It seems that the Moon Walk is the new black as more and more Michael Jackson merchandise is in the works.

According to TMZ, the King of Pop is set to star in a new video game that will essentially be a “dance karaoke.” Unlike many other ventures surrounding the deceased Jackson, apparently the pop singer’s estate is totally on board for this plan. Basically, gamers will see Jackson dancing on screen and then will be challenged to imitate his movements.

The game, currently untitled, will be available on multiple gaming platforms including Wii and Xbox 360. The Xbox version will include Microsoft’s new Kinect motion capture technology which will allow players to participate in the game without holding a controller.

Also in the Xbox version, the player will be judged based on full body moves; the game will process the player’s movements and display them on screen, dancing alongside Jackson.

If that wasn’t spectacular enough for aspiring Princes of Pop everywhere, the game also includes a karaoke feature which will allow players to sing along to Jackson songs and even funk up their voices with an autotune feature.

The game is being developed by Ubisoft (the same company behind Assassin’s Creed and Ghost Recon) and they have apparently secured permission from Jackson’s estate, so this is sure to go ahead. The game is scheduled to be released sometime before Christmas.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Them Crooked Vultures, hot off a mind-erasing Saturday Night Live performance, and the release of their debut album are teaming up with andPOP.com to give one lucky fan a chance to score a sweet prize pack. One winner will be able to jam to Them Crooked Vultures on Rock Band 2 on their brand new XBOX 360!

The self-titled debut album from the three rock legends, Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme, and John Paul Jones, is in stores now and features “New Fang,” “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” and a bunch of other songs you can rock your arse to.

Click here to enter the contest. Contest ends March 12th, 2010.

For more information visit www.ThemCrookedVultures.com

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Like blood? No… I mean, do you REALLY like blood?

If you answered yes, and also have a fancy for dragons, fantasy, compelling story, in depth character evolution, complete voice acting, and a really really long story that I believe Bioware’s Edmonton office has created the perfect game for you.

Dragon Age: Origins developed by Bioware (the same fine folks who brought us Mass Effect) have taken the next evolutionary step in interactive story telling in both intensity, depth, and fantasy. Moving back to their Baulder’s Gate style roots and away from the sci-fi they recently gained fame for, Dragon Age: Origins has you starting out in one of six origin stories (as a noble human, peasant human, wood elf, city elf, noble dwarf, or casteless dwarf) but have you essentially fighting to save all races and creeds against the Archdemon and the Blight. However the story begins, it provides insight and a background to where you came from, how you became a Grey Warden (a group of soldiers whom can sense evil and are tasked with defeating the Blight) and sends you off on your merry adventure where you meet dozens of characters who with a little finesse can become invaluable allies in your battle (letting you control up to four characters at one time) or… with a little fast clicking can have you killing them on the spot (trust me, I’ve killed at least two potential allies so far).

He's right behind me... Isn't he?

The game is all about choices, much like other Bioware favourites, but for this one, they go deep in morality it goes beyond just deciding if you want to be greedy, evil, good, or psychotic. For example, a simple choice in the game is whether you want to call down a massively strong dragon to fight against you or just sneak by… easy enough. How about choosing a side between two equally capable and equally evil dwarfs to take the throne as dwarf king? How do you know you’re making the right choice, how will the story evolve if you make one decision over another? So far the hardest choice I made in Origins beyond deciding how to level up my characters was to kill a young innocent boy harbouring a demon inside him, or find a way to exorcise the demon and save the boy… unfortunately for the boy, I have been on a tight deadline to write this review… so he died. Speaking of tight deadlines, since getting my grubby little paws on this title I’ve pretty much done nothing but play, and with well over 24 hours under my belt, I still feel like I’m barely scratching the surface of this massive game, which touts over 80 hours of gameplay.

Aside from decision making, gameplay within Origins can be utilized in two different ways. Players have the option of setting a basic set of guidelines their AI companions can follow much like the Gambit system in Final Fantasy 12. As your characters get stronger, more rules can be set for them (such as if an ally has 50% less health, use health potion on them), while the player controls the main character from an over the shoulder view in a more action type manner. Alternatively, players can change the view to a top down approach (like Baulder’s Gate), pause the game at any time and assign actions to all characters, unpause and watch the mayhem. Combinations of spells as well as elements also provide a deeper sense of customization (throw grease on a bad guy, then cast a fire spell and see what happens).

Graphically, Dragon Age: Origins uses a new engine called Eclipse, and while I’m not sure exactly what it does better than other engines, I do know this… it makes Origins pretty. With plenty of characters on the screen at once, all doing god knows what in the form of attacks, spells, and other abilities, I was amazed that the detail and effects that would be shown on screen without a lick of slowdown. As well, I was intrigued by the blood system. There is A LOT of blood in this game, and often after a battle, that blood will be left on you and your party until either your wardog cleans it up, or after a good rest. The character and location designs are all extremely unique from the DarkSpawn, to demons, to the dragons themselves; they’re all just as varied and detailed as the forests, cities, and caverns you visit along the way. The only instance where I felt a little cheated was in the Dwarven city that looked a heck of a lot like the Dwarven city in World of Warcraft.

I think my favourite thing about Dragon Age: Origins has to be the voice acting. With tons of dialogue between characters, and multiple decisions about what to respond with I was amazed with the amount of voice acting to be found in this game. Aside from your main character (most of the time) every peice of dialogue in the game is voice acted. Consider for a moment how long this game is, over 80 hours long, and with very busy cities and many people to talk to, the amount of voice acting is at such a high number that I cannot even wager a guess to how much hours of speech are included in the game. Music, slicing, and grunts are all included and play well within the game, however I find that the musical change right before battle takes away from the surprise element of it.

Equal rights.

In terms of lasting appeal, while Origins has no multiplayer, the game itself is ridiculously long, and addictive! In a time where I have Borderlands, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Left 4 Dead 2 sitting on my shelf; I find myself playing this title more than all four of those combined. That being said even if you do complete the story and all side quests, Bioware has guaranteed over 2 years of post launch content. They even tout that they will be providing more post-launch content than all other Bioware titles combined.

So overall, do I think Dragon Age: Origins is worth it? You bet I do! Especially now with gaming sales coming every which way, chances are you may be able to find this title for $40 in the very near future.

Gameplay:      4.5/5

Graphics:        4.5/5

Sound:             5.0/5

Replay:            4.0/5

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

The collectors set

The most anticipated scifi game will finally be released January 26 2010 in North America. As is the standard these days, a collectors edition has already been announced.
The Mass Effect 2 Collectors’ Edition comes in a tin case, a beautiful 48 page hardcover “Art of Mass Effect 2″ book, Mass Effect Redemption comic book, and a bonus DVD with the making of videos.
Adding to the mix are going to be exclusive armor and weapons that cannot be purchased anywhere else.
This remarkable set will retail for $69.99 on the Xbox 360 and $59.99 for the PC.
If you ask me this is one sweet deal.

Read more at andPOP. 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!

On November 5th as a way to celebrate Band Hero being released, plastic instrument fans can either export 69 songs from Guitar Hero 5 into Band Hero or 61 songs (out of 64) into GH5 from Band Hero!

The songs that will not export from Band Hero to Guitar Hero 5 are as follows:

Jesse McCartney- “Beautiful Soul”
Aly & AJ- “Like Whoa”
Styx- “Mr. Roboto”
Hilary Duff- “So Yesterday”

Look on the bright side though you can make Kurt Cobain sing Taylor Swift!

The export runs you 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360, $4.99 on Playstation3, and 500 points on Wii.

November 12th is all about Lenny Kravitz as Guitar Hero commemorates the 20th anniversary of his 1989 debut album Let Love Rule. This three song track pack includes the title track “Let Love Rule,” “Lady” off his seventh studio album Baptism, and “Fly Away,” a song which I will assume you all know because it’s freakin’ “Fly Away”

On November 19th paint your faces and grab your tongue extensiosn because it’s time to rock out with the one and only KISS! This track pack includes their new single “Modern Day Delilah,” which has a ripping solo “I Was Made for Loving You,” their second Gold single and finally “Lick it Up,” which was the title track off their album which was also named… Lick it up.

It’s been awhile since Guitar Hero gave us anything for free and on November 24th they’re doing it SIX TIMES! The Neversoft Thanks The Fans Track Pack features: “Lemon Frosting” by Bunny Knutson, “RockNRola” by Nancy Fullforce, “From the Blue/Point of No Return/T.T.R.T.S” by An Endless Sporadic, “Love Holds It Down” by Dom Liberati, “You Really Like Me” by Davidicus and “Guilty Pleasures” by Tony Solis.

These may appear to be unknown bands to the casual player but I can tell you that I am super excited to play more An Endless Sporadic (from GH3 and GHWT DLC respectfully) and Guilty Pleasures sounds awesome as well.

For reasons unknown this track pack will only be available for Playstation3 and Xbox 360 as of this announcement.

We aren’t done quite yet though for the Wii fans out there that have been feeling not metal enough lately the 8 missing tracks from Metallica’s Death Magnetic will now be able to be downloaded as singles on your Nintendo Wii! This offer begins on November 24th so prepare to shred!

Lenny Kravitz Track Pack

Fly Away

Lady

Let Love Rule

KISS Track Pack

Lick it Up

I Was Made For Loving You

Modern Day Delilah

Neversoft Thanks The Fans Track Pack

Love Holds It Down

Lemon Frosting

You Really Like Me

RockNRola

Guilty Pleasures

From The Blue/Point of No Return/T.T.R.T.S

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

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!

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

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?

Turn10- Hmm.. You would have to take Stephen Hawking with some kind of super model, its deep yet pretty.

andPOP- For our music audience at andPOP if Forza were a band or any musician what would it be?

Turn 10- Tough question because we kind of got a mix of European Techno you have to include some German Industrial and then you probably have a bit of pop.

andPOP- Sort of like Dream Theater?

Turn 10- Yea! That works! Ok I’ll go with that! haha Dream Theater. Maybe not quite but I’ll go for it.(laughter)

andPOP- Focusing on the game, I was really blown away with the design elements of Forza 3. I love the new look and feel of the game, was this after receiving feedback on Forza Motorsport 2 that made the team take this new visual direction?

The new clean "show room" look

Turn 10- Not necessarily, people were ok with the design aesthetics of Forza 2. We looked at that and said hmm.. this feels cluttered, it feels busy- a little bit too “gamey”.
And so we asked what kind of experience we want people to have with Forza3? We wanted people to get in here and just geek out on our cars -love their cars-  so we wanted to created a way that people could get in and look at cars- experience how beautiful it is and not be cluttered with other stuff.
This really clean design aesthetic was inspired by high end showrooms. Looking at how they showcase their cars, following their brochures, seeing how they present their cars there – High end cars- seeing how they use a lot of negative space.
So here is your focal element for what you are looking at, it’s clean, it’s wide, it’s polished, now we got the vision of what we want to go towards and so we made it happen.

andPOP- There are a lot of things that define Forza but for me what stood out was the ability to have that unique customizable experience.
It’s funny once I was reading an article (on IGN) in regards to online and Nintendo’s online plan(Back during the GameCube era) and they discussed some gamers online in the first Forza that had The Legend of Zelda designs on their cars. It felt almost as if the community- still very alive offline- graduated and expressed their inspirations through a more online centric console. Has that(creative customization) always been the defining element specially in creating the first Forza title. I don’t see much of that in other racers, sure there is tuning but nothing so visually deep.

Turn 10- If you look at our tag line for the first game which is “You are what you race”.

It was all about getting a car and making it yours by asking what do you want this car to be? What does it say about your personality? Are you going to beef this thing up to be a torque force/power monster? Or are you going to make a sleek performance machine that takes turns elegantly and gracefully? What you race says a lot about you and so from the get go personalization was huge. So painting it the way you want it to, personalize it,they ability to upgrade it, and tune it.
In every version we try and step back and ask how we are realizing that vision. Our rally and cry for this version was enable car lovers to be gamers and gamers to be car lovers. That is still around the same ideals of experiencing the game the way you want to. It is very much about personalization.

andPOP- Now with the second iteration there was this blog post I used to follow on IGN where you guys would write about the design experience. I was very impressed with the Sound design of the game.

Turn 10- Ah!

andPOP- Were you using some of the old stuff or was it a begin from scratch?

Turn 10- So this is great! Anytime we get to take people on a tour of our studio we talk about how we get our hands on one of these cars and end up getting it up on a dyno, where we would place eight microphones around it and run this thing up to the red line -get all the real sound out of it.
We capture that raw and keep that forever because we would want to go back to those files, we know how that car sounds then we mix it so it works well with our physics system but at its base it’s still that real car.
At our studio we have in the corner a bunch of these ugly looking pipes just stacked up against the wall and they’re pretty tall -six to eight feel tall pipes- people ask what sort of  modern sculpture is this? But when you look at them closely they’re all tagged with car names on it like WRX etc. This is because to really get the sound characteristics out of the car we not only want to hear what it sounds like as stock but we want to hear its upgrades, so we do things such as bolt on a straight pipe and see what that sounds like. So we have all these cars with these pipes that were created just for that. Slap on a straight pipe to the exhaust and you get this totally rich sound and that’s one of the many ways we capture the sound of as many cars as we possibly can.

andPOP- Now this has been labeled the year of the racing game. I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of comparisons and what not but what sets you apart in terms of non gameplay? What do you see Forza offer that your competition does not address?

The game ran smoothly at 60fps

Turn 10- So a lot of racing games will chose once specific experience like Need for Speed shift. They say – this is the racer experience- as close as you can get to be an actual race car driver. I think they do a really good job delivering that experience. Forza focuses more on -we are going to give you a way to experience everything you want to about cars- this is about car passion, connecting with cars, its about the fact that if I am not a fantastic racer I can still have a good time with this car. We have people who will buy Forza and never race in the game, instead they spend their time painting cars and making beautiful works of art then posting them online and that’s how they want to experience their cars.  We got people who are tuners and maybe are not the best racers in the world but they can tune a car like its nobody’s business. There people who are drifters who don’t care about who is fastest from point A to B; what they care about is stylistic driving and making a really cool experience for people to look at and ask how  did you do that?

andPOP- So maybe you’re thinking about more of an online community experience because I don’t see a community feature in most racing games like this. I could just be doing art and design and still be connected.

Turn 10- Exactly, so now we’ve added in the director mode so if you were to make a really awesome movie about forza now you can. Get eight players together orchestrate the race. Say you wanted to go like this- maybe create some drama moments or tension moments or maybe you want people to race in this manner, then you can capture it choose your own camera angles and pick your clips that you want to showcase. You can export them into movies and splice them all together once you got them created. So that’s another way people can say- I got a unique way of experiencing this stuff so I want to share it with the world.

andPOP- Now is there a download content to expand the video capture/editor? Are there any upgrades planned in that specific area?

Turn 10-  Not yet, we are very focused right now to get the game out. After we ship the game much of the people are going to take some time off. Then we are all about the content you will get on day one as there were a couple of cars and tracks that we couldn’t ship with the game. From there its about what do we want to ship next? Sure we have over 400 cars but there are always new cars that people want. There is the 2010 and 2011 models and cars that have not been announced yet. We will go find those- create them in the game so people will always have something new to play with. Anything regarding online or even editors is up in the air because we have to see what the community demands first. A lot of things that we put in the game comes from feedback we received. You know people saying, this was great but I wish you had this or this is fine but you can improve it this way. So we look at it and go yeah! You’re right! We ask ourselves, can we do that? Then figure out a way to make it happen.

art in motion

andPOP- W have heard a lot about dynamic weather thrown into racing games these days. I’m not seeing dynamic weather being implemented in the simulation racer area but I want to know what’s your take on dynamic weather?

Turn 10- Dynamic weather is something we always look at, we go how can we do this? It’s dramatic! It’s a cool moment and you go wow look at all that rain and lightening. But it always comes down to priorities, you can’t do absolutely everything, so we focus back on the core reason of what you want to be doing in the game. One of those priorities this time was to make it as beautiful as we could and that meant we had to handcraft every experience people were going to have on the track. So any track you chose or any car you take will be an amazing experience since you can get to it as close as you want to it. It’s a fully immersible experience because we focus so much on hand crafting everything.
If you’re going to add in dynamic weather then it’s a trade off. Now we have to look at if the weather changes you have to make sure the track can support that in every aspect. We prioritized by making a beautiful-visual and mechanical- experience over that.
Not to say that is not something we don’t want- we would absolutely love to do dynamic weather, it’s just a question of trade offs.

andPOP- Now is there talk at Turn 10 about expanding into any other motor sports such as bikes?

I wish that were my car..

Turn 10- Before we announced Forza 3 people who were playing Forza 2 were wondering what’s Turn 10 doing next? Rumors got so big that we announced we were doing Forza Watersports! We posted pictures of water simulation we had going for one of our tracks. So what we did is take out the whole track and just show a car floating above water.. yea Forza Water sports! But that was just all in good fun.
Our team is built out of people who really connect with cars, not to say that’s all they do. So like myself , I will never be a great tuner because I don’t know cars as deep as some of these people do. But we have really built our studio around the love of cars, connection with cars, passion of cars, so that’s the core of what our studio is. As far as what we do in the future, we got people who are in the studio who race motorcycles semi professionally (some even professionally) and their always wondering why don’t we do something with Motorcycles? We have people with all kinds of different aspects to them, so you find some stuff makes it into the game such as people on staff who are amazing photographers – it’s their passion-they formed our photo mode in the game and outlined what they needed in the game to take good pictures. In that way even though we made our studio on the love of cars, there are lots of things we can still do.

andPOP- Alright  my final question, we all know there are many conventional game influences in Forza, but what I want to know is there any unconventional games or ideas that were a huge influence on this third itiration? Anything outside the norm of racing games?

Turn 10- Yea! Absolutely! First off Dan Greenwall, who is the design director for Forza Motorsport at Turn 10, he sets a lot of the experiences we want gamers to walk away with- to turn gamers into car lovers and car lovers into gamers. So some of the things we wanted to do in the game we kind of ran out of inspiration from games in general and so we had to look elsewhere. For the community aspect of the game we had to look to inspirations such as eBay, twitter, facebook, and ask how do you build a rich community app? These are paradigms that really didn’t exist in games and thus we were inspired by how well some of these things work. Asking questions like,what makes them successful? Why do these succeed where others have failed? What are the key elements of design we can pull from and put into Forza? So thats what we looked at.

andPOP- Thank you very much for the interview! We at andPOP are very excited for the game!

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

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.

But I digress.  This game is set over the course of one night on Arkham Island.  Batman has apprehended the Joker, and hauls him back to the asylum.  Joker doesn’t really mind though, and proceeds to take over the asylum and release the inmates.  Great. Now Bats has to pick up all the pieces.

Quite possibly the coolest feature of this game is the nature of the gameplay itself.  You don’t just run into rooms to find a group of baddies and subsequently dispatch them.  Okay, you do – but not all the time.  You don’t just prowl from room to room in the shadows, sneaking up behind guys and taking them out without a sound.  Okay, you do – but not all the time.  You don’t just solve puzzles and riddles.  Okay, you get the point.

I'm totally going to win that giant stuffed gorilla.

The seamless transition from the gangbang combats to invisible predator rooms to the riddles and whatnot in between really make this game flow exceptionally well.  That’s actually the primary element of this game -flow. The combat is actually called Freeflow Combat – using your various attacks to open up a can of Bat-Whoop-Ass on the various miscreants you encounter throughout the game by seamlessly landing blow after blow on opponent after opponent rather than one at a time.   You can even mix in attacks from the various gadgets you acquire over the course of the game – the Batarang, Batclaw and Shark-Repellant Bat-Spray.  Okay, not that last one.

There are some games out there that have alternative modes of play that are not exactly the greatest thing to ever happen to gaming.  Arkham Asylum is not one of these games.  The challenge modes are amazing – each of which is basically one of the different combat rooms you will encounter throughout the game.  This allows you to pick up Arkham Asylum anytime, and run through as much or as little of the different facets of this game at your leisure – which I have done ad nauseum.  Even more awesome – there is downloadable content that allows you to go on a murderous rampage as none other than the one and only Clown Prince of Crime – the Joker, however, only on the PlayStation 3.  The lack of grappling hook and gliding is made up for with the awesomeness of walking around the challenge rooms dispatching guards with kicks to the nuts, exploding-chattering teeth, kicks to the nuts and a legit gun.  Yes, Joker straight-up murders people with a gun.  Also, he kicks them in the nuts – did I mention that?

In this reviewer’s not-so-humble opinion, the pinnacle of the gameplay is the Invisible Predator mode.  When I think of Batman, I think of moments like the scene in Batman Begins where the criminals are being picked off one by one, growing ever more terrified as their numbers dwindle.  This is the epitome of Batman and also the core element of the Invisible Predator style of gameplay.  For me, it just doesn’t get any better than grappling from gargoyle to gargoyle in the shadows, gliding down behind a gun-wielding psychopath and choking him into unconsciousness, then hanging upside-down in the shadows and grabbing his buddy when he comes to help.  If the criminals are terrified, then bonus – more on that later.

Hello, my name is Joker. And this is my friend, Obscenely Large Revolver.

The Detective Mode is more likely than not the mode you will view the majority of the game in. Although sacrificing the gorgeous graphics somewhat, you can see everything that is pertinent to the mission at hand and more, from vent covers that can be removed and entered, to lingering bad breath or tobacco traces in the air.  While reducing the challenging element of problem solving, it doesn’t really matter – the game remains moderately challenging puzzle-wise with the ever-narcissistic Riddler hitting you with clues to the hundreds of enigmas and brain-teasers throughout Arkham Island.  Detective Mode also allows you to view enemies through walls, and examine their armament and status – status meaning whether they are Calm, Nervous, Terrified or Crazed.  Try to keep the enemies Terrified – they start shooting at noises in the darkness, and basically turn into whiny 8-year old girls.

As I mentioned earlier, the graphics in Arkham Asylum are gorgeous.  Simply gorgeous.  The dark, gothic atmosphere of Gotham and Arkham (hey, did you ever notice those are spelled similarly?) are captured perfectly.   The environment almost has a personality – brooding, dark and malicious. The animations on the enemies are smooth and functional at worst, disturbing and frenetic at best – exactly what you would expect from the psychos and maniacs stalking the halls of the asylum.  However, they tend to fall limp in unrealistic ways when you knock them out, but it’s a minor issue. The animations on the main characters are even better.  By main characters of course, I mean Batman – and his cape.  The cloak is almost a character unto itself, flowing behind you when you run, snapping out into a wing-like profile when you glide, and gradually becoming more tattered and ripped as Batman’s night gets worse.

Where the hell did I park the car?

The sounds of Arkham are also very conducive to the mood – the only way the soundtrack could be better would be if it had a bit more variety to it – low strings and baritone throughout – or if Danny Elfman just did the score.  Speaking of nostalgia, the voice acting is superb, with the quintessential voices from the DC Animated universe coming on board – Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight, and the amazing Mark Hamill as the Joker.  Heath Ledger, step aside – for this incarnation of the Joker, the Force is strong with this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed Batman: Arkham Asylum.  It combines all the elements of an exceptional game – graphics, solid and intuitive gameplay that isn’t oversimplified or overly complex, and an atmosphere and story that draws in the gamer allowing them to fully appreciate all the other elements of the game.  All these elements come together to stomp more face than a professional face stomper – wearing stompin’ boots.

You didn’t think really I’d end my review of a Batman game without mentioning face-stomping, did you?

Cheers.

Gameplay – 5/5

Graphics – 5/5

Sound – 5/5

Replay Value – 5/5

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

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.

The second most exciting pack of DLC in October would have to be The Classic Rock 2 Track Pack featuring another epic from Peter Frampton with  “Show Me The Way (live)”. Canadian rockers Triumph make their debut on plastic instruments with their hit “Lay It On The Line” which is sure to give guitarists a run for their money. Finishing it all off is a track from The J. Geils Band “Freezeframe” which is sure to make you go “Oh YEAH! That song.”

The most exciting announcement however is The All Hallows’ Eve track pack with the debut of GWAR’s “GOR GOR” so make sure you don’t wear your Sunday’s best when you sit down to play with all the blood and umm “GWAR juice” coming out of your screen. Adding to the Halloween spirit Marilyn Manson submits his smash hit “The Beautiful People” and we finally get an authentic horror-punk band with The Misfits “Astro Zombies” (let’s hope it’s the original with Danzig).

Downloadable Content – October 1

Queens Of The Stone Age Track Pack

* “Mexicola”
* “Avon”
* “How to Handle a Rope”

Downloadable Content – October 8

Billy Squier Track Pack

* “The Stroke”
* “Everybody Wants You”
* “When She Comes To Me”

Downloadable Content – October 15

Wolfmother Track Pack

* “Pilgrim”
* “California Queen”
* “Cosmic Egg”

Downloadable Content – October 22

Classic Rock 2 Track Pack

* The J. Geils Band – “Freeze Frame”
* Peter Frampton – “Show Me The Way (Live)”
* Triumph – “Lay It On The Line”

Downloadable Content – October 29

All Hallows’ Eve Track Pack

* GWAR – “Gor Gor”
* Marilyn Manson – “Beautiful People”
* The Misfits – “Astro Zombies”

http://guitarhero.com

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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.

Marking the launch of Halo 3: ODST, a sneak peek event was held yesterday in which fans (and VIPs whom got in an hour earlier by finding a secret code) were treated to quite the set up. Waiting outside what looked like an abandoned warehouse a fully clad, fully loud drill Sargent burst out the blacked out doors and ordered the first 5 cadets to line up, shout Hoorah and march inside the hell droppers training facility. Once inside we were commanded to strip down to our birthday suits and be deloused (no, not really). Once inside we registered with the proper authorities (gave our marketing information), and were seated in an army style bunker where two extremely intense and imposing soldiers (again fully clad in UNSC gear) informed us that we were the best of the best, and that we only had 5 minutes to go from cadets to full ODSTs as a battle was being waged right outside. We were given our dog tags (lanyards), uniforms (t-shirts from American Apparel… glad to know they’re still around in times of war), and our war cards (little cards for E3 explaining the controls). We were yelled at, badgered, and demanded questions; the solider sitting infront of me became top of class and team leader.

Master Chief's ride.

Once my future shell shock experiences were over we were shouted out of the tent and into the next room. Now, keep in mind that this whole area was pretty dark and there were lots of big men and women yelling at us army style, the mood was set, I knew it was all in good fun but secretly a part of me was afraid of the upcoming fight I would have to bare and the intensity grew threefold. In this next room though, it felt like something out of The Wizard fog all around (which is why a number of my photos didn’t turn out), more UNSC soldiers directing the new cadets to their battle stations, and about 9 standing terminals with 4 screens, 4 X-boxes, and 4 controllers each. This was it, the trial of Firefight mode. We played as a unit for a good 20-30 minutes before our lives expired and it was time for the next batch to experience. The ambiance was great as there were two huge screens hung in the corner showing what the middle (and raised) station players were up to, the sound was loud and furious from the gameplay and with green lights flashing everywhere (as well as silhouettes of the Covenant scum and New Mombasa in ruins all around, you really got into the mood.

Once you died however, the UNSC soldiers who had been badgering you previously turned mournful and sympathetic, thanking you for your courage, shaking your hand, and offering candy, drinks, and coupons for your honour. Once  I went through my ODST training I felt I could do anything, so I went over to the media room (which was essentially just another blocked off area with nothing in it but a few chairs, Microsoft’s Jeff Rivait, and a Halo 3 ODST SUV with a big screen in the back playing the single player mode with Jeff walking us beaten soldiers through a typical romp as the Rookie.

Where our will was shattered and rebuilt as ODSTs

I don’t want to ruin any spoilers so I won’t discuss what I saw. But I will tell you this cadet; Halo 3: ODST is much more than any of us had ever thought it could be, it’s not an expansion, it’s a whole new game, with 7 hours of gameplay in single player mode, co-op mode, a whole new disc of Halo 3 multiplayer mode with all the maps released for it (as well as 3 all new maps) and what I am most excited for, Firefight mode; Halo 3: ODST is definitely one of the games I am most excited for this holiday season.

Halo 3: ODST drops feet first into hell (comes out) TODAY! As well, we have a special Firefight preview video that will be hitting andPOP.com very soon for those who don’t like to read these previews… but then again, if you don’t than you wouldn’t be reading this far anyways.

Private Salem reporting for duty, HOORAH!

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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.

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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.

Fans lining up outside Future Shop. Sorry about the poor picture quality.

At the event which took place both in Toronto as well as Vancouver  Hockey stars were present to offer photo ops and autographs to fans waiting (Trevor Linden in Vancouver and Wendel Clark & Ian White in Toronto). As well, the Xbox Canada crew gave out t-shirts, lanyards, and one lucky hockey fan even walked away with an Xbox 360 Elite unit! Game stations were available for all to try out the newest NHL title and in my little time spent watching this station, I saw hockey fans, TIFF fans, concert goers, and Wrestling fans go at it complete with smack talk on the side of Yonge street.

NHL 10 producer, Sean Ramjagsingh was available for questions, and to ensure everyone would love the thrill of hockey of course.

While there, I got a chance to speak with the producer of NHL 10 Sean Ramjagsingh who filled me in on a couple of the new features in this year’s title. “This year we really tried to capture the emotion and intensity of NHL hockey, the importance of solid tough guys and really make them important, just like in real life. ” (Yes, I took that as the fighting and hitting are getting major boosts this year around) Sean also discussed the new features such as first person fighting (what I am most excited for), post whistle play, interactive and intense crowds, and the new board play feature, “you can pin guys against the board defensively or offensively, dump the puck in and be really strong against the boards, team mates will come in and support you. really changing the gameplay” says Sean, as well, with over 150 goalie animations, the revamping of the goalie specifically will really give gamers new intensity levels to deal with, especially playing online in leagues and tournaments.

Adam, the first purchaser of NHL 10 in Toronto. While you read this and wait for stores to open on the 15th, he will already be dekeing, fighting, and scoring hat tricks.

As the line proceeded into Future Shop at midnight, eager fans (as well as some passer byers) faces lit up as they stood on the escalator to be met at the top with employees welcoming and handing fans copies of the title. I was able to speak and get a photo with Adam, the first purchaser of NHL 10 to walk out of Future Shop with the game in hand and while I didn’t want to keep him from playing the game he eagerly waited for, I couldn’t help but feel the same sense of urgency to rush home and pop this bad boy into my Xbox 360. After seeing people play the game, and speaking with Mr. Ramjagsingh, I rushed home, but like any responsible reporter, work first play second. Once this writeup is over, I’m heading straight to the Xbox for some NHL 10 goodness. Well, would you look at that? writeup is over! HOCKEY TIME! (stay tuned for a full review in the near future).

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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!

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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.

GH has always separated itself from Rock Band by playing up the competitive aspect of the game.  Where Rock Band 2 added favourites like Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads and Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Guitar Hero 3 saw soul-crushing entries like Raining Blood by Slayer and Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce.  As a devoted Guitar Hero player since the series started, I could simply not get through either of the latter songs, even on hard mode.  Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has remedied the problem by smoothing out the gap between difficulty modes.  It took me lots of work to beat Raining Blood on Hard in GH3, but the song has been rejigged to make it less complicated this time around.  The difficulty definitely ramps up in Expert mode – but even Through the Fire and the Flames lets you play most of the song on the slider bar without worrying about strumming.  On the other hand, it means that the note layouts on your favourite song have probably changed.  If you had almost memorized The Sword’s Freya, for example, you might be as bothered as I was to have to learn the song again.

As the music genre slowly evolves, gamers are becoming more familiar with plastic instruments.  Guitar Hero: Smash Hits doesn’t quite offer anything new in the way of gameplay that a previous entry hadn’t already done.  Guitar Hero: Metallica brought us Expert+ mode on drums – and it’s back.  Some really tough songs have a skull and crossbones icon, meaning you can attach a second bass pedal to your drum kit and blast your way through Lamb of God’s Laid to Rest, among others.  The bass has recently been improved with an open note, where no buttons are pressed, and this makes songs like Rush’s YYZ all the more dynamic and enjoyable.

Despite these subtle changes I have described, this is still a Guitar Hero game, and you have definitely played this before.  The game runs on the same engine as World Tour, and features many of the same options including customizable avatars, guitars and tattoos.  Activision has recently announced a downloadable licensing patch that will make Guitar Hero 5 backwards compatible with most of the tracks on the Smash Hits disc.  This will certainly give the GH franchise some legs, as it jostles to dethrone Rock Band 2 as the reigning rhythm game.

Guitar Hero: Smash Hits has the same visual style as its predecessors.  There is a cartoony feel to the characters on screen matched by realistic motion capturing.  The venues are exotic this time around, everything from the pyramids in Egypt to the strangely-chosen final level in Quebec City.  The sound is generally pretty good in this game, but there are some slight discrepancies between the tracks as they appear here and their original recordings.  No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age suffers from this – the bass is way too quiet in the game mix.  Audience effects are pretty minor here, and I’m fondly reminded of Rock Band here; nothing sounds as exhilarating as when the audience sings along with your song.

Ultimately, the gaming enthusiast has two distinct choices on the console.  Rock Band is known for its lengthy list of downloadable tracks.  Lots of popular genres are represented, including simpler tracks that demand less skill to play.  This can make it boring for extended play sessions.  Guitar Hero, on the other hand, has always curated a list of challenging songs.  Sure, the series features I Love Rock and Roll and other ultra-basic tracks, but the difficulty ramps up fast.  The career mode of Guitar Hero: Smash Hits is where it’s at.  Practice with this game, and you will be a fret-shredder in no time.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 4/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 4.5/5

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That’s right folks, Scene It? is coming out with it’s third foray into the video game world with Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen!

Not only will Scene It? be making it’s way back to the Xbox 360, but this time around it’s making the debut on both the Wii and PS3!

Offering more up to date movie trivia (as well as classic movie trivia of course), Bright Lights! Big Screen! will also feature a new and improved single player mode as well as new, unique mini-games.

Better bone up on your movie knowledge before Scene It? drops this holiday season.

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Activision has announced the November 3rd release of Bizarre Creations’ new racing extravaganza game – and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. Players will race up to 50 licensed cars, over courses featuring jumps, alternate routes and hairpin turns – business as usual.  What’s unusual is that while this is going on, players will be picking up power-ups – nitro, shields, and offensive weapons to knock the other players into last place – or out of the race completely.

Blur looks upon first glance to be no more than a Burnout clone, but without going into too many details, it’s a project all it’s own.  Placing an emphasis on the multiplayer experience through a community-based interface, a “unique story-driven social network”, this game promises to deliver better, more personable online play.

So look for this title on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in November – if you’re not paying attention, it might just blow right past you.

Cheers.

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Looks like CAPTAIN Shepard is searching for new recruits, and if this video is any indication, he’s going to have quite the gang of space ass-kickers!

It seems from the video below that Mass Effect 2 brings into effect personalities of those involved in the battle beyond just the skills and techniques of those in Mass Effect 1. Case in point is the introduction of Grunt, a blood-hungry Krogan. He is violent, he is unpredictable and he has never been truely defeated in battle. He’s dangerous, and he’s on your side.

Enjoy the video after the break as more are expected in the future before Mass Effect 2‘s release.

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Announced earlier this week three Capcom games will be making the PLatinum Hits triple Pack coming out September 8 2009. With Lost Planet Extreme Condition: Colonies Pack, Devil May Cry 4, and the zombie fest Dead Rising available for an ultra low suggested retail price of $39.99.  Available only for the Xbox 360, this triple  platinum pack is sure to please a lot of gamers out there.

With three top notch titles at such a low price, if you haven’t played most of the games included, you owe it to yourself to try them out!

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Here you go hockey and game fans, below you will find the first official teaser trailer for NHL 2K10 by 2K Sports.

With an new emphasis on casual gaming now both the hard-core and not-so-hard-core and both join in on the fun with true to life authenticity, revamped AI, online and offline multiplayer, and much more! NHL 2K10 faces off September 15 for the Wii, PS3, PS2, and Xbox 360.

Enjoy!

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With Forza Motorsport 3 coming to North America on the Xbox 360 in October (on the 27th to be exact), a number of goodies have been dropped on future speed enthusiasts. Not only will those purchasing the game get to enjoy over 400 cars and 100 tracks in this, the biggest and most vividly realistic console racer (so says the media); but they also get the following if they shell out a deposit on this title ahead of time.

Through the Forza online community, Justin Van Dusen II will have his custom painted Audi R8 V10 be the official pre-order bonus car for this upcoming racer. Through Xbox Live over 300,000 votes were tallied as to the pre-order bonus car and Justin’s Audi turned out the be the winner.

As well, a myriad of limited collector’s edition details have been announced such as the Canada wide access to Forza’s VIP memebership status online. This VIP gives gamers access to 5 unique cars: 2009 Aston Martin DBS, 2009 Cevrolet Corvette ZR1, 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia, 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, and the 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997).

But wait! that’s not all as limited collector’s edition purchasers also get the Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro, Acura NSX, Nissan Fairlady, Aston Martin DB9, and 2008 Dodge Carger Stock Car. As well, LCE purchasers will get access to future designs and tuning kits via the VIP status AND a Forza Motorsport 3 collector’s keychain and 2GB USB thumbdrive.

Wow. that’s a lot of stuff!

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