Do you see the Xbox 360 as the main platform as opposed to the PC? During the whole Unreal time it was very much PC focused.

The PC right now is a fair amount different to what it was back in the day, with all the badly integrated video chips. Here's the problem right now; 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 bit torrent to know all the elements so they can pirate software. Therefore, high-end videogames are suffering very much on the PC.

So piracy was a main point for you...

Right now, it makes sense for us to focus on Xbox 360 for a number of reasons. Not least PCs with multiple configurations and piracy.

But when the dust has settled, is there any possibility of Gears 2 on PC?

No.

Definitely not?

No.

Seven pallets of titles, including 16,000 copies of war game Brothers In Arms: Hell’s Highway, were loaded on to a blue Renault lorry and driven to Leeds — but cops there spotted its fake number plates and recovered the missing gear.

It was taken to a tightly-controlled compound — then stolen again hours later.

The lorry was then found empty last Monday in a Matalan car park in nearby Bradford, West Yorks.

A police spokesman said: “We are pursuing a number of lines of enquiry, including eBay transactions where a number of the games have been potentially identified as being advertised for sale. Arrests have already been made in respect of this.”

Developed by 2K Marin, 2K Boston, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes, BioShock for the PLAYSTATION 3 system contains all-new content that augments and extends the experience in exciting ways. BioShock for the PLAYSTATION 3 system contains new features such as the inclusion of the Survivor difficulty mode, Trophy support and the addition of all-new Add-On Game Content that will be available for download shortly after launch. Pricing and availability for Add-On Game Content will be specified at a later date.

BioShock is a narrative-driven action experience that allows players to do the impossible as they journey through an amazing, immersive and terrifying world. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically mutated citizens, the player will come to grips with the mysterious and fascinating world of Rapture, a distinct Art Deco underwater utopia gone mad. BioShock not only challenges players’ capacity to adapt and survive, but brings to question their values and relationships with the inhabitants of Rapture. With smart and adaptive AI, no encounter ever plays out the same way twice, while numerous customization options provide gamers with an experience that adapts to their playing style.

Valve will start offering user created mods for download on digital distribution platform Steam this week, beginning with five new titles based on Valve’s own Half-Life 2.

The five fan-created mods include Age of Chivalry, D.I.P.R.I.P., Insurgency, Synergy, and Zombie Panic. Existing owners of any game using Valve’s Source engine will be able to download and play any of the mods for free.

All of the mods use the Steamworks toolset, which provides stat tracking and full integration with the Steam community. Once installed, the mods will appear in the “My Games” list like any other retail title, and will also receive the same automatic updates when available.

Week of 09/28/08 - 10/04/08 North America:

PC:

09/30
Avatar the Last Air Bender: Path of Zuko - $19.99
Age of Empires: Collector's Edition
Baseball Mogul 2009 - $29.99
Beauty Factory - $19.99
Cat Girl Alliance
CellZenith
Dark Horizon - $29.99
Guild 2: Venice - $29.99
Hardly Boys: The Hidden Theft - $19.99
In the Shadow of the Raven 2
International Fighters Flight Sim - $29.99
Mini Motion: [Skate | Hoverboard | Home Run King | Cars of Fury] - $19.99
Mount & Blade - $39.99
My Electric Guitar - $29.99
Pipe Mania - $19.99
Rhiannon: Curse Of The Four Branches - $29.99
SAS: Secure Tomorrow - $19.99
Sacred 2: Fallen Angels - $49.99
Sniper - Art of Victory - $19.99
Zoo Tycoon 2: Ultimate Collection - $49.99
10/01
Petank Party

Scope out the complete list of new releases this week

PC

• Crysis Warhead - Hooked Gamers - 9/10
• Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization - PC.IGN - 8.7/10
• Spore - Tweaktown - 9/10
• Warhammer Online - YouGamers - n/a
• Warhammer Online - GameSpy - 5/5

  360
  

• Battlefield: Bad Company - Computer Games.ro - 87%
• Facebreakers - Boomtown - 5/10
• LEGO Batman - Crispy Gamer - Buy iy
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - Tweaktown - 8/10
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Gameslave - 6.5/10
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Hooked Gamers - 7/10

  PS3
  

• Ninja Gaiden Sigma - Computer Games.ro - 82%

Today's question:

How many months do you typically subscribe to a massively multiplayer game before cancelling?

The Mercenaries 2: World in Flames free PC demo lets players have a playable sneak preview of the final product.

Players can play an objective from one of the missions, and while they are limited to a relatively small section of the world, there's enough there for players to get a feel for the sandbox nature of the game.

Additionally, we give players a customized load out of awesome vehicles and airstrikes, so that players can get a taste of the toys and destruction that combine to make Mercenaries 2 the premier explosive action game of the summer!

The biohazard threat has not ended: Just when it seemed that the menace of Resident Evil had been destroyed, along comes a new terror to send shivers down player’s spines. Chris Redfield, returning Resident Evil hero, has followed the path of the evil literally around the globe. After joining a new organization, Chris heads to Africa where the latest bioterrorism threat is literally transforming the people and animals of the city into mindless, maddened creatures. He is joined by a new partner, Sheva Alomar, who lends her strength, intelligence and sharp-shooting skills to the mission. In order to survive, Chris and Sheva must work together to take on the challenges of discovering the truth behind this evil plot. Utilizing a revolutionary new co-op mode of gameplay, players will be able to assume control of either Chris or Sheva and experience Resident Evil in new ways. In Resident Evil 5, Capcom will have players fearing the daylight as much as they have feared shadow in previous games.

"There's a misunderstanding of the value we bring to the catalog," Kotick says, discussing the issue with the Wall Street Journal.

"When you look at the impact it can have on an Aerosmith, Van Halen or Metallica, it's really significant, so much so that you sort of question whether or not, in the case of those kinds of products, you should be paying any money at all and whether it should be the reverse."

Kotick has responded to Bronfman's comments in the past, describing them as "one-sided and not "respectful of how much we’ve done to bring new audiences into the market."

To support his position, he has also noted that Activision's Guitar Hero: Aerosmith generated more revenue for the band than any individual Aerosmith album.

St. John claims that Sony has announced it will not make a new console for 10 years. He also says that when asking representatives at Sony and Microsoft who is the head of the next console development, they will not name a name.

The major reason neither Sony nor Microsoft will make another console, according to St. John, is because the business does not make financial sense. It's not news to anyone in the game industry that current generation hardware is sold at a loss to the company.

And at Microsoft, that business model is unlikely to float any longer now that Bill Gates has retired and Steve Ballmer -- whom St. John calls "a money guy" -- is leading the company. Consoles just aren't profitable, he says, and the motive to repeat those failures just isn't there.

On the other hand, Townsend and Stevenson argue that the install base is already there. With millions of Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s already hooked up in people's homes, it already is an immovable element of the modern living room. Game consoles will drive the high-definition entertainment experience, says Stevenson.

The Armies have assembled and the Worldwide WAAAGH! is Underway! Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, today announced that in the first week since launch over 500,000 new players have registered for fantasy MMORPG, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR), in North America, Europe and the Oceanic territories. EA's most highly pre-ordered PC title, WAR has now become the fastest-selling new MMO of all time.

"In just one week we have a half a million people playing WAR online, and the ranks of Order and Destruction are growing at a record-breaking pace for a new MMORPG," said Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. "We spent years working to provide players with the most stable, epic, and polished online world we could, but it is the players that have truly brought the Age of Reckoning to life."