Burnout Paradise is getting motorcycles!

Today Criterion Games announced that in August Burnout Paradise will have motorcycles! This is a first for Burnout. The motorcycle addition will cost extra, but just from looking at it, it will be worth it. When the motorcycles launch you will not initially be able to race against cars at the same time. However they do plan to add that feature. Also when this update hits Burnout Paradise will also have night time as well.

Video of the motorcycle in play follows as well as a preview of the airplane, but that is not definitely being used.



More information is here.

Uwe Boll Denied Rights to WoW Movie

Yes, its true. At Blizzcon 2007, the developers at Blizzard teasingly stated that a WoW movie was in the works in conjunction with Legendary Pictures. Seizing this opportunity to butcher yet another video game franchise Dir. Uwe Boll pitched himself to Blizzard to head up production as director; Blizzard said this, and I quote: "We will not sell the movie rights, not to you....especially not to you."

This guy is ridiculous. He seems to scoop up every video game franchise and attempt to turn it into a movie. You just can't do that with everything. Next thing we're gonna see from this guy is Guitar Hero: The Movie. What I want to know is who's backing this guy, where's he getting his money, and why has he not been assassinated yet. If you just happened upon this blog and are thinking to yourself "hmmm, there has to be a way to stop this guy, he's an idiot" I have just the solution go to this site, http://www.petitiononline.com/RRH53888/petition.html
sign the petition, and stop him.

Information from 1up.com

Thanks for reading
-JD

Review: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3)

It has finally arrived, though not in the form most of us would have liked (by that I mean a full Gran Turismo game). Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has received a lot of bad talk because it is not a traditional "full" Gran Turismo title, but if you ask me, I think it is a great way to get people excited for Gran Turismo 5 especially since it won't be released for about a year. Anyway, I'll start by listing the cars and tracks in the game since there are so few and many people don't know the lists.

Cars:

Acura- '91 NSX

Alfa Romeo- '06 147 TI, '06 Brera 3.2 JTS Q4

Aston Martin- '06 DB9 Coupe

Audi- '07 R8 4.2 FSI, '07 TT Coupe 3.2

BMW- '03 Z4, '07 135i Coupe, '07 M3 Coupe, '07 Concept 1 Series tii

Chevrolet- '06 Corvette Z06

Citroen- '05 C4 Coupe

Daihatsu- '02 Copen, '07 OFC-1

Dodge- '02 Viper GTS, '06 SRT-10 Coupe

Ferrari- '06 599 GTB, '06 F430, '92 F40, '76 512BB, '07 F2007 (F1 car)

Ford- '07 Mustang GT, '06 GT, '06 Focus ST

Honda- '04 Integra Type R, '02 NSX Type R

Jaguar- '06 XK Coupe

Lancia- '91 Delta HF integrale Evoluzione

Lexus- '07 IS-F

Lotus- '04 Elise 111R, '96 Elise

Mazda- '07 Atenza Sport 25Z, '02 RX-7 Spirit R Type A, '07 RX-8 Type S

Mercedes Benz- '02 SL 55 AMG

Mini- '06 Cooper S

Mitsubishi- '05 Lancer Evolution IX GSR, '07 Lancer Evolution X GSR

Nissan- '02 Skyline R34 GT-R V-spec II, '07 Fairlady Z Version S, '06 Skyline Sedan 350GT, '07 Skyline Coupe Concept, '07 Skyline Coupe 370GT, '05 GT-R Prototype, '07 R35 GT-R

Renault- '00 Clio Sport

Subaru- '07 Impreza WRX STi, '05 Impreza WRX STi Type RA

Suzuki- '95 Cappuccino, '07 Swift Sport, '07 Cervo SR

TVR- '00 Tuscan Speed Six, '02 Tamora

Volkswagon- '01 Golf IV GTI, '05 Golf V GTI

That is it for the cars... sort of. You see, for some reason, the folks over at Polyphony Digital decided to not add the modification of cars into the game (there is an option unlockable when you complete all of the events in C, B and A called Quick tune which will allow for moderate tuning but nothing as extensive as the full game will have), which if you ask me, takes a lot away from the game. BUT, they somewhat made up for it by placing modified cars into the game.

Modified Cars:

Amuse- S2000 GT1 Turbo

Blitz- Dunlop ER34

Concept by Gran Turismo- 350Z RS, Corvette Z06 Tuned, Viper SRT10 Coupe Tuned, Ford GT LM Spec II Test Car, Elise 111R Tuned, Elise Tuned, Lancer Evolution IX Tuned, Lancer Evolution X Tuned, Skyline Coupe Tuned, Clio Sport V6 Tuned, Cappuccino HP Tuned, Swift Sport Tuned

(Art) Morrison- '60 Corvette

Mine's- '06 BNR34 Skyline GT-R

That is all of the cars in the game. As for tracks, there are only 6, but they have different versions to make for a true total of 12.

Tracks:

High Speed Ring (Forward and Reverse)

Daytona International Speedway (Superspeedway and Road Course)

Fuji Speedway (F1 and GT)

Eiger Nordwand (Forward and Reverse) [This is the track from GT HD Concept]

Suzuka Circuit (Full Circuit and East Circuit)

London (Forward and Reverse)

The game is laid out all in one easy to use menu screen which background shows gorgeous scenery and the car that you are currently using. The menu includes News (shows when there is an update and what it entails) GT TV (for videos which will be updated regularly. If you have the blu-ray disc version of the game, this is where you will find the Beyond the Apex video), Online (obviously for playing online), Rankings, Arcade mode, 2p Battle, Events (the 1p mode of the game), Garage, Dealerships, Replay, Options, Manual (views the instruction manual for those who downloaded the game off of the PSN), and Save. When you first start the game, you will be forced to install it onto your hard drive. This takes about 30 minutes... You start the game with 35,000 credits, which can get you a decent starting vehicle though there isn't too much to choose from.

Now to the important stuff, gameplay. I was thrilled to see and feel the improvements that they have made to the physics. Compared to Gran Turismo 4 and GT HD Concept, this game feels so good. In fact, the game feels so much better than prior installments that it almost makes you forget about the shortcomings of this not being a "complete" Gran Turismo title. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous. The new in-car view is just about as good as it gets, and environments put Forza 2 to shame. The races vary in difficulty though the A.I. needs imporvement though after the last interview with the developers of GT5, I think this is only because it isn't the full GT5. They spoke of having various difficulty levels for the full game including some where the A.I. will not only try to proevent you from passing, but will even try to force you into walls, etc. Though the thing that I am most impressed with is the framerate. I have done all of the C class races so far and a few of them include a 16 car lineup and the framerate has never dropped a bit. It's wonderful!

If this is just the small tiny taste of what is to come in Gran Turismo 5... It will be a force to be reckoned with. With talk of including car damage for the full game, I'm more excited for Gran Turismo 5 now than ever! The game is only $40 as opposed to $60 so you can't knock it too much for not being a "complete" Gran Turismo. The only true shortcoming I see with the game is the sound effects. Though they have somewhat dealt with the ridiculous tire screech noise, the car sounds aren't quite as authentic as you would hope espcially after seeing the great lengths that they went through to get the car's visuals to be as authentic as possible. If any of my opinions change as I further progress through the game, I will be sure to update this, but as for right now (after a few hours of play) I'm giving Gran Turismo 5 Prologue an 8 out of 10. (If it were $60 I would have scored it a little lower)

8/10

-CA

Remakes: To be or not to be?

We have reached a point in this generation of gaming consoles where we see that the graphical prowess of games cannot be pushed much further. I remember back when the playstation one was new and I would sit in awe when a cutscene began because the graphics were so much better then when in gameplay. Now, in games such as bioshock and mass effect, you notice that the cutscenes and gameplay graphics are the same and everything melts together. Sometimes when you play games, you will sit for a few seconds after a cutscene wondering if it had ended yet or not. The generation of consoles after this (other than nintendo's) will not see much graphical enhancement other than small details and how much can be handled on screen at once. And sound! Sound has been perfected in games ever since around the ps1 days when they had enough capacity on the platform to where they didn't have to use music that sounded like midi files. So what's my point? Where am I going with this? Why the hell is this article titled remakes? Because at this pinnacle of gaming, it is the perfect time to produce remakes. I don't mean ones where you just make games over again, add extras and stick 'em all together on one disk/cartridge like say Super Mario All-Stars. I don't mean remake as in let's put Chrono Trigger on ps1 and add pretty cutscenes. I mean true, legitimate remakes such as Metroid (the original) when it was made into Metroid Zero Mission on Gameboy Advance.


Remakes that not only fix the little problems with the old version of the game but also make it up to today's graphical and sound standards, and maybe even add a little bit more to it (but don't mess with the main story).

When the ps3 was released, a short movie was made to "show off" the power of Sony's new pride and glory. (videos of each at bottom of post) It was the introduction movie for Final Fantasy 7 and it was remade for the ps3. Fanboys everywhere were jumping off of their rocker because they thought an FF7 remake was in order. Alas, it never came and still today, people ask Square to be smart and remake the game. Perhaps it is just because I don't fully comprehend the cost of making a game, but for certain titles I wonder how a developer could not see certain remakes as being profitable. Speaking of Square, just in the two little paragraphs I have here, there are two games that would sell off the store shelves if they were remade onto today's consoles, that being Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 7. While the idea might make some say, nah, I'll play the ps1 version on my ps2 or ps3; it makes people like me (who by the way have the ps1 versions) jump for joy.

I've tried to go back and play through FF7 and Chrono Trigger on my ps1 version but it's just not the same knowing the kind of games that you can play now.

I don't even think it would cost that much for FF7 either. Yes, it is a ridiculously long game but the next gen character models have already been made by the Advent Children movie. All they would need is to get their voice actors back and get the art team together and have at it because I believe that the old school battle scheme and materia would be safe for keeping the same. A few top programmers to sew it all back together with all of the songs that have been orchestrated in the advent children movie. The only "all-new" things that they would really need are sound effects, and only certain ones really need replacing. FF7 is widely known as one of the best RPGs of all time, I don't see how Square could afford not to remake it.

Sorry for going off on a tangent with FF7 but that bothers me a lot. Anyway, there are several games that I am sure that we would all love to see remade so that you can play through them again and see them in an all new light. Who wouldn't mind seeing a remake of the original Legend of Zelda game that would come with more direction to the story so that you don't accidentally find the 8th dungeon when you should only be at the second and so you don't have to get so confused at the ridiculously poor translations of text, and would look gorgeous on screen and with vibrant orchestrated versions of the original music? What about games that you may have overlooked when you were younger and can't play the older versions of now that you want to such as Earthbound?

What about the older Resident Evil games (I know they were remade on gamecube) without the tank-like controls and something more like Resident Evil 4 for style and control and next gen graphics even better than Resident Evil 4 (and who could forget the miserable voice acting that plagued the first few games)?

There are games as recent as Metal Gear Solid (the first one) that I would love to play again with say the gorgeous graphics and sound of Metal Gear Solid 4 which comes out this June.

With so many great classics out there, it is hard to believe that developers aren't scrounging around with them so that they could make even more money off of them. Companies should look at how far we have come in the graphical arena and realize the money that could be made with old titles. I think that especially companies like Sega who keep ruining their flagship titles by trying to reinvent them (a'hem Sonic anyone?) that they could go back to old best sellers (like the original sonic) and remake them on the consoles that are out now and make a boatload of money off of 'em.

Well, that is my cry out to the developers of the world... What do you guys think?

-CA

PS3 version


PS1 version

Stop Uwe Boll

If anyone has ever seen Bloodrayne, House of the dead or the sequels to both of these terrible movies; the man responsible is none other than Director Uwe Boll.

With FarCry, Bloodrayne 3 and Postal in the works it is plain to see that this man needs to be stopped. According to 1up.com He said that if 1 million people signed a certain petition that he would end his carreer and stop making these terrible monstrosities to the video game world. If you care about terrible video game movies, you'll sign this petiton.

http://www.petitiononline.com/RRH53888/petition.html

Thanks for reading and please participate

-JD

Review: Army of Two

You finished Gears of War, but still haven't had enough quality time with your online friend. Well Army of Two is here to help. You may be thinking that this game is not all that different from GOW, you are right and wrong. This game is definitely trying to be Gears, but it does enough different to make it worth playing.

Army of Two is about two guys who are part of a private army, run by corporations. Their company is so good at handling missions that the government is considering making these privatized armies the countries only military. Before that can happen some things come to light that put our main two characters to the test. Obviously they are up to it, I mean they wear steel hockey masks to battle. The story in itself is fairly decent and is very similar to the better action movies. The story revolves around September 11th, but in a tasteful manner. Overall the story is satisfying. Most of the jokes in the game will even make you laugh the first time you hear them. This game however is very M rated.

The graphics on Army of Two will not disappoint, make sure you get to see this one on a HDTV. The models of you main characters are nice a detailed, from their war torn masks, to their pimped out guns. I'll explain more about that in the game play section. But back to the graphics, the blood does indeed flow. And it looks decent as it splatters on the camera. Also the bad guy models are decent and easy to see from a distance. The environments are very nice and varied. Each location will not make you think you have already been there as it like a new spot.

The game play on this game is mostly great. Now the reason I say mostly great is due to the fact that it is a co-op game. With it being co-op means that your partner needs to be good. No problem if you are playing online with a friend online or at home. Not so good if you are using the CPU to control your partner. The computer sometimes is fairly decent. Other times, you may just want to get a pet monkey and give it the controller. That being said, the enemy AI is fairly decent, and at the professional level a bit of a jerk. The computer will actively seek out better cover if it notices you coming around a side, which makes the game that more challenging. A huge problem I have with the game is the distance at which shotguns can shoot, which is the equivalence of a football field. You will be struck down by enemies shooting from somewhere off screen and your power will quickly diminish. But the coolest part of the game is upgrading your weapons. What I mean by that is you can add all kinds of things to the front of you gun, including a shotgun or grenade launcher just to name a few options.

Overall Army of Two is worth checking out. It has great game play for the campaign mode. It also has an online two vs two mode where the teams are pitted against each other while trying to complete objectives. There is enough here to warrant a purchase, and if you loved Gears you will enjoy this one. I give it a 4 out of 5.

News: Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS) announced!

That's right, Activision has finally announced officially that Guitar Hero: On Tour is in fact a portable version of Guitar Hero that is to be released on the Nintendo DS. The game will come with two peripherals: one is a pick style sytlus, and the other is four button (unlike the usual 5) fret board.

Now, all I've seen are the pictures here so I'm still not too sure on how it will all work together, but I'm sure it will be fun. The game is also said to feature the most diverse set list of master tracks ever offered in a Guitar Hero game and will include classic rock, alternative, and pop songs. (Hooray for master tracks!) Oh, and most importantly, there will be online multiplayer battles as well as local. :) I'm looking forward to it.

-CA

News: Forza Motorsport 2 new DLC

Well, Forza 2 has a new DLC pack coming up and they've made a video to preview the cars. Enjoy! 13 new cars, all of them are in the video (some you might have to look a little harder than others). It will be out on XBL on 3/19


-CA

Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix footage

Capcom recently showed off SSFTHR at their digital day. The grphics look amzing and I cannot wait to play it. The only problem I have with it is the graphics, although insanley detialed, are missing frames of animation. I know this is to keep the gameplay like the original, but it seems like a waste only having the same lame amounts of frames that would have put this over the top.

The footage is from gametrailers.com

Super Smash Brother Brawl Snake Codec videos

IGN.com has posted some great videos of Snake's codec taunt on their website. The video below is of their favorites. However they have video for every character that Snake can encounter. This includes himself. My personal favorite one is Mr. Game & Watch.