The SIXAXIS Report 12.11.07
Posted by Mark Salmela on 12.11.2007
News on High Velocity Bowling, God of War 3, Killzone 2, Call of Duty 5 going back to WWII, the new GTAIV trailer, the next two nominees for SIXAXIS Game of the Year, and more in The SIXAXIS Report!
PS3 users rejoice, Unreal Tournament 3 comes out this week! I went back and played some Rainbow Six: Vegas this week, and my god is it still an awesome game. Best game of 2006? Hells yeah. Attack and Defend on Calypso Casino is the shit, and I think I'm going to play it even more this week *doing homework never got me anywhere*.
Any who, there wasn't a whole lot of news this week *compared to last week's marathon that is*. But you will get to see the next 2 nominees for the SIXAXIS Game of the Year awards~!
One more piece of information, the Spike TV Video Game Awards are a joke. Video Games Live was awesome, but everything else sucked *I laughed at the trailer for Rainbow Six: Vegas 2*. I mean come on, "Most Addictive Video Game Fueled by Dew: Halo 3". If anyone takes this seriously, I'm going to enjoy laughing at them.
Not wining any awards at the VGA's and proud, it's Sony News of the Week
PlayStation Store update for the week of December 6, 2007
Are you tired of bowling with little cartoony characters with no fingers to actually hold the bowling ball with? Me too, and fortunately for us there is an alternative on the PS3. Everyone can now go out and download High Velocity Bowling for $9.99 on the PSN. I will say this is a surprisingly fun game, and after you get the hang of the controls you'll be bowling strikes in no time. It's not the best game out there, but if you and your friends liked Wii Sports *or thought it would be fun*, this is a nice alternative for PS3 users.
In addition, there's some new content for Folklore, a new car for Motorstorm, and a multiplayer demo for TimeShift. Rock Band also received its weekly update with a new Black Sabbath pack, but I didn't even bother looking for it. Look for the Weezer pack next week, maybe that'll be worth it.
Credit: Sony
God of War 3 info
Lots of info for the newly announced God of War 3. First off, David Jaffe, head honcho for God of War 1 and 2, has announced that he would like to be involved with God of War 3. Ever since he left Sony to form Eat, Sleep, Play it was assumed he was not going to be involved in GoW 3, but apparently he has left his plans for GoW3 with Santa Monica. I can only see this as good news, and hopefully Sony will take Jaffe up on his offer and get some tips for their next God of War epic from the man who helped make the first two so awesome.
Also, for anyone wondering, Sony already has a timetable for release. They apparently are planning to release the game in May 2009, 2 years after God of War 2 came out. It's nice to see Sony releasing info for God of War 3, but I can't wait a year and a half for the game to come out *tear*. It's MGS4 all over again…
Credit: Sony, David Jaffe
New screens of Killzone 2 photoshopped?
Kotaku has some new Killzone 2 screens up, and it hasn't taken long for speculation to pop up that they were touched up. Well Sony has responded, and yes, they were touched up. To Guerilla's defense they claim that the touches were "minor" and look much better when shown in motion. Well judge for yourself, here's the link to the gallery, and let me know just how "touched up" you think these are.
Treyarch, who will be making Call of Duty 5 for the next-gen systems look to be taking COD back to it's World War 2 roots. While not confirmed, their job listing seems to hint they will be making COD5 another WWII game for 2008. If this is true, I will be extremely disappointed, because after how awesome Modern Warfare by Infinity Ward was, there's no way they should be taking a step back for COD5.
In what looks to actually be a decent deal, Lost Planet for the PS3 will come with all of the downloadable updates the 360 had and it will only cost $40. The game comes out in February for those interested.
Epic has just released the tools needed to create your own mods for the PS3 version of Unreal Tournament 3. The only downside is that you need the PC version of UT3 to create mods for the PS3 version. Oh well, hopefully we'll see some sweet mods uploaded in the near future.
Video Game analyst Michael Pachter predicts Rockstar North, makers of GTAIV, may pull a Bungie and become an independent developer when their current deal with Take-Two expires in 14 months. This would be a huge blow to Take-Two if they lost one of their best development teams.
According to Criterion, the new Burnout Paradise for 360/PS3 will have no loading screens or menus in the game. You'll apparently press Start and be thrown into the world, you'll simply drive up to stands to compete in different events and get into online matches. Also, the game in its current state is reportedly impossible to do on the Wii according to the developers, so don't look for any Wii ports. Remember Criterion keeps pushing the PS3 as the lead platform, so Sony fans should be supportive of the new Burnout game, coming January 2008.
Look for another PS3 firmware update later this month to add support for "web enabled Blu-Ray discs" and DivX technology. More info to follow soon.
The PlayStation Network now has over 3 million users who have downloaded over 60 million pieces of content, how's that for having no competition Xbox Live? I know XBL has over double the PSN in terms of users, but the PSN has gotten it in one year while XBL has been up since 2002.
For anyone wondering, the official PlayStation forums are currently doing a petition to get Sony to release more info on the Home Open-BETA. Anyone interested can sign up here.
For anyone who actually cares, BioShock won Spike TV's Video Game Awards Game of the Year. It's a respectable choice, but I won't go into detail because I'm in the middle of nominating my own GotY and I don't want to spoil anything.
Video B3yond!
The new GTAIV trailer "Move up, Ladies". Look for GTAIV this spring *my guess is March* on the PS3/360.
Some new Devil May Cry 4 stuff for you. Look for DMC4 on the PS3/360 in January.
Burnout Paradise still looks awesome! Buy it on January 28 for PS3/360.
The One Man Water Cooler~!
Well after a little bit of controversy I can't go into, the SIXAXIS Game of the Year awards marches on! In a recap for those who didn't catch last week's column with the 2006 SIXAXIS Game of the Year and the first nominee for the 2007 SIXAXIS GOTY, Rainbow Six: Vegas won the 2006 GOTY and Super Mario Galaxy was my first 2007 GOTY nominee. Remember, despite the name "The SIXAXIS Game of the Year", anyone can win, not just Sony. Then again you should already be able to tell this since my first nominee was Mario…
Let us continue with the second SIXAXIS GOTY nominee:
God of War 2 *PlayStation 2*
The PlayStation 2 is often referred to as the best video game console of all time. Selling over 120 million units and featuring one of the most impressive game libraries of all time, it may be hard to argue. So when Sony launched the PlayStation 3 in November 2006, many feared the PS2 would just be abandoned by Sony and move all support to the PS3. Well thankfully Sony didn't forget, and in fact their best game in 2007 would come exclusively to the PS2. Sony gave PS2 players a final swan song, and it may have been the best PS2 game ever created.
The sequel to the critically acclaimed 2005 Game of the Year God of War, Sony managed to not only recapture the magic of the first title, but in many ways surpass the few imperfections of the first game. After being robbed of your powers, Kratos embarks on a new journey to find the Sisters of Fate and regain his lost powers. Kratos is no good guy, and he will show no mercy to those that stand in his way. The story is epic, the music is perfect, the gameplay is polished and near perfect, and this one will be sitting in your PS2 for a long, long time. Congratulations Sony, you have sent the PS2 off with one hell of a bang, and anyone who missed God of War 2 truly owes it to themselves to see what video games are all about. Your second SIXAXIS Game of the Year nominee, God of War 2.
Your third SIXAXIS Game of the Year nominee:
Halo 3 *Xbox 360*
300 million dollars in its first week. How can you go wrong with numbers like that? Starting with the launch of Halo 1 in November 2001, Halo has become synonymous with the Xbox. I would dare say that the success of the Microsoft Xbox can be contributed to the success of the Halo franchise. Halo and Halo 2 are regarded as the best Xbox games ever made, and two of the best multiplayer games of all time. It's no surprise that Halo 3 kicks ass, and is my next nominee for 2007 Game of the Year.
Featuring the epic conclusion to Master Chief's trilogy, the story of Halo 3 revolves around Master Chief returning to Earth to stop the Prophet of Truth and the Brutes from destroying the known universe. To stop them, the humans and the elites, specifically Master Chief and the Arbiter, must team together to stop the upcoming invasion. Featuring one of the deepest multiplayer modes available, it's basically a guarantee people will still be playing Halo 3 for years. If it wasn't for a few shortcomings in the single player, Halo 3 would be a perfect video game. Still, the fight has been finished, and Halo has come to a fitting conclusion. Congratulations Bungie Studios, you have just finished one of the greatest video game trilogies ever, and are my third nominee for the 2007 SIXAXIS Game of the Year.
The 411mania Empire~!
The Exploding Barrel podcast by Mike Minotti. For the whole person on strike from listening to the podcast for the lack of SIXAXIS mention, your strike has paid off. Also, I do listen every week. Happy birthday comrade! If you ever have special guests I'm not hard to find. Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser. The Select and Start News by Vincent Chiucchi The Negative Edge by Tommy Coloma
Signing Off
Christmas is fast approaching kids, make sure to get your holiday shopping done. It's too bad I don't have a SIXAXIS Report shirt, but if anyone wants to send me a template 411mania.com has a cafépress store where I would upload one if I like it *I would send you a free one too*.
Any who, anyone wondering where I will be this week can find my ass on Unreal Tournament 3 *PS3 name Fester*. Check back next week for the final 2 nominees for the SIXAXIS Game of the Year awards! There's only 2 more games to nominate, and boy do I have quite the list to choose from. Between Mass Effect, The Orange Box, Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, Uncharted, and Ratchet and Clank I can only choose 2 of them! Find out which 2 games join Super Mario Galaxy, God of War 2, and Halo 3 in the SIXAXIS GOTY nominees next week.
Anyways, I got games to play, tests to fail, and other college crap to BS, so cya in 7!
