October, 2008 -

Guitar Hero World Tour Day One DLCGuitar Hero World Tour Day One DLC

October 9, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 3:31 pm

How can Guitar Hero compete with Rock Band given Rock Band’s got early drumming and vocal adopters? By promising awesome content and enforcing that fact that they too, have downloadable content (DLC). Not only do they have DLC, but they’ll have DLC on launch day.

Of course, they could have tossed some fluffy songs out there for the first day or “promised” 20 downloadable songs which we’ve yet to get confirmation e-mails on using a big registration code. But, they’re starting out strong with a serious showing. We’re talking about:

Rock and Roll Band by Boston
Hot Blooded by Foreigner
Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield

With respect to these initial songs, it’s obvious their targeting the 30 somethings looking for some nostalgic feeling (more than a feeling?!) These are considered the Classic Rock Track Pack and you can buy them individually as well.

That same week we’ll get a few more track packs and songs including “No Rain” by Blind Melon which is an epic song for all instruments. We see this being well received and will spur some initial pre-sales now that we’ve got confidence we’re getting a rocking set list and additional content in the form of DLC that’s worth buying.

Read on for their full press release!

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Sony Should Buy Ubisoft and Here is WhySony Should Buy Ubisoft and Here is Why

October 9, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 10:58 am

Sony’s been putting a lot of effort (read: money) into the PlayStation 3 product line with very little impact in the market. They’ve got this “10 year plan” but haven’t really executed a strong plan for their first two years of said plan. Sony’s plan seems to be “outlive the competition’s technology” while all of its competition stomps on their sales and market share with older and a bit “outdated” products.

Thus far there have been five spins of the PlayStation 3 hardware with price cuts only coming as a result of a “fire sale” of old hardware revisions. Sony, like many, believes the Nintendo Wii isn’t a direct competitor in their space; the outstanding sales of the Wii probably haven’t impacted the PlayStation 3 sales too much. The Xbox 360, however, has definitely cut them deep in all regions of sales.

Microsoft has built some unexpected momentum in Japan with Square-Enix making them a few console seller titles and the price cuts in Europe boosted sales over 200% all while the US continues to buy into the 360 hardware despite its most obvious red-ringing flaws. Microsoft has great partnerships with some fabulous companies, Bungie and Epic for instance, to build them exclusives that move even more 360 units.

Motorstorm is one of the PlayStation 3’s best games, selling over 3-million copies. While, as of January 2008, Halo 3 sold 8.1 million units for the Xbox 360. Now, Metal Gear Solid 4 has sold roughly 3.94 million copies since August of 2008 yet unsubstantiated rumors exist stating MGS4 could make its way to the 360. Combined awesome titles for the PlayStation 3 may not even exceed one of the competitors best selling products; where is the PS3 excitement?

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Michael Pachter Says Wii HD Will LaunchMichael Pachter Says Wii HD Will Launch

October 8, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 2:43 pm

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter is “absolutely convinced” we’ll see a Nintendo Wii HD by 2011. What makes him so sure? In short, Nintendo will start to look bad if their console is said to be “for your mom” instead of for gamers.

What they’ve done, so far, is show the industry there is more market than just hardcore gamers. They’ve also convinced many of us that only hardcore gamers actually buy games. Nintendo says they’re selling games, we’ve just not seen any real evidence of that outside of their own first party titles.

“Nintendo has to overcome that [lack of graphics power],” said Pachter. “A Wii HD would really position Nintendo well, which is why I’m absolutely convinced there is a Wii HD coming. Businesswise, they can’t have people saying that their machine is a toy for my mom.” (gamedaily)

Nintendo obviously doesn’t to be the focus of a “your mom” joke outside of being able to boast huge sales figures. Selling the console into homes has definitely raised the awareness of their brand to gamers and non-gamers alike. Now, it seems, Nintendo is going to have to “grow up” and get with the high definition graphics crowd… by 2011.

Would you re-buy a Wii if it was in HD? It’s also important to note Prachter believed Take-Two would become EA and was “convinced” of it. That didn’t happen. Will this?

TD Gaming Podcast 91: Freedom of SpeechTD Gaming Podcast 91: Freedom of Speech

October 7, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 9:59 pm

This weeks gaming podcast covers a bunch of great topics including a gaming flashback of Populous. We’re going to give your our down and dirty Mega Man 9 review from an older gamers perspective and cover some game news, including:

Gears of War 2 stays off PC to avoid piracy
Nintendo DSi details and features
PSP-3000 Release Date, you gonna buy it?
Age of Conan Server Merges

We discuss developers attempts to combat used games by including special first time buyer incentives including free DLC, updates, maps and features.

Guitar Hero World Tour Bundle MayhemGuitar Hero World Tour Bundle Mayhem

October 7, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 10:46 am

You’re looking to pickup a copy of Guitar Hero World Tour, but you’re currently unsure which bundle does what and how much each will cost. That has now been made clear and gamers can go about their holiday shopping business later this month (Oct. 26th) to pickup the bundle of their choosing.

USD $190 for the full band kit on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii.
USD $180 for the full band kit on PS2.
USD $100 for the guitar/game bundle on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.
USD $90 for the guitar/game bundle on PS2.

“And, if $190 just isn’t enough money to spend for you, Red Octane is also offering a special $240 deluxe full band kit bundle that also comes with an XL t-shirt, battery charger, key chain, and guitar case. This deluxe kit is available for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, with a $220 deluxe kit offered for the PlayStation 2 and Wii.” (1up)

One other thing that 1up observed in this pricing structure: Guitar Hero with guitar controller was $70, Guitar Hero II with controller was $80, Guitar Hero II on the Xbox 360 with controller was $90 and, of course, Guitar Hero III with controller was $100. Are we slowly being brought to the price point that these publishers want to reach? It seems they’re drawing us slowly to higher values as we continue to purchase into their schemes.

Granted, their schemes are fun as all heck so we’re willing to pay to play, but where will it end? Fairly soon we’ll be paying more money for our controller and rock genre style game than the console hardware with extended warranties.

The Calm Before The Storm, Why No News?The Calm Before The Storm, Why No News?

October 6, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 4:28 pm

Journalists and bloggers around the Net are doing whatever they can to scrape up news on the gaming industry. What’s the deal, it’s a Monday and nobody in the gaming industry has anything really big to announce, talk about or “leak” onto this here Interwebs?

Sure, we can read about a 7 year old’s request for game design tips for Little Big Planet, more than enough DSi news beating down the same door over and over or pour through pages upon pages of Warhammer Online reviews. But, where is the news?

Here is some news for you: nobody wants to make waves in the game industry right now. Consumers around the globe are looking for what is hot and what is not for the holiday rush. Parents are watching their children and looking to see what they’re talking about to build an internal memory of this years wish list of items. Maybe a Wii Game or a DS game or a 360 console or perhaps the PS3.

Moms and Dads are looking at the entertainment industry to find the best bargains and deals so we can stow away our tech toys in closets, basements and attics for holiday mornings. You don’t have to celebrate Christmas to be looking for great game deals this holiday season.

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DSi Will Be Region-Locked, Sad Face…DSi Will Be Region-Locked, Sad Face…

October 6, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 12:44 pm

One of the greatest things Nintendo has done was allowing the DS to be unlocked for regions. This allowed gamers around the world to share their favorite games from all cultures and countries with just a click of the “buy” button at an online store.

The DSi loses this great freedom by locking it down to a region. “Nintendo DS software is region free so you can play any DS software on DSi from any region. You can also browse the internet on your DSi wherever you are in the world and exchange your photos with friends from around the world,” says Nintendo (CVG).

Much like the US Entertainment Industries need to lock down everything and contribute to global piracy, Nintendo follows suit with their hand-helds, tis a sad day indeed. Of course Nintendo reasons it all away by yelling parental controls and making it easier for regions to access their own content.

“DSi is region locked because DSi embeds net communication functionality within itself and we are intending to provide net services specifically tailored for each region. Also because we are including parental control functionality for Nintendo DSi and each region has its unique age limit.”

Specifically tailored for each region is a nice way of saying that each region has to pay the penalty of not being “first” (second, or third) to get some cool new features. Although Nintendo could put emphasis on the region the gamer lives in with complete access out of those bounds if they wanted, they’ve chosen to use this as a crutch to lock users out of content.

Users will get their content, of course. It just means more home brews, software hacks, hardware hacks and workarounds for the system. If that’s what Nintendo is trying to inspire, then they’ve done their job right.

However, wouldn’t it be great if they could just come out and say “we don’t want certain people accessing specific content until we say you can.”

Mega Man 9: Initial Impressions (Xbox 360)Mega Man 9: Initial Impressions (Xbox 360)

October 4, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 2:05 pm

With a few hours of Mega Man 9 under my belt I’ve got to admit, this game is FREAKING HARD. I’ve played many games since the original Mega Man series was released on the NES and later on the SNES and nothing compares to Mega Man 9 in terms of sheer difficulty. This new franchise title looks and acts like the original with all the glitches, colors, bleeps and effects of the original games.

This game is much like chasing your kids around the yard, you forget how “old you are.” Mega Man 9 challenges reflexes, hand-eye coordination, patience and persistence. You are constantly awarded with death upon death and level restarts. Just when you think you’re getting close to a leader you’re actually just encountering a harder portion of the stage.

Between the start of a stage and the final boss you’ll encounter larger single-screen microbosses who challenge your patience and skills. As it turns out, I’ve got very little of both attributes. Upon defeating a little boss I am handed another like boss which is a little tougher. Upon defeating this slightly tougher boss (after many level restarts) I’m rewarded with yet another more difficult microboss.

Mega Man traditionally allows you to wonder all of the selectable stages out of the gate but each one gets easier as you build your characters weaponry. The trick is finding that “easy” level to get you to a boss, defeat said boss and acquire a weapon of mass awesomeness. Alas, I’ve done none of these.

You can find online video walk-throughs on the Internet which can give you tips for getting around the stages but the end result is the same: patience, persistence and accuracy. Mega Man 9 teaches you that nobody is a game master without consistent practice.

The first time through a stage is a destructive mess of failure. As you restart the stage over and over you’ll learn some of the tricks to getting you through the initial enemies without taking damage. You’ll build up your arsenal of tricks for hitting enemies before they’re on the screen and mashing the fire button to freedom… until you hit your first spike.

Spikes are the bane of the Mega Man character. Mega Man isn’t a fan of little pointy objects which result in instant death. You can hit the jump button quickly for shorter jumps and longer for bigger jumps; jumping technique is required to move you through spike infested levels.

You learn quickly to never turn your back on an enemy. Turn around, ever so slightly, and walk back on the side-scrolling screen and forward again will result in the rebirth of all enemies you’ve killed. This includes bomb wielding birds, rock tossing baddies and hells fury in the form of red and green cannons.

If you’re looking to discover all the ways you can possibly lose in a game, feel your inner child emotionally crushed under the weight of 8-bit bad asses, Mega Man 9 is the game for you. The achievements will make you laugh and the difficulty will invoke that old controller tossing nostalgia.

Mega Man 9 is a challenge. If you wish to take on this challenge and prove your 8-bit weight in the world of high resolution graphic fairy tales this may be the title for you!

DSi To Supplement Nintendo DS In The USDSi To Supplement Nintendo DS In The US

October 4, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 9:59 am

Unlike Japan, Nintendo has not invaded the entire home consumer market here in the United States. This leads them to believe there is room for both the DS and the DSi here in the United States. The DS will no doubt be a cheaper alternative to the DSi and the DSi isn’t going to make its way to the US for some time now (well into 2009 we hear).

Right now we’re still working through what the strategy’s going to be here. But we think that there’s huge untapped potential for the DS Lite. Because when you’ve got only one in every five households in the U.S., compared to one in every two in Japan, it says there’s potential.

You’ve seen some of the work we’ve done this year with celebrities, that we’re bringing a lot of new consumers in to the DS. So I think there’s opportunity for both of them to coexist for some period of time. (kotaku)

We all though the DS was taking over the market, apparently it’s going a long way to go. Nintendo probably feels the DSi may take some of the market share for the original hand held so they’re going to keep them both in the market, initially. No doubt, the DSi will eventually out-live the DS over time, but there is no reason to take the DS out of the US market until the market dominance dies off.

Rock Band 2 DLC For WiiRock Band 2 DLC For Wii

October 3, 2008| schommer| 0 Comment| 9:03 am

Although it’s cute to say, the truth of the matter is this: Rock Band 2 for the Wii has DLC. We’re talking full online downloadable content matching the behavior of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Why is this significant?

The Wii has been the bastard child of rhythm music playing since its inception. If you’ve got the Wii and one of the other consoles (sans PS2) you’re probably more likely to purchase for the 360 or PS3 because you can extend the game with great downloadable songs. Breathing new life into your console one dollar at a time can be a life saver if you don’t typically buy a lot of games; let’s face it, Wii gamers don’t buy a lot of games.

This news also brings on the announcement of real online play like the other consoles. The Wii will have online play matching that of the 360 and PS3; without the ability to talk to your fellow band mates we’re guessing. Is it fun to play in a band with a bunch of mutes? Better than nothing I guess.

This begs the question, how will it store all the DLC? As a Rock Band addict I must admit to having several hundred megabytes of downloadabe songs. Will this be all resident on the SD card? We also wonder, will this allow us to play Rock Band DLC on our DSi sometime in the future?

(Thanks, Kotaku)