Paradox Interactive continues to the be the go to publisher for the kind of epic strategy releases that are all too rare these days. Recently Hearts of Iron 3 showed how a real strategy war game should be.

Now Victoria II sets out to simulate the running of a nation state in the last two centuries. How well does this extremely deep game succeed - read on for Jakob's review.

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Do we have a Facebook page? Yes we sure do.

And here it is.

And we also have a Twitter feed.

There's nothing like a public holiday for burying bad news. And Microsoft seems to be attempting that here in the UK with the news that it's making a mean spirited price hike to the Xbox Live service.

The price hike affects the US, UK, Mexico and Canada and is detailed below:

You've got to wonder if someone at Microsoft has been drinking too much bong-water, the current Xbox Live prices were at the top of the scale of what seemed reasonable already.

Source: Major Nelson

Why unfortunate? Because Firaxis has announced that the demo of the long-awaited Civilization V won't actually be released until the day the full game hits store shelves.

"The Civilization V playable demo release date is September 21st; the same day as the North American release date of the full game.

"The question many of you are probably asking now is “didn’t you say it would be available before the release date?” The answer to that question is yes, I did. At the time of that announcement, we expected to be able to get the demo out before the 21st, but unfortunately we weren’t able to finalize it in the timeframe we had initially planned, and for that we’re very sorry.

"However, we have managed to get it out the same day as the North American release. So for those of you who have been waiting to try out the demo before buying the game, you can still do that with enough time left to run out to the store (or purchase on Steam) and have the full game on the same day as everyone else."

Source: Firaxis

Ubisoft has confirmed that Ubisoft Red Storm has made 38 employess redundant - hower the company says these members of staff were given a choice of positions at other Ubisoft-owned studios.

"Red Storm remains an integral part of Ubisoft's worldwide production team and will continue to work on the multiplayer component of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier," said the publisher.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is due for release in early 2011.

Source: Shacknews

As the name suggests, the hardcore armour effects really are something you'll see hardcore Halo: Reach players being able to earn.

After all - you have to be pretty hardcore to sit through hundreds of hours of ignorant racist smack talk by pre-pubescent mid-westerners.

There will be four hardcore armour effects at the game's launch, with more to follow later.

Check out the details from Bungie after the jump:

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Blizzard has announced details of the forthcoming 1.1 update for epic strategy game Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty.

Many of the changes are the typical balance tweaks we see after the release of a multiplayer strategy game.

You can read more details after the jump:

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It looks like we've seen the last of Acclaim. The original Acclaim Entertainment bade us farewell in 2004 only to return in the form of Acclaim Games.

Now it looks like Acclaim didn't make the transfer when owner Playdom became part of Disney.

We regret to inform you that all Acclaim games will no longer be in service effective August 26, 2010

- says a notice on the company's website.

Rockstar Games has just sent word that a new DLC package is to be released for Red Dead Redemption.

The new pack combines an expansion of the free roam multiplayer experience with a new competitive mode and a devastating new weapon – The Explosive Rifle.

The Liars And Cheats Pack will be available from 21st September on PSN (£7.99) and Xbox Live (800 Microsoft points).

Check out the full announcement after the jump;

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Yesterday I was invited over to Electronic Arts to play NBA Elite 11. I used to be quite a fan of basketball games but I grew bored of their lack of evolution and more importantly player involvement.

Can EA Sports turn around the malaise in the genre and create a basketball game that will appeal to gamers who may not be fans of the sport?

Well, let's see...

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Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game launch trailer. The game is now out on the Playstation Network and on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

You can now download a playable demo of R.U.S.E, the interesting new realtime strategy game from Ubisoft.

January 1944. The Allied offensive in Italy aimed at stopping the Germans from withdrawing by attacking them from behind. However, the Germans - aided by the remaining loyal Italian units - were much stronger than Allies had been led to believe until then... Play through a full mission designed exclusively for the R.U.S.E. demo.

The demo is currently only available for PC via Steam, grab it here.

What's new in your local games store today? Well not a whole lot - but there is Mafia II. The game has received some mixed reviews buy the word on the street is that many of these reviews have been too harsh - just as they were with the first game.

XBOX 360
Mafia II

PLAYSTATION 3
Mafia II

WII
10 Minute Solution
Gormiti
Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns Arcade
Rayman Rabbids Party Collection

PC
Mafia II
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Radioactive Edition

DS
Gormiti

Namco Bandai has a tasty Collector's Edition of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West lined up.

The package includes a hard-backed artbook and original soundtrack on CD. The game is set for release in Europe on October 8th.

Meanwhile there's been no announcement of a Collector's Edition yet for the North American launch on October 5th.

Check out the full press release after the jump:

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EA Sports has released a short video which shows how the stamina and fatigue attributes have an effect on player abilities in the forthcoming football game.

Check it out after the jump:

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Bohemia Interactive says it has updated Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead to version 1.54.

Along with many fixes (lord knows the game needs them) there's a chance to sample some of the content from the forthcoming Arma 2: British Armed Forces expansion.

Two of the most interesting new features are the new Artillery Computer and the revamped and much more powerful Engineers.

Read all about these after the jump:

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I know what you're thinking - "Harry you've done bugger-all work today while Adam has been the only one posting on the site."

Partly true folks, but only partly.

I spent much of the day travelling to and from Electronic Arts HQ. I went along to chat to Producer Nick Channon and play NBA Elite 11. The new game is mighty impressive and I'll tell you all about it later this week.

But for now it's time to open a cold one.

Activision has released the full track list for the upcoming DJ Hero 2 and boy is it a list.

A whopping 105 tracks is set to release with the game on October 22nd for 360, PS3 and Wii, including everything from 50 Cent to Daft Punk to the Pussycat Dolls, and a whole load more.

Full list after the break.

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Two videos shown at last week's gamescom have been released by Valve, offering a snippet of Portal 2's latest wizardry in action.

The mutual theme is bouncing, but via two very different methods: Repulsion Gel and Faith Plates, both of which make for some truly mind-bending puzzles. I'm a little afraid of this game now.

Click through to check out the videos.

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EA has released a new trailer detailing what to expect from the limited edition version of Crysis 2.

The package comes with bonus XP, a weapon skin, a weapon attachment and unique dog tags.

Check out the video after the jump.

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