Sony’s recent announcement that all the peripherals for future music games (Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and Rock Revolution) would be compatible with each title elicited many sighs of relief among the gamer crowd. But it still the left one question hanging in the air: what about the Xbox 360? Well, that question has now been answered quite simply over at Microsoft’s Gamerscore blog, where they say quite simply, “For the record, we also do that, so consider this an official announcement.” Do you feel that? That’s what it feels like to not be pumped for cash at every opportunity for a change.

Via Gamerscore Blog

Over on the Neverwinter Nights Forums, BioWare has given the word the Jade Empire Special Edition is now available for the Mac.

Gamers who love the Mac, but hate having few native games for it are slowly getting more options for videogames. EA Games has really lead the way. The big question is how long will it be until Mass Effect shows up on the Mac; and by then will anyone care?

PlayStation 3 owners rejoice. 2K games has finally confirmed a release date for BioShock PS3. Gamers can grab it in North America on October 21 and internationally on October 24.

Those of you who’ve grown impatient waiting for BioShock can console yourselves with all the PS3 exclusive extras included in the package. The new Survivor mode will challenge gamers while Trophy support rewards them. The biggest new addition is Challenge Rooms. These will bring players out of Rapture to test what they’ve learned in new arenas. The first Challenge Room will be introduced by appointment only at Games Convention 2008 which runs August 20 to August 24. Gamers will be able to get their hands on it shortly after launch.

Given the differences between Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of many titles, I’m interested to see how the two compare.

Most gamers running Space Siege hopefully won’t have a clue what I’m talking about when I say Sega has issued a DVD Recognition Fix. For those unlucky enough to have had a drive running under Windows Vista SP1 reject your disc, you’re troubles should be at an end. The Space Siege - DVD Recognition Fix should take care of your problem.

To implement the fix, follow these steps:

1. Find your current SpaceSiege.exe in the Program Files folder and rename it to SpaceSiegeOLD.exe
2. Download this patch and unzip it in a temporary folder of your choice.
3. Put the new version SpaceSiege.exe into the same directory as the old one.
4. Launch Game.

One final note for Space Siege players, if you haven’t run into this problem don’t install the fix.

Electronic Art’s upcoming third-person action sequel The Godfather II, goes beyond the film’s story by setting players in the world of organized crime in 1960?s Florida, Cuba and New York.

According to the game’s storyline:

“After being promoted by Michael Corleone to Don of New York, players expand to new cities, as they build up their families through extorting businesses, monopolizing illegal crime rings and defeating new families in an effort to become the most powerful mob family in America.

To help players manage their empire, The Godfather II introduces “The Don’s View” which is a strategy meta-game that allows players to oversee the entire world as they grow the family business. Using the Don’s View, players will be able to build, defend and expand their crime rings, while keeping an eye on the movements and plans of the rival families. Players will also learn to master the business of organized crime by building a family of “Made Men”, hiring crew, handing out orders, and promoting their best men up the ranks.”

While the teaser trailer posted above is indeed just that, it makes me wonder if Electronic Arts might possibly make a future third installment of the game should The Godfather II do as well as the first title. The idea makes me a bit nervous to be honest with you, because “The Godfather III” was the ruination of a what could have been a wonderful film trilogy. Should EA decide to go this route, hopefully it will fair better than that fallacy starring Sophia Coppola.

The Godfather II is expected to be made available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in February 2009.

Tomb Raider: Underworld is shaping up to be a very interesting game, which I for one am pretty excited about, and I have not been interested in a Tomb Raider title since the highly lamentable The Angel of Darkness. I have heard that Tomb Raider: Legend was palatable, but with the new turn that Crystal Dynamics is taking with Lara and her adventures, Underworld looks much more tantalizing than any Tomb Raider game released in years.

In the trailer, while searching for Thor’s Hammer in Thailand, the viewer is privy to some of the cool water dynamics, and lush environments that Cyrstal Dynamics have been working so hard on. Also of special note, are Lara’s enemies, which as always, come out in droves to impede her progress. With the prerequisite spiders and the huge leviathan she must subdue should she wish to continue her adventure, Lara must also solve mutli-stage puzzles, and use her unlimited knowledge of acrobatics to reach some of the most precarious heights imaginable.

Newly introduced to the series is the ability to kill multiple enemies with a dual-target system, a brand new shiny motorbike, ans state of the art gear with a new sonar map system. All of which should give long time fans and newcomers to the series a reason to have faith in gaming’s darling once again.

Coming to the PC, PS2, PS3, DS, Wii, and Xbox 360 on November 18, Tomb Raider: Underworld may just be the adventure game of the Fall, providing you are not a Fallout fan. Start crossing your fingers now.

New screens for the game can be found here.

Trophy whores (are there any of you out there?) rejoice! NOVASTRIKE is the latest game to announce Trophy support, which it will be adding through a sizable update coming in the next few weeks.

The sixteen Trophies are certain to be what attracts most people’s eyeballs to the update, there’s going to be a significant number of updates and changes made, which are laid out in a post on PlayStation.Blog. Custom soundtracks, customizable controls and different difficulty levels (both of which were inexcusable omissions in the first place, but better late than never), enhanced leaderboards, and numerous other additions.

NOVASTRIKE has yet to be released in Europe, but Kevin McCann, president of developer Tiki Games, says they’re working with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to get the game out “as soon as possible.” Hopefully the Europeans won’t have to wait for the new update and will get Trophies and different difficulty settings out of the proverbial box.

A friendly reminder from Activision-Blizzard arrived in our inboxes this morning regarding the new Dragonforce Track Pack for Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

As you may recall, DragonForce will ascend the virtual stage once again to unleash ?Heroes of Our Time? ? the debut single off their new album “Ultra Beatdown” ? in a three-song track pack which will be available on August 21 (Thursday) giving gamers the opportunity to download and play ?Heroes of Our Time? in advance of the album release.

Included in the track pack is  ?Revolution Deathsquad? and ?Operation Ground and Pound? from their third album “Inhuman Rampage”. The three-song DragonForce Track Pack will be available for download on Xbox LIVE Marketplace and PSN.

We will let you know when it is up and ready to make your fingers bleed.

As if there were any doubt to how well PopCap Games is doing, they today announced that their biggest franchise, Bejeweled, has sold more than 25 million copies across all platforms since its release in 2000. It’s an astounding number, even if the game has appeared on countless platforms; for a game that PopCap was unable to sell to companies for as little as $60,000 in the early stages, it’s certainly had a major impact on the games industry. Hell — it practically created a genre. I shudder to think what life would be like without Puzzle Quest, which would never have been created if not for Bejeweled.

“Considering we tried to sell Bejeweled outright to more than one industry giant back in the early days of our company, and got no takers even after reducing our asking price to $60,000, this little game has done all right for itself,” said Jason Kapalka, chief creative officer and co-founder of PopCap, and the original designer of Bejeweled and its sequel. “I vividly recall prospective buyers telling us ‘It’s not even a game,’ while showing us the door,” Kapalka laughed.

PopCap claims the game has resulted in over $300 million being spent on the game, not to mention the 350 million copies of Bejeweled and its sequel that have been downloaded. Truly, this is quite an accomplishment. Congratulations to everyone at PopCap… now get back to working on Peggle, please.

Despite music executives and the labels they work for commending the recent popularity of music games giving sluggish music sales a boost, Warner Music Group’s Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman recently spoke out against what he feels is “far too small” of an amount to license songs for the ever growing content included within the games.

In defense of the music game genre, and Guitar Hero in general, Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick fired back at Warner Music stating that the record companies are getting compensated very well, and that Warner Music is failing to see the bigger picture. Kotick also hinted that because of this slam from Edgar Bronfman, the record company may never get the opportunity to have their music featured in future Guitar Hero games again.

Kotick feels that the label’s ?one-sided comments? fail to acknowledge the benefit of having songs from their catalog featured in the games. Bands that would not have reached certain audiences through the radio or other forms of media are now being showcased not only within an entirely new demographic, but within the industry as a whole.

According to MCV, during a recent interview with The Financial Times Kotick mused that Bronfman may think that the company should be compensated the same way they are when a song is downloaded via iTunes, but that with games, the technology is vastly complex and different.

Due to these growing tensions, Kotick went on to say that only record companies that appreciate the opportunity that the games provide will be courted in the future:

“We?re going to favor those publishers that recognize and appreciate how much we can add value to their artists.  We?re introducing a whole new group of artists to new audiences that is resulting in their iTunes downloads being exponentially higher than they would otherwise be, [as well as] new album sales and new merchandising opportunities.

We hope that our partners in the gaming space appreciate not only the value of their own contributions but also those of the recording artists, songwriters, record labels and music publishers on which their games are significantly based.?

Considering the fact that Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock has sold approximately 20 million units and has raked in over $1billion in sales, it would stand to reason that these sales would also have generated more revenue for the artists featured within the game as well as the downloadable content.  Many record companies have recently commended both Rock Band and the Guitar Hero franchise for boosting sales, and the proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

For example: during the week that Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was released in October 2007, digital sales of The Strokes’ track “Reptilia” sold 127 percent more than the week before the game was released. Add to this the following week which saw sales for the track leap another 96 percent. Likewise, Slipknot?s “Before I Forget” soared to 75 percent the week the game debuted and took a 140 percent turn the following week.

Large record labels have been reputed in the past to be greedy, soulless, fat-cats, what with the horror stories told over the years of bands getting shafted by the big bad wolves of the music industry. Therefore it is no wonder that this latest comment from Warner’s CEO is being perceived as nothing more than a greedy record executive wanting a bigger piece of the pie. If they want more royalties for the benefit of the artists they represent, the public and even the gaming companies, would most likely be more understanding and supportive of the measures they were taking to protect their clients. However, with the negative publicity that the labels have gotten over the past few years, post Napster, it makes you wonder if they truly want more residuals for the right purpose or just to line their own pockets.

What each record company receives as far as licensing fees for songs contained in these games is not known. Yet, if they end up wanting an exorbitant amount of money to include the bands they represent within the games, it will only hurt the consumer in the long run. You cannot expect a company like Activison-Blizzard to pay out the nose in royalties and not try and recoup that investment from gamers. The price of the initial game disc could go up, and we could be paying larger amounts of money for downloadable content. If such a scenario should happen, not only will the games suffer, but in turn the gamer as well.