Beat City screens are nice and confusing
We suggested our enthusiasm for THQ’s Beat City may be reduced upon seeing actual screenshots of the rhythm-based minigame collection. We’re delighted to report that in addition to sounding like a neat idea, we think it looks pretty interesting as well! It’s got an unusual geometric art style.
You can inspect the style of Beat City for yourself in our gallery, and even see storyboard-style sequences that are … intended to explain the gameplay. We see an assembly line of crows being turned into parrots. We see a loving couple wearing outfits that grow spontaneously more ren-faire. We don’t feel illuminated.
Beat City screens are nice and confusing originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Rock Band Weekly: HIM, Marilyn Manson, The Police
Last week, the Rock Band Store got a few healthy slices of Americana with tracks from Otis Redding and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. This week’s offerings are much more foreign — there’s a three-pack from Finnish rock band HIM, a song from Britain’s One Night Only, a track from The Police, and a song from Marilyn Manson, whom we all know actually descends from an extinct alien race whose name our human tongues could never hope to pronounce.
Click past the jump for the full list of new additions!
Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: HIM, Marilyn Manson, The Police
Rock Band Weekly: HIM, Marilyn Manson, The Police originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Rock Band Weekly: Otis Redding, Brian Setzer Orchestra, The Chemical Brothers
Eclectic might be a bit of an understatement when it comes to next week’s Rock Band Weekly offerings, which run the gamut from soul to electronica to swing. Otis Redding dominates the majority of the new tunes, which is just fine by us. As for the rest, well you’re just going to have to hit the jump to see!
Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Otis Redding, Brian Setzer Orchestra, The Chemical Brothers
Rock Band Weekly: Otis Redding, Brian Setzer Orchestra, The Chemical Brothers originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Rock Band Weekly: Megadeth’s ‘Rust in Peace,’ The Who mashed-up
Hey, Rock Band aficionados! Are you ready to spend your hard-earned Microsoft Points, Wii Points or good old-fashioned cash money on tracks which you’ll never be able to play without injuring your tender, fragile metacarpals? Brace your bones — the Music Store is about to get a healthy dose of Megadeth, in the form of the outfit’s 1990 album “Rust in Peace.” Or, as it’s more commonly known, “The one with ‘Hangar 18‘ on it.”
The nine-track album will be available for $14.99 (1200
, bundle not available on Wii), and can also be purchased piecemeal for $1.99 (160, 200 Wii Points) per track. In addition, the Who’s “Super Bowl S-mashup” medley will be made available on Sunday after the big game for $1.99 (160, 200 Wii Points).
Check out all the songs included in next week’s update after the jump.
Continue reading Rock Band Weekly: Megadeth’s ‘Rust in Peace,’ The Who mashed-up
Rock Band Weekly: Megadeth’s ‘Rust in Peace,’ The Who mashed-up originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Rhythm game devs: genre hasn’t peaked, user-generated content is key
In the latest issue of Edge Magazine, Harmonix head Alex Rigopulos and Neversoft project director Brian Bright both speak out regarding the current state of rhythm-music gaming. As you might imagine, neither developer thinks that the genre is flatlining. In fact, Rigopulos even believes that “future music games will exceed the sales success of the last generation.”
Surprisingly, though, while each heads up their own approach to the genre, the two seem to be in near-direct agreement on the next step for their franchises. “User-generated content will be absolutely critical to the ongoing success of the genre, I think,” Rigopulos says. Bright echoes his statement, saying, “I think user-created content is key to the evolution … if you can’t create or edit licensed music due to copyright laws, then you’re limited to pretending to play someone else’s music.”
That said, each developer differs in their definition of exactly what that “user-created content” will be. In the case of Rigopulos, he believes the Rock Band Network and its potentially “huge community of power-users — skilled music creators” will be his company’s next “defining moment.” Bright is less sure of a plan, simply stating, “I think the key is to create music, but make it compelling to create, so the game is in the creation.”
Rhythm game devs: genre hasn’t peaked, user-generated content is key originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Natsume’s Squishy Tank and Cheer We Go available on DS in March
There’s bound to be someone else out there waiting for news about Natsume’s super-cute artillery puzzle game Squishy Tank, because we know we are. Natsume just announced that both that puzzler and Cheer We Go will be released in March, which is … unfortunately, so overloaded that these games are likely to founder in even deeper obscurity than they would anyway.
Squishy Tank, based on a series of Japanese Flash animations, is a color-matching game with soft, animate tank characters and adorable parody minigames. Cheer We Go is a rhythm-based game in which the player revitalizes a failed town, home to terrible sports teams and widespread despair, with cheerleading! The games will retail for $20 each.
Natsume’s Squishy Tank and Cheer We Go available on DS in March originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bit. Trip: Runner is a ‘rhythm platformer’
Speaking to Nintendo Life in a podcast, Gaijin Games’s Alex Neuse spilled plenty of details about the fourth Bit.Trip game for WiiWare, Bit. Trip Runner. Neuse calls the game a “rhythm platformer,” a genre populated, in his estimation, only by Vib-Ribbon. Which means that players will move Commander Video through side-scrolling environments to the beat of new chiptune songs, two of which are provided by chiptune superstars Anamanaguchi.
The game’s 50 levels will make use of user-submitted fanart, for which the developer is still soliciting entries. The universe of Bit. Trip will also expand a bit: “We’re going to be adding a lot more to this game,” Neuse said. “There’s going to be multiple characters - not playable characters, but we are going to introduce some new characters into the franchise.” Runner is around 2/3 complete, and is expected to release on WiiWare sometime this spring.
Bit. Trip: Runner is a ‘rhythm platformer’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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THQ taking DS to Beat City
Ever wonder what a city built on rock and roll would actually look like? Find out this spring when THQ releases Beat City for the DS. Beat City, developed by THQ Wireless developer Universomo, is a series of 20 rhythm-based minigames in which players “tap, swipe, or hold” to the beat, while the city transforms. Success in minigames will help drive Dame Isolde Minor and her Cacophony Corporation, who presumably dislike music, out of the city.
While Universomo isn’t quite as glamorous a developer as the Nintendo R&D1 team that created Rhythm Heaven, we’re delighted to see someone else taking on the idea of rhythm-based minigames. That enthusiasm may diminish when we see actual screens or footage, but why not enjoy the moment?
THQ taking DS to Beat City originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Christmas Light Hero brings rhythm to the holidays
You gotta hand it to this kid’s parents, who managed to turn up their boring old Christmas lights to 11 and into quite the Guitar Hero homage. It’s not the first time we’ve seen Activision’s franchise mix it up with some Christmas lights, but it’s certainly the most unique and inspired. We’ve embedded the video past the break so put on your favorite Rudolph sweater (the good one with the blinking nose you keep in the back of the closet), pour yourself a hot cup of cocoa and give it a watch.
Continue reading Christmas Light Hero brings rhythm to the holidays
Christmas Light Hero brings rhythm to the holidays originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Swag Sunday: Band Hero for everything Nintendo
For this week’s not-quite-the-holidays-yet giveaway, we’ve got a Band Hero prize pack for the Nintendo Wii and DS lined up for one lucky winner. That’s right! Not just Band Hero for your silly old home console, but also for your handheld (that is, unless you have a Nintendo DSi or XXL — sorry!). Prepare to be embraced by friends and relatives as a genuine American (or Canadian, excluding Quebec) hero while playing along to your favorite Taylor Swift song.
In honor of last night’s Video Game Awards (and the subsequent flood of news and trailers), we’re asking you to tell us what your favorite trailer or news was from the World Premiere-stravaganza. We’ll pick one winner at random this week, so as always, be sure to keep an eye on the inbox!
- Leave a comment telling us what your favorite trailer or news was from last night’s World Premiere-stravaganza (the VGAs).
- You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec — likely because of The Kids in the Hall).
- Limit 1 entry per person per day
- This entry period ends at 7:31PM ET on Monday, December 13
- At that time, we’ll randomly select one winner to receive one copy of Band Hero for Nintendo DS ($50 ARV) and one copy of Band Hero for Nintendo Wii ($50 ARV).
- For a list of complete rules, click here
What is Joyswag? Since we don’t keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes “Joyswag,” which is passed along to our readers. For more info on our policy, click here.
Swag Sunday: Band Hero for everything Nintendo originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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