The "E" in RUSE must stand for "epic." (Don't bother trying to tell us what the rest of RUSE stands for though, because nobody knows -- seriously.) This latest trailer really shows off the dramatic scope of this RTS, and features tank units, airplanes and even some of the Nazi's nasty V12 rockets. Check it out above.

Do you live smack in the middle of Virginia and thirst for a gaming event to kick off the second decade of the 21st century (we're almost at flying cars, people!)? MAGfest seeks to fulfill that desire with it's annual video game festival. The show's organizers pledge to entertain you with everything from a 10,000-square-foot game room to a 24-hour "JamSpace" room (we assume that's different from a JellySpace room). Tickets are $40 for the weekend (Jan. 1–4) and pre-registration has already begun, which includes admission to each evening's gaming themed concerts, including a New Year's Eve party.

In the most recent edition of Iwata Asks, Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata gathers up Takashi Tezuka and Toshihiko Nakago for a thorough discussion of their time with the company, the many projects they've worked on and their 25-year-long partnership with Shigeru Miyamoto. Let's break it down: Takashi Tezuka and Toshihiko Nakago both started at Nintendo around 1984, helping to shape everything from Balloon Fight to Super Mario Bros. These guys were part of the team that developed Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda -- at the same time.

During the 10-page chat, a plethora of interesting tidbits are revealed about some of the game industry's most influential Nintendo titles. Did you know that Zelda was initially designed as a dungeon game without an overworld? Or, how about the revelation that World 1-1 was created last, after the rest of the levels in Super Mario Bros., and designed implicitly to teach the game to non-gamers? The chat even gets into the lurid sleeping arrangements of Miyamota-san and Nakago-san while on business trips for ExciteBike (spoiler: it's not that lurid).

Click to "super" sizeCody isn't the brightest of the Street Fighter bunch, is it? The Final Fight star made his first appearance in the series in Street Fighter Alpha 3, having just escaped from prison. Apparently, he hasn't figured out how to remove his manacles (nor has he changed out of his incriminating garb) in the several years between the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Street Fighter II, nor in the time between Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter IV, which is where these new screens originate.

Sure, the other characters are all wearing the same outfits from years ago (except for Chun Li), but those can all be reasonably believed to be choices. Maybe Dan wears other stuff when he's off the job, and changes into his pink gi. But it's extremely hard to believe that Cody would voluntarily don his prison uniform and shackles again, which suggests that he can't remove them. This is also the guy who picks up a rock and throws it as one of his special moves.

One of these box arts is not like the others. Yep, you'll notice that the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing has two added bonuses: Banjo and Kazooie. At first, we were quick to dismiss the image as nothing more than a fan mock-up. However, TSSZ discovered that all of these box arts can be seen on Sega's server (Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii).

If the addition of Banjo and Kazooie to Sega's kart racer sounds familiar, it's because it was part of a Sega leak earlier this year that contemplated this exact partnership. Revisiting the supposedly leaked Sega document reveals a number of bullet points that have already come true: the PS3 price drop, Alpha Protocol's delay and Yakuza's localization. The addition of Banjo & Kazooie to the Sonic racer is a nice bonus; however, should other aspects of the Sega document come true, it could mean PS2 and Dreamcast games are coming to PSN.

[Thanks Tristan!]

Being the stylish, fashion-way-forward gal she is, Bayonetta (of, um, Bayonetta) likes to accessorize. Sometimes she gets tired of having guns for shoes and hair that can take the form of giant demons, so she politely barrows steals weapons from her enemies, to use against ... her enemies.

In this short-but-sweet clip from next month's Platinum Games action spectacle, we get to watch her do just that -- nabbing a giant mace (not of the "spray into a mugger's eyes" type) and use a very long, forcefully procured spear to pole-dance-kick the hell out of heavenly foes. Best of all, the clip is narrated by a velvety-voiced English woman who sounds just like Bayonetta, if she were real. Which she's not -- so please, stop calling Sega asking for her number. Yes, we're onto you.

Though the Modern Warfare 2 community is uncovering some unsavory hidden aspects of the game for their own benefit, the kind folks from Defend The House have labored to uncover some of the game's harmless (but awesome) unadvertised features. For instance, did you know throwing knives are still lethal after bouncing? Also, you can survive a forty-foot fall with the help of a few well-placed mattresses. That's news to us!

Check out all these revelations in the first episode of Modern Warfare 2 Mythbusters, which we've posted after the jump. Oh, one last thing -- we will not rest until we kill someone by blowing up a nearby fire hydrant. Do you hear us? It is our life's new purpose.

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The Demoman class in Team Fortress 2 is the first to reveal its changes coming in the new "War" update, gifting everyone's favorite one-eyed Scot with the "Close Combat Kit." Consisting of the deliciously punny Eyelander sword and Chargin' Targe, these medieval weapons are quite the departure from the Demoman's usual high-tech, exploding arsenal. As badass as these weapons are, using them does come with a price.

The sword guarantees a decapitation with every killing blow; however, it will initially suck away the user's health. But for every soul it's fed, it'll provide the player with a boost to health and speed. The ability stacks, up to four kills.

The shield takes the place of the sticky bomb launcher and, once equipped, provides +50% fire damage resistance and +65% blast damage resistance. From a combative standpoint, using alt-fire while equipping the shield will cause the Demoman to charge at ludicrous speed towards an enemy, doling out some serious damage should he connect. Also, doing that will give the Demoman the chance to attack with his sword mid-charge, providing greater chance to up the damage count.

Microsoft's Games on Demand for Games for Windows Live is now live and on demandable. The launch lineup doesn't exactly conjure up thoughts of exploding confetti, but here goes nothing:

• Dirt 2 ($40)
• Fallout 3 ($50)
• Kane and Lynch: Dead Men ("1600") -- really, that's what it says (aka $20)
• Red Faction: Guerrilla ($40)
  
• Shadowrun ($10)
• Street Fighter IV ($40)
• Viva Pinata ($10)

With established digital distribution systems for PC gamers -- heard of Steam? Impulse? -- already featuring far larger libraries and arguably better discounts, it sure looks like GFWLGOD (we're still working on the acronym ... ) is marching onto the field about an hour after the match ended.

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Square Enix sees you over there, browser-based social games. President Yoichi Wada sees you working that lower barrier to entry and typically lower development costs. He sees and ... well, to put it to you straight: He likey. In fact, he's been talking to his boys over at Develop about you, stuff like "I believe that these types of games are going to be spreading and growing dramatically" and "the potential size of the market is enormous." You don't need a dictionary to know he is down.

In fact, he's already got a team in Tokyo developing some games to help him break into you. That's a little aggressive for our style, but you gotta hand it to our boy: Wada is hungry like the wolf.

Android and Me points out some ports of popular id games were once available on your snazzy superphone, including Quake, Wolfenstein and Doom. They didn't last long, however, as Zenimax has managed to get the games pulled from Google's Android Market service due to copyright infringement.

It's only natural for ZeniMax to want to get the titles pulled and doubly so if the publisher is thinking about releasing id's classics on the platform, though that's just speculation on our part based on id's readiness to work on the competing iPhone platform. Head past the break to check out some footage of what you missed out on, courtesy of the unofficial Android version of Doom.

We've asked ZeniMax to comment on any commercial plans for these titles on Android and to clarify the nature of Doom's open source codebase and why it was included in this takedown request.

[Update: A ZeniMax spokesperson got back to use, writing: "We did issue a DMCA takedown notice to the Android store to remove the unofficial Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake games as they contain our trademarks and copyrighted assets, including graphics, artwork, storylines and audio. Open source relates to the underlying engine source code, not to a game's content, trademarks and assets, all of which remain proprietary. If the game was a total conversion and did not use any of our trademarks or assets, that would be fine. But none of our data can be repackaged and nobody is authorized to make a Doom, Wolfenstein or Quake product."]


[Via Game Politics]

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It seems Sony is attempting to drum up interest in Team Ico's upcoming, Griffin-infused adventure, The Last Guardian, by showcasing its earlier opus to poor, unenlightened folks who missed it the first time around. The opus in question is Shadow of the Colossus, which, according to a Team ICO fan site, has been listed by a number of Japanese retailers to be reprinted and sold on February 4. Sadly, it didn't get the God of War Collection treatment -- the game's still on its original platform, the PlayStation 2.

If you were the speculatin' type, you might think that The Last Guardian would be released not too much later than this reprint, ensuring that the warm, Team ICO-esque feeling would still be fresh in everyone's minds. We're more the wait-and-see types, so we plan on waiting and, shortly after that, seeing.

[Via CVG]

Has the pernicious dealing with retail requirement kept you from the ongoing, stylish adventures of Nero and Dante (not that Dante)? Capcom has good news for those of us with no tolerance for relics like stores and boxes: starting December 22, the PC version of Devil May Cry 4 will be available for download on "the digital distribution partner of your choice," including, of course, Capcom's own shop, where pre-orders are being accepted for $29.99. The 360 version will hit Games on Demand, along with Lost Planet Colonies Edition, the same day.

Capcom notes that the PC version of the action game features some enhancements not found in the console versions: altered enemy placements, a "Turbo Mode," an extra-difficult "Legendary Dark Knight Mode," among several visual tweaks. And now, it's enhanced with buying it from home mode!

For the past few months, Rockstar has been teasing us with gorgeous in-game trailers for its upcoming open-world Wild West action game Red Dead Redemption. Well, today the teasing stops. The developer has thrown open the corral gates and let loose a trailer with actual gameplay -- and we think you'd have to agree it looks pretty amazing.

More than just a bunch of quick cuts between brief action clips, it's fully narrated, describing the goals of the dev team at Rockstar San Diego and backing them up with in-game footage. Besides just talking up how open the open-world is, it goes into aspects such as the ability to play like a hero or outlaw -- do you bring your bounty back alive or dead? -- and also shows quick glimpses of a variety of cool-looking gameplay, from the old "try to stab the table between your fingers without cutting yourself" to dragging a guy behind your horse on a rope. But, mostly, it just looks so damn cool.

We'll stop with the talking so you can commence with the watching. Giddyup!

After a string of disappointments, fans of Modern Warfare 2 on PC may be down, but a ray of hope has emerged on the horizon. Responding to a fan asking about mod tools for the game via his Twitter account, Infinity Ward spokesman Robert Bowling said, "there may be some Mod Tools news coming in the future, I'll pass it along once I have it."

We suppose this news could be something like, "We're never ever going to release mod tools ever, so please stop sending us hate mail smeared with Cheeto dust fingerprints," but that would be mean -- even for a company that lets us blow away civilians.

[Via Escapist]