Video games

Earlier this month Sony announced a special UNCHARTED Dual Pack for the PlayStation 3 to get you ready for the upcoming release UNCHARTED 3: Drake's Deception. Now they have announced that when the game is released on November 1, a new limited edition bundle will be available, consisting of the UNCHARTED 3 video game and a 320GB PlayStation 3 system.

But that's not all. With the purchase of the PlayStation 3 UNCHARTED 3: Drake's Deception Bundle, Sony is throwing in a month of PlayStation Plus, their premium subscription service that offers added features such as automatic downloads and online storage for game saves, free games, discounts, exclusives, early access to demos and priority beta invites, and full game trials.

The PlayStation 3 UNCHARTED 3: Drake's Deception Bundle will be available for $299.99.

Guitar Hero today unveiled the final 15 tracks to be showcased in the epic 85 song set list in Guitar Hero 5. Among the varied collection of current hits and classic artists are Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire," TV On The Radio's "Wolf Like Me," Muse's "Plug In Baby," Stevie Wonder's classic "Superstition" and Nirvana's multi-award winning, chart-topping "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Be sure to grab your copy of Guitar Hero 5 on September 1st!Read more

XSEED Games just announced that it will be bringing the Nintendo Wii exclusive, JU-ON: The Grudge, to the U.S. this year. Dubbed as a "Haunted House Simulator," players can expect to be scared non-stop as they experience the game based off of Takashi Shimizu's original Japanese horror film, JU-ON. Takashi Shimizu will be serving as a creative consultant for the game's development, as well.

Players will use their Wiimote as a flashlight to explore haunted areas, including an abandoned warehouse, a dimly-lit hospital and a mannequin factory. Also, your friend can grab a second Wiimote and push buttons to make in-game events happen immediately.

JU-ON: The Grudge will launch this October. Grab the full press release of the horrifying game here.

Demon's Souls, an action RPG, was released a few months ago in Japan. It sold very well, thus, Atlus is bringing it stateside. This game's biggest draw is its online functionality. Demon's Souls offers cooperative, player versus player and single-player modes as users will be pitted against hordes of demons.

This game is open-ended, so you can choose your own path and do whatever you want. From building and customizing your character to developing your stats and equipment, Demon's Souls offers an immense amount of replayability. Demon's Souls also uses a "World Tendency" system, which changes the aggressiveness of monsters, the rewards for killing them, and the triggering of events based on players' actions.

For the full press release and more information on the background of Demon's Souls' story, venture here.

From Atlus comes the second installment of the Shim Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner series, Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon. The game picks up not too long after The Soulless Army ends.

Graphics

Remember, this is a PS2 game, so don't expect anything epic but, it does hold up very well. The Tokyo that you explore is very expanse and fun to experience. Kazuma Kaneko has created a very flashy, amine-like game that oozes with style.

- 18/20

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We would like to introduce Justin Hubbell, our BestStuff.com Summer 2009 intern. He does have his own blogs (1, 2, 3, 4), and will be writing content for BestStuff.com as well as other tasks. Justin will be our resident gamer for the immediate time period, and his interests are in line with ours. Keep an eye on his postings, and comment when you want more info. We are glad to have him on board, and we wish you luck, Justin. Here is his first post on BestStuff.com:

We were given a taste back in March about the possible track list for Rock Band Unplugged. But now we have the official, full track list! You'll get to play 41 songs, ranging from the 60s - 2000s and, on June 9th, you can download another 10 song set.Read more

Last week Vuzix demonstrated the world's first consumer augmented reality video eyewear at the 2009 Game Developer's Conference. When used with their VR920 Virtual Reality Video Glasses, the new Augmented Reality Accessory Kit brings printed pages to life with 3-D animated characters. The Vuzix AR Accessory Kit has two main features:

• CamAR, a clip-on USB camera that mounts onto a pair of Vuzix Video Eyewear. The CamAR allows the user to see through to the real world but also tracks objects and the user's position in 3-dimensional space.
• PhasAR, a wireless augmented reality input controller is designed to be used with the CamAR. The PhasAR allows users to interact with virtual, mixed and augmented reality worlds with a revolutionary 6 degree of freedom tracking system that lets the computer know exactly where the user is touching in the virtual and real worlds. Depending on the application, the PhasAR can become anything from a virtual magic wand to a 3-D virtual paint brush. The PhasAR enables 2-D like mouse support in order to control virtual objects in 3-D space.

Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.

Okay, Beatles fans! The date has been announced – The Beatles: Rock Band will be in stores on 9/09/09…just six long months from now. It will be released worldwide for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii gaming systems.

The Beatles: Rock Band will be available as standalone software and hardware and they will also have a limited edition bundle. The game will be compatible with all Rock Band instrument controllers, but if you want to rock it Beatles style, a limited number of instruments modeled after those used by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr will be available. Read more