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Hello to my fellow Gearheads,

If you’re like me, then you’ve been counting the days until the release of Forza 3. Now I know we can all agree that October 27th can’t come fast enough, but I have a bit of news that may hold you over for a while. We’ve just recieved the list of content for the Forza 3 special game bundle, which Microsoft and Turn 10 are calling the Forza Motorsport 3 Limited Collector’s Edition (or LCE for short), and it’s a pretty extensive list of bonus content.

The biggest perk this year is that the LCE gives gamers an instant VIP Membership status within the Forza community. That idea may not appeal to you right away, but this membership gives gamers exclusive access to five of the world’s hottest cars:

• 2009 Aston Martin DBS
• 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
• 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia
• 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
• 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997)

And if you crave cars, the LCE delivers with and exclusive collector’s car pack, personally hand-picked, tuned, and painted by the team at Turn 10:

• Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro
• Acura NSX (Forza Motorsport Cover Car)
• Nissan Fairlady (Forza Motorsport 2 Cover Car)
• Aston Martin DB9 (Forza Motorsport 2 European Cover Car)
• 2008 Dodge Charger Stock Car (with Xbox 360 livery)

In addition to the exclusive cars, Turn 10 also plans to create a series of new and exclusive designs and tuning kits exclusively for VIPs. But if you are like Ken Rodney and you just need to have something physical to hold onto, then the LCE offers you a collector’s keychain and a 2GB USB thumbdrive to use on your Xbox360.

And if you just have to have every car in the game, then I suggest a pre-order, because a custom painted Audi R8 V10 will be available as an exclusive download to those who pre-order this game.

See you at the starting line,
Bryan

If someone ever tried to explain Got Game to you, they would fail. You see Got Game is like the Matrix; no one can tell you what it is. You have to experience it to know it. Luckily for you, I happen to have the latest episode of Got Game here in podcast form. For your listening pleasure, I present to you the July 26th edition of Got Game.

On this week’s show we mauled over the idea that video games can be used for weight loss, and could MySpace make a come back by remaking themselves the center of gaming world on the internet?

Also, we finally got some hands on time with the PSP GO, thanks to our good friends at Sony.

All of us expected this version of the PSP to be smaller, but not as small as it is. Could this be the system that finally makes portable games truly protable? I don’t want to steal any of the thunder of Sony’s John Koller, so check out the Got Game podcast to hear our interview with him and get the story right from Sony.

We also wanted to thank Nintendo this week for inviting Zack, Momin and Ken down to Ontario Place to see the final version of Wii Sports Resort. Zack wrote all about their trip down to WUHU island to see this game in a blog post here, but if you listen to the show you can here their thoughts on the game itself.

And while they were doing that I rolled out with Bumblebee, Starscream, Optimus Prime and the other bots of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

 It’s a game, but is it fun? Listen to the show to hear if you should roll out with them too.

 ALL THAT AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF GOT GAME!

Ken Rodney found love.

It’s name is Wuhu island.

The Got Game crew got an invite to Ontario Place yesterday afternoon to help celebrate the launch of Wii Sports Resort.

This is Nintendo’s first first-party offering taking advantage of Wii Motion Plus which comes included with the game.

This event marked our second chance to spend some quality time with the game.  It’s kind of like the original Wii Sports’ cooler older brother that has a whole lot more personality.  Among the best of the new mini-games:  Archery ( I got my revenge on Momin), Swordfighting, Frisbee Toss, and Basketball (the 3-point shootout is where the gold is found).

You can hear our “on-the-record” thoughts on the show, which airs tomorrow at 5pm.

What you won’t hear on the show, is this interview with Nintendo Canada’s Matt Ryan (due to incessant “Who Let the Dogs Out”):

Ed. note:  Matt “Robin Hood of Hoops” Ryan ended up taking the 3-point shootout.  Momin was dubbed “the contender.”  Ken was the pretender.  I was a no-show… and I play hoops nearly every day.

Frustration is a mother.

Talk to you tomorrow.

-Z

Earlier this year we heard that Microsoft was opening up a new studio called 343 Industries. Many people, myself included, figured that this new studio would be working with Bungie on 2010’s Halo Reach.

But that apparently is not the case (at least not yet) as a Comic-Con panel announced today that the first task of 343 Industries is to work on a series of animated short films, called “Halo Legends”, that will be set in the Halo Universe.

At this point few details are known about “Halo Legends”. We can tell you that 343 Industries will be partnering up with a number of animation veterans like Shinji Aramaki, who directed the critically acclaimed “Appleseed” and “Appleseed EX Machina” movies. Mamoru Oshii, who directed the “Ghost in the Shell” films; and a number of other creatived minds behind “The Animatrix,” “Cowboy Bebop,” “Fullmetal Alchemist,” and “Dragon Ball” are expected to help out as well.

And while few plot points have been confirmed so far, the LA TIMES printed a story that says, “Studio4 C’s (short film), tentatively called “Origins,” is a two-parter that’s about 30 minutes long in total and tells the entire 100,000 year history of the Halo universe. Another (short film), from Toei, is the only one outside of the official canon and pokes fun at some of the game’s characters.”

You can look for “Halo Legends” to be distrubted by Warner Brothers Entertainment sometime in 2010, but the smart money says that the release of these films will tie in nicely with the release of Bungie’s “Halo Reach” in the fall of 2010.

However, if you are an XBL members you could get a preview of select “Halo Legends” episodes through a new Xbox Live experience called “Halo Waypoint”; which will be launching in the fall. According to Microsoft, ”Halo Waypoint” will:

• inform fans of the latest “Halo” news and activities
• grant access to podcasts 
• show trailers and screenshots
• act as a source of exclusive video footage

On top of that, ”Halo Waypoint” will debut several behind-the-scenes videos that chronicle the making of “Halo Legends.”

ADDITIONAL INFO: Posted Friday, July 24, 2009 @ 1:39 pm

We were able to confirm today that 343 Industries will now be working on all future HALO products; including all HALO video games. Bungie’s last game in the HALO franchise will be 2010’s HALO Reach.

Thanks to the rest of the extremely thoughtful and generous Got Game crew, I am the proud owner of a Wii.

Instantly this peaks my interest a little further (for selfish reasons) regarding new releases.

Having gotten a taste of baseball with motion controls from Wii Sports , I’m got a little curious when  this filtered into my inbox from 2K Sports.

==

Thrilling big league baseball action in a variety of fun and exciting mini-games for fans of all ages

New York, NY – July 21, 2009 – 2K Sports announced today that Baseball Blast! ^®, the only officially licensed Major League Baseball® mini-game experience, will be available this fall exclusively for the Wii™ system from Nintendo.  Offering a fun and unique new baseball experience, Baseball Blast! gives fans the opportunity to test their abilities in a variety of unique game modes, including skill challenges, puzzles, and trivia matches.  Featuring every MLB team and today’s top baseball stars, Baseball Blast! will also include entertaining play-by-play commentary by popular baseball personalities Rob Dibble and “Mr. Baseball” himself, Bob Uecker.

“Baseball Blast! is the ultimate sports party game that will provide endless amounts of fun and entertainment for fans of all ages,” said Greg Thomas , senior vice president of sports development for 2K.  “While playing with family or competing against friends, everyone will enjoy the wacky themed mini-games that deliver an exciting new baseball experience.”

With over 20 different baseball-themed mini-games, such as Fly Ball Fury, Carni-ball, Power Pitcher, Bumper Base, Pennant Race, Galaxy Ball, and many more, Baseball Blast! allows fans to fulfill their virtual diamond fantasies by smashing home runs that soar past planets, hitting cannonballs back at pirate ships, and even stealing bases on a baseball diamond inside the Rock prison.  Players can also rack up points to unlock trophies and new puzzles, and earn strategy cards to compete against their friends in a fun bonus game.  A challenging trivia mode will also be available for fans to test their baseball knowledge, including over 100 questions that range from casual baseball knowledge to stumping even the hardcore baseball fanatics. 

Baseball Blast!, published by 2K Sports, is planned for release this fall for Wii. The title is not yet rated by the ESRB. For more information about Baseball Blast!, please visit http://www.2ksports.com/.

2K Sports is a division of 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

What’s up all you Got Gamers…This was my second and final week hosting the program and I had a real blast, thank you to everyone that listened.  Rob Wong once again sits in as our fourth member and then after the broadcast we will be putting him on waivers and reactivating the returning Zack Cooper for next week’s show…

Here is the audio of this weeks show that had its debut airing after the Sunday Evening contest between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves:

On this episode we talk about Casual Connect Seattle which is a conference for makers of casual games, things like pc downloadables and iPhone games.  We have an interview with our boys from Cerebral Vortex a St. Catherines based company that specializes in casual games and we wish them all the best at the conference.

Momin reviews Chris Bosh’s iPhone application which is something you should look into if you are a fan of the Toronto Raptors superstar and Bryan checks out Battlefield 1943 which YOU can preview in the video below:

As always leave us a comment or send us an email at gotgame@fan590.com or look for us on iTunes because we’re there now…

Thanks again for listening to Got Game and I’ll catch you next week back in my usual chair.

Luxury SUVs aren’t built for off-roading. Apparently they’re built to race, because the makers of Forza 3 have leaked a few more cars from their insanely long list and it turns out a few will be SUVs. Today it was announced that the following will be in Forza 3:

1. 2009 Audi Q7 V12 TDI
2. 2009 BMW X5 xDrive48i
3. 2009 BMW M5 E60
4. 2009 Cadillac CTS-V
5. 2008 Chrysler 300C SRT-8
6. 2009 Jaguar XKR-S
7. 2008 Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged
8. 2009 Mercedes ML 63 AMG
9. 2009 Mercedes SL 65 AMG Black Series
10. 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
11. 2009 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
12. 2008 Volkswagen Touareg R50

Now obviously that list has more luxury cars then SUVs, but as if I need another reason to want to play this game, now I can’t wait to see who’d take corners better on a road course: the Range Rover or the Cayenne?

We probably should start off with the one thing that Zack Cooper should have taken with him on his honeymoon…. well you know… except for his wife. I am talking about the podcasted version of the Got Game Show for Monday, July 13th 2009.

This week on Got Game we went over a number of different topics in gaming. Including, but not limited to:

• a new Micheal Jackson game
• a possible multi-platform release for Scribblenauts
• is the PSN still playing catch up with XBL?
• and more

We also talked to Cédric Orvoine, who works at Ubisoft Montréal, about a new studio they will soon open here in Toronto. We also found some of the press conference online if you haven’t seen it yet.

In our closing comments I talked about a Mechwarrior video game that has just started/or will soon start production. MAN I AM EXCITED ABOUT THAT!!! If you have no idea what Mechwarrior is, or know the franchise and want to see what’s coming next, then here is the video I promised I post.

Also, if you were wondering what those Calvin Klein USB key sunglasses looked like, well you can see those below.

4 gigs of space or not, I am not sure this is such a great idea. I have nothing against this idea in and of itself, but my personal history with glasses has not been that great. I tend to go through them fast, and I’d like to think that I am an average person. How many people do you think will break these in the first month?

During those rare moments when someone isn’t trying to open up a new studio in Toronto, I usually like to spend my down time playing a nice 3rd person sand-box action game. The last one I got my hands on was Red Faction: Guerrilla. The 3rd game in a little known franchise made by Volition Inc.; and (like all of Volition’s recent games) it appears that the main development goal of Red Faction was to try and rip off Rockstar’s GTA franchise as much as possible without being called out for it.

Which brings me to Red Faction: Guerrilla, or as I personally like to call it, Grand Theft Auto: Mars.

Now, I know what you are about to say, “Bryan you idiot! This is a 3rd person sand-b0x action game, and Grand Theft Auto (GTA)  is the standard for that genre. Automatically, any 3rd person sand-box action game is going to be compared to the GTA franchise!”  Which is true; I can not deny that fact. However, there is a fine line between resembling GTA and being GTA, and Volition tripped over that line while working to put Red Faction: Guerrilla in stores.

Still don’t believe me? Well, let’s take a closer look at these two games. We might as well start with the main character. This is Alec Mason.

He is the protagonist of Red Faction: Guerrilla. Professionally, he is a hard working miner who recently immigrated from Earth to Mars for some honest work. He seems like a honest looking guy, but there is something about him that is familiar. I don’t know why, but it feels like I have seen him some place before…

… nope, nothing is coming to me right now. Oh well I am sure it will come to me eventually.

Anyhow, where was I? Oh yeah! I was talking about the similarities between Red Faction: Guerrilla and Grand Theft Auto 4. From start to finish, the similarities show up early and often in these games. Even the introduction of each main character is similar. In Grand Theft Auto 4, you arrive on a freighter ship were you are picked up by your cousin, and taken to his house in New York City. In Red Faction: Guerrilla, you arrive on a passenger transport ship where you are picked up by your brother and take to his house on Mars. And a similar beginning is… well…. just the beginning when it comes to the things that these two games have in common. Both games have:

• main characters who come to these new lands looking for honest work, only to be sucked into crime after the first mission
• violence that is glorified because you are the “hero”
• main characters with back grounds and experience that aid well in the blowing of stuff up
• main characters who are ultimately driven by revenge
• useless side missions that add nothing to the overall experience, and don’t effect the outcome of the game
• large city maps that need to be unlocked slowly as you proceed throughout the game
• vehicles that are used as the main form of transit around the game spaces
• automobiles that can’t turn while breaking
• the ability to take any civilian car you want in the game space (even if it is being occupied by a non-playable character), and any military vehicle that is not being occupied.
• missions that usually start with you driving half way across the game space before you can actually start working towards the completion of the mission
• missions that force you to drive all the way back to the objective again if you die
• nearly identical combat that consists of running around in a 3rd person perspective, shooting people with guns, or getting up close and hitting them with blunt objects like a sledge hammers or a baseball bats
• sound and graphics of comparable quality

So what’s the difference between these two games? Well, one takes place on Earth, and the other on mars.

GTA4 had a deep story that made you feel like Nico was right to rampage through the city in a way that most psychiatrists would call psychotic. Red Faction on the other hand had a story with all the depth of a tea-spoon.

Also, Red Faction contains a level of persistent and dynamic destruction that has never been in a game before. And by a level, I mean to say that everything in the game will come crashing to the ground at the swing of your hammer. For example, look around you right now. Just take in your surroundings for a second. Now imagine what it would be like to take a sledge hammer to everything in that room. Imagine the destruction you could cause. That’s the level of destruction you have in Red Faction: Guerrilla.

This game also has multiplayer, but unlike other games, it’s not that fun to play Red Faction’s multiplayer. That is unless your idea of fun is to play the same arrangement of team deathmatch and objective games that you will find in any title today. The multiplayer in this game just feels uninspired. You only get 5 different multiplayer modes, and their objectives range from shooting people to blowing up buildings. I don’t wish to call out the programmers who made this multiplayer, because it is done very competently. Except for some minor lag, my experience was satisfactory; but that’s the problem. It was satisfactory. I was not blown away by it. I have to ask myself why do I want to play this generic stuff when I could easily put in a Call of Duty game and get a far better multiplayer experience? 

On top of that, Volition pulled a big jerk move by locking 4 of the 5 multiplayer games until you reach a certain level of experience. I had to play through all of the boring deathmatches until I got to the multiplayer modes that I would actually consider playing on my own time. I don’t know about you, but if I was forced to do that again, I would simply hit the eject button and put in another game.

In the end, Red Faction: Guerrilla is a decent game (even for a GTA clone). The graphics are average, and the sound is passable; but the destructive capabilities that you can wield in this game make up for the games other short comings. The single player campaign is where the game truly shines, and a big positive is that the campaign will continue to expand for a while. 3 story driven campaign expansions/DLC packs have been announced for Red Faction: Guerrilla (the 1st being released on Thursday, August 13, 2009). Therefore, if you enjoy Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row, or just blowing stuff to pieces: then play this game. It will never be the greatest game you have ever played, but you’ll have a bit of fun playing it.

Red Faction: Guerrilla gets a 7.5 out of 10.

Hey all,

I know I promised to put that Red Faction: Guerrilla review up already; I am sorry about that, but I had no idea that Ubisoft was going to announce a brand new studio here in Toronto. That came right out of nowhere, and as you can imagine things here have been a little busy since.

However, that’s only one of the many things we’ve been working on. Another project we’ve been working on is to get Got Game on iTunes, and now we are there.

You can download the show right to your iPods and phones each week.

Just do a search for Got Game and you will find us in the podcast section of the results.