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

Recently, at the E3, Harmonix’s Rock Band swept the best awards, with both Joystiq and Game Critic Awards gave it the Best in Show Award.  Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix, stated at E3 that all the major tasks are complete, and that they are just fine-tuning Rock Band at this point.  Rock Band is currently slated for the Holiday Season.  Check out some of the in-game screens:

Check out these hot screens from the xbox 360 and ps3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV.

The graphics look a bit blurry to me!

But hey, big explosions are a plus.

Same old car-riding thuggery.

The real question is if GTA 4 will have another “hot coffee” incident or not!?

Sony has announced that its coveted PSP-2000 will be released in Japan on Sept. 20.  According to Joystiq, “[t]he handheld will release for ¥19,800 ($162) in six colors (black, white, silver and three pastels)”. 

And as for the actual technical specs of the PSP-2000, check out this post, which notes that its RAM has been doubled and that it can be charged over USB, among other things.  In the US, the PSP-2000 will ring up at the tidy sum of $199 for the entertainment pack, and $169 for the stand-alone unit.  Check out this photo of the manual for the PSP-2000:

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.