Our intrepid leader trog, whose heart never seems to leave San Francisco, is currently over there once again for the 2010 Games Developer Conference.

Although GDC isn't the enormous affair that E3 is -- as the name implies, it's more about product pitching and developer networking -- there's still a good helping of new stuff being shown off there this year.

Today we take a first look at Activision's True Crime, a new attempt at the franchise that first tried to tap the Grand Theft Auto market back in 2003 with a sequel in '05. This time the name stays the same but everything else appears to be a fresh start. Find out all the details in this AusGamers first-look preview

Continuing the support for their acclaimed fantasy RPG, EA and BioWare have released another patch for Dragon Age: Origins, now available for all platforms.

Here's the changelog:

• Various changes have been made to code and resources to support the Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening expansion pack. Most of these changes do not affect Origins itself.
  
• Some players were experiencing increasingly long load times. A major cause of this problem has been fixed.
  
• At higher levels, non-player characters now receive a bonus to armor penetration. This mitigates an unintentional imbalance with well-armored high-level characters, since armor penetration previously did not scale as aggressively as armor itself did.
  
• Elite-rank enemies (lieutenants) can no longer be shattered. This preserves the intended tactical design of many combat encounters.
  
• Portraits for summoned creatures (like a ranger's wolf) were displaying improperly while in the party camp. This no longer occurs.

Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners can find this one of their respective online services and PC gamers can download it right here on AusGamers.

Another FIFA World Cup, another quadrennial cash-in opportunity for EA Sports. Coming to all the usual platforms, 2010 FIFA World Cup will bring you all the hot football action of the recent FIFA 10 with world-cup trimmings such as "confetti rain, streamers, & fireworks".

For the first time ever in a videogame compete in a full and authentic online World Cup tournament. Carry the hopes and dreams of a nation into battle against fans from rival countries, from the group stage through the knockout rounds to the chance to be crowned 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa champion. For fans of nations that failed to qualify for South Africa this is the chance to replay and re-write history. Plus, gameplay innovations capture the journey from qualification to the final tournament with home and away strategies for every nation, situational tactics in-game, and altitude effects that fatigue players faster and even impact the flight of the ball.

Watch the latest Sizzle Trailer here on AusGamers.

Blizzard community manager Eyonix is back again with some more tasty information for WoW-heads hanging out for their next big fix, the forthcoming Cataclysm expansion.

Today we’d like to go into more detail about a brand-new feature that’s an integral part of this overhaul: the Mastery system, a set of new game mechanics designed to allow players to become better at what makes their chosen talent tree cool or unique. With this system, we want to accomplish three things: give players more freedom in how they allocate talent points, simplify some of the "kitchen sinky" talents that try to do too much at once, and add a new stat to high-level gear that makes you better at your chosen role.

Examples of this are given for the Holy Priest, Discipline Priest and Frost Death Knight masteries. Get the full scoop over on the World of Warcraft Community Forums.

We've dug up a batch of Fallout: New Vegas screens, direct from Obsidian who are working on the highly anticipated sequel to 2008's Fallout 3.

Overall things are definitely looking very familiar in the tech department, with a lot of the same visual assets clearly being carried across from Bethesda's effort, along with other elements such as the same Pip-Boy HUD and conversation options. But we can gleam a few new tidbits from these which include new mutated enemies, a new companion command wheel and cross-dressing super mutants.

Either way, it's looking good, though we'd really like to see some proper first-person screens and more varied landscapes (different weather perhaps?). Click here for even more.

Realising they were onto a good thing the first time around, the Prince of Persia team over at Ubisoft Montreal have taken the series back to its original "Sands of Time" setting, with a brand-new entrant - Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.

While gameplay remains marginally unchanged from the original trilogy (a good thing in my book), the team have been able to build the new game on the Anvil engine; originally built for Assassin's Creed, offering a stunning and richly detailed look at the Prince's classic world.

Click here to watch the video, or just check out the embed below.

While the open invitation for discussion of the introduction of an R18+ rating for videogames here in Australia closed on February 28, various outlets such as EB Games and GAME continue to keep the debate alive with active petitions, while sprinkles of news here and there also do their job in maintaining at least some form of momentum.

Today, however, it was revealed the debate itself is important enough to the government, who've realised even more they need to pay close attention to gamers, with word that some 55,000 submissions were made in favour of the introduction of an R18+ rating for games over the course of the paper's open hours, which ran from December through to the end of February.

Though in saying that, the Australia Christian Lobby Group has challenged the credibility of the 55,000-strong response, claiming commercial ties with gaming companies and the general consensus among gamers that games are not linked to sparking violence and aggression as "reminiscent of the tactics of tobacco companies in questioning the link between smoking and lung cancer," as printed in their March newsletter.

Regardless, the strength of the overall response (bear in mind several organisations also submitted on behalf of large numbers of people such as the EFA) means the issue will likely find its way into the next meeting of state and territory attorneys-general. Stay tuned as we dive deeper.

Apologies to all for the tardiness of this, but Firefox needing a restart and little sisters who don't know what they're doing when jumping on your machine to quickly feed some stupid virtual pet they have on Facebook while you're grabbing a coffee don't mix, apparently.

In the Headlines
We kicked off the week asking if YOU wanted to work at AusGamers, 2K Games revealed the first two DLC episodes for Borderlands would be coming to a retail disc, AusGamers looked at the Aliens vs Predator dedicated server option (or lack thereof), the PS3 suffered a short global crash, Sony bought up LittleBigPlanet developer, Nexuiz will be heading to console, Nokia reveal N900 pricing for AU, THQ let loose the first 40K Space Marines screens, Natural Selection 2 was confirmed for Steam and pre-order, Test Drive Unlimited 2 was announced, Infinity Ward and Activision aren't as happy together as first thought, Portal 2 was revealed and we finally showcased results from the AusGamers Game of the Year Awards for 2009.

Videos We Highly Recommend

• Metro 2033 "Kill or be Killed" Trailer
• Just Cause 2 "Mid-Air Sabotage" Trailer
• Civilization 5 Debut Cinemaatic
• Halo Reach "Multiplayer Madness" Trailer
• Splinter Cell Conviction "The Evolution of Sam Fisher" Trailer

On the editorial front, we went hands-on with a preview build of Just Cause 2, Mike checked out Runaway: A Twist of Fate in review form, while Dan ran AvP through its review paces as well.

That's it from us for the Wrap for another week, but as usual, stick around for news, files, media, previews and reviews - right here on AusGamers.

2K Games have told us they've come to a licensing agreement with Hugh Hefner's Playboy Magazine empire to use original, classic covers of the iconic magazine throughout Mafia 2.

"While most mob-inspired games' emphasis is solely on action, Mafia II features a deep and compelling narrative that is embellished with a sophisticated, era-evoking atmosphere," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. "In partnering with Playboy, we are able to add a unique element of authenticity to the game by using vintage images from the magazine that illustrate the power of Playboy's influence on the attitudes and culture of that generation."

Can't argue with that. And we all know gangsters read it for the article, anyway. Check out a few screens featuring Playboy below.

The Intertubes are abuzz with the latest DRM debacle as gamers around the world struggle with Ubisoft's new invasive system that requires regular online authentication. Ubisoft have apologised for the issues in a forum post:

Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties with the Online Service Platform. This does not affect customers who are currently playing, but customers attempting to start a game may experience difficulty in accessing our servers. We are currently working to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience.

While the problem only apparently affected around 5% of users, it is a good reminder as to the problems suffered when you try to do the right thing and buy a game, only to get an inferior experience to the pirated version.

It seems pretty amazing they'd press forward with such a system after the absolute beat-up they suffered after the StarForce debacle, but... here we are. While we at AusGamers always encourage people to buy their games, we also encourage them to be aware of DRM systems that games might have - so do your research before shelling out your hard-earned dollars! As someone that was forced to reformat a PC because of StarForce in an Ubisoft game, I learned that lesson the hard way.

A big day today with the confirmation of a speculated rumour - a rumour that probably seemed too good to be true for many.

Valve Software have announced that their Steam distribution platform - as well as the Source gaming engine - is coming to the Mac. This means that Mac users will soon be able to buy games like Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, and Portal.

"We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation," said John Cook, Director of Steam Development. "The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward. We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360. Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates. Furthermore, Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth. We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients. The first Mac Steam client will be the new generation currently in beta testing on Windows."

Portal 2 will be the first game coming out on Mac and PC simultaneously, with development for both platforms occuring side-by-side.

This is fantastic news for Mac owners, who have typically been left in the dark when it comes to gaming, and great news for game developers, who now have a proven, tested, popular distribution system for this new platform. Hopefully this will mean more cross-platform games for everyone.

Korean publisher NHN Games (Archlord) have revealed a glimpse at a new upcoming MMO, currently being referred to as Project E:st.

NHN Corporation announced today that it has signed a publishing deal on a major new title in development at Polygon Games, known currently under the codename Project E:st. A fantasy MMORPG with an Asian theme, Project E:st will use Crytek's award-winning CryENGINE®2, and Crytek will be showcasing a trailer of the game at GDC 2010 in San Francisco next week. "The project name, E:st, was selected to show the commitment between NHN Corporation and Polygon Games to develop the best Asia fantasy game," says Wook Jeong, Hangame CEO at NHN Corporation. "We believe that the high graphical quality realized with CryENGINE®2, coupled with an immersive storyline, will strongly appeal to gamers." NHN is planning to publish Project E:st both in Korea and in overseas territories, including North America and Europe.

Project E:st is scheduled to enter closed beta testing in Korea later this year.

The doesn't offer much idea on the game's features, other than some pretty visuals so hopefully this week's GDC 2010 reveal offers something more substantial.

Several screenshots can also be found over on our game page.

Following Friday's Steam release for the Just Cause 2 demo, Eidos have now let it loose for general distribution, meaning you can now grab a copy locally from AusGamers files [1.04GB] (Update: The correct file is now available, apologies to anyone that downloaded earlier).

With 35 square miles of adrenaline-fuelled gameplay, the demo is packed with opportunities for chaos. Set in the stunning south-western Panaun desert, the demo area contains a full 16 civilian towns and military bases, one of the 50 government colonels to hunt down and assassinate, air challenges, pickups, numerous military and civilian vehicles and one complete, full-game mission, containing an assault on a mountain-top radar station, ending in one of sandbox gaming’s most memorable car chases! While the demo downloads, make sure to check out the latest trailer for a taste of the chaos to come.

Windows XP owners note before downloading that this game requires either Windows 7 or Vista.

For more information about the game, check out AusGamers' hands-on preview or watch this new trailer featuring gameplay from the demo.

Just Cause 2 is on track for an "April 2010" release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Heaps of games and gaming-related things happening this week, so we'll get right into it.

Nintendo will be launching their recently announced Black Wii at retail from Thursday, March 11, but prior to this Final Fantasy XIII will finally make its way into punter hands for both PS3 and Xbox 360 from Tuesday, March 9. Tony Hawk's RIDE rolls out on Wednesday March 10 as well as the R.U.S.E. public beta (available from Steam), while Thursday, alongside Ninty's new console colour will see Rugby League 3 for Wii, Yakuza 3 for PS3, Battlefield Bad Company 2 for PS3, Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition for PS3 and Xbox 360, Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising (along with an exclusive EB version called "Corruption Edition") for PC lands while March 13 sees Order of War available on Steam.

That's it from our end, as usual though, if there's anything we've missed here. please drop a line in the Comments section to let us (and others) know.

It's Monday again and as per usual here's a few videos that came in while we were away from the screen:

• Mafia 2: 2K Games have sent along a new trailer for their forthcoming prohibition-era action game. The video titled "Boom Boom" is set to the John Lee Hooker song of the same name and features a grand theft auto-esque highlight reel of character dialogue and in-game action. Watch it right here on AusGamers.
  
  Mafia 2 is due for a Spring 2010 release (U.S. Fall) for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
  
  
• The Sims 3: Ambitions: EA's mega-hit franchise continues it's relentless time-waster domination with the a second expansion for The Sims 3.

  The Sims 3 Ambitions allows players to pursue a variety of exciting paths and careers in their Sims’ lives that in turn affect their overall gameplay experience and neighbourhood. While on the job, the player has direct control over their Sims’ work and can choose how to spend their days. Players can opt to make house calls and save lives as a doctor or choose the devious route and test experimental medicine on patients be the hero firefighter tackling raging infernos or smashing everything in sight at the victim’s home with an axe

  The debut trailer features a backing track from pop-punk rock act Rise Against, singing in Simlish, the game's made up gibberish language.
  
  The Sims 3: Ambitions is due on PC in June 2010.
  
  
• Dead or Alive: Paradise: Put down your anime love pillows because Tecmo is back with more shameless wobble physics, this time in convenient hand-held form.

  Featuring all the DEAD OR ALIVE lovelies, basking in the tropical sun of ‘New Zack Island’ you will be able to mingle, flirt, play, take snapshots, and challenge the girls in various mini-games found throughout your private island in the best looking PSP game yet.

  The latest trailers offer in-game footage of Tina, Leifang and Hitomi. Tecmo don't try to hide what this game is really all about either, as you can see from this Spanking the Monkey trailer.
  
  Dead or Alive: Paradise is due on April 2 2010, exclusive for PlayStation Portable.

With a month left before it's official release, Ubisoft aren't slowing down on the Splinter Cell: Conviction media, today giving us an official trailer showing off the game's co-operative mode, which serves as a contextual prologue to the single-player events that take place with Sam Fisher behind the trigger.

Four Russian EMP weapons have been stolen and need to be retrieved before they are sold on the black market. Third Echelon and their Russian counterpart, Voron, must work together to recover the warheads, sending American agent Archer and Russian agent Kestrel deep into the heart of Russia's dark and perilous underworld.

Together, Archer and Kestrel will embark on a mission that will require their cooperation and combined skills; that will test their mettle every step of the way; and that will shake their very convictions as special agents.

It's all sounding and looking fantastic, so we're not too miffed we had to wait that little bit extra for this. Check out two new screens below, more co-op info here and click here to check out the new trailer.

SEGA have let us know who'll be coming on board to fill their digital selves in voice form for Iron Man 2, the videogame based on the highly anticipated sequel to John Favreau's Iron Man movie, starring Robert Downey Jr.

Unfortunately the latter has not been announced to be taking up Tony Stark's voice role in the game, however, both Samuel L Jackson and Don Cheadle will offer their voices to Nick Fury and War Machine, respectively.

Iron Man 2: The Video Game will be released in April for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP and Nintendo DS.

Valve have officially announced Portal 2:

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike and Half-Life) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Portal 2 for shipment this coming holiday season.

Portal 2 is the sequel to 2007's Portal, which won 70 industry achievement awards.

For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

Valve have also been running a viral advertisement campaign with the mysterious Portal updates, which all lead to suggest there's going to be a cooperative mode! See here and here for more, and Portalwiki.net have a running update of info. promoted forum item

We asked you a little while ago to vote on your game of 2009 from a variety of categories with a massive list of great games. Today we can finally reveal the results of your voting which equally reveals a few no-brainers among a few surprises.

On top of that, we had the AusGamers editorial staff also list their best for the year, and also listed our highest rated games as reviewed in 2009 (which is also revealing against the favourites). We feel this is a rare type of GOTY against what other sites offer, so check it out.

Click here for Reader's Choice results, and here for Editor's Choice.

One of the year's most anticipated titles turned quite sour for many PC gamers when they were given a taste in a lacklustre mutliplayer demo. SEGA and Rebellion Developments Aliens vs Predator brings an old favourite shooter franchise to a new generation of hardware with some lofty expecations to live up to.

Does it hit the mark? Regrettably, we feel that it falls short for a number of reasons - find out what they are in our in-depth review of the game's Windows PC version.