That is to say: All forty characters in the game will be available from the first moment Tekken 6 graces your disc drive. Speaking to VideoGamer, Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada stated -- through a translator -- that unlockables in games are "outdated."

Harada says that unlockables were originally implemented in order to extend the life of arcade games. As characters are unlocked, players would have more reason to come back to the machine. We definitely wasted a few quarters just for the chance to play as Kuma, so we'd say the plan worked. Harada said that unlockable characters were added to the home version for the same reason, implying that it would discourage gamers from renting the game instead of buying it.

Fast-forward to Tekken 6, and Harada says that unlockables are "outdated now ... especially with online play." He notes that today's gamers would be irritated by competing online against characters that they have yet to unlock. Thus, you won't find any unlockable characters in Tekken 6.

Of course, history tells us we still might see some characters for sale.

Remember that costume CLAMP designed for Tekken 6? Well, feast your eyes on the gallery below, which shows Jin Kazama sporting the ridiculously ornate get-up and putting the screws to his daddy, Kazuya Mishima. We won't keep you from the eye candy, so feel free to check out the screens below while we daydream about how fun Tekken Bowling was.

Namco Bandai's The Munchables is a game with a very simple premise: gobble up everything in sight. And, considering that sharing is caring, we decided to unload this glutton's dream onto one of you lucky readers. So, check out the rules below, and best of luck to you all!

• Leave a comment telling us what your favorite snack is
  
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec)
  
• Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day
  
• This entry period ends at 11:59 am ET on Monday, July 6
  
• At that time, we'll randomly select one grand-prize winner to receive The Munchables on Wii ($30 ARV)
• For a list of complete rules, click here

Most iPhone games don't necessarily benefit from the speed boost granted by the 3GS outside of load times, because they were designed to run well on a 3G. That means that the most noticeable changes are found in games that run poorly on a 3G, like Namco Bandai's portable Katamari game, i Love Katamari. The difference is significant enough that Namco might as well have launched the first 3GS-only game six months before the release of the 3GS.

1UP's Jeremy Parish offers some hard numbers about the improvement in speed in the first part of his 3GS review, comparing the speed of the in-game clock on a 3G to one running on a 3GS. The clock still doesn't run in exactly real time, so this is a bit confusing, but for four minutes of game time on a 3G, over nine minutes elapsed. The same segment of the game passed in under six.

For another, less mathy comparison, check out the (slightly shaky) video after the break, which shows the game running on both phones.

[Thanks, Brian!]

Picked up by way of the Gamertag Radio forums from the alleged Twitter account of Tekken 6 -- we know, we know -- it was confirmed this afternoon that the image you see above of Penny Arcade's Cardboard Tube Samurai is, in fact, the real deal. Where, you ask? Well, of course, Mike "Gabe" Krahulik's Twitter account, where he twote, "Yes this is for real. Cts costume will be in Tekken 6!"

He is, of course, referring to the Cardboard Tube Samurai and probably not the cartoon time-traveling simulator we already know will include everything in the universe. Take a look after the break for the exciting Twitter snapshot where Gabe revealed the truth.

Japan's Namco Museum Essentials is crossing the pond to America's PlayStation Network this July. The downloadable app will serve as a hub for various Namco arcade games, such as Pac-man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Dragon Spirit, Xevious, and a new 1080p "re-envisioned" Xevious: Resurrection. In addition to the standard gamut of features (trophies, leaderboards), players will be able to unlock PlayStation Home rewards to proudly display in their virtual apartments.

Namco Bandai will also be launching a new destination within PlayStation Home simultaneously with the release of Museum Essentials. It will serve as the hub for all of Namco Bandai's upcoming downloadable games and will include a virtual arcade featuring a trial version of Museum Essentials. In addition to the free demo, PlayStation Home items can be unlocked for those who visit the space. All in all, it looks as though Home fans (casual and hardcore) will have a lot to look forward to.

Utilizing the most epic form of storytelling -- the hand puppet -- this new commercial from Japan sheds some light on the upcoming Katamari Forever game. Two animal puppets guide us through a series of gameplay clips, showing off some more of KF's classic levels (most seem to come from We Love Katamari, such as the Snowman and Race Track levels).

Katamari Forever will hit Japan on the 23rd of next month, while a worldwide release hasn't yet been determined. But don't worry, it shouldn't be too long before the game rolls our way.

It hasn't been all that long since we last got to check out Katamari Forever, and one of the levels being demoed was actually the same as the previous demo (rolling the Katamari around to plant flowers), so we didn't spend much time with it. Instead, we sought to explore the other stage, which was traditional Katamari fare.

While we were checking out upcoming PS3 compilation/remix title Katamari Forever, which takes "the best" levels from previous Katamari games and updates them for the PS3 release. While we were with the Namco rep, we asked if there would be any DLC for the title, as there will definitely be players who feel their favorite level did not make the cut. The rep told us that Namco had no plans for DLC and that it would probably not happen.

While checking out Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, we were anxious to check out our main man Kratos kicking ass against the best Namco had to offer. Namco couldn't deliver, however, and we were forced to play the title sans ash-covered god.

When we arrived at the Bandai Namco booth for our appointment today, we were immediately thrust into a back room and shown Tekken 6. We took it through the new Scenario mode, the series' evolution of Tekken Force Mode, and tried our hand at some of the classic brawling. Basically, it's still Tekken.

Expect the upcoming PSP-exclusive Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny to have less polygons than its console counterpart, Soulcalibur IV; however, this doesn't mean a drop in the quality "visuals" the series has become known for. Namco recently showed off a comparison of the two Soulcaliburs, using Ivy and her voluptuous form to show off the seemingly lossless quality.

It appears that Broken Destiny will use not more than half the polygon count of Soulcalibur IV. The graphical disparities appear to affect clothing textures and shadow/lightning effects most of all. Still, with the PSP's relatively small screen it won't be too noticeable. That, and you'd be looking elsewhere, we think.

Those of you who aren't lucky enough to attend E3, this is not the post for you. For the remainder of you, however, we would like to let you know that Namco Bandai would like to test your Tekken 6 mettle at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo through an open tournament.

The company will host a two-day "Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion arcade tournament" at its booth on Wednesday, June 3, and Thursday, June 4, with the company opening sign-ups on Tuesday, June 2, to anyone passing through Namco's area on the show floor. Namco Bandai mentions a "grand prize," though the details of what this undoubtedly spectacular prize will be were not given. We have a feeling the only thing people participating in this tournament will win is less time with the other great games at the show.

Fight fans are likely salivating at the mouth for Tekken 6 and all of its Kazama-infused glory, and will likely be even more excited by the inclusion of Force Mode in the franchise's sixth installment, a complimentary mode that harks back to the olden days of Tekken 3.

In Tekken 6, you can even drop the fists for some more powerful means of dispatching countless enemies (see: big gatling gun). Not only that, but this new trailer also shows off the incredible leaps and bounds Namco has made in motion blur technology. Hey, Tekken 6, 2006 called, and it wants its cutting edge technology back.

Head past the break to check out the fist-to-face action that comes courtesy of IGN.

Fans of Noby Noby Boy have finally arrived at the next destination in their voyage across outer space, having only spent three months stretching to get there. Three months may sound like a long time to get to the next level of any game, but for anyone familiar with the oddity known as Noby Noby Boy, this was way (and we mean way) ahead of schedule.

When the mathematicians amongst the game's fans first brought out the calculators, it was determined that it would actually take several years before Mars would be reached. Apparently, Namco multiplied player's submitted lengths by 765, speeding up the process. Essentially, it cheated, though undeniably in a good way.

This, however, raises a good point: the next few planets are going to have an even greater distance between them. Does this mean we're going to see more multipliers? Can we expect to see a "double XP weekend," sort of deal? Or should Namco rearrange its measuring system or modify the gameplay?