Let's say you find yourself in possession of a whale bone. What should you do with it? If you're Reddit user Ragebarf, the choice is obvious: You painstakingly create a real-world version of a whalebone rune from Dishonored.

The rune design was carved with a Dremel, and the bone itself is affixed to the wooden board with leather straps. The board has been appropriately aged, as has the name plate and, if we do say so, the whole thing is very impressive. Kind of creepy, but impressive nonetheless. Check out pictures of the rune's creation from from start to finish right here.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution film scribe C. Robert Cargill and director Scott Derrickson claim they're taking care to present a believable cyberpunk setting in their upcoming film, based on the Eidos Montreal game.

"Yeah, the chief philosophy is we're not making a video game movie, we're making a cyberpunk movie," Deus Ex film co-writer C. Robert Cargill says in an interview with Crave Online. "We've taken a look at what's worked in video games and what hasn't, and really what we've broken down is what we think the audience really wants, [what] the audience that loves Deus Ex is going to want to see out of a Deus Ex movie. And it's not a rehashing of the game."

The duo, which think of Mortal Kombat as the best video game movie yet made, will borrow motifs from the game, rather than attempt to replicate specific events. "The thing about Deus Ex, the landscape is massive. I mean, it is a big, broad, sprawling game, and look, it's impossible to get the aesthetic of that game into a single movie," Derrickson says. "That's the nature of turning a video game into a movie, is keeping the elements that are iconic and important, [that] advance the game, but also recognizing that if that's all you do, you'll just make another bad video game movie."

According to Derrickson, there's a draft of the film already, and the process as a whole is "moving like a rocket."

Ubisoft is working to smooth out years of open hostility against legitimate customers of its PC products. Speaking with MCV, Uplay Director Stephanie Perotti announced more third-party partners for the publisher's digital distribution network, adding, "It shows our commitment to PC, and we want to improve our relationship with the PC community."

Ubisoft's messaging on this better relationship hangs on larger retail offerings through Uplay and the removal of always-on DRM from its games.

Not mentioned are the notorious delays of the publisher's major games between console and PC launches. Although Far Cry 3 didn't experience the standard PC release lag – since it launched so late a delay would have missed the holiday window – Assassin's Creed 3 arrived a month later on PC. We've yet to see what 2013 brings in terms of major Ubisoft games and how launch timing will shape up.

There may be a few clouds hanging over your Xbox Live experience today. Microsoft reports that users are experiencing troubles accessing cloud saves and other remotely stored information on Windows 7 and Xbox 360. We've also received reports of trouble with the Halo 4 servers.

The (crackpot) theory going around the Joystiq think tank is that Sony's testing PS4 cloud services and taking up all the bandwidth in the imaginary "cloud." Xbox Live isn't working right, because Kaz Hirai is streaming some Cool Boarders 2 to QA.

The first piece of Dead Space 3 DLC, 'Awakened,' could be stirring towards a March 3 release date. We know Awakened is coming sometime next month, but a post on the official Dead Space Twitter (now deleted, but screencapped after the break) in response to this tweet clearly noted a March 3 date. However, when asked about it later, another post reverted to the March release window, and "no precise dates" as yet.

It seems there are crossed wires at whoever's in charge of the Twitter feed, and the date may well be a mistake - March 3 is a Sunday, which is a bit unusual for DLC - so take it with a pinch of salt. In any case, we've reached out to EA for comment.

Update: An EA representative has told us that the company has "not announced a specific release date in March for Dead Space 3 Awakened."

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Pre-order BioShock Infinite on Steam, and you might get free copies of BioShock and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. In a Ninostarter-type drive, rewards are unlocked as the number of pre-orders goes up.

The first tier is a free copy of BioShock for everyone; next is a set of BioShock Infinite-themed hats, because it is a game on Steam. Finally, if pre-orders reach a high enough number, free copies of XCOM will be rewarded to everyone.

Amazon offers $30 in "2K Games Credit" with pre-orders of the PC download. You could always fold up some dollar bills into a hat.

Free-to-play shooter MechWarrior Online has added a new update to the game, this one containing the biggest map yet. The environment is called Alpine Peaks, and features lots of cold, open areas, separated by some very tall high ground. In addition to the new map, the update also includes five new versions of a mech called the Trebuchet, which specializes in long range combat and carries medium weight.

Finally, the newest update also adds in what Pirahna Games is calling "Phase 3" of the matchmaking system, which will allow players of the same skill to find and compete against each other in a balanced way, despite what mech they're driving. The new system also allows for cosmetic holograms in the cockpit, so you can now show off any House Faction loyalties you happen to have. Us, we're partial to Winterfell, but -- oh wait, wrong setting. At any rate, the update is now live on the servers, so go get that Mech a Warrior-in'!

Remember the "Alien Noire" website supposedly counting down to a revelation about Prey 2? A recent update added a Prey 2 logo and more to the site. The site now also features logos for both Bethesda Softworks and Human Head Studios, Prey 2's publisher and developer, respectively.

Furthermore, the hidden message in the site's source code has been expanded. Previously reading "Tommy needs your help," it now reads "Tommy needs your help with a stranded human who wants to go home." The message refers to Tommy, the protagonist from the original Prey, who plays an important role in the sequel.

You might think that using official logos would substantiate the site's legitimacy, but apparently that's not so, according to Bethesda. A spokesperson tells Joystiq, "I don't know what that is or who is doing it. It's not something we're doing." So there you have it.

GOG.com is running a sale on Apogee games this weekend, knocking several titles down to $2.39 apiece. That includes crude classics like Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior and Rise of the Triad, as well as great granddaddy shooter, Blake Stone (pictured). You can also nab the original, side-scrolling Duke Nukem games, or the awesome-for-its-time flight game, Terminal Velocity.

Arma 3 will go Steam-exclusive, with the development team at Bohemia Interactive stating the move will ensure a 2013 launch.

"We have evaluated the pros and cons, but in the end Steam enables us to release Arma 3, brings massive advantages to the game, and improves the end-user experience. Not to forget, the majority of our players already come from Steam," said Bohemia Interactive CEO Marek Španěl.

Bohemia is also exploring more Steamworks integration to "enable game features that are impossible to develop in-house, on time." Further details will be announced later, but the intention is to provide access to user-generated content and multiplayer.

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Mass Effect 3's newly announced Citadel DLC features Zaeed and the work of Robin Sachs, the late actor who portrayed the bounty hunter. BioWare producer Mike Gamble revealed Sachs' involvement, marking one of the very last pieces of his acting work to be published. Sachs, known for his roles in other BioWare games as well as TV shows Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Babylon 5, passed away earlier this month at the age of 61.

BioWare, following a suggestion from fans on its forums, is also paying its respects to the actor through this weekend's Mass Effect 3 multiplayer operation. The aim of the operation, called 'Tribute,' is to "honor and avenge our comrades who fell – and let the Reapers know this was a mistake, not a victory." The goals are to earn points using the M-8 Avenger and Inferno Grenades, referencing Zaeed's old 'Jessie' rifle and his loyalty power from Mass Effect 2. The operation begins today and runs through to Sunday, February 24.

[Thanks, Sigfodr]

The third Tomb Raider Guide to Survival webisode focuses on something that's always been something of a pitfall for Ms Croft: combat. Clearly Crystal Dynamics hopes to address that with this reboot, and thankfully we've not seen any evidence of shark-punching (yet).

Square Enix also sends us the game's newly revealed PC specs, which we've published over the break. PC stalwarts may be pleased to see Tomb Raider bucks the growing trend of dropping XP support.

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StarCraft 2 community manager Kevin Johnson produced the above video, a quick rundown of some major additions to the StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm eSports suite and multiplayer experience. Chief among these new features is "Take Command," which allows you to jump into a replay and take over as any player – you can rewrite history, prove your strategy yields better results or relive the conquests of your favorite eSports match-up.

You can now also recover games. No matter how your game ended prematurely, you can round up all the original players and pick up from where you left off. Or not, there's an option to set the start time in the recovered game to whenever you want.

Additionally, players can watch replays in a group, and individual units now benefit from new physics – the example above shows a cadre of Terran soldiers being torn apart in rather animated fashion as they fight off some Zerg. Remember, kids: the only good bug is a dead bug.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm launches on March 21, 2013. The game's ongoing public beta is slated to end on March 1.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is free-to-play this weekend on Steam and it's on sale for 33 percent off, $40 for the standard game and $54 for the Digital Deluxe edition. The sale runs through Monday, February 25, and the free weekend ends on Sunday, February 24 at 1 p.m. PT.

The Digital Deluxe Edition includes the Nuketown Zombies and Nuketown 2025 bonus maps, weapon camo skin, two player card backgrounds, the game's official soundtrack and a download of Call of Duty World at War. It's a war-torn weekend, with another massive shooting game available for free on Steam over the next few days: Gratuitous Space Battles.

Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We believe they deserve a wider audience with the Joystiq Indie Pitch: This week, Klaus Petersen and Bedtime Gaming talk about artistic IGF student finalist Back to Bed. Check out the Kickstarter here.

What's your game called and what's it about?

Our game is called Back to Bed. It is a 3D puzzle platformer, wherein the player has to help a sleepwalker reach the safety of his bed by navigating him through a surreal and dreamlike environment.

How did you hear that Back to Bed was an IGF Student Showcase finalist and has that changed how you approach the game's development?

Well, we just read it on one of the game news sites, when the student showcase "winners" were announced, which of course caused celebration.

But yes, the IGF nomination changed alot of things. Besides giving the team a giant boost, it also gives us the great window of opportunity to show our game to a lot of people. It also builds up a little pressure, I guess. But it's just things like this that makes the long hours during crunch worthwhile.

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Gratuitous Space Battles is pretty much precisely what it says – massive, interstellar dogfighting for basically no reason, aside from the fact that it's fun. Give it a go for free this weekend on Steam for PC and Mac, now through Sunday, February 24 at 1 p.m. PT.

If you discover that space-based wars are your thing, Gratuitous Space Battles is 75 percent off through February 25. That's $3.75 for just the game or $4.75 for the Complete Pack, which includes a heap of DLC.

Gratuitous Space Battles developer Chris Harris describes his game as a "hands-off battle simulator for giant space fleets," and he says the gameplay embraces a chaotic lack of control found in real-life military operations. Whether on the ground or among the stars, we imagine it is indeed difficult to strategize with people shooting at you.

Jonathan's Blow's next mind-melting puzzler has a bright – and colorful – future in the next generation, as he took center stage at Sony's conference last night to announce The Witness would come to PlayStation 4 as a timed exclusive. After the show, Blow told us that his team is hard at work on the PS4 port of The Witness, and a PC version is still in tow.

"Basically, you'll see The Witness on PS4 before you'll see it on the next Microsoft console or on the Wii U, presuming we eventually do ports to those consoles," Blow said. "Ideally we want the game to be in as many places as we can get it, but since we are a small developer and it's a complicated game, we can only do so much at once."

Blow decided to port The Witness to PS4 because he liked the console, not to snub players on other platforms or simply make a quick buck, he said:

"People are speculating that we did this because of money, but that is not the case at all. We like the console and we like the people we are working with; we were already developing a PS4 port of the game, which prevents us from doing other console ports anyway, again because we can only do so much. So it was only a small step to go from this practical fact of development to a formal agreement signed on paper."

Besides, signing a contract with any company wouldn't be too difficult for Blow and his team, since they already have at least one Witness.

Retro City Rampage's long, pixelated journey to WiiWare finally comes to an end next week. The campy parody crime game will land on WiiWare on February 28 for $10. The Wii release will also feature the bonus "ROM City Rampage," which will allow players to "experience what Retro City Rampage could've been like if it were actually released in the '80s, as a 100% NES hardware-accurate ROM." ROM City Rampage will be accessible via the in-game arcade.

PC players will also get to experience the bonus mode thanks to a free update scheduled to release alongside the WiiWare version. Creator Brian Provinciano also reminds Wii U owners that they will be able buy and play the game using the Wii menu.

Finally, the Steam version of Retro City Rampage is on sale this week for $7.50, half the usual price. The sale ends on February 28.

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Remember the project that Legend of Grimrock developer Almost Human teased last month? It turns out that the project is indeed Legend of Grimrock 2, although that wasn't originally the plan. The developer has already created a great deal of new content, wrote Petri Häkkinen on the Almost Human blog, and it was originally intended for an expansion.

"We still have a lot of ideas we'd like to explore, lots and lots of new content already done (originally made for a DLC/expansion) and a big engine update in the works," he said, adding that approaching the next project as DLC "would have limited too much what we can do."

The announcement is light on details, though we can assume another retro-inspired dungeon crawl is in the works.