Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is almost here. What more needs to be said?

Go ahead and hit up the full list, or, if you're looking for a particular system, skip right to the PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS or PSP section. Should you want to check out any past release lists, scope out our handy archive.

Modern Warfare 2 will be on North American store shelves Tuesday, November 10. The rest of this week's retail releases should be available by Wednesday, November 11.

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Normally I'm not one for animated .GIFs, but this recent classic really strikes a chord with me.

No, it's not commentary on any one particular issue, person or concern. Instead it's just a wonderful catch-all for what seems to be an ever-increasing wave of negativity.

Why's that? Because, quite simply, haters are gonna hate. Have a good one!

Milla Jovovich (or at least it seems to be her, though it's not a verified account) started twittering her fingertips off from the set of the Resident Evil: Afterlife. If you're into the series or filmmaking her intertwined commentary on both might be fun to follow for a while.

When I saw that story on Rage with Carmack where he says that he doesn't think they'll have dedicated servers I did a double take. Why on earth would you jump right into that hornet's nest? And then he says, "We'll see how it works out for everyone else." Great plan there, except wait, you just didn't wait. And then he goes on and speculates that whether they support mods may be up for discussion too? What on earth is going on? It's like last night while hanging out after dinner the lack of dedicated server support in MW2 came up (again). We were outright laughing about how you even come to the conclusion to make 9 vs. 9 the max team size.

But that couldn't put a damper on what's been a great week that's lined up plenty of fun for the weekend. Left 4 Dead 2 demo, Dragon Age, Torchlight...you know what that sounds like?

Weekend Confirmed!

• Dragon Age Patch Makes Easy Easier
• New Trailer for Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
• Torchlight Patch Out and Up on Steam
• Win a Heroes of Newerth Beta Key
• Carmack Says Rage Unlikely to Have Dedicated Servers

If you haven't seen it already check out the newly revealed Porsche Boxter Spyder. As the press release says, "166 mph -- with the roof open."

And if you're still up for more Square put an anagram puzzle up on the Final Fantasy XIII site. "Solve this anagram to find out what lies ahead: A Henchmen Inventor Tent Unto."

A report in VentureBeat tells a tale of software piracy in our own backyard, and its serious consequences.

Eighteen-year-old Christian Del Amo was arrested by Miami-Dade police officers yesterday after allegedly attempting to sell pirated copies of Modern Warfare 2.

On October 30, Activision Blizzard hired online investigation firm IPCybercrime to look into suspicious posts on Craigslist advertising Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 bundles for sale, roughly a week and a half before their release date.

Posts in the piracy forums on xbox360iso.com seemed to indicate that Del Amo had obtained a copy of the game and cracked the copy protection this past weekend. The fact that pirated digital release copies of Modern Warfare 2 hit the torrent sites the next day doesn't seem like mere coincidence.... Read more

A small flood of new media for the upcoming Tony Hawk: Ride has hit the streets.

Here are some new screenshots, followed by a "Gameplay Vignette," and another video that shows off the new wireless, motion-controlled skateboard peripheral.... Read more

In a post on his blog Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb explained how Microsoft plans to handle access to Twitter, Facebook, and Last.FM through the widgets due to arrive in the next update by Live accounts registered to a minor. As has been the case in the currently ongoing preview, when the update arrives Live accounts for those age 13 to 17 will not be able to use the new tools. Microsoft made this decision to, as Hyrb put it, "offer an age-appropriate environment for everyone."

The complete lockout is only a temporary solution. Hyrb goes on to say, "the development team is working on an update that gives parents the choice of which social applications their children can access." These access controls will likely be incorporated into the existing Family Settings that allow parents to control such things as who their child can communicate with, who can see their profile, and similar settings. Hyrb said that the team expects to have this patch ready several weeks after the update hits and promised an exact date as it gets closer.

A new trailer for James Cameron's Avatar: The Game arrived today. It showcases the alien world of Pandora and its colorful, yet aggressive denizens, the Na'vi. Players face them as RDA Corporation Soldiers and giant armored mechs in fights ranging through the jungles. Alien panther-like animals and large red rhinos are thrown into the mix, for good measure.

Players will be able to fight alongside RDA Corp, or side with the indigenous aliens when Avatar arrives on December 1 for the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PSP and Wii. You can check out our previous coverage of Avatar: The Game here.

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The "Imperial Agent" is the sixth class to be revealed for Star Wars: The Old Republic, joining the Trooper, Smuggler, Jedi Knight, Bounty Hunter and Sith Warrior classes.

"The Imperial Agent always has the right tools at the right time," BioWare community manager Sean Dahlberg said of the gadget-heavy class in a forum post. "They use abilities of subversion and subterfuge to infiltrate and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire with deadly efficiency. Players who choose to be Imperial Agents in The Old Republic will see the underbelly of the Empire in a whole new light."

While BioWare's announcement of the class lacked any screenshots, IncGamers soon rectified the situation. As before, there's been no official word as to when BioWare's anticipated PC MMO will launch or what business model it will use.

Having already made his Rock Band debut in with another band, Jack White returns to Harmonix's music game franchise with a selection of tracks from The White Stripes as The Damned and Kasabian toss songs of their own on the downloadable wagon.

Due on Xbox 360 and Wii Tuesday, November 10 and PlayStation 3 on Thursday, November 12, each of the following tunes will go for the usual asking price of $2 / 160 Microsoft Points, with three-pack offering a slight savings at $5.50 / 440 MS Points.

The White Stripes Pack 01
• The White Stripes - "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground"*
• The White Stripes - "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine"*
• The White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
• The Damned - "Smash It Up (Part II)"*
• Kasabian - "Club Foot"*

*Also available in the family-friendly LEGO Rock Band Music Store.

Continuing to highlight the various tweaks of Super Street Fighter IV, Capcom Japan has issued a new trailer that outlines some of the new modes. And while the Japanese text makes some things a little hard to understand, smashing cars is universal.

Packing new moves and new fighters, including T.Hawk and Dee Jay, the enhanced re-release of Street Fighter IV hits PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next spring.

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While id is still deciding exactly what the multiplayer component of Rage will entail, the studio has said that the shooter is unlikely to support dedicated servers on PC. "It's not cast in stone yet, but at this point no, we don't think we will have dedicated servers," id technical director John Carmack told Variety's The Cut Scene before noting "things are cooking along well" for the PC, Mac, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title.

Infinity Ward recently revealed that its anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would not support dedicated servers, a decision met with vocal opposition.

"The great thing is we won't have to be a pioneer on that," explained... Read more

Update: Gyromancer will sell for 1200 Microsoft Points / $15, a representative of publisher-developer Square Enix has confirmed with Shacknews.

Original: The downloadable collaboration between Bejeweled maker PopCap and Final Fantasy developer Square Enix will hit PC and Xbox 360 on November 18.

A puzzle-RPG a la Infinite's Puzzle Quest, Gyromancer combines the quest and experience mechanics of traditional role-playing games with combat based on the color-matching gameplay of Bejeweled. No price yet, but we'll keep you updated.

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Today we've got another wave of 500 beta keys to give away for S2 Games' impending Defense of the Ancients-inspired strategy-RPG Heroes of Newerth (PC).

Our last batch of beta keys went faster than hotcakes slathered in maple syrup, so if you're interested in trying the game out, it's best to grab one while our supply lasts.

As before, begin by downloading the trailer from FileShack. Once you click the big orange "Download Now" button, you'll be instantly entered into the beta. The key is then automatically sent to the email account tied to your Shacknews user name, with instructions on signing up and downloading the client also provided in that email.

Major digital distributors Direct2Drive, GamersGate and Impulse have refused to stock Infinity Ward's highly anticipated shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on PC due to its reliance upon Valve Software's rival distribution platform Steam, Voodoo Extreme reports.

"We believe strongly that when you buy a game from us, you shouldn't be forced to install and run a 3rd party software client to be able to play the game you purchased," D2D explains in a statement masquerading as a listing for Modern Warfare 2 in its store. A representative later told Kotaku "We don't believe games should force the user to install a Trojan Horse."

Modern Warfare 2 on PC will use Steam and Valve's Steamworks framework for DRM purposes as well auto-update, achievement and anti-cheat features, among others.

However, both Direct2Drive and GamersGate sell ACE Team's Zeno Clash--which requires Steam. D2D also offers several other Steam-based titles... Read more

"Gunshots signal a return to fear and darkness," declares this trailer for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. Then, a few frames later, it bills the game as "a terrifying gun shooting experience" with "horror so realistic it will make your pulse race."

Oh, and don't forget that "fate lies in the darkness." That's bound to be key when Cavia's on-rails Wii shooter makes its way to North American stores on November 17.

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Warhammer Online developer Mythic Entertainment has introduced an unlimited free trial for its fantasy MMORPG to replace the previous ten-day trial introduced in March.

Characters on trial accounts will be restricted by a level cap of ten and confined to two 'Empire vs. Chaos' zones--Nordland and Norsca--plus three instanced PvP scenarios and one dungeon, though they can of course play them for as long as they please.

Mythic recently merged into a "RPG/MMO studio group" with fellow EA subsidiary and Mass Effect developer BioWare. Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic as well as lead designer on Warhammer Online, departed in the shuffle.

Update: Our randomly selected winners are: porjay, bVork, R4di4ti0n., ndegruchy, cheilman, Lionhart32935, waxthirteen, kingdok, Creepin_Jeezus, asrivastava.

If you're among the above ten, check your Shackmessages for details. If not, don't be too hard on yourself--it was random, after all--and keep an eye out for more contests.

Publisher Majesco is bringing several of its older PC titles to Good Old Games, so to celebrate, the digital distribution outlet has supplied us with giveaway goods.

Double Fine's supernatural action-adventure Psychonauts ($9.99) and GlyphX's sci-fi action game Advent Rising ($5.99) represent the initial offerings... Read more

Update: Those who purchased Torchlight on Steam will be pleased to know that the update has now arrived on the digital distribution platform.

Original: A sizeable update for Runic's magnificent action RPG Torchlight has begun rolling out across its various digital retailers, with the 418MB Client 1.12 compatible only with copies bought direct from Runic itself now available over on FileShack.

The update's many changes include bug fixes, balance tweaks, the ability to change difficulty mid-game and reduced loading times--a change which necessitates a complete reinstall with the new client, so be sure to keep your saved games safe.

Those who bought Torchlight elsewhere must wait for their distributor to release their own individual versions, a forum post by Runic's Travis Baldree explains, which have been delivered to all vendors except Steam--whose version still requires testing.

• Fixed several issues which could overwrite saves, and protected against possible save loss. Save backups are now... Read more

"SKATE 3 is just too big to have been released as a downloadable expansion," producer Brian Lindley tells me of the sequel announced just shy of eight months after SKATE 2 arrived.

"We're adding several new features and a entirely new city in Port Carverton, so SKATE 3 is an all-new experience," he says. Among the various additions are a focus on team play, new tricks, the Skate.Park editor, the Skate.School training mode, and new challenge modes designed around co-op.

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And just how does this focus on forming the "ultimate team" affect the single-player portion of EA Black Box's stick-flicking skateboarding sequel... Read more

"It was among the most heinous incidents in video game history," says Nintendo of Princess Zelda's first kidnap ordeal, explaining with the aid of a new Spirit Tracks trailer that "for the first time in [the series'] 23-year history... Princess Zelda is leaving the villainous clutches of the underworld behind and joining the adventure with Link."

Keen-eyed viewers might notice that Zelda's body appears to have once again been abducted and the poor dear is left a spirit haunting clanky old suits of armour and obeying Link's every command, but we suppose any progress is good progress.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks hits the DS in North America on December 7.

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