This trailer shows off the Wii version of Tony Hawk: RIDE, and features the Mii characters in the Wii version.

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

Activision line up for E3 2009 is chock full of win. The full review has something for everyone showcasing remakes of classic games and sequels with fresh IPs for E3 return to its glory days. Speed demons can hook up with Blur and Tony Hawk: Ride to get their adrenaline rush on. Gamers will wax nostalgic over the updated re-envisioned Wolfenstein, the granddaddy of the FPS, then take a look at it’s latest progeny Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat 2.

Music fans have new bands and features to bump and grind to with Guitar Hero 5 and can explore new genres with DjHero. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is ready for show and sci-fi buffs can get their fill with Singularity and PROTOTYPE. I’m putting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in with sci-fi because I can’t quite make the leap to call them superheroes. Get the full list complete with details on each game after the break.
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Activision Blizzard sure knows how to get the speculation ball rolling, and with this latest bit of teasers and confirmations from the company during yesterday’s Massive Inc. event (advertising summit really) what they had to say is really not much of a surprise.

This meeting basically showcases games that would be great vehicles for in-game advertising, and the biggest one mentioned was one called Guitar Hero 5 (working/speculative title at this point) which was revealed as a screenshot featuring a Burger Kings ad next to the scrolling notes.

ActiBliz also confirmed what we already knew about the upcoming Tony Hawk game slated for an October 2009 release when a spokesman stated: “You’re not going to be playing this game with a controller in your hands”. This, however is old news to gamers who have been in the know regarding a “skateboard type” peripheral which is supposed to come with the game.

Confirmed during the event was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for Fall 2009, and while no details were forthcoming on the upcoming Call of Duty title, ActiBliz did acknowledged Bizarre Creations’ “Bond Racing” (no tile was mentioned) style game which would be heading to stores sometime in September 2009. The good thing about this Bond game though, is that there is no movie tie-in associated with it and for fans of racing games, another one is in the works which is being hailed as a “Mario Kart meets Forza”.

So there ya have it. A few teasers, a few confirmations and the expectation that in-game advertising will be prevalent throughout each one of them. Hooray for greed and constantly being bombarded with advertising no matter where you look. Formally known as the American Way, it is now just the way of the world.

(MTV Multiplayer)

Next week is Thanksgiving for us turkey lovers in the U.S., and that means three things: 1) getting together with family and friends to stuff your gullets, 2) officially starting the Christmas season, a time of sharing and giving, and 3) marking all of this by stampeding over strangers in a mall to save a few bucks on a Simpsons DVD box set. Yes, Black Friday — as it has come to be called — will soon be upon us. For those adventurous enough to hit the stores that day, you’ll be in for some mighty fine deals. But of course, you’ll want to be prepared before you start setting up camp in front of your store of choice the night before, lest you end up like Mr. Schwarzeneggar in his Oscar-nominated (note: not really) Jingle All the Way.

Luckily, Cheap Ass Gamer has your back, as they’ve put together a pretty comprehensive list of just about every gaming-related sale going on that day. They’ve got most of the major chain stores covered already, and they’re updating the list as more information becomes available. Granted, fighting through the hordes of shoppers that day probably isn’t going to be worth it unless you you’ve got a big purchase in mind. Still, if you wanted to get an Xbox 360 anyway, it might be nice to know which store is bundling them with copies of Tony Hawk Proving Ground and which one is giving away wireless controllers.

You can check out the full list here.

Here’s a simple equation for any potential ad executives out there: 1 Supermodel > 4 Male Sports Stars. As evidence of this, I submit this new ad for Guitar Hero World Tour. It features the same exact Risky Business-derived scene as the first one, but Tony Hawk, Alex Rodriguez, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Phelps have all been replaced with Heidi Klum. The result is an ad that’s still a little cheesy, but somehow way more acceptable.

There’s also a “Director’s Cut” of the commercial here, which is essentially the exact same video, except without Ms. Klum’s shirt. Since the director of this “cut” was Brett Ratner, I’ve subsequently taken back every nasty thing I ever said about him and now consider the man to be a true visionary. For now.

Activision is pulling out all the stops for the October 26 release of Guitar Hero: World Tour with some “Risky Business”-inspired ads featuring well-known celebrities. Each ad will feature the rich and famous dancing about in their underpants and doing their best Tom Cruise impression to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” while playing different World Tour instruments or lip-syncing.

Debuting today, the first commercial features sports stars Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Phelps and  Tony Hawk “jamming” in a form reminiscent of the first “Risky Business” Guitar Hero ads starring American Idol alumni David Archuletta and David Cook which you witnessed if you happened to watch the May 21 season finale.

Directed by Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand), these commercials were apparently produced to inspire everyone to “unleash their inner rock star”:

“With the first ‘Risky Business’ ads we wanted to excite fans by combining two pop culture sensations to create something even bigger. Those commercials were such a hit with Guitar Hero fans we decided to give them the same iconic ‘living room rock star’ moment they love, but as experienced with the new full band version of the game and with an entirely new cast of characters.”

Activision and Ratner have no plans to stop there though, because according to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, we can expect more commercials featuring actors and even supermodels:

“To appeal to the multi-generational Guitar Hero fans out there we tapped a wide range of athletes, actors and even supermodels to unleash their inner rock stars and live out their rock and roll fantasies.”

Supermodels huh. For some reason I just cannot see someone like, oh say Tyra Banks or Heidi Klum, playing Guitar Hero in real life, but then again commercials like these are pure fantasy to say the least.

Analyst Doug Creutz of Cowan and Company have looked into their crystal ball and believe that Activison will include a skateboard peripheral with the next addition to the Tony Hawk series. Expected to be released sometime next year, Creutz feels that the addition of peripherals with games will boost sales for the franchise after a year’s absence from the market.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, in his latest letter to investors, Creutz stated:

“We believe that the extra year of development time and the opportunity for consumers to shake off franchise fatigue could contribute to better unit sales than the franchise has enjoyed in recent years.

“We also view it as highly likely that the game will include some sort of skateboard peripheral with all SKUs when it ships, given the massive success (and higher price points and profitability) of Activision Blizzard’s Guitar Hero franchise.”

This is pretty much a no-brainer considering how popular Wii Fit has been complete with the Wii Balance Board; plus, with Nintendo and other developers working on ways to integrate it into future IPs, the days of just owning a lone controller are becoming a thing of the past.

Also, if you factor in the how popular the music gaming genre and its peripherals are and third-party ones like light sabers and guns, you will see that gamers have no problem playing extra for something that will enhance their gameplay experience even more. Therefore, it is safe to say that Creutz and Co. are not far off in their predictions for the Tony Hawk franchise – even if this obvious assumption of theirs is something gamers have known for a long while now.

It took years to get a true sequel to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved on Xbox Live Arcade — although we did get Waves in PGR4 and Galaxies on Wii and DS while we waited. Going forward, a shortage of ideas is certainly not among Bizarre Creations’ problems in creating future Geometry Wars titles, as programmer Stephen Cakebread told MTV Multiplayer, “We have enough game ideas to do Geometry Wars for probably about 10 games. It depends on what will work.”

Bizarre games manager Craig Howard further confirmed the inevitable Geometry Wars sequels. “Geometry Wars is definitely a franchise,” Howard said. “It’s not going to stop.” With the way Bizarre parent company Activision has handled Guitar Hero recently, it’s not difficult to imagine.

As a big fan of Geometry Wars, it’s great to hear that Bizarre fully intends to move forward with the series. But I certainly can’t be the only one that is worried I might end up with a serious case of Geometry Wars fatigue (also known as Tony Hawk syndrome). Bizarre seemed in no rush to release Geometry Wars 2, but with Activision now calling the shots, should gamers be worried?

Maybe you’re feeling nostalgic. Maybe you’ve got a DS and you’re looking for some recommendations for quality cartridges to stick in that bottom slot. (Heh.) Whatever the reason, GameDaily has assembled a pretty solid list of the top 25 GBA games. Much to my surprise, my only gripes come with the particular order the games come in (Super Mario 3 and Golden Sun go 12-11? Utter nonsense.) rather than the actual contents of the list.

And don’t say it’s redundant to do a list like this when you could go to Game Rankings or MetaCritic, because a quick trip to a site like that will yield inferior prequels to games and things like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (the #2 game on GBA? Please.).

After you check out the list, come back and share what you think they got right and wrong.