The early airing schedule is:

July 29th - Louisville, Kentucky (Event: June 21st-24th)
August 19th - Dallas, Texas (Event: July 5th-8th)
November 17th - Los Angeles, California (Event: October 18th-21st)
December 15th - Jönköping, Sweden Saturday (Event: November 29th-December 2nd)

CBS plans to air footage of WSVG events on its CBS Sports Spectacular program. I know I'll be watching other people play video games instead of actually playing them myself for literally minutes at a time. Michael McWhertor

CBS and WSVG Team Up for 4 TV Shows [WSVG, via 1UP]

Assassin's Creed is up for awards for Outstanding Real Time Visuals in a Video Game and Outstanding Pre-Rendered Visuals in a Video Game.

The PS3 version of Fight Night Round 3 is up for Outstanding Real Time Visuals in a Video Game, the only competition for Assassin's Creed.

Both Hellgate: London and Warhammer: Mark of Chaos are finalists for the other award with Assassin's Creed.

The VES Awards will be handed out at the Kodak Grand Ballroom in Hollywood. Brian Crecente

Assassin's Creed, Fight Night R3 earn effects honors [Gamespot]

Brian Crecente

Well, kids, I'm out of the next-gen ghetto. I got my HDTV running, my PS3 hooked up, my 6.1 surround sound system installed and I'm ready to SPEND SPEND SPEND! Let's see what's new and notable this week, so I can fill up my house with more games.

Kirby Squeak Squad (DS)
Kirby returns to traditional platforming, but now with stylus bonus control.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP)
The proper stealth Metal Gear game players demanded.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)
All new, dual player Castlevania adventure — now with less horrid cover art!

Star Wars: Lethal Alliance (PSP)
Third person action adventure featuring those lovely Twi'Leks. Mmmm. Headtails.

Star Trek Legacy (PC)
Real time Starfleet combat spanning every generation.

Fight Night Round 3 (PS3)
Improved port of the gorgeous EA boxer.

Full Auto 2 Battlelines (PS3)
Sega jumps ship with this PS3 exclusive combat racer sequel.

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 (PSP)
Dudes get sweaty and half-naked, then punch eachother. You know the drill.

Wait, I finally get a proper console set up and the only thing I want to buy are portable titles? Why am I made to suffer? What are you more fortunate kids getting this week? Michael McWhertor

Fight Night Round 3 hits the Playstation 3 on Dec. 12, EA Sports announced today. Besides updated graphics, the PS3 version of the game will include a new Get in the Ring, first-person mode.

Get in the Ring mode allows gamers to experience the fight through the eyes of the boxer from the moment they step into the ring until someone is KO'd. The unique first person view can be played on or offline, throughout the career mode or in single bouts. For the first time ever, gamers will truly experience the sensation of the sport with different visual and audio effects occurring throughout the fight such as ear ringing, restricted vision, flashes of bright light, color shifts and blur effects that simulate the sense and feeling of getting punched.

The PS3 version will also have ESPN Integration, which deliver the latest scores and news with streaming radio, ESPN motion, live ticker updates, and ESPNEWS; and new split-screen fights. Sounds kinda cool, though not overwhelmingly different than the 360 version. I wonder if EA will be releasing a first-person update for the 360? Brian Crecente

The kids at IGN got a scoop from the team at EA Chicago who dropped details on Fight Night Round 3 for PS3:

What makes it so powerful and exciting is that the experience changes as the boxer's health deteriorates. We've captured the sensation and feel of taking punches by implementing a number of different effects such as ear ringing, simulated loss of hearing, and restricted vision that mimics the effects of eye swelling and damage as well as flashes of bright light, color shifts and blur to give players that sense and feeling of getting punched.

Amazing. I've been punched before and this all sounds very familiar. IGN has tons of pics from the PS3 version, which is looking hot. $600 hot? That's up to you! Michael McWhertor

Fight Night Round 3: The PS3 Interview

Sonic Riders (GC, PS2, Xbox)
Sega's second console attempt at racing Sonic characters will hopefully perform better than Sonic R, but will hedgehog fans buy into extreme airboarding? Tons of screens and videos are at the official site.

Toca Race Driver 3 (PC, PS2, Xbox)
Codemasters ambitious catch all racer has all the numbers: 35 racing disciplines, over 100 championships, on 80-plus tracks. Great car models, extremely creepy human models. *shudder*

Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll (DS)
Sega brings monkey ball touching to the Nintendo DS. Work your simian ball around the hair-pullingly hard courses in true 3D. Same hot monkey ball action, just on-the-go!

Fight Night Round 3 (PS2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360)
EA Sports newest Fight Night looks like the best yet. The 360 version has been a long standing graphics showcase, with stunning character models and everyone's favorite new effect: sweat!

Everquest: Prophecy of Ro & Everquest II: Kingdom of Sky (PC)
The eleventh (eleventh!!) expansion pack for the original and the second expansion pack for EQII both ship this week, to our nations addicted shut-ins. More items, higher level caps, more character customization; if you play EQ, you know what to expect by now.

I also received a single email accusing me of going off half-cocked. So, to be fair, I went back and set up a second account and this time wrote down the "Subscribe to Play Online" agreement word for word.

I also typed up the ESPN Sponsorship agreement for your perusal. I didn't type up the 22 page Privacy Policy from ESPN which says things like: ESPN can share your personal information with other subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company and third parties so they they can send you promotional material. (They can do this through email, mail or "other means"... like phone perhaps.)

What this all boils down to is that, ESPN offers to pay your $2 fee in return for having the right to contact you with offers and the right to give you information to just about anyone. While there are two examples of the offers that ESPN can hit you up with, there is nothing in the terms that says they can't also send you offers for AOL subscriptions, good deals on Rolex watches or even miracle grow for your penis.

Hit the jump for the full agreements.

Subscribe to Play Online

Thanks to ESPN, you can play this EA Sports product online as part of EA Nation at no charge! By accepting the ESPN sponsorship, I will allow ESPN to pay my $2.00 online subscription for this game and understand that ESPN may contact me with offers and promotions such as subscriptions to ESPN the MAgazine and ESPN Insider.

Pay by credit card
ESPN Sponsored
Quit

ESPN Sponsorship

By clicking Accept, I agree to ESPN's sponsorship. I understand that if I am at least 18, ESPN will contact me with offers and promotions and I am authorizing EA to share my EA account membership information with ESPN in the United States. ESPN's use of my account information is subject to the ESPN Privacy Policy, which I have read and I accept.

Imagine my shock when a message popped up telling me that I had to either pay $2 or give my privacy away to ESPN and whoever they feel like selling my details to, if I wanted to play online.

I shit you not, it's a requirement for ALL online play in this game. How insane is that. Granted $2 is next to nothing, unless you don't have a credit card. If you don't have a credit card, it's either give ESPN your info (including email) or don't play.

I sure hope Sony doesn't continue down this ugly path. Imagine having to give up your email and, in essence, signing up for spam, just to play SOCOM 4 online.

I don't know if this is a Sony or an EA idea, but it stinks to high heaven. Although my version of this game is a retail final, it didn't come with packaging, so I don't know if they let buyers know ahead of time they have to pay an extra $2 or opt-in to email delivered advertising.

I'll see what I can find out on Monday. In the meantime let me know what you think of this idea.

He spent about an hour answering readers questions and discussing the Xbox 360 game.

You can read the full transcript at the link below.

Kudo Chat Transcript [Free Play]

Who am I kidding? I'm not buying this! Go nuts, EA! Put Grimace in there as an unlockable so the Burger King can TKO his purple ass!

Fight Night Round 3 Images [Gamespot]

I'll be hosting a live chat with Fight Night Round 3's Executive Producer Kudo Tsunoda on Feb. 17 over on Freeplay.

It starts at 10:30 a.m. Mountain Time and I'm told only like 50 people can get into the chat room. So hit up the link next Friday to get you chance to ask the man behind the boxing game a question.

Feature: Chat with Kudo [Freeplay]

Back Again
Dilated Peoples

Crook Dancin
Slic One

Don t Stop
Roc C

Itz Nothin
Young Roscoe

Knock Em Down
L.T.D. A.

Never Gonna Get It
Sean Biggs feat. Akon & Topic

Night Night
Consequence

Round One
Kray Twinz feat. D&G

The Arrival
Atmosphere

The Best Out
Dipset

Uh-Oh
Brasco

Wanna Know
Obie Trice

I've just spent the past hour or so beating the living crap out of Roy Jones Junior in Fight Night Round 3. First, I have to say how very annoying it is to play such a fun and addictive demo of a game that you know won't be coming out for a bit.

I know it's free, but I really wish there was more than just the two guys and one fight to play through.

Although I enjoyed the game a lot, and could tell there was a lot of game mechanics tweaking that went on for this next-gen boxing title, it wasn't without its issues.

Chief among them was the lack of power behind most but the deadliest shots. Often the announcer would say I had just delivered a "devastating blow" to my opponent when all I thought I had done was tapped him on the chin. I'm hoping that the demo is just lacking some of the visceral impact of the sport that was so well illustrated in the last title in the franchise.

Ironically, I though those blows that did demonstrate the power of my punches, namely the ones that knocked a guy on his ass, were a bit over the top. The sound effects sounded like someone taking a bone, tearing it from flesh and socket and then snapping it in half. It looked very cool, but the sound was just a little too much over the top to feel real.

For the most part the graphics were amazing, showing muscle flexing, cuts and blood. But there were some major issues with collision detection during replay, with one or both boxers disappearing entirely for a few seconds at a time. The replay also rarely seemed to match-up with what the announcer was saying.

The announcer's stock of phrases seemed very limited as well, but I'm guessing that's because the game is still under works.

Overall I really enjoyed playing the game, and look forward to getting my hands on the complete, and hopefully fully polished, version of the title come this Spring.

And thank you Microsoft for giving 360 Live members a chance to download playable demos for free. What a fantastic idea.

You got to hand it to Major Nelson, he's in Vegas right now up to his eyeballs in all things CES and he still took the time to post a quick item pointing out that you can now download the Fight Night Road 3 demo on Xbox Live Marketplace.

I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, mostly because I'm sitting here writing this, but rest assured as soon as I'm done I'm off to start the download.

Fight Night Round 3 Demo [Major Nelson]