OTTOWA -- QUEBEC -- The 2012 Scotiabank NHL Fan Fair, the National Hockey League’s fan experience, will take over more than 100,000 square feet and three levels of the Ottawa Convention Centre in downtown Ottawa from Thursday, Jan. 26 through Saturday, Jan. 28. There will be something for everyone at the three-day, family-friendly festival, including special appearances from former NHL greats and current NHL stars, a display of 19 of hockey’s most-prized trophies including the Stanley Cup, live TV and radio broadcasts, music, food, merchandise locations and dozens of other dynamic activities. EA Sports NHL 12 was on display at the festivities as well.

ANAHEIM -- Blizzard Entertainment enlisted actor Jay Mohr to host its annual cosplay costume contest. Fans dressed in elaborate costumes from hit games like Diablo III, StarCraft II and World of Warcraft Cataclysm. Amidst news surrounding the free Diablo III to all WoW gamers and a brand new expansion pack, Mists of Pandaria, fans celebrating gaming all around. Check out some of the sexy sirens of BlizzCon in this cosplay gallery below.

Seattle – Ubisoft is supporting PAX Prime 2011 with its largest line-up of games to date. The game publisher is offering a diverse lineup of games for attendees to get their hands on before the official releases. The company also offered fans an exclusive Assassin’s Creed Revelations panel on Friday, August 26th with new information on the bestselling game franchise.

Cologne -- The world of interactive entertainment has once again descended on Cologne, Germany for Gamescom 2011. Over 250,000 gamers have flooded the city in search of hands-on with some of the biggest games of this year and beyond. For the third year running, the trade show and event highlight has increased its exhibitor numbers and international flavor by a wide margin. Over 550 exhibitors (up from 505 in 2010) from almost 40 countries (up from 33 countries in 2010) will be presenting their new products and innovative developments on Cologne's trade show grounds. The proportion of foreign companies at gamescom is now 50 per cent (up from 45% in 2010).

There's going to be free games given out. There's going to be tournaments held. There will be a life size paintball match done in a re-creation of one of the multiplayer levels of Call of Duty: Moder Warfare 2. So I think its safe to say that Activision is going all out with this thing. This thing, of course, being Call of Duty XP, the world's first Call of Duty convention.

The Darkness II spread throughout Comic-Con 2011 in San Diego. The creative forces behind the upcoming 2K Games The Darkness II were on hand to unveil the latest gameplay for fans attending the convention. Sheldon Carter from game developer Digital Extremes and Marc Silvestri, CEO at Top Cow Productions and co-creator of The Darkness, discuss what’s in store for the second game in this bestselling franchise in the exclusive video below.

Actress Ashley Eckstein, who’s married to former MLB star David Eckstein, has been keeping busy in the video game space. The actress voices Ahsoka Tano in Cartoon Networks’ hit computer animated TV series, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” She’s also brought that character to life in a slew of Clone Wars video games, including LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Hero. Most recently, she can be heard in Sony Online Entertainment’s Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures MMO and the upcoming Bioware Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. She talks about Clone Wars and video games in this exclusive video interview from the San Diego Comic-Con 2011 convention.

There were plenty of risqué costumes at Comic-Con. San Diego becomes a hotbed of Slave Leia outfits from Star Wars and cosplay babes. But normally the Con is fine with these Wonder Women and other scantily-clad outfits. It seems the line has been drawn at Aeon Flux, though, as Playboy model and reality TV star Adrianne Curry was escorted out of the convention for wearing too little. It seems the police didn’t want to have an onslaught of fan boy heart attacks. You can check out Curry’s outfits and judge for yourself below.

The sun was out in San Diego, but inside the convention center the slopes were packed with fresh snow and ice. Electronic Arts had the newest version of SSX playable at Comic-Con 2011. The game’s developer was on hand to talk about what’s in store for the new snowboarding title in this exclusive video interview.

Deep Silver and Square Enix had zombies on the brains at Comic-Con 2011. The San Diego convention even featured a zombie walk downtown. Now, the game makers are bringing the undead to the virtual world. Shortly before its release at the beginning of September, the zombie outbreak from Dead Island will  spread to PlayStation Home. Players will be able to further deepen their Dead Island experience through PlayStation Home’s Total Game Integration campaign.

Marvel Entertainment’s Captain America: The First Avenger starring Chris Evans is now the biggest superhero movie opening of the summer. The Paramount Pictures release made an estimated $65.8 million on approximately 7,100 screens at 3,715 locations over the Comic-Con 2011 weekend. That beat out Marvel’s Thor opening of $65.7 million and X-Men: first Class’s $55.1 million haul, as well as rival DC Comic superhero Green Lantern’s $53.2 million opening. Evans talks about the new movie and the Sega video game, Captain America: Super Soldier, in this exclusive video interview.

The cast of the new season of Starz’ hit show, “Spartacus: Vengeance,” was on hand at Comic-Con 2011 in San Diego. The panel included series stars Katrina Law (Mira), Manu Bennett (Crixus), Dustin Clare (Gannicus), Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), Liam McIntyre (Spartacus) and Executive Producer and Head Writer Steven S. DeKnight. They unveiled a new trailer at the convention.