Over at the official TF2 blog, Jakob Jungles said: One of the things we're looking at for the next update is the creation of a new type of environment for our levels to be built in. We're pretty happy with the way our environments have turned out so far, but as we create more and more maps with these achievement packs, we want our level designers to have more to work with in terms of giving their settings a unique look. The challenging part of this type of design process is in finding types of terrain and structures that provide an understandable, interesting set of visuals and at the same time staying within the constraints of what we want to do with gameplay. In addition to this, we want to be able to stay within the strengths of the engine that TF is built around. Read More...

According to Kotaku:     A friendly retail tipster sends us word that Rock Band 2 has suddenly popped up in their computer system. Better still the listings for the Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 versions are all dated: Xbox 360- September 14th PS3- October 19th Wii- November 18th     Why each release date is split a month a part? No idea.     http://kotaku. Read More...

  EBGames/Gamestop have posted what you will be getting in the Limited Edition version of Gears of War 2:         Gears of War 2: Limited Edition Get your hands on the most complete Gears of War 2 experience available! The Gears of War 2: Limited Edition includes the following bonus materials:Collectible SteelBook™ DVD case"Beneath the Surface: An Inside Look at Gears of War 2," a 48-page hardbound book including character profiles, exclusive concept art, and foreword by Design Director Cliff BleszinskiBonus DVD including exclusive making-of-the-game video footage, design galleries with audio commentary by Epic Games, and promotional videos including the E3 2008 trailer, "Rendezvous." An exclusive gold-plated Lancer Assault Rifle available during online play     One thing they forgot to add was a picture of Dom and I would guess his wife, if he has one. Is this worth the extra $10? Read More...

In Gears of War 2 news, the people of Epic seem to really understand their audience. Epic loves us for exactly what we are, a bunch of achievement whores. Now while some people may be above spending time going through games solely to raise their gamer score, most of us are not. Epic has created a whole new type of achievement system, called "linked" achievements. Linked Achievements occur when someone obtains an achievement in the first game(Gears of War), this then unlocks new content in the second game(Gears of War 2). Some examples of this are:- Complete Act One in Gears Of War, unlock a playable Anthony Carmine in Gears of War 2- Find 10 COG tags in Gears Of War, unlock Minh Young Kim in Gears of War 2- Kill Raam in Gears Of War, unlock a playable Raam in Gears of War 2According to xboxfocus. Read More...

Guilty Gear has always been one of my favorite series of fighter games because it greatly impairs our oh-so-beloved button mashers from pwning ass. Take Soul Calibur II for instance: when playing as Rafael, by repeatedly pushing one button, Rafael will rapidly flail his sabre, often leaving the other player no chance to retaliate. The control structure in Guilty Gear is so brilliant because rapidly pushing the punch or kick button won't get you very far: special combos are based mainly on the combination of buttons and quarter or half turns with the joystick or directional pad. It has so far proven to be a very difficult game to master - but isn't that what one looks for? Read More...

CAPCOM COMIC CON SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Just popped into my inbox so I thought I would pass it on. Good news for those who are rolling to San Diego in 11 days. Capcom just released what they will have at the San Diego Comic Con. Now I have yet another thing I have to fit a good chuck of time for. Not going to go into all the things I am thinking after reading this list, but RE5 and RE Degeneration are in there. WOO HOO! Hi Everyone, Before the E3 madness begins, here is everything you ever wanted to know about Capcom's activities at Comic Con this year! Read More...

Yesterday, July 3rd, Atlus announced that Persona 2 will be coming to American PS2s this December 12th 2008.  It was inevitable the game would be coming here considering the acclaim Persona 3 received from critics and gamers alike.  The only question was when, and Atlus answered.  Persona 4 takes place in a Japanese countryside at Gekkkoukan High, where a mysterious string of murders have taken place, and of course it's up to you and your team to find the answers.  Persona 3 introduced an interesting relationship system in which you had to build friendships to help boost abilities and teamwork.  In Persona 4 that system returns along with crafting weapons and even having part-time jobs. Read More...

I, for one, am excited over the next installment of Rock Band. Harmonix did a wonderful job the first time around, so I'm really jumping out of my seat every time I hear something else about it. I'm about to talk about a bunch of rumors I've been hearing around the internets lately, so please just remember that these are rumors, nothing is confirmed.             Here are the basics:You'll be able to play the World Tour with your friends via XBL (finally). There are 80+ songs total. Read More...

DC Universe Online Party At Comic Con So, seeing as I am hyped to no end to go this year, you will keep hearing more about this year's Comic Con until probably a week after I get back from it. So deal with it. Yea... So any ways, here is yet another reason to show up this year. DC Universe Online dev.s will be there to talk about the game and they are also hosting a party that people can get into if they are in the know. So I am going to make you, my readers, in the know. Read More...

After a 7 year wait from the last Diablo, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Diablo 3 was announced today at Blizzards Worldwide Invitational. Hope for another Diablo 3 release was squashed repeatedly when Blizzard North, responsible for the Diablo franchise, lost top developers on June 30, 2003, and again on August 1, 2005 when Blizzard Entertainment announced the closure of Blizzard North. Subtle hints have kept the hope of Diablo fans alive; on Oct 23, 2006 Richard A. Knaak, a novel writer for the Diablo series, told BlizzPlanet "I ain’t writing for a dead game. Read More...

This week at DreamHack, a computer festival in Sweden, Ubisoft Montreal unveiled over 20 minutes from the upcoming game, Far Cry 2. Far Cry 2 is the much anticipated first person shooter from Ubisoft, and is currently in development for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Far Cry 2, the sequel to Far Cry, is an open ended, non-linear game. The game takes place amidst an unspecific vast land in Africa with terrains varying from Savannah to jungle. Ubisoft Montreal promises an extremely detailed environment. Read More...

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe vs. Comic-Con Ok, not really a fight per say, but at least another reason to go to Comic Con this year. If you didn't have a good enough reason in the first place. Meet some of your favorite people of all times. *cough*Hades*cough*. So here's the skinny. I love saying that. On the 25th, that's the Friday, Ed Boon and Jimmy Palmiotti will be holding a panel to show off the game. Claims of unseen game play and more of the character line up will be given out at this panel as well. Read More...

Today, Valve released a whole bunch of updates for Team Fortress 2. Of the updates come 2 (not so new) maps. Valve has been keeping a close eye on it's servers and it seems that it picked it's 2 favorite user-created maps and stuffed them into today's TF2 Update. CP_Fastlane and CTF_Turbine are now available to you - so you can join these servers without having to wait to download them.On another note, Valve's second installment of the TF2 Achievement updates has also been released today. The Pryo's achievment pack and 3 new unlockable weapons are yours for the taking. Read More...

What person hasn't thought about breaking a world record at least once in their lifetime? I remember as a kid - the Guinness books were the ones most often checked out at our schools library, so when the chance arose to finally be in the book itself, I was more excited than a fat kid in a cake factory (no offense to any of you fat kids ;p ). Every year thousands of people gather at the Dallas based anime convention, A-KON in a weekend that can only be described as PEACE, LOVE and POCKY. This year's convention though seemly the same, had one major difference - Guinness Book of World Records was there to witness our world-record breaking skills at work! Read More...

Aeria Games is proud to announce the closed beta of the highly anticipated free-2-play massive-multiplayer RPG, Stone Age 2.Set in the prehistoric ages, Stone Age 2 brings a mixture of dinosaurs of unimaginable heights and invisible spirits who help humans roam altered terrains such as dungeons and arid desserts.Catch cute dinosaur pals and raise them to be battle masters and fight primeval threats alongside friendly allies. Duel against other players and creatures by building up your team with a combination of over 200 dinosaur species – each with unique personalities and special abilities. Read More...