A new Sonic Unleashed trailer is out (better quality here) and once again it provides a mix of fear and hope. There are way too many rails -- trying to hit thin strips of metal hanging out in the middle of nothing, especially at speed, has been a major annoyance in all the 3D Sonics. And this button-pressing section seems rather Quick Time Event-ish and not in the spirit of things, not to mention that such gameplay is rarely any fun.

But on the plus side, there are no awful story cutscenes or sidekick appearances, the music is refreshingly lyric-free, and the lovely city landscape goes on for miles in the distance. And boy, that little bastard's fast.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Velvet Assassin screens and details

• Tomonobu Itagaki has been ordered by the court not to talk to the press until his lawsuit begins.
• Meanwhile Tecmo has denied reports of a mass employee exodus.
• Facebreaker has been set for a September 5 release on the 360 and PS3. The Wii version launch in the holiday season.
• John Riccitiello says EA is working on a sequel to The Godfather, and "you can also play it top-down, almost like you're in an RTS, controlling the strategy of the boroughs so you can see what's going on."
• The leaked Crucible video that Sega says isn't theirs may actually be the Big Huge Games console RPG being led by Oblivion designer Ken Rolston.
• The next NfS title is Need for Speed Undercover. Riccitiello admits that the previous game in the series, Pro Street, could have been better. "I thought it was an okay game, in terms of gameplay. It's not good."
• GamesRadar finds famous movie locations in GTA4.
• An ELSPA survey finds that the majority of adults in the UK support a single rating system for games that works across Europe.
• Wisconsin is trying to attract more game developers with tax incentives.
• More Offspring tracks are coming to Rock Band.
• Vietnam is the latest country to have worries about online game addiction.
• Just in case D&Ders start to think they're special, it should be noted that the Romans used 20-sided dice 2000 years ago.
• The founders of Codemasters have been named Commanders of the Order of the British Empire for their "services to the computer games industry".
• Given that it still hasn't been confirmed Michael Ironside has been let go as the voice of Sam Fisher, this is a rumor about a rumor. So take it with a grain of salt balanced on top of another grain: He was supposedly axed because he got too egotistical and asked for too much money.
• Konami has opened a community site for DDR players so you can all go be scrawny and Asian together.
• At one point, GTA4 was going to have a phone that played music, but they eventually decided against it.
• Remember that old footage of what looked to be a new Ghostbusters game from developer Zootfly? They had to dump it because they didn't have the rights, but the guys who did admit it helped them out. "What Zootfly did for us, inadvertently, is help sell the concept."
• David Hayter, voice of Solid Snake and professional screenwriter, wants to make a Lost Planet film.
• Activision is sponsoring a NASCAR car that will have Guitar Hero: Aerosmith logos plastered all over it. Do hicks like Aerosmith? Aren't they more the Allman Brothers types?
• Gamefly has a big sale going on right now, with games like Mass Effect and Devil May Cry 4 going for $19.99.

PC and mobile news

New content: Diablo II 1.12 patch -- you can finally play without the CD, a mere eight years after release!

• Valve has opened a page detailing the new Pyro weapons and achievements.
• Even the revised copyright system for Mass Effect is giving people trouble, as one guy claims he burned through his 3 activation codes just troubleshooting the game, and now it won't run. And no, uninstalling the game won't restore one of your activations.
• Gamasutra talks to the developer of Hard to be a God about the process of adapting a book to a game.
• TUAW tells you how to run Spore Creature Creator on unsupported GMA 950 Macs.
• also Firefox 3 sucks and you shouldn't use it

Nintendo news

• Syberia creator Benoît Sokal is now working on Last King of Africa, a DS adventure game reworking his 2006 PC game Paradise.
• Nintendo has launched 30 DS Centers in stores around the UK offering demos of games like Mario Kart DS and Phantom Hourglass.
• DS Fanboy suggests ten uses for an old DS.

Sony news

New media: Final Fantasy Versus XIII scans

• And those scans are all you're going to get for a while, as Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been put on hold while most of the team is transferred over to get FFXIII out the door.
• Sony has announced that trophies and the in-game XMB are coming with the 2.4 firmware update.
• Design Lesson 101 looks at God of War: Chains of Olympus.
• This week's Zero Punctuation review is for Haze, followed by a terrible ad for one of the Escapist's other awful features.
• Macross Ace Frontier has been announced for the PSP.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Thrillville: Off the Rails for $9.99.

Microsoft news

New Live Arcade titles: Elements of Destruction, Sea Life Safari
New content: Marathon: Durandal map pack
New media: Interpol screenshots

• GamesRadar tries to get to the bottom of why Live isn't free.
• Torpex is bringing Schizoid to Live Arcade next month.
• Amazon has Viking: Battle of Asgard for $29.99.