TMCnet - Apr 21, 2008 AGOURA HILLS , Calif . - - ( Business Wire ) - - THQ Inc . ( NASDAQ : THQI ) today announced Battle of the Bands has shipped to retailers nationwide.Designed exclusively for Wii ( TM ) , Battle of the Bands has shipped to retailers nationwide. Designed exclusively for Wii(TM), Battle of the Bands maximizes the Wii Remote(TM)’s innovative functionality, combining beat matching and combat into one head-to-head battle for music supremacy. The innovative music switching feature and the 30 chart-topping hits - recorded in each of the game’s five different music styles - rock, funk/hip-hop, country, marching band and Latin - delivers a truly unique gameplay experience. Battle of the Bands is now available at a suggested retail price of $49.99.

“Battle of the Bands offers an exciting variation in the music category, where the fusion of music and combat sets the stage for a head-to-head battle for music supremacy,” said Randy Shoemaker, global brand director, THQ.

Over the next few days on GameSetWatch, we’re going to be reprinting some of the more interesting GDC lectures which might have potentially got ‘lost in the shuffle’ of the show. In this piece, Brandon Boyer writes up the most canonical retelling of the always-intriguing ‘Developer Rant’ session.
In a special designer-focused rant that showed a surprising amount of thematic overlap, Clint Hocking, Jenova Chen, Jane McGonigal, Jon Mak, and Daniel James ‘expressed opinions forcefully’ on the state of games, all seeming to agree that the industry is too scared to say anything with real meaning.
First up, and with seemingly the most actual fire, Ubisoft designer Clint Hocking said that though he originally planned to rant on creative stagnation, he eventually concluded it was a “tired generic topic,” and “can’t get pissed off about it” as he was “not sure that it’s there.”
Beyond Fetishism

Original post by editors@gamesetwatch.com (Simon Carless)

Just when I was starting to adjust to the the idea that two games a week were enough, Nintendo decides to take advantage and give us only one title for this week’s VC releases. Sometimes, I feel a little abused by it all, you know?

Anyway, this week we get Super Turrican: (Super NES(R), 1 player, Rated E 10+ for Everyone 10 and Older – Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points), which is the first of two games following the adventures of Bren McGuire and his fight against the Machine. While I can’t tell you how great this game is or isn’t because I don’t remember it well, I can tell you Gamasutra reported in April of last year that Factor 5 is working on new concepts for a Turrican title.

Original post by mrdestructoid@gmail.com (Destructoid.com)

You may recall me babbling all over the homepage back in January about Baroque, Atlus’s upcoming Wii/PS2 RPG. I actually wrote the release date on my calendar like a ten year old (I used to do the same when I was a kid for new NES games and I wrote them on my Nintendo Power calendar!) February 26th came and went and I realized I hadn’t heard a word about the game, so I had a feeling there might be a delay.

Seems I was correct — according to the Atlus release calendar the release date has been pushed back to April 8th. I’m slightly bummed, but not by much. I’m deeply entrenched in disc three of Lost Odyssey and don’t want to be distracted by a new game at the moment, so maybe it’s for the best. Also, considering Super Smash Brothers Brawl hits on March 9th and will […]

Original post by mrdestructoid@gmail.com (Destructoid.com)

It seems that everyone is capitalizing on the casual gaming market these days. With Wii Sports being such a worldwide phenomenon, 2K Sports figured they’d get in on the action. To that end, they’re working on Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars exclusively for the DS. Yep, you heard right: a sports game is being developed specifically for Nintendo’s best-selling handheld. Their ever-popular sim baseball game, MLB 2K8, is coming out for the PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, and Wii this year, but now DS owners will finally get some love.
From what I gathered by reading through the press release, MLB 2K8 FAS looks to be more of an arcade title along the lines of Midway’s old MLB SlugFest series. In addition to the “fantasy” atmosphere, the game will also make extensive use of the touch-screen functionality of the DS.

Original post by mrdestructoid@gmail.com (Destructoid.com)

With all the hype around Street Fighter IV: Giant Dragon Penis Edition you might have missed another up and coming fighting game from the makers of the Guilty Gear / Accent Core folks called BlazBlue - a PS3 network exclusive that made its official debut this year at AOU in Japan. The game is set in the same Guilty Gear universe ten years after XX and will bring some solace to those whose panties are not dripping for SF IV, including yours truly. The game is also set to hit arcades on the Taito Type X2 board, presuming your city still has one of those.
Check out the round-up of videos, scans, and screen shots we’ve found on the ps3 forums and our community blogs. Three more videos after the jump.

Original post by mrdestructoid@gmail.com (Destructoid.com)

There have been rumours rumbling for months now about a version of Rock Band for the Nintendo Wii. Although Electronic Arts, who distributes the game for publisher MTV, wouldn’t confirm of deny the intense speculation, it seems EA’s chief executive John Riccitiello just couldn’t hold the news in any longer.
During a conference call discussing EA’s 3rd quarter financial results, he spilled the beans on what will be music (pun intended) to Wii owners ears, saying:
“In terms of pacing the next few quarters, you’re probably well aware of the more than $2.5 million music downloads that have occurred on Rock Band,”
“What’s probably the most interesting pieces right now is the coming launch on the Wii, the continued sale of the core platforms in North America, and then the fiscal ‘09 launch across Europe against all of the SKU.”

Original post by Dave Parrack

That’s right, 499,999 discs have been sold in Japan, thats roughly about 80% of the total stock on store shelves. Everyone is guessing that SSBB will be sold out everywhere in Japan probably by the end of the weekend.

Original post by Jeff Nilges

The Wii may have won the battle, but it looks like it wasn’t the first console to come to mind when Suda 51 was looking for a home in which to house No More Heroes. Quoted from an interview in MCV’s magazine is this juicy morsel that will give ammo to those of you who have said all along that the 360’s fanbase is better suited for this type of game:

“Originally, I’d wanted to make this game for Xbox 360, actually. [Marvelous Interactive boss] Wada-san had information about the new Wii and how the new controller would work before it came out, so that’s why he thought I should produce the game on that format. At the time, I didn’t really understand why, but after seeing and understanding how it works, I think it was a good choice and the controller works really well with the game.”

Original post by mrdestructoid@gmail.com (Destructoid.com)

As Destructoid lurks closer to celebrating its *TWO YEAR* anniversary (this March) I’d like to introduce a new column called Destructoid Rewind: A retrospective of the top stories from this week in 2007. I find it fascinating to look at the things our community cared about last year, as newcomers to Destructoid might care to take a peek at our thoughtful and sometimes raunchy editorial skeleton closet. In January 2006 there was no Destructoid — I was too busy watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force or something.

Nerdcore aside (Will CTZ ever live that down?) our flashback top 10 features a frightening homage to Zelda on the CD-i and Sympathy for the Warcraft Addict starring Tyra Banks as the witless village wench — an interesting inclusing in light of the recent Fox witch hunt against Mass Effect. I’m curious what buzz game can be blamed for the evils of the world.

Original post by mrdestructoid@gmail.com (Destructoid.com)