It’s time for the sophomore installment of Band Practice, the only place to get definitive reviews on Rock Band’s newest downloadable content. This week was a mixed bag, and didn’t really have any standout tracks. If you missed Tuesday’s update, the three new tracks were lesser-known singles from Smahing Pumpkins, Coheed and Cambria, and Rush. For some reason, though, I can’t sing any of them particularly well.

So are any of these songs worth you hard-earned money? Hit the jump to find out.
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Every week, MEGATONik will being providing our loyal readers the weekly Thursday update of the Playstation Store on the Playstation Network. Unfortunately for all of you Playstation 3 owners out there, we’re not starting on a good week. We’re not even starting on a marginal week. This week’s store update is so poor that I think I’d rather watch every season of The OC on repeat until my eyes and ears bled. Ah well, I guess that’s it for me. Hit the jump for this week’s *cough*tastic update.

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If you asked me what my favorite game of 2007 was, I would have to tell you Portal. That’s saying a lot considering ‘07 saw the releases of Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, Bioshock, Super Mario Galaxy, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, and others. But Portal was the only game that made me look at gameplay in a different perspective. As with any semi-successful IP, it was only a matter of time before we would hear of a sequel.

Well, it seems as if the matter of time has passed for Portal, as Valve spokesperson Doug Lombardi, speaking to Eurogamer, confirmed, “There’ll be more Portal, for sure.” This is where I would step in and ask, what exactly do they mean more Portal? Because you just can’t throw in some more rooms and call it an expansion/sequel. Portal is a self-contained experience, with a definite beginning and end. But Lombardi goes on to assure us that it won’t just be “a bunch of new puzzles.” No concrete details are in place, but one can only hope that they’ll take it carefully with Portal 2, and give us another GOTY competitor.

Finally the most heated argument in gaming has been settled. Fanboys can no longer shout at the top of their lungs about the one feature that truly makes their system better than others: controller battery life. GamePro.com tested out the three major console’s controllers (PS3, 360, Wii…duh) for which one’s battery life was longest. They did a pretty thorough test too, playing all sorts of games from casual to hardcore for all lengths of times, including an 8 hour marathon. The base rule was that you could only use out of the box items, so nothing with a rechargeable station that was purchased separately. A controller was out of life when it wouldn’t reconnect after the third attempt.

So who is the big winner of a contest that really isn’t that strong a selling point either way? Hit the jump.

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From all that I’ve heard about this game, I would have thought that it was the second coming of Christ … or, more appropriately, something like Geometry Wars, a simple Xbox Live Arcade game that took Microsoft’s online community by storm. However, after playing through the demo a number of times I have realized that this is not the case. Rez HD, unfortunate as it may seem, is nothing special, and is not worthy of your $10 investment.

… and here’s why.

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Update - 2/1 - Harmonix just sent over an official statement regarding the leak:

“The calendar of Rock Band DLC for March 2007 printed in the latest issue of OXM is a tentative schedule and subject to change. Please stay tuned for confirmation of Rock Band DLC closer to their release.”

- lawl

The community over at ScoreHero, considered to be one of the best sources on Rock Band/Guitar Hero info, have supposedly gotten their hands on a copy of the March issue of OXM early. What’s so special about a dumb magazine you ask? Well, this particular issue supposedly has the full release list of Rock Band DLC for March. For all 12 songs, hit the jump.

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It’s not hard to see that I love playing shit games. A ton of my reviews on MEGATONik have all been extremely bland titles. Hell, even the boxart on most of the titles are enough to tell you to stay away. Why do I review these games? The answer is plain and simple: I love bad games. It’s as appealing to me as the grindhouse film genre. I enjoy laughing at terrible plots, generic names, and pointless tasks. Superman 64 may have been utter shit to you, but in my eyes, it was a pile of gold.

Some of you may think I just have poor taste in games, while some may also share my love. I know several readers out there have seen games at their local GameStop and dismissed them because of their title or boxart. People like me purchase them. I see something that looks like total ass and I buy it. I find more comedy in these budget games than most huge titles.

I know there are people out there who would like to know about the games that sites like IGN and GameSpot don’t review. Licensed Nickelodeon games, odd Japanese games that have been translated into English and forgotten about, Barbie titles; whatever crap you can think of, I’ll write about it.

This is why I’m presenting a new weekly article written by yours truly. The Garbage Collector will be a weekly article about bad, uninteresting, and/or extremely cheap titles that you’ve probably seen or heard about, but ignored. Brace yourself as I dig into the massive shitpile I call my game collection and pull out bargain bin nightmares.

Read on for the first game for me to babble about, Mobile Light Force 2.

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A while back when the lawsuit against Rockstar for the now notorious Hot Coffee Mod was settled it was reported that people would be able to get money for all the trouble it caused them. Now you can go to the retribution site and ease all that pain seeing a digital couple copulating caused you. More likely you’ll be easing all that pain that not seeing a digital couple copulating caused you, seeing as Hot Coffee wasn’t even that easy to get to in the first place and if you played GTA: San Andreas on a console you couldn’t see it at all. In short, as long as you have a first editon copy of the game bought before July, 20, 2005, you can get upwards of $35, even if you didn’t really see anything offensive or weren’t offended in the first place. I might just do it becasue I’m offended by the fact that shooting random people and stealing their cars isn’t offensive but a tame sex scene in a blatantly mature game is.

Hit the jump to find out what you need to get your hard earned money.

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Word has come to us that SouthPeak games is releasing their first XBox Live game in the form of Load Inc.’s Things on Wheels. The game will be a “pure arcade title placing players at the helm of radio-controlled (“RC”) cars as they race through a gigantic Florida Art Deco house filled with “tracks” comprised of everyday household items – and more.” No word yet on what the “and more” is, but trust us we’ll keep you up to date on all the searing details…or not.

The game sounds like it could be a pretty fun racer since Load Inc. is responsible for the somewhat decent Mad Tracks and know how to make a racing game. Plus any company that lists their two major cares as gaming and their coffee machine can’t be all bad as gaming and coffee machines are two of my major cares in the world too. Still, SouthPeak’s CEO, Melanie Mroz, saying that RC racing had never been done before kind of negates all those RC racers that had come before, don’t you think? What about the Micro Machines, Ms. Mroz? How easily we forget.

Hit the jump to read the full press release and bask in the glory of the first ever minature car racing game!!!
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It’s that time of the week again; the time when new Rock Band songs come out to be played. What are you craving this week? Classic rock? Alternative rock? Progressive rock? Feel free to choose any of the three, because Harmonix has got you covered.

This week’s new songs are:

* “Siva” by Smashing Pumpkins
* “Working Man” as made famous by Rush
* “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood and Burial)” as made famous by Coheed and Cambria

A pretty wide range this week. The songs are available now on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 160 Microsoft Points ($2) each and will be appearing on the PlayStation Network on Thursday at a similar price point. If you don’t already know, the phrase “as made famous by” indicates a cover version.

Also, be sure to check back Thursday for ‘Band Practice’, where I review all of the new DLC. You can catch up with last week’s inaugural post right here.

According to Kotaku.com.au (the Australian version of Kotaku, for those unware of what a “.au” on the end of something means) Microsoft is refusing to take back $10 million worth of faulty XBox 360s. This information comes from a Kotaku reader who spoke with an associate of his that works in a high position at EB. The reader’s associate told Kotaku that Microsoft is forcing the company to take responsibilty for the situation that their failing consoles have caused, leaving EB up a proverbial creek without a proverbial paddle.

The Kotaku reader relayed a transcript that he had received from his associate which was full of information about EB Australia taking a major blow thanks to Microsoft’s faulty systems. In response to Microsoft’s refusal to take back any of their faulty consoles EB Australia has stopped stocking any new 360 consoles and started selling only used 360s, also hoping that this will recoup some of their losses. 

I don’t have the time or the money to call an Australian EB to find out if this is true, but the guys at Kotaku say that they called around and couldn’t find any 360s “in stock.” It seems a bit strange for the entire country of Austrlia to not have a single new 360 in in stock, don’t you think?

Sounds like this will be a really big problem for Microsoft if it’s true.

Speaking of the inventors of the RROD, Microsoft has responded to this with a lovely quote:

We’re not going to comment on this.

Wow, Microsoft, way to be consumer friendly there.

 Update: Looks like it could all just be a big rumor. Still a bit strange that Microsoft was being so tight lipped.

According to the PlayStation Blog, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be available for Blu-Ray and PSN download on April 17. The price for the game will be $39.99. The Blu-Ray version of the game will include “an exclusive behind-the-scenes High Definition (HD) video feature called ‘Beyond the Apex.’” The video will take a look inside of the Gran Turismo series, showing gamers how the developers are able to capture the realistic aspects of racing.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will allow players to race up to 16 cars at once, online and off. The game will also feature more improved AI and 50 cars and 5 tracks.

There is something very very wrong with Sony. For a company that was genius enough to release the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 to much fanfare, this current gaming generation (PlayStation 3) has made every single Sony executive retarded. 

According to Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer:

“PS3 has now gone past Xbox on the Christmas market. It’s moving into its own as it gets into higher bandwidth … PS3 is out of the woods and beginning to hold its own.”

Now that sounds like Jacko crazy talk to me. Who in their right mind would leave their PS3 out in the woods? I know you’re supposed to give it proper ventilation but that’s taking it a bit too far! Ok, I know, I’m sorry for the bad joke up there.

I honestly think that the PS3 is starting to gain a ground in the market but is a long ways off from being “out of the woods.” This year looks to be the year that PlayStation 3 breaks out of its funk and starts to gain some notoriety.

There seem to be plenty more must-have exclusives for the PS3 looming on the horizon than there are for the 360. Games such as LittleBigPlanet, Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, Metal Gear Solid IV, and Killzone 2 are set to drive up sales of the console.

I’ll be the first to admit, I really like my PS3. I mean “like-like” it. But for a major executive to shoot off at the mouth with trash-talking of this caliber is appalling. You’ll never see Bill Gates doing hand motions and telling the competition to “suck it!” will you?!?

[Via Reuters]

Originally, I wasn’t going to post anything on the front page, but last night was just TOO epic as far as information on Super Smash Bros. Brawl goes. I watched with bated breath as one lucky Japanese gamer streamed hours of gameplay from Brawl on the net. So what happened? Hit the jump for major, major spoilers.

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O…M…G…would this game quit teasing me and come out already? I don’t know about you guys, but this just got me even more excited for this game to come out! Praise be to GameTrailers!!!