Ok... so check out the TV show intro and let me know what you think. Im dying to know what the community thinks. Im gonna actually start the 1st episode soon. You wanna be in the show? Let me know.

Activision Blizzard technically wasn't even party to this year's E3 Media & Business Summit, but the publisher still managed to make waves at the show with the shock announcement that the Xbox 360 edition of Guitar Hero: World Tour would support peripherals developed for archrival Rock Band 2.

At the time, Neversoft director Brian Bright said that the concession applied only to the Xbox 360 edition of the games, but teased that a similar arrangement was being sorted for the PlayStation 3 versions. Today, that announcement has come, and Sony has revealed that PS3 gamers will be extended the same compatibility courtesy for not just Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour, but also Rock Revolution and SingStar.

"For the past several months, we have been working closely with Neversoft and Activision, Harmonix, and Konami to ensure that PlayStation 3 guitars and drum sets will all feature a basic level of gameplay compatibility," said SCEA director of publisher relations Michael Shorrock via Sony's PlayStation Blog. "For the most part, this means that the titles with musical peripherals will work with the other's software."

Explicitly laying out what the compatibility measures mean to gamers, Shorrock said that the guitar and drum-kit peripherals from World Tour, Rock Band 2, and Rock Revolution will all be interchangeable. Shorrock also noted that World Tour and Rock Band 2 microphones will be compatible with the publisher's own SingStar karaoke game.

Unfortunately, the publisher has yet to finagle compatibility between current-generation Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, though Shorrock did say that "we hope to have an announcement on that shortly." Last December, Activision said that it would not implement a Harmonix-developed patch that would let PS3 owners shred with their Rock Band axes in Guitar Hero III.

Rock Band 2 is expected to arrive for the Xbox 360 in September, with the PS3, Wii, and PlayStation 2 editions arriving later in the year. Konami's Rock Revolution is slated to arrive on the Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo's Wii and DS this fall. Guitar Hero: World Tour is also expected to go on the road this fall for the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, and PC.

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6196126.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;2

For a brief moment this morning, it appeared that the six-month-long Electronic Arts/Take-Two Interactive takeover saga might have finally come to a close. In separate statements issued this morning, both companies confirmed that EA's most recent $2 billion tender offer to purchase all outstanding Take-Two stock at $25.74 per share would expire as of 11:59 p.m. tonight. The deadline was set after EA's bid became compliant with the Federal Trade Commission rules last month.

In an open letter to Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick, EA CEO John Riccitiello said, "Given the passage of time, we have to validate the assumptions used in the model to support our offer price of $25.74 per share in cash. In addition, we no longer believe we can integrate Take-Two ahead of the important holiday season. Accordingly, we require due diligence to support a transaction and are therefore letting the tender offer expire tonight."

However, as has been the case on several occasions prior, the EA/Take-Two mating dance is far from over. In fact, Take-Two appears to have gone from being vocally disdainful to semireceptive of EA's advances.

According to the letter, Riccitiello and Zelnick discussed the buyout offer last Friday on the phone. Yesterday, Zelnick sent Riccitiello his own letter inviting EA "to participate in Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.'s formal process to evaluate the company's strategic alternatives." In the same letter cited above, Riccitiello said that EA is "pleased to accept [Take-Two's] offer."

In his letter, Zelnick said the next step is that "EA...enter into a confidentiality agreement" prior to "an in-depth management presentation...[that] includes material nonpublic information" by the Take-Two board. In said presentation, executives from the New York-based Rockstar parent will outline "significant strides since EA first expressed interest in the company...including information relating to our three-year product-release schedule and management's financial projections. The presentation also includes information about the underlying factors that have driven our strong operational and financial performance."

Why, after months of being ardently unreceptive of EA's offer, is Take-Two now sitting down with the company? One likely reason is its share price. In February, Zelnick said that his company would not entertain EA's offer until after the Grand Theft Auto IV launch in order to "maximize [Take-Two] stockholder value." As expected, the game shattered sales records, selling more than 8.5 million units worldwide during the 32 days after its April 29 launch.

However, GTA IV's NASDAQ boost to Take-Two was only temporary, and the publisher's share price has steadily slipped after hitting a 52-week high of $27.31 on June 5. As of press time, Take-Two's stock was at $24.20, $1.54 per share below EA's current offer--although still far above the $17.36 price it held on the last trading day before the offer was made public.

source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6196110.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1

“As a million-plus seller Overlord is now a significant brand in the ever-growing Codemasters portfolio,” says Barry Jafrato, Senior Vice President of Brand, Codemasters. “With specific titles published across major formats and download content available, Overlord has established a huge cult following and won widespread critical acclaim. We’re delighted to have the despot back for this three-game, five-format product line. With Triumph’s hugely impressive vision for Overlord II and bespoke titles for Wii and Nintendo DS, Overlord is set to dominate in 2009.”

“Epic battles, all new Minion play mechanics, a stunningly detailed new visuals and a fresh theme – Overlord II’s really packing a punch,” says Lennart Sas, director and Overlord lead at Triumph Studios. “We’re really excited about shifting the world to a new era where a Roman-inspired Empire rises as the arch-enemy of the Overlord, which leads to an epic clash between the regimented forces of a sprawling state and the faster, harder, more manic minion horde. It’s also great to see the series reaching new formats. The creativity being packed into the design for Overlord Dark Legend on Wii and Overlord Minions on NDS make great use of the platforms’ unique features and are perfect extensions to the Overlord series.”

link: http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=54753

link: http://kotaku.com/5036801/lucasarts-tot ... motionplus

Key Points:

- Tales of Vesperia pushed Xbox 360 sales past PS3 sales in Japan this week. The game itself sold over 110,000 units.

- Wii, PS3, and PS2 had very quiet weeks, with no software topping 30,000 units.

- Fire Emblem DS continued the drive in Japan to push DS back to parity with PSP.

Full charts: http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=1645

The New Hero -50g
Defeat your first great opponent.

The Whippersnapper -25g
Collect 5 gold pieces during the Hero's childhood

The Pooch Pamperer -5g
Play fetch with your dog.

The Archaeologist -5g
Dig up something your dog has discovered

The Dog trainer -5g
teach your dog a trick.

The persuader -5g
Convince a villager to give you a present

The Show-off -5g
Impress a villager with a perfect expression

The Romantic -10g
take a villager on a perfect date.You will need the right location and expression.

The spouse -10g
Marry a villager.

The Parent -10g
have a child.

The hunter -5g
Kill a sweet,innocent,fluffy bunny rabbit(remember,safety's off!)

The Gargoyle -25g
Find the gargoyles Legendary Treasure.

The Chicken kicker -5g
kick a chicken a respectable distance. As if kicking chickens was remotely respectable.

The Cliff Diver -5g
Cliff dive 500 feet.

The Workhorse -10g
Get a high enough chain while performing a job.

The Hero of Many names -5g
Change your heros title

The Teaser -5g
Get bandits to respond to expressions with fear,anger,mirth,and confusion. During combat!

The property magnate -10g
Sell a property for twice the price you paid for it.

The Rogue -5g
something undetected from a building while there are people nearby.

The Illustrated hero -5g
Tattoo every part of your hero's body.

The Executioner -10g
Sacrifice 10 people in the Temple of Shadows.

The Gambler -10g
Win 500 gold at a pub game in one sitting, having tried each game type at least once.

The Bigamist -10g
get married a second time, whilst still married to your first spouse.

The Swinger -5g
Take part in a orgy, responsibly

The Pied Piper -10g
Start a party where at least 5 villagers are dancing.

The Party Animal -10g
Get 15 villagers drunk in under three minutes

The menace to Society -5g
Commit an act of public indecency

The Black Knight -10g
Shoot the weapons from a hollow man's hands, blow off his head and then kill him for good!

The Duelist -10g
String together a full-speed chain attack

The highwayman -10g
hit 3 enemies with one shot.

The Archmage -10g
Kill 5 human enemies with one spell.

The Ruler of Albion -100g
Increase the value of your real estate holdings to over 2.5 million gold!

The Hoarder -25g
Collect every silver key.

The Goth -5g
Dye your hair black, wear an outfit made entirely out of black clothes, and wear some black makeup.

The Completionist -50g
Get all expressions, pet tricks, titles and abilities.

The Extremist -15g
Reach 100% purity or corruption.

The celebrity -50g
Reach 50,000 Renown.

The Artisan -10g
Succeed at one job to Level 5

The Dollcatcher -10g
Collect all the hero dolls.

The Muse -5g
Inspire the Bard to compose songs celebrating your great deeds.

The Companions -10g
Perform a perfect co-op expression.

The blood brother -10g
get a co-op combat bonus.

The Philanthropist -10g
Send a gift to an xbox live friend.

The Hero of strength -100g
Complete the Hero of Strength

The hero of Will -100g
Complete the Hero Of will.

The hero of Skill -100g
Complete the hero of Skill

The Sacrifice -25g
Choose "The needs of the many"

The Family -25g
Choose "The needs of the few"

The Egomaniac -25g
Choose "The needs of the one"

link: http://www.xbox360achievements.org/foru ... hp?t=85568

Additional pre-order swag includes a book of LBP-themed stickers and a faux burlap LittleBigPouch -- double points to Sony and Media Molecule for such a groan-inducing name.

Sony urges fans to stay tuned for further updates revealing which retailers will offer which pre-order bonuses. Hopefully the planned system makes it possible to acquire all of the bonus characters without shelling out the ducats for two copies of a game that, as of E3, took the top spot on my "Most Wanted" list.

link: http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/08/kratos-nariko-a.html

$39.99 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
(Stand Alone Version)
For all of the people who want SOCOM: Confrontation on a disc. Does not include the headset or the Behind the Scenes videos.

$39.99 SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
(PSN)
SOCOM Confrontation downloadable from the PSN without ever leaving you couch. Does not include the headset or the Behind the Scenes videos.

Details for the rest of the world will be announced by the regional Sony Computer Entertainment offices, but our goal is to have a simultaneous world wide release.

Link: http://socom.us.playstation.com/default.aspx

Other episode highlights:

An Interview with the Watchmen cast and Zack Snyder about the Watchmen videogame, with hints at the possibility of a next generation 300 title

Daniel Kayser speaks with Jim Lee about his role in SOE's DC Universe Online and the Gears of War comic book

Interviews with Mark Wahlberg, Ludacris and Mila Kunis about the highly anticipated Max Payne movie and the upcoming videogame?

Co-host Amanda MacKay talks to Richard Taylor, director of WETA Workshop about his Halo Toy designs and she checks out the coolest toys and collectables at Comic-Con

Exclusive first-ever footage of Universal Studio's video game Wanted, and an interview with Pete Wanat regarding his involvement in the game

link: http://gameplasma.com/index.php?do=viewarticle&id=1024