The game was originally scheduled to ship this coming spring. 'Aliens: Colonial Marines is a process of creativity and invention and those don't necessarily follow the structure of an assembly line,' SEGA and Gearbox Software said in a statement sent to Game Informer.

'While setting clear goals, deadlines and predictions is helpful, they are often subjective. We don't want to sacrifice the creative process just for the sake of following a blue print. We prefer to have the creative discovery shape that blue print because our goal is to make a great game, and we are prioritizing this goal over the previously targeted date.'

Rayman Origins is headed to PC both digitally and in boxes on March 29 at the friendly price of $29.99--not a full-price release like the console editions. Certain stores, including Ubisoft's own, are offering a downloadable copy of Rayman 2 as a pre-order bonus.

Retail editions will have "no DRM at all," Ubisoft told Rock, Paper, Shotgun, while digital versions will have a one-time online activation. What unexpectedly sensible DRM from Ubisoft! Of course, Ubisoft said the same of From Dust yet that required an online check every launch time the game launched, until that was patched out a few weeks later. Fingers crossed, gang.

January 26, 2012 -- Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the beta release of the Steam application for iOS and Android devices.

With the Steam app, gamers around the world may chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for their favorite games, read the latest gaming news, stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales, and more.

"The Steam app comes from many direct requests from our customers," said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. "Seeing which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale - these are all features customers have requested. Mobile is changing way people interact, play games and consume media, and the Steam app is part of our commitment to meet customer demands and expand the service functionality of Steam to make it richer and more accessible for everyone."

Those who wish to join the beta just need to download the Steam app (free of charge) and log in to their Steam account via the mobile app to express interest in the beta. Gamers will be added to the Closed Beta as the service ramps up.

Steam is a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC and Mac games with over 40 million accounts around the world and over 1,800 titles offered.

New major adventures set in new locations. These consist of an underground system of chambers beneath Loc Muine and a temperate coniferous forest in the Loc Muine mountains, and a secret cave passage. These new adventures will add several hours of story-based gameplay to the game.

New major characters to the Witcher story. One of them is Brigida Papebrock Dame. This noble woman comes from the Temerian family Papebrock and is a 30 year old lady-in-waiting of the Temerian court. The other characters are secret--for now!

All new animations and cut scenes, including a new, three and a half minute pre-rendered cinematic depicting the assassination of King Demavend of Aedirn. BAFTA Award winner and Academy Award nominee Tomasz Baginski brings this key historical event to life, setting the stage for the story told in The Witcher 2.

Unlike Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which has been focused upon specific functionalities and concepts, we are aiming to establish a platform where various services available through the network for our consumers shall be connected via Nintendo Network service so that the company can make comprehensive proposals to consumers.

The publisher's plans are as follows:
Personal Accounts for Wii U - Nintendo will now allow personalized accounts for its next home console, which will allow multiple users per system. Online profiles will no longer be system-based. "We will also be able to construct and offer the [personal account system] by combining a variety of different services and content," Iwata said.

Digitally Distributed Packaged Software - Nintendo is exploring the idea of selling full retail games through the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. The company is not willing to say when this program will start, but it now has the full ability to do so. Iwata noted Nintendo would need to consider retailer relationships first. He also noted SD card space limitations would be another factor. "The significance of this business field will increase," said Iwata.

Paid Downloadable Content - As we've heard previously, publishers will now be able to offer paid DLC for different games, starting with Square's Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, which will allow players to purchase new songs for the rhythm-based game. The title releases in Japan on February 16.

- January: "Liberation" map, "Piazza" map
- February: one map
- March: one map, two missions
- April: two maps
- May: one map, one mission
- June: one map, one mission, one mode
- July: two maps
- August: one map, one mission, one mode
- September: one map, one mission


As always, non-Elite subscribers will find out when they can download this DLC… soon.

Nintendo's next generation hardware will be roughly twice as powerful as Microsoft's current system, the Xbox 360, according to a studio source speaking to Develop.

The person, communicating anonymously from a studio currently building a Wii U title, said the new Nintendo console could achieve roughly twice the processing and graphical potential of Microsoft’s current generation machine.

While twice the power of an Xbox 360 is broadly above market expectations, Develop's source claimed this is in fact less than some studios had expected. "I've heard [a project designer] complain it's underpowered compared to what Nintendo announced, resulting in people having to de-scale their plans," the source added.

Nintendo’s persistence with non-disclosure agreements means that it has been difficult for Develop to cross-examine the source’s claim, which was made late last year.

However, yesterday a separate insider source told IGN that the next generation Xbox will be "six times as powerful" as its predecessor – the key addition being that this will mean it yields a "20 per cent greater performance than Wii U".

That unverified calculation, if true, echoes claims from the Develop source who claims the Wii U is far more powerful than current expectations.

Experience the Riders of Rohan - Join with the Rohirrim and ride across the sprawling Plains of Rohan; witness the breaking of the Fellowship at Amon Hen; forge alliances with the Ents of Fangorn; and aid Éomer, adopted son of Théoden, as he seeks to protect his homeland from the growing Shadow.

Introducing Mounted Combat - Ride into Combat atop your loyal War-steed as you defend the people of Rohan from the forces of Isengard and Mordor. Customize your War-steed's armor and level its skills over time to aid you in mounted defense of King Theoden’s lands. Mount your steed and gather your fellows to fight against Warbands, contingents of roving warg riders that have been scouted all over the Plains of Rohan! It falls to you to head off and defeat this new threat before they over take the land.

Advance to level 85 - Continue your legend in the next chapter of The Lord of the Rings Online. Experience new adventures in the epic story, and gain new skills and deeds as you face new challenges on your journey to 85!

Following initial reports from tech blogs Fudzilla and SemiAccurate, our sources have confirmed that mass production of the system's GPU will indeed begin by the end of 2012 but will not, however, be based on AMD's 7000 series Southern Islands GPU. Instead, the processor will be derived from the 6000 series, which was introduced last year. More specifically, it will be akin to the Radeon HD 6670, which offers support for DirectX11, multidisplay output, 3D and 1080p HD output. The chip currently has a market price of upwards of $79.99.

In real terms, the Xbox 720's raw graphics processing power is expected to be six times that of the Xbox 360 and will yield 20-percent greater performance than Nintendo's forthcoming console, the Wii U.

Few key trends - first, the price of 42 inch LED backlight TV sets, including those with 120/240 Hz refresh and 3-D stereoscopic capability, has now dropped so close to the 32-inch TV set level that, unless you really have no space at home for one, it makes no sense to choose 32-inch over 42-inch. The prices manufacturers quote for 100 plus units now, for a 42-inch FullHD LED TV, are less than US$ 300, and just another 20 - 40 bucks more if you want 3-D. In fact, one vendor quoted just US$ 259 for a non-3D FullHD LED 42-inch set. Once you could the export and GST, plus extra sample charge, you could have one at your home for some S$ 500, I guess - and I'm talking of good quality panels with zero dead pixels (including Shenzhen's own 8.5G panel factory now on line), and reasonably thin casing margins around the panel, meaning not a too bulky TV.

Then, even more interestingly, the very large panels - up to 55 inch - got progressively cheaper, and with them the prices of large 50-inch and 55-inch sets. Now, you can get a 55-inch FullHD LED TV, non 3-D, for around US$ 780 if buying, say, 20 units. Add 3-D functionality, again, for a few bucks. If you add the sample charges and taxes, it's still less than S$ 1,200 - just figure out the way to carry it here, of course

QuakeCon, North America’s largest BYOC (Bring-Your-Own-Computer) LAN party, returns to the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, TX on August 2-5. Those interested in attending can reserve special room rates at the hotel by calling 1-800-Hiltons and ask for the QuakeCon 2012 rate ($154 per night).