Well, I have to admit that I was less than excited about E3 this year. After all, I was there in 2007, when the conference moved to a smaller format and a different venue. That year, and in 2008, the conference felt smaller and less important. Many of the ‘announcements’ we were receiving were things we had already reported on weeks before, and we’d even seen many of the trailers before.

Shawn mentioned all of this when he was talking about his PrE3 Blues. I mentioned then that I was unfortunately agreeing with him.

So, in the face of this crazy E3 week, how do I feel now?

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This is the first time in 4 years that I’ve not been scrambling and hurrying to get things ready for my trip to E3. I wish I could say I was disappointed because there is the faint chance that this year E3 might be something more akin to a sane version of my first visit to the LA convention center in 2006.

However I can’t help wondering why E3 excites anyone anymore.

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I remember a couple of years back when everyone was bemoaning the huge number of games focusing on World War II. Heck, I was doing a little complaining about it myself. Of course, Infinity Ward moved Call of Duty out of that setting and into the modern era with its critically acclaimed Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Personally, I moved myself out of that era by spending an inordinate amount of time playing Battlefield: Vietnam. Now I hear that I might get a chance to return to those rice paddies in a Call of Duty title, and I have to admit to being intrigued at the idea.

According to That Videogame Blog, a ’source’ they trust has informed them that Activision is looking to license music for ‘Call of Duty 7.’ The choice of music, including some Vietnam-era music, Cuban music, African music, and Russian music. While I could see this pointing to Vietnam, it isn’t a confirmation yet.

But what other signs point to a change of locale for the venerable series, and why would Vietnam be a great setting for a Call of Duty game? Check after the break to find out.

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Is it just me, or are you sick and tired of all these so-called “active” video games? I mean, is exercise really a vital part of of our virtual libraries? I don’t think it is.

First, it was the Wii itself. Packaged with Wii Sports, it was supposed to get gamers ‘off the couch’ and into their games. To be fair, it succeeded for the first couple of weeks. After that, most of the Wii owners I know went back to playing their other consoles, and allowed the Wii to gather dust. Personally, I’ve found that mine makes a fine doorstop.

The next ‘fitness’ release was Wii Fit. Basically a balance board with batteries, Wii Fit allowed players to follow along with an on-screen trainer to get in shape. Unfortunately, it also informed you of exactly how overweight you were when you started, and chided you for not exercising enough. As if I don’t have a wife to do that for me!

Now EA has EA Sports Active coming out May 19. Active was designed with an actual personal trainer to help you lose more weight! Yeah, that’s right. The only reason I haven’t been using my consoles as exercise platforms was the lack of a real personal trainer.

But neither of these are the worst. At least I can avoid these types of games. Today I learned about a much worse offender, one that will likely be purchased by well-meaning spouses and parents everywhere.

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According to the LA Times, Konami has ended production of its upcoming game, Six Days in Fallujah. The game was originally slated to be a shooter that placed players in the events of the Iraq battle of 2004.

Six Days in Fallujah was being developed by Atomic Games, and was designed to give players a view of what the soldiers in Fallujah experienced. There were a number of Marines involved in creating the game, which is not surprising considering Atomic Games’ background as a producer of combat simulation software for the US military.

Unfortunately, a firestorm of criticism from groups that are both anti-war and pro-military ignited. Critics blasted Konami for attempting to ‘capitalize’ on a war that was still fresh in the minds of those who were there, and the families of those who gave their lives there.

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Like so many other people, I was smitten with Valve’s zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead. There’s something viscerally satisfying about gunning down hordes of zombies, especially when you feel that you’re the last hope for the survival of humanity. Earlier this week, Valve graced us with the first major update for Left 4 Dead. This update included not only Versus mode for the two maps that were previously unavailable, it also included the long-awaited Survival Mode.

The basic premise is a simple one. The players are up against a wall, facing off against never ending waves of zombies, including a number of special infected. There are plenty of supplies, ammo, and explosives, but there’s absolutely no way out. The goal, as the name would suggest, is to survive as long as possible.

But does it actually work as a game mode?

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Along with the resurrection of the site.. we’ll be bringing back out regular editorial content as well. To kick off our first weekend back I thought I’d get The Analog Gamer back up and running quickly as well. First out of the box I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a game I’m sure many of the mainstream RPG players have never heard of – Untold.

I’ll let the following interview with one of the game’s creators explain exactly what Untold is but lets just say this is not your normal pen and paper RPG concept. Click through to the jump to read through my interview with Brannon Hollingsworth, Untold’s co-creator and one of the talented folks from The Wandering Men Studios. You can also find out more about Untold itself on its official website.

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Seems like a poster over on the F13 forums was told by a job recruitment type not to mention the fact that he plays MMOs. Supposedly, the recruiter told him that one of the employers he consults for specifically asked not to be sent people who play World of Warcraft.

According to the post:

I met with a recruiter recently (online media industry) and in conversation I happened to mention I’d spent way too much time in the early 2000s playing online games, which I described as “the ones before World of Warcraft” (I went nuts for EQ1, SWG and the start of WoW, but since 2006 I have only put a handful of days into MMOG playing – as opposed to discussing them – I’ve obsessed over bicycles and cycling instead).

He replied that employers specifically instruct him not to send them World of Warcraft players. He said there is a belief that WoW players cannot give 100% because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns are often not great, etc.

I mentioned that some people have written about MMOG leadership experience as a career positive or a way to learn project management skills, and he shook his head. He has been specifically asked to avoid WoW players.

For one thing, I can understand this on some level, but so what if it is a videogame? It could be a number of things that the person does when not at work that can lead to being a less than suitable employee. There is excessive drinking, whoring, knitting, dog training, working out, getting high all night, MMO grinding, reading into all hours of the night, clubbing, your kids myriad of different sporting events you have to attend, a TV marathon of “My Big Redneck Wedding”, the wife/husband/mother-in-law bitching and yelling all night, insomnia, chronic masturbation habits, just being a crap employee– a number of things can make a person less worthwhile on the job. Don’t just blame MMOs, and if you have hired a load of people who play these games for your company, that means you are an industry that appeals to gamer types any way so get used to it. It could just as easily be some multiplayer “shoot em up” on Xbox LIve that is keeping them up all night.

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Video games are full of colorful characters from speedy blue hedgehogs to scientists who know their way around a rocket launcher. That doesn’t mean games are without their stereotypes though, and I’m not talking about the fact that every gritty shooter needs at least one black soldier ready to blast some hip-hop music at any given opportunity. No, I’m talking about the overweight individuals who packed on a few pounds and then decided that was reason enough to get in everyone’s way somehow. When it comes to those portly video game characters that aren’t plumbers sporting red overalls, most of them just tend to be plain old bastards. Here are six of the biggest fat bastards in gaming that I could think of.

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Yesterday, Jonathan let you all in on the weird and not very secretly coded message plastered across a teaser site for Metal Gear Solid. The last code is mostly likely the power button for a PC–at least that is what the symbol on my power button looks like, but it also looks like the one for the Xbox 360. Then again, if you looks at the codes closely, you would also see other gaming symbols that looks very familiar to you. Therefore, one might think that the “i” is for the Wii, and the “!” is for the Xbox 360 and the last one is for the PC.  Yet, the Wii most likely would not be able to handle an exact port of Metal Gear Solid 4, therefore I personally think this had to do with the Xbox 360 and PC only.

So, if my deductive reasoning (and upon further investigation-most of the internet) is correct, MGS4 will no longer be a PS3 exclusive in the near future. That, or all the old Metal Gear Solid games will be heading to other formats–but it is best not to think on this too hard and instead focus on the obvious.

All of the speculation from yesterday is getting even more heightened today, with people chatting on all sorts of forums, but if you look back on the actual beginnings of these rumors, the teaser site just makes perfect sense.

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