Infinity Ward recently announced that their upcoming Modern Warfare 2 won't be supporting dedicated servers, something that PC gamers have 99% of the time, replacing it with something called IWNet, a proprietary server system ran by Infinity Ward themselves. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's make a list of pro's and con's. Pros: Less Cheaters Less Lag Better Matchmaking No Clan Servers No Custom Configs Cons: No Mod Support Chance that IW could disconnect and end servers at anytime for any reason No Clan Servers No Custom Configs Unable to play on “favorite” servers, only way to play with same group of people is to be in the same party or clan While console gamers have never had their own dedicated servers (save a few games like Section 8, Evolution 4x4, and a few others), it's rare for a PC game to do away with it (and yes, COD4 had dedicated servers). Why this move was made is beyond anybody's idea however it seems that Infinity Ward would like to either Nazi their PC players Pave the way for a pay-for service Get rid of Modders Genuinely want to get rid of hackers Announce that they are taking it away, to drive some gamers away, then announce that they will include it, and gain even more gamers to it due to the news (IE: New Coke) Kill the ability for pirated copies of MW2 to be played online. Read More...

I remember Jim. The funny earthworm with bionic suit that made so many tounge-in-cheek jokes I could hardly stand it. I had the action figure, I watched the cartoon. I played it on every console that it was available for. Now Jim is returning, guns and blazin', to consoles and handhelds all over the world. Cow launching, check. Laser guns, Check. Read More...

Ahhh, the soothing sounds of a hype train pulling into the station. With two weeks remaining until the release of Band Hero, Activision has now finally released the final set list for the game. On top of that, they divulged methods and pricing for importing the tracks from Band Hero to Guitar Hero 5 and vice versa. As far as the song listing goes, you will utter "Sweet Song!" as many times as you say "Huh? Read More...

Ok, so it is no surprise that another movie is getting the video game treatment. This time Clash of the Titans from Legendary Pictures is getting it's very own game based on the original film and the remake that is coming out next year. When you think about it, it could be a decent game, if done in the same epic style as God of War and Dante's Inferno. This is the type of film that brought the epic style to mainstream entertainment and out of your mother's basement. DnD player you know what I'm talking here. Read More...

Episode 44 of the Aggrocast has landed and unfortunately for the crew, we have had some busy weeks lately. This has resulted in too few games being played. We do talk about the few we got our hands on, including Halo 3 ODST, Beatles Rock Band, Aion and more. We also bring you some interesting topics this week. We go over the PSP Go launch and Binh discusses his hands on with his launch day system. The possibility looms that I bought one as well, but refuse to say if I did or not. Read More...

The general consensus of Uncharted 2 is that it's going to be an extraordinary experience with a level of polish that is going to blow us all away. Honestly, I would have been satisfied if they just gave a straight sequel with none of these bells and whistles that they are offering with this sequel - I just enjoyed it that much. Thankfully, no one over at Naughty Dog listened to me and not only are they about to drop one of the most anticipated titles of the year, they are getting together with Sony to award some Fortune Hunter Editions of the game to some lucky gamers (as if we really needed additional reasons to play the demo). For those not in the know, included in this package is the game, exact in-game replica of the Phurba Dagger Artifact and stand, Collectible Art Book and Collector case autographed by Naughty Dog, and a bunch of DLC. Read More...

That's a heck of a visual isn't it? GTA IV, Street Fighter IV, Star Wars: The Force Unleased, Left 4 Dead, and Saints Row 2 are the latest candidates for the Platinum Hits treatment. A nice line-up to be certain and a great opportunity to jump aboard and experience these titles if you haven't done so already. It seems like the titles were chosen pretty strategically because with several of the games you have either had a) new content announced and coming soon, b) new content released, or c) sequels approaching. In celebration of these latest additions to the Platinum Hits Collection line-up, some retailers are offering a “Buy 2 –Get 1 Free” promotion for XBox Platinum Hits Collection titles. Read More...

Finally we get a release date! LittleBigPlanet will be released for PSP on November 17th 2009. As if the game on PS3 wasn't addictive enough, now its portable. Who knows what crazy levels people will come up with next! The PSP version will have most of the same functionality as it's PS3 counterpart, along with 35+ new developer created levels. So now when your sitting at the airport and you feel the need to make sack boy run through and amazingly complex level, the power will be at your fingertips. The Sharing and rating features will also be available. Read More...

Gran Turismo PSP, what was supposed to be a launch game (it kinda did in some ways with the PSPGo) in 2004 is finally out now, and available as a download for the PSPGo or a physical UMD for the rest, you alternatively could download the game for any PSP. The graphics are good, really good in fact. The detail that the cars are given is extensive seeing as the game is only about 1.2 gb; the graphics compare to a really good Dreamcast/early PS2 game and runs at a smooth and steady 60fps. The audio is just as good, however some of the sounds do get a bit repetitive. Read More...

There comes a time when you realize there are certain products are just not for your demographic anymore. Maybe it was when you were hitting puberty and realized that while you may still like Saturday morning cartoons, the commercials annoyed you rather than interested. Or perhaps you tried to watch The Tonight Show before Jay Leno was replaced and realized every joke was for the geriatric crowd. Reading today's press release from Activision really demonstrated to me that while I may enjoy rhythm games, Band Hero is not being marketed to me. Band Hero is the long lost love child of Guitar Hero: World Tour and High School Musical. Read More...

Early in September, the Children's Miracle Network announced that Microsoft's XBox 360 team was donating "Ultimate Gamerooms" to three children's hospitals in their network. The winning hospitals are determined by votes cast at a special website. Individuals voting are put into a separate drawing to win one of five XBox 360 Elite consoles for themselves for participating. Each individual is allowed 10 votes per day and each vote is another entry into the drawing. Too often the video games industry and we as gamers are cast in a terrible light. Read More...

LOS ANGELES (September 18, 2009) – SODMG Gamers is the next competitive gaming site for video gamers. Now launched, its free closed beta last Monday went extremely well. Receiving thousands of beta account requests and the closed beta received over 325,000 unique page impressions during the first week online. On October 2nd 2009, we will be setting up tournaments only on Xbox live. However SODMG Gamers will be bringing in PS3 as well Nintendo Wii within the coming months for users to compete on those particular consoles to find gamers with similar title likes and battle for prizes, and of course the fun and love for the game!. Read More...

A possible leaked trailer for Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings was released last night. Yes i know it says Alpha version, and everything says Internal Use only, but this looks like something directed towards the gamer audience. A "hey look at this trailer and get excited" type deal. Obviously it doesnt matter where it came from because it's pretty freaking awesome! The official announcement from CDProjekt “Of course, we can’t and won’t try to deny the facts. The movie that appeared on the various sites yesterday presents our newest project, The Witcher 2, which we’ve been working on for some time. Read More...

Yesterday Microsoft and Activision announced that a special Modern Warfare 2-themed Xbox 360. 250 gig hard drive, two wireless controllers, a wired headset and a copy of the game for 400 dollars. Amazon.com has a list of what is in the box: Limited Edition Xbox 360 Console with exclusive Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Design Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Standard Edition (Rated "M" for Mature.) 250GB HD 2 Black Wireless Controllers 1 Black Xbox 360 Wired Headset 1 Ethernet Cable 1 Xbox 360 Composite A/V cable Free one month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold (Xbox LIVE Silver subscription is included with console) Free Netflix trial offer The men and women working at Microsoft who got this deal done are getting promotions this Christmas. Having a themed console for what will probably be the best selling game of the year and strong contender for Game of the Year is a huge boon for Microsoft. Read More...

On Episode 42, another episode is here and the Aggrocast is back talking about Scribblenauts, Aion, Muramasa, and Beatles Rock Band. They also have an informative discussion into aggregator sites and whether they are truly doing the job they were meant for. This conversation is based on article published here this week. We're on the new recording schedule and off to a great start. Next show will be recorded next Tuesday so you have plenty of time to add to the discussion, either in the comments below or send an email to Aggrocast@aggrogamer. Read More...