2008 May 22 | Techchill.com

May 22 2008

This time we mean it … we think: BioShock on the PS3 is real (Update)

Posted by: admin in PS3 Game News

In February of 2007, I wrote a story entitled “Bioshock coming to the PS3? No. Maybe. Probably. Yes!“. Within hours, we were contacted by 2K Games who answered that question with a firm “no.” But rumors continued to persist, and in November 2007, Jim Sterling reported that an official moderator on the 2K forums stated “There will be no PS3 version of BioShock. It has been explained time and time again.”

And that was that. The 2007 Game of the Year, and Xbox 360 and PC exclusive BioShock is never coming to Sony’s console. Forget about it.

May 22 2008

First Guitar Hero World Tour screens, details

Posted by: admin in PS3 Game News

Thanks to Game Informer, we already know a great deal about Activision’s upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour (the game formerly known as Guitar Hero IV). We know, for instance, that the game will follow the “full band” formula of Harmonix’s Rock Band, by adding vocals and drums into the mix. But the game’s developer, Neversoft, aren’t happy simply being a clone — they’re adding a ton of extras that they’re hoping will make World Tour your rock game of choice.

To begin, the game’s drums (as you can see from the image) attempt to more closely mirror a full drum set, with three drum pads, two raised cymbals, and a bass kick pedal. Interestingly, the pads will be softer, quieter, and velocity sensitive, which should have an impact on how what you’re playing actually translates to in-game sounds. Activision also tease a “newly designed more responsive guitar and microphone,” but go into no details. (Check out the trailer and squint real hard to get a glimpse of their new axe.)

There’s much more information found in the press release, which you can find after the jump: details about the in-game Music Studio, extensive customization, and the on the web eight-player Battle of the Bands mode. As expected, the game will feature downloadable content … even on the Wii.

Are we sure we don’t have room for just one more drum peripheral in our living room?

Via Destructoid

May 22 2008

Darksiders looks ridiculously awesome

Posted by: admin in PS3 Game News

Just look at this video. He’s throwing cars at demons. Throwing automobiles at demons. This is one of those dev diaries (read: mental masturbation exercises) showing off a new PS3/360 action game, Darksiders: Wrath of War. All I can state is that it looks like something I really, really want.

May 22 2008

Free God of War track coming to Guitar Hero III for the PS3

Posted by: admin in PS3 Game News

Hot on the heels of the first Guitar Hero IV trailer comes this announcement of a new free track making its way to Guitar Hero III for the PlayStation 3. The free track is going to be based on the God of War series and will be out June 5. Not much else is known at this point, as the announcement was tucked away in the latest PlayStation Underground mailing.

It’s about time PS3 owners got something for free, especially since Guitar Hero III owners on the Xbox 360 got the Halo theme for free back in November. Of course, neither of these compare to Rock Band’s free track from last month.

I’ll be looking forward to this. I’m curious as to what a guitar-focused track based on the God of War series would actually sound like. How about you?

May 22 2008

MS confirms no Spring update, a DRM fix and an XBLA restructuring

Posted by: admin in Xbox360 News

Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade

In an exclusive interview with Next Generation, Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten announced the rather disappointing news that they’ll not be releasing a Spring update this year. This of course means that the rumored Spring update feature set that was leaked last week was complete bologna. Whitten says that instead of putting their resources into a Spring update, they decided to focus their energy into “building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service” (ahem, more reliability). But all is not lost in the land of updates, as Whitten confirmed Microsoft will be rolling out a change to their DRM policy in June that’ll allow content owners to re-license XBLA and XBLM content to a single console. This move will make said content available when disconnected from Xbox Live.

Finally, we learn that the Xbox Live Arcade will get a metaphorical Spring cleaning as Microsoft plans to remove under-performing Arcade titles. Games that have been on the market for over six months, have a Metacritic average lower than 65% and a conversion rate below 6% will be targeted for de-listing. A move that Microsoft hopes will streamline the service and open it up to larger and better things.

May 22 2008

H3 Living Dead playlist makes us hungry for brains

Posted by: admin in Xbox360 News

Filed under: News

It’s time to beef up your Spartan’s (or Elite’s) experience with yet another Halo 3 Double EXP Weekend where this time around we’ll be channeling our inner zombie. That’s right, twice the EXP can be earned in the new Living Dead Halo 3 matchmaking playlist that’s live right this very moment. But you must hurry, because the brain eating fun and double EXP earning will only be around until Monday, May 26th. Also note that these zombies will require you to have the Legendary Map Pack to play.

May 22 2008

Bleszinski gets questioned on all things Gears 2

Posted by: admin in Xbox360 News

Filed under: News, Interviews

Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski recently sat down with GameDaily for a feature called 10 Questions, where an esteemed member of the gaming industry is asked ten fan submitted questions. Cliff was thrown Q’s from everything related to breaking into the industry, why he ditched a Dodge Viper and how to make it in today’s gaming world.

Of course Gears of War 2 was a hot topic and fans asked how it will stand-up to it’s Game of the Year winning predecessor. “With the sequel, we’re able to significantly streamline the on the web experience with a far more robust package that enables players to kick more ass on the internet with their friends,” Cliff answered.

Without giving away too much information on the single-player experience, Cliff stated the game must throw more interesting scenarios at players in between combat situations to stay fresh, “In Gears 2, we’ve got dozens of surprises in every level that’ll keep people speaking for months to come.”

With changes to Epic’s premier gaming engine fans wondered how updates to Unreal Engine 3 will change the Gears experience. While Cliff was tight-lipped, he assured gamers the environments would add to the experience with a wider capacity for damage. “Players will really feel like they’re in a sci-fi multiplayer version of Black Hawk Down.”

Gears of War 2 hits Xbox 360 this Novemeber.

May 22 2008

Watch Fable 2 right now … sort of [update]

Posted by: admin in Xbox360 News

Filed under: News

Update: Show’s over, folks.

Major Nelson sends word that the folks at Lionhead are showing off their latest playtest of Fable 2 right now and in real time. Okay, so it’s not really real time. In fact, it’s just a webcam that refreshes each ten seconds or so. Still, it’s Fable 2 and it’s playing right now. We realize it’s kind of lame but, if you’ve nothing better to do (and we imagine many of you do), it’s a good way to kill some time. There’s no telling just how long the “show” will last, so head over to the Lionhead site (select the Sam-Cam) and soak up as much as you can. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see some magic spells (finally).

[Via Major Nelson]