Microsoft has began pushing the Xbox Live fall update preview to Xbox 360 owners that signed up, registered and were accepted into the test. You may see a prompt to download the update the next time your turn your console on. The fall update replaces the old dashboard design with Microsoft’s Metro user interface and adds features such as Beacons, Bing search and more.

In true Microsoft tradition, the company has started accepting registrations from those who are interested in getting the Xbox 360 dashboard update early. The process is almost the same as before. You have to go to the Microsoft Connect website and submit some general information such as your name and Gamertag. What’s different this time around is you don’t have to input the serial number of your Xbox 360 when signing up. Microsoft will ask for that information if you get accepted into the preview.

NIS America is on a roll this month! Not only has Disgaea 4, the PS3 strategic RPG, been released, but Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland, the direct sequel to the PS3 game Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland is launching at the end of the month. Gamertell got the opportunity to test out Atelier Totori early, and see what’s new and improved in the latest entry in the relaxed RPG and life simulation series that focuses on creation, rather than destruction.

Atelier Totori follows Totooria Helmold during a crucial period in her young life. Everyone calls her Totori though, because it’s cuter and easier…

If you really want to get technical, Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten, is all about the sardines.

Sardines are a kind of fish used as food around the world. (They’re a great source of omega-3 fatty acids!) They’re also the breakfast of champion Prinnies, and happen to be former vampire-tyrant-turned-prinny-instructor Valvatorez’s primary source of food since he decided to stop drinking human blood due to a promise made years ago. That promise made him loose his power and position, resigning him to the position in Hades he currently occupies, with his former werewolf-vassel Fenrich as his only assistant. Though if you ask Valvatorez, he’d just say he’s there working in Hades because of a promise he made the warden and would deny any loss or fall from power….

Paradox Interactive is known for its PC simulations, and one of it’s latest goes in a whole new direction. For the first time, Paradox Interactive is taking players to the Warring States period in Japan in the aptly named Sengoku. Players will have to strategically unify the country. I recently got the opportunity to spend some hands-on time with a preview build of the forthcoming game.

The overall goal in Sengoku is a noble one. You are a clan leader, daimyo or kokujin with lofty ambitions. Where ever you are, you want to be someplace better. The only position that will do is shogun of Japan…

NIS America is going to release Bleach: Soul Resurreccion, the first PS3Bleach game in North America and, while it isn’t a console version of the beloved Bleach: Heat the Soul series, it is an action packed adventure game. Players get to go around beating up Hollows and Arrancars. I was fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at some of the early Story Mode levels of the game and see how it’s shaping up.

Story-wise, Bleach: Soul Resurreccion takes place during the Arrancar Arc of the anime series…

On June 29, 2011, Gamertell was invited to attend a demonstration of Atlus’ first HD PS3 and Xbox 360 game, Catherine, led by Aram Jabbari, Atlus’ PR and Sales Manager. While most people are drawn in by and know of the game for some of the racy imagery used in it, it’s really more of a dramatic adventure with lots of supernatural elements and what seems to be an intense action game as players must keep climbing a tower to keep from dying.

The presentation began by actually going ahead and starting the game. The events of Catherine are made even more surreal when you realize they aren’t just happening, but they’re part of a TV show called Golden Playhouse that’s following Vincent Brook’s life. Midnight Venus Tricia, the host, and her awe-inspiring afro set the scene. Vincent will also receive texts from her while at the Stray Sheep bar in the game, to congratulate him on completing the previous night’s nightmare. Anyways, she sets the scene of how Vincent is currently being pressured to make a more serious commitment to his girlfriend of five years, Katherine. Tricia also mentions the strange series of dreams that can claim peoples’ lives if they fall during it and don’t wake up before landing.

From there, we see Vincent and Katherine at dinner at a very fancy, very pink restaurant…

We had some time to check out Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City at E3 2011. I tested the game along with three other players in a LAN co-op mission to save Raccoon City from a zombie infestation.

We started the demo with six playable characters each with their own set of unique skills and a handful of weapons. The first thing I noticed about the game is that while the textures and visuals remain somewhat similar to RE5, the gameplay mechanics have been tweaked quite a bit. The most accurate game comparison I can draw would be between Left 4 Dead series. I actually had to inquire with one of the Capcom representatives regarding which gaming mode was being demoed (as the sheer number of enemies was reminiscent of a horde/Nazi zombie mode). He assured me that I was indeed testing the campaign mode. In addition, I was able to shoot and run simultaneously.

You’re a dragon. This means you’ve got to do what dragons do best – menacing people and gathering shinies. That’s what Hoard is all about. Big Sandwich Games is preparing its PS3 game for the PSP, and I’ve recently gotten the opportunity to see how it works firsthand. That means picking out a dragon and soaring high above maps, trying to find ways to collect gold so I can have a nice, large stockpile at my base. It also might mean facing troublesome humans and other dragons.

Hoard has fairly simple and intuitive controls. For the most part, you’re moving your dragon over the area, with either the analog nub or directional pad…

Gamertell was fortunate enough to get a close look at Atlus’ forthcoming DS RPG, Radiant Historia yesterday, courtesy of Atlus’ PR Manager Aram Jabbari. This time traveling adventure, which was put together by former Tri-Ace members who worked on the PS2 game Radiata Stories and Shin Megami Tensei development team members looks like it has a lot to offer gamers when it comes out on February 22, 2011. Whether you’re intrigued by the unique, grid-based battle system, curious about the ability to work towards the true ending by time hopping or just plain enjoy Atlus games, Radiant Historia is worth investigating.

Jabbari began the demonstration by taking us through the opening of Radiant Historia. We see the guardians Teo and Lippti, who are lamenting the fate of the Vainguer…