Games Cheats and Reviews

DJ Hero 2 plays it pretty safe. But this sequel to last year’s surprisingly successful study in turntablism (who would’ve thought people would want another plastic peripheral?) will allow you to get at least a little more use out of your faux-DJ skills. At a recent Activision event showing off the upcoming Guitar Hero and DJ Hero 2, I tried spinning my own beats to see what’s changed — beyond the new artists and tracks — in this year’s version of the game.

While Activision’s big talking points revolved around the specifics of the added multiplayer modes (new ways to battle against friends, and prove who’s the superior scratcher), I was much more interested in the gameplay itself. See, my biggest problem with the first DJ Hero was that it didn’t give you any creative freedom, but in DJ Hero you’re playing one of the most creative and individualistic instruments out there. To a degree, DJ Hero 2 tries to remedy that problem. Like the drum fills in Rock Band and Guitar Hero, short sections in each song give you almost total control over the beat, allowing you to alternate freely between tracks and scratch to your heart’s content. They’re agonizingly short interludes, but they give you that burst of freedom you need, while not violating the integrity of the original DJ’s work.

Getting the band back together happens from time to time, and this occasion has to do with none otherthan the reunion of Soundgarden. Chris Cornell and company have delighted their fans by getting back together for a new album, but they have also found a way to please their Guitar Hero fans two-fold. This feat [...]

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I wanna rock…..

This week’s Spring Fever theme is Racing with WipEout HD headlining the show! WipEout HD is on sale for $9.99 (regular price $19.99).  That is one great price for this game.  You need to get on this deal before it is blown into little bits by a homing missile.

Updates:

• Valhalia Knights 2: Battle Stance Permanent Price Drop (now $19.99, original price $29.99)
• Tank Battles Sale (now $4.99, original price $6.99)
• TV Show King Sale (now $4.99, original price $6.99)
• UNO Sale (now $4.99, original price $7.99)

Downloadable Games  – People are a pain, the internet is mutable:

• Final Fight: Double Impact ($9.99) – Take a lead pipe and use it to know some sense into bad guys
• “Sam & Max” The Devil’s Playhouse Episode 1: The Penal Zone – This is real investigative work

PSone Classics – Retro is so in right now:

• XS Junior League Dodgeball ($5.99) – Dodging flying balls was never this easy

Game Demos – Buy it before you try it:

• Skate 3 Demo – Live out your dream as a Tony Hawk wannabe
• “Sam & Max” The Devil’s Playhouse Episode 1: The Penal Zone Demo – Pretend your a super sleuth

Add-on Game Content – Expanding your purchase one pill at a time:

• Magic Orbz: Jungle Pack ($2.99) – Look out Shatter.
• Zen Pinball: Excalibur Table ($2.49) – Bet King Arthur never had to worry about tilt screwing him over
• Hustle Kings – Crazy Tables: Hex Crazy (free) – Drunken bar brawls not included
• PAIN: Fluffer Character ($0.99) – Time to rock the hairball puking goodness that is a cat
• Dante’s Inferno – Devil Pack ($2.99) – Disguise your voice as you raid Hell
• Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Ultimate Warriors Pack 4 (free) – The roster continues to grow
• Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce Quest Pack #4 (free) – Even more missions and challenges

Guitar Hero 5 – Save me Abel:

• “Addicted” by Saving Abel ($1.99)
• “Gives You Hell” by All-American Rejects ($1.99)
• “There’s No Other Way” by Blur ($1.99)

Rock Band – They feel so used:

• “Blood On My Hands” – The Used ($1.99)
• “Born To Quit” – The Used ($1.99)
• “The Taste Of Ink” – The Used ($1.99)
• The Used Pack 1 ($5.49)
• “Empty Walls” – Serj Tankian ($1.99)
• “Sky Is Over” – Serj Tankian ($1.99)
• “All Star” – Smash Mouth ($1.99)

Game Videos – No, Debbie does not make an appearance here:

• The Tester – Winner Interview
• Pulse 4/15 Edition
• PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe Trailer
• Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake Trailer
• ModNation Racers – BTS: Mod Studio
• ModNation Racers – BTS: Kart Studio
• ModNation Racers – BTS: The Story
• Anarchy: Rush Hour Trailer
• 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa Official Trailer
• Army Of Two: Fortieth Day Chapters Of Deceit Developer Diary Network Trailer
• Need For Speed: Shift Exotic Racing Series Trailer

PS3 Themes – Sexier than old people in bath tubs:

• South Park Anime Theme ($1.99)
• Megaman 10 Dynamic Theme 2 ($2.99)
• Sushi Theme ($1.99)

PS3 Wallpaper – No blue tape needed:

• Patchwork Heroes Parachutes Wallpaper

PlayStation Store for PSP
Downloadable Games – You didn’t want to shower today anyway:

• Mimana Iyar Chronicle ($34.99) – RPG yumminess to get you through a dry summer

PSP Minis – Bite size pieces of fun:

• Monopoly ($4.99)
• Telegraph Sudoku & Kakuro ($2.99)
• Sheep Defense (PSP Only – $1.99)
• Sweet Reversi (PSP Only – $1.99)
• Tonzurakko (PSP Only – $1.99)

Add-on Game Content – The little blue pill for your gaming addiction:

• BUZZ! Quiz World National Geographic – Kids Quiz ($3.99) – Take a stroll through the National Geographic archives
• LittleBigPlanet PSP Temples Costumes (free)
• LittleBigPlanet PSP Temples Theme Pack ($2.99)

Game Videos – Almost as good as college girls on video:

• Pulse 4/15 Edition
• The Tester – Winner Interview
• PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe Trailer
• Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake Trailer
• ModNation Racers – BTS: Mod Studio
• ModNation Racers – BTS: Kart Studio
• ModNation Racers – BTS: The Story

PSP Themes – Get some new ink on that background:

• South Park PSP Theme ($1.99)
• Patchwork Heroes – Friends Theme (free)

PSP Wallpaper – Almost like a tattoo, but without all the pain:

• The Patchwork Heroes – Parachutes Wallpaper (PSP)

Sharing: It’s Win/Win

resumeplay writes: "Gaming underwent a social revolution this generation, finding vast media coverage coupled with increased acceptability. In large part due to the Wii and franchises like Guitar Hero, our culture faces greater recognition and acknowledgment."

VGChartz writes: "Classical piano pieces… vocal perfromances and rock arrangements of Chopin’s music" in a Guitar Hero-style rhythm game? Yep!

Microsoft has released its rumored Xbox 360 USB storage update last night, and now you’re free from the tyranny of the Microsoft overpriced proprietary hard drive tyranny, sixteen gigabytes at a time.

Setting up a USB device is simple – you plug it into your 360, go into System Settings, then Memory, go down to your USB device, and you can either format it as a new device, or set aside a certain part of the USB drive as 360 storage, up to 16GB, along with 512MB as system space.

It appears that you must use flash memory with the update – I tested out a FAT32-formatted USB hard drive, and it said that it did not meet the specifications necessary to use it as Xbox 360 storage. Using a 4GB A-Data microSDHC card in an SD adapter in an SDHC card reader worked fine (when tested using a different card reader, it would not recognize the previously formatted space), but a generic microSDHC reader that fits in half of a USB port did not work. Everything that I loaded onto the USB storage ran perfectly fine without any issues, and you can easily remove the Xbox 360 specific memory from the memory card from the same Memory menu you installed it on.

This update will come as a great convenience to 20GB hard drive owners like myself who have run out of space on their hard drives. Now, I can download more Guitar Hero 5 songs without worrying about being unable to download anything ever again!

Haha, just kidding, I’m totally gonna download Rock Band songs.

Sharing: It’s Win/Win

Activision has yet to confirm, but Kiss’ Gene Simmons has confirmed his involvement in the title by stating that he "is the voice of Guitar Hero 6".

Speaking to ITN Productions’ Game On programme, Simmons confirmed that he was involved.

When it comes to video games, publishers like a sure thing. For example, you can always count on another Call of Duty or Madden game every year. These games are a known quantity and will always sell well as long as small innovations are made to keep the series interesting. What truly drives innovation in the game industry rarely comes from a staple series. Instead, it comes from experimental side projects. Heavy Rain is one of those projects.

Heavy Rain started out as an internal tech demo meant to show off a way to convey emotion in a virtual character. The game that has evolved from that demo is so unlike anything that has come before, that the developers themselves hesitate to even all it a game. The best way to describe Heavy Rain is as a “choose your own adventure.” Instead of taking control of a specific super powerful hero, the character makes the decisions for five separate characters. None of these characters are all important either, as even if you lead them to their death the story can continue without them.

The story itself is the main focus of Heavy Rain. You play through the stories of five characters who are each in some way affected by the Origami Killer, a serial killer who is plaguing the city.  The outcomes of you actions with each character shape the story, based on what clues you find along the way. For the most part you may not see a big difference in what scenes you see during each play through, but your choices along the way will determine one of an incredible array of endings.

Some early criticisms say that the game is one big quicktime event. While coordinated button pressing is important, it is far from the classic “Press X to not die” events that occur in other games. The combat actually has more in common with Guitar Hero then God of War. Rather then dying and restarting if you don’t time your button press correctly, you will simply miss a punch or fail to dodge an attack. Yet depending on how you do, the sequence could play out in any number of ways.

Heavy Rain is a game everyone should check out. While some of the visuals are a little rough and the voice acting isn’t spectacular, Heavy Rain pushes the boundaries of the gaming medium. It shows that video games are more then just points, kills and levels. Video games can be a story telling device as good as any book or movie.

Sharing: It’s Win/Win