News

Chet Faliszek of Valve has voiced his reasoning for not releasing the upcoming Left for Dead 2 on the PS3 to CVG, and its all about community.

"Right now for Left 4 Dead 2 we're looking at PC and 360 because the community aspects really fit the game - it's all about playing with your friends, Offered Faliszek.

In hooking up with your friends and the community aspects, I think the Xbox 360 is head and shoulders above the PS3. The 360 and PC are on par, right?

So for now we will not be seeing a port for PS3, but well keep you updated as more develops.

As we all probably already assumed, there will be a third installment of the Rock Band series. That was a safe bet. What we can't divine so easily are the details of its development. But thats okay; Dhani Harrison can enlighten us.

The son of the former Beatle, who lends a hand to the development of the Rock Band series, was recently featured in The Chicago Tribune and offered the following tidbit:

"I'm working on 'Rock Band 3' and making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game. Give me a couple years, it's going to happen."

What this means for the overall design of the controls is currently unclear, but we will keep you informed as we learn more.

Last week speculation reached us that Nintendo could be on the brink of unveiling a brand new, HD-version of the Wii console, an initiative denied by the platform holder's US boss today.

Speaking with GTTV, Reggie Fils-Aime has said that there is definitely no HiDef version of the Wii in the works, while he played down talk of a new Wii console anytime soon in general.

"Michael [Pachter] continues to be the only one that believes this is going to happen. I don't know how forcefully we can say that there is no Wii HD," Fils-Aime told host Geoff Keghley.

More on this idle gossip as we get it.

Addressing the controversy surrounding Infinity Ward's decision to opt against dedicated servers for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, id Software boss John Carmack has said that Rage is unlikely to offer dedicated servers either.

"It's not cast in stone yet, but at this point no, we don't think we will have dedicated servers," Carmack told Variety.

"The great thing is we won't have to be a pioneer on that. We'll see how it works out for everyone else."

PC gamers have signed a petition against Infinity Ward's move in their droves, although it is unclear if Carmack and co's news will be similarly received.

343 Industries boss Frank O'Connor has said it is the job of this newly formed Microsoft entity to ensure that Halo is not over-saturated, and that players don't get sick of the Xbox 360's flagship IP.

While all kinds of novelties may have sprung up surrounding the adventures of Master Chief, O'Connor says that he fears for the brand if things go to far.

"I worry about that constantly," Joystiq were told by the executive.

"All of that stuff has existed in the past, and it exists because of one simple reason, which is demand. We wouldn't make it if we weren't continually being asked for it. We obviously turn down almost infinitely more stuff than we actually produce, but when we produce it there's a good reason and a good plan and a strong demand."

More Halo news soon.

Rumours abound this morning that images purportedly from Halo: Reach have been leaked online.

Said snaps are very blurry indeed, while Microsoft have opted "not to comment on rumour or speculation". While the quality is poor, the snaps do sport trademark Halo elements.

The NeoGAF forums are of course the home of this titillation, one forum poster citing new hologram and cloaking abilities, not to mention squad-based combat.

Make your own mind up about the authenticity of these snaps. Now.

Blizzard have revealed this morning that a brand new update is in the works for World of Warcraft, with a release earmarked for the coming weeks.

New dungeons and maps will be added via the imminent update, although the developer haven't gone into any detail on their plans.

Whether this new content will come in patch-form, or via the newly confirmed Cataclysm expansion is still unclear.

Blizzard are presently in the process of moving WoW players over to Battle.net accounts - part of a process also linked to the release of StarCraft II next year.

Classic games retail site GoG.com (Good Old Games) has added at least one bona fide classic to its range of older titles - sold for the PC as part of a digital distribution model.

Double Fine's excellent Psychonauts can be yours for 9.99 USD, while lavish Majesco space romp Advent Rising can also be yours for 5.99 USD, if you wish.

BloodRayne and its sequel will also be added to the platform in the coming weeks, we're told.

"One of GOG.com's main goals is to bring games that were overlooked back into the spotlight. Games like Psychonauts perfectly embody the 'Good Old Game' and we're thrilled to be bringing that game, along with other quality titles, to a new audience," managing director Adam Oldakowski enthuses.

BioWare's second installment of Mass Effect debuts in January. This means that we have almost three months left to be saturated with mouth-watering content previews before we get the full game.

The most recent of these tidbits, recently detailed by Kotaku, gives us a closer look at the combat of the game. It seems BioWare has done away with the regulatory overheating feature of the first installment in an attempt to smooth out the gun fight experience.

The developers said they felt the old system "...disrupted the flow of a good firefight." In its place will be an ammunition-based system.

In addition, BioWare has improved the graphics in the areas of frame-rate and background quality, specifically.

We will keep you up to date as more develops.

Japan, the lucky devils, will be getting their copies of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII this December. But where does that leave the rest of us? Well, that's exactly what Yoichi Wada commented on in a financial briefing.

As reported by Kotaku, Wada, while discussing localization of the game, stated that, progress is good. He went on to say that it is possible to get the game to international shores by the end of the financial year, April 2010.

Wada also noted that game development is not the only factor to consider for release.

Square Enix will release an official statement on the subject at a later time, at which point you can count on us to keep you informed.

Activision's Modern Warfare 2 is not getting a good reception from major online retailers. Kotaku has reported at least three: Gamersgate, Impulse and Direct2Drive, all of which have refused to sell the shooter on their sites.

The most vocal of the three, Direct2Drive, described their reasoning as follows: "We don't believe games should force the user to install a Trojan Horse."

What "Trojan horse" are they referring to, you ask? This is how D2D is describing Valve's requirement to install Steamworks, Valve's free gaming platform, in order to play the game.

The reason for the inclusion of this software is for use in save file management, DRM and the like. But the online retailers just aren't having it.

We will keep you updated as more info is available.

Certainly we are all aware that a time will come when we are able to purchase all of our beloved video games in digital format. Some among us believe this is just around the corner, but Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata begs to differ.

Kotaku quoted Iwata as saying" "Most radical people even dare to say that retailers will be replaced by digital distribution in no time, but personally, I think it will still require a significant amount of time."

He went on to continue: "In short, in 20 years or so I might say it will have probably changed. But in 5 years or so, I do not totally agree with opinions that no one will purchase titles at retailers by then."

Just to clarify, this means we still have to wait more than a decade after Marty McFly visits the future before we are buying games on a totally digital format.

That means plenty of time for news updates, so be sure to check back.

During its quarter-three call to investors, ActiBlizz's Bobby Kotick made sure to remind investors of the success of the Guitar Hero franchise.

As reported by VG247, Kotick noted the fact that Guitar Hero 5 sales were on the same level as The Beatles: Rock Band.

He went on to say that "Guitar Hero was the number one third-party console and handheld franchise in Europe, and for the first nine months of the calendar year, Guitar Hero was the number one third-party console and handheld franchise in North America."

The Investor Call is still in progress, so stop back for more info as it is available.

Speaking online today, LBP developers Media Molecule have said that they have no plans for an official LittleBigPlanet 2.

"We'd never want to do that. That'd be the most counterproductive thing you could do I think. I think what you've seen so far from LittleBigPlanet, that's the way it's going to continue. We have a lot of stuff coming out, especially next year," Media Molecule are quoted as offering, according to Critical Gamer.

"We can't really talk about specifics for a lot of it at the moment, because a lot of it hasn't been announced. We're looking forward to some really good original content, and some really strong brands we're working with."

An MM-style take on an existing Sony property, perhaps?LittleBigUncharted?

Cryptic and Atari have confirmed that their long-awaited new MMO, the officially licensed Star Trek Online, will be released early next year.

According to word in from the firms, Star Trek Online will officially open for business on February 2nd in North America, and on February 5th in Europe.

The game will let players assume the role of a starship Captain with either the Federation or the Klingons, while the title is only confirmed for the PC.

A beta test for Star Trek is underway, while we'll have more for you on this major new online title soon.