EA Games has given us a glimpse of what titles we can expect from them in 2011, that aren’t direct sequels to their sports franchises. The publishing giant is looking to release Visceral Games’ Dead Space 2 as well as BioWare’s Dragon Age 2 no later than March 31 of next year.

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EA also revealed that we should expect a title that has yet to be named from Epic, as well as a new Need For Speed title.

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Looking at all the good games that we’ve had released in the first quarter of this year, and then getting a glimpse of EA’s projected list; it looks like my pockets are going to be hurting once again after the new year.

BioWare will be giving away a free gift to existing members of the Cerberus Network tomorrow. According to a recent post on in the BioWare community forums, there will be two new items available for download tomorrow. This will be available via the Cerberus Network interface, so if you purchased the game brand new, or coughed up 1200 Microsoft Points, you will eligible for the download.

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The two items are new pieces of equipment, first there’s the Cerberus Assault Armor which will give players a +10% upgrade to shields and health. Next there is the M-22 Eviscerator Shotgun which is has armor piercing shells and can be fired long range.

GameStop has leaked some photos of the back of the box for the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII, and lo and behold it states that there will be some DLC in the RPGs future.

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It hasn’t been officially confirmed by Square, and we don’t know if this is just limited to the 360 version (doubt it). But as soon as the news breaks, we’ll have more here on Talk Xbox.

I’ve just finished watching the Super Bowl. Being a recent transplant to Los Angeles it was a little weird watching the game in the middle of the afternoon, but hey at least it was nice out. Early this week EA Sports sent out a presser saying that Madden 10 had predicted who the winner of the Super Bowl would be. The simulation gods had spoken, and surprisingly picked the underdog team – the New Orleans Saints to win, with a final score of 35-31.

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Now the confetti has fallen, the Gatorade has been dumped, and lo and behold The Saints are the winners of the Super Bowl, with a final score of 31-14. Sure it was a little far off from what was predicted, but what’s more uncanny is the fact that once again the Madden franchise has simulated who will be the Super Bowl winner. The simulation has only been wrong once since its inception. Hmm… next year when I get a press release from EA predicting who will win, once I get the projected winner, I’m going to Vegas and betting everything.

With the recent announcement that Microsoft will be discontinuing Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox games, Bungie has said that they plan on sending Halo 2 out with a bang. It’s no big secret that a lot of the success that Microsoft enjoyed with its online foray, owes a great deal of gratitude to Halo 2.

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On Bungie’s website they thanked their fans, and said that April 14 will be a good day to play Halo 2, because it will give players “one final opportunity for all of you to kick our asses at Halo 2.”

Microsoft announced today that they will be discontinuing the play of original Xbox titles over Xbox LIVE. In a press release sent out today The House of Gates said that while the LIVE service will be evolving, the new direction the service will be taking will not include being able to play Xbox 1 games online.

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For players that still have an original Xbox and use it to go online, Microsoft says they will stop auto-renewals for those users.

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“Your Xbox LIVE community has grown to 23 million strong. And as we look down the road, we’ll continue to evolve the service with features and experiences that harness the full power of Xbox 360. To reach our aspiration, we need to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox v1 games. We will contact the Xbox LIVE members directly impacted by this change and if this includes you, I encourage you to check your LIVE messages and associated e-mail account over the coming weeks for more details and opportunities. We view you as a partner in this process.”

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Players interested in the nine circles of Hell will be ecstatic that Dante’s Inferno has just been released. It has gained 90+ scores from PLAY Gamer Magazine UK and Official Playstation Magazine in Italy. Dante’s Inferno is being praised in recreating such a fantastic world based around pure literature.

"We cannot wait for players to experience the terrifying and exhilarating vision of Hell that awaits in Dante’s Inferno. This team did an amazing job adapting a 700 year-old piece of literature and creating a captivating, thrilling, grotesquely beautiful experience that both gamers and literature fans will enjoy. And to top it off, we are thrilled to bring online multiplayer and content creation to the game in April," said Jonathan Knight, Executive Producer for Dante’s Inferno.

Dante’s Inferno costs $59.99, and is currently rated M for Mature.

A competition going on at indiegamechallenge.com may help you on your way to a sunny vacation in Los Angeles. The prize boasts a hefty $1000 spending money, and a trip around the G4 studios, led by X – Play host, Adam Hessler.

All you need to do is honestly vote for your favourite indie game featured, and you may be one step closer to luxury. The winners will be announced February 19th at D.I.C.E.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Bethseda Softworks had been hinting for quite sometime that they would have some news on Fallout: New Vegas, and they’ve kept their word. Not only did they give us a release date for the next post-apocalyptic outing, but a debut trailer has been revealed as well.

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Fallout: New Vegas will be released sometime this Fall, according to the press release the game “takes all the action, humor, and post-apocalyptic grime and grit of this legendary series, and raises the stakes.”

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This is a change more in line with previous Fallout games, which usually were set on the West Coast. The debut trailer doesn’t show any gameplay, it just sets the tone for what we can only guess is going to be on crazy adventure. Not to mention it features the classic, “War never changes,” tag line. Feast your eyes on the debut trailer right here:

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For a while it seemed as if a release for Splinter Cell: Conviction would never see the light of day. The game was delayed, pushed back, and then delayed again (see what I did there?), and finally given a tentative date for early this year. Ubisoft has now locked down an official release date for the game, and they have set it in stone – literally.

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Ubisoft has sent out stones to the staff of IGN with 4-13-2010 engraved in them, to let the media know that a date has been set, and they plan on sticking to it.

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I sure hope so, bouncing heads off of a urinal as Sam Fisher, to me is definitely full of win.