More than 50 vintage Playboy issues can be browsed in Take Two’s upcoming video game, Mafia II.

Well, it looks like Sony has a little treat for PS3 users now that they’re able to turn their consoles back on — it’s just announced that it has signed up all six major studios to deliver HD movies on the PlayStation Network (the first company to do so, as Sony is happy to point out). That includes 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures… MORE!

It’s time for change in the video game industry. Graphics are getting better, gameplay is evolving, and expectations are rising. The following games need to take that next step to stay relevant in the ever changing gaming landscape.

It was announced today that four Lady Gaga songs are being released in the Rock Band Music Store for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. And in a classic case of lead-burying, it was additionally revealed that Eric Cartman’s version of Gaga’s “Poker Face” would also be made available in the store.

Another thing that’s awesome about Japan: Video game designers are often seen as rockstar celebrities.

A new report from the PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) states that PC gaming software revenues hit $13.1 billion in 2009, up three per cent year-on-year.

Conducted by market research firm DFC Intelligence on behalf of the PCGA, the report took into account global software sales in all forms, including traditional retail and digital distribution.

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Rebellion is said to have axed 20 staff from its Oxford headquarters, while the company appears resigned to closing its Derby studio.That’s according to a Develop source, although Rebellion has yet to confirm the details of the report.

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Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé has said that the company’s not yet “thinking seriously” about a Wii successor.

“… When the software developer comes forward with an idea that can’t be executed on the current platform, that’s when we start thinking seriously about the next system,” the executive told Forbes. “We’re not there yet, from a Wii perspective.”

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A supposed Netflix survey suggests that the US firm is entertaining the possibility of bringing its movie and TV streaming service to Nintendo’s DS handheld.

“How likely would you or someone in your household be to instantly watch movies and TV episodes on your Nintendo DS via a Wi-Fi network?” the survey asks (via Kotaku).

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Infinity Ward has confirmed that the first downloadable content for Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is set for release on March 30.

The content will be a timed exclusive on Xbox 360, releasing on PS3 and PC “at a — yet to be announced — later date”, according to the developer’s community manager, Robert Bowling.

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Planning to attend this week’s conference or follow the coverage on Gamasutra? We here present a relatively succinct guide to a conference jam-packed with fascinating and diverse talks, including guides to many promising sessions from top-notch international speakers.

EA DICE’s console-targeted shooter makes its second foray into the market this week, and here senior producer Patrick Bach discusses the series’ and the gaming audience’s evolution — and how that touches the game’s design.

Certified Scrum trainer and veteran developer Clinton Keith takes a look at the state of agile acceptance at gane studios, using survey data to identify common stumbling blocks, and presents here comments from developers on the process at their companies.

Just what will the achievementization of the world mean? Author and game designer Ian Bogost ponders Jesse Schell’s DICE talk and blends his interpretation with research. Will it work… and, more importantly, is it good?

We already told you that Sid Meier’s Civilization IV was finally getting a sequel with Civilization V later this year, and then we showed you the trailer that contained absolutely no gameplay. But now we’ve actually seen an early build of the game, and we can tell you how hexy it is. That’s right, forget about old Civilization games which only had four cardinal directions to choose from when moving your units; this installment ramps that up to to six. That’s right! Two whole new directions! It’s a brand new game! In all fairness, it is Civilization but Firaxis made plenty of substantial changes to it. Besides hexing it up, they’ve also added ranged units (think archers, artillery, ICBMs, etc) and taken out the ability to stack units up into an army. Also, only one unit can occupy a spot at any given time, meaning you won’t be able to bulldoze your opponent from one hex. They’ve also built an entirely new engine for this game, meaning you’ll see some really nifty stuff … provided you have a DX11 card. […]

It seems like almost a year ago that I first saw Mafia II. That’s probably because it was almost a year ago that 2K Czech (formerly Illusion Softworks) demoed live gameplay from the title (which had been announced nearly a year and a half before that.) Today, it was time to finally get my hands dirty as a virtual wiseguy, but first I had to put some clothes on. In all seriousness, protagonist (I guess he’s that, right?) Vito Scaletta had just woken up after a pretty wild night (judging by the various undergarments strewn around his bachelor pad) when my demo kicked off, so I of course jogged around turning on faucets and flicking light switches before actually doing what the game was instructing me to do: Get dressed. Leaving Vito’s apartment, I stepped out into a world as pitch-perfect in its depiction of the 1950s — the cars, the clothing, the architecture, the music — as I can imagine. So what if the car that I hopped into and the place I was driving around — Empire City — never existed in any re. […]

Three delays later, Mafia II looks like it’s finally (finally!) getting ready to launch. It’s been a long journey, and we spoke with 2K senior producer Denby Grace during GDC about the development time and what we can expect from the ambitious crime saga: We’ve been waiting a very long time for this game haven’t we? Denby Grace, senior producer: The reason for the delay is polish. You’ll see the game looks great as you play today. It’s just not quite perfect, which is what we at 2K generally strive for. It’s what we want to be known for, the quality of our games. Just having come so long, it would be foolish to release it too early. Are there any specific reasons for the delay? What needed to be polished? Technically there are a few things: the framerate isn’t quite on the money yet. It’s just the whole experience. One of the things we’re spending a lot of time doing is focus testing. We’re testing about twenty people a week. And it’s getting that difficulty curve right. We want it to be hard, but we don’t want it to be impossible like Mafia I. I don’t know if you played the first game, but there was one mission when we shipped the game. Literally everyone failed until we released a patch. So we’re really, really conscious about delivering a really balanced, proper difficulty curve. And the. […]

Sorry, it’s not a sequel to King of Kong, the documentary that showed the battle between ruthless Billy Mitchell and nice guy Steve Wiebe to become the world’s best Donkey Kong player. This is a new guy on the scene, 35-year-old plastic surgeon Hank Chien, who’s just taken the world record in the game according to Twin Galaxies with 1,061,700 points after a two-and-a-half-hour session. Chien says he expects that the honor will keep him “pelvis-deep in cocaine and highly desirable to sexual partners for all of my days.” Or at least we bet he was thinking that.

There is a new King of Kong originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s a bit of backstory for those of you who don’t follow the hot Baltimore news scoops: Sheila Dixon, once mayor of Baltimore, became the former mayor Baltimore after being indicted for embezzlement earlier this year. One of the main pieces of evidence in her trial was an Xbox 360 prosecutors claimed she purchased with gift cards given to her by local developers, which were supposed to be given to various charities. The telltale 360 recently appeared in an eBay listing, attracting a number of prospective buyers hoping to get their hands on the game console/slice of Baltimore history. If you’re interested in owning a device which is capable of single-handedly ending someone’s mayoral career, the auction is still running. Its price is significantly higher than a standard console, but you’ve got to pay a premium for all that history. [Via

FIFA producer Tristan Jackson walks us through this Wii demo of 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa from GDC 2010!

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“Wii | 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Game Demo” was posted by Jan on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:32:25 -0800

We suffer a nasty cut above the eye with our latest look at EA’s upcoming mixed martial arts brawler.

The public slanging match between THQ and EA’s competing mixed martial arts franchises has been heating up of late, with both sides more than happy to take shots at each other, including UFC VP Don Gold and MMA fighter King Mo. EA is the latest to take a swing, unveiling more details on EA Sports MMA at an event held overnight at GDC 2010.

Oh yes. There will be blood.

While our last look at the game focused more on what EA’s overall goals were when it came to transferring the brutal sport of mixed martial arts to home consoles, EA’s GDC even. […]

We get a demo of some of the new features in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 on the Wii

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“Wii | GDC 2010: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Wii Demo” was posted by takeshi on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:56:29 -0800

Check out this Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 on Xbox 360 demo straight out of the EA Sports Season Opener GDC 2010 event.

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“Xbox 360 | GDC 2010: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 Xbox 360 Demo” was posted by franka on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:15:35 -0800

We get a demo of the long awaited sequel to Puzzle Quest straight fromt he game’s producer, at GDC 2010.

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“Xbox 360 | Puzzle Quest 2 Demo” was posted by Tyler on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:06:40 -0800

Zenonia 2: The Lost Memories (iPhone)Gamevil’s epic adventure sequel marches ever closer to the iPhone.

iPhone gamers versus PC players. That’s the future Namco imagines.

Mafia II (X360)Crime pays.

Mafia II (PC)Crime pays.

Mafia II (PS3)Crime pays.