Someone new is overseeing the American distribution of exploding penguin demons, three-dimensional Quotes, anthropomorphized console girls, and knells of Ar Ciel. Sohei Niikawa, already president of Nippon Ichi Software in Japan, is replacing Haru Akenaga as president of NIS America.

Under Niikawa, NIS America is pursuing a philosophy of "Entertainment for All," which will embrace more media like "comic books, anime, music, movies, novels, and mobile games." Something tells us NISA's idea of "all" is still a charmingly limited niche.

The soundtrack for Shoot Many Robots is a blues-infused rock compilation that sets the perfect tone for riding off into the desert sunset, entering a room dramatically, driving around the city at night with your sunglasses on and, yes, shooting many robots.

This melodic amalgamation was thrown together by Fez composer Disasterpeace (Rich Vreeland), and the whole album is available now on Bandcamp for $5.

Give it a listen before you buy right here, and all the best of luck with those pesky robots. We hear there's a lot of them.

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I have a real soft spot for Travellers Tales' LEGO games. They certainly aren't the pinnacle of innovation, and they're not exactly on the bleeding edge of video game technology. Quite the contrary, they are simple and unembellished, using familiar mechanics and tried-and-true concepts. And, of course, LEGO titles all charm with their lampooning of whatever series they're based on, be it Star Wars, Harry Potter or Batman.

In other words, Lego games might not be groundbreaking, but they're generally reliable. In that respect, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes seems no different, though it adds a wrinkle or two.

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Mass Effect 3's Extended Cut DLC, which adds exposition to the game's highly controversial ending through a series of epilogues and cinematic sequences, will arrive on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this Tuesday, June 26. For European Shepards, the free update will be available on the PS3 on July 4.

The Extended Cut isn't a new ending for the game so much as it is a Director's Cut of sorts, which doesn't "fundamentally change the endings, but rather it expands on the meaning of the original endings, and reveals greater detail on the impact of player decisions," according to the BioWare Blog. Peep the video above for BioWare's potentially spoilersy discussion of the add-on with executive producer Casey Hudson and lead writer Mac Walters.

Bruce Campbell made cameo appearances in the 2000s Spider-Man movie series because of his connection to director Sam Raimi. He also appeared in the video games based on those movies, thanks to that same connection.

Now another director is making a different Spider-Man movie starring a different actor as a different version of the character. And Bruce Campbell is in the game based on that movie because ... people like Bruce Campbell, we guess?

Campbell plays a guy in a blimp who orders you to do stunts.

38 Studios founder and former Red Sox star Curt Schilling said he was "tapped out" of cash in his first interview since the studio's demise. In a sympathetic radio interview on WEEI (via Boston Globe) this morning, Schilling said he told his family last month, "The money I saved and earned playing baseball was probably all gone ... Life is going to be different."

Documents released after the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy (liquidation) show that the studio owed $150 million to more than 1,000 entities, most of that debt to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., and that the developer had less than $22 million in assets. Rhode Island taxpayers will now have to spend approximately $12 million annually until 2020 to repay the 38 Studios debt to bondholders.

"The employees got blindsided," Schilling said. "They have every right to be upset. I always told everybody if something were going to happen, you're going to have a month or two of lead time, and I bombed on that one in epic fashion."

Schilling also confirmed they were on the verge of signing a $35 million deal for a sequel to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, the company's RPG project by Big Huge Games, but talks collapsed once RI Gov. Lincoln Chafee made statements about the studio's precarious financial situation. He also said Reckoning didn't bring in revenue to the studio because it still had to repay an advance to publisher Electronic Arts.

THQ sent us this Darksiders 2 live-action trailer, which does indeed feature Scottish actor James "Lord Mormont, Commander of the Night's Watch" Cosmo. He also plays a role in the game as Death's guide.

The pre-order bonuses for Darksiders 2 have also been laid out: Putting down money ahead of time for the Limited Edition will earn you a Season Pass, with two pieces of DLC content for free, as well as a new set of in-game armor.

The first piece of DLC is called "Argul's Tomb" and is scheduled to hit a month after the game's release on August 14, and both bits of DLC will include "significant new single player content" to play through. Anyone who preorders the game on THQ's official website will get one more armor and weapon set called the Maker's Armor.

'Silver Lining' is a column from freelancer Taylor Cocke dedicated to highlighting moments of real potential in less than perfect games. This week he examines the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Oh, Sonic, where did you go wrong? Sega's iconic mascot has become a bit of a running joke in recent years, and for good reason. His games haven't been very good. The best I can say about any of them is that about half of the levels are good in any given release. Sonic Unleashed was only enjoyable during the non-werehog parts, Sonic Generations was fun during the old school sections, and even Sonic Colors had more than its fair share of clunky, slow levels that broke up any ability for me to fully enjoy it. The further Sega seems to stray from the formula of the original Sonic games, the worse things seem to get.

One would think that would mean that the two episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 would be pretty good, then. After all, they're ostensibly the most faithful reproductions of the classic 16-bit platformer. Sonic doesn't talk, he's lacking all the incredibly stupid friends that have cropped up over the years, and he's running through a variety of stages so he can beat up on Robotnik at the end. Right down to the order of the worlds, they're essentially recreations. So why aren't they as celebrated as Sonic's original adventures?

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The second content dump for Modern Warfare 3 has escaped its timed exclusivity cage on Xbox Live. Content Collection #2, a smattering of two Face Off maps, one multiplayer map, plus two Spec-Ops missions, is now available for download on PS3 and PC.

Call of Duty Elite premium members on PS3 will find they already have this content unlocked on their respective platforms; everyone else will have to fork over $14.99.

Those without the requisite hardware to run Quantum Conundrum on the PC will have to wait until July. Quantum Conundrum will come to PSN on July 10 for $14.99, and XBLA on July 11 for 1200 MS Points ($15).

If you prefer to pick up Quantum Conundrum through Steam, it's now available on the PC for $14.99. Putting down $19.99 for a Steam pass will also earn you the soundtrack and two future DLC puzzle packs.

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A lot of things have changed since the original X-COM was released in 1994. Strategy games have gotten much grander, with higher production values and streamlined mechanics. Now, XCOM: Enemy Unknown has to tow the line between modern sensibilities and the expectations of series fans. We've already talked about our experience with the game at E3, but I caught up with Firaxis producer Garth DeAngelis to learn more about the differences between the original X-COM and it's upcoming revival. Specifically, I want to know what has changed, what has stayed the same, and what is entirely new.

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Back in February, Airtight Games creative director Kim Swift told us that she wanted Quantum Conundrum to play like a Saturday-morning cartoon – lighthearted with a slapstick edge, similar to Looney Tunes or Cartoon Network programming. This may be why I found it so unnerving that Quantum Conundrum reminded me more of Fight Club than any kid-friendly cartoons.

The standard-edition DVD of 2002's Fight Club has a looping menu that plays a round of light, elevator-style percussion music while the screen flickers invitingly on the Play button; this lasts just long enough to lull the passive listener into a false sense of tranquility, before it smashes into a measure of jarring electrical guitar and pulsating images for a few terrible seconds. Then the screen clears, and the torture repeats.

One night in my wayward youth, I fell asleep watching this Fight Club DVD. For hours after the movie had finished and returned to the menu, I would be jolted awake just enough to know nothing about what was going on, only to immediately fall back asleep once the soothing interlude picked up again. For hours. It was disorienting, sinister and, looking back on it, kind of hilarious.

Quantum Conundrum's soundtrack may be similar to Fight Club's menu screen's, but the game itself rides those same waves of frustration, persistence and disjointed comedy – the game is lovely, but the story is jarring. Some of its story elements are almost funny, some of the narrative almost make sense, all of it almost reaches a realm of lucid clarity. And yes, it does this for hours.

Quantum Conundrum (6/21/12)

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Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD for PlayStation 3 is reckonin' to get a significant patch next week, adding some fancy features like Move and 3DTV support. Other additions in the update include video recording/uploading, brightness and gamma controls, audio tweaks and a barn full of other fixins that y'all will like.

The patch goes live on the PlayStation Network at 7PM Eastern (4PM Pacific) on June 26 and a little after midnight on June 27 in Europe. Head on over to the Oddworld for the full patch notes.

Sine Mora's surprise Vita announcement is joined by renewed plans for a PS3 downloadable version, which is also something of a surprise, though a different kind. The "dieselpunk" shmup by Digital Reality and Grasshopper Manufacture was originally announced as a PS3 and Xbox release, before Microsoft Studios snapped it up as an XBLA exclusive. Now, with the exclusivity period up, it's coming to PSN.

There's currently no date for the PS3 release, except for a vague "soon" – which happens to be the same descriptor applied to the Vita version.

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THQ vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer Teri Manby officially resigned on June 14, but is scheduled to remain at the company until July 6 to help with the transition, an SEC filing reveals.

Rose Cunningham, current senior director of financial reporting, has been promoted to vice president, corporate controller, and chief financial officer Paul Pucino will take over as chief accounting officer.

Among its ongoing financial troubles, THQ yesterday announced it would cancel a standalone expansion for Saints Row: The Third, a move expected to cost the company $20 million in revenue for its fiscal year.

Good news for PC players looking forward to Dishonored, as the multiplatform game will have a separate interface on PC. "Our background is very PC for sure," Arkane Studios designer Raphaël Colantonio told PC Gamer. While Dishonored will be gracing consoles, he assured fans that, "yes, the PC has its own different interface."

We don't yet know exactly how the interface will differ from its console counterparts, but its mere existence should be a relief to PC players.

thatgamecompany confirmed early this morning that a disc-based Journey collector's edition, which will include Flow and Flower, is a thing for PlayStation 3, but "can't say anything more."

That's okay, we'll let retailers do a little more of the talking: both GameFly and Play-Asia list the compilation with an August release date. There is no speculation on price at this time.

None of thatgamecompany's PlayStation Network PS3 titles were previously available on disc, but Flow was available on PSP. The most excellent Journey concluded the developer's three-game deal with Sony and now thatgamecompany is moving toward unknown horizons in self-publishing.

Update: Added full statement from company after the break.

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