The traditionally Canada-based ELAN Awards today announced intentions to bring the show to San Diego next July 17–19, ending just before the San Diego Comic Con kicks off. Celebrating "video games, animation and visual effects," the fourth year's show makes it's US debut with two days of lavish events before culminating in the actual awards ceremony on the 19th.

Though the event's promoters promise everything from a welcome pool party to a red carpet engagement, we're most excited about something called the "sexiest party ever thrown for video games." Aside from knowing that it's a "street party" taking place in the "historic gaslamp quarter" of San Diego, we're just as flummoxed as you are as to what a sexy party for game industry folks could possibly be. With all those nerds in one place, though, it's assured that iPhones will capture the whole thing in all its confusing, clumsy, awkward glory.

Top Gun on iPhone is one of the device's many hidden treasures. Not only does it have cool, After Burner-esque gameplay, it's also got one of the best easter eggs of all time (as you can see above). Unsurprisingly, nailing the unintentional humor of the movie is one of the things that Freeverse designer Justin Ficarrotta says his team got right in a new postmortem published on Gamasutra.

The dev's top mistake? Using the wrong plane, or at least a different plane than the one fans were counting on. But again -- and we don't think we can stress this enough -- you get to play volleyball with the disembodied heads of Maverick and Ice Man. Doesn't that grant some sort of perma-forgiveness?

For the first time since the announcement of the game's burial in the first quarter of 2010, WBIE has released new media for The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest. In case you've forgotten about the upcoming Wii/DS/PS2/PSP action-RPG, it's a kid-friendly game starring a cuddly incarnation of Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn -- and, in the Wii version, an equally huggable Gandalf (for a second player to handle).

It seems that, even though you're in the middle of a war, hacking up thousands of monsters as per, the game's been approved for kids because your avatar has big feet.

Do you love the Dead or Alive franchise? Do you wish Tecmo would just get rid of all that pesky fighting and volleyball gameplay and give fans what they really want out of the franchise: quality alone time with the DoA girls? Thankfully, Tecmo has answered that call. Seriously.

The latest issue of Famitsu reveals a new Dead or Alive game for PSP called Dead or Alive Paradise. However, this isn't a new game in Tecmo's franchise. In fact, it's barely a game at all. The Examiner notes that this is a port of a mobile game, one which lets you play mini games with the girls, as you continue to purchase skimpier and skimpier outfits for them. Classy.

Paradise is scheduled for a Spring 2010 release in Japan and, thankfully, it's a single-player only experience. We'd hate to think what kind of terrible multiplayer modes Tecmo would imagine for a game like this.

Like its predecessor, the upcoming retro-inspired Mega Man 10 appears to be destined for a multiplatfom release. Although originally discovered on Nintendo's WiiWare release calendar, the latest issue of Famitsu lists the upcoming Capcom downloadable on Sony's PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade.

The news is rather unsurprising, but any excuse to use this exquisite Sheep Man fan art is good to us!

[Thanks, sacra!]

The "E" in RUSE must stand for "epic." (Don't bother trying to tell us what the rest of RUSE stands for though, because nobody knows -- seriously.) This latest trailer really shows off the dramatic scope of this RTS, and features tank units, airplanes and even some of the Nazi's nasty V12 rockets. Check it out above.

Do you live smack in the middle of Virginia and thirst for a gaming event to kick off the second decade of the 21st century (we're almost at flying cars, people!)? MAGfest seeks to fulfill that desire with it's annual video game festival. The show's organizers pledge to entertain you with everything from a 10,000-square-foot game room to a 24-hour "JamSpace" room (we assume that's different from a JellySpace room). Tickets are $40 for the weekend (Jan. 1–4) and pre-registration has already begun, which includes admission to each evening's gaming themed concerts, including a New Year's Eve party.

In the most recent edition of Iwata Asks, Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata gathers up Takashi Tezuka and Toshihiko Nakago for a thorough discussion of their time with the company, the many projects they've worked on and their 25-year-long partnership with Shigeru Miyamoto. Let's break it down: Takashi Tezuka and Toshihiko Nakago both started at Nintendo around 1984, helping to shape everything from Balloon Fight to Super Mario Bros. These guys were part of the team that developed Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda -- at the same time.

During the 10-page chat, a plethora of interesting tidbits are revealed about some of the game industry's most influential Nintendo titles. Did you know that Zelda was initially designed as a dungeon game without an overworld? Or, how about the revelation that World 1-1 was created last, after the rest of the levels in Super Mario Bros., and designed implicitly to teach the game to non-gamers? The chat even gets into the lurid sleeping arrangements of Miyamota-san and Nakago-san while on business trips for ExciteBike (spoiler: it's not that lurid).

Click to "super" sizeCody isn't the brightest of the Street Fighter bunch, is it? The Final Fight star made his first appearance in the series in Street Fighter Alpha 3, having just escaped from prison. Apparently, he hasn't figured out how to remove his manacles (nor has he changed out of his incriminating garb) in the several years between the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Street Fighter II, nor in the time between Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter IV, which is where these new screens originate.

Sure, the other characters are all wearing the same outfits from years ago (except for Chun Li), but those can all be reasonably believed to be choices. Maybe Dan wears other stuff when he's off the job, and changes into his pink gi. But it's extremely hard to believe that Cody would voluntarily don his prison uniform and shackles again, which suggests that he can't remove them. This is also the guy who picks up a rock and throws it as one of his special moves.

One of these box arts is not like the others. Yep, you'll notice that the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing has two added bonuses: Banjo and Kazooie. At first, we were quick to dismiss the image as nothing more than a fan mock-up. However, TSSZ discovered that all of these box arts can be seen on Sega's server (Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii).

If the addition of Banjo and Kazooie to Sega's kart racer sounds familiar, it's because it was part of a Sega leak earlier this year that contemplated this exact partnership. Revisiting the supposedly leaked Sega document reveals a number of bullet points that have already come true: the PS3 price drop, Alpha Protocol's delay and Yakuza's localization. The addition of Banjo & Kazooie to the Sonic racer is a nice bonus; however, should other aspects of the Sega document come true, it could mean PS2 and Dreamcast games are coming to PSN.

[Thanks Tristan!]

Being the stylish, fashion-way-forward gal she is, Bayonetta (of, um, Bayonetta) likes to accessorize. Sometimes she gets tired of having guns for shoes and hair that can take the form of giant demons, so she politely barrows steals weapons from her enemies, to use against ... her enemies.

In this short-but-sweet clip from next month's Platinum Games action spectacle, we get to watch her do just that -- nabbing a giant mace (not of the "spray into a mugger's eyes" type) and use a very long, forcefully procured spear to pole-dance-kick the hell out of heavenly foes. Best of all, the clip is narrated by a velvety-voiced English woman who sounds just like Bayonetta, if she were real. Which she's not -- so please, stop calling Sega asking for her number. Yes, we're onto you.

Though the Modern Warfare 2 community is uncovering some unsavory hidden aspects of the game for their own benefit, the kind folks from Defend The House have labored to uncover some of the game's harmless (but awesome) unadvertised features. For instance, did you know throwing knives are still lethal after bouncing? Also, you can survive a forty-foot fall with the help of a few well-placed mattresses. That's news to us!

Check out all these revelations in the first episode of Modern Warfare 2 Mythbusters, which we've posted after the jump. Oh, one last thing -- we will not rest until we kill someone by blowing up a nearby fire hydrant. Do you hear us? It is our life's new purpose.

Continued →

The Demoman class in Team Fortress 2 is the first to reveal its changes coming in the new "War" update, gifting everyone's favorite one-eyed Scot with the "Close Combat Kit." Consisting of the deliciously punny Eyelander sword and Chargin' Targe, these medieval weapons are quite the departure from the Demoman's usual high-tech, exploding arsenal. As badass as these weapons are, using them does come with a price.

The sword guarantees a decapitation with every killing blow; however, it will initially suck away the user's health. But for every soul it's fed, it'll provide the player with a boost to health and speed. The ability stacks, up to four kills.

The shield takes the place of the sticky bomb launcher and, once equipped, provides +50% fire damage resistance and +65% blast damage resistance. From a combative standpoint, using alt-fire while equipping the shield will cause the Demoman to charge at ludicrous speed towards an enemy, doling out some serious damage should he connect. Also, doing that will give the Demoman the chance to attack with his sword mid-charge, providing greater chance to up the damage count.

Microsoft's Games on Demand for Games for Windows Live is now live and on demandable. The launch lineup doesn't exactly conjure up thoughts of exploding confetti, but here goes nothing:

• Dirt 2 ($40)
• Fallout 3 ($50)
• Kane and Lynch: Dead Men ("1600") -- really, that's what it says (aka $20)
• Red Faction: Guerrilla ($40)
  
• Shadowrun ($10)
• Street Fighter IV ($40)
• Viva Pinata ($10)

With established digital distribution systems for PC gamers -- heard of Steam? Impulse? -- already featuring far larger libraries and arguably better discounts, it sure looks like GFWLGOD (we're still working on the acronym ... ) is marching onto the field about an hour after the match ended.

Square Enix sees you over there, browser-based social games. President Yoichi Wada sees you working that lower barrier to entry and typically lower development costs. He sees and ... well, to put it to you straight: He likey. In fact, he's been talking to his boys over at Develop about you, stuff like "I believe that these types of games are going to be spreading and growing dramatically" and "the potential size of the market is enormous." You don't need a dictionary to know he is down.

In fact, he's already got a team in Tokyo developing some games to help him break into you. That's a little aggressive for our style, but you gotta hand it to our boy: Wada is hungry like the wolf.