After spending some time with a huge demo of the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot, I had an equally massive conversation with the game's producer, Crystal Dynamics' Karl Stewart. Beside discussing the studio's inspirations for Lara Croft's latest adventure, we also explored some of the more advanced game mechanics -- things that the first few hours of the game only hint at. Below is the entirety of our conversation... just be aware that it includes some minor spoilers for the game's first few hours, if you're sensitive to that sort of thing. Be sure to check out our new impressions of the game as well!

The videogame industry lacks any single, reliable sales tracker, particularly when accounting for digital sales, which is absolutely crucial for getting a full picture of the industry. Despite this, Call of Duty is widely accepted as the dominant franchise, at least as far as traditional videogame releases go. Year after year, the series tops sales charts and sets various records that publisher Activision is happy to tout in press releases and in front of investors. This year after year growth can't continue forever, and so it becomes a matter of when that sales peak is reached. Some indications suggest we may have finally hit that point, though even if that is the case, those who can't wait for the series' demise likely still have a long wait ahead before seeing what it is that they want.

It's important to make clear the sort of drop we're potentially talking about here. It's likewise important to realize we're talking about potential here -- Black Ops II has not even been out for a full month, and so plenty of time remains for it to blow past lifetime sales figures for previous Call of Duty iterations. But, videogame sales are more highly concentrated in the period immediately following launch. And with Black Ops II's launch coming just as the holiday shopping season kicked off, this game's biggest days are without a doubt behind it.

Listen to what many industry executives have to say, and you'd be led to believe original intellectual property doesn't sell well late in a console cycle. The time to introduce a new IP supposedly comes when new consoles are launched; once those systems have been around for years, that's when the focus shifts to existing properties. This is something that has never made a lot of sense to many people, and the performance of Dishonored isn't about to do anything to convince those people that executives have it right.

Despite being an original IP -- just the sort of game that supposedly shouldn't be excelling at this point in time -- Dishonored is doing very well. After receiving a strong critical reception prior to its release in early October, the game has gone on to sell better than publisher Bethesda anticipated.

Thanksgiving is now just a day away here in the United States, but what many people are looking forward to is the crazy shopping day that ensues the following day. Videogames are, as always, a hot Black Friday item, and there is no shortage of deals on our favorite hobby at a variety of retailers, both of the brick-and-mortar and online variety. As is becoming a more and more common occurrence, many of these deals will actually kick off on Thanksgiving day, if they haven't already.

Below is a look at many of the deals you'll find at some of the nation's biggest retailers. It's by no means a comprehensive list, but it does consist of the vast majority of the advertised deals from the retailers we've covered. GameStop, annoyingly enough, hasn't released its Black Friday ad yet; fortunately, an anonymous employee has done us the service of sharing the deals with Cheap Ass Gamer anyway so we can plan ahead.

The NPD Group's monthly games industry reports continue to be widely covered in the media, and it's easy to understand why. With game publishers hesitant to make a habit of sharing sales figures, the NPDs, as they're often called, supposedly give us somewhat of a glimpse as to which games are succeeding and which are failing. Criticisms of the NPD Group's numbers have becoming increasingly common over time, to the point where the question is now being asked whether the media ought to ignore the numbers outright.

That's the position taken in a new piece by the Penny Arcade Report, and it's one I find myself agreeing with. Regular readers of 1UP's news section may have noticed a distinct lack of coverage of the NPDs as of late, dating back to before the change in how news was handled. I personally don't give a second thought to the numbers anymore -- a far cry from the days when I would be highly anticipating them every month. Rather than having multiple pieces per month analyzing and dissecting whatever could be deduced from the numbers, the NPDs are something that rarely cross my mind at this point. And there are a variety of reasons for that.

The Walt Disney Company made a major acquisition this week, purchasing Lucasfilm from George Lucas in a $4.05 billion deal. Along with Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, this puts the Star Wars brand in the control of Disney, which has already announced its intention to release a new Star Wars film trilogy, the first entry of which is scheduled to arrive in 2015. LucasArts, Lucasfilm's videogame subsidiary best known these days for its Star Wars games, also now finds itself under the Disney banner, a move which could turn out to have a profound effect on the videogames we see coming out of it in the future.

As far as Star Wars itself goes, I find it difficult not to be at least somewhat optimistic. Most people would agree the series' high points have come when creator George Lucas has been less hands-on -- just look at The Empire Strikes Back as compared with the prequel trilogy. This new deal reduces Lucas' role in the new films to that of a "creative consultant," which reminds me of the honorary chairman role that the 'Father of PlayStation,' Ken Kutaragi, once filled. Without knowing what the new movies will be about or who will direct them, it's impossible to say with any degree of certainty how they will turn out. It's been noted that Disney's acquisition of Marvel resulted in this year's excellent Joss Whedon film The Avengers, which bodes well for the future of the Star Wars films. And, as the Penny Arcade Report points out, "We have nothing to lose by Disney making more Star Wars films, and it's not like they can get any worse." The prequels really put the film series in a position where things can only get better from here.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board faces a difficult task in assigning ratings to digital games, one not about to be made any easier on it by game makers. Setting aside the matter of increasing complexity of these titles, the number of digital releases continues to grow at a strong pace. In order to keep up, the ESRB last year announced it would begin making use of an automated system for assigning ratings to downloadable games. This week it took things a step further by making this service available to developers for free, a move that could have more of an effect than simply reducing development costs.

Downloadable games released for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network (including Vita), the 3DS eShop, the Wii Shop Channel, Windows 8, and PlayStation Certified devices are among those covered by this initially, with others to be added in the future, including streaming services. The new ratings also provide additional information on things like the presence of location sharing and player interaction. The idea is to ensure ESRB ratings, which are the most recognizable ratings for videogames in the United States and Canada, are more widely adopted as digital games are delivered more and more often on platforms that otherwise might not use them.

The way Call of Duty Elite -- the subscription service for the massively popular FPS series -- worked never really seemed like the most sensible way to go. By having free and premium tiers, there was always a great deal of confusion among gamers, and this led to some unfair criticisms about how the money-hungry Activision was charging for stat-tracking services other games offered for free when, in reality, that was not the case. As Elite approaches the beginning of its second year in existence with the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops II next month, Activision is doing the sensible thing: it's making Elite (sans downloadable content) free for everyone to access.

When it was originally launched last year, the $50-per-year version of Elite offered a year's worth of downloadable content, extra storage for replay videos, the ability for clans to level up, tournaments with real-world prizes, and Elite TV. The DLC was obviously the big attraction, as on its own that same content would cost $60. But the manner in which DLC was handled was not immediately apparent: If I purchase an Elite membership this past June, do I get all of the previously released content? Do I get Black Ops II DLC released prior to next June? It was needlessly confusing.

After last year's PlayStation Network breach, some questioned whether Sony could regain the confidence of PSN users. Surely anyone in their right mind wouldn't dare to buy anything from PSN or trust it with their personal information, some said. Yet here we are, not even two years later, and PSN sales are higher than ever before. Not only that, but Sony is doing the best job of any platform holder to encourage users to spend money on their online service.

Sony Computer Entertainment America's Jack Buser recently shared some impressive facts about PSN sales with Joystiq. In the quarter spanning April through June, PSN saw more content sold than during any other quarter since the service's launch. On a similarly positive note for Sony, "membership sales in PS Plus almost doubled" during E3 week in June.

Digital versions of retail games being sold on PlayStation Network are nothing new; we've seen numerous games made available in this fashion. In most cases, these digital versions have been released at some point after the game in question debuted at retail. Last week's release of Borderlands 2 was a notable exception -- it could be downloaded from PSN on the same day it became available in stores and online. That's something we'll be seeing a lot more of soon, as it will be far from the only game released in that fashion on PSN this fall with Sony today announcing the PSN Day 1 Digital program.

Eight games coming out in October will be released on PSN on the same day they hit retail, including Assassin's Creed III, Dishonored, and Resident Evil 6. That the number is so high is an aggressive move by Sony -- it's one thing for the occasional game to be released simultaneously on PSN, but this list now accounts for almost every high-profile game release in October. There are some missing, like XCOM: Enemy Unknown, WWE 13, and the HD Collections of Zone of the Enders and Killzone (the latter of which I'm sure will end up on PSN), but it's pretty comprehensive otherwise. The omission of Skylanders Giants is not a big deal, even though it is sure to be a major seller. That's because it's a game that relies on the player having more than just a controller to play, and also because it's not a game geared toward core gamers, which is the primary market for downloadable versions of games.

Dark Souls, like Demon's Souls before it, is a game that is perhaps best known for its ruthless difficulty. In a sea of games where making it through to the end is all but assured for one reason or another, the Souls titles are almost completely devoid of any handholding. From the limited tutorial to the countless number of times players will die, it's clear from the outset that players are in for something unlike the norm. The game cleverly does things to mitigate potential frustration, though by no means are you likely to find anyone who would consider the experience an easy one. Dark Souls director Hidetaka Miyazaki has been pondering the possibility of adding an additional difficulty level, and, as you'd expect, fans are having quite the reaction to that.

"I personally want my games to be described as satisfying rather than difficult," Miyazaki told GameCentral. "As a matter of fact, I am aiming at giving players sense of accomplishment in the use of difficulty. Having said that, however, it is true that Dark Souls is rather difficult and a number of people may hesitate to play. This fact is really sad to me and I am thinking about whether I should prepare another difficulty that everyone can complete or carefully send all gamers the messages behind our difficult games."

Those of us fortunate enough to own more than one gaming system are faced with a tricky question anytime a multiplatform game is released: which platform should I buy it for? All other things being equal, there are some factors that make that decision much easier -- heavily discounted prices or serious technical issues, like those plaguing the PlayStation 3 version of Skyrim, can help to rule out certain versions. Continuing that example, you're still left to weigh a list of pros and cons if you own both a PC and Xbox 360. As I continue to debate which platform to to pick Borderlands 2 up for next month, I turned to the 1UP community to see how they deal with this enviable, first-world problem.

"I usually purchase the PS3 version of multiplatform titles, and it's honestly almost entirely down to growing up with a PlayStation and mentally associating it with playing the sort of games I enjoy," said 1UP board member ezrabinirib. "The only reason I sometimes purchase the 360 version of a game is if it uses the triggers for a large part of the gameplay (GTA IV, FIFA, most FPS games) because I hate using the L2/R2 buttons on the PS3 controller. It always feels like I'm breaking something."

Like with the Wii, Nintendo is not attempting to have Wii U compete on graphics; based on what we've seen and heard, it's roughly on equal footing with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in terms of horsepower. It's the system's controller that sets it apart from the competition and, like the Wii remote, allows it to provide experiences that can't be had elsewhere. Or, at least, that is the idea; Microsoft showed off SmartGlass at E3 which was perceived as the company's version of the Wii U GamePad. Sony did the same with LittleBigPlanet 2 and Vita, something we got to see again at Gamescom as one demonstration of how Sony is indiscreetly going after Nintendo.

Sony announced today that Cross Controller support, the feature used to play LittleBigPlanet 2's upcoming Cross Controller DLC, will be included in a Vita firmware update coming later this month. The distinction between this and PSP Remote Play is that the Vita is recognized as what it is; asymmetric gameplay becomes a possibility, and the Vita's unique features can be harnessed -- the game doesn't play as if you are simply holding a PS3 controller with a screen that displays what would normally be seen on your TV. This firmware update will enable developers to make use of the functionality in their games going forward; the only thing that might stop them, really, is that the Vita install base is not especially large, and the number of people with both a PlayStation 3 and Vita is even smaller than that (though there is undoubtedly a fair amount of overlap between owners of the two).

Generally speaking, the future of gaming is digital and online-connected. I, for one, am largely in support of much of this, as I quite enjoy the benefit of, say, being able to easily bring all of my handheld games with me wherever I go or easily download my collection of PC games without ever looking for a disc or CD key. The rare instance when I'm without Internet or the long wait for the My Games section of the Xbox 360 dashboard to load aside, I'm a fan of all this digital business. However, on occasion there are things which cause me to wonder if it's all worth it and make me hesitant to debate anyone who is averse to becoming excited about the direction the industry is headed.

Take Dragon Quest X, for instance. Unlike previous games in the series, it is an MMORPG and, as such, it requires an online connection (and carries a subscription fee, at least in Japan) for all but a few hours. The decision to take a previously single-player-centric series into the MMO space -- a move Final Fantasy has made twice, first with XI and then with XIV -- will continue to be talked about. Personally I'm indifferent to the move as I don't have any particular affection for the series beyond being a casual fan.

Professional wrestling is fake. This we all (I hope) know, although the existence of Internet ads teasing an answer to the question of 'Are WWE fights staged?' makes me hesitant to assume anything. I bring this fact up not to spark a debate about how some aspects of wrestling truly are real (there's a reason WWE doesn't let guys hit each other in the head with chairs anymore), but as the reason for why wrestling simulation videogames can never hope to fully recreate wrestling. How can a scripted sporting event be acted out without all of its participants being in on the ruse?

I tend to be fairly good at wrestling games, at least when it comes to squaring off against the AI. Over time I learn what works and what doesn't, and pretty quickly I find myself with ability to take down a computer opponent without him getting much offense in, if any at all. In professional wrestling such a match would be called a squash. Squashes do have their purpose, as they can be used to establish an individual as being dominant and help him or her to stand out in some way. But this is thankfully not the formula followed by your average match, or else wrestling would get boring in a big hurry.