Electronic Arts has given the word that The Godfather II will be hitting shelves in North America on February 24, and in Europe on February 27. The sequel, based on the movie of the same name,  will be released for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Players who pre-order the game will be able to play with an exclusive crew member, Tommy Cipolla. Tommy will be the only crew member to possess two specialties – arsonist and medic – as well as carry a level-two double-barreled shotgun.

I hope they don’t get any ideas about making a movie based The Godfather Part III; let’s just say it’s my least favorite of the series.

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Sony has decided to partner up with Electronic Arts and soon we’ll be able to enjoy that EA Sports Complex from your Home. The first three games available will be a car racer game, a tournament poker game and a driving range.

Like any other Home games you will be able to unlock items for your avatar which should be really fun to do in a game like that racing game here. If you happen to be close to CES 2009 go take a look. It’s currently the only game of the three that EA has made available.

The EA Sports Complex will be launched at the end of March and it will grow more in the future. EA will bring interactivity between EA Sports Complex and EA’s Sportsworld in the future. Players will be able to interact and EA will be using Home for various timed events. Anxious to get EA Sports Complex?

via kotaku

While we are just over half way through this current console generation, curiosity, rumors, and speculation on the next generation of consoles has been far from dormant. The Wii HD has all but been announced, the PlayStation 4 has been mentioned several times by various Sony employees, even if only speculatively, and the Xbox 720 is probably going to be announced the next year or two.

While these future consoles are still in development, there several features and functions that we should be able to expect from all of them.

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Razer is a name to consider when you’re thinking about purchasing new gaming gear for your PC. And Razer has just launched two new pieces of gaming gear at CES, a mouse and a new headset.

The mouse is called the Mamba. It features 2.4GHz wireless technology but also an optional detachable cord. It will also bring you the “world’s fastest” 5,600DPI Precision 3.5G Laser sensor and a battery life and DPI stage indicator. The Mamba will arrive in February and it will cost $129.99.

The audio headset is called the Carcharias and it features an adjustable headband, inline remote and a long 3-meter cable. The Carcharias will arrive in January and it will cost $79.00.

via Press

Call of Duty 4 has reached a massive milestone: ten (10!) million unique users have played the game on Xbox 360 alone. Infinity War revealed the news, alongside some other interesting statistics:

71.1%, or 7,111,508 people have completed F.N.G.
68.8%, or 6,886,509 people have completed Cargo Ship.
46.5%, or 5,654,643 people have beaten the game on any difficulty.
2.8%, or 283,632 people have completed Airplane on Veteran difficulty.

According to IAMfourzerotwo.com, PSN numbers indicate somewhere around 4,3 million unique players, combined with the PC sales as well, CoD 4 has sold 15 million copies to date. Impressive!

Graphics cards maker Nvidia has introduced its 3D technology for PC gamers. With the help of 3D computer displays, which have been on the market for a while, Nvidia’s system, which consists of a GeForce graphics card and a pair of glasses that wirelessly connect to the PC.

The interesting part about Nvidia’s system, is the software that powers it. It’s able to recognize “depth” of current games and applications, and seamlessly integrate them in 3D technology, with no need for special versions of games for 3D. This can be applied to both games, movies and other applications.

One drawback to the system though, is its steep cost. In addition to needing a high-end GeForce graphics card, you’ll need a 3D display with at least 120 Hz refresh rate, plus a pair of Nvidia goggles, which fetch for 200 dollars.

The sequel to the critically acclaimed and popular RTS Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War will have a beta this month, as promised by publisher THQ.

The beta will be available through Steam and will be exclusive to owners of Dawn of War: Soulstorm on January 21, followed by a worldwide release on January 28.

All four races will be playable in the beta, which will feature four multiplayer maps as well. The game is scheduled for release on February 20.

Being a big company in big financial trouble is never easy, like in Sony’s case. In 2009, the main priority for the company, short term at last, is to simply start making money. That’s according to SCEE president David Reeves, who recently said in an interview:

The most important thing for us as a company in the very short term is for us to start making money.

Reeves added that the company is on track to be profitable as they promised back in March last year. Sony still loses quite a lot of money on every PS3 sold, and has to rely extra much on the games sold. With Killzone 2 to slated for release next month, it should be a lot easier to turn a profit — no matter hos big or small — the last fiscal quarter.

Came across distressing images lately? Want to forget? Play Tetris. At least, thats what a new study conducted by Oxford University has found: patients with symptoms of post-traumatic stress had fewer flashbacks after playing a round of Tetris.

The experiment was carried out on a group of 40 volunteers who were shown distressing images of injuries. Some of them were then made to play Tetris for 30 minutes. The Tetris-playing sample was found to have recorded significantly fewerflashbacks of the images than the non-playing group.

“Tetris may work by competing for the brain’s resources for sensory information,” said Oxford’s Dr. Emily Holmes. “We suggest it specifically interferes with the way sensory memories are laid down in the period after trauma and thus reduces the number of flashbacks that are experienced afterwards.”

However, researchers admit that the tests are inconclusive as they do not compare to actual real-life traumatic events and that games have a real effect on human memory.

Electronic Arts today confirmed that the first full expansion to Sporewill be dubbed Galactic Adventures. Already revealed by online retailers, no details were offered on the space-centered add-on, though a rough release window of Spring 2009 was noted. Retailers had previously pegged the game for release in March.

The publisher is expected to reveal more information on the add-on, as well as other Spore titles, in an upcoming 2009 Spore lineupevent later this month.