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When Sony unveiledits PSN “Welcome Back” gift packageto the world, some were impressed to see a few full retail PS3 and PSP games on the list. What’s a few weeks of down time and potential identify theft if you can score a free download ofLittleBigPlanetorinFAMOUSin the deal? Well, it looks like the “Welcome Back” package for Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia isn’t quite as generous. There are a few games that overlap, but there are definitely some big changes....

Who would have thought it? There are some people out there who think that $60 for a videogameis too much! Actually, there’s quite alotof people, if a recent survey is anything to be believed. Frank N. Magid Associates has been studying consumer attitude toward current-gen software prices and it certainly doesn’t look good for the publishers. Of 452 people surveyed, here is what they had to say: What think you, gentlemen?...

You might have checked out developerLast Day of Work‘s previous downloadables,Fish TycoonandVirtual Villagers(for all you hoity-toity Mac folk). Or, you may have played some other dev’s game with “tycoon” in the title —Roller Coaster Tycoon, Transport Tycoon, Railroad Tycoon or Zoo Tycoon, perhaps. In any case, being a tycoon is a big deal. It conjures the image of fervent rising stars on the up-and-up, sporting smart new suits and gesturing passionately in meetings....

[Editor’s note: neveranything shares with us a very heartwarming story on how videogames helped him make new friends for hisMonthly Musingpiece. — CTZ] Throughout elementary and middle school, I was the textbook definition of a bully target. I was weak, shy, and a bit of a loner. I had a few friends, but we all fell into the same category of bully magnets. Since we all fell into the same social category, we formed a fairly tight-knit group and kept to our own little social circle....

I guess I should be excited this week, but I can’t quite find the steam to get pumped up. It must have beenthe cookie. The big blockbuster on the PSN store is the release ofRatchet & Clank: Quest for Booty. At a particularly meager $14.99 players will be able to once again experience the dynamic duo in downloadable form. I’ve been hearing that it’s even shorter than the developer’s four-hour estimate, so be careful if you really want to stretch your money....

Last week, I asked you guys not to submit “year in review”-esque questions for the weekly $25 listener contest. I hope you saved them, because this week’s episode will be almostentirelydevoted to summarizing, praising, and whining about 2007 at large. Episode 38 — which will, I assume, include some horrendously insensitive stroke jokes aimed at Dick Clark — will featureAaron Linde, Jim Sterling,andTiff “Don’t Call Me Tiffany” Chow. Was 2007 truly the best year ever for gaming?...

Take a small team of former AAA developers turned independent. Add two parts of tactical turn-based combat. Add one part of arcade action. Now flavor it in a cute style of generals, demons, and undead warriors who can eat the skulls of their enemies to become stronger. What do you get?Skulls of the Shogun, of course! This upcoming downloadable title is shaping up rather nicely, and if you have a soft spot for games likeAdvance Wars, there are plenty of reasons to check out why it may be worth your while....

As far as confirmations go a listing on Germany’s version of Amazon is not all that high up there on the scale. However, sinceshaky cam videosandblurry photosare pretty far down there too this might be the most convincing bit of rumor creation we’ve seen so far. I am of course talking about the PS3 Slim and right now German Amazon has a listing up for “PlayStation 3 Konsole slim.” Roughly translated:The Book of the DeadPS3 Slim!...

I felt bad for all the DS games at E3 2010, especiallyOkamiden. How could any DS title possibly follow the unveiling of the 3DS? It just wasn’t fair. I hope thatOkamifans (all 200,000 or so of you) are still willing to buyOkamiden, despite its release on “old” hardware. Capcom really deserves to be rewarded for crafting such a fresh-yet-loyal semi-sequel. I still think that Chibiterasu is one of the most ingenious redesigns that a videogame character has ever received....

THQ’s Danny Bilson revealed in an interview with CVG thatRed Factionis slated to get the motion picture treatment. It’s all part of what THQ is calling their “trans-media” strategy to developing franchises: “My game is going to get made either way but what I do is I’m giving these movie guys the opportunity to meet me two or three years at the end with a triple-A, awesome game and a triple-A, awesome movie that compliment each other – and certainly don’t repeat each other – and start to build a world and a fiction and all of that....

The Mars underground is about to get smashed to pieces (and then maybe put back together with science) — THQ has announced that a demo forRed Faction: Armageddonis on its way. You’ll be able to take lead tattooed bald guy Darius Mason through Martian sewers which are, as you’d expect, overrun by aliens. You’ll shoot at them; they’ll go splat. The demo is set to hit both Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network on May 3....

We have five copies of the limited edition pre-order art books and twoValkyria Chroniclesfigurines to give away! All you need to do to win is make some kind of ad promoting the game. You can use any type of medium you wish, so long as it’s promoting the game in some way. The contest is open until May 29, so you still have two weeks to submit something. Head on over tothe contest postfor the full details and submit your entry in the comments of the original contest post....

WhenElectronic Gaming Monthly‘s Shane Bettenhausen talks, people listen. Well, at least the people who listen to Ziff Davis’ weekly podcast 1UP podcast, 1UP Yours … because they have no choice. I’m one of those people, and I heard it too: Shane said that the unveiling of the Dual Shock 3 at this year’s Tokyo Game Show was more or less in the bag. I wasn’t going to say anything, because Shane was likely drunk, but this rumor is currently making the rounds on the Internet, and I wouldn’t want you guys to miss out on juicy information like this....