Long before actor Masi Oka broke into Hollywood with the NBC TV hit, “Heroes,” his work had been seen by millions of people on the big screen. It’s just that they didn’t know it. Oka spent years as a programmer for George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) writing hundreds of thousands of lines of code. It was his programming that allowed ILM to bring the water effects to life in films like The Perfect Storm. In fact, even though he doesn’t actively write code for ILM any more, his technology can still be seen on the big screen in films like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. While Oka is currently starring in the CBS hit, “Hawaii Five-0,” he’s using his programming background to actively develop original video games aimed at the Japanese audience. The tech guru and self-professed gamer talks about his latest projects in this exclusive interview.

“Twitch” puzzle games have really been getting better over the years, and one series in particular that has managed to flourish is MumboJumbo’s Luxor franchise.  What started as just another marble shooting game has since grown into a staple for the publisher, thanks to addictive gameplay, ever-changing stages and new gimmicks to keep players drawn in.  And now the team may have stumbled upon its most brilliant entry to date with the retro-powered Luxor Evolved HD.

Epic Games went to the UK to connect with gamers at the public gaming and technology show, Gadget Show Live. During the six-day show, Epic assembled a team of game developers to discuss the future of videogames. Click on the videos below to see the panels discuss what’s on the horizon of game development.

Commando Kiwi, developer of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: Lost Chapters, emerged victorious in the Make Something Unreal Live video game development competition at Gadget Show Live. Four teams presented their new Apple iOS games based on individual books in the Fighting Fantasy series to the franchise’s esteemed creators, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone OBE, and the duo determined that Commando Kiwi’s fresh twist on the third-person adventure genre makes the best use of the property and exhibits the most outstanding commercial potential. Epic Games Design Director Cliff Bleszinski discusses the winner in the video below.

Epic Games and its award winning Salt Lake City-based development studio, ChAIR Entertainment released Infinity Blade II: ClashMob, a free content update for its Game of the Year Award-winning iOS blockbuster, Infinity Blade II. In support of the update, gamers can purchase the full version of Infinity Blade II for a limited-time promotional price of $4.99  (regularly $6.99) via the App Store.

Epic Games and Train2Game have assembled a lineup of video game luminaries to participate in Make Something Unreal Live, the groundbreaking game development competition coming to the Gadget Show Live on April 10-15, 2012 at the NEC in Birmingham, UK. One of the judges is Cliff Bleszinski, design director at Epic Games, who can be seen below in an exclusive video interview from GDC 2012.

Mass Effect 3 fans can immerse themselves even deeper in Mass Effect universe with two new iOS apps, Mass Effect Infiltrator and Mass Effect Datapad, when they hit the App Store this week. As part of the Mass Effect Galaxy at War system, Infiltrator and Datapad allow players to bolster their war assets and influence their single-player game ending in Mass Effect 3, ultimately helping Commander Shepard in the fight to eliminate the Reaper threat and take back Earth once and for all.

SAN FRANCISCO – Tablet games were everywhere at GDC 2012, which also marked the debut (next door) of Apple’s new iPad. On the show floor at the Game Developers Convention were plenty of new Google Android tablets. In a remarkably rapid ascension, media tablets in 2014 will become the world’s fourth-largest application for semiconductors, up from 35th in 2010, rising in just four short years from obscurity to a level rivaling the position of powerhouse chip markets like mobile handsets and PCs, according to the IHS iSuppli Application Market Forecast Tool  from information and analytics provider IHS.

Pop sensation Justin Bieber seems to always be in the news these days. And not just for singing. The teenager, who hasn’t been officially involved with his own videogame (yet), is now involved in a videogame parody lawsuit. Game developer RC3 has sued Bieber over their new mobile game, Joustin’ Beaver. What’s interesting is that the game maker has gone to court first, after Bieber’s people threatened litigation a few weeks ago if the game wasn’t terminated.

Wow, it’s amazing how just now the folks at Cave have become a household name when it comes to quality games.  This development team has been around for years, crafting the kind of “bullet hell” shooters that fans simply can’t get enough of.  Oh, well, take whatever fame you can get, I always say.  And that level of fame continues with yet another release from its extensive shoot-em-up – or “shmup” – collection with Dodonpachi Blissful Death, which acts as a prequel to the previously released Dodonpachi Resurrection.

Remember when Telltale was a small video game company that released a video game every one to two years. Last year alone Telltale released “Back to the Future” six episodic content and to close out the year, released “Jurassic Park”. Things have sure changed since then, but was it for the better? Has the Telltale dependence on licensed properties finally back fired on them in "Law & Order: Legacies".