Final installment of the Tiberium saga heading to PC on March 16 in North America, March 19 in Europe; preorder incentives include exclusive bonus mission and early access to beta program.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was one of EA's worst-kept secrets this year, after being preemptively announced via a consumer survey and EA's own twitter feed. This time, however, news of the game's release date has officially come from an EA press release, and real-time strategy fans who have been awaiting a sequel to 2007's Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars won't have to wait much longer.

Coming to a PC near you this March.

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Blog leaks supposed images of Facebook PS3 app; Sony promises details to follow.

Is this what Facebook will look like on your PS3? (credit: scrawlfx.com).

At Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference, the platform holder announced plans to release an Xbox Live update later this year that would include support for social networking sites Twitter, Last.fm, and the uberpopular Facebook, which currently boasts more than 300 million users worldwide. With no similar deals trumpeted by Sony Computer Entertainment, PlayStation users were left wondering when these services would be making their way to the PS3, if at all.

While US video rental service Netflix has been available on the Xbox 360 for some time, the company recently announced it would be bringing the service to the PlayStation 3 in November. Much to the delight of social-networking PS3 users, it appears that another third-party service may also be heading to Sony's current console.

Soon, your embarrassing Facebook photos may also be viewed on the PS3 (credit: scrawlfx.com).

Blogging site ScrawlFX has posted images of what appears to be a PS3 version of Facebook. According to the site, the images originally appeared on PlayStation's European blog and show a Facebook application accessible from the PlayStation Network account management tab, the ability to change the colour of PlayStation Network profiles, and the ability to view Facebook photos.

While the PlayStation European blog is currently void of any official confirmation, a SCE Europe representative told GameSpot UK, "We'll have information on this shortly." GameSpot UK will update this story once an official announcement is released.

Mod site forum poster appears to have deciphered clue in Episodes From Liberty City manual--which shows portion of in-game poster from 2002 hit.

Source: The forums of modder-friendly mecca Modmywhat.com.

What we heard: When Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City went on sale on October 29, the game was already at the center of a hype storm. However, the game soon was sucked into a speculation maelstrom, courtesy of a very small--and very fake--advertisement on one of the last pages of its manual.

The ad in question was for a nonexistent film, Liberty City, It's Over, a parody of the anthology New York, I Love You. In its center, the ad shows the cover art from Grand Theft Auto IV inside a torn-asunder heart--a sign some are taking to mean that the Ballad of Gay Tony is the last title of this GTA generation set in Liberty City. Then, below the title, are the words "Next Stop" above a rip in the poster--which shows another image underneath, as though the Liberty City, It's Over poster had been pasted over it.

The image inside that rip has become the subject of fierce debate. Is it a blue-gray and yellow hillside from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? Or does it bear the pastel color palette of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City? Now, Modmywhat.com user "Lysergio" claims to have solved the mystery by producing a screen of a fake poster from Vice City. Modmywhat.com moderator "Gunner" went one step further, overlaying the two posters in an animated .gif to show an exact match when the parody poster is mirrored.

True to the hard-M-for-Mature ratings of the series, the suggestive poster uses a volcano surrounded by two tree-covered hills to advertise an erectile dysfunction drug. It was apparently on the wall of a porno shop in the game, or possibly the adult movie studio InterGlobal Films. The porn studio was at the center of several Vice City missions, which saw mobster protagonist Tommy Vercetti (voiced by actor Ray Liotta) assist erotic filmmaker Steve Scott (Dennis Hopper) and adult-film actress Candy Suxxx (real-life porn star Jenna Jameson). It is unclear if any of those characters would return, were Vice City to be remade using the Grand Theft Auto IV engine.

The official story: Rockstar reps had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: Though the existence of the Vice City poster could not be confirmed firsthand as of press time, the comparisons are awfully compelling--or an elaborate hoax. However, analysts are already predicting only a two-year gap between 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV and a full-fledged sequel--twice that between 2001's Grand Theft Auto III and 2002's Vice City. With the alleged teaser/fake film ad mentioning the month of March, news of the next GTA could be less than five months away.

Funcom offering access to forthcoming modern-day MMOG with three-month commitment to dark-fantasy MMOG; two-week free trial returns.

Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures and Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning represented the two largest massively multiplayer online role-playing game launches last year. However, neither game managed to dent the undeniable popularity of Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, which added on the critically acclaimed and best-selling Wrath of the Lich King expansion in 2008.

Still, Funcom and Mythic continue to quest for new subscribers. With Mythic announcing Warhammer Online's Endless Trial offer last week, Funcom today outlined its own effort to lure subscribers, one that involves free gameplay, as well as a bevy of bonuses for current and returning subscribers. Namely, gamers who at one point subscribed to Funcom's dark-fantasy MMORPG can now return to the game for two weeks free, during which they will gain a double experience bonus.

And those who subscribe for 24 months will NOT have their throats slit.
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Creative director Mike Neumann says role-playing shooter's reception has all but assured there will be a sequel; 2K touts upcoming DLC.

Before Borderlands' October 20 release, some analysts were openly speculating the new IP wouldn't find its footing before being crushed at retail by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Now, though, the game industry's professional prognosticators are pegging the well-reviewed action role-playing game as a hit. Former skeptic Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pacther believes the game sold around 400,000 units in the US in October, with Pacific Crest Securities' Evan Wilson and Electronic Entertainment Design and Research's Jesse Divnich putting the figure at 375,000.

Some of Borderlands' more unstable characters took the "no-brainer" comment to a literal extreme.

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Irish gaming site claims musician behind Rockstar Vancouver's juvenile delinquency simulator will be starting up work on sequel soon.

Source: Largely unknown Irish gaming site The Gaming Liberty.

What we heard: It's been a long time coming, but Rockstar Vancouver will soon put the finishing touches on Max Payne 3. Originally scheduled for a winter 2009 release, Max Payne 3 was bumped to the first half of 2010. Following that game's launch, Rockstar Vancouver will apparently be returning to familiar territory, if an interview with the composer behind the studio's 2006 action adventure Bully is to be believed.

Yesterday, Irish gaming site The Gaming Liberty teased its engagement with Shawn Lee, who in addition to laying down the soundtrack for Bully also scored The Getaway. According to the site, the composer said that his upcoming projects include providing the tunes for Bully 2. "Yes. It looks like I will be doing the soundtrack for Bully 2 in the not so distant future," Lee reportedly said.

Jimmy Hopkins, it would appear you have a date.
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Information Week estimates Microsoft may have suspended 5% of service's subscribers for using modded Xbox 360s--which are now flooding Craigslist.

If Information Week is to be believed, Microsoft has initiated a purge of Xbox Live that would've made Stalin's head of IT proud--had the Soviet dictator had ever had one. The magazine is reporting that the software giant has suspended as many as 1 million accounts it suspects of using modded Xbox 360 consoles to play pirated games.

Microsoft's kiss-off to as many as 1 million Xbox Live users.

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Broadpoint AmTech's Ben Schachter says game could top 11.7 million units globally in first week--nearly as much as analysts believed it would take in all quarter.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is barely two days old, but it is already breaking records. This morning, research firm Gfk Chart-Track reported that the game sold over 1.23 million units in the UK in 24 hours, nearly twice that of Grand Theft Auto IV's 631,000-unit day-one take in 2008.

Siberian retail sales figures for Modern Warfare 2 are not yet available.

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Microsoft updates portable media player's online store with new versions of Project Gotham Racing, Audiosurf, and more.

When Microsoft debuted its Zune HD portable media player in September, it also revealed plans to bring 3D games to the device. The company announced a trio of titles that would be available by the end of the year: Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition, Audiosurf Tilt, and Vans Sk8: Pool Service.

It's tough to beat free.
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Former Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi said to be developing "an advanced platform for entertainment" built on cloud computing.

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