Head over to Worthplaying and check out the 11 new Mount and Blade screenies!

IGN have a preview of June release NWN2 expansion, Mysteries of Westgate:

You can jump into the module with one of your favorite pre-existing character, and your equipment and powers will be entirely intact. However, the encounters are built for a character starting out at level 8. You can select a pre-built character, or roll up a new one, who will be provided with the appropriate gear. There are three companions in Mysteries of Westgate. The first you'll meet is Rinara, a former member of the Night Mask, an underground organization linked to the cursed mask. She drives away a hostile dwarf before offering to tag along. Up next is your tank, Mantides. He's a fallen paladin hanging around in The Black Eye, a tavern that will serve as your party's base for the first section of the game. At the Temple of the Lantharites in the Arena District, you'll encounter the cleric Charissa for some much-needed healing.

Drakensang.de has a new Drakensang trailer from a recent German convention. The text is in German but there's gameplay footage to watch.

More previews for Fable 2 stemming from the Microsoft Spring Showcase, this time from IGN:

At the start, you can only mash the buttons. Tapping X gives you some fairly standard sword swipes. But you can add flourishes once you've earned some experience. These have multiple tiers, which are executed by holding the X button down longer. You can also unlock rhythm attacks so you're no longer just mashing a button, but pulling off killer combos with style. You can put blocking on the X button or add context-sensitive attacks that allow you to fight like a swashbuckler. You'll have similar levels of upgrades for ranged and magic attacks. You can unlock a "stream of features" for each button, according to Molyneux.

and GameSpot

The designer began by letting us know that Lionhead Studios has finally reached the point where the development team has stopped adding features to the game. Now, the team is focusing on fixing bugs and adding polish. This was evident in the game's visuals: since we were seeing an early version of the game, the graphics seemed a bit choppy in certain spots, but those rough patches were overshadowed by hitch-free moments which led us to believe that the game will wind up looking really good. The art style is very similar to that of the previous game, but now, cities and outdoor environments look far more detailed and vibrant.

VideoGamer.com have posted both a First Look at Dungeon Hero:

Bradbury's dungeon is an altogether different beast. You still play a muscle bound sword wielding hero, but your surroundings, what Simon calls a "living, breathing world", are going to be unfamiliar to most fantasy fans. Our walk through begins in the middle of a level about a third of the way through the game. We're underground in Gold Star City, home of the goblins you've come to help. These goblins are at war with the Red Eye goblin faction, and you can see the effects of battle everywhere you look. Corpses lay strewn about. Soldiers are busy sharpening knives. We see a Goblin surgeon sawing off an unfortunate soul's leg. Stretcher bearers come rushing in with the wounded. There's work to be done, but it looks like Firefly is already approaching that "living, breathing world" ideal it's aiming for. We're promised countless lines of dialogue and more goblins running about showing the player exactly what they get up too in their daily lives. There will even be off duty goblins playing guitar and reciting witty poetry.

and an Interview with Firefly's co-founder Simon Bradbury:

VideoGamer.com: Will there be any online features?

SB: It's not something we want to do right from the outset partly because of the nature of, right well we're moving to console, we're moving to action game. If we had tried to say and what's more we're going to produce a kick ass two player online game, that's probably shooting too high first time around. Whereas the game itself plays very well and a little bit more old school arcadey side by side, watch this kind of thing. If we get it right it'll be goblin ping pong, smacking them around and a fun feel to it. We'd rather focus in on getting the combat right, getting the living breathing world right and getting that simpler side by side right.

Three more previews form the recent press showing of NWN2 Adventure Pack, the Mysteries of Westgate today. First we have Thieves Guild.net:

Quite simply, this a must have for NWN2 fans. This is an extremely polished and superbly crafted adventure, and the attention to detail is simply astounding. The game draws you in from the start and doesn't want to let go. I had a hard time tearing myself away from it, it's THAT good. I simply can't find anything to criticize, except perhaps that I wish it was longer.

When asked what they were proudest of with Mysteries of Westgate, Alan Miranda replied that "City Adventures are tough to do. The team likes this one." The Ossian development team can take a well deserved collective bow: they NAILED this one. Be patient folks, this is worth the wait. You are in for a real treat.

then a short piece from Just RPG:

Speaking of passion, it was definitely in evidence by the Ossian attendees. Along with Alan was Russ Davis. We knew that both were avid RPG enthusiasts by their exuberance in discussing MoW and its features – and that both were very proud of their creation.

In closing, I’d like to say that I’m definitely looking forward to a review version of the game. I have great confidence that it will get a good mark from JustRPG!

and finally NWN Podcast, with a special edition:

We interrupt the podcast schedule to bring to you this special news bulletin.

Atari and the Neverwinter Nights Podcast sent our very own, Michele aka Liso66, to Los Angeles for a special press event surrounding Mysteries of Westgate.

She interviewed Alan Miranda, CEO of Ossian Studios , and Russ aka Tiberius on the spot! Michele was teased by a few hours of playing MoW and tells us how she did. Check out new screen shots below.

Following up from yesterday's leaked Fable 2 screens, CVG has both a Preview of the game:

It looks really great, and could take a lot of the pain and work out of the RPG questing. The other thing that has more of an effect on the narrative, notes Molyneux, are character emotions, which are back in the sequel via a radial menu on the left bumper. To demonstrate, our boy hero farts on a town guard, who instantly gifts us with +13 hatred.

and an Interview with Peter Molyneux:

The scale of Fable 2's world is huge compared to the first game. We're sick of mentioning it, but the first thing that came to mind was the jump to GTA IV's Liberty City...

Molyneux: The first thing we did was to mock up the whole world because it was so ambitious, and there are three levels to that ambition. In a way it is a little bit like GTA IV in that they just say "Hey, here's your city, we're not going to point out there's a special thing here and a special thing there", and we're doing very much the same thing with our entire world.

Every region that we've got has got this idea of having this flow-through, which is that breadcrumb trail that you saw, the story that's there. And I love that feeling, as an RPG gamer, that I can find that little secret that no one else has found.

There are two interviews up with Bioware CEO Ray Muzyka. The first with CVG looks at the game, future content updates and leaps forward to the sonic RPG:

DLC - any plans for more after Sky?

Muzyka: Oh yeah, we have big plans for post-release content with the franchise for both Xbox 360 and PC. We haven't released any details on that yet but it's something we want to actively support.

So no hints on when the next lot will come?

Muzyka: You know, it's all about the quality. We want to make sure it's a really great experience; and we also want to do different things, we like experimenting and trying different things for post-release content.

We did a lot of post-release content with Neverwinter Nights, we're planning to do more on Dragon Age in the future as well and Mass Effect and other products we have in development.

We just want to make sure we're satisfying what the fans want first, so often it's good to get their feedback and say, "What kinds of things would really be exciting to you?", and how can we put those in the game.

and the other with PC Gamer at Games Radar focuses more on the recent copy protection issues:

PCG: There’s been a lot of talk about the DRM that was announced for Mass Effect PC and for SPORE - obviously, the original scheme has been changed. Whose original idea was the every-10-days authentication, and whose idea was it to change that? What happened?

RM: Well, you know, with the DRM, we’re making sure we can deliver a great experience to our fans, and also trying to make sure that the teams that work for three years or more on our games, hundreds of people, actually get their work into the hands of people who pay for the content. That’s really important to us. We have a great community, and we really trust them, so it’s disturbing when you see people outside that community that don’t trust us back, and then don’t buy the content.

I think the original idea... we were very much in an exploratory mode when the rumor about this started up, and I think we listened to the feedback. That’s one thing we do very, very ardently at BioWare - we care a lot about the fans, we care about the community feedback, and we respond to it. We saw the results. We’re basically making sure that it’s a good experience for fans: they don’t have to put the disc in the drive, they can install it on multiple machines, and it’s going to be a one-time authentication thing. Basically, it’s easy to use.

Ossian Studios' CEO Alan Miranda spoke to GameSpy about the "adventure pack" for Atari's Neverwinter Nights 2. "Mysteries of Westgate due in June:

GameSpy: How did you come to work on Mysteries of Westgate?

Miranda: Well, after we released Darkness over Daggerford for Neverwinter Nights Atari approached us in August of 2006. It didn't take much convincing to show them that Ossian could easily replicate our success with Neverwinter Nights 2. We started coming up with ideas for where to set our next game and eventually settled on the city of Westgate, which is possibly the most infamous city in the Forgotten Realms.

Clicky to read more of the interview!

Ahead of today's announcement, some new Fable 2 screenies have been leaked onto the net. See them Here at CVG!

Over at the NWN2 Forums, the latest Mysteries of Westgate Spotlight shines on the Church of Lathander's attempts to destroy The Night Masks:

Throughout the two decades of the Night Masks’ brutal reign of terror over Westgate, there have been few concerted efforts to stop them. And such should not come as a surprise, for anything that even hinted at breaking their stranglehold on the city would be swiftly and efficiently quashed; the Masks are nothing if not brutal. To be sure, there are several organizations within the city that might at first glance be good candidates to come to the defense of the city’s beleaguered merchants. The church of Lathander is centered close to the grand arena in the magnificent cathedral known as the Morningstar Haven. The church of Ilmater also has a strong presence in the city, though in keeping with its clergy’s mantra of suffering, it has no quarters as grand or plush as the Lathanderites. Sadly, even combined, for the two groups often act together in the same harmony as the two deities they represent, they have not the forces to counter the insidious threat posed by the followers of the Faceless.

You can read more Here

Before and after screenies showing the new health bars are on show over at the Precursors webiste!

From the recent Press Day comes a preview by NWN2 Vault with a release date:

The game itself has been completed since last September but the delay in getting it released is due to a new online digital store that Atari is setting up to sell the game. It should be similar to what BioWare did to sell their Premium modules both in terms of functionality and DRM restrictions, meaning you'll need an Internet connection to validate the game before playing it. The BioWare site took more than seven months to create, so it's not a simple project but Atari is confident the store will be ready early June and the module will sell for $9.99US.

and another from WarCry, also confirming June:

Miranda told us that the team was held up slightly when it was determined that the Westgate setting required a sewer tileset for Undergate. He indicated that this was the most difficult period for the team during the development process as they had never created tilesets before. As a result, things were hit or miss for awhile and required innovation in the creation of toolset improvements that would facilitate the tileset's creation. The steep learning curve to create the sewer tileset also caused a slight delay in other aspects of the project such as scripting. The development of several toolset plug ins, however, including a power bar and a spell checker helped get things rolling along.

Strategy Informer has the news:

Blizzard Entertainment today announced its plans for the third BlizzCon gaming convention, to be held at Anaheim Convention Center in California on 10th and 11th of October, 2008. lizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises. In response to the demand to accommodate more attendees, this year’s event has expanded from two convention halls to three.

“Whenever we’ve been able to meet and interact with Blizzard gamers from around the world, it’s been a great experience for us,” stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re looking forward to seeing even more of our players at this year’s BlizzCon and delivering another entertaining and informative event for them.”

BlizzCon will offer a wide variety of activities to help all attendees get the most out of the two-day event. In addition to serving as a gathering place for the different Blizzard Entertainment gaming communities, attendees will be able to enjoy:

* Hands-on play time with upcoming Blizzard Entertainment releases
*Discussion panels with Blizzard Entertainment developers
*Competitive and casual tournaments for players to showcase their talents
*Areas and activities devoted to licensed products such as the World of Warcraft® Trading Card Game
*Costume, machinima, and character sound-alike contests with great prizes
*Commemorative merchandise based on the Blizzard Entertainment franchises
*A silent auction
*More exciting activities to be announced

Tickets for BlizzCon will go on sale in the next few weeks at a price of $100 USD per person. As the event draws closer, further details will be announced on the official BlizzCon website: http://www.blizzcon.com.

Head over to WorthPlaying and check out the two new Sacred 2 screenies on offer!