EA has just announced the full soundtrack line-up for SSX, and it includes contributions from the likes of DJ Shadow, Foster the People, and Digitalism (pictured).

“SSX has always been one of EA’s most music intensive, genre diverse and sonically adventurous titles,” says Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music & Music Marketing.

“The songs on this new soundtrack cover ground from indie rock, dub step, hip-hop, drum + bass and beyond. As fans of the ultimate snowboarding franchise have come to expect, our artists range from top cutting-edge stars to tomorrow’s hottest underground acts. Ultimately, it’s a soundtrack full of next-level music that is totally ripe for discovery.”

The soundtrack for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game, which comes out February 28, features 36 licensed tracks and 10 originals from Amon Tobin, The Qemists, Camo & Krooked, and Raffertie.

If you’re so inclined to create your own soundtrack then have no fear. SSX will allow players to create custom playlists for menu and in-game music.

Here is a complete list of licensed tracks:

Camo & Krooked – Breezeblock
Camo & Krooked – Portal
Dels – Capsize ft. Joe Goddard & Roots Manuva
Digitalism – Blitz
DJ Shadow – I Gotta Rock (Irn Mnky Swagger Mix)
Felguk ft. Example – Plastic Smile
Flux Pavilion – I Can’t Stop
Foster the People – Houdini
Handsome Furs – Damage
Hyper – Accelerate
J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science – Magik (Egyptian Lover Remix) ft. Aima the Dream, Cait La Dee & Raashan Ahmad
Kid Digital – Done With That ft. Profit
Konrad Old Money – Big Error
Lateef the Truthspeaker – Oakland ft. Del the Funky Homosapien & The Grouch
Nero – Scorpions
Noisia – Could this Be
Noisia – Machine Gun
Pretty Lights – Hot Like Dimes
Raffertie – Twitch (It Grows and Grows: SSX Version)
Run-DMC – It’s Tricky (SSX Pretty Lights Remix)
Skrillex – Scatta ft. Foreign Beggers & Bare Noize
Styrofoam Ones – Better
The Big Pink – Stay Gold
The Herbaliser – What You Asked For
The Hives – 1000 Answers
The Naked and Famous – Young Blood
The Prototypes – Your Future
The Qemists – Bones ft. Kellermensch
The Qemists – Stompbox
The Qemists – Lifeline
Theophilus London – I Stand Alone (Ocelot Mix)
TRS-80 – Mirage
Turbowolf – A Rose for the Crows
Two Door Cinema Club – Something Good Can Work (The Twelves Remix)
Wretch 32 – Traktor
Zion I and the Grouch – Drop It on the 1

Capcom

In an all-new storyline that takes place between the events of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil Revelations follows branching stories of franchise favourite characters Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield.

Full of conspiracies and plot twists, Resident Evil Revelations is told in the style of a TV drama as players work to discover the location of Chris Redfield, the source of the T-Virus, and the intentions of a mysterious terrorist organization, Veltro.

Resident Evil: Revelations is available now exclusive for Nintendo 3DS.

Start the party Save the World

The first Start the Party title was one of the original games released when the Move came out. It was a simple title comprising of around twenty mini-games. Although it wasn’t the pick of the release games (honours would go to Sports Champions there), it did well enough with the younger audience to warrant a second round. This time Save the World follows a similar formula to Start the Party with a series of mini games that are based around saving the world from the evil Dr Terrible.

Upon loading the game you will be offered Solo or Group play with up to 4 players, the premise of the story is fairly tenuous to say the least where one minute you will be asked to repair robots in a factory that the villain has tampered with and then you are saving cavemen from Pterodactyls, but really the story is largely irrelevant. What did become quickly apparent is that the mini games are all a little too similar, aimed more towards the youngest of players. The games can be broken down into either using a net or racket to catch or deflect objects, directing a laser/gun on either a spaceship or car, Whack a mole games, or drawing lines to do things such as bounce caveman into caves to save them from being eaten.

One big change to the original is the ability to have a second player either help or hinder you. They will be able to join in the action by controlling one of the Dr Terrible’s creatures/robots to make the challenge easier or more difficult. This allows older players to help out struggling little ones or sabotage the efforts of more skilled players. All in all it’s pretty much what you would expect following on from Move Start the Pary, but is let down with a lack of true variety in gameplay which is a shame – might keep the younger ones happy for a while. [6]

After Hours Athletes

This game is a compilation of older Move titles that are aimed at the older audience, being High Velocity Bowling (10 Pin bowling), Hustle Kings (Billiards), and Top Darts. All games are very much suited to motion gaming. Although these games were each released individually quite some time ago, as a package this one offers great bang for your buck.

Hustle Kings uses the Move controller to control the balls position, direction and spin. There are various in-depth tutorials that you can use to help come to grip with the controls in the game. Once mastered the game works well, the atmosphere is great and is a good offering for anyone interested in motion controlled billiards. In Top Darts the motion controller acts as the dart, firstly you must line up your throw, before zooming in and throwing – the strength of the throw will depend on your hand movement and releasing the trigger. Again there are some great rooms providing that after hour’s atmosphere, and a tonne of different dart games (with all the rules included). High Velocity Bowling plays just as you would expect from any motion controller game. Pick a character, position on the lane, angle ball and bowl. The movement of your swing and release will dictate speed and spin.

The pick of the three for me is High Velocity Bowling. It isn’t as easy to get into as say Wii bowling and does take a while to set up for multiplayer but is great fun. You may want to spend some time on the tutorials as I discovered quickly my timing on release of the ball was sometimes off which caused fouls far more often than I liked. This is a great compilation if you are looking for games that aren’t aimed at the little ones, offering great value for money; it’s a worthy addition to your games collection. [7.5]

Carnival Island

This one provides more light hearted fun for the younger ones with a compilation of mini-games in the carnival theme. It has no story as such, which isn’t such a bad thing compared to the attempt on Save the World, instead it concentrates on a couple of young kids who happen to find some carnival tickets. It soon becomes their job to bring the life back to an almost down and out carnival by winning as many games as they can.
The carnival has four separate areas to play through, and all up offer seven different game types – Mini-bowl, Hoops, Ringers, Frog Bog, Coin Toss, Perfect Pitch and the Shooting Gallery. You will be able to earn tickets, gifts and balloons from any of the games you play. The pick of the games for me were ones that involved throwing such as Hoops (where you throw a ball through hoops), the bowling (throwing balls up ramps to hit targets), Frog Bog where you use a hammer hit a launching pad and catapult frogs onto lily pads, and my personal favourite the shooting gallery games.
It’s very easy to get into and you won’t be bogged down with tutorials. Kids of all ages can have great fun. The motion gaming works well for the majority of the games making you feel like you are truly in control. The younger ones will be delighted with some of the unlockable treats such as animals that will cheer you on as you play. If anything you will need to bear in mind that this one is aimed primarily at the younger kids that can be played through in short time.  [7]

Move Mind Benders

Move Mind Benders is yet another trilogy of older games requiring some thought into puzzle solving. Bringing you the brilliance of Lemmings (1991 classic) through to mind-boggling 3D masterplay of Echochrome and last but not least Jenga/Tetris style block building antics of Tumble.

Lemmings shouldn’t need much explaining, a side scrolling game in which you must save the suicidal lemmings from all manner of deaths. Tumble offers something a little new, where you will need to build towers with quite amazing physics. The various blocks will be made of several different substances such as glass (slippery), metal (heavy) or rubber (sticky). The size and weight of each block will need to be carefully understood before placing. Each round will give you a different challenge from reaching a certain height or even demolition targets using explosives. Multi-player is where this one truly shines though as you can easily make life very difficult for other players with the piece that you choose.

The last game Echochrome II is very clever in itself; you must help a stick-like figure move from A to B by using a torch to cast shadows on a 3D drawing in which to make paths appear and obstacles disappear. A little hard to explain, but basically by aiming the torch at certain angles will make the shadow change in appearance allowing your man to traverse the obstacles more easily. Luckily there is a good tutorial and the early rounds will teach you all you need to know about the shadow manipulation. A great game that will have you sitting staring at the TV for quite some time wondering how to solve the at times mind boggling puzzles.

Overall this is a great compilation for anyone out there who enjoys puzzles. Tumble is my pick of the three with some truly amazing physics to play with, whereas Echochrome II will have you flummoxed in no time flat – a great challenge. Again this one is fantastic value for money.  [8]

Medieval Moves: Deadmund’s Quest

I was looking forward to this one in particular, the premise of a full fledged medieval combat game utilising the move controller/s was an exciting prospect, especially with the relative success of the archery and gladiatorial games that were displayed with the original Move release game Sports Champions. Although this game is most assuredly aimed at the younger audience it does offer a glimpse of what could come in the future.

In this game you play the role of young Prince Edmund who is turned into a skeleton (he then jokingly changes his own name to Deadmund) and is sent on a quest to find an amulet which will restore him to his human form. Luckily for Deadmund he has had some training with sword, shield and bow so is ready to take on whatever is thrown at him. The game has a good feel to it, although serious enough for the young ones to get their teeth into, it has the humour to allow for light hearted fun. The environments are colourful and have enough variety to keep you on the chosen path where you’ll be exploring all manner of places including the dark crypt.

Exploration should be a word taken lightly as the game is an on-rails adventure. Essentially you maintain a fixed point of view where you must control the combat before the game takes you to the next area. There are a few puzzles and hidden collectables that you will need to quickly shoot with your bow. However the weapons really are the highlight of the game, if you only have one controller you can swing your sword using it and switch to the shield by holding the Move button. Two controllers will allow you to use both sword and shield with relative ease, the bow works the same way as it does in Sports Champions, draw an imaginary arrow from your imaginary quiver, line up with left hand controller (the bow) and pull back the string then release. There are a few other gadgets and weapons to play with but it all comes down to hacking with a sword, archery or lobbing items like dynamite.
Overall the controls work fairly well, although the game does get repetitive and you do feel limited in your control given it is ‘on-rails’, it will provide a few hours of fun. The younger ones will enjoy the chance to play this one, whereas old vets may get bored. It is worth having a play with; just make sure any valuables are well away from those mighty Move controller sword swings.  [7]

Move Fitness

There is no doubt that Nintendo’s Wii Fit hit the right spot with virtual fitness gaming, getting those couch potatoes to burn away a few hot dogs in the comfort of their own lounge. Well Microsoft and Sony quickly realised that there is indeed a market for these titles and quickly jumped on board with various games such as EA Sports Active 2, Mel B’s Fitness and even martial arts orientated fitness programmes (such as MMA).

Sony’s latest addition is appropriately named Move Fitness. However to play this game you will need to have two Move controllers as they will be used to detect your arm movement whereas the PS Eye will track your body. Once you have set your profile you can then decide what type of program you would like to do. Each one will target particular muscle groups to help you on your way to having a more fit or toned body. Of course like the old saying goes you’ll only get out of it what you put in and of course it will need to be in conjunction with a good diet to have any real lasting effect.

There are around 28 activities that you can participate in such as sparring, basketball or general exercises such as star jumps. You will be able to play with and against your virtual trainer or you can play with up to three others in multiplayer and track your progress with friends online. As with any exercise routing the key for a game such as this to be a success is your own motivation, although your instructor will try and keep you going you will need to find the will to carry on yourself. The game does however provide all the tools you need to work out at home, it may not pack the punch that EA Active 2 does in regards to variety and polish but is a worthy consideration given the price point.  [7]

Eyepet & Friends

Eyepet was Sonys first crack at using the Playstation Eye to create a virtual pet. One that kids could play with, clean, feed and interacts with harmlessly and to many parents delight cleanly and relatively cheaply (compared to the real thing of course). When the Move arrived the original Eyepet was updated to include some Move functionality. Now with Eyepet & Friends kids can have two pets available on screen at once.

When you first start the game, you’ll be given an egg to hatch (by beating the various sides of it until it cracks) and soon out will pop a strange new creature as your new pet. You will then be given a few basic tasks to get the hang of looking after ‘it’ before getting into playtime. Thanks to the PS Eye this all takes place on your lounge floor where your Move wand can turn into all sorts of miraculous tools and toys to play with. By completing tasks you can earn tokens which then allow you to unlock all manner of items such as clothing and mini-games. It wont take too long before your pet becomes your childs unique creation, where fur can be coloured and lengthened as well as some outlandishly cute outfits.

The main difference between the original Move Eyepet and Eyepet & Friends is the ability to have two pets on screen at once, so that two children could play with their own pet at the same time. It’s a great concept for the many parents with two kids of the age to enjoy the game but does have obstacles. First one being the close proximity to one another in which they need to swing those controllers around. Then the issue of one child be generally older and more capable of unlocking items/completing tasks more quickly than the other. It may not be a problem for everyone but one a parent may need to think about. Saying that if you can keep things relatively under control this game can keep the younger ones more than happy.

Technically I did notice some issues with two pets on screen at once with framerate drops, which was surprising. There were also occasional glitches with precision of the Move controller where detection failure errors hindered your progress to complete tasks such as feeding or showering your pet. Parents may need to help out the younger ones when these technical issues arise. Overall the Eyepet concept is a good one and this game does get it right for the most part. Given the price range and fun it offers the younger audience it’s worthy of consideration for purchase.  [7]

Bethesda has just announced that the Skyrim Creation Kit is now available for download, and it comes with a special treat.

Along with the Creation kit, PC fans have been treated to a free high resolution texture pack for download, this will be a welcome addition to all those who feel as though the graphics have been held down by the console versions.

Make sure your system requirements exceed Skyrim’s recommended specs before attempting to install, including Windows Vista or 7 operating system, a minimum of 4GB of system RAM, and a DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with at least 1 GB of RAM and the latest drivers.

Both the Skyrim Creation Kit and the High-Res Texture Pack are available from the Skyrim Workshop at mods.elderscrolls.com thanks to the powers of Steam!

Ubisoft has revealed the latest trailer for their post-apocalyptic themed survival game, I Am Alive.

In the latest trailer, our hero talks about the importance of climbing, managing stamina and exploring the vicinity for resources in the ruins of Haventon.

I Am Alive is described as a post-apocalyptic action/adventure game, and is set for release on the Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Network.

Developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, I Am Alive was engineered to create a convincing, post-disaster world in which players are faced with thought-provoking choices instead of shooting their way through their problems.

I Am Alive will release on Xbox LIVE Arcade during House Party on March 7.

Warner Bros’ Gotham City Impostors is a new download-only multiplayer FPS developed by Monolith Software, the same outfit behind shooters Fear, and Condemned: Criminal Origins.

The game was released on Steam yesterday and will hit PlayStation Network later today for US$14.99. As for Xbox 360 owners, they can join the fun tomorrow.

There are over 100 pieces of downloadable content for Gotham City Impostors, all of which are customization options for the upcoming six versus six first person shooter.

Gotham City Impostors comes with a number of awesome weaponry such as grappling hooks, glider wings, roller-skates, jack-in-the-box grenade launcher, and much more.

Gotham City Imposters is set to launch on February 8th for 1200 MS Points on Xbox Live Arcade and it’s currently available today for $14.95 on the Sony Entertainment Network.

Sony Computer Entertainment has just released a new DLC for Uncharted 3.

Titled the Fort Co-op Adventure, this multiplayer-only DLC places players into the roles of Uncharted villains Harry Flynn, Eddy Raja and Zoran Lazarevic. It’s a co-op mission for three players.

The adventure further explores the mystery behind the Janus head statue in the co-op mission that comes with Uncharted 3. The adventure is priced at US$5.99.

Sony has also released several skin packs for Uncharted 3, which includes the Donut Skin Pack, and Rogues Skin Packs 1 & 2. Sony also plans to release the Flashback Map Pack 2 on February 21 for US$9.99.

All of the content contained within the DLCs is available for anyone who’s a part of the Fortune Hunters’ Club, which gives players total access to all the game’s DLCs for a flat price of US$24.99.

Deep Silver today announced the limited Collector’s Edition of Risen 2: Dark Waters for consoles that will be released alongside the standard edition.

The Collector’s Edition will have the following additional content:

• Making of DVD – interviews with the developers from Piranha Bytes who delve deeper into the production of Risen 2.
• Soundtrack CD – The gripping tunes of the Risen 2 soundtrack will immediately absorb the listener into this fantastic pirate world.
• Double-sided poster – a large sized map of the game world on one side and an epic artwork featuring the hero and his crew on board their impressive ship.
• Pirate Flag – with the skull motif from Risen 2.
• Amulet – a pendant that every pirate and Risen 2 fan will be proud of.
• The Art of Risen 2: Dark Waters – an exclusive collection of art cards on high quality-paper.
• Three Risen 2 stickers.

The Collector’s Edition of Risen 2: Dark Waters will be available in April for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Demiurge Studios upcoming game Shoot Many Robots comes out sometime in 2012, and today they’ve released new screens and a new video to introduce us to the enemies we will face.

Shoot Many Robots follows P. Walter Tugnut on his mission to kill as many robots as possible after a factory begins to ominously produce killer robots. With an RV full of guns and beer, gamers will experience a four-player co-op run-n-gun side-scrolling RPG shooter filled with tons of weapon and item customisation.

Shoot Many Robots will also feature two game modes: Traversal, where players must progress linearly through a level, and Survival, where players fight against waves of robot hordes, delivering hours of robotic carnage and fun.

Published by Ubisoft, Shoot Many Robots will be released on Xbox LIVE, PSN and Games for Windows in 2012.

Check out the video below to meet the cast of enemies.

Sony has announced that the PlayStation Network (PSN) will be rebranded to the Sony Entertainment Network (SEN) on February 7^th.

It’s important to note that this change currently only applies to PSN “accounts,” and includes a number of Terms of Service updates. But it has caused speculation to run rampant: Is Sony planning to rebrand the PlayStation Network altogether? Are they hoping to distance themselves from last year’s security breach and month-long network outage?

Newly appointed CEO Kaz Hirai has stated that there will be no PlayStation 4 reveal at this year’s E3. His careful wording has led others to question whether the next Sony console will even carry the “PlayStation” name.

The Sony Entertainment Network was revealed last August, and wraps many major Sony services, including Video Unlimited (previously Video on Demand by Qriocity) and Music Unlimited, into a single platform.