While talking toEurogamer, Rare’s art head Lee Musgrave said that the idea of Avatars was something that the studio had been kicking around before Nintendo unveiled their Mii channel. It was an idea we had, even before Miis were part of the gaming scene, of putting these characters that you have an affinity with, not necessarily as part of the Xbox dash, but somewhere in the Xbox that you would play multiple games with, that you would have multiple experiences with that same character....

Yet another PlayStation 3 release will include reversible cover art, a movement that has been gaining recent popularity thanks toResistance 3andThe ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection. Next in line isRatchet & Clank: All 4 One. Rather than merely posting an image of the alternate cover, which can be seen above, Sony has a ratherdescriptive explanationfor how the final (default) packaging got to be the way it is. Anyone interested in seeing what didn’t make the cut ought to give the post a read....

Stomping in alien faces underneath the surface of Mars is going to have to wait. THQ has announced that it’s delayedRed Faction: Armageddon. No huge deal, though, it’s only by about a week — the game will now ship on June 10 internationally, instead of the end of may as originally planned. Aspreviously reported, you may get yourArmageddonon a bit sooner with a demo hitting Xbox Live and PlayStation Network next week....

Here’s a shocker: people likeResident Evil. According to Capcom global sales data — recently compiled beautifully byKotaku— theResident Evilseries has outsold theMega Manseries by around 12 million units. WhileREhas reached a certain pop culture status, it’s important to remember thatMega Manhas had (roughly) a staggering 124 individual releases on numerous platforms over the years.REhas had 56. (Whoa.) Below is a snippet of Kotaku’s table with all Capcom series sales data through the 2009 fiscal year....

Not content to release one newCall of Dutygame a year, it would appear that evil publisher Activision is intent on re-releasing the old ones as well.Call of Duty: The War Collectionhas been spotted at a handful of retailers, exposing a three-for-one bundle on the Xbox 360. The War CollectioncompilesCall of Duty 2,Call of Duty 3andCall of Duty: World at War. No versions for the PS3 or PC have yet been unveiled, but Activision has never neglected a viable market, so it’s safe to assume similar bundles will turn up for other systems before the proposed launch date of June 1....

Merry Christmas, listeners! For your gift, allow me to present to you this picture of our own Anthony Burch and Ashley Davis. Yes, that’s really him. This seems to be thepopular thingto do, so maybe we’ll all join in next year. But for now, we’ll be enjoying our regular holiday tradition of exchanging gifts on the show and talking about some of our fondest Christmas gaming memories. Hit the comments with your questions, holiday greetings and gingerbread men, and we’ll put a new episode of the show under your tree for tomorrow....

When it comes to indie strategy games with hex tiles, there aren’t a whole lot of them; especially compared to other genres like platformers. So when something likeConquestcomes along, it’s nice to go back to that state of mind of when you were younger and played the hell out ofPanzer General. Conquestdoes a lot of things right, but it remains to be seen whether it will stand the test of time or whether it will just be a stepping stone for Proxy Studios....

My middle finger has been partially numb for over two weeks. I may have permanent nerve damage. I blameSuper Meat Boyfor this. The game doesn’t actually requires use of the right middle finger (though I’m sure that wont stop a lot of you). Still, I’m 99% sure thatSuper Meat Boyis to blame for this new found injury. While playing some of the harder levels of the game, I had to block out internal and external stimuli to survive....

I’m being serious when I say thatRise of Nightmaresis the first game that’s made me legitimately want to get a Kinect. Maybe not enough to run out for a purchase immediately, but the tech lust is there and rising. In ourrecent previewof the game, we described it as providing an experience not unlike an off-railsHouse of the Dead. From everything I’ve personally seen,Rise of Nightmares‘ style and campy tone are certainly similar....

Next week’s Rock Band Music Store downloads looks to be one of the most eclectic batch of releases yet. From Dio to Morrissey, Julianna Hatfield to The Smiths, “random” is a good word to describe it. But this must be said… f*****g “Holy Diver,” people! The tracks will run you $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points a piece. No package here, because “Random Ass Song Pack” sounds cool, but probably wouldn’t go over so well....

[Update: We’ve heard back from Valve’s VP of Marketing Doug Lombardi who tells us this rumor is “Untrue,” adding “We’ve never even met with Mr. Pachter.] If you’re a PC gamer, there’s little doubt you’re regularly using Valve’s digital deliver service, Steam. But unlike physical games, these digital downloads generally have no resale or trade value… yet. According to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, that may soon be changing. If you’re a PC gamer, there’s little doubt you’re regularly using Valve’s digital deliver service, Steam....

AGamepro Germanywriter took a picture withStreet Fighter IV’sYoshinori Ono doing some Hadoukens during TGS this this past week. Nothing strange about that at all. But look in the background. See the TV? That’s T. Hawk! Also, notice the image on thebottom there? There’s a giant S behind theStreet Fighter IVlogo, possibly standing for “Super.” As inSuper Street Fighter IV. If you haven’t been keeping up, there’s beena bunch of talkabout a supposed newStreet Fighter IVexpansion/sequel on the way and this just adds more fuel to that fire....

AnotherDungeons and DragonsMMO may be coming soon. According toVarietysources, Cryptic Studios is developing aNeverwinter NightsMMO that Atari will publish in 2011. The anonymous bunch whispering these sweet secrets have pegged this MMO asAtari’s motivation for acquiring Cryptic Studios in 2008 for twenty-eight million dollars. Cryptic Studios is developing two other MMOs:Champions OnlineandStar Trek Online.Champions Onlinewill be available for the PC and the Xbox 360 July 30, 2025.Star Trekwill probably remain eternally in development....