Guitar Hero: World Tour adds instruments, downloads, more
Don’t expect the Guitar Hero franchise to stop growing any time soon. The latest news regarding the hugely popular game series confirms the earlier information Activision CEO Bobby Kotick discussed in an interview with Portfolio magazine regarding the increased instruments and selection of the new game. According to news confirmed by Activision, the upcoming installment of the game will feature vocals and drums instead of just a guitar, a newly redesigned guitar and wireless instruments. Differing slightly from Rock Band, Guitar Hero: World Tour will have three instead of four drum pads and the addition of two cymbals. But wait,... read more
You Don't Know, Jack
It’s a good thing anti-gaming attorney Jack Thompson doesn’t give a damn.In 2005, when the “Hot Coffee” scandal broke regarding sexual content (inaccessible to players) left on the extra disc space in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, he was among the first voices of outrage, yelling to all who would listen that the downfall of civilization was nigh, and that we could subvert the catastrophe if we’d just forget about the First Amendment and get on board with governmental legislation of the gaming industry. ... read more
James Silva: From Dish-Pit Shame to XBox's Next Hit Game
The most buzzed-about indie game developer of the moment, James Silva, rarely gets to leave his bedroom—only because it doubles as his office and laboratory. The room is packed with computers, a television and two desks... read more
This Title Is Rated "I" For Immature
What hasn’t shifted is the public perception of games as being just for kids. Whenever violent or sexual content in gaming is brought up in the media, it is universally accompanied by some blowhard espousing the haggard old platitude, “Won’t someone think of the children?” as if it’s still relevant or fresh. read more
Grand Theft Auto IV shatters sales records
Grand Theft Auto IV has shattered even the most optimistic media watchers’ forecasts by raking in more than $500 million in its first week of sales alone, Reuters reports. GTA IV was released April 29, and sold over 6 million copies in its first week on the shelves. The game’s sales shattered the previous record for opening week video game sales, previously held by the Microsoft Corp.’s Halo 3 which garnered roughly $300 million when it was released last year. The wildly popular (and controversial) Grand Theft Auto series is made by the Rockstar Games studio, which is owned by... read more
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
Audiences are capable of wringing enjoyment from even the shabbiest films... read more
Wii Fit
Fit and happy... read more
Matt Damon pulls out from Bourne game
Given all the lousy movie-to-video game adaptations out there, it's always refreshing when an adaptation looks like its developer actually cares about a project. So when Sierra showed off The Bourne Conspiracy, and it looked like the game actually caught the spirit of the film franchise, it left only one question looming: where is Jason Bourne? According to developer High Moon, Matt Damon turned down the role while still in negotiations to lend his voice and likeness to the game. Damon told the The Boston Globe, "I lobbied hard [with the video producers] to not make a first-person shooter game... read more
Ricky Gervais putting in Grand Theft Auto appearance
Early reports have indicated that Grand Theft Auto IV is attempting to bring a whole new level of realism to the GTA series, but things just got a little bit more serious(ly funny). Kotaku reports via ShortList that Ricky Gervais will be playing a part in the upcoming game, not just voicing a character but rather playing some embodiment of himself. "Ricky Gervais . . . will even perform three-minute skits of never-before-heard material and classic Fame gags in the digital comedy club in which you find him," writes the article. Still unclear is whether the character will literally be... read more
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
At its core, Days of Ruin doesn’t tamper much with the time-honed formula of the Advance Wars franchise... read more
Fairway Solitaire
A great puzzle game is one your brain continues to play on your eyelids long after you’ve finished... read more
Endless Ocean
Until now, most sandbox-style video games have leaned toward Grand Theft Auto’s design philosophy... read more
Crayon Physics Deluxe
For a medium with unlimited possibilities, video games have a nasty habit of conservatism... read more
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
I felt like a dunce while playing Professor Layton and the Curious Village after bungling the following riddle... read more
Devil May Cry 4
No one will mistake Devil May Cry 4 for pointed political satire... read more
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams
NiGHTS: Into Dreams hit store shelves in 1997, quickly becoming a... read more
Whither Accountability?
Not long ago, Chuck Klosterman wrote an editorial for Esquire which explored gaming’s noticeable dearth of a true critical voice. Certainly there are review sections in gaming magazines and websites, but more often than not they focus on tech jargon and system specs, serving more of a consumer advice function than of true criticism of a game’s place in the world into which it was born. The great films can be discussed in that context; the American Film Institute has made a cottage industry of just such discussions, in numbered lists meant to engender debate. Why does gaming not have... read more
The Art of Scapegoating
We’ve grown weary from battle. We try to keep a level head, stay calm in the face of adversity. We remember Bunker Hill, and Prescott’s famous advice, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” But we see the enemy closing in on all sides, and it’s suffocating and saddening in equal terms. The “we” I speak of are gamers, and the war we fight is seemingly never-ending, for as long as there are politicians and media willing to pervert a misunderstood hobby beyond reason in order to make a good story or stump speech, we have our... read more
Press X Chromosome To Continue
I was fourteen, and nervous. She looked the same age, but far more self-assured. And gorgeous. I dropped my quarters into Street Fighter II, selecting Guile to face off against her. Ken (with whom she’d just dispatched two other knock-kneed dudes before my turn), and I had roughly three seconds to ponder whether chivalry dictated my keeping it close, before the match was over and I was just the latest boy this siren had laid waste to in the arcade that day.... read more
Diary of a Video Game RPG Hero
I awoke on the shore with no memory. A great, glowing light appeared and spoke to me: YOUR VILLAGE HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY AN ANCIENT MALEVOLENCE. YOUR PARENTS ARE DEAD AND YOUR LOVE INTEREST OF VAGUE ROYAL LINEAGE IS MISSING...” read more
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