Continue reading »]]> High praise: 2008 was the best year for video games, ever.

As such, when game reviewers name their favorite games of 2008, they will make good cases — probably for the epics, “Grand Theft Auto IV,” “LittleBigPlanet,” “Rock Band 2” and “Fallout 3.”

But everything is personal. So here are my Top 10 games of 2008, based on: how much they made my heart race and how many hours I played them.

•“God of War: Chains of Olympus” by Sony for PSP. This is the best PSP game yet created. You play once more as Kratos, the killing muscle of mythical gods. Its cinematic sweep is breathtaking; screenshots could hang in galleries; the orchestral score hums. It’s a flawless masterpiece.

•“Frontlines: Fuel of War” by THQ for Xbox 360. Offline, “Fuel” is a short, war-for-oil, shooting adventure. Online, this was the best shooter of 2008, featuring some of the most fun battlefields, rocket launchers, tanks and helicopters you’ll ever see.

•“Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots” by Konami for PS3. Legendary co-writer-director Hideo Kojima directed this very long work of art in an action-adventure (spanning the globe with guns).

•“Patapon” by Sony for PSP. You make stick-figure warriors march and toss spears by touching PSP buttons as if they are drum pads. It is unforgettable, clever and endearing.

•“Call of Duty: World at War” by Activision for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, DS. Offline, it’s more World War II battlefields, trenches and killing. You can also unlock a bonus “Nazi Zombie” mini-game (hilarious).

•“Mirror’s Edge” by E.A. for Xbox 360 and PS3. You play as a “runner” in an anti-utopian futuristic city (drawn with primary colors in street art style), jumping from roof to roof in human ways, and “wall-climbing” Jackie Chan-style. It ends too soon, though.

•“Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution” by 2K Games for Xbox 360, PS3 and DS. You play this engrossing “Risk”-style strategy role-player by leading your nation to empirical victory, starting from the Stone Age and ending with the Space Age.

•“The Club” by Sega for PS3 and Xbox 360. This was a stellar online shooter, though after just 10 months on the market, I find only a handful of gamers still shooting each other online via PS3.

•“MotorStorm: Pacific Rift” by Sony for PS3. Drive motorcycles, trucks and four-wheelers across incredibly vast and gorgeously illustrated open spaces in the great outdoors, offline and online.

•“WALL-E” by THQ for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP and DS. This movie-based game is a solid journey where you portray Earth’s last garbage-cleaning robot who goes to space in search of love and companionship. Other games were better in traditional ways. But the profound heart of “WALL-E” almost made me cry every half-hour. That is the first time a game has ever made me emotional.

The top 10 video games of 2008 – Kansas City Star

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Continue reading »]]> Downloadable content hasn’t traditionally been one of the main selling points for Activision’s Guitar Hero series. That stance has perceptibly changed with World Tour, due in part to the fact that Activision now has a studio whose professed purpose it is to create DLC for the rhythm-game franchise. Examples thus far released for World Tour include tracks from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, The Raconteurs, R.E.M., Boston, Foreigner, and Oasis.

Today, Activision laid out Guitar Hero World Tour’s DLC lineup for the month of December, injecting the game with a number of new songs from legendary rockers. Leading the show on December 4, The Smashing Pumpkins will reprise their on-disc performance of “Today” with “G.L.O.W.” from their new album, as well as “1979″ and “The Everlasting Gaze.”

Nirvana will follow the Pumpkins on December 11 with its own three-song pack. The Nirvana Track Pack will include “You Know You’re Right,” “Negative Creep,” and “Sliver,” complementing the group’s on-disc track “About a Girl.” The Eagles will also return to World Tour with a trio of downloadable tunes, adding “Frail Grasp on the Big Picture,” “One of These Nights,” and “Life in the Fast Lane” to the main game’s “Hotel California.”

The Reggae Rock Track Pack will round out Activision’s offerings when it’s released on December 23. The pack includes three songs: Slightly Stoopid with “Jimi,” Pepper’s “Your Face,” and Expendables’ “Sacrifice.”

The Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, and Eagles tunes will be available coupled together on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $5.49 (440 Microsoft points), or each song can be downloaded individually for $1.99 (160 Microsoft points). Wii gamers can pick up the songs individually for 200 Wii points ($2). The Reggae Rock Track tunes will be available as a free download on all three systems. (Each song must be picked up individually on the Wii.)

Continue reading »]]> The venerable Atari brand has fallen on hard times recently, although signs are starting to suggest the possibility of a comeback. Sony alumn Phil Harrison recently took the reins of the beleaguered publisher, hoping to help turn business around. The recently-released Alone in the Dark Inferno on PS3 is the first step in a company makeover aimed at restoring the high level of quality we expect from this 30-year-old brand.

The company today announced its lineup of games due this coming spring 2009. There are a variety of console and handheld titles on the menu, suggesting that Atari will retain a broad publishing focus going forward. We are particularly interested to see how The Chronicles of Riddick and Ghostbusters turn out, after Atari snapped these franchises up in the fallout of the Vivendi-Activision merger.

Atari 2009 Spring Game Releases:

• Ghostbusters: The Video Game — 360, PS3
• Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution — Wii
• Heroes Over Europe — 360, PS3, PC
• My Horse and Me: Riding for Gold — DS, Wii, 360
• Codename Panzers: Cold War — PC
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena — 360, PS3
• Sacred 2: The Fallen Angel — PC
• The Chase: Felix Meets Felicity — DS

Continue reading »]]> Even though the new “Call of Duty: World At War” is succeeding with consumers and critics by sticking to the successful adrenaline-fueled formula of its franchise predecessor, new downloadable content coming to the game in 2009 will represent a break from 2007’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.”

How much of a break from the “Modern Warfare” DLC will it be?

In a phone interview with MTV Multiplayer just before Thanksgiving, “World at War” executive producer Daniel Suarez confirmed that the game’s development team is working on downloadable content that will exceed the single multi-player map-pack offered for “Modern Warfare” earlier this year. “We want to do at least — the hope is — potentially two, maybe three packs out before we’re all said and done.”

Suarez said announcements of the downloadable content would be coming at the beginning of the New Year. While he declined to provide a release schedule, he offered this surprise: “It’s not going to be what we’ve done traditionally. I’ll leave it a little bit mysterious.”

What was “traditional” for “Call of Duty” would have to be what was done for “Modern Warfare.” That consisted of four multiplayer maps released five months after the base game launched. What could the new approach be? Downloadable content for the single-player campaign instead of just multiplayer map packs? New armament? New music? A map editor? “Call of Duty” fans should start guessing.

But here’s one option fans shouldn’t consider: the content won’t involve a cross-over with “Modern Warfare.” I asked if the development team on “World at War” was exploring an option to bring the weapons and maps of these two most recent “Call of Duty” games into one meshed, generation-spanning experience. Suarez said nothing like that is in the works.

Continue reading »]]> Following in the footsteps of Nintendo’s popular “Wii Fit,” the video game publisher known for the “Madden” football games is jumping into fitness software targeted mostly at women.

Electronic Arts Inc. on Thursday announced a new line, EA Sports Active, that runs on the Nintendo Wii console and aims to complement, not compete with, Nintendo’s “Wii Fit” exercise title.

Peter Moore, president of EA Sports, called the new brand, whose first title launches next March, a “somewhat radical departure from the normal game experiences we provide customers.”

EA’s sports audience has been mostly young men, who have flocked to football, soccer, basketball and hockey titles to make the company the world’s dominant player in sports video games.

But to stay competitive with rivals such as Activision Blizzard Inc., whose success with games like “World of Warcraft” and “Rock Band” seems to be weathering the recession, EA needs to continue to expand its audience.

The company’s new brand seeks to take advantage of the popularity of the Nintendo console and of exercise games. While the “Wii Fit” is already enormously popular, Moore, a former physical-education teacher, said EA’s sports software will run people through an exercise routine with a more Western approach than the Japanese company’s product.

“Wii Fit” includes activities like running, skiing as well as yoga, and it emphasizes balance as well as fitness. EA’s products will include exercises like running and lunges, as well as simulations of sports such as tennis.

The games use straps to attach the Wii’s controller and “nunchuk” attachment to a player’s body, so the fitness routines can be performed without holding the controls. It also includes a resistance band. Titles in the line will cost about $60, the same as a regular video game.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Electronic Arts Wants to Help People Get Fit, Too

Continue reading »]]> Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that Cabela’s Legendary Adventures is now available for PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, and Wii.

Cabela’s Legendary Adventures is the latest title in the popular Cabela’s franchise, where for the first time hunting enthusiasts get to relive the greatest hunting stories ever told. Players embark on epic hunting expeditions over the last century in search of legendary trophy animals in the world’s most celebrated hunting locations. Environments like the Yukon Territory and the Rocky Mountains are free-roaming and full of wild game – the hunter must adapt to the terrain, track animal behavior, and master precision firearms. The title focuses on ten big game species including White-Tailed Deer, Alaskan Brown Bear and Roosevelt Elk, but there is also a variety of species of small game, waterfowl, upland birds and turkey to hunt if you possess the expertise.

“The incredible tales that make up hunters’ lore is what inspired the creation of Cabela’s Legendary Adventures,” said Dave Oxford, Activision Publishing. “Focusing on these amazing stories has allowed us to capture what hunting is all about – a quest for a legendary experience.”

Working closely with leading outdoor recreation brand Cabela’s, the firearms and gear in Cabela’s Legendary Adventures are accurate and realistic. The Wii version of the game is compatible with the Wii Zapper accessory for added fun.

For more information on Cabela’s Legendary Adventures visit www.activision.com.

Cabela’s

Cabela’s Incorporated, headquartered in Sidney, Nebraska, is a leading specialty retailer, and the world’s largest direct marketer, of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise. Since the Company’s founding in 1961, Cabela’s� has grown to become one of the most well-known outdoor recreation brands in the world, and has long been recognized as the World’s Foremost Outfitter�. Through Cabela’s growing number of retail stores and its well-established direct business, it offers a wide and distinctive selection of high-quality outdoor products at competitive prices while providing superior customer service. Cabela’s also issues the Cabela’s CLUB� Visa credit card, which serves as its primary customer loyalty rewards program. Cabela’s stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CAB.”

Activision Ships Cabela’s Legendary Adventures in North America for PlayStation 2, PSP and Wii – Video Game News – Yahoo! Video Games