President of Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Bob Chapek, said yesterday that Blu-ray’s win in the HD format war is “inevitable,” The Hollywood Reporter reports. According to Chapek, companies backing HD-DVD are only prolonging the format war.

Here’s what the Disney president had to say near the conclusion of a two-day Blu-ray Festival in Hollywood: “Blu-ray’s competition’s attempts to sell less than the best will inevitably be trumped by what we stated from the very beginning: That the Blu-ray technology is not a half-step format that will sell consumers short, but rather it is a revolutionary technology that will change the way we view movies for the long term. And we firmly believe that revolutionary technology, my friends, is indisputably, undeniably and inevitably Blu-ray.”

Undoubtedly, that’s a rather bold statement. Especially considering that Microsoft and Toshiba have such studios as Paramount Home Entertainment and DreamWorks backing their HD-DVD format exclusively.

Some sites and forums are reporting that the latest issue of PC Gamer magazine has given Crysis a review score of 98%. Here’s what the magazine says about the game:

Highs: A graphical powerhouse, immersive, open-ended sandbox that encourages emergent gameplay, well-placed storyline, meticulously detailed; engrossing multiplayer, included map editor.
Lows: Alien AI not as spectacular as North Korean AI; enemies can sometimes absorb too much damage; a few minor glitches.
Bottom Line: Destined to be a classic, Crysis is a creative and technological marvel that eclipses every other shooter released this year.

This review is a mighty fine start for Crysis, it certainly looks like Crytek has a game that delivers on the hype on their hands. And now that the game is finished and has been sent to manufacturing, the release date - November 16th - can not come fast enough.

[See also: Crysis gallery]

SEGA sent out a short Condemned 2: Bloodshot trailer today. Not much here though - just a few short glimpses of gameplay. Check it out above.

Condemned 2: Bloodshot takes the series to a whole new level by introducing a variety of thrilling online multiplayer modes including deathmatch, which promises to deliver the most brutal hand-to-hand combat experience the first person genre has ever seen.

The game is due for release in early 2008 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

[See also: Condemned 2: Bloodshot gallery]

Epic Games’ VP Mark Rein praised the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament III yesterday on UTIII’s official community forums. Here’s what the man said: “I was playing the PS3 build for a few hours tonight and it is really, really fantastic. Amazingly smooth and solid. I think you PS3 users are in for a huge treat with UT3.”

Check the video above for a discussion between the 1UP crew about how Rein popped in with a copy of UTIII for PS3 and what they think about it. Plenty of gameplay in there too.

[See also: Unreal Tournament III gallery]

Besides losing a few features, it looks like a few components in the new 40GB PS3 model that Sony announced for Europe and North America a while ago have been replaced with newer ones.

The new model includes the 65nm version of the Cell processor, reducing the power usage from 200 Watts to ~135 Watts, meaning it runs cooler and quieter. The heat pipe is apparently also smaller and the motherboard has been exchanged with a newer version.

Cooler and quieter tech is always welcome, so a tip of the hat to you, Sony.

LucasArts and BioWare today announced that they have entered into an agreement to create an interactive entertainment product. The product will “push the boundaries of the gaming market by utilizing the strengths of both companies to deliver an innovative, high-quality experience.” Expect more details at a later date.

Jim Ward, president of LucasArts: “LucasArts has a deep commitment to developing compelling stories and characters for the unique medium of interactive entertainment, and we have been searching for a developer that shares this value. We found this in BioWare. Through our previous collaborations, we know that BioWare has an impressive ability to blend gripping stories with technological advancements, and we believe that our upcoming product will deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment.”

Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer at BioWare: “BioWare’s mission is to deliver the best story and character-driven games in the world, delivering powerful emotional experiences to our fans.”

Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare: “The collaboration with LucasArts allows us to combine our passion for creating high quality and innovative experiences with those of a company dedicated to bringing only the finest games to market.

Hopefully the next two games in the Mass Effect trilogy (developed by BioWare) won’t suffer as a result. Because with these two companies joining hands, people are going to expect very big things.

EA sent out a handful of new Xbox 360 screenshots from the next Need for Speed game today, check them out in our updated Need for Speed ProStreet gallery. Once you get tired of screenshots, go and download the demo from Xbox LIVE. The full game will be released next month for every imaginable platform.

Call of Duty games have always been first class but the whole WWII theme has been done to death in the industry. With Call of Duty 4, Infinity Ward took the leap and brought the game into modern times. And it certainly looks like they made the right choice in wanting to tell their own story and take the franchise to the next level.

The game has genereated a lot of interest and it’s single player campaign, although short, has been garnering an insane amount of praise. Official PlayStation Magazine has reviewed the game and gave it a golden 10 out 10. Here’s a few lines from the review to get you even more hyped about it:

“It’s a savage shcooling in the future of first person shooters.”

“It’s a chaotically exhilirating experience.”

“..it’s an experience that never dips below astonishing as you jet around the globe, saving the free world. One dead tango at a time.”

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be released for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in early November. If you’re a PC gamer and still haven’t tried the demo, then it’s about time you do.

[See also: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare gallery]

The Sci Fi Channel will be airing a Mass Effect special later next month, from November 20th to 25th. The 20th is also when the game is released. They’ll be giving away Limited Collector’s Editions of the game as well, so head on over to SciFi’s website and check out the show times.

[See also: Mass Effect gallery]

EA and Crytek have sent word that Crysis is all finished up and has been sent off to manufacturing. Both the standard ($49.99) and collector’s edition ($59.99) will hit store shelves on November 16th. Until then, go play the demo (again).

Cevat Yerli, CEO of Crytek: “We are extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish with Crysis. We wanted to push the boundaries both visually and with open-ended, non-linear gameplay and we believe the end result delivers that vision.”

Oh and console gamers, keep your fingers crossed that Crysis gets praised by both the critics and the public, and Crytek just might bring the game to the 360 and PS3.

[See also: Crysis gallery]

NVIDIA announced that the GeForce 8800GT is hitting store shelves today. The card was apparently specifically developed to answer demand for high-performing graphics at the €199 to €259 (~$285-$375) price point.

Here’s Cevat Yerli, CEO of Crytek, pimping the 8800GT as the perfect card for Crysis: “GeForce 8800 GT is the perfect card for gamers that want to play Crysis. By bringing such high performance to the sub-€250 price segment, NVIDIA is allowing even more gamers to experience the full range of Crysis’s stunning visual effects at maxed-out resolutions.”

Ujesh Desai, general manager of GeForce desktop GPUs at NVIDIA: “When we introduced the GeForce 8 Series family, our most savvy customers and press demanded a product with 64 stream processors and a 256-bit memory interface to deliver more performance at the popular €199 to €259 price point. Today we decided to raise the bar and deliver GeForce 8800 GT with 112 stream processors, a fast 256-bit memory interface, and our second-generation PureVideo HD technology, giving our customers an incredible value proposition. At this price point, gamers are getting more performance and features than ever before.”

From the press release: “In addition to 112 stream processors—each individually clocked at 1. 5GHz—and a 256-bit memory interface running at a blazing-fast 900MHz, the GeForce 8800 GT is designed for the new PCI Express 2.0 bus standard and is backwards compatible with the original PCI Express standard.”

The GeForce 8800 GT also marries the best-in-gaming with the best-in-HD. It leverages NVIDIA’s revolutionary second-generation video processing engine to deliver high-quality playback of HD DVD and Blu-ray movies on everyday PCs. The new programmable video processing engine takes on all of the high definition H.264 video decoding, freeing the CPU to perform other tasks and significantly reducing power consumption, heat, and noise.”

Even though EA has delayed Army of Two until early next year so they can “get it right,” there’s no reason they can’t continue releasing more trailers and make sure the game stays in our minds. And with this new CGI trailer they’ve released today, they’ve managed to do just that. Although short, this trailer is pretty damn sweet.

[Also see: Army of Two gallery]

Someone who visited the game expo in Korea has recorded eight minutes worth of new gameplay footage from Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. While it’s an off-screen camera video and doesn’t have the best quality, it’s still enjoyable. Only, whoever is controlling the game in this video should seriously consider taking some lessons on how to use the right stick. It’s almost painful to watch how badly this person plays.

[See also: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune gallery]

If you enter your Motorstorm disc and head online, you’ll get an update for the game, which includes the long awaited rumble, plus a hefty list of other features and fixes. Here’s the full list of changes included in this update:

• Added vibration support for the DUALSHOCK 3 controller with adjustable settings
• Grid order has been randomised for first race in any online lobby
• Finishing positions in your last race now determine your starting grid position in the next race within the same online lobby.
• On-screen indicator has been added to show whether voice comms are issuing from TV or headset – As before, press and hold L1 (R1 if using control scheme ‘B’) to toggle headset output through TV or Headset.
• Sensitivity Settings for SIXAXIS™ Motion Sensor control have been added.
• Gloating Index’ has been added to the Stats card – The Gloating index gives guidance as to a racer’s online prowess. It takes into account the number of people you’ve beaten in each race and the number of people that have beaten you. Use the gloating index to spot the players to beat in each race! Try and rank your Gloating Index up to the perfect ‘10′!
• Several causes for an occasional snagging issue, which would destroy vehicles on suspension impact, have been addressed.
• Further fixes to prevent the occasional statistics reset issue have been applied.
• Fixed an occasional issue with inaccuracies in Eliminator finishing results.
• Fixed an issue where winners leaving Eliminator before race completed could cause issues for other players in lobby.

Too bad the DualShock3 controllers themselves won’t become available until next spring in the US and EU. Sony is taking care of gamers in their homeland however - gamers in Japan will get to enjoy some rumble as soon as this November.

It seems that while EA usually milks every franchise as much as they possibly can, they do make exceptions every now and then. In an interview in the latest issue of EGM, EA Black Box Executive Producer Scott Blackwood said they’re not planning any new content for Skate 1: “We didn’t want to go back and ask [people] for more money to get more shoes and shirts. That’s not how we wanted to enter this market.”

On a slightly different subject, some gamers were disappointed that the developers chose not to include playable female characters in the game. Blackwood explained: “We really wanted women to be in there and have all sorts of cool stuff to wear and hairstyles. You have to choose between watering the whole thing down and making it just really mediocre for everybody, or do you focus? We decided to focus. I will say, however, that was the hardest decision on this project. But we are going to make it up to you. When we do it — and we will — it’s going to be done very well.”