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The US Can Now Play Manhunt 2!

Rockstar Games today announced it will release Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation 2, PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, and the Wii home video game system from Nintendo in North America on October 31, 2007. This announcement follows the submission of a modified version of Manhunt 2 to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), who has now rated the title “M” for Mature for ages 17 and older.

In June, Take-Two was compelled to suspend the release of the horror title when the ESRB issued an AO (Adults Only) rating.

“Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we’re glad it can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience,” said Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar Games. “We love the horror genre. Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive story telling that is a unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it.”

“Manhunt 2 is an extraordinary game, and we eagerly anticipate its release in North America,” added Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two.

 Manhunt 2 is the debut title from the newly formed Rockstar London studio, which is developing the game in conjunction with series creator Rockstar North. Early previews of Manhunt 2 have consistently praised the game’s original design and creative use of narrative, tone, and atmosphere to evoke an experience many consider unmatched in video games. The Wii version is being developed by Rockstar Toronto.

Video games rated Mature are for consumers ages 17 and older and are not intended for children. Along with the Mature rating, the ESRB also assigned the following content descriptors to Manhunt 2: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs.

xbox Live to Deliver Music and Movies And Do It Faster

In a shared announcement made Thursday, Microsoft said that Limelight’s knowledge in content delivery network services would boost the Microsoft’s online lineup by helping to deliver music, films and games by way of less congested Internet routes, reported Reuters.

While financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Limelight, which is already offering similar services to Dream Works, Facebook and MySpace, will also be able to make the most of unnamed Microsoft technologies.

Challenger content delivery company Akamai presently works with Sony and Nintendo to distribute media content across the gaming networks.

More Problems For Microsoft The Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel

Microsoft Corporation announced today the company is taking a precautionary measure and voluntarily providing customers with a free retrofit to the Xbox 360 Wireless Wheel.

The action is being taken after Microsoft was informed of a very small number of incidents of a malfunction in the Xbox 360 Wireless Wheel, where a component in the Wheel chassis may in rare cases overheat and release smoke when the AC-DC power supply is used to energize the Wheel. There have been no reported incidences of fire, personal injury or property damage due to the component failure in the Wheel.

Owners of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel should stop using the AC-DC power supply until they have obtained their retrofit. Owners may continue to operate the Wheel using battery power.

Owners of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel should visit www.xbox.com/support or call Microsoft at 0800 587 1102 to register for the free retrofit and protect against the potential hazard described above. Instructions, if necessary, will be provided with the retrofit. We are notifying and will be coordinating our response activities with the relevant regulatory agencies such as the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. This may impact delivery dates.

Top Spin Tennis for The Wii From 2K Sports

2K Sports, the sports publishing label of Take-Two Interactive, announced today it will be releasing Top Spin Tennis for the Wii home video game system from Nintendo. As part of 2K’s critically acclaimed Top Spin franchise, Top Spin Tennis features fun, flawless tennis action and the most real life tennis experience to date for the Wii. Developed by 2K’s Paris studio PAM Development in conjunction with 2K Shanghai, Top Spin Tennis will be available exclusively on the Wii in spring 2008. The intuitive pick-up-and-play action in Top Spin Tennis allows gamers to use the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers in a way that matches the movements players would make on a real court. The Nunchuk controls the player and aim, while the vibration-enabled Wii Remote hits the ball like a tennis racquet and determines the style of shot ranging from a top spin move to a slice. The Wii Remote also allows players to control the power and the quality of the shot and to serve in many different ways.

The gameplay in Top Spin Tennis will feature an array of modes including singles, doubles, mixed and non-mixed matches, exhibition, tournament and more, with four levels of difficulty and ten international venues. It will also feature more than a dozen licensed tennis stars as well as ten original characters. Up to four players can play Top Spin Tennis using as many as four sets of controllers. To add to the group fun, there are a collection of party games included.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Release Date Announced

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will begin deployment to retailers worldwide on November 5. Armed with more than 40 awards and honors from this year’s annual E3 Business and Media Summit including “Best Action Game” from the Game Critics Awards. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be available on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Windows PC. A Nintendo DS version will also deliver the signature Call of Duty chaos of battle to handheld gamers.

Eye of Judgment Simply Rocks, A Hands on Review

Eye of Judgment is a unique card game that works exclusively on the Sony Playstation 3 with the Playstation Eye camera. I got the chance to put my hands on the game at this years GenCon Indy and I must say I was impressed.

Eye of Judgment is played by setting the included Eye and stand, and playing field (3′ x 3′) on a flat surface, calibrating the device to the appropriate lighting, and simply playing cards. All board actions are mirrored on-screen. To summon a creature to the field or cast a magic card, which all costs mana, simply place the card on the desired zone facing the direction of your choice. Each creature has specific attack patterns and range, making facing important.

My question was: “What is stopping players from just looking their decks and picking the best cards to draw?” Well, before playing online, you must register your deck with the game, and during play it has randomly shuffled your cards and instructs you which card to you can play. So while nothing is stopping you looking at all the cards you have, the game knows what you actually have in your hand and keeps you from simply grabbing all the good ones immediately.

You can use the controller for non-summoning, non-casting actions, but it ends up being easier simply to use the cards. The game calculates all stats and figures, indicates when to draw cards, and informs players when they are attempting to perform an illegal move or do not have sufficient mana, all of which is extremely helpful given how many things are being tracked at one time by the game.

Fundamentally Eye of Judgment is about deck-building and strategy. Though the playing field is small and the goal (control five squares out of nine total) is seemingly simple, it can get a tad more involved with all sorts of secondary actions, possessing enemy creatures, dealing with alignment related effects (switching a zone’s alignment to mess with a creature) and so on.

The game offers two different playing modes. The first is the actual battle mode where monsters are summoned into engagement with each other. The second mode is the view mode where you are able to see the various monsters and examine their attributes. You can even conduct mock fight trials to see how they will perform in impending battles.

There will be three ways to play:

• As a single gamer playing against your PS3
• Two players playing against each other in the same room
• Two players playing against each other online

At release, the game will come with the gear needed to play along with a regular 30-card starter set and an eight-card booster pack. Sony, in partnership with Wizards of the Coast, plans to market the game as a full-scale collectible card game. When the game launches October 07, the total set will be comprised of 110 cards. Four months later, a 100-card expansion will be released, adding new rules in addition to the new cards.

Over all I think this is the best implementation of the playstation camera system ever. (I can’t wait to see what comes next for this technology) The card game has to be overall fun game to play or the great graphics and wow factor of the technology gets lost, and it was lots of fun to play. I was more than impressed with the game. Eye of Judgment provides an splendid visual experience that adds another dimension to traditional trading card games. I can’t wait for the release and it WILL be on my list for Christmas this year.

BioShock Coming To The PS3 !?!

If you take a peek into the config.ini log taken directly from the source of the BioShock PC demo, it appears once and for all this game is coming to PS3 at some point.

You can find the .ini by going to:

Program Files/2k Game/Bioshock demo/Content/config.ini

[Console]

Console (XBox360, PS3) specific settings

StreamingDynamicFloatingLimit:

If this is a positive number, then instead of using the fixed per-level

limits, the StreamingDynamic resource will use as much memory as is

available as long as the total memory allocated by the game is less than
the specified number. In other words, StreamingDynamic will grow and
shrink to fit to the available memory instead of being locked to a fixed
budget StreamingDynamicFloatingLimit=500

Cross your fingers that it will not be to long before it hits the stores for the PS3 and you then can also feel the “so called” power of BIOSHOCK!

Mafia 2 To Be Published By 2K Games

2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive, today announced that it will publish Mafia 2, a sequel to the original Mafia title that sold more than two million copies worldwide and helped popularize the gangster genre. Featuring a deep mobster-driven narrative packed with both behind-the-wheel and on-foot action, Mafia 2 is the sequel fans have been clamoring for. The game is being developed by Illusion Softworks, developers of the original Mafia title, for next generation consoles and Games for Windows.

Like the original Mafia title, Mafia 2 immerses players in the mob underworld of a fictitious late 1940’s-early 1950’s scenario. Players will easily become engaged in the game’s cinematic Hollywood movie experience with strong, believable characters in a living, breathing city. By fusing high octane gunplay with white knuckle driving and an engaging narrative, Mafia 2 looks to be the industry’s most compelling Mafia title to date.

“As the original Mafia was a big success, we are excited to leverage the power of next generation console technology to create an all-new experience, while embracing the elements that resonated with the previous game’s fans,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “The ‘wow’ factor of Mafia 2 is definitely the benchmark-setting visual quality and action that you expect to see only in Hollywood movies.”

Gen Con: Pirates Constructible Strategy Game Online Screenshots

Pirates Constructible Strategy Game Online

Key features

• Collectable ships and crew. Pirates CSG offers levels of rarity in the
• collectable ships and crew from Common to Super Rare, designated on the cards by color.
• Collection management. Pirates CSG Online provides a robust, easy to use and flexible interface for viewing, searching, filtering and sorting your Treasure
• trove of collectable ships.
• High Seas Adventure. Hear the roar of cannon fire and the crash of waves as
• you sail across a beautiful 3-D seascape.
• Adventure online and play against other Pirates. Play with other buccaneers online to strengthen your fleet and uncover hidden treasures
• Fight your way to the top. Amass wealth and fame by challenging opponents
• from all over the world.
• Casual and Competitive Play for all levels of play.
• Casual Game Lobbies with user-definable game settings, including:
  • Buddy lists.
  • Password-protected games.
  • Arbitrary game type and format customization.
  • Timed or un-timed games.
  • Multiplayer Support.
  • Observer Support.
  • Quick-join Options.
  • Customizable and exclusive player avatars and playmat tokens.
• Robust League and Tournament System
• Includes both “on-demand” and scheduled events.
• Customizable leagues and tournaments.

Bret Michaels To Appear In Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock

Activision, Inc. today announced that legendary Poison front man and “Rock of Love” star Bret Michaels will appear as a lead vocalist character in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, providing Guitar Heroes the chance to shred with the music icon.

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will feature the song “Talk Dirty to Me,” as made famous by Poison, as well as a master track from the Bret Michaels Band, “Go That Far.”

When players shred to either track, an animated replica of Bret Michaels appears as the lead vocalist. Bret Michaels participated in a motion capture session to record his signature moves for the game. With full body, facial and clothing scans, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock developer Neversoft was able to create an authentic in-game character.

“When Activision asked me to do this, I was honored…are you kidding me? This game totally rocks!” said Michaels, star of VH1’s top rated show, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels. “I gave them my signature moves, basically did my thing and they captured it. It was really cool.”

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, published by RedOctane and developed by Neversoft, is rated T for Teen by the ESRB and will be available this October.