Still hoping for confirmation that Insomniac Games is working on a sequel to the PlayStation 3's Resistance: Fall of Man? Thanks to a short visit to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website, this answer appears to be a resounding yes. More details on this are available in the full article.

The latest issue of PS3 gaming magazine PS3M recently revealed some juicy info that's going to appeal to PS3 gamers: the magazine has "confirmed" the existence of the Resistance: Fall of Man sequel, as well as mentioned the next-gen debut of Sony Bend's Syphon Filter franchise. More details in the full article!

Thanks to NarooN for the tip!

Remember that rumor about Insomniac Games developing the sequel to Resistance: Fall of Man? It was pretty hard to believe for some, but now more fuel is being thrown to the fire as another site reports some more details. Is Resistance 2 now in its early testing stages or is this all bull? Decide after reading the details in the full version!

Ready for a Resistance: Fall of Man update? Well, we've got a special one just for you, courtesy of the Insomniac Games podcast.

The studio outlined some of the myriad of changes people can expect for the game, including some new abilities users can try out in making and playing games, as well as some weapon balancing issues and bug fixes.

First off, Ross McIntosh, one of the team's administrators, mentioned the ability to take screenshots. Gameplay-wise, he added, "You can turn off the 40mm grenade, you can turn off the bullseye tag, you can create a private game that is password protected now."
As you can probably guess, it's the password-protected game we're definitely interested in. He also mentioned that round balancing will be made more aggressive, so that the shuffling of teams will create more balanced groups.

McIntosh also discussed that the new voice chat option in custom games will allow users to talk to anyone in the game, including people from the other team and spectators.

Lastly, he also explained that they'd be implementing support for the rumble controllers in the game, which is perfect, once the controllers actually come out in the U.S. and Europe. As for weapons balancing and bug fixes, below are the highlights from the podcast:

Weapons balancing:

• Decreased range and firepower of the shotgun
• Increasing reload time on Rocket launcher
• Decreased speed and radius of explosion on rocket launcher
• Decreased radius of explosion from frag grenade
• Increased damage for Hedgehog grenades but less chances for one hit kills.
• Increased rate of fire on the Arc Charger, decreased damage of primary fire, secondary fire damage increased
• Clips Size of Arc Charger has been reduced
• Refire rate on Bullseye tags are slower

Bug fixes:

• Defender, Elite Soldier, Assassin medals will now record on every game type for ranked games

The BBC reports that church leaders at Manchester Cathedral have forgiven Sony for using images of the building in Insomniac Games' Resistance: Fall of Man without permission.

This comes after the game failed to win an award at the recently-concluded British Academy Video Games Awards. Resistance: Fall of Man was nominated as a finalist along with six other games.

Earlier this month, the Dean of Manchester Cathedral, the Very Reverend Rogers Govender, called for the game to be withdrawn from the awards. The Dean made the following statement after it was announced that Resistance: Fall of Man had not won an award:

I think some important lessons have been learnt. So we do forgive Sony for what they have done, even though they still believe they have done nothing wrong. In an industry that is breaking new frontiers, it is important that long held traditions of film and television are maintained.

These traditions include having courtesy, respecting the dignity of your subject, and admitting when mistakes have been made. In so many ways Sony have failed to live up to these standards by disrespecting people of faith and the victims of gun crime here in Manchester.

According to the BBC report, Govender noted, however, that the controversy surrounding Resistance: Fall of Man has resulted in an increase in visits from young people and tourists.

Manchester Cathedral Dean the Very Reverend Rogers Govender has demanded the withdrawal of SCEA and Insomniac Games' Resistance: Fall of Man from the British Academy Video Game Awards (BAFTA).

Govender said that the use of the Manchester Cathedral in the game should be grounds to remove the title from the list of nominees. He pointed out that Sony has admitted that it did not had permission to film or use Manchester Cathedral in Resistance.

Not doing so, the reverend added, would mean that BAFTA is condoning Sony's actions. In response to this, BAFTA Head Anne-Marie Flynn released this statement:

Resistance: Fall Of Man has been nominated for the PC World Gamers' Award - the only publicly-voted award in this year's ceremony. The shortlist for the Gamers' Award was effectively selected by the public, in that it comprised the top-selling games on each platform according to the games charts published by Chart Track.

As of this article's writing, Sony has not yet released a statement about the game's nomination. Be sure to keep checking back here at QJ.NET for more updates on this issue.

The wait is finally over for those still waiting for news on the new PlayStation 3 bundle. MCV reports that Heavenly Sword is indeed included in the pack - with two other popular titles, Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm.

The new bundle includes the 60GB PS3, a couple of SIXAXIS controllers, and three titles mentioned above. According to the reports, this three bestselling-title bundle is available exclusively from HMV and retails at 424.99 GBP (or roughly US$ 855). Browsing through HMV's official site, we found that there are more PS3 bundles - with an assortment of add-ons. Buyers can choose between getting Blu-ray movies Casino Royale and Black Hawk Down and an extra choice of getting Formula 1 Championship Edition.

Plenty of choices, eh? Well, check out HMV's PS3 bundles if you're setting yourself up for an early holiday present.

In case you haven't been online lately, we're letting you know of an update that's recently gone live. According to James Stevenson (aka jstevenson) at the official Resistance Forums, the latest patch update for Resistance: Fall of Man is now available for download.

The patch will fix collision bugs, and will work as a general cleanup for Insomniac Game's title for the PlayStation 3.

That's all to report for the moment - all that's left to do now is to power up your console, slip in your Resistance disk, and update accordingly. Check back again if we hear any more word from the developers, or for more updates for Resistance: Fall of Man.

Kudos goes to Someone_PR for tipping us of regarding this update

With all the ruckus that the video game industry manages to get itself into, it really isn't hard coming up with a video game that can be attached to the word "scandalous". With this in mind, GamePolitics managed to come up with a list of games and gaming-related events that stirred up the headlines with scandals that could rival Hollywood's daily dose of intrigue.

GamePolitics didn't fail to include the Xbox 360's undeniable trend of console failures - which Microsoft still denies at this point. Indeed, with so many replacement consoles being sent to disgruntled Xbox 360 owners, its hard not to believe that the trademark Red Ring of Death has already become a nationwide symbol of doom and gloom.

Of course, who couldn't forget Manhunt 2 and Resistance: Fall of Man? Who couldn't forget Jack Thompson's smile on his face when he said that the Adult Only rating received by Manhunt 2 in the US was "delicious", or the way Nintendo and Sony quickly dropped the game as soon as Manhunt 2 was deemed essentially unplayable?

There's also the recent problems with using semi-fictitious religious backdrops as settings in video games, specifically in response to the portrayal of a fictitious cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man. With the religious controversy Resistance: Fall of Man has stirred up, many gamers and religious groups have debated whether copyrighted works of art (even if the copyright is about hundreds of years old) can be featured in in games, and even whether the game's inclusion of the religious sanctuary is an act of sacrilege. Even Tony Blair and the Parliament have gotten themselves caught in the mix, so its clearly a shoo-in to the list.

These and other seemingly 'atrocious' games are featured in GamePolitics' list, with titles such as Columbine, and Super Columbine Massacre RPG. Quite a nice read? It sure is, especially if you're a fan of video game history, scandals, or both. Enjoy!

After an unreserved apology from Sony Computer Entertainment, the Church of England has ruled that words are not enough. They have come up with the first ever set of "sacred digital guidelines".

Prompted by Sony's use of Manchester Cathedral as the setting for a fierce gun battle between humans and aliens in Resistance: Fall of Man, the guidelines aim to prevent the "virtual desecration" of religious sites in the future.

Digital Guidelines Code of Conduct:

1. Respect our sacred spaces as places of prayer, worship, peace, learning and heritage.
2. Do not assume that sacred space interiors are copyright free.
3. Get permission from the faith leaders who are responsible for the building interiors you want to clone.
4. Support the work of those engaged in resisting the culture of gun crime and those involved in promoting the work of conflict resolution.

The church calls on all video game manufacturers to agree to the code of conduct. Would codes like this have an impact on the future of video game design? We can only speculate for now.