A kotaku reader “Saad” writes:

“I, being a Pakistani, was so excited at seeing a Karachi map and then immediately so disappointed when I played the map,” says the Karachi resident. The map has Arabic written all over, even though that isn’t the country’s language.

More inside…

A short, but promising clip from Two Worlds 2. The original game can be purchased on Steam for the modest fee of £13.99, well worth the money while you gear up for the sequel.

Just read this amazing article from arstechnica.com where Michael Thompson tackles the history and story of companies introducing religion to the gaming world, I couldn’t imagine paraphrasing this fantastic bit of work so I will leave you to read the page yourself.

Enjoy.

BioWare have released a new full cinematic trailer for the upcoming title Mass Effect 2.

Looks promising.

Video inside

Just a quick message to say merry Christmas to everyone visiting and on the subscriptions, hope we get to spend many more with you all, enjoy yourselves and eat and drink until you feel sick!

Microsoft has announced it will allow users to download games via the LIVE platform, they are calling it “Games on Demand” .. not exactly catchy but its all in the name. The service will be an almost clear copy of Xbox Live for the PC with achievements, games scores, voice chat and all the rest.

Microsoft has a dirty past of muscling their way into the industry by throwing large amounts of money around, this is great news for competitive prices but when the money start flying around so do the issues, it will take them quite a show to topple the Steam on-demand empire(monopoly) with Steam not exactly being bad to us in the past.

Games on Demand will enable Windows users to purchase LIVE-enabled games directly from the Games for Windows LIVE app. Microsoft’s mission? “Our goal has always been to create a seamless online gaming experience for the Windows community, and Games on Demand is a great step toward that end.”

The future of Iphone gaming is in testing! The guys at anandtech.com got a sneak preview of a modified Unreal 3 engine demo running on the Iphone and Ipod touch, there is much work to be done but the video will show you that they are almost there.

I think controls are the biggest hurdle now, limited screen space and fat fingers would ruin an otherwise playable game. Perhaps the answer is in the accelerometer technology, either way we are in for some decent handheld fun in the near future.

Article here

Square Enix’s role playing cash cow Final Fantasy XIII sold over 1.5 million units in its first four days on store shelves in Japan, reports tracker “Enterbrain”. The game has also boosted PS3 sales to nearly 235 thousand units this week alone leaving Sony with a warm feeling this Christmas.

The english version, which is released on PS3 and Xbox 360 hits our shelves in March and is expected to sell in similar numbers. Final Fantasy as a franchise can claim some 92 million units sold worldwide. The last in series, Final Fantasy XII for the PlayStation 2, sold over 2 million copies in Japan alone.

Sony Online Entertainment is now offering premium Station Account access to anyone with an active subscription starting the 17th of December free of charge and bonuses to Station Cash starting the 23rd of December.

Games affected are:

EverQuest®, EverQuest® II and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes™.

More information available here

Following an outright ban of the upcoming Alien vs Predator title by Rebellion and a subsequent appeal made by Sega Australia the game has now been allowed for sale to anyone over the age of 15. The ruling was overturned without the need for Rebellion to make any cuts, trims or edits to the original game.

Sega Australia’s general manager, Darren Macbethn says “It is with great pleasure that we announce the success of our appeal. We are particularly proud that the game will be released in its original entirety, with no content altered or removed whatsoever. This is a big win for Australian gamers. We applaud the Classification Review Board on making a decision that clearly considers the context of the game, and is in line with the modern expectations of reasonable Australians”.