Reasons for “Living”: No Need to Panic
June 30, 2008
Summer is usually a pretty quiet season as far as gaming is concerned. Spring and fall are the hot release periods in the videogame world. However, the PR machines are fired up and busily planting the seeds of need in the fertile soil that is the nerd brain. Examples follow:
- A truly impressive blitz of news from Harmonix regarding Rock Band 2, well timed to counter the Guitar Hero: “Insert Subtitle Here” press bonanza of the past week, has put my fears regarding EA’s usual evil influence to rest. I do think that RB2, scheduled worldwide for a September release, may be a tad premature, but it’s hard to argue with a massive 120 track list. Full backwards compatibility with existing peripherals and RB1 DLC equals a huge sigh of relief from the player community. There’s also good news in that they’re not neglecting the weekly DLC releases: a best of The Who compilation will be released on July 15. Undoubtedly more bands will be announced at this year’s E3, but there are already rumours that AC/DC will finally put in a Rockband appearance.
- Finally, Xbox Live brings back the board game bounty with Ticket to Ride. It kind of snuck up on me and after Mel and I played a few games we find it’s more than worth the 800 MS points. A 2 player match takes much longer to play than a game of Carcassone but it’s engrossing all the same.
- Speaking of boardgames, one of my favourite blasts from the past is getting a XBLA (hell, it’s going to be on pretty much every platform) makeover: Games Workshop’s Blood Bowl. Unlike GW’s tabletop version, the cost barrier to field teams of Elves, Orcs, Humans, Lizardmen, Dwarves and more will be negligible. Thankfully, they’re incorporating both RTS and turn-based gameplay modes.
Written by kingmob | Filed under: Reasons for "Living", Rockband, Xbox Live |