If you’ve been following the news recently you’ve heard a lot about the decline on Wall Street. Turns out letting the rich draw us all in to the market and investing our retirements may be just as bad of an idea as trusting those same rich people with our pensions. It’s depressing. Which is why today’s first news bit will be at least tangentially related. Might as well start off on a down note and see if we can’t get some better news by the end. Right?

Sales for Square Enix decreased 25% in the last quarter, with overall profit declining 62%. Yoichi Wada attributed this to not having a major title release in the time frame. Which is true, though his assessment of its impact may be overstated. His predictions for full recovery by the end of the next fiscal year (March 2013) are very possible. A quick look at their stable of upcoming games should be reassuring: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Hitman: Absolution, and Tomb Raider are all expected to make a strong showing.

If you’re looking for a chance to play the new Twisted Metal I hope you plan to hit Gamescom or PAX. A new level “Thrills & Spills Amsement Park” will be available at both venues. Why hit the shows? The game comes out in October. Doesn’t it? No. It’s actually been pushed back into early 2012? Does this mean the game sucks? Good question. Not according to David Jaffe:

Now, if we shipped Twisted Metal tomorrow – going off the response from folks who have played it – I assure you, it would never be a bad game. Not even close. But we’re aiming for a heck of a lot more than that! With Twisted Metal we plan to ship a multiplayer classic. We plan to ship the best Twisted Metal ever made. We plan to convert a lot of folks who think vehicle combat is a relic best left to 90′s nostalgia.”

Sony is striking back at XBLA’s Summer of Arcade with PSN Play. The program kicks off today with preorders available for four upcoming summer games: Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition (August 23); the third DeathSpank title, The Baconing (August 30); Bloodrayne: Betrayal (September 6); and Renegade Ops (September 13). Preorders are available up to five days before each release (8/18, 8/25, 9/1, and 9/8, respectively) and will include a free theme and free DLC or Home item. Each game is set for $14.99 (less 20% for PS+ subscribers). Pre-order all four games by September 19 and you’ll get a free voucher (must be 18 or older) to download Payday: The Heist (a $20 value and also available for separate pre-order starting September 20, set to release in October). This is clearly inspired by XBLA’s Summer of Arcade, and the games aren’t necessarily top shelf, but this does look to be a good deal for fans of downloadable games and a great way to introduce the PSN’s new pre-order feature.

While we’re talking about pre-orders, how about an announcement of the Collector’s Edition of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, available for preorder now. The formerly announced pre-order incentive, a very cool map of Skyrim is being packaged into this edition, along with a making-of DVD, art book, and a DRAGON! Unfortunately PETA got upset about including a live dragon in such a small box so it will come with a 12″ PVC model (based on the games 3D files) of Alduin, the World Eater. Seriously, at $150 this is probably priced way too high for anyone who doesn’t collect dragon statues anyway. But if you do, that’s a really cool dragon.

You may recall the announcement of Freddy Krueger as playable DLC in Mortal Kombat. It should go without saying by now that a free compatibility pack will also be available to keep multiplayer available for those who don’t make the purchase. This compatibility pack has an added bonus, two additional Sub-Zero skins. You’ll get the maskless Sub-Zero from the third game, and a Retro-Cyber Sub-Zero (whatever the hell that means).

And that concludes a pretty lackluster edition of VGQH. The lack of major content sort of goes hand in hand with the lack of any games released at retail today as well. Will Friday or next Tuesday be any better? I certainly hope so. Hopefully by then I’ll have figured out what I just did to my internet browser that made it start behaving strangely, making this article about four times more difficult than it needed to be. Guess I should count myself lucky it’s a slow news week.

The late edition this week is definitely a potpourri of stories. It’s a little heavy on back end corporate stuff and light on actual game news. An interesting change of pace I guess.

After many years of making successful games like inFAMOUS and the Sly Cooper franchise Sucker Punch has officially joined the Sony Computer Entertainment family. Like a couple that’s been living together for years, the two companies are finally getting married. More like a plural marriage though, as Sucker Punch is the 16th company to officially join SCE as a first-party developer. What will this mean for future games together? We’ll have to wait and see, but hopefully it means Sucker Punch will get the chance to work on some new IPs. I’ve liked everything I’ve seen from them so far.

If you’re a fan of Lord of the Rings and action-RPGs (I’m one, but not the other) you’re probably looking forward to LotR: War in the North. Until now, you’ve just been looking forward, because you haven’t known when it was coming. Now you do. The game is set to join the holiday crowd in November, but a specific date hasn’t been locked down. The game features up to three player co-op and will likely be rated M for lots of blood, which is a little unusual for the franchise. Because the game is not tied to the main story through characters or plot, just the world, this actually looks to be a good game for fans of the genre who may not actually care for the franchise (like myself).

You may have noticed a new offering from EA on your console’s store earlier this week. But, if you don’t know what the EA Season Ticket entails, here’s the rundown. There are currently five participating titles (Madden NFL, NCAA Football, Tiger Woods PGA, NHL, and FIFA), with EA softly saying more titles may be included later (but don’t count on it). For $24.99 or 2000 MS Points, you’ll be able to download and play all five games three days before their retail release for free. If you want to continue playing the games after release, you’ll need to buy the disc, but your save game and trophy/achievement progress will port over to the disc version. You’ll also receive a 20% discount on related DLC, free web content (currently just an add-on for FIFA‘s Creation Center), and “membership badge” that will show up in online gaming and your EA.com profile. EA has also specified that this not a part of the EA Sports ID they still have planned. I certainly won’t be buying this offer, but if you play all, or even most, of these titles it may be worth it.

I mentioned Tuesday that there were rumors spreading of Gearbox showing off Borderlands 2 at Gamescom. This is no longer rumor. Gearbox Software and 2K will have the game in Germany this month, with a showing at PAX Prime in Seattle to follow. It’s also the cover story for September’s Game Informer magazine. The game will once again feature loot-heavy, four player co-op, FPS RPG gameplay. There are four new characters to play and you’ll be exploring whole new areas of Pandora.

Speaking of Gamescom, Ubisoft has announced their lineup of games for the show, and it’s no surprise that Assassin’s Creed Revelations is at the top of the list. Driver: San Francisco, Far Cry 3, Rayman Origins, Ghost Recon, From Dust, and Just Dance 3 (multi-console for the first time) will also be shown. They seem to have all their bases covered with hardcore, family, and downloadable games.

Capcom has also announced their relatively small batch that will be on show for Gamescom. They’ll have Asura’s Wrath, Dragon’s Dogma, Resident Evil: Revelations, and Street Fighter x Tekken. By “small batch” I clearly mean the number of games, not the hype level. You may not have heard much about Asura’s Wrath and Dragon’s Dogma, but keep an eye on these two. They could be surprise hits. The other two will get plenty of coverage based solely on franchise recognition.

If you’re somehow not burned out on FPS gameplay and, to a lesser extent, zombies, then you’ll be thrilled to hear the new “Rezurrection” DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops is coming August 23rd on XBLA (and probably a month later on PSN). Four of the five new maps being were actually included in the Hardened and Prestige editions of the game. Buyers of those versions will be getting this DLC free instead of the standard price of $15. The fifth map is The Moon, where “the rules of engagement will apparently be changing.” No details on what that means. But it is the moon, so you can probably make a few educated guesses.

Sony has yet to attach a release date to the PS Vita, but industry talk has had it rumored for late 2011, just in time for the holidays. According to Kaz Hirai, Executive Vice President of Sony, that is not the case. It is possible the new handheld will see release in Japan before the end of the year, but Europe and the United States won’t be seeing it until 2012. Hirai indicated that the company wants to insure they have a solid stable of games for the unit before selling it. It seems they saw what happened with the 3DS for Nintendo. They’re also not going to follow Nintendo into a price cut, as Hirai stated clearly: “We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable. There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”

Not long ago, I mentioned a new game based on the Child’s Play horror franchise was in development. What’s the deal with ’80s movies getting new games? I have to ask because Reef Entertainment just announced they have a Rambo game in development they plan to release next year on XBox 360, PS3, and PC. Is it based on a particular film in the franchise? An as yet untold story of John Rambo? They haven’t said yet. But the company does have the rights to make several games from the franchise. Reef Entertainment is hardly in the top tier of developer talent, but they aren’t on the bottom either. What they really need to sell this game is voice talent. As in, get Sly or don’t bother.

EA is continuing the slowly ongoing release of the roster for the SSX reboot. The two new additions this week are Alex Moreau – snowboarder, fashion model, assassin – and Ty Thorsen – laid back Norwegian snowboarding prodigy. That brings us to ten announced characters. I originally thought the game would have 16, but they’re running out of stereotypes. I’m thinking one more announcement featuring two characters, at least one of them new. After that they’ll start announcing the classic characters and guest stars that will be available as DLC (allow me to predict Jacob Taylor).

Speaking of EA, they’re shuffling their staff in a big way. COO John Schappert recently left the company to join Zynga, now a direct competitor of EA in light of their recent acquisition of PopCap. That vacancy is being filled by Peter Moore, leaving a hole in the head honcho position of EA Sports. But, as Corporate America does, that position is now being packaged into a new role, making Frank Gibeau (President, EA Games) the new President of EA Labels. This will have him overseeing BioWare, EA Games, EA Play and, EA Sports. This leaves EA Mobile, Hasbro, Playfish, Pogo, and PopCap in the hands of Executive Vice President of EA Interactive, Barry Cottle. CEO John Riccitiello’s position is not changing, which is the true telltale in this situation since it means nothing is really changing. Regarding the changes (which go into effect Monday) Riccitiello wrote:

Not all of it was easy but looking back, it was exactly the right structure and priorities for the challenges we faced. The changes included hundreds of job cuts. Now, we are switching from defense to offense. We’re focusing on building our intellectual properties/franchises into year-round business. We’ve established our own platform, Origin, and we continue to grow our digital business.

How about one more story about gaming jobs to close out this edition? This time it’s not corporate politics though, it’s a couple of job listings found on Criterion’s website. In an ad for an AI Programmer, they say “Our current ambition requires an innovative programmer to deliver killer entertainment experiences with believable, open world AI Racing Drivers.” [Emphasis added] An additional ad for a Lead Software Engineer wants the applicant to “help create a new extension to the existing Criterion team focusing on developing on new platforms.” [Emphasis added again] So what’s the big story here? Is it that Criterion is working on a open world racer – possibly a new Need for Speed or Burnout game? Or is it that they’re looking to develop on new platforms? That could mean WiiU, or they could already be discussing the next generation of Sony and Microsoft consoles. Those two companies have denied a new console is coming anytime soon, but we all know they’re working on them. Considering the development times needed for a top tier game, if they’re discussing this as a launch title, I wouldn’t expect the next generation until late 2013 at the earliest. But, that’s a lot of “if”s and supposition on my part.

So, what do you think about a new console? Too soon? Or too late? Are you jumping onto the WiiU as the next generation, or is it just Nintendo’s attempt to catch up? Personally I feel like the Move and Kinect were the new platforms their respective companies said they were. But those were just attempts to catch up to Nintendo on the motion control front. Both of them are currently failures in my eyes as well, based solely on available software and its quality. Not to mention the Move isn’t even much of a step up from the EyeToy I had on PS2 years ago. So it only seems fair that Nintendo is now trying to catch up graphically. What will the next gen be, and will all of the big three go in the same direction? How much will motion control be a part of the experience? Will the “console as multimedia center” trend continue, or will it step back to a bare bones gaming device? Only time will tell, but let’s hear your predictions.

SOE announced today the first in a series of downloadable content, “Fight for the Light” which is the first time the Green Lantern has made an appearance on DCUO.

For $9.99 you can’t quite become a member of the Corps, but you can get a power ring and hard light powers. In time of great emergencies the rings duplicate themselves and recruit temporary members of the Corps, which is what has happened in DCUO. You’ll be able to gather the green, yellow, or red rings. In an interview with kotaku.com, DCUO Creative Director said the rest of the colors are in the works. While wielding a ring, you’ll be able to create weapons to fight the bad (or good) guys.

By purchasing the content, you’ll also be able to play these all new scenarios:

S.T.A.R. Labs – Deep within S.T.A.R Labs, Brainiac seeks to control experimental devices that will allow him to harness the power source behind the Lantern Corps’ rings. This attack throws the Lantern Corps into chaos, and players must join a fragile truce between the Green and Yellow Lantern Corps to bring the powerful devices back under STAR Labs control.

Coast City – Players must battle their way through the “City Without Fear” to Ferris Aircraft, the home of fighter ace Hal Jordan. Here they face the unbridled rage of the Red Lantern Corps in a showdown to save the city and the Universe.

Sciencells Prison – On the Green Lantern Corp’s home planet Oa, heroes will join with Guy Gardner to stop a prison break that threatens to release the most feared prisoners of the Green Lantern Corps. Villains will fight alongside Sinestro as he attempts to release the Green Lantern Corps’ greatest foes and retrieve the evil Lyssa Drak from her emerald powered prison cell.

Many are put off by this having to pay for an expansion less than a year after the game’s release. What do you think?

We’re going to start today’s edition of VGQH with a few games I thought extinct. But it seems they’re a getting a rebirth. The first one probably still won’t receive much fanfare. But the others might actually make a few dollars for their respective companies.

Here’s a game I never understood and thought had died a decade ago, Bejeweled 3 will be coming to Nintendo DS, PSN, and XBox Live this holiday season. Why?

On a related note, EA appears to be prepping a deal worth over $1billion to buy PopCap Games (Bejeweled, Zuma, Peggle). Zynga also is looking into purchasing the casual game developer, but likely doesn’t have the financial clout to compete with Electronic Arts. We’ll follow up with this story as it comes out.

Yet another franchise that many consider dead is Sonic the Hedgehog. Who knew that 20 years for a blue hedgehog is considered past their prime? Regardless of his new stuff, there are still plenty of fans of this character’s older games. And SEGA is celebrating that with the 20th Anniversary Sale on PSN and XBox. The sale started earlier this week. Some titles, like Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 will be going for up to 50% off. There’s also a $20 bundle that’ll get you the first and second Genesis games, Sonic 4:1, and Sonic Adventures (with added DX content). That’s about $40 worth of content at regular price. If you like overclocking miscolored mammals, it’s a deal you should grab.

If that’s somehow not enough Sonic for you, there’s also a demo of Sonic Generations available on PSN and Live . The demo features an updated version of the classic Green Hill Zone. The game is set for November 2011. [I’ve downloaded this, but haven’t actually played it yet.] Both the sale and the demo are available for only 20 days.

Next up is Aero-Cross, a remake of Metro-Cross from 1985. The upgraded version of the arcade classic is coming to XBox and PSN later this year. If you aren’t old enough to remember this game (as one of the oldest ‘bots here I still only vaguely recall the cabinet but not the game), it’s basically the future of footracing. In The Future, obstacles, hoverboards, drafting, and many other upgrades have made running an entertaining past time once again. This will be the third game released under the Namco Bandai Generations label. The previous two were Pac-Man Championship Edition DX and Galaga Legions DX.

While Fallout: New Vegas isn’t a retro game, its titles and themes tend to have a retro feel. “Dead Money” was a post-apocalyptic Ocean’s Eleven in a haunted casino. “Honest Hearts” took you to the wastelands of Zion National Park. The next chapter, “Old World Blues,” will take you to the Big Empty where you become a lab rat and learn the origins of some of the mutated creatures in the Mojave Wastes. Bethesda has just announced the DLC will be released on July 19th for $9.99. Just before the release will be a much-needed stability patch. The final chapter, “Lonesome Road,” is still set for August.

If you love comic books and video games then you’ve got to love the new trend of comics that provide an intro lead up to the newest games. The comics for Arkham Asylum have already started and this week also saw the start of the three part Rage mini-series from Dark Horse. Rex Mundi creator Arvid Nelson is writing the book under the supervision of the game’s creative director, Tim Willits. You can see a sample of Andrea Mutti’s pencils below. Bethesda Softowrks is releasing the game in October.

In other Bethesda news, they have announced the pre-order incentive for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It’s a map. A map? Like a CoD downloadable map pack for multiplayer? But there’s no multiplayer in Skryrim. Exactly. If you’ve followed the series for the last couple of outings you know what I’m talking about. It’s not a DLC map for a game that has no use for one. It’s an actual physical map that shows the terrain of the game, complete with a compass rose. It’s a mighty fine looking piece as well. Honestly, this probably isn’t going to encourage anyone on the fence to buy the game. But if you already want it, this is a pretty badass collectible.

Worst vague-but-clearly-promising quote of the week goes to James Mielke, producer for Child of Eden. The game recently launched for 360 and he decided to hype the delay for a PS3 release by saying “There’s nothing I can really say about it, except that it will definitely be worth the couple months that people have to wait for the PS3 version to get finished. People with PS3s, people with nice TVs, people with all kinds of control options…it’s going to be really cool.” Translation: “It will take until September to get the game ready because we’re adding a bunch of shit no one wants. It’ll be in 3D and have Move support, even though no one will actually use it.” Dumbass.

In other dumbass news, the hackers are still being pesky and worthless. Bioware was the latest hit, but nothing valuable was taken. Someone hacked the Neverwinter Nights forum. Talk about your high value targets. A few birthdays and passwords were taken, but not credit cards, SSNs or anything actually useful to a thief. It seems the bar has really been lowered for hackers. The obnoxious mouth breathers will hack anything game related as long as they don’t have to leave their mother’s basement. Congratulations hackers, you’ve now made it to the level of “no one gives a shit” headlines. Get a life.

With E3 now in the bag, rumors are starting for what will be announced in August at Gamescom. This is sort of the European equivalent of E3 and takes place in Cologne, Germany. The latest rumor is Sony may be announcing a price cut on the PS3 to £179.99 (about $250USD). Most major retailers in the US have been offering $50 gift cards with PS3 purchases for the last several months, which usually indicates a forthcoming price drop. This also coincides with a recent drop in price for Wii and rumors of a newly-designed, (comparatively) energy-efficient PS3. As is normal for Sony, their only comment is that they have no comment on rumors.

What started out as a dead game revival article certainly turned out to be a shotgun blast of random information. That’s all for today’s VGQH. Check back on Tuesday for a round up of the weekend’s information. I’ll be spending most of my weekend drinking heavily (there’s a surprise) and testing out my pile of recent PSN purchases. And don’t forget, if you’re in the Salt Lake valley (and over 21), Geek Show Podcast is hosting free movie night at Brewvies on Sunday. This month they’re showing a Star Trek double header. BSR!’s very own Jerk-bot will be hosting and you’ll probably see a few other familiar ‘bots and geeks as well.

Last week was a whirlwind. E3 had all the fun and flops you could imagine. It definitely left me with more questions than answers? How big will Mass Effect 3 actually be? Can Assassin’s Creed actually get better? Why the hell would Sony name their new toy Vita? Can you actually use a small TV to control a big one? And will Sony and Microsoft give up on motion gaming, or actually try to make it good?

We usually see a post-E3 lull in news as everyone re-watches the trailers and microscopes all of the screen shots. But sometimes news just happens, even without formal press conferences. So that’s mostly what today’s VGQH is going to contain. It might not all be sexy, but you’re probably a little chafed from last week anyway.

Three arrests were made in Spain last week in connection with the hacking of the PSN, a major bank, and the government systems for Algeria, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Iran, Libya, and New Zealand. Alicante, Almeria, and Barcelona were the sites of the arrests of three members of a “key cell” of Anonymous (names have not yet been released to the public). Yeah, that Anonymous. The ones that said they didn’t do it. These three allegedly can direct Anonymous activities. A server was also seized in Gijon, Spain, presumably as evidence. Clearly I’m not privy to the investigation procedure or the evidence in the case, but I’m really hoping they’ve got the right people and will hit them with all possible civil and criminal penalties. This was a high profile hacking. More than any other in my mind it has shown just how vulnerable we are to this type of criminal. A clear message of retribution by the criminal justice system could go a long way in the prevention of future attacks.

Unfortunately, the news hasn’t stopped the hacking community dead in its tracks. Codemasters (DiRT 3) website was also hacked late last week. The site was taken down immediately and they are rebuilding it from the ground up. As in Sony’s case though, too little too late. Some user information was compromised, including names, addresses, emails, passwords, IP addresses and XBox Live gamertags.

Bethesda also has fallen victim, with their community forums and stats site for Brink coming under attack. From the Bethesda Blog:

While no personal financial information or credit card data was obtained, the hackers may have gained access to some user names, email addresses, and/or passwords. As a precaution, we recommend that all our fans immediately change passwords on all our sites — including our community forums and the statistics site we maintain for Brink players. If your username/email address/password is similar to what you use on other sites, we recommend changing the password at those sites as well. As we don’t know what further plans the hackers may have, we suggest that you keep an eye out for suspicious emails and account activity.

Frankly, that’s enough free press about assholes. Let’s talk about games.

THQ has closed Kaos Studios. This is the studio that made Homefront, which sold 2.6 million units (over a million in the first week) and has a 70 on Metacritic. Seems like an odd time to close the division. This means the sequel (and a sequel is coming) will fall to THQ Montreal and Patrice Desilets, formerly of Ubisoft. That guy used to be the creative director of Assassin’s Creed. I’ll reserve judgment until I see results, but I doubt that will result in a 70 on Metacritic. I’ll say it goes to 90+, or bombs its way down to the 40s.

Wanna know how to make a geek smile? Here’s the equation: H.G. Wells + Patrick Stewart + XBLA or PSN = 2D sidescrolling War of the Worlds. Hell Yes! Stewart will be narrating the game, said to be inspired by Flashback and Out of This World. It will be published by Paramount and Other Interactive is developing. The game is scheduled for later this year.

Let’s pretend you haven’t already preordered Batman: Arkham City. Your friends are laughing at you, you feel depressed and don’t know why, and you’re convinced that there’s no need to order what is clearly going to be the greatest comic book game ever known. You are wrong. As if the sheer greatness of a follow up to the game that made Batman cooler than the combined efforts of Frank Miller and Christopher Nolan isn’t enough, Best Buy is even offering you a bonus. Apparently it’s not enough to play as the Caped Crusader and Catwoman! They want you to buy from them so you can play as Robin on two extra challenge maps. But, if Best Buy isn’t your thing, I understand. You could also order from GameStop for the Joker’s Carnival Challenge Map or from Amazon for an exclusive comic book. But those don’t come with an additional playable character. The game is coming October 18th, but you can get your orders in now.

Speaking of Amazon, that’s where I found the details on the Mass Effect 3 Collector’s Edition. This special set will include a metal case with Commander Shepard art, the soundtrack, a hardcover art book, a 4×6 one-of-a-kind lithographic print, a Dark Horse comic, fabric N7 patch, and in-game content. The DLC is practically worth the extra $20 alone, since you’ll get an extra appearance pack, mission, companion character, robotic dog, and four additional weapons. If this is anyhting like Mass Effect 2, those downloadable weapons are priceless on insanity difficulty. Oh yeah, I want that patch!

In other preorder news, DICE has caused a fanboy ruckus with their incentives for Battlefield 3. Preorders can get an extra map pack and some additional weapons that are usable in multiplayer. And that’s where the whining comes in. Some gamers are concerned they will be at a distinct disadvantage without those weapons. While the weapon pack has only been confirmed in the UK so far, DICE has stated that it will be available in other parts of the world as they finalize arrangements. They’ve also tried to mollify the whiners by explaining that these weapons are simply more varied, not more powerful. It could contribute to their fun, but not to their power. Also, the map pack will be available as paid DLC the same day it goes live for preorder codes.

One final bit on the preorder front, it’s time to put down your Dead Island deposits at GameStop. Your preorder will get you the Bloodbath Arena DLC and a blueprint for “The Ripper” for free. The DLC will be available from your online service as well ($10 / 800 MS Points). “The Ripper” is an in-game weapon utilizing a baseball bat and a buzz saw blade, sounds like a toy for the S&M crowd. Once you have the blueprint you’ll be able to share it with your friends.

That does it for the early edition this week. It’s not as exciting as E3 week but I do see a few rumors I’m hoping to confirm for Friday’s edition. It’s too early to tell right now how they’ll shape up and I don’t want to report it completely wrong.

E3 was mindblowing. Just an incredible amount of game footage and screen shots. Some really huge announcements, others that were met with a resounding “meh.” Microsoft pushed Kinect. Sony pushed Move (and ignored a recent gap in online service you may have heard about). Nintendo showed us… something. I’m still not sure I understand the deal with using a TV to play games on a different TV. Tuesday’s VGQH had a simple breakdown of Sony and Microsoft’s press conferences. Shaz-Bot did a great series of articles about Nintendo’s presser so I’m not going to rehash it here. I will, however, give you a few more stories from the big event.

Starting with Square Enix, Final Fantasy XIII-2 has been pushed back from late 2011 into early 2012. I think it was originally announced as “Winter 2011” which has actually already passed. In the retail market “winter” usually means the beginning of the year. They say “holiday” if they mean November or December.

Despite the delay, congratulations to Square Enix. The Final Fantasy brand has been a staple in console gaming since the earliest days of the NES. It recently reached an incredible landmark: 100 million units shipped. That doesn’t necessarily mean all of those units were sold at retail (and definitely doens’t mean they’ve all been good), but it’s still a damn fine accomplishment.

Not much new was said about the game, but a synopsis (“Betrayed by those he trusted and hunted by the police, he finds himself at the centre of a dark conspiracy and must embark on a personal journey through a corrupt and twisted world, in his search for the truth.”) and a few screen shots of Hitman: Absolution were shown off by Ubisoft. My favorite shot:

Capcom showed some footage of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. The game concept still seems derivative in my eyes, but it does look pretty. Many of us were waiting to see how the zombies would play out since the majority of combat will be between heavily armed human combatants. According to the footage, getting injured can cause the zombies to scent your blood, bringing them straight to your position.

Other highlights from Capcom were the rebooted DmC and Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition. Footage did show Dante killing demons, and even having his hair turn white with the Devil Trigger, so the reboot may not be so off the mark as a lot of fans thought. The latest iteration of SFIII will be downloadable this summer. If you need someone to explain what the game is, and why the names for it continually to get incredibly longer as time goes on, learn a little gaming history. The biggest announcement around the game is the use of GGPO netcode implementation – meaning it should be basically lag-free.

Tecmo showed off Ninja Gaiden 3. If this your game, you know what to expect: blood, action, and QTEs. Start stocking up on controllers now because you know you’ll be breaking them.

THQ showed a little bit of Metro: Last Light and Saints’ Row: The Third. Nothing new from either. Metro looks gorgeous, but I’ve yet to see any mechanics at work. Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places. Saints’ Row, on the other hand, looks ridiculous. When they can show me something besides a dildo sword I might pay attention. I’m just not sold on and over the top comedic version of San Andreas. I’d rather see something original.

Konami also showed a few titles, including NeverDead, Otomedius Excellent, Skullgirls, and Blades of Time (sort of a sequel to X-Blade) to sate your appetite for bizarre anime type stuff. It all looks appropriately insane. Geared more toward the North American audience was the Students Showcase winner at IGF 2010, Puddle, headed for XBLA and PSN this year. They also showed Zombie Apocalypse 2 and PES 2012 (soccer, if anyone cares). Nothing spectacular from either one.

Konami’s top story is Silent Hill: Downpour. They’ve finally released the basic plot of the story. Murphy Pendleton is a convict transferring prisons. When his bus crashes he decides to bolt. Bad idea, even prison can’t be worse than running straight into the town of Silent Hill. They also promised free-roaming and exploration that can lead to side quests. Oh, and it will be running on Unreal Engine 3.

Sony and Q Games have announced their latest release for PSN, PixelJunk Sidescroller. The game is set for release this summer. I’m a little disappointed to see it’s a shooter, a la Gradius or Life Force. While the entire PixelJunk series has been great, I was really hoping they meant it was a side scrolling platformer. For my money though, the best part of their games is the simplicity in titles. Capcom could take lessons in brevity from these guys when they name their fighting games.

Sony also released a few bits of information outside of the major electronics show. Namely that Motorstorm Apocalypse has been canceled in Japan. The game was deemed too insensitive in light of the recent tragedy. I have mixed feelings on this concept. There is a certain element of moral uprightness in canceling a game that could bring up hard memories or other emotional pain in the light of such a tragic series of events. On the other hand, it’s a game about racing cars through a fictional universe. As the country struggles to bring things back to normal, gamers want to play games. Which means there’s also an element of insult to injury for those looking forward to the game.

There’s also a kind of funny story about Sony that really only affects European readers. It seems hackers aren’t the only problems they’ve had with their network. Beyond Good & Evil HD was recently released on the EU PSN, at a higher price than its XBLA counterpart. You can only imagine the fan reaction on the internet. Turns out it was an honest mistake in the pricing and Sony has since corrected it. More than that, anyone who bought it anyway will be receiving a refund. Still waiting on a US release, but keep an eye on the cost before you buy.

One final word out of Sony is leaving me baffled. It seems that Home “hit a new record in terms of weekly unique users,” according to a Sony Executive, Jack Buser. This has been since the service was restored along with the rest of the network after the hacker outage. Two problems here. One, Home is pointless. Two, these numbers are falsely inflated because of the 100 free items that were offered in the Welcome Back package and the promise of Sony’s E3 press conference being live streamed into the theater. The streaming press conference worked for almost no one by the way. It was full of “network error” messages and many users went to their computers to find a functioning stream on the web. As for the 100 free items, now that you’ve all jumped in and got them, what are you going to do with them? They only work inside Home, and there’s no reason to go there.

Considering that last Sony story was basically an editorial anyway, I’ll skip my normal closing comments. Thanks for reading. Check back on Tuesday. I’m hoping to get more details on the games that were just glossed over in all the hoopla from LA.

Yes, yes, yes. It’s E3 time and there’s plenty to come from it. But I’m actually going to start with a few things that came out prior to the start of the conference.

Namely, Sony’s Welcome Back program has gone live. Anyone with a PSN account made prior to April 20,2011 is eligible for the program’s free content. As promised, you’ll get 30 days free (starting from the first day you activate the service) of PS+, or a 60 day extension if you’re already a member. [Note that any free items you take from the PS+ membership will not be usable after your 30 days unless you renew. However, items bought at a PS+ discount are yours to keep.] You can also get a free year’s worth of identity theft protection, which is probably a good idea considering the outage was based on your information being hacked. The biggest benefit, of course, are the four games you can choose. You’ll get your choice of two of five free games on PS3 and two of four on PSP.

The PS3 games are:

1. Dead Nation
2. inFamous
3. Little Big Planet
4. Super Stardust HD
5. Wipeout HD + Fury

The PSP games are:

1. Little Big Planet
2. ModNation Racers
3. Pursuit Force
4. Killzone Liberation

Personally, I already have LBP on PS3 and have already earned my platinum on inFamous. I’ve read good reviews on Dead Nation so I’ll probably grab that one. Since Super Stardust never looked appealing to me I guess I’ll go with Wipeout. I love LBP and MNR on console so I’ll probably grab those two for my PSP. Probably end up needing a bigger ProDuo now. Check out the PlayStation Blog for more details and an FAQ on the program, including the sort of complicated instructions on how to redeem your free games. Not to mention 90+ pages of some really stupid comments.

A few release dates have been announced, in case you want to keep them in mind:

• Dark Souls – October 4, 2011
• Tomb Raider – Fall 2011
• El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron – July 26, 2011
• XCOM – March 26, 2012
• FIFA 12 – September 30, 2011 (UK, probably 3 days earlier for US)
• Star Trek – Summer 2012

Wait a minute! Star Trek? WTF? That’s right. Digital Extremes is developing, Paramount Digital Entertainment is publishing, and Marianne Krawczyk (God of War) is writing. They’re all working with JJ Abrams’ Robot Productions, since it’s based on his 2009 reboot of the film franchise. You’ll be playing co-op as Kirk and Spock. Wait another minute! Kirk-Spock co-op? Can this get better? Maybe:

From one monstrous film franchise to a better one, more details are making themselves known about the upcoming Kinect Star Wars. Shaz-Bot was clearly unimpressed with what he’s seen. But I recall more than one conversation where Swankmotron told me that The Force Unleashed on the Wii actually made him feel like a Jedi because he was using the Force with one hand and controlling a lightsaber with the other. This really looks to expand on that concept, letting two players fly X-Wings, pilot podracers, use lightsabers and more. There’s is also a “voice component” included, meaning you have to tell your XBox to ignite your lightsaber (lame). I will be sorely disappointed if this doesn’t also include the Jedi Mind Trick. Most of the modes sound like this will essentially be a collection of minigames, but there is a component billed as “Jedi Destiny” that appears to include some story, casting you as a new character playing through environments and events familiar to fans of all six movies. The avatar in the trailer looks close enough to the kid that it’s probably user-created.

Far less exciting for me, but possibly good news for some, is that EA has announced The Sims 3 Pets expansion for consoles and PC. I find it hard to believe that this is “the biggest undertaking in the franchise’s history” but whatever. Let them have their hyperbole. It will feature over 100 different breeds, plus the ability to stud your beast out to a friend to create your own breeds. I have no idea how robust that feature may be, but if they take it as far as my twisted brain processor can imagine then I love the possibilities.

If you haven’t yet preordered Uncharted 3 because you wanted to know where to get the best incentives, you can decide now. If I understand the announcement correctly, it doesn’t matter. That’s right, no store exclusives. Since all of the goodies are in game bonuses, I’m actually assuming you’ll have a code packed into the box for the first printing of copies – meaning you may not have to actually preorder, but why risk it? The bonuses are: laser sight for the AK-47, expanded clips for the Para-9 and G-MAL, creepy crawler and carpet bomb kickbacks, and boost to health regeneration. Clearly, some of those are multiplayer benefits only, but I have an idea that even the expanded clips and health boosts won’t work in single player. Which is fine, no reason to make the game too easy. But it clearly means preorder players will have a signifcant advantage in online matches. Besides all of that, there is also a special edition launching with the game was well. That version comes with its own exclusive multiplayer bonuses, though its mostly cosmetic: an avatar, AK-47 appearance, taunt, cash multiplier, and avatar accessories. The physical bonuses to the special edition are a Drake figurine, replica belt buckle, and a sweet replica of Francis Drake’s ring necklace.

Operation Flashpoint: Red River releases today. If you’re picking that up, keep your eyes on your online marketplace at the end of the month as well. The first DLC pack, The Valley of Death,  has been announced for about $7.00 (or equivalent points). The pack comes with Combat Sweep, CSAR, Last Stand, and Rolling Thunder missions, two of each.

I mentioned last week that Activision had made some announcements about Call of Duty: Elite. Apparently they got sick of the hate mail accusing them of charging for stuff that other games give free. So they’ve elucidated what comes with the free tier of service in the program, which is actually pretty expansive:

1. Elite access through web, console, and mobile apps for iOS and Android
2. Thousands of stats, charts, and graphics
3. Custom leaderboards, letting you track only the players you want
4. “Heat” map analysis, showing you the when, where, and how you killed or died for each match
5. Situational weapons performance – helps you learn what weapons to use when and where
6. Theater mode to upload and share your game videos
7. Learn about weapons and customize your loadout from the web or your smartphone
8. Friend groups and player finder function to meet other players with similar interests, plus Clanning
9. Integrate with your Facebook friends, or be auto-grouped based on your Facebook profile
10. Tracking across all games in the franchise from Black Ops on

Seriously, I’m not much for FPS or multiplayer, but this sounds like an amazing free service. They’ll need to offer some pretty impressive extras if they plan to charge for more than that list of benefits. I still don’t trust Activision’s business practices, but it seems like this is one frnachise they really want to treat well. The service is scheduled to begin in November, but some Black Ops players will be getting invites to the beta that begins on July 14th. If you get into the beta, please be sure to send us your thoughts.

And while you’re thinking about one of the best shooters in the business, we might as well transition to big E3 news by talking about the shooter that basically redefined the genre. The original Halo is getting the remastering treatment as has long been rumored. I’m hardly the biggest Halo ‘bot around though, so if you want to learn more about Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary click here. Oh yeah. That won’t be enough for the biggest fans though. So you should click here to read Arse-bot’s account of the Halo 4 reveal.

I apologize for the lack of details, but I just realized how swamped E3 is going to make VGQH this week. To clean things up, you’re getting stuck with just bullet points on anything that didn’t come with awesome details.

Starting with EA’s press conference:

• Bioware showed a Mass Effect 3 gameplay demo. Shepard working a turret on rails against a Reaper walker. Awesome. Street date confirmed as March 6, 2012.
• Need for Speed The Run will feature Autolog. Social features built in. Taking a page from GTA’s playbook, on foot action outside the car, inclduing stealing cop cars.
• EA is publishing Insomniac’s first multi-platform game, Overstrike. It’s a futuristic spy game full of Insomniac’s style of humor. If you don’t play on Sony consoles, you’ve been missing out on this developer. Keep your eyes on this game.
• FIFA 12 has a new feature, Football Club. I’m confused. Looks like fantasy soccer that utilizes in-game actions and real-world happenings to move you up an MMO-style progress scale.
• Battlefield 3 is coming October 25, 2011. Beta in September. Will feature a Battlelog, similar to CoD Elite, but free.

 Next up is the Ubisoft conference:

• Michel Ancel showed a Rayman Origins demo. Four player co-op. This holiday season.
• Far Cry 3 announced. Looks pretty. 2012.
• Brothers in Arms: Furious Four coming from Gearbox. Four booze-hounding irreverent bastards co-opping all over Nazi pigs in WWII.
• Rocksmith’s ridiculously popular Wii title is going multiplatform in October for Just Dance 3. It will be Kinect and Move-enabled on 360 and PS3, respectively.
• Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is getting a game tie-in. Platforming and vehicle sequences. Three playable characters: Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock.
• Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking is coming to Kinect on November 8, 2011. It’s the minigame collection you expect, but it also features augmented reality. Because you really want those freaky creatures in your house.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations needs a detailed summary. Ezio is going very gray as he travels to Constantinople. But he’s still badass enough to take on an army. Until his hidden blades break as he has visions of Altair. Lots of bombs, aiming is similar to Gears of War. Remote or timed charges can knock down entire buildings. The demo showed Ezio ziplining onto a ship where burned everything in sight with a mounted flamethrower and escaped by jumping from ship to ship. Mysterious ending to the demo showed a mysterious, lighted arch. Can we say Stargate? Release date of November 15, 2011 was announced. A Special Edition will include one single player and two multiplayer costumes.

Microsoft recap is heavy on Kinect, as expected:

• Great demo of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. November 8, 2011. DLC is still a 360 timed exclusive.
• Tomb Raider didn’t really show anything the press hadn’t already seen. Still gorgeous. Still grittier. Fall 2011.
• Tiger Woods, FIFA, Madden, and one more EA Sports game this year will be Kinect-enabled.
• Give orders and choose dialogue options in Mass Effect 3 with the Kinect. I still don’t understand why you can’t just do this with a regular gaming mic. Garrus, Mordin Solus, and Liara were all seen with Shepard.
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and all upcoming Tom Clancy games will use Kinect. This one showed voice and gesture commands customizing and test firing weapons.
• New features were announced for the dashboard. Exciting stuff coming Holiday 2011. YouTube, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Bing, Live TV! All integrated with Kinect commands.
• Dana White says UFC Pay-Per-Views are coming to 360. Use Kinect to get more stats, videos, etc. Online functionality to compete at “predicting outcomes” with your friends. Just say it, integrated gambling.
• Exclusive games section:
• Killer Gears of War 3 demo with Ice T and Cliffy B. Use your allies’ armor as cover.
• Formerly Codename: Kingdoms, Ryse is a first-person, Kinect enabled hack and slash.
• Halo remake as mentioned above.
• Forza Motorsport 4 dated for October 4, 2011. Kinect enabled head tracking and voice controls.
• Fable: The Journey (2012) also Kinect-powered. Control your wagon, cast spells. Not much shown but looked like it was on rails. Maybe that’s the whole game, or it could be just that sequence.
• Minecraft will be on consoles later this year. 360 and Kinect exclusive.
• Kinect Disneyland Adventures basically has you touring Disney parks on your console in a series of minigames. Hopefully it’s fully realistic, with screaming children bothering you while you stand still for two hours at a time waiting for a 30 second game to load. Holiday 2011.
• Star Wars Kinect also mentioned above.
• Nothing new about Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. Still looks great though. Fall 2011.
• Kinect Fun Labs announced and released. Free addition to the Dashboard. Make your avatar actually look like you. Scan real world items into a virtual world. Edit 3D photos. Looks fun.
• Kinect Sports Season 2 shown. Baseball, Darts, Football, Golf, Skiing, Tennis. Voice and gesture controls.
• Dance Central 2 adds voice controls. Simultaneous multiplayer. Import songs from the first game into the second.

Highlights from Sony’s press event:

• Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was demoed. Nothing new to say. Still pretty, still looks fun. Mentioned the multiplayer beta on June 28th. There’s a Subway tie-in.
• A few minutes of Resistance 3 in 3D were shown. Also announced a Move intro package with the game, a Sharpshooter, Move controller, and Eye camera for $150. September 6, 2011.
• Both PSP God of War games are being collected on one blu-ray for God of War: Origins. September 2011.
• Also in September 2011, ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection.
• A Playstation brand 3D TV is coming this fall. For $500, you’ll get a 24″ screen that splits for co-op, one pair of glasses (additional glasses, $70), an HDMI cable, and Resistance 3.
• NBA 2K12 will have Move-enabled passing. They even had Kobe showing off the gimmick. October 4, 2011.
• The legendary raccoon thief is back. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is coming next year. Looks like Dmitri will be back too.
• Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest is coming in fall from the people who made Sports Champions. Looks like an actual adventure game with the glowing lollipop dildo. You play as a skeleton. You have medieval weapons but no inventory system.
• EVE Online has an FPS coming to PS3 in Spring 2012. You’ll be able to connect to the PC and the NGP/Vita (see below), but they weren’t clear how. Closed beta coming this holiday.
• Saints Row the Third will have an exclusive multiplayer mode on PS3.
• You can use your Move controller as a phaser in the above-mentioned Star Trek game.
• The SSX reboot will have an exclusive Mt. Fuji level on PS3. The level has 10 different runs.
• PS3 also has seven exclusive cars on disc for Need for Speed: The Run.
• Battlefield 3 will come with the PSN version of Battlefield 1943.
• BioShock Infinite is Move-enabled. It also comes with the first Bioshock (not Move-enabled).
• And here’s a special section about the next handheld from Sony:
• For some reason the NGP is now being called Vita. That’s stupid they should change it back. Or just start calling it “excess inventory.”
• Wi-Fi only version is $250. 3G version (AT&T exclusive) is $300. Coming Holiday 2011.
• A new function was announced called Near. Very little detail, but I think I’ve seen it before when it was called StreetPass.
• There is a Bioshock project in the works for NGP/Vita.
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss was mentioned. Guide Drake up walls with touch-based “painted” path. Also can tap the screen for stealth takedowns.
• Ruin is a dungeon-crawling RPG. Biggest feature is cloud saves that let you continue your game from PS3 or Vita.
• Wipeout 2048 has similar cross-play function.
• A new version, not a port, of ModNation Racers will make track creation easier with touch controls. Build mountains with your fingertip.
• Similarly, a new Little Big Planet will have all the LBP2 functions and let you swap costumes with PS3 users.
• Street Fighter x Tekken will be on the handheld with Cole McGrath of inFamous as a playable character.

 Miscellaneous E3 info:

• Leedmees is coming from Konami. It’s a Kinect controlled game much like Lemmings and is coming to XBLA.
• Also coming to XBLA is Trials Evolution. It’s moving Trials HD outside with day/night cycles, multiplayer, and a simplified method of sharing tracks.

Sorry for the giant wall of text at the end there. They fly through these press conferences so fast it’s hard to capture anything but the basics. More details will be forthcoming as the press gets some one on one time with the developers and publishers. Friday’s edition will probably be another massive update, hopefully with a little more clarity.

Sony was gracious enough to let us embed the live stream of their E3 event! Who knows what they’re going to bring to the table? Are they going to supplicate themselves? Will they just say “sorry” and move on? Will they have anything spectacular on the docket? It’s going to start very soon, so let’s get to it and find out!

Multiplatform:
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters
Operation Flashpoint: Red River
Red Faction Armageddon

Sony PS3:
inFAMOUS 2
Kevin Van Dam Fishing

Seriously, inFAMOUS 2 is the reason you’ve been saving your money for the last few weeks. Between this and Uncharted 3 coming in fall, you have two good reasons to buy a PS3 if you haven’t already. Despite the problems Sony’s had recently, the first inFamous was one of my favorite games this console generation and I can’t be more excited for this sequel. And if you haven’t played the first game but already had a PSN account prior to April 20, 2011 you can download it free until July 3rd as part of the Welcome Back program.

There are two other games worth a look this week: Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters and Red Faction Armageddon. The first is probably just a crappy licensed title like games based on comic movies always are, but this is Big Shiny Robot! and all of us fangeeks (which is the non-gender-specific term for “fanboy”) want to play it anyway. The second looks like an interesting update for the franchise. It’s still open world, but it seems much more claustrophobic, with much of the action taking place in underground caves and chambers, as opposed to the vast, open areas of Mars in Guerrilla.

Considering those three games, this is a pretty big week. Makes me wonder why those other two games are even going to bother. But I guess somebody somewhere can’t actually get to a lake so this is the best fishing experience they’re going to get.

Hello and welcome to the first edition of VGQH for June 2011. Like that really matters. The important thing is that it’s actually the last edition before this year’s E3 destroys the squishy stuff in your skull. While that could mean that this will be full of salad and no meat since the industry is saving the big news for next week, I’ve actually come across some pretty cool information.

You may have heard about Project Beachhead from Activision and have been wondering what it is. They’ve finally unveiled it as Call of Duty: Elite. While it is software, it is not actually a standalone game. It’s actually a subscription based service that tracks your CoD play across multiple platforms and games. The service has been tracking stats since the release of Black Ops in 2010. Elite doesn’t just track stats either. It also gives tips (specific to your play style, location and nature of death, typical loadout, etc.), clan support, and offers prizes for players. Prize competitions could be things like best headshot video or artistic screenshot, with prizes ranging from Starbucks gift cards to iPad 2s. The price has not been announced but it does appear there will be at least two pricing tiers, free and premium. The paid service will include leagues, clans, free Modern Warfare 3 DLC, and other benefits. You should be seeing a beta this summer, with full release in fall. [If this all looks familiar you’ve probably already been using bungie.net or Bungie Pro.]

If you enjoy online multiplayer, but not the FPS variety, you might want to get in on the Uncharted 3 beta. The beta will include two maps, the Airfield and the Chateau – both of which change throughout the round. Only having two maps won’t limit variability too much though, as it will come with nine different modes (Team Deathmatch, 3-Team Deathmatch, Team Objective, Free For All, Plunder, High Stakes, and three unidentified co-op games). Playable characters include Drake, Sully, various treasure hunters, and customizable pirates. To mix it up during matches, one minute “events” can begin to change the flow – like adding a higher point bounty to one player. The open beta will run July 4th to July 13th. You can get early access on June 28th from buying inFAMOUS 2 or joining PlayStation Plus (which you’ll have free for 30 days with the Welcome Back program).

Throttling back a bit from the ever exciting world of online multiplayer, Zombie Games (best known for Blacklight: Tango Down) has made a pretty big announcement about their next downloadable game. Partnering with Top Cow they’ll be bringing the Hunter-Killer franchise to XBLA and PSN. Very little information is available right now, but I’d expect to hear some news from E3. The game is described as being an “all out Ultras battle.”

Remember last issue when I told you it looked like Carmageddon was making a comeback? It’s true. With the franchise now back in the hands of the original developer, Stainless Games, Carmageddon: Reincarnation “will feature the same black humour and comic violence that made the original game such a success,” according to Neil Barnden (Executive Director and Founder for Stainless). The game is still in the early stages, but they are seeking a publisher to bring the game to your download service next year.

We haven’t heard much about Aliens: Colonial Marines since it was announced, and I still dont’ have much now. But I would expect more next week as SEGA and Gearbox have announced they will be showing it off at E3. They’ve also confirmed it for Spring 2012. Based on the enthusiasm from the developers, this looks like a must buy for any fan of the series, as well as most fans of action shooters and co-op.

If you enjoyed playing as War in Darksiders, I’ve got good news for you. Darksiders 2 is coming in 2012. In a story that runs parallel to the first game, the sequel will see players controlling a new character, Death. Danny Bilson, VP of Core Games, says they “have taken the best parts of Darksiders and improved on them with a host of new mechanics and features. You will see great things from this epic game.” You’ll find more information in the cover story for the next issue of Game Informer and you should probably pay attention for more news from E3. What I’m really curious to see is how they plan to make additional games based on Famine and Pestilence, the dullest of the Four.

There are few things more exciting than news about Batman: Arkham City. The latest bit may be the most exciting news yet. Not that playing as Batman could ever get boring, but just in case you need a little change up, Rocksteady’s just announced that you’ll be picking up as Catwoman for some of the game. Selina will have her own set of moves and weapons, including her signature whip and claws, as well as a bolo and even improv weapons like steel pipes. And this isn’t just a challenge map character like Joker was on the PS3, her story will actually comprise about 10% of the overall game. I have no idea what she’s after, but Selina Kyle is never completely selfless. She definitely has an agenda. Personally, I never thought I could get this excited to be a pussy in a Batman game.

Good news everybody! If you haven’t completely given up on Sony yet, the PlayStation Store is back. And rumors of semi-weekly updates to get it current were false. That means it’s back with a ridiculously massive update. I’m not listing everything here but I will give you some highlights: “Honest Hearts” for Fallout: New Vegas, demos for Red Faction: Armageddon and MotorStorm: Apocalypse, a full game trial for Dante’s Inferno, Oddworld: Abe’s Exxodus, Back to the Future episode 3, the Fantastic Four table for Marvel Pinball (which I love even though I’m terrible), 40 songs for Rock Band 3 (not counting plenty more from RBN), and a veritable plethora of videos, themes, avatars, etc. That’s just for PS3 too. You’ll also find plenty of new items for your PSP, particularly for Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy. Check the PlayStation Blog for a full list. Unfortunately the Welcome Back package is still getting final testing so you won’t get those benefits quite yet. There will be an additional update of new content today and updates will be back to normal starting June 8th.

If you’re not older than video games themselves, you may not remember a little game from 1982 known as Choplifter. But that’s okay. Because you’ll soon get to experience Choplifter HD on PC and PSN (with XBLA likely to follow at a later time). The game casts you as a helicopter rescue pilot working up the ranks. You’ll get a variety of helicopters in a healthy mix of real world rescues and fantasy missions (zombies, of course). Series creator Dan Gorlin is on board with inXile Entertainment’s relaunch of the franchise. You can get your rotors spinning this fall.

Speaking of old franchises being done in HD, Konami dropped a hell of a bomb yesterday, especially if you like Hideo Kojima (and who doesn’t). Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, and Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker (but not the first MGS or its Gamecube remake, Twin Snakes) are being re-released as Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. If you’ve still got your PSP save of Peace Walker, hang onto it. The HD version will connect with this in some way on PS3. But that’s not all. Zone of the Enders HD Collection is also on its way, remastering the first game and The 2nd Runner. But wait, there’s more. Konami also has plans for a Silent Hill HD Collection with remastered versions of the second and third games in the franchise. All three collections are planned for PS3 and 360 in 2012.

As a final note on E3, we’ve got the list from Square Enix on everything they’ll be showing. It’s a pretty diverse mix so you’re bound to find something to catch your eye. I can think of at least three games not on this list I would expect to them show. I mean it is Square Enix, and they’re flagship title isn’t here:

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Dead Island
• Dungeon Siege III
• Wakfu
• Heroes of Ruin

It looks like that wraps this final pre-E3 issue. I’ve certainly missed something, but we’re all about to be overloaded next week anyway.