We think the end of the world must be getting close if Duke Nukem Forever is not only in development but playable. And that FireFall game looks pretty good too.

• Before R.U.S.E. is released next week, you might want to check out the web experience.
• Sign-ups for the BlizzCon 2010 Costume and Dance contests are now open.
• This week's Mutation gameplay mode for Left 4 Dead 2 is a repeat of the Hard Eight mode.
• Minor Steam updates for Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, Nation Red and the Mac port of Puzzle Dimension have been released.

\With PC gamers now buying notebooks more and more for their gaming needs, graphics processor makers are trying to catch up and offer the most powerful dedicated graphics chips for laptops. Today Nvidia announced the launch of its GeForce 400M series of mobile chips which represent the first laptop chips from Nvidia to support DirectX 11 graphics effects in games.

The family of chips, which include the GeForce GTX 470M and GTX 460M models for "enthusiasts" (i.e. hardcore gamers), all support Nvidia's proprietary tech including PhysX hardware game physics effects, 3D Vision, and the power saving Optimus features. The first notebooks that will have the new 400M chips are now available from Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung and Toshiba with more in the works.

Kane and Lynch 2 is pulling in a modest amount of cash, so the developers are hard at work pumping out everyone's favorite miniature additions. In this case, it's a 3-map, 5-weapon pack for $6, and this trailer gives a low-down of the goodies you get for the $6. Kane and Lynch has fairly decent multiplayer, so this trailer should be fairly interesting to anybody who already has the game. We love the look of the new maps, but the guns are nothing particularly special. Just another day in the life of Kane and Lynch!

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We have been waiting for this news for months and today Microsoft announced that the PC port of the 2D fighting game BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger is finally available for US PC gamers. The game is available exclusively as a downloadable game via the Games For Windows Live client and is priced at $34.99

Developed by Japan-based Arc System Works, the creators of the cult hit Guilty Gear fighting game franchise, this particular game is not only one of the few fighting games available for PC owners, it's also one of the few PC titles that supports cross-platform multiplayer play with its Xbox 360 counterpart.

FEAR 3 is coming, and all the trailers up until now have shown off just what Day 1 is doing with Monolith's most recent franchise. But where does that leave Monolith? This trailer talks about the history and connection between the two companies, from Day 1's involvement in porting the original FEAR to Monolith's involvement in the newest game. It's intriguing, mostly because this is the first canon FEAR game to be developed by a company other than Monolith. There's also some cool gameplay footage, so if you aren't that interested in the talking heads, you can still get your fill of supernatural gunplay.

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A game that was first released as a downloadable title for the Wii will be coming to the PC later this fall. Developer Ronimo Games has announced that Swords and Soldiers will debut via Steam with a number of changes compared to the Wii version.

As you can see the game is a side-scroller title but with RTS elements and a cartoony art style as the player controls Viking, Aztec or Chinese factions. The PC port will have both single and multiplayer modes, 30 levels, skirmish modes that can be customized and support for Steamworks features like achievements. Pricing and a specific release date have not been announced.

The Total War series started in Japan, and it returns to the Land of the Rising Sun with Shogun 2. While the series has undergone some major innovations in the many years since, the developers definitely seem to be giving the original game justice. This massive battle report, clocking in at over 6 minutes, details the minutiae of handling a tactical battle. Topics covered include new AI tactics, flanking, and morale. There's also mentions of the new models and a new speech algorithm for the pre-battle general speeches. Frankly, we're incredibly excited to get our hands on Shogun 2, and with this battle report, most people should join us in our glee.

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For many of you reading this, this is the beginning of a long weekend. If you are off this Labor Day, perhaps you will celebrate it by purchasing some cheap PC games and in so doing support your local work force:

• As we reported before, Steam has cut prices this weekend on all of the Company of Heroes games by 75 percent and Altitude by 50 percent.
• Direct2Drive has put two games on sale from now until 3 pm Eastern time Wednesday: Mount and Blade Warband for $17.50 and Europa Universalis III for $7.50. It still has a selection of games on sale for $6 each until Wednesday.
• Impulse has a ton of games on sale this weekend. Also keep in mind that a portion of proceeds from the sales of some games will be donated to Child's Play until September 10.
• GamersGate also has a bunch of games on sale this weekend.
• GoG.com has six 1C Company published games on sale for 50 percent off.
• Most of Electronic Arts' PC games are on sale this weekend for 40 percent off.

For those that really wondered what the difference between Medal of Honor and Modern Warfare was, here's your answer: vehicles! Joking aside, this trailer for the upcoming shooter shows off the wrecking of an Afghan village by missiles and cannon fire. That's about all it does, although some of the more interesting elements include the crumbling of buildings and the ammo dump explosion at the end. Still, the explosions are pretty impressive, and the trailer definitely showcases a feeling of power.

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It looks like Gearbox Software isn't the only developer involved in the making of Duke Nukem Forever. The game's official web site has gone live and shows that two more teams, along with Gearbox and 3D Realms, are involved in the making of the long awaited first person shooter.

One is Piranha Games, a veteran game developer in Vancouver that got lots of attention in 2009 when it announced plans to make a new MechWarrior game (there been no updates on that project since the initial announcement, by the way). The other developer is Triptych Games, a new developer based in Gearbox's home town of Plano Texas and made up mostly of former 3D Realms employees. There's no word on what these two teams will be responsible for in the making of Duke Nukem Forever. In the meantime the site has a link that will let people sign up to join Gearbox's focus testing. That means you might be picked to come to the developer's offices to play test the game.

Is it possible for a fantasy RPG to have too many endings? The team at CD Projekt is hoping the answer is "No". At a presentation at GamesCom last month, and reported by PC Games Hardware, the development team revealed that its upcoming RPG sequel The Witcher 2 will have a whopping 16 different endings. That compares to "just" three different endings in the original Witcher title.

The Witcher 2 will also have three different openings compared to the original's single opening and 150 minutes of cut scenes versus just 53 minutes for the first Witcher game. And while the first game had tons of loading screens, the development team says The Witcher 2 will feature just four loading screens. It's not quite an open world game but it's pretty close. The game is due out in spring 2011 via publisher Atari.

While we can't be at PAX Prime this year, the folks at 2K Games are there streaming footage of folks playing a small portion of the single player gameplay of Duke Nukem Forever. Think about that for a second. For the first time in the history of man, people that are not 3D Realms or Gearbox Software team members are playing Duke Nukem Forever in public. Anything is truly possible,

Our sister site Joystiq captured some of the streaming video which you can see above and also after the jump. Yes, it's shaky and blurry but at this point we will take it, thank you very much. Gearbox head man Randy Pitchford is also making behind closed doors presentations about the long awaited first person shooter but apparently the footage from that presentation can't be shown to the public yet.

Duke Nuke Forever isn't the only long-in-development game being given a public showing at PAX Prime 2010 today. Developer Red 5 Studios, which launched five years ago, finally announced its game today. It's called FireFall and as we first reported a few weeks ago it is indeed an online team based first person shooter. The sci-fi themed game will be free to play with microtransactions available for purchasing optional in-game items.

FireFall takes place on Earth 200 years in the future where humans are fighting off the Melding, "a hostile energy storm that engulfs most of our home planet." Humans also have to deal with an opposing enemy called The Chosen. Players will be able to customize their characters and even swap and trade items on the fly. Fans of the Tribes game franchise might be interested to know that Scott Youngblood, the lead designer for Tribes 1 and 2 is now the lead designer for FireFall. The game is due for launch in late 2011 but sign ups to beta test the game are now being accepted on the game's official web site.

It's always hard to make a first person shooter multiplayer game that's different than all of the rest on the market. However, the indie development team called Depth Team think they have an upcoming game that stands out from the rest. It's called Depth: Aquatic Stealth and as you might guess from the title it's all about battling underwater.

But that's not why this game could be different and, more importantly, fun to play. The UDK-based title will feature a team of divers going into the ocean to retrieve an object and bring it back to its base. The other team is trying to stop them from doing so. The other team also happens to be sharks. Yep, you get to play as various sharks in Depth, complete with a teeth-filled shark camera view. There's no word yet on when the game will be released. You can check out a recent trailer for the game after the jump:

The game that has been in development for over 13 years may finally be released after all. Via a fan's blog site, publisher 2K Games is displaying at its PAX Prime 2010 booth signs and banners confirming that the development team at Gearbox Software will take over the making of Duke Nukem Forever, the first person shooter that began life at Duke Nukem's owner 3D Realms. We are still waiting for the promised video stream presentation from PAX Prime to go live.

The game began its life in 1997 as a sequel to 3D Realms' hit 1996 shooter Duke Nukem 3D. However the dev team dissapointed gamers year after year with delays, engine changes and then almost total silence on the game's development. In May 2009, 3D Realms laid off its internal development team and engaged in a legal battle with Duke Nukem Forever's publisher Take Two Interactive. Those legal actions were settled quietly a few months ago. We will post updates when we learn more official news on Duke Nukem Forever's re-announcement.

Update: The Wall Street Journal has posted up a story that also confirms Gearbox's involvement in Duke Nukem Forever's revival with Gearbox head man Randy Pitchford saying the team started working on the game in late 2009. The article seems confused about the game's release date; one paragraph says it will ship "next year" while another says it will be released in 2010.

Update 2: Pitchford has now confirmed via 2K Games' streaming video coverage that the game is in fact due out in 2011. Attendees at PAX Prime are getting a chance to play a portion of the game's single player content.

[Via Shacknews]