BioWare has finally confirmed the release date of Mass Effect 2: January 26, 2010. Gamers who pre-order the game will receive a pre-order bonus consisting of a “Terminus Armor”, which increases running speed and shields, and The M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon.

A recent GameStop listing spotted by I Play Winner has let us know that Super Street Fighter IV will hit store shelves on March 23, 2010 for $39.99.

While this sounds about right considering the previously announced release window and the fact that it is essentially a SF4 add-on, don’t put too much stock in it as GameStop has been known for putting up estimated information as a place holder.

In other words, we’ll have to wait for an official announcement from Capcom before we mark this one as confirmed.

It was recently made known that certain UK retailers will offer a Limited Tin Edition of New Super Mario Bros. Wii when it hit store shelves. One such retailer is GAME who has already begun taking pre-orders for the Limited Tin Edition.

There aren’t many exciting features about this limited edition other than the fact that the case is tin which means you could use it as a piggy bank.

This Limited Tin Edition New Super Mario Bros. Wii will drop on November 20th in the UK for 49.99 alongside the regular version for 34.99.

via joystiq

Now I’ve never been one to put much stock into the speculations of industry analysts but Michael Pachter has a good track record and his latest analysis is one I like, so I shall tell you about it — Pachter predicts that the motion sensing technology from Microsoft currently entitled Project Natal will cost no more than $50.

He elaborates by saying that Natal is just a single camera and when compared to the PlayStation Motion Controller it will most likely cost a great deal less as Sony’s offering is both a controller and a camera.

Whatever the case, Microsoft is going to have to price Project Natal very competitively as it is essentially an add on for the Xbox 360 and they will have to do so to keep up with both Sony and Nintendo.

via industrygamers

It’s been a while Katamari took Japan by storm, and subsequently created a gaming sub-culture all over the world, persistently rolling katamaris everywhere. Katamari is now out for the first time on the PlayStation 3, with new visuals (full 1080p support), and a remixed soundtrack of the original, Katamari Forever gives fans what they’ve been waiting for. However, it doesn’t go beyond that, there’s no revolution here, or even an evolution for that matter, sans the technical update.

In case you haven’t heard about katamari before, your object is to “roll katamaris”, meaning roll huge balls of stuff lying on the streets, cars, benches, trees, people — everything, really, which constantly grows your katamari. Once again, as the “Prince”, you’ll need to complete different missions — in Katamari Forever, you’re doing missions in two “campaigns”, one for the King and one for the RoboKing, in all, there are 34 levels. READ ON »

It seems that BioWare and a browser-based development offset of EA called EA 2D have teamed up to produce Dragon Age Journeys: The Deep Roads. This game is a browser-based tactical RPG set in the same universe as Dragon Age: Origins.

There haven’t been many details regarding the game other than that it will be a 3-chapter title with talent trees, classes, sound effects, music and user interfaces taken straight from its console counterpart.

via bioware

Just in case there wasn’t enough hype already surrounding Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Sony and Naughty Dog have released the above 15 second commercial showcasing the title.

Of course, there isn’t really anything we didn’t already know featured in the video other than a few clips of gameplay but it’s nice to watch anyways, especially if you’re anticipating the game.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will hit store shelves exclusively for the PS3 on October 13th.

It was recently announced that Valve’s digital distribution service, Steam, will be getting its own exclusive pre-order bonus for Dragon Age: Origins. Said pre-order bonus will be the in-game item called the Wicked Oath ring which will boost your character’s combat and damage abilities.

Make note that this ring is in addition to the Memory Band in-game item that all retailers will be giving out to pre-orders of Dragon Age: Origins.

BioWare‘s Dragon Age: Origins will be out for the Xbox 360 and PC on November 3rd and for the PS3 on November 17th.

Thanks to Major Nelson we now know that the Band Hero demo has officially made its way onto Xbox Live. For how much you ask? Nothing, it’s a demo, duh.

But anyways, you’ll be able to play both the Party Play mode and Sing-Along mode with 3 different tracks to play along with:

• Taylor Swift – Picture to Burn
• Katrina & The Waves – Walking on Sunshine
• Finger Eleven – Paralyzer

The full, retail version of Band Hero will hit store shelves on November 3rd for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS.

Not too long ago we let you know that Alpha Protocol would be getting a delay with news coming to us from various retailer’s websites. Shortly after we told you that Sega had updated their website to reflect the delay but they hadn’t actually spoken of such a delay, until now.

In an interview with CVG, Obsidian’s Feargus Urquhart comments on the delay:

“We’re very happy that Sega has made the decision to hold back the shipment of the game in order to give it the best chance at becoming the publishing success that we at Obsidian and our partners at Sega are striving for.”

Sega’s Alan Pritchard also comments:

“By pushing Alpha Protocol to Spring 2010, we can ensure that the game will be released in the best commercial release window possible and will also receive the focus this true AAA title deserves.”

So, they don’t want to release it around Modern Warfare 2? That sounds about right.