April 2007

Let’s assume that you own a PS2. If you don’t, pretend that you do while you read this. Then go down to your local electronics store and pick one up. They’re cheap now, and you won’t be disappointed. If you are disappointed, I don’t want to hear about it because you’re doing it wrong. Let’s also assume that you own a 360 and a copy of Guitar Hero II with a working guitar. I know it’s far-fetched, but work with me. It’ll do your imagination good.

Now, give me $40.00. In return I’ll give you a copy of the PS2 version of Guitar Hero (sans guitar). It comes with 47 songs, head-to-head multiplayer, multiple characters, multiple guitars, and numerous bonus tracks available for purchase with cash earned by shredding with the best of them on the Toxic Tour.

Or, you could give me $93.75. In return I’ll give you all the songs present in the original Guitar Hero. There’s an added bass or rhythm part and you can play co-op with your friends if you pick up an additional wired guitar. As an added bonus, you’ll be tethered to your 360 as your friends point and laugh while wirelessly tearing it up on the PS2 version. Also, they paid $10 less for the base game. They also got 10 fewer songs… wait a minute. That works out to $1.00 per song. Remember that. It’s going to be important later.

Why does it cost more than twice as much to play the songs on your 360? I’m glad you asked. Unfortunately, the answer is greed. You’ll hear a lot about licensing fees and digital distribution, but what it really boils down to is that Microsoft, Activision, and Harmonix like money. They know you’ve got it, and they know that the song list from the first game is generally preferred to that of the sequel.

A

Midway Games announced the release of a multi-language website for the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive, Hour of Victory.

The new website sports character bios and stories, news, and features. You will also find screenshots, wallpapers and a new updated trailer of the game that offers up a sneak peak at the level of detail and the frantic FPS action you can expect to find yourself engaged in.

Hour of Victory is being developed with the Unreal Engine 3.0 and spans the breathtaking settings of Europe and North Africa. Playable characters include British SAS Commandos, US Army Rangers, and a stealth specialist American OSS operative.

Hour of Victory is slated for a Summer 2007 release.

Ken Kutaragi, the father of the PlayStation, announced today that he would be stepping down from his executive position at Sony Computer Entertainment International. The changing of the guard is set for the next Sony shareholders meeting on June 19, 2007.

“It has been an exciting experience to change the world of computer entertainment by marrying cutting edge technologies with creative minds from all over the world. I’m looking forward to building on this vision in my next endeavors.”

Kutaragi has yet to announce what his plans after Sony will entail. Despite the lackluster success and PR blunders of recent years, you can’t take away from his contributions to gaming. Take care Ken, it’s been a great ride.

Focus Home Interactive and ValuSoft have announced that their upcoming title, TrackMania United, is set to be released in North America on June 11th. They also sent along 3 new screenshots.

For more info on TMU, head over to it’s official website.

I hate posting rumors and we all know that the internet can blur the line between truth and fiction. A story broke early this morning claiming that Blizzard is slated to announce the much anticipated sequel to their immensely popular game, StarCraft.

Like most major companies, Blizzard isn’t talking. The announcement is allegedly slated for May 19th at the World Wide Invitational in South Korea. WWI is a Blizzard event for the top players of some of the games in Blizzard’s library.

The original source, which is in Korean, can be found here with a translation here. We’ll keep you posted as this story unfolds.