In the picture, that's Kotaku's Mike "Michael" McWhertor, some security guy who wouldn't let us in and The New York Times' Seth Schiesel. Just remember fellas, no photography or sketching.

It's time for our favorite conference party game: Justify Your Game. This time around we go 15 seconds with Hironobu Takeshita, the producer of Mega Man 9.

You should check out Dogniaux's site for a loads more, as the French naming is half the charm.

Wii recherche [design matin, via 4CR]

Sony was working their way through a dry run of the upcoming Playstation press conference when someone noticed that what they were saying and doing was showing up on an unnamed site.

"Everything we were saying was getting posted within 15 minutes on the Internet," Tretton said.

So Sony called in security to do a search of the place.

"They found some guy on the third floor balcony laying down taking notes and calling it in to a service," he said.

Sony declined to name the person or the site they are affiliated with. We've contacted the ESA to see if anyone had their E3 press credentials revoked but had not heard back from the organization as of press time.

Into the Pixel is a juried art exhibition that selects sixteen works of video game art to be displayed both digitally and in actual exhibits, like the one currently at E3. The exhibit is an opportunity for video and computer game artists to showcase their work and receive critical feedback from both digital and fine art experts; it also showcases the actual visual art of games in creative and unique ways. The pieces range from playful to serious, and utilize a variety of visual styles to convey their subjects. Now in its fifth year, the selected entries are usually quite impressive, and this year was no exception.

The exhibition hall was quiet compared to the chaos both above and below it — a few people wandered through, but it was otherwise silent. The exhibition included some of the winners from the 2007 competition (including my personal favorite, "Defeated Dragon" by Daniel Dociu (Guild Wars)), and it was nice to see the art in large format. Four of the sixteen entries were takes on Guild Wars (I was particularly fond of the one entitled "Four Knights" by Richard Anderson); also covered were games like flOw, Fallout 3, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and untitled DS game (seen at the top; "Puzzle World Twilight" by Jay Epperson).

The exhibition will be headed to E for All in October, but you can all see the winning entries over at the Into the Pixel website, which also includes archives of art and commentary from previous years. A few selections from the silent gallery hall are below.

Somehow I don't think that's their natural hair color.

It was a fantastic crowd, probably twice that of the E3 2006 party at the same location, full of friendly (and bashful) Kotaku regulars alongside compatriots at MTV, G4, Giant Bomb and elsewhere. Sure it got a little ugly at times — and we don't mean photogenic commenter Shindokie! — and Crecente committed a party foul by playing video games, but these photos, courtesy of Vlad and Jon from Videogame Visionary, show that folks aren't afraid of a good time.

Thanks a million to everyone who came out to rub elbows, snap shots and drink on our dime.

Real-life Solid Snake discovered [Gameplayer, via Kotaku AU]

Among the guests will be weekend warriors Maggie Greene, plus yours truly (in the I Heart Hot Moms shirt from the GTA:DUI video). Also appearing are Brian Crecente, Brian Ashcraft and Mike McWhertor. You'll also be able to catch up with Leigh Alexander and Mike "Mountain Man" Fahey, plus Intern Adam Barenblat, who interrupted me amidst a phone call with a ladyfriend last night and now must buy me a beer. (What, that cost me $5.99 a minute. Damn right I'm making the intern pay.)

The thing kicks off at 8 p.m., when the place opens, and we will, for a time, have an open bar. The place isn't gigantic, and in Tokyo we managed to burst Mother at the seams, so you may want to try and get there on the nose.

If you plan on making it, make sure to obtain a wristband from one of us once you arrive for the free drinks. The party is 21 and older only, unfortunately. Sorry.

Golden Gopher

Over at Gamers With Jobs, Julian Murdoch looks at the craft of writing about games — and how being a gaming journalist has improved his relationship with games. While I've found writing about games has significantly cut into my time I can spend playing games — and there's a difference between playing for pleasure and playing for pay — I'll agree with many of Murdoch's thoughts in regards to going into situations with a new perspective, one that is frequently quite positive:

This self-conscious focus on both the game and the gamer is an unadulterated good. Playing games now brings a joy of personal intellectual exploration, in addition to the joys of escapism, mastery and conquest. There is no doubt in my mind that my enjoyment of BioShock was substantially magnified because I went into the game thinking, not just passively waiting to experience. How it was made? Who made it? Where the threads were that I could pull on, and discover how much fabric was really there?

Writing about games has taken me from the role of dreamer into the world of the lucid dreamer. Where once I woke from moments of seeming glory, grasping at the fading fragrance of what was right there just a moment ago, now I emerge from a game startled and awake, reaching for the pad of paper, struggling to synthesize the experience in a new form – a form hardened by an edge of language.

I have the problem that I find that intellectual, questioning part of me off — I approach all media with a certain critical eye, and it's hard to ever just sit and enjoy something just for what it is. Still, being able to approach games with a certain lucidity is a good thing, as are the overlaps between my 'academic' life and my 'gaming' life. My relationship with games has certainly changed since I started writing about them, but it's not always doom and gloom — making a living (or partial living) off of something doesn't have to kill the joy of it.

Pinning Butterflies [Gamers With Jobs via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

I wanted to make a game about how regret feels, but not necessarily about how to overcome regret. We both agreed that we should avoid the Deepak Chopra self-help angle.

My initial design ideas used 2-D platform mechanics as a foundation. Imagine making a mistake like missing a jump, but not dying from that mistake. Instead, imagine that mistake coming back to haunt you, forcing you to replay that jump again in the future. Imagine a level that becomes longer and longer as the regrettable past portions of the level are injected ahead of you - a future populated by past mistakes that you must replay.

Using familiar mechanics as a foundation can work, but I'm more interested in devising new mechanics that are the best possible fit for the topic at hand. I cast the net a bit wider and came up with the design that involves feeding animals. Oh, and killing them, too.

Worth a look this weekend if you've got the time — I didn't have much time to play around with it, maybe after I'm safely ensconced in LA for our E3 get together. Here's hoping traffic doesn't suck.

Game Design Sketchbook: Regret [The Escapist]

There's a more or less constant trickle of mainstream articles discussing people 'finding love in all the wrong places' — but Tom Francis has a hilarious look at his attempts to play the dating game in MMOs. He tracks his progress in EVE Online, WoW and City of Heroes. The CoH section is my personal favorite, featuring Francis' trenchcoated character, 'Manley Power,' whose bio page read "Power's two favourite things are commitment and changing himself.":

Although some of the female gamers I know only play sexy characters, all of them object to luridly over-sexualised body shapes. This did not seem like the sort of physiology a real woman would choose.

Still, I invited her to do a mission with me. She accepted and suggested I take the lead. Manley Power approved. I didn't want to spring the obvious question too soon, as it'd be a shame to creep her out if my intuition was wrong. But after skewering most of the goons in the warehouse together, an easy way to broach it occurred: "So, from the sheer size of your character's breasts, I'm guessing you're male in real life?" At exactly the same time, a speech bubble appeared over her own head: "lets go out."

Wait, what? Is Manley Power that attractive that she'd instantly ask his player out? Or was she referring to some sort of cyber-relationship? God, maybe she was male and still wanted to hook up in-game. I should have known when I found myself warming to my creation: I'd made him too pretty. I'd created a manly monster. Hang on, she probably means the warehouse. We've finished, we can leave now. "Yeah, im male lol" Correction, he probably means the warehouse.

It's a clever and funny look at the intricacies of introductions in MMOs - and a hell of a lot more fun to read than an article on some guy who left his real-life wife for a Second Life vixen.

The Dating Game [ComputerAndVideoGames.com via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

I mentioned the Games, Learning & Society Conference in Madison, Wisconsin back when a call for papers was put out. Michael Abbott of the Brainy Gamer has some interesting notes on the conference, which was held this past Thursday and Friday. The wrap up of the keynote speech, delivered by James Gee of Arizona State University, is an interesting meditation on the role of games (and not just 'edutainment') in education:

Gee sees broad implications for students in this regard. “Give students smart tools and let them use them and modify them to suit their purposes.” Such self-motivated learning moves students away from merely consuming knowledge and encourages them to produce knowledge and apply it in meaningful ways. Furthermore, Gee observed, when communities form around these activities, they are linked by a common endeavor, rather than by race, class, gender, or disability.

Gee clearly situates video games within an overall theory of learning and literacy with genuine power to transform students and equip them to address complex problems. If passion communities could be formed to solve real-world problems like hunger and environmental degradation, Gee believes we would be much better equipped to face these issues head-on. The challenge, according to Gee, isn't just about teaching our kids; it's about ensuring they have a viable world to live in.

Abbott's discussion of the environment of the conference — sounding quite different from your typical academic/professional gathering — is also worth a read.

GLS - Beyond Games and the Future of Learning [The Brainy Gamer]

Oh, sure, go ahead and laugh if you must. But after digesting that YouTube user and Halo uberfan "fartbuttface" (<— lol) is idling away his time crafting Spartan armor, weapons and accessories, instead of making your little petty jabs and pokes, think of this: this kid is probably going to invent a cardboard car that runs on cardboard, save the earth, become a billionaire and score unfathomable amounts of pussy. Dude's that good with his hands. Seriously, did you see the Halo 3 machine gun turret? My brain melted at that point.

via Bungie

Among the guests will be Kotaku's own Maggie Greene and Owen Good as well as such surely editor types as Brian Ashcraft and Mike McWhertor. You'll also be able to catch up with Leigh Alexander and Mike "Mountain Man" Fahey. I'll be around as well, probably demanding things of Intern Adam, like having him fetch me sammiches.

The thing kicks off at 8 p.m., when the place opens, and we will, for a time, have an open bar. The place isn't gigantic, and in Tokyo we managed to burst Mother at the seams, so you may want to try and get there on the nose.

Give a shout out in comments if you plan on making it and make sure to obtain a wristband from one of us once you arrive for the free drinks. Oh, 21 and older only, unfortunately. Sorry.

Golden Gopher

Tickets go on sale July 25th at Fandango.com at a price of $10 per day, which includes popcorn, a large soda, and a special Fallout 3 giveaway. Considering I would sell any one of you for parts for a chance to see Wizards on the big screen, the price seems pretty fair. Hit the jump for more details!

Bethesda Softworks®, The American Cinematheque, and Geek Monthly Sponsor ‘A Post-Apocalyptic Film Festival Presented by Fallout® 3’

Fallout® 3 Film Festival to Take Place at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, California on August 22 and 23, 2008

July 11, 2008 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that it has partnered with the American Cinematheque and GEEK Monthly magazine to sponsor ‘A Post-Apocalyptic Film Festival Presented by Fallout® 3’ at Santa Monica’s Aero Theatre this August.

Fallout 3, the highly-anticipated video game from Bethesda Softworks, takes place in a post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. where every minute is a fight for survival in the formidable wasteland and serves as the festival’s inspiration. The festival will feature six definitive post-apocalyptic movies that depict life or events that occur after a global catastrophe.

‘A Post-Apocalyptic Film Festival Presented by Fallout 3’ kicks off at 7:00pm on Friday, August 22nd with ‘Wizards’ (Directed by Ralph Bakshi) followed by ‘Damnation Alley’ (Directed by Jack Smight) and ‘A Boy and His Dog’ (Directed by L.Q. Jones). The festival resumes at 7:00pm on August 23rd with ‘The Last Man on Earth’ (Directed by Ubaldo Ragona), ‘The Omega Man’ (Directed by Boris Sagal) and ‘Twelve Monkeys’ (Directed by Terry Gilliam).

“We are very excited to sponsor this film festival with the American Cinematheque and GEEK Monthly magazine as this event brings together fans of film and video games like never before,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “This is an exciting time for us and this film festival gives us a fun platform to give people further insight into Fallout 3.”

"Co-sponsoring this film festival just made perfect sense for us here at GEEK Monthly magazine,” said Michael Eisenberg, group publisher at Fusion Publishing. “The showing of post-apocalyptic films that have captivated movie goers’ imaginations over the last 40 years and showcasing the definitive post-apocalyptic video game will make for a truly enjoyable festival for fans of the genre.”

Tickets will be available on July 25, 2008 and can be purchased from Fandango.com. The general admission price of $10.00 includes three movies on the bill for that day as well as a complimentary bag of popcorn, a large soda and a special Fallout 3 giveaway. Senior and student tickets are available for $8.00 per day and American Cinematheque members can purchase daily tickets for $7.00.

For more information on ‘A Post-Apocalyptic Film Festival Presented by Fallout® 3’, the movies being shown during the festival or the Aero Theatre, please visit http://www.americancinematheque.com/.

Currently under development by the creators of award winning The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, the 2006 Game of the Year – Fallout 3 is one of the most anticipated games of 2008 and is slated for release this Fall on Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Games for Windows, and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

Fallout® 3 has not yet been rated by the ESRB. For more information on Fallout 3, visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

Hit the jump for the cover. The distasteful sweat might be NSFW.

And below, the Japanese Wii Fit box art.

GekiFit [NSFW via Hatimaki]

Welcome to Veg City! [Official Site via Marblehead Blog via GamePolitics]

BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk began cultivating a fan community around Baldur's Gate on newsgroups and in chat rooms back in 1996, and its own forums launched in 2001 alongside Neverwinter Nights, which is when it began collecting registrations.

On the heels of Mass Effect, and with Dragon Age up ahead (plus the mysterious "unnanounced MMO"), Bioware said its community usership is at an all-time high.

More users, apparently, have united for social interaction around the work of a single studio than use social networking sites like Friendster and Xanga. EA recently acquired a social network of its own — makes you think, perhaps, about where they might be going with it.

Full announcement follows the jump.

BioWare’s Community Tops 4 Million Members

BioWare Fan Site Exceeds Many Social Networking Communities

EDMONTON, Alberta—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Leading video game developer BioWare®, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), today announced that its registered fan community is now over four million user accounts strong and still growing actively. With an average of 38,000 new accounts being created every month, the fan community is thriving with active, vocal members. While sites such as Friendster and Xanga host an audience of 1MM and 2MM respectively1, the BioWare community brings together 4MM2 people to chat, exchange ideas, discuss their favorite games, provide critical feedback to the BioWare development teams and more. BioWare continues to support and nurture its enthusiastic fan base through open communication with BioWare’s development team, and by providing exclusive content to registered community members.

Established in 1996 by co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, BioWare began promoting the idea of creating and managing a community behind Baldur’s Gate™ on 3rd party newsgroups and chat rooms. Then in 2001, BioWare launched its own forums with the release of Neverwinter Nights™ and began formally collecting community registrations. By 2003, BioWare hit the 1 million user account mark and it has continued to support the community through meaningful communication, features and content. With the release of Mass Effect™ for the PC and Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system, and the highly anticipated upcoming release of Dragon Age™, an epic role-playing game in which BioWare returns to its roots to deliver a compelling Dark Heroic fantasy epic, as well as other exciting projects on the horizon such as an as-yet unannounced MMO from BioWare Austin, BioWare’s community usership has risen to over four million registered members.

The BioWare mission is to deliver the best narrative-driven, emotionally compelling games in the world and the studio family has been recognized for this achievement in award-winning games such as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Jade Empire™ and Mass Effect. With some of its fans now over a decade of community membership, the BioWare engaged community has been an integral part in achieving that goal.

“It’s great to be able to talk directly with our fans – this is a cornerstone of BioWare’s success, past, present and future,” said Ray Muzyka, BioWare CEO and co-founder, and EA General Manager and Vice President. “We are proud to have created such a comfortable environment for BioWare’s millions of fans from all over the world - and we truly value their feedback.”

For more information, visit www.bioware.com/4million. To become a BioWare community member, please visit http://forums.bioware.com.

1 As according to Nielsen Netviews as of May 2008.

2 According to internal EA tracking as of June 2008.

About BioWare

BioWare develops computer, console, handheld and online video games focused on rich stories and memorable characters. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world's best-selling titles including the award-winning Baldur's Gate™ and Neverwinter Nights™ series, and Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™. Original BioWare-created IPs include Jade Empire™ and the 2007 Game of the Year, Mass Effect. With studios in Edmonton, Canada, and Austin, Texas, BioWare is hard at work on the epic fantasy RPG, Dragon Age and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood for the Nintendo DS™, as well as several unannounced projects including a massively multiplayer online game. In 2008, BioWare was acquired by the world’s leading electronic entertainment publisher, Electronic Arts. For more information on BioWare, visit www.bioware.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS Freestyle™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

BioWare, Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Jade Empire are trademarks or registered trademarks owned by EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd. in the U.S. and/or other countries. EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle and POGO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Nintendo DS is a trademark of Nintendo. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The statue is crafted entirely in transparent resin, with over 25 LED lights incorporated to give it the unhealthy Phazon glow, and the who thing is mounted on a mirror base that ties the whole effect together. Standing at 11 inches tall, Phazon Suit Samus is very pretty, but also pretty rare at only 1,500 pieces worldwide, and pretty expensive at $224.99. If you've got the funds and are so inclined, hit up the order page immediately to make sure you get yours when they are released in early 2009. Hit the jump for two more pictures of this spectacular piece.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Metroid Prime Phazon Suit Next in First 4 Figures Metroid Line!

With the unique color scheme of black helmet and red visor, the Phazon Suit is awarded after defeating the Omega Pirate. Both Samus’ suit and gun are infected with pure Phazon. This gives the Phazon Suit an ability to protect Samus from the deadly effects of the deadly blue substance and shoot the Phazon Beam when standing in pools of Phazon. Just when Metroid Prime is defeated, the Phazon Suit is stolen and used to create one of Samus’ greatest enemies, Dark Samus!

First 4 Figures is extremely proud to present the ultimate version of the Samus Aran's Phazon Suit. First 4 Figures has used the official game files in order to create an extremely accurate recreation of the Phazon suit, with pose inspiration taken from official Metroid artwork.

Looks incredibly on its own and really completes a display when put together with the Varia suit and Gravity suit statues.

We completely reengineered the original Varia suit model to make the Phazon suit by casting it entirely in transparent resin, adding over 25 LED lights through the suit and finished it off by adding a mirror base which really shows off the lights. When the lights are turned off, an internal IC chip allows for the lights to fade out slowly. The statue is hand finished and hand painted with metallic paints to give an authentic representation of the suits. Comes packed in a foam interior full colored box with a card of authenticity.

The Phazon Suit is highly limited at just 1500 pieces worldwide.

Height: 11 inches across base

SRP: $224.99

I often have friends ask me to place a call to some unsuspecting victim and get medieval on their asses in the Duke voice. I once called a radio morning show on the east coast and harassed the DJ's in Duke's voice...they had recorded the call and ended up using parts of the call over and over again on station promos!

And hey, Jon St. John will even record stuff just for you. Well, if you pay him money. For fifty bucks, he'll happily record a message up to 30 seconds in any audio format. And he has "no issues with profanity". That's good.

An Interview with Duke Nukem - Balls of Steel [ZERGWatch via VGB] [Pic]

ooio [via Gizmodo]

Hit the jump for the clip. It's NSFW and there is man ass. You've been warned.

The most frightening Wii Fit Hula Hoop video ever [Balance Board Blog]

Though Schramm says, tongue planted firmly in cheek, that our candidates ought to start with "the cake is a lie" jokes and avoid console war dramas by bemoaning the Dreamcast's lost shot, he points out that leveraging the forum of today's online platforms is a sure bet:

If John McCain appeared in a Big Team Battle ranked match, tagged a flag carrier with a melee kill and told his opponent to "get out my house, fool," he could pretty much count on both the Covenant and Spartan votes (the parasitic alien Flood haven't been able to vote yet, though they are reportedly gnawing on the brainstems of certain Congressional heavyweights until they get the majority they need for an Amendment).

This sort of humor suggests that we gamers are not politically active, when that's an absolute fallacy. Why, everyone knows that I myself spearheaded a successful campaign for Big Boss' presidential candidacy. But for those of you lingering behind the curve, Schramm knows that a major sequel release is the best way to get gamers' attention:

All that's required is to mock up a few extremely high resolution screenshots (again, big guns and scantily-clad women will serve you well here), send them around to the major game sites, and mark them something like "Goldeneye 64 Sequel — Top Secret!" Then, you simply create a countdown on a website counting down to "Election Day" (use some weird phrasing like "110408" — gamers enjoy solving easy puzzles), and then, as a masterstroke, install polling places at all videogame stores.

Optionally, you can also offer preorders for "Election Day" — that way, Gamestop employees won't shut up about it until then.

Guest Editorial: "Nailing the Gamer Voters" by Mike Schramm [Indecision 2008]

From Crackle: Next Time on The Jace Hall Show!

Jace Hall's next show is going to include an interview with Red Sox pitcher and MMO addict Curt Schilling along with an early look at Schilling's massively multiplayer game Copernicus. The actual show hits on Thursday. In the meantime hit the jump to listen to the catchy extended-version of the Jace Hall theme song. It has head-lopping and base capturing!

Darkstalkers Morrigan Statue [Action Figure]

Here for your approval and general discussion our the top five Kotaku commenters. I'll be posting a poll on Monday and then, after discussion with the other Kotaku writers, announcing the new Comment Czar on Tuesday.

If you're on the list and don't want to wield the mighty banhammer for some bizarre reason make sure to drop me a line and I'll cut you from the list.

EnigmaNemesis
TheIrishNinja
Spoony Bard
PapaBear434
DaiMacculate

Hit the jump to vote. And remember, we still have the final say.

Sure, having this kind of stuff sitting around your house might frighten the majority of visitors, but with the mounds of internet glory that await its creator, being shunned by your peers is a small price to pay. Bit-Tech has an extensive walk-through on the dispenser's creation, something we definitely recommend giving some eyeball time.

Team Fortress 2 Dispenser Mod [Bit-Tech]

So what's on the tracklist? Eleven games are represented, from the whimsical Tetris Piano Opus, to the moving Medal of Honor suite. Myst, Warcraft, God of War, Kingdom Hearts...hell, they've even got Advent Rising on there, which goes to show that your game doesn't have to be successful to make it on the Video Games Live CD...it just has to have music composed by Tommy Tallarico. The track that really makes the disc for me? Wendy Carlos' Tron Montage. Makes me feel like I am 10 years old wearing a cardboard Tron helmet all over again. Hit the jump for the full track listing and sketchy details about availability!

EMI CLASSICS RELEASES - VIDEO GAMES LIVE: VOLUME ONE

First Video Game Music Compilation Album to be Released Worldwide on a Major Label

Recorded and Mixed at the World Famous Abbey Road Studios in London

LONDON, UK - JULY 7, 2008 - In an exciting collaboration with Video Games Live, EMI Classics will release a CD celebrating some of the best known, most popular video game music of all time. The first worldwide campaign of its kind by EMI is linked to the Video Games Live events planned in North and South America, Europe and Asia over the coming months and aims to appeal to a broad audience of gamers, non-gamers and music lovers of all kinds. Video Games Live: Volume One showcases some of the more popular segments that currently appear in Video Games Live. The album contains several unique arrangements that were created along with the original composers exclusively for the show, and have never previously been released.

Video games are arguably today’s most popular entertainment of choice for the 21st century, and the music is central to their attraction. The EMI Classics CD, compiled by Video Games Live co-creators Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, who also conducts the recording, features the Slovak National Orchestra, The Crouch End Festival Chorus and The Video Game Pianist, Martin Leung in medleys from hit game franchises such as Halo, Warcraft, Kingdom Hearts, Tetris, Castlevania, Myst and Tron.

Video Games Live: Volume One will be released in two stages: The digital release will be downloadable in the UK from July 7th, 2008, with the option to pre-order from a week before that on iTunes and other DSP’s (Digital Service Providers) with that capability; the release of the CD and iTunes exclusive, including digital bonus tracks, will be staggered to coincide with Video Games Live events, beginning in San Diego, California on July 24th (North America) and Leipzig, Germany on August 20th (Europe and worldwide).

Music in the interactive entertainment industry has come far in the past 35 years, from beeps and electrical impulses to early digital synthesis and sampling to pre-recorded soundtracks. As the games themselves have become more sophisticated, so has the music that drives them and a generation of composers are devoting their energies to writing for the video game medium.

Video Games Live is the largest and most successful video game concert in the world having already performed around the globe to over 250,000 people. The debut performance took place on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic. Over 11,000 people attended making it the biggest video game concert in the world. Most of the game music played (Halo, Sonic, Metal Gear Solid, Warcraft, Tomb Raider, Myst, Kingdom Hearts, Tron, Medal of Honor, Advent Rising, etc.) had never been performed live. Video Games Live followed with groundbreaking first ever game concert performances in countries such as Brazil, England, New Zealand, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Scotland, Taiwan and Portugal. Video Games Live was also the very first American video game concert to perform in Asia (Korea). In 2007 they were recipients of a major industry award in Brazil for "Special Breakthrough Achievement" following their sold out performances in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Video Games Live concerts have since taken place around the world, selling out multi-thousand-seat venues within hours or days of being announced.

The live concert experience features music from the biggest games of all time. Top orchestras and choirs around the world perform along with exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussion, live action and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. Special events surround the show, including pre- and post-show festivals.

In the coming months, Video Games Live will perform more concerts throughout the world. Forthcoming dates include: Houston and Austin, TX; Louisville, KY; San Diego and San Jose, CA; Indianapolis, IN; Brookville, NY; Birmingham, AL; Kansas City, MO; Chicago, IL; Newark, NJ; Burlington, VT; Seattle, WA; Kalamazoo, MI; Sarasota, FL and Richmond, VA; Vancouver, BC; Kitchener, ON; Calgary; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Leipzig, Germany; Glasgow, Scotland; Paris, France; Lisbon, Portugal; London, UK; Taipei, Taiwan; Beijing, China. Visit www.videogameslive.com for regular updates of the performance dates.

“If Beethoven were alive today, he would probably be a video-game composer... he was always ahead of the curve. One of his goals in creating music was to control the emotions of the person listening to it. This is exactly what we as game composers are constantly trying to accomplish.” (Video Games Live co-creator Tommy Tallarico)

“A touring multimedia show that has already been seen by more than 250,000 people is playing at the world's finest concert halls — with the world's finest orchestras powering through some of the world's most popular video-game music. And it's attracting a decidedly different audience. There were more than children and teenage gamers … [there were] a lot of grandmas out there.” (NPR – National Public Radio, U.S.)

TRACKLISTING

1. Kingdom Hearts®
KINGDOM HEARTS © Disney • Developed by Square-Enix Co., Ltd. • “Kingdom” written by Utada Hikaru • Orchestrator: Kaoru Wada

The KINGDOM HEARTS® franchise is the result of a collaboration between Disney and Square-Enix. The ground-breaking fantasy action role-playing game received numerous awards and was a dominating presence upon its release in 2002. The single, Hikari (to which the instrumental version “Kingdom” was based) has sold over 1 million copies in Japan. Female songwriter Utada Hikaru’s first official album became the best-selling album of all time in Japan with over 10 million copies sold. Currently, three of her albums rank in the Top 10 all-time best-selling albums list in Japan.

2. Warcraft® Suite
Composer: Jason Hayes • Orchestrator: Benoît Grey

Created by the development team at Blizzard Entertainment®, Inc. Warcraft® is an award-winning fantasy series that is one of the fastest selling PC games ever. Blizzard's release of World of Warcraft®, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on the Warcraft series, has shattered all sales records for an online game, and is currently the biggest subscription-based online game in the world.

3. Myst® Medley
Myst® Theme composed by Robyn Miller; Gallery Theme composed by Tim Larkin (BMI) • Myst® III Main Theme and Myst® IV Main Theme composed by Jack Wall (ASCAP) • Orchestrated by Steve Zuckerman

The Myst® phenomenon catapulted the world of computer games to the forefront of consumer entertainment and broke many boundaries as the best-selling CD-ROM game. It appealed to many demographics and featured beautifully rendered environments and intricate puzzle-solving quests.

4. Medal of Honor™ (LIVE)
“Operation Market Garden” from Medal of Honor: Frontline™ published by Electronic Arts, Inc. Composed and orchestrated by Michael Giacchino • Recorded Live in Brazil, South America

Created and inspired by Steven Spielberg, the award-winning Medal of Honor series is one of the most convincing and well established wartime simulation game franchises, blending cinematic visuals with intense sound and music. Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino started in the video game industry and has since added films and television to his impressive list of credits which include TV shows Lost and Alias, motion pictures such as The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible III, Ratatouille, Speed Racer and even Space Mountain in Disneyland.

5. Civilization IV Medley
Composer: Christopher Tin (BMI) • Orchestrator: Christopher Tin • Alto solo: Nathania Reid • Tenor solo: Ron Ragin • Soprano solo: Nicole Bonsol • Choir: Stanford Talisman

Over the course of 15 years, Sid Meier’s Civilization series has come to define turn-based strategy games. Few games have managed to combine the sheer addictive depth that the Civilization series commands, and fewer have had such universal appeal. With unprecedented critical acclaim from fans and press around the world, Sid Meier’s Civilization game is recognized as one of the greatest PC game franchises of all time.

6. Tetris® Piano Opus No. 1
Tetris® is a trademark of The Tetris Company and Blue Planet Software. Tetris® theme (Music A) originally adapted and arranged from the Russian folk song “Korobeiniki” • Piano Arrangement: Martin Leung • Performed by: Martin Leung

Tetris is arguably the most beloved and biggest selling video game in the world. It was originally conceived and designed in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov while working for the Soviet government in Moscow, Russia. “Music A” in the Nintendo Game Boy® edition of Tetris is one of the most recognizable and popular songs from a video game. It is an instrumental arrangement of a vocal Russian folk tune called “Korobeiniki” which was based on a poem with the same name written in 1861. The first line of the translated lyrics read… “"Oy, the box is full, so full".

7. God of War™ Montage (LIVE)
Published by Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. • Composed by Gerard Marino • Recorded Live in Brazil, South America

God of War is a high-energy action-adventure game based on Greek mythology. It was extremely well received by critics and fans alike and was the recipient of many “Game of the Year” awards. It has been called the greatest PlayStation® 2 game of all time by many top gaming magazines and websites. The award-winning score by Gerard Marino was his first credit as a game composer.

8. Advent Rising Suite
Composers: Tommy Tallarico, Michael Plowman, Emmanuel Fratianni, Laurie Robinson • Orchestrated by Emmanuel Fratianni, Laurie Robinson and Christopher Nickel

Advent Rising is a third-person, intergalactic action/adventure wrapped in a visually imaginative universe that plays like a fast action movie. Famed science fiction novelist, Orson Scott Card, co-wrote the gripping storyline behind the game. The multi award-winning Advent Rising soundtrack has been noted as "one of the greatest musical scores of all time" by websites such as Yahoo, Gamespot and others.

9. Tron Montage
Composed by Wendy Carlos; Orchestrated and adapted for Video Games Live by David Kates • Synthesizers programmed and performed by Matt Robertson

Disney’s 1982 action sci-fi cult classic masterpiece embraced video game aesthetics and has since inspired numerous blockbuster films and video games alike. Harnessing the latest technology available at the time, Tron was the first motion picture to ever use computer graphics and animation.

10. Halo® Suite
Composers: Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori • Orchestrated by Emmanuel Fratianni, Laurie Robinson, Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori • Guitars: Tommy Tallarico, Steve Vai, Chris Kline and Marcus Henderson • Voiceover: Cindy Shapiro

Halo is the blockbuster XBOX game developed by Bungie Studios that reinvented the first person shooter experience with action packed gameplay, an epic science fiction storyline and a multi award-winning soundtrack. The first Halo soundtrack received countless accolades including The Rolling Stone award for best original video game soundtrack, and its sequel Halo 2 became the #1 selling original video game soundtrack album in North America.

11 Castlevania® Rock (LIVE)
Castlevania® series owned and published by Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. • Composers: Kinuyo Yamashita (Castlevania®), Club Kukeiha (Castlevania® III) and Michiru Yamane (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night®) • Arranged by Tommy Tallarico • Guitars: Tommy Tallarico and Dweezil Zappa • Keyboards: Martin Leung • Drums: Joe Travers • Bass: Peter Griffin • Recorded at Plaza Calafia Bullring - Mexicali, Mexico

The Castlevania series is one of Konami's most famous franchises and is a recognized landmark in the design of action-platforming games. The earliest games borrowed from motifs in iconic horror cinema, though the series later developed a more artistic and dramatic direction drawn from Gothic fiction and dark romanticism. This classic adventure series features some of the most addictive gameplay, beautiful graphical effects and contagious musical scores ever witnessed in a platform game. The musical styles for the Castlevania series range from Gothic and operatic rock to classical symphonia.

The album was engineered at EMI’s famous Abbey Road recording studios in London.

* * *

Don't forget the first Beyond Good & Evil Game Club meets tonight. We're testing out some new software that has no limits and allows for some pretty decent comment controls. Make sure to check back at 7:30 p.m. Mountain Time tonight to discuss our first assignment. If you forgot to play check out the link and get on it. It took me about an hour to get to where I needed to be.

Game Club Beyond Good & Evil First Assignment

No, no they are not.

アイドルマスターライブ [my game news flash via Sankaku Complex]

Dreaming of Dashboard 2.0 [Platform Nation]

Lest you blanch at the notion of Solid Snake lumped in with Days of Our Lives or Waiting to Exhale, I would suggest to fans of Braveheart, Lost, CSI, and virtually every sports movie ever made that you are also fans of melodrama. The Call of Duty series, the Final Fantasy series, Bioshock - even significant portions of GTA IV - all rely on melodrama to deliver their experiences.

And at the center of these tales is the classic Melodrama Hero - a man (sometimes, but rarely a woman) of strength and courage who must do great deeds in an environment of heightened emotional intensity; a hero who operates within a clearly defined world of good and evil, charged with restoring order and stability from chaos. Solid Snake and Dudley Do-Right are cut from the same cloth. One may be a conflicted hero with lots more backstory (and, okay, Dudley is a cartoon caricature), but dramaturgically they function in remarkably similar ways.

I have to say I would think most people would blanch at the idea of Solid Snake lumped in with soap operas ... but he's got a point. Melodrama is a hugely effective narrative style — and the reasonably clear dichotomies we see in many narrative-driven games is one critical part in labeling them as 'melodramas,' or at least as media possessing melodramatic elements. However, I don't think the world is quite ready for the Days of Our Lives RPG. At least, I certainly hope not.

We do melodrama [The Brainy Gamer]

A few months ago, Kieron Gillen sat down with Paul Barnett, EA Mythic's Creative Director, and has been posting bits and pieces of that interview session ever since; this week, we were treated to one of the best cynical descriptions of GDC ever. Barnett explains why, despite being asked to go, he declined the chance to go to GDC and went to the LIFT futurism festival instead:

I never go to GDC. But I was asked point blank why, as it seemed this year they were quite happy to take me to GDC. Mythic wanted me to go there. And I effectively said “Well, I don’t like GDC”. Which turned out to be the wrong thing to say. Apparently I’ve now learned that if you’re in the games industry, and someone says “GDC” what you’re supposed to do is say lots and lots of lovely things about how wonderful they are.

I went for it from the other point of view - I’m not going to GDC because it’s combative, it’s a peacock display and it’s full of people who do what I do or want to do what I do or are doing what I do and don’t want me to do it anymore. It’s not open-minded. It’s very narrow-minded. We’re all talking about the same thing. We’ve all sharpened our knives for years at it, so we get into… well, not a fight, but it’s always about the same things. We talk about design, mechanics, philosophy of design. All I was going to hear about was: WoW and the Activision merger. Whether Spore is going to be any good. How do I get into the games industry? Would you like a job? You’re going to be fired. Why don’t you start a label? I can get you a lot of money? There’s no money available in the market. What we need to do is form an independent development company. What we need to do is unionise. Is microtransactions really the way? What do you think of INSERT WHATEVER IDEA WAS.

The rest of the interview set currently posted is pretty interesting, and it's worth a read through — and not just for the scathing commentary on one of the premier events in the gaming world.

Barnett On: Why I Don’t Go To GDC [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Video games often face a challenge: what does playing a game do to people in the world? In the case of entertainment games, such a question asks about the effects of violence on players, or about how players find and evaluate meaning in games.

In training, advertising, and learning games, the question asks how players take knowledge they learned in a game and apply it in their daily lives. The motivational (and compulsive) aspects of games suggest other ways gameplay can influence behavior. But such matters cover only part of the intersection between our game lives and our ordinary lives ....

Performativity in discourse produces action. Performativity in video games couple gameplay to real-world action. Performative gameplay describes mechanics that change the state of the world through play actions themselves, rather than by inspiring possible future actions through coersion or reflection.

The performative aspects of games go far beyond 'serious' games, and Bogost has a number of interesting examples — good reading for a lazy weekend.

Persuasive Games: Performative Play [Gamasutra]

I believe the videogames industry has an ongoing problem, in that a large proportion of the people who influence the game design process prefer Strategic play to other kinds of play. But as the audience for games has exploded into the mass market, strategy games (and other forms of Strategic play, such as adventure games) have become niche titles, with even the most popular titles selling no more than a few million units at most, while games with a wider appeal can rack up more than ten million units (as Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, GTA: San Andreas, Guitar Hero and The Sims all demonstrate in wildly different ways).

A good strategy game may well be a series of interesting decisions – but a good game is something that meets the play needs of its audience. If you want to make games for the new videogames market, you’d better start striving to understand just what those diverse play needs might involve.

Certainly, plenty of games are a series of interesting decisions, but as Bateman points out, it doesn't mean all games are, and many super-successful games don't fit the paradigm.

A Game Isn't a Series of Interesting Decisions [Only a Game]

Those concerned with 'virtual worlds' — as opposed to 'games' — spend a lot of time contemplating the role of virtual worlds in a wider market; over at Terra Nova, Bruce Damer looks at the potential future of virtual worlds, which could be a lot bigger than most people imagine. Some potential answers to keep the industry growing? Piggybacking off platforms that are currently growing at a rapid clip, making sure virtual worlds are 'worth' something — perhaps some as of yet undiscovered little platform will be the key:

As we can see from the history of computing, it is often the case of “the small gobbling up the big, and everything else”. Trivially small, lightweight yet rapidly replicating platforms often grow up to become all-encompassing solutions. DOS grew up to become Windows and along the way the PC triumphed over the time-shared mainframe, minicomputer and workstation. Could it be that there is some small world platform out there that is destined to become the standard? Dick Gabriel of Sun Microsystems has written much wisdom and books on this phenomenon (http://www.dreamsongs.com/Books.html) in which he posits that one of several ways to create a virally spreading success is to hitch your wagon to something that is already growing. Does this mean that a small world embedded in Facebook or some other social network(s) is the answer?

It's an interesting article that pulls examples from other (formerly) 'new media'; the rise and sustainability of virtual worlds is an interesting problem. I suspect even the 'big ones' will be trucking along pretty quietly — not unlike a lot of the popular free to play MMOs from abroad.

Virtually Eternal: A Positive Pathway to a Healthy and Sustainable Virtual Worlds Industry? [Terra Nova]

Right now, Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, and World of Warcraft are considered our blockbuster titles, and flagships for the industry in popular culture. But when you think about it, it’s still just shooting aliens, playing gang banger, and swinging your sword in the forest.

Boiled down to their essentials those things appeal to a very limited group of people, and the complexity of game controls prevents even blockbuster movie attendees, whom we should be attracting, from playing these things.

At least, that’s the common line. But is that really the case? Do aliens, wizards, and soldiers really make a piece of entertainment inaccessible? Many millions of people went to see the Iron Man movie over the past two months, and a large percentage of them have probably never picked up a comic book in their lives.

Why is it that people will go see The Lord of the Rings' movies, but many of them will not play the games?

Put on your thinking caps, we've got stuff to think about. Dammit.

The Hardcore Niche [Gamasutra] [Pic]