"This universe already exists - we just have to open a door." So said DC Universe Online creative director Chris Cao, presenting the game at E3 this week. His team at SOE isn't creating their vision of the DC Universe. They're letting players create their own hero or villain and letting them come inside the DCU as envisioned by Jim Lee, one of the most successful comics artists of all time. You'll see Batman patrolling the streets of Gotham at night, and Superman flying through the skies of Metropolis, and if you're lucky you'll be able to fight with or against these iconic characters as you add your own chapter to the comic book world.

They've got decades of history, beloved characters, infamous villains and settings that some fans no so well they practically live there, but what sets DC Universe Online apart from other superhero MMO games?

The best thing about going to E3 are the little surprises - games you either didn't know about or hadn't paid attention to that simply knock you off your feet. Blue Omega Games' Damnation is just that sort of game. Due to be published by Codemasters for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, Damnation combines third-person shooting with acrobatics in a unique steampunk setting to create a game that has amazing potential, both online and off.

inFamous (no, spell checker, it's not my fault), for the PS3, looks to be Crackdown tied together with better graphics and a healthy dose of Deus Ex Machina. And while the game's tone and colour palette could probably do with a little lightening up, the nuts and bolts - you know, the parts where you electrify a car before throwing it off a train track at somebody - seem to be doing a good job of getting folks excited.

By Brian Crecente

Last night Harmonix made E3 history, hosting a private concert at LA's historic Orpheum Theater with The Who. Frontmen Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend took the stage to the thunderous applause of the more than 1,000 invited guests. The front six rows of the venue were packed with hand-picked VIP.

We landed a seat front-row center next to MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John, GameLife's Chris Kohler and analyst Michael Pachter thanks to a bit of VIP pass flashing and general running when the door opened.

When the lights flared up Townshend and Daltrey were joined by keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, bassist Pino Palladino, drummer Zak Starkey and guitarist Simon Townshend. The group worked through their music for an hour or two taking breaks to joke with the crowd and tease audience members.

At one point Townshend, who insisted on saying that Viacom was throwing the party, asked who in the audience was responsible for the color selection of the fret keys of the Rock Band guitars. When the designer, who was sitting in the front row, jumped up and waved his hands around, Townshend said the colors were awful.

Later Townshend said that everyone should buy their children the new Aerosmith Guitar Hero bundle, then a second later added, oh, that's the other one.

That's right, one of my bets came true. After the concert wrapped up a roadie throw out Starkey's drumsticks and I managed to snag one. Then, walking out of the venue I bumped into former AC/DC drummer Chris Slade and after talking to him for a few minutes, snagged a pic with him.
I think I can cross "best night ever" off my lists of things to do in my life.
Hit the jump to check out two very short video snippets of the group pumping out power rock. And then pause a moment for "it" which they totally killed with their curtain-dropping performance of Pinball Wizard.

Resident Evil 5's got to be one of the highlights of the show so far. It's been around for ages, I know, but it showed up at E3 this year ready to really show itself off, and as such has gone from "oh, this is barely concept art" to "oh, it's a game that you can play, and looks brilliant".

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.

Though it was announced last year at TGS, it's only now that we're getting our first real info on what Flower - a PSN title by thatgamecompany (ie the flOw guys) - is really all about. And...it's about flowers! Specifically, it's about guiding flower petals through a level by acting not as the flowers, but as the wind itself, picking up more and more petals as you progress. Sounds terribly soothing. The fact sheet touts a "Dynamically Adjusting Experience" controlled with simple Sixaxis tilting. If you're all hustled and bustled out by E3, relax by breathing deeply and checking out the screens below.

It's not often a product description like this comes along, so I'm going to let it speak for itself:

Frantic and fun, Fat Princess pits two hordes of players against each other in comic medieval battle royale. Your goal is to rescue your beloved princess from the enemy dungeon. There’s a catch though: your adversary has been stuffing her with food to fatten her up and it’s going to take most of your army working together to carry her back across the battlefield.

Yes. It's 16v16, online carnage, as you fight over - and drag - a morbidly obese woman across the battlefield. There's 10 maps, five character classes, and one writer's captured heart.

So what do you get with Wii Sports Resort, along with the new, more accurate Wii remote? Tons of puppy goodness, that's what! In case tossing a frisbee to a dog isn't your idea of the perfect afternoon, here are eleven screens from Nintendo's next big collection of little things, only some of which seeth with puppy power.

Been a long time since we saw/heard anything about Castle Crashers. Been too long. So it's great today to see some new screens for the game (including a couple featuring a Behemoth cameo), which while still without a release date, should hopefully be with us soon.

Pandemic have today released some new screens for their Lord of the Rings-does-Battlefront effort, LotR: Conquest. While it's nice to see the game already looking more polished, the decision to try and re-enact the film's major set-pieces in the screens is only going to set people up for disappointment. Those battles were fought by tens of thousands of combatants. This game's "only" going to have around 150. Which is a lot, don't get us wrong, but we're dealing in terms of scale here, people.

Considering how great the first game was, and how great that last trailer was, you'd think Mercenaries 2 would be coasting along with a much higher profile than it is right now. But it's not. It's just kind of...plodding along. Oh well, what can you do, but look at these screens and get yourself excited.

Screenshots can be a messy business in this...business. Bullshots, Madden 06, Killzone 2, etc etc. But there's no doubting the validity of these new Fable 2 screens. They mightn't look the best when viewed in this gallery (or when compared to other shots you'll see this week), but hey, at least there'll be no let-downs when you drop in the disc as October rolls around.

Now being published by Activision (Bizarre's new masters), Geometry Wars 2 is looking great. Also looking exactly the same as the first one (though perhaps with a touch more pastel hues), but then, I guess that's what they were after. Messing with near-perfection tends only to lead to trouble. Geometry Wars 2 will be available on Xbox Live Arcade on August 6.

Well that was eventful, wasn't it? While my internet connection wasn't exactly there, I was side by side with Crecente throughout the entire EA press conference live blog, immortalizing the event in pictures. From Will Wright's Spore presnetation to the golfer with nicer legs than Tiger Woods, aging basketball players to id's Rage, if they showed it, I desperately took pictures of it, oftentimes cursing at my camera, the presenters, and Crecente under my breath. Here it is, all at once, all for you.

One of the worst-kept secrets of Microsoft's E3 address today was the announcement of iNiS' Lips, a karaoke game for the 360. While it may not have SingStar's suave, European sex appeal, it certainly looks to have a charm of its own, and including motion-sensing mics and the ability to use your own songs (Note: "The functionality of songs played from personal music collections will vary") are nice touches. As for the above shot, well, I always said the first of these games to include Bust A Move would get my money. I'm a man of my word.

Five new Patapon 2 screens. Count 'em if you want. But know anyone who goes beyond counting, and starts chanting "pata", "pata", "pata" while browsing will be promptly shown the door.

Midway has released new screens of Wheelman, which it describes as a "highly anticipated open world driving game starring Vin Diesel as an undercover agent and highly-skilled driver who must infiltrate the Barcelona underworld." They also called the screens "breathtaking" so we're not sure which parts of the description to believe. You know it's next-gen because it's got sparks to spare. I'm going hands-on with the thing next week at E3 and really hope that no one who will be present from Midway is reading this post. If so, Brian Crecente made me write it like this.