http://pwned.com Pwned.com - News RSS Feed en-us http://pwned.com/shownews/604/LittleBigPlanet-In-Review/ My Review Of LittleBigPlanet So if you look back at the last few weeks and all the buzz surrounding this game one would think that they were trying to make up for a shotty game. Hell I did. Then again, I was going on the history repeating it theory. But I did get some good hands on time this last weekend with it, seeing as I was not able to make it to E for All. So here we go. Starting out, you are required to flow through a few levels of the game to learn how the game plays and the controls of the game. Pretty standard. Well, I do so, well try to at least. This is where my first true beef with the game came up. Never once does this demo state that you have to have four players to do anything or complete out the level. Huge issue seeing as I was the only one around and such. After getting frustrated I tried swapping ports to move the rest of the Sackboys along and finally get http://pwned.com/shownews/604/LittleBigPlanet-In-Review/ http://pwned.com/shownews/603/Japanese-Man-Arrested-For-Deleting-Friends-Near-Max-MMO-Character/ A Japanese man with an intent to use his friend's three and a half year old MMORPG character, is now being prosecuted for cyber-crimes in Japan for deleting said character. Both men are friends in real life and on the server, though I'd say now that they were friends at this point.nbsp; The guy who actually created the character was about to finally max out his character after the long three years plus journey, so when he found out all his hard work was deleted, he contacted the local police departments cyber crimes unit. When the friend was caught, the motive turned out to be simple jealousy than anything else, as he told police he just "Wanted his character." The perp is being charged with unauthorized access, but most likely should've been charged with criminal damage or theft. The game itself was not mentioned in the article, but a character at said level will probably very expens http://pwned.com/shownews/603/Japanese-Man-Arrested-For-Deleting-Friends-Near-Max-MMO-Character/ http://pwned.com/shownews/602/EA-Tells-Epic-Games-/ So that thing with Take-Two didn't work out huh, well there's always more fish in the sea, and it looks like EA may have another one on it's hook. Word on the street (from gameguru) states that EA is looking to gobble up Epic Games in an effort to win back the hearts and minds of the hardcore gamer. Now gameguru may not have the best grammar or the most trustworthy sources however the fact that EA recently struck a deal with People Can Fly (an in-house studio belong to none other than Epic Games) only strengthens their claims. Along with the claims of the Epic buyout, gameguru also indicates that EA would like to get it's hands on Unreal 4.0 and furthermore to that, be the exclusive developer for it. Yes, that means that the next Gears of War (not 2 but 3, and why wouldn't they), Brothers in Arms, BioShock, Mass Effect, and potentially Duke Nukem Forever (they could switch to this en http://pwned.com/shownews/602/EA-Tells-Epic-Games-/ http://pwned.com/shownews/601/AC-DC-is-coming-to-Rock-Band/ On September 30th it was officially announced on the Rock Band forum that AC/DC is coming to the hugely popular Harmonix title. Though their song ldquo;Let There be Rockrdquo; is playable for Rock Band 2, currently out on the Xbox 360 and soon for the PS3, the band will also be getting the stand-alone treatment for both the original Rock Band and its sequel. Available only on disc and not a part of the DLC, the installment will be titled AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack and hits store shelves on November 2nd for the 360, PS3 and PS2. The Wii version will follow two weeks later on November 16th. The disc features the 18 songs as performed by AC/DC at the legendary Live At Donington show. Among the list are Back in Black, Thunderstruck, Moneytalks, T.N.T., Helles Bells, and Let There Be Rock. The track pack will be on sale exclusively to Wal-Mart and Samrsquo;s Club stores f http://pwned.com/shownews/601/AC-DC-is-coming-to-Rock-Band/ http://pwned.com/shownews/600/Exit-DS-Not-Exiting-Stores-Quite-as-Soon-as-Expected/ Square Enix announced in a press release today that Exit DS will miss it's original October 7th release date and stated it would be pushed back to November 4th. So those of you without a PSP or a XBOX 360, you'll have to wait just a little longer til you can start escaping. TAITO Corporation (TAITOtrade;), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., has updated the date of its upcoming game EXITtrade; DS from October 7 to November 4, 2008. Yes, that's all it was. nbsp; http://pwned.com/shownews/600/Exit-DS-Not-Exiting-Stores-Quite-as-Soon-as-Expected/ http://pwned.com/shownews/599/Resistance-2-Beta-Applications-Being-Taken-Now/ For all of you who can't quite wait til November 4th, there may be some hope. Starting on October 2nd, applications for the Resistance 2 open beta have started to be accepted here. You must login with your PSN email address and password and provide your name, top 3 shooters you currently play online, what consoles you own, what consoles you play online with, and how often you play. While it's not told exactly when the whole thing will start, you can be assured that the second people start getting accepted I'll let you know http://pwned.com/shownews/599/Resistance-2-Beta-Applications-Being-Taken-Now/ http://pwned.com/shownews/598/Gears-of-War-2-Zune/ So it seems that the soon to-be-released game Gears of War 2 has been given the honor, that was once bestowed upon Halo 3, to have its own Zune! It has been confirmed that this glossy black Zune, whose retail price has been set at $280, will feature a laser etched Gears of War logo on the back and comes with 244 GoW bric-a-brac. It will be shipping out Nov 7th (same day as Gears of War 2 release..who would have thought!) so for those of you wanting to get your hands on this little baby be prepared to spend a lot of money --if you haven't already pre-ordered the game. Source: Joystiq http://pwned.com/shownews/598/Gears-of-War-2-Zune/ http://pwned.com/shownews/597/Really-Feel-The-Game/ 3rd Space Vest to Support World of Warcraft I have no clue how I missed this before. For that I apologize. But this just popped up and I thought I'd pass it along. Not to mention file under Fucking Awesome. What is this? It is a vest that replicates force effects from games and translates it into something you actually feel while playing your favorite game. What kind of things? Well, environmental effects, punches, jabs, gun shots and other in-game dynamics. What makes me really sad is that this year at E4All they are showing off the vest for the newest game they have added to the list of supported games.* What game you ask? Well World of Warcraft. That's right, you will be able to feel that chest crunching hit from a Death Knight or when you are on fire from an Undead Mage setting you on fire. Pretty friggin sweet. All for the price of $169.99. Check it out while there http://pwned.com/shownews/597/Really-Feel-The-Game/ http://pwned.com/shownews/596/Nintendo-announces-new-DS/ During their Fall Press Conference today, Nintendo announced a new version of the Nintendo DS called the DSi. The handheld's screens have been enlarged, and will now be 17% bigger (at 3.25 inches) from a DS Lite. The rumors of audio enhancement and .3 megapixel (640x480) camera have proven to be correct. The DSi will also feature an SD memory card slot, making it possible to take pictures with the DSi and then view them on the Nintendo Wii. The DSi will feature a built-in browser, and is able to download games and keep them. there is in fact a DSi Shop, where users can download DSiWare from. Pricing categories for the DSiWare are: Free, 200 points, 500 points and "Premium" or 800 points. Anyone who purchases a DSi will get 1000 free points to spend at the DSi Shop that are good until March 2010. The DSi will be released in Japan on November 1. But for the rest of us we have to wait unt http://pwned.com/shownews/596/Nintendo-announces-new-DS/ http://pwned.com/shownews/595/G33K-B33R-now-available-at-7-11/ If you're a fan of Bawls, or have been to a Bawls sponsored event in the last few months, odds are you've experienced BAWLS' G33K BEER. Well just in case you haven't had the luxury, 7-11 is now stocking the drink on their shelves. Don't be fooled by the name though, the drink is completely non-alcoholic. G33K BEER, is in fact Bawls' take on Root Beer.Don't live near a 7-11? You can still order a case from ThinkGeek.com and other local retailers. [BAWLS] http://pwned.com/shownews/595/G33K-B33R-now-available-at-7-11/ http://pwned.com/shownews/594/Rumor-Mill--Wii-Successor-to-Hit-Shelves-in-2011/ They dubbed it Wii HD. HD = High Definition Graphics. What, you thought Nintendo wasn't gonna go there? According to "sources" (aka the "they" from above) that have seen a presentation on the next Wii (keep in mind that this next step is going to be akin to the NES going to the SNES as opposed to the SNES going to the N64, in other words, much of everything is staying the same, however it will have better graphics), it will include High Definition graphics, a larger storage medium of either a hard drive or a much larger flash memory, and tweaked controllers. While it is not said whether or not they will use Blu-Ray they have stated that they would like to implement full backwards compatibility (the Wii optical discs currently use regular DVD standards). While not much more is known on this Wii HD, I'll keep you posted on what happens. http://pwned.com/shownews/594/Rumor-Mill--Wii-Successor-to-Hit-Shelves-in-2011/ http://pwned.com/shownews/593/EA-Cancels-Command--Conquer-FPS-After-Realizing-That-Game-Already-Exists/ Okay, so not many of you may remember the 2002 game Command amp; Conquer: Renegade but it was CNC's first, and so far only, foray into the FPS genre. That was about to change in 2009 with EA's Tiberium (it would've been the first game without the Command and Conquer prefix), a first person shooter based in 2058, about 11 years after the third Tiberium war. In a statement released by EA on Tuesday, it was revealed that the reason for the cancellation was due to poor quality. Here is the full statement of it's cancellation by EA's Mariam Sughayer: "EA has suspended work on Tiberium effective immediately. The game was not on track to meet the high quality standards set by the team and by the EA Games Label. A lower quality game is not in the best interest of the consumers and would not succeed in this market. This decision will result in some individuals being released. However, EA wil http://pwned.com/shownews/593/EA-Cancels-Command--Conquer-FPS-After-Realizing-That-Game-Already-Exists/ http://pwned.com/shownews/592/Pandora-Open-Source-Gaming-Thingamajig-up-for-Pre-Orders--Dozens-Jump-For-Joy/ Pandora's open source, Linux running, QWERTY keyboard packing, dual analog stick containing, 800x480 4.3" touchscreen having machine finally is available from GBAX. While some of you may be questioning the $329.99 price point that costs approximately $130 more than something that is better that is actually made for games, the fact that it runs Linux and a host of other free programs and games is a little tantalizing, even moreso with the touchscreen. If you want to find out more about the Pandora you can visit their website here http://pwned.com/shownews/592/Pandora-Open-Source-Gaming-Thingamajig-up-for-Pre-Orders--Dozens-Jump-For-Joy/ http://pwned.com/shownews/591/Penny-Arcade-Adventures--On-The-Rain-slick-Precipice-of-Darkness-Episode-Two-Goes-Gold-and-Gets-Priced--Awarded-Longest-Title-in-an-XBLA-or-PSN-Title/ So you finished the first game and was wondering when the f*** will the episode 2 come out? Well it hasn't been release dated yet however according to their official website episode 2 has been completed and has gone gold for the PC, Mac, and Linux versions. The price will be $14.95 (or 1200 Microsoft points for those of you buying the 360 version) and will available from the Greenhouse digital distribution service as well as PSN and XBLA. If you live under a rock and haven't heard of Penny Arcade then go check em out! http://pwned.com/shownews/591/Penny-Arcade-Adventures--On-The-Rain-slick-Precipice-of-Darkness-Episode-Two-Goes-Gold-and-Gets-Priced--Awarded-Longest-Title-in-an-XBLA-or-PSN-Title/ http://pwned.com/shownews/590/Fable-2-Collector-s-Edition-Stripped-Near-Bare/ Looks like Lionhead Studios have dropped the ball once again.nbsp; As if possibly not having online co-op at release wasn't bad enough for those gamers waiting for Fable 2, those who preordered the Collector's Edition will be sorely disappointed in finding that it has been stripped nearly bare.nbsp; Gone are the Collector's Case, the Fate Cards, and no Hobble Figure.nbsp; Lionhead blames supply chain issues on this problem, and with only weeks left before the release, it causes on to wonder how this could have happened.nbsp; They have decided to drop the price to $69.99 instead of the original $79.99 price, and will offer a downloadable soundtrack as well. I don't know about everyone else, I'm off to go cancel my Fable 2 CE preorder, and we'll see if I even bother preordering the regular as it makes me worry about what else is going to go wrong with this game.nbsp; A game of this calibr http://pwned.com/shownews/590/Fable-2-Collector-s-Edition-Stripped-Near-Bare/ http://pwned.com/shownews/589/Ratner-Of-War/ Brett Ratner Signs On For God Of War Movie Yesterday, it was announced that the man behind the last X-men movie and Rush Hour 3 has signed on to direct the God of War film. Now I know what you are thinking, "There goes another great game ruined by a film." I know I thought it at first as well. Especially looking at the last films directed by the man. But then I started thinking further, a stretch I know, and came to another conclusion. It isn't all just down to him. There are no further details on any of the small details of the film, but these could also make or break the film. They need a good Kratos, not just someone that looks the part and can't act worth a lick. They also need a good writer to bring the game over to a script. Shouldn't be too hard since that is how the original and current game scripts where written. Lets hope they use those more than re-write. There are http://pwned.com/shownews/589/Ratner-Of-War/ http://pwned.com/shownews/588/Gold-With-A-Bit-Of-Awesome/ Dead Space Has Gone Gold So they announced today that Dead Space has gone gold. No surprise there with the release date no more than two weeks away. And that they have bumped the release date forward twice now. So like I said, no big surprise with that announcement, but there is a cool little extra that they are offering up for those people who purchase and play the game before the original release date they posted. See below, there is some cool exclusive downloadable outfits for the game. Dependable on the system you get the game on. The Black and blue one is for the PS3 owners of the game while the gold and green one for the XBox users. To get these, you need to buy and play the within two weeks of launch. So between the 14th and 28th of October. No clue if they will be available for purchase after the date, but they are a cool little free extra for those who are down with thi http://pwned.com/shownews/588/Gold-With-A-Bit-Of-Awesome/ http://pwned.com/shownews/587/Rock-Band-2-Registration-Now-Available-For-the-20-Free-Songs/ The Rock Band 2 registration site is now up and running for those looking to get their 20 songs via download.nbsp; While the songs aren't available yet, you can register now, so Harmonix can e-mail you the download code when they become available in a few weeks.nbsp; Also while filling out the form, it has a comment box where you can suggest Bands amp; Songs you would like to see on Rock Band 2.nbsp; Unfortunately, no word on what will be included in this 20 song DLC as of yet.nbsp; I personally hope they throw in some J-Rock, but I know it's all wishful thinkin. Also, let us know what bands or songs you hope are in the 20 song DLC, or just some you would love to see featured as DLC later on! nbsp; http://pwned.com/shownews/587/Rock-Band-2-Registration-Now-Available-For-the-20-Free-Songs/ http://pwned.com/shownews/586/Mirrors-Edge-demo-coming-November-6/ Mirrors Edge ships out on the 11th but GameStop has revealed on the ordering page that the demo will be available for download on November 6. If you preorder it from them you'll also get access to a Time Trial Mode within the demo. nbsp; nbsp; Reserve Mirror's Edge and receive a code to gain exclusive access to the Mirror's Edge Time Trial Mode. Special Note: Mirrors Edge Demo will be available for download November 6. Online and In-Store Pick-up Customers: Codes/instructions will be emailed 2 days prior to demo availability. - GameStop http://pwned.com/shownews/586/Mirrors-Edge-demo-coming-November-6/ http://pwned.com/shownews/585/Wii-Are-Old-And-Fit/ Video Gamers Surprisingly Fit and Older Yes, the title was a bit misleading, but it was what I could think up for this article. Deal with it. :) But that doesn't make this latest study any less interesting for the world of gaming, especially for online gaming. Since this is where most of the test data came from. This study was pulled out of about 7000 people on EverQuest servers. At least partly. From the test group, a majority of them where 30 year olds as compared to what was expected of being more amongst 20 somethings. Also interesting out of this is the fact that there is only about 20% of these to be female. Not to odd except for the fact that these 20% seem to be more aggressive players in general comparative. Continuing on with the study, a separate study has shown that gamers exercise much more than your average American. Like working out "vigorously" once or twice a http://pwned.com/shownews/585/Wii-Are-Old-And-Fit/ http://pwned.com/shownews/584/-XBox-360-Review--Pirates-Vs-Ninjas-Dodgeball/ I will be one of the first to admit that when I heard about Pirates vs. Ninja Dodge ball, I was genuinely intrigued and interested.nbsp; Unfortunately, the game is very quick to disappoint on any expectations you may have had.nbsp; Which is unfortunate, as this game could have been a very fun Xbox Live Arcade title. The game, as the title suggests, features Pirates and Ninjas playing dodge ball against each other, as well as Robots and Zombies. It has 3 different modes in Singleplayer, Multiplayer and Co-op, each of which has its own game types.nbsp; In singleplayer, you have Exhibition, Story or Tutorial.nbsp; The Exhibition is a run down of different match types, that include 1 vs. 1 up to 4 vs. 4, and you can choose how many rounds, how tough the AI is, which team you are on, how many balls are in play, and what the rules will be.nbsp; The Story is basically a very weak http://pwned.com/shownews/584/-XBox-360-Review--Pirates-Vs-Ninjas-Dodgeball/ http://pwned.com/shownews/583/Something-Familiar-At-Blizzcon/ DirectTV's new host for Blizzcon 08! - Becky 'Aktrez' Young! If you were not able to snag up a Blizzcon ticket in the first go around, you were most likely sad. Then there came the second boost of tickets that flooded the market and got snagged up in mere minutes. So I bet you were sad again. Then Blizzard responded with, "Well if you can't be there in person, then we will televise it for you, for a small fee." So then you could be a bit happier. But then they just announced something that should make this site a bit happier about that. What is that? The person they chose to host being a member and good partner with the site. Our very own, Becky 'Aktrez' Young is going to be one of the hosts for the show. If you have your head in the sand and have no clue who she is, here's a quick recap. She's a gamer. She's behind the site girlsentertainmentnetwork.com. She is also is the http://pwned.com/shownews/583/Something-Familiar-At-Blizzcon/ http://pwned.com/shownews/582/The-12th-Anniversary-of-the-N64/ Yesterday, the 29th, was the 12th anniversary of the N64 and I completely forgot all about it. I wish I knew ahead of time so I could celebrate by playing all the great games I grew up with. But cheers to Nintendo for bringing 12 years of epicness into our lives and we the Nintendo fans hope to see another 12 years of great success. http://pwned.com/shownews/582/The-12th-Anniversary-of-the-N64/ http://pwned.com/shownews/581/Bioshock-goes-gold--demo-coming-this-Thursday/ PS3 owners who are desperatly waiting to play Bioshock will get a little taste of the action very soon. According to official word from 2K Games, Bioshock has officially gone gold and will be releasing a demo this Thursday in the Playstation Store. The full game hits retail in North America on October 21st and goes global on October 17th. Note that there are really no changes from the 360 version to the PS3, except graphics wise. http://pwned.com/shownews/581/Bioshock-goes-gold--demo-coming-this-Thursday/ http://pwned.com/shownews/580/CoD4-For-Mac-Review/ As you may have read here before, Call of Duty 4 was coming to the Mac. All this time, the release date was constantly pushed back, frustrating us mac users. So now the time has come that you can now have CoD4 for the mac, and I must say it is just as good as I would of hoped it would be. You are able to download the game or purchase the actual game itself. There is quite a bit of controversy around the DRM that Aspyr has implemented. At first glance, 54.99 for a download seems quite expensive, it is. Now the bad thing, you are able to download this once and install it on one computer. This really sucks. I have multiple computers that I would like to install this on. Well Aspyr hasn't forgotten about this, you are able to to add the Extended Download Service for an extra 4.99 that will allow you download the game multiple times and install it on 3 machines. So the total is about $60.00 f http://pwned.com/shownews/580/CoD4-For-Mac-Review/