ButtonBandits.com

It seems Dan Houser from Rockstar may have been listening to this weeks ButtonBandits.com podcast (even though we recorded it after this interview). In the podcast I say that GTA IV is not really about the graphics but the sprawling environment and the gameplay. In an interview with IGN Dan says “”The thing that I probably get the most upset about is when people go, ‘Well GTA’s not about the graphics.”. “I don’t agree with that point. It’s not about hi-res graphics (as hi-res as they can be) but the worlds always looked - and maybe I’m deluded in this - but they always looked lived in, in a way most people can’t achieve.” Check out the full interview on IGN here which is a very in depth 11 page feature on the making of GTA IV, well worth a read.

As per usual it’s a busy time at ButtonBandits HQ. MadeMan is still locked in his office giving the Battlefield: Bad Company Beta a good run through. Once we think he has had enough time on it he will be set loose to let everyone know what he thinks of it. Meanwhile disaster struck at the beginning of the week after our Freeloader disc snapped leaving Frosty unable to boot our imported Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Luckily a new disc has been promptly delivered, so this review should be coming in the not too distant future. TheHairyMartain is Busy putting the finishing touches to his Lost Odyssey review, so expect this to appear soon.

Our copy of Rock Band special edition (PS3) is en route and should be with us by Monday at the latest. As you would expect this title is eagerly anticipated by all of us here at ButtonBandits HQ, so it’s a good job it’s designed to be played as a group. A special feature and a review will be popping up on the website once we have all given it a thorough play through. The other game being played at the moment is Universe At War: Earth Assault (pictured) on the Xbox 360. This title is a futuristic RTS from Petroglyph, of Westwood studios fame (published by SEGA). Again, review coming soon.

Just a quick post to say welcome to all the visitors that have arrived this past week and a thank-you to all the sites that credited us with the Rockband Exclusive tracks news. Hilariously, Technorati currently ranks us as the 31’st most authoritative blog on the internet out of the 112 million they track! You may have noticed we had to switch on comment moderation over the last couple of days. This was due to a sustained spam attack which I’m pleased to report has now been fully blocked. This means you can now freely post comments again without them having to be approved before being displayed. Happy commenting!

This really is the last update until Monday… We have 6 spare VIP tickets to give away, so if you spot us at the show (we will be wearing buttonbandits.com poloshirts) and want to be upgraded from a half day ticket to full weekend VIP access then say hi. *Providing you say to camera “Check out THESE Buttons!” then a ticket is yours if we have any left.

It’s a busy day here today at ButtonBandits HQ. Not only have we posted up all the new stories below for all you lucky readers to wade through, but today is also being spent planning how the podcast and video content being brought back from the show is going to work. Plus we need to do a bit of research as well as plan the trip in general. There won’t be any updates to the site over the weekend but look out for a mass of new content from Monday onwards as we get it all put together. We would love to update the site over the weekend while on-site, but unfortunately we just don’t have the resources + we want to enjoy the weekend and not be tied to laptops. We posted the new info on the show from today in separate stories otherwise this update would have gone on forever…