DeviantArt user Christine Schott is pretty good at designing Mass Effect hoodies. So good, it seems, that BioWare has decided to manufacture her designs and sell them to the public. Schott recently posted her designs, which reflect many of Mass Effect's most popular characters, and her work inspired BioWare to reach out with the offer.

Schott does note that her designs are likely "nowhere near the final product" and that BioWare will be redesigning them before selling a selection of them as a trial run. BioWare is compensating Schott for her work, though the details are still being "worked out." Frankly, we just want to know when we can get our Mordin on.

You're always in a hurry to learn the controls of a new game in the bustle and din of a press event. You might pick a few things up from a tutorial card resting near the screen, from a patient developer stationed nearby, or through one of those loading screens that can barely contain a controller and 29 labels, bursting out of it like informative tentacles. When Vikings Attack, a new party game for PlayStation 3 and Vita, stood out at recent Sony press event because it's filled with clutter, yet wrapped in the simplicity of two-button play.

Presented with vibrant, cel-shaded aplomb, When Vikings Attack is essentially a game of crowd-versus-crowd control. You maneuver a cluster of portly citizens, brought together in the face of an inexplicable, anachronistic viking invasion of 1970s England. The number of people in your crowd is an indicator of your speed, health and strength, and more able bodies can lift larger and heavier objects.

That's right: the secret to thwarting the Norsemen of the apocalypse is to pick up the manufactured detritus of civilization, such as benches, cars, ambulances and phone booths, and hurl it at incoming streams of invaders. It's a bit like bowling, with mismatched, costumed people for pins, and balls coming in every shape, size and seriously you can throw everything at everyone.

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Harmonix has revealed some of the new tracks that will be headed to its controller-powered Rock Band Blitz. The list features plenty of variety, including Elton John's "I'm Still Standing," All-American Rejects' "Kids in the Street," Iron Maiden's "Wicker Man" and Fall Out Boy's "A Little Less Sixteen Candles." Living Colour has a track as well – we'll let you guess which one.

Harmonix has also released a short video explaining some of Blitz's power-ups. Check it out above, and find the partial track list after the break.

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The situation is rocky for owners of the newly released PS3 version of Rock of Ages who are trying to play online. Or perhaps not rocky enough. In any case, users are reporting inability to join games created by friends, and freezes within multiplayer lobbies.

Ace Team is aware of the issue, and is currently trying to determine how widespread it is and how to address it. We're also checking in with publisher Atlus. In the meantime, Rock of Ages owners ... the single-player is fun!

[Thanks, DeviousRakun.]

Side-scrolling twin-stick shooter Really Big Sky is making its way from PC to relatively smaller (and bigger!) screens. Developer Boss Baddie, collaborating with Voofoo Studios and Ripstone Publishing, is working on a new version for PlayStation Vita and PS3 called Big Sky Infinity.

Details of the new version are more ... finite, but Boss Baddie promises "new modes and enemies, and touch controls" (the latter for the Vita version, of course). You can get a broad sense of what Big Sky is about by watching the trailer for the PC version above, trying the demo at the website, or checking out Really Big Sky on Steam, where it's currently on sale for $2.50.

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Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning 2 was in "pre-production" at 38 Studios' Big Huge Games in Maryland before all employees were let go last week. Several sources with knowledge of the situation tell Joystiq that the company was in advanced talks with a publisher before the events that led to the dissolution of the team.

Even if the Big Huge Games team could be salvaged under a different banner, it is unlikely that they could work on Reckoning 2. The intellectual property, tech and code (the latter used as a springboard) required to make a sequel is still owned by 38 Studios for the time being, but will likely soon be owned by the state of Rhode Island. Sources close to discussions with Rhode Island tell us that the state's asking price to release assets is too high.

Elements tested for the sequel were higher graphics quality across the board, no loading screens between zones, expanded and improved combat animations, fewer branching quests and greater effect on the world by players.

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A "Bullet For My Valentine" may sound like a really terrible gift for anyone that doesn't collect antique minié balls, but it's actually the name of next week's featured band over in Rock Band DLC world.

The aptly named "Bullet For My Valentine Pack 01" features three songs spanning three albums, including 2008's Scream Aim Fire, which we're not entirely sure is an accurate or trustworthy set of instructions for properly operating a firearm. Remember kids, always consult your physician before taking advice from Welch heavy metal bands.

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Hard numbers are starting to come out of the Activision v. Infinity Ward case as things continue to ramp up towards the actual trial, which is currently slated to take place next month. Specifically, Activision revealed during a hearing last Friday that it has paid out in excess of $493 million in bonuses to Infinity Ward, a figure that includes the $42 million payout that occurred earlier this month, according to Polygon.

That $439 million encompasses all bonuses paid out to Infinity Ward since the original Call of Duty launched in 2003. To date, IW has been granted bonuses for games it was directly involved with as a studio, as well as games that used its tech and the Call of Duty IP, like the Treyarch-developed Call of Duty: World at War.

Attorneys for former IW heads Vince Zampella and Jason West argued that the ex-Infinity Ward employee group is also owed its share of "launch quarter" bonuses from the release of Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3, a point that Activision obviously disagrees with.

The Awesomenauts theme song is made of the stuff of legend -- love, money and cheese -- and now it's available for free right here. Well, free as in it doesn't cost any cold, hard cash, but it does involve payment of a more modern kind: social network sharing.

Anyone can download the theme song after tweeting the link or sharing it on Facebook through the service Pay with a Tweet. Or, you can wait until Friday, June 1, to download the entire soundtrack from Bandcamp, from artist Sonic Picnic.

Generally, having a magical wizard in your pocket would either be incredibly uncomfortable for one (or both) of you, or prohibitively expensive. Wizard upkeep costs an arm and a leg as it is, and with the money you'd spend on the reagents needed to concoct a shrinking potion, you could buy an entire mage. It's a pain, and usually not worth it.

There's is, however, a more humane, cost effective solution on the horizon. WizOrb, the pixelated, chiptuned indie block-breaking/RPG hybrid from Beatshapers and Tribute Games will smash through geometrically perfect arrangements of blocks and onto your friendly neighborhood PS3, PSP and/or Vita next month, when it launches as a $3.99 PlayStation Mini.

Living-room soldiers looking to team up with a real-life buddy for some Ghost Recon: Future Soldier couch co-op may be sorely disappointed once they discover that split-screen multiplayer doesn't exist for the game's campaign mode, despite various online retailers (including Ubisoft's own UbiShop) purporting the game's support of that very feature.

"We've been made aware of the presence of outdated information on UbiShop and several retailer sites stating split screen, cooperative play is available in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier's campaign," Ubisoft forum manager EvilPixieGrr said in an update on the publisher's forums. "We have ensured the information has been updated on the sites affected by this."

Luckily for Ubisoft, Future Soldier's actual retail box art does not sing the praises of local campaign co-op.

[Thanks, Keith!]

Before it patches the latest patch in Street Fighter X Tekken in mid-June, old blue-and-gold wants to sell you some more gems. On June 5, Capcom will make a bevy of new gems and the complete costume swap pack available for purchase.

That doesn't mean there aren't freebies up for grabs. A new color palette and Wild Card booster pack – the latter is only available for download until June 19 – will debut alongside several new gem packs priced at 80 MS Points ($1) a pop. Finally, there's the complete swap costume pack to consider, which will set fightin' fashionistas back a hefty 1440 MS Points ($18).

This voice acting-oriented episode of Inside Rocksteady Studios is the first time we personally have ever seen either the Joker or Batman's voices come out of real human bodies, and suffice to say that oh man is it weird.

It's almost like Batman and the Joker are providing voiceovers for Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, instead of the other way around. Seeing the Joker's spooky laugh come out of a hunched-over Mark Hamill is an image that'll stick with us for a while, and his cheshire cat grin didn't help much either. The video also features Stana Katic (Talia in Arkham City and Detective Becket on Castle), but seeing her perform isn't so much of a head trip, considering that it's basically just Detective Becket with an undercover accent.

Karl Kerschl and Cameron Stewart are teaming up again to pen a new Assassin's Creed comic called Assassin's Creed: The Chain. It's a sequel to the duo's previous effort, Assassin's Creed: The Fall; however, The Chain also "sheds a new light on Assassin's Creed 3."

Not much else is known about this new comic right now, but if you want to pre-order it anyway, Ubisoft has unsheathed a pre-order page where you can drop $19.95 right now.

'Silver Lining' is an ongoing column from freelancer Taylor Cocke, dedicated to examining the hidden potential in recently released, critically panned games. Even in the mediocre, we can find a silver lining.
As I began my time with Ubisoft's downloadable title I Am Alive, the most striking aspect of the game's art style was the high-contrast, almost black and white way it depicted the destroyed city it takes place in. The world feels dead, as it should. The lack of color depicts a space devoid of life, dotted by humanity huddled around the bright oranges and yellows of occasional makeshift fires. At least initially, there's a sharp, distinct difference between the world and those who struggle to live within it. Very quickly, though, it becomes apparent that the distinction exists purely between the protagonist Adam and, well, everything else.

I Am Alive's greatest failures don't lay in its shoddy controls or dated visuals. For me, it was never able to establish a feeling of desperately fighting for survival. At least, not in the same way the non-playable characters are very clearly struggling. Very early, Adam runs into a man sitting next to a fire, who immediately draws his weapon and demands Adam back away. Right away, I Am Alive establishes that its world is one that you shouldn't trust anyone if you value your safety.

Soon after that, Adam comes across a mother and son, the latter of which has been harmed by roving bandits and needs help to survive. Unable to move, they need Adam's help to survive. You can give them a medkit, perhaps forsaking your own safety later on, or simply move on. Again, this pair does its best to show that this world is a frightening, dangerous one.

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A patent filed by Sony Computer Entertainment America in 2011 describes an advertising system in which a game would be "suspended" during play, an advertisement would come up, and then the game would continue – much like TV commercials interrupt segments of programming. According to the patent, ads would be preceded by a warning and a slowdown of gameplay, with another warning displayed when gameplay is about to resume.

The mere filing of a patent is no indication that this will be implemented, simply that the idea came up. Now, while we primarily work as journalists, we consider ourselves reasonably industry-savvy, and can thus be trusted to provide game industry analysis, pro-bono, in an advisory capacity.

It is to that end we present the following advice to Sony:

DON'T DO THIS