Top Video Game Reviews

Microsoft's presentation at E3 really was something special. I was getting a bit bored until my favourite director Spielberg walked onto the stage hinting at a new Microsoft gadget.

MIlo was then showed off to the world by British company Lionhead. Somehow the woman playing this demo was able to hold a normal conversation with the boy through the game. Although a lot of people have said that there is no point you really cannot say that it isnt cool.

You are able to actually use your whole body in the games. For example you can hold an invisible steering wheel stepping in and out to accelerate and brake respectively. Penalty shootouts become more realistic with a run up and a kick that is shown as you do it on the game. This isnt a one handed gesture like Nintendo this is the future. As well as this Natal can scan any real world item such as a skateboard so you can use your own board in game but not actually need to stand on the board itself.

If this is what they say it is, it is going to be huge. On top of this, at the recent Tokyo game show major developers such as Sega and Capcom have both announced their backing of the hardware and this is on top of all the other major developers which include EA and the obvious Microsoft game studios.

For more information on this amazing new gadget it might be worth checking out a gadget blog.

It seems like the final release date for the Wii Dj Hero game has been set. It is expected for the fall of 2009. So what is it all about, and does the long expecting period is well worth it ?

This new innovative game that is using Activision’s Hero formula from their well famous and successful games series “Guitar Hero” is going to use an charging new control that will simulate a Dj’s turntable.For the console fans and guitar hero fans that didn’t hear about the new upcoming console game from Activision, there is only one message: “Get out from under your rock”. The new exciting game in the hero series, a series that sold millions and gave the pleasure of playing the guitar to music illiterates, this time will simulate, instead of a guitar player, a DJ and will allow the player to rock the dance floor and become a real DJ hero.

The turntable Dj Hero controller is composed of 2 separate parts. The first part has the disk spinning like platform. In normal “traditional” Dj equipment you can normally find 2 of this kind while in the game control there is only one. It can turn back and forward like a real disk and it has 3 buttons. Since it has to simulate a real Dj platform, there is a button for each disk and the third is the sampling button.

There are a couple songs that can be played against a 2nd player with a Guitar Hero controller, in room DJ Battles, modes where you can rap along with the game via a microphone and online DJ battles. It’s too bad that you can’t use the Guitar Hero drums but they have so save something for the sequel.

They have gone a long way to make sure that DJ Hero is not just Guitar Hero but with the wheels of steel. I’ve been really excited the engagement of DJ Shadow and can’t wait to play through the mixes and tracks he made for this game. I’ve been a big DJ Shadow fan for years and not just his main albums. They also have Grandmaster Flash, Eminem, Jay-Z working on the game as a creative consultant and many more contributing mixes and tracks.

Ever since the release of the first ever Guitar Hero game, the games have been a huge success and since that year, 2005, Activision have stormed the gaming market. Up until now Guitar Hero have released 10 different games, the first ones being based more on guitars. More recently, with Rock Band coming onto the market, Activision has had to include new instruments to keep up with Harmonix, creators of Rock Band.

However, with 3 new games in the pipeline, Guitar Hero are heading to get the edge over Rock Band with the introduction of a different game, without guitars.

Guitar Hero 5, Band Hero and DJ Hero are the 3 new Guitar Hero games that are due for release towards the end of 2009. The first one, Guitar Hero 5, is a standard Guitar Hero game, featuring the standard instruments as well as a 85 strong set list. This game does feature an improved guitar controller which should prove to be successful over their previous model.

The next game up is Band Hero, this one is very similar to Guitar Hero 5, however it’s more of a family based game. This is just one way Activision is trying to take the family gaming market away from Rock Band.

The final game is DJ Hero. Activision know it as much as we do, this is something brand new for the market, and Activision want as much from it as they can. A new DJ Deck controller is being released along side the game, the controller will feature 2 slider bars and 3 buttons. Because the game is for an entirely new target market, it’s difficult to tell whether the game will be successful. Although, if the game becomes successful, will Activision be releasing a whole new range of Guitar Hero games? Obviously the name would be changed from Guitar Hero. Plus, will Rock Band want some of the market too and release their own range of games to compete with Activision.

There are still a large number of target markets that haven’t been targeted by either Rock Band or Guitar Hero. One would be piano players. No doubt a Piano Hero game would be popular because you would get both modern piano players, as well as more classical players who prefer to play grand pianos.

A classical version of Guitar Hero is another angle they haven’t released yet. Classical guitars are hugely popular and by bringing out a video game like Classical Guitar Hero, you would almost be entering a new market because the age of the player would be different to the age of a standard Guitar Hero player.

They are just a couple of my ideas, but whether we will ever see these types of games is a different matter. The fate of these possible games all lies on whether or not DJ Hero becomes a success and how much revenue is created. Another problem they would have is working out whether a new game like Classical Guitar Hero would make any money for them.

These are all factors that would need to be considered before a new game would even go into production, but I would like to see some of these games in the near future.