Starting May 20 in "participating" US retailers and today in their Canadian equivalents, college students have the opportunity to get a free 4GB Xbox 360 with purchase of certain Windows 7-based PCs. Microsoft didn't announce specific models, but you can ask at the retailer instead of blindly assuming you'll get a free Xbox. Don't forget to bring your student ID.

"Together, a Windows 7-based PC and an Xbox 360 console provide students the functionality they need for school while also helping them stay connected to friends and family far away," Microsoft noted in the announcement, giving students a hint as to the angle they should use to make an Xbox 360 sound like a totally necessary, responsible thing to have for college.

The IMDB page for PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale reveals some more all-stars appearing in the game as some form or another. Listed in the voice cast are Nolan North as Uncharted's Nathan Drake, David Hayter as Snake, Eric Ladin as Infamous's Cole McGrath, and ... Jerry Lambert as fictional executive Kevin Butler.

It's tempting to imagine Kevin Butler's in-game stint as the VP of Special Attacks, but these characters aren't necessarily playable. The game is full of cameos, like Captain Quark in the background of a Ratchet & Clank level. We're asking Sony to clarify this information. Kevin Butler would tell us, if he existed.

In celebration of stores like Steam and the App Store that allow developers to price their games at whatever they feel like, a group of indies are putting their games on sale next week for ... whatever they feel like.

The "Because We May" sale will run from May 24 through June 1, and will feature sales on the iOS and Mac App Stores, Steam, Google Play, direct downloads from developers, and assorted other venues. The participating games include World of Goo, Osmos, Eets, Bit.Trip Beat and Runner, Canabalt, Waking Mars, Super Meat Boy, Cave Story, the Double Fine Bundle ... basically, you'll find something to buy. As for the prices, it would appear nobody has decided yet.

Publisher Kalypso Media and Tropico series developer Haemimont Games are bringing mob city simulator Omerta - City of Gangsters to Xbox 360 this fall. The game was previously announced for PC, but will now make its way to Microsoft's console, much like Tropico 3, Tropico 4 and Tropico 4: Modern Times (albeit, a little later).

Instead of controlling the day to day of Tropico's banana republic operations, Omerta takes place in the 1920s, as players work their way up as a powerful mobster on the macro level. The made men and women of Omerta must construct or buy building to create speakeasies, distilleries, illegal boxing rings and much more to be good earners. If they don't, well... we hear fishes make great cuddle buddies.

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We don't want to spoil the discovery of Diablo 3's secret world for you – unless you willingly volunteer to be spoiled, in which case follow us after the break. The rest of you: move along.

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The classic board game Scotland Yard is ready to be discovered now as a universal iPad and iPhone app on the iOS App Store. Faithfully based on the classic game of cat and mouse, which has sold over four million copies, the title tasks a group of detectives to hunt down Mister X somewhere in London.

The game supports local, bluetooth or game center. In local play, unlike the original board game, Mister X and the other detectives can be controlled by the computer. The AI is the feature that makes this app worth it for anyone that enjoyed the original game. Players can focus on the task of tracking Mister X (or becoming him) through the subways, on the buses and tracking taxis against some worth adversaries and compatriots (who you don't have to host at your place).

Having made a lifelong profession out of pocketing items of high value, Sly Cooper should feel right at home on the PlayStation Vita. Sony and developer Sanzaru Games, which updated and packaged Sly's PS2 adventures in an HD trilogy collection, have announced that Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time will also launch on Vita, day-and-date with the PlayStation 3 version.

In addition to being portable and cross-save compatible with the PS3 version, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time will offer a few augmentations specific to the Vita hardware. When Sly dons an archer's outfit, for instance, his arrows can be steered into their targets – and connect Sly to those areas via a rope bridge – by tilting the Vita. (Sixaxis? What's that?)

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is due on both PS3 and Vita sometime in Fall 2012. When questioned, a Sanzaru representative told Joystiq that it had not yet been decided whether purchasing one version would grant you complimentary access to the other.

Poor Harley Quinn. First the Joker breaks her mind, and then The Batman breaks her heart. It's nice to see that she's not wallowing in self-pity, though, and that she's got the initiative to get back out in the world and make a name for herself. Granted, she's using homicide to do so, but still, good for her.

This latest trailer for Ms. Quinzel's starring role as an Arkham City DLC antagonist gives us a look at the various brow beatings Batman and Robin will dispense to the citizenry of Gotham's beating lunatic heart, as well as somewhat unsettling introduction from the man in white himself.

Double Fine's Ron Gilbert isn't content with random websites leaking his own studio's work: he'll leak his own stuff, thank you very much. Gilbert posted the above two photos on Grumpy Gamer, his personal game industry blog.

His first post was a link to the monk. Apparently, no, it's not fanart for Diablo 3, unless developer JP LeBreton, who tweeted he'd been working on the related Monk link for nine months, has a lot of down time at Double Fine.

Gilbert later posted the hillbilly, a character we recognize from the puzzle Double Fine sent the press last week as an announcement of a new, spooky-tinged title. Now the age-old question returns: What do a monk and a hillbilly have in common? Besides mystery, of course.

Who has time to accumulate cash then wait for a game to launch before actually paying for it? In this work-a-day world, we need to prepare for such things; we need lead time. And if you're of a similar mind, it may please you to know that Sorcery will be the first game to kick off a new pre-purchase feature on PSN.

Right now, you can log onto PSN and pay for Sorcery, triggering a download granted you have auto-download enabled. Once you have the game pre-loaded, you can play as soon as Sorcery launches next week on May 22.

Sorcery is the only game you can pre-purchase through PSN right now. We've inquired with Sony about future games.

Previously, Konami's FMV-esque trailers for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance have given us weird, disorienting looks into the surgical processes involving Raiden's robo-arm and cyborg eye, but this latest episode is a little more ... theatrical, let's say.

Anyone who clearly remembers and is still somehow able to comprehend Raiden's background as outlined in Metal Gear Solid 2 will be able to piece together what's happening in this video, though we're still not entirely sure why you'd hand a sword to someone during surgery, even if that surgery's purpose is to turn them into a milk-powered electro-ninja.

You'll be able to look at sparklier, more dazzling jewels than ever, now that Bejeweled HD is on the iPad. PopCap's latest puzzle release includes Retina Display graphics for that ridiculous new iPad screen, and the modes you'd expect from Bejeweled: Butterflies, Diamond Mine, Classic, and Zen.

Essentially, it's Bejeweled for iPhone, but in an extremely high resolution for use on the new iPad, which is tempting (even if it's not Bejeweled 3). It's $3.99 on the App Store now.

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Finally – FINALLY – Time Warner and Bright House cable customers have a way to watch HBO on their televisions. The HBO Go app for Xbox 360 previously only worked for Comcast and a variety of other services, but not TWC, so even if you were an HBO subscriber, you couldn't use the app. Which is terrible. Today, Microsoft announced Time Warner compatibility.

Celebrate by watching some Not Necessarily the News tonight, or some episodes of Fraggle Rock. Look, it's been a while since we've had HBO, okay?

A new Indie Royale bundle featuring Osmos, B.U.T.T.O.N., The Shivah and Blueberry Garden has debuted. Unlike past bundles, all of the proceeds from this one don't go to the developers – proceeds go to charities chosen by the developers.

In addition to the games, the All-Charity Lightning Pack also tosses in a trio of chiptunes albums should you pony up $7 or more: Level by Disasterpeace, IN1ep by 6955, and FX4 by Jake "virt" Kaufman. Cruise past the break for some video previews of all four games.

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Let's face it: Street Fighter X Tekken just wouldn't be Street Fighter X Tekken without at least one game-breaking bug. This was probably Capcom's thought process when it launched the latest patch, which introduces a glitch that freezes the game whenever Rolento's knife hits an opponent's fireball.

The above video demonstrates the bug, which affects Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games that have been updated to version 1.04, Shoryuken reports. The patch does fix a few problems, such as hit box issues.

Sure, we all ready had a post earlier today detailing the lavishly equipped Deluxe Vault Hunter's Collector's Edition and Ultimate Loot Chest Limited Edition of Borderlands 2, but what about us average Joes? What about everyone who wants to look at Borderlands 2 packaging, but doesn't want to waste time daydreaming over ornate collector's editions that won't fit in our tiny efficiency apartments? Where's that post?!

Shhhhh, it's okay. It's right here, friend. This is that post. Behold, the regular retail packaging for Borderlands 2.

The retailers were right. Konami has finally officially announced a June 12 North American launch date for Metal Gear Solid HD Collection on the PlayStation Vita and it's unsurprisingly June 12 in North America. The Vita port includes new control options, utilizing the touch-screen and rear touchpad, allowing players to "zoom in on captivating cut-scenes, peek around corners, interrogate enemies, cycle through weapons, and perform rapid attacks with their knife."

In addition to the new control options, the PS Vita version of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection can use Transfarring to sync save files with the PS3 game. Of course to use this feature you need to own Metal Gear Solid HD Collection on both the PS3 and PS Vita.

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This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity.

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Last week, when GOG.com announced that Quest For Glory was the newest addition to its collection, I was delighted. In fact, I'm not sure that there's a game series that could have induced as much joy. I think some others, like Wizardry or a collection of old SSI games, might have been better and more important, sure. But I have more love for Quest For Glory than those other games. I'm not the only one, either: The Quest For Glory games are great games, yes, but they're also special games.

Quest For Glory is a five-title series of adventure/role-playing hybrids, with the first release in 1989, and the last in 1998. They were published by Sierra – a company whose fate was recently detailed to Joystiq by Leisure Suit Larry creator Al Lowe – and used similar interfaces and graphics as other adventures, such as King's Quest or Gabriel Knight, combined with combat systems that varied from game to game.

Being a genre hybrid is one of the surest ways to become a beloved game. Panzer General, Deus Ex, and Mass Effect are all crossover hits, thanks in part to combining role-playing with other genres. Quality hybrids manage to feel both fresh conceptually and comfortable to actually play, a winning combination.

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38 Studios was unable to make payroll this week, but is in the process of making the $1.125 million payment that set off the company's crisis earlier this week. WPRI reports that a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) did confirm that former Red Sox player Curt Schilling's video game company was unable to pay its employees.

A source tells Joystiq that beyond not making payroll, all temps and contractors at 38 Studios were let go this week.

At the same time, Governor Lincoln Chafee's office stated 38 Studios is in the process of making the overdue payment to the state. The head of the RIEDC, Keith Stokes, who approved the $75 million loan to 38 Studios in 2010, resigned late last night.

If 38 Studios does close, Rhode Island taxpayers will have to repay the $75 million bond (plus interest) through 2020, but they'll own the intellectual property of the developer, which would likely be sold at auction.

If the company does make the payment to the state, the next round will be owed in 2013. Of course, there won't be a 38 Studios much longer if it isn't paying employees.

Update: The hand-delivered check for the overdue $1.125 million payment has been returned by the EDC to 38 Studios after the company's chief financial officer said there were insufficient funds to cover it.

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