MLG confirms Valve's multiplayer game and Infinity Ward's upcoming shooter will be featured at upcoming professional gaming event.

Major League Gaming is unveiling extensive plans surrounding Dota 2, including the game being featured at the 2014 Championships in Anaheim, California.

Following the success of MLG's North American Dota 2 League and the upcoming Fall Invitational tournament at Full Sail University, MLG will be rolling out an extensive NA Dota 2 league in the first half of 2014 with $210,000 in prize money.

Beginning on January 6, 2014, North American teams will compete via the MLG: Play system, culminating in a $150,000 Finals event at the Anaheim Championships, June 20-22, the first MLG championship event of the year.

Only North American-based teams will be allowed to enter, with MLG Columbus participants Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses receiving automatic invites, along with the winners of the upcoming Full Sail Invitational and the Open qualifier.

Four seasons of qualification will take place with $15,000 up for grabs in each, with a fifth season running in parallel with the Anaheim Championships. Eight North American teams from League play will compete with eight international teams at the Anaheim Championships.

"We're focused on North America and we will have international teams competing at Anaheim," MLG Executive Vice President Adam Apicella told GameSpot regarding the league being featured for North American players only.

Major League Gaming previously announced the MLG Championship Columbus Dota 2 event, featuring $50,000 and including The International 3 champions Alliance.

Alliance will be joined by Na'Vi, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, Team Liquid, China's DK, Rattlesnake International, the winner of the MLG Fall Invitational, and the winner of a North American Online Qualifier. The event takes place November 22-24 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

MLG also confirmed that Call of Duty: Ghosts, recently announced to appear at the 2013 Columbus Championships, will be featured at Anaheim in 2014.

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New Kirby platformer coming to Nintendo's handheld in 2014

Nintendo has announced a new Kirby title for the Nintendo 3DS.

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata announced the game during today's Nintendo Direct, showing off footage for the new title, which appears to be a more traditional Kirby platformer than some of the character's more recent titles, such as Kirby's Epic Yarn and Kirby: Mass Attack.

No official title for the upcoming game was given, though Nintendo announced that the game was due for release in 2014.

During today's Nintendo Direct, Nintendo also announced that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze had been delayed until 2014 and that Sonic will feature in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS.

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The Blue Blur joins roster for upcoming Wii U and 3DS fighting game; joins Mega Man as second confirmed third-party character.

Sonic the Hedgehog is the latest confirmed playable character for 2014's Wii U and 3DS Super Smash Bros. game, Nintendo announced today in a Nintendo Direct briefing.

Sonic follows Mega Man as the second confirmed non-Nintendo character. 2008's Super Smash Bros. Brawl featured two third-party characters: Sonic and Solid Snake.

Sonic joins previously confirmed series mainstays like Princess Peach, Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Link, Toon Link, and Samus, as well as newcomers Mega-Man, Wii Fit Trainer, and Villager.

Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS are expected to launch in 2014. There will be no cross-platform play between the two.

For more on the new Smash Bros. game, check out GameSpot's interview with director Masahiro Sakurai.

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Wii U game from Retro Studios pushed to February 2014.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze has been delayed to February 2014, Nintendo announced today during the latest Nintendo Direct video presentation.

This is the second delay for the Wii U game. It was first slated for release in November before being pushed to a December 6 release.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is the first installment in the series for a high-definition platform. The game features side views and different camera angles to enable new gameplay experiences, according to Nintendo.

The Wii U title also sports a two-player mode, where characters like Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong will be available in addition to Donkey Kong.

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Corporate vice president Phil Harrison downplays competition over specs, says "clearly Xbox One has the best games" compared to PlayStation 4.

For Microsoft and the Xbox One, it's all about games. That's according to corporate vice president Phil Harrison, who told Edge that he's not interested in comparing specifications against the PlayStation 4 because it's the games that will win consumers over in the end.

"Every platform I've ever been involved in somebody has said 'oh, this has got more gigaflops or more teraflops than the other one,' and at the end of the day it never really matters," Harrison said. "It's all about having the best games and having the most impressive experiences, and clearly Xbox One has the best games."

The Xbox One's launch lineup includes 23 games and was previously described by Harrison as the best in the history of consoles. By comparison, Sony has said it will have 33 titles available on PS4 by December 31.

Harrison's comments came in response to a question regarding a report from last month that claimed the PS4 is "noticeably faster" than the Xbox One. He said this report doesn't tell the whole story.

"In the run up to launch of a console you're going to get a slightly nuanced answer because the operating system's not finished, the performance of the machine's not locked, and as you may be aware we can increase CPU and GPU capability on Xbox One," Harrison said. "So I think it's impossible to draw any conclusions from that based on pre-launch unfinished hardware and unfinished operating systems."

Microsoft announced in August that it had increased the Xbox One GPU speed by 53MHz since the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June.

The Xbox One launches on November 22 for $500, while the PS4 arrives a week earlier in North America on November 15 for $400.

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