Midway sends along the latest Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe trailer, pitting Sub-Zero against Batman and Superman versus Raiden. The video offers gameplay footage and cinematic scenes.

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Due out on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe hits stores November 16.

Retailer listings brought to our attention by Joystiq show that the PC port of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV may have seen a quiet two-week delay. Product pages for the game on both GameStop and Amazon now list the port as releasing on December 2. The game was initially scheduled by Rockstar for a November 18 release.

The PC port of Grand Theft Auto IV is expected to feature both graphical and gameplay enhancements, including a video replay editor and additions to the title's multiplayer component.

Shacknews has contacted Rockstar for comment on the date changes.

Ubisoft has released a duo of trailers from Ubisoft Shanghai's Tom Clancy's EndWar--which, as you can see below, may in fact be a prequel to Fallout 3.

The voice-activated RTS is set for a November 4 release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

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Click through for the second video. ... Read more

Midway today released a montage of finishing moves from its upcoming fighting game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (PS3, 360).

The bloodless trailer arrives a day after the news that several of the game's fatalities were tweaked in order to earn a T for Teen rating by the ESRB.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe hits Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 16.

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Swedish developer Avalanche Studios is preparing to lay off 77 employees--nearly half of its 160-person workforce--after losing two contracts for unannounced games, GameReactor and Swedish outlet FZ report.

"We have given notice that it's our intention to lay off 77 people," Avalanche CEO Christofer Sundberg confirmed with GamesIndustry. "I'm very positive that we'll get back on our feet again. But will we become a 160 employee studio again? I'm not sure."

The two cancelled projects were valued at $34 million, with one cancellation reportedly stemming from a lack of funding while the other was a result of a new family-friendly focus for the unnamed publisher. The global credit crisis played a factor as well.

Though every team will lose some members, Avalanche's two announced projects, the open-world shooter Just Cause 2 (PC, PS3, 360) and free-to-play PC effort The Hunter, are still under development. According to Gamasutra, Just Cause 2, once expected this fall, has now been delayed until next spring, while The Hunter is in open beta.

MotorStorm Pacific Rift (PS3), Evolution Studios' freshly released off-road racing sequel, is set to get a whole lot of downloadable content in the form of weekly updates.

"Once we're all rested its back to the development bunker to finish off the DLC we have lined up for you guys in the coming months," said director Nigel Kershaw to CVG. "You'll be glad to know, a lot of it is free," he added.

"We're going to try and give you something new to play with every week," Kershaw explained.

For those who find weekly DLC updates for the off-road racer a bit excessive, there will also be major content packs available less frequently. Those packs "should be on the [PlayStation] store after Christmas," according to the director.

D3 Publisher has released the first screenshots from Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, the action game from Vicious Cycle starring the fictional retro hero Matt Hazard.

Essentially a sweeping parody of action games across the years, Eat Lead offers zombies, space marines, cowboys, and genetic mutants all in the same package. We have concept art in addition to today's screenshots. Speaking of screenshots, can you pick the picture that was sent to us as "beating the meat.jpg"?

Matt Hazard's triumphant emergence will go down in early 2009 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Following a number of complaints, Guitar Hero World Tour publisher Activision has admitted that a "certain drum kit controllers" are suffering from sensitivity issues.

The company believes the defective kits stem from an "isolated manufacturing issue" that occurred early on, with those affected urged to contact customer support.

Activision also noted that it will soon offer players a "drum tuning kit" to ensure drums are properly optimized, and said it will perform more random quality tests.

Guitar Hero World Tour arrived on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii this past Sunday, with reports soon coming in of defective drums and guitars. Today's statement only applies to the drum kit issues--the company has not offered a statement on the guitar woes some report--with the controllers covered under warranty.

Activision's full statement follows:

We have learned that certain drum kit controllers manufactured for Guitar Hero World Tour have sensitivity issues. We believe that these controllers are limited to ones in the earlier manufacturing stages... Read more

With publisher Capcom claiming that the long-awaited HD Remix of Super Street Fighter II Turbo is "coming very shortly," the company has provided new screenshots and pink-heavy artwork from the downloadable PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 fighter.

Downloadable Jimi Hendrix and The Raconteurs tunes will hit the just-launched Guitar Hero World Tour next month, publisher Activision Blizzard has revealed.

Following the R.E.M. Track Pack on October 30--a two-week Xbox 360 exclusive--and Oasis Track Pack on November 6, the Jimi Hendrix Track Pack will arrive for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners on November 13, while November 20 will see the release of The Raconteurs Track Pack for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

While The Raconteurs tracks will be available on all three platforms for individual purchase, the announcement indicates that the Hendrix tunes will only be sold in bundle form and will not be available on Wii.

Jimi Hendrix Track Pack - November 13 (440 MS Points / $5.50)
• If 6 was 9
• Little Wing
• Fire (Live)
The Raconteurs Track Pack - November 20 (440 MS Points / $5.50)
• Salute Your Solution - 160 MS Points / 200 Wii Points / $2
• Hold Up - 160 MS Points / 200 Wii Points / $2
• Consoler of the Loneley - 160 MS Points / 200 Wii Points / $2

On the Xbox Live Marketplace you can now find a demo for Tomb Raider: Underworld, the eight Lara Croft adventure due out November 18.

Available in all Xbox Live regions, the demo is a 1.27GB download and contains an introductory mission set in Thailand. In addition to Xbox 360, Tomb Raider: Underworld will also be released for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Nintendo DS.

Fallout 3 is a PC game. Sure, it's an Xbox 360 game, too. And it's a PlayStation 3 game, I guess. It's also an RPG, technically.

But when you get at the heart of it, Fallout 3 feels like a game designed for the PC. It has the soul of a big-boxed, full-manual, five-CD game from 1998. It has all the complexity and addictiveness of a System Shock, or a Deus Ex--or, yes, a Fallout.

And when I say "game," I mean it in the most ambitious sense. It's the kind of title that rekindles that 90s spark of imagination, when the borders of gaming were less defined, and anything seemed possible. From the opening moment, it's the kind of work that has you thinking: "Goddamn--this is a real game."

Not just another collection of cutscenes and shooting galleries. Not just another roller-coaster ride with a slightly different track. Fallout 3 is a deep, interactive experience; a compelling blend of crafted art, inventive quests and open world freedom.

Less a ride and more a trip down a lazy, apocalyptic river, Fallout 3 has a strong current in its central quest line. But it's the option of abandoning the raft--and killing your raft-mates, and stealing their stuff, and selling it to a zombie trader for a quick buck--that makes it something gamers should not miss.

Above all else, this is a game to savor... Read more

Rock Band publisher MTV Games has clarified the release schedule for the still-pending Wii version of Harmonix's Rock Band 2, stating that the game's special edition bundle containing instuments will arrive in "late December."

Recently released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2, the music-rhythm sequel has always been planned for December for Wii, but what part of December that would be was unknown.

Rock Band 2 for the Xbox 360

The confirmation arrived in the mailbox of Destructoid in response to retailer musings that the game wouldn't see light for Wii until January.

In fact, a precedent exists for Rock Band releases dangerously late into the holiday season. At last year's launch of the original Rock Band, the PlayStation 2 edition arrived on December 18.

Censorship and Bethesda's Fallout 3 (PC, 360, PS3) are good friends, and the two just got a little closer: Bethesda has asked gaming websites including Shacknews to pull all trailers for the open-world RPG.

The request came from Bethesda marketing VP Pete Hines in an e-mail which is reproduced below. The e-mail does not delve into the reasoning behind the decision, but says the request is "in connection with ESRB's advertising guidelines."

The move comes on the eve of Fallout 3's release, with thousands of retailers ready to start selling the game at midnight tonight, and follows a widely-reported public complaint regarding depictions of post-apocalyptic Washington DC in Fallout 3 ads.

The ESRB struck last year when news outlets including Shacknews were asked to remove trailers for D3 Publisher's Dark Sector, with the rating board citing "gameplay montages [which] have been deemed to contain excessive or offensive content."

The full e-mail from Hines follows... Read more

Ads for Bethesda's Fallout 3 (PC, 360, PS3) appearing in the DC Metro definitely hit close to home with images of post-apocalyptic versions of the Washington Monument and the Capitol Dome--too close, for one reader of the Washington Post who took issue with the ads.

"The people of our city do not need a daily reminder that Washington is a prime target for an attack," wrote Joseph Anzalone in a letter to the editor of the Post which was noticed by GamePolitics.

"We do not need a daily reminder of what our worst fears look like," added Anzalone. "Since any First Amendment objection would be irrelevant (the ads do not present a true viewpoint or political message and would therefore not be protected), there is no reason for these ads to be part of our daily panorama," he continued.

"The ads should be removed, and the appropriate office at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority should be directed to exercise better judgment regarding what can be displayed in our transportation system," concluded the concerned citizen.

Although Anzalone's interpretation of the United States Constitution is a little inaccurate--the ads fall under free speech, protected by the First Amendment--it's clear that the ads are having the intended effect, even if that effect leaves a bad taste in the mouths of some.

Sure, it's not out until next February, but that doesn't mean Midway is going to let you forget about its open-world, Vin Diesel-starring driving-action game Wheelman.

Today's new screenshots hail from the "Bringing It Home" mission, which seems to put PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 players in a fierce, no-holds-barred semi-on-semi battle. Meanwhile, a new gameplay video examines the game's second missions.

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Monolith's spooky shooter sequel F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will be available through PC digital distribution platforms Steam and Direct2Drive on February 10, the same day it hits retailers, publisher Warner Bors. announced today.

Originally titled Project Origin, the sequel was renamed earlier this year after Warner Bros. and Monolith acquired the F.E.A.R. property from previous owner Vivendi.

In addition to the PC, F.E.A.R. 2 will hit PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on February 10.

EA has released a new trailer for its Black Box studio's Need for Speed Undercover, the latest in the arcade racing series. This time, a lengthy gameplay video shows lots of the in-game world and the ease of pulling common tricks like doughnuts and 180s.

No matter which platform--PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS or PSP--Undercover shifts into top gear on November 18.

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Volition's Saints Row series of over-the-top, open-world action gaming will get a third entry, and it will take what associate producer Dan Sutton called "a new direction."

"We've already started work on Saints Row 3, and ... we wrap up a lot in this one," said Sutton to Play in response to a question about the endings about the first two Saints Row games.

"We have a new direction we want to go in with that which we of course can't talk about," he added. In the meantime, Volition has plans to step up production on DLC for the just-released Saints Row 2 PS3 and Xbox 360 editions, with the PC version due later.

"I know we're going to come up with a lot more," Sutton stated, indicating that the sequel's DLC would take on a greater scope than the first game's downloads. "Now we're looking at multiplayer maps, another story arc, new characters," he explained.

The video game zombie invasion continues, as it was revealed over the weekend that Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War (PC, 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS) contains an endless zombie-slaughter mode for up to four players.

The mode, which is unlocked by finishing the fifth Call of Duty game releasing November 11, plays like the Horde Mode of Epic's Gears of War 2, but with undead Nazis in the place of more monstrous Locust.

CVG writes that players earn cash by killing zombies, which is then used to purchase weapons and equipment. Zombies respawn endlessly in waves, and reportedly Treyarch themselves have only managed to reach wave 23.

Video of the mode has appeared on GameTrailers, which we've embedded below... Read more