The God of War: Blood & Metal digital EP will feature exclusive, sometimes God of War inspired tracks from Killswitch Engage, Dream Theater, Trivium, Opeth and Taking Dawn. If you follow any or all of those bands, you're likely aware that they're Roadrunner Records acts, Sony's partner in giving God of War fans something heavier to rock to.

"This is the first time in 24 years that we've written and recorded a song for anything other than one of our own albums, so we're up for the challenge and excited to have been asked," said prog metal act Dream Theater's drummer Mike Portnoy.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm more than interested to hear just how God of War inspired any of these previously unreleased songs are.

Roadrunner Announces God of War EP [Roadrunner Records]

See, in the US, it was released in convenient, standalone form. But the only way PAL customers will be able to get their hands on a copy is if they grab the European version of the God of War III Ultimate Edition, as it'll be included within, along with a ton of other stuff.

Who knows, there might still be a chance the collection will be released individually early next year, but with the God of War franchise not as big in Europe as it is in the US (hence the fact the collection hasn't yet been released), I wouldn't hold my breath.

While last year's spread featured naked versions of characters from games like Afro Samurai, Ride to Hell, Velvet Assassin, Saints Row 2, Damnation, and Rise of the Argonauts, this year features boobs from games venturing closer to AAA territory. That includes rendered tits and ass from God of War III, Heavy Rain, The Saboteur and Mafia II. It also means Crimecraft, but, hey, there are exceptions to this loose rule.

The veiny pinup with her yayas out up there? That's the lovely Beatrice from Visceral Games' Dante's Inferno. Below is a very naked Madison Paige from Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain, another high profile PlayStation 3 games due in early 2010.

If this is the kind of thing you enjoy—and haven't found comparable content on the internet already—the January issue of Playboy magazine has the full "Playing Hard To Get" lineup of digital nakedness, sans Kotaku Censor Fish. It's the one with Tara Reid on the cover as featured at the equally NSFW link below.

Playboy January/February 2010 Issue [Playboy.com]

Pro tip: don't watch this at work. Or in front of small children.

We've heard from a handful of Kotaku readers in the United States, UK and Poland—we would never forget Poland—who have been surprised with download vouchers for the God of War III E3 demo. So we'd advise anyone with a PlayStation Network account and a PS3 to dig through their inboxes and spam filters for a chance at some playable Kratos.

Thanks for the tips, fellas. Just make sure you hide your download voucher codes from us in the future! Muahahahaha.

Sony today announced that come Dec. 29, gamers will be able to pick up a copy of District 9 on Blu-ray and get their hands on the God of War III E3 2009 demo.

The hybrid disc is an industry first, Sony says.

District 9 Forged Together With God of War III [Playstation Blog]

Perhaps too subtle. Rarely do we see North American games veering from the standard box art path. But considering Sony's PlayStation 3 box art preference of focusing on the face—see Killzone 2 and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time—and the God of War III cover showing up on Amazon.com and Sony's retailer extranet, it could happen.

And if it does, just how far will Sony zoom in for future games? Will The Last Guardian just feature a giant retina?

How do you judge this cover, Kotaku readership?

Thanks to Veton and Jason for the heads up!

God of War III producer Stig Asmussen tells GamePro that the PlayStation 3 game may be due for some downloadable content post release. Asmussen theorizes, but does not officially confirm that "maybe you'll see the game ship with a certain amount of challenges on it, then later on, we might put a download pack out with new challenges." He calls it "a good way to keep the series going."

The interview gives the impression that some of this is still up in the air, that Asmussen and the Sony Santa Monica dev team are still hashing this all out. Maybe they're looking for some sort of response from the God of War fanbase to see if this is worth their time? So, what say you? Challenge rooms: Y/N?

God of War 3 director reveals plans for future DLC and why multiplayer won't work [Gamepro]

Sony Japan is giving out codes to download God of War III from the PSN Store as part of the promotion for Infamous.

The God of War III demo will be available on November 19 in Japan, and these codes can be redeemed between November 19 and February 2010. No word whether the demo will be available to those without these codes.

The game is expected to be out next March in North America.

God of War III Demo Dated [Siliconera]

In an featured interview with CGSociety, Feldman says that he attempted to convince Asmussen that "Kratos could have some truly badass huge weapons that rip gods to shreds," presumably in the vein of chain guns or gorgon head launchers.

"Unfortunately," Feldman says, "he didn't see the genius in the idea."

Whether Mr. Feldman offered up that nugget of trivia with a smirk we don't know, but after having played Link's Crossbow Training for the Wii, we can't write this off as a terrible idea. A bad idea? Oh, totally. Just not terrible.

Developer interview with Art Director Ken Feldman and Lead Animator Bruno Velazquez. [CGSociety via MCV & Split-Screen]

At this point you've read about everyone and their brother getting some hands-on time with the E3 2009, Comic-Con, and PAX God of War III demo. Isn't it about time you got to take Kratos out for a spin yourself? Each copy of the God of War Collection, due out this November, will come packed with a voucher allowing players to download and experience the third game in the series well in advance of its March 2010 release date.

If you don't pick up the collection now that the demo is included, you're just a heartless person who wants to see Kratos cry.

God of War III E3 2009 Demo Included in God of War Collection [PlayStation Blog]

Then, this March, the first of two God of War Novels arrive from Del Rey.

Sounds like someone went a little marketing crazy. Here's the break down of the books, the comics and, yes, that fancy set of knives.

God of War Comic Book Series (October 2009): Published by DC/Wildstorm Comics, the series will be written by Marv Wolfman (The New Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths). The six-issue series will be released on a monthly schedule, leading into the March 2010 release of God of War III for the Playstation 3.

United Cutlery's Blades of Chaos (October 2009): United Cutlery , manufacturer of licensed edged and adult collectibles for the entertainment industry since 1981, will create a scaled replica of Kratos Blades of Chaos. The weapon will be a total of 20-13/16 inches long and have a 12 7/16-inch blade constructed from solid-cast zinc aluminum with a custom-etched mold texture, and unique fantasy grindings that mirror the piece used in the game. The handle grip is injection-molded and surrounded by an intricate, detailed cast-metal guard and pommel. The Blades of Chaos replica includes a custom display stand with the God of War logo.

Del Rey Books' God of War Novels (March 2010): Del Rey will publish two novels based on the God of War series. The first novel, God of War, will be written by author Matthew Stover. In the novel God of War, Kratos, the game's protagonist, is a great warrior who seeks revenge on the God of War Ares for the deaths of his wife and child. On his journey to Olympus, Kratos must battle great monsters of legend—and fight his own inner demons. Kratos' quest will take him through a world of Greek mythology transformed, in which the familiar legends take on a terrifying new life—from the Aegean, where Kratos will grapple with the Great Hydra, to the depths of Hades, where Kratos will face death itself, to the heights of Mount Olympus.

God of War III is expected to be out March 2010 in North America.

God of War III is expected to be out March 2010 in North America.

Kill some rank and file undead, ride harpy, kill scores more Chaos Blade fodder, fight the Centaur commander, kill the Chimera—described by God of War III director Stig Asmussen as "half-goat, half-lion, half-snake"—launched a massive bolt at Helios, all that. It was largely the same sequence we'd seen in February, when the newest God of War didn't look nearly as sharp as its E3 presence.

But this was the first time we'd had the chance to pilot a Cyclops, to rip Helios' head from his body, an act more gruesome and, dare I say it, visceral than I'd imagined. The God of War series is by no means reserved with its gore and violence, but the third console entry is ridiculously over the top.

Whether Kratos is being coated with Cyclops blood spurting forth from an empty socket or disemboweling a Centaur, players will be regularly reminded that this is an M-rated game. It's over the top, designed to shock, but still occasionally pretty—yes, those multi-layered blood spatters that splash across Kratos look good.

In other words, it's still very much the God of War you may remember from the first two PlayStation 2 entries, full of giant set pieces, marathon combos, and Greek deicide. The sometimes complex controls feel well-known, with light attacks, heavy attacks and grabs; Kratos' arm blades feel just as wispy as ever.

The new Cestus gauntlets, however, feel meaty. They're effective, but slow, at short and long range. When using L1 for the special attack modifier, Kratos will whip them around in a circle with his light attack, just like the Chaos Blades. His modded heavy attack is more satisfying, firing them out to his left and right, then quickly whipping them forward for a nasty crushing blow.

More satisfying it the battering ram attacks one can pull off, picking up an enemy and barreling through a crowd of rotting Centurions.

The hand-to-hand stuff feels great, if a little disconnected from the feeling that you're killing dozens of undead soldiers. Some stuff that doesn't feel so great are the harpy to harpy rides. Asmussen said the God of War III team is still tweaking the harpy-jacking, hopefully for something that's a little simpler than the L1-plus-circle grab that's currently in place.

Visually, though, God of War III continues to impress. There was no trace of load times during my 20-minute hands-on session, in which Kratos traveled from the Olympian outskirts, through caves, up a giant shaft and ultimately onto the giant fiery Titan seen in released screen shots. Considering the graphical upgrades the game has gotten over the past quarter, I can't wait to see what it looks like when it ships next year.

Ultimately, God of War III, despite its gargantuan presentation and now-gen upgrade, felt familiar. Whether that's going to feel like more of the same or a welcome return to the universe and its wildly successful style of play will be up to you.

We sat in on a God of War III presentation earlier today, one very similar to the hands-off gameplay demo we saw in February. While that demo looked better than the one we'd seen almost four months ago, not much had changed. What had was the inclusion of Kratos in a Soulcalibur game.

Stig Asmussen, director of God of War III, said that the team has been "in constant consultation" with the Project Soul team for five to six months.

"They really nailed down Kratos," Asmussen said, noting that the Kratos players will see in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny is more in line with the one seen in God of War II, using an older move set and last-generation weapons. Even the character model is God of War II, he said, with the Namco Bandai developers uses assets from the PlayStation 2 version.

The latest batch of God of War III screens features some very familiar scenes and scenarios. We saw them months ago. They feature Titans, minotaurs, chimera and locations that we've already seen—but that's okay! They're pretty screens regardless. And we'll see God of War III in person at E3 this week, as Sony has gobs of playable kiosks for us to plop down in front of.

Until then, we'll just pore over new media for the PS3 game. Then we'll make plans to sprint to the PlayStation space at the LACC when the doors open.

Kratos will join the generously mustachioed Dampierre as the newest Soulcalibur contender, a nice little reminder that God of War III will be coming to the PlayStation in March of 2010 to anyone picking up the Namco Bandai fighter this Summer. He's also a pretty darn good replacement for Darth Vader and Yoda, who apparently won't reprise their roles from Soulcalibur IV.

Like the rest of the Soulcalibur PSP lineup, the God of War looks pretty damn good in the portable fighter. See Kratos in dual blade action in the new E3 Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny trailer.

Which will no doubt disappoint God of War fans hoping for some Yuletide carnage on the PS3, but then, God of War fans should know that the last two games were out in March as well. So don't look on this as a letdown. Look on it as a game simply fulfilling its destiny.