Greetings humans, Monki here with this week's round up of video game news and information. This will be the start of a new weekly article that will give you some more insight into some cool stuff going on in the world of gaming. Also, it will provide me with a few free moments to come down off my tree and spout of a few of my opinions on the world of gaming.

So, stick with me here people, I'm going to be working on the exact format of this guy over the next couple of weeks to get you all some cool info in the world that is gaming. Up first, a few press release quotes.

First up, it looks like Lego Star Wars 2 has done gangbusters on the shelves across the country. From LucasArts:

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - September 20, 2006 - After only one week on store shelves worldwide, LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy has already established itself as one of 2006's strongest forces in video games. Since its release by LucasArts and TT Games on September 12, the biggest family game of the year has sold more than 1.1 million copies spanning eight platforms (PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PSP (PlayStationPortable) system, Xbox 360 and Xbox video game systems from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube, Windows, Nintendo DS and Nintendo Game Boy Advance).

So, what do you know, you put together a fun game based on a fun license and you sell a lot of copies. Imagine that! Rumor has it that next up for the Lego series is going to be Batman. Awesome. Also, we have another press release letting us that Call of Duty 2 for the XBox 360 has reached a milestone that none other has so far:

SALES OF CALL OF DUTY 2 FOR THE XBOX 360 TOP ONE MILLION UNITS IN THE U.S.

Santa Monica, CA - Sept. 12, 2006 - Activision, Inc. announced today that Infinity Ward's critically acclaimed Call of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system has sold more than one million units in the U.S. alone, according to NPD Funworld.

The award-winning title is the #1 best selling game on Xbox 360 and continues to be among the highest rated games for the platform, according to Gamerankings data.

"We are proud that Call of Duty 2 is the first title to sell over one million units on the Xbox 360 in the U.S." said Robin Kaminsky, executive vice president, Activision Publishing. "Activision has made a strong commitment to develop leading franchises for the next-generation consoles and we look forward to continuing that successful strategy with our titles launching on Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 and the Wii this fall."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that one is a bit old, but still pretty cool to see the first game to break the million copies mark on the 360.

One of my all time favorite games is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. I've been busting out 900s since the first release back on the Sega Dreamcast (well, Playstation first, then the Dreamcast version cause it had nicer graphics) and I've been a fan of the series since. The last few games have kind of stalled in quality, only making minor enhancements to the graphics and adding a new footplant or two. Now EA, the unholy giant of the games industry, is making a new skating game to try to take back a share of the genre:

EA ANNOUNCES SKATE FOR PLAYSTATION 3 AND XBOX 360

New IP from EA Black Box Delivers the Most Authentic Skateboard Videogame Experience

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - September 19, 2006 - The closest thing to being on a skateboard, Electronic Arts announced today that SKATE will be released for the PlayStation 3 system and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system in 2007. SKATE will deliver the feel of skating through innovative controls, authentic cameras and a fully reactive skateboarding city. The game features professional skaters such as Danny Way and PJ Ladd, as well as a reactive city and relevant in-game cameras that capture and deliver the most authentic skateboard videogame experience to date.

"Our game offers a skate mecca for both skaters and gamers in search of the definitive authentic skating video game experience," said Scott Blackwood, executive producer, EA Black Box. "We're focused on capturing the actual feeling of skating with the innovative control system, the physics driven animations, and the intelligent cameras working together to really deliver the closest thing to being on a board."

SKATE's unique control scheme captures the true feel of skating versus the typical button mashing gameplay of past skating games. Featuring physics-driven animations, gamers will have a unique gaming experience every time they pick up the controller since no two tricks will ever be the same.

Developed by EA Black Box in Vancouver, British Columbia, SKATE will deliver all the style, fun, creativity and culture of skateboarding without the countless hours of practice, broken bones and hospital visits. SKATE has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

So, Tony has a new competitor in town trying to take away his crown. This could turn out to be very good for the skating genre out there or just end up being another bust in the Volcano / Dante's Peak sort of way. Either way, I'm going to keep an eye on that one.

This will be the section where I take up as much of Harry's valuable bandwidth that I can with some images from whatever games I can get a hold of.

This week I've gotten my furry paws on some Virtua Fighter 5 screens from the upcoming PS3 release.

I think "El Blaze" was Dan's porno name he used to use. That Zepplin-hating bastard. Sorry. So, what do you guys think of the PS3 graphics? Look pretty slick to me, but still nothing unobtainable by the 360. Worth $600 yet?

Up next is a link to a video that was sent to me by a long-time AICN reader, the Kampbell-Kid. Right now the Tokyo Game Show is in full swing and he sent me a link to some cinematics and gameplay footage of a game called LOST ODYSSEY. Why is this cool? It's cool because Hironobu Sakaguchi (the director of FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN) is working on it and although it wasn't a great movie, the animation looked sweet and this game looks cool as hell. Check out the nearly seamless transition from cinematic to gameplay and back. Damn.

I'm not usually a fan of RPGs, but count me interested in this one.

So, after all of the Wii hype from earlier this week we learn one possibly important flaw in the upcoming Nintendo release; The Wii will not be region-free. That kinda sucks. I was looking forward to playing some crazy-ass Japanese schoolgirl-in-trouble type games for the Wii. Just imagine using the controller fo....ahem. I apologize for that.

It also seems as though Microsoft is having some fun trying to patch up some video-enabled games on XBox Live Arcade. It seems that people are showing off naughty bits while playing UNO and other such games. I mean seriously, who would have imagined that happening!

In other freakin' cool as hell news, Activision announced that Guitar Hero 2 will be released for all next-gen systems. Thank god. I'm tired of my friends trying to convince me to get my PS2 out of the closet to rock out. Just imagine the possibilities: wireless guitar controllers, downloadable songs, user-created tunes perhaps? Could be very damn cool.

I guess that will do it for this week's wrap-up. I'll try to end it on a good note by sending you yet another video. This one doesn't really have to do with games, but you can spot Pac-Man in the background (in red candles).

Good lord that rules. So that just about does it for the week, if you have any news/images/videos to share with the world, send 'em to me, and I'll do my damndest to get it out there. Okay folks, until next week, back up the tree I go.