I feel like a lucky man because next Friday, I will be the sole representative of MEGATONik attending the first annual GEEX Show gaming convention in Salt Lake City. GEEX is short for Gaming and Electronics EXpo.
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I don’t know about you guys but I spend a considerable amount of time playing what I (and many other gamers) thought to be a children’s game. To this day I am still trying to get a Roario and an Elephanilla to stay in my garden.

Luckily at MS Gamers Day, Rare not only leaked info out about the new Banjo Kazooie game, but also a game that I will probably be the first in line on release day to get…Viva Pinata 2.

The tentative title for the game is Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise and we were lucky enough to secure a half dozen screenshots to put up. Since this is only the first day of the MS Gamer’s Day event, lets hope that they have even more amazing items to reveal tomorrow.

Yesterday morning I woke up and drove the two hours to Austin, TX, to attend Gamecock’s 2nd annual Expo For Interactive Entertainment, Independent and Original, or EIEIO. EIEIO showcased all 9 of the games they are currently publishing, some of them playable and some only being shown off by the developers. Last year EIEIO was held in Santa Monica, California, at the same time as E3, but this year was moved to Austin, where Gamecock’s main offices are located. Hit the jump to find out exactly what happened at EIEIO 2008.

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Gamecock Media announced in a press release on February 29th, that the upcoming game from Replay Studios that was under the working title Sabotage has been renamed to Velvet Assassin. The game is based upon the real life hero of WWII Violette Szabo, who was instrumental in reorganizing the French resistance against German occupation. Read the full press release after the jump.

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Hey all you lovely MEGATONik readers, great news if you own an Xbox 360! Before the Microsoft keynote speech was even delivered at this years GDC, the details of the hotly anticipated game was spilled by a crafty NeoGAF poster who found the following on Microsoft’s Italian PR website.

Gears of War 2 (Epic Games). Gears of War 2 is the sequel to the best seller, with 4.5 million copies sold, which redefined the tactical/third person/action game genre. Gears of War 2 follows the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Team in an epic saga of survival, defeat, and punishment. Developed by Epic games as an Xbox 360 exclusive, Gears of War 2 will be available in November.

Thank you wonderful web translations! I’ve just been told that this news has been confirmed by Epic developer CliffyB during the GDC keynote speech. I’m guessing that nobody here thought that any console other than the 360 would be getting this game did they? Now, when is GameStop going to offer pre-orders?

Good or bad, it seems that our beloved hobby has finally become mainstream. Michael Gallagher, President and CEO of the ESA, said in front of a packed audience at the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit on the 8th of February in Las Vegas, “In little more than a generation since Pong, our industry has arrived.”

“Videogames are an integral part of the way Americans work, live and play. As such, our industry has become a powerhouse”, says Mr. Gallagher. What is really insane is that he is utterly correct. The gaming industry has grown to the point where it has begun to affect the United States’ GDP postively.

“It may be an exaggeration today to say that everyone is a gamer, but the way things are going, it’s not much of an exaggeration tomorrow,” he said, referring to the segment of the market that we have been conditioned to see as ‘casual gamers’. He continues, “We have maintained the loyalty and support of our base, but extended to new demographics to an extent hardly imaginable a few years ago,” alluding on the segment of the market that ranges from middle age parents jamming to Guitar Hero or the old fogies bowling a perfect 300 in Wii Sports Bowling.

He continues on and on for what feels like an eternity, touching on all aspects of gaming including fitness games and the ESRB, for those of you so inclined to read the whole post, I’ve included a link below.

[Via GamesIndustry]

For the past two days I’ve attended the third annual Otronicon at the Orlando Science Center here in Florida. The convention is a four day long event that showcases several simulations, exhibits, and the latest and greatest video games that have come out in the past couple of decades. I’ve attended the event for the past two years, and without a doubt, this year was probably the biggest improvement and most fun I’ve had.

Read on for pictures, text, and even a video from my adventures at Otronicon.

Note: Oh, and please excuse my poor photography.
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