Okay so as pre-release deals go, this one seems to be a little shady. Sony have acquired timed exclusivity for the Pal release of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, an Atari published game. What this effectively means is that the Sony platforms will expect the game to be released on the original release date of 19/06 but on the 360, DS, PC it will be out later in the year.

Obviously this kind of agreement between Atari and Sony doesn't come for free, and is benificial for both companys staggering the release date so that is spikes nicely for a sales quarter boost. This agreement co-insides nicely with the BluRay release of Ghostbusters worldwide on the 19/06. But is the extra money really worth risking the wrath of all 360 gamers in Europe? Especially when the rest of the world will be enjoying the next chapter in the Ghostbusters universe on whatever platform they wish, while us lucky, lucky people get to eat a nice piece of Synergy pie. Thanks Sony!

Full post can be found on Gaming Goodness

Hey guys, just a quick update to make you aware of some content on my own blog, Gaming Goodness

This week we have reaction to Gamespot's interview with Batman visionary Paul Dini, coverage of Guild Wars 5 year anniversary, insights into Virtual On, and some excellent Left 4 Dead modifications. If you are a fan of Randy Savage or Pee-wee Herman (lets face it who isn't), this week is definitely worth a look.

Speaking of Left 4 Dead, me and my buddies online are absolutely getting our butts handed too us by the A.I. We can only last a max of four minutes on the lighthouse level, it would be funny if it wasn't so embarressing. Thank god there is a new Burnout update to get our teeth into this week, cops and robbers offers something completely different to the previous game types and crucially its really fun.

Just wanted to give a quick summary of whats new at Gaming Goodness. We have a new feature about Bioshock 2: A Sequel you don't need to worry about, and an editorial about my own personal excitement surrounding Dynasty Warriors:Gundam 2. Absolutely worth a look if you ask me, trying to get as many hits in one day, help a British gentlemen out would you?

Speaking of British Gentlemen Henry Hatsworth is the best puzzle merger since Puzzle Quest, its the best game I have played on the DS for an absolute age.

The GDC always throws up the odd surprise but todays accouncement could be perhaps the biggest the event has ever had, Onlive and the potential of stream based gaming.It is being firstdemo-ed at this years GDC, Onlive represents a type of gaming revolutionwhere players would never need hardware upgrades or most devestatingly to purchase new consoles ever again.

Brainchild of Mike McGarvey (of WebTV and Eidos fame), the service can stream games to a desktop, entry level laptop and even a TV as all the calculations and gaming grunt are allbeing performed server side - by what could only be described as one behemoth of a gaming setup. All gamers have to dois purchase a device which records inputs and sends a signal to the server in Gaming HQ where the individual in turnrecieves a video of what he has just performed in game. As long as individuals have network speeds of 1.5mb and over the service is claimed to be stable and can operate at tolerable latency speeds (under 75ms)which is a must any competitive online games.

Obviously the level of scepticism is through the roof at the moment which can only be matched by the amount of excitement surrounding this device, which could be out as early as this winter. Games from EA, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Epic, Atari, Codemasters, Warner Bros. and Eidos will be avaliable on the service which include titles such as Crysis, Grand Theft Auto 4 and Burnout Paradise. Nothing has been confirmed regarding pricing for both the necessary hardware and online game service with the elimation of piracy from the service I would think many publishers would be suprisingly mercyiful with their pricing structure.

If - and its a big if- Onlive does become even an understated sucess it sends a huge message to everyone involved in the sale of games and hardware, not so much the publishers but the manufacturers and retailers who have made interactive software central to their business model. Most publishers view the online distribution model as benificial to the traditional methods of physical media and retail and the if adoption rates of Onlive were high enough it wouldn't be too long before it become the primary method of distrubution. But there is also other factors which Onlive would be solved, theold conundrum of second hand games being sold at retail would also go away, as well as the ever present problemof piracy which causes the industry to losemillions (perhaps billions?) each year. Let alone the consumer implications with most gamers already using 2-5mb setups already in their homeswhich arealsogetting pretty sick of shelling out on new hardware every three to four years on new consoles.

Its all very pie in the sky at the moment isn't it folks, and I have to admit perhaps my own excitement for this new device has got the best of me but the implications(you have to admit) are pretty radical for the industry even if its a moderate sucess. But perhaps what will be the most interesting for us gamers is tosee how Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo react to this news will they acknowledge its existance or merely put their PR into overdrive and talk about what a inferior product the Onlive may be on release. Who knows at this point but I suppose whatever happens it sure will be interesting over the coming weeks and months, especially with E3 round the corner.

The end to Fear 2 is something to talk about but unfortunately a few of you will still be playing the game, so we'll have to leave that to another time. But as ground breaking as the ending is, its nothing compared to the review thats now up on Citizengame.co.uk, which you all can find here by an incredibly dashing fellow. Its a shame because until two thirds of the way through the game it is a tepid experience with very little in the way of scares or interesting events.

Fear 2 is an great example of a game which you need to play all the way through because until you reach a certain point, you'll never know whats coming. More importantly if your reviewing this title it would PM or more effectively just google Fear 2 ending and watch a youtube cutscene.

Its a keeper..