Video Games News

Sony's Network Products & Services division, which houses the PlayStation and VAIO brands, saw a return to black for the third quarter, recording a 1.9% increase in net sales to 606.1 billion yen and a net income of 19.4 billion yen compared to a net loss of 5.9 billion yen in the same quarter in the prior year.

Sony described increased VAIO sales as the primary reason behind the increase.  Despite an increase of 2m sales to 6.5 million PS3 unit sales during the period, decreased PS2 hardware and software sales combined with a drop in PSP hardware led to the Game sector positing a decrease of 3.9% in sales of 355.22 billion yen.

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Bethesda has today confirmed an autumn 2010 release for Fallout: New Vegas on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC alongside an initial teaser trailer for the game.

The teaser, which has obvious similarities to Fallout 3's iconic teaser from 2007 (with the now traditional "War... war never changes" voice-over), appears to depict New Vegas in the background as a beacon of light - a far cry from the desolate surrounds of Fallout 3's post-apocalyptic Washington DC.

Some of the game's press blurb then states, "Experience all the sights and sounds of fabulous New Vegas, brought to you by Vault-Tec, America's First Choice in Post Nuclear Simulation," suggesting that New Vegas could be a simulation similar to the 'Operation: Anchorage' DLC that Bethesda released for Fallout 3.

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According to collated figures from the leading market research companies in Japan (Enterbrain), the UK (Chart-Track), and the US (NPD), Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 recorded 11.82 million unit sales in 2009 following its launch in early November.

When these figures are broken down by region, they reveal the US as MW2's largest market (8.82 million units), followed by the UK (2.80 million), and then trailing Japanese sales of 237,500 units.

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Speaking during a post-earnings report conference call, THQ's President and CEO, Brian Farrell has announced that the publisher's de Blob franchise will return during the next fiscal year, which runs between April 1st 2010 and March 31st 2011.

"Our de Blob franchise will be back again in fiscal 2011. We successfully launched this highly rated owned franchise in fiscal 2009 to broad critical acclaim," said Farrell.

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As part of its Q3 financial results for the 2010 fiscal year, THQ has announced sequels for Darksiders and Saints Row that will arrive during the company's fiscal 2012 (sometime between April 1st 2011 and March 31st 2012).

"We expect to demonstrate continued improvement in fiscal 2011 after the significant turnaround in fiscal 2010," said THQ's President and CEO, Brain Farrell in a post-earnings report conference call. "We believe this momentum will carry us into fiscal 2012 when we expect to see accelerated growth with three major core games titles scheduled, Warhammer 40000: Space Marine, a sequel to Darksiders, and the third generation of our popular Saints Row franchise," he continued.

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Just to make sure that there's no confusion over the latest release date for Splinter Cell: Conviction, Ubisoft has gone to the lengths of announcing an April 13th US date for the game and literally setting that date in stone.

The image shown right, posted by the folks over at IGN, confirms a second release date for the game that was previously scheduled for a February 23rd launch in the US. Prior to that, Conviction had suffered multiple setbacks during development after originally being set for launch in November 2007.

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THQ today signalled its intention to deliver expansion in the digital market with the announcement that it has refocused Juice Games and Rainbow Studios to create games exclusively for the digital market.  Under the new titles of THQ Digital Studios Warrington and THQ Digital Studios Phoenix, the US publisher confirmed that the move will result in the loss of 60 staff positions.

The studios behind the Juiced and the MX vs ATV series will develop titles based on THQ's core brands and original IP, along with developing an umbrella platform to connect all THQ core title using proprietary technology developed by THQ Digital Studios Warrington.

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The cat may have been let out of the bag along time ago, however the confirmation that Project Needlemouse is indeed Sonic the Hedgehog 4 should come as good news for long-suffering fans of the spikey blue one.

In a first look Gamespot brings word that the title will be the first in a series of episodic titles, so a little bit of the old and a little bit of the new.  The titles will be released across Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network and WiiWare with the official website intriguingly adding a '???' as a further platform - could this be PC or perhaps SEGA's long rumoured return to the hardware race. 

Motion support in the form of the Wii Remote and SixAxis (thankfully no plans for Natal), has also been confirmed.

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In a post dubbed "Mythbusters" on Bungie.net, the legendary FPS developer has poured cold water all over a number of rumours surrounding Halo: Reach.

Is the game going to feature an off-centre crosshair? No, that's just a bug that turned up in one of the screenshots. Is the HUD going to be yellow? Not any more, apparently. Will Reach be compatible with Microsoft's Project Natal? Not by the sounds of things...

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According to Nintendo's President, Satoru Iwata, Team Ninja's Metroid: Other M will be released on the Wii this summer, pointing to an earlier window for the game's launch than had previously been anticipated.

This news comes from a financial briefing following Nintendo's Q3 financial results, although Iwata wasn't able to specify whether the autumn launch window is limited to Japan or refers to a wider worldwide release.

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Hironobu Sakaguchi's next masterpiece has been shrouded in obscurity and even the occasional cryptic tease over the last few months, but now Nintendo has put a name to Mistwalker's mystery game.

"We are working with Mistwalker in order to seek a new form of RPG by choosing the universal theme of human emotion," said Nintendo's President, Satoru Iwata in a financial report. "Another full-scaled RPG, The Last Story, is planned to come out in 2010 for Wii."

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Following nearly a month-long countdown, Platinum Games has revealed a teaser trailer for its previously untitled fourth project, Vanquish. The game, which is part of a four game deal with publisher SEGA that includes Bayonetta and MadWorld, is being directed by legendary Resident Evil creator, Shinji Mikami.

Vanquish's teaser reveals a sci-fi storyline about an alien invasion on US soil. A heavily armoured, elite soldier (reminiscent of the Master Chief) appears to be at the centre of the plot, which includes invading mechs and alien motherships aplenty (so, that's both Japanese and Western sensibilities shrewdly catered for in a kind of Lost Planet way).

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In the past Nintendo's Satoru Iwata has expressed both praise and criticism towards Apple, however recent comments seem to suggest he won't be adding an iPad to his collection of Apple products.

''It was a bigger iPod Touch,'' Iwata claimed in a report on The New York Times.  ''There were no surprises for me,'' he later added.

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Rockstar today confirmed the largely unsurprising news that Episodes From Liberty City will be arriving on the PC and PlayStation3 on March 30th 2010.

Both The Lost & Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony will be released on one disc, or available individually via the PlayStation Network and Games For Windows Live.

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Sony's still unbranded Motion Controller (now strongly believed to be called 'Arc') will receive 10 dedicated titles for PS3 before the end of this year, including sports and pet raising games.

According to a Nikkei.Net report (translated by Andriasang), "around 10 or so" titles are being developed by Sony specifically for the device, although the amount of games in development from other publishers remains unclear.

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Nintendo has just published its Q3 financials, which report meteoric sales for its major new Wii releases of 2009, including the MotionPlus infused Wii Sports Resort, co-op focused New Super Mario Bros Wii, and more-of-the-same inspired Wii Fit Plus.

All three titles have passed through the 10 million units milestone, with Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros Wii raking in 10.16 million and 10.55 million units respectively. Wii Sports Resort, on the other hand, went to the top of the class with 13.58 million.

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According to figures from Nintendo's Q3 financials, the Wii has cast aside its mid-2009 sales slowdown by posting lifetime sales of over 67.45 million units, while its DS console looks equally formidabble with a lofty 125.14 million unit sales to-date.

The games giant also broke down these figures by region, showing that the American market has been dominant where the Wii is concerned with 32.02 million unit sales (9.72m units have been sold in Japan, while other territories account for 25.71m sales).

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Contrary to what sensationalist reporting in the press might suggest, not all scientific research into the effects of videogames is about violent content that corrupts young minds. Nevertheless, we never expected the US Department of Defense to quote the following on its website:

"We have discovered that video game players perform 10 to 20 percent higher in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability than normal people that are non-game players."

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The first two episodes of Relentless Software's Blue Toad Murder Files were an enjoyable mish-mash of murder mystery, puzzle solving, and good old British humour. However, they scored a disappointing 7/10 in our review that could have been a much more solid 8/10.

A couple of issues let the game down: its pricing and lack of replay value. With the first two episodes being priced at £6.49 per episode over PSN (or £9.99 for a bundle of the two), this wasn't exactly the most captivating prospect for our credit crunching Christmas. Nonetheless, Relentless has now addressed these concerns by changing its pricing strategy for the remaining four episodes in the series.

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So far, we know that Activision's next James Bond project is due to land sometime this year and will feature the mo-capping and voice-over talents of Eastenders' own Adam Croasdell, although very little else is known about the project at this stage.

The next Bond film (Bond 23) is currently in pre-production and slated for a 2011 release, so we'll go ahead and assume that this year's Bond game is not being tied-in to the next motion picture (the involvement of Croasdell would appear to back this up).

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The lid on Halo: Reach is gradually being prised open with a deluge of new screens and information about the considerable visual improvements Bungie is making.  Despite originally planning to reuse many of the assets from Halo 3, the studio ultimately decided to largely start again from scratch.

Images showcase the visual improvements to the Assault Rifle, Marines, Elites and the Warthog throughout the series, demonstrating the models from Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and finally Halo: Reach.

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It's a world cup year, which obviously means a bumper year for EA with the announcement of 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa for the PlayStation3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PSP.

Featuring the 199 clubs that competed during the qualifying stages, players will be able to take a team through the initial qualifying groups and ultimately to the World Cup final, where all 10 of the official SouthAfrica stadiums will make an appearance.

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Square Enix has announced that Supreme Commander 2 will be released on March 5th in the UK for PC and March 19th for the Xbox 360.

The game, which is Gas Powered Games' sequel to its critically acclaimed 2007 original, marks game designer and 'Strategic Zoom' pioneer, Chris Taylor's third full-release RTS game (fourth if you count Demigod) following Total Annihilation and the first Supreme Commander title.

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In a series of Tweets, EA has revealed that its Modern Warfare-mimicking shooter, Medal of Honor is being souped-up more ways than a top-flight hot rod.

The game, which is in development at EA Los Angeles and EA DICE, will utilise a "heavily-modified" Unreal Engine 3 in the single-player campaign as well as DICE's Frostbite engine for the multiplayer (EA has previously revealed that DICE is working on the game's multiplayer component).

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While Capcom announced specific release dates for Lost Planet 2 and SSFIV this morning, the publisher has become increasingly vague about its launch plans for Dead Rising 2 by listing the title for a "Calendar 2010" launch in Japan and failing to detail plans for the game's European launch.

The Western developed title, which is underway at Canadian outfit Blue Castle Games, was downgraded from its initial fiscal 2009/10 launch window earlier this year and subsequently pushed into Capcom's 2010/11 fiscal year (running between April 1st 2010 and March 31st 2011).

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Capcom has announced launch plans for its 2010 slate of titles including specific dates for Lost Planet 2 and Super Street Fighter IV, which are due to arrive on May 18th and April 30th respectively in Europe.

While Lost Planet 2 will arrive in Europe and the US simultaneously, Super Street Fighter IV is due to arrive three days earlier in the US on April 27th. Both games are set to arrive on Xbox 360 and PS3 at launch.

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Indie developer Introversion has announced that Darwinia+ (the studio's Xbox Live Arcade port of its previous PC titles Darwinia and Multiwinia) will be released over Xbox Live on February 10th.

The game, which Introversion has likened to a "Director's Cut" of its original PC releases, will be available for 1200 Microsoft Points (£10.20).

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If you hadn't already heard, Mass Effect 2 (which releases Stateside tomorrow and in the UK on Friday) will include a character import feature that allows players to transfer the character and actions from their original Mass Effect game over into the storyline of the upcoming sequel.

"There were times in Mass Effect 1 where you had to make tough decisions, and those tough decisions are actually reflected in Mass Effect 2," BioWare's CEO, Ray Muzyka explained on Major Nelson's latest Podcast. "The intent, of course, is to have that over the entire trilogy - whoever's alive and dead, and what you've done with the council and everything else is reflected in the game."

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In a recent Q&A post on Rockstar's Newswire, the publisher has promised that it will make it up to PS3 owners who are disappointed that GTA IV's Episodes From Liberty City have not arrived on the Sony console yet, following a alleged $50 million exclusivity deal with Microsoft for the DLC.

In answer to a question about why The Ballad of Gay Tony hasn't been released on PS3, a Rockstar rep answered, "We know that it continues to be an often-asked question - and believe us, we understand the frustration of PS3 owners like yourself who haven't been able to play any of our most recent releases.  All we can say is that we at Rockstar promise to be very good to you with our releases in 2010.  Please stay with us and stay tuned!"

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Responding to fans questions, Rockstar Games has suggested the shroud of secrecy surrounding LA Noire will shortly be lifted.

"There will be something great to see soon", Rockstar responded to such a question.  "A proper in-depth look at the game and why it is so ground breaking and innovative, both in terms of the game's design and the amazing new technology to support it.  Expect to see a long-awaited reveal via a big cover story next month."

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Capcom could be on the verge of a new Xbox 360 exclusive announcement if the Japanese Xbox website is anything to go by.  The following teaser panel is currently viewable on the website (tab 3), but unfortunately that's about all we've got to go on.

It's probably worth noting that there's no mention of the announcement on Capcom's website as of yet.

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With the likes of Steam, Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network, digital distribution is rapidly becoming the platform of choice for buying new games; who wants to walk in the rain or deal with shop assistants when you could be playing instantly?  However there's one problem, when you've finished with the game what can you do with it?

Green Man Gaming appears to have come up with the solution, providing such a platform that will allow gamers to purchase games digitally and then trade them back in once their finished.

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We've been busily pouring hours into BioWare's Mass Effect 2 since review code arrived, although we've got to hold off from giving you our opinion until the review embargo passes next week.

However today's release of details on the game's Cerberus Network, an in-game platform for offering future DLC, allows us to at least confirm that vehicle sections won't feature in the game until after release.

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Ken Levine, the Creative Director at Irrational Games has stated that the studio will start revealing information on its unannounced project this year, specifying that details will arrive at some point after the Game Developers Conference in March.

"This is the year we'll start talking about stuff, and we stop hiding behind the iron curtain of secrecy," Levine told Gamespot, although he wouldn't confirm whether any announcements are planned for June's E3 convention in Los Angeles.

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Activision likes a franchise, particularly one it can churn out year-on-year.  You'd imagine a bankable license such as Marvel's Spider-Man would be right up their street, but it seems even the webslinger isn't safe from Bobby Kotick's stinging sense of justice.

"Our Spider-Man games have sucked for the last five years. They are bad games. They were poorly rated because they were bad games," Kotick told Game Informer. "We went away from what is Spider-Man. It's about web-slinging. If you don't do web-slinging, what is the fantasy of Spider-Man?"

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Perhaps realising that they're loosing pace as Project Natal continues to gather momentum, Sony today confirmed a Fall 2010 release date for the motion controller along with an "extensive" line-up of launch software.

Despite recent rumours suggesting the device will be known as Arc, today's press release still labels it under the tentative title of the motion controller and fails to provide any further light on the device.

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Takayuki Suguro (tri-Ace Director), Mitsuhiro Shimano (SEGA Japan, Producer)

Square-Enix hasn't disclosed exactly how much Final Fantasy XIII cost to develop, but recent comments from the publisher's president Yoichi Wada suggest that a dwindling Japanese market and spiralling budgets could force the company to move beyond its typical remit.

"Internally and externally I feel there’s an expectation of Square Enix to offer something new," Wada-san recently claimed.  "I really think that the Final Fantasy team could create something completely different, but at the moment they’re strictly catering to the particular audience they have now."

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As gamers eagerly await the return of Gordon Freeman like a sailor's wife at port, rumours have surfaced indicating that Half-Life 2: Episode Three won't arrive in 2010 despite earlier assurances from Gabe Newell that Valve is still working on the project.

The February issue of US mag Game Informer allegedly states that Valve won't be releasing a new Half-Life title in 2010. Reports from Cinema Blend indicate that it is unclear whether this refers to Episode Three or a second Half-Life sequel but, either way, it seems that neither game will be emerging this year.

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Rockstar has announced that GTA: Chinatown Wars is now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch via the iTunes App Store. The game, which launched on the DS last year before being ported to PSP, is being priced at £9.99 as an App.

While Rockstar Leeds' iPhone version is based on the PSP build of Chinatown Wars, the additional missions featuring Liberty City journalist, Melanie Mallard, have been omitted. Independence Radio is a new addition to the game though, allowing players to cue up tracks from their iTunes playlists for in-game playback.

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Microsoft Game Studios is currently hiring for a Business Development Manager at Forza's Turn 10 Studios who will, "drive high quality game content for our Next Generation games including the Natal platform".

"Turn 10 Studios, the creators of the Forza Motorsport franchise and a division of Microsoft Game Studios, has an exciting opportunity for an experienced senior business leader to head up the studio's licensing and business management team," the job ad reads.

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Quantic Dream's Founder and Co-CEO, David Cage appears to have ruled out the possibility of the studio developing a sequel to its upcoming title Heavy Rain.

"I don't want to do a sequel because I've said what I had to say about these characters and this story," Cage told Official PlayStation Magazine (according to The Lost Gamer). "Honestly, I have nothing else to say," he continued.

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The UK's prestigious Ivor Novello awards has announced that video game scores will be recognised at this year's awards.

The British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in charge of the nominations confirmed the move with an awards for 'Best Original Video Game Score', joining the 'Best Song Musically and Lyrically', 'Best Contemporary Song',
'Best Original Film Score', 'Best Television Soundtrack' and 'Album Award' categories.

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As part of a week-long reveal of the characters that will feature in Project Needlemouse, SEGA has unveiled that the untitled Sonic project will be the sole preserve of Sonic himself. Despite the long list of characters that were initially posted on SEGA of America's blog last week, the names have now been whittled down to reveal none other than Sonic himself as the only playable character (what a tease).

"In Project Needlemouse, there will be no new characters - playable or otherwise. The focus will remain solely on one blue hedgehog," SEGA stated on its blog, while also revealing the first piece of concept art from the project (shown above right).

Two things can be taken from this artwork: firstly, the Kanji in the bottom left indicates that Project Needlemouse is being developed in Japan. Secondly, the piece itself looks very much like a Crabmeat character from the original Sonic the Hedgehog (original artwork of this character is shown on the left), suggesting that SEGA is going to be digging up the classic Sonic style for this next game in the series.

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As BioShock 2's February 9th worldwide release date looms, developer 2K Marin has revealed that it has "aggressive plans for DLC" and that production of this content is "already under-way".

"We are working on pretty aggressive plans for DLC and that's actually something that is already under-way," 2K Marin's Senior Systems Designer, Kent Hudson told Australian Gamer. "That is something that is mostly being run out of the Marin studio because like I said the Australian studio is already ramping up on the next big thing."

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Activision's CEO, Bobby Kotick has confirmed that a sequel to last year's DJ Hero is in the pipeline and will likely be released this year, following the year-on-year release pattern that Activision uses with its Guitar Hero franchise.

"...if you're going to make a commitment to doing something original, the odds are that you're not going to get it right on the first chance," Kotick told Game Informer, referring to the lacklustre sales figures that the rhythm game posted following its release last October.

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Danish developer, IO Interactive has admitted to TVG that it was "hurt" by some of the feedback it received from the original Kane & Lynch, although the studio appears to be coming out fighting in the series sequel, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days.

During a recent first look at the sequel (read our impressions through here), we were impressed by a marked improvement in the destructible environments and gunplay in Kane & Lynch 2, which is a point that we put to the game's Producer, Mads Prahm.

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Ubisoft has set low sales expectations for its MotionPlus infused Wii game, Red Steel 2, by stating that initial expectations of 1 million sales for the title have now been cut in half to a meagre 500,000 units as the game prepares for launch in March.

During a financial conference call earlier this week, Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot fielded a question on Avatar sales and expectations for Red Steel 2 with the following response: "For Avatar we said 2.5 million units and our expectations were more in the 3.5-4 million [region].  On Red Steel we decided, in our expectations, to divide the quantity by two and previously we had around a million."

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Activision has made mention of a "future instalment" to its DJ Hero series at the MIDEM 2010 conference in Cannes, France.  The conference, which is aimed at professionals in the music industry, is being used by Activision to promote the opportunity for artists to have their music featured in a future DJ Hero title.

"Having supported various elements of the show in previous years, in 2010 DJ Hero will be hosting an exclusive Listening Session, providing one lucky undiscovered musician the priceless opportunity to have their winning song mixed, mastered and featured in a future instalment of DJ Hero," Activision said at the event (according to Gamerzines).

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Napoleon: Total War, Creative Assembly's standalone expansion to last year's Empire: Total War, will be released in the UK on February 23rd according to the developer's official Twitter account for its Total War series of strategy games.

"Napoleon: Total War will be released on 23rd February 2010!" reads the totalwar Twitter.

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As TVG first suspected, the new Assassin's Creed "episode" that Ubisoft mentioned as part of a financial report is a full, standalone game starring the protagonist of Assassin's Creed II, Ezio.

Despite speculation to the contrary, the game will not be downloadable content for Assassin's Creed II featuring online multiplayer, but a full price game that's to be released at retail during Ubisoft's upcoming financial year (between April 1st 2010 and March 31st 2011).

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Speaking during a conference call following Ubisoft's revised financial forecast, Yves Guillemot has revealed that the development costs associated with the slate of launch titles is approximately the same as one full price game.

"We will fully support the Natal launch as well as the Sony launch," Guillemot answered in response to a question.  "We have lots of good quality products that are coming for the launch of those platforms," he added.  "It represents a reasonable investment, close to the equivalent of one full price game."

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Nintendo of America's President and COO, Reggie Fils-Aime has denied mounting speculation that the company will announce an update to the Wii or an all-new console in the coming months as Sony and Microsoft turn the screws on Nintendo's dominance of the casual gaming market.

New hardware products, such as Sony's Motion Controller and Microsoft's Project Natal, are set to challenge for the Wii's motion control crown later this year, although Fils-Aime insists, "We are confident the Wii home entertainment console has a very long life in front of it."

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Dissapointing sales of James Cameron's Avatar: The Game and a dwindling DS market today forced Ubisoft to adjust its forecast for the third quarter and full year figures.  Sales for the third quarter ending December 31st 2009 are now expected to reach €495 million from previously announced figures of €540 million, with full year sales revised downwards to €860 million from previous expectaitons of €1.04 billion.

The demise of the casual market saw a drop of 50% in sales in the sector to €160 million, despite the success off Just Dance on Wii.  The French publisher also confirmed that Splinter Cell: Conviction has suffered a further delay to April 2010, along with R.U.S.E which has been pushed into the next financial year.

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Ubisoft's disaster survival title, I Am Alive has had a torrid time in development. Following initial delays, Ubisoft announced last March that development of the game had been moved from its original studio Darkworks over to Ubisoft Shanghai, and now it seems that the title won't arrive until April 2011 at the earliest.

"On I Am Alive we have been totally rearranging the product, so it's still on the way to use Splinter Cell engine and we have amortised all the costs that were incurred with the previous developer," said Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot in a post-financial report conference call. "So everything we do is fresh now and we think it can become a very good quality product, but it's not going to come this financial year."

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Nintendo today announced a European release date along with a name change for the latest iteration of the Nintendo DS.

The more appropriately titled DSi XL will launch across the region on March 5th in Wine Red and Dark Brown designs.  Pre-loaded software on the handheld includes Dr Kawashima’s: Little Bit of Brain Training: Arts Edition and Dictionary 6 in 1 with Camera Function, as well as the Nintendo DSi Browser.

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Chart Track has announced its game charts for the whole of last year, revealing that Activision's Modern Warfare 2 has unsurprisingly come out on top. This news comes alongside Activision's announcement that Modern Warfare 2 has topped $1 billion (£615 million) in worldwide revenues since its release last November.

Here's Chart Track's top 20 for the year, which confusingly accounts for only 11 games that were released during 2009 (nine of them were released in previous years) and demonstrates just how barren last year's schedules were thanks to Modern Warfare 2 scaring off most of the major Christmas releases into 2010 launch windows:

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Capcom has become the latest publisher to begin revealing details on its commitment to Project Natal.

"We're gonna make a 'gamers game' for Natal using something amongst our brand history," Capcom's Christian Svensson told G4 at the recent CES event.

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"The Irrational Games website is about secrets." Ken Levine proudly proclaims upon the launch of the new Irrational Games website.

On examination of the website it's apparent that a number of references to Greek mythology appear in the source code, seemingly providing a glimpse of such secrets and a suggestion of what the man who created Bioshock is working on next.

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Nintendo of America has claimed that Satoru Iwata was misrepresented in a recent interview with Japanese paper Asahi Shimbun, where he allegedly spoke about a next-gen handheld to follow Nintendo's DS that will feature motion sensing controls and highly detailed graphics.

"Mr. Iwata did not make any comments regarding the functions of Nintendo's future hardware systems. The answer to the reporter's question was misinterpreted," said Charlie Scibetta, Nintendo of America's Senior Director of Corporate Communications.

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Despite the fact that Sony had previously confirmed Gran Turismo 5 for a March launch in Japan, the electronics giant has now shrouded the game's much anticipated release in obscurity after delaying it from March without disclosing a revised launch window.

This news comes via a Reuters report and, while Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has been quick to state that the delay only applies to the Japanese market, it does nevertheless throw the already vague summer 2010 release window into doubt for the game's launch in the West.

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EA has given the first inklings of Star Wars: The Old Republic's release window since TVG sniffed out the publisher's involvement in the project nearly a year and a half ago. At this stage, spring 2011 appears to have been tentatively attached to the project.

This news comes from a financial call where EA's CEO, John Riccitiello stated, "One key driver is going to be the launch date of our major MMO. As it stands today, the game is making great progress towards a Spring 2011 launch."

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A report on SegaOnline.nl that alleged the Dreamcast's Sonic Adventure has been spotted on Xbox Live Arcade has quickly been removed at the request of SEGA, seemingly confirming that REZ, Ikaruga and Virtua On: Oratorio Tangram might not be the only Dreamcast titles we'll see on the Xbox 360.

Hopefully if that's the case a certain series starring a man seeking revenge and sailors could also be on the cards.  Who knows, we may even get a conclusion to the story.

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Beyond announcing the existence of Project Needlemouse SEGA has been playing a mindful game of dangling the carrot in front of an eager audience, knowing all too well that long-suffering Sonic fans will wait earnestly on the promise of a return to old-school 2D goodness.

Well it seems that now is the time for the first information to surface with a campaign to drip feed further details.  The first part has revealed a list of potential playable characters that will be making an appearance, names which will be removed daily during the course of the week as the community answers old-school Sonic related questions.  If SEGA is planning to remove five characters from the list of eleven, that suggests we could see six characters in the game.

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The President of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, Robbie Bach has revealed that 70-80% of the world's publishers are currently working on games that implement Project Natal technology.

The motion sensing tech, which has now been nailed down for release at the end of this year, is also a focus for Microsoft's first-party studios according to Bach. Rare and Lionhead are confirmed to be working on Natal games, while previous job postings have hinted towards a Natal focussed studio at Microsoft's Redmond HQ.

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This console generation ain't like any other.  A fact that Microsoft's David Hufford, senior director of Xbox product management acknowledged once again in a recent interview with The Guardian.

"I think it's important to say that the Xbox 360 is the console of the long future for us. There is no need to launch a new console, because we're able to give this console new life either with software upgrades or hardware upgrades like Project Natal," Hufford claimed during a recent interview at CES.

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Halo 3 was never really designed to tax the Xbox 360.  Despite the addition of bells and ribbons in the form of HDR lighting and depth of field effects, the fact remains that the franchise appearance on the Xbox 360 looked a little dated and probably borrowed quite a bit from the series' outings on the original Xbox.

According to the first information from the latest issue of Game Informer, this time around Bungie is promising an engine overhauled to properly utilise the Xbox 360 for the forthcoming Halo: Reach.  A statement seemingly apparent by the visual improvements demonstrated in the first real time trailer.  Although it's not confirmation that Bungie will be employing entirely new tech, it does at least hint towards a move forwards and perhaps even suggestive that we'll get a true HD picture this time around.

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Following a report during the weekend allegedly outing Criterion's as-of-yet unannounced Need for Speed title, the Guildford based developer has today closed the door on the report and

"NFS stories on the net today - 100% FAKE," Criterion posted on its Twitter account.

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Shortly after becoming part of the 2K publishing family in 2006, Irrational Games chose to fall in line and dub itself 2K Boston and 2K Australia.  However it seems the studio behind System Shock 2, Freedom Force and Bioshock has had a change of mind, with confirmation that it will be reverting back to Irrational Games.
 
Having deiced that they didn't want to work on a Bioshock sequel, it was announced that Ken Levine's studio would work on an entirely new project.  Hopefully the countdown timer on display at the website is an indication of when the veil will finally be removed.  Previous rumours have suggested that the studio is attempting to revive the X-COM franchise, although if the style of the timer is anything to go by, then this seems a little wayward.
 
If that's the case we can expect the mystery to be unravelled tomorrow at 16:00 (GMT).

The latest issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine has brought word that Sony will be unleashing the big guns at this year's E3.  According to a report on Gamethirst, the magazine confirms that sequels aplenty are in store in the shape of KillZone 3, Resistance 3 and InFamous 2.
 
Given they're sequels to succesful titles for Sony, the news is hardly surprising.  In fact we've had plenty of rumours in the way of actors spilling the beans and billboard posters proclaiming their very existence - what more proof do you need?
 

In announcing the Bungie Pentathlon 2010 it seems that the Halo studio has revealed a 'Super Secret Game Mode' for Halo: Reach.
 
Joinging the likes of Pictionary and Hacky Sack the etams will also compete in Halo: Reach, although they're not telling us what that entails beyond:

"Some number of players will square off against some number of other players in what will undoubtedly be a rousing and highly competitive game of something we’re not talking about yet!

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Following yesterday's reports, SCEE has today confirmed that Quantic Dream's mighty fine Heavy Rain is scheduled for a UK release on February 26th.
 
We're flaberghasted to be brutally honest as Quantic Dream usually prides itself on taking time to deliver it's games.  Work on their previous title, Fahrenheit, was delayed on numerous occasions and underwent several publisher changes, so by all accounts Heavy Rain appears to have been a casual stroll in the park by comparison.

HMV has snagged the UK exclusive rights to the Special Edition, which features a code to redeem the first DLC, Episode 1 of the Heavy Rain Chronicles - The 'Taxidermist', otherwise known as the Leipzig 08 demo.

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In an attempt to ensure Natal launches at an acceptable price to quickly find a market, Microsoft has decided to ditch the device's internal processor according to GI.biz.

Certainly the documents released from CES 2010 appears to confirm the move with all references to the processor removed and replaced with the following text:

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Jon St. John, the voice-actor behind Duke Nukem's cigar battered husky voice, has hinted that there may still be a future for Duke Nukem Forever despite the project's apparent cancellation last year.

During a panel discussion at the Music and Games Festival in Virginia earlier this month, St. John said, “I’m not allowed to talk about Dukem Nukem Forever,” after a member of the crowd quizzed him on the subject.

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Microsoft's Steve Ballmer opened the speech by revealing that worldwide sales of the Xbox 360 have surpassed 39 million units, "since we launched the first Xbox, more than 500 million games have been sold, accounting for more than $20 billion in total game revenue," he added.

Introducing a new Live service in the shape of Game Room, which allows users to customise their own arcade, collecting the classics that used to be the mainstream of Xbox Live Arcade when it first launched. The service will launch in the spring with more than 30 titles to play from the likes of Activision, Atari, Intellivision and Konami, either on the Xbox 360 or PC. Games can reportedly be brought for the standard Microsoft Points price range, or played in one-off goes for the resonable price of 40 Microsoft Points.

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Sony Computer Entertainment's CEO, Kaz Hirai has revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that the company's PS3 console sold over 3.8 million units worldwide in the run-up to Christmas.

These figures account for five weeks of sales between the last week of November and Christmas, which makes for a 76% increase over last year's PS3 sales for the same period and sets a new record for PS3 sales during this time-frame.

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Following the launch of Final Fantasy XIII in Japan at the tail-end of last year, Square Enix's President, Yoichi Wada has stated that he's unsure whether the publisher is going to continue to internally develop titles like FFXIII in future.

“I believe Final Fantasy XIII is going be something special, and that it’s going to be well received by the audience,” Wada-san told Edge. “But whether we are going to continue to internally create this type of game remains to be seen, because I actually feel that the team that was involved with Final Fantasy XIII should next move on to create and generate some ‘next generation’ forms of play. Internally and externally I feel there’s an expectation of Square Enix to offer something new, and I really think that the Final Fantasy team could create something completely different, but at the moment they’re strictly catering to the particular audience they have now.”

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The Sony Corporation has applied for a trademark on the term “Cloudsurf” for pretty much every possible electronic product that the company could feasibly manufacture. Normally, we wouldn't think anything of it, although this does follow some interesting movement from Sony on the cloud computing front.

The trademark application, made late in 2009 (spotted by Destructoid), follows a similar application made by Sony for the term “PS Cloud” in early 2009 which has since been granted an “initial refusal” by the US Patents and Trademarks Office.

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Polyphony Digital has added the Indy Racing League to its list of officially licensed motor racing championships in Gran Turismo 5. The single-seater racing series will join the World Rally Championship and NASCAR as licensed competitions when the game is released later this year.

This news comes from an early copy of Official PlayStation Magazine's US Edition (scans can be found over on GTPlanet), which also confirms night time races and wet weather effects for all tracks in the game as well as fully modelled cockpit views for the entire roster of over 1000 cars (170 of which will include interior damage modelling).

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Despite growing concerns last year that Wii sales were taking a downturn, Nintendo's President, Satoru Iwata has claimed that the console has now recovered from its slowdown due to strong sales in the run-up to Christmas.

"I think it's now safe to say the Wii has recovered from slowdown," Iwata-san told Reuters, citing factors such as an improved software line-up and last October's price cut as key factors in the console's rejuvenated sales figures.

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Nintendo's President, Satoru Iwata has revealed that the company's successor to its DS handheld console will have “highly detailed graphics”and motion sensing technology built in.

This news comes from Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun (according to a Kotaku translation), where Iwata-san is quoted as saying that the DS' Successor, "[will have] highly detailed graphics, and it will be necessary to have a sensor with the ability to read the movements of people playing."

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Bayonetta developer, Platinum Games has posted a teaser page on its website that's currently counting down to a reveal at 1:00am GMT on February 1st, fuelling speculation that the splash page could be in reference to the studio's untitled Shinji Mikami game.

While Platinum Games has previously revealed that Mikami is directing a game for the studio, very little information has been made available on the project and, with Bayonetta being released in the UK this Friday, there are also no further known projects at the studio other than the unnamed Mikami title.

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EA has announced the first expansion pack for Dragon Age: Origins - entitled Awakenings - that will be appearing in shops worldwide on March 16th for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

The expansion pack will introduce players to a new area of the Dragon Age world known as Amaranthine, which will explore yet more secrets of the darkspawn (this time the focus will be on their "motivations" apparently).

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Despite the fact that DJ Hero has posted underwhelming sales figures since its release last October, superstar DJ David Guetta has seemingly revealed that he's been employed by Activision to work on a sequel to FreeStyleGames' rhythm action title.

"I think it's amazing, this game, and I'm going to work on the No. 2 version," Guetta told Kelowna. "It's a really crazy game. After 10 minutes, you get the rush that a DJ gets after 10 years of practising. I have fun with it, but you know what? I can't go to the maximum level. It's too difficult for me. It's crazy."

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The onslaught of big titles scheduled for release in Q1 2010 has received its first casualty, with confirmation that Capcom has decided to delay and spread Lost Planet 2, Super Street Fighter IV, Dead Rising 2 and Monster Hunter Tri across the next fiscal year ending March 31st 2011.
 
"Introductions of the above titles will be spread across all four quarters of the fiscal year to prevent an excessive contribution from new titles in the 4th quarter," Capcom stated as the reason behind the delay.

Modern Warfare 2 was never really in doubt as this year's Christmas No.1 (we called it all the way back in mid-November), but this week's Chart Track figures have confirmed Infinity Ward's shooter at the top of the charts this week, which means it'll hold the position over Christmas.

The biggest challenge for Modern Warfare2's crown came from FIFA 10, which jumped three places this week to No.2, but it wasn't enough for EA Sports' footie series to recreate the Christmas No.1 enjoyed by FIFA 09 last year.

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Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced a collector's edition and confirmed two portions of DLC for one of the most highly anticipated games of next year, Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain.

While the DLC, or "Heavy Rain Chronicles", will be released after the game's launch next year (with Sony confirming two separate Chronicles at this stage), gamers will be able to get hold of the first Chronicle early by purchasing the Heavy Rain collector's edition.

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A LittleBigPlanet Starter Pack advertisement for Sony's PSP has suggested that the electronics giant might have a new hardware model in the works, which would be the fourth new model in as many years for the handheld console.

The ad below, which can be found in MCV's latest digital edition (spotted by Joystiq), lists a "PSP 4000" amongst the current hardware models on the market (PSP 1000, PSP 2000, PSP 3000, and PSPgo).

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TVG recently had the opportunity to go hands-on with the newly announced co-op multiplayer in Splinter Cell: Conviction, make sure to check out our impressions.  We also had the chance to put a few questions to the game's Director Patrick Redding.
 
With interest in Project Natal heating up we put the question to him, and apparently were the first to enquire whether Sam Fisher's antics would translate well to the motion controller.
 
"You and I can probably spend the next two hours brainstorming stuff like that, absolutely," Redding claimed.  "Certainly amongst the design community at Ubisoft we're very interested in Natal, we're very interested in the Wii and DS and various other advancements in terms of interface."
 
"I think every designer could come up with a laundry list of interesting ways to apply it to stealth gameplay, Splinter Cell in particular," he added.  "I don't know if there's anybody actually thinking about it as their job description at this point, but nobody has asked me yet, so you're the first."
 
So do you fancy hiding behind your sofa and pretending you're Sam Fisher?  Let us know and we'll make sure to put some ideas to Redding.  Look out for the full interview soon.

We've got a Christmas cracker of a Clutter-Buster for you all this week. Microsoft has sent us through two Halo 3: ODST Xbox 360 controllers to give away and we couldn't think of a better way to reward our loyal Twitter followers than to bundle them into this week's Clutter-Buster competition.

If you're not already au fait with the Clutter-Buster format, then here's the deal. Firstly, you'll have to make sure that you're following us on Twitter, and then you can Tweet the following message from your account to be entered into the running for this week's competition:

Win #TVG_Clutter_Buster1 Giveaway (http://ow.ly/Nrb3) RT and follow @totalvideogames

There are also five games in the Clutter-Buster this week, which come to a grand Clutter-Busting total of £174.95. As for the controllers, well they're surely priceless as these bad boys are not being sold separately by Microsoft.

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True to the company's revised forecast a fortnight ago, Take-Two Interactive has confirmed significant losses of $137.9 million (£85.2 million) for its fiscal year ended October 31st 2009, which represents a drop of $235 million (£145.2 million) over the company's net income from the previous year.

Take-Two posted net revenue for this year of $968.5 (£598.6 million), down from $1.54 billion (£950.4 million) the previous fiscal year (when GTA IV was released). It seems the publisher still hasn't managed to shed the curse of being unable to post a profit without being buoyed by the release of a triple-A GTA game.

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Burnout: Paradise may have been well supported with DLC, but it was only the tip of the iceburg according to a Crieterion article that outlined their initial plans.
 
Having ammased reams of data from player sessions, Criterion had to shelve plans on the docks/shipyard island it was creating.  Assuming that Stunt Runs were the most popular game type, the Guildford based developer turned its focus to the fact that most players were playing the Freeburn Challenges and opted to develop Big Surf Island instead.
 
The initial plan was to develop several island linked to Paradise City, each themed around a different idea.  "One was going to be purely off-road based. Hence we created the 'Dust Storm' dune buggy in anticipation for that," Criterion reveals.  "Our original dreams for Paradise were to create a series of Islands, all connected to Paradise City and each would focus on a different style of racing game. One Island was going to be completely circuit based - and be all marked up like a modern Formula One circuit!"
 
However, that's not all.  Further planned updates range from the outrageously awesome to the sheer ridiculous: 
 
1. Planes. A lot of Burnout fans already know about this - as we showed flying around in a live podcast. It was really cool to be able to see Paradise City from the air. It did not happen because of the way the game world was built. . Think of it like a film set, a very big film set - meant to be seen from certain camera angles and not others.

2. Helicopters! Completely true. We wanted to have both Aerial Challenges and allow flying and driving players to work together. Players would be able to jump into containers swinging below hovering choppers. Even better, those hoops in the Airfield would have been able to be picked up by a heli and flown. That Freeburn Challenge involving jumping through a hoop would have been much more fun if a chopper was carrying it!

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While European gamers might have been a little disappointed not to have received the God of War Collection at the same time as North America earlier this year, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has now revealed that it's more than making up for this by bundling the first two God of War games into a special edition of God of War III.

And that's not all. As well as the God of War Collection Blu-ray Disc (which includes God of War I and II, remade at 720p resolution and 60 frames per second with full Trophy support), SCEE's God of War III: Ultimate Trilogy Edition will also come packed with the following treasure trove of pure awesomeness:

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Detective fans eager to solve the mysteries of Blue Toad Murder Files have stumbled upon a problem, with reports that the second episode freezes immediately after starting the game.
 
In a post to the official forums, a Relentless spokesperson claimed:

"A few people seem to be having issues playing episode 2. First of all we would like to apologise for any issues you are experiencing. We are currently working to resolve this issue. I will update you when I have more information.  Apologies once again."

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Capcom today released details of the second Resident Evil 5 DLC episode, Desperate Escape, which is due to arrive on the Xbox Live Marketplace on March 3rd, followed on the PlayStation Store on March 4th.
 
Desperate Escape picks up after Jill Valentine is freed from the mind control device featured in Resident Evil 5.  With Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar in hot pursuit of Wesker and Excella, BSAA Agent Josh Stone rescues the former STARS operative as they attempt to escape the confines of the Tricell facility. 

Capcom promises plenty of "unrelenting waves of enemies and heart pumping blockbuster action", as the duo and race to help in the final showdown with Wesker.

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Speaking in a recent interview from Spike's VGAs, Naughty Dog's Co-President, Evan Wells has indicated that the studio will be focussing on multiplayer content in its future DLC for Uncharted 2, while more single-player action is merely "a possibility" at this stage.

"Well, that certainly is a possibility but right now we're focusing on multiplayer," Wells commented when Joystiq asked whether any campaign DLC is on the cards. "We're working on some new maps, we have a couple of new game modes in the works, and a lot of skins. So we're going to focus on that right now," he continued.

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As we reported eons ago, the two portions of incoming DLC for Assassin's Creed II will fill-in the two DNA sequences (12 and 13) that are currently missing from Ezio's story. Ubisoft has now confirmed this (despite being coy when we originally posed the question) and also fleshed out some of the DLC's details.

The first instalment, which is due in January, will cost $3.99 (approx. £2.50) and is set to expand on the story of Caterina Sforza (who Ezio briefly encountered in the main campaign). The story focuses on the Battle of Forli, which is a real historical event where the Orsi family attempted to take Forli from Sforza. Ezio must make sure that they don't succeed.

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It was a hint laden Christmas card from Rare that first alerted the gaming world to the Microsoft acquisition back in 2001, and ever since then we eagerly await the e-card arriving in our inbox.  It seems Christmas just can't really begin until it appears.
 
This year the following card arrived.  Killer Instinct fans won't need the boxing glove labelled to TJ pointed out; an obvious reference to TJ Combo, but surely a joke that is getting a little thin.

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Sony's Director of Marketing John Koller has stated that 2010 will see PS3 titles offer a new way to game, beyond the introduction of the motion controller.
 
"Going into the back half of the year, we have a number of key launches," Koller told GamePro.  "We haven't really announced all of them yet, but the titles that will be launching at the time are going to be very exciting. Some of the big franchises, as well as new IPs have new ways to game, not motion control gaming, but in other ways. It's going to be a really strong lineup."
 
In typical executive fashion Koller also spoke about the motion controller, promising that it will do things that the Wii and Project Natal can't but refused to specify why.
 
"I think the areas that are going to be really critical to our success will be family games, as well as shooters and sports games," Koller claimed when speaking about motion control.  "In terms of the best types of games, I'd say that right now we're looking a real wide variety of genres that can utilize the technology."
 
"Those are going to be the areas that will really define success, because they're areas that quite honestly, I think Project Natal and the Wii are going to have trouble matching, from a differentiation standpoint."
 
"We look at motion control as being that much more than what exists on the market. The Holy Grail of gaming is placing you as a consumer into the game physically. When we provide further details, people will see exactly where we're going, not only from a technological standpoint on the hardware, but also where the gameplay is transitioning. It's going to be a really exciting launch."
 
Finally Koller spoke about PS2 backwards compatibility, suggesting that it's only the media and not consumers which want to see it materialise.
 
"With the backwards compatibility issue, we're at a point now in the cycle of the PlayStation 3 that there's so many PS3 games available, so many strong PS3 games, that it's really become far less of an issue than I think a lot people -- particularly the media -- are asking about."
 
"In all of our studies, we've noticed that it's fallen off the map in terms of demand. There's not many requests for it much at all anymore. There's really a high level of satisfaction on the PlayStation 3 for PS3 games themselves."
 
TVG suspects that it's more to do with the insurmountable technical hurdles caused by the intrinsic hardware differences between the PS2 and PS3; a problem that this patent was aiming to solve, but doesn't appear to be going anywhere.

When Bethesda acquired id Software earlier in the year it was under the assumption that RAGE would continue to be published under a previous agreement with EA. 
 
However in a quick change Bethesda today confirmed that it has secured the publishing duties for the title.  The announcement failed to provide an update on the title, but claimed that the move will not affect the development of the title.  So id fans waiting patiently for the post-apocalyptic shooter/racer can continue with the nice and firm TBA.

Following the official announcement of Spec Ops: The Line over the weekend at Spike's VGAs, 2K Games has now clarified a release window of the company's fiscal 2011 for the game (i.e. sometime between November 1st 2010 and October 31st 2011).

The title is being developed by German outfit Yager Development for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Set in a Dubai environment that's been buried under cataclysmic sandstorms, Spec Ops: The Line challenges players to use the unpredictable landscape of collapsing sand chasms to their advantage (you can have a look at some of this tech in action in the teaser below).

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Despite the fact that very little has been seen or heard of Star Wars: Battlefront III since Free Radical Design parted ways with the project earlier this year, a Casting Director called Chris Marazzo has now laid claim to working on the title "recently".

Marazzo is now working on independent projects "After Casting over 200 Commercials and various projects in NY and LA, including most recently Star Wars Battlefront 3 with Lucas Arts." At least, that's according to the website for his production company, Tunnel Vision Films.

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Spike's Video Game Awards, held over the weekend in LA, were the location for an impressive total of seven official game announcements, including the likes of Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, and a new True Crime game based in Hong Kong.

Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 is being developed by Rocksteady once again, although publishing responsibilities have been retained solely by Warner Bros. Interactive this time while Eidos has stepped aside for the sequel. Judging by the initial teaser trailer, Harley Quinn and The Joker will feature as returning super-villains in a new Arkham Asylum location.

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Quite honestly, we receive so many games here at TVG that I can't actually see my editor any more for all the clutter, so we've organised a weekly Twitter competition where our readers can win a bag of swag direct from the outbox of our overworked TVG elves.

To enter our Clutter-Buster Giveaway, all you need to do is follow us on Twitter and then Tweet the following message from your account:

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Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has announced that Microsoft has certified the studio's fix for Modern Warfare 2's much publicised javelin glitch, while Microsoft's Major Nelson has confirmed that the fix will be up on Live later today.

"Xbox 360 update: Latest patch just passed certification. They just need to push it live. Goodbye Javelin glitchers!" Bowling Tweeted.

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While Game Informer continues to tease info from its incoming Dead Space 2 cover story, it seems details from that issue have already been spilt onto the net, including a tease of multiplayer action in the sequel and reams of info on the game's location.

This news comes from relyonhorror.com, which notes that Dead Space 2 is set three years after the first game on a space station called The Sprawl. Predictably, there's a break-out on The Sprawl similar to the one on the Ishimura and once again it's related to that religious relic from the first game, the Marker.

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Rebellion's Aliens vs. Predator will be unleashed in the UK on February 19th across three separate editions (Standard, Survivor, and Hunter), which include a facehugger maquette and multiplayer maps amongst their larval sacks of bountiful goodness.

The Hunter edition comes with the most goodies, including the previously mentioned code for multiplayer maps and facehugger figure as well as a Weyland-Yutani badge and 3D lenticular postcard. SEGA's Survivor edition, on the other hand, simply contains the multiplayer maps code.

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EA's head honcho, John Riccitiello has seemingly revealed the name of Sony's motion sensing handheld device. The peripheral, which has been referred to by Sony under the working title 'Motion Controller' (the company's marketing team worked around the clock on that one), has now apparently been branded as 'Gem'.

This is according to IGN, which cites a statement by Riccitiello at the UBS Annual Global Media Conference in New York. "In the coming year, both Sony and Microsoft have announced new controllers. Motion sensor controls, Natal and Gem, these are likely to bring new consumers into the marketplace," Riccitiello reportedly declared.

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The Nintendo DS has become the UK's best selling console, eclipsing the 10.02 million PlayStation2 sales that previously held the record.
 
Fiugures released from Chart Track reveals that the popular handheld has recently passed sales of 10.07 million units since its UK launch on March 11th 2005.  That figure equates to approximately one in six people, and passes the PS2's record in nearly half the time.

Well done Nintendo, we're sure you're very proud of the humble little device that everybody believed was doomed to failure from the start.

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Tiger Woods has hit the headlines for all of the wrong reasons in the last few weeks, but it seems his place as EA Games' poster boy has yet to be tarnished.
 
An article in The Independent today reveals that EA Games paid $20m of the $122.7 million that Tiger Woods earned off the course in 2007.  Amounting to 16.3% of Wood's total earnings, the figure is the joint largest contributor alongside payments from Gatorade and Nike, but doesn't take into account the extras from royalties that EA also pays.
 
Although PepsiCo recently announced plans to ditch its Tiger Woods branded drink, EA Games has insisted that it will stick by the fallen golfer who has starred in EA's title for the past decade.  Besides Wood's promiscuity probably gives the developers extra scope: perhaps a bonus mini-game trying to avoid kiss-and-tell mistresses, paparazzi and a driver-wielding vengeful partner in between holes.

Activision-Blizzard likes its franchises, particularly those that fit an annual strategy and especially if they've got the support of a blockbuster Hollywood movie behind them.
 
Transformers obviously fits this bill and has the added benefit of kids going crazy for it.  The only problem is that Paramount needs more than a year to turn the movies around and with Transformers 3 not expected to hit cinemas until 2011, Activision has a year to fill.  Instead of taking a break to whet our appetites for more, it seems Activision will use the time to develop an original title based on the still popular toy brand. 
 
Details from a first look at Transformers: War for Cybertron have recently appeared in the latest issue of Game Informer, which in turn have rapidly made their way on to the internet.  High Moon Studios (Dark Watch, The Bourne Conspiracy) has reportedly taken the helm this time around in a series that has spawned two titles in two years under seven different development studios. 
 
Early details suggest that the game is billed as a Gears of War third-person shooter, featuring Autobot and Decepticon campaigns in addition to online multiplayer modes.  Expect an official announcement soon.

With its December 17th Japanese release date fast approaching, Famitsu has reportedly cast its critical eye on Square-Enix's Final Fantasy XIII.
 
The publication has reportedly given the title a 39/40 rating.  Not too shabby, but low enough it seems to spark some controversy given that Famitsu's 40/40 ratings have become a little easier to achieve in recent times and was recently awarded to SEGA and Platinum Games' Bayonetta. 
 
Other titles released to 40/40 scores in 2009 include Dragons Quest IX, Monster Hunter Tri and NEW Super Mario Bros Wii.  All good titles, but nowhere near to the anticipation surrounding Square-Enix's latest opus.  To put it into some perspective, Famitsu also awarded Final Fantasy X with a 39/40 score, the only title in the series to gain a 40/40 was Final Fantasy XII.
 
Final Fantasy XIII is scheduled for a UK release on PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 on March 9th 2010.

Gearbox Software's Mikey Neumann teased that something Borderlands related was on the cards, and then retracted his announcement via Twitter earlier in the week.
 
However it seems as though PS3 Trophies has beaten the studio to the punch, revealing a host of new Trophies that indicate where future DLC will be heading.
 
A further five Trophies have been spotted, suggesting that arena combat and coliseums will feature heavily in the as-of-yet unannounced DLC.
 
Small Tournament - Completed the lesser challenge in all 3 coliseums
Hell-Burbia - Completed the larger challenge in the Hell-Burbia coliseum
The Angelic Ruins - Completed the larger challenge in The Angelic Ruins coliseum
The Gully - Completed the larger challenge in The Gully coliseum
Big Tournament - Completed each of the larger challenges in all 3 coliseums

There's currently no indication when the DLC will be released, but if Trophies are ready we'd imagine an offical announcement to follow pretty sharply.

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SEGA and Sony have announced that Yakuza 3 will be released in the West following months of pleading from fans of the series in Europe and North America. The title will arrive in both territories during March of next year as a PlayStation 3 exclusive (as it was in Japan).

This news comes from the US and EU PlayStation blogs, which reveal that the title will retain the voice-overs from the original Japanese cast, while SEGA's localisation team has added English subtitles for the game's Western release.

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A mysterious image accompanied with Russian text has suggested that Ubisoft is on the verge of announcing a new title.

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Visceral Games is hoping to scare you sill once again, with confirmation that Dead Space 2 is currently in development for the Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and PC.
 
Marking the return of Isaac Clarke, Dead Space 2 promises a host of new limb-severing tools to compliment the signature Plasma Cutter, along with a new cast of characters, zero-G environments and plenty of relentless Necromorphs to dismember.
 
“Like so many gamers worldwide, we love the Dead Space franchise and are very excited to announce a new game in the series,” said Nick Earl, Senior VP and Group General Manager at EA. “Visceral Games is quickly becoming known for delivering high-quality, action-packed games. Dead Space 2 is on target to deliver a jaw-dropping experience gamers won’t soon forget.”

“We’re thrilled to jump back into the series, making the next chapter in Isaac’s journey,” added Steve Papoutsis, Executive Producer of Dead Space 2. “The infection continues to spread throughout space and our hero Isaac Clarke is the only person able to contain it. There are still loads of Necromorphs that need killing. In Dead Space 2, not everything is exactly as it seems. Expect plot twists that will surprise you and a huge cast of twisted, disgusting monsters that are sure to scare the daylights out of you.”

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It seems likely that Activision-Blizzard is assigning another of its internal developers to work on its juggernaut Call of Duty franchise.  Following the recent appearance of a TreyArch job position indicating work on a future Call of Duty title, Superannuation has spotted a posting for a Lead Designer at Luxoflux to work on a first-person-shooter.
 
Luxoflux's previous credits include the True Crime series and most recently Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen; to-date the Californian based studio hasn't worked on a first-person-shooter and has been preferred to work on Activision's movie tie-ins.
 
The link to Call of Duty comes from the wording of the position, which states "Research subject matter related to the history and look of the level". 
 
Not exactly a specific link to the franchise, but precisely the same terminology that TreyArch had previously used in its posting for a new Call of Duty title.

Capcom's policy of focusing upon video games aimed towards a Western market benefited the publisher when many Japanese studios found a dwindling local market hard to appease.
 
Titles likes Dead Rising and Lost Planet became instant successes and led to the Japanese publisher teaming up with Western developers, working together on titles such as Bionic Commando with GRIN, Dead Rising 2 with Blue Castle Games and Dark Void with Airtight Studios, to mention but a few. 
 
The strategy seems to be sound, however a recent interview with Jun Takeuchi on Capcom's website has poured some doubt on the policy, questioning whether all Capcom developers are in agreement on the issue.
 
"Cultural differences don’t allow for the smooth collaboration between Japan and developers overseas," Takeuchi-san replied when asked whether Lost Planet 2 is being developed with external overseas support.

Quite honestly, the amount of games we receive here at TVG is starting to become a health and safety issue with the amount of clutter it's causing, so we've organised a weekly Twitter competition where our readers can win a bag of swag direct from the outbox of our overworked TVG elves.

To enter our Clutter-Buster Giveaway, all you need to do is follow us on Twitter and then Tweet the following message from your account:

Win #TVG_Clutter_Buster Giveaway (http://ow.ly/IBqO) RT and follow @totalvideogames

You'll then be entered into this week's competition where you'll have the chance of winning four games from our backlog. One lucky winner will receive all five games, which come to a grand Clutter-Busting retail value of £124.96. Stay tuned to TVG for another Clutter-Buster giveaway next Friday.

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A soft retail market, poor performing Christmas titles, and strong losses from its Major League Baseball business today led to Take Two releasing lower than expected results for its 09 fiscal year.  The continued expected losses associated with the MLB franchise ($30 - $35 million) and the decision to delay an unannounced AAA title also led to the publisher forecasting a loss for the fiscal year ending October 31st 2010.
 
The forecast came from the publisher's financial report for the FY09 fourth quarter (ended October 31st 2009), in which the company generated preliminary estimated revenues of $325 to $350 million and $950 to $975 million for the full fiscal year.  These figures are down from previous expectations of $350 to $375 million and $975 million to $1 billion respectively.
 
"Looking at our current forecast for our baseball titles we took into consideration the lack of growth in the category and the terms of our MLB contract and our projecting that our MLB business will generate a net loss in fiscal 2010 in the range of approximately $30 million to $35 million," Take Two President & CEO Ben Feder claimed.  "We have contractual agreement with the MLB business for a couple of more years and will remain focused on improving our products and performance in this category.  If we're able to deliver a title that's a hit with consumers and overall sector conditions improve we could possibly exceed our current expectations for the MLB business"
 
Positives came from the success of Gearbox Software's Borderlands, which Take Two believes can become an "important long-term franchise" and deliver numerous sequels, but that appeared to be the only light in a disappointing year for the US publisher.  Take-Two failed to draw any positives from the recent Thanksgiving weekend and also highlighted "softness specifically on the PSP and DS handheld business," which was "especially disappointing because of the high quality of our handheld releases."
 
Feder also revealed that additional development costs asigned to the publisher's key 2010 releases (Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, Bioshock 2, Mafia 2) was a factor in the forecast loss for 2010 which as a result "will likely reduce the potential profit from these products."
 
"We do expect each of these titles to make a positive contribution and we believe that delaying the launches was the right decision to ensure their quality and potential in the market," Feder added.
 
Take Two has also verged on the side of caution for its 2010 titles, reducing its sales estimates for these titles based on a continued challenging retail environment.
 
"While it's still early in the season we remain cautious in our outlook for consumer spending," Feder warned.  "We believe the retail environment may remain challenging in 2010 and that our retail partners will continue to remain conservative with their initial product orders.  The result, we've assumed lower unit sales for the majority of our titles in 2010."
 
Nevertheless Take Two remains confident that "the safest place to be certainly is in AAA, the safest place to be is in the kind of products that Take two develops", and suggested that the situation surrounding lower/casual titles is currently not clear.
 
The publisher appeared to put a definite clamp on suggestions that 2010 will bring the next title in the GTA series, "We don't feel that GTA ought to be an annualised franchise," Zelnick claimed.
 
"Of course there's a balance between how long it takes to develop such an incredible title and meet consumer expectations and how long you need to make sure that an appetite has been both satisfied and whetted for the next franchise.  That's something I think the company has historically done rather well and I think the high profitability and resiliency of the franchise reflects that.  So I wouldn't see that changing."

As part of its fiscal 2009 financial results, Take 2 Interactive has mentioned an unannounced  triple-A title that it's delaying and seemingly pushing into the company's 2011 fiscal year (between November 1st 2010 and October 31st 2011).

The financial report explains why Take 2 is forecasting a loss for its 2010 fiscal year (ending October 31st 2010) and then drops in this juicy nugget: "The company's expected fiscal 2010 results primarily reflect the movement of one triple-A title out of the fiscal year."

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Following Take 2 Interactive's decision to push Max Payne 3 into its fiscal 2010 earlier this year, the publisher has now set back the title's release even further by clarifying that it won't be launched until August 2010 at the earliest.

Take 2 revealed the delay in its fiscal 2009 results, stating that Max Payne 3 now won't arrive until the fourth quarter of its current fiscal year (i.e. sometime between August 1st and October 31st next year).

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Earlier this year, Take 2 Interactive took the drastic decision to push many of its initially projected 2009 releases into 2010. The likes of BioShock 2 and Red Dead Redemption (initially scheduled for late 2009), as well as Mafia II and Max Payne 3 (late 2009/early 2010) were all pushed into 2010 releases.

Now, in a post-earnings conference call the publisher's CEO, Ben Feder has indicated that this decision may have minimised the potential profits of these games due to the injection of more resources into their development. However, Feder remains positive about the potential of these games and the quality of the titles:

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Take 2 Interactive's Chairman, Strauss Zelnick has stated in a post-earnings conference call that the publisher has plans to turn Gearbox Software's Borderlands into a "long-term franchise" following impressive sales for the title in the run-up to Christmas.

According to Zelnick, Borderlands "shows every sign of becoming an important log-term franchise" for publisher Take 2. This follows hints of a sequel from the game's developer as well as Tweets from Gearbox's Creative Director, Mike Neumann, referring to a "super secret project" that's underway at the studio.

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SCEE has announced that as part of its GT Academy 2010 competition - which gives players the chance to race a Nissan 370Z at Silverstone - PS3 owners will be able to download a demo of Gran Turismo 5 from December 17th via PSN.

The demo challenges players drive the 370Z around a single circuit (which hasn't been detailed at this point) against the clock. Then, at the end of January, the players who post the 20 fastest times will be invited to Sony's GT Academy 2010.

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Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has revealed that it's currently not banning players of Modern Warfare 2 from PSN for using the Javelin exploit in Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2, despite threats to the contrary from Microsoft yesterday evening.

A spokesperson for SCEE told TVG that, according to the company's customer service department, banning players for exploiting a glitch is "not something we do". Microsoft, on the other hand, has threatened suspensions from its Xbox Live service for players who exploit the glitch.

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Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker has just been given a solid UK release date by Konami, which follows reports of a March 18th release for the title in Japan. However, it appears UK gamers will have to wait until May 28th to get their hands on the title.

The handheld game has garnered quite a bit of buzz coming out of this year's game conventions, with legendary designer Hideo Kojima seemingly taking a more hands-on role with the title's development than has been the case with previous MGS iterations on the PSP.

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EA has announced Medal of Honor (no, not the old 1999 game rebooted), a new instalment in the previously World War II focused series that will now be transporting players to the modern theatre of warfare in Afghanistan on the XBox 360, PS3, and PC.

The existence of just such a game has been rumoured previously, with EA presumably looking to cash-in on the lucrative market that's been opened up by Activision and Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare series.

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A list of job positions has revealed that Lionhead is working on a further unannounced project alongside Fable III and Milo & Kate.
 
The position for a Network Programmer involves "developing and maintaining the network code of an unannounced title."  This job ad is listed alongside other positions which clearly make reference to Milo & Kate/Fable III as announced, while Lionhead's longstanding Project Dmitri/X had previously been rolled under what is now Milo & Kate.
 
Further details from the various other positions reveal a Standard Gameplay Programmer role to help develop Fable's 'Crescendo Combat' system and ensure "that all of the features worked on work in multiplayer over Xbox Live."  So multiplayer confirmed for Fable III then?
 
We know that Lionhead is getting behind Project Natal in a big way, however details from the Senior Natal Technology Programmer position claim: "Our Natal tech will be used across all Lionhead projects to provide new user interface experiences for our future games." With the emphasis clearly being on the "all" there.
 
The Guildford based developer has also put out a specific plea for a Senior Character Artist that has worked on big franchises, namely Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, Gears of War and God of War.  Perhaps Naughty Dog, Sony, Epic and Ubisoft should keep an eye out for any high profile resignations.

Oscar Carlén, a Lighting Artist at DICE, has stoked the dying embers of Mirror's Edge 2 rumours by listing the game on his resumé among other projects that he's currently working on at the EA owned, Swedish studio.

The resumé, found in Carlén's online portfolio, had listed Mirror's Edge 2 and Battlefield 3 in the "2009 - present" section (reports Joystiq), although the portfolio has since been changed to simply read "Lighting at EA DICE".

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Creative Assembly is readying an open beta for Empire: Total War that will deliver the one feature that fans of the series have been yearning for above all others: online multiplayer support for the series' flagship Campaign mode.

The beta will be delivered via Steam on December 7th and will allow 2 players to play the Campaign mode together, either against each other or co-operatively against the computer across all three theatres of war in Empire: Total War's Campaign map.

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Ubisoft has announced two portions of DLC for Assassin's Creed II titled 'Battle of Forli' and 'Bonfire of the Vanities', which will arrive in January and February via Xbox Live and PSN at a chunky volume of 1GB each (time to clean out those game data files again).

By the sound of things, this DLC will fill the two missing DNA sequences in the game's campaign, which is something that Ubisoft strongly hinted at when we chased up the matter last month, although the publisher still isn't revealing specific details at this time.

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The unstable situation surrounding the Nintendo Wii today led to Ubisoft revealing a 51.8% drop in sales to 166 million euros for the first fiscal half 2009-10 (Apr-Sep).  As a result, the French publisher recorded an operating loss of 77.7 million euros compared to an operating profit of 33 million euros in the previous year, which led to a net loss for the six-month period of 52 million euros in contrast to a net profit of 24 million euros in the previous period.
 
The publisher retained its previous expectations for the full financial year, with expectations of full year sales of 1.04 billion euros.
 
Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, stated "First week sales of Assassin’s Creed II, up 32%, with positive initial indications for the second week, combined with an overwhelmingly warm reception from gamers, validates our strategy of developing bigger franchises. Based on this initial data, Assassin’s Creed 2 looks well positioned to outstrip targets while our Wii games have got off to a more contrasted start in a less predictable market. Finally, sales of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game should benefit from the launch of the movie which is expected to be the biggest blockbuster of this holiday season."

Despite the loss, Ubisoft remains confident that Assassin's Creed II will continue to perform strongly, revealing that in the UK Assassin's Creed II grabbed 38% of the market sales in its second week compared to 12% from its first week sales.

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FIFA 10 has sold through a mighty 4.5 million copies worldwide since its launch on October 2nd, making it Europe's top-selling game so far this year with a 26% increase in sales over FIFA 09 for the same period a year ago, publisher EA has announced.

This popularity on the high street has been reflected online as well, with a tally of over 113 million online games having been played on Xbox 360 and PS3 to date. To bolster this presence, EA has also announced an incoming new mode called FIFA 10 Ultimate Team.

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Following yesterday's announcement, Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot has provided a few further details on Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.
 
When asked during a conference call whether the game would appeal to core or casual audiences, Guillemot claimed:
 
"On PoP we are doing a game that has the goal to reach both audiences, the core and the casual gamers.  So it will be a game that has lots of come back to what PoP was in the first three installments with the possibility for gamers that are not as good to have a level which is for beginners.  So on that count we are really trying to cover both groups."

Although we appreciate the fact that The Forgotten Sands will mark a return to The Sands of Time formula, we're hoping that the ingenious environmental puzzles won't be sacrificed for a larger audience.  The series has already got a rewind function, so perhaps Ubisoft Montreal can take a leaf out of Turn 10's book and introduce coloured paths indicating the correct way through the stage.

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Splash Damage and Bethesda's Brink has been delayed by roughly half a year after the latest trailer for the game issued a new "Fall 2010" release window for the title. The game had previously been scheduled for release this coming spring.

It's unclear whether Bethesda has taken the decision to move Brink due to the incredibly packed spring 2010 period it subsequently found itself in, or because Splash Damage required a little more development time to get the game ready to ship.

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John Noonan, Microsoft Game Studios' co-host of the Platform Biased Podcast, has cast doubt on the accuracy of rumours from last month which indicated that a Project Gotham Racing dev team had been recording sounds from a Tesla Roadster.

According to Noonan, who's also currently working on MGS' Crackdown 2 project, the supposed recording of a Tesla Roadster was actually for Crackdown 2 rather than incoming Forza and PGR projects, despite initial reports to the contrary.

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Despite being stuck in studio closures and corporate quagmire, it seems you just can't keep Duke down.  A recent update to the official Duke Nukem Facebook profile has added what appears to be a new screen, although it throws up more questions then it answers.

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As news surfaces that Japanese retailers are listing Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain for a February release next year, the UK's major outlets appear to be fixed on a February 26th release date for one of next year's most hotly anticipated games.

The Japanese listings, which include Amazon, appear to nail down Heavy Rain for a February 18th release in the territory (reports Siliconera), while UK retailers including HMV, Amazon, and Play are all showing a February 26th launch date for the title.

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Ubisoft's attempt at rebooting the Prince of Persia franchise didn't fare too well last year.  It's a fact that the French publisher seems to admit with confirmation that they'll be revisiting the Sands of Time trilogy for the latest title in the series.
 
Due for release in May 2010 on unspecified consoles and handhelds, the fact that they're returning to the popular trilogy will certainly also be employed to tie in with the movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal which is due for release in the same month.
 
Beyond the promise of fan-favourite elements making a return (hopefully including the ability to die) along with new gamneplay innovations, that's about all we know at this stage.

Capcom has recently updated the Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition website with a look at a new boss creature that lurks within the first DLC episode.
 
Entitled Lost In Nightmares, the first DLC package is a compilation of the flashback sequences in Resident Evil 5 that take place in the Spenser Mansion with Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine.  We don't know much about the creature featured in the accompanying screens, but we're pretty sure he looks a lot tougher then most of the things to be found in Resident Evil 5.
 
Lost in Nightmares will be released on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network on February 17th and 18th respectively, followed by the second package on March 3rd/4th.  Capcom has yet to reveal details on the second DLC package, although keen-eyed Resi fans managed to spot a BBFC listing which named the episode as 'Desperate Escape' and reportedly focuses on Jill Valentine and BSAA agent Josh Stone's attempts to rescue Chris and Sheva dep[icted in the conclusion of Resident Evil 5.

Comments from EALA's Jon Van Caneghem have caused a certain amount of uproar, with the suggestion that Command & Conquer could be taking a leaf or two out of Facebook apps to provide the future direction for the 14 year-old franchise.
 
Better known for bringing the Might and Magic franchise to the gaming world, Van Caneghem has recently taken a position to oversee the future development of the Command & Conquer franchise at EALA.
 
The main bone of contention seems to stem from little more than Van Caneghem mentioning Facebook in an interview with Gamsutra. 
 
"What you're seeing with all the social gamers on Facebook... they are actually already playing strategy games whether they know it or not," Van Caneghem told Gamasutra. "Taking a franchise like Command and Conquer and expanding it to a wider audience is part of the strategy."
 
It could be argued that Van Caneghem is suggesting that they need to look at the way in which the popularity of social networking apps spread and develop continually over time, rather than a suggestion that the franchise is about to become a casual experience that will have mums nodding in appreciation to the efforts of Kane.
 
Further comments from Van Caneghem reinforce the fact that he's solely looking at what a digital environment could bring to the franchise.
 
"It allows you to do everything you would have expected from a boxed game, but it adds a lot more to it..." Van Caneghem explained.  "Being connected and connected with players, and persistence, the social elements of playing against each other with other friends."
 
"For years we made games, put it in a box and hoped it sold well, and if it did we made sequels," Van Canghem concluded.

The BBC iPlayer has become a pivotal pillar of both the PlayStation3 and Wii's media capabilities, however it seems the service won't be coming to the Xbox 360 anytime soon.
 
The Telegraph recently reported the fact that Microsoft wants to restrict the service to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, which is at odds with the BBC's remit of not charging UK users for its content.

“Microsoft only wants to offer its users access to platforms it can charge for as this is the model it is pursuing," a BBC source told The Telegraph.  "It wants to ensure that only those paying for Xbox Live Gold accounts can access its additional content services and even then there is usually a charge on top to get access to those.”
 
Xbox 360 owners accessing the recently launched Sky Player have to pay for an Xbox Live subscription in addition to Sky's monthly charges.  The BBC cannot charge UK residents to watch the iPlayer as it is included in the TV license fee, although there is no need for a license to watch the iPlayer provided you're not watching live TV content. 
 
“This does not fit with the BBC’s model and Microsoft will not budge at the moment. It is really frustrating for those involved on the BBC side who want to make sure iPlayer is rolled out on as many popular entertainment platforms as possible,” the source added.

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Quite honestly, the amount of games we receive here at TVG is starting to give our cleaner a serious neurotic disorder, so we've organised a weekly Twitter competition where our readers can win a bag of swag direct from the outbox of our overworked TVG elves.

To enter our Clutter-Buster Giveaway, all you need to do is follow us on Twitter and then Tweet the following message from your account:

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A solid release date of April 27th has emmerged for Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar's sequel to its 2004 action-adventure Western 'em up, Red Dead Revolver. This follows a delay of the title from a late 2009 release to a Winter/Spring 2010 launch window.

The exact date comes from Kotaku, ahead of a new trailer that's scheduled to officially arrive for the open world third-person shooter this Tuesday. We've been lucky enough to see the game in action recently and will be posting our thoughts in the not too distant future.

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This week's re-emergence of rumours surrounding the platform status for Deus Ex 3 have been clarified somewhat by Eidos' community team behind the project, with confirmation that the game is still only officially announced for PC although this is by no means an indication that it's a PC exclusive.

Eidos Montreal has previously been skittish about whether or not Deus Ex 3 will arrive on consoles, with some developers at the studio expressing concern about whether the interface and control layout can be faithfully transferred from PC to console.

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Today's headlines surrounding the alleged condemnation of Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles by Anglican ministers initially seems to be the typical case of unwitting conservative minds bashing "violent video games".  The actual motive behind it however is not quite as clear as it's been made out, and highlights the typical spin that can generate a little controversy and plenty of headlines.
 
The press release in question was originally sent out earlier in the week but has only widely appeared in blog reports today.  It suggested that the Church of England condemned the game "for glamorising violence and promoting the occult", and cited three priests' concerns that the game is "making violence and the occult in youth culture acceptable".
 
A freelance journalist originally led the research and cited the quotes from the Anglican minsters.  The quotes failed to materialise in a tabloid article, although Capcom seemed to have been aggrieved enough to issue a response, suggesting the clergy is "showing a lack of understanding of the video games industry and is too quick to splash the holy water and lump video games players into stereotypical boxes".
 
TVG contacted the relevant members of the clergy, all of which expressed surprise that their thoughts have been expressed in such a way and stressed that they have no knowledge of the game in question and as such wouldn't be in the position to comment on the subject.
 
The Right Reverend Brian Smith insisted that he was "very surprised" to find his name linked to the issue.

"I made it clear that I was not qualified to make a comment," Smith told us.  "I suggested that the researcher should contact someone in one of the dioceses in London where I understood she was working." 
 
"There is no way I could or would have made further comment about a specific game which I have not even seen," Smith added.
 
The Bishop of Burnley, The Right Reverend John Goddard expressed similar thoughts, claiming that while he was concerned by issues surrounding the occult and particularly children having access to such themes, he nonetheless wouldn't make a specific comment about a game that he hadn't seen and had been wrongly informed was aimed at children. 
  
"I believe that I have been misrepresented," The Right Reverend Mark Bryant added. "Not least as I do not think I knew that this was an occult game, and I know enough not to go offering outright condemnation of things about which I know comparatively little."
 
It seems to be the classic case of a tangled web of spin, cheap publicity, and a timely lesson not to believe everything you read.

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Just as an energy drink manufacturer foresaw earlier this year, Infinity Ward is planning to release the initial portion of DLC for Modern Warfare 2 during the spring of next year, according to a Twitter post from IW's Director of Communications, Robert Bowling.

"DLC is planned for the wonderfully vague timeframe of spring," Bowling Tweeted. "I'll let you know when we know when it'll be done."

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Speaking ahead of the Spike Video Game Awards, host Geof Keighley has suggested that a new Star Wars game will be unveiled at the show.
 
The fact that LucasArts are banking on Star Wars is hardly surprising, given the less-than-glowing reception to its attempt to launch an original IP with Fracture.  But what Star Wars game could it be? 
 
The fact that a pretty comprehensive Star Wars: Battlefront III was in development at Free Radical Entertainment suggests the groundwork has already been laid on that one.  It's also likely that LucasArts would want to build on the commercial success of Star Wars: Force Unleashed, which became the best selling game to be based on the iconic franchise.
 
Of course, there's also a vocal group hoping that for a true offline sequel to Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords; although given that The Old Republic is still in the works this seems the least likely.  There could also be a slimmer of a chance that a new Rogue Squadron from the now defunct Factor 5 could still be in the pipeline.  Despite the muddied situation surrounding the former developer, it was widely believed that the studio was working on such a title along with a new PilotWings title for Nintendo.
 
It could also be a completely original title; we're putting our hopes on bulls-eyeing womp rats in an on-rails Wii shooter... or maybe not!
 
Either way, all be revealed on December 12th along with the world's first look at Halo: Reach.

DS owners intrigued by the puzzling delights of the Professor Layton series can breathe a sigh of relief, with confirmation from Level 5 that a fifth title is currently in the works for the Nintendo DS.
 
Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracles is chronologically the second title in the series following the events of Professor Layton and the Specter's Flute, which releases in Japan today. 
 
Few details are known about the latest title at this stage, although one thing's for sure we've got years of pleasant puzzles and intrigue ahead of us in Europe, where we've only just seen the release of the second title, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.  If the past is anything to go by we won't be getting the latest title in the series until some point in 2012!

The last time a developer promised something across a social networking site it turned out to be a revamped website, so we're not going to let ourselves get too excited by Naughty Dog's Twitter tease.
 
Still if it does actually materialise, the promise of "something quite awesome" for Uncharted 2 multiplayer by the end of the week could be worth keeping an eye out for.
 
Naughty Dog has previously promised "more maps, more modes" for the competitive multiplayer mode to Eurogamer, but seemed to rule out any additional co-op on account of the download size being too large.

Deus Ex 3 will benefit from the amalgamation of Eidos and Square-Enix with confirmation that the game's cinematics will be created by the Japanese division, who've previously demonstrated their skill and experience in the CG-heavy Final Fantasy series.
 
"Deus Ex 3 is going to be the first project which will be a concrete product of joint effort between Square Enix and Eidos," Stephane D'Astous recently told EDGE. "The cinematics—by which I mean any CGI pre-rendered cinematics — are going to be done in Tokyo by Square Enix, and that's going to be amazing."
 
D'Astous claims that the team is excited by the prospect of working on a title unrelated to Final Fantasy and also showed an interest in Thief 4.

With sales of more than 3 million copies a sequel to Ubisoft's Far Cry 2 always seemed to be more a case of 'when' rather than 'if', particularly considering that the French publisher went to the lengths of acquiring the franchise from CryTek back in .
 
Speaking to Ubisoft writer Kevin Shortt, Official PlayStation Magazine (via CVG) brings word that the third title is indeed in the pipeline.
 
"No I'm not," Shortt replied when asked whether he was working on the title. "But I know the team are and what I've seen looks pretty exciting."

Following the appearance of a leaked video earlier in the week EA today announced the development of Mercs Inc, a multiplayer title set in the Mercenaries franchise created by the now defunct Pandemic Studios.

Describing the game as being in the early stage of development at EALA suggests that the publisher was rushed into the announcement following the leak, and as a result there's probably more details to be discovered from the trailer (embedded below) then the actual press release.

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Despite the fact that Tony Hawk: RiDE launched in the US a week ago and won't even reach the UK until December 5th, Tony Hawk himself has seemingly confirmed that he's already working alongside Robomodo on a sequel.

When Gamespot asked Hawk when he would begin work on a possible sequel with Robomodo, he revealed that "We have already started that process, but who knows what the future holds. I've never had a master plan, especially with our old series, of how many we could do, or how far we could take it."

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Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed II has managed to sell 1.6 million units worldwide after only a week on the market. This is according to the publisher's internal estimates, which show a 32% growth in sales over the week one sales of the original Assassin's Creed in 2007.

While ACII's sales may be overshadowed somewhat by the stratospheric figures of Modern Warfare 2 (4.7 million on day one), 1.6 million sales in a week is not to be scoffed at. Many games struggle to sell that many copies in their lifetime sales, let alone week one figures.

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Music titles such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band have had their fair share of bad press recently, amidst suggestions that the genre's appeal has waned and sales are slipping.

However RedOctane's Kai Huang believes there's plenty more scope for Guitar Hero to continue growing, particular with the introduction of new technologies such as Project Natal, different genres such as Latin and Classical music, and the potential of an online music store service.

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The promised Mass Effect 2 surprise has been unveiled, but it's not exactly the type of bombshell that's worth waiting for.

"Tomorrow's surprise, the revamp to the Mass Effect website, is looking really cool and we hope you like the new layout," the latest ME2 Facebook update claims.  Sigh...

Those who do find this type of 'surprise' fascinating might want to check out masseffect.bioware.com to discover more.

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The demo for Hideki Kamiya and Platinum Games' Bayonetta will arrive on Xbox Live and PSN next Thursday December 3rd, when the highly anticipated and critically acclaimed title will make its first appearance in the West before its scheduled release early next year.

Bayonetta has already received a perfect score from revered Japanese magazine Famitsu, which gave the game 40/40 when it was released across the territory late last month. UK mag Edge has also warmed to the game by handing it a perfect 10/10, which is no mean feat given the notoriously high judging standards in both publications.

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The likes of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Army of Two and Far Cry 2 have come under fire from human rights groups, alleging that their depiction of war crimes violates rules of conduct set out in humanitarian laws.

The study conducted by two Swiss human rights groups analysed 20 video games, played in front of lawyers specialising in humanitarian law to see whether acts committed by players would constitute violations of international law if they were real, rather than virtual.

"The practically complete absence of rules or sanctions is... astonishing," the study said.

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By way of a Tesla Motors customer blog, the Corporate VP and Deputy General Counsel of Microsoft's Litigation Group, Tom Burt appears to have confirmed that there's an internal Microsoft studio working on the next instalment of the Project Gotham Racing series.

Burt, who owns one of Tesla's Roadsters, let employees of Microsoft Game Studios mic up his car while he drove it around a test track. As the sports car is powered electrically, this allowed sound engineers to get clearer "skid and squeal noises" than would otherwise be possible with the interference of a combustion engine.

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Team racing and a range of new vehicles are set to spice up Need for Speed: Shift, with the release of the first DLC package.

Available across Europe on the Xbox 360 from December 1st and following on the PlayStation3 on December 3rd, an all-new Team Racing mode brings the opportunity to compete in two groups of six racers for online supremacy.

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Quite honestly, the amount of games we receive here at TVG is starting to give our cleaner a serious neurotic disorder, so we're organising a weekly Twitter competition where our readers can win a bag of swag direct from the outbox of our overworked TVG elves.

To enter our Clutter-Buster Giveaway, all you need to do is follow us on Twitter and then Tweet the following message from your account:

Win #TVG Clutter-Buster Giveaway (http://ow.ly/sIxR) RT and follow @totalvideogames

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Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has revealed that week one sales for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 have surpassed the mark set by the original Modern Warfare for PC in 2007. This is despite the lack of dedicated servers and a restricted player limit in the sequel.

"The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 has actually outsold the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in its first week. Making it the most successful PC version," Bowling explained on the Infinity Ward forums.

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The scriptwriter for Modern Warfare 2, Jesse Stern has spoken candidly about Infinity Ward's decision to put the infamous airport scene in the game, stating that the developer "wanted to make it something that would be upsetting, disturbing, but also something people relate to."

"Ultimately, our intention was to put you as close as possible to atrocity," Stern told GamePro. "As for the effect it has on you, that's not for us to determine. Hopefully, it does have an emotional impact and it seems to have riled up a lot of people in interesting ways. Some of them good; some of them bad."

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Sitting on top of a variety of movie and music labels, Sony Corp should be in the strongest position to deliver the all-encompassing media hub that virtually every company in the sector is striving to create.

For decades, Sony has attempted to unify its diverse range of hardware manufacturers and content companies, bringing the material created by the likes of Colombia Pictures and Epic Records to products that it creates.  However a long history of corporate infighting and a lack of insight have thwarted such plans in the past.

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According to this job ad, Microsoft Game Studios is currently on the lookout for a Lead Producer to head-up the publishing side of Microsoft's Gears of War and Shadow Complex properties at Epic, suggesting that sequels for both series could be in the offing.

The successful applicant will apparently, "drive the success of Gears of War and Shadow Complex in the highly competitive and fascinating world of interactive entertainment." While direct sequels are not mentioned explicitly, this does imply that there are new Shadow Complex and Gears of War projects underway at Epic.

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Additional multiplayer game modes, maps, and killstreak bonuses have been discovered in the PC version of Modern Warfare 2.  ModernWarfail2 brings word of the modes and how to go about unlocking them on the PC version.

The modes include 'Global Thermonuclear War', in which players have to capture a nuclear bomb and detonate it, along with 'One Flag CTF', which challenges players to capture a solitary flag and deliver it to their base, and finally 'VIP', which should be self explanatory.

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Assassin's Creed fans will enjoy plenty of hours of gameplay with today's release of the hugely anticipated sequel.  However you might find yourself slightly puzzled by a plot device that leaves two of the 14 DNA sequences missing.  

We won't spoil how this pans out, but it left us wandering whether we missed something when reviewing the title, so we contacted a Ubisoft rep to find out.  Their response leads us to believe that future DLC could go back to these sequences:

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Capcom today provided further details on the extra DLC heading to Resident Evil 5.  The DLC will include two new episodes, new costumes and a 'Mercenaries Reunion' mode, which features eight playable characters and a range of weapon load-outs.

The first episode, Lost In Nightmares, fills in the details behind the Spencer Mansion cut-scenes, which finds Chris Redfield reunite with Jill Valentine as they attempt to investigate the Umbrella Corp mastermind's hideout.  Details of the second episode have yet to be revealed.

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According to this document from a Sony media/investor conference, the electronics giant could be poised to add a subscription based service to the PlayStation Network that will bring in a "New revenue stream" for the company.

PSN has been free of charge to PlayStation users since its inception back in the PS2 days, although slide 39 from the conference does seem to suggest that gamers will soon be paying for a subscription to certain content on the platform.

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The next Legend of Zelda will herald a bunch of surprises beyond MotionPlus compatibility according to the series supervisor Eiji Aonuma.

"It is something we used to talk about with Mr Miyamoto," Aonuma-san told the Official Nintendo Magazine.  "He and I agree that if we are following the same structure again and again, we might not be able to give long time Zelda fans a fresh surprise."

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Sony's Video Delivery Service for the PS3 and PSP, which will bring on-demand movies to the consoles via PSN for the first time in Europe, has now gone live. The service, which has launched with 2000 films across the whole continent, also boasts an impressive array of 800 movies for the UK market alone.

Although the platform has launched in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK initially, Sony has plans to expand the service across the region next year, while also increasing the payload of videos that are available at a rate of 50 per week.

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Sqaure Enix has announced that the long-awaited sequel to 2007's Supreme Commander will be available next spring, when the series will return its PC spawning grounds while launching simultaneously on the Xbox 360.

Set 25 years after the events of the original Supreme Commander's Infinite War, Supreme Commander 2 kicks-off after the President of the Colonial Defense Coalition is assassinated, which brings the United Earth Federation, Cyber Nation, and The Illuminate factions into direct conflict.

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Speaking to The Times, Rockstar Games' Dan Houser has provided the first official (of sorts) acknowledgement that GTA V is in the works.

Following the spoof advertisement in 'The Episodes From Liberty City' manual, The Times references Red Dead Redemption and the "next GTA".  

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Reports from Russian websites are indicating that Activision-Blizzard's Modern Warfare 2 has been recalled, as a result of the game's controversial stage set in a Russian airport.

This report suggests that Infinity Ward will deliver a censored version which removes the scene for release across the territory with a timeline of 10-20 days.  TVG took a brief look at several Russian online retailers and couldn't find the title, particularly Ozon.ru - considered Russia's equivalent of Amazon - doesn't appear to be currently listing the title.

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As widely expected the Friday 13th Final Fantasy XIII announcement has brought news of the Western release date.  Following the game's Japanese release on December 17th, Final Fantasy XIII will be released worldwide in the west on March 9th 2010 for the PlayStation3 and Xbox 360.  

Today's announcement also reveals that X Factor winner Leona Lewis will provide the theme track for the game.  The song, My Hands, features on the Grammy-nominated artist's second album set for release on November 16th.

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In a press release announcing the availability of a specific BBC iPlayer Wii Channel, Nintendo has confirmed that sales data from Chart-Track reveals that the Wii is nearing six million sales across the UK.  

Such figures suggest that the UK sales account for approximately 9% of combined Wii worldwide sales; or viewed in another way, in the region of one in 10 of the UK population own a Nintendo Wii.

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Xbox Live's Major Nelson has announced that Microsoft recorded 2 million concurrent users on Xbox Live yesterday evening, which is thanks in no small part to the influx of gamers playing the newly released Modern Warfare 2 online.

The concurrent users record had previously been broken last Christmas, when Microsoft recorded a peak of 1.5 million simultaneous users on Xbox Live thanks to some bumper sales figures for the period.

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