Not long after Sony released its much awaited PlayStation 3 Slim, video game console makers seem to have woken up from their slumber. If you thought that the video game console wars are over, think again! It’s back and in full force.

Try looking online for a video game console and you will be met with various promises and offers. This console has better hardware to give the best graphic experience. This one is the fastest. This one has awesome sounds. And so on.

More than the actual console itself, manufacturers are coming up with a plethora of hardware add-ons that promise to give gamers the best experience yet. At the most recent E3 convention in May, Sony revealed a new control system that is compatible with the PlayStation Eye. Not to be outdone, Microsoft revealed Natal, a hands-free control system. Of course, Wii had its MotionPlus.

Now we are witnessing the slashing of game console prices. The PlayStation 3 Slim already costs less than the first models. I was really taken by surprise at how low the price was! The Wii is also getting cheaper, with a 20% discount in the works.

What does this mean for us, consumers? Simple! We will have more and better choices in the near future. Looking at things from another angle, owners of the Xbox 360 and PS3 Slim are quite assured of the longevity of their consoles – it doesn’t seem like the units will be phased out for newer ones anytime soon.

Tags: Microsoft, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, PS3 Slim, sony, video game console wars, video game consoles, video games, xbox360

Don’t you just love the Internet? You get to stumble upon pieces of news that you might otherwise not even hear about! Take for example this “rumor” that I discovered over at Cheap Ass Gamer.

A forum member saw a sign posted in his area of West Jordan, Utah. The sign is shown below.

If the sign is for real, then video gamers can buy new game titles for the price of used games as Gamestop or Game Crazy is offering them. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that you can make extraordinary savings if this rumor proves to be true. Other gamers in the forum have had their say about the post – many have not heard or seen of the promotion from Best Buy. A Best Buy employee adds his two cents: maybe it is market dependent. That is, not all Best Buy stores will offer the same deal.

In any case, I think that it is well worth your effort to go check out the local Best Buy PLUS the other Best Buys within your area. I went over to Gamestop to check on their latest offers for used games and found games for as low as $26.99 (Star Wars Force Unleashed PS3) and as high as $44.99 (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 360). New copies of Call of Duty 4 are being sold online anywhere from $49.99 to $53.97. $44.99 is looking pretty good to me.

Anyone knows more about this promo?

What is your greatest or wildest dream? For some people, it is to become the President of the United States. Others dream to become the greatest gamer of all time. Still, there are those who dream of having a video game created with them as the lead characters. I don’t know about you but the last one sounds pretty good to me. I would be forever immortalized. I would be earning money. I wouldn’t have the responsibilities that a president would have.

Anyhow, if that was 50 Cent’s dream, then it has come true. With the release of his new game, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, he really seems to be making it good in the world of video games. If you remember, he had a previous game released, 50 Cent Bulletproof. However, he seems to be more proud of the new game than the first.

In an interview with MTV, he says:

The game is an intense experience,” 50 said. It was developed by the British studio Swordfish, but it’s 50 who came up with the skull bit. “The crystal skull actually exists,” he said. “It’s a diamond, an artifact. I saw it in a magazine in Dubai. I took it and said, ‘Make this what they’re after.’ “

And if you think that this is the end of the road for 50 in terms of video games, then think again. He has mentioned other projects in the future and has even talked about being part of game development and marketing. Business savvy speaking here huh?

Though a lot of people didn’t think that the video game industry was going to be seriously affected by the economic crisis, it happened. The video game industry actually reported lower sales this quarter and I am not really surprised. After all, when it comes to the crunch, entertainment is usually the first thing to get cut off the list. At least this is the case for me. Still, video games are a good alternative to going out to watch movies and eating at restaurants. In the long run, staying at home and having video game parties will save you less.

But what about buying new video games? You would think that not many video games will be released at this point in time, knowing that majority of the people all over the world are cutting back on their spending. Still, the people at Activision have just released the fourth installment of the Guitar Hero franchise. Guitar Hero World Tour, released today, does not come cheap.

The whole package is selling for $189.99 – almost $200. In an attempt to make it more marketable, Activision is also selling cheaper versions. The game only version comes at $49.99 while the game plus guitar controller comes at $90. If you already have the old guitar controller, then you can just get the standalone version. Still, is this a time to be spending hard earned dollars on video games?

Don’t get me wrong, I am actually trying to balance my checkbook and figuring out if I could get the game. I really want it but I am not sure that my finances will permit it. Perhaps this will be my Christmas gift to myself. How about you? Are you willing to get it as soon as it hits the shelf?

I know, I know, Guitar Hero has been around for a long time – the franchise has reached the third version. I have even featured it in this blog before. I didn’t really try it myself until this week, though, I guess that with all the games that I have been playing – on the PlayStation 3, the Wii, and the PC – plus the fact that I work day and night, I really don’t have much time to play everything.

In any case, we downloaded a demo of Guitar Hero, the Aerosmith edition from the PlayStation store the other day. Needless to say, I was instantly hooked. Perhaps one big factor is that I am a big Aerosmith fan. Listening to the songs while playing a video game is a different experience. Since I do not have any of the peripherals (instruments) used for Guitar Hero, I had to make do with the PS3 controller. It was still fun!

My thoughts on the game…the graphics are funky. I love Steven Tyler but I cannot deny the fact that he does not have the prettiest face in the music industry. Still, maybe they could have made his Guitar Hero persona a bit more aesthetically appealing? I guess that does not really matter much, though. I like how you can choose among 4 modes. I suck so bad that I can only do well on the Easy mode. I tried the harder modes for Dream On, Sweet Emotion, and Walk This Way but I could not even finish half of the songs!

I would really love to buy this game but $200 is a bit beyond me right now.

The newest installment in the football video game franchise Madden seems to have impressed countless people. The Madden NFL Franchise has been around for a couple of decades and has sold 70 million copies worldwide. The newest addition to the franchise, Madden NFL 09, thus has a LOT to live up to. With all the hype and the great expectations of more discerning video gamers, Madden NFL 09 has to be all that everyone has hoped for. And is it?

Apparently, yes. Reviews from all over the Internet are pointing to one thing: Madden NFL 09 is a huge success. From the one who have only had the chance to play the demo from the PlayStation Store (that’s me!) to those who have actually played the full game, it seems that they all agree that the game is moving closer towards perfection.

The game is available for different gaming consoles and also comes in “normal” and “special edition.” The standalone video game can cost anywhere from $39.99 to $59.99, depending on the platform. The special edition version, dubbed the “Madden NFL 09 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition” ships at $89.99. What do you get from the latter? “The latest pro football simulation, a copy of the all-new “NFL Head Coach 09″ game (the only way to buy the game this year) and hours of DVD-like bonus materials for the ultimate fan.”

Naturally, I want a copy of the special edition but last time I checked – last night – I couldn’t find any copies. I am sure some will resurface soon enough but will the price be the same?

I know a lot of people who scoff every time a new video game comes out which is based on a movie or something similar. They especially become skeptical if the game takes only a few months to create. More likely than not, they say, the game is going to suck – if only because they did not really put much importance on the game itself. The rationale is that these video game developers only want to take advantage of the popularity of and the hype surrounding the movie. The result is a poor or mediocre video gaming experience. And these people are actually right. Take The Transformers and The Sopranos. I don’t need to go into detail about how these games could have been much better.

Anyhow, here’s another of those video games that might just not meet our expectations. The 2008 Beijing Olympics is just around the corner and everyone and their moms have been jumping into the Olympics bandwagon. From souvenir sellers to travel agencies – we have all sorts of products relating to the event. Why not video games?

SEGA of America announced on Monday that Beijing 2008 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games is out. In fact, copies of the game – for both the Xbox360 and the PS3 have been shipped out to retailers in North America. PC gamers need not feel left out. Their version of the game will be out later this month.

I haven’t had the chance to try this game out and for some reason, I have no real desire to.

I have to say this – Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Trilogy is way up there on the list of my favorite reads. (Yeah, I like reading.) When they came out with the movie, I was quite skeptical. You know how those movies based on books usually end up butchering the original work. I was not far from wrong but then they didn’t turn out too bad either. I still prefer the books.

Then came the video game based on the movies. Apprehension made itself felt once again. We all know how disappointing a lot of video games based on movies are. I don’t even want to get started on this. Still, I downloaded the demo from the PlayStation Store.

Lo and behold, was I in for a surprise! The game was actually fun and challenging – at least the demo. It took me several tries before I was able to complete the first mission. The game play is seen from a third person perspective and the graphics are impressive. What I particularly like about the game are the moves that you can do as Jason Bourne.

The downside? Well, it is not really a downside but I do not think that this game is for kids at all. My little cousins – aged 8 and 12 – tried playing the demo but got tired real quickly because they found it too difficult. It is just perfect for older teens and adults, though.

Photo courtesy of nickstone333

It’s been out for a week now and what are people saying about the latest installment in the GTA series? I seriously have not heard anything bad. Well, there is the fact that the game freezes for some PS3 units and for the Xbox but Rockstar was able to release a patch within days of the first reports. It hasn’t happened to me yet – and I am crossing my fingers that it never will, but in case it does, I am glad that the patch is available.

As for the game play – I have nothing to complain about really, at least for now. It is everything that I have been expecting. I think I am about at 20 something per cent of the game and I have been having all sorts of fun. No doubt that it is quite harder than the old GTA installments. Driving a car or a bike is not that easy – controlling that helicopter with the movements of the controller is worse – but it is all part of the challenge!

No more to say about that for now – GTA IV rocks!

Something on the lighter side – have you read Jeremy’s post on how his wife ruined GTA? It is quite hilarious, really. He writes about his wife tried her hand at it and obeyed ALL the laws! You should read it for yourself.

We’ve always known that GTA IV would create a lot of noise and the nearer the release date is, the louder the noise will get. I know I shouldn’t have been surprised when I read several blogs announcing a pirated version GTA IV being released. Kotaku excitedly announces:

At around 11:50am Greenwich Mean Time, the PAL version of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 was ripped and leaked to various torrent sites by a ground called iCON. This would of course enable burning a copy for the home console. Meanwhile, the NTSC version is expected within the next 48 hours. YouTube clips have been popping up online of the game’s opening and early missions — but as of posting, many of the clips have been taken down. The retail release is a mere six days away. This isn’t the first GTA game leaked as San Andreas was as well. And it was leaked a week before, too.
We haven’t verified whether the 6.32 GB file really is the full game, but there are plenty of listings on torrent sites now and we contacted Rockstar for comment.

Can’t wait to see what Rockstar will say – not that I can make any use of the version as I don’t have an Xbox 360.

Another piece of news to make waves comes from Amazon, which just released the revealed the soundtrack for the game. News For Gamers lists the tunes down:

Soviet Connection (Theme from GTA IV) by Michael Hunter
Dirty New Yorker by Mobb Deep (feat. Havoc & Prodigy)
No Sex for Ben by The Rapture
No Fraid A by Munga
Where’s My Money by Busta Rhymes
I Want You by C.J.
Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh
Stand Up Jamrock by Bob Marley & The Wailers and Damian Marley
Liberty City: The Invasion by Seryoga
Vagabond by Greenskeepers
On a Journey by Electrik Funk
Nickname by Qadir
Holy Thursday by David Axelrod
War is Necessary by Nas
Zombie by Fela Kuti
5:23 (Maiden Voyage) by Global Communication

A few more days to go…