Our pals over at 360Sync just posted the officially official list of achievements for a spacey survival horror game that you may know as Dead Space. The achievements, comprised of 48 total with 8 being secret, are a nice mix of story progression as well as weapon based achievements. We'll be proud once we unlock "Butcher" and "Air Alert". What can we say? We love making messes and jumping from wall to wall.
Here's some new Dead Space footage for you to watch, complete with weapon demonstrations and bloodied up Necromorph bits. Embedded above and after the break you'll get to watch how the Dead Space Line Gun rips bodies into bits, how the Plasma Cutter accurately picks off limbs and how the Pulse Rifle chainguns those icky aliens into submission. Take that baddies! Take it and like it!
Just as was announced last week, earlier this morning Harmonix released a bunch of new Rock Band DLC (which is also Rock Band 2 DLC, because DLC works for both games don'tcha know) onto the XBLM featuring an entire album from Megadeth and a few select songs from the artists of the Rock Band Tour. Note too that the 880 Microsoft point Megadeth album Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? is the entire album EXCEPT for the title track "Peace Sells" because it is a part of the Rock Band 2 setlist. View all the DLC goodness after the break.
The Joystiq post talks about "phonemes" and how Rock Band 2 recognizes them in a different way than Rock Band 1 thanks to a different "detection system." This "detection system" is what recognizes the spoken word sections of any given song. It seems that making any sound during spoken word section in Rock Band 2 is read as good.
But forget all of that. The point is that it's possible to five star and gold "So Whatcha Want" by the Beastie Boys -- on expert -- by reading the Declaration of Independence. Joystiq put together a video to prove this and the results are staggering and, frankly, strangly beautiful. The video takes on the aspect of performance art and gives us pause to consider the broader meaning of our existence. Either that or we've been staring at a computer monitor for just a bit too long. Either way, it's something that must be seen and, more importantly, iterated over and over again. We'd love to see someone five star "So Watcha Want" with, oh, let's say an episode of the A-Team. Get to it, internets.
Three days after Pandemicannounced that a Mercenaries 2 demo was on Xbox Live Marketplace, it finally emerges. Where was it hiding? We're not sure. Venezuela perhaps. Regardless of where it's been, it's available now for anyone who wants to give its particular brand of open world destruction a try. Be warned though, the demo only lasts for twenty minutes, and the timer doesn't reset when you die, and it boots you back to the dashboard when time is up. Better get that destruction in while you can (and hope that you can figure the game out without a tutorial).
After making your Rock Band 2 purchase, you may be wondering exactly how you can experience the entire rockin' setlist without having to actually do all the "work". Because, as you're well aware, having to play the game through completion in order to unlock all songs is so 2007.
Thankfully, Harmonix included a "game modifier" option where, with a few presses of the colorful guitar buttons, players can alter the game including a modifier that unlocks the entire setlist. Simply make your way to the RB2 game modifier screen and enter the sequence - Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue. Tada! Instant setlist unlock! You rebel.
If you're in the pre-order market for the Rock Band 2 bundle (which releases next month), then look no further than Circuit City. They're selling the entire Rock Band 2 bundle for the astonishingly low price of $189, which is $9810 off the game's regular $9999 price tag! With savings like this, you just can't go wrong.
The big releases are starting to drip out as the industry steadily ramps up for yet another packed holiday season. This week, the Xbox 360 plays host to some decent titles including the likes of Rock Band 2, Pure, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. On top of those, we've also got Armored Core: For Answer and ... um ... Battle Fantasia. To our disappointment, we have learned that Battle Fantasia is not a fighting game about the Disney movie Fantasia. It's a shame, really, because we were ready to throw down with some tutu-wearing hippos.
As is tradition on Fridays, Harmonix just announced next weeks Rock Band DLC which is sort of special seeing that Rock Band 2 releases this weekend. Available on Tuesday, September 16th will be the entire seven song Megadeth album Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? which, if purchased together, will cost you 880 Microsoft points. Not only that, but four additional DLC tracks from the bands of the Rock Band tour will be released for a promotional 80 MS point price. Complete DLC listing below ...
"Wake Up Dead" by Megadeth (160)
"The Conjuring" by Megadeth (160)
"Devil's Island" by Megadeth (160)
"Good Mourning / Black Friday" by Megadeth (160)
"Bad Omen" by Megadeth (160)
"I Ain't Superstitious" by Megadeth (160)
"My Last Words" by Megadeth (160)
"One of Those Nights" by the Cab (80)
"Hands Down" by Dashboard Confessional (80)
"She's a Handsome Woman" by Panic! At the Disco (80)
IGN reports a veritable cornucopia of news regarding Battlefield: Bad Company. The leaderboards have been expanded to include 500,000 players (up from 50,000), which should give more gamers a chance to see their names up in lights. Also, two of the campaign levels -- Acta Non Verba and Par For The Course -- are being retooled for multiplayer and will be available in an upcoming map pack (no word on when it will release or how much it will cost). Along with the map pack, an update is being prepared that should fix server and Dog Tag lag. Finally, and perhaps most interesting, codes are being given out to unlock three of the five (somewhat controversial) weapons that were only available to those who took part in the game's launch promotions. To unlock the different weapons, simply enter the codes below in the unlock section in Bad Company.
Recon Kit - QBU88 - your3mynextt4rget
Special Ops Kit - UZI - cov3r1ngthecorn3r
Support Kit - M60 - try4ndrunf0rcov3r
The remaining weapons can still be unlocked by checking your stats on the Bad Company website and joining the EA Veteran's Program.
Here are some things we like. We like Stephen Colbert. He's funny. We like Rock Band. It's fun to play. What happens when you put the two together? Awesome is what happens. "Charlene" a song Colbert did during his stint with Stephen and the Colberts, is now available as a free download for Rock Band. We strongly suggest you add it to your collection. We're fairly sure that -- at this time -- this is the closest any of us will ever get to actually being Stephen Colbert. Or, more precisely, being around him, near him. Not that we're stalking him or anything.
Ahem. Got a bit creepy there. Check out in game videos of the song after the break.
Available prior to the game's official release next month, EA Sports just released a shiny new FIFA 09 demo to the Xbox Live Marketplace. The 740MB demo is available for download in all Live regions and (according to the demo description) features "more responsive first-time shooting, passing, one-touches plus faster and more controlled dribbling and improved trapping." Oh, and for those who are confused over what the heck "FIFA" actually is, think football if you live in Europe and soccer if you're Stateside. Have fun downloading and demoing!
MTV has announced that the standalone version of Rock Band 2 (not the instrument bundle) is on its way to retailers. The game will be available (strangely) this coming Sunday, September 14 for the standard price of $59.99. While the game won't be available with instruments bundled in (yet), MTV has announced that both the wireless drums and guitar will be available "later in the week" for $89.99 and $69.99 respectively. Also available will be the Mad Catz Precision Bass controller for $69.99 and the uber-deluxe ION Drum Rocker for a hefty $299. It's worth noting that the ION Drum Rocker can be converted into a real electronic drum set using additional hardware (sold separately, of course). No details were give regarding the release of the instrument bundle.
Now it's time to go start bugging your game store employee friends for a sneak peak. Just remember, trying to trick someone into selling you Rock Band 2 before its street date is wrong. Fun, but wrong.
We were contacted by EA late last week about the recent expedition of the Dead Space release date and, somehow, we failed to notice that the email also confirmed that Dead Space has been banned in Japan, German, and China. According to the email, "Dead Space was banned from being sold (yes outright banned, this time I'm correct) in Japan, Germany, and China!" So, there you have it kids, it's not a rumor at all (though that matter is apparently in dispute). The email makes no mention of the reason for the ban, though we imagine it has something to do with the amount of gore and violence present in Dead Space. X3F has contacted EA to find out if the company will make changes to the game in order to sell it in the aforementioned regions.
In the latest Dead Space developer diary, the developers at EA talk about the implementation of zero gravity environments. According to the video, "at least 20%" of Dead Space takes place in zero gravity. In zero gravity players use magnetic boots that allow Isaac, the game's protagonist, to stick to different surfaces. Players can also launch themselves to -- and subsequently walk on -- other surfaces in a room.
The developers mention that part of the game's challenge is becoming reoriented to your surroundings in zero gravity. As "the floor maybe become the ceiling, and the ceiling the floor," players need to reorient themselves quickly in order to deal with enemies. One last thing: in complete vacuums (where sound does not travel) players will only be able to hear the sounds of Isaac's breathing and heartbeat. Creepy.
After making your Rock Band 2 purchase, you may be wondering exactly how you can experience the entire rockin' setlist without having to actually do all the "work". Because, as you're well aware, having to play the game through completion in order to unlock all songs is so 2007.
As is tradition on Fridays, Harmonix just announced next weeks Rock Band DLC which is sort of special seeing that Rock Band 2 releases this weekend. Available on Tuesday, September 16th will be the entire seven song Megadeth album Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? which, if purchased together, will cost you 880 Microsoft points. Not only that, but four additional DLC tracks from the bands of the Rock Band tour will be released for a promotional 80 MS point price. Complete DLC listing below ...
)
