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

At a Glance: “Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon”

A prettier Mario Galaxy would be too much to ask for, I guess.

There's an article over at http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52755 right now which lays claim to the announcement of the the third and concluding Spyro game in the “mature Spyro” trilogy which was started with “The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning” back in 06. For me, the most impressive thing about this article, is the above screen shot, taken on the 360 version of the game, which sent shivers down my spine when I first laid eyes on it.

At first glance, I thought that Sierra, the game's Publisher, had seen the huge success of Mario Galaxy and tried to emulate it. However, I was obviously wrong, with journalists describing the new game as being “Spyro meets God of War”, which certainly sounds intriguing. I love God of War, and I kind of loved Spyro, back in the days when it was developed by Insomniac, so perhaps this game will be enough to revitalize the Franchise. Along with Spyro's “God of War-like” qualities, Dawn of the Dragon will come with three main new features:

-overhauled visuals
-drop-in cooperative play
-free flight

The prospect of free flying sounds totally fascinating, although I'm hoping that they don't do a Lair on us and implement terrible flight controls. With E3 coming up veeeery soon, I'm sure Microsoft will be dying to show off their new motion controller for the first time, and Dawn of the Dragon would be a perfect candidate for gyroscopic flight controls, so expect more on that I guess. Co-operative play excite me to no end. Supposedly, a second player is going to be able to drop into the game and play as Cynder; and the game itself is completable with both Spyro and Cynder in one player. Overall, I don't think I've ever personally been more excited about a Spyro game as the idea of limitless free flight and co-operative play seem to be great additions to the usual formulaic development of a Spyro sequal. Here's hoping this year's E3, (July 15 -18) will shed more light on this remarkable comeback.

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage Editor--

Thought Track: Gears of War 2 (single player)

Josh and Tom give a running thought track of a short section of gameplay collated from the single player section of Gears of War 2. These are our thoughts. We hope you like them.

--360Stage--

The End of Something Revolutionary: My time with GTA: IV

Here's a short video piece to camera about my final thoughts on the ending I recieved to GTA I4. There are no spoilers as such, but just typically, I got a phone call from Packie, but I left a note to show when it happens. It's barely audible and you probably won't hear it, but if you want, just skip 20 seconds ahead to hear my thoughts. What to say...? I'm not sure. I may write something about it tomorrow...or I may not. In any case, there'll be a review going up soon, but really, do you need a review for us to tell you that you should buy it? Whatever, check back to hear Editor Josh Pollard give GTA I4 a good old-fashioned praise.

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage Editor--

GTA IV: Going under (and how to do it)

One of the most popular GTA IV glitches is the underworld glitch. It basically allows you to explore whats under the map. Despite my poor camera I managed to get the glitch on film and I'll even share the secrets on how to do it. Sorry for the cam quality, if you have any questions leave a comment and we'll get back to you.

First watch this video, this is the actual glitch in action.

GTA IV - Going Under Glitch
Uploaded by 360Stage

Now here's the how to video, exclusively on 360stage.
--Watch for some handy tips at the end--

GTA: Going Under (how-to)
Uploaded by 360Stage

We hope to steal Josh Pollard's HD camera and have some HQ videos by next week.
If you have any questions, leave a comment!

GTA IV: Glitches

It was only a matter time before we got some glitches and here is a video full of them!
Included is; breaking dancing tugboats, flying cars and upside down motorbikes.

FULL SCREEN CLICK HERE

Feature: Grand Theft Auto IV: Saturday Night Live

Here's something for you GTA fans out there. This is a great sketch from SNL in which Niko and Vlad complain about how thier city (Liberty City), is portryaed in a negative way by Rockstar.
Hope you enjoy the sketch, leave a comment and let us know!

~~Sean Linley, 360Stage Editor~~
*We are testing a new player based on the photobucket player, please let us know if you experience any bugs or techincal problems with the player, many thanks 360Stage staff*

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith - You still excited?

When this game was announced there was a mixed reaction. Those who like Aerosmith and whose who don't. Depending which side you were on will depend on how excited about this game you are. When looking at this game you need to avoid the commmon misconception that the game is just Aerosmith, there will be other bands on there, the question is who? Bosses at Activison told us to expect

60% Aerosmith 40% other

We're also told to expect 60 tracks but we expect it may be a bit less but with various sources citing there to be about 40.
The announced tracks so far u are:
Nipmuc

* “All the Young Dudes” - Mott the Hoople
* “Dream Police” - Cheap Trick
* “Make it” - Aerosmith
* “Uncle Salty” - Aerosmith
* “Draw the Line” - Aerosmith

Max’s KC

* “I Hate Myself for Loving You” - Joan Jett
* “All Day and All of the Night” - The Kinks
* “Movin’ Out” - Aerosmith
* “No Surprize” - Aerosmith
* “Sweet Emotion” - Aerosmith

The Orpheum

* “Complete Control” - The Clash
* “Personality Crisis” - New York Dolls
* “Livin’ on the Edge” - Aerosmith
* “Rag Doll” - Aerosmith
* “Love in an Elevator” - Aerosmith
Half-time show

* Lenny Kravitz - Always on the run
* Black Crowes -Hard to handle
* Aerosmith - Back in the saddle
* Aerosmith - Beyond beautiful
* Aerosmith - Dream on -If you got a dlc of this already you'll know it's way too easy to be this far into the track list, however, it's been reported that the track has been altered and we hope harder too!

Other confirmed songs to be featured in the game include:

* “Kings and Queens” - Aerosmith
* “Mama Kin” - Aerosmith
* “Walk This Way” - Aerosmith
* “Combination” - Aerosmith

There is also word of some Run DMC, White Stripes, Stone temple pilots and Deep Purple. We hope to get some more information over the next few days direct from the boys at Neversoft so stick around and walk our way...
Here's a bonus treat the new trailer for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, enjoy.

~~Sean Linley, 360Stage Editor~~