Sting and Tool join Guitar Hero - World Tour video game

Police Frontman/Bassist Sting to Lend Voice and Likeness; Rockers Tool Bring Three Popular Tracks and Band-Designed Venue to the Game

Rock and roll legend Sting and progressive metal pioneers Tool are making their video game debuts, contributing more than just music, in Activision, Guitar Hero World Tour.

In what will be the largest collection of artists ever to appear in a Guitar Hero game, singer-songwriter, actor, author, activist and lead singer/bassist of The Police, Sting will add his voice and likeness as an in-game character. Aspiring frontmen can take the stage as Sting throughout their vocal career or play alongside him as he performs one of The Police classics, “Demolition Man.”



Hugely popular alternative metal band Tool, known for their epic, intense musical arrangements and killer visual arts, will also soon be known for their contribution to the upcoming Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitar Hero fans from all over the world will be able to rock out to “Parabola” and Grammy-award winning “Schism” from Tool’s critically-acclaimed 2001 album Lateralus in addition to “Vicarious” from their 2006 Grammy-award winning album 10,000 Days. The game will also feature an all-new venue designed in collaboration with the band and highlighting the art style that has become a staple in their music videos, live shows and album artwork.

When the house lights go down this fall, a new generation of guitarists, drummers and fearless frontmen will come together and rock with Guitar Hero World Tour. The latest installment in the No1 best-selling video game franchise of 2007, Guitar Hero World Tour transforms music gaming by expanding Guitar Hero’s signature guitar gameplay into a cooperative band experience that combines the most advanced wireless controllers with new revolutionary online* and offline gameplay modes including Band Career and 8-player “Battle of the Bands,” which allows two full bands to compete head-to-head online for the first time ever. 

The game features a slick newly redesigned guitar controller, drum kit controller and a microphone, as well as an innovative Music Studio music creator that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own rock ‘n’ roll anthems. Music creators will also be able to share their recordings with their friends online through GHTunesSM where other gamers can download and play an endless supply of unique creations.

Tug-of-War Among Japanese Video Game Makers

With a deadline looming, Tecmo rejected takeover from rival Square Enix. 

Now, it's exploring a merger with a different game outfit, Koei

When Japanese video game developer Square Enix unveiled its "friendly" offer to buy rival Tecmo last week, analysts and investors applauded. The two companies seemed a natural fit: Square Enix's Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series had a huge following among diehards in Japan, while Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive fighting games were popular in the U.S. and Europe. 

To sweeten the deal, Square Enix President Yoichi Wada pledged to preserve the Tecmo brand. He gave Tecmo's management a week to think it over.

On Sept. 4, with a midnight deadline looming, Tecmo said no to Square Enix's takeover bid. A couple of hours later, Tecmo revealed why: The $110 million Tokyo company was exploring a possible merger with a different Japanese game maker, Koei. The two said they would form a joint committee to discuss a plan. Koei President Kenji Matsubara told reporters they would spend the next two months drawing up a detailed plan.

Read the full "Tug-of-War Among Japanese Video Game Makers" Business Week article here...

Nintendo DS Guitar Hero video games rock at the bus stop

Guitar Hero - On Tour - Review

Pick your way to rock stardom or slip into a strange, cartoon world with Guitar Hero on Nintendo DS video games.

Guitar Hero - On Tour is about as faithful as a pint-size version of the series could be.

Guitar Hero - On Tour is packed with the Guitar Grip - attachment that plugs into the Nintendo DS providing the fret buttons - so crucial to Guitar Hero - On Tour game play. There are only four buttons instead of five on the Nintendo DS version.

The grip also has a guitar pick shape stylus.

Grip is a bit tough to master it is tricky to find a comfortable way to hold it, and gamers with larger fingers may find that it's easy to hit the wrong buttons. The player slides the stylus across the touch screen instead of a strum bar.

Guitar Hero - On Tour plays like the console version. The song list is about half that of a standard Guitar Hero video game because the capacity of a Nintedno DS card is much less than a DVD, but the variety of songs is good.

System: Nintendo DS
Price: $49.99
Age rating: Everyone 10+

Also available for Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii

PS3, Wii, 2 x Xbox 360s, 40' HDTV, dance mat, Rock Band kit all in 8 x 12 ft living room

Brooklyn - 450 square foot apartment living room is about 8 x 12 feet. 

In that space there's a 40-inch HDTV, 2 Xbox 360s — one retail, one debug — a PlayStation 3, a Nintendo Wii,  a collection of video games loads of gaming peripherals, plus other great things like records, toys, books and more ...

Plenty of room for “Rock Band” was important so loads of Rock band kit. Now add Active Life - Outdoor Challenge with the Active Life mat. 

Relocate the Wii Fit balance board - right next to three plastic guitars - move the couch back to make room for it. 

That made me realise… how many gaming peripherals I have.

Read the complete story on MTV web site here...

Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel Action RPG news

Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel is an Action RPG with a rich story that takes place in a giant, open-ended and seamless world. This world contains hundreds of dungeons, treacherous opponents and a variety of challenging quests. Intelligent enemies, steadily adapting in number and difficulty based on player progress, challenge in heroic single- and multiplayer battles.

Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel provides numerous unique items that can be gathered in this mystical world. A deep reward system further enables advancements in character, individual attributes and character-specific fighting styles, each designed to keep players returning to the world of Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel to discover what is around the next bend. 

Drop-in styled cooperative multiplayer gameplay ensures players will enjoy the game alone or seamlessly with friends at any time. Five unique multiplayer modes round out the experience and offer a refreshing, first-class gaming experience in Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel.

Released on Microsoft Xbox 360, Windows PC and Sony PlayStation 3.

Metal Gear Solid 4 video game OctoCamo Suit Contest win a PS3 MG4 bundle (US only)

Here's your chance to be seen..

The object of Solid Snake's OctoCamo suit is not to be seen, but we're asking you to show us your best Metal Gear 4 OctoCamo suit in action. Go Figure. You'll be judged on creativity, humour and originality... so do your best and have fun.

You can create a video - details on the web site below...

Create a screenshot again - details on the web site below...

PRIZES: Two Grand Prizes of Limited Edition Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots Bundle Packs including:

• Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots


• PlayStation 3 system 80GB hard drive version
  


• New DualShock 3 wireless controller
  


• High-Definition Blu-Ray player
  


• HDMI output at 1080p resolution
  


• Unlimited hours of entertainment
  

US gamers can enter the Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots contest here...

F1 style video game Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli see if Lewis Hamilton can beat Kimi Raikkonen in the wet again

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.

"Creating Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli has been a labor of love. Our obsession with capturing the Ferrari mystique is something racing game fans and auto aficionados will savor," said Mark Cale, CEO at System 3. "Activision is the best partner imaginable to distribute the game in North America, so we are in a fantastic position."

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is a re-creation of Ferrari's own racing series, where drivers unleash the world's most powerful, elegant cars on premiere international race tracks. The title was given a uniquely magical touch from GP2 driver Bruno Senna, nephew of F1 legend Ayrton, who acted as technical consultant on the game's handling.

"It's been refreshing to be a part of a racing title that takes itself seriously," said Dave Oxford, Activision Publishing. "Ferraris are elite performance machines and Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli simulates the exhilaration of driving them flawlessly."

Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli is a graphical beast - especially when running at 1080p on PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. The game has 15 international racing circuits along with multiple gameplay modes such as Ferrari Challenge Seasons, Time Trial, Quick Race, and Endurance. The 16 competitor online multiplayer action is unmatched in terms of framerate and fun, even allowing Ferrari fanatics to race against European players who own the game. Downloadable content will be continually released for the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli community beginning in September.

Will Wright on critical SPORE video game reviews from some users...

EA’s biggest PC game of the year and the brainchild of renowned game designer Will Wright, “Spore” hits store shelves today. The game has won Best of E3 awards and been lavished with positive pre-release coverage in the gaming and mainstream press.
So why is it getting 8s and 9s rather than 10s? And what does Wright make of reactions such as that of the New York Times‘ review, which concludes:

“Now if Mr. Wright and the Maxis team just take another few passes through Spore’s later stages and release a big revision patch next year, they may finally end up with a game to match the stellar toy they have already unleashed.”

On Friday, I had a chance to talk to Wright about the response the game has been getting, giving him a chance to clarify the goals of his design team and to reveal how he’s playing “Spore.” (As the week progresses, we’ll be posting Wright’s thoughts on each of the game’s stages, which he also shared during the interview.)

Read the full interview on MTV web site here...

All gamezplay.org SPORE posts here...

Free Linux games links on Gamezplay.org No1 gamez blog

Link to gamezplay.org posts on Free Linux games - loads of games here...

Please report and dead links here...