XBox 360 Rally

I got sent a fact sheet from Nyko, then corresponded back with them to make sure I had all the details right, and after further examination, I think it might be a good idea to pick up Nyko’s guitar and buy the Rock Band and Guitar Hero games separately. Here is a quick fact sheet on the new “Frontman Wireless Guitar”:

80 hours of play from just three AA batteries

Play up to 25 ft. away

If doing dueling banjo’s, it works with the original Wired Guitar Hero guitar

Has the tilt sensor and whammy bar

Very responsive fret buttons

3 changeable pick guards with some stickers included (but you know you are going to use your own)

D-Pad design is better and easier to use

Now, some clarification on that little box that looks like an amp or an effects pedal, that is basically what makes the device wireless. Seeing as how Microsoft is sort of dicks on how they handle giving out their information on how to make controllers Wireless, that little box will plug into any USB port on the 360, then you need to plug in one of your regular controllers into the amp/pedal box. Presto! Now you have wireless technology without Microsoft’s help, kudos to Nyko for figuring this out. The guitar will then transmit the keys pressed to the box which then uses the code from the wired guitar in order to communicate those key presses to the 360 (so simple!).

Now, the 3 pick guards (seen in the black, pink, and transparent) are there to help customize your guitar. Then they include the 3 stickers for customizing further. Keep an eye out on people who are going to use the transparent guard, as that is going to allow you to put your own graphics/photos underneath. I am expecting Forza 2 customizations type action will be shown once this is released.

There you have it, personally not a fan of all Nyko products controller wise, this one is actually looking to be not only well designed and durable, but possibly better than the official ones that Harmonix has put out themselves (ie more customizing + wireless). So far the release date is listed as October 1st and will retail at $79.99 so look for it.

Because it’s Saturday, there is very little in actual gaming news. With that said, if you’re here you’re obviously not playing the Stranglehold demo — so do it.

Now.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Stranglehold, John Woo, Chow Yun Fat

Go on, admit it — Mass Effect is going to be freaking awesome. Hell, “Freaking Awesome” somehow seems like some kind of damn understatement. BioWare, if the hype is to be believed, could very well become one of the greatest Role-Playing Games of all time. The sheer size and scope that Mass Effect is set to feature will blow you, me, your mother, MY mother, and everyone else with a general understanding of life away.

So it should surprise no one that BioWare has put the same time and effort into creating a character creation system. Some people at 1UP were lucky enough to get a look at the character creating system for Mass Effect, and it certainly appears that you will be able to meticulously edit your character to your liking — and they’ll actually look human this time, too.

I know, I know — I hate GameVideos, too, but… it’s not on GT. Sorry.

Mirosoft, Xbox 360, BioWare, Mass Effect, 1UP

Ok, check out this exclusive GameTrailers intro to Beautiful Katamari, the upcoming sequel to Katamari Damacy…

…I want some of whatever the hell he’s on.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Namco, Beautiful Katamari

The servers are melting. Paco spilled his cola on the keyboard. JW’s out back trying to wrangle the horses. In short, we’re all kinds of FUBAR, so we may not be able to update as much as we’d like today.

Sorry, peeps. We’ll be back soon.

There has been a lot of controversy regarding a recently posted rumor regarding SEGA’s possible Tokyo Game Show line-up. Now, I was originally very defensive of this piece because of who sent it in. He, a long-time go-to guy named Rob, has sent me exclusive tips for four years, and until this most recent one, they were ALL accurate.

Regardless, after the link had been posted by reader “Cedge”, I immediately contacted Rob via GoogleIM.

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Self proclaimed attention whore and Gears of War mastermind CliffyB has updated his site with some of his thoughts on these upcoming titles. On Bioshock, “The atmosphere in this title is second to none and the play is smooth and solid. I whipped through the first demo without much trouble and then proceeded to take down a Big Daddy in the second, much to the dismay of the person staffing the kiosk. My mad FPS skills came through yet again.”

A little insight on some things you can do with Crysis, “I was able to run up to guys, hit USE and then lift them up by their necks and toss them at other fools. But the fun doesn’t stop there - while holding this poor fella in a death grip I can hit FIRE and PUNCH HIM IN THE HEAD repeatedly.”

His thoughts on Condemend 2 were nice, but what struck me was the comment that preceded the actual game talk, a little smack against the marketing team behind the game, “I snuck into a demo for the sequel to the best game that was marketed horribly at the 360’s launch - Condemned - and I’ve got to say that the sequel is shaping up to be yet another glorious journey into madness. The player’s character is an alcoholic murdering sonofabitch - you can actually flip people off in first person while then proceeding to get into a brutal fight involving fists, boards (that you can now toss!) and finishing moves. I chuckled when my “hero” broke a guy’s arm and then held him as a human shield as the other foe slung a 2×4 at him - he then yelled out in pain as the board hit him. We then saw the poor sap’s head driven into a tube television.”

Lastly, Stranglehold, “Stranglehold is looking slick and as underhyped as ever. Everything’s destroyable in the game and they actually have a Mexican Standoff mode complete with slo motion - and birds everywhere.” Check out the rest of his thoughts on how his full E3 trip went over at CliffyB.com
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CliffyB, Epic Games, Gears of War, Bioshock, Condemned 2, Stranglehold, John Woo, E3, Crysis

I have been playing Video Games since the ripe old age of three. The first video game I ever played was the immortal Bad Dudes on the NES. At the time I didn’t appreciate the simple concept of rescuing the President from Ninjas, but now I do. The game that made me a gamer, however, was a little known title called ‘Dinosaurs for Hire’. If not for that 2D Side-Scrolling Shooter for the Sega Genesis, I would not be the nerd I am today.

One of the major factors in what makes a video game memorable is the music. Look at all the video games that are etched into our memories: Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Halo, Warcraft, Metal Gear Solid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Contra, and Final Fantasy are just a few of the games that are memorable in the eyes of the gaming public, and each and every one of those games has some memorable music. Growing up, I would pop Mega Man II into the NES, and leave it at the start screen just so I could listen to that killer opening theme. But of course, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who DIDN’T rock out to the Mega Man theme at some point in their lives. Regardless of what your favorite video game is, I promise you that you remember a song or two from it.

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Turok. At one time, it was a badass FPS franchise that made the N64 the system to own… ok, not really, but it was still pretty bad ass. Either way, after a few substandard sequels, and an attempted relaunch on the Xbox that can only be described as abysmal, Turok has returned looking manly and absolutely BAD ASS!

Apparently this time around Turok is a Government Bad Ass with a Mohawk and a taste for death. I haven’t seen anyone this manly use a bow since I saw Rambo: First Blood part II… the only film to make me weep.

This game feels like Splinter Cell, Killzone, and Jurassic Park had a disgusting, deformed Flipper baby. The idea of mowing through a series of commandos just to be pounced on by a velociraptor hiding in the bushes… hot. Simply sexy.

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Turok, E3

Here I am, coming to you LIVE from my couch! Here I am, ladies and gentlemen, ready to pass along the latest news from Microsoft on to YOU, the reader! …because apparently you don’t realize it’s on G4… or 1UP.com… or Gamespot… or Lord knows where else… EITHER WAY, let’s DO IT! Watch the Conference HERE!

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The guys at IGN have been happily receiving extra hits on the site lately because of their hands on preview of Rock Band, but also worth noting is they now have played Turok as well. Here are the cliff notes of the finer points made about the games.

Rock Band:

Guitar is larger and more realistic (compared to the very toy like Guitar Hero guitar, which I personally was fine with, but having a larger guitar definitely would have been nicer)
Buttons feel stiff, but Harmonix pointed out that IGN was still using prototypes and that final versions are still being tweaked out.

Guitar effects such as reverb, delay, and phase are being experimented with.

Vocals are handled similar to that of Karaoke Revolution.

Drums are similar to the guitars just doing the beat/color matching.

If one person in the band is doing poorly, the other players can “rescue” them by keeping up the groove.

“If you can play the drum parts on hard, you can pretty much play the drums.” - Harmonix Rep

Whew, that last one about the drumming has to have someone other than myself intrigued. Full Rock Band 3 page preview here, it makes for a pretty good read.

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Today brings to a close one of the greatest cock tease demo of them all, the Halo 3 Beta. Now with my cousin out of town, I was able to nab his 360 and hook up my hard drive to get some more game time in (see: Red Ring of Death). Though I didn’t get to play the full time the beta was available, I actually feel I got to play enough of it, didn’t touch custom games, but I was already getting sick of playing the same levels over and over, good levels mind you, just annoying after a while.

Well, since I still had this working 360 over this weekend, I did manage to nab the new demo’s available. I can’t lie, I am very impressed so far. Check the rest of this entry for my thoughts on the new stuff.
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CVG had the opportunity to sit down with this game and gave a pretty good preview of what is to come. Some selected quotes:

” This level of interaction with the characters, and not just the world, is something that BioWare is really hammering home. We don’t think Pixar will be off to the job centre any time soon, but it’s obvious the people at BioWare have buckets of talent behind the camera. The game’s intro sports the kind of cinematic flair and attention to detail Kojima pours into the Metal Gear series.”

” This nearly-finished build delivers on its promise of “digital actors”, who gesture and fire off their lines with realism unseen in games before.”

“Combat plays more like a Ghost Recon game than any of BioWare’s previous RPGs. Heavy weapon and character customisation is what keeps strategy in the combat. “

[Read about the full hour here]

From Wikipedia: Haze is a first-person shooter video game developed by Free Radical Design, which was debuted at E³ 2006. It will be published by Ubisoft.

The game is currently scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2008 for the Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Windows platforms.[1] According to Free Radical, Haze will have a ’serious’ tone unlike Free Radical’s TimeSplitters games which provide a more comical and laid-back gaming experience. Additionally, Haze will not include a mapmaker feature and will allow your character to jump, more departures from the TimeSplitters tradition. Online modes will include co-op and multiplayer.

I am a huge Time Splitters fan, and it makes me sad to admit that this game looks so Halo/Counterstrike generic. But, I am going to still put faith in Free Radical and check it out as soon as I can.

So what are you waiting for, onto some screen shots: (more…)

The guys at TeamXbox had not only a nice review of the device, but even got to get an interview with “Xbox Live’s Group Program Manager”

Some highlights:

“While we are sure that game developers will implement this keyboard into their titles down the line, this peripheral was created to make text chat and IM over the Xbox 360 easier and more convenient. We are excited to see how game developers use this accessory in the future, but games were not the primary reason for its creation.”

“..the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device wasn’t specifically developed because World of Warcraft will play better, but it’s only a matter of time before we see game info data reading “supports keypad”. We would loved to have reported to you all that the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device makes playing Phantasy Star Online much more enjoyable”

“..the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device will essentially make your sticks into one uber-device. In fact, we bet you forget that the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device and the controller are actually two separate pieces due to how well they both fit together.”

“Typing messages seemed easier with the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device than any keypad-based cell phone that we’ve tried. The keys are as large as possible for an integrated device (which helps the fat-fingered)”

I never really thought past the notion that this would be for just instant messaging friends family or what not, not consider the functions of using it with games sounds great. Also, seems to be a quality product as far as it feels with the controller.

[ check out the full 4 page article at TeamXbox here ]

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