Following in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg, director of 300 and the new Dawn of the Dead, Zack Snyder, has signed a deal with EA to make three original video games. He’ll also work out of their Los Angeles studio, same as Spielberg. Under this deal though, EA will have the option to turn any of these games into movies, which would then be produced by Snyder’s Cruel & Unusual Films. No word yet on just what sort of games he may be looking to make, but EA is hoping his ideas will resonate with their core audience of young males, much like his films.

Sounds like a good idea to me. So far, none of the recent games made by film directors — like Spielberg’s Boom Blox or John Woo’s Stranglehold — have sold all that well, but they’ve at least been entertaining and worth playing. And Zack Snyder’s been riding a strong wave of success for the past few years, so who knows what could happen when he dips into the world of video games?

Via Variety

Really, it’s about time. After countless leaks and rumors, Activision has finally revealed all the tracks that will be included on the Guitar Hero: World Tour disc. It’s full of quite a few expected tracks as well as some surprises (Nirvana’s Unplugged version of “About a Girl” FTW). You do have to wonder about the timing of this release though, seeing as Rock Band 2 hits store shelves in two days. Seems like someone’s trying to steal Harmonix’s thunder, eh, Activision? Anyway, without further delay, here is the complete list of all the songs that will be featured in Guitar Hero: World Tour:

• 311 – “Beautiful Disaster”
• 30 Seconds To Mars – “The Kill”
• Airbourne – “Too Much Too Young”
• The Allman Brothers Band – “Ramblin’ Man”
• Anouk – “Good God”
• The Answer – “Never Too Late”
• At The Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor”
• Beastie Boys – “No Sleep Till Brooklyn”
• Beatsteaks – “Hail to the Freaks”
• Billy Idol – “Rebel Yell”
• Black Label Society – “Stillborn”
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Weapon of Choice”
• blink-182 – “Dammit”
• Blondie – “One Way or Another”
• Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band – “Hollywood Nights”
• Bon Jovi – “Livin’ On A Prayer”
• Bullet For My Valentine – “Scream Aim Fire”
• Coldplay – “Shiver”
• Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Up Around The Bend”
• The Cult – “Love Removal Machine”
• Dinosaur Jr. – “Feel The Pain”
• The Doors – “Love Me Two Times”
• Dream Theater – “Pull Me Under”
• The Eagles – “Hotel California”
• The Enemy – “Aggro”
• Filter – “Hey Man, Nice Shot”
• Fleetwood Mac – “Go Your Own Way”
• Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
• The Guess Who – “American Woman”
• Hush Puppies – “You’re Gonna Say Yeah!”
• Interpol – “Obstacle 1”
• Jane’s Addiction – “Mountain Song”
• Jimi Hendrix – “Purple Haze (Live)”
• Jimi Hendrix – “The Wind Cries Mary”
• Jimmy Eat World – “The Middle”
• Joe Satriani – “Satch Boogie”
• Kent – “Vinternoll2”
• Korn – “Freak On A Leash”
• Lacuna Coil – “Our Truth”
• Lenny Kravitz – “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
• Linkin Park – “What I’ve Done”
• The Living End – “Prisoner of Society”
• Los Lobos – “La Bamba”
• Lost Prophets – “Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)”
• Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Sweet Home Alabama (Live)”
• Mars Volta – “L’Via L’Viaquez”
• MC5’s Wayne Kramer – “Kick Out The Jams”
• Metallica – “Trapped Under Ice”
• Michael Jackson – “Beat It”
• Modest Mouse – “Float On”
• Motörhead – “Overkill”
• Muse – “Assassin”
• Negramaro – “Nuvole e Lenzuola”
• Nirvana – “About a Girl (Unplugged)”
• No Doubt – “Spiderwebs”
• NOFX – “Soul Doubt”
• Oasis – “Some Might Say”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Crazy Train”
• Ozzy Osbourne – “Mr. Crowley”
• Paramore – “Misery Business”
• Pat Benatar – “Heartbreaker”
• R.E.M. – “The One I Love”
• Radio Futura – “Escuela De Calor”
• Rise Against – “Re-Education Through Labor”
• Sex Pistols – “Pretty Vacant”
• Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
• Smashing Pumpkins – “Today”
• Steely Dan – “Do It Again”
• Steve Miller Band – “The Joker”
• Sting – “Demolition Man (Live)”
• The Stone Roses – “Love Spreads”
• Stuck In The Sound – “Toy Boy”
• Sublime – “Santeria”
• Survivor – “Eye of the Tiger”
• System of a Down – “B.Y.O.B.”
• Ted Nugent – “Stranglehold”
• Ted Nugent’s Original Guitar Duel Recording
• Tokio Hotel – “Monsoon”
• Tool – “Parabola”
• Tool – “Schism”
• Tool – “Vicarious”
• Trust – “Antisocial”
• Van Halen – “Hot For Teacher”
• Willie Nelson – “On The Road Again”
• Wings – “Band on the Run”
• Zakk Wylde’s Original Guitar Duel Recording

Via Press Release

Everyone’s favorite gun totting maniac, Uncle Ted, is coming to Guitar Hero: Wrold Tour. The multi-platinum guitar icon,  best-selling author and outspoken hunting activist, will lend his voice and likeness to the game along side of Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne and Sting.  Aspiring axe shredders will be able to challenge The Nuge in a guitar duel, play as the music icon’s in-game character or jam alongside the Motor City Madman as he rocks his 1975 hit “Stranglehold.”

The inclusion of this song makes me wonder if Teddy will be singing “Stranglehold” in the game or if they used the master recording which was actually sung by his band mate Derek St. Holmes. I am also curious if he will be depicted as the “old” Nuge or the Nuge we see now sporting a soul patch, cowboy hat, and a sleeveless camo shirt. At any rate, I was going to post a picture of him standing over an elephant he killed, but I figured after the whole “nuking the cat” post, the vibe in here just was not right for that yet. Plus, killing elephants just isn’t “sportsman like”.

Guitar Hero: World Tour will be hitting stores on October 26 for the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii. The game itself will run $59.99 ($49.99 for the PS2 and Wii), the game with guitar will be $89.99 for the PS2 and $99.99 for the other versions – while the band kits will run you $189.99 (PS2 kit is $179.99).

via Press Release

Keep yourself calm until this set-list for Guitar Hero: World Tour is confirmed folks, otherwise you will blow a gasket like I did when I saw Tool on the list.

Some of the songs listed are a bit too good to be true in my humble opinion, not that they are false, but until Activision says otherwise just keep your fingers crossed.

OMG OMG OMG!! TOOL! (calm down Steffy, calm down)

Eagle Rock High School Tour:
“Dope Nose” by Weezer
“The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World
Encore: “Today” by Smashing Pumpkins (yay!)

Big City Kids Tour:
“Roland” by Interpol
“Santeria” By Sublime
Encore: “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers (hooray!)

Feelin’ Nostalgic Tour:
“Take It on the Run” by REO Speedwagon
“Hold the Line” by Toto
Encore: “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol (this one has already been confirmed via the video)

Vixens Tour:
“Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar (her best)
“All Around Me” by Flyleaf
Encore:”Misery Business” by Paramore

Undertow Tour: (omg omg Tool!!!!)
“Stinkfist” by Tool
“Lateralus” by Tool
“Schism” by Tool

Synchronicity Tour:
“Guitar Battle Vs. Sting” (Guitar Career Only)
Encore: “Every Breath You Take” by The Police

Fight the System Tour:
“The Kids Aren’t Alright” by The Offspring
The Good Left Undone” by Rise Agaisnt
Encore: “Bleed it Out” by Linkin Park

QQ Tour:
“Face Down” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
“The Kill” by 30 Seconds to Mars
Encore: “Thank You for the Venom” by My Chemical Romance

Rockin the Carnival Tour:
“Dammit” by Blink 182
“When You Heat Stops Beating” by +44

Neva’ Forget Tour:
“Jumpin Jack Flash” by The Rolling Stones
“Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Öyster Cult (any cow bell in this one?)
Encore: “Light My Fire” by The Doors (grrrr)

We Want the Funk Tour:
“Take it Away” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Renegades of Funk” by Rage Agaisnt the Machines
Encore: “No Sleep till Brooklyn” by The Beastie Boys Feat. Kerry King (cool!)

Rockin’ the Joint Tour:
“Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz
“I Don’t wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith

On Top of the World Tour:
“Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains
“Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe (kickstart… MIATA!)
Encore: “Spin the Black Circle” by Pearl Jam

G. Stinger Tour: (very awesome)
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana
“Car Chase City” by Tenacious D
Encore: “Everlong” by Foo Fighters

Lands End Tour:
“Animal” by Def Leppard
“Runaway” by Bon Jovi
Encore: “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses (yay)

Doin’ it Different Tour: (good set list)
“Song for the Dead” by Queens of the Stone Age
“Vasoline” by Stone Temple Pilots
Encore: “Assassin” by Muse

Hootin’ and Hollerin’ Tour:
“The Boys Are Back in Town” By Thin Lizzy
“Life in the Fastlane” by The Eagles
Encore:”Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

All Pissed Off Tour:
“Here to Stay” by KoRn
“Dragula” by Rob Zombie (oh hellz yez!!)
Encore: “Bat Country” by Avenged Sevenfold

Here Me Roar Tour:
“10,000 Fists” by Disturbed
“Duality” by Slipknot
Encore: “Toxicity” by System of a Down

S.D.M.F. Tour:
“Guitar Battle Vs. Zakk Wylde” (Guitar Career Only)
*Encore: “Demise of Sanity” by Black Label Society

Fathers of Metal Tour:
“Don’t Talk to Strangers” by Dio
“Heaven and Hell” by Black Sabbath
Encore: “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne (can you imagine?)

Making Progress Tour:
“The Spirit of Radio” by Rush
“Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd
Encore: “Pull Me Under” by Dream Theatre

Eruption Tour:
“Beat it” by Micheal Jackson Feat. Eddie Van Halen
“Hot for Teacher” by Van Halen (yay)

Tooth Fang & Claw Tour:
“Guitar Battle Vs. Ted Nugent” (Guitar Career Only)
Encore: “Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent

Decades of Metal Tour
“Warriors of Time” by Black Tide
“Leather Rebel” by Judas Priest
Encore: “Hallowed be Thy Name” by Iron Maiden (hooray)

Livin’ in a Nightmare Tour:
“Angel of Death” by Slayer
“Tornado of Souls” by Megadeth
Encore: “Master of Puppets” by Metallica (master!… master!)

Legends of Rock Tour:
“Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry
“The Wind Cries Mary” by Jimi Hendrix
Encore: “Purple Haze (Live)” by Jimi Hendrix

Bonus Tour:
“45? by Shinedown
“96 Quite Bitter Beings” by CKY
“Bombshell” by Powerman 5000
“Clavado en un Bar” by Maná
“Enjoy the Silence” by Lacuna Coil
“Feuer Frei” by Rammstein
“Fury of the Storm” by Dragonforce
“Never Too Late” by The Answer
“Nottingham Lace” by Buckethead
“One Armed Scissor” by At The Drive-In
“Satch Boogie” by Joe Satriani
“Schrei” by Tokio Hotel
“Soul Doubt” by NOFX

“We’re An American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad
“Guitar Battle Vs. Sting” by Sting
“Guitar Battle Vs. Ted Nugent” By Ted Nugent
“Guitar Battle Vs. Zakk Wylde” by Zakk Wylde

Sample Songs:
“Untitled Drum Sample” created by Chad Smith
“Untitled Drum Sample” created by Dave Grohl
“Untitled Drum Sample” created by Travis Barker
“Cliffs of Dover” created by Neversoft
“Misirlou” created by Neversoft
“Walk This Way” created by Neversoft
“YYZ” created by Neversoft

Thanks: GONintendo

Some games — like Burnout Paradise — have already been developed with the PlayStation 3 as the lead platform, but the new head of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, believes that development will continue to move in favor of the PS3, particularly beginning in 2009.

“Moving forward I’m totally confident that developers will start to use more from the PlayStation 3 platform. This year is the year of parity, next year is the year of differentiation in favor of the PS3 platform,” Yoshida told GamesIndustry.biz.

Blu-ray will also play a role in that, thanks to the additional space it offers multiplatform games that a single DVD cannot. He said, “But I think after the end of last year, there are more and more titles are coming out on the same day [as Xbox 360] and the same quality, and we can start to see some additional things on PS3 because of the space available on Blu-ray.”

Of course, that’s speculation on his part — or at least, something we haven’t heard much of. Stranglehold was one of the few examples of this happening, where the collector’s edition of the game contained the movie Hard Boiled on the Blu-ray disc.
Generally speaking, I think the Xbox 360 version of multiplatform games is the preferred one, assuming you don’t mind paying for a subscription to Xbox Live. Between Live and achievements, the PS3 versions of most multiplatform games haven’t had much of an edge. But if we see more bonuses like we did with Stranglehold, I could absolutely see the PS3 version of games becomes the de facto version.

Some people may disagree, but I loved Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (cheesy name, aside). I even wrote an article awhile back outlining how awesome a sequel to it could be. Well now, anyone can experience Midway’s psychic shooter for the low, low price of absolutely nothing. Filefront now has the full game ready for anyone to download from their website.

The game has you playing as a psychically-enhanced soldier trying to take down a terrorist organization. Yeah, the story is pretty negligible, but the action is solid. The game grants you several psychic abilities — telekinesis, pyrokinesis, mind control, etc. — which are more useful than your guns in dispatching enemies. This game actually does “Force powers” better than any Star Wars game to date, unless The Force Unleashed delivers on its promises. Plus, this is made by the same team who worked on John Woo’s Stranglehold.

To snag the full Psi-Ops game for yourself, just click the links below to download the four parts of the game.

Psi Ops The Mindgate Conspiracy Client (Part 1)
Psi Ops The Mindgate Conspiracy Client (Part 2)
Psi Ops The Mindgate Conspiracy Client (Part 3)
Psi Ops The Mindgate Conspiracy Client (Part 4)

Budding PC game developers have a reason to rejoice. Havok, as promised, has released its physics and animations for PC as a free download.

Havok was used to create the well known titles, Stranglehold and The Orange Box. It was also used in Shadowrun and Superman Returns, but don’t let that dissuade you.

You can grab the program on the Havok website.

I posted recently about a so called “Co-Op Bill of Rights,” which was a concept inspired by Penny-Arcade and then run with by Microsoft employee Ozymandias on his blog. He threw together a list of features that co-op games must have, and then ones that would be ideal but aren’t necessary due to the time/effort/technical requirements they require. It’s nothing official of course, and it’s likely never going to be something that impacts how developers spend their time. More recently, he posted up a more finalized version with the help of various comments from around the ‘net that his initial article called for.

This got me thinking about features that all games simply must have. It irritates me to no end to go pick up a new game, assume something about the game and then come to find out that a blatantly obvious feature or option is nowhere to be seen. I asked for feedback from readers and friends, and I’ve come up with my own Bill of Rights. It’s not necessarily focused on features that have to be included, but more often functionality and design choices in games. Some of it will overlap with Ozymandias’ list, but that’s only because these are things games absolutely must do.

I’m looking for feedback, so if you think I omitted something or something made the list that shouldn’t have, share in the comments. This is by no means intended to be a finished piece, but more of a building block. And, as long as I’m admitting my faults, this doesn’t apply only to games, but game-related things, as well.

And just to make sure things are clear, I’ll give out examples of games that did it either well – guised as a Dick Vitale “That’s awesome, baby!” – or poorly – a Charles Barley “That’s turrible.”

Read the full article

Another nice update on the PlayStation Store week, with two demos in Devil May Cry 4 and The Club, new downloadable content for Guitar Hero III, Rock Band, Folklore and Stranglehold (expansion pack), a new PS one Classic in Jet Moto 2, and the usual assortment of trailers and themes.PixelJunk Monsters looks really interesting – it’s a tower defense game with a very unique art style. Plus, it’s got Remote Play support and is temporarily at a discounted price of $7.99.

We’ve posted about the Rock Band and Guitar Hero III DLC earlier this week, and the DMC4 and The Club demos have been covered as well. The same goes for the Stranglehold expansion, but I wanted to say congratulations to the winner of PlayStation Underground’s Folklore Create-a-Creature contest – the winning design is available to download for free, so support your fellow gamer and give it a download if you own Folklore. The more it gets downloaded, the more support I see coming from game companies for these sorts of things.

Hit the break for the full list of content.

Read the full article

An ad agency in the UK recently got some flak from the Advertising Standard Authority, due to a TV ad for Stranglehold, the game created in part by John Woo that features basically an 8-hour shootout. The ad in question featured (of course) a shootout, with a voice over saying, “Honour is his code. Vengeance is his mission. Violence is his only option.” Apparently that was a little too much for at least two viewers, who complained to the ASA that it glorified gun crimes. As a result, the ad has now been taken off the air, as the ASA explained:

“We considered the ad was likely to be seen as encouraging and condoning violence. Because the issues raised by the ad could not be addressed with a timing restriction, we considered the only solution was to withdraw the ad from transmission completely.”

Wait, so all it takes is two people complaining to get something taken off the air? Good, cause me and my friend have some complaints concerning the recent ads for Meet the Spartans. Namely, we’re offended that another unfunny spoof movie gets made every freakin’ year.

Via Next Gen