G-News

If you failed to catch it online, then here are the highlights from The 26th Annual Golden Joystick Awards. Hosted by Frankie Boyle, the event handed out honors to the top games of the year.

Activision owned as it picked up the Publisher of the Year award, along with four more awards for Call of Duty 4(PS3, Xbox 360).
Rockstar also got a big piece of the action, winning Developer of the Year, Soundtrack of the Year, and Xbox Game of the Year for Grand Theft Auto 4(Xbox 360, PlayStation 3).

Find out how everyone else fared in the list below.

• Publisher of the Year: Activision

• CVG.co.uk UK Developer of the Year: Rockstar

• The Sun Family Game of The Year: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

• Bliss Handheld Game of The Year: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

• Activision Blizzard Retailer of The Year: Play.com

• The E4 Talent Mobile Game of The Year: Bejeweled 2

• Nintendo Game of The Year Sponsored by Official Nintendo Magazine : Super Smash Bros. Brawl

• Nuts All-Nighter Multiplayer Game of The Year: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

• BBC1Xtra Soundtrack of The Year: Grand Theft Auto 4

• ARVATO Xbox Game of The Year: Grand Theft Auto 4

• PC Game of The Year Sponsored by The United Kingdom e-Sport Association: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

• The Play.com One to Watch: Call of Duty: World at War

• PlayStation Game of The Year Sponsored by Official Playstation Magazine: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

• Edge Most Wanted: Fallout 3

• E4.com Grand Master Flash Award: Stickman Madness

• Games Radar’s Online Game of The Year: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

• Virgin Media Ultimate Game of The Year: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Whad’ya think? Are your favorites up there? Comments below.

• Golden Joystick Awards: vote for your most anticipated game

The Wii has Miis, so Microsoft got Avatars. Now the PlayStation 3 has LittleBigPlanetso Microsoft got… Boku? They’re not calling it a game though, just so it’s not that obvious; it’s a “visual programming language.”

Far from being a sackboy, Boku is a little robot head with cartoony eyes, which kinda reminds me of EVE in Wall-E. Boku can then be programmed with a graphical language to do any number of things. However cute Boku is though, the selling point is the graphical programming language, which allows you to create your own games.

LittleBokuPlanet Boku is designed to be a lightweight programming language for kids. Here are some videos of the game, err, “visual programming language”:

Game rentals were banned in Belgium last June upon the Belgian Entertainment Association convincing the authorities to do so. The report is that it will start in December 1 and anyone caught will be facing legal action.  Better straighten up or you’ll be facing jail time.

The Belgian gaming industry believes that companies lose money because of game rentals since more customers are opting out to rent games rather than buy their own copies. Worse is that the rental shop owners by their own copies of the game by retail and have them rented out in their stores.

What’s wrong with this is that it bypasses the rental procedure of the store owners getting a consultation with the publisher first and then they buy wholesale from them. Essentially, it follows the same procedures that rental stores go through for films.

Olivier Maeterlinck, Managing Director of the Belgian Entertainment Association, explains:

What’s happening is that video rental stores are declining in popularity, and because of this those stores began to buy retail copies of games and put them up for rent. I can’t think of any country that would allow this. Rental outlets need publisher permission to rent out games, and need to buy them wholesale, just like with films.

Filip Dossche, manager of Game Mania, consider this new legislation as catastrophic because game rentals make up more than 10 of his total income and the new law will definitely affect his business.

However, new reports appear to say that it’s not so bad after all since they are not totally banning these stores. Instead, they are only going to be implementing stricter policies on the game rentals industry, specifically on getting permits before they can rent out titles.

Wow, who would’ve thought that rentals business can be risky business? Stay tuned here for more updates.

Activision’s new Bond game Quantum of Solace, based upon the film of the same name and Casio Royale hit retail in Europe today, and while we will not see the game grace our shores until November 4, Activision is trying to pacify us with an extra treat for having to wait a few days longer than the rest.

On November 7, just three days after the release of Quantum of Solace, Guitar Hero: World Tour players will be able to download “Another Way to Die”, the theme from the movie, which is performed by none other than Jack White and Alicia Keys. The track will be available on Xbox Live Microsoft for 160 Microsoft Points ($2.00) and while no price was given for the track on PlayStation Store it will probably go for the usual $1.99.

The song is a bit of a departure from other Bond tracks and not only because it is the first duet to be featured as the theme song, but also because it is very experimental consisting of a fusion between jazz, rap, hip-hop, and rock genres. Now sure how many Guitar Hero aficionados will like the track, but if you are a fan of Jack White or Alicia Keys you will be placated.

—Related Articles at Gaming Today:First Screenshot Released for New Bond Game: Quantum of SolaceE3 2008: Quantum of Solace Trailer is no GoldenEyeSting Getting Digitized for Guitar Hero: World TourScore PS3 Playing Quantum of Solace Sweepstakes and WebgameTerrifying Video of the Day: "How To" Trailer for Guitar Hero On Tour

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena has found salvation in Atari. The future of the game based on the Chronicles of Riddick franchise, spawned by the movie “Pitch Black”, was dubious after it was Read full story »

After the announcement that they will be working on a title featuring the Beatles, MTV and Harmonix have signed themselves into a considerably lucrative deal. The game is being targeted for release during the 2009 holidays, and will be in “an interactive video format.”

“The game is in development,” said Apple Corps CEO Jeff Jones. Apple Corps is the rights holder of the Beatles’ music. “We don’t want to talk about how it will turn out a year from now. We’re in the process of creating the game.”

It makes one wonder about how the music will be put in the game. Like some sacred relic, the Beatles’ music was never remastered and was left untouched, making it unavailable through digital retail like iTunes. It seems that this game will be going where no digital retailer has gone before.

“Maybe the fact that this deal is done will offer an impetus to Apple and EMI,” said Martin Bandier, CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. “We signed a deal that would be considered very rich by the videogame company but fair for the artists. It will have online implications that will be enormous.”

As early as now, I’m wondering how the game will come out. How much it’ll cost is a different story altogether. I guess we’ll just have to play by ear for now.

• MTV and Apple Corps to hold presscon, will confirm Beatles for Rock Band?

Aaaand here’s another Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) video whose violence levels are so incredibly heart pounding that I’m afraid I’m about to yawn. Bear witness to the fatally fatal fatalities of Sonya Blade, Catwoman, and Sub-Zero!

Fatal!

I’m probably bearing down a little too hard on the game, but I’m teed off that the devs decided to Teen-ify Joker’s Fatality. Yes, in case you haven’t heard, Joker’s Fatality - the only one I can say deserves the word Fatality - was modified. Here’s the unedited version:

Unfortunately, the second gunshot now happens offscreen, to keep with the game’s Teen rating. Damn.

• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe: story intro trailer
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe vid: Green Lantern, Raiden and the Flash’s finishing moves

Zombies are everywhere these days, and I don’t it’s just because it’s Halloween. It seems there’s a zombie-themed game in development right now for every single gaming console. Heck, they’ve even crossed over into the Call of Duty franchise via a bonus four-player co-op mission in World at War (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS).

So yeah. World War 2. With zombies. It’s been done before, but it’s always great fun to mow down the undead with a hail of bullets. You can check out a video of the zombie mission Nacht der Untoten (Night of the Undead) below. Happy Halloween.

Buy: [Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360, PS3)]
Buy: [Call of Duty: World at War (Wii, DS)]

• Zombies get their moment to shine too in Call of Duty: World at War

Call it a case of a rouge forum moderator getting power hungry, being misinformed, or just not understanding what is going on before they post. Either way you look at it, EA has once again denied that players who get banned from the community forums for acting like morons will also get banned from playing their EA games.

Yesterday, as you may recall, Shacknews and Kotaku were reporting on another case of mis-communication doled out by a forum moderator. In this case it was Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 community manager Aaron Kaufman a.k.a. “eaapoc” who told forum users that since their community log in was directly tied to their EA master account, that if they acted in a way that violated the Terms of Service agreement they would not only be banned from all EA forums but from playing any games they purchased as well.

Gamecyte received clarification yesterday afternoon directly from and EA representative who stated:
“Players who have been banned from EA Forums are not automatically banned from online access to their other EA games. Posting in EA Forums is enabled by an EA Nucleus account — but access to the forums and access to the games are separate.”

However, if you violate the ToS of your game or the Code of Conduct in a forum, you can be banned - although being banned from one does not mean you are banned from the other. “Players can be banned if they breach the Terms of Service or Code of Conduct in a forum, game or service. Each forum, game and service is managed independently by customer support representatives responsible for that specific forum, game or service.”

We are unsure if the Red Alert 3 forum moderator misinterpreted the new ToS or was just using scare tactics to get members to behave, but either way it got gamers in a an uproar, and hopefully this will persuade EA to educate their forum moderators a bit better.

—Related Articles at Gaming Today:The Darkness Banned in SingaporeTop Ten Banned Video GamesXBox 360 Ad Banned in UKUnsavory Behavior in EA Forums Will Get You Banned in Games TooDead Space Latest Videogame to Feel Ban Hammer in China and Japan, Still on for Germany

We have a lot of updates for Burnout Paradise (PS3, Xbox 360) fans today. A new box set, new DLC… Things are certainly looking better and better for fans of Criterion Games’ open-world racer.

Let’s start things off with the DLC. If you remember, Criterion has announced that they plan to bring four new DLC packs for Burnout Paradise next year. They’ve finally unveiled the first one: Burnout Paradise Party.

This pack basically turns Burnout Paradise into an offline party game for up to eight people, complete with new Party Edition visuals and atmosphere. In Party mode, a randomly selected player is dropped into the game and tasked to complete a challenge. It’s a pass-the-pad affair, so you need only one controller.

There are three challenge types: Stunt, Speed and Skill. Stunt covers the jumps and tricks prat of the game. Speed is for time trials and the like, while Skill challenges will have players driving through oncoming traffic and drifting their cars.

The Burnout Paradise Party pack also comes with new Trophies and Achievements. It’ll be available for download come February 2009.

Also coming in February is Electronic Arts’ Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and - for the first time ever - for PC. The box set will include a copy of Burnout Paradise, the Cagney and Bikes content updates, and the Party pack.

The box’s PS3 version also features the Burnout Paradise Network. This is pretty much a replacement for the old Burnout Live News Page using the PlayStation browser for “upgraded news service, enhanced social play and much, much more”. Criterion hasn’t revealed everything about this PS3-exclusive feature yet, so keep checking back here for more details.

• Four new Burnout Paradise updates slated for Spring 2009

Buy: [Burnout Paradise (PS3)]
Buy: [Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360)]