Or rather, you get to play KISS as a Guitar/Band Hero with the DLC that we mentioned was promised for November. The three-track song pack comes with a song from their newest album - "Modern Day Delilah" - as well as "Lick It Up" and "I Was Made For Lovin' You".

As a promotional event, KISS will also be streaming a live concert on Facebook on Wednesday, November 25th at 9pm PST that takes place in LA. [READ MORE]

THQ has announced an online World of Zoo animal center, where you can download a free animal creator and make a unique and wacky animal of your own. For those of oyu unfamiliar with World of Zoo, in World of Zoo players create, download, and share their own customized, imaginative creature creations. To check it out for yourself, head on over to the main site. [READ MORE]

James Cameron's Avatar: The Game looks to be coming together quite well. Ubisoft released today another developer diary for the game.  This time around it's called "Choice: Two Worlds" and tells you about the obvious differences between the humans and the Na'Vi.   I can't help but drool over this game and movie.  Is anyone else as excited as I am?  I typically try to not get into the hype of a game as it can burn me, but I don't think I'll mind this time.

Check out the video and speak your thoughts!

[READ MORE]

I'm going to be flat broke next year. Most of 2009's big games have been pushed back to Q1, and now Hudson has even more stuff crowding the release lists. Not that I'm complaining; Calling looks like a solid take on the Japanese horror genre and it's about time the Wii had a decent horror game exclusive. Meanwhile Bonk is getting a revival in Brink of Extinction, a downloadable title coming to XBLA and WiiWare. I'm glad Hudson is coming out strong next year. I've been missing their particular flavor of game, and with so many studios shutting down or downsizing it's nice to see one still going strong.

Check out the new trailers for Calling and Bonk below.

This week’s Nintendo downloads throw some demos at your way on top of the usual montage of downloadable games for purchase.

The demos are strictly on WiiWare, but offer an interesting assortment of games. BIT.TRIP BEAT is the musical selection for the lineup of demos. You bounce beats with the Wiimote in tandem with the rhythm in the 8-bit soundtrack. In time for the imminent release of the newest title in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord is available to tide you over until Crystal Bearers does release in December. If mythology is more your thing, you can play as Nyx in NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits where the demo will show the experience of the winged protagonist who is able to utilize the power of the gods. Last on the demo list on WiiWare is World of Goo. I have yet to play this myself, but the word has been passed around that the game is truly unique in the puzzle genre.

WiiWare’s only other title is Pokémon Rumble for full download. Battle them, defeat them, befriend them, collect them – you know the deal. You control cute little Toy Pokémon in this Wii exclusive game.

Virtual Console brings you the traditional two downloads for the week. About two weeks ago they offered Fighting Street, and in keeping with the Street Fighter theme they are now offering Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. There’s the interesting handicap available on the versus mode, probably to the detriment of many a master player. The second of the two games on Virtual Console this week is Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures: an aptly named adventure game where you play as Indiana Jones.

Finally, the DSi gets three downloads: Art Style: DIGIDRIVE, Arcade Bowling, and Robot Rescue. Art Style: DIGIDRIVE is a simple puzzler where you direct traffic and gather fuel. If you really feel up to it you can play on Endless mode to test your duration skills. Arcade Bowling is pretty much how it sounds: a virtual bowling game played with your stylus. You get a futuristic sound track, 3D graphics and two modes: Classic and Progressive. If you’re liking the sound of the puzzle games mentioned so far, Robot Rescue is yet another to add to your list. It’s a logic game based on the mission of rescuing the trapped robots all while avoiding traps strewn about the level. If it’s not already challenging enough for you, you get three difficulty levels to play around with. [READ MORE]

Are you tired of your boring old Wii Sensor Bar sitting on top of your TV doing nothing?  You're in luck!  POWER A is releasing the Darth Vader Sensor Bar Holder to make you the envy of your friends.  You may recall John posting this same product two months ago.  Apparently, it wasn't drawing enough of a customer base at the $50 price range.

You can now get it from a variety of sources (Amazon, Toys "R" Us, etc.) for as low as $35.  Does the price drop make it more attractive to you?  It might be good to suggest to that random relative that you successfully guilt into giving you a gift.  At least this gives you a reason to keep the Wii Sensor Bar on your TV even if you aren't using it. [READ MORE]

A masive amount of screen shots were released today for the upcoming Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll.  It looks like more large clear balls with monkeys inside like we are accustomed to in these games. 

I played the last iteration on the Wii but was only mildly amused because the game lacked any real depth.  Sega seems to have realized this and has announced 70 puzzle stages, 21 mini-games, multiplayer for 2-4 players, Marathon and Mirror Image modes, hidden items and more.  It even supports the Wii Balance board for the few that own them.  Look for the game on February 9, 2010. [READ MORE]

And here I thought Real Heroes: Firefighter was as exciting as a profession game could get. Majesco just announced Pizza Delivery Boy exclusively for the Wii. If you've worked this job before you might think this game sounds like a real drag, but I'm betting Majesco has made it more interesting than the real thing. You actually cook the pizzas you deliver, which makes me think of a strange hybrid between Cooking Mama and Paperboy. The game will also feature street races and cooking competitions--I didn't know pizza delivery guys were intro the drifting scene.
Pizza Delivery Boy is planned for a Winter 2010 release.
[READ MORE]

The Beatles: Rock Band is getting the remainder of Sgt Pepper's next, while the rest of us who only have Rock Band are getting some AFI and Bangles. The AFI Pack 01 will contain five AFI songs, and the Bangles "Walk Like an Egyptian" will be available as a solo song on Rock Band and LEGO Rock Band. All the songs will be available on the Xbox 360 and Wii on Nov 17th, and the PS3 on Nov 19th. The AFI Pack costs $8.49/680 MS points, or $1.99/160 MS points/$2.00 for the songs individually including the Bangles.

• AFI – “Beautiful Thieves”
• AFI – “End Transmission”
• AFI – “Love Like Winter”
• AFI – “Medicate”
• AFI – “The Leaving Song, Pt II”
•  The Bangles – “Walk Like an Egyptian”+

Rock Band Unplugged on the PSP also gets two new tracks on Nov 19th, with some Dead Kenndys and Sleater-Kinney at $1.99 each.

• Dead Kennedys – “California über Alles”
• Sleater-Kinney – “You’re No Rock’n’Roll Fun”

[READ MORE]

• Silent Hill: Shattered Memories gets a release date and character info
• EverQuest II Sentinels Fate available for pre-order
• Combat Mission Shock Force v1.21 patch
• New Star Trek Online screenshots beam aboard
• See the latest video for PT Boats: Knights of the Sea
• Click, click, boom! AVA goes live on ijji.com
• Zune video joining Facebook, Twitter, and Last.FM on Xbox Live next week
• Modern Warfare 2 breaks sales record
• Facebook coming soon the to PlayStation 3
• Twilight sets on March 16th
• The Gamefly wish list: this year's hottest games
• Want some free XBLA games?
• This week's deals on GamersGate
• PS3 players of Modern Warfare 2 having issues
• The million consoles banned and Craigslist is the place the get them
• Play Age of Conan now for free and level up twice as fast
• Greed Corp coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC near you in 2010

Silent Hill’s return to its beginnings in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories has officially been announced to be available to gamers on the Wii in December 8th, nearing the holidays. While the PS2 and PSP versions of the game have yet to have an announced release date, Konami has offered up information on the characters instead. Read on for the characters to be featured in the game, specifically their relationship to the protagonist Harry Mason, as well as the respective images and character art.

As I said, the upcoming Silent Hill game is a re-imagining of the original game in the franchise, but with an important distinction. While you will play the story of Harry Mason as he searches in desperation for his lost and beloved daughter, the gameplay will most likely seem unfamiliar. Rather than combating the evil fiends found in the franchise, the game focuses on puzzles and problem solving to effectively avoid them. Your Wiimote will function predominantly as your cell phone for GPS, messaging, and picture taking as well as for your hand dandy flashlight.

There is also a focus on psychological profiling of you, the gamer and protagonist. The game will adjust depending on your specific actions, and you will be visited by a psych profiler (therapist Dr. K) regularly that will include interactive psychological tests. Check out the trailer from E3 for a look at the game.


[READ MORE]

Last week I postulated that Modern Warfare 2's terrorist mission "No Russian" would spark a bit of controversy at both the local and national level.  Of course that's like saying the sky is blue as news organizations will always rush to run something without context and without doing ample research and it looks like I was right as Fox News (a bastion of "journalistic integrity") has already come up with their own half assed piece on the game. 

From the local news angle comes this piece from NBC 4 here in Columbus which skips the context of the mission (playing as a secret agent trying to gain the trust of the Russians) in favor of highlighting that you get to kill civilians in the game.  They also manage to pick up the opinions of a few gamers who likewise miss the point and context of the mission.  Are you seeing anything in your area?  Leave us notes in the comments.