Music matters
Elite Beat Agents is the best little DS game you don't know much about - a rhythm game from the creators of Gitaroo Man Lives! on the PSP, as well as cult import phenomenon Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (a game Elite Beat Agents resembles a great deal, though it's definitely not the same game) The game looks, in our opinion, quite boss.
The biggest EBA fan in the world, though, is this dude called Chris Kohler. Good thing he runs a blog - because Nintendo has given him the track listing for the game, and he's thrown it up there with about more enthusiasm than you might imagine for a list that contains Ashlee Simpson. Highlights include "Let's Dance" (David Bowie, of course) and "ABC" (Jackson Five.) More recent stuff (besides Ashlee) is Sum 41 and Good Charlotte, among others. Overall, it's a pretty good balance of ear-bleeding misery and pleasantness. We'll leave it to you to decide which is which - just hit the list for yourself.
Paid to play
Tired of cheating for free? EA has announced that in Tiger Woods 07 for the Xbox 360, cheating is going to cost you. Big time, if you want everything. Either you play the game all the way - or you spend $14.25 and get it all the easy way.
As Next Generation reports, you'll be able to cheat on whatever you want - at 200 to 300 Microsoft Points a pop. Courses, equipment and even skills - you can buy it all, instead of playing through the game and earning it. That's nothing new. But shelling out dollars to do so is an innovation... and an unpleasant one. We've hate the way publisher Codemasters has been experimenting with selling cheats over the internet for the past couple years, and we really hate the way EA is apparently jumping on the "nickel and dime the user until they bleed" bandwagon.
The spin will surely be something like, "this way, people who don't want cheats won't have to pay extra for them", but it's still bullshit. This is exactly what we feared would go wrong with microtransactions - forcing the user to pay extra to get the entire game.
Get ready
Sony has launched its first commercial for the PlayStation 3 in the US and, well... it's a bit of a tease. It showcases a young gamer compelled to get up and climb to the roof to meet his fate - which we guess is PS3. It's a slick but uninformative advert (welcome to 2006!) At any rate, you can check it out on YouTube. We suppose the commercials don't really have to make a hell of a lot of sense yet - after all, nobody is going to be able to buy the damn thing anyway.
Not your average Joe
Our buddy Joe Dodson over at Game Revolution just blew our minds. He's already got Dick Dale's surfing anthem "Misirlou" from Guitar Hero II down cold. He videotaped his expert heroism and threw it on the 'net for your viewing pleasure. Or, maybe he's thumbing his nose at us. Either way, it's the best thing we've seen all day, and we know his dirty little secret: he's really a Violin Hero.
Dracula's incentives
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow rocked the DS. And Portrait of Ruin, due this December, seems likely to give us another reason to slip back into old-school left-to-right gaming, if what we've seen so far is any indication.
Knowing that the series' fans are passionate, Konami has kicked out a huge bundle of pre-order goodies if you bag the game from EB Games/GameStop. If you order now, you can get your hands on a Soundtrack CD, stylus, game case and art book. While we know from previous preorder giveaways that this stuff is usually on the "well, I wouldn't quite buy it" side quality-wise, it's hard to argue with that much free crap... especially when Castlevania is oh so good.
Sucked into Portal
Want to know more about Portal? It's shaping up to be one of the most interesting games ever tacked into a package for free - it'll come stuck to Half-Life 2: Episode Two, alongside the new single player content and Team Fortress 2. Our sister publication Computer and Video Games, has taken a moment to chat with the minds behind it... and it's well worth your time if you have even the vaguest interest in the game. Portal just looks... cool. Way too cool. Check out the video if you don't believe us.
Almost time to rock
Ready for Lumines Live? Microsoft has been cagey about its release onto Xbox Live Arcade, but the achievements list has popped up at Achieve360Points.com. This is a good indication that you'll be playing sooner or later.
That's it. Nothing else.
New Screens
Bully (PS2)
Yoshi's Island 2 (DS)
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
Battlefield 2142 (PC)
Snoopy vs the Red Baron (PC)
New Videos
Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (PS3)
Thrillville (PS2, PSP, Xbox)
October 16, 2006