The thing about camp, i.e. the utter failure of seriousness, is that it's often difficult to judge whether it's intentional or not. The live-action cutscenes populating EA's (and Westwood's before that) Command & Conquer games have always had an aura of sincere goofiness about them, the source of which can be traced to somewhat respected actors playing all-too-silly roles all too seriously. But is this done on purpose, or did the director read about "tongue-in-cheek storytelling" in a review somewhere and just decide to go with that?

Either way, we're more than happy to see EA unveil a "star studded" cast (complete list after the break) for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, which includes George Takei, Tim Curry and J.K. Simmons, who plays the "anti-communist U.S. President." Simmons, who doesn't give a wooden nickel about your legacy, thinks video games "are one of the new frontiers for actors" and thought of the role as a "great opportunity for a character actor like me to have some fun."

Also allowed to open her mouth in the press release: Jenny McCarthy, who plays Allied commando Tanya. "What I realized is Red Alert 3 is not just a video game, it's absolutely an interactive movie. This is where the people at home get to move the story forward, and where seeing the plot thicken is a reward for a job well done." In case you weren't aware, "that's really cool."

Red Alert 3 is out on Xbox 360 and PC this fall in both regular and Premier editions.

It's time to load your storm bolter and wrap up your last prayer to the Emperor, cuz we're huntin' Tyranids! IGN has confirmed that everyone's favorite galactic bugs will be clawing their way onto Relic's forthcoming Dawn of War sequel, not only as an opponent but as a playable race as well.

The blood news was spilled during the Leipzig Games Convention by Dawn of War II senior designer Philippe Boulle, who noted that the space insects behave as "a single organism, not an army of individuals," and that the swarm is composed of disposable "meat shields" and more specialized alien troops serving the Tyranid Hive Mind. For more, check out the pre-rendered pure awesome below while we wait for the bugs to digest their fill of Space Marine, Ork and Eldar in early 2009.

[Thanks Damn Lucky]

From making rival gangsters offers they can't refuse, to using your voice to command soldiers not to refuse orders, these fresh-off-the-editing-computer videos from EA's The Godfather II and Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's EndWar are presented for your viewing pleasure (and "Should I pre-order either of them?" evidence pool). The EndWar trailer is the same one being trotted out at the Leipzig Games Convention 2008; the first look at EA's gangster sequel was shown to the press last week at the publisher's annual Studio Showcase. But you don't have to travel to Germany (or even the Bay Area) to watch 'em – just click through after the break.

Source – Godfather II at GameTrailers
Source – Tom Clancy's EndWar at GameTrailers

Five months ago we asked NIS America why its forthcoming turn-based strategy game, Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice, would make the next-gen leap to the PS3."It's simply because PS2 lacks the processing power and memory capacity to support Disgaea 3," commented marketing coordinator Jack Niida at the time, a response we didn't buy entirely back then and after pouring over the game in recent days we're even less convinced.

Not that the game isn't fun. The fact that this article is being penned at 4am after 9 hours spent playing and losing track of time should be a testament to Disgaea 3's addictive nature, a trait that the series has had in spades since its freshman effort.

As any respectable Don will tell you, serving as the CEO of a powerful crime syndicate is not an easy thing to do. You won't find any classes on racketeering at your local community college. Finding a reliable bulk supplier of fedoras and pinstripe suits is nigh-on impossible. Teaching your underlings the fine art of stallion decapitation requires amounts of patience and equine physiology that very few men possess.

Luckily, the upcoming sequel to EA's well-recieved adaptation of Coppola's magnum opus, The Godfather II, looks to be an in-depth survival guide on the nuances of mafia management -- perfect for that up-and-coming kingpin in your life. The above trailer shows some of the finer points of Donship, and gives a great look at some of the lovely locales we'll be viciously extorting come February. That little Cuban restaurant would look so charming with a prostitution ring in the back room, don't you agree?

The creators of the original de Blob (i.e. the flash game, not the THQ ports) have revealed they are working on an original real-time strategy game for Nintendo's WiiWare service. Romino Games' Swords & Soldiers is a side-scrolling RTS with three opposing factions and split-screen multiplayer. The term "side-scrolling RTS," together with the screenshots, remind us a bit of Dragon Force (although equally cool, we mean the Sega Saturn title, not the band).

No price has been revealed for the game, currently placed in a Q4 2008 launch window. Consider our interests officially piqued.

[Via NWF]

Casting players as a soldier of the Corleone Family, the original The Godfather from EA took the open-world formula of GTA and introduced some unique fist fighting and intimidation mechanics fitting of its namesake. It reviewed well enough, but its creator decided that, for the sequel, it would take a different approach: the Don's approach.

As we've previously reported, The Godfather II is indeed a blend of action and strategy gameplay. Taking some liberties with the plot of the famous film, Michael Corleone has appointed the player's character as a fill-in Don. It's in this role that they plot against other families – each with their own ambitions – in an effort to rule all of the rackets in Havana, Miami, and New York City.

One of the things we made sure to do at E3 this year was to spend a significant amount of time with the IndieCade folks. Then we sat on that info long enough for some of these games to get picked up, have a successful release, come out with sequels, spawn movies, novels, comic books, become part of the general pop culture bloodstream, and then fade into nostalgia, and for that we apologize. Actually, I'll apologize, I did it.

But in all seriousness, a lot of the more fun and innovative stuff we saw at E3 wasn't actually being churned out by big studios and publishers, but being worked on by small groups with tiny budgets and just a love of gaming. Read on to find out all about the IndieCade games that we saw on display, and why you'll want to be playing them now.

Speaking at the AMD "Cinema 2.0" event in New York City yesterday, Blizzard's Bob Colayco took some time to talk about the shrouded-in-mystery Starcraft II. One of the more interesting points of the discussion: why it took so long for Blizzard to finally announce a sequel to the multi-million selling title.

Colayco noted that the original Starcraft was built on a 2D engine, in spite of the competition having largely switched over to 3D engines. The savings in processing were applied to larger, more epic battles with dozens of units being rendered on the screen at the same time. The crowded battlefield "captured the gamer's imagination more" than the barren fields of competing 3D games at the time, and helped cement Starcraft's place in videogaming culture.

In spite of their success, the team at Blizzard wasn't going to rush into a 3D Starcraft unless it could capture the same feeling of the original. "The truth is that only recently have we had this kind of 3D power where we're able to create a real Starcraft experience in 3D. What we want to see are hundreds of vehicles and creatures clashing on the battlefield, with dynamic lighting and shadows and all of these dazzling special effects -- that's the kind of gaming experience that our players expect from us."

EA has opened the briefcase on Godfather 2, revealing that the sequel you can't refuse will ship for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in February 2009.

EA also shed a bit more detail on the previously revealed "Don's View," which promises to kiss the gameplay with a touch of strategy. Here you'll build up, expand, and defend crime rings against rival families by hand picking "Made Men," and sending them out onto the streets to do your bidding. Godfather 2 will also include the previous game's BlackHand control scheme, promising "more visceral hand-to-hand brutality" this time around. As the old saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Electronic Arts announced this morning that it has launched a set of games with tips written in the style of the popular "For Dummies" book series. We've yet to try it, but our understanding is these titles are the regular games, but with enhanced help, and not just interactive For Dummies books. The first game, Poker For Dummies, is available now on EA's Pogo.com site for $20.

Pogo will add Solitaire For Dummies in September, Brain Training For Dummies in October, Sudoku For Dummies in November, and more in 2009. Poker For Dummies and Brain Training For Dummies will be in stores by October. There will also be a DS version, featuring the all-in-one game: Solitaire, Sudoku and crossword puzzles. Those who try it, let us know if this is a smrt* purchase.

*Freaking out over s-m-r-t? Grasp the reference after the break.

When PS3 owners are left out of EA's Red Alert 3, they won't just be left wanting for the game's exotically tough real-time strategy. They'll also miss out on the video game acting debut of English actress/model/singer Gemma Atkinson, who will exchange her flimsy lingerie for something a little more formal as Allied communications officer Lt. Eva McKenna.

EA's PR machine tells us that Atkinson is best recognized for her work on the British soap Hollyoaks, as well as one of the region's most recognized models, though to be fair we're just going to have to take their word for it. The company also notes that she'll be on hand at the UK's M Festival gaming event this Friday, just make sure that when she talks you look into her eyes, and not upon her huge ... tracts of land.

The PS2's library is about to get a bit more toxic, as Atlus announced that it will localize Japan's Poison Pink in North America, calling the strategy RPG by the less interesting title, Eternal Poison. In typical Atlus fashion, the game looks decidedly niche, though if its promise of "a uniquely dark aesthetic" and "classic tactical gameplay" isn't enough to win you over, note that each copy will also come packaged with a soundtrack CD as well.

Developed by Flight Plan, the studio behind Summon Night, Eternal Poison may be difficult to cure, but you have until the game arrives at retail on November 11 to get inoculated. Until then, check out some screenshots and the game's opening movie below.

Do you find it difficult to slip the fact that you conquered a certain titular Lord of Terror into your daily conversations? Feel insecure when bragging about your latest successful Zerg Rush to your colleagues? Blizzard's got your back -- in a recent interview with MTV Multiplayer, World of Warcraft lead designer Jeff Kaplan revealed that there will be achievements in Blizzard's next two highly anticipated projects, Diablo III and Starcraft II.

These achievements will join the recently revealed achievements for WoW (which will make their debut with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion) -- however, Kaplan revealed that eventually, achievements from the three games will be linked to your Blizzard account, forming a "Blizzard Level". Kaplan likened the system to the Xbox Live gamerscore -- only without all the embarrassment one must suffer after earning 780 points from Pimp My Ride.

Without an explanation for missing its Wednesday debut, Ticket to Ride Europe just arrived on XBLA to pick up customers for the weekend.

The expansion to the digitized European board game costs 600 MS points ($7.50), which is far cheaper than the $30+ set in real life. We haven't downloaded the Europe expansion yet, but let us know if the red/orange color similarity issue found in Ticket to Ride has been fixed.