What do you do when you're short on cash? You reach for what you know and get on out. That's what gamers are doing this year -- and more specifically, this holiday -- focusing a tremendous amount of their "limited" game purchases on sequels, reports Reuters. While the industry hasn't been as "recession-proof" as some would have us believe (think of all those layoffs, doomed studios and golden parachutes), game sequels are doing well at retail.

Activision is the proud parent of two such standouts, both the latest in their respective lineages (actually, this year's Guitar Hero is more like a set of siblings than a single entity). The Call of Duty franchise topped 35 million in total sales following the release of World at War in November, and the Guitar Hero series has seen its total sales surpass 23 million with a handful of installments continuing to clutter up your living space in 2008. In fact, add in Rock Band sales, and the music genre outsold the mighty Madden-led sports conglomerate, solidifying itself as the new regent of redundancy. So then, the industry's New Year's resolution: Let's do it again ... again!

We may take offense to mainstream media's characterization of early game music as "annoying loops of ear candy," but there's no denying that today's game soundtracks are truly professional endeavors. The Seattle Times today published a profile of some of the industry's most established composers and their processes -- not to mention their paychecks. By the article's estimate, composer Garry Schyman (he scored BioShock, ya know) could earn something like $126,000 for his work on the Resistance: Retribution soundtrack.

Currently, Schyman is working with a nine-piece brass ensemble in the London Bridge Studio in Shoreline, Washington -- the grunge era haunt of Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, to name a few. While those bands grew out their hair and donned pop's, uh, grungy flannels, Schyman was breaking into the game scene, being among the first to record orchestral music for a game (Voyeur, if you must know). Today, Schyman works almost exclusively on game soundtracks. "Film music can be very soft and ambient," says Schyman. "But game developers want strong musical statements. So from a creative standpoint, games are a great place to be right now."

Capcom has today revealed the "long awaited, and not so secret, last character" in Street Fighter IV. We'll spare the drum roll and get right to her: Rose. But, well, you already knew that. Still, Capcom's announcement has sealed the list of 25 fighters. (Sorry to Retsi, Geki, Joe, Lee, T. Hawk, Dee Jay, all of SFIII, some of you Alpha dogs and cats, and any of the rest of yous we missed! Maybe next game, eh?)

Get familiar with the entire Street Fight IV gang right here:

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift [sold out!] Fallout 3 is the Gold Box deal of the day for $49.98 (17% off). Also, if you purchase the $500 160 GB PS3 Uncharted bundle today (offer expires 2:59 am ET tomorrow), Amazon will toss in a free Blu-ray remote ($25). Of course, you can also score a free Blu-ray remote by purchasing any eligible PS3 game and Blu-ray movie together. Here are today's timed impulse buys:

• 9am ET – Pro-Evolution Soccer 2009 [expired]
  
• 1pm ET – Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway [sold out!]
  
• 2pm ET – Harryhausen Boxed Set [expired]
• 3pm ET – Tomb Raider Underworld [sold out!]
  
• 4pm ET – SingStar ABBA [sold out!]
• 5pm ET – Resistance 2 Collector's Edition [sold out!]
• 6pm ET – Spider-Man Trilogy [sold out!]
  
• 8pm ET – Animation 3-pack [expired]
  
• 9pm ET – Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm [sold out!]
  

That's it folks! Thanks for playing.

As it turns out, stereoscopic 3-D technology isn't just reserved for the fabulously bored ... of making flat, $1.8 billion-grossing Hollywood weepies. No, 3-D, like "put on those big, goofy glasses" 3D, can be the work of mere mortals. Like these two fellers above, from Blitz Games Studios.

In what's been billed as an MTBS exclusive (that's: "Meant To Be Seen"), Blitz has reportedly confirmed that Sony "fully intends" to update PlayStation 3 to support stereoscopic 3-D gaming and Blu-ray watching next year (presumably, in time for Ubisoft's 3-D Avatar game). What's more, MTBS suggests that the ability to upgrade to 3-D via a firmware update could be unique to PS3 (the console is a 4D concept, after all) -- potentially leaving current Xbox 360 owners to endure gaming life in a veritable stone age.

Blitz, famous for its trio of Burger King Xbox games, has its hands in the forthcoming movement, developing its own "BlitzTech" 3-D engine, which debuted earlier this month at the 3D Entertainment Summit in LA. Well then Blitz, we can't wait to see it in Hell, er, Hall, Kentia Hall -- next June.

[Thanks, Heavytoka]

Today is a day rich in new Resident Evil 5 content -- just not the kind you can actually play. Earlier, you got a peek at some new levels through our Expertly Trained Lens© (that's right, we own the copyright) and now, well, here's the official box art. Cue the oohing and the ahhing. As for that demo you may or may not be currently playing offline, a sanctioned worldwide release is not scheduled until early next year.

The RE5 demo has been delayed due to unspecified complications, as we reported yesterday. But with the game's March 13th release date fast approaching, we can't imagine Capcom will continue to play the Vague Excuse Card (this one's public domain) much longer.

If this looks like a game that should be free, well, it's because it is free. The game, you may recall, is Dash of Destruction, the winner of last year's Xbox Live Arcade Doritos promotion. After a year and change in the hands of developer NinjaBee, tasked with the rather expensive Flash-to-XBLA conversion (it costs your credibility, you know), the "game" is regrettably here. Unfortunately for NinjaBee, thirteen months of stalling was not enough time for the higher power to forget. See what happens when you bet your soul? And lose.

Thankfully, continuing in the proud tradition of Yaris (R.I.P.), Dash of Destruction will be offered to us for exactly 0. This one's on Doritos -- muchas gracias little golden ones!

Generally, DLC is an honest and reasonable way to expand the longevity of a title. But "A": Gears of War 2 is barely a month old. Who's thinking about longevity at this point? (Hint: the one guy whose job is to see the future -- and no one else.) And "B": The game has sold more than 3 million copies. Is it reasonable to assume Epic is posing above a curbed-stomped economy? (Yeah, at least Cliff is.) So this brings us to "C": Being honest. Three new maps that didn't quite make the deadline for last month's "re-emergence" day? Three new maps for 800 ($10)? Is that good business? Is that the holiday spirit?

Maybe it's us. Maybe we're the ones feeling Scroogey with our wallets. But how can Epic and Microsoft try to sell us more maps when online matchmaking is still broken? We suggest you preview the Combustible Map Pack before you buy. There's an image gallery below, and map descriptions and a video preview after the break. Let us know what you decide.

How about this for a lead sentence: "Sony's PS3 is dying on the shelves." Silicon Alley Insider has spun NPD's November report into a death sentence for PlayStation 3 and its little buddy, pointing to an 18 percent drop in November sales of the console from 2007 to 2008 as proof that PS3 is "flopping." (Comparatively, Xbox 360 sales recorded a modest percentage gain and Wii sales more than doubled.) The cause? It's a three-way tie, according to the analysis:

• The cost: PS3 is the most expensive console. Period. (But it ain't exactly cheap to piece together a comparable Xbox 360.)
  
• The Blu-rays: Americans continue to buy DVDs (by May's count, at least). Things are starting to reverse ... in Japan.
  
• The games: Silicon Alley Insider believes PS3 doesn't have "any" must-have exclusives. That's ridiculous. But it doesn't have many.

Conclusion: "Tell yourself the PS3 has superior graphics if it makes you feel better, but a $400 console with a mediocre game library simply cannot compete against an Xbox 360 priced at $200 in this economy." Ooh! Dem's fightin words.

Epic gave the old Gears servers a good hard boot, er, re-boot earlier this week, claiming that the new configuration will allow the matchmaking servers to support more players per server. "Based on what we're seeing so far, matchmaking times have improved significantly," reports senior producer Rod Fergusson on the Epic Forums.

Fergusson does admit, though, that potential delays are always looming. Playlists are subject to low player population at any time, for example, and there isn't always the right sized party to merge with your own party. Don't fret, Fergusson promises "we're not done yet."

We know, we know. It's Friday. We let you down. What can we say? Yes, there was a PSN update yesterday, and it was right on time. But we were so busy rockin and poppin in Central Plaza all night that we completely ignored the other new wares this week. Can you blame us?

Look, we waited in line for six hours just to get into Home! And once we finally made it in? Well, there was no way we were gonna hit the exit door just to go over and peer inside the PlayStation Store (it's not like we ever buy anything anyway). No, we spent the night crowded around the few female avatars that showed up mingling and led the mob that chased them across the plaza and through the mall when they tried to escape making friends. There's nothing like breaking the ice with, "Where do you live?" followed by the flirty "guns" gesture.

But alas, here in the real world, we've got a responsibility to deliver the news. And by golly, fourteen hours late or not, we're gonna deliver the news!

Troy Dixon, who played Terence "T-bag" Brown in Pure Pwnage, was killed in a car accident on Saturday, December 6th. "He will be remembered for his warmth and kindness, and for the laughter he was able to bring to this world. Whether he was on the stage of a comedy club or in front of a camera, Troy was truly in his element as an entertainer," recalls a message posted on the Pure Pwnage site.

Troy's character, T-bag, first appeared in Season 2, Episode 3 of the web-based mockumentary series. The episode featured Troy's hilarious salute to Halo 3, "Straight Outta Blood Gulch." Our thoughts and prayers go out to Troy's family, friends and fans during this difficult time. He will be missed.

If you would like to express your condolences, please do so on the official Pure Pwnage forums thread.

The PlayStation Home Beta is now live and public for all world regions. Fire up your PS3, navigate to the PSN icon and scroll down to PlayStation Home -- yup it's there! One 77 MB download later and you're ... almost Home! (You need to install the software* and agree to the necessary legalese first.) So, how's your first day of your new second life treatin' you?

4:25PM ET – The PlayStation Home "Message of the Day" invites everyone to a "huge dance party" in the Central Plaza at 6 pm tonight. "This party just might last throughout the night, so come on in and meet your new friends." (We'll bring the stuff to spike the punch!) You gonna be there?

4:30PM ET – Doh! "Network Error: The connection to the server was lost (C-991)." (Twice.)

4:40PM ET – We're still unable to connect (from NYC, San Fran and Oklahoma), but PS3 Fanboy's Jem Alexander reports Home is up and running "flawlessly" in the UK. Anyone else have a status update? Please post in the comments.

4:55PM ET – New error! "Request timed out: /HUBPS3_SVML/unity/start.jsp" -- we'll keep trying ...

10:25PM ET – We're Home! Finally.

Uncharted 2 is the Game Informer cover story of the month -- and the internet info dump of the day! A condensed version of the preview (credit "MaDogNik96") has been making the rounds across forums telling the story of Nathan Drake's latest adventure to thieve the lost ships of Marco Polo. Well, not the whole story. Not even close.

What we can glean from the secondhand knowledge is a new love interest-slash-sidekick: Chloe Frazer, voiced by Claudia Black (Stargate SG-1) and fond of rocket launchers. And fresh off his stint as the new Prince of Persia, Nolan North returns as the voice of Drake, who's learned a thing or two since the first game. As previously revealed, Naughty Dog is creating new free climbing and stealth gameplay, but we'll also see improved combat; "more dynamic" fights, ditched SixAxis controls, and abilities to move while aiming behind cover and gunning from any stance, reports MaDog. QTEs (think: Drake's Fortune's final boss) will apparently be reworked to give more control to the player, and, in general, characters will interact better with the environments.

On the tech side, there are some ambiguous numbers being thrown around: Did you know Drake's Fortune only used 30 percent of PS3's power? Uncharted 2 promises to tap "nearly 100 percent." No way! Our guess: it's gonna look better and load faster (in fact, there won't be any load screens once you start playing, reportedly). What else? Uh ... a score by Greg Edmonson and an icy train level ... (clearly, we've exhausted this news already).

Source - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves [GameFAQs]
Source - OMG first Uncharted 2 Scan [GameTrailers.com]
Source - New Uncharted 2 INFO -- GI [NeoGAF]

The Resident Evil 5 demo's online co-op mode is no longer accessible outside of Japan, reports X3F. While our friends have not verified the mode's status inside Japan, X3F confirms that users outside of Japan are auto-magically signed out of Xbox Live upon launching the demo, which is, officially, only available in Japan. But a workaround makes the content accessible worldwide, and a built-in English language option further fuels the temptation. C'mon, everybody else is doing it ...

It seems, though, that Microsoft is now filtering IP addresses that connect to the demo's servers, apparently denying any that don't originate from Japan. Stopping short of redirecting your Xbox Live connection through a proxy server (note: it may sound like we know what we're talking about -- but we really have no idea), demo players outside of Japan will have to settle for offline play until the official releases hit their regions. Look at it this way: it beats being banned.