PSN Killzone 2 Demo Coming February 26

You could be forgiven for being a bit confused about Sony's strategy of reserving its Killzone 2 demo for people who have already committed by pre-order. Sony, however, has not only taken the time to explain their line of thinking, but announced that the demo will also be available on the PlayStation Network the day before Killzone 2 officially launches.

Speaking with MTV Multiplayer, Sony Computer Entertainment America vice president of product marketing Scott Steinberg said that "offering a playable to motivate preorders speaks to our confidence in the appeal of a game such as Killzone 2." To Steinberg, it's a matter of enticing a potential customer to pre-order the game with the promise of a demo, then cementing their interesting making the purchase.

"Retailers will then merchandise those demos within their stores and online to maximize their visibility. Through this process, consumers are often times able to reserve their copy of the final game, which provides an incentive to purchase and helps seal the deal," Steinberg said.

For those who prefer the chance to try the game before they consider buying it though, Steinberg said that it would be available in North America "the week that the game is launching, for consumers who prefer that option."

If that describes you, then the demo will be available for download February 26. For those who simply can't wait until the day before launch, GameStop's pre-order package will net you the demo code February 2. So what are you thinking, PlayStation 3 owners?

Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden Coming To North America

The Naruto time jump has been in force for a while now, but it's taken a while for the games to catch up. Take heart though, Naruto fans, because the next Naruto game to hit North America will be taking place squarely in Shippuden.

According to Kotaku, Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden will arrive in March sporting a 52 character roster and a brand-new story arc created specifically for the game. And naturally, since this is Shippuden, most everybody will be a bit older and wiser.

Unfortunately for Naruto fans who happen to own a next-generation system, embracing the time jump doesn't mean that Shippuden will be on the PlayStation 3. So if you want to do the time warp in HD, you'll have to wait a little bit longer.

Gears of War 2 Surpasses Four Million Sold

People just seem to like big guns and space marines. Need proof? According to Epic, Gears of War 2 has sold four million copies.

Gears of War 2 global product manager Guy Welch told GameDaily that the shooter has sold more than four million units since its release back in November. According to Welch, it more than exceeds the pace of the original.

"The original Gears of War was the fastest-selling next-generation game of 2006, selling more than 2 million units worldwide that Holiday, and now well over 5 million copies sold to date," he said. "With Gears of War 2, the game has sold over 4 million units in the first two months, doubling the pace of the original."

And it's a good bet that Gears of War 2 will have also surpassed the original's five million before too long.

Circuit City Shutting Down, Liquidating Stores in the U.S.

Unfortunate news today out of the world of retail as the second largest electronic retailers in the U.S., Circuit City, has announced that it's failed to find any buyers and will be forced to liquidate its 567 U.S. stores beginning as soon as tomorrow. Liquidation has to wait for approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which Circuit City requested today, reports Reuters.

"Regrettably for the more than 30,000 employees of Circuit City and our loyal customers, we were unable to reach an agreement with our creditors and lenders to structure a going-concern transaction ... and so this is the only possible path for our company," said Circuit City Vice Chairman James Marcum.

Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection back in November and closed down 155 stores. The company's stock has continued to decrease -- as it has for the most part since late 2006 -- and currently sits at $0.04, a drop of 74.33%, as of 2:49pm EST.

At this point, Best Buy seems to be reaping the rewards. Circuit City's main rival has seen an 8.22% boost in its stock prices today up to $29.54, as of 2:46pm EST. FTN Midwest Securities analyst Anthony Chukumba believes that the Circuit City closure could hurt Best Buy in the ensuing months (likely due to the inevitable clearance prices) but following that, Best Buy should begin seeing 30% of Circuit City store sales.

Our best goes out to the many who will be laid off as a result of the bankruptcy.

Capcom Details Resident Evil 5 Collector's Edition

Capcom has released the full details on the Collector's Edition of Resident Evil 5, and the extra swag makes it one of the largest we've seen. The package includes a steel box to hold both the game disc and a bonus disc containing making of feature, trailers, and art. The edition also includes a Chris Redfield figure, Kijuju necklace, BSAA patch, and a Tricell messenger bag. The full cost for the set is $89.99. The full package can be seen in the picture above, and seems very different from the Japanese CE, which includes a 2GB flash drive, BSAA waist pack, and 32-page art book. If you aren't sure you want to preorder the game, you can always wait until January 26 to try the demo and decide then.

Free Realms to Have Staggered Release

On a recent ratings list from the ESRB, Free Realms -- the upcoming and notably light-hearted MMO -- was given a rating for the PC version but the list mentioned nothing of the PS3 version. We contacted a representative at SOE to get clarification on the matter, and we learned that Free Realms PC will be releasing first, sometime in Q2. Although the PS3 version is still planned, there is no official release date at the moment.

Hopefully PS3 owners looking forward to this family-friendly MMO won't have to wait too long before the game hits Sony's current-gen console.

Fallout 3 Patched

Fallout 3 has received an update, available free to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC owners of the English, German, Italian and Spanish versions of the game. The patch will download automatically on Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network and can be downloaded here for PC.

Here is the list of fixes Bethesda claims the patch makes::

Bug Fixes

-Friends notification no longer causes the game to pause. (Playstation 3)

-Fixed occasional crashes during loading and waiting.

-Friendly or neutral NPC health bars, when taking damage, no longer flicker repeatedly.

-Fixed issue where certain NPCs would occasionally disappear from the game.

-Fixed issue where dead NPCs would occasionally come back to life.

-Fixed rendering issue with the Gatling Laser gun's tracers.

-Fixed issue where the haircut menu would occasionally not appear properly.

-Added ability to remap your VATS and pip boy buttons.

-Fixed rare load/save issues that would cause NPCs to behave incorrectly.

-Fixed issue where quest objectives would occasionally not update properly due to talking activators, intercoms and conversations.

-Using Radaway from the Pip-Boy's Status Menu repeatedly no longer crashes the game.

- Player no longer gets stuck in level up menu if their skills are maxed out.

-Fixed issue where multiple followers would occasionally not load into an interior.

-Fixed rare issue with getting stuck in VATS mode.

-Fixed rare crash with fighting NPCs with corrupted data.

-In game radios will now play properly if player was listening to the radio in the Pip-Boy first. (Playstation 3)

-Fixed rare crashes while loading and saving games.

-Fixed rare issue where player would fall through the floor while in VATS.

-Fixed occasional crash after scoring a critical hit in the head with a Railway Rifle.

-Prevent NPCs from inadvertently dying from falling.

-Fixed occasional issue where the controller would stop working properly.

-Fixed crashes related to repeatedly equipping and dropping clothing and armor into the world.


Quest Fixes

-Fixed several instances where quest item stayed in inventory permanently after completing quests.

-Fixed an issue where the distress message would occasionally not play in Trouble on the Homefront.

-In The Waters of Life quest, the Citadel gate will open properly if the player fast travels away after exiting the Taft Tunnels but before reaching the Citadel gate with Doctor Li.

-For the Home Sweet Home quest, the broken protectrons in Big Town become active at the proper time.

-In The American Dream quest, fixed specific issue which prevented the player from accessing their belongings in the locker by the door if they left the room first.

-Fixed infinite caps exploit in Strictly Business quest.

- Fixed rare instance where Dad would have no valid dialogue during The Waters of Life quest.

- Prevent issue during the Finding the Garden of Eden quest where player would fade to black, instead of traveling to Raven Rock, while in combat with a follower.

-Fixed several XP speech exploits with certain NPCs.

-Fixed XP exploit with a robot in Fort Bannister.

-Fixed issue where player's controls can become locked permanently during The American Dream.