Sony Japan is putting a special Christmas gift in the stockings of Gran Turismo 5 owners in that territory. From December 24 to January 31, Japanese GT5 drivers will be able to download a Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640, a BMW M3 Coupe and a Jaguar XJ13 completely free for use in the game. The Lambo and the Beemer were originally included in the game's collector's edition, and the Jag was a promotional extra from Facebook.

The promotion is currently for Japan only, so you US and European players will have to live with the usual coal in your stocking. Maybe next year, try not being so naughty?

Elemental: War of Magic's version 1.1 patch, which, when printed out, is reportedly 19 pages long, is developer and publisher Stardock's attempt to forget the game's horrific launch and bullishly move forward. According to Stardock, the free update reimagines the use of mana in the game, adds new spells, overhauls the user interface, rebalances the game and improves the AI. The takeaway being this is a "new" Elemental.

Stardock has been on a quest to reanimate the game (and potential franchise) from its D.O.A. state. The company hired grassroots talent and slowly turned sales around by offering free expansions. The publisher also announced with the latest patch that anyone who buys the game by the end of this year will receive the first expansion pack for free. We're currently contacting LL Cool J to find out when we can officially give Elemental "comeback" status.

To celebrate the holidays, we're kicking off twelve straight days of giveaways from now through Christmas day. And while we say it's to celebrate, really ... we're simply getting rid of some of the larger packages around the ol' office.

Which gets us to our second prize: A fancy Cerberus-branded tin full of Mass Effect 2 goodies. Want Collector's Edition copies on both Xbox 360 and PC? You got it. How about three Mass Effect novels, to further immerse you in the world of BioWare's space opera? Also in there. Lastly, if none of that manages to tingle your fan-ny bone, we're pretty sure the print of the Normany SR2 will do the trick. Ogle it all in the gallery below, and enter to win in the comments below that.

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PlayStation Move owners looking to experience more motion-based gaming might want to consider Modern Combat: Domination, a new online multiplayer shooter -- with Move support -- coming to PSN in January. It's being developed by Gameloft, which probably explains the unfortunately generic name.

There's a brief Gameloft-produced Q&A about the game over on the PlayStation Blog, discussing Domination's map design and some of the other non-Move details. The developer is counting on a "far less expensive" price and a focus on realism to help push it above other first-person shooters on PS3.

Despite the fact that Yakuza: Of the End violently breaks from series tradition, it's hewing pretty closely to the previous games' schedules. According to Siliconera, Famitsu magazine has revealed the Japanese release date for the gangland zombie shooter: March 17. The date follows tradition, apparently, as Yakuza 4 was released in Japan this past March (along with Yakuza 3 in North America and Europe), and Yakuza 3 debuted in Japan in late-February 2009.

In addition to next March's release, Sega has a new Yakuza game coming this winter: a mobile social game called Yakuza Mobile for GREE, in which players raise and train Yakuza characters, earning weapons that can be transferred into Of the End.

The first segment of Teltale's five-part return trip to Monkey Island is now available on the iPad. Tales of Monkey Island - Episode One: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal sees the lovably inept Guybrush Threepwood washing up on Flotsam Island, home to a unicorn-loving glass blower and a doctor with ... somewhat questionable medical intentions. You'll find it on the iTunes store for $6.99, before the rest of the episodes are added next year.

According to Telltale, the controls and character movement in the iPad iTeration are similar to those found in the PC games. Selected inventory items will let you know where they can be used, and a two-finger prod will show all selectable items on screen. You'll want to put all of them in your pocket, basically.

(Note: We apologize if the above headline inflicted mortifying mental imagery on proud and paranoid iPad owners. Invest in a protective case, and never leave your expensive gadget unattended near a dock.)

As it turns out, the greatest foe in the PixelJunk Shooter universe isn't the ever-present danger of being consumed by one of many hazardous elements -- but rather, the danger presented by the cunning of your fellow man. A new trailer for the sequel to
Q-Games' underground action title shows off some of the game's high-tension, cat-and-mouse competitive gameplay, as well as some of the special abilities you'll be able to use while either hunting or hiding from your foes. (Lava tsunami? Don't mind if we do.)

If that sounds a little too intense for your frayed nerves, there's quite a bit of single-player footage in the trailer as well, demoing some of the new liquids, solids, gases and hideous mutants you'll be tasked with surviving this time around. We suggest you start preparing for battle by checking out this new trailer after the jump.

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Sony has unleashed a barrage of MotorStorm Apocalypse news over on the official PlayStation blog. Revealed in a video posted after the break is a track called Skyline, which pits racers against each other while driving across the rooftops of a destroyed (and crumbling) city.

The clip also shows off a new Superbike vehicle, and lots more. The game will offer player customization in the form of both perks and cosmetic updates, a new photo mode for snapping shots mid-race, extensive PSN tie-in content including some PlayStation Plus exclusives and a new taunts / gestures system that will enable you to bug other riders online.

Sony also promises lots of DLC (including possibly a free island-themed track) and a series of developer diary videos in the weeks to come. The game's been given a launch target of Spring 2011, and a demo is planned for early next year. Is it weird that whenever we start to key in on a big Sony release, our biggest wonder is what KB will say about it?

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What? Oh, yeah ... yeah, just hold on, we'll be with you in a sec. ... Now, where were we? ... But wait, that can't ...

Huh? Oh, yeah, the post, right, sorry. We've been staring at the frigging "letter can puzzle" in The 7th Guest for like an hour now and we're honestly this close to snapping our respective iPads and iPhones over our knees at this point. ... Wait, maybe if ... no, that won't work! Dammit!

You know, we're actually a little busy with this to write a post right now. Hey, why not go to the App Store and get The 7th Guest ($2.99 on iPhone, $5.99 on iPad) for yourself while you wait for us to figure this out?

Now, if you'll excuse us, we're gonna watch the video of the chubby ghost lady for like the hundredth time to see if we missed a clue.

Club Nintendo has a few new bonuses available in its shop, just in case you happen to have a sudden influx of new Nintendo games, and therefore Club Nintendo Coins, in the next couple of weeks.

For 350 Coins, you can get one of two sets of adorable adhesive Kirby's Epic Yarn patches, featuring either Saucer and Off-Roader Kirby, or regular-style Kirby and Prince Fluff. Or, for 450 Coins, you can get a set of four New Super Mario Bros. Wii-themed Wii Remote straps, each one representing one of the four playable characters.

In other Club Nintendo news, the fans, messenger bags and tote bags are back in stock. Hurry!

The Spike VGAs may have put on a brave front this year, but the ratings have once again shown a decline, reports Variety. 627,000 people tuned in on Saturday night, a three percent drop from last year -- about 20,000 viewers. To help put that figure into context, the show's debut in 2007 enjoyed a much more substantial 921,000 viewers.

It wasn't all a total downer, though (unless you actually watched the show, we guess). The VGAs actually saw a rise in viewers within key demographics. The Neil Patrick Harris-hosted show received a 12 percent boost in adult viewers aged 18 to 49, from 370,000 last year to 450,000, while 18- to 34-year-old viewers increased in number by five percent, from 278,000 viewers last year to 292,000 this year. Men aged 18 to 34 showed the most significant rise -- 15 percent over last year, from 281,000 viewers to 251,000.

According to a Bloomberg report, Namco Bandai plans to shift the bulk of its game development back to Japan after a rocky year for its titles developed overseas. Company president Shukuo Ishikawa told Bloomberg, "We found the quality and development speed of titles made for us by the overseas studios to be lacking." He added that overseas studios will still be able to "propose and develop games" but that Namco's Japanese operation will "control the process more closely."

After letting the likes of Clash of the Titans, Splatterhouse and Dead to Rights: Retribution out the door, we can appreciate Ishikawa's sentiments. That said, the company's sales projections may have been a little ... optimistic in the first place. Our completely unexperienced advice for Namco: Take the money spent on everything other than Enslaved and spend it on marketing Enslaved 2. Also, please make Enslaved 2.

Jason Rohrer, developer of the terrifically innovative Sleep is Death, has unveiled the identity of his next project in an appropriately mysterious manner. An official site for the game, titled Inside a Star-filled Sky, is filled with all manner of strange symbols, a quote from Justice Scalia in the case Rapanos v. United States, a coded .zip file and a brief, perplexing product description: "A recursive game for one player by Jason Rohrer." Man, we eat this kind of stuff up.

The aformentioned .zip file is actually filled with a chain of other .zip files with single-letter names -- going through all of them spells the phrase "A Table Made of Green Stone," and leads to a site which contains what appear to be screenshots from the game. What does it all mean? We're not sure, though we imagine a few conspiracy theories are bound to pop up in the comments of this post. However, we are sure that, as a Jason Rohrer joint, it's going to be brilliant.

With a motto like "Serious fun for people who don't take themselves too seriously," it's no surprise Virtual Air Guitar Company's debut title is the brimming-with-dumb-fun Kung-Fu Live. Utilizing the PlayStation Eye camera to inject players into an arcadey, comic book-inspired 2D beat-'em-up, the title should appeal to anyone who's mimicked the Karate Kid's crane kick or threatened a potential bully with a deadpanned, "I know Kung Fu." Actually getting yourself in the game, however, can feel like a kick to the swimsuit area, and could steer some Bruce Lee-wannabes from a weekend's worth of hilarious chop-socky hijinks.

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