Game journalism isn't as easy as it looks.  Oh, sure, you think we just sit around all day and play Max Payne 3, but the truth is, playing is just part of the job.  Writing is a huge, fundamental part of it, as you have to be able to express yourself in the right manner, not just go "This is cool because blah blah."  You need to FEEL right about the job.  One step to getting an idea of what video game journalism is all about is getting the book Critical Path: How To Review Videogames For a Living, written by Dan Amrich.  Dan, also known as One of Swords on Twitter (@oneofswords), worked in journalism for the longest time before taking a job working with Activision.  Still, he remembers his days fondly enough, as he put his experience into words to help guide young minds of tomorrow down the RIGHT path of journalism.  You know, the one that doesn't involve "blah blah".

Every year, video game companies go all out at one specific event – the Electronic Entertainment Expo, which takes place every year in Los Angeles around June.  Here, companies like to show off what lies ahead in the next twelve to fifteen months, big projects, small uprisings, little advancements to their hardware…that sort of thing.  We’ve been to a lot of shows now, and they’ve been impressive, but E3 2012 should be an even bigger year, thanks to what the companies are bringing.

Bryce Harper, the 19-year old top ranked baseball phenom, will make has long awaited major league debut today for the Washington Nationals against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium.  Harper, the top prospect in the majors as ranked by Baseball America the last two seasons, will play left field and bat seventh. Harper was called up from Class AAA Syracuse Friday after the injury bug hit Mike Morse and Ryan Zimmerman. We caught up with Bryce before the season to talk about his experience thus far as a professional and his love of video games in this exclusive video interview.

Once upon a time, the folks at United Front Games -- the developer behind ModNation Racers -- was assigned the task of bringing back Activision's True Crime series with an all new chapter.  But somewhere in the midst of the game's development, the publisher changed its mind, leaving years worth of work simply sitting on the table.  But not one to let, ahem, Sleeping Dogs lie, Square Enix picked up the project, changing its name but not its focus, and allowing United Front to finish up the project for action gamers to enjoy.  This August, the final product will arrive for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

To celebrate the James Bond franchise’s 50th anniversary and the release of the 23rd film, SKYFALL, Activision Publishing has a brand new game experience featuring the iconic British spy. Gamers will travel through time to relive a selection of Bond’s most iconic and intense undercover missions from six popular Bond film franchise with 007 Legends. In tandem with this video game release, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will unleash the James Bond Collection on Blu-ray for the first time, which will allow gamers to watch, and then play, the entire James Bond collection.

Since March 7, fans nationwide have been casting their votes to determine the next cover athlete for Madden NFL 13, logging 4.3 million votes during the play-in round and more than 8.5 million votes since the start of the bracket phase of the competition on March 21.  Weekly fan voting will determine which of the remaining 16 NFL players will advance through seeded brackets - culminating with the unveiling of the Madden NFL 13 cover athlete winner on ESPN's SportsNation on April 25 at 5 p.m. ET. One of the NFl players still in the hunt is the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowsi, who talks Madden and Modern Warfare 3 in the exclusive video below.

TRANSFORMERS fans won’t have to wait for a fourth film from Michael Bay to get in on the action. In fact, they won’t even have to wait until the new TRANSFORMERS: Fall of Cybertron game from High Moon Studios. Activision is bringing the ultimate TRANSFORMERS video game experience to kids of all ages with the TRANSFORMERS PRIME video game.  Based on the hit animated television show produced by Hasbro Studios and currently airing on The Hub television network in the U.S., the game lets fans play as their favorite AUTOBOT characters and embark on an action-packed adventure to save the earth from the evil MEGATRON and his new secret weapon. 

Want to see how you can do against an NBA All-Star? Orlando Magic Center and leading NBA All-Star 2012 vote getter Dwight Howard plays so much Call of Duty that he issued a challenge to any gamer out there. He even gives out his Xbox Live Gamertag for anyone to take him on in Activision’s game. Check out the challenge from Superman himself in this exclusive video below and then log into Xbox Live and take on one of the biggest stars in basketball today.

As good a distraction as Transformers: Dark of the Moon was on Xbox 360 and PS3 last year, it just didn’t measure up to the monstrosity that came out a year before, the boldly original War For Cybertron.  Featuring a great new storyline, thrilling action and strong multiplayer, the game was a must for fans of Hasbro’s long-running franchise.  High Moon Studios recognizes this, and recently invited us down to Las Vegas to get a first glimpse at the upcoming sequel, Fall of Cybertron, which is introducing some bigger players into the picture – literally.

Activision is once again blending the virtual game world with the very real and lucrative world of toys. High Moon Studios’ latest Transformers game, Fall of Cybertron, marks the debut of new characters in the mythology. These Transformers made their toy debut at the 109th annual New York Toy Fair.

You've seen the Super Bowl ad for the upcoming Battleship movie, right?  And while you may be looking through your classic board game to see where they added metallic robot balls that destroy ships with tentacles (let's save you some time -- they aren't there), the fact is the movie actually looks like decent summer escapism.  And if Liam Neeson says, "You sank my battleship!", consider us SOLD.  That said, Activision is teaming up with the developers at Double Helix on a new game based on the film.