Dark Souls 2. Played it. Got killed. No big deal. Alright. I'll try to keep this post from getting ridiculously long, but no promises. Once I get going on the Souls games I kind of... well, let's see what happens. While I didn't have time to reflect upon the nuances of any of the ornate carvings that adorned my surroundings and whatever godforsaken lore they might allude to, I can tell you I noticed plenty of changes during my brief time with From Software's baby.

With E3 approaching quickly the monolithic advertising banners begin to shroud Los Angeles' downtown buildings with promises of a brighter future for video games. Last week a Dark Souls 2 banner was captured in a voyeuristic photo draping over the LA Convention Center, along with "March 2014" lingering at the bottom in blood red text. 

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare your wallets for monetary departure. Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times and commence the downloading. Amazon is holding a "Digital Games Mayhem" sale offering deep discounts on downloadable PC games both new and old. Want that new Star Trek game after catching the movie this weekend?  It's only $25. How about Saints Row The Third with all the DLC for $12.50.

From Software debuted some Dark Souls 2 gameplay footage on IGN yesterday. Let's get this hype train rolling.

Modders are good at either stirring up controversy (how many nude patches for how many games are there, now?) or providing valuable/awesome additions to our games. This is a strong case of the latter. Modder M0tah recently released the Dark Souls Connectivity Fix for the Windows PC version of the game. The little bundle of code makes connecting to friends take priority over random players, meaning you can bring your pals in for battle without delay. Some other network connection fixes were also implemented, but apart from that, the mod doesn't touch the rest of the game. Simple, but useful!

The PlayStation Network is having a month-long sale on select Namco Bandai games for the PS3, Vita, and PSP. You can pick up Ridge Racer 7: 3D License Version, Namco Museum Essentials, Touch My Katamari, and much more for 50% off the regular price. While most of the titles don't feature cooperative play, there are some co-op standouts, including the excellent  Dark Souls campaign add-on, "Artorias of the Abyss," as well as a number of extras for Ace Combat: Assault Horizon.  

New concept art has appeared on the Japanese Dark Souls II website. The recently added image gallery is primarily made up of stills from the sexy announcement trailer that debuted at the Spike TV VGAs. That's nice, but the last eleven images are really interesting. A handful of new environments, items, and ghoulish enemies can be found in the gallery. That badass chariot up there is part of the set. I may be mistaken, but that appears to be a two headed undead horse. Fantastic. 

Would you let someone punch you in the face for 13 bucks? Metaphorically, of course. Dark Souls is on sale. Again. This all seems strangely familiar. A few weeks ago Dark Souls was on sale for $14.99. Today the lighthearted family game is on sale at Amazon for $12.99. Okay, we all know it's not a lighthearted family game, but you can only say the game is ridiculously difficult so many times before the words "brutal," "unforgiving," "punishing" and "please make it stop" lose all meaning. 

If you're anything like me, last Friday night you were glued to your TV screen, watching Spike TV's VGAs. Wasn't it cool when that one thing happened? Okay, you got me. I wasn't watching the VGAs. And I'm not hating on Spike TV's awards show, I hate all awards shows equally, regardless of subject matter.

The punishing fantasy game, Dark Souls, is on sale today from Amazon. You can ruin your whole week, maybe even your whole year, for the low, low price of 15 bucks. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions are both available. I should note that this is the bare-bones version of the game. It doesn't include the recently released (at least for consoles) Artorias of the Abyss DLC. You'll want to pick that up if you want the whole soul crushing experience. Still, the core game is a hell of a ride. 

More Dark Souls. That's really all you need to know. The viciously difficult action/RPG arrived on consoles over a year ago. The game's popularity led to a PC port dubbed the "Prepare to Die" edition, which released in August. This version featured extra content not available in the original game. A whole new area was added to the world of Dark Souls, including new enemies, armor, weapons, spells, and bosses. We knew this extra content would make its way to consoles eventually, and it finally arrived last week. 

If you're a glutton for punishment and want to sink hours upon hours into an Action / RPG for the PC that many folks swear by - we've got a deal today for you.  Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition is just $19.90 right now on Amazon which gets you a download code to redeem on Steam.  

Like everything else in the Dark Souls universe, accessing the new "Artorias of the Abyss" DLC isn't easy. The new content adds a whole new area, complete with new enemies, NPCs, weapons, and armor. When I spoke with a Namco Bandai rep at E3, I asked how players would gain entry into the new area, Oolacile. He was kind enough to oblige.

The extra content from the PC version of Dark Souls has made its way to consoles. The "Artorias of the Abyss" add-on will include all the new content that was added to the Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition PC port. This will add new areas, NPCs, gear, weapons, enemies, bosses and most importantly, new ways to die. It should make up five to ten hours of gameplay, depending upon your skill level, or how slowly you creep through new areas. 

The extra content included in the Dark Souls: Prepare to Die PC edition has been dated for console release. The Artorias of the Abyss expansion will be available as downloadable content on October 23rd for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Finally!