Toronto Thumbs

Get in the Hockey Hall of Fame with NHL 2K9

Say there, have you ever wanted to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame but can’t play hockey, or even skate? Well you might be in luck if you can at least play video game hockey. Canadian gamers have been given the chance to be honoured in the 2K Sports NHL 2K9 Zone at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto! By competing in matches over Xbox Live over the next three months, players will vie for their turn in the spotlight.

Here’s how it works – register by downloading the official tournament entry gamer pic from the LIVE Arcade Marketplace. Then, play NHL 2K9 as much as possible starting October 7 because only the top 256 players will be placed into the single-elimination tournament, which starts in November.

From xbox.com:

Participants will have a number of opportunities to get into the Hockey Hall of Fame through three different individual awards designed after their real NHL counterparts including the 2K Sports HHOF Championship Award, 2K Sports All-Around Offense Award, & 2K Sports All-Around Defense Award. All the trophies will live at the Hockey Hall of Fame in the exclusive NHL 2K Sports interactive area, and each winner will have their name engraved on their respective individual trophy, along with the honor of also getting their names on virtual versions of the above trophies in next year’s NHL 2K10.

Yes, looks like there will be an NHL 2K10. They’re saving no characters with that “K” from here till 3K.

Posted in Canada, News, Xbox 360 | 1 Comment »

HADOKEN! It’s beta time
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

The Toronto Thumbs staffers are certified fighting game aficionados, and have a particular fascination and appreciated for all things Street Fighter.

Tomorrow we’ll be playing the crap out of the BETA release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, which will be available to anyone who has previously purchased Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 on LIVE Arcade. Commando 3 is an awesome game on its own, but the fact that players will now be able to test out this much-awaited Street Fighter title is the icing on the cake.

The only downside to all this is that the Xbox 360 controller is likely the worst controller ever to play a 2D fighting game with. The directional pad is so horrible that one has to wonder if its engineers actually set out to design the most useless D-pad ever. If so, they’ve succeeded. Your best bet is to pick up the HORI fighting stick for the Xbox 360. It’s well worth the price and offers good, old-fashioned arcade controller clicky goodness.

Posted in LIVE, News, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

WiiWare Finally Launches

Check out the Wii Shop Channel today because WiiWare has gone live in North America. Right now the service features six different games that were developed just for the Wii. Here’s a list of the titles available today:

• FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King
• LostWinds
• Defend your Castle
• Pop
• V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack
• TV Show King

Posted in Download Updates, News, Wii | No Comments »

PlayStation Store Price Adjustments

It looks like Sony is finally showing some love to us up here in the Great White North. Changes that have already taken effect as of May 1st will see Canadian prices for downloadable content at the PlayStation Store align more closely with the US pricing model. The reasoning stated in an earlier press release by Sony was due to the ongoing strength of the Canadian dollar.

This price adjustment is most welcome as I never really understood why I had to pay a few dollars more for a download than someone over the border, especially when the Canadian dollar has been consistantly on par or better with US currency. So what does everyone think? Will this adjustment be persuading you PS3 and PSP owners to purchase more off the PlayStation store, or did it really never bother you?

Posted in Download Updates, News, PlayStation 3, PSP | 2 Comments »

Guitar Hero IV to feature additional instruments

If you’ve been worried about the likes of Banjo Hero, Accordian Hero and (my personal favourite) Ukulele Hero coming out in response to the success of rhythm music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, have no fear. It appears like the next version of Guitar Hero is going to include support for additional instruments and even vocals. At first, this might sound like it’s going to be more like Rock Band. However, a statement from Activision CEO Bobby Kotick indicates that the new features will improve international sales which seems to indicate something more than just drums.

It’s a natural evolution of the series but an interesting choice to continue with the Guitar Hero brand name even when the instruments potentially are not guitars. Activision obviously feels like the brand name recognition is so high that the need to move the series into a more generic name like Rock Band is not only unnecessary but could also be seen as conceding a point to the rivals at EA.

One thing is for sure: these music games are just in their infancy, and there is definitely more to come. It’s definitely music to my ears.

Posted in News | 1 Comment »

Get Ready to Own Another Fake Guitar!

I’ve got three video game guitar controllers right now. One for PS2, one Guitar Hero controller for Xbox 360, and one Rock Band controller for Xbox 360.

And now it looks like the upcoming Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be shipping with this beauty up top. Right now, US retailers are offering a pre-order promotion which includes guitar bundles for PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. There’s even a two-guitar bundle available for PS2.

Since we last reported on this game, it’s been revealed that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will also feature songs from some of the band’s favourite acts including Cheap Trick, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and the Clash.

Posted in Music, News, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | 4 Comments »