All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

War RTS available for sampling.

A collaborative gem from PopCap and Square Enix for Xbox Live Arcade and Steam.

Click to Big Daddy-size If you find yourself enraptured by everything BioShock, you're really going to love this. 2K Games has disclosed details on the BioShock 2 Special Edition release, limited to one production run and set for retail on February 9 alongside the slightly-less-special edition we saw the cover art for on Tuesday. If you're prepared to sink $99 into the set ($89 for PC) you'll be the proud (but poorer) owner of the game, a 164-page hardcover art book, three posters, the orchestral score on CD and the most special goodie accompanying this edition: the orchestral score on a vinyl 180g LP. You know ... a record. You know, big black disc DJs use? Yep, one of those. This is great news for audiophiles and those who refuse to own a CD player because lasers are obviously some kind of witchcraft.

Grab a hotdog on a stick and check out some Nintendo games.

"Return to Ostagar" will be available this Holiday 2009 season for EA's award-winning epic RPG fantasy.

We rank the best games on Microsoft's console.

We rank the best games on Microsoft's console.

Probably the only special edition worth getting.

Polish up your armor and prune your dialog trees: EA has announced a new Dragon Age: Origins DLC adventure, "Return to Ostagar," is coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this holiday season for $5. The add-on will allow your hero to "revisit Ostagar, the site of the Grey Wardens' darkest hour, to reclaim the honor and learn the secrets of Ferelden's fallen king." Listen, we're as big of fans of Dragon Age: Origins as you're likely to meet, but we have to question the scheduling of this DLC release. It's not that we don't want it, but who out there has played so much DA:O that they're bored of what's on the disc? Seriously, the thing's like 340 hours long!

It looks like Capcom USA was tired of us making fun of the proposed name for the upcoming Resident Evil 5 expansion, "Alternative Edition." The division has chosen a bling-ier title for its stateside release: Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition. Gold Edition will be released as a retail box copy on March 9 for $49.99 as a single Blu-ray disc, including the original game and add-on content, on PS3 and as a DVD with download voucher for Xbox 360. If you already have Resident Evil 5, you'll be able to pick up the first DLC chapter earlier. "Lost in Nightmares" and a custom pack will be available for download on February 17 for Xbox 360 and February 18 for PS3, while the second unnamed DLC episode will be released March 3 (Xbox 360) and 4th (PS3) alongside a second costume pack.

Sunstorm Interactive is happy to announce the release of Run Razzle Run, an exciting new game that takes players back to traditional arcade action.

Sunstorm Interactive is happy to announce the release of Run Razzle Run, an exciting new game that takes players back to traditional arcade action.

Probably the only special edition worth getting.

GameRanger multiplayer technology set to connect gamers in Paradox Interactive's new and upcoming games.

'Rising Tide' will unveil new race, classes, systems and more for Perfect World International.

Already, various non-game applications can be found on both the PS3 and PSP. From Skype to VidZone, the XMB now plays home to a variety of services. Going forward, it appears Sony will open the PlayStation platform further with the introduction of "non-game" development kits in the middle of next year.Last night's 6.20 firmware update for PSP lays down the framework for additional non-gaming content. The PSP update adds a new category to the XMB called "Extras," which allows users to launch the web browser to download third-party apps on the PSP. The PlayStation Network Digital Comics Reader is the first official "Extra" to appear on the XMB, with more sure to come in 2010.A wide release of non-game dev kits may attract the active homebrew community to release official programs on the PSP and PS3. We'll be chatting with SCEA soon to get further details. Until then, we'll be dreaming of a native YouTube application for our PSPs.[Via VG247] Joyswag! Enter for your chance to win a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta code (for PS3) by being the first to comment "off topic" on this post. Only the first valid comment will win. Click here, for more information on this giveaway. Official rules apply.

Pretty much everyone can guess why No More Heroes is being released again -- Marvelous needs money. During a Q&A presentation (PDF link, Japanese) about its fiscal Q2 2010 earnings, Marvelous boldly revealed that three out of its four 2009 Wii releases lost money, though it didn't say which was the winner. Muramasa sold 47,000 units in Japan, the company said, not specifying American sales. Arc Rise Fantasia, which will be published Stateside by Ignition, sold 45,000 copies. Little King's Story sold 26,000 copies in Japan, 37,000 copies in North America, and 67,000 in Europe. Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga, which came out in September in North America, sold just 16,000 copies (Japanese sales, which started in October, are not mentioned). Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility on Wii somehow sold 57,000 units in 2009 despite being a 2007 release in Japan, a 2008 release in America, and not out until October in Europe and Australia. Because of lower development costs, Marvelous said, PSP software was more successful, with four out of five releases making money on similar sales numbers. Half-Minute Hero was Marvelous's overall best-performing title, at 70,000 copies sold. [Via Siliconera]

GameStop remains an unstoppable retail force, as the juggernaut slammed cash register drawers shut with $1.83 billion in sales and $52.2 million in profit for the quarter ending October 31. The figures represent 8.2 and 11.8 percent increases, respectively, from the same quarter last year. The top five games during the quarter were Madden NFL 10, Halo 3: ODST, Batman: Arkham Asylum, NBA 2K10 and Wii Sports Resort, with all titles having "exceeded" the company's initial sales expectations. GameStop also revealed thar Modern Warfare 2 -- which released in Q4 on November 10 -- sold 2.5 million copies at the retailer in 72 hours. GameStop CEO Daniel DeMatteo is optimistic and believes MW2 is a bellwether for the rest of the holiday season.

Update available to all versions by 2011, 3D games coming.

Apparently unwilling to accept the cold, hard scientific fact that the world will end in December of 2012, Sony has announced that it plans to be profitable and operating at a five percent margin by March of 2013, according to the Washington Post. Though the company originally hoped to hit the goal by March of 2008, an economic-collapse-shaped wrench was tossed into the works of that particular plan. As you might imagine, the PlayStation division is a big part of Sony's profitability strategy, and the company says it hopes to have that part of its business in the black by next year, partially on the back of digital distribution. Sony's targeting 300 billion yen (around $3.4 billion or 1.7 billion copies of the Andy Dick PAIN DLC) in digital sales by March 2013, which would amount to six times what it pulled in this year.

As promised in last week's European PSN update, today has reversed the recent slowdown of additions to the service. There's plenty of stuff to check out in the list after the jump, including the original Metal Gear Solid, Critter Crunch, a new Beatles: Rock Band track pack and LittleBigPlanet for the PSP. Sadly, there's no ridiculously named PSP Minis to make fun of this week. (We miss you, Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam!) Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

Xbox Live-based game show 1 vs. 100 begins its second season this evening in the States at 8PM EST/5PM PST. The second season is bringing a plethora of upgrades to the show, including unlockable dance moves and being the recipient of badges as the 14-week season goes on. Oh yeah, there's also sweet, sweet achievements. We're definitely curious to see how the second season goes, especially now that the chance of getting into the Mob or becoming The One is based on "score, score, score." If you haven't tried the game with your family, spouse or Xbox Live buddies, check it out, it's a lot of fun.

The screenshots on Microsoft Japan's page for No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise reveal that the Wii game has received noticeable visual enhancements for its HD debut. And we're not just talking about the revealing clothes in "Very Sweet" mode. Textures and lighting seem to have been improved quite a bit -- providing a less embarrassing excuse to purchase the game again than the pre-order bonus. The bonus, revealed on publisher Marvelous's site, is two sets of "erotica portraits" of No More Heroes' female cast by the original character designer and guest illustrators. The PS3 version of the game comes with the "Sexy Cherry" set, and the Xbox 360 version comes with the "Sweet Mango" set. This should go over better than the toilet paper. Joyswag! Enter for your chance to win a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta code (for PS3) by being the first to comment "off topic" on this post. Click here, for more information on this giveaway. Official rules apply.

Even with all the delightful new games on store shelves, we know you Borderlands addicts are still jonesing for more loot. Sure, it's not something you'd discuss with your family, but it's a disease, a terrible thirst that can only be slaked by DLC. MTV's got some more information on the first announced chunk, "The Zombie Island Of Doctor Ned." The $9.99 island (due November 24 on PS3 and 360) is approximately as big as one of the smaller areas in the game and provides around four to six hours of gameplay, according to DLC design director Paul Helquist. Getting to the island and all the delicious new weapons within is a snap: You can teleport directly to the content after you buy it, and as long as you're level 10 or above the area will scale to you. Hopefully that'll give you gear junkies enough info to stave off cravings until -- hey, are you licking the screen?!

"FIRST!!!" You've seen that comment before -- way too many times. Readers rush to mark their territory with a self-congratulatory comment and in doing so, pollute the atmosphere of earnest discourse. We typically ban these contemptible trolls, but today -- and today only! -- we're rewarding bad behavior. Why? Because we have ten Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta codes to give away. Today, ten PlayStation 3 posts will be specially marked for participation in this giveaway (look for the grenade icon and text seen at the bottom of this post). To enter this contest: Leave an "off-topic" comment on a participating post. [Note: Grossly explicit or hateful comments will be disqualified. But here's the catch: Relevant, thoughtful comments will be ineligible to win, as well.] You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). Limit 1 entry per person per participating post. This entry period ends at 10:00PM ET on Thursday, November 19. The first confirmed eligible commenter of each participating post will receive one code for the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 multiplayer beta (ARV: N/A). Codes are only for PlayStation 3 and will be active once today's PlayStation Store update occurs. For a list of complete rules, click here. Oh, and guess what? This is the first participating post! Joyswag! Enter for your chance to win a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta code (for PS3) by being the first to comment "off topic" on this post. Click here, for more information on this giveaway. Official rules apply.