This November 15, everyone’s favorite plumber and hedgehog combo take on the London Olypmpics in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. That title is a mouthful. Joining Mario and Sonic are Nintendo favorites Luigi, Tails, Yoshi, Knuckles, and over a dozen more heroes and villains. The trailer accompanying this post shows off the new London Party Mode, which lets players run amok around the city that is hosting the 2012 Games.

To thank everyone who has played Pinball FX2, Zen Studios has decided to give away their Halloween-themed table as a free download. The “Paranormal” table, which features floating objects, supernatural events, and ten flipper bats, will be available for free starting on October 26. Gamers who want the free table must own Pinball FX2 and download the table before the giveaway ends on November 2.

Hulk Hogan spent some time on Wall Street last week to take part in the NASDAQ Closing Bell Ceremony on October 14. The world famous wrestler was joined by several Majesco Entertainment executives as they rang the closing bell to celebrate their new Kinect game, Hulk Hogan’s Main Event. The game, which launched on October 11, is the Kinect’s first full-body motion-based wrestling game.

During a NYCC appearance, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3‘s producer Ryota Niitsuma announced a new game mode called “Heroes and Heralds.” This new game mode, which will be available as post-launch free DLC, allows the player to battle in single or multiplayer combat to unlock new abilities and powers. UMvC3 will be available in November for the 360 and the PS3.

Recent remakes have given us older games like Resident Evil 4 and Shadow of the Colossus in glorious HD. Capcom, wanting to strike while the HD iron is hot, has announced the Devil May Cry HD Collection for early 2012. The collection will feature the first three Devil May Cry games, and is available on the PS3 and the Xbox 360. While no amount of HD graphics could make me play through DMC2 again, this is exciting news for fans of the first and third games.

LEVEL-5 and Namco Bandai are bringing the fantasy RPG Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch to North America sometime next year. The game, which will be released for the PS3, follows Oliver on his journey to become a magician in order to bring his mother back from the dead. The game features cel-shaded graphics and fluid animations.

Sega has confirmed that a second demo is being released prior to the November 1 launch of Sonic Generations. The first demo allowed fans to play as Classic Sonic only, but the second demo permits them to finally play as Modern Sonic in the environments of the Green Hill level.

Demo #2 will be available in North America via the Xbox Live Marketplace October 18 and the PlayStation Network October 25.

The PlayStation Blog has announced a new contest for Infamous 2 players. The “Cole’s Missing Mission” contest is looking for a user-created mission that fits in with the story and characters of Infamous 2. The winner will receive a Good and Evil Cole statue and $1,000 in PlayStation store credit. The winning mission will also be featured in-game. For complete contest rules, check out the blog.

With Men in Black 3 hitting the big screen next year, Activision has decided to create and release a MiB game. The game, which will be a stand-alone title and not a movie tie-in, will feature characters from the movies as well as enemies new to the series. Activision has scheduled a Spring 2012 release for Men in Black.

From Software’s action RPG Dark Souls is pretty hard. When asked if the next game in the series, which has yet to be announced, will be even harder, From Software said that the difficulty will be on par with Dark Souls, and not higher. This news may disappoint some gamers, but those gamers are crazy. Seriously, who is playing this game wishing it was harder? Just loading my character makes me want to cry.

The Sims 3: Pets is headed to consoles next week. Like any real pet, the virtual pets require a home, and for PS3 users, that home is on your hard drive. The game will require a 5GB installation. Do you have room in your heart (and in your hard drive) for the love of a virtual pet?

With the Arkham City release only days away, many gamers have been patiently waiting for a demo to pop up on either the PSN or the Xbox Live Marketplace. In a statement to Arkham City‘s forum community, team member SarahMay has stated that there will not be a demo for the game. SarahMay claims, “we here at Rocksteady have been working like crazy for 2 years to deliver the best Batman experience we possibly can, and get this ready for the October 21st release. Unfortunately this has meant that there has simply not been time for us to create a demo for the game and I have been told there are no plans to release one in the future.” Looks like gamers hoping to whet their appetites for justice will have to wait a few more days.

Sony Online Entertainment has decided to expand the history of the PlanetSide universe before the release of PlanetSide 2. Marv Wolfman, who scripted Crisis on Infinite Earths and has written for Marvel and DC, will be penning episodic fiction that will be available on the PlanetSide 2 website. Wolfman has previously worked with SOE on DC Universe Online.

Starhawk, successor to the PS3′s multiplayer shooter Warhawk, is getting deeper character customization than its predecessor. According to the game’s Facebook page, players will be able to alter the head, torso, arms, legs, and boots. Players will be able to mix and match customization options between the game’s two factions, Outcasts and Rifters. Starhawk players will also be able to create decals using available backgrounds and foregrounds, which can be placed on the characters and their vehicles.

Majesco’s Zumba Fitness 2 promotes dancing and staying fit, two things on prominent display in the game’s opening cinematic. The game features new 3D models of three celebrity Zumba trainers to give the user a sense that they are taking an actual Zumba class. Zumba Fitness 2, which will release for the Wii, includes five game modes, twenty different dance styles, and over thirty dance tracks.