A trailer is now available for Transformers: War for Cybertron, an upcoming transformers game from High Moon Studios that is apparently revealed in the new Game Informer magazine. According to The Allspark (via Kotaku) this is a third-person shooter due for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 next year, and the game falls outside of the normal Transformers continuity; true to that, the trailer seems to indicate a prequel. We posted the clip to the YouTube and a downloadable version can be found on WorthPlaying. Hey, did that robot call the other robot an MF? The embedded clip follows. Continue here to read the full story.

Steam now offers the free Defence Alliance 2 modification for Killing Floor, Tripwire Interactive's co-op zombie shooter, for which a new automatic update is now available. They also announce a major update to the Mare Nostrum modification for Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45, the World War II shooter that's on sale for 50% off this weekend.

• Alganon on Impulse. Save 50%.
• Cities XL on Impulse. Save 50%.
• Dawn of Discovery on Impulse. Save 30%.
• Dark Salvation on the Mangled Eye Studios Website. Save 40%.
• Dawn of Magic 2 on Impulse. Save 50%.
• Dragon Age: Origins on Direct2Drive. Save 20%.
• East India Company on Impulse. Save 60%.
• Galatron on Running Pillow. Save 50%.
• Need for Speed: SHIFT on Direct2Drive UK. Save 50%.
• Odd Combo Pack on Impulse. Save 50%.
• Realms of Arcana Series on GOG.com. Save 25%
• Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 on Steam. Save 50%.
• Samorost2 on Steam. Save 50%.
• The Bard's Tale on Steam. Save 10%.
• Time of Shadows on Impulse. Save 50%.
  
  Still on sale (previously reported)
    Continue here to read the full story.

Atari announces a Collector's Edition and a Digital Deluxe Edition for Star Trek Online, with each offering exclusive content, collectibles, and game access for Cryptic's upcoming Trekkie MMORPG. They will available for purchase on February 2, 2010 for a limited time only, and can be preordered right now from Atari.com. The $79.99 Collector's Edition can also be preordered at GameStop, and the $59.99 Digital Deluxe Edition can be pre-ordered at Direct2Drive and they say from Steam, though it doesn't seem to be there just yet. The announcement has all the bonuses, which includes our favorite preorder bonus of all time from the Digital Deluxe Edition, an "Exclusive 'KHAAAN!' Emote: An unforgettable moment from the second Star Trek Film. This exclusive emote allows players to relive Kirk’s unforgettable moment of fury, with the timeless cry… 'KHAAAN!' Here are a couple of images of the Collector's Edition.

• Dins Curse on the Official Website. Wizard revealed. They also have three new Monster profiles.
• Just Cause 2 on Eurogamer.

• Rock Band DLC Week of 12/15 - Green Day, 30 Seconds to Mars, All-American Rejects.
• The Beatles: Rock Band - Rubber Soul DLC Details.
• DJ Hero Sold Just 123K Units in November.

• Gamasutra's Best Of 2009- Top 5 Handheld Games.

Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Western Digital introduces 'Advanced Format'.
• 100 Years of Failure: 10 Technologies We Were Promised But Never Got.
• The decade's 30 biggest tech flops.
• ASUS Add 32nm Support.
• NVIDIA Anti-Aliasing, Linux & Lenvik.
• Nouveau To Go Into Linux 2.6.33 Kernel!.
• Poulsbo mess casts a shadow on Intel's Moblin project.
• Managed Copy on Blu-ray little more than serial nos., prayer.

• New Internet Bill of Rights contender comes from... pirates?

Happy Chanukah to all who are celebrating, as the festival of lights begins today at sundown.

Also, as promised, Frans' hard work on the new forums is now in evidence. You can find a forum index here. Enjoy, and please feel free to bring any issues to our attention. And hats off to Frans!

Link of the Day: A Guide to the Crappy Games You'll Get From Old People This Holiday.

The Team Fortress 2 Website has an update on the war announced earlier between the Demoman and the Soldier, listing the Soldier as being killed about 100,000 fewer times since the war began. 2,681,005 kills were tallied as of 4:16 pm EST today after 16 hours of conflict.

A new trailer from Mass Effect 2 is online, featuring the recently announced star voice cast for BioWare's upcoming RPG sequel. The clip shows gameplay, interview footage of the cast, and examples of their voice acting. Extra credit to Adam Baldwin for discussing the actual game itself, and a glorious bouquet for Carrie Ann Moss for stressing she "stars" as her character. The clip gives us another chance to abuse our new channel on the YouTube, as we have posted it here for your viewing pleasure. The clip can be downloaded from Worthplaying. The embedded clip follows. Continue here to read the full story.

A new update to the Star Wars: The Old Republic Website focuses on the Sith Inquisitor, one of the classes in the upcoming Star Wars MMORPG. There is a new HoloNet entry on the topic, and the site's media section has three new screenshots.

IndustryGamers announces a change at the top at Atari Worldwide, where former COO Jeff Lapin has taken over the CEO position. Previous CEO David Gardner will continue as a director, and word is: "In his new role of CEO of Atari's global operations, Lapin will run the business from Los Angeles and lead the Executive Committee which is now composed of Jim Wilson (CEO of Atari Inc.), John Needham (CEO of Cryptic Studios Inc.), Fabrice Hamaide (CFO of the Group), and Alexandra Fichelson (General Secretary)."

The official R.U.S.E. Website is live as a home to Ubisoft's upcoming real-time strategy game that feature's multi-touch support. They offer information and videos for the game, info on the ongoing beta test, and community forums.

Another new trailer is now available for Dark Void, offering a look at the "tactical freedom" of combat the upcoming jetpack-powered action game from Airtight Games. Morgan Grace and Shana Bryant of publisher Capcom narrate the clip, which shows off two different ways to tackle one of the enemy encounters in the game. The clip features jetpack combat, UFO combat, and destruction of a gigantic robot. We've posted this one to the YouTube as well, and downloads can be found on ActionTrip and Worthplaying.

GameTap announces the addition of 4 Elements for subscribers of their subscription gaming service, the game is described thusly: "To heal the land and put things right again, it is up to you to restore the altars of the elements through a series of puzzle and matching games in this fun and unique title from Playrix Software." They also announce Rogue Trooper will be part of the service's free section for the next two weeks, here's word on that one: "In the far future, the war between the Norts and the Southers has poisoned the very earth with toxic biological and chemical weapons. Now humanity is forced to live in domed cities to escape Nu-Earth’s corrosive atmosphere. But the Southers have a new weapon in this war: the Genetic Infantry, gene-spliced soldiers immune to any poison -- leaving them capable of fighting the Norts in any terrain."

A third developer diary from Splinter Cell Conviction is now available where some of the developers at Ubisoft Montreal discuss the upcoming stealth/action sequel. They touch on game's story, the evolution of Third Echelon, and some of the characters from the series who make appearances. The narrator portions of the clip features stylized camera work and French subtitles, along with game cinematics. The trailer can be streamed via the YouTube and is available for download from FileFront and Worthplaying.

Bullet Candy and Space Phallus developer Charlie's Games announces the release of Irukandji for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The game is described as a "fun score attack shooter, set in an abstract underwater trench. You fly your ship against the flow of hundreds of amazing procedurally animated sea monsters, blasting your way to the final showdown ­ a Giant Enemy Crab!" There's a video on the YouTube, and a free demo is available for all three systems. The game's $1.00 donation price entitles purchasers to a copy for each platform.

Projector display manufacturer Microvision announces an upcoming weapon-styled projection game controller based on their PicoP display engine, saying it will offer "realistic virtual combat experience with life-sized video images, projected on walls, ceilings and floors." There's a video showing this off on the YouTube (thanks Mike Martinez via Engadget), suggesting this is less unwieldy than Epson “Extreme Gaming”. The controller is being shown off first-hand this weekend at the Intel Extreme Masters PC gaming tournament in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Word is:

Game players at the tourney who give the prototype a spin will experience "an immersive, 360-degree feel," promises Ian Brown, Microvision's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "The company's laser projection engine can show a distortion-free image on nearly any flat or curved surface. Consequently, the game goes along with the gamer and reflects the character's position in three-dimensional space."

Bohemia Interactive announces plans to release a new version 1.05 patch for ARMA 2 later this month; an update that will include Eagle Wing, free DLC for the military shooter sequel. A batch of four new screenshots accompany the announcement, as well as a gameplay video, which we've posted to the YouTube. Here's a portion of the announcement:

Amongst other things the 1.05 patch features a new warfare mode "When Diplomacy Fails", including 3-side support for diplomacy between all factions allowing players to enjoy the strategic part of the game in a size never seen before. Warfare mode is a unique gaming experience first introduced in ARMA: Armed Assault. The mode combines tactical FPS gameplay with strategic elements which allow players to either join the fight in the front lines attacking the enemy directly, or to crush them in a commander position giving orders to other players whilst managing resources and the main base. Moreover each player is allowed to lead his own squad. Up to 32 players are supported, this multiplayer mode is a true war experience.

According to Ausir's blog on the Fallout wiki, Bethesda Softworks' motion for a preliminary injunction against Interplay in the Bethesda v. Interplay case over Fallout rights has been denied. Such a judgment would leave Interplay free for the time being to continue selling the Fallout Trilogy and to continue development of their Fallout MMORPG. They say the full results of the hearing are sealed, and do not offer the source of this information, but there is a similar post on Duck and Cover. Thanks No Mutants Allowed. Update: Duck and Cover now offers an image of the court documents as confirmation of this news.

The Saboteur Forums have word that a fix is on the way for ATI issues with The Saboteur, as well as some other glitches. Word is:

Currently, we have a possible fix (in the way of a patch) that is being internally tested.

Although the ATI graphics card issue is the most pressing, we have also received reports from the community of some other issues based on specific PC configurations. We are closely monitoring those issues as well and testing internally to determine if those reported

The Team Fortress 2 Blog clarifies the Team Fortress 2 comic posted the other day, outlining plans for the "War update" for the class-based shooter. The new class update covers both the Demoman and Soldier, who will each get three new weapons in an update that also adds maps, achievements, and "surprises." The War update will also add a seventh weapon to one of those classes, but which is yet to be decided, hence the "healthy competition" mentioned in the comic. The weapon will be "awarded" to whichever of those two classes kills the other more often over the course of the week, which seems the opposite of helping game balance, but we're not professional game designers. The War hubpage has more on this, and will keep a running tally of the score in this bit of class warfare. A new automatic Team Fortress 2 patch is now available to facilitate the competition. The full details on the War update follow. Continue here to read the full story.

Funcom announces they've established SweetRobot, a new subsidiary focused on casual massively multiplayer online games. Their debut project is Pets Vs. Monsters, a subscription free game aimed at a youth audience that will enter open beta testing later this month. "SweetRobot will be focusing on publishing games outside the traditional high-end MMO-segment which Funcom has been focusing on the last years," says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "This will allow us to explore new market opportunities that differ from what we have been doing before while still retaining Funcom's familiar profile. This definitely marks a new and exciting direction for us."

Impulse announces the release of beta 2 of Sins of a Solar Empire- Diplomacy, the upcoming micro-expansion for Ironclad's 4X space strategy game. Word is: "Beta 2 contains major changes to the gameplay mechanics of the expansion, updated tech trees and more," as outlined in the forums. You can gain access to the beta test by preordering Diplomacy.

Matrix Games has a new patch for Operation Barbarossa: The Struggle for Russia to update the World War II strategy game to version 1.14. The patch can be found on this page, where word is: "The comprehensive 1.14 update comes with beautiful new 2D NATO symbol counters that can be toggled on instead of the 3D unit graphics for increased visibility, increased zoom both in and out on the battlefield for better awareness, a few AI improvements, and some bug fixes."

HotHardware - New York Times' "Games to Avoid" Doubles as Solid Shopping List.
Conspicuously absent from the NYT story is any real attempt at comparison, evaluation, or discussion—the last five titles are essentially listed as bullet points with the word "Avoid." Unless you're the type of person who follows Oprah's book recommendations with the zeal of a modern-day crusader, the justification for not buying some of these titles (at least, as presented by the paper) is, pardon the pun, paper-thin. Curious to see what the original site would recommend, we headed over to Common Sense Media and were a bit surprised.

• World at War is beginning the 20th campaign for this massive BF2: Forgotten Hope 2 tournament.

• Age of Conan on IncGamers. Rise of the Godslayer video diary.

• IGN AU- Console Showdown 2009 - Part 1.
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Premium Theme.
• Sony CEO Says PlayStation NPD Numbers Exceed Expectations.
• Nintendo: New Super Mario Bros. Wii Reaches 2M Units Sold.
• Perfect Dark XBLA out early 2010.
• Modern Warfare 2 javelin glitch patch hits today.

• Hottest App Store Games of the Year on OS X Reality.
• 42% of cell phone switchers don't switch, thanks to fees.
• GameSetWatch - The Best Of 2009- Top 5 iPhone Games.

• IBM Opens Cloud Computing Laboratory in Hong Kong.
• Sun VirtualBox - Free, Powerful Virtualization.
• The strange parallels between Microsoft's century start and decade's end. Thanks Ant.
• Google opens satellite images, tools, to study deforestation.
• Microsoft's Latest Flash Memory Technology Now Available.

• The Top 20 Internet Lists of 2009. Thanks Ant via Neatorama.
• Mozilla exec urges Firefox users ditch Google for Bing.

• Hackers find a home in Amazon's EC2 cloud. Thanks Slashdot.
• Microsoft knew of just-patched IE zero-day for months. Thanks Mike Martinez.
• More Sites Banning Sex Offenders.

• Big Cable: Net neutrality violates ISP 1st Amendment rights. Thanks Mike Martinez.

• Avatar: The Game on Associated Press.
• Borderlands on Computers N Stuff.
• Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned on IGN.
• Casebook Episode III: Snake in the Grass on Adventure Classic Gaming.
• DiRT 2 on GameSpot.
• King Arthur on Strategy Informer.
• Left 4 Dead 2 on Zero Punctuation NSFW (and Super Mario Bros Wii). Thanks Ant.
• Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising on Hooked Gamers.

• ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO Motherboard on Bjorn3D.com.
• AzzA Helios 910 Case on Motherboards.org.
• Cooler Master CM Storm Sentinel Advance Laser Gaming Mouse on Vortez Hardware.
• Cooler Master HAF 932 AMD Limited Edition Case on ProClockers.
• Corsair vs. Kingston Intel Core i7 LGA1156 RAM Round-up on HEXUS.net.
• Crucial Ballistix Tracer 6GB RAM Kit on TechwareLabs.
• DroboPro BeyondRAID on t-break.
• FREETALK Everyman (USB) Headset on Test Freaks.
• GIGABYTE Radeon HD 5750 1GB Graphics Card on TweakTown.
• Griffin Reveal iPhone Case on ThinkComputers.org.
• Lian Li Tyr PC-X1000 Case on PureOC.
• Noctua NH-D14 Cooler on Overclockers Club.
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 240 Graphics Card on iXBT Labs.
• NZXT Tempest EVO Case on Hardware Secrets.
• OtterBox Commuter iPhone 3G Case on OCIA.net.
• Patriot Memory's NAS GearBox Mini Adapter on TweakTown.
• Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD Media Player on Legit Reviews.
• Thermaltake LANBOX Lite Case on Motherboards.org.
• Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme on Technic3D (in German) and on XSReviews.co.uk.
• Virgin Media Freedom Netbook on eTeknix.com.
• Zalman MS1000 RS2 Case on Hi-Tech Reviews.
• Zalman ZM500-RS PSU on Hardware Secrets.

• Atkinson on Violent Games: You Don’t Need to Impale People…
• Charlie Brooker: why I love videogames…

Though it hasn't come up lately, Frans has been working very hard in the background on some further improvements around here. The main focus lately has been to whip the forums into better shape with some new and/or improved functionality, including something we've had a lot of requests for, which is the return of more general forums to handle ongoing conversations outside the realm of the news forum. We expect a roll-out of these improvements today, and you can expect a bit of forum downtime around when that happens.

Links:	Thanks Ant and Mike Martinez.
Play:	Cold Storage. Thanks Jay is Games. Scribbland. Roly-Poly Monsters.
Links:	Classic Literature Adapted into Video Games Adapted into Comics. Mobius Sliced Linked Bagel. Thanks dakslf.
Story:	Chihuahuas Overrun California Shelters. Thanks brother19.
Science:	Zombie-Attack Science. Thanks Neutronbeam. Study finds Americans consume 34 gigabytes of information per day.
Images:	14 Great TV Screenshots From Sports. Thanks Digg. Why Men should not write Advice Columns. Thanks Digg. Sry cant talk.
Media:	Half-letoads (Battletoads NES Remade In Half-Life 2). Avatar - Team America Movie Trailer Mashup. NFL Players Mentor Troubled Detroit Lions.
Follow-ups:	Russian Rocket Failure Creates Light Show in Norway. Thanks brother19. The Moon, In Technicolor Thanks Acleacius.
The Funnies:	Why I'd rather be punched in the testicles than call customer service. Thanks Digg.