If you haven't already guessed, this Week in Gaming arrives with a bit of a theme. You see, we don't think man's best friend gets enough celebration in the gaming world. Not enough at all.
But the last seven days have proved that the tide is changing. Game designers are finally realising that humans are so 1999, and we're right behind them. The dog is where it's at.
Getting busy in Los Pantos
When you've got a game like GTA 5 about to break, trying to suppress leaks is going to be an impossible task. And sure enough, one lucky person got his fingers wrapped around an early copy this week. So what was first on his agenda for showing the new Grand Theft Auto to the world?
Did he travel the lengths of San Andreas to demonstrate its jaw-dropping vastness? Perhaps an insightful look at how the enhanced RAGE engine performs during demanding gameplay?
Nah. He watched two dogs going at it.
There were some other videos too, including one of him getting Franklin thrown out of a strip club. Y'know – all the stuff we've been dying to see.
So at least we now know how the dogs of Los Santos will be keeping themselves occupied while we're tearing up the city. The clips have since been removed but will no doubt have popped up elsewhere, so if you're looking to avoid all GTA 5 spoilers (randy dogs are not an earth-shattering revelation) you'd do well to just switch the internet off until Tuesday.
Collar Duty
But when dogs aren't doing the business, they're taking down helicopters. Or at least that's what Call of Duty has taught us this week.
The idea of adding a dog to the Call of Duty series was met with a lot of shoulder-shrugging but that's all changed with the new Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer. Sure, it's mostly run-of-the-mill footage, but just when you think we've seen all this before, a DOG takes out a HELICOPTER.
Skip to 1:28 for evidence...
You'd never see those Nintendogs doing any of this stuff. Part-timers.
City walkies
It feels like Watch Dogs may be the only game that could give GTA 5 a run for its money in terms of sheer scale and ambition right now.
For those of you lapping up every last bit of high-tech hacking, this week brought a trailer for the DeadSec collector's edition.
The pack, set to be available in the UK and Australia (sorry US), comes with an 80-page art book, a copy of the game's soundtrack, a map of the fictional version of Chicago, an Aiden Pearce figurine, a steelbook case and four AR cards. [CVG]
Bored of dogs now? Really? Fine then, here are some links from around the Future network.
CVG
GTA 5 releases next week and we have the best coverage on the web in our GTA 5 launch centre
Want to know about all things Battlefield? Look no further as a brand new show Battlefield Recon launches on CVG
Games Radar
Want to know whether you should jump into Square Enix's newly revised MMO? Check out our Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn review-in-progress
Getting ready for the next-gen consoles? Well, you're probably going to want to get ready for the 10 gamers you'll meet during the console wars
Official Nintendo Magazine
We show just how revolutionary Mario's new Wii U game could be with 25 things you didn't know about Super Mario 3DS World
With a month to go until the new Pokemon adventures are released, Seven new Pokemon and some more Mega Evolutions are revealed for Pokemon X and Y
Official PlayStation Magazine
GTA 5 review – get your questions answered
The titles that will define next-gen - 10 PS4 games you have to play & the reasons why
Official Xbox 360 Magazine
45 things to do in GTA 5 - the ultimate Los Santos itinerary
33 essential facts you need to know about Xbox One
Total Film
To the batcave! Here are 30 Astonishing Batman Movie Facts
Roland Emmerich plays Guess the Explosion
