According to bilingual gaming news site GamesLatest, the store shelves of the United Arab Emirates won't be stocked with fresh copies of Dante's Inferno any time soon. Electronic Arts reportedly published a statement explaining the company "decided not to release Dante's Inferno in the Middle East after an evaluation process which is based on consumer tastes, preferences, platform mix and other factors."

It might also have something to do with the territory's hesitance to distribute games dealing with religious matter. As GamesLatest points out, both Darksiders and God of War were banned in the territory for their deity-rich plots. Then again, maybe the UAE Media Council just has something against impossibly gravelly voices. Either way, we've contacted EA to get first-hand confirmation of the report.

Report: Dante's Inferno not heading to the United Arab Emirates originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like that entire game's worth of removed content might be making it into Final Fantasy XIII after all. GameStop has posted the box art for the Xbox 360 version of the game and, more importantly, it has also posted the art for the back of the box. As you can see above, the box mentions that Final Fantasy XIII will support downloadable content after all, though there is no mention of what the DLC actually is. It's worth noting that the content could be something as simple as Avatar outfits or accessories, though it would certainly make sense for Square Enix to supply its most well-known franchise with post-launch DLC.

The news comes after producer Yoshinori Kitase was rumored to have stated that no DLC had been planned for the game, though he noted it was still "possible." Final Fantasy Union, however, notes that Kitase apparently confirmed DLC during a recent interview with the Dutch Official Playstation Magazine. The box art certainly seems to confirm that, though we've reached out to Square for clarification. As of this writing, GameStop has yet to post the art for the back of the PS3 version, so it's unclear if both platforms will support said content.

[Via Final Fantasy Union]

Back of FFXIII box for 360 mentions DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Speaking to Gamereactor, Lionhead maestro Peter Molyneux revealed that there will be some big Fable 3 news at the X10 event this week. "There's some very, very big things happening in Fable," said Molyneux, "Bigger than you think, and it's going to really upset people." Molyneux added that he is "really scared" about telling people the news, saying, "They're going to get super pissed off, they really are." Still, he concluded that it's "the right thing to do," and confirmed that he will be demonstrating the mystery announcement at X10 in San Francisco. Joystiq's theory: The entire story of Fable 2 was a dream sequence. Whatever it is, we'll be delivering the news directly from X10, so Joystiq's staff and readers can all get pissed off together.

In the meantime, be sure to watch the whole interview, which also contains some really interesting talk about Project Natal.

[Via VG247]

Molyneux: Fable 3 news at X10 will make you 'super pissed off' originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We were hoping to recreate our Super Bowl-themed post from last year, in which the winner of the Big Game was predicted by placing a very literal representative of each team's moniker in a ring, and forcing them to duke it out. Sadly, we're finding this year's match-up a bit harder to emulate.

We're not sure whether any Saints are actually living among us -- even if they were, we doubt they'd agree to participate in such a needless display of pugilism. Worse still, what would they fight? A horse? That would just be unfair. The best compromise we could think of is a brawl between indie singer-songwriter St. Vincent and child star-turned musician Max Slade, who, as you already know, played Colt in the critically acclaimed 3 Ninjas films. We've contacted both parties, and are eagerly awaiting their responses.

- PSP: 47,875 5,034 (9.51%)
- Wii: 42,309 2,858 (6.33%)
- DSi LL: 34,863 10,804 (44.91%)
- PS3: 34,431 7,465 (27.68%)
- DSi: 24,783 4,410 (21.65%)
- DS Lite: 6,811 1,845 (37.15%)
- Xbox 360: 4,089 746 (22.32%)
- PS2: 2,182 94 (4.50%)
- PSP Go: 1,645 128 (7.22%)

[Source: Media Create]

Read: The super-er archives

Japanese hardware sales, Jan. 25 - Jan. 31: Super Prediction XLIV edition originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Considering the Xbox 360 received the lion's share of Modern Warfare 2 purchases, it comes as a bit of a shock to us that the already released on PS3 and PC "care package patch" is just now being submitted to Microsoft for certification. That said, developer Infinity Ward's community man Robert Bowling tweeted as much to Game Informer's Andrew Reiner approximately 24 hours ago when Reiner asked about a possible release for the much anticipated fixes.

As Bowling has pointed out before (and details in this forum post on the subject), the patch is set to remedy the following (you might need a pillow for all of this pure, unbridled excitement:

• Care Package, Emergency Airdrop, and Sentry Gun marker grenades sprint speed normalized.
• Fix for "infinite care package" exploit.
• Sentry Guns: Improved placement detection, preventing cases of Sentry Guns inside geometry.
• Model 1887: Bling using Akimbo and FMJ combination now has same range and damage as non-Bling Model 1887s.
• Fixes to prevent various XP hacks.

And no, there's no date given for when it's coming out. So stop asking. (Seriously.)
[Via Game Informer]

Modern Warfare 2 'care package' patch submitted to Microsoft certification originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The original Bad Company spinoff in the Battlefield series kept the franchise's setting firmly in modern times, but if the Bad Company 2 ESRB description is true, you'll be seeing a return to WWII in the sequel. At the very least, the game's opening will bring players back to the Eastern front, with the ESRB description saying, "In single-player mode, players conduct missions on an unnamed Japanese island during World War II and then move into the modern day through jungles, deserts, and snowy terrain."

As we've discovered in our way too many hours with the game's multiplayer demo, the description details the inclusion of "melee attacks with a power drill" (yes, seriously) and the characters use of profanity "during cutscenes and in the heat of battle." And yes, we're just as excited by the former as you might imagine.
[Via BigDownload]

ESRB outs WWII-based opening of Bad Company 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, you remember EGM, right? The gaming mag that folded in January 2009 when 1UP/EGM was sold by Ziff-Davis Media to Hearst/UGO? And then the original publisher Steve Harris purchased it for a relaunch earlier this year, only to find out that the relaunch was pushed to April? We have to imagine that, by now, you're positively itching to put your money down on a subscription (if you haven't already subscribed to Kill Screen, of course). It would appear that your wish has been granted, as EGM has officially opened the door to its subscription portal, promising savings of 70 percent off the newsstand price.

For 32 issues and access to "EGMi: The Digital Magazine," US customers are looking at dropping $14.99, while 64 issues (as well as the aforementioned digital mag access) will cost $24.99 -- Canadian subscribers are looking at $34.99 and $54.99 for 32 and 64 issues, respectively, minus the digital version. Though we've yet to receive any real idea of the magazine's content, Harris has already signed on ex-EGMers Dan "Shoe" Hsu and Demian Linn, as well as the Co-Op folks, to fill those shoes (or "Hsu's," as it were). We'll certainly find out more this April when the first issue is scheduled to hit subscribers and newsstands.

Relaunched EGM subscriptions now available, magazine details remain hazy originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look, alright, we'll level with you -- we've got a short supply of schweet schwag hanging around Joystiq Prizeland as of late. That should at least partially help to explain last week's absence of a contest. We also kind of felt like you might've been overloaded with games during our holiday giveaways at the end of 2009. What's that? No, you say? Well we suppose that the first few months of 2010 are unusually flush with quality content, so giving away a bit couldn't hurt, right?

We certainly hope a nine foot tall bullet witch will do it for you, because that's what we've got. One lucky winner (chosen at random) takes home Bayonetta on Xbox 360, chosen from the comments below (please leave one and only one) that are left in the next 24 hours. You tell us what you think is the most annoying song you've ever heard used in marketing a game and you may very well win yourself a vidjagame. How about that?!

• Leave a comment telling us what you think is the most annoying song you've ever heard used in marketing a game.
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, due in part to our aversion to snowy owls).
• Limit 1 entry per person per day.
• This entry period ends at 11:31AM ET on Monday, February 8.
• At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one copy of Bayonetta for Xbox 360 ($59.99 ARV).
• For a list of complete rules, click here.

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What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. Please note that Joyswag may be in "used" condition. For more info on our policy, click here.

Swag Sunday: Bayonetta (360) originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RWINGS needed a friend like me yesterday... I could see it in his eyes. I am there for you brother. Remember that. Gamer score is 16,130. He made some progress on Modern Warfare® 2, and think of all the things we learned! Ha... look at me still typing this blog entry when there is gaming to do! Let's keep it up RWINGS!

Geoff Keighley gives us the rumored release date of LA Noire from Team Bondi and Rockstar on Twitter. Apparently its coming in September!