Just a quick little post here to make sure everyone knows that there is a very good chance that Sony will be debuting the next installment in the hit action-adventure series, God of War, at E3 this year, according to Eurogamer. And why wouldn’t they? Microsoft has already announced its AAA title, Gears of War 2, for the upcoming holiday season. Sony needs to give its fans something to put on their Christmas lists this year as well. As for me? I need to get my ass in gear and play God of War II…

[Via Kotaku]

Let me begin this review of one of this past week’s new Xbox Live Arcade releases with a quick disclaimer. Sea Life Safari, developed by WildTangent Game Studios, is less of a game and more of an experience. The game pits you as an underseas photographer bent on shooting animals with film instead of bullets to provide research material for a crotchety old professor, who then rates your photographs based on different criteria. These three major criteria are as follows: whether or not the animal is in the middle of the picture, the relative size of the animal in the picture (I guess he doesn’t like negative space) and whether or not the animal is doing its special movement, which can be elicited by heaving a glowstick or flare at the animal by hitting the B button. The professor then ranks these pictures on a basis of zero to three stars (three being the best) which are then needed to move on to the next level. This type of system seems natural for the type of game that it is, and the professor’s continual dissidence with you will have you hunting for three star photos for quite a while.

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By now I’m sure that nearly all of you reading this are aware of my love/hate relationship with Halo 3. Yes, I play it daily and love and hate every minute of it. This video, made to reflect the Bud Light “Real Men of Genius” ads, absolutely nails some of the major flaws that can be found in the game.

What the f***? The BR’s broken.

This is the first trailer footage that we’ve seen of the next installment in the insanely successful Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty: World at War. While the fourth game in the series, developed by Infinity Ward, did incredibly well, this next game is going back to Call of Duty’s roots with developer Treyarch, creator of the extreme let-down Call of Duty 3. The trailer, however, looks pretty enough and features enough explosions, gun-downs and flamethrowers to make any FPS fan’s pants tighter. Let’s just hope that Treyarch stays true to the fundamental gameplay elements that made Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare so great.

On another note, I said “Call of Duty” five times in four sentences. I didn’t think it could be done. Mom always said I was special.

As any faithful Halo 3 player knows, the new map “Cold Storage” was debuted two nights ago at MLG’s competition at San Diego. The map, which is a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s “Chill Out” is Bungie’s final announcement of the new map pack which will also contain the new maps Purple Reign and Moonbase Alpha. Above is some of the first footage debuted at MLG San Diego in which MLG Halo 3 pros Karma and LegendPimps teamed with Bungie developers Shishka and Luke Smith to play a quick 2 on 2 game on the new map.

In all honesty, being a huge Halo fan I’m not very impressed by this announcement. Chill Out never really stood out as one of the best maps in the Halo series, and I was hoping that Bungie would announce a remake or reimagination of Midship, Sanctuary or even Blood Gulch. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how the remake is when the third map pack releases later in the year.

And the day of a million leaks continues with brand new Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 details. 1UP is reporting that the game, which will be available on every console and handheld, will feature over 20 playable characters and the ability to “fuse” the powers of multiple characters, creating super ultra omega attacks.

MUA2’s story is not being neglected as its’ predecessors most certainly was; instead, it will follow the story of 2006’s mini-series, Civil War. According to 1UP:

In this story, superheroes throughout the Marvel universe are forced to register with S.H.I.E.L.D. if they want to keep fighting crime. The heroes end up splitting into two groups — pro-registration, led by Iron Man, and anti-registration, headed by Captain America — and the player will be able to choose which side they fight on in M:UA2.

So there you have it. While the first game in the series was limited by its very basic hack and slash mechanics, with the addition of new team-up attacks and a focused story, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 looks to be even better than it’s predecessor.

According to Kotaku, rumor has it that a new system is in the works to allow PC gamers to emulate console games on their computers.

The system, named “Trioxide,” may, as you may have well guessed, represent the three major consoles (360, PS3 and Wii) and the ability of the system to play all three consoles’ games. The only other tidbit of information that comes with this leak is the strange price range of $49 and $299, which nobody seems to be able to make anything of.

If this rumor rings true, which I highly doubt it will, it could put a major damper on console sales. Honestly, I don’t think Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo (or their respective lawyers) would ever let such a thing happen. Will this actually happen? Only time will tell.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipe of Darkness is the first installment of what developer Hothead Games promises to be a four-part series surrounding the world of the popular webcomic, Penny Arcade. The creators of Penny Arcade, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, took a major risk in jumping their strip from relative cult success to mainstream Xbox Live Arcade media. Has the risk payed off for us gamers? Hit the jump to find out!

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As any Guitar Hero aficionado is aware, Harmonix/Neversoft likes to throw in a bonus song at the end of their games that is damned near impossible for the average player to even complete. In Guitar Hero II, it was the button-mashing Jordan by Buckethead and in the more recent Guitar Hero III, Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce was Neversoft’s noob-slaying song of choice. I was really damn impressed when HellAshes FCed (Full Comboed) Jordan last year, but I am astounded by what iamchris4life just pulled off … a perfect playthrough of Through the Fire and Flames. That’s right, he hit all 3722 notes successively and nearly freaks out at the end of the video. I think I speak for all gamers when I say congratulations, Chris. You just performed one of the greatest video game achievements of all time. Kudos.

After owning a Wii for a little over a year now, and playing a fair amount of the absolutely horrid titles available on the system, I initially had very low hopes for Battle of the Bands, Planet Moon Studios and THQ’s entry into the recent hit rhythm-music game genre. However, the track record for rhthym games on the Wii has been and looks to be very solid, what with Guitar Hero III already released and the upcoming Rock Band and Samba de Amigo to release on the system later in the year. How does Battle of the Bands fit into the equation? Quite messily, in fact.

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Here it is, the video that everyone who’s anyone has been waiting for, the debut video for Guitar Hero World Tour (also previously known as Guitar Hero IV)! The video shows players rocking out on the guitar, bass, drums and microphone, something that Rock Band aficionados will be quite familiar with. However, with the game boasting the biggest track list ever as well as the ability to create and share your own songs with other players, Rock Band might be a thing of the past!

When reviewing Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz for the Playstation 2, it was damned near impossible not to continuously compare it to the other major quiz show type game of the year, Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action on the Xbox 360. Surprisingly, however, Buzz! seems to do many of the things that Scene It? could not.

Taking this into consideration, is Buzz! worth a play or a pass? Hit the jump for the rest of my review!

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When it comes to purchasing Xbox Live Arcade games, I am always quite frugal. Personally, I won’t pick up an XBLA game that is anything short of stellar. (I like to save my money for the big retail games … and booze, too, I guess.) Unsurprisingly, Rocketmen: Axis of Evil is one of those games that I would not buy … never in a hundred years.

Why is Rocketmen so utterly horrendous? Hit the jump for the rest of my review!

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Kotaku is reporting this morning that Gametrailers TV will be receiving exclusive gameplay footage of the hugely anticipated Gears of War 2 on May 9. Strangely enough, the gameplay video will be debuting at 1 a.m. on GT TV.

When reached for comment, Epic designer Cliffy B said:

Gears of War 2 is awesome. Buy Gears of War 2.

Alright, fine, Cliffy B didn’t say that. But we all know that it will be awesome and will all no doubt buy the game on release.

One of my contacts at Activision (I can’t say exactly who for liability’s sake) recently leaked information as well as the possible set list for the unannounced upcoming game, Guitar Hero: Fall Out Boy. The game is set to follow the escapades of lead singer Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz and guitarist Joe Trohman as they play various locations, including such venues as emo/underground pop theater CBGB & OMFUG in New York City. Rumor has it that you’ll be able to customize the make-up that each member of the band wears at each performance, choosing just exactly how much eyeshadow Pete Wentz wears on stage. Also, you can customize the design and severity of the cuts that each band member has on their forearms! Kinky!

Like Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, the game will include other smash hit artists similar to the likes of Fall Out Boy, including Panic! At the Disco, Paramore, Gym Class Heroes, The All American Rejects, Linkin Park and many more!

Want to see the rumored (and probably incomplete) set list for the no doubt blockbuster hit? Hit the jump!

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