Finally - some good news. 2K Games have announced a global release date of - February 9, 2010 - for the much anticipated BioShock 2. Mark your god-damn gaming calenders! The game is already available on pre-order at some retailers. Taking place 10 years after the first title the halls of Rapture are once again filled with f**ked up shit. Playing as the Big Daddy players will travel through the fallen city once again in search of answers. Multiplayer looks to provide a rich prequel experience that expands the origins of the BioShock story. That sounds interesting. For more info on the game check out the official site or The Cult of Rapture or Something In The Sea.

On the list of fun things to do - destroying hordes of zombies is definitely, in my opinion, in the top 5 and is something that will never get old. Because what better reason to shoot something than it's semi-dead and wants to eat my brains. Konami is planning on quenching your zombie blood lust next week when it's Zombie Apocalypse gets released on XBLA and PSN - Sept. 23 and 24 respectively. This arcade style shooter will have players armed to the tits with 11 diverse weapons. I guess that's not really that armed. More like armed to the waist with assault rifles, flamethrowers, C4 f**king teddy bears and a chainsaw for those up close encounters. What is a zombie game without a chainsaw? Exactly. Nothing. Players can also take advantage of environmental hazards to destroy the massive undead hordes. 7 environments, 55 days of zombie attacks, bonus modes mixed with multiplayer capabilities make this a nice little ditty. 800 MS points or $9.99 for PSN.

It's been awhile since we've done one of these. We kind of fell of the [8bit Spotlight] bandwagon. Well to get us back into it the spotlight has fallen on a software development team based in New Zealand - which is not the capital of Australia. Stickmen Limited is a fairly new developer that is committed to developing original concepts for console, PC and handheld platforms. The company's goal is "Breakthrough Gaming," that provides players never before seen gameplay that drives radical and riveting adventures.  Currently they're working on a Wiiware title called Dragon Master Spell Caster, an exciting new game where players ride dragons and battle foes using unique combinations of melee and spells. For more info about the game and a trailer visit nintendolife.com. For more about the developer visit the Stickmen Studios site.

Playlogic is a worldwide independent publisher for consoles, PCs, handhelds and mobile devices. Playlogic's in-house studio: Playlogic Game Factory in Breda, da Nederlands, is made up of about 80 people and is one of the most modern and advanced development studios. Even though the Game Factory has developed titles across the board recently the studio has been working as a first party contractor for Sony. They have a new title coming out for the 360 titled: Fairytale Fights, where players play as their favorite fairytale character and try to regain their lost fame and save the fairytale world from certain doom. This doesn't sound like a game for kids as it's a hack and slash backed with a black-humour-slapstick-comedy-gore setting. Sounds like the [8bit Office]. For more on the title visit the Fairytale Fights game page. For more on Playlogic visit their official site.

While the major consoles are trying to convince you to have another piece of equipment in your living room for that total media experience - OnLive is doing the opposite. Basically OnLive is like On Demand - but with video games that you can play on your TV with the MicroConsole, on a PC or a MAC. OnLive, which has been in development for about 7 years now, is finally ready to be released to the masses come this winter. They've managed to partner with some big names including EA, Eidos, Ubisoft, Take2 and THQ among a few others. Although no pricing has been confirmed it is rumored that it'll be a monthly fee - and there will be the ability to either rent or purchase titles this along with the purchase of the basic hardware - microconsole and controller. Some cool features include DVR-like abilities so you can record some of your gaming accomplishments to share with others. I for one am very interested in this and to see how it plays out. Although pricing is extremely important for this to work - more importantly is lag. If there is any at all what's the point - you might as well pack up your servers and go home. For more info check out their official site.

Sucker Punch Productions LLC, a developer based out of Bellevue, WA, was founded in 1997 and has since created stylish, critically acclaimed character-based video games. Their most notable titles are from the Sly Cooper franchise for the PS2 which as a series sold over four million copies and took home some awards from both the IGDA and AIAS awards ceremonies for "Original Game Character of the Year," and "Outstanding Achievement in Animations." Before the Sly Cooper series they created Rocket: Robot on Wheels for N64. Now they look to develop their first next gen sandbox title, inFamous, which is a large scale super hero action adventure title exclusively for the PS3. inFamous will place players in an open world environment with some good vs evil type of decisions which will in turn effect the characters abilities and  plot outcome. After a massive explosion in Empire City an everday guy, Cole, is left with some Sith like super powers and must work through an evolving mystery which has him pinned as the culprit behind the blast. inFamous looks to ship in June and looks to be pretty awesome. For more info on Sucker Punch Productions check out their official site.

Paradox Interactive was founded in 1999 and was created with the idea of developing the best history based strategy games that challenge the intellectual. They've been developing and publishing strategy games for the PC platform including Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Galactic Civilization and Rush for Berlin. Paradox Interactive has two divisions: publishing and development. The publishing side operates out of both NYC and Stockholm Sweden where development is headed solely out of the Stockholm location. They've just announced that they have acquired the publishing rights to the naval war startegy title, East India Company. A title developed by Finland based Nitro Games Ltd. that is based on historical East India Companies of the 18th century. For more info on Paradox Interactive and their upcoming title visit their official site.

Artematica is a well known Italy based developer that embraces a varied demographic with it's styles of titles, which concentrate on Graphic Adventure, Sporting Simulation and Kids Games (platform/action arcade). A majority of their games are currently available for PC but the developer has moved into making games for Wii, Nintendo DS, PS2 and PSP.  Their next title Diabolik: The Orginal Sin will available for DS, PC, PS2, PSP and Wii is a point and click style adventure/stealth title that has a classic Bond-esque spy feel. Diabolik is based on the comics created by the Giussani Sisters about a famous dark thief/enigmatic hero who is forced to submit to a ruthless blackmail in order to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. The game will infuse comic style cut-scenes, those similar to Mirror's Edge, as a way to graphically continue the story. The title will be distributed by Black Bean Games and is set to be released Spring '09.

For screenshots and trailers visit the official developer site.

This week's spotlight shines on a studio that is "behind" the scenes of game development. Streamline Studios, an independent developer, don't necessarily develop the game you play but certain elements and aspects of it. Basically they are in the content creation business for developers - an outsource company that can do everything from concept art to high and low poly modeling to level design. They've done work on alot of AAA titles including Unreal Tournament 3 which they provided a full service solution: storyboards, level design, concept art etc. Remember all that destructible furniture in GOW? Yeah, that was them. They were responsible for modeling the NPC character group known as the stranded that are used in game and in cinematics. Outsourcing work is nothing new in the product business but its always cool to see who is the cause of why that couch blows up the way it does. For more examples of their work and to learn a bit more about the company head over to their official website. 

Our spotlight this week points towards A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games, an independent game development studio that started in 2004 with two guys in a garage on the rainy coast of Vancouver, Canada. But, really, isn't that how it always starts? Currently they only have a few titles under their belt - which include Capcom published Rocketmen: Axis of Evil. A shooter where you play as a member of the Rocketmen team that joins the Alliance of Free Planets that blasts through waves of enemies from the Legion of Terra and Mars, of course. Rocketmen: Axis of Evil released back in March for Xbox Arcade and Playstation Network. There is also an expansion pack, Rocketmen: It Came From Uranus. Honestly, there is no reason for me to note that except it's a funny title. For more info on A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games visit their site www.acronymonline.com.

Well after putting the thousands upon thousands of submissions we received in a hat and mixing them up a bit - we have our first [8bit contest] winner. Kristie from Houston, TX has won the Mirror's Edge PS3 and Remixes CD contest. We actually just picked up a copy of Mirror's Edge for 360 and we're pretty happy - look for a review soon - so we think she'll enjoy it. Congratulations Kristie and thanks for reading.

-[8bit Crew]

Well if you haven't heard yet we're running our first contest. We say first because we have plans to have more - but until then, to have a chance to win a copy of Mirror's Edge for PS3 and the Remixes EP, just send us an email at general@8bitreview.com with the subject: 'I want Mirror's Edge for PS3', your name, where you're from and your favorite 8bit character. A winner will be chosen at random and announced on December 22nd. Until then check out this behind the scenes video of Lisa Miskovsky the artist behind the theme song, "Still Alive."

love,

-[8bit Crew]