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While it's not described as an MMO in the press release, it does say FireFall brings "hundreds of players together" into a "dynamic open world combining intense competitive multiplayer and large-scale cooperative gameplay." FireFall is set on a devastated Earth 200 years in the future, and has survivors battling against a race called "The Chosen," which are trying to destroy humanity. The game's twist on team-based shooters is the use of "battleframes," items players can equip and then customize to make their character into a class that suits their play style.

"When I founded Red 5, I knew I wanted to do something different than anything I'd done before," said Kern, who also acts as Red 5's CEO and chief creative officer. "I wanted to take the best of what I learned making online games and bring that to skill-based shooters."

"Recent news out of Japan that Index Holdings, the parent company of Atlus Co., Ltd. (and its wholly-owned private subsidiary Atlus U.S.A, Inc.), would be merging the Atlus brand into itself has created uncertainty as to the future of Atlus and its games," Suzuki's statement begins. "We want to assure our fans and affiliates that Atlus remains in operation and will continue, as always, to support our beloved community with the finest quality game experiences possible."

Suzuki concludes by saying the merger should make Atlus more efficient than if it remained an independent company. "The Atlus-Index merger allows us to achieve greater synergy among the Index group companies and further strengthens the foundation of Atlus, both in Japan and here in the United States," he said.

So far Wii is the only confirmed platform for the game, although Provinciano also said that he's currently "in talks" with Microsoft about a potential release on Xbox Live Arcade, and that a PlayStation Network release is also a possibility. If you want to play it on the PC, though, no dice at least for a while -- Provinciano said a PC version won't happen for "at least a year."

For those unfamiliar, Retro City Rampage is billed as "a parody of the open-world action genre," attempting to create what a modern Grand Theft Auto game would be like if it was made for an 8-bit videogame system. You can check out the reveal trailer below.

"I am a man with a mission," Junction Point founder and Epic Mickey developer Warren Spector at the opening keynote of PAX Prime 2010. His mission is to convince so-called "gamers" -- those who associate themselves as part of a specific cultural, outsider niche of videogame players -- to embrace growth and let the rest of the world in.

"We are an artform," said Spector, to applause. "For years I felt silly saying that. But no more. I am never going to feel awkward or strange about that, and I am no longer going to worry about society's judgement."

This narrows the game's release down from the earlier vague target of February, and makes a pre-order the perfect Valentine's gift for that Helghan-hating special someone in your life. Because nothing says "I love you" like brutal future warfare -- in three dimensions.

"The approach and investment and process at 3d Realms didn't quite make it and it cracked in the end," said Pitchford in the WSJ interview. "With Gearbox Software we brought all of those pieces together. It's the game it was meant to be." The report claims the game is expected to ship in 2010, and Pitchford says it's in the "polishing" stage. But they're still working on a launch plan so he's hesitant to commit to a date.

Nintendojo received word of the delay though they weren't given any reason for it. Its November 2 release date would have put it out the same day as GoldenEye 007 for Wii, arguably the biggest FPS release on the platform to date. It's entirely possible the game was delayed simply to avoid being lost in the buzz around GoldenEye or that of the crowded holiday release period.

Conduit 2, which will be playable for those attending PAX this weekend, will have support for not only MotionPlus, but the Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro, if you'd rather play the game with a more traditional control scheme.

A press release making the announcement quotes a number of the artists, many of which point out that they had fun but also found it challenging or weird to sing in Simlish. "Singing in Simlish was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was a blast!" said Travie McCoy. Flo Rida said of his decision to contribute to the game, "I'm always trying to find new ways to reach different audiences with my music and The Sims 3 was a perfect way."

The console versions of The Sims 3 will be released on October 26, the same day the Late Night expansion will be made available to owners of the PC version of The Sims 3.

In addition to a guitar controller that doubles as a fully-functioning guitar, Power Gig also lets you take your pick between vocals and the game's AirStrike drum controller. It's expected to launch in October of this year -- putting it pretty much head-to-head against Rock Band 3.

Feast your eyes upon the full list of Power Gig tracks below:

Upon acquiring the DLC, some players note that the game stalls on the title screen. Others report that unlocking certain Achievements can lead to the Achievement voiceovers repeating on an infinite loop -- eventually dragging the framerate down to an unplayable state.

Ruffian co-founder Gaz Liddon chimed in on the forum thread with an acknowledgement of the bugs, as well as offering some band-aid fixes while the devs work on a real solution. "We have confirmation of what the issue is now. The paid part of the DLC was incorrectly configured when mastered," reads his statement.

"I imagine it is a business decision isn't it?" Hollis said. "This name is valuable, let's use it. I find it hard to picture Activision's top management being excited about the original and wanting to do it justice. In fact, I find it hard to imagine them being excited about any game. It's my perception that they are trying to be EA, only more so. I think they are doing a fine job at that."

Despite doubts about Activision's motivation, Hollis still offered support for remake developer Eurocom. "I know and like Eurocom. I think they are a good company. I'm confident they have done their very best," Hollis said.

"Mafia II's average Metacritic score of 74 is well below expectations, and consumer interest appears to be waning, as the game's position has dropped in many best-seller lists in its first week," Pachter recently said (via Gamasutra). "With six years in development, we believe the game is unlikely to achieve profitability."

Gamasutra reports Take-Two CEO Ben Feder countered such claims during an investors call, saying, "We're very proud of the game." He later said, "Based upon the initial launch, we expect this to be another profitable title for Take-Two." Sales figures have yet to be released, though the release of NPD sales figures for August later this month should give us some indication of how well Mafia II sold. Its release so late in the month (August 24 in North America) could hurt its chances to rank highly, however, especially with Madden topping sales charts, according to EA.

The new teaser image (above) doesn't shed a lot of light on the subject, but if you're attending the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) this weekend, you can get a first-hand look at it. Telltale will be showing it off at at booth #3509. As an added incentive, if you pre-order the game, Telltale will give 25% off other purchases at the Telltale store.

The mode will apparently involve "soldiers" (which we assume means characters that'll play the same as single-player protagonist Isaac), and the series main enemies, Necromorphs. This would tie in with what EA CEO John Riccitello previously said about Dead Space 2's multiplayer being "innovative," in that it sounds like it'll try and replicate the horror atmosphere of the single-player game, while putting actual human beings in control of the horrors. This won't be the only multiplayer mode, either, as EA apparently also said there will be more modes to announce later.

GamerNode also says EA detailed some of the pre-order incentives that'll be offered for Dead Space 2, including an in-game "Rivet Gun" if you pre-order at GameStop, and (even better) the downloadable prequel Dead Space: Ignition for free no matter where you pre-order.

Stranger's Wrath was the last entry in the Oddworld series, and came out on the original Xbox in 2005. It featured a blend of third-person action and first-person shooting, with the stand-out feature being the use of "live ammunition" in the form of literally living critters like skunks and wasps. The remake will add improvements like updated graphics (with modern embellishments like "normal mapping and self-shadowing"), 720p HD support, re-mastered dialogue, and support for the PlayStation Move controller, in addition to other still-unannounced bonus features.

"Since word got out that we've been working with Oddworld Inhabitants there have been many rumors circulating about what we're working on," said Stewart Gilray, managing director of Just Add Water, in a statement. "Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is the first project in what we believe will be a long and fruitful relationship. Having the chance to update this great title and release it on PS3 is just a brilliant opportunity, not least for us, but for the fans too."