The sequel to Viva Piñata, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, has been attracting a lot of attention lately. If you've been keeping an eye out for more information on the game then you should head on over to the full article because two Rare developers have let out quite a bit of information about this upcoming game. Just click on the "read more" link below to get there.

Can't wait to get your hands on Bungie's Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack? Well, you might want to know that the developers behind the downloadable content has released a little more information about Blackout, one of the maps included in the pack. In addition, a few new screenshots were also released. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

We're in for a brutal week to kick this month off, marked by Kratos' latest killing trip through God of War: Chains of Olympus for the PSP and Jimmy Hopkins' enrollment for scholarship in Bullworth Academy. War is nigh with Warhammer 40K's latest expansion and Army of Two, though there's still a couple of baseball titles inbound if you want a break from all the violence. All these are waiting at the full article, so hit that jump!

In an interview with Davide Speyrer, Half-Life 2: Episode Two project lead, he says that Valve is planning something "pretty ambitious" for Episode Three, addressing the interviewer's statement on the absence of a trailer after Episode 2.

It's been speculated before that Episode 3 will be set in the Arctic. Not much else we can tell you though, but Speyrer's explanation might help you formulate your own speculations. Read more on the interview in the full article.

We're getting right into the thick of things as we head into the holiday season, and the good times just keep rolling with big releases every week. Last week we saw The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass lead the launch charge, but this week's mood is a bit different as the Sony PlayStation Portable and the PC are piling up some good titles.

This week's offerings have a healthy host of action, RPG, sports, and puzzle games. We'll be seeing that Japanese prospect of a game as Folklore debuts on the Sony PlayStation 3, while the PSP also has some magic to share with Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. Valve Software is offering up The Orange Box, while EA Sports and Sony are introducing FIFA 08 and NBA 08 respectively. There's a lot more in store so dig in!

Folklore. What do you do when you receive a letter from the dead? Will you get drawn into a mysterious town called Doolin just like this game's protagonists? Encounter musterious creatures, fairies and monsters which could help you unravel the mystery behind the bizarre happenings in this brand new Sony PlayStation 3 exclusive.

• PlayStation 3- October 12, 2007
• US$ 59.99
• ESRB T
• Sony Computer Entertainment

See the rest of the games released this week by clicking the Full Article link below!

It's not set in stone yet, but there's a strong possibility that Half-Life 2's Episode Three may just take place in the Arctic, the hint gleaned from a rather telling session with Valve Corporation's Doug Lombardi, as CVG reports.

It was during the preview of Episode Two that Tom Francis put forward the suggestion that the next installment would have you and Alyx traipsing in the Arctic, and instead of quickly shooting it down, Valve PR Doug Lombardi merely replied, "That would be exciting, wouldn't it?"

In a moment that would do a certain Ace Attorney proud, Tom put forward some evidence to solidify his claim: Valve's Half-Life 2 coffee-table book, Raising The Bar, which has within its pages a climactic battle in an arctic base, described in great detail. It's something to note that the same battle detailed in Raising The Bar was supposed to be the climax of Half Life 2 itself, but was cut out at the last minute.

It would make sense for Valve to flesh the entire thing on the final episode. When confronted with the fact that they gave away quite a lot with the book, Doug agreed (without confirming anything, of course), saying that for a US$ 25 book, they had to give away something.

What do you think? Will the trilogy get the ending it deserves? Updates as we get them!

Fantasy RPG Two Worlds, developed by Reality Pump Studios and co-published by TopWare and Southpeak Interactive is set to be released this spring for both the PC and the Xbox 360.

Of course, given that other big name RPGs are out in the open at the moment -  say for example, Oblivion - we gamers are going to need ample reason to set aside a few of our resources to check this particular offering out.

An interview with the game's producer, James Seaman of Topware, reveals several of the game's selling points and gives us (at the least) reason to consider checking this game out. When asked what environments or settings Two Worlds will offer players, James Seaman had this to say:

The landscape in Two Worlds is vast, and there’s basically every kind of environment you can think of. We’ve got forests, plains, deserts, mountains, swamps, bamboo forests, arctic conditions, a vast underworld…exploring the entire world is a feat unto itself! For those that played and explored Oblivion, there is 33% more land to roam here.

Aside from the fact that the game world is significantly larger in Two Worlds, Seaman is also proud that they managed to (or so they claim) remove the feeling of monotony when you reach a certain power level within the game. Seaman explains:

We were tired of the fact that when you get more powerful, searching felled enemies and treasure troves becomes more of a practice in monotony because you already have so much good stuff. What we’ve done is incorporated a system that allows you to stack similar items and continually add new enchantments. So even though you might just find an axe, maybe you’ll be able to smith it together with another axe you already have to create something even more powerful.

It’s the same philosophy with our alchemy and magic systems. There’s never a useless ingredient or spell, you just have to figure out how to put them to the best use with what you already have.

Other details revealed in the interview include the fact that the Seaman thinks that it isn't right for them to "unfairly try to encapsulate it with a demo" (no demo folks, we repeat, no demo), that the developers have a target date of May for the game's release, and that they're extremely proud of the graphical features of the game. But then again, who isn't proud of the graphics in their game?

To read the full interview, feel free to use our "Read" link below.

If you're one of the many people who can't wait to shoot 'em Akrids in the arctic sci-fi shooter Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions, boy do we have some good news for you! Since the game is expected to have a January 2007 release date and that's just too far from now, Capcom recently announced that they are releasing the multiplayer demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace this coming November 23.

The free multiplayer download will let gamers participate in heated online matches in the "Pirate Fortress" stage with a 16 player multiplayer support, thanks to XBL's online game service. Not only that, you could also choose weapons, armors, and robotic assault vehicles dubbed as Vital Suits. There would be four play modes - Elimination, Team Elimination, Post Grab and Fugitive.

Better check your schedule on the 23rd and scrap all those plans of yours, Lost Planet is already within arms reach.

   

Activision is bringing the next game in Cabela's hunting game series, Cabela's Alaskan Adventure, to the Xbox 360 on September 19th and the team over at Achieve360Points has posted the achievement list for the game. In the game, you'll be able to go on 30 hunting adventures in pursuit of over 20 species of the most sought after Alaskan Trophy Game. The game has 46 Achievements that add up to the usual retail amount of 1000 gamer points. The achievements range from killing ten animals with a shotgun to killing a polar bear. So if those achievements sound interesting to you go ahead and check out the list below:

• (25) Western Arctic Bronze Badge - All three Main Hunts and the first Fishing Contest must be completed on Greenhorn Difficulty.
• (50) Western Arctic Silver Badge - All three Main Hunts and the first Fishing Contest must be completed on Sportsman Difficulty.
• (75) Western Arctic Gold Badge - All three Main Hunts and the first Fishing Contest must be completed on Simulation Difficulty.
• (25) Interior Alaska Bronze Badge - All three Main Hunts and the first Fishing Contest must be completed on Greenhorn Difficulty.
• (50) Interior Alaska Silver Badge - All three Main Hunts and the first Fishing Contest must be completed on Sportsman Difficulty.

The full achievement list awaits after the jump!

If you've ever had your XBox freeze on you after a couple of minutes playing a game, then you're very much familiar with what the three red lights are. Found around the power button of your console, it spells doom or General Hardware Failure when these start to blink.

Ben Kuchera had the same type of problem and suspected that it's because of an overheating issue. He opened up his 360 and found that he's right, his GPU is indeed heating up. So what he did is that he replaced the thermal interface material with some Arctic Silver. So far, this fix has worked fine with his 360. If you're having the same trouble with your console, just follow these instructions from Ben and you're well on your way to defeat the three red lights of death.

WARNING: If you're not familiar or knowledgeable in fixing computers, handling sensitive hardware and working with basic tools, please consider other options before doing anything to your console.

Materials:

1. A thin hex head L-shaped wrench OR a probe tool of some sort.
2. 1 T-8 Torx screwdriver
3. 1 T-10 Torx screwdriver
4. Plastic scraper tool or pocket knife
5. Arctic Silver or other brand high quality heat sink paste
6. 1 Brillo steel wool pad
7. Cleaning supplies

Instructions:

• Open your XBox 360. Get the motherboard out of the metal cage and remove the heatsinks from both the CPU and the GPU.
• Scrape off the thermal pad from both the aluminum GPU heatsink and the copper CPU heatsink using the Brillo steal woolpad.
• Clean the remaining thermal paste from the GPU and CPU. After cleaning it, apply a minimal amount of your own thermal paste. Just enough to cover the entire die.
• Finally, reinstall the heatsinks and put your XBox 360 back together.