The ESA announces E3 2008

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced the details for next year's Electronic Entertainment Expo today. The 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit, as you may remember it is now called, will be taking place July 15 – 17, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC). Continuing with the reformed theme of last year's E3, the event will focus on the business aspects of the computer and video game industry, placing emphasis on the press events and small meetings with media, development and other sectors of the industry. Yet again, the ESA is emphasizing the fact that E3 has been considerably scaled down, compared to the years previous to E3 2007. The press release itself reads “ While there will be opportunities for game demonstrations, the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit will not feature the large trade show environment of previous years.”

Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, commented on the upcoming show and spoke about the continuing changes to its structure and what attendees can expect to experience. “The 2008 Summit will provide a professional and efficient environment for suite-based meetings with media, and other industry leaders,” Gallagher said, “We look forward to welcoming the media and top industry executives to a centralized, business focused and personalized experience. Our program of high-level meetings, networking and personal dialogue, and industry-shaping panel discussions will capture the explosive growth we have seen in 2007 and lay the foundation for the 2008 video game marketplace.”

While the show is open to both ESA members and non-members alike, attendance to any and all of its events, meetings and demonstrations are invitation only. Attendees can expect to see the latest offerings from companies involved in console, PC, online and mobile game development and publishing, as well as hardware and peripheral manufacturers.

The ESA, and show exhibitors, will be releasing further details on the show in the coming months.

EA announces Burnout Paradise soundtrack

Electronic Arts announced the soundtrack for Burnout Paradise today. The latest addition to EA's high adrenaline racing franchise will feature songs from forty major artists, including Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Jimmy Eat World, Twisted Sister, as well as artists from EA's own music label, Artwerk, which include Airbourne, Jupiter One and Junkie XL. Of course, what would the soundtrack for a game with the word paradise in the title be without Guns N' Roses' Paradise City ? Yes, that's in there too. Admittedly, there are some surprises in the list. Canadian rocker Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend , though it does have some “oomph” to it, could be construed as a little out of place. The complete in-game soundtrack for Burnout Paradise is as follows:

Artists                         Song

Adam And The Ants     Stand And Deliver

Agent Blue                  Snowhill

Airbourne                    Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast

Alice In Chains            Would?

Army Of Me                Going Through Changes

Avril Lavigne                Girlfriend

B’z                             FRICTION

Brain Failure feat.        Coming Down To Beijing
Dicky Barrett 

Brand New                 The Archers Bows Have Broken

Bromheads Jacket      Fight Music For The Fight

Depeche Mode           Route 66 (Beatmasters Mix)

Faith No More            Epic

Guns N’ Roses          Paradise City

Innerpartysystem       Heart Of Fire

Jane’s Addiction        Stop!

Jimmy Eat World       Electable (Give It Up)

Junkie XL feat.           Cities In Dust
Lauren Rocket 

Jupiter One               Fire Away

Kerli                         Creepshow

Killswitch Engage     My Curse

LCD Soundsystem    Us V. Them

Make Good              Beautiful Ruin
Your Escape 

Maxeen                   Block Out The World

Mexicolas                Come Clean

N.E.R.D.                 Rockstar (Jason Nevins Mix)

Never Heard Of It     Finger On The Trigger

Operator                 Nothing To Lose

Permanent ME       Until You Leave

Saosin                   Collapse

Seether                  Fake It

Senses Fail            Calling All Cars

Showing Off            Everyone Has Their Secrets
To Thieves 

Skybombers           It Goes Off

Soundgarden          Rusty Cage

Sugarcult               Dead Living

Swervedriver           Duel

The Photo Atlas     Red Orange Yellow

The Pigeon            I’m Not Sorry
Detectives  

The Styles             Glitter Hits (J.J. Puig Mix)

Twisted Sister        I Wanna Rock

Burnout Paradise will be releasing for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 22, 2008. The game's demo is available for download now via the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Playstation Network. The game has been rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and up.