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Welcome back to the after party! Another week, another vein of news has been found, tapped, mined, polished, stuck on a gold ring, and sold at a thousand percent markup… journalistically speaking. On with the show!

Story Time  (Source: Naughty Dog)

The good folks at Naughty Dog grabbed gamers by the short ones with the world release of the trailer for their upcoming project The Last of Us at the VGAs a few days ago. After the show, they tweeted some more details about what can be expected in their next outing.  

"The Last of Us is a genre-defining experience that blends survival and action elements to tell a character-driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. Abandoned cities are being reclaimed by nature, and the remaining survivors are killing each other for food, weapons and whatever they can get their hands on. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a brave teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States."

So you're "defining" the post-apocalyptic survival genre… now?  I think the ship sailed on that a long time ago. Still, the game looks intriguing. Watching the trailer, you get that desolate feeling, the kind of feeling you'd expect when you spend your days watching civilization's slow agonizing death. It was reminiscent of the Dead Island trailer (minus the "tug at the heart strings" moment of watching a little girl die in reverse).

Despite what Naughty Dog may say, the post-apocalyptic survival horror genre has been defined and redefined from Resident Evil 2 to Enslaved to Fallout. Can The Last of Us really bring something new to the table? If anybody can, it's Naughty Dog, the same people that finally made an adventure game worth playing and introduced the world to the idea that bandicoots can be cool too.

Vita in my Hands (Source: GAF)

Sony's latest handheld may not be hitting store shelves in time for Santa to stock his sleigh state-side, but that doesn't mean the big guy isn't loading up for the good little girls and boys in the land of the rising sun.

Early sales figures have started popping up for day one of the Vita. Looks like the Wi-Fi version, not surprisingly, is the big winner, with stores estimating 85% sell off by first day's end. The 3G version isn't doing badly either, coming in at 56%.

It's no surprise the handheld is selling so well in the birthplace of Sony. The real test will come in a few months, when the market is saturated with Vita reactions, and the western world will be able to make an informed decision on whether the Vita is worth it or not. It's a ballsy move by Sony which will pay off big… if Vita delivers. If not… PSP may have company in Sony's failed dreams department.

Kojima Gives a Free Taste (Source: Konami)

Kojima is a game tease, always giving gamers just a bit of info, enough to excite but not to inform. After stringing gamers along with virtually no info on Metal Gear Solid Rising for years, he finally unveiled a real, honest to goodness trailer. Finally, questions were answered and secrets revealed.

But just when you think you've got a bead on Kojima, he goes and tweets this: "New title" run by "Fox Engine"

Ah Kojima, you wily devil! Now the interwebs are aflutter with speculation on just what the game legend is working on.  

Personally, I think it's another Metal Gear title, and I know I'm not the only person in this camp. Kojima just loves Snake too much to let him go at this point. With the Metal Gear franchise set to turn 25 in 2012, my money is on a remake.  It could be a Metal Gear Solid remake, as some people have speculated, but my guess is a remake of the original Metal Gear.

Think about it: it's been 25 years since Metal Gear was released.  We've got a whole new generation of gamers out there who have no idea about where Snake comes from. Plus, Kojima could live in nostalgia while creating the game. Finally, it would make the fan boys freak out (yours truly included) to see this story retold with 25 years worth of gaming advancements crammed into it. But, like anything Kojima does, we'll just have to wait and see…

PlayStation is Giving it Away! ... For a Bit (Source: Sony)

The good folks at Sony are feeling particularly jolly this holiday season. They are offering their PlayStation Plus service free!... for 30 days.  

Yes, a few lucky gamers will have the opportunity not only to get a taste of the premium service themselves, but also share it with two friends. Sony is sending via e-mail 3 codes to unlock Playstation plus for 30 days. Now, you'll still need to put in your credit card info to redeem the code, so be careful, would be plus-ers! Odds are the service will automatically charge you after the free trial is up...

It's a smart move by Sony, whose premium service has a lot to offer that gamers may not be aware of. Exclusive discounts, beta access, free games, demos, and free cloud storage, just to name a few. In fact, Sony boasts the PlayStation Plus service has saved users up to $1,200 in exclusive discounts over 2011. Now, of course that's Sony adding it up. But hey, free is free!

This Week's Releases:

Nothing to see here, move along… Guess you'll just have to dump another 80 hours into Skyrim.

What We've Learned:

Naughty Dogs like to define things that are already defined, Japan still likes Sony, Kojima still likes teasing, and PlayStation pushes the Plus.

It's over!  Merry Christmas HOHOHO!

Andrew Mellick

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