“Our ongoing collaboration with Nelvana Enterprises has proven to be a worldwide success,” said David Oxford, Activision Publishing.  “It’s an absolute blast to work on a property with such a hungry and dedicated fan base. We look forward to producing this new Bakugan title and it being embraced by kids for its innovative style and incredibly unique gameplay.”

In Bakugan: Rise of the Resistance a mysterious new group of brawlers has invaded New Vestroia.  Playing as either Dan or one of five other familiar Battle Brawlers, gamers must defend against these dark and devastating new foes from amassing the most powerful Bakugan army ever.  A series first; Bakugan: Rise of the Resistance features an incredible hybridization of the adventure RPG, and tower defense genres.  There are over 30 levels, spread across 6 diverse areas of New Vestroia, to explore as your human Brawler, and defend and conquer as a Bakugan.  With 35 unique Bakugan at their disposal, kids will find themselves instantly drawn in to the real-time action packed brawling and brain-bending strategic play as they ultimately come face to face with their adversaries in heart-pounding boss battles.

“We are extremely pleased with the global success of Bakugan and excited about yet another exceptional Bakugan title from Activision in the global game space with Bakugan:  Rise of the Resistance,” said Colin Bohm, Managing Director, Nelvana Enterprises.  “Activision has the unique ability to distill a property into its most engaging form while staying true to its core principles.”

Bakugan: Rise of the Resistance will be available this holiday season for Nintendo DS™.  The game is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. For more information, please visit http://www.activision.com.

The 25^th anniversary celebration of The Legend of Zelda^™ continues with the launch of a new website and a creative challenge for fans of the iconic Nintendo series. For 25 years The Legend of Zelda has chronicled the adventures of heroic Link^™ and Princess Zelda^™. Now fans can share their passion for the series and document its history with a new 25^th anniversary website at http://www.zelda.com/25th. The anniversary website includes an interactive history of The Legend of Zelda, as well as a video featuring an orchestra performing music from the series at the 2011 E³ Expo.

Starting today through Sept. 9, Nintendo DSi^™ or Nintendo DSi XL^™ owners are also invited to create their own flipnotes, or short animations, inspired by The Legend of Zelda series. Nintendo DSi or Nintendo DSi XL owners can use one of three flipnote templates with music from The Legend of Zelda series, then complete and upload their creations via the Flipnote Studio application. Flipnote Studio is available as a free download from the Nintendo DSiWare^™ service, and also comes pre-installed on select Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL hardware. Fans can also submit a paper entry by mail. The best Zelda-themed flipnotes will be evaluated by key Nintendo developers who have worked on the series – including Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, Eiji Aonuma and Yoshiaki Koizumi – and posted for fans to enjoy on the http://www.zelda.com/25th website, the Nintendo Channel on the Wii^™ console and Flipnote Hatena on Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL systems. For official rules, visit http://www.zelda.com/25th/flipnote.

Nintendo’s 25^th anniversary celebration also includes the recent launch of The Legend of Zelda^™: Ocarina of Time^™ 3D game for the Nintendo 3DS^™ system, which lets players explore a vastly upgraded classic game in full 3D without the need for special glasses. Later this year, Nintendo will launch The Legend of Zelda^™: Skyward Sword for the Wii system. In September, Nintendo is offering the multiplayer fun of The Legend of Zelda^™: Four Swords as a free gift to fans. Fans can download a Nintendo DSiWare version of the game using their Nintendo DSi or Nintendo DSi XL systems, or by accessing the Nintendo eShop with a Nintendo 3DS system (wireless broadband Internet access required for download).

For more information about the 25^th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, visit http://www.zelda.com/25th.

“EA and PopCap are a compelling combination,” said EA CEO John Riccitiello. “PopCap’s great studio talent and powerful IP add to EA’s momentum and accelerate our drive towards a $1 billion digital business. EA’s global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels.”

“We picked EA because they have recast their culture around making great digital games,” said David Roberts, CEO of PopCap. “By working with EA, we’ll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience.”

“PopCap has a proven financial trajectory with sustained revenue growth and double-digit operating margins,” said EA CFO Eric Brown. “On a non-GAAP basis, this deal is expected to be at least ten-cents accretive in fiscal year 2013.”

PopCap is one of the largest and most respected digital and social gaming companies with more than 150 million games installed and played worldwide on platforms such as Facebook®, RenRen, Google™, iPhone™, iPad™ and Android. In calendar year 2010, approximately 80% of PopCap’s revenue was on high growth digital platforms.

EA will pay approximately $650 million in cash and $100 million in shares of EA common stock to be issued to certain stockholders of PopCap. In addition, the PopCap sellers are entitled to additional variable cash consideration, contingent upon the achievement of certain non-GAAP earnings before interest and tax (“EBIT”) performance milestones through December 2013, EA’s third fiscal quarter end.

Additional information can be found in EA’s press release.

During their press conference, Microsoft showed off Halo 4, Gears of War 3, and even a full ten minute presentation of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Sony showed off 3D games, new PlayStation Move titles, and a new HD handheld, PlayStation Vita. After these two great press conferences, Nintendo had to come out with something big.

No pressure, Nintendo.

Maybe it didn’t start off that big. A full orchestra sat below the stage and started playing a montage of Legend of Zelda music as the main screen showed video clips of the various Legend of Zelda games, all the way to the new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, all in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the series. Shigeru Miyamoto appeared on stage and announced several promotional events and items for the Wii to celebrate the 25th Anniversary. First off was the announcement of a Legend of Zelda: Symphony Tour that will go around the world this year. He then announced a gold Wii Remote with the Triforce symbol for the release of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Finally, two CD soundtracks were announced. The first was that of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for free to those that register the 3DS version of said game with Club Nintendo. The second is the CD soundtrack for the Legend of Zelda: Symphony tour.

It wasn’t all about goodies. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D was announced to hold both the original game plus the Master Quest (a harder version of the game), and a boss battle mode in which you can replay boss fights within the game. Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was announced that the game will only be played with the Wii Motion Plus. Finally, Legend of Zelda: Four Swords was announced as a free download next month to the DSi platform hoping to strike up four-player Zelda goodness.

As he left the stage, Satoru Iwata appeared on stage and talked about the innovations Nintendo has taken with DS, Wii, 3DS, and then hinted at their new console, but didn’t bring out any details. The room darkened as the giant screen began to show CG movies about Mario Kart 3D, Star Fox 64 3D (complete with a small mugshot of Peppy saying the iconic “Do a barrel roll.”), Super Mario, Kid Icarus, and ended with a new Luigi’s Mansion. Reggie Fils-Aime was next on the stage as they showcased the five games you just saw.

Mario Kart 3D looks just like the other games in the series, including bringing back previous levels. But one of the cool aspects shown off was for the first time, you can customize your own racing karts. This way, players can get the right balance of having the karts look cool and perform just the way they want to. Star Fox 64 showed that you can use the motion sensors in the 3DS to fly your Arwing around instead of just using the control pad. It will also have four player multiplayer and will stream a video of yourself while flying, so you can taunt players you just killed, or watch them when they get crashed.

Then a new Super Mario was teased, complete with gameplay footage this time; it looks to be a mix of the old Super Mario Bros. style with a bit of Super Mario 64 influence. The different power ups are there, including the Tanooki suit from Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Fire Flower. Kid Icarus came back showing off the same gameplay as last year but confirmed the game is entirely voice acted. It will also have 3 on 3 team multiplayer. Finally it was something that some of us were excited to see: Luigi’s Mansion 2. This time Luigi is hunting ghosts in multiple mansions, not just one. Gameplay looked almost the same as it’s Gamecube version. All of the titles, with the exception of Luigi’s Mansion 2, will be coming out by the end of this year.

Nintendo then showed montages of other games made by 3rd party developers: Resident Evil: The Mercenaries, Mario & Sonic at the London Games, Ace Combat, Tetris, Cave Story 3d, Resident Evil Revelations, Driver: Renegade, Pac-Man and Galaga Dimensions, Tekken 3D, and finally Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D. No dates were given for any of those titles. Reggie returned to talk about the recently updated 3DS firmware and the eShop channel. He started by letting people know they could get a free, remastered in 3D (yet still 8 bit) copy of Excitebike. He also talked about the Pokedex, also free, on the eShop channel for Pokemon fans.

Nintendo had most of us once the 3DS games started pouring in. But now it was time for Nintendo’s latest system, what had been refereed to as Project: Cafe for the past month. The name of the console: Wii U. A video was played showcasing the controller, what looked to be a controller fused with a tablet. With the Wii U, it features HD, 1080p visuals but the rest of the specs of the system was not released. As for a date, 2012. It was shown that you can either use the controller as a secondary screen, like the touch screen on the DS; to use it to amply a game, like a sniper scope in a shooting game; or even use it to continuously play your game if the TV needs to be used for someone else. All the information we know is listed here.

It has been confirmed that Darksiders 2 will be made for the Wii U. And the crowd went wild when Iwata announced that a Super Smash Bros. game was being worked on for both the Wii U and the 3DS and will be able to connect with one another. The Wii U will also accept the original Wii peripherals such as the remote and nunchuck and all Wii games will work on the Wii U. Other games shown for the Wii U by third party developers were Aliens: Colonial Marines, Ghost Recon Online, Metro Last Light, Tekken, and Ninja Gaiden 3. Even EA joined on stage to talk about how amazing the Wii U could be to their franchises like Madden NFL and even Battlefield 3.

With Nintendo’s conference over, many people left amazed by the Wii U, but still had loads of questions–questions that Nintendo will answer when they feel the time is right.

We’ll stay on top of an Wii U and more 3DS information as it comes out.

- Rayman Origins: We got to see a two-player co-op demo of Raynan Origins, showing of some classic platforming action along with a slight taste of shmup lite action.  The game appears to have a “Holiday 2011” release date.

- Driver: San Francisco: A trailer for the upcoming open-world driving game was shown, giving us glimpses of frantic wreckless driving stunts, polices chases and crazy traffic chases.  We were also promised that Driver: San Francisco will have groundbreaking multiplayer that has not been seen in driving games before.  The game is scheduled for release on August 30^th on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC and 3DS.

- FarCry 3: I was very happy to see some gameplay from the new entry in the FarCry series.  We got to see some epic firefighting, explosions, and a really crazy mercenary who you certainly don’t want to get on the wrong side of.  Looks great and I hope it gets the series back on track.  Look for it sometime next year.

- Brothers In Arms: Furious Four: I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t thinking of Inglorious Bastards when I saw the trailer for this game.  Certainly not the Brothers In Arms game that you’re probably used to.  Looks like they’re going for a bit of an over-the-top feel for this one.  The game is expected to be out next year.

- The Adventures of Tintin: The Game: Going to be frank here, I’m not overly familiar with The Adventures of Tintin. I’ve heard of it, but nothing more.  It does look like a rather interesting story-based adventure game that has Steven Spielberg’s backing to it.  Don’t know particularly much else about the release date at this time.

- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier: This one had my attention the whole way through.  A four-player co-op gameplay demo was presented, and it looked awesome.  You can lineup coordinated killshots with your teammates, move from cover-to-cover with a button press, cloak yourself to make you look invisible, etc.  It looks really fun and should be an awesome co-op title.  Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is scheduled for release early next year.

- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online: Want to play Ghost Recon for free?  Well, Ubisoft is going to be rolling out a free-to-play online Ghost Recon very soon.  Not much else to say about it, but you can go and sign up for the beta right here if you’re interested!

- Trackmania 2: Canyon: The latest in the Trackmania series looks to beef up the game graphically and allow players to create crazy, awe-inspiring and adrenaline-filled tracks to race on against the world.  It looks like a lot of fun, too!  In fact, the beta is to be getting kicked off next month with the game’s retail release (via digital download) to be in September.

- Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking: The Rabbids are back, this time making an appearance on the Kinect for a lot of party fun.  A live gameplay demo showed off a Whack-A-Mole-esque game along with a game where up to four players have to shift and move to have their shadows make a certain shape on-screen.  Once you do that, a photo of you and your motley crew can be shared to Facebook.  The game is scheduled for release on November 8^th.

- Let’s Dance 3: Not only will the fan-favorite Let’s Dance series return with another title this year, but it’s also infecting the Kinect and Move.  Up to four players will be able to shake their moneymakers to try and get the highest score and bragging rights from their dancin’ fool buddies.  Let’s Dance 3 will be hitting all three platforms on October 11^th.

- Rocksmith: Rocksmith is looking to bridge the gap between gaming guitar gods and real-life guitar gods, allowing both to learn how to play songs with a real guitar.  We got to see a trailer that featured Dave Navarro talking about the game and what it means to play the guitar for real.  It looks very interesting and could pull off what Power Gig couldn’t.  You won’t have to wait long, either!  Rocksmith is scheduled for release this October.

- Your Shape Fitness 2012: A brand new edition of the Your Shape Fitness franchise will be making its way to the Kinect later this year.

- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations: The last title in, presumably, Ezio’s run in the Assassin’s Creed franchise was shown off as Ubisoft’s last game for this year’s conference.  Live gameplay showed off Ezio laying the smackdown on all in his way, along with lighting an entire fleet of ships on fire at the end of the demo.  It looks very good and should be an excellent end to Ezio’s run.  Look for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations when it comes out on November 15^th.

Very impressive conference from Ubisoft this year that hit a lot of different genres and interests of gamers worldwide.  Be sure to check out more E3 coverage right here all this week!

Hey Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, get your Blue Eyes White Dragon ready because Konami has announced details for the 2011 Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship Qualifier.

This year, the stakes are raised as the top qualifiers will travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to battle for the crown to become the top Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship player in the country!  Players will be tested online with the quiz portion of the tournament to test their knowledge of the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe including the video game, animated series and trading card game. Only the top 256 per region will have what it takes to move on to compete head-to-head in online play!

The online tournament registration begins TODAY at www.yugiohuschampionship.com where contestants register for the tournament and compete in the online qualifiers. The tournament is broken into three online qualifiers. The schedule breaks down as follows:

1st Round: Online Quiz Qualifier
-       Players tested on all things within the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe.
-       Top 256 finishers (per region) will advance to 2nd round

2nd Round: Online Regional Qualifier
-       Top 32 Finishers (per region) will advance to final online qualifier

3rd Round: Yu-Gi-Oh! Online Final
-       Top four (4) players are eligible to go on to compete head-to-head in person

4th Round: Head to Head Competition
-       Players travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
o       Date: July 2011
-       Players duel against each other with the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011,Over the Nexus game on Nintendo DS™.
-       2 winners will be crowned 2011 US Yu-Gi-Oh! Champions and will compete against the best of the best in the World Championship later this year in Europe!

The tournament breeds competition and cooperation, but also celebrates the release of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011, Over the Nexus for Nintendo DS, the latest video game iteration in the popular franchise based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s animated series on The CW 4Kids Network and Cartoon Network. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011 is available now at retail stores nationwide for the SRP of $29.99. The game is packaged with three exclusive trading cards as well.

For tournament rules, registration and more information on Yu-Gi-Oh! visit: www.yugiohuschampionship.com

May 10, 2011 Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced nationwide availability for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011 Over the Nexus for Nintendo DS™. The most recent of the annual tournament based card game brings the high-paced dueling, strategy and fun that’s synonymous with all of the Yu-Gi-Oh! products, which span television, card games and video games.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011 Over the Nexus brings in a whole new story line that is torn in parallels from the hit television show, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds on Cartoon Network and on The CW 4Kids.  Allowing players to play, duel and interact with characters from the show is one of the signature features in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds series. In addition, new characters are introduced into the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe by allowing players to learn deeper subplots and alternate storylines.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011 Over the Nexus’ deep story mode takes place in Crash Town, the abandoned and desolate town – in which players helm the main character in an adventure to travel their way back to New Domino City. Time is of the essence as their perilous travels are all in hopes to make it back in time to compete in the World Racing Grand Prix. This is the Olympics of dueling where only the best of the best compete in some of the most intense dueling ever seen!

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011 Over the Nexus is crafted to cater to the duelist in every player, giving them new features and game play mechanics designed to make duels richer (with more than 4,200 playable cards) and  enhance the competitive dueling. New and updated features include:

- MULTIPLAYER: Battle anyone, anywhere, anytime via Wi-Fi connection and compete in weekly duel
championships each with new rules and live leader boards!

- REPLAY: Replay has been added, giving  duelists the chance to save a duel and review it again to
see where they had the most success or lost! Even see what moves the computer made!

- DECK DIAGNOSTICS: The Deck Diagnostics tool continues to give players instant feedback
by offering players the chance to evaluate their decks and create better hands for
dueling.

- DUEL PUZZLE EDITOR: The Duel Puzzle Editor allows players to post questions and
answers via Wi-Fi connection while gaining points and rankings.

- TUTORIALS: Beginning duelists can jump right into the game with the all new in-game
Tutorial that includes instructions in deck structuring and coaching tools to make
the best “next move.”

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011 Over the Nexus is rated E10+ by the ESRB and is available now at retail stores nationwide on Nintendo DS for the SRP of $29.99. Each game will come packaged with three exclusive trading cards.  For more information, including screenshots of the game, please log onto www.konami.com/ygowct2011

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s World Championship 2011 Over the Nexus will also be the game of choice for the Yu-Gi-Oh! US World Championship Qualifier Tournament. This tournament attracts thousands of the nation’s best duelists and has them battle it out to determine who represents the US in the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament in Amsterdam later this year. For more information on the tournament, including instructions on how to compete, please log on to www.yugiohuschampionship.com

Publisher:

The Scoop: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a fun-filled game for any fan of Star Wars and/or LEGO games.

The Setup: Based upon the Cartoon Network CG series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars focuses on the plotlines of seasons one and two—aka the events between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano… they’re all here in adorable LEGO form. Even if you’re not familiar with the television show, you’ll still love the missions, the slap-stick humor, and the improvements to the game’s formula. While I can’t say it’s definitely the best LEGO game ever, I can say it’s definitely my favorite!

Editor’s Note: This review is based off of the Xbox 360 version of the game. There will be a review for the Nintendo 3DS version coming soon!

What’s Hot: What isn’t?

The set-up isn’t any different from other LEGO Star Wars games. Play through the level, collect as many Lego studs as you can, collect the kits, unlock characters, smaller characters can use crawl spaces, Jedi can use the Force on any object glowing blue… If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That also doesn’t mean LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is the same old game with upgraded, HD graphics. There are enough improvements to the traditional formula that make it difficult to put the controller down. Plus, the cut scenes are hilarious! (You can check out one of the many cut scenes here.)

One of the improvements is with the Build Kits. Each level still contains ten hidden kits, but now there’s new incentive to collect them. Instead of old and busted incentive of collecting bits and pieces of a decorative starship, the kits build additional classic Star Wars characters. Want to go up against Count Dooku with Luke Skywalker and Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed? Collect all the kits and build the characters!

Lego Obi-Wan is not amused

Another improvement is the space battles. Each battle is part ship-to-ship fighting, part assault. Sometimes you have to land on the enemy ship to sabotage a gun or communication tower before you can successfully blow up the fleet. Space battles are much more fun/easier to complete if you have two people playing.

And then there’s what I like to call the holding pen. In LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Mos Eisley’s cantina served as a sort of central hub. From there, players could select which levels they wanted to complete next, unlock extra characters, attack NPCs for studs, and generally wander around. The holding pen in LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is Anakin Skywalker’s flagship, the Resolute. Characters start out on the bridge and as they progress through the game and collect gold bricks, other areas of the ship are unlocked: engineering, hanger bay, med bay… Each section of the Resolute features a hallmark of the original LEGO games, like building custom characters or unlocking vehicles. But these hallmarks have been revamped for the better! In no particular order:

• Custom characters: in the original LEGO Star Wars games, players could create two custom characters. Now you can create up to fifteen.
• Unlockable characters: gone are the days of approaching the Mos Eisley cantina bartender and buying new characters. Now various characters will wander around the Resolute as if it’s some sort of tourist trap. Find them and press B to buy them!
• Speaking of characters: Only Republic characters will wander around the Resolute. If you want any evil Separatist characters, like Count Dooku or a battle droid, grab a fighter from the Resolute’s hanger bay and fly over to General Grievious’s flagship, the Malevolence. You’ll also find bounty hunters such as Cad Bane and Jango Fett hanging out in the hanger bay. Just be careful: any Republic character on the Separatist ship will be attacked, and vice-versa. This is quite possibly my favorite improvement over its predecessor. (But that might just be the Star Wars nerd in me.)

Not everything in LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is simply an improvement upon the original formula. New features have been added that help make the game more interesting and add to the replay value. One of the biggest new features is the addition of a real-time strategy (RTS) levels. Players get the chance to play war general, assigning troops to specific locations, invading bases, blowing up Separatist armies with tanks, the works. Since a lot of episodes in the television show center around ground battles, this is an awesome addition to the game. There’s even an unlockable RTS freeplay mode where you can play just the ground battles over and over again. Like with space battles, I recommend playing these with a friend. You can cover more ground that way.

Send in the clones!

Another one of my favorite improvements is the ability to complete two plotlines at once. For example, in one level Obi-Wan and Anakin are separated on board the Malevolence. Anakin goes one direction, heading towards the bridge to sabotage what he can, while Obi-Wan fights his way through the cargo bay and faces off against General Grevious. If two people are playing together, one will complete Anakin’s story at the same time the other completes Obi-Wan’s. But if you’re playing solo, you’ll have to keep jumping between the two.

Along that same vein: co-op is vastly improved upon. Similar to LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars features a dynamic split-screen mode, making co-op so much easier. In the original, both players had to move together due to the limitations of the camera; if one player moved to the edge of the map, the camera would stop until the other player caught up. In this co-op mode, the screen will split in two, allowing both players to go opposite directions instead of shouting, “GET OVER HERE!” to one another.

Ahsoka and Captain Rex figure out a strategy

What’s Not: That awesome co-op improvement I just talked about? It’s not available online! In fact, there’s no online co-op at all. Why eliminate it, especially when so much emphasis of the game was placed on teamwork? There were also some technical glitches that lead to reboots. During a space battle, I landed on an enemy ship and my fighter was destroyed. Another fighter did not respawn in its place, leaving me stuck and unable to complete the mission.

And don’t get me started on the random game freezes. (Hopefully a patch’ll fix that!)

If you’re only interested in slicing things with lightsabers, then this may not bother you as much. However, for players not familiar with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, plot-wise you’ll be lost. While the events in the game mirror the episodes, they don’t go in episodic order. They’re grouped according to which bad guy was the main villain. After the prologue, the three main villains—Count Dooku, General Grevious, and Asajj Ventress—split and go their separate ways. You have the option of completing all the levels attached to a specific villain in one foul swoop or manually jumping between the three. Think of this as Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back: Even though the events take place at the same time and are intertwined, you have to complete all of Luke Skywalker’s story—training with Yoda, facing off against Vader, losing his hand—before you can play Han Solo’s story.

Plus, when it comes to solving puzzles, fans of the show will have the advantage. Sometimes solving a level involves doing exactly what the characters did in that specific episode. While the puzzles are not impossible to figure out, it’ll save time if you already know how Ahsoka took out the droid super tank.

It was also disappointing that some show events were missing. While I’m all for excluding the riveting episodes revolving around Padme’s senate cabinet meetings, what happened to Death Watch? No navigating a stealth ship through Admiral Trench’s blockade? Where’s Obi-Wan’s girlfriend? Yes, the game would be impossibly long if all the episodes were incorporated, but they left out some of the good ones!

Final Verdict: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a great game; it doesn’t mess with the winning formula and adds new features to mix things up. Fans of the show will appreciate it more, but it’s still a lot of fun for those who haven’t seen a single episode. Plus it’s not a bad deal at $50. Just be prepared for some plot confusion if you’ve never watched the show… and random game freezes.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go re-watch seasons one and two.

March 27, 2011 marked a big day for handheld gamers as Nintendo launched its latest entry in the Nintendo DS product lineup – the Nintendo 3DS.   The Nintendo 3DS is currently available in Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black and is accompanied by a pretty decent list of launch titles.

Other notable releases this week include NASCAR: The Game 2011, Shift 2: Unleashed, and The 3rd Birthday.  Check out the full list of games below:

Nintendo 3DS system –
Nintendo 3DS – Aqua Blue
Nintendo 3DS – Cosmo Black

3DS launch games -
Asphalt 3D
Bust-a-Move Universe
Combat of Giants Dinosaurs
LEGO Star Wars III The Clone Wars 3D
Madden NFL Football 3DS
Nintendogs + Cats: French Bulldog and New Friends
Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever and New Friends
Nintendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle and New Friends
Pilotwings Resort
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D
Rayman 3D
Ridge Racer 3D
Samurai Warriors Chronicles
Steel Diver
Super Monkey Ball 3D
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
The Sims 3
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars

PlayStation 3
Dynasty Warriors 7
NASCAR The Game 2011
Shift 2 – Unleashed – Limited Edition
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: Collectors Edition
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters
WWE All Stars

Xbox 360
Dynasty Warriors 7
NASCAR The Game 2011
Shift 2 – Unleashed – Limited Edition
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters
WWE All Stars

Wii
Country Dance Wii
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters
WWE All Stars

PC
Mahjong Escape: Ancient China
Shift 2 – Unleashed – Limited Edition
Vacation Quest: The Hawaiian Islands

DS, DSi, DSi XL
Hop

PSP
The 3rd Birthday
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Limited Edition
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
WWE All Stars

[source]

Our Level Up News Podcast host, Jeff Volpe, picked up a Nintendo 3DS over the weekend and we can’t wait to hear his thoughts and initial impressions on Nintendo’s latest handheld.  I’m personally looking forward to The 3rd Birthday and The Legend of Heroes for the PSP – I can’t get enough portable RPG action!

Let us know which games you plan on picking up this week!

Codemasters announced today that the latest entry in their F1 series, F1 2011, will be coming out on September 23rd for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii consoles along with Games For Windows.

Also announced, but not given a specific release date, are versions of the game for the Nintendo 3DS and Sony NGP handhelds.

Taken from the press release:

In F1 2011 players will be challenged to ‘Be the driver, live the life, go compete’, with wide-ranging technical and gameplay advancements on and off track and vastly extended competitive and co-operative multiplayer components. F1 2011 will feature all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the highly anticipated 2011 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including the current FIA FORMULA ONE Drivers’ World Champion Sebastian Vettel. The 2011 season also sees the debut of the 2011 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF INDIA at Delhi’s Jaypee International Race Circuit and the return of the iconic Nürburgring to the calendar.

Be sure to also check out the video below to have the chance to have any of your questions answered about the upcoming F1 2011 and have a chance to win a day at Codemasters’ studio in Birmingham, England to get a first look at the game:

Check back with us for more information about F1 2011.  You can check out what we thought of last year’s F1 2010 by clicking right here.