1P Start

The latest Ghostbusters: The Video Game trailer is up and man oh man it’s getting me all kinds of excited:

The game itself better not suck, because this has potential to be the coolest thing ever. How could it not be? It’s the unofficial Ghostbusters III with all the main talent on board (No, I don’t count Rick Moranis) and even most of the secondary types. Hell, it could almost be better than a movie, because you won’t be distracted by the ravages of age on the main actors. Dan Aykroyd’s almost more frightening than any of the ghosts.

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Everyone knew it was coming, but Harmonix has officially announced the arrival of Rock Band 2… in September! The name of the sequel appears to be Rock Band: Opening Act. I’m really hoping they change the name, since an opening act isn’t the pinnacle of rock success. Anyway, In a talk with IGN, Harmonix Lead Designer Dan Teasdale divulged a few details about the sequel, but what’s interesting are some of the questions he didn’t really answer.

You can read the whole article for yourself, but here’s a quick run down of all the most important facts:

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For a limited time PS2 owners can get their hands on Rock Band for the low, low price of around a hundred bucks. If you’re a PS2 owner and you’ve been sitting on the fence for this one, you might want to act now.

Or do you want to wait? The good points about this sale is that the controllers are wireless and they are compatible with the PS3. The bad points? Well there’s no DLC and from one Rock Band owner to another, you’re going to get sick of the songs that come with the game real quick. The other negative going against the PS2 version is that it lacks the World Tour mode. Oh yeah and online play is missing. Okay forget what I said earlier, maybe you shouldn’t act now. Only buy the PS2 version if you don’t have any other options. Otherwise just buy a PS3 or 360 you cheap bastards.

After the success of Rock Band it was almost a matter of time before serious talk of Rock Band 2 emerged and it has! Through a couple of online surveys we’ve been getting some hints at the creation of the new game. The first survey asked participants about a possible price point. The second survey was a little more interesting as it asked participants which of two possible box art samples was more appealing. Here’s the first:

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One of my favorite rock bands is Def Leppard and when I mean rock bands, I mean a fun band to sing along with when you’re drunk. There’s few bands that make me rock out with my cock out, but Def Leppard is one of those bands. Oh yeah, you don’t want to be anywhere near me for any reason if there’s the chance of Def Leppard in the air. In fact there’s not one band that I really want more on Rock Band than Def Leppard and the fact that they are going to have a few songs on Guitar Hero III as downloadable content gives me a little hope… except for the fact that two of their best songs, “Rock of Ages” and “Photograph” are live versions of the songs. I’m not a fan of live versions of songs unless they are significantly different than the masters and even then I only want to listen to them occasionally, not play them in a game. Live versions of songs on Guitar Hero or Rock Band are one slight step above cover songs.

Why are Guitar Hero fans stuck with live versions? Well, there’s no answer right now. My crazy theory is that they wanted to emulate Rock Band where the crowd sings along with certain songs, but then again that’s only my crazy conspiracy theory. It was probably something more mundane like a legal issue with the record company.

Source: Filefront’s Gaming Today

As a gamer living in the UK I’m used to being treated as a second class citizen by games companies.

We in Europe tend to be the last to get consoles released, with the possible exception of Australia, and some games don’t even ever make it here. If they do, they tend to be priced extortionately higher than they are in Japan and America.

So it is with Rock Band. It’s taken six months to get here, it’s only initially being released on the Xbox 360, with PS2, PS3, and Wii owners having to wait until summer at the earliest, and it’s going to cost an absolute fortune.

Harmonix has made the ludicrous decision to up the retail price of the full package, that’s a copy of the game, a microphone, a guitar and drums, from the $169 it sold for in North America to £180. That’s the equivalent of $330, or double the price.

The company has spent the last few days trying to justify and explain the decision, but whatever excuses they may come out with, I just can’t see how such a differential in price can ever be justified.

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What in the hell is going on. Too many people already stuck on Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, and whatever people with PS3’s play ? Everyone prepping for Grand Theft Auto 4 ? Well I hope you are enjoying your “next gen” games you already have.

This week in releases is reminding much of last weeks. Not much to see here. The biggest release, “Portal” .. has already been out for quite some time. Now it is coming as stand alone release, woohoo. It is taking the cake (which is a lie, har har) this week as the best game for these releases. Seriously, check the list yourself below, nothing can top portal.

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Firstly, apologies for not getting the New Releases up on Sunday as I usually do. I have had a wedding, a birthday, and even a concert (go Mars Volta!) to go to in the past 3 days, so I have been quite the busy bee.

However, I don’t think anyone has missed much having no release list, as I can count the amount of releases this week on one hand (and a few toes). No ‘HD’ ‘Next Gen’ gaming going on here, it is Wii, DS, PS2, and the PC fighting for who can release the worst game. My bet is on the PS2 only because they should stop making games for the system already! As far as why there is no games, I am guessing because of things to come.. Mario Kart… Grand Theft Auto.. etc. Companies know you are probably saving your money for the big names so no use to put out competition that won’t sway you from the franchises. Now onto the very short list this week, after the break:

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Looking over this weeks releases, I noticed right away a few titles that need some love. Of course there is still some reoccurring franchises, such as Final Fantasy (PSP), Harvest Moon (DS), and even Ninja Gaiden (DS). Solid games in their own right, but they can wait, a new RPG is in town, Opoona (Wii), which has me curious as all hell how the game will play out with using only the nunchuck. Dark Sector is out on the big boy systems, having been announced way back in 2004, the game looks to bring some new elements to the third person action gunner genre, if anything, you can rest easy knowing they didn’t rush this title.

Onto the full list, as always, after the break:

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This week in releases brings us some pretty solid titles all around, especially for Sony (if you don’t count the PSP). Though released earlier on the 360, Condemned is here on the PS3 along with Hot Shots Golf. Even the PS2 is getting some love in the form of a “must have for any PS2 owner” set, being the Metal Gear Solid collection, if you don’t have ‘em yet, let me say again.. “must have!” Sega seems to have their hands in almost every system now with Superstars Tennis.

The “winner” of this week imo, has to go out to the highly anticipated Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Of course only time will tell if people are able to get their grubby hands off of Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, or Smash Bros Brawl to give Vegas 2 a chance, but something tells me the game will due just fine with the cult fan base Tom Clancy seems to have. Full list, after the break:

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So what are you doing reading this? Is there no Toys R Us, Best Buy, Circuit City, Blockbuster, Wal Mart… ANY store open !? Because you better be just taking a 5 minute break from playing Smash Bros if you are browsing the net.

If you don’t have a Wii still (understandably), I will excuse you from not playing Super Smash Bros Brawl, however you can still own the game! In a smart move by everyone else, not much is on the other systems this week. Condemned 2 is out, that is a very solid title for those in the “next gen.” PES for your football (soccer) fanatics.

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This week brings us a not very spectacular week in gaming, but not the worst I have seen either. The big dog comes in the form of God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP, not only is it looking to be one of the top ten PSP games just upon its release (not a lot of compitition mind you), but it also brought with it the announcement of God of War III. On the other systems, Bully is out on 360 and Wii for those who did not get to enjoy this title on it’s PS2 release (like myself). If you are into baseball, this is definitly your week no matter what system you own. To finish things out, Homie Rollerz (DS) is finally out, I know you all had your copy on reserve for a while now, so time to head out to the store and pick it up. Now onto the full list:

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Taking away from the complete randomness that was EA’s offer to take Take-Two for two (billion dollars), a new news story has broken in the form of a press release which outlines the split between Phil Harrison and Sony (Note: I dare you to say the full previous sentence five times fast!)

To mourn the great loss of this proud warrior, let us remember some great quotes and ideas from this man:

“.…rumble was last gen and no longer needed.” - On PS3 controller debuting with no rumble. May 8th, 2006

“The PlayStation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC.” - May 31st, 2006

What he hell, to help celebrate the life of Phil rather than his passing from SCE, I have a few more gems I have been wanting to post from other Sony greats, continue on after the break for classic stuff:

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As usual, three new Rock Band songs are now available for purchase this week. Here they are:

* Weezer - “El Scorcho”
* Garbage - “Why Do You Love Me”
* Stone Temple Pilots - “Sex Type Thing”

There’s no package price for the songs, but they are all master recordings so no worries about crappy cover artists here. In case you’re like me and don’t automatically know the songs by name, here’s a couple of YouTube videos I pulled so you can familiarize yourself with them:

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This week in new releases shows more variety then usual, it goes all the way from My Horse & Me (PC) to Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360). There is a game for every system and genre, as well as for the most part all new franchises that deserve a little of your love (Professor Layton on DS).

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