For many years, I have pondered my purpose on this small planet we call Earth. Now, by the grace of God, who loves me best of all His children, I know what I have been destined to do with my precious gift of life. I was put here as a prophet, as a spreader of the good word. I was put here to tell you about Visions, a Christian MMO that is in development right now and needs your help.

Visions is a "1st person 3D graphics MMORPG with a quest based and skill based gameplay in a persistent online world set in the 2nd century holy land." It's the ultimate Christian experience, and will innovate the world of computer games as we know it. Don't just take my word for it, even though I am basically like Jesus. Let's let the volunteer dev team tell you more:

By quest and skill based game we mean that the game mechanics are focused on interacting with the game world, and learning from a wide variety of skills for players to customize their character. Where most other online games have the play character kill a never ending hoard of enemies to gain experience and purchase levels from a trainer, Visions will have play characters learn their skills by completing quests, and then use their skills to improve their ability that skill. The skills they use the most will be the skills they are best at.

Doesn't it sound fantastic? Of course it f*cking does! Here's the rub though -- Very much like Heaven itself, you're only going to get into Visions if you pay vast sums of money. Visions needs over $58,000, pledged by fine folks such as yourselves, in order to get developed. So far, the team has raised a staggering $107. but they need your support. So please, pledge as much as you can.

I don't presume to speak for God (I prefer to think that they're God's words, just coming out of my mouth), but I will tell you this -- He will be very wroth with you and you will definitely go to Hell if you don't donate. Now for the love of Little Baby Jesus, go to this Web site and watch the video. It's a video that will change your life. Believe me.

Well, here is something: Developer High Voltage Software has recently filed for trademark of "Immortal Warriors." 

High Voltage is a busy developer, with at least three other announced projects in the cards -- first-person co-op shooter The Grinder for Wii; fighter Gladiator A.D. for the Wii; and Animales de la Muerta for Wii. What I'm suggesting is there's a pattern here, and it's likely that Immortal Warriors, if it appears as a game at all, will be for Nintendo's console. 

Those folks at High Voltage love them some Wii, having developed its own engine -- Quantum3 -- designed to take advantage of the console's capabilities. The engine caught the eye of gamers and publishers when High Voltage revealed The Conduit, which would later be published by Sega.

While thoughts on The Conduit are divided, it's hard to argue that it's not a damn good-looking Wii game. Have to wonder what High Voltage has up its sleeve for Immortal Warriors... 

[via superannuation]

Yes, what you are reading is there will be an announcement ... of an announcement. That's the kind of thing that happens in the videogame industry, and that's the kind of thing you're going to have to read. Dead Space 2 is one of the worst kept secrets in development right now. We all know it's happening, we even know multiplayer may be involved. Electronic Arts won't open its mouth.

It seems that EA's silence will be broken on December 22, as confirmed by Xbox 360 World magazine. The mag has a big teaser for its next issue that features Dead Space protagonist Isaac next to a big number two (dirty boy). A splash of teasing text reads: "One of 2010's biggest sequels. Next issue."

So yeah, a game we all knew was coming has had its official announcement officially announced to the surprise of nobody. I am aware of how ludicrous this is.

As you've no doubt heard by now, Cody, Guy and Adon are the latest official additions to the Super Street Fighter IV roster. We got a peek at Famitsu's reveal yesterday, and now IGN has gotten their hands on the first trailer featuring these new badasses.

You can watch each one beating the crap out of somebody after the jump, complete with footage of their ultras and backed by what may or may not be a new theme. Watch the trailer, cringe at the English voice acting, and get ready to try what's on display for yourself this Spring.

When you're done, you can hit the gallery for a load of new screenshots to get a better look at all three.

Divinity II -- Ego Draconis went gold a day or so ago, but don’t expect to see it in a GameStop in the near future. The title is still slated for a January 5th release. That means you a bit of time on your hands before it hits, so why not check out the above? It is, after all, a fresh trailer for the cdv Software-developed RPG.

This is the first of nine planned trailers set to hit before the game arrives in stores. Focusing on the Dragon Slayer, it illustrates that this character can be whatever he wants to be. Kind of like Clayface from Batman, minus the whole clay thing. Also, minus that changing on a dime bit. In fact, scratch all of that Clayface business -- DII is an RPG where you (presumably) choose to have your Dragon Slayer be a mage, ranger or whatever. I don’t think Clayface sticks to a specific class.

Also, dragons.

Assassin's Creed is generally considered to be a solid, if somewhat flawed, videogame. Despite earning praise for its visuals, concept and unique story, the 2007 title was criticized for its repetition and tendency to bore players after significant periods of time. Fortunately for Ubisoft, Assassin's Creed became an unexpectedly huge success, and the series now has a chance to fix its problems.

Assassin's Creed 2 definitely sets out to address the problems found in the first game, and the once-repetitive game is now a sprawling, quasi-open-world adventure full of variety. However, as old problems are tackled, new ones sprout up to take their place.

Does Assassin's Creed 2 solve old issues while successfully maintaining control of new ones, or does it try to do too much at once and fail on all counts? Read on as we give this game the full review.

So this is what Naughty Dog was getting at on its Twitter...

This Friday, November 27 at 10:00 AM PST, an a free update for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will bring a number of changes, including a free multiplayer map. "The Fort" multiplayer map is based on the "Fortress" chapter of the original title. The long, rectangular map features plenty of wide open spaces for combat, but plenty of alternate flank routes, including tunnels that lead underground. 

Global and Friends list Leaderboards are also being added to the multiplayer menu, including the following details: Global Competitive Wins; Global Co-op; Global Kills; Global Money; Friends Competitive Wins; Friends Co-op; Friends Kills; and Friends Money. 

Oh, and you know that banner ad in the multiplayer menu? It's being replaced by a "player card" that lets you view your own level, number of wins, kills, cash, and overall co-op score. That's better than an ad, right?

Also announced, this weekend (from Friday 10:00 AM PST to Monday 11:00 AM PST) will be another one of those "Double Cash" weekends. As the name implies, all cash earned in multiplayer will be doubled. As an added bonus, competitive matches will offer up players special usable skins -- Doughnut Drake and Doughnut Lazarevic. 

Yeah, Naughty Dog was right -- this is pretty "awesome."

Is there a term to describe those Super Mario World levels that play themselves and sometimes make music as a result? I'm sure there is, but I don't know it. "Automatic Mario" doesn't count, because that sounds silly. At any rate, you surely know what I'm referring to.

The good folks at GoNintendo have stumbled upon what has to be the greatest of them all -- it's Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" as played by four different Mario levels running simultaneously. The more I type, the longer it will take for you to watch it, so I'm going to cease talking.

A person died making this, you know.

Mass Effect 2 PC details have dropped today, bringing somewhat decent news all round. Both the system requirements and the DRM situation have been revealed today, so those of you that use the word "rig" without any shred of shame and have a love for all things BioWare are in for a treat.

The system requirements are after the jump, but it's the DRM situation that is most pleasant. We all know that Electronic Arts has a ludicrously huge bonk-on for SecuROM and loads the glorified malware onto almost everything it ships. Well, it seems that Mass Effect 2 will not be shipping with the same restrictive crap as last time and instead take a cue from Dragon Age. A simple disc check will be required to activate the game, and you're all set!

This is of course lovely news for PC users who are sick of this DRM nonsense, a fad that slowly seems to be dying out now that publishers are realizing that is doesn't stop piracy, but does manage to piss off paying customers. Hopefully the likes of SecuROM can be eradicated in due course, especially if such supporters as EA are shying away from it.

Hit the jump for those requirements, in any case.

I mentioned this yesterday in our gift guide, but now it's official -- Harmonix and MTV have announced that Rock Band now has more than 1,000 songs available to play. That's more than 390 bands, according to the developer and publisher. 

Back in 2007 when I went to Harmonix's Boston studio to check out Rock Band, I was told they'd be releasing music as downloadable content every week. I smiled and nodded, but in the back of my head was thinking "You're full of sh*t." Two years later, I stand corrected. 

I'm a bit of a junkie myself, and just checked -- I have 711 songs (666 right before I exported the tracks from LEGO Rock Band). That's stupid, and it makes me a bit dizzy. But I'm sure some of you out there have them all. 

So tell us, how many playable Rock Band tracks do you have in your library?

Impish game designer Shigeru Miyamoto is certainly cock-of-the-walk these days with his New Super Mario Bros. Wii and all the four-player chicanery it contains, but it's taken the guy twelve years to get this far. The elven legend has been talking about Mario 64, and how that classic game once tried to do co-op.

"The screen was split and they went into the castle separately," said Miyamoto, talking about how Mario and Luigi were meant to play together. "When they meet in the corridor, I was incredibly happy! Then there was also the mode where the camera is fixed and we see Mario running away, steadily getting smaller and smaller.

"That was a remnant of an experiment we did where Mario and Luigi would run away from each other but you could still see them both. But we were unable to pull it off."

Only a fool could not love Luigi, so it's a shame that this never really worked out. It would have made capturing that annoying frigging rabbit about a hundred times easier, at any rate.

Erik Estavillo has struck again. You'll know him as the guy who tried to sue Sony for banning him from PSN. He also filed suit against Microsoft and Nintendo, the latter for not allowing him to continue pirating Wii games. This time, the lawsuit troll has targeted Blizzard and World of Warcraft.

Estavillo claims that Blizzard "continues to maintain a harmful virtual environment to many of its customers by forcing them to follow the game’s sneaky and deceitful practices." A sample of his claims is that Blizzard designed characters to "walk or run at a calculated slow pace, resulting in the player taking longer to get where he or she needs to go in the game," and thus drive subscriptions.

He then brings up his list of ailments once again (OCD, Agoraphobia, Panic Disorder, major depression and Crohn’s Disease) and likens himself to Everquest player Shawn Woolley, claiming that he "doesn’t want to end up like Shawn did as he [Estavillo] relies on videogames heavily for the little ongoing happiness he can achieve in this life." Wooley took his own life.

Even more astoundingly, Estavillo has subpoenaed Depeche Mode founder Martin Lee Gore and actress Winona Ryder. He chose gore because he's "sad, lonely, and alienated as can be seen in the songs he writes." He chose Ryder because she can "explain the significance of alienation in Catcher in the Rye and will also testify to how alienation in the book can tie to alienation in real live/video games such as World of Warcraft."

I am beginning to wonder if this man is even real, or just some sort of weird Tyler Durden figure.

Ladies and gentlemen, Podtoid 126 has occurred. Anthony was absent again, but the rest of the regular crew was present, and Brad Nicholson filled the void with his muscles.

This week, we talked about Assassin's Creed II, Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, blueberry pie, paid PSN accounts and Aaron Linde's Poster Shop. We managed to work in some other stuff as well, which made for a somewhat long episode.

Skype saw fit to tell us it was time to call it a night by abandoning the fidelity of Jim's mic and dropping castmembers at random, but we pulled through, soldiers that we are. Now I bring you this thing we've done. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or check it out over here. Enjoy.

XB Elegant Edition is a case for your Xbox 360 that actually makes it look like a box. A high-end A/V component, if you will. That weird letter I/pillar/pillow-looking thing not cutting it for you? Maybe this Sweedish-designed box will help things out.

Inside the futurist box is three 120mm fans to keep your system from red ringing, and they say that the larger open area keeps airflow constant and helps limit some of the noise. You'll have to do a bit of modding if you want this look, though:

They say: "Use the case your own risk, the Xbox360 warranty is voided once you break the seals to open up the case. The case's warranty will only cover the chassis itself, and will not include the Xbox 360 or any of its associated components."

No price is given on this box from Industrie Pro yet. I think it manages to look both sleek and boring at the same time.