This video is tearing up the Internet right now, leaving people scratching their heads wondering why they can’t play a game like this in the Star Wars universe on, say, their iPads or Tablets.

From the Youtube video this was taken from:

Developed at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) by MS graduate candidate Arthur Nishimoto, “Fleet Commander” explores how a real-time interactive strategy game that would typically rely on complex keyboard commands and mouse interactions be transferred into a multi-user, multi-touch environment.

Originally designed for use with TacTile, a 52-inch multi-touch LCD tabletop display, “Fleet Commander” game play has been ported to EVL’s 20-foot wide multi-touch LCD wall, Cyber-Commons.

Basically, this was made by a student looking to demonstrate how gaming and interactions can be changed with touchscreens. This is an incredible leap forward and if I were LucasArts, I’d be hiring this guy right now and buying this game for adaptation to iPads and Tablets. Seriously, I’m on the fence about buying an iPad, but if a game like this were available, I’d go out and buy one ASAP. And as cool as The Old Republic looks, I just don’t think I’m at a place in my life where I can get into a fullscale time-sucking MMORPG. A game like this would be just what I needed to get back into Star Wars gaming.

That and a good flight simulator. What happened to the legacy of X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter? That’s an MMORPG port waiting to happen.

From a huge update on Friday to a relatively small edition today. The amount of news we get in regards to games from day to day is anything but consistent. Hopefully one of these few bits is still something to get you excited.

Today’s first story should be good news for PS3 owners. Playdead has confirmed an official release date for Limbo on PSN. The game should be available after the store update on July 19th. A price hasn’t been announced, but it runs about $15 on XBLA. I wouldn’t be surprised if this comes with a PS+ discount. This has been one of the top-rated downloadable games for 360 and it’s been long-awaited for PSN.

I’m not usually one to shill for monstrous corporations, but this one is big enough I had to pass it on. If you preorder Deus Ex: Human Revolution using your PowerUp card at Gamestop, and pick the game up during the sweepstakes period, you’ll be entered to win a very nice setup for your gameroom. The grand prize winner will get an Augmented Arm Statue, 3D television, home entertainment system, surround sound equipment, motorized television mount, theater seating, three gaming consoles with motion controllers, a $500 GameStop gift card, high end home theater remote control, and complete installation of all prizes. The total package rings in at $20,000 approximate retail value. This sweepstakes all comes on top of the regular preorder bonus (extra mission, two extra weapons, automatic unlocking device). Then again, you can always opt for the “no purchase necessary” entry by sending a 3×5 card with your name, address and phone number to:

The Marketing Arm Inc.
Attention: “Deus Ex: Augment Your Room Sweepstakes”#140
233 Rock Road
Glen Rock, NJ 07452

This week’s grand prize for the completely meaningless announcement goes to Casey Hudson of Bioware (which I only re-report here because this is in my top three anticipated games right now). Casey tweeted over the weekend that a demo will be coming for Mass Effect 3 in “a few months.” What does that mean? When will it happen? What will the demo be? Yeah. He didn’t mention any of that. He simply confirmed that there will be a demo before the game comes out. This was sort of to be expected after they had rewards in Dragon Age II‘s demo. I wouldn’t mind seeing an extra weapon or armor pack available after completing this demo as well.

Do you love Bioshock? Do you want to learn more about Rapture’s origins? Then you should pick up BioShock: Rapture next week. This prequel novel by John Shirley tells the story of Bill McDonagh, the plumber turned engineer who worked with Andrew Ryan. You may recognize the character. You likely beat him to death in the first game. Now’s your chance to go retro-Dexter and learn, after the fact, all about the man you savagely murdered.

WWE fans have yet another over the top, arcade version of professional wrestling to look forward to next year. WWE Brawl looks to go even more stylized and action frenzied than the recent WWE All-Stars. The new game, scheduled for 2012, looks to be getting rid of the ring altogether and going the way of arcade-style fighting games, a la Mortal Kombat or Tekken. Fighters will have ranged attacks (such as the Undertaker’s purple glowing mist, dubbed the Soul Crush) and serious combo damage. So far, it looks like Undertaker, John Cena, and The Miz have been confirmed. I’ll cover this more as I see new information.

It’s no secret that Volition’s upcoming Saints’ Row: The Third is going to be completely insane. Which is why the preorder package makes no sense out of context. “Professor Genki’s Hyper Ordinary Pre-Order Pack” is based on an in-game “game” show that spoofs many real-world shows, and fits the game’s vibe remarkably well. What’s included?

Professor Genki’s Super Ballistic Man-a-pult: Cruise Steelport in style with this vacuum-action human-cannonball truck. Suck up pedestrians and use them as live ammunition against the forces of evil, and everyone else.
Professor Genki’s “Octopuss” Cannon: Fire baby octopi onto your enemies’ heads! Watch as the octopi massage their scalps and your enemies fight for you! Enemies can be friends too!
Professor Genki’s Leisure Stunt Suit: The ultimate in comfort and tight-fitting apparel, the Genki Leisure Stunt Suit is perfect for skydiving over Steelport or to wear while ejecting from high-flying fighter jets. Free Genki mask included!

If you’re a casual sports fan, like me, you only buy your favorite sports games every few years. If the last time you bought an EA Sports title was for the 2010 series, it’s time to make a change. You can either upgrade to a newer edition, or give up online play. Starting next month, the online servers for many EA titles are being shutdown. If you’re still working on some online achievements/trophies, better hurry. Here’s the full list of upcoming shutdowns:

• August 11, 2011
• NASCAR 09
• NCAA Basketball 10
• NCAA Football 10
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10
• October 1, 2011
• Madden NFL 10
• NHL 10

In addition, servers for several non-sports games will also be shutting down on August 11, 2011. Army of Two, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, Medal of Honor (Airborne and Heroes), Need for Speed (Most Wanted and Undercover), and Skate will no longer have online service. Kind of bummer for anyone still playing those titles, but I guess it’s to be expected.

Finally, Angrybot covers it in more detail here, but suffice to say that DLC is coming for DC Universe Online. “Fight for the Light” brings Green Lantern into the game and gives your character the ability to wield a power ring. Green, yellow, and red rings will all appear in the DLC. The add-on will be available for $9.99 this summer on PC and PS3.

That’s it for Tuesday’s edition of VGQH. Check back Friday for more highlights.

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?

Multiplatform:
NCAA Football 12 (PS3, 360)
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Ps3, 360, Wii, DS, PC)

Nintendo Wii:
UFC Personal Trainer (already available on PS3, 360)

Certainly not much this week, and even less to be excited about. Football is football. I love to watch it but rarely buy the games. The true fans buy it every year anyway. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 probably won’t be good, but if you love the franchise you’ll want to play it. This one actually doesn’t look too bad, but it’s a movie-licensed game so it will be. There’s another movie licensed game coming next week that looks good enough that I have to struggle to remind myself not get my hopes up. You could say I’m “shield”ing myself from its inevitable suckitude.

I don’t keep any records of these things, but I get the feeling today might be the biggest edition of VGQH so far. So I’ll just leave it at that and let the news bites speak for themselves. Enjoy:

From Software is offering a great contest for artists on Facebook to promote Dark Souls. Log on to www.facebook.com/darksouls to download the three templates for shield designs you’ll find. Create your own herald for each template. You can submit one of each template before July 13th. The top ten designs in the three categories will be judged by the developers. If your design makes it to this stage you’ll win a copy of the game signed by the director, Hidetaka Miyazaki.  One winner from each category will get a signed Limited Edition of the game, their name in the credits, and their design as DLC for the game. Winners will be announced on Facebook July 28th. So if you’ve been wanting your artwork in a video game, make it happen. You could see success as early as October 4th when the game launches.

Media Molecule has begun talking up the July wave of Sackboy costumes for Little Big Planet 2 and there appears to be some great stuff. Up first are two Cole McGrath costumes from inFamous 2 available this week. The good and bad karma versions of Cole are bundled with a new sticker pack for $2.99. Next week’s batch is great news for Final Fantasy VII fans. Aeris, Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth will be available for $1.99 each. Or you can bundle them with a bonus Vincent costume for $5.99. The following week will see another $2.99 costume and sticker bundle pack featuring Rico and Hazmat from Killzone 3. Finally, three packs of Toy Story 3 costumes, levels, and stickers are planned. All of this leads up to the Move pack coming at the end of summer.

Multiplayer fans got good news about Battlefield 3 from DICE this week. Lars Gustavsson, Lead Multiplayer Designer, made it clear they’re thinking about multiplayer in a whole new way. “The mindset at DICE during the development of Battlefield 2 was pretty much: ‘Play the game our way, or play something else.’ Now, we have made a conscious effort to reverse that mentality.” This means there will be more modes, including the return of Team Deathmatch, and Rush and Conquest. He also confirmed Battlelog, an adapted version of Need for Speed’s stat-tracking social network, Autolog. Look for the game October 25th.

Ubisoft made a few remarks this week on the scale of Far Cry 3. While the plan is for the environment to be just as dense as the first two games, the size will be about ten times larger. That’s a lot of game! While large scales are great, density is the real key to any open-world game. Look at the difference between Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. While both very enjoyable, the constant presence of “dungeons” and extra areas with special weapons and rewards in the former make it seem so much more populated than the large desert vistas of the latter. In addition to the scale, Ubisoft is also talking up the variety of decisions to be made, going beyond just good or evil choices to create more “interesting” options. We’ll see exactly what that means when the game releases next year.

Speaking of Fallout: New Vegas, there’s nothing really new to say about the up coming Old World Blues DLC, but there are some new screenshots. This one is my favorite, mostly because the hat is so stylin’ and 1990s comics didn’t sate my love for pouches.

Here’s one more, just because I love that universe so much. It’s also kind of a hint. Clearly mugs are not the worthless wasteland trash you’ve always thought them to be. Might be a good idea to hang onto these instead of dropping them to clear inventory weight. Who knows what bonuses this little guy will provide?

A couple of Environment Artists from Bioware, Don Arceta and Nick Lukasewich, recently spoke with XBox World 360 about integrated cover in Mass Effect 3. Essentially, they’re trying to create environments that can surprise you. According to Arceta, they “have a lot more integrated cover, so you don’t walk into a room and immediately know there’s going to be a combat there. It’s about making these spaces feel natural and not forced. It shouldn’t ever feel forced, by gameplay or art – it really should be this perfect marriage.” Lukasewich agrees, “Yeah, you don’t want to walk through a room and go, ‘okay nothing’s going to happen here. There’s no cover for me here,’ and then you walk around the next corner and you just see a sea of these chest-high things – you basically see the fight ahead.” The new emphasis will be on functional spaces, areas that actually look like they’re in use for something other than a video game level. Really, how many hallways have you seen that have crates set up in a zig zag pattern leading to a doorway surrounded by explosive barrels? While we don’t have any specific art as an example, I do have some of the alternate costumes for a few companions, that’s good enough isn’t it?

In somewhat related news, Legendary pictures is promising a big reveal at Comic-Con this year, the Mass Effect movie. The reveal will happen in a panel on July 22nd. Members of the panel will include Screenwriter Mark Protosevich and BioWare’s Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the film, alongside Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk. Legendary has rights to film versions of several other video game franchises. They’re convinced game films are the future of cinema. I’m not convinced game films can be good. I’m hoping they’ll prove me wrong.

Another gaming company out to prove me wrong on the movie-game front is a minor surprise. Rockstar Films was recently approved as a trademark for Take Two. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a single franchise from them that I wouldn’t want to see on film. Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto, Bully, L.A. Noire. Well, Manhunt with Marky Mark already sucked. But I think it’s possible to make a good one too. Here’s the official trademark description (yes, the “children’s” themes is a scary concept):

Animated motion picture films featuring entertainment, namely, action, adventure, dramatic, comedic, children’s and documentary themes; pre-recorded video discs and other pre-recorded digital and electronic media in the field of live action programs, motion pictures, or animation featuring entertainment, namely, action, adventure, dramatic, comedic, children’s and documentary themes.

The latest in special edition and preorder bonuses comes from Lord of the Rings: War in the North. Currently scheduled for release this fall, preorders will get you the Orc Champion sword and early access to the digital back story comic from Amazon; the Elf theme pack (sword, armor, helmet, and Lothlorien Challenge map from Best Buy; Human theme pack and Osgiliath Challenge map from GameStop; a signed poster and digital comic access from Toys R Us; three songs from the soundtrack at Target; and the Dwarf theme pack from Wal-Mart. There is also a special edition in the works for $130. That edition includes a Ranger of the North Quiver Case; prerequisite art book; bonus disc with interviews, behind the scenes footage, sound recordings at Abbey Road, and three songs from the soundtrack; and a bonus theme (PS3 only) including fonts, wallpapers, etc. This is mostly standard fare, except for that awesome quiver case. This is possibly the most apt bonus for a game I’ve seen yet. While the game is almost at zero on my interest scale, I kind of want it just for the case.

Earlier this week, Daishi Odashima, Game Director for Soul Calibur IV, dropped a teaser via Twitter. Two silhouettes of characters set to appear in the game were released. The names of the characters have not been announced. I won’t pretend I’m a big enough fan of the series to even guess. If you have a theory, post it in the comments. The full reveal on these two will come at Comic-Con.

On their community forums, Kan Muftic, Senior Concept Artist for Batman: Arkham City, spoke a little about the genesis of Robin’s look in the Best Buy exclusive add-on for the game. His description definitely doesn’t sound like the Dick Grayson I know, but he also doesn’t specify which Robin they’re using. The concept art looks okay for the visual style of the game, but it does have a little too much Smallville flair in the costume for my tastes.

“We wanted to create a Robin that players would identify as a contemporary character and move away from the traditional ‘Boy Wonder’ image that most people know. Our vision of Robin is the one of a troubled young individual that is calm and introverted at times but very dangerous and aggressive if provoked. The shaved head is inspired by cage fighters, because we thought that Robin might be doing that in his spare time to keep him on his toes. Still, we kept all the classic trademarks of Robin’s appearance, such as the red and yellow colors of his outfit, the cape and the mask. We really hope that people will discover our Robin as one of their new favorite characters in the Batman universe. He is back and he means business.”

[edit: Thanks to “You’re no journalist” in the comments for pointing out that this Robin has been confirmed as Tim Drake. Which is obviously why his description doesn’t match my vision of Dick Grayson. I had actually assumed they were using Drake, or possibly Jason Todd, maybe even Damian. But when you say the name Robin to me, it will always be Dick that comes to mind.]

Harmonix, the developers behind the Rock Band and Dance Central franchises, has recently filed for a new title trademark, Vidrhythm. They’ve been quiet on the subject, other than to confirm it is a project they’re working on. Far too early to tell, obviously, but I trust these guys to make to fun games and I’d get my wager in early that this will be no exception.

Sony is now jumping on the “online pass” bandwagon with its first party titles, starting with Resistance 3. Sony’s PSN Pass will work much like EA’s “ten dollar initiative” as well as many other similar programs. The games will come with a one time use code to be redeemed for full online access. Renters and pre-owned buyers will be able to purchase the pass from the Playstation Store for an additional fee, likely around $10. This is obviously a response to the growing used game market and the growing popularity of Gamefly. I’m not necessarily a fan of this program, but I understand their desire to get some additional proceeds from the secondary games market. As long as it doesn’t affect game quality, you won’t see me complaining. What does everyone else think?

Really not sure how I feel about this one. Criterion Games is going back to basics, but also really meddling with the formula, for their next car smashing extravaganza. Burnout CRASH! will be available this fall on XBLA and PSN. Crash mode has always been a favorite part of the series, especially the big crash junctions where you can rack up combo destruction for high dollar demolitions. But, they’re making it top down. It’s Criterion and car crashing, so I have to assume it will be fun. But I’m not thrilled with the perspective or the art style. Right now it’s a coin flip in my book. I look forward to seeing more of this, but I’m not convinced I’ll spend any money on it.

Can’t get enough Dragon Age 2? Good, there’s more coming. EA recently confirmed the “Legacy” DLC will hit July 26th. The add-on will take you to a Grey Warden prison where you’ll meet new types of Darkspawn and a powerful new foe, Corypheus. The new mission line will be available at any point in the story and will actually have you leaving Kirkwall to face a cabal seeking the “blood of the Hawke.” You’ll learn much more about your character’s lineage and gain a powerful new weapon.

Wow, for a feature called Video Game Quick Hits, this one wasn’t very quick. Lots of news though. And I like to think it’s formatted well enough to let you skip the stuff you don’t want to read and get right to your top games. Now, it’s the weekend. Quit reading, grab your PSP or DS and go find a nice shade tree to get some fresh air while you get your game on.

Did everyone have a wonderful Independence Day? No firework accidents that maimed your thumbs and now have you limited to playing bad Kinect titles? Good. I’m on a bit of a time crunch so let’s get straight to the news.

I’m haven’t been convinced moving the Call of Juarez franchise into the modern age with the The Cartel was the right idea. Now that they’re giving away an in-game “Zooming Automatic Pistol” with a preorder at Best Buy I’m really not convinced. Ig nore that lameness of that weapon concept in a “Western” gaming series for the moment. The fact that the game comes out in two weeks and they’re just now offering a preorder bonus like this tells me they aren’t getting the pre sales they wanted. So, if you were considering this for multiplayer, knowing story mode would suck, think again. You might be whistling to yourself in the game lobby.

Another game I’m a little shaky on is the SSX reboot. I think I just don’t understand what they’re trying to do. With the results from the first round of Facebook voting in, I get a little hope though. Kaori, Moby, and Psymon have all joined the roster. Kaori and Moby were two of my favorites. Elise and Mac are also confirmed for the team. If your favroite is still unannounced, don’t give up hope. Five more characters are still coming.

We reported back in May that Disney Interactive had laid off the majority of workers at Black Rock Studios (Split/Second, Pure) but would keep the remaining people on to work on their current project.  Since then, the project still has not received a go ahead and Disney has decided to terminate the remaining 40 employees and close the studio’s doors. It’s sad to see any developer shuttered, regardless of whether I’ve played their games or not. Former employees have formed two new studios, Roundcube Entertainment and ShortRound Games,  in the wake of the layoffs. So it’s possible we’ll see more good than bad happening as a result.

In other developer news, Media Molecule recently discussed their future plans, and it might surprise you. They’ve actually decided to shift their focus away from the Little Big Planet series that made them stars. There was plenty of brilliance behind that franchise, so we’ll now get to see if they’re one trick ponies, or if they’ve got the goods to move on and make more hits. My two cents? Kudos for taking a risk instead of milking the cash cow. I know you’re job is to make money. But sometimes you need to make brilliance and innovation too.

Recent leaks from the South Korean Games Rating Board (GRB) and the North American Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) have turned up an “M” rating (or South Korean equivalent) for a Crysis title on PS3 and 360. Considering the consoles already have Crysis 2, what could this be. Best guess for now is that the first game, which pushed the graphical capabilities of many PCs when it launched, is making its way to consoles. Makes sense.

If you’ve played either or both of the first Mass Effect games you have to be excited for the conclusion with the third game. There are unanswered questions and Bioware does promise to answer them. One of the most prominent is what do Quarians look like, specifically Tali’Zorah Vas (Neema) Normandy? According to Casey Hudson, Executive Producer, “A lot of people want to have her face revealed and obviously people are going to be pissed off either way. Like ‘I thought she was going to look beautiful!’ or ‘I thought she was going to be the most hideous thing ever!’ So we’ve had a lot of debate over Tali’s face, but that’s the one we kind of dread a lot. We’re always ‘Well, let’s talk about something else for a while!’ That’s something we’re going to have to decide.” I could see her go either way, hideous or glorious. I’d actually like to see it be something pretty plain, just to disappoint everyone equally. If it were me, I’d make her a psychoactive shapeshifter so she’d always look exactly like whoever is looking at her. That would be excellent for those who doinked her in the second game. My wife is always telling me to go fuck myself. With my plan, I’d always be able to that exactly that, even if it is vicariously through Shepard’s actions. Mass Effect 3 is scheduled for March 2012.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Not bad for a holiday weekend I guess. I’m heading home from Texas today and I’ve got to admit to having a much better time here than I’ve had in past visits. Maybe it’s because I’ve found out how much they like video games, not that I’ve played much other than my free Welcome Backs on PSP. But I have seen several highway billboards advertising Portal 2, which I haven’t seen in Utah. I’ve also noticed that at least one road appears to be named after a 12th Century assassin. Odd.

There’s only one game coming this week so let’s get that out of the way here and then get you started on what you need to get preordered, and where, for this summer.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (360, PS3) comes out this week. You’ve probably never heard of this, but it’s a reawakening of an SNES era game. Give it a shot. It’s probably going to be better than you think.

Now, since we’ve had a dry run the last few weeks, let’s get to what’s coming up:

The first two are film tie-ins and only one possible preorder bonus. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes on July 12th. Captain America: Super Soldier comes on July 19th. Both of these could be pretty terrible. But we’re all nerds here so some of you may be willing to overlook the bad gameplay just to experience your favorite franchises. Preordering Cap at GameStop can get you “The Ultimates Pack” for the 1942 Ultimates costume, Weaponize Ability, and Challenge Map.

The following week, on July 26th, there’s a game coming you may not have heard much about. Catherine is a very strange thing coming out of Japan. Your protagonist spends a lot of time in his boxers as he sorts out his relationship between two very different women, Catherine and Katherine. There’s also a lot of sheep that don’t make any sense yet. Preorders from Amazon and GameStop both get an art book and CD soundtrack. You should also check out the “Love is Over” deluxe edition. This is one of the better collector packs I’ve seen. It comes with a t-shirt, boxer shorts, pillow, and other collectibles. The drawback, the clothing items are only in men’s large.

August is starting a little slow, but if you’ve been liking the HD remaster collections there’s a new one to pick up on August 2nd. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Classic Trilogy HD takes you back to Sam Fisher’s roots in high-def. I haven’t seen any preorder bonuses, but you get Splinter Cell, Pandora Tomorrow, and Chaos Theory for under $40. Do you really need bonuses too?

The next couple weeks of August pretty much sucks until August 23rd when Deus Ex Human Revolution hits. There are a couple of editions if you like boxed in bonuses. Preorders net you an additional mission, explosive pack, grenade launcher, and automatic lock hacker at Game Stop. Or you can get the Tactical Enhancement Pack (double barrel shotgun and extreme range sniper rifle) from Amazon.

One more slow week, then your annual football fix hits on August 30th with Madden NFL 12. Preorders get you special teams; where you preorder determines which ones. GameStop comes with the AFC and NFC All Star teams. Amazon gets you the All Rookies and All Sophomores teams plus a $20 credit. The $20 credit might make you decide to spend the extra money for the Hall of Fame edition. This special is limited to 125,000 units and gets you a hand-signed Marshall Faulk card plus the Ultimate Madden team with hall-of-famers and cover stars. By the way, taking a cue from Willy Wonka, one 360 copy and one PS3 copy will come with an 18k gold card. You don’t get a tour of a crazy candy shop with it, but it’s an incredibly exclusive collectible if you score it.

September starts with a game that made an internet splash with it’s first trailer. Unfortunately, everything we’ve seen from it since then makes it look like just another zombie game. Dead Island will be out on the 6th. Preorders from GameStop gets the Bloodbath Arena and exclusive “Ripper” weapon.

Other notables of September 6th are Warhammer 40K: Space Marine and Resistance 3.

The follow up week, September 13th, brings another HD collection with God of War: Origins Collection. This compiles the two great PSP games covering Kratos’ back story for $40. Again, no preorder bonuses. Apparently they don’t bother with them on HD collections.

XBox 360 gets an exclusive highlight for Spemtember 20th. Gears of War 3 is making fans impatient with the wait. Once again, plenty of special edition versions floating around. If you need to pick a store to preorder, it depends on what you want. GameStop has a multiplayer skin, Commando Dom. Amazon seems to have the better deal with the Savage Kantus skin and a $20 credit.

To finish out the quarter, let’s shift to a PS3 exclusive on Septmeber 27th. Once again, it’s another HD collection. The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection will be gorgeous. Both of these games were cult classics on the PS2 but didn’t become best sellers. To be honest, ICO drove me crazy with the stupid AI companion, but I’m in a very small minority. If you missed these two titles, take advantage of this collection. As normal, no preorder bonus with the collection but it is only $40.

As always, I make no guarantees how accurate any of this information is. That’s the risk of talking about future titles. Check back in a few months for the holiday season preorders. That’s bound to be a big one because game companies somehow think that retail shelves only exist in November and December.

NeoGAF forum member nscuDuncan has been gathering clues Halo developer Bungie has been dropping about its next game universe. He does a great job catching details that have been trickling out since as early as 2008. The speculation is pretty interesting. Whatever it is, Bungie sure knows how to build hype.

This page is a collection of all known information on Bungie’s next major project. I intend to keep it updated as new clues are found, so be sure to check back later. If you have any new information, email me at ncsuDuncan@gmail.com and I will consider adding it to this page.

I’m going to stick to a roughly chronological order, so new developments should be at the bottom. I’m also going to concentrate on solid info, with speculation and rumors added in depending on how they fit with other clues and how plausible they seem.

Give it a read.

The first edition of VGQH for July has a little bit of everything: passion, violence, love, jealousy, conflict, drama, resolution, retribution, and resurrection. Actually it has none of those things. But, like every other edition, there is a little bit of everything. The items that caught my attention most all seem related to the growing downloadable space. Whether it’s WiiWare, Summer of Arcade, or DLC add-ons, it seems the connectivity of your console is evolving far beyond multiplayer access and becoming a solid outlet for games.

When I first connected my PS3 I honestly expected most things coming through the store would be rehashes of Tetris and Pac-Man. Turns out I’ve spent more on downloadable games and add-ons in the past month than I have on my GameFly subscription. To me, the key to successful downloadable games are the high replay value combined with the low cost of entry. Using add-on content cheaply (unless it’s from Activision) extends the life of full retail games that you already love. Despite, or perhaps because of, the success of this downloadable space, I think publishers could generate some great extra revenue by packaging several of their top tier PSN/XBLA titles onto a single disc at a moderate discount. Pack in a free or discounted code for your next big title and you’ve got a sure fire way to get new gamers looking at your products with money in hand. That’s not free advice though. Any publishers doing exactly that now owe me a 4% idea origination fee. I take Paypal.

Now, on with the news:

Most of you probably don’t remember the old Atari game this is based on, but Warlords HD is coming to PSN and 360 this summer. I’m not even really sure how to explain this game. Wikipedia’s description is “a combination of Breakout and Quadrapong.” Considering no one remembers Quadrapong either, that probably doesn’t help. Suffice to say it was one of the earliest four player games and you destroyed castles using flaming balls. The HD remake has really changed up the art syle, giving it a frenetic, cartoony appearance. The four warlords have also been given names and representative “elements.” Goelus, Kroi, Restivo, and Tarorthane are the warlords of Ice, Fire, Nature, and Evil, respectively. While Nature could be a substitute for Earth, what happened to Air? And since when is Evil an element? Regardless, the game looks pretty and at $9.99 it might just be worth checking out.

If there’s any company that loves DLC and milking it for all it’s worth, it’s Activision. The Annihilation map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops isn’t even out on PSN yet and already there’s talk of a fourth pack. At $15 per pack, that means you’d be getting about 20 new maps for the price of a whole new game. More curious is that the next game in the franchise, Modern Warfare 3, is set to launch in just a few months. Apparently Bobby Kotick has decided that vampiring the CoD franchise annually isn’t enough. Now he’s trying to leach players quarterly as well. I’m sure some of you long time fans disagree with me and would be willing to pay even more to get packs monthly. If I believed that Activision had loyalty to the fans or creative process more than they do to the dollar I’d probably be more forgiving.

Also in the DLC spotlight is Operation Flashpoint: Red River. The first batch of DLC was released this week on PSN and the Live Marketplace for $6.99. This pack only has two new maps, but they play host to eight new missions (two each of Combat Sweep, CSAR, Rolling Thunder, and Last Stand) for single player or co-op up to four players.

Another thing that dropped this week, in case you missed it, is the Captain America table for Marvel Pinball / Pinball FX2 (PSN / 360). The new table is $2.99. the look and play is pretty amazing. Already it’s my highest score on Marvel Pinball (though I’m still more than 100 million behind Shaz-Bot). I’m pretty terrible at pinball, but I love playing it. So far I’ve managed to rescue Bucky with skill shot, unlock the Cosmic Cube, defeat Baron Zemo by reflecting his laser attacks with the shield, get punched out by Red Skull, and fail at some mission that glued my ball to the board with adhesive. I’ve also managed to lock several balls, but I’ve yet to free them afterwards. I was told to hit specific ramps to free members of the Howling Commandos, but they’re all still trapped wherever they were. I’ll have to keep trying if I want Dum Dum Dugan on my side. Check out the screenshot below for a sample of the table. Note the Jeep and barbed wire on the edges. Baron Zemo walks out near your ball launcher to taunt you when the ball gets lost. You can see more screen shots at Marvel’s website.

If you’re a gaming junkie like me you probably heard about a game at E3 2008 called I Am Alive. Since Ubisoft announced the game it has appeared to be canceled several times. But the company keeps assuring that it is still happening. Finally, there appears to be some evidence beyond those assurances that the game is, indeed, alive. Apparently the Australian ratings board has given the game a 15+ rating for “strong violence.” If it’s being rated, that means a complete, playable version of teh game must exist. This doesn’t necessarily mean it has a release date, or will ever actually release. But the premise of the game (a survivor stuck in Chicago after a massive earthquake) sounds like a lot of fun, so here’s hoping it sees shelves by next year. Then again, after the recent devastation in Japan, is the storyline a little too insensitive for release right now?

It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve had anything about Dead Block, the zombie killing tower defense game from Digital Reality and Candygun Games. I only mention it now because it was recently confirmed for release on XBLA in “early July” and July 20th for PSN. Price is set for $10. As a reminder, fighting zombies in this game isn’t necessarily the point. Defense, traps, and creative kills are the goal. You can co-op with up to three players on your team as a meter maid, construction worker, or boy scout in bizarre version of 1950s America where music has turned everyone into zombies. The concept is interesting and the art style is unique. But does it have enough to compete in the crowded downloadable market this summer?

We don’t have an official announcement yet, but it appears there will be special editions available for Hitman: Absolution when it comes out next year. IO Interactive’s Community Manager, Ray Price, broke the news in response to a recent forum question. When asked about pre-order incentives, he responded with “Yes. And special editions. I’m not aware of what the end products are going to look like but I know that the guys are looking to craft some sweet stuff for the collectors out there.” As for gameplay details, Price did state that the new “Instinct” vision will be replacing the satellite map. There will also be more dialogue than in previous games and he promised some extra challenging achievements for stealth assassinations.

When Vince Zampella and Jason West, creators of Call of Duty and founders of Infinity Ward, started their new company, Respawn Entertainment, gamers everywhere wanted to know their first project. No gameplay details have been announced yet, but it appears they are working on a sci-fi game set to be published by EA Games. This news comes from their official website going live, complete with a blurry picture intended to tease the new game. I can’t make heads or tails of it. What do you think?

One of the best pieces of DLC I’ve seen is Undead Nightmare for Red Dead Redemption. This one was special in that it was basically a whole new game, similar to DLC for Rockstar’s other hit franchise, Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and The Damned for GTA IV. The other odd thing about big Rockstar DLC is that it comes long after the game’s release, far enough that many people have probably finished playing it. Undead Nightmare was almost six months after initial release. Which makes me wonder how awesome the next DLC for it will be now that it’s 14 months old. When asked on Twitter when the next RDR DLC was coming, Rockstar responded with “Look for release date and details in the coming weeks.” Huh? At this point I would expect a sequel, not DLC. Surely we aren’t talking a couple new guns and outfits, or a new multiplayer mode. Something this late has got to be on par or better than Undead Nightmare. The “coming weeks” should be very interesting.

By the way, if you’re still active on the Red Dead Redemption multiplayer circuit, this weekend is the time to play. As of 12:01 this morning, and running until 11:59 Monday night it’s quadruple experience weekend to celebrate America’s 235th birthday. I certainly can’t think of a better way to celebrate our country than by fake killing each other and hunting all the buffalo to extinction.

Limbo, one of the biggest XBLA hits to date is getting access to a whole new set of players. Official date and pricing is not yet available, but a couple of tweets from Dino Patti (founder of Playdead, the company handling the port) and the official Playstation feed seemingly confirmed the game will be coming to PSN and Steam in July. Gameplay is a physics based platformer, but the star of this show is the dark, brooding, black and white art.

And it looks like that’s all I’m getting in this week. I’ve probably missed a few things but I’m traveling and my internet connection is not ideal. I should have more for you on Tuesday, but I’ll still be on the road until after that issue goes live, so no guarantees. Everything should be back to normal next Friday though.

It’s the last edition of VGQH for the first half of 2011. Hard to believe we’re this late into the year already. The younger crowd is out of school and enjoying their summer. Hopefully they’re outside playing, but I hope they’re getting plenty of game time in the air conditioning as well. For me, it’s now my busy season. It seems like I have plans every night and somewhere to be every weekend as well. I usually try to get in an hour of gaming when I finish at the gym but before the wife gets home and it’s time to start dinner. I’ll also be doing some traveling this week and throughout the summer so I’ll be getting plenty of PSP and Kindle gaming action.

As for the news, the biggest story happened yesterday as the United States Supreme Court announced their verdict on California’s 2005 law banning the sale of certain games to children. You can read the full story here. Now, I don’t have many quick hits today, but you’re probably going to find something you like.

Bethesda’s online shooter Brink is getting a DLC pack and a title update in July. The update should improve online compatibility, weapon balancing, and enhanced AI. The DLC, “Agents of Change,” comes with two environments, five player abilities, two outfits, and two weapon attachments. The DLC will be available for 360, PS3, and PC all around the same time. It will be free for the first two weeks, going to an unannounced fee after that time.

Due to the expiration of Ubisoft’s license for the franchise IP, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled is being pulled from online services as of June 30th. This is kind of a strange consequence of downloadable games that I don’t think everyone foresaw when PSN, XBLA, et al became popular. A published game on disc can always exist on disc, but apparently downloadable games can be blocked from continued sale after publication. Thankfully we haven’t seen much of this, but if you’ve been holding off on this game, released in 2009, you better get it quick. It’s only $9.99 and has four player co-op. Totally worth it. Although, if I’m Ubisoft, I might knock it down 50% for these last few days just to drag in a few more bucks while you can. I do believe the game will continue to be eligible for re-download if you have already purchased it during its publication time.

The second DLC character for the new Mortal Kombat releases next week. Kenshi, the blind swordsman, will be available for $4.99 on your console’s store starting July 5th. Five dollars per character is pretty high for add-on content. That’s why NetherRealm Studios offered a Season Pass on the XBox Marketplace for $15 that included all four characters if you paid for all four DLC characters (Kenshi, Skarlet, Rain, the elusive fourth character) up front. Rumors are that once all four characters release the discounted DLC will show up again on 360 and PS3 some time in the future. No guarantees, but if the price seems steep maybe you could wait. It’s not like the price ever goes up if it never comes down.

Over in Bioware-land, the company is finally starting to talk about continuing the Mass Effect franchise beyond the end of Shepard’s trilogy. You didn’t really think a company could walk away from a cash cow like that did you? The company’s co-founders, Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, have recently indicated that they feel the IP has a lot of potential to branch out. For now, their sights are set on Mass Effect 3, but where it goes from there is up in the air. The company is listening to fans to get a feel for what we’d like to see next and all options are currently on the table. There’s been plenty of rumor lately about the addition of multiplayer, possibly even an MMO. Nothing is confirmed, but it’s a safe bet that something will be happening.

And that looks to be it for this week’s early edition. Kind of a slow end to a huge month, but that’s to be expected. Check back on Friday for more highlights from the world of gaming news. Fair warning, since my travel plans will have me with intermittent internet connectivity (at best), the next two editions of VGQH may be a little slim – and possibly published a little late. Then again, if it’s a slow news week, they may be pretty thin anyway.