This past Wednesday, GameDwellers took place in an historic protest. A protest for the ages. The largest internet protest in the history of the internet. Along with internet giants such as Wikipedia, Reddit, Destructoid, Google, Minecraft, and hundreds of others, GameDwellers was "blacked out" for 24 hours to express our concern over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA.)

The good news is, we have won....for now, at least. The United States Congress (SOPA) and the United States Senate (PIPA) have both recently openly stated that both bills are currently being reworked to address the public's concerns.

So now that we have at least postponed the fall of our free speech on the internet, let's get back to gaming, shall we? We haven't had a major video game release in a while, so most of our staff are playing some old favorites as well as some of the highlights from 2011. Head past the break to see what we're playing this weekend.

We've been hearing rumors for months about the possibilities of what the next-generation of gaming consoles will bring us (and yes, the term "next-generation" has officially been revived.) We've known for a while that the Wii successor, the Wii U, is on its way to store shelves this year; but what about the next Playstation and Xbox consoles?

Within the past week alone, rumors have been flying about the possibilities of what we might expect Sony and Microsoft to do. First, we had a report that both the Playstation 4 AND Xbox 720 were going to be unveiled at this year's E3...and then several analysts suggested the exact opposite. To make matters worse (and more frustrating,) cloud gaming service Gaikai is predicting that either Sony or Microsoft won't even make another console. Sony themselves have also chimed in to suggest another scenario, saying that they don't plan to announce a new console in 2012; however, we know that Naughty Dog, the team behind Uncharted, is already developing software for a next-generation console (Naughty Dog is a Sony-exclusive developer.)

So basically...we have no idea what to really expect based on all of these different rumors, so let's look at the facts. The Xbox 360 is already more than 6 years old. The original Xbox was only 4 years old when the 360 was released, meaning that the Xbox 360 is already a considerable amount older than its predessor. On the other hand, Sony has always said that they plan for the Playstation 3 to have a 10-year life cycle (the PS3 just recently turned 5.) Sony might go against that original plan, though, as they were just recently quoted to having said that it would be "undesirable" to launch their next console later than the competition.

Don't you just hate when rumors start flying about what might happen at E3, especially when E3 is still several months away? Regardless of what happens, GameDwellers is just going to sit here patiently and wait for these rumors to sort themselves out. Below, you can see what CURRENT-generation games we are playing this weekend.

We've got a mystery on our hands. We need to figure out what half of the GameDwellers' staff is playing this weekend. Only a top notch detective can figure it out. Someone like...Cole Phelps, for instance. Let's take a look at the clues and evidence. What game came out this past Tuesday in North America that we've been waiting to play for so many years? What game is mentioned in the title of this article? What game is that above screenshot of? Detective work is all about asking and answering questions. It's about connecting all of the dots. All of that is put to the test in the game that has caught the attention of a lot of gamers, including our writers. If you think you have solved the case, then make your accusation and read more after the break to see who is playing what.

• Andrew Isley (RSS) – L.A. Noire all weekend. If by some strange chance I finish L.A. Noire, then I will continue working through Outland.
• Chris Diaz (RSS) – I might get some Portal 2 co-op action going this weekend, hopefully get some trophies while I'm at it. I'm also picking up the Sly Collection.
• Colleen Shroyer (RSS) – Saturday I'll be at Crown War in full plate fighting for my title. Saturday night I'll be watching some Doctor Who and starting my Darren Aronofsky marathon with Requiem for a Dream and ending with The Fountain. A fine conclusion to a day fighting sword and board Sunday I'll be doing what Trevor is doing- trying to finish Fallout: New Vegas. And the goal is to not get grumbly 40 minutes into it.
• Corey Winter (RSS) – I've been waiting for L.A. Noire for years, so I've been playing it almost non-stop since it hit the shelves this past Tuesday, and I will continue playing this weekend. (I also preordered MW3 when I picked up Noire just because I wanted the epic poster.)
• Damian Seeto (RSS) – L.A. Noire this weekend for me.
• Daniel Cardenas (RSS) – .....
• Elia Pales (RSS) – This weekend I'll be playing Final Fantasy XIII.
• Francis LaBelle (RSS) – .....
• John Frederick (RSS) –  I would be playing L.A. Noire, but I'm at a friend's lake house so I'm catching up on some of my backlog DS games, specifically The World Ends With You.
• Jonny O’Hara (RSS) – I'll be playing L.A. Noire this weekend (yeah, yeah so is everyone else, because it's awesome). Will be going to watch some Captain Jack Sparrow on the big screen some time too.
• Mark Ainsworth (RSS) – This weekend it seems I'm another for the L.A Noire group, but aside from that there's Witcher 2 to be played and for some multiplayer action there's always room for some Team Fortress 2.
• Michael Jamias (RSS) – Allods Online. It's time to get my character past the initial starter zone, if only to break my Wakfu alt-leveling addiction.
• Rick Timmers (RSS) – This weekend I will probably be playing Alien Swarm, my profile name is Awesome-o if any of you want to join in with me, also I might consider getting Terraria to see what all the fuss is all about.
• Samuel Steele (RSS) –  L.A. Noire the whole time, I may not even sleep...
• Tim Krynicki (RSS) – .....
• Trevor Mason (RSS) – Well, I'd like to join the CRAPPY CLUB FOR JERKS WHO PLAY L.A. NOIRE, but Gamefly seems to need 2 weeks to mail games to me. As it stands, I'll probably try to finish up Fallout: New Vegas. Yes, that game is old. I need to get it over and done with before I dig into L.A. Noire.