Namco Bandai's Tales of Vesperia was very well received by both fans and critics last year, so it's no surprise to see that the developers are, according to Famitsu, "thinking about" making a sequel (Adriasang, via VG247).Regarding a potential sequel, Namco Bandai Games general manager Makoto Yoshizumi explained that, "It appears that [within the company] there's a desire to make part 2. We're thinking about it." Clearly that's no confirmation, but for Vesperia fans, it's much better news than if Yoshizumi shot the prospects down outright, isn't it?So keep those fingers crossed, folks.

  It turns out this fall's big Xbox Live Update isn't just about letting you post solipsistic social network updates. On top of Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm integration, the update will also add dedicated stores for music games and a news tab filled with the latest headlines (via Destructoid).Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Lips are the music games that each will get the distinction of having their own online stores in the Marketplace, making it easier than ever to browse and purchase the latest DLC releases. The other newly revealed addition is the "News and More" tab, which will be populated with headlines and news stories from MSNBC.com, MSN Autos, The New Yorker, and -- for some reason -- the delightful work-related humor of Dilbert (what, no Garfield?).Of course, that's on top of the more noteworthy Facebook/Twitter/Last.fm integration we all already knew about. You can see a video walkthrough of some of these fall XBL update features in the clip above.

  Cover-fire in shooters? Done to death. Cover-fire with a jetpack? Actually, believe it or not, done. But cover-fire in zero gravity? Now we're talking! PlayStation: The Official Magazine and Official Xbox Magazine have revealed a new third-person shooter from Namco called Inversion, which promises to include weightless action and rotating environments.According to the information from both mags (which confirm this is at least a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title), Inversion is being made by Saber Interactive, the developer behind 2007's TimeShift. The gimmick here is not time but gravity, as "zero-gravity" bubbles exist in certain parts of the world, and entering them allows you to float, take cover in mid-air behind other floating objects, walk on walls, and so on.Outside of those bubbles, Inversion plays like a normal third-person shooter, but there are also "Vector Charges" that sometimes occur (it's unclear exactly how) that rotate the entire environment as you play. This causes the world to "flip" (PlayStation: TOM's quote) -- sometimes 90 or 180 degrees -- causing you, enemies, grenades floating in midair, etc. to fall to what's now the new ground. Trippy.

  It's-a-me, potentially new game announcement leak! Charles Martinet, the man who became famous for giving Mario his voice, has apparently spilled the beans on a new Mario game in development that hasn't yet been officially announced by Nintendo."Awesome new Mario Game! And it's not NSMB Wii, and it's not Galaxy 2, but it's going to be crazy fun!" tweeted Martinet on Saturday. That's all he had to say on the subject, so unfortunately that's all we know: Apparently Nintendo has a new Mario game in the works and it's not any game we already know about.When will this game be announced? Is Nintendo totally super-pissed at Martinet right now? Will it turn out to be something disappointing like Mario Party 56 or Mario Power Lacrosse? Much remains to be revealed, we're afraid, and there's no telling when more details will come.

  Haven't downloaded pirated versions of Forza 3 and Borderlands? Of course you haven't -- you're decent human beings. But for those miscreants who did, here's a practical reason to stop playing immediately: Microsoft is permanently banning any gamers they determine are playing illegitimate early copies on Xbox Live (via VG247)."You know, when you play a pre-release title on LIVE when I know you shouldn't have it, it's not hard for me to figure out," ominously tweeted Stephen Toulouse, Xbox Live director of policy and enforcement. But if you somehow managed to purchase a copy of Forza 3 or Borderlands early, you're in the clear, as Toulouse clarified that "in general, if you got a receipt, play away. These are illegit copies we're hitting."So in summation: Playing a game you paid for: Safe. Playing a game you stole online: Unsafe. So even for your own good, don't do it.

  Sony has announced that LocoRoco Midnight Carnival will release on October 29 -- just in time for Halloween -- for $15 on the PlayStation Store (via Shacknews).The game is more of an add-on of sorts than a sequel to LocoRoco, adding 16 new night-themed stages, two new mini-games, and new competitive and co-op multiplayer modes which Sony plans on detailing soon. The game will be a PlayStation Store-only release, and you can check out a trailer for it here.

  Do you love the insanely titled Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This? so much that you want to own it as a nice and physically real UMD, perhaps in order to hug it with all your might? Then you better sign-up for a pre-order and get as many of your friends to do so as well. NIS has announced that they'll re-release the bizarre underground-demon-lord-layer-building strategy/sim on UMD if they get 1,000 pre-orders.You can place your pre-order at RosenQueen.com, where the listing explains they'll "be able to start shipping out to you by the [sic] mid December if 1,000 units of preorder [are] received." Also be aware that you can't rig the system by placing multiple orders and then cancelling all but one: "Order cancellations may result in canceling the manufacturing of this item," the listing notes. Pre-orders end on November 13.NIS also revealed, however, that they may manufacture the UMDs even without the 1,000 pre-orders if they receive enough "support from retailers," although exactly how much retailer support they'd need wasn't specified.

  When Capcom announced that Super Street Fighter 4 would be a standalone game and not a downloadable update, they promised it wouldn't be full price. And if GameStop's recent listing is to be believe, that seems to be the case: MTV Multiplayer reports that the retailer has listed Super Street Fighter 4 for release on March 23 for $40.Which begs the question: Is $40 as cheap as you were expecting? A March 23 release would put it at retail just over a year after Street Fighter 4's release back in February, and Capcom promises "roughly" eight new characters (including newcomer Juri and returning characters Dee Jay and T. Hawk), updated online functionality, rebalanced gameplay, and a mysterious "bonus" for people who already own Street Fighter 4. Whether that'll be enough new content to justify a $40 purchase will, in the end, be up to every individual owner of Street Fighter 4, but for perspective, keep in mind hundreds of thousands of Madden fans spend $60 dollars for a new addition in their franchise every year.And it should also be noted, of course, that Capcom has yet to confirm (or deny) that this price and date are official. But they've mentioned the game would be released in spring of 2010 before, so this sounds about right. Once we get any kind of confirmation, we'll pass it along.

  Five hours into Dark Void, developer Airtight Games' history of working on Crimson Skies games is clear: this is pulp-action with leading ladies (not damsels in distress), gritty heroes and -- most importantly -- beautiful aerial combat that makes you feel like an ace.Five seconds in, you find yourself fully powered up and ready to fight. But like so many "fully powered up" starts, this doesn't last long, and soon after the game hits the reset button and installs your amateur status. In fact, you find yourself thrown back to Earth in 1938. There, you step into the shoes of Will, a devil-may-care pilot-for-hire who finds himself shaken when his new client (a private courier) turns out to be Ava, an old flame. And then of course their plane crash lands in the mysterious Bermuda Triangle.Will's time in "the service" seems to have prepared him for "the Triangle." He picks up one of the human resistance rifles and starts mowing down the serpentine robot enemies, called Watchers, without even an eye blink. Despite Will's machismo, Ava is clearly the senior partner. She eggs him on, jolts him to action, and even leads them to sneak through a local human tribe to meet Nicolai Tesla. That's not a jumpy recap because this is a preview -- that's about how the pacing of the story moves.

  It seems like it wasn't that long ago that a Tiger Woods PGA Tour videogame hit the shelves. And that's because it wasn't all that long ago. With the 360/PS3 versions out, along with that great MotionPlus integration for the Wii version of Tiger, some may have wondered where the PC version was. Enter Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, a browser-based Tiger Woods for PCs that looks to integrate social networking aspects and multiplayer golf, all for a monthly subscription.The subscription fee hasn't been finalized yet; a detail I'm told that EA is still ironing out. Until then, the game is free to play since it's still in beta (you can head over to Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online right now and sign up to be in the beta).