343 Industries has taken over the Halo reigns and is already hard at work on Halo 4. Most recently, they have hired some help with the process. Jason Behr (Metro Prime), Kynan Pearson (Metro Prime) and Chris Haluke (Killzone 3) are all signed for this next Halo incarnation. Obviously, 343 Industries is really trying to turn on the style for this fourth game.

Today we have new screens and concept art for the latest installment of Diablo. We also understand there is a new banner system in the game. As you keep playing Diablo III, your character’s banner will be updated to track your progress. As you upgrade your gear, play PvP, and earn achievements, your character banner will continue to look more and more cluttered.

Blizzard has also added an in-game Auction House that will have two sections. The first is for sellers and buyers wishing to use real world currency, which allows players to purchase items using “supported” currencies. The second section is for sellers and buyers who wish to use in-game gold. It is understood that Blizzard will be charging sellers two separate transaction fees; a fee for posting an item, and a small percentage of the final sale amount. Players choosing to use real world currency will be able to utilize a third party payment service. PayPal would be the obvious choice, but Blizzard has not indicated who that third party will be.

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As a sign of gratitude for the fans who have continued to support Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar has announced it will release the Myths and Mavericks bonus pack free in September. The pack adds several new characters for multiplayer, and Rockstar has confirmed one of the additions as Landon Ricketts, the legendary gunslinger featured in the single-player campaign. There will also be new multiplayer levels for Deathmatch, Grab the Bag, and Gang matches. A patch is planned to come out prior to the DLC which will bring back the original settings for the Undead Overrun mode that was added with the Undead Nightmare expansion. The DLC is currently on schedule to be available at the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network only with no sign, yet, of a PC release.

“The fun never ends,” claims Microsoft in a press release hailing the “new adventure with bears.” Kinectimals players will now be able to adopt one of five “adventurous bears” to add to their Kinectimal cubs. The said bears are Black Bear, Grizzly Bear, Cinnamon Bear, Glacier Bear, and Polar Bear. Kinectimals Now with Bears will be available at retailers this autumn, but if you already own a copy of Kinectimals, you can download the Bear Island add-on directly from Xbox Live.

ABC News reports that a Chinese couple sold their three children for cash to play video games. The parents, both under 21, sold their children for money to fund playing online games at internet cafes. In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan reputedly sold their second child, a baby girl, for less than $500. They then sold their first child, a boy, for about $4600. They sold their third child, also a boy, for the same amount. They were reported to the police when the man’s mother found out what they had done.

“We don’t want to raise them, we just want to sell them for some money,” they said.

They claim they didn’t know they were breaking the law, and the games played by the couple were not disclosed.

The castle-building, strategy game Stronghold 3 will be published by new company 7Sixty this autumn. If you pre-order it on Steam you’ll get a copy of the 10 year-old original Stronghold thrown in for free. You’ll also get a Tower of London map for Stronghold 3!

Those PC gamers amongst you getting excited about the new God game From Dust will have to bottle it for a little longer. The title has been delayed for PC, with the release now coming almost a month later on August 17. Ubisoft has of yet given no reason for the delay.

From Dust will still be released for the Xbox 360 tomorrow, July 27, as part of the Summer of Arcade promotion, and is expected on the PlayStation Network later this year.

Vigil Games has confirmed that Darksiders II will not include multiplayer. This wasn’t necessarily the first choice for the company, as according to Director Marvin Donald, “When we put together the pitch for Darksiders 1, we wanted it to be multiplayer then. It’s just too much work when you’re starting a brand new studio with a new intellectual property and you’re building your own technology. We’re also evolving the series into more of a role-playing game, which was something else we wanted to do from the beginning, but we just didn’t have the resources or time or money to do it the first time around and do it justice.”

Yet fans of the first game might well endorse the comments recently made by Bethesda’s Pete Hines who questioned the relevance of forced multiplayer. “If you’re doing it just to check a box or because every other publisher says you’ve got to have multiplayer, then just drop it, don’t bother, it’s a waste of time, a giant distraction and it’ll make for a worse overall game. We want the best game possible. If that’s a single player game that’s 15 to 20 hours, then make that! Don’t waste your time on features that don’t make the game better.”

What about you? Is the lack of multiplayer any great loss to the game?

Insomniac Games, the developer behind the Resistance shooter franchise, has announced Global Resistance, a free-to-play strategy game where you play as either the Chimera or a Human commander. You may deploy your troops anywhere in the world to aid your side in battle, while it’s also possible to build up your own base and complete side-missions for extra experience points. Taking over the world nets you exclusive Resistance 3 goodies like multiplayer skins, in-game titles and boosts to your XP. All you need is a Facebook account to play.

Insomniac wants to keep the spotlight on Resistance 3 until it launches September 6, so what better way than to appeal to our hunger for world domination?

Ready to add some explosive action to your start of the week? BioWare has released a new gameplay trailer for their highly anticipated MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic. The clip gives you a peek at some in-game footage and the various classes in action. And no, they didn’t include a release date with it.

This week I have had slightly more time than usual to peruse all things game-wise on the iPad. I am currently away from work and so have more flexibility in exploring the world of tablet apps. This is, of course, dangerous to both my wallet and time with friends and family. For the sake of my profession, and so that all you nice people get a heads up about some of the better games out there, I’m willing to sacrifice both my money and my friends. So without further ado here are this week’s recommended iPad gaming apps.

GeoSociety

First up we have GeoSociety, which is quite new to the iPad App store. Don’t be fooled by the name, however, as it hasn’t anything to do with a geography themed hiking society. It has everything to do with monster taming, battling, breeding and hunting. Yep, there is more than a whiff of Pokemon here, but this is a fun RPG in the same vein as Dragon Warrior Monsters and Revelation Demon Slayer. If you ever played Pokemon on any Nintendo handheld, you should feel right at home with GeoSociety. The game looks cute (enough for my fellow commuters to cock quizzed eyebrows at me during play), and a recent upgrade has improved its playing interface. All your favorite monster types are included (fire, water and earth), and there are tons of attacks and mutations with which to progress them. The monsters have their own abilities (attack, defense, speed or intelligence) and through experience points can be trained. Additionally, monster breeding is alleged to be on the way (and I can just see more looks of concern from the folks on the train), and currently sports a themed plot with sub-plots and random encounters with over 350 monsters.

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In Disney Universe, players can select from more than 40 classic and contemporary Disney character costumes, including Alice (Alice in Wonderland), Mike (Monsters, Inc.), TRON (TRON: Legacy) and Stitch (Lilo & Stitch), to explore six different worlds inspired by Disney and Disney Pixar films. Each world will allow players to experience objectives and missions that follow movie storylines, and incorporates both single and multiplayer modes. Additional worlds, costumes, and more will be available for later purchase with future DLC.

Disney Universe is slated for release this fall.

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This week at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. Interactive revealed the newest character that will be available as DLC for Mortal Kombat – Freddy Krueger. Freddy’s DLC will feature two vicious fatalities, an arcade ladder story ending, and a full move set. Looks like he will appear in his traditional red and green striped sweater and have is iconic bladed gloves. The pack releases August 9 at the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network for just under five bucks.

Homefront is getting some new maps. The Rock map pack will hit the Xbox 360 first, and the PC soon after. The pack includes four new maps: Alcatraz, Bridge, Waterway and Overpass. In Alcatraz, America’s most infamous prison becomes the site of fierce close-quarters fighting. Bridge requires a combined arms effort to secure the North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge and surrounding area, and boasts itself to be large-scale warfare at its best. In Waterway, wage war atop storefronts and in the streets of the Spillway, where every inch feels like a mile. And finally, Overpass brings the battle in a fan-favorite Ground Control space for the first time in Team Deathmatch.

The pack runs Xbox 360 players 400 MS points, which is the equivalent of about $6. Pretty reasonable in my opinion if you compare this to the DLC map prices for other shooters.

Microsoft’s yearly release event is back for another spin.

Kicking off the Summer of Arcade 2011 is Bastion from Supergiant Games, which is available now at the XBLA for 1200 MS points. The release schedule for the next few weeks is: From Dust (7/27), Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (8/3), Fruit Ninja Kinect (8/10), and Toy Soldiers: Cold War (8/17).

Microsoft is also giving away a free game, Crimson Alliance (an isometric action RPG in the vein of Diablo) for players who invest in all the Summer of Arcade releases.