Friday, October 19, 2007

Reminder: E for All opens its doors today

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Don't feel empty and unfulfilled any longer. The E for All Expo, organized by IDG World Expo (MacWorld Expo) and completely unrelated to an illegal substance that makes people worship glowsticks, kicks off today. VIP access began at 11:00 am PT while general admission guests can peruse the show floor starting at 3:00 pm PT (that's 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm ET, respectively).

Those in the Los Angeles area can attend the E for All Expo at the LA Convention Center, former home to the E3 Expo. On-site registration costs $50 to $90, but you do get to try out Smash Bros. Brawl and Metal Gear Solid 4. Joystiq has sent operatives to infiltrate the show floor, we'll report our findings.

Gallery: E for All 2007

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[via] Joystiq

Guitar Hero III demo disc online, magically works on any 360

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We're but simple bloggers, unfamiliar with the illicit, seedy underbelly of pirating video games, so we won't pretend to understand how all of this works. What we do know is that the demo for Guitar Hero III - which came bundled in with Tony Hawk Proving Ground and the December issue of OXM - isn't on the Xbox Live Marketplace but if you burn this magical disc you can play it on your regular old 360. No soldering, no flashing ROMs, or any of that other stuff we're vaguely familiar with from peeking around inappropriate internet sites. Just burn and shred. Now that we've got your attention, here's the track list for the curious amongst you.
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[via] Joystiq

Target's $110 Guitar Hero III special edition for PS2

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This holiday Target stores will stock a special edition of Guitar Hero III for PS2 which includes two specially designed SG wired guitars for $110. Cutting to the chase, this means the extra guitar is $30, saving you $10 off the guitar's normal $40 price. Considering co-op and competition seem to be a focus in this latest Guitar Hero, the bundle doesn't seem like a bad deal for those who don't already have a guitar sitting around. There is no announcement about a Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360 bundle, but each of those systems should have online options to find another player -- with varying degrees of success.

Target is also sponsoring a Guitar Hero competition at E for All this week. We contacted the PR reps for the event and the bundle won't be a prize at the competition. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock hits store shelves on Oct. 28.

[Via Press Release]

Continue reading Target's $110 Guitar Hero III special edition for PS2

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[via] Joystiq

The Wizard gets reunion screening from Ain't It Cool News

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It's rare that the intersection of film and video game makes for any good news, but this just happens to be one of those odd occasions. The film buffs of Ain't It Cool News are going to be putting together a reunion screening for the greatest video-game-related-yet-not-video-game-based film of all time: The Wizard. In attendance will be big brother Fred Savage, director Todd Holland and the titular wizard, Luke Edwards. Conspicuously absent from the list: Jackey "Lucas" Vinson, who apparently hasn't acted in 15 years. You may remember Vinson from his love of the Power Glove and its plentiful badness.

Tickets to the Dec. 7 show at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas go on sale on Nov. 5 on their website. If you're in the area and you don't go, well ... we're not sure we can be friends anymore.
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[via] Joystiq

Concept art glued and bound in 'The Art of Midway'

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We'll admit that when approached with the subject of art in video games, Midway is not the first company that comes to mind. Not to say that their games are not art, as we sidestep that land mine and save the explosion for another day, but Midway's titles have never come across as particularly driven by aesthetic style, making us all the more curious as to the contents of Midway's newly released art book, The Art of Midway: Before Pixels and Polygons.

A 160-page collection of concept art for some of Midway's top titles, the book is said to include 200 illustrations covering such games as The Suffering and Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, to the more recently shipped Stranglehold. And of course you can bet there will be quite a few doodles from the Mortal Kombat franchise as well, with Baraka's toothy grin featured on the book's cover. However, what's more interesting to us are the unpublished works said to be included in the book from Midway artists such as Stephan Martinière, Vince Proce, Ben Olson, and Bruno Werneck. Our coffee table has been looking a bit barren lately, and this book would fit quite nicely next to the sweat ring and stack of back issues of People.
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[via] Joystiq

Rat Race isn't all that funny

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It's just what we were afraid of. You've been lied to. When you learned of upcoming PSN title Rat Race, you were told it was an episodic comedy/adventure game. The truth, as you can see in this clip and the others after the jump, is that it is an episodic adventure game that contains objects that are supposed to be jokes. Honestly, if there's any justice it won't even be episodic. It'll just be a really short game.

Let's put it this way. It's The Guy Game bad. ... No, it's worse. Rat Race is aspiring to that level. When Rat Race goes home to its four-post canopy bed, it has pictures of The Guy Game hanging on its wall. We're still hopeful for a glimmer of comedy, a smirk even. We just haven't seen it yet.

Continue reading Rat Race isn't all that funny

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[via] Joystiq

September NPD: Xbox 360 takes the lead, Halo 3 to thank

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Though August was an unseasonably successful month for video games, we all saw September coming. Despite being released at the tail end of the month, Microsoft's Halo 3 juggernaut walked right up to the reigning NPD champ and rifle-butted it from behind. The Xbox 360 console jumped up two places with sales of over half a million units, nearly twice as many as in August. Total industry sales for the month: a staggering $1.36 billion thanks in large part to the efforts of Mr. Chief; hardware sales alone rose 188% to $418.6 million.
  • Microsoft Xbox 360: 527.8K (6.8 million total)
  • Nintendo Wii: 501K (4.5 million total)
  • Nintendo DS: 495.8K (13.2 million total)
  • Sony PlayStation 2: 215K (39.3 million total)
  • Sony PSP: 284.5K (8.6 million total)
  • Sony PlayStation 3: 119.4K (1.87 million total)

Continue reading September NPD: Xbox 360 takes the lead, Halo 3 to thank

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[via] Joystiq

X3F Week in Review: October 12th, 2007 - October 18th, 2007

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It's time yet again for another X3F Week in review. Come with us and reminisce about all the wonderful things that happened in the last seven days. While you're at it, you should really enter our weekly giveaway too. You could win Forza 2. Forza 2. Sounds pretty good, right?

Community Stuff:
News:
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[via] Joystiq

Free PC Ouendan/EBA emulator hits public beta

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One thing you can count on for any decently successful rhythm game: someone will figure out a way to make a free PC clone. First there was Stepmania for DDR players, then there was Frets on Fire for Guitar Hero shredders and now there's Osu! for Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents fans.

The public beta, available since yesterday, does a remarkable job of capturing the tap-out-the-rhythm gameplay of the DS games, though the dancing cheerleaders have been replaced with static videos for each song. You can build your own levels or download over 100 "beatmaps" of primarily J-Pop songs that were made by testers.

Casual fans beware -- a lot of these fan-designed levels are killer, though there is an easy mode that makes things a little more manageable. Even if you're a master at the DS games, using the mouse takes a little getting used to. Then again, if you have a tablet PC, it's probably just like the DS games. Except, er, bigger.
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[via] Joystiq

Battlestar Galactica escapes to PC and XBLA next week

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Next week Battlestar Galactica, a "3D space shooter played on a 2D plane," makes its way onto PC and Xbox Live Arcade. Based on the popular television show, the game didn't really wow us when we played it back in July, but that's OK because it's meant as a felgercarb "mass appeal" cash-in on BSG fans who've been waiting forever for the final frakin' season to start in January. Thankfully the two-hour BSG special Razor premieres Nov. 24.

The Battlestar Galactica game has 10 single-player missions based on battles from the show. There is also a multiplayer component supporting eight players on XBLA and 16 on PC. Players can choose from four different types of ships on the Cylon or Human sides. The game will cost 800 MS points ($10) on XBLA and $20 on PC, available off XBLA on Oct. 24 and PCs Oct. 23. Now can we please get a real Battlestar Galactica game?

[Via Press Release]

Gallery: Battlestar Galactica (XBLA, PC)


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[via] Joystiq