This week welcomes the much-loved and much-awaited Metal Gear Solid 4 from Konami. No longer should we worry about broken street dates, because today it all becomes official. But Solid Snake is not the only superhero around as there's also Goku and the gang of Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, as well as the big, green machine, The Incredible Hulk. If you'd rather work on the sidelines, then Don King Present: Prizefigther is here as well to show you the ropes of managing in the boxing profession, as well as Total Extreme Wrestling 2008. More games await after the jump!

Ubisoft struck gold with their acquisition of the Tom Clancy name for life. How much did it cost them, and how big a gold mine will it bring them? Talks are also in the air about their venture into the world of MMOs with the said name. To find out more, read up over at the full article.

The Heroes of Night and Magic series has earned its spot among the PC gaming world's elite with successful launches over the years. Now Ubisoft wants to enter some new territory by ushering in web-based strategy title Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms. This new game can be downloaded, installed and played easily to allow you to raise armies and lay siege on cities set up by thousands of other players online. See the detailed version for more.

Some gamers may find in-game advertisements to be nothing more than shameless plugs, while others still believe it's necessary.

In the Independent Game Conference in Austin, Gordon Bellamy goes into the subject a bit more and discusses how advertising could benefit not only the company who does the advertising, but also the game itself. He also explains why Doritos can't go multiplatform. Find out why in the full article.

Oh, yeah! Just when you thought your wallet was safe after last week's releases, this week comes along with absolute must-buys for just about every platform there is. This week, we're going to witness the highly-anticipated launch of Super Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Wii. The Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3 won't be bullied by the famous plumber though, as Assassin's Creed lets loose the dogs of war in the Third Crusade! 'Nuff said. Dig in!

*Article originally posted Nov 12, 2007 at 07:22AM

One of the relatively newer genres in the gaming industry is the MMORPG. It's advent goes back to as far as the 1990s when games such as Ultima Online and EverQuest popularized the concept of an online gaming community where people can band together and bash random critters for experience and gold.

One of the most popular MMORPGs to date is Blizzard's phenomenal World of Warcraft, which has a subscriber count of at least 8.5 million worldwide. However, it owes a lot of its existence to its proverbial forefathers. Conditions back then were considerably different for such a budding game genre to grow.

In 1999, Ubisoft introduced EverQuest to the German market. A lot of hindrances such as the limitations of technology, as well as the relatively high costs of online fees made its rise to popularity quite slow compared to today's standards. Peaking at 500,000 subscribers,many consider EverQuest as the one which paved the way for the MMORPG genre to take flight.

Karsten Lehmann, a spokesman for Ubisoft, relates their past difficulties: "It's hard for players today who are accustomed to the idea of flat rate Internet access to remember how complicated this kind of stuff was at the time".

It was only during 2004 that Blizzard capitalized on the growing fame of the new gaming genre and launched World of Warcraft into the MMORPG giant it is today. It took all the elements that gave EverQuest its massive appeal and simplified it for users everywhere to enjoy. It goes without saying that Blizzard definitely struck gold here.

Today, more and more gaming companies are riding on the ever growing community of online gamers. With the genre continually growing in depth and dynamics, who knows what the next wave of online games can bring.

Day 2 of the E3 Media and Business Summit seemed to be a more subdued affair compared to the events of the first day. As you guys will notice below in our daily recap, many of the news tidbits we covered for the day had more to do with the release of new assets for already announced games, along with a trickle of new information, screens and/or video for the newly announced games, such as Nintendo's Wii Fit fitness training program.

For some rather important news, you'll be able to find details on Ubisoft and Take-Two Interactive's E3 2007 briefing details, as well as look at more of the redesigned PSP in all of its slim glory. For our E3 first-look articles, you'll be able to take a gander at the first screens and info regarding Steven Spielberg's Project PQRS, as well as an exciting new dungeon addition to Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Zul'Aman. We also have tons of new screenshots and videos for everything from God of War: Chains of Olympus to Soul Calibur 4, so check our links below to savor more gaming goodness.

We're hard at work updating the site with more info so you don't miss a thing. While you wait for the latest 24/7 coverage of E3 2007, feel free to check our current coverage of day 2 of the summit, as well as our roundup of day 1. Enjoy!

Breaking News:

More images, comparison pics of the redesigned PSP
Take-Two E3 2007 Briefing details
Ubisoft E3 2007 Conference details

All the latest updates after the jump!

The ESA has officially revealed this year's schedule for the revamped Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). What's nice is that it reveals that the big three - Nintendo Company Ltd., Microsoft, and Sony - will be in attendance this year. Here, ogle the schedule yourself:

Tuesday, July 10

• 8:30 - 9:30pm - Microsoft

Wednesday, July 11

• 9:00 - 10:00am - Nintendo
• 11:30am - 12:30pm - Sony
• 2:00 - 3:00pm - EA
• 3:15 - 4:15pm - Activision
• 4:30 - 5:30pm - Midway
• 5:45 - 6:45pm - Konami

Thursday July 12

• 8:00 - 9:00am - Take Two Interactive
• 9:15 - 10:15am - THQ
• 10:30 - 11:30am - Ubisoft
• 1:00 - 2:00pm - Namco Bandai
• 3:30 - 4:30pm - Disney Interactive

Unfortunately, as informative as this schedule might be, the Venues for the invitation-only platform holder events are yet to be revealed. The rest of the software publisher events will be held at the Starlight Ballroom in Fairmont Hotel, Santa Monica. For those lucky enough to be able/allowed to attend, upcoming games will be previewed at Santa Monica's Barker Hanger.

The revamped E3, now named the E3 Media and Business Summit, will run from July 11 to 13. For more information, feel free to head to the event's official site via our "read" link below.

Three titles debut to the top spots on the All Formats charts for the week ending in April 28. God of War II for the PS2 has been out in North America since March, but it's release in Europe has pushed all the other contenders aside as Kratos elbowed to number one. MMORPG Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar debuts at number two followed by The Elder Scrolls VI: Oblivion for the PlayStation 3.

Everybody else on last week's chart had to make room, though other titles clawed their way to the top and got spots overthrowing MotorStorm, Medal of Honor: Vanguard, and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Here's this week's list:

• God of War II (Sony Computer Entertainment
• Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (Codemasters)
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Ubisoft)
• Pokemon Ranger (Nintendo)
• TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Ubisoft)
• Harvest Moon DS (Rising Star Games)
• Virtua Tennis 3 (Sega)
• Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (Nintendo)
• Tiger Woods PGS Tour 07 (Electronic Arts)
• Diddy Kong Racing DS (Nintendo)

Diddy Kong Racing DS, the remake of the Nintendo 64 videogame by Rareware, debuts on the charts at number ten. LotRO: Shadows of Angmar is now the second fastest selling online videogame behind... (need we say it?) World of Warcraft. We'll see if Kratos and God of War II manages to stay on top next week. We'll keep you posted.

  

UltraGames101 and Star Productions team up to bring the first OfficialUltraGames Expo over to Toronto, Ontario, Canada for a video game event bonanza for consumers and industry leaders alike. As announced in an official press release, Star Productions and UltraGames101 hope to combine the best elements of a video game trade show with a consumer even focused on the past, present and future of the video game industry.

"It will be the biggest video game event to hit Canada!" said UltraGames101 president Mark Bartkowiak. Canada is site of two of the world's largest development studios, including Electronic Arts Canada and Ubisoft Montreal.

The event is planned to be a major software showcase, for consumers to try out games offered by publishers and developers slated for release soon. The event will also sport conferences, press events, live demonstrations of new video game technology, but may be subject to being an invitation-only affair.

Evenings will allow attendees to mingle with developers, publishers, retailers and media folk at informal gatherings, while being able to watch video game titles to be released for the year. The event will be open to the general public, although there has been no official announcement of ticket prices or entrance fees.

Companies involved in the PC, online, console, and mobile game industries are all eligible to participate in the event. Even hardware manufacturers of gaming peripherals are also invited to attend. Certain meetings and demonstrations will be invitation-only, however. There is no word yet on the official even bookings, but the venue could be at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

In the next six months, the announcement of the official Exhibition venue, date and location will be made. Alan Smithson, President of Star Production, concluded the announcement stating:

The UltraGames101 Game Expo 2K8 is first and foremost biggest video game event to hit Canada! When UltraGames101 asked its members they heard that they wanted opportunities for a video game expo to happen in Canada. And after careful consideration UltraGames101 and Star Productions have partnered up to make this event happen.