The London Movie Comic Media Expo isn't known for its gaming section, with much of its attendees preferring other forms of entertainment. But all that's gonna change this year, or improve at the very least, because apart from the support of some of today's A-list publishers, the London MCM Expo is attempting to set the World Record for "largest number of people in costume for a video game."

The dust has settled from the epic Street Fighter IV tourney between Capcom, Sony, and Microsoft. Who came out the winner? Capcom of course, hands down. It's their game :p. But the more interesting question is, who won between Sony and Microsoft?

The first downloadable pack for Codemasters' Race Driver: GRID (Xbox 360, PS3) was dated and detailed today in a press wire sent out by the company. The pack, dubbed 8 Ball, will feature eight new cars, two new online events, and an additional four achievements for the Xbox 360 version. Hit the jump for details.

We don't know about you guys but we're really looking forward to Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, especially after the developers have detailed the changes to the new game. There are enough changes to the gameplay - as the developer himself states - to credit it as a separate installment to the franchise instead of just "improving" on an old one.

Read the full article for more details on the changes in the game.

 

Okay, this may cause some alarmists to scream "Big Brother!" so before all the speculation, here are the known details - just so all you privacy advocates can relax a bit.

Google has filed a patent that reveals that they plan to compile psychological profiles of millions of gamers by covertly monitoring the way they play online games. Now you may think that this only concerns folks who play MMOs on their PCs, however, the patent apparently says that Google can also monitor people playing on any game console that hooks up to the internet, including the Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Microsoft Xbox 360.

What's even more hair-raising is that it says that information could be retrieved from previous game details saved on memory cards. To quote: "Such saved information may be thought of state information, and offers a valuable source of information to the advertisers." Yes, if you've played 350 hours of Oblivion, they'll know. Yep, the patent is that creepy; it even says:

In a car racing game, after a user crashes his Honda Civic, an announcer could be used to advertise by saying 'if he had a Hummer, he would have gotten the better of that altercation', etc... If the user has been playing for over two hours continuously, the system may display ads for Pizza Hut, Coke, coffee.

Now here's why we're asking all those privacy advocates to calm down and not cry foul. Google has said that they do not plan to roll out the technology in the near future. They say that it was just one of the patents that they wanted to file. The Guardian reports that a Google spokesman had this to say: "Google registers different patents irrespective of whether we actually intend to use them."

So no, Big Brother, er, I mean, Google isn't watching you. Not yet. *insert cheesy B-movie sci-fi music* It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.

The Art Morrison Enterprises (AME) 1960 Chevrolet Corvette. This sleek, shiny and classic vette was forever "immortalized" into Gran Turismo history when Art Morrison completed a 3,400-hour conversion of the all-American car into digital perfection.

This car is the same model that received the Best in Show Award at Sony's 4th annual Grand Turismo Awards ceremony, last year. But before the ceremony and the digital conversion process, this car was nothing but an empty bucket.

AME changed all that when they began restoration in the first 1000 hours of the whole process. The restoration was acceptably completed before SEMA and the Gran Turismo Awards, beating five other cars in the show.

Joining past winners including an HPA Volkswagen R32, a 1962 Buick Special and a 2004 Honda S2000, the corvette will become "the hottest car for [Sony's] Gran Turismo property on a PlayStation platform."

The conversion process consisted of a thin read beam of light shooting across the corvette's surfaces. Then digital information was relayed through cable to reproduce the data into a tangible wireframe model on the computer screen. Every part of it became increasingly detailed with every pass of the scan: oil pans, wire treads, and even the fasteners for the horns... everything.

Gran Turismo HD will be sporting the car in all it's detailed 3D glory. Woot! Watching this car drift around the track in slow-mo is going to be a treat! Now only if you can super-impose yourself into the screen as the driver. Wind in your face, gorgeous gal in the passenger seat, long, wide open roads...

(Ahem) Back to reality now. If you haven't downloaded Gran Turismo HD concept yet, you should! It's the only way you'll be able to see just how much detail is put into the digitizing of cars to the virtual world. On second thought, it's probably the only way you'll get the game.

Formula One 2006 (otherwise known in Japan as Formula One Championship Edition)guess it's the title they're working with for now) rides into TGS with its own gameplay-replay trailer (which we found in IGN) and a playable demo for those lucky enough to be in this gaming paradise. The trailer takes us through an F1 race in Honda's backyard track and home of Japanese F1, Suzuka Circuit. (That stretch of road should be familiar enough to Gran Turismo fans everywhere).

Impressive weather effects come in the middle of the trailer as the cars ride through a rainstorm. (Hypothetical Dialogue: Hey, get out of my way, I can't see through the spray you're kicking up!) Then impressive collision effects as the cars ride through each other! (Hey, get out of my way, I can't see through the car parts you're throwing at me!).

We were hoping to see the PS3-PSP connectivity this game is supposed to have, like we told you earlier in the year. Sigh. We'll have to wait for first impressions to come in from the TGS floor as the show continues.

Download: [Formula One Championship Edition TGS Trailer]

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Update:TGS really brings more and more stuff about games that we all are excited about. In addition to the above trailer, here are three new screens from Formula One 2006. Enjoy!