The announcement of Rock Band downloadable content for the week of Feburary 19 comes to us a bit early. Perhaps it’s because Harmonix and MTV games don’t want them to get lost in the shuffle of Game Developers Conference. Or perhaps it’s because of the recent Internet Matlock incident which revealed a slew of unannounced downloadable content, some of which we’ll be seeing this week.
In any event, here we are with no huge surprises (thanks for the spoilers, Internet Matlocks): Stone Temple Pilots’ “Sex Type Thing,” Weezer’s “El Scorcho,” and Garbage’s “Why Do You Love Me” will all be available this week. Each track is a master track, and will cost $1.99 (160 MS Points).
For me, this is another week where I’ll be reaching into my wallet to hand over more cash to these jerks at MTV and Harmonix. Clearly a group of people who don’t want me to pay my bills on time. I’m not convinced “El Scorcho” is the best song for Rock Band (most of the parts are pretty straight forward, possibly even boring), but I dig the song. And while I’m not a huge Stone Temple Pilots fan, “Sex Type Thing” is an aggressive song with some decent parts, and should be fun to play.
So you guys have a few days to think about it, but gut reactions — what will you guys be picking up (if anything) this week?
Quake II on a DS? Eh, it’s OK. I guess. It’d be better on an oscilloscope. Tetris sure is. Best part is that, because you can’t exactly port stuff over onto the machine, the blocks are all hand-drawn, and as a bonus the whole thing even refreshes at 100hz.
[thanks Kdawg!]
How does one even begin to do justice to Cave Story? Lengthy, clever, and beautiful, this incredible Metroid-esque side scroller is not only one of the single best indie games ever made, but also one of the most important.
Daisuke Amaya created a world of robots and bunnies and sorcerers which, despite its friendly SNES-era look, truly contains one of the most challenging and satisfying nonlinear 2D shooters ever made.
Ever.
Honestly, if I found a way to put Cave Story on an SNES cartridge, go back in time to the 90’s, and sell it as if it were just your regular big-budget game, nobody would hesitate to call it one of the greatest games of all time. But lucky for us — and some would say unluckily for Daisuke Amaya — Cave Story is absolutely, completely, 100% free.
If you haven’t already played it, hit the jump to see what you’re missing; if you have, then watch in horror as I completely fail to describe its grandeur.
The original Quake running on a Nintendo DS? About as exciting as Daikatana, now that someone’s hacked together a working version of Quake II for the dual screened handheld. id Software’s classic first person shooter is now (nearly) a fully functional port, with working sound, graphics and on-screen keyboard support for console fun. No wi-fi support yet, but we expect it within the next 20 minutes or so.
The catch? It doesn’t fit on a stock DS memory footprint, requiring a slot-2 flash card with at least 16 MB of RAM. A list of support cards is available at the offical Q2DS site. The hobby project is free to download, but we haven’t tried it out yet, so homebrew enthusiast beware.
Quake II DS [Drunken Coders via Waxy]
From gamerscoreblog.com (FYI: MS owned blog):
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Today we have an update from NPD on console, accessory and software sales for January 2008 and it demonstrates that whether you are a consumer, retailer, or a publisher there is no better platform for games than Xbox 360.
Xbox 360 experienced a record-setting holiday that has not slowed down in 2008. NPD today reported that in January, Microsoft sold 230,000 Xbox 360 consoles. Our retailers are telling us that Xbox 360 is selling as fast as they can restock, but due to this high demand, Xbox 360 is experiencing temporary shortages. We are working as quickly as we can to replenish inventory.
Xbox 360 Owners Spend More on Games; Drives Industry Ecosystem
* In January, $297 million was spent on the Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software and accessories combined), compared to $244 million on Wii and $219 million on PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
* $159 million was spent on Xbox 360 games alone in January compared to $131 million on Wii and $80 million for PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
* Total customer spending on Xbox 360 life-to-date now reaches nearly $8.6 billion; this is more than double PS3 and Wii combined. (U.S. NPD, January)
* Six of the top 10 best selling games in January are on Xbox 360’s platform. (U.S. NPD, January)
* After five months on the market, “Halo 3″ continues to make the top 10 best selling games list according to NPD with 127,000 additional units sold in January. (U.S. NPD, January)
Games Play Better, Sell Better on Xbox 360
* “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” on Xbox 360 was the number one selling game across all platforms for the third month in a row. In January, the fourth edition of Activision’s acclaimed war game sold more than 331,000 copies on Xbox 360 and outsold the PS3 version by more than 2:1. (U.S. NPD, January)
* Music fans love to jam on “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero III” on Xbox 360! The Xbox 360 version of “Rock Band” sold more than 172,000 units in January and ranked fifth on the top 10 best selling games according to NPD. “Rock Band” on PS3 failed make it into the top 25 list for January. (U.S. NPD, January)
* Third party publishers made 61 percent of their retail revenue, this generation, on Xbox 360 compared to 20 percent on Wii and 18 percent on PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
* Xbox 360 has 83 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher compared to just 42 for PS3 and 14 for Wii.
Looking forward, Xbox 360 will continue to be the destination for the best games with powerhouse franchises such as “BioShock,” “Call of Duty,” “Guitar Hero,” “Halo,” “Madden,” “Mass Effect,” and coming in April, “Grand Theft Auto IV.” Whether you are an experienced gamer or a family looking for a night of fun, Xbox 360 is today’s preferred gaming experience, where everyone is invited to play.
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Recently Nintendo Europe told EuroGamer.net that a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament, similar to the ones in the U.S., is something their “looking at” doing.
This news should make most of you EU SSBB fans salivate… but with no actual release date for the title, it’s hard to say when any of this could go down.
SSBB currently sits in game limbo… supposedly coming out sometime this year in Q2.
From highdefdigest.com:
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The nation’s top retailer will phase out its HD DVD support by early summer.
That’s the official word this morning from Wal-Mart, first announced on the company’s gadget blog, CheckOut.com.
According to Wal-Mart execs, the company will begin emphasizing Blu-ray in both brick-and-mortar stores and online over the next thirty days, with plans to completely phase out HD DVD movie and hardware sales by June 2008. The company will continue to sell DVDs and standard-definition hardware.
Today’s announcement from the retailer comes on the heels of news earlier this week that both Netflix and Best Buy had endorsed Blu-ray.
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Full Story: highdefdigest.com
While we’ve been hearing rumblings of new Xbox 360 motherboards and chipsets, we haven’t come across anything solid yet. While not verified, the information from 8bit Joystick is definitely interesting, and if it’s right, we’ll see two new motherboard/chipset configurations for future Xbox 360s.
You probably already know about the Xenon (original), Zephyr (Elite) and Falcon (current, with a 65 nm CPU) chipsets, and there’s also a Jasper, which hss both a 65 nm CPU and a 65 nm GPU. Now we hear about the “Opus” and “Valhalla” — wow, what epic names.
8bit Joystick describes the rumored Opus to be a Falcon generation motherboard designed to fit in a Xenon case, sporting a 90 nm GPU and a 65 nm CPU. Why would they do that? They say it might be a recycling measure, which would put these new mobos in the casings of old RROD’d systems. How Eco-friendly — frankenboxes! They add that since the original launch Xbox 360 had no HDMI port, the Opus will not have the feature either.
The other, the Valhalla, seems like a dream Xbox 360. It is said to use a unified chip containing both the CPU and GPU, which would make a cheaper, more reliable, energy efficient Xbox 360. 8bit Joystick says to expect a price drop with this system, as costs would be reduced.
When will we see these? They estimate that Japser will hit this year or next, and the Valhalla will make it out by late 2009 or mid-2010. C’mon, Xbox 360. Hold out until then!
[Thanks, Jake]
While I certainly enjoyed Death Jr.’s two outings on the Sony PSP, I absolutely abhored the handheld controls. Now Eidos is giving gamer’s another shot at the little guy, this time on the Nintendo Wii. Death Jr.: Root Of Evil is a port of the PSP sequel to the original game, with slightly updated graphics and a tremendously modified control scheme, tailored for the Wiimote and nunchuk combo. You can play as Death-Lad, his goth chick friend Pandora, or team up and take on the 19 levels cooperatively. If the controls work out this could make for a pretty damn entertaining platformer for Nintendo’s console. Look for Death Jr.: Root of Evil this summer.
Eidos Interactive announce Death Jr. : Root Of Evil
Eidos Interactive Ltd., one of the world’s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, has confirmed that Death Jr.: Root of Evil, a spine-tingling, humorous platform shooter from developer Backbone Entertainment, will be released on Nintendo Wii in summer 2008.
Take on the role of the Grim Reaper’s teenage son, Death Jr., as he and his friend Pandora, whilst arguing over a cocoon they’ve collected for a school biology project, accidently release an evil and powerful spirit called Furi. In order to stop Furi and her hordes of nasty minions, Death Jr. and Pandora must team up with their wacky group of friends and fight their way across a series of crazy, fun-filled locations.
“Death Jr.: Root of Evil is a compelling and action-packed game experience coupled with lots of humour as gamers play as the Grim Reaper’s misfortunate teenage son,” said Ray Livingston, Brand Manager at Eidos. “Played solo or together with a friend, Death Jr.: Root of Evil is a great addition to your Wii collection if you enjoy fun-filled, challenging platform games.”
Play as Death Jr. or Pandora or choose to play cooperatively with a friend using both characters. Battle your way through 19 levels, fighting over 60 unique enemies and bosses in a seamless blend of 3D platforming and intense shoot ‘em up action. Use Death Jr’s famed scythe and Pandora’s whip, as well lots of cool upgradeable weapons including everything from twin pistols to C4 Hamsters! Unlock new exciting moves and combos and learn to perform them to great effect using the Wii Remote.
Death Jr.: Root of Evil is set for release in summer 2008 on Nintendo Wii.
Today, Yahoo has put up an exclusive U.S. SSBB trailer. To me this is great news… as I’m rather tired of watching Japanese videos of the game.
Sadly, Yahoo is only streaming the video (lame), so I’m unable to embed it here for you… but in any case it’s well worth a watch.