Tucked away in the dark, at the far back of E for All is a fair-sized Gears of War 2 booth with many stations showing off the Horde mode, and handing out COG tags. However, these are fairly normal sized tags, about the size of a dollar coin. So what's up with this image of a giant COG that looks like it could serve as Sauron's ring?

We asked one of the community managers at the GoW2 booth, and he said, "Wait... did you see this image recently? A huge COG tag that's thick and made out of metal? Yeah, there's a big announcement about that coming out. I can't say anything about it really, but keep watching the website all weekend. And no, it's not something you can buy. It's made of metal, is thick, and weighs about two pounds."

Is Epic hiding these in the world somewhere, and there's a contest to find them? Are they items you can win based on your in-game performance like those rings they added to Madden? Is it just a huge paperweight? We'll keep watching the site, which yesterday put up a blurb about COGs. How convenient. What do you think it is?

[Via JoystickWidow]

I confess. I haven't touched the Mortal Kombat series since Trilogy on N64, and even then my interest had waned. The peak came in 1993 or thereabouts with MKII, so you can imagine the eyebrow raise when associate producer Hector Sanchez told me Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was taking it back to that iconic memory. Stopping short of digitized sprites and random outbursts of weirdness, MK vs. DC does succeed as an accessible fighter that's mostly contained on a two-dimensional plane. Call it "casual" -- Midway does.

Game development has become ridonkulously expensive, and if you're creating a project within a niche genre, like a fighting game, you'd best sell out if you want to be around long enough to make another game. That's a harsh way to qualify what's happening all around the industry -- and let's be clear: MK vs. DC in no way stoops to the level of Castlevania Judgment -- but somehow "casual" has become careless, as if developers are afraid ordinary consumers won't appreciate good art. A certain amount of color, call it the "Noob Saibot" effect, seems wiped from the MK canvas. Gone is that unsophisticated humor that was always charming, if not entirely professional. (Where's that "Toasty" guy? What ever happened to reverting opponents to diapered infants?) With this in mind, and DC legal breathing down Midway's neck (we wouldn't want Supe's golden-boy reputation tarnished, not with a movie reboot possible, would we?), the team is tiptoeing to a final release.

Sorry to disappoint you, thick-leg fetishists, but only Chun-Li's trunk is on display in the North American box, her massive thighs having apparently been buried in the ground to provide additional stability for her hefty wrist spikes and hair buns. You can check the whole box out in excruciating detail at Capcom's site.

The European version opts to promote Ryu (much to Ken's chagrin, we're sure) but he looks a bit ... muppety for our tastes. Which one do you fellas and ladies prefer?

Castlevania Judgment. When we first heard of this title, we immediately conjured up memories of Soulcalibur Legends (read the preview that got us blacklisted by Namco Bandai here). Somehow, Konami is daring to tread the same path by re-imagining the Castlevania franchise as a waggle-filled fighting game with subpar (even for Wii) graphics and shallow gameplay. We'd feel sorry for poor ol' Castlevania for being treated this way -- but we've been through this before.

At the very least, Judgment is much more competent and fun than Soulcalibur Legends. Graphically speaking, Judgment is rather unattractive, featuring awkward character models that certainly don't belong in the Castlevania universe. Textures are low-res, environments are uninspired and character models are poorly constructed with flat textures and low poly counts. Sadly, it doesn't match the visual fidelity of the 3D Castlevania titles on the PS2.

Thankfully, the gameplay in Judgment isn't as shallow as you may expect. Yes, you can swing your Wiimote every which way, but you won't be able to win with blind waggling. Perhaps it's because Judgment is being touted as a fighting game and not an adventure game, but the fighting engine does feature a bit more depth than the one found in Soulcalibur Legends. A huge change, for example, is that you'll actually have to block attacks (!). Players will also be able to equip various Castlevania-themed secondary weapons to unleash upon opponents. For example, I equipped the trusty cross with Simon. A press of the A-button throws it like a boomerang. It's perfect to use after knocking an opponent to the ground. As they get up, it smacks them in the back. Yeah, it's a dirty trick.

Although it appears to be missing its summer release window, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is apparently in the "home stretch" according to Rey Jimenez, the game's associate producer.

In an interview with the Street Fighter Blog, Jimenez explains that the title is "closing out all the bugs" from the open beta and "other open issues." He believes that "barring any unforeseen catastrophic event," the game should be out this year. Given how jam-packed this holiday season is already, maybe a delay wouldn't be so "catastrophic" at this point.

[Via Siliconera]

The queue of people looking to take advantage of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe's plot devices and punch Superman to death continues to grow, with a unconfirmed list of Xbox 360 Achievements revealing several previously unannounced characters. The relatively straightforward challenges task players with performing the "expert combos" for several kombatants, both known -- Batman, The Joker, Scorpion etc. -- and until now, unknown.

The latter category features intergalactic menace Darkseid, sinister slap-head Lex Luthor and Outworld favorite Baraka, who probably wasn't hugged much as a child. Peer past the break for the complete list of known characters while we poke Midway for confirmation.

Update: One curt comment: "Midway has not officially released the Xbox 360 achievements for MK vs. DCU."
Update 2: Midway has just confirmed the full lineup of characters. You'll find 'em all after the break.

It's another triple-threat (erm, make that treat) this week for Xbox Live Arcade connoisseurs. Debuting after the Virtual Console version, the classic Neo-Geo fighter, Samurai Shodown II, arrives at 400 ($5) [800 ($10)] and should be worth all 32 quarters if it's a carbon copy of the arcade / ridiculously expensive home version.

Joining the sword-clashing samurai are Rocket Bowl, D3Publisher's absurd – yet interesting – take on bowling, and Shotest (not Shortest) Shogi, a prim-and-proper multiplayer version of the classic Japanese table game from Microsoft. They're both hitting at 800 ($10) each.

Also prepped to pop up in the Marketplace are 1200 new puzzles for Buku Sudoku (200 / $2.50) and the second set of expansion levels for N+ (200 / $2.50).

[Update: "Starting on Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Xbox Live members will have the opportunity to download Samurai Showdown II for 800. The game was previously listed incorrectly at 400, and we apologize for the error," reads an Xbox Press media alert.]

No matter how many times Rare tries to tamp them down, rumors about a continuation of the Killer Instinct franchise continue to surface periodically. This time the rumors come from fan site MundoRare, which received the above photo of purported Killer Instinct 3 sheet music from an anonymous "someone at Microsoft."

Of course, this shot doesn't really prove anything -- that header at the top could just as easily read "ULTRA Punch Out!!" or "The MORE Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy" and work just as well. We're sure some photoshoppers out there will have their own ideas of what other big name sequels this photo could possibly confirm. What we're really interested in, though, is what this purported music actually sounds like. Anyone out there with some MIDI sequencer skillz want to help us out?

[Update: The community comes through! Check out the alleged theme as either a MIDI (thanks Dan H.) or a violin synth MP3 (via Giant Bomb)]

[Update 2: Check out this awesome remixed version of the "theme" (via NerdiestKids)]

The UK's official Xbox 360 magazine posed an inevitable question to Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono: How's it going to play online? For his part, Ono was quite frank, saying, "Obviously lag will be a huge problem for online play. We're working on it. It's quite difficult for 3D Street Fighter at the moment."

Asked how the developer is going about, er, combating the problem, Ono got technical. "In order to prevent the lag we're thinking about trying to balance it up at [the] user interface level and input timing," he said. "We still haven't got a complete plan as yet. We're still working on it. That's all we can say at the moment." Okay ... we'll let you get back to that, then.

So what's the problem with the Joker's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe fatality (seen at about 3:40 into the video after the break)? Well, nothing per se, it's a perfectly silly, violent way for the criminal mastermind to finish off his foes, and is actually surprisingly brutal for the game's Teen rating.

No, the only real problem is what the attack isn't. As fans of The Dark Knight know, the Joker's real fatality is blindingly obvious. Because, honestly, who doesn't love a good magic trick?

Street Fighter IV is unlikely to have exclusive console-specific characters (like Soul Calibur IV) when it releases next year, the game's producer tells Videogamer. Yoshinori Ono believes the idea of exclusive characters is unfair -- and that extends to "downloadable characters" as well.

Yoshinori expresses that this is only his "policy," however, so we won't rule out the influence of the Capcom overlords. SF IV is expected on consoles around the time the Street Fighter movie releases in early 2009.

How nice of you to join us. Do you have any idea what time it is? We were expecting you weeks ago! Well, no matter, go and take your seat with the rest of the Virtual Console class so we can begin.

• Samurai Shodown 2 (Neo Geo, 1-2 players, 900 Wii Points): SNK's 1994 follow up to Samurai Shodown finally slices and dices its way onto the Virtual Console this week, bringing back most of the original's weapon-wielding cast, as well as several newcomers vying for the opportunity to skewer anything that moves with a pointy blade and sharp Engrish wit.
• Ys Book I & II (TurboGrafx 16 CD-ROM, 1 player, 800 Wii Points): Nihon Falcom's enhanced remakes of the first two titles in the Ys saga finally levels up for the US Virtual Console. Offering roguelike-style combat and music we still find ourselves humming at the dinner table, this is a download not to be missed by role-playing fans with eyes for the classics.
  

First introduced to the world in Super Street Fighter II, the be-thonged British secret agent / world warrior, Cammy, will "definitely" appear in the home versions of Street Fighter IV, producer Yoshinori Ono tells 1UP.

Capcom conducted a poll on its blog last month, asking users which classic character they'd most like to see return for the console and PC ports. The list included T. Hawk, Dan, Ibuki, Sakura, Hugo, Fei Long, Dee Jay, and Cammy. In addition to revealing the winning fan favorite, Ono hinted that Tokyo Game Show may see – along with the PS3 version of SFIV – the unveiling of another home-only combatant: the fabled Sheng Long. If he does show up, you'll surely have to "defeat him" to "stand a chance."

[Via Wired]

Sega has a mighty lineup on public display (and behind closed doors) at Leipzig Games Convention 2008, comprised of titles from the East and West. MadWorld and Bayonetta, its collaborations with former Clover Studios staff, are there, as are Sonic games, strategy titles, DS wares, and more. But there's nary a sign of PSP support to be found. And it was doing so well with games like Crush. Ah well. You can check out screenshot galleries of everything Sega has on show after the break.