The organization has lauded EA's life simulator as the "most animal-friendly game" of the year, otherwise known as PETA's Proggy Award. The animal-rights group praises The Sims 3 for its option to let players "choose a vegetarian lifestyle," making Sims, "like their real-life counterparts, live longer, age more slowly, and feast on cruelty-free delights-from tofu dogs to ratatouille."

"EA's compassionate update to its perennial favorite shows commitment not only to animals but also to the game's players," writes PETA, claiming that the previous iteration was only vegetarian friendly by way of mods.

I'm curious what PETA would consider 2009's least animal-friendly game. My best guess is Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for the Wii, but that seems almost too obvious.

The Sims 3: Most Animal-Friendly Game of 2009 [PETA via Gamasutra]

The Warsaw-based developer filed that trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last week, specifically for "Computer software for use with personal computers, for use with home video game consoles for use with televisions, and for use with arcade-based video game consoles for use with televisions." That long for "video games."

It also filed a Bulletstorm trademark for "Printed materials; user manuals; hint books," so expect a manual to go along with it.

While not yet officially announced, Bulletstorm is likely that new "multi-platform game project" from Epic Games that Electronic Arts has agreed to publish, back when things were a little rosier for EA, amid a flurry of EA Partners branded publishing announcements.

Epic Games announced its majority stake investment in People Can Fly back in 2007, following the Polish developer's work on Gears of War for the PC. Mark Rein, vice president of Epic, said at the time the company was "totally blown away" by People Can Fly's prototypes. And Mark Rein is certainly not known for hyperbole!

Bulletstorm [USPTO - Image Credit]

The offer: Buy any three titles from this list and you get 800 Microsoft points back. Now, some of these are full $19.99 titles. But if you get a new hard drive or Christmas cash and want to lay out the price of a new game to get three, you can consider the points back to be like a gift card. And many stores run that kind of special.

If you want to know the bare minimum you can spend to still qualify, that would be buying up both Mass Effect downloads, plus the Dragon Age: Origins DLC (or Madden AFL Legacy Pack), for 1360 points. You then get 800 back, effectively making the cost 560 points, or the entire package for $7. Naturally, given the units in which Microsoft points are sold, your actual cash outlay may vary here.

The special runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 31.

Xbox Live Holiday Discounts [Electronic Arts news]

Kicking off Kotaku's review of 2009 are the headlines that generated the most heat, if not light, from the preceding year. The conflicts fracture along familiar faultlines - legal claims; violence and in-game content; marketing and etc. And by no means is this an exhaustive list. There were plenty of other decisions, indecisions, gaffes, gambits and shrewd calls made by the games industry - a dynamic capitalist enterprise, of course - and we invite you to continue the discussion of them in our comments.

Knuckleheaded
EA's press promo for Godfather II backfires when the brass knuckles it sends (including a pair to Crecente) turn out to be illegal in many of the states to which they are shipped (including Colorado). It's also illegal to ship them in California, where EA is based. EA asks for all of the knuckles back. Godfather II then backfires when the game sucks.

One Fallujah the Cuckoo's Nest
Konami tiptoed up to the "too soon?" line by announcing "Six Days in Fallujah," a combat FPS based on the deadly 2006 American operation to pacify the region in Iraq. Then developer Atomic Games took a flying leap over the line by mentioning it had consulted with insurgents on the game's initial design. By the end of the month, Konami dropped the project like it was a hot, nuclear-waste infused pop-tart. Atomic continued to insist the project was alive, while shopping it to other publishers. But by the end of the year, Atomic president Peter Tamte seemed to have gotten further with his idea for a "family-friendly" game about Marines pacifying Beirut, instead. That one is scheduled for a January 2010 release. Apparently, in video games, it's all about location, location, location. [Thanks to commenter ashleyillman001 for reminding us of this one.]

Our Legal Team Goes to 11
Activision's lawyers file a face-melting suit against studio Double Fine over Brütal Legend, whose publishing shifted over from Activision to Electronic Arts earlier in the year. Activision seeks to halt the game's release on grounds that Double Fine missed a key deadline when it was accountable to Activision. EA, not sued, still tells Activision STFU, and that they're just jealous in the manner of "a husband abandoning his family and then suing after his wife meets a better looking guy." Double Fine countersues, alleging Activision was trying to kill off Brütal Legend, seeing it as a threat to Guitar Hero. Ultimately, the two sides settle out of court, and Brütal Legend makes its declared release day.

Turn Out the Lights, the LAN Party's Over
StarCraft is a longtime staple of LAN parties, but that tradition will end with StarCraft II. In late June, Blizzard tells Kotaku that the title will not support local area network gaming, and will instead steer players over to "our upgraded Battle.net service." One of the reasons given is that it cuts down on piracy. Predictably, Starcraft enthusiasts head to the Batpoles to draft a petition. Instead of making fist-shaking demands and threatening boycotts, what comes out is more of a polite "please?" The effort has gathered 244,510 signatures to date. But at Blizzcon, executive v.p. of game design Rob Pardo tells Fahey that "Only from the press," is Blizzard still taking flak for the decision. "Everyone else has accepted it."

Edgy Edged Edginess over Edge
Tim Langdell had a terrible reputation within the games industry prior to this year, but his pissing contest with Mobigame over the word "Edge" represents a coming out party. Langdell, excoriated for his aggressive defense of the trademark "Edge," which he registered years ago, has Mobigame's acclaimed title for the iPhone removed from the iTunes App Store in May. The controversy and terrible publicity result in Langdell's resignation from the board of the International Game Developers Association, and ultimately Electronic Arts suing to cancel Langdell's trademarks, over a dispute regarding 2008's Mirror's Edge. Mobigame's game resurfaces as "Mobigame by Edge" later in the year.

Who Sold Out Whom?
At E3 2009, Valve's announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 ignites feelings of betrayal and marginalization in some who bought the original Left 4 Dead barely seven months before. Immediately a boycott group forms on the Steam forums, vowing not to buy or play the new game. Some 10,000 people join it in the first few days. Stern criticisms include: "The fiddle-based horde music is extremely disliked, though the differently orchestrated music is otherwise welcome." In September, Valve shrewdly co-opts the boycott's leadership, flying two of its organizers to Valve HQ to get some hands-on time with Left 4 Dead 2. Both immediately sing its praises. On launch day in November, most in the boycott stick to their guns, but many cave in and play anyway.

Dante's Fiasco(es)
The Dante's Inferno marketing team was apparently on a rampage to execute the most boneheaded campaign of any title in 2009. After sending a bunch of fake religious zealots to E3 to protest the game there, pissing off real religious zealots with the stereotype, they cook up the "Sin to Win" whopper of Comic-Con. Basically, Comic-Con goers were encouraged to "commit acts of lust" by having their photos taken with booth babes, then submit the photos for judgment and a chance to win a "sinful night with two hot girls," plus other amenities. Outrage catches on, and the Dante's Inferno team apologizes. A real booth babe rips them a new one, and a gay man wins a runner-up prize for submitting his picture with a "booth bear."

Made from Scratch
It's a story that combines 2009's trendiest douche moves - lawsuits, and layoffs. In April, Activision is sued by publisher Genius Products and peripheral maker Numark Industries over its acquisition of 7 Studios, conveniently and coincidentally developing a rival game to Activision's own DJ Hero. A court in L.A. orders Activision to give over all the code from the competing title - Scratch: The Ultimate DJ. The two sides settle on a cash-for-code prisoner exchange, and Scratch is rebooked for an early 2010 release. DJ Hero, despite reasonably good reviews and a full-bore marketing campaign, disappoints in sales, which doesn't look good for Scratch next year. Finally, once 7 Studios is no longer useful to this corporate psychodrama, Activision lays off half of its workforce.

Sambo No Amigo
Scribblenauts, the wildly creative DS hit developed by 5th Cell, encounters an unintentional problem with racial sensitivity when writing the word "sambo" creates a watermelon on the screen. In the minor video games market known as the United States, both are overtly racist images with a history going back decades. 5th Cell points out the game is developed for multiple countries and languages, and that the watermelon summoned is in fact a "fig-leafed gourd," by which it is apparently known as "sambo" in Spanish. The game's publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive issues a more comprehensive apology, expressing deep regret for the word's inclusion. Internet tough-guy commenters who don't see what the trouble is with the word "sambo" are invited to say it around their black friends. None has any.

Shut Your Hole
Courtney Love, wife of self-martyred pop star Kurt Cobain, announces via Twitter she's gonna "sue the shit out of Activision," over its insensitive use of her hubby's likeness in Guitar Hero 5 - which includes his avatar singing songs not performed by Nirvana, which means in someone else's voice. Activision's response is all, "Um, RTFA," and points to the contract she in fact signed granting the use of Cobain's likeness as a "fully playable character." Jon Bon Jovi backs Love, saying he nothankyou.jpg'd Activision's offer of an appearance in the same game. Then Gwen Stefani, not one to be out-dramaqueened, and her band No Doubt file a lawsuit similar to Love's. Activision returns fire, suing No Doubt for failure to perform due diligence and breach of contract. Congratulations, everyone now looks bad.

A Lack of Dedication
In October, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling goes on a podcast with hardcore Modern Warfare fans and announces the creation of the matchmaking service IWNet. You then hear the gears turning in the podcast hosts' heads: But ... that ... means the end of ... dedicated servers ... right? Right. Immediately, petitions and boycotts are announced, gathering some 20,000 signatures in the first day. Infinity Ward sticks to its claim that IWNet will be an improvement. By launch day, the boycott is effectively over.

Video About Gamers' Insensitivity Not Acceptable
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher - and noted Modern Warfare enthusiast - Cole Hamels (pictured) reminds us that "grenades are for pussies," in a faux-public service announcement brought to you by "Fight Against Grenade Spam." That, of course, makes the acronym FAGS and all, or at least partial, hell breaks loose. Infinity Ward, the producer of the video, is upbraided not so much for a veiled homophobic slur, but for a clip that portrays the game's community as dominated by uber-macho, insult-spewing assclowns. Infinity Ward removes the video the next day.

No Russian Was Harmed in the Making
Leaked gameplay footage of Modern Warfare 2 shows that players will - in the guise of an undercover mission - join terrorists as they invade an airport, kill and commit atrocities against civilians. Activision immediately points out the mission is skippable, both before it begins and at any point during it, and is "designed to evoke the atrocities of terrorism." The game, already classified for sale in Australia, is the subject of brief demands to have it reclassified and effectively banned, but they go nowhere. The sequence is removed from versions sold in Russia, and modified in the Japanese and German versions so that players shooting any civilians are given a "game over" screen. The Japanese version courts additional controversy when the mistranslation of "Remember, no Russian," - instructions to the terrorists not to speak in that language - comes out as "Kill ‘em, the Russians." In the United States, Totilo goes on MSNBC to plead for national calm and mainstream outrage fails to materialize.Modern Warfare 2 goes on to sell more than 4.7 million copies in the North America and the U.K. - on the day of its release.

Frumps on the Barbie
Australia's lack of an R18+ classification for video games comes back to the fore when Left 4 Dead 2 is refused classification by the nation's Review Board. Valve's reaction is, in order, to be "pretty bummed," then to appeal the refused classification and then finally publish a spitefully power-sanitized version just for Australia, which might as well have been titled Imagine: Zombiez.

Frumps on the Barbie II or: Australians vs. Predator
Luke attempts to set us all straight on what is and what ain't banning in Australia. But the country's image, that it's a nation of pantywaists tenderly sensitive to depictions of certain manly acts - such as decapitations - persists. And it seems to be having a cumulative effect. Aliens vs. Predator, at first banned - oops, I mean, refused classification - is reconsidered and then, amazingly, classified MA15+ making it good for sale. Then the government asks for public input on changes to the country's game ratings system. Finally Luke, waking up today and reading this last paragraph, bludgeons me to death with a didgeridoo, over the Internet, the end.

EA's Jeff Brown confirmed to the Atlanta Business Chronicle that the publisher is considering the Peach State for a multimillion-dollar investment, but didn't go into details why. It's likely that the labor and operating expenses in the South would be less than in California, but the proximity to a well trained workforce in a large city like Atlanta doesn't hurt, either. Savannah also is home to the respected Savannah College of Art and Design.

Also helping is the legislation Georgia passed last year that upped tax credits for game makers to 30 percent. EA's Brown cited that figure as a definite encouragement to the publisher.

Atlanta is already home to about 70 game makers. And Fahey.

Electronic Arts Eyes Atlanta [Atlanta Business Chronicle]

[image]

Having been the #1 publisher in the world's second-biggest market for years, EA were displaced in 2008 by Nintendo, but have regained top spot this year off the strong performance of titles such as EA Sports Active, Dragon Age, Need For Speed: Shift and The Sims 3.

Oh, and FIFA 10, which EA's Jens Uwe Intat says controls "75 per cent of the football market". Which in Europe, equals mega-bucks.

EA reclaims top spot in ‘disappointing' Euro market [MCV]

With Dragon's Lair's port to the iPhone and iPod Touch, EA Mobile and Digital Leisure are banking that the game's nostalgia and its basic simplicity have found the perfect medium - an impulse buy on a mobile platform. But does Dragon's Lair still feel the same on the small screen?

Loved
Bona Fide Dragon's Lair: This is a scene for scene port of the 1983 classic, which started the short-lived but much beloved craze of laserdisc games. You can dial up your nostalgia however you want it. Arcade mode will present you the game and will randomize its scenes the same way you played them in the cabinet 25 years ago. "Home mode" includes additional scenes that were cut from the arcade version, allows you to immediately replay levels you fail, and will be most familiar to those who played ports of this on the PC or Mac in the past. You can give yourself three, five or unlimited lives in both modes, the latter being most useful if you're trying to finally make it all the way through. Just know that you will not record a high score with unlimited lives unless you actually do finish the game. Finally, the correct-move beep can be enabled, both as a gameplay assist, and also to complete the full arcade experience.

Hated
The Move Guide: You have a movement assist feature in this game that will light up the correct direction (or sword button) to press to advance the scene, if you just want to see the game all the way through. On some levels, the sequence of moves you must make is faster than what the guide can display. The level with the black knight on the electrified floor is a perfect example, and very frustrating to die repeatedly when you think you're doing what you're told. But when the guide does work, you're just watching the controls, and not the scenes as they play out, which are the point of the game in the first place. You can't enable or disable the guide mid-game, in case you run into a tough spot and need help for just one section. Even playing without the guide, Dragon's Lair was and always will be a very difficult game of pinpoint reactions with a small window of opportunity to execute them. Unlike its cousin Space Ace, which was a breeze to play on the iPhone, Dragon's Lair's trial-and-error process includes finding not only the correct move, but the correct millisecond to make it - even when you think you know when to do it. For example, I remembered that making it past the swinging "socker-boppers" was pegged to pressing forward when they both lined up - Dirk's grunting was a second cue. But the screen is small and the speaker can be blocked by how you hold the device, making picking up such things very difficult. The game still works, but you're going to die a ton of times before you get the hang of how to move through a level, even if you know the correct moves or have them presented to you by the guide.

The Pause that Doesn't Refresh: You'd better really want to finish Dragon's Lair because you will be playing it all the way through in one shot if you're trying to beat it. Which, once you get the hang of this game, won't take long. But getting the hang of it will. If you pause anywhere in the middle of a level, you return to the beginning of that level. OK, fine, I can plan my bathroom breaks accordingly. What I forgot to do was put the phone in airplane mode, because any incoming call ends the game where you are and reboots it. Incoming text? You're back to the title screen. Whether because no effort was made, or it was a limitation with no workaround, players have no way to preserve their state in this game.

If it's your first encounter with Dragon's Lair, this version is not ideal. Find a playable DVD or PC port instead. If it were any other game, honestly, I would have given up. But I just had to see Dirk get all bug-eyed and shriek "Wow!" the first time he spies Daphne, who really knows how to sex up the protips. ("To slay the Dragon, use the magic sword...!" she purrs.)

Then again, I don't know a soul who ever beat Dragon's Lair in the arcade, and my friends and I fired stacks of quarters down it, often without ever successfully passing a level. So I have been conditioned to the abuse and have paid lots more than $4.99 for it. If Dragon's Lair has a problem, aside from the pause/interruption issue, it's one very common to iPhone/iPod Touch games, and I've complained about it relentlessly. You must obscure what you're looking at to control the action. And it's on a small enough screen to begin with. So it's telling that I got through a lot of these levels with no recollection of what it looked like doing so, and that's half the fun - and point - of the vintage laserdisc games.

Dragon's Lair was developed by Digital Leisure and published by Electronic Arts for the iPhone and Ipod Touch on Dec. 7. Retails for $4.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played all game types; completed Home mode. Died, like, a billion times, though.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

For starters, what you saw was 100 percent in-game footage, says Greg Goodrich. Some of that was cutscene, but Goodrich says if you see soldiers kicking in doors, you can reasonably assume breach operations will be a part of this, plus other "cool things." Also, the "Cowboy" featured in the title graphic at the end is in fact a character in the game.

Goodrich obliquely acknowledged that, as the first M-rated Medal of Honor game, we can expect raw scenes such as the trailer's gripping conclusion (you should see it for yourself.) But: "We will always be grounded by our core tenets of authenticity and respect for the soldier."

Greg Goodrich Medal of Honor Trailer Q&A [Medal of Honor site, via Voodoo Extreme]

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board offers an informative, potentially spoiler-filled account of what makes Mass Effect 2 deserving of a "Mature" rating, including the standard stuff, like enemies emitting "large splashes of blood when shot (particularly with "head shots")" and bad guys lying "stagnant in pools of blood." And you can "set robots on fire," something our future robotic overlords won't forget.

But what about the stuff that should get Mass Effect 2 a repeat appearance on Fox News? Oh, there's some of that too.

"The game contains themes of illicit drug use, addiction, and trafficking-often focal points to the branching storylines," says the ESRB's ratings description, making reference to a fictional drug.

And? "During the course of the game, players may enter a bar where alien pole dancing exists (choreography highlighted on big-screen monitors) or hear suggestive comments such as 'krogan sexual deviants enjoy salarian flexibility' and 'if this is just about sex, maybe you should just f**king say so.'" My, how potentially objectionable!

But here's where Mass Effect 2 gets hot.

The ESRB says: "Players can also choose to have 'romantic encounters' with the alien/human henchmen characters; this involves watching a guided cutscene in which two characters flirt, kiss, and/or embrace: clothed alien/human characters may prop a partner on top of a space console, clear away the clutter from a bed-slab, unzip a future-blouse, or just talk it out. Though an alien/human may gyrate her hips while on top (fleeting-one-to-two seconds), actual sex is never depicted-the camera cuts away to space furniture and ceilings."

Oh, space furniture. You're always getting in the way!

Total kills recorded during the beta stand at 45.42 million, according to the Battlefield Blog. Other fun facts include 1.01 million marksman headshots, 380,000 houses destroyed, and more than 12,000 killed by defibrillator.

This isn't the work of 10 genocidal madmen killing 4.5 million each, of course. More than 300,000 are participating in the beta, which closes Dec. 21. Battlefield Bad Company 2 is due for a March 2010 release.

Here's the rest of the stats, according to Electronic Arts:

• 3.43M Vehicles Destroyed
• 1.01M Marksman Headshots
• Total number of points awarded: 10,100,094,360
• Total number of Revives: 2.52M
• Total Repair Tool kills: 15.58K
• Total Knife Kills: 1.69M
• Total C4 Kills: 730.81K

PS3 Beta Update! [Battlefield Blog]

[image via]

Enough to use it in one of our many previews of Army of Two: The 40th Day; enough to bother EA producers about it at press events. "You should make an alternate cover! Total Fistbump Destruction!" I'd say. And they were polite about it.

But, apparently, someone else at Electronic Arts liked it, as one of the game's Xbox Live Achievements—and presumably one PlayStation Trophy—has been named, yes, "Total FistBump Destruction," netting the player 10 Gamerscore for finishing the game "as best friends." Nice.

There's also a "Total FistBump Deflation" achievement, scored by finishing the game with "a fractured friendship." You can check out the full list at Xbox360Achievements.org or—if you find yourself muttering under your breath "How is this news?"—read our newest Army of Two hands-on preview right here.

Achievements: Army of Two: The 40th Day [X360A - thanks, Ryan!]

"You're playing a CIA agent, it's designed to show the atrocities," Turner told CVG in an interview, "It's pretty awful and if you fail to see that side of it than you're not getting the whole picture. That being said, I thought it took it a little far; it was pretty out there. But I like seeing that they have guts like that."

Turner did say the mission's scenes, shown in advance of the game's release, were taken out of context. "When the footage got leaked thousands upon thousands of people saw it on a clip not knowing what it was," he said to CVG. "I'm not saying they were overreacting but people were generating these pretty outlandish opinions even though they didn't know what the scene meant in the grand scheme of the game."

Interview: Army of Two: 40th Day [CVG via Gamers Reports]

According to the Italian-language Console Planet, these are the features of the Death Edition:

• Exclusive costume for a playable character in-game: Isaac Clarke from Dead Space!
• Making-of documentary with the game (Italian subtitles)
• Documentary "Dante in History" (subtitled in English)
• Soundtrack full game
• Documentary on the creation of music and audio (Italian subtitles)
• Digital Artbook edited by visual designer Wayne Barlowe (subtitled in English)
• Over 10 minutes of scenes from the soul "Dante's Inferno An Animated Epic" (subtitled in English)
• Digital reprint of the poem Complete (in English)

Ohhhhh kay.

Death Edition for Dante's Inferno [Console Planet (translated) via Joystiq]

"Forget about any golfers picking up the sponsorship slack," says Michael K. Ozanian. "According to E Poll Market Research, aside from Tiger, they generate no buzz with consumers."

He's talking about all products, not just video games, but if Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk can't sell shaving cream, they probably can't push a $60 title either. Tiger Woods has been the lead endorser of EA Sports PGA Tour series since 1998 - only John Madden has a longer association on the title of a sports video game. EA axing Tiger is a far different thing than AT&T or Accenture (although Nike and Gatorade have comparable product lines in play here too.)

This is all speculation of course. EA Sports' latest guidance is this stand-by-your-man news release. It's got a major release coming up with Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, a free-to-play browser-based product that's been in a closed beta already, with another coming up soon. And as said above, if Woods is so toxic that he can't rep a game, EA Sports would have no reasonable fallback. Of course this scandal is a disaster for Woods as a business; it's not a party for his corporate partners either.

Tiger's Troubles: The Winners [Forbes]

Speaking with the Nightly Business Report, EA CEO John Riccitiello revealed that in this calendar year alone, "we've hosted over a billion online games, a billion online games. That's a staggering number."

Damn straight that's a staggering number.

[Nightly Business Report]

Some candidates, in decreasing order of likelihood:

• FIFA World Cup 10. Although, this is really no surprise, nor is it really a "new game." Technically it fits the definition.

• A downloadable title. Madden NFL Arcade has sold well, but unless this is an NBA Arcade or a sequel to the NHL 3-on-3 title (which stretches the language of this tease), there isn't much that's in season. It's also hardly the kind of thing that warrants an executive announcement as opposed to a statement.

• Grand Slam Tennis on the 360 and/or PS3. It was delayed from this autumn and these console versions are thought to be tied to Natal/PlayStation Motion Control, due in the coming year. But it would be very irregular for a title like this to put a date on a new technology before the maker of that technology does. It could also be a non-motion control version.

• As the astute Pasta Padre reasons, a WWE title. Pasta points out the license between the wrestling enterprise and THQ has until Dec. 31 to be renewed. "It is possible THQ informed WWE they did not intend to continue the license at which point EA could have jumped in and made an offer," says Pasta.

• Something entirely new, but it's tough to imagine EA Sports opening a new license after what Tiburon has just gone through, and the indication they'll focus on their existing franchises.

• Or, the hardway four on this crapshoot, the return of MVP Baseball. 2K Sports still has the exclusive Major League Baseball license into 2012, but given Take Two Interactive's pointed remarks last week, they would probably love to get that millstone off their necks. MLB 2K10 announced its cover athlete, so we're not talking about this year. But the tweet only said an announcement of a new game, not the time when it is released.

EA Sports Announcing New Game in January [Pasta Padre]

The newest issue of Game Informer offers new details on Dead Space 2, but none that have been revealed outside of print yet. We're anxiously awaiting the US Postal Service's speedy dispatch of our own issue, hopefully bearing good news.

The full version of the cover shows Isaac sporting some serious jet booster action at the knees, a move I certainly don't recall during my playthrough of the original Dead Space. Could flying strategic dismemberment be added to the sequel? And would that make for good multiplayer?

If Visceral were to add some Left 4 Dead-style multiplayer and co-op action, letting us take on the role of Nectomorphs online, that could be pretty neat. Don'tcha think?

January Cover Revealed [GameInformer]

Readers Vulcan Has No Moon and rabidhamsters, plus the site Helldescent figured it out too. Here's a handy Ovaltine decoder ring for future communiqués, I imagine there shall be more than a few.

The game will feature an arcade mode, faithful to the content of the original cabinet game, and a home mode that includes extra scenes. Space Ace, the other Don Bluth animated game on the iPhone/iPod Touch, was $4.99. No word on price point here, and delivery is listed as just "December 2009."

Man, I remember this thing cost 50 CENTS. You whippersnappers probably have no idea what balls it took for an arcade game to charge that in 1983. I never beat it in the arcades but I did 15 years later on a port to the Mac - after dying about 80 times. On the first board.

Lead on, adventurer ... your quest awaits!

At first glance, Dead Space fans may recognize a leaper, lurker and slasher, then see that all-important Marker begin to appear. That's probably Dead Space 2 related, then, as the game's due to make at least one print appearance this month. And an appearance at next week's Spike TV VGA Awards sure seems likely.

So, strap yourself in, kids and prepare for many, many months of grueling Dead Space 2 marketing doled out in tiny, barely life-sustaining crumbs. As much as I'm looking forward to a proper Dead Space sequel, I'm hungry for screen shots, videos and a disc in my hand as soon as is humanly possible!

And would someone kindly translate the Unitology stuff, please? I got as far as "the" and threw in the towel.

Dead Space 2 [Twitpic via Cinemablend - thanks, Don!]