I have a soft spot for The Monarch (and a not-so-soft one for Dr. Girlfriend - despite the many allusions to her non-femininity), so I'm pretty glad that the third season of The Venture Bros. is included in this weekly update for the PlayStation Network's video store. That's not the only thing that's new, though. Hit the jump for a full list of what's new.

Okay, so we all know how awesome Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is. But would you know how it stacks up against other exclusive titles? It ranks pretty high, no doubt, but it's not quite on top. Find out which game edged it in the full article up next.

In a recent entry made on the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) website, it seems like side-scrolling addicts will be getting a treat in the near future as the organization gave an E rating for Irem's R-Types title for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable. This bundled version based on the classic R-Type shooter title will soon be making its way as a digital download on the PlayStation Network service. More details about the game in our full article.

News of a new PlayStation Network video game hit the internet waves earlier. It's called NovaStrike, and it comes from the same developers who are developing the mecha RTS for the Sony PlayStation Portable Galaxy's End. Interested about the newest ESRB find? Check out the full article by clicking the link below.

The latest NPD sales figures are out, and while it certainly looks like there's going to be a major change in its regularly Nintendo-dominated scenery soon, there's a lot of questions that need to be answered. Thankfully, NPD's own Anita Frazier is here to give us an in-depth view of just what the figures mean. All the details in the full article.

Big movies sell games. They may not necessarily be good games, but they sell. Some have chosen to avoid the genre altogether, choosing to stop buying video games based on movies. It spares them of potential heartache, but there are always exceptions to the rule.

Which of course begs the question: What movies have come and gone without getting themselves a video game?

The Nintendo DS rules the charts in Japan once again, and Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire leads the charge on its first week out, with five more DS games trailing. The Xbox 360 and the PSP have no top ten entries for the latest numbers from Japan.

Though it doesn't even come close to the other smash success from Square Enix (do you remember that little game called Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII?), Final Fantasy Tactics A2 still did pretty well for itself with 142,000 units sold on its first week, almost double that of the game in second place.

The first PSP game to enter the game is Gundam Battle Chronicles in 15th place and the fist Xbox 360 game, Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War is in 33rd place. The charts have done considerably better this week than than last. Sales are generally on the up and up. Here are the top ten games in Japan for the week of October 28:

1. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) - 142,000 units
   
2. Ar Tonelico (PS2) - 72,500 units
   
3. World Soccer Winning Eleven DS: Goal to Goal (DS) - 29,000 units
   
4. Imabikisou (PS3) - 22,500 units
   
5. DS Literature Collection (DS) - 21,000 units
   
6. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (DS) - 20,000 units
   
7. Ghost Squad (Wii) - 19,500 units
   
8. God of War II (PS2) - 17,000 units
   
9. DS Nishimura Kyotarou Suspense Detective Series: Deadly Intent (DS) - 17,000 units
   
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Time Expedition Party (DS) - 16,000 units
    

 

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and it seems that Ratchet & Clank is being flattered by a lot of game developers - one of them being Shigeru Miyamoto, the mind behind some of Nintendo's most beloved franchises. This little nugget of information comes from an interview with Ryan Schneider, Marketing Director of Insomniac and a creative contributor in most of the game development firm's biggest titles.

In the interview, Ryan Schneider mentioned that a lot of upcoming games today (as well as games from the last generation) have been influenced by Ratchet & Clank in some way or another. His statement (unedited and presented as is) went:

Yeah, I think that it's flattering... well OK, first of all, there was a PlayStation 2 game which I won't name, that was more or less a direct rip-off of Ratchet and Clank. There's evidence all around us I think, of certain games that have borrowed from Ratchet and Clank.

One that we're even extremely flattered by is Super Mario Galaxy, with their spherical worlds; we did spherical worlds in Going Commando, and Up Your Arsenal. It would be amazing to think that Miyamoto-san thought that was so cool that he wanted to incorporate it into Mario Galaxy. Granted, he's doing it in a different way, but it's still a spherical world, so it's flattering to see those sorts of things.

Flattering indeed. Of course, we can also cite previous games that have also meddled with spherical worlds - such as the special stage Sonic & Knuckles on the Sega Mega Drive, way back in 1994. Ratchet and Clank's first game on the PS2, Ratchet & Clank, was released on 2002.

In any case, it's certainly good that game developers influence each other in making more fun and exciting worlds for us to play in. Updates as we get them, and you can check out the full interview from the read link below.

 

This week's dose of Blu-ray releases will probably have you busting out the popcorn, turning off the lights, and cowering in your couches. Just in time for Halloween preparations, the releases for this week are dominated by the subject of the dead who won't stay dead, the undead, the living dead, and George A. Romero flicks.

Arguably, those four are the same thing but we digress. Included in this week's releases are a smattering of various other titles that will definitely pique your interest, a documentary, and A Room With a View. Let's check out the releases, shall we?

First off, Halloween (1978). You know, the start of Michael Myers' career slashing in an effort to get rid of everyone in his family. He hunts down his sister, Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), and basically kills everyone who gets in his way. Definitely a pick for the coming horror movie marathon at the end of this month, eh?

   

Next comes the movie about THE infamous vampire. Bram Stoker's Dracula in based on the novel and stars Gary Oldman as the two-legged lamprey... er, vampire and Winona Ryder as Mina Murray. The movie tackles the events that led to Dracula turning into a vampire plus what happened when he met Mina. Add the name Van Helsing into the mix and you've got something big in your hands.

Deviating from the pack of horror movies for this week's Blu-ray releases is Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. This group of superheroes have far more problems other than their nemesis Dr. Doom. The Silver Surfer has paid our galaxy a call and as all comicbook heads would know, heralds the coming of evil devourer of worlds Galactus. What are superheroes supposed to do?

The complete list of Blu-ray releases this week is at the full article.

New scans from the new issue of Game Informer reveals new details about Borderlands from an exclusive interview with the developers from Gearbox and a hands on demo of Borderlands itself.

From the developers we are given more details and insight on the game's ambitious and revolutionary new content generation system, and from the demo we are given the story behind Borderlands. Borderlands is set in the future when humans leave the Earth to head for the planet Pandora. When they reach the planet they discover that there is nothing there but alien ruins, so those who were capable of leaving the planet did so.

Those who stayed became mostly lawless scavengers and treasure hunters. However, after several years they discover that the planet is not abandoned after all when alien creatures wake from hibernation.

The story centers on three characters: Roland, Mordecai and Lilith. Their fates are entangled with a hidden powerful alien tech that can change the fate of the galaxy. You will play as one of them in single or co-op mode, which can handle up to four players at once. Because of the content generation system and the unique abilities of each one, there's no danger of a complete "clone" if two players decide to play the same character.

The content generation system is expounded more in the article. Developers explain (and demonstrated in the demo) that it generates almost everything randomly. Caves, bunkers, towers and enemies are all generated randomly. The system is so that it can generate half a million weapons for the entire game. The guys who played the demo even noted that they never got the same weapon twice.

To read more on the Borderlands (PC, Xbox 360 and PS3) demo and the content generation system (and it's worth a read), check out the rest of the images at the full article.