Yeah, so Uncharted 4 isn’t coming out this year. Kind of a bummer, I know. But even though it’s just another remaster compilation, there will at least be some Uncharted goodness to relive or experience for the first time on PlayStation 4 this year to make the wait for Nate’s new-gen debut a little easier to endure.

Sony and Naughty Dog have announced Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, a PS4 collection featuring enhanced versions of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, all in one beautifully blue PS4 game case. (Or you can buy it digitally from the PlayStation Store and get no box or disc.)

The remaster specialists at Bluepoint Games, the studio behind the God of War, ICO & Shadow of the Colossus, and Metal Gear Solid HD collections on PS3, are working closely with Naughty Dog to bring the three PS3 action-adventure classics to PS4, bolstering the trilogy with a 1080p and 60fps upgrade, enhanced lighting, textures, and models, a Photo Mode, and even new Trophies to make Platinuming all three games a whole new challenge.

The Nathan Drake Collection will include only the single-player campaigns from the three Uncharted games. Venturing into the cesspools of ignorance and petty fanboyism that are the comment sections of YouTube and the PlayStation blog, it seems that a lot of players are pissed that the multiplayer from the second and third games won’t be ported over. I don’t get why, though, because the PS4 collection will also come with access to the Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta. So why would anyone want to play old multiplayer when early access to multiplayer from the real PS4 Uncharted will be included? Gamers just can’t let any announcement go by without bitching and moaning about something.

Thus concludes my mini-rant for the day. Back to The Nathan Drake Collection — it’ll be out October 9th for $59.99. Pre-ordering the game grants access to the Nathan Drake Pack DLC containing various character skins as well as the Golden AK-47 and Golden 92FS guns. The digital download version comes with a PS4 dynamic theme as a bonus pre-order incentive provided at the time of checkout.

Continuing a partnership that has already produced excellent books including The Last of Us: American Dreams, The Art of The Last of Us, and The Art of Naughty Dog within the past year or so, Dark Horse Comics and Naughty Dog are now set to publish The Art of the Uncharted Trilogy on April 28th.

As indicated by the title, The Art of the Uncharted Trilogy will contain artwork and developer commentary encompassing the core PS3 titles Drake’s Fortune, Among Thieves, and Drake’s Deception. (I guess Golden Abyss from the Vita didn’t make the cut since it was only overseen, not directly developed, by Naughty Dog. Plus, adding a fourth game would have ruined title options, because something about the word trilogy in a title just sounds right.)

Anyhoo, The Art of the Uncharted Trilogy will be 240 pages long and retail at a list price of $39.99, though pre-order prices at online storefronts like Amazon and Barnes & Noble are already starting below $30.

No disrespect intended to Dark Horse–I am a happy owner of a number of their art books–but part of me wishes Ballistic Publishing still had a partnership with Naughty Dog and Sony. Ballistic’s sadly short-lived ‘Art of the Game’ series, which previously covered Uncharted 2 in a standalone book (along with God of War 3 and Gears of War 3), produced some of the highest quality premium video game art books around.

Games that get re-released in special “Game of the Year Edition” packages don’t always deserve the prestige that comes with the “Game of the Year” label. Uncharted 2, however, has clearly earned such a re-release, so today’s news announcing the imminent launch of an Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Game of the Year Edition should come as no surprise.

Newly repackaged “Game of the Year” copies of Uncharted 2 are scheduled to arrive on store shelves across North America on October 12th carrying a slightly reduced MSRP of $50. Inside the box will be the game Blu-ray and a “super voucher” for more than $35 worth of free DLC, including the following items:

* PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack
* UNCHARTED: Drake’s Fortune Multiplayer Pack
* UNCHARTED 2 Siege Expansion Pack
* Currency Multiplier which grants Double XP up to level 10 in Multiplayer
* Golden Guns option for the AK-47 and the 92FS 9mm pistol for use in Multiplayer
* Early access to “Revenge” Booster – you still have to purchase it with in-game cash!
* UNCHARTED: Eye of Indra – Motion Comic Bundle (which includes Episodes 1-4)
* UNCHARTED: Eye of Indra – Rika Raja and Daniel Pinkerton Character Skins
* UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves – Avatar Pack 1
* UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves – Avatar Pack 2
* UNCHARTED Avatar Pack 3
* UNCHARTED Avatar Pack 4
* Pinball Heroes – UNCHARTED for the PSP

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Game of the Year Edition coming October 12th [PlayStation.Blog]

Normally I don’t get too excited about the fold-out posters that occasionally come tucked inside magazines — I am well past my poster-hanging days after all — but I think this one’s pretty nice so I thought I’d show it to you.

While thumbing through the new October ’09 issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine a few minutes ago I came across this awesome double-sided poster — one side showing Uncharted 2, the other side LittleBigPlanet – Game of the Year Edition. It’s a good size poster too at roughly 20″ x 15″.

If I were going to hang it up I’d sure have a tough choice on my hands. Oh, who am I kidding? I’d choose the LBP side…SackBoy is too damn cute to resist!

Which side do you like best? Uncharted 2…

…or LittleBigPlanet?