We can't think of many places we'd rather visit during the dog days of summer than San Antonio, Texas. Being a savvy games retailer, GameStop acted on that ubiquitous desire this morning in its announcement of the GameStop Consumer "EXPO," taking place on August 29 in San Antonio.

The event will coincide with GameStop's annual manager meeting, except this time folks who have a PowerUp Rewards card and a spare $35 can also get in (if you have enough PowerUp Rewards points, there's another option). What's that? You'd rather pay more for people to glare in anger as you're whisked past them to play the game they're in line for? A $100 "VIP" option also exists, which nets you "four in-depth sessions with some of the biggest names in gaming, access to VIP-only lines and entrance to the VIP gaming lounge."

And yes, it's on August 29, just two days before PAX Prime kicks off in Seattle.

Mass Effect: Infiltrator – developed by the same team responsible for the mobile version of Dead Space – is now available for download in the Google Play store for $6.99.

In Mass Effect: Infiltrator, players take on the role of Cerberus defector Randall Ezno as he attempts to flee from a Cerberus base with intel for the Alliance. Progress in Mass Effect: Infiltrator affects your Galactic Readiness level in Mass Effect 3. And if you've been meaning to go back to the portable game, the latest update (version 1.0.3) added a new character and mission.

Peter Molyneux's new studio is going to create his greatest game ever, but first it plans to make 22 of the almost greatest games ever. 22 Cans, Molyneux's studio, is rolling out a project called 22 Experiments, a series of digital releases leading up to the "final product," Molyneux told Beefjack.

The first experiment could drop in as few as six weeks for undisclosed platforms. Molyneux said the projects are "very very different, unusual, I think very intriguing things," probably because that's his thing. During a talk at Imperial College London's GaME12 event, Molyneux provided a vague vision for the direction of his studio, saying he wants to use current technology in ways no one else has, and sharing the following idea:

"I love this one thought, and I have experimented with this in previous games, that you find out more about yourself while being engaged with this experience than [you would] with anything else. And we all love finding out about ourselves – whether it's through personality tests, or someone turning around to you and saying X, Y and Z."

We look forward to a seriously introspective game of 22 Questions starting in six weeks.

The console version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will hit PS3s and 360s the world over with a lightning-infused glove come the week of September 10, 2012 -- just four days shy of the game's one-year arcade anniversary Japan.

Coming from Namco Bandai's European wing, the announcement was accompanied by news of pre-order bonuses and a European collector's edition, as seen above. Pre-ordering from Shopto will net you Michelle Chang and Angel as bonus fighters, whereas a pre-order from Zavvi includes Kunimitsu and Ancient Ogre, all of which can be seen in the gallery below.

Meanwhile, the "We Are Tekken" collector's edition includes a metal case, the game's soundtrack, a remix album, a behind-the-scenes DVD, a 200-plus page hardcover artbook (and the game itself).

We've reached out to Namco Bandai to find out if any of these bonuses will be making it stateside.

38 Studios employees have not been paid since May 1 and their health care will end Thursday at midnight, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Joystiq. Employees are normally paid on the first and 15th of each month.

When asked if the studio would be shutting down this week, the source could only say, "Unknown at this time. Outlook is not good."

We're informed that 38 Studios' MMO, "Project Copernicus," announced by Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee as launching in June 2013, did have that date as its internal target. However, "Whether this is realistic or not is up for debate."

Gov. Chafee said in a press conference today that he would do what he could to prevent the studio from shutting down. Will the studio still exist within a month? "I have no idea," our source replied.

The Game Bakers' mobile, PC and Mac RPG title Squids is getting a rough 'n rowdy update this summer with a new chapter: the Wild West.

To prepare players for the Wild West, Game Bakers launched a free update on the App Store today, featuring three western-ized levels in Seawood, a new Squid hero named Cleef and a new enemy, the Buffalo Shrimp. The update also brings a higher level cap, a new Game Center achievement and improved social media functionality.

We hope it also demonstrates how tumbleweeds blow across a dry dirt street in a fully underwater environment.

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Zen Studios' newest game is ... not pinball. Instead, Kickbeat is a Vita music game in which you fight enemies to the beat of background music. Enemies circle you, and you kick in one of four directions to beat them, in time with the licensed music that's playing in the background.

Should you happen to get tired of the included soundtrack (Rob Zombie, P.O.D., Papa Roach), you can also import your own music and generate additional levels. We're definitely interested in the included Mandarin-language rap track by Shen Yi, and we look forward to punching people to its beat sometime this year.

The situation faced by troubled MMO developer 38 Studios is not improving. According to Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, the company has not received any new investment. In a sudden press conference late today, he said the studio had not received any outside investment nor any of the new tax credits it has applied for. NBC10 reports that, when asked if 38 Studios would be closing, Chafee said he would do what he could to prevent it.

WPRI reported today that CEO Jennifer MacLean removed the title of chief executive from her LinkedIn profile and listed her departure as having occurred in March. John Blakely, senior vice president of product development, also revised his LinkedIn profile to show that he left the company this month. Joystiq has also been informed of continuing layoffs at the company, and that health insurance has run out.

The value of 38 Studios' Amalur intellectual property is estimated to be in the range of $20 million, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. 38 Studios put up the IP as collateral against its $75 million loan, which could end up costing RI taxpayers $112 million if 38 Studios shutters.

Update: 38 Studios employees have not been paid since May 1. WPRI reports 38 Studios may be ineligible for the millions of dollars in state tax credits because it isn't incorporated in Rhode Island.

The following is a PSA for all the PSN users out there, calibrated in PSI and utilizing linguistic psychology: The PlayStation Network is undergoing scheduled maintenance on Thursday, May 24, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. PDT.

The PlayStation Store and PlayStation Home may not be accessible during this time, but online play and other apps such as Netflix and Amazon Instant will run as normal, provided you've signed into the network at least five days prior to Thursday. This means do it now if you have big PSN plans tomorrow.

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Having been announced along with the PlayStation Move in 2010, Sorcery bears the burden of high expectations. This was supposed to be the game that showed what the Move could add to a non-party, non-minigame, and full-sized adventure in which your Move wand enabled you to fire magic bolts in any direction.

It is, of course, unfair to judge the game by the expectations around its announcement. Such lofty circumstances make an enjoyable, if lightweight, game seem more disappointing.

However, I will say that if Sorcery is to act as a Move ambassador, it is not up to the task. While there were certainly times I didn't mind using the motion controller, there were precious few times I was glad to; my experience aiming the in-game magic wand was, in equal parts, hitting the target accurately, flailing uselessly, and recalibrating.

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• Game Informer (85/100): "Combat feels like a necessary part of the game's design, rather than something that was begrudgingly added to provide interaction between cutscenes. I left the game feeling that I made my mark on Gransys the way I chose to, instead of being escorted from plot point to plot point. When you're talking about an open-world game, I can't think of higher praise."
• Destructoid (75/100): "Should you play Dragon's Dogma? Yes. The high points are so very worth getting to, and while the main game will be cleared in a number of hours, there are lots of monsters to battle and a dose of end-game content to clear, providing more than enough to rival the Skyrims and Diablos of the world."
• Eurogamer (70/100): "Expectedly, coming as it does from an action game developer, its jewels are to be found in the dynamic combat, stat-tweaking party-building and defining boss battles. In this way, the game echoes the adventurous, dragon-hunting spirit of its (second- and third-hand) literary influences: that sense of unpredictable peril that could be lurking in every cave and thicket. "
• OXM (60/100): "Dragon's Dogma has its merits, but for every great idea there's a design fumble that just leaves you scratching your head. Though it's technically sound, the game lacks the spark to elevate it beyond a "sometimes fun, mostly mediocre" experience. Much like the main character's chest cavity, this RPG ultimately feels hollow, with no real heart."

This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer.
In late 2008, Sony released the PSP-3000, giving me the perfect excuse to finally pick one up. When I got home later that day, I did what anyone with a new system does – I started downloading demos.

Yggdra Union was among that early handful of downloads. I picked it because I liked the art style, not knowing what I was getting into. I soon discovered Yggdra Union is quite the complicated strategy RPG. There are different character types, and there are cards that dictate movement and status effects, and positioning matters too. And it didn't help that I was trying to play it in its native Japanese (though I eventually relented and found an English copy).

As I later discovered, Yggdra Union is the rule rather than the exception to Sting Entertainment's ... unique design sensibilities. Almost every modern Sting RPG has some sort of interesting twist on the traditional RPG formula. Riviera: The Promised Land is part dating sim and part menu-driven point-and-click adventure, for example. Knights in the Nightmare is a strategy RPG, but it also has sequences in which you must guide a tiny wisp while avoiding a hail of bullets. Rather than simply going with what works, or the cheapest alternative, Sting has traditionally been extremely experimental, and its reward has been a small but fervent fanbase.

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Wait, there's still a Shadow of the Colossus film being made? The film is still in progress, according to a report today from Deadline that puts Chronicle director Josh Trank in the director's seat. It appears Sony Pictures signed Trank pretty recently, and the company is already interviewing potential writers to work with him.

According to the report, Trank requested the job from Sony. Given the slow-moving process of the project (we've been hearing about it for three years) and the lack of a ... ya know, script or anything, it seems to still be early in production.

Team Ico's third project, The Last Guardian, has been just as slow to get out of the gate – the studio hasn't released a game since 2005's Shadow of the Colossus.

Crimson Dragon will careen into Japan on June 13 for 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15), Andriasang reports. Crimson Dragon is a Kinect exclusive created by Panzer Dragoon director Yukio Futatsugi that will allow players to ride six different types of dragons while shooting fireballs and laser-inspired projectiles.

Yeah, we think it sounds like pretty much the best thing ever, too. Unfortunately, there is no word yet on a western release date.

In January, 2012 was looking like the year to beat for its sheer volume of high-profile games. But 2012 has quickly become the year many developers have set aside as one for polish and refinement. It has quickly become the year of the delayed game.

With so many projects being moved to 2013, Joystiq decided to put together a list of the major names you'll have to keep track of for at least seven more months. Did anything on your "Most Anticipated" list get pushed to 2013?

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We don't know about you, but You Don't Know Jack's charismatic host Cookie Masterson sure seems like a swell fellow; the kind of guy who takes to Facebook only to post photos of cats doing silly things, and potentially show his friends pictures of his newly shaven dome. We say this because we now have a new way to interact with Mr. Masterson through – you guessed it – You Don't Know Jack, now on Facebook.

The game is currently in closed beta, but I signed up to be a beta tester and was already in before this post was finished. Also, yup, I did play a round right quick, and it was totally awesome. In so many words, it's You Don't Know Jack, but played asychronously against Facebook friends. Rounds are shorter, and there's some microtransaction stuff in there, but it's pretty much the same game you've been playing (and loving) for 20 years.

Regardless, it's free and seemingly unobtrusive in regards to your Facebook account, which sounds like a big winner to us.

Both the 4GB and 250GB Xbox 360 S models were recommended for a trade ban in the US this week by International Trade Commission judge David Shaw. Said recommendation came several weeks after Shaw ruled in favor of Motorola in a case alleging Microsoft violated several patents held by the mobile phone manufacturer, ranging from Wi-Fi technology to video patents.

The recommendation alone doesn't ban the import of the two console models – a panel of six judges on the ITC board will review Shaw's recommendation and decide whether it should be made into law. Florian Mueller of patent site Foss Patents told GamesIndustry International that it's unlikely Shaw's recommendation will make it past its current point. "Unlike judges at courts, ITC judges don't make the decisions: they merely recommend them. Their recommendations are very frequently not adopted by the Commission, the six-member decision-making body at the top of the ITC," he said.

Moreover, Mueller pointed out that he's "never seen an ITC judge make any other recommendation than an exclusion order [the import ban in question] if his initial determination is that there is a violation." And given Shaw's initial determination earlier this year that Microsoft was in violation of Motorola's patents, today's news is actually "normal course of business," said Mueller.

Nadeo's Shootmania Storm is part of the "ManiaPlanet" series – basically, it's like Trackmania, but a shooter. That means an emphasis on a powerful, easy-to-use editor, which is evidently powerful enough to create every shot in this trailer.

As for the game itself, the trailer presents a high-speed, arcade-style shooter that substitutes lasers and a cool disintegration effect for bullets and blood, in order to achieve a 12+ rating (and a fun atmosphere) – because making a human body disappear entirely is fine, of course.

Update: Beta registrations are now open.

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One of Sony's most beloved first-party PlayStation 1 games is coming to the PS3 and PSP via ... a company other than Sony. Tomba!, the platformer starring the pink-haired caveman, will be released on the PlayStation Network soon by MonkeyPaw Games.

In addition to being just incredibly cute, Tomba! has some serious credentials. After an illustrious career at Capcom during which he designed the Ghosts 'n Goblins games and produced the Mega Man series, Tokuro Fujiwara founded his own studio, Whoopee Camp, where he directed Tomba! and its sequel for publisher Sony Computer Entertainment.

"Sony and MonkeyPaw have a good working relationship," MonkeyPaw CEO John Greiner told Joystiq. "I think they appreciate the titles we've brought to the Store. And they value the support we give the games. Having a plethora of Japanese content is a distinct advantage PlayStation has over Xbox. But the games still need to be brought Stateside. So our model helps Sony spread their Japanese edge and we help Japanese developers get their titles to a wider audience. Hence, Sony is willing to work with us on titles that may not have otherwise been licensed out. Support is key."

MonkeyPaw has been working on acquiring the Tomba! rights for a year. "We often have to chase down multiple right holders," Greiner said. "In this case, Sony and Whoopee Camp had rights that needed to be negotiated." The deal didn't necessarily include the sequel, however. "Tomba! 2 is a possibility but we need to really sell Tomba! 1 well before we can extend our relationship," Greiner explained. "It's the first time to work with Fujiwara-san so we're trying to make a good impression. Good sales have a way opening doors a bit wider."