Sunday, November 30, 2008

2008 Holiday Gift Guide Part I - PlayStation Portable

Possibly one of the most fun and gorgeous PSP games to date,. Wipeout Pulse combines gorgeous visuals with great controls and gameplay makes this game a must have for any PSP owner who has any interest in the racing genre.
Patapon is a rather unique game that combines aspects of a rythm game and a real-time tactical game with an amazingly stylish art style. While it was critically acclaimed, it didn't sell too well, meaning that odds are the gamer you are shopping for doesn't own it. I guarantee that Patapon won't disappoint.
Space Invaders Extreme is a fresh revamp of the original Space Invaders for a new generation. While available for both PSP and DS, the PSP version has sharper graphics and FMV backgrounds, making it the superior version. At $20 bucks, you surely can't go wrong.

What I'm Playing - November Edition


Final Fantasy XI
Still making the long, long journey to level 75 with my Scholar. Not much progress made this month.

Valkyria Chronicles
Been making my way through Sega's new PS3 exclusive SRPG Valkyria Chronicles. It's gorgeous, and an incredible amount of fun, expect a review up once I solve this game tape.

Gears of War 2

Played through Gears of War 2 in it's entirety. It looks really good for a game running on Unreal Engine 3. I didn't see a lot of tearing or texture pop in which was rather surprising. As you can see, no review, because I never really liked the series, and thus wouldn't be able to giva an unbiased opinion. It was a good bit of fun though.

Monday, November 24, 2008

New Games This Week - 11/23-11/29

PS3:
*cue crickets*

Xbox 360:
-Sonic Unleashed
-NPPL Championship Paintball 2009
-Winter Sports 2 The Ultimate Challenge

Wii:
-King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga
-Ultimate Band
-Cake Mania: In the Mix
-Safecracker
-Skate City Heroes
-Championship Foosball
-AMF Bowling World Lanes
-Winter Sports 2 The Ultimate Challenge

PS2:
-Sonic Unleashed
-Winter Sports 2 The Ultimate Challenge
Nintendo DS:
-Chrono Trigger
-All Star Cheer Squad
-Neopets Puzzle Adventure
-Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force
-Ski & Shoot
-Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine
-Syberia
-Cradle of Rome
-Bratz Kids
-Emma in the Mountains
-Personal Trainer: Cooking
-Ultimate Band
-Age of Empires: Mythologies

PSP:
-Mytran Wars

PC Games:

-Neopets Puzzle Adventure
-Zoo Tycoon 2: Ultimate Collection
-Gothic 3
-Disney's Bolt
-Band Manager

Scripted Events Pick of the Week:
-Chrono Trigger DS

Friday, November 21, 2008

This week in Rock Band



The Killers 3 Pack (440 MP/ $5.50)
"Mr. Brightside" (160 MP/ $2)
"Smile Like You Mean It" (160 MP/ $2)
"Spaceman" (160 MP/ $2)

Yngwie Malmsteen 3 Pack (440 MP/ $5.50)
"Caprici Di Diablo" (160 MP/ $2)
"Damnation Game" (160 MP/ $2)
"TRed Devil" (160 MP/ $2)

Individual songs:
"Jesus Christ Pose" - Soundgarden (160 MP/ $2)
"Pretty Noose" - Soundgarden (160 MP/ $2)
"Laid to Rest" - Lamb of God (160 MP/ $2)

[Via Rockband.com]

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix pricing and additional details emerge


With Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix set to be acvailable to the masses in a matter of days, Capcom has finally given us a price and some additional details concerning the game. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix will be available for $14.99 and will feature online play and two gameplay modes. Sadly, the PlayStation 3 version will lack Trophy support at launch, but it willbe patched in at a later date. Capcom Representative John Diamonon also stated that there will be "a little suprise" coming later in the holiday season.

IGN conducts Left 4 Dead poll


With this week's release of Valve's new FPS Left 4 Dead on both the PC and Xbox 360, IGN recently conducted a poll of their readers to see which version they'd be buying. Not surprisingly, the 360 version stomped the PC version by a margin of more than two to one. It should also be noted that those users that selected the "neither" option outweighed them all. We won't know for certain how many of each sold until this month NPDs are out, but I can't see them being that far off.

Get Half-Life for 98 cents on Steam


It's been 10 years since Valve launched their revolutionary first-person shooter Half-Life. Many have played games like Counter-strike and Team Fortress Classic, but what most forget is that those are all modified versions of Half-Life. The game itself is a fantastic shooter, and many consider it to be one of the best games to ever grace the PC.

To mark the 10 year anniversary of Half-Life, Valve has made it available at the incredibly low sale price of 98 cents on Steam. If you've never played Half-Life, or if it's been a while, you should definately go nab yourself a copy and immerse yourself in one of the greatest games the PC has to offer.

[Via Gamedaily]

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix to Hadouken it's way onto PS3 Nov. 25, 360 Nov. 26


It's official, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is scheduled to drop on the PlayStation Store on November 25, and on the Xbox Live Marketplace a day later on November 27. No word yet on pricing, but it's asfe to assume it would be no less than $15, although I certainly won't complain if it sells for less.

On an added note, they'll also be offering a direct-to-download album of hip hop tracks inspired by Street Fighter. The "Street Fighter Underground Remix" will feature tracks by artists like Zion I, Redman, DJ Qbert, Oh No, Mistah Fab, DJ Toure, and Hieroglyphics. Each of the mentioned artists have produced a Street Fighter themed track that will be available free of charge exclusively on the PlayStation Network.

[Via IGN]

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

MetaReview - Left 4 Dead




1UP (A-) - "Simply put, every time the Director brings down a swath of Infected, who then pound me into hamburger, and every time my team and I manage to survive against incredible odds until the end, and we hoot and holler about besting the Director, I do the same thing: I jump into another lobby and wait for a match to start. I love this damn game."

EDGE (90/100) - "Valve has taken something unscripted and dynamic, and seeded it with the right amount of narrative flavour, pacing and spectacle."

Giant Bomb (4/5) - "Beyond its categorical success in establishing a vivid picture of the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead's biggest breakthrough is the way it blurs the lines between the often compartmentalized pieces of a modern first-person shooter. It makes for a game that's unlike any other, and while the limited amount of content is admittedly unfortunate, that shouldn't keep you from experiencing this fast-paced, nerve-wracking game."

IGN (90/100) - "There's absolutely no doubt that Left 4 Dead is one of the most social and exciting multiplayer games that we've ever played. It's almost pitch perfect in how it captures the tension and the action of a Hollywood zombie movie."

Free LittleBigPlanet DLC to be available weekly


Today on the official PlayStation Blog Sony Computer Entertainment America Marketing Manager Mark Valledor informed us that not only will new Sackboy costumes be available for download and purchase on the PlayStation store every week, but he assures us free costumes will be available weekly as well.
This week's free costume will be the "Sack-in-a-Box" (Pictured above), created by user “nebu1ou5″, the US winner of “LittleBigChallenge 003 - Official in-game SackBoy Costume Contest”. If you have the game, there's no reason to not hop on the PS Stores on Thursdays and download the new free content.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Wii games top the Q3 US sales chart


The reports are in for this quarter's US video game sales, and out of the top five, four are Wii games. Keep in mind that some of the figures are not approximate, but they assure us that "the maximum possible error in each figure should not affect the rankings.". Be that as it may, the Wii seems to be dominating these charts.

1 - Super Smash Bros. Brawl (3.5 million, estimated)
2 - Mario Kart (3.4 million)
3 - Grand Theft Auto IV (3.2 million, estimated)
4 - Wii Play (3 million)
5 - Wii Fit (2.8 million)

If this is of any interest to you, you can check out the full story over at Gamasutra. Can't wait to see the final report at the end of Q4 to see what the year's best seller is.

[Via Gamasutra]

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Street Fighter IV to hit shelves on February 17



Capcom has officially announced a solid release date for their highly anticipated new installment to their Street Fighter franchise. Street Fighter 4 is slated to drop in North America on February and three days lateron February 20 in Europe. Best get to preordering, no?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Rock Band Special Edition bundles drop price



Well, if you haven't jumped onto the Rock Band bandwagon yet nowmight seem like the perfect time to do so. Just in time for the Holiday rush, Electronic Arts has announced that they will be dropping the price of the PS2 and Wii versions of Rock Band to $99.99, and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions to S139.99.

For the amount of content you'll be receiving, plus the option of the library of downloadable songs on the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace, those prices are definitely worth the money.

[Via IGN]

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

UMK3, Worms, Feeding Frenzy now on XBLA Hits


Although Microsoft has yet to make any official announcement, if you were to go to the Xbox Live Arcade Hits section on the marketplace you'll see that there are three new additions. The three games added to the Hits section are Feeding Frenzy, ULTIMATE Mortal Kombat 3, and Worms, and are set at the new price point of 400 space bucks (5 Dollars), half of their original price of 800 points. You can't really go wrong with buying Worms or MK for 5 bucks.If you haven't already, now is the time to scoop 'em up.

Gene Simmons branded guitar to come for Rock Band and Guitar Hero


It seems that KISS bassist Gene Simmons wants a piece of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band pie and has decided to throw his (very metal) hat into the ring with the Gene Simmons AXE guitar. You'll be able to pick up the Gene Simmons Wireless AXE when it drops at retailers on November 15 and will retail for $80. It will also ship with a dongle, making it compatible with both the PS3 and PS2 versions of Rock Band and Guitar Hero.

The Wii version will be coming December1st and unfortunately will only be compatible with Guitar Hero titles, but if you're interested you may want to hold off until January 31st for a second version of the Axe that will work with both Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Xbox 360 owners will have to wait until April 2009.

Left 4 Dead demo available now


Just a reminder that the Left 4 Dead demo went live today for both the PC and  Xbox 360. So if you're interested in Valve's new Survival Horror FPS you should definitely hop on Xbox Live or Steam and give it a whirl. The demo will run until November 18th when Left 4 Dead drops at retailers and on Steam.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

NES themed shoes released by Nike


It's not every day one comes across a pair of video game inspired footwear, so when you do happen to find some, it definitely deserves some attention. This happens to be one of those days. Word is Nike has released a new version of the Nike Air Classic BW, completely decked out with the aesthetic of an all time classic, the Nintendo Entertainment System. Aside from the iconic color theme of the NES, the sneakers also feature a d-pad design, as well as the start and select buttons on the side of the shoe tongue.

I was unable to find a definitive answer as to where to procure them, other than "select retailers", and no word on pricing. But if you see them, you may want to grab them while you can. I'm willing to bet they'll sell out pretty fast.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Call of Duty : World at War Beta now available to all Xbox Live users




Activision has made the beta for their upcoming World War II FPS Call of Duty : World at War available for all Xbox live users who were unable to get into the beta that occurred last month. No word on whether or not it's any different from the previous beta, but it should still be worth checking out if you haven't already done so.

Oh, and it's important to note that the beta weighs in at around 890 MB. So if you have the space, why not check it out.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix submitted for approval, targeted For November release


In an official forum post by Capcom's VP of strategic planning & business development, Christian Svensson, it was confirmed that Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is indeed finished, and has been submitted for approval to both Sony and Microsoft for release on PSN and XBLA.

Svensson states that while the game is targeted to release sometime this month, there are still many possible bumps in the road to approval that may push the game back, out of it's projected November release window. He also states that the possibility exists where approval for one version
can hit a snag, resulting in the game not having a simultaneous release, as is intended.