EA is having a big day today, with 3 major releases in Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC), Need for Speed Nitro (Wii), and Lego Rock Band (Xb360, PS3, Wii, DS). Dragon Age: Origins is an epic Fantasy-RPG with diverse choices and quests. One interesting “hook” of the game is that players’ starting positions in the story and location in-game will be based on their character design choices. The game is developed by BioWare (Mass Effect, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic), a company that has built a very respectable reputation for aiming for ambitious targets in their games and hitting them. Need for Speed: Nitro is a Wii-exclusive racing game where players can race at various locations around the globe. This is the first Need for Speed title in recent years for Wii developed by EA Montreal. Fans of the series have considered the past few iterations to be less than stellar, and look for EA Montreal to output a better version this year. After seeing Need for Speed: Shift’s innovative new approach and success, hopefully Nitro will carry the torch just as well. Following up on the Rock Band centering on The Beatles from September EA is today releasing Lego Rock Band, a title intended for younger gamers. Lego Rock Band’s music library includes E-rated pop songs from Elton John, The White Stripes, and Bon Jovi.

The other big music game hitting stores today is Activision’s Band Hero (Xb360, PS3, Wii) which is seen as LEGO Rock Band’s direct competition. Band Hero also features a pop-heavy library with songs from Taylor Swift, No Doubt, and 3 Doors Down.

Another title which may or may not be considered a “new” release is the Star War Force Unleashed Ultimate Sith Edition (Xb360, PS3, PC) from LucasArts, which includes two extra missions from the Original Trilogy set in Tatooine and Hoth and retails for $39.99. Additionally, PSP owners will also be able to experience the Star Wars universe today in Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.

Dirt 2 for PC is coming out today, a few weeks after the consoles versions. The reason for this is that Codemasters took time to develop the game for Windows 7 and DirectX 11.

Like other DS systems, the DSi LL comes with two styluses and a charger, but also comes with three already installed DSiWare titles: DS Easy Dictionary and two Brain Training games.

I am not sure of Nintendo’s strategy with this system, whether it is another toy for Japanese consumers or an answer to the PSPgo. Nonetheless, it seems as though every time I turn around, Nintendo or Sony are releasing a new handheld. Maybe I am stretching a bit, as the original DS was released in 2004 and has only now had three subsequent iterations, and the PSP with four in just as many years. Regardless, Nintendo rarely missteps with their handhelds and considering their popularity, I will not be surprised if we get one here in North America.

When considering how many copies of Guitar Hero have been sold during the life of the franchise, 1 million seems like a paltry number. Activision has moved 38 million copies within the franchise, with 7 million alone sold this year. However, no other game or game franchise can claim to have 1 million certain fans.

A large part of the appeal of Guitar Hero’s Facebook page is the amount of GH content that people can access while logged into the social networking platform. The page includes the latest information on the Guitar Hero games, fan stories about their Guitar Hero experiences, as well as exclusive info on past, current, and future games.

Also people who own Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, and Guitar Hero: World Tour can export their songs onto Band Hero for 480 MS Points on Xbox 360, $5.99 on PS3, and 600 Wii points for the Wii.

Looks like our plastic guitars are going to get a lot of use this holiday season. I’m still enjoying The Beatles Rock Band and am eagerly anticipating its first DLC. With so many decisions in the music genre it’s now getting difficult to find the best on the market. If you purchase Band Hero on November 3rd and still want more there is a huge amount of DLC available to purchase.

If you are curious as to what artists are featured we now have the full list featuring the biggest artists of the year.

Set List for Band Hero:

• 3 Doors Down  – “When I’m Gone”
• The Airborne Toxic Event – “Gasoline”
• The All American Rejects – “Dirty Little Secret”
• Alphabeat – “Fascination”
• Aly and AJ – “Like Whoa”
• Angels & Airwaves – “The Adventure”
• Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals  – “Steal My Kisses “
• Big Country – “In a Big Country”
• The Bravery – “Believe”
• Carl Douglas – “Kung Fu Fighting”
• Cheap Trick – “I Want You To Want Me (live)”
• Cold War Kids – “Hang Me Up To Dry”
• Corinne Bailey Rae – “Put Your Records On”
• Counting Crows – “Angels of the Silences”
• Culture Club – “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”
• Dashboard Confessional – “Hands Down”
• David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”
• Devo  – “Whip It”
• Don McLean – “American Pie”
• Duffy – “Warwick Avenue”
• Duran Duran – “Rio”
• Evanescence – “Bring Me To Life”
• Everclear  – “Santa Monica (Watch The World Die)”
• Fall Out Boy  – “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down”
• Filter – “Take A Picture”
• Finger Eleven – “Paralyzer”
• The Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed”
• Hilary Duff – “So Yesterday”
• Hinder – “Lips Of An Angel”
• Jackson 5 – “ABC”
• Janet Jackson – “Black Cat”
• Jesse McCartney – “Beautiful Soul”
• Joan Jett – “Bad Reputation”
• Joss Stone – “You Had Me”
• Katrina and The Waves – “Walking On Sunshine”
• The Kooks – “Naïve”
• KT Tunstall – “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”
• The Last Goodnight – “Pictures Of You”
• Lily Allen – “Take What You Take”
• Maroon 5 – “She Will Be Loved”
• Marvin Gaye – “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”
• Mighty Mighty Bosstones – “The Impression That I Get”
• Nelly Furtado – “Turn Off The Light”
• N.E.R.D. – “Rockstar”
• No Doubt – “Just A Girl”
• No Doubt – “Don’t Speak”
• OK Go – “A Million Ways”
• Papa Roach – “Lifeline”
• Parachute – “Back Again”
• Pat Benatar – “Love Is A Battlefield”
• Poison – “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”
• Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue – “Kids”
• The Rolling Stones – “Honky Tonk Women”
• Roy Orbison – “Oh Pretty Woman”
• Santigold – “L.E.S. Artistes”
• Snow Patrol – “Take Back the City”
• Spice Girls – “Wannabe”
• Styx  – “Mr. Roboto”
• Taylor Swift – “Love Story”
• Taylor Swift – “Picture To Burn”
• Taylor Swift – “You Belong With Me”
• Tonic – “If You Could Only See”
• The Turtles – “Happy Together”
• Village People – “YMCA”
• Yellowcard  – “Ocean Avenue”

Also for those buying the Nintendo DS version will find a different set list.

DS Set List

• The All-American Rejects – “Believe”
• Avril Lavigne – “Girlfriend”
• Black Eyed Peas – “Let’s Get It Started”
• Blink-182 – “First Date”
• Boys Like Girls – “The Great Escape”
• Duran Duran – “Hungry Like The Wolf”
• Eagles of Death Metal – “Wannabe In L.A.”
• Evanescence – “Call Me When You’re Sober”
• Fall Out Boy – “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs”
• Foo Fighters – “Monkey Wrench”
• Kaiser Chiefs – “I Predict A Riot”
• The Killers – “Spaceman”
• Kings of Leon – “Manhattan”
• KT Tunstall – “Suddenly I See”
• Lacuna Coil – “Our Truth”
• No Doubt – “Excuse Me Mr.”
• Pink – “So What”
• The Presidents of the United States of America – “Lump”
• The Pretenders – “Boots of Chinese Plastic”
• Queen – “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
• Queens of the Stone Age – “No One Knows”
• The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus – “You Better Pray”
• The Rolling Stones – “Under My Thumb (live)”
• Spin Doctors – “Two Princes”
• Sublime – “All You Need”
• Sum 41 – “In Too Deep”
• Ugly Kid Joe – “Everything About You”
• Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
• The Vines – “Get Free”
• Weezer – “Troublemake

North Americans gamers will have to wait for this football er, soccer, game until October 20th, 2009. Fans across Europe have been drawn to experience FIFA 10’s deep online feature set in record numbers. Since launch, more than 10 million gaming sessions have been played online, with over 155,000 gamers playing online simultaneously during peak playing hours.

For more information about FIFA 10 visit www.FIFA.easports.com.

It really does not matter anyways, because the site now has new character bios, screen shots, trailers, developer’s diary with the first blog by producer, Eshiro-san and more. Sounds cool right? Being a veteran sleuth in the series, content like that really gets my inner nerd going (what do you mean I also have an outer nerd?).

The new site is located at http://ace-attorney.com.

MySims Agents is a mystery-solving adventure game in which the players build a team of crime busting special agents, each with their own unique skill sets.  It is up to the player, using their dream teams, to stop a terrible and sinister plot that threatens the fate of an entire city!  Threatening plots always mean trouble… especially the sinister ones.

With an arsenal of skills and gadgets that would rival Batman’s…Solid Snakes…James Bonds… Inspector Gadgets, the player will track footprints, pick locks, hack into computers, follow leads, collect clues and piece together all the loose ends to solve mysteries.  Jump aboard a private jet to reach ancient temples, spooky mansions, and even a sunshine filled beach boardwalk.  Each clue the player uncovers will bring them closer to the sinister Morcubus.

Tim LeTourneau, General Manager of MySims had this to say about the game, “We are thrilled to bring a new take on the original MySims franchise to players with MySims Agents.  MySims Agents appeals to gamers of all ages—whether you enjoy a good adventure or a challenging mystery to solve—the game lends itself to an experience the whole family can enjoy whether they hold the Wii-mote or are there to help.”

The game is set to ship this week and will be for sale on the Wii and DS on September, 29 2009.  For more information go to http://mysimsagents.ea.com/en/index.html

Uh, can I put it towards my student loans? No. Can I get beer? No. Ok. Now what?

“Software in the Nintendo DSi Shop is available at four price points: free, 200 points, 500 points and 800+ points.”

What’s for free?

“Additionally, Nintendo DSi owners can download free applications like the Nintendo DSi Browser, which lets users surf the Internet (with wireless broadband access) or Flipnote Studio™, which allows people to create animations using images they draw by hand or import as photos from the Nintendo DSi camera album. With a system update, Nintendo DSi owners can also share photos taken on the Nintendo DSi cameras with friends on Facebook.”

A browser. “It’s pretty cool, I guess.” A browser. Man.

In old as hell news:

• Sony: Open Casting Call for “The Tester”…

and for Spore Hero Arena:

So what’s the deal?

Spore Hero delivers the unparalleled creative freedom of Spore in an
action-adventure game created exclusively for the Wii. Set in a rich
and vibrant 3D world, Spore Hero empowers the player to become the hero
as they embark on an epic quest to save their creature’s home planet
from destruction. Along this journey, players engage in fun battles,
and solve puzzles to collect and unlock more than 250 new creature
parts, all with unique abilities. These parts, which can be used to
customise creatures in the revolutionary Spore Creature Creator, can
change the way creatures will play and combat in the world. Players can
also utilise their brawling skills in a dynamic multiplayer mode, where
they fight their friends with their own customised creature to become
the ‘baddest’ Spore hero around!

Alrighty then. What about SHA?

Spore Hero Arena catapults players into a galaxy filled with fun
and intense arena-based combat. Featuring an all-new story set in the
same universe as Spore Hero, Spore Hero Arena takes players on a quest
to save planets in their galaxy from an evil force. Throughout the
game, players create their own unique gladiator hero creature and guide
it from planet to planet as they fight enemy creatures, collect new
parts, gain upgrades and unlock special abilities that will benefit
their hero. Developed with multiplayer capabilities in mind, Spore Hero
Arena also allows players to battle with up to three friends locally or
play with a friend over Wi-Fi, taking the Spore gameplay experience to
an entirely new and interactive level.

“An entirely new and interactive level”? Does this involve launching foaming-at-the-mouth-obscenity-laden tirades at your opponents? What multiplayer experience would be complete without them?

Heh. Play nice, mom says.