There’s a nice little surprise watching in the package for the retail version of upcoming Dragonage: Origins expansion, Awakening. It contains a leaflet with a date of 02.01.2011 printed on it, which seems to hint at the release date for Dragonage 2. Well when we say ’seems’ we really mean ‘what the hell else can it be?’.

EA has already announced that they’re going to be releasing a new Dragonage next year, so when you put the two things together it’s pretty obvious. Given the early next year release date it’s also looking likely that we’ll find out more about the sequel at E3.

Awakening is available as a download and retail release for PC and 360. The PS3 release is download only, so no little leaflet for owners of that version. You can get it from March 16.

(picture from 1UP)

Bioware released some more free DLC for Mass Effect 2 today, this time in the form of a new weapon for the game.

The Arc Projector ionizes targets with a non-visible laser to ready them for a high-voltage electrical attack. As the lightning-like bolt hits its first target, a sophisticated auto-targeting system paints succeeding targets with the ionization laser, allowing the electricity to take the path of least resistance and arc between them. An entire enemy strike team can be shocked to death with a few pulls of the trigger. Careful aiming will also allow the user to arc shots to nearby explosives as well.

You can get the new DLC through the Cerberus Network, which is located on the games main menu.

If one weapon isn’t enough for you then you’ll be able to download the ‘Firewalker Pack’ later this month, which includes five new missions and a tank.

If you’re looking for some hardcore RTS fun on that PC of your’s then you might be interested to know that Steam has now made available the R.U.S.E public beta for pre-load.

All you have to do to join in on the fun (well, in 19 hours anyway) is go to this link and download the public beta. You will then be ready to play the beta straight away from tomorrow, meaning you don’t have to sit and wait for the download to complete.

R.U.S.E is a World War II based RTS coming to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime next year.

Some new Fallout: New Vegas screenshots were released by Bethesda today, and we’ve got the full gallery below.

The game uses the same engine as Fallout 3, hence the similar look, although apparently the game will have more varied plant life.

Portal was one of the biggest surprise hits of 2007

After updating Portal on the PC a few times this month, with little things such as this alternative ending sequence to tease a potential sequel, Valve have officially announced Portal 2.

The only info so far is that the game is set for a Holiday 2010 release – which means November/December time in American-speak. The game was rumoured a while ago to be a prequel, but these rumours were circulating about two years ago, so who knows?

I am definitely looking forward to doing some new crazy tests with the ‘help’ of good ‘friend’ GLaDOS…

Marc Witten just posted a new letter regarding an update to the Xbox Live Code of Conduct. Previously, they had restricted certain words from being a part of your online identity despite even video games having those words in the title (Ballad of Gay Tony). Now though, if you feel like it, they’ve allowed a handful of new words allowing you to declare your sexual orientation.

You may use the following terms to express your relationship orientation in your profile or Gamertag:

• Lesbian
• Gay
• Bi
• Transgender
• Straight

Other terms regarding relationship orientation are not allowed. In addition you may not use these terms or any other terms regarding relationship orientation to insult, harass, or any other pejorative use against other users. 

Last week I decided to pre order Bad Company 2, so I jumped online to hit up the usual avenues to see who was going to sell me the game the cheapest. I was surprised to come across Tesco Entertainment offering the game at £24.99 with a price promise that if the pre-order price went up then I would be assured of the lower cost – as any bargain hunter would have done I thought “Woo hoo!” and pre ordered a single copy for myself.

Recently, Amazon offered up the pre order for £23, however as my order went through with Tesco and with no word from them otherwise, I figured my pre-order was golden. Now,  find 3 days before its release, I receive an email from Tesco stating  “your order has been cancelled”. I understand that errors do occur in the world of retail but telling me this just days before the game is due to be released is just unacceptable. Not only that but the email contained no word on why my order was cancelled.  So I am back to square one again and am left with trying to find a new website to order from (by now all the cheap pre-order prices have risen), or face get it on the high street and pay their ridiculously steep prices!

I have contacted Tesco via email to ask why the order was cancelled and complain about the situation that they have now placed me in. I received a reply on Thursday with the usual standard response, no suprises there. They actually had the nerve to simply referr me to their terms of service:

“If, by mistake, we have under priced a product, we will not be liable to supply that product to you at the stated price, provided that we notify you before we dispatch the product to you.”

The part about being “notified” suggests they informed me of what was wrong with my order, which was not the case, therefore this term they have quoted is completed false. Oh well!

Upon looking around on the web it appears Tesco Entertainment have done this before with Saints Row 2, Left for Dead 2 and I’m sure numerous other titles – There was of course the famous blunder by Tesco of offering a console bundle for £35!

I pre-ordered this game in good faith and Tesco have totally let me down. My advice, steer clear of these clowns and if you find yourself thinking it must be a case of “too good to be true”, than usually it is!

In an announcement that will be little surprise to anyone Sony has said that they have officially purchased Little Big Planet creator Media Molecule.

The announcement came via the official Playstation Blog, with Michael Denny, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Studios Europe, releasing a statement on the acquisition.

“The decision was an easy one after meeting five young, talented people with a massive ambition to redefine video games as we know them and create and grow a fantastically talented team at Media Molecule. This was followed by a fantastic exclusive relationship that culminated in the launch of one of the most innovative PlayStation games of recent years. Of course, LittleBigPlanet needs no introduction here, as it was thanks to you that it became a best selling PS3 title when it released in late 2008.

The acquisition will enhance the talent pool within SCE, protect past and current investment and ensure a solid base for future investment. Media Molecule have exciting projects in the pipeline and we’re looking forward to sharing these with you in the not too distant future.

The most important thing is that nothing will change from your perspective; Media Molecule will simply continue to make great games. Welcoming Media Molecule into the PlayStation family will allow us to better support their future titles and ambitions.”

Obviously this means that all future Media Molecule titles will be exclusive to PS3 and PSP, so sorry to those people hoping to see Little Big Planet on other platforms.

The wand like motion control device that Sony revealed at E3 last June is yet to be given a proper name (other than “Sony Motion Controller” anyway), but a trademark filing and previous reports have put us one step closer to finding out just what Sony intends to call its new controller.

Siliconera noticed that Sony has previously filed a trademark for the name “Playstation Arc” in Japan. While companies seem to file trademarks for random names all the time this one is particularly intriguing because VG247 said earlier this year that an anonymous source had told them “Arc” would indeed be the final name.  The domain PlaystationArc.com has also been registered by Sony, whilst THQ’s CEO has referred to the device as “Arc” a number of times.

If we put everything together then it may seem fairly obvious that the device will be called “Arc” when it is released later this year. Of course, we could all be wrong and Sony may just be registering the name for another idea they have in the pipeline. In the end I guess the only thing we can say is to place your bets now and hope that all the evidence is correct.

GDC is coming up next week, so hopefully we’ll find out more details then.

Infinity Ward president Jason West and studio head Vince Zampella appear to have been sacked by the studio’s owner Activision amid dramatic scenes and claims of breach of contract and insubordination.

G4 reported late yesterday that “bouncer-type” security had showed up at the offices of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer following a meeting between the two studio heads and Activision, and that West and Zampella hadn’t been seen by staff since.

G4 then turned up a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Activision earlier in the day indicating that the publisher was investigating senior staff at Infinity Ward, and expecting to sack and sue them.

“The Company is concluding an internal human resources inquiry into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward,” the filing read. “This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation.”

Meanwhile, Kotaku turned up a Facebook status update from West that read, “Jason West is drinking. Also, no longer employed.” His profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn also appeared to have been updated, showing his role as “President/Game Director/CCO/CTO at Infinity Ward” as a “Past” employment.

Zampella’s status at the moment is unclear. Neither Activision or Infinity Ward has offered an official comment as yet. Infinity Ward’s vocal spokesman Robert Bowling simply said “I have no info” on his Twitter.

Zampella and West were among the founding members of Infinity Ward who had previously worked on Medal of Honor: Allied Assault for EA. At their new studio, they created the immensely successful Call of Duty series of first-person shooters for Activision and continued to develop key entries in the series, culminating in the recent smash hits Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2.

West is credited as the director of Modern Warfare 2, which was 2009’s best-selling game worldwide and which racked up a billion dollars of sales in two months.

Game creator Tim Schafer, whose Brutal Legend was dropped by Activision before being picked up by EA, commented on his Twitter: “Getting mad at Activision for this kind of thing is like getting mad at an ape for throwing feces. It’s just how the beast communicates.”