Because I love you, dear reader. That’s why I scoured through all of the Black Friday ads to compile this list of the best deals for scoring quality gaming hardware at deep discounts. ‘Cause if you’re going out on Thanksgiving night to wait in line in the cold, darn it you should know if it’s worth it!

Smart buyers are also advised to remember that Amazon is offering round-the-clock deals on video games (as well as all sorts of other products), but they have no pre-published list.

$100 Kinect Bundle

Toys ‘R Us, Walmart
If your must-have Christmas gift is Microsoft’s Kinect sensor, you won’t find a better deal than this $100 bundle, which includes the sensor, a disc copy of Kinect Adventures, and download vouchers for both Fruit Ninja Kinect and Gunstringer. That’s the hardware plus three games for considerably less than the sensor alone usually costs ($150). If you’re only going to Best Buy and don’t feel like fighting the crowds at Walmart or Toys ‘R’ Us too, you can get just a Kinect sensor there for $100. But when you can get that plus three games, isn’t it worth the extra trip?

$200 160GB PlayStation 3 Bundle

Best Buy, GameStop, Radio Shack, Sears, Target, Walmart
The good news is that if you’re in the market for a great PS3 deal, you won’t have any trouble finding one — it’s the exact same bundle and price you’ll find at all of the retailers listed above. And every one offers the same bundle of the system, a DualShock 3 controller, and both LittleBigPlanet 2 and Ratchet & Clank 4.

$140 4GB Xbox 360

Target
You won’t find a better price on a basic Xbox 360 console anywhere this year than Target’s bargain basement price of $140. Of course, for that price, you’re not getting any extras; it’s just the console and one controller. (GameStop has the exact same deal, but Target’s beats it by $10.) If you want a basic Kinect starter kit, you can get a 4GB console, Kinect, and Kinect Adventures for $200 from Walmart. If Kinect isn’t your thing but you’re interested in multiplayer gaming, try Walmart‘s other $200 bundle that includes Gears of War 3, a 3-month Xbox Live Gold membership, and a $50 Walmart gift card.

$100 Wii

Walmart, Sam’s Club
Only at Walmart (and its wholesale big brother) can you get this limited edition blue Wii console for just $100. It comes with the console, one Wii Remote, and one Nunchuck controller. No games are included, but at that price, you should be able to afford a game or two to go with it.

$180 Nintendo 3DS Bundle

Best Buy, Target
Options are very limited for buyers looking to score a discounted 3DS this Black Friday. This $180 bundle is pretty much the only deal in town. Target offers it with a bundled copy of Super Mario 3D Land, while Best Buy is giving you your choice of Mario or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.

[Image credit.]

When I heard the news that Sony is redesigning PlayStation Home from the ground-up, my first thought (like probably many of yours) was… People actually play that? Sony must feel the same, because this overhaul is bringing some significant upgrades that all kinds of gamers will appreciate.

I’ve popped in on Home now and then over the years, and yes, there are always plenty of people there, hanging out, playing mini games, or collecting stuff to deck out their personal “Harbor Studio” space. But I never quite got what the big deal was, and I know loads of others who feel the same. For most, it’s a footnote, a sideshow curiosity in the annals of PlayStation history.

The new "Action District"

Mostly I’ve always been amazed that Sony has the gall to charge real-world money for virtual goods that serve no purpose whatsoever. The tchotchkes for sale inside Home are clothes, furniture, and accessories, which are fine, but they do nothing at all to improve your gaming experience. The same could be said about Xbox’s avatar store, but I’ve never spent money on anything there, either. Why would I? Bragging rights, so all of my avatar’s little avatar friends can ooh and aah over my supreme fashion sense? Give me a break.

The new "Pier Park" (yes, you can ride the Ferris Wheel)

To make Home more appealing to gamers like myself, Sony’s new “hub and districts” design organizes content by genre instead of by game. You’ll find places like the Action District, Sportswalk, Adventure District, and Pier Park (for puzzles and mini games). The Central Plaza is going away entirely to make room for the new “Hub,” which functions as a more streamlined core user experience, but you’ll keep your Harbor Studio and all of your personal trophies. They’re even updating the game engine.

The new PlayStation Home central "Hub"

But the big news is quests. Like achievements and trophies, quests are meant to give added purpose to your actions within Home by awarding you for the games and activities you participate in. The idea is that players who choose to can use quests to turn the entire Home experience itself into one big game. The video above goes into more detail about this concept and how it will make Home a more interesting place to “live.”

So if you’ve never indulged in Home, do these redesign plans make you more likely to jump in?

The reimagined PlayStation Home is expected sometime before Christmas.

A map of the overhauled new PlayStation Home

Love it or hate it, DLC is the new normal in the world of video games. You pay $50-$60 for your boxed game disc, and then the publisher expects you to shell out around $10 (or more) extra to download additional multiplayer maps or entire episodes of solo play.

But is it fair?

The idea behind a DLC subscription model is to let gamers plunk down one lump sum with their game purchase that will cover planned content pack downloads that will be released in the future. So instead of paying $30 total for 3 content packs at $10 a pop, you might pay $20 for all 3 by buying them at one time. It sounds like a good deal, but is it? I mean, no matter how you slice it, you’re paying anywhere from $20 to $40 extra on a game you’ve (probably) already spent $60 on.

Most publishers come up with a marketing-friendly name for their subscriptions, like “Season Pass.” Just a few recent franchises to implement DLC subscriptions include L.A. Noire, Mortal Kombat, Gears of War 3, Call of Duty, and the entire library of EA Sports. But there are many more. The latest to jump on the “Season Pass” bandwagon? Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception.

Sony and Naughty Dog have given Uncharted‘s DLC subscription service a fun-sounding name: the “Fortune Hunters’ Club.” It entitles you to the first four multiplayer map packs, the first three multiplayer skin packs, and a Fortune Hunters’ Club PS3 theme, for $24.99 — a value that ordinarily would cost you upwards of $45.

Does this make anybody else nostalgic for the good old days when every component of a game came in the box, and “extra” features weren’t doled out piecemeal? It reminds me of a nickel-and-dime program from a cellular carrier.

Looks like PlayStation Network is finally ready to compete with Xbox Live for real. Sony just announced a month-long “Only On PSN” initiative. Tell me if this sounds familiar: a selection of premium download-only titles, with new releases coming out every week over the next month. Details inside.

Starting today, the “Only On PlayStation Network” program will release a total of eight “big name” titles across the next five weeks. PlayStation Plus subscribers can get a 20% discount on each one. Sony also says that if you spend $60 or more from your PSN/SEN Wallet this month, you’ll receive a $10 in-store credit. Here’s the lineup:

October 4th

Eufloria

Eufloria

Omni Systems’ ambient relaxation game has you exploring space and conquering asteroids so you can grow semi-organic plants and have them do your bidding. If it sounds weird, that’s because it is. But it also looks very addictive.

Rochard

Rochard

This side-scrolling puzzle platformer defies the conventional rules of arcade action titles by giving its heroic space miner just one weapon — a gravity gun — and slow-paced adventures that revolve around puzzle solving, not run-and-gunning. From Recoil Games. (FG review coming soon!)

October 11th

Sideway: New York

Sideway: New York

A 2D side-scrolling platformer with 3D visuals, Playbrains Inc.’s adventure game is set in a “sideway” or alternate reality, where you battle a villainous graffiti artist who poses a threat to both Sideway and the real world.

October 13th

Sodium Collection

Sodium Collection

Not so much a game, as a PlayStation Home content package, this download unlocks lots of goodies and upgrades from both SodiumOne and Sodium 2, for the PSHome in-world racing game and your personal Home spaces.

October 18th

Okabu

Okabu

Developer Hand Circus has created a cartoonish action-slash-puzzle game that you can play solo or co-op. You’ll control flying heroes in their fight to save their idyllic world from the evils of industrialization. (Political message much?)

RocketBirds

RocketBirds

This quirky game from a developer with a quirky name (Ratloop Asia) sends you into battle against evil penguins. Full solo and co-op campaigns. Also the only title on this list that supports stereoscopic 3D play.

October 25th

inFamous: Festival of Blood

inFamous: Festival of Blood

What happens when Cole MacGrath is bitten by a vampire? He’s got one-night-only to keep from becoming one himself by hunting and killing the head vampire in New Marais. Loads of new features and content for inFamous players. From Suckerpunch.

PixelJunk Sidescroller

PixelJunk Sidescroller

Q-Games’ popular series gets a retro makeover in this side-scrolling shooter. But don’t worry: the series’ trademark, madcap shooting is fully intact.

Also available today: a collection of downloadable PlayStation classics that includes God Hand, GrimGrimoire, Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, Odin Sphere, and Ring of Red.

Now that Nintendo has announced its intentions to jump the generational gap with the forthcoming Wii U, chatter around the industry inevitably must turn to its two chief rivals, and when they might answer Nintendo’s challenge with brand new hardware of their own.

Five years is generally considered the standard life cycle for a video game console. Nintendo’s Wii turns 5 this November, and its successor has already been announced for launch sometime next year. But what of Microsoft and Sony?

The Xbox 360 is the oldest of the bunch, coming up on its 6th birthday this holiday season, while the PlayStation 3 (like the Wii) will turn 5 around the same time. This means that when Nintendo’s Wii launches, it’s very likely that the Xbox 360 will be nearly 7 years old.

The Xbox 360 S

Microsoft certainly gained a tremendous amount of momentum by coming out of the gate with the Xbox 360 a full year before its rivals. Nintendo had the “new, wow!” factor on its side with the Wii’s motion controls, so being a year late didn’t hurt them. But Sony has continually felt like it’s playing catch up with the Xbox during this generation. (They were the last console to add Netflix, for example, and only created their own top-tier online service, PlayStation Plus, after witnessing Microsoft’s staggering success with Xbox Live.)

Microsoft has made nearly an annual tradition out of overhauling the Xbox’s “dashboard” user interface (with yet another on its way), while Sony still uses the same setup that they’ve had since the PS3 launched. Xbox has also done a solid job of consistently adding new features to their Xbox Live service, such as Netflix, ESPN, Last.fm, and they were the first console to integrate Facebook and Twitter. And they’re still adding new stuff all the time; at E3, they just announced plans to integrate live TV into Xbox Live’s many media offerings. Sony is doing better about adding new features, and is making a very strong case for 3D gaming of late, but still has a ways to go to catch up with Microsoft.

Microsoft and Sony have both refreshed their legacy hardware by upgrading their current hardware. The Xbox 360 S and PS3 Slim consoles trimmed down the machines’ casings while refining their innards — without really changing anything about the core experience — and lowering the price tags. And both companies have manufactured and marketed motion controllers with Kinect and Move, respectively. They represent two drastically different approaches to motion control, but both were birthed in response to Nintendo’s incredible success with the Wii.

The PS3 Slim

So what happens now? Does the next-generation console race begin again, thanks to Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii U? Will Microsoft and Sony jump on the bandwagon and trot out their next big home consoles?

One recent report suggested that Microsoft is eying 2015 as a target launch window for its next major console release, though this report seemed to be comprised mostly of speculation. Yet it seems probable, does it not, that Microsoft is in no hurry. Thanks to Kinect and its constantly-improving slate of features, MS believes the Xbox 360 still has plenty of life left in it. And most gamers agree that graphically speaking, Xbox 360 games still look great. But how long will it be before its processing power simply can’t keep up with the times? The “you are the controller” functionality of Kinect is getting such a huge focus from MS nowadays that that technology will undoubtedly be a core part of the next Xbox, whenever that comes. So hey, “2015″ is as good a guess as any.

Sony chief Jack Tretton says that the PlayStation 3 is “just hitting its stride,” and I think he’s right. Despite the PlayStation Network debacle, it finally feels like the PS3 is reaching its full potential. Tretton also says that he doesn’t expect there to be a PlayStation 4 “for quite some time.” So I’d say we’re probably 4 to 5 years off, at least, for the next PlayStation as well.

Tretton makes a particularly shrewd observation in that same interview, when he notes that the horsepower capabilities of Nintendo’s new console were used as Sony’s benchmark back in 2006, when the PlayStation 3 was released. He posits that the Wii U is Nintendo finally arriving to the party, not jumping ahead to the next step. Tretton suggests that Sony (and by proxy, Microsoft), has nothing to prove against Nintendo (except, you know, the Wii’s staggering sales numbers).

So what do you think the future holds? Is Nintendo playing catch up, or will it set a new benchmark for Sony and Microsoft to meet? My gut says that Nintendo is scrambling now that the Wii’s last-gen hardware is finally cracking at the seams. But the Wii also taught us that no one should ever underestimate Nintendo.

E3 is just two weeks away! Can you believe it?

What delicious (and what vaporware) delights will E3 2011 bring to gamers? What surprises do Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony have in store for their pre-E3 media extravaganzas? What games will walk away from the week with the heaviest buzz? It’s impossible to predict what secrets all the major companies have up their sleeves, but here’s n early look at what we have to look forward to.

Microsoft

Spike is broadcasting the big Xbox event live (and commercial free!) on Monday, June 6th, at 9:30 AM Pacific. It’s expected to last 90 minutes. “Xbox 360: The Future Revealed” is the title of their event, which is a bold claim for a company that’s not expected to reveal any new gaming hardware. If you don’t get Spike, you can also watch it online at GameTrailers.com. Xbox Live will even have it available to stream in HD sometime after the event is held.

According to Microsoft, their event will give special emphasis to Gears of War 3 and Forza Motorsport 4, and a Halo announcement of some kind seems like a sure bet. Microsoft also claims that they’re going to “reveal the latest in innovation for Kinect,” which probably means a round of new game titles — which should be more impressive than last year’s, since developers have had more time to work with the hardware. Plus, there’s likely to be some firmware updates to Kinect in the works, so maybe we’ll learn about new capabilities the device will have in the near future.

As for what else they’ll have for gamers… who knows? Microsoft loves to surprise people, so anything could happen.

Nintendo

Gamers can watch live streaming video of Nintendo’s media briefing at e3.nintendo.com, on Tuesday, June 7th at 9:00 AM Pacific. Nintendo is keeping its secrets close, but we know they’re unveiling their next-generation console at E3, so expect this to be the focus of their event. It’s even going to be playable after the event, on the show floor. No games have been announced for the new console, so some biggies — including titles that can match current-gen software on the 360 and PS3 — will go a long way towards winning back the hearts of hardcore gamers. And there will no doubt be lots of new 3DS games to show off.

Speculation is all over the map on what the new console will involve, but the most prevalent rumors refer to a wild new controller that includes a large touchscreen, motion control, and lots of other bells and whistles. Plus, it’s E3 and it’s Nintendo, so expect to hear something about Zelda. And it’ll probably be another case of postponing a game to make it a console release title — just like what happened with the last Zelda launching with the Wii.

Sony

Oh, Sony, Sony, Sony… Sure, you have your new NGP portable device to tout, but how will you ever be able to get the focus off of the PR disaster that was the PSN implosion? Some big game announcements would certainly help, and there are probably some nice ones in the cooker for NGP. But we already know quite a bit about most of the PS3′s forthcoming triple-A titles, such as Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3. So it’s going to take a lot to knock our socks off.

Sony‘s media briefing is scheduled for Monday the 6th at 5:00 PM Pacific. No plans have been announced yet for live broadcasting of the event.

Games, Games, Games

So what are the big titles of E3 2011? It’s a safe bet that Modern Warfare 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations will be big news all over the map, probably showcased at both the Sony and Xbox press events. There are an endless number of big titles in the works that will be competing for headlines at E3. These include Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, BioShock Infinite, Call of Juarez: The Cartel, Dead Island, Duke Nukem Forever, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Lord of the Rings: War in the North, Mass Effect 3, Prey 2, Prototype 2, Rage, Resident Evil: Raccoon City, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and the Tomb Raider reboot, among countless others.

One thing’s for sure: it’s gonna be a good E3.

Sony has just announced that Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, the ninth game in the series (if you don’t count Secret Agent Clank), will be available on October 18th, 2011 in North America. The PS3 exclusive is getting several pre-order incentives in the form of extra playable characters, but you’ll have to choose carefully which one you want; Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop, and Walmart are all getting a different extra character.

For the first time ever, up to four players will be able to enjoy the game together in co-op that works both online and off. The built-in playable characters are Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, and cleverly, the villain Dr. Nefarious who must grudgingly help the heroes this time out. The playable incentive-buy characters are as follows:

• Pyro Blaster Unlock: Fry your enemies up with this Kerchu-engineered flamethrower that offers your enemies two choices: regular or extra crispy. Unlockable when you buy the game from Best Buy.
• Sheepinator Mod: The classic version of everyone’s favorite Ratchet & Clank weapon is back. Unlock the Sheepinator Morph Weapon Mod to transform even the fiercest aliens in the galaxy into harmless sheep. Unlockable when you buy the game from Walmart.
• T-Rex Morph Mod: Turning enemies into farmyard animals not your style? Want a more prehistoric take on the Morph-O-Ray? Use this T-Rex Morph Weapon Mod to transform your enemies from dangerous threats into a baby dinosaur. Unlockable when you buy the game from Amazon.
• Mr. Zurkon: A small, hovering synthenoid, Mr. Zurkon aids your team in battle by attacking enemies with his mounted laser while insulting and taunting them with his comedy-insult logic processor. Unlockable when you buy the game from Gamestop.

In Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, heroes Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark are teamed up with Dr. Nefarious when Dr. N’s latest evil plan goes horribly wrong, ensnaring all four characters within a powerful, mysterious machine.

The game will be the first in the series to support 3D gaming.

In case you hadn’t heard, PSN is back. At least for North America and Europe anyway, nearly one full month after the online system was compromised and Sony was forced to pull its plug, most of PSN’s services have returned. (We’re still waiting on the PlayStation Store, but nearly everything else is back.)

To encourage players to return and apologize for the extended downtime, Sony has put together a “Welcome Back” package that’s like a free goody bag, which will be given to all users (for now just in North America, but similar packages are being made for other regions). Here are the details.

All PSN members will get a free 30-day PlayStation Plus membership; existing PSPlus members will get 60 days of free subscription time. There are similar rewards being given to Music Unlimited Premium and Basic subscribers, too. And then there’s the 100 virtual items that you can download for free in PlayStation Home. Plus, there’s going to be a selection of movie titles that will be free to rent over a single weekend; these movies haven’t yet been announced.

But let’s get real. The most exciting stuff will be the free games for all users.

PS3 owners can pick two of the following classic games for free download-and-own: Dead Nation, inFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, and Wipeout HD + Fury addon. PSP owners can select two free games from LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force, and Killzone Liberation. Those are darn good lists, though I wouldn’t have minded seeing ModNation Racers on the PS3 list. The free game selections will be available soon, and you’ll have 30 days to make your picks. Once they’re downloaded, you get to keep them forever.

Which games are you going to pick?

Another day… and still no PSN.

With Sony’s investigation into the cyber attack that took down PlayStation Network still ongoing, the electronics giant has revealed some details about the “Welcome Back” package that all PSN users will soon be receiving. Among Sony’s gifts to woo you back to PSN: $1 million in identity theft insurance for one year. Free.

The Welcome Back package is also said to include a free month of PSN Plus to all users, at least one free game download from the PSN Store, and extensions on current subscriptions to make up for gamers’ lost play time.

But the insurance thing is undoubtedly the gift that’s raising the most eyebrows among gamers. The year-long insurance policy comes via a deal between Sony and AllClear ID, a company that offers both free and premium (paid-for) identity theft insurance. The very notion that every single use of PSN will get a free insurance policy that could extend all the way up to a cool million — should a user find themselves the victim of identity theft during that free year — is pretty staggering. I can’t even imagine what this deal must be costing Sony, even with a presumed “special deal” discount of some kind.

Sony says that over the next few days, PSN users will be receiving emails instructing them on how to take advantage of this policy, and they’ll have until June 18th to redeem this free gift. Only U.S. gamers will benefit from this deal with AllClear, but similar deals are currently being negotiated for users from other countries.

PSN is expected to be restored sometime in the next few days, after more than two weeks of nonexistence.

In a situation that for gamers is quickly growing to “Who shot JFK?” proportions, the PlayStation Network (PSN) — Sony’s answer to Xbox Live — was effectively killed by an external source sometime last Thursday, forcing Sony to completely rebuild the entire system. That’s five long days without the PlayStation Store and PS3-exclusive MMOs, which may as well be five months as far as PS3 gamers are concerned.

The question on everybody’s minds: who toppled PSN? Who could have perpetrated such an all-encompassing crime, catching Sony completely off guard and dismantling such a high-profile network so effectively? How in the world could Sony even allow their network to be open to an attack of this magnitude?

PlayStation’s launch of Portal 2 (not a PS3 exclusive, but still a big deal) was meant to be a high-profile affair, after Valve’s Gabe Newell made a surprise appearance on stage at E3 last year to announce that a much-anticipated Valve title would be coming to the PS3 for the first time. Portal 2 is also playable on PC and Xbox 360, so at least gamers have other means of playing through the game on other services. But for PS3 gamers, it just plain sucks.

And that’s just one title. Any number of others, particularly MMOs like DC Universe Online or PS3 exclusives with a big multiplayer component, like Killzone 3, are completely offline until Sony can resolve things. Which has to really suck for game developers, who are losing out on revenues from the outage, but have zero control over the situation.

Can you imagine something like this happening to Xbox Live, which boasts considerably more users than PSN? I can’t.

At this time, Sony has no estimates, and says it could still be quite a while, though they’re working as fast at rebuilding the system as humanly possible. Any bets on how long it will be before PSN is back up and running? I’m gonna guess at least three or four more days. If it’s any longer than that, some Sony heads are going to roll.

Today Sony upgraded PlayStation Home — the HD online virtual space where you can interact with other gamers and play casual games — to version 1.5, with some big enhancements. This news got me thinking… What’s the point of PlayStation Home?

As a PS3 owner, I’ve fired up Home a few times and poked around. It’s an interesting place, and I always liked how major PS3 franchise titles like Uncharted had their own levels where you could play mini-games to unlock goodies that your avatar can collect or even wear. I was put off by how most of the collectibles and customizations actually cost real-world money.

As online virtual worlds goes, the graphical quality is very high. The options available for customizing your avatar’s look are impressive, and there’s no shortage of things to do. New spaces are being added all the time — most of them themed around popular games like Little Big Planet or Assassin’s Creed — with stuff to do there. Downloading and exploring these spaces costs nothing, and you’ll always find plenty of other real-world players wandering around, playing mini games, and interacting with one another.

But again, I’m forced to wonder… What’s the point? Most online worlds have missions, rewards, and specific goals to accomplish. Everything in Home is casual and optional. There are no clear goals, just ads for Sony properties everywhere you look — games, movies, TV shows, etc. And at their most basic level, most of the downloadable spaces are little more than interactive ads for PS3 games.

A lot of people use Home and enjoy its casual, breezy atmosphere, but those who like more structure and purpose behind their play time will get bored fast. This has typically been my experience. The technology is impressive, but the experience is hollow.

Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

Sony’s 1.5 upgrade was implemented with the purpose of making higher-quality games possible within Home. Game developers are getting a host of new physics tools, animation tools, enhanced graphics capabilities, and more. Essentially, they hope to provide players with a more robust experience, such as actual first-person shooters and racing games; genres Home has only dabbled with in the past will now become a real option. And as always, Home will remain free-to-play for all PS3 owners.

The question is: will this be enough to bring in hardcore players who have been avoiding Home due to its “casual” nature? Here are some new screens showing off some of what Home is now able to do.

Naughty Dog is taking multiplayer in the Uncharted series to the next level with Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, thanks to enhanced, cinematic gameplay, character customization, and unprecedented social media integration.

Uncharted 3‘s multiplayer maps are being made more dynamic, with constantly-changing environments that echo those in the single player game. Two of these modes were shown off at an event in Los Angeles this week, the most exciting of which was called “Airstrip.” One team in Airstrip is inside a plane’s cargo hold, taxiing down the runway for takeoff, while the other team inhabits trucks barreling down the runway all around the plane, trying to overtake it. Players will be able to jump from one vehicle to another while the scene plays out, and ultimately the plane’s departure or aborted takeoff is determined by who wins the match.

Naughty Dog is also adding a major new character customization system, with nearly infinite possibilities for players to pick their own clothes, colors, accessories, and even weapons power-ups. Weapons will now have customization options that are both cosmetic and functional, a la Borderlands.

Facebook and YouTube are being integrated directly into the multiplayer experience, so you’ll be able to do things like share stuff from your game directly to Facebook, send Facebook messages, and even read friends’ status updates. Uncharted 3 will also let you post a recorded gameplay video directly to YouTube. Naughty Dog is launching a service called Uncharted TV that will offer regular insider updates, similar to Xbox Live‘s videos.

An open beta is set to begin on July 5th, with the full-featured game arriving November 11th.

PlayStation 3 owners: here’s a little title you probably haven’t heard of but need to know about. It’s called Red Johnson’s Chronicles, and it’s a downloadable title coming to PSN on Tuesday, April 19th.

From French developer Lexis Numérique comes this story-driven noire adventure, a wicked tale of murder in a corrupt Metropolis. You play as the title character, a private detective named Red Johnson who’s trying to solve the case, with a new twist on the classic “point and click” adventure mechanic, which combines exploration, puzzle solving, and action.

The crux of the game is built on interaction with the colorful NPC citizens of Metropolis (yep, they’re really using that name), every last one of which is as morally grey as you can imagine. Lexis Numérique claims the game will take eight to ten hours to properly complete, and the new trailer — just released today — looks promising. Check out these screenshots for a look at its stylistic visuals.

Now, about cakes…there is something to be said about throwing flour and sugar together and then allowing the heat of the oven to turn the mixture into something that will make your mouth water. Of course, there is more to baking and decorating cakes than that, but you get the idea. Now what if you can get your geek on, have your cake, and eat it too?

I just saw an awesome list at Tor’s blog, which features some of the most eye-catching cakes that I have seen in a while. You know what happened next – I had to scour the web for more cakes. I don’t know why I do these things, really. I just end up committing the sixth sin, wanting to have the cakes for myself. Since it is going to be rather hard for me to get my hands on these awesome creations, I have to be content with this list; and it is my pleasure to share it with you.

Stargate Cake

Stargate fans – stare and drool.  Isn’t that blue just mesmerizing?  The symbols look right on as well.  I am no baker, but it seems to me that if you have decent baking skills, you can pull this one off.  After all, you do not need to carve and mold all that much.  It’s simple but a win anyway.

LEGO Star Wars Cake

Okay, that’s more cute than astounding, but hey, LEGO + Star Wars is always a win! This cake was made by Brenda’s Cakes. In case you’re wondering, the figures are made of chocolate clay. YUM! We have more Star Wars cakes and cupcakes, by the way.

Star Trek Voyager and Borg Cube Cake

Who’s willing to bet that the couple who had this wedding cake were Star Trek fans? That would have been one wedding that I wouldn’t have minded going to.

Binary Birthday Cake

Well, fancy that! I stumbled upon another binary cake. This time, it was created for some geek’s birthday. Now, I don’t have to tell you how old the guy – or gal – was when this cake was made for him/her, do I?

Code Cake

Not all geeks like to code. Not all geeks know how to code. But if you are a coder, then you will definitely appreciate this cake. Now tell me what you think of the code? If you like this cake, you might also want to see an old entry of ours – Nerd Birthday Cake. Come on, you know you want to see it. ;)

PlayStation 3 Cake

There is no doubt in my mind that the PlayStaion 3 is one of the best investments that one can make. A powerful video game console, a Blu-Ray player, an mp3 player, a movie player, a picture viewer – name it, the PS3 will do it! What better way to pay homage to this ultimate device than to create a cake that looks just like it? Oh, and don’t forget – it comes with one controller as well!

Xbox360 Carrot Cake

Let it not be said that we favor only one brand. After discovering the PS3 Cake, I deliberately went on a hunt for something made by Microsoft. Well, not the cake, but the real item. You know what I mean. So here is a carrot cake that looks like an Xbox360. All I can say is that I like carrot cake.

Buffy Cake

So you are missing your weekly dose of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Aside from airing your own re-runs, you can also have a cake like this made for yourself. You have to admit, all that red really hits you right in the face. The melting candle and the spike right through the cake’s top layer adds more than a little punch as well. Get in touch with Cake Nouveau to have one made!

Hellboy Cake

Holy…! That’s exactly what I was thinking when I saw Hellboy – albeit the cake version. Creator tchitwood made this one for his first cake show competition – That Takes the Cake 2011. Not bad for a first timer, huh?

Dragon Cake

As far as I am concerned, this one takes the cake. Err…you know what I mean. This cake definitely kicks the butt of all other cakes out there. Personally, I prefer the dragon to be more red than orange, but one can’t really say anything bad about this cake. If this is anything to go by, Mike’s Amazing Cakes should be given the gold medal for making the awesomest cakes!

Got your own cake to show off? Why not send it to us?

You can’t have a great hero without a great villain, or so goes the adage. The hotly-anticipated third entry in the Uncharted series has just unveiled its dastardly mustache-twirler. But in this case, the creative team at Naughty Dog has given hero Nathan Drake a nemesis with two X chromosomes and some refined sophistication.

Meet Katherine Marlowe, who’s reportedly the head of a secret society that dates back to the time of Queen Elizabeth I. (That’s four hundred years, for those without a history book handy.) Naughty Dog describes Marlowe as a “coldly calculating” woman that you don’t want to get in the way of.

As you can see in the cutscene above, she’s a longtime rival of Drake’s over a ring that’s central to the story because it belonged to his ancestor, Sir Francis Drake. This ring is the key to unlocking “an ancient mystery” that I assume is related to finding Iram of the Pillars (aka “Atlantis of the Sands”), which we already know is the ultimate goal of the game.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception arrives on the annoyingly clever date of 11-11-11. Sony sent over some screenshots, character concept art, a render for Katherine Marlowe, and the aforementioned cutscene, all of which I now present for your consumption. You’re welcome.

Could Sony be plotting a competitor to Nintendo’s 3DS that’s packing horsepower equivalent to its powerhouse home console? That’s the rumor du jour circulating the gaming world today. According to British print mag MCV, which covers the goings-on inside the game industry, Sony has been telling game developers that the PSP2 will be in stores by Christmas 2011, and that it’s planning on competing against the 3DS by offering a high-end device that’s leaps and bounds beyond what any other handheld is capable of.

The appearance of the PSP2 has yet to be shown to developers, but it’s expected to be very similar to the original PSP in design, with similar dual stick controls and button layouts, only with an HD screen and a honkin’ lot more horses under the hood. MCV claims that Sony has actually been using the phrase “as powerful as the PlayStation 3″ to describe the new device. This is expected to be a wholly different device than the “PlayStation Phone” that’s been circling the Net with leaked photos for weeks, and my gut says that it’s likely as much of an answer to Apple‘s iOS devices as Nintendo’s latest offering.

Sony is plotting some big reveals about the PSP2 at the Game Developers Conference and E3, including the media format that Sony will be using for game sales. Downloads are expected to play a big part in the new device, but Sony wants to keep retailers happy by continuing to offer some kind of media (although it certainly won’t be the failed UMD format).

Will high-def portable gaming be enough to attract on-the-go gamers away from Nintendo’s splashy new 3D device? And do you think it’s really possible to cram all of the power of the PS3 into a handheld console? I wouldn’t even want to speculate on how much that kind of portability might cost…

Sony Online Entertainment has finally made it official: the much-anticipated massively-multiplayer online game DC Universe Online launches in the U.S. on January 11th. U.K. players join in a few days later on January 14th. This marks the first time ever that a MMO title has launched simultaneously for both PC and for the PlayStation 3 console.

SOE also announced the final pricing plan for the MMO’s subscription plan. Initial purchase will be $59.99 for PS3 players or $49.99 for PC players, with subscriptions running $14.99 a month. SOE is also offering a one-time “lifetime subscription” fee of $199.99.

DC Universe Online will allow players to join in the battle over control of the universe by fighting alongside the major characters from the DCU such as Superman, Batman, or even villains like the Joker. Players will pick one of these legacy heroes to serve as their “mentor,” guiding and leading the new hero the player will create. The story finds the DCU pitted in a war to save the Earth from a dark future, as revealed in the game’s incredible opening cinematic, which you can watch below.

Follow @FGgamer on Twitter for the latest gaming news.

Long known to be in the pipeline but under intense secrecy until today, Sony has finally taken the wraps off of the third Uncharted game, which finds Nathan Drake on an adventure in the desert. The title? Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. And it’s coming late next year.

As the title implies, deception is the game’s theme, so look for lots of double-crosses and even some kind of deception involving hero Nathan Drake’s identity. The story brings finds Nathan teaming up with his mentor Victor “Sully” Sullivan to search the globe for a real-life legendary lost city called Iram of the Pillars (aka “Atlantis of the Sands”), leading them to the Arabian Peninsula and the Rub’ al Khali Desert.

Game studio Naughty Dog says that they cooked up this story out of their eternal desire to challenge themselves creatively, and they figured designing game levels in a desert would be extremely challenging. They’re also adding enhanced backward climbing and the ability to fight multiple enemies at a time. The game is also getting a special focus on the multiplayer stuff this go ’round as the studio hopes to beef it up until it’s good enough to compete with the likes of Call of Duty and Halo.

Uncharted 3 will utilize motion-capture even more than past entries have, to make the game an “interactive cinematic experience.” This will also mark the first chapter of the franchise that will be playable in high-def 3D.

I’ll be keeping a very close eye on this one. In the meantime, check out the first images from the game, below. There’s also a teensy little teaser trailer that does nothing except announce the title.

Follow @FGgamer on Twitter for the latest gaming news.

So there’s a press release making the rounds today about how Microsoft’s new Xbox motion controller Kinect has sold one million units in its first 10 days. This is big news for Xbox because Microsoft has made big noise about wanting to sell 5 million Kinect units by the end of this year, and they claim that these initial numbers put them on track for that.

But I can’t help wondering how this news stacks up to Kinect’s motion-controlling competition. First-week ticket sales mean everything at the box office, so why not apply that same prognostication factor to gaming? One million units in ten days is a great pull quote, but did Kinect manage to do better in its first week than Nintendo or PlayStation? And more importantly, what does this mean for Kinect’s future?

If you do the math, and in terms of “first week sales,” Microsoft‘s numbers equate to approximately 700,000 units in its first week. My research shows that in the U.S., Sony sold approximately 60,000 Move units (defined as an Eye Camera and one Move controller) in their hardware’s first week. As for the Wii console, when it first launched back in 2006, Nintendo claimed that it sold 800,000 units in the first eight days — which equates to approximately 525,000 in the first week.

Now it’s important to remember the importance of supply-and-demand when it comes to early sales. Sony and Microsoft both offered ample supply in their first week of sales, but Nintendo’s numbers were hampered by the fact that they had a nation-wide shortage of initial hardware units available. Early adopters had to work hard to even find a Wii console in those first months, when retailers sporadically received scant shipments which would usually sell out within minutes. So Nintendo could have sold more — a lot more — Wiis if they had had more units available at launch.

But here’s how first-week sales in the U.S. break down, in approximate numbers:

Nintendo Wii: 525,000
PlayStation Move: 60,000
Xbox Kinect: 700,000

The clear winner is Kinect, and it points to a strong future for the peripheral. But this doesn’t necessarily mean Kinect will outsell Wii in the long run, as that’s a very lofty goal; Wii has got a gigantic 4-year head start, and has demonstrated incredible staying power, with over 36 million units sold in the U.S. and some 76+ million sold worldwide.

Follow @FGgamer on Twitter for the latest gaming news.

Anytime a game is ported from PC to console or vice versa, it’s always an exercise in showcasing the strengths and weaknesses of each platform. This week’s release of The Sims 3 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii — the first ever Sims game to receive a full-fledged port from PC to all three consoles — is no exception. (A Nintendo DS version is also being released, but it’s practically a different game altogether.) Maxis and EA Games have long tried to bring its juggernaut franchise to consoles, but always wound up altering the gameplay to suit what they perceived as console players’ need for focused tasks. These past console entries have lacked the “sandbox” quality of the PC versions, never allowing console players to truly revel in doing whatever they wanted.

The Sims 3 for consoles aims to be the the first entry to change that. While the developers have added a “karma” system to this port, which contains various goals and objectives, the console Sims 3 still retains that “sandbox” quality, letting you micromanage and toy with your Sims for hours on end, to your heart’s content. Early reviews for the game are favorable, enjoying the ability to use the god-like qualities of the PC game on one’s favorite console, and even appreciating the new karma system and the inventive ways it lets you mess with your sims — for better and worse. There appear to be some lag issues with load times and movement between screens, but any effect this will have an effect on sales seems minimal. The numerous expansion packs that PC players enjoy are missing in the console version, but it’s not hard to imagine some forthcoming DLC that contains the same content.

Have console players’ dreams finally come true? Is one of the bestselling PC games of all time at last fully playable via Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo? Let us know what you think if you get to play the game for yourself!

Follow @FGgamer on Twitter for the latest gaming news.

Did you own an original PlayStation? Did you buy it when it first came out? If so, be aware: you’re dating yourself.

The PlayStation 1 has turned fifteen years old. Can you believe it? Since 1995, Sony has sold more than 377 million PS1s, PS2s, and PS3s.

I mean, look at the big plastic buttons and ports on that old thing. By today’s sleek & sexy standards, this thing looks like a child’s toy. But on the plus side, it was the first game console to ever use discs instead of cartridges — a format that would soon be adopted by every console maker.

To celebrate 15 years of the PlayStation, Sony is offering free themes for PS3 and PSP on the PS Store, a PS Home commemorative PS1 “ornament” for your avatar to sit and stare at, and weekly discounts on PS1 titles from the PS Store.

The rumors were true.

Hulu has finally released an app for the iPad — but there’s a catch. Well, two catches, actually.

First, you have to have an invite to access the thing. You can download and “tour” the app without an invite, but you can’t watch anything, so what’s the point, right? Second, this ain’t your daddy’s Hulu. This is Hulu Plus (aka “Hulu+”), a new version that you pay to access.

Yes, you read that right: everybody’s favorite free Internet video player is becoming a service you have to pay to access — at least, to access its best features. Such as using it on the iPad. Or, on PlayStation 3 “soon,” on Xbox Live “in 2011,” Internet-connected televisions from Samsung, Vizio, and Sony, and connected Blu-ray players. Right now, the app works on PC, Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

For Hulu Plus, you’ll pay $9.99 a month. At first blush, that might seem steep, but consider this. You’re probably already paying anywhere from $20-$50+ for cable or satellite TV (a price that doesn’t even include premium subscription channels like HBO and Showtime). With almost 50 popular modern TV shows already available to watch on Hulu — including The Simpsons, Law & Order SVU, Glee, Lost, Psych, The Office, Friday Night Lights, Bones, and loads more — not to mention the vast archives of shows from yesteryear like The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Arrested Development, and Quantum Leap… Hulu is trying its darnedest to position Hulu Plus as a cable replacement. There are movies available, too, though nothing terribly current.

On the plus side, your single $9.99/mo. account can be accessed across multiple devices. On the downside, even with paying your monthly fee, you still have to sit through Hulu’s “limited commercials.”

What do you think? Are you ready to cancel your cable or DirecTV in favor of on-demand video from the Internet?

The Hulu Plus service begins in earnest sometime in July.

(Video is mildly NSFW)

I’m not sure when I first discovered it, but someone introduced me to Zero Punctuation and I’ve been following it ever since. Every Wednesday, Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw posts up a new animated short reviewing a video game. These fall under the “NSFW” category most of the time, but it’s the way Yahtzee picks apart these games that makes it so enjoyable.

First, there’s the accent and speed of the clips. He’s from Australia, but his accent isn’t very heavy so it’s still pretty understandable all the way through. Then he speeds up his voice when recording – hence the name Zero Punctuation – which gives the video a sense of urgency. Ultimately though, Yahtzee touches on the main problems with games in general, and really gets to the source of the matter. He doesn’t just play these games for 5 minutes and write a review, he plays them for hours – sometimes until he beats them – and then passes judgement.

Take the review above for example, for Batman: Arkham Asylum (mildly NSFW). He says very clearly that he loves the game, but he’s not just going to kiss butt like everyone else. Instead, he takes the things that he takes issues with, and makes fun of them. But it’s all done very constructively in a manner that not only makes you laugh, but also is done to make games better as a whole.

See, Yahtzee is a game developer himself, and he just wants to play good video games. By pointing out the good ones and slamming the bad ones, he’s working towards making a better gaming industry for all of us. Plus he does it with colorful cartoon characters and wit. Fact is, this is one site I visit every Wednesday, and every time I do, I never leave disappointed. Give it a shot.

At the Game Developer’s Conference today, Sony held a press conference where the name of its long-discussed motion controlling wand device was unveiled: PlayStation Move. The device has some obvious similarities to the Wii Remote, but it takes the same basic technology to sophisticated new heights, thanks to the PS3′s tremendous horsepower.

The PSMove is made up of three integral devices: the PlayStation Eye camera, which has been around for a while now, and is used by the Move to track positioning; the primary PSMove controller, a wireless device that looks like a more ergonomic, black Wiimote with a color-changing ball on the end; and the PSMove sub-controller, a secondary controller that’s essentially a wireless nunchuck.

Sony’s pulling out all the stops in promoting the new controller, hyping it like a full-out console launch. At least twenty games are planned for release this year that are made specifically to support the Move, and other popular titles like the PS3 juggernaut LittleBigPlanet will also be made compatible with the PSMove.

The PlayStation Move’s specs and design are powerful and appealing, but fundamentally, it’s the same basic idea as the Wii — two controllers, one in each hand, swung around in conjunction with button and trigger mashing. For Nintendo’s part, the Wii continues to sell well among casual gamers, but the hardcore set has largely grown bored with its low-res graphics and gimmick-filled library of titles (can you say “mini-games”?). Microsoft’s Project Natal, by contrast, represents something altogether more intuitive and potentially paradigm-shifting, dropping all handheld devices and transforming your entire body into the controller.

One thing the PlayStation Move has going for it is that when Sony releases the Move this fall, it’s planning a sub-$100 price point for a package that will include the PS Eye, both Move controllers, and a TBA game. That’s a sweet little pricetag in the midst of this dreadful recession.

Still, will the PlayStation Move turn out to be anything more than Wii: the Next Generation? I have my doubts.

Sony’s decision to remove this feature may have been borne out of the desire to save a few more dollars on production costs but I always felt that the company actually lost more because backwards compatibility is a major come-on for established PS2 gamers with an extensive games library to jump on the PS3 bandwagon. But based on a recent patent that Sony Computer Entertainment filed in the US patent Office, Sony may have a way to put backwards compatibility on PS3s once again.

Sony has apparently found a way to translate the instructions from the Emotion Engine into data that can be referenced by the PS3. The figures above are schematics on how the technology will actually work.

So the question is, will we see this new technology in play as a firmware upgrade in the near future?