The stories for this week:

If you recall the news that Pandemic Studios had been closed with its IPs intact at EA, then this may not come as much of a surprise: a third game in the Mercenaries franchise was under way. What is surprising - or at least interesting - about this revelation is that the game was set to feature four-player co-op and open-world multiplayer. A former employee revealed the embedded pre-alpha trailer for Mercs Inc, which we first saw last week over at hub site Colony of Gamers. By way of damage control, EA formally confirmed the game's existence before the rumor could get too far.