Pre-orders are nothing new in the realm of video gaming -- they're the requisite hype before the release day-storm. On the digital download front, however, that anticipatory frenzy hasn't gotten much major industry support, until now. Sony, purveyor of all things PlayStation, has just tossed a bone to its many PSN subscribers, offering the option to purchase unreleased titles in advance of their planned launches. First up for the newly announced service is Sorcery, one of the company's Move-compatible game due out later this month. ...

Searching for the proper metaphor for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2, the best I can conjure is a glass of milk. There's nothing really wrong with it per se, but it's not exactly exciting either. It has some good qualities and is mildly refreshing, but when's the last you time you raved about a glass of milk? In fairness, Episode 2 shows substantial improvements over its predecessor. For one, Sonic's character model no longer looks like it's been shellacked. The overt, bizarre shininess has been toned down a great deal, making him look much more like the beloved rodent we remember ...

Like the TARDIS, the PS3 is "bigger on the inside," capable of holding an entirely new Doctor Who adventure within its slim casing. The BBC announced today that Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock will be released "globally" on PlayStation Network Wednesday, May 23, and in UK retail the following Friday. "We really appreciate your patience as we've been making sure the game is perfect for all you eager fans," said executive producer Simon Harris, referencing the two-month delay of the game, which made the title unfortunately ironic. The brief announcement on the PlayStation Blog ...

South Park: The Game was originally announced with a launch in the second half of 2012, but it has been pushed to Q4 of FY2013, THQ's financial statement reveals. THQ's financial years run April through March, putting the new launch window in early 2013 territory. Developer Obsidian Entertainment was hit with layoffs in March, with a few losses coming from the South Park: The Game development team ...

Prepare to be slightly, mildly confused. Gotham City Impostors, the non-Batman Batman game, is getting a free map based on Arkham Asylum, setting for a different recent Batman game. There's probably a way we could present that information that would be confusing, like "Batman game to be set in Arkham Asylum" or "You've never been to Arkham in this Batman game" but really it's not a big deal. Can you tell we started this post planning to play up the confusion angle and then stopped ourselves? Speaking of confusion, this free map launched on ...

We can't see the title of the new XBLA/PSN release of Virtua Fighter 5 and not think of "The Final Countdown." And now, we are in the final countdown before Final Showdown's release. Sega announced today that the 3D fighter will arrive on PSN June 5 and on XBLA June 6. Should you want to make the delightfully budget-priced fighter less budget-priced, the release will be accompanied by a bunch of character customization DLC. Individual character packs (containing "600-950" items!) will be released for $5/400 MS Points; or you can buy two bundle packs (one with 9 characters ...

Modern Warfare 3's upcoming Face Off mode isn't set hit to Xbox 360-enabled living rooms until next Wednesday, May 16, but it's never too soon to start using promotional materials (like the behind the scenes video above and screenshots below) to start memorizing map layouts. This is war, dammit, and you need every possible advantage you can get to survive. Don't come crawling back to us when you've been blasted to the bottom of the leaderboards, riddled with shame bullets from the hand cannons of someone who actually took the time to prepare. ...

A free content update/patch is headed to Uncharted 3 sometime before the end of this month, bringing with it new multiplayer modes and the promise of a better tomorrow. Well, the promise of more updates in the future, at any rate. In addition to an Advanced Settings menu and various other gameplay tweaks, Patch 1.11 reintroduces two features from Uncharted 2's multiplayer functionality: The Lab and Elimination Mode. The Lab, which is more of a playlist than a gameplay mode itself, contains unique variants of other multiplayer modes. It's set to launch with a ...

At ease, soldiers. The brass is remarkably proud of each and every one of you for making Operation Exorcist such a rousing success, but unfortunately the completion of that mission doesn't directly translate to the end of our war against the Reapers, Cerberus and the Geth. Starting tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern Earth Time, Operation Silencer will require the full force of the Systems Alliance Military as we work towards our collective goal of exterminating three million banshees. Now granted, that's two million more baddies than you were responsible for during Operation Exorcist ...