Though it amounted to little more than an announcement that the game was indeed coming to next-gen consoles (yes, with an s, so we're gonna keep our fingers crossed that it includes our precious little PlayStation 3), the news that Mafia 2 was indeed in the works got our hearts a-racin'.

Part of it was because of the screens that were released along with the announcement, showing a late-40s/early-50s city absolutely teeming with detail and atmosphere. Unlike the last generation, the PS3 seems absolutely rife with potential for immersive open-ended cities to run around in on par with the original sandbox effort GTAIII. In addition to Mafia 2 (which is being handled by original developer, Illusion Softworks, who just last week announced they were working on an as-yet-untitled project with D3Publisher), there's also L.A. Noire from Aussie developers Team Bondi and of course the granddaddy of 'em all Grand Theft Auto IV. Perhaps most impressive of all is that all three games are technically being published by the same company: Take-Two (albeit under the 2K Games and Rockstar labels).

“As the original Mafia was a big success, we are excited to leverage the power of next generation console technology to create an all-new experience, while embracing the elements that resonated with the previous game’s fans,” explains Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “The ‘wow’ factor of Mafia 2 is definitely the benchmark-setting visual quality and action that you expect to see only in Hollywood movies.”

For now, just drool over the images, and if we have any actual info, we'll make sure we pass it along lickety-split.