Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 2 continues to expand the addictive COD multiplayer experience with four exciting new maps. Battle to control the river bridge in Banzai, a bright jungle map featuring a waterfall and hidden caves. In Corrosion, face down your enemy in a shattered train yard, and in Sub Pens wipe the monsoon rain from your eyes as you struggle over a bombed-out submarine base. The Zombies return in Shi No Numa (Zombie Swamp) featuring Perk machines, the deadly new Wunderwaffe DG-2, new Achievements and flaming Hell Hounds.

• Shi No Numa (Zombie Swamp): Keep moving to survive the unending Zombie horde in Shi No Numa, the all new addition to the four player co-op fan favorite. Japanese Zombies rise from the misty swamps and flaming Hell Hounds blaze through the jungle as players struggle to find Perk machines and the deadly new Wunderwaffe DG-2 to stay alive. This new map includes 10 new Achievements.
• Banzai: Deep in the jungles of Japanese controlled territory, battle to control the tall river bridge in Banzai a bright, medium sized jungle map featuring a waterfall, villages and hidden caves well suited for deadly snipers, surprise attacks, and all-out gun battles.
• Corrosion: In Corrosion, face down your enemy in a deteriorated Russian train yard. Sprint under, over and through the shattered pipelines and war-torn train cars in this mid sized map great for full out team combat. Keep your head on a swivel as your enemy could be above or below you!
• Sub Pens: This close-quarter bombed-out Japanese submarine base is littered with live ammunition, breached subs, and idle fighter planes. Wipe the monsoon rains from your eyes and struggle to control key choke points in this tight map designed for exciting and deadly battles.

Keep checking back for updates as we hear more about this new DLC and the growing infection that is Zombie Killing.

Game On!

Experience first-hand what it’s like to Fight for Every Yard in Madden NFL 10. With the all-new Pro-Tak™ animation technology, players have more control over the outcome of each play. Whether driving a receiver towards the first down, or battling for a fumble at the bottom of a pile, the play won’t end until the whistle blows. Add to that the most immersive broadcast presentation and online innovation to date, and Madden NFL 10 captures the authenticity and emotion of the NFL like never before.

Features

• Pro –Tak™ – This all new animation technology provides unprecedented control over the outcome of every play. Drag defenders towards the first down marker, including up to 9-man gang tackles, fight for a fumble at the bottom of the pile, and evade the rush with all-new quarterback avoidance actions. Enhanced play at the line of scrimmage features a new blocking system that allows the quarterback to step into the pocket and gives the defensive line more control over the rush.

• Unprecedented Authenticity – Referees peeling players off a fumble pile, the chain gang rushing in to measure for a key first down, and all-new player equipment ensure that if you see it on Sunday, you’ll see it in Madden NFL 10.

• Fight for Online Dominance – Delivering the most comprehensive online offerings in franchise history, Madden NFL 10 includes new modes to satisfy the competitive and cooperative football gamer.
More details coming soon!

• The Emotion of the NFL – New TV broadcast-style presentation and cinematic cameras bring the suspense and intensity of the NFL to your living room.
More details coming soon!

• Enhanced Franchise Mode – Run each aspect of an NFL franchise: draft players, sign free agents, manage the salary cap - just like a real GM. Enjoy all of the action throughout the league via a new, network inspired highlight show.
More details coming soon!

• Madden NFL Your Way – The most customizable version of Madden NFL to date! Alter gameplay options to adjust the experience to your liking. A revamped play calling system and menu takes you to kickoff faster than ever before. Speed up online matches with accelerated clocks, streamlined presentation and more.

Screenshots:
(Click image to view larger version)

Madden NFL 10 is currently set to ship on August 14, 2009. 

Game on!

While no such title has yet been announced, Gamestop may have just given us an unintended glimpse of what’s to come.  If the info from this screenshot can be believed to be accurate, it looks like we’ll be getting GH: Van Halen around August 4th. 

So get ready to run with the devil, get hot for your teacher or head on down to Panama this August!

Game on!

The sixth annual PAX gaming festival is set to erupt this Sept. 4-6, leaving the Washington State Convention and Trade Center forever changed.  Show organizers today revealed that the PAX 2009 Exhibition Hall will offer attendees game demonstrations and hands-on opportunities with some of this year’s hottest titles from over 60 exhibitors, including top publishers Microsoft, Nintendo, Valve, Blizzard and Ubisoft.

PAX attendees will also marvel at the informative panels, thrill at the highly competitive Omegathon and then be amazed by rousing musical performances from Freezepop, Jonathan Coulton, MC Frontalot, Anamanaguchi and, new for this year, Paul and Storm and Metroid Metal. Metroid Metal will be offering a new studio-recorded album containing the best of Metroid Metal as a PAX-exclusive before regular sale at www.metroidmetal.com.

“Every show, we try to offer gamers new content, old favorites and the best overall experience possible,” said Penny Arcade’s Robert Khoo. “If you really think about it, we’re easily the biggest show west of the Mississippi within the continental United States that focuses on games that isn’t E3 or affiliated in some way with NBC. If you’ve never been to PAX, 2009 is your year to come.” 

Although pre-registration badges are still available, they are going fast and expected to sell out prior to the Aug. 15 closing date. Those interested in attending this year’s show can make their purchases at www.paxsite.com to guarantee a place in the action this fall.

Game on!

The third and final DLC for The Maw called Speeder Lane is coming out next Wednesday, April 29th for Xbox LIVE Arcade, Steam, Greenhouse, and Direct2Drive at the usual price of 100 MS points or $1.25. Twisted Pixel saved the best for last, as this level has a new speeder vehicle mode, new boss battle, and new scenes showing Maw being his dumb hungry self.

Teaching kids the value of stealing cars, Speeder Lane follows Frank and Maw after they nab a vehicle from the Galactic Forces and fly a path of destruction through a soldier compound. The level features a new vehicle, new gameplay mechanics, and climaxes in an old-school boss fight.

You can view a trailer for the new level HERE.

Screenshots:

Screen 1

Screen 2

Screen 3

Screen 4

Screen 5

Screen 6

This is the third of three DLC levels that Twisted Pixel Games has been working on ever since The Maw development wrapped last year. “With Speeder Lane we went in the opposite direction from our previous DLC. In Brute Force and River Redirect we really wanted to push the puzzle elements, but Speeder Lane is all about tearing around on a speeder bike blowing stuff up,” explains Lead Designer Sean Riley.

Each DLC level expands The Maw storyline by fitting in between the original levels as “deleted scenes”. “As with any production, there are always pieces left on the cutting room floor that you wished could have made it into the final cut,” says CCO and Director Josh Bear. “We had a lot of half-finished story elements and gameplay mechanics, so we picked the best ones, polished them up and made new levels that were bigger in size and scope than the ones in the main game.”

So work up your appetite. It’s time to go eat again!

Game on!

Spiders, an independent development studio founded by the creators of Silverfall and Earth Awakening, are proud to present you the first video of Mars, reflecting the dark ambient of this new universe. This video, shot from the version shown on PS3 at the Game Connection in San Francisco this year, is revealed on the official web site of the game: www.mars.spiders-games.com with information about the universe and gameplay as well as artworks and first screenshots of the game, which you can also see here below.

Click HERE to see the video. 

Mars is an action RPG for next generation consoles. It blends the sensation of power and rhythmic aerial battle of beat’em alls with the progression, immersion and storyline of RPG’s in a dark and dreamlike post apocalyptic universe.

In Mars you play the role of Seth, an elite soldier with a dark past, or Pandora, an ambitious technomancer, experiencing two different gameplays thanks to the fact that each character played independently from the other has different backgrounds, skills and features.

In the destroyed world of Mars, two destinies mingle together. Two beings searching for their identity travel across a broken planet, constantly facing bloody political conflicts which tear the old colonies apart. Often divided, sometimes fighting the same enemies, both are the source of the advent of a new era…

Mars will be released end of 2010 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Additional Info:

Introduction
Mars aims to renew the RPG gaming experience with more intuitive, faster and more gratifying action phases, while at the same time keeping the specific main features of the genre. The idea is to blend two genres, Beat’em all Action and RPG, combining character progression, immersion, equipment collection, additional quests and a solid storyline with rhythmic combat sequences, a sense of power from the beginning of the game and of course QTE and bosses with sequential behaviour.

This combination leads to a true innovative gameplay supported by many other key features :

You can choose between two characters whose different stories intertwine and whose skills vary. The game’s environment has been designed to be an asset in itself, or an important part of the gameplay, with lighting effects which create unprecedented combat situations.

The world created for Mars has been designed to offer a true voyage in the heart of a totally new universe mingling decadent futuristic technology and precarious survival on a planet with highly extreme conditions.

The storyline leads you to discover your own identity in a web of political intrigue and complex conflicts between forces, allowing you to better understand the world you are travelling. Many scripted sequences give rise to the action and storyline, creating unforgettable moments.

Combat
The combat phases are dynamic and spectacular no matter your level of implication during the quests. Most confrontations are brief : you move from one enemy to the other striking or throwing spells one after the other. Combat against the bosses or champions lasts longer though, as you must use different tactics to beat them.

As you can also modify your environment by breaking part of a roof or moving metal plates to use light as a weapon, the fights gain a more strategic dimension.

Playing the role of Pandora is as intense as playing Seth. To make her cast her most powerful spells a precise timing is required as well as constant movement to avoid being interrupted. Even though she is less powerful she is more agile, and just like the warrior needs his weapons, she is nothing without her gauntlets which allow her to canalize her fluid.  All enemies, if wounded enough, can be finished off in a spectacular way.

Two characters : two stories and two forms of gameplay
Mars allows you to choose between two characters with different skills and
Abilities : Seth, is an elite soldier and highly skilled fighter who tends to act brutally even if athletically. As he progresses in the game he can learn many special attacks and how to master new weapons.

Pandora on the other hand is a technomancer who handles fluids with catalyst gauntlets to produce devastating magic. But more than just using different skills, playing each character results in a different control and gameplay. Their story varies a lot even though it follows a similar course, allowing you to discover two versions of Mars.

Light effects
On Mars sunlight is deadly, which means you can use it during combat to beat your enemies. Seth and Pandora can make gaps in rooftops of different buildings they are fighting on to expose their opponents to sunrays, use mirrors to reflect light on them or push them away from the protection of shady paths.

You can modify the architecture of the environment during combat while making sure your character is not exposed to sunrays and watch out for shadows moving position around the sun’s movement. The impact the sun has on the gameplay provides a new feature not only during combat but during the entire game itself.

A new world
The Mars universe is unprecedented, not at all like normal mythological or fantasy worlds, offering a journey in a credible futuristic world where survival and the ability to adapt are keys to be able to withstand a hostile, desperate and decadent environment. The game’s story, complex political system and religion, as well as its many creatures and different inhabitants lead you through an unforgettable journey in an “extraterrestrial” world.

Game on!

Since the incidence of RROD failures on the Xbox 360 have decreased, the new error that’s being noticed more now is the dreaded E74.  Either way, RROD or E74, your 360 becomes a worthless brick. 

Up until now, you’ve had to pay for E74 error repairs if your 360 was more than a year old.  No more.  Microsoft has listened to their users and have now extended the Xbox 360’s 3-Year Warranty to cover the E74 error as well. 

(From support.xbox.com):

Your Xbox 360 console displays

the error message E74

On This Page

• SYMPTOMS
• CAUSE
• MORE INFORMATION
• Additional support
• References/Links

SYMPTOMS

Your console may display the following error message in multiple languages on your television screen or monitor:

E74. System Error. Contact Xbox Customer Support.

Game on!

Introduction:
Are you ready to think like a Don? Extortion, prostitution, gambling, arms smuggling, rival families, etc. – it’s up to you to keep track of them all. Build up your family, control the crime rings, eliminate your rivals and earn the respect you deserve. So, get ready to act like a mobster but think like a Don in EA’s The Godfather II.

Taking a few more liberties with the storyline than the first game, The Godfather II places you in the role of Dominic. You have just been appointed as Don of New York by Michael Corleone and he has charged you with building up your family and expanding the Corleone empire in New York, Florida and Cuba. Do you have what it takes?

Gameplay:
In the first Godfather game from EA, you were merely a cog in the great machinery of the Corleone family - someone who helped them accomplish their goals but never had any real say in how things got done. This time around, you are The Don and you get to call the shots.

The first part of the game is very linear in design. This is due in part to the fact that the main storyline must be established before you are allowed to roam completely free. The opening scenes establish the main plot and the main players (You, Michael Corleone, Hyman Roth and the other families) and give you the control to start building up a family of your own.

The Don’s View screen is accessed with the ‘Start’ button and is used to control your empire. From here, you have access to the game map, your family tree (as well as that of the other families in the game), the Don’s connections (including where to find corrupt officials or favors you can do for money or influence) and much more. It’s a pretty clean interface that gives you an easy way to get an overview of everything that’s going on in the game.

Recruiting new made men into your family is the first order of business. Your family tree contains slots for seven family members plus a consigliere. However, these slots are not opened up all at once. Open slots on your family tree are indicated by a question mark, and you can only recruit as many men as your family tree has open slots for. You can find made men who are looking for work in any business your family controls as well as a few stray places around the city. Men who are looking for work are indicated by a “$” symbol over their heads, plus a small icon depicting their particular specialty.

Use care in who you recruit. Each made man begins with just one particular specialty: Arsonist, Safecracker, Demolitions, Engineer, Bruiser or Medic. When your family is still small, you may come across an obstacle for which none of your men have a specialty. If this happens you’ll have to figure out another way to accomplish the task at hand. You may have to abandon your current mission and come back when you have a made man with the right skills on your team. You may not want a medic as your first soldier, but you’ll want to have one on your crew eventually. If you fall in battle and have no medic on your team, you’re dead. If you have a medic, however, he will have a certain amount of time to get to you and revive you before you’re ‘truly’ dead. This can be a real time saver and prevent you from having to replay missions.

As your family grows, you’ll eventually have the option to promote your made men up the ladder to Capo (2 spaces) and eventually Underboss (1 space). Each time you promote a man, he will be granted an additional specialty of your choosing. You’ll also then have another open slot to recruit a new soldier into the family. While you can have up to seven family members on your family tree (plus your consigliere), you can only have three of these family members (not including consigliere) with you at any one time. Which men you decide to have on your crew at any given time will depend on which of their specialties you’ll need access too. Thankfully, you can swap out who is/is not on your crew at any time during the game (even during missions). This feature can be important when you discover you’ve brought along the wrong man/men for the job.

A big part of the gameplay in The Godfather II involves taking over, setting fire to or bombing businesses from rival families. After fighting your way through the guards/made men from the family that controls the business you are attacking, you will find the owner of the business. Intimidate the owner in order to take over the business and gain more daily income for your family. Each business owner has a particular ‘weak spot’. Find this weak spot and you’ll be able to extort a bit more money from the business. Some owners are susceptible to jabs and punches, others will fold when you cause enough property damage or start harming their customers; some go weak in the knees when you grab them and lean them over a ledge. Just don’t push them too far. Each business owner has a meter with two bars. Push them past the first bar and they will agree to give you a cut of the action. Push them too far, however, (or kill them while attacking the business) and they won’t ever give in. Your only option should this happen is to leave and come back to try and take over the business again later. Make sure you don’t bomb or set fire to a business you’re trying to take over or, yet again, you’ll have to come back after the business has been rebuilt to try again.

Most of the businesses in The Godfather II are tied to one of nine crime rings. Take over every business in a ring to attain the crime ring bonus for that ring. Each time you take over a business, you have the option to assign some guards to watch over the business (From 1 to whatever the max is for the particular business). Guards cost $100 per day each, but leaving a business unguarded is the surest way to see it fall back into a rival family’s hands or have it bombed by an enemy.

When you do attack a rival family’s business, they will try to call in reinforcements to defend it. You can prevent them from calling for help in a few different ways. One way is to bring along an engineer on your crew, locate the building junction box and knock out the power/phones before you start your attack.

The second method has to do with using ‘favors’ from corrupt officials. Using Don’s View, you can locate the corrupt officials throughout the game and find out what favor each one will do for you in return for you doing them a favor (such as vandalizing a business, beating someone up or even killing someone). These favors include things like spring your men from jail, calling off the cops if they’re chasing you or even putting a sting on a rival Don. Do as many favors for these corrupt officials as you can and then save then up. When you’re ready to call in favor, go to Don’s View and pull up your ‘back pocket’. If you put a sting on a rival Don just before you attack a business, the family will be unable to send any reinforcements.

You can also do favors for regular citizens to either earn a little extra cash or to discover the ‘kill condition’ for a rival family’s made men. Unless you kill the made men from rival families with the correct kill condition (such as ‘Execute with a pistol.’ or ‘Choke the life out of him.”) they will recover after you kill them. The only way to take out a rival family’s made men for good is to kill them with the proper kill condition. However, it is not necessary to take out all of a family’s made men before taking over all of their businesses and bombing their family compound.

Here are the bonuses you’ll earn for each crime ring you control. Lose just one business in any crime ring an you’ll lose that ring’s bonus until you get the business back.

Crime Rings & Bonuses:

Crime Ring: Adult Entertainment
Bonus: Cheaper guards

Crime Ring: Arms Smuggling
Bonus: Carry more explosives

Crime Ring: Chop Shops
Bonus: Armored Cars

Crime Ring: Construction
Bonus: Bombed buildings/businesses rebuild faster

Crime Ring: Diamond Smuggling
Bonus: Bulletproof vests (cuts damage taken in half)

Crime Ring: Drugs
Bonus: Double Income (from drug ring profits)

Crime Ring: Gambling
Bonus: Incendiary Ammo (dish out double the damage)

Crime Ring: Gun Running
Bonus: Bigger Ammo Clips

Crime Ring: Prostitution
Bonus: Brass Knuckles (add ‘pummeling’ power to Black Hand attacks)

Besides the crime rings, there are also other extortable businesses that are not tied to any crime ring. Control all of these extortable businesses for a boost to your daily income. Once you have taken over all businesses controlled by another family, their compound will be unlocked, allowing you to go bomb the compound to take out that family. Your ultimate goal in The Godfather II is to take out every rival family and control everything.

Once you do start setting fire to, taking over or bombing businesses from rival families, you can expect those families to fight back to try and regain their businesses or bomb/set fire to yours. Any time a business you control is bombed, burned or attacked by a rival family, you are notified by an on screen message.

There’s not much you can do about an arson or bombing (other than sending one/some men to do a retaliatory arson or bombing), but you can do something about it when one of your businesses is attacked. Are you too far away from the business being attacked to get there and defend it yourself? No problem! This is where Don’s View shines. Open up your family tree and select as many family members as you want to go and defend the business for you. You can select any/all of your family members (besides consigliere), including those currently on your crew, to go and defend the business for you. As you select family members to send, you will be given an estimate as to how successful your men may be in repelling the attack.

In the same way, you can also use Don’s View to send your men to take over a rival business (without you having to go there yourself). This is what being The Don is all about: pulling the strings. Just be careful how many men you send to defend or take over a business. While they’re busy guarding one of your businesses or taking over a rival’s business, you may be attacked at another, and you cannot recall any of your men from defending or taking over a business until the attack is complete.

To help give your made men a better chance of success, either when they’re fighting by your side or when you send them off to defend/attack another business, be sure to upgrade their skills. For every man in your family, including yourself but not consigliere, you can use the cash you’ve earned from your rackets to purchase upgrades for: health, survival, recovery, make bail (decrease jail time), improved specialties (reduce the time it takes to complete special tasks – or give a medic more time to reach a downed man), marksman, handgun accuracy, heavy weapon accuracy, ready weapon (speeds up how fast they can pull out their weapon), blackhand attack (blackhand = hand-to-hand), blackhand defense and intimidator (decrease the chances of an innocent becoming witness to a crime).

You can also purchase weapons for your men (depending on the license they have), change their apparel or even mark them for death (in case you’d like to remove someone from your family so you have a spot for a new recruit).  The weapons in the game include about what you’d expect.  Things like .44 Magnums, Tommy Guns, Shotguns, etc.  No high-tech weapons here - we’re talking the late 1950’s folks.  You also have molotov cocktails and dynamite, but be careful when using these, as you might take out a business owner! 

You may not find it necessary to purchase any weapons for your men during the single-player game, especially since any level 2 or 3 weapon upgrades you find are available for your family members at any of your safe houses, but you may want to spend a bit on weapons when you take your made men online to give them a bit more firepower.

Driving in the game is pretty standard for what you’d expect to find in any open world game.  The variety of cars is somewhat limited but, again, late 1950’s. One good tip while driving is to honk a lot.  Why?  Well, when you honk the cars in front of you (on both sides of the road) will pull over, giving you a nice, clear path right down the middle. 

While the original Godfather game for the Xbox 360 was really just an Xbox version with a few visual upgrades for the 360, The Godfather II was built for the 360 from the ground up. Considering this, however, I expected to see a few more visual improvements over the first game. Explosions and fires are still the most impressive visual effects (including the effect created by using incendiary ammo), but repetitive character models and occasional ‘pop in’ graphical issues keep the visuals from truly shining.

Sound in the game is done well, though I did notice my ‘silenced’ pistol was one of the loudest silenced pistols I’ve heard in any game. The sounds of explosions and gunfire are powerful and the ambient game music is straight out of the movies. The voice acting is sufficient with the only real standout (and the only star from the movies appearing in the 2nd game), Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen

Extras:
When The Godfather II was first announced, it was set to include four multiplayer modes: Team Deathmatch, Demolition/Assault, FireStarter and Safecracker. These game types are fairly self-explanatory. An additional multiplayer mode, announced just a few weeks before the game’s release is called Don Control. Don Control is, essentially, an add-on to the other four gametypes.

When you host or join a game in Don Control mode, you first must specify how much money you want to wager on the match (up to $50K) from your single-player game. That’s right. The money you wager in online matches comes from your single-player game’s bankroll. Lose the match and you lose the cash you wagered from your single-player game (or win and have your opponents wager added to your single-player game), minus whatever percentage you elected to give to each player on your team (5% and up).

Don Control essentially lets one player from each team be the team leader, and the one who puts up the wager for the match. The Don from each team (and only the Don) has a unique, top-down view, like the Don’s View from the single-player game, instead of being in 3rd person like everyone else. From this view, the Don can drop waypoints (which appear as columns of light on the map) or provide perks to teammates such as healing stations, and help coordinate their team’s efforts. The host of the match determines what percentage of each Don’s wager is shared with each team’s soldiers, allowing them to share in the financial success or defeat of their Don.

What weapons each of your men can use is partly determined by what weapon license they have (Basic, Advanced, Expert or Master). When you start playing online, however, you can improve your characters’ weapon licenses by earning ‘honors’ such as: coming in 1st place on a winning team, successfully torching 10 buildings/items, successfully cracking 5 safes, getting 10 successful headshots, etc. etc. The more honors your earn, the better weapon licenses you can give your men, thereby enabling them to use better weapons.

It’s nice mix of multiplayer options that lets you either be a soldier in the battle or a Don, risking your single-player earnings to prove your proficiency in team leadership.

Conclusion:
The Godfather II is a great addition to the current offerings of open world games on the Xbox 360. It stays true enough to the plot of the movie to make you really feel like a part of the Godfather universe, while still diverging from it enough to provide an experience that gives the player some nice options regarding how to approach things. 

I completed the game in about 20 hours, but skipped many of the side missions.  If you’re going for all of the achievements, you’ll have to take your time and use your smarts.  Considering how the multiplayer ties in with your characters and finances from the single-player game, I can easily see playing through the single player portion of the game again to have a greater variety of made men to use in online matches. 

The graphics and sound in the game are done well, but there are a few pop-in and other graphical issues. These issues are minor, however, and do not take away from the fun factor. The extortion missions can feel a bit repetitive at times but the various options you have, including sending your men to do the dirty work for you from Don’s View give you enough variety to keep things interesting.

So, are you ready to think like a Don? Pick up The Godfather II and find out!

Score: 8

In anticipation of the upcoming title The Godfather II, here are several screenshots of the Don Control multiplayer mode, as well as a few weapon shots and some single-player screenshots.  Enjoy!

 (Click the images for the larger versions.)

Don Control Multiplayer:

Weapons:

Pistol:

Shotgun:

Tommy Gun:

Single Player:

Trailers:

Extortion:

Don Control Walkthrough:

Opening Cinematic:

Game on!

Redwood City, CA - April 1, 2009 - Electronic Arts Inc. and Paramount Digital Entertainment today announced that The Godfather(r) II videogame will be releasing premium upgrade packs* to provide players with level-four weapons, an additional crew member equipped with four unique specialties, and two new multiplayer maps that will make their family stronger as they fight to become the most powerful mob syndicate in America.

In addition, these upgrades will help as players take their advanced crew members online and compete to be the Don of Dons on the leaderboards. Players can experience all the premium upgrades for The Godfather II two weeks after launch worldwide on Xbox LIVE(r) Marketplace and the PLAYSTATION(r)Store on April 23, 2009.

The complete list of upgrade packs includes:

* The Pentangeli Map Pack: Download for the all-new Cuba multiplayer map and the Junkyard multiplayer map.
* $6.75 / 540 points

* Level 4 Weapons Bundle: Download this collection to receive the Modern Dillinger, the .700 Magnum Impact, the Herzstopper, the MG-S1 Sniper  Wolfe, and the Street Sweeper.
* $4.00 / 320 points

* Jack of All Trades: Download Jimmy Lira - the Jack of All Trades to have
this character in your family. Jimmy Lira starts out with the arsonist, engineer, medic, and safecracker specialties and comes equipped with a level 2 machine gun - the MP38.
* $4.00 / 320 points

* The Corleone Bundle (All of the above): Download the multiplayer map pack, the level 4 Weapons Bundle, and the Jack of All Trades (Jimmy Lira) crew member.
* $10.00 / 800 points

As a Don in the Corleone family, The Godfather II allows players to carve out their own story of deception, betrayal, and conquest in a 1960’s organized crime world. With these new upgrades, players will have more options when building and investing in their family, managing their businesses, and sending their crew into battle - all of which is done through the revolutionary Don’s View. The Don’s View is a 3D representation of the player’s criminal empire; it allows them to coordinate their strategy, plan hits on rival made men, attack enemy rackets, and much more. By letting players call the shots, The Godfather II delivers the ultimate organized crime experience.

Developed at the EA Redwood Shores studio, The Godfather II will be coming to the Xbox 360(r) videogame and entertainment system, PLAYSTATION(r)3 computer entertainment system, and PC. Players who pre-order The Godfather II at participating retailers worldwide will receive an exclusive crew member, named  Tommy Cipolla, to hire into their family. The Godfather II has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB and 18+ for PEGI.

* Requires INTERNET CONNECTION, The Godfather II for the Xbox 360 or PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox LIVE gold or silver membership OR PLAYSTATION(r)Network account.

Game on!