AU News Wrap, September 28 - What happened today

I won a gleeful competition today, ate a delicious steak for lunch, managed to play some games, and even - gasp! - wrote some video games news. Amazing.

As I decided yesterday to launch a "my favourite games" header theme, and Tecmo Koei announced a new one today, I thought Warriors Orochi would do nicely for the image.

I am a super fan of Omega Force's Musou games, even though it's terribly unfashionable. I'm a bit of a Three Kingdoms and Sengoku geek anyway, but I just really dig the characters and stories in the games.

I also like the fact that you can button mash your way through if you want to, or turn the difficulty up to discover quite a precise brawler requiring a careful approach, split-second timing, and tactical knowledge of the battlefield.

Anyway, Warriors Orochi was like a dream come true for me when it released on PSP, because I was very ill at the time and had to spend months on end in bed. One hundred characters to level up? Heaven.

Pat will be along shortly with the Bulletcast, to fill you in on the best bits of past 24 hours, but if you want absolutely everything hit up Steph's wrap, and then, uh, scroll, as Johnny mysteriously didn't produce one yesterday.

• Battlefield 3 tourney offers $1.6 million prize pool
  No PC players allowed!
• US PS Store Update - Uncharted, Castlevania, Fallout NV DLC
  Every time I see "Fallout NV" I imagine my partner - whose initials are NV - in a Vault dweller's outfit.
• Quick shots - House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Edition sports retro 3D
  Fitting, given the game's retro grindhouse camp feel.
• Shank 2 inbound via EA Partners
  EA Partners is a cool system. It's not as comofrtable as a full publishing deal for indies, but EA is willing to fund games it knows won't sell bajillions, and that's good for everyone.
• Zynga report shows core gamers increasingly keen on social
  Disturbing. Have you all seen that Sims Social piece on Action Button and Insert Credit?
• Football Manager 2012 Steam log in requirement sparks outrage
  Many creatives find their sales actually go up when they remove DRM requirements. Neil Gaiman released his eBooks for free in Russia and saw physical sales explode.
• Warriors Orochi sequel announced for December release
  This made my day! I hope the international release comes around my birthday so I can justify taking a day off to fangirl out.
• Counter-strike: Global Offensive will allow for bigger tournaments
  Called it - Valve has its eye on eSports as the next big thing.
• Howard: Skyrim's advances as significant as Oblivion's
  Comparisons! Everyone loves those, right? Especially the people who think Oblivion stepped backwards!
• Disaster Report 4 cancellation unrelated to Tohoku quake
  There are tens of thousands of people left homeless after the tsunami. Do you have a couple of bucks to throw in the hat?
• Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD launch trailer brings the drama
  Personally, I think it looks pretty balls, but I've not bought into Resident Evil since the novelty wore off circa RE2.
• Dead Nation: Road of Devastation trailer splatters zombie hordes
  I totally put this live with the wrong headline. HILARITY.
• Matsuura: Lack of international teams a problem for games industry
  You should have been at the Opera House show. He sang us some songs, including a cover of Thriller, and did a DJ set, among other madness. I loved it ALL.
• GameStop: Consoles will continue to be industry’s “gold standard”
  Hey, look! It's Nathan! He's emerged from his foetid cave of interviews and features to warm himself in the gentle glow of news.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic to include achievements
  A game which requires your regular payment including a notoriously addictive feature? Noooo, never!
• Trademark suggests Yakuza: Of the End’s headed West
  Nathan again, inspired by a discussion of how awesome Japan is, perhaps. Hint: so awesome.
• Wednesday Shorts - announces, trailers, and bad news for fighter fans
  At the end of the day I find it hard to judge what you want to read about versus what we as arguable insiders find interesting.