Editorial: MGS4 review comments

You may have heard over the last couple of weeks that Konami and Hideo Kojima productions have asked websites and magazines when giving pre-release review to not mention some aspects of the game that seem somewhat dodgy. These thing include incredibly long cut-scenes as well as long download times (about 5 GB must be downloaded to the Playstation 3). Personally I do not think this is fair the reviewer or the gamer. For the player, not being able to know potentially important aspects of the game or not allowing the reviewer to tell the full truth about the game is just unfair. Konami really shouldn't be doing this especially because, besides most people already guessed at least these two facts, they have nothing to really be ashamed for. They should be proud of their their work no matter how complicated or large it may be

Grand Theft Auto IV Review

I know it's a little late but i've had no time. It's based in the usual GTA city, excluding Vice City and San Andreas obviously, Liberty City, a seedy underworld of crime, drugs and violence based on New York City. In GTA IV you are Niko Bellic, a former soldier from an unknown eastern European country trying to find freedom and refuge in a new place with his cousin Roman. In liberty city you can stay to the story and have to do tons of escort missions for the first 2 hours or so and things do really get too interesting until you start meeting new people and getting to go to Manhatte--- I mean Algonquin and other boroughs of liberty. A new and integral feature to the game is a cell phone. The cell phone allows Niko to call friends, set up dates, playing darts and pool, drink at a bar or do cheats. Missions include some cool battles but unfortunately most of the missions are escort missions or bringing cars to lockups or people for the first couple of hours before getting to the next safehouse. The cell phone also allows the player to enter different types of multiplayer ranging from straight up deathmatch to a game called Cops N' Crooks which is where you are either a cop trying to take down crooks who are trying to get their boss to a certain location without getting caught. The multiplayer has potential to be great but is really not what draws the player like Halo 3, but thats not what it's supposed to be, it's supposed to be a place where the player can delve deep into the city and live the American dream. By no means is the game perfect though the driving could use work because although it's realistic, until Niko gets better cars the driving is quite difficult. This game will obviously not appeal to all but i suggest it to many for great gameplay and hours upon hours of gametime.

9 out of 10

Gears of War 2 Gameplay out Today

Here is the actual gameplay from Gears of War 2 coming out this November

Microsoft to make Wii remote like controller for the Xbox 360

There have been confirmed rumors about the wii remote Xbox 360 controller. Apparently they are trying to make games like Halo or Forza motorsport. They have been working on it since last summer and plan to have an avatar system like Miis. Nice job Microsoft. Finally catching on.

Force Unleashed Developer's Diary

As we wait for the new game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, coming out September 16th, there is now a developer's diary they have created and here's the video />

Hudson Soft making money off Wii

Hudson, subordinate of Konami, has made four times the profit by developing almost solely on the Wii. They have created 10 games in the past year and they promised at least eight more for 2008. Go Hudson!

Rockstar Games Social Club Website

This Social Club is going to coincide with the release of GTA IV on April 29th. More info is on http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/684007/Rockstar_Opening_Social_Club.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=TheFeed

The Social Club link is http://www.rockstargames.com/socialclub/ (keep in mind right now it is under construction).

Madden '09 Release Date Announced

The official release date for Madden '09 is August 12th, but in the 20th aniversary edition you get not only the game but also NFL Head Coach '09 and other gameplay form the history of the Madden franchise. No news on the cover player yet but it's expected to be either Eli Manning or Tom Brady. More news to coem in the coming months.

Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack Trailer Out

Here's a little taste of the new Legendary Map Pack, being released April 15th for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Here's a link to the trailer http://www.g4tv.com/trailers/videos/21069/Trailer_Halo_3__Legendary_Map_Packs.html and here's info on the maps themselves from Bungie http://www.bungie.net/projects/halo3/content.aspx?link=H3LegendaryMapPack.

Alone in the Dark Delayed Yet Again

Just when we think we get closer to highly anticipated remake of Alone in the Dark. The new release date for PC, Xbox 360, Wii, and PS2 is June 20th. Unfortunately for PS3 owners, they will have to wait later for an unknown release date.

Mercenaries 2 Dated

Mercenaries 2 has an official release date of August 31, 2008. Here's a link to the E3 trailer for a refresher of whats to come. http://www.g4tv.com/e32007/videos/17016/E307_Hands_On_Mercenaries_2.html

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Info

Here is a link to screenshots and the official trailer to the new air fighter. http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/684219/Tom_Clancys_HAWX_Media.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=TheFeed

Netflix could be coming to Xbox

Netflix has seen that many people subscribed have been using their Xbox 360s to watch their DVDs, so recently there have been rumours that a partnership will take place. For now there are only rumours but when more info is announced it will be posted.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to include other bands

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is thankfully including other bands. Some of these other bands are Cheap Trick, Mott the Hoople, Joan Jett and The Kinks. Watch for it this June.

Guitar Hero DS Details

Guitar Hero for the DS, named Guitar Hero: On Tour, now has screens and videos. This is the Guitar Hero III adaption for the DS using a four button that goes across the back . There will also be special power ups specifically for the DS as well as over 20 songs including artist such as Nirvana, OK Go, and No Doubt. There's going to be wireless co-op and a full carrer mode and it's all coming this Summer 2008.

Lost Planet: Colonies Trailer

The sequel to the amazing but difficult game Lost Planet: Extreme Condition by Capcom has a trailer. Although there is not much else to be said this will shape up to be another hit. Check out this link to see the trailer. http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/blog/post/683650/Lost_Planet_Colonies_Trailer.html

GTA IV Trailers

GTA IV Trailers

'Pure' Gameplay Trailer Out

Pure, Disney Interactive's new ATV and Motorbike racing game, now has a trailer with gameplay on G4TV.com (http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/683024/Pure_Gameplay_Trailer.html?utm_source=g4tv&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=TheFeed)

Commodore 64 comes to VC

Virtual Console now is bringing a seventh console to it's ever expanding library, the Commodore 64, a type of computer that acted also as a game playing device (some did not at the time) during the time of the Atari 2600. Karate and Uridum will start it off later this year.

Details on new 'Aliens' game from SEGA

Aliens: Colonial Marines is being developed by Gearbox and coming to Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. You are part of  Marines force set in an Aliens Assault and Gearbox is going to try and keep to the movies as much as possible. It's a FPS for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in late 2008 so keep posted.

Community Games on Xbox Live Marketplace

Microsoft chalenged people to use XNA, Microsoft's way to allow people to make their own games, to make new community games for Xbox Live Arcade. Supprisingly this swarch was very successful and there were multiple winners for a contract. An example is The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. It is about a young man with butcher knives who is trying to take down the evil organiztaion and it is an intense 2-D sidescroller with lots of action. You can try demos of these excellent games on the Marketplace.

 

Ninja Gaiden 2 Release Date Revealed

The longly anticipated sequel to the Ninja Gaiden games now has a release date of June 3rd and rumored to have movie sharing and pausing form your gameplay much like Halo 3.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood Details

The new Sonic RPG, officially named Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, is for the DS in 2008 and The Gamer Haven has new details. It will have at least eleven playable characters and you can have four characters in your team at a time. Seven of the Characters are Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Big the Cat (Sonic Adventure, Dreamcast), Rogue (Sonic Rush, DS). In this game you control Sonic by moving the stylus across the screen (mush like The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass). For more info on the game check February's Nintendo Power Article for an in depth preview.

Sorry

Sorry I haven't been writing for the past week but I have had a lot of work in the past week and now I will start to write more often and warn before a hiatus.

Gears Of War 2 News

CliffyB, Lead designer of Gears of War 2 and head of Epic games, announced today at the Microsoft Keynote at GDC that Gears 2 would be coming to Xbox 360 exclusively (sorry PC gamers) this November 2008. Here is the official trailer (http://www.xbox.com:80/en-US/games/splash/g/gearsofwar2/default.htm)

"Deadly Creatures" being made for Wii

Deadly Creatures is a new action thriller game in which you play an armed scorpion and quick tarantula who fight Gila monsters, Black widows, and Man. It's being made by THQ's Rainbow Studios and is coming out some time in 2008.

New Banjo Kazooie Game

If you played Banjo Tooie and Banjo Kazooie for the N64, as well as the sequels and spinoffs, you will be excited to hear that it is making the next-gen leap. The new Banjo Kazooie game is coming out on the Xbox 360 hopefully in Holiday 2008 but otherwise there is not more info except for this trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePgIGmYv-sY). More news wil be covered by The Gamer Haven as the release date grows near.

3 Secret Charaters and Secret Stages for Super Smash Bros. Brawl(SPOILER ALERT)

As with Super Smash Bros. Melee, there are unlockable characters and The Gamer Haven found out a couple to show you all. The first of which is Ness, from the SNES game Earthbound, who was also in both of the previous Super Smash Bros. games. Like Lucas, also from Earthbound, he has almost all the same moves but different. Ness can use PK fire, PK thunder, whack people with a bat or yo-yo, or release PK starstorm in which giant blue stars fall from the sky to the field. The second secret character is Marth, from the Fire Emblem series and he also appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Not much has been released on him except that he has awesome sword moves. The last secret character we have for you is Luigi, from the Super Mario series and he has also appeared in both of the previous Super Smash Bros. games. He has moves like his fire punch jump and green missile in which he flies across the field, then goes down. His final smash is the negative zone in which a circle, the color turns a weird green, and anyone who goes in the circle is incappacitated and are sitting ducks for Luigi. There are also 2 new secret stages. The first of which is the Mario Bros. field, from the original arcade game, not to be confused with the platformer SUPER Mario Bros. You can use the monsters that come out of the pipes to throw at other players and it's also much different than other stages because of it being so small. The other new stage is the Green Hill Zone, from the original Sonic the Hedgehog, as is now in full 3D. Some of the middle sections, if hit enough will fallout and also Tails and Knuckles will pass through from time to time. More news to come as the release date of March 9th nears.

Contents of Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Limited Edition

The Limited Edition version of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 for Xbox 360 and PS3 will cost $69.99 and will contain much more than just some concept art. The leaked Limited Edition will have a collectable poker chip key chain, interview with MLG gamer Finest, Tom Clancy's EndWar sneak peek with the full official trailer and hands on look with the Frag Dolls, MLG Insider Videos, a developer's diary, and more. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 will be released on March 18, 2008.

Epic Games now mainly focusing on consoles

Epic Games', Creators of Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 3, CEO is putting less emphasis on PC games and more on consoles. The sales for the PC versions of Gears and Unreal Tournament 3 are not as good as the consoles and it's become much more secondary to them than before.

Vigilante 8 coming to XBLA

Vigilante 8, a classic vehicle warfare game by Activision is coming to Xbox Live Arcade this spring. Activision has promised to add new online play with up to 8 players, improved graphics and more.

Details on Square Enix's "The World Ends With You"

The World Ends With You is a new action RPG for the DS. It is being developed by Square Enix, makers of the Final Fantasy series and Kingdom Hearts series. It is an adventure set in modern day Tokyo with all the latest Japanese trends and utilizes the DS' functionality. It is the story of a 15 year old boy named Neku Sakuraba who awakes in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan. He then gets a text message stating that he will die if he does not do the assigned task in the message. It has modern art style from Tetsuya Nomura, who does art for Final Fantasy. There is also a new battle system special attacks are done with sound and touch commands. There is also minigames and mingling with items and fashions on a local wireless connection. The game is coming out on April 22, 2008 and The Gamer Haven will have the review then.

Lawyer Jack Thompson at it again

Jack Thompson is one of the most famous lawyer to the world of video games for his negative outlook saying that they are bad for the mind and society. Recently Mr. Thompson went on Fox News to exclaim that he believes that the massacre of six student and suicide of the killer himself at Northern Illinois University was due to violence in video games. This is an absurd accusation considering we only know the killers name and that he is a sociology student with no previous criminal record. Obviously he did this for the press, but the reason we here at The Gamer Haven mention his name now is because in later months when we cover Bully: Scholarship Edition, Grand Theft Auto IV, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, and games of the like, he will probably make accusations against them. We just wanted you to have some background info for the coming months of great games. 

Naruto: Ninja Destiny release date announced

Naruto: Ninja Destiny, the new Naruto street fighter style game for the DS, is set to be released on February 26th. The Game's official site is http://www.narutonintendogames.com/ 

Virtua Fighter 5 R announced at AOU in Japan

The Virtua Fighter 5 series is now being continued with the newly announced Vritua Fighter 5 R which promises to have new characters and stages than the original but that's all that has been announced. More news will be posted as it gets released.

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith officially announced

After months of rumors, it's official, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is coming. It is coming out in June on PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. Neversoft will again develop the Xbox 360 and PS3 editions, but this time Vicarious Visions will be developing the Wii version while Budcat will develop the PS2 version. As a treat for hyping up the game, Xbox 360 and PS3 Guitar Hero III owners, can download Aerosmith's hit song "Dream On" for free this weekend (February 16-18).

Top Ten Game Sales for January

Here are the sales for January:

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360, Infinity Ward/Activision)-331,000

2. Wii Play with Wii Remote (Wii, Nintendo)-298,000

3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii, Neversoft/Activision)-240,000

4. Rock Band (Xbox 360, MTV Games and Harmonix/EA)-184,000

5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360, Neversoft/Activision)-183,000

6. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo)-172,000

7. Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360, EA)-144,000 

8. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, Infinity Ward/Activision)-140,000

9. Mario Party DS (DS, Nintendo)-139,000

10. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS, Sega)-133,000

Dark Sector Banned In Australia

Dark Sector crossed the line for Australia having been too much for their mature rating. Apparently it was too violent and the story was too "mature". Luckily USA will be getting it this March

Death Jr.: Root of Evil comes to Wii

Death Jr.: Root of Evil, the second game in the series that was previously released on the PSP, is now coming to Wii this spring. Eidos is taking over as developer even though it's more of a special edition, hopefully there will be new changes, like a new camera and using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck for the scythe and guns. 

Bioware to create a new KOTOR and MMORPG

Bioware, developers of new hit game Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic, is to create an brand new Knights of the Old Republic, which is a great series based in the Star Wars universe based thousands of years before the movies. They are also planning to make a new MMO. Details are scarce, but The Gamer Haven will cover this as more information comes out.

Review: No More Heroes

Suda 51's new highly anticipated Wii game No More Heroes, was released a few weeks ago and The Gamer Haven has the review. Suda 51, best known for their interesting  game Killer 7, has now developed a game about a young man named Travis Touchdown who obtains a beam katana online and decides to become the world best assassin after being ranked number 11 by the United Assassins Association. The game story sounds some what obscure, but so is the game. It uses a battle system much like others but using Wii controls. Although at times it consists of button mashing, it has many different types of attacks and combos that use the Wii Remote and Nunchuck make it a fun experience you also ride a cool bike in an open city of Santa Destroy, California where you do odd job minigames in between assassinations. It's graphics are cell shaded, like Killer 7, and work very well for the game. Overall, this is a good game and The Gamer Haven gives it a 8 out of 10 

EA extends Madden deal with the NFL

Electronic Arts has extended the exclusive deal with the NFL to not allow any other football games besides the Madden franchise to use any NFL teams, players, etc. to 2013. This is a smart move for EA financially, but if they want people buying the games, they will have to step it up. I also want to know what you think, vote on the poll to your left.

Mass Effect Going to PC

Mass Effect, Bioware's best selling Xbox 360 RPG, is now heading to PC's this May. Some new feature include an enhanced interface with customizable controls, optional "Run and Gun" gameplay (hot keys and such) and much more. Now PC owners can get a taste of one of the best RPGs of 2007.

Super Smash Bros. Sales

Nintendo has released sales information from Japan about Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It has broke 1 million copies in only two weeks, making it the best selling Wii game yet. Obviously this proves that it can not be all hype and is a definate buy (for the first North American review check out Nintendo Power Magazine)

Spore Info Released

Spore, Will Wright's, the creator of The Sims, new game in which you create your own world from being a cell to a fulling functioning organism, now has an official release date of September 7, 2008 and is being released on PC, Mac, Nintendo DS and mobile phones. Here's a link to Spore's website. http://www.spore.com/index.php

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog, The Gamer Haven. I want to bring gaming news, previews, reviews, and videos to the community. With the Game Developer Conference coming up next Monday, I promise to bring constant updates to the site. Have fun reading (I'm sorry for the reading part).