The stories for this week:
- Gears of War 2 Stays at #4 in Xbox Live Activity Even After DLC Add-on
- Tony Hawk's Adrenaline to be "Way More Realistic"
- LocoRoco 2 Comes Februrary 10th
- Analyst Predicts New Zelda in 2009, Everyone Shocked!
- Wii Resales No Longer Getting a Premium Price
Gears of War 2 Stays at #4 in Xbox Live Activity Even After DLC Add-on
Gears of War 2 cannot get over the Halo 3 and Call of Duty hump on the Xbox Live Activity list even after they released the Combustible Map Pack. If I remember correctly, this game has only been at the top the week of its release, after that it has fallen down and dug itself into the #4 spot behind Halo 3 and the two most recent Call of Duty games (4 and World at War). Crazy that the sequel to the game that stood on top for a while can’t reclaim a higher position.
Source: Joystiq
Tony Hawk's Adrenaline to be "Way More Realistic"
This news comes from the man himself via an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Hawk notes, “(it will be) ‘a real departure’ from previous endeavors. ‘It's a whole new direction for us,’ said Hawk. ‘And it's going to be way more realistic and way more interactive. I'm really proud of it.’
Of course Activision has come out and said that the game will not be controlled by a controller, meaning there will be a packed in peripheral more than likely for at least the 360 and PS3 versions of the game. It is also pretty obvious that the Wii Balance Board will be used much like it was for the recently released Skate It! on the Wii. The bigger question is with the sales of both EA/MTV/Harmonix’s Rock Star 2 and Activision’s own Guitar Hero: World Tour down from the previous games, chances are people’s connection with peripherals filling up their living rooms is reaching its breaking point. Then again, the Hawk series has been in serious need of improvement ever since EA Black Box’s Skate came on the scene. Speaking of which, Skate 2 comes out in January and Black Box recently closed…makes you wonder where future Skate games may come from in EA’s umbrella. Also makes you wonder whether Skate 2 is as innovative as the first one.
Source: Joystiq
LocoRoco 2 Comes February 10th
This is not huge news, but honestly any good PSP news is huge news. Along with Patapon 2, which doesn’t have a stateside release as of yet, LocoRoco 2 is one of the more anticipated games coming on the PSP. I personally enjoyed the time I played with the first game and expect the new one to so well. As said above, any news for the PSP is good news when compared to the juggernaut that is the DS.
Source: Joystiq
Analyst Predicts New Zelda in 2009, Everyone Shocked!
Lazard Captial Market’s Colin Sebastian has looked into the future and expects there to be a new Zelda game in 2009. This isn’t too big of a guess simply because I can’t remember a year where there wasn’t a Mario, Metroid or Zelda game out during the holiday season until this year. This was the first year I can remember that there hasn’t been a release of that caliber. The only major game Nintendo released this holiday season was Animal Crossing: City Folk, which was honestly not that big of a game. Could Nintendo go two straight years without a major game coming out during the holiday season at least stateside? We shall see.
Source: Joystiq
Wii Resales No Longer Getting a Premium Price
It took two years, but finally the price of a new Wii on eBay is fetching about the same price as the regular retail price of a Wii. This probably has more to do with the fact that you can find the Wii out in the wild more regularly than ever before. I go to the local Target quite a bit and I’d say for at least the last half of this year I have seen at least one Wii many times at that Target. Usually a day or two later there will be none left behind the glass, but the chances of you walking in and seeing one has been much higher than previously. The Wii Fit is easily the rarer item to see in the wild nowadays. Both still sell like hotcakes though and I’m personally still wondering why so many people are snapping this system and peripheral up with the dearth of newer quality games out there for both the Wii and the Balance Board.
Source: Joystiq