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"I am a man with a mission," Junction Point founder and Epic Mickey developer Warren Spector at the opening keynote of PAX Prime 2010. His mission is to convince so-called "gamers" -- those who associate themselves as part of a specific cultural, outsider niche of videogame players -- to embrace growth and let the rest of the world in.

"We are an artform," said Spector, to applause. "For years I felt silly saying that. But no more. I am never going to feel awkward or strange about that, and I am no longer going to worry about society's judgement."

Not to be outdone by the phoenix-like return of a long dormant shooter franchise, Sony announced announced the release date of its own first-person powerhouse today. According to a post on the PlayStation.Blog, Killzone 3 will release on February 22, 2011. PAX attendees will also get a chance to try out the multiplayer at Sony's booth.

This narrows the game's release down from the earlier vague target of February, and makes a pre-order the perfect Valentine's gift for that Helghan-hating special someone in your life. Because nothing says "I love you" like brutal future warfare -- in three dimensions.

Amid swirling rumors of a PAX reveal, Gearbox has finally confirmed that they've taken the reins on Duke Nukem Forever. Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford delivered the news today, just as word hit the Wall Street Journal and eager gamers lined up at PAX to try the game for themselves. A live stream from 2K is still (as of now) showing off footage of the hands-on players.

"The approach and investment and process at 3d Realms didn't quite make it and it cracked in the end," said Pitchford in the WSJ interview. "With Gearbox Software we brought all of those pieces together. It's the game it was meant to be." The report claims the game is expected to ship in 2010, and Pitchford says it's in the "polishing" stage. But they're still working on a launch plan so he's hesitant to commit to a date.

Another game has been delayed out of the fourth quarter of 2010 and into 2011, with this time it being Sega's Conduit 2. The first-person shooter sequel to The Conduit will now be released at some point in the first quarter of 2011.

Nintendojo received word of the delay though they weren't given any reason for it. Its November 2 release date would have put it out the same day as GoldenEye 007 for Wii, arguably the biggest FPS release on the platform to date. It's entirely possible the game was delayed simply to avoid being lost in the buzz around GoldenEye or that of the crowded holiday release period.

Conduit 2, which will be playable for those attending PAX this weekend, will have support for not only MotionPlus, but the Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro, if you'd rather play the game with a more traditional control scheme.

Over three dozen musical artists are re-recording some of their current and upcoming songs for inclusion in The Sims 3 on consoles and the latest Sims 3 PC expansion pack, Late Night. They're re-recording their songs because they won't be sung in English, but in the Sims' language of Simlish.

A press release making the announcement quotes a number of the artists, many of which point out that they had fun but also found it challenging or weird to sing in Simlish. "Singing in Simlish was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was a blast!" said Travie McCoy. Flo Rida said of his decision to contribute to the game, "I'm always trying to find new ways to reach different audiences with my music and The Sims 3 was a perfect way."

The console versions of The Sims 3 will be released on October 26, the same day the Late Night expansion will be made available to owners of the PC version of The Sims 3.

Seven45 Studios put out a full list of playable tracks for Power Gig: Rise of the SixString this morning. The full-band game will feature 70 songs, with exclusives from Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band, and Kid Rock.

In addition to a guitar controller that doubles as a fully-functioning guitar, Power Gig also lets you take your pick between vocals and the game's AirStrike drum controller. It's expected to launch in October of this year -- putting it pretty much head-to-head against Rock Band 3.

Feast your eyes upon the full list of Power Gig tracks below:

Crackdown 2 players have reported major issues with the recently released Toy Box DLC. According to posts on the official Ruffian Games forums (spotted by Shacknews), both the free and paid versions of the add-on are affected by bugs.

Upon acquiring the DLC, some players note that the game stalls on the title screen. Others report that unlocking certain Achievements can lead to the Achievement voiceovers repeating on an infinite loop -- eventually dragging the framerate down to an unplayable state.

Ruffian co-founder Gaz Liddon chimed in on the forum thread with an acknowledgement of the bugs, as well as offering some band-aid fixes while the devs work on a real solution. "We have confirmation of what the issue is now. The paid part of the DLC was incorrectly configured when mastered," reads his statement.

Activision is remaking the Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye 007 for the Wii, but one man isn't convinced it's coming from a genuine enthusiasm for the game: original GoldenEye designer Martin Hollis. Speaking to Official Nintendo Magazine, Hollis accused Activision of making the remake primarily for the money.

"I imagine it is a business decision isn't it?" Hollis said. "This name is valuable, let's use it. I find it hard to picture Activision's top management being excited about the original and wanting to do it justice. In fact, I find it hard to imagine them being excited about any game. It's my perception that they are trying to be EA, only more so. I think they are doing a fine job at that."

Despite doubts about Activision's motivation, Hollis still offered support for remake developer Eurocom. "I know and like Eurocom. I think they are a good company. I'm confident they have done their very best," Hollis said.

Following comments made by Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggesting that Mafia II was unlikely to be profitable, Take-Two has come out and stated that it not only expects the game to be profitable, but that it's "off to a great start."

"Mafia II's average Metacritic score of 74 is well below expectations, and consumer interest appears to be waning, as the game's position has dropped in many best-seller lists in its first week," Pachter recently said (via Gamasutra). "With six years in development, we believe the game is unlikely to achieve profitability."

Gamasutra reports Take-Two CEO Ben Feder countered such claims during an investors call, saying, "We're very proud of the game." He later said, "Based upon the initial launch, we expect this to be another profitable title for Take-Two." Sales figures have yet to be released, though the release of NPD sales figures for August later this month should give us some indication of how well Mafia II sold. Its release so late in the month (August 24 in North America) could hurt its chances to rank highly, however, especially with Madden topping sales charts, according to EA.

Telltale has officially revealed the identity of its mystery game, titled "Poker Night at the Inventory." It stars Tycho, Max, Strong Bad, and the Heavy as they gamble over iconic items from their own respective worlds. The blog teases that Max, for example, gets excited over the prospect of winning the Heavy's gun -- which we're sure the Heavy won't like one bit.

The new teaser image (above) doesn't shed a lot of light on the subject, but if you're attending the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) this weekend, you can get a first-hand look at it. Telltale will be showing it off at at booth #3509. As an added incentive, if you pre-order the game, Telltale will give 25% off other purchases at the Telltale store.