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Guitar Hero 1 made big business. Guitar Hero 2 made bigger business and became a phenomenon. Due to the success of the first two, Activision decided to release a stand-alone themed Guitar Hero. After some deliberation, it was decided they would release Rocks the 80’s including tunes from my favorite decade. Included in that decade is my favorite type of music which is well represented: hair rock. Long hair, lipstick, blistering guitar solos and high pitched screams. Quite possibly the decade that most had in mind when they first or saw or heard about Guitar Hero. The Red Octane team was taking a chance on a smaller setlist but possibly paving the way for future themed releases. I am happy to say that the effort is a great step in the right direction but not one without bumps in the road.

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Promotional games have come and gone. Typically they involve some movie or tv show, kid or blockbuster related. Once in a while, they center on food such as the M&M’s game for Playstation 1 or perhaps the 2 or 3 McDonalds games. Burger King decided that their king character which was a cartoon character onto himself deserved not one video game about him but three. Better also make that for one of the top systems today. The XBOX 360. What will we charge, just $3.99 with a value me…

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I knew that when they announced Guitar Hero 2 many moons ago, I would be running not walking to my local EB Games and procuring the game ahead of time. I mean what was there to not love about the first one, hard rocking music, every air guitarist’s dream and addictive gameplay. I am happy to report that the second is more of the same; there are new songs, new levels of difficulty, and the same great gameplay albeit with a few new quirks. However, don’t let that little flaw deter…

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Happiness can be found inside a comic book. For years, especially in my youth, I would pick up copies of Daredevil, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and more to be fascinated by the intriguing story lines and the wonderful art. Sure there was comic book based games when I was younger but most of them weren’t good enough to use as toilet paper nevertheless a coherent video game. That started to change as time went on especially once they started to add RPG elements to the game…

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I am a huge fan of the Evil Dead series. The perfect blend of movie style with a steady dose of horror and more than plentiful slapstick humor. The main character; Ash voiced by Bruce Campbell has to be one of the top ten heroes of all time as the witty boomstick shooting, chainsaw waving good guy. I had not played any of the previous Evil Dead games for Playstation or other systems, but however I was automatically sold when I saw this title in the Circuit City c…

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Baseball, a sport that is near and dear to my heart. I played it from age 7 to age 16. I never was quite that good; I had a lot of natural talent and I did hustle; however I never worked at the gifts I was given enough to take myself to the next level. So, me like many have resorted to the crass style of playing games that emulate something we wish we were. To be honest, I sat on this review a long time, not the game itself; I’ve been playing it quite frequently. But the review, …

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Since nobody really plays Playstation portable games (at least nobody that will admit it), Rockstar finally did the smart thing and ported the best selling PSP game ever to the Playstation 2 console. I am happy to report that Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is here, for the PS2 in all of its greatness with a budget price tag. As one would expect, it has all of the great replayability one would expect from a GTA game, however it has the graphics one would expect from a PSP port too. The …

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The Driver series has had a pretty interesting history to date. The first two games were very impressive driving sims for the original playstation and showed a lot of potential. However, when it came to the playstation 2 and subsequent nex-gen consoles, Driver 3 (or Driv3r) took a bold step. The step to become the first real Grand Theft Auto clone. However, it was best described as a failure. Plagued by bugs, collision detection and just general bad gameplay, most feared that would be the end…

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Special Editions are nothing new to dvds, they are good ways to make the perspective consumer take that “double dip” and buy something more than once. However, when it comes to video games, this is a rare occurrence. However, with the advancement of technology and games using the cd/dvd format, the opportunity is there to make games with special content. Not to mention with games being released two or three times due to the platinum/greatest hits moniker, it is a great chance to lure people lik…

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Scene in EB Games/Gamestop: wow, Rampage: Total Destruction for $20; didn’t I play that game when I was a kid at the arcade or on my NES? Yes, yes you did. And for the record it hasn’t changed much. Rampage has made its PS2 return and hundreds (or at least dozens) are anxious for George, Lizzie & Ralph to start punching buildings again. To this game’s credit, they get something pretty decent to fill the bill. In addition, even if the main game doesn’t provide enough umph, the bonus material will certainly take …

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Traditionally, I don’t get into peripheral type games. You know the ones, dance your life away with the dance pad, or here is a huge $200 controller – go play a tank game. It’s a gimmick, to get us to buy something extra that we will never use for another game (unless a sequel is produced). More often than not, these peripherals break, and then you can’t even play the game anymore. Well I am happy to report, I have found a set that is the best hands down. Better than Karaoke Revolution, better than Dance Dance R…

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With all of the grand first person shooters out there like Halo, Doom, Quake, & Unreal, many titles of the same genre tend to fall into a void. Titles like Po’ed, the Medal of Honor series & Blake Stone (yes I said it, Blake “I am a Wolf 3d clone” Stone!) tend to fall by the waste side. Another of those titles is XIII. Brilliant in concept, and gorgeous graphics make this title a must have for anybody who loves FPS (or even third person aficionados).

Based on a French comic book, the concept of the sto…

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ESPN NBA 2k5 is the basketball game for the cool and low priced Sega Sports at a meager $19.99 price point. My copy was purchased for $14.95 in fact at the local Best Buy. By competing with people’s wallets, they have established solid competition with NBA Live 2005 by EA before they even open the box. As shown by well placed titles such as NFL 2k5 & NHL 2k5, one would think Sega Sports would have a fine showing with their basketball title. They have folks, it is a great sports game and debatably the best showing…

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The most popular skateboarding series ever to grace the realm of video games returns with Activation’s yearly installment of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Tony Hawk 4 continues to improve upon last year’s incarnation, tweaking in-game elements, changing the career mode and adding a new multiplayer mode.

Graphics

Tony Hawk 4 provides graphics slightly above last year’s game, but why mess with a good thing? Levels are realistic looking and provide very good texture and solid colors. Skaters look ex…

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K-1 is a nice change from the wrestling and tekken type fighting games. Once you learn the technique and how to pace yourself you will be knocking out opponents in no time, but by that time you really won’t want to play this game much longer either.

Along the lines of UfC and Pride there is another promotion, K-1, which is actually quite different then the other two. K-1 has more rules, and is mostly restricted to one fighting style… kick-boxing. Fighters also wear gloves, and there is no grappling, subm…

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Tenchu 3: Wrath of Heaven continues the adventures of Rikimaru, and his ongoing battle with the evil sorcerer Tenrai, taking place one year after the original Tenchu. This time there is 3 playable characters, Rikimaru along with Ayame, and Tesshu (doctor by day, assassin by night). Fans of the first 2 original Tenchu games have nothing to worry about as developer K2 has improved upon every aspect of the game.

Graphics

Tenchu: Wrath of heaven is a solid looking game. While the grap…

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Gamers looking for a First Person Shooter on the Nintendo GameCube have never had a better game to check out than Metroid Prime–a classic FPS with some of the best visuals seen to date on the console outside of the Resident Evil series.

The story follows a brave warrior by the name of Samus Aran as she infiltrates the depths of Tallon IV in an attempt to uncover a mystery surrounding Phazon and it’s effects on life forms. Using a specially designed battle suit, which is e…

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When I first saw Primal at the last E3 expo, I wasn’t particularly impressed with what I saw. A clunky battle system, jerky movements from the main characters, and visuals which could arguably be called mediocre.

Then Sony sent me a demo version of this game last month and I actually had some fun playing it. Imagine my disappointment when the full version arrived here and the game left me somewhere between boredom and frustration. Indeed, Primal will undoubtedly leave many gamers in the same …

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The year is 2008 and the Soviets are up to their old tricks again. It seems they liked the idea of having an Eastern Europe border nation, and they want to pull all of the entire break away provinces back under the sickle and hammer. Of course, America and her allies cannot let that happen, and just like we stood up for freedom at Kosovo, Serbia, and Kuwait, we will send troops and supplies to the region as a ‘peace keeping’ mission.

This is where players enter the game Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon for t…

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Those players out there that enjoyed the PS2 title Frequency and the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution, now have another dance/music title on the Playstation 2 console to move the beat to. Amplitude from Sony lands this month with a full soundtrack, colorful visuals and varied gameplay.

Players pick up the role of a spaceship as it travels down beams of color and sound. Using the directional buttons or the shoulder buttons results in a beat along an already established piece of music. …

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Looking for a fast racer that has some of the best detailed wild crash sequences? Then look no further than Burnout 2: Point of Impact, out now on the Nintendo GameCube. Anyone who is a fan of the Ridge Racer series of games on the PS2 owes it to themselves to check out Burnout 2 and see what all the talk is about. Detailed cities and tracks, well modeled vehicles, and some great in-game physics when it comes to fast cars slamming into objects and demolishing.

Graphics

Ap…

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Last fall when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City came out for the PS2, gamers got to witness a myriad of gameplay options. Not only could you shoot, beat up, hold up, and run down people virtually everywhere, but another big draw to the game was the fact that you could jack any car, anywhere, and haul ass around town in it.

Now Rockstar Games has recreated the racing parts of the Grand Theft Auto series and added some great extras in Midnight Club II–the sequel to Midnight Club–out …

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