Here's a roundup of today's news found elsewhere on the internet:

ACII DLC was originally part of game (eurogamer) - Assassin's Creed II's dad Patrice Desilets has confirmed that the Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities download packs due next year were originally meant to be in the main game.

"I felt that, 'Okay, there were too many things to do and to finish.' So we said, 'Okay, let's take a portion of the game that was planned and we'll give it in DLC.' We'll remove some stress to the team while giving more to fans and people who like Assassin's Creed," Desilets told Kotaku.

"I think we gave them so much content that they cannot say that we owe them, that we didn't give them a lot for their 60 bucks," he added.

The two bonus episodes are due out in January and February for $4 and $5 respectively, and fill in the "Sequence" gap in the Assassin's Creed II storyline.

On The Worst Day Of Christmas Dante's Inferno Gave To Me... (Kotaku) - The Dante's Inferno marketing team sinks to new lows in this "The Worst Day of Christmas" trailer. Two purple peaks? Really?

Have you ever been embarrassed for someone else? The moment the music starts up in this holiday-themed Dante's Inferno trailer my cheeks started getting warm. By the time the first line came out, they were deep crimson. "On the worst day of Christmas Lucifer gave to me..." Ug. Someone had to sing that. Not only did someone have to sing that, they probably had to do multiple takes, while other people were watching. Is there a circle of hell for marketing that makes you vaguely uncomfortable?



Electronic Gaming Monthly to relaunch in March (gamesindustry.biz) - Long-running magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly is to be relaunched in March, its publisher EGM Media has confirmed.

The magazine was closed by publisher Ziff-Davies earlier this year but later re-acquired by founder Steve Harris who had sold the magazine rights to Ziff in 1996.

Time Warner Retail has been selected to handle the magazine's newsstand marketing and sales, Harris has confirmed, and the relaunch will include exclusive reader access to a weekly digital version of the publication.

"With our new weekly digital format, and the premium enhancement that newsstand purchasers will receive, we're changing the value proposition in a new and meaningful way," explained Harris. "Not only does the digital companion allow us to offer additional content that is complementary to the print magazine, but it also gives us a way to communicate with our readers and update the print product in an ongoing manner."

EGM had been running for twenty years prior to its closure. The relaunch issue will include a special cover story highlighting the best games of the year as well as the return of many popular EGM personalities.

Dante's Inferno looks cool.

But come on, that was pretty horrendous.

Marketing guys miss the mark so often these days.

sin to win, the lust trailer, and then this.. really?
OUR GAME IS SO ADULT AND HARDCORE

Midi wrote: Electronic Gaming Monthly to relaunch in March (gamesindustry.biz) - Long-running magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly is to be relaunched in March, its publisher EGM Media has confirmed. The magazine was closed by publisher Ziff-Davies earlier this year but later re-acquired by founder Steve Harris who had sold the magazine rights to Ziff in 1996. Time Warner Retail has been selected to handle the magazine's newsstand marketing and sales, Harris has confirmed, and the relaunch will include exclusive reader access to a weekly digital version of the publication.

That seems like a bit of a waste of time, with print on such a steep decline. Just sentimentalism on Harris's part I suspect - and I wonder how long it can last.

Egor wrote: That seems like a bit of a waste of time, with print on such a steep decline. Just sentimentalism on Harris's part I suspect - and I wonder how long it can last.

Yeah, it's a shame though - EGM used to be quite a good read.

I don't think that Dante's Inferno promo is a new low, I mean when you've suggested people molest your booth babes - I'm sorry, "commit act of lust" was it? - you've already dug yourself a pretty deep hole