This Wednesday, 360’s XBLA will release three classic games. Catan, Centipede and Millipede. I am not too familiar with the first game but I recall EndgameRadio describing it as this awesome board game, so who knows? I may check it out.

Catan, developed by Big Huge Games is the Xbox LIVE Arcade edition of the legendary multiplayer board game Settlers of Catan. With over 10 million units sold, Settlers of Catan is one of the most popular board games to hail from Europe, and has been translated into twenty-five languages from the original German. The game takes place on a newly discovered island, where they players vie for control of valuable territory and resources through strategy and trading. The game can be learned in just minutes, but will challenge players of all skill levels, even the experts!

Klaus Teuber, creator of the original Settlers of Catan board game, had this to say about the collaboration with Big Huge Games: “I had no doubts that Brian Reynolds would do a great job, and the first version of the game exceeded my highest expectations. The AI is so clever that I even lost several games in a row! Hands down, this game for the Xbox Live Arcade is an amazing achievement.” Catan supports up to four players online.

As for the Atari coin-op classics, they’re actually being released as a two-for-one combo. Both versions remain true to their arcade roots and feature an “enhanced” version consisting of pre-rendered, high definition graphics, special effects like motion blur, trails and particle-based explosions that make this classic as enjoyable today as it was in the arcade decades ago.

PS3IGN has released new footage of Crtierion’s highly anticipated supercharged racer, Burnout 5: Paradise coming to the PS3 (and 360 this Winter). While this is only a teaser trailer, it does give us a good glimpse of what to expect in the visual eye candy department. You can bet that many of us here at GotNext will be picking this up on Day One of its release later this fall. I should probably start dusting off my Revenge disc to keep my skills intact.

In any case, here’s the footage. Enjoy! (Thanks to GN forum member YankeeH8er for bringing this to our attention).

On April 27, 1997, an announcement was made that would shake gaming for years to come. The incredibly popular PC game Duke Nukem 3D, currently the only thing giving Doom II a run for its money, was going to get a sequel. Yes, Duke Nukem Forever was going to come out guns blazing, powered by the amazing Quake II engine. And then, a year later, a switch to the Unreal engine bumped its release date back. A few years later it moved on to the Doom 3 engine, and now it’s 2007 and the release date of “when it’s done” hasn’t changed a bit.

There’s still very little info out there on Duke Nukem Forever, even after all these years. A small handful of screens from its various stages of development, a little chatter about potential features, and… that’s it. But that’s not the important thing.

What matters is that someday there will be a Duke Nukem Forever. He’ll be back to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I’m willing to bet the gum supply will be significantly diminished, possibly to the point of nonexistence, before he even starts. There will be big guns, big explosions, clever levels (if Prey is anything to go by), strippers, pig-cops, and snappy one-liners ripped from the best B-movies. In the meantime, though, it’s been a decade, and any impatience or hype for Duke Nukem Forever has long since died, replaced by the knowlege that it’ll be along someday and there’s no point in getting excited over things you can’t have.

So Happy 10th Anniversary, Duke! See you when you get here, but no rush.

GameTrailers.com is hosting leaked footage of an internal Halo 3 beta test. Bungie must have a disgruntled employee in their midst, because the beta test has only been going on for a little over a week. The footage features a multiplayer test on a revised version of Zanzibar called “Last Resort“. The new bubble shield is shown off and has to be viewed to be fully understood. Take a gander and plug your ears. This sneak peak comes at the cost of horrible audio. Heed my warning.

The garage sale known as Sony’s price drop extends to European consumers on May 4th, only a month after price cuts in the U.S. Big brother always seems to get the best toys first, but eventually ends up sharing with everyone else. The PSP will retail for £130 / €170. Sony’s sudden generosity suggests the PSP is failing internationally, and it’s time for desperate measures. While the company would say connectivity with the PlayStation 3 is the main reason for dropping the price of the PSP, it’s obvious the popularity and dominant sales of Nintendo DS systems has forced Sony into swallowing their pride. They should hope the same fate won’t befall the PS3.

Not only has the hand-held unit become cheaper, but more platinum titles are emerging as well. UMDs are also growing wildly unpopular. If Sony doesn’t put more effort into supplying more quality games, the PSP may become the next VCR, and a once powerful gaming machine will be the next purchase at a dollar store.