It hasn't even been two years since Nathan Drake last graced a PlayStation console, in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, but new rumors have more than a few Uncharted fans wondering just how long they'll be forced to wait for the Uncharted 4 release date.

Though the franchise remained conspicuously absent from the PlayStation 4 unveiling, despite an appearance by fellow Naughty Dog project , many fans are beginning to wonder if the Uncharted 4 release date could be revealed next week during E3 2013. Outside of the general hope that Nathan Drake's ultra-cinematic adventures will find a home on Sony's next PlayStation, several recent updates to the Naughty Dog Jobs page have fans wondering if Uncharted 4 might already be in-development at the Santa Monica studio.

Naughty Dog revealed yesterday that they have created a series of Valentine’s Day cards based upon their many games which fans can download for free in order to give to their video game loving significant others. The cards feature characters from Naughty Dog’s roster of titles such as “Uncharted” and the upcoming “The Last of Us.”

Have you checked out that Vita game? You know—the one that's a shoddy spinoff of a big-name series?

Perhaps Call of Duty: Declassified, which currently has a whopping 32% on Metacritic? Or Uncharted: Golden Abyss, a game that our Kirk Hamilton called "a cut-rate version of the Uncharted games that most people have already played"? How about Resistance: Burning Skies, which Kotaku boss Stephen Totilo called "a mediocre new first-person shooter that has no excuses for underachieving"?

Wrapped up in the Sony handheld's version 2.0 update, the PlayStation Vita is finally getting PS Plus. Detailing the offering for European users, the subscription-based service will add four free games per month, with the launch line-up including Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Gravity Rush and Chronovolt. Like its big console brother, you can expect to see discounted titles, free demos and other content arrive alongside full titles.

Your Vita will also be able to tap into cloud storage for game saves, with an additional 1GB of space added for the portable console. If you're already paying for PlayStation Plus on your PS3 ( three months at $18 or a one-year plan for $50), you'll pick up the service for free on your Vita starting November 19th (and the 20th in Europe), provided they're linked to the same PSN account. There's a quick video outline (and the European press release) right after the break.

I told you not to get too excited. The next Uncharted game will be a "casino/card game", according to its Brazilian ratings clasification.

Called Uncharted: Fight for Fortune, it's for the PlayStation Vita, and given it's lack of marketing to the point where it's being revealed by ratings boards, you can bet it'll be a fairly simple and cheap affair.

PPg. 31. Seção 1. Diário Oficial da União (DOU) de 26/09/2012 [JusBrasil, via videtonator @ NeoGAF] [XXX]

Uncharted 3 is considered easily one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation 3, and at next month's GDC China in Shanghai, developer Naughty Dog will provide an in-depth look at the tools and technology used to produce the particle effects in this critically acclaimed title.

In a presentation dubbed "Effects Techniques Used in Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception," Naughty Dog programmer Marshall Robin will look under the hood of this popular game, noting the various tricks and techniques the studio uses to get the most out of its full scale console titles.

It'll take more than a new portable to bring sales back up. The NPD Group has revealed the industry numbers for February, and sales were down across the board. Overall US retail sales for the month came in at $1.06 billion, which is down 20% year-over-year. Software fell even further, down 24% to $485.7 million, and even hardware - despite the availability of two new systems in the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita - were down 18% to $381.4 million. The only silver lining is that hardware was up in comparison to the previous month. As for the Vita, Uncharted: Golden Abyss did manage to crack the top 20 on the software charts, and $10 million worth of Vita accessories were sold, too.