The essence of great design is making compromises without being compromised: Making pragmatic trade-offs without sacrificing creative vision or quality.

I'd love to be able to say that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker achieves this lofty goal, but ultimately it falls just short. But then, it wouldn't really be a Metal Gear game if it didn't suffer from one or two glaring flaws, would it? To its credit, though, Peace Walker is the best thing to come from Hideo Kojima's long-running series since Metal Gear Solid 3, despite a handful of compromising shortcomings.

Tucked away in Take-Two Interactive's latest financial results is word that Max Payne 3 has once again been delayed.

Originally slated for late 2009, the Rockstar Vancouver-developed shooter has been moved out of the company's 2010 fiscal year. As a result, the sequel won't be arriving until sometime after October 31.

To those who include level editors in your games, be advised: this is how you're supposed to do it. Joe Danger, the charming first shot from British developers Hello Games, includes, like seemingly every racing game these days, an easy-to-use level editor. The difference is that Joe Danger really includes it: making it a part of the challenge as you race along. You literally have to build the track as you go during the tutorial -- a brilliant conceit that actually makes learning and using the level editor relevant to gamers generally, not just those with a penchant for sharing their artistic brilliance (or lack thereof)...with the ladies.

Things are looking up for Take-Two. As part of their second quarter fiscal results, the publisher announced that Rockstar's western has sold more than five million copies.

Red Dead Redemption's success has gotten the third quarter off to a fast start, prompting Take-Two to increase its projections for the rest of the fiscal year. The publisher is also coming off a strong second quarter, which saw a 54 percent increase in revenues driven by sales from BioShock 2 and MLB 2K10.

Game compilations run the gamut from lavish affairs crammed with bonus content and a suite of options to cheap, barely-functional shovelware. Capcom's Mega Man Zero Collection holds the middle ground between those extremes. It's a bare-bones anthology to be sure, consisting of four Game Boy Advance games with few bells and whistles. On the other hand, the included titles play perfectly, and they're excellent games to begin with.

It's been confirmed that Richard Branson's Virgin is to make a comeback into the game sphere with Virgin Gaming (to be fully announced during E3) but rumors are now swirling about exactly what they are going to announce.

Sony has announced a range of new promotions aimed at both PSP and PSPgo owners, beginning with a new $9.99 "Favorites" line at retail. The line is to initially include Sony published titles Ape Escape: On the Loose, Buzz! Master Quiz, Hot Shots Golf Open Tee, LocoRoco 2, Patapon 2, PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe, Socom: Fireteam Bravo, Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow, and Twisted Metal: Head On.

The official Portal 2 press unveiling at E3 has been canceled and replaced with a "surprise," according to Valve.

In an email received this afternoon by 1UP, it was confirmed that the event -- originally planned for June 14 at the Regal Theater, Los Angeles -- has been replaced by a "surprise."