1P Start

The Wii version of Rock Band has finally been confirmed as well as given a release date of June 22nd. The game will feature five more tracks than the current Rock Band, however the fact that Wii does not currently have downloadable content as of now should be enough to persuade buyers into rethinking their purchase or at least hold it off until the inclusion of this feature. Those five unannounced tracks have not been specified and I would not be surprised if they are songs already offered as DLC for the PS3 and Xbox 360 version of the game.

In an interesting twist, the Rock Band guitar will be a stand alone controller and not using the Wiimote to be plugged in it to work. Having played the Wii version of Guitar Hero III for almost a full day, the small details like hearing the guitar strings pluck when hitting a wrong note and being wireless right off the bat seemed like something EA/Harmonix would take advantage of on the Wii.

On top of the lack of downloadable content, other disadvantages include a lack of online play. The game is being ported by the same group that ported the Playstation 2 version of the game, so one can easily speculate that the game will also feature gimped versions of the world tour mode and character customizations.

I have no doubts that Rock Band on Wii will sell well, but had this version come along at the same time the 360 and PS3 versions of the game were out, I think it would have been a million times easier to look past the flaws that will come with the Wii edition and gobble this baby up (keeping in mind it would have been holiday season as well). I wish I knew who to blame for this lack of DLC and online play, but I hate EA way more than Nintendo, so I’ll say EA for now (as Smash Bros does have online play, so at the least Rock Band should of had that).

[Shacknews]

Full press release after the break:

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If you haven’t already taken a look at your profile on Xbox.com, you may want to log in just to feel the difference of a fast loading page, oh, it is sweet. Visually the profile pages are different as well, taking the full page down to just the necessities. I do miss seeing my last ten played games right away, but the little 5 last played games widget is decent enough, and honestly, log in and feel the swiftness of that loading! After that, you may accept this unannounced change rather quickly.

(Note: While writing this I loaded the page 4 more times, then on my laptop, and finally from my phone, just because I couldn’t believe the difference. It is like going from dial up to high speed all over again)

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Are you sitting comfortably? Then enjoy the following story of how one man managed to get back his stolen Xbox 360 by utilising the power of the Internet…

Jesse McPherson, a gamer from Philadelphia, returned from a trip to the SXSW festival on March 12th to discover his home had been broken in to, and a number of valuable belongings had been stolen.

The thief’s haul included a TV, a laptop, and his prized Xbox 360. Deciding not to take this lying down, McPherson leapt in to action, and started ringing around a number of local pawn shops to see if anyone had been trying to sell his good lately.

The first place he tried had indeed been the target for someone trying to sell a laptop with peculiarities very similar to his own. So he went down there, and got a few stills of the guy from the CCTV footage (as seen above).

He then called the police and explained the situation, but they weren’t really interested. His friends and co-workers meanwhile had rallied around to buy him a new Xbox 360. So McPherson recovered his Xbox Live account, and the first thing he finds on it is a voice message from a randomer.

It turns out to be the thief, who offers to sell him his own stolen Xbox back to him for a price. Again, the police were called, and again, they don’t get back to the victim of the crime… nice.

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This week’s DLC brings us a lot of Boston. In fact, it brings us more Boston than you can shove in your Cheetos stained face. There are six songs in total, bringing up the Boston total on Rock Band up to seven.

The songs will be 160 Microsoft Points ($1.99) each or as a whole pack for 800 Microsoft Points ($9.99).

* “More than a Feeling”
* “Peace of Mind”
* “Smokin”
* “Rock & Roll Band”
* “Something About You”
* “Hitch a Ride”

Now I’m sure that there are a lot of Boston fans out there that will get offended by this, but as much as their music was right for the time and dare I say pretty good, it all kind of sounds a like. You hear one Boston song, you’ve pretty heard much them all.

Anyway, when I hear Boston now it is almost impossible to separate it from the death of frontman Brad Delp. Poor Brad Delp killed himself by lighting two charcoal grills in his bathroom and letting the smoke kill him. His suicide note said that he was a, “lonely soul.” God damn, that’s depressing.

Videos and commentary after the break.

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In-Game advertising is slowly but surely becoming more and more used as a way of games developers making some extra money. Fine, no problem, the cost of developing games is increasing, and any way in which they can make some extra money to keep down costs is a good thing no?

The problem as I see it is that prices aren’t really dropping, and are instead forever going up, with each new generation of console seeing another level of price threshold being reached.

Plus there is the fact that developers are also eking as much money out of gamers by upping the amount of micro transactions being offered as downloadable content. So is this what the future holds?

The gamer has to pay top dollar to buy a game in the first place, then extra moolah for any new levels or characters or whatever. And then to top it all off, we have to put up with adverts in games which over time are sure to become more intrusive.

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Looking over this weeks releases, I noticed right away a few titles that need some love. Of course there is still some reoccurring franchises, such as Final Fantasy (PSP), Harvest Moon (DS), and even Ninja Gaiden (DS). Solid games in their own right, but they can wait, a new RPG is in town, Opoona (Wii), which has me curious as all hell how the game will play out with using only the nunchuck. Dark Sector is out on the big boy systems, having been announced way back in 2004, the game looks to bring some new elements to the third person action gunner genre, if anything, you can rest easy knowing they didn’t rush this title.

Onto the full list, as always, after the break:

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A couple of weeks ago, rumours were abound of a version of Guitar Hero being made for the Nintendo DS. They came about after Australia’s Office of Film & Literature Classification, gave Guitar Hero: On Tour a ‘G’ rating on March 4th, effectively letting the cat out of the bag.

Now, we have proof of the existence of the game after Activision officially announced the game through a press release.

The game is scheduled for release this summer, and will work by way of a new peripheral, called the Guitar Hero Guitar Grip, which slips over the back of your DS (as seen in the picture above) to turn it in to an electric guitar, as well as top selling portable games machine.

The game will also come with a Guitar Hero pick stylus enabling DS owners to strum their way to fame and fortune, at least in terms of a Guitar Hero career.

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This week’s ad serves as a delayed tribute to the late co-creator Gary Gygax. Yeah it really has nothing to do with the guy except for the fact that it’s a television commercial for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game found on the Intellevision, but without him there would have been no game based on the popular RPG to begin with. Or something, just go with me on this please?

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This week’s round of Rock Band songs brings a little Metal to the line up. Okay, not a little Metal… a shiat load of ultra hard core thrash metal under the guise of the “Earache Thrash Pack.” Here are the bands. Give yourself a cookie if you recognize any of these bands and an extra if you actually know the songs. Then give yourself a hug, because you probably hate your parents. Hey man, it’s all right. They can’t hurt you anymore.

* “Blinded by Fear” by At the Gates
* “DOA” by The Haunted
* “Thrasher” by Evile

They are available individually for $1.99 each (160 Microsoft Points) or $5.49 (440 points) as a bundle. They’re also master tracks, but I can’t imagine why any of these songs would necessitate the use of a cover band.

If you want to more about the songs and the bands that made them… uh famous… then check out Harmonix’s run down. Be sure to check out the videos after the break before you go, though!

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I know I can’t be the only person who has fallen prey to Call of Duty 4. Sometimes though, when you look past the huge amount of overhypeness (is that a word?!) that Halo 3 received, you still can find a solid shooter with a ton of still exclusive features, as well as it just being a very pretty game.

NeoGAF has started up a screenshot thread that has made me re-look at the beauty this game has. Using the capture mode that Bungie has provided (and still I wonder why it isn’t standard in all games now), gamers on GAF have shared both action packed and beautifully artistic screens, please take a gander at some of these pictures that borderline being called art, keep in mind as you take them all in, these are in game shots taken from players, not photoshoped/faked/etc. Start viewing after the break:

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While cruising around the web avoiding work, I ran across these really cool Lego statues that I thought you’d enjoy here. Plus I haven’t had any time to write anything of substance so enjoy a few pics of your favorite Nintendo characters formed out of Legos.

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No, there’s no plans on releasing a Rock Band keytar… sadly. BUT over on GameIndustry.biz there’s an interview with Harmonix that reveals that Harmonix is at least considering adding a keyboard to the mix of instruments in Rock Band for those who wish they could be a famous rock keyboard player like… that one guy.

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Playstation Magaizine has in their latest issue, the scoop on what is going on with GTAIV and it’s multiplayer modes. There will be FIFTEEN different ways to play, with up to 16 players. Saints Row 2 better have a lot more than necklace snatching to compete with this pretty hefty list of game types:

Car Jack City
Bomb da Base
Bomb da Base II
Mafia Work
Team Mafia Work - Mafia and Team Mafia will be a mode in which one person will be the target, and everyone else racing to see who can kill him first. Missions/targets will be given through the cell phone.
Deathmatch
Team Deathmatch
Turf War
Cops N Crooks - Description for this game type is pretty obvious, two teams, one set cops, the other crooks. Cops get a radar that the crooks don’t get.
Race
GTA Race - GTA Race will differ from Race with the ability for players to steal opponents cars.
Deal Breaker
Free Mode
Hangman’s NOOSE - A co-op mode where you escort a mobster while the SWAT team is after you.

The host will be determining how many weapons, people on the street, traffic, and other options are available in each game. The multiplayer map will be as big as the singe player map (I will believe this when I see it). Players will be able to customize their character as far as race, hair, sex, clothing, etc.

The 15th multiplayer mode as of now has no name or description. I do wonder with all the other different modes offered, what could they be hiding for this last unnamed mode, as I think having too many options might actually hinder the game.

[Source: GTAForums]
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Grand Theft Auto IV, GTAIV, RockStar, Multiplayer

Over the course of last week, the big rumour to hit the gaming websites was that a Nintendo Wii with a Blu-ray drive was on the way. Apparently it had been spotted in Tokyo, and was getting readied for an official release.

Of course, the whole thing was absolute bullshit. There was no truth in it whatsoever, and some of the game sites who took it seriously, and reported it as fact should be ashamed of themselves.

Of course, there are rumours which can seem feasible, and get reported as possibly having an element of truth about them, hell I’m sure even we here at 1PStart have been guilty in the past. But for various reasons, this was obviously a faked news report, and should never have been passed on.

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This week in releases brings us some pretty solid titles all around, especially for Sony (if you don’t count the PSP). Though released earlier on the 360, Condemned is here on the PS3 along with Hot Shots Golf. Even the PS2 is getting some love in the form of a “must have for any PS2 owner” set, being the Metal Gear Solid collection, if you don’t have ‘em yet, let me say again.. “must have!” Sega seems to have their hands in almost every system now with Superstars Tennis.

The “winner” of this week imo, has to go out to the highly anticipated Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Of course only time will tell if people are able to get their grubby hands off of Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, or Smash Bros Brawl to give Vegas 2 a chance, but something tells me the game will due just fine with the cult fan base Tom Clancy seems to have. Full list, after the break:

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