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2011 is starting to looking mighty busy for BioWare, a new Dragon Age, Star Wars: The Old Republic and now, according to EA COO John Schappert, “something far-reaching coming from Mass Effect”.

Mentioned during EA’s recent earnings call, the title (whatever it may be) is set for release sometime between January 1st and March 31st of 2011.

BioWare have previously stated they’d “definitely want to make ‘Mass Effect 3′ a fairly short turnaround.”

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EA have just posted their third quarter results for the 2010 fiscal year and with it comes a plethora of vague release dates for upcoming games.

The rebooted Medal of Honour, for example, is currently expected to ship before the end of September 2010 (Q2) along with the oft-delayed All Points Bulletin and a number of sports titles (Madden NFL 11, FIFA 11, FIFA Online and NHL 11). Crysis 2, Criterion’s Need for Speed title and yet more sports titles (EA Sports MMA, FIFA Manager 11, NBA Jam) are heading for a Q3 release along with The Sims 3 (for consoles)

As for Q4, Dead Space 2 (notably lacking a PC release), a new Dragon Age title, a new shooter from Epic Games, another Need for Speed title (the 3rd in just a year) and, as you’d expect, another Sims game.

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In honour of the recent release of Elite Units of the East DLC for Empire: Total War, Valve have kicked off a special week of sales dedicated to the Total War series.

All packs, games and DLC from the series see discounts, though the best deals can be found in the Total War Mega Pack, a compilation of all the Total War games available for 66% off. A new Empire: Total War – Downloadable Content Pack has also been put together, with everything included available for 10% off.

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ModDB have completed their annual search for the best PC modification of 2009, and they’ve even condensed the results into a handy list. The mod of the year findings are entirely based on user votes, as are all other results unless otherwise noted.

Players Choice Mod of the Year.

1. MechWarrior: Living Legends (Crysis)
2. Research & Development (Half-Life 2)
3. NeoTokyo (Half-Life 2)
4. Star Wars: Galactic Warfare (Modern Warfare)
5. Renegade-X (Unreal Engine 3)
6. Median XL (Diablo II)
7. Third Ageeee: Total War (Medieval: Total War)
8. The Nameless Mod (Deus Ex)
9. C&C: Shockwave (C&C: Generals)
10. Resistance & Liberation (Half-Life 2)

An honourable mention was given to Forgotten Hope 2, Sven Co-op, Zombie Panic: Source, Age of Chivalry, GoldenEye: Source, Earth’s Special Forces and Pirates, Vikings and Knights 2.

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Polyphony Digital have revealed the lifetime sales of it’s infamous Gran Turismo franchise has surpassed 55 million. The milestone was reached after GT PSP, released last October, broke 1.8 million sold.

Polyphony’s next installment, Gran Turismo 5, was recently delayed in Japan, with a European and American date still up in the air.

Gran Turismo – 10,850,000
Gran Turismo 2 – 9,370,000
Gran Turismo 3 A-spec – 14,890,000
Gran Turismo Concept Series – 1,560,000
Gran Turismo 4 “Prologue” – 1,350,000
Gran Turismo 4 – 10,980,000
Gran Turismo 5 “Prologue” – 4,650,000
Gran Turismo PSP – 1,800,000
Total – 55,450,000

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According to a number of new job listings over on Sucker Punch’s website, the studio appears to be recruiting as it makes it’s final push for the oft-rumoured inFamous 2.

Interestingly, one of the postings is seeking “professional candidates to implement the on-line component for our forthcoming AAA title,” which, presumably, refers to inFamous 2.

InFamous 2 was first talked about back in September of ‘09, when a number of voice actors tweeted about their roles in an follow-up title.
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In a recent fan podcast dedicated to all things Heroes of Newerth related, S2 Games’ own marketing manager Laura Baker let slip a few details concerning the titles eventual release.

Though the currently running closed beta isn’t the hardest to get in to, an open beta is said to be releasing “soon”. In addition, she stated S2 Games’ plans to hold a launch party on March 25th in San Francisco. And, while no date has been officially decided on, the month of April seems likely.

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The summary for the ESRB’s rating of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 claims players will journey to an ‘unnamed Japanese Island in World War II,’ during the games single player campaign. The summary then says the title ‘moves into the modern day,’ suggesting the World War II level serves as a precusor.

In single-player mode, players conduct missions on an unnamed Japanese island during World War II and then move into the modern day through jungles, deserts, and snowy terrain.

Most Battlefield games end up featuring the infamous Wake Island map in one way or another, though usually through multiplayer means.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, which recently took a longer look at Sony’s Q3 postings, the Playstation 3 is still a “loss leader” for the company, with Sony taking a hit of 6 cents for every dollar of PS3 hardware sales. As the Playstation 3 currently retails for $300, Sony loses roughly $18 per unit.

However, the loss is a far cry from the original estimates when the Playstation 3 first launched. At the time, iSuppli put the consoles production costs at a whopping $805.

Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda did outline plans to reduce Playstation 3 production costs by “15 percent in the fiscal year ending March 2011,” a strategy which Sony claims will “generate billions of yen.”

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Following on from the recent teaser trailer, Obsidian have revealed the title will feature in a number of publications this month. Now, fans of the series claim to have managed to get their hands on some new details.

Keep in mind that these should be considered rumours until magazine scans or online articles start emerging.

- There is an optional hardcore mode, the character needs to drink water, ammo has weight, healing isn’t instant etc. Normal mode is more similar to Fallout 3 gameplay.

- The storyline is focused on the New California Republic vs. Caesar’s Legion vs. New Vegas residents.

- You are not a vault dweller but are given a Pip-Boy by someone who is one.

- There is a screenshot of a vault suit as well.

- There is an assault rifle looking like the M4, as well as a new big gun with a backpack, held like a minigun.

- There are special moves for melee weapons in VATS – specifically a move for a golf club called “Fore” which seems to be a groin shot.

- The Hoover Dam is in the game and is supplying electricity to the city.

- There is a quest to rescue a ghoul from some super mutants. The ghoul can then become your companion

- The Geckos are back.

- There are both dumb and intelligent super mutants, including the elite Nightkin.

- Some super mutants look similar to the ones in Fallout 3, while others are new. There is e.g. a female super mutant with a 1950s hairstyle who apparently is one of their leaders.

- Screenshots include a guy with a beard and straw hat, a ghoul an NCR Ranger

- The only picture of New Vegas itself is concept art and not a screenshot

- Some location screenshots include a huge model dinosaur advertising a hotel, some satellite dishes, an array of solar panels

- A character generation shot showing a “vigour machine” instead of the skill book

- NCR base is the McCarran Airport, Caesar’s Legion is based in the Vegas Strip, while super mutants are based in a place called Black Mountain. There is also a town called Fremont and another called Primm. A topless reuve is mentioned as being in the latter.

- NCR Ranger armor is similar to a brown combat armor with sleeves, there are concept arts of a Ranger

- Skils have a bigger effect on conversation choices. E.g. someone with a high Explosives skill may be able to have a coversation about explosives where appropriate.

- There is a Reputation system in adition to Karma.

A number of other users have reportedly recieved their issues of PC Gamer UK and other publications. Their posts seem to coincide with the information above, check out the adding information after the jump..

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