Word is out that Hollywood screenwriters David Weisberg and Douglas Cook (responsible for blockbusters such as Double Jeopardy and The Rock) are set to bring the videogame Darkest of Days to the big screen. Hotshot producer Joe Roth is said to be behind the project.

Adapting a videogame for the big screen has always been an exciting project, but some videogame fans don’t know how to feel about this latest adaptation yet–given the fact that the game is not exactly garnering positive reviews in the gaming world.

The plot of the game revolves around a soldier named Alexander Morris who is fighting in the Civil War. When he is wounded, he is rescued by a man who takes him to a futuristic portal called Kronotek. Apparently, the people at Kronotek have found a way to make time travel possible, allowing them to protect history at all costs. Morris is then invited to participate in this cause by helping protect people who have key roles in history.

Despite the potential of the game’s premise, many gamers found themselves questioning the game’s plausibility especially since the main character does little to question the unusual situation that he finds himself in. The mechanics of the game are not much better. The players spends long stretches of time walking and the weapons are poorly designed.

There is no doubt that gamers are hoping that the skills of the screenwriters and producer combined will turn Darkest of Days a better movie than it was as a game.

If you’ve been anticipating the release of Final Fantasy XIII since you’ve heard of its inception then you don’t have to wait long anymore. The release of the game is bound to be one of the hottest launches in the videogame industry especially now that it has been announced that it will be heralded by an event.

On March 8, an event called the Final Fantasy XIII Experience will be celebrated in San Francisco. If you’re a hardcore fan of the entire Final Fantasy franchise then this is one event that you don’t want to miss.

Guests will have the chance to be the first ones to play the game. Trailers and artwork will also be featured in the event. You will also have the chance to meet the designers, developers and other creative masterminds behind the game. A raffle will also be held where lucky winners will receive various Final Fantasy prices.

Square Enix announced that 200 of its members will have the special opportunity to attend this event. On top of that, members that already have Bronze Tier memberships will have a chance to enter a special sweepstakes. 50 winners from the sweepstakes will have the chance to attend the actual launch party of the game.

Do you like adventures with yakuza clans, being in the company of pretty girls and cage fighting—at least, in the virtual world? If you answered yes then you are probably one of the many videogame fanatics who were clamoring for the release of Yakuza 3 in Europe and the United States. Well, you’ll be happy to know that your gaming prayers have been answered.

European gamers are in more luck because the European version of Yakuza 3 is set to be released with a Premium Edition and will come with plenty of extras—such as four options of downloadable content and a soundtrack with 31 tracks. The edition will also boast a relationship chart. If you are new to the game, then this tool will help you get up to speed as to who are the characters and how are they related to each other. If you’ve been playing the game before and you are just making a comeback to the world of gangsters, then the chart will simply help you recharge your memory.

Customers who will also pre-order the game will receive other bonus features such as mini-games for two-players and special costumes.

Unfortunately, gamers in the US will not be so lucky. If you are planning to buy the game in the US, you will have no choice but to pre-order the game. This is because the DLC features only come with the preorders and are not available on the shelves. Want to know what these DLC features are? There is Battle for Survival where you battle the big bosses of the Yakuza. There are also All-Star Tournaments where you can form 7 or 8 teams. There is also a special game called Haruka’s Request where your character explores the underworld of Yakuza gangs through a series of mini-games.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released last October and has sold over 2.5 million copies to date—an astounding feat for a videogame that has only been in the market for four months. Not only that, but the game has also received 15 nominations in what is considered the Oscars of videogames—the Interactive Achievement Awards.

Fans may know the game, but few of them know about the man behind the game—or rather, the woman. 45-year old Amy Hennig is the creative director over at Naughty Dog Studios which is a property of Sony Computer Entertainment America.

Hennig was actually an English Literature major in UC Berkeley. After graduating, Hennig started to attend film school. It was while she was studying film that she took a job in a videogame company in order to make ends meet. Little did she know that it was this job that would change her life forever. Hennig discovered that she was more interested in the gaming industry than in film. It wasn’t long before she dropped out of film school to focus on developing games on a full-time basis.

For a couple of years, Hennig worked hard for the company Electronic Arts, striving to prove herself to be a competent designer. Her hard work paid off in 1993 when a lead designer of one of the games quit and Hennig ended up as the replacement. Hennig’s first project is a game that perhaps many videogame fanatics remember, called Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City.

Now, with the whopping sales of Uncharted 2, it’s not hard to see that Hennig has come a long way.

After much anticipation, the game Mass Effect 2 was finally released in the United States last month, followed by its launching in Europe. Hailed as the first blockbuster game of the year, BioWare’s Dr. Ray Muzyka is confident that the game is bound to be one of the biggest in 2010.

According to the estimates of EA, the game sold a whopping 2 million units on its first week alone—sealing the second place in the list of the highest-rated games in Xbox 360 of all times.

So what makes Mass Effect 2 stand out from the rest of its competition? First, critics and players alike both agreed that some of the technical aspects of the sequel have definitely seen improvement since the first installment. Some of these technical features include loading time, graphic images as well as the shooting mechanics of the game. Another great thing about ME2 is that it can be enjoyed by anyone. If you never played the first Mass Effect, you don’t have to worry about getting lost in the game’s narrative. If you’ve indeed played the first installment, then your prior experience can come into play in this sequel.

So what about the game’s story? Although the storyline of Mass Effect 2 is not exactly Oscar material, dialogues and characterization take the game to the next level. Despite a predictable plot, the game features gripping dialogue and introduces multiple well-developed characters with detailed back stories. Surely, that’s already more than one would expect from your usual science fiction videogame.