GameStop weekly claims UFC Undisputed 2010 'coming May 25'

The Spike VGAs this evening may very well reveal the first gameplay of upcoming MMA-er UFC Undisputed 2010, but the most recent GameStop weekly is dropping release date bombs on us well before tonight's festivities kickoff. According to the ad, the game will be grappling onto store shelves on May 25 and, as you might imagine, you're welcome to "pre-order now!"

While we're normally reticent to trust release dates from retailers as absolute truth, the prominence of this information among a weekly advertisement -- and the fact that the game is getting "World Premiere" treatment on tonight's award show -- puts some confidence in our normally skeptical perception of situations like this. Either way, we're likely to confirm this report's veracity when the VGAs roll this evening.

[Thanks Erik!]

JBO: Joystiq Box Office, December 7 - December 11, plus Joyswag!


We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week.

With the holidays in mind, we're going to be giving away ... wait for it ... MOVIES with each Joystiq Box Office post on Friday from today through January 1! Simply leave a comment below telling us what you'll be watching on your Xbox, PS3, PC, PSP, DS, OMG or whatever, and we'll pick two winners at random each week to receive a nifty prize. This week we'll be giving away one copy of Disney/Pixar's amazing Up and one copy of the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth. Now before you cringe in terror over a Katherine Heigl / Gerard Butler romcom, consider this: It'll make your movie collection look sensitive. Both movies come with an additional digital copy that you can stick on your computer, your PSP, your iPod, what have you. Read the complete rules at the end of this post, and good luck! [Update: The entry period has closed.]

Recommendation of the Week:

The Mel Brooks Collection (Blu-ray, $139.99 suggested retail)
I can't recommend this set highly enough. First of all, it includes nine Mel Brooks films: Twelve Chairs, To Be Or Not To Be, Silent Movie, History of the World: Part 1, High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, many of which are making their Blu-ray debut. Second, it includes a ton of extra features: just the Young Frankenstein disc alone is loaded with tons of fun stuff, including a "Blücher Button" for instant horse whinnying sounds. Third, it's packaged in a long case containing an artbook about all about Mel Brooks and his movies called "All About Mel Brooks." Fourth, it's Mel Brooks, and you need a few laughs in high definition. Amazon has this right now for $92.99, whittling it down to almost ten bucks a movie. You won't be sorry.

Read on for the rest of the recommendations, and as usual, we'll see you at the popcorn sta -- well, actually, we won't see you at all. But you catch our drift. Plus, be sure to tell us what you'll be watching, or what you've seen recently that bowled you over.

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Darksiders trailer brings nothing but Ruin

If there's one thing we learned at E3, it's that Ruin, the Hellish steed of Darksiders, is not meant to be ridden by ordinary mortals. While we learned this firsthand, you can be saved the risk of serious bodily harm by simply watching the trailer embedded above. It explains that Ruin is "born of smoke and flame," which really should be the first clue that it's not the horse for you. It is, however, the perfect horse for a horseman of the apocalypse.

Watch the trailer for plenty of Ruin, as well as some of the other beasties you'll be riding in Darksiders.

Sony still loses about $40 on every PS3 Slim sold

"It Only Does Everything"

Well, except make money. Three years after the launch of the original PS3, Sony has yet to profit from the hardware. It's getting close, though. The redesigned slim PlayStation 3 is smaller -- and thanks to the passage of time -- much cheaper to manufacture than the launch models, which lost Sony over $200 with each unit sold. According to iSuppli's teardown analysis, a current PS3 system costs $336.27 to make, about $500 cheaper than the first batch of consoles. With the system retailing for $300, Sony is still incurring at least a $40 loss per system, when you account for marketing and other additional costs. (This also means that Sony lost about $17.6 million over Black Friday week on PS3 hardware sales.)

The single most expensive component to the system is still Sony's proprietary Blu-ray disc drive, which is estimated to cost about $66 to make. Other components have dropped significantly in price thanks to a switch from 65nm conductors to 45nm. The end result is a far more power-efficient system that requires less power and cooling technologies. "In light of these factors, the PlayStation 3 probably is already at or near the tipping point for profitability," iSuppli's Andrew Rassweiler added. So, if for some reason you need Sony Corp to lose money, you better rush and buy a PS3 now before they make those things profitable!

[Via CNET]

Borderlands patch restores skill points, Achievements

A new Borderlands title update is available on Xbox 360 (with a PS3 version coming soon). The patch fixes a number of issues, the most serious problems affecting skill points, Achievements and Trophies. Some players have encountered glitches that made them lose skill points, while others have had trouble unlocking Gamerscore/XP -- even after successfully completing an Achievement. Thankfully, the patch should apply retroactively, awarding players their rightfully earned skill points and gamer cred.

To see the full list of fixes in the patch, click past the break.

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Savings on Wii, Spirit Tracks, music games at Target next week

Target's circular for the week of December 13 includes some near-Black Friday discounts on brand new items. With a promotional price of $24.99, Target has the best deal yet on the just-released The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (along with other recent DS releases like Style Savvy and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days).

While you're buying a $25 game, you can also impulse-buy a Wii, which includes a bonus $30 gift card, or a DSi with a $10 gift card. Or a copy of Tony Hawk: Ride for $88 (not the only time we'll see discounts on this one, we're guessing).

Dark Void video succinctly summarizes the game in 90 seconds

Capcom's clearly had enough of people just not getting what Dark Void is all about. So, it put together this latest trailer for the game which clears up any confusion. Is it a puzzle game? No. Dating sim? Nay. RPG? Well, only in that you play the role of a guy with a jetpack who can do a whole buncha stuff, all of which is summarized with big letters and clips of the character doing what said letters say he's doing.

If, after viewing the video, you're still not clear on what Dark Void is about, we suspect Capcom's next step will be to come to your home and demo it for you. Or it could just release a demo. Yeah, that'd work.

BlazBlue PSP fires up a new trailer

One of the best fighting games of this generation is coming to PSP. After watching this new trailer for BlazBlue, we were surprised to see how well the game's HD visuals have been translated for Sony's handheld. It appears the handheld version of the game will add a few new features -- Legion and Shop modes -- but most importantly, we'd want the gameplay to work on PSP's admittedly restrictive control setup.

Check out the new trailer after the break.

[Via PSPHyper]

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Sheva and Chris getting new duds in Resident Evil 5 DLC

If you're desperately wanting to get your hands on some new glad rags for Resident Evil 5's co-operative protagonists, then the expanded "Mercenaries Reunion" gametype in the game's upcoming DLC should fulfill your sartorial fantasies. Sheva's new outfit, nicknamed "Fairy Tale," resembles Little Red Riding Hood's garments, as reimagined by someone involved in the adult film industry. Chris's new outfit, nicknamed "Warrior," simply turns him into a person-shaped collection of fists.

Sheva's duds can be seen in the video above, while Chris's can be found just after the jump. Proceed with caution if you elect to view the latter -- there's a very real possibility that your eyeballs could get punched.

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Wearable PS3 suit lets you play games anywhere

Don't you wish there was a PlayStation system you could just carry around with you everywhere you go? Wait, they made one of those? Drats!

That didn't stop Epson from creating a Ghostbusters-inspired wearable PS3 suit. Equipped with a PS3 Slim as a backpack, and an Epson projector, this "extreme" gamer takes his hobby to the street, literally.
[Thanks Camron!]

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GameStop: New game sales up 15 percent in Nov. 2009

November was a good month for GameStop, as the retailer has announced sales for its new games were up 15 percent. We contacted GameStop to get some clarification on the vague 15 percent figure and VP Chris Olivera said this was compared to November 2008.

It's not that tough to gather how the company upped its profits. Aside from a massive used games sale, the company also offered some sweet Black Friday console bundles and a week-long sale on new games -- all of which managed to get folks in the store, spending cash.

Topatoi: The Pillar of Skies flies to PSN in early 2010

Boolat Games' follow-up to PSN platformer Topatoi is aiming for a January–February release in 2010. The sequel, titled The Pillar of Skies, features a new environment, new enemies and "an extended gameplay experience." Promising a lengthier quest and brand new arcade levels, this announcement should come as a nice surprise for anyone that enjoyed the charm of the first game.

Catch the trailer after the break.

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Euro retailers point to Feb. 26 release for Heavy Rain

European retailers have updated their pages for Heavy Rain, predicting the game will fall on European store shelves on February 26. For those of you keeping score at home, Famitsu said the game is releasing to Japan in February as well, lending some credibility to the proposed February 26 release in Europe.

We contacted SCEE -- who gave us the cold shoulder -- but we also sent word to SCEA, who said: "We haven't announced a release date for North America ... but stay tuned as we will have a release date soon."

Source - GAME
Source - Gamestation
Source - Play.com

Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack site launches with samples from game's four-disc score

The official Japanese site for Final Fantasy XIII's soundtrack has gone live, offering the ability to listen to the first ten tracks from the four-disc mega-album. Andriasang reports that the site will be updated with all of the discs' contents over time, along with notes on the tracks by composer Masashi Hamauzu, who worked with Nobuo Uematsu on the score for Final Fantasy X.

You can listen to the tracks by heading to the site and clicking on the "track list" tab at the bottom of the page. The album releases in Japan on January 27 in both standard and limited "first cut" editions. If Square announces a domestic release, it'll be music to our ears.

[Via Nobuooo]

Report: LittleBigPlanet getting Pirates, Water expansions before Christmas

According to CVG, the recently teased Pirates of the Caribbean content pack for LittleBigPlanet was not only recently confirmed by Sony, but also given a tentative launch window: "We're expecting it to launch just before Xmas," an unnamed Sony rep explained.

If the prospect of platforming as a dreadlock'ed Sack Sparrow isn't exciting enough for you, CVG is also reporting that, as you probably assumed, the Water expansion will be arriving simultaneously with the Pirates pack. Well, of course it would. Can you imagine how much shorter those movies would have been if they didn't have any water? We reached out to Sony and Media Molecule to get confirmation of the two packs' imminence first-hand, but only received a "we don't comment on rumors and speculation" from the former. We'll let you know when we hear more!

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