SSX Live Demo

Check out the demo that wowed us at E3, live from EA's Vancouver studio.

This week EA invited SSX fans from all over the world to EA Canada's Vancouver studio for the SSX Community Event.

Kicking off the event on Wednesday the SSX developers showed off a game demo presentation for all three game modes. SSX fans are getting the E3 treatment here.

For those of you that didn't make it to E3 or Canada, fret not. IGN has you covered. We've got the archived live stream from the presentation right here.

Let us know what you think of SSX. What's your favorite mode? Excited for the character reveal? Drop a comment below.

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Fallout: New Vegas DLC Release Date

Return to the Mojave. Old World Blues DLC dated.

The third DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, Old World Blues, will be released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on Tuesday, July 19.

And before the DLC hits, a title update will bring improvements to "performance and stability in major areas," according to a press release.

In Old World Blues you will find out some of the secrets behind the Mojave's mutated monsters, as you play the role of an unfortunate lab rat.

Previous New Vegas DLC has been priced at 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live and $9.99/$7.49 on PSN.

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Treyarch Talks Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation

Studio reviews four new maps, zombie level coming to Black Ops.

The team at Treyarch is ready to talk about the third Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack, and in a lengthy developer's diary, they break down the four new battlegrounds and zombie level that will hit Xbox Live on June 28.

Travel to Area 51 in Hanger 18, check out one of the biggest maps in the game in Silo, relive the clusterf**k of Nuketown in Drive-In, and stay off the fairway in the sniper-friendly map, Hazard. See what else Treyarch had to say about Annihilation below:

Annihilation, the third map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops, is scheduled for release on June 28 on Xbox Live for 1,200 Microsoft Points or $15. Activision has yet to announced the launch date for the PS3 and PC versions.

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Robin a Playable Character in Batman: Arkham City Through Best Buy Pre-order

Retailer announces sidekick playable on two challenge maps.

Catwoman won't be the only playable side character in Batman: Arkham City. Electronics retailer Best Buy has revealed that its pre-order bonus for the game will feature a playable version of the Dark Knight's acrobatic sidekick, Robin.

Listing the pre-order details for Batman: Arkham City on its website, Best Buy appears to have let a sizable cat out of the bag, outing the Boy Wonder as a character gamers will be able to navigate through two challenge maps.

Whether or not Robin would make it into Arkham City has been a topic of debate since Rocksteady announced the Batman sequel last year. The studio still hasn't made an official announcement about Robin, and there are four spots left on the Arkham City character reveal page.

For the record, other pre-order bonus announcements include a Joker Carnival challenge map at GameStop and the Arkham City prequel comic from Amazon.

Batman: Arkham City is scheduled for an October 18 launch on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PCs. The game has also been announced for the Wii U.

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Red Faction: Armageddon Review

Fun explosions, flat story.

One sign of a great game is when you never notice it's repetitive. Anyone can be reductive and distill a game down to a few key mechanics that are repeated, but it's up to the level design, enemy A.I., and a host of other factors to keep it interesting from start to finish. Red Faction: Armageddon has successes and failures at this, with pacing issues and levels that swing from super exciting to downright boring. Still, it's worth playing, not only for the better parts of its campaign, but for its great take on cooperative multiplayer.

Armageddon is the fourth game in the Red Faction franchise. You play as Darius Mason, grandson of the protagonist Alec Mason from Red Faction: Guerilla. Darius isn't living up to his grandpa's great name, failing to stop Mars' terraformer from being destroyed by terrorists, and forcing humans underground after the surface becomes nearly inhospitable. As if that weren't enough, Mason gets manipulated and used several years later, being forced to fight an alien menacethat's unleashed onto Mars in a struggle to save the few surviving Martians. Along the way there's romance, betrayal, and several other dramatic tropes.

THQ Announces Darksiders II

War will be on the sidelines for this sequel.

It's time for Death to have his turn. After playing as War in the original Darksiders, THQ announced today that gamers will become another member of the four horsemen of the apocalypse when Darksiders II launches in 2012 -- Death himself.

Running parallel to the events in the original, Darksiders II will follow Death on his journey through realms of light and dark as he tries to redeem his brother War -- the horseman wrongly accused of prematurely starting the apocalypse in Darksiders.

"We have taken the best parts of Darksiders and improved on them with a host of new mechanics and features," THQ Core Games boss Danny Bilson said in a statement. "You will see great things from this epic game."

Sega Announces Release Date for Aliens: Colonial Marines

First announced in early 2008, game finally set to arrive in early 2012.

Aliens: Colonial Marines just chest-bursted its way out of vaporware limbo. Sega and Gearbox Software announced today that the long in development squad-based first-person shooter will be "the definitive Aliens gaming experience" when it launches in spring 2012.

First announced in February 2008 and scheduled for release in early 2009, Aliens: Colonial Marines appeared to be on Gearbox's back burner as the studio released Borderlands and took on development of Duke Nukem Forever before so much as showing a trailer for Colonial Marines. Now the studio appears ready to fully embrace the game, and it will be on display for the first time at next week's E3 in Los Angeles.

"To Gearbox Software and its peers throughout the industry, Aliens is one of the most influential science fiction properties of all time," Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford said in a statement. "Aliens: Colonial Marines, designed as an interactive successor to the landmark films from Twentieth Century Fox, is a dream project about which our studio is deeply committed and passionate."

E3 2011: Evil and Dead in Shadows of the Damned

Running screaming through an evil forest with familiar scenery in the third chapter of Shadows of the Damned.

Grasshopper Manufacture's resident impresario, Suda 51, has made mention of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse again and again in marketing and interviews for his upcoming HD debut, Shadows of the Damned. But after making my way through the first half of the game, it's clear there are other 80's horror icons that belong in that list of influences. Five or so hours in, and it also seems like your ability to appreciate the multi-dimensional references to eight and sixteen-bit era gaming conventions and VHS horror mainstays might determine your ability to appreciate Shadows of the Damned as a game.

Publisher EA and Grasshopper Manufacture have already shown the first two chapters of Shadows of the Damned a couple of times before, but chapter three is unlike anything they've exposed us to previously. It also kicks Shadows of the Damned's horror homage into overdrive. Where earlier levels of Shadows of the Damned reference the style of the Tarantinos and Tobe Hoopers (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), the third chapter features an extended tribute to Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 and their director, Sam Raimi.

While he's better known now for his directing work on the Spider-man films, Raimi made his bones (no pun intended) writing, directing and producing the Evil Dead films. In the middle of Shadows of the Damned's third chapter, the Evil Dead worship isn't just evident, it assaults you. Running screaming through the woods, our hero Garcia (F*cking) Hotspur is fleeing the deranged corpse (possibly? Shadows wallows in nebulous explanations of weird sh*t) of his suicide girlfriend Paula, taking refuge in wooden cabins, screaming to the world "How do you stop them?" I had to stop and take a moment to process the familiarity, the audacious, wholesale lifting of visual cues, right down to the roaring intangible spirit trying to break down the cabin door.

E3 2011: Bastion Is All Kinds of Sexy

From its voice to its visuals, this one is slick.

It's been more than a year since anyone from IGN wrote about Bastion, and that's a shame because this game is awesome and people should be talking about it. Trouble is, it can be hard to wrap your head around why this game is cool. You need to see it and hear it because that's where Bastion stands out -- in stills, it just another pretty download, but in action, it's something special.

From developer Supergiant Games -- a studio that works out of a living room -- Bastion starts like most action RPGs: the world's been destroyed, and your character must go through a bunch of trials and environments to restore it.

However, as soon as I began moving around as "the kid," the narrator of this tale began speaking, and he wasn't just talking about the overarching plot of the game. In Bastion, the narrator narrates what you're doing on a moment to moment basis. When I sprinted through the level -- which forms around the kid as he moves in Bastion -- the narrator talked about me taking off and ignoring the surroundings. When I took my hammer and smashed the bejesus out of fruit stands and railings, the narrator talked about me blowing off steam. When I took a left and fell to my doom, the narrator proclaimed "And then, he falls to his death. I'm just foolin'" before I respawned.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 Runs on CryEngine 3

Line-up exquisitely detailed targets in your sights.

Upcoming sequel Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 will run on Crytek's sophisticated CryEngine 3, which was used to build Crysis 2. The engine offers a range of sophisticated tools, including facial animation and advanced lighting techniques.

Developer City Interactive has released the first screenshot of the game, and the power of the CryEngine is evident.

The fa�ade of what appears to be a Tibetan temple is richly detailed, and the mountains in the background look equally impressive.

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Assassin's Creed Revelations: Locations Revealed

Where will Ezio travel to take down the Templars?

Ezio's quest will see him leaving Italy behind entirely, with Revelations taking him back to Masyaf and also to Rhodes, in addition to the already confirmed settings of Constantinople and Cappadocia (both in modern-day Turkey).

Spoilers lie ahead.

As revealed by Game Informer, Ezio will travel to the Assassins' stronghold in Masyaf at the beginning of the game in search of "secret knowledge once held by Altair," only to discover the fortress overrun by Templars. But he will return to Masyaf at the end of the game, having acquired more information.

Microsoft's E3 Invites Tease Announcements?

Suggestive stickers hint at what might feature in Microsoft's E3 keynote.

Microsoft's creative E3 invites suggest announcements on Halo, Kinect Star Wars, Tomb Raider, as well as Gears of War 3 and Batman: Arkham City.

Microsoft's invite is intriguing – Destructoid has published images of its press invite, which allows attendees to personalize their pass using a selection of allusive stickers.

Journalists have been invited to fill in various blanks, including who their 'Favourite Hero' is, as well as boasting about what they are 'Master of'. And the games above have been provided as possible answers.

Report: Stereoscopic 3D Coming To Xbox 360

Update will enable 3D on consoles with HDMI output.

Xbox 360 is poised to receive full stereoscopic 3D support, with an official announcement likely at this year's E3 according the rumours circulating yesterday. The 3D technology is said to be the same as that used by the PlayStation 3.

Back in January, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg said that while technically the Xbox 360 was fully capable of supporting 3D games, they were "unsure what level of interest there is from consumers to really want a 3D experience." However, he added that it would be supported "Many, many years from now when it becomes a reality."

Welcome to the world of tomorrow.

Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale Set for Launch Tomorrow

Solo and four-player co-op adventuring in the D&D universeYou don't need 20-sided dice for this Dungeons & Dragons adventure. Atari and Bedlam Games' third-person, co-op action-RPG, D&D Daggerdale, is set for launch tomorrow on Xbox Live and at retail for Windows PCs.

Whether you're going it solo or partnering with up to three other adventurers online, Daggerdale offers an "authentic D&D experience," according to Bedlam Games, with its DNA forged in the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition.

Gears of War 3 is the "Fastest Pre-ordered Xbox Exclusive"

Orders surpass one million.

Gears of War 3 has officially passed 1,000,000 pre-orders.

According to a press release from Microsoft, this makes it the "fastest pre-ordered Xbox exclusive title to reach this milestone in the history of the platform." And yes, that includes the Halo series.

In addition to the high pre-order numbers, Epic Games has also revealed some stats from the month-long beta.

Alice: Madness Returns Opening Cinematic

Cinematic sets the stage for the twisted adventure to come.

Alice's mind is in ruins in American McGee's upcoming Wonderland re-imagining, transforming her fantastical sanctuary into a nightmare. Gamers can get a good idea of just how dark things will get in the intro cinematic for Madness Returns.

The setup from developer Spicy Horse puts the cinematic in perspective:

Her mind in tatters, Alice is unable to resolve the fear and neuroses prompted by her strange memories, dreams, and visions. Her relocation to London seems only to add to their number and intensity.

Perhaps she'll do better in Wonderland. She always has. She travels there, seeking what the "real" world can't provide: security, knowledge, and the truth about the past. But in her absence, Wonderland too has suffered. Something has gone horribly wrong, and now a great evil is descending upon what once was her beautiful refuge.

Can Alice save Wonderland -- and herself -- from the madness that consumes them both?

With that in mind, the opening cinematic:

Alice: Madness Returns is being developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PCs. The game is scheduled for release on June 14.

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E3 2011: Gotham City Impostors Announced

Prepare yourself for a multiplayer shooter set in the Batman universe.

Batman: Arkham City may be the center of superhero attention right now, but the Dark Knight has another trick up his sleeve. Warner Bros.' development studio Monolith Games is working on a downloadable multiplayer Batman title called Gotham City Impostors.

In this Batman-themed first-person shooter, players take on the roles of ordinary people (one is dubbed "the Office Bat") pretending to be Batman and "impostors" of dastardly bad guys. At a presentation at a pre-E3 event this week, we were shown an image of the Joker flipping the camera the bird. Oh, and he wasn't wearing any pants.

Epic Games Details Gears of War 3 Limited and Epic Editions

Statue, flag, in-game items for extra coin.

Epic Games unveiled its limited and collectors editions of Gears of War 3 today, highlighted by the 12-inch, four-pound statue of Marcus Fenix in the $150 Epic Edition.

So, what do you get? Pick up the Limited Edition for $80, and you'll receive:

-- An Octus award box with Octus service medal: A 1:1 match in size and weight, this zinc-alloy cog-shaped medal replicates the award given to Adam Fenix in recognition of his work on the Hammer of Dawn. Dimensions: 77 mm (3 in.) x 10 mm (0.4 in.)

-- Exclusive unlockable Adam Fenix multiplayer character: Each Octus service medal replica is engraved with a unique Xbox Live code that is the only way to unlock Adam Fenix in multiplayer.

-- A fabric COG Flag: Proud colors that once flew above the House of Sovereigns.

-- The personal effects of Adam Fenix, including his "Last Will and Testament," the initial Hammer of Dawn schematic, and other Fenix family mementos.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Release Date Revealed

Retail sources confirm the big day. Leaked photo and full details inside.

Whoops. The good ship Modern Warfare has sprung another leak. In this instance, our anonymous retail sources have provided IGN with a confirmed street date for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Rumours have been circulating around the web for a little while, but IGN can now confirm a release date of November 8. This will almost certainly be a global date.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Gameplay Video

Lead designer Ian Frazier breaks down the basics in the upcoming action RPG.

Long story short: I just missed the roughly 40 minute demo Curt Schilling and the guys from 38 Studios put on at Pax East in March for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The good news for me and everyone else that couldn't make it is that the highlights of the demo are now available in trailer form.

From basic combat, loot, and crafting to chain attacks, magic, and powerful Fate Shift abilities, it's all covered by lead designer Ian Frazier in this 5 minute demonstration. See for yourself below:

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is being developed for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PCs. The game is set for launch sometime in 2012.

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