“Sign up now for a chance to participate in one of the upcoming Guild Wars 2 beta events. Beta Signup is only open for 48 hours so players need to act quickly to obtain a place. Beta sign up closes at 18.00 GMT Friday 24 February.

To sign up or learn more, visit the Guild Wars 2 Beta Page at https://beta.guildwars2.com/.”

“The demo for the game that focuses on the American Civil War era allows players to:

• Play from 1836 to 1860
• Play as Prussia with the chance to form Germany through warfare or diplomacy
• Play as Japan to westernize your country while fighting back reactionary forces.

The devs have cooked up something for those already playing the game as well. Join the After Action Report contest on the forums. Winners stand to pick up a big chunk of the Paradox catalogue. “

A list of download mirrors can be found on the official site.

“Ironclad Games presents a real-time fantasy strategy experience like no other: Sins of a Dark Age.  From the studio that brought forth the genre-blending  gem and 2008 PC Game of the Year, Sins of a Solar Empire, comes a new strategy hybrid focused on team-based “Hero and Commander Strategy” gameplay.
 
In Sins of a Dark Age, players join an online team consisting of one Commander and a small group of Heroes who work together to accomplish a specific scenario goal. Go head-to-head against an enemy team in a short, fast-paced multiplayer match or work cooperatively against the AI in custom scenarios. Earn rewards for yourself and your clan, climb in ranks, and watch and share your most glorious replays. Players can choose from an ever-growing pool of heroes, commanders and factions each of which supports unique capabilities.
 
Choose the Hero role and you will face the enemy on the front lines as the most inspiring and powerful member of a mighty army. Your success in battle will be well rewarded with experience, unique abilities, and game changing items that will make you an ever greater symbol of power on the battlefield and a critical rallying point for your commander’s army.
 
Choose the Commander role to devise the master plan for your empire: you’ll oversee your grand army in an epic battle against your most voracious enemies. As Commander, you’re responsible for building your base, directing your peons and positioning your defenses. It’s up to you to properly train your units and use them to support your team’s Heroes in calculated assaults on enemy positions and to capture key resources. The Commander role allows players to call upon larger-than-life ‘Realm Powers’ to turn the tide of battle.
 
“Sins of a Dark Age is something totally unique in the strategy genre,” said Blair Fraser, co-founder and producer at Ironclad. “Like Sins of a Solar Empire, which blended 4x with real-time strategy, we’ve taken our favorite elements of traditional RTS and action RTS and added our own twists and turns that result in a completely new and unrivalled strategy experience.”
 
Sins of a Dark Age is easy to learn and accommodating to both new and veteran players of any strategy genre and is designed to minimize griefing and other common causes of hostility in the community.  The innovative match design means never missing out on a match or a session being ruined by players dropping out: instantly rejoin games or jump into shorthanded battles to save the day and earn bonus rewards for yourself and your clan.
 
With leaderboards, stats tracking, online replays, spectating, kill-cam moments and plenty of post-release content in the form of Heroes, Commanders, Factions, Units, Maps and Skins, Sins of a Dark Age is free-to-play strategy gaming elevated to the next level.
 
Find out more at http://www.sinsofadarkage.com/“

PC games:

• Hearts of Iron 3: Stars and Stripes DLC
• Hide & Secret: Bonus Edition 4 Pack
• Saints Row: The Third – Ganstas in Space DLC
• Syndicate

Movies opening this week:

• Act of Valor
• Gone
• Good Deeds
• The Fairy (limited NYC)
• The Forgiveness of Blood
• Tomorrow, When the War Began
• Wanderlust

DVD and Blu-ray releases:

• A Lonely Place to Die [Blu-ray]
• Batman: Brave & The Bold – Season 2 Part 2
• Battle Royale: The Complete Collection [Blu-ray]
• Carnage [Blu-ray]
• Claustrofobia
• Creature
• Dino Dan: Ready Set Dino
• Eating Out: The Open Weekend
• Funeral Home
• Gainsbourg [Blu-ray]
• General orders No. 9 [Blu-ray]
• Hey Arnold! Season Two Part 1
• Hop [Blu-ray]
• J. Edgar [Blu-ray]
• Jess + Moss
• Kojak: Season Three
• Lady For A Day [Blu-ray]
• Letter Never Sent [Criterion Collection Blu-ray]
• Lost Keaton: Sixteen Comedy Shorts 1934-1937 [Blu-ray]
• Louder Than a Bomb
• Lovelorn
• Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Moves to NBC
• Museum of Wonders
• My African Safari
• My Living Dolls: The Official Collection Vol. 1
• National Lampoon’s The Legend of Awesomeest Maximus [Blu-ray]
• One Lucky Elephant
• Puppet On A Chain
• Resurrection County
• Roadie [Blu-ray]
• Scent of a Woman
• Sidewalls
• Splintered
• Te Dragon Lives Again
• That 70s Show – Season 1 [Blu-ray]
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [Blu-ray]
• The Hills Have Eyes: Part 2 [Blu-ray]
• The Muppets [Blu-ray]
• The Ritual
• The Sitter [Blu-ray]
• The War Room [Criterion Collection Blu-ray]
• This Is Not a Movie [Blu-ray]
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy [Blu-ray]
• Weekend [Blu-ray]
• Won Ton Baby

“Feedback from hands-on press events and beta testing has proven very positive, and Funcom intends to spend the additional development time focusing on polish and tweaking to maximize the potential of the game. The beta feedback so far is showing very positive reactions to core game features such as the role-playing systems, combat, missions, dungeons, story and immersion. Among the beta testers surveyed, almost 9 out of 10 say they will play the game at launch.

More than 750,000 gamers are now registered as beta testers, which is significantly higher than Funcom’s previous MMO ‘Age of Conan’ had at the same point in development. Funcom expects the number of beta registrations to grow significantly in the coming months, as the company ramps up its major PR and marketing initiatives towards launch.”

More info at: www.thesecretworld.com

“Mass Effect 3 thrusts players into an all-out war to save the galaxy from an ancient alien race known as the Reapers. Players will assume the role of Commander Shepard, a war-torn veteran who’s willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate this nearly unstoppable foe. With a team of elite, battle-hardened soldiers at your side, each player decides how they will take Earth back, from the weapons and abilities they utilize to the relationships they forge or break.”

“From the earliest days of development, we knew that we wanted to include some form of large-scale PvP combat in Guild Wars 2, but how would it work? We knew right away that we wanted three teams fighting against one another on a series of huge maps in the Mists (our world vs. world battleground) and that each team would be composed of an entire server full of players. Including three forces in world vs. world acts as an excellent balancing factor, preventing one team from growing too powerful and ruining the competitive balance of the game. Two teams can gang up to counter a more dominant third team, a dynamic that simply isn’t possible with only two opposing factions.”

Read the entire post at the ArenaNet blog.

“I’m excited to share my latest project with my fellow gamers,” said Le, lead developer on Tactical Intervention. “As my latest tactical team-based shooter, Tactical Intervention builds off of what I tried to accomplish with Counter-Strike. I think players will be excited about the innovations we’ve implemented in the game, especially the vehicle missions and new team focus.”

“Partnering with OGPlanet has allowed us to release Tactical Intervention as a Free-to-Play title, ensuring that the game is accessible to all players. We’ve got a lot of great content ready for launch, and there will be regular updates with new guns, maps, and more.”

“With more focus placed on team-based tactics and hardcore, fast-paced gameplay, Tactical Intervention goes far deeper than the everyday FPS. Packed with new environments, game modes, weapons, equipment customization options, and more, Tactical Intervention sets a new benchmark in the evolution of the tactical team-based FPS genre. Players will get behind the driver’s seat, shoot hanging out of vehicle passenger windows, call in attack dogs, and even make use of tactical rappel ropes to gain the upper hand on the opposing force. They will also have to be conscious of civilians who can be taken as hostages and used as human shields. It is up to you and your team to strategize, execute, and eliminate your target!

Players can apply to join Tactical Intervention’s Closed-Beta Test, which will be held in early March, at   www.tactical-intervention.com“

“Remedy has always wanted a PC version of Alan Wake, and now, it’s here. This critically acclaimed game has been revamped for the PC with stunning high-resolution graphics and enhanced PC features. Head over to the Steam store right now and grab the normal edition for $29.99 and the limited collector’s edition for $34.99.

The PC version includes the original game along with the two pieces of downloadable content (The Signal and The Writer) and everything you’d expect from a PC version and more. Players will experience Alan Wake’s Pacific Northwest with higher resolutions and even higher fidelity. Players will experience the interplay between light and darkness like never before. With plenty of graphical customization options, every player can get the most out of their rig. Other refinements include a fully configurable mouse and keyboard setup as well as Microsoft gamepad support. Fan sought-after options such as field of view adjustments and “hide HUD” have also been include. Finally, the game supports multiple screens and stereoscopic 3D.

“Since our roots are firmly placed in PC development, we’re delighted to finally be able to bring Alan Wake to the PC” says Matias Myllyrinne, CEO at Remedy. “We’ve worked hard to reward those faithful PC players and did everything we could to make it worth the wait. I hope the fans agree with us, the PC version looks absolutely stunning.”

In Alan Wake, players assume the role of Alan Wake, a best-selling suspense author suffering from writer’s block. Wake escapes to the small town of Bright Falls, only to experience the mysterious disappearance of his wife. Players will unravel the riveting plot through multilayered character interactions, unique problem-solving and intense combat against the darkest of enemies. In this nightmarish world, where the boundaries between reality and fiction become increasingly blurred and ambiguous, Wake must use a variety of weapons to survive, including his most powerful ally against the darkness – light itself.”

For more info visit: www.alanwake.com

“The best-selling first person action series of all-time returns with the epic sequel to multiple “Game of the Year” award winner, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2. In the world’s darkest hour, are you willing to do what is necessary? Prepare yourself for a cinematic thrill-ride only Call of Duty can deliver.”