Couple Gaming

I am not sure how i missed this, maybe because we have been ever so busy on other things, including beta testing WarHammer, but it seems that Guitar Hero: World Tour Instruments will work with Rock band and possibly Rock Band 2.

the Xbox 360 version of “Guitar Hero: World Tour” will indeed be compatible with the instruments for the first “Rock Band.” The “GH” developers have, for obvious reasons, not been able to test their new game with the upcoming “Rock Band 2.” Other third-party guitar and drum controllers are expected to work with “GH: World Tour” as well.

This is by far the best news yet, this means that even the Ion drum set should work with GH: World tour as well!

Ok, so I LOVE playing the drums in Rock Band, and I was a little disappointed that Guitar Hero: World Tour had better looking drums, but I did find a nice surprise today, you can actually order some Premium drums for Rock Band 1 and 2 from https://www.drumrocker.com , granted it’s $299 US but still just look at them!

But be aware currently you can only get these for the 360, with other consoles to follow later.

Now the big question is, will the GH:World Tour drums work with Rock Band?

For us Music loving gamers there has been no shortage in good news these past couple months, from the annoucement of Guitar Hero: World tour, to GH on the DS we now get confirmation that Rock Band 2 will be coming out in Sept, and what’s even better is all the songs you downloaded for Rock Band will now be automaticaly moved into Rock Band 2.

From RockBand.com

Backwards compatibility with Rock Band downloadable music content. All previously purchased tracks will immediately load into your Rock Band 2 song list. No need to re-purchase or re-download.

- The biggest and most diverse soundtrack ever featuring some of rock’s most prolific acts, comprised entirely of master recordings.

- Major new and dynamic online modes that will connect the entire Rock Band community in more ways than ever before both locally and globally.

- More variety of instrument choices than ever before with new and improved drum and guitar peripherals, enhanced functionality and innovative new designs - all fully compatible with the original Rock Band instruments

I don’t know about you all, but as long as the instruments are better, this information makes me think there is no need to go to Guitar Hero: World Tour.  But only time will tell.

So everyone is wondering if Guitar Hero: World Tour is just a Rock Band rip off, and to be honest I can’t answer that fully, however it does appear that if it is a copy of Rock Band, they obviously did some good improvments to it.

The most obvious improvement is in the drums, not only did they add two elevated wedges that serve as a high-hat and a cymbal but it is also wireless! That’s right now the only thing wired in the whole set is the mic, which if you have seen pictures of my setup is a welcome change, as I hate having all those wires strung across the room,  hopefully someone will make a wireless mic soon.

Besides that there is also some good game play additions, like the ability to make your own songs in the Music Studio, which allows you to record four tracks: Lead, Rhythm, Bass, and Drums, and I hear this goes in much further than most of us will use, but people like Lunchb0x will love.  Also the customization is said to be very in depth, so much so that you can create your own tattoo and design your own band logos, etc.  Unlike Rock Band where you can only select from pre-created ones, granted they did offer a lot.  And there is one other addition that I think was a good thing to do, and that is the beginner mode, which is just strumming, which will let your younger kids enjoy the game a lot more.

So even though at first I had written off Guitar Hero: World Tour as just a wanna be Rock Band, and I still believe they are stealing the idea, it does look like they are bringing some good things to the table.  I guess the only left is to see what Rock Band 2 brings when it gets close to release and decide from there, either way it looks like we all win in this competition, just pick the one that best suits what you are looking for, that or buy a bigger garage to rock out with all of them!

First of all.. isn’t that the best title ever? I mean, if you’re going to take a web cartoon with the dark humor that we have all come to know and love and turn it into an episodic game, one that is likely going to be torn apart by every review site and game company PA has ripped apart, it really requires that kind of a title.

If you don’t know Penny Arcade, you probably should start before you play. It’s not that you need to know any of the last 10 years of comics, or the characters and their interactions, but you won’t have the amazement that some of us have when Tycho & Gabe helped us through the hard times, showed us to be different, explained lifes mysteries, On top of that, to understand that they run Childs Play, a company that raises money, via various means, to buy games & consoles for childrens hospitals.

OK, back on track…

PA: E1 allows you to create your own 60s cartoon character, who is then swept up into saving the town from robot fruit-fuckers, hobos, barbershop quartets, and mimes.  That alone is rather humorous, but the writing and response choices are worth the gameplay alone.  My daughter and I were both laughing until tears streamed down our cheeks during one fabulous response (ok, we may have been on sugar highs, but still) and it got a guffaw out of Ymiris & I a number of times.  The writing is obviously the same as Penny-Arcade.com, so if the above comics do turn you off, you will want to look closely at the game play to see if it is something you are looking for.

The gameplay follows a turn-based RPG, complete with nerdy dice roll, and “ok, this character do this now, and wait for this character and that one” continuity, which overall we neglect here at CoupleGaming, mostly because brainiac or fast-paced games seem to be our forte.  That being said, after this game I feel I may be greatly neglecting a genre.  This game shows some of the best parts of TBGs:  a need to plan ahead, as well as reflexes based on past experience with specific characters.   (Yes, you do need to remember to block or you are going to keep dying *cough* Squidpunch *cough*)

The length of the game, about 8 hours of gameplay if you take your time, makes it worth the $20, and the acheivements aren’t too difficult, nor too redundant.   Ymiris & I both played through it, some of it with our 8-year old watching (but don’t be mistaken, you should play through it and then decide if it is suitable for your child), and enjoyed it for the most part.  Your spouses playing style may kill ya’ (BLOCK! OK now your green is up. .Do Green! DO IT!! Use your Orange! Why haven’t you used your Invisible Box? What?? The Cat?? Are you serious?!?!1!1) but it’s a good paced learning curve for your non-gaming spouse to give it a try (before you).

As I stated before, you do not have to know Penny-Arcade to enjoy this game; Ymiris played this entire game and enjoyed a lot of the quips and characters, but I’m fairly sure I enjoyed the nuances and the writing style, knowing what I was in for.

So.. Yes.. I suggest PAE1 for all couple gamers.. it’s on DLCA for XBOX 360 as well as downloadable for the PC (so I am told).

Now to sit back and wait for PAE2…

Well it’s that time of year again, and the madden gods must be appeased. So we all know that EA has the NFL license and we all fear one year the maddens will suck so bad that we won’t have a good football game, but from what I can tell via the rumors from EA and the videos going around the net, this isn’t a year we have to worry!! I know me and my friends have been trying to get a League going over the years, but it proved to be pretty difficult, but not this year as you can play a whole season in maddens!!!

I don’t want to re write the story that so many have already done, so I will just link you over to some pretty good detail at gamespot

Also here is a good video on the comparison to Madden 08

So it’s offical that there is a Viva Pinata 2, there are some screen shots floating around the web

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/16472/Viva-Piata-2-Trouble-in-Paradise-Screenshots/

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/photos/viva-pinata-trouble-in-paradise/

there isn’t a lot of details yet, maybe after today? But the most important thing about the game that I have heard is that you can now co-op play, I am still undecided if thats good or bad, since I love co-op but I am not sure how much help I need planting things…you tell me.

Ohh and now some vide game play of viva Pinata trouble in pardise

So rumors are all the rage this weekend, with two rumors about a new Viva Piñata game, dubbed Viva Piñata - Trouble in Paradise, and Scene it 2.

Obviously this could all be fake, but I wager there is a lot more truth to these rumors then not.  Good news for us here at couple gaming as Viva Piñata was one of our favorite games that the whole family can play, as well as Scene it!

So GTA IV was released last night for most people, and the reports are coming in that various users are getting a frozen screen shortly after starting up the game.  This is affecting both PS3 and XBOX 360 users.  Since we can’t duplicate this problem our selfs may I suggest an off the wall fix for this issue?  Try disconnecting your console from the internet and seeing if that remedies your issue? Its the only thing the two consoles have in common.  I am not saying it will work, but give it a try, I am just trying to help

Burnout has always been a game Ophilye and I could play together and have a good time, so when we heard about Burnout Paradise we were all sorts of excited.   After playing it for 6 hours straight I can tell you that excitement was well founded.  Not only can you play local but you can invite your friends to join you on live, and do a huge amount of challenges, or just go crazy with take downs, and as a bonus, if you have the camera it will take snapshots each time you are taken down, so you can leave a colorful image for your friends to let them know just how you feel.

Burnout also takes good advantage of live by keeping scores on various roadways, fastest speed or most damage caused, My friend and I were both able to get a high score for most damage, but I doubt they will last long once more people pick up this game.

Paradise brings everything that has made the burnout series fun, and just adds to it, meaning if you have liked the others, you will love this one.  See you on the road!