More of your favorite classic boardgames are going virtual with Hasbro Family Game Night 2. EA’s second collection for the Wii packs Jenga, Connect 4×4, Pictureka, Bop It, and Operation together for nights of family fun. Jenga and Operation both require some hand-eye coordination and should make good use of the Wiimote. The best part is not having to worry about losing all those little bits and pieces. There’s also a new party game element MCed by everyones’ favorite spud, Mr. Potato Head. Just dress him up and he’ll kick off the gameshow style fun.

Hasbro Family Game Night 2 is also headed for the DS bringing Battleship, SORRY! Sliders, Operation, Connect 4, and Bop It to your fingertips. The title features Wi-fi support for multiplayer gaming.

Hasbro Family Game Night 2 for the Wii and DS are set to launch this fall. Further details follow the break.

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Just when you thought all the raving about Spore had subsided, EA and Maxis infected Nintendo’ with Spore Hero for the Wii and Spore Hero Arena for the DS. These two latest editions to the Spore family where engineered from scratch to take advantage of the Wii and DS control schemes.

Spore Hero is a story driven action adventure which gives players 250 parts to design a hero that is destined to save its planet from mysterious dark forces. Gameplay includes solving puzzles, running missions and battling opponents for the preservation of your race. Spore Hero Arena sounds like Pokémon in outer space with the player designing their own Spore gladiator to battle from planet to planet.

Both Spore Hero and Spore Hero Arena are slated for release this fall. Further details follow the break.
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If your looking for a good reason to play the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen videogame, listen up. Composers Steve Jablonsky and Bobby Tahouri are collaborating with electronica artists Julien-K on the soundtrack. These musical masters have put the excitement in several familiar movie and videogame soundtracks.

You’ve probably heard Jablonski’s work on both the latest Transformers live action movies. If you haven’t seen them, you may have listened to his hard driving score while beating down the Locust Hordes in Gears of War 2. Tahouri worked on the Iron Man film soundtrack and Julien-K was featured on the 2007 Transformers movie with their track “Technical Difficulties.”

More details on these artists and the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen videogame follow the break.

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Gamesindustry.biz recently conducted an interview with gaming industry vet and managing director of Bethesda Europe, Sean Brennan. The interview, a first of many, discusses their (Zenimax/Bethesda’s) notable success in marketing Fallout 3 in the UK. While bragging about how awesome Fallout 3 did, Sean also took liberty at poking fun at some (at the time) competing EA titles that did not fair as well in that region.

Sean also unveiled Zenimax/Bethesda’s diabolical plan to dig its tendrils deep within the remaining European territories with assurances of eventual world domination… and, oh yeah, assurances that “we’re still going to focus on what we’re doing best, which is 360, PS3 and PC, triple-A products aimed at a more mature market place” (Although, Sean hinted that Wii titles were not out of question).

The most exciting part of the interview was Sean’s teasing us with news of Splash Damage’s next title:

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Rock Band Wii is finally getting 25 more original master recordings including some of the classics that Xbox 360 and PS3 owners have been enjoying for quite some time. As of May 12th players can download the Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Duran Duran and selections to flesh out their collections. For those who aren’t nostalgic about the 80’s, Indie rockers Locksley and Silversun Pickups offer an updated alternative. Mötley Crüe’s “Face Down in the Dirt” and Sixx: A.M.’s “Life is Beautiful,” one of my personal favorites, are also finally out for the Wii.

Rock Band 2 owners can grab a couple new tracks from Disturbed and Steely Dan as well as singles from The Replacements and Elvis Costello and a trio from Social Distortion.

Harmonix and EA are rolling out tracks as fast as possible to bring the Wii DLC catalog up to par. Wii owners may not have the beautiful graphics the other consoles enjoy, but they’ll eventually have access to the full 670 songs available for Rock Band. Gamers can preview and purchase their favorite songs from the Rock Band Music Store.

The full list of songs and artists follow the link below.

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The videogame industry is rolling out previews of the games that go with this summer’s blockbuster movies. The latest offering is a trailer for the  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen game.

It could just be me, but a think the animation looks like sh*t a little rough compared to the pulse pounding footage from the Terminator Salvation game. I can’t say I’m surprised given the number of fantastic videogames based on movies out there, but I’m still disappointed. Everybody has an opinion and yours is just as valid as mine. Watch the trailer after the break and tell me how you really feel.

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Just in case you didn’t already know it, the Wii is not so much a game console as it is a license to print money. We got some obvious proof of this today, when Nintendo posted the results of their 2008-09 fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.

According to their reports, Nintendo recorded over 1.8 trillion yen, or $18.1 billion in sales. That’s an increase from last year of ten percent. Moreover, they set a record profit mark, reporting 279 billion yen, or $2.82 billion, an increase of almost nine percent over last year.

In their fiscal statement, Nintendo offered up this, “The videogame industry, which was less impacted by the economic downturn than most industries, remained relatively stable in spite of the large consumer spending decline.”

It doesn’t hurt when you’ve got a console with continual demand and the hottest handheld on the planet. I’d also agree that the economic downturn hasn’t affected the games industry as much as others, but when venerable studios are closing their doors due to lack of funding, it’s still having an effect. It’s not wise for anyone, even a powerhouse like Nintendo, to make light of that.

Video geniuses of the world, unite! If you love making videos and posting them all over YouTube, EA may have something that is right up your alley.

You may remember the “Walk on Water” video. If not, let me refresh your memory. A YouTube user named Levinator25 posted a video using Tiger Woods 08 showing how players could have their character stand on the water and hit a shot. In response to this, EA created a video in which they said, “It’s not a glitch, he’s just that good,” and had Tiger playing a shot while supposedly walking on water. (You can check out that video after the break)

It was a huge success, garnering over 3 million views on YouTube. Well, it looks like EA is hoping to continue that success for Tiger Woods 10, slated for release June 16.

According to a press release we received today,

“The Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 team is in search of a viral video that can one-up the now famous “Walk on Water” video from last year.”

More importantly, they’re offering $50,000 to the creator of the winning video. Now, it may just be me, but I could really use $50,000 these days.

You can grab all the details on the contest, and check out the ‘Walk on Water’ video, after the break.

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Well it looks like it’s official. Three brand new titles based off the Guitar Hero franchise are heading our way: DJ Hero, Guitar Hero 5, and Band Hero. Activision gives us the straight poop:

“DJ Hero expands Guitar Hero’s signature social gaming to all-new consumers with the addition of diverse music genres including hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance”. Of course, what would a virtual DJ be without touting an all-new turntable controller? (Editor’s note: eX not included) “DJ Hero transforms players into DJs who rule the club scene by creating original mixes of popular songs and music from the world’s most exciting artists and DJs”.

Guitar Hero 5 will feature both old and new artists, as well as giving “players an unprecedented level of control over the way they play the game with the ability to drop in and out of songs and change band members, instruments and difficulty levels on the fly.”

Finally, the franchise will be getting its first E10+ rated console game, aptly titled Band Hero. The new title will feature “top-40 hits” geared to “expand the experience to a new genre and appeal to a broad family audience who can play together on the guitar, drums, bass and microphone”. By broadening the spectrum to include the younger crowd, Activision hope to find a medium that brings both novice and expert fans of the game together.

Dan Rosensweig, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Guitar Hero franchise, states “Guitar Hero has made music social again and has become one of the most popular ways to experience music. Today’s fans enjoy a variety of music and are looking for more ways to engage with their favorite songs, artists and fellow fans. These games will let them listen, participate and socialize with music in ways they have never been able to before.”

Gamers, plastic shredders, and wannabe-DJs alike will be able to “wiggy-wiggy-scratch” out on their virtual vinyls this fall. You can also check out a couple of photos of the new turntable controller after the break.

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“… dogs and cats, living together… mass hysteria!!”

As I quote the fictitious, yet venerable, Dr. Peter Venkman, it seems Sony Entertainment is currently attempting a coup of sorts towards bringing the upcoming Ghostbusters: The Video Game within its exclusive ranks. With just over a month until the game’s imminent release, this bit of news will come as a shock to many anticipating its release via the “other” platforms – namely the PC, Xbox 360, and Wii.

According to gamesindustry.biz, Sony acquired the game from Atari and has simultaneously revealed (as of today) that the game will launch on the Playstation 2 & 3 platforms exclusively with a PSP version to follow later. Officially, there is no word as to the fate of the other platform versions that were originally to be launched the same day. Speculation has it that Atari will still retain the rights to publish the game for the remaining platform versions, albeit, launching at a much later time.

Personally, I’m not sure what to think of this bit of news. The game has certainly changed hands (both developer and publisher) more than I can recall. The project would surely have died if Atari had not stepped in and secured the publishing rights last year. However, I can’t help but view this recent acquisition as anything but “dealing under the table”. When first hearing this news, I was given a strong visual of Sony and Atari representatives touting trench coats; both exchanging a briefcase full of cash in some dark alley late at night. Am I overreacting? Perhaps. But I sincerely doubt I’m alone here. It just seems so last minute given all the teasing we’ve had from trailers, demos, etc. added to the knowledge that it would be coming to our favorite platform very soon. The candy dangling in front of us has certainly been yanked away.

Nonetheless, I am still hopeful and looking forward to playing this game on PC. For now, it seems, I will be watching this game from the sidelines. My new multi-core Intel processor was also looking forward to crunching away at some neato physics calculations powered by the Velocity physics engine.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is still slated to hit shelves around June 19th. However, gamers will only see the box sitting in specific sections of «insert favorite game store here».

Update: It seems MCV has confirmed (from Atari) the game will be released for Xbox 360, DS and Wii “later this year”.

Update: Atari has just sent out a press release with clarification that Sony exclusivity is for PAL regions only. You can check it out after the break.

… and there was much rejoicing in the west.

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