The original Tribes, released over a decade ago, was one of the most innovative multiplayer shooters to ever hit the stores, at least during its time. Since then, without any proper sequels, the Tribes franchise dwindled and was almost forgotten. Until now.

Developer Hi-Rez Studios acquired the Tribes IP and is reportedly working on a huge multiplayer game, but for now, they’ve announced a smaller title based on the IP, called Tribes: Ascend. The game is a multiplayer-only title and is built on the Unreal Engine 3 and will be a downloadable Xbox 360 and PC title. You can check out the first teaser trailer for the game above. And yes, it’s still an FPS.

We just got done telling you that Grand Theft Auto IV is nearly at 20 million sales so it’s obvious that the sandbox genre is a popualr one. Another game franchise to follow a similar format is THQ’s Saints Row which, as you’re sure to know, has it’s third release hitting the market later this year.

While we haven’t heard too much about the title, that is sure to change as time goes on with the first details regarding gameplay coming out today. Apparently, the game will not feature any kind of multiplayer past co-op which is a bit different seeing the direction the market is headed (predominantly multiplayer games).

The reason for this, according to Volition, is due to the fact that players have asked for a well rounded singleplayer and co-op experience, not a competitive multiplayer experience. What do you think of this decision? Would you rather a competitive multiplayer mode in Saints Row 3? Let us know.

Much like the Call of Duty franchise, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto has managed to sell quite a bit of copies ever since the market recovered from the initial shock of Grant Theft Auto 3 (its awesomeness, that is). Currently, Grant Theft Auto IV is the the latest version of the game and has a few different DLC packs including The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost & Damned.

While the game has been out for quite some time, we haven’t heard much in terms of recent sales numbers. Luckily, Take-Two has just come forth to speak of the matter saying that the title as at nearly 20 million sales. Additionally, it’s also been made known that collectively to date over 100 million its of the GTA series have been sold. That’s no laughing matter.

Now, Take-Two, let’s hear a little bit about Grand Theft Auto 5. Please?

We’re big fans of Dead Space 2, which is a great horror game packing a decent storyline, lots of scares and solid gameplay (read our full Dead Space 2 review here). So when it came to reviewing the first Dead Space 2 DLC, called Severed, we jumped on it like bees on honey, and for the most part, our urge for more Dead Space was met.

In Dead Space 2: Severed, you play as Gabe Weller, a security officer on the moon Titan, where you’re stuck in a mine and must fight your way though hordes of Necromorphs in order to reach your wife. We’re glad that the DLC has a simple and strong storyline that drives the action, even if the combat, look and feel resemble Dead Space 2 quite a lot. You’ll see quite a few enemies make their return in Retribution, including the “Twitcher Necromorphs” which were some really nasty suckers back in Dead Space 1. Safe to say (or unsafe to say), they’re just as horrifying in Dead Space 2 Severed.

Gameplay wise, Severed is a lot more tense than regular Dead Space 2, because the combat grips you from the beginning and doesn’t let go, the enemies keep coming and you have to be on your toes the entire time. You won’t be spending too much time exploring and checking out the creepy surroundings, the enemies will take up the majority of your time. Weapon wise, you have a huge arsenal of most of the Dead Space 2 weapons, which will be needed throughout the game.

Overall, Severed delivers what any Dead Space 2 fan who wishes more of the same, as it doesn’t add anything new, but retains all of what made Dead Space 2 awesome. The DLC can be completed in around an hour and a half, but sadly, there’s little replay value. Considering it’s priced at $7, we think that’s about $2 too much, but it’s really not that big of a deal — the DLC is recommended to any Dead Space 2 fan.

The Good:
Same, awesome Dead Space 2 combat
New character and story make things feel fresh
Intense action throughout the game

The Bad:
Doesn’t offer anything new in terms of gameplay and visuals
A bit short (1.5 hours)
A tad overpriced for what it delivers

Overall score: 8/10

There are many different hard hitting video game franchise on the market but it’s hard to come across one like Call of Duty. Time and time again Call of Duty releases have managed to sell like hot cakes surpassing milestones, smashing goals and netting Activision quite the chunk of change. In fact, if you remember not too long ago we told you that Black Ops had become the PS3′s best selling game of all time but today the game has surpassed a much more impressive goal.

According to recent reports, Call of Duty: Black Ops is now the best selling US video game of all time.  These reports come from NDP analyst Anita Frazier who says that since being released in November, Black Ops has surpassed Nintendo’s Wii Play to become the best selling video game ion US history. Unfortunately, we don’t have concrete details to go along with that but since October of last year Wii Play has sold 13 million units – make your judgements from there.

With the introduction of modern console’s various online services such as Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, gamers have been given access to a whole slew of content that they wouldn’t have otherwise had access to. While you’re allowed to pay with real money on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live requires you to buy Microsoft Points which you can then spend on content like Avatar clothing, new game levels and more. With all of the content available on Xbox Live, wouldn’t it be great if you had access to an unlimited amount of Microsoft Points?

Sure would, which is why a group of hackers took it upon themselves to discover the point generating algorithm and release it to the public by way of a website. The website was apparently so popular that it cost Microsoft $1.2 million worth of virtual goods. Pretty incredible byut if you were looking to get down on the free goodness you’ll be disappointed to hear the website has since been such down.

Now, let’s see how Microsoft reacts to this fiasco.

Sony’s Kaz Hirai, or as we like to cal him, Kaz “Riiidge Raacer” Hirai, has been a part of Sony since the original PlayStation was introduced, heading various game divisions in the company. A few years ago he replaced Ken Kutaragi as President of Sony Computer Entertainment, and now he’s been promoted to “executive deputy president” of Sony’s consumer electronics products.

That puts Hirai one promotion shy of becoming the new CEO of Sony, and with it, one of the most powerful execs in the industry. Current Sony CEO Howard Stringer is looking for his replacement, and he noted that Hirai was a candidate for the position.

According to MCV, Sony is planning on introducing its new portable console, the NGP, to the European market this year. Sony has previously said they’re interested in a worldwide launch, but because of manufacturing limitations, only one or two territories will be able to get the NGP at the end of 2011. Most expect those two territories to be North America and Japan. Now however, it appears that Sony will have enough consoles for Europe as well, although the details are unclear.

The NGP is slated to debut later this year as the most powerful handheld console ever made, with a quad-core 2GHz processor, front and rear touch panels, dual cameras, 3G, WiFi, accelerometers, gyroscopes and a ton of other features that are sure to raise the price of the NGP to new levels.

EA, one of the heavyweights in the game publishing industry, made an interesting note earlier today, saying that they estimate that 40% of games today are bought as digital downloads. Which is of no surprise, as digital downloads have steadily risen of the past years, so much that Valve is raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in sales on Steam.

EA also noted that retail outfits are becoming less and less relevant, even going as far as saying NPD sales figures are irrelevant as well, since they don’t include sales of digital copies (neither Steam nor EA Store nor any other digital game distributor releases their sales numbers). EA predicts that digital will overtake retail in 2011.