Oh fine, go ahead and scoff. It's a squid with a mouth on its head. Certainly doesn't sound like a very efficient killing machine. I guess it has to grab the player and toss it into the air like popcorn, catching them in its mouth as he or she drops. I hope the3se akrid have a voice, so we can hear it saying "Wait...do over" every time you bounce off its face.

Lost Planet 2 Akrid Profile: Defolma [Capcom Unity]

No word still on a US release, but Japan will see the game soon enough. Enjoy!

アパートに隠された二つの過去とは？　DS用アドベンチャー「ラストウィンドウ 真夜中の約束」が2010年1月14日発売 [4Gamer]

I'm getting chills already, and these are merely still images from 2K's upcoming sequel. I can only imagine what stumbling across these scenes will be like once I get my hands on the actual game. I'm extremely envious of Totilo at the moment. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Capcom's Seth Killian provides a commentary of the new sites over on Capcom-Unity, pointing out that you can fight during an eclipse and knock over wildlife in Africa, or rumble in the lab during a total meltdown. Be sure to see the full-size versions and check out all the background characters and features.

Super Street Fighter IV is due out in the spring.

Once again, the full gallery is here, so be sure to check out all the new shots.

I'm beginning to piece together some of the story from Heavy Rain for myself between all of the screenshots and Totilo's recent preview, and I'm feeling a bit sad even before the game is released. Poor Ethan, conflicted by feelings for his wife, whom I am guessing something horrible happens to - you don't spend this much time showing how in love two people are in a drama without someone dying tragically - and his well cultivated grief beard. Those two words don't even sound right together. Grief...beard? It's like some strange alien language.

It's easy to make light of a horror game when you've only got screenshots and the odd video to go by. AJ testified that Calling has some genuinely scary moments during her preview of the game, so chances are I'll stop laughing the moment the game starts. Then I will play until the first scary bit, take the game out, and play something with stuffed animals in it.

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.

I would have figured SOE would have gone from cats and dogs to something like hamsters or potbellied pigs, but instead they go and pull this huge pet update, with mythical and prehistorical beasts of all shapes and sizes now available. This means you can now be a fairy riding a unicorn, which I believe counts as winning the internet, according to the official rules.

Player housing is a feature players have been clamoring for since the game launched, and SOE delivers, with free apartments for everyone. Non-paying customers get a one bedroom layout, while paying subscribers get a free 2-bedroom apartment, with an option to buy a 3-bedroom condo in the game's marketplace.

A new fishing mini-game has also been added to the game, giving players 20 job levels to hook any of 30 different species of fish.

Finally, the Snow Days events are SOE's way of saying that they appreciate Christmas but don't want to commit to it in name in case someone gets offended. Expect candy, sweets, presents, and snowball fights - you know, Christmas things. Christmas. Say it with me.

You can check out all the new updates by heading over to http://www.freerealms.com/ and playing the damn game already. OR you can just live vicariously through other players with these Kotaku-exclusive screenshots. Your choice!

As far as I am concerned, there is nothing near as festive as monkeys. There isn't one holiday that couldn't be enhanced by an injection of these lovable primates. You may hate monkeys, and that's okay too, because it's the holiday season, and we have enough love for everyone, even repulsive monkey haters.

How I long for the days when I could wander into a video game store and be surprised by the release of a new Final Fantasy game. It hasn't happened since number VII came out on the original PlayStation, but I will remember that day for the rest of my life. Sure, I'm now part of the problem, but I prefer to think of it as sharing my pain with a large group of people.

Square Enix isn't helping, either. Instead of just quietly going back to work on the localization and letting us think about other things, they've now got an official Final Fantasy XIII Facebook page and Twitter account, ensuring that fans never forget that the game is still painfully far away.

Yes, I tend to harp on the fact that Xbox 360 owners have to wait two weeks for the demo, but it just seems so silly to me. Between the time-exclusive demo and the PlayStation 3 special collector's edition, I'm sure that at least a couple Xbox 360 owners are feeling a little alienated here.

Nidalee the Beast Mistress found herself alone in the jungle as a young girl after her fortune-seeking parents died of a mysterious disease. Taken in and raised by a family of cougars, the cats taught the huntress how to fight tooth and nail. She's rejoined civilization in order to protect her home from being ravaged by war, and she looks quite fetching in animal furs.

Check out the official bio for Nidalee below, along with some screens of her in action. To play one of the most addictive PC strategy games around for free, visit www.leagueoflegends.com.

Nidalee, The Beast Mistress

There are few dwellers, let alone champions, residing in the blasted and dangerous lands that lie south of the Great Barrier. Much of that world still bears the scars of past Rune Wars, especially the mysterious Kumungu Jungle. There are long-forgotten treasures in these strange places which many risk life and limb to acquire. The champion known as Nidalee was only a young girl travelling with her treasure-seeking parents when they lost their way in the dense, rainy jungles. The jungle was unforgiving, and she watched her parents suffer agonizing final days as they fell victim to a mysterious and vicious disease. As improbable as it was for a child to survive in the inhospitable jungle by herself, she did just that. Her youthful innocence and a fortunate naïveté caused her to appeal to the beasts of that place and she was taken in by a family of cougars and raised as one of their own. She grew and somehow absorbed the raw magic of the dense wilds, evolving beyond both her human physiology and her feline affectation. On one pivotal day in her life, standing over the torn remnants of a Noxian squad of woodcutters, Nidalee chose to rejoin the so-called civilized world, to fight in the League of Legends so as to protect the vast woods from both Demacia and Noxus.

Nidalee was taught to fight by her feline family, battling viciously with tool and nail. Something in her feline ways may draw you to her, but remember that she is no pussycat.

Ability Descriptions

Because Nidalee can transform into a cougar, she has two sets of abilities. One ability set for when she is in human form, and a different ability set when she is in cougar form.

Javelin Toss/Takedown
Javelin Toss: In human form, Nidalee throws a spiked javelin at her target that gains damage as it flies.
Takedown: As a cougar, she grabs her opponent by the throat and attempts to bring them down, dealing more damage based on how wounded the target is.

Bushwhack/Pounce
Bushwhack: In human form, Nidalee lays a damaging trap for unwary opponents that, when sprung, reveals the target and reduces their armor and magic resistance for 12 seconds.
Pounce: As a cougar, she pounces forward, dealing a small amount of damage when she lands.

Primal Surge/Swipe
Primal Surge: In human form, Nidalee channels the spirit of the cougar to imbibe herself and her allies with increased damage and attack speed for a short duration.
Swipe: As a cougar, she rapidly claws enemies in front of her.

Aspect of the Cougar
Nidalee changes her form, switching her ability set in the process. Leveling up this skill improves Nidalee's cougar form abilities.

Prowl (passive)
Moving through brush increases Nidalee's movement speed by 25% for 2 seconds.

While I'm picking up the game this February for the online multiplayer, I've not played through the PSP version, so the concept of 40 additional missions doesn't impact me all that much. I'm curious, however, to see how many folks who picked up the PSP version will take a stab at its big brother. Do the screens entice these players, or are they simply higher resolution versions of the same-old, same-old?

Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer was released around this time last year on the PlayStation Network, so its about time we got around to playing the follow-up. This time around the game comes complete with a dynamic score-based difficulty system, which increases the challenge the more points you accumulate. It should make for a satisfyingly tailored shmup experience.

I can hardly wait, and I probably won't have to for much longer. Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype is due for release this winter on PSN.

Please ignore the Lich King screen appearing in the gallery. Buggy gallery is buggy. Should be gone now.

*Trekkies are true Star Trek fans, for all you readers unfamiliar with Sci-Fi**.
**Sci-Fi is science fiction for all you readers not familiar with science fiction. Don't ever call it SyFy to my face unless you want a dirty look.

Rare has definitely been hard at work tightening up the graphics o level three. The split screen shot looks a little darker on Xbox Live Arcade, but sharper and darker is better than bright and blurry, isn't it?

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

The Unreal Engine 3 remake was promised a release by the end of 2009, and by gum its getting it, if only on one of three platforms. The game features an extensive single-player story mode filled with aliens and the killing thereof as the game's hero explores a derelict ship. Team17 promises comic-book style art, excellent voice acting, and exciting set pieces that will keep players on the edge of their seats.
Players can either hoof it solo or join up with a friend for local and Xbox Live co-op multiplayer.

Alien Breed was probably the best thing going on the Amiga, back when it was a thing going itself. Let's hope Team17 knows what its doing the second time around.