While Mafia 2 has been delayed yet again, we’re getting another look at the game with a new trailer.

2K Czech’s Mafioso actioner now due during August-October; Rockstar’s open-world Western stabled until May 18.

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This year began with reports of trouble at Rockstar San Diego, developer of Red Dead Redemption. Accusations of harsh conditions by a person claiming to be an overworked employee’s spouse led to further accusations that the open-world Western’s development was in trouble. Rockstar Games denied both claims, and asserted in January that Red Dead Redemption would ship on April 27 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Unfortunately, Rockstar’s claims were premature. As part of its quarterly earnings report today, Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive announced that Red Dead Redemption has been slightly delayed. The game will now mosey into North American stores on May 18 and on May 21 in other territories.

Speaking to analysts after the report, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said that the delay was because May provided a better release window and would allow Take-Two more time to market the game. He also said that economic conditions “are on the upswing,” and that “coming out of an economic downturn is a good time to release a Western.”

Also pushed back is Mafia II, which had been scheduled for release sometime during the first half of the calendar year. The game is now due during Take-Two’s fourth fiscal quarter, which runs from August to October.

It will be a busy three months for the publisher, which also plans to release L.A. Noire, Max Payne 3, and Sid Meier’s Civilization V during the period. So busy, in fact, that Take-Two president and CEO Ben Feder is already laying the foundation for more delays. This afternoon, he told the company’s fiscal outlook allows for “one of those games being pushed into the next fiscal year.”

Mafia II has been in development since at least 2007 at 2K Czech (nee Illusion Softworks) in Prague for the PC, PS3, and 360. Like its predecessor, it is an open-world game set in the 1940s and 1950s in a fictional US city beset by organized crime–of which the player is (naturally) a part.

Source: Gamespot.com

Source: Forcedisconnect.com

Sledgehammer Games will be taking the helm for the next Call of Duty game, following this year’s Treyarch version. This follows news earlier this week of Jason West’s termination from Infinity Ward due to a breach of contract and insubordination.

According to the article on Gamasutra, Activision plans to center the next Call of Duty games around delivering “high margin digital content” (read: Pay to play). My speculation is that the former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella either had opposition to this, or would not be able to make Activision’s yearly cycle for releases.

I’ve never been a big fan of the Call of Duty series, I think the games are greatly overrated and are quite a bit too simplistic for my tastes, but even I can admit that this whole scenario reeks of wrong. Infinity Ward created a product that their fans really enjoy, and they built the franchise from the ground up. To be removed from it now is a kick in the face.

When you purchase games from Activision, these are the business practices that you are endorsing. They run franchises into the ground, and shaft the developers.

Looks like Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero are going to getting a new friend in the “land of games driven into the ground by Activision”. Although, to be honest, after Modern Warfare 2 and it’s myriad of problems it felt like they had already called Tony and asked him to save them a seat.

STORY:	10 out of 10
GRAPHICS & DESIGN:	9 out of 10
SOUND:	8 out of 10
GAMEPLAY:	7 out of 10
FUNFACTOR/TILT:	10 out of 10
OVERALL SCORE:	9.5 out of 10

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YFL and Zwei discuss and Review the Sony PlayStation 3 exclusive. As always, it’s SPOILER FREE!

From GameSpot.com: Nintendo’s media summit in San Francisco today began with a short opening speech by vice president of sales and marketing, Cammie Dunaway. She led the presentation into the first game demo of the day: Super Mario Galaxy 2. We were given a quick tour of a couple of levels of the game, which primarily highlighted the use of the drill, and we got a chance to see Yoshi basically eat everything digestible.

The first level we saw was set in outer space, with several brown mounds of smaller planets that could be accessed by warp stars. By holding the circular red drill over his head, Mario was able to dig through the planet and pop up on the other side. Using this new skill, our favorite plumber was able to reach platforms that were otherwise inaccessible by conventional jumping methods. We also watched as Mario drilled inside a hollow planet and collected a ring of coins within it. Like the last game, part of the appeal is finding out how each planet works as they all have their own unique set of rules.

We will have an opportunity to get some hands-on time later, but for now, it looks like the controls will remain the same. You control Mario with the analog stick and shake the Wii Remote to do a spin attack, as well as use the drill. In the next portion of the demo, we saw a cousin of the Megaleg boss from the first game. We watched Mario dodge drills that were thrown while trying to wait for right moment to dig through the small planet to stab its exposed belly. After making short work of Gigaleg, we jumped to another level to see what Yoshi could do.

Yoshi functions in the same way as before, except now, you can control his tongue by pointing with the Wii Remote and pressing B to inhale almost anything onscreen. On this lush green planet with goombahs and spiky plants, Yoshi could eat blimp fruits that would cause him to expand into a blimp to float. A counter indicates how much time you have left before he deflates, but by grabbing more of these delicious goodies, you and your green pal can float continuously.

We were able to check out a couple of 2D platforming areas as well. We watched Mario and Yoshi work together to try to avoid falling off a rotating log while dodging hazards and grabbing blimp fruit. After collecting all the pieces of a warp star, we jumped to another area that looked like a cutout of a log and eventually found our way to the star to end the level. What made these levels particularly cool was the fact that it still looks like they can be explored in 3D–especially with so many moving parts–but you’re limited to a 2D plane.

Following the demo, we saw a trailer of Super Mario Galaxy 2 that showcased the variety of levels that will be seen in the game. Not only did we see Mario hanging out in space, but we also saw worlds with a ghost-house theme and a giant world with extra large bad guys waiting for you. One boss that caught our eye was a giant snake that looped through and around planets. We watched as our hero weaved around to stay out of its way. Yoshi’s tongue will also be a truly powerful tool as we saw him help Mario tug and pull large moving platforms.

We’ll have more of an update for you when we get a chance to play Super Mario Galaxy 2 for ourselves, so check back for our write-up. In the meantime, we’ll leave you with a release date of May 23.

STORY:	7.5 out of 10
GRAPHICS & DESIGN:	9 out of 10
SOUND:	8 out of 10
GAMEPLAY:	8 out of 10
FUNFACTOR/TILT:	8 out of 10
OVERALL SCORE:	8.5 out of 10

The first BioShock was one of the first games I felt truly showed off the power of the XBox 360 (and later the PS3). The 2007 release had incredible graphics and sound but what really made the first game so special was its freaky, horror-like atmosphere. BioShock 2 is the sequel to that amazing first game. The big question is will your second trip to the underwater city of Rapture be as memorable as the first?

When Rapture began to fall, Andrew Ryan brought in a psychologist named Dr. Sofia Lamb. His hope was that this doctor would be able to calm the crazed minds of the people. However, after the events of the first game Dr. Lamb developed a group of cult-like followers and eventually took power over the decaying city.

This time around, you play as Subject Delta, a Big Daddy who was protecting a little sister known as Eleanor. Eleanor is captured and Subject Delta is forced to kill himself. However, ten years later you awaken, ready to get your little girl back! Unfortunately, you’ll quickly begin to realize that the story that made BioShock 1 so compelling is nowhere to be found. The story in BioShock 2 is decent enough for a video game storyline and will keep you playing to the end but it feels so… inserted and thrown together. While I understand it may have been difficult to follow up on the first game but the story just feels like such a step down rather than a step forward.

If you liked the graphics in BioShock 1, you’ll find much of the same here. The graphics are colorful (god forbid an FPS has more colors than gray and brown) and though rapture may be falling apart it’s still an amazing looking place. However, I don’t feel BioShock 2 has the variety of cool areas that were found in BioShock 1. That’s not to say that there aren’t some memorable locations such as a mechanical train museum that glorifies Andrew Ryan. But again, the atmosphere (like the story) is just not as good as the first and a lot of the areas look the somewhat identical. To be frank, the designs simply aren’t as good.

The gameplay is a bit better than the first but it’s hampered by the fact that you’re playing a Big Daddy. The drill is frankly… stupid. I kept wishing I had my wrench back from the first game (I should note that you do get some guns that are thankfully a decent alternative… but it’s no wrentch)! You don’t feel any more powerful as a Big Daddy than you did as a human in the first game and while the plasmids (like the last game) are cool, none of the new offerings are anything memorable.

On the plus side, the online mode is really well done! It’s not going to replace Modern Warfare for hardcore die-hard FPS fans but for people who enjoy BioShock there is really a TON of fun to be had once the single player campaign has been completed. Upon selecting the multiplayer option you’ll be see a cut scene. From here you’re taken to your apartment where you’ll select your character, customize their attire and much more. In BioShock 2 you earn ADAM (known as experience points in Modern Warfare 2). With these experience points you can level up your character by completing certain actions within the game and then customizing your character with a variety of different skills. As good as this mode is though, I can’t help but wonder if this mode would have been left out would the single-player game have come out better. I don’t understand why companies feel they all have to have these robust online modes. There’s certainly something to be said for a terrific single-player game like the first BioShock.

I know it might sound like I’m down on BioShock 2 but I should say that I sat down and finished this game in just two sittings. Perhaps I’m so hard on BioShock 2 because the first game was just so magical and so revolutionary to this console generation. So in closing, BioShock 2 is not as impactful as the its predecessor but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth playing. If you enjoyed the first game you owe it to yourself to at least give this one a rental.

-Yuen Fei Lung 云飞轮

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THIS MONTH ON RARE DROP RADIO: We’ll talk about X10, Alan Wake, Fable 2, Heavy Rain, God of War 3, Pokemon, Bioshock 2, Final Fantasy XIII and all the latest news. We’ve got a bone to pick with our friends at Giant Bomb and it concerns a certain blue hedgehog!

The upcoming Yakuza 3 from Sega is a PS3 exclusive that looks to have a lot of promise!