E3 is, finally, right around the corner and us games journalist types are getting antsy. Because the show is slated to bring back the glitz and glam of the E3s of yore, we might finally be spared another Giant Enemy Crab or Ravi Drums incident. Of course, bringing back booth babes doesn’t necessarily mean that the games that will be unveiled this year will be anything to get excited over. Because my soul is torn between hopeful optimism and jaded pessimism, I will offer here my predictions on what the best and worst possibilities of this year’s E3 might have in store for us.
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Speaking at the Paris Game Developers Conference, EA’s David McCarthy revealed that within the next year, EA Sports games will be bundled with peripherals. McCarthy said “I think you’ll see games using that Rock Band peripheral strategy from EA Sports, even within the next 12 months,” so long as the accessibility of a game isn’t compromised. McCarthy did not expand on whether or not the peripherals would reach all three major consoles, or even what specific games they are being developed for.

Regardless of the game, I think we can all agree that this console generation’s obsession with peripherals is getting a little out of hand. Whatever happened to picking up just a disc whenever we wanted a new game? Now I have to get an entirely new controller. The recently announced Guitar Hero 4 is supposed to have drums as well, and I sure as hell don’t need two drum sets.

This leads me into a greater argument about sports games as a whole. I feel that if you really want to play a sport, then go out and play it! There is some rationality to using a standard controller and playing online, but if someone is already swinging a virtual bat, that’s just one step away from actually playing baseball. Some may argue that music games such as Rock Band should follow the same guidelines, but learning the basics of an instrument is definitely more time-consuming than learning the basics of a sport. If you’ve ever had gym class, you should know how to play basketball.

Hey, EA, why not get to work on a new SSX instead?

[Via Gamesindustry.biz]

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FINALLY, EA has announced that they will be selling Rock Band drums and Rock Band guitars separately. The drum kit will be arriving in stores two days before Valentine’s, February 12th, for the price of $79.99, while the guitars are coming in April for $59.99. This marks the first time wireless guitars will be of use on the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band. There is no word on whether or not the company will be selling microphones yet.

Money-milking EA sure has put a steep price on their controllers, especially since the game bundle with a guitar, mic, and drum kit included, costs $169.99. If you do the math, or if you simply glance at the prices for the equipment, you’ll notice that this is a total ripoff. If you don’t already own the game, you’re better off buying the bundle. If you do and you’re looking for another instrument, I suggest using Ebay. These prices are just too bad.

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The downloadable songs for Rock Band have definitely been successful, with 2.5 million sold already. While the Rock Band DLC should continue to come at a steady pace, now there’s the possibility of songs being sold in other games too:

What’s more, there’s no reason for “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” to be the only videogames that sell music. It’s only a matter of time before other games begin offering new downloadable soundtracks as well.

Titles like the “Madden” football series, the Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise and the venerable “Grand Theft Auto” games are well known for their extensive soundtracks. Offering gamers the ability to replace their soundtracks every few months after the initial release is not only technically possible with today’s new-generation consoles, but also on the horizon.

This is incredibly stupid for a number of reasons. First of all, the songs you buy in Guitar Hero III or Rock Band are specialized for those games - they are meant to be controlled by the player, and so additions like specific buttons mapped for each instrument throughout the song make them unique. However, if you bought music for most other games, I imagine it would just be like buying it from anywhere else (like iTunes) with nothing special except for it being exclusive to one game - chances are you would only be able to use it for the specific game you bought it in. That’s fine when it’s customized like in Guitar Hero III or Rock Band, but when it’s just the normal song it doesn’t seem worth it at all.

Secondly, most games allow custom soundtracks, so it makes much more sense to buy the song elsewhere and then just listen to it in the game. The article states that the ability to replace soundtracks is “not only technically possible with today’s new-generation consoles, but also on the horizon” - fortunately for us but it seems unbeknownst to them, it’s already here. Buying music for a specific game when you could instead buy it for use anywhere, including that game, is just plain dumb. However, Electronic Arts worldwide head of music Steve Schnur seems to think it’s actually a good idea, saying “that’s certainly something we’re interested in.” Unfortunately for him, I don’t think anyone else shares that interest (unless they stand to profit).

[Reuters, via Evil Avatar]

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While Macs may not be known for gaming (probably due to the fact that the selection of games on them is worse then the selection of porn at your local library), occasionally a big title is ported anyway. It was recently announced at the Macworld Expo that one of the most anticipated games of the year would be making its way to Mac soon - Spore. Not only that, but it will be available at the same time as on PC, instead of months or even years later once everyone has stopped caring. The game will be made to work on Macs with TransGaming’s Cider Portability Engine, which means it will only play on Intel Macs.

While it’s great news that an important title like Spore is coming to Mac on day one, it really doesn’t mean much since it’s basically just the PC version put through Cider so it works on Intel Macs too - it’s still not actually built or optimized for Mac. When all they have to do is wrap a game in the Cider Portability Engine and suddenly it runs on Macs, why isn’t every game released on Mac? It seems like there’s really nothing to it besides a licensing fee.

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Apparently Harmonix has had a patch that makes the Guitar Hero controllers compatible with Rock Band on PS3 ready for a while, but Activision won’t let them release it. Now Activision says they’re more than willing to let it be released, they just want to make even more money out of it. Here’s what Maryanne Lataif, a spokeswoman for Activision, told The Boston Globe:

Unfortunately for Rock Band users, Harmonix has been unwilling to discuss an agreement that will allow us to provide that option in a manner that maintains the high standards people have come to expect from Activision

By “unwilling to discuss” she must mean unwilling to pay up and by “high standards” she must mean money mongering, as she makes Activision’s motives perfectly clear with the following statement:

We believe we should be compensated for the use of our technology

I thought people actually purchasing Guitar Hero III in the first place was compensation enough, and once they owned it they should be able to use it however they please - but Activision wants more in addition to the $100 they already got for each game sold. While it seems clear that Activision is only preventing the patch’s release for money, and they even admitted it, they’re still in denial and another spokeswoman, Spencer Saltonstall, says they’re doing it for the consumer:

We are really and truly not looking at this from the financial standpoint, we are looking at this from the consumer standpoint

I’m not sure how delaying a compatibility patch until Harmonix bribes them to allow its release benefits the consumer (or anyone besides Activision themselves) at all, but I guess they just refuse to admit how bad they’re handling this.

[Via Evil Avatar]

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According to an e-mail from Electronic Arts posted by a user in the Rock Band forums, anyone who requested a replacement guitar for Rock Band and didn’t get it in a timely manner will be receiving a free game courtesy of EA. From what I’ve heard the replacement process for Rock Band peripherals is incredibly easy and hassle free, and the fact that people who were “subject to an unacceptably long delay” will now be receiving a game along with their new guitar controller seems like a really great thing for EA to do. Here is the e-mail that some have recieved:

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What do the characters from Mass Effect do when they’re not busy with their awesoneric combat? How about go to a bright pink club to watch purple skinned alien babes repeat the same few (seductive?) moves for your pleasure? How can you resist, when there are such interactive options as “Leave” or even “Sit Forward.”

There is also second video found after the jump, but the lack of purple breasts makes it slightly less interesting. However, it does simulate the effect I’m sure the first video had on some of you with the rising of a vaguely phallic object. Some guys get sniped and zapped too, but that’s something you should expect already from previous Mass Effect videos.
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Users at the redundant inCrysis Crysis Forums have figured out how to take screenshots of the Crysis demo at ridiculously high resolutions (they can basically set any resolution, as long as their computer can handle it), and posted plenty of pictures for those eagerly awaiting the game to drool over. I just love seeing anything at such high resolutions, and so many millions of beautiful pixels packed together so tightly makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Unfortunately, if you actually wanted to play at that resolution you’d have to duct tape 4 monitors together and it would just look like a slide show. It sure makes for some beautiful stills (found after the jump) though, doesn’t it?

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Here at MEGATONik, we take pride in our knowledge of video games, past, present and future. That’s why we’ve taken the time to outline the best upcoming games for all consoles that are, at this moment, planned to be released in 2007. There seem to be a huge amount of great-looking games releasing this October and November, so stop eating for a week, sell a kidney, or do whatever you have to fill up your wallet. Hit the jump for our massive look at what games you should keep your eye on in the following months.
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