PlayStation 3 owners who subscribe to Sony's "interactive magazine" Qore will be able to participate in Resistance 2's beta this September (via IGN). The details are sketchy at the moment -- we're going to guess you'll have to pay the $25 annual subscription fee and not just $3 for the related episode -- but the thought of 60-player team deathmatch has us frothing at the mouth. No beta details revealed yet for the Qore-less Europe.

All you need to know about this week's GameTap update is encapsulated in one word: Fallout. There, we've said our bit. No word yet when Fallout 2 will make it onto the smorgasbord.

• Fallout (Windows) - "A post nuclear role playing game."
  
• Aveyond 2 (Windows) - A relatively new RPG that looks like an old-school Squaresoft game.
• Battle Chess (Windows) - Play chess, but watch the pieces on the board beat the pixels out of each other. Oh, how we long for an HD remake of this game.

Knights of the Round gets added to GameTap's selection of gratis games this week. The full list of free ad-supported titles from the service can be found after the break.

A new system update for Japanese Wii consoles has introduced an intriguing new function to the Wii Shop Channel: bonus content. The feature, which prompts users to enter a 16-digit code when accessed, has so far been used to distribute the Wii Speaker Channel using a key included with Daigasso! Band Brothers DX for the Nintendo DS.

Nintendo Everything and Wii Fanboy speculate that the Shop Channel's new feature could potentially be used to redeem codes included with games for everything from free Wii Points to downloadable content and Virtual Console titles. Might we suggest a code that, when entered, simply rewards users with smiles? Nintendo certainly has a lot of them to go around.

[Via NWF]

Check out the NSFW review of Age of Conan after the break.

Here, in all its compressed glory, is the first actual screenshot of Sony and Zipper Interactive's 256-player MAG: Massive Action Game. We say "actual" because it was clear to anyone with eyes that Sony had pulled another Killzone 2 with the MAG video debuted during its pre-E3 press conference. In other words, it was all pre-rendered.

MAG senior producer Rade Stojsavljevic posted the shot to the official PlayStation blog, calling it "a sneak peak from one of [Zipper's] internal play sessions." Stojsavljevic also said that the dev has used its experience working in online games with the SOCOM franchise to create an entirely new server architecture for MAG capable of supporting its, well, massive amount of players.

News

• WotLK Beta patch notes and other news
  The Beta is live -- here's all the things expected to change in the next expansion.
• The roads of Azeroth, now with biker gangs
  Hadn't heard vehicles are coming to Azeroth? Here's a two-wheeled kind to wake you up.
• Achievements officially announced for Wrath
  One more way Blizzard will keep you playing their game.
• Death Knights get new starting zone, Runeforging skill
  Information from the beta straight out of the new Death Knight starting zone.
• Death Knights at the Dawn
  Huge spoilers here, as Matthew Rossi takes you through the Death Knight lore.

Features

• Wrath beta patch notes: Paladin, part 1
  A look at what's happening with plate-wearing healers in Northrend.
• The Colosseum: Quad-boxer achieves #1 arena spot
  One person, four characters, one of the top Arena spots in the game. Fair? Read the interview, and then decide for yourself.
• Maps from the Wrath of the Lich King beta
  Here's our look at all of the maps available from the expansion so far.
• Wrath beta patch notes: Hunter
  What's up with the ranged pet class in the Wrath beta.
• Patch 2.4.3: New Grim Guzzler content
  There's a new party in BRD's Grim Guzzler -- we've got the lowdown in pictoral form.

Shown for the first time at E3, Sony and Titan Studios' upcoming PSN title, Fat Princess, grabbed us with its classic Zelda-like presentation, 32-player online, and off-color infusion of blood & guts for such an otherwise cutesy title. We also figured there would more than a few folks none too pleased by its title.

It's not just the title that's angering the folks behind sites Feminist Gamers and Shakesville, female-run gaming blogs who are already voicing their displeasure to Sony. It's also the concept that players must feed the titular princess – who starts out slim – in order to make her fat, and thus harder to capture.

Melissa McEwan of Shakesville writes: "Congrats on your awesome new game, Sony. I'm positively thrilled to see such unyielding dedication to creating a new generation of fat-hating, heteronormative assholes," while Feminist Gamer's "Mighty Ponygirl" suggests a simple gameplay switcheroo would solve the problem (and change the title). "Instead of running out into the forest to find cake to fatten up the princess with, why not go out and find gold (which is a lot heavier than cake) to stuff into a treasure chest," she says, adding, "The more gold in the chest, the heavier it would be, and the harder it would be to carry."

Despite the (still limited) fury being directed at Sony, we suspect that there's a fat chance either the title or gameplay will change.

[Update: Titan Studios' art director, James Green, emailed in to say: "Does it make it better or worse that the concept artist (who designed the look, characters, everything) is a girl?"]

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Source - Feminist Gamer
Source - Shakesville

The feel-good post-nuclear-apocalypse game about finding a Water Chip, Fallout, joins GameTap this Thursday. There are still no details about when Fallout 2 will make an appearance on the service, but when GameTap originally announced Fallout was coming, the company did say it would be adding the "series." For those with some patience, the original Fallout should be available on GameTap's free service at some point in the future.

[Thanks Joshua]

Gaming buffet GameTap just announced that THQ- and ValuSoft-published titles will begin finding their way onto the service starting this summer. Notable titles include:

• Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War and expansions
• Company of Heroes
• Red Faction
• Supreme Commander
• Saints Row 2
• Puzzle Quest
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

It's nice to see relatively new titles like Supreme Commander make the list. We're also curious to find out if Saints Row 2 releases on the service the same day as retail, similar to GameTap's deal with Codemasters. The THQ agreement is apparently a "long-term partnership" and some titles will also be made available on GameTap's free ad-supported service. This THQ announcement comes only a few months after Interplay returned and Take-Two committed to the service.

Microsoft confirmed today that the final phase of its XNA initiative would commence later this year when the "Community Games" channel is added to the Xbox Live Marketplace in the US, Canada and select European markets (other regions will be included in 2009 and "beyond"). User-created games will be sold at three price levels: 200 Microsoft Points ($2.50), 400 Microsoft Points ($5) and 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Microsoft has committed to share up to 70% of revenue of an indie game with its developer. (In addition, we're presuming that some games will be offered for free. Actually, no games will be free -- read our full Q&A with XNA GM Boyd Multerer right here!)

First it was Quake Zero, then it became Quake Live, and now we have a fresh new look at Quake Arena, id's free-to-play, browser-based iteration of Quake III Arena. As you'd expect, the visuals are decidedly simple, but still stylish nonetheless. We noticed a few instances of gameshow-like billboards peppered throughout levels; while they simply read "Quake Live" in the video, it's likely these are placeholders for in-game advertising.

The trailer beckons viewers to QuakeLive.com for more info, but the site is still serving the sole purpose of a gateway for beta signups. From what's shown in the footage, it will eventually become a very robust matching and ranking component of the game. With QuakeCon kicking off in just a couple of weeks we expect to find out more details soon.

Gene expansion can be a tricky undertaking, as Konami learned this past Thursday when the first premium Metal Gear Online expansion pack was released and promptly generated a host of service issues. Actually, in Konami's words: "major system related problems" (and we're not just talkin' convoluted access this time). In fact, so damaging has the upgrade been that it takes a 37-entry timeline just to brief us on the drama leading up to the completed refund on Saturday. For those wondering about the "foreseeable future," here are the most current updates:

• MGO Shop - "At 18:00 on July 19th 2008, there are still no permanent solutions as yet. IP restrictions still stand, but it is planned that a different will be used and we expect the waiting times for purchases to be improved as a result."
  
• Reward Shop - "At 18:00 on July 19th 2008, there are currently no set time schedules on its re-opening. We will make further announcements on this site should the situation change in any way, so please keep checking the site for further updates."

"We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere apologies for the problems that have affected all our customers that have been with us since the start of the 'Premiere Beta,'" Konami writes, concluding, "We are currently doing all in our powers to bring a permanent solution to the ongoing problems in the quickest possible time." In the meantime, we suggest you play through the single-player campaign ... again!