General Gaming News

Bruce Springsteen is a legend by any means, and he too will take the route where some older acts have gone to – and I don’t mean dying due to a drug overdose, but appearing on Activision’s Guitar Hero World Tour instead at the end of this month (January 27, 2009) with a couple of downloadable songs in tow. This will be available on an exclusive basis in the game itself, so Bruce Springsteen fans – you know what you need to do: Go out and purchase a console that runs Guitar Hero World Tour if you haven’t done so already! This release will coincide with that of his new album known as Working on a Dream.

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SimCraft Corporation is an well known developer of true-to-life full-motion racing simulators, and the company recently let it be known that it will be integrated with iRacing.com, an online, subscription-based racing simulation service. More on this integration right after the jump.

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Despite the free falling economy, somehow the video game industry seemed to hold out much better compared to other sectors. In fact, they earned more revenue this year compared to previous years, while news of doom and gloom continue to filter down to the masses about recession and layoffs. Perhaps this has helped make people consider cheaper choices of entertainment by staying at home, and what better way to do so than immerse yourself in a lengthy RPG or have some fun time with friends over your Wii? Unfortunately, not everything is as rosy as it seems, and Forbes thinks that the $60 standard price on new games could come to an end – which is good for us gamers, since $60 is clearly too expensive at this point in time for our cash-strapped wallets. Publishers ought to brace themselves for a tougher period, since gamers are a pretty patient lot and will wait for game prices to tumble before making a purchase – otherwise those titles, no matter how highly sought after they are, will sit on store shelves, rotting away.

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Capcom has come up with some delectable hits in the past, and they certainly don’t look as though they’re running out of ideas anytime soon with a plethora of hits in 2008. 2009 is another new year for everyone to look forward to, and fans of the video game company might be wondering just how Capcom is going to approach digital distribution this year after being awarded the first branded storefront on the PlayStation Network. Good thing Capcom product manager John Diamonon has let the cat out of the bag that his company will have a decent lineup of downloadable games that comprise of retro and original titles for the coming year.

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The Nintendo Wii and DS are undoubtedly this generation’s success stories where sales figures are concerned, and Nintendo executives are laughing their way to the bank with their new hobby – printing money. Unfortunately, the bleak global economic outlook next year might dent Nintendo’s revenues (coupled with the rising yen to hurt their export competitiveness), which is why this creative company has already thought up of another way to help them through this rough patch for everyone. The next obvious step would be to introduce downloadable video in Japan via Japanese ad agency Dentsu Inc.

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Activision Publishing, Inc. and developer Treyarch has just made it known that the multiplayer beta for Call of Duty: World at War on the Xbox 360 has just been launched. This also means console gamers will be able to snag themselves a token as long as they pre-order the game from North American GameStop retail locations or take the online route. Fans who register to become members here also qualify themselves to receive a token, but these will be limited in supply so it is a case of first come, first served. Gamers on the Windows platform will have to hold the fort a little bit longer since the multiplayer beta will be rolled out in due time.

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PopCap Games is a name synonymous with addictive online games, and Bejeweled is one of those that will stick in memory for most people as bosses see countless hours of productivity go down the drain while employees click away furiously, trying to gain that elusive high score. I myself was guilty of that during the days where I was an office drone, but I must say Bejeweled really went a long way in making those dreary hours roll by quickly and painlessly. This time round, PopCap Games will light up the scene with a new Bejeweled title known as Bejeweled Twist, bringing a new perspective to this genre. Being three years in the making would raise my expectations rather high, so hopefully PopCap Games won’t fail to deliver here.

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It is that time of the month again, where fanboys from all three camps (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony) get together to see just how their console has been doing in the market over the last month. The status quo for king of the hill remains, with Nintendo sitting comfortably in top spot while Microsoft and Sony jostle and tussle with one another fiercely for the distant second place. Sounds like Michael Phelps blowing everyone away at the Water Cube en route to his historic 8 gold medals in a single Olympics. Nintendo managed to move 555,000 Wii units in July, while the DS Lite did much better at 608,400 units. Of course, the latter is much cheaper than the former, and is easily found. How hard is it to get a Wii still in your area? Do leave a comment below after the jump.

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Both Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and NetEase.com, Inc. have come together so that they can license Blizzard Entertainment’s StarCraft II, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and Battle.net platform off to Shanghai EaseNet Network Technology Limited. Guess multiplayer gaming in China will soon take on a whole new life of its own, thanks to Blizzard’s solid base and slick programming which was built up over the years.

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All seems to be moving along nicely when it comes to preparations for the summer Olympics in Beijing that will kick off in exactly one week from now. This can only mean one thing – a cash cow that has to be weaned to its maximum, and game developers are not lost on this fact for quite some time already. We’ve seen numerous sports titles released to date, much earlier than the event itself, and I can clearly remember Mario & Sonic at the Olympics for the DS platform as being one of the more fun titles to date. Conspiracy Entertainment has a new title for sports buffs, known as Summer Athletics. Unfortunately, it seems to be available only for the PS2 and will retail for an affordable $14.99.
players.

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