PlayStation 3 owners have grown immune to outrageous rumors, and now Xbox 360 is getting a taste of its own medicine. Recently a rumor was started that Gears of War was coming to PS3, and Epic Games' Mark Rein didn't hesitate to make a statement:

"This story is complete bull****. I emailed the site and asked them to take it down. We're very happy with our relationship with Microsoft. If it weren't for them Gears wouldn't be the huge hit it has become."

I wonder how well Gears of War would sell on PS3, since most PS3 owners I know swear that the game of the year was shit compared to their beloved Resistance: Fall of Men. Although, it probably won't be much longer until we hear more about Epic Games bringing their game to the PC.

Damn you, Nintendo. Just as I had started to get tired of your addictive Mario Kart games, you give us a wacky Wiimote that will probably reinvent the wheel for another year of multiplayer mayhem. According to Jeux-France, Nintendo plans on revealing the next Mario Kart game for the Wii at the upcoming E3 event. The rumors also point to Nintendo finalizing the release dates for Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy, and hopefully presenting plenty of videos for each game as well. In closing, the Nintendo rumor mentioned a "large revelation on the Hardware level," which some are already guessing to be a hidden audio translator chip in the back of the Wiimotes.

These PlayStation 3 firmware update details come from the official PlayStation forums, so the fanboys should be well informed, yet not entirely trustable. With no information on when all of this will be available to the public, here's the rumored updates:

Users
- You can now password-protect user accounts.

Settings
- [Dynamic Normalizer] has been added as an option under [Sound Settings].
- [Energy Saver] has been added as an option.
- [Equalizer] has been added as a feature under [Music Settings].
- [Full] has been added as an option for [DVD Wide Display] under [BD / DVD Settings].
- [Photo Settings] has been added as an option.
- [PS / PS2 Settings] has been added as an option.
- [RSS Channel Settings] has been added as an option.
- [Sample Rate] has been added to [Audio CD Import] under [Music Settings].
- [Screen Saver] has been expanded under [Display Settings].
- The method of selecting an output resolution has been changed in [Video Output Settings] under [Display Settings].
- [Theme Settings] has been added as an option.
- [Zero Unused Disk Space] has been added as an option under [System Settings] > [Format Utility].

If all of this turns out to be true, then a lot of players' PS3 prayers have been answered. Click here and scroll down for photo, music, video, and other rumored updates on the full list. What else do you demand from Sony?

The newest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine has some interesting stories in its rumor section, check this out PS3 gamers:

"The biggest is that Team Ninja apparently have an exclusive new Dead or Alive game in the works for the Sony console. Also interesting is that Capcom is apparently remaking the original Mega Man with new graphics for download on PSN. And for RPG fans, Nippon Ichi is working on a new Disgaea for PS3 and Square Enix has a new Kingdom Hearts coming -- though it won't be Kingdom Hearts 3 (that will be coming later)."

If all the rumors turn out to be true, then that's great news for several different genres. It looks like Kingdom Hearts will be ripped to pieces as much as every installment of Final Fantasy has been recently. I remember when I heard about Final Fantasy X-2 and could barely grasp the concept of another FF game without it being FFXI. For the most part I'm glad to see them continue their stories past the scope of just one game, and if FFXIII turns out to be multiple games that are all the same story from different perspectives, then I'm all for it. I'm just afraid it's their excuse for working on ten different games at once, and giving us only 1/10th of the content and story we expect in each installment. These are all just rumors though, so only time will tell.

The GTA IV rumors in the past haven't turned out to be too successful. A leaked music listing that meant to confirm a 1980s New York setting turned out to only get the location right, and not the timeframe. A lot of people still think Rockstar's keeping some big surprises secret for now, and are convinced that early rumors still hold merit, so now there's another claim to add to the pile. Someone posted a page worth of story and gameplay details here on the GameSpot forums, and if you'd rather not know what was written in the off chance that the information turns out to be true, then stop reading now.

Forum member Jadex9 claims that Nikko Bellic is not the main character . . . for long. Early on in the game you get murdered during a drug deal and your cousin Roman Petronov becomes the main character for the rest of the game. Roman is greatly disturbed and expects his death may not be far away either, so he decides to at least become as rich and powerful as he can before meeting his end, and from there you get to choose which gang you want to join and use to rise to the top. Although it might not be that simple, Jadex9 also mentions that you will be mugged/jacked/jumped/begged to join three different gangs. So it's still very unclear how non-linear GTA IV will turn out to be even if this rumor is true. As far as that mysterious backstory goes, Nikko fled Estonia to escape an angry "paramilitary/Mafioso hybrid" and the story revolves around a clash between the Italian and Russian mafias, which should easily tie into Nikko's backstory. Jadex9 also believes that there will be six motorcycle vehicles in the game, and there will be aircraft in the game, but it will only be three helicopters. Take this all into consideration and feel free to further predict what we'll actually see when the game comes out in October.

Blizzard just announced BlizzCon 2007, and I already have my hopes up for a preview of one of their new projects soon. On top of that news there's also a new rumor going around that StarCraft 2 will be Blizzard's next release, and that we'll get a beta to play later this year. If this is true, then BlizzCon 2007 would definitely be the place to make a big announcement, and it's a great way for them to sucker fans into paying $100 for tickets to their two day event. The Korean translations that started the rumor mention the introduction of a Kerrigan race, new units for each race, and even the possibility of the StarCraft servers getting shut down to help the success of the sequel. Which would be terrible.

I'd honestly like to see Diablo 3 before StarCraft 2, although releasing back to back RPGs probably isn't the best idea. Any predictions on what their secret projects are, and what we'll see next? I'm still waiting for a new Lost Vikings game, I wonder if Blizzard's ever thought about giving handheld games a try.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Sony had exclusive access to Death Star Devil May Cry 4 on the PS3. Then, a few weeks ago Microsoft stole Devil May Cry 4's PS3 exclusivity away from Sony, and gave Xbox 360 fans A New Hope. Well, according to Three Speech (a site that's openly in cahoots with Sony as a news portal for PlayStation gamers) it looks like BioShock might not be just an Xbox 360/PC title anymore. When writing a long list of PS3 games to look forward to, here's what Three Speech had to say:

"Another hotly anticipated title from 2K Games (also appearing on Xbox 360) is BioShock. BioShock’s lineage can be traced back to the revered System Shock 2. Essentially an RPG, although it majors on shooting, BioShock will certainly be one of the most visually stunning games ever – it’s set in an abandoned underwater city built by a billionaire in the Art Deco style."

Hans Kutaragi and Phil Harribacca! Attack!!! I spent five minutes trying to figure out how to spell the Chewbacca roar, but failed every time. Help me out.

Have I already managed to butcher the story in Star Wars? Yes. Has PS3 struck back and leveled the playing field? Well, no. Kotaku already contacted 2K Games and was guaranteed that BioShock is still only coming out on the Xbox 360 and PC, as originally planned. But then again, the force is strong with them, they can't be trusted in times of Sony peril. Where is Kaz Hiraiwalker when you need him? Hopefully he'll return and restore 1080peace and order in the gaming galaxy. Don't be surprised if 2K Games changes their mind at a later date.

Kotaku loves leaking out the behind-the-scenes work that Sony does from one month to the next. This time they noticed that Sony filed a US Federal Communications Commission request that included an additional 80GB PS3 listed. With the Xbox 360 Elite revealed only two days ago, the FCC request from earlier this month seemed like Sony might be planning ahead to further combat the "Elite" sales. But 80GB? Kutaragi had discussed a fully tricked out $2,500 PS3 in the past, this small jump from 60GB just doesn't make any sense. Luckily Sony just responded with "The 80GB we're not making a comment on, but we don't have any plans at the moment." They should make a PS3 Elite version that comes with a floppy drive. Just because they can - the future of floppy drives starts when they say it does.

TLB reader Lawl has sent me quite the conspiracy theory. I emailed him back calling him crazy as usual, and told him to I need proof. Minutes later he hit me back with something I wasn't expecting to see - the image above. Where the fuck is the PS3 graphic? If you search Rockstar Games' support database, you'll only find an Xbox 360 version of GTAIV listed, not a PS3 one as well. It's been established that Grand Theft Auto IV is coming to both PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360, but that each will have original downloadable content over time, so why wouldn't each be listed on their support page?

Has Microsoft worked its money magic yet again and stolen away another game from Sony's PS3? Well, Take Two Interactive, the publisher for the GTA series, isn't doing so well right now financially. In fact, they even postponed a financial meeting until tomorrow, where they're probably going to get a lot of shit from shareholders. That's where Lawl's theory kicks in - tomorrow is also the day that the GTAIV trailer is revealed, as well as the other half of Microsoft's big announcement - the first part of course being the not so surprising Xbox 360 Elite. Coincidence?

Thanks to Lawl on Arrogantics for the rumor tip. Has Microsoft really gained GTAIV as an exclusive title? This is obviously a huge rumor, and could be written off as simply careless site updating on Rockstar's behalf, but with the big puzzle pieces still missing in tomorrow's puzzle, it's time to play the speculation game. Your thoughts? Entirely possible? Pissed? Meh?

Last week Orange Lounge Radio reported that Namco had told retailers that a new Katamari game will be coming to Xbox 360, PS3, and the Wii sometime this fall. Supposedly "Beautiful Katamari" will roll up 360 and PS3 on October 17th for $39.99, and then the Wii on November 14th for $29.99. The rumor didn't get a lot of attention, but Namco has requested that the article be taken down, making us want to believe it even more. Orange Lounge Radio plans on giving away more details on this Sunday's show, and has already addressed the fact that they never pull April Fool's Jokes on their show.

Katamari Damacy is the type of game that I think I could honestly play over and over for years and never get tired of, so I'll take any Katamari game from Namco, although topping We Love Katamari will be hard to pull off. Hooray for cheap games though.