Labor Day week sees massive wave of releases, including Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Otomedius Excellent, and the latest Dragon Age: Origins expansion.

Next Monday is Labor Day, a national holiday in the US and the traditional end of summer. And once the barbecues have cooled and the last cold beverage has been plucked from the cooler, the week will see the start of the end-of-the-year game flood.

Superhero fans will get a double-dose of games on Tuesday, when Warner Bros. releases Batman: The Brave and the Bold (DS, Wii) and Activision ships Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Xbox 360, DS, PlayStation 3, Wii). Unlike the dark and violent Arkham Asylum, the former title is geared to a younger audience, with a cel-shaded look and co-starring the caped crusader's longtime companion Robin. Meanwhile, the T for Teen-rated Shattered Dimensions will see four different versions of the famous webslinger trade blows and quip webslinger trade blows and quips with villains as he tries to reassemble a broken artifact.

Gamers will play as four incarnations of Spider-Man in Shattered Dimensions.

Ubisoft is releasing two titles this week in two different genres. After a slight delay, the feint-focused World War II strategy title R.U.S.E. will arrive on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Those same platforms and the Wii will also receive HAWX 2, the sequel to the decently reviewed, Tom Clancy-branded air combat simulator.

Hockey fans will fans will also have a pair of games to choose from this week, both from Electronic Arts. NHL 11, the latest annual iteration of EA Sports' rink-and-puck franchise, will ship for the PS3 and X360 on Tuesday. The company is also releasing NHL Slapshot, a more arcade-style hockey game for the Wii.

The PSP will see a major release in the form of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the newest installmentin the Square Enix'-Disney crossover franchise. The role-playing game lit up Japan's game software sales charts upon its debut in January, selling some 445,000 units within its first week on the market.

Fans of more bizarre Japanese games can sample the Xbox 360-exclusive Otomedius Excellent. Konami's hybrid game combines Gradius-style side-scrolling space warfare and combines it with visuals of exaggeratedly proportioned, attractive anime girls.

Otomedius Excellent is…excellent?

For further details on the week's games, visit GameSpot's
New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 (LABOR DAY)
Photo World DSi--DS--Puzzle--Interworks Unlimited, Inc.


TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
101-in-1 Sports Megamix--DS--Puzzle--Atlus

Aion: Assault on Balaurea--PC--Role-Playing--NCsoft

Batman: The Brave and the Bold--DS, WII--Action--Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Brunswick Cosmic Bowling--WII--Sports--CokeM Interactive

Dawn of Heroes--DS--Role-Playing--Majesco Games

Dragon Age: Origins - Witch Hunt--PC, PS3, X360--Role-Playing--Electronic Arts

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep--PSP--Role-Playing--Square Enix

Kung Fu Rider--PS3--Action--SCEA

Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy--DS--Adventure--MumboJumbo

NHL 11--PS3, X360--Sports--Electronic Arts

NHL Slapshot--WII--Sports--EA Sports

Otomedius Excellent--X360--Action--Konami

R.U.S.E.--PC, PS3, X360--Strategy--Ubisoft

Saints Row Diamond 2-Pack--X360--Puzzle--THQ

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions--X360, DS, PS3, WII--Action--Activision

The Sims 3: Fast Lane Stuff--MAC, PC--Puzzle--Electronic Arts

Tom Clancy's HAWX 2--PS3, X360--Action--Ubisoft

UFC 2010 Undisputed--PSP--Fighting--THQ


WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
Amnesia: The Dark Descent--PC--Adventure--Frictional Games

Plants vs. Zombies--X360--Strategy--PopCap


THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
No releases scheduled

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
Recettear--PC--Puzzle--Carpe Fulgur

Operation Barbarossa - The Struggle for Russia--PC--Strategy--Matrix Games

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Capcom game dedicated to feline helpers sells a quarter million in chart-topping debut, doubles PSP sales week-over-week.

The Monster Hunter franchise is practically the embodiment of "Big in Japan," a fact bolstered by Media Create's Japanese sales figures for the week of August 23-29. The latest entry in the series, a PSP spin-off centered around the off-duty exploits of Monster Hunter's cat-like helpers, topped the charts with more than four times the sales of the second-place title.

Untrue statement: Monster Hunter's cat-like helpers pass judgment on people's souls with their trademark "Penance Stare."

MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Ailu Mura sold 256,076 copies for the week, and helped move plenty of new PSP systems in the process. Sony's handheld sold almost exactly doubled its week-over-week sales total, topping the hardware charts with 55,112 units sold. The PS3 came in second despite selling less than half as many systems as its handheld counterpart, with Nintendo's trifecta of the DSi LL (DSi XL in the West), DSi, and Wii once again coming in third through fifth, respectively.

The PSP's hardware performance was no doubt also bolstered by the other two new release games to hit the top 10. Namco Bandai's Ace Combat: Joint Assault flew as high as second place on the charts, finishing the week with sales of 57,785, while Idea Factory's romantic adventure Hakuouki: Zuisouroku Portable landed in fifth with 24,469 sold. The PSP game arrived almost a year to the day after the original PlayStation 2 Hakuoki: Zuisouroku.

As for enduring sellers, Nintendo's Wii Party again showed its legs, coming in third with 54,673 copies sold, easily outpacing the previous week's best-seller, Another Century's Episode R. The Namco Bandai PS3 game was forced to settle for fourth place with 28,354 games sold. The bottom half of the top 10 also featured a number of familiar faces, from Level Five's Inazuma Eleven 3 DS games to Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Capcom's Sengoku Basara 3.

JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF AUGUST 23-29, 2010
Software:
Rank / Title / Publisher / Platform / Unit sales
1. MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Ailu Mura / Capcom / PSP / 256,076
2. Ace Combat: Joint Assault / Namco Bandai / PSP / 57,785
3. Wii Party / Nintendo / Wii / 54,673
4. Another Century's Episode R / Namco Bandai / PS3 / 28,354
5. Hakuouki: Zuisouroku Portable / Idea Factory / PSP / 24,469
6. Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen!! Spark and Bomber/ Level Five / DS / 15,889
7. Super Mario Galaxy 2 / Nintendo / Wii / 11,977
8. Art Academy / Nintendo / DS / 10,301
9. Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X / Namco Bandai / PSP / 9,371
10. Sengoku Basara 3 / Capcom / PS3 / 8,834

Hardware:
PSP - 55,112
PS3 - 25,053
DSi LL - 19,010
DSi - 17,057
Wii - 15,989
DS Lite - 3,925
Xbox 360 - 2,665
PS2 - 1,358
PSP Go - 836

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Sony nails down release date for Guerrilla Games' Move-compatible 3D shooter.

At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, Sony revealed that Killzone 3 would arrive sometime next February. Eager fans of the series won't need to worry about the first-person shooter interfering with Valentine's Day plans, as Sony today announced that Killzone 3 will launch on February 22.

PS3 owners will be able to shake off the aftereffects of their Presidents Day revelry with a few games of Killzone 3.

As the name suggests, Killzone 3 will serve as a direct sequel to 2009's critically lauded Killzone 2. In last year's title, the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance took the fight to the Helghan homeworld, where they achieved a measure of success against the Nazi-esque civilization of invaders in the 2004 original.

For the third entry in the series, Amsterdam-based Guerrilla Games will be fleshing out the Helghan homeworld with more enemy types, larger and more diverse environments, and jetpacks. With the futuristic personal conveyance, gamers gain the ability to thrust skyward for a limited period of time, affording them access to heretofore unreachable locations and opening up the possibility of aerial gunfights.

Killzone 3 will also support Sony's PlayStation Move peripheral, as well as stereoscopic 3D displays. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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Super Stardust HD developer Housemarque working on downloadable platformer with light-and-dark gameplay inspired by Ikaruga.

Finnish developer Housemarque established itself in the downloadable game market with 2007's PlayStation twin-stick arcade shooter Super Stardust HD. The studio will return to that genre with the forthcoming PlayStation 3-exclusive Dead Nation, but it is also branching out into new territory, as evidenced by today's announcement of Outland.

The gameplay mechanics may be Ikaruga inspired, but the visuals have their own set of influences.

Set for release on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, Outland is being shown off for the first time at this weekend's Penny Arcade Expo. Published by Ubisoft, the platformer will see players attempt to tilt the balance of light and dark in a world facing its own demise.

Ubisoft said the game is inspired by "epic adventures such as the Prince of Persia series," but the publisher also name-checked Treasure's vertically scrolling arcade shooter Ikaruga as a source of Outland's core gameplay. In Ikaruga, players could swap the color of their ship between black and white at will; each color could absorb bullets of the same shade, allowing skilled players to weave their way through otherwise impenetrable barrages of enemy fire.

The game's soundtrack will be composed by Ari Pulkkinen. While Pulkkinen has previously teamed with Housemarque on Super Stardust HD, he is perhaps better known for his work on last year's cooperative action adventure Trine and the breakout iPhone hit Angry Birds.

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PAX 2010: Gearbox president Randy Pitchford confirms that his studio has taken over the long, long, long-awaited shooter, which will be playable on the PAX Prime floor.

Yesterday as part of his prolific Twitter stream, 3D Realms president
George Broussard posted a cryptic picture of pigs flying. Today, the reason became clear. At PAX Prime in Seattle,
Gearbox president Randy Pitchford took the stage to announce that his studio has taken over Duke Nukem Forever, which had been in development at the now-all-but-defunct 3D Realms since 1997.

Hail to the king, baby!

Speaking to a shocked and enthusiastic crowd, Pitchford said, "We can't let the Duke die, right? The guys at 3D Realms who put their hearts and souls into this, so we wanted to make sure it hits all the platforms. It's coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC in 2011."

Pitchford also told the
Wall Street Journal that Gearbox took over the game in late 2009, following the quasi-closure of 3D Realms and tit-for-tat lawsuits between 3D Realms and Duken Nukem Forever publisher Take-Two Interactive. (He also told the paper the game was coming out in 2010, but he said 2011 at PAX today.)

"Clearly the game hadn't been finished at 3D Realms but a lot of content had been created," Pitchford told the Journal. "The approach and investment and process at 3D Realms didn…t quite make it and it cracked at the end. With Gearbox Software we brought all those pieces together. It's the game it was meant to be."

Duke Nukem Forever is playable on the PAX Prime show floor.

Scott Miller, owner and CEO of 3D Realms, also reflected to the Journal why his studio failed to complete the game. "We were probably too much of a perfectionist about the game. When some other game had some great feature come out, we wanted to match it…We'd been distracted on other games like Prey. It was a combination of those things. We were trying to build a game that was too great."

Duke Nukem Forever will feature beasties like this.

Duke Nukem Forever isn't the first Duke Nukem game that Gearbox has worked on.
In June, court filings in the Take-Two Interactive lawsuit against Duke Nukem Forever developer 3D Realms (incorporated as Apogee Software) revealed that another game featuring the first-person shooter icon was in the works at a "well-known game developer" as early as 2007. That mystery developer was, in fact, Gearbox.

The Duke Nukem-Gearbox connections don't stop there. Before forming Gearbox, Pitchford worked at 3D Realms on an expansion for Duke Nukem 3D for the PC. (The game was rereleased in 2008 as an Xbox Live Arcade title.) "People like George Broussard and the 3D Realms team are the reason I got into gaming," said Pitchford during today's speech.

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Publisher more than triples quarterly sales to $354.1 million; L.A. Noire officially delayed to first half of next year.

Take-Two is riding a little higher in the saddle thanks to the success of Red Dead Redemption. Today the publisher released "significantly better than expected" financial results for the quarter ended July 31, saying the critically acclaimed open-world Western had sold-in 6.9 million copies to retailers worldwide.

With shipments nearing 7 million and more DLC on the way, Red Dead Redemption won't be riding into the sunset for some time to come.

Company-wide, revenues for the quarter totaled $354.1 million, more than triple the $94.9 million in sales Take-Two posted for the same quarter the previous year. It also posted a net profit for the quarter of $5.9 million, a dramatic improvement from the $56.5 million loss it chalked up for the same period of 2009.

The numbers were so positive that Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick believes the current fiscal year will mark the first in almost a decade that Take-Two has posted a full fiscal year profit without the benefit of a major Grand Theft Auto release. To accomplish that goal, the company still has a ways to go before the October 31 end of its fiscal year. Through the first nine months of the fiscal year, Take-Two is still running a net loss of $11.2 million. Despite that, the company is at least heading in the right direction; at the same point of its last fiscal year, Take-Two was running a net loss of $116.9 million.

Beyond Red Dead Redemption, Take-Two said sales were led by Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto IV, NBA 2K10, and Borderlands. Digital distribution is also a focal point for the company, as Feder said that the publisher has multiple new Borderlands and BioShock 2 add-ons in development, in addition to the already announced slate of Red Dead Redemption content.

The news of Red Dead Redemption's sales success wasn't surprising, but neither was the news of a delay for Rockstar's L.A. Noire. Originally announced in 2005, L.A. Noire is now expected to see release sometime in the first half of calendar 2011.

While the silence surrounding the Team Bondi-developed project caused some to assume it wouldn't be making its original October deadline, word of L.A. Noire's delay first emerged from analysts and retailers last week. Take-Two CEO Ben Feder said in a postearnings conference call with analysts that the company showed the game off to a great reception at a recent GameStop manager's convention and expressed confidence that the extra time will result in another critical and commercial hit for the company.

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3D-enabled hyperrealistic racer, sci-fi shooter join God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Little Big Planet 2, and a PlayStation Move smorgasbord at Japan's biggest gaming expo.

With the 2010 Tokyo Game Show just two weeks away, the major game publishers are starting to tout which titles they will be showing off at the massive expo. More than 180,000 people are expected to turn up at the Makahuri Messe just outside Japan's largest city, and one company--Sony--is intent on displaying its latest and (it hopes) greatest game releases to the throngs of attendees.

TGS attendees will be able to get behind Gran Turismo 5's steering wheel.

Front and center will be the PlayStation Move, Sony's camera and LED-controller-based motion control system. There will be nearly 20 playable Move-compatible games on the show floor, including Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition, and Little Big Planet 2.

Two Move titles, Killzone 3 and Power Smash 4, will also be playable with 3D graphics. As shown at Sony's press briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, Sony is aggressively pushing its 3D titles, including the Sly Cooper Collection, MotorStorm 3, and the long, long, long-awaited Gran Turismo 5--due out worldwide November 2.

Last but not least, Sony will be displaying its latest wares for the PSP, which has seen its sales fall to quintuple digits in the US. Leading the charge will be Sony's God of War: Ghost of Sparta, along with Konami's Winning Eleven Soccer 2011 and
Sega's PSP Yakuza game, tentatively titled Yakuza Panther Shin Akira.

A full list of games appearing on Sony's platforms at the Tokyo Game Show is below, and GameSpot will be on hand at the event, which runs from September 16 to 19.

PLAYSTATION MOVE TITLES

Capcom
Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition


Electronic Arts
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11


Namco Bandai Games
Big 3 Gun Shooting


Sega
Power Smash 4


Sony Computer Entertainment
Little Big Planet 2

Killzone 3

Heavy Rain

Hasurakingu

Beat Sketch!

City rupture

EyePets

Champion Sports

Flee! Flee! Bowling

Echochrome 2

Move in Party

I'll Work! Ape Escape

Superstar TV

Studio Shooting

BLOQ Tsumiki

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs 4

Heroes on the Move (tentative)


3D TITLES
Sony Computer Entertainment
Gran Turismo 5

MotorStorm 3 (tentative)

Killzone 3

Sly Cooper Collection

Hasurakingu

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Managing director Keiji Inafune tells Spanish gaming site the publisher is working to get survival horror sequel to market "lo antes possible," will tailor next Devil May Cry for Western audiences.

For Resident Evil 5, Capcom upped the speed of the series' zombie-like hordes. For Resident Evil 6, the publisher might be upping its own pace to match that of the series' maddened adversaries.

News of Resident Evil 6 could arrive soon.

Speaking with Spanish gaming site 3D Juegos, Capcom managing director Keiji Inafune addressed current plans for a number of its familiar franchises. According to a GameSpot translation, when asked about Resident Evil 6, Inafune said Capcom wants to release the game as soon as possible in light of Resident Evil 5's great success. Though the developer quickly moved on to other subjects, he did tease that news about the next installment in the survival horror series could arrive soon.

Inafune also talked about the possibility for a Devil May Cry 5. He said that when development on the game starts, it will probably be designed to appeal more to Western audiences. While the series has done well in Japan, Inafune said that Devil May Cry franchise sales in North America and Europe haven't been especially high.

As for a new Onimusha game, Inafune's response no doubt included more laughter than fans of the series would have liked. The developer said that nobody ever asks him about the series except the Spanish gaming press. He then jokingly suggested that if there is a next episode in the series, it would surely be set in Spain.

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Legal council representing defendants against Nintendo suggest the battle against pirates has only just begun.

Sony…s PlayStation 3 mod chip lawsuit could be just the first of many gaming-giant-initiated cases in Australia, according to a lawyer who defended a client against Nintendo in a similar case earlier this year.

Sony's attack on the mod chip industry has been met with plenty of objections.

Late last week, Australia's federal court slapped a temporary ban--which expires tomorrow--on a handful of local retailers selling or importing hardware, commonly known as mod chips, that allows unauthorised software to run on the PlayStation 3. The court also ordered the chips to be handed over to Sony while the case was running.

The situation echoed a similar case from earlier in the year, when Nintendo was attempting to stop a local distributor from selling the R4 cartridge, which allows unauthorised applications and games to run on the DS.

The Nintendo case ended in a settlement to the game publisher in the tune of $620,000 without the judge coming to a finding. And, according to Berrigan Doube director John Cheng, whose firm defended the R4 distributor, similar cases may go down the same route.

"If history is anything to go by, I envisage many more cases to be settled in favour of the gaming giants before a court is given a proper chance to consider and decide on these highly contentious matters," he said in an e-mailed statement this afternoon.

In the Sony case, the defendants have vowed to fight the Japanese company no matter the cost.

"This is not OzModChips versus Sony," wrote retailer OzModChips on its site after Sony won the injunction. "This is not OzModChips, Quantronics, Modsupplier versus Sony. We would go as far as saying that it is not even everyone in Australia versus Sony.

"This will affect everyone that plans to buy such a device worldwide. It already sets a dangerous precedent. Everyone that was using OtherOS, everyone that has had a faulty PS3 laser … and those interested in PS3 custom firmware and homebrew applications. We cannot do it alone; we need the support of everyone in the homebrew community, the media, engineers that understand the inner workings and anyone else that can provide support."

Piracy is big business and could end up costing Sony dearly if it's not stamped out.

"It will take an extraordinary person to really take the fight to the gaming console companies due to the significant resources required and the personal risks attached to defending the allegations raised against them," he said.

When the Sony case arose yesterday, online commentators immediately raised the spectre of a similar case back in 2005, Stevens v. Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment.

That case saw Sony allege that Mr. Stevens had breached a number of laws by selling mod chips and unauthorised games for its PlayStation consoles. However, the high court found that Sony's hardware did not constitute what is called a "technological protection measure," meaning it wasn't illegal to break through it.

The case was hailed as a victory for freedom of consumer expression, but Cheng today said the Australian legal situation had been confused since the judgment.

Should the current Sony matter proceed to final judgment, these legal proceedings will offer the Australian community clarification with respect to the uncertainties in Australian copyright law.

Cheng said he believed Sony was likely to argue in court--as it did in the prior Stevens case, and as Nintendo did this year in its own case--that the PS Jailbreak device infringed the copyright and trademark of the technology embedded in Sony's PlayStation console and possibly that the PS Jailbreak unlawfully circumvents the system's protections.

The defending retailers, the lawyer said, would likely argue that not only was the PS Jailbreak software (which is applied through a USB stick) not a circumvention device, but that it was actually designed and used to increase the functionality of the PlayStation 3, and accordingly, Sony's technology should not be protected.

"In addition," said Cheng, "the respondents may also argue that the PS Jailbreak does not contain Sony…s copyright material.

"If it is established that the PS Jailbreak does contain copyright material belonging to Sony, the respondents may argue that the PS Jailbreak is a legitimate device, which enables time-shifting broadcasts and format-shifting copyright material and rely upon the exemption to infringement of copyright, being the region coding exemption."

Cheng finally noted that the defendants may also have to argue that the PS Jailbreak did not infringe upon Sony's trademarks.

If the defendants do attempt to fight Sony on the matter, they will likely be in for a tough road. But, according to Cheng, until someone does fight one of the big gaming giants, the issue may never be resolved in a legal sense.

"Until a decision is received from the court on the subject matters raised in the Nintendo case and now, the Sony case, we are likely to see more cases being brought in the future by gaming console giants against individuals and companies that import and sell mod chips in Australia," he said.

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Star Wars studio said to have trimmed some 85 positions in advance of The Force Unleashed II's October 26 release.

In the past couple of months, Rockstar Games, Sony Online Entertainment, Firaxis, Realtime Worlds, and Ubisoft have all sent staff packing, for reasons ranging from studio bankruptcies to the ever-popular "realignment of resources." Now, it appears as if one more studio can be added to that list, as Kotaku reports today that approximately 60 developers and 25 external production and QA staff have been shown the door at Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II developer-publisher LucasArts.

It isn't a Force choke, but it still smarts.

The layoffs reportedly follow on from the completion of The Force Unleashed II, which is due to arrive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, and DS on October 26. In a statement provided to the news site, LucasArts confirmed the layoffs, saying that the reductions do not signal an end for the company's internal development efforts.

"LucasArts is reorganizing its teams to better address the needs of the internal studio. Unfortunately, this means adjusting staffing," LucasArts reportedly said in a statement. "LucasArts continues to be committed to creating a first-class internal studio--and to fostering relationships with trusted external partners--in order to deliver quality games that amaze and inspire fans."

Notably, LucasArts enacted a similar round of layoffs following the completion of the original Force Unleashed, which went on to sell more than 7 million units following its September 2008 launch. The Star Wars house has also taken measures to strengthen its internal development operations, announcing last month that it had signed on former Ubisoft Montreal creative director Clint Hocking to lead development on a new, unannounced project.

LucasArts had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment as of press time. For more on The Force Unleashed II, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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TopWare Interactive inserts life bars, combo systems into ancient strategy game for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC later this month.

Chess has existed for centuries unchanged, but that doesn't stop game designers from wanting to breathe new life into it. The next attempt to update the time-tested board game will arrive later this month, as SouthPeak Games today announced a September 28 release date for Battle vs. Chess on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

This loathsome king is using his queen as a human shield.

Developed by Topware Interactive and Gaijin Entertainment, Battle vs. Chess includes traditional interpretations of the game, as well as dramatically overhauled takes featuring video game staples like life bars and combo attacks. Purists will be able to pit themselves against the Fritz 11 chess AI, get tips and move-by-move advice from the game's tutorial, and make their way up a ranking system.

Those who want an overhauled take on the game will be able to work through the game's Battle mode, in which the pieces come alive as fantasy archetypes and skirmishes are decided by a brief beat-'em-up fight sequence. The pieces in this mode will be competitively balanced similar to the real game (so a queen will have a significant advantage when facing pawns), but health bars that carry over from one fight to another will allow for players to work attrition into their strategies. Other variations include "madness placement," where the pieces are randomly strewn about the board to start, and a puzzle mode.

The console versions of Battle vs. Chess will sell for $40 at launch, while the PC edition will be available for $20. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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Image of adventure game publisher's next project suggests Sam and Max, Penny Arcade, Strong Bad, and Team Fortress characters getting together for a card game; first Back to the Future game details revealed.

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Portal 2 studio boss Gabe Newell says "people will be shocked again" by trio of announcements due over the coming year.

Valve dropped a sizable bombshell during the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo, when former PlayStation 3 critic Gabe Newell announced that Portal 2 would ship for Sony's console in addition to versions for the Xbox 360, PC, and Mac. What's more, Newell crowned the PS3 version of Portal 2 "the best console version of the game," due to its inclusion of Steamworks, which allows for auto-updates, downloadable content, and community support directly from Valve.

Portal 2 on the PS3 won't be Valve's only surprise.

As it turns out, Portal 2's presence on the PS3 apparently won't be the only bit of shocking news from Valve in the near future. In an interview with PC Gamer magazine (and relayed by sister site CVG), Newell promised that his studio is planning to make three more surprising announcements over the coming year.

"We have three pretty big surprises in the next 12 months at least," Newell told the magazine. "I can guarantee you people are going to be surprised at stuff we do. That isn't going to stop anytime soon. I'm just laughing because…people will be shocked again."

One of those surprises may be Valve's involvement with Defense of the Ancients, a tower-defense-style game that began life as a map mod for Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III. Last month, prominent voice actor John St. John posted to his Twitter feed that he had traveled to Valve's studio in Washington to record for DOTA. Shortly thereafter, Valve filed an application to trademark the phrase "DOTA" for use in games with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Another (arguably) surprising announcement would be that for Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Initially planned as a rapid-fire episodic series, Valve's Half-Life 2 expansions quickly took on a life of their own following the release of Episode 1 in June 2006. Episode 2 arrived more than a year after the first release in the series, coming bundled with Team Fortress 2 and Portal as part of The Orange Box in November 2007. Valve has not offered a time frame for the release of Episode 3.

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PlayStation Store Update: The Behemoth's beat-'em-up debuts on Sony's console alongside Sega's Valkyria Chronicles II, demos for Vanquish and R.U.S.E.

This week's PlayStation Store update features a bevy of long-awaited releases, but none longer awaited than Castle Crashers for the PlayStation 3. Originally released just over two years ago for Microsoft's original Summer of Arcade Xbox 360 promotion, The Behemoth's four-player arcade-style beat-'em-up has finally made its way to Sony's system and is selling for $15.

Finally, gamers can push R2 and triangle for a splash attack.

Also debuting on the PS3 this week is Telltale Games' Sam & Max Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep, the final chapter in the current season of the episodic adventure game. It is available only to those who purchase the full season (called The Devil's Playhouse), but Telltale and Sony are offering a discount for the bundle, making it available for $20 instead of its normal $30 price tag.

The PSP has its own new addition to the downloadable game catalog in the form of Sega's Valkyria Chronicles II. A handheld-only follow-up to the 2008 PS3-exclusive original, Valkyria Chronicles II is set two years later and thrusts players into a Gallian civil war. The portable tactical role-playing game sells for $40 and casts players as a member of the Gallian Revolution Army, fighting a fierce battle against a tyrannical faction. Sony promoted a second PSP game, Ace Combat: Joint Assault, as being part of its update, but the game was not available as of press time.

Beyond the trio of new game offerings, the week's PlayStation Store update also includes a new addition to the PSOne Classics library, as well as high-profile add-ons and game demos. Bullfrog's Theme Hospital is the retro offering of the week, with Sony asking $6 to download the strategy sim to play on either the PSP or PS3. Meanwhile, BioShock 2 gets a single-player story-driven add-on in Minerva's Den ($10), and demos arrive for both Shinji Mikami's PlatinumGames shooter Vanquish and Ubisoft's deception-driven strategy game R.U.S.E.

A full list of the week's deals and new PlayStation Store content, including themes, wallpapers, demos, discounts, and add-on content, is available on the PlayStation Blog.

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Publisher claims sales victory for the month as gridiron sim sales rise 5% across all platforms; Madden NFL Superstars now available on Facebook.

The NPD Group isn't expected to release its August game-industry sales breakdown for at least a couple more weeks, but Electronic Arts is already touting Madden NFL 11 as the month's sales leader. Citing internal figures, EA claims Madden NFL 11 was the No. 1 selling game in North America during August, with sales on all platforms rising about 5 percent year-over-year.

Who dey gonna beat Madden NFL 11's sales?

EA did not offer specific sales figures for any of the versions of Madden NFL 11, which launched for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, and iPhone on August 10. However, Madden NFL 10 sold 1.9 million units in August 2009, a figure that included versions on the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, and Wii.

EA also said that digital revenues for Madden NFL 11 were up 200 percent year-over-year. Examples of downloadable content currently available include the "One More Year" bonus, which keeps an in-game player from retiring for an additional year, and "Skilled Medical Staff," which confers a 10 percent bonus chance of avoiding injuries and increasing recovery time. EA also announced its Online Pass initiative in May, which requires used-game owners to purchase access to the game's online mode.

The sales bump is likely a relief for EA, after seeing lackluster results for Madden NFL 10. Last September, EA CEO John Riccitiello expressed disappointment over the game's performance despite the game's near-2-million-unit opening. "It is discouraging that one of our highest rated and best marketed Madden titles in years is facing strong headwinds," he said.

Along with touting Madden NFL 11's sales, EA also took the opportunity to officially announce Madden NFL Superstars, a new installment in the franchise designed specifically for social-gaming network Facebook. Built in conjunction with recent EA acquisition Playfish, Madden NFL Superstars is a team-management sim in which Facebook users can build a roster from more than 1,500 current players and then match their squad up against friends.

Madden NFL Superstars is available as of today through its Facebook game space.

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Add-on pack for 2K Games' organized crime action adventure drops next week on 360, PS3, PC for $10; Italian-American foundation issues more brouhaha.

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Gearbox Software's stylized postapocalyptic shooter compiling all four add-on packs later this year for $60 on 360, PS3 and $50 on PC.

Gearbox Software earned critical acclaim and commercial success for the stylized shooter Borderlands upon its launch for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC last October. To capitalize on that success, Gearbox has supported the game all year long with substantive downloadable add-ons, including The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, Mad Moxxi…s Underdome Riot, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx, and the recently announced Claptrap's New Robot Revolution.

Borderlands GOTY Edition arrives October 12.

With the game's one-year anniversary rapidly approaching, 2K Games and Gearbox announced today that they would be collecting all four add-ons into a single Game of the Year edition. Set for release on October 12, the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition includes all four aforementioned packs for $59.99 on the Xbox 360 and PS3 and $49.99 on the PC, in addition to the original campaign. A "comprehensive" Borderlands map will also be included with the package.

Notably, the expansion packs are not included on the game's disc. Instead, the add-on content can be redeemed by way of download tokens included with the package.

The Borderlands GOTY Edition will be preceded by the game's fourth add-on, Claptrap's New Robot Revolution. Due for release in September, the content thrusts players into a civil war between the Hyperion Corporation and the Claptraps, led by the elusive Ninja Assassin. The Robot Revolution downloadable content adds new missions and enemies--including Claptrap-ified monsters--to shoot and loot, as well as new boss battles.

As with Borderlands' other add-ons, Claptrap's New Robot Revolution can be purchased individually through each system's respective online service for $10 (800 Microsoft points).

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Disney and Propaganda's vehicular action game cruising onto 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, DS, PC two weeks before film; $130 collector's edition includes light cycle model.

Tron: Legacy is expected to anchor Walt Disney Pictures' Christmas blockbuster offerings this year when it is released in theaters on December 17. Disney Interactive Studios' film tie-in will arrive nearly two weeks before, as the publisher announced today that Tron: Evolution has been given a December 7 release date for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, DS, and PC.

The collector's edition light cycle is not road-ready.

Along with announcing a formal launch window for the Propaganda Games-developed action/vehicular combat game, Disney offered first word on the game's Collectors' Edition, which will be available only for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Following in the vein of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: Reach, and Gran Turismo 5, Tron: Evolution's limited-edition package will carry a hefty premium over its standard-edition counterpart, costing $130.

Spiking the package's cost is an exclusive Tron light cycle collectible model (pictured), which is being manufactured by Sideshow Collectibles. The Collectors' Edition package also comes with a special casing to house the model, which in turn features a pullout drawer in its base for the game's box.

Detailing the events between the original Tron--released theatrically in 1982--and its imminent predecessor, Tron: Evolution features a story that further fleshes out the franchise's universe. Disney has positioned it as an integrated companion piece, where the film will reference events that occur in the game. However, the publisher also noted that both the film and the game operate just as well as stand-alone experiences.

For more on Tron: Evolution, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

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Retail week highlighted by Nintendo's latest Samus adventure, tactical role-playing PSP game; other new releases include Sam & Max Episode 5, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero.

The fall's major release, Halo: Reach, is now just two weeks away, but gamers looking for something new this week have a number of options. New releases this week include Nintendo's deep-space bounty hunter game, a PSP tactical role-playing game, a zombie prequel adventure, and a four-player brawler for Sony fans.

Samus embarks on another quest this week.

Leading the pack this week is Team Ninja's Metroid: Other M. Coming exclusively to the Nintendo Wii, the game casts players as bounty hunter Samus Aran in a narrative set between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. First unveiled at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the game is set on the hostile Bottle Ship, where players will face numerous formidable beasts.

Also coming to retail this week is Valkyria Chronicles II for the PSP. From developer Sega, the sequel is set two years after the original and thrusts players into a civil war in the game's homeland of Gallia. The portable tactical role-playing game casts players as a member of the Gallian Revolution Army, fighting a fierce battle against a tyrannical faction. Valkyria Chronicles II was released in Japan in January and will be available in North America on UMD and as a digital download through the PlayStation Store.

Switching to the downloadable game front, two years after The Behemoth released Castle Crashers onto Xbox Live, the developer is finally bringing it to the PlayStation Network this week. The title, a carbon copy of its competing console cousin, hits Tuesday priced at $15.

Because killing zombies in jeans is just so restricting!

As for foaming-at-the-mouth zombies, Capcom releases Dead Rising 2: Case Zero exclusively on Xbox Live this week. Case Zero is a $5 downloadable prequel to the events of Dead Rising 2, which is due out at the end of September. Effectively a paid demo for Dead Rising 2, the game focuses on protagonist Chuck and daughter Katey and gives players a first look at and feel for the large-scale zombie battles that will come with the full game. Additionally, players can reach up to level 5 in Case Zero and are able to import experience and cash to the full game.

For the point-and-click adventurer, the fifth episode in the latest Sam & Max series hits this week. Telltale Games' Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep comes to the PC, Mac, and PS3 this Tuesday. The game continues the frenzied adventures of the unlikely dog and rabbit crime-solving duo.

For further details on the week's games, visit GameSpot's
New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

MONDAY, AUGUST 30
Cosmos X2--DS--Saturnine Games
Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island--PC--Valusoft
TNT Racers--X360, PS3--DTP Entertainment

TUESDAY, AUGUST 31
Ace Combat: Joint Assault--PSP--Namco Bandai Games America
Camp Rock: The Final Jam--DS--Disney Interactive
Castle Crashers--PS3--The Behemoth
Cthulhu Saves The World--X360--Microsoft Games Studios
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero--X360--Capcom
Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns Arcade Hits Pack--Wii--Sega
Little Bears--DS--Zoo Interactive
Metroid: Other M--Wii--Nintendo
Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep--PC, PS3, Mac--Telltale Games
Valkyria Chronicles II--PSP--Sega

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Ferrari: The Race Experience--Wii, PS3--System 3
Mumbo Jumbo 6 Pack 2nd Edition--PC--Mumbo Jumbo
Prison Tycoon: Alcatraz--PC--Valusoft

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Game's assistant producer teases upcoming "hints" about arcade version's updated roster.

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