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Ok, so we’re not going to PAX this year, but we can bring you a teaser from the upcoming Dark Carnival campaign in Left 4 Dead 2 and a slew of new pictures to enjoy.

I know I said that I had no idea when more info or assets would drop and I really didn’t at the time. Anyway enjoy this and as soon as more videos or pictures come out we’ll have them here.

Enjoy!

BTW: yeah that’s right we just posted a boatload of amazing Left 4 Dead 2 concept art in full res.

You already knew that one, but I got to check it out live at the Best Buy demo nearby which was pretty cool. The units on display were showcasing the features of the unit minus that of the browser. I was able to listen to extremely clear HD radio signals with nice range across the board, not a lot of clipping as I moved around which seems to indicate the antenna is pretty strong. I think the biggest thing here is the clarity and the fact that if one doesn’t have a receiver for HD Radio they can get it on the spot via the Zune HD in their home or car.

The unit itself is sleek and slim, it takes about 2 units to equal the width of a first gen model, the construction is pretty rigid and comes in two flavors right now for the consumers, the onyx black 16GB model and the platinum silver 32 model. In person the silver model is really impressive, more-so than the onyx with the brushed look and nice contrast on the side profile of the Zune. The screen is vibrant for color and the OLED display is very bright even from sharper viewing angles. Overall during video playback everything was smooth and very well rendered, colors on the screen didn’t face patching or gradients although really much of that depends on the source material.

The unit was also plugged into a TV using the AV dock and HDMI, the playback on screen was great although thumbnails were a bit low resolution being extremely blurred in large scale, the dock seemed to work but there was an audio issue with the display system at Best Buy, so if it was a store issue or a device problem we don’t know. Chances are the HDMI audio works fine and it was just the HTiB setup they were using, they were trying to figure out how to use the standard stereo cables but I never saw any progress from there. The unit seems to deliver on all fronts, 720p playback over HDMI, high contrast brilliant color from the OLED screen and new features as well. Those familiar with the original AV system can rest assured that the functions haven’t changed and the remote handles things just the same.

Overall the unit is sexy, slim and powerful to say the least given that’s powered by NVIDIA. Hopefully we get to check out the unit, we were on the list early back in May 2009 and now Microsoft’s PR division has taken to giving us the run around about how demand is so high now for review units and we should have gotten in touch earlier (WE DID, BACK IN MAY 2009). Hopefully their team doesn’t fail horribly, it would be a shame to intentionally botch their review units to those who acted fast.

We have an array of videos to post from Gamescom today, including Crysis 2, Guild Wars 2, some video from Mini Ninja’s and the 5 billionth Batman Trailer of the summer.

Check em out below.

Guild Wars 2:

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It is in the books, the PS3 went on a diet.

Starting tomorrow, you can get a slimmer PS3 without leaving your wallet anorexic. New price of $299.99 cuts the price by $100. Done away are the hdd options as the 120gig becomes the standard.

The only person not on the guest list, are PS2 games. The backwards compatibility sadly doesn’t survive the slim and sexy makeover.

Mass Effect 2 is coming along strong this year, today we get a new character reveal of the Grunt a blood hungry Krogan ready for battle. EA / Bioware drop the full word in this release

Once players have assembled their squad from amongst the galaxy’s most powerful mystics, geniuses, and convicts, they must lead them on a suicide mission to discover why humans are vanishing from the galaxy. The success of the mission hinges on the squad recruited and their loyalty to the mission. Shepard’s future depends on it.

“The Mass Effect trilogy is an epic saga with consequences that will carry through from chapter to chapter” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, GM and CEO BioWare, VP EA. “Building out a diverse and loyal party is one of the features that makes the Mass Effect series unique. “The characters Commander Shepard recruits are not only pivotal to the storyline but essential to the players overall success.”

The new character revealed in the Mass Effect 2 squad is ‘Grunt’. A violent and unpredictable Krogan fighter, Grunt has never faced true defeat. His unsurpassed physical strength makes him a strong asset to Commander Shepard’s team, if he can be tamed, and if he can be trusted.

Grunt is the second party member to be revealed in the Mass Effect 2 universe following ‘Thane’ a deadly assassin who was first introduced in June. More details about the rest of Shepard’s crew will be revealed in the coming months.

So as we reported before the Netflix 360 update goes live today. You can finally add to your instant view queue from your 360! Although it should be noted you cannot search specific titles but you can browse.

Also if you are hawk-eyed while doing your update, you will notice this message:

“This exclusive partnership offers you the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the television via Xbox 360. Xbox 360 will be the only game console to offer this movie-watching experience, available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix unlimited plan subscribers, at no additional cost.”

Netflix xbox exclusivity! Fan boys rejoice/flame/cry!

The end of summer is coming upon us, but the folks at Microsoft are still running strong with their latest update to the NXE developments. Today avatars get a new look through brand styles and costumes from their favorite video games. Also players get a treat to games on demand which may or may not tease the interests, and indie game selections in a new category.

I would say check it out but pretty much everyone is going to be greeted with an upgrade page once they start up.

Personally I think they have a lot of cool ideas running about. $30 for Call of Duty 2 is just insane though and the avatar clothing prices are too much for what you get, if I’m buying a shirt for 240 points it better not look like they just down-scaled existing art and pasted it on the body of a blue shirt.

I just did a recent feature with Radical Comics for my primary site, covering some of their titles and touching on how the company has taken a unique approach to ordering online with them. Instead of taking up annual rates for each series, the company has taken up individual title ordering, collectors can pick from limited edition covers and back issues on their website and get them delivered in high quality without having to worry about bent corners or poor condition.

Some titles that stood out were FZVA, Freedom Formula and Hotwire. incarnate was a fun book as well but the art inspiration brings too many other manga characters into mind and somewhat kills the read. Personally I can’t wait for FZVA to pick up as it is based around the popular website and all the goodies that were created over the years for fans of Zombie and Vampire fiction.

Guitar Hero is a title that keeps expanding each year, they throw more exclusive artists into the mix and keep trying to work the play as your rock hero angle of things. Today the company announces that Johnny Cash has been added to the roster for the latest in the series. Players will be able to play “Ring Of Fire” and unlock his likeness through the marketplace.

As cool as the game sounds with all these unique licenses and songs, I still can’t bring myself to want to get the game, something about the design feels clunky and even though I started on Guitar Hero, I can’t help but be a Rock Band addict for my music gaming needs. The store is easy to use, the character creation is in-depth and the song selection is great with additions like the Rancid track pack and the upcoming marketplace to introduce all independent artists to the game.

The Man in Black would be amazing to play but honestly I’ll have to miss out on that one, GH5 would need a lot more to move me over.

I’ll have a lot of things to say about the show this year, but I have exclusive rights to give to my main company first and then I can follow with our own editorials on here. In the meantime enjoy.