In an era where twitch is king and thinking is optional, the market for deep and rich strategy games has become increasingly niche. The few developers who try to enter and expand this market usually end up sacrificing accessibility over complexity and alienating new players to the genre.

Historical strategy heavyweights Paradox Interactive have been the exception to this rule. Their extraordinarily deep and well made titles have pushed many to savouring each release, with popular series like Europa and Hearts of Iron captivating many a thinking gamer the world over.

Their most recent effort, East India Company, developed externally by Finnish bracket Nitro Games, looks to carry that success by introducing gamers to the world of sea-based trading. Does it sail broadly into the sun, or sink tragically into the depths?

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Today Activision announced the final batch of songs included in Guitar Hero 5. Here at Gamer Limit, we have been hard at work compiling a list of every song officially announced for GH5, so that you guys can decide if you want to buy it or not.

Slated to arrive September 1, Guitar Hero 5 features songs from 83 musicians. Developed by Neversoft for the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii, the rhythm game adds a “Party Play” mode which allows players to drop-in & drop-out and change instruments/difficulty levels while playing a song. Also included is a “RockFest” mode where gamers can select from several mini-games.

For the full track listing, hit the jump. Read more… »

Last year, the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade dished out some of the best downloadable titles you could find on the virtual market: Braid, Castle Crashers, and Geometry Wars 2. Each of these titles was a smaller and cheaper game that delivered just as much fun, if not more, than some of the retail titles sitting on the shelves at the time. Well, Microsoft is at it again and their new line up for this year’s summer of arcade is looking to drain those Microsoft points from your account faster than you can say “hadouken!”

Just recently, Microsoft started off their new summer line up with a bang, ‘Splosion Man, and now they are bringing one of the most celebrated fighting games of all time into your living room for a mere 1200 Microsoft points ($15). That’s right, Marvel Vs Capcom 2 (MvsC2) has finally hit our living rooms once again, so put up your Dreamcast, trash that boomerang controller, and get ready for fast paced fighting mayhem! Read more… »

Sega has announced that the fourth installment in their Yakuza series won’t be given a western release. Marketing representative Ray Almeda confirmed the rumor while speaking to the Examiner yesterday.

This news is bound to cause an uproar from Yakuza fans who have already endured the 21-month delay between Yakuza 2‘s Japan and North American release dates.

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Playstation 3 owners are always wanting to get some trophy support for their older games, but usually once a couple months pass it is a lost cause. However, not even the Dark Lord Vader could keep them away forever it would seem…

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John J. Dick, the voice actor of Serious Sam, has fallen into some deep debt lately – roughly $20,000 USD, in fact. Since desperate times call for desperate measures, he is offering up his voice for one hell of a deal.

At the website, Violence Media, potential clients seeking to conscript Mr. Dick’s voice talents can type out whatever they want recorded in a text box for the price of $1 per word.

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Some bad news for PS3 gamers hit today. It looks like Frozenbyte’s puzzler Trine has been delayed once again.

Originally slated to arrive in early July, the fantasy based body swapping platform/puzzler now sits in release limbo. According to Frozenbyte CEO Lauri Hyvarinen, “Trine isn’t coming to PSN this week, and this time it’s our fault as there was discovered yet another small bug which needed to be fixed.” He went on to state. “I can’t tell for sure when the release is coming, as no-one really seems to know.” Read more… »

I certainly didn’t see this one coming. After a bit of inspiration from Limit Break’s Mario Family Tree, Destructoid.com community member megaStryke took it upon himself to make a glorious Mega Man version. MegaStryke sprung to action after Reviews Editor Jim Sterling said, in jest, “I’d be really interested to see this guy do a chart for Mega Man as well… but that’s probably a project that could take a lifetime to complete.”

Personally, I prefer the simplistic layers in this version to the entropic Mario tree. Hit the break for a look at this massive project. Read more… »

Back in December 2008, Gamasutra reported that Warren Spector’s Junction Point Studios could be working on a new game staring the most famous mouse in the world, Mickey Mouse.  This top secret project, referred to as “Epic Mickey”, is supposedly a collaboration between the Austin-based game studio, Disney Features Animation, and Pixar.

While plenty of games starring the iconic mouse have been made in the past, this new one stands out from the crowd due to its rumored steampunk look and style.  Kotaku has apparently done some digging and discovered a large collection of concept art, which they believe to be from the game.  To check out this incredible looking art, and to find out more about this rumored game,  hit the jump.

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Developed by Digital Illusions and published by Electronic Arts, Battlefield Heroes is joining a new breed of PC gaming that spreads the joy of video games to anyone who has a less than stellar PC.

What makes Battlefield Heroes so distinct are its flattering graphics, basic style of play, and its addictive properties. That, and it’s also absolutely free.   Read more… »

Activision brought the big guns to Comic-Con this year with plenty of news and videos regarding their latest baby, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. If you happen to live on the other side of the world, however, or just couldn’t be bothered making the trip to San Diego, then we’ve got a handful of videos to sate your comic appetite.

Hit the jump to check out three new Marvel: UA2 teasers. Read more… »

If you own a PS3 and you haven’t played any of the games in the Rachet and Clank Future series, you are doing yourself a disservice.  Not only are they extremely fun to play, they are also hilariously funny, and a visual treat for the eyes.  So far, Insominiac has released two games for the franchise, and they are gearing up to release the third installment this Fall, Rachet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time.

Until now, details about the story of this next chapter in the series have been scarce.  That has all changed, now that Insomniac has released the first official story trailer for the game.  To see the official trailer, and to find out more about the game, hit the jump. Read more… »