The complete Total War: Shogun 2 trailer was released on Steam recently, offering a full three minutes of sword-swinging glory on the Steam page. Shogun: Total War (the original) was one of the most admired strategy games of its time, and the series has continued through releases of Rome, Medieval, Medieval 2, Empire, and Napoleon Total War games. Although the most recent two launches were somewhat disappointing, especially with the enormous amount of bugs at launch, Shogun 2 promises to turn the series around and make a return to the original amazing gameplay that we can all remember.

The Shogun 2 trailer gives a look into the warring countryside of 16th century Japan, unveiling (somewhat expectantly) thousands of samurai, awkward-feeling diplomats, and war. Check out the trailer below for more information on the Shogun 2 release.

http://store.steampowered.com/video/34330/80626

The old trailer is embedded below, just in case you need to catch up.

The magnetism of bustling crowds at a convention contains a charge strong enough to draw enthusiasts across the country; although smaller conventions are inherently less populated by big-name developers, they are easily accessible and offer benefits unobtainable from larger masses, namely: community. Small conventions are a perfect target for local development houses to recruit industry youth -- anyone serious about getting into the games industry should be on the lookout for nearby conferences similar to Carolina Games Summit (some well-known conferences are the Global Game Jam, PAX, and MLG). CGS and other small gaming events often dedicate themselves to recruitment (or education) and entertainment (like local tournaments).

Maxis' new dungeon-crawling addition, Darkspore, has launched its beta application page. They are now accepting testers for the beta phase of the game that promises to appeal to an audience where Spore could not; first impressions make it appear as if Darkspore looks to combine elements from Unreal Tournament, Diablo, and Dungeon Siege.

Read our Darkspore hands-on preview for more information, and sign up for the beta here.

"You come out and talk about some shit. It's fun." - Jorge Rodriguez on his indie meetup group.