E3 may be coming to a close, but earlier today I managed to grab three UK games industry veterans to talk about the convention. We've got Leo Tan from Capcom, Chris Easton from Ubisoft, and finally Raul Nieto Garcia from Square Enix. Check it out!

I've just posted some photos from E3 over on my GameSpot profile. While the exhibitors are still setting up for the official start tomorrow, Guy and myself headed over to the convention centre yesterday (Sunday) to pick-up our passes and scope out the scene. You can also follow what I'm up to at E3 on my profile, and twitter feed.

First impressions from the GameSpot UK team are also just in following Microsoft's E3 press conference, highlights include Resident Evil 5, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Battlestations: Pacific, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and the Xbox 360's new Avatar feature which will arrive in the autumn system update.

Just a quick note to say that GameSpot UK has now arrived in Los Angeles for this year's E3! Me and Luke be writing plenty of stuff over the coming week, so keep an eye on my profile, follow my Twitter feed or just head over to the main GameSpot E3 page for all the info.

Rockstar Games and parent company Take Two have had their fair share of run-ins with the authorities this year. In the UK, a long-running battle with the BBFC ended in victory when Manhunt 2 was granted an 18 certificate after an appeal to the Video Appeals Committee. Over in the US, Take Two ended up taking legal action against the Chicago Transit Authority for pulling down advertising relating to Grand Theft Auto 4.

Today, the UK's Advertising Standards Authority has rejected complaints from viewers about ads run earlier in the year for Rockstar's Bully: Scholarship Edition. The ads featured scenes from the game, including a student being given a wedgie, Hopkins kissing a girl, and the firing of a catapult. The complainants had indicated that they thought the ad was "distasteful," gave the wrong message in the current climate of problems with teenage violence, and should not be shown when it might be viewed by children.

Take Two responded that the ad was no longer running, and that it was primarily comic in nature. The company felt that "many of the complaints were directed against the name and contents of the game itself rather than the ad," according to the ASA ruling. The previous version of the game was released in the UK under the name Canis Canem Edit.

Clearcast, which screens advertisements before they are shown on television, said that "far from glorifying bullying, the aim of the game was actually to beat the bullies." It also believed that the name of the game had attracted attention to the advertisement. Clearcast had also issued an "ex-kids" restriction on the advert, meaning that it could not be shown during programmes that have under-15s as more than 30 percent of their audience.

The ASA did not uphold any of the complaints. The body felt that the ad was "unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence," even if many people might feel the game itself was in poor taste. It also "considered that viewers were unlikely to draw a direct analogy between the computer-generated, stereotyped school setting and contemporary society," and did not find any breaches of the restrictions placed on the broadcasting of the advert.

Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl holds onto the premier spot for a second consecutive week, holding off competition from Battlefield: Bad Company and Lego Indiana Jones.

Although it took nearly six months to make it from Japan to the UK, Nintendo's Smash Bros. Brawl is nonetheless a big hit with the island's game-buying public. The fighter has held on to the number one spot in the Chart Track all formats chart for a second week running, holding off competition from Battlefield: Bad Company at number two and Lego Indiana Jones: Original Adventures at three.

Although no new entries made it into the top 10, a plethora of sports titles climbed up the chart. THQ's Big Beach Sports led the sporting troupe at number four, with Sega's official Olympics tie-in Beijing 2008 at number five. Below them, chart stalwarts Wii Fit, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Wii Play filled positions seven, eight and nine, while The Bourne Conspiracy rounds out the top 10. These games replace other big brands such as Mario Kart Wii, which falls from seven to 14, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, falling from six to 15.

The highest new entry this week was Midway's Unreal Tournament 3 at 18, which makes a belated arrival on the Xbox 360 after hitting the PS3 and PC late last year. Just below it, Sony's Buzz! series made its first appearance on the PlayStation 3, entering at number 22.

The Halo series is no stranger to fan-made movies. The Red vs. Blue series helped propel machinima into the mainstream, while Halo 3 introduced proper video editing and sharing to the series.

In an effort to promote this aspect of the game, Microsoft and Bungie recently held a competition for fans to create films inspired by the unseen adventures of Master Chief. The winner of said competition was announced today, with Scott Robertson from Cardiff, UK beating out competition from South Africa and Spain to win with his short film 'Master Chief's Day Off'. The film shows an animated Chief struggling to do everyday things, such as watching TV and replacing a light bulb with a plasma grenade.

We spoke to Scott about winning the competition, which netted him an all-expenses paid trip Los Angeles to study at the confusingly-named New York Film Academy. "I remember the first time I played Halo at University," he said. "We linked Xboxes together for eight-player gaming. I remember thinking this is the best first-person shoot 'em-up game I'd ever played."

"I've always enjoyed making short film's, but I've never had the resources or skills to create what was in my imagination," he continued. "I enjoy exploring new directions for my short films and would love to be a director. It would be great to see more of my ideas come to life."

You can see Scott's winning film below, and head over to the official competition site to see more of the runners-up.

Nintendo has decided to bring Wii Fit to the masses who haven't otherwise got the energy to get off the sofa and go out and buy it.

'The Feel Great Britain Tour'--as in feeling good, not inappropriate touching of the nation--will, says Nintendo, "invigorate your fitness routine and demonstrate how staying active and energised can be the key to feeling happy and satisfied."

This will, of course, involve Wii Fit, which will be rolled out for interested parties to try. The roadshow will also feature 'Health Hubs' where people can get free health and fitness checks.

The tour will run across Great Britain and Northern Ireland; the first event kicked off between June 19 and 22 at Festival Place in Basingstoke. The tour runs through to the end of August, and areas to be visited include Brighton, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, and Manchester.

A full list of venues and dates, and more information about the Feel Great Britain tour can be found at the official Web site.

The UK meeting for fans of Sega's iconic blue hedgehog will be taking place on August 9. This year's event will be held at the Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust in Holborn, and will start at 10 a.m., and finish at 5 p.m. It's free to attend, although attendees do have to be over 15 years of age.

The Summer of Sonic promises to have a variety of Sonic games on display to play, and gamers are invited to bring along their Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and Sony PSP handhelds and their own Sonic games to engage in challenges or co-op gameplay with other attendees.

There will also be plenty of prizes, which can be won in competitions including a big-screen projector tournament, on-stage Challenges, and simply by accruing high scores throughout the day.

For the lovers not the fighters, there will be plenty of art, including the Sonic Showcase with a variety of fan pictures, and an art contest. There will also be a stage in the hall, which will have The Sonic Hour hosts Svend (Dreadknux) and Rory (Roareye) performing a live version of their show.

In addition,Sonic fans who attend will get the first hands-on with a new unnamed Sonic game (possibly Sonic Unleashed--which is due out for Christmas). More info and signing up can be done at the official Web site.

It was a weekend of mixed emotions in Paris for Blizzard fanatics. It opened on a high when the rumours about Diablo 3 turned out to be true, and climbed to even greater heights as attendees rapidly realised how true to the previous instalment in the series the game looks to be, and how much work has already been done on it.

However, Diablo fans aside, Blizzard offered very little in the way of news at the event. The much-hoped-for launch windows for Starcraft II and Wrath of the Lich King failed to materialise, and other than a few tidbits thrown out during the few developer and producer interviews that were not about Diablo III there was little new on show. It was, however, the first chance that many attendees had to play the two other upcoming titles in the Blizzard stable, and the panels did offer a rare insight into the game development process for both those titles.

For gamers around the world there was plenty to cheer about too. Those present were the first in the public domain to play with the Death Knight, the first new class for World of Warcraft since the game's launch, and a significant number of questions about the class have been answered... though at this stage the answers could still change. For more, check out my hands-on preview with Wrath of the Lich King based on an hour or so running around the Plaguelands trying to kill as many mobs as I possibly could, all in the name of responsible journalism.

If you want to know all the information about Diablo III—and I certainly hope you do—then your first port of call should be our impressions piece, based on the trailer, all the gameplay footage that was shown over the course of the weekend, developer panels, and a fairly rigorous interrogation of developers about any features they were willing or able to talk about. No comment on a cow level, I'm afraid; I'll remember to pack the thumbscrews next time I head out to a Blizzard event.

For even more information, you should check out the interview with Blizzard's Rob Pardo, Brian Ekberg's piece over on our previews blog based on the developer panel on the Art and Lore of Diablo 3.

If any of you were there we'd love to hear from you... leave your thoughts below, if you were there, if you're excited about Diablo III or if you've got any thoughts at all about Blizard's biggest-ever gathering of European gamers.

Games stores in the UK have been slashing prices across hundreds of games, and there are some great bargains to be had.

Starting with Play.com, the recently released Ninja Gaiden II on the Xbox 360 has been reduced £20 to £24.99. Other popular 360 titles have also been significantly reduced, including Burnout: Paradise, which is now £24.99, Gears of War, which is £14.99, and Halo 3, which is currently £17.99.

The PlayStation 3 version of Burnout: Paradise is also down to £24.99, but probably the biggest bargain is Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, including an exclusive steel book for £17.99 (the same deal is on the 360 also). Thirty-six PlayStation 3 titles have been knocked down in price, including The Club, which is down to £29.99, and John Woo Presents: Stranglehold is also £29.99.

More than 60 PC games have also been discounted, including The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (Gold Edition) for £14.99, World in Conflict for £14.99, and The Sims: Castaway Stories is £5 off at £14.99.

The DS range offers some far more impressive price cuts, including Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for £9.99 each, and My Word Coach for £14.99.

The biggest surprise in the Wii category is Battle of the Bands down £20 to £9.99. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption has also been reduced to £24.99, and there's £30 off Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core, which is currently £9.99. There are also 35 PSP and 46 PlayStation 2 games reduced.

On to Game, which isn't having a massive sale per se but has gone for a different approach, heavily discounting some older titles. The cheapest of these is Stolen on the PC for £1.99. Other notable blags include Tomb Raider: Legend on the 360 pre-owned for £7.99 and World of Warcraft on the PC for £7.99.

HMV has 163 games in its sale--notable titles for the 360 include Dark Sector for £27.99, Condemned 2 for £24.99, and Ratatouille for £24.99. The same deal can be found for Dark Sector and Condemned 2 on the PS3, along with various others, including Kane and Lynch: Dead Men for £15.99.

For the Wii, MySims is reduced by £3 to £29.99, and Speed Racer is £14.99. For the DS, My Sims is reduced £10 to £14.99, and High School Musical 2 is £16.99. The PC section is equally slim, although it does have Enemy Territory: Quake Wars at £13.99. Various Sims 2 add-ons are also now £11.99 each.

For the PSP, Lumines 2 is £6.99, a saving of £11, and Wipeout Pure: Platinum Edition is £12.99. There are also 16 PS2 games with various savings.

[UPDATE] Zavvi, the retailer formerly known as Virgin, has also now launched its sale. The biggest highlights include Bioshock on the Xbox 360 for £11.99, Drawn to Life on the DS for £6.99, and Sonic and the Secret Rings on the Wii for £9.99. Conan on the PS3 is £6.99, and Stuntman: Ignition is £8.99.

Assassin's Creed: Directors Cut edition on the PC is £17.99, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PSP is £12.99, and Me and My Katamari is £5.99. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Portable Ops Plus for the PSP are both £13.99. No More Heroes on the Wii is £17.99, and Eledees [Elebits outside Europe] is £10.99.

For more great bargains, check out the Bargain Hunt thread in the UK forums.

After a hard-fought quarter-finals campaign, the remaining teams are through to the semi-finals of the real-life UEFA Euro 2008: Germany, Turkey, Russia, and Spain, proving that anything is possible in the world of football. If you missed our quarter-final predictions, you can check it out on the Sports Beat blog.

Just in time for tonight's first semi-final game (Germany v Turkey), we've run a separate round of predictions to see who would win the tournament based on the remaining teams using the AI system of UEFA Euro 2008 on Xbox 360. If you want to see who the game thinks should win, take a look at the new blog post we've added.

And just a reminder that we'll also be running another prediction after the semi-finals are over.

Unlike the cricket world, in which Australia almost always trumps the Brits, the world of football is rarely predictable. Who, for instance, would've picked Greece to win Euro 2004, or England to fail to qualify for Euro 2008?

Thankfully we have a secret weapon in our tournament predictions: UEFA Euro 2008's simulation mode on the Xbox 360. Now that the group stages have been tossed by the wayside, along with the undeserving teams, we can get down to finals business.

Turkey, Croatia, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and Russia now remain after Germany's 3-2 defeat of Portugal last night at Basel. Despite goals from Gomes and Postiga, it wasn't enough to stop Schweinsteiger, Klose, and Ballack from reaching the back of the net, taking Germany through to the semis.

You can read the GameSpot UK Euro 2008 quarterfinalist predictions on the Sports Beat blog. We'll also be running separate predictions for the semifinals and finals, based on the real-life winners of those stages, so stay tuned to see who'll win the virtual UEFA European Football Championship, and just how accurate UEFA Euro 2008's AI is compared to the real thing.

The new DS colours released in Europe last week have given sales of the handheld a boost in the UK, but it doesn't seem like Nintendo is going to rest until the entire country owns one.

The latest weapon in this battle is the 'Nintendo DS Centre'--an in-store display where gamers can play a selection of DS titles and download demos and extras to their own DS's.

Games that are currently on rotation to play in stores include Sight Training, Nintendogs, Big Brain Academy, Animal Crossing: Wild World, New Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Mario Kart DS, Brain Training, More Brain Training, and 42 All Time Classics.

Downloadable demos include The Spiderwick Chronicles, Cake Mania, My Sims, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Professor Kageyama's Maths Training, and My Word Coach.

Retailers taking part include Argos, Toys R US, Asda, Woolworths, Zavvi, Game, and HMV. There are a total of 33 shops across the UK so far with the demo centres, and a full list of names and addresses can be found on the Web site.

Brits will soon get the chance to see who can control their favourite Nintendo mascot like no other, with retail chain Gamestation announcing its nationwide Super Smash Bros. Brawl Showdown.

There will be 20 stores hosting in-store competitions on June 28, and 64 players from each store will fight for glory, and a home entertainment system. The winner of each store's final head to head will score a Samsung 40-inch HD LCD television and 5.1 channel home theatre system. The runner-up will walk away with an iPod Nano.

If you're interested--and at least 12 years of age--you must register on the competition page by June 21 and wait for a Nintendo representative to get in touch.

The stores participating in the competition include Edinburgh, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Hull. The full list is available on the Web site.

Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4 had its London launch at Zavvi's flagship store last night, and GameSpot UK was on hand to cover the event. A sizable crowd queued up outside the Tottenham Court Road entrance to the store, with the first in line having arrived more than 14 hours before in order to secure a life-size Solid Snake statue.

Other goodies were also on offer at the event, with the first 15 people in line securing a Hideo Kojima-signed copy of the game. There was also a signed, limited-edition print up for grabs, given to a randomly chosen member of the 100-strong crowd outside.

We'll have a video from the event in a couple of days time, but in the meantime, check out the photos below and see the full set for more.

Elite supersoldier Solid Snake is going to attempt a slightly less than usual covert infiltration mission under the cover of darkness this Wednesday in the UK, on the eve of Metal Gear Solid 4's worldwide release.

High street giant Zavvi will be opening its doors at midnight, but only at the flagship Oxford Street store in Central London. The first 25 Metal Gear fans can snag a copy of the game that has been signed by creator Hideo Kojima (ahead of the event, naturally) and all who attend will also receive a swag bag and "have the chance to enter a competition to win a 'money-can't-buy' Metal Gear Solid 4 prize," according to the retailer.

Meanwhile, Zavvi's main high street competitor, HMV, has said it won't be opening at midnight. HMV Oxford Street hosted an event last Monday where Kojima signed 300 limited edition slipcases available exclusively to those who preordered the game on the day. In addition to Kojima, lead artist Yoji Shinkawa and actress Yumi Kikuchi, who plays one of the game's Beauty & the Beast characters, were also on hand to sign autographs.

Lastly, for those living in the Hull area, the local Gamestation will be open from 11 p.m. A spokesperson for Gamestation said that while the retailer wasn't planning any official midnight openings some other stores may open at their own discretion and customers should phone their local store for more details.

At the time of publication, specialist retailer Game had not yet returned GameSpot UK's request for comment.

After a long, four-year wait, Solid Snake is soon to be back in action when The Guns of the Patriots arrives June 12 worldwide. In the lead-up to launch, the series' creator and director, Hideo Kojima, has embarked on a world tour. In doing so he is giving fans a chance to meet the man behind one of the most successful video game characters of all time, and perhaps say farewell to the legendary soldier once and for all.

Kojima-san kicked off his world tour at HMV's flagship store in Oxford St, London, partly because (according to a Konami staffer) Kojima is a fan of HMV in Japan.

Meanwhile, Konami's spokesperson told us that fans had started queuing up from Saturday. Those who got there early enough and whacked down a £5 deposit on the game were given an exclusive HMV Metal Gear Solid 4 sleeve, limited to 300 copies that day. The sleeves officially went on sale at 9 a.m. and were sold out well before Kojima stepped onstage at midday.

Thankfully HMV bestowed apon us a media pass, allowing us to get in the thick of the action.

Along for Kojima's whirlwind tour was series lead artist Yoji Shinkawa and actress Yumi Kikuchi.

Unlike his colleagues, however, the man requires no introduction.

The stage is set, the crowd awaits...

This is what fans have been waiting hours for. A limited-edition MGS4 sleeve, limited to a mere 300 copies at the store.

Hundreds of fans lined up for a brief chance to meet the team behind the series.

Coincidentally (or not), the stage is mere metres away from another type of metal, although it appears Kojima-san is a fan of another style of music...

According to a Konami staffer, Kojima is a big fan of Joy Division, evidenced by his walking onstage to their song "Atmosphere" while sporting a Joy Division T-shirt. He's flanked by Kikuchi on the left and Shinkawa on the right.

Without stopping for questions, Kojima jumps straight into the hot seat and begins the task of signing autographs.

Kojima passes a sleeve over to Kikuchi to add the finishing touches.

Kojima takes time to chat with fans, pose for photos, and shake hands.

Some even presented him with gifts, and their own fan art.

While bouncers informed fans that only one sleeve per person was to be signed and those who didn't conform might be ejected, Kojima-san nevertheless seemed happy to oblige fans.

Cem Hizli, who came all the way from Surrey, was chuffed to get his sleeve signed.

London is the first stop on the Metal Gear Solid 4 World Tour. Other appearances include Milan, Madrid, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka.

Codemasters is holding a launch-day event on Oxford street today to celebrate Race Driver: Grid's arrival.

As well as some early morning silliness, a bunch of gamers are competing for a BMW M3 (having taken part in a pan-European fastest-lap challenge), and there are a number of booths set up for anyone to have a go.

The day kicked off with a parade of six supercars rocking up at Zavvi on Oxford Street, with The Stig among them--apparently there to pick up a copy of the game and an Xbox 360 Elite.

The Stig in-store.

If you head down there during the day you can have a play on the game on 360 or PS3 before buying it; when we headed over to see what the fuss was about there were loads of PS3 and 360 demo stations set up in the games area on the first floor. There are other prizes on offer, including Race Driver umbrellas, shirts and other related stuff, for those who just turn up to have a go, and these should be going on 'til 6 p.m.

Watch out for our review next week.

The Metal Gear Solid creator will be in town on June 2 along with artist Yoji Shinkawa to sign game sleeves for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4.

However, the time that the two video game celebs can spend meeting and greeting the great unwashed is subject to "time constraints," and will be "strictly limited." This means that there will only be 300 sleeves for the duo to scribble on, and these will go on sale at 9 a.m. sharp.

The signing will take place in HMV's flagship 150 Oxford Street store on Monday June 2 at noon.

Gamers will need to pay a £5 deposit towards pre-order of the PlayStation 3-exclusive game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which is due to land on British shores on June 12. In return, they will receive a "pre-release HMV exclusive sleeve" for the highly anticipated title.

Ryu Hayabusa will be descending on us like, well, a ninja in the night on June 6. Ninja Gaiden II continues the story of Ryu, is a follow-up story to his 2004 Xbox outing in Ninja Gaiden, and precedes the original NES Ninja Gaiden series (or Shadow Warriors, as it was known to us PAL territorians).

Those who purchase the game will be able to obtain variations on Ryu's ninja garb through Xbox Live, and Game is getting the ball rolling with a preorder offer. It doesn't mention how many costumes preorder customers will receive, other than you'll be entitled to "in-game costumes worth 200 Marketplace points."

Meanwhile, HMV is including 1000 free Xbox Live point in its offer. According to its site, the offer is only redeemable on UK Xbox 360s, and will be emailed to your registered HMV.com e-mail address seven days after release.

Lastly, while Play.com doesn't have a special pre-order deal, they do have a 7-inch Ryu Hayabusa figure for preorder at £10. Unfortunately it won't be out until the end of September, and there's no final product image on the listing.