If you’ve ever dreamed of participating in the Tour de France or any other bicycling race but haven’t found the motivation to leave the couch and jump on a bicycle, well, soon you won’t have to make the choice. Thanks to Pro Cycling Manager, the Tour de France and Spain’s Vuelta Race will be at your fingertips. Play at the helm of any of 60 official teams, or create your own while participating in over 180 races.

And if you’re not quite sold on the idea, perhaps the trailer will help motivate you to pick this game up.

Via | Gamez Play

Image: Focus Home Interactive/Cyanide Studios

Ingrid recently posted a trailer showing some Beasley gameplay and seemed optimistic about the potential for RTS fans, but that got me thinking…who are Microsoft trying to appeal to exactly? Their core Halo fans are rip-roaring FPS players who may not care to painstakingly strategize and conquer, they just want to blow crap up. As both an RTS and FPS fan, I figured I’d give it an honest appraisal, and so I watched the trailer only to fall asleep about half way through

Gah. Does any game look like more of a franchise cash-in than Halo Wars? Serious….a trumped up strategy title that plans on sucking even more money out of the dozens of devoted Halo fans who care enough to bother. Halo junkies help me out…are you actually interested in playing an RTS? Would you genre flip just to support the Halo brand?

Let us know in the poll on the right hand side of Play-Girlz.com.

So, so very true. I just ignored my fancy pants FPS titles for an hour and a half of frantic pizza-making action at Papa’s Pizzeria. You just. Can’t. Stop.

Once again, the U.S. Army’s training and recruitment tool/video game America’s Army is making headlines. Last year I wrote about how they came under fire for providing potential recruits with “a sanitized view of violence“, and subsequently…released a set of action figures. You’ll note at the bottom of that post that I blithely joked “Maybe they can arrange Army play dates for 6 year olds; never can start too young.”

Turns out the Army was way ahead of me. They’ve recently announced a partnership with Project Lead The Way, a NPO that “educational program that helps give middle and high school students the rigorous ground-level education they need to develop strong backgrounds in science and engineering”. They think tat America’s Army might be just the ticket and are working with the Army to get it into America’s schools.

Sketch.

Especially considering the amount of blasting the game and Army as a whole has been taking as a result of what critics call a glamorization of violence and blatant pro-Army recruitment. If I were a parent, I would be none too happy that the military could be laying stakes in a chunk of my children’s education.

Water Cooler Games Via GamePolitics

Start X-ing off those calendars WoW fans, the latest expansion Wrath of the Lich King has finally been dated by the omnipotent folks at Blizzard.

US and European fans can get their hands on it November 13th for the low, low price of $39.99. Other regions aren’t far behind, with availability in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand tagged for November 14th. Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand are teed up for the 18th.

Gamers will need to own the original World of Warcraft game plus the last expansion The Burning Crusade in order get their game on in the second expansion to the world’s most popular MMORPG.

Announced with the long-awaited release date, was a limited Collector’s Edition package, priced at $69.99, that includes:

• The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
• An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm. [Ed's Note:Awwwwwww....]
• A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director’s commentary and more.
• The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks.
• A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
• Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion™, starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector’s Edition.

Ah I love the smell of social responsibility in the morning…

THQ and Volition, the publisher-developer team behind the controversial Saints Row games, have announced a very special Collector’s Edition for Xbox 360 owners interested in getting their game on and showing off their faux thug aspirations.

Now you too can buy the game in a box with a thrilling gun motif, a limited edition art book and even, oh dare I say it, a free USB key shaped like a golden bullet. But that’s not all! You also get a map of lovely Stilwater (handy for marking your turf as you rise through the ranks, and a sexah shot of a woman blowing smoke away from the barrel of her hubby’s gun.

Keep an eye out on October 17th for retail and online available. Gee, you know, I can hardly wait.

Via | Eurogamer

Friends of Sims players, brace yourselves; you’re about to lose your best buds for an indeterminate amount of time as of February 20th, 2009. Mark that ominous date on the calendar, as that’s the date that Maxis and EA will be bestowing the gift of The Sims 3 on gamers (both at retailers and through download) in North America and Europe.

The latest in the series will show off a brand new engine that allows for open, evolving neighbourhoods for exploration, new personality traits to mix and match, a more customize-able Create-a-Sim interface, short-term and long-term goals, challenges…all depending on the choices you make.

If you’re a super-fan, you can scoop up the collector’s edition, released the same day, which includes:

• The Sims 3 Game for PC
• The Sims Plumbob USB Drive with matching Green Carabiner
• Exclusive In-Game Italian-Style Sports Car
• Tips and hints guide
• The Sims 3 Plumbob Stickers

*yawn*

I think I lost interest in the PSP when it was the size of a brick and had very little in the way of interesting games. It was expensive, but handy as a protective weapon against mugging and the little old lady trying to take the last seat on the bus.

But hey, I’m willing to give the newly announced (in Leipzig) PSP-3000 a sporting chance. It looks exactly the same as the current PSP Slim! Woo! Apparently it’s got a new glare resistant screen, a built in mic, and a couple of buttons that didn’t exist on the previous model.

Multiple leaks and rumours have pretty much confirmed its existence well before Sony finally got around to it, so you would think they would be a little less close-mouthed about what the new model will offer. Surprisingly, they haven’t said boo other than the few tidbits I’ve already mentioned. So we’ve got a few pics, some dull details, and the bloody thing is supposed to be released this October (14th in North America, 15th in Europe at the equivalent of $291 USD).

It better do some neat stuff, like double function as a microwave cooker, or else I’ll be giving it, like its predecessor, a pass.

Via | Playstation.ca

For EverQuest, the Seeds of Destruction expansion will be available October 21st, marking the 15th expansion for that game, and also coming up on its tenth anniversary as a gaming franchise. Stuff to watch for in the new expansion:

EverQuest Seeds of Destruction Feature Set:

• Mercenaries: Player-controlled NPCs are now available and will not only scale to the appropriate level, but also think and act for themselves with limited player guidance. Designed for extra support or extra muscle in PvE encounters, mercenary archetypes include a variety of classes from all playable races.
• Level Cap Increase: Players can now achieve level 85 with new high-level item sets, new alternate advancement ability lines and new spells.
• 20 New Zones: Features re-imagined classic content and brand-new realms for adventurers to explore, including the eerie wasteland of the Void, the Battle of Rathe on the Plane of Earth and the ultimate Heart of Darkness in the Plane of Discord.
• Access to All Previous Content - Includes all features and content from the 14 previous expansion packs.
• Legends of Norrath: Includes strategic online trading card game, digital starter deck, booster pack and loot item.

EverQuest II fans shouldn’t feel left out. Your fifth expansion, called The Shadow Odyssey (oooo!) should be available mid-November and include such nifty things as:

• New Zones: Journey through more than 20 new zones, including the new overland zone, Innothule Swamp.
• Dungeon Adventures: Experience nostalgic EverQuest dungeon themes, such as Najena, Mistmoore and The Sebilisian Empire, and adventure through more than 18 goal-based dungeons, such as Ruins of Guk and Befallen.
• Achievement Point: An achievement level cap increase to 200 that offers new achievements for class-specific lines.
• Dungeon Delving: A new mission system for players to replay content with new and different experiences.
• Heritage Quests: Five new quests with unique rewards being added.
• Shard Reward System: A new, mysterious group of erudites with powerful new armor and equipment will barter for void shards earned during players’ encounters
• Epic Tales: Stories told through battles with dozens of new creatures and hundreds of new quests.
• New Deities: Rodcet Nife and Anashti Sul are introduced into Norrath.
• Access to All Previous Content: Includes all previous expansion packs and adventure packs.
• Legends of Norrath: Includes strategic online trading card game, digital starter deck and booster pack.

I had no idea they had more Everquest expansions in the works, nor am I particularly sure why they would bother putting all that time, effort, and more importantly money into the picture. According to stats compiled on MMO market share by subscriptions, both Everquests combined make up 2.3% of the overall scene. That’s less than EVE, less than Dofus, FFXI, either Lineage…and so forth.

Perhaps it’s an attempt to rectify the plummeting active subscription numbers for Everquest, which seems to be in a bit of a tailspin ever since about 2005, or to stabilize the erratic semi-popularity of Everquest II.

Remember the original Ghost Recon from 2001? Well some folks are looking at it in a whole new light following the increasingly volatile political situation in Georgia. Why? You might not recall, it being seven years ago and all (oh god, really?), that the plot went a little something like this:

“The year is 2008, and the world teeters on the brink of war. Radical ultranationalists have seized power in Moscow - their goal, the reestablishment of the old Soviet empire. Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan - one by one the nearby independent republics slip back into the Russian orbit. Russian tanks sit in the Caucasus Mountains and the Baltic forests, poised to strike to the south and east. The world holds its breath, and waits.”

Your squad takes on a trouble-making bunch of South Ossetian rebels, eager to pave the way for a Russian invasion of Georgia. Well isn’t that a strange…check this out.

All kinds of schlocky comments are being made about the game predicting the future, etc, etc, but really, aside from the selection of the proper year (coincidence?), if anyone couldn’t see the festering tensions between Russia, Georgia, and South Ossetia, well they need to listen to a bit more of the BBC. But still, it’s an interesting story that shows that video games are not always entirely disconnected from the “real” world around them, as many critics claim.

Via | GamePolitics