The release of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is lower than a month away now, and 2K Games is focusing its marketing on a chain of cryptic live-action trailers. Earlier this week, 1/2 a trailer was released, with the events of the second one half the trailer dependent upon fans tweeting whether or not they wanted the clip’s character to seize a gun or a bottle of booze (they selected the booze).

Today, another trailer starring Dominic Monaghan (Merry within the Lord of the Rings movies and the man from Drive Shaft in Lost) as Agent Cole have been released. This time, rather then sitting at a desk and dramatically using a typewriter, Cole is inside the field and in over his head. He reports back to his commander that he’s “spotted one,” presumably relating an extraterrestrial. By the tip of the clip, the fate of Cole is entirely unclear.

The Bureau will hit stores on August 23. Though the sport is a 3rd-person shooter set throughout the 60s of the XCOM series, it also incorporates a “battle focus” mode that introduces several tactical elements seen in last year’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

It’s pretty clear that Saints Row IV goes to be ridiculous. The former game within the series provided a number of juvenile humor and violence, and publisher Deep Silver was trying its best to capture that feel with over-the-top trailers. The Australian rejection of the sport over the “Alien Anal Probe” weapon was probably viewed as free advertising.

This week, Deep Silver and Volition announced that, besides parodying Grand Theft Auto-style games, they are going to even be parodying the sometimes ridiculous collector’s editions offered for games. The “Emperor Zinyak’s Game of the Generation Edition” of Saint’s Row IV might be available for fans in North America for $130.

The bundle comes with all the items present in either one of any other collector’s editions of Saints Row IV. The alternate box art and additional in-game content from the “Commander in Chief” edition of the sport in included, in addition to the 8-inch Johnny Gat Memorial statue, the Dubstep Doomsday Button, and the foot-long Dubstep Gun replica (complete with laser sight) present in the “Super Dangerous Wub Wub” edition of the sport. On top of that, the “Game of the Generation” edition comes with a “Display Case of Everlasting Glory” – a light-weight-up, rotating display case for the sport itself. Each display case could have an individually numbered plaque, and only 5,000 of the “Game of the Generation” bundles are being created.

In addition to the bundle announcement, the general “Hail to the Chief” trailer was released today. The last in a chain of very short trailers, it shows off a weapon called the “Bouncer Rifle.”

Back within the N64 and Gamecube days, Nintendo was known for imaginative, and oftentimes silly, television commercials. That each one stopped once the DS and Wii came out as Nintendo opted for ads showing families having fun together instead. For its latest 3DS games, Nintendo has tapped into the thrill loving ads of yesteryear.

Nintendo recently shared the television ad for the impending Mario & Luigi: Dream Team for Nintendo 3DS. The key hook of this actual title is that much of the sport occurs within Luigi’s dreams where he has enormous power. The ad somewhat touches upon that, but it’s kind of just an excuse for someone to decorate up in a major Luigi costume. We haven’t seen these kinds of ads since Super Mario Sunshine, and it’s great.

Of course, television commercials don’t really offer you a feel for the gameplay. As a way to see more of that, have a look at the trailer Nintendo shared during its surprise Nintendo Direct last week.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team launches on August 4 exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS.

Sony dominated this year’s E3, a minimum of when it came to messaging. The corporate gained praise from gamers for the PlayStation 4‘s $400 price – $100 under Microsoft’s Xbox One. Sony also got a good response for simply not implementing DRM in its new console or restricting used game sales – both “features” that Microsoft had announced for the Xbox One.

Though Microsoft later backed off from implementing hardware-level DRM and restricting used games, the wear to the Xbox One’s reputation had already been done – and never only for hardcore gamers. Anecdotally, the PlayStation 4 has gained a lead at the Xbox One. The PS4 sits at number three in Amazon’s 2013 best-seller list for games, with the Xbox One trailing behind at number six. Now, one analyst firm has released some actual data in regards to the public’s perception of both consoles.

A new report out from Strategy Analytics shows that negative perceptions of Microsoft’s next-generation online game console appear to have reached average consumers. The analyst firm’s latest “ConsumerMetrix” survey gathered data on consumers’ intentions of buying next-generation consoles. The survey found that 14.2% of greater than 6,000 consumers surveyed within the U.S. and Europe were “very or somewhat likely” to buy a PlayStation 4 inside the next year. Only 9.5 of customers could say an identical concerning the Xbox One. The firm believes this consumer sentiment could predict 50% higher sales of the PlayStation 4 over the Xbox One.

“Our survey means that consumers believe the PS4 will win the early phase of the subsequent generation console war,” said Jia Wu, director of Connected Home Devices at Strategy Analytics. “Sony’s performance at E3 was widely accepted as superior to Microsoft’s, and the survey evidence suggests this has already fed through to the broader consumer market.”

Sony exited this year’s E3 with much of the subsequent-generation console momentum on its side. Not just was the company’s PlayStation 4 announced to be $100 not up to Microsoft’s Xbox One, but gamers also praised Sony for simply not putting DRM on its console and restricting used game sales – both things Microsoft had announced for the Xbox One. Though Microsoft has since rolled back its DRM and used game plans, a contemporary survey has shown that the PlayStation 4 is way inside the lead with regards to consumer purchasing intentions.

With that vast deficit to make up within the mind of shoppers, Microsoft this week announced that it’ll even be rolling back its strict indie game publishing policies. Microsoft Xbox VP Marc Whitten has stated that independent game developers may be capable of publish at the Xbox One without the necessity for a bigger publisher. The policy for the Xbox One requires indie devs to partner with an incredible publisher, then look forward to a one among a limited selection of release day spots. From Whitten’s statement:

Our vision is that each person is known as a creator. That each Xbox Possible be used for development. That each game and experience can make the most of the entire features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This suggests self-publishing. This implies Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This implies great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We’ll have more details at the program and the timeline at Gamescom in August.

According to a Game Informer report, every retail Xbox One can also be in a position to becoming a developer kit. The feature is one who has not been announced for the PlayStation 4, and one who might actually help cut costs for developers.

The move is another by Microsoft to counter the coolest press the PlayStation 4 is getting over the Xbox One. Sony had devoted large chunks of both its February PlayStation 4 announcement and its big E3 presentation to indie games and developers.