The crew from Tripwire recently granted Voodoo Extreme an interview at this year's GDC. Contained in the lengthy article on Tripwire's upcoming Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad is plenty of new, juicy information and a great deal of new screenshots. Let's take a quick look at the new gameplay mode that was revealed to Voodoo Extreme.

And what better way to celebrate the reveal of a new map, than by discussing a brand new game type that can be played on it. There are three game types we discussed. First, Territory, which will be an improved version of the original. Second, Firefight, which is the Red Orchestra take on a team deathmatch. And thirdly, which we broke down in great detail: Countdown. While the first two are a relatively familiar type of skirmish, Countdown is an element that Tripwire truly aimed to innovate. They immediately began looking for ways to "not be Counterstrike." This meant identifying two key flaws in that type of multiplayer, in which everyone gets a single life and must wait for the round to be over to respawn. First was the idea that one must "hurry up and die, so others can play again." The other being the demand that levels needed to be smaller, so that there wouldn't be long gaps in the action, with one player being the holdout and keeping everyone from playing.

So what they came up with is Countdown. In Countdown players still only get one life, but they get one life per objective, and there are multiple objectives per level. These can be anything from a territory capture, blowing something up or reaching a certain position. There are no solid definitions for the extent of their objectives, but these are the current ideas they're working on. Once the attacking players take the objective, everyone respawns and the match moves to the next area. Alternatively, if the defenders kill all the attackers, they win the round and everyone switches sides.

More shots can be found after the jump!

Metro 2033, the latest FPS action title from THQ and 4A Games, is now available in North America.

In 2013 the world was devastated by an apocalyptic event, annihilating almost all mankind and turning the earth’s surface into a poisonous wasteland. A handful of survivors took refuge in the depths of the Moscow underground, and human civilization entered a new Dark Age.

The year is 2033. An entire generation has been born and raised underground, and their besieged Metro Station-Cities struggle for survival, with each other, and the mutant horrors that await outside.

You are Artyom, born in the last days before the fire, but raised Underground. Having never ventured beyond your Metro Station-City limits, one fateful event sparks a desperate mission to the heart of the Metro system, to warn the remnants of mankind of a terrible impending threat. Your journey takes you from the forgotten catacombs beneath the subway to the desolate wastelands above, where your actions will determine the fate of mankind.

Metro 2033 does feature some rather lofty system requirements, so be sure to check them out before you take the purchasing plunge.

Square Enix has passed along new media for Final Fantasy XIV. First up are some screen grabs from in-game cinematics and after the jump you can find character images, weapons, and explanatory slides.

The slides contain information on the Disciples of Magic, the Conjurer and the Thaumaturge, and a new Disciple of the Land, the Miner. Check out the new screens and information at the official Final Fantasy XIV website.

Alan Wake won't even be released until May 18 but Remedy already has two DLC episodes planned to be released this year. Remedy's managing director, Matias Myllyrinne, says that the quantity and scope of subsequent DLC episodes will hinge largely on the audience.

"I think it'll depend a lot on the audience, but certainly we want to -- if we're successful -- we want to do a large 'Season 2,' if you will, at some point," he said in an interview with Joystiq. "Right now, I'm not allowed to say what we're doing exactly this year. But we're going to have more than one episode come out this year."

Alan Wake has been in development for over five years now. Once a DirectX 10 PC showcase, it has now been revealed as an exclusive to the Xbox 360 and will be released this May.

If you have a few friends that enjoy some high intensity action in their games, you may want to keep an eye on Crackdown 2. The first video documentary for the game focuses on the four-player co-op and a little bit about the game's multiplayer component. There is plenty of gameplay footage to be found, so be sure to check out the video!

This just in from the G4:

One of the games Sony used to show off its PlayStation Move motion controller during this year’s Game Developers Conference was XDev Studios’ B-movie-inspired The Shoot. At first glance, it’s easy to assume you know what the game is all about, but as senior producer James Hawkins told G4’s Adam Sessler during the event, there are plenty of reasons why The Shoot goes beyond your typical on-rails shooter.

"Your usual rail-shooter recipe is: shoot five shots, reload, shoot five shots, reload. And we’re very different to that. With the Move controller, moving in the game is a big part of the experience. So it’s much more than shooting. So when enemies are shooting at you, you have to dodge out of the way of the enemies’ projectiles, for example."

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The Shoot is expected to launch around the time the PlayStation Move is released later this year.

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This just in from the G4:

I've learned to deal with the fact that being a Mac-based gamer means you have to wait. Luckily, it doesn't look like we'll have to be patient much longer to gain access to the StarCraft II beta for the Mac; Blizzard Entertainment told some fans it's expecting an April drop date!

"We are currently working on a Mac version of the beta and hope to release it sometime in April," said the company during a developer chat with fans over Twitter. "Hang in there!! "

Fingers crossed. It's been too long since a 12-year-old has wiped the floor with me!

Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

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This just in from the G4:

Between the iPhone and Droid rivalry, there's the Nokia 900. It's bigger than most smartphones but offers a 3.5 touch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, a 5 mega pixel camera and 32 gigs of storage. Take that, naysayers! Chris Hardwick and Alison& Haislip review the N900 on today's Gadget Pr0n, so tune in at 7p to find out if this is worth the $465 price tag. How many seals of approval would you give this device?

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This just in from the G4:

PlayStation 3

• Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening
• God of War III
• Resonance of Fate

Wii

• Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
• Pizza Delivery Boy

Xbox 360

• Dragon Age: Origins -- Awakening
• Metro 2033
• Resonance of Fate
• Perfect Dark XBLA

Nintendo DS

• Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace Secrets of Kings & Queens
• Infinite Space

PlayStation Portable

• No new releases

PC

• Command & Conquer 4
• Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
• Metro 2033

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This just in from the G4:

Gamers: A bunch of new maps are coming out for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on March 30th. Included in the "stimulus" pack are three new multi-player maps and two maps from the original Modern Warfare. Good news, right? Er... maybe not.

How much would you pay for three new playing fields and two slightly used ones? $5? $10? Both wrong. Instead you'll be dropping 1200 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 gamers also known as $15. It's $14.99 for Playstation 3 players, by the way, and it won't be out for you dudes for another month.

The news was announced on Major Nelson's podcast, and as you might expect, the immediate response from gamers was along the lines of, "What do I look like, J.P. Morgan or something? Fifteen bucks for some lousy maps??"

I am a well known plutocrat with unlimited funds for game and helicopter purchases, so I don't mind, but if you're a normal person, that's a lot of dough. Fifteen dollars is nearly a third of the price of the entire game; so, yeah, it seems a bit steep. But, on the other hand, if you consider how many hours you'll play these new maps, it might be the best value in the entertainment business. After all, a feature film costs roughly that much money, and it's over in a couple hours.

What do you guys think? Are you going to be joining any "OMG! BOYCOTT!" groups that that are certain to spring up over the next week or so? Or are you going to get these maps? Perhaps you're like me, and don't really favor multiplayer gaming?

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This just in from the G4:

We know that Epic Games is working on something, but whatever that something is, it won't be released in 2010. While discussing the company's near-term focus at the Game Developers Conference last week in San Francisco, Epic Games VP Mark Rein clarified what 2010 means for his studio.

"We don't have any games coming out in 2010," said Rein, "so from a games standpoint, it's more about our customers' games, right? Already this year we've seen some pretty great games this year -- Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2...and Arkham Aslym's coming out in 3D, the GOTY [game of the year] version, so that'll be kinda cool."

Epic Games subsidiary People Can Fly is developing a currently mysterious shooter for Electronic Arts (rumored to be named Bulletstorm), which EA recently revealed as being targeted for a release sometime early next year. Rein's statement does seem to rule out a surprise release date for Gears of War 3, Shadow Complex 2, or whatever else Epic Games might be cooking out in North Carolina.

Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

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This just in from the G4:

I have been infatuated with Disney Interactive’s ridiculously over-the-top action racing title Split/Second since last year’s E3, and as a fan of Criterion Games’ Burnout franchise, there is little wonder why. But Black Rock Studio is looking to deliver something spectacular and unique with their racer, and a lot of the credit can be traced back to the longevity of the project.

“It’s been kicking around the studio for a few years now; from back in the PlayStation 2 and Xbox days,” Black Rock studio ambassador Jay Green told G4 during GDC 2010. “We thought it&rsquo be good to start mixing up a kind of action racing game where the track was dynamic and the player could control the track and change the track. We never got the opportunity to put the idea into practice, and then when Disney acquired our studio, and we rebranded as Black Rock, the first thing we wanted to do was Pure. And we got a concept team together busy looking at making Split/Second a reality."

Over three years of development later, and Split/Second is nearly here. And that’s a very good thing. Green offers plenty more insights into the game’s development in the following video interview:

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And if you feel like catching up on all things GDC 2010, head over to our event headquarters.

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This just in from the G4:

"I wanna make the game I've been waiting 25 years to play", remarks a passionate High Moon Studios Game Director, Matt "Tieg" Tieger.

Watch the brand new Transformers: War for Cybertron developer diary to help bolster hope and perhaps even assuage some of the fear and loathing that is commonplace with those who dare mess with our childhood franchises.

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This just in from the G4:

Tonight, something amazing is going to happen on X-Play at 6:30 PM; we will be debuting the God of War music video for Robin Thicke's hit single "Sex Therapy".

What, you're probably asking yourself, does God of War have to do with a song called "Sex Therapy"? You see, Grasshopper, Kratos is a full-time bad ***; however, as a hobby, he's also an R&B superstar. Being an R&B superstar comes with its perks, like getting to hang out with Wicked Pictures contract girl Jessica Drake. Yeah, Kratos is totally baller.

Watch the first 30 seconds of the video below to get a taste of what's to come and then tune in to X-Play tonight at 6:30 PM to see the whole video!

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This just in from the G4:

Sony showed off a grip of motion-controlled games at GDC last week; among them TV Superstars!

According to James Shepard, director, Sony Cambridge Studios, with TV Superstars, Sony wanted to "Show in the first generation of Playstation Move titles the total breadth and depth of functionality you can get with this device [The PlayStation Move]"

"The overall theme of the game is you're starring in a number of reality TV shows, trying to become a TV superstar. So we've got a cooking game, a Wipeout style Japanese game show, an America's Top Model fashion game where you compete to be the ultimate model, we've got an advert-making game where you actually star in your own advert, and we've got a game called 'DIY Raw' where you smash up celebrities' house."

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Huh. Personally, I've never for one second wanted to be a TV superstar. Don't get me wrong, I'd love the money that comes with TV stardom, but other than that, it's just not my scene. What about you? Do you want to be a star? Do you want to play a game where you're a star?

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