I picked upRock Band 2today, as I’m sure many of you did, and have immediately set to work ingesting as much of the experience as I can. It would have been nice to get a full four players together for the afternoon, but it wasn’t meant to be. I do, however, have the greatest band name ever:Shubby and The Thousand Young. Brilliance does come at a price, sadly. The name no doubt cements my position as one of the dorkiest people alive....

I was incredibly hyped for the originalMagna Carta, but those that played it told me to save my money because it was rubbish, and thus I never played it. That was many, many years ago, and it’s taken Namco Bandai all that time toannounce a new one. Why is this? Apparently because it’s very different from that “rubbish” game I saved my money on. “It’s been about four years and eight months since the announcement of beginning development on this project,”explainsproduction manager Yoshihisa Kanesaka....

TheRedboxkiosk closest to my house always has a line formed in front of it. Every time I see it I wish I would have thought up the idea of rental vending machines. As soon as the movie kiosks were released I knew that games rental would also be a huge opportunity for this format. It seems to be going well so far, according to Redbox videogame VP Joel Resnik. He says that there’s now 27,000 kiosks and that they’ve just hit 4 million rentals....

WithCataclysmdue to launch on December 7, Blizzard has announced a swell ofWorld of Warcraftsubscriptions, putting the MMO’s wealth of players up to twelve million. For a good idea of how much that is, imagine a million players. Now imagine twelve times as many. That’s twelve million! The huge number was topped afterWrath of the Lich Kinglaunched in China, which seems to have helped out tremendously. So yeah, Blizzard has more money than you could ever realistically conceive, and more players than should even be possible....

I’ll takeYakuza 4in any way that Sega wants to give it to me, but I won’t argue with a special edition. UK retailerGAMElists something called Yakuza 4 Kuro Edition. In this you’ll get a black metal case (“kuro” means black in Japanese), new in-game costumes for all four characters, a survival rush mode, a racing mode, and a DLC fighting arena. It is priced exactly the same as the standard edition....

Here’s a new (I’ve been informed it’s not so new … but it’s still sexy!) trailer forKillzone 3. I recently read a comment that claimed Destructoid deliberately shits on every single PS3 exclusive to troll for hits. I must have missed the corporate memo about that when I was busy creaming my jeans over theKillzoneseries. So yeah, he’s a video for a game that I cannot wait to get, even though I actually hate it....

A while back, we got an obscured look atthis image from Capcom’s “Secret File”promotional mini-magazine focusing onTatsunoko Vs Capcom. It showed blurry images ofAce Attorney‘s Phoenix Wright andCapcom Fighting Jam‘s Ingrid as they might have appeared in the game. This scan led me to ask the game’s producer if these two characters could eventuallymake a comeback as DLC. He seemed keen on the idea. Nice. If they ever do make it out as DLC, it looks like they may not be alone....

Activision has been bigging upCall of Duty Elitein a new Gamasutra interview, with digital VP Jamie Berger claiming that the service breaks down negative stereotypes surrounding online gamers. The scheme promotes community and friendliness, according to the executive. “One of the most interesting things to me is how positive people are in the service,” he said, discussing the beta users. “I’m most excited that within it, people are being supportive; they’re actually talking to each other, and amongst each other....

[Chaotical scribes a unique take on thisMonthly Musingtopic as he explores what reality would be like if we all possessed the fearlessness of video game characters. His conclusions might surprise you. -SCarey] From an early age, I’ve always shown a keen interest in extreme sports. Oft ill-advised but exhilarating nonetheless, watching the spectacular antics of Rodney Mullen et al provided me with hours of entertainment while growing up. The closest I’ve ever gotten to the majesty such athletes can create has been via computer games....

Hitman: Absolutionisn’t out until next year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start spending money on crap related to the game right now. Today’s crap comes in the form of Avatar items, including a classic Agent 47 outfit. It’s a suit, tie, and some leather gloves. There’s also a briefcase, and what appears to be some kind of creepy mask, complete with a barcode tattoo on the back of it....

MAG, the PlayStation 3-exclusive first-person shooter that boasts 256-player multiplayer, is set to release on June 30, 2025. So to get people geared up and ready, Sony invited us to a one-on-one training session, complete with some hands-on play time with the beta. If you haven’t been keeping up with every little detail (and you aren’t already in the beta), then feel free to read on past the jump to get the lowdown on how the game functions, and some of the impressions that I got from my limited time with it....

So, you didn’t get around to trying outDoom: Fall of Marsearlier this month, did you? Well then, here’s another opportunity for you to try theDoom/Diablomash-up: the beta was released over the weekend and can bedownloaded here. Even if you got around to playing the original tech demo I linked to last time, it’s worth seeing the beta as well. It’s largely the same concept, but the engine has been re-worked and the overall experience refined....

Sorry. I wasn’t trying to make it sound like this guy was fired because Games for Windows sucks.Or was I? No, he was probably canned in the big 5,000 Microsoft employee economy suckage mass layoff that has been in the news lately.CVGsays that mails sent tothis boss, Chris Early’s email address are bouncing back with a goodbye message. If this is true, he could be one of the most senior members of the MS staff to get the cut....