According to a recent report from Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian, the firm's "industry checks" have revealed that Walmart has begun selling used games in over 500 of its stores. We decided to perform our own industry check, and the very first Walmart we called (in Tulsa, Oklahoma) was indeed stocking used games. The clerk we spoke to said that the store "just started carrying them." Further investigation revealed that used titles are also available on Walmart's website.

The company revealed plans to begin a used game program earlier this year, and Sebastian believes Walmart will "focus on the deep-value end of the market (e.g., games under $20 ASP)," potentially preventing "overlap" with used game juggernaut GameStop. Cheaper, older games do seem to dominate Walmart's used inventory, although we did spot Rock Band 3 for $50. Assuming Walmart maintains this focus on cheaper games, Sebastian believes the program could "ultimately expand the market for used games."

Sebastian notes that getting into the used game business isn't easy, requiring extensive inventory tracking, refurbishment and restocking. He concludes that it's unlikely for other used game distributors to be as "tightly integrated" as GameStop. We've certainly seen big names try and fail at the used game racket before ... Walmart included.

Fresh out of containment and ready to butcher countless more scientists, Ms. Splosion Man was revealed this evening by Twisted Pixel. Alongside the first teaser and news of next fall's splosive sequel, Twisted Pixel CCO Josh Bear spoke with us about all things MSM. We got to the important stuff upfront, pinning Bear to the wall about the real difference between Mr. and Ms. Splosion Man. "Splosion Man has a penis, Ms. Splosion Man has a vagina," he confessed. Solved.

Oh, right, there was also talk of the reasoning behind a full-on sequel in terms of gameplay. Bear explained: "I think with Splosion Man a follow up was something we really wanted to do, and that is why you never saw DLC for that game. We could have churned out new levels, but we wouldn't have had the time to add in new gameplay puzzles or cool new character stuff. But we didn't just want to do Splosion Man 2, it had to be something a ittle more interesting. That is why we decided to do MSM."
And that's not all! Apparently Twisted Pixel is already hard at work on another game -- an entirely new IP, in fact -- with ex-Harmonix designer Dan Teasdale. Head past the break for more.

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You know, in retrospect, that was quite a tell. Just last week, Splosion Man 'sploded to the top of the Xbox Live Arcade charts thanks to a hefty 75% Black Friday discount; this week, developer Twisted Pixel introduces us to Ms. Splosion Man, the titular leading lady in its next digitally delivered opus, coming "fall of 2011." Notably absent from the press release: a platform. Splosion Man was, of course, an Xbox Live Arcade-exclusive and part of Microsoft's 2009 Summer of Arcade.

While the press release doesn't share much in the way of information, we had the opportunity to speak with Twisted Pixel CCO Josh Bear, who told us, "We could have churned out new levels [for Splosion Man], but we wouldn't have had the time to add in new gameplay puzzles or cool new character stuff. But we didn't just want to do Splosion Man 2, it had to be something a ittle more interesting. That is why we decided to do MSM."

Check out the teaser trailer and cheeky press release just after the break, and then read our interview to learn about the game's Ms. Pac-Man homage ("everything was just more polished and better all around"), what former Rock Band 3 senior designer Dan Teasdale is up to since leaving Harmonix (turns out he's serving as the studio's janitor) and how Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion Man are different ("Splosion Man has a penis, Ms. Splosion Man" ... we'll leave the rest to Mr. Bear).

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On January 18, Media Molecule will launch Griffin McElroy's 2011 Game of the Year, LittleBigPlanet 2. Some people are lucky enough to be in the beta right now, supping on the game's alluring blend of platforming and secret spices before they must pay to do so. If you're one of those lucky few, we'd like to inform you of a new feature in the beta: voice recording.

In a pre-launch update on the PlayStation Blog, Mark Valledor, marketing manager at SCEA, offered a tutorial video showing how users can record voices in the game and assign them to character. The video in question (which the screen above this text was taken from) was made by YouTube user Sackinima and sums voice recording up pretty well, so we've gone ahead and embedded it past the break -- fast forward to 2:30 for the good stuff.

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Think you have what it takes to be a real professional racer? If so, you'll want to enter in this year's GT Academy. The tournament challenges Gran Turismo 5 players to take on a series of online time trial events. Over the course of five weeks, players will compete to record the fastest lap times, and the top 128 players per region (four regions total) will move on to the second round, one step closer to the grand prize: an opportunity to join a real racing team and compete in a real race.

Registration begins next week, December 6th. But even if you're not a racing expert, you should consider registering just to score some digital swag. Each week, players that compete will get a free digital download, regardless of your ranking. So don't be ashamed to drive like a grandma on the virtual course. No one's going to judge you, we promise.

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Our buds, bros, chums and cohorts over at Cheap Ass Gamer are hosting a pretty clever donation drive for Child's Play 2010 (alongside its annual charity drive, of course) -- for every new follower the bargain-wise site obtains on Twitter, its generous creators will give a quarter to to buy some games for sick kids in hospitals across the country .

To take part in the drive, sign in on the promotion's official page, click the link to follow CAG on Twitter, and then (optionally) Tweet the message provided to you to share it with your followers. Not only will CAG donate a quarter for each of your followers who participates, but you'll also move up the leaderboards based on how much cash your endorsement rakes in (UK residents can also participate and will be automatically redirected). And if there's one thing we love, it is earning ranks on leaderboards. By which, of course, we mean "charity!" We love charity so, so much. Way more than we love bolstering our e-peen.

Extra charitable folks who want a chance to win a couple thousand dollars in prizes can also enter a raffle the site is holding -- for every $5 you donate via CAG's PayPal to Child's Play, you get one entry for the raffle. Did we mention thousands of dollars in prizes?

Tighten those wrist straps, friends, and prepare to imagine your PlayStation Move controllers into Top Darts, a new PSN release scheduled to launch in time for Christmas. Developed by Devil's Details, the Move-only game features a host of (uh) top darts games, duh, including 501, Around the Clock and Cricket, with support for up to eight players.

Top Darts also includes single-player League and Cup modes, plus simultaneous multiplayer modes, which do away with the traditional wait-your-darn-turn etiquette, while simultaneously making it safer to throw so many "darts" around the living room at once. Just ... again: Mind those wrist straps!

Though GOG.com's DRM-free distribution methods preclude physical packaging, the two games added to the lineup this week do exactly what they say on the box. Moto Racer 2 is Delphine Software's accessible, arcade-style motorcycle hit that you may have encountered on the original PlayStation. It's available for $5.99 now and includes a track editor.

Joining Moto Racer 2 is Alien Shooter, an isometric action game in which you play a photographer documenting the momentous meeting between intergalactic diplomats at an Earth-sponsored universal peace summit. Probably. That one's also available for $5.99, and comes with a soundtrack and two equally earnest expansion packs, Alien Shooter: Fight For Life and Alien Shooter: Experiment.

Next week: Loot Reclaimer and Nazi Castigator.

Gameloft is having a Twitter Advent event, with an e-chocolate based piece of information or free game every day up until December 24. The free games will be available globally (unless specified) for iOS and Android devices, with "a little bit more in the end."

All you have to do is follow @Gameloft on Twitter to partake in the goodies. Yesterday's treat was Driver for free, today was a sneak peek at StarFront: Collision. Yeah, we're hoping for more stuff like the former too.

Are you looking for the quietest place in the (virtual) world? Yes, even quieter than PlayStation Home. Sony Europe just launched a PlayStation Plus-exclusive lounge inside of Home. Perfect for the person who likes Home, but just wishes it didn't have so many people in it.

Once you get past the doorman in the marble foyer, you'll be able to converse with the other occupant of the PlayStation Plus Private Members Club in peace -- mostly about how awesome it is to have a place to go where you can get away from all the people who meant to launch the PlayStation Store. There's a bar, "alcoves" for conversation, and even an exclusive card game, optimistically designed for two to four players.

Your Xbox or PS3 controller is okay the way it is ... but it could be so much more boogie board-shaped. The XtendPlay attachment adds a big block of foam to the bottom of your controller, apparently to both make your grip on your controller more comfortable and allow you to rest the whole thing in your lap more easily. Or something.

Creator Xwerx likens the development to the invention of the baseball glove. "So the question we put to you is: why are you still bare-handing your controller?" "Stallion83," who has over 500,000 Gamerscore, likes the device (or likes his endorsement deal), and he knows a thing or two about holding a controller for way too long.

The $20 ... things ... ship "in 2 weeks," according to the website, and are available for pre-order now. Still not convinced? Check out a trailer after the break. You really need to see this in motion.

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If you, like us, are in the development stages of a cross-generational, cross-media Facebook game that combines user photos, restaurant reviews and adorable animals then back off or we'll sue you. But we'd also caution you to heed the warnings of Kristian Segerstrale, who runs EA-owned social developer Playfish. He says that it's difficult for new games to have the kind of explosive growth they enjoyed when Facebook first got into games.

The blame can largely be laid at the feet of Facebook policy changes that prohibit games from pushing status updates to the walls of non-players, making advertising and recognizable brands more important than ever. "Companies without franchises will be in an increasingly precarious position," Segerstrale told Develop. "If on the one hand you have Harry Potter and on the other you have 'The Wizard Adventure,' consumers will choose the one they recognise."

... Great, now Playfish has stolen our game's name. You can all expect to hear from our lawyers.

At some point today, PS3 Rock Band 3 users will be prompted to download a mandatory title update -- the Xbox 360 patch is coming "in the near future". The first of two planned updates resolves some persistent glitches in the game, including freezes that take place during the amp loading vignette and when messing around with eyebrows in the character creator. " All eyebrows are now safe," the forum thread assures us.

Additionally, an exploit where players could constantly pause mid-song to inflate score has been addressed in the update. Now any performance during a song that's been paused multiple times won't have its score reported. Also, we reluctantly point out that one of the more dreaded issues, the PS3 keyboard audio glitch, is not included in today's update. Harmonix has acknowledged the issue and is looking into a fix.

[Thanks, Wes J]

Symbiote Studios is producing two different 8" vinyls of beefy hero Super Meat Boy. Both the "Normal Meat Boy" and the tenderized "Beat Up Meat Boy" are available now for pre-order, cost $40, have a limited run of 250 copies apiece and will make their way home to you next April.

Both editions of the vinyl have movable arms and come in a box designed by Team Meat. Why is it going to take until next April for the dolls to ship? Because every one of the "Beat Up Meat Boys" has to be abused by hand. Sad, we know. Still adorable.

Our geekier, yet still kind of cute in her own way sister site Engadget recently took Dave Perry-fronted streaming service Gaikai for a spin, and posted the results for all to see. Though the performance sounds about comparable to OnLive, the greatest strength of Perry's competing service is that it's not, in fact, attempting to compete.

Gaikai is primarily a way to sample games before purchasing them on a retail console or PC, so the inherent limitations aren't as large of hurdles as they are on OnLive, which aims to replace the home console. Or, at least, that's how Perry's pitching it. Get more of his take (and more Engadget reaction to the Gaikai experience) right here.

Raskulls, Ilomilo, and A World of Keflings aren't just connected through the shared "Games for the Holidays" promotion. They also each unlock extras in the other games.

In Ilomilo, you can get unlockable Keflings and Raskulls costumes for Ilo and Milo by purchasing the other games. Additionally, "You can unlock ilo and Doug as playable characters in Raskulls," says Raskulls dev Halfbrick, "and also unlock Raskulls characters within ilomilo and World of Keflings by purchasing the full range of games." And buyers of Raskulls or Ilomilo can build homes for characters from those games in A World of Keflings, according to a statement posted by Kotaku.

Even crazier: you can actually get Raskulls early by buying A World of Keflings. Raskulls can be bought from within that game, a week before its December 29 release. That's two out of the three games available early!

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