With Guitar Hero, Rock Band and other games of the same type we now have more music games than we will ever really need. So with the details of Rock Band 3, coming out this winter, just being released, what makes it so different that we’ll want to buy it?

I love playing these kinds of music based games, so I am very excited about Rock Band 3 coming out. Especially because they are introducing a new instrument in the form of a keyboard. Yet another instrument to try and master, it can be played as a standard keyboard, or (if you’re really cool) held like a keytar. They have also included the feature from The Beatles Rock Band and Green Day Rock Band, meaning you can have up to 3 singers singing in harmony. This means there is a potential to have 7 band members playing at once. Probably not recommended if you live above anyone else.

Another feature is the new Pro Mode, complete with new Pro instruments. This mode is intended to get you to actually learn the instrument you are playing. I think this is great, because now when I get the abuse of “why don’t you learn a real instrument instead of playing Xbox all day”, I will have a better argument.

As well as that it boasts 83 new song, spanning 5 decades, so hopefully there should be something for everyone.

And if none of that floats your boat, there is always the easy Xbox achievements that these games offer (10g for making a rocker, yes please), so you can justify playing them instead of spending hours on other more taxing games.

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Games publisher Ubisoft have come in for some considerable flak over plans to implement a new DRM and copy-protection approach to their PC games.

Back in January, the publisher announced that to play or save any Ubisoft games on PC then the user would require to be permanently connected to the internet so that Ubisoft’s servers could check users were playing a legitimate copy.

Such a plan causes major headaches for users; the ability to play Ubisoft games will be severely restricted in cases where no internet access is possible. And with the always-possible scenario of a server crash or a network failure, there is a real lack of flexibility in Ubisoft’s plans.

As indicated by Computer and Video games magazine, if you get disconnected while playing, you’re booted out of the game and all your progress since the last checkpoint or save game is lost.  From here, your only options are to quit back to Windows or wait until you’re reconnected to the game but of course, you’ll be back to where the game was last saved..  imagine playing for hours, finally getting past a difficult part of the game and *pop*, your net connection drops before you’ve hit the next save point?

You’ll be faced with the task of having to re-do it all again – a prospect that won’t appeal to the majority of gamers.

The only real benefit from Ubisoft’s approach is the ability to store saved games online and sync them with other PCs but with many similar services also available, such as Dropbox this is a small benefit.

And according to CVG during their review of latest Ubisoft products Assassin’s Creed 2 and Settlers VII, the game won’t even run if there’s no internet connection available, so unawares gamers with no internet connection could potentially be shelling out for a game they can’t play.

Ubisoft’s approach will see their games driven into the hands of software pirates, and the very thing they are trying to combat could in turn hit them hard as legitimate buyers are driven to torrent sites to obtain copies of Ubisoft’s games.

The phrase ‘Epic DRM fail’ come to mind.

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In the trailer, you’ll be able to visit Qo’noS, the Klingon’s home base as wekk as some good looking space battles featuring Klingon Birds of Prey and Federation starships.

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More downloadable content is coming to Red Faction: Guerrilla according to THQ.

Following the recent release of Demons of the Badland DLC pack, THQ has announced details of a second DLC pack which will feature two new playmodes – Bagman and Team Bagman, as well as eight new maps which will be playabe across all multiplayer modes.

The Red Faction: Guerilla Multiplayer Pack will be available from September 17th on Xbox live, costing 560 Microsoft points. It will cost $6.99 for players on the PlayStation network.

You can view the release video for the Multiplayer Pack on THQ’s Red Faction: Guerilla community page.

A third DLC pack is planned for release in October, although no details of what the pack might contain are currently unavailable.

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It’s clearly a hard thing to do but we looked through the YouTube comments. A lot of people are trying to compare this to Gran Turismo 5 – which is tricky as neither game is out.

There’s also a raging debate as to whether cutting corners in the game should be allowed. DiRT certainly lets you cut corners but some gamers are suggesting improvements would be made if the game penalised such shady tactics.

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Good news heroes. Earthworm Jim is making a comeback.

The much loved and funny Earthworm Jim character hasn’t had console success in about ten years. It’s been announced that Gameloft has sorted out a deal with the developer Interplay.

Which consoles will Earthworm Jim appear? We don’t have all the details yet but WiiWare, PSN and even mobiles have been strongly linked to the franchise. The charismatic earthworm first appeared in 1999 on the N64.

“Earthworm Jim resonates with millions of people worldwide and we are excited to have one of the best developers in the industry create this game for a new audience,” Interplay CEO Herve Caen told press.

He added, “The game, with its humorous and edgy style, is a great fit for today’s gamer who craves a fully immersive experience that is fun and easily accessible. We look forward to delivering a fantastic game,”

If you’ve not already heard of The Guild let alone watched them via Xbox Live then this latest clever piece of viral marketing from them will change that. It’s a spoof music video which calls on all that is holy of MMO (or near enough).

Felicia Day, star and the brains behind The Guild, is on a roll recently given her appearance in the “missing” Dollhouse last episode/in between of season 1. You’ll remember that The Powers That Be granded Dollhouse a season 2 despite poor showings in the States.

At the time of writing this video is now 3rd in “All Music Videos” in iTunes US.

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The game will also be different in that it’ll be strung together by a single narrative whereas the first was a series of apparently unrelated adventures. The level designs will also be different. In fact, it seems like Valve are changing an awful lot and we’re beginning to worry that the game play won’t feel the same.

Will the addition of a lot more guns and melee weapons for the humans turn the game into first person brawl with gore rather than the perfect blend of action and steathy horror that made the first so popular.

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If you’re not familiar with the channel then here’s the run down. You can create and vote for Miis that match a concept – or just vote. Nintendo challenges the community with a puzzle like “Someone who likes cars” and in the first round people try and design a Mii which matches that. In the second round people vote for who they think have done best and are rewarded if they pick the popular Miis.

Here’s one such contest entry. Does this look like someone who would like cars? Maybe. It also looks like a dick head. I very much doubt Nintendo would be happy with this sort of image coming through their family orientated console.

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There was such a drama when Valve announced they would be releasing Left 4 Dead 2. Rather than welcoming the game a small core of vocal Left 4 Dead fans cried foul. They worried that Left 4 Dead would be weakened, that the new game would make it next to impossible to find online players to campaign with them in the original and that Valve was harming the community.

I’m not sure. I’m still a huge Left 4 Dead fan but the random online play has reached that point where it is dominated by the die-hards and they’re often much less fun to play with.

Valve, though, say they’ll continue to support Left 4 Dead. They seem to be good to their word as they’ve announced September will see new downloadable content for Left 4 Dead 1. The new content is an entire campaign – Crash Course. The campaign has a goal; to deliver the complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes. This means it’ll be a short course. It’s also a wise idea as playing through the Versus mode on any other campaign can take ages.

Crash Course also includes new dialogue from the original cast. There will be more maps for the Survival as well.

PC users benefit the most. The new content will be free. Xbox Live players will have t o dig up 560 points which is about £10.

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