Ubisoft put the Xbox 360 edition of "Ghost Recon: Future Soldier" front and center when they announced the game this week, revealing that a multiplayer beta would be available to early buyers of "Splinter Cell: Conviction." PC and PS3 versions were confirmed with less fanfare over Twitter, but the complete platform lineup now includes the Wii, PSP and DS as well.

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"Final Fantasy XIII" bundles may not be isolated to Japan after all if a listing similar to the "Modern Warfare 2" package is to be believed. The validity of the box art ma

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Fourteen months after its auspicious debut, we are now able to play "Dante's Inferno" in all of its glory. The wait has been unbearable. Who hasn't been chomping at the bit to get their hands on Visceral Games' grand reinterpretation of Dante Aligheri's seven-hundred-year-old poetry?

If "Dante" manages to capture an audience, we might be on the verge of a new gaming zeitgeist, wherein publishers across the land craft their blockbusters from the most traditional IPs in the public domain. Here are five games based on classic lit and the developers most suited to realizing them.

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Information on the next installment of "Assassin's Creed" continues to trickle out of Ubisoft, and it would appear that I'm playing into their diabolical hands by feeding you said information on a drip-by-drip basis. Today's tidbit comes from Ubi's fiscal report, and it basically confirms the location of the upcoming "Assassin's Creed" Ezio spin-off. Here's the quote from Ubi:

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Classic literature doesn't always make for the best video game subject matter (yes, "Beowulf," I'm looking at you). With "Dante's Inferno," though, EA managed to pick an epic with a powerful story of love and a fascinating, varied setting. But can a revived classic make for a decent modern day video game? Depends on who you ask. Oh, you're asking me? Ok, fine.

The Basics

You play as Dante, a soldier in the Crusades who dies during an uprising of prisoners and is sent down to hell for his varied sins, only to battle Death and return to the land of the living. But when Dante discovers that his old lady, Beatrice, has been killed and sent down to hell (for his acts of betrayal against her), he decides he's going to save her from an afterlife of eternal torment. A little late, Dante!

The game plays out as a 3rd person, combat-heavy action game. The combat is focused around an extending scythe and a powerful cross, both of which can be used in tandem to create new combinations. There's also some light puzzle-solving and a character upgrade system.

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Hey, look that! "Ghost Recon: Future Solider," the title that Ubisoft trademarked last year, turned out to be for a game after all. "Future Soldier," which may or may not be the game "Ghost Recon: Predator" was supposed to become, should be out this year with a beta coming out as soon as this summer and a full release planned for the 2010 holiday season.

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I completed "Mass Effect 2" early last week and, I'll be honest, the only reason that it took me so long to complete (about 40 hours) is that I was busy relishing every last moment of it. BioWare managed to wield a massive axe so deftly that lopping off entire mechanics that we've so often associated with RPGs (inventory management, exploration) felt like a choice of zen-like clarity. But it wasn't until the final moments of the game, when I finally set my course for the Omega 4 relay, that I began to discover how "Mass Effect," as a franchise, has changed the way I roleplay.

WARNING: I'm about to discuss how the game ends. So yeah, spoilers.

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EA may be taking its "Medal of Honor" series directly into modern-day combat in 2010 in its quest to reclaim the FPS crown. "Battlefield: Bad Company 2," meanwhile, will be keeping World War II alive for at least a few scenes before transition into the present day. Such details, along with accounts of power-drill attacks, appeared in the ESRB's M-rating justification.

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Microsoft's decision to end Xbox Live support for first-gen Xbox titles did not go unnoticed behind the walls at Bungie. "Halo 2" will be among those games losing online multiplayer support, and if you count yourself among those wanting to send the game away from the XBL network properly, you won't be alone.

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Now that the only respectable portions of "Star Wars" have been mined clean, TT Games has no choice but to return to the prequel timeline for their next game: "Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars." It's an interesting move, given that The Clone Wars were already covered by the first "Lego Star Wars" game, but it seems this installment will focus on the Cartoon Network series of the same name, with all its different characters and lack of constant Lucas meddling.

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