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Blizzard Entertainment’s BlizzCon is always a massive success, so the fact that there’s another one schedule for this year isn’t a shock. Now you can mark it on your calendar, though: BlizzCon 2011 is taking place October 21 through October 22 at the Anaheim Convention Center. No details yet on ticket availability, pricing, and all that jazz. We also don’t know what to expect this year, but my guess is thatDiablo IIIwill be playable (but still not on shelves), you’ll get a free World of Warcraft mount or something for attending, and the show is going to sell out....

That’s right, boys and girls,The Godfather IIis getting itselfa multiplayer mode, and it’s not going to be an afterthought like many feltGrand Theft Auto IV’s was! People are actually going to want to play the multiplayer, as all of the money and honors you earn during it will transfer back to the single-player game. There is a catch, though — you can’t actually play the multiplayer right away. You have to play the single-player game first, up until you get to New York (which takes about twenty minutes so it’s not a real big deal)....

The Xbox 360’sRRODhas been the monkey on Microsoft’s back for the past couple of years, but according to some reports, Sony has been dealing with some similar problems with the PS3 as well. Complaints on Sony’s own forums show a small percentage of users being greeted with80010514 errors, and finding out that their Blu-ray drives are no longer functioning. A quick search via the information superhighway seems to indicate that Sony has not released an official breakdown of the code, but that it veritably indicates an issue with the Blu-ray drive....

As promised, Crytek has put out the CryENGINE 3 software development kit as a free download for non-commercial use.This websiteis where you can find the necessary links and other helpful resources. “For those who want to make the step into commercial gaming,” says director of global business development Carl Jones, “we’ll offer a royalty-only license model for games made with this SDK, where Crytek require only 20% of the developer’s revenues from the commercial launch of their game....

Square Enix is squaring (horrible pun intended) off against California and four retailers that have been selling replica swords based on theFinal Fantasyseries. Squarehas been working withHomeland Security and Customs who have recently seized a crate of swords. The retailers of the swords refused to cooperate with Square Enix which caused them to go file the lawsuit. In regards to this situation, Square Enix general counsel Yasuhiko Hasegawa stated: “We are actively pursuing those who commit intellectual property infringement against our company … While Square Enix appreciates the enthusiasm of its fans, and values its relationship with them, it is also obligated to protect its intellectual property rights or risk weakening or losing the very rights that enable the company to continue to provide its fans with an exciting entertainment experience....

Followingits rebranding, Rare has updated its website to tease us… with something. The UK developer of titles likePerfect DarkandBanjo-Kazooiehas taken down its home page and replaced it with a countdown. “07 Days” the site currently reads, which (depending on the timing the site was update) could either point to Microsoft’s Project Natal reveal this coming Sunday, or Microsoft’s full-on E3 press conference on Monday, June 14. The page also reads, somewhat cryptically “one in a million” and feats the image of a single Xbox 360 Avatar....

[Last week’s Bloggers Wanted topic asked you to tell me how you use video games to relax. Today, nekobun tells us how he relaxes by playingHalowhile internet-drinking. (A process very similar to my own method of relaxation, except with TF2 and minus the Taco Bell.) If you want to participate in our Bloggers Wanted topic and see your own blog on the front page, take a look atour current prompt about TGS....

Free copies ofSpace Invaders Extremeand a limited edition print signed by the creator of the originalSpace Invaders? Yeah, I’ve got that, right next to me in my giant shiny treasure chest of swag that I dole out to you people on a weekly basis. The contest ends this Monday, May 11th, and you still have a shot to win it if you want to. Check out theoriginal postfor all the details, but in case you missed it entering is simple: snap a photo of your high score in any Space Invaders game, paste it into the comments of that post (not this one!...

If a recent Microsoft Expert Zone quiz for retailers has it right,Mass Effect 2will be supported with downloadable characters, specific combat content, and full episodic content. This morning a tipster dropped us word and images from the Expert Zone quiz forMass Effect 2. Created so the retailer can sell the product with more information in tow, it teases what kind of optional content is coming to the follow-up sci-fi RPG....

Welcome back, listeners! Sorry we missed you last week, but you see, we were busy at this little party. Some weird thing out in Seattle with games and sweaty people and lots of booze. Also, there may have been waffles at some point, but I’m pretty sure it was mostly about the booze. Anyway, we’re back in action this week, and we’ll be discussing all the rad stuff we saw at the sweaty-people festival as it pertains to retro gaming....

Wooooo. What a busy, busy month for reviews. We had so many reviews that you could barely keep a hold of yourself, I’m sure. Reviews coming out of our ass at rates unseen by a review sh*tting ass before. Reviews from all directions ever. Reviews you never even saw coming. You were all, like, walking down the street, and then BAM! REVIEWS! Reviews… I’ve clearly overcompensated for our lack of reviews....

Christmas is apparently becomingthe season for taking, rather than the other way around. In further theft news, in Los Angeles a group of robbers hijacked a truck carrying 1,000Rock Bandbundles and held the driver at gunpoint until they unloaded the contents of the truck. He was let go unharmed after the holdup. The total worth of the truck’s contents was about $170,000. Apparently cargo theft is as common in LA as smog, but it happens more often from the Port Authority system than in hijacking of actual vehicles....

PlayStation 3 gamers looking to pick-up THQ’s first-person shooter,Frontlines: Fuel of War, may be in for some disappointment. According to a tip we received from a GameStop employee, the retailer has confirmed in a store-wide email that the title has been canceled for the PlayStation 3. We were able to confirm this email with our own GameStop sources, although no reason was given for the cancellation.GameStop.comalso no longer lists the title for pre-order, further indicating the game’s demise....