Phil Villarreal

If you study the right subjects, know the right people and are good enough at what you do, you can make a healthy living just predicting what you think others will do. Such is the charmed life of those who work at Wedbush Securities, which has peaked into the crystal ball and forecasted Grand Theft Auto V hitting shelves in October.

Rumor has it drastic changes are afoot for the Dead Space series, which replicates the thrills and chills of the Alien movies so well that it practically feels as though Ridley Scott cribbed from the notebook of Dead Space hero Isaac Clarke. But there are so many metallic corridors you can slink through before things start to get a little old, which is why we’re pleased to hear the setting for the

We swear to you that this is not a review of an orchestra concert, OK? So hear us out before you close out this window and get back to your Facebook stalking.

There are two ways to look at downloadable content: That publishers are holding back some good stuff in order to bleed some more money out of you, or that the new stuff is a sign that they’ve been hard at work making new levels and maps, extending the life of your purchase.

The Dead or Alive fighter series has always worked its sales pitches like this: Come for the bouncing racks sported by its comely fighters, stay for the balanced brawling and finely-tuned physics.

The official Call of Duty: Black Ops II reveal has come, and its debut trailer — no doubt the first of several we’ll be teased with in the next six months — reveals all sorts of tidbits about the next entry in the surefire blockbuster first-person shooter, due out Nov. 13.

It may be called Mortal Kombat, but it keeps coming back with the regularity of an immortal serial killer in a slasher flick. After an April 2011 reboot, February saw the game come out again as the Komplete Edition, along with all the downloadable costumes and characters plus the 1995 movie.

We’ve spent many hours yelling at The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and the game’s always taken it in stride, pretending as though it didn’t hear us. Now it’s done playing nice. Thanks to an update released today, those playing the game on an Xbox 360 with a Kinect device hooked up will be able to control the game with their voice.

Like a dude using a laptop with his pants around his ankles, Kratos has always been known for doing his own thing. The rage-fueled Spartan has gotten his rocks off by slashing enemies into oblivion. Everyone onscreen, even innocent bystanders, were nothing but fleshy balloons to be popped into red level-up orbs. But his next game, God of War Ascension, will change all that.

Sony’s PlayStation Vita has struggled out of the gate, with slow sales and a sad little trickle of software to support it. The most telling sign of the device’s lack of popularity is you just don’t see it very often when you’re out and about. Those who’ve managed to wait a couple months to pick one up are in luck, with used copies dipping to as low as $162 at times.

Real-time strategy snobs insist that the only platform their games of choice work on is the PC, and for good reason.

Even though Call of Duty games aren’t selling as well as they did before, there’s still no bigger name in the show. Any trickle of news about the next game — even an announcement that there will be an announcement — stirs the internet up into a frenzy.