PSP-3000 Entertainment Pack Cancelled

October 27, 2008 - Way, way back in August, Sony announced plans to bring two PSP-3000 bundles to the United States. One was the Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters Entertainment Pack that's on store shelves as you read this. The other was the 4GB Entertainment Pack that featured a voucher for Everyday Shooter, a Piano Black system, and -- you guessed it -- a 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo.

This evening, Sony Computer Entertainment America Director of Hardware Marketing John Koller announced on the PlayStation Blog that the 4GB bundle is no more.

"Based on ongoing discussions with our retail partners and the feedback they have received from their customers, SCEA has seen significant interest in the Ratchet & Clank Size Matters PSP Entertainment Pack in North America, which includes the updated PSP-3000," Koller wrote. "As a result, we will be streamlining our PSP hardware lineup and will no longer be offering the previously announced 4GB Memory PSP Entertainment Pack."

If you want the bigger stick, you can pick it up on its own from any number of fine retailers, and if you're in the market for a Piano Black PSP-3000, Koller wrote that the standalone unit should be available in December.

source : www.ign.com

NBA 2K9 Announced for PC

NBA 2K9 is coming to the PC, publisher 2K Sports announced in an official statement. While NBA 2K9 is the tenth iteration in the series, it will mark the first NBA 2K installment for the PC.

"We are excited about the growing popularity of basketball and are eager to get NBA 2K9 in the hands of PC fans," said Greg Thomas, senior vice president of sports development at 2K. He added, "The PC version will please even the most dedicated basketball fans with the same level of quality simulation we've become known for in the console versions of the NBA 2K franchise."

The NBA 2K series is highly regarded for its realistic approach to basketball games. PC gamers can get their hands on NBA 2K9 when it release on October 21.

source : www.ign.com

Sony Brings New PS3 Bundles to Japan

One of Sony's big Tokyo Game Show announcements has leaked out early through Famitsu. Sony will be releasing the 80 gigabyte PS3 model to Japan, the magazine reveals in its latest issue. Bundled with a Dual Shock 3, the new high capacity model will sell for 39,800 yen, the current price of the 40 gigabyte model. Sony will offer the system in black, white, and silver color varieties.

The deal gets better, though, as for a limted time, Sony will be including Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III with the system, turning this into an effective 4,500 yen price drop for those who were interested in buying the racer anyway.

Spec III, which became available as an online update late last week for current Prologue owners, will also see its very own full release in Japan. GT5 Prologue Spec III will be released in Blu-ray disc and downloadable form on October 30, costing, respectively, 4,980 and 4,500 yen. These are the same prices as the current rev of Prologue.

In other PS3 bundle news, Sony will be bundling the 80 gigabyte model with two Dual Shocks and a copy of LittleBigPlanet as part of the "PlayStation 3 LittleBigPlanet Dream Box." This bundle, which comes in a special box featuring artwork of Sack Boy, will sell for 44,980 yen. Black, white, and silver models will also be on offer.

Sony is also planning on pushing LittleBigPlanet through a DualShock 3 bundle. A copy of the game will be bundled with a DualShock 3 at 7,980 yen, representing a savings of some 3,500 yen over buying the products separately. The controller bundles will also be available in black, white, and silver varieties.

Those who just want LittleBigPlanet on its own have a bonus item to look forward to as well. Sony will include a code with first print copies of the game that can be exchanged for a Piposaru costume for Sack Boy. Poposaru is the name of the brainwashed monkeys from the Ape Escape series.

All this bundle news applies only to Japan at the moment.

source : www.ign.com

MGS4, PS3 Tops in Japan

A rare one-two punch for the PlayStation 3 in its home territory this week as Media Create reports that Metal Gear Solid 4 and the PlayStation 3 hardware topped their respective charts for the week covering June 9 to June 15.

According to the tracking firm, MGS4 sold 464,926 units in its first week. This figure mirrors numbers that were handed out earlier in the week by rival tracking firm Enterbrain.

Media Create also noted that MGS4 is now the number one selling PS3 title of all time in Japan. The previous record holder was Minna no Golf 5 (Hot Shots Golf) which has managed to sell 437,000 units over its lifetime.

Following MGS4, the software chart was a mix of old and new. Mario Kart Wii placed second this week with 38,430 units. Following it were Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii, 36,835 units), Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Portable 3 (Konami, PSP, 27,260) and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Konami, PSP, 26,280). A new title came in at sixth place as D3 Publisher's Evangelion-themed DS pachinko game, Evangelion Shito Futatabi, sold 21,899 units in its first week. The top ten closed off with Dragon Ball Z (PS3, Bandai Namco, 18,262), DS Bimoji Training (Nintendo, DS, 17,274), DS Misa Yamamura Suspense (Tecmo, DS, 17,191) and Fuurai no Shiren 3 (Sega, Wii, 13,553).

With MGS4 selling so many copies, it shouldn't come as a surprise to learn that the PS3 hardware got quite the boost. PS3 was the number one selling system this week with 75,311 units, besting even the mighty PSP's 64,675.

The remaining hardware stayed in order: Wii at 45,564, DS Lite at 39,201, PS2 at 7,297, and Xbox 360 at 2,163.

source : www.ign.com

Alone in the Dark PC Requirements

Atari has stated its single-player adventure game Alone in the Dark will require an Internet connection for activation. Alone in the Dark will use SecuROM copy protection, making players download a one-time online component before they fully install the game. Afterwards, players will be able to play the game offline. An Internet connection isn't the only thing you will need to play the game; Atari has released minimum technical specifications for the PC version:

Operating System: Windows XP/Vista 32-bit & 64-bit
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz or Athlon X2 +3800 (Intel Pentium 4 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 +4000 recommended)
Memory: 1 GB RAM (2GB recommended)
Hard Disk Space: 9.5 GB free
DVD-ROM Drive: 4X speed or faster
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 or ATI Radeon X1950 or better (NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX or ATI Radeon X1950 XTX or better recommended)
Sound: DirectX version 9.0c-compatible sound card
DirectX: DirectX version 9.0c (included) or higher

source : www.ign.com

London Games Festival Announced

Following two successful previous outings the London Games Festival is back, with this year's event promising to be the biggest yet and scheduled to take place the week commencing October 25.

"Last year's London Games Festival was a huge success," said Chairman of the London Games Festival Keith Ramsdale. "We've got plenty in store for 2008 and a whole host of major partners lined up with full support from the industry. We're really looking forward to bringing the gaming industry to life in the capital again."

Expect the return of large-scale events in both Leicester and Trafalgar Square, as well as the return of the Careers Fair for those keen to find their way into the industry. We'll have the full details of this year's festivities as soon as they're announced, so check back for the full run-down on the capital's biggest gaming event.

source : www.ign.com

Guitar Hero 4 Drums Shown

The newest issue of Game Informer Magazine apparently has pictures of the drum kit destined to ship with the upcoming Guitar Hero IV. As previously rumored, the GH4 drums will add cymbal pads to the package to one-up (and make incompatible) the Rock Band drum kit.

From the looks of the scanned magazine page, the drums will in fact have just one more pad than the Rock Band drums, arrayed in three main drums and two cymbal pads in addition to a kick pedal. We'd call this something of a bummer, as we're not terribly keen on having two hard-to-store drum kits kicking around the house.

source : www.ign.com

New Portal Map Pack Offers 40 Levels

Portal: The Flash Version, released shortly after The Orange Box, was a fun quirky side-scroller based on Valve's game of the same name. Much like the original iteration, the flash version allowed players to solve puzzles by shooting orange and blue portals to traverse across seemingly impossible areas. Portal fans might be happy to hear that all 40 flash levels will be playable in the 3D version via a new map pack.

This map pack, created by flash game designer Hen Mazolski, puts players into the role of a different test subject and prefaces the events of the original game.

All 40 levels can be downloaded here. For more information on Portal, check out our review of the game.

source : www.ign.com

Guinness World Records Eyes Release of Grand Theft Auto IV as a Potential Record Breaking Giant

As part of its continued interest in chronicling the world of video game achievements and accomplishments, Guinness World Records will be closely watching the release of Grand Theft Auto IV as a potential record-breaking phenomenon. Easily one of the most anticipated games of the year and biggest releases in the entertainment industry, the GTA franchise is no stranger to the famed pages of Guinness World Records. Ever since the franchise released its first third-person game with Grand Theft Auto III, the series has been racking up record after record.

First Full "Sandbox" Action-Adventure- GTA III
Biggest Selling Game of 2001- GTA III
Biggest Selling Game of 2002- GTA: Vice City
Best-selling Playstation 2 game of all time- GTA: Vice City
Best-selling PSP game of all time- GTA: Liberty City Stories
Largest in-game soundtrack- GTA: San Andreas
Largest Voice Cast in a video game- GTA: San Andreas
Most Guest Stars In A Video Game Series- Grand Theft Auto Franchise

With fans counting down the hours to GTA IV's debut, it will only be a matter of time until a new record is added to that impressive list.

For more information on these and other exciting video game records, pick up the inaugural, Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008, in stores now.

source : www.ign.com

Aussie GTA IV Bundle Coming

The US and the UK just got their announcements - now it's Australia's turn. SCE Australia today annnounced that an official Grand Theft Auto IV bundle is on the way exclusively for the PS3. The bundle will be available on May 1, 2008 and will come with a 40GB PS3, a SIXAXIS wireless controller (where's the Dualshock, Sony?) and a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV.

The package will retail for AU$749.95.

source : www.ign.com

World of Warcraft Patch Plans

Blizzard has revealed the latest 2.4.2 patch notes on its official WoW website. No word on when the patch will officially roll out, but here is what the patch sets out to accomplish:

Hunter
• Dire Ravens in Blade's Edge Mountains now tameable.
• Tamed Drywallow Snappers now will know Bite 5 (instead of Claw 5.)

Mages
• Talent: Improved Blink (Arcane) now reduces chance to be hit by 13/25% and the duration of Rank 1 has been increased to 4 seconds.
• Completing the quest "Arcane Refreshment" will now properly teach the spell Conjure Water (Rank 7).

PvP
• Arenas
- If a character's personal rating is more than 150 points below the team rating, they will earn points based on their personal rating instead of the team rating.
- If the average personal rating of the players queuing for a game is more than 150 points below the team's rating, the team will be queued against an opponent matching or similar to the average personal rating.

Professions
• All 23-hour profession cooldowns are now 20-hour cooldowns.
• All 4-day cooldowns are now 3 days, 20 hours.
• Enchanting
- Removed the cooldown from Void Shatter.
- Void Shatter recipe now correctly requires 375 enchanting.
• Engineering
- The Engineering supply item Delicate Copper Wire will now properly fit into engineering bags.
• Jewelcrafting
- Brilliant Glass no longer requires a forge.
- Brilliant Glass now has a small chance to make an epic gem.
- Quick Dawnstone, Reckless Noble Topaz, Forceful Talasite are now all available at the Quel'danas gem vendor.
• Leatherworking
- Completing the quest "The Journey Has Just Begun" will now properly teach how to make an Onyxia Scale Cloak.
- Greatly reduced the reagent cost for Glove Reinforcements. Also reduced the skill gain range slightly.

Quests
• The categories for the quests "Wanted: Sisters of Torment" and "Wanted: The Signet Ring of Prince Kael'thas" have been fixed to now properly read as Magister's Terrace.
• The Shadowy Disguise will no longer be applied to druids while they are in Moonkin or Tree of Life form for the quests "Who Are They?"
• Jailor Eston and Jailor Marlgen for the quest "The Rescue" should now respawn more frequently.

Dungeons and Raids
• Black Temple
- Illidan will no longer despawn if a raid group wipes during his death speech.
• Karazhan
- Nightbane's Charred Earth ability will now properly deal Fire damage.
• Magister's Terrace
- Vexallus is no longer immune to taunt on Normal difficulty.
- Kael'thas is no longer immune to taunt on Normal difficulty.
- Wretched Skulkers, Wretched Husks, and Wretched Bruisers will now reset properly.
- Sunblade Imps will now reset properly.
- The doors in Heroic Magister's Terrace will no longer respawn after a soft reset if a boss has already been killed.
• Sunwell Plateau
- Hellfire will no longer remove Dark Touched in the Eredar Twins encounter.
• Tempest Keep: The Eye
- Void Reaver's Arcane orbs now generate combat log entries.

Items
• Arcane Charges now deal arcane damage.
• Abilities and trinkets that trigger after killing an opponent that gives experience or honor will no longer activate after killing mobs during bombing quests.
• Battlecast's Garb should now properly grant pushback resistance in addition to interrupt resistance.
• Borderland Fortress Grips have had their stats updated.
• Botanist's Gloves of Growth have had their texture corrected.
• Bow of Searing Arrows and Red Whelp Gloves will no longer break crowd control effects.
• The Cloak of Swift Mending now has a level requirement (70).
• Goblin Jumper Cables are no longer a trinket item.
• Items that enchant other items no longer have tradeskill requirements (Mithril Spurs, Shield Spikes, Weapon Chains, etc.).
• The Helm of Fire has had its casting range reduced.
• The Magic Candle has had its casting range reduced.
• Many items sold by Consortium vendors are now bind on pick up: Formula: Enchant Weapon- Major Striking, Design: Delicate Blood Garnet, Design: Shifting Shadow Draenite, Design: Lustrous Azure Moonstone, Design: Thick Golden Draenite.
• Many items sold by Aldor reputation vendors are now bind on pick up: Design: Gleaming Golden Draenite, Design: Royal Shadow Draenite.
• Many items sold by the Shattered Sun quartermaster are now bind on pick up: Naaru Ration, Design: Ember Skyfire Diamond.
• The Lower City reputation item, Recipe: Flask of Chromatic Resistance, is now bind on pick up.
• Most Main-Hand weapons are now One-Hand weapons.
• Naturalist's Preserving Cinch have had their stats updated.
• Reins of the Black War Elekk spell and buff now correspond to the item name.
• Rocket Boots Xtreme and Rocket Boots Xtreme Lite now properly share the same cooldown.
• The Romantic Picnic Basket will now display the blanket properly.
• The socket bonus modifiers of some items will now properly display the bonus healing.
• The reduced cooldown of Shaman Nature's Swiftness provided by the 4 piece set bonus from the Seer's Ringmail Battlegear PvP armor will now apply properly.
• The Skyshatter Helmet's gem socket bonus will now properly reflect the plus damage in the tooltip.
• Shadowsong Panther will no longer prematurely despawn.
• Talasite Owl: This trinket will now properly restore full mana as described.
• Troll Male off-hand items are now the same size as the main hand item.
• Tauren weapons while sheathed have had their graphic readjusted to their pre-patch (2.4.0) state.
• The Winterfall Firewater buff is no longer dispellable.

User Interface
• Black Lotus will now show up under the Herb subcategory in the auction house.
• Primal Nethers will now show up under the Materials subcategory in the auction house.
• Mailboxes can now be tracked on the minimap.
• For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros Forum.

World Environment
• Creature versions of the Polymorph spell no longer heal the affected target.
• The dragons in Blade's Edge Mountains will no longer instantly knock you off your mount.

Mac
• Fixed a bug causing ATI kernel panics; all spell effects should now be visible.
• Weather effects are again visible on systems with ATI 2x00 graphics such as aluminum iMac.
• Fixed a bug that precluded use of the FireWire iSight microphone with voice chat.
• Symlinks can be used again for Interface and WTF folders and subfolders.
• Cinematics playback is working again.

Bug Fixes
• Fixed an issue where secondary sound effects would not work with the Use Hardware option enabled in the Sound options of the User Interface.
• Fixed an issue where attempting to use some instant cast spells with Auto-Dismount in Flight checked in the interface would fail.
• Items that have multiple charges will now properly display the amount of charges.
• Fixed an issue where chain damage spells were chaining to critters.
• Female Draenei horns will now correctly protrude through certain plate helms.
• The Vengeful Gladiator's Rifle will now play the proper sound when used.
• The Cursed Vision of Sargeras now gives the buff, "Sense Demons" which can be canceled normally. Additionally hunters and druids are able to track two things at once while using the item.
• It is no longer possible for pets to get stuck in place after exiting the Spectral Realm in the Kalecgos encounter.
• Blood Elf Priest: Consume Magic will now require the buff to be active in order to work properly.
• Undead and Blood Elf Priest: Touch of Weakness will now properly reduce the melee damage of the attacker.
• Fixed an issue where some spells had extraneous Floating Combat Text messages when using the Auras option.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes debuff icons on a target did not scale properly to indicate the spells had been cast by you.
• The hunter pet ability Growl will no longer scale with pet Attack Power.
• Druid Talent- Primal Fury (Rank 2) will now be properly unlearned when it is untalented.
• Druid Talent (Restoration)- Natural Perfection will no longer proc by normal melee attacks.
• Mage Spell - Molten Armor will now do damage while a damage absorption shield is active.
• Mage Spell - Noxious Breath (Ysondre) will no longer cause Arcane Missiles to only damage on the first volley.
• Mage Spell- Fixed an issue that was causing a pink hue to appear when a mage would phase out via Invisibility.
• Paladin Talent: Crusader Strike (Retribution) will now properly receive a damage increase from Seal of The Crusader.
• Paladin healing spells used in castsequence macros are now properly completing the cast sequence when a rank is not specified.
• The Paladin talent Precision (Ranks 1-3) will no longer improperly display daggers and staves as a weapon class in the tooltip.
• Paladins that already have Apprentice Riding skill can now properly learn Summon Warhorse from the trainer.
• Priest Talent- Power Infusion will now consume the correct amount of mana when cast on yourself.
• The rogue talent Mutilate (Assassination) will no longer incorrectly appear multiple times in the combat log when used.
• Shaman Talent: Frostbrand (Enhancement) Rank 6 will now properly do more damage than Rank 5.
• Warlock Spell- Drain Soul will no longer continue to do damage to another player after they have died.
• Ritual of Souls (Warlock) and Ritual of Refreshment (Mage) will no longer be placed on cooldown without having completed the summon.
• Priest Spell: Power Word: Shield now has the correct sound associated with it and can no longer be heard from large distances.
• Priest Spell: Fear Ward will no longer be consumed while under the effects of cyclone.
• Looting a boss while a player is outside of the instance will no longer cause the corpse to despawn in 2 minutes if the player still has loot on the corpse.
• Whirlwind now has the correct sound associated with it.

source : www.ign.com

Soulcalibur IV Gets AU Release Date

Thanks to Ubisoft Australia, we now have a firm release date for the strangely non-canonical but highly anticipated brawler, Soulcalibur IV. According to the announcement, both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions will be released simultaneously.

John Parkes, EMEA Marketing Director at Ubisoft, had this to say about the release:
"We are thrilled to be bringing Soulcalibur's successful heritage to PAL territories as it sets into motion a new echelon of dynamic gameplay and exceptional game graphics on next generation platforms.

"Offering players an ultimate fighting game experience, Soulcalibur IV will definitely be an owners 'must have' in building their game collection library."
The official date for Australian release is July 31, 2008. No local pricing has been announced at this stage.

source : www.ign.com

Resident Evil 0 Dated in Japan

Capcom Japan announced today a final Japanese release date for Biohazard 0, also known as the GameCube to Wii port of Resident Evil 0 that may or may not see international release.

In Japan, the game will hit retail on July 10. Capcom is pricing it at 4,190 yen, making it 1/3 less than most new Wii titles.

From what's been made public so far, it looks like this is a pretty bare-bones port, so the pricing may be appropriate.

source : www.ign.com

GTA IV Multiplayer Modes

Recently, IGN played four of the more than a dozen multiplayer modes: GTA Race, Cops N Crooks, Team Deathmatch, and Hangman's NOOSE. On the official GTA IV website, Rockstar has unveiled four more modes. There will be five total team modes, all of which allow up to 16 players to go at it online. There are only two racing modes. The number of cooperative modes and competitive free-for-all modes are still a mystery.

Here are Rockstar's descriptions of the newly revealed modes:

Team Mafiya Work (2-8 teams)
You're a member of a crew doing contract work for the mafiya -- including such plum gigs as escorting wanted men, picking up MacGuffins and stealing cars. Work as a team to complete contracts before the time period ends and get the rewards. You'll probably want to do your best to scupper the other crew's work as well. Each contract you complete gives your team cash, and the crew with the most cash at the end of the round wins.

Team Car Jack City (2-8 teams)
Cars spawn parked around the map and the teams must steal them and take them to a drop off point. The cash teams get for dropping off stolen vehicles depends on their condition -- teams get less cash the more damaged they are. The exception to this are special bonus cars, stuffed with drugs, which give a set amount of cash on delivery no matter how damaged they are. Your crew has to get hold of whatever vehicles the boss wants. Whichever crew makes the most money wins. Simple.

Turf War (2 teams)
A timed capture-the-base mode. There are a number of bases around the map that you have to take by standing on them for a short period of time. The more players that are on a base, the faster it can be captured. The more bases that your team owns, the faster your team's cash score increases. If the rival gang is on or near a base, you won't be able to take control of it -- so do what you can to try and... displace them. The team with the most cash at the end of the round wins.

Race (no teams)
Race to the finish through each checkpoint in order. If you take a wrong turn or mess up in some way, you can respawn your vehicle on the last checkpoint you passed. There is a large section of races for cars, boats, and helicopters -- you can choose laps and vehicle class/type. This mode has two sub-modes: Free Race and Cannonball Run.

Free Race are point-to-point races. First one to reach the end point wins. Cannonball Run are races where you have to traverse several checkpoints any way you can.

source : www.ign.com

New Rockstar Studio Created

Take-Two Interactive Software label Rockstar Games has purchased the Massachusetts-based game company Mad Doc Software, which worked with the developer on Bully: Scholarship Edition.

Mad Doc founder and former Activision technical director Dr. Ian Lane Davis will lead the new division, dubbed Rockstar New England.

Mad Doc is currently working on the Xbox 360 title Star Trek: Legacy for Bethesda and had developed or worked on a handful of other titles since its founding in 1999, including Empire Earth II, Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna and Spellweaver (still in development).

"The team at Mad Doc Software is extremely talented," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Bringing them within the Rockstar Games family will enhance our core technology and further support our commitment to creating progressive and innovative gaming experiences."

A guest professor at M.I.T. with a doctorate in A.I. and robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, Davis is considered an expert in artificial intelligence and is currently writing a textbook on the subject.

"To be a part of Rockstar Games is an amazing opportunity for everyone here," Davis said. "We're eager to bring our expertise to bear in the character-driven, open-world stories that make Rockstar Games titles so uniquely compelling."

It's unclear what will become of Mad Doc titles currently in the works, and Rockstar did not release information about which of its upcoming games the new division will be working on.

source : www.ign.com

Gundam goes to Xbox360

The Xbox 360 version of Mobile Ops: The One Year War ceased to be vaporware today as Bandai Namco did the unthinkable: it announced a Japanese release date for the title! Japan will get the game on June 26, under the name Gundam Operation Troy.

First announced back in mid 2005, this Xbox 360 exclusive entry in the Gundam series has made it through two playable Tokyo Game Show appearances with no mention of a final release date. This caused some speculation that Bandai Namco and developer DIMPS were having development problems.

With less than three months to go before the Japanese release, it looks like importers will at last get to see what the waiting was all about. Now let's hope they don't make us wait a similar amount of time for the international versions.

source : www.ign.com

Lineage II 4th Anniversary Edition Info

NCsoft recently gave details of the Lineage II 4th Anniversary Edition, the popular fantasy MMORPG. The company revealed that a new area, Hellbound, will be included in the games' forthcoming update. Hellbound introduces Beleth, a fierce and brutal enemy that is said to have no equal.

This update increases the level cap from 80 to 85 and enhances the pet system with new wolves to ride. It also offers players the ability to upgrade pets and use them as companions. In addition, players will be able to conquer lands and be rewarded with special skills.

This updated edition gives owners 60 days of free access. Veteran players won't be left out as discounts to name changes, gender changes and more will be provided.

The 4th Anniversary Edition contains all of the expansions released to date. Look forward to the latest edition when it hits earthly shores later this month.

source : www.ign.com

Saints Row 2 Coming in August

To kickoff their Gamers' Day event being held in downtown San Francisco, THQ today announced the official release date, pre-order campaign plans, and the launch of the official website for Saints Row 2. The game will ship on August 26, 2008 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and gamers can pre-order their copy starting tonight (April 3) at 6 PM PST. THQ also announced the launch of the official website for Saints Row 2 along with the release of a new video from someone they're calling "Uncle Gary." Check it out below.

Also, be on the lookout for our hands-on impressions from Saints Row 2's co-op gameplay at 6 PM PST tonight.

source : www.ign.com

Gears of War Movie Set

UK, March 31, 2008 - Further details have emerged around the forthcoming Gears of War movie, with producer Wyck Godfrey recently stating that the film is on course for a summer 2010 release.

Speaking to ComingSoon.net, Godfrey said, "We've got our script on and a director we're about to attach. We'll hopefully make that early next year for the summer of 2010."

It's already been confirmed that Pirates of the Caribbean scribe Stuart Beattie will be behind the script, working with the game's lead designer Cliff Bleszinski on the adaptation of the bestselling Xbox 360 title that is to receive a sequel later this year

source : www.ign.com

New GT5 Prologue Details

At a recent PSN event, we were able to talk to the producers of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue about their upcoming title and get a few more details on the anticipated racer. While we've known for a while that the Blu-ray version of the game would exclusively have the Beyond the Apex feature, we were told that the disc version of the game would also have a lot more cinematics included, such as video course guides of the real-life tracks, as well as the opening and ending movie. Many of these elements won't be included within the initial download of the game from the PSN, although we were told that some of these items would eventually find their way onto Gran Turismo TV, the racing specific channel that will be included within the game.

Much more than a simple news feed updating players on races that are online, GT TV will host lots of licensed television footage, such as episodes of Top Gear and Best Motoring (a popular Japanese drift series). It may also be a showcase for car manufacturers to highlight their upcoming product lines, highlighting a specific vehicle from its R&D phase to its release. GT TV could even potentially become a place for car fans to upload video of their own tuned and modified cars, highlighting their vehicles for other racing fans to see. Since much of it is still up for discussion, much of the online space for the game is still being decided by Polyphony Digital.

In fact, we were told that GT5 Prologue will initially launch with a rather basic online service that will allow up to 16 players to get on and play, but not much more than that. As time goes on, however, players will receive updates that could include new features, racetracks and even gameplay modes. While there is no specific schedule planned for the updates, Polyphony Digital is planning on making sure that all regions will receive practically all of the same content at the same time. There will be some minor elements that will be regionally exclusive (such as music tracks), but for the most part, Europe and Japan will receive an update to match the most recent version of the game that will be released in North America on April 15th.

We were also told that Polyphony is still looking at GT5 Prologue as an experimental testbed for features that will eventually make their way into Gran Turismo 5, which we were told would probably be released in Summer 2009. While they don't know exactly how they plan on using the game to experiment in this manner, they are definitely planning on transferring a player's progress and hard work in Prologue to GT5 when it's eventually released. However, at this time, they're not sure if it will be a save file, credit or car transfer to the final title. We'll have more on Gran Turismo 5 and GT5 Prologue as soon as it becomes available.

source : www.ign.com