If a recently uploaded video (which you can find after the break) is any indication, you'll be taking on the task of "female streaking" in Saint's Row II, which is sure to make all of our lives very annoying for weeks to come, or as soon as the mainstream media sees it. It's not really SFW, even though the lady business has been blurred out, giving the appearance that a giant Barbie doll became sentient and horrifically confused.

But before you hop over the break to bask in utterly non-erotic semi-nudity, we'd ask you to reconsider. You're better than that, right? We're honestly a little embarrassed we brought it up. You wouldn't want your mom, girlfriend or, heck, even your friends who've seen actual boobs before to catch you watching something like that, would you? Why don't you just scroll down to the next post, dignity intact? Or, to put it more simply ... "Don't look, Ethel!"

[Via ToaRG]

Things have been fairly aggressive between the two presidential nominees as of late, perhaps largely due to a certain comment involving a farm animal and mouth-based cosmetics. That's why we were so glad to see them squash the beef in a recent Saints Row 2 advertisement (posted after the break), combining forces to wreak havoc across Stilwater (much to the chagrin of their respective campaign staffs, we imagine). We're also glad to see that the character customization in THQ and Volition's crime-riddled sandbox is so versatile. We've already begun planning our own presidential nominee superteams for when the game comes out -- we've always wondered what Roosevelt and Dewey would look like in a gang war.

Were you recently diagnosed with a severe case of sanity? We've got your physician-approved prescription posted after the break -- a triple dose of advertisements for Saints Row 2, with commentary provided by esteemed Shakespearian thespian, Gary Busey. We highly doubt that Busey was provided with a script in these videos -- when the Silver Bullet star asks, "Who hasn't wanted to kill someone with a garden gnome," he's probably not reading from a script. His addled mind ponders that very question two or three times a day.

If you're confident you can look into the heart of lunacy and come out unaffected, check the ads out after the jump. Even if you don't care about the game, we're sure you'll enjoy trying to pinpoint the moment Busey stops promoting the game, and starts having honest-to-god Vietnam flashbacks (video NSFW).

THQ has revealed to Europe the Saint's Row 2 Collector's Edition bundle, which appears to come with the game, some posters, a 1GB USB stick in the shape of a bullet and some kind of ... gun. Eurogamer explains that "the box is shaped like a gun," but we can't tell from the picture above if the gun comes out of its casing, or if it's molded to the box. The publisher also tells the site this special edition is only for Xbox 360.

We're not exactly sure about the SR2 Collector's Edition for North America, so we'll have to wait and see if THQ announces this same bundle for the region. Sadly, nothing involving porn star and "special producer" Tera Patrick will be included in the box. The boys and girls of Saints Row 2 are expected to shoot up the streets of Stilwater in October.

Saints Row 2 producer Dan Sutton tells CVG that the game isn't coming to the Wii over controversy and graphical concerns. He explains that implementing Wii controls for "chainsaws, satchel charges, stuff like that" in the game might risk the title running into Manhunt 2-style controversy. That's a bad thing? Apparently, SR2's developer, Volition, isn't totally run by the marketing department.

Sutton also explains that SR2 won't be making it to Nintendo's waggle-enriched juggernaut because Volition is "about pushing really good graphics" -- he believes the Wii feels like an older console. Ouch, at least he didn't mention duct tape.

Phillip: Well, here you go, Ms. Patrick, this is where you'll be working.
Tera Patrick: Right, well, that's what I wanted to ask you about. What is it, exactly, that I'll be doing here?
Phillip: You see, Tera, you're a "special producer" on Saint's Row 2, so you'll be ... well, you'll be a producer. But a special one.
Tera: You just wanted to use a picture of my boobs on a poster, didn't you?
Phillip: No, no, don't be ridi--
Tera: Is this computer made of chocolate?

This is precisely why we're not in video game marketing. If we were trying to get our open-ended gangster romp into the hands of millions, we'd be sure to have "Just like Grand Theft Auto IV!" emblazoned across not only the game's cover, but all of its magazine ads, television commercials and special edition lunch boxes. Of course, the major failure in our marketing strategy would be in its honesty -- our game, "Radical Car Nicking," really would just be Grand Theft Auto with slightly murkier textures.

That's why we're not in game design either, but we sure are good at copying and pasting quotes from THQ CEO, Brian Farrell! Like this one (via Next-Gen), from an investor meeting held on Wednesday in Chicago, where he said, "We think that we have a very differentiated product with Saints Row 2." Farrell acknowledged Rockstar's opus as "the leader in the genre," but noted that Volition's bandanna-wearing blockbuster would go in a different creative direction with "silly, over-the-top gameplay."

We've certainly seen shades of that in the most recent Saint's Row 2 trailer, what with the encouragement of public streaking and outrageous misuse of sewage. It's out -- and very differentiated -- this October.

The latest "please get excited to buy us" trailer for Saints Row 2 takes some playful potshots at Grand Theft Auto IV. The video, which we've placed after the break, asks us if we'd like to do mundane tasks like bowling in GTA IV or more over-the-top things in Saints Row 2, like shooting sewage at pedestrians?

The trailer is a tiny bit awkward, acting as if THQ's game will be available right after players are done with GTA IV. We really don't know how long they expect us to be playing GTA IV, but considering Saints Row 2 doesn't come out until October, chances are we'll be done with it sooner than they anticipate.

Janco Partners' analyst Mike Hickey, after gazing deep into his crystal ball, reports many bad things in THQ's present and future. The biggest issue, Hickey believes, is the publisher's reliance on the recently delayed Saints Row 2. He surmises there is general internal conflict at the publisher, between corporate trying to salvage the company's finances, and developers trying to deliver a quality product. Hickey states THQ's guidance for this fiscal year is too aggressive and dependent on what THQ is calling "proven franchises," but he believes these titles are at risk due to delays, low demand and major marketplace competition.

Hickey spends some time comparing Saints Row to Activision's True Crime. He says that Activision once called True Crime a franchise (before it killed it) the same way THQ is touting Saints Row, but he believes a "franchise" has a "predictable level of consumer demand," which Saints Row just doesn't have. However, he believes it'll be THQ's best-performing owned IP this year. Hickey tells investors to just look back at THQs owned IPs for the last couple years and make their own conclusions about how things are going to go down this fiscal year.

THQ has confirmed to Big Download that ghetto fabulous Saints Row 2 will be poppin' caps on PC. Originally announced for Xbox 360 and PS3, the game doesn't have an official release date yet for com-pu-ters, but Gamestop lists it with the same launch date as the console version.

Saints Row 2 probably plays a significant role in THQ's financial stability, so it's not surprising to hear that the title will try to pick up cheddar from whatever platform it can find it on. THQ recently fired 200 employees and reported a $35 million loss in its last fiscal year. We'll holla back with an update if the publisher gives a release date soon.

THQ has broken our gold-plated hearts (and teeth) by announcing that it will delay the launch of Saints Row 2 until the company's third quarter, from the August 26 release date announced just last month until October 14.

According to Reuters, THQ cited marketing issues and product quality as the reasons for the delay, making us hope that the nearly two extra months of development will give Volition enough time to stamp out those remaining bugs. Additionally, while THQ believes that the delay will not have a negative impact on the company's fiscal 2009 performance, given the publisher's recent pink slip party and $35.3 million loss in fiscal 2008, there's really nowhere else to go but up.

[Thanks Bo]

Never before has a videogame so accurately allowed characters to pantomime taking a dump on a slain enemy. Years from now, when every game has a dozen user-selectable taunts built into it, we'll all look back on August 26's Saints Row 2 as the game that started the virtual dumping trend. And as this article was posted, in the comparison between Saints Row 2 and GTA IV, only the former could claim the virtual, pantomimed dump. Your move, GTA IV.

There's more to Saints Row 2, and the rest of it also caters to adolescent boys (or the adolescent boy in us all). You can play co-op with a friend online and just fly helicopters, drive boats, race cars and motorcycles, and otherwise play in the updated Stillwater setting. If you want to follow the story missions--purported to be "darker" than the original by developers--you can both drop in and out of a single-player game in a way that keeps track of each players progress, so you don't miss any content.

But, who are we kidding? THQ had fans of Saints Row at "pantomimed dump."

The pimps, hoes and other assorted citizens of Saints Row are ready to return August 26 on Xbox 360 and PS3. IGN reports the release date was announced at THQ's Gamers' Day event held in San Francisco. The official Saints Row 2 website is now up and blinged to the nines with ghetto fabulousness.

Late August seems like enough breathing room between SR2 and GTA IV to give the game a chance. Then again, depending on how over-the-top Saints Row 2 ends up being, it could carve out its own niche. We're just looking forward to some co-op play, because you gotta have friends to survive in the ghetto ... and a pimp hat, yeah, we're gonna need big pimp hats.

Developer Volition admits that Saints Row 2 "won't be bug free" when it releases. Speaking at the game's unveiling in London, a Volition producer says no title ships bug free, but that the studio is going to do its best to polish the game before it releases this year. He even says the company has "a full QA team" on the project, which given the issues with the first title causes us to imagine it only had a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig named Mortimer testing it.

Admitting off the bat there will be bugs is refreshing honesty from a developer, but it's more like preemptive damage control spurred by the fact that Saints Row was known for its comedic code issues. In fact, the bugs were so ridiculous in the game that there was a musical made about them (which can also be found after the break for those afraid of links).