Alan Wake has become something of a secret success for Xbox 360 owners, as it was easily one of the best games to land when the original launched in 2010. The game was such a success for Remedy that they have now decided to make the game available for PC owners, as it will go on sale in the next few months.

As for the new game, we first had a confirmation that something new was coming at the Video Game Awards, but now we have the first gameplay to show you, as well as a reminder if you didn’t know that Alan Wake’s American Nightmare will release sometime in February, via the Xbox Live Marketplace only.

The gameplay has come courtesy of Spike TV who have unveiled it as part of their CES 2012 coverage. You’ll be pleased to know that the game features improved graphics from the first game and according to Remedy, American Nightmare is very much its own entity and doesn’t interfere with the major storyline plot from Alan Wake. For these reasons, Remedy has said that it is an ideal game for players who have not played the first game to just ‘jump in’ and experience the Alan Wake universe.

We have two videos to show you now, one of which gives players a look at the observatory scene from the game, and the other is more of a campaign walkthrough with commentary from Oskari Hakkinen, main developer at Remedy. Just like the first game, the graphics shown in these gameplay videos for American Nightmare are nothing short of stunning, and it maintains Remedy’s reputation as being responsible for one of the best-looking franchises on the Xbox 360.

American Nightmare is due out on Xbox Live on February 15th. How highly do you rate the franchise? Is it the Xbox 360′s answer to Heavy Rain? Considering that this isn’t a sequel, it provides an exciting prospect to see how Remedy can follow up with a proper Alan Wake 2 game.

Xbox 360 owners who played the game will be the first ones to say how good Alan Wake is, so it is definitely a good piece of news for PC owners. Xbox 360 owners in the meantime can look forward to the second major title in the new franchise, a game called Alan Wake’s American Nightmare which was announced at the recent 2011 VGAs.

It’s important to point out that this isn’t Alan Wake 2 though, rather an independent game which expands on the first title further. While a sequel is definitely coming at a later stage, Alan Wake fans can now look forward to American Nightmare releasing in the first quarter of 2012.

Will there be perhaps be an element of jealousy from PS3 owners reading this piece of news we wonder? Just like Left 4 Dead, PS3 users have seen another great game pass them by, and Alan Wake is the next title to ponder the thoughts of PS3 owners and contemplate ‘what if’?

It’s the same story for Xbox 360 owners in a way with Uncharted 3, that’s the way this industry operates these days. One additional incentive to pick up the PC version of Alan Wake if you haven’t played it, is the fact that the game will come bundled with the two pieces of DLC that became available for the Xbox 360 version – These are The Signal and The Writer respectively.

If you have played the Xbox 360 version, what are your memories of Alan Wake? Would you recommend this title to PC owners or not? If you’re a PS3 reading the news, do you somehow wish that Alan Wake came to the PlayStation 3?

According to a recent article posted on JoyStiq it seems as if Remedy Entertainment has now confirmed that they are working on the next Alan Wake game, it will not be called Alan Wake 2, in fact Remedy only refer to the game as the next Wake installment.

Remedy was keen to say that they will explain exactly what they have in store for us when they make the game’s official announcement, chances are this will occur in a months time at E3 2011, we guess it all depends on how the game’s development is going.

As JoyStiq point out the statement from Remedy leaves us a little confused, if it is not an Alan Wake sequel what is it? Could it be that Alan Wake is coming to different platforms? Could it be a new Wake game which requires you to use Kinect? We just don’t know.

Towards the end of Remedy’s statement they suggest that no release date, platforms or pricing details have been confirmed, however Fall 2011 “is probably a good guess”.

What do you think we will see with the next Wake installment?

According to ScrawlFX it looks like someone’s LinkedIn profile may have confirmed the games existence, a previs artist named Althea Suarez Gata mentioned the game on LinkedIn, if you check out this link you can see what she said.

Althea appeared to let it slip that she worked with Halon Entertainment on some in-game cinematics for Alan Wake 2, Halon Entertainment claims to be dedicated to the art of film making, advertising and development and by the looks of things they may have worked with Bungie on Halo: Reach.

Since ScrawlFX posted on their blog Althea’s LinkedIn profile has been amended and no-longer mentions Alan Wake 2, to us this sounds like she may have leaked this news inadvertently and deleted it as soon as she realized what she had done.

We wonder if we may see an Alan Wake 2 trailer next month at E3, perhaps we will see some of her artwork. Do you think a sequel should be made?