AU News Wrap, September 2 - What happened today

It's Friday, baby! And the whole world's gone mad for games, because they're the best. Forever.

Let's get this over with; I need to go shopping. I have a strong desire for baking brought on by erstwhile VG247 contributor Jessica Citizen's constant discussion of clafoutis on IM today. And Twitter. And Facebook. Probably if we lived in the same city, she'd have pressed it up against my window just to drive my envy higher. Well, I'll show her: I'll make my own!

You may have felt a pang of unhappy longing yesterday when Steph didn't appear as usual to nourish you with news; she's in Los Angeles for Call of Duty XP. Expect a lot of content on that when a) embargoes lift and b) she's had a sleep, the poor woman.

You may as well call it the international wrap, as we're kicking off with a bunch of stuff from Andrew, filling in on the US shift. So here's everything that happened since Johnny's European wrap.

I don't think we'll see a Bulletcast today as Pat is still stuck in travel purgatory, and Johnny's got the day off for being an idiot selflessly working through a Bank Holiday. (Stace is filling in, thank goodness, or Saturday would be a right mess and Andrew would stage a rebellion, throw a cup of tea in the harbour or whatever it is they do when they're disgruntled over there.) I'm certainly not doing it; I'm still in my pyjamas. I... I should change that before I visit the shops in search of clafoutis ingredients.

• Is EA planning a Mass Effect Facebook game?
  Well, are they?
• More than 40 staff whacked from Mafia dev 2K Czech
  Even if I wasn't aware of the realities of game design - it's not all shouting "put more space marines in" you know - I'd never go down that path. Too much job insecurity.
• Square Enix reponds to Deus Ex racism accusations
  One of the black characters in Deus Ex, who looks exactly like all the others, is voiced very differently. It's a bit wince-worthy.
• Capcom details Street Fighter III DLC plan
  DLC for downloadable games! It makes my head hurt.
• Capcom explains Dragon’s Dogma pawn system
  If Capcom had been more forthcoming about its unique features in the early days, Dragon's Dogma might not be flying so deeply under the radar.
• Dungeon Siege III DLC announced
  Now there's a shock.
• Dark Souls gets second prologue video
  I'm so excited! Are the people introduced herein bosses? Apparently you can swear allegiance to bosses. I'm going with the lonely one at the end, or the witches.
• Red Dead Redemption “Myths and Mavericks” DLC Detailed
  Wait, what? Is this still a thing even?
• Street Fighter X Tekken Final Box Art
  Featured characters rated "extremely unsurprising" by official bodies.
• Sony says PSN has recovered from attack, adds 3 million users
  The timing of this announcement is of course related to the SEN reveal.
• Activision sells 18 million Black Ops map packs
  We're just wallowing in it. Ha ha, our industry boasts the largest entertainment franchise in the world! Beat that, cinema.
• Call of Duty Franchise on sale on Steam
  Speaking of the largest entertainment franchise in the world, if you haven't already given all your money to Activision, you can give it slightly less this weekend.
• GamersFirst says Realtime Worlds had big plans for All Points Bulletin
  Playing the first Crackdown again the other day - as opposed to the miserable sequel - I felt a terrible sad twang for Realtime Worlds' passing.
• Uber Entertainment talks going free-to-play
  This is the Monday Night Combat developer.
• Two more Street Fighter x Tekken character teases
  I wish Capcom would turn down the unrealistic women a bit.
• Madden NFL 12 online servers down
  Have we ever had a smooth launch? Ever?
• Respawn: IP ownership is empowering
  Back to the largest entertainment franchise in the world, which these guys kind of invented, and yet will never see a penny of again.
• Japanese Charts - Monster Hunter triumphs again, 3DS still spiking
  Those numbers look so small sometimes. We're all doomed.
• Dragon's Dogma strongly influenced by Devil May Cry
  Again, why did Capcom wait so long to talk about this? It sound s increasingly awesome.
• Corpse Party confirmed for PSN release with debut trailer
  Some of the stuff in the game, gosh. I wonder if it will make it past the ESRB.
• Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One shows off more weaponry
  Self-confessed Sony fangirl has never had any interest in cutesy action platformers, regardless of how good they are.
• EA Sports targets ex-college football players for Madden dev team
  I'm waiting patiently for the first misuse of the word ironic here.
• First DCUO expansion to be free, out September 6
  The Green lantern is silly - there, I said it! "Oh I can make anything out of magic because I'm so bwaaaaave." That's not a solid premise. MOAR BATMAN.
• Konami calls for ceasefire in UK price wars
  Ha! Good luck with that.
• Sledgehammer's third-person Call of Duty game was "compelling", but Modern Warfare 3 too good to miss
  Yeah, it's hard to blame them. I wonder if they get royalties and bonuses?
• PSA - Assassin's Creed: Revelations multiplayer beta tomorrow
  I'm not such a big multiplayer fan but I am likely to play the living s**t out of this in pure AssCree love and desperation. November! HURRY UP.
• London: Resistance theatre experience this weekend
  London, I jelly.
• Warhammer 40K: Space Marine post-launch co-op confirmed
  Since everyone already knew, I'm not sure why they didn't come clean earlier.
• Xbox Live Rewards now caters to AU, NZ
  The hoops I jump through to get you the news.
• Faction choice in The Secret World is permanent
  So you should pick Templars, and join ussssssss.

Today's header is from the underrated action RPG Nier, which is beloved of post-post-modern game critics for its multilayered and mind blowing plot. The soundtrack's amazing. Cavia, I miss you. Come back to us.