little bit more about those two unannounced titles please?

The Dead Space: Extraction dev team would rather you didn't call its game an "on rails shooter." It prefers "guided first-person shooter experience." Whatever you decide to call it, there's no escaping (or being extracted from) the fact that this isn't a free-roaming FPS set in the Dead Space universe. Based on a recent live demo of the game we were given, though, it's clear this isn't a mindless shooting gallery, either.

Extraction builds not only on the audio-visual presentation of the original game -- and certainly looks & sounds the part -- but also on its unique gameplay mechanics, the most prominent of which being "strategic dismemberment." It also uses the Wii's controls to great effect, as we found during our 15 minutes in Hell (or something close and certainly scary, at least).

In the IGN video interview embedded after the break, Dead Space: Extraction producer Steve Papoutsis discusses the motivation for the "guided first-person experience" design for the Dead Space prequel, as well as the storyline, the controls, and the co-op modes. That's great, and of course it's wonderful to hear such ideals behind the game's design.

But the real attraction here is footage. The video is interspersed with gameplay footage from Extraction, mostly consisting of the disarming (and dislegging) of creepy spider-dudes. In our estimation, at least, EA is delivering the graphics it needs to ensure that the game is appropriately atmospheric. And by "atmospheric" we mean "eeeeeeeee."

EA's perpetual joke -- on you -- comes to an ironic end on April Fools' Day with the release of de-authorization tools for each of its 19 PC games with SecuROM copy protection (full list and download links after the break). If you've been working on that class action lawsuit against EA for bundling SecuROM with The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff, you can drop it now -- your flat-pack furniture can finally be moved to a new machine.

In the spirit of generosity, EA's giving you two options for managing your authorizations:

• Option 1: Download and install yet another "tool" in order to scan your computer for EA's SecuROM games and find out how many computer authorizations you have (or don't have) left for each title.
• Option 2: Cut to the chase and download the game-specific de-authorization tool you need.