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.

Destructoid have noticed this post on NeoGaf detailing a leaked document from SEGA. The document was leaked and includes a lot of goodies. The biggest piece of gossip is that “SCEA wants to sell all PS2 titles on PSN (GTA Vice City/Sonic/etc)”. Similarly, “If [SEGA] provide a list of DC (Dreamcast) titles SCEA will let us know which ones they’re interested in having exclusively.”

Yes, you may now say “wow, I hope this is real”. Journalist Jim Sterling notes that he “tried the download link and it certainly comes from Sega’s own PR site,” so this could be legit. I certainly hope so. Go to the links to see the full list, or hit the jump. Your choice.

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It has transpired that Uncharted 2 will include support for Twitter updates. Players can input their account details and have the game automatically update their feed when the player connects to multiplayer, completes a chapter, earns a Trophy, or reaches a level milestone.

Of course, this will be a complete annoyance for everyone involved, except perhaps the PR department at Naughty Dog. Not to mention that in about a year when Twitter stops being the popular thing to do, this feature will look even more ridiculous. Hey, why not have a feature to write a Livejournal or update your MySpace page?

Via ConsoleMonster

According to the Google translation of a Belgian gaming website 9 Lives, the king of pop (should that be capitalized?) has a new game coming out in the near future. Read more…

Harmonix and PDP have announced that they will be shipping a kick pedal and double bass pedal adaptor pack for $24.99. The pedal is compatible with all iterations of Rock Band (every console), as well as Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero: World Tour.

This is great for those who are either really good at the drums, or those who like to be frustrated by even greater difficulty. It’s a good deal considering that you might have had to shell out for a new drum kit to play the Expert+ mode in GH:Metallica. Oh, and don’t forget, folks, Guitar Hero:Metallica has the Zungre Seal of Approval™.

Sure, we already knew it was coming thanks to the leaked cover of May’s Nintendo Power, but today Konami sent out the press release for the newest Silent Hill game- the first for the Wii- Shattered Memories.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories seems to be more centered on puzzles this time around, as according to Destructoid, it has absolutely no combat. Nope- you just run away from enemies. On the plus side, it won’t have any load times. On the “I don’t know if this is good, bad, or just really stupid” side, the Wiimote will act as a cell phone anytime you get a call.

I’m sure this will excite many fans of the horror genre, or even just the Silent Hill franchise, but as Ripten’s resident scaredy cat (I still jump whenever I find the flashlight in the Highlights magazine search) I will staying far away from this game. Have fun with that game guys, I’ll be over here in the corner watching Noddy’s Toyland Adventure reruns. Hit the jump for the press release.
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The Playstation blog announced today that High Impact Games are in the process of developing a brand new Jak and Daxter game for the PS2 and PSP. Called ‘Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier’, the game takes the player to “the edge of the world.” There you’ll fight “air pirates and sinister creatures in [your] quest to find a cure for the world’s eco shortage”. The game will release later this year.

I’m going to go ahead and assume the screenshots given are from the PSP version- even the first Jak and Daxter game looked better than that on the PS2. The developers are the ones behind the well-recieved Secret Agent Clank, so I expect this to at least be a decent PSP platformer, and probably a mediocre PS2 one.

Video Games Blogger reports that Sony Computer Entertainment Benelux (In case you don’t know, that’s Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) have put put a release list for the first quarter of 2009. The list shows that Wipeout Pulse (originally a PSP game) is being released on PS2, and that Flower and Fat Princess are releasing in February and March respectively.

For PSP fans, Patapon 2 is releasing on the 13th of February, and Resistance Retribution is set for a March release. Personally, I’m most looking forward to Fat Princess. It looks like a cross between Team Fortress 2 and Animal Crossing. See the full release list after the jump.

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Today, Eidos Interactive revealed the first gameplay footage, as well as some screenshots for the PS3/Xbox 360 versions of Tomb Raider: Underworld. They also announced a release date of November 18th of this year for the Xbox 360, PC, PS3, and PS2 versions of the game.

While the trailer is done as if for a movie, it’s great to see some footage of the game in action. I haven’t played a Tomb Raider title in a while, so I’m definitely going to be checking this one out. Plus, she encounters a giant freaking squid. Hit the jump for the gallery of screenshots. Read more…

It was released in Japan last November; now the fourth version of PS2 is coming to Europe and India. That’s according to SCE India country manager Atindriya Bose, who claims it will launch simultaneously in the two regions at some point before this year’s Diwali festival on 28 October. Read more…

User NiTiz over on the N4G forums has posted a very intriguing image showing PS2 titles available from the PSN store. According to NiTiz, his friend at Sony London sent him the image and also told him that the PS2 store will be announced at E3. Read more…