It’s no surprise that Harmonix is working on expanding the Rock Band franchise in some way. This year brings The Beatles: Rock Band, but what will the future hold? MTV Games head Scott Guthrie talked to MCV about “what is effectively the next game, or ‘Rock Band 3′.” Guthrie doesn’t deny that the next major release from Harmonix could be another artist collaboration a la The Beatles, but whatever the next project is will undoubtedly reflect a major change for the franchise.
“We aren’t standing still,” Guthrie notes. “We will keep moving into new areas and look at new technologies that our platform holder partners are also developing, such as Project Natal from Microsoft. We’re working with them to pull some things together.”
In an interview with Shacknews, id Software prez Todd Hollenshead brought up a novel approach that the developer may use to minimize disc-swapping with the Xbox 360 version of Rage: give the game’s single-player and multiplayer modes their own discs.
On August 27 Xbox 360 fans will be praising a higher power as Xbox delivers another blockbuster console bundle to New Zealand shelves. For a limited time, two games from the smash hit Halo franchise, Halo Wars and Halo 3, will come bundled with Xbox 360 Pro consoles through participating retailers.
It was becoming standard fare with the Call of Duty franchise, that fan’s would be able to test out some of the multiplayer component before the final game launched, so it’s with heavy hearts that we inform you that Modern Warfare 2 will not go the same route as its predecessors. An Activision spokesperson confirmed to the CVG that there will be no multiplayer beta for the game.
It strained credulity when Activision announced they’d be porting Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to the Wii for release later this year. The question immediately sprang to mind: How would a game so well known for its fantastic visuals on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC translate to Nintendo’s (comparatively less powerful) console?
To start off Microsoft’s GamesCom press conference, Peter Molyneux took to the stage to reveal none other than Fable 3. Before Molyneux talked about how Lionhead Studios could surprise gamers with the game’s story and provide something “new, fresh, and different,” he made a curious comment about something wrong with Fable-like RPGs. “I think there’s something fundamentally wrong with RPGs like Fable… It’s a mechanic that’s been there since the eighties. I’m going to take that foundation stone and throw it away.” Of course, Molyneux is keeping his lips sealed about just what that “foundation stone” is for the time being. 
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. today unveiled the new PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, featuring an extremely streamlined form factor with a 120GB Hard Disk. The new PlayStation®3 system will become available in stores from September 1, 2009, in North America, Europe/ PAL territories and Asian countries and regions at a very attractive recommended retail price (RRP) of US$299 and €299, respectively. The system will become available in Japan on September 3, 2009, at a RRP of 29,980 yen (including tax), and also Australia and New Zealand with an RRP of AUD$499.95 and NZD$629.95. With the introduction of the new PS3 system, SCE will also reduce the price of the current PS3 with 80GB HDD to a RRP of US$299 from August 18, €299 from August 19 (Australia and New Zealand, RRP AUD$499.95 and NZD$629.95 to follow). Also in North America, the price of PS3 with 160GB HDD will be reduced to a RRP of US$399 from August 18. By launching a vast library of exciting and attractive software titles for PS3 this holiday season and offering customers a line-up of hardware models and pricing to match their preference, SCE will build on the momentum and further accelerate the expansion of the PS3 platform. 
