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Information About Video Games
Video Game News - May 2007
Information About Video Games
May 31, 2007
Leisure Suit Larry Returns
I remember Leisure Suit Larry from way back in the day. I had Land of the Lounge Lizards when I was just a little kid sitting at my IBM computer that was the size of a small car. Well, maybe not that big but you get the point. Anyway, Larry is coming back, but this time in mobile form. Vivendi announced that instead of making a new one, they will be bringing back the seventh in the series, Love For Sail. I think I may download this one.
New Colors Announced for Nintendo DS
Too bad it's only for Japan, but that doesn't mean the fever won't spread. It doesn't mean it will either though. Dammit. Anyway, Nintendo has announced that the they will be releasing two more colors for the extremely popular handheld system. They already have the colors Crystal White, Enamel Navy, Noble Pink, Ice Blue, and Jet Black. Now, in addition to these colors, they will have the option to choose from Gloss Silver and Metallic Rose. These new DS's will be available on June 23rd.
Nintendo Having Incredible Online Success
Since Nintendo launched its wi-fi service for the Nintendo DS in November '05, they have had more than 5 million unique users. On top of that, over 200 million gaming sessions have taken place by DS owners around the world. Having sold somewhere around 16,000 Nintendo DS systems per day, these accomplishments are no surprise.
Resistance Update Finally Coming
If you have been waiting for the Resistance: Fall of Man content updates, your wait is finally over, hopefully. Two new maps are scheduled to be released sometime this week in the US. Other than the two maps, Westmorland and Camborne, we will also get a nice patch. Included in the patch is an enhanced mute menu in multiplayer, time penalties on players who repeatedly leave unfinished ranked games, and team play upgrades. The teamplay upgrades will include more skins and more distinguishable teammate names.
Hackers Get Around Banned Xboxs
If you have a banned Xbox, you can download this firmware to your machine. Who knows how long it will take for Microsoft to stop this from working though. YOu should always be careful when downloading something like this to your machine but if you already have a modded Xbox I'm sure you are aware of the dangers.
May 30, 2007
Final Fallout Teaser Image Released
If you have been checking on the Fallout teaser website every once in a while, you should have seen a few nice concept art images. If you visit the site right now, you can see the final image before the countdown is over. Six more days til the trailer!
Dirty Dancing Making a Come Back
It's not likely that it will make a come back, but sadly, it's coming back. Lionsgate and Codemasters have teamed to create an action-puzzler video game based off of the movie Dirty Dancing. This movie was very popular in the 80's, so why not bring it back 20 years later? I'm sure it will do great and sell millions of copies. Didn't they try something like this with Top Gun? How did that one work out again? You can expect to see the game on the PC towards the end of this year. Check out the website to learn more.
Gold Farmers Beware
Blizzard seems to have brought in the legal team in the fight against "Gold Farmers" over the weekend. Gold farming is the act of earning and saving up massive amounts of gold or in game currency and selling it to other players of the game online through sites like eBay for real cash. Well, if you play games like World of Warcraft, then you have probably been solicited by some of these gold farming companies. Blizzard aims to stop this. They have filed a federal lawsuit against the operators of Peons4hire and they must cease all in-game spamming efforts.
May 29, 2007
Uwe Boll Ruins Everything
And it looks like everyone knows it too. Uwe Boll has ruined several game to movie adaptations, such as House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, and Bloodrayne and the next on his list is Far Cry. He has gone so far as to put up a listing on Ebay for an acting role in the film. If you want to act in this film, you have to pay about $3,360 and you have to pay all hotel and travel expenses. So far nobody has bid on this crappy job. The listing is in German so you can translate it if you want using Google Translate.
MGS 4 to be on the 360
Looks like Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will not be a Playstation 3 exclusive anymore. It's been confirmed that it will be released on the Xbox 360 next year and will contain exclusive content and gameplay that won't be in the PS3 version. Konami has also been in talks with Nintendo about bringing the game to the Wii.
Virtual Console Games of the Week
Several good games are out on the Virtual Console for the Wii this week. First off, you get Kid Chameleon (Sege Genesis, 800 Wii points), a platform game where you play as the main character who uses masks to change into different characters in order to use various abilities. Then you get J.J. & JEFF (TurboGrafx16, 600 Wii points), which is an action game that involves two detectives, J.J. and JEFF, who take on a case and try to outwit and sabotage each other along the way. Lastly, there is Actraiser (SNES, 800 Wii points). This was an extremely popular action and simulation game, in which the player is a diety who has been dethroned and must regain control of his empire and dethrown the Evil One.
May 25, 2007
Final Fantasy XIII Not Coming This Year
The president of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada told a press conference that Final Fantasy XIII would not ship during the their current fiscal year, according to several online reports. Square Enix USA reps have claimed that they were unaware of the comments made by Wada so this news is not official or confirmed.
PS3's Playstation Network Update
Joust. Online Multiplayer. $4.99. Oh and a video of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, a video of Sony's arcade port of Championship Racing, and five trailers for MLB 07: The Show. Wow. That update sucks.
Colin McRae: Dirt Demo on XBL and PC
Codemasters has launched a playable demo for the Xbox Live Marketplace and it available for download as we speak. There is also a PC version available with multiplayer mode that you can download here. Get your fill of the demo and decide if you want to buy it when the full version comes out on June 15th.
Hour of Victory Demo on XBL
Looks like Xbox Live is getting some pretty good demos. Midway has announced that Xbox Live will be receiving the World War II game, Hour of Victory next Wednesday. The demo will take place in the games North Africa level and you will be able to choose from three different characters each with their own skills and abilities.
May 24, 2007
Haze to Compete With Halo 3
Ubisoft has announced that the Playstation 3 will be the "lead platform" for the upcoming shooter, Haze from Free Radical. The game was originally supposed to be released on the PS3, Xbox 360, and the PC, but now it will be released only on the PS3 this fall. It isn't known at this time if it will be a PS3 exclusive though. It could show up on other platforms in 2008. Check out the trailer below.
CGS Announced First Six Franchise Cities
The first worldwide professional gaming league, The Championship Gaming Series, has announced it's first six franchise cities. They will be setting up its teams in the cities of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, and Charlotte. They have also named the six General Managers of each team who will recruit, draft, and manage their teams and then be responsible for day-to-day management of each franchise. For more information go to their website.
Playstation Firmware Update Version 1.80
The new firmware update is available today and it has tons of great stuff. Check the list.
- Upscaling of Playstation 1 and 2 games to full 1080p HD resolution when viewed on an HDTV compatible TV.
- DVD movies upscaled to full 1080p HD resolution when viewed on an HDTV compatible TV.
- Remote Play on the PSP across the internet, allowing you to access the PS3 anywhere in the world where a broadband internet connection is available.
- The ability to view and play media content such as images, music, and video on the PS3, that's stored on DLNA3 enabled devices (ie PC's and laptops throughout the house).
- You can print photo images stored on the PS3 hard drive or from inserted storage devices to a selection of Epson printers via a USB connection.
All I can say is, wow. Those are some awesome updates.
ABC Has Been Destroyed
ABC's Island in Second Life has been blown up. When they checked up on it on Tuesday, they found that nothing was left. Somebody had blown everything up and put logos of Nike and Puma on the left over pieces of the island. This is the third most visited commercial site in Second Life and has more than 6 million members around the world. ABC has no idea who did this but the owners of Second Life may have digital recordings of the desctruction.
The Next Guitar Hero
Today, Activision announced that the next Guitar Hero will feature new online and multi-player game modes, wireless guitars, and many top bands and songs. There will also be boss battles and online multiplayer. The game should be available this Fall.
Here is the initial list of songs:
- Paint It Black (by The Rolling Stones)
- Cherub Rock (by Smashing Pumpkins)
- Sabotage (by Beastie Boys)
- The Metal (by Tenacious D)
- My Name is Jonas (by Weezer)
- Knights of Cydonia (by Muse)
- Rock And Roll All Nite (as made famous by Kiss)
- School's Out (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
- Slow Ride (as made famous by Fog Hat)
- Cult of Personality (by Living Colour)
- Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)
"Jackass" the Videogame
Since the two Jackass films from Paramount and the MTV television series has been so successful, it was only a matter of time before they explored other forms of media. This time it's taking it's place in the world of videogames. The whole gang, including Johnny Knoxville, Bam Bargera, and Steve-O, will provide their likeness and original dialogue. The senior director of sales and marketing at Red Mile has stated that "The premise for the games is to have the player create their own 'Jackass' episodes across an array of stunts. These stunts are set up like minigames, which provides a great deal of diversity in the gameplay." The game will be available for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS beginning September 24. Hope it doesn't suck.
May 23, 2007
Warhawk Beta
If you signed up for the Warhawk Beta on the Playstation 3, you will can see if you have been accepted already. You can either visit this website or you can boot up your PlayStation 3, go to "friends," "account management," "transaction management," and "view services." A Warhawk icon will show up if you have been accepted. Check now!
Dawn of Mana for PS2 Sucks
According to a review from 1up.com anyway. From the review, it sounds pretty bad, which is extremely dissapointing because I really wanted a good Mana game to come out. You definitely should read this review before you buy Dawn of Mana, unless of course you are just so much of a hardcore Mana fan that you will buy it anyway. If you want, you can just go buy Children of Mana for the Nintendo DS, because that game is pretty good.
Some New Guitar Hero 80's Songs
Additional songs have been announced for the upcoming Guitar Hero game. It is now called Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s by the way. Anyway here is the list of the latest songs announced.
- 18 and Life (as made famous by Skid Row)
- Bathroom Wall (as made famous by Faster Pussycat)
- Lonely is the Night (as made famous by Billy Squier)
- Nothing But a Good Time (as made famous by Poison)
- Play With Me (as made famous by Extreme)
- Shaken (as made famous by Eddie Money)
- Synchronicity II (as made famous by Police)
PSP Online Store Coming Soon
Peter Dille, Sony Senior Vice President of Marketing has confirmed that a PSP online store is in the works.
"We've got a lot of people hard at work on it we look forward to rolling that plan out and that service out later this year."
Since the PSP is suppose to be a multimedia device, it's about time they started to think about this. A PSP Store would make the device much more sensical for use with music and video.
May 22, 2007
Wendy's Nintendo Wii Giveaway
Wendy's has just came out with a new dessert called the Frosy Float and are giving away 800 Wiis, 800 Wii games, and 800 Wii point cards in celebration. The Frosty Float is a regular vanilla or chocolate Frosty that contains whichever soft drink that the customer prefers. Each Frosty Float cup contains a code that you can enter on their website for a chance to win these really cool prizes. You can also enter for free on the website here on a alternate registration form. You can enter up to 5 times a day regardless of the method of entry. The promotion began yesterday May 21, 2007 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and will end at 11:59 p.m. ET, July 31, 2007.
Red Steel Soundtrack on iTunes
The score to Red Steel, composed by Tom Salta is available for download on iTunes right now. Red Steel is a first person action game for the Nintendo Wii. This is the first Ubisoft videogame soundtrack to be released digitally. A cd version will also be available on May 29th if you like to have a case and cd insert and everything, like I do.
80GB Playstation 3 Confirmed
You may remember not too long ago, the rumors of Sony releasing an 80GB PS3 in response to the Xbox Elite. Well, the rumors are now a reality, as Sony has confirmed the release of the upgraded PS3. It is scheduled for release on June 16, but only in South Korea. This system will rely on emulation software for backwards compatibility instead of the Emotion Engine chip and will be identical to the European model other than the larger hard drive. Sony has stated that the 80GB PS3 will only be available in Europe for now.
Xbox Live Needs Your Brain
To think of some cool games and ideas you want to see on their service that is. Microsoft wants feedback, ideas, and requests for the Xbox Live Arcade service. They want anything and everything you can think of too, such as game-play modes, features for the system, and even events and promotions. Learn more here.
Nintendo Summer Lineup
Nintendo has officially released their summer lineup and it looks like it won't be such a crappy summer for gaming after all. Not to say that all of the releases are that great, but there are some gems in there. Check out the games below.
Wii
- Mario Strikers Charged (July 30)
- Metroid Prime 3 Corruption (August 20)
- Battalion Wars 2 (September)
- High School Musical: Sing It! (August 14)
- Madden NFL '08 EA (August 14)
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 (August)
- Space Station Tycoon (August)
- Brunswick Pro Bowling (August)
- Dave Mirra BMX Challenge (August)
- Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection (August)
- Brothers in Arms (September)
- Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (September)
- George of the Jungle (September)
- Boogie (Fall)
Nintendo DS
- Picross DS (July 3)
- Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day (August 20)
- DK Jungle Climber (September 10)
- Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol (September 24)
- SimCity (July)
- Namco Museum DS (July)
- Drake & Josh (July)
- Glory Days 2 (July)
- Madden NFL '08 EA (August 14)
- High School Musical: Makin' the Cut! (August 14)
- Heroes of Mana (August 14)
- I SPY: Fun House (August)
- Jewel Quest Expedition (August)
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 (August)
- Worms: Open Warfare 2 (August)
- Luminous Arc (August)
- Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus (August)
- Mega Man Star Force: Leo (August)
- Mega Man Star Force: Dragon (August)
- Operation: Vietnam (August)
- Turn It Around (August)
- The Wild West (August)
- Fulllmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game (August)
- Drawn to Life (September)
- Zoey 101 (September)
- Crayola Teasure Adventures (September)
- Nancy Drew and The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park (September)
- Holly Hobbie & Friends (September)
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations (September)
- Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck (September)
- Pet Luv Spa & Resort Tycoon (September)
- Animal Genius (September)
- George of the Jungle (September)
- Jam Sessions (September)
- Professor Brainium (September)
- Indy 500 Legends (September)
Virtual Console Releases
Some pretty good games for Virtual Console this week. First off, you get Streets of Rage 2 (Sega Genesis, 800 Wii points). This is a side scroller beat 'em up with nice pretty graphics. Second, you get Blazing Lazers (TurboGrafx16, 600 Wii points), which is a vertical scrolling shooter based in outer space. The last of this weeks releases for Virtual Console is Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddys Kong Quest (SNES, 800 Wii points). This is the sequel to Donkey Kong Country and this time around you play as Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong who are working together to rescue Donkey Kong. Some great games this week.
Couple More Games For XBL
This week on Wednesday, Microsoft will be releasing Rush 'n Attack and Xevious for Xbox Live. Rush 'n Attack is a side scrolling action game. Xevious is a vertical scrolling shooter. I have to mention that I absolutely kick ass in Xevious. I loved that game. You can pick both of these up for only 400 Microsoft points ($5).
May 21, 2007
Madden NFL 08
EA has just released a trailer showing off the upcoming Madden 08 game. It looks good. Check it out.
The Next Gen Crash Bandicoot
Sierra Entertainment has announced that they will be bringing back the very popular game, Crash Bandicoot. Crash Bandicoot: Crash of the Titans is scheduled for release on the Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Nintendo DS, PSP, Game Bay Advance, and mobile phones. The series has always been pretty fun, so I think this one should be good. Crash of the Titans is scheduled for release sometime this Fall.
May 18, 2007
Heavenly Sword For The Playstation 3
This game looks awesome. I love games like this though, so you might not think so. No....you love them too. I just know it. We're so cool, aren't we?
Warhawk Blu-ray Extras and Public Beta
Warhawk for the Playstation 3 will be released for both PSN download as well as in Blu-ray format, but Sony has confirmed that the Blu-ray version will contain extras. There will be a bluetooth headset, behind-the-scenes making of the game footage, as well as other extras. There is also a public beta coming soon. You can sign up for it on their official site here.
MGS4 Will Not Be Changed For 360
According to Ryan Payton of Kojima Productions, Metal Gear Solid 4 will not be changed for the Xbox 360. That's if they decide to develop the game for the 360 at all anyway. Here is what he had to say.
"I can tell you honestly at this point, we have not changed the game in any form with the idea of 'oh, we got to do this on 360.' Put aside whether or not we're developing for 360 or not, the game is built on the PS3 hardware, as you guys have known for the past two years or so."
So that's good to hear then.
May 17, 2007
Lost Planet PC Demo Is Here
Lost Planet for the PC will be coming in less than a month so Capcom has released a single player demo to get you even more excited. You can choose between Direct X 9.0 and Direct X 10.0 versions of the demo. You better have a pretty good setup though if you want to be able to play it. Download it here.
Killzone 2 Beta
According to a post from Guerilla Games lead tester, Seb Downie on the official forums of Killzone, there will be a public beta of the game. He is quoted as saying "any game that has an online mode needs to go through a public beta to ensure it works as intended." They better have a public beta and I better get invited, because I have been waiting for this game for what feels like forever now. I loved the first Killzone and can't wait for the second in the series.
More Playstation Home Invites
According to Last Boss, people have reported that more invites have been released in the Playstation Store. Sadly, I still have not been picked. If you haven't checked yet, hurry home and check already!
Problems With Halo 3 Beta
Yesterday the Halo 3 beta was supposed to come out, but there were problems. The only people that seemed to be having problems though, were the ones who gained invites through buying Crackdown. That sucks. The people who actually paid to get in, didn't. Well I'm sure they are having fun with it now, but that still kinda sucks they didn't get it at 1PM GMT, when the beta was scheduled to be available.
Sony Losses Not Looking Good
Looks like the losses that Sony has suffered is pretty big. They have reported that because of the Playstation 3, the game division lost $914 million just in the fourth quarter. For the full fiscal year of 2006, the gaming group's revenue went up 6.1 percent to $8.6 billion but they had an operating loss of almost $2 billion.
May 16, 2007
All Gaming Sports Channel
If you love video games so much that you even enjoy watching them when you're not playing, there is a new channel for you to watch. Or you can watch it if you just plain suck at games. Today, the UK get an all games channel by the name of Xleague TV. This channel broadcasts professional gaming everyday, at all times of the day into your living room. Sounds like it could be good. I hope they can keep it exciting enough to get popular so that maybe North America will get to see it.
Here is a list of the games that will be played today (opening day):
- Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
- Dead or Alive 4
- Gears of War
- Halo 2
- Motorstorm
- Pro Evolution Soccer 6
- Project Gotham Racing 3
- Rainbow Six: Vegas
- Resistance: Fall of Man
- Quake 4
Their website is accepting user generated gameplay clips as well. Xleague launches today on Sky channel 291.
Largest Quarterly Loss in 4 Years for Sony
Bloomberg is predicting that today, Sony will post it's largest quarterly loss in the span of 4 years. This is based on the estimate from 11 polled analysts. Sony's CEO, Howard Stringer has recently promised to investors that he would raise annual profits by 5% by March 2008, but the best way to accomplish this is to not have a price cut in the price of the Playstation 3. A price cut could result in a better long term situation though. This sounds like a difficult spot to be in. I'm glad I'm not the CEO of Sony. Actually, I don't care how sticky the situation is, I want to be the CEO of Sony. Hell, I want to be the CEO of the liquour store down the street from my house.
Video Game Music Rocks!
Now everybody knows I'm a nerd dammit. Well, considering that everyone who reads this probably is too (to some extent), I guess it doesn't matter. Anyways, I'm excited. Konami and Sony BMG have teamed up in order to bring Konami's library of music to music services such as iTunes and Rhapsody. They have stated that they will be bringing music from games such as Contra, Castlevania, Silent Hill, DDR, Elebits, and Gradius. The library of songs goes back as far as 25 years. This sounds really cool, but I'm not going to get too happy until they release the prices.
May 15, 2007
New Games on Virtual Console
Yesterday, the Virtual Console on the Wii got some more games. This time around, you get to download the NES titles, Pac Man and Ninja Gaiden. Both of these can be downloaded for the price of 500 Wii points. You can also download the TurboGrafx16 side scrolling action game, Ninja Spirit for 600 Wii points.
Another Tomb Raider Film
According to Ian Livingstone, it looks like there may be another Tomb Raider film in the works. He has stated that the film has not yet been green-lit, but it looks like it will soon be. He also said that he has been in talk with Paramount about the film for a long time now and are willing to put a scriptwriter on board. Sounds like some good news if you are a big fan of the series.
Free Shooter To Hit Xbox Live Arcade
Tomorrow you can download a new game for Xbox Live Arcade, and it's free too. All Xbox Live users will have access to Aegis Wing, which is a 2-D space shooter. The game contains six missions, has boss encounters, and four player co-op locally and over Xbox Live. The interesting thing about this game is that it was created by three Microsoft interns one summer. It will be available only for a limited time and only in North America so check it out tommorrow.
V-Tech Rampage
The Virginia Tech shooting was horrible and now some douchebag has created a game about it. It looks like the person who has created it, PiGPEN, is trying to do something like the Columbine Massacre RPG, except this game doesn't really tell any story. The game is crap. I don't really want to promote it but, here's the game if you wanna check it out.
May 14, 2007
Parasite Eve 3 Coming Soon
Sadly, it's to your mobile device. Anyway it will probably be only in Japan. That sucks, because I really like that game. I'd love to see a next generation version.
Tecmo Bowl Returns
Remember when you were young and football consisted of blocky figures and you thought those were good graphics? If you do, then you know Tecmo Bowl. Well it looks like we may be getting a new version after all of these years. Tecmo hasn't really announce anything but they showed of a logo and promised that the game would be arriving on a platform that will not be expected. I don't think it could be much of a surprise on any system unless they were talking about a cell phone, because then nobody would care.
Happy Tree Friends Coming to XBL
Sega of America, Inc and Sega Europe Ltd. announced an exclusive agreement with Mondo Media to create video game content based on the Happy Tree Friends animated series. Stainless Studios is developing Happy Tree Friends False Alarm, which is scheduled for a release on the PC and Xbox Live Arcade sometime this Fall.
Authorized Halo 3 Video
A Microsoft employee has made a video from the gameplay of the Halo 3 Beta. This means that Bungie has authorized it. Check out the video below.
May 11, 2007
The New Simpsons Game
Wanna see some video of the new Simpsons game? Huh, do ya? Too bad. Destructoid had a video up yesterday showing some gameplay from the game showing Bart as Bartman and Homer turning into a fat blob and rolling around. They were asked to take down the video though and that an official video will be out soon. Looked a little sloppy (ie. characters bumping into each other a lot), but it looks like it will be fun.
Sony Picture Television Mobile Game List
There are several big name games coming to your phone this year, that maybe you should check out. Maybe. Considering how crappy mobile phones usually are, you are just gonna have to take your chances. First of all you have Spider-Man 3 which just came out on the 4th of this month. There will also be another Spider-Man game coming soon, which is a puzzle game. Other titles scheduled to be released include Wheel of Fortune, Jeapardy! 2007, Ghostbusters, Snoop Dogg Boxing, James Bond: Casino Royale, Ratchett and Clank, and of course God of War: Betrayal.
80's Version of Guitar Hero Confirmed
Activision has finally confirmed the next Guitar Hero game in the hugely popular series. Guitar Hero: Rock the 80s will be on the shelves, or in your house, this summer on the Playstation 2. Here is a list of songs currently known to be on this version.
- Asia - Heat Of The Moment
- Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy
- Dio - Holy Diver
- Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
- Quiet Riot - Metal Health
- Ratt - Round and Round
- Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock
Honestly, I don't think I will picking this one up. I never cared much for 80's rock, even though I grew up with that music. And considering the songs listed above, I can feel the headache coming on already.
Playstation Network Update For The Week
The biggest news this round is Calling All Cars. After all of the constant, and annoying delays, the game is finally out. You can pick it up for $9.99. Check out some video in the Playstation 3 section of this site. To be honest, I'm not sure if it's really worth 10 bucks. It only has 4 levels and is extremely short. I guess it has replay value though. You can also download the full game of Rampart for $4.99. There are some more videos as well. You can take a look at Warhawk, Rampage, and the Burnout Paradise trailer for free.
May 10, 2007
EA Announced New Simpsons Game
It sucks that the Simpsons teaser site went down before the big announcement could be made, but here's the scoop. The next Simpsons game will have 16 levels that will take the form of episodes, that will all have their own title animation, setting, and story. The Simsons realize that they are trapped inside of a videogame and decide that they will give themselves super powers. Of course the one that is most obvious is Bart transforming into Bartman. The game will be available on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, and the PSP sometime this fall. I'm excited.
God of War on Your Phone?
Hell Yeah!! Sony Picture Television is bringing God of War: Betrayal to the mobile world. They have promised that this will be an original adventure. Kratos is believed by his fellow Olympians to have turned against them and that's about all I know. There isn't a date set for release yet, but keep your eyes peeled.
RSS on Your Wii
If you have a lot of blogs and RSS feeds that you like to keep track of everyday, you now have another place you can check them. On you Wii! If you use the Internet Channel on your Wii, you can use Google Reader. Visit the official site on your Wii here to get started.
Rampart for PS3 Today
Today, Rampart will be available for the PS3 on the Playstation Network. Rampart is a tactical game from Midway that costs $4.99. The game will now feature four player online multiplayer and up to 1080p resolution support.
Dude, Get Your Own Commercials
Playstation has some new commercials for the PSP that involves a guy taking a trip with his PSP and a really annoying guy next to him on the airplane. These commercials are hilarious in my opinion. I definitely recommend checking them out because I even laughed out loud several times.
The Legend of Neil - Episode 1
With all of the great user created Mario videos out, it's nice to see a Zelda one. This video is about a guy who was masturbating to a fairy while playing Zelda and has choked himself out with his Nintendo controller and awakens to find himself in the game. Don't worry, it's not as disgusting as it sounds and it's pretty funny.
May 9, 2007
New Final Fantasy Game for PSP
Square Enix is launching their Final Fantasy party next week on May 12th and 13th. More and more information about what may be announced is starting to come out. They have launched a teaser site for a PSP game to be released sometime in the near future called, Final Fantasy: Dissidia. 1up reported that Tetsuya Nomura of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be doing character designs for the game.
The Last Remnant
Another item of interest that may come of the Final Fantasy party Square Enix is having next week, is more information about a new RPG titled The Last Remnant. This game has been designed using the Unreal Engine 3 that Square Enix licenced a while back. It will be a traditional turn-based RPG and is described as having anaction-oriented gameplay and cinematic story. Video and screenshots should be released at the party on the 12th and 13th.
Double Dragon on XBL
This week, Xbox Live Arcade will be getting a pretty cool game. Microsoft announced that XBL Arcade users will be able to download the classic game, Double Dragon for 400 Microsoft points. You can pick it up today.
In-Game Branding in Upcoming Game Rock Band
I think by now we are all used to in-game branding so this isn't that much of a big deal, but it is kind of cool that Fender will be joining forces with Harmonix in the creation of the guitar peripheral. The Guitar controller is being modeled after the Fender Stratocaster. They will also have in-game branded guitars, basses, and amps. Roland and BOSS has also joined in on the in-game branding by having their stuff featured within the game as well. These are all top name companies in the music equipment world. I think this just goes to show how big the music genre of video games is getting.
Liam Neeson to Act In Videogames
In a role that was written for the actor, Liam Neeson will be playing the part of the players father in the upcoming game Fallout 3, from Bethesda Softworks. Liam Neeson has played in a ton of movies.... many of which I haven't seen. Some of the movies you might recognize him from are The Chronicles of Narnia, Batman Begins, Schindlers List, and the Gangs of New York.
May 8, 2007
Virtual Console Videos Online
One of the biggest factors that might be holding you up on your purchases of games on the Virtual Console is probably the fact that you can't play the game before you buy it. There are a lot of old games on there that I'm sure a lot of people don't know or have never played, and you don't just want to buy a game to find out you really don't like it. Nintendo has partially helped in this matter. You don't get to play, but you do get to watch. Nintendo has launched a new website where you can view 30 second gameplay clips of every single Virtual Console title available. This is a huge step ahead for the Virtual Console. I'm sure it will lead to many more sales for Nintendo as well.
Castlevania Animated Film In the Works
Comic book writer, Warren Ellis has started blogging about the upcoming Castlevania film on the Castlvania: Dracula's Curse website.
Quoted from a blog entry:
"The film is, of course, set in Wallachia in 1476. We've worked with Koji Igarashi to get the film solidly inside the Castlevania timeline, and he's approved everything I came up with, including some new embroidering to the timeline. To make it work as a film, I had to introduce new backstory, and I went through five drafts of the premise and three of the full outline to get the material where IGA wanted it. He remains absolutely passionate about Castlevania. After eight rewrites of pre-production material, I remain absolutely passionate about beating the crap out of IGA in a dark alleyway one day."
The film will be a direct to DVD animated adaptation of the NES classic, Castlevania 3. It looks like this will be a trilogy too. The first in the set will be approximately 80 minutes long. Ellis has also revealed that even though it is an animated film, having worked with animation on tv before and adhering to Standards & Practises makes him shudder, "CASTLEVANIA is, therefore, Not For Children." It will be for more mature audiences. Now I want to see it. If it's as cool as the Spawn animated series, I really can't wait to see this. Read more on the blog if you want. There's some funny stuff on there. I liked the part where Warren mentions "hitting each other with heavy sacks of abortions." It's just so colorful!
Simpsons Game Countdown
Electronic Arts has launched a new website for an upcoming Simpsons game that parodies what Rockstar Games did with Grand Theft Auto IV. The site has lettering that the GTA series uses and a countdown timer. It's not sure what kind of game EA has in mind here, but we'll all find out soon enough. Check out the website and wait for the timer to expire later today.
Update: It looks like the site has gone down, but you can check out a cached version of the site here or just look at the screenshot I've taken.
Most Gamers Play Online
According to an article on the Wired blog, Game Life, a new report from NPD, 62% of gamers play games online but most of them are doing it on consoles and not on a PC. Of the people playing consoles online, the Xbox 360 consists of 54% and the Playstation 2 consists of 45%. Of the total players playing online, 42% of them are women and 44% of them play card, arcade, word, and puzzle games. That's a lot of girl gamers!
May 7, 2007
Virtual Console Releases of the Week
Today you can download and play three more classics; Mighty Bomb Jack, Ordyne, and Final Fight.
Mighty Bomb Jack was originally released for the NES and costs 500 points. Mighty Bomb Jack is a platform game that requires Jack to adventure through 16 levels of a pyramid in search of the demon Belzebut who he must defeat in order to save the royal Pamera family. You have to collect bombs for points and avoid being touched by the different monsters.
In the TurboGrafx-16 game, Ordyne, you play as Yuichiro and Sunday in a variety of scrolling levels, shooting your enemies. You will meet with a boss at then end of the levels. You can collecting crystals to buy special weapons and extra lives, which will be needed, since one hit will kill you. This game will cost you 600 points.
The SNES game, Final Fight, costs 800 points. This is a beat em up type game that may remind of games like Double Dragon, with much better graphics. You can play through this game with three different characters with their own strenghts and weaknesses; Haggar, who is very strong but slow, Guy, who is very agile but has weak offensive power, and Cody, who has a balance of both strength and speed. These were always my favorite types of games growing up.
May 5, 2007
Still Hope For Home Beta
I just got an email from Playstation Underground stating that they have all of the beta testers that they need for the phase that they are in right now, but that they will be adding more testers within the next few weeks. There's still hope for me yet. I put a very low quality photo below if you want to see it. I didn't feel like taking the time to put up a good photo, sorry.
May 4, 2007
Lucas Arts Reveals Fracture
Lucas Arts has revealed a new 3rd person shooter they have been working on with Day 1 Studios called Fracture. The story starts in the future where the polar ice caps have melted and the Mississippi River has flooded. This has split the country in two and the the government isn't able to deal with the problem and leaves both sides of the country on their own to fend for themselves. The East Coast aligns with Europe forming the Atlantic Alliance and the West Coast aligns with Asia forming the Republic of Pacifica. The Republic of Pacifica begins to alter the DNA of their citizens in order to survive and the Alliance doesn't agree that this is necessary and is morally wrong. The President orders an attack on a Republic outpost and the crap hits the fan from there. You play as Mason Briggs who is an Alliance soldier and demolitions expert. One of the coolest aspects of this game is how Mason can throw grenades and alter the land in order to access areas that were previously inaccessable. You should definitely check out the trailer to get an idea of what the game is going to be like.
Guitar Hero II Contest
Play N Trade is a fast growing video game franchise with locations across the US and they have decided to create a contest for all of the Guitar Hero fans out there. For those of you interested, you have to submit a Guitar Hero rock video to YouTube at www.youtube.com/pntgame. You have from right now til June 16 to get your video created. This is your chance to show of your mad skills and creativity as well. Local entrants to the contest will compete in a tournament that will be held on June 16 and various Play N Trade locations. On June 23, local winners will have to compete against each other by playing "Free Bird" on expert level on an Xbox 360. Local winners will win a $100 in-store gift card and a special made Guitar Hero T-shirt. The Play N Trade National Guitar Hero II winner will get a multiplayer Guitar Hero bundle for the Xbox 360 as well as a $500 in-store gift card. Now you know the details, so go home and practice. Read the full press release if for more info.
May 3, 2007
David Jaffe Speaks His Mind
David Jaffe has been taking a lot of crap lately about his upcoming game Calling All Cars and he decided to speak out about it. This qoute was taken directly from his blog:
"TO THE LAME ASS WEBSITE THAT SHALL GO UNNAMED- Fuck you, guys. Go fuck yourselves. What other developer makes a fucking change to a game when a review (IGN's in this case) has a good, valid point and is willing to open the fucking code up at the risk of more bugs to make the game better? Amazing.But hey, you guys are great, you guys rock. I hope Kotaku fucking puts your ass out of business, wanna be fucktards. And if you were actual journalists you would have read the motherfucking quote I posted on NEOGAF where I said because of the two bugs we needed to fix (not because I was afraid of the bargin bin) we had a window of opp. to fix the magnet problem. Assholes...total fucking assholes."
Don't get the wrong idea from this. If you read the whole post on his blog you'll realize he's not some angry jerk. Or maybe you'll still think he is, but at least you know how passionate he is about his work. He should probably learn to take criticism a little better though. I think Jaffe is hilarious and I wish everyone would speak their mind like this guy does. Of course, if everybody did, there would be tons stabbing related murders, but oh well. Anyway, I'm still really looking forward to this game and I believe I'll really enjoy it.
New Website for Fallout 3
Bethesda has just put up a website for their upcoming game, Fallout 3. The site doesn't show much though. There is just some concept art and a countdown timer for the release of a teaser trailer set for 33 days from now in June. Bethesda has stated that they will be swapping out the concept art every week, so you have a little something to look at when you visit the site.
Closed Beta Testing for Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa is described as an MMO action game for the PC in which you are involved in a war between a xenophobic alien race who is trying to conquer the galaxy and the coalition of rebel soldiers who have traveled across the galaxy to stop them. NCsoft has announced that closed beta testing for this game started yesterday, so if you are interested, visit the official site to learn more.
May 2, 2007
DDR In P.E. Class
The New York Times has recently reported in a story that more than 1500 schools throughout America will be using Dance Dance Revolution in their physical education classes by the end of 2010. There are about 40 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District that currently use DDR in the fight against child obesity. The Stated of West Virginia has committed to installing the game in all of their public schools by next year, and 185 middle schools there are already using it. Hawaii is also trying to put together a similar program in which they want to get the game in all 265 of their public schools in the span of 3 years.
New Map Pack For Gears of War
This week on Thursday, you can download the new map pack for all of your Gears of War multiplayer enjoyment. This map pack, Hidden Fronts, will contain four new maps. You will be able to play Bullet Marsh, Garden, Process, and Subway. You can by this pack for $10.00 or you can wait until September when it will be free.
Nintendo Bustin Out With Big Names On the Wii
According to IGN, Nintendo has officially announced several games that will be coming out this year. These games are all confirmed for release in Japan though. Of the games listed below, only four of them are confirmed for release in America this year. Big names that are scheduled for release this summer are Mario Party 8, Big Brain Academy, Wii Degree, and Pokemon Battle Revolution. Check out the list below and get all excited and what not.
- Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race (DK Jet or DK Bongo Blast, US)
- Wii Health Pack
- Disaster: Day of Crisis
- Mario Party 8
- Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
- Wii Music
- Super Mario Galaxy
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- Battalion Wars II
- Forever Blue
- Mario Strikers Charged
- Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympics
Playstation Home Beta Officially Begins
Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! I didn't get invited into the Beta test of Home. I received an invitation, which is more than most people got, but I guess I wasn't picked. Oh well. Yesterday, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced that the Home beta officially started. Many people didn't make it but SCEE has promised that more spots will be available this summer. I hope I get picked when that time comes.
Gametap Adds Free Service
Soon, you will be able to join the Gametap service for free, except the free version is ad based. They will be using a type of level status.
The "free" level is for anyone who just wants to stop by and play a few of the games Gametap offers. These games will have advertising before and after each play. You do not get full access to the complete library of Gametap games either. The 800+ game library will be a rotation of about 30 titles weekly and monthly.
The next level available is "Green". This level is for those who decide to register. This level is still free and ad based but grants the player access to multiplayer and other community features.
The last level is "Subscriber". For $9.99 a month, users get full access to all of the goodness that Gametap has to offer. This is of course the best choice, unless you are broke. The free services will hit Gametap on May 31st.
May 1, 2007
PaRappa the Rapper for PSP
One of the funnest games is coming to the US in PSP form later this year. SCEA has confirmed that PaRappa the Rapper will be hitting North America this July. It looks like it will have some great features too. You will have the ability to play up to three other people head to head and you will be able to download eight additional playable remixes. You can also share a demo level wirelessly. Sharing the demo level and the multimplayer are done in Ad-Hoc though, so there isn't any internet play.
What's New In Virtual Console?
Lets start with Shockman, which is a side scrolling shooter that was for the TurboGrafx-16. You can play as a pair of cyborgs in this one and shoot everything to hell. Cool. Legend of the Mystical Ninja is also joining the Virtual Console collection. This is an action adventure side scrolling game. Now for the grand announcment. The original Castlevania from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Well, I don't know how grand of an announcement that is to you but a lot of people I know will be happy to hear it. If you aren't familiar with Castlevania (Shame on you if you aren't) you play as Simon Belmont. He fights his way through skeletons, zombies, bats, and other creatures of the darkness in order to reach Dracula's castle. I loved this game. I remember borrowing it from my neighbor just about every other day.
Burnout Paradise Teaser
This trailer shows off some of the cars in the upcoming Burnout Paradise game. Looks nice. I want to play with the hot rod!
