Gamernode: Latest Game and Console News

Halo 3 fanboy + cardboard = very, very sad

Sometimes you see something that makes you laugh, but also die a little on the inside. This is definitely one of those moments. Marvel (or cringe?) as the young man plays host to a showcase of his cardboard Halo weapons collection. If it's any consolation, I will admit he's better at using cardboard to make Halo weaponry than I'll ever be.

PS, I'm sorry if this ruins Halo for you, as it nearly ruined Halo for Chris.

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New Wii controller in the works?

While scrounging around the U.S. Patent Office website for new information on the rumored Xbox 360 motion-sensing controller, the folks over at Spong stumbled upon a patent filed by Nintendo for what appears to be a brand new Wii controller with a familiar GameCube-esque button layout AND a space to mount a Wii remote.

The text of the filing supports that observation, describing "An imaging information arithmetic unit...at a front end of the housing...in such a manner that an imaging device thereof is exposed from a front-end surface." That's the Wii remote.

While greatly appreciated, something like this is long overdue for the Wii, and should have been provided at launch. Good show, Nintendo, but you're more than a year-and-a-half late, so...not really.

Here is the full abstract of the pat...

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Capcom's "super-secret project" for E3: Flock

According to a post at the Capcom blog, the company has some tricks up it's sleeve for next week's E3 Media & Business Summit. Namely, a project entitled "Flock."

Capcom gave no hard details on this "super-secret project," but it is rumored to be "a surprising take on a next-gen favourite."

Using the title as a clue to what the game might be, I am hoping that it's somehow related to Dead Rising (flock of zombies), but it could also be a Lost Planet spin-off (flock of aliens), or even something to do with the Resident Evil franchise (flock of zombies...again).

I guess we'll find out next week. Capcom's press conference will be held on Tuesday at 4:30pm, and GamerNode will be there.

[via Capcom, NeoGAF]

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Sony's got an Afrikan orchestra

Sony has remained relatively quiet about the upcoming photojournalistic safari sim, Afrika, for the PlayStation 3. The following video clip, however, is anything but that.

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of the game's soundtrack by composer Wataru Hokoyama and his orchestra, who have done work for award-winning independent films, the Dungeons and Dragons movie, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Have yourselves a listen, and hopefully I'll have myself a gameplay session at E3 next week.

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Patapon 2 revealed in latest Famitsu

Scans from the latest issue of Famitsu confirm that Sony is planning to release a sequel to the fantastic Patapon. However, the game is right now only confirmed for Japan, and Sony has not yet commented on whether or not the game will see release in North America, or any other territory for that matter.

The scans, as you can see for yourself below, seem to show off plenty of the same beautiful art style that the original introduced earlier this year, and furthermore I can't imagine the game play could have been changed too radically. So if you liked the original, then there's most likely a lot to be excited about.

There do appear to be some new inclusions, though. For those of you who don't Nihongo o hanashimasu (speak Japanese) the Japanese word for flying is bolded on the right hand side o...

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Square-Enix's E3 line-up. No FFXIII?

E3 is the place for game developers and publishers to show off their games to get everyone excited, and we all know amongst many other companies, RPG champions Square-Enix will be there as well. While reading their press review of games they will be featuring at E3, something very noticeable that stuck out was the fact that Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3 was not mentioned. Could this mean that they really don't plan on showing it at E3, or perhaps have it make its grand opening preview to everyone's surprise?

Despite FFXIII not being in the press release, other big games are expected to show their faces at E3. Here's what we can expect to see From Square Enix at E3:

E3 2008 Line-up(Square-Enix)

Multiplatform

THE LAST REMNANTPlatform: Microsoft Xbox 360® / PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment ...

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Top selling games of 2008 in Japan

Some say that 2008 has had a good start, and some are still waiting to see the big name games come out. But either way, since it's about halfway through the year let's take a quick look at the top selling games so far in Japan.

The last issue of the mega popular Japanese video game magazine Famitsu released the list and it's interesting to see a couple of games still hanging on to their spots. What's more surprising: seeing Mario Kart DS hanging on or seeing Metal Gear Solid making the top 10 list after just a month? You decide.

10. Wii Play (Wii) 411,416 copies, 9. Mario Kart DS (DS) 416,935 copies, 8. Mario Party DS (DS) 497,547 copies, 7. Wii Sports (Wii) 544,958 copies, 6. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) 576,437 copies,

5. Pokémon Ranger: Battonage (DS) 576,467 copies, 4. Wii Fit (Wii) 1,443,16...

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Best news I've heard all day

I was getting really concerned about the looming Rock Band 2 release.  I have invested quite a bit of time, money, and Microsoft points to Rock Band, purchasing at minimum one song per week since the game was released.  I, like many others, did not think there would be a Rock Band 2, just a continuation of the weekly downloadable content.

Well Rock Band 2 is official, and it posed a ton of questions.  Questions like will my old instruments work with Rock Band 2? Will my sweet character and all his guitars carry over to Rock Band 2? And most importantly, will the over 100 dollars worth of tracks that I purchased be playable in Rock Band 2?

These were all questions I thought would be answered during E3 (which some of us will be attending) but it seems Kotaku has the scoop, answering all of th...

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E3 '07 One Year Later

If anyone gets the chance, the guys over at MTV Multiplayer are doing a great "one year later" series as they gear up for E3 this year.  You can read about Sony and Nintendo announcements from last year and compare that to what has / has not happened for each of the big 3.  It's really interesting how much you forget in a year.  Like Unreal Tournament being a console exclusive on the PS3.  Whoops, that game drops today for the Xbox 360.  Also, inFAMOUS was announced last year but is only now getting the press from Game Informer.

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A conversation with a Sony head

It's not often that one gets to sit down with the head of a major studio. It's even less often that one gets to sit down with the head of Sony's Worldwide Studio.  Luckily, someone did. (Unluckily that person wasn't me.)

Fortunately with the power of the Internet at my disposal I can easily direct you to not only ThreeSpeach, the 'semi-official' PlayStation blog, but also their interview with Shuhei Yoshida (the aforementioned head of Worldwide Studios).

Since the interview questions are being asked by someone who is quite literally on the Sony payroll they are more on the mild side.  It's more of a 'getting to know the guy who replaced Phil Harrison' piece than anything else but there are a few interesting bits hidden behind the fluff.

Mr. Yoshida talks about why there are fewer third party ...

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The "Creativity" Award - Square Enix

Welcome to You Win! This GN feature has been put together to honor not only the best and the brightest in the videogame industry, but also the most useless, incompetent, and just plain foolish.

GN will be looking at industry news, announcements, game releases, retail, politics, marketing, corporate shake-ups, critics, and anything else that could possibly inspire us to create and bestow a brand new (and extra shiny) custom award as often as possible. The frequency of new "winners" is entirely up to how consistently awesome or despicable everyone chooses to be.

Today's award goes out to a publisher/developer who has mananged to win the hearts of vast throngs of gamers over the years. The combined force of Square Enix has created many popular games and franchises, from Final Fantasy to Dragon ...

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Square-Enix's iPod RPG out now

Guess what? Today Square-Enix's iPod tactics RPG is available for purchase in the iTunes store for $5. What's that? You didn't know Square was making an iPod RPG? Yeah, pretty much no one did until less than 24 hours ago.

Titled Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes, the game plays like a simpler version of Tactics, using the click wheel for movement and selecting actions. (Sorry, iPod Touch owners, but this is for click wheels only.)

To take advantage of its unique platform, Square-Enix threw in a feature where your characters are created based on which songs you select. Like Monster Rancher with CDs, each song in your library gives you various class- and level-type characters based on a variety of factors.

Don't expect a huge epic Square-Enix RPG, but who could turn down an offer to get a Mons...

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Brian Bendis comments on the deceased Marvel Unive...

Comicmix.com recently held an interview with Brian Michael Bendis (read: longtime writer for Marvel comics) and though the subject of the interview was meant to be about hardcore comic matters such as Skrulls and Dire Wraiths, the conversation nevertheless shifted towards videogames.

As it turns out, Bendis himself is a big gamer, but beyond that he was also an executive producer on the tragically departed Marvel Universe MMO. (I still have the introduction video saved on my 360's hard drive. It hurts too much to delete it and admit that it's gone.)

Perhaps the most heart-breaking part of Marvel Universe's cancellation is that nobody ever bothered to tell us why. One day it was there, and one day it wasn't. From the sound of Bendis's own words, that's pretty much the same way the folks on t...

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Start earning Fable II money early

You can never have enough money when it comes to RPGs. Snagging the best loot early on makes the first few levels a breeze, making what could be a terrible grind more manageable. So how would Fable fans like the chance to earn all the money they could possibly want before Fable II hits? If you've got spare time, a love for mini-games, and extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket then pre-ordering Fable II is the answer.

Microsoft is launching an incentive program where those who slap down the extra dollars can have access to several mini-games all based around money earning mini-games which can then be used in Fable II once it launches. No cap has been mentioned by either the Microsoft or Lionhead camp, so conceieveably gamers could be sitting on a truckload on money come Fable II's lau...

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E3? How about the C4 convention?

E3, E3, E3. Everybody is talking about E3. But there was another convention that occurred recently that should get some recognition as well: namely the C4 Expo.

We pause for the scratching of heads...

The 3rd annual C4 convention isn't about explosives, but about fans of the old school Commodore 64 computer. C4 stands for the Cincinnati Commodore Computer Club. The event was held during the last week in Mitchell, Kentucky.

The official website didn't go into details about what was going to happen at the convention, but we do know that the world's first Commodore 64 LAN party was held there. A new LAN game called NetRacer was unveiled and allowed an astonishing 8 players to play together over an Internet connection.

PSN and Xbox Live...hang your heads in shame.

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GamerNode is heading to E3!

From July 14-17 the E3 Expo will be underway in Los Angeles, and GamerNode is going to be there, ready to give you the latest up to date news on everything that will be going on.

With E3 being the biggest videogames convention of the year, expect to see tons of brand new content to whet your gaming appetite from many big name companies. What we want to know is which company do you want to hear the most news from? Which company are you most excited about and why? Check out and vote in the new poll and tell us why you picked your choice, and is there a particular game that you can't wait to hear more info about?

Make sure to come back and visit every day next week when we will be giving you exclusive GamerNode interviews, in-depth previews, impressions, live blogging and mini podcast episodes...

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Ken Levine of BioShock in contract talks with T2

Ken Levine, the creative force behind the Sci-Fi adventure game, Bioshock, is in talks with Take Two, the publisher of the title, for a new contract.

Inside sources indicate that the talks are in a "delicate" stage but that the deal, if taken by Levine, will allow him more creative control over his projects as well as allowing him to start new game lines.

Will the new contract mean big bucks for Levine? Most likely, but other sources say it won't be in the same pay stratosphere as the creators of Grand Theft Auto IV.

"Levine delivered a big hit for Take-Two and they want to give him a good deal going forward. But 'BioShock' isn't 'Grand Theft Auto.' It's not even in the same universe," said an unnamed source.

Keeping Levine on the Take Two team will not only assure the quality of the next Bio...

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New Halo 3 multiplayer map out...for free

Bungie has decided that today is "Bungie Day." Why? We're not sure, but since Bungie is Bungie, it can pretty much name any day it wants to as their day. To celebrate its newly coined special occasion, Bungie is releasing a new multiplayer map for Halo 3.

The map is called Cold Storage and for dedicated Halo fans, they will notice that it is a cool (pun intended) remake of the Halo 1 map, Chill Out. Cold Storage is a smaller map that will allow some close quarters one-on-one battles.

The new map is available for download today on Xbox Live. Bungie is also offering new dashboard theme and gamer pics. In addition the Legendary map pack will be sold at a new price of only 600 Microsoft points (7.50USD).

Looks like it's time to dust off your Needler gun or assault riffle for some more Halo 3 muli...

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July 7th WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

SPOGS Racing (D2C Games, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Coming at you full throttle is SPOGS Racing, an all-new racer from D2C Games featuring classic arcade racing, pick-up-and-play controls, all-new racing vehicles and Crash N' Grab™ instant upgrades. Jump in, gear up and modify your ride on the fly as you compete head-to-head for a totally outrageous arcade r...

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Countdown ends, Chrono Trigger looks the same

The countdown over at Square-Enix's Chrono Trigger site has come to an end, revealing but a single trailer for the DS game. Fans who were hoping for a 3D remake a la Final Fantasy III & IV will be disappointed, however, as the game looks identical to its Super Nintendo counterpart. The video didn't show any dual screen or touchscreen gameplay, and didn't update the vague "Winter 2008" release window we read about last week, either. Take a look:

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