We're back! A one night and one day trip to Madison, Wisconsin certainly does make for a good story to tell, though we won't be telling it here, in News Pop!. Instead, we'll have feature articles covering the tour of Raven Software's studio, a Q & A session between Marvel fans and the Raven team and, best of all, our Hands-On impressions of the Xbox 360 version of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Expect to see these articles at the end of this week and the beginning of next week. Now, however, we've got some news to catch up on. So here's today's News Pop!, covering Tuesday, October 17^th and Wednesday, October 18^th.

GDC Online Contest

Mary-Margaret.com, an international recruitment service for the interactive entertainment industry, announced yesterday that it is celebrating its tenth anniversary by announcing its biggest online contest ever, Mary-Margaret.com's “Upgrade to Next Gen” online contest. Mary-Margaret.com is giving away a huge number of prizes, including passes to attend the 2007 Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco, March 5^th to 9^th, and deluxe software gift packs. The three prize packs are valued at over $3500 USD each and, in addition to the types of passes that come with each prize pack, winners will enjoy a two-night stay at The Mosser Hotel and game packs from NCSoft, THQ, Iron Lore and The Guildhall. For more information on Mary-Margaret.com, check out the company's website at www.mary-margaret.com, and to check out the contest, the full prize lists and the contest rules and regulations, go to http://mary-margaret.com/forms/contest_nextgen.html.

Bully is out, and only rated Teen

The Rockstar team must have huge smiles on their faces now that Bully is out in stores. The entire controversy surrounding the game couldn't have been better publicity, especially after Judge Ronald Friedman of Dade County denied attorney Jack Thompson's wish to have the game banned from sale due to it supposedly being “too violent” and “glorifying bullying”. The fact that the game is rated T for Teen, not M for Mature as most people expected, may simply act as a further kick in the face to Thompson, as even the ESRB didn't deem the game violent enough for the higher rating. Bully began shipping yesterday and is available for Playstation 2 for $39.99 USD/$59.99 CAD. The game will also be available in Europe, under the name Canis Canem Edit, on October 27^th for €59.99 or £39.99 in the U.K. Unfortunately, for those of you who had been waiting to get the game on Xbox, that version has been cancelled.

EA game releases

EA's list of games releases for this week includes The Sims 2 Pets and the futuristic, ice-age war game, Battlefield 2142. The Playstation 2, GameCube and PC version of The Sims 2 Pets are now available, while the Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and PSP versions will be releasing in November. The Playstation 2 and GameCube versions are $39.99 USD and the PC version is $29.99 USD/$39.99 CAD. Each version is rated T for Teen. Battlefield 2142 is available for PC for $49.99 USD/$59.99 CAD and is also rated T for Teen.

EA announces C&C 3 cast + Def Jam: Icon

EA announced today some of the cast for the live action sequences that will appear in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. The all-star celebrity lineup will include actors from critically-acclaimed television series such as LOST and Battlestar Galactica, blockbuster films such as Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi, Top Gun, Starship Troopers, and The Wedding Crashers and a former Miss USA pageant winner. “The unparalleled, diverse cast includes Tricia Helfer, Josh Holloway, Michael Ironside, Billy Dee Williams, Grace Park, Ivana Bozilovic, Shauntay Hinton, and more!“ Along with the acting celebrities, the game will also include real life news reporters and anchors such as John Huck and Shanon Cook. The game is set to release in 2007 for PC. For more information on the game and to follow more news directly from the team as it becomes available, you can check out www.commandandconquer.ea.com.

And finally, in today's EA news, EA, in partnership with Def Jam Interactive, announced Def Jam: Icon will release for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in March 2007. “Infusing hip-hop music, culture and lifestyle into the gameplay, EA Chicago and urban lifestyle powerhouse Def Jam Interactive, continue to push the boundaries of game development bringing unique and innovative content to the next generation of gaming.” Considering that the game is a fighter, you'd think they would want to downplay that as part of hip-hop culture, but that's their prerogative. The development of the game does follow two other Def Jam fighting games, Def Jam Vendetta, which released in 2003, and Def Jam: Fight for NY, which released in 2004.The game will differ from the first two, incorporating music and rhythm into the actual gameplay mechanics. Kudo Tsunoda, executive producer and General Manager of EA Chicago. “In DEF JAM: ICON, we are changing the way fighting games are played! We are completely innovating the role of the environments in the games, moving from the typical lifeless arenas the hip-hop celebrities are fighting in to environments that play an instrumental part in the fight where they will react to the music and interact with both characters like a third fighter.” The concept certainly sounds interesting. People will just have to wait and see before they can put their opinions on it.

Railroads is out

As we reported last week, Sid Meier's Railroads was released today. The game is available in retail stores across North America for PC for $39.99 USD/$49.99 CAD and is rated E for Everyone.

Rockstar announces The Warriors for PSP

Rockstar's The Warriors, based on the 1979 cult classic Paramount Pictures film, will be coming to the PSP this holiday season. The game is being developer by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar Toronto. “We have worked closely with Rockstar Toronto to maintain the extremely high standards they’ve set for this game,” said Gordon Hall, President of Rockstar Leeds. “The PSP system allows us to deliver the experience in an entirely different way, while staying very faithful to the original source material and maintaining the high standards we set for ourselves as a developer.” No word on pricing yet, but we'll make sure to let you know once it's available.