"We want to thank all of our E for All partners for their support, and we encourage E for All exhibitors to participate in the E3 new event, which we believe will meet their needs as well as those of the industry at large. IDG World Expo is very pleased to be partnering with the ESA on E3 and continuing to play a central role in that important industry event. We look forward to furthering our contribution to the success of the video game community."

While that's not exactly a confirmation regarding the show's cancellation, telling your exhibitors to participate in another event is never a good sign.

Is E For All Expo done? IDG CEO gives a cryptic answer (Big Download)

Here's some useful tips for getting all this to work:

• Go to gearsofwar.xbox.com/lastday/
• After the age gate and the flash site loads, click the cog icon at the bottom of the log in screen to activate the code entry.
• The code is: 617461-ZMTDP-EL
• After that's entered, you can explore by clicking on the blue bars that radiate up on each side.
• Look for things to click on in the screen after that.

And here's a picture of the COG that spread us this virtual viral swag:

By the way, we've gotten tips to a ton of leaked multiplayer footage, I'm compiling all that and posting it soon.

Every Tag Tells a Tale [Breaking the Game]

NEW YORK, NY, September 30, 2008 - World Cyber Games (WCG), the recognized leader for global video game competitions, welcomes more than 200 of America’s very best gamers to the Los Angeles Convention Center from October 3-5 to compete at 14 top video games and the chance to take home a share of more than $100,000 in cash and prizes in the WCG USA National Final (http://us.wcg.com). More importantly, twenty five (25) WCG USA gold and silver medalists will earn coveted spots on the roster of gaming’s only TEAM USA and the opportunity to battle the world’s elite players at the WCG 2008 Grand Final taking place in Cologne, Germany November 5-9. TEAM USA will join 700-plus international players from more than 70 nations competing for a prize purse exceeding $500,000 and international e-Sports stardom at the WCG Grand Final. Team USA won the overall World Championship at the WCG 2007 Grand Final held in Seattle’s Qwest Field.

Gaming fans will be able to see several elite competitors live at this year’s WCG USA National Final as several returning members of last year’s WCG World Champion Team USA squad will participate, including:

Kamran Siddiqui – Need For Speed: ProStreet – Orlando, FL
Geoff Robinson - StarCraft: Brood War – Seattle, WA
Brian Boyle - Project Gotham Racing 4 – Chicago, IL
Wesley Cwiklo - Project Gotham Racing 4 - Los Angeles, CA
David Lathrop - Command and Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath - Syracuse, NY
Shawn Teeter - Command and Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath - San Diego, CA
Raghav Phadke - Age of Empires III – Buffalo, NY

Additionally, through a partnership with eSportsTV, fans who can’t be there live will be able to watch the tournament action with full play by play shoutcasting and up to the minute news online. Meanwhile, former pro-gamer and WCG USA emcee Andande “Swoozie” Thorne will also provide a fun insider’s look into the National Final via a series of exclusive video blogs. To view the video blogs and eSportsTV tournament coverage please log onto http://us.wcg.com and follow the corresponding links..

PC, Console and Mobile games featured in the WCG USA 2008 tournament include Half-Life: Counter Strike 1.6 (PC), StarCraft: Brood War (PC), WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne (PC), Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath (PC), Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties (PC), FIFA Soccer 08 (PC), Need For Speed: ProStreet (PC), Carom 3D (PC), Red Stone (PC), Halo 3 (Xbox 360), Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360), Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360) and Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360) Asphalt 4 Elite Racing (Mobile)

“Los Angeles will be the epicenter of both pro and recreational gaming action as the World Cyber Games USA National Final lands at the E For All expo as a spectacular ‘event within the event.’ Gaming fans and aspiring competitors can come out and see America’s very best video game players battle to become stars in e-Sports’ most prestigious tournament,” said Michael Arzt, general manager of World Cyber Games USA. “With more than $100,000 in cash and prizes on the line and only 25 precious spots on TEAM USA up for grabs, there’s no question that this year’s WCG USA Final, exploding amid the excitement of E For All, is the year’s must-attend gaming event.”

All visitors to E for All will have the opportunity to take in the action and fun at this year’s WCG National Final as well as win trips, cash and prizes. WCG Worldwide Partner, Samsung, will have a major presence, highlighted by the Samsung Experience and Samsung Mobile Challenge. “Samsung Electronics supports the WCG in America and in 70 countries around the world because we understand that gaming is a key passion and driver for our consumers,” said Steven Cook, senior vice president and chief strategic marketing officer, Samsung Electronics America. “We are constantly seeking new and engaging ways to blend the intersections between our consumers’ interests and our products. The WCG is a perfect example of how consumers’ passions, along with Samsung’s imagination, leading edge technology and design intersect to deliver a unique experience.”

Samsung Telecommunications America presents the WCG’s biggest free walk-up tournament ever: The Samsung Mobile Challenge. Visitors are invited to compete at Asphalt 4 on Samsung phones for an unprecedented opportunity to win $1,000 and a trip to the WCG 2008 Grand Final as an OFFICIAL MEMBER of TEAM USA and the very special chance to compete for up to $10,000 against 9 other nations’ finalists at the WCG 2008 Grand Final in Cologne, Germany. In addition, visitors can check out some of Samsung’s hottest new mobile phones currently available, plus some sneak previews of what’s yet to come.

Next-door at the Samsung Blu-Ray Experience, fans can check out the latest in high definition home entertainment technology, including HDTV’s featuring Samsung Electronics’ truly-immersive home 3D video technology, true Hi-Definition 1080p Television and HD gaming demonstrations showcasing the incredible new Iron Man Blu-Ray DVD and the Iron Man video game, respectively. Gamers will also have the opportunity to try their skill playing as Iron Man on the Xbox 360 for chances to win Best Buy gift cards, awarded hourly in a fun walk-up tournament. In addition, every PC and console game station in the WCG USA National Final tournament will exclusively feature Samsung’s spectacular new Touch of Color PC monitors or HDTV’s.

WCG USA Premier Partner Microsoft Xbox 360 will offer fans yet another unprecedented special preview opportunity as they allow gamers to get their hands on this holiday’s most-anticipated game title. For the first time anywhere, and only at the WCG USA at E For All, lucky gamers can play the all-new Gears of War 2 cooperative mode, “Horde.” This is an incredible opportunity to be among the first gamers anywhere to team up and fend off a seemingly endless onslaught of Locust forces to attain the highest score. Several other unique and fun “Gears of War” giveaways and promotions will take place throughout each day.

Philips amBX, will be on hand to present a variety of top PC titles that have been “amBX enabled” to deliver the ultimate sensory gaming experience.

Dust-Off will allow visitors a spin on their incredible prize wheel that showcases some of their most innovative products, including the incredible “Quiver” carrying case for gamers.

WCG USA at E for All show dates and hours at the Los Angeles Convention Center are:

Friday, October 3 10:00AM - 8:00PM
Saturday, October 4 10:00AM - 7:00PM
Sunday, October 5 10:00AM - 4:00PM

WCG USA event highlights include:

Opening Ceremony: Friday October, 3rd 5:00PM
Tournament Play and Stage Matches: Friday - Sunday
Closing Ceremony: Sunday October, 5th 2:00PM

For more information about the WCG USA National Final and Team USA please go to http://us.wcg.com.

For more info about attending the E For All expo at the L.A. Convention Center, including ticket information, please go to www.eforallexpo.com.

Hit the jump for more results from the E for All / PoshMama survey. Just keep one thing in mind - this is a poll from a women's exclusive website, meaning at least 50% of the respondents are men claiming to be women who think men are icky and want to experience a more feminine touch.

Study Reveals Women Choose Video Games Instead of Sleep

E for All and PoshMama.com survey investigates the untold video game habits of women

E for All 2008
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Results from a survey recently fielded by Entertainment for All® Expo (E for All®), the consumer video game expo held October 3-5, 2008, in Los Angeles, and PoshMama.com, an online community exclusive to women around the world, indicate some surprising trends relating to women and video games. Front and center: many women would rather play video games than catch up on sleep, according to the new survey which polled more than 120 PoshMama members on their video game habits. Responses were gleaned from the high percentage of female respondents (71%) who said that they play video games.

According to the E for All / PoshMama survey, more than one-third of those surveyed say that they play video games when they should be sleeping. Women in the survey also say they play video games in other unusual circumstances, including: while on the phone (32%); while at work/in a meeting (20%); and, while preparing for work (12%). When it comes to spare time, nearly twice as many women say that, if given an extra hour of free time at home, they would rather play video games than catch up on sleep.

“Playing video games is becoming an increasingly popular pastime for women, which isn’t surprising given that it’s a great way to spend time with family and friends, have some fun and even blow off some steam,” said Heather Weaver, Technology Contributor at PoshMama.com and author of GeekMomMashup.com, who helped create the survey. “The surprising element, as revealed in our survey, is that it is actually keeping women up at night. This and the other results reveal that the traditional video game industry has fundamentally changed—and will continue to evolve—as more and more women take over the video game controls.”

"Video games are truly entertainment for all — from busy women to hard core game players — and E for All reflects that both in name and in its wide array of products, tournaments, appearances, and other exciting events," said Mary Dolaher, Chief Executive Officer of IDG World Expo, which owns and operates E for All. "This survey shows that many women place great value and high priority on video games in their lives, and E for All will be the place for them, their families, and gamers of all types to be this October."

Other results from the E for All / PoshMama survey include:

Better late than never: More than half of respondents (53%) reveal that playing video games has made them late for meeting up with friends and family. In addition, almost one-fifth (18.5%) say video games have made them late for work or a meeting, and the same number (18.5%) report that playing has made them tardy for a personal appointment, such as a visit to the dentist or doctor.
Refrigeration not needed: If given extra spending money, women in our survey reveal that they would rather buy a new video game system for their family over a home appliance, or even accessory for their car (i.e. spoiler, sound system, etc).
Simply put, it’s fun for the family: Almost two-thirds of respondents (64%) say they play video games because they either enjoy it or they want to spend time with friends and family.
The survey was conducted in September 2008.

Image Discovered Via Crunchyroll

Most major game publishers bypassing 2008 E For All Expo [Big Download Blog]

To be eligible for IndieCade, your game must not have funding from a major publisher .... You can have other deals with these publishers; your game just can't. There is no age requirement for submission.

IndieCade has an inclusive submissions policy and invites submission of all styles and genres of games, including PC, browser-based, casual, puzzle, mobile, ARGs, Big Games and installation-based games (submitted via video if not playable on-site), mods (provided they conform to game engine licensing agreements), serious games, activist games, art games, virtual worlds and "sandbox" style games, and more! We also welcome student games and games developed by universities, schools and non-profit organizations. All entries should have a digital component, but hybrid games are not only welcome, but encouraged. Innovation is the name of the game.

That's quite a lot of options. The submission period closes 11 April; games will be judged by a panel, and finalists will be notified by mid-May.

IndieCade Submissions

We also chat briefly about the current Blackwater controversy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the Metal Gear Solid 20th Anniversary Collection boxed set's status. Hit the jump for the full interview.

McWhertor: What do you think of E For All so far?

Payton: I wish I could see more of it. I been holed up in the MGS4 booth. It would be nice to play some Smash Bros. and some Super Mario Galaxy. I'm curious to see what happens on Saturday and Sunday.

Yeah, it's pretty light right now.

It's still the weekday. It's a consumer show, so we hope that more people show up on Saturday and Sunday. It's easy to look around and see that it's not crowded like Tokyo Game Show or previous E3s. With that said, there's a lot of press coming out of Nintendo, Konami, THQ and EA. If they feel satisfied with it and consumers keep talking about it, I don't see any reason why E For All won't be back until next year.

Well you've had pretty good lines for Metal Gear Solid 4 so far.

When we opened up the doors, there were a hundred people waiting. It was like that yesterday and today. We will not have an empty seat for the whole show. It's been wall to wall.

Are you getting any feedback from people who have played the game?

I've been trying to watch people play, but I've been doing a lot of interviews and presentations. TGS was a good experience for me because I made about five pages of notes. I was watching people like you play the game and watching other press play it, listening to what complaints they had or whenever they smiled to a make note about what was successful and what wasn't. But at E For All, I'm hoping to get a little more time to watch people play because there is a little more time to make some tweaks to make the gameplay a little more accessible to Western gamers. So far, response has been awesome. They've been saying "this doesn't feel like a Metal Gear game" but in a good way.

What did you notice as time went on? Can you talk about any of those recent tweaks?

It's mostly minute stuff. For example, the over the shoulder aiming system, I think it's a little bit too sensitive right now. With the PS3 controller, the left analog stick, if you just barely press it, it moves a little bit too fast for my tastes. And for a lot of people's tastes. I've noticed if you try to do a precision shot, it still moves around a little too much. So we're tweaking that, a lot of the stuff that's really kind of under the hood.

As far as other things are concerned, game balance and kind of educating the gamer that it's still a stealth game. It's an issue that I've noticed we had at TGS and here at E For All that, because we give you so many cool guns, because we give the over the shoulder aim, and because the game actually feels good with rumble and everything, people are killing PMC soldiers left and right. We want to make sure that people understand that there's a balance. Some sections are going to require traditional stealth game play and that you can't just go in guns blazing. It's still Metal Gear. There were some players who would just shoot every PMC they saw, without realizing that you can have alliances with groups like the Werewolves.

Yeah, how does that work? Will the four Beasts be in control of the individual PMC groups?

No, not really, although they do have similar names, like the Werewolves and Crying Wolf, and there's one that's called [Eight Arms of the Octopus in French], but they aren't under their direct control. They be played against each other, but you'll see how it plays in the game.

Speaking of PMCs, I was wondering if the Kojima Productions team has been paying attention to the current situation with private military contractor Blackwater and the surrounding controversy.

Sure, we've been following it pretty closely, but we've been following the PMC business for a long time now. The team at Kojima Productions is filled with military otaku, so we're well aware of the history of PMCs and the Blackwater situation in particular.

It feels like a bit of good and bad timing for you, as it will probably receive some attention from mainstream media but it could be spun the wrong way. Has this worried the team or does it feel like a boon to the game's focus?

We're not particularly worried about it. Mr. Kojima and the team have been working on the game for over three years now, so it's not something new for us. It was part of the vision from the very beginning so any attention it gets from current events isn't something that concerns us.

I suppose you could say that any publicity is good publicity. At least you're going to be lightening up the heavy themes with monkeys in diapers addicted to soda.

Yeah, having a shaved monkey should divert attention away from something like that.

When we posted that Justify Your Game, a lot of people were like, "Who's Ryan Payton?" So, just to clear that up, what is it that you're doing on a regular basis. I know that you're bringing some Western tastes to Kojima Productions, but what does that involve for you?

Everyday I'm doing something different as a producer. It's funny, it's been a running joke in my family because everybody's been asking me what it is exactly that I do. They'll ask me "Are you designing the game?" No, I'm not. "Oh. So did you write the story?" No, I didn't. But I am in charge of the English script, the voice over direction and involved with the motion capture as well. I'm in charge of the international version of the game, not just as far as the master submissions are concerned, but gameplay as well. We're going to have different game balance, different controls, different difficulty levels, different gaming styles for the international versions. It will be a different game from the Japanese version. That's a lot of tweaking, going through the game and making suggestions, changing the gameplay based on what American gamers demand from their games. Japanese gamers, they haven't gotten to that point yet. Their experience with 3D games is usually with fixed cameras like Onimusha, Resident Evil games, Siren. We have huge expectations coming out of America, but for the Japanese they want to keep it more simple. We decided just recently that I'm going to be in charge of making sure the game lives up to those expectations, trying to exceed those expectations coming out of the West.

I'm in charge of the movie, which we're working on with Logan, which is one of the top design companies in the world. They invented the whole iPod silhouette ad campaign. Not just print, but the TV ads and the billboards. They design all those and they're a really hot design company. They're designing and producing our opening movie which is something that's never been attempted before in games. It's going to be the talk of the town when the game comes out.

What are they doing with it that's going to be so dramatic?

It's not just something you sit there and watch, hit the start button and then play the game. There's actually no gameplay involved. It's somewhere in the middle of those two. It's something that nobody has ever attempted before in games. It's a different take on video games.

This is something that my boss, Kenichiro Imaizumi, the head producer on the title, something that he's really talented at, combining two different forces that you would think wouldn't make sense. It's Metal Gear, a military game, combined with Logan, which is really great with cutting edge pop culture advertising. Melding those two together, we've created something that's really cool. They've also designed our logo which is a pretty big departure from our previous logo which have all been just Helvetica, so this is something that's really encouraging for us. Next week we'll be doing production work on it in Hollywood. It's a massive project. I can't give out number figures, but I know of some games that have as big a budget as we have on just this opening movie.

That's not going to win too many friends. Well, speaking of Western gamers, you had the Metal Gear 20th Anniversary collection in Japan and when I talked to Anthony Crouts at Comic Con about it, he said it was a possibility. The end of the year is creeping up and there hasn't been anything announced. Is that going to happen? Are you guys going to bring it stateside?

Yeah, we're working on it pretty much every day, trying to make it happen. There are a lot of issues. American gamers and European gamers are always very vocal, wondering "Why don't we get this?" The truth of the matter is, people like me, like at Konami US and Konami Europe actually want to make it happen. But there are a lot of issues that the average gamer doesn't know about.

It's easy to launch something in Japan. There are only a number of retailers that are going to carry a product and they're more liberal with their shelf space. They allow different size packaging, whereas in the United States, if it's not a DVD-sized package, they're not going to carry it. There are issues, for example, in Quebec where it seems, like now, you might not only have to have your manual, but your entire game in French if you want to release it in Canada. So there are a lot of issues that we have to face, and with that said, we also have to ship Metal Gear Solid 4! So, is the boxed set coming out this year? It's tough to say. At some point next year, I want to have a boxed set on store shelves to give people a chance to play Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 before they jump into MGS4.

I know you said that a lot of the work that was going into four was that you were trying to make the game more approachable to someone who had never played a Metal Gear game before and it would be nice to have that back catalog for people if they fell in love with the series at this point.

Yeah. Ideally, it would be great to have it out before MGS4, but let's say it's sixty or seventy dollars, which is a lot to have people put down to get familiar with the story. One of the things we're doing with MGS4 is that we're putting in a digital encyclopedia that people can access from the main menu, so they can cross reference different characters and find out what happened in previous games. In that sense, we're backing ourselves up in MGS4 itself. We also have flashback sequences in the game that refer to Metal Gear Rex, Shadow Moses, the Big Shell and what happens in Portable Ops, where players can push the X button and you're going to presented with a flashback sequence that will play back what happened in previous games to re-familiarize people with what happened previously.

I think we're covering our bases, but it would be nice to have that boxed set out before then.

Speaking of Shadow Moses, we just got our first look at it in Super Smash Bros. Brawl in Shadow Moses Island. Have you played Smash Bros. yet?

No! I haven't.

You haven't played Smash Bros. yet?! You guys don't have an early copy in the office?

No, it's all over at Sakurai's office.

So you're not involved at all?

No, for various reasons, this is something that's between Mr. Sakurai and Mr. Kojima. There was a decision made early on that we weren't going to involve our team with the production, because Mr. Sakurai's got a very capable team, we feel very confident about letting them handle it. We don't have to involve ourselves in giving them direction, because not only does he know Metal Gear, he has a very talented team in Tokyo. It would be nice to play Smash Bros., but I've got enough things to worry about.

It's just that the Snake dialogue was just absolutely hilarious. I didn't know if you were writing that dialogue.

It's really funny. Yeah, I had a chance to look at it, to offer suggestions before we recorded it and I also made sure that Chris Zimmerman, who's our voice over director for all of our Metal Gear titles, it was my only request that she directs the dialogue sequences for Smash Bros. because if she's involved, I know it's gonna be good.

Well, I should let you go. I've gotta go talk to IGA and you've got some Smash Bros. to play. Thanks for talking to us.

No worries. It's always fun to talk to you guys.

After finally dusting off the end-of-level structure in the first stage, one that looks like a carbon copy of the first "boss" in the NES Contra, but with a dual-screen twist, I was taken to the Laboratory. The second stage requires heaping amounts of grappling hook usage, so you had better become familiar with your Y-button if you plan on making it through.

The Laboratory was made extremely difficult by the dozens of creeping aliens that you'll seeing crawling down from the top screen—they're quite speedy and you'll never be 100% sure where they'll reappear on the bottom screen—plus the shuffling zombies that stumble about on the lower screen. The walking dead take a few shots to destroy and, if they come close enough, they'll explode from the annoyance of being undead, launching an 8-way attack of diseased goo. Open holes in the roof and floor add an extra layer of platforming difficulty.

After finally leaving the lab, more classic Contra levels return. The waterfall area from the original, complete with mounted cannons, a constant stream of falling boulders and carefully positioned robo-infantry make upward progress a chore. Still, we're having fun, right? Right. Just not when face with an invincible soldier holed up inside a waterfall, one whose collision detection was frustratingly buggy.

It didn't take long for the waterfall level to take my last Lance Bean and my final credit. It left me wanting more Contra 4, more play time, more punishment. It's the hardcore answer to the question "Where are the DS games for non-casuals?"

The E For All build of Contra 4 also contained the Contra museum, an historical look back on all the Contra (and Probotector and Gryzor) games. Each game in the long running series is represented with screenshots, artwork, box art and synopses, making for a fantastic bonus gallery.

It may be a bear of a game, and you may shatter your DS in frustration, but just because something is hard, doesn't mean it's not worth doing.

Wonder if he got in some time with Sonic in Super Smash Bros. Brawl? He orbited the Nintendo booth during my eagle-eyed stalking, but never dove in. He may disapprove.

"We are thrilled with the attendance, and we are pleased that we delivered the event we aimed for, which was a celebration that truly was for the entire game community," offered CEO Mary Dolaher.

18,000 turnout for inaugural E for All [GamesIndustry.biz]

When I was at TGS, the Metal Gear Solid 4 demo was all the rage. Huge lines, long waits. I attended the demo with Ash and as predicted I was terrible and it seemed like it was over before it even began. The other problem for me was that it was all in Japanese so not only did I suck at it, but I sucked at it and had no clue as to what was going on.

Although E for All didn't offer a whole lot in the way of games, it did have the MGS4 demo and this time in English. And while I saved myself the embarrassment of stinking it up in two languages I did notice that despite the sparse crowds, the MGS line was always rather lengthy. The fine folks at GameTrailers were good enough to get footage from the English demo and post it all for you to check out since, according to Ryan Payton, you won't be seeing this as a demo on PSN. The video has been split up into four easily digestible parts with the first one appearing above and the remaining three waiting for you after the jump

It's not the first time this has happened at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Multiple E3s had power failures, resulting in blazing hot temperatures and very boring booths. This one just happened to be surprisingly timely.

Ghost Squad's gimmick is in its branching paths, a series of divergent approaches to each of the game's levels. You'll be given on-screen prompts at certain points, giving you the option to, for example, attempt to free a group of hostages first or head down to the main floor of a building and eliminate hordes of terrorists. You may simply be presented with which direction you'd like to follow at a checkpoint. Sometimes you have two options, sometimes three.

The game also differs in its use of an action button. Freeing those aforementioned hostages requires you to point your targeting reticle at a hostage and press the action button for them to be freed. The same with diffusing a series of claymore mines. In two-player mode, players must cooperate to make these actions happen. There are other "quick time event" moments that utilize the action button—the Nunchuk's Z-button—including one that requires your Ghost Squad team members to punch a bad guy in the chest, requiring quick reflexes, good aim and teamwork.

The pace of constantly shooting people in the face, while avoiding firing at hostages and teammates, is also broken up with non-standard weapons. You'll have limited access to missile launchers and grenades at certain points, adding a little variety to the action. Power ups and bonuses are scattered about levels, like bullet proof vests that reduce damage from enemy fire in half.

Ghost Squad isn't the prettiest of Wii games, but it gets the job done in the graphics department. Character models are blocky, but environments have plenty to shoot at and the game never slows down. It's surprisingly fun, especially for anyone who considers themselves a fan of arcade light gun shooters.

For those attending, plan on getting to the booth early—it's just to your left as you enter the South Hall—and prepare for a wait. Anyone waiting to try out Solid Snake's PS3 adventure will have to endure a training briefing in the closed theater before getting their hands on a PS3 controller.

Around 3 PM, when those who hadn't pre-registered for the event were permitted to enter, crowds grew by about a third, but there was virtually no waiting to get on most games. More pics of the action after the jump.

Rock Band, near the ass end of South Hall, was the E For All resource for listening to "Dead or Alive" fifty times in succession.

Nintendo's booth drew the biggest crowd, featuring unreleased games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Link's Crossbow Training and Super Mario Galaxy.

Grabbing a bite to eat? Easy! Just look for the wide open space.

EA's booth was heavily populated, too. The Simpsons Game, Team Fortress 2 and NFL Tour saw some interest from attendees.

Granted, it's Thursday, and many of the gamers who might be interested in hitting up E For All may not be able to make it down until the weekend, but first impressions of public interest in the event isn't fantastic. We could very well be looking at the first, and the last, E For All Expo. No one will mistake this event for the "new E3."

Target and E for All are teaming up starting today to host a $3,000 Guitar Hero 2 tourney at the public gaming convention in LA.

The tournaent will run from today through Saturday with the winner taking home more than $3,000 in cash and Target gift cards. Gift cards? Like 2,000 $1.50 cards?

Hit the jump for the full release and the South Hall of E4All to see it in person. Say Hi to McWhertor if you see him hanging about... and then poke him and tell him to get back to work.

WHAT: Calling all self-professed Guitar Hero® experts! E for All attendees are invited to bring their axes to compete as Target presents the first-ever Guitar Hero event at E for All. During the event, hundreds of competitors will showcase their shredding skills at one of the Guitar Hero® II kiosks on the show floor to qualify for the final showdown Saturday on the main stage. Gamers will even get the chance to play Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock before its release on Oct. 28. By out-rocking the competition and impressing the expert judges, the true Guitar Hero will walk away with more than $3,000 in cash and Target gift cards.

WHO: Target is giving consumers the chance, courtesy of Activision and RedOctane, to rock at E for All as industry experts judge for scoring, accuracy and performance.

WHEN: Guitar Hero Event
Oct. 18-20, 2007
Finals will take place Saturday on the main stage.

E for All
Oct. 18-21, 2007

WHERE: Guitar Hero Event Area - South Exhibit Hall
Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90015

NEWS/VISUALS:

- Guitar Hero fanatics on stage dressed the part, rocking out for a large audience.
- Expert judges playing the game and interacting with fans.
- Ultimate Guitar Hero being presented with more than $3,000 cash and Target gift cards.
- Fierce face offs between event finalists on the main stage in South Hall.
- Perfect opportunity for broadcast outlets to film general video game footage in preparation for the holiday season.