Three Heads Are Better Than One

All the News That's Fit to Use

-Bioshock 2 is set for a November 3rd release in the US, and an earlier October 30th release in Europe. Get your art-deco swim trunks ready, cuz we're headed back under water.

-The next DLC expansion for GTA IV has been announced, the non-controversially titled "Ballad of Gay Tony". I guess at this point there's not much left GTA can do to offend our sensibilities.

-We've seen some more footage and images of the turntable peripherals for Scratch and DJ Hero. Unlike the Guitar Hero/Rock Band relationship, you won't be able to play either game with one peripheral. The question remains whether Scratch's authentic drum pads or DJ Hero's buttons on the turntable will be more popular.

- Lego Rock Band has a competitor for the family rhythm game with Band Hero, from the Guitar Hero franchise. "Band Hero, on the other hand, is the series' first stab at a family-friendly rhythm game -- featuring "top-40 hits" and an E10+ rating from the ESRB."

-Punch Out has come out swinging, but is this update a little too familiar for your money?

The Peanut Gallery - Eric and our guests Will and Charles discuss:

Does Ubisoft's Line up hold up?

Assassin's Creed 2 - Feedback Fixes?
Red Steel 2 - Is Motion Plus a Plus?
Splinter Cell: Conviction - Sam Fisher now Jason Bourne?
Ghost Recon - Boo!

Gladiator AD - A new Mature game for your Wii, from the makers of the Conduit

FFXIII

Extended Modern Warfare 2 Trailer

Metriod Prime Trilogy on one disc, 8/24/09

Big Huge Games bought from THQ by 38 Studios - Curt Schilling's Copernicus is getting more and more support

The Big Topics

Red Faction Guerilla Multiplayer Demo - Destroying and Rebuilding cover makes for brand new ways to kill or be killed, but is it worth the price tag?

Infamous vs. Prototype - Both games are great examples of open-world game play, but which should you shell out for?

Episode 7 - Three Heads Are Better Than One

Game Mechanics Won't Fix Your Car

Content Update

-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Smash Up has been announced by Ubisoft. We know the Turtles universe is ideal for multiplayer smash ups. Let's just hope this Smash Bros clone stacks up to its competition.

-Until then, sate you turtle bloodlust with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled for X-Box Live Arcade! One of the greatest side-scrolling brawlers ever is coming July 22nd, 2009!

-Valve's latest Team Fortress 2 animatic, Meet the Spy, is out, and it is fantastic! Who ever is making these videos deserves an oscar. Only the Medic and the Pyro remain, and with the continued support, odds are we'll eventually get them.

-The latest Fallout 3 DLC, Broken Steel, has been released. If you were dissapointed by Operation Anchorage or The Pitt, Broken Steel offers you the best package to date, allowing you to continue where the story left with your character, and raising the level cap to 30.

-Mass Effect 2, the highly anticipated sequel to BioWare's smash hit sci-fi RPG, will allow you to import your character from the first Mass Effect. More importantly, the choices made in the first game will impact the second. Can anyone say round two on the romance subplot?

-Bio Shock 2 footage is out and about. Breathe it in folks. Breathe it in.

The Loading Screen

Red Faction: Guerilla - June 2 - PS3/X-Box 360
Wii Motion Plus - June 8 - Wii
Tiger Woods 2010 - June 8 - PS3/X-Box 360/Wii
Prototype - June 9 - PS3/X-Box 360
Ghostbusters - June 16 - PS3/X-Box 360/PC
The Conduit - June 23 - Wii
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - June 30 - PS3/X-Box 360
Wii Sports Resort - July 26 - Wii

What Games Are Made Of - Gameplay Mechanics

Eric and Jared talk about what makes a game a game. Does it a hollywood movie budget, ala Gears of War, or can it be as simple as clicking on balls of goo to solve puzzles? Follow the link and find out!

Episode 6 - Game Mechanics Won't Fix Your Car

Hell, it's about time...for some reviews

What's New?

-Well, first and foremost, we can't wait for the next Call of Duty game, but wait, which one will it be. We have news about Call of Duty 7, as we found information on David Kim's LinkedIn profile (since removed). Pardon me while I go write a flow chart to help me figure this out. Also look for the trailer we discussed here.

-In addition, Duke Nukem Forever, the long awaited sequel to the Duke Nukem games, is officially canceled. Developer 3D Realms is officially closed. Tune in next week for news about the lawsuit between Publisher Take-Two and 3D Realms.

-Furthermore, a Blizzard post in the Battle.net forums indicates that the new MMO they will be publishing eventually consists of new IP. The first new IP from Blizzard in over 10 years, which is depressing because we won't see World of Lost Vikings, Blizzard's new Minimally Multiplayer Online Game and we also won't see, at least right now, World of Starcraft.

-In more Blizzard news, Greg Canessa, VP of video game platforms at Peggle house PopCap, has left the company to join World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment, PopCap has confirmed to Gamasutra. What will this bring to WoW? Perhaps they are going to make Battle.net into a casual MMO that is full of rooms where you get to play other Blizzard IPs. Also don't forget to set your Beta preferneces on your Battle.net account.

-In the DLC zone, Warhammer Online: Land of the Dead expansion dungeon that introduces the Tomb Kings to the world. The remaining few players rejoice. Also, Gears of War 2 map compendium, for 1400 MS points. This also includes the cut stealth section of the game, "Road to Ruin".

-Halo Wars gets DLC featuring new modes entitled Capture the Flag, Tug of War, and Reinforcements Mode. Finally, Happy Birthday to WiiWare.

-Keep an eye out for Thief 4 news as the game has been announced.

-Take a look at the trailer for Gamer, the movie voted most likely to make people hate gamers even more.

Reviewing up a Storm

We bring you reviews of two very different games that just might be what you're looking for:

EA Sport's FIFA 09 and Realtime Worlds' Crackdown

Episode 5 - Hell, it's about time...for some reviews

Snikt! Snikt! It's game time, bub!

What's New

- Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello says to be prepared for a "very extended" current console cycle.

- Is Mac moving into the gaming market? Rumors say they might even buy EA.

- Randy Pausch makes it into the new Star Trek film!

- After being canceled by publisher Konami, Six Days in Fallujah is defended by Peter Tamte of Atomic Games.

- Despite high sales numbers, only 15 percent of mobile gamers pay for their games.

- China's The9 to publish World of Fight after losing World of Warcraft contract.

- Blizzcon Tickets go on sale May 16 for an increased $125. Blizzcon will take place August 21-22 in Anaheim, CA.

Wolverine and Next-Gen Demos

With the release of a satisfying Wolverine demo, we have high hopes for the game. Responsive controls and a variety of combos and fun ways to slice and dice your opponent make X-Men Origins: Wolverine a great brawler to satisfy your needs while you wait for God of War 3. This, in addition to solid graphics and a variety of ways to customize the way Wolverine plays with Mutagen and Skill upgrades.

What we don't like are shoddy demos with no way to teach you how to play, multiplayer only options, and just bad decisions about presentation. A demo is an advertisement for a game, not a tech demo.

Living in Dreamland

What's New

- Kirby is 17 years old! Too bad he ate the whole cake.

- Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is already preparing for new hardware. NextBox, Playstation 4 and Wiii here we come.

- The PSP Go! has been announced, with a new, compact sliding design.

- Fallout: New Vegas has everyone's post-apocalyptic hearts pumping.

- The IPhone is a great place to be a developer, with Flight Control selling over 700,000 times.

Most Anticipated X-Box 360 Games

1. Halo 3: ODST (Bungie Studios) 2. Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward) 3. Madden NFL 10 (EA Tiburon) 4. Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) 5. Assassin's Creed 2 (Ubisoft Montreal) 6. BioShock 2 (2K Marin, 2K Australia) 7. Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) 8. NCAA Football 10 (EA Tiburon) 9. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Uncaged Edition) (Raven Software) 10. Fight Night Round 4 (EA Canada) 11. Need for Speed: Shift (Slightly Mad Studios) 12. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (Ubisoft Montreal) 13. Fallout 3: Broken Steel (Bethesda Game Studios) 14. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios) 15. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion (Vicarious Visions) 16. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (EA Tiburon) 17. Tekken 6 (Namco Bandai) 18. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (EA DICE) 19. The Beatles: Rock Band (game only) (Harmonix Music Systems) 20. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Terminal Reality)

Excite Bots Trick Racing

Northfield's own Monster Games releases a follow up to their popular Excite Truck Racing from the launch of the Wii. Original gameplay features combined with lightning fast speed and tight control makes for a good third party addition to the Wii's line-up. Keep it up Monster!

We Got Rhythm

What's New

- Lego Rock Band will be released Q3 of 2009. Can you even play a guitar with hands like that?

-New X-Box 360 Elite Bundle: 120 GB hard drive, Halo 3 and Fable 2. Better than a two for one deal!

-Buy downloadable content for the Wii and the X-Box at Amazon.com! Online coupons for the win!

-The numbers don't lie. New tie ratios show the PS3 overtaking the Wii in software sold per console, but was anyone surprised?

-Square Enix takes over Eidos. Final Deus Ex Fantasy Raider XVII soon to be announced.

-Despite a lack of DRM, Demigod is still hurt by massive piracy. Does this disprove the theory, or is it a fluke of early release date horror?

-Final Fantasy XIII videos and screenshots are all over the net. Seamless transitions, beautiful graphics, and a tiny chocobo that lives in a dude's afro. Sign me up!

The Loading Screen

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - May 1 - PS3/X-Box 360/Wii
Left 4 Dead Game of the Year Edition - May 5 - X-Box 360
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus - May 12 - Wii
Bionic Commando - May 19 - PS3/X-Box 360 Punch Out!! - May 19 - Wii
Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock - May 19 - PS3/X-Box 360/Wii
Terminator Salvation - May 19 - PS3/X-Box 360/Wii
Infamous - May 26 - PS3

Music and Rhythm Extravaganza!

The novelty of Guitar Hero created a whole new group of gamers where DDR hadn't, and the band set up introduced by Rock Band and carried forward by Guitar Hero kept things cooking for a long time. But is this genre on its last legs? Is it enough to just release new songs, or whole new expansions based around one band (Metallica, Aerosmith, Beatles)? Will cute themes keep things fresh (Lego Rock Band)? Do we really want new peripherals that cost us almost another game (Scratch, DJ Hero)? Everyone is looking for the answer to keep this gravy train rolling down the tracks, but we'll have to see in anyone has the answer. More than anything, we need in an innovation in gameplay, not in its presentation.

We built this city on Brick and Roll!

Need a silly gimmick to spice up your music and rhythm game sessions? Well you're in luck. Lego Rock Band has been officially announced, and should be making its way into stores this holiday season. More details here.

I gotta say, I'm not convinced that this is a game we needed. As much as I love the Rock Band and Guitar Hero series, I feel like the formula is getting old. While cute Lego avatars would definitely be awesome, I can't imagine that it would really be enough for me to shell out $60.00 bucks for a new game. There's an innovation for the genre out there somewhere, we just haven't found it quite yet. I keep pushing Accordion Hero, but no one seems too jazzed about that yet. Polka Power, baby!

Evidently the game will focus more on humor and a teen/tween audience, neither of which are things that sound essential to a music game. However, they have announced a few killer tracks, namely Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting" and Europe's "The Final Countdown." I have to admit, the prospect of an Arrested Development themed Lego band performing "The Final Countdown" makes my hair stand on end. Now, will they include Lego cut off jeans?