Far Cry 2 has been given an autumn release date according to CVG.

Throwing the player in 50km of African land Far Cry 2 looks, to me at least, to be a sure fire contender for Game of the Year. The graphics in all the videos we have seen are gorgeous, the game promises to give the player masses of freedom and even the action looks good!

My only fear is that it will have been altered from the original concept since work began on the 360 and PS3 versions. I still have high hopes regardless and am really looking forward to this.

So I have just got an achievement in a game. I broke every bone in my body and my driver is now dead. And that got me an achievement. Wow! What game is this, well this is Red Lynx’s Trials 2 Second Edition.

A little video interlude right now to show off what Trials 2 is all about.

A video for Trails 2 Second Edition can be seen here.

Wearing helmets certainly seems advisable. In my short testings of the trial version of Trial 2 I think I killed my drive outright twice and knocked him unconscious at least twenty times. This is the most fun I have had with a demo for…well I think ever!

Packed full of achievements, multiple courses, online high score tracking and loads more this is one action packed, physics fuelled game. For more information head over to Red Lynx.

Thanks to Rock, Paper, Shotgun for the lead.

I have taken the plunge and upgraded to the new version of WordPress! I am now running version 2.5 RC2 (more information here.) which provides me with a completely new admin set up, it is very nice!

Other new features - Gravatar - simply head over to the Gravatar site sign up and select an image. Use the same email there and here and you will have an avatar when commenting. Pretty cool!

Other new feature is a new anti-spam tool, lets wait and see how it works!

So on with the show, enjoy.

A ‘Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack’ has been dated for release on the 360 and the PS3 in April. For those who want this DLC on the consoles they will £6.80. However us PC fans are having to wait a bit for a release date and to find out whether we will be paying for these new maps.

Right now plans for the PC version are unannounced but we are working to bring PC users the same content in the future, however logistics are being worked out on how to make that happen.

That is what Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling has said over on his blog.

What does he mean ‘logistics’ are being worked out? The only way I see it is that Infinity Ward are wondering whether we should be paying for these new maps or not. Of course if we are to get them for free then the 360 and PS3 gamers are going to be wondering why they had to pay for what we get for free. Conversely if we have to pay for these new maps then there is sure to be a backlash against Infinity Ward for charging us for what we normally are able to get for free.

I guess we shall have to wait until we hear more on this issue, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that we too will have to pay for the privilege to play these new maps.

Everyone loves the Weighted Companion Cube. They loved it so much that when the plush version was originally made available on the Valve Store that it sold out within 24-hours. Luckily for all of you who failed to get your Companion you now have the chance to get it. Yes the Weighted Companion Cube is back in stock!

For $29.95 you can get the Weighted Companion Cube Plush for the Fuzzies. Knowing how fast they went originally you best hurry over to get them at the Valve Store.

Now if only I had the money spare to splash out on this! By the time I can afford it…it will be out of stock again :(

Sometime last year I read an article in PC Gamer about a little game called Masq. I went and downloaded the game and immediately fell in love with it for its extremely strong story and general brilliance. Earlier this year in my weekly PC column on 411 Mania I talked a little bit about Masq. Soon after that Javier Maldonado got in touch with me and we decided to do a little Q&A. What you read below is the result.

Javier talks about the beginning of Alteraction and Masq, the development of the game and his thoughts on the story in video games today.

Chris - How did Alteraction come into being and what is the company ethos?

Javier - A few years ago I was looking for way to participate/play in a movie-like story, meet exciting characters, etc. However, all that I found were games which seemed to be trying to stop me from living and enjoying the story, either with twitching challenges or difficult puzzles. And the story was not that good either. So I decide to make my own. I figured many others would enjoy playing these kinds of “games” so I decided this was an enterprise for the long term to trigger a new game category. I went to some friends and asked them to invest some money–and Masq and AlterAction were born.

Chris - Masq is brilliant, how did the game come into being?

Javier - It was inspired a little bit by David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and Latin-American Soap operas. Over many years I wrote and programmed Masq in Macromedia Director. My wife was my editor and main tester. I even drew the first three episodes, but soon we came to the conclusion that this was too much work and we needed some help, so we set up an office in Mexico where we hired local artists. In the US, well known game designers such as Ken Melville and Noah Falstein helped me to localize Masq in English and introduced me to everybody in the gaming industry. I must say that with a few exceptions, the industry was very dismissive.

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And that means that I am heading off for a few days to visit family. I shall be back on Monday I hope, so see you all soon!

According to Games Politics the all important (to the UK at least) Byron Report is due to land on March the 27th.

I must say I am highly anticipating the report being published to see how Dr Tanya Byron has navigated her way through what is bound to be a mass of conflicting arguments, and also to manage the current anti-gaming sentiments in the Houses of Parliament.

This report could be make or break for the UK gaming industry and its significance cannot be underestimated. It the report is straight down the middle as it should be, then we should expect to see recommendations for legally enforceable age ratings on games and a recommendation to adopt the PEGI rating system over the BBFC.

I can’t wait to see what the report says, it will be of great benefit to me in my university dissertation. Soon we will find out what will happen here in the UK.

Steamworks, the ultimate developer’s companion from Valve has been picking up some good support over the past week.

First off was the announcement that Red Orchestra was getting the Steamworks treatment which was soon followed by the addition of Ninja Reflex onto Steam in a ‘Steamworks Edition.’

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It seems that the company once most closely associated with the PC, id Software, have realized that the console market is where the money is nowadays. Steve Nix of id has revealed that the company can no longer afford to ignore the ever increasing console market for FPS games. However, they are still determined to support the PC.

“So you still have PC players, and some players are just console guys, but have players moved over? Absolutely. We love PC gaming, and we continue to support PC gaming - but you can’t ignore the market realities and the size of the console market these days.”

The PC-Console and the ‘PC is dying’ debate seems to be hotting up by the day now, can we expect to see Gabe and Co. at Valve turn around next and abandon the PC, well no, but the trend is there among many developers.

GamesIndustry.biz