Microsoft may unveil its next, next-gen console at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles next month. While Microsoft hasn’t officially announced the system yet, industry insiders point to a few reasons why gamers should look out for the machine.

An artist’s concept of the Xbox 720. 

The Future of the Xbox
According to a source with ties to Flextronics in Austin, Texas, Microsoft’s next generation console is already in production. (Flextronics is the company that manufactures the current Xbox 360 and other devices for Microsoft.)

For gamers the next questions are “What features will the machine have?” and “When will it be available?” As far as features go, insiders say the machine will NOT have a Blu-ray player, but will have double the processing power of the current Xbox (hence the 720). Why no Blu-ray? Simple. In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s a digital-download world: Blu-ray as a format is dying (just compare the prices of Blu-rays against what they were a year ago). Plus, the Xbox 360 already serves up movies (via Netflix) and Microsoft doesn’t plan to add Sony technology to its console anytime in the future.

It’s also been rumored, the Xbox 720 (which hasn’t officially been announced, so it has no release date) will also integrate Kinect and user control in a bold new way. No surprise there, since progressive game design is an Xbox mandate.

Microsoft bought product placement in the movie “Real Steel” to promote two products – its search engine and another product – the unannounced Xbox 720. Hmmm…

Next Gen is In
The current next-gen systems are beyond their life cycle; in the past, new consoles would have already been introduced. But Nintendo was late in introducing the Wii and thanks to motion controllers like Kinect and PlayStation Move, Microsoft and Sony have found a way to extend the lives of their current consoles. (Nintendo has said it will release a new console this year: the Wii U.)

The Xbox 360 is still the best-selling video game console. So it’s no surprise that Xbox 360 game development is still big business, even though sales are down. How big? As of the first of the year, video games are a $1.06 billion dollar business. Industry analysts have cited that Microsoft may try to support both the 360 and 720 for a period. Now that’s smart business.

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He’s the creator of some of the greatest video games of all time – maybe Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda ring a bell? His name is Shigeru Miyamoto and he’s been a Nintendo video game designer since 1980 – and rumors are he is retiring.

Video game royalty: Shigeru Miyamoto is the creator of Mario, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda. 

In an interview yesterday when Miyamoto visited Wired offices in San-Francisco, the 59-year-old head of Nintendo’s game design department said through an interpreter, ”I’m going to retire, I’m not saying that I’m going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position. What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself. Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small.”

Whew. The excerpt of the interview which will be published next week caused an uproar and Nintendo quickly responding to clarify he was just retiring from his current position.

Creating Character
Shigeru Miyamoto is probably best known for Mario, the plucky little plumber that re-launched the game industry after Atari’s fall in the early 1980′s. But Mario was not Miyamoto’s first big game. That was the 1981 video game classic, Donkey Kong. In the game, a carpenter climbed a series of platforms to save his best girl as a gorilla hurled barrels at him.

The evolution of Mario (click the graphic above for a larger image). 

That carpenter, originally called Jumpman, inspired Super Mario Bros. Miyamoto was trying to create a game that featured Popeye characters but was unable to secure the license. “Mr. Video” as he was called became Mario when Nintendo of America’s warehouse employees needed to pacify their landlord Mario Segale for back rent.

Mario got his trademark mustache because in his 8-bit pixelated design, his mouth looked like a mustache.

Focus on Game Development
Miyamoto, is generally respected as the world’s most influential and creative video game designer. And while the man who is responsible for the Wii Fit as well as many of the cutting-edge Wii features, he’s seems more than eager to work on new ideas with a smaller and younger staff.

A career in game development can be very lucrative. Many young people are focusing on game and character design as viable career – and follow in Miyamoto’s footsteps. Yes, playing and making video games can pay your bills – Miyamoto’s net worth is estimated at around $40 million.

Wired.com’s full interview with Miyamoto, including his thoughts on 3-D & mobile gaming, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and developing Mario Kart 7 using a Western development will be published by Wired next week.

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Earlier this week Microsoft rolled out an Xbox LIVE update that as Microsoft puts it, will “transform every Xbox 360 into an all-in-one device to enjoy your entertainment.” It’s an amazing step by the Xbox maker to dominate not only the video game space but the future of TV too.

The future is here: Now you can control your television with your voice or a flick of the wrist.

Smart TV
Smart or Interactive TV’s are the future of home entertainment. Retailers already sell televisions that have Netflix, Pandora and other services built right in. Microsoft is taking that concept a step further for Xbox owners. With Xbox LIVE and a Kinect system the new update allows users to find television shows, channels or games simply by asking the Xbox for it. Microsoft uses the Bing search engine to find your content – think of as Siri for your television.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Microsoft is leading the way with Interactive TV, the Xbox was the first video game machine to offer Netflix. Since then Microsoft has added other apps like last.fm, Hulu Plus, ESPN and AT&T U-verse.

The Kinect system enables the user interface, and while it was initially introduced as a gaming device – Kinect has proven itself to be much more than a game accessory. How does it work? The Kinect uses a 3D video camera and voice recognition to enable users to play games – and all without a controller. See how it works with the new update in the video below:

Killer Content Provider 
Are you ready to design and build a next-generation game for the Xbox 360 yet? The Xbox platform is where it’s at. What others like Google and Apple aspire to do, Microsoft has already delivered – a single set top box that brings ALL your content together on one device, and allow you to access it naturally, with your voice. As one industry analyst put it, “This is the benchmark against which all other living room initiatives will be compared.”

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Game: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Rating: 5 out 5 stars
Price: $59.99

Have you heard of Skyrim? What is it? It’s only the hottest video game in the world and possibly the best role-playing game, ever. So what’s all the fuss about and why are gamers flocking to this fantasy actioneer?

Massive environments and jaw-dropping cinematic moments – that are all playable – are just two of the many reasons Skyrim is insanely amazing. 

Skyrim is the sequel to the 2006 Game of the Year, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. That game brought the RPG genre to brave new heights with a combination of non-linear gameplay and stunning graphics. The Elder Scrolls is an RPG series from Bethesda, and Oblivion was the most critically acclaimed game of the series. That is, it was until Skyrim came along.

Making an RPG Playable
RPGs have always occupied a firm niche in the game industry but they’ve never been embraced by mainstream audiences. Sure, there are the Final Fantasys and Legend of Zeldas, but Skyrim exists on an entirely different level. It elevates the genre and will help role-playing games gain even more popularity (and respect).

What makes Skyrim so popular (and frankly, good) is that it’s so accessible. Unlike traditional RPGs – in which players spend hours grinding away in dungeons slaughtering orcs for hit points, all the while trying to make sense of a complicated interface - Skyrim makes it easy for anyone to jump into the game and feel like they’re accomplishing something right off the bat. At the same time, the game doesn’t completely strip down the RPG elements.

What remains is a MASSIVE game that is just as enthralling as it is beautiful.

“Radiant Story”
Don’t want to follow a compass point to your next objective? No problem, Skyrim‘s wide-open world and non-linear gameplay leaves your path almost completely open-ended. Like most RPGs, the quests in Skyrim are a main component of gameplay. However, due to what Bethesda calls a “Radiant Story” system, quests adapt to a player’s performance and actions. This is where the game really shines. Not only are the quests perfectly woven into the overall story, but the freedom and the way the game…er, world…adapts to what you do truly makes this game way more than an RPG; it’s an interactive experience. And RPG makers should take notes, because this is the way to build a quest system.

Less cookie-cutter characters, a simplified magic system and dragons – we forgot to mention dragons – take an already great series over the top.   

This experience is driven by an engrossing and well written story, which happens to take place in one of the richest environments you’ve ever explored in a video game. Speaking of environments, Skyrim is more varied than Oblivion. The characters too are more diverse and when you’re interacting with them (which you’ll do for the hundreds of quests), you have more of a sense of belonging, of place.

The Sky’s the Limit
Considering this is the fifth game in the series, and that Bethesda has been working on this formula for years, including the recent Fallout: New Vegas, Skyrim is game development at the peak of perfection. Like Oblivion, Skyrim has game content in spades beyond the main storyline; it will literally keep you busy for hundreds of hours. This is how to make an RPG. For that matter, it’s a blueprint for making a great game. Now, go to the store already and buy this game so you can begin your adventure. You won’t be disappointed.

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He’s the world’s greatest adventurer, and he’ll go to the ends of the earth to find a hidden treasure or long-forgotten religious artifact. We’re talking about Drake, of course, from the Sony PlayStation 3 game Uncharted 3.

But another globe-trotting adventurer is making waves by putting Drake through his paces. His name is Harrison Ford and the actor is seen in this video playing a pre-release version of Uncharted 3.

Big in Japan
As you might imagine, Harrison Ford is a pretty big deal in Japan. The co-star of three Star Wars movies and the actor who immortalized a whip-wielding archaeologist named Indiana Jones, Ford is an even bigger star in Japan than he is in the U.S. And like most American film and television stars, Harrison Ford sells products in Japan – away from the eyes of watchful American fans who might look down upon him because he’s shilling video games.

Ford is playing and talking about the adventures of Drake – a modern day Indiana Jones – in the new Japanese commercial for Uncharted 3. It’s awesome to see Indiana Jones, er, Han Solo, with a PlayStation controller in his hand – and it makes us feel even better that he loves video games as much as we do. And like Ford, we are definitely looking forward to Uncharted 3, which releases on November 1st.

But this isn’t Ford’s first brush with video game fandom; he’s also made rounds on the Internet as video-game pop art, and part of the I am 8-bit exhibition:

Artist Brandon Bird created this piece called, “No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford.” The piece has been turned into t-shirts and limited edition poster prints. (Click the image for a larger view.)

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Snake from Metal Gear Solid…Nathan Drake from Uncharted…Kratos from God of War.  It’s a who’s-who of PlayStation gaming. In Sony’s new commercial for the PlayStation 3, an all-star cast of PS3 video-game characters get together in a pub, shoot the breeze and raise a toast “To Michael!” – the gamer that controls each of them and their adventures.

“To Michael!” 
What a bunch of characters: Ghost from Call of Duty, the guy from Infamous, Joe Mauer, Solid Snake, Kratos and Sweettooth all make real “live” appearances in the commercial. And look: Even Sackboy from Little Big Planet is here – and he’s playing chess!

Not a single frame of video play is ever shown, just live actors with spot-on likenesses to the characters they’re portraying. In fact, when watching the commercial and hearing the modern day Indiana Jones, Nathan “Nate” Drake talk about his adventures, we get excited thinking about a possible Uncharted film. And even more so when you consider that we might see Nathan Fillion playing Drake in the Uncharted movie.

Nathan Fillion from Castle has expressed his interest in playing Drake – that is, if the director wants him to.

Building Character(s)
Creating your own video game characters or any type of character, even for film and television, is no easy task. In the end, characters need to be interesting and intriguing. Sony’s PlayStation video-game console certainly hosts a motley crew of characters. And it’s awesome to finally see these characters that we’ve controlled all these years come to life outside the world of pixels and polygons.

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Apple was recently awarded a patent for something that looks and feels a lot like Xbox’s Kinect. The 3D display and imaging technology is a system that Apple may place inside future devices.

This illustration from Apple’s patent application shows how the technology could be used. 

The technology registers the moves of the user and then translates those motions into a control scheme for a game or an app.

In Control
Apple’s motion control patent describes a projector and a receiver that utilize light beams to scan and recognize users’ movements. The Xbox Kinect also uses light beams to map out the space and user to establish a play field for Kinect games. And like the Kinect, the only input the Apple device requires is your body.

According to the patent, Apple’s technology also can be used to display holographic images. Three-dimensional holographic images are the holy grail of digital immersion. The uses for holographic technology could include gaming (such as flight sims or virtual reality applications) – like projecting a 3D model of a skeleton for a surgeon or a car for an engineer.

One day, you could use Apple’s holographic technology to update your Facebook page… 

Apple’s technology truly exceeds what Microsoft is doing with the Kinect and promises amazing experiences for whatever platform it may be used in. Imagine playing video games…Say a round of Angry Birds where you could reach into the game screen, pull out a bird and then throw it, like you might a real baseball at a target. The potential for the technology is mind-boggling.

…or rack up the high score on a round of Angry Birds.

Apple hasn’t made any announcements about the new technology or how it may be used. Apple files patents frequently and, for the most part, they are granted. One reason Apple pushes so hard on technology patents is because of Steve Jobs. Jobs made it Apple’s mission to constantly innovate. The motion control patent Apple recently received certainly does that. It will be extremely interesting to see how the technology might be used in app development. For now, we’ll just have to keep watching Minority Report and dreaming of the possibilities.

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It’s hard for me to fathom — it’s been 22 years since I flew to New York City to cover the debut of the Sega Genesis video game system.

I had just started working for a magazine publisher based in Greensboro, N.C., developing and producing an entire line of instructional videogame tapes as an addition to the company’s line of video game and computer magazine business. Back then, when you talked about home video game machines, the original Nintendo Entertainment System ruled the roost, but it wouldn’t for long. Suddenly, Japanese arcade giant Sega was now challenging Mario with its new 16-bit Genesis system. The Genesis and its 16-bit processor bested the NES in almost every way: More realistic and fluid graphics, and action that more closely emulated arcades of the day.

The first shot in the 16-bit wars was fired when Sega openly challenged Nintendo with its 16-bit Sega Genesis video game system. 

On Assignment in NYC
The year was 1989. Another editor and I were sent to cover the Sega press conference that would announce the Genesis Entertainment System to the world. We flew up late on a weekday afternoon—August  13th, to be exact— in order to get some sleep the night before and be on time for the media event the next morning. On the flight up, I read about the sequel to Ghostbusters in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. Like the first film, this new movie would be set in New York…the very place I was heading. Before I knew it, my travel companion and I were pulling into the gates at LaGuardia and catching a cab into town.

Who you gonna call? The Ghostbusters on a June 1989 cover of  Rolling Stone.  

It takes a while to get to Lower Manhattan from the airport but it’s a great cab ride. As you get closer to the metropolis, the city looms ahead on the distance at first, before consuming your entire field of vision. And suddenly, you’re there…in New York City—the most vibrant city on earth.

Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple
We were staying in Lower Manhattan for the launch event. In fact, we were staying in one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

The Towers were cities unto themselves, each full of both businesses and offices. We stayed in one of the Tower’s hotel chains (Hilton, maybe? Radisson?). After checking in, we were escorted by a bellman to rooms about 50 stories up, approximately half way up the massive Tower. The accommodations were first class.

Remember them as they were: the magnificent Twin Towers of the World Trade Center rose more than a quarter-mile into the sky, and were, at one time, the tallest buildings on earth.

There were a number of restaurants in the Tower; we found a spot and ate dinner. Later that night, I woke up and went to the window. I just stood there staring out at Lower Manhattan. My eyes scanned the upward reaches of the Tower and I remember feeling like I was inside of a mountain of steel and glass. I felt safe. I couldn’t envision any force strong enough to bring these Towers down. But that was 22 years ago.

Inside the Box
The next morning was like most for New York; a moderately sunny day. As I looked up I saw the huge skyscrapers partially blocking the sun’s light, giving the city a kind of a gray tint that suited it perfectly.

Following breakfast, we headed over to the press event. The event was being held at the old U.S. Customs House, a grand old building with giant columns that had stood since 1907. In 1976, the building was declared a National Historic Landmark. During our brief walk northward from the WTC, we passed the intersection with Wall Street. Up the street were various financial buildings and the famous stock exchange. You could almost smell the money. Once inside the U.S. Customs House, we were handed press kits within day-glo green folders. There were various crates placed around the enormous hall.

 
The U.S. Customs House in New York City has been around since the early 20th Century. This is where Sega unveiled the Genesis to the press.

After a few minutes, a Sega spokesman welcomed the press to the unveiling of the Sega Genesis. Then the crates were then lifted to reveal the various gaming stations, along with a larger visual display near the front of the hall. Almost instantly, Sega staffers sat down at the various stations and started up the demos. My co-worker and I toured the exhibits, taking the random invitation to play a game as we walked around. Loud techno music was pumped through the building.

At that time, the system had not yet discovered its Mario. That would happen in 1991, with the debut of Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic would go on to become the console’s biggest franchise. Instead we played a near-perfect arcade conversion of Altered Beast and Golden Axe. The visuals looked superior to anything on the NES. The controller was more rounded and felt more ergonomic than the rectangular NES control pad. And the console and controller were manufactured of cool and edgy black plastic (instead of the gray, red and black color scheme of the NES). From the beginning, Sega was trying to distance its console from the NES.

Golden Axe was one of the first Sega Genesis games when the system debuted in 1989. It would be another two years before Sonic the Hedgehog would become the signature character identified with that game system. 

The rest of the press event was fairly routine, and before long we were crazily trying to find a cab and our way out of the city.

A couple of years later, I was again sent to New York for business. While walking the streets of Manhattan, up from Time Square to my meeting, I saw a street vendor selling a black t-shirt. On the front, the famous New York City skyline. In front of the skyline was a grinning human skull. The shirt read, “New York City: Where the Weak are Killed and Eaten.” It takes a certain New York sensibility to appreciate why that shirt is so funny. I didn’t purchase the shirt at the time, and I’ve been kicking myself ever since.

Lucky Town
New York’s always been lucky for me. Twelve years before the 1989 press event, I had made my first trip to Manhattan. As a boy I had been fascinated with New York City. I drew the famous skyline endlessly. My parents took me there in April 1977 for a long weekend of sightseeing. Within two hours of arriving at our hotel near Times Square, I had met my boyhood hero, Stan Lee, resident genius of Marvel Comics and creator of icons like the Amazing Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, the X-Men, and so forth. My father and I caught Stan the Man as he stepped off the elevator after returning to Marvel’s Madison Avenue offices from lunch. I’ve still got his autograph, and another from another famous celebrity.

Andy Warhol used to carry copies of his celebrity magazine Interview to give out to people he’d meet. He autographed this copy of the April 1977 issue and handed it to me on Madison Avenue in New York City. (His signature runs up the left side.)

A half hour before meeting Stan Lee, my Dad and I were walking up Madison Avenue. We passed a celebrity I recognized immediately. We flagged the guy down and spoke to him for about five minutes. It was famous pop artist and professional celebrity-watcher Andy Warhol (the guy who said, “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.”) Andy, the ultimate celebrity insider, turned out to be a real nice guy. He asked about the weather back in North Carolina. I asked him for an autograph and started reaching for the hotel stationery I had in my pocket. But Andy beat me to the punch, taking the copy of his tabloid newspaper/magazine (called Interview) and signing it up the side. The magazine cover he handed me, now framed,  still hangs on my wall.

The View of a Lifetime
On that first trip to New York, I went up to the top floor of one of the Twin Towers. The lobby inside the Tower was expansive and that’s where you bought tickets to go up to the top floor or roof. (On non-windy days, they let visitors up on the roof, but we were there on a breezy day.) The elevator ride to the top took a while, and involved one elevator change.

Once on the 110th floor, we slowly walked around the perimeter of the building, looking out from all possible angles. It’s difficult to adequately describe how lofty the view from the top of the WTC was, but this should give you some idea: It was so high up that you could see into four different states from the top floor. At one point, I got close to the edge of the glass and ventured a look straight down – more than a quarter-mile straight down into the abyss. It was so severely high up that you couldn’t look straight down more than a couple of seconds without inducing vertigo. You felt like you were in the clouds, and indeed you were. You were so high up that when hard winds blew, you could feel the Tower move a little. Being there was always an unforgettable experience. I am so lucky to have experienced that.

From the lofty top floor of the Twin Towers, you could see into four different states.

A dozen years later, I would spend one more night in one of the Twin Towers. A dozen years after that, the Towers would be brought down in the worst attack on the U.S. since World War II. At that time, I was editing a magazine for firefighters. One of our writer/photographers was brought into Ground Zero on the night of 9/11. He spent all night touring the destruction at the WTC. He shot 15 rolls of film – all that he had – and was scrounging film from other photographers. Every view was historic.

Now I try not to remember the destruction of the Twin Towers. For me they remain proud and tall, rising to amazing proportions out of the depths of Lower Manhattan. And if I need any help remembering the electric charge I felt just from being there, I go look at a poster I purchased in the lobby of the WTC, all those many years ago. It shows a rounded, fish-eye perspective view of the Twin Towers looming over Lower Manhattan. Beneath the photo, huge type reads, “The Observation Deck at the World Trade Center.” Above the  photo, in even larger type, the poster reads: ”

IT’S HARD TO BE DOWN WHEN YOU’RE UP. 

Without a doubt, it was the view of a lifetime.

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As the movie, videogame and comic book industries invaded the San Diego Convention Center last week, Comic-Con 2011 dominated media coverage. Fans mobbed the Convention Center, too, looking for the  latest in cutting-edge entertainment. This year’s show is now history and for our gamers out there, we’ve rounded up for you the best five videogames of the show:

MASS EFFECT 3 (BioWare/Electronic Arts)
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release Date: March 6, 2012

BioWare’s Mass Effect 3 is easily one of the most anticipated games of 2012.

The long-awaited sequel to the make-your-own adventure, Mass Effect 3 was playable for gamers at Comic-Con. We saw this game at E3 but Comic-Con gave us a chance to spend more time with it. What did we like best about it? BioWare enhanced the third-person shooter aspect and RPG elements of the game and gave gamers the option to play as a female Shepard.

For the uninitiated, Mass Effect mixes sci-fi themes with elements of action RPG gaming. As the new game begins, Commander Shepard is being put on trial for what happened in ME 2. However during the trial, Earth is besieged by Reapers. Shepard uses the opportunity to make a quick exit and goes off to summon help from other alien civilizations. While Shepard is recruiting help, he encounters resistance from former allies, the Cerberus, and the space opera plays out from there. For players that worked hard on those previous game saves, you’ll be happy to know your progress will pick up where you left off with ME 3.

Expect multiple versions of ME 3 to be available — such as a collector’s edition and a digital deluxe edition. And get this: The special editions are set to include exclusive weapons found in the N7 Arsenal Pack. We’re totally buying that.

SPIDER-MAN: EDGE OF TIME (Beenox/Activision)
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Nintendo Wii, DS & 3DS
Release Date: October 4, 2011

“Excuse me, do you have the time?”  Spider-Man: Edge of Time floats between two time zones — the year 2099 and 2011. 

Spider-Man is everywhere these days — including a new movie and even a Broadway musical. Not to be left out, he makes his latest videogame appearance in Spider-Man: Edge of Time. In a videogame that can be best described as Spider-Man meets Inception, there are actually two Spider-Men – one from the present (whose alter ego is Peter Parker) and one from the future (alias Miguel O’Hara) who rose to fame in the comic series Spider-Man 2099. Gamers play in either time period, but the game’s “Quantum Causality” feature, causes the actions you make in one era to have an effect in the other (like the cause-and-effect logic in Inception). If that isn’t enough to make your head spin, toss in the villainous antics of The Black Cat and Anti-Venom – and it’s really “game on.”

The present and the future link up in Edge of Time, with the 2099 version of Spider-Man working overtime to protect the original web-slinger from harm…and save the future from being devoured by an ultra-greedy corporation called Alchemax.

STREET FIGHTER x TEKKEN (Capcom/Capcom)
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita
Release Date: March 2, 2012

Two of the greatest fighting games franchises in videogame history come together for the ultimate smack-down in Street Fighter x Tekken.

In a grudge match that could only be described as videogame nirvana, Namco and Capcom are pitting their toughest fighters against each other for the first time in the HD era. Fighters from the Tekken and Street Fighter series  face off together for what gamers are hoping will be the fighting game to end all fighting games. Street Fighter x Tekken (which Capcom translates as “Street Fighter cross Tekken”) pulls in all your favorite characters from Street Fighter (Ryu, Guile, Abel, Chun-Li, Poison, Dhalsim and more) and throws them in Tekken greats (such as Kazuya Mishima, King, Steve Fox and Yoshimitsu). And although this isn’t exactly the first time these two powerhouse rival companies have united to do battle (that honor goes to 2005’s Namco vs. Capcom), it’s the first time that gamers outside of Japan will be able to enjoy the mayhem.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
Platforms: Nintendo Wii
Release Date: Fall 2011

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is actually a prequel to Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

In the latest installment of Nintendo’s legendary Legend of Zelda action/adventure series, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the game FINALLY gets the high-definition treatment and a pick-me-up from the addition of Wii Motion Control Plus technology – which gives Link’s movements (such as shooting an arrow) new precision and power. Swordplay, in particular, is also given special attention, with this game paying attention to details such as how Link’s sword is angled before it cuts something (or somebody).

Nintendo gave additional depth to the environments between dungeons, too. And while the locations may be familiar, Nintendo has slipped in new gameplay surprises. Plus, as we mentioned, this will be the first time Link will be in HD glory.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: SUPER SOLDIER (Next Level Games/Sega)
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS
Release Date: July 19, 2011

Cap’s come a long way — originally debuting in Timely Comics (which evolved into Marvel Comics); Captain America is now starring in his own hit movie.

Captain America is an original superhero; he first appeared in comic books in 1941. But don’t count him out because of his age; his recent live-action feature (Captain America: The First Avenger) had enough muscle to knock the latest “Harry Potter” flick out of the top slot at the Box Office.

Captain America: Super Soldier is almost a companion piece to the movie, and follows the film’s general plot and action. As the Star-Spangled Avenger, Captain America sets out to explore a huge castle that’s been turned into a rogue military installation. Aside from using his own spectacular acrobatics and trusty fists to make his way through this third-person action game, Cap is equipped with his trusty shield, which he can hurl at enemies, protect himself from gunfire, and even scale walls when the need arises. It’s an action game through and through but captures the feeling of the film pretty well.

Get Into Games
Are video games your favorite form of entertainment? Have you ever imagined making your own game? Make your own game ideas come to life by learning video game design or 3D animation. Or explore your passion creating comics. Who knows? In a few years, they could be showcasing your creations at Comic-Con 2020!

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In honor of Father’s Day, how about a story about an actor, comedian and father who named his daughter after a video game? Comedy superstar Robin Williams has been in love with Zelda – and we mean the video game – since 1987. So much so, in fact, that he named his daughter after the Nintendo princess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTQ9RuIc6m4

Robin Williams stars in a Nintendo commercial that features his daughter – Zelda!

Apparently Williams and his wife played The Legend of Zelda fairly often during his wife’s pregnancy and they fell in love with the character’s name. So Dad did what any self-respecting gamer would do: he named his daughter after his favorite Nintendo game. The story behind his daughter’s name has made rounds on the Internet for a few years now, but was only recently confirmed, with Nintendo’s commercial for the Nintendo 3DS The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.

Zelda Commercials Through the Years
Years ago, the original Zelda commercial for the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System featured a wild-eyed spokesperson bouncing around, obsessed with Zelda’s name and fearing for creepy-crawlies that he encountered in the game. When compared to the latest Zelda commercial, it doesn’t quite have the same effect:

“Zelda! Zelda! Zeldaaaa!!!!”

What’s In a Name?
It’s not only great to see Nintendo update the commercial, but update the game as well. The Nintendo 3DS The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D refreshes the classic with sparking new graphics, although the formula and story are the same. The N64 version was one of the highest-rated games of all time, and here at DMAC, we have fond memories of the game. Even Zelda (Robin Williams’ daughter) does, too. Here’s a great video of her playing the game, while Dad talks about how she got her name:

And you thought you were the only one crazy about Zelda and Link’s journey! Video games cut across all cultures and all types of people. Are you crazy about video games? Maybe you have an idea for your own creation? Then why not learn how to design a video game? Your creation could be an adventure game like Zelda or an action game. Using the tools video game designers use, you could create the next Zelda.

You don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to love great video games or create video games. Just ask Robin Williams! Are you looking forward to Zelda for 3DS?

Okay, so minus the pointy ears and big eyes, you might could argue that Zelda Williams does slightly resemble Princess Zelda.

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