1. EGO...trip: vindication, or a stopped clock being right twice daily?
2. WHY...so serious? Or, after laughter comes tears
3. REW..."Things break, y'know": Xbox 360 or NCAA Football 09?
4. RND...Which of these radically different posters do you prefer?

1. OMD...Paramount plans to turn "Pretty In Pink" into a game. Will Ducky win?
2. GOV...Paterson of NY signs oddly toothless bill into law; others debunk
3. THE...horror, the horror: scary movie helmers turn to comedy for Xbox Live
4. ITS...all about the Benjamins: XBLCG to help creators get C.R.E.A.M....
5. BUT...Playstation Europe backs away from talk of doing the same with LBP
   
6. HMM...In hindsight, perhaps "Phat Princess" might have been a better title
7. DES...ign cheese? NCAA Football 09's speed ratings tested, found wanting
8. ALL...your base 10 are belong to Sony, or, Xbox what? Gamecube who?
   
9. RND...Is there anything that can't be improved with a dash of M.O.P.?
   
10. RND...Outlaw graffitti Banksy unmasked by British newspaper. Kilroy am cry.
    

1. EGO...trip: Producer says black staffers are working on Resident Evil 5...
2. EGO...trip: ...while commenter outrage continues over our raising the issue of race
3. BIZ...EA still wants to settle down with Take-Two; T2 would rather play the field
4. ALL...I wanna do is (bang bang bang bang) and (ka-ching) and take your money
5. RND...While Girl Talk "threatens" fan videomakers, go ahead and enjoy
   

1. EGO...trip: Kotaku, MTV tossed aside for Wedbush; Level Up survives the culling
   
2. EGO...trip: We bat cleanup on an epic 1UP Yours podcast; others weigh in
3. SAD...but true: in which industry observers come not to praise E3, but to bury it
4. FAR...Cry 2 narrative designer Patrick Redding on his game's ambitions
5. RND...Slate considers cross-genre music covers. Could LBP bring this to games?

The short version is that with a compressed E3 schedule and our temporary West Coast HQ located miles and miles away from the action, bringing our customary insights and analysis on a regular schedule is proving somewhat tricky, to say the least. That's not to say that we haven't been hard at work--just shockingly remiss in informing you where you can follow our up-to-the-minute coverage for the rest of the week. Let's remedy that right here, right now.

• You can scan our Twitter feed here on the Level Up home page, in the right column just beneath the archive calendar. If you'd like to subscribe to our feed, the link is here.
• We have two Tumblr blogs that are following the action: Page 110 (photos and quotes) and EGO...trip (occasional pictures and updates, though this week, it's mostly another place to read our Twitter feed).
  

Otherwise, talk amongst yourselves during our temporary absence from the Level Up main stage. We'll have much more detailed observations and reportage for you next week and in the weeks to come. Ta.

1. YOU...Don't Know Jack Thompson: the embattled lawyer shoots back at ESA
2. FOR...get about the porn--graphics porn, that is--says one game journalist
3. CAN...celled, is the Slamdance Games Festival
4. RND...the making of Radiohead's music video for "House of Cards" 

1. EGO...trip: So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to Pre-E3 Bonus Round
2. EGO...trip: The shoe is on the other foot for the Level Up staff. Strange feeling. 
3. EGO...trip: The pushing aside of our mane as an Internet meme? Hmm...
4. REW...What we said about Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony's E3 2007 pressers
   
5. XXX...If the Wii remote jacket is this, does that make Wii MotionPlus this?
6. FOR...or Against? Too Human demo goes Live; the intertubes lick their lips
   
7. COU...ld Ubisoft be onto something with its much-maligned Imagine series?
8. RND...In the wake of the Dyack controversy, some more reading material

1. EGO...trip: Another Monday, another episode of Bonus Round
2. EGO...trip: a movement, or a loose collection of like-minded writers?
   
3. ASK...not for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for the hardcore
4. RND...Enter the 12 Chambers: RZA catches the muxtape bug

 ngmoco founder Neil Young 

On June 18th, Level Up broke the news that EA Blueprint boss Neil Young was leaving Electronic Arts to launch his own company. Last Friday, we caught up with Young by phone to procure some additional details about his venture, named ngmoco. The "affable Brit," as we described young in our previous post, was happy to spill some of the beans, while keeping others secret for later. Here's what we learned, presented in our handy Just the FAQs format.

What the heck is ngmoco?

It stands for Next-Generation Mobile Company.

I repeat: what the heck is ngmoco?

Young plans to focus on developing and publishing games for iPhone class mobile devices.

That's it?

No, there's more. "I want ngmoco to feel like 1st party for the iPhone," says Young.

To read the rest of our Just the FAQs exchange with Neil Young, click on the link below. 

1. EGO...trip: "Bonus Round" loves our insights; NeoGAF adores our hair
   
2. JUN...ot what he's saying? Pulitzer prize-winner Diaz weighs in on GTA IV
3. DDR...in Canada: a much stranger proposition than you might think
4. HMM...Reflections on why scores matter so much to gamers
5. NOT...Bobby's problem: plaintive posts on Guitar Hero peripherals
6. RND...Dude, it's time to man up, drill down and stay teh classy. Oh, wait...

Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games

In Round 2 of our Vs. Mode exchange with MTV News reporter Stephen Totilo (also featured on Totilo's blog Multiplayer), he continued to insist that the soul of the Grand Theft Auto series is its sprawling possibility space, and that Grand Theft Auto IV's insistence on a richer main character and more consistent themes was taking the franchise too far from its roots. We countered by accusing Totilo of overlooking Rockstar North's "fitful achievement" of blending emotion and gameplay. In today's Final Round, both sides bring their loyal readers--those who previously posted comments on Level Up and Multiplayer--into the Vs. Mode dojo to spar with the experts. A sampling:

Jack Lothian, via Multiplayer: I'd love GTA games to genuinely introduce moral quandaries, just as I'd love to them to actively pursue a more open approach where mass slaughter isn't the usual answer to any problem. GTAIV isn't that game though--"Kill Mr A or Kill Mr B" ends up being more of a game choice than a moral one (which death will benefit my playing experience). A third option (kill neither, face the personal consequences) would have at least given some deeper scope.

Stephen Totilo responds: Jack just blew my mind. I've long complained of the binary choices games that are designed with morality systems provide players. That's why I'm happy that Spore will give players at least three ways to cultivate their in-game species, instead of just "good" or "bad," "Light Side" or "Dark Side," "kill the Little Sister" or "don't kill the Little Sister." What would I have done if I could have chosen to ignore Playboy X and Dwayne and killed neither? Some would say that offering three choices rather than two is no real improvement. But recalling that specific scenario, I'd have found it even more extraordinary and morally complex if I could have chosen that third path Jack described. Agree?

hage, via Level Up: I also found the story to be a fraudulent bill of goods, between the laughable artifice in some of the NPCs (Michelle after 10 seconds in the car: "I'd really like to get to know you better, Niko...") and every time the writers build up a little good will in terms of your emotional investment in Niko they squander it on something completely out of character in the name of a violent filler mission.

N'Gai Croal responds: I'm wondering whether the fault lies not with inconsistencies in the work of Rockstar's writing team, but with the credulity of all of us. Liberty City is filled with self-deluded characters like Playboy X, Manny and Brucie, who present themselves one way only to be exposed by their behavior. Why do we take Niko at face value? Is it just because he's our avatar? Remember, we never hear Niko's inner thoughts, we just listen to his dialogue and see his actions as we carry them out...Maybe possible that the lady  the gentleman doth protest too much. Maybe Niko is deceiving himself as much as do the rest of the lowlifes he runs with. Maybe as much as he believes he's fatigued with death and killing, he's actually drawn to it? Maybe we have all misunderstood Niko Bellic. What do you think, Stephen?

To view the Final Round of Vs. Mode in its entirety, click on the link below. And once you've finished reading it, we encourage you to share your reactions and observations in the comments section. After all, our new and improved Final Round is nothing without your participation, Dear Reader. Enjoy.

1. EGO...trip: Emmy pays a visit to the EGO...trip family. Congratulations! 
2. EGO...trip: We've got to stop meeting like this, Bonus Round--people will talk
3. HMM...Well-intentioned free advice or volunteering for duty? We link, you decide.
   
4. OHH...snap! Our Huffington Post-of-games rival eviscerates VGChartz
5. DAM...n it feels good to be a gangster gamer
6. RND...Old School vs. New School--who will emerge as the True School?

 Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games

In Round 1 of our Vs. Mode exchange with MTV News reporter Stephen Totilo (also featured on Totilo's blog Multiplayer), he expressed concern over the direction in which Grand Theft IV has taken the franchise, which narrower and more restrained than its wilder, freer predecessors. We accused him of damning developers for running in place (The Legend of Zelda series) and damning them for walking a new path (GTA IV). In today's Round 2, Totilo reveals his favorite GTA title and explains why he believes that Rockstar North should have preserved player "liberation" as the spine of its gameplay, while we advocate forcefully for "emotion" as the broader focus which explains why the developer has taken a left turn. Some excerpts:

Stephen Totilo: Everyone I've spoken to who has played GTA IV can tell me a moment when their manipulation of Niko through gameplay made Niko seem like a different character than the one portrayed in the cut-scenes. Friends cite moments when the cut-scene Niko--cautious about causing wanton violence--didn't seem like the guy they had gunning down everyone in sight at the behest of either the player or, more oddly, in order to fulfill a mission scripted by the developers. What do you make of that? I see the game developers writing Niko one way in cutscenes and requiring him to conform to a very different script in some missions. You see Rockstar maturing. I see Rockstar creating a game that sometimes works against itself. San Andreas didn't have these problems, I think, because it resounded with the tones of cartoon criminality and non-seriousness that the gameplay of a GTA almost demands of its story-writers. Jetpack-riding and rhyme-book-stealing were zany examples of the sprawl of possibility. Anything could happen and anyone could be around in the game to be part of it.

N'Gai Croal: On the radar, I could see that the drug dealer and two other people were inside. Now, whether it was the tension that had built up over the lengthy, deliberate pursuit of my target or a strange aversion to failing and restarting a mission, I can't be sure. But I nevertheless stood outside the door for what seemed like an eternity, Micro-SMG in hand, steeling myself for the firefight to come. Then I burst into the room and kept squeezing both triggers until I absolutely, positively killed every motherf---er in the room. It was over in what seemed like the blink of an eye, and immediately afterwards, as I came down from the adrenaline rush, all I could remember was the echoing gunfire and motion blurred visuals that accompanied my frantic switching from target to target to make sure that I got them before they got me. The pacing of that mission; its rising and falling tension; the juxtaposition of the tempo and duration of its constituent parts; its blend of driving, walking and shooting--all of that was memorable for putting me in a stunned, shaken, disquieted and finally relieved state of mind.

Please be sure to note that spoilers can and do abound. To read Round 2 of our exchange in full, click on the link below. 

Level Up has just learned that Electronic Arts veteran Neil Young has left the company for an unspecified "new project," on which EA Games label president Frank Gibeau wishes him the best of luck. During his 11 year tenure at EA, the affable Brit captained such projects as the ahead-of-its-time alternate reality game Majestic and the well-received licensed game The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Following that, Young was put in charge of Maxis during the production of Sims 2 before being promoted to vice president and general manager of EA Los Angeles, where he supervised Medal of Honor Airborne and Boom Blox. Before his departure from EA, Young was heading up EA Blueprint, which was exploring the creation of adventurous new intellectual properties with smaller teams and budgets. We're working the phones to find out where Young will land next; as soon as we find out more, we'll update you.

In the wake of Young's departure, EALA bigwig and Westwood Studios founder Louis Castle will take over EA Blueprint.

To read the the full text of the email from Frank Gibeau to the team at EA Games announcing Young's departure, click on the link below.

 Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games

In our last, egregiously truncated Vs. Mode exchange on the PlayStation Portable game Patapon, the Level Up staff, our regular opponent Stephen Totilo and our commenters got into a spirited debate about the nature of the grind in videogames (click here to see for yourself, as it's well worth reading). This week, as we revealed yesterday, we're tackling Rockstar North and Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV, in a back and forth discussion that will also featured be featured on Totilo's blog Multiplayer. Totilo kicks off the debate by singling out his favorite moment in the game--a long drive with a woman who ought to go, go, go to rehab--before examining whether Rockstar North may have taken a wrong turn with this newer, more stately GTA. For our part, we defend the developer's refusal to be all things to all people with GTA IV and suggest that Rockstar North's planned downloadable content might be the best vehicle for delivering the wilder ride that a number of GTA fans are still looking for. Some excerpts:

Stephen Totilo: In playing GTA IV I was reminded that GTA is at its most fun when it's tweaking, when it has the shakes, when it can't abandon the violence, the transgressions, the subversions of its own rules. The other style of GTA --the one that bottlenecks its story, that keeps Niko moving forward and lands him with a bunch of mobsters, that picks your vehicle for you sometimes, that tries to keep characters consistent and deliver a moral over the course of 30 hours, this classy, more respectable, more constrained, more cleaned up, rehabilitated GTA--doesn't feel like the GTA I've known. Or at least the one I like telling friends about. That GTA has always been there, but it's been subdued. With GTA IV, though, it may be on the rise. Is this the new GTA and one that we want?

N'Gai Croal: I'm a little surprised at your response to the game. After all, you're Mr. Innovation Bias. Shouldn't you be wildly applauding the shock of Rockstar North's new vibe rather than expressing your conservative longing for past Grand Theft gameplay, masked as a call for the subversive over the sublime? Eiji Aonuma does the same ol', same ol' with Phantom Hourglass; you say you're getting bored. Rockstar North attempts something novel; you say you miss the way things used to be. The only thing left for you to do is urge them to remake the previous GTAs using the latest tech, amirite? Besides, weren't you the one who advanced the theory that multiplayer was where we would find the bulk of the sandbox-y pleasures of GTA IV? You want Rockstar North to roll it for you, when perhaps what they've done is given you the Philly and the Purple Haze so that you can roll it yourself.

To read Round 1 of our exchange in its entirety, click on the link below.