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]

This week's Friday update to the official Super Street Fighter IV website features a new trailer, (which we've already shown you), and gives the recently revealed new characters their own profile pages. Adon, Cody and Guy now join the rest of the fighters with bios avilable under the site's character section, and you can get a look at their stats and a listen at what to expect their Japanese voices to sound like.

Nakky has also updated her blog, albeit with little more than a celebration of the new characters. She does, however, show us the full, uncropped screenshot she teased us with last week, and it turns out Cody was the one giving Chun-Li a hard time.

Hit the gallery for a look at that, along with new screens featuring all three characters. There's also a better shot of Guy fending off Ibuki's kunai, as was teased in the latest issue of Famitsu. Hopefully it won't be much longer before we get to see the ninja girl who threw it.

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.

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.

I thought long and hard about a Thanksgiving-related pun to use in this header, but in the end I couldn't find anything to fit in the title box. Thus, I shall try to put the puns in here.

So, chipmaker IBM is looked like it was planning to take the axe to Cell, the processing technology behind the PlayStation 3 console, which some opposition fanboys have called a "turkey". Unfortunately, I doubt they call it that because they think it to be fat and stuffed with deliciousness.

Ars Technica relayed details from an interview with David Turek, IBM's Vice-President of Deep Computing (cool name for a department, that), who said that the company would not be developing the next generation of Cell processor. It seemed to be more a business decision than an actual technological one, as Ars Technica's article had many big words implying that Cell is apparently quite good. Good as gravy. Eh? Eh?! Apparently all those dev diaries talking about how great the Cell is for making Uncharted 2 and Killzone and whatnot weren't completely bunk.

"But what about PlayStation?!" yell many fanboys. Not to worry. Sony reps indicated the announcements have nothing to do with the fate of the black Blu-ray behemoth, and IBM confirmed that they would continue to make chips for as long as needed. Plus, some of the core concepts behind Cell will make their way into the next generation of chips.

Besides, it's hardly time to be thinking of the next hardware cycle. The fowl in the console cockfight have a lot of battle left in them.

But hey, it's Thanksgiving, so you might be too smashed/satisfied/asleep to be reading this. Have a great clip I dug up to celebrate/lament the end of Cell.

[Update: It seems that Cell development as a whole will NOT be stopped after all, as the cycle being halted was only one part of the Cell line, a line which did NOT include the type used in the PS3. Thanks to Narishma for the clarification!]

Looks like Super Street Fighter IV doesn’t have the exclusive on the reappearance of Final Fight characters Cody and Guy. Speaking to IGN this afternoon, Capcom revealed Final Fight: Double Impact, an Xbox LIVE and PSN download set to hit this April.

As far as we can tell, this is something of a re-release of Final Fight with a few rocktastic additions, the foremost of which is the inclusion of Magic Sword within the lone download. Cool still is the planned addition of HD visuals and drop-in online co-op. Good luck getting your hands on Haggar, though. I call dibs.

No pricing information or a firm release date were announced, but we're sure we'll hear about this after this Thanksgiving thing in the US blows over.

Oh, Black Friday. The biggest purchase I’ve ever made on this day where Americans kill each other for a shot at a low-priced television is a five-pound jug of GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey Protein. It wasn’t on sale, mind you. I just needed to get some globular protein in my body. But I realize this grand Friday is a big deal to a lot of consumers, and it should be an even bigger one this year to someone looking for a PS3 deal.

The official PS blog just did a post reminding all of us about the various cost-effective Black Friday PS3 bundles. At the top of that list, we see an Amazon 120 GB bundle that includes a copy of inFAMOUS and Killzone 2 for $299. A little further down, there’s a mention of a GameStop 120 GB bundle that includes the God of War Collection and LBP for the same price.

In fact, all the bundles listed are $299. But they all offer a different mix of games, with Sucker Punch’s inFAMOUS being the most common of those.

If you’re into this Black Friday thing and need a PS3, it’s not a bad idea to hit the PS blog for the mad knowledge they're dishing out. If you don't want said knowledge, well, just sit back and watch this Super Mario video. Dude plays a Queen song with Super Mario Twins. F'ing gold.

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 above, 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.

[Update: The video is now included above.]

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."

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?

Guitar Hero 6 development is already well underway, despite the fact that it hasn't officially been announced. How do we know this? Well, I woke up this morning, the sky is blue, and Jim Sterling upset a bunch of people last week -- these are all things that simply happen in nature. 

Who will be on the soundtrack? Well, we can confirm Tesla now. Yup, the guitarist for the 80s rock outfit recently confirmed that its song "Modern Day Cowboy" has been selected to appear in Guitar Hero 6. Dave Rude says the song was one of the three tracks it suggested to Activision when it was asked to be involved in the game. 

Rude also isn't on the "play a real instrument" band-wagon, seeing positives in the band-game experience. 

"“I teach guitar when I’m not touring and a lot of people start in on that," he says. "A lot of people complain, but I think it’s a good thing. Even if people don’t learn to play guitar, it’s exposing them to all sorts of cool guitar-based music that they wouldn’t have ever heard otherwise."

[Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles via Joystiq]

Are you a betting man? If so, popular discount Web site My Voucher Codes has a hot tip for you. The site has been looking at the sales data from its various retail partners and has confidently claimed that the Xbox 360 is primed to defeat the PS3 by an eyebrow-raising 3:1 ratio this holiday season.

"A couple of months ago, little separated the two in terms of units being sold through our site, but November has seen a huge surge by Microsoft's budget friendly console, backed by a stellar PR campaign," says My Voucher Codes founder Mark Pearson. "The PlayStation 3 is undoubtedly a fantastic console, but Brits are still extremely mindful of their bank balance due to the recession, and although they want Christmas 2009 to be memorable, are seemingly more than happy to choose the cheaper option.

"If sales stay at their current rate, the Xbox 360 will outsell Sony's console by three units to one, a marked defeat. Both companies want their console to be under the Christmas tree this year, but there can only be one winner."

The PS3 price cut was a welcome gesture and has surely seen a lot more PS3s find their way into people's homes. However, with the Xbox 360 able to wriggle out a cheaper price, it's definitely more attractive to the average consumer who doesn't care as much about Blu-ray and free PSN services as we do. We'll have to wait until the Christmas dust has settled, but this is an early swing in favor of the 360 so far.

From the sound of things, it seems like Naughty Dog is cooking up a nice Uncharted 2 surprise for this week. On its official Twitter, the developer hints at something "quite awesome" for the game's multiplayer. 

"Things are looking up that we're going to have something quite awesome lined up for multiplayer at the end of this week," it writes. 

We're unsure what this could mean, but it could be something as simple as the devs hopping online en masse to play with fans. While we'll mostly be on vacation later this week (it's the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States), you'll know what this "quite awesome" thing is when we do.

Red Dead Redemption was among the list of games Take-Two Interactive pegged for distribution in their fiscal 2010 line-up during a memorable financial conference call earlier this year. Not much has been said of the game’s release date since until a recent Rockstar Games press release, which revealed that the videogame western is slated for to hit retail in April 2010.

Oh, and a fresh trailer is set to hit the first of December.

We haven’t seen much of RDR yet, but we’re always excited for a game with horses and funny accents. It’s a problem, and yes, it is being investigated by professionals. Blood test and urinalysis are expected to come back from the lab next week. Doc said we looked "fine" otherwise, though.

Next week, Nirvana's Nevermind album sort of gets complete for the Rock Band catalog. The three "missing tracks" -- "Come As You Are," "Lithium," and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- are being made available as part of "Nirvana Pack 2." The catch? Two are live tracks.

Nirvana Pack 2 ($5.49/440 MS Points, $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points Per Track)

• "Come As You Are (Live from MTV Unplugged)" +
• "Lithium (Live at Reading)"
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" 

Night Ranger Pack 1 ($5.49/440 MS Points, $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points Per Track)

• "(You Can Still) Rock in America" +
• "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" +
• "You're Gonna Hear It From Me"+

_{(The "+" indicates the song is also available for LEGO Rock Band)}

You might notice something is up with the Night Ranger pack... where the hell is "Sister Christian"? I suppose you have to save something for Rock Band 3, which should feature an entire section of your career dedicated to playing Night Ranger's most popular track (and one of the greatest songs of all time). Right? Right.

The Japanese release of Final Fantasy XIII is imminent, and so Square Enix has wrapped up its promotion for the game in the Eastern part of the world. It's gone out with a bang, however, as Square Enix has revealed its "final" trailer, giving us a whopping five minutes of footage.

Of course, as Square Enix finishes prepping the game for Japan, it must turn its gaze toward we lowly round eyes, so don't expect the coverage to end any time soon. In the mean time, watch this trailer and flick your frenulum over some ludicrously beautiful visuals.

God damn, this game looks good.

Since we obsessively refresh GameStop.com, we already brought you news of the retailer's pre-order bonuses for THQ's Darksiders. Today, the publisher has decided to reveal them itself, giving us a closer look at what you'll get if you throw your money down a bit early. 

It's a pretty sexy package of stuff, so let me refresh your memory:

• Graphic Novel vision of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
• Concept Art - Exclusive in-depth look at the creation of the epic Darksiders.
• Exclusive Fold Out Poster - Original concept art created by Joe Madureira.
• Weapons Feature - Master the weapons of Darksiders with this exclusive guide
• The Harvester - Code to unlock GameStop exclusive in-game weapon

Darksiders will be available on January 5 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. You'll have to wait until then to get all of this fancy crap, but it sure sounds like it's worth the wait.

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.

It makes sense that Traveller's Tales' LEGO games have heavily emphasized on-the-couch co-op play. While they may be intended for everyone, you get the distinct feeling these games are perfect for families with younger gamers.

But what about the rest of us? It's not always easy getting together in real life with our busy schedules and all. Enough LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues players felt this way -- LucasArts hopped on Twitter to tell us about an impending patch for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that'll add online co-op.

Is this going to be the norm now? It'd be neat if we didn't have to run a similar story a couple of months after LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 releases. Just saying.

[Via Kotaku]

Here's a nice treat, just in time for the widespread fattening that goes on during Thanksgiving: SCEA has knocked seven PlayStation Network titles down to half price. Better yet, some of these games are even worth downloading.

These are the new prices that go into effect today and last through December 2:

• Flower - $4.99
• The Last Guy - $4.99
• Comet Crash - $4.99
• Prince of Persia Classic - $4.99
• Bomberman Ultra - $4.99
• Smash Cars - $7.49
• Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao - $7.49

Not bad. Not bad at all. While this list of games is by no means the best of the best for PSN, the games are surely worth considering with these sale prices. Although, with the inevitable Black Friday madness, will your cash be spent elsewhere this week?

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.

On November 26th, deep in the forests (or whatever) of the Netherlands, developer Guerrilla will be partying it up, celebrating the Dutch release of Killzone. We bring this up because all of you are invited to party with the studio. Sort of.

According to a recent official PS blog post, Guerilla will be hosting a “Killzone 2 retro tournament” between November 27th and 30th with only two (DLC) maps in the rotation: Beach Head and Southern Hills. In addition to this, the crew is throwing a Double XP weekend thing between those dates.

If you don’t have the DLC, it’s no big deal; Guerrilla plans to slash the price of two bits of content. As of today, Flash & Thunder should be listed at $2.99 while the Map Pack Bundle is to be $9.99. Neat.

There’s more to this celebration, including some retro commentaries, so do check out the PS blog post for more information if you’re down in Killzone. While you do that, we’ll be practicing for this weekend. Anyone remember how to throw grenades?

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?

As Nakky promised over on the official Super Street Fighter IV dev blog last week, the new issue of Famitsu carries within it some hot new character reveals for SSFIV. Officially joining the roster this Spring will be Adon, Cody and Guy from the Street Fighter Alpha series.

Looks like Adon's foot was probably the source of Chun-Li's pain in that Focus Attack screenshot we saw last week, and the new stage was Cody's. This being a leaked scan spotted over at Shoryuken, Capcom still has yet to release any official information on these characters. But a look at the scans gives us a taste of what kind of action they'll be bringing back to the game. 

Perhaps when they get to talking, they can tell us why Cody is still wearing his prison clothes and shackles after all this time.

And if our SFIII fans out there are feeling let down, don't. Take a look at the gallery below and you'll see that the cropped shot of Guy's punch is blocking a kunai. Furthermore, the text above that image in the magazine pulls the Chun-Li teaser stunt from last week and asks whose it might be. 

Hmm, kunai ... I don't want to speculate, but I'm going to guess her name definitely rhymes with Ibuki.

I'm not sure how to tell you this, but instead of finishing and releasing the Splatterhouse remake, Namco Bandai has first teamed up with GLOBE International Limited to produce a shoe. 

The Splatterhouse Co-op limited series shoe is based off of Globe's "Superfly" model, and features red skulls, splattered blood, and the Splatterhouse logo. The kicks are available at select online retailers, but I'm not telling you where you can get them... because I'm buying them for myself. (Namco Bandai, feel free to send me a pair for our first "shoe review" -- I wear a size 11. Thanks!)

Along with this special announcement, Namco Bandai also sent along some screenshots of the actual game. Which is the important thing, right? Splatterhouse is apparently still scheduled for a Q3 2010 release for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Planning my outfit now...

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.

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.

Awhile back, Sega teamed up with Maxim to trick women into dressing up like Bayonetta to win a 50 inch Panasonic TC-P50X1 HDTV Plasma TV and a copy of Bayonetta for the Xbox 360.

Well, a winner has been chosen, and it's Andrea Bonaccorso. Bonaccorso says that when she was nine, she begged her mom for a Sega Genesis, and then become obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog, Toe Jam and Earl, and (random much?) Rolo to the Rescue. In 2009, she dressed in black, found a fake gun, put on some glasses, and won a television. Good for her. 

While congratulations are in order for Andrea, her win is suspect. Taking a look at the list of top nine entrants chosen by Maxim, one who goes by the name of Sydney, went all out. I'm talking like, hardcore cosplay get-up. What gives?

Borderlands DLC “The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned” is set to launch rather soon, as in tomorrow soon, over Xbox LIVE and PSN. As announced moons ago, this first bit of content has players traveling to Dr. Ned’s trashy island in order to purge the place of its zombies, pumpkin-head-dudes, Tankensteins, and other colorful enemies.

According to the 2K marketing folk, game owners should expect dozens of new missions and several more hours of play with this DLC. But don’t go into this expecting new weapons or a higher level cap. Neither of these things are going to happen to our knowledge.

Regardless, the content looks like a blast. The latest teaser (shown above) showcases some of the Halloween-themed locales, including a bent Jaokob’s facility and a twisted graveyard -- two places we’re eager to beserk through on the morrow depending on how our zombie-saturation meter reads. Green means good to go. Orange? Not so much.

Earlier this weekend, I decided to drop the weights and pick up the Dual Shock. This kind of recreation isn’t anything new, but the thing I chose to play sort of is: the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 PS3-exclusive beta. Above is ten sweet, sweet minutes from my second match of that afternoon.

One thing you’ll notice in this latest Ten Minute Taste is that the Attacker side didn’t know what they were doing, or at least, didn’t care about the objectives. My team and I were in their spawn as a result, giving them some hell with bullets and fire from our armor. It was a spanking, no doubt.

Even though Florence and assassins have dominated my free time from Sunday afternoon on, I’m still thinking about BF:BC2. I obviously dug it and am planning to jump back into it in the near future. What do you guys think about the beta? The TMT? Chocolate pudding? Tell us.

With Thanksgiving this week, the PlayStation Network releases had to be moved up to Tuesday. We're getting two games, Revenge of the Wounded Dragons and Gravity Crash, both of which are $9.99.

As cool as the name sounds, RotWD looks off. For reference, the PlayStation Blog has video of the straight-up arcade-style beat-'em-up. Who knows, there's always the possibility it handles a heck of a lot better than it looks over the Internet.

The neon aesthetic of Gravity Crash is much less taxing on the eyes. It's very much what you would expect from a download-only shooter these days, with one exception. The level editor! The short montage shown here makes it look intuitive enough.

And since levels can be shared, you can always fall back on the work of others if need be.

When I first heard that No More Heroes was coming to the PS3/360, I was totally shocked. Porting a two-year-old Wii game to HD consoles? It's ludicrous, unheard of, and potentially brilliant. While I'm not totally convinced that NMH will be better for the swap between motion controls and HD graphics, I still want the game to sell well on the PS3/360. If this port goes on to outsell the 500,000-700,000 copies that the Wii original sold worldwide, I'd be ecstatic.

Now, before you going calling me a Wii-hating HD fanboy, hold your horses. Take another look at the title of this post. Look at a few of my other blogs. Though I'm not the biggest fan of Nintendo of America, the Wii is actually my favorite console of this generation so far.

So, if I like the Wii so much, why am I excited that NMH is "defecting" to high definition consoles? Well, because from where I stand, the success of the game on the PS3/360 could signal the final victory for the "Wii philosophy," which is the reason I like the Wii so much in the first place.

Hit the jump and I'll explain.

It's with little shock that we'll eventually be telling you all about the sequel to Visceral Games' Dead Space. All signs point to "totally happening," with rumors of multiplayer that our own sources quietly confirmed to us months ago. 

So when will we see it? If a teaser for next month's issue of Official PlayStation Magazine is anything to go by, it seems "next month." The magazine teases an "unannounced horror game," and uses a piece of artwork that has been discovered to be a piece of concept art (pictured above) from the original Dead Space. 

Seems likely, and we'll find out soon enough, as the magazine hits stands on December 22. It's possible we'll see hints of the game even sooner -- the Spike VGAs, which airs on December 12, promises to reveal nearly a dozen unannounced games. Could Dead Space 2 be among them?

[Goonline via NeoGAF]

Visceral drew the ire of bookworms and literature students when it revealed its videogame adaptation of Dante's Inferno. Some believe the classic poem has been violated by a tasteless videogame company doing tasteless videogame things, but the studio has hit back by claiming that true fans of the poem actually love the game.

"Generally those critics are often people who weren't fans of the poem and weren't that familiar with it until they heard we were doing this," alleges executive producer Jonathan Knight. "What we're finding is, a few people anyway, that quite clearly didn't know it well, now have gone off and read it and they're looking for ways to go, oh you're taking liberties here, or you didn't do this, or whatever. But the reality is that true Dante fans, people who actually have spent time with the literature and care about it are over the moon with the game project.

"I like to say the game is a celebration of Dante. There are more people going to actually read the poem, learn about The Divine Comedy, read up on Dante and what he meant to western culture, than otherwise would have. That's a good thing. The game's not meant to replace the poem. It's not meant to be like, hey, play the game and you don't have to read the poem. The cool thing is the opposite is happening. More people are reading it, not less, because of the game."

I think Visceral has it right. The Dante's Inferno videogame can have as little or as much to do with the poem as you want. It's not taken anything away from the original work, and those crying sacrilege really are getting worked up over something that has no real impact on their enjoyment of literature. It's a videogame. Its job is to entertain us a game, not as a book.

Of course, if the game itself sucks, then feel free to criticize it to the Moon. But let's wait on that, shall we?

Good news for those of you too lazy to create Japanese PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE accounts -- Sega has announced that the demo for Platinum Games' Bayonetta will be hitting North America and Europe next week, on December 3. 

Jim Sterling took a look at both versions of the demo now long ago, and basically came to the conclusion that the Xbox 360 version was superior. Both, however, were good times. The Internet, of course, exploded anyhow. That's just what happens. 

Earlier today, a few of us were talking about how the game really wasn't on some of our radars until we tried out the demo. It's shaping up to be an over-the-top third person action game, full of violence and sexual overtones... the way we like it. 

Bayonetta is set for release in North America on January 5, with a European release to follow three days later. 

Remember "Blast Processing" from the 16-bit days? It wasn't really a thing. More marketing, really. At the start of this current generation of consoles, I thought Sony's Cell processor was a similar load of marketing crap. It turned out to be a legitimately powerful CPU that groups sought out for functions other than gaming. The latest group is the United States Air Force, who just purchased 2,200 PS3s. Fanboys?

They're making a supercomputer with the systems, grouping these 2,200 systems with the 336 ones they already have in place to make one massive number crunching research machine. Information Week says that they've already conducted plenty of research with similar Cell beasts. Processing radar images, high-res video, and even brain-like computing have been tried. Up next? The smoothest session of multiplayer Uncharted 2 ever.

So, why Cell processors in a PS3? They're cheap and powerful. They tried making a similar supercomputer out of multicore Xeon processors. It turned out to be a more expensive and slower unit.

[via IW, Kotaku]

First thing's first -- Zipper Interactive has announced that its beta program for the massive online PlayStation 3 exclusive shooter MAG has been extended. It was originally scheduled to end on November 23, but that's so last week.

"MAG Beta 4 program" will continue this week, and the next phase -- "MAG Beta 4.5" -- will re-launch on November 24 with another small download. What that means exactly is unclear, but if you've already pre-ordered MAG with GameStop, you should have received a beta key that will work throughout the beta. (You should still be able to pre-order online and get your working code; Zipper says in-store keys will "no longer support" the beta.")

Want a key? Well, we have 100 keys to give away today. To win, simply comment and tell us which of the game's private military factions you'll join when you sign up and why. You can get more info on the factions from our earlier preview of the game. 

We'll choose our 100 favorite answers (starting at around 5:00pm Eastern), and message you your key using Destructoid's new private messaging system (which is also in beta). Good luck! 

[Update: The contest is closed, and I'm currently choosing winners and then private messaging the winners. Keep an eye out; I'll update when all codes have been sent out. Since I'm doing this by hand and I'm one man, please give me time to organize and send out codes. Thanks!]

Last week, I took a trip out to Vancouver to visit United Front Games' studio, and get hands on time with its upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive, ModNation Racers. While I was there, I used the game's insanely deep editing tools to design my own racer, a bloody mess of an undead ghoul. 

Well, it followed me home. Sort of. 

A physical mini-figure of my creation showed up in the mail today, courtesy of Sony, United Front Games, and Offload Studios, a Canadian company that brings virtual characters to "life" in the form of actualized statues. As you can see, the little bugger fits nicely next to my apple and PS3 controller... where it belongs. 

The process Offload Studios used to bring is pretty incredible, which you can see in the video after the jump. It's a bit of an advertisement, but it's certainly interesting. 

ModNation Racers ships next year, and it looks like I'll be re-creating this dude when I get my hands on it. We have history now.

It’s not hard to become numb while competing in an online shooter. As these components continue to become beefier and more complex, the impact an individual has in the outcome of a match shrinks. But not every upcoming online setup is following this trend: Digital Illusions CE is blending massive team strategy with individual, hard-nosed impact in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

I’ll give you an example. In a single match of BC2 last evening, I sabotaged two Russian beacons while keeping my feats-in-progress going with a hot barrel and a magazine packed with lead death-dealers. I butchered ten combatants, helped to defend a position from incoming armor, and jolted around six fallen comrades with a vicious blast of electrical current -- all in a span of nine or so minutes.

I didn’t need to kill 20 people in a row or compete for countless hours for the privilege of experiencing success. I just needed to load the BC2's closed beta and hop into a match.

No matter what your thoughts are on the odd little game that is Noby Noby Boy you have to agree that Noby Noby Girl is one of the coolest community features in gaming around. See, as Noby Noby Boy eats in the game Noby Noby Girl grows longer and longer into outer space, and her growth is affected by every person who plays the game. She's pretty long now; so long, in fact, that she has reached Jupiter, which is 576,682,810 miles away from Earth. 

A random multiplier was added to everyone playing the game recently, which helped Noby Noby Girl reach the planet, but it still took a lot of game time to get her there. Did you help out or have you not returned to the charming land of Noby Noby Boy recently? If not, now is the perfect time to do it as a new planet has been unlocked thanks to Girl reaching Jupiter. You can check it out below in video form.

Damn it Sony. How in God's name did it take you this long to come up with a good ad campaign? *Sigh* Well, at least now that you've found one you're milking it for all that it's worth, and you're milking it really well. On Friday Playstation Blog revealed the next ad in the "It only does everything" ad campaign and it is once again hilarious.

This one focuses on the awesomeness of the Blu-ray player within the mighty PS3 and how it could appeal to those of a more elderly age. Kevin Butler, the Sony "rep" in all the ads, nails it again. While I think I still find the price drop rumor commercial to be the funniest (and not just because Destructoid is in it) this one is definitely a fantastic addition.

STICK.

World domination. It isn't an easily achieved goal. Talk to any dictator with aspirations to rule over Europe or Asia in recent history and they'll tell you, it don't come easy. Sony has a plan though, and it starts by taking over every electronic you own and then building SkyNet. Step one in that plan is to use PSN as the backbone for all of its online service offerings. The tentatively named Sony Online Service was revealed at Sony corp.'s global strategy presentation and is a way for Sony to offer a single user experience across all of its electronic platforms. Part of this plan is that premium service that was announced at the same presentation.

At the meeting Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai outlined the strategy, saying that the system would support a single user ID across the entire service and offer consumers an "enhanced value" that will be delivered thanks to SOS's ease of use and universality. "The service will be launched economically and quickly by leveraging the PlayStation [Network] service platform. For example, key assets for creating a network service management system, payment system, and content distribution system will be shared with the PSN platform so that initial investment risk can be minimized," Hirai said while his presentation showed off PSPs, PS3s, Blu-ray players, Sony's electronic books, laptops, Walkman MP3 players and pretty much every other electronic Sony makes. 

Sony also wants the SOS to expand into its mobile line-up and challenge iTunes' dominance of the downloadable media market. To demonstrate that Sony could be successful at this Hirai pointed out that the PSN already has 33 million registered users and those users download 25 petabytes of content each month. He then sat down in a chair, began to pet his white cat gently and laugh maniacally as he pointed out that the company expected to sell $50 billion dollars worth of downloadable goods on the service during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010.

It looks like the Need for Speed franchise is taking a page from Burnout and going the free DLC route. For anyone still playing Need for Speed SHIFT after Forza 3 has already been released some new DLC is on the way, and it isn't just a few new cars to race in. Come Dec. 1 on the 360 and Dec. 3 on the PS3 SHIFT players will get an all new gameplay mode called Team Racing. It actually looks pretty damn awesome.

The new mode will allow players to go online with up to six friends and make a team of cars. The goal of team racing is not for individual glory, but for the entire team to do well. This should create some pretty interesting racing tactics that you don't see too often, especially in online play. As the video above shows it's actually looking a little exciting (at least to my untrained racing eye), especially when you throw in the four new muscle cars and one Toyota that come with the DLC in the form of a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427, a 1967 Shelby GT-500, a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, a 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T and a 1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV.

What say you? Intriguing enough to pop the SHIFT disc back into the system or have you moved on already?

So I guess this Dark Void game is going to be a pretty big deal. What with the movie tie-ins we can easily conclude that Capcom is looking to make this a major franchise. Maybe it's because I haven't had any time with the game yet (unlike Dyson), but I'm just not feeling it that much -- and I love The Rocketeer or at least the idea of strapping a jet pack onto my back. If you have been following the game then this video is for you, as it shows off The Watchers, who are mysterious indigenous beings from the planet Dark Void takes place on.

These guys appear to be enemies in the game, as large, sharp, metallic, pointy creatures usually are, but the video doesn't show off much about them in general. I must say that they do look a bit out of place from the retro/future design I've seen of the game so far, but that is possibly intentional so that they are clearly different from your jet pack wearing hero. See, just typing "jet pack wearing hero" is actually getting me excited for this game.

The first thing you'll notice about this video is how I sound like my voice is about to turn into a frog. That's because I was sick as Hell when I recorded it. Still, I bravely soldiered on to produce the video, with a little help from our very own Rey Gutierrez, since I've been in Miami.

This week, I have been creating the video on the brand new computer of greatness that I have received. It allowed me to be a bit more adventurous with editing, even though the software I got was borked so the size has come out a tiny bit smaller than Viddler's player. Still, it's in actual HD this week, so progress has been made!

Oh, and I should also note that the script for this episode is horribly juvenile. I do not apologize in advance.

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.

If my preview of ModNation Racers wasn't enough for you, or if you were all "tl;dr," then this post is for you. 

Sony and United Front Games dumped a bunch of straight up game footage videos on us, in addition to the packaged trailer I posted along with my hands-on preview and details. The first one, seen above, gives you a better idea of how the game's track designer works. It's overwhelming, easy to use, and completely awesome all at the same time.

Hit the jump to check out some of the game's character creation in action, as well a video of the game's racing in action.

ModNation Racers is slated for release in 2010, exclusively for the PlayStation 3. 

Earlier this week, we got an e-mail about Mass: We Pray, a Wii-like game where you Church at home. The Web site and video for the "game" was pretty outrageous, and pretty much bordered on heresy. Well it turns out the whole thing was a viral for the Heretic section in Dante's Inferno!

Reader patty n. went back to the Mass: We Pray Web site today to see if the pre-order link would work. Instead, patty got the above trailer showing off the Herectic level. After the trailer finishes playing on the Mass site, a link comes up for you to damn your friends on Facebook with this app. It's neat in a "I have five minutes to kill" kind of way, I guess.

Along with the first in its series of "Hellbook" videos, THQ sent us a mess of information about the weapons and powers that will appear in the upcoming Darksiders. 

From what we're told, War will purchase weapons and upgrades by trading souls to Vulgrim, who will equip the horseman with Wrath powers. They all sound terrifying, too -- Affliction, Blade Geyser, Immolation, and Stoneskin. I don't know what any of that stuff means as far as the game is concerned, but my guess is that anything that steps in the way of War is basically f*cked. Well, at least that's the plan. 

Hit the jump for images of some of the gear that you'll find in the game, along with fancy blurbs written by THQ.

This week's update comes courtesy of Nakky's blog over at the official Super Street Fighter IV website, and teases some big news on the way. Nakky has a screencap of Chun-Li being treated unkindly by someone of unknown identity, and she says there'll be "something huge" announced next week.

Nakky teases, "Chun-Li's getting beat up... but, by who?" Seems pretty safe to assume the big news will be a character reveal, and Nakky says the info will also be published in the 11/26 issue of Famitsu, which goes on sale shortly. This pleases me, because as we all know, Famitsu tends to be ... how shall I put it ... less than watertight with its secrets.

We'll probably know for sure before we're supposed to, but until then, feel free to point at the new stage pictured above and speculate as to whose it might be. In the meantime, Dan Hibiki, El Fuerte and Rufus have been added to the official character profiles page as well.

I can't hear you guys over all of the shouting about the reveal of No More Heroes: Hero's Paradise for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This updated version of the once-Wii-exclusive was announced recently for release in Japan, featuring updated high definition graphics and set for release as early as February. 

Bad news, though -- looks like it doesn't have a US publisher in Ubisoft, who will publishing No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for the Wii in 2010. 

"Ubisoft will not be publishing either of these versions," a company spokesperson told G4 in regards to the updated PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the original. 

Sad news, indeed. That doesn't mean, however, that it won't be coming to North America. Another publisher -- one that likes gamers, I'd imagine -- may pick it up. Cross your fingers.

Sony bossface Kaz Hirai has stated that the PlayStation 3 will top 13 million sales in 2010, helped along by a bevy of new features. He believes that the target will be met before the financial year is over in March.

Next year will see Sony jump on the whole "it only does everything" tag, as it plans to distribute content over net-work capable TVs, Blu-ray players and, of course, the PS3 itself. Unfortunately, today has been a horrible day for news, and this is literally all the information that Reuters has on Sony's 2010 plans. We were so desperate for stories that I took this awful piece of crap "story" and am now regretting it.

Oh well. PS3 is doing well. News story had.

A surprise announcement at E3 this year, the PlayStation 3 exclusive ModNation Racers looks to redefine the kart racing genre with its ridiculous level of customization and community features.

With a beta being launched soon, Sony and developer United Front Games invited us out to its Vancouver-based studio to get an early look at what players can expect. As it turns out, a whole hell of a lot. Kart racing fans, you are not prepared. 

More after the jump.

Black Friday and all its horror will soon be upon us, and the Internet has gotten its talons on GameStop's list of ludicrous offers. The list is absolutely huge, some great bundles such as a PS3 with God of War: Collection and LittleBigPlanet for $299, and tens of dollars to be saved on all sorts of games.

While we're here, how many of you are planning to venture out and brave the crowds of braying imbeciles next week? Is the lure of cheap stuff you've never needed enough to make you part of the dignity-sucking problem, or are you going to be like me and hide under a pile of coats until it all goes away?

While you answer, hit the jump for the list of GameStop chicanery.