Lucky for us we got to sit down at RAGE and get in some good time with the most anticipated title for the Xbox 360 this holiday. After a solid hour or so of multiplayer, it was obvious Epic Games were not just resting on their success with Gears 1. Last Updated: October 6, 2008

The big news earlier this year was that Final Fantasy XIII was coming to the Xbox 360, however the odd news that followed it was that the 360 version wouldn’t be making an appearance in its homeland of Japan… This struck me as a bit odd as if you are going to go multi-platform why would you give one platform …

If you don’t know what Rage is I’d suggest you climb out from under that rock cause any self respecting South African gamer would be able to tell you it’s the biggest computer, gaming and technology expo we have in South Africa. Last Updated: October 6, 2008

Well blow me down it appears that I was utterly and completely wrong. I have been telling everyone not to expect a local price cut as we have already had a large one and are very competitively priced at the moment. However Microsoft seems to want to make it even easier to get into HD gaming and to be honest …

The issue that we all face is that with game prices being what they are, not everyone can afford to splash out on every game that interests them and in many cases, gamers and consumers in general are left to the opinions and impressions of a game reviewer to let them know whether or not a title will be worth their hard earned money.... As a game reviewer, albeit one that is fairly new to the game, I understand that I have a responsibility to our readers to give them a fair and truthful impression of my experience with a game. Even though experiences will change from person to person, we still have the ability to explain the games' positive and negative sides and give the reader a good idea of what he will be getting himself into if he decides to purchase that game. While all the above is required for a game reviewer to do a decent job, there is one thing that reviewers seemed to have forgotten, an important element that makes up the very reason that we play games in the first place: Fun.... Is it because the gaming industry has grown so much, adding more pressure to reviewers as they realise that their words are being read by more and more people everyday?... More importantly, most gamers actually get the time to fully experience the games that they play as opposed to being hammered with a ridiculous deadline that destroys any chance of allowing the reviewer to actually enjoy it to it's fullest. We also need to ask how important any technical aspects of a game are and whether or not they give us sufficient reason to recommend or condemn a game. Now we all know about the age old debate of how important graphics are to a game but I am speaking about something completely different.... While I would never defend a company that has not done a great job of ensuring a flawless experience, one must wonder whether or not a few minor issues are enough to completely shoot down a game, especially if the game is still a whole lot of fun. One has to wonder if some of the seasoned reviewers out there have actually fallen so deep down into the business side of the gaming industry that their views have become jaded. If you take the new Lucasarts effort, The Force Unleashed, you will see that many reviewers have claimed that the gameplay is no fun and that the force powers don't feel as fun as they should. Back in the real world, I have now had the chance to speak to a couple of everyday gamers who have been playing through the game and to tell you the truth, I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't told me that they are having a nothing but a great heap of fun with the game and the force powers.... Reading through many of the review summaries on Metacritic, I have to wonder what reviewers are so scared of lately.... What I am seeing lately is that I will read through two dozen review summaries that all leave me with a positive outlook on the game.... EGM and 1UP have now switched to a letter grading system (A+, C- etc.) because they feel it gives a better indication of the games' worth and also puts it into a grading system that many of us can relate to.

Gears of War 2 is going to be including an entire new set of horrible enemies that are hell bent on dismembering and destroying us. This new video from Epic goes into more detail about some of the new locust "baddies" and looks set to impress in a big way. While most of the are looking seriously vicious to say the least ( a Boomer with a big machete for instance), the real star in this video is the new big badass, Skourge. While this ticked off bloke looks incredibly similar to a Predator, he looks quite intent on doing some serious damage. Throw in the fact that he wields a double-sided chainsaw staff and you can see that he is set to scare the pants off of just about anyone that has to face him. In short, he looks like the kind of guy that General Raam would have referred to as "Sir". Come closer November, pretty please.

It seems that according to chain supply issues, the Fable 2 Limited Edition has had to undergo a few changes. Lionhead announced yesterday night that the premium box, five printed fate cards and Hobbe figure will no longer be a part of the limited edition. The limited edition will now be cut down from $79.99 to $69.99, so even though there will be a few missing pieces, the price will reflect it as well. Interestingly enough, to make up for it, Lionhead are releasing quite a few free goodies to keep all of their fans happy. Find out more after the jump. They have since updated their post to announce that they will make the fate cards available as downloadable print ready PDF's saying: "By a suggestion made in the comments of this entry, we're going to release the Fate Cards as a downloadable PDF for you to print, plus we can also confirm the new LCE version will have the original LCE artwork)." To soften the blow even more, Lionhead announced that for a limited time, they will have a Fable album available on their site that will contain a selection of music from the original Fable as well as 3 new tracks from the upcoming Fable II. The current Limited Edition will now officially contain the following content at a reduced price: * Fable II game disc * Bonus DVD with new ‘Making-of’ Feature * Bonus in-game content (requires Xbox LIVE®) o ‘The Hall of the Dead’ Dungeon o ‘The Wreckager’ Legendary Cutlass Weapon o Spartan armor and energy sword If you want to get a hold of the free album, follow these instruction given by Lionhead: Go to http://www.sumthingdigital.com , and enter “FableCollection” promotion code. This will be available beginning October 6, 2008 @ 9am PST. Good on you Lionhead! Way to keep the fans happy, I am impressed.

Penny Arcade fans will be overjoyed to hear that the second episode and follow up to the Ransacked Platypus of Donkeys (that was it's name, right?) is set to release this fall ( our spring) with a new adventure and plenty of new improvements. According to Hothead games, the new episode has undergone a couple of great improvements by listening to fans and adjusting the game accordingly: “Episode One was a huge investment for us and established a great base from which we built Episode Two. It allows us to focus even more on the fans in developing future games in the series,” “Our new game has a lot of great enhancements that were made possible by direct fan interaction and we are extremely excited to get our game into their hands and get their feedback.” If what they are saying is true then I am sure that gamers can look forward to a great experience with the new episode. Can we please get a large discount on Episode 1 now please?