andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Band Hero let's you be Taylor Swift without being interrupted by Kanye West!

After last week’s amazing DLC 3 pack of Gwar, Marilyn Manson, and The Misfits is there any better way to follow it up than offering a new game featuring Taylor Swift and Adam Levine?  Heck no!

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I’ve said it once and I will say it again, this is the year of the racing game. Sure not all the big contenders made landfall this year but we have seen more then enough racing games hit store shelves. But it’s not until this past Tuesday did one of the heavy hitters make its long awaited debut.
Forza Motorsport 3 was released October 27th, 2009 nationwide. The hotly anticipated racer was crafted by the fine folks at Turn 10 and features over 400 cars with 100 tracks to race on. Think that’s all? Well how does downloadable content from day one sound? That’s right, the game comes out and just like that new content is readily available with the promise of more to come.

Forza Motorsport 3 is the game for car lovers, you don’t have to be a good driver to enjoy this sim game since it has community support for every facet from art to tuning. Believe me this truly is a remarkable game with an online racing system unlike any on the market.
Go out and get it!

Forza 3-out Oct 27 2009!

Our interview with Turn 10’s Korey Krausskopf on Forza Motorsport 3 and how it might just be the best racing game of the year.

We had tons of hands on time with the game and can’t wait to
review it, in the mean time be sure to check up and see our impressions leading up to the launch and review of the game.

andPOP- We are a media site so I’ll start with a “Pop culture” question, if Forza Motorsport 3 were a celebrity who would it be? READ MORE »

Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the goddamn Batman.

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?  It’s something I ask of all my readers… I just like the sound of it.

And with that not-so-obscure reference, we begin our review of Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is the best game of 2009.  Yes, I am saying that in October.

I have been drooling over this game for months now, and anxiously anticipating doing this review.  Now, as much as I would like to give an unbiased and honest review of Batman: Arkham Asylum, that is impossible.  I am a huge Batman fanboy (Batboy?) and although this will be a fair and balanced review, I am obviously biased in some respects.  I mean, I am literally wearing a Batman T-shirt right now, and not even for the purpose of this review.  Just ‘cause, suckers. READ MORE »

Welcome to GWAR into your home this October with Guitar Hero 5!

No tricks here folks just treats as Guitar Hero rolls out a fine month of DLC for Guitar Hero 5.

It all starts with a Queens Of The Stone Age Pack featuring three tracks from their debut album, with Dave Grohl being featured on Avon you know it’s going to be a blast on drums. The week after that we get three tracks from Billy Squier with “The Stroke” which funny enough was the first Guitar Hero custom ever! Coming up next is Mike Patton’s favourite band Wolfmother featuring three tracks from their forthcoming album  Cosmic Egg. READ MORE »

Today I do not come to you as mild mannered gaming journalist Josh Salem, but rather, ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) Private Salem. Yes, that’s right, last night in the Fermenting Cellar at the historic Distillery District in beautiful Toronto (although it was raining) I completed (with fly colours) my ODST training from Sgt. Swaggard and his troops and got dropped into the pandemonium of Firefight.

Perhaps I should Explain. READ MORE »

This fall we certainly are getting our fair share of killer deals, just like the CAPCOM TRIPLE PACK!
Out on store shelves now, for your 360 you can pick up Dead rising/Devil May Cry 4/Lost Planet for the amazing low price of $39.99. All three titles have been platinum hits best sellers and sold 3 million copies in North America alone.
Hey if you haven’t played at least one of the three titles, it’s totally worth picking up this compilation.

Where do Toronto Film Fest buffs, WWE RAW fanatics, free concert goers, and Maple Leaf hopefuls converge at 11:59PM on a Monday? Why Future Shop at Yonge and Dundas in down town Toronto for the midnight release of EA Sports’ NHL 10, hosted by Xbox Canada of course!

AndPOP was in tow to witness the launch of what may very well be this year’s best hockey title. In a town that loves their hockey hundreds lined up early, a pick-up street hockey game was going on across the street, and anticipation was high for the clock to strike midnight. READ MORE »

The ultimate remastered edition of the Beatles catalog is probably going to be the big-ticket Christmas item this holiday season.  Alongside this cornucopia of creamy Liverpool goodness is The Beatles: Rock Band, most likely the other big ticket Christmas item – if the stores have any left after the initial sellout.

And to provide the third stabilizing leg to this triumverate of old-meets-new deliciousness is a brand-new The Beatles: Rock Band Xbox 360 model.   Featuring psychedelic designs by the same animators who will blow your minds via the intro cinematic sequence to the new Rock Band cash-cow, this model also has another feature that I’m sure the boys from across the pond would be proud of – every unit sold has all proceeds benefiting Doctors Without Borders.

Finally, as if the above trinity of Beatlemania wasn’t enough, All You Need Is Love is now available as an Xbox Live download, once again with proceeds going to DWB.

To find out more information, head on over to http://www.xbox.com/en-CA/games/splash/b/beatlesrockband/ where you’ll have the chance to join the Fab Four Mystery Tour, an “interactive look at the Beatles and the many twists and turns of their legendary career.”  Check it out, Jude, don’t let me down.

Cheers!

I still remember the summer when Guitar Hero 2 came out.  It was a summer not unlike this one.  The sun was hot and the air was clear, but I did not go outside.  I stayed in and worked my way through career mode on medium, then hard, and then expert.  Would you believe, I started impressing girls with my button-shredding abilities?

Video game fans, take my advice.  Stay in this season and hone your fake guitar skills with Activision’s Guitar Hero: Smash Hits.  Some may scoff at this newest entry, a compilation of the greatest hits from previous guitar hero releases, but the core gameplay remains tight and challenging as ever.  The tracks have been taken from Guitar Heroes 1, 2 and 3, with entries from Rock the 80’s and Aerosmith.  All of the tracks are now playable by the whole band – guitar, bass, vocals and drums – just as in Guitar Hero World Tour.  The selection features lots of reliable favourites, but like the rest of the series there’s a heavy weighting on classic rock and metal. READ MORE »