We’re giving out Heroes of Newerth beta invitiations! If you don’t know about it check out http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/. We’ll give them out on a first comment-first serve basis and they aren’t infinite so leave your email address to get one!

UPDATE: We’ve had an overwhelming response! Please leave your email address in the actual comments and if you receive a key come back and invite users who want one!! We can only invite a certain number unfortunately – so give back!

It’s finally happened. Final Fantasy VII is on the Playstation store, for PSP and PS3. If you’ve played it before I’m sure you’re also busy swallowing the 1.3GB download (although it’s apparantly only going to take 55 minutes), but if not go and get it!

It’s without question in my mind the best Final Fantasy game, and I’m hoping it won’t feel old (as some older games do). The graphics were amazing (as was the story) and it’s really a part of the epic history of the game franchise.

Check it out!

I didn’t like it at all. There was so much hype surrounding the game, that for me, it just didn’t live up to the expectations created by all the mad stories and bloated press releases. I would like to say something detailed about the game and what I didn’t like, but to be honest, I don’t remember. The game was just that for me, forgettable.

Now it’s time for part 2, and I wonder if it will go the same way.

So far, it looks like they’re going the viral route. They’re giving just enough of nothing to give you something, but not enough of something to give you anything. There’s a teaser trailer on the official site done to the style of the famous Da Vinci blue prints. That’s already establishing quite a level of expectation for the game, Da Vinci sketched finned mortar shells after all.

Now I am torn. In my mind I’m thinking “Holy shit, this is going to be epic. It’s a guy with a blade as his arm” but at the same time I’m thinking “What the hell was level 1 :/”.

April 16 has been given as the date for more information to be published in Game Informer, and we will probably be given some more pictures and the plot of the game. But until the game is out, and people have actually played it and the hype has died down. I don’t think I’m going to be spending a cent on this franchise.

Here’s some artwork as well as the teaser trailer…

I’m going to go ahead and assume majority of the blog readers have played Promisance (aka Prom) at some time; if you haven’t you can google it. It’s always fun to play once in a long while and when one pops up everyone seems to get in to it but there is a new, more graphical and more in depth online (once a day style) game called Travian.

It’s by no means brand new, but its new to me and I’ve been enjoying it for more than a week now (on Server 7).

When you start out you get a section of land, covered in resources and a city centre with hundreds of options of where to go from there mainly focussed around either being a military force or a market leader. There are thousands of players online at any given stage, and if you want to join them have a look! [and its free of course]

I don’t know about you guys, but for me COD4 was one of the best online games I’ve played. Sure there were some teething problems, but they fixed those and ended up with a killer product.

Modern Warfare 2 has a release date currently set for the 10th of November, and personally that couldn’t come sooner.

Additionally, Activision Blizzard acknowledged the “Call of Duty” series will move forward yet again with “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ coming this fall. No details on the game were released. [via]

As soon as I find out some more details, I’ll be sure to post them here.

“Last year we had probably beaten most expert expectations by growing the Call of Duty franchise over the tremendous success that was the first iteration of Modern Warfare,” he said. “For 2009, Modern Warfare is coming back, we expect it will be the most anticipated game of the year. Perhaps the number one game of the year despite the fact that it’s only going to launch in the holiday season. [via]

In the category of best thing to ever happen, Mass Effect 2 has been confirmed for the PC and Xbox 360! Unfortunately BioWare’s follow-up to the 2007 sci-fi action RPG is only arriving early 2010 :(

That Electronic Arts and BioWare have been at work on a follow-up to 2007′s Mass Effect hasn’t exactly been a guarded secret. The term “Mass Effect trilogy” has been bandied about by EA brass since it acquired the studio in 2007, with CEO John Riccitiello most recently pegging the game for a multiplatform release in early 2010. Of course, that reveal was quickly followed by the game’s first teaser trailer last month.

There isn’t any news on what the mission will entail, aside from the fact that is a far greater threat to humanity than the geth and get this fans: your Commander Shepard will live on, so don’t lose those save games!

When I go looking for a game and don’t have anything specific in mind, often the cover art is what gets my attention. To me, if the cover of a game looks good then there’s a better chance that the game will be just as good.

Tutsplus have put a top 40 list together of what they think are the best video game covers. It’s no surprise that the list is kind of relative to the sales and/or success of the games too.

While video game cover art is often as carefully designed as any movie poster, this area of graphic design is rarely given much thought. In this post we’d like to change this by high-lighting 40 brilliant examples of game art and explaining why they are so darn good.

Personally, my favourite game cover from that list is for Little Big Planet. Too bad it’s so damn pricey, I would love to own that game :(

The Xbox 360 version of Fallout 3 has taken some graphical criticism in the past, but good news is finally here for Microsoft gamers – a recently released patch brings the same level of shine available on the PS3 accross!

UK, March 5, 2009 – A recent update for the 360′s version of Fallout 3 is carrying a significant visual upgrade, with the addition of specular maps bringing the textures of the game in-line with its PC and PS3 counterparts.

No more will you have to suffer the less detailed textures:

…which appeared flat on the Xbox 360 – an issue that’s been addressed with the latest patch, which brings specular maps to certain textures in the game (that’s shinier graphics to you and me).

Read on at IGN

The story line follows a race known as the Atlantians who created a mysterious and powerful material that they came to depend on, once it ran out their powerful race fell but remnants of them survived.

You are a descendant of the Atlantians and tasked with the quest of finding your ancestral home:

You will embark on an epic journey that will take you to mysterious and dangerous locations around the world, as well as through time and human history. You will enter countless battles against creatures of legend and lore, mutated and deadly due to the influence of Oriharukon. But you will have the help of mercenaries you meet along your way, facing enemies together. You will collect clues from the remains of ancient civilizations, which will ultimately lead you to the lost land of Atlantis, and all the secrets kept there.

Whats so great about the game? It’s got exactly the parts you need: auctions, towns, clans, quests, items, armor etc – anything you’d expect from WoW/Conan/WAR but it goes further in two places:

Number 1: Guilds – this is done very nicely. My guild owns and manages a town called Prague (yes most of the map is real world). As I rise in rank I can improve the town in various ways. As I newbie I can attract people to the town (if they make it we all get XP) and I can use the town for my various needs.

As I progress I can buy buildings, set the taxes etc – which other gamers pay when they use our towns facilities (banking, travel agency) etc. It’s very well done, and I haven’t seen it anywhere else!

Almost everyone is in a guild, and just by being in one you contribute but you can become really involved and make a real impact and get everyone experience. Also, the average person is very friendly on Atlantica.

Number 2: Combat and party – I love this as well. You have a main character but also a party all of whom you control. There are many types of mercenaries who you include in your party and who level up with you. You’re main character has more customisation options etc but each individual mercenary has skills and spells to use.

When you battle, you’re party battles against another players or against a group of mobs. It’s played as a turn based battle where you execute your moves (using action points) and then the opposition does the same – like an old school Fallout! All your characters level and can use customized items etc.

It really is a great game, and worth a try – if you do try it or have tried it let us know!

Rainbow Six Vegas 2. That is the answer – docmoo and I have played virtually every co-op console game and if I had to guess I’d say we’ve played (each) over 200 hours of Rainbow 6: Vegas 2.

Its simply that good – if you play co-op and you haven’t tried it you must – immediately.