This is what we have all been waiting for … a battle for the ages, and the time is now. We have assembled 32 of the finest video game characters that have ever called a console home, and a five round single elimination tournament of speed, skill, strength, and determination stands between them and being named pixel for pixel the baddest that ever was, the “King of the Game”.

This weeks match up is a classic battle of old school versus new school, as Lara Croft goes head to head with Pitfall Harry. John Madden calls the game live from the University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, with the help of special theme guest Harrison Ford. Read more…

Richard Diamant, the Lead Character Artist behind Naughty Dog’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, has posted some of his work for the game on his website. We at Ripten.com would love to share them with you, because he’s a talented guy, and the character models that ended up in the game are some of the best we’ve ever seen. Make sure to come back for our review of Uncharted, which will be up later today. Read more…

A new update for High Stakes on the Vegas Strip (downloadable through PSN) has patched in remote play, making it the third or so title to actually take advantage of the much-hyped feature; the other two being Japanese game Mainichi Issho and Lair. Read more…

Want to get yourself some money in double quick time, or get hold of some top secret government documents? Then why not use your PS3 to crack some passwords faster than ever before! Of course we here at Ripten don’t condone this sort of behaviour, but the PS3 is actually an incredible password cracker, able to crack eight-character passwords in just hours. Read more…

An insider at GameSpot has come forward today claiming he worked on the Kane and Lynch ads. He put in his two cents regarding the Gerstmann firing. Read his thoughts after the jump. Read more…

After injuring one of his fingers from playing too much Guitar Hero II, modder Egyokeo took it upon himself to rig up a MIDI drum kit to work with the game. If he wasn’t going to be able to grip the fret his Xplorer until the aching digit fully healed, then he’d play guitar…with the drums. Hit the jump for some videos of the final product.
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Game Director Dylan Jobe’s updated Playstation.blog with an announcement that the Warhawk Booster Pack, entitled “Omega Dawn,” is finished, save for some last minute testing. In the post, he gushes like a mother proud of her straight-A child over the expansion and let’s slip just how much it will cost you. Read more…

According to Variety, Sony plans to launch a new “On Demand” service for the Playstation 3 early next year in Japan, with motoring videos as the initial draw. Read more…

When I posted yesterday’s Playstation Store update, I cited that Idol Minds’ new PSN title was thought up in a marketing department. Now, we know how big a role the ad men can play in shaping a game’s public face, but it’s still taken on good faith that most of the real ideas are coming from the development team, itself. After playing for a few hours, I feel confident in saying that Pain really does blur that line, and it’s not for the better. Read more…

A new PSN game has been revealed and is the second entry in the PixelJunk series from Dylan Cuthbert’s Q-Games. The game will be released next Thursday 6th December. Follow the jump for new images of the game. Read more…

Want your own BrickStation 3? Upgrade to 2.01 and hold your breath…

Starting last week, PS3 owners started reporting that their next gen console would not read their Blu-Ray discs. Some users reported that their PS3 would not even read DVDs. All reports started to come in after gamers made the upgrade to 2.01. Read more…

Many readers have asked about why we run ads on the site that often have very little to do with gaming. I am going to answer that now publicly, as it seems fitting when you consider the event that has taken place between Jeff Gerstmann and his former long time employer Gamespot. Read more…

For over ten years, Jeff Gerstmann ruffled the feathers of sensitive fanboys with his controversial reviews on Gamespot, which is why it’s ironic that he’s been fired for giving a mediocre game a score it deserves. At least, that’s what we’ve heard. You’re going to read this here and you’re going to read this at other sites in the coming days. The fact of the matter is that we have no real “facts” yet, but information taken from several sources seem to be converging on the idea that something rotten is going on. Read more…

BeyondUnreal, a site dedicated to providing Unreal information to gamers since 1998, has published a list of changes they state will be made to the Unreal Tournament 3 game via a second beta patch. Have at the complete list of changes after the jump. Read more…

Did you find yourself watching the new Sony PS3 commercials and saying “wow, those look pretty badass!”, because I sure did. Apparently though, Sony did not share our enthusiasm for the ads. Read more…