After some BioShock 2 Rumors were posted & debunked earlier, the GameSpot Forums and NeoGAF have what appear to be actual details from the new issue of GameInformer (thanks Shacknews). Each post has summaries of the preview, including word that you play as a Big Daddy this time around, and that the Big Sister, one of the little sisters all grown up, is the new ruler of Rapture. There's plenty more.

Steam now offers an automatic patch for F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin, offering fixes and tweaks for Monolith's first-person shooter sequel. Here's the change list:

    • Difficulty of Hard mode has been increased
    • Implemented a toggle for switching between widescreen (16:9) and full screen (4:3) in the Options|Performance|Advanced Settings menu
    • Implemented a toggle for head bob in Options|Game Settings
    • Implemented a toggle for film grain in the Options|Performance|Advanced Settings menu
    • Leaving a multiplayer lobby now returns the player to the associated multiplayer menu instead of the front end main menu
    • Applied fix for energy weapon audio causing lag
    • Applied fix for team balancing host options not being applied properly
    • Changing team swap during selection and grace periods to swap at the next spawn
    • Applied fix for team name showing as "undefined" after swapping teams

Steam News has word that still another Left 4 Dead update is now automatically available:

Lobby leaders can now specify in lobby settings whether to search for an official dedicated server or for the best available dedicated server. If the official dedicated search fails it will then default to the best available dedicated server automatically

Monolith Productions and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announce the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions of the Toy Soldier map pack for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will be released for free in mid-April. We asked about the PC edition and were told there will be a map pack for the PC version of the shooter sequel, "but as of now we cannot confirm a date or further details," which even leaves open the prospect it will not be free for the PC, though we don't imagine this will be the case.

The Telltale Games Forums have word that the PC edition of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures is due on March 24, and a playable demo will be released this Monday (thanks Joystiq). Here's the announcement, which includes news of a preorder incentive:

We've opened up pre-orders for Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures! And what's more, if you pre-order, you'll get a 25% discount AND two free games (one Sam & Max episode, and one Strong Bad episode).

But wait, there's more! Check back Monday (that's March 16) for the playable demo, available exclusively from Yahoo! Games. Then come back AGAIN the following Tuesday to get the actual playable game! That's right, the game will be in the hands of you, the gamer, on March 24!

Oh wait, that's not enough? A weekend is too long to wait for more Wallace and Gromit you say? Well then, head on over to Yahoo! Games for an exclusive trailer!

The Blizzard Website has word that they will be interviewing job candidates at the GDC in San Francisco later this month:

Blizzard Entertainment’s recruiting team will be at Game Developers Conference, March 23-27 in San Francisco, California. We’re actively recruiting across all disciplines for locations worldwide. To speak with a recruiter, please visit us at Booth # 410 in the Career Pavilion, West Hall, Level One. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with a Blizzard Entertainment recruiter for this event, send your resume, cover letter, and supporting materials (portfolio, demo, etc.) to GDCapplicants@blizzard.com prior to the event with the subject line "GDC.” Our recruiting team will review your materials and contact you for an appointment should your experience and background be a match for our current needs.

This week's GOG.com sale is a bundle of Patrician 3 and Port Royale 2. The new Impulse Weekend Buys are Safecracker, Dungeon Lords: CE, Genesis Rising, MotoGP 08, and Cellblock Squadrons. Finally, as previously announced, the Steam weekend deal is the return of their Unreal Tournament III Black sale and they are offering Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 for $4.99. Also, new on the DRM-free GOG.com are Pro Pinball Timeshock and Apache vs. Havoc, and both Steam and Gamersgate now offer digital distribution of World in Conflict: Soviet Assault.

The ARMA II Website now offers a new faction movie profiling the National Party from Bohemia Interactive Studios' upcoming military shooter sequel. Word is: "Nationalist guerillas of the National Party is an underground movement lacking sophisticated weapons, but their knowledge of the country, military expertise from civil war and underground network make them serious opponents to both communist guerillas and government forces." Thanks Jamie.

A new "Verticality" trailer is now available to show off Stormrise, the upcoming real-time strategy game from SEGA and Creative Assembly. Here's the accompanying blurb: "Stormrise is truly a 3D RTS experience due to its vertical gameplay that takes players up in the sky and below ground…something we like to call Verticality. What better way to explain this feature than with a trailer that show’s some vertical RTS action in motion!" The clip is available AtomicGamer, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell.

A new trailer from Merchants of Brooklyn offers a look at his episodic CryENGINE 2 first-person shooter that's due for release on Steam next week. The movie can be found on FileFront and Gamer's Hell.

• Championship Manager 2009 on Eurogamer.
• Elven Legacy on Strategy Informer.
• Ghostbusters: The Videogame on Eurogamer.
• The Sims 3 on Eurogamer.

• Demigod on the Official Website. Showing social networking features.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Here's Your New Gears Of War 2 Map Pack (And Experience System!).
• Media Molecule's Evans Teases New LBP Project.
• COD4 has 11m Live, 4m PSN players.
• Hothead John McEnroe In Grand Slam Tennis.
• Flower is top downloaded PSN game in February.
• Rumor: Metal Gear Solid 5 Revealed At or Before E3.
• Rock Band DLC Week of 3/17 Funk Pack!, Against Me, New Pornographers, Papa Roach.
• Only In Japan: Elementry School Boy Arcde Shooting Game Coming To Xbox 360.
• New Burnout Paradise 3D Update?
• Toronto Killzone 2 Ads Pulled Due To "Menacing Head".
• Rag Doll Kung Fu- Fists of Plastic Punches its Way to PSN April 9.
• Why MadWorld is Wii-Only- Atsushi Inaba Interview.
• Capcom defends Resi 5 DLC charges.
• Sega- The Sega Genesis Returns! (Sort Of).
• Dhani Harrison Talks New Band, Beatles Video Game.
• Noby Noby Boy Getting Offline Multiplayer.

Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.

• Tech Anniversaries- Happy 15th Birthday Linux.
• Hardware makers get ready for Windows 7.
• New details on Intel Larrabee architecture and development coming.
• EVGA announces ELP loaner program.
• ATI board partners unhappy with Radeon 4870 price cuts.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Osaka elementary schools to require Nintendo DS for every student.
• Metal Gear Solid Touch Sneaking Into App Store March 19th, Costs $10.
• TrackMania DS: Awesome Amazon Bonus.
• Get Your Kubrick On At Chinatown Launch Event.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Rollout for Hotmail POP3 worldwide support complete.
• What's The U.S. Doing Wrong With Broadband?
• Linden Lab changes course for Second Life's mature content.
• Second Life 1.22 Viewer is Available Today.

• BBC buys, uses botnet to show dangers to PCs.
• Lack of Game Biz Contributions Behind "Early Death" Ad?
• Conservative Christian Site Slams Same-Sex Couple Option in Game of Life.
• Best security questions to ask about SaaS.
• Conficker.C variant set for April 1st surprise, CA says.
• Apple's iTunes 8.1 plugs malicious podcast security hole.
• Why Google Maps blurring would set us back.

• Microsoft settles lawsuit over Xbox. Thanks Kotaku.
• Copyright treaty is classified for 'national security'.
• In Europe, Violent Games Under Fire in Wake of German School Massacre.
• Labels: whatever the future of music is, it isn't "free". Thanks Mike Martinez.
• Identity theft leads to murder.
• Criminal Used Video Game to Get Girl's Naked Pictures.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Kucinich targets Army's video war game exhibit used for recruiting…
• Free Realms to cost five bucks a month, membership details revealed…
• Boston Mayor Makes Pitch To Expand Local Game Biz…
• The addictive world of 'Football Manager'…
• Video Games A $40 Billion Market By 2012…

The Steam Website has news that this weekend's promised encore of the free Unreal Tournament III weekend is live:

Unreal Tournament 3 Black, the fully updated version of UT3 with the Titan Pack, is now available to play for free this weekend.

All you need is a free Steam account to play: Install Steam, Create an account, Play UT3 Black.

Free period starts this Friday at 10am PST and ends Sunday at 1pm PST.

Steam News announces another update is now available for Team Fortress 2, fixing several bugs in the teamplay shooter while also incorporating a pair of balance changes, which increase the minimum distance to stun a player with the Sandman and reduces by half the damage taken by players stunned by a Scout. As always, the game will update itself automatically when you log into Steam. Also now available on Steam is an automatic update for Grand Ages Rome that has the same changes as the manual patch from the other day.

A playable demo for The Maw is now available from Greenhouse, offering a sample of the recently released PC edition of this action adventure from Twisted Pixel Games. Here's a description of the game: "The pinnacle of alien evolution, Maw is a cowardly fat blob concerned mostly with snacking and lounging. He can, however, absorb the traits of anything he eats, is virtually indestructible, and can grow to unlimited size. If he wasn't a danger to all life in the universe, he'd make the perfect pet. In this 3D action/adventure game, he's the best friend of our hero Frank, and only by working together can Maw eat their way to freedom. The Maw was honored with the Audience Choice Award in the 2008 PAX-10 showcase of independent games." The demo of this tale of a boy and his maw is also mirrored on AtomicGamer, ComputerGames.ro, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell.

HB 353, the Utah truth in advertising bill crafted with assistance by former attorney Jack Thompson has now passed the Utah State Senate after previously passing in the house, bringing it one step closer to being signed into law (at which point it will likely face a constitutional challenge). GamePolitics has a report on this, speculating that presentation of the bill was taken from "Jack Thompson's Playbook," something Thompson denies.

Oxygen Games offers a playable demo for Hysteria Hospital: Emergency Ward, which is due for release for PC and Wii in May. They say: "You’ll need to give the demo your full attention while you move patients around, control the nurses and take your patients through triage by dragging objects around, making sure no-one is missed out while frantically playing against the clock!" The 74 MB download is available on AtomicGamer, FileFront, and Gamer's Hell.

The Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Forums have word that Sony is going to implement real-money trading in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes through Live Gamer, so "participants will be able to both auction and purchase virtual assets (characters, coin, and items) securely and safely and without the risk of the fraudulent activities that plague 3rd party websites that are not authorized by SOE to provide these services." Thanks Eurogamer.

1C Company and Battlefront.com have released an English-language demo for Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943, the new installment in this World War II strategy series. Word is: "The demo features an all-new full mission from the US campaign, 'The Battle of Sidi Bou Zid' which takes place in early February 1943, as well as one Tutorial mission to get players acquainted with the command and control of their units." The demo is available from Battlefront.com and mirrored on AtomicGamer, ComputerGames.ro, FileFront, Gamer's Hell, Strategy Informer. Additionally, preorders are now being accepted, and owners of the original game who preorder the sequel can get $10.00 off their purchase.

Destructoid has a story from the other day about Vin Diesel's dream game that reveals Barca B.C., but we admit we didn't comprehend at first that this unannounced game was actually in development (sorry about that). Anyway, the revelation comes from statements by the actor/game mogul, who says his development studio Tigon has been working on "a massively multiplayer online game where you create an avatar that lives in the reality of Hannibal Barca, the Punic Wars and life 200 B.C." This project has been in the works for a while, but it is still far off, as Diesel says: "We all know those games take a lot of work to create, a lot of funds. We are just in the first two or three years of putting it together. It could probably take another four years before we see that game. But it is something that is something very high on my priority list of games we’re working on."

• More Fable 2 DLC Coming.
• Lego Harry Potter, Crystal Skull games next from Traveller's Tales.
• Long hardware cycle will prompt more price cuts.
• Kawata: Darkside Chronicles a 'very dark' Resident Evil.
• In the Seattle area? Come by and meet the RE5 Executive Producer.
• Lips: Coldplay and Boys Like Girls on Xbox LIVE.
• Jungle Speed, Table Tennis on WiiWare.
• Beatles game to have unreleased tracks.
• Blaze re-releasing Mega Drive.
• Wii Music Has Teachers Playing a New Tune.
• Ray Parker Jr “working on” getting Ghostbusters into Rock Band.

MyCrysis has details on Crysis Maximum Edition, an upcoming bundle of Crysis and its follow-up Crysis Warhead which includes the Crysis Wars multiplayer upgrade. Word is: "Maximum Edition will be released worldwide on 5th May, and is available for pre-order in many stores and sites; a selection of the full list of purchase options is shown below. The pack will vary in price according to purchase location."

The Justin.tv Blog has details on an Online Multiplayer Gaming Marathon that kicks off at 9:00 pm EDT this evening to raise money for Child's Play. For those in the Colorado area, they say there will be a live component of this as well, though it's not readily apparent exactly where this will take place.

Offworld - Why Real Time Strategy Is The Genre Of The Year.
"And you don't need to give a damn about base-building or resource management to be enticed, either: strategy is more action than ever, and the top slots of the charts are there to prove it. The last couple of weeks have been dominated by everyone I know playing Relic's maximalist squad combat offering, Dawn Of War II. Can a third person combat game really call itself real-time strategy? Yes, it really can. But it's also very close to being Diablo-with-squads. There's no denying it: strategy is now as much about the fluidity of moment-to-moment violence as a hack 'n' slash."

Destructoid - Why my children can never play the Wii again.
"How disgusted I was when I found out that the Wii, far from being a sanctuary from violence and swearing and everything else that upsets me, actually had some videogames on it that were not suitable for children. Et tu, Nintendo? Have you also abandoned the only audience you have ever had? Poring through the Wii's library of games, I was shocked to see that the grisly work Michael Crichton had started was being allowed to run amok. Jurassic Park was only the beginning -- violent videogames exist ... and I CAN'T TAKE IT!"

Edge Online - Action Must Be Taken. By Richard Wilson, CEO of UK trade association Tiga.
"No tax breaks for games production exist in the UK. Consequently, video games development in the UK is increasingly uncompetitive, despite its world-class talent pool and impressive track record. Investment is flowing away from the UK with global companies downsizing or relocating their UK operations. Many UK based developers are being actively wooed by overseas companies and government agencies to relocate to jurisdictions with more favourable tax regimes. The UK game development industry fell from third largest in the world based on revenue in 2006 to fourth position in 2007 and is expected to fall to fifth place in 2009."

WSJ.com - 'Resident Evil 5' Reignites Debate About Race in Videogames.
"Opponents of the new game will have plenty of ammunition. Although there are Arab zombies in 'Resident Evil 5,' the majority of the undead are Africans. As a player, you are often forced to use a machete to hack your way through your attackers, using the same kind of weapons that were used in atrocities in places like Rwanda and the Congo over the last two decades. Killing African zombies can earn you gold treasure -- in addition to the loot you find in barrels and vases in the different African villages. And while Chris's partner, Sheva Alomar, is from the region, she's light-skinned with straight-hair, and is introduced to players during a cinematic sequence highlighting not her face, but rather, her rear end."

Monster-Hardware - Buy AMD NOW!
"I bought AMD because I believe there is a good chance that AMD is going to go out of business in the next year if their sales don't increase and I couldn't stand on the sidelines and do nothing and watch that happen. So I guess you can consider my latest CPU (and I am sure I am going to catch heat for this) a pity purchase. I am under no illusion about its performance relative to a new Intel CPU. If you are one of the people that think AMD deserves to go out of business if they can't compete with Intel on performance, be careful what you wish for because if AMD goes out of business then Intel can go back to resting on their laurels, being non-responsive to the market, and not innovating. Know this: If AMD goes away so will your 300 usd I7 CPU."

• CPU, VGA and Laptop Coolers At Cebit 2009 on MADSHRIMPS.
• A look at DDR2, DDR3 and SSD Products At Cebit 2009 on MADSHRIMPS.
• OverClocked inside is a German site, but their coverage includes over 70 photographs.

• Empire Total War on Suite101.
• F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin on Out of Eight.
• Kivi's Underworld on Bytten.

• Cooler Master Storm Sniper Case on InsideHW.
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 PC3-12800 6GB RAM Kit on Overclock3D.Net.
• ECS 945GCT-D Motherboard on Legion Hardware.
• In-Win Commander 850W PSU on Bjorn3d.com.
• MSI X58 Pro Motherboard on bit-tech.net.
• Nextar Digital Folio N3-506 on Top Review Shop.
• OCZ Apex Series 120GB SATA II SSD on HotHardware.
• Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 Digital Camera on Digital Trends.
• SilverStone RV01 Raven Case on Ninjalane.com.
• Super Talent Luxio 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive on Legit Reviews.
• Speedlink Medusa NX on XSReviews.co.uk.
• XFX Radeon HD 4870 XXX 1GB Graphics Card on Elite Bastards.

Thanks Ant.

• MAME, MameUI, and MESS versions 1.30 are all now available…
• F.E.A.R. 2- Project Origin Walkthrough on [OC]ModShop…
• FOX officially unveils record signing. Korean StarCraft player earns almost $500K/year…

Happy Friday the 13th! It seems like just a month ago we had another of these. Curse you February, and your usually divisible by seven day count! Anyway, an interesting note as the QUAKE LIVE beta progresses is that is was eleven years ago today that John Carmack announced that what had previously been plans for a Quake II mission pack had been scrapped in favor of an all new game: Quake III, which eventually became Quake III Arena, and now QUAKE LIVE.

Lucky Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Visible. Mr. Mullet.
Links:	Top 40 Video Game Covers of All Time. The Wednesday 10: Needs More Zombies. The Nicolas Cage Movie Plot Generator.
Stories:	Sears Tower renamed after insurance company. Thanks Jim. What you talkin' about Willis? Scientist Makes Sure That No One Uses His Patent On Malaria Drug To Gouge The Poor.
Auction:	Star Trek: Real (used on show) Dilithium Crystals. Thanks Devicer.
Images:	What does one TRILLION dollars look like.