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After months of financial statement teases and the initial reveal in an issue of Game Informer, Activision has officially released the first details of Guitar Hero 4, now known as Guitar Hero: World Tour. The game will be available this Fall on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360. The same development teams that created Guitar Hero III are back on board with the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions being developed by Neversoft, while Vicarious Visions is creating the Wii version and Budcat is bringing it to the PS2.

Guitar Hero: World Tour looks to be the beginning of a completely era for the Guitar Hero series. As was revealed by Game Informer, World Tour will feature a drumkit and microphone along with the Music Studio track editor and an eight-player Battle of the Bands mode. Any song created in the Music Studio can be shared with other gamers through the game’s online database GHTunes.

Other gameplay options will include a four-player “full band” mode (that can be played both online and locally) and singleplayer Career mode that can be played with any instrument. ..

Activision is saying that World Tour will feature the largest number of tracks in a music game ever. As of now, four bands have been confirmed to have a place in World Tour: Van Halen, Linkin Park, The Eagles and Sublime. And all of the songs will be master tracks; there will be no covers on Guitar Hero: World Tour. The game will also offer “significantly more localized downloadable music than ever before on all of the next-generation consoles.” So while it’s vaguely worded, it sounds like downloadable tracks are coming to the Wii as well as the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Robert Ludlum’s best-selling spy novels and blockbuster film adaptations have thrilled millions. Now for the first time, become Jason Bourne, Ludlum’s most famous spy, in an original videogame that takes you deeper than ever before into his world of action and espionage.

When curious fishermen pull your body from Mediterranean Sea you have little clue of how you got there or even who you are. A hidden Swiss bank account number leads you to Zurich where you soon discover that not only does somebody want you dead, but you’re armed with a mysterious mastery of martial arts and marksmanship to fight back.

Firearms, melee weapons, advanced fight techniques and even your surroundings are all at your disposal to weaponize, as you neutralize threats in a seamless blend of infiltration, shooting and hand-to-hand combat. Go deep into the Bourne canon as you hunt down the truth behind your fragmented past and turn the tables on the government agency that made you their number one target.

You are Bourne – hunted, driven and deadly.
Coming to PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system in 2008.

Owen MacLeod, born in Gaul over 2000 years ago, was the son of a tribal chieftain whose village was crushed by the Roman Empire. MacLeod was sent in chains to the gladiatorial arena in Pompeii where he faced what he imagined to be a short life of battle. However, it was in the Coliseum where he was killed, only to miraculously recover and begin a new life as an Immortal. Fighting through centuries against other Immortals in legendary battles ending in death by beheading, MacLeod now faces a mysterious and almost all-powerful Immortal who is hunting him down in New York City. With his mentor, Methos, guiding him, MacLeod learns that the only way to destroy this ultimate nemesis, is to search out the three fragments of a mysterious stone that when pieced together, yields unlimited power to the Immortal who possesses it.

“Eidos is excited to present the classic Highlander franchise for the next generation of video gamers,” said Robert A. Lindsey, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Eidos Inc. “Gamers will get the chance to explore the powers and abilities that only being an Immortal has to offer. Highlander boasts an incredible level of graphical quality and gameplay capabilities such as an advanced sword fighting combat system and destructible environments.”

“For the first time, Highlander comes to fans in a new medium that allows players to dive into the Immortal universe,” said Peter Davis of Davis-Panzer Productions. “The interactive experience permits players to gain a completely different perspective of the mythos, and experience the powers and advantages of immortality through the eyes of a MacLeod.”

Highlander enables gamers to exploit the powers of immortality and manipulate situations that death would normally prevent.

Sony is certainly hoping many people believe that it’s now a good less-risky decision for not only gamers to purchase the Sony Playstation 3 but also home DVD movie watchers who may or may not also be casual gamers. If Blu-Ray has won the new movie format war, or is winning, or likely to either win or permanently share the spotlight then maybe plopping down $550 or so for a Playstation 3 starter bundle that also plays the high-quality next-generation DVD format may be worthwhile since the Blu-Ray players, alone, already cost as much as the Playstation 3 starter bundle, if not more. If one is strongly considering moving to a newer format player then, with much of the recent news, it’s hard to find a reason to not consider a Playstation 3 since you get the player as well as a pretty powerful gaming system.

Warner announced on Jan. 4 that it would release only high-definition Blu-ray movies starting July, ending its support for the rival HD DVD format. Winning Warner’s backing was a coup for the Blu-ray camp, which counts Sony, Samsung Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial (MC), and dozens of other consumer-electronics makers among its members. Warner has the industry’s most extensive offering of movies and consistently churns out blockbusters. With five out of seven major studios now on-board, Blu-ray has the upper hand—perhaps decisively—in the struggle over the next-generation DVD standard.

Nikko Citigroup’s Kota Ezawa estimates the games division will lose $1.4 billion this fiscal year, following last year’s $2.1 billion loss. And while he doesn’t expect the business to be prosperous until late 2009, Ezawa applauds Sony’s efforts to shrink the PS3’s chips and tweak its design.

Here’s a new one: One Consumerist reader’s PlayStation 3 croaked, so he sent it in for warranty service since it was still under its coverage period. A week later, he was told he would not be receiving a replacement. The reason? It had too much dust in it.

This tale gets stranger as you read it. First he’s told his console wasn’t covered because he didn’t have a receipt. (It had been a gift.) Finally, he was told that while it was eligible for coverage, the technicians had peeked inside, taken pictures, and found it simply too dusty to merit coverage under the warranty. He requested the pictures to see for himself. Sony said no, not without a subpoena. (Outraged, he noted that if he were to open the case and taken the same pictures, he would have voided the warranty himself.)

Cleaning vents and keeping electronics as dust free as possible is certainly good advice. Whether or not that’s the “real” reason for his warranty woes… With Sony, who knows? The press just seems to get worse and worse for these people.

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FIFA, EA and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have announced that the new season of FIFA Interative World Cup will have Sony as a new partner for the tournament and participants around the world will compete using EA Sports FIFA 08 on the Playstation 3.

The FIWC 2008 kicks off in early October 2007 and will finish with the Grand Final in Berlin’s Sony Centre in May 2008. The players can compete at one of more than 20 qualifiying events in over 25 countries.

“To be associated with the world’s leading games publisher, EA, and one of the most respected organizations in the world, FIFA, is very exciting for us,” said Simon Rutter, VP Sales & Marketing for SCEE. “With the added realism that PS3 brings to FIFA 08, we have every belief that now is the time to truly make an impact with the FIFA Interactive World Cup, We’re looking forward to PS3 fans helping to make the tournament every bit as iconic for gamers as the real FIFA World Cup is for football fans.”

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id Software announced on Friday it’s next game, “Rage”. The new game will be released for PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 game consoles.

“It’s a bit of a classic story and you are the outsider who comes in and tries to turn the tide in favor of good,” id Chief Executive Todd Hollenshead said in an interview.

The game was showcased at this year’s QuakeCon by John Carmack. No release date has been announced. The main idea of the game is players will fight an oppressive government in a post-apocalyptic world. Foreshadowing?

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Sony has had a rough time moving units after the initial launch of the PlayStation3; the system is routinely outsold by the 360 and Wii. It has been rumored that Sony would be dropping the price on the system, with hints to the positive being given and then followed by staunch denials. While we expected an announcement at E3, Sony has jumped the gun and announced it today. Effectively immediately, the price of the PS3 has been dropped to $500 for the 60GB unit, and a $600 80GB model bundled with Motorstorm is coming this August. Pricing is for North America only.

This puts the 60GB PS3 model within $20 of the 360 Elite, almost negating the difference in price between the two consoles. Sony will be offering what amounts to a free Blu-ray drive on top of that price though, so fence-sitters interested in jumping into the next-generation movie format wars may finally be willing to make the jump to Sony’s camp. While the $100 price cut may not be as large as we were hoping, it is a nice step in the right direction.

With E3 coming tomorrow and Sony’s press conference scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, the company will be able to begin to talk about their holiday software onslaught with some unexpected good will following this announcement. If they can keep a hold onto their last few remaining non-first-party exclusives, show off some new games, and cement Home as the premiere way to spend time with a console online, we could see a resurgence in popularity for Sony’s console.

GameDaily is reporting that Sony will be dropping the price of the Playstation 3 to $499 the week after E3.

“As it turns out, a merchandising manager (who wished to remain anonymous) at one of the world’s biggest retailers has confirmed to GameDaily BIZ that the price drop is indeed retail-wide and it’s scheduled to take place on July 12, although the first wave of ads to promote the PS3’s new price won’t kick in until Sunday, July 15.”

SCEA will not comment on the speculation, but it’s probably a sure bet that you’ll see this announcement next Wednesday.

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