James Cameron Unveils First Look at AVATAR! (The Video Game)

E3 is unveiling a whole lot of exciting video games this week.  Yesterday, Microsoft and Ubisoft showed off their big upcoming games and while there was a lot to get jazzed about (“Brutal Legend”, “The Beatles: Rock Band”, “Left 4 Dead 2″) and some that were less-than-impressive (“Project Natal”, “Assassins Creed II”), there was probably no bigger surprise than James Cameron announcing “Avatar: The Videogame”.  Now usually, video games based on movies are cheap cash-ins; an attempt to part parents from their money as quickly as possible in an attempt to win their child’s love for a few hours.  In my mind, there are only three video games that surpass the movies their based on: “The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay”, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, and “Goldeneye 007″

But love him or hate him, you have to admit that James Cameron doesn’t do anything half-assed.  Even though he didn’t reveal anything specifically about his upcoming film, he gave some major hints about the world with the video game has been in production for over two years and serves as a kind of prequel to his magnum opus.  According to Joystiq, the story takes place in 22nd century, with most of the action taking place on an earth-like planet, Pandora.

Jake Sully is the main character, who explores Pandora in an Avatar body. It allows him movement from a distance, even though he’s really paralyzed. As he goes deeper into the Navi culture, “he ultimately has to choose sides” in a battle. Oh, which is the “mother of all battles,” adds Cameron.  Apparently this battle gave birth to little battles which had tiny little battles of their own in their big battle family.

This story and the screens below are probably the best idea we’ve received about the film thus far.  It’s six months until “Avatar” is scheduled to hit screens.  When will get a straight-on look at it instead of from an angle?

Check out stills from the game after the jump.  Oh wait–did I mention the game is in stereoscopic 3D?  Yeah, that should be interesting.