Joystiq [PlayStation]

When we heard Home was pitting Hamsters (Read: Virtual Furries) against Humans in a virtual world dance-off, we were intrigued. Actually, first we re-read our news feed to make sure we weren't hallucinating and then we became intrigued. Last night we decided to log onto Home and find out what all the fuss was about. Like cars slowing past a train wreck, we were unable to look away as dozens of PlayStation 3 users came together for the "ultimate dance-off."

The winning faction has not been officially revealed, but humans appeared to be the clear winner during our multiple login sessions. If you're wondering what the point was: based on which side showed the most support, Home users would receive a different free item. If Hamsters are the decided winner, the PlayStation Home community will receive Viking and Valkyrie helmets. If Humans win, Home users net free Fedoras and Aviator headwear.

It's easy for us to be dismissive of the wacky promotion, but users involved seemed to be enjoying themselves. Seriously. As avatars bumped (also, grinded), users would motivate and compliment each other on their "sick moves" ... it was one of the strangest things we've ever seen on a gaming console. The horrors of a giant hamster "shakin' its money maker" can be viewed above. Fair warning it's 3 minutes and 41 seconds that cannot be unseen, nor is it time you can ever get back.

It's no secret that Valve isn't a big fan of the PS3. When the company revealed Left 4 Dead 2 as an Xbox 360/PC exclusive, no one acted surprised. However, PS3 may be getting its own version of the multiplayer FPS if the official EA website is to be believed. Not only is PS3 listed in the "Coming Soon" section of the site, but a quick glance of EA's games page reveals placeholder box art for the game as well. This could be a sign that EA is working on a PS3 port; the company did work on the PS3 version of The Orange Box.

Or, it could be a database error. A PS3 version of the original Left 4 Dead was rumored after an accidental listing was placed on retailer HMV's website. That, for those of you keeping track, didn't come to fruition.

Update: The EA website has since been updated and no longer includes the PS3 listing. Thanks to everyone who sent in the update!


[Thanks, Patriot!]

[Update: We've picked a winner! Congratulations, mahunoy! Everyone else: thanks for the best wishes. Here's to five (hundred?) more! Now, enough playtime. We've got some news to report on!]

Earlier this week, Joystiq turned five. Five! That's half a decade of daily video game reporting. That's over 38,000 posts and over 1.5 million of your comments. That's up from over 27,000 posts last year, and less than a million comments! Let's put that in perspective: even lowballing the average word count per post at 100 words (for example, this post is 339 words) that's nearly four million words! How does that stack up? If Joystiq had been a monthly magazine, and if you consider a standard printed page to be 250 words per page (spoiler: game magazines aren't 250 words per page), each issue would have been over 250 pages, with no images and no ads. And we're lowballing here! And that doesn't include comments.

So what? This is all to say, "Thanks!" Thanks for reading the site today; this week; this year; or this half-decade. Thanks for supporting our unique flavor of game journalism. Thanks for taking us to task when we get it wrong and for sharing when we get it right. Thanks for being interested enough in video games to read about them every day, multiple times a day, and for staying engaged.

So, what better way to say "thanks" than to give you free stuff. Introducing Swag Saturdays – every Saturday, we'll be donating something from our pile of free stuff to you, the Reader. Slow week, it may be a shirt for an iPhone game. This week: A superhero c-c-c-combo pack for your PS3, featuring both inFamous and Prototype.

Again, thanks!

-Love, Team Joystiq

Rules after the break!

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Picked up by way of the Gamertag Radio forums from the alleged Twitter account of Tekken 6 -- we know, we know -- it was confirmed this afternoon that the image you see above of Penny Arcade's Cardboard Tube Samurai is, in fact, the real deal. Where, you ask? Well, of course, Mike "Gabe" Krahulik's Twitter account, where he twote, "Yes this is for real. Cts costume will be in Tekken 6!"

He is, of course, referring to the Cardboard Tube Samurai and probably not the cartoon time-traveling simulator we already know will include everything in the universe. Take a look after the break for the exciting Twitter snapshot where Gabe revealed the truth.

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It looks like the much anticipated cake binging/capture the flag sim Fat Princess, which was promised to hit the PSN sometime in June, will not make its initial release window. Playstation.Blog Europe's Mike Kebby confirmed that while the game would have a global release date, said date won't be next week, and that we can expect the highly frosted gore fest to drop "at some point this summer." Hopefully the warm summer months won't whittle our precious Fat Princess down to just a Princess. That's not nearly as catchy a title.

A few more discoveries were made today off the ESRB website. Looks like American PS3 owners will be able to download Buzz Jr. RoboJam off the PSN some time soon. The family friendly PSN game is a port of a PS2 game with the same name and has some of the easiest Trophies around. It'll require the Buzz! buzzers though, so many trophy hunters will be out of luck.

A new SingStar game has also been discovered on the ESRB. The SingStar Sampler Pack looks to be yet another expansion to the franchise, this time featuring David Bowie, Fergie, Amy Winehouse, Rockwell, and the Smashing Pumpkins.

Finally, long-lost PSN game topatoi looks like it may actually be coming out. You can watch the bizarre promo trailer here and check out our gallery.

You see this guy up here? His name is Kratos, and when you click past the break, you're going to see him kill lots of things ... for 13 minutes. G4 has managed to get a direct-feed capture of the entire God of War III demo from E3. Perhaps now you'll see why we called the game "God of War, in HD." (And no, that's not considered a bad thing.)

Pay attention to some of our favorite new moves: the ability to grab an enemy and use him as a battering ram, and the ability to burst through crowds of enemies. Being able to take control of a cyclops is pretty cool as well. Those of you that watch the video in HD will be able to truly appreciate the gruesome finishing moves the sick, disturbed people at Santa Monica Studios have added to this game. Due to the gore, AOL Legal requires us to remind you this footage is for our audience aged 17 and up. So set your birthday to January 1, 1901 and enjoy the footage after the break.

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Uh...

We don't know what else to say. Looks like someone at the PlayStation Home team finally snapped? (Also, does the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man count as a human? Just wondering about the technicalities here.)

Guess we'll see you in Home Central Plaza tomorrow at 8PM PST?

One look at Heavy Rain, and you'll know it was an expensive, expensive game to make. Looks like Quantic Dream is already thinking up new ways of recovering the costs of the enormous project. The developer of the upcoming PS3-exclusive adventure game is selling its motion capture data in library packages. The offering will be what Quantic Dream calls "the industry's first high-end, off-the-shelf solution for real-time 3D character animation," according to a report by Develop.

Considering the developer spent nearly a year doing motion capture work on Heavy Rain, it's no wonder why the developers are touting their work.

If you're scrambling for a last minute Father's Day gift (whether for yourself or your dad), Target will have a sorta deal starting Sunday. The chain's standard PS3 bundle for $399 will also be bundled with an extra DualShock 3 controller ($55). Check out the ad that'll be in this Sunday's flyer after the break.

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Meaningful -- as in it'll mean Sony would finally bow to ubiquitous suggestions, predictions and occasional threats that see the PlayStation 3 being lowered in price please please oh please. Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia is the latest to join the frugal chorus, telling Industry Gamers, "We continue to believe a $100 price cut on PS3 will occur around the launch of EA's Madden NFL 2010, which is scheduled for release on 8/18."

Agee claims to have encountered similar sentiment at a recent GameStop executive meeting, overhearing talk of a "highly likely" and "meaningful" near-term price drop even over the clinking of diamond-encrusted chalices and relentless pre-order thrusting.

It's Sony's decision, ultimately, but if it's alright with you, we'd rather just get this price drop over with. A lower price means more people get in on the fun ... especially when they also get to stop reading these things.

Familiar with host clubs? Most likely not. The concept of paying for a date with an attractive, attentive female may seem ludicrous to Americans, but it's a service that's easily found in Japan's urban centers. Sega is calling out for fans to submit their real-life club experiences for use in the next Yakuza game for PS3. At least one submission will be used in the game, with the author highlighted in the game's credits.

The Yakuza series has frequently used some bizarre, very-Japanese promotions to showcase its titles, but this might be the strangest yet. Imagine an American game that asked fans to submit stories of their experiences with prostitutes -- how much response would that get? Wait -- we're actually somewhat surprised Grand Theft Auto hasn't done that yet.

Next week's Rock Band Weekly brings artists from the Warped Tour, an extreme-sports-meets-music thang. There are also three tracks from the Grammy Award-winning (2005 Best New Artist) Maroon 5. However, the tracks for next week are from the band's album It Won't Be Soon Before Long, which won a Grammy for "Makes Me Wonder."

Warped Tour Pack (680 / $8.50)

• "The Downfall of Us All" -- A Day to Remember (160 / $2)
• "21st Century Digital Boy" -- Bad Religion (160 / $2)
  
• "I Didn't Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was a Wizard" -- Chiodos (160 / $2)
• "The Flood" -- Escape the Fate (160 / $2)
• "Reinventing Your Exit" -- Underoath (160 / $2)

Maroon 5 Pack (440 / $5.50)

• "Little of Your Time" (160 / $2)
• "Makes Me Wonder" (160 / $2)
• "Wake Up Call" (160 / $2)

All tracks are masters and will be available for download next Tuesday and Thursday on Xbox 360 and PS3, respectively.

Finishing up Final Fantasy VII? (Wow, you're fast!) Don't worry, looks like there's even more classic PSone RPG goodness coming your way. Siliconera discovered an ESRB rating for Wild Arms 2. With games like Metal Gear Solid finally coming out on the PlayStation Store, it looks like Sony is finally doing good on its promise of delivering more PS1 games. Remember folks, these games can play on both your PS3 and PSP.