For as long as games have been a popular form of entertainment, they have always had to have a special trick. Sure, we don’t want to call it a “gimmick”, but there are always going to be some special something in a game to make it stand out from the pack.

Almost four years ago, Eidos released a game called Just Cause for the Xbox 360, Xbox, and PS2. Back then, the big selling point was the parachute mechanics coupled with the stunt system and the goal of over-throwing a corrupt island government set in the tropics The game went on from there. While far from perfect, it was a fun experience with neat ideas.

But it has been four years. Eidos is now in the process of transforming into Square Enix Europe, nobody would dream of down-porting a game to the original Xbox and PS2, and the 360 and PS3 are regularly put through their paces. Would Just Cause 2 even offer new stuff to wow gamers? It’s a whole new world, but it seems like developer Avalanche Studios is hoping to improved Just Cause 2 in an entirely cohesive way. Beside checking out Avalanche's live streaming of the game, hit the jump for my hands on.

It's funny looking back on the old battle between skateboarding videogames. Ever since the original Tony Hawk, plenty of skateboarding games have come and gone, and other than the eternal old bird itself, not many of them have lived to see a sequel. All except the EA's Skate franchise that is, which is getting ready for the third iteration of the series. Not really third times the charm, it's more like a triple threat, as Skate has proven to be a more than solid skating franchise.

So it's really ironic considering the situation. Tony Hawk is now a peripheral based game, and Skate 3 is the only controller-based skateboarding game around. Now that they don't compete on the same level, it begs the question: can Skate 3 adequately build on the franchise without the competition? While it doesn't look like things are going to be groundbreakingly different, Skate 3 has a whole bunch of new content to bring to the table. Hit the jump to get an early taste of what Black Box is rolling on out.

When Codemasters announced DiRT 2, I was very happy to see that it still had Colin McRae's name on it. I found the first game to be "okay," and after playing the demo for this second installment, it seemed we had a great racing title on the way that would outperform its predecessor and honor the memory of the man whose name graced its cover. Did it succeed?

Not to spoil what comes after the break, but yes. Yes, it certainly did. It's been quite a few years since I've had this much fun with a racing game, and the way it's all presented outshines just about any car porn title that's come before it. Be prepared for a long post, because I've got a lot to say about it. How much of that is good? Hit the jump to find out in our full review.

Another year, another EA Sports title.

I know that I'm fighting an uphill battle, but I could really do without FIFA 10. Perhaps ironically, it's because I thought FIFA 09 was so damned good. The main reason I don't need 10 is because, a year later, I'm still playing 09 every day. And, hell, with Adidas Live Season, we get roster updates in real time. EA Canada did such a good job last year that I don't feel the need to buy their newest FIFA endeavor -- I just hope that they live up to the bar that they've set so high.

But, hey, if EA Canada can make next year's game worth the $60 price tag, more power to them. If the game's Wikipedia page is to believed, then they might be on the right track: ball physics, defender AI, and (most importantly) dribbling have all been purportedly improved.

Anyway, on to the actual teaser (below the fold): it says "Actual game footage," but I'll believe it when I see it. Maybe it's from the Be A Pro Mode -- EA Canada haven't said that the feature would be in FIFA 10, but they'd be idiots to axe it -- but I'm not convinced. Either way, it's certainly exciting footage for a soccer fan, and the teaser trailer does exactly what it's designed to do: tease.

FIFA 10 will be released some time this Fall, presumably on every major console since the Amiga.

Out of pure principal alone, I didn't even want to spend a minute of my time looking at Ubisoft/Eugen Systems' new real-time strategy game, R.U.S.E. It's nothing personal -- it's just that a person can only take so much of the whole "Lets make our game's title an acronym! It'll be rad!" trend.

Well, sorry to break it to you, but rad it is not. However, Nick Chester cracked the whip and demanded that I inform you all about R.U.S.E. against my will. Thankfully, the game sounds sort of intriguing, believe it or not.

Using the IRISZOOM Engine, R.U.S.E. allows players to view the entire battlefield from an extremely zoomed out view, or up close and personal, should the need to do so arise. Don't believe me? Then you probably won't believe Ubisoft's senior VP of sales and marketing, Tony Key, either.

According to him, this game will offer the "most immense and detailed maps ever seen in an RTS." Of course, this fancy new technology requires some serious power to function as originally intended. As such, R.U.S.E. is being optimized specifically for Intel's smokin' Core i7 processors.

While this all sounds pretty interesting in theory, I'm going to need to see some in-game footage beyond the single screenshot that was released today. Sorry!

You see that zombie killer whale? Yeah, that's a freaking boss in Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad for the Xbox 360. As if that game couldn't get any better. I've played both versions of Onechanbara a few times now and the games are stupid mindless fun.

After several weeks of a lot of shovelware and crap, the new release schedule is finally starting to look good again. F.E.A.R. 2 might be good, The House of the Dead: Overkill looks fun, and Retro Game Challenges is a must for the DS. Flower seems pretty interesting too and I look forward to having flower sex in the game. 

What's looking sw33t to you this week, Dtoiders? Hit the jump for the full schedule of releases and trailers for most of the games.