Truly an epic battle for the ages. Games were played this week and they were played by the staff at Destructoid. Read on to find out what those games were. Apply our wisdom to your life and be enriched. Razak:I feel like a broken record, but with el movie site resume reading, other work and training for a half-marathon I’m still playingBatmanand still playingBowser’s Inside Story. Sterling:Castlevania HDinspired me to replay the older DS games, so I spent much of my time my time playingDawn of Sorrow, which is still a fantastic little game....

At the EA press conference today in Cologne, it was announced that the next expansion toThe Sims 3,World Adventureswill have more music from big artists performing their hit songs in Simlish. The artists include Nelly Furtado, Pixie Lott, and Matt & Kim. EA promises that there will be word of more musical acts to be coming in the near future. The full list of artists and tracks announced is as follows:...

Microsoft has been hitting Games for Windows LIVE hard at this year’s Game Developers Conference, because — let’s face it — you need the backing of major publishers and developers before you may begin to truly entice potential customers into leaving Steam or even Impulse. In particular, three new features of GFW LIVE were stressed. First, there’s “Zero-day piracy protection and server-side authentication,” which means you may’t play your game before its intended release date, and you also can’t participate in online multiplayer without a valid account....

Lead Designer Mike Zaimont is the man behindSkullgirls. He’s also a pro fighter who’s competed in EVO tournaments, so he knows a thing or two about making a good fighting game. I got some really good hands-on time with this new fighter, but I’ll have a more detailed preview next week when all the chaos of GDC has subsided. In the mean time, I do want to at least put this game on your radar as it has the serious potential of becoming a big fighting franchise....

With all the excitement over the newSuper Mario Galaxyvideo today, we’re hoping you’ve still got room for a bit more moustachioed love. Check out this new footage ofSuper Paper Mariofor the Wii, featuring what looks to be some sort of Macaulay Culkin doppelganger. The game is played with the Wiimote held sideways, a la Virtual Console, utilizing the pointer and motion sensing capability to highlight hidden objects and perform flashy special moves....

Today, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello told an audience at an investor’s meeting thatGodfather 2is slated for late 2008 or early 2009. The information, according toShacknews, was relayed in reference to EA’s upcoming Mature rated titles. Riccitiello said that the game would hit retailers “a few months” after Valve’sLeft 4 Dead. What wasn’t mentioned was for which platforms the game would ship on that release schedule. Will the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and PC versions all hit at the same time?...

Sony is getting ready for a bitter fight to reclaim its lost glory, enterting this holiday season with a PS3 price cut, a new PSP and the promise of hot games likeUncharted 2,MAG, andHeavy Rain. Naturally, Microsoft Minister of Propaganda Aaron Greenberg is unphased, believing the Xbox 360 can match anything the PlayStation 3 has. “I think if you first look at this holiday, we shape up really well versus Sony,”explainsthe talkative executive....

Activision has just released a list of 11 new tracks to the set list of the upcomingGuitar Hero III: Legends of Rock(which you’ll remember we rocked at E3), featuring works from artists like Iron Maiden, Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many more. Maybe you’ll fancy: · Miss Murder (by AFI)· Through Fire and Flames (by Dragonforce)· Number of the Beast (by Iron Maiden)· 3’s and 7’s (by Queens of the Stone Age)· Suck My Kiss (by Red Hot Chili Peppers)· Raining Blood (by Slayer)· Reptillia (by The Strokes)· Paranoid (as made famous by Black Sabbath)· Cities on Flame (as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult)· Mississippi Queen (as made famous by Mountain)· La Grange (as made famous by ZZ Top)...

When we revealed the previous batch of “Raskully Profiles” for Halfbrick’s XBLA debutRaskulls, a number of posters demanded that we see less concept and more in-game material. Halfbrick listened, and has decided to get all remaining profiles out of the way now. These character introductions were originally going to be more staggered, but due to your feedback they’ve all been released today, with screenshots promised to come our way within the next week....

In advance of the game’s Spike Video Game Awards show reveal, developer Bungie has yanked off the tarp that covered the improved officialHalo: ReachWeb site. As noted in the introductory post, the site is skeletal at the moment consisting of a few scraps of general information in the Mission Briefing Section. “Since you’ve got some time to kill between [the time the trailer airs] and now, we figured we’d deploy the updated and more officialHalo: Reachproject page so you can get familiar with the one stop shop for all thingsReach-related,” the post reads....

Activision has confirmed today that Maroon 5 singer and guitarist Adam Levine will appear as a “playable character” inBand Hero. Also confirmed is that I’ve written fartoo manystoriesabout Adam Levine. The virtual Levine will hop and bop about to Maroon 5’s hit single, “She Will Be Loved,” which is included as a song inBand Hero, which hits shelves this November. Levine joins country pop sensationTaylor Swift, who will also be featured in the game, hopping and bopping about to her own track....

As part of our continuing effort to plasterFable IInews all over the front page of Destructoid, we now bring you details on how the downloadable versions of the game —released this morning, you know— talk to each other. This morning we ran through the first downloadable episode in the five-part series. This slice features two key parts of the whole ofFable II: childhood and the Guild Caverns. After completion, the hero is instructed to kill the bandit Thag and move on to Bowerstone Market, another area previously visited, as a child, in this episode....

Part two of our ten-part “How to not look like an idiot inTeam Fortress 2” series (starting yesterday, and working up to the official launch ofThe Orange Box) tackles the Engineer. A truly indispensable member of theTeam Fortress 2cast, the engineer is half Heavy Weapons Guy, half Medic, and allawesome. A team can live or die based on the strength of its engineering team — so, how does one get the most out of him?...