Ahh! It’s Friday, which means… Rock Band DLC update details! Yay! Okay, admittedly, this one nearly slipped by us — I had to pull myself out of a Christmas turkey stupor to bring you this info, and knowing you guys, my guess is you’re not going to be thrilled about it.

Next week, there’s a whole country pack coming to Rock Band. It’s called the “Going Country Pack 02,” it features 7 songs, and it’ll cost you $10.99/880 MS Points for the whole pack, or $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points per song. Here’s what you can get:

• Alan Jackson – “Good Time”
• Cross Canadian Ragweed – “Cry Lonely”
• Jason Aldean – “She’s Country”
• Keith Urban – “I Told You So”
• Kenny Rogers – “The Gambler”
• Martina McBride – “This One’s For the Girls”
• Shania Twain – “Any Man of Mine”

Not into country? How about Paul McCartney? On January 5, a live pack of songs will hit, all tracks from his latest record Good Evening New York City. The pack will run you $5.49/440 MS Points, or you can get these three songs individually for $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points a piece:

• “Band on the Run (Live)”
• “Jet (Live)”
• “Sing the Changes (Live)”

And there you have it. Now I’ll go back to lying in bed and playing videogames… holiday break, ya’know? See you Monday!

source Destructoid

Just clicked on the Wii Shop channel to see if there were any Christmas surprises, and wadda-ya-know, Sega’s putting some of their Genesis games on sale. Sonic 1, 2, and 3, Gunstar Heroes, Streets of Rage 2, Puyo Puyo 2, and even the Citizen Kane of videogames itself are available for just $5 each from now until January 6th, 2010. That’s a whole $3 cheaper than usual. Why is Sega putting on this unprecedented sale? My guess is that they’re trying to grab the attention of the thousands of people who just got a Wii for Christmas and are sifting through the 500 games available on the service for the first time.

I just hope that this doesn’t cause Toe Jam and Earl to make Sega any more money. That game is an affront to all that’s holy, and must be stopped at all costs.

You can check the official Sega website for more details if you’re really that bored.

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is just a tiny more than a month away from launch, and it seems that Ubisoft is going to do their best to keep the game on our minds. They just launched an official website for the game, and it’s a pretty fun place to be. It’s got a style that reminds me of playing a broken NES game, except with a lot more swearing.

As for new info, there isn’t much there yet. So far, the “characters” section of the site only features Travis, Sylvia, Shinobu, and Henry, but there seem to be quite a few blank spots in between. There are a few new screenshots though, one of which features the first appearance of Vlad, a ghostly astronaut (or is it cosmonaut?) who may or might not be one of the games proposed 51 bosses. Vlad gets some artwork too,

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle is just a tiny more than a month away from launch, and it seems that Ubisoft is going to do their best to keep the game on our minds. They just launched an official website for the game, and it’s a pretty fun place to be. It’s got a style that reminds me of playing a broken NES game, except with a lot more swearing.

As for new info, there isn’t much there yet. So far, the “characters” section of the site only features Travis, Sylvia, Shinobu, and Henry, but there seem to be quite a few blank spots in between. There are a few new screenshots though, one of which features the first appearance of Vlad, a ghostly astronaut (or is it cosmonaut?) who may or might not be one of the games proposed 51 bosses. Vlad gets some artwork too,

So, the next game in the (totally amazing) Bit.Trip series officially has a name now. It’s called Bit.Trip RUNNER, which has my narcissism-sense tingling like crazy. You see, I worked on a game called Runner, and the creator of the Bit.Trip series reviewed the game for this very site. To think that our game might have influenced him in any way has my heart all a flutter.

Even more flutter-inducing is this tiny bundle of insider info- Bit.Trip Runner wont feature a Mackle Fussybuck. To quote the game’s developers directly;”We don’t have a Mackle Fussybuck, but we do have: Jabol Smabbler, Junior Melchkin, Flyss Whizzle, Mingrawn Timbletot, Leftwise Gestersmek (and a Rightwise one to boot), Hairy Knorkwhisp, and our favorite… The Non Trotski. Basically, we’re makin’ this sh*t up.”

It true folks, basically, they’re making this sh*t up, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Trust me, once you see this game in motion, you’ll understand.

Three holiday seasons later, Nintendo’s Wii console is showing tiny signs of letting its market dominance slip away, despite the strides of its competition.

Taking a look at Amazon.com’s top ten bestselling items in the videogame category two days before Christmas, Wii hardware and software is dominating the charts. Take a look:

1. Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board
2. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
3. Wii Starter Bundle
4. Wii Console
5. Wii Sports Resort
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
7. Assassin’s Creed II (Xbox 360)
8. Wii MotionPlus
9. Wii Nunchuk Controler – White
10. Wii Remote Controller

That’s right, eight out of the ten items on Amazon’s top ten list are Wii-related. For comparison, Sony’s PlayStation 3 120 GB model lands at #21 (beating out the Official Nintendo Wii Wheel which is outselling Uncharted 2: Among Thieves); the Xbox 360 Elite Winter 2009 Lego Batman/Pure bundle is currently at #46.

Jesse Divnich, Director of Analyst services for EEDAR, doesn’t find this surprising, saying that it’s “typical for Nintendo to dominate the December month.”

“Nintendo’s game have a diverse appeal, are family friendly, and of course are fun to play,” he tells me. “All of which are [qualities] gift givers look for in games. If you know someone that has a Nintendo Wii, you can never go from with a Nintendo given product.”

“For as long as I can remember,” he continues, “Nintendo has dominated every Christmas.”

But he also warns that Amazon’s sales numbers aren’t entirely indicative of the larger picture when it comes to gaming.

“Surprisingly, Amazon’s market share on the gaming sector is small,” Divnich explains. “They rank 7th to 9th among USA retailers depending upon the game, which makes their top-sellers list for videogames misleading.”

There’s little doubt, though, that Nintendo is prone to have a “green” Christmas; we’ll just have to wait for the after-holiday rush of sales numbers and PR spin before a true “winner” can be determined.

source Destructoid

Hey, you’re doing it wrong!

Developer Robomodo thinks that maybe you don’t know how to play its game, Tony Hawk Ride. The Chicago-based developer has put a slew of “how-to” videos on its official YouTube account, including such gems as “Navigation” and “Basic Grinds.”

In my recent review, I found the game and accompanying board to be frustrating to use and non-responsive. In short, I didn’t have much fun. After dumping hours into the game and receiving little to no rewards, I doubt I’ll go back, even though I appreciate Robomodo’s assistance.

But with many of you potentially getting this game for Christmas (I’ve seen more than one parent picking this up at Target and Walmart), you might benefit from a tiny extracurricular help.

RobomodoGOGOGO’s Channel [YouTube via GoNintendo]

source Destructoid

Here we have the latest trailer for Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing, which features its own Sonic-themed holiday song knock off.

What’s most entertaining about this trailer is thinking that Sega paid someone to re-write lyrics to a holiday classic for a promo. Then, they paid someone else to sing it. For what? A one-minute and twenty-second spot that’s going to run on gaming Web sites like ours? Silly, I say!

Well, I’m amused, I’ll say that much. As for the game, I played an early build of the PlayStation 3 version a few weeks back and found that it was exactly what I had expected — a kart racer featuring Sega characters and tracks based on worlds found in Sega games.

If that’s up your alley, the game ships early-ish next year, and will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS, and… Personal computer? Really?

source Destructoid

Atlus gives us this behind the scenes look into the voice over sessions for upcoming Wii game Trauma Team. It’s a swift look, but it’s really interesting to see what work goes into the localization process. Just seeing the recording facility is a treat for me.

Apparently there’s over 190 character voices to be put into this one game. That’s crazy! This is the first installment, which is only an introduction, and more are coming soon. Future videos will introduce cast members and even give tips on voice acting. Hopefully there’s some bloopers at the end of the series. Love those.

Trauma Team is still set for an April 20, 2010 release.

source Destructoid

People often ask me “Jonathan, you own just about every videogame console made in the past twenty years. Why is that you play the Wii so damn much?” I usually just respond with a coy giggle and a slap on the wrist, but if I feel comfortable enough with the person, I’ll tell them that “It’s because the Wii has the most retro titles, 2D platformers, and weird Japanese games, you big silly!”

Case in point: Muscle March. Along with Let’s Hitchhike, Tonema Sanner, and the recently released Eco Shooter: Plant 530, Muscle March is the kind of game that makes WiiWare the download service for games that you thought would never leave Japan.

If you don’t already know, the game is about a a very muscular group of people (and a polar bear) who’s protein powder has been stolen. They mean to get it back, no matter how many walls they’ve to flex through.

Astounding.

Also, check the gallery for some nice images of the game’s characters. For you poor avatar-less souls out there, why not use these for your public Destructoid face? You could do a lot worse than a topless, sexy polar bear.