Xbox Fall Game Lineup Rocks Hard

08/27/08 5:01pm

by John Papamarko (CHARTattack)

X'08 Canada recently gave video game developers the opportunity to showcase their upcoming titles to the staggering amount of media members who now cover the multi-billion-dollar-a year-industry. Various bloggers, gamers, reputable members of the media and even a correspondent from the Naked News were on hand to enjoy a beautiful Thursday afternoon in almost total darkness (but for the glow of LCD screens) at Toronto's Circa. Much to the chagrin of the unwashed, geeky masses, the Naked News correspondent kept all of her clothes on.

EA Sports has always been on the forefront of in-game music. Since one of its main offices is in Vancouver, they showcase a wealth of Cancon. Its new products will be no exception, since songs from Chromeo, Billy Talent and Protest The Hero are prominently featured.

The major gaming war for the fall has to be between Harmonix's Rock Band 2 and Activision's Guitar Hero World Tour. Both games boast significant improvements over their predecessors. Rock Band 2 has upgraded its fairly flimsy drum kit and bolstered its stable of songs to more than 80 master recordings, including songs by Bob Dylan, The Replacements and the first single from Guns N' Roses' near mythical Chinese Democracy. I'll believe it when I see it.

Guitar Hero has expanded by adding drums and vocals to catch up with Rock Band, and has surpassed its competitor with a pretty cool song creation mode. It essentially turns your drums or guitar into a midi controller, allowing you to craft drum loops and add rhythm and lead guitar parts as well as bass fills. Gamers can then upload tunes online and rank songs made by others.

With the song creation mode, developers have addressed a way to keep the kids engaged once they've beaten the game. I think it smacks of exploitation. Nobody was able to give me a straight answer about who retains creative control of a song that's uploaded to the Guitar Hero servers, so make sure you read the fine print.

Song files aren't compatible with standard home recording programs, so don't hold your breath for the new U2 album to contain parts written on an Xbox.