Xbox 360 Video Games News

If any further proof was needed that Super Street Fighter IV is going to be worth it for Street Fighter fanatics, then a little more nostalgia is surely the trick to seal it.

Beyond an extended cast of fighters, Famitsu (via Siliconera) brings word that the car-smashing/barrel busting rounds that featured in between bouts on Street Fighter II will be making a return in the spin-off title.

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The original Mass Effect didn't enjoy the best of relationships with post-release DLC, however that's all being rectified for the sequel if a Microsoft Expert Zone quiz for retailers is anything to go by.

Destructoid reports that the survey offers "planned episodic combat via DLC, weapon an armour packs, new downloadable characters for the campaign experience, new downloadable worlds, as well as full campaign expansions for download."

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Microsoft and BSkyB's hotly anticipated launch of the Sky Player on the Xbox 360 got off to a great start last week, until it disappeared shortly afterwards and taken offline since.  Following its October 27th launch, the service, which brings a range of Sky channels to the Xbox 360, was removed due to “phenominal demand”.  

The service is still inaccessible to many, nearly a week after the launch, as Sky today admitted that it “did not have the capacity to satisfy all service requests”.  It's believed that the service is now being rolled out gradually, although the media giant hasn't specified a timeline for when the service will appear entirely.

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So we're the type of gamers that don't spend two seconds on game manuals.  By the time we've ripped open the packaging, the disc is already spinning in the drive and there's no time for inconsequential activities such as reading.

But sometimes such an overlook can be costly.

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We thought adopting a third-person mode was controversial enough, but it seems Infinity Ward is going for the jugular judging by the latest leaked footage that has emerged.

But firstly be warned, this is an extremely graphic spoiler of dramatic in-game action, so hit the back button if you don't want to spoil any surprises.

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Following the furore over Infinity Ward's retraction of dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2, Battlefield developer DICE has now committed itself to providing dedicated servers for PC users in games such as its upcoming sequel, Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

"A lot of buzz has been floating around the internet lately about dedicated servers and we wanted to make sure our all our players have the best understanding of how Battlefield will be played on the PC," said DICE Producer, Gordon Van Dyke. "Since Battlefield 1942 DICE has used dedicated servers for all platforms.  This formula has worked well, and still works well, for us and for the gaming community.   We have stayed true to this practice and will continue this tradition into the upcoming title Battlefield Bad Company 2."

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Following a leaked video that emerged over the weekend, Infinity Ward's community man, Robert Bowling has now confirmed that gamers will be able to play Modern Warfare 2 from a third-person perspective, although this feature will be limited to specific multiplayer modes.

"3rd Person is a new playlist mode in Multiplayer," Bowling told Kotaku. "So you can play your favourite playlists [or] game types, like Team Deathmatch just standard, or in Hardcore mode [with] limited HUD and increased bullet damage) or in the new 3rd Person mode, which means you and everyone in the game is in 3rd person."

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Speaking to TVG at an Aliens vs. Predator event in London last week, Rebellion revealed that its incoming AvP reboot will look better on the PC platform with DX11 support than the game's other consoles versions.

When we asked whether DX11 support was allowing Rebellion to do things on PC that it can't on consoles, AvP's Senior Producer, David Brickley told us, "Performance wise, there's no question - yes. It's incredible and we've had a lot of support from the hardware manufacturers as well in order to get the cards early enough to see what they can do. What's been announced so far, obviously in terms of tessellation for one thing, is way beyond what you're able to implement on the current crop of consoles."

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Aliens vs. Predator isn't due out until early next year, but it appears developer Rebellion will be ready to hit the ground running with DLC as the studio has revealed that it already has downloadable content "in production".

Speaking in a TVG interview, AvP's Senior Producer, David Brickley said, "The intention is that this is a proper reboot that is well supported and does new and interesting things with the title.

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According to a job posting on Gamasutra, EA and Steven Spielberg's collaborative game series, Boom Blox could be set to make the jump from its Wii spawning grounds to the higher tech. surroundings of Sony and Microsoft's current-gen consoles.

"Our last two titles were Wii-based, but our next titles will be for the next generation," reads this job ad for work at Electronic Arts' LA studio (thanks, Superannuation). The ad also specifies that successful applicants will be working on, "The BAFTA-winning Boom Blox team".

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Leaked footage from Modern Warfare 2 has allegedly revealed a big secret, so if you'd like to keep it all hush-hush until the game releases then make sure to hit the back button now.

The video demonstrates the game being played in third-person, with an accompanying screenshot reportedly confirming the existence of a 3rd Person Cage Match multiplayer game type.

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The Lead Producer on Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed II, Sébastien Puel has revealed to TVG that the studio is interested in bringing a multiplayer component to the Assassin's Creed universe at some point.

When we asked Puel whether he could see a future Assassin's Creed game featuring co-op or multiplayer modes, he told us that, "This is something that does interest us."

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It's a story that's been going as long as the HD DVD format bit the dust in February of last year, but now Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer appears to have provided a definitive answer as to whether or not a Blu-ray drive will be incorporated into the Xbox 360 console.

When Gizmodo asked Ballmer whether Microsoft would consider adding a Blu-ray drive to the Xbox 360, he reportedly said, "Well I don't know if we need to put Blu-ray in there," but quickly added that, "you'll be able to get Blu-ray drives as accessories."

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At a BAFTA event in London last night, the spearhead of Microsoft's European operation, Peter Molyneux announced that Fable III will support Microsoft's incoming Natal technology.

Reports also indicate that he hinted at the inclusion of micro-transactions in this third instalment in Lionhead's RPG series, where gamers could fork out real money for in-game items and game walkthroughs within the Fable III world.

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THQ has announced that its publishing a new FPS being developed by the Ukrainian based studio, 4A Games. The shooter, which is titled Metro 2033 and is based on a 2002 novel of the same name by Dmitry Glukhovsky, is due to surface in early 2010 on Xbox 360 and PC.

The game's sci-fi storyline is based in Moscow and set in the wake of a nuclear holocaust in 2013, where the holocaust's survivors now live beneath a decimated cityscape in the city's subway systems thirty years later.

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EA has announced that its Need For Speed series has passed through the milestone of 100 million lifetime sales, collating an impressive $2.7 billion (£1.63 billion) in total sales revenues along the way.

The arcade racing game series has been iterated through 15 separate titles across 14 different platforms since its inception in 1994, with gamers logging over 279 billion miles on the various race tracks and roads featured throughout the series' history (how EA figured out that stat is anybody's guess).

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Roughly four days have passed since IWNet's zero hour - when the matchmaking service for Modern Warfare 2 on PC was revealed by Infinity Ward's sounding board, Robert Bowling - and now he's spoken out on his blog in defence of the service.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is actually the biggest investment Infinity Ward has ever made into the PC version of our games," insisted Bowling in the post. "It's also the most feature-rich PC version we've ever made. IWNET takes the benefits of dedicated servers and allows them to be utilised and accessed by every player, out of the box, while removing the barrier to entry for players unaware of how to maintain a server on their own."

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Hironobu Sakaguchi has gone a little quiet since Cry-On was quietly cancelled late last year.  However a cryptic blog update (spotted by RPGSite) has shed light on Mistwalker and suggested a new title is in the pipeline:

"Am I an "idle man", I wonder? (^^;
Well, I am just trying to pastime...
I am working hard on a new project.
Now we are being rushed into the "finishing" stage.
No matter what, I will make it really good.... "

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The British Board of Film Classification has passed Activision and Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 for release in the UK with an 18 certificate.

Not cuts were made to the original code, although this will be the first 18 rated game in Activision's Call of Duty stable (all the previous games have weighed in with 15 ratings).

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In a move that's led 53,000 PC gamers (and counting) to sign an online petition, Infinity Ward has revealed that it will replace the dedicated servers from the original Modern Warfare with a matchmaking service called IWNet for Modern Warfare 2 on PC.

Infinity Ward's community man, Robert Bowling revealed the info in a BASHandSlash webcast (via Kotaku), where he commented that, "It's definitely going to be a change. It's going to be a very different setup than what we're previously used to in the Call of Duty franchise for the PC."

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We tend to find the predictions of Wedbush Morgan's analyst for the entertainment industry a little hot and cold.  Sure in recent times Michael Pachter has been on the money when it comes to the DSi and price cuts, but he's been a little off the pulse in the past, predicting that Final Fantasy XIII would remain PS3 exclusive and not to mention his singular stance on the Wii HD.  We'll wait to see whether GTA V is ready for next Christmas as well!

So we'll retain a degree of scepticism when it comes to news that Pachter is predicting a hike in the price of an annual subscription to Xbox Live Gold.  

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2010 will get off to a quick start with confirmation that Mass Effect 2 will be arriving on January 29th across Europe, although the press release fails to disclose whether this is for both the Xbox 360 and PC versions.

"Our fans are in for a genuine thrill in the New Year with Mass Effect 2 - the second installment in the trilogy will be of amazingly high quality," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, co-founder, BioWare and Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group of EA. "BioWare's fans worldwide have been eagerly awaiting this epic sequel, and we couldn't be more excited to reward them for pre-ordering by delivering some awesome bonus content!"

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It'll be no big surprise to most of you, but SEGA and Obsidian has confirmed a delay for Alpha Protocol that will push the title from its previous autumn 2009 release window into spring 2010.

This follows reports from last month (citing an alleged SEGA document) that a Sony product evaluator said the game, "felt barely RPG," with an initial level that was, "too challenging for players," and that "Mass Effect felt more RPG".

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The European PlayStation blog has recently posted a belated interview from Gamescom with Hideo Kojima.  Responding to questions from the community regarding a possible update to the popular mech space-opera series, Zone of Enders, Kojima-san suggested that a sequel is certainly on the cards.

"A lot of the users gives us lots of love calls about Zone of the Enders especially," Kojima-san told the PS blog.  "We actually do love the tile as well at Kojima Productions and we always want to create on the next-gen as well."

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Codemasters' Executive Producer on Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Sion Lenton has revealed that the first DLC for the game will be "coming up in a matter of weeks" after the game was released last Friday.

We've got some very ambitious plans with DLC - our first pack is coming up in a matter of weeks," Lenton told the Telegraph. "We'll also have title updates coming up because once the game's out there, we'll need to get feedback from the people who are playing it, and if need be make a few adjustments and tweaks.

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Following reports of a deal between Nintendo and nVidia to provide a System-on-Chip processor for the Japanese firm's next handheld, Fudzilla brings word that Microsoft and ATi are cosying up once again for the next-gen Xbox.

It could just be typos (none of us are above the occasional typo), but we're a little unsure of a report that titles the Xbox 360 GPU codename incorrectly as 'Xeons' (an Intel chip targeted towards servers) instead of 'Xenos'  and doesn't exactly provide any tangible information to back anything up.  

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RPG specialist BioWare has stated that it will be supporting its latest opus, Dragon Age: Origins through DLC for two years after the game launches at the start of next month.

"We have [DLC] plans that stretch out for basically two years," said the game's Executive Producer, Mark Darrah. "And it's going to be everything from really small stuff like item packs up to larger quests that might last an hour or two up to even fully fledged expansion packs. Really it's a broad long term support plan for the game."

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Steam's Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters, Walking_Target and Agent of Chaos, have announced that they are going to shut down their boycott group on Steam as of 5:00pm UK time on October 21st.

"We have accomplished everything we can on our manifesto," said Agent of Chaos. "We've been dealing with Valve ever since our group started, then we met them in-person and now we're at the point of concluding our discussions. Our goal wasn't to steer people away from L4D2, it was to get Valve's attention and have them support original L4D. We succeeded and that's where our mission ends; nothing more or less."

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Development on Tekken 6 has finished ahead of the game's release on October 30th for the PlayStaiton3 and Xbox 360.

In addition, Namco-Bandai has sent along details of the online modes that feature in the game along with information on the game's exclusive content found in the Home space on PlayStaiton3.

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Former Bungie man and now Microsoft's Creative Director of 343 Industries (its dedicated Halo division), Frank O'Connor has stated that there is a six-year plan in place for the future of the Halo franchise that will see the game series' canon branch out across action figures, books, videos, and comics.

"We do have a plan that goes out at least six years," O'Connor told USA Today. "Eventually, it will become very apparent that there is a plan for the way the canon all ties together and the way the comic books and the novels all tie together."

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Watching Ryo Hazuki race alongside Sonic, Eggman and Ai-Ai in Sonic and SEGA All Stars Racing may not be the return that Shenmue fans hoped for, but at least it signals the first time we've seen him in over eight years.

On the plus side it does have Ryo racing around in a forklift truck - and for that we're very, very happy SEGA.  What used to be mild curiosity over a fanboy kart-racer has now turned into something we're genuinely craving over, simply to see Ryo in action once again.

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Valve has revealed the fourth game mode for its incoming sequel Left 4 Dead 2, which will set teams of up to 4 players against each other as Survivors attempt to refuel a power generator and Infected do everything in their powers to stop them.

This new Scavenge Mode is both time and points based, as Survivors have to pick up gas cans from each level and pour them into a generator to add time to a clock and score points for their team. The Infected then play as Boss characters and must stop the Survivors by attacking them, destroying the gas cans, or running down the clock.

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British actor, Billy Murray has apparently been reprising his voice-acting role as Captain Price over in LA recently according to his website, suggesting that the handlebar moustached hero of the original Modern Warfare may be set to make a return in Infinity Ward's upcoming sequel.

[N.B. if you still haven't finished the original Modern Warfare, then avert your eyes from this paragraph]. It was of course Captain Price who tragically died at the end of the last game (or, at least, he appeared to), although this latest piece of info suggests that Price is alive and kicking in the sequel.

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Call of Duty may never have entered modern times if Activision executives had had their way.  In an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine (reported by CVG), Infinity Ward's Vince Zampella remarks that the developer wanted to move away from WWII with Call of Duty 2.

"With Call of Duty 2, we were dead set against it being World War 2," Zampella claimed, "but Activision really wanted it, the compromise sort of being that we'd get some dev kits for consoles in exchange for doing a World War 2 game.

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Budding superstar DJs will have to move aside the plastic guitars and drum kits for the release of DJ Hero on October 30th.  

Featuring a considerable array of talent including DJ AM, Cut Chemist, Grandmaster Flash, DJ Jazzy Jeff, J. Period, DJ Shadow and DJ Z-Trip, Activision-Blizzard today revealed the final set list featuring 93 mixes that appear in the game.

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EA Sports' FIFA 10 has become the fastest selling FIFA game in UK history and the second biggest game launch ever, with only Rockstar's GTA IV selling more copies during its launch week.

This is according to official Chart Track figures, which place FIFA atop the UK charts following its release on Friday. FIFA 10's sales at launch were 48% higher than its predecessor, while the format spread was 2% higher on the Xbox 360 than they were on PS3 (Xbox 360 - 48%, PS3 - 46%, other formats - 6%).

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EA discovered the perils of releasing unfinished features in a finished game across the launch weekend of FIFA 10.  Attempts to use the Game Face technology or Live Season 2.0 failed abjectly, with servers allegedly struggling to keep up with the sheer demand.

Players struggled to log-in to the website www.easportsfootball.co.uk, and on the rare occasion when the editor was actually available, problems such as editing or saving meant that a lot of disgruntled customers were intensifying the heat in EA's official forums across the weekend.

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Despite news from earlier this week that pointed to a spring 2010 release for Modern Warfare 2 DLC, Infinity Ward's community guy, Robert Bowling has now stated that development of the game's two promised map packs won't start until after Modern Warfare 2 is finished.

"We haven't even begun thinking about what our DLC will be, let alone finish any," said Bowling on the official Infinity Ward forums. "No DLC will begin development until the entire game is finished and certified."

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On October 23rd, Gearbox Interactive's latest opus Borderlands will arrive on the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. To celebrate the event, TVG is holding an exclusive competition giving away copies of the game and 150 portions of DLC for the title as well.

Five copies of the game are on offer for the competition's winners - all of which will receive the DLC weapons pack as well - while an additional 145 runners-up will receive the DLC prepped for download upon the game's release.

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UK Supermarket Tesco is currently offering EA's FIFA 10 at £24.97, which is a markdown of 50% from the game's RRP of £49.99, while other retailers have attempted to follow suit with similar price reductions.

We purchased our copies at the store this morning from a promotional display that was setup front and centre at our local Tesco Direct but, if you can't be bothered to make the journey, then there's always the online option via the TVG Store.

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Things started to look questionable this morning when a Nintendo schedule listed Tony Hawk: Ride as a December 4th release, and now publisher Activision has confirmed a two week delay for the title in the UK.

The game, which was originally scheduled to release on November 20th for Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii, will now come to market on December 4th across all three platforms and alongside the all-new skateboard peripheral that Activision and developer Robomodo have crafted.

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Lionhead's Peter Molyneux has revealed that Charles Dickens is providing an inspiration during the development of Fable III, but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll have a cast of street urchins and ghosts from Christmas past (although that is likely) and a commentary on social reform.

Speaking to Edge, Molyneux claims:

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The first batch of Modern Warfare 2 DLC, or more specifically the first multiplayer map pack, will be arriving in Spring 2010, if an advertisement from the energy drink manufacturer Monster Energy is to be believed.

Shacknews received a pack of the energy drink which is running promotional competitions.  In giving away map pack codes, the accompanying material claims, "5000 MW2 Map Pack codes - planned release Spring 2010"

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Dead Rising 2's Producer, Keiji Inafune has stated that it's his "desire" to put multiple endings in the game (as was the case with the original), although the development team is not currently at a point where they've decided one way or the other.

"Definitely one of the things people seemed to like with the first Dead Rising game was that there were multiple endings, and so I personally would love to be able to put in multiple endings in this game," said Inafune.

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We've become increasingly worried about Rockstar and Team Bondi's LA Noire over the last year or so, mostly because we haven't seen or heard anything about the title for flipping ages, but now Rockstar has reached out across the intertubes to quell fears that the game's development may be in trouble.

"While we have yet to announce a definitive release date, L.A. Noire is coming along quite splendidly, and we're going to have details to share with you all very soon," Rockstar stated via its website.

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As expected, an official reveal of Super Street Fighter IV has emerged today. As was not entirely expected, the game will only be released at retail (although not at full price) and will not be made available via DLC when it launches next spring for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Early indications are that Super Street Fighter IV will add eight new characters to the existing roster of 25 fighters, although Capcom has stated that this number is subject to change depending on fan feedback and the rest of SSFIV's development cycle.

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It seems that Infinity Ward won't be releasing a demo for Modern Warfare 2 before it releases on November 10th, as the developer has announced exactly that on its Twitter over the weekend.

"No plan for a Demo before launch. The entire team is focused on polish all the way up to ship of the full game," Infinity Ward Tweeted.

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Further to last week's murmurings of a Street Fighter IV sequel, Capcom has now launched a teaser site adorned with Street Fighter IV style video clips, which is counting down to an announcement scheduled for 5pm Japanese time on 29th September (that's tomorrow at 8am in the UK).

The site's URL includes the words "new warrior", which could mean anything really, although we're hoping that it's not just an announcement for a new character as DLC for Street Fighter IV. That would really crush our hopes of Super Street Fighter IV or something of that ilk.

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News on Sony and Microsoft's new motion sensing technology has been spilling out of the Tokyo Game Show today, with Hideo Kojima once again managing to sum-up the moment by comparing Microsoft's Natal tech to "the 2D to 3D shift" in graphics during the 90s.

According to Gamasutra, Kojima said that he saw Natal as a major step forward for the games industry, "like the 2D to 3D shift, or the first time that I ever played with Family Computer [NES]," he commented as part of a TGS panel discussing the technology.

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Valve has announced that 'Crash Course', the second major portion of DLC for last year's Left 4 Dead, will be arriving on September 29th for Xbox 360 and PC, while a demo of the incoming sequel, Left 4 Dead 2 will surface on October 27th.

'Crash Course' will be free for PC, although Xbox 360 owners will have to part with 560 Microsoft Points (£4.76) to download the DLC. According to Valve's Chet Faliszek, this is because Microsoft wants to retain "an economy of value" on Xbox Live. For more details on the content in 'Crash Course', click through here.

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After a string of delays into 2010 we'd assumed that the barren Christmas release schedule wouldn't suffer anymore casualties; how wrong we were.

VideoGamer brings word that Bizarre Creations' latest racer (and first Activision-Blizzard title) has been pushed into the New Year.  Initially scheduled for a November 2009 release, the delay allegedly gives the team more time to "enhance the game's innovative and distinctive online multiplayer gameplay".

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Square Enix (and now overseer of all Eidos) has gone on the record in the Financial Times to suggest Nintendo will release a new Wii by 2011.  Yoichi Wada suggests the Wii successor will have more functionality and could feature a new controller.

Wada-san also suggests that Sony and Microsoft's attempts to offer motion-sensitive controllers may only have a "limited effect", but seems to be impressed with Microsoft's Project Natal.  "As a user interface it's fantastic and I think it will become standard," he said.

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The fact that Street Fighter IV exceeded sales expectations, coupled with Capcom teasing that new titles will be unveiled at Tokyo Game Show and the producer's blog murmurings regarding a 'sequel' suggests we might see something substantial on the Steet Fighter front at this year's Tokyo Game Show.

IGN brings word of Natsuki Shiozawa's mentioning information surrounding a sequel in a blog, then updating this with a later entry that promises a more solid announcement will take place in the near future.

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We've received word from 2K Games that BioShock 2 is now set for worldwide release on February 9th of next year. This follows the game's delay earlier this year from its original October 30th 2009 launch date.

The wording on the press release is a touch ambiguous though and doesn't specify platforms for the February 9th date, although it does confirm that the game is "in development" for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. This will no doubt fuel earlier rumours that BioShock 2 could be planned as a timed exclusive.

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The first details on Ninja Theory's next game, Enslaved have been revealed via the latest issue of Game Informer, which lifts the lid on a dystopian sci-fi storyline based on a classic Chinese novel.

This novel is Journey to the West, which was written during China's Ming Dynasty in the 16th century AD. The western translation of the novel is commonly called Monkey (as was a cult Japanese TV series from the 70s that was based on the book), which is undoubtedly why Ninja Theory has chosen the name Monkey for its lead character.

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Major Nelson has just confirmed the arrival of a PES 2010 demo onto Xbox Live. Demos for PS3 and PC are also scheduled for release today as the game prepares for its full retail launch on October 23rd.

According to Nelson's blog, the demo supports multiplayer and allows players to sample PES 2010's new tactical slider settings, which you can have a good look at in the trailer below.

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Microsoft has announced a second bundle for its 250GB Xbox 360, which this time incorporates a copy of Forza 3 into a "Super Elite Bundle" with two wireless controllers, and will be released in the UK on October 23rd at the cost effective price of £249.99.

This news comes following the announcement of a near identical Modern Warfare 2 bundle earlier this week. However, the 250GB Xbox 360 won't be custom designed in Forza 3's case.

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Modern Warfare 2's ego surely doesn't require any further massaging.  With a range of versions, night-vision goggles and an inflated RRP, surely that's enough?

Perhaps not, as Activision and Microsoft confirmed that the rumoured Xbox 360 Elite, featuring the 250GB hard drive, will make its first appearance under the guise of a Limited Edition console to celebrate the monumental launch of Modern Warfare 2.

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Microsoft has announced that development on Forza Motorsport 3 has finished and the game has gone gold.  To celebrate the occasion, a demo will be released across Xbox Live Marketplace on September 24th, ahead of the game's UK release on October 23rd.

The demo features five different vehicles and the Camino Viejo race circuit inspired by the Montserrat region just outside of Barcelona, allowing players to experience the all-new cockpit view, the enhanced damage and rolls, and the rewind function.

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Batman: Arkham Asylum has sold nearly 2 million copies already according to the LA Times, less than a month after the game's launch.

More solid figures are provided by August's NPDs, which reveal that Arkham Asylum shifted 593,000 copies in the US on both Xbox 360 and PS3 (a PC version will arrive next week), although this accounts for only a week's worth of sales at the end of the month. Additionally, Arkham Asylum has been topping the charts here in the UK, so we'd expect a sizeable portion of additional European sales.

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It's not often that Courtney Love makes a great deal of sense, but we'll agree with her recent Twitter outburst surrounding the appearance of Kurt Cobain in Guitar Hero 5.

Going beyond the realms of taste and exploitation for many, the fact that Kurt Cobain is even in the game is bad enough for Nirvana fans, but watching the purveyor of all things plaid sing along to other band's songs is nothing short of tragic.

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Square Enix has been indulging its fans in some URL related riddling with a flash site that reveals a December 17th Japanese release date for Final Fantasy XIII when you replace "_Before_" with "_After_" in the URL.

Here's the webpage as it normally appears, and here's the same page with the amended "_After_" code. It's as good a confirmation of Final Fantasy XIII's release date as you're going to get without an official announcement, which should follow at Square Enix's FFXIII event in Tokyo today that's due to start imminently.

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It's been so long since we've seen anything new on LA Noire that we're beginning to wonder whether it'll ever emerge from Team Bondi's studio, but at least a LinkedIn profile has now provided an excuse to reignite the platform speculation for the title.

According to the networking site's entry for Team Bondi's Senior Lighting Artist, Carl Ross, the game is being developed for three platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

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While Valve managed to offer its first portion of Left 4 Dead DLC for free on both Xbox 360 and PC, this will not be the case with its incoming 'Crash Course' content, which will be free of charge on the PC but is set to cost 560 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360.

This, according to Valve's Chet Faliszek, was a decision that was not left down to Valve but was made by Microsoft instead. "We own our platform, Steam. Microsoft owns their platform. They wanted to make sure there's an economy of value there," he explained.

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SEGA's big cheese in the West, Mike Hayes has stated that the publisher is aiming to announce its plans for Microsoft's Natal technology and the PS3 'Wand' early next year.

"We'd like to think that in early 2010 we'll be making announcements about both of those platforms," Hayes said in reference to the PS3's incoming motion sensing tech and Microsoft's Natal hardware.

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Following the price cuts sales of the Xbox 360 in the UK skyrocketed by 43% week-on-week, according to figures released by Chart-Track to Edge.

The £30 price cut which saw the Elite model reduced to £199.99 coincided with the UK bank holiday, and took some of the shine away from Sony's launch of the PS3 Slim - which apparently happened yesterday.

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Comments: (436)

The impact of the release of GTA IV in 2008, saw Take-Two Interactive post a 68% drop in net revenues of $138.6 million for the third quarter ended July 31st 2009, compared to the $433.8 million posted in the same quarter last year.  

As a result, the US publisher recorded a net loss of $55.5 million compared to a net income of $51.8 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.  Although this loss was slightly smaller than analysts were previously expecting.

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Comments: (507)

Microsoft has stated that its incoming Facebook and Twitter applications for Xbox Live will be limited to Gold members, while Silver members can only access the new services via a free trial.

"Facebook and Twitter on Xbox LIVE will be free to Gold members, with a free trial period also available for Silver members," Microsoft revealed. "...We're committed to adding new features and value for our Gold members, and will continue to do so."

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Comments: (436)

Activision and Infinity Ward have done a pretty good job on putting the clampers on Modern Warfare 2, only releasing a trickle of information to wet the appetitive for much more when the game finally launches on November 10th.

However it appears the security weren't keeping a close eye at a recent retailers' event in the States, where the following footage has emerged from.

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Comments: (268)

Speaking at the Hot Chips conference at Stanford University, EA's Chief Creative Officer, Rich Hilleman has suggested that Sony and Microsoft have more hardware iterations in store for the PS3 and Xbox 360 before any next-gen machines launch.

"I expected we'll see a PlayStation 3.5 before we see a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 560 before we see an Xbox 720," said Hilleman.

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Comments: (757)

Amazon.de was one of the first retailers to officially leak the PS3 Slim, so the appearance of an Xbox 360 with a 250GB HDD packs a little more creditability than most.

The page has since been removed, which adds further fuel to the flames, but as Kotaku noticed the bundle contains the previously mentioned console, Forza Motorsport 3 and two wireless controllers for 279.99 euros (£246).  Not entirely unreasonable when the solus Elite package with a 120GB HDD now costs £199.99.

No word on when the bundle could be released, although with Forza 3 primed for an October 23rd release, we'd expect this to materialise around then - provided it's true of course.

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Comments: (436)

According to this listing on The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency's website, Hans Zimmer has written the musical score for Infinity Ward's upcoming mega-sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The listing is almost certainly genuine as it's easily accessible from the Hans Zimmer link on Gorfaine/Schwartz's site, while the agency itself appears to have corralled the talents of Hollywood's most emminent composers and musicians (including the legendary John Williams).

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Comments: (268)

GamesCom is out of the way, which means that there's only the Tokyo Game Show to go for the remainder of 2009.

It's still nearly a month away, yet Capcom has been busily twittering about new game announcements that will take place during the show.

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Kalypso Media has just announced an October 16th worldwide release date for Tropico 3, when El Presidente will return to the gaming scene on the Xbox 360 and PC platforms.

It's been a long hiatus for the dictator, who's probably been hiding out in a post-Soviet state somewhere since Tropico was released in 2001, although he'll be around for a brief visit on the week commencing September 7th when a PC demo is due to launch prior to his full return.

Despite a worldwide release of October 16th, the PC version will be available in Germany from September 24th onwards, which is probably the result of a corrupt trade agreement or something.

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You can blame the UK's currency for a lot of things: the anti-EU sentiment of the Conservative Party during the 90s, inaccurately minted 20p coins, and now apparently Microsoft's decision to raise the price of its Xbox 360 Arcade SKU in the region.

"We are making modest increases on the Xbox 360 Arcade console as you can see," said Chris Lewis, Microsoft EMEA's VP of Interactive Entertainment Business. "The reality now is partly to offset currency exchange rate fluctuations which have impacted us in local market conditions - particularly in the UK."

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Even though Splash Damage and Bethesda haven't even released the first Brink game yet, the game's developer has nevertheless revealed that it has "big plans" for two sequels after the first game launches next spring.

"If [players] are willing to take the chance, they will find that this becomes another landmark franchise that they'll keep wanting to come back to," said the game's Creative Director, Richard Ham. "I'm looking forward to Brink 2 and 3 as well. We already have big plans for that."

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As widely expected, and noticed from an Argos slip up yesterday, Microsoft today confirmed that it has chopped the price of the Xbox 360 Elite to £199.99 in the UK.  The price cut is effective from August 28th and features the 120GB hard-drive.

"With the Christmas season right around the corner, it's another opportunity to put the consumer centre stage with entertainment and games that everyone will enjoy," said Neil Thompson, Senior Regional Director ,Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft UK and Ireland. "We have a goal over the next 18 months to deliver value with amazing content and rich interactive experiences in the living room."

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Comments: (436)

UK retailer Argos is currently listing Microsoft's Xbox 360 Arcade model for £156.59, which is over £25 higher than the SKU's current RRP of £129.99 and supports rumours that arouse earlier this month of a £30 price hike for the system in the UK.

In addition to this, TVG received word from an Argos source earlier today of a price reduction on the Xbox 360 Elite from £224.79 to £194.77, although we later received a correction to this which stated that the price reduction "was an error". The Elite is currently listed for £224.97 on the site.

This provides further evidence for a price cut to the Xbox 360 Elite model, which numerous US retailers have now listed at a price point of $299, which is $100 cheaper than the console's current RRP in the region.

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Comments: (436)

This is a bit of a no brainer really, as Infinity Ward hasn't used vehicles in the multiplayer modes of its various Call of Duty titles in the past, but community man Robert Bowling has now confirmed that they definitely won't feature in Modern Warfare 2.

"We never put vehicles in multiplayer," Bowling told GamerZines. "Our focus is on fast-paced infantry combat, where you're never reliant on transportation."  

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Comments: (268)

We've just received word from Guitar Hero's UK reps that GH5 will release over here on September 11th, 10 days after its US release and a mere three days after Harmonix's The Beatles: Rock Band launches worldwide on September 9th.

Both the standalone game and guitar bundle packages will be available on September 11th for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PS2, although there's still no word on when GH5's new drum kit will arrive in the UK and whether a 'band-in-a-box' bundle (comprising of drums, guitar,  microphone, and game) will be made available as it was last year.

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Comments: (19)

SEGA Europe's President, Mike Hayes has stated that the release of Gearbox's Aliens: Colonial Marines could follow on as long as 12 months after Aliens vs. Predator's scheduled launch in February, suggesting that the title may not emerge until 2011.

In even more worrying news for Gearbox's shooter, Hayes has even indicated that Colonial Marines' release could depend on the success of Rebellion's Aliens vs. Predator at retail.

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During a demonstration at a GameCrazy event, Infinity Ward's community manager has revealed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will feature dual-weapon action.

In a post on the official Modern Warfare 2 forums, IW's community manager claimed:

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Comments: (268)

We already knew that we'd probably be waiting less than a year for Final Fantasy XIII to come to Europe, which is a lot quicker than usual for a Final Fantasy release, but now the game's Producer has revealed that FFXIII will launch in the territory next spring on both PS3 and Xbox 360.

"We don't have the actual month down yet, but in Japan it's scheduled for a winter release, and in Europe and North American territories it's spring 2010," Yoshinori Kitase told VG247 at GamesCom.

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Comments: (68)

We were starting to get a bit worried about Ninja Theory, having heard nothing from the studio since the release of Heavenly Sword two years ago, but thankfully news has now emerged that the developer is working on a new project with Namco Bandai.

According to a Siliconera report, Producers from Namco Bandai Games America will assist Ninja Theory on the game, which is currently slated for release in 2010 on Xbox 360 and PS3, although there are no details on what sort of game it will be or even a working title.

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Comments: (20)

Speech impeded UK chat show host, Jonathan Ross has revealed via Twitter that he has a voice acting role as an accountant in Fable III.

"Fable III officialy announced so I can now reveal I play Barry, a junior accountant needed in one of the quests," Wossy Tweeted.

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Comments: (11)

Konami has announced from GamesCom that PES 2010 will be released on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on October 22nd, which is a mere three weeks after the currently slated release date for FIFA 10.

October 22nd is a Thursday though, so we'd expect that date to be for continental Europe with the UK receiving it one day later on the Friday. PSP and PS2 versions will then arrive shortly after this on November 5th and, true to Konami's promise, the Wii version will launch this side of Christmas on November 19th (both dates are also Thursdays).

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Comments: (96)

While speculation about a price hike for Microsoft's Xbox 360 Arcade model, the phasing out of its Pro model, and a price cut for the Elite SKU has been rampant in recent times, the company still failed to reveal any info on its planned pricing strategy for the run-up to Christmas at its GamesCom address this morning.

Perhaps that's because the speculation is misplaced or, much more likely, that Microsoft is planning to announce pricing changes at a later date. This could be because an Elite price cut would be overshadowed by Sony's PS3 Slim fanfare or, as MCV is reporting, it could be down to other industry forces.

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Comments: (436)

As many had guessed from the ongoing teasers on Lionhead's website over the past week, Microsoft Europe's Creative Director, Peter Molyneux has revealed at GamesCom that Fable III is in development and is due for release towards the end of next year.

It seems that the revolutionary figures seen on Lionhead's teaser site are an indication of the themes in Fable III's story, as gamers will undertake a journey to become the ruler of a Napoleonic-themed world of Albion in this third Fable game.

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Comments: (11)

EA today confirmed a March 5th 2010 release date for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 across Europe.  Promising the best multiplayer action, Bad Company 2 features an increased level of destruction, stronger vehicular warfare and a greater emphasis on team tactics.

Bad Company 2 features 15 authentic land, sea and air vehicles, such as the all-new UH-60 transport helicopter that can ship an entire four-player squad across the map, while two players wreak havoc with the mounted railguns.

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FIFA 10's Producer, David Rutter has just revealed a new mode for FIFA 10 at EA's GamesCom keynote address in Germany. The new Virtual Pro feature will incorporate EA's Photo Game Face technology into FIFA for the first time.

The technology, which allows a user to upload a photo of their face into the game and paste their likeness onto an in-game avatar, has been previously used in EA Sports' Tiger Woods series.

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Comments: (88)

A European release date of February 9th has just been announced by EA for Dante's Inferno, with a North American launch to follow three days later on February 12th.

This announcement comes via EA's GamesCom keynote, where a couple of new gameplay features were also revealed for the hellish hack 'n slash game.

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Finished in a good way, as opposed to dead in the water that is.  Joystiq brings word from Remedy Games' Matias Myllyrinne that the Finish studio is currently polishing the title and counting down the days until Alan Wake is finally unleashed.

"It's all done, we're just polishing at this point," Myllyrinne claimed during GDC Europe.

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Comments: (36)

Eidos has announced that a demo for IO Interactive's next opus, Mini Ninjas, will be released for Xbox and PC on Wednesday of this week (via Live and the official Mini Ninjas website respectively), while a PS3 demo will surface on PSN a day later on August 20th.

The cartoon styled action adventure follows the story of Mini Ninjas Hiro, Futo, and Suzume as they travel through feudal Japan and try to restore a harmonius equilibrium back into the world by eliminating the chaotic dark forces that have overpowered it.

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Comments: (11)

Fresh off rumours that Microsoft is preparing to drop the price of its Xbox 360 Elite and phase out the Pro model, reports this morning are now suggesting that the company will increase the RRP of its Xbox 360 Arcade SKU.

The Arcade model, which is the cheapest of Microsoft's three Xbox 360 SKUs at £129.99, will receive a £30 price hike at retail in the UK that will come into effect on September 1st according to industry sources.

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Comments: (436)

According to a product listing on retailer Argos' website, Microsoft has discontinued the 60GB Xbox 360 Pro model. This follows rumours that the system will be phased out as Microsoft prepares to launch a price cut for the Elite SKU.

"We are very sorry but Microsoft has discontinued this line," Argos states on the Xbox 360 Pro's product page (via Eurogamer).

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Comments: (436)

We've received word from Capcom this morning that it's planning to launch a multiplayer co-op demo for Lost Planet 2 on Xbox Live next week. Gold members will be able to download the demo on August 19th, while Silver subscribers will have to wait until August 26th.

Gamers will be facing up against "the enormous G-Type Salamander Akrid boss" in the demo, which caters for up to 4 players via Lost Planet 2's new multiplayer co-op mode. There are apparently multiple ways to kill the boss, from slicing off its legs to being swallowed by the beast and taking it out internally.

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All but one track of The Beatles: Rock Band's 45 track set-list have seemingly been revealed in the latest issue of Stateside magazine Game Informer prior to the game's worldwide release on September 9th.

Although almost all of the tracks have been on wiki for a while (having been pasted together from various online reports), this is the first time we've seen them all in one place, so here they are broken down by album (thanks, Joystiq):

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Comments: (33)

Over on the official Fight Night website, EA has just detailed the first major portion of DLC for Fight Night Round 4. Due at the end of this month, the Boxer Pack DLC will add five fighters to the game's roster.

Three of the five will be all-new faces to the game: Oscar De La Hoya, Vitali Klitschko, and Wladimir Klitschko, while the other two boxers are variants of fighters who are already in the title: George Foreman and James Toney.

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Comments: (18)

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising's PC system requirements have been revealed on the game's official forums, with recommended requirements for the shooter that stipulate a quad-core processor and minimum requirements of a dual-core CPU (ouch!):

Minimum Requirement:

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Comments: (3)

Even though BioShock 2 has been delayed until next year, it seems the game's developers have still got the time to work on multiple projects, as 2K Games' President Christoph Hartmann has revealed that the studio is "far beyond the conceptual stage for a follow-up project after BioShock 2".

"What that is, I can't announce; I can't tell you obviously. But so far, they've completely exceeded my expectations," Hartmann told 1up in answer to a question about whether or not 2K Marin will become 'the BioShock studio' in future.

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Comments: (24)

Developer Obsidian has discovered that it's possible to complete its upcoming espionage RPG, Alpha Protocol without killing a single enemy.

"Learned yesterday that it's possible to get through Alpha Protocol without killing anyone. That's kind of awesome," Obsidian Tweeted on its official Twitter account.

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Comments: (2)

A job ad for the position of Live Community Director at Microsoft's Redmond HQ has indicated that there are plans to bring the company's Xbox Live service to mobile phones.

"The Live Engagement Team is looking for a Live Community Director to manage its Live community strategy and execution across a range of properties, from Xbox Live to Windows Mobile," the job description states. "This senior position will play a vital role in the community space as the Live Engagement team builds and program's Microsoft's next-generation, Live-enabled casual and social gaming platform across the web, the console, mobile and beyond."

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Comments: (436)

Namco Bandai has just announced a UK date for Tekken 6, which will arrive in the territory on October 30th accompanied by Collectors and Arcade Stick special editions of the game.

The Collector's Edition seems to be taking a leaf out of the complimentary art book of Modern Warfare 2, as MCV is reporting that Namco Bandai is pricing it at £69.99 (£10 higher than a typical RRP for a Collectors Edition game in the UK).

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Fresh off his confirmation that 50 Cent will be in Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward's sounding board, Robert Bowling has stated that community feedback will determine exactly how many map packs are made for MW2.

"As far as DLC goes, we love it and plan to support Modern Warfare 2 heavily with post-launch support," Bowling told MTV Multiplayer. "We've confirmed we'll be doing AT LEAST two map packs which were announced at E3 as a timed exclusive for Xbox 360. The fact that we confirmed at least two map packs doesn't mean there won't be more; honestly we plan on shaping our DLC based on community feedback from the full game, and first two DLC map packs. Therefore, the community will really determine what comes after that."

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Comments: (268)

Microsoft's 'Geneva' update for its Xbox 360 dashboard, which includes the new Games on Demand and Avatar Marketplace features, is now live according to Major Nelson, who offers these words of warning on the improvements:

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Comments: (436)

When Brutal Legend's protagonist, Eddie Riggs is driving around the game's 64 kilometres squared of open world, he likes to listen to some tunes on the radio of his hot rod, The Deuce. Until now, we didn't know exactly what would be available on the radio, but that's no longer true thanks to a soundtrack reveal by Double Fine's Tim Schafer:

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Activision has revealed that all of the disc-based tracks on 2008's Guitar Hero World Tour will be forward compatible with Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero when they launch this autumn, although gamers will have to pay a price for the functionality.

The publisher hasn't landed on an exact fee for the service at this stage, which will be available on all three current-gen consoles. Activision has also promised that tracks from Guitar Hero Smash Hits will have the same forward compatibility as World Tour.

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Comments: (19)

Activision Blizzard's overlord, Bobby Kotick earned a credit crunch busting $15 million (£9 million) in 2008 according to a Forbes online profile for the President, Director, and CEO of the world's biggest games publisher.

This is the same man who wants UK gamers to pay an extra £5 for Modern Warfare 2, who filed a lawsuit against Double Fine Productions in an attempt to delay Brutal Legend's release, and who has allegedly used questionable business practices to hinder the development of Genius Products' Scratch: The Ultimate DJ.

Kotick also recently stated, "you know if it was left to me, I would raise the prices even further," in reference to Activision's numerous peripherals for some of its most successful game series (e.g. Tony Hawk: RIDE, Guitar Hero, and the incoming DJ Hero).

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Comments: (19)

BioWare's long delayed Dragon Age: Origins will suffer one final minor setback on its way to market this autumn, as the developer has just announced that all three versions of the game have slipped into November from their previously announced October 23rd release date.

"Dragon Age: Origins will be released on November 3rd in North America and November 6th in Europe for Xbox 360 and PC. The PlayStation 3 version will follow later in November," a BioWare rep told IGN.

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Robert 'IAMfourzerotwo' Bowling, Infinity Ward's Director of Communications has revealed that 50 Cent will have a cameo voice part in Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer and Spec Ops modes.

"He is one of quite a few casual cameos in the game, none of which I can name at this point," Bowling told Kotaku, although he could confirm that Good Charlotte's Benji and Joel Madden - who accompanied 'Fiddy' to a recent viewing of the game at Infinity Ward - aren't on the cast list:

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Comments: (268)

The fanfare surrounding the HD era has been dampened down by suggestions that Microsoft is no longer demanding an HD resolution of at least 1280x720 for games released on the Xbox 360.

In the latest issue of Develop, Black Rock Studio's David Jefferies provides an insight into the balancing act required for resolution and quality, claiming that although both HD consoles support 4X Multiscreen Anti-Aliasing, it's impossible to support such techniques at 1280x720 because the overhead is too much.

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Comments: (436)

Activision-Blizzard has informed the Los Angeles Superior Court that it has reached a settlement over the ongoing feud surrounding Double Fine Productions' Brutal Legend.

A hearing due today in which Activision were set to present why the game shouldn't be released was cancelled, although exact details on the settlement have yet to become apparent.

The lawsuit began when Activision attempted to sue Double Fine Productions, suggesting that it still owned the rights to the game.  In a timely manner, Double Fine Productions issued a counter-suit backed up by some pretty fierce fighting talk.  EA meanwhile remained in the shadows, presumably hoping the whole thing would quickly boil over.

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The usual heavyweights of World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero, and Call of Duty fuelled Activision-Blizzard's results beyond expectations for the fiscal second quarter ended June 30th 2009.

For the period, the world's largest third-party publisher posted GAAP net revenues of $1.04 billion and a GAAP operating income of $218 million.  On a non-GAAP basis, the publisher recorded net revenues of $801 million and an operating income of $156 million for the period.

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Microsoft's latest Inside Xbox video on Xbox Live has lifted the lid on some of the new features that will be included in the service's incoming 'Geneva' update, including what appears to be a price of 1600 Microsoft Points (£13.60) for purchases via the new Games on Demand service.

The Inside Xbox video, hosted by Tina Wood, rifles through a number of new additions with the August 11th update before landing on the Games on Demand service. It's here, at around 50 seconds in, that a cost of 1600 Microsoft Points is clearly visible for BioWare's Mass Effect.

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Comments: (436)

EA's CEO, John Riccitiello has stated that the publisher is "really positive" about Sony's motion sensing technology and Microsoft's Project Natal, while noting that he believes EA will be ready to announce its plans for the hardware in "early to mid 2010".

During a post-earnings conference call for EA's Q1 fiscal report, Riccitiello said in reply to an investor question about the rival motion sensing technologies, "We are positive overall and yes we are planning to support both, and we haven't yet announced our plans to do so but we shall do so at the right time frame for that, which is likely to be early to mid 2010, so you are sort of jumping the gun on that."

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Comments: (436)

Although we’re still some time away from day one releases on Games on Demand, Microsoft today released the list of titles that we can expect when the service launches with the Xbox 360 dash update on August 11th.

The full list includes:

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Comments: (436)

Strong sales of The Sims 3, EA Sports Active and Fight Night Round 4 helped EA to narrow its losses for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30th 2009.

EA's non-GAAP revenue for the period rose by 34% to $816 million compared with $609 million in the previous year.  Gross profit for the period stood at $499 million with operating expenses of $510 million, leading to an operating loss of $11 million compared with a loss of $245 million for the same period in the prior year.  As a result, EA narrowed its net loss for the period significantly from last year's $234 million loss to a net loss of $6 million.

The report highlighted the fact that video game sales dropped by an estimated 10% in Europe and by 12% in North America compared to last year, decreases that EA admitted were "softer than expected" and attributed to fewer hardware sales.  EA also highlighted the sudden drop-off in the music genre, which decreased by 52% compared to last year. 

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Comments: (757)

True to its word, Valve hasn't forgotten about fans of the original Left 4 Dead by announcing a further portion of DLC for the co-op shooter called 'Crash Course', which will launch for Xbox 360 and PC in September.

'Crash Course' will come free of charge to PC users and cost Xbox 360 owners 560 Microsoft Points (£4.76). While it does include both Survival maps and a new co-op Campaign, the main aim of 'Crash Course' is to deliver a "complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes" according to Valve.

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Comments: (167)

SEGA's official website for its incoming Aliens vs. Predator game has revealed that the title will be Chestbusting its way onto the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 this February.

Rebellion is developing the game, which will take players back to the classic AvP formula of choosing to play as a Marine, an Alien, or one of the nefarious Predator species.

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According to reports that have surfaced overnight, a Wii version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward's 2007 original) will be released alongside the series' highly anticipated sequel this November 10th.

This news comes from a Kotaku report, which states that Activision will officially announce the game today and, with Activision's Q1 financials incoming tonight, it wouldn't surprise us one little bit if the report is accurate.

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Comments: (58)

Eidos has announced that a Batman: Arkham Asylum demo will be released for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on August 7th, when it will offer players the chance to take a look at the first level from the game where Batman brings The Joker into Arkham.

For hands on previews of what we've played of the game so far, click here for parts 1 and 2 of the game, and here for parts 3 and 4. Or, if you don't fancy doing the suggested reading, then just be aware that the game is looking nifty.

The full game is due for release on August 28th.

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Comments: (40)

According to an Associated Press report, the judge hearing Activision's case against Brutal Legend developer Double Fine Productions has indicated that he will not uphold Activision's demands to delay the release of the game.

Despite this, LA Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan has delayed arguments on the case until August 6th. It seems that the reasons for the delay are that his calendar is full (with rounds of golf no doubt) and to allow both parties to fully argue their case (with bundles of cash, possibly).

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In case you need reminding, the growing list already includes: Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, Bioshock 2, Singularity, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Red Steel 2, Heavy Rain, Bayonetta and Mafia 2 (think that's all of them).

Capcom blamed a "crowded fall game season" for the delay, but this seems a little odd considering the release schedule is getting sparser by the day.  Could it be yet another game that is simply petrified at trying to gain any awareness against the juggernaut that is Modern Warfare 2?  If it carries on this way Q1 2010 will be more jam-packed than the end of 2009.

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Microsoft's Shane Kim has revealed that Microsoft is "not anywhere close" to offering day-and-date new releases over its Games on Demand service for Xbox Live, which will launch with the 'Geneva' update on August 11th.

According to Kim, the various obstacles for distributing content over the service include conflicts with retail channels and the technical ability of publishers to distribute newly released titles through the Games on Demand channel.

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Comments: (436)

The final portion of tracks for Activision's Guitar Hero 5 set-list have been revealed, which includes 15 new tunes and brings together some absolute classics like Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition', Queen and David Bowie's 'Under Pressure', and Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire'.

Here are the 15 new tracks that have been revealed today:

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Comments: (19)

We already know that Modern Warfare 2's Prestige Edition is only being released on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but now apparent confirmation has surfaced that the game's Hardened Edition is also limited to home console versions and won't be released for PC.

This news comes from Big Download, which claims to have confirmation on the issue from an Activision rep. None of the major UK retailers are currently listing the Hardened Edition for the PC platform, which suggests that the news is accurate.

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Comments: (268)

Activision, rather predictably, confirmed that DJ Hero will be getting the Special Edition treatment when it launches later in the year.

Featuring a premium Renegade turntable controller with lavish metal controls and finish, the Renegade Edition also contains a hard-shell carrying case to transport your decks that also transforms into a handy performance-ready DJ stand.  The Renegade Edition also features an exclusive 2-CD pack featuring unreleased tracks from Jay-Z and Eminem with artwork by Shepard Fairey.

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Comments: (11)

Strong sales of Red Faction: Guerrilla and UFC 2009 Undisputed fuelled record financial results for THQ during the fiscal first quarter ended June 30th 2009.

THQ's net sales for the period rose by 77% to $243.5 million compared with $137.6 million in the previous year.  As a result, net income for the period stood at $6.4 million compared with a net loss of $27.2 million for the same period in the prior year.

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Comments: (7)

With its line-up of over 400 vehicles and more than 100 different tracks, Forza Motorsport 3 recently received an October 27th release date in the US.

We contacted Microsoft to find out when the game would be arriving in the UK and Europe, and were handily reminded that an October 23rd release date had previously been announced back at E3 - uh hummm.

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Comments: (134)

Following the obituary of Halo related projects at Comic-Con, further details on the reasons behind the cancelation of Halo Chronicles have come to light.

Speaking to The Los Angeles Times, Peter Jackson's manager Ken Kamins revealed that wide-scale budget cuts and a lessened emphasis on the Halo brand were factors in the decision, along with Jackson's commitment to The Hobbit and Tintin movie adaptations.

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Reporting a decline in sales for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30th 2009, Ubisoft today announced that a number of titles have been delayed.

Both 'Splinter Cell: Conviction' and 'Red Steel 2' were originally due in the third quarter have now been pushed into the fourth quarter, meaning a delay into 2010 that will see both titles missing out on the lucrative Christmas market.  In addition, both 'Ghost Recon' and the troubled 'I Am Alive' have been pushed into the next fiscal year, beginning April 1st 2010.

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Comments: (2)

Sony's exclusivity period in Europe for Terminal Reality's Ghostbusters will end on October 23rd of this year when the game will release on the Xbox 360, Wii, DS, and PC according to Namco Bandai Partners' latest release schedule.

Up until May of this year, Namco Bandai Partners (then Atari) was poised to release the game across all of its originally slated formats until Sony swooped in and purchased an exclusivity deal for the title, which then released for PS3 and PS2 in June (a PSP version is still planned for a later date).

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Comments: (18)

Bungie's Lars Bakken has revealed that the studio is "close" to securing a publishing deal for its next (and still untitled) game project, while noting that Bungie staff will find out who their publishing suitor is "sometime soon".

"I think internally we'll know sometime soon," Bakken told Eurogamer. "I don't handle these things, but I'd imagine we're going to know way before we make the public announcement of who's handling that! But sure, I think those talks are, I guess, close."

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There's no denying the fact that news has been very quiet on the Halo Chronicles front for a long time now. Apart from the occasional assertion from Microsoft that the project is still in development or the odd 'no comment' from Halo Studio reps, there hasn't actually been any physical evidence that the project is underway since its announcement in 2006.

Originally touted as a collaboration between Microsoft Game Studios and Peter Jackson's Wingnut Interactive studio, Halo Chronicles was devised as an episodic series of games based on the Halo universe at X06 in Barcelona.

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Dead Space is set to join Dante's Inferno, Army of Two, The Sims, and Mass Effect as EA Games that are being developed into movies, with news that D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye, Disturbia) has been attached to direct the film adaptation.

This is according to a Variety report, which specifies that EA will produce the title alongside Temple Hill. The two companies are currently vetting scriptwriters and, once EA are pleased with the project's creative direction, it will be auctioned to studios.

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A press release detailing various media projects that have been selected to receive financial support through a Canadian initiative has inadvertently hinted towards the next title from Silicon Knights.

The studio behind 'Too Human' and 'Eternal Darkness' is listed as developing 'Siren in the Maelstrom' for console or handheld consoles.

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TVG research has shown that at each console's current rate of growth, sales of PlayStation 3 units will overtake those of the Xbox 360 in January 2011 according to sales figures published by Microsoft and Sony to-date.

Since being launched in November 2006 (March 2007 in Europe), the PS3 has tallied 24.6 million units according to Sony's latest fiscal report, whereas Microsoft has sold 30.2 million Xbox 360s since its launch in November 2005.

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Microsoft has announced its fiscal results for its 2009 financial year (running from July 1st '08 to June 30th '09), which reveal year long Xbox 360 shipments of 11.2 million units for the company's Entertainment and Devices Division.

This represents a 29% rise over last year's shipment figures, which came in at 8.7 million units. Despite the rise in shipments, Microsoft's game related revenue was down 3% or $161 million (£98m) over last year's figures, which the company has put down to decreased revenue per Xbox 360 unit as a result of price reductions.

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Codemasters has announced that a demo for Ashes Cricket 2009 is now available for Xbox Live Gold members, while Silver members can download the demo from July 30th onwards (to coincide with the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston).

The demo includes a six oval sample of Ashes Cricket between England and Australia at Lords, which will no doubt be music to the ears of some of our more avid Ashes Cricket 2009 followers on TVG (check the comments).

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Rockstar Games today announced that The Ballad of Gay Tony will be arriving on the Xbox Live Marketplace on October 29th.

The second - and possibly last Xbox 360 exclusive - chapter will cost 1600 Microsoft Points and follows the antics of Luis Lopez, a member of The Northwood Dominican Drug Dealer and personal assistant to Tony Prince aka Gay Tony.

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Comments: (507)

Ahead of the San Diego Comic Con this weekend, Valve has revealed some of the new features for Left 4 Dead 2 that it'll be showing off at the event, including the new 'Swamp Fever' campaign, a further boss type, more weapons, and different infected types.

New screens for the campaign can be found here, which certainly look pretty swampy. A new boss type has also been unveiled called The Spitter (pictured right), which joins the previously revealed Charger. This beastie apparently has an attack that can "split up Survivors or flush them out of their hiding spots".

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True to our word (check the comments board), we've been feverishly trying to track down some info on Ashes Cricket 2009's release dates in regions outside of the UK and have finally had some luck.

As well as the previously announced UK release date of August 7th, a source at Codemasters has now confirmed an August 13th release date for Australia. PAL versions of the game will also come to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh a few weeks later, with Codies suggesting a late August launch in the three countries.

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The ongoing legal spat between Activision and Double Fine Productions surrounding the fate of Brutal Legend took a further twist, the latter alleging that Activision has tried to kill off the game in an attempt to secure Guitar Hero's future success.

The allegations were made in a countersuit filed by Double Fine Productions following Activision's attempts to stop Electronic Arts from publishing the title through its EA Partners label.

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Microsoft's next update for the Xbox 360 dashboard, which will add a new Games on Demand service and an Avatar Marketplace, is scheduled to launch on August 11th according to a Microsoft Comic-Con announcement.

The announcement (spotted by Kotaku) doesn't appear to detail any new info on the update beyond what we already know about the new Games on Demand and Avatar Marketplace services (for a more in-depth listing of the improvements, click through this link).

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Major retail outlets in the UK including Amazon, Play, Zavvi, and HMV are currently listing a £69.99 RRP for the Hardened Edition of Modern Warfare 2, which is £10 higher than the typical RRP for a collector's edition game.

This doubles the price hike of Modern Warfare 2's Standard Edition, which Activision has confirmed as £54.99 for the UK market. Despite claims that this rise in prices is down to a weak pound, industry analyst Michael Pachter has today dismissed these suggestions by pointing out that the pound is stronger today than it was when CoD5 launched.

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Despite suggestions that Modern Warfare 2's price hike could be related to a weak pound, industry analyst Michael Pachter has indicated that the game's £54.99 UK pricing is merely a "business decision" by Activision.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Pachter noted that the pound is stronger today than it was when CoD5 launched last year and suggested that Activision is simply increasing the price because it can, rather than because it has to as a result of market forces.

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Comments: (268)

This year's PES certainly looks the biz judging by the screens and footage we've seen so far, but Konami isn't limiting itself to aesthetics this year as the publisher has today detailed a range of new features for the game's Master League mode.

It looks like the biggest addition will be a new youth team feature, which allows gamers to develop youngsters by investing in them at a young age and fast-tracking their skills before introducing them into the first team.

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The first game didn't exactly set our pulses racing but still managed to sell relatively well, so the fact that a sequel is on the cards is hardly surprising;  but then again, a superhero movie adaptation timed alongside a Hollywood blockbuster is never really a hard thing to push. 

"Renowned" comic-book author Matt Fraction will pen an entirely new script for the game (in between moving to the coast), which borrows elements from the forthcoming motion picture and the Iron Man comic-book universe.  The game promises to offer fans characters and elements that are not in the movie sequel, including new enemies such as Crimson Dynamo.

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With such a large proportion of this year's games being delayed from late 2009 to early 2010, at least one title is going against the grain with news today that The Saboteur will release in Europe on December 4th (four days earlier than the US).

When we last caught up with the game in the spring, EA was reluctant to assign a specific release window to the title. Nonetheless, we also learned in April that the title was two months away from an alpha build, which suggested that a 2010 release was likely.

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When The Beatles: Rock Band launches worldwide on September 9th, it'll be joined at retail by the re-release of all the band's albums as digitally remastered versions of the originals. There have also been indications that The Beatles' back catalogue of music could be made available via digital download at some point in the not too distant future.

With this in mind, what are the chances of the entire Beatles back catalogue eventually being made available via DLC for The Beatles: Rock Band? Slim, according to Harmonix's John Drake:

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The initial reveal of tracks for The Beatles: Rock Band was announced at E3 earlier this year alongside Paul and Ringo's appearance at the event, but now Harmonix has added more tracks to the set-list at a recent event in London (stay tuned for a TVG Q&A and hands on preview from the event later today).

Here's the complete list of announced tracks so far, of which there are now 25:

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The third portion of DLC for Call of Duty: World at War, imaginatively titled Map Pack 3, will be coming to PSN and Xbox Live this August according to an Activision announcement this afternoon.

Four new maps will be included in the DLC, three of which will be for the adversarial multiplayer ('Battery', 'Breach', and 'Revolution') as well as one entitled 'Der Riese' for the Nazi zombie co-op mode.

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Ever fancied funding a game project? Valve's Managing Director of Game Development, Gabe Newell thinks you should and he doesn't even expect you to pay millions of pounds to do so.

The concept is simple: invest a small amount of money in an independent game (say a few pounds) and receive a copy of that game when it's finished and possibly even a return on your original investment.

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Bizarre Creations cost Activision a pretty penny according to an article on Develop today; however, the figure could increase depending upon the financial performance of the Liverpool-based studio's output over the next three to four years.

Develop suggests that Activision forked out $67.4 million in cash to acquire the studio in late 2007.  The figure could increase to over $107 million if the studio's titles meet certain commercial targets, although no indication of what these are has been revealed.

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Somewhat unbecoming of Gears' traditional gameplay, the next portion of DLC for Gears of War 2 will include single-player content that gives players the option of stealth or all-guns-blazing tactics. Epic's Design Director, Cliff Bleszinski has now revealed a bit more info on how these stealth sections will play out in the upcoming Dark Corners DLC:

"It's a 90-minute section that was actually snipped out of Gears of War 2, where Marcus and Dom are actually going to the Locust home world and they're basically suited up in Locust armour and have a choice - because they knocked out a couple of Therons - they can go in guns-blazing as they always do, Rambo-style, or they can go with a more stealth approach, so it's a little bit of stealth in the Gears universe," Bleszinski told Major Nelson in the latest podcast. It all sounds a bit Han and Luke to us.

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Considering the sheer number of games that have been re-aligned with 2010 launch windows having originally been scheduled for autumn 2009, the post-Christmas period is starting to look like the Christmas run-up, and vice-versa. Are publishers really that scared of Modern Warfare 2?

The latest game to slot into a Q1 2010 launch window is SEGA and Platinum Games' Bayonetta, which will now be released in January 2010 as opposed to its previously slated autumn 2009 window. The title is still releasing in Japan this year though, where it's scheduled to go on sale this October 29th.

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This year's update to the Xbox 360 dashboard might not be quite as big as last year's New Xbox Experience, although it's sure to keep the momentum going. The first details of these incoming changes came at E3 earlier this year but now Microsoft has fleshed out some of the details of these additions.

The info, which has been dolled out ahead of a preview of the update next week (thanks Kotaku), provides a deeper insight into some of its highlighting features such as Avatar improvements and the new Games on Demand service. There are no mentions of the previously announced Last.fm, Twitter, Facebook, and Zune instant-on HD video applications though:

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In an interview with Edge, Alan Wake's lead writer Sam Lake has stated that the heavily-delayed psychological-thriller won't be the open-world sandbocx title that was originally claimed.

"We did try a more free-roaming approach at one point but decided that's not really the way we wanted to go."

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Ashes Cricket 2009 will arrive in the UK on August 7th and, to celebrate this announcement, Codemasters has revealed the first trailer for the game featuring a full toss of in-game footage.

The game, which features all the official stadia and players from The Ashes series, will deliver frenetic action in full tests, one day internationals, and 20-20 match-ups. However, Codemasters still hasn't revealed how many additional teams will be in the game or whether these teams will be fully licensed.

While the HD versions of Ashes Cricket will feature online multiplayer, the Wii version is confined to local bouts, although the Wii Remote has been taken advantage of for bowling and batting gestures.

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Comments: (147)

In the run-up to E3, the gaming community couldn't get enough of Kojima Productions' 'Next' teaser site. Here at TVG, we spent shamefully long periods of time taking screengrabs of the site's periodic lightning strikes in an attempt to unveil new symbols and characters, not to mention being transfixed by that 'Mask' teaser.

Now, in an interview with Konami, Hideo Kojima has revealed the meanings behind the various symbols in the teaser. Here's what he had to say on the matter:

It turns out that our various hypotheses were close to the mark in some cases and miles off in others. How did you do? Let us know in the comments...

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We've just received word from Codemasters that Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising will be released in the UK on October 9th, while the US will receive it three days earlier on October 6th.

To tide you over until then, here's a new trailer showing off some of the weapons and vehicles at your disposal in the game, including the Javelin anti-tank launcher, the Super Cobra attack helicopter, and Abrams tank...

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Modern Warfare 2's Prestige Edition will set UK gamers back a hefty £119.99 when it's released this November, with retailer HMV winning the exclusive rights to sell the package in the UK.

HMV is already taking online pre-orders for this Prestige Edition, which will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game only and will include a set of fully functioning, night vision goggles that will allow users to see up to 50 feet in the dark.

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Following the announcement that Colin McRae DiRT 2 would see a slight delay on PC in order to gain fancy DirectX 11 powered visuals, Codemasters today confirmed that the sequel will be appearing on the Xbox 360, PlayStation3, Wii, DS and PSP on September 11th.

Based around the third-generation of the EGO engine, DiRT 2 promises to "take racing games to a new level".  Featuring over 100 different events set across diverse and demanding real-world locations, from the muddy tracks of the Malaysian rainforest to spectator-packed stadiums of London and Los Angeles, players compete in "contemporary off-road race disciplines" such as Rallycross, Trailblazer, Raid, Landrush, and Rally.

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The next 22 tracks for Guitar Hero 5's set-list have been announced by Activision, which now brings the total list of announced tracks to 46 following the publisher's initial 24 track reveal last week. Here are the new tunes:

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Bill Gates may have long left his senior position at Microsoft to tend to his roses and offer his time to more philanthropic causes; however it seems the former Microsoft CEO is keeping a vested interest, particularly in Project Natal.

Speaking to CNet, Gates reveals that the motion-sensitive technology will also have a role to play in the office with Windows.

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Comments: (436)

Even though Obsidian announced last month that it had ceased development on SEGA's Aliens RPG, there was still a slither of hope for the title. Without official word from SEGA, there was no way of knowing whether the publisher had moved the project on to another developer.

However, SEGA has now released official word on the game and, regrettably, it's not going to please Aliens fans:

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FIFA 10's Producer, David Rutter isn't one to mix his words and he's also quite the perfectionist. This is one of the major reasons why FIFA 09 (the first FIFA game that Rutter produced) was such a huge improvement over its predecessors.

Like all perfectionists though, Rutter is never happy with his previous achievements and wants to keep making things better. Perhaps this is why he admitted to hating FIFA 09 now that his EA Canada team is improving the formula so much with FIFA 10:

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We suspected that this was the case but never expected an EA Producer to admit that he already knows the major new features for the next three iterations of an EA Sports series. Nonetheless, that's exactly what FIFA 10's Producer, David Rutter has revealed to TVG in a recent interview:

"I know already what the major new features will be for FIFA 11 and 12," explained Rutter at a recent FIFA 10 preview event. However, before you get all hot under the collar and start petitioning EA for all the new features to appear in this year's game, Rutter went on to explain why it's not that simple:

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EA has just announced that this year's FIFA will be reaching European shop shelves on October 2nd when it will release across all formats.

Be sure to check out our freshly posted Q&A with FIFA 10's Producer, David Rutter and a hands on preview that reveals a number of new features including the Create-a-Set-Piece mode.

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Comments: (88)

As a result of the delay to the release of Bioshock 2, Take Two Interactive today updated its financial forecast for the remainder of the current fiscal year ending October 31st 2009.

Revenue forecasts for the third quarter ending July 31st are down by $25 million to $120-130 million compared to earlier predictions of $145-165 million, while revenues for the fourth quarter have been reduced by $70-100 million to between $350 and $400 million.  As a result, revenue for the fiscal year is expected to reach $960 million - $1 billion compared with earlier forecasts of $1.05 - 1.15 billion.

Subtracting the reduced revenue from Q3 from the downward prediction for the current fiscal year reveals a reduction of between $65 and $125 million, which has given an indication of how much Take Two stands to loose on sales of Bioshock 2 during the period.

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The embedded video below showcases Activision and Infinity Ward's plans to release several versions of Modern Warfare 2, culminating in perhaps the biggest video game package we've ever seen.

Alongside the Standard and Hardened editions, it's the Prestige Edition that Modern Warfare fans will want to save for.  Featuring a Limited Edition steel art-book, a token to download the original Call of Duty across Xbox Live Arcade and PSN, further goodies include the unbelievably outlandish MW2 branded night-vision goggles and a Soap MacTavish sculpted head to rest them on.

Just take a look at the video it beggars belief - and to think we thought the £54.99 being charged for the standard edition was daylight robbery.  A quick scan of several online retailers suggests none of these have added the extra versions yet - which leaves one question, exactly how much will the Prestige Edition cost over here?

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Comments: (268)

Responding to questions surrounding the next GTA and the decision to concentrate on episodic downloadable content, Take-Two has suggested that there are further stories to tell in the GTA4 timeline and maintained that creating a profit without a multi-platform GTA is a key goal for the publisher.

"I think the key takeaway is that we fully anticipate that there we'll be able to achieve our goals of operating the company profitably in a year when we don't have a new multi-platform release of GTA.  That's an important goal." 

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Comments: (507)

How you develop a sequel to a shooter, widely considered as a modern classic, in a relatively quick turnaround and without its original lead designer?  Always going to be a toughie.

Development on Bioshock 2 presumably began quite quickly after the original achieved quick success towards the end of 2007, but even so developing a sequel that meets expectations in a two year cycle was always going to be hard, even with four different development studios collaborating to the cause.

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Comments: (24)

The weight of expectation surrounding Bioshock 2 has seen development on the title becoming something of a mass collaboration, with primary development under 2K Marin alongside 2K Australia and the multiplayer components being handled by Digital Extremes. 

An update to the French developer, Arkane Studios, has revealed that they've also joined the group, claiming in a website update that they're contributing in the areas of design, animation, and art.

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While Activision has already unveiled the full list of artists for Guitar Hero 5, we didn't know a whole lot about the tracks that would feature in the game until this list of 24 tracks was press released by the publisher this afternoon:

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BioWare landed in hot water (although thankfully not hot coffee) in 2007/08 with its Mass Effect sex scenes, but that hasn't stopped the developer including sex scenes in its next opus, Dragon Age: Origins.

With this in mind, the big question on everyone's lips has got to be, 'Just how far are they going to go this time?' BioWare's Vice-President, Greg Zeschuk still appears to be undecided on this issue. When asked by VideoGamer if Dragon Age would contain full frontal nudity in its sex scenes, he wouldn't rule out the possibility.

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It looks very much like Juiced 3 might be in the works at developer Juice Games or, at the very least, the studio is working on a currently unannounced, new arcade racing title for next-gen consoles.

The reason we know this is that the studio has been posting job ads on Edge.com, where it's recruiting for an art director, environment artists, and programmers who have experience developing for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

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With Singularity, Wolfenstein, and Modern Warfare 2 in the pipeline, Activision has almost as many shooters as it does plasticy peripherals due for release this year.

Although it seems Activision has seen a little sense and decided that the other shooters might suffer from the magnitude of Infinity Ward's return with Modern Warfare 2, confirming that Raven Software's Singularity has been pushed back into 2010.

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While we were certainly glad when Alan Wake finally emerged from its very long media blackout at E3 this year, we're less than glad to hear news that the game may not make it to the PC despite originally being announced for the Xbox 360 and PC platforms.

That was way back at E3 2005 though. Fast forward to July 2009 and, when gamers asked Remedy for a straight answer about the fate of the PC version, this is what studio head, Markus Maki had to say on the official Alan Wake forums:

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PES fans with a Wii won't have the traditional months to wait after PES 2010 turns up on the other consoles, with confirmation that the Wii version will follow shortly after during the Autumn.

Boasting the same improvements to the Master League mode as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 versions with closer integration of the UEFA Champions League, PES 2010 also boasts a number of notable gameplay improvements currently being implemented by Akiyoshi 'Greyhound' Chosogabe and his dedicated Wii PES team.

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Bungie today released details on the final three multiplayer maps set to feature in the forthcoming Halo 3: ODST.  Bundling together the existing Halo 3 multiplayer maps (totalling 24 maps on the disc), ODST will also include Heretic, Citadel, and Longshore.

Heretic will feel familiar to Halo fans as the Halo 2 Midship map makes its long rumoured appearance in Halo 3.

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EA has announced that it will be releasing two portions of free DLC for Fight Night Round 4 in the coming months, adding everything from a new gym to punching controls on the face buttons.

The first DLC delivery, scheduled to arrive in August, will add this new gym as well as new equipment and gameplay sliders for counter punch window, boxer stamina, and punch accuracy stats (reports Kotaku). A variant skin for Sugar Ray Leonard will also be available exclusively with the Xbox 360 DLC.

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Platinum Games' Hideki Kamiya has recently answered fans questions surrounding the forthcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 action title, Bayonetta.

Remaining tight-lipped on whether or not a demo will surface, Kamiya-san claims:

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With the deluge of news articles that spawned from Doug Lombardi's brief jaunt over to London to showcase Left 4 Dead 2, we almost lost track of another little nugget that Valve's VP of Marketing dropped upon us.

Joining the Campaign, Versus, and Survival modes, Left 4 Dead 2 will also see a fourth, currently as-of-yet unannounced gameplay mode.

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Further to its Twitter based teasing over the weekend, LucasArts has now revealed that it's bringing a number of its classic titles including Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, LOOM, and Star Wars: Battlefront II to Steam.
 
The games will arrive on Valve's digital download service this Wednesday, July 8th. Here's the full list of titles:

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Colin McRae DiRT 2 will look a little bit better on the PC thanks to the game gaining DirectX 11 support.

The latest version of the API isn't scheduled to arrive until October 2009 alongside Windows 7, making this one of the first games to confirm support.  Key improvements include the addition of Shader Model 5.0, providing enhanced depth of field, ambient occlusion and shadows, while hardware tessellation results in improved water appearance and crown animations.

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Microsoft's quiz show experiment on Xbox Live, 1 vs 100 is due to commence on July 10th in the UK and Ireland before it debuts in France and Germany two days later.

"1 vs 100 coming to Xbox LIVE in the UK and ROI on July 10, France and Germany on July 12... more details coming soon," revealed Xbox Europe's Community Manager, Graeme Boyd (a.k.a. AceyBongos) via Twitter.

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Comments: (436)

Seemingly not content with the Monkey Island bonanza that it has in store this summer, LucasArts is now teasing gamers with Tweets about a new game that's based on an existing LucasArts IP, which old-school fans will apparently find "a treat".

The Twitter based teasing has been going on over the weekend, with LucasArts' most recent post stating that, "You'll know more in 12 or so hours." That was six hours ago, so expect more this evening.

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Valve's VP of Marketing, Doug Lombardi has revealed to TVG that the developer is looking at providing cross-game play between the original Left 4 Dead and its incoming sequel.

Such a feature, which would allow players of the original Left 4 Dead to play alongside other users running Left 4 Dead 2, is one of the demands made by the now 37,000 member strong Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group on Steam.

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We already know that there will be at least two new zombie bosses in Left 4 Dead 2 (The Charger and Wandering Witch), but Valve has now revealed to TVG that there may be as many as four new bosses in the final game.

"There's only been a small bit of Left 4 Dead 2 that's been unveiled," Valve's VP of Marketing, Doug Lombardi told TVG at an event in London yesterday. "We've only shown one of the new boss monsters, there's going to be at least three, we're working on a fourth that may or may not make it in time for launch."

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Speaking to TVG at an event in London yesterday, Valve's VP of Marketing, Doug Lombardi revealed that Left 4 Dead 2 is currently receiving pre-orders at twice the pace of its predecessor.

"When you look at all those things," Lombardi said of the new features that Valve is cramming into Left 4 Dead 2, "to us anyway it looked like a sequel and that seems to be resonating with a lot of people, whether it's the E3 judges, the retailers, or the people who are pre-ordering the game right now to the point where it's double the pace of the original Left 4 Dead with the same pre-order promotions in place for early access to the demo and 10% off."

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Comments: (86)

GTA IV is set to gain more episodes according to an analyst working for Kaufman Bros. Equity Research.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Todd Mitchell suggests that Raockstar Games will release two new GTA IV episodes in fiscal 2010, following the release of The Lost & Damned and the forthcoming The Ballad of Gay Tony.  Although both of these are exclusive to the Xbox 360, the report makes no mention as to whether Rockstar Games will follow a similar strategy.

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Comments: (507)

Online retailer ShopTo has stated openly that Activision has issued a £107.99 RRP for DJ Hero in the UK, which will include the game itself as well as its much-talked-about turntable peripheral.

Eurogamer has the scoop from ShopTo, although the retailer has taken the decision to reduce its pricing to £94.85 for the bundle. The only other UK retailer to register a price-tag for the product so far has been HMV, which is apparently "going with its own price on this" at £99.99.

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Comments: (11)

Microsoft has revealed that Xbox Live Silver members will only be able to access Last.fm on a trial basis when it's launched on Xbox Live, which will provide users with a mere three hours of air-time per month.

It was announced at E3 last month that Last.fm (a service that streams an extensive library of music to its users based on their preferences) will be coming to Xbox Live, although now it appears that Microsoft is reserving the service's full functionality for Gold members only.

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Comments: (436)

EA's decision to introduce critically acclaimed yet commercially weak titles based around new IPs last year is well documented; the simple fact is neither Mirror's Edge or Dead Space sold as well as EA originally expected.

In an interview with Gamasutra, EA's Game Label president Frank Gibeau has revealed the lessons that the world's second largest publisher has learnt from the exercise and pledged support to continue the faith behind quality.

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Following claims from the BBC presenter Jonathan Ross that he'll be voicing yokels in Fable III, further confirmation of the title has appeared, only this time from a particularly strange source.

A Weddings and Celebrations article on The New York Times reveals that Amy E. Gilbert and Joshua Samuels Atkins have recently married, the latter of which is listed as lead game designer on Fable III.

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Halo 3: ODST is set to offer a more open experience then its tightly driven, linear predecessors, according to comments made to the Seattle Times by Bungie writer and creative director, Joseph Staten.

The Seattle Times claims that the single player campaign begins in a dark and most empty city, which players can freely explore.  Those wanting to just jump straight into the action can jump to sites that trigger flashbacks, which provides classic Halo styled action, but there will be clues to discover to solve the mystery running behind the game.

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Citing a reliable inside source, who has traditionally been on the ball when it comes to such rumours, Ars Technica has reported details on the price cuts planned for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 later in the year.

Suggesting that stocks of the 80GB PS3 are running low, Ars Technica's source claims that the 160GB will become increasingly evident in the next few weeks.  Dependant on the sell-through rate, Ars Technica alleges that this will lead to Sony's next step, launching the PS3 Slim and introducing a price drop during the autumn. 

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