Screw Duke Nukem. Sam "Serious" Stone is the real king of first-person-shooter meatheads and if anybody deserved to make a triumphant comeback, it was him. Sure, Sam may not be quite as high profile, and his games may not be quite as refined, but at least Sam's adventures are released on time, and who needs refinement when you've got headless men running toward you with bombs in their hands?

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter takes us back to Sam's very first adventure, giving the near-ten-year-old shooter a fresh coat of paint, a new Serious Engine, and 16-player co-op. All worthy additions, but is this a case of mutton dressed as lamb, or does Sam still have the stones? Read on as we review Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.

The Steam sale is still going on people, and if you haven't spent all your money on the previous three days then it's time to spend the rest of it today (and possibly tomorrow when the final day of the sale occurs. Today features the Star Wars pack and the THQ pack that has been available through the entire sale, but also the games below for varying low prices.

• EVE Online: Apocrypha for $4.99 (75% off)
• Battlefield 2: Complete Collection for $14.99 (50% off)
• Lucidity for $2.49 (75% off)
• Trackmania United Forever for 19.99 (50% off)
• Prince of Persia for $14.99 (50% off)
• World of Goo for $4.99 (75% off)
• Guild Wars Trilogy for $24.99 (50% off)

Great deals for all! I might pick up World of Goo finally, though I had been wanting to play it on my Wii instead. What are you getting today?

Steam is pretty much the de facto standard for PC gaming these days. Even the most retail-loyal PC gamers likely have used it in some way, shape or form. Valve's Steam-powered empire also dominates the digital distribution landscape. Brad Wardell of Stardock (which owns the Impulse digital platform) estimates that Steam has roughly 70% of market share.

But it's one thing to be the big kid in the playground. It's another to start locking the other kids out. PC gamers may recall a brief dustup over the sale of Modern Warfare 2, wherein Direct2Drive, Impulse and other digital vendors refused to stock the title due to its native use of Steamworks, which would require the installation of the Steam client, and thus the Steam storefront. 

I can see things from their point of view, certainly. Why sell a game that, once installed, provides a back door for the competition? Valve has also been lobbying hard for third-party publishers (like Activision and EA) to start including Steam's native DRM solution, which again could shut out competing services (like Impulse's Goo DRM).

Then again, the ever-outspoken Derek Smart published a very detailed counterargument on Gamasutra as to why the boycott itself was rather foolish, essentially making Modern Warfare 2 a Steam-exclusive title. The "problem," Smart claimed, was that Steamworks, as a unified suite of services for multiplayer, auto-patching, storefronts, and authentication, offers much more value to the publisher and developer. Essentially, Steam rules because it's simply better. Steam boss Jason Holtman showed the same sentiment on Gamesindustry.biz:

To our minds, we think that if you're making a good game and it's got the services a customer wants it should get out in as many channels as possible. If you have a good portal and you're good at collecting money from folks, and attracting them, there's no reason why you shouldn't be.

And I think he's right, in that sense. I choose Steam because it's awesome, and the closest PC gaming has ever come to a platform like PSN or Xbox Live, with the added advantage of there actually being competition. While the potential for abuse is there (as Randy Pitchford complains), there's always an alternative. Should Valve start to throw its weight around too much, I might just choose Impulse, since it has Sins of a Solar Empire on it. Just, for God's sake, don't sell it on Games for Windows Live. Please.

Someone should charge Gabe Newell and Valve with conspiracy -- conspiracy to relieve PC gamers of their hard-earned cash, since the third day of Steam’s “Five-Day-Long, One-Day-Only” sale offers some more kick-ass, can’t-miss deals. Of course, you can still get the LucasArts Premier Pack and the THQ Complete Pack for $49.99 each; those prices will be in effect through Monday.

But if you missed Wednesday’s and Thursday’s deals, don’t fret -- today’s sale has games set at prices so low, you won’t be able to resist whipping out your credit card. Here are the highlights:

• Trine for $9.99 (50% off)
• Borderlands for $33.49 (33% off)
• Ghostbusters: The Video Game for $9.99 (50% off)
• Resident Evil 5 for $24.99 (50% off)
• Left 4 Dead: Game of the Year Edition for $7.49 (75% off)
• Spore for $19.99 (50% off)

Boy, Randy Pitchford wasn’t kidding when he called Steam a “money grab.” I succumbed to a few of Wednesday’s sales, so I’m going to do my best to hold off on any more Steam purchases, lest I go into debt. I’ve got to save my money for Q1 2010, which may even be more jam-packed with must-have games than this fall was.

By the way, these sales expire at 10 AM EST tomorrow -- in other words, they’ll only be valid for another 17 and a half hours. Go, go, go!

Full from leftovers and bored out of my feeble mind, I did what I always do: scoured the Internet for free, no-nonsense videogames. You know, substance over style. Indie games and the like. That sort of thing.

Thankfully, the hunt was off to a great start once I remembered that IGF's student entries were still relatively fresh, and just begged to be lovingly inspected. Many of the more intriguing games aren't available in a playable form yet, which is admirable.

One game in particular, Cave, both scratched my "hmm, that looks interesting" itch and offered itself up as a download. Score! It's an exploration game in which you play as a boy and a girl, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. There's more to it than that, obviously, but the less I reveal, the better.

Since your sight is extremely limited, and Cave is presented in such a minimalistic way, you often have no idea where you're headed, or how to get back to where you came from and risk trying a different path; I say that as a compliment. Cave knows it's a game about exploring, and it embraces that fact.

Without spoiling anything, I'll say this: damn. More specifically: unless there is only a single ending, and it's an unpleasant one at that, I need to run through the game a second time. Here's the download page again (PC and Mac). Try it out.

A much-needed patch is coming to Lucidity PC and Xbox LIVE Arcade in the near future. According to the latest Lucas Arts Workshop blog post, the Lucidity team is dropping a checkpoint system into the downloadable title, thus allowing the players to continue from somewhere better than the beginning of the f’ing level.

The update launches for the PC version this afternoon, while the XBLA patch is said to launching in “the coming weeks.” Neat.

I, like others apparently, considered the lack of checkpoint system a bummer, but I considered the lottery-style item selection the even bigger bummer in the beautiful downloadable package. This update won't fix the core problem -- the reason why Sofi visits the great beyond the vast majority of the time. Still, it’s nice to know that the game is still being supported. Let's hope they keep it up.

Senior producer of R.U.S.E. Mathieu Girard is about to take you on a journey. A journey in which you learn what the real-time strategy game of ridiculous zooming and deception is all about. And he does all of this while standing in front of a futuristic backdrop. Talk about classy.

The "war" takes place on a massive table, guys. Did you know that? I swear they took the concept from a twist ending to an episode of The Twilight Zone.

The game is still looking impressive as always. A lot of the neat tricks at the game's disposal aren't exactly mind-blowing for the genre, yet they're able to mesh together to form something cool. Also, the thumbnail for the "decoy army" ruse is creepy as all hell. Silent Hill .. is that you?

More videogame-related beans are being spilled in another magazine. According to CVG, the January issue of PC Zone magazine has the first shred of information about Splinter Cell: Conviction’s co-operative component as well as the first details on a lone “brand new mode” planned for the game.

This magazine hits on December 23rd. So, if you’re inclined to read something with actual pages and colorful pictures, go ahead and dig around for it in the magazine aisle later next month. Or don’t. It’s up to you now. Find our car and stop the New Order. And remember: music is the weapon.

Unsurprisingly, the second set of Steam sales during this five-day-long promotion in which a bunch of new deals are activated each day is another attention grabber.

The $50 uber THQ collection that I mentioned last time is still available, and I still think you should purchase it. As for the limited-time-only stuff, there's Left 4 Dead 2 for $37.49, Knights of the Old Republic for $2.49, and Dead Space for $14.99.

There are a few more to pick from, but those were the select ones that really stand out in my mind. Also, there's Majesty 2, which is a lowly $9.99. I think I'm going to get that, for sure. Is that a wise idea, anyone who's played it?

Apparently, several people using the Internet believe that the next iteration in the Deus Ex franchise is destined to be PC-exclusive. The rumors are being fueled by a recent and lone mention of PC-exclusivity in a Bit-Tech article, which sources a Shacknews story spun from an Edge interview with Eidos Montreal project lead Jean-Fancious Dugas in which the man says he's not quite sure what platforms Deus Ex 3 may hit. How that got to exclusivity is beyond me, but hold the bus: Developer Eidos appears to be brushing off the rumor as such -- in a vague way, of course.

In a recent official message board post about the game’s exclusivity, Eidos community manager Rene said, “Only the PC version has been announced so far.” He then listed PC-specific magazine coverage that the game has had before exclaiming, “I dunno where that Web site is getting its info from!”

The PSP and DS versions of Deus Ex 3 are slated to hit retail in February 2010. Both will star Mickey Mouse. Also, dragons.

[via Eurogamer]

Today, Activision Blizzard announced that its Call of Duty franchise has surpased $3 billion in retail sales, taking into account internal numbers, as well as independent tracking sources. 

Keeping this number in mind, and the fact that the games in the franchise have sold more than 55 million units worldwide, expect one or more Call of Duty games a year until the end of time. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is pleased.

"Call of Duty has become one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time," he's quoted as saying in a press release. "If you consider the number of hours our audiences are engaged in playing Call of Duty, it is likely to be one of the most viewed entertainment experiences in modern history."

The games are good, and apparently people like them. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched earlier this month, setting records with its five-day sales hitting approximately $550 million. 

If tentative plans hold together, expect the first bit of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 DLC -- an Xbox 360 timed exclusive -- to hit at some point in Spring 2010.

Infinity Ward’s community man, Robert Bowling, tweeted as much on November 25th: “DLC is planned for the wonderfully vague timeframe of Spring,” Bowling said in reply to a fan. He added, “I’ll let you know when we know it’ll be done.”

The tweet shores up a previous report of a Spring 2010 launch date, which was brought to us courtesy of a promotional pack of MW2-themed Monster Energy drinks. Yes. Energy drinks with previously unannounced release windows printed on them. God bless, America.

[via CVG]

People have been playing Aliens vs. Predator. People who are not me. This is clearly not right, but what is right is the fact that it looks bloody fabulous. This brand new trailer shows off the multiplayer aspect of the game, and briefly details a mode where eight marines get to hunt down a single Predator.

I'm simply stunned by the graphics hanging off this thing. The original screens looked like bullshots more than anything else, but the actual video footage seems to show no quality difference whatsoever. This is going to be one of 2010's early jawdropping visual treats, methinks.

Now Sega, let's do something about this whole "me not playing it yet" situation.

Being a space wizard in the original Mass Effect required patience and a knack for navigating radial menus. Not to discount the power, of course. In the end, we just found that space soldering gave us the most redeeming combat experience. But it looks like Bioware has stepped up the Adept in Mass Effect 2, making us excited to give the class another look this January.

For example, and as explained in the latest trailer above, the Adept can now curve his pulls, enabling him to grab enemies from behind cover. The class can also angle pushes, allowing for easier bad-dude-off-of-ledge action. Neat.

Now it looks like the only thing the Adept needs is a pointy hat and the ability to summon a demon or cast Magic Missile. Game’s not out yet, so you never know -- these things could make their way into it. Or not.

The soft-spoken, brilliant machinist Tali is making a return in Mass Effect 2, joining a growing cast of several fresh faces and a single familiar one (as of now). Her role in this game is unclear, but it appears as though the Quarian has found herself in some sort of trouble because of her contact with Commander Shepard. At the end of the latest character trailer shown above, we hear an elder Quarian saying, “You are hereby found guilty of treason against the Quarian people and sentenced to exile.”

Sounds like bad news, right? Right. Then again, Tali is no stranger to being outside of the Fleet or even ruffling a few feathers. In the last game, she was getting her Pilgrimage on before finding herself in trouble with Saren. She managed to discover some nasty evidence about his attack on Eden Prime in a Geth memory core and thus had to seek out protection from the Shadow Broker. The Quarian would eventually join Shepard for the entire ME ride, serving as a brilliant lock-picker and an excellent bullet-sponge before a certain dude became available. Oh, gosh, now we feel real bad about that. Sorry, Tali.

It's reassuring to hear that most people are loving Battlefield: Bad Company 2, or at least what they've seen of it through the limited scope of the beta. I don't say that as someone who wishes ill of Infinity Ward; quite the opposite. The more competition between war-based shooters, the better.

The original plan was for the PC beta to unleash itself in December, but that's become a no-go -- it's now "very early" 2010. EA DICE has said the aforementioned PlayStation 3 beta is so popular, the studio wants to "drastically increase" the capacity of the PC version.

Those with capable machines will want to pay attention, as this will be the one to get into. It supports 32 players, DirectX 11, and those dedicated ranked servers you've all been clamoring for, among other things.

[Via That VideoGame Blog]

Unless Capcom pulls some crazy-stupid move between now and February 23, Lost Planet 2 is going to be one of next year's most enjoyable co-op games. The development studio hasn't exactly been known to do a silly thing like that, so I think we're mostly in the clear here.

Without warning, a massive amount of boss-centric screenshots have been tossed our way on this day of feasting. One's named Red Eye, while the other baddie goes by Akrid X. I'll let you figure out which one is which.

Recognizing some of the many images as being previously used, I tried to filter through the mess and only upload ones I thought were relatively new, or at the very least, looked pretty effing cool.

The fact that you fight the worm-looking fellow on a moving train has me thinking we aren't even close to figuring out most of Lost Planet 2's numerous surprises yet.

As we mentioned last week, Left 4 Dead 2 had a less than brilliant launch on the Xbox 360 thanks to the fact that it lagged out horrendously once it got online. Fortunately, Valve has dropped a Thanksgiving Day gift on our grateful heads, having just boosted the servers for Xbox Live.

“We have upgraded our network infrastructure to better accommodate the huge response to L4D2," blogs Valve. "360 players will now have lag-free servers. We’ve also added more dedicated servers."

Great stuff! There's nothing more frustrating than lining up your reticule on a witless survivor, letting your Smoker's tongue fly, and then waiting five seconds for him to actually attack, by which time the survivor is now onto you and pumping your tumor-riddled face full of bullets.

I have many fallen Smokers to avenge this night.

Steam has kicked off its holiday sale today with a slew of great deals. Every day, from now until Monday, a new set of discounted games will become active. It's not like your eyes aren't already glued to your monitor anyway, so no biggie.

The three most important deals appear to be Dragon Age: Origins at $37.49, Batman: Arkham Asylum at $24.99, and the super ridiculous 18-game (including expansions) THQ pack at $49.99.

It'll be interesting to see how crazy Steam goes this year with the deals. You can be sure it's only going to get more insane as the days go by.

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.

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.

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.

It seems that you can't really be a PC gamer until you have Steam running on your computer, and it would appear that Dell and Valve are in agreement on this. It's been revealed that the immensely popular digital distribution service will now come installed on Alienware gaming PCs and laptops as standard. That's kind of a big deal!

Alienware is not the most widespread brand of PC in the world, but this is a move that has huge potential. It will give Valve an automatic marketshare, for one thing, and there is little doubt that Dell is the only company that Valve has been talking to. If the publisher plays its cards right, Steam could become just almost as integral to newly purchased PCs as Internet Explorer.

It makes sense, too. If you game on a PC, you're going to need Steam eventually. This just makes it so much easier.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 is getting a hot new expansion, Chaos Rising, bringing the twisted denizens of the Warp to Relic's much-loved tactical RPG. To celebrate, some brand new screens have appeared on the game's official Web site, while Relic tells us a little bit about the new campaign.

"We increased the level cap to 30, which let us add more trait unlocks to pursue. We also added new wargear options, including Lightning Claws and Melta guns, on top of newer higher level wargear. Lastly, we added an entire new character, Jonah the Librarian," explains the developer. "Corruption adds an entirely new layer to customize your squads with, and directly ties back to choices you make in the campaign. Your squads can become corrupt (or redeem themselves of corruption) by completing specific objectives, capturing crucial structures, making specific choices about mission deployments, or even just by following the example your Force Commander sets."

"We also tied a number of new wargear pieces to corruption. Some pieces of gear will require you to be corrupted, others will require you to be pure. Others will be easy to equip, but cause you to become corrupt. Becoming wholly corrupt or remaining wholly pure is difficult, but neither is a penalty -- they both come with unique rewards and playstyles."

I've only just started getting into Dawn of War 2, but have so far been impressed. I used to like Warhammer 40k many years ago, and found Chaos to be particularly interesting, so I shall definite look forward to playing Chaos Rising. They totally need some Thousand Sons up in that bitch though.

Who needs a five-dollar footlong (oh God, the song is back in my head) when you could have Plants vs. Zombies for the same price? Good from now until November 26, PopCap's lawn defense game is half price at Steam.

At this point, if you aren't going to grab the game at $5, you're likely never going to play it. And you know what? That's a real shame. You poor people will never know the joys of Crazy Dave, zen gardens, or the beloved Tall-Nut.

And since I already own Plants vs. Zombies, it's Italian BMT night for me.

Last week, a survey leaked to Kotaku suggested that Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria would be on the cover of 2K Sports' Major League Baseball 2K10. 2K sent out a press release earlier today to make it official, but we now know that the four covers that the survey included were mere mock-ups. Six different box art designs, available for your viewing in the gallery below, accompanied the press release; you can vote for your favorite at 2ksports.com/vote. (They did the same thing for NBA 2K10.)

Longoria, like MLB 2K9 cover athlete Tim Lincecum, is one of baseball's most quickly rising stars; he made the AL All-Star team in his first two years in the league, and he recently won his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. And he isn't related to Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria.

Which cover do you guys like? I prefer the one pictured above. MLB 2K10 will be out in March for the PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, and PC. Cover voting will be open for two weeks, until noon EST on December 8th.

The recent talk of Pandemic has made me realize something: I haven't played a truly crazy action game since Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. And no, Modern Warfare 2 doesn't count. Can you fall hundreds of feet from a helicopter and still survive the landing? Exactly.

Just Cause 2, or as I like to call it sometimes, Just 'Cause 2, looks to be the next decent void-filler. Between the grappling hook improvements and the increased options for base jumping with a more vertical game world, I cannot wait for March 23 to get here.

I was the guy who spent an unholy amount of time just flying peacefully through the sky in Super Mario 64. Who knows what will happen to my social life when Just Cause 2 hits. Bad things, probably.

Tis' the season for gift giving. With some many great games released this year, finding the perfect gift for that gamer in your life (or for yourself, you selfish jerk!) can be quite a task.

That's where we come in. Destructoid staff writers were asked to make a few holiday, game-related gift picks, either based on personal choice or simply in the spirit of giving. The results were wide and varied, as each staff member's tastes and gaming experiences, uh, vary widely. We're quite an eclectic bunch, that's for sure. 

Hit the jump to see what made the list, and we hope to ignite some gift-giving sparks for you this holiday.

As we said about 40 minutes ago, Borderlands DLC “The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned” is a thing that is happening right now over PSN and Xbox LIVE. I grabbed the content off of Xbox LIVE Marketplace this morning, hoping to put some quality hours into the material before having to hit the grind again. Turns out that I was only able to put about 30-40 minutes before putting down the controller. Bummer.

No matter, though -- I think I got gist of it. The DLC adds a central HUB to the core game, Dr. Ned’s little haunted island of awesome. Upon downloading the DLC, you’ll be told to hit a travel beacon and zip to the content if you so please. It’s that easy to break into, and that easy to leave if you so desire. But you probably won’t want to get out. The epic introduction to the content pulls you in hard.

And speaking of that introduction, there’s a TMT above in the header showing off the first 10 minutes of the DLC. You’ll catch some heavy narrative, some zombie-skull busting, and a brief look at the immediate environment. Its swampy, dark, and infested -- just what we expected the DLC was announced.

So, what do you guys think?

[Update: Just to be clear -- the DLC is no doubt longer than 40 mintues. I just had something come up.]

A lot of people -- including a few Destructoid staff members -- didn’t dig the so-called “weak” conclusion to Borderlands. I can’t agree with the assessment for a few reasons (one being my epic confrontation with you-know-who), but I understand the argument. More insightful than my reactions to the matter, though, are Paul Helquist’s, a senior designer for the game. He told MTV Multiplayer that Gearbox is going to keep the poor reception of the ending in mind going forward, in both downloadable content and full games in the future.

"We went through lots of different iterations on what the ending of the game was,” Helquist said. “We ultimately ended up with what you get to play. We didn't know how people were going to react to it. Obviously the reaction hasn't been as strong as we had hoped.

“That's something we're going to be keeping in mind as we do new things, whether it's download content or other games in the future. We're gonna think more about it and try to get more user feedback before the game comes out so we can ensure that we'll have endings that you guys like in the future."

Later, Helquist said that, at the least, the ending of Borderlands keeps the story open for sequels and content. The recent release of the “Zombie Island of Dr. Ned,” is proof of that. It picks right up where the game trails off. Hell, it even adds zombies to the core game without issue. Weird, right?

If there is one thing that people can't seem to agree on in the world of MMOs, it's how games that are designed to be played forever should fund themselves.

There are plenty of models out there, like subscriptions, micro-transactions, advertisements, but all of them seem to have their different issues. When we spoke to Jeff Strain about his new MMO company, Undead Labs, and his upcoming zombie MMO, we brought this up.

He had some interesting things to say about why paying a monthly or annual subscription fee is the best way to go.

Sony Online Entertainment has revealed that Nightwing will appear in the upcoming PlayStation 3 and PC MMO DC Universe Online.

Of course, this is no surprise. It's the "universe," guys. That's like, everything. The list of DC characters that will appear in the game is staggering, everyone from Superman to Batzarro, Congo Bill to Two-Face. So Nightwing should be no exception, what with his little pieces of black hair hanging down in front of his face. His father, General Zod, should be proud. [As pointed out to me by grebweb, the Nightwing pictured here is the original, Dick Grayson. Comic geeks, forgive me, for I have sinned.]

While MMOs on consoles haven't quite lived up to PC expectations, what I've seen of DCUO looks solid and well-adapted to the PS3. And if it's going to be awhile before I have to fight off the massively online zombie hordes, then DC super heroes will do. 

DC Universe Online is tentatively schedule to ship sometime next year.

cdv Software Entertainment and dtp entertainment have announced that its action-RPG, Divinity II: Eco Draconis, has gone gold. The title will hit North American retailers on January 5, 2010 for both PC and Xbox 360. 

The game is the sequel proper to 2002's Divine Divinity, and puts players in "the role of a young Dragon Slayer, a hero with the ability to transform into a dragon, and take to the skies to fight against an onslaught of deadly creatures." Imagine the internal psyhological conflict that guy has to deal with. He kills dragons and he can turn into a dragon. That's deep, man.

In other news, I haven't stabbed anything with the knife cdv sent me awhile back.

Publisher Ubisoft is pleased with the reception to Assassin's Creed II, so much that its issued a press release to remind us.

According to the publisher, the title has sold through 1.6 million units if its own internal estimates are to be believed. That's 32% up from the first week sales of the original, which apparently remains the fastest selling new IP ever in the United States. 

Reviews are also positive, with the aggregated Metacritic scores pointing to "Universal Acclaim." I went out and picked up a copy of the game last week, and have been (mostly) enjoying it so far, despite some issue (i.e. why does Lucy look like that now?).

Of course, this isn't a review -- Jim Sterling will have his full write-up shortly. In the meantime, let us know what you think of Assassin's Creed II, but no spoilers, kids.

In a recent conversation with GTTV (via TVGB), Mass Effect 2 project director Casey Hudson revealed that most of the ME2 team would switch to working on ME2 downloadable content after the completion of the core game. And don’t expect just huge expansion packs -- the game will support a range of different content unlike the first ME.

“As part of trying to build the game, as ambitious as it was, one of the things we weren’t able to do technically was to have the support in the game itself for certain kinds of downloadable content,” Hudson said, speaking to the first Mass Effect and its hang-ups.

“So, it had to be a huge pack or nothing essentially was the issue. Now we’ve gone through and made sure that its technically possible to do a whole range of different kinds of downloads,” said Hudson.

Hudson continued, saying that "pretty much the whole team" will begin working on DLC once the game is ready to ship, and that content could be influenced by fans: “Once we’re done working on Mass Effect 2, pretty much the whole team switches into working on really cool downloadable content. That’s where we like to listen to what fan feedback is for ‘where do you want to go’ and ‘what kinds of things do you want to see.’ “

DLC details remains unannounced, but if a recent retailer survey has the right of it, we can expect “planned episodic combat via DLC,” weapon and armor packs, new downloadable characters for the “campaign experience,” new downloadable worlds, as well as “full campaign expansions for download.” And all of that is in addition to some sort in-game "periodic update" network dubbed Cereberus Network.

Ever the trend setter, it looks like Nintendo may have started a new one -- holding players' hands. 

Siliconera recently dug up a Microsoft patent filing that appears to be its own answer to New Super Mario Bros. Wii's "Super Guide." In it, a system is described in which a player caught in a tight spot would be able to pause the game and then access a database of online, user- or developer-submitted tips. The help system could included screenshots, video clips, as well as audio commentary to help gamers. 

The potential for such a system brings up some unanswered questions. How would this affect physical strategy guide business, and would Microsoft monetize this service in some way? 

Ubisoft recently began offering a similar style guide, tied in with its Uplay service and Assassin's Creed 2. Gamers can hop into their web browser to watch publisher-designed walkthrough content for the game's missions, achievements, and more. 

What do you guys think of these services? Would this be something you'd pay for, or are you so opposed to walkthroughs/hints that you'd simply never access the features?

[via GamesIndustry.biz]

Remember that Mass Effect 2 surprise teased over the weekend? It looks like that surprise has now been revealed, and well, we’re still reeling from the shocker.

In a recent Facebook post, the person behind the official account revealed that the ME2 Web site has been revamped. Surprise!

Now you -- just like we did with mouths wide open and drool dripping from the corners of our full lips -- can navigate the ME2 Web site with relative ease. Say “goodbye” to browsing inconveniences and “hello” to brilliant pathways for the best possible ME2 page viewing. Truly, this is an awesome surprise.

It sure has been quiet on the Demigod front lately. You know what that means -- time for a patch!

Ready for download as of today, v1.2 is an exciting development for anyone deeply routed in the game's inner workings. The biggest addition is an all-new playable demigod, the Demon Assassin. Based on the name, he sounds like he's all about getting business done.

Other patch highlights include improved support for mods -- a new mod manager and system -- and beyond that, it's a bunch of smaller tweaks intended to better balance the game.

Stardock has got the full notes here, along with a tease: another new demigod called Oculus is due in the coming weeks.

We're not even sure if it's news, but we've written about far less in the past, so here I go. Blizzard's Official Warcraft Twitter account is teasing something for this Thursday.

What? We already said what -- "something." Pay attention. The tweet, posted today, reads "It’s Coming - 11/25," and is accompanied by the above picture. No, I don't know what that is. I think I see a piece of rope or a spine... or both. 

Maybe it's birthday cake -- World of Warcraft is officially five-years-old today; the game launched on November 23, 2004, ruining (or making) the holidays for families across the globe. What could it be? Any thoughts? Let us know what you think (or know).

Confession: When playing co-op Left 4 Dead, I'm the guy who's always shooting you in the back. I mean, I don't do it on purpose. It's just that what if you were a zombie? Also, I'm not a very good shot... and you keep getting in my way, man. 

So this strange little hack that allows for up to 16 players join in on a cooperative Left 4 Dead 2 game sounds like it would end in disaster. These videos tell the full story, and are a pretty good indication as to why Valve set the limit to four players during the cooperative campaign. Add any more, and this happens. 

Think about it for a moment: Having to scream "close the f*cking door!" at 15 people, while a Tank is trying to enter the safehouse. I think I've had nightmares like that...

[via Hot Blooded Gaming]

Let it be known across the land that I am now a PC gamer. I have come into possession of a PC that has glowing green lights on it which means it's probably awesome, and I have been downloading games on Steam and playing them with a mouse. This qualifies me for membership in the prestigious association of PC gamers, and I couldn't be prouder.

Now that I am a PC gamer and have received my official PC gamer decoder ring, I must conform to standards so that I may gain social acceptance among my new peers. Fortunately, I have the social conformity skills of a highly intelligent psychopath, and thus have compiled a perfectly observed to-do list that will allow me to blend into PC society like a sex offender in France.

Read on to learn how this social chameleon will become the ultimate PC gamer.

While those of us with laptops who couldn't process their way out of a simple algebraic equation are playing Left 4 Dead 2 on their 360, there is definitely a large chunk of gamers out there who rock zombie killing on the PC. However, like most PC games (and console games for that matter) the final build of L4D2 landed with some glitches. To fix this issue Valve has released a patch for the game via Steam.

You can check out all the things the patch fixes at the link above, but the ones you might actually notice are:

• Fixed performance problem when rendering lots of decals, notably when fighting tanks with shotguns
• Fixed rcon response not working on Linux dedicated servers
• Fixed matchmaking problem matching into Advanced and Expert games
• Fix bug that would cause other specials to try to pummel a player a Charger disconnects or reconnects
• Fixed versus mode results panel being cut off in transition stats screen in non-english
• Found games: fixed non-player entries drawing the wrong type of icon in the selected item name label
• Game mode selector on main menu now takes keyboard input

Sounds like some solid fixes up in there. Have any of these issues been plaguing you guys? I'm going to be honest and say that this patch makes me excited simply because the word pummel is used in one of the fixes.

Left 4 Dead 2 released this past week and while most people are having fun with it, there is a dedicated clan of people who are determined to convince the world that Left 4 Dead 2 is not a real game. These people, who we shall class as "f*cking idiots," have labeled Left 4 Dead 2 an expansion pack, unworthy of accolade and recognition.

These people are wrong and stupid. Left 4 Dead 2 is every bit a sequel as any other game, and trying to say otherwise is ludicrous. The arguments supporting the claim that L4D2 is an expansion remain nonsensical and reek of double standards. If you think Left 4 Dead 2 is an expansion, you are clearly very ignorant, very unintelligent, or you simply haven't played the game.

Read on as we explain why thinking Left 4 Dead 2 is an expansion makes you a f*cking idiot.

In recent years, Capcom has made some great progress in terms of becoming invested in PC gaming. The developer's last couple of major releases have seen solid ports, and in many cases, their exclusive goodies make these the versions you'd want to get above all else.

I'm not saying the company is perfect -- simultaneous PC and console releases, please? -- but it's certainly a major step up from the days of Resident Evil 4 on PC. Gross. That's why the recent news of Resident Evil 5 DLC for consoles felt off.

Not once did Capcom reference the PC version of RE5 in its announcement. Speaking to G4, a Capcom rep briefly stated there are "no plans for PC at this point," in reference to the Gold Edition content.

Perhaps they're waiting to see how the add-ons perform on consoles first, or they just don't have the resources to target all platforms at once. Or could it be a factor of sales not meeting expectations? I'm sure we'll know the reason before too long.

November 24? Why, that's next week!

In the rush of recent releases, I had almost forgotten about my beloved Borderlands and its premier downloadable content pack, "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned." From what I can tell, it'll be an awful lot like Zombi 2, minus the zombie-on-shark action and nudity. Boo!

But who knows, maybe they've hidden the old insert-glass-shard-into-eye scene as an easter egg?

Gearbox has devised a dedicated site for the add-on, complete with all the back-story you'll ever need, some new screenshots, and a tease for an upcoming trailer. I'll bet you anything the video goes live on Monday, just in the nick of time.

Worst case scenario, you ought to go visit the site for the sinister tune that plays. It's kinda catchy.

In this episode of "Adventures in Batsh*t Insane PC Gamer Trickery," we get to see how a conversion of Left 4 Dead to the Left 4 Dead 2 standard is done. Someone was crazy enough to bring the first game's campaigns into the sequel, and it's paid off. Mostly.

You see, there is known breakage. The final moments during the finales tend to result in a crash, for instance. But it's progress, for sure. Obviously the next step would be to get the original survivors into the South in a playable state.

If you aren't scared away by warning messages, and you own both games legit, then proceed to the instructions on how to accomplish this black magic over at Left 4 Dead Mods.

[Via Kotaku]

Despite all the complaints, controversies and nerd rage surrounding PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward has officially declared that it sold more than the original game, indicating that the lack of dedicated servers was not a huge deal to most consumers.

"The PC version of Modern Warfare 2 has actually outsold the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in its first week," confirms Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling, "making it the most successful PC version."

It seems that Infinity Ward could have done no wrong with Modern Warfare 2. It managed to alienate a huge section of the PC gamer community, earn nothing but negative press about the PC release, and yet still eclipse the sales of Call of Duty 4. In any case, it would appear that dedicated servers are not quite as important to most PC gamers as some of them make out.

Of course, it doesn't help that most of the supposed boycotters are playing the game right now.

Following on from our discovery of a Midnight Riders teaser site, we've just been tipped offLeft 4 Dead 2's resident rock band now has a blog, as well as a Youtube channel. Check it out because it's brilliant stuff! The blog reveals that despite the "Green Flu," the Riders are still touring because America needs MUSIC!

"So I’m sure y’all have heard by now that yer ol’ pal Dusty said a few controversial things at the Waynesboro, Oklahoma show last night, coming down pretty hard against cancer research," says one blog entry. "I just wanna say that we totally support our pal, even though officially the Midnight Riders do not endorse any of the opinions voiced by Dusty last night, nor condone his actions afterwards, when a journalist asked him why he loved cancer and Dusty knifed him between the ribs."

Quite what all the promotion is for, we cannot say, but it seems like Valve is definitely going to be pushing The Midnight Riders in some capacity. Since fake rock bands are nearly always great, this is something we won't be complaining about. Even if The Midnight Riders' second album was released a year after the first one and was just a glorified expansion that we should boycott.

We're quite excited to see where this all could lead. Hopefully all sorts of fun things are in store.

[Thanks, Entrager!]

Want some straight up, no-bullsh*t, BioShock 2 deathmatch footage? We've got you covered. This new video dresses nothing up, it simply gives you a minute of BioShock 2 multiplayer action. This is what it looks like, so feel free to hit that video and check it out.

BioShock 2's multiplayer is looking fairly standard, but it's helped by the simple fact that it's set in Rapture. The decor and the look of the characters goes a long way toward making this look like more than a common garden deathmatch, even if the gameplay itself is not massively unique.

I'm still a little iffy on multiplayer being thrown into BioShock 2, but what the hell? Let's give it a chance and see if it doesn't suck.

Looking to go unconventional with the narrative, the team behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s innards tossed around several fantastic ideas before settling on the series’ familiar and grounded reality. Aliens and zombies and outbreaks and viruses were considered as a threat at one point in the initial planning stages.

“Infinity Ward's Jason West, Steve Macuda, Todd Alderman, Mackey McCandlish and me would talk about the kinds of stories we could tell, and we didn't want to just make a straight sequel to Modern Warfare,” said Modern Warfare 2 scriptwriter Jesse Stein in a recent interview with GamePro. “We started kicking around anything and everything to weed out the bad ideas.

“In the beginning we talked about having things in Modern Warfare 2 like outbreaks, viruses, chemical warfare, and even outlandish things such as aliens and the living dead,” he said.

Stein said that after the team decided to do grounded events, they kept conjuring up situations or scenarios that had already happened in the real world. Fortunately, IW and Stein did find some stuff that hasn’t: without going into specifics, MW2 is filled with brilliant scenarios that, thankfully, haven’t happened to our knowledge.

Still, though, “No Russian” would have been awesome with zombies and ray guns.

Rejoice! Despite doubt having been cast over the presence of dedicated servers in Aliens vs. Predator, developer Rebellion has today announced that the cross-species slaughterfest will support them. Looks like PC gamers shan't be needing to sign any petitions for this one.

"Despite rumors, Rebellion has always been planning to support dedicated servers for AvP PC and we can now officially confirm that this is the case," says CEO Jason Kingsley. "Rebellion has always appreciated fan support. We're really looking forward to the release of AvP as much as you guys are!"

With Modern Warfare 2 ditching dedicated servers and RAGE looking to do the same, there is a risk of a new trend occurring in the PC world. Good job some developers are sticking to their guns.

Since many of you are like-minded folk, I can only assume you spend a good portion of your days pointing and clicking. I know I do. Why then, are we wasting our precious finger energy performing mundane tasks when we could be performing mundane tasks and totally getting sweet loot in the process?

Torchlight has been out since what, late October? Chances are if you had any intention of playing this year's Diablo, you would have done so already. Or you're waiting on a Steam sale.

I don't exactly know who this post is intended for, but here goes anyway: publisher Perfect World Entertainment is offering up a 2-hour trial of Torchlight. Having not tried this out for myself, I can't say what happens when the time runs out.

I'd like to think a self-destruct sequence on your computer is activated and the only way to prevent imminent destruction is to fork over the full $20. Tomorrow's headlines will surely read "Torchlight sales skyrocket 300%."

Welcome to another 24 hour contest! This time, we're giving away For the Glory - A Europa Universalis Game for the PC. For the Glory is a historical real time strategy game that spans from the years 1419 to 1819. Build up troops, take over countries -- do to the world what you will. Plus, the game was developed by a team within the Paradox fan community. Neat! You can get more info on the 32-player game after the break.

To win one of the five codes we're offering, you just simply need to leave a comment saying "Give me For the Glory!" You can comment as many times as you would like, you just have to wait for three other people to leave a comment before you can enter again. Deadline to enter is 11:59 CDT tonight and the contest is open worldwide! Good luck!

[Update: Codes have been given out!]

Does Global Thermonuclear War ring any bells? It was one of the hidden multiplayer modes in Modern Warfare 2 that Josh told us about just the other day. Having opened up the developer console, which, by default is blocked, players were able to gain access to otherwise unplayable modes.

GTW was one such mode, tasking players with "capturing" a nuke for 90 seconds to detonate it. Now, thanks to the persistent bunch at ModernWarfail2, everyone has the opportunity to witness the mayhem.

Since it's only a single guy showing this off, the build up is really tedious. But I'd be willing to bet a full match would be tense, frustrating, and most importantly fun. Whether or not this mode will A) get the paid DLC treatment, B) one day get unlocked for free, or C) never be officially released remains to be seen.

As a quick aside, the "getting a virus by way of IWNet" was a false alarm. No need to panic, for once.

Alright, you're sick of PC gamers whining about Modern Warfare 2 and how they're getting shafted by Activision and Infinity Ward. Dirty pirates and hackers deserve to get shafted, and that's all PC gamers are anyway, right?  

Well, among all the dirty hackers and pirates are more than a few legitimate players, and it seems that a bunch of them are getting banned for legitimately buying Modern Warfare 2. On the Steam forums, players have been reporting that their (legitimately bought) game CD keys being revoked. Valve representatives responded, saying that the players in question bought their keys from an "illegitimate seller" and would not be getting their games unlocked.

For console-only gamers and folks in the developed world, I cannot emphasize this enough: THIS IS NOT PIRACY. Digital CD key vendors exist and - in the majority of cases - are legitimate sellers. The vendors buy authorization codes at bulk prices, selling the keys to customers for profit. They're used as an alternative form of digital distribution designed to address lower-income markets, like Russia and Asia. Customers then redeem the codes for access. LAN cafe owners also use CD key vendors to buy and authorize multiple copies of the same game without having to buy a huge amount of boxes or discs.

It seems these legitimate vendors are no longer legitimate. At least not in Valve, Activision and Infinity Ward's eyes. In retrospect, one can see why this would happen. CD key vendors operate (legitimately) in a loophole that exists outside the usual channels, one uncomfortably close to piracy. Since Modern Warfare 2 incorporates Steam natively, it would be natural for Valve to want to channel all purchases of the game through Steam and at Steam's pricing. Savvy players (namely the people who just got revoked) would undoubtedly want to take advantage of the low bulk rates, eventually undermining region-based pricing schemes. Plus, Valve (and Blizzard) have their own Steam/Battle.net-based mass-authorization deals for LAN cafes that they would like to push.

The logic behind the move is solid and is a natural sign of the way the business is adapting but that doesn't really help the people who can't play Modern Warfare 2 anymore. Until they can cough up $60 dollars, anyway.

The Dragon Age: Origins Twitter account doesn’t spread lies like your standard, filthy Elf commoner. Something “cool” was announced this afternoon relating to Bioware’s latest RPG: the “Return to Ostagar” downloadable expansion.

Return to Ostagar takes the player back to the place where he or she became a fabled Grey Warden and experienced just an itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny bit of turmoil as such. According to the EA press release, the DLC will allow players to “exact their revenge” for the slight at Ostagar and quest for the golden armor of King Cailan for $4.99 (or 400 Moon Bucks) across all three platforms. Nice.

So, downloadable revenge and special loot is coming to Dragon Age: Origins at an unspecified holiday date. Sounds like we need to clear a spot in our schedule whenever the release is pegged. Not that we'll be doing much other than playing through Origins stories anyway.

[Thanks, Rockatansky and Victor Stillwater!]

It was incredibly surprising to hear that Pandemic -- a studio hard at work on the The Saboteur -- had been eradicated by Electronic Arts during a wave of layoffs. Despite the surprising turn of events, however, a former Pandemic employee believes EA did the right thing, and also added that The Saboteur is being sent to its death.

"The reason why the studio closed down has everything to do with the existing Pandemic management," an anonymous poster tells NeoGAF. "From what we were told, Pandemic management was given free reign to do as they please. Time and time again, they dropped the ball with bad decisions (promoting/keeping people based on loyalty, no production accountability, mis-allocation of resources, poor milestone objectives, no mentoring, etc.). It's a true shame, as there was a lot of talent and passion at the studio."

This former employee does not blame EA, who "probably made the right decision." However, he does blame EA for the cold death that he believes The Saboteur will face.

"One more thing I will say: EA is totally sending Saboteur out to die. And it's a f*cking shame. It's easily Pandemic's best game yet. Of course, I am a bit biased having worked on the game for so long. If you were disappointed with Mercs2 and LOTR (who wasn't) and enjoyed previous Pandemic games, give Saboteur a shot."

The Saboteur is out in December, and I have been looking forward to it, so we shall have to see how it goes. I hope it does well, because if anything, Pandemic deserves one last hurrah.

Tales of Monkey Island draws to a close this December with the release of the final episodic chapter on the 8th of next month. Dubbed “Rise of the Pirate God,” Telltale Games has said via a recent press release that the this last chapter will answer “many vexing questions,” foremost of which we hope is an answer as to the real fate of the mightiest pirate ever to wear a hook for a hand, Guybrush Threepwood.

The latest press release plays off of his “purported demise,” and even carries a quote from THE David Grossman:  “[Guybrush Threepwood] wanted what every young man wants -- to loot, pillage, and sail the high seas in search of further looting and pillaging opportunities,” Grossman said.

“It’s a great tragedy to see such a productive life seemingly cut off prematurely. And I’m just saying that because he owes me money.”

It’s a bummer to watch the recent MI explosion come to an end, but we’re guessing this won’t be the last we’ll see of the property. Regardless, look out for the fifth and last chapter of Tales of MI in early December.

What's this? A generally worthwhile, rather neat pre-order bonus from GameStop? Praise the heavens!

As you can see from the picture above, three multiplayer skins for Aliens vs. Predator can be yours if you put up $5 for reservation or whatever the going rate is these days. It's been years since I've bothered to pre-order, but my love of Aliens and Predator is just great enough to make this an exception.

I can't quite tell if it's the lighting or the guy on the left there, Number Six, is actually blue. If so, sweet! If not, well, he's got a giant target on his head in the shape of a six ... wait, how is that a good thing? Hey, at least the Alien Head Predator is kind of rad.

You know what would be grand? If by some miracle Rebellion included Mantis Alien in the game. Anyone who's ever come into contact with those old Kenner action figures knows what I'm talking about. Hell, even DLC would be sufficient.

[Via Joystiq]

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter has gone gold, and is now up for pre-purchase over on Steam. Doing so will allow you to keep a few extra dollars in hand as you wait for the game to unlock on November 24.

Now it's obvious Serious Sam HD is a mighty step up in the visuals department, but I didn't truly appreciate the work that's been done until Devolver Digital linked to this super old Serious Sam announcement video created by Croteam. Talk about a trip.

I still say those screaming bomb-headed guys were ridiculously silly even from the very moment the original release of Serious Sam took place so many years ago.