Electronic Arts has signed the world’s top soccer player (footballer), Barcelona and Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, to a multi-year endorsement contract that will see him become the global face of the EA SPORTS FIFA franchise. The biggest transfer deal this football season sees the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2010 winner transfer to EA SPORTS and make his debut in March, 2012 on the cover of FIFA Street.

This year at Gamerlive.tv we'll be scouring every inch of the E3 2011 exhibition hall floor to give you a glimpse of what the event is really all about: booth babes.  Okay, we know it's not really about booth babes. It's the video games that they're standing in front of.  We're going to be covering all the big reveals and hidden gems from the world of gaming and electronics throughout the next week.  And what better way to share the best of E3 with you than through lots and lots of pictures? 

While events like E3 showcase big games of 2011 and beyond to the world, most of these trade shows are closed to the public. BlizzCon is an exception to this rule, designed as a place for Blizzard game fans to meet the developers, pick up new swag, and party together. Blizzard Entertainment made this year’s big game event official. The sixth annual BlizzCon gaming convention will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22, 2011. BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and  Diablo universes. Diablo III, which will launch this year, is expected to be a key focus for the convention.

While its Disney Interactive Studios game division has had massive layoffs, The Walt Disney Company’s film division had an excellent year in 2010. The slate of Walt Disney Studios films have earned 12 Oscarnominations. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced five nominations for Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3, including for the coveted title of Best Picture; three for Alice in Wonderland, and one each for Day & Night, Tangled, The Tempest, and TRON: Legacy. Disney’s 3D films did extremely well both at the box office and with Oscar nominations.  TRON: Legacy director Joe Kosinski talks about the 3D film and game in this exclusive video interview.

Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the third expansion for the critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), has established itself as one of the top PC games of 2010. The expansion has sold through more than 4.7 million copies as of its first month of release, setting a new record for monthly PC game sales.

HELSINKI – Videogames are a global force. The NHL kicked off its 2010-11 season with a trio of NHL Premiere Series regular season match-ups throughout Europe. The 2006 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes took on the Minnesota Wild at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki Finland for a pair of games. EA Sports promoted its latest NHL 11 game throughout the event. The Canes ended up sweeping the two-game series on October 7 and 8, defeating the Wild 4-3 the first night and then winning in an overtime shootout 2-1 the second night.

TOKYO -- Ubisoft was on hand at the Tokyo Game Show to show off the new stereoscopic 3D gaming for Shaun White’s latest videogame. Shaun White Skateboarding, a game that puts an innovative twist on the action-sports genre, is the latest offering in the award-winning franchise developed in collaboration with dual-sport super-athlete, Shaun White. Check out this exclusive video from the show floor in Tokyo.

TOKYO – When it comes to booth babes, no show features more sexy gaming girls than the Tokyo Game Show. Over 138 companies and organizations set up over 1,410 booth partition units at the annual September convention, paving the way for many booth babes. Microsoft had over 60 booth babes at its booth. Check out a literal parade of booth babes from the show floor in the video below.

SAN DIEGO – What started as a trailer that played during Quinton Tarantino’s Grandhouse movies a few years back has blossomed into a big summer action movie with a full roster of action stars. Machete stars Danny Trejo (as Machete) and Michelle Rodriguez (as Luz) and was written and directed by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Predators). The trio hopped into a lowrider at Comic-Con 2010 to talk about the new movie, which opens Labor Day Weekend September 3. 

COLOGNE -- With the announcement of a brand new Mortal Kombat coming to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011, the newest chapter of the iconic fighting game franchise marks a triumphant return to the series’ mature presentation and a reinvention of its classic 2D fighting mechanic combined with the latest technology to up the gore factor a few notches. Ed Boon, the man who has been behind every single Mortal Kombat game, was at GamesCom 2010 to discuss the past, present and future of the brutal fighting franchise in this exclusive video interview. 

COLOGNE -- Trion Worlds showed that its one of the major players in the massively-multiplayer online space at GamesCom 2010 with its huge booth, which was packed with gamers. The game publisher featured playable versions of its first two MMO games, the role-playing game Rift: Planes of Telara and the real-time strategy game End of Nations. Trion Worlds CEO and founder Lars Butler talks about these two games and what his game company is infusing new to the MMO space in this exclusive video interview.

Game Developers Conference Europe 2010 (GDC Europe) has opened its doors at the Cologne Congress Center East in Cologne, Germany.  Produced by UBM TechWeb Game Network, organizers of the leading Game Developers Conference® series, GDC Europe is the largest professionals-only game event in Europe, and has increased in scope compared to its inaugural debut event in 2009, encompassing a robust selection of keynotes, lectures, panels, and sessions.  GDC Europe returns to Cologne, Germany on August 16-18, 2010 for three days of learning, networking, and inspiration.  For more information on GDC Europe visit: www.gdceurope.com.