Massive Update

Hello everyone! I've gotten back in the saddle now that Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception has officially been announced, and I figured I might as well post as much as I can all at once, since there was a LOT of news that dropped today!

First, at about 9am this morning, the big bomb was dropped via the Entertainment Weekly article announcing what we've all been waiting for-- Uncharted 3 is in the works, and the official world premier will come at the Video Game Awards on the 11th. News quickly spread particularly through Twitter--my gaming column was flooded with retweets from both gaming blogs and ND employees. Possibly the Sony exclusive that will be released on the 12th will be Uncharted 3. It's not definite, of course, but seeing as how Sony seems to be in line to push Uncharted as a big flagship franchise, it might very well be U3:DD. Either way, there will definitely be a gameplay demo on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Monday the 13th.

We've only received a brief summary so far, but collecting info from around the web we know that some of the gameplay takes place in both Saudi Arabia and France, Drake is investigating T.E. Lawrence, there will be focus on deception (obviously), Sully's relationship with Drake will be further explored, the sand looks badass, a plane explodes, Nathan wears a pashmina scarf, and there are probably Nazis involved (I might have made up the last thing, but I'd still totally put money on that).

The Uncharted website has been updated to a placeholder/teaser website, where you can see the two screenshots released, as well as the trailer. IGN has some excellent theories relating to the images we now have.

Examining the product details on Gamestop's preorder page reveals that there will be an increase in online competitive team size from 10 to 12, but more importantly is COUCH CO-OP (as a Tumblr user named it), aka split screen or local co-op, of up to 2 people. FINALLY I can share Drake's adventures with my friends and family, who are marginally less likely to curse me out than strange 14-year-old boys online. Furthermore, Uncharted 3 is going to support 3D (!!!).

Also related is news that there will be an Uncharted novel, and the movie, possibly starring "Marky" Mark Wahlberg, is on hold for now while director/writer David O. Russel writes something else.

If I think of anything else I'll post it, but whew. That's enough for now.