PS3 Video Games News

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Activision today provided further suggestions that it will be bringing an MMO strategy to the Call of Duty franchise, following previous hints that such a strategy is on the cards.

Speaking at the BMO Capital Markets Conference and reported by IGN, Thomas Tippl Activision-Blizzard CFO claimed that a mutually beneficial relationship between the teams working on Xbox Live and PSN along with Blizzard could herald a Call of Duty title with micro-transactions and additional MMO features.

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Following Chart Track's decision yesterday to reveal day one sales for Modern Warfare 2 in the UK, Activision has now announced that the game has shifted a total of 4.7 million units across the US and UK in its first day of sales, grossing a total of $310 million (£187 million) in sales.

According to Activision figures, that makes Modern Warfare 2 the "biggest entertainment launch in history," beating out rivals such as Microsoft's Halo 3 and Columbia Pictures' Spider-Man 3 to the record.

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Gran Turismo's head honcho, Kazunori Yamauchi has stated that the inclusion of motorbikes in Gran Turismo 5 is a distinct possibility if there's enough demand for them from fans.

"If that's what users really want in the game, I think that's a possibility. Or we could consider making a Tourist Trophy 2 as well," Yamauchi told IGN when asked whether bikes would make the cut in GT5.

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Activision and Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 has broken UK sales records by shifting 1.23 million units in its first day on the market, surpassing the previous record of 631,000 day one unit sales for Rockstar's GTA IV.

This is according to Chart Track figures, which estimate that MW2 has grossed £47 million in its first 24 hours. This compares to £27.2 million in total revenues for GTA IV on its day of release during April of 2008.

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Amazon.co.uk today confirmed that Modern Warfare 2 has become the biggest selling pre-order of all time, surpassing those of GTA IV beforehand by more than 50%.

"The level of interest in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been unprecedented ," said Chris Poad, Director of Video Games at Amazon.co.uk Ltd. "We have seen demand increase rapidly as the release date has drawn closer and it is now benefitting from over 50% more pre-orders than we saw for Grand Theft Auto 4. That is an incredible achievement."

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At a parliamentary question session for the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Keith Vaz Labour MP for Leicester East raised his concerns surrounding the impending launch of Activision-Blizzard's Modern Warfare 2.

"Are you aware that at midnight tonight a new and violent video game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is to be released?" Vaz asked the house, having earlier expressed concerns in The Daily Mail.  

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It's difficult to see beyond the fact that this year's biggest blockbuster launches at midnight.  But in light of Activision-Blizzard holding off on the review front, Charlie Brooker has shared his opinions on Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2.

Brooker's opened the Twitter account with:

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On the eve of its release, The Daily Mail has expressed its outrage at scenes in Modern Warfare 2 that allow the player to target civilians in an airport in order to infiltrate the ranks of the terrorist organisation.

No stranger to controversial video games, Keith Vaz Labour MP for Leicester East, promised to raise his concerns during parliament today.

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The big fish at Gran Turismo's Polyphony Digital studio, Kazunori Yamauchi has revealed that there will be a Gran Turismo 6 and gamers won't be waiting as long for it as they have been for GT5, which is due out in Japan during March of next year.

When asked by Autoweek whether there will be a GT6, Yamauchi responded, "Yes. You won't have to wait as long as you did for GT5. GT5 represents a whole new operating system. GT6 is just new apps that run on the GT5 system."

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Despite the fact that Media Molecule has spoken openly about a possible LittleBigPlanet sequel in the past, the developer has now cast doubt over the prospect of LittleBigPlanet 2 ever emerging from its Guildford based studio.

Media Molecule Producer, Martin Lynagh told Critical Gamer, "I think what you've seen so far from LittleBigPlanet, that's the way it's going to continue," he commented in reference to DLC updates for the current game.

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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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Remember that incredibly weird GTPlanet forum post from earlier this year, which sounded more like a Nostradamus prophecy than a game reveal? Some commentators took that to mean that a track editor will ship with Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 5, and now the developer has apparently confirmed this rumour.

Since the initial ramblings, videos from Helsinki's DigiExpo have also been linked with the GT5 track editor rumour, although our inability to speak Finnish is a crippling barrier here. Nonetheless, this apparent confirmation that emerged over the weekend is a lot clearer:

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Sony has released its financial report for the second quarter of its fiscal year (ending September 30th 2009), which reveals a loss of 32.6 billion yen (£217 million) for the company compared to the 11 billion yen (£373 million) it recorded in operating income for the same period last year.

Total sales and revenues were down by 411 billion yen (£2.7 billion) over last year's figures for the second quarter, while revenues for Sony's Networked Products and Services division (which accounts for PlayStation sales) were down by 113 billion yen (£748 million) over the same period last year.

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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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It seems Keita Takahashi, the creator of Katamari Damacy and Nobi Nobi Boy, wishes have come true, with an announcement at Nottingham's GameCity event that he'll help to design and develop a children's playground.

Takahashi-san expressed such a desire back in 2006 following his decision to leave the Katamari franchise and criticising the "safe-bet" nature of publishers.

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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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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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While challenge rooms have featured in the boxed retail versions of previous God of War games, where they've provided extra content aside from the main campaign, the first new title in the series to land on Sony's PS3 platform may dish out additional challenge content for the game via DLC.

This is according to God of War III's Director, Stig Asmussen, who was asked how the Sony Santa Monica studio is looking to serve up challenge room content in the upcoming sequel and whether the setup will be changed at all...

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Siliconera recently uncovered a patent for a mysterious Sony hand held controller, and when we went looking we discovered several different variations.

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Despite Polyphony Digital's Kazunori Yamauchi assurances that Gran Turismo 5 is ready for release, we still have nothing firmer than an early 2010 release date.  Perhaps the reasons behind such a wait are due to the manufacturing time needed to produce the three blu-ray discs that seem to be included in the final version.

In a promotional video for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG which features in the game (embedded below), Yamauchi-san clearly wields a package that contains space for three discs.  Now we're not suggesting the game is so huge that it warrants 150GB worth of storage, we suspect at least one of the discs will be some sort of promotional/making of/car museum, but it seems that Polyphony haven't spent the five years of development twiddling their thumbs.

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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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Quantic Dream CEO, Guillaume de Fondaumiere has indicated that the developer and Sony are planning a worldwide release for Heavy Rain when it launches next year, although a precise launch window for the title remains unclear.

"The launch date of Heavy Rain has not been fixed yet. We're looking forward for a worldwide release, and I'm sure we'll be able to communicate the exact launch date very soon now," said de Fondaumiere.

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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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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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The fact that the offending Tweet has long since disappeared suggests there's definitely something to David Sullivan's update, which claimed:

"First voiceover/motion capture audition today for a video game. Re-casting of Cole in the sequel of Infamous. 'I'll melt your face.' e.g"

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A first sighting of anything Resistance 3 related has cropped up and it's not via a LinkedIn profile, tucked away in Sony's financials, or been mistakenly spilled by a voice-over actor. Nope, it appeared as an advertising billboard on the film set of an upcoming movie (that's a new one on us).

The images below are from Shreveport, Los Angeles - an area commonly used for shooting movies. They appeared on NeoGaf over the weekend, the community of which has since concluded that the dilapidated petrol station in the foreground of one of the images is part of a set for the upcoming film, Battle: Los Angeles.

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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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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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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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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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Team ICO helmsman, Famito Ueda has indicated that he would like to see the studio's previous titles, Shadow of the Colossus and ICO, come to the PS3 in a similar way to the God of War Collection that's set to launch in the US.

Speaking to 1up, Ueda commented that he didn't want to consider the idea of a Team ICO PS3 Collection at first. "I always thought they were designed for PS2 and should stay there," he said. "But lately, I've been thinking it would be nice to provide the games to other platforms to reach more users."

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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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On the first day of the Tokyo Game Show Sony Computer Entertainment has announced that sales of PS3 Slim have passed one million units worldwide in the three weeks since it went on sale.  The redesigned unit launched across the world on September 1st for £249.99 in the UK and features a 120GB hard-drive.

In addition, SCE UK confirmed a range of 250GB Slim bundles due to arrive in time for Christmas.  From October 1st, a choice of software bundles will be available including two Platinum titles or a copy of inFamous.  This will be followed on October 16th with an Uncharted 2 bundle and finally on October 19th a blu-Ray bundle comprising X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Dark Knight and a blu-Ray Remote.

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Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital has dashed hopes that GT5 might arrive in the West before Christmas by announcing that it won't be released in Japan until March 2010 (all previous GT games have released in Japan at least a few months before coming to North America/Europe).

This news comes by way of the Tokyo Game Show, where Polyphony Digital also confirmed that there will be over 70 tracks in the full game covering 20 locations. Additionally, a full 'Gran Turismo mode' has been promised for both the single and multiplayer games, while some sort of PSP connectivity is on the cards as well apparently.

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Comments: (46)

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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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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Comments: (68)

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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Reports of the PlayStation3 having its own 'RRoD' problem have begun to intensify in recent weeks.  The imaginatively dubbed "Yellow Light of Death" effectively brings the PS3 to a standstill upon booting up. However, like the Xbox 360 before it, Watchdog has come to the aid of PS3 owners disgruntled by those consoles that have failed outside of the one-year warranty.

Following the BBC's Watchdog investigation into the Xbox 360 last year, it appears the consumer protection show has sunk its teeth into Sony with the PS3 and its problems appearing on last night's show.  Watchdog maintains that the issue is centred on "trapped gas" in the circuit board, which Sony has denied.

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Comments: (757)

As the evidence piles up in support of the rumoured 250GB PS3 Slim's existence, it's becoming painfully apparent that Sony's marketing department is sieve-like in its secrecy. Its track record so far this year, with the PS3 Slim and PSP Go leaks, is hardly exemplary.

Nonetheless, we'll go through the rigmarole of branding this news as rumour anyway. Once again, the subject is some alleged bundles for the 250GB PS3 Slim, which this time includes the likes of FIFA 10, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time, Need For Speed Shift, and Uncharted 2.

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Comments: (757)

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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Comments: (101)

Although Harmonix originally dismissed the existence of a Singstar: The Beatles bundle as rumour after news of it surfaced at GamesCom last month, it now looks like the bundle will appear at retail later this month.

This is according to a Kotaku report, which seemingly confirms that the bundle will include a copy of The Beatles: Rock Band for PS3 and two wired Singstar mics.

The only way that the game is different from any other versions of The Beatles: Rock Band is that, a) the Singstar brand is on the packaging, and b) no instruments are bundled with the game other than Singstar mics.

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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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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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More rumours about rumours have surfaced regarding Sony's alleged 250GB PS3 Slim, which will apparently be available at retail as early as this October in the UK for as little as £299.99 with a bundled game.

A UK retail source has indicated to Eurogamer that three bundles will be rolled out by Sony for the supposed 250GB PS3 Slim, with each bundle incorporating one game from the likes of Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed II, and Gran Turismo 5.

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Comments: (757)

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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Comments: (71)

Fresh off its meteoric first week of sales in the UK, Japanese figures have now revealed that the PS3 Slim has encouraged the strongest week of sales in the region for the PS3, err, ever!

According to a Kotaku report, overall PS3 sales tipped the scales at 150,252 units in Japan last week, which is over 60,000 more units than the console managed at launch when it tallied 88,000 sales.

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Comments: (757)

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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At the end of last week we ran a story about a possible glitch in Sony's Firmware 3.00 update for PS3 that left some gamers complaining about unresponsive DualShock 3 controllers after downloading the update.

Despite the lack of an official comment from Sony at the time and assertions from the company's customer care hotline that this was all news to them, Sony has now come out and stated that it is "looking into the matter".

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Comments: (757)

Very little is known about Rockstar North's next game Agent, which was announced at E3 earlier this year as a PS3 exclusive. However, if a Q&A on Rockstar's site is to be believed, then the game is due to surface next year.

"We appreciate the enthusiasm of PlayStation 3 owners and believe us, we understand where you're coming from," said Rockstar. "That's why we are working hard on a lineup of PlayStation 3 releases for 2010 that we know you will be very excited to play - including Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3, and the PlayStation 3 exclusive AGENT, which is a brand-new title from Rockstar North, the creators of the Grand Theft Auto series.  Plus there's more yet to be announced...  Thanks again for your patience and please stay with us!"

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According to Chart-Track figures, sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 have increased by 999% in the last week following the release of the PS3 Slim console last Tuesday.

"The uplift on week 36 on week 35 is plus 999 per cent," revealed Chart-Track's Director, Dorian Bloch. "We don't give out the hardware numbers, but never-the-less it's a very large increase."

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Comments: (757)

Over on the official PS3 forums, a significant number of PS3 owners are reporting a glitch with the Firmware 3.0 update that causes problems when they attempt to sync up DualShock 3 controllers with their system.

While other users are also reporting system freezes with games such as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the biggest problem for Sony will undoubtedly be the purported controller glitch as it has the potential to leave PS3s paralysed by the problem. Without a working controller, it will be difficult for DualShock 3 owners to download a patch that rectifies the glitch.

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Comments: (757)

Sony Santa Monica's God of War Collection, which consists of GoW I and II remakes for PS3 that will run at an HD resolution of 720p, won't release in Europe until 2010 despite its slated late 2009 launch in the US.

"We are currently looking into options to bring God of War I and II to SCEE consumers on PS3; however it will not be possible to release the games this calendar year. We will provide further information in due course," a SCEE spokesperson told VG247.

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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: (510)

Bank holidays are broken by no man, not even the God of War.  Yes, this announcement is a day late, but the idea of a God of War collection is so good we thought we'd bring it to you anyway.

The God of War Collection bundles enhanced versions of God of War and God of War 2 on a single Blu-ray disc, running at 1280x720, 60 frames per second and featuring full screen anti-aliasing.  In addition, the disc also supports PS3 Trophies, giving a reason to play through them all again even if you owned them on the PS2.

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Comments: (4)

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: (349)

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)

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: (349)

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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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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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: (349)

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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Comments: (8)

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: (349)

Despite Sony reducing the manufacturing costs of the PS3 by 70%, the launch of the PS3 Slim will sell at a loss according to an interview in The Times with Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman and CEO Kaz Hirai.

When asked about the costs, Hirai replied:

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Comments: (757)

Following a surprise appearance at last week's Gamescom event in Germany, it seems that Gran Turismo 5 could be on its way for a Christmas release to give a much-needed bolster to Sony's catalogue.

Rise of Games spotted a brochure allegedly handed out during the event, which details a Q4 2009 release and the fact that the full game boasts over 1000 different vehicles to get your hands on.

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Comments: (46)

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: (71)

It's not often that publishing executives get involved in the console wars between rival manufacturers, but Ubisoft and EA's CEOs have done just that by showering praise all over Sony's decision to cut the PS3's price tag.

EA's CEO, John Riccitiello has commented that he believes the price cut is a "great move" that's been made at the right time, before the Christmas rush has bombarded consumers with other products. According to Riccitiello, the PS3 Slim "really stands out" because of this.

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Comments: (757)

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)

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: (101)

It's been a long time coming, through a menagerie of ever more creative rumours and hoaxes, but Sony has finally announced its PS3 Slim console at the company's GamesCom keynote address in Germany today.

It'll be available in stores from the first week of September and is 32% lighter, 36% smaller, and devours electricity 36% less ferociously than its older brother, apparently.

The rumoured $100 price cut was accurate as well, with the PS3 Slim's US price tag being set at $299. While SCEE has only announced a 299 euro pricing for PAL territories, the console is likely to weigh in at around £230 upon its release.

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Comments: (757)

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: (90)

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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On the back of announcing a Game of The Year edition featuring seven downloadable packs and 18 levels from the best community designers, Sony's US blog has revealed that a further big announcement will take place today.

When asked whether the GoTY announcement was the planned news, a community manger responded:

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Comments: (54)

Sony is readying an instrument-free port of Harmonix's Rock Band: The Beatles for its SingStar series, sources at GamesCom have told industry site MCV.

SingStar: The Beatles, which is being published by MTV Games and distributed by EA, will be an exclusive for Sony's PS3 and will come bundled with SingStar mics according to the report.

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It's T-minus four and a half hours until Sony's Kaz Hirai is set to take the stage at GamesCom but the PS3 Slim rumours are still flooding in, this time from US retailer Kmart, which has posted the following ad on its website:

So, that'll be the PS3 Slim then. Retailer movement here in the UK has seen ASDA drop the price of an 80GB PS3 to £250 (£50 cheaper than the system's UK RRP). The console is bundled with a Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Blu-ray disc, Terminator: Salvation game, and either Ghostbusters: The Game or infamous.

An ASDA spokesperson told gi.biz that the promotion will continue until stocks are exhausted as the retailer believes that Sony will discontinue the 80GB PS3 model.

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With Sony's Gamescom keynote now only a day away, it appears there's still time for one more PS3 Slim rumour to add to the pile, this time emanating from an alleged Sony document that refers to a requested PlayStation 3 console as an "Unannounced Product".

For those of you without 20/20 vision, the small print above reads:

2 x PlayStation 3 TOOL
1 x PlayStation 3 (Unannounced Product / Discretion advised by Client)
2 x PSPGo!

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Comments: (757)

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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Seemingly not happy with its patent application for a coffee mug controlled PS3 earlier this year, Sony has know filed for a patent that allows the PS3 to detect when a user is laughing.

The technology, illustrated above, detects a user's laughter with a microphone that picks up the sound and a camera that identifies gestures and expressions. The software's application is not limited to laughter sensing though, as Sony suggests that it could even recognize "when two individuals give each other a 'High Five.'"

According to the application (spotted by Siliconera), a range of other emotions including joy, excitement, anger, and sadness can also be picked up by the software. There are even indications that the prospective technology could recognize a bored user (please refrain from making the obvious joke, Xbox 360 fanboys).

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Comments: (757)

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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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 former developer for Free Radical Design has admitted that Haze, the studio's final game before it went into administration, "wasn't the game it should have been" and suffered from "stumbling blocks" related to developing for the PS3.

Speaking to Develop, the now Managing Director of Crytek UK, Karl Hilton acknowledged the development issues that Haze fell prone to, while noting that, "A lot of them were technical issues. The PS3 is a powerful machine but a difficult one to get the best out of.""

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Comments: (55)

Angela Madronero, Sony's European PlayStation Store Manager has revealed that the electronics giant will be making a PS3 Video Store related announcement at next week's Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany.

"We will be making an official announcement regarding our forthcoming Video Store, next week, at Gamescom!" Madronero said on the comments board of a recent Q&A on the EU PlayStation site.

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Comments: (757)

UK retailers have fuelled rumours of an impending PS3 price cut by revealing that sourcing PS3 stock in the region has been a challenge for the last few weeks, while supply lines apparently won't be restocked until September.

This news comes from MCV, where two of the UK's major retailers revealed the stock issues and an anonymous spokesperson for one retailer told the site, "Sourcing PS3 stock has been a challenge for the last two to three weeks."

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Comments: (757)

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: (349)

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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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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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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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: (437)

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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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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Speaking during an earnings call following the release of its Q1 09/10 financial results, John Riccitiello EA CEO has issued the publisher's stance on the reported price cuts, but refused to reveal anything specific.

"... we try not to comment too much on plans that others get to decide and implement," claimed Riccitiello.  "It's our view that we're at a pretty particularly interesting point in the cycle. We've got approximately 75 million consolidated installed base against the major platforms in western markets where the total installed base on last gen is about 125 -- in other words, we sold a lot more at high prices than we did in the last cycle."

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Comments: (757)

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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Following rampant speculation that a PS3 price cut is in the pipeline, further movements have suggested that Sony is working with retailers on a worldwide initiative to clear stock of existing models ahead of the reported price cut and launch of the PS3 Slim.

First comes word from 7-Eleven in Japan that the 80GB model is being discontinued across the region, reportedly from Sony's request.  In addition, a $50 reduction on the 160GB PS3 bundle has also been spotted on Amazon.com.

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Following its appearance on the German USK game ratings site yesterday, a PS3 version of Braid has now been confirmed for release on PSN by Canadian developer-come-publisher, Hothead Games.

"I can confirm that Hothead is developing a PSN version of Braid for North America and Europe, with no launch timeframe currently available," a Hotheaded spokesperson (see what we did there?) told Eurogamer.

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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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Amazon Germany was listing a PS3 Slim console or "PlayStation 3 Konsole slim" over the weekend, although the retailer has since pulled the listing from its site. Nonetheless, the good folks at Engadget managed to get a screengrab up before the listing was pulled:


The red writing on the product page reads, "Sign up to receive e-mail to be notified when this item is available," which suggests that if the listing was genuine, then Amazon Germany wasn't prepared to take pre-orders for the console.

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Comments: (757)

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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A listing on Germany's USK game ratings website has indicated that Jonathan Blow's inspired platform game Braid could be winging its way to the PlayStation 3.

The USK site is usually a reliable source for picking up game releases before their formal announcements, with listings for Guitar Hero: Van Halen and The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition surfacing on the site before publishers could sort out the publicity.

Let's just hope that this latest listing is accurate as Braid is one title that no gamer should be forced to miss out on. Having originally been released on Xbox Live Arcade last August, Braid then made the jump to PC earlier this year.

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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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During a conference call for overseas investors following Sony's Q1 09 financials, Nobuyuki Oneda Sony Corp's CEO and Executive Vice President has revealed that manufacturing costs of the PlayStation3 have dropped by 70%.

“The cost reduction since we introduced the PS3 is very substantial and this is on schedule,” Oneda-san replied when asked about manufacturing costs.  “We don't disclose how much of the PS3, specifically the cost deduction was achieved during the past two years.  But that is on schedule.”

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Comments: (757)

The continued downturn of the global market and the appreciation of the Yen led to Sony posting a decrease in sales, leading to an operating and net loss for the first quarter ended June 30th 2009.

Sales for Sony Corp during the period fell by 19.2% to 1.60 trillion yen from 1.98 trillion yen in the previous year.  As a result Sony Corp recorded an operating loss for the period of 25.7 billion yen compared to an operating income of 73.4 billion yen for the same period in the prior year.  A net loss of 37.1 billion yen was recorded compared to a net income of 35 billion yen.

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Comments: (757)

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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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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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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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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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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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)

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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Comments: (1)

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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Comments: (757)

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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Comments: (147)

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: (510)

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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Comments: (147)

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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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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Comments: (349)

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: (349)

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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Comments: (101)

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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Comments: (33)

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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Comments: (33)

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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Comments: (313)

Jonathan Blow, the Creator of the much-loved XBLA and Steam game Braid, is recruiting for developers to work on a new "puzzle-exploration" game that is "philosophical, and quiet".

The job ads are posted over on the Braid blog and detail a two-year development cycle for the project. Two positions are currently available, both of which are for 3D artists, so we can safely assume that Blow is making a dimensional transition with his latest opus.

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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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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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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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Comments: (40)

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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With so many of this autumn's shooters falling into a 2010 release window, it's beginning to look like Modern Warfare 2 will have an open goal this Christmas. The latest title to fall off the 2009 release schedules appears to be Sony's online shooter MAG, which US retailers are now listing as a 2010 release.

The game, which is in development at SOCOM studio Zipper Interactive, had previously been slated for an autumn 2009 launch by Sony, although prominent online retailers in the US (GameFly and GameStop) now have the title scheduled for January 2010 having previously listed a date in November as recently as a week ago.

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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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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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Comments: (90)

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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Comments: (90)

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: (90)

OK so the original Kane & Lynch didn't exactly meet the standards we've typically come to expect from IO Interactive, but nevertheless the gritty escapades between the misunderstood Kane and the psychotic Lynch shifted close to 2 million units, so a sequel seems inevitable.

A filing at the US Patent and Trademark Office has confirmed that the sequel is on the way, revealing the title to be... Kane & Lynch 2: Dead Dogs.

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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: (349)

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: (510)

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)

Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Quantic Dream's Co-CEO has confirmed that Heavy Rain won't be arriving this side of Christmas and has been slotted into an early 2010 release window instead.

Speaking in an interview with gi.biz, de Fondaumiere acknowledged that Heavy Rain will now release in 2010 despite originally being penned for a 2009 release. He noted that Quantic Dream and Sony are looking to avoid the busy Christmas window where Heavy Rain is concerned.

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Comments: (22)

What appears to be the long-rumoured PS3 Slim seems to have been spotted on sale in the Philippines according to a blurry clip (shown below) that's been doing the rounds on YouTube.

The clip, which has apparently been shot on an "ancient" phone with "very low memory", hails from UltimatePlayStation.com. In addition to the slimmed down profile, the console appears to house a new eject button, two USB ports, and a different logo style.

Previous reports have suggested that Sony is gearing up the still unannounced PS3 Slim for a summer launch in Japan, while other hearsay has pointed to an autumn release window in the West.

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Comments: (757)

LittleBigPlanet is currently available from online retailers for as little as £12. Nonetheless, the game's unique model for user-generated content does lend itself to a Game of the Year edition, and it seems that's exactly what Sony has planned for Media Molecule's BAFTA Award winning opus.

According to MCV, this Game of the Year edition will come packaged with some of the user-generated content that players have made for the game. However, Media Molecule's Alex Evans recently revealed that over 2 million levels have been created by users so far, so we'd expect the developer to only include a select few of these in the GOTY edition.

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Comments: (54)

A KillZone 2 Trophy list submitted to Kotaku has sparked suggestions that new DLC will add new maps and weapons to the game.

The Trophies reveal both 'Suljeva Cliffside' and 'Arctower Landing' as the new maps that multiplayer fans can expect to see, alongside new weapons including a Flamethrower and Boltgun.

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Comments: (618)

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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Comments: (24)

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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Comments: (19)

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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There's no doubting LittleBigPlanet's success: a stratospheric Metacritic score of 95 and official worldwide sales figures of over 1.3 million units as of last January. The game also remained in the UK top 40 chart until the end of March this year thanks to price reductions at retail.

LittleBigPlanet's user-generated content is also something that gamers have warmed to, creating approximately 2 million levels for the game so far, which compares to 725,000 as of last February. This clearly indicates that despite slow initial sales, LittleBigPlanet's long-term appeal has not waivered.

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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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Comments: (101)

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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Following Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick's threat last month of pulling support for PS3 titles, his Sony counterpart Howard Stringer has now attempted to poor water on the flames of these comments by saying that Kotick, "likes to make a lot of noise".

Speaking at an Allen & Co. conference in Idaho, the Sony CEO said, "He likes to make a lot of noise," when asked about Kotick's remarks. "He's putting pressure on me and I'm putting pressure on him. That's the nature of business."

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Comments: (757)