I earned my platinum trophy on inFAMOUS 2 last night. What a great game. After viewing both the positive and evil karma endings, without spoilers, I think it’s safe to say that an inFAMOUS 3 should be pretty much out of the question. It’s so hard to believe that anyone would just end such a successful franchise, but it would be refreshing. Movies, TV, games, comics, all of these media seem to suffer from the same problem. Nobody wants to end on a high note if they can keep making money. Oh well, on to the news, which is chock full of comic goodness.

After the leaked trophy list and additional artwork, Rocksteady has finally made an official announcement regarding Nightwing in Batman: Arkham City. Nightwing will be playable in all challenge maps, including two add-ons – Wayne Manor and Main Hall. He also has his own special moves and gadgets, taking full advantage of his twin fighting sticks. As with the other characters, you can expect at least one additional (animated) skin. You can download Nightwing, and Robin if you don’t get him through pre-order, on November 22nd for $6.99 each. The additional skins for Batman himself that have been spread around to retailers across the world will also be available December 6th for $4.99. The game will be out on Tuesday, October 18th.

If you like your playboys a little less stealthy, and little more… well, smarmy, there’s good news on the horizon. Replay Games has secured the rights to Leisure Suit Larry and have promised HD remakes for your download service, as well as new adventures for the lovable Larry Laffer. Leisure Suit Larry In The Land Of The Lounge Lizards will be released to PSN and XBLA “as soon as it’s suitably awesome!” Which is expected to be fourth quarter of 2012. The best part of this news is that Al Lowe, Larry’s creator, is back on the job, overseeing all Larry productions in his new home at Replay. Development will be handled by Adventure-Mob.

If you’re looking forward to Final Fantasy XIII-2, you may want to load up on Microsoft Points or PSN Cards. Square Enix is planning a strong amount of DLC for the upcoming RPG. And they’re not just talking extra costumes and weapons, though they’ll have those too. Yoshinori Kitase, Producer, recently told a Japanese gaming magazine, Dengeki Playstation, that they’re planning one or two add-ons per month. It’s when he went on that I got confused. Kitase mentioned that the player may have to kill a certain enemy or accomplish some other goal to gain a DLC item. So we’re paying for a chance to unlock an item, not for the item itself? I’m hoping something is lost in translation. I’m thinking if we buy an extra mission, one of the rewards for the mission would be special items. That’s much more like the Fallout 3/New Vegas model. But Japanese gamers and developers don’t always think the same as their Western counterparts. We’ll find out when the game releases in Japan in December. But it won’t be relevant for the rest of us until January 31st.

You may be wondering why I said you want to stock up on PSN cards in that last story. Why wouldn’t you just use your credit card? Remember that fiasco where Sony had been hacked and some users information was breached? No, not that one from Spring of this year. The one that happened earlier this week. In case you missed it, 93,000 Sony accounts were hacked. Click here to read about it in more detail.

When you bought the inFamous 2 Special Edition, you were supposed to get early access to the Uncharted 3 beta. Turns out, because of Sony’ first hacking breach, everyone ended up with PS+ and got in at the same time. Despite that, it was a cool bonus. One of Sony’s flagship franchises hooked you up with the beta for another one of their flagship franchises. Now it’s Drake’s time to return the favor. If you buy a new copy of Uncharted 3 (starting November 1st) you’ll get a voucher code for early acces to Starhawk‘s multiplayer beta. No word yet on when that early access will begin, but the public beta is scheduled for “early 2012.” Which means you could possibly be getting a start on Starhawk as a nice Christmas present.

If you’re itching for details on Gran Turismo 5‘s DLC pack coming next week, here they are:

• The Racing Pack: 12 new cars (Dodge, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota), three custom carts, Red Bull X2011 Prototype, $7.99
• The Course Pack: Belgian Spa-Francorchamps track, indoor karting arena, $4.99
• The Special Paint Pack: 100 extra paint colors and finishes (incl. aluminum, chrome, and matte), $1.99
• The Racing Gear Pack: 25 new helmets, 15 race suits, Simpson helmets, Alpinestars GP1 overalls, plus famous NASCAR and WRC driver gear, $2.99
• The Complete Pack: All four of the above, $11.99 (discount planned for PS+)

Looking for the next title in the list of games no one wants? Here it is: Men in Black III. You have no idea how much I wish I were kidding. But it’s going to be a major blockbuster next year, it requires a video game, doesn’t it? I don’t suppose Activision would consider actually making this game fun would they? It looks like it could have some awesome third person shooter gunplay, a la Mass Effect, but it probably won’t. I’m expecting it to be on the same level of quality as the last two travesties in the series. It’s scheduled for Spring 2012, near the release of the film, so there will at least be some good games in the time frame.

There is at least one movie tie-in game on the 2012 horizon that could be pretty good though, The Amazing Spider-Man. I don’t think anyone ever believed there wouldn’t be a tie-in for the web slinger’s latest film outing, but its existence was apparently confirmed by a poster seen at New York Comic-Con. I don’t have a super-great picure of it, but rest assured, the Activision and Beenox logos are on the poster, and you can just barely see the Rating Pending logo on the bottom left. Beenox is the developer who recently overhauled the Spidey gaming franchise with Shattered Dimensions and Edge of Time. Hopefully tying a game in with a movie won’t affect their already proven formula too much. Expect the game to release around the same time as the film, July 4th, 2012.

In other Marvel news, Zen Studios, makers of Zen Pinball and Pinball FX (depending on your console), announced at San Diego Comic-Con that they had four more tables coming to their popular line of Marvel Pinball. Called the Vengeance and Virtue pack, the plan is for two Vengeance tables and two Virtue tables. The first half of the Vengeance team has been announced as the Spirit of Vengeance himself, Ghost Rider. But who’s the other half? My guess is Punisher. And who are the two Virtue characters? We’ll know one of them tomorrow. At the NYCC Marvel panel, from 1:15-2:15 Saturday, they will be making the announcement of the first Virtue table. If you aren’t bloodhounding everything that comes out of NYCC, just check back here on Tuesday. I’ll have the update. And, as if that isn’t enough, Zen Studios has also announced that Marvel Pinball is coming to the PlayStation Vita whenever it is the new handheld launches. And it’s going to be a launch title.

Comedy Central’s latest gaming venture is South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge. You’ll be able to play as Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny with up to four players, locally or online. The South Park kids will be battling Scott Tenorman and his Ginger army in Spring 2012, only on XBLA.

In other news on the downloadable front, Payday: The Heist (PSN exclusive) and “The Missing Link” add-on for Deus Ex: Human Revolution have both been listed for release on October 18th. Payday is a first-person co-op shooter that is included free for anyone who purchased all four PSN Play titles. It’s $20 if you haven’t. The Deus Ex DLC expands on Adam Jensen’s time aboard the Belltower freighter and will cost about $15.

That wraps it up today. Come on back on Tuesday for another round of gaming news. I’ll be sure to include everything I can find from NYCC.

As if the PSN debacle earlier this year wasn’t enough, Sony has announced that 93,000 of their online accounts have been accessed by a(n) unauthorized user(s). That’s a big number, but 93,000 actually makes up less than one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of their total user base. Of the 93,000 accounts breached, 60,000 are from PlayStation Network (PSN) and Sony Entertainment Network (SEN). The other 33,000 are from Sony Online Entertainment (SOE).

Sony has locked out all of the affected accounts and are investigating the security breach. Philip Reitinger, VP & Chief Information Security Officer for Sony Group, assures that very little damage has been done:

“Only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked. We are currently reviewing those accounts for unauthorized access, and will provide more updates as we have them. Please note, if you have a credit card associated with your account, your credit card number is not at risk. We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorised purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet.

I’m not privy to any more details, but that actually does reassure me a little. The way I read this statement, Sony had enough early notification of the breach to lock out most of the accounts before any unauthorized purchases were made. It’s also important to note that it appears their recent security upgrades to separate users’ credit card information from the rest of the account was successful. Reitinger’s statement indicates that only the funds currently in the accounts’ wallets was at risk, not the owners’ credit card information. If you were one of the unlucky 0.1%, and, even more unlucky, had additional activity prior to lockout of your account, they’re going to work with you to restore those lost funds. Which is all well and good, except you still had your account hacked less than a year after Sony had one of the most extensive hacking cases to date!

I’m glad to see Sony has taken steps to protect our information. I’m glad to know that they were able to freeze these accounts prior to any real damage being done. I’m glad they are taking swift and public action, not trying to minimize the damge (unless, of course, they are and I don’t know it yet). But this is pretty terrible. After the devastating PSN attack earlier this year, Sony made a lot of promises about their security upgrades. While I realize no system is 100% safe, I would expect Sony to have the type of security that would make “too big to fail” banks jealous. If only just to show their commitment to data protection.

In the meantime, for those of us not affected, let’s hope Sony is more vigilant and has taken further steps to prevent this from affecting us in the future. For those who were affected already, you should be seeing an email from Sony informing you that you’ll need to change your password. Remember, a strong password is your primary defense against intrusion, since you clearly can’t count on everyone’s internal security. Use a good mix of letters and numbers. Include symbols if they’re allowed. Mix up your upper and lower cases. I know how big of a pain it can be to have separate passwords for all of your accounts, but it’s a good safety measure. If you have “pa$$w3rd” to protect both your email and your PSN account, you’ve now had both of them breached. I hope it wasn’t your online banking password too.

EDIT: Sony has since clarified that the attempted breach came from an individual or group that were testing a massive number of log-ins with passwords against their network. Because of the number of failed attempts, it appears the information was not gathered from their databases. It would appear the 93,000 accounts breached used the same login and password combination on whatever service is the source of their information. Under these circumstances, I feel that Sony’s response time is actually quite admirable. And it appears the advice from my last paragraph is more apt than I had expected.

Everyone gets a treat this week. We’re skipping my editorial introduction and jumping straight to the news:

As I mentioned a little while ago, Shank 2 is coming to your download service early next year. Over on the Shank Blog they’ve been supplying plenty of details about the sequel, along with some video and screen shots. Among the upgrades you’ll find in the franchise’s second title are a Survival Mode where you can team up with a friend to outlast hordes of enemies, more weapons in combat (plus the ability to use counter moves, forcing an opponents weapon against them), and more destructible environments.

As we get closer to the release of Hitman: Absolution, I’ve been slowly remembering all the things that made this such a fun series from beginning. But when it was first announced, all I could remember was the agonizing difficulty and the sheer insanity of trying to get the perfect kill, making it look like an accident and not harming anyone other than the intended target. In fact, my memory of the difficulty actually made me think twice about whether or not I would play this iteration. And it seems there is a contingent of gamers who think exactly the opposite. With the announcement of some of Agent 47’s new abilities and more options for run and gunning, many hardcore gamers were quite vocal about their disppointment. Square and IO have put their fears to rest. Hakan Abrak, Lead Producer, has explained there will be hardcore difficulty mode that really focuses on the precision of being a “Silent Assassin.” According to Abrak, “There’s a huge replayability value in it and we have some features in the game I cannot speak about that will enhance this and make this easier, and heighten the replayability value for the hardcore players as well.” Sounds like they’re working to cover all of their bases. If you like to collect Trophies and Achievements, you’ll need those hardcore assassin skills.

As mentioned last week, and multiple times over the last several months, rumors still abound over the possibility of multiplayer in Mass Effect 3. Casey Hudson of BioWare has officially confirmed that co-op multiplayer will be in the game. [And let me just express how far I think our world has fallen when “official” announcements take place on Facebook.] “Rest assured, it’s nothing of what you’ve feared,” explained Hudson. Yet the details look like exactly what I’ve feared. The main gist is four-player online co-op where you can choose from four classes to lead an elite squad to retake key galactic positions. Multiplayer progress will have a direct impact on your single player campaign. Sure, you can still get the “optimal, complete ending” without multiplayer, according to BioWare. But is that really believable? Multiplayer may not affect my story, but if I can see wide swaths of the galaxy that I haven’t protected, I’m not going to feel it’s complete. That’s like saying it won’t affect GTA IV‘s story if you don’t kill all those pigeons. It doesn’t, but have you really completed the game if you don’t kill them? Of course, my concern has never been that I would be forced to play co-op instead of single player. I’m more worried that they’ll put so much effort into the new modes that the core experience won’t get the development attention it deserves. BioWare has tried to reassure others with that concern by announcing they have two different development teams working separately (but together) on both the multiplayer and single player experiences, not one team for each project. How is that supposed to make me feel better? It’s quite obvious I’m skeptical and pessimistic. I encourage you to read the FAQ posted on the BioWare forums to get it all with their spin. Regardless of my trepidation, I’ll still be picking this game up on March 6, 2012.

The latest casualty in the wide world of video game delays is Silent Hill: Downpour. Originally planned for November 4th, no explanation has been made for the push to Second Quarter 2012. It’s very likely they’re just looking for that extra level of polish or cleaning up some minor glitches. Those are typical of late game delays. My guess? They actually looked at the market they were entering and made an economic decision to avoid some of the huge titles coming and move into the more open market of Spring.

The PlayStation Blog recently exposed a new addition to the PSN version of Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken, a couch co-op mode. I was expecting something along the lines of Contra, but their description takes it to a totally different place. The co-op characters, a group of parakeets (budgies) known as the Dirty Half-Dozen, are significantly smaller than the main game’s Coq of War. Meaning they’ll have to stand on each other’s shoulders to reach certain areas and combat some enemies. The bottom budgie will control movement, while the top one acts as a sort of turret. When they first started working on co-op, it was sort of designed as just a tacked on selling point. But once they got started, it expanded. This is now a fully featured separate mode with new levels, new puzzles, and its own back story. If you’re looking for that $10 rebate after spending $60 on PSN this month, this looks to be a good addition. It releases October 18th.

Now do you see why we skipped my editorial introduction? It’s because I had enough of a rant in the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer story. Come back Friday for more gaming news.

Looking for your first taste of Need for Speed: The Run? The demo will be hitting your download service on October 18th. Two pieces of the Frisco to New York course will be available, California’s Desert Hills and Colorado’s Independence Pass. I’ve been over Independence Pass in the snow. I’ll be curious to see how well EA Black Box is able to recreate it. Of course, the demo won’t recreate my experience, as you’ll be doing it in Lamborghini Gallardo or Porsche 911. I did it in a rented Toyota Yaris with my wife in the passenger seat clutching a duckie pillow and cursing my ancestry for at least seven generations. The full game will be available November 15th.

Preorder incentives have been announced for The Darkness II. It appears the bonuses are not retailer specific. Rather, the preorder simply gives you a free upgrade to the Limited Edition. Included in this edition are the “Crazy Abdul” skin for your Darkling minion, the Gourmet Hearts ability (bonus for eating hearts), Relic Hunter ability (helps to locate collectibles), and a code for free digital downloads of Volumes 1 and 2 of the digital comic. Not a bad addition just for knowing you want it before it releases in February.

As mentioned in Tuesday’s edition of VGQH, it looked like Nightwing was going to be making an appearance in the much-anticipated Batman: Arkham City. As expected, Rocksteady has confirmed that appearance with pictures of his alpha build (looks kinda emo, but whatever). The most recent issue of PS3’s Qore also included a new video revealing the Mad Hatter as a villain, alongside his white rabbit henchmen. This only has me even more excited for October 18th.

If you like really hard puzzles and Assassin’s Creed Revelations, Ubisoft is giving you a chance at the trip of a lifetime. Head on over the their contest website and sign up. You’ll get one Strand from the Animus every seven days, and you’ll get one chance to solve the Strand each day. The contest ends November 8th. The winner will get a four night trip for two to Istanbul (flights and £500 spending money included). I don’t know about my puzzle skills, but for that kind of opportunity, I’m definitely giving it a try.

A recent issue of VGQH mentioned a European trademark application for Yakuza: Dead Souls, which we speculated was a localization of Yakuza: Of the End. The speculation was correct, as SEGA has confirmed the title is making its way west. The Japanese DLC will be included as well as a new mini-game, Pachislot. The game is scheduled for for March 2012, but if you have a Japanese PSN account you can play the demo now.

Another item that was covered some time ago was the upcoming DLC for Duke Nukem Forever, “Hail to the Icons.” The expansion, which includes three new modes and four new maps liberally taken from well-known multiplayer franchises, has been given a release date of October 11th. Yeah, that’s next week. It’ll set you back $9.99 for regular people. First Access Club Members get it free.

Sony had an awesome teaser for something last week. We’ve finally seen it and you can too, right here on Big Shiny Robot! Turns out it was an advertisement for an advertisement. But if the teaser was awesome, the full ad is even better. Somehow they managed to basically make a short film that almost brought a tear to my eye and made me proud of all the time I waste playing games. It begs the question, if I don’t stop that plague in New Marais, or get Drake out of a tight spot, what will become of them?

Transformers games have been a mixed bag over the years. Developer High Moon made one of the best by telling us the story of the Autobots and Decepticons before they came to earth in War for Cybertron. They’re now set to follow that up with their next entry, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. I have very little information on it, as the developers have given Game Informer the exclusive premiere of the game. What I do have is the two covers for the November issue of the magazine. As soon as I get more details, you’ll find it in a later edition of VGQH.

Remember how Warhammer 40k: Space Marine was supposed to have four player co-op, but it didn’t? Relic and THQ were quite open about wanting to release the game even though that mode wasn’t ready yet, with the promise that co-op DLC would come soon after release and would be free. They are holding to that message. You’ll be able to download the free “Exterminatus” co-op add-on starting October 25th. This gives you three character classes from which to choose and two scenarios in multiple arenas. XP earned in co-op does transfer to competitive multiplayer. Andy Lang, Producer, says they are “…working on some more DLC.”

Just for fun, I thought I would end this edition with some updates from my GameFly GameQ. My top five games requested are 1. Spider-Man: Edge of Time, 2. X-Men Destiny, 3. Captain America: Super Soldier, 4. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game, and 5. Catherine. Hmmm, those first three seem to be making a pattern. Someone might get the idea I like Marvel comics. Collectively, the user ratings for my Top 5 average 7.0. X-Men Destiny is lowest with a 5.2, and LEGO PotC is highest at 7.8. Alternatively, I keep my “coming soon” games at the bottom of the list until they release. It says something about this time of year that I currently have eight games in this section: Batman: Arkham City (10/18/11), Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (11/1/11), LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7 (11/11/11), Assassin’s Creed Revelations (11/15/11), SSX (1/24/12), Mass Effect 3 (3/6/12), Tomb Raider (TBD), and Hitman Absolution (TBD). I won’t necessarily wait for GameFly on all of those, it’s just a good way to keep track of everything I’m awaiting. Anything with really high replay value I’ll probably end buying – meaning Mass Effect 3 is basically preordered.

Do you have GameFly? What’s in your Top 5?

I hope the BSR! readers are getting to this one early, or it might not get read at all. Once the game stores open and everyone gets off work today, I have no doubt all the regulars will be swinging and kicking two Spider-Men around a couple different versions of New York City in Shattered Dimensions. I know I will be as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. Before that, the news:

As if you weren’t disappointed enough with Duke Nukem Forever, now it’s been announced that another over the top action star FPS has been delayed. Actually, that’s probably an unfair comparison. I never liked Duke and his newest game ranks about where I expected. On the other hand, I’m not really familiar with Serious Sam, so I can’t really judge. Regardless, Serious Sam 3: BFE has been delayed. It won’t make its planned date of October 18th, slipping instead to November 22nd. So, not a massive delay. I always wonder about these late postponements though. Is it a workable game that just doesn’t meet the developers pursuit of perfection, or is it terrible and this is their last ditch effort to make it useable? According to Alan Ladavac, lead programmer at developer Croteam, it’s the former:

“We have been working very hard on SS3 all the way, and especially in these recent months trying to make it for the promised October 18th.

“In the past few days, we did some reassessments, based both on internal results, and on beta testing feedback, and determined that we would want to do some more gameplay tuning, bugfixing and optimization – more than would be possible within the given timeframe.

“This is the game that we have invested a lot of love and work into, and one that we know the series’ fans are expecting a lot from. So we decided it needed one extra month of development time.

“One month it is – one month of extra tuning and polish that Serious Sam 3 deserves if we really love it and want it to be a great game.”

But delays are nothing unusual in the gaming industry, and Sam isn’t the only one being postponed this week. The first DLC pack for Dead Island has been pushed to an undisclosed date. Apparently some of the post-release tweaks have delayed the code for “Bloodbath Arena.” The new release date should be announced this week.

Medieval hack-n-slasher Cursed Crusade has also been pushed back two weeks in the U.S. While it’s still planned for October 7th in the U.K., this side of the Atlantic will be waiting until October 25th. The game looks interesting enough, but its lack of marketing and even word of mouth doesn’t bode well for it. Releasing the game into this already packed season was probably a bad idea from the start. Delaying it until after Batman:Arkham City launches could kill this one before it ever has a chance.

Speaking of which, far from being delayed, some PS3 trophy information has leaked about Batman: Arkham City. And it hints at something very cool. The trophy information leaked under the title “Pre-Order Bundle Packs.” So you can probably guess it has something to do with Robin. It’s safe to assume that Best Buy’s exclusivity on the extra character is only a timed pre-order incentive. As has been the trend for the last few years with these bonuses, he would eventually be downloadable for everyone at an additional fee. Confirming extra trophies for it makes it obvious everyone will have their chance. But that’s not the real reveal. The big news are the two trophies for Nightwing: Nightwing Revenge – Obtain 78 medals on the original Arkham City and Nightwing Bundle Pack ranked maps (as Nightwing) and Campaign Nightwing – Obtain 114 medals on the original Arkham City and Nightwing Bundle Pack campaigns (as Nightwing). Wait a minute. Nightwing? As in Dick Grayson’s post-sidekick identity? But he isn’t in the game! And he hasn’t been announced as anyone’s pre-order incentive! Now do you see why this is such a cool reveal? Further confirmation of this addition comes from a partial list of upcoming Batman toys, including a two pack of Arkham City Nightwing and Joker. [Apologies for the poor picture, I make do with what I can get.]

Remember how there was supposed to be a free DLC pack for Portal 2? Have you been waiting and waiting? It’s here. “Peer Review” should be available on your download service starting today. You can also get the complete soundtrack, “Songs to Test By,” for free from the official website. Pick up some sweet ring tones for your Android or iPhone while you’re there.

If the amount of things being fixed is any indication of the success of a beta, Battlefield 3 has a successful run. Furthermore, they aren’t shy about sharing what they’re doing to address player concerns. Here’s the list of tweaks being made as a result of beta tester feedback:

• Fixed occasional client crash when reviving.
• Fixed killcam showing glitched area under map if your killer is dead.
• Issue with spawning on dead squad mates fixed.
• Fixed a bug where shooting at a moving enemy could cause more than the intended amount of damage.
• Crosshairs for shotguns have been replaced with a new, thinner, art.
• A subtle low health screen effect has been added.
• Tweaked scores of Medals and Service Stars.
• Tweaked the Rank progression.
• Pushing prone on console will not play the animation twice.
• Fixed loss of Squad Leader after EOR at some times.
• Framerate stability fixes.
• The 3D spotting icons has been tweaked to better match the target’s visibility. Icons will show frequently less on mostly obscured targets.
• Fixed issue with crosshair disappearing after round transition.
• Fixed issue with crosshair disappearing after trying to deploy while the countdown timer still active.
• Squad list now shows specializations chosen, VOIP activity and dead squad mates.
• Non working options in squad menu fixed: “Private” flag and “Switch Teams”.

If you’ve been following this column for any amount of time you’ve probably discovered in the last few months that I love Mass Effect and simply can’t stand teh wait for Mass Effect 3. A source of great rumor, denial, rumor, semi-confirmed, denial, more rumor is the possibility of multiplayer in the franchise. Bioware has not been secretive about its desire to have a multiplayer component to the universe, possibly an MMO or separate series, but have repeatedly stated it would not be in the third game of Shepard’s trilogy. A recent rumor that seem to actually hold a little weight, along with some testers at Gamescom saying they’ve played it, is that there might actually be a few co-op missions, but it’s unclear if this would be a separate mode or somehow tied to the main game. More recently, an ad has been seen in a South African game store that says the Collector’s Edition comes with an “Online Multiplayer Pass.” That seems pretty cut and dried to me. But, there is always the possibility for this to be EA’s newly standard online pass that could be required for something similar to the Cerberus Network from ME2. Personally, I’d like to see them finish Shepard’s series off without adding a multiplayer component. But I definitely think the universe could be expanded in a multiplayer direction. Regardless, the debate sure has the internet whiners motivated.

Sony has clearly decided to step up their game when it comes to PSN titles. The company recently invested $20 million to get exclusive games on their download service. The result is the “Only on PSN” line and we’ve got details. To start, if you spend $60 on PSN during the month of October, they’ll give you a $10 rebate next month. By the way, that’s $60 anywhere – games, DLC, video rentals, PSP comics, even a PS+ membership. Which means now is a very good time to sign up for that, especially since you get 20% off these new titles for the first week if you’re a PS+ member. So what games are we talking? Check the list from the PlayStation Blog:

• October 4
• Eufloria – An addictive ambient game of space exploration and conquest, plant growth and bio-mechanical evolution. Explore a beautifully realized universe rendered in a style that is unique and compelling. Conquer asteroids in deep space and use their resources to literally grow and nurture semi-organic plants and creatures to do your bidding.
• Rochard – A fun and original space adventure game that features a resourceful hero, ominous villains, rugged machinery, big explosions, even bigger stunts and sharp one-liners. The game tests players’ coordination and wits as they use gravity to their advantage, changing it at will to solve environmental puzzles and advance through each level.
• October 11
• Sideway: New York – Help defeat Spray, a sinister tagger who wants to dominate both Sideway and the real world in this unique sidescroller that offers you the chance to leave your mark on the city.
• October 13
• Sodium Collection – A more than $35 value available for $9.99, this PlayStation Home value pack includes the SodiumOne Pilot’s Jacket, which unlocks the full 50-level tank combat Salt Shooter game, and weapon upgrades for your SodiumOne tank. Also included is a variety of upgrades for Sodium 2: Project Velocity, a high-speed, free-to-play, futuristic multiplayer racing game exclusive to PlayStation Home, and the wildly-popular Blaster’s Paradise personal space, which hosts a tabletop version of Salt Shooter. Buy from the PlayStation Store and play in PlayStation Home.
• October 18
• Okabu – An action-puzzler, where players will guide Kumulo, Nimbe and four cloud-flying heroes as they battle to save their people and their world from the industrialized threat of the Doza. Dive into a hyper-tactile toybox world filled with a huge number of puzzles, playthings, adorable creatures and devious machines spread across an epic co-op campaign.
• Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken – Annihilate an evil penguin regime in this cinematic platform adventure game offering full solo and co-op campaigns with stereoscopic 3D support. Destroy enemies with a slew of weapons and illuminate the secrets to his past while uncovering the real enemies of Albatropolis. [I’ve played a PC demo of this one. Very fun, very humorous, but a little clunky on the controls. Hopefully that will be better on console.]
• October 25
• inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood – Vampires swarm New Marais, and revered superhero Cole MacGrath has been bitten. To save his soul and city, he has just one night to find and kill the head vampire. Featuring hours of new gameplay, themed environment settings and new characters/enemies, Festival of Blood explores the darker side of the inFAMOUS universe.
• PixelJunk SideScroller – Q-Games goes old-school with a completely retro side-scrolling shooter that reinvents the genre from the ground up while maintaining that nostalgic feeling. Dodge flurries of alien bullets and strategically upgrade weapons while battling through sweeping stages full of hazardous fluid and endless shooting mayhem.

In addition to those games, “Only on PSN” will also be offering some new releases from their classics library. If you were ever a fan of God Hand, GrimGrimoire, Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, Odin Sphere and Ring of Red now’s the time to play them all again.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is coming early next year, and the preorder bonuses have been announced. For starters, Amazon will get you the Omega Boss Battle, a unique enemy coliseum battle with a boss who joins your party upon his defeat. GameStop will give you an alternative costume for Serah. And Best Buy will give you hardcover novella tying the first and second games together. So an alternate costume (lame), a collectible book (great for readers and collectors), or an extra party member with the strength of a boss (awesome)? Assuming Omega doesn’t end up as a DLC later down the line, I’d say Amazon wins this one.

It appears development is well underway on Dead Space 3, and some of the new mechanics look very interesting. Apparently Isaac’s descent into madness is nearly complete, as there are now two of him on screen at once. The first is the “normal” Isaac you’re used to controlling as you dismember aliens. The other is “Shadow” Isaac, an imaginary fragment of his personality that can offer tips alongside his bitterly cruel teasing and namecalling. Furthermore, the environment looks to be an ice planet with blizzard conditions where Isaac will take on the “hive mind.” I wonder if he’ll have to cut open a tauntaun to keep his shadow self warm?

If Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 aren’t going to be enough death and destruction for you, there’s good news. Ubisoft has confirmed March 6, 2012 as the release date for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Then again, this isn’t the first release date we’ve heard for this one. I expect it to stick though, as they’ve also announced plans for the beta in January.

And now we go full circle, ending as we began, with news of a delay. This time it’s Payday: The Heist. This is the capstone of Sony’s PSN Play promotion and was intended for release this week. However, according to the press release, “Word on the street is that to pull off the biggest score, a heist must be planned and outlined to the very last detail with perfect team members, unbeatable weapons and unrecognizable disguises. That being said, SOE & Overkill Software need a little more time to assemble the ideal squad and attack strategy for our highly anticipated adrenaline-pumping first person shooter, Payday: The Heist.” The plan is still to release this month. The preorder promotion has been extended, and you’ll still get the title for free if you qualified for it with the rest of the PSN Play games.

That finishes this week’s early edition of VGQH. Some high, some low, some intriguing, and some very exciting (Nightwing!!!). Check back Friday for the late edition and let us know what you think of any games dropping this week (especially Shattered Dimensions).

Hi everybody! And welcome back to VGQH. While I’m sure no one actually missed me, I took last week off to hunt antelope. Which, I’m happy to announce, was a success. Seems all of that time I’ve spent behind a virtual sniper scope has finally paid off. I also enjoyed spending time with family, seeing Adam Warrock and MegaRan perform Wednesday night (where I finally met Dagobot in person), and running around Capitol Reef National Park. But now it’s time to get back to some serious gaming… and passing on all the latest bits of news. Because I’ve been out of it for a while, some of this will probably be old hat to some readers. But I’ll try to skim over most of the early stuff.

First up: Despite not having a confirmed release date, Just Add Water has announced that the HD remake of Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath has been delayed. The developer has apparently reached the bug fixing part of the beta phase and decided they need more time. This doesn’t bode well for the game. Having to delay a game just to work out bugs you found in beta is not a good sign. That’s sort of like adding $10million more to a film’s effects budget a month before it releases.

Felicia Day has a new role in Mark of the Assassin, the new story DLC for Dragon Age II. The add-on, scheduled for October 11th, has Hawke and company seeking a precious jewel, the Heart of Many. Naturally, the jewel is protected by traps, Orlesian soldiers, and monsters. But why am I excited about this? It’s not the story. It’s Felicia Day, one of the sexiest nerds around and best known for The Guild and Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. You may also recognize her from other Whedon projects (Buffy and Dollhouse), myriad TV roles, and the voice of Veronica in Fallout: New Vegas. Yummy. Loves me a ginger….

I’m quite certain this is old news for many of you, but it’s about Batman Arkham City, which means it’s too cool to pass up. Episode 421 of GTTV has a great feature on the game, highlighting new gadgets (including some stolen from Mr. Freeze) and the reveal of a new villain, Deadshot. Apparently Batman will be investigating murder scenes to learn who’s next on Deadshot’s kill list. Sounds like side missions, but still sounds good. And his look fits the game perfectly.

Just to mix it up, let’s take a break from the awesome news and switch to “huh?!?” In a bizarre piece of self-serving marketing Saints’ Row: The Third will have developer Tomonubu Itagaki as a preset character in the creation screen. What? Why? Sure the guys got a signature look, with his leather jacket and “sweet bro” shades, but does anyone want to swing around a purple dildo sword while dressed as a Japanese hipster? This is typical THQ inside marketing. Itagaki’s Valhalla Studios is currently creating Devil’s Third for the publisher. Frankly, this game looked too ridiculous to play anyway, so I don’t really care, but I do have to wonder if THQ has any self-respect left.

Have you been playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution and loving virtually every minute of it? If you’ve loved the stealth based action but hate the clunky boss battles, you’re like everyone else who’s played it. So why do the boss fights break up the flow so badly? And why are they so unintuitive? It turns out that Eidos Montreal actually outsourced the boss fights to GRIP Entertainment. This is a common practice in game development. Often the game’s scope is so massive that certain elements, like multiplayer or puzzle levels, get made by a different developer. Ultimately, Eidos chose to include the levels so the blame is squarely on their shoulders. In GRIP’s defense, the boss battles aren’t necessarily inherently flawed, they just break up the flow and rhythm of the rest of the game. It’s clearly too late now, but maybe Eidos should consider handling such key elements personally on their next game.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of FPS or competitive online multiplayer, so Battlefield 3 (October 25th) doesn’t hold much appeal. But I also know I’m in the minority on that topic, so let’s check out the details on the game’s multiplayer modes:

• Team Deathmatch: Two teams, 12 players each, tight maps, no vehicles
• Squad Deathmatch: Four squads of four, needs a good Engineer to maintain your Infantry Fighting Vehicle
• Rush and Squad Rush: Similar to Bad Company‘s mode, M-COM stations can only be armed/disarmed – not destroyed, infinite defenders, tickets for attackers
• Conquest: Frantic but strategic, capture and hold flags
• Nine maps, five modes each. All levels can be played without vehicles in “Infantry Only” mode. “Hardcore” mode also available in each map/mode.

Well, as long as we’re in FPS mode, might as well mention something about Call of Duty: Elite while I’m at it. The beta was opened last week. The full version should be launching on November 8th, with Modern Warfare 3. If you want in on the beta, better sign up here.

Also worth noting in the battle of the FPS between Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 is that the console fight has been extended. Activision has a strong relationship with Microsoft that has led to an exclusive window on CoD DLC. DICE and Sony have now teamed up to create their own exclusivity deal, bringing all Battlefield 3 content to the PS3 a week before XBox 360.

Have you missed out on the Assassin’s Creed series so far? Are you some sort of mental defect? You’ve got some catching up to do. If you just missed the first game, and picked up the series as Ezio, Ubisoft is giving you a chance to get up to speed. Exclusively to PS3, if you buy Assassin’s Creed Revelations when it releases on November 15th, you’ll get a free, downloadable copy of the first game. That first game can be a little clunky and repetitive, but it set a strong foundation for what is now one of my favorite franchises. And it will definitely be a good idea to refresh yourself on Altair’s story. The finale of Ezio’s tale will have you controlling his ancestor at times as he searches for Altair’s lost secrets.

Yet another game with strong potential but a weak beginning, Homefront is looking to become a franchise as well. THQ has contracted Crytek to develop the sequel. The first game had solid concepts that just didn’t get off the ground due to some weak elements in an already crowded FPS market. Crytek has a good track record with Crysis though. This may be the Assassin’s Creed of FPS, turning good concepts into a great game with the second outing. You’ll have to wait to find out though, it’s current listed for the 2014 fiscal year. [BTW, Crytek’s first Crysis game will be hitting your console download service on or around October 4th.]

If there’s one thing Capcom is good at, it’s wringing every last cent out of a property. Beginning with the 924 different versions of Street Fighter II, the company has learned how to gain revenue while adding very little of value. This became quite clear with the announcement of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Apparently a $60 version of the game wasn’t enough, they now have to make a bigger version for $40. How’s that middle finger look to you, early adopters? Adding insult to injury though, is the fact that this still isn’t the “Ultimate” version. Sometime after release, the new iteration will be getting a costume add-on pack, as well as DLC that includes a whole new mode. Seriously, why even consider buying this one? Just wait three months for the Ultimate Extra Special Awesomized addition that has this DLC and the extra characters, Spider-Ham and Arthur’s Shorts.

If you still don’t own a PS3 by now, you probably aren’t getting one. Which makes the new bundle Sony has created for Uncharted 3 seem pretty silly. It’s a 320GB PS3, in a pretty Nathan Drake box, with one controller and a copy of the game. It also includes one free month of PlayStation Plus. But why? It’s not a special deal, it doesn’t look any different. And if you haven’t played the first two Uncharted games (which are awesome), why would you suddenly decide on a new system for the third one? Maybe Sony’s just marketing to recent YLOD sufferers, giving them a reason to come back to the console after their first one has failed?

Bethesda is pretty good at getting all-star voice casts, and it appears Skyrim‘s 60,000 lines of dialogue amongst 70 actors will be no exception. Joan Allen (some Bourne films, Pleasantville), Max von Sydow (Bond’s Blofeld, Ghostbusters II‘s Vigo, and Emperor Ming), Christopher Plummer (General Chang, The Undiscovered Country), Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman), and Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas) are just some of the names my fellow nerds will love to see.

I don’t want to ignore one of the biggest pieces of news from the last week, but CitizenBot already has a thorough story on the changes at Netflix/Qwikster, including the addition of video games to their mailing service. If you haven’t left them behind already, this could be a good move for you. Frankly, most games are probably still a better value at Redbox. And if you really play a lot, you should already have Gamefly. At this point, I’m sticking with GameFly. They’re knowledgeable about, and dedicated to, games. Netflix/Qwikster’s missteps lately don’t give me enough hope to transfer my gaming dollar.

I know this has been an extra long edition of VGQH, so I’ll skip the final editorial and leave you with this ” target=”_blank”>video. What is Sony up to? Seriously, please head over to “> YouTube and give me your theory on what this is advertising. We’ve got two more editions of VGQH to discuss it before their reveal date of October 5th.

I hope everyone enjoyed their long holiday weekend. Mine was great, especially since I took Friday off after watching the Utes beat Montana State. Go Utes! With nothing to do Friday but get hydrated for my Salt Flats 10k on Saturday I finished my evil Cole run on inFamous 2. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but I was a little surprised by the ending. I haven’t done the good guy run yet (I’ll start that as my hard run this week) but I think I know what to expect from that ending as well. In either case, I’d have to guess that this is probably the last title in the series. I suppose a third one is possible, but there would need to be major changes – especially if the good Cole ending is as definitive as the evil one. I don’t expect to see enough vagueness to allow for a single continued story. Either way, on to the news:

I mentioned some time ago that Rockstar had plans for another DLC package with Red Dead Redemption. Details for “Myths and Mavericks” are out now. The important details are that the package will launch around September 13th and it will be free. What you’ll get is 10 new locations with one to four modes for each one; the addition of stronghold mode at Armadillo, Chuparosa, and Tumbleweed; Shootout and Gang Shootout at Rio Bravo; and eight new player characters (including Uncle and Landon Ricketts). This is Rockstar’s thank you to all of the players who continue massacring one another online in their fantastic western. You’re welcome, Rockstar. And thank you.

If you’re hungering for more news about Street Fight x Tekken, I can give you two more characters that will appear. Capcom’s pattern of awful teaser trailers most recently showcased Rolento (Final Fight, Street Fighter Alpha) and Heihachi Mishima (Tekken). Mishima was to be expected, Rolento is worth a widening of the eyes and a nod, but nothing shocking. If you want more, check out the just released cover art:

Can’t get enough plundering with Dungeon Siege III? Of course not. Which is why Square Enix is expanding the title with the “Treasures of the Sun” DLC. The add-on brings hours of new quest content, new monsters, more loot, and new location, The Aranoi Desert. You’ll also unlock new abilities as you work towards the new level cap of 35. And if the extra five levels aren’t enough, they’ve added the ability to reallocate points at any time in the campaign. The expansion is scheduled for October 2011, and is listed at $9.99.

Another game set for DLC in October is Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. The game just came out today, but they weren’t able to include co-op for the retail release. Never fear, they plan to add it for free in October. The “Exterminatus” add-on will allow squads of up to four players in three classes. You’ll also get leaderboards, “dynamic challenges,” and “score modifiers.”

Activision finally outlined their premium tier of Call of Duty: Elite at their XP weekend. Plenty of players were skeptical and ready to have a fit over the pricing and content, but it turns out this is actually a good deal for hardcore multiplayer fans – especially if buy all the DLC. For $50 a year you’ll get access to the premium service. Seems steep at first. If all you’re getting is more video storage, virtual prizes, clan levelling, and “Elite TV” then the price just seems excessive. But what if it includes $60 worth of DLC? See what I mean? If you were going to buy all of the DLC anyway, save yourself ten bucks and get the membership. Or, better yet, save yourself another ten bucks and buy the Hardened Edition of Modern Warfare 3 for $100 and get free membership (plus Founder status for life, if that turns out to do you any good).

Next story, are you kidding me? More DLC? And in October too? Apparently Fall is no longer content to destroy your wallet with top shelf retail releases, the season wants to destroy virtual billfold as well. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is getting its “Missing Link” next month. Honestly, I’m a little lost and don’t to report it wrong, so here’s what they say on the official website:

The Deus Ex: Human Revolution conspiracy grows deeper in The Missing Link. During Adam’s quest for the truth in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, he mysteriously vanishes for three days. Where was he? What did he find out? The Missing Link reveals it all.

After being tortured by Belltower agents and having his augmentations disabled, Adam Jensen must rely solely on his basic capabilities to escape from a freighter, destined for an unknown location. While fighting for his survival on the ship, he uncovers another layer to the conspiracy that he never would have suspected. As Adam, befriend new, mysterious allies and fight ruthless enemies to discover what was happening in the shadows during the events of Deus Ex: Human Revolution!

New layers of conspiracy unveiled – Sprawling new environments, brand-new characters to interact with… Rebuild Adam’s augmentation set from scratch. Build up a brand new Adam!

Over on the US Playstation Blog they’ve announced the September bonuses for Playstation Plus Members. It’s months like these that make the program worth it. Click the link for the full list, but I’ll give you some highlights: Plants vs. Zombies and Altered Beast are free – and you can really get caught up on your zombie-slaying with free PSOne classics Resident Evil: Director’s Cut; RE2; and RE3 Nemesis; plus 50% discounts on RE4 and and RE Code Veronica X HD. Seriously, click the link to see the whole update. And this all just for September. I waited a full year before getting on the PS+ bandwagon and I feel like I missed out.

And that looks to be it for today. Plenty of DLC news and some other interesting tidbits. I hope I didn’t miss anything important, but I am thrown off a little by the long weekend. I even completely skipped my “In Stores this Week” column I normally write up. Which is kind of a shame because it was one of the best weeks we’ve had recently with Resistance 3, Driver: San Francisco, and Dead Island all coming out today. Oh well. Come back on Friday for more Video Game Quick Hits.

Gamescom happened this week and there were some announcements made that you can read here if you haven’t already heard. Unfortunately, it was not the source of as much groundbreaking news as other events, like E3. I have tons of Sony coverage. That tends to be the stuff that makes its way to me though. (Fair warning, I do have a fan boy shill for Sony a little bit in one item, but I also rip them apart soon after.) In general, most of the games with the highest anticipation levels just had new trailers and screens, as well as demos for those at the event. Still, sometimes new screens can be awesome too.

For example, Mass Effect 3 (March 2012) didn’t announce anything, but their new screen shots are mighty nice. Here are two of my favorites, a couple of husk-like batarians and a massive mechanized thing (most likely some sort of reaper):

Those looking forward to Battlefield 3 (October 2011) should be thrilled with EA’s announcement at Gamescom: Co-Op missions. It looks like you and a friend can go into battle together, both swearing up a storm at the enemy. But, if you don’t have a gaming headset, better get one. Communication will be key and there’s no split screen.

Somehow there’s news about Batman: Arkham City (October 2011) and I find myself not caring. I didn’t think that was possible, but when it’s about the game having not one, but two kinds of 3D, it just happens. What can I say, 3D just doesn’t appeal to me. The two kinds being included are the old school anaglyphic method (go ask your grandparents for their red and blue glasses kids) and the newer stereoscopic version for people with expensive TVs and fancy glasses. At least it’s Batman, meaning gloomy, so you don’t have to worry about washed out colors.

For those anticipating, or even considering, the PS Vita you’ll want the Gamescom breakdown. Some of this is rehashed, but this is basically a summary of the Vita presser:

• FourSquare, Facebook, and Twitter have been optimized for Vita.
• Trophies for Vita and PS3 are accessible together.
• Resistance: Burning Skies was announced. Ellis Island, 1950s, tap screen for grenades, new cover system, etc.
• Reality Fighters and Little Big Planet Vita were shown but not detailed.
• New game called Escape Plan shown. Cutesy platform puzzler with gruesome deaths. (Think Super Meat Boy and Portal‘s black and white love child.) Potential!

Outside of the presser, a couple of other announcements were made regarding the Vita. First, because no one cares, FIFA is coming to the device early next year. Next, because this could be huge, Ubisoft announced they are developing six titles for it, including a brand new Assassin’s Creed. I doubt many of you remember the Assassin’s Creed for PSP, which featured Altair after the events of the first game, but it was pretty good. Not as full featured as the console releases, but still fun. I’m excited to see what this could mean on the next gen handheld.

On a side note, don’t believe the rumors. Sony hasn’t halved the Vita’s memory. It is definitely 512MB RAM and 128MB VRAM.

Another Sony reveal at Gamescom was the announcement of Move Fitness. Apparently, if your grandmother was cool and bought a PS3 instead of a Wii she can get a digital avatar to tell her she’s fat now too. If you care, there’s something like 25 minigames that let you shadow box, squat, cut things with a digital katana, etc. Nothing new here. And still my Move gathers dust….

But, to soften the blow, grandma can get a new PS3 cheaper now. Effective immediately, the 160GB model is $250US. That really isn’t bad, especially if you don’t already own a blu-ray player. At that price, if you’re only rocking one console, you really should consider diversifying. Add a PS3 to your repoertoire and get yourself a Gamefly subscription and you’ll have the most gaming options for the most reasonable price around. If Microsoft follows suit I may actually get myself a 360 just to get more leverage from my Gamefly.

That price release is also compounded with the announcement of a cheaper PSP with no wi-fi. If you’re really wanting to go gung-ho Sony, this $99 option is a good opportunity. I guess. You’ll miss out on multiplayer, and it has no built-in memory so you’ll be wanting a big Pro Duo if you want to play anything other than $5 used UMDs.

Alright, hell with it! I’m ranting! Seriously Sony? You just announced a great price cut for your star console, you’ve got a viable option for a great handheld coming (even though the market is swiftly being iKilled), you’ve got a 3D TV bundle coming, you’ve even got DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket coming to PS3 ($339/season). You’ve got everything going for you and you’re building a great line up for the future. Why announce this piece of crap? Why even make it? Why coax your potential Vita buyers into buying this thing only to realize a standard PSP is pretty lackluster in comparison to the DS, let alone this AMC Pacer version? Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Vader PSP, and my wife still uses my old one. And I bought them because I’m a miserly bastard and liked that I could get games, movies, music, etc. all by buying one device. So this version should appeal to me. But it’s too big to use as an mp3 player, the formatting is a pain in the ass for movies, and the games are about 90% crap. The best thing you can do with the older versions is hack them, and I was too lazy to do anything with it after it was hacked so I ended up restoring it to play newer games. The only thing you’ll do with this $99 is convince the buyer that they don’t need to spend $250 on the Vita. If anything, you shouldbe bumping the price up on the PSP. If new consumers see that one is $180, they’ll think it’s a good investment to spend the extra $70 for the new generation upgrade. (Actually, I realize that’s a stupid plan too, but no worse than theirs.) Apologies. This rant is complete.

So, back to good news from Sony. Actually, let’s just go with potentially good news. They’ve announced inFamous 2: Festival of Blood. This is not DLC, instead it’s a standalone expansion title on PSN. Vampires are running amok in New Marais and Cole has been bitten. He has one night to hunt down the head of the vampires and save himself (and the city, assuming you’re positive karma Cole). “New environments and gameplay” will be included. I can’t help but feel this is bandwagonning, but it worked with Undead Nightmare, so I’ll keep an open mind. I’m about 75% of the way through my first play (evil Cole) of inFamous 2 and I do love the series. As the theme of the game would indicate, look for this one in October.

Another PSN game recently announced, and also coming for PC and iOS, is Worms Crazy Golf. Got to admit, my first instinct was “Why?” But my second was, “Why the hell not?” Worms is fun. If you can use their great game mechanics and turn out a bizarre golf game, I say go for it. Price and release date are unannounced as yet, but I’d expect it soon and probably in the $6-10 range.

If you remember the announcement from E3 about Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon, you’re probably wondering why you haven’t heard anything since. Turns out it will be available on XBLA and PSN at the end of August. If you don’t know what this is, let the press release explain it. “Players must comb the streets of New York City and pacify raving demons, delinquent man birds and zombies by lactating fire or hurling wacky objects like flying demon skulls, fish, baseballs and wrenches.” Umm, yeah. From a gameplay perspective, it’s top-down, four-player co-op. I’m intrigued, but I don’t know if I’m $9.99 intrigued. Maybe when it drops to $4.99 if the reviews are good.

Last summer’s XBLA hit, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is coming to PSN next month. As is typical with these deals, one console gets it early, the other one gets it with all the DLC. The PSN version comes with the Beauty, Desire, Situation add-on. That means extra levels and playable characters. And don’t forget four player split screen and six player online.

Gamescom had plenty more trailers and screen shots. I’ve also skipped over a few release dates and downloadable games information. This is already a pretty big issue of VGQH. Check back on Tuesday. If the weekend is as slow on news as it has been recently I’ll include everything I cut today.

Today’s VGQH isn’t the most fantastic version ever, but there are a few things to be excited about. And my ranting is mainly limited to one paragraph.

I’m not familiar with Larian Studios, the indie-developer from Belgium. Apparently they recently received a lot of praise for Divinity II, a game that sounds familiar, but not one that brings details to mind. Regardless, they’ve recently announced a new game for 2012, Dragon Commander, and they now have my attention. Not because it’s set in the Divinity universe (as I mentioned, that doesn’t mean much to me) but because it sounds great. It’s part turn-based strategy and part RPG. Ostensibly, you have an army of wizards, dragons, and other fantastic elements and build power alongside allies. Once the enemy comes, you join the fight in full on dragon combat. And the dragons have jet packs. That’s right, being a dragon is no longer good enough, now they have jet packs. If I can give one of them a robotic laser eye along with the jet pack I will officially have the most awesome beast imaginable. Jet pack dragons will make you their bitch.

Let’s take a complete 180 now. Larian has a new game, while Valve has an old game. Counter-strike: Global Offensive, an update to a 12 year old game, is coming to Steam, XBLA, and Playstation Network in 2012. This release will update and upgrade classic elements of the game, but will also release new weapons, characters, maps, game modes, etc. The first chance for the public to play the game will be at PAX Prime (this Friday) and the Eurogamer Expo.

God of War Collection Volume II is coming to PS3 in just a few weeks. Collecting both epic PSP titles (Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta) for the big brother console is pretty great in and of itself. But upgrading it to full 1080P at 60 frames per second is amazing. I can’t even explain, just check out the video:

” target=”_blank”>SD vs. HD

Speaking of collections, we all know about the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection coming in November. This includes, MGS: Peace Walker, MGS 2: Sons of Liberty, and MGS 3: Snake Eater. But it’s clearly missing a couple of things. Online retailer Zavvi is fixing that problem with exclusive rights to the MGS Ultimate HD Collection. The catch is that they’re only making 4,000 of them and it’ll run you roughly $100 US. But, along with the normal kit, you’ll get 5 art cards, a download code for the PSN release of the original Metal Gear Solid, and MGS 4: Guns of the Patriots. And it all comes packed together in a numbered steelbook case. If this is the one you must have, pick it up now.

This hardly qualifies as news, but I love making fun of people and this one’s a two-fer so I’m going for it. A gaggle of folks from Heavy Iron Studios have become decidedly outspoken on what they see as a bad misstep for Sony, the Playstation Vita. Many of them referred to the concept as a “car wreck.” They cite some good reasons, including the recent trouble Nintendo has had with launching the 3DS, the price point, the lackluster reception of XPeria Play, and the fact that people don’t seem inclined to carry a dedicated gaming device when their smart phone can pretty much handle that task. In broad strokes, they are correct and I don’t necessarily disagree with them. Will Vita be as big a flop as PSP Go? Probably not, but I’m not convinced the technology is there to drive the general market back to a gaming only device. Sorry Sony. On the other hand, I have to question the source of this derision: Lyle Hall, President of Heavy Iron. And the guy behind UFC Personal Trainer has an opinion that matters? Your most recent claim to fame is making an exercise game, one published by the slowly sinking THQ. Somebody want to find me the sales and Metacritic numbers on that game? I can’t be bothered. But I’ll gladly stand corrected if the numbers show it.

FREEZE! Sorry, can’t help myself on that one. I don’t normally link videos and I know this is the second time I’ve done it today, but you’ve got to see this, the latest villain announcement for Batman: Arkham Asylum. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the character, and I don’t know how well he fits in this version of the fiction. But, it’s a villain announcement for one of my most anticipated games of the year.

Victor Fries

I have a few other little bits, but nothing of any real relevance, so I’m just going to leave it with the Mr. Freeze reveal. Kind of hard to top that today. With the Gamescom happening now in Cologne, I expect to see some better updates on Friday. Unless everyone blew their wad on E3 and Comic-Con that is. See you then.

Welcome to this week’s late edition of VGQH. E3 isn’t so long ago. Comic-Con just happened. And next week is Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. What that means is that there isn’t much newsworthy content being released outside of those big shows. Which corresponds to the dearth of retail content being released as well. So we should be pretty short and sweet today.

One of the things you can see at Gamescom next week is Strike Suit Zero for PC and PSN. Made by Doublesix Games, the team that made Burn Zombie Burn!, their latest title puts you in command of a Strike Suit *cough* Transformer *cough* as you fight to save the earth in what could be her final hours. The game is currently scheduled for “early 2012.”

I’m not sure what to make of all the strange press coming about Team Bondi, the developers of LA Noire. It all started with some employees making brutal accusations about the work practices of Brendan McNamara. Alongside all of that came stories about the difficulties they had working with Rockstar to publish the game. More recently there was mention of them possibly merging with a film studio in Australia. It now appears that same film studio, Kennedy Miller Mitchell (KMM), is really more interested in their IP and assets, not the company. And, in the face of bankruptcy, Team Bondi is selling those elements. It’s also rumored McNamara may be joining KMM, essentially meaning the end of the developer. I’m still trying to sort out what parts of the LA Noire IP go where so I can determine if a sequel could be coming from Rockstar, the remains of Bondi, or even KMM.

Less on business, more on games (for a minute). Warhammer 40k: Space Marine is coming September 6. But it’s got more features coming about a month later. Specifically, it’s getting an entirely new co-op game mode. No details about the mode are available yet. Is it a separate campaign? An extra layer to the main story? What we do know is that it will be free with the packaged online pass. Wait, what? I know the online passes are designed to get developers and publishers more of the original sales dollar by limiting online to new copies or through sale of the pass on your console’s store. But not giving you entire pieces of the game? This seems a little excessive. According to THQ, the mode’s delay is not profit-based though. It’s just a matter of giving it the extra coat of polish they want without delaying the title’s street date.

But, THQ is clearly being motivated on the monetary side of things. They’ve recently cut 200 jobs in the process of closing two Australian development studios, a development house in Phoenix, and ending the the MX vs. ATV franchise. Their explanation sounds pretty Activision – they want to leverage IP that can provide long term annual profits across multiple consoles.

Speaking of THQ, and calling back to Gamescom, they’ve announced their lineup for the show. No surprises here:

• The aforementioned Warhammer 40k: Space Marine will be on display.
• uDraw Game Tablet is coming to PS3 and XBox. It will include uDraw Studio: Instant Artist and Pictionary: Ultimate Edition
• adidas miCoach, the interactive training system for fitness buffs, is coming to consoles.
• That might help you in the real UFC, but not in UFC Undisputed 3, scheduled for January 2012.
• Or, if choreographed fighting is your thing, you can check out WWE ’12, coming in November.
• Then the doom sets in as you’ll see a world you don’t want to live in with Saints’ Row: The Third,
• a dying world Metro: Last Light,
• and the world after it ends in Darksiders II.

If you haven’t signed in to the Playstation Network since Tuesday night, better plan ahead. The PS3 has another new firmware. These have become less annoying – partly because they happen less often and partly because the download is so much faster now. What’s changed with 3.70? Not much. Streaming services like Hulu and Netflix have been combined under a single icon, “TV/Video Services.” If you have a 3D TV and camera, you’ll now be able to display your 3D shots straight from your PS3. You can also take advantage of the new “recommend” feature on the Playstation Store, letting your friends know which games, demos, videos, etc. you think they should try. Finally, for PS+ members, your “Automatic Download” feature has been renamed “Automatic Update.” The automated service will now get you the latest patches for your games, load saves to the cloud server, and sync your trophy information at your scheduled time.

We’ve received word of a delay on the fourth DLC chapter for Fallout: New Vegas. Lonesome Road was originally scheduled for July, but won’t be making it this month either according to Jason Bergman (Senior Producer): “[D]ue to circumstances beyond our control, Lonesome Road won’t be out this month. This isn’t due to any major issue with the code or content, but there are lots of factors involved in releasing these things, and one of those is causing us to slip past our intended release date. We don’t have an exact date yet, but we’re working to get it out as quickly as possible. We’ll be announcing the final date, along with a couple of other interesting FNV-related items in the near future.” But, to whet our whistles, they did give us a screenshot:

Itching to get your hands-on Assassin’s Creed: Revelations? It could happen as early as September 3-11. That’s when a timed beta, exclusive to PSN, begins. PS+ and uPlay members get first crack. Everyone else will need to wait until the game launches November 15. The beta will include:

• Nine Characters: Bombardier, Champion, Deacon, Guardian, Sentinel, Thespian, Trickster, Vanguard, and Vizier.
• Three Maps: Antioch, Constantinople, and Knights’ Hospital.
• Four Modes: Artifact Assault, Deathmatch, Manhunt, and Wanted.

If you’ve been reading along for a while you’ll know I’ve been following the saga of the R18+ rating in Australia for some time now. I’m pleased to report that it has officially been given the go ahead by all nine Australian states, including New South Wales (who had previously abstained from the vote pending discussion with its cabinet). The rating is equivalent to the U.S. “M for Mature” rating. This means previously banned games, like Mortal Kombat, will be finally be sold in the country. Future games that formerly would have been edited to the 15+ rating will get the normal release.

And I see that as a great positive note to end this issue of VGQH. Come back Tuesday for all the highlights from the weekend.