It's been a while since we've heard of any industry-related job cuts, and for some time back there, it looked like everything was getting back on the right track. Then we get this. Square Enix Japan is being rumored to be getting ready to bring down the axe on some 200 to 300 jobs in their company.

Sackboy's going mainstream and Taito's making sure you'll have a souvenir. They're marketing LittleBigPlanet Sackboy plushies, and yes, they come in different flavors variants. See them and find out more details about the offer after the jump.

Square Enix has just released their planned game line-up for this year's E3. While Final Fantasy XIII didn't pop up anywhere in the list, Square's PR indicates that the PSP's two Star Ocean titles are due for an English port. Details are available in the full article.

Woohoo! Square Enix will be releasing several of their classic PlayStation 1 games on the Japanese PlayStation Network, starting with the all-time favorites, Xenogears and Einhander. More details after the "read more" link below.

Wondering about the current developments happening with SNK Playmore's King Of Fighters XII for the Xbox 360 and the PS3? Wonder no more because we got the latest news: the company will be displaying the game at the upcoming AOU 2008. Details in the full article.

Square Enix is spreading its reach farther as they unveil their plans of acquiring some more local and foreign companies. It's a tried and tested formula to cash in more of that valuable green paper, and there isn't a reason why they shouldn't do it.

Check out what their gameplan is over at the full article.

It's never too early to speculate about what games we'll be having this year, and if you're among those who want to play Nostradamus, the latest trademarks gaming giants like Square Enix and Namco Bandai secured may catch your interest. Find out what titles have been stamped at the full article.

As probably known by the gamers, Activision's much sought-after Spider Man 3 game is launching this week for the Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, PSP, PS2, DS and PC. But while Spidey's been the center of attention, The Game Factory's Legend of the Dragon is also expected to jump into this week's fray for the PSP and Wii - we're itching to see how the game fares under the Wiimote.

PC owners will be getting a new horror title by way of Frictional Games' Penumbra Overture, and a new turn-based strategy game via UFO: Extraterrestrials. Just make sure to phone your local retailers before heading out, in case any of these games catch your fancy.

Xbox 360  

• Spider-Man 3

PlayStation 3 (PS3)

• Spider-Man 3      

Wii

• Spider-Man 3      
• Legend of the Dragon      
• Heatseeker      

PlayStation Portable (PSP):

• Legend of the Dragon      
• The Cube      
• Taito Legends Power Up
• Spider-Man 3       
• Ultimate Board Game Collection      
• Winx Club:  Join the Club      

DS

• Spider-Man 3           
• Shrek the 3rd      
• Devilish    

PC

• Spider-Man 3      
• Mission:  Combat Force      
• UFO Extraterrestrials      
• Fairy Godmother Tycoon      
• Penumbra:  Overture      
• Kudos      
• Ciao Bella      
• Circus Empire

1UP only touched on a couple of rumors in EGM's signature Quartermann rumor column. GameFront.de picked up on the rest (really, what Gamefront didn't mention, 1UP did, and vice-versa), so now we can flesh out the rest of the rumor mill and call it an EGM Month. Unless GameFront overlooked something as well. Drum roll, please:

• "Namco Bandai makes a PS3-Actionspiel with KOS-MOS (from Xenosaga)"

Curious, much curious. At the least it seems we may now have a PS3 game set in the Xenosaga universe. On the other hand it, if memory serves, also seems to follow a precedent set by *ahem* Tekken's Nina Williams in Death by Degrees (also by then-Namco). Xenosaga fans here pray that this action title, if it is in the works, will live up to the legacy of its RPG forebears.

On the other hand, what these fans would really like is the series' continuation in the PS3.

• "Every Extend Extra and Rez appear for Xbox Live Arcade."

And it seems the migration/cross-pollination continues, following in the footsteps of Lumines (Lumines Live! on XBLA). But this is considerably believable, given the Q Entertainment precedent.

• "A mysteriöser Publisher co-operates with Food Network."

Is someone gearing up to take Cooking Mama on? Unless, of course, the "mysterious publisher" is Taito or Majesco, in which case it could be a promotion for Cooking Mama. Or an Iron Chef game, perhaps? (And if this is true, does this make Bobby Flay a playable character?)

• "A new Need For Speed appears in the autumn, whereby it concerns a simulation."

Would we expect anything less from Electronic Arts?

• "Warhawk is offered only as Downloa - oops, sorry. 1UP, Rumor Reporter and IGN got it earlier.
  

The ever inquisitive and (helpful) folks over at NeoGAF has a hot thread listing all known backwards compatibility issues with the PS3. What issues you say? Well take this short "preview" list as an example:

• Valkyrie Profile - Silmeria: When playing FMV - sound problems.
• Valkyrie Profile: BGM and SFX problems
• Sakura Taisen I remake: Title animation freezes
• Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden: Voice play-back problems in game.
• Minna-no-Golf4 (hotshot golf): Delayed button press recognition
• Final Fantasy XI: no BC for HDD titles as of yet.

The very first post on the thread cites a page as a general resource for checking the backwards compatibility status of games. It's in Japanese so you might want to run it through. Now now folks, don't go up in arms just yet. Even the PS2 wasn't fully backwards compatible right from the start. Also, a lot of the backwards compatibility issues with the PS3 are reportedly going to be handled via firmware updates. So all of these will be fixed in due time.

The list is continuously growing, such is the nature of forum threads, the tricky part here is that a lot of people are checking the games they're personally concerned about and are posting the games BC status even if there's an issue or not. So going through a thread that will likely grow might be a hassle for you guys.

Personally this QJ blogger is glad to find out that Kingdom Hearts 2, Zone of the Enders, ICO, Katamari Damashi, and the entire Guilty Gear series have no compatibility issues. W00t! We'll do our best here at QJ to update this post with notes on which games DO have BC problems.

For an even longer list of games (a lot of which are Japan only titles) and the compatibility problems that come with said game, click on full article and read on.