SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (“Mad Catz”) (AMEX/TSX: MCZ) announced today the shipping of the SOULCALIBUR™V Arcade FightStick Soul Edition, a Tournament Edition fighting game controller designed for use with the upcoming SOULCALIBUR V videogame from Namco Bandai Games Inc^®. The Soul Edition FightStick features the Namco^® Noir button and stick layout along with custom artwork and is expected to be released for the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and for the PlayStation^®3 computer entertainment system from Sony^®.

From Ars:

"We’ve removed the previous 10- and 14-day trial time restrictions, and players who are interested in trying outWorld of Warcraft can now play the base game for free up to a maximum character level of 20, including draenei and blood elf characters—all they need is a Battle.net account and an Internet connection," Blizzard explained in a statement. If you ran through a previous 14-day trial, you can go back to your character and continue to play from the point you left the game if you’d like, but the level cap will be set at 20.

It’s basically trial mode minus the time cap. Those of you who played the trial before are aware that there are several restrictions to what you can do.

• A level cap of 20.
• A maximum of 10 gold.
• Trade skills are capped at 100 ranks.
• Unable to trade via the Auction House, mailbox, or player-to-player.
• In-game access to public chat channels unavailable. Players are limited to communicating using only say, party, or whisper.
• Characters will be unable to create or join guilds.
• Characters are not able to send whispers to other characters unless they have been added to the characters’ friends lists or have received a whisper from a character first.
• Characters will not be able to invite other players into a party.
• Characters will not be able to join parties with other characters above level 20.
• Voice chat disabled on Starter Edition accounts.
• Realms experiencing login queues will prioritize players who have full, paid accounts.
• Starter Edition accounts are not eligible for character transfers
• RealID features are disabled on all Starter Edition Accounts.

Some of these features are meant to protect players from some of the more undesirable activities in the game such as trade chat spam. Also, note that while you can’t create a party, it doesn’t mean you can’t be invited to one. The part of not being able to join a guild sucks though, but I guess with guild perks implemented it’s understandable.

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), and Team Bondi Pty. Ltd., are proud to announce thatL.A. Noire is now available at retail stores across North America for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

“Team Bondi worked hard to stay true to the noir genre,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “L.A. Noire blends realistic performances with gritty action and real detective work, throwing players headfirst into the dark heart of Los Angeles.”

L.A. Noire is a crime thriller that is the story of Cole Phelps, a decorated World War II veteran and newly-minted detective in the LAPD. Set amidst the boom of Hollywood’s Golden Age, players must search for clues, interrogate suspects and chase down criminals to solve a series of cases based on real world incidents. As he rises through the ranks of the LAPD, Phelps comes face-to-face with the corrupt heart of Los Angeles: from fallen starlets to double-dealing police officers and the vast reaches of the criminal underworld – and finally, the darkness of his own personal demons.

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BURBANK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced Gotham City Impostors, an original download-only first-personshooter where players battle for control of an unhinged Gotham City overrun by impostors inspired by the DC Comics characters Batman and The Joker. Developed by Monolith Productions, the game will be available in the Xbox LIVE^® Marketplace for the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Windows PC and PlayStation®Network.

“Gotham City Impostors blows apart expectations for superhero games with an exaggerated take on first person shooters, set in a part of the DC Universe players have never seen before,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Monolith is creating a game that turns Gotham City upside down and we think fans are going to have a blast with this creative twist on multiplayer heroism and anti-heroism as they play up the classic rivalry between Batman and The Joker.”

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Atlus has been working on a mysterious project called Catherine and it’s due for release in Japan next month. And no one knows a single freaking thing about this game. Just what the hell is it? Well, we’ll know soon. Because the game’s director Katsura Hashino has revealed that a demo of the game will be releasing soon on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

[Source]

From the official Twitter account:

The first review of Mass Effect 2 on PS3 is out and it gets a 93% from Gamesmaster magazine! Check it out here:http://bit.ly/gD8wW5

The preview for the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 showed that Bioware will include an interactive comic book called Mass Effect Genesis to summarize the events of the first game. Kotaku has the details on what it contains:

It doesn’t just summarize the original Xbox 360 and PC-only Mass Effect from 2007, it simulates the experience of playing it. The comic allows gamers to make six key decisions from the original game and see their ramifications in Mass Effect 2.

The brief digital comic starts shortly after the playable introduction to Mass Effect 2 on the PS3.

[Source]