Half of the promised Ratchet and Clank demo is out this week in the form of a playable Clank level, although what happened to the Ratchet level is currently unknown. Trine has also finally made it to the US this week after months of problems and delays; so be sure to pick it up if you haven’t had a chance to play it yet.

On the PSP side, a host of awesome titles hit the store today, including two Grand Theft Auto games and the innovative Half-minute Hero. Read on to see the full list!

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Today the Netflix of videogames, GameFly released its own iPhone app, dubbed “GameCenter,” which allows users to access “information on more than 5,000 video games across all major platforms including up-to-the minute news, videos, screenshots, release dates, user reviews, gameplay controls, cheats, codes and more.”

Sean Spector, GameFly co-founder and SVP of business development and content stated: “We designed GameCenter to provide iPhone and iPod touch users with a complete one stop destination for video game information. Additionally, the app will allow iPhone and iPod touch users to discover and share games they love anywhere they go.” Read more… »

Yesterday Codemasters announced that it will release a patch for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising in tandem with a dose of DLC.

According to Codemasters producer Sion Lenton, “Our intention is to align [the patch] with the first DLC pack that’s coming out as well, which is due around the end of October. Hopefully we’ll do the whole thing in one.”
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For those who just can’t wait until Bioware’s upcoming epic Dragon Age: Origins is released, you can rest easy in the knowledge that you can still play in the Dragon Age world, albeit in browser-based form.

Dragon Age Journeys is a free online game that will not only tie into the retail release, but will also offer players the chance to earn exclusive in-game content for Dragon Age: Origins when it is released.

Read on to find out more about the game.

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Okay all you Call of Duty-loving PC nuts, you only have about two weeks to upgrade your computer before Modern Warfare 2 is released.

The minimum requirements shouldn’t be a surprise to most, but for anyone who was hoping to run MW2 on their parent’s old laptop, you may have to resign yourself to the console version.

Hit the jump to check out the specs.

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Sam and Max: Beyond Time And Space (S&M:BTAS) is a an episodic series of adventure games that originally appeared on the PC under the name Sam and Max: Season 2. Obviously, it doesn’t sound as cool, hence the name change.

Having finally arrived on the Xbox 360, fans of the series will be happy to hear that everything holds together well, and delivers what most people would expect from a Sam and Max game: humorous dialogue, superb audio, and well designed puzzles.

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In PC nerd world, the developers for Alien vs Predator the videogame are beginning to use DirectX11 to enhance their visuals; this is actually a huge step for PC gaming.  Every big title uses DirectX  technology, which ultimately gives PC games a slight edge over its console brethren.

On the other hand, because DX10 had never been designed and tested properly, it gave developers and gamers nightmares, reluctantly forcing players to use DX9.  Although the differences between the two versions were slight, and most people would never know the difference, it was essentially a problem for most PC gaming enthusiasts.

With the annoucement of Alien vs Predator, PC gamers have something new to look forward to: the first game of its kind to of use DX11.  Whoo! Let’s hope it doesn’t have the same problems. Read more… »

As weird as it may sound, it looks like Australian zombie killers are going to have to focus their killing prowl on something less gruesome.  After Valve’s appeal to Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification ban on L4D2, the OFLC has recently announced their decision, and the results aren’t pretty.

As of today, the game has officially and forever been denied the MA15+ rating in Australia.  What this means is that retailers are forbidden to sell the game as is.  Read on for further details. Read more… »

Today a new trailer for Left 4 Dead 2 was somehow leaked onto the Internet.

This time, rather than showing any actual in-game footage, the trailer feature all pre-rendered scenes that give some insight into each of the new characters, as well as showing off some of the new special infected. Oh yeah, there is also a ton of zombie guts! Read more… »

After debuting in 1994, the Need For Speed series of racing games have clocked up quite a few miles over the past 15 years, but EA has now announced that 100 million units have been shifted worldwide.

What’s more, fans who devote their social lives to Facebook could land themselves with a 25% discount code for any Need For Speed title – see the official fan page for further details.

There have been a total of 15 Need For Speed games to date, and the latest title, Shift, successfully put the ageing series back on track – to find out how, why not read our verdict? In addition, Need For Speed: Nitro and Need For Speed: World Online are still set for release later this year. I’m still holding out for Hot Pursuit 3, myself.

To say the least, this week’s update is rather devoid of fresh content. For PS3 owners, there is just one playable demo of NBA 2K10 along with the usual wealth of music orientated downloadable content, including an extensive Queen track pack for Rock Band. On the other hand, PSP players will be graced with GTA: Chinatown Wars this Friday and who could live without Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show?

There is just one question on my mind – where is our promised playable demo of Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time?

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[This is the second part of a 3-part series that takes a deep and personal look back at GTA4. You can read the 1st part, "My City Screams" here.]

There were rumors that CJ’s house in GTA: San Andreas was haunted by the ghost of his mother. It’s easy enough to see where this idea came from: CJ is, in a way, haunted by his family. He returns home out of family loyalty, the death of his mother and the state of affairs back home keep him tied to his old neighborhood. Ultimately, it was handled a little inelegantly (and no, there was no ghost), but it was there regardless.

Niko, too, is unquestionably haunted. His interactions with his ‘friends’ – the ones everybody complained about, because they kept calling and asking to go out and get drunk or fly around in a helicopter – allow Niko’s ghosts to come to the fore. The player may have long grown sick of bowling dates and the stupidly easy darts mini-game, but for Niko, his friends – especially Packie and Dwayne – are the only way he can get his problems off his chest without resorting to murder.

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