The first Mercenaries wasn't a perfect game, but it was a hell of a lot of fun, especially for the more destructive among us. So it was a shame that the sequel seemed to be having a rough time in development, getting delayed a couple times and generally staying out of the public eye. However, Pandemic has recently released a playthrough video demonstrating the three main characters' different approaches to the same mission, proving that they do indeed have a game over there and it does appear to be playable.

Alright, so the three approaches aren't actually that different, and the vehicle hijacking minigame isn't a welcome addition. But lookit, explosions.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Street Fighter IV anime-style trailer, Darksiders: Wrath of War trailer, House of the Dead EX screenshots

• One of the hurdles facing both Activision and Harmonix in getting Led Zeppelin songs into Guitar Hero and Rock Band is that the group isn't comfortable giving access to their master tapes.
• McFarlane Toys has revaled a line of action figures based on Call of Duty: World at War.
• Shiny Entertainment founder Dave Perry has an honorary Doctorate in Science from Queen's University Belfast in Ireland.

PC and mobile news

• Robin Walker has responded to a number of Team Fortress 2 questions. "We agree that they’re a little too overpowered right now. In fact, internally, we refer to them as 'winbombs'. We haven’t reached a decision on what we’ll change yet, though."
• Touchdown CEO Jeff Pepper talks about designing Dancetown, a DDR for seniors.
• Hudson has announced Diablo 3 multiplayer on supportive, cooperative play over griefing.

Nintendo news

New PAL WiiWare titles: Pop, My Pokemon Ranch -- that's, uh, two separate names
New media: Wario Land Shake gameplay footage, Big Bang Mini screenshots and trailer

• There are currently no plans for future Brain Training titles, seeing as the originals continue to sell well enough on their own.
• Sega has confirmed that Samba de Amigo will ship with maraca attachments.
• Foreign ministers attending the G8 summit in Kyoto were presented with custom DSes and perfume balls along with what is apparently stickers with their faces on.
• Tales of the Heart has been announced for the DS.
• A poll on Japanese website IT Media finds that 64% of respondents have stopped using their Wii Fit.

Sony news

New content: Guitar Hero III Top Gun Anthem, Rock Band tracks
New media: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm trailer

• Sony says Home's release in fall will be a "fully robust service" despite it's open beta status.
• Sony Europe warns that it may have trouble providing enough Dualshock 3s to Europe on day one.
• Capcom.co.jp has a listing for a PSP Devil May Cry title.
• Hideo Kojima lists the five games that have made an impact on his life.
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 has been announced for the PSP.

Microsoft news

• Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg says the 360 "compliments the Wii experience," as Wii players will eventually "want to graduate to an Xbox 360 experience."
• Denis Dyack explains that his weird NeoGAF call-out was all a big experiment. "NeoGAF and other forums like this that don't have good management are not only hurting society and hurting the videogame industry, they're in decline, and they need to reform quickly before people stop listening to them." lol wut