It’s been the “next-gen” of gaming systems for some time now–we’ve had the Xbox 360 out on the market for better than three years now, and the Wii and Playstation 3 have been out for a good number of years too.  The Wii is still hard to find in some places, even–though word on Sony’s bounty of cash for available PS3s has not been seen to surface.  So where, I’m forced to wonder, are the truly next-gen games?  Games like Halo Wars and Bioshock and, once again, Fallout 3.

They’re sure not coming from Sega, I’ll tell you that much.

I got my hands on a copy of Golden Axe: Beast Rider today, and it really makes me sad that the great next-gen revolution has crapped out to THIS.

You take control of early video game hottie Tyris Flare, who’s just come in from fighting a handful of Death Adder’s minions to arrive just in time for the Axirian Priestesses’ ritual summoning of the Dragon Titan.  For reasons that aren’t terribly clear, Death Adder (the main bad guy of the whole Golden Axe series) is pants-wettingly terrified of the Dragon Titan, thus he sends out a legion of troops to capture it and bring it much, much closer to him.  This Dragon Titan that he’s so scared of is apparently sufficiently powerful to terrify him, but either not powerful enough or not smart enough to break a length of iron chain attached to him by a harpoon.  Apparently he’s ALSO forgot that he can breathe, at will, this stuff that’s called FIRE, which in sufficient quantities will turn iron chain into a viscous liquid.  I guess the Dragon Titan missed that session of Physics 101 that described the melting point of iron.

But if he’d have done that, then we couldn’t send Amazon hottie Tyrus Flare off into a rampage of blood across several lands in an attempt to finally jam something pointy and metallic into Death Adder once and for all until the next installment.

To this end, Tyrus will have various magic spells and control of several different beasts (hence the title) and will have to kill a whole bunch of enemies that look vaguely similar.  Apparently Death Adder has mastered cloning technology.

I’m making a lot of fun of Golden Axe: Beast Rider, and for good reason–it’s got it coming, frankly.  This is the kind of game we were playing back on our Super Nintendos, for crying out loud.  Having just played the original three Golden Axe installments thanks to one of Sega’s massive collection games, I’ve discovered that Golden Axe: Beast Rider is just a gigantic pile of more of the same, only prettied up and rendered in ever-popular 3-D instead of put on a flat screen. It’s dull, it’s repetitive, and frankly, if it weren’t for the pretty graphics it would be a total waste of time that I’d expect to have been released for PS2 or earlier.

Yes, it’s an action game–and as an action game it’s fair; there’s more than enough things that need killing, but after a while, your sword arm gets tired.  Not to mention your button thumb.  Golden Axe: Beast Rider is a long, drawn-out and monotonous experience that leaves me cold.

If you have been playing EA’s The Godfather, then you are sure to love this news that new premium upgrade packs have been released for use. The Godfather II videogame will be releasing premium upgrade packs to provide players with level-four weapons, an additional crew member equipped with four unique specialties, and two new multiplayer maps that will make their family stronger as they fight to become the most powerful mob syndicate in America.

In addition, these upgrades will help as players take their advanced crew members online and compete to be the Don of Dons on the leader boards. Players can experience all the premium upgrades for The Godfather II two weeks after launch worldwide on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the PLAYSTATION Store on April 23, 2009.

The complete list of upgrade packs includes:

• The Pentangeli Map Pack: Download for the all-new Cuba multiplayer map and the Junkyard multiplayer map. $6.75 / 540 points
• Level 4 Weapons Bundle: Download this collection to receive the Modern Dillinger, the .700 Magnum Impact, the Herzstopper, the MG-S1 Sniper Wolfe, and the Street Sweeper. $4.00 / 320 points
• Jack of All Trades: Download Jimmy Lira – the Jack of All Trades to have this character in your family. Jimmy Lira starts out with the arsonist, engineer, medic, and safecracker specialties and comes equipped with a level 2 machine gun – the MP38. $4.00 / 320 points
• The Corleone Bundle (All of the above): Download the multiplayer map pack, the level 4 Weapons Bundle, and the Jack of All Trades (Jimmy Lira) crew member. $10.00 / 800 points

(Source) Press

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime isn’t unique in his penchant for throwing down the gauntlet in interviews. Its a common practice amongst gaming executives and Reggie is joining the ranks of executives who have criticized the used game sales model. Unfortunately his arguments against the used games model are pretty thin.

“Describe another form of entertainment that has a vibrant used goods market,” says Fils-Aime. “Used books have never taken off. You don’t see businesses selling used music CDs or used DVDs. Why? The consumer likes having a brand-new experience and reliving it over and over again.” From a logical perspective the used games market ultimately hurts gamers since money that could go into hiring more staff and ultimately make for better games goes into lining the pockets of the retailers.

Ultimately though the used games industry thrives because games are very different than films, music or books. Used book stores often fail because of an unimpressive collection, especially if you live in an area with a good library system. Used music isn’t as common because the cheapest way to get an album in modern times is to download it or borrow a friend’s CD and put it on your computer. Rental chains like Blockbuster sell the excess copies of DVDs but Netflix makes having a wide range of films at home unnecessary.

Gaming peripheral manufacturer Razer and Valve, the development studio who have created not only franchises but an entirely new distribution model are teaming up to bring their considerable talents to bear on a quite ambitious project. The vast majority of Valve’s efforts have been centered around the FPS genre and this new game seeks to break the mold while still being firmly ensconced in everything we love about the genre.

The title is planned as a first entry into a new permutation of the FPS genre as the press release calls HellRazer: Triple Helix the ‘debut title’. It’s a squad-based tactical FPS game, which on the surface doesn’t sound like anything impressive at all. Where the importance of the partnership comes in is the control scheme. Razer is developing a brand new peripheral dedicated specifically to this game and any developed after it. Ironically while many hardcore gamers are calling the Wii a gimmick, Razer’s new peripheral is going to be a motion sensing controller, which is currently under development in their Singapore labs and the company aims to make it the first true 1:1 motion sensing controller.

“Razer is extending its vision by partnering up with Valve on this exciting new collaborative project,” said Razer president Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff. “For the first time, PC gamers will be able to experience a more integrated, immersive gameplay in a first-person shooter game.”

Oh and by the way, April Fools. Check the website for the official press release, which is hilarious. It’s almost tragic that this is a joke, because there are certain features of the game that sound actually enjoyable, like multiplayer modes where certain events can cause players to change to a different team altogether.

In the majority of research seeking to probe the link between gaming and aggression researchers use combat-oriented games like Call of Duty or Mortal Kombat. A new study coming from Huddersfield University in the UK suggests that shooting games might not be as affecting as previously thought.

One of the biggest problems with previous aggression research is that the actual measurement of aggression varies from study to study and some researchers use questionable definitions of aggression. This study sought to shed light on unquestionable measures of emotion by measuring sheer physical data (EEG, heart rate and breathing) in addition to the usual mental measures.

The participants, aged 18-45 played one of three games on the Xbox 360; either a 3-D table tennis game, an FPS game or Project Gotham Racing (the only game whose title they actually reveal). Interestingly the driving game induced the greatest change in brain activity and heart rate, while the FPS defied expectations by producing less of a change than even the table tennis game.

This certainly explains why my friends who take a sound beating in Halo quite gentlemanly rage and scream whenever we play Mario Kart. Nothing says ‘frustration’ like blue shells.

Activision announced that Treyarch’s first downloadable map pack for Call of Duty: World at War sold over one million downloads during its first week on PlayStation Store and Xbox Live.

The DLC was released on March 19 for $10. It offers played four new multiplayer maps, including one for the Nazi Zombies mode. It is also due out on PC, though release details are yet to be revealed.

Interestingly, it did better than the DLC for Call of Duty 4, which took nine days to break the million mark.

Following the revelation of the Saints Row 2 DLC, Volition today gave Red Faction: Guerilla a solid release date – June 9.

The studio’s next game will hit PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on the same day. It is the sequel to the destruction-centric first-person shooter set on Mars. However, this entry does away with the linear level design and introduces an open-world to destroy.

A downloadable demo is set for release on April 23. However, those who preorder the game from GameStop will get it almost three weeks before.

From Shacknews comes word that EA is resurrecting Bullfrog’s classic isometric sci-fi action series Syndicate.

They indicate that Starbreeze (Riddick: Dark Athena) is working on the project, referring to their partnership with EA on Project RedLime, which they claim was teased as a revival of one of EA’s “most acclaimed classic franchises.”

The game is being developed for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. It is not known if original producer Peter Molyneaux will work on the project.

Publisher Microsoft has announced that the first downloadable add-on for Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts will be released on April 7.

The 400 point-worth ($5) DLC is dubbed “LOG’s Lost Challenges” and will offer 12 new challenges, 7 new multiplayer modes and new achievements. It also offers some connectivity with the upcoming XBLA release of Banjo Tooie, enabling players of both games to unlock seven more vehicle blueprints.

Nuts & Bolts is Rare’s construction-centric take on the classic platformer series. It is exclusive to Xbox 360.

The first of three Saints Row 2 downloadable content packs for PS3 and Xbox 360 has been announced by developer Volition.

Dubbed “Ultor Exposed”, the DLC will add a mission arc where an Ultor microbiologist – played by adult entertainment actress Tera Patrick – joins the Third Street Saints to expose the evil megacorporation.

It also adds four multiplayer maps – two each for the Strong Arm and Gangster Brawl modes – and six new vehicles. There’s also a new competitive co-op mode that rewards destruction with cash. Additionally, there are new outfits and hairstyles.

The content is due out April 16 and will set you back 800 points ($10).