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PS3 Fanboy review: The Club

by Chris Powell { Feb 23rd 2008 at 5:30PM }

Let's get this started with a bang; if you're a fan of video games, then you will absolutely love The Club. And after playing through everything the game had to offer, I was left with one all-important question that I still can't answer, "Why the hell did it take a developer this long to make this game?"

Let's face it, many of today's games try to do so many things at once that they're often their own worst enemy. Thankfully, the guys and gals at Bizarre Creations didn't let themselves get bogged down with superfluous storytelling or any of the other myriad of problems that plague many of today's games.

Instead, they traveled back in time to the Golden Age of gaming when points reigned king and everything else was a mere afterthought. Those were truly the good ol' days because gaming was all about skill then, and that's exactly what you'll need if you plan on being any good at The Club.

Gallery: The Club

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PSP Fanboy Theatre: Volume 49

by Chris Powell { Feb 9th 2008 at 7:30PM }

Echochrome Japanese trailer (17.8MB)

Also featured: The Club, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, Wipeout Pulse, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden

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Win Bizarre swag in The Club Launch Competition

by Dustin Burg { Feb 8th 2008 at 3:00PM }

Ben Ward from Bizarre Creations dropped us a line to inform us that The Club will be hitting retail shelves rather soon and, to celebrate, they're cleaning out the Bizarre closets and giving away all kinds of goods. But you'll have to work for them.

The Club Launch Competition is open to anyone who owns a copy of The Club (yes, our PS3 friends get to participate as well) and has the skills to rack up highest score. Simply put, Bizarre wants to find the best The Club player in the world and reward them with autographed goods and random studio bits. Anyway, let's get to the entry specifics. To enter the launch competition, simply play The Club's Warehouse location, choose Downtown Dash, play on expert difficulty and get the highest score possible. Then, if you think you've earned a high enough score, post your point total in the comments section of their post by March 31st and that's it. Also know that you must be connected to Xbox Live when attempting your scoring feat, because they'll be confirming players' scores via the online leaderboards. Download the demo, get practicing and hone your skills. We know you'll make us proud.

The Club one-ups GoW's Seriously achievement

by Dustin Burg { Feb 7th 2008 at 4:30PM }

The humorous and ever so witty dev team over at Bizarre Creations got a little creative with their achievements for upcoming title The Club. So creative, they somehow managed to one-up Gears of War's "Seriously" achievement.

Looking over The Club's achievements one will quickly notice an achievement by the name of "No, Seriously" which can only be earned if a player gets 10,001 kills in ranked multiplayer. This, of course, is a direct reference to GoW's famous (and nearly impossible to obtain) "Seriously" achievement where gamers must rack up some 10,000 ranked kills. As you see, The Club's "No, Seriously" requires an extra kill. Nicely played Bizarre, nicely played.

Though, we're sorry to say that Gears' "Seriously" will forever be held high atop our list of most respected achievements and can never be replaced or duplicated, even if it only requires 10,000 kills to unlock. Heck, "No, Seriously" will only net you 40 Gamerscore, ten less Gamerscore than the the original "Seriously". It must not be as l33t of an achievement as it's made out to be ... just saying Bizarre, just saying.

[Thanks, Scott (HHHawk)]

Bizarre Creations explains why you should join The Club

by Chris Powell { Feb 7th 2008 at 6:00AM }

In our hands-on with The Club's PlayStation Network demo, we weren't too entirely impressed. However, we plan to wash our hands of that experience when we finally get a chance to play the full game. In the mean time, though, several of the key players responsible for The Club's creation want to tell you what sets the game apart from every other third-person shooter on the market.

Bizarre Creations is banking on the fact that gamer's natural drive for competition will help The Club sell as the game's focus isn't on level progression or story development, but rather chaining kills together to score the most points possible.

Whether it succeeds in that goal or not, one thing's for sure, Bizarre Creations is most certainly living up to its name with such an original take on an otherwise increasingly stale genre.

Americans can join The Club this Thursday

by Jem Alexander { Jan 22nd 2008 at 2:30PM }

While Europeans have been enjoying being members of The Club since the end of December, this Thursday it's America's turn to get their membership cards officially stamped. A demo of the game will be released this Thursday on the American PSN Store, just in case those of you who are really anticipating the game (all six of you!) haven't downloaded it already from the EU Store.

The demo gives you a taste of the bizarre gameplay modes included in The Club. This very arcadey shooter has a variety of influences (such as kart racing, perhaps?). Which might sound interesting, but we suspect there's a reason it hasn't been done before. Soon, you'll be able to give Bizarre Creation's latest a go and see what you think.

[Via press release]

Gallery: The Club

The Club demo now on Xbox Live

by Justin McElroy { Jan 22nd 2008 at 10:00AM }

When a demo for Bizarre Creation's The Club was released only in Europe and Australia, we were understandably testy. But then, we had a revelation: That's what it's like every day in countries that aren't America. We were so moved that we bought a red-white-and-blue T-shirt and six of Miller High Life to celebrate our appreciation for our homeland. Now, our patience has been rewarded, with the demo finally hitting Xbox Live.

If you need more encouragement to check it out, you should know that Tycho from Penny Arcade said nice things about it, which is good enough for us. Typically, the guys use their power to steer you towards the finer things, (unlike our power, used only to win fights in the comments section). But will you be joining The Club? Let us know below.

North America is now a part of The Club (demo)

by Dustin Burg { Jan 22nd 2008 at 9:15AM }

Available for download off the Xbox Live Marketplace to North American Live members is a sorta new The Club demo that was previously released to Europe and Australia a few weeks back. This 1.36GB demo download has been under a lot of heat lately, with gamers sounding off that they are either in love with it or despise its very existence. But that's exactly why demos are released, they're for you to garner your own opinion. Makes sense. Go get downloading and garnering fellow North American fanboys, you're now a part of The Club ... even though you have yet to send in your club registration fee. Get it in by next week though.

New bullet riddled footage from The Club

by Richard Mitchell { Jan 11th 2008 at 6:30PM }

GameTrailers has posted some new footage from the upcoming Bizarre Creations arcade shooter The Club. A fast paced action game in the vein of Geometry Wars (with a few more polygons added), the game rewards players for dispatching enemies and dispatching them quickly. Featured prominently on the game's HUD is a score multiplier that increases with each successive kill. Wait too long and the multiplier drains fast. It's an interesting way to treat a third person shooter, and frankly it's a welcome change. Sometimes you don't want to bother with all that thinky-stinky stuff required by the likes of Rainbow Six and GRAW, you know? Also, given that the game's stages are really more like courses, leaderboard hogs should definitely be keeping an eye on The Club. Now where's that US demo?

Find the footage after the break.

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XBLM Roundup: The Club demo & Rock Band DLC

by Dustin Burg { Jan 8th 2008 at 10:45AM }

This morning, both The Club demo and new Rock Band downloadable tracks released to the XBLM as foreshadowed and expected. And just as we mentioned earlier, The Club demo is a limited release that is not available for download in North America, Germany or Asia, but everyone other Live region will be able to play the 1.36GB demo. Also, the new Rock Band DLC, which includes three songs from Iron Maiden, Stone Temple Pilots and The Hives, are now available for 160 points each. We posted details about the Rock Band DLC after the break, so feel free to check that out if you're feeling clickity clicky.

That should wrap up all the major new XBLM downloads for the day and should keep you busy if you either live outside of North America or if you have Rock Band. If not ... well, just go download an XBLA trial or something. Move along now.

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The Club demo releases to UK XBLM tomorrow

by Dustin Burg { Jan 7th 2008 at 11:00AM }

This weekend we mentioned that The Club demo was headed to the Xbox Live Marketplace "soonish" and that it would have a staggered region release. Well, we didn't have to wait long for SEGA to confirm news that tomorrow morning, January 8th, The Club demo will release to the XBLM for our friends in the UK and Australia. You read correctly. The US, Canada, Mexico and every other Live region is being left out of demo goodness for the time being, so be proud fellow UK and Aussie Live subscribers. You're getting content first for a change. W00t for you.

So, if you are in a region that the demo releases in, Bizarre already confirmed that you'll be treated to a The Club demo featuring the prison level "Escape from Newhaven", two single player game modes including Time Attack and Sprint as well as split screen multiplayer. Enjoy your demo and be sure to tell us what you think fellow UK and Aussie fanboys. You know, since we won't be able to download it and all.

Bizarre confirms The Club demo is coming soon

by Dustin Burg { Jan 6th 2008 at 2:00PM }

Ben from Bizarre Creations posted a little note on the Bizarre forums updating everyone on the status of The Club demo that is scheduled for release to the Xbox Live Marketplace. He confirms that they are indeed done with it, that they've handed it off to SEGA and are awaiting them (and presumably Microsoft) to announce the demo's release. He also mentions that the demo will rollout to the Marketplace as a "staggered launch for all of the regions", which means it will not be a worldwide release. Here's to hoping the US, Canada or Europe don't get shafted.

The Club demo is coming soon fanboys, so get excited, keep your eyes open and your focus directed at the Xbox Live Marketplace for the time being. And don't blink either.

Sega dates Q1 games for Europe

by Richard Mitchell { Jan 4th 2008 at 5:15PM }

Eurogamer has revealed the European release dates for the first quarter releases from Sega. Most notable to us, of course, are the 360 games on the list. Probably the biggest title on the list is Condemned 2: Bloodshot, the sequel to one of the 360's better launch titles, which releases March 14 across the pond. The other titles on the list are as follows:

The Club - February 8
Universe at War - March 7
Viking: Battle for Asgard - March 28
SEGA Superstars Tennis - March 28

Naturally, we can expect that these titles should hit North America at approximately the same time. Anyone out there looking forward to any of these titles?

See The Club demo in action

by Chris Powell { Dec 29th 2007 at 11:00AM }

After playing through the newly released demo of The Club, we have to admit we're not completely blown away. From what we've gathered, the game feels pretty much like any generic third-person shooter with a tacked-on point system. Additionally, we never really got the feeling of excitement of the supposed fast-paced action that we were promised.

Also, we're a bit dismayed by the confusing button layout. Who ever thought it'd be a good idea to map the sprint and shoot actions to the R1 and R2 button, respectively? On the plus side, there are a variety of interesting looking characters, a few of whom are a bit cliche, but they appear to have some decent background stories that we can only hope Bizarre Creations delves a bit in to.

In the end, though, the game's saving grace might be its multiplayer, which pits several players against each other as they run through the level trying to rack up the most combos and gain the most points to win. Bizarre and Sega have until February to hopefully rectify some of these issues before The Club is released.

The Club and Condemned 2 due out in February

by Nick Doerr { Nov 29th 2007 at 12:15PM }

Sega has released an updated release schedule that goes to the end of the fiscal year and if they're serious about these dates, we'll have two fairly anticipated games to enjoy come February by Sega alone (we'll also be diving into Devil May Cry 4 around that time).

First off, Sega will be bringing The Club to us, courtesy of Bizarre Creations, on February 8th. Soon after that, scheduled for the month of February but given no specific day, is Condemned 2. It looks like February is going to be another month where we find our money flying out the window, much like how November has been. If you're unsure what either game is, the former is a mish-mash of genre, and the latter is a pretty intense horror/action game.