Update: The contest has now ended and all winners have been notified. Thanks to all those who entered! View the results here.

With the launch of Wii fantasy sports title Academy of Champions: Soccer approaching next month on November 3, we’ve teamed up with publisher Ubisoft to give away four copies of the game plus four soccer balls autographed by Mia Hamm. To enter, simply point your browsers to our contest page and fill out the required information, specifically your name and email address.

Please note that eligibility is limited to those residing in the United States and Canada. Entries will be accepted from now until November 13. All unique entries will be considered and we will randomly draw from the pool of contestants to determine winners, whom will be notified by email and announced publicly on eXophase shortly after the contest end date. Good luck and be sure to tell your friends!

Academy of Champions: Soccer Kickoff Contest

The space marine pictured above doesn’t look too happy, and neither are we. While the release date of the StarCraft II beta was originally up in air, producer Chris Sigaty has confirmed that it won’t hit until 2010, effectively crushing the hopes and dreams of those wanting to play by this year’s end. Betcha weren’t expecting that, eh?

The first chapter of StarCraft II, entitled Wings of Liberty, is still on for a release in the first half of 2010 however. If we’re lucky, Blizzard will manage to get the beta out by Q1 and the full game in Q2.

Beta Pushed to 2010, IgroMir 2009 StarCraft II Coverage – Day 1 [SC Legacy]

Valve has been quite vocal regarding its disdain for the PS3, but it seems a complex CELL architecture is not the only factor that’s driving the famed Half Life developer to keep its distance from Sony.

Speaking in a recent interview with CVG, Valve project manager Chet Faliszek took a sharp hit at Sony’s online community, proclaiming that Xbox Live is “head and shoulders above the PS3.” This apparently is a factor that weighed in heavy when deciding to keep Left 4 Dead exclusive to two platforms only, those being the Xbox 360 and PC.

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Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime isn’t breaking a sweat over the immient release of Modern Warfare 2 on competing platforms. In fact, he feels Nintendo has an answer, which is none other than New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Speaking in a GTTV interview, Reggie noted his belief that the retro styled gameplay will make it a bit hit among the Wii crowd this holiday season. While admitting it will be close, he feels confident that our favorite Italian plumber will edge past MW2 sales, at least on a singe platform.

We’re sure Activision is quaking in its boots. Watch for yourself in the clip above.

It’s been a whole year since LittleBigPlanet hit store shelves, and in celebration Sony has offered up a pair of free costumes for your virtual Sackboy as part of this week’s PlayStation Store update.

Other notable pieces of content this week include Military Madness: Nectaris, Numblast, and a playable demo of Trine. On the PSP front, Dissidia Final Fantasy finally makes the jump to digital format. Eidos’ couch-potato lizard Gex also makes an appearance in his self-titled debut as a PSOne classic.

See the full list of content after the break.

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Good news on the RTS front: the release date for StarCraft II has been narrowed down by a bit. In Activision’s Q3 financial call, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime broke word that the title is currently targeted for a release in the first half of 2010. That calls for a Q2 2010 debut at the latest, assuming no delays. Which, considering Blizzard’s track record, we can’t confidently rule out at this point.

Further, Morhaime briefly spoke in regards to the promised beta test for StarCraft II, noting that it is still planned but would not pin down any firm release date. With 11 million units of the franchise shifted thus far, Blizzard expects the eventual launch to be massive.

While many industry pioneers share the belief that digital distribution is the future, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata believes this method of selling product will not even come close to overtaking retail until 20 years at least. Here’s an excerpt from the latest Iwata Asks column:

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Presumably to coincide with the Mass Effect 2 Collector’s Edition unveil, BioWare has slashed the price of its sci-fi epic Mass Effect down to $9.99 on Steam, a 50 percent reduction.

If you want to prepare yourself for the imminent sequel, doing it on the PC is a swell idea, provided you meet the system requirements of course. The sale is valid for this weekend only.

Developer BioWare today officially revealed the collector’s edition package for Mass Effect 2 in all its shimmering glory. Enclosed in a premium tin case brandishing the iconic N7 logo, it includes a 48-page hardcover artbook, issue #1 of the Mass Effect Redemption comic, a bonus “making of” DVD containing behind-the-scenes features, and of course the game itself. To top it all off, also included are unlock codes that will net purchasers exclusive in-game weapons and armor.

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Microsoft released a statement today announcing that it has completed its planned workforce reduction today, cutting 800 jobs this week. Nine months ahead of schedule, the tally brings Microsoft over its original target of 5000 jobs in a span of nine months.

While here’s no breakdown on which divisions have been affected, we’ve heard that a percentage of these cuts have impacted the Xbox side of business.

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