September 23, 2005

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Now that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is finally back on the shelves, Rockstar Games has just announced another maneuver to pump some more sales out of the GTA franchise.  Coming in mid to late October, gamers will be able to purchase a special trilogy pack for the Xbox, containing Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.  This trilogy should boost the already astronomical number of total GTA sales well above the 45 million mark.  If you've only had the opportunity to play the three most recent GTA games in passing, the trilogy is certainly worth picking up.  Achieving 100% completion on all three games should take quite a while.

Read on for the full press release.

September 21, 2005

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As the release date for Brothers In Arms: Earned In Blood nears, a playable PC demo has been released by Ubisoft.  The demo is available at www.brothersinarmsgame.com, and features a solo map, a skirmish map, and some additional goodies such as historical documents and photos to entice players.  Most of the demo is only playable in single player mode, although the skirmish map can be played co-op, though only through LAN play.

September 14, 2005

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Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a stealth game.  You creep around, hide in the dark, and sneak up and knife people.  And you know what? It's a lot of fun.   The gameplay is much more open ended than I expected.  You can take the obligatory sneaking around, never killing anyone approach, the hybrid "I'll knife people who look at me funny" approach, the "We are now playing Quake; you are all going down in a shower of gunfire" approach, or a combo of all three.  Being a stealth game, you're obviously rewarded for taking the stealth approach.  Knocking out enemies instead of gutting them like fish raises your rating at the end of the level.  Raise too many alarms and the guards bust out the body armor and start to fortify strategic positions.

September 9, 2005

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Top video game manufacturer, Namco has just announce the creation of a website for the upcoming We Love Katamari title.  The website can be found at http://katamari.namco.com.  Included on the website will be the usual pre-release marketing information such as Katamari news, screenshots, and wallpaper.  More interesting to note, however, is that visitors can download a pint-sized Prince desktop buddy to roll a katamari around your screen.  In the days and weeks building up to the launch of We Love Katamari, new skins and outfits will be available for your desktop Prince.  Additionally, visitors can win prizes from Namco by submitting pictures of user-created Katamari themed inspirations.

Read on for the full press release.

August 28, 2005

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Outlaw Tennis, Hypnotix's latest addition to the “Outlaw” sports series, is an interesting arcade-style tennis title for the PS2 and Xbox platforms.  To fully appreciate Outlaw Tennis, the game must be viewed for what it is, not for what reviewers would like for it to be.  The stick by which all tennis games are measured these days is Virtua Tennis, and  Outlaw Tennis is decidedly dissimilar.  In fact, Outlaw Tennis has more similarities with Mario Tennis, despite the obvious differences in audience targeting.  Although Outlaw Tennis suffers in many areas one would expect an arcade tennis game to suffer, such as having an uninspired A.I., over-the-top physics, and a complete disregard for on-court etiquette, for the price tag ($19.99) you sure are buying yourself a lot of entertainment.

August 23, 2005

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EA just recently announced the full soundtrack for their upcoming title, Burnout Revenge.  Among the bands gracing the music list is Yellowcard, who will be debuting their latest single 'Lights and Sounds' in-game.  Over 40 bands will be featured in the soundtrack for Burnout Revenge, including The Chemical Brothers, Goldfinger, MxPx, Pennywise, and a Remix of The Doors' 'Break on Through.'  The entire soundtrack was selected to throw players into the high-intensity chaotic automotive title, which offers no-holds-barred vehicular racing mayhem.

Read on for the full press release and track list.

August 3, 2005

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Marc Ecko and Activision will be hosting the first of its kind "block party" in New York city to promote the upcoming graffiti title, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure.  The party, taking place on August 24th on 22nd street between 10th and 11th avenue, will feature graffiti demonstrations as well as live music from popular DJs and Hip-Hop groups.  A large emphasis is placed on graffiti art, with one of the demonstrators being know for graffiti dating back to the mid 70s.

Read on for the full press release.

August 1, 2005

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Samurai Western, a hack and slash game recently released by Atlus, is the third in a series of “Way of the Samurai” games, which weren’t widely popular so comparisons to older games in the series aren’t very fair or representative. Although the previous two titles were set in feudal Japan, in Samurai Western a generic samurai finds his way to the fictional American west where he’s searching for a character named Rondo. In this version of the west the land is ruled by a man named Goldberg and his French right-hand man Jean, who sports a huge gatling gun to make up for a lack of other natural assets.  And thus the story of Samurai Western begins.

July 27, 2005

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Arc the Lad, an RPG franchise published by Namco, has been enjoying relative success for several years.  However the latest title, Arc the Lad: End of Darkness, strays from the turn-based style employed by earlier Arc titles, and moves to a real-time action mode of game play.  This paradigm shift should help to keep players interested through the dry storyline, but it may also cause past fans of the series to turn up their noses in disgust.  Additionally, End of Darkness adds an online multiplayer experience that was unavailable in previous titles, though it does little to enhance the overall value of the game.  Taken individually, the flaws of Arc the Lad: End of Darkness aren’t enough to merit a less than stellar review, but viewed as a whole the game doesn’t quite live up to its full potential.

July 21, 2005

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Due to the recent "Hot Coffee" modification to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the ESRB has changed the game's rating to the rarely given "AO" (Adults Only).  This rating change comes amidst a backlash from watchdog groups and certain public figures, due to the controversial nature of the Hot Coffee modification.  The mod, created by individuals not associated with Take-Two Interactive or Rockstar games, changes GTA: San Andreas to allow players to unlock a sex mini-game.  Since the announcement of the rating change, Rockstar has halted production of San Andreas, and has started building a patched version which will make the Hot Coffee modification impossible to apply.  Politicians are blasting the ESRB for allowing GTA: SA to obtain less than an Adults Only rating, while Rockstar supporters are claiming that the modification isn't the fault of GTA, but rather the individuals who built the modification.  In further response to the Hot Coffee controversy, the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association issued a statement indicating that members of the IEMA will be pulling GTA: SA from their shelves.

Read on for the official press releases.