Hoecs Games

Businessweek: "Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer bristles every time he gets the question: Why can’t the Japanese electronics giant be more like Apple? The maker of the iPod, iPhone, and Mac computers consistently delivers supercool gadgets that are easy to use, while Sony sells music players, TVs, and cameras that get mixed reviews and often don’t even work well with other Sony (SNE) products."

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LittleBigPlanet News Site writes: "So in the spirit of this holiday, our LittleBigChallenge this week is- Show off your "LBP-inspired" Halloween creation! It can be a SackBoy costume, LittleBigPlanet jack-o-lantern (like the ones that Mm posted on their site) or just decorations."

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Time magazine, masters of the high-brow “top XX” list, are back this week with their take on the top 50 inventions of 2008. The vast majority of them don’t apply. To us, at any rate. We don’t really cover the retail DNA testing industry, or the daily comings and goings surrounding the (awesome) global seed vault. No, we do games, so we’re interested in the one, single video game that managed to make the list. And that game was…wait for it…yes, Spore, which came in at #20. Dubbed “the everything game” by the magazine, calling it “blasphemy, brilliance or both”.

Oh, and deviant commenters will be thrilled to see that disemvowelling came in at #40.

50 Best Inventions 2008 [Time]

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The biggest difference between the DSi and the DS Lite? Sure, there’s the obvious like the new interface and the SD card slot and the onboard camera, but the thing that really stands out is the way the DSi feels.

Gone is the glossy fingerprint nightmare coating of the DS Lite. The DSi has a matte finish, giving the handheld a surprisingly class feel. Cosmetically, the slighter wider screen is a major plus too.

Haven’t had time yet to fiddle with the camera, but I did pop in an American copy of Mario Kart DS, which confirms that the portable is still region free — however, it’s been stated that any DSi-specific software will most like not be region free. DSi Ware, likewise, is not region free.

The good news is that you can use it to play current and upcoming DS game. The better news? I’m giving this to one of you as a prize. We haven’t decided what the contest will be, but right now, the DSi you are looking at isn’t mine, it’s a lucky reader’s.

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Incredible Hulk blu ray version captured 18.98% of total disc sales for the week ending October 26,2008.

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SlapStic.com delves into a piece of Wii shovelware with this review of The Price is Right. Yes, the game IS just as terrible as you would expect it to be…

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Just like SingStar has done with great success, Harmonix are now looking at increasing the number of localised tracks on the world’s various Rock Band stores. That means more British bands, more German bands, more Swedish bands, more Australian bands, etc etc etc. Speaking with GameStop, Harmonix’s Dan Teasdale (who is Australian, hence the Aussie slant on this) says:

I think there are bands that are big enough to survive, like Jet, Silverchair, that kind of stuff. I think is a no-brainer to put on the platform because they’re known bands. I think it’s more stuff like Regurgitator where nobody knows outside of Australia.

At the same time they fit it perfectly. That’s one of the cool things about the music store, it’s less risk for us than putting it on the disc so we can takes chances with Australian content, or unearthed content, kind of the same way we did Jimmy Buffet in the US. That was our first test of going a little outside what we’d usually do, and it went really well, so I think you’ll see more stuff like that.

Well played, Harmonix. And Dan, may I make a suggestion? More Monty, please.

Q&A: Harmonix on The Beatles, AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack [GameSpot]

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IGN writes: "Put a beautiful beau in a hot sports car, toss in a gorgeous babe for him to boink and then prop up a bunch of would-be henchman to stand in between our hero and his goal and you have the recipe for just about every Bond film in history. Of course, with every movie comes a game of the same name and Quantum of Solace is no different. It takes the Call of Duty 4 engine and wraps it around the James Bond universe with a few new trimmings to try and keep the action feeling as fresh as possible.

It’s just a bummer that roughly everything that was added in an effort to keep the game feeling fresh isn’t done all that well. They’re not bad additions, they just don’t meld or work especially well with the rest of the game and therefore come off feeling very forced and artificial."

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An incredibly atmospheric and disturbingly gruesome deep-space adventure that will haunt your dreams and leave you begging for more.

The Good

* Deeply engrossing story

* Breathtaking visuals and nerve-wracking audio

* Strategic dismemberment adds an entirely new, satisfying dimension to combat

* Complete lack of a traditional heads-up display immerses you into the experience

* Truly terrifying gameplay keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The Bad

* Repetitive mission objectives

* Close-quarters combat is troublesome.

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Hands down, Nintendo Co., Ltd. has the best instruction manuals on this spinning blue orb we call Earth. The DSi manual is no exception. It politely advises things like don’t drive and play DSi, don’t stab the DSi with a screwdriver and don’t throw the DSi away with burnable trash. Better take notes, this is all very, very important stuff.

Click through the Nintendo safety hilarity below.
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