At a glance: Beyond more Good and more Evil

At last it’s happened. One of the greatest games to come out of 2003’s action/ adventure packed holiday season is getting a sequel. There was news a while back that Rayman creator Michel Ancel was focusing on a Beyond Good and Evil sequel, but it somehow got overlooked. However, we’ve finally all got proof of his word with the above teaser trailer which gives us a look at the game’s “identity”. Of course I’m not talking about specifics here, but you can see from the clip that the two main characters, Jade and Pey'j are back, along with the game’s sense of humor. I’m not going to give you a running commentary though; that would just be filler, I’ll just let you watch the trailer and remember back to that great 2003.

Looking at the trailer, it looks like the game’s in development primarily for “next generation” platforms, but it would be hard to see them leaving out a Wii and PC version too; remember, this is all just my speculation. Moreover, by putting the fact that the two characters are back together and that this is likely to come out on the 360 and the ps3, I think that we can presume there to be some sort of co-op mode, because that seems to be the current trend: why not throw in co-op?! Hell yeah why not?!

Nothing specific has been said about the game itself in terms of new characters, mechanics and story, but rest assured that as soon as anything else is said, we’ll be right on it. Hmm, isn’t E3 sort of just around the corner…?

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage Editor--

Rock Band - How to save £43! (and the great European rip-off)

The basic outline of this controversy surrounding the price of Rock Band goes like this.
.USA: £85 (approx)
.Europe: £180 (No approx there either)
.That's a whopping £95 difference!
.We can get you the game with all instruments for £137 saving
you £43 - Read on to find out how
So really it's not hard to see why European gamers were so angry. Harmonix responded to the angry gamers with the following statements:

1.The cost is so high because of shipping costs

The game is backed by EA who happen to have an European hq where the game could have been produced so these claims are really very poor.

2.European gamers will have a special edition copy of the game

Well lucky us eh? 5 extra tracks for over double the cost.

3. We decided to release the game solo for the benefit of gamers - They can use Guitar Hero controllers and any usb mic

Part of the anger came as Harmonix didn't even bundle the game with the instruments. Amid lots of controversy with Activison over the usage of their controllers with Harmonix's Rock Band we are told that the controllers are compatible despite reports of problems especially with the PS3. As for the mic nice try but by not bundling I'm sure that's more money in your pocket.
Tips for getting Rock Band as cheap as possible
.It's worth checking out Zavvi who are offering the game solo for £38.
.If you want to buy the game with the controllers shop around. It's probably worth buying the game and controllers from separate shops.
.Avoid Game and Gamestation - They are charging full RRP of £180
.To get the game in a more affordable way to begin with buy the game (cheapest reported price of £38) and a drum controller (RRP £69.99) this will cost you between £108-120. Now, simply wait a couple of weeks and buy the wireless guitar for around £60. This brings you to the £180 but without the need of a hub there's less mess and your xbox live mic will suffice as a microphone to sing with.
.Our final tip - Don't buy it, it is an obvious rip-off and for each person that buys it's another goal for Harmonix who prove that the consumer will buy no matter how high the price is.
As mentioned earlier in the article the game is available for £137 - Here's the how.

Buy the game from Zavvi - Click Here to buy
Other retailers we reccomend are Play and Amazon.
The bad news is the game is genuinely fun to play, (even more so than Guitar Hero 3), the question is - Are you willing to pay?
Don't miss our review of Rock Band coming soon!
~~Sean Linley, 360Stage Editor~~
Rock Band Official Trailer HD