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Jeff and I spent weeks trying to gank someone's pre-order code for WWE All Stars, the one that gave you access to perpetually evil multimillionaire and master of the perfectly-trimmed beard, Ted DiBiase (as well as his son, confusingly also named Ted DiBiase). I guess we can give up that hunt, as THQ announced today that the Million Dollar Man and son are now available for purchase in the game's DLC store on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $1.99 (or 160 Microsoft Space Dollars).

Even more exciting is the announced upcoming schedule of DLC, which features a number of classic wrestlers the likes of which any old school wrestling fan should find themselves uncontrollably squeeing with glee over. Go ahead and get your squee face ready, I'll wait.

We good? Okay.

July 5th will see the release of the "All-Time Greats Pack," which includes the Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal, for the uneducated), Jerry "The King" Lawler, and Chris Jericho. That pack will retail for $4 (320 MS points).

Also on July 5th, R-Truth will be made available as a free download. Because honestly, who would pay money for R-Truth?

On August 2nd, THQ will take a trip down to Cobb County Georgia and release the "Southern Charisma Pack," featuring the face of law and order in the WWE, the Big Boss Man (as well as Michael Hayes, and Mark Henry). That pack will retail for $3 (240 MS points).

Whether or not more DLC will come down the pipes following the August release, THQ isn't currently saying, but between the Million Dollar Man, the Legion of Doom and Big Boss Man, I don't have many complaints about the selections they've made. That said, if we don't get a "Many Faces of Charles Wright" pack, featuring The Godfather, Kama "The Supreme Fighting Machine," and Papa Shango, this whole WWE All Stars endeavor will have been entirely for naught. For naught, I say!

Well, this is never a good way to start off a Friday morning.

After seeing its staff reduced to 40 employees after an earlier round of layoffs this year, Black Rock Studio, the developer behind such acclaimed racers as Split/Second and Pure, will soon close altogether, according to an official statement by Disney Interactive posted by Eurogamer.

The statement confirms that after the studio's latest project failed to garner a green light from the publisher, Disney informed the team of the decision to close.

As of this moment the studio remains open, as Disney has enacted a "consultation process" which, under U.K. law, signals an impending closure of a company. The process evidently takes 90 days.

After the previous round of layoffs, two new studios sprang forth from former heads at the company, including Split/Second director Nick Baynes' Roundcube Entertainment, and ShortRound Games, which was founded by four former department heads at the company.

Here's hoping the affected Black Rock employees find new work soon, either with their former coworkers, or elsewhere.

So, this is weird.

Since Double Fine's mech combat tower defense game, Trenched, released to a fair bit of critical acclaim on Xbox Live Arcade last week, some European players have been baffled as to why the game hasn't seen release in their territory. Double Fine, by proxy of studio head Tim Schafer's Twitter feed, stated that they too were in the dark on the issue, and waiting for news (presumably from publisher Microsoft) just like everyone else.

That may be because the whole thing is kind of a big, honking screw-up on somebody's part. As it turns out, a Portuguese board game designer named Rui Alípio Monteiro owns the trademark on the name Trench (and presumably all derivations thereof) in pertinence to a board game he designed. The game has been around since 2007, and because of the trademark, Microsoft is evidently forbidden from releasing Trenched in several European territories.

Eurogamer contacted Monteiro, who simply confirmed the existence of the trademark and offered no additional comment, beyond a redirection to his website for info on the game. The board game in question also uses World War I as a theme, though is sadly lacking in mech suits and Rasputin-inspired, TV-obsessed bad guys.

Presumably, Double Fine could do a little patchwork to rename the game in the relevant territories, but sadly, it seems like no matter what ends up happening, some European players simply won't be able to play Trenched for at least a while longer. Perhaps they can take solace in the fact that Lucha Fury was released on XBLA in Europe last week with no hassle to speak of. And by take solace, I of course mean experience frequent bouts of unchecked, murderous rage.

Perhaps you are already aware of Operation Rainfall. If not, a brief overview.

Nintendo currently doesn't have much on its plate as far as upcoming Wii releases go. In fact, apart from Skyward Sword, Kirby, and Rhythm Heaven, it's safe to say that Nintendo has almost nothing on its plate as far as Wii releases go, leaving some Wii owners wondering when they may have another opportunity to dust off their little white boxes and play some damn games.

But wait, new contenders have entered the field!

As it happens, Nintendo has a trio of exclusive RPGs all currently set for Japanese release: Monolith's Xenoblade Chronicles, Mistwalker'sThe Last Story, and Ganbarion'sPandora's Tower. Xenoblade and The Last Story are both set for European release as well, meaning that at some point, someone's going to have to translate those games into the English language. However, as of this past E3, Nintendo had made it clear that it had no intention of selling any of these games in North America.

This has led a group of concerned Nintendizens to take up a campaign (the aforementioned Operation Rainfall) to convince Nintendo to release any and/or all of these titles here, to help ensure that North American Wii owners would not be left wanting. Letters were written, YouTube videos were made, Facebook pages were created, and eventually, Nintendo took notice, promising an update in the near future on the requested titles.

That update came last night, and, uh... well, why don't you just read for yourself?

"Thank you for your enthusiasm. We promised an update, so here it is. We never say “never,” but we can confirm that there are no plans to bring these three games to the Americas at this time. Thanks so much for your passion, and for being such great fans!"

In other words, "Nope! Run along now!"

While this statement does leave a slight sliver of hope that Nintendo might change its mind somewhere down the road, as it has in the past with other products it originally had "no plans" to release in North America (the black Wii, anyone?), the announcement is nonetheless discouraging for Wii fans who have been aching for some new, interesting games to play on their console of choice. Evidently the Operation Rainfall campaign will continue, but at this point it all seems rather moot. Nintendo knows people are interested. If they're gonna announce these games for North American release, they will choose to do so in their own sweet time. When has Nintendo ever done any differently?

In the meantime, feel free to take solace in the few Wii releases that are coming up in the next few months. I know I plan to run out and pre-order the Wii-exclusive Smurfs Dance Party as soon as I finish typing this sentence.

It's a giant statue of a dick. Obviously.

Update: Rather than write a whole other story, figured I'd just update this one. Sony's PlayStation Facebook page has confirmed that a PSN port of Limbo will be coming this July, and Playdead co-founder Dino Patti confirmed elsewhere that the team is also working on a PC version to be released on Steam. Both ports are being worked on by the Playdead team internally.

Here's to more people being able to experience horrifying child death (and really excellent gameplay)!

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Into a Limbo large and broad, PlayStation 3 owners may soon be headed.

Once deemed an Xbox Live Arcade exclusive by the developers themselves, Danish studio Playdead's award-winning puzzle-platformer Limbo appears to be set for a release on additional platforms in the foreseeable future, with the Korean ratings board having just rated a PSN version of the title.

This would seem to back up some earlier rumors that the game may no longer be an Xbox 360 exclusive by various NeoGAF users, who dug up a hidden trailer for the game on Steam. While no word of a PC version has leaked out since this trailer popped up, the addition of today's PSN rating seems to suggest that the exclusivity for the title has come to an end.

Playdead has also reportedly been working on a new title following the success of Limbo's original release. The studio has yet to officially announce what the game is, but previously stated that it was an all-new IP that fans of Limbo would nonetheless feel right at home with it.

Limbo garnered a five-star rating from our own Brad Shoemaker, and made a number of our personal top 10 lists last year (including the very tippy top of mine). Any opportunity that exists to get more people to play this hauntingly beautiful, darkly clever little game can't be viewed as anything but a good thing.

To give you an idea of how long it's been since we've heard anything of substance about Ubisoft's post-apocalyptic survival action game I Am Alive, the last news story we have on the site pertaining to the title is from January 2009. And it was written by Vinny.

Since that, what little news has leaked out around the web about the game has mostly had to do with its troubled development cycle. Original developer Darkworks was yanked from the project last year, with Ubisoft Shanghai taking over and effectively rebooting the title from scratch. At last word, the title was set to move from a full retail product to a downloadable title for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. But even that word was quite some time ago, and as E3 came and went with no updates on the game, the world simply assumed that it had gone the way of the dodo. And Beyond Good & Evil 2.

So color us surprised when news sprang forth this morning of a rating for I Am Alive by the Australian ratings board. Aussie ratings tend to come a lot earlier than ESRB ratings, so this doesn't mean the game is necessarily finished, but if it's been submitted for a rating (it was rated 15, by the way), that means that development continues, and that some manner of light at the end of the long tunnel can be seen.

The 15 rating comes primarily from a cautioning of "strong violence," which fits with the game's theme of survival amid a massive earthquake in the city of Chicago. At last check, the game was designed to be a fight to escape the city amid massive water shortages, roving gangs of looters, and continued destruction as the city collapses around you. But considering how long it's been since we last heard anything, for all we know, the game might have morphed into some kind of post-apocalyptic dating sim.

I guess we'll all find out together when Ubisoft finally gets around to showing this latest incarnation of I Am Alive to the world.

Over the last few months, we've had a bit of fun at the expense of George "GeoHot" Hotz, the floppy-haired, hip-hopping hackster who kicked off The Great PlayStation Network Kerfuffle of 2011 by cracking the PlayStation 3's firmware, releasing the tools for other people to do the same, getting sued by Sony over said tools, and thus inspiring a roving gang of Internet hooligans to start taunting and screwing with the console-maker.

Of course, the shit got a little more real when actual hackers stole actual vital information pertaining to actual PlayStation 3 users. At that point, the whole thing became a lot less funny. Well, Hotz's statements regarding that hack were pretty funny, actually. But the rest was totally serious business.

Anyway, after settling his lawsuit with Sony and making the aforementioned comments, Hotz went into radio silence mode. Evidently, that's because he went and got himself a real damn job.

Confirming a few rumors floating around late last week, Facebook representatives announced today that Hotz has gone to work for the company. His exact role at the company wasn't revealed, but it's presumed that he may be working in the company's mobile division, specifically on Facebook's upcoming iPad app. That would make some sense, given Hotz's previous proclivities toward jailbreaking iPhones.

It's actually a perfect fit, given Facebook head honcho Mark Zuckerberg's own history as an authority-mocking coder back in his college days. One could easily see the two of them becoming fast friends, going on coding dates together and curling each other's hair.

Still, that is a bit of an anticlimactic end to the antics of the gaming industry's own Dennis the Menace. Some of you out there almost assuredly were hoping for more of a Thelma & Louise type ending with Hotz's fellow lawsuit victim Alexander "Graf_Chokolo" Egorenkov (who is still being sued, by the way, and also probably will go to jail), but let's be realistic about this. A nice, quiet desk job at a major social media company is probably more reasonable.

Hey, maybe he can hook his buddy Alexander up with a job, too! You know, so he can pay his legal fees. And, like, not go to jail.

Though the nominees were announced less than a week ago, the clandestine cabal of award-bestowing Game Critics have narrowed the field and announced the Best of E3 winners. Those dudes work pretty fast, apparently.

To the surprise of essentially no one, BioShock Infinite took home all four awards it was nominated for, including Best PC Game, Best Action/Adventure Game, Best Original Game, and the most-covered Game of the Show award.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 3, and Sound Shapes were the other multi-award-winners, with two apiece.

Elsewhere, the PlayStation Vita took home the award for Best Hardware, edging out the Wii U (which, to be fair, wasn't really showing any actual games), Sony's own proprietary 3D display monitor (we think they're okay with this loss), Ubisoft's guitar game RockSmith, and some Nyko-produced Kinect thing.

Among the few big games shut out entirely, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Batman: Arkham City, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 all went home empty-handed.

If you're really into seeing the words "BioShock" and "Infinite" repeated over and over again in a list-based format, you can check out the full roster of winners below.

Best of Show

BioShock Infinite
(Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Original Game

BioShock Infinite
(Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Console Game

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
(Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda for PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Handheld Game

Sound Shapes
(Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita)

Best PC Game

BioShock Infinite
(Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Hardware

PlayStation Vita
(Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Action Game

Battlefield 3
(DICE/EA Games for PC)

Best Action/Adventure Game

BioShock Infinite
(Irrational Games/2K Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Role Playing Game

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
(Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda for PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Fighting Game

Street Fighter X Tekken
(Capcom/Capcom for PS3, Xbox 360, PSVita)

Best Racing Game

Forza 4
(Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Studios for Xbox 360)

Best Sports Game

FIFA 12
(EA Canada/EA Sports for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Strategy Game

From Dust
(Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Social/Casual Game

Sound Shapes
(Queasy Games/SCEA for PSVita)

Best Motion Simulation Game

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
(Nintendo EAD/Nintendo for Wii)

Best Online Multiplayer

Battlefield 3
(DICE/EA Games for PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Best Downloadable Game

Bastion
(Supergiant Games/WB Games for PC, Xbox 360)

I think accusing me of "hipsterdom" because I genuinely enjoyed the game's sense of humor and style is a little absurd.

I say in the review that the linearity of the level design and bland world aesthetics were an issue. I didn't have much of a problem with the loose handling of the shooting, nor did I have an issue with the frequency of the boner jokes. I sort of enjoyed the way the game reveled in that stuff, personally.

I say in the review the game is not for everyone, and that some simply won't be able to fall in line with the game's... unusual sense of humor. It sounds like you were one of those people. That will totally happen, as I said. I just think it's a little nutty that you'd be so "shocked" that I enjoyed it, when I clearly laid out why I enjoyed it in the review text.