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On this week's episode of Modern Family -- the best new comedy of the year, by the way -- the lovable but clueless Phil laments his wife's inability to give good gifts. After running down a long list of desired items (one of which being a yogurt maker, which is totally practical), he declares "I can't not think of things I want."

We're now in that time of the year where it's easy to find ourselves falling into that mentality. Most of the year's major games have been released, and with all the enthusiastic coverage and discussion surrounding them, it's easy to get game envy. And while it's bordering on trite to say "be thankful for what you have," try not to get caught up in what you don't have. Next week, we're going to be putting up an article or two in the Thanksgiving spirit -- some touchy-feely junk about appreciation and family and sharing things about gaming, because we often forget how important that stuff is.

As my friend Shane Bettenhausen used to say on our 1UP Yours podcast, "it's nice to want things." While that’s completely true, it's pretty nice to have things, too.

On that note, thanks for reading, and thanks for writing in.

*   *   *

Arrow RightI am a 27 year-old and I am working at Whataburger and I hate it. I am asking for your help. I love to play video games and I would like a career in that field, but I can't find anything on that out here in Arizona. So if you could please point me the way on where to get this job so I can stop flipping burgers. -- James M.

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Featured Comment

*appreciates much of the info given*

Grazie!

*too much AC2.... Is beginning to speak Italian*

Posted: 6 minutes ago by Ieyke

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It's time once again for our weekly round-up of downloadable content for all of your favorite music games. This week was a big one for Fab Four fans as the "Complete the Album Pack" for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band hit The Beatles: Rock Band. KISS lovers also felt the downloadable track love this week, thanks to a three-track pack for Guitar Hero 5. Rock Band players looking to fill out their AFI collection can now do so via a hefty pack as well, while Lips users croon some sultry tunes from Colbie Callait.

Music DLC Round-Up -- Week Of September 7

KISS Track Pack

“Modern Day Delilah”
“I Was Made for Loving You”
“Lick It Up"

Price: $5.49/440 Microsoft Points/550 Wii Points for the pack, or $1.99/160 MSP/200 WP per track

Click through to see new tracks for Rock Band, The Beatles: Rock Band, Rock Band Unplugged, DJ Hero, SingStar and Lips.

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Featured Comment

The Guitar Hero Setlist always and forever will be better than Rock Band, Rock Bands songs are pretty fruity for the most part. And no that is not an oppinion. That is a FACT

Posted: 33 minutes ago by HELLFIRE11

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Guitar Hero 5 fans can now rock their painted faces off to some brand new tracks from rock legends, KISS. The new track pack includes three tracks (“Modern Day Delilah,” “I Was Made for Loving You,” and “Lick It Up"), and will set you back  $1.99/160 Microsoft Points/200 Wii Points per track, or $5.49/440 MSP/550 WP for the pack.

While you wait for the black and white paint to dry on your hands, go ahead and check out the new trailer for the track pack to see what kinds of rock-foolery await you:

Guitar Hero 5 Presents KISS Downloadable Songs Trailer »


Featured Comment

@aztec

Is there such a thing as good KISS songs?

Posted: 5 hours 19 mins ago by sdc10

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Kelly ClarksonMTV and Harmonix have been touting the insane-in-the-membrane number of downloadable tracks for their Rock Band games since the launch of Rock Band in 1974, and next week, a milestone will be reached: One-thousand songs will be available for the game. The historic thousandth game is <insert drumroll here>… Kelly Clarkson’s “Miss Independent!”

…Wait, what? Since Rock Band tracks are generally released in groups, this week’s DLC includes the 1,000th song, but there isn’t a specific title given the honor, so we’ve arbitrarily bestowed the 1,000th Song Award to Clarkson’s track. Sure, "Miss Independent" is really a Lego Rock Band track, but since the DLC can be played across games, it counts.

If you prefer, the 1000th song could just as easily be one of the live Tom Petty tracks in the Tom Petty live track pack, a P!nk track or the Go-Go’s “Our Lips Are Sealed"-- but Kelly Clarkson's is our choice, and we're sticking to it.

You'll be able to download all the below tracks on Tuesday for the 360 and Thursday for the PS3:

  • Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed”
  • Kelly Clarkson – “Miss Independent”
  • P!nk – “Who Knew”
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “A Thing About You (live)”
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “American Girl (live)”
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Even the Losers (live)”
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Here Comes My Girl (live)” +
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Mary Jane’s Last Dance (live)”
  • Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee (live)”
Featured Comment

Wow, I was just thinking about Mary Jane's Last Dance yesterday. Some Mastodon would have been better than Kelly though....

Posted: 1 hour 58 mins ago by InHumanMarine

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Ubisoft Not Publishing No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise (Aka No More Heroes HD)

Grasshopper Manufacture made gamers who missed out on the first No More Heroes (or don't own a Wii) happy with the announcement of an upgraded, visually-tweaked No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The original game is going under the high-definition knife and will be released in its native territory in February. There's some bad news, though. Ubisoft confirmed to me it will not be publishing No More Heroes on Xbox 360 and PS3 in the US.

"Ubisoft will not be publishing either of these versions," a company spokesperson told me.

The company did not provide any reasons why they're passing. But just because Ubisoft is passing on the revamped No More Heroes, doesn't mean the HD-enabled versions of Travis Touchdown's first adventure won't show up here, but another publisher will have to step up.

Ubisoft is still behind the franchise, however, as the company will be publishing the sequel on Wii over here. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is scheduled for a January release.

Have something to share? Have a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Featured Comment

Everyone should be able to experience the Travis Touchdown! Its an experience for all those old-school nerd gamers out there!

Posted: 4 hours 3 mins ago by M0dSquad

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Everyone's caught up with the holiday releases, right? No one's fallen behind? We've all finished Dragon Age: Origins and are contemplating a second run as an elf? Lies! All lies! But as the last week stocked with the year's biggest releases finally passes us by, the Feedback crew headed into the studio to discuss the latest news of the industry and both Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassin's Creed II.

 

Feedback -- Assassin's Creed 2 & Left 4 Dead 2 Edition »


 

What you have to look forward to from Adam Sessler, myself, Andrew Pfister and Abbie Heppe:

  • Activision announced big sales numbers for Modern Warfare 2 ($550 million!), the game was reported to have been banned in Russia (but wasn't) and hackers have already showed up and started adding features Infinity Ward decided to take away (can you say...dedicated servers?).
  • Pandemic Studios has officially closed its doors, but the brand and its games live on. What does this mean for the future of Mercenaries and Electronic Arts' overall strategy?
  • Andrew reviewed Assassin's Creed II but Adam's been just as obsessed with Ubisoft's latest sprawling epic, while Abbie and I try to play catch up on what we've missed out on.
  • Valve's zombie horde is back in Left 4 Dead 2, so I used Feedback to help further make the case for why the sequel is justified as something more than just downloadable combat.
  • A reader asks why we play games, especially ones we finish all the way to the end. 

Feedback, munching on the brains of the living before it was trendy. Join the horde and subscribe:

Video:  iTunes | XML   |   Audio:  iTunes | XML

Featured Comment

Abbe does have amazing eyes. Very beautiful.

Posted: 20 minutes ago by classic7

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Nintendo Wii

November isn’t just a time for big games to launch. It’s traditionally a time when game consoles make their big splash in the States. With the exception of the PlayStation 2 and the PSP, every major game console of this decade has launched in November in the US. Today’s the three year anniversary of Nintendo Wii’s launch. Over the next few days, many of us will be taking a look at each of the major consoles, their history up to now, and the prognosis for 2010. Just like the PS3 anniversary a few days ago, I pulled up a birthday horoscope for today:

"You are a determined, sharp-witted person with strong desires and attainable ideals. You need to stand out, not in a flashy manner, but as an entirely unique individual. Others naturally admire you for your strength of character and backbone. Although you are a natural leader, you are also a humanitarian. At times quite self-absorbed and private, you are very much at ease in social settings as well. You need channels for your strong desires and your need for self-expression. Never afraid of an obstacle along your path, you are gutsy, dynamic, resourceful, and you rise to a challenge."

It’s a fairly accurate reading. Strong desires and attainable ideals? Based on Nintendo’s hook for pulling itself out of a deep hole with cheaper hardware than the competition, I’d say it’s accurate. Humanitarian? Wii Fit feels like some karmic payback from Nintendo for ushering in a generation of couch potatoes to get them up and moving. Self-absorbed and private = friend codes. As for the last part, 2010 could be the first year that the Wii has a genuine challenge in front of it. But we’ll see.

Launch Date:  November 19, 2006 (United States)
Launch Price: $249.99


Significant Price Drops and Hardware Iterations

  • The hardware has remain unchanged, but it saw a price drop to $199 in September 2009, keeping it competitive with the lowest-end Xbox 360. Nintendo has iterated on the machine’s capabilities by implementing them into new games.
  • Wii Fit (released May 21, 2008) introduced the Balance Board, which has been used for games ranging from fitness software me-toos to extreme sports games.
  • Wii Sports Resort and Tiger Woods PGA 10 introduced Wii MotionPlus, which adds 1:1 accurate movement to games, including shooters and sports titles. By the time that dream MotionPlus-supporting Lightsaber duel game finally comes to fruition, will anyone still care?

Games of Note

Legend of Zelda: Twilight PrincessYear One: 2006-2007

  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
  • Wii Sports
  • Excite Truck
  • Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
  • Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure

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Tags: Videogames, Wii
Featured Comment

I still have hope for the Wii because No More Heroes 2 is coming out

Posted: 2 hours 57 mins ago by justanothergamer300

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From Handstands to Faceplants: Ten Years of Tony Hawk

I still remember the Sunday afternoon in October 1999 when I caught a subway to a Blockbuster Video to rent Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater based on a neighbor’s recommendation. Little did I realize that it would spark a love affair that would start before the Birdman Bandwagon fired up and would last well beyond the point at which “Downhill Jam” wasn’t just a spin-off, it was a pithy descriptor of the series.

1999: Tony Hawk, Professional Skateboarder

Tony Hawk's Pro SkaterDuring those afternoons playing THPS ten years back at a Midtown Atlanta college dorm room, bonds were formed from the unlikeliest of demographics. From my slightly militant dread-headed DJ roommate to the shy and quiet music major to our new (still-closeted) roommate who’d just transferred to our school from South Carolina and was slightly uneasy around the rest of us, everyone united in busting out 180 kickflips and Judo Madonnas until the wee hours. For a bunch of guys who were as far removed from skate culture as you could get (and from different backgrounds), we were all united in our dormitory-wide attempt to nail the Birdman’s 900.

And that was the real appeal of Neversoft’s game: no matter who you were, or how ignorant you were toward skating and skate culture, a generation of gamers who’d been taught to memorize combos thanks to a decade of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat could apply that same muscle memory to snapping out insane board combos. Also, it got a lot of hip-hop heads into the likes of Dead Kennedys and Goldfinger. To this day, I can still remember the words to “Superman” because of hours sunk into THPS.

A year later, I found out just how much Neversoft really had up its sleeve.

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Featured Comment

i stopped playing Tony Hawk games after THUG 2 it wasnt as good as the first THUG and i really think Skate has the best skateboarding games now

Posted: Yesterday 3:00 PM by bigg93e

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Third Activision Studio Working On Future Call of Duty Games

For the past few years, Treyarch and Infinity Ward have developed alternate iterations in Activision's Call of Duty franchise. But as the Los Angeles Times reports, Activision has now tapped a third studio to work on “future versions” of the series.

The new studio has not been identified yet, and it isn’t known what the future holds for the series in terms of expanding beyond its first-person shooter roots, but a source close to Activision told the LA Times that a Call of Duty MMO was still a possibility. Rumors of this drastic shift for the series date back to last year, so this latest news isn’t terribly surprising.

As for uncovering the mystery studio behind these future Call of Duty games, in due time I guess. Of course, Activision did just unveil its new Sledgehammer Games studio, which was supposedly tasked to work on a new game based on an existing Activision property, so that’s interesting.

Source: The Los Angeles Times

Featured Comment

A Call of Duty MMO would be pretty awesome. But, I'm interested in seeing what the new studio is going to do with the franchise instead of Infinity Ward and Trayarch Studios doing it. Don't get me wrong, Infinity Ward and Trayarch did an amazing job on the franchise, especially Infinity Ward. So, untill I see what the new studio is going to do with the franchise, I'm waiting to see an FPS/MMO in the future.

Posted: Yesterday 9:39 AM by wweiceman13

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No More Heroes Coming to Xbox 360, PS3 (Which Was Also The Original Plan)

We're a few months out from Ubisoft and Grasshopper Manufacture releasing No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle on Wii, but if you missed the original No More Heroes, there's another opportunity; No More Heroes is being upgraded and ported to both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The news was buried in the pages of the latest issue of Japan's Famitsu Weekly. The HD-enabled version of No More Heroes is arriving on February 25, according to a report by Siliconera.

What most people have probably forgotten is that No More Heroes was destined for Xbox 360 all along. Grasshopper designer Suda 51 was developing No More Heroes for Microsoft's console until someone told him about Nintendo's Wii plans. At that point, he moved No More Heroes to this new platform.

“Originally, I’d wanted to make this game for Xbox 360, actually," he told MCV in 2008. "[Marvelous Interactive boss Yasuhiro] Wada-san had information about the new Wii and how the new controller would work before it came out, so that’s why he thought I should produce the game on that format. At the time, I didn’t really understand why, but after seeing and understanding how it works, I think it was a good choice and the controller works really well with the game.”

No More Heroes isn't just being ported to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It's coming back home.

Ubisoft has published No More Heroes, but as the new versions have just been revealed, it's unclear whether the company will also handle releasing these new renditions. Stay tuned.

Source: Siliconera

Featured Comment

it wont feel the same

Posted: Yesterday 5:27 PM by torchmoney

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Shigeru Miyamoto Talks Wii MotionPlus For Next Zelda

New Super Mario Bros. Wii may have stuck to a traditional formula, but there's increasing evidence from Nintendo that Link's next adventure will be something fairly new. In addition to firming up support for MotionPlus, designer Eiji Aonuma told Official Nintendo Magazine the "structure" for has changed.

"It is something we used to talk about with Mr [Shigeru] Miyamoto, and he and I agree that if we are following the same structure again and again, we might not be able to give long time Zelda fans a fresh surprise," he said. "So we have been trying something new in terms of the structure of the Wii version of the new Zelda game this time."

There are a couple of Zelda constants: exploring Hyrule Field, saving Princess Zelda, the presence of Ganon somewhere in the plot and rescuing the Tri-Force. Any bets on what Nintendo's ditching?

Source: Official Nintendo Magazine

Tags: Videogames, Wii
Featured Comment

I think they might start the game where you have everything and start of where you finished instead of starting with nothing.

Posted: Today 10:13 AM by anth920

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The story of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game, and obviously the movie on which it's based, is one of two worlds colliding: humanity’s massive military might and an indigenous race of 10-foot tall blue warriors called the Na’vi. When these two forces meet on the lush battlefields of Pandora, the fate of both civilizations is laid on the line. In this developer diary, developers, producers and James Cameron himself explore the duality of Avatar’s story, and discuss how players’ actions will influence the world around them.

James Cameron's Avatar: The Game Two Worlds Dev Diary »


Featured Comment

Too bad this is a movie game and doomed to suck because it looks like it has potential. Not holding my breath though. Definitely going to see the movie though.

Posted: 2 days ago by JohnnyBuku

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EA:

I have bad news, FIFA 10 fans.

Electronic Arts has confirmed to me they are actively aware of the significant FIFA 10 "Manager's Mode" glitch that I reported on last week, but said there are "no promises" a title update (read: patch) is coming to universally ensure it doesn't occur anymore. The game-breaking bug appears when a player switches teams at the end of a season during Manager Mode. Their new team is suddenly more than 2,000,000 in debt, essentially stopping players from continuing their management season.

"The development team is aware of the bug described in your email and on the message boards," said an EA spokesperson in a statement to me over e-mail today. "Even though our games go through many months of quality checking, some things slip through. The dev team worked on this issue in a number of situations and reduced the amount of times this issue occurs with one of the recent title updates but unfortunately we have not been able to eradicate it completely."

"There are no promises that this particular issue will be fixed for all the remaining users impacted"

G4 writer Sterling McGarvey did not encounter this glitch while playing FIFA 10 for review.

But users continue to relay experiences with the glitch in comments from the original story here at G4, in follow-up e-mails sent to me and frustrated stories on EA's own message boards. Unfortunately, if you're one of the FIFA 10 players who continues to encounter this bug, there's reason to be skeptical it will ever be truly fixed. Why? Because EA has admitted it might not happen.

"Our testing now indicates that it is random and occurs with a very low percentage of users," said the spokesperson. "We will continue to develop title updates but there are no promises that this particular issue will be fixed for all the remaining users impacted. Despite this particular problem we still believe Manager Mode is significantly improved over last year."

You don't have to be playing FIFA 10 to understand why that's disappointing to hear.

Poor form, EA.

Have something to share? Have a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Featured Comment

Yep. Done with you, EA. Never buying a sports title ever again.

And by the looks of your Madden 10 sales, I'd say I'm not the only one turning his back on you for good.

Posted: 2 days ago by Socalmic47

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Metroid Prime Series Isn't Over, DS Version Teased As Real Possibility

Nintendo and Team Ninja's Metroid: The Other M is expected to be our next adventure with Samus Aran, but does this indicate a brand-new direction for the franchise? Retro Studios is responsible for bringing Metroid into the third dimension with the Metroid Prime series, but it seemed Metroid Prime was done after after Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, with both Retro and Samus moving on.

...or not.

"We are always planning to make new games in the Metroid Prime series," said Metroid Prime producer Kensuke Tanabe to the Official Nintendo Magazine in the UK. "Depending on the timing and the situation, we cannot deny the possibility of realising it on DS or DSi."

After Metroid Prime: Hunters, though, I'm not so sure I'd like to see it appear on DS.

Source: Official Nintendo Magazine

Featured Comment

I think Metroid has always been a better gaming experience in 2D and loved Metroid Zero Mission and Fusion, Hunters was ok but lets get retro nostalgic here! Or what about Metroid Pinball 2!?!

Posted: 2 days ago by Spybreak

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I wish imaginary Nintendo game Mass We Pray was real and not a parody. If it was an actual game, I would buy it, and relive my youth as a Catholic altar boy, but this time, I'd get to fling Holy water on true believers and dish out the incense. Take that, Father Donahue.

 

Featured Comment

Hilarious!

Posted: 2 days ago by Uber_K

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