Scribblenauts released

Scribblenauts launches today on Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi. In Scribblenauts, players use the Nintendo DS touch-screen to help Maxwell acquire the Starite in each level by solving a series of puzzles armed with only a stylus, notepad and imagination. Players jot down the word for any object that comes to mind in order to reach the goal. Every object behaves as it would in the real world, and the game contains tens of thousands of words that can be used to solve puzzles.

Ryan Kuo has written an excellent review of the game which gives you all the good and bad of this interesting little game from Warner Interactive Entertainment.

Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom demo released

Paradox Interactive has released the official demo for the upcoming PC title Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim. Players can get a taste of this follow-up game to the cult classic kingdom strategy simulation originally created by the fine folks at Cyberlore. The full version of Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim is scheduled for release on September 18, 2009 and will be published worldwide by Paradox Interactive. The PC title will be available for digital download on all leading digital distribution platforms.

Grab the demo now from FilePlanet. But before you rush off like some crazed teenage girl looking for Jonas Brothers tickets, you should check out Troy Goodfellow’s excellent Majesty 2 review.

DiRT 2 races to retail

Codemasters DiRT 2 makes its way onto stores shelves across North America for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS and PSP - with a Games For Windows LIVE edition with support for DirectX 11 to follow soon.

The sequel to the popular 2007 racing game delivers a new driving experience with benchmark tech, new race types, a big event atmosphere, new locations, a new batch of off-roading heroes and a line-up of super-charged speed machines. Full online functionality with head-to-head competitive online play and social features are also in the mix. Of course we have all the DiRT on DiRT 2, thanks to Tom Chick’s DiRT 2 review. Thanks Tom.

DiRT 2 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is rated T for Teen and is available for $59.99. The Wii, and PSP system versions are rated E 10+, The DS is rated E for everyone; the Wii version is available for $39.99 and the Nintendo DS and PSP system versions are available for $29.99.

Raven Software confirms staff cuts

Raven Software and studio owner Activision have confirmed with Shacknews that it has cut 30 - 50+ employees from its development studio in the post-development period following the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Wolfenstein. While this is typical behavior for studios who finish up big projects and have nothing to keep its employees busy there has been some speculation that the layoffs may be the result of lackluster Wolfenstein sales. Tom Chick’s Wolfenstein review may have the answers to those questions - to say he felt the game was lacking would be a major understatement.

Currently the company is working on Singularity, with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 set to ship on multiple platforms very soon.

Popular Mechanics Reviews iRacing

If you’re looking for a thorough, expert review of iRacing, than you probably won’t do better than within the virtual pages of Popular Mechanics.

For example, instead of using a standard home computer to test this online subscription based simulation racing game game, Popular Mechanics used a PC-connected custom-built chair rig with a huge monitor and an off-the-shelf Logitech racing wheel. After an initial test drive, Popular Mechanics then called in its senior auto editor Mike Allen to put the game through the paces. Mike is described as a “seasoned race-car driver with a notorious distaste for the fakery present in most racing games” so as you can imagine, the test was vigorous and real-world standards were applied.

But don’t take my word for it - you can check out the Popular Mechanics review of iRacing.com right here.