Xbox World 360 magazine brings forth details of EA's forthcoming Godfather 2 game – helpfully extracted by sister-publication CVG – describing the sequel as "Scarface meets Total War." To further contextualize that pairing, the game is dropping some of that GTA-clone vibe in favor of the far less popular "sandbox game with RPG, RTS and erm, board game elements"-vibe.

If the game isn't content straddling just one game type, why should locales be any different? Following the plot of its cinematic namesake, Godfather 2 jet-sets from Miami to Havana to New York City. Want more numbers? The game packs six character classes – "bruiser, demolitions expert, arsonist, medic, safe cracker and engineer" – and each character can have one of twelve different "personalities." Here's some simple back-of-the-box math for y'all: six character classes times twelve personalities equals an amazing 72 playable characters (except not really).

Other features include "Don's View" (that's where the RTS magic comes in) and a perks system (thanks, board games!). No word on multiplayer, but EA's just getting this hype machine started before the game's ought-nine release. Give 'em time.

If you're already an annual subscriber to the PlayStation Network's Qore "magazine" then you're undoubtedly already content with your purchase, having scored Calling All Cars, a beta invite to SOCOM: Confrontation (beta forthcoming), some interstitial advertising and, of course, two issues of interactive-y content. If you've been waiting to drop your virtual bucks on an annual subscription, today's installment should probably be on your radar because, as you undoubtedly remember, that subscription grants one access to the Resistance 2 beta program in September.

Here's the bad news: That access to the SOCOM beta you've been waiting for ... well, it won't start until September 8th (incidentally a full week after it kicks off for those who pre-ordered). The Resistance 2 beta: also September (and also after those pesky pre-order folks). So what we're trying to say here is this: your September is probably going to be pretty busy playing multiplayer PlayStation 3 shooters that aren't out yet. For more details on this month's episode of Qore, hit up that Source link or watch the trailer after the break.

If you're stlll Xbox 360-less and looking for a deal, then don't bother with the $299 clearance-sale 20GB Xbox 360 ... or the new $349 60GB 360 for that matter. Dell.com has the $450 Xbox 360 Elite for the low, low price of $299. But that's not all! If you act now (or, presumably, at any point between now and when they inevitably sell out) you'll also get copies of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Forza 2, along with two rather unseemly faceplates.

Update: The promotion has ended -- it's back to $450.

[Via X3F]

It's alright Lars, you don't need to keep it a secret any longer. With or without your intimations, we all know Guitar Hero: Metallica will be joining the pantheon of geriatric rock simulators right alongside that other game, probably next summer. But if you really just want to get it off your chest, go right on ahead ...

When asked about the existence of the aforementioned game by MTV News, Metallica drummer and lead Napster-hater Lars Ulrich said, "... if somebody's gonna follow [GH: Aerosmith] up ... we're talking, and its exciting, and the people at Guitar Hero and Activision are rapidly becoming our best new friends in the world. You can put the rest of it together yourself." We took a moment to put those various pieces together and, sure enough, they basically assembled the retail packaging for the game. For further evidence, hit up the video after the break.

Just a day after learning of another blood-red quarter at Midway, with $34.8m lost in its second quarter, Kotaku brings word of a trio of high-level departures from the beleaguered publisher including Mike Bilder, head of Midway's internal Chicago studio, currently tasked with bringing Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Blitz: The League II to market.

Also gone: Mona Hamilton, veep of marketing, and Reilly Brennan, director of media relations. Midway confirmed all three departures, and said that Bilder accepted a senior management position with another Chicagoland dev (any ideas, Joystiqland?). There are two additional rumored departures, but Midway's apparently not ready to talk about them yet. That's fine. For now we'll just add these three to the list we've already got going, right there next to these two guys and the company's CEO.

Surprising approximately no one, the final prices for the various releases of the multiplayer-only SOCOM: Confrontation have been announced. Tearing a page (and pricing sheet) straight out of the Warhawk playbook, Confrontation is being offered in both digital and Blu-ray variants, with the latter being offered in both stand alone and bundle versions.

Pricing for both the PlayStation Network download and the retail stand alone version is $39.99 while the retail bundle version – which includes the (rather attractive) PS3 Bluetooth headset along with "exclusive Behind the Scenes videos" – will be $20 more, at $59.99. No prices yet for the rest of the world, but Sony is aiming for a worldwide release of October 14th. Our magic eight-ball says we'll "most likely" hear a price before then.

Boogie Nights' well-endowed Dirk Diggler? Nope. The Departed's wise-cracking Dignam? Uh-uh. Maybe Planet of the Ap ... yeah, not that one obviously. We're just wondering what Mark "y Mark" Wahlberg's favorite role has been in his brief, but illustrious, career. Turns out we don't need to guess, big Mark is here to tell us. Comparing his "out of control" childhood and the accompanying life lessons it provided in the latest issue of Total Film magazine with Max Payne's inner demons, Wahlberg says, "Maybe that's why this character is my favourite role so far."

Great, more data. So now you're tasked with weighing the various pieces of evidence at your disposal – he hasn't played the video game; the posters are great; he loves the role; Beau Bridges is in it – and making a snap judgment on a movie that isn't out yet. Quick! Does it suck? Is it going to be great? Citizen Kane or Max Payne, pick one!

This is it, folks. The winners of the official Game Critics Awards for E3 2008 – as chosen by 36 representatives (including yours truly) from most of the leading video game outlets – have been revealed. Leading the pack with two wins each are Fallout 3 – winner of "Best of Show" and "Best RPG" – along with LittleBigPlanet – winner of Best Console game and Best Social/Casual/Puzzle game.

The top publisher was EA (just like in our own awards) with five wins, while Sony took second place with an impressive three wins. In terms of platform concentration, the Xbox 360 barely edged out the competition with eight wins versus both the PC and PS3's seven (for those of you keeping track, the Wii only managed one win and that was for its version of Madden 09). We've got the full list after the break, or check out the Game Critics site for the breakdown by publisher and platform or refresh your memory with this list of nominees in the various categories.

Just like your favorite indie band – those guys that issued a giant middle finger to The Man and made it their own way, retaining credibility the way a sponge retains water – Valve isn't averse to an acquisition. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Before you tear down your Gabe Newell poster or throw away your Robin Walker découpaged Trapper Keeper, hear 'em out: Valve's veep of marketing Doug Lombardi simply said, "anything is possible" and that he'd be "happy" to discuss an acquisition of the hugely successful independent developer. He's not talking about "selling out" ... like that band ...

Valve's always done plenty in-house, but partnerships with Sierra and now EA Partners have provided the dev with significant marketing and distribution resources that it would rather not take on. Speaking of EA, Lombardi relayed some details behind Valve's decision to partner with the Big Bad Publisher, concluding, "We haven't seen the boogeyman." It's clear both Valve and EA have eyes for each other and, with recently acquired devs like BioWare and Pandemic calling their relationship with the publisher "mutually beneficial," it wouldn't surprise us if EA took Lombardi up on his offer to talk.

So there was talk about Stuart Beattie – you may know him better as that guy adapting Gears of War for the big screen – giving the stalled Halo movie some much needed TLC in the form of a new script based on Eric Nylund's novel Halo: Fall of Reach. The original source of that rumor now claims to have five pieces of concept art from the new script, which are all part of "an eventual presentation" to be given to the fat cats at Microsoft. Here's where you come in: they'll be dropping one a week on y'all for the next five weeks.

We've got some concept art for a Halo movie right here: it's called Halo 3 and it's a whole DVD full of aliens, 'splosions, and Master Chiefs. But if you've just got to see a larger version of the above concept art, we won't stop you from clicking that Source link below.

[Via MEGATONik]

The place: Game Developer's Conference, San Francisco. The date: March 2007. LittleBigPlanet was revealed to the world, some nineteen months before its eventual October 2008 release date. We'll be honest: we count ourselves among that group of people that Media Molecule developer Alex Evans says "didn't see it coming." Sony's knockout PS3 exclusive still excites us, and Evans, remembering that initial reveal, tells Eurogamer, "I want to do another LittleBigPlanet reveal that people don't see coming." Oh, you tease! Give us something!

Evans elaborated, "It's still LittleBigPlanet, but people will be saying, 'I thought it was this - now you're telling me it's this as well?!'" So, we thought LBP was this – namely, an uncommonly creative console game with an unprecedented level of user-generated functionality – but Evans wants to tell us it's something else as well? A time machine perhaps? The alchemical secret to transmutating lead into gold? LittleBigPlanet PSP? What?

Fanboys, start your engines! According to id Software's resident genius John Carmack, the developer's upcoming title Rage could actually look worse on Xbox 360 "due to the compression needed to fit the game's assets on two DVDs," reports Shacknews.

Evidently royalty fees associated with a third disc would make the project financially unviable, so Carmack's looking to Microsoft to bite the bullet and rescind the fee or suffer the consequences (read: a multiplatform AAA title that looks worse on 360). Perhaps, unsurpringly considering the large size of the game's texture files, Carmack doesn't think that Doom 4 or Rage will make their way to digital distribution anytime soon.

[Thanks, Anonim]

European gaming mag Edge got a sneak peak at the New Xbox Experience before its big E3 reveal. Why? Because, according to Microsoft brass, Europeans are "a key part of us getting the next 20 million on" Xbox Live. Why? Because "the gameplay style in Europe is more casual, more collaborative and social." And what does that have to do with the New Xbox Experience? Microsoft is hoping the interface reboot will help the Xbox "become something that's relevant to everyone."

Xbox's Marc Whitten explains, "The idea is to move toward this channel metaphor, so you can see at a glance the types of things that I can do on my box, to make these things much more relevant about me." While there isn't much news about the working bits of the service, the column – the first in a series on the new interface – details some of the "whys" behind such a radical transformation. In fact, we'll leave you with another quote from Edge: "it's radical enough to make Xbox 360 feel like a whole new console."

What if an army of large-breasted female warriors, Darth Vader, and Yoda still weren't enough to satisfy your most illicit fanboy fantasies? Mathematically speaking, that puts you in a very small percentile but, never one to back down from a challenge, Namco has included a character creation tool in Soul Calibur IV to fill in whatever gaps you may feel are inexcusable.

For inspiration, we've got this video from CanoodleStrudel, showing off 24 different handmade fighters. There's a heavy focus on characters from Japanese games – Onimusha, Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid, and Final Fantasy VII – but there's also some Western treats, like Arthas from the Warcraft universe and the Prince (of Persia), light and dark versions. But it's not all video game characters, we've also got Leonidas from 300 and Bruce Lee from ... real life.

So are there technically 24 characters? Sure, but only if you consider armor changes to be unique characters ... and yes, we're including Dante and Nero in the "armor change" category. We wonder how long internet memesters can resist from crafting a Pirate versus Ninja battle ... or a Chuck Norris versus Jack Bauer showdown ...

[Thanks, Tim]

Developer slash publisher Deep Silver – the cats working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky – just announced a new survival horror title being built exclusively for the Wii: Cursed Mountain.

Citing a healthy dollop of 1980s charm, Himalayan mountains, cursed souls (of villagers, mountaineers, monks, etc.), and waggle-infused gestures, Deep Silver Managing Director Hannes Seifert says, "Cursed Mountain will deliver a unique, terrifying game play experience" when it's released in 2009. Until then, all we've got are a couple pieces of unique concept art and a terrifying logo. Bon appétit.