via Computer and Video Games


Those looking forward to a Christmas of co-op fake guitar action will be disappointed to hear that standalone Guitar Hero 3 wireless guitars will not be in the shops until early next year.

That leaves rocking PS3, Wii and every-other-platform gamers with the choice of buying another copy of the game to get their two-player action on, or buggering it off altogether until after the mince pies have gone away.

Activision US broke the news to our mate Kotaku, but its UK outfit is being shy as to whether Europe is in the same situation. We're guessing we're not going to find standalone guitars until next year either.

Xbox 360 and PS2 owners can take refuge in the fact that old GHII controllers will work just fine with the latest instalment, of which you can read the review right here. It's still really quite good. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Bioshock developer 2K Boston is yet again shunning the PlayStation 3 for its next title, if an internet job listing is anything to go by.

The ad, which can be found on games recruitment site Gamasutra, calls out for a handful of art-centric jobs including lead artist, level builder and animator positions.

"Do you believe video games are art? WE DO! 2K Boston, the studio behind the art-deco inspired underworld dystopia known as Rapture, is looking for talented Artists to help bring our next vision to life," the job ad reads.

Crucially for internet conspiracy theorists though, 2K Boston only lists Xbox 360 and Windows as platforms for the title in question. So unless it's keeping quiet, PlayStation 3 owners are yet again going to miss out.

Regardless, rumour fires saying Bioshock will be coming to PS3 eventually still refuse to die, despite the studio point-blank stating "There will be no PS3 version of BioShock." You can't say fairer than that, really.

For now then, owners of the big black box will have to pick up a 360 or take the more expensive route of tinkering with their PC. And if you don't think it's worth it check out our review here, because it really, really is. ...

via Eurogamer


Ubisoft has said to expect a patch for Assassin's Creed on PlayStation 3 "as soon as possible".

The patch will deal with "freeze issues" affecting "some consumers" trying to play Ubisoft Montreal's latest - and the UK's current chart-topper.

"This update will help improve the stability of the game and will be released as soon as possible," the bits of the forum post made by the publisher's UK community manager that we haven't quoted in paragraphs one and two added.

"In the meantime thank you for your ongoing feedback and patience."

Which is of course followed by lots of people saying things like "I'm don't believe it till I see it" and so on.

One good question was whether or not the update will be downloadable away from the PlayStation Network, since that facility is available on PS3 for firmware updates, but at the time of writing Ubisoft hasn't responded to that particular query.

We'll let you know when the patch goes live. For more on the enjoyable, albeit rather repetitive Assassin's Creed, turn your eyes to our Assassin's Creed review ...

via Eurogamer


Live qualifying events for the FIFA Interactive World Cup have taken place in Denmark, the Netherlands and Hungary this month as part of EA and FIFA's search to find out who is best at FIFA 08 on PS3 (I'd like to take this opportunity to rule myself out).

15-year-old Christian Lønhart from Bagsværd in Copenhagen and 17-year-old Hungarian Roland Császár won the first two events, while Dutchman Andries Smit is apparently up for his second Grand Final in a row after a "tense qualifying match" at the weekend in the Netherlands.

Apparently more than 10,000 people from 25 countries have been trying for top spot on the PlayStation Network leaderboard since the game's release in October, with qualifiers set to continue across Korea, Portugal and eventually over 20 locations worldwide in the next five months.

On 24th May 2008, 32 finalists will then head off to Berlin to compete for FIFA Interactive World Player 2008, with the winner even getting an invite to the FIFA World Player Gala 2008. We'd say that it'll be worth practising the special watch-nicking handshake and pickpocket skills in advance, but the cash prize of USD 20,000 will probably be enough to save the wallets and bling of the world's finest sportsmen (besides, better pickings seem to be had around Liverpool on European Cup nights, judging by the red-tops).

You can find out more about getting involved at the official website, but do remember that this year's tournament is PS3-only due, presumably, to a money hat that even Sepp Blatter could fit his head into. ...

via Games Industry


Dubai International Capital has bought an undisclosed number of shares in Sony Corporation, thought to be worth as much as USD 500 million.

The company, which manages a USD 13 billion fund on behalf of the emirate's ruler, had previously stated it was looking to invest USD 500 million in a Japanese company on November 19.

And now, according to a report on Bloomberg, the company has acquired a "substantial" stake in Sony, said its CEO Sameer al-Ansari in a statement.

"The combination of Sony's truly global brand, its leadership position in product design and its global footprint will spur the business' medium term growth."

The move pushed up Sony's share price by 4.6 per cent to JPY 5500 (USD 50.6), beating the Nikkei average which rose 1.7 per cent largely down to a strong US retail performance in the post-Thanksgiving period last week. ...

via Kotaku




Some new wallpapers have turned up on the Japanese Mario Galaxy site. What, you don't care about something as trivial as that? You're right, we're sorry. Nintendo news is, after all, serious business. You probably think this picture is awful, hate both Mario and kittens and most definitely won't be clicking on it for a bigger version. ...

via Kotaku


PS3 owners, you should have seen the warning signs.

First one: that this is a multi-platform release being ported to the PS3. Uh-oh.

Second one: that said PS3 version's been delayed while PC and 360 owners have been blowing up Striders and over-using cake jokes to within an inch of their life.

So it should be little/no surprise that when 1UP got their hands on the EA-ported PS3 version of The Orange Box, they found it...largely awful. So awful, in fact, at times it was "downright unplayable". Chief culprit are the framerates in the three HL2 releases, particularly in outdoor/vehicle sections, which at times slows to a single-digits crawl. Ungh. You'll not kill any Combine at 9FPS, Gordon.

On the bright side, though, Portal seems fine! ...

via Eurogamer


The star attraction on the PlayStation Store this week has to be the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo, which is now available for people who were too scared to download it from the US Store.

We gave the game itself a whopping 9/10, you see, and even kidnapped Naughty Dog boss Evan Wells for the afternoon so you could ask him your questions. Just a taste of what we can do.

Elsewhere you can get your mitts on a taster for Blazing Angels 2, although it too is the same one the US were playing a couple of weeks ago. The full game is out at the end of the month.

However, you might like more cars for MotorStorm or an Alchemy Pack for RPG Folklore, both priced at GBP 1.49 a piece. Or, for those of you with a PSP, you can grab PSone title G-Police to fiddle with on the train.

But maybe all you're after is a good old trailer, like the one for Ratchet & Clank, or MotorStorm, or PSN showcase, or Bad Company, or Beowulf, or a trio of clips for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

Still not content? Well it's a bunch of free Tekken wallpapers for you, then.

Earlier this week Sony released a new PC Store especially for PSP owners to browse and download content. It will replace the PSP Store in January, and already boasts buckets of games. ...

via Computer and Video Games


They said it wasn't possible (and it still might not be) but the Unreal Engine 3 is currently in the process of being squeezed onto the Wii's dinky hardware, Epic VP Mark Rein has revealed.

Speaking at the Unreal Tournament III launch event in Birmingham, Rein revealed that, while Epic isn't going to take up the task itself, one of its many engine licensees is currently trying to port the ultra-popular engine onto the Wii.


You may remember Rein stating earlier this year that Epic has no plans to port UE3 to Wii, because "It's really designed for next-gen, high-definition." Well at least the company hasn't gone back on its word, because it still has no plans to port the engine to Wii internally.


Would UE3 on Wii actually give us any benefits? We'd be more interested in Nintendo farming out the Galaxy tech... ...