Nothing flips our hearts and makes us tear up more than seeing our favorite posthumous travel agent Manny Calavera, with Meche Colomar, inked on this ultimate fan's arm. Kudos to you, good sir. Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Bungie, I am SO mad at you
Joystiq Podcast 007 - Synergy edition (feat. Shawn Andrich and Dennis McCauley)
Mythbusters: Pee on the PS2 edition
Today's driest game video: Seaman 2

News
Halo 3 to finish the fight on September 25th
EA's NBA Live cover Gilbert Arenas prefers NBA 2K series
Midnight Club: Los Angeles coming to PS3, 360
Halo 3 special edition Zune up for pre-order
Bomberman Live explodes onto XBLA this summer
More Brain Training coming to Europe, maybe US
SOE acquires Vanguard dev Sigil Games
Microsoft's Peter Moore Dreamcasts the PS3
Killzone to have public beta, 'of course'
NiGHTS gets new subtitle for Japan
International demo week continues with Tenchu Z
Sega licenses Unreal Engine 3
Halo 3 Beta: Crackdown patched in next 'three to six hours'
Project Treasure Island Z for Wii renamed extravagantly
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. dev plans several follow-up titles
Xbox Live update hurts online roster sharing

Rumors & Speculation
Heavenly Sword may get multiplayer as DLC
Ecco and Sonic get ESRB rating for XBLA

Culture & Community
Halo 3 beta absent, internet explodes
Lara Croft mannequin mistaken for gunman, house raided
Reee chair made from recycled game consoles
EA an awful place to work. Awful great!

6:20 p.m.: The Joystiq crew walks the red carpet, because we're just that important.

6:33 p.m.: Gnarls Barkley's cover of the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone" is blasting as we find seats in the press section. Cushy seats with recline-able chairs.

6:42 pm: Sam and Max introduce the start for the independent games festival. The mention of projectile vomiting is disturbing, but welcoming somehow.

6:43 pm: Jamil Moledina and Simon Carless march onto stage, noting that the show is being broadcast to the entire world. We sense somewhat sinister undertones.

At tonight's Game Developers Choice Awards, Epic Games' Gears of War took home three awards: best technology, visual arts, and the coveted Game of the Year award. On the independent side of things, Bit Blot's Aquaria won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize from the Independent Games Festival.

Okami picked up a win in one of the four categories it was nominated in (take that, AIAS). Unfortunately, Loco Roco did not pick up any awards despite two nominations (character design and audio). Independent game Everyday Shooter won two awards and a distribution deal from GameTap.

View the full list winners and nominees from both events below.

Joystiquery
Joystiq Podcast 002 - Perfect for YOU edition (feat. MTV News' Stephen Totilo)
Off the Grid interviews Brian Reynolds of Big Huge Games
Ring of Death: An Xbox 360 story -- Part 3
Today's hottest game video: Hellboy trailer

News
Japanese software sales: week ending 02.18.07
Japanese release day highlights: 02.22.07
R-Type Delta hits Japanese PlayStation Store
ESRB takes notes from MPAA, recruits parents
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd off to a quick start in Japan
Graphing the perceived Wii drought by the numbers
Mercenaries 2 on Xbox 360 ... PC & PS2 (this time it's official)
Next Ratchet & Clank officially titled
GameCube gets vasectomy; no longer reproducing
Circuit City busts out the used games
Boom Boom Rocket preview
Nokia patent transforms stylus into joystick
In the distant future, Wing Commander Arena for Xbox Live Arcade
Vectorman of Vermillion: Spinball Oasis for Virtual Console
Xbox 360 IPTV to be shown at The Connected Home show in Europe
Xbox 360 Platinum Hits 'Round 2' whiffs on bargain knockout
Former EA prez joins Microsoft as strategic adviser

Rumors & Speculation
Analyst: Wii could plague 30% of U.S. homes
Is the industry betraying its games?
Rumorang: Warhawk downloadable, now multiplayer-only
Prince of Persia could be Disney's next 'Pirates' film franchise

Community & Culture
The other side of a disturbed teen's tale
The sexual predators! They're coming from inside the Xbox!
From Russia with love: massively multiplayer online drinking game
Owner of seven failed Xbox 360s speaks out

Joystiquery
AOU 2007: Konami shows Otomedius shmup
AOU 2007: Silent Hill to frighten arcade-goers
Japanese hardware sales, Feb. 5 - Feb. 11: job interview edition
Joystiq profiles Extra Life's Scott Johnson
Today's most Pamela Anderson Free video: WoW Baywatch intro parody

News
Mizuguchi-produced single to grace Japanese phones
Tekken 6 unveiled at AOU 2007
Online retailer says PS3 is 'most pre-ordered console yet'
Halo 3 beta: Microsoft says "the experience will be deep"
Q*Bert hopping onto PlayStation 3 February 22
The Crossing coming to Xbox 360; innovative FPS going cross-platform
Bungie preps invited players with Halo 3 beta FAQ
Publisher blames console transition for poor mag sales
GameStop reaching out for your Twilight Princess
Mysterious Wii 'Sadness' explained!
Eidos sets up shop in Montreal alongside Ubisoft, EA
First Lost Planet map pack hits March 9
Gran Turismo added to list of 'killer games'

Rumors & Speculation
Metroid Prime 3 delayed until later this year?
Investor: the internet accurately predicts the console wars
God of War font used to tease 'unannounced psp title'

Culture
Joystick coat hangers -- too bad they aren't real
Robbin' Link?
Headshot! Energy bar for gamers
One universal console to rule them all
Rags to riches: the story of Electronic Arts

FiringSquad has done its best to out 18 high-profile "black ops" projects currently in development. While the site's sleuthing skills might not be up to par with Mr. Holmes', the report does a good job of rounding up under-the-radar titles that are begging for some attention.

We'd like to direct the spotlight on two studios in particular: Tim Schafer's DoubleFine and Bungie expats Wideload, which are responsible for Psychonauts and Stubbs the Zombie, respectively (both titles landed in our top 10 'gems' of last generation). The two developers are hard at work on new projects; and with DoubleFine striking a publishing deal with Vivendi, its next game is sure to stir up more buzz (when it's time) than Majesco managed to generate for Psychonauts. Also, we can't wait to see what Warren Spector and Junction Point have under lock and key. Keep those ears (and eyes) glued to the street!

Double Fine founder Tim Schafer told Gamasutra that while he's mostly a single-player kind of guy, he has really enjoyed the Xbox Live system that "facilitates ... playing with people you know," he said.

Schafer, speaking in general about all the new generation consoles, also suggested that Xbox Live incorporate some of the features found in social networking sites. "You know how funny it is to go on MySpace or Friendster and write testimonials," he said. "I wish you could post those kinds of things about each other."

Schafer also expressed glee with his Nintendo Wii, specifically the controller, Twilight Princess and the Mii channel. "As soon as I got it, just sitting there making Miis and sending them to all my friends was incredibly entertaining for about the first four days." That prompted the developer into suggesting XBL incorporate testimonials. We're imagining a Mii-like avatar creation tool for Xbox Live, and how enjoyably devious that would be.

Double Fine is responsible for last generation's award-winning, scholarly media darling Psychonauts, which suffered from economic-centric maladies (read: poor sales). Before that, Schafer's work included Grim Fandango and contributions to the Monkey Island series. Double Fine is currently working on an unknown project for an unknown medium.

Last night, reading about RoboBlitz coming to Steam, we knew we weren't alone in wondering where our promised Psychonauts was. The BAFTA award winning (congrats, guys!) critics darling may not have been the belle of the retail ball, but she was always beautiful to us ... and now, Steam subscribers everywhere can take her out dancing for the digitally distributed price of $19.99 starting tonight!

If you're hearing the sweet, sweet sound of romance in the air, you may wanna turn down the Barry White and listen up, cause Psychonauts developer Tim Schafer has something he wants to say you ... and only you ... in his low, deep, gravelly baritone:

"So for the press release. uh. man, it's tough because every single 'steam' related play on words has already been done," said Schafer. "Double Fine and Valve: With a love this hot, you know there's gotta be STEAM! How about that?"

Ooooh! We like that, and we know you do as well, dear reader. Just when you thought we'd already beaten that equine to death, sawed its head off, and tucked it gently into Doug Lombardi's comfy bed, here comes the ever dependable Schafer, pitching in with one. final. sawing. thrust! Phew!

That's hawt. The comic Psychonauts art director Scott Campbell made commemorating the tryst is even hawter.

This just in from the astral projection: Double Fine productions' masterpiece Psychonauts will arrive on Steam in early October. That's right: no longer will you have to trudge five miles in the snow to seek out this underrated overlooked gem -- huzzah!

The price has yet to be revealed. Psychonauts publisher Majesco has also announced that Bloodrayne 1 & 2 and Advent Rising will be available for Steam starting today. The original Bloodrayne will be $10, while the other two titles are $20 apiece.

Tim Schafer et al. are currently working on another project, as-of-yet unannounced, to be published by Sierra.

[Thanks, 1up_clock]

Despite yesterday's promising development, Psychonauts is still not guaranteed to make Xbox 360's backwards compatibility list. Microsoft's Emulation Ninjas are indeed working on the next batch of BC titles, which includes Psychonauts, but Emulation Ninja Alan Stuart warns:

"Even though we are working on Psychonauts, there is no guarantee we will ever be able to make the game backward compatible. We may run into technical limitations that will prevent us from ever shipping the game; we don't know yet."

Ominous words from an official Ninja. But hope lives on ...