Here’s the preview of the song with game footage:

Steve Schnur, the wordwide executive for EA commented on the news:

“I’ve personally known the band since 1999, and they have always been an intensely creative group who understand the power of videogames and have wanted to explore and expand the medium’s possibilities. ‘The Catalyst’ is one of the most anticipated tracks of the year, and the combination of this new song and Joe Hahn’s distinctive visual dynamic re-sets the bar in our commitment to bringing together landmark EA games with artists whose talents go far beyond music.”

EA has been campaiging Medal Of Honor heavily the past few months with beta testing and news of of exclusive weapons for pre ordered copies.

Medal Of Honor comes out Oct 12, 2010.

To me, the early Silent Hill games has always been more of a psychological thriller, rather than an action game. But, the recent releases are being catered towards the action junkies. This is what happened to Resident Evil. Although, I prefer the action-packed versions of Resident Evil, I can’t say I feel the same for Silent Hill. This game is really meant to be played as a puzzle game, as it plays with your head. I always wondering if the character I’m playing is actually in a possessed town, or  just plain delusional?

Here’s IGN’s trailer for the 8th installment:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The graphics doesn’t look very impressive, but what’s more important is the gameplay. What do you think? Will this be a puzzle, or an action game?

Booths featured include: Nintendo, SquareEnix, Privateer Press, Viz, Disney and many more.

Tron Bike

Transformers – Bumble Bee

Bobba Fett

Neytiri of Avatar

Capcom unveiled a major title today: Street Fighter Vs. Tekken.   The 3d world of Tekken will be ported to the 2d universe of Street Fighter.  Gameplay is from shoryuken.com:

Even though the players can be “tagged” similar to other Capcom Versus titles, the gameplay doesn’t seem as exaggerated as previous titles.  Namco is also producing their own Versus game called “Tekken vs. Street Fighter” and it won’t have projectiles like the fireballs or sonic booms.  It should be interesting seeing the Capcom characters without most of their powers! The games will be available for 360 and PS3

Despite Boba Fett having less than 10 minutes of screen time in the Star Wars movies, everyone’s favorite bounty hunter will make an appearance in the Force Unleashed sequel.  Haden Blackman, the writer for both the original and sequel said:

“We give him what I think is a satisfying character arc. He starts in one place emotionally and physically, and ends up in a different place.”

Blackman said they’re just not adding him just for the sake of making the game cooler.  He said Fett will have a “small but pivotal role.”

Here’s the video (with a 30 second commercial first, so please be patient):

The sequel will follow the same character from the first game, Starkiller.  Huh, what?  If you’ve played the first game you’ll know this doesn’t make sense but I won’t spoil it for the readers that haven’t played it.

I’m guessing Starkiller will fight Fett as one of the level’s boss.  Starkiller beats Fett but not before he captures some of his friends.  I know Boba Fett won’t go down like a chump again!

Also, check out IGN’s gameplay demo from E3-2010.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rickson Gracie

Bas Rutten

Randy Couture – This place looks a little like Randy’s actual gym in Vegas.

I have no idea who this guy is.

Thailand

Who’s the meathead?

Nice takedown.

No Fedor training center in Russia? Boo!

According to superannuation.com, Warner Brothers have registered 15 domains relating to the Batman: Arkham Asylum sequel.  While no official title has been announced, here are the  domains listed in the order which will make the best title for Batman: Arkham Asylum sequel:

15. CloseArkhamCity.com
More than anything this domain will be used for viral marketing.  WB is famous for viral campaigns for such blockbusters as the Dark Knight and Inception.  Maybe they’ll use a similar campaign for the sequel.

14. ArkhamCity.com
This won’t be the title for sure because Batman’s city is Gotham.  In the comics, only the Asylum was named Arkham, nothing else.

13. StopMayorSharp.com
The unlikeable Sharp was in the original game and he’ll probably play a crucial role in the sequel.  Probably working with the rogues gallery for political gains.

12. CityOfArkham.com
Same as #14.

11. BatmanArkhamCity.com
Maybe they will change the comic mythology because WB registered 3 domains with “ArkhamCity” in it.  But I see it more as WB playing around with the  “Arkham” brand.

10. PeopleForGotham.com
Another domain that can be used for viral campaign.  There’s no way this will be used as the title for the sequel.  The name actually reminds me of the Harvey Dent campaign for Dark Knight where WB pretended that he was actually campaigning as a District Attorney.

Looks like a real campaign poster

9. WheresBruceWayne.com
This gives us a clue that maybe the developers will put the R.I.P. storyline into the game.  Again, another domain good for viral marketing.  Maybe they’ll also include the travels of Batman through the history timeline that followed R.I.P.  How awesome would it be playing Batman as a pirate?

Pirate Batman drawn by Joe Kubert

8. BatmanNewArkham.com
Who wants to play a game callend New Arkham?  Everyone still remembers the Arkham Asylum from the original game so there’s no need for a new one.

7. WaringGothamCity.com
This tells the gamers that Gotham is in trouble when they read the title.  But once they talk about “Waring” to their friends, it’ll sound like “Wearing” and hilarity will ensue.  Good concept, bad execution.

6. BatmanGrandDelusion.com
Grand Delusion reminds me of some kind of magician but this has a good chance of being used, especially if Riddler and Scarecrow are the main villains.  I doubt they’ll be part of the main storyline so this one will be scraped.

5. BatmanBrokenGround.com
Broken Ground sounds decent but it doesn’t describe anything related to Batman.  Well if you think hard enough, it does a little bit because Bane BROKE Batman’s back in the comics but that’s pushing it.

Bane breaks Batman's back in Batman #497

4. BatmanSiegeOfGotham.com
“Siege” sounds more like a movie starring Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington so they probably won’t go with this title.  It’s decent, just not too catchy.

3. BatmanRiseOfArkham.com
I like this title because “Arkham” could represent all the villains from the original game.  Joker has been confirmed for the sequel and I’m sure other villains from the first game will make an appearance so this title is pretty good.

Joker is voiced by Mark Hamill aka Luke Skywalker

2. BatmanStateOfVillainy.com
Oh this one sounds good too.  Batman has memorable villains and this could entice consumers to buy the sequel when they think of Ra’s Al Ghul, Joker, Bane and maybe even Hush.  But then again, maybe people will think of “State Of Empire” by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.

Hush was created by Jim Lee

1. BatmanAshesOfGotham.com
This title makes the most sense.  It sounds epic because Gotham is in chaos and the game is moving to a bigger setting: from an asylum to a whole city.  We all know sequels like to top their original counterpart.  We also know that the developers have confirmed it will be set in Gotham City, so this is my number one choice.

Gotham City Rooftop from MK vs DCU

So there you have it folks, that’s my thoughts on the potential titles for Batman: Arkham Asylum sequel.  Which one is your favorite?

Millions of players are hooked to Call Of Duty’s online play and publisher, Activision, wants to take advantage of it.  It seems that releasing 2 expansion packs for $15 isn’t enough for Activision.  The publisher wants to make more money, in a recent interview with IGN, CEO Bobby Kotick said:

“We’ve heard that 60 per cent of [Microsoft's] subscribers are principally on Live because of Call of Duty.  We don’t really participate financially in that income stream. We would really like to be able to provide much more value to those millions of players playing on Live, but it’s not our network”

How will Activision provide more value to the players?  If they offer extra weapons and maps that’s fine, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to pay a subscription fee to play a certain game online.  There’s other games out there that doesn’t charge and they’ll get my business.

One of the major reason they want to earn new income is because of the slow sales in video games.  One theory for the decline can be traced back to games like Call Of Duty and Halo, where players just keep playing it online and don’t feel the need to buy other games.  Another reason for the lower sales are used video game stores like Gamestop.  Once a used game is sold, the publisher doesn’t get a percentage of the sale.  Some companies are trying to stop this practice by having a unique license key for each copy of the game.  This strategy makes sense because stores are making money off their games and publishers are actually losing sales from consumers buying used games.  So far, publishers only make money if the game is sold brand new.

Michael Pachtner, a video game analyst, predicts that Activision will start charging for online play when Call Of Duty: Black Ops comes out:

“We think that it is incumbent upon Activision, with the most popular multiplayer game, to take the first step to address monetization of multiplayer.  It is too early to tell whether that will be a monthly subscription, tournament entry fees, microtransaction fees, or a combination of all three, but we expect to see the company take some action by year-end, when Call of Duty Black Ops launches.”

Look, MW 2 has already sold 20 million copies in the world and the majority of that sales come from the multiplayer experience.  If Activision starts charging for online play, not only will they get bad publicity but sales will also drop.

Come fall maybe I’ll be playing Medal Of Honor instead of Call Of Duty.  It’s up to Activision if they want to be greedy or not.

At first, I thought this was another Batman game. I got excited, but I was wrong.

From IGN:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It doesn’t show much, except that you are introduced to the Asylum. The brief News flash suggests that inmates were tortured inside. The game looks interesting, and I like the Art direction, but the story just reminds me of Silent Hill. I’m hoping for something more original, I guess we’ll wait and see!

Pixar writer/director Brad Bird (Incredibles) and writer Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3) was hired by Disney to rewrite the script for Tron: Legacy.  It turned out that the Pixar crew including John Lassetter saw a rough cut of the movie in January since Disney wanted to reshoot some scenes.  According to EW, Disney wasn’t too confident with the film and hired Bird and Arndt  to focus on “character, emotion and theme.”

I’m guessing Tron: Legacy was probably visually appealing but have no emotional weight.  Pixar is known to make grown men cry from their movies so Disney did the right thing by hiring the two Pixar employees.  Bird was in talks to direct MI: 4, so he knows his action scenes, as well as the emotional side of the characters as seen in Ratatouille.  Disney has invested a lot of time and money into Tron: Legacy and they’re hoping they can make a franchise out of it.

Tron: Legacy will be released on December 17, 2010

EA games just announced that if you pre-order Medal Of Honor, you will get the limited edition version without extra charge.  The limited edition will have instant access to the TOZ-194 and 870MC2 shotguns, while others must rank up to secure these weapon unlock.  It will also grant players exclusive access to the MP7, a unique weapon utilized by Tier 1 Operators in the field. You can pre-order the game at your local video game retailers.

Below is the preview for the limited edition:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Having seen that new video, the multiplayer actually looks fun and could give Call Of Duty a run for its money.  Medal Of Honor will be released on October 12, 2010 for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Remember how awesome GOW was when it first came out? The single-player campaign was fun, but most of my gripping memories came from the 4-on-4 competition. The concept is simple, the first team to take out the opposing players wins.

From IGN, here’s the trailer for GOW3:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The heart of GOW was the need for teamwork to win. I remember hiding behind a wall, while a teammate bates an opponent. Once the opponent chases, he is met with a chainsaw to the face. Can’t wait for the 3rd one!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first one was very eerie, an empty spaceship filled with weird-looking creatures. Here comes part 2, let’s hope that it can live up to the first one.

According to IGN,  the lawsuit between publisher Activision and Infinity Ward Employees Group (IWEG) will go to court on  May 23, 2011.  The lawsuit stems from IWEG claiming that Activision hasn’t paid the full royalty for Modern Warfare 2.  IWEG claims Activision used royalty fees as a leverage so Infinity Ward would work on Modern Warfare 3.

Overall, there are 38 employees in the lawsuit.  Infinity Ward’s CEO Jason West and PresidentVince Zampella also has a separate lawsuit against Activision, stating they haven’t been paid royalties.  The trial is scheduled to start on the same date as the other lawsuit.

There’s always two sides to a story so I can’t make a judgment on the lawsuit alone.  I’m sure the truth will come next May.  I just wish they didn’t have this conflict so I can play Modern Warfare 3 sooner than later.