I know a passionate group of individuals were waiting on those Transmorphers-themed Avatar items to come out, but I think you'll have to settle for this Transformers merch instead. Sorry, boys. Today is not your day, unfortunately.

In celebration of Thanksgiving -- because honestly, when I think of large quantities of food going into my system, naturally shape-shifting robots come to mind -- Transformers Avatar accessories will be up for purchase.

The Megatron, Optimus Prime, and BumbleBee (why?) helmets are 240 Microsoft Points each, while the male Transformers logo shirt, three Decepticons shirts, and three Autobots shirts are 80 MS Points a pop.

I'm usually quick to mock these virtual items, but that Optimus Prime helmet is sort of sweet. Even so, I shall resist!

The welcoming party for the first DJ Hero DLC mixes wasn't entirely welcoming. Heck, they were carrying torches, pitchforks, and the like. I think one of them might've even scowled for a second there.

Up now for download, the "David Guetta Mix Pack 01" can be found on PlayStation Network and the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for $7.99 or 640 points, in Microsoft terms. Quite pricey, but you are getting three mixes. Three mixes that, to me anyway, aren't terribly appealing.

• “When Love Takes Over” featuring Kelly Rowland
• “Sexy Chick” featuring Akon
• “On The Dancefloor” featuring will.i.am and apl.de.ap

The other two videos for these songs can be found by clicking through the break. I was initially reluctant to be the bearer of this news, but then I found this creepy in-game character that made me so glad I did. Also, Wii players: we were told these mixes plus the debut ones are available for 300 points each.

Another day, another teaser for a Spike Videogame Awards premiere.

This time, it's for an upcoming Star Wars game. Since no real information is given about the title, and only recycled footage from prior games in the franchise is shown, you may as well not watch the video.

You know what that means: speculation time. I'm willing to bet this will end up being a new Battlefront game. Even though the fate of Star Wars: Battlefront III has been questionable with the fall of Free Radical, LucasArts would have gotten back the rights to the project. Hey, it could happen.

My next guess would be a follow-up to The Force Unleashed, since so much energy was spent on the crazy-ass engine for that game. And my third, borderline-impossible-but-I-can-dream-anyway guess is another Rogue Squadron game.

Upcoming Wii RPG Shiren the Wanderer has got the new trailer and website treatment today. Oh, and we've got the new boxart in our gallery below. We've known about the game for a bit, but it's nice to see some new material coming out of Atlus on the game.

It's not coming 'till February, but it's worth the wait. Shiren got high marks from the Japanese gaming press, what with its dungeon crawling and feudal Japanese setting and its talking ferrets and so forth. The new official site has game info, art, and a few screens. The system page talks about how this is the first Shiren game that lets you freely switch between yourself and a couple of other companions, adding some new strategy to your crawl.

The new trailer is pretty epic. It looks like a big game with a big story, which is my kind of thing.

Shiren the Wanderer hits Wii on February 9th, 2010. Lookin' forward to this one. How 'bout you?

Here’s something we didn’t know: over the past week, Microsoft has been promising people hyped for Final Fantasy XIII a secret item in exchange for participating in their “Register, Tweet, and Win” competition thing for the game. Turns out, as revealed earlier this morning, that secret item is a Chocobo item for your Avatar.

Don’t think that the opportunity to grab one of these lovely yellow beauties is over just yet. If you find yourself yearning for some bird companionship just head over to the official Web site for the game and then enter in your LIVE account details. Keep in mind, though, that the item doesn’t ship until sometime in December. The game, on the other hand, won’t arrive until March, so, uh, there's plenty of time enjoy that Chocobo.

Thank God for the clergy! Those guardians of our frail humanity are always here to set things right, and they have protected us from Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, a game that glamorizes violence and promotes the occult. Several men of the Church have attacked Capcom's latest Wii shooter, because that is exactly what the Church should be worrying about.

"If we dabble in this area we open ourselves to influences and put ourselves at risk," writes Rt Rev John Goddard. "I would regard any encouragement for children to be drawn into this behavior with extreme horror."

Capcom's Leo Tan, however, has not taken such accusations lying down: "Most games (and movies) like Resident Evil show characters fighting evil, not supporting it. Unfortunately the clergy is showing a lack of understanding of the video games industry and is too quick to splash the holy water and lump video games players into stereotypical boxes.

"Video games are entertainment and like horror movies or other scary films they are covered by a ratings system. Resident Evil for example is a 15 and not suitable for anyone under that age. Parents have to be trusted to adhere to these age restrictions and use common sense."

Pretty much.

Still, it's nice to know that Holy leaders responsible for the guidance of hundreds of people are so enlightened and have such a grasp of the modern world, isn't it? They clearly make people take IQ tests to be bishops.

If you're anything like me or Chad, you probably remember drawing your own videogame levels when you should have been paying attention in math class. We all did it, and dreamed of someday becoming one of the creative minds responsible for the kind of games we loved as kids. But that was elementary school; we didn't have the fancy computer software that surely helped envision this stuff. The real pros rock some serious tech, right?

Psssh. Graph paper, baby. That's how it's done.

Seth Killian over at Capcom recently had a chat with Maximo creator David Siller, and he shared an exclusive look at some of the concept art that helped bring the games to life. Turns out the tried and true hand-drawn method of level design is still the way to go for some devs, and it's pretty awesome to see the gallery.

If you still haven't played Maximo, you're missing out on a truly underrated action game. It's a blast to play, it probably inspired quite a few of the action titles you've enjoyed since its release, and you can pick it up dirt cheap just about anywhere. Head over to Capcom-Unity for the interview and full gallery.

Steam has kicked off its holiday sale today with a slew of great deals. Every day, from now until Monday, a new set of discounted games will become active. It's not like your eyes aren't already glued to your monitor anyway, so no biggie.

The three most important deals appear to be Dragon Age: Origins at $37.49, Batman: Arkham Asylum at $24.99, and the super ridiculous 18-game (including expansions) THQ pack at $49.99.

It'll be interesting to see how crazy Steam goes this year with the deals. You can be sure it's only going to get more insane as the days go by.

Just in case you want to gawp at The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks some more, we have a new commercial for you, fresh from the United Kingdom. It shows off a bit more footage, so if you're really excited for the game, this will be great for you. You're going to have be unbelievably excited though.

The guy doing the narration for these ads sounds like Sean Pertwee, but not enough like Sean Pertwee to actually be Sean Pertwee. In essence, that last sentence was completely meaningless. It's the fact that it's the holidays. That's what's forcing me to download poor quality Zelda commercials that nobody wants to watch so I can fail in multiple attempts to upload it to Viddler and give up and use the Youtube version and then struggle to write two paragraphs of content to accompany it.

Oh wait, we're past two paragraphs now. Awesome.

_{Time once more for the Badass of the Month Club, wherein the staff highlights a character or industry figure of noteworthy badassery.}

American singer/songwriter Terry Scott Taylor is probably not a name that rings a bell to many people. Over the course of his extremely prolific musical career, he has formed and played with several bands. He has played several different types of music, from country to blues to rock. He has been praised for his songwriting for decades, a great deal of it based on the writings of his favorite authors and poets.

Not only that, but he's one of the most badass videogame music composers ever!

He has done so much with music that the video game soundtracks he is responsible for are merely the tip of the iceberg. But is is an abnormally gigantic bit of glacier. Taylor is the man behind the strange music that fills the klay universe of The Neverhood and Skullmonkeys. Anyone who has played the games should be familiar with their wonderfully strange area themes. Anyone who hasn't is missing out on a very unique auditory experience that is a prime example of what game music should be: an integral part of the game to which it belongs.

For many years, I have pondered my purpose on this small planet we call Earth. Now, by the grace of God, who loves me best of all His children, I know what I have been destined to do with my precious gift of life. I was put here as a prophet, as a spreader of the good word. I was put here to tell you about Visions, a Christian MMO that is in development right now and needs your help.

Visions is a "1st person 3D graphics MMORPG with a quest based and skill based gameplay in a persistent online world set in the 2nd century holy land." It's the ultimate Christian experience, and will innovate the world of computer games as we know it. Don't just take my word for it, even though I am basically like Jesus. Let's let the volunteer dev team tell you more:

By quest and skill based game we mean that the game mechanics are focused on interacting with the game world, and learning from a wide variety of skills for players to customize their character. Where most other online games have the play character kill a never ending hoard of enemies to gain experience and purchase levels from a trainer, Visions will have play characters learn their skills by completing quests, and then use their skills to improve their ability that skill. The skills they use the most will be the skills they are best at.

Doesn't it sound fantastic? Of course it f*cking does! Here's the rub though -- Very much like Heaven itself, you're only going to get into Visions if you pay vast sums of money. Visions needs over $58,000, pledged by fine folks such as yourselves, in order to get developed. So far, the team has raised a staggering $107. but they need your support. So please, pledge as much as you can.

I don't presume to speak for God (I prefer to think that they're God's words, just coming out of my mouth), but I will tell you this -- He will be very wroth with you and you will definitely go to Hell if you don't donate. Now for the love of Little Baby Jesus, go to this Web site and watch the video. It's a video that will change your life. Believe me.

Well, here is something: Developer High Voltage Software has recently filed for trademark of "Immortal Warriors." 

High Voltage is a busy developer, with at least three other announced projects in the cards -- first-person co-op shooter The Grinder for Wii; fighter Gladiator A.D. for the Wii; and Animales de la Muerta for Wii. What I'm suggesting is there's a pattern here, and it's likely that Immortal Warriors, if it appears as a game at all, will be for Nintendo's console. 

Those folks at High Voltage love them some Wii, having developed its own engine -- Quantum3 -- designed to take advantage of the console's capabilities. The engine caught the eye of gamers and publishers when High Voltage revealed The Conduit, which would later be published by Sega.

While thoughts on The Conduit are divided, it's hard to argue that it's not a damn good-looking Wii game. Have to wonder what High Voltage has up its sleeve for Immortal Warriors... 

[via superannuation]

Yes, what you are reading is there will be an announcement ... of an announcement. That's the kind of thing that happens in the videogame industry, and that's the kind of thing you're going to have to read. Dead Space 2 is one of the worst kept secrets in development right now. We all know it's happening, we even know multiplayer may be involved. Electronic Arts won't open its mouth.

It seems that EA's silence will be broken on December 22, as confirmed by Xbox 360 World magazine. The mag has a big teaser for its next issue that features Dead Space protagonist Isaac next to a big number two (dirty boy). A splash of teasing text reads: "One of 2010's biggest sequels. Next issue."

So yeah, a game we all knew was coming has had its official announcement officially announced to the surprise of nobody. I am aware of how ludicrous this is.

As you've no doubt heard by now, Cody, Guy and Adon are the latest official additions to the Super Street Fighter IV roster. We got a peek at Famitsu's reveal yesterday, and now IGN has gotten their hands on the first trailer featuring these new badasses.

You can watch each one beating the crap out of somebody after the jump, complete with footage of their ultras and backed by what may or may not be a new theme. Watch the trailer, cringe at the English voice acting, and get ready to try what's on display for yourself this Spring.

When you're done, you can hit the gallery for a load of new screenshots to get a better look at all three.