TalkPlaystation.com has allegedly confirmed that Trophies will be added to Naughty Dog's Uncharted Drake's Fortune on August 22. Despite a form of "achievements" originally being part of Uncharted, we'd been told previously that the Trophies will not be retroactive, so prepare to play the adventure all over again.

Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells mentioned previously that adding the Trophy patch for the game was "incredibly easy" because of the medal system the company already implemented in the game. Now that's thinking ahead.

We always think it's so bizarre when fanboys and girls start filling up our tips box with vitriol about the latest unpopular decision made by Sega, Square, Microsoft or practically anyone involved in the gaming industry. "Where do they get all that hate?" we wonder aloud, before going to donate more hugs down at the clinic. They would be a complete mystery to us were it not for Brett Ratner, who, according to a passing mention in a recent press release from MGM, has been tapped to direct the God of War film.

See, we hate Brett Ratner. Well, no, we don't hate the person. We're sure he's a perfectly nice man. But we hate everything he's ever put on film from Money Talks to X3 aka Brett Ratner's First-Person Theatrical Abortion. ... You know what? Forget what we said, we do hate Brett Ratner as a person. And if he directs God of War, it'll be awful, because all of his movies are awful and we don't know why he keeps being allowed to make them. The end.

If there's one entertainment genre that has a worse track record than movies turned to video games, it's video games that have been transformed into movies. At least movies to games have a few bright spots; when people have to summon up Mortal Kombat as the most admirable adaptation of a medium, you know something's gone awry.

So it's with a spirit of mild skepticism that we present the first two posters for Mark Wahlberg vehicle Max Payne. The problem is that we think the above poster (and the one after the jump) look pretty outstanding. AICN has some bigger versions; take a look and let us know what you think.

The Prison Service in England and Wales will not allow prisoners to play 18-rated games after September 30. The BBC reports that well-behaved residents and those at risk of suicide will still be allowed to play games -- we hope the suicide folks aren't playing Persona.

The government apparently spent £10k ($19,763 USD) last year on consoles and games for inmates. Effective immediately, inmates will have to buy their own consoles and games. Those who can't afford the video game distraction are sure to occupy their time with more constructive ventures ... like shiv production.

[Via GI.biz]

We hope you didn't get your hopes up regarding Guitar Hero World Tour's hypothetical set list, which included songs from such bands as REO Speedwagon, Rob Zombie, and whole lot of Tool. Game Informer reports that both Activision and Red Octane have come forward, denouncing the list as a fraud.

While some of the tracks listed will make it into the game, such as Van Halen's Hot for Teacher, the report calls the lion's share of the list "wishful thinking and pure speculation." We're sorry Tool fans, but you'll have to get your progressive rock fix somewhere else.

Honestly, with a new, four-instrument Guitar Hero game just around the corner, we're not exactly sure why you'd sink one more penny into DLC for Guitar Hero III. That is, of course, unless you're so obsessed with the guitar that you think the inclusion of drum and vocals sullies the very name of Guitar Hero. If that describes you, then you may just find today's offer pretty tantalizing.

As you may remember, the Virtuoso Track Pack includes "Surfing with the Alien" as performed by Joe Satriani, "For the Love of God" as performed by Steve Vai and "Soothsayer" as performed by Buckethead. And, as we guessed, you can get the whole lot for 500 points.

In a lengthy interview with GameDaily BIZ, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos offered his thoughts on air drumming – the preferred form of percussive input in Nintendo's Wii Music, skillfully demonstrated above by a professional – and explained why Harmonix felt the need for an actual drum peripheral on the Wii. After considering using the Wiimote in an air drumming capacity, Rigopulos says, "We backed away from it because we found that the tactile element of actually hitting a surface when you're drumming is a fairly critical part to the visceral feel of actually playing drums." So, with air drumming, you're missing "a critical element ... in the experience."

Not much of a surprise coming from the head of a company currently shipping a giant, plastic drum kit, sure, but we were surprised to learn air drumming was ever even under consideration at Chez Harmonix.

Sony's European arm has issued an official statement regarding WipEout HD's chronic PSN tardiness, and while the company failed to comment specifically concerning racer's reported tendency to leave players with the shakes, SCEE did reveal that the game is being updated to include a number of tweaks under the hood.

According to Sony, WipEout HD's continued delay is the result of "many improvements" and "numerous" additional features, including support for 2-player offline split screen and Trophies, as well as 8 reverse tracks, 4 extra ships, and a pair of alternative HUDS. As for when we'll be able to enjoy any of this from the comfort of our living rooms, Sony was less specific, saying only that it hopes to release the game "very soon."

[Thanks, Kyrul]

It's a case of "he said, he said" in the latest chapter of Bungiegate. This time around, the news centers on a comment made by Xbox senior VP Don Mattrick regarding Bungie president Harold Ryan's reaction to being told his company's new Halo game announcement was being struck from Microsoft's pre-E3 media briefing.

According to Eurogamer, the site was told by Mattrick during the show that Ryan had "just laughed" and said "We agree" upon receiving the news. Ryan recalls the conversation quite differently. ""Keeping things clean, I certainly didn't agree with the decision to delay our news until sometime after E3," he told Eurogamer today, adding, "Bungie is always concerned first and foremost with our fans. Whenever we are prevented from exceeding their positive expectations it is not a laughing matter." Oh snap. Begun, these Halo Wars have.

We allowed ourselves to get our hopes up for a DS version of the terrifyingly addictive Peggle earlier this year, only to have them crash down around us. Now though, it seems we can sweep up the pieces of our hopes, assemble them once again and send them flying on the back of a magical unicorn into a rainbow-filled sky: PopCap has confirmed a DS version of the game will arrive this winter.

If you've already played the game, you know it's a little like pachinko on crack or steroids or whatever drug means really fun and addictive. If you haven't played the game, then we'd urge you to think very carefully before starting, at least if you have any hopes of carrying on a normal life. Oh, and PopCap will also be bringing two seek-n-solve games, Amazing Adventures and Mystery PI to the system, not that you'll have time for them, what with all the Peggle.

Imagine if Marvel's super heroes were to form a sort of ... alliance. An ultimate one, at that. Then, they somehow gained the ability to fuse their powers together. You'd have yourself a Marvel Ultimate Alliance of Fusion, or "MUAF," but we don't think we like how that acronym crawls off the tongue. Tweak it a bit and you have Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion, Activision's next action-RPG team up set in the Marvel Comics universe, where players will, in fact, be able to combine the powers of various heroes to make more powerful powers.

The game was announced at Activision's E3 non-E3 event, where only a brief teaser was shown. This slightly longer snippet was unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con 2008, which got underway today in Southern California. It indeed shows off various Marvel characters fusing their powers, but looks far from actual gameplay. It's still pretty slick to see Wolverine and The Hulk team up for a variation of the Fastball Special, though.

It's a big week for the PSN update, with a nice sale going on, Parappa the Rapper available as a downloadable PS1 Classic and the addition of a PSN original, Siren: Blood Curse. Let's start with the PS3's first survival horror game, Siren: Blood Curse, which has one of the most unique cost models we've ever seen. The television show game comes in 12 episodes that players can download in four-episode packs at $15, or just buy in its entirety for $40. We've yet to actually play the game, so we can't make a recommendation, but there's also a demo available, which is certainly worth trying first. The full game fills up a whopping 9 gigglebytes on the PS3's hard drive.

Select PSN games are available for $5 this week only, including: PixelJunk Monsters, PAIN and Rocketmen. Don't forget to download the PixelJunk Eden demo! There's plenty of other stuff too, check it all out after the break.

The European PSN update can be found over at PS3 Fanboy. Tragically, our European writer has been watching the Big Brother house non-stop, so he can't give us a report on Siren either.

Like a Batarang, this story didn't come back – it stuck. We're talking about our original report on G4's interview with actor Gary Oldman, in which he specifically speaks about an upcoming game based on the smash hit movie The Dark Knight. G4 had pulled the video, but, like a boomerang, it's back.

Oldman, who plays the role of Gotham City police lieutenant Jim Gordon in the film, reveals during the interview that he's "seen a tiny little piece of [the game]" and that its developer (rumored to be the now EA-owned Pandemic) is focusing a lot of effort on realistic, seamless gliding sequences. Meanwhile, his interviewer looks more uncomfortable and confused than enthused about the fact that she's sitting across from a film legend. Why so serious?

Former head of Tecmo's Team Ninja and leather aficionado, Tomonobu Itagaki, is proving himself to be quite the legal eagle hawk whatever bird a ninja might keep as a pet in his ongoing lawsuit against his old employer. In addition to upping his claim for damages from 148 million yen ($1.3 million) to 164m yen ($1.6m) for bonuses and salary not paid, the Dead or Alive creator delivered a blow to accusations by Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda that he was never promised bonuses in the first place.

The evidence: an audio recording of Yasuda specifically stating that a legal document known as a ringi, which outlined the contested bonus plan, had in fact been approved by Tecmo's board of directors. Take that! If that didn't sting, Itagaki said (in what we're guessing was a stern voice): "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice." Hear that? Greater justice. Everything the guy does is intense.

While Konami is already exercising options with Gradius Rebirth, Castlevania stalwart Koji Igarashi has now expressed interest in dipping his own whip into the Wii's digital waters. Given that 3D fighter Castlevania Judgment promises to take face-to-palm when it's released, Iga's interest in WiiWare looks to rekindle fans' triple-shot prayers for a traditional 2D Castlevania for consoles.

"I'm definitely interested in WiiWare and I think it's one of the areas that 2D can still be very strong at," Igarashi told MTV Multiplayer. In a separate interview with Wired's Game|Life blog, he also noted that he's watching Capcom's decidedly retro Mega Man 9 "very closely" to see how it's received once it debuts later this year, noting that "if it is successful that definitely opens up doors for what I can do." Now all there's left to do is wait, though if you get hungry we hear that there's some delicious turkey hidden inside the wall.