Game Downloads

With the news of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition: Colonies Edition going gold, comes some new screens. The Colonies will include the following additions to the game:“Score Attack”, all enemies have points assigned to them and the score awarded will change depending on how they are defeated, with skilled marksmen being rewarded.“Trial Battle Mode” pits players against all of the game’s bosses, one after another.Players of both “Score Attack” and “Trial Battle” modes will be able to compare their skills and compete via the online ranking system.“Off Limit Mode” will allow players to take on Lost Planet’s harsh environments and enemies with super-charged weapons and a powered-up grappling hook.Multiplayer gamers will have 4 new maps, 5 new playable characters, 10 new weapons and 7 new multiplayer modes. Players become poachers as they attempt to steal opponents’ alien Akrid eggs in a number of individual and team play modes, while the addition of “VS Annihilator” mode assigns one robotic Vital Suit to each team, which must be defended at all cost.The game also includes the ability to play as a gigantic marauding Akrid where gamers can turn the tables on the Snow Pirates as they assume the role of one of E.D.N. III’s indigenous creatures in “Akrid Hunting” mode.

I guess to celebrate Rock Band’s launch in Europe this week, fans of the game here in the States will be getting the full-on Eurorock treatment. Other than Blur, Muse, and Oasis have no idea who the rest of these bands are, but I am sure some of it is pretty good.“Beetlebum” - Blur (Cover, 160 MS Points / $2)“Hier Kommt Alex” - Die Toten Hosen (160 MS Points / $2)“Countdown to Insanity” - H-BlockX (160 MS Points / $2)“Perfekte Welle” - Juli (160 MS Points / $2)“Manu Chao” - Les Wampas (160 MS Points / $2)“Hysteria” - Muse (160 MS Points / $2)“Rock N Roll Star” - Oasis (160 MS Points / $2)“New Wave” - Pleymo (160 MS Points / $2)“Monsoon” - Tokio Hotel (160 MS Points / $2)

Sony’s Singstar has never been a franchise were you can rock out and to be honest with you, it never even reaches the drunken bar karaoke level because at least in a bar you can sing a Whitesnake song or two, and maybe even a little Blur. This week, the SingStore has been updated, and like the title of this post says, it is full of more cheese than Wisconsin. And what goes better with cheese than wine? If I were to have to suffer through a bunch of people screeching to these songs, there better be a few bottles of it lying around. Seriously.Avril Lavigne - ComplicatedPeabo Bryson & Roberta Flack - Tonight I Celebrate My Love (OMG!!!)Good Charlotte - I Just Wanna LiveThe Beach Boys - Good VibrationsShocking Blue - Venus (no Bananarama?)Golden Earring - Radar Love (decent)The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You SoHard-Fi - Hard To BeatAvril Lavigne - My Happy EndingErik Faber - Not OverCutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms (anyone else remember dancing to this at the freshman dance in High School?)R.E.M. - Everybody HurtsWilson Phillips - Hold On (someone pop my eardrums quick!)Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You shouldn’t've)?Alphabeat - Fantastic 6The Vines - Get FreeRoy Orbison - Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel)Westlife - Queen Of My HeartThe Hoosiers - Cops N RobbersColdplay - ShiverColdplay - The Scientist (deserves to be on a better list)Duran Duran - The ReflexMoloko - Sing It BackAslan - This Is

EA’s Casual Entertainment Label has announced a new title for the Wii and PS2 with Hasbro Family Game Night. As you might imagine, the game will collect several of Hasbro’s popular board games, including Battleship, Yahtzee, Connect Four, Sorry, Boggle, and the new Sorry Sliders. Up to four people will be able to play the different games together, except for Battleship and Connect Four, which only allows two people max. The game will also feature variations on these classics that mix up the rules a bit. As an added bonus, the whole thing will be hosted by Mr. Potato Head. Of course, for probably about the same price you could search out the actual games contained in this package and probably have a much more enjoyable experience.

Awhile back, a small news bit swept through gaming sites saying that the upcoming South Park Season 11 DVD would contain some tracks for Rock Band. Well now the original source of that story, TVShowsonDVD.com, has learned that the information they were given was false. Paramount contacted them a few days ago to let them know that it wouldn’t be happening. Really, I wouldn’t have been all that surprised if Harmonix has released some new content through the DVD. Downloadable content for Rock band just seems to be popping up everywher ethese days anyway.Via TVShowsonDVD.com

The organizers behind the next Penny Arcade Expo have announced that the convention’s opening keynote will be given by none other than Ken Levine. He is the president and creative director of 2K Boston, but is probably best known for his work on BioShock. In addition to that announcement, it has now been revealed that a number of musical performers will be making appearances as well, including MC Frontalot, mc chris, FreezePop, the MiniBosses, Jonathan Coulton, The OneUps, The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, and Anamanaguchi. The prize for this year’s Omegathon has also been announced as a trip for two to Tokyo, along with a home theater setup and $5,000 in cash. Add to that the fact that the exhibitor hall is completely sold out, and you’re looking at yet another awesome PAX for this year. The show is set to take place on Aug. 29-31 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle. You can check out www.pennyarcadeexpo.com for more details on the upcoming festival.