News article from Lik Sang



RedOctane suprised everyone (not Lik-Sang though) with displaying a Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II at the X06 showfloor recently. At the Microsoft event in Barcelona, Spain, the game was already fully playable with an unfinished gray and white Gibson X-plorer prototype guitar controller! Targeted at an early 2007 release, Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360 will apparently include all content from the PlayStation 2 version plus some neat extras on top. Downloadable content has been generally announced, without going into much detail at this point. There might be additional characters, backgrounds and guitars offered for free. Activision said that the game will also pack Achievements, but again, no further info on that just now. There also seems a good chance that online play might find its way into the game. Custom soundtracks seem unlikely, as RedOctane mentioned before that they won't permit downloadable songs, as not to compromise gameplay quality.



Still, exclusive extra songs that will be made available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace have apparently been confirmed. The guitar prototype seems rather unadorned yet, but the Gibson X-plorer shape sure is a winner. Early hopes for a wireless controller bit the dust already, RedOctane mentioned they'll go for a wired guitar only. Expect higher-res textures, some new characters (e.g. King Kendall and Judy Nails) and some online fluff for this Xbox 360 incarnation of Guitar Hero II.

Rock your PC good: Freetar Hero

Man, you just gotta love homebrew efforts. Particularly so, if it means you get a totally fresh additional features set and can play at absolutely no cost, as in the case of Anton Struyk's Freetar Hero project. Let us give you the glorious gist of it: the author relied on Java coding to expand on the Guitar Hero experience and bring it all to the PC. Taking this to the next level, Freetar comes in two parts: a game portion that's Java webbased and a powerful editor that allows players to create, edit and playback button timings for any song they have on their computer with any gamepad-like device they have connected to their PC. Yes, you heard that right! Supporting file formats MIDI, WAV, OGG, MP3 and WMV currently, you can play, pause, seek and slow down your songs in real-time while you edit, easily create songs, even record tracks! The game portion of Freetar gives you the opportunity to play user-created songs similarly to Guitar Hero. Anton seems in the process now of going the open source route for Freetar, which sure should speed up further improvements to an already fantastic achievement. Please check out the official Freetar Hero site for more info, free downloads and a lively user forum.

As with all rythm games, Freetar Hero is played best if you've got the right tools for the job. All you need to hook up your Guitar Hero SG controller to your PC is the (user recommended) SmartJoy Plus adapter, the perfect solution if you are looking for a high-quality PS/PS2 to USB connection. The affordable Rock Guitar for PS2 works great in combination with the SmartJoy Plus as well, in case you don't own an original SG. Get creative and strive to beat your own high scores on all your favorite songs!

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Via Eurogamer

505 Gamestreet has announced The Professor's Brain Trainer: Logic and The Professor's Brain Trainer: Memory for Nintendo DS.

Created in conjunction with renowned brain and neurology professor Dr. Makoto Shichida, of the University of Newport (there's something awfully familiar about all of this), Brain Trainer tests, trains and improves a player's brain functions by getting them to complete challenges and solve problems using the DS' dual displays and touch-screen functionality.

What on earth is going on, eh? Anyway, you can see how this particular brain training game is shaping up in the first seven screenshots, which seem to apply to both versions. And if you're wondering about the distinction - Logic focuses on maths ability and concentration, while Memory deals with memory (amazingly), visual association and, er, concentration again. Maybe they weren't concentrating.

Screens Here ...

SEGA's Game Boy Advance port of the original Sonic The Hedgehog game, announced as part of Sonic's 15th anniversary celebration earlier this year, is due out on 14th November - and SEGA's offered a few more details of what's going into it.

Dubbed "Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis", the GBA title promises "perfectly ported" versions of each of the Megadrive original's seven zones, along with a special Anniversary mode that allows you to use the Spin Dash ability as well.

You'll also be able to take advantage of a proper save feature, recording progress and high scores, rather than having to start again every time you load it up like the old days version, with unlockable songs from the original soundtrack completing the package. ...

Heres an excerpt from the article:

You know how the Wii controller works. You know what it can do. You've seen the press shots and read the games previews. But how does the controller actually feel?

No matter how many Wii game previews you read, finally getting your hands on the controller in December (or November, if you're a super-keen importer) will be a totally new, slightly unusual feeling. But we analysed, poked, prodded and playtested the controller to death in a recent hands-on session with Wii to bring you these detailed impressions of exactly what the controller is like and how it performs.

Please note, Nintendo was quick to stress that the controllers we used were not final retail units, and so may still differ slightly from the end product you'll be excitedly plucking off the shelves. But apart from a couple of the controllers still being hard-wired to the consoles (instead of being fully wireless), they felt pretty near to complete to us.

THE WII REMOTE
The Wii Remote is, as you'd expect from Nintendo, a solidly-designed, comfortable piece of kit. At roughly the length of an average biro pen, the remote has curves in all the right places to make reaching all the buttons an effortless ordeal.

When held in the remote position, your thumb sits nicely over the A, with the D-pad easily within reach. On the flipside, your index finger rests completely naturally on the B trigger - a curved button that is strangely satisfying to press.

Earlier versions of the controller felt light and relatively cheap - as expected for a demo containing almost none of the final controller's technical guts. But we immediately noticed that these newer controllers were, on the contrary, rather weighty. Just think, as well as the buttons and usual circuitry, there's a force-feedback motor, speaker, battery pack, accelerometer thingies and the sensor panel and trickery all packed into that small unit so it's bound to have some heft. It's good - it feels like quality. And it feels expensive (which at £30, you might say it is).

How does it perform? Superbly. The feature that's most intriguing to begin with is its pointer functionality, as this is the first function you see in action, used to navigate almost all game menu screens we've seen so far on Wii.

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$6000 bucks will buy you 80,000 points and the possibly the world's coolest Xbox rep... apparently

Some people will do anything to improve their Xbox Live Gamer score, and if yours is looking particularly paltry and feeble - and you have around $6000 bucks to spare - you can enhance your rep at a stroke by purchasing the Hard Disk with Gamer Tag Rance6 and the number one slot in the world, via online auction site eBay.

Follow this here link to see what the fuss is about, with Italian gamer Ashita apparently having put in around 5000 hours of gameplay and unlocked enough achievements to have made his eyes bleed and worn his arms down to little stumps.

Official reason for offloading the hard disk containing the ultra desirable number one slot? Well says Ashita, "I am selling cause PS3 coming out" (sic). Perhaps he hasn't heard of that little delay occurring here in Europe?

A hoax? A legitimate way to earn a little back from your many hours of Xbox 360 play or an expensive and underserved way to leap straight to the head of the Xbox leaderboards? We leave you, the jury, to ...

Sony has announced the retail price of two of its Japanese PS3 launch titles, Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man and Sony's own Genji: Days of the Blade.

Both titles will retail for 5980 yen in Japan (about 27 GBP or 50 USD) and Sony also confirmed that its upcoming dirt-racer, Motorstorm (releasing December 7 in Japan) will be sold at the same price.

Speculation had suggested that Sony would opt for a price closer to the yen equivalent of 60 USD, roughly what third parties will be looking for in the Japan and the US. Sega announced last week that both of its titles, Sega Golf Club and Sonic the Hedgehog will go on sale for 7140 yen (32 GBP or 60 USD) in the country, and other third parties have announced higher pricing for their titles as well.

Sony recently inadvertedly listed US prices on its Sony Style store, saying games including Untold Legends, Call of Duty 3 and Full Auto 2 will retail for $59.99.

This first-party pricing news comes hot on the heels of the recent Japanese price-cut announcement, which according to Japanese technology site ITmedia has given Sony's console a much-needed jump in interest in the country. According to its survey, 39% of respondents plan to buy the console by the end of next year, which is certainly good news for Sony after months of bad press swamped its console.

Sony is yet to make any announcements on European game pricing and you probably shouldn't expect direct Yen to Pound conversions, but we'll certainly let you know when any new info trickles out. ...

Via CVG


Screens Via Comments ...

In a recent interview with trade mag MCV, Xbox UK Boss Neil Thompson has publicly questioned the clarity of Sony's marketing strategy for the PS3.

Thompson told MCV: "Sony itself doesn't seem to be sure of what it's offering; they don't seem to think of PS3 as a games console."

Elsewhere in the interview, Thompson discusses his confidence that Xbox 360 supplies will meet the high level of demand expected this Christmas, as Microsoft hopes to take full advantage of the PS3's delayed March release date in Europe ...

Tecmo's Jet Ski and volleyball sequel flexes its graphical muscle in new 360 shots - lush ladeez inside

Giving us exactly what we were wishing for on a Monday morning, Tecmo has released nine new screenshots of the Xbox 360 game we're all secretly looking forward to; Dead or Alive Xtreme 2.

As you've probably already noticed, examined and made cubicle-sized printouts of, these latest shots show off DOA's cast of massive-breasted ladies in a number of suggestive poses, and there's also some bedroom pictures in there as well - you know, for interior design fans.

According to our lastest release list, DOAX2 is still dated for a vague "2006" release. We'll let you know how it turns out.

Screens and News at CVG ...