We have a rather sizeable haul of new games this week. The cream of the crop includes such titles as Tekken 6, DJ Hero, Forza Motorsport 3, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, and that undying (not undead -- no, that would actually be cool) Petz series. Dig in and see which games fit your tastes and budget.

There can be no doubt that some of the best gamers in the world are from South Korea. The WCG is a witness to what the Korean gaming force can do. Even outside the WCG, whether it's StarCraft, Warcraft, Counter-strike, and even Tekken, there's bound to be a Korean or two among the best. So now comes this Craiglist posting, where you get to learn StarCraft from a real Korean, and no not a fake one.

Answering an earnings call, GameStop exec David W. Carlson reveals the release of four major titles by October and November. Noting that GameStop is a US retailer, the only conclusion we can make out of the info is that the release margins are for the US, and we can only speculate on how it's gonna be for other regions. More info after the jump.

Let's talk about mythology for a while and no, this is not going to be a lecture similar to the ones you get in your Literature classes. Let's talk about gods and goddesses in relation to video games and the World Wrestling Federation (WWE).

The full article awaits after the jump!

It's no secret that the gaming community has spawned a variety of subcultures, all that seem to slowly emerge in today's society. Whether or not some people choose to accept it, the world is getting accustomed to the idea of game concepts becoming (alternate?) pop culture.

Enter mountyoum. He's an avid contributor to DeviantArt and one amazing animation tweener. He has worked on Flash movies based off serious Japanese-style fighting games, and the word "awesome" doesn't even seem to cover how great they are. In fact, some of his movies are incomplete, yet are already way up the scoreboards in overall impact and quality.

In the video below, he manages to tell a story about two campus colleagues in his school, University of Rhode Island and a fictional rivalry involving Tekken like-combat (without the 3D). They have both been his friends in younger years, and so you could see how much passion he has put into this five-month (yes, five) work spanning 170 MB long (not 56k friendly, sorry).

Although it sports some extremely violent content (although not particularly in the bloody side) plus some suggestive dialogue, it's actually pretty tame. It's a blast to watch over and over again, and we hope that'll you enjoy while we try to get by in this weekend slowdown.

Sundance Video Game Festival. Hopefully, in the near future, this is going to be a reality and not just some topic of a panel discussion. Anyway, filmmakers at the annual Sundance Film Festival are seriously interested in exploring the evolving video game medium and this was the topic of a panel discussion held recently at Sundance.

The panel was made up of indie game community members and those people who have been playing and keeping an eye on their games from the get go. The conclusion of the talk: The indie game movement is not only changing the gaming industry, but more importantly, they are changing how the people perceive the world.

One example cited was Asi Burak's game called PeaceMaker, which is all about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He mentions that the game is set to be released in a few days. He also hopes that "by including real news footage and allowing players to play both sides of the conflict, PeaceMaker will help players "understand the cause and effect relationships" that are involved and why people on both sides feel so impassioned". Other games who are fast becoming agents of social change are Darfur is Dying and Food Force from the United Nations.

They make socially relevant games alright and they are adding a new facet to the seemingly never-ending "Are video games good or bad" debate. But the situation isn't always peachy as the indie game scene almost always has to face issues of funding, games distribution, and the balancing of expression and marketability.

In closing, game developer of games like Waco Resurrection and Tekken Torture Tournament, Eddo Stern mentioned that games should be more than just fun and should also be able to evoke feelings of anger and even pain. He says that "even though game play is a part of them, fun is a question."

Sundance Video Game Festival. How do you like the sound of that?