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Rockstar Games Announces Next GTA IV Downloadable Episode

27 May

New York City, US – 26th of May 2009

Set to follow the release of the downloadable episode to ‘Game of the Year’ Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned from earlier this year, Rockstar Games has announced that the next GTA IV episode will be released this fall. The content will be known as The Ballad of Gay Tony.

The player will take on the role of Luis Lopez, right-hand-man of nightclub owner Tony Prince, also known as Gay Tony. Little else is known about the content, other than it will be a Xbox 360-exclusive and will be released at a price of 1600 Microsoft Points, roughly $19.99, or €19,04. Similarly to the first downloable episode to Grand Theft Auto IV, the content will only be available for download and will not be available at retailers. Also, the content requires the full version of GTA IV to play.

Also due for release this fall is Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which will be a stand alone copy of both the downloadable episodes, on a single DVD. This will hit regular retailers at the price of $39.99, and will also be limited to the Xbox 360.

Card-Based RTS 'BattleForge' Now Free To Play

27 May

Ingelheim, Germany – 26th of May, 2009

Today German studio EA Phenomic announced that their recently released RTS BattleForge would now be free to play. The developer, best known for the Spellforce series, released their card-based real time strategy game in March 2009.  In general, the game was received rather well by critics, mainly for its innovative ability to allow players to create their own armies from scratch. Also, as the game lacks any extensive base-building, the combat tends to be somewhat higher paced than more conventional RTS games.

While the booster packs containing additional cards are still roughly $2.50 for 8 cards, the free to play version includes 32 basic cards which is enough to create two complete decks. While new cards can not be received during the single player missions, it is possible to receive upgrades for cards that are already in your possession, effectively making the deck more sophisticated. New cards can only be acquired through the micro-transaction system.

The game has several game modes, including a classical PvP mode and a cooperative PvE mode, which pits multiple human players against computer controlled opponents.

Battleforge can be downloaded for free from the game’s official website, which can be found here.

New Modern Warfare 2 Media Available, Website Live

27 May

25th of May, 2009

Today, developer Infinity Ward has released a new trailer for the upcoming sequel to the 2007’s Game of the Year, Modern Warfare. While the trailer does not show any direct gameplay, all footage appears to be created with the in-game engine.  Accompanying the trailer, three high-resolution screenshots were posted on the game’s new website.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, as the game is officially known, will pick up the story a couple of years after the events of its predecessor. A voice over in the trailer explains a new threat once again originating from the Russian republic, although the trailer also reveals other locations, such as snow covered mountains, a sea-side fortress, a graveyard for airplane wrecks, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, and a Russian airfield. That the game would feature an airfield was already deducted from an earlier teaser revealed by Infinity Ward, in which a terrorist attack can be heard on an airfield.

The game is due for release on the 10th of November of this year.

Recently, an officer at Treyarch studios revealed that the studio is currently working on Call of Duty 7. The setting of this game is not yet known.

The screenshots which were released can be found after the ‘More’ button, as well as a direct link to the HD version of the trailer.

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PSP, DS Gets New "Star Wars: Battlefront" This Autumn

27 May

San Francisco, California – May, 26, 2009

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Announced yesterday for the Playstation Portable and Nintendo DS, the latest in the handheld massive-action franchise, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, is set to expand the gameplay mechanics of the series to “…new levels of interaction and excitement…” New to the license are multi-platform battle-fields, with levels both on the ground and in space. Players control X2, a clone trooper created with the DNA of a Jedi master, who decides to abandon his mission (Order 66: eliminate all Jedi) and fight instead for the resistance. In addition to the throngs of enemy soldiers and mech in his way, his clone brother, X1, who chose the polar opposite path, seeks X2’s destruction. The PSP version will feature the deepest customization features ever for the series and up to 16-player multiplayer, and the DS version will come packed with unique, class-based gameplay. Both will have several multiplayer modes, including the new “Heroes and Villains,” where players can take up control of the most iconic characters from the universe and duke it out.