The SIXAXIS Report 11.27.07
Posted by Mark Salmela on 11.27.2007
Run and tell all of the Angels… It’s time for The SIXAXIS Report! Unreal Tournament 3 will be out on the PS3 this year. Plus Rock Band is awesome, Time Crisis 4 is fun, an expansion pack for WarHawk is coming, Assassin’s Creed 2 news, and more!
Well I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and Black Friday. I didn't hear of anyone dieing over it so at least there's that. I had an awesome vacation as I'll describe below *hint: it involves Rock Band*, and there's a lot of positive news for PS3 users. Get ready everyone, because if your wallet isn't empty yet, I've got some news for you…
If ignorance is bliss, then it must be Sony News of the Week
Move over Guitar Hero, it's time to rock!
The big news for me this week was just how much of a 180 I have done on Rock Band. It was only a little over a week ago I was telling my friends how much of a flop Rock Band would be, and come on, $180 for one game? I was laughing at how MTV thought they'd be able to charge people that much for one game with a limited *though very good* soundtrack. But after setting it up at a friend's house and singing "3's and 7's" by Queens of the Stoneage, I was sold. I went straight to Best Buy and picked up Rock Band for myself, and I never looked back. I must have spent over 18 hours this weekend rocking out, as my friends and I played Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday night for hours. We simply could not get enough of the game. The drums are amazing, and watching friends sing "I think I'm paranoid" and some of the other feminine songs are one hell of a treat.
I myself was never a fan of Guitar Hero, I just found it boring. I figured why not just learn to play Guitar in real life rather than spending your day playing a game where you play Guitar. But after playing Rock Band, I've become a fan. If you liked Guitar Hero at all, or even thought a rhythm based game would be fun, you owe it to yourself to get Rock Band. The only reason I could potentially see anyone pass on the game is if you only had $180 and you decided you'd rather have 3 awesome games compared to one. I think a combination of games like COD4, Super Mario Galaxy, and Uncharted would be better than just getting Rock Band, but if you can even come close to affording it, Rock Band is a must have.
Credit: Credit to me, bitches!
Unreal Tournament 3 for the PS3 goes gold!
Well Unreal fans can rejoice, as Epic, makers of games like Gears of War, have just announced they have finished work on the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament 3. The game just came out on the PC and it is awesome, I am definitely picking up the PS3 version. As for the date, it's December 11, less than 2 weeks from now! My god there's so many awesome games this year, and I have no time to play any of them. Look for a video of Unreal Tournament 3 below.
Sony PlayStation Store update for the week of 11/22/07
Well we were treated to an early Thanksgiving this week, as we got the PS Store update on Tuesday instead of Thursday. We got a nice demo of MX vs. ATV Untamed. The game looks to be more of the same, so if you enjoyed previous MX games you'll love the newest edition. For everyone else, there's Motorstorm. Also on the update was a bunch of videos as well as downloadable content for Rock Band. I really recommend the Queens of the Stoneage pack, it's awesome *3's and 7's, Sick Sick Sick, and Little Sister*.
Credit: Sony
WarHawk expansion pack in December
Well the PS3 hit WarHawk is finally getting an expansion pack, as Operation Omega Dawn hits this December. This first expansion to WarHawk boosts the game's new map, based around a giant Omega factory that the Eucadians and the Chermovans are fighting over. This map also supports the new game's new vehicle, the KT-424 Combat Dropship. One pilot, 6 soldiers, and 1 vehicle can now hover across the map to anywhere you deem fit. This makes for the perfect attack, as you can now drop your entire team for one major strike, which especially for CTF will come in handy. No exact date has been set, but look for it before Christmas.
Credit: Sony
Sony Quick News!
For those of you who have been waiting, the PS3 will finally be supporting DivX technology. An exact date has not been given, but DivX support will be coming to the PS3 for all of you movie buffs.
According to Jade Raymond, Ubisoft is already looking ahead to Assassin's Creed 2 and is looking at the possibility of adding a co-op mode. Considering the cool videos of the glitch that clones Alteir I could imagine co-op in Assassin's Creed would be fun.
Rumor has it Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will be a 360/PC exclusive. Considering Vegas 1 was one of the best games of 2006 it'll be a real heartbreak if PS3 users miss out on the sequel.
For the last time, Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII Versus are still exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation 3 only.
A recent study shows that 46% of retailers sell M-rated video games to minors, and we should be surprised why?
Video B3yond!
Some footage of Frontlines: Fuel of War, the game looks alright, but with so many other amazing shooters out there, this could get lost in the pack pretty easily.
Speaking of first person shooters that get forgotten against all of the others, here's BlackSite: Area 51. It's another alright game; I'll have a full review coming soon.
By Sega, it's The Club.
Some footage of Unreal Tournament 3, which is hitting the PS3 on December 11.
The One Man Water Cooler~!
Well I played Time Crisis 4 on the PS3 this past week, and it was pretty good. If anyone here ever played Time Crisis in the arcades knows what arcade mode is all about. Guys pop up on screen wanting to kill you, so you shoot them and duck if any of their bullets are about to hit you *or if you need to reload*. If I haven't said it before Time Crisis is my favorite rail-shooter, barely beating out the House of the Dead franchise *which will have HOTD 2 and 3 coming to the Wii, and HOTD4 supposedly coming to the 360*. I own Time Crisis 1, 2, 3, and Crisis Zone *which in the arcades wasn't considered a Time Crisis game if my memory serves me right, they just added the name for the home console version*. For any fans of the series, Wild Dog is indeed back and better than ever *he has a kick ass new weapon*.
The Guncom 3 runs off of 2 different sensor bars, kind of like what the Wii uses. That means you can use it on any type of TV available, which is a god send for me. I have an LCD HD myself and it really sucked not being able to use my Guncom and Guncom 2's *I got like 3 of those bastards*.
New to the franchise is the FPS mode, where you can run through a side quest in free-roaming FPS style. There are two analog sticks for camera and movement, and you use the gun to point and shoot at the screen. Instead of your typical Time Crisis health bar you get a Halo style health bar that regenerates when standing still. Overall it takes some getting used to, but the FPS mode is a decent addition to the franchise, there just needs to be a better cover system and more enemies on screen at a time to fight.
Also, I tried to find this news everywhere, but I couldn't find out whether or not any of the other Time Crisis games or previous Guncoms would work with the PS3 or the Guncom 3. Well I tried it out myself, but sadly you can not play any of the other Time Crisis games with the Guncom 3. I tried hooking up my previous Guncoms using the PS3 and the new Guncom 3 and I couldn't get any of the previous games working with them. So anyone hoping to use a game like Time Crisis 2 with the Guncom 3 or using the Guncom 2 on their PS3 are out of luck, since I don't expect to see a patch anytime soon to fix it.
So I may end up doing a final review for the site if I can snag a copy of the game for myself, but if not I still recommend anyone who's a fan of the Time Crisis series pick up Time Crisis 4 if they don't mind the $90 price tag for only one gun and a copy of the game. The terror bits can get annoying as well as the little mini-battles where you turn the gun to switch between 3 screens to hold off enemies for a certain amount of time *it's not easy to describe, probably because it's not that good of an idea in the first place*, but otherwise it's a solid pick up.
The 411mania Empire~!
The Full Circle by Mike Minotti, who didn't throw a birthday party for the 360, probably because none of them last that long without burning down a house. Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser, and I nearly creamed myself hearing about House of the Dead 2 and 3 coming to the Wii. I heart HOTD. The Select and Start News by Vincent Chiucchi
Signing Off
Well it was a pretty slow week, so hopefully everyone's getting back into the swing of things after OD'ing on turkey. I have Rock Band to play, as well as BlackSite: Area 51 *which I'll be reviewing*, so no time to screw around. I've got aliens to blast and songs to rock, cya next week!
