If you were expecting to hear about what’s new on theCall of Dutyfront today during Activision Blizzard’s 2011 financial results, I’m sorry to disappoint. While nothing of real substance was said, we did get a couple of teases during the company’s call to investors. CEO Bobby Kotick explained that we’ll get information aboutthis year’sCall of Duty“in the coming weeks,” presumably during E3. Similarly, that’s when we’ll hear , the impending “connected digital universe....

The Summer Festival is quite cute: the live event takes place from June 30 to July 14. It provides the opportunity for players to assemble in one place act like retards. Decorations, costumes, and exclusive quests have been confirmed. The content’s story will revolve around battling an evil wizard with a silly name. Apparently silly-named wizard is planning to rock the elves, and its up to you and your buddies to stop him....

By all rights, our resident teddy bear Aaron Linde should be the one posting this story, asthis tipcame in last night and he quickly claimed it. Always the skeptic, I told him to hold off because we were uncertain of whether it was true, and as it turns out, it is. Starting in April, Japanese members ofClub Nintendowil be able to trade their club points for for a new Wii controller that looks to be an exact replica of a Super Famicom controller....

A couple days ago,Mark Rein of Epic Games(Gears of War, Unreal engine) popped his head from his HD-rendered palace, his foot just inches from his mouth, and made some partially-true-but-still-harsh statements like “[M-rated Wii games have] been huge financial flops” and irrelevant, borderline wrong comments like “Look at EA. Do you see the sameMaddengame on Wii? Of course not — it’s a dumbed down game.” Now Mark Rein is back to clarifiy what hereallymeans....

BioWare just released its second character spotlight, introducing us to the cast of humans and aliens we’ll be meeting inMass Effect. While the game is certainly promising to be epic in scale, that animation is really letting it down. Just take a look at the last clip in this video. Does that man move like a raving madman? Not many lunatics warning of humanity’s death would just stand there looking at his feet like he’s bored....

Even though the demo forBatman: Arkham Citywas apparently the same one that appeared at E3 this year, there was still enough there for Max to play completely different than last time; including being able to take control ofCatwoman. I think I was just as excited as Max at the prospect of being able to do a zip-line into a flip into a zip-line,Nolan Northvoicing The Penguin and dropping some explosive gel while you somersault....

In the wake of the earthquakes which have plagued Japan, many games were delayed or even outright canceled.Mega Man Legends3, its development statusalready in question, is one of the games for which development was brought to a screeching halt following the disaster on March 11. Now, Capcom producer Tatsuya Kitabayashi has confirmed in a blog post on theRockman DASH3website that progress is once again being made on the project. That’s great news....

Word just came through the Intertubes and into our inbox on 10 new titles that Microsoft plans on rolling out starting in February for its Xbox Live Arcade service on the Xbox 360 — no specific dates, or Wednesdays, have been announced. Virtual Console, eat your heart out? 1.3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures2.Alien Hominid HD3.Band of Bugs4.Castlevania: Symphony of the Night5.Catan6.Eets: Chowdown7.LUXOR 28.Paperboy9.Root Beer Tapper10.Worms Full descriptions after the jump. 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures:from developer Wanako Games and publisher Sierra Online, allows gamers to putt their way through 36 fun-filled holes of manic minigolf action on wild courses that range from the Old West to outer space and feature a bevy of crazy hazards and obstacles....

Numerous retailers have listed the Kinect at $149.99 on their respective websites, although Microsoft has gone out of its way to discredit the supposed price point. So, officially speaking, Kinect has no “confirmed” price currently — and it won’t, at least not until gamescom. Gamescom, which has become the hot new videogame convention in recent times, begins on August 18 in Cologne. Talking with Microsoft Germany’s Oliver Kaltner, GamesIndustry.biz has learned this is when the motion-control device will have its price, at the latest....

It feels good to be a gangsta … until some kid beats you in the face and yanks a diamond out of your skull. This rather amusing new commercial forMinecrafttakes the “punching things for natural resources” schtick onto the streets with uniquely grisly results. And no itisn’tracist, you silly bastards! Kid smashes black man’s face for diamonds in latest Minecraft ad[Mukyou]

[Update: AKotakutipster has sent the site potential cover art for the upcomingModern Warfare 3, which matches what we see in the above logo. It also features a man holding a gun, which is absolutely shocking.] While it hasn’t been officially announced, we’re expecting Activision’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3to be revealed any day now. While we wait for the official details and first glimpse of the game in action, have this to whet your appetite: a logo....

One of the biggest problems gamers have is that they seem addicted to scooping up endless sequels and reiterations of a game, and then turning around and complain about them. Would we still complain if a sequel was completely different from its predecessor though? Peter Molyneux thinks that is whatFable IIIis, and that’s one of the reasons he’s just so super excited about it. Speaking withSwitched, he said, “We could makeFable IIIlike any sequel....

“As a bonus we’ve included an AmmoMule wallpaper that depictsammo high-fiving a slice of bacon.” Sold. Whatever it is I’m buying, and whatitis isMonday Night Combatfor XBLA. In case you missed therelease trailerfor the upcoming game, it’s a class-based, third person shooter that revolves around a sort ofRunning Manstyle game show where players kill each other for cash. Its style is also pretty blatantly influenced byTeam Fortress 2and the new mock ad for it above, which was all rendered in real time using the game’s engine, only reaffirms that fact....