The folks over at Harmonix have let the cat out of the bag.  G4TV’s X-Play had exclusive coverage of the announcement, where gameplay was shown off, and several features were covered.  Let’s put the trailer video here for you to take a peek at:

As you can see, some of the features include being able to use your existing Rock Band library in the game, the ability to export the included tracks for this game into Rock Band 3, and not needing instruments to play. The game will likely have a large presence at PAX East (and yours truly will do his best to get coverage of it), so expect more information about this game as we approach the weekend.

The 5 songs that are known to be in the game include:

• Blink 182 – Always
• Foster the People – Pumped Up Kicks
• Great White – Once Bitten, Twice Shy
• Quiet Riot – Metal Health
• Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl

What I want to know is:

Will you be buying Rock Band Blitz?

I went back and forth with adding qualifiers to WHY you would be buying it, but decided that’s what the comments for.  So it doesn’t matter if you’d be buying blitz to actually play the game, or buying it just to get the 25 songs for Rock Band 3 for no more than $20 (which, by itself, is a steal), or not buying it because you own a Wii.  I am intrigued by the concept, though a little bummed that it is single player only.  I will be purchasing the game, and plan on actually playing it.  I see it as a great opportunity to play some of the songs that I don’t get a chance to in Rock Band 3 for various reasons.  I think this is a smart move to get a wider audience exposed to Rock Band, and get them used to the concept of adding songs through DLC.  I do hope that they have not moved completely away from the traditional Rock Band game forever, but I can appreciate the fact that they are finding new ways to utilize the massive library they have at their disposal.

What do you think?  Vote above, and let us know below!

Source: G4TV (Rock Band Blitz Announcement), RockBandAide (Song List)

View previous ASQ: PAX East 2012 - View next ASQ: Portable Gaming

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

I can hardly believe it, but PAX East is just over 2 weeks away.  Seems like just a few months ago I was basking in the glory that was my first PAX experience (that I dragged all of you fine folks through), and this year I’m hoping for more of the same.  Actually, I’m hoping for more of the more, as I have a lot more events lined up for myself this year (not to mention knowing a few more folks who will be attending, unlike last year, where I knew.. uh.. no one).

But we’re not here to talk about PAX (unfortunately) – we’re here to talk about Harmonix and the announcement they made on their blog that they will be revealing a new game at PAX East.  They’ll be doing a livestream on April 4th (a few days before PAX) that will preview this game, but I thought I’d poll everyone now, and get your thoughts:

What do you think the new Harmonix game is going to be?

(You may need to refresh the page to see the poll)

I would love for this announcement to be for a new Rock Band game; it’s been a year and a half since the last game, and I would love to see what Harmonix can do now that they’re back to being an independent developer again. If the trend in rhythm gaming is followed, though, I think this might be a new Dance Central game; perhaps even a themed dance game.  Motion gaming (and dance games in particular) are very hot right now, so this makes sense.  VidRhythm was a surprising success (well, not surprising once you used it), so I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s another mobile app, but put me down as expecting a new Dance Central release.

What do you think is coming out of the Harmonix think tank? Any ideas as to what their next big hit will be that’s not related to Rock Band or Dance Central?  Vote above, and let us know in the comments below!

View previous ASQ: Psychonauts 2 (With Recap) - View next ASQ: PAX East 2012

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

There’s been some buzz around the on again, off again development for Psychonauts 2.  Notch (Markus Persson – Minecraft) initially stated he was interested in funding the game, only to find out the actual costs for such an endeavor were quite a bit more than he expected.  And so the gaming community who loved Psychonauts, and have been clamoring for a sequel, are once again wondering the fate of such a project.  Let’s be honest, though.  The only reason it hasn’t happened was because the first game was such a colossal retail failure, and was followed by an equally epic failure in Brutal Legend.  Since then, Double Fine has been content to stick to self publishing smaller titles.  What I want to know this week is:

Did you ever play Psychonauts, and would you want to play a sequel?

(You may need to refresh the page to see the poll)

I did back in the days of the original Xbox.  Psychonauts was one of those games that just clicked.  It was everything a 3D platformer could and should be.  It was funny, challenging, engaging, and creative.  It had memorable characters, a great story, and was just a blast to play.  I would love to play through the game again (and probably should), and certainly would love to play a sequel.

It’s a Recap week (we’re LONG overdue for this), so here are the responses to some of the ASQs we’ve had over the last few months:

PlayStation 3 Price Reduction [38 votes] (Is the PS3 now priced appropriately?): 76.3% said Yes.

Rezurrection [83 votes] (Is an all zombie map-pack worth the same $15 to you that previous Multi-player/Zombie map packs are worth?): 66.3% said Yes.

GameStop’s Deus Ex Debacle [105 votes] (Was GameStop within their rights to remove OnLive coupons from copies of Deus Ex?): 88.6% said No.

Dead Island [275 votes] (Did Dead Island’s well-received trailer set unrealistic expectations, and doom the actual game?): 62.5% said No.

Microsoft’s Metro UI [95 votes] (Do you think Microsoft’s new Metro UI will resonate with consumers?): 54.7% said Yes.

Gears Of War Exclusivity [65 votes] (Will the Gears of War franchise remain a Microsoft exclusive in the future?): 52.3% said Yes.

Collector’s Edition Games [21 votes] (What feature most appeals to you when purchasing a game’s Collector’s Edition?): 23.8% said Bonus minor physical item (Figurines, Cloth Maps, etc.).

Gears Of War 3 Week 1 Sales [14 votes] (Will Gears of War 3 by the only game to sell over 3 million copies on a single console in the first week in 2011?): 57.1% said No.

Hardcore Mode [55 votes] (Do you prefer playing a game in Normal mode or Hardcore mode?): 69.1% said Hardcore Mode.

Call Of Duty Or Battlefield? [127 votes] (Between Call of Duty and Battlefield, what franchise have you historically preferred, and what game are you looking forward to more this year?): 59.1% said I have preferred Call of Duty, and am looking forward to Modern Warfare 3 more.

Next week I’ll post the results of the next 10 ASQs (yes, we were that far behind!).  Feel free to drop a comment about either the results, or the question itself down below; we love hearing from you!

Source (for Psychonauts 2 information): Joystiq

 View previous ASQ: Multiplayer Invades Single Player - View next ASQ: Harmonix’s New Game

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

The Mass Effect 3 demo has been unleashed on the masses (no pun inten… oh who am I kidding, yes it was), so chances are most of you have had a chance to play around with it by today.  I’m sure many people could go back and forth about what they like and don’t like, but that’s not why we’re here today.  What I want to know is, what kind of Shepard did you create in a previous game, or will be creating for your first playthrough of Mass Effect 3? This will be a multi-part ASQ, so be sure to vote in each poll.  You can view the description of most of the options via the Mass Effect Wiki; the new choice of how Shepard has handled loss will have descriptions in the poll.  So, let’s get to voting, shall we? There are four questions:

(You may need to refresh the page to see the polls, and be sure to click Cast My Vote on each poll!)

Question 1: What is your Shepard’s pre-service history?

Question 2: What is your Shepard’s Psychological profile?

Question 3: How has your Shepard handled loss?

Question 4: What class will your Shepard be?

My Shepard was an Earthborn Sole-Survivor who saved Ashley.  I plan on playing this first run as an Engineer, though that could change to Vanguard as I play the demo more, and get a feel for both.  I usually play an Adept with my second character (I generally do one playthrough as Paragon, and another as Renegade).

What about you? What’s your Shepard’s story? Vote above, and tell us below if you plan on importing you character, and if you’ve made any changes to your character over the series.  Or just geek out about what you like most about your character; let your voice be heard!

View previous ASQ: Sequel Before Prequel - View next ASQ: PlayStation Vita

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

A gaming console used to be such a simple concept.  If you wanted to play games in your house, you bought a game console, and voila, games in your living room.  Sure, you probably watched shows and movies on the same television, but you had bunny ears, a VCR, a cable box, or your neighbor’s cable line to do that with.  With the current generation, across all platforms, the gaming console as we know it has now merged with media delivery, and the result is that we have machines that can stream Netflix, ESPN, and even a selection of our cable offerings directly through our gaming consoles. Sure, there’s a convenience factor in play here, since having everything done from one box makes it easier to switch between content, but from a gaming perspective, is this a good thing?  It helped me come up with this week’s question:

Do you prefer to have your gaming console and media entertainment delivery separate?

(You may need to refresh the page to see the poll)

All gamers make time to enjoy other forms of entertainment; you can’t watch a TV show while being engrossed in a game (well, I suppose you COULD, but you wouldn’t be paying full attention to something).  I think some integration is good (I’m still waiting for a game to use Pandora as its radio station, so that you don’t have to be limited in the music selection of your game), and I’m all for combining social networking aspects to your gaming (leveraging Facebook to find people interested in playing games you like, for example), but there is a trade-off. The gaming console becoming the entertainment console means that my family now uses the machine more. This is great, until I need to wait for my family to finish watching their shows before I can use my Xbox.  Fortunately, for now the shows on my Xbox can be viewed on other TVs, but as this becomes a more integrated experience, what happens when all of my cable boxes are replaced by a single Xbox, streaming its content around to the TVs?  If I have to wait to play, I don’t know if that’s going to be a good thing.  Sure, right now this is largely hypothetical, but the entertainment console is already in our living rooms, no matter what we use.  The question is, are you ready to give up your gaming time for it?

View previous ASQ: Holiday Console Sales - View next ASQ: Physical Or Digital Game Copies

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

We’ve gotten a good ride out of this generation of consoles.  While some may argue we’re just now hitting the stride for these systems, many (myself included) are looking ahead to what might be possible out of the next hardware offerings from the Big 3.  We’ve seen what Nintendo proposes with the Wii U, as well as some murmurings about Xbox 720 specs.  Folks are also talking more about when these systems, along with the PlayStation 4, might find their way to market (late 2012 for Wii U, and anytime between 2012-2015 for the other two).  But do we really NEED a new system right now?  Folks backing the Wii probably could do with an upgrade, but as I play Skyrim on my first generation Xbox 360, I am amazed at what can be pumped out of these systems (and on one disc, no less).  It got me thinking:

Are you satisfied with the current generation of consoles (to the point that you’re not itching for the next generation just yet)?

(You may need to refresh the page to see the poll)

While I’m all about getting the newest toy, I have to say that there is so much I still need to do with my current one, that I don’t know if I’m ready for the next generation.  And as Microsoft continues to add to the features of the existing system (Hello FiOS), I find myself looking less and less towards the future, and more at what I have in front of me.  Will I grab a new console on day 1?  Surely.  Am I scouring the internet trying to gobble up details of these new systems right now? Nope.  I’m content with what I have right now, and don’t mind waiting a little while for the next thing to come along.

What do you think? What system are you using, and are you ready to move on? Let us know in the comments below!

View previous ASQ: The Best Current Gen Console | View next ASQ: Holiday Console Sales

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

As was mentioned here on Platform Nation, the Xbox 360 is getting a Dashboard Update!  Now, there are some gamers out there that already have this update, and some of the things I’m hearing are: slick looking, fast, and beacons are a really neat (and useful) feature.  I didn’t have too much of a problem with the old layout, but I’m always up for a fresh look.  The Metro UI is certainly pleasing to the eye, and will go great with my Windows Phone, so I’m in. Take a moment to look through the list of changes (hello cloud saves), and then answer the question below:

What do you think of the proposed changes coming to your Xbox 360 Dashboard?

(You may need to refresh the page to see the poll)

I think there are enough substantial changes in this update to warrant a “Love it” out of me. Adding functionality with no additional charges is always a good thing, and I think I will be much more connected with the people on my friends list, thanks to the beacons giving me a heads up when people are playing the games I like.  Now if we could just get the friend’s list cap to increase over 100….

What do you think? Vote above, and let us know what your favorite upcoming feature is below.

View previous ASQ: Skyrim - View Next ASQ: The Best Current Gen Console

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation.  Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

It seems that Xbox 360 owners of Battlefield 3 may have been having their fair share of issues.  Between server connection problems, complaints of poor textures (even with the Texture pack installed), and reported campaign freezing, this game may be suffering from some “rush to market” issues in an attempt to get a jump on sales ahead of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.  In my unofficial Twitter observations, I’ve seen the largest outcry coming from 360 owners, and several have stated that the stores they purchased them from would be accepting returns due to the volume of calls they have been receiving.  This certainly is not the publicity that EA needs as they try to go toe-to-toe with Activision’s big release, and it begged the question:

Should high profile games be delayed if there are known issues that would be left unresolved at launch?

(You may need to refresh the page to see the poll)

EA is claiming that unprecedented demand is what is causing the issues, and while I could buy that excuse for the connectivity issues (Call of Duty has experienced similar issues around their previous launches), it does not explain the other issues involving poor textures and game freezes that have been reported by Xbox 360 players.  I can understand why the decision was made to stick with the release date: releasing after Call of Duty would have likely hurt sales, and there is a mentality that bugs can be fixed through patches (not to mention the millions of dollars in marketing that would be invalidated with a release date change).  I’m of the opinion that you only get one chance to make a first impression, and people who were new to the series (myself included) are either shying away from a purchase, or are frustrated with having purchased the game.  But if an extra million copies were sold by releasing early (arbitrary number), that makes it hard to argue for delaying release over a few bugs.

What do you think? Have you experienced any issues? Vote above, and comment below!

View previous ASQ: Call Of Duty Or Battlefield 3? – View next ASQ: Skyrim

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation. Most weeks on Monday, I’ll ask a question on Twitter at #PNASQ. Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

Hardcore mode, also called Survival mode, is a game variant that was most recently implemented in Fallout: New Vegas as a way of making the game more realistic.  You were forced to eat, drink and sleep in order to avoid penalties (up to and including death), along with other rule variances that made the game more difficult.  I personally love a game that puts in an additional challenge, and find that long duration role playing games stand to benefit the most from such tweaks.  It was my hope that the newest game from Bethesda, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, would include such a mode, but alas it seems this is not be.  So while my question was initially going to be focused on Skyrim, I’ll open it up to cover the mode in general:

Do you prefer playing a game in Normal mode or Hardcore mode?

(You may need to refresh the page to see the poll)

Obviously, there aren’t many games to choose from in thinking about your response to the question, but consider your answer for those games that you have played.  If you haven’t played any, which do you think you’d prefer? Scrounging for food and water and balancing inventory, or just playing through the story and enjoying the game without being weighed down by the micro-management of Hardcore mode?  As I stated above, if I have the choice, I’ll play Hardcore mode, but as you’ll see from the two folks who responded on Twitter (when asked about whether they would want to play a Hardcore mode in Skyrim), I seem to be in the minority.

@Tanglebonitis - Nope. Normal for me.

and with an eloquent response,  @Steve519 – no.

That’s what they think. What do you think? Vote above, and comment below!

View previous ASQ: Gear Of War 3 Week 1 Sales — View next ASQ: Call Of Duty Or Battlefield?

A Simple Question (ASQ) is a weekly segment for Platform Nation. Each week on Monday, I’ll ask a question on Twitter at #PNASQ. Give a response and let the world know what you think; there is no right or wrong answer here. If you have a suggestion for a question, hit me up on twitter @vttym.

Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time is back for a second season. It’s kinda like Chappelle’s Show, especially with the new season adding more stand-up bits. While Dave Chappelle covered Grand Theft Auto in his run, Swardson covers the dangers of Xbox Live smacktalk. In fact, he’s introduced the Xbox Live Smack Transporter.

When an opponent starts to relentless taunt you, the Smack Transporter will kick in. The Transporter will teleport any player to their opponent, giving them one minute to respond in person. This may, in Nick’s case, include beating up your dad, hooking up with your sister and/or mom, and pouring lemonade all over your head. The episode is online, and the segment is in the last part of the episode. Additionally, the show is rated for adults, so keep that in mind when looking up the clip.

Would you like to confront your Xbox Live assailants in person?