Fresh Loaf

A Beatles-centric Rock Band game was announced last fall, but until this morning there’d been very little concrete information from anybody involved. The Beatles: Rock Band is the official title. It hits America Sept. 9 both as a stand-alone disc and in full instrument bundles for the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Those whose living rooms are already cluttered with fake plastic instruments will be happy to hear that all Rock Band and Guitar Hero World Tour peripherals will work with the game. No word yet on a track list, but I’m pretty sure “Revolution #9″ won’t make the cut.

From the press release:

The Beatles: Rock Band will allow fans to pick up the guitar, bass, mic or drums and experience The Beatles extraordinary catalogue of music through gameplay that takes players on a journey through the legacy and evolution of the band’s legendary career. In addition, The Beatles: Rock Band will offer a limited number of new hardware offerings modeled after instruments used by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr throughout their career.

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Screen shot from Sega's MadWorld

The term “comic convention” has been a misnomer for a while now. Time and attention has been mostly redirected to movies, TV shows, and the ogling of half-naked women. Comics are just a foundation upon which to build a momentary edifice to all remotely nerdish cultural matters. Comics’ vestigial impact was more pronounced at last week’s New York Comic Con than at the big shebang out in San Diego, Calif., but still far from overwhelming. Video games dominated a surprising portion of the floor, with several companies wheeling out demo versions of forthcoming games, from pre-alpha builds all the way up to final release copies. Here’s the first of a few posts covering my thoughts on the games of NYCC ’09.

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Skate 2
Rated T for Teen
Released on Jan. 21, 2009
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Developed by EA Black Box
Published by Electronic Arts

Skate It
Rated E for Everyone
Released on Nov. 19, 2008
Nintendo Wii
Developed by EA Montreal and EA Black Box
Published by Electronic Arts

Some video games are easier than stealing a flat-screen TV from a Grant Park condo. (more…)

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Without further ado, here are my top five video games of the year. You can find numbers ten through six here.

5. Braid (Xbox Live Arcade)

Braid, a puzzle-platformer built around a unique time-manipulation mechanic, would be one of the best games of the year even without its narrative ambitions. (more…)

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Oh, 2008: some might remember you for your global economic meltdown, or your historical presidential election, but to me, you’ll always be the year I struggled with malaria in an anonymous war-torn Sub-Saharan country. You know, in a video game. Overall 2008 didn’t see quite as large a crop of great games as 2007, but there was still no lack of high-quality experiences to be found. I’ll be counting down my top ten favorite games of the year here today and tomorrow, and here’s a look at the first five. For more video game year-in-review nonsense, feel free to take a look at my blog, Hot Fighting History.

10. Bionic Commando Rearmed (Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, PC)

Sure, it’s just a remake, and a surprisingly faithful one at that, but it’s a remake of the greatest NES game ever, so it totally deserves to make this list. (more…)

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de Blob
Released Sept. 22
Nintendo Wii
Developed by Blue Tongue
Published by THQ

The Wii’s got a bad rep among gamers — one that’s not entirely unfounded. Personally, I don’t care that the system isn’t as technically powerful as the XBOX 360 or PlayStation 3. Games such as Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, and Zack & Wiki prove that greatness doesn’t depend upon state-of-the-art graphics or processing power. There aren’t nearly enough of those games, though. Most publishers treat the Wii as a dumping ground for underdeveloped, outdated embarrassments. Unfortunately, the sales figures tend to back up the decision to shortchange development, as quality non-Nintendo titles on the Wii rarely sell any better than the trash. It’s a genuine problem, and there’s no easy solution in sight.

Thankfully, the poor performances of most quality third party titles didn’t prevent THQ from putting some effort into the novel 3-D platformer de Blob. De Blob isn’t just one of the year’s best Wii games, but one of the better video games I’ve played on any system in 2008. From the inventive concept — a paint-filled blob helps a ragtag band of underground revolutionaries liberate Chroma City from an occupying force of color-hating black-and-white fascists — to the charming presentation and character design, de Blob offers a heavily detailed, thoroughly satisfying experience. (more…)

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