Comic-Con: We've Arrived

Comic-Con may not officially start until tomorrow but the wheels of big Comic business are already rolling. This afternoon alone we met with folks from several publishers and developers to check out upcoming projects. Stay tuned later tonight for McWhertor's reports from the San Diego Convention Center.

He'll be covering all things video game related over the next five days, bringing you details from the show floor, live blogs from Comic-Con panels and all the news that breaks from Capcom, EA, Activision, Konami and much, much more.

For even more Comic-Con coverage that goes beyond the game-o-sphere, check out io9 for your extended sci-fi nerd fix. For those attending, let us know in the comments what Sailor Moon character you'll be dressed as.

Kotaku's Pre-E3 Party

With most of Kotaku Tower emptying out to fly to Los Angeles this weekend it would be a crime not to throw a party. So of course we are. Come join us for a some pre-E3 libations on Sunday July 13 at LA's historic Golden Gopher.

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

Kotaku's Pre-E3 Party

With most of Kotaku Tower emptying out to fly to Los Angeles this weekend it would be a crime not to throw a party. So of course we are. Come join us for a some pre-E3 libations on Sunday July 13 at LA's historic Golden Gopher.

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

Come Party With Kotaku

With most of Kotaku Tower emptying out to fly to Los Angeles later this month it would be a crime not to throw a party. So of course we are. Come join us for a some pre-E3 libations on Sunday July 13 at LA's historic Golden Gopher.

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. They 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.

Golden Gopher

Capcom Wants Bay-Area Gamers For Secret Game Test

Capcom is hunting for Bay-Area gamers to come to their secret lair and test out a super-secret game, eat potential cookies, and be showered with prizes, all in the name of focus testing. Their requirements are quite meager:

-18 years old (or older), with valid ID
-interested in action, puzzle, and strategy games.
-in the SF Bay Area and free July 10th, from 1-5pm.
-able to travel to the aforementioned fabulous Capcom HQ on your own.

A secret puzzle action strategy game plus prizes and maybe cookies? I could not think of a better way to spend an afternoon. Hit the link for how you can get a chance to do these secret things they wish you to do.

Bay-Area Gamers: Capcom Wants You! [Capcom Blog]

So, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith dropped this weekend in North America. What does that have to do with me getting completely smashed at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square and totally hitting on Steve Tyler?

Hit the jump for the full adventure.

Smash Bros. Brawl Father's Day Tourney Winners

The Father's Day Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tourney drew about 35 father and son pairs to the Nintendo World store in New York this weekend.

The bracket-style tournament had the teams of two fight it out until Dannis Tighe and his son Michael were the last two standing. The two won a Wii, a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a trophy and the right to rub their victories in the faces of all of those father/son teams who waste their training regiments on sack races and egg tosses.

It's that time, time for gamers of all types (just so long as they live in Manhattan) to go outside and play some big world meatspace games.

The third annual Come Out & Play Festival once again attempts to turn New York City into a playground. In 2006, when the festival first hit NYC, gamers were given a chance to play life-sized Pong and real world Pac-Man, among a list of other interesting games. This year's list of games features two dozen ways to play outside including Humatar, which uses Xbox 360 controllers, headphones and Nerf guns to turn people into real-world avatars.

In Humatar one set of players controls a second set with the use of the Xbox 360 controllers. They don't get into specifics on the site, but since headphones are worn by the avatars I assume that moving the thumbstick sends out audio commands to the avatars. Sounds like it could be fun.

Hit up the site to check out the full list of games and Manhattan this weekend to play them.

Come Out & Play Festival 2008

Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS will be making an appearance at Toys R Us stories nationwide on June 14, giving gamers a chance to go hands on with the portable rhythm game.

“There is no better place to introduce Guitar Hero: On Tour than Toys“R”Us,” said Karen Dodge, Senior Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer Toys“R”Us, U.S. “Millions of kids are looking forward to jamming with their friends while playing the first portable version of Guitar Hero, and we’re thrilled that Activision is partnering with Toys“R”Us to bring this special sneak peek experience to our customers.”

People checking out the game at the toy store will also have a chance to get a free Guitar Hero sticker, dog tag and temporary tattoo and anyone who reserves a copy of the game, due out on June 22, will receive a Guitar Hero pick-stylus.

Full details on the jump.

Darkrai At Toys R US This Weekend

OMG, fellow Pokémon junkies, it is soDarkrai time.

Pokémon USA will be offering the spooky little nightmare-guy at Toys R Us stores nationwide from noon to 4 PM on May 31st and June 1st. That's this weekend, so grab your DS and your Diamond or Pearl game and get ready to line up.

...I sound dangerously excited about this, I know. Hey, I ain't ashamed. Full details after the jump.

Stringer: PS3 No Longer On "Life Support"

Sony's "climbing up the mountain," said Sony Corporation CEO Howard Stringer at The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital D6 event earlier today.

Stringer also admitted the PlayStation 3 had been "on life support for a while," but told the event attendees that things were looking rosy for the console now - promising a boost for the PS3 thanks to Grand Theft Auto IV and titles coming down the pipeline that he says will make good use of the PS3's processing power.

He also talked about how PS3 helped Sony win the Blu-ray war:

The EA Drinks: From The Cachaca Left 4 Dead to the Mass Effect Lotus Vodka

When Electronic Arts takes over a bar, they don't just throw up a bunch of gaming kiosks and a couple of Communist slogan-themed logos, they also come up with their very own list of game-themed drinks.

Here's the breakdown:

Battlefield: Bad Company: Herradura silver tequila, cointreau and fresh squeezed lime served on the rocks.

Battlefield: Heroes: Hendrick's gin, fresh rasberry, cucumber, shaken and strained, served up with a splash of kumquat dry soda.

Left 4 Dead: Fresh muddled lime wedges, mango puree, cachaca, shaken and poured over rocks.

Warhammer Online: Oronoco rum, freshly squeezed lime, simple syrup and muddled cucumbers, shaken hard poured over ice.

Dead Space: Maker's Mark, carpano antica sweet vermouth, disaronno amaretto, served up with a cherry.

Rock Band: Drink like a rockstar, Skyy citrus, fresh lemon and lime, served sparkling in a tall glass.

Skate It: Jameson, fresh lemon, ginger beer, a touch of blood orange bitters and pomegranate.

Mass Effect: Fresh basil, Lotus vodka and fresh lime juice served straight up.

Before the whole shebang took off last night and Electronic Arts kicked off their Spring Break Games Day, I managed to sneak my way onto a computer loaded up with Battlefield Heroes to check out a bit of gameplay and mess around with the game's interesting customization settings.

DICE's free-to-play upcoming shooter features Team Fortress 2-like graphics and a definite Battlefield Lite feel, but what really captured my interest was the game's use of customization.

Skate It Wii Hands-On Impressions

Standing on the tiny white stage set up in front of the back bar of Supperclub last night, a drink sloshing nearly out of its glass in one hand, Skate It executive producer Scott Blackwood promised not to use the phrase "built from the ground up" while explaining his game.

Boo me off the stage, he insisted, if I do... and then he proceeded to use the phrase.

"If it's not built from the ground up, is it a port? Not really."

Blackwood explained that before Black Box started their work on the Wii and DS versions of Skate, they had to figure out if the controls would work.

"It we couldn't get that great flick it feel, we weren't going to do it," he said.

Later on, while trying out the Wii version of the game for myself, I was told the team spent three to four months working on getting those controls right and for the most part, it felt like they succeeded.

Battleforge Impressions

At first blush Battleforge appears to be an amalgamation of Magic the Gather and Warcraft, a PC game that combines the strategy and pacing of a well put together real-time strategy game with the collectible nature and infrastructure-free feel of a trading card game.

During last night's EA event Richard Leinfellner, executive producer of the game and video president of developer Phenomic, walked the press through a quick co-op battle.

While Battleforge has single player and versus modes, it appears that it's really, at its heart, a cooperative game, supporting up to 12 players.

To play, players first build a deck from the cards they've collected by working through the campaign, which rewards gamers with new cards, trading online or buying booster packs.

Once the deck has been built, players use these cards to summon their armies, there are no production buildings or resource management, instead you fight to capture territories, which gives you the ability to summon larger and larger creatures.

Left 4 Dead Hands-On Impressions

Valve was on hand at last night's EA festivities to give attendees a chance to check out zombie survival shooter Left 4 Dead. In the game you play as one of four characters co-oping through a city ravaged with a plague of zombies, trying to shoot, melee and run your way from safe room to safe room.

The game starts off with your and three other players on a roof top behind a locked door. A nearby table is stocked with a selection of weapons, ammo and health packs. In the map we played, the first room had molotov cocktails, submachine guns, pistols and shotguns. Each player can equip a health pack, molotov cocktail, handgun and primary weapon: I went with the submachine gun.

Staying true to the zombie formula, your ammo is very limited, so survival isn't as much about clearing a room as getting through it.

Electronic Arts Gets "Back to Basics" with Gamer's Day

Wii Fit Invades Central Park Later This Month

Nintendo and celebrity trainer Ashley Borden will be taking over a chunk of Central Park on May 19 to celebrate the release of Wii Fit.

Nintendo plans to have a slew of Wii Balance Boards on hand to do live demos and for everyone person who goes through the demo, Nintendo will make a $5 donation (up to $25,000) to the American Heart Association.

The event will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Merchants' Gate in Central Park, at the intersection of Central Park West, Central Park South, Columbus Circle and Broadway.

The Wii Fit party will also double as a celebration of National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, which happens to be in May.