WiiWare

Evasive Space (Yukes Company of America, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Launch a one-of-a-kind mission to rescue the stars. The universe is going dark, and it's up to you, Konki the Stellar Guardian, to set things right. Dr. Dark Matter and his roving band of space thieves have stolen many of the Constellation Stones that make up the heavens. It's time to suit up, power up, recover the Stones and once again bring light to the night sky. Using the Wii Remote™ controller's unique pointer capabilities, simply point and thrust Konki through 20 dangerous time- and collection-based missions in the harshest of environments. Navigate through narrow, mazelike astral caves riddled with space worms, steam pipes and mining drills. Explore vast space stations while avoiding turret fire, mines and huge crushing gears. Weave through cluttered asteroid fields and gaseous planetary rings. Evade the hazards, pick up precious items and ship upgrades, and save the Constellation Stones before the night sky is lost forever.

Virtual Console

Life Force (NES, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 500 Wii Points): This classic shooter, originally ported to the NES in August 1988, is a spin-off of the seminal Gradius series. Pilot the Vic Viper through six stages of intense action, alternating between horizontally and vertically scrolling environments, and take on wave after wave of enemies. Destroy particular enemies throughout the game (which takes place within the body of an enormous alien) to release power-up capsules and equip your ship with your choice of more powerful weapons, extra speed and shields. Utilize the power-ups carefully, though, as a fearsome guardian lurks at the end of each stage and won't be easily defeated. You can go it alone or bring along a friend to take on the challenge simultaneously. Do you have what it takes to save your planet?

Epic has released a new patch for Gears of War 2 that fixes various multiplayer glitches and gameplay bugs. Included with the update is a list of new achievements involving the Combustible and Flashback map packs. They are listed below as follows:

• Skeletons in your Closet (20G) - Complete waves 1 through 10 on all Flashback Map Pack maps in Horde (any difficulty)
• More Mystery, Less History (15G) - Win a multiplayer match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman)
• Bound by a Shared Past (15G) - Win a Wingman match on each of the 5 Flashback Map Pack maps
• Trial by, and on, Fire (20G) - Survive first 10 Horde waves on Combustible Map Pack maps as a team
• The Roof! The Roof! The Roof... (15G) - Win a multiplayer match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps (any mode except Wingman)
• Forged in the Fire (15G) - Win a Wingman match on each of the 3 Combustible Map Pack maps
• Annex: Now With Execution Rules (75G) - Win an Annex match on each Flashback and Combustible Map Pack map (public only)

Gears 2 continue right after the original shooter; following General RAAM's defeat and the light mass bombing. Marcus and Dom fight with fellow COG soldiers fatally wounded defending the city after subsequent Locust attacks. It is there on the hospital grounds we meet the rook, Benjamin, brother to his sibling Carmine who died from an infamous sniper shot and Tai, a militaristic but calm leader. They quickly learn that the Locusts have quietly regrouped underground and have launched attacks in endless numbers. Entire cities have been sunk underground as the Horde employs powerful forces and tactical equipment and that's not all; they've brought grotesque and far deadlier creatures this time around. Epic has placed a strong emphasis on the story behind the war that sheds light on Marcus Fenix's history and Dom's continued search for his missing wife, Maria.

As expected, the returning weapons are the Lancer, Sniper Rifle, Shotgun, Torque Bow, Pistol and the Hammer of Dawn. New weapons added to your arsenal include the Hammerburst Rifle (enemy weapon), Gorgon Pistol, Ink Grenade (emits poison), Mortar (distance artillery weapon), Mulcher (turret gun) and the fan-favorite, the Scorcher Flamethrower. Grenades can be stuck to walls and used as proximity mines to destroy enemies lurking around. If you are pinned in battle, you can crawl while bleeding to try to reach your teammates to be revived. The new weapons are available in the latter half of the game and can be found by looting Locust corpses. Each weapon is distinct and allows you to perform unique executions on fallen enemies crawling away. You can also grab a dying Locust for use as a meat shield to flank your enemies. Be warned that using the corpse for cover lasts for a very short time -- limiting you to the use of a pistol. The shield will either explode into bits under heavy gunfire or be disposed of after breaking the Locust's neck.

The original Gears saw players destroying their opponents with a chainsaw attack; granting them temporary invulnerability to gunfire or melee attacks. Pulling the attack off was often based on luck between two players with the one who revved up his chainsaw just a split second earlier winning the fight; which was infuriating. Epic has addressed the Chainsaw attack complaints with a new Chainsaw duel feature. Two players that rush one another with the Lancer will be thrown into a mini-game; quickly mashing the B button ensures victory. If a third player approaches two people engaged in a Chainsaw duel, the poor guy or gal on the receiving end will instantly be overpowered. 

Both single player and coop campaigns allow you to finish the game by yourself or with a friend. The option to play at your own pace is simplified as campaigns can be played with two separate difficulty settings. An extra difficulty setting Normal can be selected with the Insane difficulty unlocked after the game has been completed. You can invite your friends with the "What's Up" feature that lets you see the status and progress of your Gears' friends online. Personally, I found the friendly menu list to be useful in keeping tabs with other online players.

The all new Horde mode is one of the highlights of Gears 2. In Horde mode, you join a team of five players collaborating to destroy Locusts waves on various maps. Eventually, your enemies grow stronger with more health, better weapons and increased numbers. A total of 50 waves are featured in Horde mode for which the difficulty level rises considerably after the tenth wave. Fighting together in groups, reviving teammates, giving cover fire and using key vantage points is crucial for your survival. Linked achievements play a big role in the Horde and multiplayer modes. Gears fans will be happy to hear that specific achievements (completed from the original) unlock new playable characters such as Anthony Carmine, Minh Young Kim (former Delta squad leader) and General RAAM. Your progress ultimately dictates your rank; which is used for matchmaking purposes. Horde mode is tough as nails but is easily the most satisfying and rewarding to play with everyone.

A War Journal is a handy tool that tracks your listed achievements, unlocked characters, and collectables. Rather than using COG tags, Epic has placed hidden files, newspapers, memos and personal letters throughout the game. They comprise a total of 41 collectables that provides a side story to the events surrounding the war. A magnifying glass signifies the item is found and is easily picked up by pressing the X button. You don't need to guess how close you are to an achievement as the journal displays your progress towards obtaining it. This is a welcome change for fans wishing to complete the game in its entirety.

Multiplayer modes feature seven maps: Warzone, Execution, Annex, King of the Hill, Guardian, Submission and Wingman. Epic's gift to its fans is a code for the Flashback Map Pack for those with preorders and for those buying Gears 2 at launch. This map pack includes five maps: Subway, Canals, Tyro Station, Gridlock and Mansion. While it doesn't sound like much, each map is considerably different from the original Gears. The Subway is less dreary, Canals have been hit by a frozen icy spell, Tyro Station is more industrialized, Gridlock is filled with foliage and the Mansion has better lighting. A new Training Ground mode gives casual, novice and veteran players a brief tutorial on the basics of multiplayer controls and combat.

Gears 2 is a graphically intense game. Buildings, air-borne dust, the underground caverns and the city landscapes are very polished. Special effects ranging from hailing fire on your enemies with the Mortar to poisoning the enemy with Ink grenades are visually gratifying. The frame rate takes a severe hit at numerous checkpoint locations that could have used some tweaking. There is also a tendency for Locust corpses and weapon spoils to fall and to defy natural physics in its environment. Otherwise, Gears 2 is a game detailed to the core that manages to exceed the best visuals of the original Gears. With respect to audio, the soundtrack is top-notch and a great accompaniment.

Many of the flaws from the original Gears have sadly crept into Gears 2. The A.I. teammates tend to block your shots, run straight into enemy territory without cover, and get hopelessly pinned in a far corner amongst a group of Locusts. Regrettably, the vehicle stages are the most irritating part of many campaigns; especially on the higher difficulty settings. Despite its shortcomings, Gears 2 is an exciting game full of blood, action and suspense for anyone that enjoys a solid third person shooter.

How to enter:

Register your gamertag now and get ready for a whole weekend of fun and competition! From 12:01 A.M. (ET) on Friday, November 7 until 11:59 P.M. (ET) on Sunday November 9, you'll get an entry into the sweepstakes when you play a multiplayer Gears of War 2 match.

Prize Information
After the entry period, will conduct a prize drawing for the following nine winners from among all eligible entries:

• Two Grand Prizes: A custom Gears of War 2 Xbox 360 console
• Two Second Prizes: A Gears of War 2 Special Edition Zune 120 GB digital media player
• Five Third Prizes: A Gears of War 2 Limited Edition game

Get more details on the Play & Win Sweepstakes.

General

* Removed "A Mask for All Occassions" as criteria for the "Hallowed Be thy Name" meta achievement.
* Replenishment: Players below level 50 can now benefit from this effect.

Racial

* Blood Fury: No longer triggers global cooldown.
* Shadowmeld: The cooldown will now start on use instead of on break.

Druids

* Druid talents points have been refunded. Players will need to visit a class trainer to relearn spells and abilities.
* The Swift Flight Form is now available on the trainer at level 71, requiring 300 riding skill, and Flight Form learned.
* Bash: The interrupt from this ability will now work on targets who are immune to the stun.
* Berserk: Now clears the cooldown on Mangle Bear.
* Earth and Moon and Moonfury (Balance) reduced from 5 ranks each to 3 ranks each.
* Eclipse: Buff duration extended to 15 sec and bonuses doubled. The cooldown has been increased to 40 seconds.
* Growl: Cooldown changed to 8 sec.
* Insect Swarm: Tooltip corrected to indicate it does not affect hit chance with spells.
* Nature's Swiftness: This ability will no longer give chances to trigger Omen of Clarity.
* Omen of Clarity: Will no longer be triggered by the Honorless Target buff gained when entering the world.
* Survival Instincts will no longer be on the Global Cooldown.
* Swiftmend: now benefits correctly from Genesis talent.

Hunters

* Aimed Shot: Added to Barrage and Improved Barrage talent.
* Animal Handler: Now increases your pet's expertise by 5/10. (No longer increases the pet's chance to hit.)
* Aspects now have a shared cooldown category of 1 sec and no longer have a start cooldown.
* Aspect of the Dragonhawk: New aspect added that combines the benefit of Aspect of the Monkey and Aspect of the Hawk, available at level 75 and 80.
* Aspect of the Monkey: The Dodge chance has been increased from 8% to 18%.
* Aspect of the Viper: The per attack mana regeneration has been reduced by 50% but this ability now generates 4% of maximum mana every 3 sec. In addition, the per attack regeneration now also works on melee attacks.
* Disengage now fails if you're rooted and is no longer on the global cooldown.
* Hunter vs. Wild: The attack power bonus from this talent now applies properly to Hunter pets. In addition, the bonus attack power will now be recalculated properly from equipping items.
* Improved Aspect of the Hawk: This talent no longer causes incorrect mana costs when interacting with the Rapid Recuperation and Improved Steady Shot talents.
* Mana cost of Disengage has been lowered to 5% of base mana, down from 14%.
* Pets
o Rake (Cat), Scorpid Poison (Scorpid): Lowered damage of all ranks.
o Stampede (Rhino): Lowered the knockback to 10 yards.
o Raised the damage of exotic attacks: Spirit Strike, Lava Breath, Froststorm Breath, Acid Spit, and Stampede.
o Lowered the cost of pet specials from 25 to 20.
• Thrill of the Hunt: The mana gained from using this talent with Explosive Shot is now 1/3 of the normal amount per critical strike (but gets 3 opportunities per cast.) • T.N.T.: Explosive Shot can now only trigger this talent when it is initially fired.

Mages

* Arcane Potency: The additional crit bonus is now consumed immediately on cast of a travel time spell, so it is no longer possible to make two spells benefit from one charge. (Ex. Fireball followed by Fireblast.)
* Blast Wave: no longer receives double the intended critical strike bonus from Combustion.
* Burnout: Now consumes extra mana as intended when livming Bomb gets a critical strike.
* Deep Freeze: Now consumes a charge of Fingers of Frost when used.
* Focus Magic: Now works properly when mages with this talent use the ability on each other.
* Frostfire Bolt: The periodic damage effect from Rank 2 of this spell now benefits from spell power gans.
* Living Bomb: Mana cost reduced to be the same as Arcane Explosion.. It no longer causes the caster to stand up when the final explosion occurs and it is now possible for each mage to have Living Bomb active on a target.
* Master of Elements: Now works with Living Bomb.
* Molten Fury: This talent no longer prevents Ice Lance ranks 2 and 3 from dealing triple damage against frozen targets.
* Reduced the mana cost of Fireball, Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt, Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Explosion.
* Torment the Weak: Now works correctly when the Mage also knows the Molten Fury Talent.

Paladins
* Art of War: No longer increases critical strike damage on Judgements, Crusader Strike, and Divine Storm, instead increases all damage done by those abilities by a smaller amount.
* The Avenger's Shield bounce distance has been reduced to 10 yards (from 15).
* The epic ground mount is now available on the trainer at level 61, requiring 150 riding skill, and the non-epic mount learned.
* Blessing of Might: Rank 8 points increased slightly to prevent from being overwritten by BattleShout 8 that has a shorter duration (also applies to Greater Blessing of Might 3.)
* Blessing of Sanctuary: It is no longer possible to have both Blessing of Sanctuary and Greater Blessing of Sanctuary active on a target at the same time.
* Crusade: No longer applies damage bonus twice to critical strikes.
* Divine Plea: This spell's duration is no longer affected by haste.
* Divine Purpose: Rank 1 of this ability will now correctly determine its chance of remove stun.
* Enlightened Judgments now increases range by 15/30 (was 10/20).
* Eye for an Eye: No longer breaks crowd control effects.
* Hammer of Justice: The interrupt from this ability will also be redirected when the stun is redirected. In addition, the interrupt will now work on targets immune to stun.
* Hammer of the Righteous: Tooltip corrected to indicate it does 4 times weapon dps instead of 3.
* Infusion of Light (Holy) now affects Flash of Light too, reducing its cast time down to zero and can be used while moving.
* Judgements: The debuffs from Judgement of Light, Judgement of Wisdom, and Judgement of Justice will no longer be applied if the Judgement spell itself misses.
* Judgements of the Pure: Haste increased to 3/6/9/12/15%.
* Repentance PvP duration reduced to 6 sec.
* Righteous Defense cooldown has been lowered to 8 sec (was 15 sec).
* Righteous Vengeance: No longer increases critical strike damage on Judgements and Divine Storm, instead applies a DoT effect similar to Deep Wounds.
* Seal of the Martyr: Tooltip for Judgement damage was incorrect and has been fixed.
* Sheath of Light: Now correctly benefits Judgements of Command, Blood, and The Martyr.
* Shield of the Templar now also reduces all damage taken by 1/2/3%.

Priests

* Binding Heal: Now only consumes one charge of Holy Concentration per cast.
* Borrowed Time: Charge no longer consumed by spells with a base cast time that is instant.
* Devouring Plague: The bonus coefficient has been increased to be on par with other DoT spells. Base damage on ranks 7,8, and 9 decreased to partially compensate for better scaling.
* Divine Providence: This talent now also reduces the cooldown of your Prayer of Mending spell by 6/12/18/24/30%. With 5 points applied, it takes Prayer of Mending's cooldown from 10 sec to 7 sec.
* Divine Spirit: Now can be refreshed properly on self after logging in and out or zoning. (Also applies to Prayer of Spirit.)
* Guardian Spirit: A target may now have only one Guardian Spirit active.
* Healing Focus: Now works properly with Penance.
* Improved Divine Spirit: No longer improves Divine Spirit after untalenting sometimes.
* Inner Focus: Now works properly with Mind Flay, Mind Sear, and Penance.
* Prayer of Spirit: Will no longer stack with other raid spell power buffs.
* Shadowform: Devouring Plague, Shadow Word:Pain, and Vampiric Touch cast in Shadowform deal increased damage percentage equal to the player's chance to get a spell crit on their target.
* Shadow Word eath: The self-damage from this spell can no longer be reflected or redirected.
* Vampiric Touch: The Spell power coefficient has been doubled and no longer triggers Replenishment when other priests cast Mind Blast.

Rogues

* Combat Potency: Now only works with autoattacks (no more Shiv.)
* Fan of Knives changed to be castable with no targets, further improved the visual affect and it no longer plays an impact on the caster. Now benefits correctly from the Find Weakness talent.
* Killing Spree: The rogue is now untargetable during the duration of the spree. In addition, no longer sometimes selects dead targets and no longer breaks stealth on nearby targets.
* Riposte: Duration of this effect no longer reduced by other effects that reduce disarm duration.
* Shadow Dance: The cooldowns on Sap, Garrotte, Ambush, Cheap Shot, Premeditation, Pickpocket, and Disarm Trap are no longer increased while this ability is activated.

Shaman

* Flurry: Now grants the proper number of charges when it triggers.
* Improved Fire Nova Totem: Increases the damage done by your Fire Nova Totem by 10/20% and your Fire Nova totem has a 50/100% chance to stun all targets damaged by your Fire nova Totem for 2 sec.
* Lava Burst: The base damage has been increased by approx. 10%.
* Maelstrom Weapon: Tooltips corrected to correctly describe the chance for this talent to be triggered.
* Riptide: The initial heal amount has been increased on ranks 3 and 4 and periodic healing has been increased on all ranks.
* Stormstrike: Other shamans can no longer consume charges of your Stormstrike, and each shaman can have their own stormstrike on the victim.
* Storm Reach is now called "Elemental Reach" and now includes Lava Burst.
* Thunderstorm: Mana gain has been increased to 8%.
* Tidal Mastery: Now correctly applies its critical strike bonus to Earth Shield.
* Tidal Waves will now also proc with Riptide.

Warlocks

* The epic ground mount is now available on the trainer at level 61, requiring 150 riding skill, and the non-epic mount learned.
* Demonic Sacrifice: The buffs from this ability will now be retained properly when logging out or zoning.
* Demonic Empowerment: This talent no longer gives excessive threat to the Warlock's Voidwalker.
* Destructive Reach: Now properly reduces threat on Chaos Bolt and Shadowflame.
* Drain Soul: Rank 6 now properly deals additional damage ot targets below 25% health.
* Haunt: The cooldown has been changed to 8 sec, and refreshing the Haunt will trigger the heal from the existing Haunt.This ability will no longer heal for incorrect amounts or fail to heal when the Huaunt damage was the killing blow.
* Inferno: The Infernal is now useable indoors and the tooltip has been updated.
* Master Demonologist (Felhunter) will now also reduce damage taken by Holy.
* Ritual of Doom: Now works correctly even when the Warlock already has a pet (dismissed the existing pet.)
* Shadowflame: Damaged increased approx. 75%. Coefficients unchanged.
* Shadow Embrace: Now works on ranks 1-4 and stacks properly with multiple applications.
* Soul Link (Demonology): Increased from 15% to 20%.

Warriors

* Armored to the Teeth: Grants only attack power( as intended) and recalculates the bonus immediately upon learning any rank of the talent.
* Bladestorm: Now breaks all snares and roots on the warrior when activated.
* Bloodthirst: Cooldown reduced to 5 sec.
* Deep Wounds: Now works properly with Heroic Throw.
* Heroic Throw: No longer gains increased damage from the warrior's agility.
* Improved Rend changed to 10/20%.
* Rampage: Can now be triggered by off-hand Whirlwind damage.
* Rend: Damage has been adjusted to be less base and more weapon based.
* Rend: Ranks 9 and 10 now do 35% more damage when the target is above 75% health instead of 4 times damage when the target is enraged. Sudden Death: Now has 3/6/9% chance on hit instead of 10/20/30% chance on crit.
* Titan's Grip: Changed to 12% penalty instead of 15%.
* Vigilance: Now properly transfers threat generated by heals.

Professions

* The level requirements required to train gathering skills have been removed.
* Alchemy
o Reduced the effect of Elixir of Mongoose and Elixir of Major Agility.
* Inscription
o Glyph of Crusader Strike: Now reduces mana cost by 20% instead of increase damage on stunned and incapacitated targets.
o Glyph of Flame Shock: Now extends duration by 6 sec and prevents Flame Shock from being consumed by Lava Burst.
o Glyph of Lava: Glyph of Earth Elemental removed and replaced with this glyph. This glyph increases coefficient on Lava Burst by 0.1.
o Glyph of Mind Flay: Now sets snare to 10% instead of removing it.
o Glyph of Rejuvenation: Now works correctly when the target is not self.
o Glyph of Shiv: Replaced with Glyph of Vigor, which increases maximum energy by an additional 10 for those with the Vigor talent.
o Glyph of Shadow: Glyph of Mind Soothe removed and replaced with this glyph. This glyph increases spell power by 10% of spirit for 10 sec after critting while in Shadowform.
o Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain: Increases damage done by Mind Flay when SW:P is present by 10%.
o Glyph of Sinister Strike: Chance increased to 50%.
o Glyph of Souls no longer removes soul shard cost. It instead reduces the mana cost of your Ritual of Souls spell by 70%.
o Glyph of Spirit of Redemption: Tooltip corrected to 4 sec. extra when the glyph triggers.
o Glyph of Strength of Earth: Replaced with Glyph of Lava Lash which increases the bonus from having Flametongue Weapon by 10%.
o Glyph of Trueshot Aura: Now increases Aimed Shot crit chance instead of increasing attack power bonus.
o Glyph of Totem of Wrath: Replaced with Glyph of Elemental Mastery, which decreases the cooldown on Elemental Mastery by 30 sec.

User Interface

* For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros forum.

Items

* The war against spelling errors continues: many items have had typos removed or their functionality clarified.
* The item quality on several quest rewards was incorrect and has been altered.
* The phoenix summoned by Ashes of Al'ar has had his flame trains restored.
* Guardian's Band of Subjugation now correctly grants universal haste.
* Girdle of the Warrior Magi now has a socket bonus.
* Some one-hand spell power weapons are now main hand only.
* Heart of the Dragon should now provide a consistent amount of Ranged Attack Power.
* Loatheb's Shadow should now provide a consistent amount of Ranged Attack Power.
* Spirit-World Glass now correctly has a cooldown.
* Discerning Eye of the Besat procs should now be more obvious.
* Focusing Lenses now have a cooldown.
* The Horseman's Reings should again function in Dalaran.
* Haute Club Membership Card no longer prompts players to open it.
* The buff granted by Frenzyheart Insingia of Fury now has a correct tooltip.
* Harness of Carnal Instinct no longer has bonus armor.
* Boots of the Protector have been brought in line with protection paladin itemization changes.
* A tootip error in the Glyph of Spint has been corrected.
* Grilled Sculpin now correctly grants Ranged Attack Power.
* Libram of Souls Redeemed should now only affect Holy Light.
* Legacy items that had both melee and spell critical strike rating have been integrated to the unified rating.
* Held in hand books created by Inscription are now Bind on Equip rather than Bind on Pickup.

Bug Fixes

* Fixed an issue that was affecting terrain rendering on GeForce 3 and 4 Ti cards. Those that added the command Set fixedfunction 1 to their config.wtf file should remove it to avoid a decrease in performance.
* Glyph of Rupture: The tooltip has been corrected.
* Hunter: Ferocious Inspiration will now apply raid-wide, as intended.
* Hunter Pets
o Sonic Blast (Bat): Will no longer ignore LoS.
o Bad Attitude (Croc): Will no longer ignore the Longevity buff.
o Thunderstomp (Gorilla): Will no longer have a physical coefficient instead of a magical one.
o Gore (Bore): Fixed an issue where a wrong value was being applied.
o Savage Rend: Corrected typos in the tooltip.
* Mage: Burning Determination will now work properly.
* Mage: Living Bomb's "explosion effect" will now be properly classified.
* Priest: Holy Reach (Rank 2) will now increase the radius of Divine Hymn properly.
* Priest: Inner Focus will now properly increase the critical strike chance of the talent Penance.
* Shaman: Totem of Wrath tooltip updated to reflect that it affects all crit chance and indicate that it increases Spell Power (instead of just damage).

• Support for the new PS3 Bluetooth Headset.
• The ability to take your stalking to a new level and spy on your friends playing habits, or at least see when they last played.
• Trophy improvements, for the 3 games that you have which support trophies.
• A more upfront manner for redeeming PSN codes to coincide with the advent of PSN cards being available at more retailers.
• A welcome sleep-mode for both the PS3 and controllers.
• A screenshot function. Allow me to be the first to thank Sony for this awesome feature. I don't know how this is the first time that it has been introduced to a system.

• You can now access the PlayStation Network and PSN Store by way of your PSP.
• I suppose I didn't need a bullet list.
  

With Gears of War 2 coming in November, fans hoping for a PC version are out of luck. Cliff Bleszinski, Epic Lead Designer, has reiterated the company's focus on the Xbox 360 by declaring the issue of piracy to be a deterrent for a PC version.

"The person who is savvy enough to want to have a good PC to upgrade their video card, is a person who is savvy enough to know bittorent to know all the elements so they can pirate software. Therefore, high-end videogames are suffering very much on the PC." states Cliff Bleszinski.

Gears of War 2 is set for release on November 7 on the Xbox 360.

 ”Okay, so let's do a conservative estimate, and say even 1 million of these counted subscribers are still in their free month. That leaves 9 million paying subscribers who, at the $15 fee, are generating $135 million every month. Hell, even if you adjust that to, say, $120 million (since many subscribers may be paying for slightly discounted 3- or 6-month subscriptions), that still means Blizzard more than recouped their entire upkeep costs over a four-year period in just two months."

Get ready, the expansion (World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King) is due out in stores on November 13, 2008.

"We're looking forward to launching Wrath of the Lich King and finally giving World of Warcraft players a chance to take on Arthas and his minions," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Until then, we'll continue to refine and playtest the expansion content to make sure it provides a highly polished and entertaining experience."

The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18.

• The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
• An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm.
• A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director’s commentary, and more.
• The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks.
• A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
• Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion™  starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector’s Edition. 
  

“This is truly a historic day for both EA and Mythic as we prepare to send more copies of WAR to retailers than any other newly launched MMORPG in North America and Europe. Over the course of our beta, over a million gamers throughout the world sent a clear signal to us - they want WAR, and we are more than happy to oblige them,” said Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “In three days the real battle begins – we have declared September 18th the ‘Day of Reckoning,’ and WAR will soon be upon us!”

WAR set a company record for the most retail pre-orders placed by consumers for a PC title in EA’s 26 year history. Overall, the company has sold 1.5 million units of WAR to retailers.

“The name addition builds upon the strong game recognition, which we will extend as we move forward reinventing the F.E.A.R. brand,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will continue the legacy of the original F.E.A.R. game with story and combat while adding new twists, gameplay and graphics to expand the players’ experience.” 

The game is due out in stores on February 10, 2009 in North America and February 13, 2009 in Europ. Hit the jump for the official boxart!

Attention, World of Warcraft fans: WoW Insider is reporting that Wrath of the Lich King, the next WoW expansion, is no longer in alpha and will soon be entering beta. This means that those selected from the pool of entries for beta access should soon be getting their invites.

Blizzard has a website set up that contains information for those of you who get beta keys, like how to create a Blizzard account and access client files needed to play.

Remember, there are quite a few beta scams out there, so make sure you're careful with where you disclose your account information.

It's been rumored for years, but it looks like a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic MMO is finally on its way.

The news comes from Joystiq, who reports that Portfolio.com has published an excerpt from their interview with EA CEO John Riccitiello, who says that one of EA's two MMOs in development is "in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare," sparking excitement that the game could be a KOTOR MMO as Bioware was behind the first KOTOR game.

Joystiq then contacted N. Evan Van Zelfden, who wrote the report, who confirmed to them that the game in question is indeed an online KOTOR. Sounds good!

1up is reporting via their E3 coverage that Halo Wars, the upcoming RTS set in the Halo universe, is definately locked into a 2009 release date. They received the news from Dave Pottinger, the game's lead designer, with whom they have a huge interview on their site which can be found here. Be sure to check it out if you're looking forward to the game, which will be available for the Xbox 360 and PC and is being developed by Ensemble Studios, the minds behind games like Age of Empires.

• Big Bang Mini
  
• Brave: A Warrior's Tale
• Brave: Shaman's Challenge
• Igor The Game
• Monster Madness: Grave Danger
• Ninjatown
• Raven Squad
• X-Blades

Microsoft has published new screens for the highly anticipated Gears of War 2. The game features an enhanced multiplayer mode and a chainsaw duelling mini-game. Gears of War 2 is set for a November release for Xbox 360.

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Len Wiseman

Real name: Unknown
Occupation: Professional criminal
Base of operations: Gotham City
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Unknown

Born a prisoner for crimes committed by his father, the child who would become Bane survived cruel solitary confinement in a Santa Prisca prison. During his long lonely years, he developed incredible powers of concentration, and, once released into the prison population, studied every book he could get his hands on. After nearly four decades of imprisonment, he was chosen for a military experiment with the drug Venom, which greatly enhanced his strength. Escaping, he sought out Batman to prove himself to the world by destroying the greatest specimen of mankind. Bane broke Batman, but the Dark Knight went on to recover and defeat Bane.

• Master strategist
• Enhanced stamina
• Enhanced strength
• Superior hand-to-hand combatant

After his circus aerialist parents were murdered by criminals, young Dick Grayson was adopted by Bruce Wayne, becoming his ward...and his partner in the war against crime as Batman's sidekick, Robin. Years later, Robin struck out on his own as Nightwing and now lives in the corruption ridden city of Blüdhaven where by day he serves as a member of that city's police department...and patrols its streets by night as Nightwing.

Attributes:

• Expert in most known forms of martial arts
• Trained in all aspects of criminology
• Trained gymnast
• Trained in stealth and espionage techniques
• Expert escape artist

Powers and Abilities:

In LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Nightwing is a bonus character, he can also utilize all of Robin’s technology suits.

Real name: Basil Karlo
Occupation: Former Actor, Professional Criminal
Base of operations: Mobile
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

Initially an actor in horror films, Karlo went mad when he learned a classic film of his was to be remade. He donned the mask of the film’s villain, Clayface, and killed several of the remake’s cast and crew before being stopped by Batman and Robin. Later, Karlo joined a collection of villains who subsequently used the name Clayface in an alliance that came to be known as the Mud Pack. While that group was defeated, Karlo tricked his allies, injecting himself with the essences of several of them, becoming a superhuman imbued with the abilities to change shape, melt others into protoplasm with a touch, and mimic the powers of heroes or villains he copies.

Attributes:

• Clayface can alter his physical form, adopting the appearance of anyone or anything.
• If those whose appearance he adopts have super powers, he copies those as well.
• His touch can reduce an enemy to proptoplasm.

Powers and Abilities:

In LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Clayface has the ability of super jump allowing him to jump to heights unattainable by other characters and even make his body elastic to reach higher characters. Clayface also has the ability of super strength, enabling him to pick up super strength objects and smash super strength walls.

Hit the jump for a full list of content and additional details.

• Gears of War (game disc)
  

Disc Two

• Gears of War - Map Packs 1 & 2
  
• Gears of War - Theme - 'Emergence Day'
  
• Gears of War - Gamer Pics - 'Gears of War,' 'Emergence Day'
  
• Gears of War 2 - Trailers - 'Duel,' 'Assault'
  
• Gears of War 2 - Theme - 'Bare Your Teeth'
  
• Gears of War 2 - Gamer Pics - 'Crimson Omen'

Kotaku has reported that Warlords and Buku Sudoku will be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade this week.

Both titles will be available this Wednesday for which Warlords and Buku Sudoku will cost 400 and 800 Microsoft Points respectively.

Joystiq expects the game to run off the new id Tech 5 engine, John Carmack's latest graphics engine that seeks to battle Epic's Unreal Engine 3, which has been used in numerous titles for the Xbox 360 and PS3, for dominance in the engine-licensing market.