We’ve been listening to your feedback over the last few months and wanted to let you know that we will be adding 60+ songs to the North American SingStore over the next few months. We’ll be sure to keep you all posted as we begin rolling out new songs to the SingStore. In the meantime, here’s a highlight of songs to appear in the coming weeks:

• UB40 – ‘Red Red Wine’
• Billy Joel – ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’
• Chumbawamba- ‘Tubthumping’
• David Bowie- ‘Let’s Dance’
• Pink – ‘Get the Party Started’
• Queen- ‘The Show Must Go On’
• New Order- ‘Blue Monday 88′
• Men at Work - ‘Down Under’
• Starship - ‘We Built This City’

Just in time for the holidays we will also be releasing a Christmas song pack to the SingStore in mid-December featuring popular Christmas carols from top artists such as Toni Braxton, Celine Dion and Paul McCartney. The pack will be available for $6.99 and will include the following tracks:

• Toni Braxton – ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Xmas’
• Babyface – ‘Sleigh Ride’
• Shakin’ Stevens – ‘Merry Christmas’
• Paul McCartney – “Wonderful Christmastime’
• Celine Dion – ‘Christmas Eve’

For all you SingStar fans with an extensive PS2 SingStar Library, a free game update will be made available by Christmas which will let you play your existing PS2 SingStar titles on your PS3. The new feature will work with all current PS3 systems and will not require a system software update. Just note, this feature is only compatible with SingStar discs.

Thank you all very much for your support and feedback. We’re committed to improving the North American SingStore and will keep you posted with new releases and updates.

Contribution - WRONG -

I read at A Wall of Text that people believe they broke contribution. Let me tell you, you’re WRONG. I am ALWAYS at the top. not because I do more, but because I have figured it out. Its NOT a randomly assigned number upon zoning in. Nor is it fair. I’m not saying its right or working, but the people who posted on WHA who have been quoted at AWoT are incorrect. Sorry guys.

I have an entire post written which I am considering publishing. It would probably ruin keep raids for awhile until mythic changed it, but at least false information wouldn’t be passed as fact. I cant read WHA right now, but I can tell you that contribution, while broken, is NOT random. Its just more broken than you even think it is.

Seriously, you can’t make a claim like that and NOT spill the beans! And I don’t mean to to offend, but if you’ve figured out the system, are continually earning top spot, and the mechanic is “broken” as you say, I think they have a word for what you’re doing: Exploiting.

I’m not calling you an exploiter, but I’m not saying you aren’t either. It’s just that without more information, we can’t make an educated assessment now can we? *Waves his hands* Tell us your seeeeekritz!

I think the best way to actually get Mythic to fix this issue is to call them out on it. I really do. Sure, it will cast them in a negative light, but if it is in fact broken as you claim, well they deserve to have a fire lit under their asses to fix it. Keep raiding is already “ruined” for me because I know contribution broken, so no matter what you say, it can’t get any worse. I still participate in it for the sake of sacking the keep and moving the WAR forward, but the carrot on the stick of golden loot sacks isn’t very enticing when the carrot is replaced with a rancid ruttabegga.

Whaddya say, boyz! Ya wanna hear him spill it? Shout it out loud!

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Ignition Entertainment has updated the website for their upcoming RPG and Nintendo DS exclusive, Blue Dragon Plus. On the site you can immerse yourself in the story of Blue Dragon Plus as traditional website sections interweave with cinematic story presentation, revealing a deeper look into the mystery behind the game.

Packed with fan favorites including character bios, screenshots, storylines and wallpapers, the new game portal also boasts a fully dedicated Blue Dragon Plus forum where gamers can breathe fire alongside other Blue Dragon Plus fans from all over the world.

The game is expected to be released February 24, 2009 for the DS, so check back with us often as more details emerge.

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Related Articles at Gaming Today:

• Mistwalker Delays Release of Blue Dragon Plus - Again
• Blue Dragon Soars to the US
• Blue Dragon Get Free Downloadable Content
• Blue Dragon Fan Site Kit Available
• E3 2007: Blue Dragon Demo On XBLM Now

I wonder how we’ll look back on this period of development, once we’ve got AI in games that’s likely to talk us out of the gunfight and to join its uprising against their developers. As games make stumbling progression, inching ahead with improvements for enemy behaviour, we’re still getting excited when we throw a grenade at them and they don’t pick it up and try to eat it. In the latest FEAR 2: Project Origin dev chat, below, Matt Rice and Nate Cleveland proudly explain that the AIs respond with a display of emotion when they catch on fire.

(...)
Read the rest of FEAR 2: Project Origin Talks AI (33 words)

Posted by botherer. | 9 comments | Donate or subscribe to RPS | Post tags: fear 2: project origin, trailer
This article is from Rock, Paper, Shotgun. If you're reading it on any other website, they're stealing it from us without permission.

While the vast majority of our users worldwide are enjoying the New Xbox Experience with no problems, we are aware that a handful of Xbox LIVE users are experiencing audio issues, and are diligently monitoring this issue and working towards a solution. We appreciate our members' enthusiasm and patience, and apologize for any inconveniences.

• Woe is you: New Xbox Experience update says hello with RRoD reports
• New Xbox Experience speed tests: HDD vs DVD
• A friendly message from the Major: modding your 360 gets you banned, duh

Another week, another round of UK chart positions, and yet another top slot for Activision's Call of Duty: World at War. It's hardly surprising that a World War II game does so well in the UK. After all, WWII was the last time Britain was ever good at something.

Resistance 2 seems to be following LittleBigPlanet's footsteps by having respectable sales, but failing to set the charts on fire like its rivals' exclusives have done. While Gears of War 2 and anything on the Wii have all enjoyed top positions, Insomniac's PS3-exclusive shooter debuts at number ten.

It is interesting to note that Lips, Microsoft's big "casual" title that was supposed to bring in all sorts of new consumers, failed to chart in the top twenty at all. Given the huge success of SingStar in the UK, this makes it doubly interesting. Not that I expect Microsoft to take the hint and focus on its own market. I'm sure MS will continue desperately aping the Wii.

Otherwise, it's the usual suspects of FIFA 09, Need for Speed and Brain Training. Hit the jump for the full chart listing.

They completely removed the health bar and the ammo/weapon management. There are no maze elements to navigating the levels and the game purposefully doesn’t let you back-track so that players don’t get lost and frustrated. They loaded the game with tons of auto-checkpoints that neatly separate the action into distinct battles so there is almost never any forced replay. They also loaded the game with variety (the visuals, enemies, weapons, and combat change quite a bit throughout the game) to eliminate complaints of repetition.

All of these changes were made very purposefully and probably came from extensive user feedback studies and focus group testing. The problem is that all of these changes really dumbed down the experience. I felt more like I was passively moving through a scripted semi-interactive tech demo than actually playing a game.

Resistance 2 was still a lot of fun, the giant fire fights didn’t have this overly scripted feel to them (they’re still linear, but they felt very interactive), and this game isn’t the only one with this problem. Call of Duty 4 (single player), for example, was worse. It felt every bit as blatantly scripted and forced and linear, but lacked many of the cool highlights of Resistance 2. (BTW, I feel more comfortable criticizing Insomniac’s games, because I’ve been such a big fan, where CoD4, I didn’t want to rain on everyone else’s parade.)

Also, Uncharted, Bioshock, Ratchet & Clank, Dead Space, God of War, Manhunt (only mentioning PS2/PS3 titles): these are some of my favorite games from the past few years, but they all fall into this category: heavily scripted, produced, and completely linear experiences. Even as the developers are getting better and better of making this style of game, and as much as I love the mentioned games, and admire the work that went into them, I feel like the general structure and formula is really wearing thin.

So what else should games do? From the little I’ve played of Far Cry 2, that’s a good example of what I don’t want: the same linear game play with a repetitive quest/hub/navigation system thrown on top of it. Games need to develop new hooks: something that makes them fun and addicting beyond merely shooting/dodging and clearing gorgeous levels.

So what do you think? Are you fine with bigger and better versions of games like Uncharted and God Of War or are you getting a little tired of that formula (or a little of both)? Do you think this type of game has passed it’s peak?

Does “Gears of War” creator Cliff Bleszinski hear snoring that makes him dream he’s wielding a Lancer chainsaw?

Does “Burnout” architect Alex Ward dream that his car has flipped?

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, Patrick and I asked a few game developers how their work in the gaming industry affects their dreams. We heard back from creators behind “Fable II,” “Mirror’s Edge” and “Alone In The Dark” as well as from one game-crazy p.r. man.

Here are their gaming-affected dreams. Brace yourself:

The gaming dreams of Tom Farrer, producer of EA’s “Mirror’s Edge” [via phone]

“… And then comes the dreaming. When you’re working on something for years and years, it sort of works its way into your subconscious and pops up in your dreams all the time.

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I? I did have one dream where I woke up and was heading out to work — I hadn’t left the apartment — and I was dressed as ['Mirror's Edge' heroine] Faith. I think that’s the weirdest one that I have. I remember on ‘Battlefield‘ dreaming that I was in one of the maps and under fire from snipers — which is probably where the project was at at the time.”

***

The gaming dreams of Peter Molyneux, head of Lionhead Studios, makers of “Fable II” [via e-mail]

“During the time we were developing ‘Fable 2′ I has quite a lot of dreams. Some about the lower moral characters in Albion — probably best not to go into details! Quite a lot about being lost in Albion which is probably more about development process I suspect and one where I had a pet Balverine!”

***

The early-90’s gaming dreams of Chris Kramer, current public relations manager at Capcom, U.S.A. [via instant message]

“I played a lot of the original ‘Warcraft.’ It got to the point where I would have these dreams where my town was being attacked and my peons were being slaughtered, but I was unable to control my units. Very stressful! I’d actually wake up from these dreams talking out loud, which would either wake me up or (more importantly) the very, very patient woman who is now my wife. After the third or fourth time this happened, there were some rules made in the house about length of time spent playing ‘WC’ and what time it had to be shut off.”

***

The gaming dreams of Emile Morel, game designer at Eden Games for Atari’s “Alone In The Dark” [via e-mail]

“When you work on a video game you start having a lot of weird dreams, especially in crunch period, when you literally work all day. Sleep becomes the only moment you have for yourself, away from work. The problem is that when you work a lot, sleep sometimes loses its relaxing abilities, and you basically end up working even when you sleep, your brain just can’t stop working.

“That happened to me on ‘Alone in the Dark’ when I was working on the monsters of the game. I spent a lot of time working on all the monsters in the game, setting and tuning them, to make sure they would always behave correctly. Before placing them inside the game, I had a test scene in the shape of a big arena where I could place all the monsters to test them.

“While I was working on those monsters, many times [I was still working on them] even in my sleep. In my dreams I was making new settings in the monsters and then I was watching them in the test scene to see if they were behaving correctly.

“But one time, this dream got weirder, I found myself literally inside the test arena, just as if I was inside the game, only it all seemed very real! I was surrounded by all the monsters of the game, but they were all very nice to me, I was the mean one. I was like the mean coach of a sport team, always yelling at the monsters because they were not doing what I was asking them to do, ‘You guys don’t get it, this is not the way you should react when you hear a noise, that doesn’t work,’ or things like that. And the monsters were very nice, doing their best to try to please me, but every time they were just doing the exact opposite of what I was asking them to do.

“I don’t remember how this dream ended, but I can tell you that after a dream like that, when you come back to work, it just feels like you never left work and that you never went to sleep…”

***

If working on video games has affected your dreams, please let us know. We’re ready for anything.