Rockstar has received a larger amount of heat because of the recent in-house work condition accusations, which is something that Rockstar has declined to comment about. However, its employees/ex-employees have been very candid on the matter. According to Joystiq, a former employee told to them that the in-house conflict has affected the development of Max Payne.

When discussing Max Payne’s release, the former employee revealed that Rockstar had planned on releasing Max Payne “August 2010″, but they aren’t sure if that will still happen. “The game’s story just went through another total re-write earlier this month (the third that I am aware of in the past two years) and that [means] the team would have to have all of the content done by April or May to make that August release date,” said the source.

The source also reports of an “enforced crunch mode through to the end of the project”, meaning “14 – 16 hour work days, six or seven days a week” for developers, with a canceled two-week vacation time over the holidays. However, Rockstar has, unsurprising, declined to comment on anything, once again. Max Payne 3 is due to release later this year, however, that release target is still in the question.

Last week, Rockstar narrowed the release target of Red Dead Redemption to April and teased at a new trailer. That said, today, Rockstar San Diego released the new trailer entitled “My Name Is John Marston” for Red Dead Redemption, giving a more pacific release target then April, “April 27, 2010″.

Red Dead Redemption is a Western epic set at the turn of the 20th century when the lawless and chaotic badlands began to give way to the expanding reach of government and the spread of the Industrial Age. At the center of all of this maddest is John Marston, a former outlaw caught up in the uncertain times.

Looks like Joe Wilson isn’t the only one shouting “you lie!” In a response to Courtney Love‘s allegations of suing the “S” out of Activision because of Kurt Cobain‘s likeliness being used in Guitar Hero 5, Activision pushed out a statement, stating that Courtney Love is lying.

“Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain’s likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero(r) 5,” states Activision to Joystiq. However, in the original report, it said that Activision played a “Bully['s] part”, and that she never gave her approval for Kurt Cobain to be used in Guitar Hero 5. Anyway, it looks like someone has some explaining to do.

After a GDC Europe presentation on how Remedy handles intellectual property, Remedy’s Managing Director Matias Myllyrinne confirmed to Joystiq that Alan Wake is finished, and it is getting polished for its release. Myllyrinne noted this to Joystiq that, “It’s all done, we’re just polishing at this point.”

If you didn’t know, the polish time for a game is six months, which leaves a lot of time before its “spring 2010″ launch. Anyway, Alan Wake a psychological action thriller from Remedy and is due out in spring of 2010.

BioWare wasn’t keen on releasing any details on the newest alien character, which debuted as an assassin, at E3, however, now, that has changed because it’s “Meet Thane” day over at the official Mass Effect 2 website. And you won’t believe who’s the star of the event.

“We’re going to surpass the extraordinary gaming experience we brought our fans in Mass Effect by delivering intensified combat and expanded weapon options as well as increased depth of planet exploration, all while delivering a powerful, emotionally engaging story,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA when announcing the game. “Mass Effect 2 is shaping up to be an unforgettable RPG-shooter experience, taking players on a non-stop roller-coaster ride filled with stunning plot twists and no-holds-barred action.”

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Ubisoft has confirmed the multiplayer mode for the newest version of Splinter Cell: Conviction that was unveiled at this years E3.

“We’re going to have a multiplayer, but I can’t talk about it anymore than that. It’s part of the things we’re going to announce during the summer,” producer Alexandre Parizeau told Joystiq.

Joystiq then went on to ask about the possibility of their being downloadable content within the game’s future.

“DLC? Yes, it’s always part of our strategies. We always want to keep the content fresh, so as soon as the team is done with the game we can move on and continue expanding the experience,” he added.

Multiplayer historically plays an important role in the Splinter Cell series, but Ubisoft has – until now – been cagey about this next instalment, which is exclusive to Xbox 360.

[Multiplayer confirmed for SC: Conviction via EuroGamer]

According to Joystiq, when questioning about Shadow Complex’s pricing, Epic Games programmer Rob McLaughlin commented saying that it would likely not see price point below $20. Joystiq “grilled hm for more info” , but didn’t accomodate them.

Don Mustard along with Cliff Bleszinski, lead game designer on the Gears of War titles, are currently busy working on Epic Game’s first arcade title Shadow Complex – announced earlier at Microsoft’s E3 keynote.

You would’ve thought an announcement of a new Halo game would be huge news, but the reaction’s been a bit muted because many wanted to know what kind of game was it.

Now, Microsoft can at least confirm that the upcoming Halo: Reach is indeed what we wanted it to be.

Microsoft’s John Schappert has confirmed to Joystiq that “Of course, it’s an FPS”, when asked if Halo: Reach was a FPS.

[Halo: Reach is an FPS via Joystiq]

In an interview with Joystiq, Rocksteady’s lead narrative designer Paul Crocker confirmed that Batman: Arkham Asylum will be a single-player experience only.

“No. Like I say, we’re just focusing on being Batman,” said Paul Crocker. “We could have spent less time on that, and more time on adding stuff in, but really the game is successful because you feel like you’re Batman.”

In Batman: Arkham Asylum, developed by Rocksteady Studios, the player assumes the role of Batman as he delivers The Joker to Arkham Asylum. There, the imprisoned super-villains have set a trap and an immersive combat gaming experience unfolds. With an original script penned by Emmy Award-winning Batman writer Paul Dini, the game brings the universe of DC Comics’ detective to life with stunning graphics.

“Let’s get ready to rock!!!” Don’t you ever undermine this statement because in this Guitar Hero you’ll be rocking all night long – that’s only if you can keep you fingers from melting off.

According to Joystiq, Activision has confirmed to them that Guitar Hero: Van Halen is indeed in development and will release sometime during the second half of this year.

Activision could not confirm any songs, and only said the game will contain Van Halen’s “greatest hits,” as well as guest acts such as Queen, Weezer, Blink-182, The Offspring, Queens of the Stone Age, and more.

However, they were told by Activision’s Senior Vice President of Global Brand Management that, “… this is definitely Van Halen, not Van Hagar,” which is a plus since David Lee Roth is back with the band and they just finished a successful tour.

In addition, they revealed that there’s a very slim chance that the rockers might show up at E3 2009.

Lets face it, Left 4 Dead is a really great game. That’s why Valve was way beyond candid on revealing its latest sales mark reached.

Today, at Valve’s GDC presentation, it was revealed that their cooperative zombie shooter Left 4 Dead has now surpassed the 2.5 million copies sold mark since its November debut, which Michael Booth revealed today.

Valve has also revealed that the sales tally as PC and Xbox 360 sales, and they don’t count digital distribution sales.

Though the original Army of Two happened to sell over two million copies, it didn’t go without catching some heat. Gamers found things to complain about, whether it was from the “bromance” exhibited through corny exchanges between Salem and Rios, wonky co-operative gameplay, or various other unsavory facets. However, EA hopes to turn all those notions on their head with the release of the upcoming Army of Two: The 40th Day, the sequel to the original game.

Salem and Rios make an explosive return, though now the focus of the game has shifted to the simple goal of getting out of Shanghai with their limbs – and lives – intact. Information that has surfaced about the upcoming sequel has set the stage for the game to lie in a sort of moral limbo. While little details are currently known about the definite storyline, it’s fact that there will be both obvious baddies and obvious civilians that you can protect or leave to fend for themselves – your choice.

The disaster plaguing Shanghai has something to do with the “40th Day Initiative” (now you know what the title is for!), though devs are currently mum about the entire ordeal . Interviews with 40th Day bigwigs indicate that the storyline will revolve solely around Salem and Rios getting out alive, with major plot points unraveling throughout the game, not just during the obligatory cut scenes.

While the core co-operative gameplay remains the same,  change is most certainly coming. A bevy of differences will be introduced in this installment. Sources such as Joystiq and Destructoid confirm the implementation of a new mechanic allowing players to negotiate prices for assassinations. For instance, a fee could be charged, which enters into a dialogue with certain NPCs. These small scenes are said to play a major part in the the flow of the gameplay, adding a truly organic feel to the action rather than faceless carnage. Controlling your partner will allow for some creative use of war tactics.

Salem and Rios can now perform such feats as faking surrenders, taking hostages, or as always, blowing straight through any opposition. The introduction of a tactial overlay will be something to take in as well, giving gamers the ability to label enemies and friendlies with a certain color to distinguish who to harm from who to keep safe. This seems like an extremely handy addition, as after a while enemies begin to look way too similar.

In addition, The 40th Day promises to buck the stereotype of placing gamers in lame, typical locations like docks, warehouses, or urban locations as we saw in Gears of War. Instead, combat is said to take place in everywhere a “real” city has, such as malls and other locations dotting the landscape.

Since the sequel was so recently announced, there is scant information currently available. Until more details are leaked, we’ll have to wait patiently to see how much Army of Two: The 40th Day can improve over the original. Hopefully quite vastly, as good co-op games have been difficult to come by lately. Here’s hoping for the best!

Last night at Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 launch party, Masachika Kawata, producer of the newly announced Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, shined some more light on the upcoming Umbrella Chronicles sequel.

“What we’re looking to do is go back to a ‘very dark’ style of Resident Evil,” Kawata said. “‘Dark’ is really a key word for this game. It will be shown in horror, in the storyline, in the emotions that the characters go through.” 

And according to Joystiq, they saw examples of this as Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield fought side-by-side through a zombie ravaged Racoon City. 

He also explained that the development team at Cavia are “putting a lot of care, a lot of attention into [improving] how the camera system works in a rail-based shooter.”

As of lately one thing that has been pushing down the number of new friends I make on Xbox Live is the current 100-friends limit that has been pushed by Microsoft since the release of Xbox Live. But, it looks like Microsoft may have plans to increase the limit of friends you can have on Xbox Live.

When speaking to Joystiq at CES, Xbox director Aaron Greenberg told them that, “I can’t commit to when that will happen, but that is something we want to do. It’s definitely something we’re looking at expanding and, as this social network grows, we’ve absolutely heard the pleas for that. It’s on the list.”

Then he went onto say that how they had thousands of potential friends turn away daily on Xbox Live. And, as he said, it’s on the list so lets see what future plans they have for Xbox Live.

SCEA’s Al de Leon has revealed some very important information to PSP fanboy, he apparently confirmed with them that the PSP’s extended life battery kit has been discontinued. The product nearly doubled the battery life on PSP-2000 systems, but it did come with a price, a larger battery cover which created a bulge in the system. The battery life span was as 12 hours and more making it easier for you to play your PSP on the go.

“Yes, we are discontinuing this product as we look for other opportunities to service the consumer,” said de Leon. We just hope that we see a better extended life battery kit from SCEA sometime soon.

On the official site for Tomb Raider: Underworld the game was giving the confirmation of a November 2008 release across all current-gen platforms as well as the PS2 and DS. On the site there where forums, a podcast and lots more with even details on the mission you will be taking this Fall. Also with E3 just around the corner we may more from Edios on this this game and the there 2009-10 line-up.

Take a look at the site.

We thought Infinity Ward was taking a break after making Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , which made game of the year a rumor came in today saying that there working on a brand new sci-fi title.

An insider had a chance to talk to TalkPlayStation and stated “we are currently working on a new sci-fi title, we cannot release any more information as of yet, we may or may not announce it at E3″.

Seeing that Infinity Ward did great wonderful job with the military genre as a whole, we can have faith that they will not let us down if this rumor is true.

[TalkPlayStation]

When showing the financial results for the second quarter, Take Two Interactive announced that it’s hit game Grand Theft Auto IV has sold over 8.5 Million copes, with about 11 million distributed worldwide. Grand Theft Auto IV came out at the end of this pass May on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Congrats to the guys at Take Two Interactive and RockStar Games.

Sony has just confirmed to the guys over at Joystiq that the 80GB PlayStation 3 bundled with Motorstorm , is no longer being supplied to retailers. Here’s what Sony had to say "Retailers aren’t getting any new inventory of the 80GB Motorstorm bundle,". Yeah, that’s how they put it down, short and simple.

We just want you to know that this doesn’t mean that the 80GB model is out of production, in fact Sony is switching there focus to the forthcoming 80GB bundle that features a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 and a DualShock 3.

[Sony: 80GB PS3 Motorstorm bundle discontinued via Joystiq]