But did you know the game is also getting a single player shot in the arm? Gas Powered Games apparently isn't content with the state of the AI and has tasked one of their AI guys with ironing out a few issues and improving the game's overall smarts.

I will be working on fixing the bugs in the AI (found a huge one today) and generally improving the way the AI plays. For the most part, the AI does fairly well. Once I get the bugs ironed out and tweak some things you should see a pretty decent improvement. Unfortunately, I do not know when these fixes will actually make it into a patch, but I hope it is soon. We need to test these changes as much as possible before releasing them and finding out later that we made things worse.

(Thanks Paul!)

The Swarm Pack for Aliens vs. Predator is an $8 download that includes two new multiplayer maps and two new survival maps. These latter aren't really maps so much as arenas where a few Marine players stand around and wait for more aliens to spawn in. Pictured is the map "Docks", which includes that thing up there. Don't think you can drive it. Because you can't. Hey, remember the drivable loaders in the last Aliens vs. Predator game from 2001? Remember the face-huggers? Remember the queen? Remember the predator's net gun? Remember the Marines' spider mines? Remember the complete absence of anything resembling a QTE? I'm not bitter. Just nostalgic.

When announcing the Swarm Pack, Sega gave out a free download code for each system. Well, they didn't really give them out. They just posted the codes on their blog. Each code went to whomever saw it first and could enter it the fastest. I get the mental image of someone throwing a single bread crust into a flock of ducks. A stale bread crust that most of the ducks probably don't want. The person then tries to sell the other ducks stale bread crusts for $8. In this metaphor, I'm a disgruntled duck off to one side quacking on about how the bread crusts we had back in 2001 were so much better. Quack quack.

I'm enjoying my early hours with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey for the Nintendo DS, which poses a wallet threat to fans of dungeon-crawling RPGs. It takes the series from supernatural goings on in Tokyo to the realm of hard sci-fi in the Antarctic. If you thought the hole in the ozone layer was bad, wait till you find out how Strange Journey opens.

On the less threatening front, you might feel obliged to buy Red Steel 2 because it supports those special Wii-mote dongles you have to buy separately. After all, you didn't just get those for Wii Sports Resort, did you? I have no first-hand knowledge of the game, but I'm going to predict that it'll be better than Red Steel 1. Because unless Red Steel 2 comes out of your Wii and pokes you in the eye with a sharp stick, it couldn't possibly be worse than Red Steel 1. Ubisoft also releases Settles 7 this week, which is both a strategy game and a diagnostics program to alert you when you've lost your online connectivity.

Cave Story, a supposedly very good Metroid-style platformer, will be available as Wii Ware. Microsoft's Game Room will be open to start nickel-and-diming you on Xbox Live, assuming you're into old-school arcade games. MotoGP 09/10 is Capcom's motorcycle racing game making up for lost time by including last year in the title, but the result looks like a fraction to me. Maybe Capcom is hoping you'll think of it as a review score.

It's just a teaser video for this summer's Tyrannis update for Eve Online, but it's always nice to see those graphics in action.

There aren't a lot of details available about Tyrannis yet, but here's the basic idea from developer CCP's blog:

...you will finally be able to survey for juicy deposits of minerals and other goodies, build infrastructure to harvest them, store them, process them and launch them into space. Build complex networks of facilities and fine tune them for optimal production. All in a very massive single shard sandboxy way as only EVE can provide. And it's not just the terran planets. It's ALL OF THEM. The gas giants, the lava planets, the ice worlds, the water worlds and even the elusive plasma planets. Each type with their unique properties. Maintaining facilities on gruesomely hostile planets will be tougher and more demanding, but the rewards may be so much more "onturning."

Have a look at the Skate 3 screenshots below and let me know if you spot anything totally new. For extra credit, see if you can spot the Tony Hawk: Ride screenshot I hid among the Skate 3 screenshots just for fun.

Skate 3 will be released on May 11th, does not come with its own skateboard controller, and does not cost $100.

Among the other changes in the patch is a Universal Colossus who's easier to unlock and cheaper situational awareness technology. Also, gunships have been nerfed, which is part of an ongoing dance ever since the last game. It wouldn't be a Supreme Commander game without a series of gunship nerfs.

Here's the skinny on Monster Bug:

This is one of the more gruesome pieces of concept work to emerge during work on BioShock - a huge insect slowly growing from within a human being and taking over the physical form. And as sickening as this image is, its true power comes from what's implied: what was it like for the original person transitioning to this state of organic fusion? And what mash-up of man and bug is hidden under that cloth?

And if you want an in-depth look at various directions Bioshock 2 could have gone, get your own yam hands on the coffee table book that came in the collector's edition. It's full of fantastic artwork and explanations of material that didn't make the cut in the sequel, including monsters, weapons, and places.

The press release elaborates a bit on what you get:

The single-player demo will feature the opening segment of the Michigan Avenue Reservoir level and serve as an introduction to the game's core gameplay mechanics for Splinter Cell fans. Gamers will have the opportunity to find out for themselves why brand-new innovative features such as Mark and Execute and Last Known Position have made Conviction one of the most anticipated games of the year.

The demo is not available for the Playstation 3. Which makes sense when you consider the game won't be out for the Playstation 3.

However, I quite like that screenshot up there, which was just released today. Giant robots are all good and well when they're shooting giant arm-guns and punching each other with giant metal fists or maybe even vibro-swords or whatever. But part of what makes the concept interesting is the juxtaposition of giant robots with mundane stuff.

That comes across in that screenshot of two giant robots -- I believe they're called wangers or something in the Front Mission series -- shooting each other in mild temperatures on a street where the speed limit is so low. I hope it's an indication of the direction the game is headed. Wanger battles in familiar settings. Let's get those guys out into the suburbs, shopping malls, and maybe even an amusement park. In short, anyplace zombies have been is prime real estate for giant robot battles.

By the way, Front Mission Evolved takes place 150 years in the future. It's nice to see the United States still hasn't succumbed to the metric system.

It's easy to make jokes about the PSP collecting dust, but Sony's littlest system is still chock full of unique games that you can't get anywhere else. Patchwork Heroes, which comes out tomorrow, looks like one such game. From developer Yuki Ikeda's entry on the Playstation blog:

The idea for Patchwork Heroes came from wanting to make an action game that was sort of like cutting up paper with scissors, and I ended up pairing that with something very dynamic: giant aircraft and battleships! The basic premise of the game is to use a big saw to cut giant flying battleships into pieces before they come and destroy your town. As you cut chunks off the flying gunships, there's lots of other action in fighting and dodging enemies, and also saving friends and collecting items.

From the Marketplace page:

Experience every twist of the story, every stray bullet, every gadget and upgrade, every newly polished texture - and top it all off with full access to multiplayer modes now playable across the globe through Xbox LIVE.

(Thanks Slashdot !)

My favorite one reads, "Scan the lands, work the mines, know the market, trust the Twelve." It sounds like good advice as you're reading along. "Scan the lands" -- uh-huh -- "work the mines" -- sure -- "know the market" -- absolutely -- "trust the Twelve" -- wait, what? The who? Who are they? Apostles? Days of Christmas? Eggs? Trust them to do what? Or is this some sort of economics thing? Does Timothy Geithner know about this? Is it going to be on the final?