Salem and Rios don't go anywhere without their masks, so they need top-quality designs in order to make sure the other mercenaries don't giggle at them behind their backs. That's where you come in. Using the simple armor and mask creator found at Army of Two dot com, you can have your designs ready for launch day. Upload graphics, rotate images, and make Rios look like a pig. It's your call.

Just be sure to share your creations with the class when you're done.

Battlefield Heroes passed the two million player mark in September, prompting EA to celebrate with the Heroes of the Fall game update. Now at three million, the company has released the new Sunset Showdown map. Set on an island with only one control point, it looks like the sort of place many people will die in. Then again, any shooter map looks like that to me.

"Battlefield Heroes continues to grow fast with well over 50,000 new players joining us every week. Our players have already logged in over 1,300 years' worth of game time and nearly 300million kills over 150million five-minute game rounds," said Ben Cousins, General Manager, Battlefield Heroes team. "The vast majority of our players play for free, but if they want to customize their character or enhance their game with weapon upgrades or widgets then there is a cool item for them in our store."

Visit the official Battlefield Heroes website to play the game for free.

EverQuest Underfoot, available today at EverQuest.com for $39.99, substantially adds to Norrathian real estate by going deeper underground than ever before. Players can expect to encounter plenty of new creatures as they venture forth, hunting for tradeskill recipes so they can make the powerful new items afforded by the addition of Master Tradeskilling.

Other new additions include an expanded target window, which lets players assign group members to specific roles for ease of targeting, and an achievement system, much like the one already implemented in World of Warcraft.

"Celebrating a decade of EverQuest throughout this year has reinvigorated our community and development team alike, and that passion is clearly on display with the latest expansion," said Thom Terrazas, Producer, Sony Online Entertainment. "Underfoot presents a world unlike anything you've experienced in Norrath, providing a deep and fun experience for all our players."

I've not played EverQuest for years, but there are times I miss my bard something terrible. Then I remember this, and the melancholy fades.

With development of the Stargate Worlds MMO still ongoing, troubled developer Cheyenne Mountain apparently isn't so troubled that they couldn't prepare a completely new title based on the franchise.

Stargate Resistance is a 3rd-person online shooter for the PC in which human forces use stargates to travel around the galaxy in order to stem the tide of a massive invasion by the System Lords. Players can take up arms on either side of the conflict, with Galactic Domination granting the winning team across multiple servers and worlds an advantage over their opponents.

The game is class-based, with humans taking selecting between Soldier, Commando, and Scientist classes and the System Lords having a choice of Jaffa, Ashrak, and Goa'uld. Players will rank up as they play, though specifics on what the benefits of increased rank will be are still up in the air.

Cheyenne Mountain has launched the official website for the game, so feel free to head over there for more details on this surprise Stargate shooter.

Stargate Resistance [Official Site via GateWorld - Thanks Samuraidino!]

For those of you not up to par on your Star Trek calendar, that's actually January 12th, 2010. The open beta will run through January 26th, giving players two weeks to play the game prior to the February launch. Open beta keys will be given out on a first come, first serve basis, with players urged to watch the game's official website at http://www.startrekonline.com to keep abreast of the situation.

"We are excited to announce the dates for the open beta phase as this is one of the final steps in launching Star Trek Online to the public," said Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer on Star Trek Online. "We are looking forward to the launch of our first-of-a-kind MMORPG with anticipation and excitement and we expect Star Trek Online to explode onto the scene, giving fans and gamers a Star Trek experience like no other."

Star Trek would be a much bigger hit with the fans if video game website writers didn't have to covert dates to stardates of their own accord. Just sayin'.

Here's what Tom Tippl told the gathering:

It's definitely an aspiration that we see potential in, particularly as we look at different business models to monetize the online gameplay. There's good knowledge exchange happening between the Blizzard folks and our online guys.

We have great experience also on Call of Duty with the success we had on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. A lot of that knowledge is getting actually built into the Battle.Net platform and the design of that. I think it's been mutually beneficial, and you should expect us to test and ultimately launch additional online monetization models of some of some of our biggest franchises like Call of Duty.

And now that you're red-faced and rushing to the comments to say no way in hell would you ever pay for this, Tippl reminds:

Our gamers are telling us there's lots of services and innovation they would like to see that they're not getting yet. From what we see so far, additional content, as well as all the services Blizzard is offering, is that there is demand from the core gamers to pay up for that.

So, got that? He says practically demanding to pay up. So pay up!

Activision Hints at Call of Duty Online Plans IGN via VG247 and just about every one else.]

Mytheon is an online PC game that combines action RPG gameplay with an element of collectible strategy games. Players take on mythical gods using collectible Power Stones, which transform into creatures, buildings, and spells. Think of it as a collectible card strategy game with the cards replaced with stones, and you get the picture.

Browse the gallery below for background information on some of the game's scenic locales.

The island features a diverse geography; from craggy, impassable cliffs to rolling meadows and gardens. While Amphitrite resides in the peaceful Nereid's Garden where the sparkling ponds and fountains reflect the tranquility of the sea, Triton presides over his namesake cove amidst the foam and crashing surf. Within the Temple of Poseidon, the vengeful sea god prepares his minions for the coming battle with mankind.

The Dominion of Hades is the epicenter of Hades' power in the Underworld. From this dark, luxurious palace, Hades and his queen, Persephone, rule the Underworld without mercy.

Remnants of a city lie just beyond the field's borders, long abandoned by its inhabitants and now overrun with diabolical beasts. What was once a thriving marketplace, surrounded by the homes of the townspeople, now lies uninhabited.

Gloomy corridors and cavernous halls exude an eerie sense of foreboding to those who would risk entry within. Divided into three great regions - the Hall of the Dead, the Garden of the Furies, and the Court of Hades, Stonecasters must embark deep into this fiery stronghold and face perilous legions of undead monsters in order to confront Hades himself, his power enhanced within his own domain.

The Shattered Isle is home to Poseidon, the supreme ruler of oceans and earthquakes. The isle is also home to Amphitrite, Poseidon's beloved wife, and their son, Triton. Together, the family forms a triad symbolic of the ocean's tranquility, treachery, and unrelenting dominion. These qualities are reflected in the domains over which they preside.

Since their victory over the dragon, the sacred grove has become infiltrated with fierce warriors of Ares, the god of war. The dusty furrows of the Fallow Field are dotted with the skeletal remains of dead trees; now home to carrion creatures that prey upon the unwary.

The Dominion of Hades is a monument to death and destruction. Home to the immortal god of earthly wealth - Hades, lord of the dead, rules his realm with an iron fist.

The skeletal remains of past invaders lie half buried in the sands surrounding crumbling columns and scarred boulders. Waterfalls cascade down stone ledges, casting a fine spray that coats the rocky surfaces and foliage.

Players will travel to the distant land of Colchis, once home to the famed Golden Fleece, now protecting Argos. Two distinct regions form the land of Colchis - the cast Fallow Field and the Grove of Ares. Jason and his Argonauts braved many dangers there to claim their prize, including an epic battle against the Colchian Dragon who guarded the fleece.

Why "pre-season" you ask? The competitive online strategy game uses a seasons model in order to keep gameplay fresh for everyone involved. October 27th sees the start of its pre-season, a period in which players can form teams, learn the game, and formulate strategies in advance of season one, which kicks off in early 2010. The model also allows Riot to cycle content, meaning the set of Champions you have at your disposal and the maps you play on can change with each season, keeping the game fresh and the competition on their toes.

Riot has just opened up the beta for the game, allowing anyone interested to sign up and participate for free, holding on to their accounts once the game launches. The closed beta has been running for awhile, so you're late to the game, but every extra day helps. You've got five. Go play.

Global Agenda is an online shooter that, on the surface, plays a great deal like many other online shooters. You gain experience, level up, gain new equipment, and fight side-by-side with your teammates through a variety of maps and game types. It's also a massively-multiplayer persistent world game, in which rival agencies and alliances fight for territory, establish bases, craft, socialize, and participate in raids. It has the potential to appeal to two completely different audiences, so Hi-Rez has decided to cater to both.

When Global Agenda launches, a onetime purchase via retail or downloadable distribution will net you the full online multiplayer shooter, with no subscription fees ever required to play the core game. You still get to create and level a character, participate in co-operative missions against enemies and bosses, level your character, and join alliances. It functions much like a Call of Duty or Team Fortress does, only with inventory and enhanced social features.

Players craving something a bit more deeper, however, can opt to pay $12.99 a month ($11.99 for 3 months, $9.99 for 6) for the Global Agenda: Conquest subscription. Players who opt for Conquest again access to the more persistent part of the persistent-world game, Alliance versus Alliance World Domination gameplay. It's a massive-scale war for territory, with rival agencies capturing land, forming alliances with other agencies, gathering resources, and basically maintaining a constant vigil on their things, lest a rival group take them away.

Subscribing also allows players to form their own Alliances and Agencies, send mail, use the auction house, and participate in some of the higher-end raid content. Subscribing customers will also enjoy frequent updates to the ongoing content, which those playing the core game won't have access to.

We spoke with the game's Executive Producer Todd Harris, who explained the core difference between the two ways to pay and play. "The main difference is for folks that want to play the game as a multiplayer online game with a little bit of persistence, that's what the main package brings you. We looked at the feature set of other online games and made sure we had all of that and more. We're putting all of that into a box an letting people get it for a one-time price."

According to Todd, throughout the development of Global Agenda, testers were commenting on how enjoyable the combat system in the game is, saying they would gladly pay for it without any of the MMO features. Now they'll have their chance.

While there are many differences between the two different payment types, Todd assured me that the portions of the game that overlap - the match made PVP battles - will never be unbalanced between those subscribed to the game and those that choose not to. Any items introduced to subscribers that can be used in regular PVP combat will be available to non-subscribers as well. There will be unique items for those who opt to pay a monthly fee, but those will only be useable in subscriber-only gameplay.

As an added bonus, everyone who purchases the full version of the game gets a free 30-day subscription, so if you aren't sure what you want, it won't cost anything to see how the other half lives.

It certainly sounds like Hi-Rez has all of its bases covered on this one. The shooter gameplay in Global Agenda is extremely solid, more than enough to carry off a standalone title. We'll see how things work out for the game when it is released sometime in Q1 of 2010.

I've spent a few hours over the past two days playing matches online to see how things are working now that the game is out in the wild. Here's what I found.

Finding Games: Finding a good match on the Playstation 3 was easy. Over the course of the past two days, the auto matchmaker found ranked games for me usually in about a minute.

Matchmaking: With the exception of one completely off-kilter match up that pitted a group that included two level 34 characters against a bunch of level 5 characters, I've noticed no issues with how the game finds playmates for you.

Reaction Time: I haven't run into any noticeable lag yet, despite occasionally having what the game identified as a weak connection.

General Consensus: There are complaints in the official thread for the game on Playstation.com with a handful of people complaining about waits of five minutes or longer to find a match.

People are also complaining that the online stats for the game are tracking cooperative mode kills and deaths.

Overall Personal Experience: The inclusion of jumping, climbing and stealth kills makes Uncharted 2: Among Thieves' a breezy bit of online fun for competitive play.

I'm a little put off by the unlockable perks that can make matches a bit harder for those new to the game, but with a bit of time spent playing you can quickly unlock your own set and the whole thing evens out.

Read our complete review here:

Nexon America's revenue for August was up 32% over the previous year, and if the company's celebratory press release is any indication, Combat Arms had a lot to do with its "explosive growth". Since Combat Arms launched in July 2008, Nexon has updated the title on a regular basis, adding in new game modes like Quarantine and Fireteam, aping modes in popular retail releases to tremendous effect.

"We have worked extremely hard to make sure that our players get new, fun and interesting content delivered as frequently as possible," said Min Kim, Nexon America's vice president of marketing. "The progress we have made with Combat Arms is significant, substantial and added a great deal to the outstanding summer success for Nexon America."

Nexon continues to grow Combat Arms, recently adding new zombie maps to the Quarantine mode and a new mercenary character modeled after a movie action hero, and I can't see them stopping anytime soon. You can almost rest assured that if a new FPS game type becomes popular, Combat Arms will get a free version of it eventually. It's a business model that work - just ask those three million users. Visit the Combat Arms website if you're interested in becoming one of them.

Reality Gap, whose free-play offerings include the MMO Monato Esprit (above), also faces competition in ports coming over from the more developed Asian free-play market. Korea's, especially, is "super-saturated. He seems to decry the "schlock" that arises when rampant me-tooism meets an already crowded space. But he adds they're also competing with some Asian market winners that turn into duds in the U.S.

"It's not just schlock. There are some good games that have come over here, but they weren't good necessarily for the U.S. market. A lot of things we've found, [like games based around] vanity items and things that are very, very popular in Asia … aren't necessarily as popular here. Things that are more important here are actually how the game plays, getting yourself more advancement and skill. So, it is really different."

Bruce Everiss, who works in video game marketing, has written up an excellent piece on the shady side of the "game", pointing out the fact it's owned by a guy who has been sued by Microsoft for click fraud and who also runs a gold farming company, that it steals assets from Age of Empires and that the game is spamming people's blogs and forums with unsolicited Evony ads.

And what did Bruce get for his troubles? Well, of course, he's been threatened with a lawsuit by Evony's owner, Eric Lam.

More About Evony [Bruceongames, via Valleywag]

The GameStop Casual Digital Store, located at http://www.gamestop.com/casual, features the hottest and not-so-hottest casual PC games for purchase, download and play. Powered by RealNetworks, the store features casual and independent titles, from Nancy Drew to Plants Vs. Zombies, with thirty-one titles available for half-off to celebrate the launch of the new service.

"As the leading video game and entertainment software retailer, we continuously look for ways to bring our passion for gaming to the customer visiting us online," said Tony Bartel, executive vice president of merchandising and marketing. "The new Casual Digital Store accomplishes this goal by appealing to an ever-expanding customer demographic looking for value in addition to trusted guidance to ensure they receive the best gaming experience possible."

It sounds a great deal like the casual game download service Amazon.com launched in February, perhaps indicating that while GameStop isn't worried about Amazon's trade-ins, it isn't too keen on being left behind when it comes to digital distribution and the casual market.

Cole used commenters' responses to his post, The Impact of Homophobia in Virtual Communities, to drive discussion among panelists Caryl Shaw (Senior Producer at EA's Maxis), Dan Hewitt (Senior Director of Communications & Industry Affairs for the Entertainment Software Association), Stephen Toulouse (Program Manager for Policy and Enforcement, Xbox Live), Cyn Skyberg (Vice President of Customer Relations at Linden Lab) and Flynn DeMarco (founder of GayGamer.net). Read on to see if you made the cut.

First up was McLuvin's comment about flaunting sexuality. Next was GameBuddy, continuing the discussion. Then came bLaZINcOdE3's comment about the "gay mafia" forcing companies to hold "token meetings." OrigamiNinja's comment about how harassment makes the game less fun made it in, as did Nnooo's about whether or not gamers can expect Mario to save a prince instead of a princess someday. User saulpimpson's comment steered talk toward developers refusing to make games based on gay or gay bashing content. Then DanoruX's tongue-in-cheek "this is so gay," statement got a discussion going on "innocent" slurs. Phydeaux's comment on "play to file" introduced the topic of abuse reporting in online communities. Lastly, ach77 made it in as part of a general statement that gay gamers just want to have fun like every other gamer – and to introduce the founder of gay-centric World of Warcraft guild, The Spreading Taint who happened to be in the audience.

Aside from being shamelessly proud of Kotaku commenters, I was interested to see how Kotaku alumnus DeMarco reacted to comments from his ex-audience. He did almost half the talking at the panel and demonstrated the most gaming expertise. Whenever an issue was raised, DeMarco could name at least two games in response whereas everyone else just fell back on their own games (like Shaw's Spore and Skyberg's Second Life) or defaulted to Halo.

The other big talker was Microsoft's Toulouse, but I think he was being targeted. At the beginning of the panel, Cole presented a video that outlined the issues facing gays and lesbians in online gaming. All of their in-game examples seemed to be from Xbox Live – most specifically, Halo multiplayer. To his credit, Toulouse responded to almost every issue raised by Kotaku comments and admitted that Xbox Live hasn't got it right quite yet – but they're committed to making their community a safe place to game for everybody.

The quietest panelist was Second Life's Skyberg. It takes all types to make a virtual world like Second Life and I know they've had issues that prompted developer Linden Lab to create an adults-only space. Skyberg did pipe up at one or two times to talk about anonymity making it easy for people to use gay slurs in online communities – and made an excellent point that as people invest in their online identities more, this anonymity goes away.

The only dull part of the panel was the Q&A. I'm not sure if it's because the two hour time limit was almost up and everybody wanted lunch, or because the audience was the choir being preached to – but nobody asked anything that hadn't been addressed. One lady asked if the "dehumanizing" aspect of violent games like Halo brought about gay bashing and DeMarco responded that the problem wasn't that the game that engendered homophobia, it was that the audience that the game tended to attract was immature and ignorant of gay issues.

In sum, this is what I took away from the panel: Don't hate the game, hate the player. Or better yet, don't hate anybody.

VentureBeat reports the figures, which show online gaming posting a 22 percent year-over-year boost in players from May 2008 to May 2009. Coincidentally, the number fits with a 23 percent slide in console game revenues (attributed to NPD), and the 20 percent reduction in console game sales some analysts expect for the second quarter of this year.

Yahoo! Games and EA Online continue to be the heavyweights in this space, with more than 19 and 17 million unique visitors, respectively. EA's total is up 34 percent from a year ago. But large brands like Disney Games and MSN Games also saw declines in unique visits. ComScore's director for gaming also notes that online games are growing at 10 times the rate of the overall U.S. Internet population. There's a handy chart at the link.

As Console Games Slide, Online Games Increase 22 Percent Compared to a Year Ago [VentureBeat via VG247]

When the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) sent a report through Facebook's built in reporting system and then urged its Facebook and Twitter followers to do the same, the user was suspended, and the group abandoned and commandeered by pro-gay users in the matter of hours.

It seems that real people in those virtual communities, as well as the massive companies that run the platforms, don't like when people form groups that advocate killing people or targeting groups.

Now what happens when you take that model and you turn it to online gaming virtual communities?

To illustrate my point, take a look at this video previously highlighted on Kotaku and GayGamer to get a sense of the problem just in online gaming communities.

Halo 3: Homophobia Evolved (NSFW)

This isn't to say that all gamers feel and think this way. As we know, there's a great diversity in who plays computer and video games and how they think. But similar to other forms of mass medium entertainment-like music, books, and movies-the new frontier created by advances in technology, especially Internet technology, has increased ability to transmit our voices, images, and ideas. But it has also come with a greater capacity to harass, bully, and spread prejudices - often times with little-to-no repercussions.  

The problem is widespread in these communities, with kids and adults alike throwing around virtual threats and threatening real world violence and death.

In 2006, a survey under supervision by the University of Illinois provided the first glimpse of "the social and behavioral demographics of gay video game players" as well as "the role of sexual orientation on gaming habits." Here are some highlights:

52.7% of those surveyed said the gaming community is "Somewhat Hostile" to gay and lesbian gamers, 14% said "Very Hostile."
When asked what forms of homophobia people have seen in the gaming community, here are some of what the surveyed said:

87.7% - Players use the phrase, "That's so gay."
83.4% - Players use the words "gay" or "queer" as derogatory names.
52.3% - Stereotypical representations of gay characters in games.
42.5% - Refusal of game designers to include well-developed gay characters.
49.4% - Invisibility of gaymers and/or the gaymer community.
When asked how frequently players experience homophobia, those surveyed who responded "Always" or "Frequently" equaled 42%. Add in "Sometimes" and it brings up that total to 74.5%.
When asked how often those players respond to the homophobia they witness – 50.9% total responded "Never" or "Rarely."

Keep in mind, that's a survey from 3 years ago. According to the Entertainment Software Association's 2009 Essential Facts, last year 68% of American households played video or computer games.  It's an industry that continues to grow - from 2.6 billion dollars in sales in 1996 to 11.7 billion last year.  And don't think it's child's play – the average player age is 35.

The problem is only getting worse and needs to be addressed with comprehensive and sustainable solutions. That's why GLAAD has announced an initiative to do just that – The Project on Homophobia & Virtual Communities – which kicks off with a groundbreaking panel discussion to be held on the Electronic Arts campus on July 18, 2009.

The panel discussion will include an assessment of the problem in these communities, policy solutions that have been developed to address homophobia – some that are working and those that are not - as well as looking to the future at the challenges and opportunities to combating homophobia in various sectors of the industry.

Confirmed panelists include representatives from XBox LIVE, Electronic Arts, Inc., Linden Lab, the Entertainment Software Association, and GayGamer.net.

There is no doubt that this is a complicated endeavor. While most companies do have some sort of policy in place that prohibits threats, advocating violence or death, and hate speech, there are major concerns with the effectiveness of those policies. Those concerns including the policies themselves, which in some cases ban self-identifying your orientation or using words like "gay" or "lesbian" altogether. They also include the mechanisms in place to report violations of the policies, many which don't allow you to submit evidence (i.e. recordings of in game audio/video). Then there is the lack of transparency once a user has been reported, leaving the harassed often feeling as if nothing has been done.

GLAAD's project has an established set of goals to address these concerns. To get companies to provide safe spaces for LGBT people in these virtual communities (which includes virtual worlds, online games, social networks, message boards, etc). To work with each of the companies to ensure they have solid policies in place that prevent anti-LGBT defamation where possible and mechanisms to report the defamation when it does occur. And what will be the most challenging in my eyes - to educate the user base about the real impact of their virtual homophobia.

However, what this comes down to is that this really is a company-by-company and a case-by-case project. For example, when a potentially anti-gay situation with the Old Republic message board arose, I reached out to Bioware about the situation and ended up getting a call back from a VP at Electronic Arts (EA), Bioware's parent company. After making sure the situation was corrected, he issued a statement through GLAAD, which we shared on our blog, and put me in touch with EA staff to continue conversations about the overall issue of homophobia in virtual communities.

Through ongoing conversations with EA, they have offered to host our upcoming panel on their private campus in Redwood City, CA, and have provided a panelist - a senior producer from the Maxis Studio. While I'm out in California I'll also be meeting with EA staff to discuss the issue of homophobia, their policies and begin working on a comprehensive plan to address it.

Microsoft has also had recent and ongoing dust-ups regarding their XBox LIVE policies being "anti-gay." After opening up a dialogue with them about the problems, they invited GLAAD out to their campus in Washington State for two days of meetings with XBox LIVE managers to review their systems, protocols and policies and provide recommendation on way to address the problem. We now have quarterly conference calls to continue working towards solutions.

These companies aren't monoliths and are very much committed to providing a safe and fun environment for all their players - they're just not all there yet.

We all know it's not going to happen overnight and it's not going to be easy. We have an uphill battle of policy issues, system improvements and campaigns to educate users on the real dangers of homophobia. In my job as GLAAD Director of Digital Media, I've also seen the real impact unchecked homophobia has on people's lives and how it leads to a climate of intolerance, to bullying and harassment, and can ultimately lead to violence and death, especially among children.

While the average player age may be 35, 25% of all game players are under 18. These are impressionable kids who are witnessing and then participating in anti-gay slurs, normalizing homophobia for them. They then take that behavior from their virtual worlds into their real world.

According to a 2007 report by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, "86.2% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 44.1% reported being physically harassed and 22.1% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation."

In February of 2008, a 14-year-old took out a gun during class and killed a 15-year-old classmate because of the student's sexual orientation and gender identity. This past April, an 11-year-old boy in Massachusetts who didn't identify as gay hanged himself because of anti-gay bullying, as did another 11-year-old boy in Georgia. These are but a few examples.

Some may argue that these examples don't directly support the argument that unchecked homophobia in virtual communities leads to real world violence amongst kids. However, we can all agree that children learn what's appropriate and acceptable and how to treat others from their friends, families and from their communities. And that includes their virtual communities.

This is a problem we cannot leave unchecked.

For those who say this is bigger than just being about homophobia – that there are also issues like racism and sexism to be addressed - you are right. But keep in mind; while the work being done here is focused around fighting homophobia its implications will affect many other groups. If we work to help implement better reporting mechanisms, it helps everyone. If we work to provide better policies and safe spaces for LGBT people, those policies and spaces can be replicated for other groups as well.

If we are moving in a direction where so much of our communications and interactions occur in virtual communities, then maybe its about time we start considering how we can make the spaces civilized and safe, inviting millions more into the communities, and paving the way for the expansion of this technology into other areas of our real world.

We have an opportunity to learn from the lessons of our real-life society, to not repeat the same mistakes in our virtual ones.

We at GLAAD hope you'll join us in this effort.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Justin J. Cole is GLAAD's Director of Digital Media

Petroglyph shaves a little of the fuzz off of the original Mytheon announcement, which spent more time talking about microtransaction-based game that was creating an entire new genre rather than going into actual detail on the gameplay. From what we see here, you collect (or perhaps purchase) Power Stones, summon creatures, and use special powers based on the color stones the creatures have an affinity to. It actually sounds sort of like an action collectible card game with stone discs instead of cards.

Mytheon is currently scheduled for a 1st quarter 2010 PC release.

Taking place on July 31 and August 1 in the former home of the once-massive Gamescon, the convention will focus on the online aspect of gaming.

Former CEO of SCEE David Reeves has signed on as a leading keynote speaker for the show, the conference announced.

Reeves' talk is entitled "Schrodinger's Cat and Heisenberg's Dog – The Change from Offline to Online". Reeves will explain what "everything online" means for the industry.

"At the GCO, I will provide a view of when online sales of games overtake classic retail distribution", Reeves said.

With the carpet sort of pulled out from under Leipzig last year it will be interesting to see how the survive and if they thrive with this new, more niche, focus.

David Reeves and Jong Hyun Wi to Give Opening Keynote Speeches [Gamescon]