E3 Rumor: Project Natal priced
Remember way back when everyone's favorite game analyst Michael Pachter predicted the cost of Project Natal to be no more than $50? And then there were all those leaks that had it for less than £50 in Europe? Well, it seems that everyone needed to add a one to the price. Edge is reporting that Natal will launch at $149.99 and will also be bundled with the Arcade unit for $299.99. This price point is higher than the PlayStation Move, which will launch at a $99.99 bundle, which will include the controller, the EyeToy camera, and a game. The Edge report comes from the same source that leaked them info about Gears of War 3: info that was confirmed to be completely accurate when Cliff Bleszinski formally announced the game on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. As expected, Microsoft "does not comment on rumor or speculation."
E3 Rumor: Team ICO Collection for PS3
The Sixth Axis is reporting that an anonymous source has unofficially confirmed that a Team ICO collection is headed to the PS3 in Q1 2011. Much in the style of the God of War Collection released last year, it would be the games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus bundled together on one Blu-ray disc, with the graphics upscaled to 720p and support for trophies added. Most likely, this will be used to generate hype for the upcoming game The Last Guardian, much in the way the God of War Collection was used to assist God of War III. Both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus were critical darlings, generating Metacritic scores of 90 and 91 respectively, but Ico was a commercial failure, selling only 700,000 copies world-wide. With Ico's relative rarity, this is a fine opportunity for game enthusiasts to play two of the most beloved games ever made.
That being said, it would seem that Sony is once again having an issue with pre-E3 leakage...
Sonic Colors headed to Wii and DS
Sega has announced a new Sonic game. According to the Sega Blog, Sonic Colors is "a high speed action-adventure in which Sonic races through theme park-inspired worlds to rescue a colorful alien race from the clutches of Dr. Eggman. An extraordinary amusement park has been seen orbiting around the home planet of Sonic the Hedgehog, and rumors are spreading that an alien race of Wisps, who have a unique colorful energy, are being held captive there by the evil Dr. Eggman. Soon after arriving at the amusement park, Sonic discovers he is able to use these mysterious alien forces to help the Wisps escape!" This seems like an interesting concept, but after werehogs, taking Sega at their word is a little difficult. But the Sonic Storybook games were refreshingly mediocre in oppose to the typical disappointment that comes with a Sonic release, so it's too early to judge. Hit the jump for the release teaser.
There’s a new king in town…
And his name is Mario. After twelve years sitting atop the throne of Best Reviewed Game Ever, the crown has passed to Super Mario Galaxy 2. We'll keep an eye on this, as reviews are still coming in and the score is still fluctuating.
Bin Digging: Physical PC Games Edition
PC games can be downloaded anywhere these days, but they still come in the good old CD/DVD format. You can go into actual stores and purchase them, or order them online and have them delivered to you! This week's Bin Digging looks at some of the most affordable physical PC games you can buy. Many of these games are a bit dated, but still fun. They're perfect for putting some zest in your netbook. As always, in order to be eligible for Bin Digging, a video game must retail for less than $15 and be something you would actually want to play. No shovelware here.
- Fallout Trilogy - $14.99
- Pure - $4.99
- X-Blades - $9.99
- Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People - $9.99
Cancel your Sadness
Long troubled Wiiware game Sadness is more or less completely dead. The composer of the game, Arkaduisz Reikowski, has released the soundtrack of the game, as he feels the project would go nowhere further. N-Europe recently had an interview with Adam Artur Antolski, a former Nibris employee who was the script-writer for Sadness, which show that the game was far behind a presentable state and that Nibris may not have ever even had a Wii devkit.
Sadness was a psychological horror game made entirely in black and white. The plot was to touch on narcolepsy, nyctophobia, and paranoid schizophrenia and was set in 20th century Russia. The story followed Maria Lengel who arrived in city of Lviv, which would transformed and covered in gore by moonlight. The gameplay was "extremely innovative", with the player having "absolute control over the heroine - be[ing] able to use any kind of item as a weapon, due to the lack of guns" and "as realistic as possible, like you could for example break a bottle and use the pieces of glass like a knife, or a chair leg like a bat. If you were going to grab some person from behind, you would 'catch' him using the Nunchuck and cut his throat using the Wii Remote." Originally announced before the Revolution was the Wii, the Sadness homepage has since expired and is no longer updated. The music to be used in Sadness can be heard at Reikowski's blog.
Source: OriginalSoundVersion
Keyboards are coming to Rock Band
Look at the header pic. Go ahead. Note we have our bass and our guitar, our drums and our mics, and... is that a keyboard?
Image taken from the Rock Band: Green Day via Kotaku
GameStop to PowerUp its Edge card
GameStop has been offering the Edge card for a few years now. It's just a $15 discount card that gets you 10% off on used game purchases and 10% more on used game trade-ins, along with a year-long subscription to Game Informer magazine. Ever since it was launched, it's been a simple, boring program.
That could change in the coming months, when the Edge card might evolve into the PowerUp card. The PowerUp card is a rewards program GameStop is currently testing in certain markets. Cardholders collect points from buying and trading in games and systems, which they can redeem for gift certificates, merchandise, and other gamer swag. The card also lets customers enter sweepstakes, participate in store events, and receive regular marketing materials from GameStop.
Welcoming Dell Hart to Aggrogate!
I'm happy to announce that Aggrogate now has another contributor. As you might have noticed from the last few posts, Dell Hart is now writing for this site as a contributing editor.
Dell is an entertainment addict who always has to have the new shiny thing, be it a PSPgo to go with the PSP-2000 she already had or the iPad she is desperately trying to come up with some excuse to buy. Dell believes in an all digital future and avidly supports the PSPgo, the Kindle, the iTouch, PSN, WiiWare, and XBLA. Dell wants to have more time to watch all her favorite TV shows and movies, but for a while longer the Navy still owns her. When she had time to game, she's known as "xoaks" on PSN, Xbox Live, Steam, Raptr, Xfire, and every other gaming service out there.
E3 Rumor: PSN+ is coming
Joystiq is reporting that Sony will be announcing the long rumored premium PlayStation Network service at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. The service is rumored to be called PSN+ and will have the following features:
- Access to a rotating selections of PSP Mini and PSone Classic games
- Exclusive in-game DLC
- Discounts in the PSN Store
- First-hour demo access to full retail titles
- The Playstation Protection Plan
- Cross game voice chat
- Cloud based game saves









