EA’s Need For Speed Shift, which was one of the first racing MMOs, charged users some $20 to remove the level cap of 10, has now gone free, after reaching 1 million players, according to EA. The game will also receive co-op pursuit mode and expanded customization options during the new update. However, you’ll still be able to purchase cars with real money, as well as items, power-ups and other content.

The upcoming arcade NBA Jam will bring the classic 3 on 3 action we’ve known, but missed since the 90s, later this year. EA sports has unveiled the roster of the Eastern Conference NBA teams, which include not only current players, but legends as well. For instance, the Celtics have Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen, but also legends Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. Check out the full roster of all teams after the break. READ ON »

Capcom’s demo of Dead Rising 2, which is a bit longer than a regular demo and is subtitled “Case Zero”, retails for $5 on Xbox Live. According to GamerBytes, the game has sold over 300,000 copies, and with Microsoft’s 30% cut, it means that it made Capcom well over $1 million. Hopefully this isn’t a new trend, where we have to pay for demos as well. On top of paying for for content as DLC, which should have already been i the game.

Prop maker Lee Camara has made lots of real life versions of fictional game weapons for use in cosplay and what not, and this time, he’s done a few weapons from Team Fortress 2, like the Scout Scattergun, pictured above. For more guns, check out his page.

Video game legend John Romero, the man who created Doom, has joined social game dev LOLapps as a consultant. LOLapps have made lots of games that you see on Facebook and other social networks, including Quiz Creator and Critter Island. Romero will join a team at the developer and will work on a new game, hopefully something more serious (perhaps a shooter?) than LOL’s other games.

If you’re in the market for an ultra high end PC, fused in the same case with an Xbox 360, you might be interested in the Origin PC. For a stunning $17,000, you get a PC with a 4.0GHz Core i7-930 CPU, 6 GB of DD3 RAM, an SSD, hard drive, dual Nvidia GTX480 graphics cards, all powered by a 1,500 Watt power supply. The whole thing is water cooled, and so is the built in Xbox 360. As you can see above, it’s quite a beast.

2K Sports has announced that Top Spin will be making its way back to the console after a few years of time off. The game will feature 25 current and legendary players, including a vintage Andre Agassi, back when he had some crazy 80s hair. The game will be out sometime next year on the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.

Sure, the United Arab Emirates might have oceans of oil and wealth under the desert (and some really tall skyscrapers), but when it comes to censorship, they’re quite strict, especially on video games. So it comes as no surprise that the United Arab Emirates National Media Council has banned Mafia 2, without giving an official reason as to why. Earlier this year, they banned Heavy Rain as well.

Disney’s upcoming blockbuster Tron Evolution is of course getting a game tie in, and it’s gotten a brand new gameplay trailer to show off its stuff — which, judging by said trailer, isn’t much. So far.

Ubisoft is synonymous with Tom Clancy games, mainly because they have the exclusive license, and because they take full advantage of that license, year after year, every time. And while most games are standard and mediocre, some Tom Clancy games manage to rise above the rest, like Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six. The original HAWX wasn’t one of those, which, while offering decent areal combat, had a completely unrealistic story. Does HAWX 2 build on top of the previous game? Read on to find out.

In HAWX 2, the story just as ridiculous and confusing as the last HAWX, and generally unrealistic, in good old Tom Clancy fashion. You play/follow three pilots, an American, a Russian and a British pilot, who run missions in order to stop World War 3. Or at least, that’s what we could get out of the campaign. Despite the vague story, the gameplay actually improves from last time.

Air combat games usually go like this: follow this waypoint to your mission. Win a dog fight. bomb the target. Then do it all over again. Luckily, HAWX 2 has a bit more variety — you’ll be doing your usual dog fights and bombing runs — where, for example, you’ll be able to control an unmanned recon drone over a city, gathering intel instead of bombing. On another mission, you’ll control a huge gunship in order to provide cover for ground troops, much like the mission in the first Modern Warfare game. These missions are a great break form the usual waypoint following stuff which most of the game consists of, but even that is actually okay, as you’ll be challenged quite a lot, especially since the AI has been vastly improved, both for friends and foes.

Controls are pretty responsive and have a great feel to them. Visually, the game looks great, and manages to render the world underneath you to great detail. The planes in particular are well made. For air combat nuts, HAWX offers what you need, especially if you like the unrealistic settings Tom Clancy usually provides. However, the story is quite muddled, and the missions can get frustrating at the end, where enemies tend to overwhelm you.

The Good:
Solid gameplay
Detailed visuals
Lots of jets to fly

The Bad:
Missions can get repetitive
Poor and unrealistic story
Gets frustrating, especially towards the end
Low replay value

Overall score: 6/10