In a vast open world environment, Assassin's Creed II invites players to incarnate Ezio, a privileged young noble in Renaissance Italy who's been betrayed by the rival ruling families of Italy, and seeking vengeance. Whether it's sending a $200 check, firing people for bad review scores, giving exclusives in return for a good score, or offering swanky "goodies," all sorts of questionable tactics are being used to sway writers into giving favorable reviews, so is sending people on a 10-day overseas trip to Italy going too far?

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 features a deep, rich gameplay experience by offering total team customization, where players create their own team name, icon and vehicle, as well as establish their team reputation as they play throughout the story.

Borderlands is an all-new sci-fi action game combining elements of first-person action titles with player customization and vehicular combat.

Prepare for non-stop action and adventure as the duo travel across mysterious lands and take to the sky on a mission to save their planet from destruction. Take this incredible adventure with you anywhere on your PSP, or play it at home with PS2.

For the first time ever, you can customize the makeup of your band with any combination of instruments in-game: two guitars and two drums, or three guitars and a microphone, etc. while also adding new gameplay mode. Activision has release a three songs Party Play mode demo on Xbox Live.

Another day, another batch of games shipped to stores. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are announcements for:

• History: Great Battles Medieval (PC) - Download Only
• Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come (PC) - Download Only

We will update this throughout the day when new announcements become available. Read more for details ...

Buccaneer is a single and multiplayer game where players strive to become the most infamous pirate captain of all time and etch their name in The Hall of Infamy.

DJ Hero expands Guitar Hero's signature social gaming to all-new consumers with the addition of diverse music genres including hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance. Be among the first to play DJ Hero on national DJ Hero Demo Day at GameStop stores in the United States on Sunday, Oct. 11th, 2009 from 10:00am to 6:00pm.

Half-Minute Hero is a bold new concept of having the player save the world, 30 seconds at a time. The player must fight, shoot, summon, and protect in four distinct modes, each containing a different perspective and unique gameplay style, across a total of 120 varied stages.

Dante's Inferno is a 3rd action adventure adaptation of the medieval epic poem "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri, telling the tale of Dante who journeys through the twisted, menacing nine circles of hell in pursuit of his beloved Beatrice. Academy Award-nominated writer Will Rokos, best known for Monster's Ball, is writing the story line for Dante’s Inferno.

The ultimate two-man private military team of Salem and Rios return in Army of Two: The 40th Day, where they must survive and prevail in a city under siege, offering a fresh, innovative and fluid co-op experience with a deep arsenal of customizable weapons so players can team up with their friends online for the fight of their lives. Famed composer Tyler Bates, best known for his work on 300 and Watchmen, is crafting an immersive score.

Madagascar Kartz combines the wild world of DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar franchise with over-the-top kart racing, resulting in an outrageous ride the whole family can enjoy together. Jump behind the wheel and drive yourself wild as you play as Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, King Julien or those crafty penguins!

dtp's Venetica is an RPG with a cryptic storyline, mixing emotions and action in a unique free roaming and living sixteenth century world full of surprise.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising will see the most realistic modelling of conflict scenarios in a new contemporary theatre of war. By offering a multitude of military disciplines, gameplay will deliver warfare more realistic and intense then ever before, while an extensive multiplayer component will create battles on an incredible scale. Codemasters confirmed that a first patch is in development, but did not give any details as to what it will address nor its time frame.

Gears of War 2 picks up six months after the events of the original, thrusting players back into humankind's epic battle for survival against a nightmarish force of underground creatures known as the Locust Horde. Epic's Rod Fergusson confirmed that a new update is in the works to fix cheating issues introduced in the previous patch, as well as the "sticky walk" and Subway exploits, while adding the ability to see friendly planted grenades in Tac/Com.

Project Aftermath is an arcade RTS game where you command up to four squads of soldiers in exciting battles in a retro-futuristic world. Equip your squads to suit your playing style, researching new items using the spoils of war; choosing from over 100 different weapons, armor, power-up augmentations and spell-like special attacks.

Dragon Age: Origins represents BioWare’s return to its roots, delivering a fusion of elements from existing fantasy works with emotionally-driven narrative, heart-pounding combat, powerful magic abilities and credible digital actors.

Digital distribution outlet GamersGate has formed a distribution agreement with Strategy First to host some of their key titles on GamersGate’s online marketplace. To celebrate this partnership, Strategy First and GamersGate are offering the entire lineup of Strategy First titles for 20% off their full price.

Metal Drift is a vehicular sport combat game set in a distant future. You command an agile, high powered hover tank in a futuristic sports arena. Core game play centers on intense tank-on-tank multiplayer team combat seen through an immersive, first person cockpit.

Forza Motorsport 3 unites the racing game genre, making it possible for everyone to experience the thrill of more than 400 of the world’s most exotic and exquisite cars on over 100 renowned real-world tracks and exotic road courses from around the globe.

Another day, another batch of game trailers was released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for:

• Magna Carta 2 [X360] - Chain System Trailer
• Dragon Age: Origins [ALL] - Blood Dragon Armor Trailer
  

We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Set during a tumultuous period of Japanese history, Sengoku Basara Samurai Heroes follows players as they fight their way to the dramatic battle of Sekigahara. Players will take up the swords and spears of more than a dozen fierce samurai warriors in huge battles against hundreds of opponents in many exciting stages that lead up to the main event.

Sony has rolled out new PlayStation Store content, starting with Critter Crunch ($6.99), DLCs for LittleBigPlanet, IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds Of Prey, DiRT 2, Fallout 3 Mothership Zeta/Point Lookout ($9.99), Tiger Woods PGA Tour,  song packs for Guitar Hero 5, Rock Band (Unplugged); and the usual game/movie trailers, PS3 themes and downloadable PSP games (NBA 10 The Inside ($29.99), NBA Live 10 ($39.99) and Pandemonium! ($5.99).

WonderKing is a free-to-play MMO offering the ability to acquire tools, weapons and mounts from the item mall, challenge the demonic forces of Valron in real-time combat, and strive to become the Wonderking who'll bring light to the shadows of darkness.

Good Old Games has unearthed another bounty of historic gems with the addition of the legendary Red Baron air-combat series. Thanks to the agreement with Mad Otter Games, GOG.com will offer the complete Red Baron series in one value-packed bundle including Red Baron, Red Baron Mission Builder and Red Baron 3D – as always, DRM-free and XP & Vista compatible – for the low-flying price of $9.99.