All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#mtvgames The next Rock Band may actually live up to its promise and teach you how to play music—or at the very least, learn how to play selected songs from the Rock Band 3 soundtrack. More »

#starcraft It's hard to believe, but after over a decade's wait Starcraft II is finally upon us. It's something Blizzard is only too happy to remind us of with this cinematic commercial for the game. More »

Rock Band 3 is set to introduce a new instrument -- the keyboard -- to the performance simulation genre, and a new, more complex level of simulation in Pro Mode. At a pre-E3 event, we asked the project lead, Daniel Sussman of Harmonix, to provide us with comfort in these times of frightening music-game flux. Well, mostly we asked him to tell us things about the game. Read on to learn about the new Pro instruments and the new keyboard peripheral, and how those will interact with the Rock Band we know and love.

Joystiq: First off, what was the major focus for you guys when you were looking to make Rock Band 3? It seems really ambitious, and it seems like it's less about adding more songs -- that's sort of what Rock Band Network does -- and it seems more like expanding the platform out as far as you can take it.

Daniel Sussman, Rock Band 3 project lead: Kind of two main drives: one was to do a ground-up rebuild of the Rock Band platform, and rethink some of the ways that people get in and out of game sessions, and experience the music and the gameplay, and then the other big sort of movement was to innovate with gameplay and try to come up with some new experiences that build on the classic fundamentals of music games and also actual musicianship.

#hollywood First veteran stunt coordinate Simon Crane was going to direct Kane & Lynch. Now, he's not. Then, Running Scared director Wayne Kramer was in discussions to helm the picture. Now, he's not. More »

Want to see the keyboard peripheral designed for Rock Band 3? How about the new versions of the guitar and drums you'll be strumming and smashing, respectively? Dip into our gallery for glamor shots of the instruments, including both variations of the Pro guitar -- the ridiculously button-ful Fender Mustang controller, and the Squier Strat that is both a Rock Band controller and a for-real guitar.

#coverstory Earlier today, Microsoft apparently slipped up and showed Metal Gear Rising's box art on the Xbox Live Marketplace. It's gone now, but the internet, she never forgets. More »

Yes, there is a keytar peripheral (though in the game, it's just called "keys"). Yes, there is a Rock Band Pro mode, complete with its own 150-button guitar, that's more complicated than anything you've ever seen a plastic instrument do. Yes, a full band now consists of seven different instruments: two guitars, three vocalists (harmonies included, thanks to The Beatles), drums and a keyboard. But all of that stuff already reported by USA Today isn't what makes Rock Band 3 worthy of a plus one to the version number.

It's everything else. Harmonix has reimagined their premiere title. They've fixed problems with the game (including the biggest one you didn't even know you had), smoothed out the rough edges, and added a ton of little extra features and fun. From the menu screen on, Rock Band 3 is very clearly, as the developers said during a pre-E3 event a few weeks ago, "a clean slate design of Rock Band. Nothing was sacred," they told us. "We decided to build the ultimate music game."

Tony Hawk: Shred is an actual thing that's coming, this much Activision itself confirmed. And we have it on good authority from our Joystiq Superspy[TM] that the latest game to bear the Tony Hawk name will not only let gamers shred pavement, but also some fresh powder: the game will incorporate snowboarding -- a first for the traditionally skateboarding-only series.

It's been a tough time for the Tony Hawk series lately. Tony Hawk: Ride, which introduced a plastic peripheral, didn't do so well. And with competition from EA's Skate series, as well as newcomer Shaun White Skateboarding emerging on the scene, it's not going to be easy for Shred to stand out from the competition.

We're expecting to hear more on Shred at E3 next week. We'll let you know what we find out.

The Team Fortress 2 blog has revealed the impending arrival of one of Valve's biggest games to the Mac platform. Tomorrow, Mac-owning gamers will be able to join the Team Fortress 2 ... team.

Well, Valve didn't even confirm that it is Team Fortress 2 that is being released tomorrow. Sure, it was on the Team Fortress 2 blog, and the post was topped by the above image of Team Fortress 2 characters, but really it could be any game whose title rhymes with "Speem Gortress."

Per the Steam store, TF2 will be offered as a stand-alone title for $19.99. If you've already purchased the PC or Mac version of The Orange Box, it will be made available as a free download.

According to IGN, Zangief will soon join his street fighting brethren on the iPhone. You can see video proof after the break. The Russian wrestler, like Cammy, will arrive via free DLC at some point in the near future.

In other news, if you can pull off a spinning piledriver without using the special attack button, you're officially done with video games. Congratulations, you win.

Avalanche Studios is working on a new action game, according to studio head Christofer Sundberg. Rather than another Just Cause, this new game will be the start of a new franchise -- a licensed one, in fact.

"I can't talk much about our next project, but it's definitively within the action genre," Sundberg told CVG. "But we have made a move towards the more controlled experience to better convey a strong storyline." Of course, "more controlled" than Just Cause 2 is an apt description of pretty much every game ever made. "We'll never leave our big game worlds and spectacular explosive action, though," Sundberg promised. He called the as-yet unannounced licensed project "perfect" for the studio.

It's not Toy Story -- that's for sure. That's already in the hands of a different Avalanche.

Welcome to the new Joystiq (or, as we've lovingly called it for the last year, Futurestiq). This represents our biggest upgrade ever, with a whole host of new features you'll see, and even more that you won't. With all this change going on, it only seemed right to spruce up the branding - you'll notice we've got a whole new look, designed to make things cleaner and easier to read.

That goal of making Joystiq easier to use informed much of the work we did and resulted in dramatic improvements to nearly every aspect of the site. From comments to searching to video to image galleries to navigation, we've torn the experience down, and rebuilt it with how you use the site in mind. The end result is something much more than just a "blog" - it's a more organized, more structured experience that's part news, part magazine, part blog, and part video site. And we're excited for you to check it out!

We're going to walk you through some of the major new features but, before we get started, we want to ask you to take note of the little badge under our new logo in the upper left: "beta." Just like Gmail and Halo Reach before us, we're appropriating the "beta" label to let you know that there may be some inconsistencies over the next several weeks, as we iron things out.

#review Forget the A-Team you know and love. This movie is nothing like it. And it's all the better for it. More »

When we saw CTA Digital's Inflatable Racing Kart for Wii, we had only one question about the device -- and it's one that, we suspect, many of you also had in mind, if secretly: Is it possible for an adult to sit in it? The promotional video after the break answers that tacit question in the affirmative.

Find out what big changes are in store for the popular music game.

Strap on your keytar and rock the world.

Some we've heard of, others are brand new.

Tonight Mom Brain has chosen ‘The Princess and the Goblin’ from 100 Classic Books as her bedtime story. From real book to Kindle, and now to DSi XL. Mom Brain can never get enough reading! Expect her review of 100 Classic Books in just a few days.

Method Man and Redman are teaming up to make E3 feel 'dis, as the rap duo is set to make an appearance at the show on behalf of Def Jam Rapstar. They'll be doing some of their hits live for conference goers at the Konami booth on Wednesday, June 16 at 4 p.m. PDT. Frankly, we can't imagine a better way to go through E3 than hearing "Cereal Killer" blast throughout the convention center.

Def Jam Rapstar busts a funky rhyme on October 5.

International news agency Reuters is adding to the "rumor and speculation" that the Hulu video service is coming to Xbox 360 and iPad. Sources claim Hulu is developing a subscription model to be rolled out on numerous devices over the next couple months, but it's unclear if the pay model will occur after the service is available on more devices. Although the report mentions "multiple devices," the only ones specifically mentioned are Microsoft's console and Apple's tablet.

The Hulu subscription service will allegedly charge for "older episodes and other content," while new shows will continue being free. Apple didn't mention the service during its big iPhone 4 reveal this week, so perhaps Microsoft will make it official at its E3 press conference next week.

Mini-Game
Collections
Cloud-based
Storage
Dreamcast
Marketplace
Black Ops
Demo
Hulu
Inside
Xbox Live
Price Drop
Day-and-Date
on Demand
Clan
Support
Mobile
Apps
Timed
Exclusives
Insomniac
Reveal
Halo: Reach
SP Demo

Have A Free
One On Us!
Primetime
Returns
Natal-focused
Bundles
Milo Crashes
the Party
Shadow
Complex 2
Fable III
Natal Demo

YouTube
Integration
Limbo headlines
Arcade Promo
Xbox 360
Slims Down
Rock Band 3
Unveiled
Rare
Return
"Sorry,
Indie!"
Square Enix
Reveals

We're days away from the industry's biggest event, making today the perfect time to launch Joystiq's (3rd Annual) E3 Bingo Extravaganza! This year, each card is developed to consider the entire event and not only the conferences.

Originally, our plan was to utilize a series of super-computers specially designed to accurately predict the events of E3 2010; however, the "Joystiq Probability Index" (or JPI-3000) only delivered results as a string of "dingbat" characters. Development of an ultra-computer (JPI-4d3d3d3) to decipher the codes is expected to be complete in the year 2014. Stay Tuned.

For day one in our three- part series, we take a look at Microsoft -- the first company to take the E3 stage. Click on each of the squares above for more information (and the completely accurate but indecipherable rating). Microsoft's E3 press conference is scheduled for Monday, June 14, at 10:30 am PT (that's 1:30 pm Joystiq Time / ET). As always, Joystiq will be on hand to liveblog all the details.

Download a copy (PNG file) and play along (Remember, it's just for fun)! Stay tuned tomorrow for our Sony E3 Bingo card.

Andriasang reports that Square Enix has pulled back the curtain obscuring the identity of its next project: a 2D action game called Moon Diver, coming this year to the Japanese Xbox Live Arcade. The title, which will be developed by Lost Odyssey and Ninety-Nine Nights 2 creator feelplus, pits four-player teams of ninjas -- presumably moon ninjas, which we all know to be the coolest type of ninjas -- against waves of monsters in an attempt to protect a post-apocalyptic Earth.

We still have so many questions: Is it coming to America? Can we see some screenshots? Are we expected to dive into or off of the moon? We suppose our curiosity will have to be sated by these slim, slim details for now. We'll try pestering Square Enix for answers to these pressing questions at E3.

Filed under: X3F TV First, yes, there is another game out this week. That game is NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, an SNK fighting game. But enough about that, because Earthworm Jim HD is upon us. It is, by and large, Earthworm Jim, which should make old school fans happy, and undoubtedly delight the uninitiated. Check out the latest XBLA in Brief and see what the fuss is about.

[M4V] Download the M4V directly.


Xbox.com: Add NeoGeo Battle Coliseum trial version to your Xbox 360 download queue
Xbox.com: Add Earthworm Jim HD trial version to your Xbox 360 download queue

Full promo CD here Watch live video from RedSunGamer on Justin.

The Wii MotionPlus-compatible game list increases by one, thanks to High Voltage Software's Conduit 2, which optionally supports the Wii Remote add-on. Sega confirms it! More »

#mutants As promised, MLB 2K10 won the race to be the first to put Washington Nationals' phenom Stephen Strasburg into the official roster, and their version is nothing short of superhuman. Try a 102-mph fastball. More »

#insomniacgames Insomniac Games, developers of Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, takes another look back at a game that never was. In this case, it's the original vision for Resistance: Fall of Man, formerly a time-traveling World War I shooter. More »

It turns out that Valve's completely opaque hinting yesterday referred to a Mac release of Team Fortress 2! If you have an inclination toward team-based, cartoony/violent FPS action, head over to Steam now and enjoy the newly OSX-compatible game.

Valve has provided some decent motivation to do so quickly, if fun isn't enough: if you play on a Mac before June 14, you'll get some in-game earbuds like the ones sported by the blue "Mac" team in the above video. Oh, and you can also play for free this weekend (through June 13) on both Mac and PC, or pick up a permanent copy of the game for $10. Both of those offers are good through June 13.

[Thanks to all the excited Mac owners who sent this in mid-freakout]