Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: 2K Czech
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Vito Scaletta is just the right kind of tool for the mafia. He makes himself available at all hours, he’s a snappy dresser, and he can handle a gun when the situation calls for it, thanks to his war experience. He’s a man who anyone with a wad of cash in their hand can trust to do whatever it takes to get the job done. So when the big guy slurping pasta at the end of the table says, “I got dis job for ya….” or “See dat guy? Whack ‘im” in between chews, Vito calmly nods, says “Alright,” and heads out the door, no questions asked. He’s the perfect tool for the job, and in Mafia II, you play as that tool.

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Your small boat has capsized near a dark, deserted island. Your belongings are scattered and your wife, who was traveling with you, has mysteriously disappeared. Farther up the beach, a larger ship is beached with a gaping hole in its hull, and the people who were once aboard are nowhere to be found. What secrets does this seemingly abandoned island hold, and why is your heart pounding in fear?

Twisted Lands: Shadow Town, a hidden object, point and click adventure from Alawar, releases later this month as a PC download for $19.95.

Publisher: Wadjet Eye Games
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
System requirements: 1.5 GHz Pentium 4/Athlon XP 1500+ or better CPU, 64 MB GeForce 2 MX 400/Radeon X300 series or better graphics card, 256 MB RAM, 512 MB hard-drive space, DirectX 9-compatible sound card, DirectX 9
Genre: Puzzle adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

“There’s a big secret at Dr. Hugo’s Factory for Making Robots. When the inventors aren’t looking, their tiny robots go on big adventures! It all starts when Zander – possibly the world’s most absent-minded inventor – trips over a metal box buried outside the factory. When nobody can figure out how to open it, the robots sneak out and try it for themselves.” Actually, this info from the Puzzle Bots home page pretty much sums up this point-and-click adventure game. Dr. Hugo has hired five top-notch inventors to design robots to sell that do nothing but chores. Not only are they tiny, but they’re also self-aware, so when they’re put in the “robot habitat,” they decide it would be fun to escape and explore their surroundings.

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(click to play the video)It was supposed to be an innocent video developer diary for Supreme Commander 2. The short features members of the Gas Powered Games development team discussing some of their favorite RTS strategies. Pretty standard fare…until the intrepid Chris Taylor pops on at the end and reveals some early details about upcoming DLC, including the reemergence of the ever popular Cybran Experimental Spiderbot – The Monkey Lord!

(click to play the video)Rock Band 3’s arrival is around the corner, and that means your big keyboard debut is fast approaching. Get the skinny on how to tickle the ivories with an in-depth video hosted by Senior Designer, Sylvain Dubrofsky.

The new video vignette shows off Rock Band 3 keyboard gameplay from tracks by Huey Lewis and The News, Ida Maria, Tears for Fears and Them Crooked Vultures. The title releases on October 26 in North America and October 29 internationally, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and DS.

Atlus U.S.A. may have delayed the release of Knights in the Nightmare for the PSP, but they’re softening the blow with free content. Each and every launch copy, including PlayStation Network purchases (for a limited time), will include a digital copy of Yggdra Union. All of this strategy, role-playing action is now slated to hit the streets November 9.

Yggdra Union was originally released for the Game Boy Advance, and then remade for the PSP in 2008. In addition to adding Princess Yggdra as a third character, this new release of Knights in the Nightmare features remastered visuals and sounds, and a new opening sequence.

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Double Fine
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Of all the forms of rock and roll, heavy metal boasts perhaps the most hardcore fans, and has branched out into other forms of media more often than some of the other genres. It has spawned a well respected animated feature film (Heavy Metal) and several video games, including KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child and Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2; indeed, metal music is the centerpiece of Guitar Hero III. Adding to the headbanger legend is developer Double Fine’s metal fantasy, Brutal Legend, a violent and challenging journey through a world built on hard rock.

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New details were unearthed in an Official PlayStation Magazine UK interview with Sefton Hill of Rocksteady Studios. According to the game’s director, Arkham City will feature a game world over 5 times the size of Arkham Asylum’s map and will arm Batman with an arsenal of new moves and abilities – twice as many as there were in the first game. The action will start off with most of the gadgets that you had in the previous title already unlocked, and since Batman’s cutting-edge technology is a significant part of the game, gamers can expect to see a range of totally new gadgets. Additionally, evolved features will be found built into those tools they already possess.

Bethesda Softworks continues the expansion of its global operations by opening a Benelux office in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, Bethesda also has international offices located in London, Tokyo, Paris, and Frankfurt.

The Benelux office will directly oversee sales and marketing across The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg, underscoring Bethesda Softworks’ commitment to its global publishing operations. With the opening of a new office comes the appointment of a new territory General Manager. Menno Eijck joins the company as Managing Director, Benelux, having previously held the position of General Manager for Namco Bandai Partners, Benelux.

(click to play the video)Bethesda Softworks just released Brink’s fifth video developer diary, Minds on the Brink. In this final video developer diary, the team at Splash Damage touches on the various ideas that form their vision of the FPS from concept to implementation.

Brink is scheduled to release this winter.

(click to play the video)Harmonix Music Systems and MTV Games just released a new trailer that shows off the Nintendo DS gameplay for Rock Band 3. The trailer features Smash Mouth’s Walkin’ On the Sun. The Nintendo DS version includes head-to-head Competitive Multiplayer and will be available October 26 in North America and October 29 internationally.

Rock Band 3 for Nintendo DS lets fans take the music video game experience on the road. The game features eight distinctive gameplay modes, including Road Challenges that focus on sets of songs and gigs over a series of new venues, and Career Mode that leads players through a goal-based career system. In addition, fans will be able to rock 25 songs from the master set-list and challenge a friend to go head-to-head for the first with Competitive Multiplayer.

Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Paradox Interactive
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, Pentium IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+ or better CPU, 2GB RAM, 2 GB hard-drive space, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon X1900 or better graphics card, Direct X-compatible sound card, DirectX 9, Internet connection for multiplayer
Genre: RTS
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

It has been almost seven years since Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun was released, and I have to agree with Avault’s Jim Richmond in his description of its enormous depth and complexity. Victoria, a strategy game of imperialism, politics and economics in the 19th century, was the kind of game that could overwhelm even the most hardcore gamers, and yet its minutia was part of its appeal. It was a game that made sure every single person in the game world, from farmers in Manchuria to factory workers in London, had an economic impact. It rewarded smart, patient players instead of mindless violence and button-mashing. It even provoked online discussions that demanded a minimal understanding of economics to follow what some players were saying. It’s no surprise, then, that some of the staff at Paradox Interactive were reluctant to make a sequel. So reluctant, in fact, that Paradox CEO Frederick Wester promised to shave his head if the sequel turns a profit (high pre-order sales have since triggered Wester’s promised trip to the barbershop). But the real question facing strategy gamers is whether Victoria II can live up to its promise of complicated, nuanced gameplay, while at the same time being a game that you can learn to play without dual PhDs in 19th-century political science and economics. The short answer is that Victoria II achieves these goals and gives strategy gamers a game that can keep them occupied for hours on end, with a few reservations as to how some mechanics currently work. The long answer is about as complicated as the game itself.

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(click to play the video)Eversim, creator of the upcoming PC geo-political simulation Rulers of Nations, just released the game’s first trailer. The title will put players in President Obama’s shoes starting at the end of this month when the game arrives in stores.

Players must solve the same complex issues that face the President, including the global financial crisis, the US budget deficit, Afghanistan, Iran, and global warming. In addition to these run of the mill everyday issues, Rulers of Nations also includes new challenges such as creating energy sources from solar to deep-sea oil drilling, managing refugees after a catastrophe, colonizing countries, and buying black market weapons. The game is played on a 3D world map of 8,000 cities in 192 countries, with multiple windows and on-screen video inserts. Each country has current data on 400 key factors (economics, energy, monetary, military, etc.) sourced from 50 international organizations including the United Nations, G20, NATO, NAFTA, and OPEC.

It was just brought to our attention that due to recent hurricanes and tropical storms, the holiday weekend, and the fact that some of you prefer to spend your summer vacation in a cave, that many of you have not yet had a chance to enter our HUGE Halo: Reach Giveaway! For that reason, the powers that be have granted an extension. You now have until 7pm EDT to submit your entry! So drive, pedal, swim or sail home as fast as you can and enter for a shot at a brand new Xbox 360 Slim and a copy of Halo: Reach.

(click to play the video)Wargaming.net just released a new gameplay trailer for its massively multiplayer online game, World of Tanks, which recently entered its second closed beta phase.

The trailer demonstrates the game’s most powerful fighting vehicles, heavy tanks, and showcases their features in gameplay footage staged on WWII battlegrounds. The video also gives insight into heavy tanks’ tactics in action and focuses on the characteristics of the legendary Maus, Tiger I, KV and IS-7.