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.  

Marvel’s The Avengers crossed the $1 billion threshold at the global box office on Mother’s Day May 13, its 19th day in release, The Walt Disney Studios movie has become the first official summer blockbuster. This is the first Marvel Studios film and the fifth Walt Disney Studios release to reach this important milestone. Director Joss Whedon talks about the movie in the exclusive video interview below.

We’re all for trying something new in a long-running series, but the problem is when an idea is introduced that doesn’t pan out like the development team expected it to.  Sadly, this is looking like the case for Lionhead Studios’ Fable.  After three entertaining adventure outings, the series is drastically moving into Kinect territory later this year with Fable: The Journey, which, honestly, doesn’t look so hot right now.  To make matters worse, things don’t really fare much better with Lionhead’s recent XBLA release, Fable Heroes.

LAS VEGAS – Celebrity gamer Adrianne Curry is working with Namco Bandai on the upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2 console release for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Curry, who is one of the judges for Sony’s “The Tester” online series, was on hand for Namco Bandai’s Global Gamers Day event at The Cosmopolitan Hotel. She was able to check out the new Dragon Ball Z Kinect dressed as Tekken’s Christie. Curry talks about the new game in this exclusive, revealing video interview below.

LAS VEGAS – Dragon Ball Z has been released on every game console since Nintendo entered the game industry. Now game publisher and developer Namco Bandai Games America is bringing Dragon Ball Z for Kinect to the Xbox 360 this October.  All of the classic action and intensity of the Dragon Ball Z universe will be felt with an unprecedented sense of immersion when players learn to deliver over 100 moves, including the legendary Kamehameha with their own fists as they charge their way to victory in this ultimate evolution of the classic franchise.

Capcom believes there’s a core audience of gamers who are willing to take the Kinect plunge. The Japanese publisher has enlisted developer From Software to create this sequel to the hit Xbox game, Steel Battalion. Working closely with Microsoft to take full advantage of Kinect, Steel Battalion Heavy Armor is an Xbox 360 exclusive first-person action game that promises to deliver a uniquely immersive experience and an evolution in warfare gaming.

With its release, fans are divided over Star War Kinect.  And it’s easy to see why.  The product offers a lot that ties in with the Star Wars universe, but goes so far off the deep end with certain sections, it could easily be considered one of the most hated things since, well, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.  But keep something in mind when you play it.  Microsoft didn’t build it for the hardcore fans who know within their hearts that Han Solo shot first.  They built it for the casual audience and the kids who would have fun for hours on end waving their arms to swing a lightsaber and steer a podracer.  And in that sense, Star Wars Kinect does what’s promised.

With Kinect 2.0 rumored to launch with Xbox Next in 2014, Microsoft isn’t resting on its laurels when it comes to updating the motion-sensor technology behind games like Kinect Disneyland, Dance Central 2 and the upcoming Star Wars Kinect. Craig Eisler, General Manager of Kinect for Windows at Microsoft, recently discussed what’s coming out for Xbox 360 as well as PC gamers.

Electronic Arts is being rewarded for sticking with Tiger Woods through thick and thin. In a perfect stroke of marketing, Woods won his first PGA TOUR event since his public divorce just before EA Sports was shipping Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13:The Masters Collector’s Edition to retailers around the world. His victory at Bay Hill has made Tiger relevant once again in the golf world and helped ratings surge for broadcasters. Woods also recently showed his sense of humor in the “Duel of the Masters” viral video with Shaquille O’Neal. Check out the making of that video below.

National health care company Humana has extended its partnership with video game leader Ubisoft by offering rewards for healthy gaming. Through its wellness and loyalty solution, HumanaVitality, members are now able to seamlessly earn Vitality Points™ for exercising using Ubisoft’s fitness games, Your Shape: Fitness Evolved” and “Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012,” available exclusively on Kinect™ for Xbox 360. This partnership marks the first time a fitness video game has been integrated with a health care solution in this way.

Steel Battalion was a rather quirky game for its time.  Unlike any other?  Sure.  But it also came with the most realistic vehicle play you could imagine, thanks to a deluxe sized controller that featured literally dozens of functions, ranging from various settings to an eject button, when things got too hot under the collar.  It was definitely an acquired taste, especially with its $200 price tag.  But Capcom is ready to bring this series back for a whole new audience, as it’s doing away with the controller in favor of Kinect-supported controls.  Will that be enough?

Apparently some of the marketing folks behind some of these Kinect games have it all wrong.  They’re trying to implement motion controls in all the right ways, but as a result, they’re sacrificing the main ingredient that’s supposed to be selling these products in the first place – fun.  Some of these games simply aren’t that fun.  Find a person who made the unfortunate mistake of picking up a retail copy of Hole In the Wall and ask them if they’re having fun trying to stand in place of fast-moving silhouettes.