Meet 1ickTh3P0l3. He can vote. But why tell him that? When Rock the Vote comes to Xbox Live on Monday (the start of the Democratic National Convention), it won't find the disempowered young citizens eager to be mobilized it's expecting. In fact, the Xbox Live community is a conglomerate of well-organized sub-divisions -- or "clans" -- which communicate through a modified, verbalization of "133t speak" with a large admixture of derisive language; including racial, ethnic, gender, sex, and religious slurs. These nihilistic hatemongers shoot first, typically with rocket launchers, and top it off with a teabag over your dead body. Oh wait, these are just the Xbox Live users under 18. Imagine how the ones of legal voting age spend their nights and weekends ... And you want them rocking what now?

[Image credit: Jeff the Trojan]

Perhaps "pretty" isn't the most appropriate word to describe Killzone 2. But if Guerrilla's shooter keeps showing up to the party looking like this, well, then what choice do we have? We're hot for you, Kizzy*. Three spooky red eyes and all!

(*Yup, official Killzone pet name confirmed.)

Sony packed a suitcase full of PSN titles for its trip to Leipzig, with at least one new face emerging from the bag: Savage Moon. Sony describes the game as "classic tower strategy" with a catch ... it's in space! Players are assigned to protect a planetary outpost that's being overrun by "gigantic, ravenous space bugs" (true story). You know the drill: plop towers in the most ideal positions to handle the infestation and convert kill points into better weapons.

In addition, more details about the third Warhawk expansion have been released. Dubbed, Operation: Fallen Star, the premium add-on introduces a forested location, Tau Crater, where, sure enough, some "experimental technology" is recovered from a crashed Chernovan warship: Jetpacks! The booster pack also includes 10 new battlefields. (A coinciding free update will add two new game modes and Trophies).

We've posted the debut trailer for Operation: Fallen Star along with the complete Games Convention 2008 PSN lineup after the break.

Down in front! Watch as some guy's head almost steals the spotlight from the Prince ... almost. Be sure to stick around for the slick Okami-esque effects near the end (warning: they're after the lame voice work.).

Go ahead, rub your eyes and read the headline again. The Japanese are so gaga over Tales of Vesperia that they've gone and bought up every last Xbox 360, Engadget Japanese's Ittousai reports to Joystiq. Sold out!

Granted, Microsoft isn't exactly pumping units into Japan, but even this sudden surge in demand has knocked the console manufacturer square off its feet. A statement on the Japanese Xbox.com (clumsy translation) explains that new shipments of the standard model won't arrive at retail until September, followed by shipments of the Elite and Arcade SKUs sometime later. But by then, pigs may have landed and Hell could be all thawed out.

[Via Engadget Japanese; Thanks Ittousai!]

At its Leipzig Games Convention press conference today, Sony unveiled a wireless keypad peripheral that attaches to the top of the PlayStation 3 controller (presumably into the mini-USB port). The keypad also features a "touchpad mode" for mouse input. Pricing was not revealed, but the device will be released in 8 different languages.

It's worth noting that MadCatz released an attachable thumbpad for PS3 in April 2007.

Update: Added official keypad images (see gallery below). Does this thing double as a codpiece?

PlayStation.Blog clarifies that the Wireless Kepad includes a mode that turns the key area into a touchpad, allowing users to control an on-screen cursor with their fingertips, tapping to activate a link. The keypad also features two short-cut buttons, enabling quick access to the XMB's "Friends" icon and the "Message Box." The pad also can be paired with other Bluetooth devices (e.g., a smart phone) and will be released in late November.

In his latest report from Infinity Ward HQ, community confidant Fourzerotwo brings word that the Call of Duty 4 battlefront could see some changes soon. No less than eight new multiplayer playlists are in development, of which four are currently being tested, and at least one can pass through the servers without a patch: Hardcore Headquarters. But we're taking a keen interest in another playlist, Hardcore Ricochet, which turns teamkillers' attacks against them. It's like we're rubber, they're glue -- whatever they shoot, bounces off us and ... burrows deep into their treacherous guts!

Peep the full descriptions and statuses of all the planned playlists on Fourzerotwo's blog.

[Thanks, Michael]

For Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive VP of sales and marketing, July's E3 media briefing was the perfect opportunity to cast a new spell. With most of Wii's casual ownership tuned out (c'mon, you think grandpop was glued to G4?), the press conference should have marked an effort to dazzle Nintendo's wavering "core." Allow the fans a whiff of another classic sequel, and all would have been right in their hearts. Instead, well ... you know what happened.

"I would say the message is we were disappointed with our performance at E3. There were titles like Wario which we think will be really fun titles that we should have showcased," Cammie recently admitted to VGChartz, adding, "We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming. It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage." Points for honesty?

We pretty much crammed the need-to-know right up there in the headline, but here it is again: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts pre-orders (confirmed: the game's only $40) will include free download codes for the original Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox Live Arcade at "participating" retailers (read: not the little game store up the block). The code apparently will be redeemable on Nuts & Bolts' launch day, giving players a "two-week head start" on the XBLA game, which won't be released to the masses until a couple weeks later.

But why would you put down the new thing for the old one? Good question. For the answer we'll point you to "Stop 'N' Swop," a slice of Banjo lore that has intrigued completists of the original N64 games for years, now fully realized for the first time. (Spoiler: Certain accomplishments in Nuts & Bolts unlock <gasp>new content in the decade-old XBLA re-release</gasp>.)

Speaking of bonuses, we've got a little something special for you today. Hit up the gallery below for the first screens of the newly revealed Nuts & Bolts game world: Jiggoseum. It's like the Olympics ... but with cah-razy vehicles!

Congratulations! You're now a part of history ... or at least, a part of Alex St. John's alternate reality. Spend enough time with "the guy who talked Microsoft into the console business" and you might start seeing a big red countdown -- the kind that ends in KA-BOOM! -- tattooed on your gaming console, the UK's Telegraph reports. "I think we're looking at the last generation of consoles. There's not going to be an Xbox 720 or a PS4, I'll make that bet, not going to happen," St. John predicts.

Not surprisingly, St. John's grim prophecy doubles as a convincing plug for WildTangent's forthcoming virtual console: Orb. Orb will offer "enthusiast" games (BioShock and Assassin's Creed are two "possible" examples) for free on an ad-driven, session-by-session basis. In theory, this kind of digital platform could one day replace disc-based consoles, as it offers "free" gaming through an advertising model that consumers have accepted in other markets and cuts out the huge economic losses that console manufacturers can't seem to avoid (um, except for Nintendo!). "I'll take the heat if I'm wrong and don't mind being mocked in the future with people going 'Wow, was he wrong,'" St. John says of his market forecast, "But it doesn't happen to me very often."

It started out as a tantalizing April Fools gag, and then evolved into a grueling Metal Gear Solid 4 unlockable. Wanna play as Snake dressed up as the 12th century assassin? Sure thing. Just earn the Assassin's Emblem: Beat the game with 50 or more knife kills, 50 or more CQC holds, and 25 or less alerts.

That's the honorable way to do it, at least. But what if we told you there was an infinitely easier way to drape the cloak of the Assassins Order over your Old Snake? Would you risk being shamed by your peers? Would you utter the magic word...?

Spoiler alert! A new Ratchet & Clank game is coming next year. Upon completing Quest for Booty -- the downloadable Ratchet & Clank episode due on PSN next week -- 1UP was rewarded with ... more Ratchet & Clank; at least, the reassurance that there'll be a ninth installment in the franchise. The teaser (pictured above) supposedly appears after the credits roll and all but confirms Insomniac's intent to keep churning out sequels every other fall (the series is turning just "six" in November!), while popping out a Resistance game in the off years. Do we have an early front-runner for Joystiq's coveted award for Stalwart Excellency in the Face of Change?

With the next phase of PlayStation Home construction getting underway, we now have a clear picture of the region restrictions placed on the virtual world, at least those being implemented for the expanded beta. Users are apparently being matched to servers based on their consoles' native regions (which are not configurable), PS3 Fanboy reports. While this peculiar restriction will only affect the small percentage of PlayStation 3 owners whose consoles were imported from other regions, it counters the open access granted to PlayStation Store users, who can shop in any Store region from anywhere by setting up PSN accounts based in different regions. The Home region restrictions also mean that make-believers won't be mingling internationally nor will they be able to sign into their Japanese PSN IDs from an American console, for example, and hop onto a Japanese server.

PS3 Fanboy points out that the obvious explanation for the lockdown is optimized advertising. There's no sense in pushing American products on a UK gamer who is bird watching on a US server. Still, we're holding onto hope for some cross-regional opportunities, like tournaments or maybe exchange programs. Who's up for a semester in the Caribbean Home?

Vin Diesel vs. The Batman? If we didn't know better, we'd have mistaken the first Batman Arkham Asylum screens for the spiffy new chapter in the Chronicles of Riddick remake. (After all, Bats has tangoed with Aliens and Predator -- so why not the Alpha Furyan?) But we digress. Rocksteady Studios eagerly released the "WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE Game Informer screens" on its website, but then realized, uh, they're exclusive, and promptly pulled them. Unfortunately, erasing an internet blunder is never as easy as refreshing the page, and the images have spread to new hosts. Hellooo NeoGAF! [Argh, pulled! ... CVG has 'em.]

Update: Warner Bros. Interactive is making the rounds this afternoon, trying to bottle up the pesky genie that escaped earlier today. "The images of Batman Arkham Asylum that Rocksteady posted on their website were done in error," a representative has explained to Joystiq. In turn, we have complied with the company's request to remove any screenshots from this post and will surely not remind you that the images in question are still floating around the internet, maybe even locatable through links posted in the comments section...

Blizzard president Mike Morhaime has issued a public apology on behalf of the company for the recent BlizzCon fiasco -- the "Wrath of the Ticke-Ting" -- which left thousands of F5ers empty-handed after two days of strenuous clicking. "As a result of this week's events, the excitement that many of you felt about the show has turned into dissatisfaction and disappointment," Morhaime writes in a statement posted on various Blizzard-operated sites. "Due to these circumstances, we've reevaluated our convention hall space and come up with some solutions that will allow us to offer 3,000 more tickets for sale."

We don't know where Blizzard plans to squeeze the additional load of freaks and geeks -- worst case scenario: dump some mobile buildings in the parking lot and load 'em with free diet soda and chips ... and dip -- but we do know that the only way to become one of the fabled "3,000" is to sharpen your Sword of Last Resort and spill some virgin blood upon the Alter of Actilizzard toss your name into a hat and hope it gets pulled. That's right, "To avoid the issues many of you faced this week, we'll be selling these 3,000 via a lottery," Morhaime explains (read: the servers still can't handle the force of 10 million clicks). Further details will be posted once Blizzard figures out how it's gonna work. Suggestions?