November 22nd, 2009 by Zach Potts

Title: Guitar Hero 5
Publisher/Developer: Activision/Vicarious Visions
Platforms: Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: 9/1/2009
Number of players: Single Player,4 player local, Up to 8 players online
Guitar Hero 5 brings yet another iteration of the music giant to gamers, and it’s got plenty of competition. You have Rock Band 2, Rock Band: Beatles, all the variations of Guitar Hero, and now Band Hero. There are plenty to choose from, and many of them are very similar. Guitar Hero 5 seems to carry on the tradition, while introducing a few new features, especially for the Wii
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Tags: activision, guitar hero, Guitar Hero 5, Nintendo Wii
Posted in Nintendo Wii, Reviews | No Comments »
November 19th, 2009 by Zach Potts

The Shred Axe for Wii by CTA Digital is one that is meant to be used for Guitar Hero and happens to be almost identical to the GHIII guitar for the Wii. It is the same shape, size, and feel. The button layout is just about the same, and there are no added features. You have your frets, strum bar, whammy bar, and +/- buttons, and that’s it. These also feel about the same as the original guitar.
The main difference is the finish, which has a wood-like, Mahogany look to it, and is very slick, as opposed to the matte style on the GH guitar. The fret buttons are also the same shape and size, although the yellow fret doesn’t have a groove to let you know it’s the middle, which may make it difficult to use for beginners.
This happened to be the case with my one guitar, but the fret buttons were a bit stiff, so they’ll take some braking into before you can wail on that baby. I’m sure it’s more the case of the guitar being new than anything inherently wrong with the device, but it’s a tad annoying not being able to easily hit notes because the buttons require too much force to push them down. The whammy bar also seems to be a bit unresponsive, requiring more constant force to get it going, however again, it could simply just need some braking in, as I found it easier as I played more songs.
Overall, the Shred Axe is a decent guitar, and one that can add a little variety to your collection, but if you’re really looking for a different guitar experience, instead of aesthetics alone, you’ll want something else.
Final Vote: 3/5
Tags: CTA Digital, Guitar, guitar hero, Shred Axe
Posted in Nintendo Wii, Reviews | No Comments »
November 12th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees

Title: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Publisher/Developer: Activision/Infinity Ward
Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: 11/10/2009
Number of players: Single Player, Up to 18 players online
There’s been controversy, there’ve been protests, there’ve been more posts in regards to this game than you could shake a thing you shake at stuff. Well, now it’s come and it’s time to take a look at Infinity Ward’s latest Call of Duty installment. This is definitely going to go down as one of the most anticipated/loathed titles of the year, but the question is whether or not it stands up under fire. 20+ hours later of playing… it’s time to take a look. Yeah, 20+ hours. Now you know what I’ve pretty much been doing since 9pm PST Monday night.
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Tags: activision, Infinity Ward, Modern Warfare, PC, Playstation 3, xbox 360
Posted in PC, Reviews | 2 Comments »
November 11th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees
That’s right next week will see not one, but three Assassin’s Creed titles releasing: Assassin’s Creed 2 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines for the PSP and Assassin’s Creed II Discovery for the Nintendo DS. But the hype-machine doesn’t stop there. Tonight, Spike TV will be premiering (on television anyway) “Assassin’s Creed: Lineage”, a short, live-action film based on the story of the upcoming AC II release. Normally, I don’t buy into the hype-machine, but I have to say that, from what I have seen so far, both the short film and the game are looking great! Check your local listings (or do what I do and set your DVR because you have absolutely no sense of time anymore).
Tags: Assassin's Creed, Nintendo DS, Playstation 3, PSP, Spike TV, Ubisoft, xbox 360
Posted in General | No Comments »
November 10th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees
If you’re a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist, today is your lucky day. Episode 1, Season 2 “Teacher” is available for free through the PSN until November 16th. Seriously, if you have a PS3 why the hell not check it out? If you’ve never seen Fullmetal Alchemist, I have no words for that. If you can’t find it, it’s under “TV Shows” > “Free TV” (go figure, huh?). Enjoy!
Tags: Fullmetal Alchemist, Funimation, Playstation Network, Sony
Posted in Playstation Network | No Comments »
November 10th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees
Act quickly and get your beta key for Battlefield Bad Company 2 for the PS3. A Fileplanet account is needed, but just the freebie account. Get yours now before they are all gone. Bear in mind, you can get the key now, but the beta doesn’t open until 11/19. Snag it here.
Tags: Battlefield: Bad Company, beta, DICE, EA
Posted in Playstation 3 | No Comments »
November 10th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees

A while back, Capcom released details about the upcoming Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition. Early details regarding the “Alternate Edition” entailed motion-control and a whole new chapter featuring fan favourite, Jill Valentine. The question that hung in the air was whether to package the game as a new release (as many titles have done previously) or to offer the “Alternate Edition” as downloadable content. Well, Capcom opted to put that choice in the hands of those who should answer it: the fans. Chris Kramer, Sr. Director of Communications and Community for Capcom, announced today that DLC it will be!
Tags: Capcom, Chris Kramer, dlc, Resident Evil
Posted in Playstation 3, xbox 360 | No Comments »
November 9th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees
Those of you who know me in the slightest, be it reading the sludge I write or through a community, know I feel about piracy. Sure, I admit that in my day I flew the Black Flag myself, but I have long since gone legit (namely due to having so many friends in the industries from which I used to pirate and seeing the direct effect it can have). Hell, my stance has gotten this very website hacked a few times by would-be pirates and “hackers” (thanks for the free press guys).
Well, when was the last time you heard about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the news? Okay, sure, if you live in Canada you probably hear about them more often. For the rest of us, our RCMP exposure has been limited to Dudley Do Right. Well not today!
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Tags: ESA, ESAC, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Software Piracy
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November 9th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees
Let this serve as a disclaimer (since I abhore official disclaimers): Pretty much everything you are about to read here is straight from the Rumour-mill and the Land of Word of Mouth. Nonetheless, there are some good, solid reasons to buy into the claims.
EA/Mythic seems to be going through death throes as reports have it that 80 employees got an early Christmas present in the way of pinkslips today. This could all fold into the rumoured general EA layoffs, which could total near 1,000 employees by the time the smoke has cleared. At the very least, it would appear that the 80 poor folks who got the axe, got it today. But what does this all mean?
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Tags: bioware, EA, Lay-offs, Mythic, star wars, The Old Republic, Warhammer Online
Posted in PC | No Comments »
November 5th, 2009 by Ryan L. Lopees
For those of you who got your request in for your Netflix PS3 disc ,used to enable the Netflix Streaming Service early, check your email. The first batch of discs went out today (in fact, mine will be here tomorrow). There were some rumours and hints that there might be a shortage of discs of a flood of PS3 users signed up, but it looks like things are going smoothly.
For those still confused how this works (and trust me, I am writing this because I have seen some people on some “other” sites who still can’t grasp this), the PS3 Disc basically starts up the streaming service and from that point out you can use Netflix’s streaming service just like you’ve been able to do on other platforms. Yes, you have to have the disc in the drive whenever you want to stream a movie to your PS3. Is this permanent? Probably not. I’d reckon this is an interim until the software is integrated fully into the next big PS3 System Update.
Either way, it’s good news for PS3 users. If you haven’t already, get your butt over there and request your disc… it’s free!
Tags: Netflix, Playstation 3, Sony, Streaming Movies
Posted in Playstation 3 | No Comments »