Throughout the game, players get various devices to help them out, such as gizmos that make the hunters turn and walk the other way, invisibility glasses, and sonic stunners, that freeze hunters in place for 2 minutes. In essence, it's the best game of tag ever created. The entire first episode is yours to watch at the link below. Tell us what you think!

Watch Sci Fi's Cha$e Premier Episode Here [Sci Fi Channel]

This is how Sony will be flogging LittleBigPlanet across Europe - three short TV spots showing off some of the more creative uses of the level creation tools.

In The Cullen Family Planet, Murray shows us the LBP level he made for his two sons. Remember - the family that explodes dogs together, stays together.

Two more after the jump.

The Janice Planet could spawn a new genre - revenge modding. "We start off inside Janice's heart, which as you can see is mostly frozen..."

With The Heavy Metal Mullet Planet, the clue is very much in the title. Guide a hair-metal Sackboy to the stage by SWINGING ON THE MULLET OF A ROBOT DINOSAUR GUITARIST.

Just take a few moments to savor that last sentence.

The show will broadcast tonight (Wednesday 17th September) at 11:30 PM EST on Comedy Central.

You can check out a video of Stephen performing Charlene, in the actual nineteen eighties. It in no way resembles David Brent's Free Love On The Free Love Freeway, at least not in any way that is actionable in court.

RB2 on Colbert Report Tonight [Rockband.com] [Image]

The plugin uses multimedia sharing tech from Dyyno to allow viewers to switch between four different character POVs - Druid, Hunter, Warrior and Warlock.

This is the second such broadcast via Xfire — this event is expected to take up to four hours from start to finish. Numb bums all round, then, and this definitely qualifies as niche viewing. Mind you, 4,000 viewers is comparable to some bottom-feeding cable channels. If the tech was there, would you sit down and watch a WoW raid in prime time?

Xfire to broadcast WoW's Sunwell Plateau raid live [Masively]

My prediction? Ken gets ironically eaten by several wild animals who have never before appeared together hunting the same game.

Ken's Bio Page For Survivor: Gabon [CBS.com - Thanks RLJohn!]

"I don't think it's quite done, but I heard that on the wind last year that they were trying to do it," said Knepper. "You know the whole thing with an escape, they were working on a videogame where you plot your own escape from prison."

Brash plans Prison Break [Gamespot UK via Videogamer.com]

Subtitled Retro Game Master DVDs seek distributor [Siliconera]

The show will also include the latest trailer for Midway's TNA iMPACT!: The Videogame, a Don King hosted bit of footage from Don King Presents Prizefighter and a look at some new gameplay from the Bourne Conspiracy.

The show airs tonight at midnight... or is that tomorrow morning at midnight? It will also be popping up on GameTrailers.com and the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Wow, this writers' strike needs to end, like now. It's one thing for Ellen DeGeneres to highlight her love of Guitar Hero by jamming through a song on her show. But now she's roping in kids from YouTube to play a video game.

At least that's what I thought before watching the video, but I totally changed my mind after seeing 12-year-old Kevin Shen wailing on expert in the video. I think it's wonderful that Ellen is giving such positive press to video games and Shen, he got to stand in front of an audience of screaming women and pretend to play guitar. Pretty kick ass.

They did send us some very specific guidelines. Here's what the black smoke does. Here's some information on the Black Rock... They were very specific about how far we could go and what we could say about it. That was one where they were very, very specific: 'It does this. It does this.' Or they wouldn't say it does 'this' or 'this.'

There's no hiding the fact that McWhertor loves the art style of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. In fact just the other day I believe I overheard the two discussing plans to elope. Love of a game is a beautiful thing, even when narrated by the gravel-voiced pitchman in a television commercial. Sorry Mike, your secret is out. Better still it's out in a sneak peek of a commercial that hasn't even aired yet.

Regis with a mullet? Kelly belting out Mississippi Queen? No this isn't the an annual crack-fueled Live With Regis and Kelly Christmas Party, it's the recent appearance of Rock Band on the show. Kelly's got some mean pipes.

When it comes to Hollywood gamers, sure, Vin Diesel has his own game company, Tigon Studios, but I've never met two more die hard gamers than the stars of NBC's hit action comedy, "Chuck," which also happens to be a show that features a lot of games. It's not a coincidence that Zachary Levi's Chuck and Joshua Gomez's Morgan are gamers in the show. They're the reason Gears of War was featured in the first two episodes and that other games have become a staple of the show.

"We're both HUGE Gears of War fans," said Gomez. "Halo was Halo...it will always be that, but as soon as I played the first Halo is how I feel about Gears. I anticipate the sequel to Gears like I anticipated the sequel to Halo. It's going to be tough to follow up on that. I understand why Halo kind of dipped. I don't know if Halo 2 could have ever lived up to the expectations, because they were so high, and I kind of feel like there's going to be a similar thing with Gears. I've taken a lot of heat from a lot of people because Gears was so hyped and so huge of a game, but to me I thought it lived up to it. And multiplayer-wise, that game is so much more up my alley. I actually prefer the smaller four-on-four combat because then I knew who I was playing with and you could communicate and I thought there was a lot more strategy and things like that to it."

Gomez said that a lot of the video game references in the show's dialog comes from ad-libbing, because the writers of the show aren't gamers, themselves.

"Exactly, that's totally me and Zach doing our thing and we try to throw in game jargon wherever we can," said Gomez. "On the Call of Duty 4 episode, I said, 'Come on, Chuck, I need a snipe to cover my back,' and the writers were like, 'Huh?' But we got it in there. I think we need to get them Geek 101 lessons sometimes."

Unlike Levi, who'd love to do a video game voice, Gomez has dabbled in game work. In fact, he can be heard in one of the best games of this year, BioShock, as well as in the upcoming Turok from Disney Interactive.

"I did some work on some Final Fantasy games, Call of Duty, Armored Core, and I got some stuff that's still coming out like the new Turok game," said Gomez. "I come from a commercial and voiceover background, which is how I made my living in New York City before coming to LA."

Gomez brought a couple of Slicers to life in BioShock, as well as PigSkin, that football helmet-wearing freak that "was pushed a little too hard by his father." Before stepping into the booth on these games, Gomez gets to geek out on character art of the game, as well as video, sometimes. And as a die hard gamer, that's really cool for him, especially since he was a fan of System Shock.

"I thought BioShock was phenomenal and the story was so amazing and the actual emotional ties that I have to it, which is what I love about where gaming is going," explained Gomez. "You can actually convey emotions now and get attached to characters and really tell a story, which is really fun for me, obviously, because that's the thing I love about acting and doing all that stuff. Games are now this other medium, which I happen to be addicted to and really love, that are so deep now. I just thought BioShock was a beautiful game—the art style was just up my alley, that whole world, and the '20s theme and music...that was great."

When it comes to being on a hit TV show on NBC, most of Gomez' gamer friends are genuinely more impressed when he gets voice acting gigs on games like BioShock and Turok than when he gets Hollywood gigs. The hit show and the grueling pre-Hollywood writers' strike schedule, made it tough for Gomez to do anything but game.

"I barely had time to go out and be in public," said Gomez. "On my days off I just have a love affair with my couch and my 360. I'm like, 'Oh, this is heaven. I have nothing to do for 12 hours but play videogames and maybe drink a beer.'"

When he does go out, Gomez is recognized a lot more often.

"People will come up and say, 'Hey, you're in Chuck!' and you're like, 'Whoa. Yeah. Hey, what's up?' and it's great when they say, 'I love that show!' I always thank God they're not saying, 'I hate you.' That's never good."

Cliffy B is among the millions of fans of "Chuck," which will be back in 2008 with more action, comedy and videogame placement. In the meantime, Gomez, who does game with Levi, will have plenty of time to do what he loves—game.

Game of the Year BioShock Halo 3 Mass Effect The Orange Box

Best Shooter
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Halo 3
The Orange Box

Best Action Game
Assassin's Creed
God of War
Super Mario Galaxy
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Best Rhythm Game
Guitar Hero Encore: Rock the 80s
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Jam Sessions
Rock Band

Best RPG
Eternal Sonata
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Mass Effect
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3

Best Driving Game
Colin McRae: DiRT
Forza Motorsport 2
Need for Speed ProStreet
Project Gotham Racing 4

Best Military Game
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
World in Conflict

Studio of the Year
Bungie Studios
Harmonix
2K Boston / 2K Australia
Valve

Best Graphics
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Crysis
Mass Effect

Breakthrough Technology
Crysis
Halo 3
Portal
Rock Band

Best PS3 Game
Heavenly Sword
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Warhawk

Best Wii Game
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Paper Mario

Best Xbox 360 Game
BioShock
Halo 3
Mass Effect
The Orange Box

Best PC Game
BioShock
Crysis
The Orange Box
World in Conflict

Best Individual Sports Game
skate
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Virtua Tennis 3

Best Team Sports Game
Madden NFL 08
NBA 2K8
NHL 08
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007

Best Handheld Game
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show
The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar
Naruto: Rise of a Ninja
The Simpsons Game
John Woo Presents Stranglehold

Best Soundtrack
BioShock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Rock Band

Best Original Score
BioShock
God of War 2
Halo 3
Mass Effect

Best Multiplayer Game
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Halo 3
Rock Band
The Orange Box

Most Addictive Game Fueled by Dew
Halo 3
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Orange Box
Wii Sports

Today the Discovery Channel announced that it's going to air a five-hour prime time documentary entitled "Rise of the Videogame." It covers the entire history of the industry and has interviews with the likes of Ralph Baer, David Jaffe, Will Wright, Peter Molyneux and even some now-obscure names like Ken and Roberta Williams, the founders of Sierra Online. I should disclose that I wrote the treatment for this show and served as a producer on it alongside World of Wonder (the company behind Inside Deep Throat). As opposed to a standard "History Of" documentary, the series takes a look at how the social and political climate shaped games and game designers in the 70s through present day. The first episode will premiere on Wednesday, November 21 at 8 PM (ET/PT) with new episodes to follow every Wednesday night through December 19th. If you want more details on each episode, you can read the press release after the jump.

Discovery Channel Examines the History and Impact of Videogames in New Special RISE OF THE VIDEOGAME

Put down the joystick in favor of the remote control and join Discovery Channel for a pixel-by-pixel exploration of the history of videogames in the new, five-part special RISE OF THE VIDEOGAME premiering Wednesday, November 21 at 8 PM (ET/PT).

RISE OF THE VIDEOGAME captures the (r)evolution of videogames from the early 1970s and the days when Atari ruled through today, examining how the videogame industry has changed and how videogame entertainment is created, produced, marketed and distributed.

Level One
U.S. Premiere
Wednesday, November 21 at 8 PM (ET/PT)

The videogame started not with a bang but with a ping. Unlike other forms of entertainment, videogames turn the viewer into a player who actively shapes the outcome of their experience. At first video games and the creators were as misunderstood by the public as rock & roll in its infancy. But those closest to the videogame business persevered and never lost sight of the ability videogames had to become a dominant form of entertainment.

Level Two
U.S. Premiere
Wednesday, November 28 at 8 PM (ET/PT)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, instead of controlling spaceships and tennis rackets, videogame technology allowed players to command recognizable characters with real faces and back stories. This paralleled the importance of the hero's journey that was popular in movies of the time like "Rocky" and "Star Wars," as well as mirrored the rise of individualism and conservative meritocracy, where one man can make a difference. Game creators were liberated to create more complex videogames with heroic journeys, and Japanese creators like Shigeru Miyamoto rose to prominence with star characters Super Mario, Luigi and Zelda.

Level Three
U.S. Premiere
Wednesday, December 5 at 8 PM (ET/PT)

It was a foreign concept to early game designers but with games like "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" and "DOOM", video games grew from their primitive 2-D roots into richly detailed 3-D worlds. These groundbreaking 3-D games led the industry down new paths both thrilling and troubling. Critics questioned if these games were getting too real, too violent and too addictive. For the first time game designers had to grapple with tough questions.

Level Four
U.S. Premiere
Wednesday, December 12 at 8 PM (ET/PT)

Since the invention of the computer man has feared "the machine" and its ability to think. But a computer's unique computational power has also led to the development of seminal games that are unpredictable, intelligent and malleable. "God games" like SimCity and Civilization simulate entire worlds and let players experiment with cause and effect. Other designers have used artificial intelligence to create lifelike characters and worlds that shape themselves to each player. And some games are so technologically advanced that they have become tools for learning, or better yet, creative expression.

Level Five
U.S. Premiere
Wednesday, December 19 at 8 PM (ET/PT)

Can a computer game make you cry? With the introduction of PlayStation 2's "emotion engine" in 1999 game developers had the technology to enable deep, moving stories that tugged at gamers' heartstrings. The rise of online virtual world games added another emotional dimension, letting players make real connections (including marriages) through a virtual game and helping them escape a world rife with violence and terror.
.

...more in-depth information about the game, exclusive interviews and exciting behind-the scenes footage.

Mass Effect on SCI FI [scifi]

Tonight's, tomorrow morning's, episode of Game Head will be packed to the gills with details on the upcoming Simpsons game, including a sit down in The Simpsons writers' room at Gracie Films with Matt Selman, Time Long and Matt Warburton to discuss the more than 8,000 lines of talk that went into making the game funny.

More importantly, perhaps, the show will be premiering the first footage of EA's Dead Space.

On a semi-related note, I take back anything bad that I may have once said about Pam. She does deserve Jim and I hope they are very happy together. Click the picture for a mega version.

The Office Takes Out a "Local Ad" [via joystiq]

Eat it, world. Mario is as big as Mr. Clean.

Mario on South Park [gonintendo]

We posted earlier this week about Hollywood's "concern" that Halo 3 is killing their revenue. But what we totally missed a few weeks back was a piece in Variety about the much more likely scenario that Halo 3 is in fact killing TV viewership.

The simultaneous debuts of "Halo 3" and the fall TV season was purely coincidental, of course, but TV execs can't be thrilled that millions of vidgame fans, most of whom are in the elusive young male demo, were occupied elsewhere — by the biggest vidgame launch of the year.

And while it's impossible to draw any definite conclusions, there were signs of young men's absence from the TV dial Sept. 25, "Halo 3's" rollout day.

Fox's hit "House," for instance, saw a 36% boost in female teens from last year's premiere, but was flat among teenage boys. CW's "Reaper," which skewed young and male among those who did tune in, had a soft bow in the same timeslot.

Me? I still find about the same amount of time to watch television, which is maybe an hour a day. I spend typically a little less free time playing games. For me it's about what I can do in the moments before I fall asleep, and so far gaming doesn't have a sleep timer.

Videogame sales glow as fall TV springs to life [Variety]

Despite his frequent misstatements and apparent ignorance on the subject, despite including gay porn in a legal filing, despite his legal harassment of numerous publications, lawyers, judges and anyone else who seems to disagree with him, Jack Thompson manages to get himself on television again this morning as an "expert."

During his appearance on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Thompson discussed the evils of churches using Halo 3 to minister to a youth audience. And of course he couldn't help but get some facts wrong.

Hit the jump to watch the video and read the relevant Jack quotes, which I've dissected. It does do my heart good to see that he wasn't nearly as over the top this time around as the last time we watched him. Maybe he decided to be a little more careful now that he knows we're checking out what he's saying instead of just accepting his statements as 100 percent truth. Too bad TV talk shows haven't learned to do the same thing.

The Science on this is very settled.
APA in 2005 "found that as a class of people, adolescence and teens that play these violent games become more aggressive, some of them to the point of violence like we saw in Cleveland yesterday.

Let's break this down into two parts:

The science:
While members of the American Psychological Association did release a report in 2005 stating that video games can increase aggressive behavior in children and adolescents, it was actually based on a review of the past 20 years of research.

The Swedish Institute of Public Health did a similar study in 2005, reviewing 30 studies. Their findings? That video games are in fact good for you and that there is "limited evidence for video and computer game playing causing children to choose more aggressive toys - but no evidence for links between video and computer game playing and aggressive feelings, thoughts or behavior, despite these outcomes being well studied."

The Swedish study also points out that there have been six other similar reviews with half showing no connection and half showing a connection. But in those that found a connection "the authors do not distinguish between studies with different designs or between different outcomes, but deal with all the material together. This means that low quality studies influence the conclusions more than can be justified"

So there you have it despite Jack's claims the "science" of this has in no way been settled.

Cleavland shooting's connection to video games:
As shocking as it is that Jack would try to blame a school shooting on video games, there seems to be no evidence that this is true.

Accused shooter 14-year-old Asa H. Coon was described by a friend as someone who "worshiped the devil" and Fox News has reported that he had a criminal and domestic-violence history. No mention of gameplay though.

You Have a Legal Problem
"Clearly any church that has kids 11, 12, 13-years of age that come in and play a Mature rated game, that shouldn't be sold or played by anyone under 17, has created a liability problem."

Not so fast Jack. While the ESRB rating system does serve as a guide to help consumers make informed decisions about the appropriateness of video games for children and the family, like with the movie rating system there is no law to back it up.

Dissecting Jack's Lies [Kotaku]

One of NBC's shaky pilots this season is a show called Chuck. In it Chuck Bartowski accidentally downloads the countries top secrets into his brain... whoops. Of course now Chuck has to transform from computer geek to spy to help save the world, weekly.

And what better way to quickly identify a nerd than to slap a copy of PC Gamer in his hands. Right? [Thanks Drew]

PCG's prime-time cameo [PC Gamer]

Reader Sylient points out that the South Park homage to World of Warcraft, Make Love, Not Warcraft, won the 2007 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for programming less than one hour). As a fellow Coloradoan and gamer let me be nowhere near the first to congratulate Trey Parker, Matt Stone and his team for the much deserved award.

Hit up the exclusive snippet of Make Love Not Warcraft commentary in the clip above to get a taste of how the creative process worked in the now award-winning episode.

Microsoft and the BBC are in talks about selling BBC television as downloadable content via the Xbox Live Marketplace when the Video service hits the UK, the Sunday Times reports. Last year the BBC signed an agreement with Microsoft to explore ways of developing its digital services.

"We are working diligently on multiple fronts to make it happen," said Ross Honey, senior director for media at Microsoft's content and partner strategy group. "The BBC is a great content provider."

The story goes on to say that they are also in talks with "several other European media companies," but doesn't name them.

BBC courted for Xbox link [Times Online, via Xboer.tv]

I know Sony announced that the Playstation 3's Xross Media Bar was going to be invading televisions awhile back now, but this is the first time I've seen it in action. While I think the Playstation 3 has a lot going for it, the user interface tops my list as one of the neater things packed into the console.

These pictures showing a Sony receiver with a Xross Media Bar are kinda cool, but what I really liked was the Home Media Service with the XMB. Check out all of those movies.

Panasonic had their PT-AX200U high-def projector set-up off in a corner of their CEDIA booth. The projector has a 1280 by 720 resolution, 2,000 lumens brightness and 6000:1 contrast. More importantly the projector has a gaming mode which optimizes frame response to improve signal processing by a third. The setting also tweaks the contrast settings bringing out darker scenes and images that are typically over saturated.

To promote the projector, Panasonic flew in Major League Gamings Tom Taylor, aka Tsquared, to beat up on people in matches of Halo 2. I sat down with him and talked about the television and pro-gaming, peppering him with questions as he peppered me with pwnage. Seriously, it was embarassing.

Taylor said that he loves Halo 3, he seemed generally excited about the flexibility of map set-ups and the ability to capture replays in game. He plans on using it to help teach at his school for pro-gaming. He said there hasn't been any real talk yet about replacing Halo 2 with Halo 3 on the pro circuits, but that it's sort of a no-brainer because the two games online are so very similar.

The screen we were playing split-screen on seemed pretty crisp, but since it was Halo 2 it was hard to judge what a high-def game would look like.

Nintendo Canada came up with a pretty slick way to promote the Wii and Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree. The game is going to be integrated into the Are you Smarter Than a Canadian 5th Grader next season.

The game itself will be set up at the children's casting call, with its very own zone, allowing kids and their parents to play the game as they wait to audition. The game will also show up in the game show, with the $25,000 question being renamed the Big Brain Academy Question.

The game show will also include other "exciting hallmark features of the game" though the press release doesn't go into any details.

TORONTO, Aug. 14 /CNW/ - As casting and production of Global Television's
"Are You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th Grader?" gets underway for its Fall 2007
debut, a collaborative "dream team" has blazed a new trail in content
integration for promotion of Nintendo's Big Brain Academy(TM): Wii Degree.
The team, including Nintendo of Canada Ltd, Starcom, CanWest MediaWorks,
Insight Productions and Mark Burnett Productions, has created an innovative
package of integration elements. Throughout the five special episodes of "Are
You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th Grader?", fans nationwide will experience a
creative mix of campaign elements including program integration, product
placement, and associative branding, maximizing advertising opportunities
throughout the casting period and during the broadcast.
"Our goal was to find and build on the perfect opportunity for Nintendo
to reach its key demographic to encourage and guide families in the quest to
exercise their brains and smarts," said Shauna Chan, Strategy Director,
Starcom. "We saw 'Are You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th Grader?' as a natural
fit with the Big Brain Academy(TM): Wii Degree and all it's potential to reach
families in that crucial learning and interactive setting."
As presenter of "The Global Television Canadian 5th Grader Kid-Casting",
Nintendo's Big Brain Academy(TM): Wii Degree will showcase a massive presence
at the children's casting, including a Big Brain Academy Zone complete with
on-site Wii(TM) systems from Nintendo to allow kids and parents to interact
with the game in preparation for their auditions.
Throughout the Kid-Casting tour, globaltv.com will provide all of the
excitement of the show online by streaming updates from the Big Brain Academy
Warm Up Zone and providing a behind-the-scenes look at the casting process.
"We were immediately captivated when Starcom shared this strategic
opportunity with us," said Nintendo of Canada vice-president and general
manager, Ron Bertram. "It's been a great experience and we're delighted to
showcase the social, competitive fun that Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree can
offer to Kid-Casting participants, the Grade 5 panellists, and to viewers all
across Canada during the broadcast."
During the broadcast phase of "Are You Smarter Than A Canadian 5th
Grader?", audiences nationwide will be introduced to the Nintendo program
through direct broadcast integration. For example, '5th Grader's' pivotal
$25,000 question will be branded the "Big Brain Academy Question", and the
show will include other exciting hallmark features of the game.
"We are very pleased that all the partners understood the opportunity we
were looking to create and immediately shared the same vision for the
campaign," said Gaye McDonald, Vice President, Marketing Ventures - Brand
Partnership, CanWest MediaWorks. "For CanWest, the real excitement came in the
incredibly collaborative, creative and trusting approach this team took,
allowing us to move very fast out of the gate to make creative and effective
decisions and roll out what we anticipate will be one of the premier campaigns
this year."

Don't forget, X-Play's annual G-Phoria awards is airing tonight on G4. The show announced winners in a ton of different categories, but the twist is that the winners are selected by viewers, or at least the people who hit up the poll on their site.

Categories include:
• Best System
• Best New Character
• Hottest Videogame Babe
• Best Strategy Game
• Best Sports Game
• Best Action Game
• Best RPG
• Best Handheld Game
• Most Original Game
• Best Multiplayer Game
• Best Downloadable Content
• Best Voiceover
• Best Graphics
• Best Soundtrack
• Longest Lasting Game
• Game Most Deserving of an Uwe Boll Movie Adaptation
• Game of the Year

The show will be hosted by Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT tonight on G4. Hit the link to vote...early and often.

Gphoria [G4]

Watch the show tonight at 11:30 p.m. on Comedy Central if you want to see how he does... I'm sure well since he will be talking about his new book, Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Video Games, and, I'm sure, his gig with the New York Times which I find endlessly fascinating (Hey, it finally gives me a topic I can discuss with those non-gamers out there that I frequently bump into.)

The Lost video game will be shipping for the Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3 in the first quarter of next year, Ubisoft announced today at Comic Con.

The game will put you in the shoes of a surviving passenger of Oceanic flight 815 working to unravel the mysteries of the island and confront your own dark past. The game will include locations and characters from the show and include puzzles, battles and "other challenges."

Ubi plans to unveil the first official trailer for the game during the 5 p.m. Lost Season 4 panel at Comic-Con today. Hit the jump for the release.

UBISOFT ANNOUNCES FIRST DETAILS FOR THE LOST VIDEO GAME

Ubisoft to unveil the first official video game trailer at the San Diego Comic-Con International Thursday, July 26th at the Lost Season 4 panel from 5:00pm - 6:00pm.

SAN FRANCISCO - JULY 26, 2007 - Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, in collaboration with ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios, announced the Lost video game will be shipping first quarter of 2008 for the Xbox 360(TM) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC CD-ROM. Based on the award-winning television series, the Lost video game will allow players to experience an untold adventure of "Lost" in an immersive, interactive world. The Lost video game is being developed by Ubisoft's Montreal studio.

"Ubisoft is thrilled to be collaborating with ABC to develop this phenomenal television series into an interactive experience," said Helene Juguet, senior director of marketing for Ubisoft. "Ubisoft has worked closely with ABC Studios and the show's producers to create a compelling storyline that has the same mystery, adventure and intensity fans of the show have come to expect from the 'Lost' brand."

"We're very excited to be working with Ubisoft to develop a game that captures the same surprise and intrigue as 'Lost,'" said Bruce Gersh, senior vice president, business development, ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios. "The series has such a loyal audience, and we're happy to bring fans an additional way to interact and engage with their favorite characters."

"The sense of adventure and suspense that we strive for in the show is also captured in the Lost video game," said Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, executive producers of the 'Lost' television series. "Ubisoft has done a fantastic job and come up with a game that is visually amazing and imaginative both on its own and as an extension of the world of the show."

Ubisoft will unveil the first official video game trailer at the San Diego Comic-Con International Thursday, July 26th at Lost's Season 4 panel from 5:00pm - 6:00pm.

About the Game
As a passenger of Oceanic flight 815, you survived the crash and find yourself on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. As you begin to unravel mysteries of the island, you begin to discover secrets of your own. You will have to understand your past mistakes in order to survive and find your way home...
• Play as a survivor of Oceanic Flight 815: Confront your dark past, seek your redemption, and ultimately find a way home.
• Authentic 'Lost' experience: Explore familiar locations, unravel mysteries, and interact with the main characters from the show.
• Survive the challenges that the island throws at you: Solve puzzles, outsmart enemies, battle the smoke monster, and overcome many other challenges to survive the island and come out alive.

About 'Lost'
After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island holds many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, a strange French woman and another group of island residents known as the Others. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, the remains of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to The Dharma Initiative — a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past.

The band of friends, family, enemies and strangers must continue to work together against the cruel weather and harsh terrain if they want to stay alive. But as they have discovered during their 90-plus days on the island, danger and mystery loom behind every corner, and those they thought could be trusted may turn against them. Even heroes have secrets.

"Lost" stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet and Terry O'Quinn as Locke.

"Lost" was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. "Lost," which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii, is from ABC Studios.

About ABC Studios
ABC Studios has emerged as a leader in television development and production. The studio's current slate of programs includes the international franchise hits "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives;" this year's Golden Globe winning drama and comedy "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty;" the Emmy-nominated comedy "Scrubs" on NBC; and sophomore hits "Ghost Whisperer" and "Criminal Minds" for CBS. For cable television, the studio produces ABC Family's best-performing original series of all time, "Kyle XY," as well as "Dirt" on FX and "Army Wives" on Lifetime. The studio also produces ABC's late-night talker "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and is a distributor for "The Amazing Race" on CBS. ABC Studios is part of Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company.

About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 21 countries and sales in more than 50 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. Ubisoft generated sales of 680 million Euros for the 2006-07 fiscal year. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.

© 2007 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries. Under license by © Touchstone Television. All Rights Reserved. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION", and "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Comic-Con's just underway and Ubisoft is already rolling out the big news, about 40 minutes ago they released the first-ever in-game clips and screens for Beowulf and now they're confirming what Variety broke days ago, they are indeed working on a video game based on the television show Heroes.

The press release (posted after the jump) is super light on details, spending more time on the successes of the show than on what bits of it will be turned into the game. In fact, I believe there is no information. Go look for yourself.

Ubisoft to Create Video Game Based on Hit TV Series

SAN FRANCISCO - July 26, 2007 - Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group to develop and publish a video game based on the television drama series "Heroes®."

The first season of Tim Kring's hit TV series has attracted over 14 million viewers each week and is one of the most popular shows among 18-49 year-olds. Time magazine named "Heroes" one of the Top 10 TV shows for 2006, and the phenomenon is now broadcast in more than 30 countries across the globe.

"Heroes" is an epic drama that chronicles the lives of ordinary people across the world who discover they possess extraordinary abilities, such as telepathy, time travel and flight. They will soon come to realize that the fate of the world depends on them, and be forced to team up against someone seeking to eliminate them.

"With a gripping storyline and rich characters, Heroes lends itself naturally to a video game format," said Christian Salomon, vice president of worldwide licensing at Ubisoft. "By offering people the chance to interact directly with the show's captivating universe, there is no doubt that the game will appeal to both fans of the series and avid gamers."

"We are very excited to be making the 'Heroes' video game with Ubisoft," said Tim Kring, executive producer and creator of "Heroes." "Time and again, Ubisoft has proven they can turn licensed properties into fantastic games."

Gamespot's Retail Radar picked up a blip at retailers Gamestop and CD Universe that the video game version of the popular dance-off was coming this November, meaning Wii gamers won't have to settle for just Boogie in 2007.

Even better news? A PlayStation 2 version is also being listed! But the very best news is that I'm not employed at Activision working on Dancing With The Stars: The Video Game.

Retail Radar [Gamespot]

The Make Love, Not Warcraft episode of South Park received an Emmy nomination today for outstanding animated program (less than one hour). And it better win it, the outstanding show is up against Avatar, Robot Chicken, SpongeBob and The Simpsons. OK, I do LOVE Robot Chicken, but that South Park episode was brilliant.

The winners will be announced during a live event broadcast on Fox on Sept. 16. Good luck South Park.

Primetime Awards [Emmys, thanks Phil]

If you catch the show, you'll also be able to see interview with some of the cast for the game, including Andy Serkis (the guy who did the work for Gollum). I sure hope this game can pull together the play elements enough to match what appears to be a very impressive visual and story-driven game.

GAMER TV "HEAVENLY SWORD" SPECIAL AIRS ON BRAVO THIS WEEKEND [ThreeSpeech]

Tonight's Game Head sounds like it will be a doozie. Not only will they have another Kotaku On... segment (this time dealing with fanboys), but the show will have a new 90 second trailer for Transformers: The game and the first footage for All Pro Football 2K8 and none other than Anthony Daniels being all C3PO-ie. Brian Crecente