With Guitar Hero World Tour’s rumored October release date swiftly approaching, that can only mean one thing: we’ll soon be cleared of rumored songs for the high-anticipated game. But until Activision and Neversoft decided to come clean, here we go …

The latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine has revealed a handful of tracks, some of which had previously only been rumored. Songs include Dinosaur Jr’s “Feel the Pain,” Lost Prophets’ “Rooftops,” Nirvana’s “About a Girl,” and The Doors’ “Love Me Two Times.” The OXM article also reveals some in-game venues, including The House of Blues and Amoeba Records.

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In case you missed it, 2K Sports released their first trailer for NHL 2K9 a couple of days ago, and now we’ve got a bevy of screens to go with it. There are 15 images of the PS3/360 version of the game, and 17 from the waggle-enhanced Wii version.

Again, I’m happy to note that 2K’s infamous depth of field filter seems to have been removed from the game — now, there’s a easy focus blur effect that’s much less overzealous and intrusive. In other words, it’s the way it’s supposed to be. Talking of the background, the crowd looks fantastic — fully polygonal and relatively detailed, not that last-gen 2D crap. Here’s hoping their animations aren’t as robotic as most videogame crowds (and that they repeat less).

As for the Wii version, its visual fidelity obviously isn’t up to snuff when compared with the HD iterations, but I have the ability to at least give it the standard commendation: “It looks good…for a Wii game.” More intriguing is the last Wii screenshot, which shows off the interface of a Wiimote/Nunchuk fighting minigame. That actually looks fun — I just hope it works better than Wii Boxing.

Hit up the gallery below to see all the shots. NHL 2K9 will skate over to store shelves for the PS3, 360, Wii, and PS2 on September 8th.

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This day, the Internet has wrought a homebrew hack for the Wii that’ll allow for the playback of DVD movies on an otherwise movie-playback-less console.

We’re all about legal hombrew hacks for Nintendo’s Wii. You know, homebrew Tetris, media players, being able to play all of our Mega Man ROMS instead of actually buying any Virtual Console games. OK, well, we’re not so sure about the legality of that last one …

But here’s one thing we’re not so sure about: playing DVD movies on your Wii. We’ve known that it’s theoretically possible with the hardware, despite the fact that Nintendo chose not to include the functionality out of the box.

So we question: is there anyone out there who really doesn’t already own a DVD player that’s connected to the same television as their Wii? And considering it takes about two minutes to load a movie and you can get a DVD player at Wal-Mart for less than $30, is this really your best option.

Don’t be shy; we won’t poke fun. We do recognize that this opens up the gates for some other great homebrew programs, but we’re not exactly sure what. We think it involves porn.

[Via Gemega]

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Software innovation alert! Hudson Entertainment has announced that it will be bringing My Aquarium — “an all-new, original IP” — to WiiWare.

Yes, it’s a virtual aquarium, where you’ll be able to select from 40 fish and a variety of decorations that’ll make up your watery habitat. Exciting things like glass color, lighting, background design … style of gravel … rocks … yeah. Players can have up to six aquariums, and will be able to send thank set-ups to friends using WiiConnect 24, provided their friends have also spent money on a fake aquarium.

I poke fun, My Aquarium does a few cool features, like connecting to the Wii’s Forecast Channel which will change the conditions of your aquarium. You’ll be able to interact with and feed your fish, but they’ll likely never die, so feel free to sit back and neglect them. It’s true that a number of aquarium software programs are available for Computers and the like, but at least it seems like Hudson are packing the game with features.

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This morning after I was completed making my coffee, I turned on my computer to find out that the Internet exploded in a flurry of Nintendo speculation. The image above was being circulated as Nintendo’s solution to all of our Wii storage woes, or in other words, a hard drive. Unfortunately, CVG has recently confirmed with Nintendo that the device is indeed as silly as it looks:

“We have not announced or revealed any hard drive.” Any hard drive related report is pure “rumour and speculation.”

I did some research on the Internet this day and I found out that hard drives have the propensity to store all kinds of data. These futuristic devices can store documents, MP3s, game saves, photos, and even downloaded games. I then went on Wikipedia and found out that my Xbox 360 has one, so I promptly went back to GameStop and sold my six memory cards.

If this device for the Wii was real, that would mean I would also have to sell back all of these SD cards sitting around in my house. Thank goodness the image was proven false. I would hate to have an option for storage that made sense.

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Who needs a videogame based on a motion picture? Game Informer has just revealed that its next issue will blow the lid off the previously unannounced Eidos-published title, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

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If you’re a fan of the Madden NFL series, there is a slight chance that you already know about the Brett Favre trade this offseason. Aside from making every self-respecting NFL fan cringe at the sight of Favre in a Jets jersey with a roster update, the folks at EA Sports had to do some damage control with their Madden 09 packaging featuring Favre in his old Packers jersey. Currently, EA has a printable copy of the cover featuring the gunslinger in his new uniform available on their website.

For those with less-than-stellar printers, there’s another option available.

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Gamecock goes behind the scenes with Matt Piersall, main audio guy on Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars. Matt speaks about some of his inspirations that helped him come up with the audio for Mushroom Men, and how everything in the game is connected to the music. Matt also talks about Les Claypool’s involvement with the game and you can actually hear one of Les’ song for the game in the first half of the video.

I don’t know about you, but I have a giant craving for Primus right now. I’ve always been a fan of Les’ bass guitar work and the Mushroom Men music (so far) sounds great. It would be great if Gamecock includes a soundtrack CD when the game is released this November. What do you all think of the music?

For more on Mushroom Men Wii, check out my hands-on preview.

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InvenSense, the people responsible for creating the MotionPlus sensor that will soon make the Wii a complete product, have said that as delighted as they’re with the new relationship, it isn’t an exclusive deal.

“Of course we’re incredibly pleased - delighted would probably be a better adjective - that Nintendo approached us… but it’s not an exclusive relationship,” stated InvenSense’s Joe Virginia. “I can’t get into details about other folks that are interested in this technology, but as you might imagine of course there is more interest out there.”

Virginia was also quick to point out what his company’s new add-on will do for Wii development: “With six degrees of freedom you can basically make any movement at all, and be able to track that in combination with the sensor bar and other sensors included in the Wii remote. Add the gyroscope ability and you’ve the capability to work in all three dimensions of space.”

So, will Microsoft be courting InvenSense to add some depth to its mystical, fabled motion controller? Will Sony develop yet another piece of hardware to give us a DepthAxiShock 3? Who knows, or even cares?

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The first time I played Fatal Frame, I was at a friend’s house, having no idea what to expect. I knew it would be scary, sure, but since I had played my share of Silent Hill and Resident Evil, I figured I’d be just fine. That’s, until I dropped the controller in fright the first time I saw a ghost. Even worse, it happened multiple times. That’s a good way to sum up Fatal Frame — completely unnerving.

Three new videos have just debuted for Fatal Frame IV, and they look to be upholding the standard of nudging players one step closer to being unable to fall asleep without a nightlight.

Get on with that North American release date, Tecmo!

[Thanks, Adam]

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