We caught up with Mark Skaggs, Senior Vice President of Product Development at Zynga, and the guy behind successful social games like Farmville and Cityville. Skaggs is also known for creating Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2, Command and Conquer: Generals and Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth. Here’s the exclusive interview: Q) What are your general thoughts and perception of the gaming industry in India?A) It’s my first trip and I’m not an expert. Everyone knows about India’s strengths in technology, but questions like can India create entertainment for the global market remain. There are two parts to it: does India have the sensibilities and talent to do it? Having visited the Zynga office here and looking at all the creative...

If you want to get your hands on the newest console and computer games months before they are released, there are few places better than E3. Held each summer in Los Angeles, California, the Electronics Entertainment Expo is quite a spectacle of an event where video game designers and publishers show off their upcoming software to members of the media and retailers. It isn’t open to the public so only qualified industry professionals will be there, but thanks to news leaks and announcements we already have a good idea what to expect.While many are focusing on console gaming this year, especially with Nintendo planning to show off their newest hardware (codenamed Project Café), there will be several major new PC titles on display. Perhaps the biggest and most closely...

Two years ago, if we had said in public that we had actually played Duke Nukem Forever, we probably would have been hit with furious eye-rolling, gales of corrosive laughter, a punch in the face—or most likely all three. An ongoing joke in the gaming industry for over a decade now, the game was announced in 1997 and has been subjected to one of the most painful and prolonged development cycles of any piece of entertainment anywhere, ever. (It's taken first place five times in Wired's annual Vaporware Awards, and even earned a coveted Lifetime Achievement honor.)But now two things have happened that, even as late as last year, we would never have expected: Duke Nukem Forever has been granted a release date of May 3, and... we've actually played it.Keep your guffaws and fists...