Being the huge fans of the Guitar Hero series that most of us here at MEGATONik are, we’ve managed to stumble, and I do mean stumble, across the complete track listing for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. I was pretty leary about picking this edition up because I thought it would be nothing but songs done by Aerosmith, but I’m glad to report that only about 63% of the 41 songs listed below are.
Read more

Normally, I would pay The Daily Mail no attention, but this story needed to be commented on.

Nintendo, arguably the company responsible for the last two generations of fat children (it’s never the parents’ fault for not limiting their child’s game time) has now gone so far as to include a rating scale in their new game WiiFit that works off of the much hated Body Mass Index (BMI).

There have been reports of children being told that they are ‘obese’ according to the rating that the game gives you based on said BMI number. Many of these unsightly, low-self-esteemed, butterball-ed children, along with their equally chunky parents, have seen this message of obesity and have become offended and gone ‘Wii Wii Wii all the way home’.

Read more

Today, Rare has shown and confirmed that cooperative play will be a feature in the highly anticipated Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. Sadly, there is still no confirmation on whether or not there is an online co-op mode. As it stands, Rare has only said that they hope to have the feature implemented by the time it is released.

In a statement by Rare about the co-op mode:

“The other player will not have full control over the game, and, for example, will not be able to build new houses or other constructions, but with spade in hand you can help with tending the garden thus gaining a form of magic for every useful act than can be used to turn objects in the garden into different things.”

Read more

In an interview with the Seattle Times, John Smedley (president of Sony Online Entertainment) stated after being asked whether the recent realignment within his branch is an attempt to increase the PS3’s online network:

“I think MMOs are going to be a real strong point for the PS3 long term — there’s going to be some great ones on the PS3. You’re not going to find ‘The Agency’ on the [Xbox] 360.”

Read more

I don’t know about you guys but I spend a considerable amount of time playing what I (and many other gamers) thought to be a children’s game. To this day I am still trying to get a Roario and an Elephanilla to stay in my garden.

Luckily at MS Gamers Day, Rare not only leaked info out about the new Banjo Kazooie game, but also a game that I will probably be the first in line on release day to get…Viva Pinata 2.

The tentative title for the game is Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise and we were lucky enough to secure a half dozen screenshots to put up. Since this is only the first day of the MS Gamer’s Day event, lets hope that they have even more amazing items to reveal tomorrow.

Michael Pachter, an analyst for Wedbush Morgan, is putting his cart before the horse by speculating on what the NPD report for April (which is expected for release on the 15th) will state.

He casually says that Pokemon will sell well, GTAIV will sell many copies and push more people to buy new game systems, Mario Kart Wii will drive more sales for Nintendo, as will the continually high selling copies of Guitar Hero III and Rock Band.

Read more

Yesterday I wrote a story here at MEGATONik that got an interesting response from someone claiming to be Jack Thompson. Wanting to believe that the man, the myth, the legend was actually commenting on my insignificant blog post, I went into the wordpress tracking system and got an email and an IP address from the guy who commented.

Being the web 2.0 kind of guy that I am, I went to some of my fellow podcasting/blogging buddies who have had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Thompson and asked them if the two bits of info I gleamed were actually him. Both of my friends gave me a resounding yes, which made my head spin. Immediately I starting thinking of what I could talk to the genius lawyer of Florida about. I decided I’d love do do a Stephen Colbert style interview where I give my subject free range to answer questions while at the same time lobbing them satirical questions like “why does Take 2 Interactive want our children to be trained killers?”

This would have worked out perfectly except for the one hurdle facing me, my Xbox Live Gamertag that I use for my email name “Excremento.” Unfortunately this one hurdle messed up all of my plans but still provided me with plenty to write about. To see the story in its entirety, hit the jump below.

Read more

Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take 2 Interactive and Jack Thompson’s arch-nemesis, is a happy man, a very happy man. His company’s flagship title Grand Theft Auto IV has made over $500 million in its first week of sales. Helping this happy fact along is the knowledge that there have been over 6 million units sold to date, with more than half being sold in the first day. According to Mr. Zelnick:

“We knew Grand Theft Auto IV would break new ground in terms of the player’s experience, with its compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges over a broad urban canvas. Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well…Grand Theft Auto IV’s first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date. We congratulate the entire Rockstar team on creating a must-have experience that takes the legendary Grand Theft Auto franchise to a new level.”

I wonder if EA is now going to come back to Take 2 with a much larger offer than they did a few months ago. If there was any doubt to the Grand Theft Auto series continuing on after this one, let me assure you, a half billion in a week guarantees a sequel. I find it hilarious that at least $50 dollars of that large sum is Jack Thompson’s, don’t you?

Following the recently unsuccessful bid by EA to buy all outstanding shares of Take-Two’s stock at $26 a share, the company has received offers from a few third-party companies that are now interested. However, you can rest assured that there won’t be any buying or selling of Take-Two stock until after the release of Grand Theft Auto IV at the end of April.

According the chairman of Take-Two Strauss Zelnick, “Our Board, after careful review, has unanimously determined that Electronic Arts’ offer continues to provide insufficient value and remains opportunistically timed to capture the value of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV launch at the expense of our stockholders.”

To put it bluntly, screw you and the horse you rode in on EA, after GTA4 comes out, you can’t afford us!

Zelnick continues his verbal pwnage, “We are effectively working toward a process to review all available options to maximize this value, either as an independent company or in combination with a third party, and are open to beginning informal discussions starting now. Our stockholders’ interests would hardly be served by accepting an offer from EA at the wrong price and the wrong time.”

So in short, it doesn’t look like EA planned on their offer to buy Take-Two backfiring as much as it did. Fortunately the shareholders of Take-Two are smart enough to realize that the release of GTA4 is going to make the stock surge as long as there isn’t any “hot coffee” included.

This week of new games isn’t quite a “best week ever” when it comes to content, but we do see the release of three, maybe 4 quality games (in my opinion) that I have been somewhat buzzing to see come out. Click the jump below to be amazed with the content we get this week.
Read more

I was level grinding the other night in Call of Duty 4 multiplayer, and I started to wonder about how important custom playlists are in video games to me and the the average player. I then started to think about what the other people on my team might be listening to while gaming, or if they had everything shut off to listen solely to what was going on in-game. My head began to spin thinking about all of the different permutations.Since the advent of surround sound in gaming, programmers have done their best to immerse the player in ambient sound. One of the best players I’ve ever multiplayer-ed with uses his surround sound setup to find enemy locations in the game. That’s a brilliant idea and all, but for someone like me who plays games primarily to relax, it’s a bit overkill.

Me being a connoisseur of music, I find most games soundtracks added on. The sole exception I have to this is in JRPGs, where the music is very appropriate for each section of the game and is meant as an aid to the action on-screen. There have been times that I was known to be listening to The Mars Volta while playing Oblivion, but then again I can only speak on my own habits. Generally I won’t turn on my own music when gaming, but if its multiplayer, a bunch of level grinding, or my 2nd or 3rd play through of a game, all bets are off.

Read more

Since their inception, video games have been challenging people to be ‘better’ each game they play, whether it be score based or by only giving you so many chances to finish a level. Let’s face it; there is absolutely no point to a game where you have no chance of dying. But on the same token any game designer that makes a game that has no regard for this precious balancing act is an asshole (I’m looking at you, makers of Battletoads).

Come with me today on a journey on the morbid side of video gaming, a topic that allows you to conquer the one fear that all of us have, and the one thing in this life that’s inevitable, death. Some comical, some gruesome, all of them thought provoking and always entertaining. See you after the jump.
Read more

Little Jimmy Smith is a good kid, he gets decent grades in school, does all of his chores when asked, eats all of his vegetables at dinner and is a generally a well likable 12 year old. This all changes the minute little Jimmy is allowed his nightly time on Xbox Live. For when little timid Jimmy becomes xXTeeBaggurXx all of that goes out the window. Little Jimmy is now a racist, sexist, deep throating mic abusing, singing, horrible human being that all of us hate to have on our teams. Most of these annoying attributes can be handled with a simple mute, but the one that I hate and wish I could kill people over the interweb for is…

Read more

We have just received a press release promoting the teaser website for the impressive looking Section 8, which is slated for a 2009 release. It seems that the crew at Gamecock Media has been extremely busy this year, what with the announcements for Velvet Assassin and Hail to the Chimp. Today appears to be business as usual. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I think it might have something to do with the EIEIO event coming up this week.

Created by TimeGate Studios, the same guys behind one of my favorite ‘brown trouser’ (read that as scary) games F.E.A.R. and its sequels, this first-person shooter is set in the distant future and the protagonist(s) are members of a squad of orbital drop troops otherwise know as Section 8. I’m excited for this game, just for the fact that it looks almost like a mixture of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (the book, never the movie!). The teaser video and the full press release after the jump.

Read more

Gamecock Media announced in a press release on February 29th, that the upcoming game from Replay Studios that was under the working title Sabotage has been renamed to Velvet Assassin. The game is based upon the real life hero of WWII Violette Szabo, who was instrumental in reorganizing the French resistance against German occupation. Read the full press release after the jump.

Read more