“That barn looks like a nice place to stay for the ni… never mind.”

Even as the gaming community began to tire of the endless precession of World War II titles, one release was welcomed with open arms. Storming the battlefield back in 2006, Relic Entertainment’s Company of Heroes featured smaller armies than other strategy games of the era. This encouraged players to focus on (and become more attached to) individual units. Despite the popularity of the original game, a full scale sequel wasn’t forthcoming, until now, that is.

Publisher THQ this week revealed that Relic has finally commenced work on Company of Heroes 2. While the first game had players flying the flag for the good old US of A, the sequel will see them commanding Russian forces on the Eastern Front. According to the brief announcement, players will be forced to “repel Nazi invaders from the very gates of Moscow”. Why the Nazis are so keen on said gates is yet to be made clear.

Players will finally get their hands on this long awaited follow up early next year.

NanoBITES captures those small but important morsels of gaming information that otherwise might slip between the cracks.

ITEM! Say it ain’t so! 2K and Irrational have bumped BioShock Infinite from its October 2012 release date. The alternate history FPS is now due to arrive on 360, PS3 and PC in February 2013.

ITEM! EA has confirmed that new instalments of its Dead Space and Need For Speed franchises are in production. As reported by Joystiq, these titles are scheduled to land on shelves before April 2013.

ITEM! If the addition of multiplayer to Mass Effect 3 ruffled your feathers, prepare to be outraged all over again. Sony has revealed that the recently announced God of War: Ascension will feature a blood drenched PvP component.

ITEM! Kickstarter has proven to be a big success for the creators of Grim Dawn. With eight days remaining, more than $300,000 has been pledged, which means that development of this bleak action RPG has been fully funded.

ITEM! Product placement is back in the headlines. As noted by AdAge (via Game Informer) players of Zynga published guessing game Draw Something will soon be asked to illustrate branded products and corporate logos.

ITEM! Working on the proviso that you just can’t have too much of a good thing, Nintendo has unveiled New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS. Due to ship in August, the game will be a 2D platformer like its predecessor.

ITEM! A follow up to Kinect Joy Ride is in the works. This time around players won’t have to contend with gesture based controls or indeed a physical box for the game. Microsoft is prepping Joy Ride Turbo for release on XBLA.

Thanks to my proximity to THQ’s Melbourne outpost, I recently had the chance to try my hand at one of the Capcom titles the company plans to distribute in 2012. After watching a brief but informative demonstration of Dragon’s Dogma, I seized a controller and plunged headlong into the game. Read the rest of this entry »

Indie studio Giant Sparrow is teaming with Sony to create a Move compatible PSN exclusive. Already four years into development, The Unfinished Swan is a first person adventure in which you reveal your surrounds by flooding them with paint. While the game appears to consist predominantly of blacks, whites and greys, you’ll also come across the occasional splash of colour, such as the multihued hot air balloon at the announcement trailer’s denouement.

Writing on the PlayStation Blog, Giant Sparrow creative director Ian Dallas revealed that his team is aiming to create “a sense of wonder”. The world of The Unfinished Swan is imbued with all the whimsy of a children’s fairy tale. Is that an ugly duckling? Could that be a frog prince? Perhaps the answers lie in the castle beyond the labyrinth?

A release date is yet to be announced for what looks at this early stage to be an intriguing use of motion controls and a promising addition to Sony’s download service.

Image credit: Official PlayStation Magazine UK