Monthly Archives: January 2010

Guitar Hero Unleashes 2010 DLC

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Guitar Hero is back in 2010 and has plans to really wow their fans in their first few downloadable content releases of the year. Activision will be bringing music by Vampire Weekend, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Shadows Fall, Amon Amarth, Dethklok, and a selection of the newest blues artists. These are the bands in only January.

Guitar Hero owners will be able to experience up-and-coming blues artists Tyler Bryant, Joe Bonamassa, and Scott McKeon in the ‘Blues Masters Track Pack’. The pack will include Bryant’s “Who I Am,” Joe Bonamassa’s “Lonesome Road Blues,” and “Broken Man” by Scott McKeon. This track pack is available today on Xbox 360 (available on January 21st for Playstation 3)as the ‘New Blues Masters’.

Getting a little darker, on January 14th Activision is releasing the Vampire Weekend track pack with three songs from the band. Two of the tracks, “Holiday” and “Cousins” are from Vampire Weekend’s newest album Contra, with the third being “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance” from their self-titled debut album.

The metal bands mentioned above will be part of the Metal Track Pack, set for release on January 21st. The pack will have “Still I Rise” from Shadows Fall, Amon Amarth’s “Twilight of the Thunder God,” and “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence” from Dethklok.

The last pack of January will be tribute to the classic American band Creedence Clearwater Revival. Available on January 28th, the pack will include “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” and “Travelin’ Band.”

The New Blues Masters, Vampire Weekend, Metal and Creedence Clearwater Revival Track Packs will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 440 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system for $5.49 and for Wii for 550 Wii Points.  In addition, all songs in The New Blues Masters, Vampire Weekend, Metal and Creedence Clearwater Revival Track Packs will be released as downloadable singles for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft for 160 Microsoft Points, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Wii Points each.  The New Blues Masters Track Pack will be available for the Xbox 360 and Wii starting January 7, and for the Playstation 3 starting January 21.

More information on Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero can be found at http://www.guitarhero.com.

Phoenix Wright Coming to WiiWare Next Week

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While most publishers or developers are still enjoying what’s left of a holiday break or trying to get the wheels rolling again, Capcom has been in their offices taking care of business this week. Today, they have another announcement- that their popular lawyering/sleuthing Nintendo DS Ace Attorney series will be on WiiWare next week. The first in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, will be available on Monday, January 11 will run Wii owners 1,000 Wii Points.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney won over many DS gamers, and for good reason. Here’s the scoop on it:

Players will collect evidence, weed through inconsistent testimonies and overcome corrupt agendas to ensure that justice prevails! Present evidence with the wave of the Wii Remote or press suspicious testimonies by wiggling it. These games can be played via single-player and has multiple save slots.

The story kicks off with Phoenix Wright defending his childhood friend Larry Butz from a murder charge. But this is only the beginning drama for the tenacious legal eagle as Wright faces unexpected tragedies that will test the limits of his incredible deductive prowess. In May, owners of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney will be able to download the bonus episode that appeared in the original Nintendo DS version of the game. It will cost 100 Wii Points.

Also, Ace Attorney INVESTIGATIONS: Miles Edgeworth is getting a playable DS demo in a few weeks. It will be available for download on the Nintendo Channel. Stay tuned for the release date on that. And remember, the new Ace Attorney INVESTIGATIONS: Miles Edgeworth ships on February 16, 2010.

More info on Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney or the Ace Attorney series can be found at http://www.capcom-unity.com/ace_attorney.

Goozex releases 2009 “Most Video Games Requested List” and total savings estimate

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Goozex.com today released a very cool list of the most requested games and movies of 2009. Not only does it show which new games were hot in 2009, but is also a good indicator of which older games have staying power. It looks like the list of movies was fairly sci-fi oriented. (Not much of a surprise, since gamers love technology, and you can’t love that without loving science.)

Yesterday Goozex announced an estimate on the amount of money that they have saved consumers:

Goozex, Inc., the leading online video game trading community, announced that its members have saved an estimated $3.7 million on video game trades since the company launched its website in July 2006. In the last year alone, the Company estimates that members have saved $3.2 million, with an average savings of about $20 per trade when comparing to the cost of trade-ins at retail stores. Despite the recent difficult economic times, Goozex has seen trading activity increase over 200% during the last year, driven by word-of-mouth and Internet searching on ways to save money acquiring video games…

Goozex figures are based on the average amount saved by members when trading their video games on Goozex.com as opposed to trade-ins at traditional used video game retail stores. Goozex estimates that on average consumers incur a $20 out-of-pocket expense after trading-in a game and purchasing another used game of equal value at retail. Conversely, Goozex members save $16.50 per game trade, after subtracting the costs of mailing and the $1 transaction fee from the $20 lost in trade-ins at used game retailers.

Now check out what they said about their 2009 list, and then scroll down to see it:

Within the top 10 most wanted games are late 2008 released titles that carried their demand momentum well into 2009. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the continued strength of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a 2007 released title. Games released in the fourth quarter of 2009 have not had time to build the annual cumulative demand to make the top 10 list, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Borderlands, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Left 4 Dead 2 falling just outside the list. These titles are expected to be at the top of the 2010 annual list.

The Xbox 360 has seen the most demand and trading activity on Goozex in 2009 among the different gaming platforms. Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii were second and third, respectively. Titles released on the Blu-Ray movie platform saw the most demand on Goozex in 2009.

Now, the lists:

Overall Top 10 Most Requested Items on Goozex in 2009:
1. Left 4 Dead
2. Fallout 3
3. Killzone 2
4. Infamous
5. Resident Evil 5
6. Fable II
7. Call of Duty: World at War
8. Gears of War 2
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
10. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Top 10 Most Requested Xbox 360 Games in 2009:
1. Left 4 Dead
2. Fallout 3
3. Resident Evil 5
4. Fable II
5. Call of Duty: World at War
6. Gears of War 2
7. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
8. Batman: Arkham Asylum
9. Prototype
10. Halo 3

Top 10 Most Requested PS3 Games in 2009:
1. Killzone 2
2. Infamous
3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
4. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
5. LittleBigPlanet
6. Resistance 2
7. Batman: Arkham Asylum
8. Demon’s Souls
9. Resident Evil 5
10. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Top 10 Most Requested Wii Games in 2009:
1. MadWorld
2. Punch-Out!!
3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
4. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
5. Super Mario Galaxy
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
7. Mario Kart Wii
8. The House of the Dead: Overkill
9. No More Heroes
10. Super Paper Mario

Top 10 Most Requested DS Games in 2009:
1. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
2. New Super Mario Bros.
3. Scribblenauts
4. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
5. Chrono Trigger
6. The World Ends with You
7. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
8. Pokemon Platinum Version
9. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
10. Mario Kart DS

Top 10 Most Requested PSP Games in 2009:
1. God of War: Chains of Olympus
2. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
3. Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
4. Resistance: Retribution
5. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of The Lions
6. Dissidia Final Fantasy
7. Star Ocean: Second Evolution
8. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
9. Killzone: Liberation
10. Patapon

Top 10 Most Requested PC Games in 2009:
1. Fallout 3
2. The Sims 3
3. Dragon Age: Origins
4. Borderlands
5. Crysis
6. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
7. Call of Duty: World at War
8. Mass Effect
9. Gears of War
10. Far Cry 2

Top 10 Most Requested Movies in 2009*:
1. Battlestar Galactica – The Complete Series (Limited Edition)
2. Star Trek
3. The Dark Knight
4. Watchmen (Director’s Cut)
5. Batman Begins
6. Planet Earth – The Complete Collection
7. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
8. The Ultimate Matrix Collection
9. Sin City
10. 300

*Goozex movie trading was introduced in August 2009 and does not reflect a full 12 month trading data set.

Check out our other Goozex-related articles just below:

‘Awakening’ Coming to Dragon Age: Origins

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Electric Dragon

First things first- BioWare delayed the Dragon Age: Origins DLC Return to Ostagar to a later date (it was supposed to release today) but has some news that, I suppose, is a decent replacement.

Dragon Age: Origins, which already has 3 DLC packs with one still in the works, will now be getting a full-blown ‘expansion pack’ called “Awakening.” This pack will arrive March 16 for all Dragon Age: Origins versions (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC).

Designed and written by the same team that brought you Dragon Age: Origins, the Awakening expansion pack offers a brand new area of the world to explore known as Amaranthine, featuring an epic story that will allow players to unravel the secrets of the darkspawn – and their true motivations! Players will face a range of horrific and terrifying creatures including an evolved, intelligent breed of darkspawn and other menacing creatures such as the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening provides exciting new ways for players to customize their heroes and party, including the ability to re-spec their character attributes, allowing even greater customization and replayability. Featuring an increased level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations and items, plus five all-new party members, players can continue their adventures from Dragon Age: Origins, or begin with a brand new character.

“Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening shows BioWare’s commitment to our fans by delivering new story-driven experiences which enrich the dark heroic fantasy universe our fans have come to know and love,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group, EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. “The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon.”

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, BioWare’s next thread in the Dragon Age: Origins tapestry, occurs following the events of Dragon Age: Origins and puts players into the role of a Grey Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens. In addition to rebuilding the ranks of the Grey Wardens, you will be tasked with uncovering the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the slaying of the Archdemon. How players choose to rebuild their order, resolve the conflict with the mysterious “Architect,” and determine the fate of the darkspawn are just some of the many intriguing moral choices that will shape each player’s heroic journey. Players will be able to import their character from Dragon Age: Origins or start out as a new Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais.

BioWare is apparently a ways along in development for “Awakening” and already has a few screenshots prepared from the expansion:

Divinity II: Ego Draconis Lands in Stores Today

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Gamers that still have a couple gift cards laying around or just spare cash and looking for a new game to try out can today. cdv Entertainment’s Divinity II: Ego Draconis releases to stores in North America today. Divinity II: Ego Draconis is rated M and is available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows PC.

The sequel to the critically acclaimed fantasy RPG Divine Divinity, Divinity II – Ego Draconis transports players back to the wide-open, war-torn world of Rivellon where they will battle the forces of evil not just as a human Dragon Slayer, but also as a powerful dragon!

Developed by Larian Studios, Divinity II – Ego Draconis boasts a robust fantasy adventure of more than 60 hours, teeming with massive dungeons and outdoor spaces to explore. It boasts a bevy of features unique to the RPG market, like a classless Skill Tree system allowing for endless upgrading combinations, the power of mindreading and for the first time you’ll have the ability to play either on-foot as a Dragon Slayer or as a fire-breathing dragon!

Also, don’t forget that if you pick up Divinity II: Ego Draconis, that you can enter into the “Quest for Glory” contest (found here)and possibly win another Xbox 360 (why not?), a 42″ LCD TV, and more.