By Chris Scott Barr

What’s this, more stuff from E3? Yes, yes, embargos really are no fun. I assure you that this is the last of my coverage from this year’s show (at least I think it is). This time around we’ve got a Wireless Drum Controller for the Xbox 360 from Logitech. Like the guitar they announced not long ago, this is not a simple replacement controller, but a ‘premium’ upgrade.

This kit is a bit reminiscent of the Ion kit that I currently use, with some very noticeable differences. First, it’s not as complicated to setup. Logitech specifically designed it to be something that you can just pull out of the box and setup in a few minutes. I remember spending a good hour assembling my Ion kit. It was a nightmare.

Another improvement comes in the way of the drum pads themselves. Things were pretty loud at the show, so I can’t vouch too well for how much quieter the pads are. However, the rims of the pads are recessed, which makes it much harder to do an accidental rimshot. This alone will make playing much quieter. The fact that it is wireless is definitely an improvement. I hate wires, and having to wind up that stupid USB cable after every session is rather annoying. Sure, the kit is stationary while you’re playing it, but it still gets on my nerves when moving it.

The stainless steel pedal does have an adjustable spring, so as to customize your experience. I’m not sure what kind of grips the pedal has, as the one at E3 wasn’t the final design. Hopefully it will have some sort of Velcro or other gripping device, as sliding drum pedals are no fun. I’ll update this when I have more information on that particular feature. Look for these to go on sale next month for $229.99.

[ Logitech ]

E3 is always full of excitement, celebrities and of course, video games. However, there has always been one other thing that catches the eyes of many gamers roaming the floor. I’m talking about the booth babes. There was a short period where such lovely ladies weren’t being allowed into the show, but this year I saw plenty of them scattered throughout the many booths. Hit the jump for a look at some of my favorites.

It’s been a little while since I’ve seen a Batman game come along that I really enjoyed. I’ve been keeping my eye on Batman: Arkham Asylum since it was announced, and today I finally got my hands on a demo while at the Eidos booth.

The game looks fantastic, as you’ve no doubt seen from the trailers that are out. Much like Batman, your time is almost equally split between sneaking up on your enemies and kicking ass. You have a full arsenal of gadgets there to help you accomplish both tasks in style. I particularly enjoyed the combat, especially when you had a group of enemies trying to come at you at once. The more hits you chain together, the more finishing moves you can pull off. It only takes a few minutes to get a feel for the combat, and then you’re taking guys out left and right.

If you’re like me and enjoy the non-stop action parts, you can actually enter the challenge mode, which has 4 waves of enemies, with each growing larger and more difficult. Combine the action, good controls, excellent visuals and Mark Hamill voicing the joker once again, and you’ve got yourself one awesome Batman game. It’ll definitely be worth checking out when it hits stores on August 25th.

Back at the end of 2007 I introduced you guys to a company called Fusion-IO, which was producing hard drives that ran on your PCI-Express slots. It was a pretty cool idea then, but unfortunately their offering was really salty, and aimed primarily at enterprise customers. Well since one of the co-founders is a hardcore gamer, they decided to branch out and try to bring the same incredible performance to a new crowd.

Enter the ioXtreme. This card holds 80GB of storage (NAND Flash) which is capable of giving you a performance boost that you won’t see by just upgrading your CPU and RAM. Games, large applications like Photoshop and Final Cut will open almost instantaneously. They likened it to bringing up a program that was minimized on your start bar, which is pretty incredible. They even said that it would be possible to boot Windows in just one second. Unfortunately this feature won’t be available at launch, due to them still working out bugs with a few different BIOS, it will however be available via a driver update. The card should be launching later this year for somewhere around $800, though the price is subject to change.

Valve is a company that has never failed to impress me with a game. Coming to E3 I was hoping to hear some news about Half Life 2: Episode 3, or even something about the new Portal game. I was disappointed. What I didn’t expect was to see a new Left 4 Dead game this soon, especially with the SDK just getting released not long ago. Even better, the game was playable behind closed doors.

The game takes place in the deep south, with four average Joe characters fighting their way through a mass of zombies. They’re going to be adding short movies to the beginning of each of the 5 different campaigns to give you just a little more story than the first game. However, Valve stressed that they want the game to be more about the action and experience, so you won’t ever find yourself stopping in the middle of the game just to see some plot progression.

Their AI director has seen an update, which they are calling Director 2.0. The director has even more control over your environment, this time controlling the weather (one example was encountering a torrential downpour in the swamp to slow you down). The director will also be able to alter the maps slightly. The maps will always have the same overall structure, but the director can block off routes, forcing you along a different path, which will definitely spice up the game.

Melee weapons make their debut in this sequel, the first two of which are the frying pan and the firefighter’s axe. Both weapons can be brutal when used properly in close quarters. You can also pick up incendiary ammo, which will set your target on fire upon impact. Hazmat zombies will appear at times, which are invulnerable to fire.

Playing the game as a L4D veteran felt great, with everything flowing just like the original. It’s easy to just jump right in and get used to the new weapons and enemies. I’ve been waiting for new maps/campaigns, but to get this whole new game will be even better. Also, Valve wanted to stress that they aren’t finished with the original. They still have new content in the pipelines, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for that in the future.

It’s hard to find someone that doesn’t appreciate The Beatles. Many would argue that they are the greatest band of all time, and though I might put Led Zeppelin right there with them, I’d have to agree. These four guys changed the world of music as we know it, and now they’re finally coming to Rock Band.

I was able to score a little face time with some of the Harmonix crew to get a hands-on look at the latest iteration of Rock Band, which is dedicated to The Beatles. The Harmonix guys played a 3 song set which showed off a couple of the historic venues, as well as one custom venue for Back in the USSR. The graphics for the game look great, with each of the band members looking just as good as you would hope.

Gameplay is mostly the same, with a few changes. The biggest of these is that you can now have up to 3 people on vocals at the same time. This opens up two and three-part harmonies, which really add some depth to the game, which also creates another dimension for scoring. Another minor tweak is that the “No Fail Mode” can be easily turned on when you’re selecting band members, instead of digging through submenus in the main game screen. Also, any player who selects “Easy” mode will automatically be set to “No Fail.” They’re doing this because they expect new people to be picking up the game, and it will remove some of the intimidation factor, allowing them to just enjoy the game.

After the mini-performance I got to get up and play with the instruments, which were just as solid as the previous ones. Personally, I think the new guitars are a little more comfortable, and the buttons were more springy and responsive. The Beatles: Rock Band will be hitting stores on 09/09/09, with extra DLC like Abbey Road and more hitting soon afterwards.

MAG is one of those titles that many people have been waiting to see more of. Imagine playing a FPS with 255 other people at the same time. I’ll admit to being a bit skeptical on the gameplay when it was announced, but check out the gameplay footage from the show. Each and every person you see, every single shot fired is from a real live person playing against the 8 guys that were demoing it at the conference.

It has been wondered aloud by many gamers, have we seen the last of Solid Snake? Well at Sony’s press conference today, Hideo Kojima made a guest appearance to confirm that no, we haven’t seen the last of him. In fact, he’s going to be sneaking his way onto the PSP  sometime next year. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will take place 10 years after Metal Gear Solid 3. It was greatly stressed that this was a “true” sequel, and not a spin-off or side story. Nothing speaks better than a video, so check out our official first look at Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

One of the biggest pieces of news that came out of Sony’s press conference today was the announcement of the PSP Go, otherwise known as “the worst-kept secret of E3.” So what’s so different about this new portable system? Practically everything it seems. Obviously the slide-out control system is a big change, but also the lack of UMD compatibility is new. It is also 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the current PSP-3000.

Sony is targeting this device at people living the “digital lifestyle.” They’re looking at people that want their content delivered digitally, without the need to go to the store and buy a physical product. The lack of a UMD slot means that you will instead download new titles to your PSP directly. As such, all new titles will be sold in both UMD and digital formats. Both versions will contain the exact same features and functionality, as they aren’t actually aiming to replace the current PSP-3000 with the Go.

Storage is obviously important with the PSP Go, so they’ve added in 16GB of internal Flash memory. A Memory Stick Micro slot is included so that you can easily expand the storage. Bluetooth and WiFi are both included to keep you connected wirelessly.

Sony also announced a new desktop application called PC Media Go which will replace the current Media Manager and allow you to access the PlayStation store directly from your PC. A new video delivery service application will also be included natively on the PSP so that you can download content directly to the Go. Finally, Sony announced that they had signed on several new video content providers like Showtime, G4, E!, Stars and TNA to provide movies and TV shows to the PlayStation network.

The PSP Go is set to hit stores on October 1st at a price of $249.

At the Xbox 360 Media Briefing, only moments ago Harmonix and crew just announced the first 10 tracks that will be available in The Beatles: Rock Band. Well you heard it here first, here they are:

• I Saw Her Standing There
• I Want To Hold Your Hand
• I Feel Fine
• Day Tripper
• Tax Man
• I Am The Walrus
• Back In the USSR
• Octupus’s Garden
• Here Comes The Sun
• Get Back

A few special guests stopped by to kick off the celebration including Yoko Ono, Paul and Ringo. Stay tuned for more news as it happens, and stay tuned for pics and video footage later today as well.