Dhani Harrison wants advanced peripherals, ability to teach how to play real music

Ever since the emergance of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the music gaming genre has grown more and more popular, especially within the casual/family market. Not trying to delve too much into the history of modern rhythm games, it started out with the ability of just playing guitar, followed then by the inclusion of drums and vocals in Harmonix's Rock Band, which was then applied to the Guitar Hero series with the launch of Guitar Hero: World Tour.

At this point, there is little the game developers can do to try and trump eachother in the gaming market, producing various spin-offs such as Van Halen, Metallica and The Beatles and downright gimmicks like the recent LEGO Rock Band. However, Dhani Harrison, who was consulted on the development of The Beatles Rock Band, is said to have stayed on to help the team with Rock Band 3, saying:

"I'm working on Rock Band 3 and making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game.

"Give me a couple years, it's going to happen."

If Harmonix truly are making an experience which is the closest to playing real-life instruments, it will be very intruiging to see how Rock Band 3 shapes up, and how well it sells. The classic rhythm based formula has yet to let the developers down, but taking one step towards realism is maybe just what the genre needs, even it does mean a horde of angry Rock Band fans moaning about buying yet another peripheral.

Now with blocky LEGO goodness

With the recent release of LEGO Rock Band, Harmonix introduces some new methods of keeping your children's virgin ears pure.  Now while searching for downloadable content for LEGO Rock Band, songs considered "inappropriate" will not appear at all in the Music Store.

A rather small update this time as it is domineered by the debut of The White Stripes in the Rock Band series.  Their songs each come from three different albums: "White Blood Cells", "Elephant", and "Icky Thump".  If you'd like an English flair with your songs, rock group Kasabian adds a headbanger to their catalog while The Damned debut with some punk rock.

Here are the five tunes that will be available for download.  Those colored in red will not be available in LEGO Rock Band:

• The Damned - "Smash It Up (Part II)"
• Kasabian - "Club Foot"
• The White Stripes - "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"
• The White Stripes - "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine"
• The White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
  

"The White Stripes Pack 01" lets you bundle their three songs for 440 Microsoft Points, or $5.49 / £2.49 / €3.99 from the PlayStation Store.  All individual downloads go for 160 MS Points, $1.99 / £.99 / €1.49 from the PlayStation Store, or 200 Nintendo Points from the Wii.

Rock Band Unplugged fans continue on from their milestone 55 songs as No Doubt and Dropkick Murphys join the Unplugged catalog:

• Dropkick Murphys - "I'm Shipping Up to Boston"
• No Doubt - "Excuse Me Mr."

Downloads cost $1.99, or £.99 / €1.49 for European players.

Xbox 360 and Wii players get their content November 10 while PlayStation 3 and PSP owners get theirs on November 12.

Video game recording, screenshot capturing and benchmarking software sees major update

If you're nuts about screenshotting your PC game sessions like us, you've certainly heard of the popular video game screenshot and recording software FRAPS. While WeGame does about the same job and is free, it doesn't support every title like FRAPS, or have benchmarking capabilities. In any case, it's a very well-built, minimalistic program that gets the job done.

FRAPS gets even better today with the major 3.0.0 update, bringing with it a new look, Ventrilo and TeamSpeak support, Windows 7 compatibility, NVIDIA 3D Vision support (yep, you can record in 3D now), and more.

Hit up the source to grab the latest version.

Raw footage for Larian's upcoming PC and Xbox 360 RPG

Video game trailers, something like demos, can be at times not accurate to how a game plays and feels. That's not the case with this Divinity II: Ego Draconis compilation we've put together though, made up of five gameplay segments recorded by developer Larian Studios.

Divinity II, if you're still in the dark, is a PC and Xbox 360 RPG set for release this winter. The game is a sequel to the highly acclaimed isometric RPG Divine Divinity (just re-released), developed by the same studio, albeit with a different writer (Larian has stated they are quite confident in the result, so don't worry your pretty little heads, Divinity fans).

The new installment takes the series into a third person perspective, a la Elder Scrolls, Gothic, etc., and adds in the ability to read minds (with an experience penalty), as well as transform into a dragon roughly halfway through the plot.

Gamers should note the mind reading system appears to work quite well and be a genuinely innovative feature: you lose experience every time you perform it, however this can be alleviated somewhat by increasing your mind reading skill; replay value can be increased highly based on who you choose to read or not read. We're assuming a player that spends a lot of his time doing so will acquire experience through otherwise unattainable quests, so in the end it should all balance out.

As for the dragon transformation, we were particularly concerned about this -- if you're spending half your time levelling up, it wouldn't be very satisfying to spend the other half flying around as a dragon, would it? As you can see from the footage, though, it turns out your dragon self gets his own armor and abilities; whether or not experience is shared between your human and dragon character is not known, however. Flying and battling as a dragon looks very much like what you'd expect in the beloved Panzer Dragoon series albeit with RPG elements, which is quite a honour to hold, though we're still not convinced this will mesh well with the human gameplay.

In any case, judge for yourself with with video below. Note the resolution is fairly low, so certainly expect higher quality graphics at release.

Divinity II: Ego Draconis is set to launch January 5; look out for our review, and in the meantime, check out the official site for background and neat items like podcasts.

Mostly minor bug fixes, plus difficulty tweaks included

Fresh on the shelves, BioWare has already released the first patch for its highly praised RPG Dragon Age: Orgins, taking things up to version 1.01.

As you'd guess by the version number, this isn't a major update, but is welcome nonetheless. Included are mostly minor bug fixes, though one major for users playing with a very large display. The other notable bit is the tweaking of difficulty. As noted in our review, the game is quite challenging; BioWare have seen fit to tone down the Normal and Easy difficulties a bit.

Release notes are below; grab the 13MB file at the source.

Patch details:

• fixed potential corruption of character statistics
• fixed portrait appearance sliders when importing a character from the downloadable Character Creator
• fixed import for preset face settings from the downloadable Character Creator
• made Easy difficulty easier
• slightly increased attack, defense, and damage scores for all party members at Normal difficulty
• fixed video issues when running on a very wide screen display, including ATI Eyefinity displays

Gets 16th map, over four billion kills since last year

Four billion player kills in one year is quite a feat, especially for a free-to-play FPS.  Well, Combat Arms is still pushing that figure and has gotten its 16th map now with "Grave Digger."

A new trailer showcasing the map was just released, composed of compiled gameplay footage. 

On top of the previously announced four billion kills, Nexon also noted that 1.5B grenades have been tossed, with 240 million hitting their mark.  Ah yes, only in the gaming industry would you brag about having wracked up billions of deaths.

"New User Journey" introduced, replaces 10-day trial

Mythic and EA are doing something interesting with Warhammer Online.  Today, they announce their new endless free trial, which replaces the original 10-day trial.  The catch is that trial characters are capped at level 10 and restricted to the tier one Empire vs. Chaos zones of Nordland and Norsca, and the Hunter's Vale dungeon.

With the new endless fre trial comes the New User Journey, which includes "enhanced" tutorials and new community features, like the "new player" guild.  It's supposed to ease players into the game better, according to Mythic Entertainment's executive producer, Jeff Hickman:

“With the introduction of the endless free trial and streaming client, we are making it easier than ever for a new player to join the WAR.  We’ve worked hard to create a more informative and community driven new user experience, and now we are giving players an unlimited amount of time to explore the early parts of the game at their own pace. We are confident that players new and old will find all the enhancements we’ve made to WAR over the past year worthy of their time and commitment.”

The streaming trial should be seamless, an improvement over the previous method.  It's available for initial download now and requires little more than 1GB of space.  Additional content will stream in teh background while you play.  If you already had a 10-day trial account, they will have already been converted.

iPhone developer hoping for a change in attitude

The piracy community is typically never short of excuses for pirating software and/or video games ("those people are rich anyway", "I need to see if I really like it", or "I can't afford it" are common), but the word from iPhone developer NaturalMotion really boggles the mind. According to the studio's Torsten Reil, "a lot of people" have pirated their 59p (99¢) football title Backbreaker Football: Tackle Alley -- the lowest possible price on the App Store.

The console version of the game is quite impressive, too (handheld version looks similar, just scaled down), particularly with the sweet Refused track in the trailer:

Reil, understandably, is quite frustrated with the results:

"At 59p it's pretty fair to assume that a lot of those pirates would have been able and would have bought the game, but there's an overall attitude that it's fine to pirate," he says.

His feeling is DRM is not the answer though, but changing that very attitude:

"There is in general a feeling that IP and content should be free. That's fine to say, but if you have to pay all the people that actually put their heart and soul into a game – who have to pay a mortgage off and have children – it becomes much more difficult. Yes, you can limit [piracy] with technical tricks, but there needs to be an overall change in the perception of IP and the people who create it."

Ironically, we've witnessed people with mortgages and kids freely pirating. As we've communicated before, it really does seem to come down to a lack of consideration, perhaps perpetuated in part by the fact software and video games are virtual, and as such are not seen as tangible goods of value, explaining the pervasive double standard between them and physical goods.

If you happen to be a pirate, we have a word for you: freeware.

Not the helpless princess anymore (finally)

After 23 years, Nintendo is finally getting with the times.  In the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks DS game, Princess Zelda will actually be adventuring alongside Link as his companion, not a victim who gets kidnapped every few years.

Instead of running around as a mysterious blonde man with a lyre (still don't get that), Zelda shall be accompanying Link as a spirit, with a unique ability to possess suits of armor called "Phantoms."  Of course, she'll remain Link's guiding voice, traversing Hyrule on a customizable train, solving the usual puzzles as the storyline gradually reveals itself.  Spirit Tracks also promises a closer look at Zelda as an iconic character who, until now, has never really been in the Legend of Zelda spotlight.

President Reggie Fils-Aime claims early victory over MW2 on one platform

Well, big shots in the industry tend to talk crap to each other indirectly, mostly using the media.  In most situations, we only hear about the slap fighting between Sony and Microsoft, but Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime wants in on the action.

Seems Fils-Aime was recently quoted during a video interview saying that New Super Mario Bros.Wii will outsell Modern Warfare 2 on one system by January 2010.  "On a single platform...absolutely," said Fils-Aime. "I say that unequivocally." 

Now fanboys are getting all flustered over the statement, claiming the man's full of himself -- among other things.  But Reggie said one platform, not all; with the way Modern Warfare 2 currently looks for PC, it's entirely possible NSMB Wii might outsell MW2 PC before January.

"It's going to be close," said Fils-Aime, expressing his own anticipation for NSMB. "Of course I'll play it...I play all the content out there."

There's no doubt NSMB Wii will do well.  Famed analyst Michael Pachter has already predicted the sales will "shock" most of the industry and community, while GameStop executive Tony Bartel noted it should be a top-seller this holiday.
 

9 vs. 9 limit on matches, no kicking hackers, no lean, no console, no match recording and more

Everyone expects Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) to bust sales records wide open. But for all the anticipation, Activision and developer Infinity Ward may as well have abandoned any development work into PC-specific features for the multiplatform game. Compared to all earlier entries in the revered Call Of Duty series, Modern Warfare 2 is the first game that is basically all port, with as little catering to the PC gamer as feasibly possible.

You all know that there will be no dedicated servers -- the backlash over that came earlier on this month. Further bad news for PC gamers was unceremoniously delivered by way of a community chat hosted by Best Buy with Infinity Ward's Mackey McCandlish and Ryan Lastimosa yesterday.  The lack of dedicated servers aren't the only bad news -- it's just the beginning.

Modern Warfare 2 will have extremely poor multiplayer support compared to what PC gamers are accustomed to in almost all other modern FPS games. Besides the lack of server support, there will be no way for players to kick cheaters out of games. Apparently Infinity Ward hopes that hackers and cheaters will somehow not materialize, a very far-fetched idea to anyone who has ever played a popular PC FPS. Furthermore, because the PC version is basically nothing more than a straight console port, matches will be limited to 9 versus 9 -- 18 players a match is a sad number when you consider many other comparable games support at least 16 on 16 players per map. To further unbalance the game, any player that hosts a match will have an undeniable ping advantage, awarding them with an advantage online.

Beyond these deficiencies, Modern Warfare 2 will also have no support for console commands -- something that is practically an institution in PC FPS games. The strength of the PC as a gaming platform is the ability for gamers to customize and tailor game settings to their heart's content, yet it appears Infinity Ward does not think this is very important.

Additionally, there is no way to record matches, a commonplace feature seen even in lower-budget MP FPS games. The lack of this feature alone further evaporates the chances Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer will be taken seriously by the competitive PC gamer community.

On top of all that, leaning from hiding positions has not been incorporated into the game. Prior Call of Duty titles featured leaning, but alas, it seems it was removed because the game "isn't balanced" for such an ability.

It wouldn't surprise us if there are even more features the PC version lacks. In fact, the word 'lacking' just might sum up Modern Warfare 2 on PC. When asked what features were specific to the PC version, McCandlish stated "mouse control, text chat in game, and graphics settings." Suffice to say, the title faces a tremendous challenge in keeping PC gamers engaged.

You might expect all this from a smaller studio looking to curb development costs for a smaller title. But for a studio that is releasing what could be one of the bestselling games of the year, the relative dearth of exclusive PC features in favour of what appears to be a console port must be somewhat depressing for potential fans of the game. We suspect the complete absence of features in the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 will translate into low sales on the PC platform. Which, we are guessing, will promptly be blamed on piracy, and will lead to even effort spent on future PC versions of Infinity Ward titles.

Guitar Hero 5 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 help give the company a major boost

In spite of a "challenging overall software market", Activision Blizzard still manages to beat projections to achieve profitability and a slight growth to its U.S. marketshare for its third fiscal quarter ending September 30th.

The company's revenues during the third quarter slid slightly year-on-year to $703 million USD, but beat its own projection of $680 million USD.  Activision Blizzard has also managed to score profit of $15 million USD for the third quarter, a huge improvement from the $108 million USD quarterly loss posted last year.  Spurred by such results, Activision believes it remains on track for revenue of $4.05 billion USD by the end of the 2009 calendar year.

CEO Bobby Kotick attributes this turnaround in profit to the performance of its Guitar Hero, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and Call of Duty franchises.  Blizzard's World of Warcraft also managed to deliver the goods during the third quarter.

Activision is certainly not unaware of the concerns raised elsewhere regarding the sustainability of its music game business, especially after the lukewarm reception to DJ Hero at launch.  Sales for music peripheral bundles in North America are also stabilizing, as fans who already have the relevant instrument controllers increasingly opt for software-only packages.  CFO Thomas Tippl not only believes things will be just fine, but in fact predicts even better holiday season sales for its lineup of music games than last year.  The company continues to count on an engaged fanbase on the PS3 and Xbox 360 to help carry its music games through.

Being sneaky in space is tough

If you're looking for a beautiful PC shooter, look no further than Futuremark's Shattered Horizon, a unique multiplayer game now available for download. 

Set in space, Shattered Horizon makes the most of its unique environment; players can use the darkness and the zero-gravity to their advantage in combat.  Of course, being set in space means everything is treated differently than in a conventional shooter -- every tiny detail.  It seems players have been curious about sound, so Futuremark put together a little gameplay demo of the game's "silent running."

This mode allows players to move without any sound, which is completely possible in space, but as Futuremark notes, an FPS becomes more difficult without any audio cues.  As such, the player's suit has an "audio simulation" feature, which recreates sounds based on sensor information taken from one's surroundings.  "Silent running" basically shuts off this feature, letting you move in complete silence for stealth kills, while sacrificing radar, HUD, and maneuverability.  Hey, a perfectly executed punch to the back of your opponent's head is worth it.

First major update reduces loading times, improves performance, tweaks, and balances

If the comic below describes your experiences with the action RPG Torchlight, you'd better order yourself up another plate of swine flu: developer Runic Games have just released a massive patch for the game, improving and fixing all sorts of stuff.

Depending on where you've purchased, the 1.12 patch may or may not be ready for you; as of 11 AM PST, the official site and GamersGate versions are ready to go, with the remaining ones set to be available quite soon. Note the official site version may ask you to re-enter your serial, thus removing one allowable install (out of 10); contacting Runic following this will allow you to get it back.

One last thing before we proceed with the release notes: a major feature to the patch is improved loading times, and as such you must uninstall the game and reinstall before giving it a go.

Enjoy!

Torchlight 1.12 Patch Notes -

* Fixed several issues which could overwrite saves, and protected against possible save loss. Save backups are now also generated.
* Much reduced load times for many users
* Some minor ingame performance improvements
* Fixed Needle Arc XP exploit
* Fixed Shadow Armor stacking effects
* Fixed vendor dupe bug
* Fixed various fullscreen startup issues
* Fixed broken Brink cinematic on subsequent plays
* Fixed merchant 'thief' exploit
* Fixed right clicking in inventory casting certain spells
* Fixed console not activating on Steam builds - this also fixes the fact that subsequent characters didn't see the random dungeon unlock after the first completion
* Fixed issue with Syl's cinematic not being "skippable" during first boss fight
* Fixed some DOT deaths not dropping loot
* Quest items no longer allowed in stash
* Several level fixes for a few places where things overlapped, or collision was missing, or stuck-issues cropped up
* Fixed texture/mesh/ replacement issues with mods
* You can now change difficulty level on the fly from the console without being branded a Cheater ( UNLESS you're playing hardcore )
* Fixed pet minions not awarding fame
* Fixed slow load times when mods were enabled
* Pets inherit your spell masteries
* Magic find takes the max value between you and your pet when pets or pet minions make a kill
* Visible/increasing chance of stripping enchants via enchanter. Price based on # of enchants. Variables tunable in globals.dat
* Troll pet is properly invincible
* Tree Boss could be charmed - fixed
* Fixed issue - Returning to town if you died during Ember Colossus or Medea would make them dormant on return
* weapon + shield doesn't count as 'dual wielding'
* Shimmering Scale ( and 2 other socketables ) now work properly when socketed
* Ember lance slight nerf
* Ember lightning slight buff
* Aloe Gel summon provides better healing
* Equippables properly provide bonuses to passive skills
* Fixed display issue where multiple skill bonuses on the same item would collapse into a single display
* Hardware skinning settings respected properly for pet paperdolls
* Fix for potential bad state in the henchman battle
* Enchantments at level 100 now work
* Relabeled difficulty levels, and added tooltips explaining each
* Fixed 'free spell purchase' exploit
* Socketables cannot be heirloomed
* Fix for masteries not updating certain spell bonuses until logout/login
* Summon Blood Skeleton has 11 levels now
* Various small grammar and spelling fixes

* ADDITION : Rimlights, HW Skinning, and VSynch can all be altered from the Settings menu now.
* MODDERS: Items can be set to 'always identified'

Cheaper admission for elevator rides

If you have any extra cash not already invested in the reasonably-priced Mass Effect 2 CE, why not spread the love by buying the original game for a friend at a discounted price?  Starting today, you can buy Mass Effect from Steam for $10.00 USD.

Haven't played the game yet?  Here's a brief refresher: Mass Effect is a sci-fi action RPG that lets you take on the role of Commander Shepard (or your own customized avatar) to embark on an interplanetary mission to battle against an ancient threat.  Helping you out are two partner characters of your choice that wield unique skills to assist with your missions.  Aside from a rather unique group of allies, you've also got some high-powered firearms and Biotic skills (like the Force in Star Wars).

Mass Effect on PC differs from its console counterpart in that it has some improved features and an all-new HUD made especially for PC play.  The Steam edition also includes the "Bring Down the Sky" DLC at no extra charge.  All this for ten bucks is a pretty good deal for one of 2007's most highly regarded games.

Direct2Drive, Impulse, GamersGate oppose mandatory Steam client in games

Digital PC game service Direct2Drive (D2D) has begun a protest today against Activision's use of Steamworks in Modern Warfare 2, refusing to sell the PC title.

The game's page reads as follows:

At Direct2Drive, we believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn't be forced to install and run a 3rd party software client to be able to play the game you purchased. Because COD MW 2 requires you, the consumer, to do that, we aren't able to offer the game via Direct2Drive at this time.

Elaborating in a statement, D2D refers to the client as a "Trojan Horse" in that it's a means by which to sneak in digital rights management (DRM). Steam-bundled games, of course, require online activation and the client's files to be updated for play -- two things not always possible, particularly if your Internet connection is not rock solid.

The opposition appears to be a new change in D2D's operations, as previously released titles like Saint's Row 2 and Empire: Total War do require the client. It's plausible to expect then support received enough complaints for previous titles to rule out the inclusion of Steam in future releases.

Oddly, D2D encourages people to buy the retail version through their partner Amazon, though that version includes Steamworks as well. In any case, they're also offering $5 off select Activision titles which are not bundled with the client, and even encourage you to contact them about your concerns. We'd guess if they get enough e-mails, they may convince Activision to supply them with a Steam-free version of the game, or at least not use it for future games, if only on D2D.

Theodore Bergquist, CEO of another digital distributor GamersGate has a similar stance on publishers including Steam with their games, having said in an interview last month it's both dangerous for competition and unfriendly to the customer:

"The real danger for a publisher using Steam, for example, is that they're feeding a competitor with money and resources. Consider the way Steam locks their customers into a download client; essentially they implement their technology in third party games, and force users to go through Steam in order to access games that the consumer paid full price for. What ends up happening is Steam builds an inordinate degree of control over their customer base and future revenues, and I don’t think many publishers are aware of just how much control they actually have."

Bergquist later added, "We believe being independent and working toward an open ended solution that delivers a smooth and fast retailing service is the concept of the future."

Update: Impulse and GamersGate have both joined the boycott; no other digital distributors (except Steam) are listing the game at this time.

Make your own Gears of War 3, with 300% more bromance

The always community-based Epic Games have seen fit to release their famed Unreal Engine to the public today, allowing anyone with a powerful PC and some technical know-how to make amateur games or even full-scale works with enough time and effort.

The engine, which has powered games like Mirror's Edge, BioShock, and of course, the Unreal series, comes to us in the form of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), complete with its own website and tons (tons) of support should you need it. More, they plan to release free updates and builds over time.

Basically, it's blowing PC development wide open -- definitely a boost the gaming and education communities could use (the editor is already used in over 100 academic facilities).

Epic seems happy to announce the kit includes all the latest technology, some of which is even yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine-powered title. Hundreds of video tutorials on how to use it are available on 3D Buzz; we've got a demo video of sorts here, featuring some tasty-looking gingerbread men:

For those that want to take their efforts commercial, there's licensing options available, for which they note finances are a minimal barrier thanks to the structuring.

Console gamers are out of luck with this one for the moment, but Epic notes they are considering a version for you. However, if you happen to be approved for the creation of PS3 or 360 games (lucky dog), send an e-mail this way to get started with UDK.

The official website is below, complete with the not too steep system requirements.

Forget about the polar caps melting, the South Pole just got covered in a black void

Atlus confirms it will be localizing the latest title in the long-running Shin Megami Tensei RPG series, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, for North America.  Scheduled for release next March 10th 2010 for the Nintendo DS, Strange Journey once again blends the world of demonic folklore and mythology with one of science.

Like most of the classic titles in the series, SMT: Strange Journey is a dungeon crawling RPG that pits you against demons you can battle or negotiate with to join your cause.  Setting the stage of the story is a mysterious, growing, black void that appears at the Earth's southern pole in the near future.  The player is part of an elite team of explorers dispatched to investigate the heart of this void, dubbed the "Schwarzwelt", and it happens to be a universe filled with demons.

Yes, you do look like an armored space marine with guns, but your handy "Demonica environment suit" works into the gameplay itself.  Strange Journey is designed to take advantage of the DS' dual screens during both exploration and combat.  You'll also make use of suit upgrades to allow you to deal with the different situations you may encounter as you explore the mysterious world of demons.

As with previous SMT games, the player will be required to make choices throughout the game intended to reflect on their avatar's moral compass.  The decisions you make could effect the course of your strange, strange journey.

Expanding microtransaction, hitting up the dim and addicted

Apparently making one billion every year isn't enough for Activision Blizzard, so now World of Wacraft is expanding into microtransaction for some extra profits. 

This is usually a method implemented for free-to-play games, but companies not satisfied with charging monthly fees (and a crap-ton of other service fees) can certainly consider this option.

As such, World of Warcraft now has new pets that will cost real money to acquire.  The official Blizzard Store already has a Lil' K.T. (Kel'Thuzad) listed at $10.00 USD; the page also proudly proclaims gift-giving options for your purchase.  Hey, nothing like a $10 virtual pet to show someone you care, right?

So mini-Kel'Thuzad can float, and for many WoW saps, that's probably enough to warrant paying nearly 70 percent of an entire month's subscription fee.  Hey, who are we to question someone's spending habits and hobbies?  Here's the product description:

Give the gift of diminutive undead companionship with this Blizzard Pet Store exclusive — Lil' K.T., the mini-lich.  What Lil' K.T. lacks in size, he more than makes up for in sheer malicious intensity.  Watch with misplaced pride as he randomly freezes critters and laughs maniacally at your vanquished PvP foes.  Once activated, this World of Warcraft in-game pet key applies to all present and future characters on a single World of Warcraft license.

Not that real fans need to actually read it before buying, psh!

Master of Magnetism trailer and screens

Okay, it's not like no one saw this coming: Magneto has been revealed for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.  Granted the list was leaked some time ago, but at least now we've got a trailer and some screenshots of the Master of Magnetism in action.

The character model looks a bit odd in combination with his bucket helmet (a bit purple and red gorilla) but at least we've still got the classic costume.  For the most part, Magneto just floats around in the trailer, lifting things in the air around him with the same flare as Jean Grey.  Could have similar attacks, with the exception of fire.

As mentioned before, the DLC is out today and will cost gamers 800 Microsoft Points or $9.99 on PSN.  Juggernaut is also available, sold separately for 160 MS Points or $1.99 USD.  In addition to the new characters, the DLC introduces new challenge missions and boss encounters, as well as new upgrades for your superhuman team.  Now fork over the money -- Activision is waiting.

PS3 players can get started this month, PC gamers in December

Shooter fans hankering for some hands-on time with DICE's upcoming single and multiplayer game Battefield: Bad Company 2, you'll be able to get in on the action with a multiplayer beta in a couple weeks, provided you have a PS3. PC owners will have to wait until December, while Xbox 360 owners will have to wait for the demo (set for each platform) come early next year.

So, how do you get a key? A limited amount will be sent out to Best Buy and GameStop outlets for North Americans. Pre-ordering will nab you one, if you make it in time -- the PS3 beta begins November 19 (PC doesn't have an exact date at the moment). For Europe and Asia, nothing has been announced yet, but check the Battlefield blog (link below) in the coming weeks for an announcement.

As for what you can expect: 24-player battles on the Arica Harbor map in one of the four multiplayer modes, called Rush. Arica should have a healthy balance of vehicle and infantry combat between the American assault unit and Russian army base, all spread out between a desert town and an industrial area.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be released March 2 and 5 in NA and Europe, respectively, on all platforms.

Madden NFL 2010 is the best-selling North American-produced title, and makes the global list

Industry sales trackers NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track and Enterbrain collaborate once more to deliver their latest Top Global Markets report covering software sales across three major regions; North America, the United Kingdom, and Japan. According to their findings, all software markets suffered a 6 percent decline in unit sales combined for the three month period from July to September.

Of the three global markets, Japan proved to be the healthiest thanks to a 15 percent year-on-year increase in third quarter software unit sales. Year-to-date sales however dropped around 9 percent compared to the first three quarters of 2008.

North America and the UK suffered year-on-year declines in both quarterly and year-to-date software unit sales. The UK in particular faced the greatest drops, with third quarter sales down 19 percent and year-to-date sales declining 13 percent.

While North America and the UK still enjoyed great software unit sales from high profile releases like Madden NFL 2010 and Halo 3: ODST, it was Japan that produced the single best-selling title across all three regions, Dragon Quest IX. The DS RPG racked up lifetime sales of just under 4 million units since launch at the start of the calendar quarter, further underlining the series' popularity in Japan.

Art book, DVD, in-game goodies, and more...

BioWare and EA have finally released details for the Mass Effect 2 Collectors' Edition perks.  Looks like the pricier version will come with both physical collectibles and in-game gear.

To start, the ME2 CE will be shipped in a special case (assuming tin) and include Art of Mass Effect 2 in hardcover, the first issue of Mass Effect Redemption (comic), and a bonus making-of DVD.  There aren't any specific details announced for the in-game weapons and armor, but we do have an illustration of it -- and it looks badass.  The whole package will cost ten bucks more at $69.99 USD.

Oh, and don't forget your retail pre-order bonuses, announced last month and valid worldwide.  Just in case you'd like a spare suit of armor and all.

Shadowrun: The Awakening, a game that never happened

Why does it seem sometimes that games that should have been axed, ended up being released, while promising projects, end up getting thrown in the can? That might have been the case with the now-deceased FASA Studios.

There last project, Shadowrun, a multiplayer FPS set in the long-running cyberpunk-fantasy IP, did not do as well as the company hoped -- or Microsoft, who bought out FASA in 1999. The commercial failure of the game meant the death of the dev studio. But as it turns out, the FPS that came to be Shadowrun was started after an earlier aborted attempt at a single-player possibly-RPG Shadowrun game, called Shadowrun: The Awakening (for the PC and Xbox 360).

Some screenshots and early video of Shadowrun: The Awakening popped up today, on the Net-Inters. The graphics look pretty good, considering this 2007, and the game was in an early state. 

Shadowrun: The Awakening was supposed to be a full single player game, and we can hypothesize that the entire Shadowrun game that was published might have just been the MP component of the more ambitious earlier project. Hearing about this late cancellation and complete change of plan for the game makes a lot of sense -- many people who played Shadowrun commented on how little content it seemed to have for a full game, as it was only MP, only a handful of maps, and not too many models (many reviewers knocked the game for not even having character ladder-climbing animations).

Furthermore, with Shadowrun's strong RPG legacy, in both early video games and of course the pen-and-paper source material, many fans were disgruntled to hear that the last Shadowrun game wasn't going to be a RPG at all. We would like to think that if Shadowrun: The Awakening was a single-player RPG it would have resonated much more with gamers than did the last (and maybe final) game.

If you are a fan of the Shadowrun world you will be happy to hear that there is a chance that a new Shadowrun game will be made some day though. FASA founder Weisman recently re-licensed his bought-out rights (that Microsoft now owns) to the Shadowrun I.P. Perhaps if Weisman's Smith & Tinker venture is a success, which is now finishing up a Mechwarrior game, maybe there will be a chance for something like Shadowrun: The Awakening to be made again. 

PC titles Psychonauts, Bloodrayne and more now available digitally

Digital distribution outfit Good Old Games (GOG) sees its next major publisher signing today: Majesco. With this news comes four new PC titles to the library: Psychonauts, Advent Rising, Bloodrayne, and Bloodrayne 2, each priced at $6 or $10, depending.

Psychonauts is definitely the biggest release here; gaming buffs surely know the title or at least other works of its creator Tim Schafer, like Grim Fandango, Maniac Mansion, or the recent Brutal Legend. Psychonauts was a terribly unique, surreal and creative title that unfortunately went mostly unloved by gamers, so the GOG re-release is a really special event, allowing anyone who missed out on it to catch up easily and cheaply. It's also a rather difficult title to explain in words, so we'll let this trailer do the talking:

The other title available today is Advent Rising, a sci-fi action adventure written by famed author Orson Scott Card -- fans of Shadow Complex (a game by the same creators and to which he lent his universe) should love this one. We've never played it, unfortunately, though judging by the screenshots and setting, Mass Effect is astonishingly similar to it, right down to the UI. Advent Rising sees you taking on a "vicious" race called the Seekers with the help of your expected futuristic weapons and not-so-expected psychic powers.

Two other titles to be available in the coming weeks (pending testing on XP & Vista) are Bloodrayne and Bloodrayne 2, great titles for action and vampire fans, something we don't see too often on the PC.

As always, GOG titles are DRM-free, are compatible with modern operating systems, and come with extras (these ones come with artworks, soundtracks, and more; AR gets a sweet comic book and 'making of' video).

All this making you want to play? Fear not, little reader, we're giving away five GOGs, of which you can win one (for any game in the catalogue). All you have to do is PM us with the name of the first studio that designer Tim Schafer worked under -- be warned it's a trick question. Update: Contest closed; happy GOGing!