Is that headline a bit critical of Band Hero? No. Is that headline very critical of Band Hero? Absolutely.

The demo for Band Hero hit the Xbox Live Marketplace a few hours ago, and though it’s getting rather mixed impressions, through and through, Band Hero is a family game, with family songs, targeted at a family market. Of course, with artists such as Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, and Jesse McCartney heading up the set list, you didn’t need me to tell you that.

But that’s not to say the setlist is a stinker; In fact, I really like it. Obvious mainstream appeal aside, songs like “Black Horse And Cherry Tree”, “Let’s Dance”, and “Kung-Fu Fighting” make me want to at least give the game a try, when it comes out Nov. 3rd. If this seems like your type of thing, or you’re just looking to quench your music game, button-mashing thirst, hit up XBLM and download the 3-song demo now.

Music game and/or U2 fans Rejoice! According to USA Today, Bono and Co. want in on this Magnificent music game business, and they want to do it the Harmonix way.

“We definitely would like to be in there, but we felt some of the compromises weren’t what we wanted,” bassist Adam Clayton tells USA TODAY’s Edna Gundersen. “That could change. I love the idea that that’s where people are getting music, and we’d love to be in that world. We’ll figure something out. What The Beatles have done, where the animation is much more representative of them, is what we’re interested in, rather than the one-size-fits-all animation. We didn’t want to be caricatured.”

I’ve been rather pleased with Harmonix’s track record, but I have no Desire for a U2: Rock Band. That would get Out Of Control quickly. I have no doubt that Harmonix could do it, but it’s a question of whether or not that’s a Bad idea. It would surely start an Unforgettable Fire in the heart of every music fan, but it’s clear this isn’t coming Tomorrow, or even this October, so we still have to hear from Harmonix on the matter. If we’re lucky, HMX will have too much Pride to take this on, but with them at the helm, Rock Band: U2 could be Even Better Than The Real Thing.

I think I went a bit crazy with the puns here. But I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight.

A new teaser for Max Payne 3 was supposedly leaked today, and although it contains some incorrect information (the game was already delayed to 2010, so it’s not coming in winter of 2009) the teaser is looking incredible.

I can’t say the same for Mr. Payne, however. He could really use a shave and a clean shirt. Perhaps even a bald wig. I knew this one kid who was bald. Not because of a genetic disorder or a sickness, though, it was by choice. He looked hilarious wearing a wig. One day he wore an afro to school just to mess with everybody. I think his name was Derrick. Maybe it was David. I don’t know. What ever happened to that kid?

I forgot what I was talking about. Max Payne 3? Bullet-time? Have I already made a “hammer time!” joke? Okay, well let’s just throw one of those in here and call it a day.

We here at Ripten enjoy games quite a bit. (Well, some of us. The jury’s still out on that shifty Naylor character.) In fact, one of our highest-rated games of 2007 was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. All things considered, you can see why we’re really excited for Infinity Ward & Activision’s latest foray into the Call of Duty series, Modern Warfare 2, and this trailer does nothing to satiate our hunger.

The trailer, titled Infamy, is the newest trailer for Modern Warfare 2, and it’s amazing. No spoilers, but there’s a rather large reveal at the end of the trailer, and I have no doubt that it’s making a lot of people excited. Maybe this is just me, but does this trailer make anyone else wish that there was a Call of Duty movie? Yes?

Good.

I got rid of my PSP a while ago because the library was pretty lackluster, and even though it’s expanding more with the inclusion of the PSPgo, I don’t really care for the system. But that’s not to say I’m excited to see how LittleBigPlanet for the PSP turns out. I guess I’ll be able to find out November 17th, when the game hits stateside.

We haven’t heard much about the game since it was announced in February, but it’s shaping up to be a rather solid PSP title. Sony didn’t add multiplayer, but they have promised DLC and the inclusion of British humorist, Stephen Fry, which frankly, is good enough for me. How many of you are planning to pick up the game?

Before you get all excited over Cooking Mama’s new M-rated murderous approach, I’ll have to tell you that the “Chop” in its title has nothing to do with killing, as it would suggest. However, if you’re willing to substitute limbs for vegetables, you can enjoy Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop just as much.

The third title in the Cooking Mama series has you cooking food with Mama, but also shopping for the food you’ll end up cooking. It doesn’t seem at all like the previous titles in the series to me, but that could be due to the fact that the game has a bunch of new recipes & methods of cooking, and a lot more mini-games than the previous games. Actually, if I can recall, the previous two had, uh, none.

Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop hits the DS this October for $30. Hit the jump for the full press release.
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In an age where social networking and word economy reign supreme, it’s hard to find a rumor that didn’t originate or spread through Twitter. Geoff Keighley, host of Spike’s GameTrailers TV, knows this, and recently took to his Twitter to stir the rumor mill regarding a brand new LucasArts IP to be announced on GTTV this weekend.

“LucasArts will announce a brand-new original game on this week’s GTTV – with first footage. More details soon.” tweets Keighley. Keighley, you’re such a tease! Come on, give us more than that. A name, a genre, a platform- I’ll even accept a 32 x 18 screenshot! But until Thursday, when GTTV airs (at 12:30AM) I’ll just pray that you were lying about it being original. I just want a new Grim Fandango, LucasArts.

Bad news for anyone who was a fan of TESIV: Oblivion or TESIII: Morrowind (or should I say, anyone who playes TESIV: Oblivion or TESIII: Morrowind)- Bethesda says they have made no plans for a fifth game in the series.

At QuakeCon 09, a fan asked Bethesda’s Todd Howard if their future plans included a fifth Elder Scrolls game. But rather than give a flat out “Not gonna happen” and destroy the hopes of millions, Howard simply gave the standard “we have no plans for that game at this time” answer, which, unsurprisingly, still crushes the hopes of millions.

A second fan asked if there were any plans for an Elder Scrolls MMO as rumored, and Howard said “There’s always a chance.” For those of you not as skilled in the art of PR talk, that’s practically a “Hell yeah, its coming!”

[via Destructoid]

So for the past week & a half, we’ve been holding a contest over on Twitter to give away an Xbox 360 andBut  a copy of Sacred 2. Plenty of you entered, but to my dismay, only one of you guys can win. I wish I could give everyone that entered an Xbox 360, but if I could do that, I probably wouldn’t be writing for Ripten, and I’d probably have a trail of cops behind me trying to recorder the 100-odd Xboxes that suddenly went missing from my local game store. But enough of my rambling, the winner of the Sacred 2/Xbox 360 contest is…

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September 9th is approaching quickly, and my rush to gather $250 for The Beatles: Rock Band is becoming a lot more difficult, but I’m starting to realize that it’s going to be worth the work.

Today, Harmonix added another trailer to the pre-order club site that is only accessible for people that pre-ordered the game, and the trailer reveals a bunch of new tracks from the Fab Four, including (but not limited to) Revolution, Paperback Writer, and Twist & Shout. But there are a lot more songs than the ones featured in the trailer being revealed soon.

Tomorrow, when all of the previews for the game go online, many new tracks will be revealed, and you can see the list of songs being revealed after the jump. Above is the trailer, so leave your thoughts on it in the comments!

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The console versions of Sacred 2 came out about two months ago, and while it’s recieved pretty decent reviews, a lot of people haven’t played it, or just didn’t have the chance to. Maybe you couldn’t afford the game’s $60 price tag. That’s understandable. Maybe you just don’t have a console to play it on. That’s also understandable, too. But we here at Ripten aim to remedy both of those situations, by giving away an Xbox 360, a copy of Sacred 2, and some swag for it!

Hit the jump to see how you can get your hands on this prize.

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It’s been almost 3 years since the last Star Fox game was released for the DS, and while it was good, Nintendo’s left the series’ fans clamoring for more. Since we haven’t heard anything about a new Star Fox game, we’re led to assume that Nintendo’s not focusing on it for now, but I don’t plan to lose any sleep over that since the team behind a new fan-created Star Fox game, Shadows of Lylat, seem to be doing a better job of continuing the series than Nintendo undoubtedly would’ve done.

Based on the FreeSpace Open game engine, Shadows of Lylat is a high-definition game with a story that takes place between Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Adventures, but it’s not going to be a straight arcade shooter like Star Fox. The creators describe it as more of a simulation shooter, but the trailers give a much better sense of what kind of game it’s going to be. There’s no guaranteed release date for the game yet, but when it’s out, you’ll be able to get it for Windows, OS X, and Linux.

Hit the jump for the second Shadows of Lylat trailer, yo. [Shadows of Lylat]
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As an African-American male in today’s society, it absolutely pains me to see racism become so pervasive in video games. Sure, I’ll shoot the black zombies in Resident Evil 5, and I’ll absolutely love doing it, but behind these hazel brown eyes, a little black man (with a tiny hat, even) inside me cries- which is why it’s absolutely APPALLING to see Left 4 Dead 2 follow RE5’s pattern and include some black zombies.

Despicable!
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While some might not consider this an actual story worth reporting, others might consider it the scoop of the century. Of course, those others are the same fiends that’ll buy whatever rubbish Activision pumps out, but still, this is the first I’ve seen of any Band Hero art or logo. Today, I went to my local GameStop to put five bucks down on Scribblenauts & Professor Layton & The Diabolical Box, and when I get there, of course I see nothing other than a bunch of colorful displays for Band Hero, a game Activision announced back in May and then, well, never mentioned again.

I expected it to be a bright & cheery logo, after hearing that the game would be the first kid-centric E10+ game in the Hero franchise, but I didn’t expect it to be so flamboyant. If you look closely, you’ll even see the multicolored outline around the Band Hero font. Luckily, there’s more to this post than gaudy logos- the displays confirm that the game will be coming to the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, just in case we weren’t sure. Anyone that pre-orders at GameStop will also get a code for two free songs in the game.

Whoooo. Hit the jump for the second image.
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Yesterday, we brought you an unboxing video of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition, courtesy of Infinity Ward community manager fourzerotwo. The Prestige Edition was fully packed, with an art book, a copy of the game, a download code for COD Classic on XBLA and/or PSN, and a pair of night vision goggles. Ridiculous, right? Of course, with the inclusion of night vision goggles, everyone assumed this bundle would skyrocket into the $300 range easily, but fourzerotwo & Infinity Ward announced today on Twitter the actual price at $149.99 for both PS3 & Xbox 360 versions.

While I’m glad it’s not two kajillion dollars like our in-house analyst had predicted, $149 is still a lot to pay for a game bundle. I’ll probably be picking it up, provided I have the cash in November when it’s released, but that’s because I can think of 149 different uses for the goggles. What about you guys? Is anyone willing to plunk down a Benjamin and a Grant* on the full Prestige Edition, or will you just go for the $60 regular edition/$80 Hardened Edition?

*I promise, I’ll stop talking in dead presidents… eventually.

You know, for a cancelled game, we keep seeing more and more of Duke Nukem Forever. And in the weirdest places, too- first, someone leaked footage of the game on YouTube back in May, and now we’ve got two more screenshots courtesy of the Duke Nukem Forever fan page on Facebook.

The screen shots don’t show much we haven’t seen before- a giant boar with disgusting abs and a bunch of spikes in his back wading through the water as a giant wormhole forms behind him in the sky. You know. Whatever. Same old song and dance. It is a bit disheartening though- to see a game that went through a 12 year development cycle, only to be canceled. You can see the second image after the jump.

[via destructoid]

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While Americans have been clamoring for Club Nintendo’s prizes to come to our fair country for a while now, only now has Nintendo followed through and given us some prizes for our years of Nintendo fanship. And boy was it worth the wait. If you have enough “Nintendo Coins” to be considered a gold membership (6 games registered, 300 coins), you’ll be able to download a snazzy Club Nintendo 2010 calendar. However, if you’re determined enough to be a Platinum member (12 games registered, 600 coins), then you’ll be elligible to choose between two prizes- an authentic repica Mario hat, which you can see after the jump, or a WiiWare download for Doc Louis’s Punch-Out!!

While I’d be plenty happy with the cool hat, the WiiWare version of Doc Louis’s Punch-Out!! seems way more interesting. A one-on-one WiiWare version of Punch-Out!! that only features Doc Louis sounds great, especially since you don’t have to own Punch-Out!! for the Wii to play it. I’ve always wanted to fight that guy. He keeps offering me some of his chocolate bar, but I never get to taste hte sweet chocolately goodness. Well now it’s just you & me in the ring, Doc. Winner takes all- provided I get enough Nintendo coins.

That chocolate bar is mine.

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In a short four weeks after its release, Battlefield Heroes has managed to get one million players, which isn’t surprising, considering the positive impressions of the game during the beta. EA & DICE’s stylistic Battlefield sequel is also free, which I can only assume helped to entice said one million players.

If you still haven’t signed up for the game, you should probably go do so now- maybe you can be a part of the second million. We got a chance to play the game during the beta, and even with its numerous delays, it was a lot of fun. The game’s multi-player only, so don’t count on a gripping story line or emotionally connected characters- but if you’re all about blowing stuff up and shooting foreigners, this is so the game for you.

Violence and video games is a topic almost as old as time itself, and we’re all getting tired of hearing people discuss whether or not violent video games are a stimulant for violence & aggression. While the entire gaming community will probably answer that query with a resounding, unanimous “NO”, many analysts and therapists alike disagree. The comedic, critical duo of Penn & Teller recently tackled this topic in the latest episode of Showtime’s Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, and the outcomes of the so-called “investigation” might surprise you.

The first part of the episode is embedded above, courtesy of Kotaku, and the second & third parts are embedded after the jump. Everyone’s favorite Floridian makes an appearance in the episode, but unfortunately, they made him out to some sort of game-hating misanthrope, rather than the forthright, but misguided man he seemed to be when I heard him speak at SGC last week. While I enjoyed the episode, and thought they made a lot of good points, I could’ve done without the crying kid at the end. Luckily, no one at his age probably watches or even gets Showtime, or the kid would be teased for life.
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There have been rumors abound about some sort of Ghostbusters content in LittleBigPlanet ever since the jerks over at the Playstation.blog started tugging at our heart strings and teasing potential Ghostbusters content in the game. While I don’t actually own LittleBigPlanet (or for that matter, a Playstation 3) I’ve been waiting to see what Media Molecule and Sony have been holding back in the game. Today, the Playstation.blog finally revealed what we knew the entire time- that Ghostbusters costumes were indeed coming to LittleBigPlanet.

Some of you will be disappointed to learn that there aren’t any special levels or packs with this DLC, other than the costumes themselves. You can grab each costume individually for $1.99 off of the Playstation Network, or if bundlin’ makes you feel good, you can go for the full 4-pack of costumes for $5.99, and save yourself a Jefferson.

[via Destructoid]