I know what some of you are thinking — that I would never write an impressions post about anything before it was released unless I had some inside info, or knew
Archive for April 25th, 2008
Apr
25
2008
 
PlayStation Network Update: a metric ton of goodies editionPosted by: admin in PS3 Game NewsThis week’s PS Store update is one of the largest in current memory. All kinds of good stuff is now available for purchase and/or download, and the three big hitters are: the CoD 4 Variety Map Pack (357 MB, $9.99), the echochrome demo (34 MB), and the first full album for Rock Band (Judas Priest’s Screaming For Vengeance; 279 MB, $14.99). Speaking of music games, Guitar Hero III has added a Def Leppard pack (378 MB, $6.25). It includes live versions of “Rock of Ages” and “Photograph” alongside the band’s new single, “Nine Lives”. In addition, Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore gets 43 new songs at $1.49 each (the full list is after the jump). Want more DLC? You’ve got it: there’s a suspiciously-sized second expansion pack for The Eye of Judgment (118 KB, $14.99) and an Army of Two map pack (378 MB, $7.49). Finally, Dale complained last week about the lack of PSOne titles, and it seems that Sony heard his pleas. From the 22nd century comes one of the hardest games of all time, the classic arcade shooter R-TYPE. But for extra difficulty, it’s included with its sequel, R-TYPE II, in a package that was released on the PSOne as R-TYPES — and the 243 MB download is still only $5.99! I had to include the rest of the content after the jump; that’s how large this update is. [Via PlayStation.Blog — thanks, Justin!] Via Destructoid
Apr
25
2008
Brett Favre goes out on top: will grace cover of Madden NFL 09Posted by: admin in PS3 Game NewsThe rumors are true, folks: the Madden NFL 09 cover will feature one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to set foot on a football field, Brett Favre. It’s a fitting end to the career of the sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer, who currently holds a nigh-ridiculous assortment of the best-known NFL records for QBs. That includes football’s “Iron Man” streak — Favre has started each Packers game since being named the starting quarterback before the fourth game of the 1992 season, for a mind-blowing total of 253 straight games (275 including the playoffs). He’ll be the first Madden cover athlete who is not an active NFL player. I’m personally overjoyed that Favre will be on the Madden 09 cover. While I was, of course, ecstatic that his interception in overtime of last season’s NFC title game effectively sent my Giants to the Super Bowl, I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for the maverick gunslinger. He was always immensely fun to watch on the field, and I’m glad that he’ll be in the game as well as on its cover (EA says that Favre won’t be on the Packers’ roster, but he will be playable as the starting QB for the game’s NFL Greats team). The video above is a “Through The Years” teaser trailer that includes about two full seconds of Madden 09 gameplay footage at the end, though it’s mostly a retrospective of the last twenty years of Madden gaming. The press release, which can be seen after the jump, reveals a significant amount of information on the game’s, including its commentary team. I was wrong about a Buck/Aikman booth duo; we’ll be hearing play-by-play and analysis from Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth of The NFL on NBC. But wait, there’s more! Along with the press release and video, EA sent over three screenshots featuring Favre along with the Xbox 360 box art; they have the ability to be viewed below. Finally, GameTap has put up a detail-packed interview with Phil Frazier, one of the game’s lead designers. It expands on the tidbits from the press release, discussing such things as the new Real Football Intelligence, “the biggest graphical improvement we’ve ever had year-to-year in Madden”, and all kinds of other good stuff. What do you guys think of all this?
Via Destructoid
Apr
25
2008
So it begins: First online review of GTA IV hits the InternetPosted by: admin in PS3 Game News
Here it comes, ladies and gentlemen — the onslaught of Grand Theft Auto IV coverage that’s guaranteed to both anger you (because you don’t have it) and spoil all of the good stuff (because you don’t have it … yet). IGN has posted their full review of the game, which spans seven pages, and ends in them awarding the game a 10 out of 10. I refuse to read the review myself — playing the game for a few hours was nearly enough of a spoiler for me. But browsing the first paragraph, I read this: “Without question, Grand Theft Auto IV is the best game since Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.” Well then.
Apr
25
2008
The Week in Rock (Band DLC): Two by The Mother Hips, ‘Zero’ by SmashPosted by: admin in PS3 Game NewsI’ve seen a few people ask for it, and although I’ve played it before, I haven’t been able to say anything until now. Smashing Pumpkins’ “Zero,” from their 1996 album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is coming to Rock Band as downloadable content. It, along with two tracks by The Mother Hips — “Red Tandy” and “Time Sick Son of a Grizzly Bear” — will be available next week for $1.99 (or 160 MS Points) a piece. You can head over to power-glove’s cblog to check out video of each of the songs; if you’ve actually heard those songs by The Mom Hips before, good on you.
Apr
25
2008
Sony bringing LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue to CoachellaPosted by: admin in PS3 Game NewsAnyone planning on heading out to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this year? This morning Sony Personal Entertainment America has annoucned that they will be on hand with LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and SingStar. Sony have erected two “fully-interactive entertainment tents” which on of which will be entirely dedicated to the highly-anticipated LittleBigPlanet. The rub? It’s not playable! Instead, Sony will introduce attendees to the titles three pillars — Play, Create, and Share. People will likely drool, but will have to settle for watching videos. Sound familiar? Yeah, you’ve been doing it for over a year. The second booth will house Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and SingStar setups, which will both be playable, but neither of them are LittleBigPlanet, so who cares? The festival runs from April 25 through April 27 and features everyone from Aesop Rock to Tegan and Sara, and they’ll all be pissed that they can’t play LittleBigPlanet. Via Destructoid Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, On the internet  Wanako’s Assault Heroes would have been one of our most cherished bits of Xbox Live Arcade entertainment had one key element — on the internet gameplay — not been so broken so as to only be recognizable by its dental records. Even so, we are forgiving sorts, and when news came down that the developer planned to try its hands at the game once more with a sequel this spring, we figured why not. If He-Man and ABC After School Specials taught us one thing, it’s that everyone deserves a second chance. Carrying a promise to “expand its horizons into outer space,” publisher Sierra On the web has confirmed that Assault Heroes 2 will roll onto XBLA on Might 14. The sequel will include a number of additions to the series’ freshman outing, including the ability to hijack vehicles — including spacecraft — as well as more levels. There will also be a number of new co-op modes included, though honestly we’re less concerned with what’s been added than we’re with Wanako simply making them work. [Via press release]
Apr
25
2008
Rock Band Weekly: The Mother Hips and Smashing PumpkinsPosted by: admin in Online GamingFiled under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, On the internet, Rhythm  Wanna go for a ride? Next week the Rock Band store updates with songs by The Mother Hips and one of the only songs you’ll ever need to have by The Smashing Pumpkins. Individual songs (No pack offering)
Videos for this week’s Rock Band DLC are after the break (currently having difficulty finding “Time Sick Son…”). As usual, the tracks will be available next Tuesday and Thursday for Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively. Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: The Mom Hips and Smashing Pumpkins Filed under: News, Polls, Videos On Tuesday you’ll get to know him superior but for now we thought we’d make a swift introduction. Meet Niko Bellic, star of the upcoming Rockstar Games game Grand Theft Auto IV. Niko is, how do we put this, a bad man with a heart of gold? He knows what he’s doing is wrong but at the same time he knows that it’s the only thing he has the ability to do to survive. Feeling soulless, Niko wonders what his future will hold. Luckily he has an idea. Things will be different. Niko’s about to visit Liberty City and start a brand new life. Wonder how that’s going to work out for him. Yeah. We know, you know who he is. But, we were wondering something … how hyped are you for GTA IV this Tuesday? Permalink | Email this | Comments Via Xbox360fanboy Filed under: News
Speaking with Eurogamer, Valve’s Doug Lombardi broke down their decision by saying that they don’t want to “quickly replicate it [a Portal sequel] and stick it out there - do the opportunistic thing and cash in on it”, and will instead be sticking to a formula where a Portal “successor has to be equally as revolutionary as the first.” Lombardi went on to say that “you won’t see a new Portal at retail this Christmas because of that. That’s the trade off. People want more, but we don’t want to give them more of the same right away because that would just be boring.” There you have it, no new Portal funnery this year. But we have a feeling a fully beefed out and revolutionary Aperture Science experience will be headed our way come 2009. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Via Xbox360fanboy |
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