http://pwned.com Pwned.com - News RSS Feed en-us http://pwned.com/shownews/434/First-Diablo-III-Now-This/ Wrath of the Lich King Beta Opt-In Now Open Not much to say about this except that they are now taking Opt-Ins for the Beta for Wrath of the Lich King. You just need to sign into their site and click the Opt-In button when they ask for you to. This will put you in the pool for the lucky people that will be able to help Blizzard with making this expansion just as strong as the one before. Go now to be sure to get in the pool of names. Check It Out http://pwned.com/shownews/434/First-Diablo-III-Now-This/ http://pwned.com/shownews/433/Rock-Band-2-/ I, for one, am excited over the next installment of Rock Band. Harmonix did a wonderful job the first time around, so I'm really jumping out of my seat every time I hear something else about it. I'm about to talk about a bunch of rumors I've been hearing around the internets lately, so please just remember that these are rumors, nothing is confirmed. nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; Here are the basics:You'll be able to play the World Tour with your friends via XBL (finally). There are 80+ songs total. You can play your Rock Band 1 downloadable songs in Rock Band 2. And here is a list of the tracks that have been leaked thus far: "Any Way You Want It" - Journey"You Oughta Know" - Alanis Morissette"Testify" - Rage Against The Machine"Spoonman" - Soundgarden"American Woman" - The Guess Who? "White Wedding" - Billy Idol"Aqua Lung" - Jethro Tull"Bad Reputation" - Joan Jett"One http://pwned.com/shownews/433/Rock-Band-2-/ http://pwned.com/shownews/432/Possible-Songs-/ Rumor: Rock Band Track List So, I thought I would go a day without talking about Rock Band again, but it would seem that it is part of the current buzz on the net. It was just announced and they are slowly trickling information to the pubic about the game. So, I'll go on record now, I'm no RB Fanboy, it's just what comes across my plate right now. I'll hook up GH as soon as I get some good information for it. Anyways. On ScoreHero the last couple of days, there have been screens taken from video on X-Play for the game. They show off what is assumed to be the new RBII interface for song selection. It looks a lot like the current Rock Shop they have have already up for getting new DLC. Not a bad move in my opinion, if it is factual that is. But the big thing is that they are showing what can be assumed to be track listings for the new game. If this is true, then there are some a http://pwned.com/shownews/432/Possible-Songs-/ http://pwned.com/shownews/431/Play-God-And-Win-Prizes/ Spore Creator Contest Do you like creating new creatures with Spore? I'm sure most of you do. If not, then where is your god complex? Everyone needs one of those. Here is you chance to get the complex together and win a few great prizes. At least if you are a competent god, instead of a just god. Remember to have a sense of humor about things. Watch Dogma if you need to see why. Pretty much though, IGN is running a contest from June 30th to August 15th. You create something awesome and submit it in. One new creation a day if you want. All the way up until the deadline. That's 43 entries as of the time of this posting. They will judge it and dictate if you are a god amongst humans with your creation skills. Then they will let you know if you one the prize or not. What are the prizes? Grand: A blazing fast Intel Quad-Core 2.4GHz 1066 FSB PC with 8MB L2 cache, 4GB of DDR2 S http://pwned.com/shownews/431/Play-God-And-Win-Prizes/ http://pwned.com/shownews/430/Midnight-Club--Los-Angeles-Gets-a-Release-Date/ Rockstar announcednbsp; today a new release date for the fourth installment of its critically-acclaimed and genre-defining Midnight Club franchise, Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Set for release on October 7th in North America and October 10th in Europe and developed by series creator Rockstar San Diego, Midnight Club: Los Angeles will give gamers the unprecedented freedom to race through a hyper-realistic LA.Rockstar San Diego has created a beautiful rendition of Los Angeles to race through at break neck speeds and explore at your own pace. With no tracks and no load times, Midnight Club: Los Angeles offers the ultimate freedom to play however you choose.Also scheduled for release simultaneously, Midnight Club: LA Remix for the PSPreg; system will provide another incredible portable racing experience. Developed by Rockstar London, the game will take full advantage of the hardwa http://pwned.com/shownews/430/Midnight-Club--Los-Angeles-Gets-a-Release-Date/ http://pwned.com/shownews/429/Yet-Another-Bonus-For-The-25th/ DC Universe Online Party At Comic Con So, seeing as I am hyped to no end to go this year, you will keep hearing more about this year's Comic Con until probably a week after I get back from it. So deal with it. Yea... So any ways, here is yet another reason to show up this year. DC Universe Online dev.s will be there to talk about the game and they are also hosting a party that people can get into if they are in the know. So I am going to make you, my readers, in the know. Pretty much, if you have a MySpace, you need to befriend the official DCUO MySpace page. Set them as your top friend and bring a print out of that screen with you to the event. Show it to them and you will get in to party and rub elbows with the people who are bringing this game to you. Not a bad gig for having them as a friend on your page. Mind you, you need to be 21 with an ID proving that you are 21 to go http://pwned.com/shownews/429/Yet-Another-Bonus-For-The-25th/ http://pwned.com/shownews/428/Reality-Video-Game-/ American Ninja Warriors Sought While not exactly a bit of gaming news. But I thought it would be fun to bring it up for anyone on here that missed this. On top of that, when you look at Ninja Warrior, it is a weird kind of Real Life Video Game. I mean it is a mix of Assassin's Creed and Tenchu. And it is hosted by G4 so that could give another merit to gaming and pwnage Looks like G4 is looking to get three people to send off to compete on the Ninja Warrior challenge. If you haven't seen the show, it is where 100 people start out running an obstacle course that test the human body to no end. Everything from Parkour to swinging on chains to spider climbing up glass walls. Watch it and you will have respect for the few people who make it to the second stage of the four stage event. You will also question the like 4 people that have completed the entire course. Question how they http://pwned.com/shownews/428/Reality-Video-Game-/ http://pwned.com/shownews/427/Chrono-Tigger-DS-Confirmed-By-Square-Enix/ It is now OFFICIAL!nbsp; Square-Enix has confirmed that Chrono Trigger DS will be hitting the U.S. just in time for the 2008 holiday season.nbsp; Kotaku broke the story with the official press release.nbsp; It will incorporate the Dual Screen and Touchpad of the DS while keeping the integrity of the original game in tact.nbsp; They will also be adding on a brand new dungeon for the upcoming DS release. You will also be able to hook up friends for wireless multiplayer battles.nbsp; This is a great announcement for classic J-RPG fans.nbsp; Below is the official press release from Square-Enix. nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; "CHRONO TRIGGER Returns! The Timeless Classic Teleports to Nintendo DS This Holiday Season LOS ANGELES, CA USA Journey Through Time with the RPG Masterpiece that Started It All LOS ANGELES, July 2 /PRNewswire/ mdash; Square Enix, Inc., the publis http://pwned.com/shownews/427/Chrono-Tigger-DS-Confirmed-By-Square-Enix/ http://pwned.com/shownews/426/Music----As-I-stated---/ Music Sim. Updates/News Like I stated before, I am going to hook ya up with all the fun stuff I find out about the Music Simulation games. So here we go. Top Gun Theme Free on Guitar Hero III So for you patriotic people, or at least those that like to feel it, here is a new song for GHIII. Not really an anthem of the country, but at least it is one for a movie that has the strong feeling of America. That is the "Anthem" for Top Gun. Who doesn't get that un chill down their back when hearing that? Huh? But the best part, it's free. So you don't have to drop half a tank of gas picking up the song either. Maybe use the stimulus checks for what they were intended for. I jest. But check it out and below is a version of the song to get ya going for this free download. "TOP GUN ANTHEM" TO LAND ON GUITAR HEROreg; III: LEGENDS OF ROCK AS FREE DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT FOR FOURT http://pwned.com/shownews/426/Music----As-I-stated---/ http://pwned.com/shownews/425/Screw-The-Console-Wars---/ We Got Wars For Music Simulation Games So I thought I would do another fun edition of "Rock Band Wrap Up"trade;. Seeing as there are plenty of things to bring up today. One of them kind of major. So with no further gilding the lilly. Rock Band II Yes, it has been officially announced. No shocker there. Well outside of the fact that it is due out in September, for the XBox. Most likely October or November for the other platforms. I had no clue that it was that close to final production. But then again, it doesn't seem like it would be all that difficult to add onto the current version of Rock Band. I guess better news for those who haven't gotten the game yet because they were waiting for the Wii version. If you are patient, you can get Rock Band II for the Wii later this year. Maybe Christmas, if you've been good. But what about us who have had Rock Band since launch, it d http://pwned.com/shownews/425/Screw-The-Console-Wars---/ http://pwned.com/shownews/424/Finally----2-40/ Firmware (v.2.40) Walkthrough So, I've been a little late in the game for posting this. Sorry about that, but I have teased about it. I swear I have. But here is the whole skinny on this new update. Watch the videos below and then continue down for more of my thoughts and details. If you care that much. Ok, so watching those, I'm pretty psyched about this new firmware. It gives a few things I have wanted for a while. Like Google in the XMB. Just kidding. But the ability to play my games with my own music tracks. Now I can continue my tradition without having to run two machines to play my music and play my games. What tradition? Playing "happy" music during fucked up scenes in video games that is. Nothing like playing the opening parts of MGS4 while "Singing in the Rain" is playing in the background. Think about it. It sounds awesome right? But in an http://pwned.com/shownews/424/Finally----2-40/ http://pwned.com/shownews/423/Hot-Shots-Golf-5-Gets-5-New-Costume-Sets-in-Japan/ This past Thursday saw the release of a brand new costume pack for Hot Shots Golf 5 (Minna No Golf 5 in Japan).nbsp; For 600 Yen (approx. $6 U.S.), you can have 5 new sets for your existing characters. They include a ninja costume that resembles Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden and DOA fame, two Street Fighter knockoffs resembling Chun Li amp; Ryu, and finally a Sailor Boy and Baseball Playernbsp; costumes.nbsp; Each costume has 2 different color schemes to them.nbsp; This is the 2nd pack released of costumes in Japan, and I would expect both to be released in the states by the end of the year.nbsp; You can check out the pics of the new costumes below, courtesy of Dengeki. Also coming out in Japan is a "Real Conference Ranking" where you will be put on to a Ranking Board as rounds end, which is a nice little feature that is missing from many PS3 games.nbsp; So expect this feature to hit the s http://pwned.com/shownews/423/Hot-Shots-Golf-5-Gets-5-New-Costume-Sets-in-Japan/ http://pwned.com/shownews/422/Diablo-III-Announced-/ After a 7 year wait from the last Diablo, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Diablo 3 was announced today at Blizzards Worldwide Invitational. Hope for another Diablo 3 release was squashed repeatedly when Blizzard North, responsible for the Diablo franchise, lost top developers on June 30, 2003, and again on August 1, 2005 when Blizzard Entertainment announced the closure of Blizzard North. Subtle hints have kept the hope of Diablo fans alive; on Oct 23, 2006 Richard A. Knaak, a novel writer for the Diablo series, told BlizzPlanet "I ainrsquo;t writing for a dead game." The Diablo rumor base was stirred again when Blizzard Entertainment approached Diablo3.com for their domain, even though Diablo3.com (now diablofans.com) denied that Blizzard had any intentions of announcing Diablo 3. Hints for a Diablo 3 announcement peaked last week when multiple Blizzard homepages were ta http://pwned.com/shownews/422/Diablo-III-Announced-/ http://pwned.com/shownews/421/Simon-And-Alucard-Get-It-On---/ Nintendo Power Reveals Castlevania Judgment For Wii... A 3d Fighter?! So like most people, I was excited to here there was going to be a new Castlevania game. I loved the franchise. But now I'm not sure about this new one. Seeing as it is going to be a fighting game and not the side-scrolling adventure game. Completely different than what I was hoping for. I'm sure it is not something most of you were hoping for. But there it is. I'll try to stay positive on this, so here's a few of the knowns that have been spread out there. Dracula, Simon, Alucard, Shanoa and Maria Renard are confirmed characters. There will be destroyable environments. Other enemies will roll in to mess with you during the fight. There will be re-mixed versions of the classic music. You can use sub-weapons, like holy water and boomerangs. And then of course the Wii controls to boot. Check It Out http://pwned.com/shownews/421/Simon-And-Alucard-Get-It-On---/ http://pwned.com/shownews/420/20-minutes-of-Far-Cry-2/ This week at DreamHack, a computer festival in Sweden, Ubisoft Montreal unveiled over 20 minutes from the upcoming game, Far Cry 2. Far Cry 2 is the much anticipated first person shooter from Ubisoft, and is currently in development for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Far Cry 2, the sequel to Far Cry, is an open ended, non-linear game. The game takes place amidst an unspecific vast land in Africa with terrains varying from Savannah to jungle. Ubisoft Montreal promises an extremely detailed environment. They will use actual footage of wildlife they studied while researching for the game in Africa. Ubisoft has also created a new engine just for the game. The engine is called Dunia. Unlike the original Far Cry the player will not be Jack Carver but instead will have the option of being one of nine different characters. For more information check out FarCry.us.ubi.com nbsp; http://pwned.com/shownews/420/20-minutes-of-Far-Cry-2/ http://pwned.com/shownews/419/Fight----At-Comic-Con---/ Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe vs. Comic-Con Ok, not really a fight per say, but at least another reason to go to Comic Con this year. If you didn't have a good enough reason in the first place. Meet some of your favorite people of all times. *cough*Hades*cough*. So here's the skinny. I love saying that. On the 25th, that's the Friday, Ed Boon and Jimmy Palmiotti will be holding a panel to show off the game. Claims of unseen game play and more of the character line up will be given out at this panel as well. If it is anything like the other companies have done at the event, possibly even a little bit of demo. That's me hoping. But to add some icing on top of that, there will be blood posters. So yet one more reason to roll out to San Diego, CA for this summer's Comic Con. Check It Out http://pwned.com/shownews/419/Fight----At-Comic-Con---/ http://pwned.com/shownews/418/By-The-Gods/ Kratos Is Back: God of War 3 To Be Shown At E3 Ok, so the title may be a little misleading, but that was lifted straight from the english source for this tid bit. It was originally posted on a French site, before you ask. But I guess, Sony either let slip or something at the Interactive amp; Digital Entertainment Festival that GoW III (that's God of War not Gears of War) will be at this years E3. If this is true, then the release date that Game Stop has been teasing could actually be about right. Depending on what they are going to be showing off at E3, if they do at all. Personally, I chalk this up to rumor in general. There is only one original source out there right now and no official word from Sony about this. I mean they only listed a few games (Little Big Planet, Killzone 2, Resistance 2) for what they are bringing this year. But who knows. It could have been a big surpr http://pwned.com/shownews/418/By-The-Gods/ http://pwned.com/shownews/417/XMB--GT-4-PS3/ Scheduled PLAYSTATIONreg;Network Maintenance Disclaimer: This is speculation from myself and a few others. Consider it a rumor. I hate Spam. Now that that has been said. On the Official Playstation Support page, there was an announcement of the PSN (PlayStation Network) being shut down for maintenance. Not to out of the ordinary, except for the fact that some of the updates people have been waiting and pining for is suppose to be out soon. It is of my opinion that this could be a few server updates to coincide with the new in game XMB (Cross Media Bar). Which of coarse was suppose to come with the +GT (Me being funny for adding Game Trophies). So we'll see for now. I'm still hitting it with a rumor alert, but it could be something. At least something for us PS3 (PlayStation 3) users. The PLAYSTATIONreg;Network will be taken offline during the following times for a scheduled http://pwned.com/shownews/417/XMB--GT-4-PS3/ http://pwned.com/shownews/416/Strategic-Dismemberment----Nuff-Said/ New Dead Space Trailer Advises Strategic Dismemberment So let me guess. You saw that title and thought "WTF? I gotta check this out." I know that's what I did when I first saw this. It is also why I clicked onto the video. (See below.) It is about what I was expecting as well. Well maybe not exactly, but I was not let down with what I got from clicking the link and watching the video. So what is this? It is a show of the game Dead Space, a little bit. But more about how you are suppose to take down the cute and cuddly creatures trying to rip you limb from limb. Pretty much, fight back the same way. Looks like Head shots won't be a quick kill in this game for the creatures. Or at least the faster kill. You will have to lop or shoot limbs off the attackers to pretty much slow them down so you can walk over and give them the post-mortem-tea-bagging-of-doom. Well more like a c http://pwned.com/shownews/416/Strategic-Dismemberment----Nuff-Said/ http://pwned.com/shownews/415/Christian-Bale-rumoured-for-Snake-in-MGS-movie/ This MGS Movie Chronicles piece, UK rag Nuts is has rumoured that Christian Bale is to play Snake in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie. The info apparently comes from an interview with Bale himself. This goes safely filed under ldquo;unconfirmedrdquo;. http://pwned.com/shownews/415/Christian-Bale-rumoured-for-Snake-in-MGS-movie/ http://pwned.com/shownews/414/Limbo-of-the-Lost/ If you have yet to hear about Limbo of the Lost, chances are you've been living under a rock for the past month or so. This game is one of the most lulz-worthy thing I've seen in a very long time. From the horrible CGI models, to the fact that almost everything in the game has been plagiarized... it's hard not to find yourself giggling at the sheer STUPIDITY of it all. Someone put the two ending videos of this game on YouTube yesterday, so I thought I'd post them here to share with all of you. nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; Limbo of the Lost - Ending 1 Limbo of the Lost - Ending 2 nbsp; If you are interested in reading more about LotL, visit these following Kotaku articles: Cheeky Pc Adventure Game Accused of Grand Theft Assets, LotL creators made it themselves, So what else did LotL steal from? http://pwned.com/shownews/414/Limbo-of-the-Lost/ http://pwned.com/shownews/413/Call-of-Duty-5--World-at-War-Trailer/ Here we go, first trailer for World at War. To be honest, I have my doubts, but it could be good. Also side note, this takes place back during WWII again. Check it out: nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; http://pwned.com/shownews/413/Call-of-Duty-5--World-at-War-Trailer/ http://pwned.com/shownews/412/Ikkitousen-EF-Limited-Edition-Figure-Revealed--/ Thanks to a Kotaku story, I found out Marvelous has finally announced and revealed the actual figure to be included in the Ikkitousen EF Limited Edition set for the Sony PSP.nbsp; As noted prior, it features the mother-daughter team of Hakafu and Goei.nbsp; The figure set is actually a pun referring to "Oyako donburi", which means "parent and child donburi" which is a dish made of Rice, Egg and Chicken.nbsp; But as interesting as that is, we all know everyone is more interested in the figure itself.nbsp; So here is some images of said figure: nbsp; nbsp; nbsp; Now we know the OBVIOUS joke of "2 Girls 1 cup" here, but it has already been used a few times over on other sites, so we will leave it be.nbsp; But not only were images of the figure released, we have a bunch of new screenshots (Some NSFW) courtesy of Famitsu (For more images, follow link). http://pwned.com/shownews/412/Ikkitousen-EF-Limited-Edition-Figure-Revealed--/ http://pwned.com/shownews/411/GEN---Guitar-Hero-World-Tour---First-Look/ GEN had the honor of being one of approximately 15 press outlets to get a first look at the new Guitar Hero World Tour game, coming out from Activision I have to admit, being an avid RockBand fiend, I was a little hesitant when I heard that Activision was jumping on the bandwagon and creating a game featuring all 4 instruments. You hear about ldquo;second helpingsrdquo; of games and worry that a ldquo;knock - offrdquo; may just prove to be an epic fail. My worries were quickly put to rest when I sat down and was entertained by Neversoftrsquo;s Brian Bright, Project Lead and Alan Flores, Lead Designer who showed me that Guitar Hero World tour is RockBand hellip;. and more! nbsp; Read the full article here! http://pwned.com/shownews/411/GEN---Guitar-Hero-World-Tour---First-Look/ http://pwned.com/shownews/410/More-Peripherals-Than-You-Can-Shake-A-Drum-Stick-At/ Mad Catz Rock Band Instruments Releasing Next Week I found this while surfing around for news on one of my favorite games. I'm not going to go all fan boy on the RB vs. GH thing. Honestly I don't care that much about fanboyism to do so. But I digress. Looks like there are some new official controllers coming out, some of which with things I wish would have been included in the first place. Let me list them with pictures below. Check It Out Mad Catz Dual-Strummer Release: XBox - 6/22, PS3 - 7/15, Wii - 8/1 Price: $69.99 Licensed Fender Precision bass styling Comfortable thumb rest Custom finishes for enhanced realism Whammy effect via volume knob Split strum bar for fast finger action Oversized tuning keys Durable plastic construction Wired USB connectivity Honestly, it doesn't sound like much more than a different look to the original guitars that come with the Rock Band. http://pwned.com/shownews/410/More-Peripherals-Than-You-Can-Shake-A-Drum-Stick-At/