The staff has been hard at work preparing to start recording what we like to call “The Mushroom Cloud,” MEGATONik’s new podcast dedicated to serious and not-so-serious discussion on facts that are important to gamers. We’re not talking about the latest sales figures or boring things that people in suits care about. The Mushroom Cloud will go that extra mile to give you the latest gaming news, thoughts, and enough not-safe-for-work jokes to land you in your office’s gender-sensitivity training for the rest of the week. We’re doing this for you, our readers, because we care.

We’re finishing up the details and preparing to record our first episode next week. Prepare yourself for a show that will take your questions and discuss with us live. Expect reviews, live games, and plenty of ridiculous humor that will leave you rofl-ing all over yourself. Nasty, huh?

We’ll be posting show notes and much more for the first episode in the middle of next week. Until then, let us know if you’ve got any ideas for topics, features, or live games. I promise that this podcast will be worth your time, or I’ll post embarrassing pictures of Cortez. You’ll be entertained either way.

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For those of you that don’t recognize that pig–and I’m sure there are a saddening amount of you out there–his name is Pey’j, and he played a major role in 2003’s amazing sleeper hit Beyond Good & Evil. This trailer, shown at Ubisoft’s UbiDays Paris event today, is essentially the confirmation of a sequel. For anybody that’s played the original, this should be some damnably exciting news. For anybody that hasn’t, what the hell? Go out and pick it up so you’ll know where the story stands once this second one comes out. You’re doing yourself a disservice as a gamer if you don’t!

No news yet on a release date or what platforms it’ll be available for.

[via 1up.com]

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Microsoft has released four high resolution (2935 x 1684) screenshots of Gears of War 2, from the level Assault, the same one featured in the previous gameplay video. It’s from Act One, Chapter Three, so it’s pretty early in the game.

It’s really looking amazing though, and the resolution on these screenshots really shows off the graphics and the same attention to details the first game had. From the explosion to the picture of the girl on the vehicle, everything looks beautiful.

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Wow, did you guys see all those Locusts on the screen at one point? This game is going to be amazing when it releases in November.

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EA Redwood has recently released two videos for their upcoming third-person survival horror title, Dead Space. I’ve honestly never heard of this title before today, but after seeing these trailers, I can say I’m pretty damn excited for the game’s release. Dead Space is coming this October for the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3, just before Halloween time.

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…I’d say Fox News is going to have a fit, wouldn’t you?

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With all the attention on Grand Theft Auto IV right now, it’s easy to forget that there are other games with identical similar premises. But the developers of Saints Row 2 have not forgotten, and they’ve just released some new screenshots as well as artwork that details some of the weapons you will have at your disposal to destroy everyone and everything you want (make sure to read the descriptions). Fortunately, while there may not be many screenshots, they are extremely high resolution (except for one) so every detail and point can be scrutinized and examined nice and close. I’ve also included two old screenshots, because their beautiful resolution is enough to merit their inclusion with the new ones.

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When I saw the teaser trailer for the Oneechanbara movie, I immediately knew it had potential, since putting boobs, violence, and zombies together in one epic movie seemed like the best idea since putting boobs, violence, and machines together. While the premise is almost flawless, my excitement was only based on a brief, unrevealing teaser and speculation. Now a longer trailer (embedded above) has been released, and it’s definitely looking awesome. It has all the scantily clad cowgirls and over the top, campy, bloody, violence I was hoping for and the combination of boobs, violence, and zombies should make for some good old fashioned mindless entertainment.

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A while back it was announced that the Japanese hack-and-slash game OneeChanbara was being made into a movie, and now we have a brief trailer (embedded above). It may not show much, just some dark shots of the decidedly hot protagonist tilting her hat, doing expressive dance in a field, and staring at the camera, but it’s only a teaser after all.

While video game movies are notorious for just sucking in general, this one has potential. First, there’s no Uwe Boll in sight; and second, the game’s plot seems simple enough that it can’t be ruined by scriptwriters who think they know better than the people who created the game. Which brings us to where the real potential lies: the game is about a Japanese cowgirl who runs around in a bikini gorily killing zombies and other creatures with her katana.
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Yesterday morning I woke up and drove the two hours to Austin, TX, to attend Gamecock’s 2nd annual Expo For Interactive Entertainment, Independent and Original, or EIEIO. EIEIO showcased all 9 of the games they are currently publishing, some of them playable and some only being shown off by the developers. Last year EIEIO was held in Santa Monica, California, at the same time as E3, but this year was moved to Austin, where Gamecock’s main offices are located. Hit the jump to find out exactly what happened at EIEIO 2008.

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Hey all you lovely MEGATONik readers, great news if you own an Xbox 360! Before the Microsoft keynote speech was even delivered at this years GDC, the details of the hotly anticipated game was spilled by a crafty NeoGAF poster who found the following on Microsoft’s Italian PR website.

Gears of War 2 (Epic Games). Gears of War 2 is the sequel to the best seller, with 4.5 million copies sold, which redefined the tactical/third person/action game genre. Gears of War 2 follows the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Team in an epic saga of survival, defeat, and punishment. Developed by Epic games as an Xbox 360 exclusive, Gears of War 2 will be available in November.

Thank you wonderful web translations! I’ve just been told that this news has been confirmed by Epic developer CliffyB during the GDC keynote speech. I’m guessing that nobody here thought that any console other than the 360 would be getting this game did they? Now, when is GameStop going to offer pre-orders?

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I was one of those terrible human beings who didn’t buy Okami on the PS2 and thus never played it in full, so I am truly excited for the Wii version. Not only will it give me a chance to play the game all the way through but the new Wii controls look like they’re going to make the game even better. Hopefully the game gets the audience it deserves with the Wii release. Not excited for this yet? Well along with the above trailer, there is another movie after the jump, plus some truly gorgeous screens to get you very excited.

Now go out and buy the game when it comes out. Art needs to be supported.

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As Nintendo tries to take over the casual gaming market, one of the biggest complaints has been the excess of minigame compilations and brain training programs. While non-traditional gamers can more easily enjoy these types of games, the lack of depth turns many people off. In this regard, Professor Layton and the Curious Village comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Layton is, in essence, a collection of puzzles and riddles, but it is wrapped in the enticing shell of a point and click adventure game. The full review after the jump.

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Incredibly Sexy Update: Joystiq is reporting that there is a rumor that players of GH: Aerosmith may be able to play as the other members of the band, notably on the drums and on the mic. Hey Guitar Hero, now who copied who?

I’m not going to lie; I saw this coming. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith has been rumored to have been in the workings for a while now, and Activision finally decided to announce the game this morning. Why Aerosmith? Aerosmith is one of the defining bands of a generation; the only thing few bands that would be more appropriate to name a Guitar Hero game after would be Led Zeppelin or perhaps Jimi Hendrix. (Why haven’t we seen those yet, Neversoft?)

Not only that, but this weekend Activision is releasing Aerosmith’s hit “Dream On” free to Guitar Hero III owners.

Anyway, I, for one, am pleased with Activision’s choice as to who would front the next Guitar Hero game. Don’t like Aerosmith and want another one of your favorite bands to front the next Guitar Hero game? Dream on.

Hit the jump for the full press release.

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According to a thread on ScoreHero, the latest Rock Band DLC pack, (Arguably) Punk Pack 2, contains a list of every song in the game, along with quite a few songs we haven’t heard about.

I’m just going to say that if these are really showing up soon, Rock Band is going to continue to f*cking rock us and have the best downloadable content of any game I’ve seen.

Hit the jump for the full list. (Thanks Joystiq for saving me the time it would take to pair up all of the songs with their respective artists.)

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