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Final Fantasy XIII's Final Trailer Debuts Wednesday
by Alex Osborn | 11/21/09 | 5:45 AM PST



With Final Fantasy XIII's Japan release only weeks away, news has been pouring in regarding what to expect from the series' next installment. While Japanese gamers don't have to wait long to get their hands on the game, North American and European gamers will have to wait until March 9 to explore the world of Cocoon.

There is however, one more tidbit of content that is sure to come our way before year's end. In fact, you can expect to see a new trailer, the final trailer for the game on Wednesday of next week. Check Square-Enix's official site to see the countdown.

It's gonna be big.

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Supreme Commander 2 Moves Out in March
by Eric Jones | 11/20/09 | 9:55 PM PST

Square Enix hasn't been known for advancements in the real-time strategy genre...or Western-developed games at all for that matter. However, that will change in March 2010, which has been announced as the official release date for Supreme Commander 2, the sequel to 2007's acclaimed RTS by Gas Powered Games. Oh yeah, and there's a new making-of video too!



While we're excited to finally see the game released, I gotta wonder what Square Enix is thinking put it up against of their hugely-anticipated games, which is Finally coming out the same month.

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FFXIII Gets "T" Rating Long After Nintendo Tried Marketing Original to Adults
by David Oxford | 11/20/09 | 3:08 PM PST

Following the announcement of a release date, The Examiner reports that Final Fantasy XIII now has a rating by the ESRB. And that rating is... T for Teen. Like you thought it would be anything else.

The reason for the rating is Violence (natch), Mild Language (yippee), and Suggestive Themes-- hello. Examiner says that "While the rating shouldn't be a shock to anyone, the use of suggestive themes could be. With the game appearing to have a heavy atmosphere of love and caring, two women who link together to form a car, are surely some other sexual like surprises, the suggestive themes are likely to be minor sequences."

On a related note, did you know that Nintendo once tried to market the original NES Final Fantasy toward adults?

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Microsoft to Reveal More of Project Natal at Gamefest in February 2010
by David Oxford | 11/20/09 | 2:29 PM PST

While earlier rumors of information surrounding the release of Project Natal were dismissed a inaccurate, Microsoft has gone on to confirm that it will reveal more information to developers at its Gamefest conferences in February, which are planned for the U.S., U.K., and Japan.

For the multi-track American event, Microsoft says it will be have "two full tracks solely dedicated to disclosing never-before seen details of game development using Project Natal." One will regard designing for the peripheral, while the other discusses the device's technical aspects.

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GameStop's Black Friday Video Game Deals Revealed
by David Oxford | 11/20/09 | 12:33 PM PST

The dreaded date of Black Friday on November 27th, 2009 draws ever closer. And while Kmart's gamer deals did little to excite, perhaps GameStop's offerings will do a little more for you.

So if you decide to venture forth out into the November cold at 6am for the named-in-poor-taste "Doorbuster" deals that run until 11am, or just any of the other deals which run all week, here is what you can expect.

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Infinity Ward Considered Alien Warfare?!
by Alex Osborn | 11/20/09 | 8:45 AM PST



The team at Infinity Ward is made up of quite a unique and creative group of guys, and as such, I'm not surprised when I hear some of the outlandish ideas they originally had for Modern Warfare 2. From zombies and viral outbreaks to alien invasions, the development team considered a number of different possibilities when approaching the sequel.

In an interview with GamePro, Infinity Ward writer Jesse Stern describes the initial thought process that was involved in deciding what direction to take the game.

Hit the cut to see how it all began.

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British Government Recruiting Over Xbox Live
by Daniel Sims | 11/20/09 | 8:20 AM PST

Gaming has been prospected as an armed forces recruitment tool for years, so it was only a matter of time before online games were targeted as an avenue. It's just that the British government ended up doing it first.

The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – a British intelligence agency working with the armed forces is initiating a recruitment drive over Xbox Live using in-game ads. The six-week campaign will target the 18-34 male demographic with streaming video banners and in-game ads. The effort will be led by GCHQ communications recruitment partner TMP Worldwide.

The first time GCHQ advertised over Xbox Live was its 2007 ad campaign for job opportunities in Splinter Cell Double Agent. The drive increased traffic to its website by over 500 percent.

The most famous gaming-related government recruiting tool has been the free America's Army games which seem to be proving legitimately effective. Real dynamic advertisements have been appearing in games and even on the Xbox Live dashboard for years now. A government as an advertiser in gaming seems like the next logical step.

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15-Year Old Calls 911 When Parents Seize Xbox
by David Oxford | 11/19/09 | 5:08 PM PST

CNET News relays a story from the Chicago Tribune of a 15-year old boy from Buffalo Grove, Illinois, who called 911 to ask whether his parents were within their rights to take away his Xbox.

The boy soon hung up, said Commander Steve Husak, but officers went to the residence anyway to inform the youth that yes, his parents do indeed have such a right, and that maybe he should consider listening to them. Why they chose to take it away remains unknown, though one can only guess.

Upon learning of this, Microsoft's Director of Programming for Xbox LIVE, Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, would say "No no no NO folks. Do NOT do this." We concur.

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'Return to Ostagar' in New Dragon Age: Origins DLC
by Jeff Grubb | 11/19/09 | 4:44 PM PST

Bioware announced today that it would be releasing DLC for Dragon Age: Origins this holiday season. Players will literally Return to Ostagar. The expansion involves a quest, a King Cailan, and said king's honor. If you've played the game that might make sense, but I have my doubts.

This marks the third DLC pack to be released for the game since it was released. This is an unprecedented pace for DLC for a game that doesn't involve guitars or bands.

The expansion will cost 400 MS points, 400 Bioware points, or $5 in the Playstation Store. As is usual EA has received some criticism for not including this obviously planned DLC on the disc in the first place. Considering the game on the disc could take 60+ hours it does beg the question: what do gamers paying $60 "deserve."

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Media: 20 Screens of No More Heroes: Hero's Paradise; Marvelous Losing Money on Most Wii Titles, Profiting on PSP
by David Oxford | 11/19/09 | 3:57 PM PST



Marvelous has launched the official Japanese website for the HD version of No More Heroes, known as "Heroes' Paradise." Unfortunately, there is almost nothing to do there, but never fear; it just so happens that the Japanese Xbox.com website has updated to include the game, and has presented 20 new screens which now reside in our gallery below.

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McKidd Talks Call of Duty Movie
by David Oxford | 11/19/09 | 12:47 PM PST

According to a story in the New York Post, Kevin McKidd, voice actor for Captain "Soap" MacTavish in Modern Warfare 2, has said that the video game franchise may be on its way to the big screen:

"They were looking for a rough, Scottish actor in Hollywood they probably couldn't get Gerard Butler, so they got the No. 2 Gerard Butler, me. I had no idea it would be so huge, and now there are talks of a feature film," he told PopWrap. Asked if he'd reprise his role in the film, McKidd said "if the script is good, and Gerard isn't available [laughs], then absolutely."

Hmm, are we at a point where we can begin to have hope for something like this? Prince of Persia looks like it may be good, but that remains to be seen.

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BioShock Sequel gets a Fully Loaded Collector's Edition
by Alex Osborn | 11/19/09 | 11:23 AM PST

Ever since the release of Halo 3's "Legendary Edition," a pricey collector's edition is almost expected from every big title. From Modern Warfare 2's "Prestige Edition," to DJ Hero's "Renegade Edition," the age of over-priced extras is only beginning. BioShock 2 looks to be next in line with a collector's edition of it's own.



Those willing to shell out $99.99 for the Xbox 360 or PS3 version - or $89.99 on PC - will get an art book, soundtrack CD, vinyl LP of the first BioShock's orchestral score, plus three posters. While 100 bucks seems a bit much to me, I'm sure all of you hardcore BioShock fans can't wait to get your hands on this.

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Fan Creates NES-Styled Left 4 Dead "De-Make"
by David Oxford | 11/19/09 | 10:53 AM PST

In the face of successful oldschool titles and remakes such as Mega Man 9 and Konami's ReBirth series, the developers at Valve have decided to beat these old industry hands at their own game-- by taking their hit franchise Left 4 Dead into the field of 8-bit gaming!

Two players! Up to eight zombies on a map at a time! It's zombie-fighting fun like you've never seen it before, only it's the same as it ever was!



Okay, in actuality, this is a fan-made game by "PixelForce" which is supposed to be available for the PC come January 4th. They plan for the game to have all five maps of all four campaigns included, and you can find out more by checking out the YouTube description.

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REVIEW: Modern Warfare 2 may have just rendered every other FPS on the market irrelevant.
by Sascha Lichtenstein | 11/19/09 | 3:48 AM PST

What the Game's About
It wasn't supposed to be that game. The odds were stacked against Infinity Ward in more ways than one as the industry marched toward the now-legendary 2007 holiday season. Activision was against moving the best-selling Call of Duty franchise out of the familiar and profitable confines of the World War 2 setting into the unproven arena of contemporary combat. After overcoming that hurdle, they had to face the Halo 3 hype machine. As far as the gaming populace was concerned, it was Bungie's year. Sometimes things don't quite pan out as expected. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare annihilated expectations. Combining a cinematic campaign with groundbreaking multiplayer, Call of Duty 4 dominated the competition at retail and online to become one of the best-selling and most played first-person shooters of all time.

Today, the situation is very different. This is Infinity Ward's year to lose. Modern Warfare 2 is the most anticipated game in years and expectations are through the roof. Forget annihilating them, just meeting them would be an impressive victory. To meet that challenge, Infinity Ward has launched a three-pronged assault of campaign, cooperative and multiplayer gameplay. That's a lot of content to go through, so rather than risk getting caught up in the hype and pumping out a gushing review as soon as possible, I took a step back and spent a good week with the game before I even started writing anything down. Gains have been made and losses suffered in comparison to the original Modern Warfare, and when the dust settled I couldn't pick a favorite between the two. They are different games, with different strengths and weaknesses. If sales figures and Xbox Live stats are anything to go by, you've probably already bought the game, and if pre-order sales indicate anything, you were probably planning on it reviews-be-damned. So I'm not going to bother telling you to buy Modern Warfare 2, because it's obviously a fantastic game. I'm just going to say that you should hang on to your copy of Call of Duty 4 too.

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Xbox 360s on the Cheap for Those Who Don't Care About LIVE
by David Oxford | 11/18/09 | 4:49 PM PST



With Microsoft banning Xbox LIVE accounts belonging to modded Xbox 360s, what is the owner of such a device to do?

Some are trying to get around it, of course, while others are (predictably) ready to give up the ship and start selling their neutered consoles on eBay, Craigslist, and the like.

As such, you might want to beware if you're in the market for a cheap Xbox. That is, unless you don't care about LIVE, in which case there are probably some deals to be had.

The Consumerist notes "Reading the listings is sort of sad, actually. Some sellers claim to have no idea why their boxes were banned, others are being perfectly honest about modding the console and violating Microsoft's Terms of Use. Gamer beware."