Video Games: PC, PSP, PS3, xBox, and Wii Gaming News

For those about to rock, we salute the 80’s.  Rather than release a full-blown sequel to the Guitar Hero series, Harmonix developed an expansion that serves as a tribute to the short-lived hair metal era, calling it Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.  And although this is the last Guitar Hero title that Harmonix is producing, it won’t be the last GH title; Activision’s Neversoft division will be taking over future GH game developing.  Furthermore, GH Encore will be hitting all the next-gen consoles, including the Wii.  Check out the following partial song list!

1. Opening Licks
“I Want Candy” – Bow Wow Wow
“Holy Diver” – Dio
“Metal Health” – Quiet Riot (Encore)

2. Amp Warmers
“Nothin’ But a Good Time” – Poison
“I Wanna Rock” – Twisted Sister

3. String Snappers
“Lonely is the Night” – Billy Squier
“Synchronicity II” – The Police
“Heat of the Moment” – Asia
“Shakin’” – Eddie Money
“Bathroom Wall” – Faster Pussycat (Encore)

4. Return of the Shred
“Round and Round” – Ratt
“I Ran (So Far Away)” – A Flock of Seagulls

5. Relentless Riffs
“Play With Me” – Extreme

6. Furious Fretwork
“18 and Life” – Skid Row

The following songs have yet to be categorized into stages:

“Balls to the Wall” – Accept
“Only a Lad” – Oingo Boingo
“The Warrior” – Scandal
“We Got the Beat” – The Go-Go’s
“Devil’s Night Out” – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

There are 30 songs total, 11 yet to be announced.  They’ve also licensed the class Gibson Les Paul guitar for the next-gen platforms, which means that the unfortunate PS2 will get stuck with the Gibson Kramer.  Guitar Hero Encore will hit stores this June, and will be followed up in the fall with Guitar Hero III.  Check out the official Rock the 80’s website for more exclusive multimedia.

Joystiq just got their hands on four news screens of Rockstar’s GTA: IV, as well as some very interesting concept art and illustrations.  Check out the breath-taking screenshots first, then the concept art:

Grand Theft Auto IV looks like Gold!  We’ll keep you posted on the latest downloads and multimedia.

In his letter to Bill Gates, Microsoft is only again abused by anti-game activist Jack Thompson’s latest barrage of threats, threats that stem from an over-zealous confusion of moral value and necessity of legal action.  The game that’s pissing Mr. Thompson this time is Halo 3 for the Xbox 360, a game that he calls “hyperviolent.”  Furthermore, he erroneously alleges that the original Halo was the source of inspiration for Lee Boyd Malvo, the DC Beltway sniper, and that Halo allowed Malvo to become “remarkably efficient” in his killing.  However, JT couldn’t leave his letter as a mere judgment of Halo 3’s content, so he decided to threaten Gates with legal action if it didn’t prevent the sale of it to minors.  Here’s Jack Thompson’s letter in full to Microsoft’s Chairman Bill Gates:

Bill Gates
Microsoft Corporation
Redmond, Washington

Re: Halo 3

Dear Mr. Gates:

As you know, the Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly found that games rated “Mature” by the video game industry-captured Entertainment Software Rating Board are routinely sold to kids under the age of 17 despite the age rating. The most recent failure rate of the ratings on “Mature” games, according to the FTC, is 42%. The entire rating system is a fraud, and “broken,” the latter description aptly provided by Senator Hillary Clinton.

As you also know, Lee Boyd Malvo trained on Microsoft’s Halo to further enable him to become the remarkably efficient “DC Beltway Sniper.” That was reported by NBC News at the time and was noted in Malvo’s criminal trial.

You appeared on CBS’ 60 Minutes II and rather revealing and usefully noted that “the cool thing about these games is that they transport you to a world you think is real.” Precisely. Capcom has recently disclosed to investors that your video game industry’s violent games, sold to children, pose a real hazard to the health of the industry. Right on.

The hyperviolent Microsoft Xbox 360 game Halo 3 is scheduled by your company for commercial release in September of this year. The Beta version that was released last week shows us all just how violent the game is and how inappropriate it is for play by anyone under 17, as the “Mature” rating it will surely receive indicates.

Here’s the deal, Mr. Gates: Either Microsoft undertakes dramatic, real steps, through its marketing, wholesale, and retail operations to assure that Halo 3 is not sold, via the Internet and in stores, directly to anyone under 17, or I shall proceed to make sure that Microsoft is held to that standard by appropriate legal means. I have done that before successfully as to Best Buy, and I shall do so again as to Microsoft and all retailers of Halo 3.

Regards, Jack Thompson

I wonder what will come of Mr. Thompson’s latest endeavors.  Will he successfully sue Microsoft for perceived crimes of passivity?  How will he be able to prove Microsoft culpable for the legal violations of retailers who sell its games?  We’ll keep you posted.

Following the release of DotA 6.43, the good folks over at dotaportal have released a newer version of DotA: version 6.43b (not AI). Of course, I guarantee that within 2 weeks there will be at least a DotA 6.35. You can download the latest version (6.34b) of DotA Allstars HERE. The changelogs of DotA 6.43 and 6.43b are as follows:

6.43b Changelog:
=================

* Fixed some big performance problems lower end machines were having
* Fixed some rare bugs that caused heroes to not revive
* Fixed -swaphero, neutral creep spawn time and initial gold in -xl

6.43 Changelog:
================

* Added new mode -xl(Extended League Mode)
* Reworked the Roshan Terrain area for improved Sentinel accessibility (lots of miscellaneous tweaks and mechanics to that area have been done beyond simply terrain change)
* Fixed the multiple hero exploit
* Recoded the death timer. It is more accurate now (the display was off before, you don’t revive any faster than you used to)
* Items with armor bonuses no longer stack (Vladmir/Basilius/Assault)
* Fixed a bug with Satanic that was giving it extra life steal
* Fixed some bugs with Mekansm, Morphling Stat Change and Hand of God that caused the death timer to not properly show
* Added Bottle to the new secret shop
* Undid some of the Toughness Aura buff from last version
* Tinker no longer Rearms Arcane Ring
* Slightly reduced creep collision size due to the increased number in the last patch towards the end of the game
* Fixed Sentinel ranged creeps having slightly less regen than Scourge ranged creeps
* Mekansm and Bloodstone now tell the user when they fail to heal him properly due to stacking rules
* Watchers give slightly less gold (due to their new radiance vulnerability last patch)
* Fixed various typos
* Fixed Ring of Basilius ability from working on CotS and Essence Aura
* Song of the Siren properly sleeps units out of its vision
* Items that can be disassembled now tell you when you buy them
* Fixed a bug with chicken that lets you sell unsellable items
* Fixed Throne not providing the lifesteal capability that World Tree does
* Reduced Radiance damage bonus from 70 to 60
* Fixed Phantom Assassin’s Blink Strike range
* Death Board is on by default now (-don)
* Observer Wards last a little longer now
* Reduced Avernus’ movement speed by 5
* Temporarily disabled Meepo in -dm to fix some bugs
* Fixed the Doppelwalk and Lothar’s Edge “0!” text
* The icon for turning Rot off is now more obvious
* Changed Meepo Attribute Bonus from 40% to 25%
* Improved Unstable Concoction (When you cast it, you lock vision on the target while you channel)
* Various nerfs to Alchemist: Acid Spray AOE (700-550), Acid Spray Mana (120->160), Str/lvl (2.4->1.8), Int/lvl (1.5->1.0), Lowered health regen on level 1 ultimate, Greed Stack Duration (20->18), Greed Gold Cap (20->18), Movement Speed (300->290) but level 2 and 3 of his ultimate give him a minor boost back to his normal speed, Slight base armor reduction
* Fixed Cheese to heal the proper amount
* Fixed the creep spawn sound from happening too early in -mm

As usual, I’ll keep you guys posted on the latest DotA details: where, when, and what’s going on with your favorite WC3:FT custom map.

That’s right!  As of today, May 22nd, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End has launched for all major consoles, from the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii, to the PSP, PS2, DS, and PC.  Craig Relyea, VP of marketing for Disney Interactive Studios, boasts that “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End allows players to experience a swashbuckling pirate’s life through adventure and swordplay that goes far beyond the events of the films [...] With its unique, dynamic gameplay and stunning graphics, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End provides a new and significant chapter in the Pirates of the Caribbean video game franchise.” Check out the official Xbox 360 Pirate’s At World’s End trailer:

There’s a plethoraof downloads and multimedia out there, including an official demo on Xbox Live, but so far very few Pirates of the Caribbean 3 cheats. I’ll update when more become available. Here are some of the astounding screens: