Official Announcement

We are finally slipping into gear.
Our alpha site will be up very soon! Hopefully in the next couple of hours!
We've registered our domain and our site will be up very soon!
Here's the new page you need to bookmark: http://www.zygosgames.com/ *
See you there!

*Note the address currently redirects to the blog until the main site is up.

Avatars for your Xbox?

Judging by the reactions to the news that Microsoft are possibly going to be bringing Mii-like avatars to the 360, I’d say that most people really don’t give a damn about them. Other people seem to get the idea that the “fully customisable” characters are going to replace their gamer pictures. However, I think what’s more likely to happen is that M$ will offer the “personas” alongside gamer pictures and personal photos as another way of representing yourself in games. In fact, It looks as though we’re going to be able to play as our avatars in some games. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? If you’re looking for the source, hit up http://kotaku.com/5016607/leak-seems-to-confirm-xbox-live-avatars-on-the-way.

After brooding over this news for an hour or so, I’m not really sure of what to think of the direction Microsoft is taking its supposed (am I going to use this word?) “Hardcore” console. What with news on a Wii-like motion remote and now this, it would appear that they want to take the 360 to a whole new audience. Now I myself, have no beef with the avatar idea, as long as they don’t co$t too much. In saying that, I’ve already got a Wii where I’ve already created a goddamn awful version of myself (not that the original is much to look at), and Sony are eventually going to release Home, where I can make a more hideous rendition, and therefore it begs to ask what MS are going to do differently to Ninny or Sony to appeal to the audience of its own premier console?

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage Editor--

At a glance: Saint's Row 2

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There are games that should be sequeled...

...but is Portal one of them? Back when it came out I thought it was totally sweet, but I’m not sure if I want a second one, it might ruin the magic...I don’t know, I’ll buy it, but probably only because the following information looks totally awesome.

It looks as though the second hit in the Portal series (I feel bad calling it a “series”…) could quite possibly be a prequel, focusing on life at Aperture Science back when founder of the company, Cave Johnson was “still alive” see what I did there! What am I doing? Anyways, so supposedly, P2 will occur in the years before GlaDOS and therefore instead of her shouting at you through your speakers, it will be Cave Johnson who has been poured into a PC and is having doubts about the whole thing.

From what I can gather, you’ll play as a new test subject for the company which could possibly give the game a whole different change of pace, although, looking at a small snippet of the script over at Kotaku ("I been thinkin," the script reads, "Heck, suspended as I am in this inky purgatorium, I got nothin' to do but think. What if them engineers didn't do me no favors pourin' me into a computer? What if they denied me my final reward?") It appears as though the same sense of humour will be in place, which was, as we’ll all agree, was one of the most fantastic things about the original Portal game. In all honesty, I haven’t got a problem with the dudes over at Valve creating a second Portal game, what I wouldn’t like is if they decided to go all multiplayer on its ass because just doesn’t seem right to me. Portal’s a single player experience, and that’s firmly where it should stay.

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage Editor--

At a Glance: Dark Void

Here’s news straight out of Capcom’s recent event CAPTIVATE08 about Airtight Games’ current project Dark Void, which will likely be coming to stores in around a year’s time. Before this event actually happened, I’d never even heard about this title, so being able to see it for the first time as a fleshed out object, rather than as a mere concept, was really cool because to me, this game looks as though it’s got some strong promise.

We obviously haven’t had the chance to play the game yet, which sucks, because despite it being a year away, it looks extremely playable and good to look at. From the demo we saw though, we were able to get a pretty good sense for how the game works and its basic mechanical ideas.

In terms of story you play as a dude called Will. Now Will’s a Pilot, and a stupid one at that, so he decides to go and fly over the Bermuda Triangle which obviously has disastrous consequences because he discovers a portal (or dark void, if you will) which takes him to an alien planet where, of course, there are aliens called Watchers.

Aliens = hate. Aliens = you shoot. Aliens = die.

So it looks to me as though we’ve got a cross between Jak II: Renegade and Gears of War. Although, if we explore the game play for a second here, there’d be another game to add to that list because in Dark Void you can totally hover and fly. So, we’ve actually got Jak II: Renegade, Gears of War and Crimson Skies, and it’s this mix of game play that’s got us all excited (not sexually). From what we saw from the footage, Will will be able to kill the Watchers using an arsenal of unconventional weapons such as one which shoots electricity which is already looking pretty nice despite being a year away. As well as that, players will be able to take advantage of cover, but you’ve got to be careful because it can easily be destroyed, which means that even when it looks as though you’re safe, you’ve got to be constantly aware of your environments to make sure there’s another piece of cover to hide behind. If you’re not into playing the waiting game, you can utilise a handy jet pack you pick up from one of the Watchers to shoot up into the air to kill dudes from behind their own cover. This plans out especially well when you’re climbing vertical cover, such as cliffs, where you have the ability to shoot dudes from above you and watch them fall past you.

Looking at the way that Will moves from fighting from the ground and into the air, Dark Void looks as though it handles really well, how that extends to the full flight combat is also really interesting. If you’re on the ground and you see a flying saucer over head (yes, there will be flying saucers) you can boost up to them and jack them. From there on, the game totally becomes Crimson Skies, so if you we into that then you’ll love how this plays.

Therefore, Dark Void looks as though it’s aiming to please a myriad of people when it comes out next year. To me, everything I’ve seen looks pretty good, but I’m quite nervous to see how the gun combat plays out with all of the crazy weaponry; which I have to say I’m not really into. Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see for a little bit more of information at E3, so until then, our thoughts are positive.

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage--

At a glance: Beyond more Good and more Evil

At last it’s happened. One of the greatest games to come out of 2003’s action/ adventure packed holiday season is getting a sequel. There was news a while back that Rayman creator Michel Ancel was focusing on a Beyond Good and Evil sequel, but it somehow got overlooked. However, we’ve finally all got proof of his word with the above teaser trailer which gives us a look at the game’s “identity”. Of course I’m not talking about specifics here, but you can see from the clip that the two main characters, Jade and Pey'j are back, along with the game’s sense of humor. I’m not going to give you a running commentary though; that would just be filler, I’ll just let you watch the trailer and remember back to that great 2003.

Looking at the trailer, it looks like the game’s in development primarily for “next generation” platforms, but it would be hard to see them leaving out a Wii and PC version too; remember, this is all just my speculation. Moreover, by putting the fact that the two characters are back together and that this is likely to come out on the 360 and the ps3, I think that we can presume there to be some sort of co-op mode, because that seems to be the current trend: why not throw in co-op?! Hell yeah why not?!

Nothing specific has been said about the game itself in terms of new characters, mechanics and story, but rest assured that as soon as anything else is said, we’ll be right on it. Hmm, isn’t E3 sort of just around the corner…?

--Tom Rhodes, 360Stage Editor--

Rock Band - How to save £43! (and the great European rip-off)

The basic outline of this controversy surrounding the price of Rock Band goes like this.
.USA: £85 (approx)
.Europe: £180 (No approx there either)
.That's a whopping £95 difference!
.We can get you the game with all instruments for £137 saving
you £43 - Read on to find out how
So really it's not hard to see why European gamers were so angry. Harmonix responded to the angry gamers with the following statements:

1.The cost is so high because of shipping costs

The game is backed by EA who happen to have an European hq where the game could have been produced so these claims are really very poor.

2.European gamers will have a special edition copy of the game

Well lucky us eh? 5 extra tracks for over double the cost.

3. We decided to release the game solo for the benefit of gamers - They can use Guitar Hero controllers and any usb mic

Part of the anger came as Harmonix didn't even bundle the game with the instruments. Amid lots of controversy with Activison over the usage of their controllers with Harmonix's Rock Band we are told that the controllers are compatible despite reports of problems especially with the PS3. As for the mic nice try but by not bundling I'm sure that's more money in your pocket.
Tips for getting Rock Band as cheap as possible
.It's worth checking out Zavvi who are offering the game solo for £38.
.If you want to buy the game with the controllers shop around. It's probably worth buying the game and controllers from separate shops.
.Avoid Game and Gamestation - They are charging full RRP of £180
.To get the game in a more affordable way to begin with buy the game (cheapest reported price of £38) and a drum controller (RRP £69.99) this will cost you between £108-120. Now, simply wait a couple of weeks and buy the wireless guitar for around £60. This brings you to the £180 but without the need of a hub there's less mess and your xbox live mic will suffice as a microphone to sing with.
.Our final tip - Don't buy it, it is an obvious rip-off and for each person that buys it's another goal for Harmonix who prove that the consumer will buy no matter how high the price is.
As mentioned earlier in the article the game is available for £137 - Here's the how.

Buy the game from Zavvi - Click Here to buy
Other retailers we reccomend are Play and Amazon.
The bad news is the game is genuinely fun to play, (even more so than Guitar Hero 3), the question is - Are you willing to pay?
Don't miss our review of Rock Band coming soon!
~~Sean Linley, 360Stage Editor~~
Rock Band Official Trailer HD