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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Majesco is no stranger to great games. From Cooking Mama to Psychonauts to Bloodrayne, they’ve got games on the both sides of the gaming spectrum, but I think the “My Hero” series is the first series of Majesco games to have a focus on those with low self-esteem and high ambitions.

Majesco’s “My Hero” brand is a series of games that focuses on such inspirational jobs as Firefighter, Doctor, and Astronaut. To me, the game sounds like a high brow version of Ubisoft’s Imagine series for the DS, but as always, I’ll reserve my final judgement for the franchise’s release in August for $20. Hit the jump for a gallery of screenshots. Read more…

I’ve made this point at least three times this year, but if all goes as planned, there will be 20 Guitar Hero games in existence at the end of 2009. Yes, twenty. But since RedOctane and Harmonix sold the series after three games, the other 17 seems to have come straight from Activision, even though they’ve only had the series for two and a half years. And now, with every possible sign, save for an outright announcement, proving the existence of Guitar Hero: Van Halen, it’s pretty safe to assume that this game is coming out. Unfortunately.

It’s no secret that I’m not too fond of Activision’s franchise exploiting, but it could definitely be a lot worse- and we can prove it. We here at Ripten dug deep into Activision’s trash and found a lengthy list of ideas that were cut from their lineup, but for the sake of time, we selected the best five, along with their box arts, and posted them after the jump.

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“Huh? Say that again…”

There was always hope Heavenly Sword would give birth to a sequel that was “bigger and better than ever before.” At least that’s what we thought when we received a batch of new concept art from Ninja Theory. Not only were our hopes dashed, but they’ve now been pummeled into believing there will never be a Heavenly Sword sequel.  Nariko is dead. Read more…

The co-founder of Maxis, Jeff Braun, has confirmed that a new Oddworld Game is in development, with the team from Oddworld Inhabitants working on it: Read more…

After two long years since the last Fight Night, Electronic Arts recently announced that EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 4 is in development at EA Canada. Read more…

In a recent showing of their popular PC and Xbox 360 zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead, Valve’s Marketing VP Doug Lombardi let the world know that they weren’t developing a PS3 version of the game. However, he did leave hope that the game could be ported to the PS3.  Read more…

What’s cooler than the cryogenic freezing chamber they’re going to put Stan Lee in after he dies? Stumbling upon the Konami booth and seeing that the NYC Comic Con gets the US premier of Metal Gear Online. That’s what! Read more…

Mario Kart has dropped in Japan, with modest lines waiting to greet the next iteration of go-cart racing at the Shibuya Bic Camera. Supply didn’t seem to be a problem, with several large boxes still waiting to be emptied once the lines had subsided, which meant that everybody walked away happy. Read more…

Many of us have been holding our breath since EA made its initial offer to buy Take-Two, and the company’s comment, stating that they would wait until the release of Grand Theft Auto IV before discussing the offer any further, did very little to ease that sick feeling in our stomachs.

EA, who has been known to tone down the violent content of their games and splurge on in game advertising (as shown above), is set to destroy our beloved Grand Theft Auto franchise. The top secret tech demo showcasing EA’s take on the series is not for the faint of heart. Read more…