The Next Level: ‘Godfather II’ offers action, strategy

"The Godfather II” video game will be available in stores April 7 in North America.

"‘The Godfather II’ is taking the open-world genre in an entirely new direction by combining the furious combat of acting like a mobster with the strategic gameplay of thinking like a don,” said Hunter Smith, executive producer for "The Godfather II,” in a release. "The Corleones and all the other families schemed and fought to gain access and control of different territories so that they could control the flow of money in those areas. This underlying battle-cloaked secrecy is what ‘The Godfather II’ and mafia life is all about, and we wanted players to be in control as a don and make those strategic decisions to lead their families to success.”

The game’s story will interconnect with key events from the film, including the meeting of the dons in Cuba, blackmailing Sen. Geary, and the Senate investigation of organized crime.

The game will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and personal computer. Preordering "The Godfather II” at participating retailers will allow gamers to receive an exclusive crew member, Tommy Cipolla. The game is rated M for mature.

Erika Hollings was named Southwest Gaming Expo ambassador, and she’ll be joined by "Goddesses of Gaming” Alli Marie, Candace Marie and Sara Speers.

Two prize packages were announced for the expo: The Ultimate Gaming Den, which will be awarded in a racing simulation, and the Ultimate Mobile Gamer package, which will be awarded based on first-person shooter skills. A Microsoft Xbox 360 and an Alienware Area 51 Desktop are among prizes that will be awarded.

The expo will also feature a play-for-free area, where more than 40 machines will be set up. Games will include "Tron,” "Zaxxon,” "Centipede,” "Space Invaders” and others. Other machines on the show floor will have the latest titles available for attendees to play, including consoles playable for free in a 32-foot mobile video game lounge.

The expo will be at the Dallas Convention Center, 650 S Griffin, and is open to consumers and industry professionals.

For more information, go online to www.swge.com.

Read about video games, comic books and more on Price’s blog, blog.newsok.com/nerdage.