Rock Band 2 Officially Announced

July 1, 2008 – 11:23 am

Yesterday Harmonix dropped the official announcement of Rock Band 2, the follow up to their immensely successful music game that released late last year. The second installment in the series will not introduce a new instrument, as previously rumored, but it will be improving on the instruments that already are out there. The new guitar will be a replica of the Fender Stratocaster and will feature faux woodgrain buttons. The new drum kit will be sturdier than the original (which occasionally had problems reported of the plastic base pedal mount breaking) and should be designed to be quieter in use (as opposed to the original, which sounds like a herd of elephants running through whenever it’s played).

The biggest news about Rock Band 2 is that it will be completely compatible with any songs you’ve downloaded for Rock Band 1. In fact, all Rock Band song downloads will be universally playable across both games, which means that even if you don’t buy Rock Band 2, you’ll still be able to buy and play new songs with your original Rock Band game. This is exciting stuff that works in the consumer’s favor, and it looks like it’s becoming an industry standard for music games, as Guitar Hero World Tour will be adopting a similar policy for reverse compatibility with Guitar Hero 3 downloads.

Additionally, Rock Band 2 will feature brand new online play modes and over 80 new songs, all of which will be master recordings from the bands. There haven’t been confirmations about the new online modes, but the strong hint has been that you’ll be able to play the Band World Tour mode online now. Rock Band 2’s tracks will feature more female fronted bands, as well as a number of groups that have never been featured in music games before. Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos says in an AP interview, “With the original ‘Rock Band,’ the focus was on innovation. With ‘Rock Band 2,’ the focus is on perfection of the experience. We’ve had a year to listen to our fans and build out the scope, depth and polish of the experience, so it feels like a second-generation band game.”

Rock Band 2 will ship first for the XBox 360 in September and then later in the year for the Wii, Playstation 2, and Playstation 3. There’s no comment yet on how much the game will cost or exactly what configurations will ship. It’s safe to guess that there will be a big bundle that comes with all the instruments, as well as a standalone game and the ability to buy the instruments separately, though. The September release will put Rock Band 2 on the shelves a month before Guitar Hero World Tour’s October release.

Source: Yahoo! News and IGN

By Jason Dorough Posted in games No Comments

Review: Boom Blox (Wii)

May 14, 2008 – 9:27 am

Have you helped the Baa sheep launch an attack on the Ook monkey kingdom to recover their lost gems lately? If not, you need to check out Boom Blox, the new puzzle game for the Wii from EA.

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By Jason Dorough Posted in games No Comments

Nintendo WiiWare Goes Online With Six Launch Titles

May 12, 2008 – 4:56 pm

Nintendo’s answer to the Playstation Network’s downloadable games and to Microsoft’s XBox Live Arcade is called WiiWare, and it went live today. You now can download the WiiWare service to your Wii and start playing all the new games being funneled through the network. As with the PSN and XBLA, WiiWare games will cost you some money to play them. Here’s a breakdown of what’s available now at launch and how much each game will run you in the mythical currency of Wii points:

  • Defend Your Castle - 500 Wii points ($5)
  • Pop - 700 Wii points ($7)
  • VIP Casino Blackjack - 700 Wii points ($7)
  • LostWinds - 1000 Wii points ($10)
  • TV Show King - 1000 Wii points ($10)
  • Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King - 1500 Wii points ($15)

Here are descriptions of all the games, from the official press release:

FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: My Life as a KingTM (Square Enix, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone - Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, 1,500 Wii Points): FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King takes a legendary franchise and launches it into the realm of simulation gaming. Players are challenged to rebuild a kingdom, leading its young king on a path of discovery through an adventure bristling with mystery and intrigue.

LostWindsTM (Frontier Development, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone - Mild Fantasy Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): A fresh, enchanting platform adventure that puts the power of the wind in the palm of your hand - from raging tornados to the gentlest breeze. You’ll wield your Wii RemoteTM controller to power Toku’s jumps and glides, suspend and smash enemies, meet friends and solve puzzles using LostWinds’ novel, intuitive and playful control system.

Defend your CastleTM (XGen Studios, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone - Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): Defend your Castle takes place on a grassy plain surrounded by invaders. You are the commander of your castle, and it is your duty to fling the invading enemies sky-high, watching them plummet to their demise. As you progress, add powerful spells and upgrades to your arsenal for repelling the attacks. How long can you hold them off?

PopTM (Nnooo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 700 Wii Points): Pop bubbles to score points and stop the timer from running out. Pop can be enjoyed by anyone - casual gamers can simply play to pop bubbles and keep the game moving, whereas advanced players will need to pick their shots rapidly and accurately and generate combos to maximize their score.

V.I.P. Casino: BlackjackTM (High Voltage Software®, Inc., 1-4 players, Rated T for Teen - Simulated Gambling, 700 Wii Points): V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack re-creates the casino experience, with fully animated players and a realistic Las Vegas dealer. Single players can increase their bankrolls, while multiple players can engage in a head-to-head mini-blackjack tournament.

TV Show King (Gameloft, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): TV Show King transforms your living room into a real TV quiz show studio where you’ll face the challenge of answering more than 3,000 questions across six different categories. Compete against family and friends and use your Wii Remote controller in original ways to make it to the finals to see who can win the greatest amount of cash in one final, deciding duel.

Source: Kotaku

By Jason Dorough Posted in games No Comments

Mario Kart Wii - Review

May 7, 2008 – 8:00 am

Mario Kart Wii is in stores now, and I had the chance to spend some time with it today. This game follows the standard Mario Kart pattern with gameplay very similar to everything that’s come before in the series. For those new to the franchise, here’s how it works: You play as a classic Mario character (Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, etc) in a little go-cart / car. You race around a cartoonish track littered with enemies and obstacles, trying to be the one to win the race. Along the way, you and your opponents will pick up boosts or weapons you can use to help yourself or to hinder your enemies. These include things like standard Mario invincibility stars and turtle shells of various sorts that you can hurl at the other drivers.

Mario Kart Wii boasts 32 different racetracks, half of which are brand new and half of which appeared in previous entries in the Mario Kart series. Similarly, all the old items you pick up are back, along with a few new surprises. You’ll be racing both carts and bikes this time, sometimes alternating between the two from course to course on the Grand Prix. Overall, the game is a fun little racer, but it’s a pretty redundant purchase if you already have a previous installment of the game. The single player races are rather easy once you get the hang of the controls, and unlocking more Grand Prix events doesn’t really feel all that rewarding.

The online multiplayer works well, and there’s a neat sequence before entering a match that shows you on a globe where all your opponents are in the real world. Unfortunately, like all the other Wii games, you won’t be able to chat online with your opponents. Sure, you could set up a Halo 3 lobby to chat with your 360 or use Skype, but that’s a level of technocrazy I’m not willing to go to for this game.

Where Mario Kart Wii does shine is in the local multiplayer. But again, that’s the same as with the previous installments, so I don’t see a reason you’d need to buy this game if you already have Double Dash, unless you’re just itching to steer with your Wiimote. You can use any of the Wii’s controller configurations (Wiimote, steering wheel, Gamecube controller, etc), but I opted for the handy dandy Wiimote. And for once, it handled well. This is the first time I’ve felt like a Wii driving game has had the right level of responsiveness to the ‘mote, and I didn’t feel like it was hindering me in my race.

If you’re a huge Mario fan and have to have everything with his name on it, or if you get together with friends to play Wii a lot and don’t already have an earlier Mario Kart, Mario Kart Wii could be worth giving a shot. It’s a skipper for the rest.

I give Mario Kart Wii a 4 out of 7. It’s not particularly good, but it’s not bad either. It’s just content to idle in the middle of the road.

Buy it here: Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel

By Jason Dorough Posted in Fandomania, games No Comments