A complete mixture of languages, genres and target audiences with this weeks DLC releases for Rock Band, ranging from the Finnish death metal stylings of Children of Bodom to the manufactured pop from the star of Nickelodeon’s iCary, Miranda Cosgrove.  Joining them are a selection of European artists, including Squeeze, Tokio Motel and Finley along with another Nickelodoen export, The Naked Brothers band.

The good news is that all of these songs are available for half the normal cost, or free in the case of the Miranda Cosgrove song, the bad news is that all songs are individual downloads and not available in packs.  The songs will be available for download from Tuesday 2/12 on XBLM and Thursday 4/12 on PSN.

Full tracklisting with video links after the break.

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We have an Advent 4211 on long-term review here at Team Teabag, and it’s a very impressive machine indeed (read my first impressions here). But it seems that PC World have decided to go one better and introduce a slightly lower-specced machine to the range at a very wallet-friendly £249 price point.

Of course the 4211 was a complete steal at £279, but if the pennies are tight and you can make do with 512MB of RAM (as opposed to 1GB) and an 80GB HDD (as opposed to 120GB), and a 9″ screen (rather than 10″), then the 4489 looks like a bargain from where I’m standing.

You could always upgrade the HDD and RAM later on if needed, after all, and it’s still more than adequate as a web browsing machine.

Yay! It’s the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York. And what’s this? It’s a float based on hit kids’ TV show Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends.

Boring eh?

Would I really do that to you?

Atari have released some new screenshots from their upcoming ‘Forza-alike’ RACE Pro detailing the Road America circuit.

Scheduled for release in January exclusively on Xbox 360 RACE Pro features officially licenced FIA championships ranging from the WTCC series all the way down to Formula 3000 and Formula BMW, in addition to plenty of unofficial championships, and with over 300 models there is no shortage of cars to choose from while you blast around tracks such as Brands Hatch, Road America, Leguna Seca, Macau and many more!

Screenshots and pack shot after the break.

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So, the Mrs decides to get me some cookies from Asda. Nothing wrong with that – I like cookies in fact, and these chocolatey minty cookies were particularly good. But something did catch my eye as I was admiring the empty packet on my desk… Something, er, phallic.

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Yesterday Microsoft announced that the latest installment of the ever popular Halo franchise has been renamed from Halo 3: Recon to Halo 3: ODST, after the orbital drop shock troops that will be the games main protagonists in their efforts to eliminate the Covenant at New Mombasa.

Read the full statement from Microsoft after the break.

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PRESS RELEASE

Editor to be Available in December; Downloadable Content coming for January, February, and MarchNovember 25th, 2008 (ROCKVILLE, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, today announced plans to make both its editor and downloadable content available for its award-winning game, Fallout® 3 in the coming weeks. The official editor for Fallout 3, called the G.E.C.K. (Garden of Eden Creation Kit), will be available for free download in December and will allow Games for Windows® users to create and add their own content to the game. In addition, the first official downloadable content, Operation: Anchorage, will be available exclusively for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows® in January, and more downloadable content coming in February and March.

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The survival horror genre has been with us for many years and has spawned some fantastic games such as the original Alone in the Dark trilogy and many more Resident Evil and Silent Hill titles. Recent offerings in the genre have been hit or miss with 2005′s Resident Evil 4 being such a resounding success and this year’s Alone in the Dark failing to live up to high expectations. The big question is whether or not Dead Space has successfully carved out a place for itself alongside the genre forerunners.

This new kid on the block (not the boy-band, that’s a whole new dimension of horror) reminds me a great deal of The Thing, both the John Carpenter film and the videogame adaptation, and this is a very good thing indeed. If atmosphere is what you’re after then you’ll find plenty of it here and you’ll feel constantly uneasy as you wander around the mining ship in search of answers to help explain the mysterious mutations on-board.

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When it comes to Football games I can proudly say that I’m something of a mercenary as I’ve never felt the need to declare an allegiance to either FIFA or Pro Evo over the years. I have fond memories of playing the early FIFA titles on my Megadrive and experiencing the thrill of scoring those 40 yard screamers. Then along came the Playstation followed by a copy of the first “Pro Evo” title and it instantly felt more natural to me. Since that time I preferred Konami’s vision of Football over the offerings from EA but in recent years I have noticed the gap closing. The division was pretty simple, turn to FIFA for great graphics and turn to Pro Evo for great football, but in recent years FIFA has made a huge effort to be more than just a pretty face.

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Littlest Pet Shop: Garden is an incredibly cute little game for the Nintendo DS which is loosely based on the toys of the same name. Think Animal Crossing combined with Viva Pinata complete with a variety of simple yet enjoyable mini-games and you won’t be too far off. The aim is to adopt a variety of ridiculously cute little animals, take care of them, make sure they’re happy, and maintain a high reputation which in turn attracts the interest of even more animals who find themselves up for adoption. Playing mini-games will make your pets happy and depending on how well you perform you’ll be awarded currency which can then be used to purchase clothing for the animals which will make them even happier.

The mini-games on offer range from a colouring-in activity to relatively more hectic tasks which will test the player’s ability to react quickly. The number of kibble coins awarded will depend on how well you do and which difficulty setting you choose to play. There is some variety in the selection of clothing and accessories which can be purchased for your pets but it’s perhaps not as extensive as it could be.

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