Eurogamer's Czech Republic site has posted an article detailing a new expansion for Dragon Age titled Dragon Age: Awakening. Apparently culled from product listings from unnamed websites in New Zealand, the land of movie extras, the new expansion is said to take place after the events of the original game, with a new character, a new origin story, and upwards of 15 hours of gameplay.

We've been scouring New Zealand's finest gaming websites, but so far have only been able to find a listing for Dragon Age: Awakening at The Game Station, where the PC version is listed at $69.95 NZD and the Xbox 360 version listing for $10 NZD more. There is no PlayStation 3 version listed. Eurogamer.cz says the expansion will retail for two-thirds the price of the full title, so that sounds somewhere in the vicinity of right, all things considered.

It's certainly a plausible rumor. BioWare is committed to providing new content for Dragon Age, and a new expansion would sure taste great right about now. We've contacted BioWare for comment, but considering the holidays, we aren't holding our breath.

Odkrytí Dragon Age Procitnutí (Translation Here) [Eurogamer.cz - Thanks L.!]

Seven months in development, Shinobi's Place has released "Invaders! Possibly from Space!" to the wild - free - for PC. It recreates Fry's fight against Lrrr's invading horde ("Increase speed, drop down, and reverse direction!") with so much more - episode dialogue, power-ups, and of course, the all-Rush mixtape soundtrack. That means at least three IPs infringed upon here. I can only hope that Taito, Fox, Matt Groening, and Rush can come to a quick agreement that something this awesome must be allowed to live. In case they don't, run go get it quick before it is C&D'd to death.

Invaders! Possibly from Space! [Shinobis-Place via GameSetWatch]

The organization has lauded EA's life simulator as the "most animal-friendly game" of the year, otherwise known as PETA's Proggy Award. The animal-rights group praises The Sims 3 for its option to let players "choose a vegetarian lifestyle," making Sims, "like their real-life counterparts, live longer, age more slowly, and feast on cruelty-free delights-from tofu dogs to ratatouille."

"EA's compassionate update to its perennial favorite shows commitment not only to animals but also to the game's players," writes PETA, claiming that the previous iteration was only vegetarian friendly by way of mods.

I'm curious what PETA would consider 2009's least animal-friendly game. My best guess is Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for the Wii, but that seems almost too obvious.

The Sims 3: Most Animal-Friendly Game of 2009 [PETA via Gamasutra]

Wings of Prey is a pretty robust PC combat sim, with more than 50 missions, 40 planes, and extensive online multiplayer set across six different theaters - The Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Ardennes, Berlin, Sicily and Korsun. Gaijin released a 1.46GB today, giving players a small taste of the game's tutorial and a couple missions above the skies of London. You can snag the demo by clicking on some text within this post, or visit the game's official website for the latest trailers, screenshots, and wallpapers.

...can still be faked. Along with these four new screens for Two Worlds II, Reality Pump has released a series of "MoveShots" at its website. "MoveShots" are tiny little videos that show the game in motion, which according to a press release will take care of any worries fans might have about fake screenshots.

"These, so-called, MoveShots serve as a very vivid forecast into the Antaloor universe featured in "Two Worlds II" as well as dispelling any rumors about the possibility of doctored screen shots, which, unfortunately, are all too common throughout the modern day videogame industry."

Hit up the game's website to check out the MoveShots for yourself. They're just like tiny movies, only...exactly like tiny movies.

At last, the hunter becomes the hunted...and the hunter...at the same time. There's definitely some hunting going on, that's for sure. Your character's transition from Dragon Slayer to Dragon Knight is one of the key focuses in the game, raising it above your standard action RPG fare.

Look for Divinity 2: Ego Draconis in stores next week for the PC and Xbox 360.

This teaser trailer goes along with yesterday's announcement that SouthPeak is bringing Blood Bowl to retail next year, though I highly doubt the action in the PSP, PC, and Xbox 360 versions will be quite as entertaining as the video clip. After spending the better part of a decade fighting alongside elves of various shapes and colors in assorted MMO titles, it's sort of cathartic to see one get punched in the gut and stomped flat. Go orcs!

Here he is giving a 48-minute presentation on the service, covering almost every single aspect of how the thing works. Still doesn't prove it will work in market conditions, of course, but it's nice seeing him provide such detail on the project and its technology.

Steve Perlman -"The Process of Invention: OnLive Video Game Service" [Columbia University]

Ostagar is the very first area you visit in Dragon Age: Origins once you make it through your character's original story, though shortly after you get there the location becomes less than welcoming to continued exploration, what with the rampaging hordes of vile creatures and the chance of getting dead king on your boot soles. Return to Ostagar allows players to reclaim the secrets lost on that battlefield. The downloadable content will be available for the PC and 360 on January 5th, with the PlayStation 3 version arriving later in January.

"We are thrilled at the way the fans have embraced Dragon Age: Origins and we're excited to welcome them back into the game," said Aaryn Flynn, General Manager and Vice President, BioWare Edmonton. "Return to Ostagar represents BioWare's commitment to providing a steady stream of compelling post release content as we continue to expand the Dragon Age universe."

As reported previously, Return to Ostagar will run 400 Microsoft points, 400 BioWare points, or $4.99 depending on your system.

Blood Bowl is a game of real fantasy football, with races from the Warhammer universe taking on each other in brutal football action. The game is already available for digital download on the PC, but we've been waiting for word of the Xbox 360 and PSP release for quite some time. Now the waiting is over.

"We're thrilled to have a part in bringing a proper retail version of Blood Bowl to North American gamers on Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PSP." said Aubrey Norris, Manager of Human-Orc Relations at SouthPeak. "It's never easy to get all these races to agree on something – but if there's one thing they love its good competition with a lot of bloodshed!"

The PC and Xbox 360 version will be hitting store shelves next month, with the portable version dropping sometime this spring.

It's called MechWarrior: Living Legends, and is the work of some modders by the name of Wandering Samurai. While ready for download and good to go, the mod is technically in "open beta", so don't go expecting the world.

Go into it expecting a reasonably polished, playable and surprisingly good-looking mod, however, and you'll be just fine.

[Mechwarrior: Living Legends]

CCTV is China's state news channel, and the program (the second part in a series), which visited a juvenile prison to speak with those apparently influenced by the titles in question, blames online video games for contributing to everything from teen pregnancy to drug addiction to murder.

The timing of the program is no coincidence, as Chinese bodies have spent much of 2009 cracking down on online games, banning some titles while suspending others. Even the mighty World of Warcraft has been in the government's sights, shutting down for 3 months earlier in the year and more recently being the subject of a to-and-fro between two competing government agencies.

China Blames Online Games for Drugs, Murder, Teen Pregnancy [Yahoo]

Actually, looking at the sheer scale of numbers on display here, change that to "very disappointing". TorrentFreak have hit up all the major public BitTorrent trackers and recorded how many times a particular game has been downloaded, and the figures are, if correct, frightening.

Modern Warfare 2 on PC, for example, may have disappointed at the register, but according to TorrentFreak's figures it's been downloaded 4.1 million times.

Now, that's not to say there are 4.1 million illegal copies out there. There's bound to be duplicates and errors in the tracking. Nor is it suggesting that Activision have somehow missed out on 4.1 million sales of the game, because as common sense dictates, a copy pirated does not equate to a lost sale.

But still.

Add in the 970,000 copies illegally downloaded on Xbox 360 and you're looking at a lot of people playing the game for free.

Other popular titles with pirates in 2009 were The Sims 3, Street Fighter IV, Prototype and New Super Mario Bros.

TorrentFreak's charts can be found below, though for some reason (because the PS3 games can't be easily copied?) PS3 games were not included.

Modern Warfare 2 Most Pirated Game of 2009 [TorrentFreak, via IGN]

The tightened restrictions had meant passengers had to remain in their seats for the final hour of a flight, with nothing in their laps. Others had reported a total ban on electronics. The Transportation Security Administration was intentionally vague about what flights might or might not require, but nearly all of it meant bad things for the use of portable electronic devices - at least on international flights. Crecente, however, just flew 14 hours from Australia into the U.S. and was allowed to use electronics in flight.

The AP specifically said "In-flight entertainment restrictions have also been lifted." I suppose this means it's all over, for now anyway.

In-Flight Security Rules Eased [Associated Press on Yahoo! News]

On Thursday, BioWare's Chris Priestly wrote the following:

If players start a New Game + after beating the game they will be able to re-use the same character import file they did for their first playthrough. Yes New Game + is making a return to Mass Effect 2!

But on June 27, Preston Watamaniuk, the lead designer for the original Mass Effect, said "New Game Plus" was too problematic to be included:

The reason is progression. We have been working very hard to make sure we design the abilities system to offer smooth progression into ME3 from ME2. Allowing double progression on characters makes that almost impossible. We replaced that feature with playing after you were done because it preserves progression and allows for smoother downloading of PRC.

This is hard to reconcile having not played Mass Effect 2, of course, and myself having not completed the original (I've also not finished Catch-22, The Great Gatsby and other significant works of literature. It happens, you know.) Watamaniuk's statement did not preclude "playing after you were done," but that is a completely different thing. I'd be inclined to say Priestly misspoke, but he clearly says "New Game + is making a return to Mass Effect 2." I've reached out to him for a clarification.

Let's not minimize the info contained in the rest of Priestly's post, which discusses how characters imported from the first Mass Effect will work in the sequel. Priestly reminds that the import will "carry over all your decisions and plot decisions from ME1 into ME2." That means the story path you face in Mass Effect 2 will conform to what you did in the first game. "We don't want to list everything out and spoil the surprises we have in store for you, but rest assured you will be pleased when you see just how much carries over into Mass Effect 2," he writes.

From a gameplay standpoint, while you won't be playing at the same level as you finished Mass Effect 1, you will see perks and bonuses commensurate with where you finished the first game. "Ex, if you finished ME1 as a level 35 character, you will receive a bonus, but if you finished ME1 as a level 50 character, your bonus will be larger. That being said these bonuses will not put new playthrough characters at a severe disadvantage."

Saved Games, Importing Information, Bonuses and New Game + [Mass Effect Forums]

Unfortunately, it sounds like they'll be verboten for international flights inbound to the U.S. While the Transportation Security Administration has issued no formal rules (and, in fact, is being deliberately vague about them) Gizmodo and several other sources are reporting the ban as fact.

Another key detail: for international flights inbound to the U.S., passengers will have to remain in their seats for the last hour of a flight, without access to their carry-on baggage (above or underneath a seat) and without any personal items on their laps. So, better pee up before that final hour, and make sure you're at a good stopping point in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines.

It's also unclear how this affects travel within the U.S., but you can bet it will, beginning with long lines as screeners tighten their focus. Other measures either reported or expected include the aforementioned no cabin travel for the last hour of a flight; keeping the cabin lights on for the entire trip; disabling the display of a flight's progress in the seatback monitors offered on some planes; and generally making sure you resent the experience from check-in to baggage claim.

As there are a ton of variables in play here, for U.S. flights and for those in other countries, and as plenty of folks are flying either today or tomorrow - or this time next week - returning from holiday travels, we're opening up a comment thread here to report what you've seen. Especially as it relates to the use of electronic devices. Flying is such an unpleasant process these days, laptops, handhelds and DVD players have become almost indispensable for their diversionary qualities. Plus, some are still under the illusion they can get work done midair.

So here, and for future reference, use the hashtags #tsa #flights or #airtravel to talk about what you've seen, heard or experienced. You'll be doing your fellow flying gamers a service.

The Left 4 Dead 2 authoring tools include support for AI Director logic for variable level layouts and the option to use a single map in any mode—Versus, Co-op, Scavenge and Survival. And it looks like your original Left 4 Dead creations will work, provided those creations are recompiled in the new authoring tools.

Naturally, this is for the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2, so fire up Steam to download the add-on and creation tools.

Sorry, no Christmas break for you, modding community. But we're pretty happy that Valve got this SDK out the door a heck of a lot faster than it did for the original Left 4 Dead.

All I want for Christmas is an SDK [L4D Blog]

Fashion Fantasy found that after the 65% that wanted cold, hard cash for Christmas, a whopping 59% wanted a laptop. Coming in at third fourth and fifth place were cell phones, shoes and MP3 players. Only 8% would even consider a VIP membership to FashionFantasyGame.com as a gift worth having.

So what does this say about teen girls today? Are they all tacky shopaholics who would debase themselves with requests for cash this holiday season to feed their addiction? Or is the younger generation simply becoming more practical in these trying economic times?

Here's what the press release answered:

"For young women, even holiday gifting is about style and empowerment," said Nancy Ganz, founder and CEO of Fashion Fantasy Game. "Giving money as a gift provides young women with the resources to express themselves and to learn budgeting skills. These are two core components of Fashion Fantasy Game, where girls can create their own virtual fashions which are then bought and sold in virtual boutiques operated by other players."

Yes, I'm sure that's what they'll spend their money on if they get it for Christmas: virtual fashion. Not real fashion.

Hm... I wonder if any of them would spend their money on a Nintendo DS and a copy of Style Savvy. But then we'd be getting into the question of "Are all style games created equal?" as opposed to the question of what teenage girls want for Christmas.