Mario Tennis Open is now available for the Nintendo 3DS hand-held system, inviting players to step onto the court with Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom pals for fast-paced singles and doubles tennis matches, skill-building Special Games and new online modes that let friends and family members with wireless Internet access compete together. The game also features new ways for players to customize their Mii characters and interact with other players via the built-in StreetPass feature.

While Disney Interactive Media Group continues to develop new games like Brave and Disney’s Epic Mickey 2, the Walt Disney Imagineers are expanding interactive entertainment at sea. Bob Zalk explains how games are influencing the guest attractions on board the Disney Fantasy cruise ship in this exclusive video interview below.

Blizzard Entertainment celebrated an epic launch with its much-anticipated Diablo III, only to experience an epic fail due to DRM issues and the dreaded Error 37 message that prevented many players from logging on. As a result of the launch woes, Blizzard has issued an official apology to gamers, which you can see below this exclusive launch video from a Gamestop in Irvine, CA, home town of Blizzard.

One of the most-anticipated games of 2012 is now coming to a lot more screens. Adhesive Games’ free-to-play PC game, HAWKEN, will be available in 720p running at 60 frames per second through Gaikai’s cloud gaming network. That means anyone who has a Smart TV or high-end tablet will be able to play the new Mech shooter from publisher Meteor Entertainment. Check out the video demo below showing the game in action.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which assigns the official age and content ratings for computer and video games, announced a new public service announcement (PSA) campaign starring San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and pitcher Ryan Vogelsong at AT&T Park. The PSAs, which feature the players explaining the ESRB rating system and encouraging parents to use it when buying games for their families, will soon begin running on television and radio stations throughout northern California as well as at Giants home games this season.  

Taking full advantage of Kinect for Xbox 360, Steel Battalion Heavy Armor is a first-person perspective action game that will put players in the cockpit of futuristic Vertical Tanks (VTs) starting June 19. Set in 2082, the game depicts a world devoid of semiconductors, where war is waged with rudimentary weapons as new superpowers struggle for dominance. In a twist of fate, the U.S. army has been forced to begin major landing operations on what was once its own soil. Playing as pilot Lt. Powers, players control one a VT as he embarks on a mission that will see the action shift from North America to battlefields and war-torn streets across the globe. The multiplayer mode of the game made its debut at Captivate 2012.  Capcom’s Antoine Molant was on hand to discuss this sequel in this exclusive interview.

Fans eagerly who just can’t get enough of Darksiders II can get an exclusive Darksiders prequel comic from Dark Horse Comics when they pre-order the Best Buy exclusive Darksiders II: Angel of Death edition for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. With a stunning cover from game creator Joe Madureira, this Best Buy exclusive print issue takes place before the events of Darksiders II, as Death travels to Earth to hunt down and confront a rogue demon. Vigil Games talks about the new game in the exclusive video interview below.

AUSTIN – Disney Interactive Media Group has big plans for Mickey Mouse. The studio’s Junction point development studio is hard at work on the sequel to the bestselling Disney’s Epic Mickey game. Only this time, the new game is going co-op and cross-platform for even more interactive fun. Junction Point founder Warren Spector talks about Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two in the exclusive video interview below.

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises like Counter-Strike,Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress and leading technologies like Steam and Source, is moving The International Dota 2 Championships 2012 to its home town of Seattle. The International was launched last year in Cologne, Germany during Gamescom with 16 of the most elite Dota teams competing in a group stage, double elimination playoff format for a grand prize of $1 million.

Big games routinely slip. It’s part of the business. And in the long run, shipping BioShock Infinite in February 2013 may ultimately boost sales of the much-anticipated title. The game industry floods the market with big releases each fall, making it very difficult even for Christmas shoppers to afford all of the top titles. So Ken Levine’s open letter to gamers, which can be seen below the exclusive video, isn’t such a bad thing. Gamers have Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed III and plenty of other big games to play this fall.

Kazunori Yamauchi took a break from working on Gran Turismo 6 to check out the latest vehicles at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) trade show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The head of Polyphony Digital was also in Sin City to choose the next car that will be playable in GT5 as a downloadable vehicle. At the 9th Annual GT Awards,Yamauchi awarded “Best Hot Rod" winner Mary Pozzi’s 1973 custom red Chevrolet Camaro “Best in Show”. Next year, gamers will be able to get behind the wheel of this extremely fast vehicle and take it on any course.