Left 4 Dead Maps Resurrected in Left 4 Dead 2 Over Forty New Final Fantasy XIII Screens Just In Time For The Weekend PlayStation Network Plans To Implement Premium Content Subscription-Based Model Microsoft Game Studios Hiring Epic Liason/Producer For Gears of War & Shadow Complex Madden NFL Arcade Game Changers Video Toys“R”Us Goes Game Stop, Geoffrey the Giraffe Now Accepting Used Console Trade-Ins

Spike TV’s 7th annual Video Game Awards is approaching. With nominees selected in twenty-eight different categories, it’s time for you to put your homer hat on and get to voting.

Can Batman: Arkham Asylum beat out Left 4 Dead 2 and a slew of other big budget sequels for Game of the Year honors? Does Borderlands pack enough FPS firepower to gun down Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins and lay claim to the throne as Best RPG? Will Jack Black’s vocal talent in Brutal Legend rock voters and assure him a win in the Best Voice category?

You have the power to decide, and with great power comes great responsibility. So, consider your living room couch an extension of the venue. Sit up straight and look presentable — the gaming world will be watching.

Catch the two hour event live on Spike TV, December 12th at 8PM EST to find out who takes home the hardware and get a world first look at Halo: Reach as well as a few other unannounced 2010-2011 releases.

I plan on heading out to my local Best Buy towards the end of tonight’s Monday Night Football game to pick up Modern Warfare 2. If any of you are grabbing your copy tonight too feel free to comment below and join Dylan, myself, and a few others on Xbox LIVE tonight. Go Steelers!!!!

Update: Just got back from the midnight release at … GameStop. Yes, GameStop. I went to Best Buy first, and apparently, I live next to the only Best Buy in the world that didn’t have a midnight release scheduled. About fifteen of us waited outside Best Buy until one of the associates pried the doors open and  asked “what can I help you with?” I of course responded with “Oh well the group of us figured we would swing by just before midnight to see if you were hiring.”No sorry we aren’t.” she replied. Read more…

We reported a rumor regarding the possibility of third person gameplay in Infinity Ward’s upcoming shooter Modern Warfare 2 less than an hour ago. The main supporting elements at that time consisted of supposed leaked in game video and a screen capture of what appeared to be a game mode selection screen.

In addition to the above, we’d like to now add a promotional email from G4TV’s X-Play to the mix, and ultimately a confirmation from Infinity Ward community manager, Robert Bowling, that seals the deal. Read more…

Last time I went to the the London Expo, I was quite disappointed with the lack of proper gaming content. This year, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Tekken 6, Borderlands, Bayonetta, and even Left 4 Dead 2 were all playable at the show- which of course meant that I played them as much as I could.

Obviously I wouldn’t be writing this if I wasn’t going to tell you about them, so don’t worry about that. You could read my impressions and watch a video of the games at the same time and pretend that you’re me. This is clearly something that you want to do, so hit the jump to read on.
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Alright, Blizzcon 09 day two is upon us, and the World of Warcraft Dungeons and Raids Panel will be getting started shortly. I will be live blogging the event starting at 1PM PST. Get yourself situated and your refresh button ready to go. Read more…

Bad news for anyone who was a fan of TESIV: Oblivion or TESIII: Morrowind (or should I say, anyone who playes TESIV: Oblivion or TESIII: Morrowind)- Bethesda says they have made no plans for a fifth game in the series.

At QuakeCon 09, a fan asked Bethesda’s Todd Howard if their future plans included a fifth Elder Scrolls game. But rather than give a flat out “Not gonna happen” and destroy the hopes of millions, Howard simply gave the standard “we have no plans for that game at this time” answer, which, unsurprisingly, still crushes the hopes of millions.

A second fan asked if there were any plans for an Elder Scrolls MMO as rumored, and Howard said “There’s always a chance.” For those of you not as skilled in the art of PR talk, that’s practically a “Hell yeah, its coming!”

[via Destructoid]

Big thanks to Pepsi and Harmonix for sending us this 1 of 30 limited edition Rock Band guitars designed by artist Matt Moore. Ripten’s guitar is the Xbox 360 version and numbered 22 of 30. You can enter to win it below by leaving a comment (one per reader) and telling us why you think you should win. Our editors and myself will review the submissions and pick a winner by midnight next Saturday.

In addition to the guitar you can win right here, Pepsi and Harmonix are teaming up for a Drink Up, Rock Out summer promotion. Submit a Rock Band music video of yourself and enter to win an MTV Video Music Award Moonman for “Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Music Video”. If you want a little more immediate gratification, check under the caps of Pepsi bottles for a chance to win one of 5,000 Rock Band downloadable tracks and other cool prizes between now and September 13, 2009.

Drink Pepsi and rock out with your coc…err web cam out.

Straight out of E3 today is yet another video for The Beatles: Rock Band, but this time with gameplay. The trailer for the game gives us a good look at some of the visual changes added to The Beatles: Rock Band, namely the psychedelic background visuals, addition of 3-part harmonies, and slight changes to the note boards.

One of the things that kind of irks me about the trailer is the game’s rendition of “Get Back”. It’s a lot different than the one I’m used to, but it still takes place atop the headquarters of Apple Corps. I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually, but I’d much prefer the version with McCartney’s higher-pitched vocals. Oh, and the trailer’s gorgeous too!

If you care, hit the jump for a list of the songs featured in the trailer, in the order you hear them in. I might be wrong, but this is what I got, and I’m pretty sure it’s right. Read more…

There’s really no other way to describe this cinematic, other than to say it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s beautiful. From the style, to the animation, to the music, to the surreal ending, it’s absolutely gorgeous, and it hurts my brain to even think of how much work went into making this on Harmonix’s part. I challenge you all to find a better cinematic than this, because I simply can’t find one.

But enough of me singing it’s praises. Although I knock on Activision for their use of the Guitar Hero franchise, I can’t wait until September 9th, when The Beatles: Rock Band comes out. Although it’s only 45 Beatles songs, as one of the greatest bands ever, I’m sure I’ll have an insane amount of fun with the game. You can look forward to it too, when it hits the PS3, Wii, PS2, and Xbox 360 this September.

One of the surprises out of Nintendo’s conference today was the announcement of a new Pokemon Dungeon game. Not so much that the game existed, since it’s already out in Japan, rather the fact that the game would be released in the US.

While I never actually played the last, er, 4 games in the series, the new one looks very interesting. I’ll probably check it out a little- if anything, just for Bidoof. God, he’s so adorable.

Quick post right here, because I’ve got a bunch more trailers to post, but I just have to say that of all of the DS games announced at Nintendo’s E3 conference, I’m most excited for Professor Layton & The Diabolical Box. As the sequel to Prof. Layton and the Curious Village, it has a lot to look up to, but I’m sure that if it sticks with the formula, it’ll be fantastic.

I spent a month playing the first game (due to a combination of my baffling stupidity and horrible attention span) and it was the best month ever. The game is intelligent, tricky, and fun, and I can’t wait until The Diabolical Box hits (and kills) stateside August 24.

NO PROFESSOR DON’T OPEN THE BOOOOOOX!

I’m a huge fan of the first two games in the M&L series, so you can imagine my excitement when Nintendo announced Mario & Luigi 3 in October last year. Unfortunately, the game was for Japan only, and my happiness quickly subsided- until today, when Nintendo announced Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story for the DS at their E3 conference.

The trailer’s really interesting too. It shows Luigi & Mario getting sucked into Bowser’s insides, and how they plan to get out- by kicking and punching everything in their way. The best news is that you can also play as Bowser himself! I can’t wait until this game comes out this fall.

Super Mario Galaxy was one of my favorite games of 2007. It actually gave me a lot of hope for the Wii, because I knew that if all third-party developers were as good at making games for the Wii as Nintendo was, the system would thrive for a while. And while that theory didn’t stand the test of time, I’m glad to say that Super Mario Galaxy is back- and it has a trailer! You can watch the trailer above. You know, if you want to. Or don’t, whatever.

Do it.

God, I love me some Metroid. Sure, I wasn’t a big fan of Metroid Prime 3, but I’ve always wished that Nintendo would add another Metroid game to the Wii lineup- and today they did with the announcement of Metroid: Other M.

The trailer for the game is above, and it looks great. Even though it’s clearly CG, I love the introduction, which gives a bit of a backstory to the game. But I don’t want to ruin it, so click above and enjoy the masterpiece that is Metroid: Other M.

We were pleasantly surprised this year at E3 when Nintendo announce New Super Mario Bros for the Wii, but now we have the trailer for the game as well. And it looks really good, too. The graphics aren’t exactly Uncanny Valley quality, but I mean, it’s the Wii. I’ll post the videos for Metroid: Other M and Super Mario Galaxy 2 in a couple of minutes as well. Get excited!

This just in, Microsoft has bought the PS3 with intentions of turning Sony’s next gen console into an Xbox 360 exclusive….ok not “really” but they might as well.

Ok, it’s been a crazy day for me. Running around and just now getting a chance to sit down for a moment. I’ll just talk a bit about the Microsoft keynote. Nothing really took my breath away. Watching Cliffy narrate a side scrolling action game with bosses that turn into invisible platforms was cool (not really). Left for Dead 2 was the highlight of the show for me prior to seeing the Milo’rific finale. Read more…

A lot was announced this year in Microsoft’s E3 press conference. I’m sure you’ve heard it all by the time you get here, but in case you haven’t, hit the jump for a brief description of the show and our impressions of the conference.
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Here, have a Mass Effect 2 trailer. No no, it’s free. You don’t have to pay. Go ahead, watch it- there’s a potential spoiler there, so don’t do it if you really care about the plotline of the game. Perhaps you could get someone who doesn’t care to watch it for you and tell you how awesome the cities and stuff look, as well as the epic looking shot of the Normandy, but miss out any spoilers. Just make sure this person is really good at describing stuff. It’s a nice looking trailer.

E3 is back, and so are our glowing and always insightful predictions. These are from the heart people. Grab a Kleenex and hit the jump. Read more…

The last batch of BlizzCon 09 tickets have come and gone. If you want guaranteed access to the show now, you’re going to have to down some serious scalpers — BlizzCon tickets are phat loot, and they won’t come cheap.

The good news is, there will likely be a lottery/contest of sorts for you to try your luck at as well as the tried and true DirecTV televised version of the event.