Let us count the ways:

1. To create the playbooks for Madden NFL 11, designers watch the actual “all 22” tape that real NFL coaches use to evaluate game film. EA S[prts had to be labeled as a 33^rd NFL franchise by the league in order to get these tapes.

2. Plays chosen for you via GameFlow are based on actual run/pass percentages of NFL teams from last season. All situations were evaluated including a variety of down and distance situations, two-minute offense, etc.

3. More teams in the game use shotgun and wildcat formations thanks to some valuable information from Coach Madden. In a number of conference calls with the design team he mentioned that more and more teams are using both of these formations on a regular basis.

4. Madden NFL 11 is the first sports game to feature an active league commissioner. Roger Goodell makes a cameo appearance in the brand new Super Bowl win sequence.

5. Broadcaster Gus Johnson expelled so much energy recording his lines for the new Super Bowl victory sequences that he could only do one per session.

6. If you total up all of his time on microphone, Gus Johnson, the new play by play announcer, recorded more than 70 hours of dialogue for Madden NFL 11.

7. The Madden NFL 11 design team spent time with NFL coaches, including Tennessee Titans Offensive Coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, to help rebuild the zone blocking matchup system.

8. To help create a more realistic and noticeable difference between players in the NFL, EA hired 12 different size athletes to do motion capture for the new locomotion feature. Athletes ranging from heavy to skinny all performed sprints, cuts, stops, etc. to help make sure the new mo-cap looked amazing.

9. Madden NFL 11’s new running animations were captured on a 40 yard-long motion capture stage. The first time any EA product has used a stage so large.

10. The brand new presentation system in Madden NFL 11 contains more than 250 banners, 493 scriptable scenes, and 754 presentation packages.

11. To create the New Meadowlands Stadium, used this season by the NY Jets and NY Giants, the team’s environment artist took almost 1,000 detailed pictures of the stadium under construction.

If you’re Ubisoft, you aim to do it again, by delivering a hard-hitting sequel packed with new features.

Game Theory tangoed with producer Nino Sapina to chat about what fans of the first game can expect in this follow-up. So, without further ado, the following are five things you didn’t know about Just Dance 2.

Step it up: One of the Just Dance 2 choreographies was created by the 2010 Worldwide Hip Hop Champions, Les Twins.

All work and all play: The Just Dance 2 team had to choose among 564 songs and artists before selecting the final game track list of 45 songs.

Are you ready to rumble?: Just Dance 2 will feature a “Dance Off” mode that allows up to eight players to battle it out in a true dance off.

Bonus babe: The Just Dance 2 “Talent Search” winner, Liana Veda, will be dancing – in the game – to her own choreography, in a special bonus track.

Wii love you: Two Just Dance 2 development team members fell in love while testing one of the Duo map songs. Can you guess which one?

Due out this fall, Wayne Gretzky will be the cover athlete for the video game, plus he’ll serve as a playable character and coach in one of its modes.

“Not only is Gretzky one of the greatest hockey players of all time, but his name is synonymous with quality hockey and community — so we thought he’d be perfect for the game,” says Burnaby, B.C.-based producer Joe Nickolls, in a recent telephone interview. “Plus, many know of Gretzky’s history, as he worked his way up from Pee Wee to the NHL, and you can mirror this rise to stardom in our game,” Nickolls adds.

Along with a quick pick-up game — as or against your favourite NHL team — a lengthy career mode has you start playing Pee Wee, 3-on-3, on a backyard rink, progressing through the Bantams and CHL leagues, and eventually getting drafted into the NHL.

While the game doesn’t offer an online mode, players can update their rosters with a free download. And up to four players can compete in front of the same TV.

Motion-sensing is the name of the game in NHL Slapshot, which will ship with a 21-inch hockey stick peripheral the player snaps together, and houses the Wii Remote controller. With it, players can shoot, pass and stick handle in front of their televisions as if they were on the ice.

“This is hockey, so wiggling a remote around just won’t cut it,” says Nickolls. “With our stick, the game really feels right — when you shoot you’re doing a shooting motion, and when you check, it just feels natural — so I think skeptics will realize it’s not a gimmick when they get their hands on it.”

NHL Slapshot for Nintendo Wii will launch September 7, the same day as EA Sports’ NHL 11 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Slated for a February 2011 launch, Guerrilla Games’ intense action game once again has you facing off against the relentless Helghast army — and scrambling to protect the human race in the process — albeit now in new war-torn environments, against more powerful enemies and with a host of deadly weapons and military vehicles at your disposal.

Along with the cinematic single-player campaign, gamers can expect a number of online multiplayer modes (though we don’t have any details yet), and support for 3D-enabled televisions and the PlayStation Move motion-sensing controller.

The game takes place on the planet Helghan, with much bigger set pieces — including alien jungles in the south of Helghan and arctic wastelands to the north — and more destructible environments for Hollywood-like eye-candy.

Guerrilla Games says levels are up to 10 times the size of those fought in Killzone 2, allowing for more vehicle gameplay. In fact, in the snowy fourth level of the solo campaign, where the player begins by firing from a mounted turret in an attack helicopter, the first three minutes of the level is the equivalent of an entire level from Killzone 2.

Speaking of the last game, the story continues from the end of Killzone 2, when the evil Emperor Visari is dead at the feet of Sev and Rico, but a new and more vicious Helghan uprising takes place in the wake of Visari’s death — and a renewed vow to take on the entire universe.

Fire up your jetpack for visceral 3D shootouts in Killzone 3, coming to PS3 in 2011.

You return as Sev, an ISA (Interplanetary Strategic Alliance) soldier who puts the new weapons and moves to good use, including a Wasp missile launcher (perfect for taking down jetpack-donning Helghast) and new melee system for up-close-and-personal attacks, respectively. You can also slide into cover behind objects for some intense “stop and pop” moments, too.

Guerrilla Games says one of your objectives in the single-player game is to find a way “to get the hell off of Helghast” — with a little more prodding it’s revealed players will end up in space at the finale of the game. Sweet.

Graphics look much better this time around, too, including water that looks absolutely incredible, enormous explosions, and of course, the aforementioned support for stereoscopic 3D glasses, which adds considerable depth to the game — including looking down the barrel of your guns and enemies that appear to jump forward out from behind walls and doors.

While the coming year will feature many first-person sci-fi shooters, Killzone 3 looks to be one of the more promising ones to watch for.

Available November 1, this Xbox 360 exclusive from UK’s Lionhead Studios once again returns gamers to Albion — but five decades since the end of Fable II — as the kingdom has matured into the industrial age, “borrowing a bit from the Napoleonic and Victorian periods,” says a Lionhead rep. Your older brother Logan is King, but you soon discover he’s a bit of a tyrant, so you decide to leave the comfort and protection of the castle to start a rebellion against him. If you gain enough followers you could overthrow him and become ruler of Albion — but would you rule any differently? As with past games in this series, your decisions and actions have consequences. More on this in a moment.

From our recent hands-on time with the game at industry convention E3, it’s clear Fable III is more action-oriented than previous games, as the pace has been picked up, there’s more gun combat and the magic system has been overhauled. With the latter, it’s now easier to switch between spells during fights thanks to a “gauntlet” system that lets you use (or combine) spells, up to five levels, to create unique and powerful attacks — if you’ve levelled up enough to use them, that is. We witnessed some impressive fireball effects in one battle against three bandits.

As with the last game, Fable III is played from a third-person perspective and your protagonist’s appearance will change depending on how you play. For example, if you choose to swing around a giant hammer you’ll see your hero morph into a beefy fighter, as demonstrated by a Lionhead developer. If your character is evil and you rely heavily on sword play, your bladed weapon might spawn spikes and drip red blood. As discussed back at the X10 event in San Francisco earlier this year, you can also trade weapons with other players online, if desired.

Adventure, role-playing and melee combat combine to make Fable III spellbinding.

The new 3D map is greatly improved over Fable II‘s lousy map system. You can even zoom in to see people walking about, view the quests they have for you and even accept them right from the map itself. Or read up on the towns and travel quickly between spots by selecting where you want to fast-track to.

As you travel throughout Albion, taking on main quests and optional ones, you’ll slowly amass a following to help you overthrow the king. It might only be a few at a time in some cases — such as chatting with some unhappy residents in a tavern or after successfully completing missions for a particular individual — but later on it could be entire cities that join your fight, says Lionhead. While Fable III is a more action-oriented RPG, dialogue is said to still play a critical role throughout the game, and one that is meant to evoke emotion.

While we didn’t see this part at E3, the second half of the game is how you perform as Albion’s leader. Do you rule with an iron fist or a gentler hand? Both ways, or somewhere in the middle, will directly affect Albion and its people.

We also didn’t see Fable III‘s co-op play at E3, but it’s supposed to be much better than the over-promised but under-delivered co-op mode in Fable II. You’ll be able to bring a friend’s hero and their dog into your game (or vice-versa). Fight together, if desired, or become business partners or lovers (and have kids, if they’re of the opposite sex), says Lionhead.

From what we’ve seen of this ambitious adventure, Fable III looks like it’ll deliver the goods for both fans of the franchise and newcomers alike. Stay tuned to Game Theory for more information on its development over the coming months.

Virgin Gaming was unveiled at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, with billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson on hand to announce $1 million dollars in cash and prizes for tournaments over the next 12 months.

Competitive console gamers can sign up for a free account at the website, but only those age 18 and over could enter cash challenges — up to $1,000 per game — in 39 out of the 50 states that allow for games of skill (as opposed to chance, which are outlawed). More than a dozen Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video games are supported at this time, including Microsoft Game Studios’ Halo 3, Sony Computer Entertainment America’s ModNation Racers and EA Sports’ Madden NFL 10.

“The idea of being able to play competitively with consoles over the Internet, against people with the same skill level, is incredibly attractive,” said Branson, in a sit-down interview at L.A’s trendy Skybar.

Gamers can also play for free, which also makes them eligible for “spectacular prizes over time,” assures Branson: “Virgin obviously has the ability to offer places like Necker Island [Branson's own private island], submarines and spacecraft.” Yes, he said spacecraft.

Those who accept a wager to play a game – such as $10 to the winner of FIFA Soccer 10 – will find their account credited with the winnings following the match. An automated verification system ensures the correct results based on data provided by the online game, tied to the player’s Gamertag (Xbox Live name) or PSN ID (for PlayStation Network). Players can assess would-be challengers through a skill rating system based on actual wins, as well as reputation feedback.

Funds can be deposited into one’s account via credit card, debit checking cards or through PayPal. For all cash challenges, Virgin Gaming takes a 12 percent game management fee from the total winnings.

Virgin Gaming is a rebranding of sorts for WorldGaming.com, a matchmaking service that has overseen more than 80,000 cash matches since it launched in May of 2009. The site was conceived in 2006 by roommates Zack Zeldin and William Levy (now 26 and 27 years of age, respectively), after finding it laborious to drive around their Florida college campus in search of multiplayer gaming tournaments.

However, it yet remains to be seen if the service will succeed. As Game Theory host Scott Steinberg points out in recent CNN article Branson to Offer $1 million in Online Gaming Prizes, this isn’t Virgin’s first foray into the video game field, competition in the space is high, and it’s a market niche that’s been addressed several times before – always unsuccessfully. (The jury remains out on whether or not there’s even sizable interest amongst players in this kind of reward-based tournament service, or how large the potential audience may be.) Wedbush Morgan analyst has also voiced his skepticism as to whether or not the mass market is ready to accept skill-based competitive game wagering, especially in a down economy.

Only time will tell, but for now, it’s definitely a roll of the (virtual) dice.

Aurifi ($1.99; aurifi.com) from UK’s Punk Pie is billed as the first ever audio-only game, allowing players to interact with the content by moving the device around according to the audible instructions, music and sound effects. The iPhone and iPod touch’s integrated accelerometer detects how it’s held by the user, plus players must touch and shake the screen, too.

Game Theory was intrigued by the concept, plus we also thought this could be interesting for those who are seeing impaired, and so we downloaded Aurifi to give it a spin.

First, a pleasant female voice with a British accent tells you to put on your headphones in the correct ears, as it’s important to the gameplay. Then, after starting the game, the woman says to tilt the device left to start a new game or right to resume a previously played one. Tilt left for save slot 1 or right for save slot 2. You’ll now hear “I found a place for us to play,” and so the game begins.

The first exercise — a tutorial, if you will — is to tilt in one of four directions until the pitch of the louder tone matches the one in the background. You’ll also be instructed to tap the screen in rhythm with the beat, touch corners for high and low pitches and shake the iPhone or iPod touch to hear other percussion sounds.

At any time, you can press and hold the center of the screen to pause or resume play.

Once you get the basics down, a number of sound-based micro-games await you. All of them guide you through various soundscapes called “sonic environments,” totaling hundreds of different combinations, says Punk Pie. In one example, you’re asked to tilt the device around to “place” the tone in a particular spot; the music is layered in a way that it provides a groovy soundtrack customized to your experience.

Some of the games took a bit of trial and error until the hostess was pleased with your performance (and once you get the hang of it, she bows out altogether) – therefore, be aware of a slight learning curve. Another issue is the slight delay in the sound heard after tapping the screen, so you’ll need to touch, tap or shake a little early in order to be in time with the music.

If you want a taste of the game, check out this online video:

Each of the Big Three unveiled new hardware, games and services to the crowd of roughly 45,000 industry attendees who crammed into the Los Angeles Convention Center and surrounding venues to catch a glimpse at tomorrow’s trends today. For those who missed the event, here’s a recap of its highlights based on the major news conferences held by Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, which point to where each manufacturer will be focusing its strategic efforts throughout 2010 and 2011:

Microsoft

Microsoft’s conference was dominated by its controller-free device, dubbed Kinect, a horizontal bar-shaped peripheral for its Xbox 360 that is packed with cameras, 3-D depth sensors and a “multi-array” microphone.

This technology lets you be the controller, as it can monitor your movements, your face and your voice in front of the television, hands-free.

For example, grab an imaginary steering wheel and race around a winding track—while also peeking around corners to assess how much drifting is required. Or reach out toward the screen to stroke the fur of a baby tiger and then hide behind your sofa to play hide-and-seek with the playful cub. Or test your skill at a dancing game that analyzes your moves.

Kinect will also let you interact with other digital content on the Xbox 360, such as waving your hand left and right to scroll through a digital movie catalog (think Tom Cruise in Minority Report) or use your voice to start, pause or stop a film or song. Place a video call [casual videoconferencing is possible on your TV using the device -Ed.] with a family member in, say, another city and you can also start a film to watch together afterward.

Due out Nov. 4, Kinect will work with all Xbox 360 consoles, says Microsoft, and will retail for $149.

Microsoft also delivered live demos of its next round of first-person shooters (ones that require a controller) such as Gears of War 3, Halo: Reach and Activision’s intense Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Also unveiled was a new slimmed-down model of the Xbox 360, with more memory and built-in Wi-Fi, now available for $299.99

1. LEGO Harry Potter is the largest game ever in the LEGO series in terms of actual real estate. The game is composed of well over 400 level segments.

2. LEGO Harry Potter has the most cut-scenes compared to any previous LEGO game. If you add up all the cut-scenes in the game the total running time would be 1 hour, 22 minutes and 39 seconds.

3. The largest LEGO model in the game is the Basilisk Snake which is made up of 783 individual LEGO bricks, of which 167 make up its head. The second largest is Aragog the spider, with 566 individual LEGO bricks – each of his eight legs contain 19 LEGO bricks, his main body contains 208 and the rest make up his head and not to mention the pincers! Travellers Tales also recreated their own version of the Hogwarts Express especially for the game which was the third largest model with 534 LEGO bricks.

4. The character customizer which is situated in Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions in Diagon Alley has more than 1 trillion possible customizable combinations.

5. The Nintendo DS version is the only version to have Peeves the Poltergeist (who appears in the books, but was cut from the films) as a playable character.

Such is always the case at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, the world’s biggest video game tradeshow, which takes place in Los Angeles each June.

This year, more than 45,000 attendees from more than 90 countries packed into the Los Angeles Convention Center to lay their hands on video games and accessories scheduled to debut over the next year or two.

There’s a lot to see and play, and only three days in which to do it, but now that the thumb swelling has subsided, the following are a few highlights from this year’s show.

Best Shooter/FPS: Bulletstorm by People Can Fly/Epic Games/Electronic Arts

This over-the-top sci-fi blaster features enormous weapons, a variety of combat moves and a “skill shot” system that rewards you for destroying enemies in creative ways. You can use points awarded for these ridiculous alien kills to buy more weapons and other upgrades from the planet’s “drop shop” depots. Great fun, but for mature players only. The first-person shooter will debut by February for the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Windows PCs.

Runners-up: id Software/Electronic Arts’ Rage, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, Sony’s Killzone 3 and Microsoft Game Studios’ Gears of War 3 and Halo: Reach.

Best Action/Adventure: Epic Mickey by Disney Interactive Studios

Designed by industry veteran Warren Spector, this Nintendo Wii exclusive stars Mickey Mouse in his biggest and most ambitious adventure to date. Use paint and paint thinner to add or remove parts of the world, but be aware that both actions come with consequences. Played primarily from a third-person perspective, this action-heavy story also borrows elements from role-playing games and platform-hoppers. When the game debuts in December, keep an eye out for references to more than 80 years of Disney characters, stories and theme park rides.

Runners-up: Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, EA’s Dead Space 2, Sony’s Infamous 2, Capcom’s Dead Rising 2 and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Best Racing Game: Gran Turismo 5 by Sony Computer Entertainment America

Play this eagerly anticipated driving game for just five minutes and one thing will be perfectly clear—it was well worth the wait. Slated for a November launch, the oft-delayed racing simulation for the PS3 features more than 1,000 authentically modeled vehicles, all rendered in high-definition and with accurate physics. Those with a 3-D TV can play the game with an extra layer of immersion. Tight handling, multiple game modes and myriad track options all had driving fans drooling at the wheel.

Runner-up: EA’s Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Best Role-Playing Game: Star Wars: The Old Republic by LucasArts/BioWare

It’s good to see game play that lives up to awesome teaser trailers, which is the case with Star Wars: The Old Republic. This upcoming massively multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing game for Windows lets you play a variety of races and classes—including Jedis and Siths—each of which can be customized in many ways. And you get your own spacecraft, too. The deep, story-driven adventure takes you to umpteen planets to fight, solve puzzles and team up with other players for major objectives. Expect a spring release for this ambitious game.

Runners-up: Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout: New Vegas, Eidos’ Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Microsoft Game Studios’ Fable III.

Best Music Game: Dance Central by Harmonix/MTV Games

Introducing the next big thing from the makers of Guitar Hero: Dancing. Taking advantage of the upcoming Microsoft Kinect motion-sensing peripheral for the Xbox 360, Dance Central challenges you to dance in front of the television in order to master more than 600 moves and nearly 100 routines. The Kinect monitors your body’s movements in real time and shows how you compare to the on-screen dancers. Great music, multiplayer modes and the ability to download extra tracks all measure up to a hot November for music fans.

Runners-up: MTV Games’ Rock Band 3 and Ubisoft’s Child of Eden.

Best Hardware: Tie – Nintendo 3DS and Microsoft Kinect

Both Microsoft and Nintendo managed to impress with their new hardware—Kinect for the Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s 3DS—not just because the technology is innovative, but because it works, has a lot of software support and offers fresh game play experiences. Due out November 4, the Kinect is Microsoft’s accessory for the Xbox 360 that lets you interact with games without a controller. The plug-in peripheral has multiple cameras, 3-D depth sensors and a microphone. Available by March, the Nintendo 3DS is the company’s first portable gaming system that lets you see games and other content, such as movies, in 3-D—without 3-D glasses. And it looks amazing.

Honorable mentions: EA Sports’ NBA Jam—Best Sports Game, 2K Games’ Civilization V—Best Strategy Game and Valve Software’s Portal 2—Best Puzzle Game.