Guitar Hero 2 (Hopefully Partial) Songlist

 The October issue of EGM has a new songlist for the much anticipate Guitar Hero 2. The list doesn't seem to be complete (still shooting for some Iron Maiden "Aces High"), but here's what we have so far.

Nirvana; "Heart-Shaped Box"
Primus (original recording); "John the Fisherman"
Stone Temple Pilots; "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
Anthrax; "Madhouse
Motley Crue; "Shout at the Devil"
The Police; "Message in a Bottle"
The Pretenders; Tattooed Love Boys
Spinal Tap; "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight
Heart; "Crazy on You"
Allman Brothers Band; "Jessica"
Lynyrd Skynrd; "Freebird"
Avenged Sevenfold; "Beast and the Harlot"
Dick Dale; "Misirlou"
Lamb of God; "Laid to Rest"
Alice in Chains; "Them Bones"
Reverend Horton Heat; "Psychobilly Freakout"
Black Sabbath; "War Pigs"
KISS; "Strutter"
Butthole Surfers; "Who Was in My Room Last Night?"
Van Halen; "You Really Got Me"
Guns N' Roses; "Sweet Child O'Mine
The Rolling Stones; "Can You Hear Me Knocking?"
Rush; "YYZ"

Well I'm excited. Spinal Tap? And the Freebird solo? I'm so there!

Link to Guitar Hero 2 Songlist Revealed news from 1UP.com

Assassin's Creed 360 Bound (Duh)

The worst kept secret in gaming is out. 1up's Luke Smith reveals that the October issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly has the official word from Ubisoft that Assassin's Creed, the darling of E3 from the team behind Prince of Persion, is coming to Xbox 360. This news comes days after the news that the game will also hit PC. Of course, one has to wonder why it took so long, and why now of all times to announce the game on multiple platforms right before Tokyo Game Show and X06. If there was a deal with Sony to keep quite, it would have made more sense to wait after these shows so Sony could show the game as exclusive just a bit longer.

Link to Assassin's Creed Coming to Xbox 360 news from 1UP.com

Xbox Live Marketplace is a Busy Place

You guys like Live. Part boast, part pat on the back, and part justification for a $50 a year service, Major Nelson sends word that over 50 million Xbox Live Marketplace Downloads have been served. The release of the temporarily free Texas Hold 'em as well as the release of Madden caused a huge surge in Live usage. Check out Major's blog for some other impressive Live statistics.

Link to Xbox Live's Major Nelson : Over 50-Million Marketplace downloads served

PS3 Production Underway (Finally)

GameGossip brings the news that PS3 production has finally begun as of yesterday. So technically they got them out the door before the end of August, though not by much. Hopefully they won't face production problems and get the promised 2 million units for launch ready.

Link to :: GameGossip.com :: You Read It Here First

Madden 07 Sells like Delicious Hotcakes

According to Next Generation, Madden 07 has set a sales record for the now 17 year old game series. Of course, it helps when this is the only football game on shelves and available for more systems than ever before, but whatever. Now I need to continue my Steelers franchise. One for the... other hand!

Link to Next Generation - Madden 07 Sacks Retail Records

Assassin's Creed for PC is Coming

1up has news that Assassin's Creed is in fact heading to the PC "some day." Ubisoft still has yet to say anything about a 360 version for sure, but between the PC version and all the previous rumors, it can't be too far off. 

Link to Assassin's Creed Confirmed for PC news from 1UP.com

Duke Nukem Forever Finally Dying?

Shacknews has word of a massive departure of employees from 3D Realms, the company that has been developing Duke Nukem Forever for the past 9+ years. Fortunately, it seems most of the departing team members have found jobs elsewhere in the industry. Best of luck to them. I know I'd get sick of the same project for 10 years as well.

Link to 3D Realms Sees Major Employee Departures, Fate of DNF in Question? - Shacknews

Spell Tomes Abound

As promised, Major Nelson tells us the Oblivion Spell Tomes are now available. This add-on runs $0.99 for PC and 80 MS Points on Xbox 360. 

Link to Xbox Live's Major Nelson : Oblivion: Spell Tomes

Far Cry Instincts Predator Demo on Live

Major Nelson sends word that a demo has been released for Far Cry Instincts Predator on Xbox Live Marketplace. Though seemingly late to the party, any new demo is a welcome demo. 

Link to Xbox Live's Major Nelson : Demo: Far Cry Instincts Predator

Sim City Makes DS Debut

All you aspiring zoning directors, get ready for some touch screen civil management. EA has announced that Sim City DS is on its way. It will be based on Sim City 3000, but will be completely reworked to take advantage of the DS and include some new game modes and features. Get all the details from the article at IGN. 

Link to IGN: Sim City Set for DS

New Call of Duty 3 Video

Gamepro.com brings us a new video showing some in game action for the upcoming Call of Duty 3. The video is rather low res, but exciting nonetheless. 

Link to Feature: Call of Duty 3 for Xbox 360 on Gamepro.com.

Time Pilot Comes to Xbox Live Arcade

Major Nelson sends word that Arcade Wednesdays continues with the release of the arcade classic Time Pilot on Xbox Live Arcade. As always, a demo can be downloaded and the full game is 400 points.

Link to Xbox Live's Major Nelson : Arcade: Time Pilot

Madden NFL 07 Wii Footage on YouTube

A 9 minute demonstration of Madden NFL 07 on the Wii has been posted on YouTube. The demo walks you through the basics of gesture based football. Graphics are about on par with current gen. The controls in some cases make sense and at other times seem a bit over-complicated. Is Madden truly a game that needs gesture based controls? We won't really know until the game is released, but feel free to begin drawing conclusions. 

Link to YouTube - Madden NFL 07 Wii Exclusif

Spell Tomes Coming to Oblivion

Next in the line of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion premium content is a small addition that adds spell tomes to the world of Cyrodiil. Once purchased, the module will add the tomes as part of the random treasure pool in the game. Tome will cover the gamut from the basics to powerful new spells. A price point of 99 cents has been revealed for the PC version. No price has been announced yet for the Xbox 360 version. Both versions should be available this Thursday, August 31st.

Link to The Elder Scrolls

Marvel Ultimate Alliance Composers Announced

Activision sends word that the composers for their upcoming Marvel blowout Marvel Ultimate Allaince have been selected.

Activision, Inc. announced today that award-winning composers Chance Thomas (Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Lord of the Rings series), Cris Velasco (God of War) and Mark Griskey (Best of LucasArts Original Soundtrack) have scored the upcoming, critically-acclaimed Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video game. The trio has produced over 50 minutes of original music for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, including arrangements for multiple game levels, the in-game cinematics and the Super Hero and boss battle themes.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is Raven Software’s highly anticipated action/RPG that allows players to create their Marvel dream team from the largest roster of Super Heroes ever in an epic quest that will determine the fate of Earth and the Marvel Universe. With over 140 popular Marvel characters and a playable cast of more than 20 Super Heroes, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, Blade and Captain America, gamers will embark on a dangerous journey across exotic terrain and well-known comic book locations like Atlantis, the Shield Heli-Carrier and the Skrull home world in an attempt to defy Dr. Doom and the world’s most notorious Super Villains.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance will be the first Super Hero game available this fall for all next-gen gaming systems. Additionally, the game will be available for current-gen consoles, handheld and PC platforms, and carries a “T” (Teen – Mild Language, Violence) rating by the ESRB.

Having heard music from all three composers, I'm rather excited. Now if only I could win that voice acting contest Activision ran.

Link to Evil Avatar - Marvel Ultimate Alliance Scores Award-Winning Composers

Red Steel Offline Only

1up has the sad news that apparently Red Steel will not feature any sort of online play. Ubisoft Senior Project Coordinator Stephanie Langlous confirmed in an interview in the VIP lounge of the Nintendo of Europe website that, "Online will maybe one day be announced by Nintendo but it won't be for the launch [of Red Steel]. In terms of gameplay I can't reveal anything really but what I can say is that internally we are making tons of tests."

Link to Red Steel Will Not Feature Online Play news from 1UP.com

Next Gen Consoles Can't Run Crysis

Team Xbox has word from Bernd Diemer, the senior game designer of Crysis, that the fancy new 360 you have or the pricey PS3 you crave isn't even powerful enough to run Crysis. Team Xbox has the official word from Diemer.

Diemer explained that “next generation consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 do not offer the sufficient power” to assure the quality of gameplay Crytek demand for Crysis.

Crysis has been hailed by most as the best looking game ever. It will run in Windows on DirectX 9, but Crytek has stated that only DirectX 10 on Vista will run the game as intended. Still, if Half Life 2 and Far Cry could make it to the Xbox, I'm sure we'll be seeing next gen Crysis in some capacity.

Link to Crytek: Next Gen Consoles Are Too Weak for Crysis - Xbox

PSP Homebrew Coming to all Firmware Versions

Gamers everywhere will shout in joy as Sony cries in anguish! Thanks to a new exploit discovered in all versions of PSP firmware, 2.00 - 2.80 will all be able to run homebrew. Right now, the infamous "Hello World" homebrew is available for all firmware versions from QJ.net. According to the article, all firmware versions will be able to run in kernal mode with the exception of 2.80, which will run user mode. So fire up those emulators (SCUMM VM for me) and get ready to enjoy one of the few reasons to buy a PSP (aside form Lumines and Wipeout).

Link to QJ.NET - PSP Updates - 24/7 Coverage of the Latest PSP News - Article Detail

Kaz Hirai Speaks Again

Kaz Hirai opens his mouth once again for an interview with Cnet News to talk PS3 production, Blu-Ray advantages, and the merrits of a head start. Pretty typically corporate PR stuff without a lot of substance, but what is interesting is that he says PS3 has still not entered production but is on track for 2 million units on launch. He takes a few stabs at the Xbox 360 and DVD9, as well as claiming that their competitors don't influence their launch plans as far as shortages go.

Link to Let the PS3 games begin - page 2 | Newsmakers | CNET News.com

Burnout 5 for 360 and PS3

Xboxic has official word from EA that Burnout 5 is being built from the ground up for Xbox 360 and PS3. They promise a large open world in the vein of Need for Speed, so more going through menus and choosing maps. Instead, gamers will get to wreak destructive havoc on Paradise City. EA's press release has all the known details.

Burnout 5 gives players license to wreak havoc in Paradise City, the ultimate seamless racing battleground, with a massive infrastructure of traffic-heavy roads to abuse. Gone is the need to jump in and out of menus and aimlessly search for fun like many open world games; in Burnout 5, every inch of the world is built to deliver heart-stopping Burnout-style gameplay. Every intersection is a potential crash junction and every alleyway is an opportunity to rack up moving violations.

Of course, rules are made to be broken, and when gamers enter Paradise City, they’re assigned a Drivers License that quickly begins to amass a record of player’s most aggressive, reckless and destructive exploits behind the wheel. But it’s not the law that’s eyeing player’s progress … when gamers push things too hard they’ll be squaring off against the city’s most infamous burners, and these legends aren’t interested in who crosses the finish line first.

“Burnout 5 is a complete reinvention of the series, built from the ground up for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,” said Alex Ward, director of game design at Criterion Games. “To create truly next-generation gameplay, we needed to create a truly next-generation game, from top to bottom.”

Burnout 5 also delivers the next level of speed and destruction, with brand new next-generation technology allowing gamers to literally rip their cars in half, in the most explosive pile-ups in the series’ history.

First Burnout 3 on the backwards compatibility update, and now this. Good news for Burnout Fans.

Link to Xboxic » Burnout 5 announced

New Penny Arcade Adventures Interview

Firing Squad has an interview up with Joel Deyoung, COO of Hothead Games. Hothead is working with Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins (better known as Game and Tycho) to bring us the first game based on Penny Arcade. The interview gives away few details, but we do know the game will be episodic, Tycho is writing the script and dialogue, and Gabe is controlling the art direction. Glad to see they are so directly involved. The game appears to be a classic adventure game, but Joel was a bit coy when asked about specific gameplay. I just wonder who will do the voices.

Link to Penny Arcade Adventures Interview - News and Siteseeing

360 August '06 Backwards Compatibility Update

Microsoft has surprised the gaming world with a new backwards compatability update. While a little underwhelming (no Psychonauts, Riddick, or Panzer Dragoon), it is always welcome to see more games on the ever growing list. Especially nice are LEGO Star Wars II and Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run. Both of these games are yet to be released, so it's nice to know I can get Spyhunter and play it on my 360 right away (I'll pay the extra ten dollars for widescreen, hi def, and achievements to go with my hilarious LEGO Star Wars adventuring). Without further ado, here is the list of new and updated titles courtesy of our friend Major Nelson.

Aggressive Inline
Aquaman: Battle of Atlantis
All Star Baseball 2003
All Star Baseball 2005
Burnout 3: Takedown
Catwoman
Crash Bandicoot: Nitro Kart UPDATED
Counter Strike
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Dead to Rights
Digimon Rumble Arena 2 UPDATED
ESPN Major League Baseball
Fatal Frame 2
Ford vs. Chevy UPDATED
Freaky Flyers
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
Tom Clancy´s Ghost Recon - Island Thunder
Half Life 2 UPDATED
The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer UPDATED
IndyCar Series 2005
Kabuki Warrior UPDATED
Lego Star Wars II
Links 2004
Magatama UPDATED
Maximum Chase
Mortal Kombat: Deception UPDATED
MTX: Mototrax Featuring Travis Pastrana
Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection
MX vs. ATV Unleashed
Outlaw Tennis
Over the Hedge
Sid Meier's Pirates
Richard Burns Rally
Rogue Trooper
Serious Sam
Shincho Mahjong
Smashing Drive
Sneakers UPDATED
Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run
The Legend of Spyro: A Beginning
TAZ: Wanted
True Crime Streets of LA
The Suffering
Trigger Man
Torino Winter Olympics 2006
Vietcong
Wrath Unleashed
X-Men II: Wolverine's Revenge

Link to Xbox.com | Xbox 360 - Original Xbox Games on Xbox 360

Red Steel to (Hopefully) Feature 1:1 Ratio Sword Fighting!

According to German game site Nintendo-LAN, an Ubisoft rep confirmed that Ubisoft Paris is completely revamping Red Steel's control scheme to accurately replicate the Wiimote's movements for sword combat.

This means that if you slash forward with the Wiimote, the sword in game slashes forward. If you thrust, the sword thrust. This is a welcome departure from the gesture based combat system previously seen of the game at E3.

Though this is not entirely official, it is interesting to wonder why this change occured. Did Ubisoft have this planned from the start and either did not have it ready for E3 or not even know if it was possible? Or could they be responding to fan backlash from the original announcement? For the time being, it seems our sword fighting dreams are coming true and we are one step away from that lightsaber game!

Link to Nintendo-LAN.de: N-Vestigativ Spezial zur Games Convention 2006