If you recently picked up Rebellion Developments’ Aliens vs. Predator for the PC, you most likely know that it did not ship with any dedicated server functionality. However, this will not be a Modern Warfare 2 repeat and Rebellion says that they are working to release a dedicated server for the game.

Below the studio comments:

Rebellion are busy preparing the dedicated server for the Aliens vs. Predator community. We hope to have a beta release with reduced functionality out in the next few days and further updates to improve functionality and fix bugs over the next few weeks. The files will be available to download from the “Tools” tab in the Steam client and will be a free download.

So, Infinity Ward, when are you going to accept your fault and bring us dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2?

via kotaku

Word has just gotten out that Ubisoft is planning to release the second round of DLC for Assassin’s Creed 2 on February 18th. The pack will be called Bonfire of the Vanities and, if you’re familiar with the game, will feature 10 new memories after Ezio attemped to Aid Machiavelli from feeling Florence. Lots of slaying will take place, naturally.

As I said before, Bonfire of the Vanities will be released for both Xbox Live and the PSN on February 18th.

We saw the unveiling of the Playstation Motion Controller some time ago but it seems that it despite its introduction to the public, it’s yet to be introduced to game developers. Well, that will reportedly be remedied soon as we have just gotten word that Sony plans to introduce the controller to developers at this year’s GDC.

The event is set to happen next month but there’s no word on when the Motion Controller will be released to the public. However, with developers beginning work on games using the controller, it can’t be too long.

via kotaku

Obviously, a lot of people were disappointed when Alan Wake was confirmed as an Xbox 360 exclusive — so were we. And we’re not surprised that a petition has been started that wants to see the game end on the PC. So far there are only 18,500 signatures.

Unity Technologies has announced that it now has over 100,000 registered users for its Unity engine platforms, which include engines for the PC, Mac, Wii and iPhone as well. Unity Technologies recently raised $5.5 million in Venture Capital funding, and their engines are quite attractive for indie developers in that they are free, or cost very little, and that they’re easy to use.

A new MMO has been announced: World of Tanks. Made by the guys at Wargaming.net, the game will feature open battles of up to 30 players, each in their tanks, and will feature tanks from the pre-WW2 era up to the Korean war. Best of all, it’s free. Check out more on the official website.

Before Criterion Games started working on the Burnout series, they made an interesting FPS called Black, which was released on the PS2 and Xbox. One of the creators of Black, whose name is Stuart Black, is now working with Codemasters on a new FPS. They already have an 80 person team working on the game, which is quite substantial.

GameInformer’s upcoming issue has a ton of new details on LA Noire, and they’ve just released a few screenshots of the game, which show exactly what we can expect: Noir! 1950s! Retro!

BAFTA, the Oscars of the United Kingdom (sort of), have announced the nominees in the video game category, and the most important one, “Best Game”, the nominees were Batman, Assassin’s Creed II, Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Uncharted 2, and FIFA 2009. We dunno about you, but we have a feeling Uncharted 2 kinda leads the pack.

If you got in on the Star Trek Online beta you remember that you were able to explore the contents of your ship. However, with the official launch of the game this feature has been removed. But fret not as Cryptic has just let us know that they are working to perfect this feature and will reintroduce it at some point in the near future.

Below Cryptic exec Craig Zinkievich comments:

“Anything we can do to make the game feel even more like Star Trek is something we want to do … so, definitely, we want to give people more of their ship,. This is one of those things we want to get perfect before introducing it to players, though.”

via joystiq