After trickling the whole thing out piece by piece on different websites, Activision has finally put up a complete list of the bands whose songs will show up in Guitar Hero 5 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii) on the game’s official website.

The list contains a whopping 84 different bands (I thought it was supposed to be 85?), but it’s not clear if all of them will be included on-disc when the game hits retail or if some will be held back as future DLC releases. Guitar Hero 5 is slated for a September 1, 2009, release.

• 3 Doors Down
• A Perfect Circle
• AFI
• Arctic Monkeys
• Attack! Attack! UK
• Band Of Horses
• Beastie Boys
• Beck
• Billy Idol
• Billy Squier
• Blink-182
• Blur
• Bob Dylan
• Bon Jovi
• Brand New
• Bush
• Children Of Bodom
• Coldplay
• Darker My Love
• Darkest Hour
• David Bowie
• Deep Purple
• Dire Straits
• Duran Duran
• Eagles Of Death Metal
• Elliott Smith
• Elton John
• Face To Face
• Garbage
• Gorillaz
• Gov’t Mule
• Grand Funk Railroad
• Iggy Pop
• Iron Maiden
• Jeff Beck
• Jimmy Eat World
• John Mellencamp
• Johnny Cash
• Kaiser Chiefs
• King Crimson
• Kings Of Leon
• Kiss
• Love and Rockets
• Megadeth
• M tley Cr e
• Muse
• My Morning Jacket
• Nirvana
• No Doubt
• Peter Frampton
• Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde
• Queen & David Bowie
• Queens Of The Stone Age
• Rammstein
• Rose Hill Drive
• Rush
• Santana
• Scars On Broadway
• Screaming Trees
• Smashing Pumpkins
• Sonic Youth
• Spacehog
• Stevie Wonder
• Sublime
• Sunny Day Real Estate
• T. Rex
• The Bronx
• The Derek Trucks Band
• The Duke Spirit
• The Killers
• The Police
• The Raconteurs
• The Rolling Stones
• The Sword
• The White Stripes
• Thin Lizzy
• Thrice
• Tom Petty
• Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• TV On The Radio
• Vampire Weekend
• Weezer
• Wild Cherry
• Wolfmother

• Guitar Hero 5 slated for September
• Guitar Hero 5 platforms confirmed, details strum in: partial set-list, versus mode, more info

Anime fans generally fall into two camps: those who hate dubs and those who prefer them (there’s also a third camp: those who don’t give a damn). The same is basically true for gamers. Some just prefer their localized games to have the original voice acting intact.

For Phantom Brave: We Meet Again, NIS America is catering to the whims of both groups by putting in dual English and Japanese voiceovers. Here’s a blurb from the NIS America press release:

In appreciation of all the great fan support, NIS America negotiated with the developer in Japan and they have happily accepted the request. The development team has noted that as long as fans and gamers can enjoy Phantom Brave we ll do our best to get this feature in .

The implementation of this feature is a double-edged sword, however. Due to the extra development time needed, Phantom Brave: We Meet Again won’t be meeting its June release date. It will instead launch on August 4.

• Video: Phantom Brave: We Meet Again debut US trailer

XSEED’s E3 2009 press release got buried in the mass of press releases we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks, but I just had to post it even if it’s a bit late since it confirms US releases for two PSP games I’ve been watching out for.

First is Marvelous Entertainment’s Yuusha 30, which has been renamed to Half-Minute Hero. This game has one of the quirkier gameplay mechanics I’ve seen recently. Second is Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, Game Arts’ PSP remake of the classic Lunar RPG. Both games are scheduled for fall releases.

Other notable entries in the XSEED lineup are Suda51’s Flower, Sun and Rain for the Nintendo DS and Namco Bandai’s Wii RPG, Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon. Here’s a complete list of what XSEED will be showing off at E3 along with their release targets:

• Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP) - Fall 2009
• Half-Minute Hero (PSP) - Fall 2009
• Fragile: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii) - Winter 2009
• Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii) - Winter 2009
• Flower, Sun and Rain (DS) - June 16, 2009
• JU-ON: The Grudge (Wii) - October 2009
• Little King’s Story (Wii) - July 2009
• Ragnarok Online (DS) - Winter 2009
• Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga (Wii) - Summer 2009

• Famitsu whips out screens for the remake of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
• Yuusha 30 multiplayer mode detailed

Nintendo said last year that the Mario and Zelda development teams were working on new Wii games, so it’s already a given that we’ll be seeing new games in those franchises soon. According to Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, that “soon” means “later this year”. For Mario, at least.

The Nikkei report was a bit vague on the subject, but apparently Nintendo plans to release a new Mario game by the end of the year. The question here is whether it’ll be a major Mario game or not.

Another new Wii game mentioned in the report was Wii Fit Plus, an online-capable follow-up to the bestselling Wii Fit. The paper was more specific about the details for this game, mentioning that the online feature will let users compete with friends and family, presumably by sharing and comparing fitness data. Wii Fit Plus will also feature more accurate measurements.

Chances are, both games will be in the spotlight during Nintendo’s E3 2009 press conference, so hopefully we’ll learn more on Tuesday.

• E3 2008: Zelda and Mario games for Wii confirmed, Zelda project for DS

Straight off Cashman’s Productions is this enjoyable Wii homebrew  quiz, Wii Quiz v2.1.5. As the name implies, it’s not gonna be an easy walk in the park as this game is meant to challenge your ability to complete quizzes and puzzles.

For this version, you will be faced with French quiz questions, so unless you at least read French, then on that front alone you’d have already lost the game. But if language is not a barrier for you, then you might go on to win one million dollars.  Be careful, cos it’s a right-minus-wrong score system.

There’s also the Wii Quiz Online, which lets you see if a newer version of the game has been updated online. Also, you can check and compare your high scores, as well as see the six best scores in each mode.

As for the controls:

Download: Wii Quiz v2.1.5

Last year, Phil Harrison made quite a ruckus when he severed ties with SCEI as their president, and then jumping on board Atari’s team, via parent company Infogrames,  to serve as President. Today, however, we receive word that he will be stepping down from the position, and will assume instead a non-executive Director role.

In an official statement made by Atari, as part of their fiscal year report:

Because of a shift of business operations to the US, Phil Harrison will move from the role of President to that of non-executive Director of the Group. As all Board Members, he will continue to assist, support and guide the Company’s strategy.

“Non-executive”… that sounds synonymous to “teethless”, don’t you think? But we’ve yet to hear from Harrison himself, and from Atari, as to how this “step down” occurred, and who will be taking Harrison’s place as Mr. Prez.

We’ll keep you posted on the details.

• Phil Harrison now president of Infogrames
• Phil Harrison talks about Atari, reason for quitting, opportunities for gaming

Last year, Phil Harrison made quite a ruckus when he severed ties with SCEI as their president, and then jumping on board Atari’s team, via parent company Infogrames,  to serve as President. Today, however, we receive word that he will be stepping down from the position, and will assume instead a non-executive Director role.

In an official statement made by Atari, as part of their fiscal year report:

Because of a shift of business operations to the US, Phil Harrison will move from the role of President to that of non-executive Director of the Group. As all Board Members, he will continue to assist, support and guide the Company’s strategy.

“Non-executive”… that sounds synonymous to “teethless”, don’t you think? But we’ve yet to hear from Harrison himself, and from Atari, as to how this “step down” occurred, and who will be taking Harrison’s place as Mr. Prez.

We’ll keep you posted on the details.

• Phil Harrison now president of Infogrames
• Phil Harrison talks about Atari, reason for quitting, opportunities for gaming
  

The date’s been set. Electronic Arts and Visceral Studios have announced that Dead Space: Extraction is scheduled for a September release this year.

The specific date: September 29th. Players will join once more the team of space colonists struggling to survive from the Aegis VII mining colony infection. Bringing something new to the table is new character Lexine. And she plays a mighty important heroine, too, as the crew soon realizes that in order to escape the virus, they need to protect Lexine.

Don’t forget, September 29, Dead Space: Extraction.

• No DLC planned for Dead Space: Extraction
• Lurkers, Slashers, and Leapers star in new Dead Space: Extraction screens
• Dead Space: Extraction will be as long as original, will have new weapons
  

You can read it, you can already breathe it - E3 anticipation is quickly building up, teaser after teaser, bit by bit of every chunk of info we get. We’ve got all sorts of pre-E3 news on the Nintendo side this week. And as if they were holding their own homebrew-E3 this week, Tantric and the other Wiibrewers have rolled out some pretty cool updates and releases for their projects. The gist? We all win. The details? Read on.

• Here’s an interesting one. The latest trailer for Grand Slam Tennis shows the courts and prime stages of every grand slam event in the ATP and WTA tours - Australian, French, Wimbledon, US - with each court featuring a high-profile matchup. The most interesting bit here is that the trailer shows a Federer victory over Nadal in the clip for the French Open, which is on-going as we speak. You all know the story around the Pacquiao-Hatton Fight Night Round 4 trailer right? Go figure. Link
• I say they look like Homer Simpson, Mabie says they’re cute. Following this ill-formulated logic, we might say that Homer Simpson is cute. As for the dentally-challenged critters of Rabbids Go Home, you can catch more of them and less of their teeth in this E3-exclusive trailer. Link
• Whether you’re a wannabe med student or simply a kid that loves to play doctor, you might be interested in Atlus’ new project - Hospital. This Wiixclusive puts you in a white coat and through all the endoscopic and completely invasive parts of the job. Link
• As promised by Square Enix, they’re gonna bump up WiiWare and DS with more Taito classics this year. It’s a short list, but if it has one of your oldschool favorites, it certainly won’t matter. Link
• Conduit developer High Voltage Software unveiled the first of its two new projects earlier this week and they talked about bringing intense Roman brutality to the Wii. in Gladiator A.D. Link. Days later, they handed out the game’s first vid. Link
• Take it off!!! - and so they did. What I’m talking about is that Australia has taken the Wii strip-poker game, Sexy Poker, off the good games list, keeping the family-friendly console ever-so-nipple-free. Link
• Lucky Square Enix didn’t wait for E3 to let this one loose. They’ve announced that Roxas’ turn at the spotlight in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is gonna have a European release in Autumn. Link
• The flurry of mini-details continues for Blood of Bahamut with its new story trailer. Might’ve been more informative, if only we can understand Japanese. Link
  

Nintendo

• The Nintendo delegation at E3 has been confirmed earlier this week, and the attendees include the big boys themselves: Iwata-san, Reggie, and Cammie Dunaway. Well they do have a conference to address and a bunch rumor-denying (or confirming) to do in the expo, so maybe that’s why they have to come in full-force.  Link

Homebrew

• Team Twiizers handed out the second Beta of BootMii. This version has improved SD card performance, so the boot and NAND backup and restore time is reduced. Of course that’s not the only new feature, hit the link and find out more. Link
• Another unofficial SVN build for Dolphin hits the scene. The new version for the Gamecube-Wii emulator can now compress Wii games, load custom textures, and NetPlay support, among many other changes. Link
• Another emulator got an update this week - it’s Tantric’s FCE Ultra GX, an emulator for the NES. This version boasts improved stability, as well as a bunch of other fixes to keep the emulator running smoothly. Link
• Here’s yet another emulator, this time, an SNES emulator, also by the hands of Tantric. The latest version for Snes9x GX is now up, carrying with it a rather notable bugfix. Link
• Don’t look now, it’s another emulator with an update - Visual Boy Advance GX. This one also came out of Tantric’s workbench, and it’s got new tweaks and features added to make the emulator more stable. Link
• Wiibrewers Scip, Rodries and company have created a fork of the Team Twiizers’ MPlayer port, adding in elements of the MPlayerWii and GeeXboX to make their own touch. If you just came across this app, MPlayer basically turns your Wii into a media player. Link
  

Gaming mag EGM is on its way back to printing and store shelves now that its founder, Steve Harris, has re-acquired its trademarks and publishing rights. According to the press release, Harris entered an agreement with Ziff Davis Media and the former now has plans to re-launch Electronic Gaming Monthly in the second half of 2009.

Harris was very pleased with the re-acquisition of his baby:

The re-launch of Electronic Gaming Monthly represents a welcome opportunity to continue delivering quality content to gaming enthusiasts.

I feel honored to once again be associated with this respected magazine. The talented writers and designers who built upon EGM s original vision have left behind a publication that is uniquely positioned to be successful.

We have exciting plans for the evolution of what will once again be a leading independent voice for the gaming community.

The twenty year success of the EGM brand has always been built upon a commitment to its readers who I believe will enthusiastically embrace the changes we are planning to introduce.

As for the EGM staff, there’s no word yet if Harris is planning to get “Milkman” James Mielke and company back on the job. More will be announced at - you guessed it - next week’s E3.

• EGM ceases publication; February issue to be available online
• Ziff Davis today: 1UP sale, layoffs, EGM shutdown