Welcome to another edition of Video Game Bits. With the weekend rolling around, we're getting really excited, and it's not just because it's the weekend. It's because there are only two days left until Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock releases this coming Sunday. The game not only features a large list of new songs, but a co-op career mode as well, so friends can play through the entire game together. Here is today's Video Game Bits.

NFL sack leader coming to nDEX

Insight Sports and NFL Canada announced today that New York Giants NFL Pro Bowl star, and one of two current NFL sack leaders, Osi Umenyiora will be making an appearance at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto on Saturday, November 3 ^rd as part of nDEX: Northern Digital Expo. Umenyiora will be at the show from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, challenging fans in Electronic Arts' Madde n NFL 08 , signing autographs and participating in a Q&A session with show attendees . “I’m excited about seeing what kind of game Toronto’s Madden players have,” said Umenyiora. “If I see any talent, I’ll certainly be encouraging them to register for the EA Madden Challenge’s Toronto stop in November.” Show attendees wishing to take on Umenyiora can sign up at the show's NFL EA Madden 08 Sports Zone on Saturday.

Playstation 2 turns seven

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) celebrated the seven year anniversary of the Playstation 2 today. Since the console's release in North America on October 26, 2000 over 120 Playstation 2 units have sold worldwide (including both original and slim models), making the console the best-selling gaming platform ever released. SCEA's continued support for the system also showed the company's commitment to having a 10 year product life cycle for its consoles. While other systems have approximately five or six year life cycles, Playstation 2 is still going strong into its seventh year, and has likely reached the milestone of being the console with the longest product life cycle to date. With nearly 1,500 titles already available for the system, likely including original Playstation games, Playstation 2's game library is already quite large, but the number will continue to grow, as there are already more than 160 new games planned to release for the console in North America, before next Spring.

Toronto college students create Half-Life 2 mod

A team of students from Toronto's George Brown College released a modification for the Half-Life 2 Orange Box today, one Toronto Half-Life fans should find very interesting. Titled City 7: Toronto Conflict , the mod throws Half-Life 's main character, Gordon Freeman, into a Half-Life styled Toronto, after a teleporting accident. Players have to help Freeman escape the war torn city, and send him back to City 17. Players will find themselves visiting familiar Toronto sites, like Mel Lastman Square, St. Michael's Hospital, Dundas Square, the Eaton Centre and various TTC stations. Whether you're from Toronto or not, you're bound to find this mod quite interesting. You can find the mod and complete information about the City 7: Toronto Conflict project at www.torontoconflict.com.

Burnout Paradise dated

Racers, start prepping your engines and marking your calendars. Electronic Arts announced the release date for Burnout Paradise today. The game is set to release in North America on January 22, 2008 for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Burnout Paradise takes the Burnout franchise to a whole new plane, delivering an open world and fresh online gameplay. Players will find themselves in Paradise City, a freshly designed playground filled with the most exciting jumps, gripping races and unrivaled excitement at every intersection. They will now be able to have complete freedom to explore and discover the game's world by their own means. For people who can't wait to try out Burnout Paradise , EA will be releasing the demo on the PlaystationNetwork and Xbox Live Marketplace this December. Burnout Paradise is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and up.

The CPL to host $1,000,000 Halo 3 competition

The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) announced today that it will be hosting a $1,000,000 Halo 3 Xbox 360 competition at the Extreme Winter Championships taking place December 18 ^th to 22 ^nd at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Dallas, Texas. The competition is being organized by X Factor Tournament, a new e-sports management organization with an exclusive partnership with the CPL. The winner of the competition will receive $250,000 cash, and the rest of the prizes will be split between at least 64 other competitors. The best part about the competition though, is that fact that it is open to gamers worldwide and does not require and pre-qualification or previous tournament experience, though the latter will likely be helpful. Registration for the competition opens Tuesday, October 30 ^th . For complete information on the competition and the Extreme Winter Championships, go to www.thecpl.com/winter.