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Did You Ever Want Hot Chicks and Loads of Free Games?

Well This is not the place to find them. But If you Think you can do a better job of posting or reporting on news stories? Prove it. OLGn is searching for talented writers to assist in the site’s daily news writing duties.

We are looking for smart, capable freelance news writers to lend a hand in daily coverage of gaming news on OLGn.net. Here is the kicker: All of these positions are voluntary! *Gasp!* What, you don’t make a load of cash from the site? HAHAHA … don’t let the ads around this site fool you – OLGn is about as financially profitable as, ‘trying to hit Bill Gates up for a loan’.

Put simply, we’re looking to grow, and I’m going to need your help. I opened the doors at OLGn a little over 6 years ago now and it’s been just me working this site and I need some help. People have said in the past that “Hay, I will help” post 3 or 4 times and POOF! never to be seen again. It’s not instant fame or easy money you have to love games and writing about them.

The Basics:
You keep the copyright to your work posted to OLGn Under the site wide Creative Commons license. So feel free to post what you post on OLGn on your blog, just give a link back is all we ask.

1. You must search the internet for worthwhile news stories. Examples of news worthy material: Nearly everything having to do with Xbox, wii, PS3, PC, Apple, PSP, DS, Previews or Reviews of Games. You can write articles about games, computer, internet or technology in your life not just news.
2. Must have good grammar
3. Must be willing to devote time, not just posting once a month

Even though it’s voluntary, Please stick to deadlines or a schedule when posting.

You might Ask What Do I get from all the *Cough* Work! You’ll get your own @olgn.net email address and the smugness of being able to say you work in the “Gaming Industry” as a Free Lance writer. Occasionally you’ll get freebies from game publishers, but that won’t happen often unless pig’s can fly.

If you stick around and all work together, one day we might even be able to pay you or hell even pay for hosting! Sound good to you? Fill out the form below.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Xbox360 and Blu-Ray? Not any time soon!

The talk around the net over the last few weeks since the HD-DVD death was that the Xbox 360 was possibly going too support Blu-Ray in the future. That rumor has now been officially shot down by Microsoft. Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for the console, came right out and told Reuters:

“Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience.” He followed it up by saying that they’re the only console “offering digital distribution of entertainment content.”

Since the discontinuation of the HD-DVD player add-on, it looks like Xbox Live Marketplace is now the only option for Xbox users looking for HD entertainment. Thats just want I want to do with my cash and time. So I run out and buy a bigger hard drive for my 360. Then pay for a movie download then spend 2 - 12 hours downloading it just to watch it ONLY on my Xbox 360. hmmmm NOT!

Now That’s a Home Arcade You Can Be Proud Of

Do you always have to have the Biggest and best toys and show them off to your friends? If yes, the “Dreamcade Vision 120” is the must have game system gift for you this Christmas.

The “Dreamcade Vision 120″ isn’t just a game system; it’s an arcade center. In fact, the Vision 120 comes complete and ready to play with more than 145 classic arcade games, including all of your favorite classic games from Atari, Midway, Namco, Digital Leisure, and Capcom as well more than 7,000 classic console games. What did you just say; you already have a Next-Gen game system? The Vision 120 also comes with Component and HDMI video inputs for your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Nintendo’s Wii console with a wireless sensor bar built right in. Play all of this in high definition with a 120-inch portable screen.

All this for the small retail price of $3,999, but can you really put a price on playing 145 classic arcade games on one system with a 120-inch screen?

Dreamcade Vision 120 Features:

• High powered projector - Bright enough for daytime use!
• 120-inch Portable projection screen - makes it simple to set up, move, and store
• Dreamcade 2.0 Gaming PC - modern PC games can be played using authentic arcade controls
• More than 145 classic arcade games including Ms. Pac-man, Centipede, Dig Dug, and many more.
• Free year’s subscription to more than 7,000 classic console games via Console Classix, including games for Atari, ColecoVision, NES, SuperNES, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega GameGear, and GameBoy.
• Component and HDMI video inputs for your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii for the ultimate in modern gaming as well as classic arcade games.
• Arcade Control Panel Features:
• Lighted trackball - For authentic gaming action on games like Centipede and Missile Command
• Spinner - To play retro classics like Warlords, Breakout and Pong
• Full arcade control panel with additional side buttons allows playing nearly any game from Street fighter to MAME pinball as well as modern games and classic console games through Console Classix
• Removable control panel - Gives you the ultimate versatility

Asteroids Blast Onto Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday

Xbox Live has announced the release of “Asteroids” and “Asteroids Deluxe” both will be available for download on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 this Wednesday, November 28 at 9:00 a.m. GMT (2:00 a.m. PST).

Save the earth from a deadly deluge of asteroids and re-experience the beloved arcade classics “Asteroids” and “Asteroids Deluxe” on Xbox LIVE Arcade. Complete with re-mastered HD visuals and the whiplash inducing high-speed “throttle monkey” mode.

Awesome’s Creed, pretty close to Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s Creed certainly has problems, but the area’s where it shines at least makes it a good game, if not the great game that was promised.

Now that the one sentence review is done, this video illustrates some really annoying aspects of Assassin’s Creed. The guards will attack you, swords out and everything, for walking too fast. Those beggars are annoying, too. I’ve never seen such energetic and persistent beggars! Seriously!

I’m just sayin…

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.

Full Story »

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.

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 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.