Strategy Informer  

The release of Electronic Arts Spore with the much maligned SecureROM anti-piracy system drew mass criticism from users on the Internet. Many forum posters complained about the restrictive DRM requirements and the average customer review of the game on Amazon.com as of this writing is 1.5 stars out of 5. Many of the reviews complain about problems installing the game and reaching activation servers in order to play the game. Others complain about the limit to the number of allowed installs.

Electronic Arts took a shot at PC gamers this week when an EA Community Representative announced on their public forums that the PC version of FIFA Soccer 09 would be a slimmed down version of the game as released on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The Community Rep. said that while the PC game will deliver a "very deep gameplay engine" and that it will have "leading-edge visuals", the game would be simplified because the PC does not have "the CPU processing power required for the architecture of the game".

Blizzard Entertainment confirmed today that World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King will arrive in stores on November 13th in North America, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia, and November 14 in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18.

A price point for Wipeout HD was revealed at the end of last week, and today Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced the official release date for the exclusive PlayStation Network title. It will be released on September 25th for $19.99.

Crytek and Valve announced over the weekend that both companies have reached an agreement which will see Crysis and Crysis Warhead appearing on Steam.

"The millions of gamers logging into Steam every week to play today's best PC games are going to love Crysis Warhead," said Avni Yerli, Managing Director at Crytek. "Crytek Hungary has done a terrific job creating this new experience while optimizing CryEngine 2, and we're looking forward to delivering it and the original Crysis as our first offerings on Steam."

Atari has announced that RACE Pro, the realistic racing simulation game that is exclusive to the Xbox 360, is to be released in January 2009. The months leading up to release will be used to ensure that SimBin is able to create a game of the highest possible standard.

There will also be a playable demo released on the Xbox Live Martketplace before Christmas, featuring online multiplayer and single player racing.

Eurogamer is reporting that Codemaster's new title Rise of the Argonauts will ship in November 2008. The official web page lists Fall 2008 as the currently scheduled release of the game for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and the PC.

The Capcom shareholder report for fiscal year 2008 has revealed a new strategy for the game maker. While Capcom has previously published titles exclusively for one home console system like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, from now on the company says that "All major titles launched during the next fiscal year or thereafter will be developed as multi-platform games".

2K Games has launched the official website for the PlayStation 3 version of BioShock, and it contains information on a demo that will be available from the PlayStation Network on October 2nd.

We really enjoyed BioShock on the Xbox 360, so we would recommend this one to any PS3 user.

You can visit the official website by clicking here.

The popular PlayStation Network game PAIN has just received a new patch that updates the game with trophies, which players can win in addition to making many of the trophies easier to obtain than previously announced.

The patch is huge however (325 MB) since it also includes additional content that can be unlocked via a purchase from within the game. This additional content includes a new area, the Amusement Park, as well as three new characters and new game play modes.