Yesterday's PlayStation Store update was a crowded one, bringing forth a rather varied assortment of downloads for PlayStation 3 and PSP owners, including adhocParty.

A free download, adhocParty enables the offline-only adhoc multiplayer of select PSP games to be played online through a PlayStation 3 with all the PlayStation Network trimmings, such as voice and chat text. However, the PlayStation 3 must be connected to the internet through wire, as the system's wireless connection is utilized to transmit data between PlayStation 3 and PSP.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Other new additions to the Store include PopCap's joyous ball-bouncer Peggle ($9.99), the Peggle Nights expansion ($4.99), PSOne Classics Resident Evil 2 and Legacy of Kain ($5.99 each), and demos of LittleBigPlanet PSP and PixelJunk Monsters PSP along with the usual smattering of downloadable content for Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

Explaining that "Sims fans around the world build their own stories and machinima and are acting out their own vampire love stories all over the Web," Electronic Arts has produced one of its own: "LOVE TRIANGLE UNDER THE SIMS MOON."

"In the end, it's not about who Bella chooses in the book that matters, because with The Sims it's all up to the players," added EA. "Who would they pick to live in eternal teenage bliss with? Our vote is Jacob. Everyone likes a built-in fur coat of the animal kind."

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Developer, publisher and digital distributor Stardock has released its annual customer report by CEO Brad Wardell, giving insight into its platform Impulse's competition with Valve's Steam as well as interesting figures and estimates concerning the past year.

Stardock estimates "based on discussions with publishers along with the numbers we are aware of" that Steam owns 70% of the digital distribution market, while Impulse sits in second with a 10% share and the remaining 20% is shared between all others.

The successes of Steam and Impulse are due in part, Wardell believes, to their digital exclusives. Impulse's include Sins of a Solar Empire and Demigod--which it publishes--while Steam has the Left 4 Dead and Half-Life developer's own games as well as third-party releases using Steamworks for DRM, among other functions.

Wardell describes Steamworks as a "challenge" for Impulse as it effectively creates Steam exclusives of games which are not technically such... Read more

Croteam's modern day revamp of Serious Sam: The First Encounter will hit PC on Tuesday, November 24, producer Digital Devolver confirmed today via Twitter.

The digital download will be available through Steam and Got Games, with Steam currently offering pre-orders 10% off of the game's $19.99 asking price.

A downloadable Xbox 360 version of Serious Sam HD is also in the works, with Devolver recently noting that Microsoft should set the release date "soon." For a glimpse of how far Serious Sam has come, check out this trailer for the 2001 original... Read more

If you've been itching to shoot and/or melee dinosaurs back into extinction, then you'll be happy to know a demo for Jurassic: The Hunted is now available on Xbox Live.

The 589MB download offers a sample of Cauldron's time-traveling shooter, which hit PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and Wii on November 3 after being announced just two weeks before. Having purchased the game and played it to completion, I can say that it's an entertaining, though somewhat generic, experience ...but with dinosaurs!

Oh, and per usual, the Xbox 360 demo will only be available to Xbox Live Gold members for the next week, after which it will be available to free Silver-level accounts.

Offering the general public a chance to sample Star Trek Online prior to its launch in early February, developer Cryptic has announced that it will be hosting an open beta for the sci-fi PC MMO from January 12, 2010 through January 26, 2010.

Keys will be distributed on a "first come first serve basis" through the game's official site, the developer explained, with the company also offering up this new trailer:

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Once again, Electronic Arts has exploited Christians to help promote its upcoming video game adaptation of Dante's Inferno.

The official website for Mass: We Pray now unsurprisingly reveals the Church-centric mini-game compilation to be a hoax.

"He who betrays the beliefs of the Church blackens his soul with the sin of Heresy. A Mass not celebrated by ordained priest or on consecrated soil is naught but false ritual condemned by clergy," declares the message that pops up when users click to either pre-order the game or send a "digital blessing" to a friend. From there, users are presented with the ability to watch "an Exclusive Dante's Inferno Trailer" and the option to "Damn thy Fellow Sinners to Hell" through a "Go To Hell" Facebook application.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

"After all, a family shouldn't have to wait until Sunday to worship the Lord," read the original press release for Mass: We Pray, which described the title... Read more

Kart racing games often get thought of as offshoot projects from successful franchises with popular characters. Even the venerable Mario Kart owes a great deal of its success, or at least its acceptance, to a roster of drivers that includes its namesake, Luigi, Bowser, Yoshi, et al.

ModNation Racers (PS3) doesn't enjoy the luxury of such starpower and built-in fans to draw people in. But it does have its stars, an endless number of them, created by everyone who plays the game and that's only the tip of the customization in the game. Developer United Front Games hopes that turning people loose with the ability to make their own content for pretty much every aspect of the game will make this such an expansive karting experience that it stands on its own.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Giving players the ability to make their own content is one thing; making it fun--and most importantly not frustrating--is another. The two-tier approach... Read more

New BioShock 2 gameplay footage has risen from the murky depths of the Internet to show a little from one of the multiplayer modes created by Digital Extremes for 2K Marin's subaqueous shooter sequel, including a glimpse of 'Trial' challenges.

BioShock 2 arrives for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 9, 2010, with a swanky Special Edition packing Rapturian artifacts including a vinyl LP and posters.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Harmonix has announced that Rock Band will celebrate next week's release of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' new live anthology box set with a six-pack of live tracks arriving as downloadable content, with P!nk, Kelly Clarkson and the Go-Gos as support.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "A Thing About You (live)" +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "American Girl (live)"
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Even the Losers (live)"
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Here Comes My Girl (live)" +
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Mary Jane's Last Dance (live)"
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Refugee (live)" +
• Go-Go's - "Our Lips Are Sealed" +
• Kelly Clarkson - "Miss Independent" +
• P!nk - "Who Knew" +

All tracks are from original master recordings, and those marked with a cross will also hit the family-friendly LEGO Rock Band. Tracks will cost $2 a pop (160 Microsoft Points, 200 Wii Points) while the Live Anthology Pack will be priced at $10 (800 MS Points).

Xbox 360 and Wii players can rock out to the tracks from Tuesday November 24, while PlayStation 3 plastic guitarists must wait until Thursday November 26.

The Creative Assembly has released a handful of new screenshots from Napoleon: Total War, its upcoming strategy focused on the exploits of the Emperor of the French.

Players will be able to rewrite history by stepping into the boots of either Napoleon or his opposing generals in missions spanning his entire commanding career, from Egypt and Italy through Moscow and ultimately to the most Europop battle of all--Waterloo.

Napoleon: Total War is slated for release on PC in February 2010, published by Sega.

I've been holding off on buying Dragon Age: Origins because I cannot afford to be sucked into a huge, long and engrossing video game right now. Especially as I just bought Interplay's reissue of Planescape: Torment.

$30 (actually eighteen of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Great British Pounds Sterling as it's only in Europe, but this website is bigoted and refuses to recognise the legitimacy of my currency) for a simple re-release of a decade-old game has never been such a bargain. I only played a borrowed copy so this is pure joy in my hands.

I'm sorry, Dragon Age. I'm sure you are a very pleasant video game but surely you understand? Good. I'm glad. See you in a month or two, Internet.

Running down and still have some thoughts on ModNation Racers to get ready for in the morning. So it's a brief ER tonight. All I have to regale you with are a few random thoughts from my Canadian adventure: Tim Horton's coffee is good because it tastes like coffee. No matter how cold it is outside, having a hotel room that's burning up from a stuck heater is not cool. Alberta steak is really tasty. And man United Front Games has an amazingly awesome studio space.

Here's the rest of today's knowledge:

• 88 Second Video of Battlefield Bad Company 2
• New Dragon Age DLC Coming to All Platforms This Holiday
• PS3 Will Support Stereoscopic 3D With Firmware Update
• 3D Dot Game Heroes Video Rocks Zelda-like Blocks

Haven't had time to catch a whole lot else but some things you just can't miss. Like, think you've seen some good Black Friday deals? Well, how about tax-free guns in South Carolina? UPDATE: Okay, so that was a link to last year's. They're doing it again this year.

If that doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit how about lending some Alaskans a hand. They're trying to save the free holiday letter service that answers letters addressed to Santa Claus, North Poll.

In this new developer diary for Bayonetta, director Hideki Kamiya shares some more details about the hair-clad anti-heroine's over-the-top special moves called 'Torture Attacks,' and how they relate to her troubled past. According to Kamiya, the Torture Attacks are representative of the specific cruelties Bayonetta was subjected to as the sole survivor of a brutal witch hunt.

"The demons she summons symbolize her evil spirit in an extreme way," Kamiya explains. The trailer's most extreme example comes in the form of a gigantic demon Bayonetta can summon to nosh her enemies like handfulls of bloody Doritos. Crunch all you want...

Bayonetta comes out for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in North America on January 5th, and releases in Europe on January 8th.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Cryptic Studios has announced another in-game event for its superhero-fueled MMO, Champions Online, called 'Nemesis Confrontation.' The event will debut Tuesday, November 24, and is conveniently scheduled to coincide with a 'Free-to-Play Thanksgiving Weekend' that begins on November 26 and runs through November 30.

"We asked ourselves," said executive producer Bill Roper, "what if your Nemesis could band together with your buddy's Nemesis to take you on? Epic."... Read more

A Men of War: Red Tide (PC) demo is now available on FileShack, offering a playable sample of Best Way's strategy game in exchange for 960MB of bandwidth.

Once billed as a standalone expansion to Men of War but described today by publisher 1C Company as a sequel, Red Tide recreates World War II's Black Sea Campaigns across more than twenty missions starring the Soviet "Black Coats."

Red Tide is currently available from a variety of digital distribution outlets, and will be included in the Men of War Gold Edition hitting North American shops December 1.

Yesterday, we learned that Grasshopper Manufacture's eclectic Wii action game No More Heroes was coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Now, we have screenshots of the prettied-up Xbox 360 port (via Xbox Japan) and video of a real-life wrestler.

Exactly what Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa is saying and why the video is on the game's official site, I don't know, but it's got to relate to the game somehow ...right?

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

While 3D Dot Game Heroes isn't arriving for the PlayStation 3 in North America until May 11, 2010, publisher Atlus has today released a 'launch' trailer which bears more than a passing similarity to a certain iconic Nintendo series--no small coincidence.

Atlus describes From Software and Silicon Studio's $40 action adventure as "the ultimate homage to the industry's golden era," explaining "every aspect of 3D Dot Game Heroes strives to transport gamers to happy memories from their gaming childhood."

If this all brings a tear to your bitter and jaded video gaming eye, stave off those dedicated server blues with gameplay clips from the Japanese release.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Just one day after revealing that Supreme Commander 2 is due next spring, publisher Square Enix has announced specific dates.

Gas Powered Games' strategy sequel will hit North America in PC form on March 2, with the Xbox 360 edition following March 16.

Two rather enthusiastic quotes from GPG founder Chris Taylor--"The partnership with Square Enix has been a highlight of my career" and "I couldn't be more proud of what the team has accomplished, as the game has continually exceeded all of my expectations throughout its development"--accompanied the news, as did some new footage:

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

While Airtight's sci-fi action game Dark Void has yet to be released--it hits PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in January--publisher Capcom has inked a deal to see it become a feature film.

The film rights went to Brad Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment, with Capcom noting that the movie could be a "potential starring vehicle" for the Fight Club, Ocean's Eleven and Meet Joe Black veteran.

It's the latest movie deal for Capcom, which saw Street Fighter's second major theatrical outing released earlier this year and is currently in the process... Read more