The title follows one man during a 1950s alien invasion in London and is intended to mirror the timeline of the 1953 film of the same name. Stewart is clearly a longtime fan of the film.

“As a young boy, I remember watching the The War of the Worlds so many times I was quoting the lines,” said Stewart. “The alien invasion both terrified and fascinated me and the movie has stuck with me since then. Now, being part of this project will provide a new way for gamers around the world to experience a fresh new take on a classic.”

Now, in the latest Portal 2 gameplay video, we get introduced all over again to the little personality sphere, this time voiced by Stephen Merchant, co-producer of (and actor in) several Ricky Gervais projects. Basically, all you need to know is that he’s a funny Brit.

We get more out of Wheatley now than we did the last time, meaning we get to see a few chunks of a level or two, including a look at the manufacturing department’s turret-making process.

Wheatley is as funny as he ever was to me – do you feel the same way?

For those who don’t know Yuu Asakawa, she has been a voice actress in a myriad of Anime shows (70+ according to Anime Expo) including Priss in “Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040“, Sakaki in “Azumanga Daioh” and Motoko in “Love Hina“. This talented Japanese lady has also used her vocal abilities to voice Lebreau in Final Fantasy XIII and Shalua in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, as well as singing the theme songs for Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 and the Love Hina Christmas Special!

If you’d like to meet Yuu Asakawa, you can see her at autograph sessions, meet-and-greets and attendee panels during Anime Expo. Anime Expo runs from July 1st to July 4th at the Los Angeles Convention Center. If you’d like to know ticket prices, visit the Anime Expo site for the latest info. You can also find them on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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Based on the original story by Ryohgo Narita, “Baccano!” brings us a different look at New York in the early to mid 1930′s. Mafia turf wars, robbery, killing sprees and other events are what can be found throughout at least the first 4 episodes (as that is how many are contained on Volume 1). In graphic detail by the way.

It’s hard to choose one particular character in this as there are so many of them, and I have a feeling that there are many still to come in later episodes. For now, here are a few characters (and their voice actors) that we meet in this volume: the ditzy robber duo Isaac (J Michael Tatum) and Miria (Caitlin Glass), mafia identities Luck Gandor (Jason Liebrecht) and Firo Prochainezo (Todd Haberkorn), psychopathic killer Ladd Russo (Bryan Massey) and his quiet girlfriend Lua Klein (Carrie Savage)… This list goes on and continues to grow with each episode, and I’m impressed with how many familiar voice actors were involved with this project.

I’m not as impressed with the series itself however. While it was interesting at times, I found it very confusing as to what was going on and who certain characters were. The focus didn’t stay long enough on certain characters or situations to really understand what had happened or was going to happen in some instances. Hopefully with the next volume the premise will become clearer.

All I can gather from the series so far (apart from the mafia wars, killing and robbery) is that the train named “The Flying Pussyfoot” that some of these characters are on is a major scene in the story, as well as the fact that some of these characters become immortal, but how this happened is not yet known. It does have something to do with a formula though, of that I am sure. And of course there’s some nasty creature coming after the passengers on the train.

Special Features? You got it!:

• Episode 4 Commentary with Tyler Walker (Line Producer & Director), Caitlin Glass (Miria), J Michael Tatum (Isaac) and Bryan Massey (Ladd).
• Textless versions of the opening theme (Gun’s & Roses) and closing theme (Calling).
• Trailers for other Madman anime releases

This sort of anime is not generally my cup of tea, and with the amount of characters and continual back and forth with the storylines, it’s easy to see why some might get frustrated with it and scratch it off their list. However, if you find the time period as well as the events that occur interesting, you are likely to enjoy this series.

Review product was provided by Madman Entertainment, and does not affect the outcome of this review.

Telltale is giving fans the power to put their words into the mouths of pirates in an upcoming episode. The Tales of Monkey Island dialogue contest starts today.

I know some of you want to write for video games, so to enter, send Telltale a one-liner that explains how Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate, wronged you in some way. The funniest and most imaginative entries will be submitted for consideration and recorded by Tales of Monkey Island voice talent to be included in an upcoming episode.

Contest winners will also appear in the game credits and could win other prizes. The contest runs from today through August 10, 2009. Find all the details on the contest here.