Alaa tells us that at Rashid mall in Khobar, he spied Chains of Olympus, the GOW version for the PSP. Wondering if that meant they also had GOW2 he inquired. Lo and behold, they did. And here's the part where I want to imagine Alaa wearing a fedora and the clerk in an eyepatch, with a monkey perched on his shoulder, leading him into an anteroom while looking nervously over his shoulder. The guy handed Alaa a shrink-wrapped copy of Winning Eleven. When he opened it, inside was the God of War 2 disc, and the GoW cover neatly slid behind the Winning Eleven artwork.

"I got for around $25 and it’s an original copy," Alaa said. "Makes me feel dirty for some reason though."

Another pic below.

Make the jump for a few more shots...

You can check out the whole gallery here on Famitsu.

That mysterious God of War countdown page, the City of Rhodes one, it's hitting zero today. Well technically it will be midnight, but it will still be today in California.

All we know for sure is that the site isn't about the PSP game, according to the SCEA folks. So that seems to leave an empty marketing gimmick for a game that's already out or a PS3 game. I suppose it could just be more details on the PS2 game or some contest or some such, but my money is on my two guesses.

What do you think it could all mean? Brian Crecente

City of Rhodes

It is, I would think, no big secret that MTV's Stephen Totilo and Newsweek's N'Gai Croal are two of my favorite gaming writers. (Clive Thompson would be the third, in my trinity of game writers)

So N'Gai's latest feature over on his Newsweek blog is for me, quite a thing to behold. In Vs. Mode Totilo and N'Gai take one another to task over their feelings on God of War 2.

I'll summarize, poorly, their takes on the game here, but you really, really owe it to yourself to go over there and read the whole thing because it's the sort of game critiquing that you will almost never find.

Totilo comes down on the side of liking God of War 2 but not really being blown away with it. It is a marvel of game creation, he argues, but it's also very much more of the same. And not just because it's a sequel that uses some of the same sorts of setting and themes, but because the game, like its predecessor, uses "level design to define a character's personality", the personalilty of Kratos. And the sequel relies heavily on this same sort of trick.

While he doesn't come out and say it, I think Totilo might also be trying to say that this not only fails to move the development of the game forward, but the development of the character of Kratos forward. He remains fairly unchanged from the first game. And I have to agree, that is a disappointment, though one I didn't totally grasp until just now.

N'Gai comes back swinging, pitting Totilo's encyclopedic knowledge of games against his skills at comparative media analysis and using it to try and pick apart his gaming sensei's arguments.

N'Gai argues that referencing your previous game, either in story or in design, is an acceptable form of homage often used by music producers and rappers. Intratextuality in games is a good thing, he says. He goes on to point out that David Jaffe freely borrowed from the cannon of video games to create his magnum opus, so why shouldn't Cory Barlog do the same.

He conclusion places me squarely on N'Gai's side of this argument. Sometimes a good game is just good, it doesn't have to shake the bounds of its genre or reinvent something. Or as N'Gai put it, misquoting screenwriter and journalist Cheo Hodari Coker talking about P. Diddy's music: God of War II may not be perfect... but it is unquestionably a game that will make you shake your ass.

Damn straight. Brian Crecente

Read this, or you can't call yourself a gamer [Newsweek]

An unforgettable entrance. To promote the launch of God of War 2 for the PS2, Sony hired a Kratos to drive a chariot to San Francisco's PlayStation Store earlier tonight. According to site PlayStation Universe, things didn't quite go as planned and the cosplaying Kratos crashed the chariot into the sidewalk. How embarrassing! There's a clip of this, which we haven't been able to see yet, because it is loading very, very SLOW. Brian Ashcraft

Kratos Krash [PSU, Thanks Kieran!]

This holiday season, it wasn't the PS3, the Xbox 360 or the Wii that came out on top. Oh no, it was the six-year-old PS2, which moved 1.4 million consoles. Wired's Chris Baker has a piece up over at Slate detailing why the PS2 still is numero uno. Quoting the article:

Luckily for Sony, their old console is so popular—more than 100 million have been sold worldwide—that they can offset some of the money they're hemorrhaging with the PS3. By continuing to manufacture and support the PS2, Sony is keeping its old customers happy and offering a cheaper alternative for people who can't afford a next-generation machine. Sony did the same thing last time around and managed to sell more than 20 million of the original PS1 consoles between 2000 and 2004—after the appearance of the PlayStation 2.

This March, God of War 2 will hit the PS2 and looks to be a big time hit. The game's director, Cory Barlog, tells Baker: "At this point, we know the hardware intimately, we know all the tricks." Elsewhere, Nintendo and Xbox cut life support for its last gen owners. Sure, charging ridiculous prices for new machines isn't smart. But is killing off your old console? Brian Ashcraft

PS2, Still Winner [Slate]

I'm trying to work my way as far through the game as I can this morning before posting my impressions, but let's just say God of War 2 is like eating your favorite desert... you just sit there thinking "God this is great." Here are some vids to keep you busy until later today. Brian Crecente

Game Videos just slapped up a couple God of War 2 clips, which we've posted above and after the jump. Just look how they pushed the PS2 to its limit. One word: Hot! Brian Ashcraft

Sony just sent me a package that made me smile. The final code for God of War 2. No more playing endlessly through the two demo discs, now I get to play the game itself. Unfortunately, I can't post my impressions until Monday.

Despite the picture the final game will be on one disc, Sony says. Brian Crecente

OMG, flying around on a pegasus and ganking Rocs is cool enough, but a pegasus with flaming wings... sweet! Brian Crecente

I was nosing around my copy of the God of War II Colossus Battle Demo disc after beating the shortish demo and noticed that they had Treasures listed under options on the main menu.

X-ing through I found it was a list of what I believe are the unlockables for the full version of the game, at least that's the only thing that makes sense since you need to beat the game or do other things that would be impossible on the demo to unlock them.

Hit the jump for the full list, including the description of the seven unlockable costumes.

Treasures
Hall of Titans: Seven rooms, seven challenges. Beat the game to unlock.
Arena of Fates: Control your own destiny and wage combat on your own terms. Achieve Titan rank in challenge mode.
Titan Mode: Beat the game to unlock.
Urns of Power: Collect precious urns and wield ultimate power. Beat the game to unlock.

Costumes
One: Kratos' life has always been an upstream battle.
Two: I always wondered what they did with the body.
Three: The path to revenge is a dark one.
Four: Why be a god when you can be a goddess.
Five: Classics never go out of style.
Six: The only thing that haunts a ghost is his past.
Seven: You worked so hard the first time, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

Movies
High Res: Watch all of the cut-scenes in high resolution.
Story: Watch the cut-scenes chronologically.

Bonus DVD Content
Tech Art Pipeline
Orchestra
Voices of God of War II
Level Art Concepts
Creature Concept Art
First Play Test
First Halloween Party
Press Event
Tutorial
Boss Character Concept Art
Combat System
Animation
Cinematics
Kratos Concept to Completion
Concept Art
Cut Levels
Level Art Design

Alright, get to guessing what exactly those costumes are. Here's hoping the first one is Kratos as a carp... or salmon. Brian Crecente

I played through the first, E306, demo of God of War 2 so many times that if it had been on a tape it would have broken.

Fortunately, SCEA just sent me their second, brand-spanking new demo to play with. The Colossus Battle Demo focuses on, though it doesn't let you complete, the colossus boss battle. That's right, the one in the vid we posted earlier.

I'm told this is the first of many boss battles, which is pretty amazing, since it is so involved. Hit the jump for my impressions. I don't think I really ruin any plot points, seeing as there aren't any in the demo, but I might ruin some of the experience of first enjoying it. (OK, there sorta is one plot point.) So if you don't want that, then just sit around staring at this... last... pre-spoiler... sentence. Yeah.

Spoiler-ish Alert
Demo two drops you down just as an army of Spartan warriors and Kratos is about to wreak some more vengeance as the God of War on the city of Rhodes. Athena decides she sick of his wrath and such and brings a gi-normous statue of the Colossus of Rhodes to life, then strips away some, if not all of Kratos' god powers.

The no-longer-big K gets dumped into a room with a bunch of warriors who you can quickly turn to bits of dessicated meat with your twirling blades and chains.

After roaming around for a bit you make your way outside of the building to be confronted by one very large, very pissed-off statue.

This first encounter with the colossus is what you see in the vid we posted. There's much rolling about and trying to dodge giant-sweepy arms, and of course dispatching of normal-sized bad guys. Finally, you can hump it over to a nearby ballista which you can use to first attack the big statue guy and then to launch yourself on to him.

Once you mount the statue, the battle turns into timed button pushes which do some amazing bits of damage and really flexes the graphics muscles of the Playstation 2. My favorite it here was the eye-gouging. You gotta love that.

Funny little aside. While I'm scrambling all over these giant statue, poking out his eye, tearing glowing blue lines through his cheeks and in general making a pest of myself, my son wanders in and asks if the game takes place in New York.

Wha? No, why do you think that?

Because you're fighting the Statue of Liberty....

Excelleeent!

Anyway, after bringing some god-like pain to the colossus it gets pissed and flings you halfway across the city. You land and fall into the building.

Then you have to make your way through more troops, around some puzzles and back outside to another area where you once more cut the crap of the colossus' arms and face.

This happens a third time, but the demo ends when you catching the colossus trying to looking through a window at you and you stab him in his last good eye.

I really like how the developers turned this boss battle into more of a stage unto itself, instead of making it this one event that is sort of separated from the rest of the game. More games should do this. In a way it's almost like Shadow of the Colossus, which is essentially a collection of boss battles, but the army of less-boss-like baddies you have to fight sorta get in the way.

Of course, I love the graphics, the cinematography of the game and the level design, in particular the design of the boss battle really lives up to all of my expectations. The game still has that amazingly fun feel to it.

Trust me, you're going to love this game. Brian Crecente

Just received a dozen new screens from God of War 2. Oh, and the company sent me their latest demo of the game. I'll be posting impressions from it in just a bit. Till then, enjoy these grappling photos and hit the jump for the official fact sheet. Notice the March 13 launch date? Brian Crecente

GOD OF WAR II
FACT SHEET

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA)
Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment America's Santa Monica Studios
Genre: Action-Adventure
Players: Single-player
Platform: PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system
Peripherals: DUALSHOCK 2 analog controller, memory card (8MB)
(for PlayStation 2)
Launch Date: March 13, 2007
Target Age: 18+
Rating: "M" for "Mature" / Descriptors: "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Themes, and Strong Language."

OVERVIEW
In 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment America's Santa Monica Studios introduced
God of War , which was widely considered the best videogame of 2005 with over a dozen "Game of the Year Awards." In Q1 of 2007, Kratos, the ex-Spartan warrior turned God of War, returns in God of War II, exclusively for the PlaysStation 2 computer entertainment system. Armed with all-new brutal combat moves and magic, players retake the role of Kratos and embark on a new epic adventure to change the fate of mortals and Gods alike. As Kratos, players will travel through unique levels of exceptionally detailed and vividly striking environments, unfolding story driven puzzles and competing in numerous, epic boss battles in the quest for revenge.

STORYLINE
God of War saw Kratos, a mortal warrior, set upon an epic quest to dethrone a God. But his journey did not end there. In God of War II, Kratos sits atop his Olympus throne, as the new God of War - far more ruthless than Ares ever was. To end his continued torment, Kratos must journey to the far reaches of the earth and defeat untold horrors and alter that which no mortal, or god has ever changed, his fate. God of War II sets an epic stage for a devastating mythological war to end all wars.

KEY FEATURES

Huge Collection of Combat Moves: Players can utilize their favorite combo attacks from God of War along with a whole new set of moves and magic. Magic is based on nature's elements which include utilizing the power if wind, ice and much more.
New Characters: From the popular Cyclops and Cerebus to the Flying Gryphon and more, players will encounter some of the greatest Greek mythological beasts, along with more enemies and bosses.
Puzzle Solving: God of War II features more puzzle solving, where players must solve intelligent, challenging and progressively more complicated puzzles latent with brutal elements that are intricately woven into the overarching story.
Exploration: Players will continue their previous experiences in the dark, violent world of Greek mythology and test their agility through more levels as they traverse treacherous, often brutal terrain that will range from the undiscovered Sisters of Fate to the Dark Swamp and more.
Critically-Acclaimed Franchise: With more than a dozen "Game of the Year" awards received for its predecessor, God of War II is based upon the same foundation and comes from the same award-winning development team.

This will be the last great game to hit the Playstation 2 and I can't wait. Brian Crecente

And here it is, the official box art for the upcoming God of War II demo.

Cory Barlog reports on his blog that the demo is still on track to hit in the next month or so, and in a suprise announcement there will now be a PAL version. He goes on to say that the sequel will still have a fourth difficulty. But this time around Titan Mode will be "freaking hard... doable of course... but hard." Brian Crecente

God of War II Cover Art Demo Info [God of War 2 Fan]

While the clip is a little fuzzy, it does give us another look at some of the gameplay for the upcoming God of War 2. IGN has posted a bunch of new screens and hi-res videos, including some interviews and more gameplay. I've watched this a couple of times and for some reason, I can't keep my eyes on the action. All I keep staring at is that creepy statue thing that keeps peering through the windows. It really gives me the willies, like something out of an old Ray Harryhausen Sinbad movie. No, not Sinbad the comedian, Sinbad the sailor. Flynn De Marco

Bunch of new God of War II media [IGN]

Sony's Playstation Underground recently took submissions from it's members for their "God of War II Alternate Costume Contest". While it may be too late for you to submit you Bob Mackie inspired, Swarovski crystal encrusted tunic for Kratos, you can still have a hand at picking the winner.

Out of the sixteen entries, most are pretty run of the mill with a few standout exceptions and some are thrown in for obvious comic effect. Just for the hell of it, I hope one of the comic ones wins. Watching Kratos run around in a giant misshapen fish costume or Michael Jackson's red leather Thriller outfit would be totally worth it.

You must be a member of Playstation Underground to participate in the vote, but it only takes a minute to sign up and the fish costume is worth it, trust me. Flynn De Marco

The God of War II Alternate Costume Contest [Playstation Underground - thanks, erutangis]

We are going to be breaking off the demo code pretty soon and tuning the final tuning pass on the demo level so that is pretty damn exciting. It means that those of you who emailed earlier about the demo will soon be holding your sweet copy of the God of War 2 Demo...looking all bad ass and glistening in the sun...the demo...not you. Of course if you choose to oil yourself up before playing the demo that is your business...I am not here to judge. No firm date on when that stuff will go out yet but rest assured that when I know...you will know.

I've played through the E3 demo more times than I can remember, so I'd love to get my hands on a new level. I wonder if Sony will consider releasing this on the Playstation Store? I know it's not a PS3 game, but I get a lot of people will be playing it on their PS3s. Brian Crecente

The End Begins [Cory Barlog]

I somehow missed this last week, while dealing with the approaching holiday and massive blizzard: God of War 2 is officially beta.

Cory Barlog reports on his blog that the game went beta on Dec. 22 and that they burned a bunch of discs to send home with the development team over their holiday break so they could play it.

Barlog goes on to dispel the rumor that the delay in the game was so they could add more levels:

As for the idea that we pushed back so why don't we add some levels...we pushed back to make sure everything we have now is as tight and clean and fun as it can be. We are using that extra time to make the game solid not to add more stuff to it and release a buggy game. So no luck on that....and for the special edition...I think it would take way more than a few weeks to do that so I don't see that happening right away.

The demo is still planned for January. I hope they decide to put in on the Playstation Store as well. I know this is a PS2 game, but tons of people will be playing it on their PS3s. Brian Crecente

WE MADE BETA BITCHES!!!! [Cory Barlog]