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The popular baseball title delivers the perfect blend of unique gameplay features, authenticity and realism.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) announced today the North American launch of MLB ‘08: The Show, available exclusively for PlayStation 3 (PS3), PlayStation 2 and PSP (PlayStation Portable). Already widely considered the most authentic baseball franchise on the market, MLB ‘08: The Show comes out swinging for the fences to deliver an unrivaled simulation with broadcast quality presentation. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment’s Worldwide Studios, San Diego Studio, MLB ‘08: The Show looks to build on its critical acclaim and its history as the longest-running officially licensed baseball title on PlayStation platforms.

To provide the closest experience possible, next to actually trying to
make it in the Majors, MLB ‘08: The Show introduces a more immersive Road to The
Show mode. As gamers attempt to make a starting line-up in the Big Leagues,
playing on both offense and defense from a custom-created player’s
perspective, a more robust dynamic goal system and a new career advancement
system will determine when a player is eligible for a promotion.
Additionally, the custom-created players are more interactive, with pitchers
now experiencing mound visits, catchers enduring more defense situations, and
with gamers being able to further adjust a player’s positioning — all making
Road to The Show mode even more realistic.

“Baseball fans know that the MLB franchise has a long-standing winning
tradition and that we strive to create highly-innovative and intuitive
features in order to deliver the best baseball title on the market,” said Jeff
Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA. “With the advancements made to the
feature set, along with the lighting, textures and the added little nuances in
the game, MLB ‘08: The Show sets a new bar for authentic play and unsurpassed
realism.”

Providing players with some additional performance incentives, the MLB
franchise introduces the new Progressive Batting Performance feature, which
will both reward players for superior performance and penalize them for
hitting slumps. Specific to each individual batter, players will be rewarded
or punished, based on how that batter that performs beyond his “natural
ability” while under user control. Adding to the online feature set, which
includes customizable Online League Play, scrolling MLB Score Ticker and more,
MLB ‘08: The Show introduces SCOUT (SportsConnect Online User Tracking), which
allows gamers to set and store their game preferences on the MLB server, and
then enables the system to look for a Quick Match with opponents that fit
similar competitive criteria.

As the only first party franchise officially licensed by Major League
Baseball Properties Inc. (MLBP), Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM)
and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), MLB ‘08: The Show
features more than 3,000 individual player animations, including personalized
stances, pitching animations, individual swings, batting rituals and motion
captures from MLB players. Additionally, the franchise adds to the realism
by including Umpire Personalities combined with Interactive Hot and Cold Zones
and Player-scaled Strike Zones, Release, and comprehensive commentary,
featuring the three-man booth of Rex Huddler, Matt Vasgerian and Dave
Campbell.

Joining an elite group of MLB All-Stars that have graced the cover of the
MLB franchise, such as New York Mets third baseman David Wright, Boston
Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, and Angels outfielder Vladimir
Guerrero, this year’s cover athlete and spokesman, Philadelphia Phillies
All-Star first basemen Ryan Howard, is known for his personality and work
ethic, which exemplifies the MLB franchise. Howard is just the second player
in Major League Baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year honors and
a Most Valuable Player award in successive seasons.

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Box-art appears on retail sites.

Silent Hill Origins, the well-received PSP scare-me-up from Climax Studios, could be heading to its chunky PS2 brother if recent postings on retail sites Amazon and Gamefly are to be believed.

While doing a spot of online shopping, website Siliconera spotted mock-ups of PS2 box-art for the game on both sites – and although admittedly even the simplest of Photoshop monkeys could have rustled up the image, both sites have enough conviction to give the game a release date, with Amazon boldly declaring 4 March, and GameFly being a little more modest in their estimate with a street date of 31 March.

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Sega including its awesome 1996 Christmas present with PS2 remake.

Sega Japan announced today that the upcoming PS2 remake of the original Nights: Into Dreams will include a mode of play called Christmas Dream. To access this mode, which takes place in a snow-filled world and features Santa clothing for the Nights character, you’ll have to clear the main game.

Fans of the original Nights will have probably made the connection by now, but Christmas Dream is based off Christmas Nights, a Christmas themed bonus disk for the original Nights that was given away to Sega Saturn owners both as a special pack-in with the system and bundled with a magazine. As with the rest of the remake, Sega has updated the visuals for the PS2.

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The tag-team fighter features characters from popular SNK Playmore games.

SNK PLAYMORE USA CORPORATION, the U.S. publishing arm of the SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION, today announced that NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system is shipping to retailers across North America.

Set in the year 2017, NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM pits players against a man determined to rule the NEOGEO world. The game employs a two vs. two tag-team battle system, allowing players to switch characters during play and perform team attacks on their opponents. The character roster has 40 characters represented by well-known faces from the likes of WORLD HEROES, ART OF FIGHTING, FATAL FURY, SAMURAI SHODOWN, LAST BLADE, METAL SLUG and KIZUNA ENCOUNTER.

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Tracks will cost more than a guitar pick but less than a crash cymbal.

Starting next week, Rock Band will have extra songs available for download, and more new tunes will be on offer in the weeks to follow, MTV Games and Harmonix announced today.

The game ships with 58 songs, but for $1.99 per track or $5.49 per three-song pack (160 and 440 MS points respectively), Rock Band fans can download songs from Metallica, the Police and Wolfmother and others when the game launches. Tracks by David Bowie, Black Sabbath and the Ramones will be available later.

At E3 2007 in July, Harmonix and MTV announced Rock Band will have full albums available for download after the game launches, staring with Who’s Next by The Who. It’s still planned as the first full album for DLC, but that won’t happen in ‘07.

Here’s the Rock Band DLC release schedule through mid-December:

Week of November 20, 2007:

3-Pack for $5.49 or Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per pack for Xbox 360)

Metallica Pack
“Ride the Lightning” - Metallica
“Blackened” - Metallica
“And Justice for All” - Metallica

The Police Pack
“Can’t Stand Losing You” - The Police
“Synchronicity II” - The Police
“Roxanne” - The Police

Queens of the Stone Age Pack
“3’s and 7’s” - Queens of the Stone Age
“Little Sister” - Queens of the Stone Age
“Sick Sick Sick” - Queens of the Stone Age

Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each(160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360)

“Fortunate Son” as made famous by Creedence Clearwater Revival *
“Juke Box Hero” as made famous by Foreigner *
“Bang a Gong (Get It On)” as made famous by T-Rex *
“My Sharona” as made famous by The Knack *
“Cherry Bomb” as made famous by The Runaways *
“Joker & The Thief”- Wolfmother

Week of November 27, 2007

3-Pack for $5.49 or Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per pack for Xbox 360)

David Bowie Pack
“Moonage Daydream” - David Bowie
“Heroes” as made famous by David Bowie *
“Queen Bitch” as made famous by David Bowie *

Week of December 4, 2007

3-Pack for $5.49 or Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per pack for Xbox 360)

Black Sabbath Pack
“N.I.B.” as made famous by Black Sabbath *
“Sweet Leaf” as made famous by Black Sabbath *
“War Pigs” as made famous by Black Sabbath *

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Velvet Revolver and Foo Fighters get three-song downloadable track packs on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network today.

Keen-eared gamers may have noticed that the TV commercial spot promoting the recently released Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock prominently features a song that isn’t actually in the rhythm game. Activision is remedying that today, as the publisher is releasing a downloadable content pack including that track–Velvet Revolver’s “Slither”–as well as two more from the rock supergroup, and a trio of Foo Fighters songs in a separate pack.

The two packs are now available on the Xbox 360 version of the game for 500 Microsoft points ($6.25). Activision is saying that the same packs will be made available for the PlayStation 3 version of the game later this month. However, a Sony representative told GameSpot both packs will be going up with today’s PlayStation Network release, and will carry a price of $6.25 each.

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Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II bundle arrives in stores.

For those looking to rock out even harder this holiday season, Activision will deliver a special dual pack that includes the hit titles, Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II. The two-disc software-only set is now available exclusively on the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system in retail stores nationwide, and aspiring rock gods can add these legendary games to their expanding Guitar Hero collection.

Guitar Hero, the original title of the wildly popular franchise, allows fans to choose from multiple rock characters and jam at concert venues that grow in size as their rock career progresses. Players can choose from various guitar options, exclusive character outfits, and unlockable songs while they perform to secure endorsements and reach ultimate rockstar status. Over 40 incredible rock anthems fill every stage of the game as axe-shredders rip through tracks such as “Iron Man” (as made famous by Black Sabbath), “More Than a Feeling” (as made famous by Boston), “Bark at The Moon” (as made famous by Ozzy Osbourne), “I Wanna Be Sedated” (as made famous by The Ramones), and many more.

Guitar Hero II, the sequel to the smash hit Guitar Hero, melts the knobs off players’ amps with an expanded track list of over 60 new songs, characters, guitars, exciting gameplay modes, and visually-stunning rock venues that range from high school gyms to sold-out arenas and Stonehenge. Fans also have the opportunity to compete with their friends head to head in all new multiplayer modes, or form their own guitar duo and riff cooperatively by rocking the rhythm, lead, and bass. In addition, an all-new practice mode is included that will allow players to select specific sections of a song, slow it up, and master the difficult solos. Tracks from the set list include “Sweet Child O Mine” (as made famous by Guns N’ Roses), “Free Bird” (as made famous by Lynard Skynard), “Woman” (as made famous by Wolfmother), and “You Really Got Me” (as made famous by Van Halen) among many others hit songs.

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Movie icon and tall buildings ready to take their heated feud to retail charts as Atari and Electronic Arts confirm gold status of games.

Godzilla and major metropolitan cities have metaphorically gone toe-to-toe many times, but the result is always a mayor’s worst nightmare. While cities have essentially gone 0-for-a-million in the long-standing rivalry, that might change this holiday season as the two familiar foes take their struggle into the retail arena.

The rumble in the concrete jungle is nearly here once again. Atari today announced that Godzilla Unleashed for the PlayStation 2 and Wii has gone gold, while Electronic Arts revealed that SimCity Societies for the PC has achieved the same status.

Looking at the tale of the tape, Godzilla Unleashed was developed by Pipeworks Software, the studio with considerable experience bringing the gargantuan metaphor of the dangers of scientific progress to the world of games. They also handled the last two games starring the movie monster, 2002’s Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and 2004’s Godzilla: Save the Earth.

Meanwhile, SimCity Societies development was handled by Tilted Mill Entertainment. The team at Tilted Mill has never worked with the venerable SimCity franchise before, but it does have experience with both the city-building genre and picking up an established franchise.

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Tabula Rasa, PS3 Stranglehold, 360 Virtua Fighter 5, Battalion Wars 2, and many others fill up the US Halloween week release slate.

Though Tuesdays are traditionally prime time for game releases, one of the week’s biggest titles got a jump on the competition by hitting retail at 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning. That’s when more than 3,000 US stores began selling Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the fourth installment in Activision’s rhythm game franchise. Though no initial sales figures are yet available, the game is a preordained hit, given the fact its forbears Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s sold nearly 5 million copies in the US, generating over $360 million in sales (according to the NPD group).

In addition to its pedigree, Guitar Hero III also has two major factors working it its favor. First, besides being released for the Xbox 360 and PS2, the game marks the series’ debut on the PlayStation 3 and Wii–two untapped markets of eager gamers. (The game will ship for the PC and Macintosh next month.) Second, the game has three weeks’ head start on its soon-to-be archrival Rock Band from MTV Games and Electronic Arts. The new PS3, PS2, and 360 game is being developed by Harmonix, developer of the first 3 Guitar Hero games, with Tony Hawk studio Neversoft taking over back-end duties for Guitar Hero III.

Gamers not interested in being a virtual Steve Vai also have plenty of options this week, which boasts some big guns in publishers’ ongoing onslaught on consumers’ wallets. Two major massively multiplayer online role-playing games–Hellgate: London and Tabula Rasa–both launch for the PC. The most venerable gaming platform will also get the offline RPG The Witcher and ports of two console games: NBA Live 08 and Sega Rally Revo.

New to both the PC and the 360 this week is the sci-fi shooter TimeShift, which was picked up by Sierra Entertainment after Atari sold it off. (A PS3 version is due out in later November.) Microsoft’s console will add Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, Viva Piñata: Party Animals, and the Xbox Live Arcade game Mutant Storm Empire to its library. Also, just over eight months after it received solid reviews on the PS3, Virtua Fighter 5 will beat down 360 owners both on and offline.

Two animation-inspired multiplatform games also arrive on the 360–and myriad other platforms–this week. EA’s controversy-plagued game parody compendium The Simpsons Game (X360, PS2, Wii, DS, PS3) arrives alongside Cars Mater-National (PS2, X360, PS3, PC, DS), THQ’s sequel to its first game tie-in to the Pixar film Cars.

Two days before Halloween, Wii owners will receive a trio of spooky classics via the platform’s Virtual Console: Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, (1988, NES), Samurai Ghost (1992, TurboGrafx-16), and Magician Lord (1990, NeoGeo). Nintendo’s ever-popular console will also get cold-cocked by Showtime Championship Boxing and overrun by comic war game Battalion Wars 2.

Last but certainly not least, two delayed titles will finally see the light of retail this week. Months after it was banned in the UK and Australia and given the dreaded AO for Adults Only rating in the US, Manhunt 2 arrives on the Wii, PS2, and PlayStation Portable–albeit in a slightly watered-down, M-rated form. Carnage of a different sort strikes the PS3 in the form of Stranglehold, the game sequel to the Hong Kong action classic Hard Boiled.

This week’s new releases are listed below (list taken from retailer information–actual dates may vary).

OCTOBER 28, 2007
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (X360, WII, PS2, PS3)

OCTOBER 29, 2007
Battalion Wars 2 (WII)
Cars Mater-National (PS2, X360, PS3, PC, DS)
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (WII VC)
El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (DS)
Magician Lord (WII VC)
Manhunt 2 (WII, PS2, PSP)
Ratatouille Food Frenzy (DS)
Samurai Ghost (WII VC)
Stranglehold (PS3)

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Harmonix rhythm game to feature 58 tracks, 51 of which will be original master recordings.

Activision’s Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock struck the first blow in this holiday season’s battle of the bands with its arrival in stores yesterday, but Rock Band creators Harmonix and MTV Games are ready to hit back. Rock Band demo kiosks began appearing in Best Buy stores over the weekend, and this morning the game’s main setlist was finally announced.

When it’s released in North America on November 20, Rock Band for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will feature 58 songs, 51 of which will be original master recordings. However, the games that come in the box are only part of the Rock Band plan. MTV and Harmonix are planning to release a steady stream of downloadable songs and albums for the game, including The Who’s Who’s Next and a selection of tracks from The Grateful Dead’s body of work.

A PlayStation 2 edition of Rock Band will be released on December 18 in North America. The game is also scheduled for a European release in the first quarter of 2008. The main setlist of 45 songs is listed below. An additional 13 tracks from a variety of established and independent artists will also be unlocked as players progress in the game. MTV and Harmonix did not specify if the PS2 version’s setlist would be identical to its current-generation counterparts.

Rock Band main setlist

1960s
Rolling Stones–”Gimme Shelter”

1970s
Aerosmith–”Train Kept a Rollin’” (cover version)
The Who–”Won’t Get Fooled Again”
Boston–”Foreplay/Long Time”
Mountain–”Mississippi Queen” (cover version)
The Police–”Next to You”
David Bowie–”Suffragette City”
Black Sabbath–”Paranoid” (cover version)
Blue Öyster Cult–”Don’t Fear the Reaper”
The Ramones–”Blitzkrieg Bop”
Deep Purple–”Highway Star”
KISS–”Detroit Rock City”
Molly Hatchet–”Flirtin’ With Disaster”
The Outlaws–”Green Grass & High Tides” (cover version)
Sweet–”Ballroom Blitz” (cover version)

1980s
Rush–”Tom Sawyer” (cover version)
Bon Jovi–”Wanted Dead or Alive”
The Clash–”Should I Stay or Should I Go”
Faith No More–”Epic”
Pixies–”Wave of Mutilation”
R.E.M.–”Orange Crush”
Iron Maiden–”Run to the Hills” (cover version)

And More…

The inside dope on the songs featured in the game.

Welcome to IGN’s Guitar Hero III Sonic FAQ, where we shall endeavor to keep all you six-string samurais out there informed about the much-anticipated game sequel leading up to its October 28th release.

We’ll focus on the song list for the game here, offering analyses, history, and tidbits of info about the various jamming tracks that Activision will be including in the latest version of the game. Scroll down to check out what songs have been announced (or in some cases speculated about) so far, and then also be sure to bookmark this page and check back at this FAQ on a regular basis as we will be continuously updating it with all the latest song info just as soon as Activision announces it leading up to the big release date.

Because we want to rock, and so do you…

Song: “3’s and 7’s”
Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Album It Appears On: Era Vulgaris (Interscope, Rekords Rekords, 2007)
Why It Rocks: This Queens of the Stone Age single, just released in June of 2007, is a videogame vet already, having also been featured in Madden 08. The track debuted in the number one slot on the U.K. rock charts and at 19 on the U.K. top 40 singles chart. Queens of the Stone Age is all about guitar rock, and “3’s and 7’s” keeps that mission statement alive with a tinge of punk riffs, dominating chords, and a slicing slide.

Song: “Anarchy in the U.K.”
Artist: The Sex Pistols
Album It Appears On: Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (Virgin, Warner Bros. Records, 1977)
Why It Rocks: In a way, the very idea of the Sex Pistols having one of their songs featured in a videogame designed for mass consumption is antithetical to the very nature of the anarchist punk rock band itself. But then again, the Sex Pistols were a walking, rocking paradox themselves. “Anarchy in the U.K.,” their first single, was an anthem to nihilism and it scared the hell out of the mainstream back in 1976. “I don’t understand it,” lead singer Johnny Rotten was heard to say of the controversy. “All we’re trying to do is destroy everything.” As for the song itself, it’s full of Steve Jones’ descending chords but short on the guitar solo front. Still, over the years “Anarchy” has been covered by, among others, Megadeth and Motley Crue. The track is being rerecorded by the Sex Pistols for the Guitar Hero III release.

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Now you, too, can be a jackass.

Jackass the Game needs no introduction, but we’ll give it one anyway, because it’s an excuse for us to write “jackass” a bunch of times.

Inspired by the hit MTV series Jackass and the subsequent films, Jackass and Jackass Number Two, Jackass the Game lets you play as Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Jason “Wee Man” Acuna and other stars of the bone-breaking stunt series.

Developed for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2, Jackass the Game will have you racing down refrigerator mountains, covering yourself in bodily secretions, playing “rock-paper-nuts,” and participating in other good, clean, wholesome activities.

Jackass features dynamic physics, rag-doll modeling and an in-game injury tracking system The more punishment you inflict on the Jackass characters, the higher your score. Jackass also offers multiplayer modes that allow players to compete jackass-to-jackass.

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Pandemic confirms World In Flames delay; studio wants to “be sure that game is 100 percent polished.”

Days after Ubisoft announced that Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway has taken a detour to 2008, another major game’s delay is now official. Pandemic reps have confirmed to GameSpot that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is cooling its jets until the first quarter of next year. The confirmation comes three weeks after the delay was first rumored.

“We’re not adding new features or content at this point,” said the Pandemic official. “We are using the extra time to make sure that the game is 100 percent polished and truly shines as the best next-gen, open-world experience on any gaming system to date.”

In development for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and PC, Mercenaries 2 is a follow-up to 2005’s critically acclaimed Xbox and PS2 shooter Mercenaries.

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Electronic Arts reveals that its less-than-well-received rhythm game will prance on two new platforms this holiday season; DS edition to use 3D glasses.

Last month, Electronic Arts took its first stab at the growing rhythm-game market when it released the dance-karaoke title Boogie for the Wii. Like harsh judges on So You Think You Can Dance, critics were none too kind to the game. However, like a plucky contestant on the wildly popular show, the publisher is pressing on, today announcing Boogie for the PlayStation 2 and confirming that it would also be arriving on the DS.

Like its Wii sibling, the PS2 and DS Boogies will feature covers of hits from pop sensations past and present, including the Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, Kool and The Gang, and the Jackson 5. Both games are also being developed by EA Montreal, and both will be due out this holiday season, with some retailers listing the game with a mid-November launch date. Presumably, both will also bear the original’s E for Everyone rating.

Both versions of the game will also feature new, platform-specific features. The DS Boogie will sport 10 minigames and five modes superficially designed for quick play on the handheld: copycat, freestyle, choreography, DS download play, and multi-card play. The game will also be the first DS game to ship with a special pair of 3D glasses, allowing for eye-popping visuals.

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Rage Against the Machine axe-man tells Rolling Stone he will be a boss in the forthcoming rhythm game; preorder bundle revealed.

In addition to a heavy reliance on master recording tracks, Activision and RedOctane have signed on a number of big-name rockers to appear as bosses in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. One of the major announcements coming out of the GHIII camp during this year’s E3 Media and Business Summit was that Guns N’ Roses thrasher Slash would be doling out his special brand of rock for the rhythm game. Earlier this month, Poison frontman Bret Michaels was named as the second legend of rock to take the stage.

The third epic rocker to lend his signature twang in person to Guitar Hero III will reportedly be Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Morello reportedly confirmed his appearance as a boss character, saying, “Whenever I play Guitar Hero, my opponent always kicks my ass on my own riffs…Now that I’m actually in the game, I hope the digital me will win once in a while!” A RedOctane rep has since confirmed Morello’s presence in the game, noting that “track(s) that involve Morello will be announced shortly.”

Known for his funk-heavy riffs and synthetic guitar sounds, Morello jammed with politically minded rockers Rage Against the Machine from 1991 to 2000. He and the rest of Rage’s instrumentation joined with former Sound Garden singer Chris Cornell to form supergroup Audioslave from 2001 to 2007. In 2003, Morello was named the 26th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone.

As for official news on Guitar Hero III, RedOctane has updated its site with a new preorder bundle for the upcoming game. The Guitar Hero III Elite Bundle will include the game, a wireless Les Paul guitar controller, a custom faceplate, a Guitar Hero III T-shirt, a 2″ wide guitar strap, a keychain, and a sticker pack. The bundle is currently listed for the $109.99 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and $99.99 on the Nintendo Wii.

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Limited-edition console will come bundled with SingStar Pop and be available in November.

In May 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment opened up Japanese gamers’ color options with a slimmed-down PlayStation 2 with a ceramic white console. Later that year, Sony gave Japanese gamers a third choice with a silver line of PS2 slims. And while Sony eventually extended these colors to Europe, it wasn’t until October 2006 that American gamers were able to pick up the silver console. Now it appears North Americans will be getting a crack at the white slimline PS2s as well–temporarily, at least.

Sony announced today that a limited edition, ceramic white PlayStation 2 bundled with SingStar Pop is headed to the US and Canada. Aside from the color change, the white PS2 will be the same as Sony’s other slimline consoles. Ceramic white seems to be Sony’s hardware color du jour. At this year’s E3 Media & Business Summit, the console maker unveiled a Star Wars-themed PlayStation Portable in the same hue.

Released in April, SingStar Pop is the second installment in Sony’s popular karaoke series, which makes its debut on the PlayStation 3 in November. The game lets players belt out tunes by the likes of Alicia Keys, Ashlee Simpson, and The All-American Rejects in both single- and multiplayer modes. The game was developed by Sony’s London Studio and is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older.

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Innovative PS3, PS2, PC controller goes wireless.

Last month we reviewed (link) Thrustmaster’s Run N Drive for the PlayStation 3 (and PS2 and PC). The controller sports an innovative addition in the jog dial that surrounds the digital d-pad. Designed with car driving in mind, the jog dial allows for a degree of extra precision over that available in analog sticks for putting a car into a turn without having to max out the left or right directional input.

Today Thrustmaster announced it will begin shipping a wireless version of the controller in October. Like the wired model, the next iteration of the Run N Drive will be compatible with the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PC. Retail price will be $39.99.

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PS3, PS2, PC compatible racing wheel preview.

Thrustmaster has announced a new model in its line of Ferrari licensed racing wheel peripherals. The new Ferrari GT Experience will be compatible with the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PC for quite a lot of platform maneuverability and cost efficiency.

The wheel will sport a good feature set. Thrustmaster cites a ‘100% programmable’ feature thanks to a unique mapping technology, which, we must assume as the press release doesn’t go into detail, will allow for customization while in use with any of the three platforms the wheel supports. The Ferrari GT Experience wheel also features linear resistance thanks to Thrustmaster’s exclusive bungee cord technology and vibration feedback when used with the PS2 or PC. A PS3 Home button is also incorporated in the design.

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MTV Games and Electronic Arts to bring their highly anticipated rhythm game to the PS2, announce 10 more tracks including Stones, Clash, NIN.

LEIPZIG, Germany–Previously confirmed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Harmonix announced today that Rock Band will be coming to the venerable PlayStation 2 platform. The PS2 version of the game will feature “many” of the modes of the 360 and PS3 games, and will also incorporate some all-new gameplay elements.

European versions of Rock Band will also be getting localised content for the different countries in the region, both downloadable and on-disc.

The following 10 songs were also announced for Rock Band, and all will be original versions:

Rolling Stones — “Gimme Shelter”
Deep Purple — “Highway Star”
The Clash — “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
Faith No More — “Epic”
Smashing Pumpkins — “Cherub Rock”
Radiohead — “Creep”
Beastie Boys — “Sabotage”
Jet — “Are You Gonna Be My Gir””
OK Go — “Here It Goes Again”
Nine Inch Nails — “The Hand That Feeds”

Rock Band’s on-disc lineup now totals 26 tracks, including Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” Nirvana’s “In Bloom,” and Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead Or Alive.”

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Sega mascot’s hoverboard racing spin-off set for a sequel early next year.

While Sonic the Hedgehog is looking to prove his dominance at traditional sporting events in the Olympic Games later this year, Sega’s blue speedster still has an eye on more extreme sports as well.

Sega today announced that its Sonic Riders hoverboard-racing spin-off will return next year, with a new installment on the Wii and PlayStation 2. The original Sonic Riders debuted on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube in February 2006.

Developed by Sonic Team, Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity will add gravity-manipulating mechanics to the original game’s formula, as well as new futuristic tracks that will have players racing through space. The game will also include more playable racers, new hoverboards and bikes, and the ability to upgrade those rides over time.

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