One of the best-looking games due for the Nintendo DS is now one of the best-looking games due for the PS3, with this weeks' Famitsu reporting that Level 5's Ninokuni is getting a major facelift for a home console.

What had been a quaint role-playing game for Nintendo's handheld now, even in awful photos of a magazine on a man's lap, looks stunning on the PS3, Studio Ghibli's (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) art design leaping off the page. Imagine how all that animation (Ghibli's animators are working on a ton of material for the game) will look in 1080p on a big screen...

What's more, there's the game's key mechanic to consider: the DS version had the player drawing symbols on the touch-screen to cast spells, which were learned from an actual book included with the game. Could this PS3 version include support for motion controller PlayStation Move?

God, I hope so.

There was no actual information included in the piece aside from the shots and platform reveal (Level 5 has a press conference scheduled for later in the week), so it's unclear whether there's still a DS version coming, or whether it was scrapped in favour of this (which may be likely, considering the lengthy delays affecting the handheld edition). Soon as we know, we'll update you.

Something important to keep in mind when you write to us: Unless you say it is off the record, we reserve the right to publish the email. If it's a tip, however, we'll keep your personal information completely confidential.

Man, what a Tuesday, am I right? Let's let this day, my first Friday of the week, pass us by with a little off-topic conversation, shall we?

I'll be spending the rest of my night engaged in some important dialogue while listening to some new music purchases (pictured) and maybe playing a thing or two, like Dragon's Lair on my iPhone, some Team Fortress 2 and Sin & Punishment 2. Since I have tomorrow off, it's like I get two Fridays this week.

Crap. That means two Mondays! Poor planning on my part.

What do you want to talk about? Did you buy some new music? Are you getting that shiny new iPhone? Spill it, consumer!

• Smirnoff forces "Bros Icing Bros" offline - Dumb-funny trend that I must now support for being unfairly quashed. Turned me onto the superior Bros Ricing Bros.
• That Green Hornet trailer doesn't look half bad! - In fact, it looks about two-thirds good!
• Rolling Stone's profile on Gen. Stanley McChrystal is... yikes - Obama not too happy with the commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan right now.
• Bruce Campbell's Soup labels - "Cream of Darkness." Tee hee.
• iPhone 4 photography: how does it perform as a camera? - Spoiler: not bad!

Though it leaves the Pacific islands for New York City, Crysis 2 is still governed by the law of the jungle - do unto others before they do unto you. Fortunately, you get more than one way to do it.

Crysis 2, as detailed in Totilo's earlier preview, presents you with two ways to tackle your objectives: Either as a stealthy predator, or a guns-blazing armored-up tank of a fighter. This Nanosuit enables both. In the demo I saw, which was the conclusion to the cliffhanger presented at EA's E3 news conference, the Crytek handler found reasons for both approaches throughout the level.

Ripping up a piece of sheet metal, for example, turned it into a barrier. That helped him go into active camo and sneak out of there, assailants unaware. Armoring up seemed to be the only way to take down the devastating Pinger - a Ceph alien mecha getting its name from a glowing plunger-like device atop it that apparently sets off a kind of sonic shockwave. Our player rigged it with explosives he'd found laying about Grand Central Terminal, surviving the job thanks to the armor power - but also popping out from an alcove in active camo to bazooka the Pinger in the crotch. Our guy did win the fight.

The combat was largely conventional with a few flourishes that show plenty of room for improvisation, using your surroundings. One impressive tactic was rigging a blown out taxicab with sticky bombs, setting them to manual detonate, then kicking the whole package into the midst of the enemy for the big buh-boom. Mounted heavy guns could be detached and trundled around if their position was no longer optimal. I think everyone got to see the guy use his shotgun to blast apart the ticket booth and the player dive clean through to the other side, taking cover behind it.

The leaps were a real delight, too, seeing our player's left arm fling out, superman-style, as he soared over the atrium at Grand Central and out of the pinger's attack. I'm not sure what this guy looks like to others, but I have to believe it is awe-inspiring.

Crysis 2, is a beautiful game, of course, dedicated to outdoing the top-of-mind reputation its predecessor acquired for devastating even high-end PCs back in 2007. There were some framerate drops when the action got a little hairy. We were advised that this is an alpha build, of course. We saw a shattered New York that still remained vibrant and full of color, giving a sense that whatever's ripping it apart has either just happened or still is in process. Anyone with any firsthand exposure to midtown is going to feel a strong sense of place, speaking well of the game's fidelity to actual places, still set in the future. Crytek wanted to get out of the jungle (the first Crysis and Far Cry) and their choice of the concrete jungle of New York City seemed to work well for what we saw. It showcases both the level of destruction the environment will exhibit (the Pinger makes its entrance through the side of the building) and how you can use that to a tactical advantage.

How all of this will fit together will be the difference between what is really a good-looking shooter and a truly compelling game. Apparently, in the story, you're not supposed to have this Nanosuit, so there's a rogue agent aspect to your swashbuckling and will probably add some diversity to your foes, too.

The game will be 3D-enabled - we didn't see any of that, but did see a 100 percent pre-render trailer in 3D at the E3 presser. Of course that looked awesome, but I have no clue how it works or if it adds value when the gun's actually in your hand.

Crysis 2 is due for a holiday drop and what I saw is where one would expect a project of this scope, packing this kind of a graphical reputation, to be at this point. We had no hands-on with it; I'd really love to see how the game handles between stealth and armor modes, whether it feels truly lighter and stealthier in the former and superhero badass in the latter. But it looks like an invigorating, fluid shootout that will provide tons of action once it arrives.

Fable III is more than just bigger swords, bigger farts and more blood, says Lionhead Studios lead Peter Molyneux. It's about touching people, kingly responsibility and... OK, it also has bigger weapons and more vicious wind-breaking action.

Molyneux says that the third entry in the Xbox (and PC) role-playing game series is going to address, in his words, the "messy, horrible, atrocious mistakes of Fable II." In Fable III—set 60 years after the events of the previous game—there's a less obtrusive HUD, less reliance on digging through menus, and a greater focus on action than RPG, trading the raw numbers of experience points for "followers."

As you form and foster relationships with people by performing quests for them, they'll become your followers in the second half of the game, when you overthrow the current king, becoming the ruler of Albion yourself. That's the questing option.

The grind option for gaining followers to carry into the game's second half can be accomplished with the Fable III "expressions" system. This expanded gameplay mechanic from Fable II lets you dance with, marry, or get drunk with any of Albion's citizens. Get them so drunk that they'll becoming violently ill if you choose. Fart viciously directly into their faces for an uncomfortable length of time.

Respect you or repulsed by you, Fable III's citizens will follow you.

Molynuex showed us a quick demonstration of one of the game's numerous quests that occurs during the revolutionary half of the game, focusing on the combat of Fable III. There was still the same emphasis on hand-to-hand combat, mixed with gunplay and spells. Fable III's new magic gloves let the player cast elemental spells, among other things, mixing and matching them for a variety of effects.

We got a chance to poke around the land of Albion, not using a paper map, but with a huge magnifying glass, zooming in and out of its forests, mountain ranges and plains in a Google Maps-like view.

Later in Fable III, as the king (or queen) of Albion, you'll have the option to behave as you like, benevolent ruler of selfish son of a bitch. Either keep your promises to your followers or not. Turn the backbreaking factories of Albion into schools for children or raze the land and do with it as you wish.

Paint your royal castle pink, if you like, Molyneux says, or throw a weeks-long party in the style of Henry VIII by draining Albion's coffers of their wealth for frivolous endeavors. Kings and queens can go to war with Albion's neighboring continents, like the nearby land of Aurora. Can they rule that land as well? Molyneux wouldn't say.

Fable III also improves how a player can make himself or herself look, thanks to the addition of the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary is your prettier replacement for the game's start button. No longer will players delve into layered menus to alter their appearance or choose their weapons. In Fable III, they'll enter a virtual dressing room, guided by the butler Jasper, voiced by John Cleese. This is where players can customize their clothing, hairstyles and armaments.

Women, Molynuex says, will look "as a woman should," in Fable III, less like slightly different looking men. Better wardrobe options and better hairstyles await the fairer sex in this Fable.

There's much more to Fable III, including a much improved cooperative gameplay system for online and local play, and still-unspecified, still-unconfirmed support for Xbox 360's Kinect camera. With the game planned for a release in the fall of 2010 on Windows PC and the Xbox 360, we'll know much more about what else Fable III brings to the series soon.

Until then, catch up on our other big Fable III preview from X10 for more.

Fable III's Three Big Innovations: Touch, Weapons And Kingly Responsibility [Kotaku]

My time with Madden NFL 11 was in the cooperative team-play booth. On the floor, someone managed a video peek at this year's ratings and piece together the eight best players at all positions, and overall, when the game ships.

There are six 99-rated players in this year's game - Tennessee running back Chris Johnson; 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis; Jets corner Darrelle Revis; Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, and quarterbacks Drew Brees and Peyton Manning, Saints and Colts. Seven quarterbacks are rated 90 or better, including Brett Favre at 92, should he return to Minnesota. Among runners, Adrian Peterson is a 98 and Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew is a 96

For the complete transcribed list, see the link at Operation Sports.

Madden NFL 11 Player Ratings: Top Players at Each Position [Operation Sports]

The story behind Halo's most famous Spartan, Master Chief, is ready to be (re)told in comic book form this September. Marvel Comics will adapt Eric Nylund's bestselling novel prequel to Halo: Reach as part of a "graphic fiction event."

Halo: Fall of Reach "Boot Camp #1" is no mere comic book. It's graphic fiction and sequential art, a co-production between Marvel and Halo brand watchers 343 Industries. It will retell the story of John-117, the young boy who not only casts a mean shadow but is indoctrinated into the Spartan program and battles the Covenant threat in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Writer Brian Reed and artist Felix Ruiz will handle creative duties on the Halo book, apparently "a great place to jump on board," according to Marvel.

The Halo: Fall of Reach comic will drop sometime this September, right around the time Halo: Reach makes its way to the Xbox 360.

Marvel Comics to Adapt "The Fall of Reach" This September [Xbox.com]

Under EA Black Box, Need For Speed had conditioned me to put the accelerator trigger in a death grip and never let go until the end of the race. That won't help in Criterion's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

During a quick hands-on with the game's multiplayer cops-vs-robbers mode (shown during Electronic Arts' news conference), I quickly found the cars have been tuned much more for performance and handling. I oversteered like crazy while clamping down in the patented Need for Speed deathgrip. Clearly, this is not not how you're supposed to drive in this game anymore.

Criterion said it wants to build an accessible racer that delivers the feeling of masterfully handling an exotic car, without much of a learning curve. So when you get behind the wheel, my first piece of advice is to back off the throttle until you really need to go all out. Of course, this was a pursuit mode against a live opponent, so I have no idea if the game's bot racers will rubber-band and push you just as hard as previous installments.

I was advised by a Criterion rep to really try driving more by feathering the throttle and brakes, especially through curves. For handling, the car is sharply responsive, so you're going to want to get your thumb off the edge of the stick - difficult for some, I know - and up on top. Flick-steering, something I've grown accustomed to doing, got me into a lot of trouble.

But this is Need for Speed, you pick up the game, wreck a lot, then figure out how not to wreck and you're off and driving. So I got killed on both ends of the cops and robbers chase. But I enjoyed what I saw.

First up, I was the racer. Your job is to give your human cop the slip, his job is to stop you, and that means ramming you until your damage meter goes past 100 percent. Fortunately, these cars can take a ton of abuse (they look like hell but still drive normally). My special weapon, activated on the D-pad, was a radar scrambler. It was difficult to tell if it worked or not (though playing as the cop, I can tell you it did.) You don't get the full arsenal at first, you have to work up and unlock the rest of the options, such as a decoy, or the overdrive. Nitro's standard.

As the cop, my unfamiliarity with the handling mean I missed a lot of PIT opportunities, but I noticed the cop car is indestructible (not cosmetically though). If your target ventures up to the edge of your radar, you can bet the jam signal is coming. It's useless if you're within sight, obviously. Cops can call for a roadblock as their base special ability; it wasn't clear to me how far up the road they deploy though. But don't just call it because you're lost and have nothing else to try.

Other details: Visually, the map we raced looked very similar to the rural course areas of Need for Speed: Undercover and Need For Speed: Most Wanted. There were shortcuts and dirt paths galore, but no pursuit breakers or dynamic environment - none that I could tell anyway. I asked Criterion if there would be manual stick shifting on the right analog, as per past games. The jury's still out on that, I was told (there was none in the demo.)

During an eyes-on, Criterion's Craig Sullivan joked that if he actually got behind the wheel of one of these cars in real life, he'd probably drive it into a wall, stall out or worse. I did better than that, but Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit definitely gives you the feeling that you're running with a lot more car, and its authority should be respected. The cops, not so much.

Are you perfectly fine with rainbows in your Diablo III? Then you might like the gameplay and lighthearted approach of Hothead Games' action-RPG DeathSpank, which marries deep role-playing with broad humor in just a couple of weeks.

EA put a firm date and price on the downloadable action role-playing game today, inking it in the calendar for July 13 for PlayStation Network, July 14th for Xbox Live Arcade at a cost of $14.99/1200 Microsoft Points. We got to take a whack at DeathSpank's brand of gameplay and style pre-E3 and thoroughly enjoyed the latest effort from The Secret of Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert.

As the eponymous DeathSpank, we embarked on a small part of the hero's quest in search of a Spicy Taco. Since DeathSpank believes that every quest on which he embarks could be the epic quest to locate The Artifact, the hunt for that taco had an air of importance.

It was also an opportunity to get DeathSpank a weapon, as he was stripped of his means to defend himself by some nasty ogre types who tossed his equipment into a Dumpster. It was largely a standard fetch quest with flavor. Go here, speak to the taco lady, remember the ingredient requirements, extract Tabasco-flavoring from a nearby pepper and return the spicy taco treasure to a man with an axe wedge into his shoulder.

It was, as DeathSpank promises, all in good fun.

While the questing and action-RPG combat feels like rather standard but deep stuff—Hothead promises hundreds of weapons, armor types and accessories to loot—DeathSpank's sense of humor may make it shine. It's two player cooperative questing may make it doubly memorable.

DeathSpank is out early next month, a chance for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners to save orphans and extract the souls of chickens for a nominal fee.

Whether you want to add some Miley Cyrus songs to your Rock Band library or you're looking for something new to do with your copy of MAG for the PlayStation 3, this week's PlayStation Store update has something for you.

What about the rest of us, who may not want to sing the song's of the younger Cyrus or spend $9.99 USD on a new MAG mission pack? Well, there's new content for ModNation Racers, Just Cause 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Super Street Fighter IV and more. Plenty of things on which to spend your hard-earned cash this Tuesday.

Everything, in a list, minus granular details on 22 new World Cup dynamic themes, is right here.

Games & Demos for PlayStation 3

Sam & Max Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain (free with purchase of Sam & Max Episode 1)

Games & Demos for PSP

TNA Impact: Cross The Line ($29.99)
PSP minis: Burnin' Rubber ($3.99)
PSP minis: INFLUENCE ($4.99)

Expansions & Add-ons

MAG – Interdiction Mission Pack ($9.99)
LittleBigPlanet – Summer Solstice Costume (free)
ModNation Racers: Princess Mod ($0.99)
ModNation Racers: Princess Kart ($0.99)
ModNation Racers: Princess Mod and Kart ($1.75)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11: River Course At Blackwolf Run ($9.99)
Red Dead Redemption: Outlaws to the End Co-Op Pack (free)
Just Cause 2: Bull's Eye Assault Rifle ($0.99)
Just Cause 2: Chevalier Classic ($0.99)
Just Cause 2: Monster Truck ($0.99)
Just Cause 2: Rico's Signature Gun ($0.99)
Just Cause 2: Tuk Tuk Boom Boom (free)
Lost Planet 2 – Killzone 2 Helghast Assault and Scout Character (free)
Super Street Fighter IV: Super Shadaloo Costume Pack ($3.99)
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Onslaught Mode ($9.99)
Skate 3: Black Box Distribution Skate Park ($2.99)

Guitar Hero tracks

• "Damned If I Do Ya (Live)" by All Time Low ($1.99)
• "Dear Maria Count Me In" by All Time Low ($1.99)
• "Weightless" by All Time Low ($1.99)
• All Time Low Track Pack ($5.49) –"Damned If I Do Ya (Live)," "Dear Maria Count Me In," and "Weightless" by All Time Low

Rock Band tracks

• "7 Things" by Miley Cyrus ($1.99)
• "Can't Be Tamed" by Miley Cyrus ($1.99)
• "Fly On The Wall" by Miley Cyrus ($1.99)
• "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus ($1.99)
• "Start All Over" by Miley Cyrus ($1.99)
• "Creepy Doll" by Jonathan Coulton ($1.99)
• "HTML Rulez D00d" by The Devil Wears Prada ($1.99)
• "Jumper ‘09" by Third Eye Blind ($1.99)
• "Paralyze" by Finger Eleven ($1.99)
• "Requiem For A Dying Song" by Flogging Molly ($0.99)

Themes, Wallpapers & Avatars

World Cup Soccer Dynamic Themes (x22) ($1.99)
Battlestar Galactica Dynamic Theme ($2.99)
2 Dollar Special ($1.99)
American Soccer Girl ($1.49)
Steam Punk ($1.49)
Anarchy: Rush Hour Wallpaper (x2)

Sales, Price Drops & Bundles

Blue Toad Murder Files Episodes 2-6 Upgrade ($25.49)
Blue Toad Murder Files: Episode 1-6 Bundle Pack ($26.99)
Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Add-On Bundle ($6.49)
Flower Soundtrack Bundle ($4.99)
Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Add On Bundle – Sale (now $6.49, original price $12.99)
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing DLC 2 – Metal Sonic & Death Egg Zone Track – Sale (now $5.49, original price $7.99)
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing – Ryo with Forklift Character – Sale (now $3.49, original price $4.99)
Sonic The Hedgehog Very Hard Shadow – Sale (now $1.49, original price $2.49)
Sonic The Hedgehog Very Hard Silver – Sale (now $1.49, original price $2.49)
Sonic The Hedgehog Very Hard Sonic – Sale (now $1.49, original price $2.49)
Sonic Unleashed Apatos & Shamar Adventure Pack – Sale (now $1.99, original price $2.99)
Sonic Unleashed Chun-Nan Adventure Pack – Sale (now $1.99, original price $2.99)
Sonic Unleashed Empire City & Adabat Adventure Pack – Sale (now $1.99, original price $2.99)
Sonic Unleashed Holoska Adventure Pack – Sale (now $1.99, original price $2.99)
Sonic Unleashed Mazuri Adventure Pack – Sale (now $1.99, original price $2.99)
Sonic Unleashed Spagonia Adventure Pack – Sale (now $1.99, original price $2.99)
Sonic Unleashed: Unleash My Desire Bundle – Sale (now $8.99, original price $17.99)
Sonic Rivals – Sale (now $10.99, original price $15.99)
Sonic Rivals 2 – Sale (now $13.99, original price $19.99)
Sonic Rivals: Set My Pulse Bundle – Sale (now $17.99, original price $29.99)
Blue Toad Murder Files: Episode 1 – Sale (now $1.49, original price $7.49)
Kick-Ass – Sale (now $9.99, original price $14.99)
Warhawk: Fallen Star DLC – Sale (now $1.99, original price $7.99)