Valve is confident that Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360, PC) will give them a hefty return of investment so much so that they have no qualms forking out US$ 25 million for their consumer advertising plan. And why shouldn't they be confident? Their pre-orders alone already guarantee the game's success.

After last week's rather paltry offerings, we finally get a hefty bunch of new releases. The PSP gets the shaft again this week with no releases, followed by the PC which has only one actual playable new game out. OK, there are two PC titles in the list, but come on. Hannah Montana? Meanwhile, the DS gets more than the usual amount of good games. Really, there are only a couple of shovelware titles in there. Usually they make up like 60% of the DS list. The home console releases are also in top form. Read on for the rest of this week's software releases!

From the looks of it, Altair is so badass and his moves are so realistic that even Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans are impressed. Now that Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PC) is on shelves, UFC fighters got their hands on the game and shared their insights.

To see big guys talking about the savage assassin, check out the full article.

Before the fiscal year 2006 wrapped up, analysts had already predicted that game publisher THQ would experience dramatic growth in fiscal 2007 with a strong crop of upcoming video games for all major gaming platforms. Don't look now, however, because the analysis on THQ's future may have been a wee bit premature.

Figures from the latest THQ press release entailing details of its Q2 2007 performance ending September 30, 2007 reveal that THQ has performed significantly below expectations. Pointed out as reasons were release delays and lukewarm consumer response to the games which made the launch cut.

THQ pointed at Stuntman Ignition (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PS3, Sony PS2) and Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PC, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS) as the titles that did not do as well in the market as the company would have wanted to. Also pointed at is the delay of games Destroy All Humans! and Frontlines (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PS3) to fiscal 2009.

"We are disappointed that our latest editions of Juiced and Stuntman did not perform to expectations," said Brian Farrell, president and CEO of THQ. He stated further:

Because of THQ's commitment to delivering quality products, we have moved the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Destroy All Humans!, and the PS3 version of Frontlines into fiscal 2009. We believe the additional time will enable us to create the best products for our customers.

"We are looking forward to this holiday season, with our proven line up, led by WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 on six platforms," adds Farrell. "Importantly, we expect fiscal 2009 to be a very strong year, as we benefit from a solid product slate, including Disney/Pixar's Wall-E, Red Faction 3, Saints Row 2 and our first games based on the UFC."

THQ raked in an estimated US$ 229 million during Q2 2007, which resulted in a US$ 0.11 loss per share. The holidays, however, are expected to breathe in more monetary life as some US$ 490 million are expected by THQ to flow in.

THQ has recently made it known that it will announce a new licensing deal that grants the publisher rights to release video games based on Zuffa LLC's Ultimate Fighting Championship. The rights will last until the end of 2011 and will apply to PC, handheld, and console platforms. The rights incorporate online, multiplayer, and downloadable capabilities.

While THQ still can't announce which developer is going to be responsible for the game, THQ's Vice President of Worldwide Publishing has revealed in an IGN interview that we should look forward to annual updates of the game.

No word yet on the ratings. However, Flock does reassure that they won't hold back in the making of the game, and if the ESRB demands that it be an M rated game, so be it. They really want to make a game that recreates the UFC experience.

It is also still unclear as to which systems their UFC games will be made for. However, they do note that given their good history with handhelds, and how well they're doing with PC games in Europe, that we shouldn't be surprised if we see a UFC title for the PC or a handheld.

As for those curious about next-gen console versions of UFC he says that they'll "create the right games for the right systems."