My Dearest Felicity,

Prithee, I hope this letter finds thee well. Our distance makes my heart yearn for you, like an A misses Zed. I spend my days contemplating napkins and seeing the colour of your eyes in the tweed jackets of the commoners walking by. The hours are long here in The Colonies. Bennington tells me that, at Her Majesty's University of New Yorkshire, they are on the verge of perfecting a machine that allows one to play games through the telly. Imagine that! To have such a magnificent device in 2009 would be ever so pip-pip hooray in passing the time. I plan to put on my finest wig tomorrow and travel there to experience their first "video game" for this device. What sport are you participating in currently?

Humbly yours,
Sir Robin Woolcott Ellington Spencer of Covington Crossing, Virginia

OK, if you have an Xbox 360 and live in a participating country, it's time to check out the 1 vs. 100 beta. Remember, Xbox Live silver members are good to check out the game now for a limited time. The live shows are definitely solid times for trivia buffs, but the real fun is watching the mob lose way more members than it should through ridiculous or easy questions. Some of the best moments so far: the 50 people knocked out who didn't know that Bell invented the telephone and the infamous question about Jessica Simpson's hair extension brand. Check out the live game tonight and tomorrow, if you can. Oh yeah, one more thing, don't take the money!!! There is none!

Taking into account the ESA's "essential facts," this Father's Day, gamers don't just have to get a gift for dad, in many cases they'll be expecting gifts. Yes, the demographics keep going up, with the latest figures showing that the average gamer is 35 years old. That's well within the territory for many to expect their moppets to get them a gift card for their favorite console instead of a tie. So, happy Father's Day to all the dads and expectant fathers out there! What's everyone playing this weekend?

The vertical sandbox genre has gotten two meaty steroid shots with the recent releases of inFamous and Prototype. For those who would prefer a little history lesson on the genre before jumping into these recent releases, might we suggest playing Crackdown or Spider-Man 2. Both titles are clear inspirations for the latest games and can likely be found at a budget price.

Also, could someone give us an idea of how to block the Crackdown narrator from popping in our head and saying "Skills for kills, agent. Skills for kills" after every major inFamous and Prototype battle? What's everyone playing this weekend?

Dear Readers,

We are soooo tired. By the time this post goes live, we'll likely be in the air back to our respective locations and/or asleep. Please let us know what you're playing this weekend.

XOXO,
Joystiq

This weekend, almost all of Joystiq will depart to the City of Angels for E3 2009 ... a return to what everyone believes will be a real E3. Were the last two years of toned-down expos more conducive to work? Sure! But, it was like an evening on the couch with a tub of Ben & Jerry's ice cream when you could be having a night on the town. There's nothing wrong with couch time, but the industry is still too young for events that feel like an Iowa Orthodontics Convention taking place in Palm Springs. Heck, even the middle-aged analysts and venture capital folks were bored the last couple years.

Anyway, this return to the old ways is sure to be hell for the thousands in the press, marketing, public relations, development and whoever else is working; but we hope that you'll join us for all the information, culture and shadowy things that are sure to occur. Remember, follow our Twitter accounts (listed after the break) for all the stuff that's not fit to publish. Now, what's everyone playing this weekend while we pack?

It's the official start of the BBQ season this weekend and we're hungry for your recipes. Seriously, along with letting us know what you're playing, let us know your family's super secret BBQ rub or marinade recipe. We promise not to tell anyone else! Gawd, we just want to crawl inside the monitor right now and eat that chicken! What's everyone eating and playing this weekend?

Outlets have been in a tizzy the past couple of weeks over the mysterious @GameFork on Twitter. Is he/she/it an industry insider spilling secrets right before E3, or is it just some bartender in Slough having a lark? We've discovered some deleted @GameFork tweets that we're hoping will get some traction. Seriously, these are totally as legit and deserving of attention as @GameFork tweets found elsewhere on the internets.

• E3 shocker: J Allard, Phil Harrison revealed to be same person.
• Sony will announce PSN to carry original Xbox titles, entire NES catalog.
  
• As a sign of cooperation during these hard economic times: Microsoft will announce the PS3 slim.
• Someone will reveal something somewhere at some time.

With Alexander off traipsing around Boston with Chris today, I once again step in to do the WRUP. Sorry, but you're stuck with me ...

This week, the staff aren't finding themselves distracted by Star Trek. Nope, not at all. In fact, we can't remember the last time we even cared about a trek past the stars. So, what are you playing this weekend?

"There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't." We couldn't resist such an on or off joke. You can even pick up the T-shirt (or not) at ThinkGeek. Let's see what everyone is -- or isn't -- playing this weekend...

There's stuff we want to talk about. We really do. But, you know, we're under these silly embargoes. Embargoes, mind you, that European outlets will probably be done with 24 hours before North America. Why would that be? Because many publishers think that the internet is regional -- really, it's true. It may not be shocking to us, but those folks are still stunned that we can read what's going on in Europe or, heaven forbid, Japan. So yeah, hope you enjoy what we can't talk about, but please enjoy reading some site across the ocean with the details. What's everyone playing this weekend?

So, everyone get their taxes in? Hope you made out better than we did. The Joystiq Zombie Apocalypse Survival Vault® was opened this past week to divvy up some of the ramen noodle rations, which we have stored up for the inevitable crisis. We won't be dining on steaks for a while ... maybe we can try some dead human meat? We hear it tastes like chicken. OMG, we are the beginning of the apocalypse. What's everyone playing this weekend?

Although there's plenty of blame to go around about Valkyria Chronicles' initially abysmal US sales, let's try to move past that. What PS3 owners should know by now is that the game -- although not for everyone -- is an innovative and welcome strategy JRPG experience (we're not alone in this thought). With some DLC on the way, all we can do is hope sales pick up to the point where there's a chance we'll see more of Squad 7 in a sequel. Let's see what everyone is playing ...

6:25 PM -- INT. Joystiq Campfire

Ben G.: No WRUP this week?
Alexander S.: ... crap.
Ben G.: Sorry, buddy. We can run it tomorrow. (I just realized now, if it makes you feel any better.)
Alexander S.: You couldn't remind me 10 hours ago? :)
Randy N.: Are you sure it's too late?
Ben G.: I would do that now but my flux capacitor's broken.
Alexander S.: I'll send it out, see what response we get. Post-GDC brain fart.
Ben G.: Yep. You just got your edition name.
Alexander S.: Sent ...