We are doing a massive giveaway, as previously detailed. This involves 8 beta key giveaways from our Blizzcon Starcraft II Beta key stashes of our editors and correspondents themselves. In addition, 4 winners will receive a BioShock 2 Game Guide and we will upgrade select chosen ones to Limited Edition. If that is not enough, we are also providing a game giveaway with 4 winners and 1 grand prize winner (cannot be eligible for both contests). All of the contestants will be chosen from our e-mail pool and the only requirement is that the winners actively participate with us for over 4 years via e-mail, which will help to narrow down the millions of possible entries from our readers.

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It is with proud pleasure that I announce WhatIfGaming has been confirmed for another 4 Seasons (one year). We are looking forward to many more coruscate reviews from the most brilliant critic minds.

To introduce us to the 2010 Year, we have gained permission to include the following song from the label to offer but a small glance back at all our happiness and joy with a step further.

“There was a dream that was Rome. It shall be realized.”

See you all in 2010.

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WhatIfGaming - Game Of The Year 2009 Awards

It is with proud pleasure that we ask all of you to join us to celebrate the 11th year anniversary of our WhatIfGaming and read all about the video game industry’s most exceptional and gratified 2009 titles specially chosen by us here again this year. Similar to the previous year, WhatIfGaming is first to give out Game of the Year Awards this year. We just rolled out the red carpet and the winners for 2009 are here with us live!

Happy Holidays and Happy New Years to our beloved millions of WhatIfGaming readers (this means you)! See you all in 2010.

The Road is a terrible thing. The struggles and nuances of metaphors through dreaming of bad things are new and constant aches and pains. The film, however, is simply transient of all expectation in a category of its own.

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Talk about intense. E3 was packed this year with resellers, and less media —but it got bigger, better, and more selective. We were there to get every exciting moment: from Project Milo to Heavy Rain, and exclusive interviews. As always, it was certainly a great time, and now that time is over. It’s time to look forward, ahead to newer and better releases, and to ennoble titles in this year’s WhatIfGaming’s Best Of E3 Awards 2009.

Criteria: The Best of E3 Awards, a subcategory for the WhatIfGaming Prizes, are given solely to those video games that demonstrate a pure excellence in the field for which they are not only nominated but also chosen. These awards only apply to playable games at E3 given a few exceptional categories.

Nomination & Selection Process: Compared with other site awards, the WhatIfGaming Prize nomination and selection process is long and extremely rigorous. This is the sole reason why WhatIfGaming Prizes have grown in importance over the years to become the most important prizes in their field. Forms, which amount to a personal and exclusive invitation, are sent to about over 1,000 selected individuals to invite them to submit nominations months in advance from the latest builds per video game. Self-nominations are disqualified. For WhatIfGaming Prizes, inquiries are sent to such people as developers, industry experts, analysts, among others. After our deadline passes, the nominations are chosen by permanent committee of 5 selected individuals from staff and only the final stage of nominees remain per category. From all of these, a winner is chosen.

The names of the nominees are not publicly announced, and neither are they told that they have been considered for the WhatIfGaming Prize. Some are announced publicly by practice. Nomination records are revealed approximately 2 years after each respective award year.

Turn your mouse clickers and scroll wheel timers to WhatIfGaming this upcoming Saturday July 1st, 2009 for an exclusive presentation of our 9th year anniversary of the WhatIfGaming E3 Awards for 2009, with official public listing that celebrated from late 2001.

The WhatIfGaming E3 Prizes had their origins ever since the end of 1999’s E3 ceremony when we revealed to select publishers what our site cherished for their offerings during exclusive press meetings through an official sticker prize from yours truly. Very few gained them, and some were only notified. Over the years, the awards became public but remained even more strenuous in criteria, with no nominees ever being publicly listed until  a future predetermined date. 5 members of our staff in a permanent committee select the winners from a long line of industry related inquiries taken and personal consideration.

Also, feel free to log on Friday June 26th, 2009 for an Overlord II review (with over 46 hours played and timed only from us) and also an exclusive post-release interview with the creative minds behind Overlord II and their future plans!

As if the 2nd day of E3 could not get any hotter with presentations from Microsoft detailing their new line up, they went further on to explain the benefits of a new form of technology in the ‘invisible’ control scheme of Natal and projects such as Milo from Lionhead Studios.

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If anyone did not figure it out yet, our little timer above was for E3 this year (June 1st-3rd, 2009) at the Los Angeles Convention Center. E3 was centered around 3 places: West Hall, South Hall, and 2nd Structure above West Hall. The 2nd structure held private rooms with publishers like Sony, Bethesda Activsion, Take-Two, all showing special private stuff like God of War III, Uncharted 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and once again a look at Heavy Rain for Sony this year (with a heft agreement to not reveal anything). WhatIfGaming was there to cover all things related.

Most importantly are the bigger open venues that are at West Hall and South Hall (walk-in). Final Fantasy XIII was there but was not playable, same with Alan Wake.

Bethesda presented Fallout: New Vegas. As you guessed it, Fallout: New Vegas introduces our protagonist to a post-apocalyptic world set in New Vegas. Other details we cannot reveal, so sorry for that –but expect it as announced on all the consoles by developer Obsidian Entertainment.

SOE had an intense presentation of the Agency that went over more missions. The gameplay remains the same but the user interface was even more interesting. The developers announced that SOE’s plans were to release Agency in 2010. Here is to hoping!

Sony had God of War III gameplay, but it was not playable yet again for today anyways. Impression-wise for the short time we saw it – it looked fantastic. Long run: it does not seem amazing yet, but something tells us this will change.

Overall, we have seen almost a majority of publishers and can say that while E3 2009 is definitely bigger, utilizing South Hall and the entire West Hall lobbies (1st and 2nd level), there is not many big reveals from the publisher meeting rooms to this moment. Despite this, there is still more to be seen surely. With that, the WhatIfGaming E3 2009 team is off to see more. Thomas Parker, Jeanne Marie (France Correspondent), and James Willington are out of here!

We quickly mugged 2K Boston’s Ken Levine for a Q&A recently after an exclusive NYCC meet. He had much to say about the new anticipated title BioShock 2, which he is also helping to work on.  Okay, so maybe not the game itself but it’s worth the read.

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Enjoy this everyone. Oh yeah, and wish me a happy birthday!

Usman Ihtsham In Front of VGA Board

The video game awards season is a great time to catch up with developers out of their studio’s and in their jammies. Okay, well not exactly but you get the idea. WhatIfGaming attended (finally) the SpikeTV Video Game Awards after much participation with it already and was able to get some quality time in with: Ted Price, Alex Evans, Neil Patrick Harris (What?!?!—Yeah we know) and the master himself, Hideo Kojima. For the sake of making things brief –consider this article in a 1st person reflective perspective.

We arrived at Sony Pictures Studios HQ in Culver City, CA (flew from San Francisco). The atmosphere was timely for these awards and the weirdest part was that the security crew did not bother checking our ID’s? First off, first weird. No worries –it can only get better right? We arrive at check-in and get our exclusive passes to the “red carpet.” You will all soon find out why we have that in quotations soon enough.

Our goal was simple: Meet up with our friends on the red carpet, mingle after they passed the limited stream of media outlets on the red carpet, and then go home (no we did not stay for the show due to complications). Apparently, we did not get the pass for the show which is what we initially requested, but then it’s sort of a give and take sort of deal. Either you meet the celebs, or watch the show. Only complaint we have is that the coordination team had no idea who was actually attending the show. One manager told us:

“Even I don’t have tickets to it!”

Our question poses: Who does?

No clue apparently! But from the seeming influx of pre-pubescent teens and high school/middle school attitude and aged cheerleaders attending the event (the screening —red carpet was off limits) as if it were prom not to mention the children of someone completely random —there was something seriously wrong with the whole SpikeTV VGA 2008 Screening shindig for the taping. Clearly tickets to the actual screening were not given to people who actually gave a damn, but to family members of Sony Pictures and …who knows! Anyone?