The latest developments on the Entertainment Software Association are certainly really surprising. Gamecock's Mike Wilson, has just announced his candidacy as ESA president. This is certainly an interesting turn. You can read more on this in the full article.

You read that right - professional gaming now has a huge venue in China where the best players can train and compete. The Championship Gaming Series league went all out, and it's expected that the CGS 2008 Pan-Asia Final which will be held in the facility will be the most explosive yet. Find all the details at the full article.

Taking all the talk of a takeover by Electronic Arts aside, it's still business as usual for Take-Two Interactive, which released its financial reports for the first quarter of 2008. The report held a number of interesting things, including an official confirmation of BioShock 2 and its still vague pending release date, news on coming games, and even a restatement of Grand Theft Auto 4's release date. Go to the full article for details.

IDG Entertainment is sending word that instead of August, this year's E for All Expo has been moved to October. This news should serve as a relief for those worried the the event may conflict with PAX's own schedule for 2008.

Details are in the full article. Just click the "read more" link below.

Get ready for another twist in the continually evolving Command & Conquer universe! EA Los Angeles has just unveiled the first trailer for their upcoming tactical FPS Tiberium (PS3,PC, Xbox 360). From what we can see, it's going to give us a nice perspective on the aftermath of the Third Tiberium War. Go to the full version to get an eyeful of it.

E3 is coming back to Los Angeles! Unfortunately for the greater gaming populace, that's about the closest way that E3 will be reverting back to its former showier self. So what prompted E3 to return to its geographical roots in LA? Find out in the full article.

The winners have been selected for this year's Into the Pixel showcase from the E for All Expo. Sixteen video game inspired art have been selected and are now being shown in Los Angeles.

The art, like video games, doesn't only focus on the dark and the sombre but also on the fanciful and the strange. This year's winners of Into the Pixel include art from the barren landscapes of Lair to the colorful playfulness of Viva Piñata.

The winning pieces span games from a varied set of platforms and genres. MMORPGs are also represented with a work inspired by EVE Online. There's even one inspired by Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii, DS). Check out more images behind the Full Article link below and see if you can name the game, or if one of your favorites managed to make it.

If you're nowhere near the E For All venue in Los Angeles, you don't have to get bummed out because you still have a chance to know just what went down this crazy Friday. Major titles from the industry's biggest companies have been exhibited much to the crowd's delight.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the popular Nintendo DS handheld took center stage at 1:00 PM in the afternoon. It was presented in the middle of a double whammy from Activision's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock which jammed at 12:00 PM and again at 2:00 PM.

At 3:00 PM L.A. Lakers point guard Derek Fisher and L.A. Clippers shooting guard Corey Magette treated the crowd to some virtual hardcourt action as they went one on one in EA Sports' NBA Live 08 (Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360).

Speaking of celebrities, Jerry "The King" Lawler and Jim Ross of WWE Raw were right there in the THQ booth from 12:00PM to 2:00 PM to sign autographs for their young fans. They're promoting WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 (Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360) by THQ.

By 4:00 PM, Activision took the spotlight again to show everyone the beauty that is its upcoming shooting title Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360). At 5:00 PM it was Namco Networks' turn to show off what it's got by holding its Ms. Pac-Man Championships using old-school arcade machines. Namco's contest coincided with Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 3) taking the stage.

The evening held the climax for Friday as Video Games Live was featured at the new Nokia Theatre which is very close to the Staples Center and the L.A. Convention Center. Fans were free to visit and enjoy the exhibits held there. We've got more E For All updates coming so keep it with us.

Soundtracks designed for video games have evolved a lot since the first synthesized beep was created years ago. Indeed, music in the interactive gaming industry has gone a long way. Now you can hear entire musical scores dedicated for a single game.

EMI Classics has pushed this concept further as they, Video Games Live and IMG Artist, are planning to release an album filled with some of the best known and most popular video game music of all time.

Entitled Video Games Live: Greatest Hits - Volume One includes medleys from various well-known games such as Zelda, Mario, Halo, Warcraft, Sonic, Tron, Myst, Civilization IV and Final Fantasy. The album was compiled by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, reknowned video game composers and Video Games Live co-creators. Included as well are the Slovak National Orchestra and the Crouch End Chorus and the "Video Game Pianist," Martin Leung.

The album will be released on October 19, coinciding with this year's Video Games Live event on the same day at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and on October 22 at London's Royal Festival Hall, performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Despite speculation that the international publisher wasn't going to IDG World Expo's E For All (a.k.a EforAll), a follow up to the issue by GameDaily has confirmed that Electronic Arts will in fact attend the event. Electronic Arts was officially named as one of several major game companies to participate in the consumer exposition, although the press release mysteriously disappeared.

"They have booth space that they purchased in front of South Hall. They are in the show. We have the signed contract, they plan to be there and we're working with them on their designs and what will be displayed and the products shown," said IDG World Expo's Mary Dolaher, CEO. Later, a representative from the publisher affirmed EA's plans to attend E For All.

As for the disappearance of the press release and brand logo of EA, Dolaher explained that the press release was held under "review" until EA's trademark lawyer gave the a-okay to put them back up again. The legal review was to verify where the organizers could use the company's trademark, "all the way across." She explained:

Wherever we're going to use the EA name, we want their trademark lawyers to review all of that. So whether it's a marketing piece or a billboard or a bus wrap or whatever the case may be, that's being reviewed by them right now. So there's no big news out of that.

As for Sony and Microsoft backing out of the entertainment exposition, Dolaher iterates that IDG is still working with both companies to ensure their products would still be at the event. In contrast, Nintendo has confirmed their attendance at E For All. She does argue that the World Series of Video Games circuit coming to the Los Angeles Convention Center would have Microsoft's presence at E For All anyway.

As for Sony, she said, "We're working with [Sony] to have an area where there are kiosks and game stations where they can put PS3s and PSPs out. We're shipping over 200 kiosks to the event." Here's to hoping all goes well. More on these as they come in.