Gamedrop

Will Skate Rock Harder?

A lot of sites are reporting that EA’s Skate could be the next-gen Tony Hawk-killer that true boarders have been looking forward to for years. With today’s announcement of the Skate soundtrack it looks like EA is going for the jugular since the music in the Tony Hawk games has always been one its biggest selling points. However, Skate apparently has a lot of bases covered, with the old (Ramones and Sex Pistols), the new (The Falcon, The White Stripes), the hardcore (Bad Brains, The Dwarves, and Slayer) and everything in between (Nirvana, N.W.A., ZZ Top). Hit the jump for the entire, awesome lineup.

Help Plan a Video Game Wedding

I always thought Lara Croft and Hitman would make a cute couple, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Famed MTV video games journalist Stephen Totilo is in need of a bit of help putting a gaming twist on his upcoming wedding reception. At the suggestion of his future wife, they have decided to name all their tables after locations in video games. Hit the jump for the list as it stands right now, but they need about six more. Any suggestions are completely welcome.

Counting Down the Days

What’s the deal with official sites for games having countdowns lately? Why do we need a countdown?  Just as much buzz is generated by the news itself. I blame Grand Theft Auto. (Wow, saying that kinda makes me feel dirty… like Jack Thompson.)

In the last couple of months, a slew of games have set themselves up with countdowns, and it’s getting kind of annoying, and extreamly cliché. We get it: There's a game coming out! Just give us the info. Make it stop, please make it stop.

Grand Theft Scratchy

In a very nice surprise, Electronic Arts finally showed off the Simpsons video game. The game is rendered in a cel-shaded style and supposes the Simpsons learn they've been made into video game characters. This, according to the developers, allows the game to parody everything about the game industry: The fans, established franchises such as Grand Theft Auto and Medal of Honor, and even members of the honored game-related fourth estate. Each character will have his or her own special ability in the game. Lisa, for example, can employ the hand of Buddha to manipulate objects in the game world, picking up huge logs and dropping them on bad guys or manipulating objects to create new pathways. Sadly, after showing the game off at a gamer's day in San Francisco, Electronic Arts neglected to give attendees of the event screen shots for the game. Worst. Decision. Ever! You can see a picture of the game here.

Countdown to Armageddon...

Fact: Electronic Arts is making a Simpsons game. Fact: Electronic Arts is parodying Rockstar's countdown to the Grand Theft Auto IV trailer. Fact: This may be the 22nd Simpsons game ever made...scienticians are baffled whether to count arcade versions of Simpsons games or titles such as The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield...

I Felt the Earth Move Under My Feet

LucasArts announced Fracture yesterday, a cool, new third-person shooter where you can actually deform the gameplay world to create huge hills and depressions to create cover, solve puzzles, etc. The game sets up a war between the Eastern and Western parts of the United States, after global warming has done its evil best to cut the country in two. You'll play as Mason Briggs, an Easterner who can huck grenades to raise or lower the ground to gain access to new game areas, to create cover, and do all manner of neat stuff. And there's futuristic weaponry such as a gun that shoots ricochet bullets, and a grenade that creates a killer vortex, and a gun that shoots—and I am not making this up—huge boulders to crush foes. "There will be a lot of ways to kill people [in Fracture]," LucasArts' president Jim Ward said when he unveiled the game to the press. Fracture will be out sometime in 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Put Me In Coach.... Hands On With The BIGS

Remember Bases Loaded? Better yet, remember Bases Loaded 3? Back when baseball games were really easy and let you play a quick game and then move on with your life without having to obsess over stats, lineups, and bullpens? For those of you who haven’t played a baseball game since then, there’s a new glimmer of hope: 2K Sport’s The BIGS. The main focus of the game has the players act as heroes and baseball as the sport of gods. In other words, they went a little over the top, but in a good way. I spent a little hands-on time with the game earlier this week and it looks like it could be a much more attainable and fun version of every other baseball game out there.

Superstar Challenge

There's nothing less interesting in this world than watching other people play video games. Unless, of course, it's watching professional wrestlers playing video games.

Yet, oddly, the wrestling fans love it. Last week, THQ and the WWE held their annual Superstar Challenge, a contest to see which of the WWE wrestlers is the least inept at playing WWE Smackdown vs. Raw.

Wrestling fans packed the Gem theater in Detroit to watch the tournament and receive free stuff. Wrestlers such as Batista, Mr. Kennedy, Carlito, Jeff Hardy, and C.M. Punk participated in the tournament, and this guy won.

For the record, his name is Elijah Burke, and he wrestles for ECW. Go figure.

Head past the jump for exciting pictures of wrestlers playing video games.

For Those About to Shamelessly Self-Promote

Electronic Arts and developer Harmonix (the developer recently purchased by MTV) are making preparations to rock.

Rock Band lets players take the role of a singer, guitarist (bass or regular), and drummer in an up-and-coming rock band. The kick here is that players will get to use guitar, drum, and microphone controllers to rock out either on one console or via Xbox Live 360 or the PlayStation network.

According to the press release heralding Rock Band, "The leading music publishers - EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music - are allowing unrivaled access to their catalogs of incredible songs for use in Rock Band. The record labels - EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group's Universal Music Enterprises and Warner Music Group's Rhino Entertainment - have agreed to supply master recordings by their artists for use in the game."

Oh, and the guy who's already played an early version reports that it kicks much ass.

Wii Work the Squared Circle

Intrepid Gaming-Age.com reporter Tony "Matlock" Barrett recorded this video, as THQ debuted its WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 for the Nintendo Wii.

Please note the game's ultra cool controls, where you actually raise your hands to pick up an opponent and then thrust your hands down to slam him to the relatively unyielding video canvas.

Stare ye, in wonder...