Just a few ticks away from the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, are you holding up well to the wait? If you need more distractions to help the remaining time pass, we're offering up this collection of features that we're been running for the game. Check out the full article and let it be your portal to past posts.

Well, it would seem that the developers might be deep into Portal 2's development cycle, as we hear that an alleged voice actor casting call at Breakdown Express is looking for someone to voice a new character in Valve Software's "new game" in the Portal series. In light of this, an anonymous tipster provided privied information to Kotaku, and if you're not a fan of leaked spoilers, you might not want to click on "Read more..." just yet.

Hungry for more action from Irem's upcoming smash 'em up title, Ikuze Gensan? We might not be able to give Gensan, but we have his trusty little sidekick, Kana. She's bringing along her paper fan in this side-scrolling adventure game. Check out the screenshots in the full article. 

Here's a little something for the Gust fans out there. The Mana- Khemia: Gakuen no Renkinjutsu Shitachi Portable website has just been updated with a couple of new details added to the game. No news yet about a U.S. release, but check the full article for the details nonetheless.

We're sure a lot of you have played the role of anti-hero or evildoer in the modern age of gaming but have you ever explored the idea of playing as the villain's trusty sidekick? If you haven't, you will soon enough. I2G, Legacy Interactive and Exodus Films have announced an alliance to bring the upcoming Igor movie to the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii and the PC. Read on to find out more.

Motorola's Sidekick Slide smartphone (otherwise known as the Motorola Zante) boggled the techies when it got pulled out of T-Mobile's product line. T-Mobile's official statement explains that some of the devices were confirmed to have faulty slide functions, making the phone to suddenly switch off every time the sliding panel were opened or closed.

The "not-so-fortunate" folks who are experiencing these glitches get their Slide replaced by a blue Sidekick LX with free shipping! Wohoo!

Sherlock  Holmes fans, take heart: CDV Software Entertainment USA and IGN have joined forces to bring you the 3D mystery adventure game Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened.  The game is now available for purchase and download via IGN's Direct2Drive digital distribution channel service. Mario Kroll, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for CDV Software Entertainment USA, seemed particularly thrilled about the move...

Find out why after the jump!

Ever so slowly but surely, more details are coming out on Luc Bernard's Eternity's Child - and with very good reason, we'd have to say. The themes touched on in this Wii-DS title are not the typical ones you'd usually encounter in games.

Case in point: the newly-revealed character, Rani. Rani is a boy who wants to be a girl. Joining up with Angel, they make a rather curious couple, don't you say? Anyway, Rani will serve as Angel's sidekick as they journey together in search of their goals. We're sure you'd love to know more about him, like we do. So why don't you check out these screenshots and a sketch, which Kotaku got from the artist himself?

Still can't get enough of your MySpace experience even when you're on the go? Well, T-Mobile USA, MySpace and Danger. have some good news for T-Mobile Sidekick users looking to have complete control over their MySpace universe right from the palm of their hands.

The MySpace Mobile software will be available for download at the T-Mobile Sidekick website which integrates the mobile's hardware, user interface and applications and optimize them into all the features that MySpace users love on the PC.

Aside from the intuitive user interface the service provides through the T-Mobile Sidekick, it gives real-time updates that users can access as they stay signed in to their MySpace account on the go. Danger has provided an interconnection service to MySpace which makes such real-time access possible. Other features of the service also include:

• Profile editing, which allows users to edit their MySpace profile directly from the MySpace application, quickly and easily, wherever they are. Profile updates are immediately reflected on the MySpace Web site.
• Optimized photo management, which empowers users to — with the click of a button — upload photos with captions from their T-Mobile Sidekick photo galleries, directly to MySpace.
• Full-featured MySpace messaging, including push content and notifications powered by the Danger service. The service automatically pushes content, such as new friend requests or new messages, to the end user, meaning that users are notified of new MySpace activity even when they are using other T-Mobile Sidekick applications. This changes the interaction paradigm from request/ response (as it is via the browser today) to real-time, push messaging.
• The application will provide "Online Now" status for a user's friends who are online, further advancing the "always-on" model.
• Users can read, reply to or post comments to the profiles and photos of friends, as well as read and reply to comments on their own profiles.

Not a lot of game franchises can take two genres, meld them seamlessly and come up with something that isn't fertilizer. Even fewer can use the same core model repeatedly and come up with stellar success in terms of media and consumer reception. The Ratchet & Clank series combines elements from a platform game and a shooting title to form a respected brand that gamers just eat up each and every time a new installment comes out.

In February of 2007, the Sony PlayStation Portable received its first taste of the Ratchet & Clank series with High Impact Games' Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. High Impact is a group of expats from Insomniac that still has some of the key members responsible for the success of earlier iterations. The game was scrutinized with excitement and it passed all tests with flying colors.

No rest even if you're not wicked

The lovable tandem's new adventure starts off with Ratchet and Clank getting some time off the battlefield with some rest and relaxation. The heroic lombax and his trusty robot sidekick bask in the sun for a while until a strange girl named Luna approaches them and asks Ratchet for a small favor.

As it turns out, the odd-looking Luna is a huge fan of our robot-busting hero and wants him to pose in his trademark stances for an extemporaneous photo-op. Being the nice guy that he is, Ratchet gives in. A series of events unfold while Ratchet roughs up some robot hide for Luna which leads to the alien girl's abduction. Ratchet and Clank decide that vacation time is over and the two set off to save the girl.

That's not to say that this is a Mario-style plot where you simply have to go through multiple castles to eventually save the hostaged damsel. Fans of the Ratchet & Clank series will not have their expectations dampened as the game features an elaborate succession of plot twists that eventually leads to a huge unfolding that will have you chasing ancient artifacts and encountering a genius race known as the Technomites.

Old and new characters will be present to spice up the game's storytelling sequences. Favorites such as Captain Quark will do cameos with style as they supply excellent humor that nicely complements the script's pop-culture references. Notice that there's no single character who's badly voiced, allowing the comedy to be driven home as well as it should be. Making the dialogue even more immersive is the fact that character expressions are in perfect sync with what they're saying thanks to the dandy visuals that we'll be discussing next.