Joystiq has obtained a video that's set to air at the start of Gamestop's Gears of War midnight tournaments tomorrow. The video contains an introduction by Cliff Bleszinski as well as "never-before-seen footage" from Gears of War 2. Is your interest piqued? Video embedded after the break.

PlayStation 3 owners who subscribe to Sony's "interactive magazine" Qore will be able to participate in Resistance 2's beta this September (via IGN). The details are sketchy at the moment -- we're going to guess you'll have to pay the $25 annual subscription fee and not just $3 for the related episode -- but the thought of 60-player team deathmatch has us frothing at the mouth. No beta details revealed yet for the Qore-less Europe.

Update: Posting on myresistance.net, Insomniac Community Manager James Stevenson has clarified that "you will have many ways to get in" the beta. "The best way which will give you the earliest access to the beta will involve a pre-order program that should be announced soon," Stevenson writes. As for those of you residing outside of North America, don't worry, Insomniac has you covered ... somehow -- worldwide servers will be tested! [Thanks, Jay]

The two-episode Watchmen series that was announced yesterday will be a prequel, according to a preview from 1UP. You can choose to play as either Nite Owl or Rorschach, with the other controlled by AI or via split-screen co-op, in the time before masked heroes were outlawed.

The third-person action games take place exclusively at night is set to be M-rated. While they brought on some heavy-hitters for the story -- notably Wolverine creator Len Wein and Watchmen illustrator Dave Gibbons -- we're always hesitant when someone other than the original author tries to expand a story. Still, an M-rated series with visuals reportedly "worthy of being a now-generation game" and Rorschach's infamous makeshift flamethrower? We remain cautiously optimistic. Watchmen episodes will be released around the same time as the film (March 6, 2009).

Market research firm Parks Associate has released a study claiming subscription-based MMOs aren't dropping enough loot for its players. According to the group's Electronic Gaming in the Digital Home II study (via Worlds in Motion) only the hardcore gamers were into the subscription model, whereas the casual gamer showed "significant interest" in the free-to-play, microtransaction model.

Another part of the study found that, of the non-MMO players polled, 14% would be interested to play if they could play for free, whereas only 2% of that group was interested in subscription-based MMOs. As we always caution, studies generally aren't worth more than the pixels they're displayed on (unless it's a nice monitor, then they're probably worth less). In a recent polling at Joystiq HQ, games that are "free to play" were also seven times more likely to grab our attention than games that weren't free.

Said Director of Broadband and Gaming Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai: "World of Warcraft, with over 10 million players, exceeded expectations for subscription-based MMORPGs, but it's unlikely any other publishers will achieve the same in the near term using a subscription model." Of course, that's kind of a no-brainer even for WoW's competitors.

[Via Eurogamer]

The supposed full set list for Guitar Hero World Tour has been making its way around the forums (Something Awful, GameFAQs). The 87-song list is divided by 73 main tracks and 14 bonus tracks. Additionally, there are 3 guitar battles (Ted Nugent, Zakk Wylde ... and renowned bassist Sting) and 7 "sample songs," presumably for the song creation mode. We're still looking into the source of the list; with no official word from Activision or Neversoft, consider this a rumor. Full set list after the break.

Contrary to the previous post on the matter, some of us think this shirt is awesome. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
The games that weren't there: Missing from E3
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Tomb Raider: Underworld
Joystiq impressions: FutureU, Kaplan's SAT prep game for DS
Joystiq interview: Nintendo spins 'core' gamer appeal, more
Ryan Davis talks up Giant Bomb's explosive re-launch
Wii Fanboy Weekly: July 10 - July 23

News
BBC: Unsafe charging devices 'flooding' UK
Sci-fi author Bruce Sterling to keynote, predict future at Austin GDC
EA inks talent agency deal, more game movies coming
Nintendo launches Wii Digicam Print Channel in Japan
Watchmen getting episodic games on PC, PS3, 360
Watch the direct feed Mirror's Edge demo
Iwata 'sorry' for Nintendo E3 briefing; Wii supplies may still be tight this holiday
Battlestar scribes working on Aliens: Colonial Marines
ESA: E3 2009 'will occur'
Horror filmmakers try hands at comedy on Xbox Live
Penny Arcade Adventures coming to PS3 this fall
Wii third-parties nonplussed by surprise MotionPlus reveal
PixelJunk Eden demo available tomorrow
N+ gets new, 200-point level pack
MS to take larger cut of best-selling Community Games
Finally! It's your turn to watch last year's Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer
Facebreaker demo coming July 31 with create-a-character sharing
See first trailer for Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
Molyneux: 'I feel sorry for Denis Dyack'
Reggie: GTA welcome on Wii, but only if it's not a port
Kingdom Hearts DS ad points to 2008 release in Japan
Ticket to Ride's Europe expansion boards next Wednesday

Rumors & Speculation

Culture & Community
Capcom to sell intentionally awful Mega Man 9 shirts
Zero Punctuation visits Conan in Hyboria
Penny Arcade's original Fallout 3 webcomic debuts
1942: Joint Strike E3 shirts now available for purchase
Rush fails Rush on Colbert Report
C-list celebrities + Gamespot party = Awkward

This random sighting of Zombie Le Chuck is part of an awesome Flickr collection from Paul The Wine Guy dubbed IT Everywhere that answers the question, "What happens if some IT comes into our real life?" It reminds us of those virtual/real hybrids for Starcraft and The Sims. (Thanks, Kjell S) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
The best of WoW Insider: July 15-22, 2008
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Dead Space
Joystiq E3 Hands-on: Novint's Falcon controller
Joystiq E3 sticks-on: Ion premium drum set
Joystiq E3 Q&A: Spore detailed
JoystiQ&A on Xbox Live Community Games
Mahalo Daily talks arcade games with Wiebe, Walter Day, Joystiq

News
Quake Arena trailer shakes up web games
Tilted Mill shows off first Hinterland images
BioShock PS3 receiving trophies, some details given
Capcom patching SSFIITHDR 'open beta' after all
Splash Damage hires four industry vets for multiplatform mystery
Dragon Age: Origins screenshots and gameplay footage
Nintendo: Hardcore gamers 'critically important to us'
BioShock's PS3 graphics identical to Xbox 360
Zelnick: GTA isn't Take-Two's only moneymaker
User-created Xbox Live games to cost as low as $2.50, devs get up to 70% revenue
Microsoft makes Games For Windows Live free for all
DirectX 11 detailed; Vista and DX 10 / 10.1 hardware supported
Certain Nintendo controllers face retail ban
New York governor signs 'unnecessary' game law
THQ games joining GameTap this summer
Fallout irradiates GameTap this Thursday
BioWare has 'never confirmed any plans' for Mass Effect 360 exclusivity
Rumor: WipEout HD held up by epilepsy tests
Nyko FrontMan guitar compatibility chart
First real, tiny screen of Sony's 'Massive Action Game'

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: PSP-3000 adds built-in mic, PS button
Not so fast! Alan Wake may not be at TGS 2008 after all
Rumor: Oldman confirms Dark Knight game, G4 pulls video

Culture & Community
Star Wars Retrospective: Episode VII visits the Empire's shadows, the old republic
Bethesda defends E3, says it needs to change
The 'ultimate proof' that PS3 is winning
So it begins: Feminist gamers decry Sony's Fat Princess

During our time at E3 last week, we were able to spend about an hour with a very patient Maxis Producer Thomas Vu, who guided us through a near-final build of Spore (the whole thing) and answered a barrage of questions. Here's what we gleaned from our play session, broken down into each phase:

• Part 1: Cell / Tribe Phase (after the break)
  
• Part 2: Civilization / Space Phase
• Part 3: General Information

Last week, a handful of Joystiq crew got to make fools of themselves on the mini-stage before Harmonix's Rock Band Bash featuring The Who. Set up for us on stage was the new Ion premium drum set for RB2. Over the span of the night, we drummed through a handful of songs to get a feel for the set.

... And we're back to the grind! We're still finishing up some of the impression backlog and some other post-E3 shenanigans, but more or less it's a return to normalcy. The screenshot above comes from the first Batman video game, circa 1986. Check out the highlights for today:

Post-E3 Impressions Wrapup
Joystiq E3 eyes-on: inFamous
Joystiq E3 eyes-on: Monster Lab
Joystiq E3 eyes-on: Sonic Unleashed
Joystiq E3 eyes-on: Stormrise
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Flock
Joystiq E3 hands-on: flower (PSN)
Joystiq hands-on: Mega Man 9
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Red Faction: Guerrilla
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Resistance Retribution
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Tom Clancy's EndWar
Joystiq E3 hands-on: What's Cooking? With Jamie Oliver

Joystiquery
E3 2008 news roundup
The Joystiq Free Game Club: Kongai
Joystiq interview: Bethesda's Todd Howard on Fallout 3
Law of the Game on Joystiq: Non-Disclosure Agre3ments
The unbearable smallness of E3 2008, in pictures

News
New games this week: Final Fantasy IV edition
Major Nelson continues to clear up New Xbox Experience
Gears of War prequel novel gets new name, author, release date
EA extends Take-Two takeover offer to Aug. 18
Uncharted and Warhawk Home spaces snapshots
Gley Lancer, Super Fantasy Zone shoot up Virtual Console
Sega confirms Sonic and the Black Knight, Spring 2009
Pirates find The Key of Dreams on WiiWare
Target cards reveal possible LittleBigPlanet release date
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop coming to Wii this winter
Jade Empire now an Xbox Original
Konami releases full MGO problem report, issues apology
Jimi Hendrix joins Guitar Hero World Tour
This Wednesday: Go! Go! Break Steady and 1942 jointly strike XBLA
Show of hands: Left 4 Dead box art gets a thumbs off
First video of Sony's The Last Guy
Video of how Netflix works on Xbox 360
Puzzle Quest update to infect XBLA this Wednesday

Culture & Community
Witness the on-stage Rock Revolution press conference failure

Since we landed in Los Angeles for last week's E3, we've posted hundreds of articles. Knowing that there's a (very) small percentage of Joystiq readers who don't visit our site every 5 minutes, we've decided to collate all of last week's biggest news items to make sure you didn't miss the most important parts. (For breaking news from each of the big three press conferences, check out our highlights posts for each).

Microsoft

• Highlights from Microsoft's E3 press conference
• Install your Xbox 360 games to the hard drive, access XBLM on the web
• Details on the New Xbox Experience: search, hard drive play, alerts, themes, pics
• Castle Crashers, Galaga Legions, more on XBLA in 4-6 weeks
• Details on Lips: microphone, your songs, its songs
• Bungie: E3 game announcement pulled by publisher
  
• Square to squeeze FFXIII onto 360 with little compromise
• Portal: Still Alive additional levels based off Portal: The Flash Version, won't include GlaDOS
• Covenant playable in Halo Wars
• Too Human demo now available

In a nutshell, Flock is an evolved form of Lemmings: Using your ship and it's various beams, you guide sheep, chicken, cows and pigs past obstacles and into the Mother Flocker (be careful about slurring that name). The game will also feature co-op and a map editor. Although we weren't able to see either feature in action, Capcom's Kraig Kujawa told us their goal is to implement cross-console map sharing.

Before E3, the last time we heard anything about flOw dev Thatgamecompany's newest project was November 2007. Cut to last week, when TGC Creative Director and co-founder Jenova Chen guided us through an early build of their upcoming PSN title flower (note the 'o' is now lowercase).

Like flOw, it's really hard for us to confidently form an opinion on the abstract idea (check out PS3 Fanboy for their praises). We hope Sony decides to release a demo with this game. Videos and previews will not do flower justice; it's a game worth trying for yourself.

The Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and PlayStation saw big gains in hardware sale over last month. Industry sales for June were worth $1.69 billion, compared with $1.1 billion last month. Our sneaking suspicion is that Metal Gear Solid 4, which netted 774,600 in its debut month, helped the PS3 in its success. Elsewhere, the Wii's numerical conclusion revealed its devilish, money-printing source of income.

- DS: 783K 330.4K (+73%)
- Wii: 666.7K 8.4K (-1.26%)
- PS3: 405K 196.3K (+94.06%)
- PSP: 337K 144.3K (+74.9%)
- X360: 220K 33.4K (+17.9%)
- PS2: 188K 55.3K (+41.7%)

You'll find the top ten in software sales after the break.

Although missing in action from this week's E3, Alan Wake will roll out of bed and board a plane to Japan for this year's Tokyo Game Show. According to an MSN Games "'WOW' Be a face in the game" contest, the winner will be given a trip to Finland to be scanned into the computer, then "jet off to Tokyo to [TGS] to be on the scene and on the screen!"