We have a lot of information for the Darksider II fans out there. First up we have some information about the upcoming novel The Abomination Vault that is set to launch the same time as the much anticipated game is.

Here is a little more about The Abomination Vault.

In DARKSIDERS: THE ABOMINATION VAULT, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse (beings charged with maintaining the Balance between the forces of Heaven and Hell) have uncovered a plot to resurrect ancient weapons of unimaginable power. Death, with the help of his compatriot War, must track down and neutralize the mysterious individuals behind the scheme before the entire universe is plunged into a devastating conflict.

Next up the Darksiders II Community forums are live. So head over to the forums to stay on top of all new information concerning the game. Also you will be able to share your ideas with the Vigil Development Team.

Now for the grand finale. The Darksiders Facebook 100,000 Fan Sweepstakes. And as you can see below there are some awesome prizes you can win by entering the sweepstakes.

That’s all we have Platform Nation and Darksiders II fans, but stay tuned to your favorite gaming website as we will be bringing you more Darksiders II information when we receive it.

Not only has the Creation Kit been released, but Bethesda have also released a High-Resolution Texture Pack for download which makes the game look…better! If your PC can handle the texture pack then I recommend this as a download to make your Skyrim experience look even more gorgeous.

For more information on the Skyrim Creation Kit check out this post. Hopefully I’ll be able to check out some of the great mods that have been released so far. (apparently there is a Wheatley from Portal 2 mod that makes a floating Wheatley follow you around Skyrim, awesome right?).

The only place that you will be able to download and access the Microsoft Flight application will be through the official Microsoft Flight site and will be hosting free downloads of the application. I doubt you’ll be seeing the game on Steam any time soon, this is Microsoft we are talking about.

The other piece of news is that when the game launches on the 29th, a piece of DLC will already be available called “Hawaiian Adventure Pack” and will feature the “remaining Hawaiian Islands, a new plane and 20 new missions” and will be available for $19.99. This makes me question how much content will actually be in the free download and how long before you want to download the DLC pack. Other DLC will be releasing (I assume frequently) after the game launches.

Check out Microsoft Flight on Feb 29th for free on the official site.

Source: Joystiq

Platform Nation’s Chad Bonin reviewed the game for us and here’s a few select quotes from the review.

“Arcade Edition is almost required purchasing for Street Fighter fans, allowing them to keep up with their competitors. The new characters aren’t perfect, but they add measurable enhancements to an already-great title. For Street Fighters, you’ve already purchased it. For general gamers, this is the best version of Street Fighter IV to start with.”

I can remember renting this game on disc and I’m hardly a fan of fighting games and kept getting destroyed in moments. If you want to digitally own a copy of this game you can download it now on Games on Demand for $29.99.

First, the good news is that we finally have a release date for Darksiders 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the early 2010 hit. Darksiders 2 promises to bring more of the insane apocalyptic gameplay from the original. Platform Nation’s Scott diMonda wrote a great first look of the game; here’s a snippet of what he had to say.“Darksiders II: Death Lives shows a lot of promise. Death and I will be a match made in heaven, and it looks like we will be spending some quality time together in the future trying to clear War’s name.”. Check out the rest of Scott’s First Look here.

With this earnings report comes information that Metro: Last Light has been delayed to the first quarter of 2013. This really doesn’t bother me and they can take as much time on this game as they like. The gameplay videos released late last year really impressed me. The graphics engine that Metro uses really makes the lighting effect blossom and look great. Hopefully this delay will give them a little extra time to make the game look even better than it already does.

Source: Joystiq, THQ

If you aren’t aware of the Alan Wake game, you are a writer named Alan Wake (didn’t see that coming did you?) and you are in for a spot of trouble when visiting a small Washington town. I won’t spoil the game, but there’s a darkness out there in the woods, so you better make sure you have enough batteries for your flash light and prepare yourself for one of the best thrillers to release for a while.

Alan Wake on PC will have many exclusive features such as stereoscopic 3D support, multiscreen support, higher resolution and higher fidelity graphics, refined and configurable mouse and keyboard support, multiple aspect ratios and if you have a fancy quad core CPU, it takes advantage of that too.

If you never got chance to play the console version of Alan Wake then I highly recommend you keep your eye out for this on Steam available on February 16th for $29.99. A boxed retail version is also planned to be coming soon too.

The Assault Mission Pack will cost the cheap price of $1.99 and will include three new assault missions, a new map and apparently, an awesome unicorn familiar to top things off (I don’t actually don’t what this is, but it sounds awesome, right?). The additional character class of the Barbarian sounds like it changes the game up with the ability to dual-wield and change the game with battle stances which replaces the ability to construct towers. Sounds like a class that I wouldn’t want to mess with. The new Barbarian character class will cost $2.99.

If you pick up this DLC, it is down to $0.99 for the Assault Pack or $1.99 for the Barbarian class, but this sale is for one week only so get downloading it now on Steam. See below for a little bit more information about the new Barbarian class and a trailer to accompany it.

Hailing from the dense jungle lands far to the south, the Barbarian is a masterful fighter who can wield two melee weapons simultaneously and unleash devastating combos! Using five distinct fighting stances instead of towers, the Barbarian is able to adapt to any combat situation. His Battle Leap ability allows him to instantly close the distance to a far-off target, while his Battle Pound ability will decimate any nearby enemies. If massive damage and incredible destruction are what you seek, the Barbarian is the hero for the job.

The Barbarian Hero Class has the following fighting stances:

• Tornado Stance – Run faster, attack quicker, jump higher, and push back enemies with a flurry of quick, low damage attacks.
• Lightning Stance – Use the power of lightning to stun your enemies as your attacks make contact, while taking a small amount of damage for each hit.
• Siphon Stance – Sacrifice some of your resistances to steal life from your enemies as you damage them.
• Turtle Stance – Enter this protective stance to greatly increase your resistances, but reduce your movement speed and jump height.
• Hawk Stance – Summon the powers of the mighty hawk to deal a massive amount of damage in your next attack.

Discover new ways to dominate the battlefield by combining any two of these fighting stances simultaneously, or using these powerful abilities:

• Battle Leap Ability – This ability allows the Barbarian to quickly close the distance to far-off enemies with a powerful leap attack.
• Battle Pound Ability – This is powerful radial ability allows the Barbarian to decimate any nearby enemies.

Prototype 2 is still slated to hit consoles on April 24th. But now PC gamers will have to wait until July 24th according the Prototype 2 Facebook page.  No reason has been given for the delay but you can imagine it’s to make the game a little bit more polished before it hits retail.

With the delay coming to light,  a little bit of good news is also out for console gamers as the “RADNET Edition” of Prototype 2 has been revealed and will give plays access to 55 pieces of additional content that will be delivered for seven weeks after the game launches on consoles. Hopefully this content will come packaged with the PC to make up for the delay but I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t.

Three months isn’t that long of a delay, right?

Source: Joystiq

The Hitman series has had a cult following that has been around since the franchise’s start with Hitman: Codname 47 back in 2000. With the upcoming release of Hitman: Absolution fast approaching, Square Enix and IO Interactive are ramping up their advertising with the creation of the brand new Barcode Society. This one stop shop is sure to be a big hit with fans of Agent 47.

Dedicated to all things HITMAN, The Barcode Society is run by IO Interactive to give HITMAN fans a single place to get information about their favorite assassin. The Barcode Society Blog will give quick access to the latest HITMAN news and behind-the-scenes access to the developers, as well as insights into the processes that lie behind the development of AAA games. The site will also feature new assets, exclusive competitions and other goodies that you can’t find anywhere else.

The Barcode Society is built for the community. IO Interactive and SQUARE ENIX welcome feedback and thoughts, so fans can join in on the official forums where they can share views and register on the site to allow for comments on blog posts and access to future features. The site will be updated weekly with new stories, insights into the game, vintage assets from the archives of the previous titles, features with key community people and much more. Join the Barcode Society now by visiting www.barcode-society.com.

There’s no specific date set for Hitman: Absolution’s release but I’m sure the Barcode Society will work in keeping fans of the series busy. Please visit the Barcode Scoiety website and check out the Hitman: Absolution gameplay video below.

Instead of taking what we think you would want to hear and jotting it down from the Darksiders II: Death Live Community Roundtable we have we have decided to add the audio for you. So sit back and enjoy while the community asks David Adams Studio General Manager, Ryan Stefanelli Producer and Hayden Dalton Principal Designer all from Vigil Games some questions regarding their upcoming game Darksiders II: Death Lives. The audio is a little garbled in the beginning, and that is due to all the buzz surrounding the game and the quality will pick up after a few minutes

Stay tuned to Platform Nation for more news as we receive it for Darksiders II: Death Lives.