Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, originally set to release last year, was moved to 2008 under circumstances of quality and preference. Creative director Cameron Brown of Pandemic Studios reiterated in an interview that it's on track to release in August, which Brown hopes will stick, because he wants to move on to Mercenaries 3 and even release a Mercenaries 2 for the Nintendo Wii. You read that right. More at the full story.

Fans of Electronic Arts and Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, and PC) rejoice! The game has finally been dated for launch. In addition, the developers have also released a new trailer of the upcoming video game. To find out more and see the video, head on over to the full article.

Electronic Arts may not be first in the eyes of NPD Group, but it still manages to achieve numbers worthy of an industry leader for fiscal 2008. With Need for Speed ProStreet, FIFA 08, Rock Band, The Simpsons Game, The Sims 2 Castaway, and NBA LIVE 08 grabbing the attention of gamers worldwide, EA's been able to reap major revenue in sales - a whopping 17% in fact, when compared to the third quarter last year. More of their financial performance at the full story.

It seems that Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) will not be making its expected February 8 release date. So far, no reason has been given for this second delay.

Want to find out more about this? Head on over to the full article for more information.

New screenshots of Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PC) have exploded for everyone to see. The video game's release has been pushed back to 2008, but the screens at the full article might help ease the pain of waiting. Check them out.

 

For those of us who felt let down after the news of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) being delayed, it seems that we really shouldn't be all too depressed. The guys behind the game are simply using the extra time to polish up what looks to be an already awesome title, and not because of anything else.

And to prove that it's not just all wishful thinking is none other than Pandemic Studios' Josh Resnick, in an interview that's all about the upcoming third person shooter that lets you hijack helicopters in mid-air.

So, what's the reason for the delay? Josh puts it shortly and sweetly: they wanted to release a game because it's already perfect, and not simply for the sake of meeting deadlines. His statement, unedited and presented as is:

It's really that simple -- we don't want to slop out a game just to meet a deadline. Some companies rush products out to meet that big holiday deadline for the massive gift-giving season, and we would rather make sure that every corner of our vast, open-world, highly explosive gameplay is completely polished. We owe that to Mercenaries fans.

Well, that's good news. But will the team be adding new content to the game during this buffing-up period? Josh says that the main focus of the delay is to tighten up gameplay and make it a better gaming experience for the player - seeing as the core game mechanics and features are already done and locked into place. Again, a verbatim snippet from Josh:

We're adding nothing at this point. Our only goal is to make gamers proud that they own a copy of Mercenaries 2 by making the highest quality next-gen open-world experience the world has ever seen. If that sounds ambitious, then you should see how many cans of caffeine our programming guys have choked down during the past two years of development.

In any case, at least we know why we won't be spending some quality time with Chris, Jennifer, and Mattias this holiday season. Updates as we get them, and you can check out the full article via the Read link below.

Earlier, we posted an article about Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3) being delayed until next year. Apparently, European gaming site TVG got confirmation from an Electronic Arts spokesman that the game will be released next year.

This is where things get even murkier. Shacknews recently caught up with representatives from both EA and Pandemic Studios to ask them about the reported delay. According to Shacknews, the EA rep they talked to said that the game is still slated for a Holiday 2007 release.

The Pandemic representative, meanwhile, gave a more ambiguous answer, saying that Pandemic has so far "made no announcements on a final release date for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames." We'll be on the lookout for more updates on just when this game will hit, so keep checking back here.

The last time we heard about Pandemic Studios' Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3), we learned that the developers are planning to go underwater for the sequel that should make the franchise bigger than ever.

However, we guess we shouldn't be talking about that yet as the game's release date will be delayed. One representative from publisher Electronic Arts spoke with online site Total Video Games and confirmed that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames will indeed not be making its 2007 release date.

No explanation was provided but the spokesperson said, "We can confirm it will be next year". In the past, we've already reported on several high profile video game titles that are purposely delayed because the holiday season is already congested with releases.

We hope the same thing was what Pandemic Studios had in mind and not some problems encountered during the development stage. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames takes players in the heart of Venezuela which has been invaded after a tyrant interfered with the country's oil supply.

 

Not satisfied with blowing up everything that's airborne and landborne, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames producer Jonathan Zamkoff wants to get wet and wild in the deep blue - the deep, deep blue in fact. Ruminate about submarines, submersibles and torpedoes and we're at the same sonar frequency as Jonathan, who thinks that going water underwater is the next direction for the critically-acclaimed series.

Wait a tick. Does that mean an actual sequel's confirmed, then? Zamkoff replies: "If I have anything to do with it, there will be." So it's not quite confirmed just yet, but there definitely are plans to make one. That's good news for us who couldn't get enough of the GTA-esque action of Mercenaries, being able to steal and commandeer any vehicle as well as massively-destructible environments.

Zamkoff elaborated more on what he believes the sequel should have. "We probably would be looking at underwater gameplay - submarines, scuba tanks and underwater action. I think it would be really cool in Mercs to do some more submersible stuff - take an underwater vehicle and plant some C4 at the base of an oilrig."

He's right, it'd be very cool - and a bit dicey, as you're probably going to go up against the creatures of the deep rather than just armed enemies this time. He also talked about expanding cooperative play to four, eight, or even sixteen players. This man is definitely on to something!

Thinking out loud sessions aside, he also had some news of plans for a Mercenaries 2 demo on PlayStation Network or Xbox Live. He explained that the decision to go ahead with a demo has to be made quickly, as the game's multiplatform release (PS3, Xbox 360, PC and PS2) is pretty much just around the corner.

Well, what do you think, readers? Itching to 'blast' Nemo? It may be a possibility, if all things go well for Zamkoff and his crew. Updates as we get them.

Death in video games can either be very frustrating, or highly amusing. Whether it be by a chainsaw, a booby trap, or even moving hotdogs, sometimes it's more fun to just run your character to his demise. If that's your thing, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) is the perfect game for you. With a promise of 99 ways to die, a single playthrough worth of deaths is just the tip of the iceberg.

To get an idea on how grand deaths are in Mercenaries 2 - so much so that you'd want to die for it - here's a trailer showcasing plenty of massive explosions to send your enemies (or yourself) to the afterlife.

Fans of the first game would know that pretty much everything is destructible, and there are enough ways to send buildings crumbling. The sequel is no different - call an air strike to take down that skyscraper, or request a fully loaded warship to sink bridges. Tagging vehicles with C4 never gets old too, if you want to be more economical.

We kid you not when we say setting off these explosions can't look any more satisfying, and here's the video to prove it. We'll make sure to keep you posted when more of these "99 Ways to Die" trailers surface, so watch this space.