With all this Christmas holidays rush, I was about to miss what is probably the biggest news of the week. Cory Barlog reports on his blog that God of War II just went beta on December 22. Apparently, they have burnt some discs of the beta version of the game and then, gave them to the development team for tests (I hope they didn't receive them instead of a Christmas bonus).

He goes on explaining that the game was not pushed back in order to add some new levels but, God of War II was delayed to make sure that everything they have now is as tight, clean and fun as it can be. Apparently, they are using this extra time not to add more stuff but to make the game solid in order not to release a buggy game.

Barlog also reveals that the demo is still up for January and promises to make a big announcement once the demo ships to everyone. Considering that January is only a few days away, I know one or two gamers who are eagerly waiting for the New Year.

As regarding the picture of the little pussy, this is not something I came up with. Cory Barlog has the explanation: "I searched on google images for the word beta and this image came up in the top three…so this is now the god of War 2 Beta mascot…beta the kitten. Don't be fooled by the innocent exterior this is actually most vicious kitten to ever live. It has already killed 57 people including a local orphan boy that looked at it funny. You don't mess with beta…ever!"