No Red Steel in 2009

Game delays are a constant source of frustration for gamers. Today Ubisoft adds to our collective anger gages by pushing back a few of its top titles, including Red Steel 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, I Am Alive, and Ghost Recon.

"We are disappointed that we have to postpone the release of several major games but we consider that this choice is the best one in the long-term interests of Ubisoft. Lastly, we are having to adjust our full-year targets to take into account the fall in business over the first half. The excellent response to our games at E3, as well as the high buzz generated for titles such as Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and Avatar, reinforce our belief that the company can achieve strong growth in the second half of the fiscal year."
-Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot

Red Steel 2 and Splinter Cell are now expected to be released between January and March 2010, making the holiday game list a bit shorter.

You Got The Megaton Hammer!

After a few days of speculation, Nintendo has went ahead and released the new Zelda Wii artwork that Shigeru Miyamoto revealed on June 2nd. There's not much to say about it since it's well, artwork, but it's nice to see the high res image (click it to make it bigger). I wonder who that ghost-like lady is.. Thoughts?

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!!!???

Well if your not you have till spetember 9 2009 to gather up 3to 6 friends and a couple bucks and get your fix on beatles tunes.

Now i know this game has been announced for a while but this is the ultimate in epicness as the game was just shown off during Microsoft's Conference at E3.

Ill keep this nice and short cuz i dont want to babble (i can go on forever with RockBand believe me)

Here are the skimpy Details...

3 singers harmonized singing this will be split into 3 colors red,brown and blue. (better get your tone-def friend to sing better)

Beetles DLC, shortly after Game's Launch there will be Full Album releases as DLC 

Style of the game has been totally revamped, no more dark cool shiny colors, its all for the Hippies here (far out man)

Epicness on my side :D

also no longer will you be stcuk inside venues, REAL music videos aswell as other random cool places to play your fave beatles tracks :D

Check out a video of the Game here

http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/inc/img/press/video/TBRB_Trailer.mov

More news along with more pictures at the official Press Site

I'll be getting this game Day One, so till then ill be posting on anymore updates about the game and actual gameplay videos once the game is released :)

Get this game to the store, STAT!

Man, it's everyday with these game announcements.... E3 hasn't even STARTED YET! *cough* Anyways, Atlas is giving Wii owners another chance to play doctor with Trauma Team, successor to the Trauma Center games. This time the player can choose to be a specific branch of medicine: general surgeon, diagnostician, E.M.T., orthopedic surgeon, endoscope technician and medical examiner. Not many other details about the game are known at this time. We'll let you know when they start pouring in.

This isnt Twilight, but it sure does shine...

I love this time of year! I have often said E3 and the time surrounding it are like Christmas for us gamers. Following up on the present High Voltage Software gave us last night (Gladiator A.D) is this gem, The Grinder. Like Left 4 Dead? Of course you do, and you'll like this too! The Grinder is a 4-person online FPS, pitting the player against monsters like vampires, zombies, werewolves, and other such badasses. Anything you could want in a Wii title seems to be present here: Wii speak, Online, Single-player mode, spilt screen, multiple on screen enemies, awesome sound track, tons of customization, huge arsenal of weapons, range of characters with individual personalities,and of course lots and lots of blood! I'm trying not to get too excited about all this pre-E3 news, becuase I've been disappointed in the past, but Damn it's tough! I'm practically giddy at this title. High Voltage Software is finally giving the Wii the respect it deserves, thanks guys!

Support the (clone) troops

I'm very happy to tell you that today LucasArts announced the next title in the Star Wars Battlefront series titled Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron. The title had been seen previously on the Esrb rating website, causing rumors to swarm. This is a Ds and Psp game, which is a bit disappointing. The game will feature multiple battle fronts (Space, ground, ect.), an ingrosing story, and span the entire Star Wars saga and beyond. If your wondering if the Ds and Psp will get the same versions, that would be a no. It seems the Psp is getting many more features than the ds, including 16-players multiplayer and complete character customization. The Ds will have 4-player multiplayer, but it wasn't made clear if it was Online or local for either platform. I look forward to hearing more about this title. SW: Battlefront is one of my all time favorite series, hopefully E3 will bring us many more details, and gameplay footage!

American Gladiator AD

Seems as though the announcements are going to stream in a bit early this year, since E3 2009 isn't until June 1st and games are already making headlines left and right. Today High Voltage Software announced a new game for the Wii, titled Gladiator AD. If that name rings a bell, it's most likely because they are the developers of The Conduit, if it doesn't, then where have you been? Gladiator AD will take players back to anicent Rome to do battle, taking a bit of insperation from the movie 300 (yes, those were Greeks). Players get a choice of many (number unreleased at this time) gladators, all with different skills, and story lines. The game is said to be "challenging and well-balanced for all skill levels". I look forward to seeing more footage of this game at E3, and to hear about the other Nintendo title to be released from High Voltage Software tomorrow!
***Updated 5/27/2009***
Thought I'd throw in a nice trailer for you guys, enjoy!

RB2 DLC may 19th

More song SQUEE

seems they really wanna get everything out there

with a catalog of almost 600 songs, and having them release 25 a week like this we should be all caught up by the summer :D!

Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To
Franz Ferdinand - Lucid Dreams
Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
The Allman Brothers Band - Blue Sky
The Allman Brothers Band - Midnight Rider
The Distillers - Drain the Blood
Luscious Jackson - Naked Eye
Prong - Idealistic Types
Prong - The Banishment
The Knack - My Sharona*
Coheed & Cambria - Ten Speed (Of God's Blood & Burial)*
The B-52s - Roam
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love*
The Runaways - Cherry Bomb*
T-Rex - Bang a Gong*
Grateful Dead - Casey Jones
Grateful Dead - China Cat Sunflower
Grateful Dead - Franklin’s Tower
Grateful Dead - I Need A Miracle
Grateful Dead - Sugar Magnolia
Grateful Dead - Truckin'
At the Gates - Blinded by Fear
Evile - Thraser
The Haunted - D.O.A.

* is a cover version

Personally i'd recommend Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love

I've ever heard the original only the cover and i gotta say it KICKS ASS

Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love expert RB2 drums (near perfect)

Link Via RockBand Forums

Capcom Fires On All Cylinders

Last week Capcom held Captivate '09, the developers annual media conference and lineup showcasing. It's the perfect time for them to announce details relating to upcoming games, and more importantly, allows the privileged press hands-on time with the titles. This time around, Capcom showed off their most anticipated games, including: Dead Rising 2, Lost Planet 2, Dark Void, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, and Spyborgs. All information from the event will be grouped within this post.

First up, we have the first full trailer for Dead Rising 2. I'm not too crazy about the new main character's look, but am willing to give the game a try regardless. Expect lots of new weapons, extreme amounts of blood, and most important, hordes of zombies. The DR2 engine can currently reach a max of an insane 7,000 zombies on screen at one time. 

Next, we have a gameplay video for Lost Planet 2. Key features of the game are four player co-op, in-depth character customization, and insane boss battles. Much like Shadow of the Colossus, you can climb onto giant beasts and slay away, but it even takes it one step further. You can go inside the monsters to kill them from the inside, while other players battle from the outside.
Another gameplay video, but this time it is for Dark Void. The real selling points for this title are obviously the ability to fly around the world (The Rocketeer, anyone?), vehicles, weapons, etc. The thing that intrigues me most is the vertical gameplay, which looks pretty interesting and uncommon.
This fourth video is a new trailer/gameplay combo for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. The team behind the game is promising to present some of the best Wii graphics yet by using effects like illumination, lighting, and filters. Atmosphere seems to be a key part of this new entry in the RE series.


Finally, some new screens were released to show off the new look of Spyborgs. The team behind the game scrapped the old look, after the internet practically exploded with negativity. I was one of those who didn't necessarily like the old look, but was willing to wait and see more. Now I can say that I'm so glad they changed the look. It definitely looks to be one of the prettier Wii games to date. I've posted my favorite screen, click over for the rest here.

An Army of.. Zombies?

Late last night developer Treyarch unleashed a new trailer that shows what Call of Duty: World at War fans can expect from the upcoming DLC map pack. The highlight of the entire package is an additional zombie map, entitled "Verrückt." Or simply put, a zombie asylum. I played the nazi zombie mode over a friend's house after they raved about how great it was. Now I've become addicted and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of L4D or just zombies in general. Basically the sypnosis is that you're enclosed in a building and have to see how long you can survive against a horde of zombies. You board up windows to obtain money, purchase randomly chosen weapons, and have to use teamwork in order to stay alive. The DLC also contains three other multiplayer maps, which will all be available when the generically-named "Map Pack 1" is up for download on Xbox 360 and PS3 on March 19th. 
(I'm not sure if the zombie mode is included in the Wii version of the game or not, but where is the love?!). 

Good Vibrations!

Long time no see, but I bring Ye good news. Let's Tap, the vibration sensitive mini-game compilation from Sega, will be seeing store shelves in America and in Europe. The game is set for a summer release and is rumored to cost 30 dollars. I am personally very excited about this, especially since it saves me a ton of money on importing!

Zombies Rising On Wii.

Remember that top-secret Capcom game that NGamer teased us about a month ago? It's all but official now (expect a press release later in the day); Dead Rising is coming to Wii. Apparently the camera view has been changed to mimic that of the Resident Evil series and there have also been Wii 'waggle' controls implemented for various actions. Seeing as how great RE4: Wii Edition turned out, I can't help but be excited. There are also talks of a new boss being added into the game and possibly new weapons. It makes sense that Capcom would add content, sort of like they did with the Wii version of RE4. Who knows what all will be added to the Wii iteration of Dead Rising, but when Capcom officially spills the beans, I bet we will get a ton of info. Take that you lackluster Nintendo E3 2008 conference! Capcom is bringing the goods! And as if you couldn't tell already, I'm stoked to kill some more zombies, Wiimote style!

Source

Based On A True Story.

Alright, so maybe Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse isn't really based on a true story, but it might as well be. The little bit I've seen of it has me fully ready to jump into a world unknown to me. We've seen a few scans from Japanese magazines in the past and have been waiting patiently for more information on the title. I might also add that personally it's one of my most anticipated Wii games and I'm disappointed it wasn't shown off by Nintendo at E3! But with only fifteen days until it releases in Japan, we've finally gotten a better glimpse into what we can expect from the next entry in the survival/horror franchise. Below is a montage of videos that have appeared on the Japanese version of The Nintendo Channel. Enjoy!

GUITAR HERO:WORLD TOUR

WOW, it's been a while since last post hopefully we get back into the swing of things so here we go. Guitar Hero: World Tour, it's coming and its gonna be awesome. Near finished designs for the instruments have been shown. The drums we've seen before but now you'll notice that it has a spot for the Wii remote making the drums totally wireless like their guitar counterparts. Lets start with what we knew so far. The drums totally rock and are pressure sensitive. That means the harder you rock out banging on them the louder the notes will sound in game.

Now here's what we have learned. The Guitars have had a MAJOR overhaul. First of all the star and select buttons have been moved to give the guitar a more realistic look. Also the guitars are slightly bigger so they feel more realistic as well. The big news is the upgrade to the neck. The bottom half has been split into 5 sections much like the 5 extra fret buttons in Rock Band but these can do so much more. During a sustained note you can now slide your finger up and down through the touch sensitive neck to distort the note in a way the whammy bar only dreamed it could. And like before the faceplate is removable so you can customize your axe like you could in GH3. Character Creation also makes its debut here in the form of Create-a-Rocker(Much like Create-a-Skater in Activision's other series of games Tony Hawk's Pro Skater). This however is much more advanced with body distortion as seen in the Tiger Woods games, along with the abilities to make custom face paintings and tattoos.

Confirmed Bands and Songs include:
Linkin Park, Van Halen, Sublime(Santeria), Billy Idol(Rebel Yell), and a song from fellow poster Raith's favorite band, Foo Fighters(Everlong). More details as well as pictures of the instruments can be found at IGN.

Teh Load Times!

Whew, this came out of nowhere but thanks to a post on Neogaf I was able to snag this little youtube vid of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the new World. While I don't understand what there saying I have gathered that it is a interview with the creators about the game and them showcasing it.

Some notes on the game are apparent from what I have seen. It is clear there putting a large amount of effort into it and the motions are top notch for this game. Load times seem to be non-existent which is excellent for a game of this sort. Check out the video for yourself and judge!

Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold

Just wanted to follow up Raith's previous posts with the semi-official trailer for MadWorld. I only say 'semi' because it was pretty much leaked online, so it's not the best quality by any means. Sega of America contacted YouTube to take down the video, which pretty much guaranteed that it was real footage. So here it is, we finally get to see it in all it's glory! The art style alone looks phenomenal. Add in cutting people up with your chainsaw arm, slamming enemies onto a wall of spikes, ripping out hearts, and shoving street signs through your enemies' face. The result? A truly epic looking game coming to Wii. I'm a sucker for ultra-violent games and will definitely be keeping my eye on this one!

EDIT: Since my original post, the official trailer and announcement have been released.

Extraterrestrials Invading Wii?

That will be the case if High Voltage Software has any say in it. Today IGN unveiled that NVS is creating a futuristic FPS for Nintendo's Wii, entitled The Conduit. Even better is the fact that it is a game built from the ground up for Wii and uses control mechanics inspired by Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. It sounds like everything hardcore gaming fans have been clamoring for. The only unfortunate catch is that it still has no publisher, but with such a promising package, hopefully that will change in the near future.

The game looks rather impressive for a self-funded project.

The guys over at NVS also seem to get what hardcore Wii owners have been thinking and saying for months. "We think it's a real shame that publishers and developers aren't taking advantage of the technical possibilities of the Wii platform. Most Wii games don't even look as good as the later day PS2 titles and that's a real slap in the face to consumers," seconds Kerry Ganofsky, CEO and founder, High Voltage Software.

The drive, style, and potential are definitely there, I'll just remain optimistic that NVS can deliver where so many other 3rd party devs have failed. I'm sure we'll see even more footage in the coming months, but head over to IGN to check out screens and first footage of the game in action!

Source: IGN

Endless Ocean Review

Alright my 1st review… here goes…
I’ve been eyeing Endless Ocean for some time but had no money for it much thanks to the upcoming Brawl release. Anyways to my surprise LATE XMAS PRESENT. Gift card of 25 bucks for Best Buy. Nothing was stopping me now so I took a trip and picked up my copy after much searching.

The game starts out fairly simple make a name, customize your diver, pick male or female than pick from a whopping 2 haircuts and 2 colors, blonde or brunet(Don’t worry later on you can customize as you unlock more). So you start out by learning how to swim which could not have been done easier. Simply point where you want to go hold the B button and off you go. You soon learn that if B is too much of a strain on your finger you can press the – button and it will auto swim in which all you have to do is point. A button is used to interact with objects and fishes such as poking and petting and along with B to grab things. Grabbing is only used on artifacts to collect or on bigger fish to hitch a ride. As you progress through the game you’ll run into a mischievous bottlenose dolphin and later on become friends with it. You will than be given the option to have it accompany you on dives.

The game is pretty straight forward and you can dive for your own enjoyment but to explore certain areas you have to follow the story… Yes there is a story. Katherine is your guide to the vast world of Manoa Lai. Kat will teach you how to play as well as tell you what to do to progress in the story. As you progress through the story you will get items that will further you enjoyment such as a flashlight for night diving and a special air mixture for deep sea diving. After receiving those two you can go where ever you please and just ignore her. Along with those you will receive a camera for taking pictures an underwater pen for drawing underwater (note you actually draw on the water and can swim through your own creations) and an underwater whistle used for recruiting new partners. Another reason I suggest following the story is so you see some of the rarer species which are truly amazing to swim with.

Other than free diving and story there are yet even more features. At certain points you will receive emails from people looking for a diving guide as well as magazine editors asking for pictures of certain fish. Performing these tasks is generally how you unlock new outfits and hairstyles. Guides generally ask to be taken to a certain area and to look for a certain fish. Photo requests are exactly as they sound like. Look for a fish snap a pic and send it back to them in a reply. Other than that the camera can be used mostly whenever you want to develop photos HOWEVER photos cannot be sent to Wii message board.


(Took This picture of Sunset from game)

Along with the typical diving there is another feature that I like to call Nintendolphins. While on deck you can go to the boats edge and play with your acquired dolphins or whales. During this mode you can give commands to up to 3 partners and than they will perform a little show for you. Commands include flips, back flips, tail walks, and singing along with others however with more practice than can performs tail walks longer and even perform double front flips and double back flips. Your partners skill in this feature does not affect their performance underwater but nonetheless very cool to watch.

And lastly is the in-game music. Every song included in this game is sung by Hayley Westenra. The first time I heard her songs in game I was quickly annoyed by them but after they became very soothing and well enjoyed. Not much can be said about the music as all songs have the same style though you are given the option to play your own custom .mp3 songs. Songs must be chosen while on deck and then will continue to loop while diving until you return to the boat (This goes for both in game music as well as custom .mp3 music). You could always just shut the music off all together if you just feel like swimming though.

Overall the game is exactly as advertised. A simple diving game that is easy to control for all ages. The game simply put is huge and will take a while to explore it all. Story mode is short if trying to rush it all however there is no possible way to rush when searching for sunken treasure and hidden artifacts as they are very easy to miss. Endless Ocean is quite possibly the most peaceful game I’ve ever played to the point where I feel asleep not because I was tired but because of how relaxed it made me. This game is not recommended for most gamers and has little to no action but is a great way to show off the Wii’s potential.

I give this game 4 out of 5
--Over 20 hours long possibly 40
--Beyond simple to control
--Amazing graphics close to lifelike
--Music is as good as you want it however there are no voiceovers (characters don’t even move mouth when talking)
--Cheap only 30 bucks
--Can’t get hurt (even running out of air will just send you back up)

By Kolma

Travis Touchdown is here.

A new character has came to make his mark in the video game industry. His name is Travis Touchdown and his goal is to be the number one assassin. It all started when an assassin named Helter Skelter appeared before Travis and the two faced off in a battle. Travis emerged victorious and found himself in the presence of Silvia Christel, a mysterious French woman who claims to be an agent with the United Assassin Association. She then gave him the official ranking of 11. That was the beginning of Travis's quest to the top. Will he make it? The choice is up to you! His fate is in your hands.

In No More Heroes you are put in a free roaming world. Don't expect to cause any changes according to what you do in the city. You can't run over people or get chased by cops. Unlike GTA, No More Heroes is based more on multiple missions around the city. You can still shop for clothes and train at the gym to raise stats. You can also play with your cat, watch videos that you rent, change clothes, and most importantly go to the bathroom. As you progress through the game more places in the city are unlocked.
The way the game uses motion controls is very good. NMH mixes samurai sword fighting with wrestling. You can perform wrestling moves on your enemies by following the arrows on the screen. The blade fighting is just as fun. You point the wiimote up and press A to perform High Profile attacks. When you are in high profile you can reflect bullets or other small projectiles. Low profile attacks are done by pointing it down. Switching between high and low is good when trying to attack someone who is blocking. If they are blocking high you can attack low or vise versa. After you are almost done with the enemy you perform a finishing blow. An arrow comes on the screen in which you have to slash in. You can't keep on slashing because the beam katana runs on batteries. You can charge them by shaking the wiimote left and right or picking up batteries that are in blue boxes. NMH has the best use of the wiimote speakers to date. It uses the wiimote as a cellphone. What you do is put the wiimote to your ear like it is a cellphone. Before every boss fight Sylvia calls you to give you advice or just tell you how you will surely not make it alive.

Along with exciting action the game includes strange and crude humor. Just look at the main character if you don't believe me. Travis is an action-figure owning, porn-collecting, card-collecting guy. When Sylvia bends over or is not looking he is sure to take a peak at her figure. When she says the Agency can fulfill any wish to the top assasin he suggests she sleeps with him. The game's story is very interesting and addictive it kind of puts you in Travis's shoes wanting to be number one. You go along levels with it raining blood as you slice and dice your enemies. After every upgrade in rank you have to pay an entrance fee to go against the next assassin. How do you raise money? Well you work! You can do regular jobs like mowing lawns, picking up garbage and collecting coconuts. If your not in the mood to do regular jobs you can always do assassination missions. There are different missions you can do. It starts out with only two but they grow as you do more regular jobs. My personal favorite is the free fight missions. In these missions you go against multiple enemies and take out as many as you can before you are hit once. The missions get harder as you progress which also increases the money you get.

Although there is plenty of room for improvement NMH is what it is. The motion controls is what makes this game so great. The concept of the free roaming city is good but it falls short. There are only a couple buildings you can go in. Once you get the hang of the bike controls it is fun going around the city doing tricks. This still doesn't make up for the limited freedom.
I say if you love a good action game then you will love No More Heroes.
Score: 9.0

Brawl Countdown

Hey everyone! This is my first post and what better time to start?! To go along with the posts below by Ku and Raith, I've created a countdown until Brawl launches in North America. So now you have something to do while you're staring at your monitor and anticipating launch day like the rest of us! Unfortunately, Brawl has been delayed yet again-- so I updated the countdown accordingly. Hopefully that'll be the last time I have to change it!