Fans have been working around the clock since a new teaser site appeared for Frictional Games' suspected follow-up to the acclaimed indie horror title, Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Not only has the blurred image been revealed as a freaky tunnel entrance, with what looks like a limbless corpse (ew), but fans have tracked down the latest hint, which leads to a tower in Seattle called Smith Tower. Inside that you'll find The Chinese Room, named after the furniture it houses, donated from the Empress of China herself. Speculation suggest the new game may have some connection to China and its history.

Fans have also uncovered an interactive feature on the site, which has since revealed the picture above (called "fragment_ebola.jpg"), and a coded series of letters: "P F C I N C M I O I S G G."

Some guess it to mean "GIF PICS COMING," which would suggest more clues are on the way. Research is being headed up on this forum thread, so have at it. Our contribution? The letters above can also be rearranged into "SICCING OF GIMP." You should probably download everyone's favorite image editor posthaste!

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The PlayStation Vita launched this week with the "First Edition" bundle, but the mainstream hardware launch will take place next Wednesday. Check out our Vita launch guide page for easy access to our reviews and other details regarding the PSVita.

What's everyone playing this weekend?

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The Indie Games section of Xbox Live has been a point of contention for indie developers since its launch, in part because the app was hard to find and confusing to navigate. Microsoft has since made improvements -- with the most recent dashboard update, even -- but a group of indie devs and industry enthusiasts are speeding up the process with a new app for Windows Phone, tentatively called the XBLIG Companion.

The XBLIG Companion scrapes the RSS feeds of XboxIndies.com and gathers the XML and CSV data for every applicable game, updating the app's listings as the games are updated themselves. XBLIG Companion will offer easy browsing of Xbox Indie Games' selection and will allow users to purchase games for their consoles directly from their phones.

Created by Casey Young and organized by Dave Voyles, XBLIG Companion is currently in beta testing -- anyone with a Windows Phone 7 can check out the prototype now by contacting Dave [at] ArmlessOctopus [dot] com, and leaving feedback right here. Now that wasn't so difficult, was it, Microsoft?

Having completed Syndicate before EA ships it next week, Swedish developer Starbreeze has let several employees go. The company employed 93 individuals while working on the FPS reboot, 25 of which have been dismissed, according to GamesIndustry.biz (registration required). Starbreeze chairman Peter Tornquist has also reportedly resigned.

"It is sad that we are forced to make staff cutbacks affecting employees. But we have to reduce staff after the final delivery of the Syndicate," CEO Mikael Nermark told GI.biz. Layoffs at development studios on the cusp of shipping a title has quickly become the norm for the industry. We don't like to see anyone lose their job and hope the individuals in Sweden affected by our least favorite tag find new work as soon as possible.

The next in a line of classy, reputable DLC packs for Saints Row: The Third is Gangstas in Space, and it's lifting off from Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on Tuesday, February 21 for $6.99.

Gangstas in Space is the second of three downloadable add-ons included in THQ's Season Pass, which snags users 15 percent off the total price of the DLC packs when bought separately.

Gangstas in Space sees the Boss and new character Jenny Jaros attempt to make a movie... in space. A series of new missions (that may or may not include blow-up dolls) will feature an alien invasion, which shouldn't be too different from the Earthbound missions. The aliens will probably be wearing less outrageous clothing than any of the people you've fought previously.

We're not even ashamed to admit we're excited about "DragonballZ Kinect," an unannounced game rated by Korea's Game Ratings Board. Usual Dragon Ball Z game publisher Bandai Namco is listed as the publisher for this game.

It's not hard to imagine a Kinect-based Dragon Ball Z game, all yelling into the microphone to "power up" your character, making wild flailing motions to throw Kamehameha Waves and Spirit Bombs at smirking, airborne jerks with tall hair, and maybe even walking in place to pantomime the destructive stomps of a crazed space gorilla.

Whatever we imagine this game includes, the real thing's going to be so much goofier. We can't wait to find out.

We enjoyed our time with Assassin's Creed Recollection, enough to recommend it to you now that you don't have to pay for it. For a limited time, the iPad app is available free of charge.

Assassin's Creed Recollection is a real-time trading card game where players aim to capture territories. There's a story mode, online multiplayer and Game Center support -- oh, and stabbing. It wouldn't be Assassin's Creed otherwise, would it?

The last couple of years have been tough on Japanese game developers, according to a recently released study (PDF). The study, compiled by one Mirko Ernkvist, used consolidated financial data and revealed that just over half of Japanese developers actually manage to turn a profit. Specifically, in the last reported fiscal year for Japanese developers, 54.8 percent of companies reported a positive profit.

Obviously, that means that nearly half of developers either broke even or saw a financial loss. The study attributes these issues to a decrease in both domestic and international demand, increasing production costs and other factors like a strong Japanese Yen and "unfavorable demographic development in Japan and the challenging development of domestic consumption."

The data collected refers mostly to larger, publicly held companies, while financial data regarding smaller studios is harder to come by. Still, the study paints something of a bleak picture. With several Japan-focused panels planned for GDC next month -- notably a panel with Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune -- you can bet we'll be hearing plenty about how Japanese developers plan to reinvigorate their industry.

Yesterday we got a peek at the achievements for the next Assassin's Creed: Revelations DLC, and today we get its name, courtesy of a GameStop email sent to customers: Lost Archive. Maybe tomorrow we'll all get personalized Arabian Daggers in the mail.

GameStop lists the Lost Archive DLC with a release date of February 28 for $15 on Xbox 360 and PS3. It appears to be a single-player campaign installment, based on its 10 Xbox 360 achievements.

Testament, Sol, Kai, Dizzy and the rest of the musically inspired cast of Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus are all headed to the welcoming arms of XBLA and PSN, according to Arc System Works. Like other XBLA/PSN re-releases, GGXXACP will feature netplay, though whether that will be done in-house or powered by an external service like GGPO remains to be seen. No word yet on pricing or a release date, but we're willing to accept anything up to and including a crapdillion dollars, just so long as the launch happens before we die.

Not to be confused with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core, Guilty Gear XX Slash, Guilty Gear XX #Reload or Guilty Gear XX: The Midnight Carnival, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus was the final version of Guilty Gear XX, released way back in 2008 on the PS2 and Wii. The XBLA/PSN port follows an announcement that Arc System Works will be producing the very first arcade versions of the game; hopefully this ramp-up in Guilty Gear goodness is a sign of things to come.

In a touching tribute to Fallout 3 concept artist Adam Adamowicz who fell to cancer last week, Bethesda is featuring a collection of his work on sites attached to their biggest properties. Though Adamowicz will no longer be seen sketching new worlds for players to explore, the development team at Bethesda says players have yet to see the end of his work.

"Right until the end he was drawing, creating images for a new game many years off. It is in that game, and our past games, that he will live on. You have not seen the last of his amazing talent and spirit," Bethesda's tribute page notes. "We will miss him terribly, but he will always be with us."

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If you're anxious to carve powder in EA's SSX reboot, you'll get a chance next week. Creative director Todd Batty revealed the news in the latest episode of the SSX Ubercast, a bi-weekly podcast centering on, well, you know.

The demo will launch on Xbox 360 worldwide and PS3 in North America on February 21; the PS3 demo will be available a day later in the rest of the world. It will feature one playable character, Zoe -- Mac is unlockable through a referral system that EA has yet to reveal -- and two tutorials, plus two events and skydiving.

[Thanks, Jack.] Update: Added more detail via @kfatyas. Thanks!

The premise behind Warp is as easy to remember as its name. Captured by a group of scientists and their dimwitted security squadron, an adorable alien named Zero breaks free from his shackles to run amok throughout an underwater installation. How does he move about? He warps, of course, from one spot to the next and even into solid objects.

Warp borrows heavily from multiple sources to craft its world. It may be immediately compared to the puzzle propensity of Portal, the stealthy progression of Metal Gear Solid, and the chaotic tone of 'Splosion Man, but the game follows the longstanding blueprint we've all come to regard as Metroidvania. Zero uses his warp ability to get around, first through walls and then into objects.

It all looks innocent -- especially when Zero cutely chirps and animates his emotions -- but it's all a ruse. Zero eventually earns the ability to warp into humans, where a few liberal shakes of the left stick causes them to explode. Like the remnants of a popped water balloon, Zero's victims are splattered all over the laboratory's pristine interior. It goes from cute to horrifying very quickly -- in a good way.

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Once again, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board is joining forces with Penny Arcade to create a new series of advertisements about the game industry's rating system. The print and online campaign offers up three public service announcements featuring Penny Arcade's familiar artwork. This marks the second partnership between the ESRB and Penny Arcade, which first created a campaign back in 2006.

The new campaign is based on real individuals, who were chosen via a "micro-essay" contest held by the ESRB on Facebook. Each ad highlights a different service provided by the ESRB. The campaign will begin appearing in "parent-focused and game enthusiast media outlets" this spring, but you can check them out right now in the gallery below.

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