With the surprise announcement ofArkham Asylum 2at last night’s Spike TV Video Game Awards show, we at Destructoid couldn’t help but tremble with excitement, many of us doing so while wearing official Batman pajama pants (and by “many of us,” I mean “me and only me”). It almost goes without saying thatArkham Asylumwas a triumph not just for comic book games, but for the stealth-action genre in general; it proved that stealth doesn’t have to be slow-paced and needlessly punishing, while — for the most part — showing a respect to the Batman mythos that made even the Batman-pajama-pant-wearing crowd blush in nerd inferiority....

While the iPhone and iPod Touch excel at slower paced, touchscreen-based puzzle games, the lack of buttons makes you wonder why anyone would even bother with game emulation for the platform. I guess aNintendo Entertainment System emulatorcould be something fun to have on your iPhone, but I wouldn’t expect too much from a PlayStation emulator. If you just have to have PlayStation emulation on your iPhone/iPod Touch, you can try the newly releasedpsx4iphone emulator, currently at version 0....

Microsoft’slatest Deal of the Weekis for Xbox LIVE Arcade titleN+. Starting today, you’re able to purchase the downloadable game for 560 Microsoft Points instead of the standard 800. Money is being saved here, but I can’t do the math. My degree wasn’t in “Moonbuck-tology.” N+ was released on Xbox LIVE Arcade in February 2008. People seemed to like it: the game has an outstanding average on Metacritic and it won, like, mad awards....

In what can only be considered as further proof that Microsoft is to human success what EMP grenades are to killer robots, a notorious criminal who racked up over 200 larcenies has been caught by police after getting onto Xbox Live with a stolen 360. Jeremiah Gilliam was traced to his home in the Bronx after the machine in question had been reported as stolen, Cops asked Microsoft if the 360 had been taken online since its theft, and Microsoft was able to track it down and confirm that it had....

Unknown Worlds just released a video showing off their new bacterial infestation feature that will hopefully make it toNatural Selection 2. In the originalNatural Selection, they used completely static infestation, but this time around, it is … smarter and only appears on the map in regions that the alien team occupies. In addition to being an atmospheric visual effect, having dynamic infestation gives us opportunities to develop some interesting game play elements....

Welcome to another edition of YTMND Thursday. Any of them making you laugh like a maniacal manic? Or did I completely fail at making you laugh this week? Well then, how aboutthis? Does that make up for it? Gosh, I hope so. FASTER MARIO!(Mario World meets Jurassic Park — Thanks Qalamari) Phoenix Wright takes on the OJ Simpson case.(Thanks Fronz) The Legend of YTMND(This is one of the most clever YTMNDs I’ve seen this year — Thanks Heywood!...

It looks like those big-hearted guys and girls who helped raise close to $12,000 dollars for theChild’s Play charitylast month with the Mario Marathon are at it again. This time, they’ve teamed up with Cameron Banga and the Four48 Team, with 70 hours ofZeldagoodness. Although the festivities officially started on Thursday night, there’s plenty of live-blogging and Zelda playing to entertain yourselves with. A quick peek shows that they have raised over $1,300 so far, and are currently working their way throughThe Minish Cap....

Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson (God, I love saying that) agrees that today has been one hell of a mighty slow news day, and to remedy the situation,he broke outsomething exciting: the release dates and prices for this year’sSummer of Arcade. There you have it, boys and girls. My wallet is pretty upset about the whole “we’re going to charge $15 per game now and you’ll like it” thing, but at least the XBLA game I want the most is only $10....

I feel like there’s moreAssassin’s Creed: Revelationsspecial edition bundles than I can keep up with. But this latest one that’s appeared onGameStop.comI’m cool with, because it looks like a pretty neat package. TheAssassin’s Creed: Revelations Ultimate Bundlewill come with an Ezio action figure, complete with retractable blades. Additionally, a replica of da Divinci’s Flying Machine comes with the package, so you can fly your Ezio figure around your bedroom making flying noises with your mouth....

Here we go: justhours after I couldn’t lie to you any longeraboutAliens: Colonial Marinesand E3, Sega has spilled its guts. The Gearbox-developed shooter is now on track for a spring 2012 release, and will rear its head at E3 next week.Colonial Marineshas players boarding the abandoned U.S.S. Sulaco as part of the United States Colonial Marines crew. Sega and Gearbox are promising “unspeakable horrors” and “authentic environments,” like the surface of LV-426 and Hadley’s Hope....

Think back: what’s the most awful game you’ve ever played? Regardless of when exactly you leapt headlong into gaming, chances are that your answer will be based on some movie or television license — or music, if you were ever unfortunate enough to encounterRevolution X. Licensed games have historically sucked, and not in that “oh, it’s kinda flawed” sort of way; games based on preexisting properties have been eternallyhexedto suck — the track record, as you’re no doubt already aware, seems proof enough....

Speaking with investors, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata proposed pushing out demos for 3DS and Wii U games to players automatically, in an effort to raise awareness. “When Nintendo would like to ask users to try a specific new game, we should deliver it to their Nintendo 3DS, and possibly Wii U, with their prior consent and recommend that they just try it and, if they like it, they can pay for it,” explains Iwata....

If you’re planning on playingStarcraft 2orDiablo III(hint: you are), here’s what you’d better get used to looking at — Battle.net 2.0. Blizzard has unveiled the next version of Battle.net which the developer says “will evolve into an even more powerful and advanced online game service that will power all Blizzard Entertainment titles moving forward.” So like I said, get used to it. The details are in the five minute video above, so sit back with a cup of coffee and get a glimpse of Blizzard’s future....