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Rock Band 2 Announced!

Harmonix, the world’s premier music video game company in the world, and MTV Games, a part of Viacom’s MTV Networks, along with marketing and distribution partner Electronic Arts Inc., are taking the groundbreaking music platform that forever changed the face of music video games to the next level this September with the release of Rock Band 2. With the original providing millions of players a new way to interact with the music and artists they love, Rock Band 2 is the next evolution of the franchise that redefined the standard for music games.

Rock Band is the groundbreaking platform that allows music fans and gamers to interact with music like never before – challenging players to put together a band and tour for fame and fortune while learning to master lead/bass guitar, drums and vocals.

Rock Band 2 builds upon its foundation as the first music game to introduce co-operative band gameplay, multiple instruments, a robust online multiplayer experience, an unrivaled offering of downloadable content and raises the bar by delivering an entirely new level of depth, connectivity, authenticity and features including:

* Backwards compatibility with Rock Band downloadable music content. All previously purchased tracks will immediately load into your Rock Band 2 song list. No need to re-purchase or re-download.
* The biggest and most diverse soundtrack ever featuring some of rock’s most prolific acts, comprised entirely of master recordings.
* Major new and dynamic online modes that will connect the entire Rock Band community in more ways than ever before both locally and globally.
* More variety of instrument choices than ever before with new and improved drum and guitar peripherals, enhanced functionality and innovative new designs – all fully compatible with the original Rock Band instruments.
* And much more.

“As successful as the original Rock Band continues to be, we’ve now had the benefit of the last eight months to listen to our fans’ requests and to build upon that foundation,” said Alex Rigopulos, co-founder and CEO of Harmonix. “Rock Band 2 is a second-generation band game that will elevate the music game experience to the next level.”

Rock Band 2 will make its debut on Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this September and have an exclusive launch window in North America. Rock Band 2 will be available for additional platforms later this year.

“We expect Rock Band 2 to continue to drive an amazing social music experience on Xbox 360, said David Hufford, senior director, Xbox Product Management for the Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft. “We look forward to supporting Rock Band 2 on Xbox 360 as gamers continue to download hundreds of new music tracks from Xbox LIVE so they and their friends can perform the rock music they love most.

More details regarding features and music for Rock Band 2 will be revealed at the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit. Rock Band, the first installment in the franchise, garnered more than 40 awards including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007.

In addition, Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that The Rock Band online music store recently surpassed 15 million paid downloads since the game’s launch in late November 2007. With more than 200 tracks available to date via download purchase (complete list of tracks at http://www.rockband.com/dlc), the massive Rock Band Music Store allows players to preview and purchase downloadable individual music tracks, packs and albums from the vast selection of offerings available as they build their own custom Rock Band library.

Rock Band 2 is rated “T” for Teen (lyrics, mild suggestive themes) by the ESRB.

For more information on Rock Band and Harmonix Music Systems please visit www.rockband.com and www.harmonixmusic.com.

Magnetica Twist and Fatal Fury 2 Arrive on Wii

You want fireworks? Look no further than the Wii Shop Channel, where vibrant bursts of classic gaming action and fresh WiiWare content will help fill your living room with a flurry of ooohs and ahhhs. Puzzle-game mavens can enjoy a wild new addition to the WiiWare library, while the Virtual Console brings a truly classic fighting game to the fore. For an added holiday-week blast, fans of the WiiWare hit FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King can enhance the action with new Add-On Content.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

WiiWare

Magnetica Twist (Nintendo, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 1,000 Wii Points): The classic puzzle game Magnetica is now available on WiiWare , putting its own unique “twist” on the puzzle-game experience. You’re surrounded by marbles, marching slowly but surely down a track. Use a launcher (piloted by a Mii of your choice) to shoot marbles with matching colors and wipe them out before they reach the end of the track. Control couldn’t be simpler, as all you need to do is twist the Wii Remote controller to aim and press the A button to shoot. And the game play remains as addictive and deep as you’ve come to expect in Nintendo’s puzzle games, with five varied play modes, advanced mechanics such as the ability to lob marbles, and a never-ending supply of combos. This definitely isn’t your typical game of marbles.

Virtual Console

FATAL FURY 2 (NEOGEO, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen—Animated Blood, Violence, 900 Wii Points): Released in 1992 by SNK, FATAL FURY 2 is the second installment in the renowned fighting-game series. In addition to Terry, Andy and Joe, who appeared in the original game, another five distinctive fighters gather from around the world to compete for the championship title. Also newly added are stage-specific hazards and the ability to perform desperation attacks when a character’s strength is low. These particularly deadly techniques create the chance for a come-from-behind victory achieved with a single strike. Moreover, the innovative two-line battle, which proved popular in the previous version, also has been radically enhanced. Pressing the weak-attack and strong-attack buttons simultaneously enables players to move their fighters to another line themselves, or to launch an attack that pushes opponents back to another line. This game mechanic, unique to this title in the series, allows the player to take advantage of the depth of the screen and create even more exciting bouts. Can you prove yourself the king of fighters again?

Journey to the Center of the Earth DS Game

THQ Inc. today announced that Journey to the Center of the Earth has shipped to retailers worldwide. The game is based on the upcoming film Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D by New Line Cinema and is available exclusively for Nintendo DS.

In Journey to the Center of the Earth, players can use the Nintendo DS stylus to search for a passage to the surface of the earth while navigating through all seven of the exotic underground worlds from the movie. A wide variety of mini-games will allow players to rock climb, dig for dinosaur bones and raft across an ancient sea. Players will relive the excitement from the film while playing as all three main characters: Trevor, Sean and Hannah – each with their own unique abilities.

An exciting adventure based on the classic Jules Verne novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3-D stars Brendan Fraser (The Mummy Trilogy) as a science professor whose untraditional hypotheses have made him the laughing stock of the academic community. While on an expedition in Iceland, he and his nephew stumble upon a major discovery that launches them on a thrilling journey deep beneath the Earth’s surface, where they travel through never-before-seen worlds and encounter a variety of unusual creatures. Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3-D is directed by Academy Award-winning visual effects veteran Eric Brevig (Total Recall, Pearl Harbor). The film is a co-venture between New Line Cinema and Walden Media.

For more information on Journey to the Center of the Earth, as well as additional THQ titles, please visit www.playthq.com.

The official web site for New Line Cinema’s Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D is www.journey3dmovie.com.

3D Realms: E3 is “Irrelevant”, Duke still coming along (yeah, right)

While everyone is getting all excited about what games they’ll bring to this year’s E3, there’s one development studio that doesn’t give a shit about E3. That’s 3D Realms, the infamous and mysteriously funded studio that is still, after 11 goddamn years making Duke Nukem Forever. That is one video game, guys. The entire Halo trilogy started and ended, but the Duke is still not ready.

Scott Miller, chief of 3D Realms updated the progress of DNF at Next-Gen:

“Development is swimming along nicely. Seriously nicely.”

How very informative. Seriously nicely. Maybe that’s code or something, because it sure as hell doesn’t say a thing about a game that has been under development for 11 years. And about this year’s E3:

“It’s just that we view E3 as irrelevant nowadays. In fact, I wasn’t even aware it was coming up.”

There you go, guys. No Duke Nukem goodness for you this E3, better luck next year. Or the next. Or the next. But I can assure you this, that the game sure as hell ain’t gonna release in your lifetime.

Diablo III – Coming Soon

Diablo III is finally arriving to PCs and Macs “when it’s ready” according to Blizzard! Diablo III was announced at The 2008 Blizzard Invitational held at the Porte de Versailles Exposition Center in Paris. As always with any Blizzard trailer, it looks fantastic! The development team spans 50-55 members and has been in development for 4 years.

Make sure to check out the Diablo III website for more movies, artwork, and info!

No Half-Life 2: Episode Three at E3!

Yesterday was a time to be excited when news hit the Internet that a slew of titles will be appearing at E3 that demand excitement. Among these was Half-Life 2: Episode Three, perhaps the most-delayed of all the Half-Life 2 titles. Valve wants to release a Half-Life 2 episode every year, and going by the record, I don’t think they’re going to make it this year either, thanks to this news.

News just in that Doug Lombardi, the marketing director confirmed that Half-Life 2: Episode Three will not be appearing at this year’s E3. According to him, the inclusion of the game’s title in several E3 lists, such as E3.net was a “misprint”. Well, we’re glad that got of the way fast. No point in waiting all the way till E3 and then asking Valve “Where the hell is the episode you promised?” only to feel Valve’s look of confusion and rage.

But E3 or not, I think it’s about time Valve dishes out some info on Episode Three, like at least when they plan to release it, or whether they even have started work on it! What is surprising is that Valve’s plate is currently clean with only one title in the works, Left 4 Dead (which was the result of Valve’s acquisition of Turtle Rock Studios). Left 4 Dead is scheduled to release in November this year. Maybe we’ll get a teaser trailer with it? Maybe we’ll have some news by then? We can only hope.