Promise, this is real. Sony have announced that, as of this Thursday, you'll be able to download Kratos as a playable character in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds. There he is above, rendered all cartoon-like, taking his one-under-par very, very seriously. Kratos' voice actor from the "proper" GoW games - T.C. Carson - provided the voice work for the cameo, and this cutesy God of War will even use the chain blades as a club. There's another pic after the jump, but no, this one won't make him look any less out of place.

Those early rumblings just might be true. Back in May, rumours swirled that filmmaker Brett Ratner was directing the God of War movie. In a MGM press release for the new RoboCop movie, there's this bit of info:

David Self's credits include 13 Days and Road To Perdition. He wrote God of War for Universal, to which Brett Ratner is attached to direct, and was a writer on Universal's Wolfman currently in production.

That press release is obviously incorrect. It should read: "He wrote God of War for Universal, to which Brett Ratner is attached to direct and fuck up".

Brett Ratner Confirmed? [/Film] [Pic]

A brief trailer toward the end of Sony's news conference at E3 today gave a glimpse of God of War III, just announced for the PS3. The trailer was all pre-rendered, featuring Kratos atop the rubble of a ruined city, bellowing "In the end, there will be only chaos!"

Of course, more on this as it moves. Just wanted to get word out that yes, God of War III is in the pipeline.

Your guest editor would like to share with Kotaku some of his favourite things in gaming.

Near the top of that list is a chart of mythological creatures, graphed in terms of badass-ness. It was used to make a point about the Pegasus-riding part of God of War II.

The chart is the work of Chris Zukowski, the funniest FAQ writer I've ever encountered and proprietor of the Game Intestine. The site hasn't been updated in a while, but it's the place to go if you're playing Final Fantasy XII, Assassin's Creed, or a number of other games he's written up.

Some FAQs just tell you what to do. Zukowski's walkthroughs do that and make fun of everything ridiculous in the game along the way. I highly recommend his site the next time you're stuck or in need of a laugh. Read his FAQs. (Full disclosure: Zukowski once saved several hours of my life by telling me when to abandon FFXII)

Full badarse chart after the jump:

If Darth Vader wasn't enough to sway you toward the PS3 version of Soulcalibur IV, perhaps the God of War will. According to the latest issue of EGM magazine, by way of 1UP, Kratos may be joining the line-up of souls in Namco Bandai's newest weapons-based fighter. Considering that Yoda versus Voldo fights will be commonplace, we're nonplussed at the concept. It's a surprisingly good fit.

Sure, it's a rumour, but that "expect confirmation soon" and a hint about Xbox 360 owners getting their own platform-specific fighter — Joanna Dark? Marcus Fenix? Banjo?! — makes us wonder if this is less of a rumour than it is a tease.

Quartermann: God of War Meets Soul Calibur? [1UP]

God of War designer David Jaffe is sad. Sad and angry. He is a Marvel fan — no, he is a "Marvel fan for life". And as such, he knows one thing: Spider-Man deserves way better. In a recent blog post, he writes an open letter to "The People Who Make Marvel Comics Video Games", stating:

Nestled gently at the bottom of one of his most recent blog posts, David Jaffe has spoken a little on a topic that I've always found interesting as hell: the previous/working titles of some of his games. Something about how a different name can alter your entire perception of a title...anyways. Some of them are really interesting! Like the fact one of God of War's possible names was Ω. Just the symbol. And the fact Kratos was for a long time going to be called the much-cheesier (especially with ham and pineapple) Dominus. And that one of Twisted Metal's original names was the brilliantly evocative Cars and Rockets, which Jaffe said "nobody else" liked. Nobody? Oh Sony.

Why the do we even try? [Jaffe's Blog]

360 owners got a free Halo song, it's only fair PS3 owners get a similar deal. And they are. An email just went out to PlayStation Underground members, announcing that on June 5, a "Free GoW song for Guitar Hero III" would be released. Surely this signals the beginning of a "free, exclusive track" arms race, which can only end when players are subjected to weekly updates like "The End Credits Music From Heavenly Sword" and "Bomberman Zero Main Menu: Ibiza Party Megamix".

[thanks everyone who sent this in!]

Eagle-eyed reader Byron has pointed us towards a job listing on SCEA's website, for an "Online Gameplay Programmer", who will "join the team behind the critically acclaimed AAA titles "God of War" and "God of War II." Interesting, interesting. That doesn't say online programmer, it says online gameplay programmer. Anyone for a Kratos v Kratos battle for loin-cloth supremacy?

The Sharjah Municipality of the United Arab Emirates is having trouble keeping copies of God of War off the streets. The Sony game was banned for containing language and scenes that go against Islamic beliefs, notably the killing of gods, which I can understand, given the circumstance. Despite the bans, the game is still apparently easy to get hold of.

A UAE national said he was one of the people who was shocked to discover that the game was distributed in commercial areas, including the Central Souq, Al Rolla and sports shops in Nuammiya. "I knew that it was banned, but many of my friends were able to buy pirated copies from Dh5 to Dh10. I was shocked to see how much it contradicted Islamic values," said Khalid Bin Deemas, adding that it was dangerous as the video game was popular among children.