Joystiq [PlayStation]

If you've been sitting around on your fat stacks of cash, waiting to pick up an extra DJ Hero controller then now is the time, friend. Activision sent along a press release stating that the turntable controllers are now in stock at the Guitar Hero Store for $70 a pop, $40 cheaper than the regular, game-packing bundle.

With a weak showing on October's NPD charts and UK retailers slashing prices, we can't say we fully understand Activision's decision to charge so much for the turntables. From our vantage point, it looks like this: if Activision came down on the price a bit, more people would buy a second controller and have their friends try the game. Then, maybe those people would go out and buy their own set-up. Isn't that a novel idea?

Erik Estavillo has been given a handful of nicknames by the press recently – he listed "Professional/PSN Plaintiff," "The Serial Suer" and a few others when he spoke with Joystiq this morning. He assured us though, time and time again, "That WoW lawsuit, that's my final lawsuit. So people know, I'm not suing any more companies." In case you missed it, Estavillo is currently engaged in four separate lawsuits – one with Microsoft, one with Nintendo, one with Sony (in both Federal and State court), and one with Activision Blizzard. "One lawsuit for each major console maker and one for the PC, so four total," he clarified to us.

Aside from seeking money (anywhere from as low as $180 to $1 million, depending on the case), we asked Estavillo what his intentions were behind launching the multiple lawsuits. "What I wanted to do was exploit the weakness of each console and show that they're not impervious to flaws ... each console has a flaw and they should fix it," he said. During the interview as well as in some of his court filings, Estavillo claimed to be suffering from a variety of psychological maladies, and has repeatedly stated that he uses online gaming as his primary form of communication. "I told this other interviewer and it's true – I actually have no friends. I rely on online gameplay for socialization."

Though he's yet to win a case, his first (by default) could come as soon as December 3 – the end of Sony's 30 days to respond to a summons. If he does, that would mean $180,000 and a "no contest" ruling against Sony. Though he said he'll keep some of the money he may win, he noted that, "Half the money I get is gonna go to God. I'm giving half the money I get to CBN [Christian Broadcasting Network], local churches, charities, or poor people on the street."

We talked to Estavillo about a variety of other topics – from what games he plays to why he's subpoenaing celebrities instead of experts – but due to sheer length we've broken the rest of the interview out after the break.

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We want to be more upset at Laughing Jackal's wholesale appropriation of the Qix concept -- even going so far as to use a similar title -- for its PSP Minis game, Cubixx. But the fact is that Qix is awesome, whether Taito is making it or not, and it's relatively unexplored compared to other arcade classics like Pac-Man. And Cubixx does add an interesting wrinkle to the Qix gameplay: a cube, in which you attempt to draw lines to cover the area of all six faces.

Cubixx will be released in Europe on Thursday 3rd December at a £2.49 price point. See some footage on the other side of the post break.

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Look, if for some crazy reason you've still not gotten yourself a DualShock 3 and, even crazier, haven't played through Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, then you might want to check out this Amazon bundle -- which is set to release December 15.

For $60, you'll get a black DualShock 3 controller and experience every earth-shaking explosion in Nathan Drake's first adventure through glorious rumble or -- given the time of year -- gift your procrastinator friend or loved one with one sweet bundle, granted they haven't already acquired a new console in the last year or a new PS3 Slim.

There's no word whether Sony will offer other bundles and together the two will only save you $7 right now (Amazon is pricing the game at $27 and the controller at $40), but we still wouldn't suggest playing Uncharted without a DualShock 3. What are you, some chump on the street not getting the fullest from your games? No, you hold yourself to a higher standard.

[Thanks, Yingerman!]

Capcom has announced that the Final Fight / Magic Sword combo pack known as Final Fight: Double Impact will hit Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network in April 2010. In addition to the previously announced graphical filters, viewing modes and drop-in / drop-out co-op, Capcom has also revealed that both games will feature a selectable soundtrack from the people responsible for the excellent Bionic Commando: Rearmed soundtrack. Furthermore, the games will utilize GGPO, a networking library used to essentially eliminate lag during online play.

Oh, it also includes both Final Fight and Magic Sword.

Truth be told, loyal readers, we kind of already told you about SouthPeak Games scooping up the right to publish the Midway-developed TNA Impact!: Cross the Line for the PSP and DS. So when the company recently announced that it would be publishing Cross the Line "later this Winter," we weren't exactly flabbergasted.

However, when SouthPeak's Q1 2010 financial report revealed the aforementioned last month, it wasn't clear whether the game publisher had secured rights to future TNA Impact! games or not. Speaking with representatives for SouthPeak this morning, we were declined comment on who owns said rights "other than what's in the [press] release." We've followed up with TNA and will update this post if we hear back.

Harmonix has confirmed to Joystiq that Rock Band Unplugged has "run through [its] planned slate" of DLC. Following two weeks of Rock Band Unplugged DLC being absent from our Rock Band Weekly feature, we decided to check in with the developer to see if this was the end of the road for the portable rhythm game's downloadable track support.

Harmonix stated it is "very pleased with the performance of the Rock Band Unplugged game on PSP, the Rock Band PSP bundle and PSPgo starter kit" and appreciates Sony's support of the title, which currently has around 100 tracks via disc and DLC combined. The developer states that the DLC team is currently focused on the ambitious "Rock Band Network, weekly console DLC, and unannounced future projects." Harmonix isn't ruling out future Unplugged DLC, as it may be "part of event releases," but it appears that weekly updates are done for now.

Ubisoft has announced -- rather cryptically -- that Assassin's Creed 2 will receive two batches of downloadable content over the coming months. The first, entitled "Battle for Forli," will launch in January, 2010, followed by "Bonfire of the Vanities" in February. You're advised to have either a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 (fairly important components for playing the base game, we might add), along with at least 1GB of free space for each download.

Ubisoft has promised to divulge more information later this month. If we were to don our speculation hats in the meantime -- if only to cover up our Robert Langdon hair -- we'd say that "Battle of Forli" will continue the story of Caterina Sforza, who made a brief and undignified cameo in the game as a boat tutorial. The second DLC, "Bonfire of the Vanities," will likely concern the mass burning of sinful objects in Florence. Remind us to toss some of those evil feathers on the bonfire.

There are plenty of beloved Christmas Eve traditions observed across the globe. Whether it's roasting chestnuts or watching the Christmas Story marathon, everyone's got a different way of marking the arrival of St. Nick. EA's hoping that the 360 owners among you will start a brand new, equally-sentimental tradition as it releases a demo of Dante's Inferno for XBLM on Dec. 24. The sample includes the entire first level of Dante's demonic journey into hell and goes great with eggnog.

Those preferring PSN will get the demo on Dec. 10, a date which has the dual benefit of (1) being two weeks earlier and (2) not making the baby Jesus cry.

Honestly, we blame the rest of the video game industry for our susceptibility to Rockstar trailers. If everybody were putting together ads that were half as stylish and cool as this new Red Dead Redemption trailer, we'd likely be immune at this point. As it stands, this introduction to lead character John Marston leaves us with the gnawing feeling that our lives will be utterly incomplete without its shootouts and horseback chases.

Luckily, the trailer makes our longing finite with the new official release date of April 27 or, as you'll probably come to think of it after watching the clip, "not nearly soon enough."

Alright, Europe. We're not sure what you did to get into Sony's good graces, but we wish you'd share that information with your pals in the States. Not only do you guys have access to the PSP Go incentive program, which grants owners of UMDs three free game downloads through March 31, but Sony Europe just went ahead and threw another complimentary game on the pile. Anyone living in Europe who owns a PSP Go is eligible to receive a free copy of Gran Turismo, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge or Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines (or, in Germany, LittleBigPlanet) until January 10.

For more details on the promotion, visit Sony Europe's official site. We've contacted Sony America to find out if we'll be getting a similar offer stateside.

This week's issue of Famitsu lifts the cardboard box off Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker's release date, outing the PSP title for a March 18, 2010 release in Japan. Given Konami's history of timely Metal Gear localizations, it might not be too long until the game reaches its excited Western audience.

We loved what we played at TGS and we're willing to bet those of you who braved the Japanese demo likely felt the same. If you were frightened by the lack of understandable words, have no fear -- an English demo is currently in the works!

This should provide hope to those who have been longing for a localized Yakuza 3 release. German retailer amazon.de has added a listing for the Japanese crime game, with a scheduled release of March 12th.

Sega isn't commenting on the listing, but a localization has been rumored since July. While still unconfirmed, this listing adds credence to a project that seems like a no-brainer, considering the franchise's tremendous success in Japan.

[Via 1UP]

The Final Fantasy series has been known to have some truly epic box art in the past, such as the man vs. machinery motif of the Final Fantasy VII cover, or the lovely, all-inclusive tableau featured on the front of the last entry in the core franchise. Imagine our surprise when we received the images above from Games Press -- it seems the cover for the UK version of Final Fantasy XIII will be considerably more simple than the box art of its predecessors. [Update: The US version of the box art will be identical to the UK version.]

We've posted larger versions of the two boxes in the gallery below. Check them out, but don't let those eyes of yours wander. Yes, we know her skirt is hiked to a precarious degree. We also know that the baby Jesus is watching your every action.