Wow…What a week! E3 2009 was a huge, huge, HUGE success for pretty much everyone involved and since I was on-hand to check out the new titles, I thought I’d deliver a bit of insight into which ones I actually got some playtime with and which where my personal favorites. Before I get to that though, I’d like to deliver the biggest of internet shout outs to my colleagues and friends at both GameTrailers and EpicBattleAxe. To a man (and woman), everyone stepped up and busted ass to make E3 2009 a fantastic experience. Of course, it helps that some interesting console news and absolutely huge titles served as the subject matter for us to cover, but nonetheless, I’m taken back by how great of a job everyone did on both sides. Totally awesome stuff!!!

Now, if you’re interested in checking out a general synopsis of my thoughts on the show, you can view an abbreviated version in this week’s edition of the EpicBattleCry podcast. If you, like my wife and mother, but unlike most people, would like to check out extended versions of my thoughts, ramblings, and musings on the HAWT SHIZZLE, you can do so below. Either way, I thank you in advance for understanding that there is NO WAY to cover every game (actually, there is, but I don’t have the time…), and knowing that my opinions are, uh, OPINIONS and aren’t meant to flame the fire of fanboyism that fuels the beloved console war…

Here we go!

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On the heels of February’s launch of the annual Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer’s Edition, representatives were on hand at the E3 Expo this week to honor gaming publishers with brand new records.

Guinness World Record recipients included Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Wii Sports, who received the record for the Best Selling Video Game with sales of 45.7 million to date.

Major Nelson and Mark Whitten from XBOX LIVE received the award for the Most Popular Online Console Gaming Service during Monday night’s Microsoft party. Xbox Live serves 20 million active subscribers to date, representing 67% of the total install base as of May 2009.

Blizzard Entertainment’s Mike Morhaime and Paul Sams accepted the records for World of Warcraft for the Most Popular MMORPG with a total of 11.6 million subscribers and Starcraft for being the Best Selling Strategy Game for a PC, selling 9.5 million copies worldwide.

Bethesda Softworks’ Lead Designer Todd Howard was awarded with the record for the Fastest-selling Multi Platform RPG after Fallout 3 sold over 4.7 million copies in its first week on sale from October 28th to November 4th 2008.

The entire Infinity Ward team were officially presented with the record for the Most Played Online Video Game as Call of Duty 4 has an excess of 15 million minutes played daily and the up and coming US band The Dares performed the First concert to Take Place Simultaneously in the Real and Virtual Worlds in SOE’s new massively multiplayer game Free Realms

In addition Charles and Kai Huang of Red Octane received the accolade for the Best-selling Rhythm Game Series for Guitar Hero’s sales of in excess of 25 million copies.

An honorable mention goes out to Steve Wiebe who unsuccessfully tried to win back his Donkey Kong crown from Billy Mitchell. Guinness World Records and Twin Galaxies were on hand to witness the potential new record. Wiebe’s final score of 989, 400 points fell short of the 1,050,200 score achieved by Mitchell in 2007.

All of the publishers validated at this year’s show will make their mark on history and will be featured in the Guinness World Records 2010 Gamers Edition which will launch early next year. The book itself contains a comprehensive guide to gaming and will feature the latest gaming records, the history behind gaming, and interviews with key figures in the industry.

2K has released a new fact sheet detailing one of the most highly-anticipated games in the industry…of course, we’re talking about BioShock 2. In addition, a few new images from the game’s multiplayer mode have been released as well. The fact sheet basically breaks down the single player campaign, which is described as the “Evolution of the Genetically Enhanced Shooter”, while the multiplayer info consists of details about the game’s story while informing us that players will earn experience points during gameplay to earn access to new Weapons, Plasmids and Tonics that can be used to create hundreds of different combinations, allowing them to develop a unique character that caters to their playing style. Not too unique, but cool nonetheless… OK, you can check out the full press release here and the newly uploaded images here. Enjoy!
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For the first time ever, a game bearing the Metal Gear Solid title will be released simultaneously on three platforms (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC) when Metal Gear Solid : Rising hits store shelves.  Series heroic-protagonist Solid Snake will be absent in this outing and gamers will control one of the most popular characters within the MGS universe, Raiden.  Raiden made his debut as a playable character in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty on the PlayStation 2.  More recently he appeared as a non-playable cyborg in PS3 smash hit, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

Apart from once again playing as Raiden (hopefully he’ll be just as bad ass as in MGS4), there may also be a substantial shift in gameplay with this outing. Hideo Kojima, during the Konami press conference this week, said that Rising would serve as a test bed for some changes he has in mind for the MGS series. Fans got the first hint of this during the brief teaser trailer shown this week which eschews the familiar “Tactical Espionage Action” for “Lightning Bolt Action”.

Whatever Rising may or may not be, its a sure bet 360 owners are sleeping better these days knowing that the Metal Gear Solid franchise has finally broken free of console-exclusivity and that all console fans are anxiously waiting to see where the next iteration of MGS leads. The release date for Metal Gear Solid: Rising is currently TBA, so stay tuned to the ‘Axe for any breaking news.

Back in February while hanging out with my coven around the cauldron I asked the fates if Konami was developing a Wii remake of the first Silent Hill.  The fates whispered back that this was indeed the case.  Nearly four months later, the fates have responded again with trailer for the reimagining of the survival horror classic.

Lets just continue to keep our fingers crossed and hope that the fates aren’t cruel and that this game doesn’t suck like Silent Hill: Homecoming. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories hits the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP in Q4 2009.

Hit the jump to check out the E3 debut trailer for Shattered Memories.

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We’ve got sixteen brand spanking new screens from Batman: Arkham Asylum up in the EBA Gallery. The title was delayed from its original release earlier this year to August 25th; however if it plays as good as it looks, it’ll be worth every minute we had to wait. Stay tuned for more news as it develops.

Red Steel 2 Developer Ubisoft did a great walkthrough of their upcoming western-tech shooter on the show floor at E3 this week. The vid shows off the games impressive visuals, plenty of gun play, and, of course, the one thing we all want to know: how is sword play with Wii Motion Plus?

While we probably won’t have an answer there until we get our hands on it personally, one definitely gets a good sense of the accuaracy of Nintendo’s motion-sensing upgrade and the game looks sick fun to boot. Hit the jump to check out both videos in all their glory and check out the new screen shots in the EBA Gallery.

Red Steel 2 is set for release Christmas this year.

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Fitting nicely between the previous news that Final Fantasy VII would be available for digital purchase and the slew of Metal Gear related news we’ve seen this week, we now bring word that the original Metal Gear Solid is coming to PSN. The original MGS not only put “stealth gameplay” on the map, but it also redifined immersion in gaming; breaking the fourth wall and involving the player in the narrative like never before. Metal Gear Solid will be released on PSN June 18th for $9.99.

If there is no CD case how do you get Meryl’s frequency?

Yesterday, Konami quietly held a small press conference and dropped a few interesting gems, not the least of which was the trailer for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Developed by Mercury Steam with Kojima Productions providing unspecified support   (probably weekly infusions of awesome), LoS is a “re-imagining” of the Castlevania mythos.

While not being tied to anything that’s come before but still “feeling familiar to fans of the series” Lords of Shadow will get some all-star help in the form of its voice talent: Patrick Stewart (who narrates the trailer), Robert Carlyle, Jason Isaacs, and Natasha McElhone. We’ve got twelve freshly sliced screens for you to check out in the EBA Gallery, and the debut trailer which shows off both cinematics and gameplay, after the jump.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow swings into action next year on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

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Joystiq is reporting that Trine will also be headed to the Xbox 360, when it gets released later this year. Originally reported to be a PS3 console-exclusive (though its also coming out on PC), Publisher Atlus (Shin Megami Tensei, Trauma Center) has secured the publishing rights and is using them to bring the co op platformer to Microsoft’s game console. Trine on XBLA will be released after the PSN/PC versions. No concrete release date at this time; stay tuned to this station for more as it devlops.