DLC available for Rock Band, Rock Band Store open

Rock Band launched today, and downloadable content is already available. As promised, there are three-song packs and singles available from such heavyweights as Metallica, The Police, and Queens of the Stone Age. The packs cost $5.49 (440 Microsoft points) a piece and the individual songs cost $1.99 (160 Microsoft points). All the songs in the packs are master tracks and also offered as singles. Only one of the songs offered only as a single, Wolfmother’s “Joker and the Thief,” is a master track. The others, like Foreigners “Juke Box Hero,” are covers.

Harmonix has also announced the release schedule for up to the week of Dec. 18. Look forward to a David Bowie next week and a Black Sabbath pack the week after that.

Full list of songs after the jump.

Harmonix has also announced that the Rock Band Store is open. From the Rock Band news section:

Would your favorite bands be caught dead without gear and clothing worthy of a rock superstar? Hell no, and neither should you. Visit our newly opened Rock Band store and be the first on the block to sport our spiffy, exclusive clothing and merch.

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U.S. Senators Gunning For Videogames … Again

Four U.S. senators, Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, Sam Brownback and Hillary Clinton a current US Presidential candidate, have released a letter on Monday to Patricia Vance president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The senators are calling for a “thorough review” of the system in the wake of Rockstar Games’ Manhunt 2 receiving a “Mature” rating and not the “Adults Only” rating some say the game should have received.

The letter the senators sent also went on to claim that the motion-sensitive controller used with Nintendo’s Wii system “permits children to act out each of the many graphic torture scenes and murders” in the game and suggests that ESRB take the controller’s advanced capabilities “into consideration” in rating future games.

[source: Video Business]

My Opinion:
The video game rating system is just like kids watching cable TV. If the parents are out of the room you know the kids will most likely be watching something they should not. Everybody knows the amount of sex and violence that can be found on cable TV even during the day can be staggering. Every TV in America has a V-Chip installed and it’s up to YOU as the parent to activate the V-Chip and use it. Just like it is your job to not give your kids $60.oo or more for a video game and not monitor what they buy.

Come on they are YOUR children not the Governments. Start taking some responsibility for your lack of action.

Do you want to allow the government to control what you and your family can or can’t watch or even what games people can buy? Then continue to do nothing to fight for your rites and that day will come, sooner than you think.

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty Invasion Video Trailer

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty the new “Invasion” trailer have been sent over today. The “Invasion” video is part of the beginning of the game as Nazi forces overrun New York City in an aerial assault. (Why is it always New York that everybody hates so much? What did they ever do to you?) The video also features Spark Unlimited CEO Craig Allen talking about some the aims and inspirations behind the game. Turning Point: Fall of Liberty will be released for PC, Xbox 360 and the PS3.

5 Exclusive Clive Barker’s Jericho ringtones

Codemaster’s has given us five free, exclusive ringtones just for our readers from Clive Barker’s Jericho. Each one features a different character’s dialogue. While I haven’t gotten to the game yet, three of them sound like taunts, one each from Delgado, Jones and Rawlings. The fourth is from squad leader Ross, voiced by the ever-present Steven Jay Blum, saying, “I have no idea what you just said.” Finally, we have the narrator simply saying “Jericho” in a creepy voice.

My personal favorite is Ross, just because I can’t help but scan through all the different characters Blum has used the exact same voice for.

Here is the audio preview of all the ringtones in the pack.

Here is the full download:

  5 Exclusive Clive Barker's Jericho Ringtones (87.1 KiB, 261 hits)

First Halo 3 Map Pack Download on Dec. 11

Beginning December 11, three new multiplayer maps will be available for Bungie’s Halo 3 (X360). The Heroic Map Pack will contain three new maps Foundry, Rat’s Nest, and Standoff each map presents a totally different play style. All will be downloadable from Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 Points ($10).

• Standoff: symmetrical valley, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types.
• Rat’s Nest: vast, labyrinthine passages bring something new to the “Halo” multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise strongly influenced by the Campaign mode, ideal for big team battles.
• Foundry: is the ultimate Forge map – players can edit every single object in this voluminous industrial warehouse, place stairways, walls, bridges and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any kind of map they can think of.

Cyanide Studio Announces Blood Bowl and Future Plans

The game developer Cyanide Studio has announced some general plans for their company in the next year including ‘Blood Bowl’. Here is a snip:

2007 has been “full speed ahead” at Cyanide! The studio took on an international dimension with the opening of a facility in Montreal, Canada and it cast aside its “PC/sport” mantle to release games for both the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS platforms as well as making a successful incursion into the hack ‘n’ slash genre with Loki.

Cyanide’s Canadian studio (Amusement Cyanide Inc.) is currently working on several exciting projects. The most complex is the development of a dynamic 3D animation engine which integrates physical and biomechanical laws under the control of a powerful artificial intelligence system. The engine will generate real-life, real-time character behaviour for collisions, falls, tackles, kicks, punches, etc which take into account all the forces governing the game environment. The resulting engine will be used in future Cyanide games like Blood Bowl, which is to be published by Focus Home Interactive, as well as being licensed to other small and medium-sized game studios, worldwide. In addition to the animation engine, the Canadian studio is working on two of Cyanide’s current games: an add-on to the recently released hack ‘n slash RPG - Loki - as well as a version of Blood Bowl (see below) for the Nintendo DS.

Game development is continuing apace inside Cyanide’s French HQ. Based in Nanterre, in the west of Paris, the various teams are working on a wide variety of projects. The 2008 edition of the perennial favorite Pro Cycling Manager is well underway and it will be released, as usual, just before the start of the Tour de France (June 2008). Other teams are busy with the adaptation of Blood Bowl to the PC and console platforms (Xbox 360, Sony PSP and Nintendo DS). This will be a faithful representation of Games Workshop’s board game in which insane warriors of the Warhammer fantasy universe compete in a “blood sport” that vaguely resembles American football. Release is scheduled for late 2008. At the same time a multiplayer action/RTS game will be brought to market. Set in a dungeon environment where players embody greedy adventurers looking for gold and glory, it is by far the most comical universe ever created by Cyanide.

Ghostbusters Teaser Trailer

Vivendi Games is partnering with Sony Pictures to try and turn “Ghostbusters” into a videogame franchise. First title in what the publisher hopes will be a series of “Ghostbusters” games is set for release in fall ‘08 from Vivendi’s Sierra label. I don’t know why I am even posting this you will understand after you watch the vide.

Ghostbusters to be on six platforms by two developers

Variety has revealed even more information about the game based on the unmade Ghostbusters sequel. Apparently, in addition to the talents of the original Ghostbusters, Ernie Hudson, who played Winston Zeddmore, and Annie Potts, who played Janine Melnitz, will also be lending their talents. The article also says the game will be available on all the major platforms, with the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions being developed by Terminal Reality aimed at the “core gamer demographic,” and another version being developed by Red Fly Studio will develop a version for “families and casual gamers” for the PS2, Wii and DS.Terminal Reality, in case you aren’t familiar with the name, developed Terminal Velocity (a great DOS game), the Aeon Flux game, Blood Rayne and the Metal Slug Anthology. Red Fly Studio has started developing only one other game, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars (I shit you not), though their about page shows some pretty impressive credits, including Deus Ex, Anachronox and the aforementioned Blood Rayne.

More players from the movies does up the chance of Ghostbusters goodness, but with two developers working on games for a total of six platforms, the liklihood these games will be anything more than a “But you used to love Ghostbusters!” holiday bargain bin title plummets much farther than Winston or Janine could hope to reach. Still, gotta keep the faith. Mushroom Men looks just wacky enough to be actually interesting, so you never know. Just have to keep our fingers crossed and see what happens.

(Found via Kotaku).

Rock Band not just a game but a platform for music

In general, I don’t like the full on publication of interviews. Call it my journalism brainwashing telling me the reporter has to cull the good quotes from the interview. OXM’s interview with Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix, actually has some rather enlightening dialog on what Harmonix really wants to achieve with Rock Band. (Found through 1up.com)

Among the many exciting things Rigopulos has to say, the most interesting for me was his vision of how we’re going to experience music in the near future.

In 3 to 5 years people are going to expect to be able to play with music as the normal way that they experience music that they love. If you have a favorite band that releases a new album, sure you’ll buy the CD but you’ll also want to go onto the Rock Band server the game levels based on those 15 new songs to experience them as an active participant in the music-making. But this is how people are going to come to expect to experience the music that they love.

He later said of music distribution through Rock Band:

In the same way that MTV has promoted artists through the video medium on their channels, we actually see Rock Band as a way to break and promote new artists to the audience of people that are playing the game. So that’s definitely something that’s part of our plans.

It’s nice to know that my thoughts on how to best utilize Guitar Hero turned out to be what they wanted to do all along.

Also exciting are plans to be able to export your character onto the Rock Band Web site and convert that into different kinds of merchandise, from t-shirts to bumper stickers. Figurines are mentioned by both OXM and 1up, but I don’t see it in the interview.

So, to get Rock Band or to not get Rock Band? That’s a lot of money to drop on one game, but if Rigopulos’ vision comes true it will be the future of music content delivery anyway.

Tournament mode for Project Gotham Racing 4

Tournament mode for Project Gotham Racing 4 will be available to download starting on Nov. 15 for free on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360.

Project Gotham Racing 4 players will have the opportunity to practice drifting and sliding their way to glory by participating in four new types of races: Daily Tournaments, Super Saturday, Simulation Sundays, and the Global Cup. Each race is unique, so read on to learn about each one, what you’ll have to do to be invited to the party and what you’ll face when you get there.

How to Qualify:

• The Tournament Leaderboards include a timer counting down how much time is left to qualify.
• To qualify for a Tournament, race as fast as you can on a Solo Hot Lap to set the best lap time.
• Once you finish racing, you can check the Tournament Leaderboards to see if you’ve qualified.
• Those who qualified will have a spot reserved for them.
• No shows for the Tournament Elimination rounds will be disqualified.

Racing in Daily Tournaments

• Available Monday through Friday
•  Each Daily Tournament begins and ends in a single day.
• A total of 640 players (five groups of 128) can qualify for each Daily Tournament.
• Only the Top Two finishers advance in each elimination round.

Racing in Super Saturdays

• Available on Saturdays only
• Each Super Saturday Tournament  begins and ends on a single Saturday.
• A total of 2,560 players (five groups of 512) can qualify for each Super Saturday Tournament.
• Only the Top Two finishers advance in each elimination round.

Racing in Simulation Sundays

• Available on Sundays only
• Each Simulation Sunday Tournament begins and ends on a single Sunday.
• Players are required to use In-Car-View/Manual Gear only.
• A total of 64 players can qualify for each Simulation Sunday Tournament.
• Only the Top Four finishers advance in each elimination round.

Racing in the Global Cup

• Available twice a month
• Each Global Cup Tournament takes two weeks to complete.
• A total of 512 players can qualify for each Global Cup Tournament:
• The Top 20 finishers for each Nation
• The Top 32 finishers from the “Rest of World”
• Elimination rounds take place on the second Saturday of the tournament

Winners of the Global Cup will have their gamertags proudly displayed on the PGRNations home page. Winners in the other Tournaments will have their victories appear in the leaderboards.