If you’re wondering what happened to Sony’s initial promise of full PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility in the PlayStation 3, the answers is simple: money. Talking with a small room of journalists at last week’s E3, SCEA’s President and CEO Tretton explained that the tough decision came down to production cost and hardware priorities.

Share This

Share This

For those that love strategy role-playing games, Sega’s upcoming title Valkyria Chronicles is a no-brainer. But, in the pictures and footage we’ve seen over the last year, it seems that there’s some appeal here for the non-SRPG fan as well. I couldn’t tell from my TGS Japanese-language hands-on last year, but my first English-language hands-on session at E3 with the title confirms some of that. There truly is a tiny bit of something for everyone in Valkyria Chronicles.

I managed to land an extensive play session, where I had the privilege of going through multiple stages of Chronicles.

Share This

Share This

If you’re wondering what happened to Sony’s initial promise of full PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility in the PlayStation 3, the answers is simple: money. Talking with a small room of journalists at last week’s E3, SCEA’s President and CEO Tretton explained that the tough decision came down to production cost and hardware priorities.

Share This

Share This

The survey leak rumors continue to come to fruition, as Activision have officially revealed that Jimi Hendrix (and his music) will appear in the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour.

The title will not only feature the legendary guitar-burning musician as a playable character, but will also feature two master tracks: a live version of “Purple Haze” from a 1969 San Diego Sports Agena concert, and “The Wind Cries Mary.” Other exclusive Hendrix tracks will be available for download after the game’s launch.

“Guitar Hero games have become the virtual rock stage for the industry’s most beloved artists,” says Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Activision Blizzard, “and Guitar Hero World Tour continues that tradition by honoring the great Jimi Hendrix and celebrating some of his greatest work.”

Riley goes on to say that his “prescense in the game will serve to satisfy multiple generations of his fans.” But if you’re looking for something a little more current, Paramore’s Haley Williams and former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker have also been confirmed to appear in the game. And since all signs point to rumors being true, anticipate a full roster of stars to be announced between now and the game’s fall release, including Ozzy Osbourne, Sting, and more.

Via Destructoid

Share This

Share This

At first glance, the new peripherals that will ship alongside Rock Band 2 don’t look particularly remarkable. The guitar’s a new, sexy color, and some slight aesthetic tweaks have been made to the drums.

Share This

Share This

I should probably just get it out of the way right now and say that my family, friends, and I play the original Rock Band quite a bit. I’m speaking somewhere in the range of “all of the damned time” and “seven days a week.” So considering that the sequel — cleverly called Rock Band 2 — doesn’t stray from the formula too much, it’s no surprise that I was totally enamored with the idea from the jump off.

The gist: more songs, fully compatible with all of the downloadable content I’ve been dumping my God damned money into weekly since the game’s launch last November, and improvements to already established game modes. So … who do I write the check out to?

With that in mind, the following preview of the sequel might contain hints of giddy fanboy glee, and I’m unapologetic about that fact. The bottom line is that if you didn’t like playing the original Rock Band, there’s nothing to see here and you might want to move along. But if you were a fan with realistic expectations for what developer Harmonix could improve, Rock Band 2 is the game for you.

Harmonix even have a few pleasantly surprisingly tricks up their sleeves, too.

Via Destructoid

Share This

Share This

At first glance, the new peripherals that will ship alongside Rock Band 2 don’t look particularly remarkable. The guitar’s a new, sexy color, and some slight aesthetic tweaks have been made to the drums.

Share This

Share This

Fact: putting on a horse mask and smashing a plant over a zombie’s head is great, wholesome fun.

Fail: E3 has come and gone (although our coverage continues!), and the words “dead” and “rising” weren’t uttered from Capcom’s figurative lips. Instead, a Wii port of the original Dead Rising was introduced in Japan, and Capcom US ran like we were the undead when we mentioned the game.

But what of a bona fide sequel? Rumors have persisted for a while now that a follow-up is in the works, with the development duties being handled by Western developer Blue Castle Games (The Bigs). Now Game Informer is reporting in the “Loose Talk” rumors section of their latest issue that “one of the words being used to describe [the sequel] is ‘episodic.’”

We’re unsure whether that means the game will be available in smaller chunks via downloadable content, or if the title will feature an “episodic” structure like Atari’s ill-fated Alone in the Dark. Whatever the case, we’ll take it — whether it’s delivered in bloody chunks or not, our zombie slaughtering itch won’t be scratched until the game is officially announced.

Via Destructoid

Share This

Share This

Sorry this update is so late — we were too busy playing Rock Band 2 to get around to it. Yeah, I stated it.

Share This

Share This

This fall, developer Traveler’s Tales will be merging their popular cooperative LEGO videogame titles with DC Comics’ Batman universe in the form of LEGO Batman: The Videogame. Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive and Traveler’s Tales had a playable demo of the game as part of their games showcase at E3 this year, and I came away more impressed than I had expected I would be.

Now don’t get me wrong — Traveler’s Tales LEGO Star Wars games were cute fun, but not particularly deep in their execution. By the time LEGO Indiana Jones hit the market, the voices in my head couldn’t help but think “Here it comes again.” So while I’m admittedly a bigger fan of the Batman universe than either the Lucas or Speilberg properties, I couldn’t quite bring myself to be excited about the idea of a LEGO Batman title.

The Xbox 360 demo I spent some time with changed all of that, proving that Traveler’s Tales have taken the time to make significant improvements to both the game’s visuals as well as providing a number of cool new play mechanics that should keep the game fresh for the promised 19 plus hours of gameplay.

Share This

Share This