For those of you who want a play by play but can’t attend, keep tabs on the events on the THE BIGS 2 forums. The full details on how to get signed up for these THE BIGS 2 party events follow the jump.
Gamers can pre-order THE BIGS 2 for Xbox 360, Wii Ps2, PS3 and PSP. The game launches July 7th.

On June 30th and July 1st, from 6-8 PM local standard time, we’re giving you guys a chance to try the game for yourself, free of charge, before it’s released to the general public. Check out when and where you can see The BIGS 2 for yourself:

The BIGS 2 fans over the age of 18 (or over the age of 13 if they will be accompanied by a parent or guardian) can sign up to participate by doing one of the following:

1) Follow our Community Manager Ronnie on Twitter and send him a direct message about your interest in coming to an event:http://www.twitter.com/Ronnie2K

2) Respond to the thread about it on our online forums: http://2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221305

3) Post a wall message on The BIGS 2 fan page letting us know you want to attend: http://www.facebook.com/BIGS2

4) E-mail us at contests@2ksports.com letting us know you are interested.

Please let us know which city you are planning on attending to see The BIGS 2 before it becomes the video game sensation of the year. We will get back to you immediately with follow-up steps . We are excited to meet our most loyal fans and hook you up with the total 2K Sports VIP experience. Do you have what it takes to step up to the plate and come check out
The BIGS 2? We accept any challengers!

For those of you who cannot attend, please check out our online forums for ongoing fan reports and see what your fellow gamer community is thinking about The BIGS 2: http://2ksports.com/forums/.

For more information on The BIGS 2, please visit the official website at http://2ksports.com/games/thebigs2.

- 2K Sports

Space may be limited, and will be made available to eligible participants on a first-come, first-serve basis.  2K Sports reserves the right to reschedule or cancel the above-referenced events at its sole discretion.

All information collected in connection with the above-referenced events is subject to, and will be handled in compliance with, 2K Sports Privacy (http://www.2ksports.com/info/privacy).

This weekend, IGN uploaded an interview featuring 2k Boston’s( formerly Irrational Games) Ken Levine, who was executive producer on both games as well as writer, and some key members of the Irrational Games team regarding the past, present and future of the game series. Levine and his team discuss the rough ride the series experienced, their personal favorite characters in the Irrational universe and the passion it requires to get a self-published sequel out on the street.

We ended up self-publishing the second game; we were a private company at the time. That meant it was a complete a labor of love and a labor of financial love as well, because John and I, the owners of the company, paid for the development and publishing of that title out of our own pocket, basically. That cost us a fair amount of money and when the game came out, it was probably a combination of — I don’t think we did enough different from the first game and it was just a little too late and too long for the sequel. It just didn’t sell very well – it sold a fraction of what the first one sold. I thought it was a better game.

There were two additional Freedom Force projects in the planning stages before the company decided to pursue their blockbuster title Bioshock and Levine also explains the concepts behind these titles in the interview.

Ken Levine: One quick thing before we begin, can I give some description about what Freedom Force 3 and Ultimate Freedom Force were?

IGN: Sure!

Ken Levine: Basically, these are projects that we never ended up making, and I thought it might be interesting for the Freedom Force fans, because you see versions of the characters in different time periods from Freedom Force. We had a 70’s Freedom Force we were going to do, we thought about doing a modern day Freedom Force, and they’re all concepts of characters that were going to be in that game or updated versions of characters from the original game. So I thought it might be cool.

The two games recently joined the growing list of classic titles on Valve’s Steam service at an amazingly discounted price ($7.49 for both games). If you are a fan of classic 60’s and 40’s super hero comics then these games should not be missed.

When you create an intense atmospheric game with an intriguing story how best do you continue that story?

Apparently 2K Games thinks you add useless multiplayer to the sequel.

Today 2K Games sent out a media blast revealing the multiplayer functionality of Bioshock 2 in the most marketing rich, vague terms possible. Supposedly the multiplayer game will allow players to experience Rapture before the fall as Plasmid test subjects. The release seems to indicate that a key aspect of this game mode will be combining Plasmids and weapons while discovering how everyday life progressed in the Utopian model society.

“The fans asked for a multiplayer experience and we answered,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “With Digital Extremes delivering a multiplayer experience for BioShock 2 that features all of the things that make BioShock unique, we’re holding ourselves to a high standard so that we can deliver the depth and variety that fans of the BioShock universe demand.”

I’m not sure why anyone was asking for a multiplayer component in Bioshock 2, but I guess I’m in the increasing minority of folks who can enjoy a single player title without feeling it is incomplete without some mindless online mode filled with Xbox Live! p0wning idiots.
The other thing that stands out to me is that they are trying to fill in backstory that we get by playing through the game.. is it really necessary to spell it all out when we know how and why Rapture fell(or at least a good portion of that tale)?

Maybe I’m being too harsh and with so little real information on what form the multiplayer mode might take. This could all be an interesting exercise, though the press release makes certain to point out Digital Extremes’ FPS shooter expertise which is worrying.

You can read all the lovely details after the jump.

2K Games Reveals First Details of the BioShock® 2 Multiplayer Experience

Digital Extremes tapped to create extensive and exciting multiplayer element for 2K Games’ highly anticipated shooter

New York, NY – May 8, 2009 – 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that it has signed a partnership with Digital Extremes to develop the multiplayer experience for BioShock® 2. Under this partnership, Digital Extremes is working closely with the creative team at 2K Marin to develop a new and substantial element that enhances the lore and fiction of the BioShock universe.

“The fans asked for a multiplayer experience and we answered,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “With Digital Extremes delivering a multiplayer experience for BioShock 2 that features all of the things that make BioShock unique, we’re holding ourselves to a high standard so that we can deliver the depth and variety that fans of the BioShock universe demand.”

Multiplayer in BioShock 2 provides a rich prequel experience that expands the origins of the BioShock fiction. Set during the fall of Rapture, players assume the role of a Plasmid test subject for Sinclair Solutions, a premier provider of Plasmids and Tonics in the underwater city of Rapture that was first explored in the original BioShock. Players will need to use all the elements of the BioShock toolset to survive as the full depth of the BioShock experience is refined and transformed into a unique multiplayer experience that can only be found in Rapture.

Key features:

· Evolution of the genetically enhanced shooter – Earn experience points during gameplay to earn access to new Weapons, Plasmids and Tonics that can be used to create hundreds of different combinations, allowing players to develop a unique character that caters to their playing style.

· Extend the Rapture fiction – Players will step into the shoes of Rapture citizens and learn more about the fall of Rapture as they progress through the experience.

· See Rapture before the fall – Experience Rapture before it was reclaimed by the ocean and engage in combat over iconic environments in locations such as Kashmir Restaurant and Mercury Suites, all of which have been reworked from the ground up to deliver a fast-paced multiplayer experience.

· FPS veterans add their touch to the multiplayer experience – Digital Extremes brings more than 10 years of first person shooter experience including development of award-winning entries in the Unreal® and Unreal Tournament® franchise.

BioShock 2 is currently in development at 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows-based PC. This title is not yet rated by the ESRB.

About Take-Two Interactive Software

Headquartered in New York City, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a global developer, marketer, distributor and publisher of interactive entertainment software games for the PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™. The Company publishes and develops products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games, 2K Games, 2K Sports and 2K Play; and distributes software, hardware and accessories in North America through its Jack of All Games subsidiary. Take-Two’s common stock is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TTWO. For more corporate and product information please visit our website at www.take2games.com.

About Digital Extremes

Founded in 1993 by industry visionary, James Schmalz, Digital Extremes ranks as one of the world’s top independent development studios in the interactive entertainment industry. The Canadian based developer is known for its high quality, technologically innovative productions such as the co-creation of Epic Games’ multi-million unit selling, Unreal® franchise, including the award-winning Unreal, Unreal Tournament and Unreal Championship brands; the technical marvel, Dark Sector® utilizing the proprietary Evolution Engine™ as well as co-development of top-selling and critically acclaimed, BioShock® for PLAYSTATION®3 system.  Digital Extremes recently expanded its reach beyond development with the licensing of its Evolution Engine™.  For more information on the studio or its technology, please visit www.digitalextremes.com.

All trademarks and copyrights contained herein are the property of their respective holders.

Microsoft, Windows, the Windows Vista Start button, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies, and ‘Games for Windows’ and the Windows Vista Start button logo are used under license from Microsoft.

“PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Today we are proud to post some progress on our TC development statuses. Yes, the plural form. As many of you know we are developing a total conversion called Resistance, but we decided to start again with the development of Trek Battles 3.

Read: NG Total Conversion Development News
More Star Trek: Legacy News: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

A new month and a progress report on what is going on with Aftermath. This news post will take a different direction to all the previous ones as this one there will be some bad news but there is good news too. It not all doom and gloom.

Read:Aftermath News: Change of Pace and a New Team Member
More Star Trek: Legacy News: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Read: Large Newspost from the XWW2 mod
More Battlefield 2 News: FileFront’s Battlefield 2 Files

Read:Black Mesa source – A celebration of the last decade!
More Half-Life 2 News: FileFront’s Half-Life 2 Files

Read:Visions Of Chaos Lord Of Change Preview and Updates
More Dawn of War: Soulstorm News: FileFront’s Dawn of War: Soulstorm Files

Once again we welcome back [i]Ace40k[/i] to the stage so that he can deliver to you, the Company of Heroes gamer the next version of his extremely popular sound modification! If you enjoyed his previous release…or, if you missed out on it, and you are of the mind that the weapon sounds that you hear while playing Company of Heroes lack that certain something, then count yourself lucky, as you are about to download a mod that will improve what you hear!

Download: Ace40k’s Sound Mod
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Stargate : La Releve (”The Relief” in English) is a French mod developed on the Battlefield 2 engine. The ambiance of the TV show is reincarnated in video game form to give you a new battlefield experience.

Download: Stargate: La Relève
More Battlefield 2: FileFront’s Battlefield 2 Files

dev_akm is now carrying over development after Oscuro’s retirement; Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul aims to make Oblivion a much more interesting, challenging, realistic and dangerous place, and also offers great rewards for the daring adventurer regardless of your level.

Download: Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul (v1.32f)
More Oblivion: FileFront’s The Elder Scrolls Files

Download: Commanders Revenges Extreme Edition
More Supreme Commander: FileFront’s Supreme Commander Files

Fast Fun and Crazy : Lite is a modification that edits a lot of the different units and structures in the game. This modification tries to make the gameplay faster while trying not to go out of control or unbalanced.

Download: Fast Fun and Crazy: Lite (v0.230)
More Command and Conquer: FileFront’s CnC 3 Files

Download: Silenced M21
More CoD 4: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

Download: Otherworld Episode 1 Beta (v2)
More Oblivion: FileFront’s The Elder Scrolls Files

Download: =AaTc= Jet Mod
More Star Wars Battlefront: FileFront’s Star Wars Battlefront Files

Download: Experimentals Wars
More Supreme Commander: FileFront’s Supreme Commander Files

Making a return engagement, ab2531 has submitted his updated version to his super-popular mod! NHCmod is what you want to download if you’re looking for a more juiced-up Company of Heroes!

Download: NHCmod | OF
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Download:Aliens vs. Predator 2 Master Server Patch
More Aliens vs Predator 2: FileFront’s Aliens vs Predator 2 Files

Download: Voice Chat Icons

More Return to castle Wolfenstein: FileFront’s Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Files

This is a nice surprise…a very useful mod by our buddy, Jose: “Throwable” objects! First order of business….the PK3 is named “throwable_sfutt.pk3″ Sfutt? Made me laugh…..sfutt. XD

Sorry, just had to point that out.

Download: Throwable Stuff
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Open up your bandwidth and submit! Submit, I tell ya! MUHAHAHAHAHA!! …errm *cough* yeah. Dartborne is here with what would appear to be the largest of the mods that are at your disposal…this bad boy weighs is at a whopping 430+ megs! And it is worth every kilobyte!

Download: Dartborne Mod
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Ever felt like your German potato masher just wasn’t enough? Well this is definitely your fix, how about not two potato mashers, but six of them! These grenades actually existed during World War Two under the name Geballte Ladung. Probably something pretty hard to scream as you are running away from it in battle.

Download: Big German Grenade (1.0)
More CoD 2: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

Faction commander is a powerful mod that allows you to dictate orders that your faction follows. The command system of this mod is composed of six types of commands and three classes of action codes.

Download: Faction Commander
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

It wasn’t long ago when GobDemoMaster gave us a mod where we could open doors that were locked in the game Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Now he has come through with yet another version!

Download: Restored Doors/Rooms

More Knights of the Old Republic II: FileFront’s Knights of the Old Republic II Files

This is a simple tweak to saber colors and trails. By simple, I mean that a person who knows what they’re doing can probably replicate these effects in 10 minutes or less. I don’t think this 10 minutes was wasted, though.

Download: SM Cool saber effects
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: AOE Sound Pack

More Return to castle Wolfenstein: FileFront’s Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Files

Finally, what many Revolt fans have been waiting for, Revolt 4x — a version of Revolt you can play without crashing your entire game! smile This version features a number of key bug fixes that contributed to the instability of previous versions of the oldest CoD total conversion!

Download: Revolt 4x UO (Final)
More CoD: United Offensive: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

After a bit of an absence, we are lucky to have Robin back with us to once again‘ wow’ you with some fantastic Far Cry adventure! This time your gaming experience will get a little spooky, with a bit of a dark ambiance…so if you’re scared of things that go bump in the night, then you shouldn’t leave furniture in the hallway…and you shouldn’t visit the far away island Lucifer Island!
Download: rll_Lucifer Island
More Far Cry: FileFront’s Far Cry Files

A Peaceful Moment is a screen shot captured by the author depicting a German officer overlooking a river beside a bridge. It actually is a quite peaceful screen shot, it’s a nice change of pace from all the action packed screen shots that are regularly viewed. This picture can also be used as a wallpaper if it fits your fancy.
Download: A Peaceful Moment
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

From the maker of the popular mappack: Insomnia, this developer has decided to create, and release, another map in the [i]‘Hell’[/i] style. WarlorD69 has stated that he made this map with the intentions of it being both beautiful and terrible…a tough combination to pull off, if you ask me! however, I think that he has done a fine job of it!
Download: Kings Cemetery
More Doom III: FileFront’s Doom III Files

For those of you that enjoyed the original release (and those of you that may have missed it) bigdane is back to tantalize you with his newest version! All of you sniper-lovers, don’t fret, there are still plenty of places to pick from…Essentially, Crater Lake (v2) is more or less, a total remake of the original Crater Lake, which will provide you with even more Far Cry 2 goodness and some serious Assault action!
Download: Crater Lake (v2)
More Far Cry 2: FileFront’s Far Cry 2 Files

The Last Palace is a 4 player map based on a war torn city in which 2 players start at a ruined Imperial Palace. This map is greatly detailed with craters, bombed out buildings, building rubble, and etc are littered throughout the map to give that warn torn city look; and coupled with custom decals, it just adds more to the experience.

Download: The Last Palace
More Dawn of War Dark Crusade: FileFront’s Dawn of War Dark Crusade Files

Download: Game_Jedi’s Map Pack

More Star Wars Battlefront 2: FileFront’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 Files

Download: rpg_dy100a
More Elite Force: FileFront’s Elite Force Files

Lafayette is a very small map that is built for 4 players mainly designed for instant action as the game starts due to how the points are laid out. Teams start at forested regions of the map which are located at opposing sides of the map and a road way is located in the middle.

Download: Lafayette
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Nope, this isn’t based on the firm, but rather a map from D2tm called Tropic Thunder Here we have a eight player map that is based on the topical landscape which isn’t done that bad; added in are few foliage, trees, canopy and the like to make the map more detailed.

Download: Tropic Thunder
More Dawn of War: FileFront’s Dawn of War Files

Far Cry 2: Canyon

Hot on the heels of the release that was just mirrored, DobiKuba has gone about sending in another rather large map to rouse the old killer instinct in you and to show off his mapping skills!

Download: Canyon
More Far Cry 2: FileFront’s Far Cry 2 Files

Before we begin I will hold up my hands and admit I’m a Final Fantasy fan, I attend regular mettings to kick the habbit so wish me luck there. Anyhow, FF VII being my favorite of the series I just had to grab this file and set traps around it to keep those other reviewers off. Now onto the review…..

Download: Final Fantasy VII Compilation
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-F.I.L.E.S.-Computer Screen
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

This is the Guardian Class, Oberth refit. Many of you should recognize this baby as it has popped up in a few news posts recently. Well its been a good wait for this to be finally done and dusted and props to Phoenix for getting her finished! Phoenix has also uploaded this as an entry to the ever growing list of entries to the Starship Contests.

Download: Federation Guardian Class
More Star Trek: Legacy: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Download: SM Steel Lasersword
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: Colt-1911- Texture -
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

This is the Ambassador class and “Late Refit” originally released for BC by LC/Legacy and ported to Legacy by yopyop. This is a really high quality model which showcases yopyop’s impressive reworking of LC’s impressive model from BC.

Download: Ambassador Class
More Star Trek: Legacy: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Again, we regret that we cannot provide you with this weeks Demos, Patches and trailer. We apologize for the inconvenience! For now, here are the links to redirect you.

Levine is the creative force behind BioShock and will be working on BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams at 2K Marin. More about the Guildhall at Southern Methodist University follows break.

About The Guildhall at SMU:
The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University is the premier graduate video game education program in the US. Many of the school’s founders are industry icons, and classes are taught by industry veterans. The program has graduated over 230 students and alums have worked at more than 80 video game studios around the world. SMU offers both a Master’s degree and a graduate Professional Certificate of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development, with specializations in art creation, level design, and software development. For more information, visit http://guildhall.smu.edu.

World of Warcraft players certainly don’t mind that 7-Eleven has been dabbling in the field of selling videogames. Thanks to the apparent disregard for street dates, WoW players were able to secure early copies (albeit not early access) of Wrath of the Lich King. The retail chain has announced that its recent sales of games like WoW, Halo, and Madden isn’t a temporary holiday cash-in — they’re planning on permanently adding videogames to their inventory (via Joystiq).

“This is not just a holiday promotion for us,” explained 7-Eleven category manager for gaming and electronics, “but a brand new product line-up that will be available year-round. We may not be a total entertainment destination … yet, but we’re hoping to expand our selection beyond the high-dollar, hot-selling games to include options for all budgets, like value-priced video games as well as DVD movies. For consumers wanting convenient one-stop shopping for at-home entertainment along with groceries and gas or who just want to avoid big-store shopping inconveniences, their local 7-Eleven store is open and ready.”

In addition to Wrath of the Lich King, 7-Eleven is planning on selling the Guitar Hero World Tour band kit, Fallout 3, Quantum of Solace, Gears of War 2, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009, and Call of Duty: World at War. They’ll also begin selling subscription cards for around 20 games and services ranging from Xbox Live to City of Heroes to Runescape.

Picking up a game at 7-Eleven seems to be more of a convenience rather than an alternative, at least at this point. Unless you’ve got one closer to home than any other retailer, will gamers really opt to go there instead of GameStop, Best Buy, or Walmart? But if they decided to throw in a free Slurpee with the purchase of any full-priced game, that might just give them the edge that makes it the premiere destination for picking up big-name games. It would for me, at least.

Undoubtedly the highlight of this week’s PlayStation Store update (which, once again, ignores PSP owners altogether) is the release of the long-awaited BioShock challenge rooms, as promised earlier. For $10, you’ll be able to work your way through three separate scenarios: Rescuing a Little Sister from a carnival, killing a Big Daddy without any weapons, and tackling a series of rooms containing wave after wave of enemies.

Also new this week is downloadable content for Dead Space (various skin packs and weapon packs, ranging from $1-$4) and new costumes for Little Big Planet (a free Sack in the Box costume and a $3 LocoRoco pack which has five different costumes). Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour square off, with GH adding three tracks from The Raconteurs ($2 each of $5.49 for a bundle of all three), while Rock Band 1 and Rock Band 2 get three songs from Mission of Burma and three from the Dead Kennedys (both artists’ music costs $2 each or $5.49 for a bundle of all three songs). There are also four other songs from Crooked X ($1), Lacuna Coil ($2 each), and In This Moment ($2), which you can get in a bundle for $5.49. Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2 also gets five new songs, each for just $1.49.

Aside from that, there’s a demo of MotoGP ‘08 (which you can check out on PC at FileFront) as well as some videos, trailers, and themes of everything from NBA 2K9 to Hancock.

Sorry, PSP owners. I wasn’t teasing you — there really is nothing for you this week.

Keith Shetler, assistant producer at 2K Boston, has posted some news over on the PlayStation Blog that should get owners of BioShock for the PS3 pretty excited. The Challenge Rooms Add-On Content pack will be hitting the PlayStation Network today for $9.99 with two new play modes: New Game Plus and Challenge Rooms which are promised to add new twists to the game.

New Game Plus allows you to start a new supercharged playthrough of the game where you begin the game with any weapons, abilities, and inventory that you collected during a previous playthrough.

Challenge Rooms are puzzle rooms where the objective is to rescue a Little Sister where you can fight a Big Daddy without any weapons or try and survive room after room of Splicers.

It was hard enough as it was to bring down a Big Daddy, but the thought of trying to do it without any weapons pretty much terrifies me. Seriously, if you would have hooked me up to a heart monitor while I was playing this game, my pulse would have made the thing overheat every single time I encountered one of those bad boys.

The new trailer for BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams may have many questioning just what 2K Boston has in store for us with such archaic imagery, but there are those who are wonder just what else there could possibly be left to do in Rapture. What or whom survived the last round remains to be seen, but what we do know, thanks to a recent quote from 2K representative Charlie Sinhaseni on Gamespot, is that the game is “destined” for the PS3, Windows based PCs and the Xbox 360.

While a psychic barnyard animal could have predicted that, what we are still unsure of is if each port of the game will be released simultaneously or not. Hopefully, this time around that will be the case–that way those who wish to play the PS3 version will not have to once again wait an whole painful year to get the game on their system.

When BioShock 2 was officially announced back in March, Take-Two stated that not only would Ken Levine be involved in some capacity, but that the game would be released sometime during the company’s Q4 fiscal year, which means we can hopefully expect it to hit sometime between August and October 2009.

Granted, that is over a year away and a lot can happen between now and then, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that this time around everyone will be able venture back into Rapture on the same day. In the meantime, just keep your eyes glued to 1UP for a more official announcement.

If you own a PlayStation 3, there’s a good chance you were ready to buy Little Big Planet this Tuesday. But after the unfortunate delay we learned of earlier today, come next week, you’ll be walking home from the videogame retailer of your choice with one less game than you were planning.

Had the game come out this Tuesday as expected, it would’ve faced some stiff competition — although it seems unlikely that the inevitably huge sales of LBP would have taken much of a hit (and, if anything, these other games should be sighing with relief). With that in mind, here’s what big releases remain for you to come home with next week:

• Far Cry 2 (PC, 360, PS3)
• Fable 2 (360)
• Rock Band 2 (PS3)
• Wii Music (Wii)
• BioShock (PS3)
• Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (PC, 360, PS3, PSP, DS, Wii, PS2)
• Eternal Sonata (PS3)
• Midnight Club: Los Angeles (360, PS3)

If you also happened to come home with a copy of Petz Rescue: Wildlife Vet for Wii, I wouldn’t have judged you. That might not be entirely true, but what is true is that, with Little Big Planet now scheduled for release on October 27 (although with stingy retailers, that likely means Tuesday, October 28), gamers with multiple consoles are looking at another hard week on the wallet. Here’s what you might be picking up along with your copy of LBP:

• Fallout 3 (PC, 360, PS3)
• Guitar Hero World Tour (PC, 360, PS3, Wii, PS2)
• MotorStorm Pacific Rift (PS3)
• Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (PC)
• SingStar: Vol. 2 (PS3)
• MotoGP 08 (PC, 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2)
• Scene It Box Office Smash (360)

It’s truly going to be one of the most wallet-busting stretches in gaming history over the course of the next several weeks. We should probably be thankful there aren’t any new consoles releasing — unless you plan on picking up the new PSP 3000s or importing a DSi next month.And — tempted as you might be — selling an arm on the black market isn’t as great an idea as it might seem. If nothing else, it’ll make playing that shiny new game of yours much more difficult.

Cryptic has sent out an open invitation for gamers to submit applications for the Champions Online closed beta. The beta test is specifically for the PC at this time, although the MMO has been approved for the Xbox 360. You can get your name into the lottery by registering at the Champions Online site.

I can’t help but be excited to see what Cryptic is ready to put out there since I played it last summer at a press event. The graphics and animations were good and suited the comic book format. This is an opportunity to get in on the ground floor with a game that has promised to reinvent the superhero MMO. Cryptic cut its teeth on City of Heroes and has poured its experience into making Champions Online new game. I believe it’s a winner.

If the game is not enough to curb your appetite for simulated hoops, you can add a bit more of it to your life by participating online with “The Other Season“, which is an online fantasy league where gamers on PSN and Xbox LIVE get to play for NBA players actively participating as fantasy team owners. Players will be drafted into an NBA player’s NBA 2K9 fantasy teams, startedin October 28 so don’t be surprised if Chauncy Billups or Andre Iguodala happens to pick you. The winning team will have $10,000 donated to the NBA player’s charity of choice.

Additionally, 2K Sports have also announced some good news for PC by revealing that NBA 2K9 will be available for the PC come October 21. This the the first time the franchise has appeared on a Windows based system, and should deliver the same basketball simulation experience as the console versions.

Looks like basketball simulation will finally reach gamers on a “global scale” where hoop trash talk will not be limited to just console players anymore.

Both the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers have already been knocked out of the 2008 MLB playoffs, and the season is nearing its end. But gamers needn’t worry as there’s more MLB action to be had this year — albeit in a slightly different form than they’re probably used to. MLB Stickball releases this week for 800 Microsoft points ($10), and as the name implies, it isn’t exactly your traditional baseball game in downloadable form.

We don’t know a ton about the game, but it is 2K Sports’ first release on XBLA. You can buy and collect Topps MLB cards that will unlock their corresponding players for use in the game. Environmental objects like fire hydrants and windows can be hit when you swing, each having a different effect like being an instant out — which makes this sound closer to a Mario baseball title than MLB 2K8. You can listen to the Sports Anomaly guys talk about the game’s announcement right here or check out the game for yourself this Wednesday.

2K Sports has announced the soundtrack for NBA 2K9 which includes an original recording by The Cool Kids. The track “2k Pennies” is featured in NBA Blacktop streetball mode and is available for free on the 2K Sports website.

“Video games are an important part of culture and our lifestyle. For years we’ve been playing games, but have never been inspired by the songs in them,” said Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks of The Cool Kids. “When 2K Sports presented us with an opportunity to create an original song for NBA 2K9, we knew we had to create a song that embodied the sport of basketball. We had to make kids everywhere appreciate the song as much as the game.”

The Cool Kids will perform on the 2K Sports Bounce Tour. Other artists on the NBA 2K9 soundtrack include N.E.R.D, Santogold, Gnarls Barkley, The Pharcyde, and Beastie Boys with an exclusive track by DJ UNK. Here’s the full list of tracks:

• Beastie Boys — Root Down
• Blackwizard — Dem Nah Ready fe We
• Blockhead — Duke Of Hazzard
• Bloody Beetroots — Mac Mac
• Dangerdoom — Sofa King
• Dawn Penn — You Don’t Love Me (Extended Mix)
• DJ Rasta Root — RootZilla Beez
• DJ UNK — In Yo Face
• Gnarls Barkley — Going On
• Jamalski — That Undaground (Remix)
• Mochipet — Sharpdrest
• Mommy and Daddy — Pretty Loser
• Money Mark — Silly Putty
• N.E.R.D. — Spaz
• Nickodemus — Funky In The Middle
• Santogold feat. Switch & Freq Nasty – Creator
• Skeewiff — Light the Fuse
• Spank Rock & Benny Blanco — Loose (inst.)
• The Brand New Heavies — Jump ‘N’ Move
• The Cool Kids — 2K Pennies
• The Heavy — Coleen
• The Limp Twins — Moving Closer to The Sofa
• The Meters — Cissy Strut
• The Pharcyde — Passing Me By
• Ursula 1000 — Step Back (Deekline & Ed Solo Remix)

You can listen to selections off the NBA 2K9 soundtrack and purchase your favorites on the 2K Beats channel at www.2ksports.com/beats/games/nba2k9. NBA 2K9 launches October 7th for the PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360. PC fans will see the title October 21st.

Spore may be getting slammed by gamers for it’s insane copy protection now, but it’s certainly not the first game to be thrashed for that reason. In an interview with PC Zone, Ken Levine revealed that BioShock’s DRM caused a smaller uproar for only allowing the game to be installed on two machines at the same time.

“When we had the copy protection issues come out, I was out there talking about the product, I didn’t run away from that. And frankly I got some nasty f***ing threats. I think it’s important that somebody takes responsibility, and at the end of the day my job as creative director is to sort of be the arbiter of taste.”

Of course, BioShock’s copy protection at least allowed you to get one of your installs back if you uninstalled the game, whereas Spore’s does not. I actually remember the stir BioShock’s DRM caused, and it’s a little disconcerting to see that things haven’t gotten better in the past year at all.

Via CVG

Word came yesterday that BioShock on PS3 would have a mandatory 5GB install before you’d be able to start playing. Those hoping the install might give the PS3 an edge in the graphics department are going to find that the difference between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game are extremely minor at most.

A new comparison video we have up on GameVideos shows the two versions to be nearly identical. The biggest contrast between the two I was able to notice was the 360 version appearing to be slightly brighter — riveting, no? There’s no need to worry about any spoilers in the video, as all of the footage is from very early in the game.

We also have some other new videos of the game in action on PS3 as well as brief impressions of the new super-hard ‘Survivor’ difficulty mode which you can check out here.

With only a little over a month to go before Ken Levine’s wonderful world of Rapture is released on PlayStation 3, we’ve learned today that you might need to clear out some space on your PS3’s hard drive before playing. BioShock joins the growing list of PS3 titles with a mandatory install, with this one coming in at just under 5GB. According to Eurogamer (via videogaming247), the install takes a little over ten minutes which seems fairly inconsequential when considering how good a game you’re getting into.

During this year’s E3, 1UP’s own Giancarlo Varanini got to try out the PS3 version of BioShock, including some of the game’s exclusive downloadable content. It doesn’t do much to enhance the game’s story, but it did provide some puzzles with more complexity than that “1-2 punch” Atlus is so very fond of.

BioShock is scheduled for release on October 21 and will feature Trophy support out of the box. We’ll have more on the game as it gets closer to release, and in the meantime, check out the new ‘Action’ trailer that went up GameVideos just today.

Cryptic has released wallpaper of the super heroes and villains of Champions Online. The wily Foxbat, the valiant Justicar or the seductively wicked Mind Slayer can great you each time you fire up your PC.

I’m really enjoying the cell shaded comic styling of Champions Online. As a long time comic book fan, I’m looking forward to getting into this MMO. You can check out the wallpaper featuring other heroic and villainous icons on the Champions Online website.

Here are some of the most memorable Oh. My. God!!! gaming moments gathered together by the Edge staff. The selections include the latest games back to videogames from the media’s infancy. Their picks include Final Fantasy VII Aeris’ death, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion The Dark Brotherhood beckons quest line, BioShock “Would you kindly” sequence and from Portal, The “Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device.”

I have to fully agree with most their choices; all ten pages of wow gaming moments. My own personal favorite is The Secret of Monkey Island training sequence when Guybrush Threepwood learns the art of Insult Sword Fighting. I have to warn gamers that some of these OMG moments are spoilers and there’s no warning as to which entries qualify.