So last week was a good week for gaming news as the 2008 Games Convention was happening in Leipzig and X08 was going on in Toronto, and while i was in the preliminaries of posting many tidbits of gaming goodness, I ended up posting very little (I could blame it on life getting in the way, but really it came down to laziness and Persona 3) .  So to make up for it check out a summary of all the worthwhile gaming news from last week, all in a easy to read, although a bit long, blog entry after the jump.

- The Final Fantasy XIII demo that will be coming with the blu-ray release of Advent Children (Japan only at the moment) will be roughly 2 hours in length and will allow players to play from the opening to the end of the prologue.  Also Motomu Toriyama, the director of FFXIII, stated that their will be no main character in the game, and that the game will allow you to experience the story from the different viewpoints of the characters. Source

- Konami is bringing an updated port of one of their arcade only titles to PSN this November. GTi Club+ will update the title with new game play mechanics, HD visuals at 720 P, and 5.1 Surrond Sound with remixes of the classic arcade soundtrack. It will also support the Playstation Eye allowing racers to see each other during online multiplayer. Source

-Sony Announced on their blog that all instrument peripherals that will be coming out on the PS3 from now on will contain a basic level of compatibility. That means that if you only buy one set of instruments from the next lot of PS3 music games (Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Rock Revolution) , you will still be able to play all 3, although their may be some features in the games that you may not be able to experience. They are also working on a patch now to make the music games already on the market compatible. Source

-Sony also made a few hardware announcements at the Games Convention.  They will be releasing a new 160 GB sku in November fro $499.99 that will come with Uncharted Drake’s Fortune, a voucher for PAIN, and a DualShock 3. A new PSP sku, PSP-3000,  was also announced that will add a built in microphone, an updated screen that offers better color, better contrast, and anti-reflection, and also the home button has been replaced with a PS button (the same one that is featured on the PS3 controller).  The new PSP will be replacing the PSP-2000 in the Ratchet Entertainment pack and will be released solo later this year in a core pack. Also if you are tired of using the on screen PS3 keypad for searching the Internet or sending messages, Sony has a wireless keypad coming that attaches to the PS3 controller. The keypad will contain all the standard keyboard keys along with a touchpad that you can use like a mouse and two special short cut keys for XMB friends and messages. This will also be coming in November, though no price has been announced yet. Source

-Unfortunatly it doesnt look like Australia will be getting the new 160 Gig PS3, though they are getting Play TV in the first half of 2009. Source. They will also be getting the PSP-3000 October 16 for $299.95. Source

-Killzone 2 will has been confirmed to feature customizable bots for multiplayer. Also the game will be patched with multiplayer vehicles and story co-op shortly after release. Source

-New details on the spin off of Parasite Eve, The 3rd Birthday, have been revealed.  Instead of a mix between a 3rd person survival horror and an RPG, the game will be a true 3rd person shooter and will also contain wireless game play, though details of it is still unknown.  Source

-As some of you have probably noticed Sony has been putting up some of the older PSP games for download from the PS store, which is good for people who don’t want to bother carrying around UMD’s. We news has surfaced that two new PSP games in Japan,  Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida or2 and Bleach Soul Carnival, will have a simultaneous release on UMD and the PS store, with the download from the store being $10 cheaper. Source

-Koji Igarahsi, Castlevania producer, has said that ” With regards to WiiWare, I’m evaluating that right now, and to be honest, I think a 2D Castlevania game on WiiWare might be the right approach.” With such a huge buzz for the 2D Mega Man 9, creating a new 2d old-school Castlevania could be a  good direction to go. Source

-Electronic Arts is looking to start up its own Tennis franchise on the Wii that will take advantage of the incoming controller add on MotionPlus, which will alloow more precise motion capture with the Wii remote. Source

-Guitar Hero: World Tour for the Wii will contain an exclusive Mii mode that allows for you mii’s to freestyle play, using either the drums or guitar that come with the game or Wii remote and nunchuck, to record music using predetermined notes and sequences in the style of music chosen. Its pretty much an beginner version of the Music Studio  that is found in the game. Source

-Logitech will be releasing a force feedback wheel for the Wii in November for $99.99. The Logitech Speed Force Wireless will feature built in gas and brake controls, an expandable lap rest and a wireless usb receiver. Source

-The upcoming issue of Nintendo Power will shed light on some of the  new features in Animal Crossing: City Folk.  If you have a game save on the Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS you will be able to transfer your avatar over to City folk, and you will also be able to “take your travel data and download it to your DS” though it is unknown what this will do.  You will be able to take snapshots in game and send them to your friends on your Wii or upload them to an SD card. Their may also be free DLC coming in the future. Source

- A new Suikoden spin off, Genso Suikoden Tierkreis,  is in the works for the DS. Although little information is known at the moment we d know the story is different then past installments with you starting off with all 108 characters facing the enemy, which results in all but 4 being defeated. It is you job then to get the rest of the characters back again. Source

-Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts has been giving a release date of November 14 with a nice price tag of $39.99.  If you preoreder the game you will also get a voucher to download the orginal Banjo Kazooie for free and two weeks early then the XBLA release. Source

- Bethesda announced the release date for Fallout 3, which will be coming to North America October 28th and Europe October 31st. Source

- The first DLC for Grand Theft Auto 4 will be coming soon with Microsoft stating that “In autumn there will be news from Liberty City; the first episodes of GTA IV will be available for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE, underlining Xbox 360’s leadership role in the field of digital entertainment.” Source

-Most of The Alone in the Dark updates and bug fixes that are coming in the PS3 release will also be coming to the Xbox 360 version via a patch. Its unknown at the moment what updates/bug fixes will be left out of the patch though. Source

-Their is a rumor Microsoft will be releasing a new Arcade bundle that will be priced at $199 and will come with a motion controller. To take advantage of that new fancy paints motion controller will be a bunch of minigames developed by Rare that will be coming bundeled with the sysytem. Source

-Cliff Bleszinski announced that their will be DLC available during the launch time frame of Gears of War 2 and tha the DLC will be multiplayer map focused. Source

-Remember that iPhone/iPod touch app that we told you about a couple of weeks ago that allowed you to view your buddy list through you iPhone/iPod touch? Well Microsoft has come out and stated that all iPhone/iPod touch apps must be free. So if you were still contemplating if you should spend that $0.99 or not, no worries why don’t you head on over to the app store and pick it on up for free.