This week, Sly Cooper expanded his thieving ways and we had some rather unusual news items.

TOP STORY: Sly Cooper headed to Vita

At E3 last year, Sony revealed that the beloved raccoon Sly Cooper would be making a return on the PS3 this year. Since then, we’ve seen bits and pieces of information and gameplay that has only served to whet our interest. This week, a new trailer was released that showed that Sly Cooper would also be making his Vita debut at the same time. Like a few other games have done, the Vita version will feature cross-platform saves, letting you play on the big screen or take your adventures on the road. Of course, it will also have touch screen and motion controls.

Lost Planet spinning off to PS3 and…3DS?

Yes, you read that right. Capcom isn’t content to just work on Lost Planet 3, as it is also working on a spin-off that will only be released on the PS3 and the 3DS. EX Troopers will be a ‘school-themed beginner’s action shooter’ with a snow pirate who can talk to the Akrid that inhabit EDN-3. If that didn’t sound strange enough, it will have anime style visuals and be overseen by the producer of the Monster Hunter series. It’s scheduled for release later this year, ahead of the release for Lost Planet 3.

Rhode Island announces Copernicus release date

This was a weird week in gaming news. First a PS3/3DS shooter spinoff, and now the governor of Rhode Island making gaming announcements. Anyway, 38 Studios has been working on an MMO codenamed Copernicus for quite some time now, with no real information ever being released on it. While giving a press conference discussing the possibility of the state of Rhode Island helping the struggling studio stay solvent, it was revealed that Copernicus was planned for release in June 2013. No official word has been given by the studio, though shortly afterward, rather than deny or confirm the date, they released a montage trailer showcasing a number of environments in the game.

South Park RPG delayed

Obsidian’s South Park: The Stick of Truth has been delayed until 2013, so Kenny is safe for a few extra months. No reasons were given for the delay, but whenever Obsidian is given extra time to work on a title, it’s time well spent.