Much like the real Vegas, you go into this Games Convention 2008 trailer thinking that you're going to come out a winner, but, when all is said and done, you're none the richer for it. It's more or less a sweep through the game's copyright-skirting lineup of faux casinos with a hint of driving and a logo to assure viewers that, yes, This is Vegas.

Though the game / "lifestyle sim" has been delayed until next year, Midway nevertheless had it on display at E3 so we could proclaim: This is our Hands-on with This is Vegas. Two new screens head up the gallery below. Meanwhile, we anxiously await the inevitable sequels: This is Lodi, This is Jasper, and This is Hoboken.

Our BFFs at Joystiq are hard at work playing through upcoming games so they can drop expert knowledge into your waiting arms.

Like our own Fallout 3 and Banjo Kazooie: Creation Tools hands-on features, expect an in depth report sprinkled with some wacky humor. Here is a recap of all the features Joystiq has been working on. Expect more expert analysis as E3 continues throughout the week and beyond.

Joystiq Hands-on

• Left-4-Dead
• Gears of War 2 (Multiplayer)

Joystiq Eyes-on

• Bayonetta

Joystiq Impressions

• This Is Vegas
• The Wheelman

We'll make a promise to you: not once in this preview will we reference the "Things that occur in Vegas" advertising slogan that seems to pop up every time someone mentions the mecca of mischievousness in the middle of Nevada. Except for that one time. No more.

This is Vegas is a game dreamed up by an assistant. Senior Associate Producer Trevor Ellington told us the real story behind the Sin City-based open-world humor game: an executive assistant at Midway came up with the idea of a game that replicated all of the wild fun to be had in Vegas, and thus was born TiV. During the demo we saw here at E3, the game presented four various scenarios: Fight, Party, Game, Drive, but by the time the game is released in 2009, they'll all be melded into what's supposed to be a sandbox of a good time.

In an official press release, Midway listed the titles that will make an appearance at E3. The PS3 titles are all multi-platform, but are also multi-genre. They'll be showing off Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Wheelman, TNA iMPACT!, Blitz The League 2, and This is Vegas -- most are due out this Fall, but This is Vegas has been pushed into 2009.

As Midway CEO Matthew Booty put it, "these games truly reflect our product strategy to develop top quality titles in a wide range of genres that appeal to all segments of the market." This is a fair statement: we've got a fantasy fighting game, an intense driving/action title, wrestling, football, and a sandbox-style simulation game. It's a wide spread, so we'll see if they get any thumbs up at E3 next week.

Not saying we were taking bets on this but, surprising exactly no one, Midway's "lifestyle action experience" This is Vegas has been delayed until 2009 for all three platforms in development. Midway tells GameSpot that developer Surreal Software – the team behind The Suffering games – is being "given the development time needed in order to make This is Vegas a triple-A videogame and a must-have for all PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC owners." The game will be playable at E3 in a couple weeks so we'll be sure to let you know how close it is to a "must-have" then.

Grab a gun and a car, and get ready to play in a city filled with vice. No, this isn't Grand Theft Auto. This is THIS IS VEGAS -- another open world adventure, this time set in the City of Sin itself. The setting easily lends itself to video games: expect fighting, gambling, racing and the occasional shoot-out. You're going to make Vegas the "adult playground" it was always meant to be.

You'll have to make connections and raise your reputation if you want to become a somebody in this world -- and that means partying, racing and seducing women. Players will have to raise their rank with the four factions that control the city: The Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs. And if players are feeling particularly lucky, they can try to win it all by cheating the casino ... but who knows what the consequences of failure would be?

Check out our screenshots in the gallery below, and then see the trailer after the cut.

This is Vegas adds some new images (below), a new gameplay video and trailer (after the break), along with some basic information of what you'll do around sin city when the game makes its big debut this winter. We've now learned that the premise of This is Vegas is that a ruthless businessman is turning Vegas into a family-friendly tourist trap, and it's your job to make it adults-only again.

Gamers will play in the Vegas sandbox by gambling, racing, fighting and partying their way to the top. They'll also have to raise their rank with the four factions that control the city: The Hearts, Diamonds, Spades and Clubs. As they build credibility with these factions, players will gain more money, women and power. Not everything has to be done honestly though, gamers can cheat by marking and counting cards, or just robbing the casino. We strongly recommend nobody every try to do that in real life.

If you've been curious as to what sort of gameplay "an open world, lifestyle action experience" such as This is Vegas would entail, you'd best head past the break and view the game's debut trailer. Judging by the brief clip, we're dealing with a role-playing game -- one where you've thrown all your ability points into douchebaggery, hooliganism and cartoonish uppercutting. Also, you'll be playing as Attack of the Show's Kevin Pereira.

Not that you need any more incentive to visit virtual Vegas, but we think one Gametrailers user summed it up better than anybody in Midway's marketing department ever could: "its the same company that maded the suffering its surreal i want this game specialy because there is hot girls."

If the images released a few days ago weren't enough to whet your appetite for the upcoming action title This Is Vegas, then try this debut trailer on for size. The footage looks early but the Vegas hook is sure to draw people in, especially those who think they can fool Gil Grissom.

The open world action is slated to hit the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this winter from Midway's internal studio Surreal Software, makers of The Suffering and Drakan: The Ancients' Gates. By the way, no one fools Gil Grissom.

Ah, reality. It can get pretty boring sometimes. Especially if you live in a place like Tulsa, Oklahoma (sorry Richard). Thankfully Midway knows your life is as boring as clicking refresh on X3F all day and announced This is Vegas. Combining Grand Theft Auto, Second Life and, well, Vegas, This is Vegas allows players to experience the wild desert wonderland and find out what people mean when they say "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." According to the official site, This is Vegas puts players in the role of a business man visiting the strip who will have to rise to the top and create a vast empire by reigniting the adult playground, drive the fastest cars and prove your power with weapons or via fisticuffs. The open world playground is being developed by the in house Midway team at Surreal Software and is slated for a Winter 2008 release on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Also, always double-down on 11.

[Via Joystiq]

Exacting revenge for all those times we said, "This is mediocre," publisher Midway has announced "This is Vegas," shortly before kicking us into a mysterious pit acting as little more than a receptacle for cynical gamers and woefully outdated movie references. So what, pray tell, is this ... This is Vegas?

According to the press release, it's "an open world, lifestyle action experience, where players will live out their Vegas fantasies by fighting, gambling, driving and partying their way through the most decadent, fast-paced and wildest city in the world." Said gambling, driving and partying will occur in a world devised by Midway's internal studio, Surreal Software. The Suffering and Drakan developer is currently aiming for a Winter 2008 release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Studio head Alan Patmore says the team is "thrilled" to indulge our "wildest Vegas fantasies," though fails to specify whether that includes the one where we become an inconsiderate, alcoholic grandmother addicted to shaking hands with the one-armed bandit. There will, however, be "partying in the hottest night clubs, racing in underground circuits," playing at the tables, impromptu barroom brawls and (presumably) other exciting, lifestyle action experiences. This is Vegas, baby.