Sony has revealed through a recent press release a bittersweet announcement of sorts for fans of the God of War series. According to the company, God of War 3 is the last installment of the franchise and will mark the “epic conclusion” to the tale of the heroic and brutal Spratan, Kratos.

Anyone who watched the teaser trailer that was unveiled during the Spike TV Video Game Awards can tell you that the video was decently cool, but if this is the last of the series and they are expecting him to go out with a “bang” they better do Kratos and gamers a solid by literally giving us something that we can be satisfied with and more than anything worthy of His Destructiveness.

This time around, Kratos is rampaging through Mt. Olympus and Hell itself, reeking havoc on the gods who have betrayed him. Per his usual way of slaughtering his foes, he will be wielding his double-chained blades against mythological creatures and any other poor sap who has the misfortune to cross his bloody path of revenge.

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Spike’s VGAs had a few surprises besides Jack Black in his underwear. An exclusive trailer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves plunges gamers into Drake’s new adventures. It comes complete with a cliff hanger ending to whet your appetite for the upcoming PS3 exclusive.

Looks like Nintendo executives are rolling around in more money than ever if the NPD numbers for the month of November are any indication. Apparently the Wii sold over two million units in the U.S. which is twice as many as the same month for last year and if you add in the 1.57 million units sales of the Nintendo DS for November, you have some very happy people over at Nintendo.

Hardware and accessories brought in $2.91 billion for the month with console and handhelds claiming $1.21 billion of that figure.

Here are the top selling consoles and handhelds for the month of November:

1. Wii – 2.04 million
2. DS – 1.57 million
3. Xbox 360 – 836,000
4. PSP – 421,000
5. PlayStation 3 – 378,000
6. PlayStation 2 – 206,000

The November NPD numbers are in for PC titles for the month, and it should come as no surprise that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is on top–as a matter of fact it takes the top two spots out of the Top 20. If you look through the whole chart though, you will notice that World of Warcraft took five spots which is an indication that its popularity shows no wane in sight.

Call of Duty: World at War for the PC came in third, with Spore still pulling in the gamers and resting at number four, and Left 4 Dead took the number 8 spot which is a decent slot considering the PC powerhouses that are present on the chart.

1. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition
3. Call of Duty: World At War
4. Spore
5. Fallout 3
6. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
7. The Sims 2 Deluxe
8. Left 4 Dead
9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
11. World of Warcraft
12. The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Expansion
13. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
14. EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey
15. Far Cry 2
16. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack
17. BioShock
18. Spore Creepty & Cute Parts Pack
19. IGT Slots: Little Green Men
20. Assassin’s Creed

(Thanks Shacknews)

LittleBigPlanet has proved to be quite popular among PS3 users since its October launch in North America and Japan and November in Europe. The game has not been out for two whole months yet and it has already sold over one million units in the areas of release.

During the past six week, total sales in Japan are 0.9 million, in North America and Europe sales are at half a million in both regions.  These sales are only expected to grow as we get closer to Christmas, but with all the hype surrounding the game over the past year or so you would have expected the game to sell upwards of 2 million or more. By the end of the year we should know more for sure though.

If you would like to see the weekly sales chart showing the sales per region of LittleBigPlanet it is listed after the jump.  Big thanks go out to PS3 Hype for compiling it for easy access.

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Vanguard: Saga of Heroes players are getting into the holiday mood with The Festival of Gloriann. During this year’s event players will have several new features to the Vanguard MMO to celebrate. Sony is adding new race/class combos as well as enchanting. Fishing is also on the SOE gift list along with sailing in galleons and other surprises players aren’t allowed to unwrap yet.

Get ready for Atnas Claws to visit Telos, pass out those gifts and prepare for good things in your stocking this holiday during The Festival of Gloriann on Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.

The NPD numbers are in for November, and as far as console sales go, Gears of War 2 dominated the chart with 1.5 million units sold and Call of Duty: World at War coming in a very close second with 1.4 million in sales (for the Xbox 360 version).

Shockingly enough, Nintendo’s Wii Music came in last in the top 10, and while that in itself does not surprise me, the fact that it is even in the top 10 is what I am curious over. I suppose that the company’s stellar ad campaign was what did it, along with unsuspecting parents rushing out to buy the game on Black Friday because all the stores in their area were out of Rock Band 2 and World Tour. They probably thought that their kids would like it just as well, by they will unfortunately find out the hard way come Christmas morning.

Top Ten Games

1. Gears of War 2 (Epic, Xbox 360) – 1.56 million
2. Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, Xbox 360) – 1.41 million
3. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) – 796,000
4. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) – 697,000
5. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) – 637,000
6. Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch, PS3) – 597,000
7. Guitar Hero World Tour (Vicarious Visions, Wii) – 475,000
8. Left 4 Dead (Valve, Xbox 360) – 410,000
9. Resistance 2 (Insomniac, PS3) – 385,000
10. Wii Music (Nintendo, Wii) – 297,000

(Thanks VG247)

Sony has announced that LittleBigPlanet owners out there can now get into the holiday spirit with a little Santa suit for their Sackboys. It’s going to be completely free, but it’s also going to be a two-parter. Today, you can grab the red Santa jacket and pants, but next week is when you can download the signature beard and hat. Then you can craft that level where your Sackboy is pulled on a sleigh by reindeer to dispense gifts to all the children in the neighborhood, before he’s crucified by the government, who is then visited by three spirits that convince them to change their evil ways. That’s why we celebrate Christmas after all, isn’t it?

The VGA awards are this coming Sunday (December 14) and on this grand night the official trailer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will be debuting. In the meantime, extra details regarding the sequel to Naughty Dog’s swashbuckling hit have surfaced, and even a few scans from the latest issue of Game Informer, which I will not post because of copyright infringement reasons.

Anyway, according to the GameTrailers forum here are some of the details nipped from the piece:

• Melee combat is more dynamic
• Only 30% of the PS3’s power was used with Drake’s Fortune and but will be closer to 100% with Among Thieves
• A demo shown to GI depicted Drake going through a city (possibly Nepal), and he’s stealthily taking out guards and escaping the city
• Nolan North returns as Drake and Chloe Frazer (the new girl)is played by Claudia Black (Stargate SG-1, Farscape)). When asked about Elena and Sully’s return, they were met with “no comment”.
• There are no load screens
• The Sixaxis mechanics were ditched for such things as throwing grenades
• The story is based upon looking for the ships that Marco Polo “lost” while returning home to Italy
• One of the weapons revealed is a rocket launcher that Chloe uses (might only be for the cinematic)
• The score is being composed by Greg Edmonson (same guy from the first one)
• You can now move while aiming behind cover
• Weapons can be used in any stance (running, behind cover, hanging, climbing a wall, etc.)
• Every character fully interacts with the dynamic geometry moving around them, and environments in the background are real parts of the game world. If Drake’s on top of a train, he’s going to be shaking with the train as it moves around. As he gets inside, his move set is going to change, and he’s going to be a lot more secure because the wind’s not blowing.
• The graphics look better than Uncharted 1
• Button sequence cinematics such as the final boss have changed so now Drake is now fully controllable in these parts
• Climbing seems improved upon. You can climb lamp posts now among other new things
• If there is an enemy patrolling a rooftop you’re climbing a wall to, you can pull him off the roof while hanging on the wall.

Sounds great and like loads of fun especially with Claudia Black involved. Man she has a great voice (wink wink nudge nudge bob’s your uncle). If you want to check out what else was revealed, head on over to the forums linked above and the Game FAQS forum here.

The open beta for PlayStation Home starts today, and while not expected to launch completely until next year it has already drawn some raided eyebrows, especially from Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg– who as we all know is one to always speak his mind with no qualms about the reaction to it. His recent criticism of Sony’s PlayStation Home is no exception, and as a matter of fact he thinks it is outdated.

Speaking with Kotaku, Greenberg stated that Home looks like Second Life for hardcore gamers without broadening the players experience or inviting them in:

“What Home to me feels like is Second Life for hardcore gamers. It doesn’t feel like it broadens the experience and invites people in. When they unveiled it, it seemed innovative. I think what’s happened is now here we are a couple of years later and we feel beyond that. It feels like 2005 tech in 2008. I’m not sure that’s what people want.”

He also went on to say that he feels there is still a “huge gap” between what Xbox Live can offer gamers compared to Sony and while Sony’s service is free, Microsoft will not be cutting the subscription prices for member because they are “”willing to pay for the premium experience”.

Anyone else getting sick to death of Microsoft constantly trying to remind people that they are superior to Sony and berating everything they do? Between that and the back and forth between fanboys for each system, it sometimes makes me wish I did not own an Xbox 360.