Before I wrote “E3 could probably use a little more GameCock,” I tried to reach former GameCock CEO Mike Wilson for comment. Since he wasn’t with SouthPeak, the company that acquired GameCock in 2008, it took a little extra time to get hold of him.

It turns out he was at E3 2009 this year but not wearing the bright birdly garb or years past. He had a response to my opinion piece, a few comments about E3 2009 and let loose a little news of his own…

One of the more colorful characters – in more ways than two – at the last two E3s was the raucous bunch of indie developers from GameCock Media.

Unfortunately, the company and its crazy antics were caged when bought by SouthPeak. That might have been a good thing for the company and meant gamers got to hold GameCock’s games in their hands a bit sooner but the loss of GameCock’s presence is noticeably and unfortunately missing from E3 2009.

SouthPeak Interactive has just announced that it has purchased Gamecock Media Group. This means that the independent Gamecock is going to be absorbed into SouthPeak. Its good for Gamecock in a way, since it means they’ll get more money and exposure. Let’s hope it doesn’t stiffle the smaller company’s creativity. Personally, I hope it leads to a new gaming company – SouthPeacock.

Upcoming SouthPeak games include Big Bang Mini (DS), My Baby (DS), NinjaTown (DS), Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger (PC, Xbox 360) and X-Blades (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). Forthcoming former Gamecock titles, which will now be released by SouthPeak, include Legendary (PC, PS3, Xbox 360), Mushroom Men (DS, Wii) and Velvet Assassin (PC, Xbox 360)…

I had the opportunity to try Gamecock’s Velvet Assassin in an appropriately dark, curtained back room at this year’s PAX 08. After all, the game’s tagline is, “Battles are won on the fronts but wars are won in the shadows.”

In Velvet Assassin the protagonist is Violette Summer, a British secret agent in World War II Europe, who begins the game in a hospital in a comatose state as “death dances upon the ruin of her life”.

The gameplay consists of flashbacks of former sabotage missions behind Nazi lines. Some of these missions are actually based on real-life events from World War II.

From the portion I played, you’ll spend a lot of time going through dark corridors armed with

I have to admire the way Gamecock set up its booth at PAX 08. It was enclosed with transparent plastic and in very low light, like arcades of the ’80s. To complete the illusion of a video arcade, players would even stand up as they played the game in arcade-style casings.

Click through for a complete list of the games available to play…

Gamecock has also announced a list of the five games it will be displaying at Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) 2008, which runs from August 29-31, 2008. It has a pretty well rounded display set up, featuring games for the Xbox 360, DS, Wii and PC. So only Sony system owners will feel left out if they drop by Gamecock’s booth. (Don’t worry Sony fans! Gamecock is working on PS3 versions of some of the games displayed at PAX 2008.)

While Gamecock has an admirable game display set up, you won’t be able to actually play all of the titles – one (Velvet Assassin) will only shown in presentations by Replay Studios developers. Still, with four games to enjoy, you’ll want to stop by and play a demo or two.

The games appear at the event are as follows…

The present day mythical creature kill-a-thon known as Legendary is a little longer than a month away from being released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 (and later for PC). When the game is released on September 30, 2008, on consoles (November 4, 2008, for PC), players will enter the body of Charles Deckard, a thief who opens Pandora’s Box in New York City.

GameCock is offering a special bonus for those who choose to pre-order Legendary at participating retailers. Also, on the same day of the game’s releases, a graphic novel based on Legendary will also be available…

I reached out to indie game developer GameCock to see what it has planned for this year’s E3. As expected and much like last year, GameCock is not officially attending E3. Instead, those rockin’ ‘Cocks like to handle things their own, very public way.

Although they didn’t divulge any of this year’s antics besides a bid for the ESA Presidency, they did at least reveal this year’s anti-E3 roost…

In one of the funniest twists I’ve seen this year, Gamecock Media Group has announced that Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball will be delayed due to piracy. Apparently some villainous scoundrels have already started distributing copies of the upcoming Xbox 360 title. Initial reports suggested that pirates were behind the affair, but recent incoming reports suggest that it was all an elaborate set up concocted by ninjas. Representatives from the robot and zombie teams also participating in the game could not be reached for comment. In response to the theft, Blazing Lizard, the group responsible for the game’s development, will be adding in new material. The events and additions have resulted in the release date of Pirates vs. Ninjas being pushed back to late spring 2008.

With titles like Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max Hit The Road and Dark Forces: Jedi Knight, members of developer Crackpot Entertainment have a lot to live up to with Insecticide, which shipped for the DS on Wednesday March 12, 2008. The tries to mix action (platforming) with adventure (mystery solvin’) and, from what the trailer shows, a bit of comedy as an afterthought.

The game takes place in a future where bugs dominate the planet, relegating humans to the edges of…