One of the biggest surprises at E3 was the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2. It was also one of the very few big name games there that was actually playable on the show floor. I got to spend some time playing the Xbox 360 version and the PC version. I also got to sit down and talk to Chet Faliszek, one of the writers of the game. Click the pic to check out more on Left 4 Dead 2.

Annecy is a place to meet interesting people like jury member Andreas Hykade (left).

Partytime at Annecy! Do you know which party is going on today? Are you invited? How do you sneak into a party? And why should you do that?

When I first went to Annecy, I was totally concentrating on watching as many films as possible. I thought that´s the proper way of behaving while being away on a big event like Annecy. Then I discovered the possibility to talk to the people, who actually were responsible for some of the magic I experienced while watching their movies. You could meet them after the screenings, standing patiently in the foyer of the Festival Center called Bonlieu. If you were lucky they would answer some of your questions and draw you some very nice sketches. Then it went back to the next program.

The people who put together the Video Games Live concerts are putting together an official Video Games Live MP3 player. The MP3 player will feature 2 GIGs of internal memory, a built in mic to record audio, a built in speaker in case you lose your headphones and what looks like a color LCD display. The MP3 player will be packaged with a pair of VIVO headphones and a USB adapter to transfer songs, of course.

I’ve got a big heart for this franchise. I absolutely loved the first Army of Two and, really, who didn’t?. The graphics were beautiful, it had a very well developed co-op mechanic with the introduction of the Aggro system and the one-liners between Salem and Rios were “pee your pants” hilarious. Also, everyone loved the awesome looking masks and the ability to “pimp” your guns! Army of Two: The 40th Day brings back Salem and Rios into a new adventure that’s a little different and a little darker; click the pic to check it out.

Competition short film, Life without Gabriella Ferri, by Priit Paarn

written by Johannes Wolters

It’s a tough job to be on a pre-selection committee. I had the opportunity to talk to Alexey Alexeev, who together with Vanja Andrijevic (Producer, Croatia) and Francis Gavelle (Journalist, France) had the gigantic task to select the programs for short films from thousands and thousands of films. They also had to put together the out of competition program. So Alexey told me about the big discussions they had, what to choose, what to select within the pressure to work for the most influential animation festival of the world. So he sought for something new, something bold, something sharp. Describing himself as a little bit cynical, he adores "South Park" and Andreas Hykade but also the old Hanna-Barbera “Tom & Jerry” cartoons. He tries to combine creativity and professionalism, which means less boring films, less long format, less is more. Alexey Alexeev himself is in the TV competition with his lovable "Log Jam" series produced by Andras Erkel and his Hungarian Studio BAESTARDS.

Alright Let’s get this party started. I got to sit down and take some time with the new Tekken at E3. Right off the bat, Tekken 6 is gorgeous. It’s the first Tekken game to be released on the current generation of game systems. It also marks the debut of some new characters to the Tekken world including Bob. Bob is… well… he’s just Bob. Ok fine, he’s fat as all hell and what’s even more weird is that he’s WAY faster than a fat guy should be.

Director Henry Selick, Madhouse Producer Jungo Maruta and Marie-Pierre Journet are the Jury Members for Graduation Films at Annecy 2009

Here we are at last! Welcome to the most fantastic, most exciting and I think "the" animation festival of them all. The 33rd edition of Annecy Festival began today, as always with the great welcome at festival centre Bonlieu next to the big, wonderful lake with the wonderful view on the French Alps. It's like Casablanca, where everybody comes to “Rick´s.” Here at Bonlieu you can meet all the people of Animationland during the one week, when the old town of Annecy with its old French charm becomes once again “Animatorsland”.

What better way to kick off the new Press Start blog than with the grand daddy of all game conferences, E3. Although, if you attended any of the past two E3’s then you probably wouldn’t have used the phrase “grand daddy”; the last two E3s were more like the “annoying cousin with bad social skills” of all game conferences.

Patrick Davenport explains mo-cap advances at fmx.

written by Johannes Wolters

You know what´s interesting about the fmx?. You stay there in the foyer, in the halls, you have this big accessibility to each and everyone. So I found myself talking to one of the big visual effects designers of this planet.

Kevin Tod Haugs worked on "Quantum of Solace," "The Kite Runner," "Finding Neverland," "Panic Room" and many more. An his opinion about the stereoscopic films is a technical one: “I just find it heartbreaking, that after years and years and years of dealing with resolution, we are finally getting to the point, where its 2k or 4k, we could make choices, its all gonna be fine, we get digital cameras, we get rid of scanning, its all gonna be fine and then we have to make it twice as complicated. Just, when its gonna be easy, we have to make it hard.”

This wonderful building becomes like Everest after three days.

written by Johannes Wolters

Okay, there is one minor flaw in fmx. I had to go through three days of fmx09, but then I found it. Or better it found me. The house of commerce, this big old wonderful building, where fmx is placed is a truly great place for all the things going on. But the event has now conquered four floors of the place and every floor has very high walls. So if you want to run downstairs and upstairs to catch your next meeting, to get to your next discussion, whatever, you climbed in the end all together the Everest. Or at least your legs begin to revolt. So on the last day of fmx you notice more and more people (and not only the elderly ones), who take the elevators, a little bit hidden and a little bit slow. But that’s the only flaw I have found on this years edition of fmx. I have to admit this stairs-sport is also very healthy. May be not, with all the coffee you need to drain every piece of information from this awesome conference. Again the creators of the fmx, Renata and Thomas Haegele topped the event from last year and again the numbers of attendees increased. Again more and internationally renowned speakers came to Stuttgart, again for four days the sunny town became animator’s land And that in those dark and gloomy times of worldwide economic crisis. And I did not discover one unhappy face during all those days. Must be heaven!