Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm

Not to take away from the status of British rockers The Answer, but we’d say the newest band to attach its name to Guitar Hero IV has just a tiny bit more street cred (we’re talking, like, 5-6 inches more combined hair). While being interviewed on Rockline Radio, Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen apparently confirmed that at least three of the band’s top singles will be included in the next Guitar Hero installment not subtitled ‘Aerosmith,’ reports Guitar Hero News. Collen named:

• “Photograph”
• “Rock of Ages”
• “Animal”

Unfortunately, Rockline will delay the replay of the interview until after Def Leppard’s new album releases on April 29th. “We strongly recommend that you listen to the show live,” reads a posting on the Rockline website. (Aw, thanks — we’ll be sure to add your show to our presets…) So, anyone catch the live broadcast?

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Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

We’re sure you saw the delightful cross-platform mash-up that put everyone’s favorite Spartan smack dab in the middle of PS3 shooter Unreal Tournament 3. While we got a kick of it, we couldn’t help but wonder how Uncle Bill and his army of lawyers felt. According to one of those legal eagles, MS thinks that it’s the bee’s knees.

Here it is straight from the source: “The developers aren’t selling the mod, they’re not monetizing Microsoft’s IP, they’re just creating something to share their love of the Master Chief on a new platform. It’s a great thing for us and a great thing for the gaming community.” Apparently, we’ve got the Game Content Usage Rules to thank. Now … do those apply to G.I. Joe?

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

Forget what Ubisoft announced yesterday about Haze clearing for a May 22 release; now the game’s release is back to the full month of May. It’s become so convoluted that we can’t keep Haze’s release date saga straight anymore, but at least there are firm answers about the game’s PS3 exclusivity … oh, wait.

We’re starting to wonder if the marketing department at Ubisoft isn’t on its own form of Nectar (the psychotropic drug in Haze). It really shouldn’t be this hard to craft a message on one game’s release date and exclusivity.

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Ever since the announcement of Ninja Gaiden II’s June 3rd release, we’ve become increasingly annoyed with the months of April and May. As is the case with those insolent, slow-moving people who bunch up in front of you at the supermarket, we really just want to ram them out of the way so that we may fill our cart to the brim with candy as quickly as possible. Having turned around and spotted our menacing glares, May has at least shown some decency by offering us a sampler — a Ninja Gaiden II demo to be precise (and free of rambling allegories).

According to Microsoft’s Ninja Gaiden II website, those eager to decapitate demons, mangle monsters and otherwise alliteratively assault archfiends can expect to download a demon-stration from Xbox Live Marketplace in May. The page also advises to look for “exclusive” content from April 15th, no doubt referring to things like gamerpics, themes and videos pretending to be demos. Wait, we’re not falling for that one again, are we?
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Here’s a bit of history for you folks: John Madden has had his name on EA-developed football games since the Reagan era. The first was John Madden Football, which came out for the C64 and Apple II on June 1, 1988 (it was also later released for the Genesis). The most recent was Madden NFL 08, which was released on August 14, 2007. Now, EA has come full-circle: they’ll be putting out a 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition of Madden NFL 09. And why not? Premium-priced special editions have become all the rage these days.

The Collector’s Edition will be available alongside the no-frills version of Madden NFL 09; both will launch on the same day, August 12th. But for your $89.99, you’ll actually be getting two full games: the Collector’s Edition will include full versions of Madden NFL 09 and NFL Head Coach 09, in addition to “exclusive classic Madden NFL gameplay, and an extensive library of exclusive bonus video content”.

There’s some rather curious phrasing in the press release that caught my eye (see for yourself after the jump). Towards the end, it says the following:

NFL Head Coach 09 is scheduled to ship only as a part of the Madden NFL 09 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, which, at a suggested retail price of $89.99 for the complete package of Madden NFL 09 and NFL Head Coach 09 plus additional exclusive bonus content, will ship on the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION®3.

So if I’m interpreting that correctly, you won’t be able to buy NFL Head Coach 09 by itself? That seemed a bit strange — until I realized that it’s genius on EA’s part. Think about it: NFL Head Coach 09 isn’t likely to sell all that well by itself, especially when you consider the first effort on the PS2, NFL Head Coach. But bundling it with the Collector’s Edition ensures that the total package will easily sell a few hundred thousand copies. Will you be picking it up?

 

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This is it, folks: the final trailer for Rockstar’s upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV. After this there is only waiting to look forward to until the game hits shelves on April 29.

What do I think, you ask? Well, I think it looks great. I love the scope of all the action. I love the voice acting. I love the polish. I love the rain. Most importantly, though, I love the way it all feels like GTA, just a lot shinier.

But my humble opinion doesn’t matter. What do you all think? Are you more excited than ever? Is this enough of a final tease to get you through this last agonizing month?

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Apparently somebody pulled one Hell of an April Fool’s prank on those guys at Epic, and convinced them that Christmas has been moved to that latter part of March. How else can we explain the love that’s been raining down on us from above recently, in the form of Unreal Tournament III updates?

Just last week, we were treated to a patch, that among other things, fixed some sound issues, and made it a heck of a lot easier to download mods for the game via the PS3. Sign in today, and you’ll find yet another update, but this time of Epic proportions — 3 new maps: Morbias, Facing Worlds, and Searchlight. Longtime fans are sure to recognize the first two, while Searchlight is new in town, and made especially for those who like to go for rounds of capture the flag gameplay. Best of all, they are all free for the taking. Take that, microtransactions!

The maps are available for PC users as well, and can be found here. For those of you who wish to join us online, Destructoid’s own MrSadistic and Sadie are more than willing to welcome challengers and help them cultivate some of that personal humility that some would say is missing in today’s youth. Rumor has it that at least one them has a penchant for "shooting you in the face," so be careful. Who knows? Playing as Master Chief  just might help turn the tide in your favor. Brace yourselves, as we’ll be waiting for you to show up at the next PS3 slaughterhouse meeting.

Catch the press release, after the jump.

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As most of you already know, Grand Theft Auto IV will be released on April 29. Although its launch will undoubtedly be huge in and of itself, Rockstar Games is going even further by unleashing a new Web site called the Rockstar Social Club on the very same day.

In addition to having leaderboards that follow your various in-game statistics, performance-based competitions and awards will also appear on the site. You’ll be able to register using your gamertag or PSN ID as early as April 15, so that way we don’t all sign up on GTA IV’s release day and bring down the servers.

Specific details on some of the different challenges we’ll see on the Rockstar Social Club can be found after the break.

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Scores of PlayStation 2 owners will vouch for how much joy the SOCOM games have brought to their console over the years (present company included), so it’s not exactly surprising that interest in the next game, SOCOM Confrontation, has been relatively high. One thing that has eluded us all so far, is a solid release date. Thanks to the guys over at 1UP, we now know that we can expect to see the game in stores on September 16th.

Eager to capitalize on the momentum of the fans, Sony has unveiled SOCOM.com, the community site for all all things SOCOM. At the moment, the site is still very much in its pre-release stage, but once that street date comes to pass, fans can look forward to a fully integrated version that offers up the usual fare: stats, clan management goodies, stats, and more stats.

SOCOM II was at one time, the hottest commodity online. The competition is a lot stiffer now, with several guys bringing their "A" game to the table. Will Slant Six be able to help the SOCOM name reclaim its former glory, or will it  find itself lost in the shuffle and overshadowed by Zipper Interactive’s own eventual full-versioned SOCOM release on the PS3? Time will tell.

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Hey, remember that casual game for the Wii? The one with all the sports in it that was being published by Hudson Entertainment, of Bomberman Live fame? You know, the one whose name you helped pick? Well, the game was officially announced as Deca Sports at the outset of 2008, but mum’s been the word since then.

Now, we’ve finally got some game footage in the form of a two-minute trailer, which you can view above. Deca Sports will have quite the array of games from around the world: beach volleyball, “snowboard cross”, badminton, basketball, curling, figure skating, archery, “super cross” (motocross), soccer, and kart racing. It will probably also have you wildly flailing your arms like a fool in the comfort of your living room. And while we’re here, I’d like to quote one of our dedicated tipsters, Jonathan Ross: “I want to stab whoever wrote the song.” I agree, buddy…I agree.

While the trailer evokes those happy-go-lucky images of a Wii game being played by kids and grownups alike — images we’re all familiar with from Nintendo’s own ad campaigns — the variety of sports is obviously a trump card for Hudson. However, there’s a considerable danger that the developers will overextend themselves. It’s hard enough to make a game based on one sport; if Hudson can pull off a ten-sport video game, they’ll certainly have my respect — and possibly a good amount of sales as well.

Deca Sports will hit store shelves on May 20th.

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