As bold as day, Electronic Arts has stated that Dead Space 2 will not be coming to PC. A version for computers was conspicuous in its absence when EA listed its releases for 2011, and when asked about the situation, EA was forthcoming in its declaration that Dead Space 2 would be a console-only affair. 

The publisher has been less clear as to why it is denying the PC crowd. No reasons have been given for Dead Space 2's console-only status. All that's been said is that "As of right now, a PC SKU is not in the plan." Until that changes, fans of computer gaming are being left out in the cold. 

With the original Dead Space not selling as well as EA wanted, you'd think the publisher would be doing all it could to push the sequel on as many formats as possible. Apparently not. I guess either the sales figures were so bad on the PC that the sequel just isn't worth it, or EA simply doesn't rate the PC market anymore. Either way, it looks like you guys are boned if you were hoping to play Dead Space 2 on anything other than a PS3 or 360.

No PC Dead Space 2 [Blue's News]

You've probably never heard of Jesse Attard, but he's a man with a pedigree. After all, he was the project lead on BioShock 2's multiplayer. With that game now wrapped up, Attard has founded Tactic Studios, a new developer that has just launched its first ever title, Immortal Empire. 

Immortal Empire is a completely free strategy game, playable in one's browser, similar to games like Evony. However, unlike Evony, Immortal Empire is actually rather good. It's similar to Dawn of War in that it's about a few powerful units as opposed to grand armies, but it's a turn-based affair. It reminds me of Astonishia Story in its gameplay, an RPG that a lot of people disliked but I actually loved. 

It costs absolutely nothing, and it's worth checking out. There's a premium charge of $10 to access all the classes, but the main game can be played through for free. Pick one of nine unique and bizarre character classes, recruit up to four other characters, and complete quests to earn loot and acquire more power. Simple stuff, but pretty damn fun so far. 

There's your free game recommendation of the day. Give it a look and see what you think. If it sounds tasty, register right here and support a brand new studio. 

Fans. They're never happy with anything, are they? Sega announces Sonic the Hedghog 4, a 2D retro experience that people have been clamoring for since the move to 3D, and people still manage to find things to complain about. Some of the complaints I already addressed, but by far the most controversial issue seems to be the fact that Sonic himself doesn't look old school enough. 

Internet justice to the rescue! Fans have set up a petition (470 sigs and counting) in a bid to make Sega change the current Sonic design to something more reminiscent of the Genesis era. Apparently, people aren't fans of the sleeker modern Hedgehog, and want the old pot-bellied guy back on their screens. Sega's bound to ignore the outcry, but it never hurts to try I suppose. 

As possibly the biggest (or only) Sonic fan on Destructoid's staff, I personally have never had an issue with Sonic's current look. I might be in the minority, but I've always kind of liked the way he looks these days, and I don't think character design has ever been the guy's biggest problem. Still, if people are determined to find things to whine about before we've seen more than a teaser trailer, I guess this is as good a subject as any. 

Bring the classic Sonic to Sonic the Hedgehog 4 [GoPetition via GoNintendo]

Annoying Internet memes have a new flavor of fear. A2M's conceptually brilliant Naughty Bear has a brand new trailer, and this week our fine furry friend has shown exactly what happens when Peanut Butter Jelly Time meets a baseball bat. It's short, it's to the point, and it does very little to stop us being pumped for this game. 

Even if this game sucks, it'll deserve a play for the idea alone. We need more sociopathic teddy bears in games, and I'm glad A2M is representing. I really hope this game turns out as brilliantly as I imagine it to be.

Special editions for brand new videogames without a proven pedigree. I've ranted on the arrogance of such a thing before, but nevertheless, it's getting more and more common so we'll have to deal with it. Still, the Metro 2033 special edition isn't overly ridiculous, so at least there's that going for it.

UK retailer GAME has revealed the special edition in all its glory, detailing the in-game special shotgun, the fancy embossed box, and the artwork postcard set commissioned by novelist and Metro 2033 creator Dmitry Glukhovski. A pretty neat little package if you're convinced that this game is going to be worth the cash. 

We preview the game a few weeks ago and voiced a number of concerns with it. The graphical issues and the unbalanced gameplay leave us with a sour taste, but one can hope that developer 4A has listened to criticism and made the game a little more sensible. If you're going to make a special edition, you better damn well make a game good enough to justify it.

Metro 2033: Limited Edition [GAME]

Aliens vs. Predator is out next week, and while opinions are divided as to whether or not the game will be any good, there is one universal truth that cannot be denied -- Aliens are blatantly better than Predators. This is an undisputed fact that only idiots and Danny Glover would disagree with, and I make an obvious exception for The Glove. 

Everyone else, however, deserves to die if they believe a Predator is better than an Alien in any way, shape or form. In order to prove just how wrong they are, I present a list of evidence in an article that one could accuse of being only spuriously linked to gaming at best. If you are pathetic enough to deny the superiority of Aliens right now, you will soon change your ways when reading this article. 

So, allow me, the Queen of Right, to lay Eggs of Truth full of Correctness Facehuggers that will rape your stupid face and put a Not Being Wrong About Sci-Fi Chestburster inside you. 

If you're not yet sick of spending pretend Microsoft money on present toys for your pretend people, then BioShock 2 has you covered. A range of items based on the 2K Games sequel has hit Xbox Live, ready to suck up your money in celebration of today's release. 

For the low, low price of "Not Free," you can dress up your mawkish Avatars in a range of Big Daddy and Little Sister clothes, as well as obtain a Big Daddy doll for the thing to hold. It's a bloody great day to be borderline retarded and have too much money!

Instead of buying any of this stuff, why not buy BioShock 2? We reviewed it and thought it was great, even if some of you seem to think that a score of 8.0 is somehow bad. Mind you, if you're that stupid, then this Avatar gear should be right up your alley!

It would appear that Telltale Games is preparing a brand new adventure for Sam & Max with a third season of mindbending puzzles and faintly embarrassing witticisms. It's called Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse.

At least, that's according to the OFLC. The rating board outed the game recently, shedding a little titular light on the future of the Freelance Police. That's all there is at the moment, but considering the last season ended with Episode 5: What's Cooking Beelzebub?, it would appear that we're picking up where we left off. The OFLC says that Episode 1 of The Devil's Playhouse will be called The Penal Zone. 

So there you go. More Sam & Max for anybody who's interested. Hooray!

Third Season Of Sam & Max Called “The Devil’s Playhouse [Siliconera]

We all know by now that Australia gets the short end of the stick when it comes to Nintendo releases. The country can wait up to a year after the North American release before getting a sniff of a new Wii or DS game. Frustrated gamers may be tempted to pirate these titles, but Nintendo, fresh off winning $1.5 million from one Aussie pirate, has claimed that piracy affects Australian release dates. 

"Nintendo Australia is always pushing for games to be released here at the same time as the rest of the world, so we were pleased to get New Super Mario Bros. Wii before anyone else," explains Nintendo of Australia. "Unfortunately, due to to the actions of this individual, future release dates may be affected for Australia, which is disappointing for us."

Now, I fully understand that it must be insulting to have New Super Mario Bros. Wii ripped and uploaded in Australia when it was one of the few games to be released on time in the country, but I have to call bullsh*t on this statement. Nintendo has a long history of delaying Australian games while giving no justifiable reason for it. To retroactively try and shift the blame onto pirates is a bit of a pathetic move, in honesty. 

Australian gamers are frustrated with Nintendo and its long history of shafting the territory. I don't think any smart Aussies are going to fall for Nintendo's buck-passing.

Nintendo Stomps Aussie Mario Pirate [GameSpot]

According to a recent consumer survey, Electronic Arts is considering bringing Dead Space Extraction from the Wii to the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network platforms. According to the survey, Extraction would be presented in HD and retail for $14.99 while retaining the "guided first-person experience" of the original game.

As well as Extraction, EA is considering another downloadable Dead Space game called Planet Cracker.
According to the survey, Planet Cracker would be a "resource strategy game where players will manage a CEC Mining operation." In a similar vein to Fable II: Pub Games, the actions in Planet Cracker would yield bring in-game rewards to Dead Space 2. 

Sounds ridiculous, but stranger things have happened. I wouldn't count this rumor out just yet. 

Dead Space Extraction, Planet Cracker Coming To XBLA, PSN? [Kotaku]

You've no doubt already seen the video of an "officially" released Sonic 4 that's been floating around, but if you haven't, check it out. It seems Sega was a little too late to the part when it announced Sonic the Hedgehog 4. A sneaky "developer" by the name of Twin Eagles Group already made it ... for the SNES.

This not-quite-legally distributed game was a surprisingly expert hack of Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos. Since the game was already like a stripped-down Sonic title, it wasn't too much of a stretch to replace Speedy with Sonic and throw in some rings. Oh, and he rescues little Marios trapped in cages for some reason. 

The sound effects are bizarre and they didn't change the music, so Sonic struts his stuff to digitized mariachi bands. Meanwhile, on the Game Boy, the hackers skipped Sonic 5 and went straight to Sonic 6! You can see a video of that after the jump. Man, Sega has some catching up to do.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: 1996? SNES? Gameplay Video? [Ygro Wok's Destructoid CBlog]

A few weeks ago, we told you about how Square Enix president Yoichi Wada claimed that Final Fantasy XIII may be the "last of this type of game." We weren't entirely sure what we meant by that, and it seems that we're not the only ones. Even high ranking Square Enix developers, like producer Yoshinori Kitase, and director Motomu Toriyama, are befuddled. 

"We don’t know exactly what he meant by that," answers the pair on the official PlayStation Blog. "We don’t really know what he meant by this style of game. If you consider that during Final Fantasy XIII’s development, at peak time the team consisted of over 300 people. It was a huge team, plus it took a several long years to get the game finished. So, if Mr Wada meant that we would never make another Final Fantasy title with the similar number of people, taking as long as FF XIII did, we would agree.

"Obviously in the future we want to be much more efficient. Having worked on XIII, we feel that we have got much better at making good games for high definition consoles. In the future our teams will be smaller and more effectively run. We suspect that is what Mr Wada meant by his statement."

That's certainly a crowd-pleasing answer, but it's certainly not what I think of when someone says "style of game." That would imply the way the game plays, looks and feels, as opposed to the way it was developed. I like a good JRPG, so I hope Kitase and Toriyama are correct. It would certainly be nice for Wada to clarify his statements though, especially if his own staff are confused.

An Interview With Final Fantasy XIII’s Kitase And Toriyama [PS Blog]

Ubisoft teased that some "big" news was coming this week, and that news has finally hit. Announced via Xbox Live, a brand new Ghost Recon has been confirmed, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. 

Boasting of "cutting-edge technology, prototype high-tech weaponry, and state-of-the-art single-player and multiplayer modes," Future Soldier will allegedly expand the series and provide a "fresh" gaming experience. A multiplayer beta has already been promised for this Summer, so if you need your Ghost Recon fix, you'll need to buy Splinter Cell: Conviction, as that's where the invites are being hidden. 

Ubisoft trademarked the name way back in December, so an announcement like this was expected. Yes, we all know you were hoping instead for news on Beyond Good & Evil 2, but this'll just have to do, okay?

With all the talk about Sonic 4, it's easy to forget that Konami is gearing its own downloadable retro reboot with Rocket Knight. Of course, that's also partially thanks to the fact that Konami's barely mentioned the bloody thing since its announcement. 

Fortunately, we've been given a healthy reminder today thanks to some new art assets that have dropped. It's not much to go on, but it's certainly something at the very least. Make sure you check out the pictures. Or don't, if you don't want to. We're not really telling you what to do.