The Sony press conference for E3 2009 is set to prepare gamers for the return of a juggernaut. Sony’s had a tough year for its PS3 console, but things are looking up. This is Sony’s year to make the most expensive console on the market profitable. With God of War III, Heavy Rain, Batman Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 2 and MAG on the horizon, this year’s E3 press conference promises to give gamers a reason to pick up a PS3. I’ll be blogging live as Sony wows gamers with 364 new PS3, PSP and PS2 titles. Check out the running commentary after the break.

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Nintendo is rolling out its E3 2009 line at noon today. Yes videogames have come up in the world of entertainment, dominating movie and music. Nintendo promises a new leap forward in game control and several new Mario adventures to go with. The Nintendo team is adding more hard core game s to it’s line-up including some developed in house. Keep up with all latest here.
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Hearts of Iron and most of the titles developed and released by Paradox interactive have a unique niche in the gaming world. Hard core simulation and strategy games are the progenitors of the modern video game culture. While the heyday of the strategy era, typified by some hardcore games from now deceased publisher Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) has waned there are a healthy number of titles produced every year for the history and strategy fans.

The Hearts of Iron series is based on the battlefields of World War II and have a special focus on the rise of the tank as a cornerstone to cavalry based combat. The game handles not only the armchair general battlefield tactics but the broader strategic elements of logistics, territory and campaign planning. Recently Hearts of Iron III was announced by Paradox Interactive with a fall 2009 release planned.

In preparation for the launch, Paradox Interactive sat down with Hearts of Iron III producer Johan Andersson for a video Q & A based around questions submitted by fans of the series and to get an update on the game, its evolution and new features from previous iterations.

You can watch the interview after the jump and find out more about Hearts of Iron III. While it doesn’t offer the same visceral action of a modern shooter, war is a thinking man’s game and these games offer a view no muddy foot soldier can appreciate.

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Namco Bandai has unleashed a teaser trailer for it’s latest edition to the classic arcade franchise, Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. This will be Tekken’s first foray onto the PS3. So far two new characters, Zafina and Bob, have been confirmed of the six new personalities joining the roster of your favorites. Zafina is a very spiritual character intent on the fall of “two evil stars” while Bob is an American martial artist genius.

The E3 2009 video shows off, the new blur motion options. It also gives gamers a glimpse of the new character customization options. Watch the Tekken 6 E3 Trailer after the jump.

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After all the teasers for Guitar Hero 5, Activision is finally offering gamers some juicy chunks of the latest game in the GH series. The full line up is out, naming a good mix of classic, new and Indie bands and solo artists including Bob Dillon and Iggy Pop as well as Queens of the Stone Age and Wolfmother. You’ll notice many of the usual suspects and several bands that have released big track packs. I’m thrilled to see Muse, Rush, 3 Doors Down, Iron Maiden, and Kiss on the list as well. Whether you’re into The Man in Black or The Killers, you’re bound to find something to like about this line up listed.

Hit read the full article for all the Guitar Hero 5 goodness to look forward to until the September 1st release.

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The Beatles: Rock Band debuted at E3 with a star studded lineup. Surviving band members Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were joined by Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison for the premier. Here’s a look at the E3 2009 The Beatles Rock Band trailer.

EA also revealed a The Beatles: Rock Band Xbox 360 exclusive track, “All You Need is Love”. Proceeds from the DLC go to the Doctors Without Borders charity. “All You Need is Love” will be ready for download on Xbox Live June 9th.

For more details on The Beatles: Rock Band career mode and the new peripheral set styled after the instruments used by the band, see the press release excerpts after the jump. You can also watch the video of the E3 The Beatles: Rock Band Demo and see the new peripherals in action in case you missed the live streaming video coverage of E3 earlier today.
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Grab your chainsaws because Valve wowed gamers this morning with promises of more intense cooperative zombie killing in Left4Dead2. The sequel to the wildly popular FPS adds new survivors and zombie bosses as well as weather effects, but the addition I’m looking forward to is melee combat with improvised weapons. Players will be able to pick up baseball bats, frying pans, and chainsaws of course. Left4Dead2 promises to be a game you can really sink your axe into.

Of course L4D2 is a mature rated game so I’ve put the new video after the jump. Check out the Left4Dead2 E3 teaser trailer after the jump.

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Following the revelations of earlier today with the Microsoft E3 2009 kickoff events Electronic Arts hits the stage in California at 2PM California time (yes that’s an official time zone… California is more important than the rest of the Pacific time zone… just ask them). We’ve included the embed link to G4TVs JustinTV feed for the event.

I’ll attempt to do a liveblog of the event in the same post as well if you’re interested in my insight into the whole thing.

You can see the embed and the liveblog after the jump. Read the full article »

I’ll likely get hung for this post but I’m going to vent a bit anyway. Today during the Microsoft Press Conference at E3 2009 there was a reveal trailer for the next Left4Dead installment. Normally I’d be ecstatic about such an announcement, and initially I was – when I watched the trailer along with the Crackdown 2 teaser – but once the high faded a bit I realized how not OK I am with this whole sequel concept.

Left4Dead is less than a year old. It shipped with a very slight amount of content, only got added value with the later Survivor patch and is only now getting mod support from the community and rather than expand it and give us a more reasonably sized game.. we’re being fed a sequel.

More Zombie killing is a goal I subscribe to religiously. I love Left4Dead, I played the heck out of it for months until the 4 basic scenarios wore dry and even the injection of new content with the recent patch didn’t work to vary or sate that apathy much. The original gang isn’t done, I want more adventures, more maps and scenarios and frankly more value from that initial purchase – just as Valve promised.

The trailer and accompanying press release also worry me because the features they tout for the upcoming continuation don’t seem earthshaking or innovative, or like additions that don’t belong in a patch for the original game. What I’m referring to is the addition of more melee-centric weapons and combat, and an upgraded AI Director. Then there is this statement:

“Featuring new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.”

Who is responsible for L4D not having a great selection of content, modes or characters?

Well the same people who are now expecting us to shill out full price yet again to support their hype machine. I’m an ardent supporter of Valve over the years but this move really bugs me. We’re still waiting on Half-Life 2 Episode 3 to wrap that story up – 4 years later – and yet they can crank out another money grab in the form of an L4D sequel. Valve doesn’t patch or fix problems with the 360 version of the Orange Box, yet they can produce an entirely new L4D product? Something smells here and while the “freeness” of the Survivor patch is a great move in an industry increasingly based on selling you parts of their completed game after release as a continued revenue stream, I am afraid with the current information in hand I may have to change my position on Valve and its formerly consumer friendly posture.

The new title is scheduled to ship on November 17th for Xbox 360 and PC, just in time for the Christmas rush, and features an apparent Southern US setting and characters including “Inbred Tank” and a multi-ethnic survivor team. I’m sorry but I think I’m going to take a pass here.. until I see something that shows a sequel was needed to the game, and this is not just more than a simple tech upgrade with new maps and re-skinned characters. You can view the full details of the press release after the jump.
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Just in the nick of time we’re posting the embed for the Microsoft Live streaming coverage for Today’s Microsoft Press Briefing at E3. Follow the jump and you can watch the whole thing live, followed shortly by the GT opinions. Liveblogged below the embed… so open a second window to see and make comments so you don’t lose the stream if you’re watching “live”.

Thanks to the folks at G4TV for the JustinTV link. Read the full article »