It's not like BioWare to make 100% console exclusive games, so it's safe to assume that their futuristic RPG Mass Effect, revealed one year ago at X05, would one day warp its way on the PC. That day, according to the British PC Gamer magazine, is to arrive at some point in 2007. However the official reaction to their story is far from promising.

The hyper-excitement was set aflame this weekend, when a certain JohnG blog posted a couple of photos showing the lastest issue of PC Gamer, as well as the following quote from it:

"Mass Effect will come to PC (it's currently only announced for Xbox 360): it's not been officially confirmed but we have it on good authority. It's been three years since a BioWare developed game hit the PC: Mass Effect is a forceful reminder of why that's too damn long."

As good and trusty as that might sound (coming from a highly respected gaming magazine and all), BioWare community coordinator Chris Priestly was quick to put out the fire, when the issue was raised on their forums, saying that that the story "is a rumor, and BioWare doesn't comment on rumors".

Maybe BioWare doesn't, but plenty of their fans do. And so the talks went on until today, when Chris made one last comment before closing the topic:

"As we've said before, there is a possibility that someday in the future we might make a PC version of Mass Effect. But currently the team is putting it's [sic] effort into making the 360 Exclusive version."

Too bad, really. It's been nearly three years since any BioWare game came out on the PC, and aside from their upcoming Jade Empire *cough* Special Edition, it could be another couple of years until that happens again. Unless they know something about Dragon Age that we don't...

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You'd think that making any movie based on a video game would be a major risk from head start. Now add up a $130+ million production budget, and a first-time feature director (Neill Blomkamp), and you will soon come to the same conclusion as Universal and Fox: it's crazy! The two studios were supposed to co-finance the screen adaptation of Microsoft's popular Halo games, but according to a Variety story both Universal and Fox pulled out of the deal, effectively leaving the Halo movie high and dry.

It's no small thing that the film was (and still is) backed up by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh as executive producers. But with recent rumours claiming that the production budget was approaching $200 million, and a substantial upfront payment needing to be made to Microsoft, it was time for the two studios to make a decision.

Shortly before October 15 (when Microsoft was to receive its first payment for the movie rights), Universal - on behalf of both studios - called for a meeting, during which they asked for a significan budget cut. And, as fate would have it, they were refused.

"What happened was this: Universal, on behalf of both studios, asked for a meeting with the filmmakers just prior to the due date of a significant payment. Basically, they said that in order to move forward with the film, the filmmakers had to significantly reduce their deals. They waited until the last minute to have this conversation. Peter and Fran, after speaking with their producing partners and with Microsoft and Bungee (the studio that designed the original game) (ed. - no, that's Bungie), respectfully declined."

All is not lost for the Halo movie, however, as Variety reports that Microsoft is already in talks with other distribution partners, and that pre-production work on the film continues at Jackson and Walsh's visual effects studios in New Zealand (Weta Digital and Weta Workshop).

It now remains to be seen if any other studios will agree to financing such a risky and costly project, with little hope for massive revenues. After all, Halo is pretty far from Final Fantasy in terms of over-hyped fans, and we all know how Square's CG movies did financially...

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New PlayStation 3 Games And Details Revealed At Gamer's Day

It's pretty hard these days to find a piece of news about Sony's PlayStation 3 that doesn't make their next-gen console look bad. There have already been several negative stories about it this week, but for now we'll dwell over the good ones (or at least the non-bad ones). Yesterday in San Francisco, Sony held one last pre-launch event, affectionately called Gamer's Day. At it, they revealed more about PS3's "launch window" games, about sharing downloaded games on multiple PS3s, the price for first-party games, and more.

Sadly (for Sony) it's still hard to determine just how many actual launch titles they will have from day one, because they only confirmed that there will be 21 PS3 games released after November 17, and until the end of 2006. Only 3 of those are first-party games, and the other 18 are... Well, see the list below for yourself:

Fist-party (Sony) launch titles:

- Resistance: Fall of Man

- NBA '07

- Genji: Days of the Blade

Third-party titles:

- Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII (Ubisoft)

- Call of Duty 3 (Activision)

- Fight Night Round 3 (Electronic Arts)

- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks)

- F.E.A.R. (Vivendi Games)

- Full Auto 2: Battlelines (Sega)

- Madden NFL 07 (Electronic Arts)

- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Activision)

- Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire (Namco Bandai)

- NBA 2K7 (2K Sports)

- Need For Speed Carbon (Electronic Arts)

- NHL 2K7 (2K Sports)

- Ridge Racer 7 (Namco Bandai)

- Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega)

- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Electronic Arts)

- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft)

- Tony Hawk's Project 8 (Activision)

- Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (Sony Online Entertainment)

Aside from these, Gamer's Day also played host to the announcement of Criminal Crackdown, planned for release in early 2007. This is the first PS3 project coming from God of War director David Jaffe, a game that will focus on "quickly tracking down criminals and returning them to a jail cell for points". Fascinating, what can I say... You can read more about it on 1UP.

In preparation for the Gamer's Day event, Sony also confirmed several arcade-style gamelings due for release as part of their online initiative (think Xbox Live Arcade). A long story made short, they are: flOw, Blast Factor, Go! Sudoku!, Criminal Crackdown (oh, so it's that kind of game...), Lemmings 2, Go! Swizzleblock2, and Cash Carnage Chaos.

As for sharing downloaded games, 1UP reports that "games or other content purchased from the online PlayStation Store could be downloaded on up to five other PS3s. Downloads are tied to a user account, so by logging in on another machine, all content that you have purchased is available for download at any time. So if you've purchased, say, a PS1 game on your PS3 and want to show it to a friend, you merely have to log in to your account on your friends machine and download it from your purchased items folder". Some good news, at last.

Finally, more prices were also announced yesterday. As you may now, first-party PS3 games were recently priced in Japan at $49.99, but it seems the same won't hold true for North America - where Sony's first-party titles will cost $59.99. An extra PS3 controller (SIXAXIS) will cost you $49.99, a Blu-Ray disc player remote controller $24.90, and a Memory Card Adapter $14.99. Yeah, I know I said no bad news in this story, but you didn't actually expect such a thing to be possible when talking about the PS3, did you?!

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If I had a dollar for every time Gears of War was rumoured to be headed for the PC, I'd probably be out right now getting smashed drunk. And by the time I'd get home, I'd be might happy to find another dollar rumour claiming the exact same thing. This time the story comes from Switzerland, where a Microsoft release list reportedly shows Epic's "Xbox 360 exclusive" game as being set to launch on Windows Vista at the end of 2007.

The news apparently originates from the German website ConsoleWars, and we really hope this isn't just a prank of theirs, in return for yesterday's news that the Xbox 360 version of Gears of War failed to receive an official age rating in Germany (meaning that Germans will have to import it if they want to play it).

Here's what a rough translation of ConsoleWars' story tells us:

"According to a current Microsoft release list from Switzerland is to appear Gears OF was soon also for the PC. At the end of of 2007 will be available the Game for the PC Windows Vista."

Take it with a grain of salt if you so wish, but better yet try taking a look at the big picture. Epic's Unreal engine is more than suited for running on the PC, and this wouldn't be Microsoft's first false-exclusive title. Halo, Halo 2, Fable, Jade Empire... See the pattern? In average, the delay between the PC and the original Xbox version of all these games is around 20 months. And if that's anything to go by, it does make sense for Gears of War to be released on the PC between 1 and 2 years after the Xbox 360 "Emergence Day" - November 12, 2006.

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Hide your parents and your politicians: the Postal Dude is coming back! First annouced almost a year ago under the title Postal 3: Catharsis, the third chapter in Running With Scissors' politically incorrect franchise is once again confirmed as being in development for the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. Only this time around, the devs are willing to spill a couple of extra beans, hinting at a distant release date and talking a bit about the game's technology.

RWS are now calling their game Postal III, and they are aiming to release it some time in 2008, through publisher Akella. FiringSquad got a chance to talk over the phone with Running With Scissors head man Vince Desi, and they found out that the game is more specifically targeted for a mid to late 2008 release, and that the game will include some sort of tutorial. What for? Read below:

"Desi wouldn't reveal much about Postal 3's game play except that it will continue and expand upon Postal 2's open world design. Desi also told us that they will be taking fan feedback to heart for Portal 3. "A lot of things went undiscovered in Postal 2," Desi told us. In order to help players discover how much content there will be in Postal 3, the game will have what he is calling a series of training missions that will inform players on the many different options in the full open world portion of the game."

In their latest press release, the devs also announced that "Postal III will employ the Source engine (the same technology Valve created to drive Half-Life 2) to deliver a new and advanced technical level of social satire and politically incorrect virtual violence". I don't know how many incompetent politicians and frustrated lawyers will get the game's satire, but I'm pretty sure that Postal III will lead to yet another scandal. After all, if it's not Grand Theft Auto or Bully, it's gotta be Postal!

Postal III also promises to include motion-captured performances by various celebrities (from film stars to playful Playboy Playmates), as well as a storyline that offers gamers vast latitude in terms of their behavior.

"We've always maintained since publishing the original Postal that the game is only as violent as the player wants it to be and we're committed to expanding this unique form of gameplay in this next addition to the ongoing storyline", said Vince Desi. And finally, Andrew Belkin (Producer for Akella) expressed his educated belief that: "Postal III will be the sickest and craziest game ever!".

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Rockstar's Bully is finally out in North America this week, but you can bet that ill-famed lawyer Jack Thompson won't be abandoning his anti-game crusade just yet, despite having taken a serious beating in court a few days ago. As always, he was picking on Take-Two / Rockstar, and more specifically on their newly released PlayStation 2 action game Bully (also known as Canis Canem Edit in Europe, where it's set to launch on October 27).

Thompson must have been stupefied by the ESRB's decision to rate the game as "T" for Teen last month, since this is the very same game that he's been flaming for what seems like years already (without ever actually seeing it in action, of course). Bully getting the Teen rating was in fact a surprise for many of us, so it's no wonder really that Thompson took his stupefaction one step further.

Even before the ESRB's rating was made official, Thompshon issued an aberrant request to both retail chain Wal-Mart and publisher Take-Two to provide him with an advance copy of Bully. At that time (back in August), he expressed his wish to have "an independent third party" play the game and decide if it should be considered "a public nuisance" within the state of Florida.

Surprisingly enough, he was granted his wish by a Forida court last week, as publisher Take-Two was ordered to provide Thompson with a copy of Bully. But his joy was short-lived, however. Just two days later, that same court (and in fact that same judge Gordon Freeman Ronald Friedman) rejected his request for banning the sale of Bully in the state of Florida. The decision came after the judge was shown approximately two hours of Bully's content - which was more than enough for the judge to conclude that the controversial game was not worth banning.

Thompson's reaction? As usual, un-diplomatic (to say the least). Here are some of the things he wrote to judge Friedman after his defeat:

"You assured us, in your courtroom two days ago, that you would view the playing of Bully to its conclusion. That is what you promised on the record. You did not keep your promise. (...)

What you conducted in your chambers, Judge, was the equivalent of Iran leading UN weapons inspectors around the country taking them to places where the illegal activity was not occurring. (...)

You said after being shown what Take-Two wanted you to see that "I've seen worse." Judge, that is not the issue. The issue is (...) (ed. - blah blah nonsense)

How dare you, Judge, promise a hearing today and then prevent that hearing from occurring. How dare you, Judge, petulantly order the production of the game after it is released on Tuesday morning. I didn't even ask for that. You did that out of spite, and you were smiling when you did that. You really enjoyed that one, didn't you, Judge?"

LOL! I mean seriously, who woulnd't have enjoyed that?

So the game is out, and I bet this will all turn out to be too much fuss over nothing (it's no Grand Theft Auto, that I can bet my violent games collection on!). Still, a few opposing ignorants remain even in Europe, where several electronics retailers are refusing to stock Bully Canis Canem Edit in their retail and online stores - saying they feel "this game is not appropriate for Currys' family-friendly image". Nevermind the fact that they already sell 18-rated titles from a variety of publishers! Hypocrisy at its finest.

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Knights of the Nine To Expand The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

So it's not Knights of the White Stallion, as speculated some time ago, but Knights of the Nine. And it's now official, as Bethesda Softworks announced that they will expand both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with this new content package, to be released on November 21. Knights of the Nine will of course be launched via Xbox Live for the game's Xbox 360 version, while the PC version will be available as a download from OblivionDownloads.com, or as a boxed retail product. Bethesda will spread the Knights of the Nine throughout North American retail stores, and Ubisoft will help them do the same over in Europe.

Although the exact nature of the product (i.e. full-fledged expansion, or just a puny content pack) is still unclear, Bethesda did mention that Knights of the Nine will add a new faction and new quests to their role-playing game. The game's upcoming PS3 version is also expected to include these additions.

"Knights of the Nine features an all-new faction and quests for noble characters and answers many of the questions surrounding the Ayleid ruins found throughout Oblivion. Players can join a new faction and found their own order of holy knights - leading them into battle against a sorcerer-king and his demonic minions while exploring massive dungeons and searching for legendary relics - the holy armor and weapons of the Divine Crusader."

In addition, the retail version of Knights of the Nine is to include all the previously released Oblivion downloadable content: the Horse Armor pack, the Orrery, Wizard's Tower, The Thieves Den, Mehrunes' Razor, The Vile Lair, and Spell Tomes. No pricing details were announced yet, but the extra content released so far (if purchased separately) is worth around $13.5.

Also, let's not forget that, in two weeks from today, Bethesda might return with another announcement, hopefully bigger and better, perhaps even sprinkled with some desert sand and radiation fallout...

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Battlefield 2142 Out Now With 'Spyware', First Patch, Last Trailer

Could this be the beginning of the end for the Battlefield series? From all the negative feedbak the Battlefield 2142 demo has been getting, not to mention the recent EA-DICE dealings, it certainly seems possible. And the fact that Electronic Arts released both the "final" version of Battlefield 2142 today, as well as the first patch, doesn't make things any better. But that's not all!

Even more concerning is the inclusion of in-game advertising thorough a dubious system powered by IGA Worldwide. The European version of Battlefield 2142 includes a flyer stating that this technology "may record your Internet Protocol address and other anonymous information. To what purpose? Supposedly to enable "the presentation and measurements of in-game advertisements and other in-game objects which are uploaded temporarily to your personal computer or game console and changed during online gameplay". Well that sounds confusing enough, so here's another question: where is this info being sent to?

Although the exact location might not be relevant, what is relevant is that the collected data is being sent outside of the European Union. That would be the same European Union that clearly legislates against user information being sent outside of the EU without prior permission. So I guess you're automatically giving your permission by installing the game, huh? This in-game ad technology may not "spyware" per se, but it's definitely *something*. And it's nasty.

If you're still feeling safe about it, you should at least get a hold of the first BF2142 patch (v1.01), which fixes a client-side crash on Titan mode. Also, you can grab an unranked server for the game from EA's FTP directory.

Last, and by all means least, today we have the final Battlefield 2142 launch trailer, sporting some three minutes of deceiving in-game in-engine scenes.

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We owe some of the very best role-playing games in the last decade to Feargus Urquhart and his brilliant team of developers. The guy has been credited with titles such as Fallout, Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale, while also working with BioWare on the Baldur's Gate series in his golden days at Black Isle. That is, before the whole Interplay fiasco came crashing down a couple of years ago.

All was not lost, thankfully, and after a rather rushed-out (but nevertheless great) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, the team from Obsidian Entertainment is now ready to launch their second project, Neverwinter Nights 2. As announced by Atari, the game has reached Gold status and will be released on October 31 in North America, and on November 3 in Europe.

Once again returning to the Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms universe, the game carries the heavy burden of converting Neverwinter Nights' vast community over to the sequel, with its new single-player campaign, as well as a reworked toolset for creating mutliplayer and custom modules.

Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, Neverwinter Nights 2 features a new, extensive single-player game with deep character development and a powerful new toolset that provides players with unprecedented ability to create their own universes, quests and storylines.

"Neverwinter Nights 2 has been an incredible game to produce, as we have aimed from the beginning to develop an immersive gaming experience that will satisfy both the RPG and modding communities," said Feargus Urquhart, Obsidian Entertainment's CEO. "Now that Neverwinter Nights 2 has gone gold, we are proud to say we are delivering a game that should exceed fans' expectations."

We also have some new NWN2 screenshots to go with today's announcement, which you can view locally.

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Actually it's not even "E3 2007", because that would sound way too exciting for what the Entertainment Software Association has in mind for next year's E3 expo. Instead, the downsized event will be called "E3 Media and Business Summit", replacing the former E3 Media and Booth-babes Showdown that we all knew and loved (the babes, that is).

Set to take place between 11-13 of July 2007 in Santa Monica, California, the chopped-down E3 will be an invitation-only event, focused mainly on press events, business chit-chat, and intimate meetings (*wink wink*) in premier hotel suites and meeting rooms with media, retailers, developer partners, and other audiences. There's no mention of any "room service babes" in ESA's latest comunique, which is why next year's E3 will be all the more boring.

That's not how the ESA sees it, of course. They claim that the new E3 Media and Business Summit "will combine the best elements of the former trade show into a business event celebrating the video game industry's present and future". Gee, they must have a very boring view on how the industry's future will play out.

Here's more about it from Douglas Lowenstein, President of the ESA.

"The new E3Expo is first and foremost about getting business done. (...) The new E3Expo event will be more personal, efficient and focused, and it will provide the top stakeholders who make games, sell games, and cover games streamlined access to the people and products they most need to see."

In other words, boring. Luckly, top console companies such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are expected to stage major (and hopefully interesting) off-site press conferences. The summit will also include a "Barker Hangar venue" - where participating companies will be able to showcase their games, demos, trailers and such - as well as a few other things:

"The new E3Expo will also feature a daily luncheon conference session with top executives and/or analysts and a Serious Games showcase. In addition, ESA is exploring adding an independent games showcase and including the highly successful "Into The Pixel" video game art competition and exhibition. Finally, evenings will be a time for receptions and parties so participants can interact at the informal events that have been an E3Expo tradition."

Business et circensis...

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