Rumors have been circulating for ages about Microsoft’s plans to create a motion-sensing controller to cash in on the huge casual gaming market. Pictures have occasionally surfaced showing a slim controller similar to the Wiimote, but it may be that these were created by Microsoft to throw people off the trail. It’s true, Microsoft does have plans for creating a motion-sensing peripheral for the Xbox 360, but it’ll be more along the lines of the Eyetoy from the PS2.

According to CNN it’s called the Xbox Fluid and it’s a camera that tracks the body movements of the user. This will of course lead to you and your friends flailing around like complete morons in front of your TV screens from time to time, since visual recognition software isn’t as advanced as some might hope.

There have been arcade games that combined camera technology with other controllers to create some rather interesting types of games though, so the potential for the controller can range a little beyond the expected casual games.

In addition to having their hands in every Star Wars game ever made, LucasArts has some original properties that have nothing to do with lightsabers, bathrobe-clad keepers of the peace and aliens both annoying and endearing. One series involved pirates, a smidgen of swashbuckling and a boatload of humor: the adventures of wanna-be buccaneer Guybrush Threepwood and his friends/enemies/random other comic relief characters.

Originally it was a PC adventure series of the old fashioned point-and-click variety, with some simple inventory puzzles. The games ranged from simple 2-D pixellated art to 3-D extravaganzas with voice acting and music. Now the classic series is being brought back in a two-pronged sales attack. First there’s an entirely new, episodic series being brought to the PC and WiiWare called Tales of Monkey Island. The first of five episodes will be released in the next few weeks with Guybrush Threepwood accidentally unleashing a voodoo pox in his battle against his nemesis, the zombie pirate LeChuck.

Later this summer The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition will be released for the Xbox 360 and PC. It’ll feature the same storyline as the original with the benefit of upgraded HD visuals, soundtrack, voice acting and a hint system.

One of the big surprises of the just wrapped up Microsoft E3 conference, was the brief appearance of Hideo Kojima, who unveiled a new Metal Gear game in development for the Xbox 360 (there was no mention of an Xbox 360 “exclusive”). Called Metal Gear Rising, it won’t feature Solid Snake, but rather, Raiden, as the main character. No other details were revealed, and the brief teaser trailer only showed a rendering of Raiden.

Facebook and Twitter, arguably two of the most popular things on the Internet these days, are coming to the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live, Microsoft announced at E3 during their press conference.

Facebook on Xbox Live will feature the same NXT style navigation, and Twitter will show the avatars of the Twiterers. In addition, it will be possible to post screenshots and messages directly from in-game to Facebook. Both features will be available this Fall.

During the demonstration of the upcoming Halo ODST — which looked pretty much the way you expected it to look: like Halo — another Halo game was revealed. The small teaser trailer provided only a glimpse of what was called “Halo Reach”, possibly the next game in the Halo franchise which “Bungie has been secretly working on”. Expect it in 2010.

Turn 10 was present at the Microsoft conference, and they finally (!) unveiled and confirmed Forza 3. Turn 10′s Dan Greenwalt called Forza 3 “the definitive racing game of this generation” — despite the fact that Gran Turismo 5 still isn’t out. Nevertheless, Forza features the same customization options as Forza 2, plus over 400 cars from 50 manufacturers and an all new graphics engine to show case it. It’s shipping this October.

Sure, the PSP Go has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the gaming industry for the last few months, but until yesterday there hadn’t been real confirmation of its look, design or features. Pictures of it leaked, along with a list of features and the news that new Gran Turismo, Little Big Planet and Metal Gear Solid titles were being developed for the handheld.

Sony PR representative Jake Osuwah is assuring both E3 attendees and the general public that their bag of tricks is far from empty. After the pictures and details of the new device were leaked onto the internet Osuwah twittered: “Pre-E3 announcements or not! There’s still lots of shockers planned for you guys @ E3, stay tuned…”

Of course the real question is how many of these pre-E3 leaks are actually leaks and how many are deliberate releases masquerading as slip-ups in confidentiality.

During Microsoft’s E3 conference, Valve unveiled Left 4 Dead 2, this time, it takes place in New Orleans, which brings new settings, new characters and new weapons, like chainsaws! Left 4 Dead 2 will be released on November 17 exclusively on Xbox 360 an PS3.

Microsoft’s E3 press conference is in full swing, and one of the new titles revealed was Crackdown 2, developed by Ruffian Games. From what we could see in the trailer, the graphics certainly were a lot better (although it might not be actual gameplay footage), the world was darker and surprisingly, there were monsters. Expect more details later today.

I hate Damnation.

This isn’t just in general terms—although the concept applies there too.  I hate the thought of anyone being sent to an eternity of fire and torment.  I also hate the game of the same name, now available for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.  And why do I bear such a beautiful hatred for this lump of interactive dung?  Read on and see why!

First, the plot—back around the 1860s, when the American Civil War was in full swing, a corporation was founded to take advantage of the situation and hopefully make a few bucks on the side.  The Prescott company, by name, began supplying arms to what seemed like both sides, fueling a massive expansion in technology.  Taking the resulting cash, and along with a couple of choice developments not released to the military, the Prescott outfit stages its own putsch against the Union AND the Confederacy bother, spreading out as the forces of New America, with Prescott—Lord Prescott—as its head.  Now, a resistance, lead by a professor that developed some of Prescott’s most valuable tech and a former Army Captain, has risen up to take back America from New America.

How massive a technological expansion, you may be wondering?  One simple word: steampunk.  Yes, Damnation is a game about steampunk, with clockwork automaton soldiers called Automen, turbine-powered motorbikes, and massive dirigible airships with outboard impeller drives.  Steam powered everything, folks, and some of it actually more advanced than what we have today—that’s the nature of steampunk.

And that’s why I hate this game.

See, Damnation may well be the second steampunk game ever, the first being a much more limited sort of steampunk called Darkwatch.  Damnation represents an amazing story, an alternate history of shocking depth.  Imagine an industrialist today—a Bill Gates, for example.  Maybe a Rupert Murdoch or a Ted Turner or even a Steve Jobs who just one day decided, hey, the government’s populated by a collection of screw-ups, halfwits, dullards and greedheads.  Maybe I should make an army and show them how to do the job right!  That’s exactly what’s going on here.

And when you start adding in fully-realized combat androids (the Automen) in the 1860s, you’ve got a lot of possibilities.  No matter who actually wins that particular conflict the entire world would be irrevocably altered.  From a literary standpoint, Damnation is a triumph.  The hate, meanwhile, comes in thanks to the miserable wreck of a game to which they’ve attached that literary triumph of a plot.  Damnation is a hellish array of horrible graphics, lousy gameplay, cheesy sound, terrible play mechanics, and a complete waste of a deep and amazing storyline.

It’s a third person shooter, that’s the worst part of it.  A third person shooter, with guns that are woefully underpowered for the job, packed with meaningless run and jump “action” segments that add nothing but unnecessary complications.  A third person shooter that looks like hell itself and sounds like the weeping of the damned.

Damnation is exactly what it says on the box, sadly for us all.  Playing this game feels like a jaunt through eternal torment.  And worst of it all, a science-fiction heaven of a storyline hangs tantalizingly over us all, forcing us to play on…or be damned.

I hate this game.