The original Manhunt game didn't get too much attention despite good reviews, but it did cause some controversy in places over in UK. Anyone who's played Manhunt will agree that it's one of the most violent games the industry has ever sold, so it's no surprise that it got blamed for at least one murder, and it should also be no surprise that Jack Thompson would get involved with its sequel: 

"Miami attorney and anti-violent video game activist Jack Thompson has been asked by individuals in the United Kingdom to help stop the distribution of Take-Two / Rockstar's hyperviolent video game Manhunt 2 in that country due out this summer. The game will feature stealth murder and torture. The last version allowed suffocation of victims with plastic bags.

The original Manhunt was responsible for the bludgeoning death of a British youth by his friend who obsessively played the game. The killer used a hammer just as in the game he played. Take-Two / Rockstar, anticipating the firestorm of criticism with the release of the murder simulator sequel, is lying to the public on both sides of the pond in stating this week that the game had nothing to do with the murder.

Take-Two is also stating that the sun does not rise in the east because Take-Two makes no money from its rising in the east. Take-Two has been repeatedly found in the U.S. by the federal government to be guilty of fraud, so what would one expect it to say.

Jack Thompson has agreed to this request from the U.K. Look for this effort to begin shortly given the summer of 2007 release date."

Getting desperate Jack Thompson? Good - find another country to put up with your bullshit. I heard Custer's Revenge caused AIDS in Africa, how about you do something useful with your time and fight that cause instead. If you're going to be an asshole over one single case, then why not attack all of Nintendo for the electrocution of this little boy. Not feeling so tough anymore?

GameTrailers.com recently interviewed Ryan Stevenson, an emo looking concept artist for Rare, about his company's upcoming work for the Xbox 360. They started off by discussing Viva Pinata, and the interviewer half offended the artist when he mentioned that Viva Pinata would have done better on the Wii. They talked about how it's done for 360, and Ryan confirmed that they plan to further the series that they've invested so much time into, with online play being a possibility for the sequel. Then the conversation shifted to Banjo Kazooie 3, but Ryan was more tight lipped on that subject. We can probably expect the Gruntilda Witch villain to return, as well as the rest of the main characters, but he wouldn't mention any gameplay details - we might not be getting just the bear and bird followup that we expect. For more details on Rare's recent risk taking games, you can watch the full interview here.

Manhunt was one of the most violent video games of the year when it was released in 2004, so it's a little surprising to hear that its sequel will be coming to the Wii. Rockstar's London team will be working on the title that will also come out on the PS2 and PSP this summer. Torturing people with a Wiimote should be pretty interesting, but for now the only details Rockstar has offered comes from executive producer Sam Houser:

"With Manhunt 2 we have tried to create a game that stays close to the original concept of chilling suspense and stealth, whilst pushing the game design and storytelling forward. We are also excited to have our newest development team, Rockstar London, working on the title alongside our two established UK studios, Rockstar North and Leeds."

There's also a brief teaser trailer, but it doesn't show much. Looks like the sequel's plot will be doing the amnesia cliche.

Here's the first third of a three part video showing what the sequel's plot will be like. In this video we see Kratos get stripped of his powers, yet he willingly takes on one of the ancient wonders of the world - the colossus of Rhodes. Yes, Kratos is responsible for writing our history, he also planted the hanging gardens of Babylon. For more of the Spartan battles, here's video 2 and video 3. This game has "Game of the Year" written all over it.

Back in late October I reported on a Just Cause sequel that might be on the way, and in a recent financial report from Sci Entertainment it's now confirmed that the game's in development.  Avalanche Studios and Eidos Interactive are on track to sell a million copies soon, which isn't great considering Lost Planet has already done that in a far less amount of time, but since Just Cause kind of came out of nowhere that's not too bad either. I'm up for another GTA styled vehicle theft game that offers scenic parachuting, but the sequel better bring much more than the original.

Guitar Hero II is already out on the PlayStation 2 and is well worth the money it takes to rock out. It's taking way longer than I had hoped for the game to release on Xbox 360, but from a marketing approach it's probably smart doing it this way - on April 3rd the game will relaunch on the 360 with plenty of new content to gain the game attention again. There will be over 70 music tracks in the game, including the new ones listed below:

Billion Dollar Babies (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
Hush (as made famous by Deep Purple)
Dead! (by My Chemical Romance) - Master Track
Life Wasted (as made famous by Pearl Jam)
Rock N Roll Hoochie Koo (as made famous by Rick Derringer)
The Trooper (as made famous by Iron Maiden)
Salvation (as made famous by Rancid)
Possum Kingdom (by Toadies) - Master Track
Drink Up (as made famous by Ounce of Self)
Kicked to the Curb (as made famous by Noble Rot)

The new X-Plorer controller for the Xbox 360 looks sweet, and so does the fact that there will be online leaderboards and downloadable content, but the new thing that's worth raising eyebrows is that an online multiplayer may still be a possibility:

"According to Red Octane, multiplayer is something they really wanted to get in the game, and may still add via an update down the road. The key, it seems, is co-op play, which is a lot trickier to make work (the pro-tourney mode is essentially two players independently playing against the computer, while co-op requires direct interaction between the players). So, while Red Octane isn't making any promises, we're holding out hope that multiplayer might still show up at some point."

Honestly though I don't care about being able to play against others online, but I know plenty of you will. Give me leaderboards and I'm happy. The game's supposed to also have better graphics and a better lighting system too on the 360, but I just want more songs to keep me playing.

Oh dear god please. At a recent Burning Crusade launch event Itzik Ben Bassat, the Vice President of Blizzard's Business Development, blatantly hinted at a new StarCraft game: "I'm a StarCraft player myself and I hope it's not a decade, and we launched StarCraft in 1998, before I'm standing here again, celebrating the next game in the series." 

Surely one way or another there's now a job opening at Blizzard, the suits can't be happy that he said that. Blizzard has mentioned in the past that they've been working on three different games, but they've never uttered the slightest hint at what they may be. Diablo fans know that supposedly a Diablo III soundtrack was recorded many years ago, and that recently a Diablo author hinted at an upcoming Diablo III, so if these 2 hints are indeed true, then that still leaves one game shrouded in mystery. Can you imagine how much money Blizzard would make if Diablo III, StarCraft 2, and WarCraft IV were released all in the same year?

RedOctane has released the first images of the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. If you haven't tried this new music game genre out yet then you're definitely missing out on a lot of fun. There's a big difference between dancing in public for DDR and rocking out in your own home to your favorite music. If it's fun enough to ruin a World Series, then it's worth a try. Guitar Hero II is already out for the PS2 but a lot of us have been waiting for the 360 version to finally release and here's what it will look like. Much more bright than the dark PS2 look. Click the picture below to get a better look at what the 360 game cover will look like.

If you're new to the game then here's the songs included to get you started. The five colored buttons on the guitar are the strings you have to hold when strumming with your other hand. So as the notes fall down the screen you have to hit them to match with the music. Basically Tetris with rhythm. It probably won't be long before a $300 band-set game comes out and bombs - Guitar Hero II was even more fun than the first, but the third game will need something more than just new tracks and better multiplayer to keep us hooked. I'd love to see an Xbox Live service that lets us upload our own music and make our own notes using a song building mode. They had that for the PC keyboard version of DDR called StepMania, but I doubt we'll get something that awesome for Guitar Hero III.

In Game Informer's December issue there is supposedly information about a new Zelda game for the Nintendo Wii. The article mentions that the game has been in production for over a year, and should be released "sooner than later." So damn specific as always Nintendo. Game Informer stresses that two major Zelda games a year apart from one another is not likely, but that the next Zelda game isn't too far off.

Normally I'd be excited, since typical games take one and a half to two years to make from start to finish. But after waiting a good decade for a Mario 128 game I no longer trust Nintendo. I still love Shigeru Miyamoto at his best, even though his involvement in recent years has been minimal with his series, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's 2009 or later before we see another Zelda game on the Wii. Now if the direct Twilight Princess sequels/trilogies rumors from a year ago were true (mostly fanboy jibberish) then we could definitely expect it sooner. But even when Nintendo ripped apart Ocarina of Time and rearranged it to make Majora's Mask, it still took a while, so I won't get my hopes up yet.

Wouldn't that make a kickass Christmas present to look forward to next year? Cliff Bleszinski and Mike Capps from Epic Games have been dropping some hints about Gears of War that suggest a sequel might be in store. They mentioned that the story of Gears of War is larger than the one told in the game, and even that "one could even argue that the ending cinematic leaves room for a sequel". They want gamers to wait to play through Gears of War this week before making any guesses at future Epic Games products, but it seems like they've got a secret. Perhaps a cliffhanger ending from Cliffy? We'll find out soon, Gears of War comes out on Xbox 360 on November 7th.