By Eli Green
February 7, 2008 - 23:59
THQ
announced a new music/battle game for Wii today called
Band
Mashups
. The game features 150
tracks and five music genres, including rock, funk/hip-hop, country,
marching band and Latin. THQ is promising a unique gameplay
experience, as players will use the Wii Remote to battle it out with
their preferred musical style. We'd explain it further, but THQ's
global brand director, Randy Shoemaker can probably do it best.
" Band Mashups takes an innovative approach to the rhythm/action genre by blending music and combat in the ultimate battle of the bands,” said Shoemaker. “Using a rhythm based game-play mechanic, the game delivers 70 over-the-top musical weapons and utilizes the Wii Remote’s functionality to deliver a completely original musical combat experience. Fighting with a sniper violin or flamethrower guitar is something gamers should definitely look forward to.”
The game has an extensive single-player mode, as well as a multiplayer versus mode. The story puts players into the role of one of 11 bands attempting to topple the nefarious big boss, Mr. Hong, and take control of New Cadenza. During a battle, the leading player will be able to use “music switching” to their advantage, by taking control of the music style both players hear. W henever an opponent turns the tide of battle, the music changes as well, switching between different music styles. Band Mashups is currently scheduled to release for Wii this April.
Microsoft
announced a special Xbox Live weekend event set to coincide with The
Recording Academy's 50
th
Annual Grammy Awards. Starting tomorrow, Xbox Live members who are
fans of
Rock
Band
will
be able to participate in online activities, including a three-day
Play & Win sweepstakes for a chance to win a special prize
packages, and join a virtual celebrity band.
To kick off the weekend, Xbox LIVE will host Game with Fame sessions allowing Xbox LIVE Gold members to sign onto Xbox LIVE on Feb. 6, 7 and 8 from noon to 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time to score an opportunity to chat and play Rock Band with some of the biggest artists in music. Artists such as T-Pain who participate in the Game with Fame will be doing so live from the fifth annual Grammy Style Studio, The Recording Academy’s official styling suite where nominees, performers and presenters are invited to select one-of-a-kind pieces from leading international lifestyle brands to wear to the awards show on Feb. 10 and various Grammy Week events. Guests currently confirmed to attend the Style Studio include Snoop Dogg, will.i.am, Akon, John Legend, Ali Hewson, Solange Knowles, Daughtry, Dave Koz, No Doubt, The Pussycat Dolls, Natasha Bedingfield, The Roots, Emerson Drive, Tank, Emily King, Miranda Lambert, Buckcherry, Fat Joe, Ryan Shaw, Lang Lang and Lil Mama, but there are still more expected to drop in. Xbox Live Gold members interested in jamming out can send a friend request to the Xbox LIVE Gamertag GrammyGwF.
Gamers will also be able to participate in the Play & Win sweepstakes throughout the weekend. To enter, players must register here for the Play & Win sweepstakes and then play a “Rock Band” multiplayer session. There will be one winner per hour during the 72-hour period (12:01 a.m. EST, Feb. 8, to 11:59 p.m. EST, Feb. 10). All hourly winners will then be placed in a second drawing for a chance to win the Grand Prize — a trip with a guest to New York City to tour MTV Studios, a Fender Stratocaster Guitar, an Xbox 360 “Rock Band” game with guitar and drum set, and a 12-month subscription to Xbox LIVE. In addition, three first-prize winners will be chosen to receive a Fender Stratocaster guitar, an Xbox 360 “Rock Band” game guitar and drum set, and a 12-month subscription to Xbox LIVE. Six second-prize winners will receive a copy of “Rock Band” with guitar and drum set and a 12-month subscription to Xbox LIVE. More registration details and official rules are available through the official event Web page.
Rock Band 's developers will also be playing online over the weekend. Members wishing to play against one of the development team members should be on the lookout for the following Gamertags tomorrow night from 7 to 10 p.m. and throughout the rest of the weekend:
RBDevDan
RBDevAdamC
RBDevWhitney
RBDevChrisC
RBDevAdamB
RBDevChrisE
RBDevCasey
RBDevJohn
RBDevJoe
RBDevAaron
RBDevJake
RBDevColby
RBDevJeremy
RBDevMatt
RBDevCaleb
RBDevEmily
RBDevRyan
RBDevJustin
HarmonixDev1
HarmonixDev2
HarmonixDev3
HarmonixDev4
HarmonixDev5
Downloadable
Games
Go!
Sports Skydiving
($4.99 USD/$5.99 CDN)
Go! Sports Skydiving
is a skydiving simulator that uses the SIXAXIS wireless controller to
twist, turn and pull off tricks. The easy and intuitive motion
control allows you to move through the skies into various skydiving
team formations or solo tricks with the greatest of ease. Supports
several single player modes, including formation, team match, landing
and several online battle modes.
File
size: 457 MB
ESRB
Rated E
PS one Classics for PS3 / PSP
Crash
Bandicoot: WARPED
($5.99 USD/$6.99 CDN)
Oh,
yeah! He’s back! AND he’s ready to rumble! It’s a whole new
adventure with Crash Bandicoot, and this time he’s time-traveling
through the ages with his little sister Coco! Scuba-dive with the
sharks, ride a baby T-Rex, go soar the skies in a plane, gallop along
the Great Wall of China on a tiger, dodge ancient Egyptian mummies,
and much much more!
File
size: 105 MB
ESRB
Rated E
Add-on Game Content
MotorStorm
Chinese New Year Skin (free)
Celebrate
the Chinese Year of the Rat with a special gift from the
MotorStorm
team! A special Chinese New Year gift awaits all our players - a
mystery paint job for the Wulff Revo Rally Car.
File
size: 100 KB
Rock Band
Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com.
Calling
Dr. Love
–
Kiss ($1.99 USD/$2.99 CDN)
We Care a Lot –
Faith No
More ($1.99 USD/$2.99 CDN)
Roam –
B-52s
($1.99 USD/$2.99 CDN)
File
sizes: 23 MB – 41.3 MB
Demos
LOST
PLANET
Multiplayer Demo
This
is the multiplayer demo for the Sci-Fi action shooting game
LOST
PLANET
.
Connect to the net and do battle on a distant frozen world. The snow
pirates are waiting for you!
File
size: 231 MB
ESRB
Rated T
Game Videos
Uncharted
:
Final Trailer (free)
Check
out the newest trailer for
Uncharted:
Drake’s Fortune
featuring
Uncharted: The El Dorado
Megamix
by
DJ Shadow!
File
size: 177 MB (HD)
MLB
08 The Show
First Look (free)
There’s
a reason so many gaming editors are saying “[The Show] is the best
baseball franchise ever created”. But take a look for yourself with
a first look as the team heads into spring training for the 2008
season. MLB 08 The Show: Nothing Gets You Closer.
File
size: 32 MB (HD)
Burnout
Paradise
Dev
Diary (free)
A
closer look at Burnout Paradise with Creative Producer Alex Ward and
Lead Designer Craig Sullivan.
File
size: 338 MB (HD)
Burnout
Launch Trailer 1 (free)
Check
out the 1st Launch trailer from Burnout Paradise where your
possibilities are limitless.
File size: 63 MB (HD)
Burnout
Launch Trailer 2 (free)
File
size: 62 MB (HD)
Conflict
“Destruction”
Dev Diary (free)
Hear
from Julian Foxall, Senior Programmer at Pivotal Games, as he
discusses some of the impressive destruction capabilities utilized in
the new co-op FPS,
Conflict: Denied
Ops
.
File
size: 488 MB (HD)
Movie and Blu-ray Disc Trailers
WALL•E
Trailer 2 (free)
What
if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last
robot off?
WALL•E
,
a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he
will discover what he was meant for. From Academy Award-winning
writer-director, Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”), Disney•Pixar’s
WALL•E
is the story of one robot’s comic adventures as he chases his dream
across the galaxy.
File
size: 128 MB (HD), 182 MB (1080)
30
Days of Night
Trailer (free)
Cross
over to the dark side in this bone-chilling adaptation of the
cult-hit graphic novel. In a small Alaskan town, a growing band of
bloodthirsty vampires thrust the living into a deadly game of cat and
mouse and screams.
File
size: 106 MB (HD), 137 MB (1080)
PS3 Wallpaper
(2)
Uncharted
Wallpapers (free)
Customize
the background of your PS3 system with this new
Uncharted:
Drake’s Fortune
Wallpaper
File
sizes: 816 KB - 1.30 MB
Here is this week’s content release for the PLAYSTATION Store for PC. To download these games to your PSP, navigate to http://store.playstation.com. There, you’ll find descriptions of the content and directions on how to get started. For more on the PLAYSTATION Store for PC, please click here.
Downloadable Games
* Go! Puzzle ($5.99 USD/$6.99 CDN)
Digital Comic
* THE CRYPTICS ($2.99 USD/$3.99 CDN)
PS one Classics for PS3 / PSP
* Crash Bandicoot: WARPED ($5.99 USD/$6.99 CDN)
Demos (free)
*
HARVEY BIRDMAN ATTORNEY AT LAW
DEMO
*
PUZZLE GUZZLE
PC STORE DEMO
PSP Wallpaper (free)
* Twisted Metal HO Wallpaper #1
Game Videos (free)
*
flOw
PSP Trailer
*
Twisted Metal: Head On
Behind The Scenes 1
*
Twisted Metal: Head On
Behind The Scenes 2
*
THE CRYPTICS
Video
*
BRAVE STORY: NEW TRAVELER
TRAILER