Second World War is one of the historical events that inspired an impressive amount of video games, especially FPS and RTS, but great turn-based games, such as Panzer General 2, shouldn't be forgotten either! Anyway, today we won't go that far in past, because Call of Duty 3, the 3rd game of the Call of Duty franchise, was released almost a decade after Panzer General 2, and more than one year ahead of its excellent follower, Call of Duty 4, inspired by events that took place in the last 15 years, most of them placed in the Iraq War.



First of all, I have to warn you - just like the other "Call of Duty" games, this one is highly addictive, and you should not start playing it if you are really busy - it may affect your social life, your job, and so on, I guess this is no surprise, since it's available for most good games. Unfortunately, unlike the other games in the series, you won't be able to recommend it to your PC friends, because Call of Duty 3 is only available for Xbox, PlayStation, and Wii. Anyway, I guess they are not into PS3 games reviews, so let's leave them aside and see why should you grab this older title, if you missed it so far, shall we?

The single player campaign in Call of Duty 3 is a very interesting one, allowing you to play as British, Canadian, Polish and American soldiers, as you push your way through Normandy. This time, there's no introductory mission, so you find yourself ending up in France, after the allied forces pushed into Chambois, also known as the Falaise Gap.

As an American, you are going to impersonate Private Nichols, attached to the 29th Infantry Division; during the British campaign, you are going to control Sergeant Doyle, a member of the SAS, the English Special Air Service; the Canadian parts of the single player campaign will find you fighting as various members of the 4th Canadian Division, centered on Pvt. Cole; at last, the Polish campaign allows you to take the place of Cpl. Bohater, a tank driver in the 1st Armored Division. Pretty cool, and no chance to become bored of your character, don't you agree?

At last, you should also be aware that the multiplayer experience can be even more exciting, with each team allowing up to 24 players on the PS3, and a wide range of game modes to choose from.

Now, you know what's the best part? Call of Duty 3 is not old enough to look "dusty," but being given the fact that it appeared almost 2 years ago, you will surely find it for a bargain price, so if you missed it...you know what to do!

The fact that Take-Two said to its shareholders to reject EA's bid didn't make the later pull back, but on the contrary - they have just extended the offer expiration date to April 18, and made some interesting amendments to the offer...

EA's Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Owen Mahoney, said "The actions of the Take-Two Board may increase the risk for their stockholders by delaying a potential transaction. We continue to believe that our $26.00 per share offer price is full and fair, and that a transaction between Take-Two and EA is the most compelling combination financially, strategically and operationally for all parties."

Apart from extending the offer until the 18th of April, EA also added a condition to its offer requiring that either Take-Two's Board of Directors redeem the preferred stock purchase rights issued as a result of Take-Two's adoption on March 24, 2008 of the stockholder rights plan, or EA be satisfied that such rights have been invalidated or are otherwise inapplicable to its acquisition of Take-Two.

Well, I really hope Take-Two won't give up, because competition is always good, and having only a few giant companies in the gaming world is not good at all. I don't say all EA Games titles are bad, but they turned a few great titles into dull money makers, and I won't give any names...

Currently under development by EA Tiburon, NASCAR 09 will arrive in June, but PC users won't have the pleasure to enjoy it, because the 12th installment of the EA Sports NASCAR series will be released for the Xbox 360, PS 2 and PS 3 only... Anyway, the interesting part is that Jeff Gordon, Four-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion, will guide you though the game, as previously announced on 12th of March. Well, yesterday, the final press release regarding this part of the game arrived...

About its involvment in the game, Gordon said "The game is as real as it gets and it's been great being involved with it on this level. I look forward to helping gamers in NASCAR 09."

How is he going to help you? Well, it seems he will be your guide and mentor, standing by your side as you push through up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion level, of course!

The game will feature a completely rebuilt handling model, being more easy to play by beginners, but remaining a serios challenge for experienced drivers, at the same time.

Interesting enough? I bet it is, so I hardly wait to see this game in action, but until then, I'll check the official page from time to time for news...so you know where to go.

While most games are based on events that passed, especially the big wars mankind passed through so far, some use a completely different recipe. Games with political links are only a few, and I can't remember a single game that uses future political events as its main theme, as Political Machine 2008 does, and that's exactly what makes this game more interesting!

Well, Stardock Entertainment saw the 2008 political campaign in the US as an opportunity to release a game for Windows PCs that allows each of us to become a president... but only virtually, of course. Brad Wardell, lead designed at Stardock, said "This is the ultimate game for political junkies and a really fun way for anyone to learn about the election process," and if you look at the image above, you can surely get an idea about the percentage of fun vs serious stuff...

Anyway, despite the cartoon graphics, Political Machine 2008 also takes things seriously - "Once you put yourself in the campaign manager's shoes, you really get to see how each campaign tactic ultimately affects the outcome of the vote. The whole point is to be fun but part of that means being reasonably accurate."

Currently scheduled to be released in June, for a RRP of $19.95, the game allows you to play real-life candidates such as Obama or Hillary, but you can also create your custom candidate, of course. Sounds interesting? To find out more, feel free to visit the official page, here!

In today's world, only a few companies manage to survive, after reaching a certain level, because there are some big sharks in every field that eat every fat little fish they find. Just look at Microsoft vs Yahoo - and there is whale against a bigger whale, but today I will leave those aside and get to our topic - gaming, and to be more precise, games companies. The subjects - EA and Take-Two.

Not so long ago, EA made an offer to buy Take-Two, but now Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two's chairman, came up by saying that EA is simply trying to grab them with a lowball offer, aiming at Grand Theft Auto IV, and nothing more.In the end, shareholders will decide, but since the company's chairman says EA's offer of $26 per share is too low, especially considering the upcoming release of GTA IV, scheduled to arrive on the 29th of April, I guess they will follow him and wait a little.

At last, I should add as my final thoughts that Take-Two's flagship product, GTA, always managed to surprise me, especially since they are not really outstanding games - in my opinion. After all, you shouldn't have outstanding products to be successful, you simply need to know how to sale... and no matter if it's a game or your own company, those guys at Take-Two surely know what they're doing!