41w ago - IO Interactive Community Manager Nick Price has unveiled the Contracts Mode in upcoming PS3 video game title Hitman: Absolution today.

To quote: One of the best things about working with a vibrant and productive community, such as the one attached to the Hitman games, is that you can learn a lot by just watching people play.

Going back to the previous games in the Hitman series, we've always enjoyed watching videos of how the fans tackle the different levels; both in terms of strategy and approach to the emergent systems within the game but also in terms of how they change the rules by going against the core of the level.

A great example is when we see people trying to set up mission parameters all by themselves. The previous games didn't really support this - you were supposed to play a level in one of several different ways but targets always remained the same - but the fans pretty quickly started setting up conditions for completion themselves.

Kill everyone with a particular weapon. Don't get spotted by anyone. Only wear the chicken outfit. Kill that waiter in the bar at the Meat King's party.

Sometimes these conditions would be extremely hard to fulfill but equally satisfying when they did get completed. So for...

204w ago - Rumor has it that two Taiwanese manufacturing companies have been awarded contracts to build Sony's new streamlined PS3, affectionately known as the PS3 Slim.

To quote: According to UDN.com, half of the orders have gone to Taiwanese group Foxconn, while the other half has gone to Pegatron.

The units are expected to start shipping in early July "to cope with expected summer vacation demands."

The news has a ring of truth to it, given that the two firms have manufactured the original PS3.

The timing also makes sense, as Japan actually buys most of its game consoles during the summer vacation period (as opposed to the winter holidays in the west).

Assuming the news is true, it would mesh well with the PS3 Slim rumors we've heard so far, most notably that Ars Technica expected the units to hit the market in August or September.