yeah i'm excited for strikers also, but i'm more excited about smash bros. 4 different controls(thank goodness), and i think andy wrote that up on 1up if i'm not mistaken.

Just got Shadowrun for 360 last night. Should I be excited to play this or will it be a pain in the ass?

Soul Calibur III

the best dreamcast RPG.

Pain in the ass.

Nah, I dunno. The demo was alright, but without a single-player campaign, I can't imagine playing it for more than an hour or two.

I should be playing Guitar Hero III/80s tomorrow. But I won't be able to talk about 'em for a whole month. Hoorah NDA.

Worth noting the Wii release, today. For $29.99, seems like a no-brainer.

Also, should I get this version or the one for Gamecube? Or both? Anyone know the main differences because there haven't been enough good things said about the GC version.

Yeah...I'm very curious about this too. Would love to know how the Wii remote is incorporated, and whether it helps or hurts the game mechanics.

Yes, I'm a 35 year old man, and I can admit that this is a blast.

Does WiiRE4 include widescreen/progressive scan support? I still haven't played this, and that was the one factor pushing me to the PS2 over the GC version

You are the first, hahaha. I have heard very disappointing things. And this is from people who swear by the earlier versions in the series.

GC RE4 isn't Widescreen?

Worth noting the Wii release, today. For $29.99, seems like a no-brainer.

I have nothing to judge it against. This is the first game of this type I have played. It looks like a cartoon and makes me smile. I get to do funny things with the Wii remote and look foolish with my wife.

I think Wario Ware Smooth Moves takes that same gameplay type, and does it much better than the Mario Party series.

Mini games come along a lot faster, are often funnier and sillier, and you don't have to sit through all the dice rolling, orb buying/throwing, canned animations, etc. to get to a mini-game. Imagine 15 or so mini games coming at you bang bang bang, with you struggling to pass the wiimote between you and your partner, holding it on your hip like a samurai sword, or on your nose like an elephant trunk. Its really goofy, but a lot of fun:

Not anamorphic. It's a 4:3 signal with the bars artificially added. The PS2 and Wii versions use an anamorphic widescreen signal.

Am I alone in this?

Anyone play Excite Truck? I need a group game other than Wii Sports.

Yes.

Sadistic, brutal and bleak: censors ban Manhunt 2 game


James Orr and agencies
Tuesday June 19, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

A violent video game with "an unrelenting focus on brutal slaying" has become the first to be banned in Britain for a decade.

Manhunt 2, a sequel to the original and controversial game Manhunt, has been condemned by authorities for its "casual sadism" and "unremitting bleakness".

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rejected the game after finding it "constantly encourages visceral killing".

The ruling means the game cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK.

David Cooke, director of the BBFC, said: "Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly.

"Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the board's published guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2, this has not been possible."

The original Manhunt game was given an 18 classification in 2003 and was later blamed for the murder of a 14-year-old boy.

Stefan Pakeerah was stabbed and beaten to death in Leicester in February 2004 and his parents claimed the killer, Warren LeBlanc, 17, was inspired by the game.

At the time, the BBFC described the game as being "at the very top end of what the board judged to be acceptable at that category".

Mr Pakeerah's mother, Giselle, said today she was "absolutely elated" that the game had been banned.

"Manhunt represents a genre of games that are not, in my view and the views of many other people, fit for public consumption," she said.

"We have been campaigning against these games for a long time and the BBFC made the right decision. Why don't these companies invest their energies into creating material that is helpful to society?"

Issuing a certificate to Manhunt 2 would risk the possibility of "unjustifiable harm" to adults and minors, the BBFC concluded.

"Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing," said Mr Cooke.

"There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.

"The game's unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer, together with the different overall narrative context, contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original Manhunt game."

Manhunt 2, made by Rockstar Games, is designed for PS2 and Nintendo Wii consoles. "To issue a certificate to Manhunt 2 on either platform would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks within the terms of the Video Recordings Act," said Mr Cooke.

Paul Jackson, director general of the Entertainment Leisure Software Publishers Association, which represents the computer and video games industry, said: "A decision from the BBFC such as this demonstrates that we have a games ratings system in the UK that is effective."

Leicester MP Keith Vaz, who campaigned with Mrs Pakeerah against the sale of the game, said: "This is an excellent decision by the BBFC, showing that game publishers cannot expect to get interactive games where players take the part of killers engaged in 'casual sadism' and murder."

Last week, Tony Blair spoke out against another violent video game, Resistance: Fall of Man, which features a shoot-out in Manchester cathedral.

He said of the video game industry: "It's important that people understand there is a wider social responsibility as well as simply responsibility for profit."

The last game to be refused classification was Carmageddon in 1997 but the BBFC's decision was later overturned on appeal.

Rockstar Games now has six weeks to submit an appeal.

I'm hooked.

Harmonix was just getting us warmed up, it seems. Instead of the five fret buttons we've grown accustomed to on the past Guitar Hero series, the Rock Band official Stratocaster-based guitar controller displays ten fret buttons. On the second pic embedded below, you'll notice the five new buttons down at the base of the neck. We can only imagine what kind of sick guitar solo action Harmonix has in store for us with these.

The pics arrive courtesy of a Gamestop newsletter, which also details the new features embedded into the guitar controller. As we reported earlier, guitar effects will play a large role, allowing the player to flange, wah, reverb and delay their way into guitar gaming bliss. No official pricing was included at this time, though we wouldn't be surprised to see something closer to $79.99 or thereabouts for the controller alone. Price be damned, we're still going to have to give this bad boy a spin. Anyone else?

I just found out that the Wii makes my wrist cramp faster when I'm playing bass. I have a gig in 7 hours, but why am I still playing it???