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Dear ESA, Last year, when free speech in the videogame industry was threatened, you asked for help from gamers. The famous Brown vs. EMA/ESA case provided a landmark ruling that protected videogame content under the First Amendment. You appealed to gamers for their support and coverage, and many gamers rallied around the industry. (Jim Sterling)

In the wake of last week's sharply falling sales, Japanese retailers are apparently slicing the PlayStation Vita's price in order to stimulate a few more buys. (Dale North)

Epic Games has declared that the Hammerburst and Lancer Avatar props are going to be removed on January 1, 2012, as part of a new anti-gun policy. Microsoft will be barring any Avatar proper that resembles a firearm. Gotta protect those kids while they're playing Halo and Gears! (Jim Sterling)

EA and BioWare have announced the pre-order plan for Mass Effect 3 today. With your pre-order you'll get the M55 Argus Assault Rifle. That's everybody, for pre-orders everywhere. Beyond that, for those that order at GameStop, you'll also get a N7 Valkyrie Assault Rifle and the N7 Defender Armor. If you're a PC gamer pre-ordering through EA's Origin service, you'll get the AT-12 Raider Shotgun. (Dale North)

Like the first legless man to compete in a marathon, few expected it to finish, but it has finally happened; Katawa Shoujo, an indie visual novel developed by the former 4channers at Four Leaf Studios, is finally out, after five-odd years in the cooker. The game was inspired by a single-page concept illustration (check the gallery) released by Zettai Shoujo, a Japanese circle that counts among its members Raita Honjou, the lead character designer for the Valkyria Chronicles titles. (Josh Tolentino)

The folks at Pelican were nice enough to send us a couple of their cases to test out, so we tossed an Xbox in there and decided to put it through our gauntlet of tests.