Gregor Collienne is a photographer from Germany. However, he doesn’t take pictures that catches his eye, or tries to capture the perfect setting to inspire people. Instead, for the most part, he takes humorous snap shots of people doing an everyday activity and pairs them up with another group, who are doing something completely different. When you check out his work, you not only chuckle, but they make you think — it almost feels like an optical illusion.
Up top is one picture of his work. While it’s unlike a lot of his photos — it made me laugh nonetheless. I’m assuming the picture is asking all of us, what if we could control our girlfriends or all women for that matter, with a single PlayStation controller? Like, how awesome would that be? No more would we hear the excuse: “I have a headache.” Can some smart scientist make this happen? Please!
If you want to check out Collienne’s work, click here.
In 1989, Steve Harris founded a videogame magazine called Electronic Gaming Monthly, or EGM for short. It would eventually become one of the longest running print magazines to solely focus on the gaming industry, but in January of 2009, it was announced that Ziff Davis, who earlier purchased the rights to the mag — would sell their assets to the online company UGO Entertainment. UGO, who mostly wanted EGM’s online network, would announce the cost of running a magazine was too much, and decided to end the publication.
The original founder Harris revealed back in August, that he had once again purchased the rights to publish EGM and said we should have seen the magazine on newsstands on December 1st. Obviously, the date has come and gone and EGM has yet to be spotted in stores. So, if you were worried that EGM’s return was never going to see the light of day — don’t fret — it’s coming in due time.
Steve Harris told game GamesIndustry.biz that Electronic Gaming Monthly is still on track to return, but now will happen in March 2010. “With our new weekly digital format, and the premium enhancement that newsstand purchasers will receive, we’re changing the value proposition in a new and meaningful way,” said Harris. “Not only does the digital companion allow us to offer additional content that is complementary to the print magazine, but it also gives us a way to communicate with our readers and update the print product in an ongoing manner.”
I don’t know about you, but for many years I thought EGM was by far the best magazine in gaming — up until its unexpected end earlier this year. It’s great to see we are only months away until we get to open the pages of EGM once again. I just hope the quality of its knowledge is as good, as it was before.
Following a week after EA announced they would be cutting 1,500 employees from their workforce, as well as spending a reported $300 million on the social network gaming company Playfish — people with the publisher confirmed today that the team behind Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Pandemic Studios, is closing its doors for good.
Gamespot’s Tor Thorsen received a tip earlier today, contacted EA and a person with the company verified the rumor. Over the last week or so, gossip started to leak that there was a possibility that EA Los Angeles was in jeopardy of shutting down. It seems like it’s not EALA closing, but instead the company just miles down freeway “10” in Santa Monica. The website did contact a spokesperson with EA, who did reveal that we should all stay-tuned because an announcement is forthcoming about the fate of the studio.
Two-years ago, EA purchased BioWare for $860 million and in the agreement had to bring Pandemic along with them. Pandemic is best known for creating such titles as Full Spectrum Warrior, Destroy All Humans!, and just recently they have been working on the ambitious game The Saboteur, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and it was actually marketed hard during this past E3. While we don’t know about exactly what the future of The Saboteur is, but I’m pretty sure it’s done, considering the launch date is on December 8th. So, gamers looking forward to playing it, shouldn’t worry to much.
Besides from actually making some great videogames over the years — I have to thank the studio for creating a song that is in my iPhone right now and has been played more than a few times. After the jump, listen to it. (more…)
MsFrizzyHair on youtube, also known as Danielle in the real world, realized that she could play her flute into the microphone, while she plays Rock Band. She randomly discovered that playing an instrument actually works as a vocal in the game. This happens because the game looks for only pitch and tone, and not the actual lyrics of the song. She embarrassingly admits this is something she does when she doesn’t feel like practicing. We say rock on Danielle and keep on making some more videos. These clips will undoubtedly make you more famous than playing a flute inside a subway station.
The song of choice is ”Afterlife” by Avenged Sevenfold, and she scored a 98% while playing on expert.
MsFrizzyHair on youtube, also known as Danielle in the real world, realized that she could play her flute into the microphone, while she plays Rock Band. She randomly discovered that playing an instrument actually works as a vocal in the game. This happens because the game looks for only pitch and tone, and not the actual lyrics of the song. She embarrassingly admits this is something she does when she doesn’t feel like practicing. We say rock on Danielle and keep on making some more videos. These clips will undoubtedly make you more famous than playing a flute inside a subway station.
The song of choice is “Afterlife” by Avenged Sevenfold, and she scored a 98% while playing on expert.
During last night’s episode of South Park, Stan was upset about the Japanese killings all the whales around the globe. Trying to figure out what he could do, he went over Cartman’s house where he saw the boys playing Rock Band and jamming to Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Watch the video up top of them doing just that, and listen to Cartman sing considerably better than Ms. Gaga. Well…at least I think so.
Warning: This version of the song will most definitely be stuck in your head for days.
When Sony revealed to the world the PlayStation 3 Slim model, it was big news. Sure, the Internet already had an idea that the unit was going to eventually be released in 2009 because of leaked leaked photos that were previously online. When it was finally announced at the Tokyo Game Show, people were excited and for the first time, Sony had a fighting chance to outsell its competitors. And in September, they did just that.
Last month the Playstation 3 had sold 491,800 units, making it the highest selling home console. It beat out the Nintendo Wii; which moved 462,800 and the Xbox 360; which stood at 352,600. Like always, the Nintendo DS was the big winner once again, selling about 524,200. While the PSP lagged way behind in sales and moved about 190,400. I hope Sony isn’t betting the PSP GO will dramatically increase its sales for the four-year old portable system because I don’t see that happening at all.
Now, back to the PlayStation 3 really quickly. Don’t think for a minute the PS3 numbers skyrocketed due to the slimming down of the console. While it sure didn’t hurt a customer deciding to buy the Sony product, that wasn’t the reason. The price is what became the selling point. For the first time this generation, Sony is able to market the system to people who wouldn’t spend $400 on a console. With the $100 price cut and having the customer own a system that comes with a Blu-ray player, is became more attractive than the other options.
The question is, can Sony keep the momentum into the holidays? I think they can and will, especially with titles like Uncharted 2. After the jump, check out the NDP reports of both hardware and games for the month of September. (more…)
It’s no secret that older musicians are not to thrilled with the idea of the whole music genre in videogames. They somehow believe that these plastic instruments will deter kids from actually playing with the real ones. While I totally disagree with this theory and actually think it encourages the kids to give an actual guitar a try; this is a real concern in the music community.
Nick Mason, who is the drummer for the legendary band Pink Floyd, is also agreeing with the countless musicians who are not a fan of this particular genre. Though, he’s willing to set aside his beliefs for a moment, why? For the all almighty mighty-dollar, of course. “I think we’d consider it,” Mason said, when ask if there is a possibility of a Pink Floyd rhythm game. “Everyone’s looking at new ways of selling the music because the business of selling records has almost disappeared.”
It’s great to know Mason is willing to set aside his own principle to make a little extra cash. Remember, we are currently in a global recession and the last thing I would want to see is Pink Floyd checking out the dollar menu at McDonald’s.
If we ever do see the day when Rock Band: Pink Floyd is launched, I really hope the song I embedded above is included. It’s also the perfect theme for this post.
Since Activision bought the Guitar Hero franchise, many people have argued that the publisher lacks the originality and creativeness that Harmonix puts into their games. Not only that, the company seems to be a bit lazy on bands who are in their GH titles, especially when they release a Guitar Hero starring a particular group. Like why on earth is Weezer in the new Van Halen Guitar Hero? It’s just beyond me and there is no excuse for the reckless choices that sound nothing like the original band.
Up top is a video that chaopolis on youtube made. It’s a parody of a game trailer, which the publisher would release to the Internet to get gamers excited about an upcoming game. It basically pokes fun of what is wrong with the Guitar Hero franchise and how they would screw up a Beatles Guitar Hero game. Check it out.
The Beatles: Rock Band is only a few days away from being sold in stores, but we have a video you can view that shows off the menus of the game, if you care about stuff like that. SchnackAttack69 on youtube, somehow got his hands on an early copy of the anticipated rhythm game, and decided to upload a video of what you’ll see in the game, while you don’t play.
A couple of things are definitely worth mentioning in the settings. For instance, you can choose how fast you want the notes to move, as they flow towards you on your TV set. You can also take these same notes and make them completely disappear so you can enjoy watching the virtual Beatles, as you play an instrument with no onscreen distractions. Of course you would need to first remember each note in order to watch the group preform, or at least turn on the mode where you can’t fail out of a song. Another option which is selectable in the menus, is having the crowd noise be at “enthusiastic levels.” Meaning you’ll hear hundreds of screaming teenage girls loving every moment as you press some plastic buttons, unlike your actual life.
EA uses The Beatles in their advertisements to sell The Beatles: Rock Band and Activision goes with a bunch of Playboy Playmates to sell Guitar Hero 5. As much as I love looking at the girls, the commercial is really uninspiring because its exactly the same “Risky Business” idea as the last 57 GH ads that have been airing over the course of the year. Maybe it’s just a metaphor for the actual game because many feel the franchise has also been underwhelming as well. It also could be the similar because Brett Ratner has been helming these ads. Or maybe it’s a combination of both…
I guess it is also worth noting that the Playmates do not take off their shirt to reveal their bra & panties. Last year, when Activision aired their first TV spots for Guitar Hero: World Tour, Heidi Klum was the star and she ripped off her clothes and revealed her undergarments — of course their was another ad which had her clothing on the whole time, but we all know that one sucked. When the bra & panties promo was first released to the Internet, some media members, most notably Bill O’Reilly, were on a uproar with the images of Heidi almost naked. I believe O’Reilly was just a bit jealous because he doesn’t look nearly as good in his bra.
A few weeks ago, we mentioned how Activision was giving away Guitar Hero: Van Halen for free when a customer purchased the first initial shipment of Guitar Hero 5. Back then, that was the only the only information we had and we had no clue how players would receive the game. Now we do.
Today, Gamestop received the details on how this will work. According to an employee who works for the retail company, if you purchase either the stand-alone or bundle of Guitar Hero 5, a unique code will be packaged inside the box. From there, you would head over to guitarhero.com/vanhalengameoffer and enter in the code which came with the game. Once this is done, you would then enter in your personal information, like name and address, and after this is all done, Activision will send your free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen six weeks later.
Even though you don’t get the free game right away, it sounds like you should get it sometime in November, which is about a month and a half earlier from the actual release of Van Halen.
I’ll be honest, since Neversoft took over development of the Guitar Hero franchise from Harmonix, I became less interested in the series. I felt Harmonix had more of a passion creating a music game, and I thought they absolutely proved this when Rock Band was released. Especially if you compared Rock Band to Guitar Hero: World Tour. But this deal seems too good to pass up and I think I might have to bite at this promotion.
We already knew that Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was going to be featured in Guitar Hero 5 for sometime now, we just didn’t know how we was going to look. Thanks to some videos that have leaked online on dailymotion — we now do. We also get a glimpse of Matt Bellamy, who is the lead voice of the band Muse.
Cobain is obviously styling his famous grunge look and it even looks like Neversoft has him wearing the green sweater he wore during the bands MTV Unplugged in New York album. The song which shows him singing and playing the guitar is none other than “Smells Like Teen Spirt.” Oh yeah, Matt Bellamy is heading the song “Plug In Baby.”
To everyone that lives in or around the Massachusetts area, we just wanted to remind you that “the biggest video game convention in the history of New England” begins tomorrow. Game Unicon takes place at the Best Western Royal Plaza in Marlborough, MA and when doors open at 11:00 am on Friday, they won’t close until the last day of the convention which is on Sunday at 6:00 pm.
The convention will showcase some of the best gaming tournaments in the country and will have over $10,000 in cash prizes. Some of the games included in the playoffs are; Halo 3,Street Fighter IV, Super Smash Bros. (Brawl and Melee), Rock Band, Gears of War 2 and Madden 10. They are even going to have some classic titles for you to compete in, like a Tetris tournament and a Battletoads speedrun; where the faster player to beat the game wins.
Read more about what the convention has to offer after the jump. (more…)
I know, it’s another Beatles: Rock Band trailer. I know there isn’t enough difference between this one and others previously shown to justify watching it. I mean, it’s a rhythm game and that means the backgrounds has nothing to do with the actual game. The only thing that is important is watching the notes fly by and honestly, that’s all we really look at when we play these games.
But again, it’s the Beatles and I’m showing the trailer because I love them…and I can’t wait for the game.
Not too long ago, Woot was selling the shirt up top. It was appropriately called “Sore Thumbs” and featured many controllers, new and old, that we have use to play out games over the years. It sold out relatively quickly and the demand was so high — the website has decided to reprint it and once again sell it for $20. It’s a pretty sweet t-shirt and if you want one, you might have to hurry and purchase one right now.
On a side note, the first time I saw this shirt I laughed when I saw the big “DUKE” original Xbox controller. It was kinda like the first time I picked the controller up — what the hell was Microsoft thinking at the time?
After the jump, check out the list of each controller on the actual shirt. And if you want one, click here. (more…)
