VideoGameNews

Set List Features Top 40 and Most Popular Music from Favorite Bands Including Taylor Swift, Fall Out Boy, Lily Allen, The All-American Rejects, Jackson 5 and More

Band Hero for Nintendo DS Lite Introduces Innovative Drum and Vocal Gameplay Allowing Players to Take their Band's Performance On the Road

November 3, 2009 – Hitting store shelves throughout North America today, Activision Publishing, Inc.'s Band Hero for Wii, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 computer entertainment systems and Nintendo DS Lite explodes onto the scene with the most exciting and accessible set lists everyone can enjoy at home or on the road, featuring chart-topping tracks from the most popular bands of yesterday and today. With the console versions, up-and-coming pop superstars can create the band of their dreams with any combination of multiple guitarists, bassists, drummers and vocalists or hit all the high notes together in the new karaoke-style Sing-Along mode. Fans can also step into the spotlight as their favorite popular music stars with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5's Adam Levine making appearances as playable characters. Read more

September 16, 2009 -- Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that EA SPORTS NHL 10 is available in stores today world-wide for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system.

NHL 10 delivers a new, physical brand of hockey to match the physical and emotional intensity real-world players endure in pursuit of the Stanley Cup. New gameplay innovations include first-person fighting, all-new board play, Battle for the Cup and Be A Tough Guy modes, and spectacular new ways to score. NHL 10 features more than 200 gameplay refinements that replicate the skill and finesse of hockey and deliver the most responsive and authentic action ever for the series. Read more

Study is one of the first to investigate the effects of practice in the brain using two imaging techniques

September 2009 – Researchers at the Mind Research Network just announced the findings of a scientific study that used brain imaging and Tetris to investigate whether practice makes the brain efficient because it increases gray matter. Over a three-month period, adolescent girls practiced Tetris, a computer game requiring a combination of cognitive skills. The girls who practiced showed greater brain efficiency, consistent with earlier studies. Compared to controls, the girls that practiced also had a thicker cortex, but not in the same brain areas where efficiency occurred [see photo].

[Relative to controls, red areas show where practice led to a thicker cortex; blue areas show more efficient brain function after practice; right image is right hemisphere; left image is the left hemisphere]Read more

Internet Channel for the Wii Menu Now Available at No Cost

September 2, 2009--Nintendo is offering an easy way for Wii console owners to access the Internet without a computer. Effective immediately, people who want to browse the Internet using their Wii consoles will be able to do so at no added cost.

The Wii Menu houses a variety of informational and entertaining channels, such as the News Channel and Wii Shop Channel, that users can visit to enhance their Wii experience. Wii consoles that are linked to a broadband Internet connection have even greater access to additional content and channels. For example, the Nintendo Channel is an interactive guide to what’s new in the world of Nintendo that lets consumers watch trailers, mini-documentaries, product demonstrations and game-play videos, while the Check Mii Out Channel allows users to show off their Mii creations and download Miis that others have created.

The Internet Channel, which can be downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel, allows Wii owners to browse the Internet on their televisions from the comfort of their couches. Users can check their e-mail, make purchases or travel plans, and surf their favorite Web pages by pointing and clicking with the Wii Remote controller. Read more

Latest Version of Best-Selling Music Franchise Offers Today’s Hottest Rock Hits and Classic Anthems

For a Limited Time Consumers Score a Copy of the Unreleased Guitar Hero Van Halen with Purchase of Guitar Hero 5

September 1, 2009 – Continuing to transform the way people experience music, the highly-anticipated Guitar Hero 5 video game hits store shelves today with unprecedented music variety featuring an expansive, pulse-pounding 85-song on-disc set list, more than 150 songs available via downloadable content, and the capability to import select songs from other Guitar Hero games. Featuring some of music’s leading bands and artists across a multitude of genres, the ability for players to rock any way they want with any combination of multiple guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers in any game mode, Guitar Hero 5 allows players to step into the spotlight as iconic rockers of the past, present and future with an all-star line-up of in-game playable characters, including Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Carlos Santana, Garbage’s Shirley Manson and Matt Bellamy of Muse. For a limited time, consumers who purchase Guitar Hero 5 will receive the unreleased Guitar Hero Van Halen when they mail in their proof of purchase.

Early reviews and previews of the game have been outstanding. Official Xbox Magazine gives Guitar Hero 5 a final score of 95 out of 100 saying, "Party Play mode instantly reinvigorates the social fun of music games… It is the new standard for social rocking." The magazine goes on to say, "This is musical fun done right… This is the Guitar Hero to own."Read more

Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version to Hit United States and Europe in Spring 2010 In Tribute to Legions of Pokémon Fans Worldwide, Announcement Kicked Off Pokémon World Championships

August 17, 2009 -- The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo of America Inc. just revealed that Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi systems will be released in spring 2010 in the United States and Europe. These newest entries for the best-selling video game franchise were announced amid the biggest Pokémon video game event of the year and in front of the top Pokémon video game and trading card game players in the world at the 2009 Pokémon World Championships. Read more

SCRABBLE Also Available Across Mobile Devices, Social Networking Sites, Handheld Gaming Platforms, Xbox Live Arcade and Online

August 14, 2009--Electronic Arts today announced that SCRABBLE is launching on iGoogle in conjunction with the support of Opensocial, which offers users a more powerful and interactive way to play games on their iGoogle homepage, personal websites or desktop for quick pick-up-and-play fun. The new social features on iGoogle allow users to share content, play games and collaborate with friends on their personal homepage. SCRABBLE as a gadget is the 6th official version of the Hasbro owned SCRABBLE franchise launched by EA to give fans of the game a vast array of ways to play.

The SCRABBLE gadget customized for iGoogle provides the authentic game experience as well as an intuitive interface that allows head-to-head challenges against friends and family (based on subset of Google contacts). Gameplay is asynchronous and allows for up to five simultaneous games. With easy tracking of scores and statistics, one always will know where they rank against their friends as well as the iGoogle community at large. Players also can get help from extensive word lists and choose one of the several flexible speed levels to customize their level of difficulty. Read more

August 5, 2009 – The record-setting and award-winning Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is coming to Nintendo. Activision Publishing, Inc. will release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on Wii on November 10 in conjunction with the launch of Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2.

Ported to Wii by Treyarch, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare will bring to Nintendo fans the gripping modern-day action-thriller that won more than 50 combined 2007 Editors’ Choice and Game of the Year Awards.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare for Wii is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information, visit www.callofduty.com.

SOURCE Activision Publishing, Inc.

Fans of All Ages Will Sing and Play Their Way to Superstardom with the Chart-Topping Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist This November

Fan Sweepstakes Will Award Tickets and Opportunity to Meet Taylor Swift in Person

August 4, 2009 – Taylor Swift, global music sensation and best selling artist of 2008, will ascend an all-new virtual stage this November in Band Hero, the ultimate party game featuring a wide assortment of today's popular hits and most recognizable pop anthems, created by Guitar Hero and Activision Publishing, Inc. Budding music stars, their families and friends, will all live their musical fantasy on the Band Hero stage, playing as Taylor Swift or alongside the singer/songwriter and guitarist, as she performs her smash-hits "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me" from her latest album Fearless as well as "Picture to Burn" from her self-titled debut record. Read more

July 1, 2009-To celebrate 10 years of the popular NBA 2K franchise, and the milestone of having sold two million units of NBA 2K9 worldwide, 2K Sports today announced that the NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition is planned for release in North America this fall for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system. NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition will come packaged in a specially designed 2K Sports locker configured for game storage, and include exclusive items featuring 2009 NBA Finals MVP, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, along with a special commemorative video looking back on 10 years of the NBA 2K franchise and its past cover athletes.

As part of a limited edition offering of only 30,000 copies, each NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition will be individually numbered for authenticity. Fans can now preorder their copy online and at local retail outlets across the country. Ten lucky fans will have the rare opportunity to find an autographed Kobe Bryant fine-art print, designed by Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One, which will be hidden and randomly packaged among the different lockers. Gamers with Xbox LIVE online entertainment network and PlayStation Network membership will also be able to enjoy special privileges for NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition, including exclusive access to an online lobby - the Gold Room - where celebrities and other VIP members will go to play, and only players with the Anniversary Edition will be allowed to enter. Read more