_{[Whenever possible, Destructoid critiques overlooked design aspects of games both old and recent for our "Revisited" series.]}

There exists in the gaming community a particularly virulent strain of anti-intellectualism that would assert, among other things, that Gears of War 2 "is just a game, bro." On the opposite of the spectrum is an equally uncharitable position: Gears of War is nothing but a testosterone-fueled male power fantasy with no real merit.

Don't get me wrong: Gears of War 2 is definitely a game, bro, and one that I like very much. It spends too much time with clumsily stitched-together set pieces and not enough time letting me take cover and shoot things (which is a testament to the quality of its core mechanic), but it's a definite narrative step up from the first one, and it's still the third-person shooting multiplayer experience par excellence.

But Gears of War 2 is also, I want to argue, a modern treatise on masculinity, agency, and anxiety, and perhaps strangely, a recasting of the Pinocchio story.

Seriously, just hear me out.

Longtime community member dyslixec, or as he now goes by, WastelandTraveler, has spearheaded the movement to bring PC gaming back into Friday Night Fights in a huge way. For that, I am eternally grateful.

If I have ever come off as insincere because of how hands off I tend to be with the planning of these weekly online get-togethers, I apologize. FNF started off as an idea from the community, and I've always wanted to move forward with that same sentiment in mind.

For the community, by the community. That's how I want it to be. Always have. I'm simply the guy who embraces and helps to promote it.

And now that you've learned a little Destructoid history, let's play some games! Well, you can play some games. I can't -- darn broken Xbox! Hamza says he'll be doing it up Modern Warfare 2-style, so at least there's one editor who will be in attendance.

[Image: CaseModGod]

"Dead to Rights is all about extreme visceral combat," says Dead to Rights: Retribution character art manager Dan Calvert in this latest developer diary, "it's all about action, adrenaline. We have awesome violence."

The game is so violent, in fact, that the team says it had to tone down the look and feel of the characters because of it. While they initially went for a photo realistic look, they found that the game was so violent that it actually made people uncomfortable. Because of that, they went with a more stylized look for in-game character models.

The team also goes on about the design choices made for the game's dog, Shadow. You'd think they just sat around and said "Let's make a bad ass wolf dog thing that gnaws people's faces off." But it's a bit more complicated than that, as things usually are. There's more details in the video if my "bad ass wolf dog thing that gnaws people's face off" explanation isn't good enough for you.

Dead to Rights: Retribution ships for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2010.

Apparently, several people using the Internet believe that the next iteration in the Deus Ex franchise is destined to be PC-exclusive. The rumors are being fueled by a recent and lone mention of PC-exclusivity in a Bit-Tech article, which sources a Shacknews story spun from an Edge interview with Eidos Montreal project lead Jean-Fancious Dugas in which the man says he's not quite sure what platforms Deus Ex 3 may hit. How that got to exclusivity is beyond me, but hold the bus: Developer Eidos appears to be brushing off the rumor as such -- in a vague way, of course.

In a recent official message board post about the game’s exclusivity, Eidos community manager Rene said, “Only the PC version has been announced so far.” He then listed PC-specific magazine coverage that the game has had before exclaiming, “I dunno where that Web site is getting its info from!”

The PSP and DS versions of Deus Ex 3 are slated to hit retail in February 2010. Both will star Mickey Mouse. Also, dragons.

[via Eurogamer]

Today, Activision Blizzard announced that its Call of Duty franchise has surpased $3 billion in retail sales, taking into account internal numbers, as well as independent tracking sources. 

Keeping this number in mind, and the fact that the games in the franchise have sold more than 55 million units worldwide, expect one or more Call of Duty games a year until the end of time. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is pleased.

"Call of Duty has become one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time," he's quoted as saying in a press release. "If you consider the number of hours our audiences are engaged in playing Call of Duty, it is likely to be one of the most viewed entertainment experiences in modern history."

The games are good, and apparently people like them. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 launched earlier this month, setting records with its five-day sales hitting approximately $550 million. 

Even though I wouldn't necessarily call myself a strategy guy, per se -- any game that requires me to answer questions beyond "how will I shoot this thing in the face"  and "from what angle will I shoot this thing in the face" usually makes my brain hurt -- I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Solium Infernum is out, and from what little I've played, is also really goddamn good.

Your mission: steal Satan's newly-vacant throne and become the strongest Archdemon in Hell. This isn't just some simplistic combat-based strategy title wrapped in Paradise Lost packaging, however: you're going to have to use far more than just brute force to get what you want. Though there certainly is a lot of combat, Solium Infernum is, at its heart, a game about politics. You'll have to lie, cheat, steal, and manipulate the other demons to get what you want. Do you need to capture a rival's stronghold but can't, because you haven't any reason to declare war on him? Why not manufacture one by insulting him in public, or demanding a tribute so big he can't possibly give it to you? Is one of your enemy's troops a little too effective at taking over the map? Bribe the bastard into joining your side!

I'll admit that the game is effectively unplayable unless you read the manual first, but the game is still surprisingly playable given its complexity -- this isn't Dwarf Fortress. You won't need to watch twelve hours of tutorial videos just to figure out how to upgrade one of your units.

If you're interested in a strategy game that focuses more on manipulation than mortar fire, you can get the demo here, or buy it here. And lemme know if you do -- I need people to play multiplayer against.

Look up. That’s an image of the next Puzzle Quest title, dubbed creatively Puzzle Quest 2. We don’t know anything about the title (other than it appears to be hitting the Xbox 360), but someone does have the details: GamePro.

The gaming magazine is blowing the lid off the title in its January 2010 issue, dishing out the initial “hands-on details.” The issue will also have several images of the new game, aside from the one in the header.

If you’re hot for PQ2 information, then best to start browsing magazine racks. The January issue is the one with BioShock 2 all over it, so it shouldn't be that hard to spot. Well, unless Maxim decides to do a “women who like to wear really large, old scuba suits” spread or something.

[via GamePro]

The ESRB has rated Eye of Judgement: Legends for the PlayStation Portable, and that reminds us -- that game's coming out!

While not officially announced for North America, the PSP adaptation of Sony's PlayStation Eye card game is set to hit the portable in Europe and Japan early next year. The game shuns the use of physical cards, instead packing all of the available PS3 cards onto the PSP, along with 30 new cards downloadable via PlayStation Network. 

No word on whether the North American release will be timed alongside Europe's early 2010 launch, but this rating makes it likely we'll see it sooner rather than later.

So much food ...

YES. Anyway. Wouldn't you know it, the day I start talking a lot of smack about the Large Hadron Collider, they've got that f*cker up and running by the end of the night. And it works! And the universe didn't implode! That's dandy. Hopefully they've got their bird problem under control. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you show those subatomic particles who's boss.

Where was I going with this ... ah, yes.

SAOUNINDAH. I mean ... SCIENCE. Man, what does Aunt Sarah put in that sweet potato casserole, it's like NyQuil.

FRIDAY. Please tell me you're not going shopping today.

If tentative plans hold together, expect the first bit of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 DLC -- an Xbox 360 timed exclusive -- to hit at some point in Spring 2010.

Infinity Ward’s community man, Robert Bowling, tweeted as much on November 25th: “DLC is planned for the wonderfully vague timeframe of Spring,” Bowling said in reply to a fan. He added, “I’ll let you know when we know it’ll be done.”

The tweet shores up a previous report of a Spring 2010 launch date, which was brought to us courtesy of a promotional pack of MW2-themed Monster Energy drinks. Yes. Energy drinks with previously unannounced release windows printed on them. God bless, America.

[via CVG]

2000 AD, Disney, IDW and Marvel are among some of the publishers planning to deliver Digital Comics content over PSN for the PSP’s Digital Comics Reader.

Earlier yesterday afternoon, the official EU PS blog revealed several publishers with plans to release Digital Comics content. Of major note is Marvel, the company responsible for Captain America and several other man-boy-style comics. 2000 AD (Judge Dredd, ftw!), Disney, IDW, Insomnia, iVerse and Titan round out the rest of the teaser list, proving that several different-sized hands are involved in the project.

According to the post, the Comics tab on PSN will debut with over 500 comics at some point this mid-December. The price of the content is still an unknown at this time, but surely all of you would pay whatever amount is asked to own digital copies of the Judge Dredd series, right? RIGHT?

This week's Friday update to the official Super Street Fighter IV website features a new trailer, (which we've already shown you), and gives the recently revealed new characters their own profile pages. Adon, Cody and Guy now join the rest of the fighters with bios avilable under the site's character section, and you can get a look at their stats and a listen at what to expect their Japanese voices to sound like.

Nakky has also updated her blog, albeit with little more than a celebration of the new characters. She does, however, show us the full, uncropped screenshot she teased us with last week, and it turns out Cody was the one giving Chun-Li a hard time.

Hit the gallery for a look at that, along with new screens featuring all three characters. There's also a better shot of Guy fending off Ibuki's kunai, as was teased in the latest issue of Famitsu. Hopefully it won't be much longer before we get to see the ninja girl who threw it.

It's the classic story of four friends making great things happen until some psycho b*tch comes into the scene and ruins everything.

People have been playing Aliens vs. Predator. People who are not me. This is clearly not right, but what is right is the fact that it looks bloody fabulous. This brand new trailer shows off the multiplayer aspect of the game, and briefly details a mode where eight marines get to hunt down a single Predator.

I'm simply stunned by the graphics hanging off this thing. The original screens looked like bullshots more than anything else, but the actual video footage seems to show no quality difference whatsoever. This is going to be one of 2010's early jawdropping visual treats, methinks.

Now Sega, let's do something about this whole "me not playing it yet" situation.