Guitar Hero 5 already has a star studded list of celebrities that will be appearing in the game, such as Johnny Cash, Shirley Manson for Garbage and Adam Levine from Maroon 5, but Activision have announced that the late Nirvana singer and guitarist, Kurt Cobain, will also be featuring in the latest Guitar Hero.
Cobain will be performing popular Nirvana titles “Lithium” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. The Vice President of Music Affairs for Activision, Tim Riley, said:
"Kurt Cobain is one of the most recognisable frontmen in rock 'n' roll history and it's an honour to have two of Nirvana's masterpieces included in Guitar Hero 5"
Unfortunately, there has not been any confirmation of a suicide mini-game after each Cobain performance. But here’s hoping.
Rockstar have recently released some screenshots for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on PSP which is due out on October 30th. The point of view is the same as the DS version, but the graphics are much crisper and look a lot more 3D compared to the DS version. But we’re still wondering how Rockstar will implement the touch-screen sections in the PSP version. Only time will tell.
UPDATE!
Rockstar have anounced today, via their Twitter page, that both GTA: Chinatown Wars and Beaterator will be coming out on iPhone and iPod Touch this Autumn. We'll bring you more info as we get it.
EA's Chief Creative Officer, Rich Hilleman, has suggested that Sony and Microsoft will bring out different hardware iterations before the next generation of consoles are due to be released. During the Hot Chips conference at Stanford University, Hilleman said:
"I expected we'll see a PlayStation 3.5 before we see a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 560 before we see an Xbox 720"
What he means is that the PS3 and the Xbox 360 could have possible upgrades similar to the PSP Go and DSi which both have added functionality. Rumours are currently running around, however, that Microsoft are working on an Xbox console that has the motion sensing Natal technology built-in.
Warner Bros. has confirmed that the release date for Scribblenaust has changed form September 15th to October 9th in the UK.
Scribblenauts is a side-scrolling adventure game exclusive to Nintendo DS. In the game you control Maxwell who’s goal is to collect ‘staries’ across several different levels. In order to collect the ‘staries’ you can ‘transport’ any thing into the game to use as a weapon, vehicle or item. Basically, as long as it exists in the dictionary, then you can use it. It could be a baseball, a monkey, a telephone box or even God.
We’ re really excited about this game, mainly because we want to see Maxwell use some poo on a stick as a weapon. Hilarious times will be had by all.
Codemasters had today confirmed that Sony will be handling the distribution duties of Colin McRae DiRT 2 in PAL territories for the PS3 and PSP except for Spain, Australia and New Zealand.
Codemasters will still be distributing the Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PC version themselves and have also confirmed that Warner Bros. Will be handling the American copies.
A statement about the decision was released, saying:
"The arrangement sees SCEE performing sales and distribution for both the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and PlayStation Portable system editions of the much anticipated off-road racing game."
Soon after, a Codemasters spokesperson clarified the arrangement:
“[the agreement] represents an opportunity for a great partnership with the platform holder throughout its PAL network, especially at a time when DiRT 2's launch coincides with the release window for the new PS3 console."
Microsoft's vice president of Interactive Entertainment Business in Europe, Chris Lewis, has commented why Microsoft has ditched the Pro console and why they removed the HDMI cable from the Elite console.
“We felt that the time is right [to drop the Pro unit] and there's been a demand to clarify our SKUs and our offerings to the consumers. We continue to offer an entry console in the Arcade unit and, now we've lowered the price of the Xbox 360 Elite, we're confident we're offering a premium gaming experience at a very competitive price.”
“We wanted to get the Elite pricing to a figure that is acceptable for consumers so they have the option of a premium console gaming experience. Removing the HMDI cable gives the flexibility to consumers who can then decide which type of cable they want for their specific gaming and TV screen set-up.”
Wait a minuet! If you were to buy an Elite console at £199.99 and then buy an official Xbox 360 HDMI cable or a set of Component cables for £19.99, then it would cost a total of £219.98... That’s only £10 cheaper than the original price of the Elite console. You sneaky bastards, Microsoft.
The second downloadable episode for Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360, The Ballad of Gay Tony will be heading it’s my to the marketplace and retail stores on October 29th.
You play the role of Luis Lopez, an assistant to the seedy nightclub owner Anthony “Gay Tony” Prince. According to Rockstar, the game will focus on the player struggling “with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price”
The game will be out on the Xbox marketplace and will cost 1600 MS points and will also be available as part of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which includes The Lost and Damned episode, and will cost approximately £34.99.
The rumours about a price cut for the Xbox 360 Elite console have, today, been confirmed by Microsoft. The console which was originally on sale for £229.99 has now been cut down to £199.99, which is a nice saving of £30. The new price of the 120Gb model will be introduced tomorrow on August 28th which happens to be four days before the PS3 Slim goes on sale, and it’s just in time for the Bank Holidays. Cheeky.
Unfortunatley, the rumours about the Xbox 360 Arcade console has also been confirmed and will be going up in price by £20 from £139.99 to £159.99. Microsoft have responded to the price hike of the Arcade model, saying:
"We have not made upward adjustments to the trade price of consoles before. A modest increase on the trade price of Xbox 360 Arcade consoles [in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa] allows us to offset exchange rate fluctuations and changes in local market conditions while still offering the most affordable console on the market."
As expected, the Xbox 360 Pro/Premium consoles, which have a 60Gb hard drive, will be discontinued.
A new trademark which was submitted by Capcom has been discovered at the Japanese Patent Office by the name of ‘Okamiden’, suggesting that a sequel, to the critically acclaimed PS2 and Wii title, Okami could be in development. The trademark covers various items from video game software, collectable trading cards and mobile phone straps.
The original game’s developer, Clover Studio, was shut down by Capcom a month after Okami was released on the PS2 in 2006. It was latter ported over to the Wii in 2008 by Ready at Dawn, who developed the fantastic God of War: Chains of Olympus on PSP.
So will we be seeing a sequel in the near future? Well, it just too early to tell, but there’s no reason why Capcom couldn’t do such a thing. As always we’ll keep you posted on any further developments.
A bit of bad news, EA has confirmed lay-offs at Maxis who developed the very popular PC Spore. EA released a statement about the situation, saying:
“Often in the video game industry, the size of a studio fluctuates in response to business conditions. In this case, EA has taken action to reduce the workforce at Maxis as we focus the business and focus Maxis. EA remains fully committed to Spore and other IP within Maxis, with games planned for launch in the next few months”
That’s basically EA’s way of saying “Thanks for developing a successful game for us. Now sod off”. Still, there’s plenty of room in the unemployment line. Perhaps they’ll meet some guys from Atomic Games there.
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