Wow. Who ordered all the news in the past couple of days? It's like there was some huge game-related event that's happening this weekend that serves as an excuse for developers to announce new games ... oh wait.

• Steam has Cossacks: Back to War on sale for 20 percent off. You can also pre-order F1 2010 via Steam and get 10 percent off.
• Steam also has patch updates for Team Fortress 2, The Settlers 7, and Puzzle Dimension.
• Steam is letting folks pre-load R.U.S.E.
• If you are going to PAX Prime you can get some exclusive Penny Arcade A30 headsets from Astro Gaming.
• The IndieCade games festival has named its finalists for the indie games festival in October.
• Is Valve getting ready to port its games to Linux. It sure seems so.

Developer The Creative Assembly and publisher Sega have been busy releasing two full games in the Total War series in quick succession with Empire Total War in 2009 and Napoleon Total War earlier this year. Now Sega has announced plans to release Empire Total War Gold Edition, a new retail release that contains both historical RTS games.

Not only does the Gold Edition contain both games it will also have all of the paid downloadable content options that has been released so far for Empire Total War and Napoleon Total War. You can look for this collection to be released to stores on October 19 for $49.95.

[Via email press release]

The Company of Heroes games are not the only titles on sale this weekend on the Steam PC game download service. Gamers can also check out the indie game Altitude with a nice price cut as well as a chance to play the full game for the price of, well, nothing.

Yep, the 2D cartoony-style aerial combat title from developer Nimbly Games is on sale from now until Monday for a mere $4.99, a big 50 percent price cut from its normal price. But if you don't want to spend those few dollars on an impulse purchase, fear not. You can also download and play the full version of the game for free until Sunday.

While Mabinogi is cutesy and appropriate for all ages, its prequel - Vindictus - is certainly not. This trailer reinforces the point, and it provides some more information on the skill of golem building to boot. One of the most intriguing elements seen in the video is the practice of creating a golem from physics parts present in the environment. That's definitely an interesting addition, especially for a free-to-play game. Still, it doesn't hurt to show some blood to display the maturity, and at the end of the trailer we get to see a massive polar bear rip an enemy apart.

Download HD Vindictus 'Golem' Trailer
Check out all Vindictus downloads

As promised, the open beta test for Company of Heroes Online has now launched, giving anyone a chance to try out the free-to-play WWII-themed online RTS game from developer Relic and publisher THQ before it officially launches later this fall. You can register for an account at the game's official web site and download the game's install client right here at Big Download. People who register for the open beta by September will get some in-game extras such as a free hero unit and army item, 500 extra XP and 3,000 free supply points.

The game's producer Greg Wilson has posted up a message on the Company of Heroes Online message boards that goes into more detail on what Relic has done to develop and change the game since it was first launched in China two years ago. In related news, the original Company of Heroes RTS games are now the subject of Steam's weekend sales deal. All three titles (Company of Heroes, Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor) have had their prices cut 75 percent from now until Monday.

Download the Company Of Heroes Online install client at Big Download

The family-friendly themed MMO that's been years in the making is now technically ready to be released. The Lego Group announced that Lego Universe from developer NetDevil has "gone gold" meaning the game is now being replicated onto disks for placement in retail boxes. The game was first announced back in March 2007.

As we reported back in June, the game will have two launch dates. On October 12 Lego Universe will open up for people who pre-ordered the game via ia official Lego stores, the Lego web site and the Legoland theme park. On October 26, the game will be made available for everyone else as the Lego Universe title is released in other retail stores. In the meantime you can still sign up to be a beta tester for the game before it's official release.

Direct2Drive's end-of-summer sales event continues day as the PC game download site offers up two more games that will have their prices cut from now until 3 pm Eastern time on Friday. The games on sale today both come from publisher Activision. One of them is Gun, the Wild West-themed action game. The other is Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, the horror-themed RPG. Both games are now priced at $9.95 each, a 50 percent cut from their normal price.

Don't forget that Direct2Drive also has a separate sixth anniversary sale where a number of games are now priced at just $6 until this coming Wednesday.

Update: We just got an email from Direct2Drive's PR contact announcing that if folks put in the code PAX at checkout they will get $5 off any purchase of $15 or mode. The code can be used an unlimited among of times until the end of September

Publisher Take Two Interactive is always the last of the publicly trade game publishers to reveal its financial results. Today the company revealed that for the quarter that ended on July 31 it generated $354.1 million in revenue, a massive increase compared to the $94.9 million it made for the same period a year ago. Take Two recorded a profit of $12.4 million for the quarter compared to a loss of $58.3 million for the same period a year ago.

Part of the reason for the better numbers were the high sales of the console only game Red Dead Redemption which Take Two said has sold 6.9 million copies since its release last May. The publisher's PC game release schedule includes Civilization V, NBA 2K11 and the next Borderlands DLC release. Oddly, the press release makes no mention of Max Payne 3, the long-in-development action game that's been delayed a number of times.

So are you ready to hear about something BIG? Then you will have to wait until Friday at 1 pm Eastern time. That's when 2K Games is supposedly revealing something BIG at its booth at PAX Prime 2010. It's apparently so BIG that the publisher is streaming live video from the event so everyone can know what it is about.

What could it be? Some people are speculating that it could be the rumored revival of the long awaited first person shooter Duke Nuke Forever via developer Gearbox Software. In related news, George Broussard, the present of Duke Nukem's owner 3D Realms, has "tweeted" a link to an interesting illustration. What does it really mean?

After months of just a bare bones web site and an ESRB listing, publisher Ubisoft has finally and officially announced plans to release Bloody Good Time. This multiplayer-themed action will be released for the PC this fall via Steam and was developed by Outerlight, the team responsible for the unusual murder-shooter title The Ship. This new game, like The Ship, will use Valve's Source Engine as its basis.

As was first revealed in the game's ESRB listing a few months ago, Bloody Good Time is set on Hollywood sound stages where players have to kill other "actors" on the set using "frying pans, golf clubs, barbeque forks, machine guns, flamethrowers, knives, and swords." Players can pick from several different types of classic B-movie characters to play as. There's no word yet on pricing for the game.

[Via email press release]

Classic car enthusiasts and mob movie lovers have a lot to enjoy in Mafia II. The game puts players in the role of Vito Scaletta, an American immigrant aiming to become a "Made Man" in the fictional city of Empire Bay, which draws heavy inspiration from New York City. The game covers a time span between the 1940s and 1950s, and players watch the world change over from a WWII-era look to a brighter and livelier post-war attitude. Gameplay has a lot in common with Grand Theft Auto IV, which includes the option to steal a variety of cars, outrun the police, and shoot up everything that gets in the way. However, dwelling on those similarities does Mafia II a great injustice. If you look past the often-done gameplay and seemingly cliche plot, there's a very enjoyable action game to be found beneath it.

Download the Mafia II demo
Check out all Mafia II downloads

Medal of Honor's use of a Taliban faction in the upcoming shooter's multiplayer mode has already stirred up a lot of debate. Now Kotaku is reporting that the Electronic Arts-developed game won't be sold at GameStop stores that are located on military based because of that particular feature.

According to a statement from GameStop, the retailer, "has agreed out of respect for our past and present men and women in uniform we will not carry Medal of Honor in any of our AAFES based stores." It added, "GameStop fully supports AAFES in this endeavor and is sensitive to the fact that in multiplayer mode one side will assume the role of Taliban fighter."

This will not affect GameStop from taking reservations and selling the game at all of the company's civilian stores. EA has not commented on this new development although in the past EA Games head Frank Gibeau has been quoted as saying the publisher " .. anticipated this [controversy] when we decided on the concept of the game." The game is still scheduled for release on October 12.

Earlier this week we reported that the stalled fantasy RTS MMO game Dreamlords seemed to be getting new life as the game's official web reported a new publishing deal with Paradox Interactive. Now Paradox has officially announced its involvement in the free-to-play game with the official title Dreamlords Resurrection.

Paradox states that the game will be the first title under its new Paradox Connect brand which will cover all of the publisher's online efforts. The game will feature both cooperative Player Vs Environment battles along with Player Vs Player matches. There's still no word yet on when Dreamlords Resurrection will officially launch. This is apparently the first of three free-to-play games that Paradox plans to release in the coming months.

Earlier this year developer Haemimont Games and publisher Kalypso Media announced plans to release the historical-themed co-op action-RPG game The First Templar. Today Kalypso announced that the developer is now taking sign-ups to beta test the PC port of the game.

There's no word yet on when the beta test will begin but the sign-up page seems fairly basic in its requirements. The game itself, which is still set for release sometime in 2011, will emphasize the co-op features as players control either a French Templar knight and a noble lady as they go on a mission in 13th century Europe.

The Sims 3's next expansion pack for the PC, Late Night, is all about going to clubs, partying and having a good time. So its appropriate that the people sim game will be getting some new tunes in the game's native "Simlish" language. Entertainment Weekly's web site reveals some major names in the real music industry have gone ahead and re-recorded some songs in Simlish for the EA-published expansion.

Among the artists that are participating are Travie McCoy (Need You) My Chemical Romance (Na Na Na), Soulja Boy (Speakers Going Hammer) and Kelly Rowland (Rose Colored Glasses). The expansion pack is due out in October.