Hey folks, you like free stuff, right? Of course you do! So have you checked out our latest giveaway yet? Well, if you haven't, you should, as we've got plenty of goodies up for grabs. Head right on over to the giveaway post here and see how to enter. Best of luck to you all and thanks for reading!

Well, there isn't that much in the way of interesting, new gaming content available for the Wii this week. Releases from the previous weeks have been very good, but this week just doesn't have much for us (that is, unless you've been anxiously awaiting the release of Ultimate Band, but that's probably not the case). Head on past the break for the full list of all the new gaming content available for Wii this week.

From big name releases like Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades to kids' games, at this point, the releases just aren't going to slow down. Everyone wants a piece of the holiday pie, even -- or perhaps especially -- in a flagging economy, but that just means a few agonizing decisions over what to buy. What will win for you this week?

• Bolt
• Cradle of Rome
• Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades
• Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams
• Imagine: Ballet Star
• Imagine: Movie Star
• Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine
• Luminous Arc 2
• Metal Slug 7
• Need for Speed Undercover
• Petz Catz Clan
• Petz Monkeyz House
• Petz Rescue: Endangered Paradise
• Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party
• Robocalypse
• Rune Factory 2
• Skate It
• Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff
• Tomb Raider Underworld
• Tony Hawk's Motion/Hue Pixel Painter
• Ultimate Band
• Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge

Wii Music was the big news at E3 in terms of Wii games about pretending you were playing a fake instrument (in contrast to games like Guitar Hero, in which you actually play a fake instrument). But it wasn't the only game in town: Disney's Ultimate Band also features the Wiimote and Nunchuk subbing in for guitar, bass, and drums. Except, instead of MIDI versions of your public domain favorites, Ultimate Band has you playing along to abhorrent covers of recent pop/rock hits. Also, unlike Wii Music's freeform nature, Ultimate Band is a game with, like, goals and points and stuff.

The first thing we noticed when we stepped into the Showcase Pavillion at this year's E3: This is really quite small. The second thing we noticed: Everyone seems to be dancing! Everywhere we looked, there seemed to be someone (usually with a Wii Remote/Nunchuk in hand) waggling about to some vary hard-to-hear music. But don't just take our word or it. Check out our video montage of just some of the dancing fools on this year's show floor. See if you can guess which dancers are random attendees and which ones are PR people who've been assigned to pretend to be interested in dancing these same steps ALL DAMN DAY. Fun!

While there's no shortage of games designed to keeping you humming songs in your head until all you want to do is scream, there's only one that will give you the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from giving back. That game is Ultimate Band, as publisher Disney today linked up with Linkin Park's non-profit, Music for Relief, to help raise awareness of disaster victims and global warming by letting players rock out from the safety of their living rooms.

Sure, it might not be the most altruistic alliance, but Wii rockers can nonetheless look forward to lending their rhythm-keeping talents during a Music for Relief charity concert, which has been added as an in-game venue. Curiously, only the Wii version was mentioned in the announcement, though a DS version of Ultimate Band is also planned. The game will also make a featured appearance during Linkin Park's own Projekt Revolution 2008 tour, kicking off this week in Burgettstown, PA, though we're not sure a game featuring the music of The Who and Devo is exactly poised to rock nu metal fans out of their fishnet socks.

Okay, so Disney's Ultimate Band will eternally be overshadowed by the multi-instrumental extravaganza Guitar Hero: World Tour, and even by the irritating Wii version of Rock Band. And it's true that Ultimate Band suffers from a case of miserable cover songs. But Disney and Fall Line Studios have impressed us with smart design that plays to the Wii controllers' strengths.

Rather than merely simulating the experience of having a guitar or drum controller, producer Manferd Naber explains that Ultimate Band takes an impressionistic approach to simulating the act of playing music. You play notes in time to music as usual, but there's also an emphasis on rock-star gestures like the Pete Townshend windmill maneuver or "a belt buckle spin a la ZZ Top."

The lack of actual singing is also turned into an interestingly bizarre gameplay mechanic. As the "Frontman," players wave around with the controllers representing their hands, to "pump up the crowd." Ultimate Band may turn out less than great, but at least it's going for something original.

Any White Stripes fan -- nay, any music fan at all -- can only look at this trailer for Disney's Ultimate Band and weep, perhaps while pounding a sharp-edged rock into the side of their skull. It's not the idea of yet another music game that will probably do the same things as all the other music games (including using Rock Band's instruments). It's the absolutely abhorrent quality of the included covers that has us writhing on the floor in pain and shame. That's got us wondering if all the music will be covers, since we know of several other songs and artists on tap for the title (and more who are rumored).

Ultimate Band was initially announced as being the peripheral-free answer to Rock Band and Guitar Hero, but now that rumored versions for the Xbox 360 and PS3 have been announced, word is that there will also be a version with instruments that will retail for $170.

Drag yourself past the break to see the list known artists and songs.

'OMG Megaton' is a phrase often uttered by fanboys everywhere. Rarely, however, is it done with any sort of sincerity. After yesterday's massive leak of Intellisponse Survey info, we think it's safe to use the phrase with complete and utter confidence: OMG MEGATON!!!!111LOLZ1! Seriously, there is so much information being disseminated that people are actually starting to mock up fake survey pages in an attempt to grab the spotlight. Here we have gathered up all the rumors -- they are just that, by the way: rumors -- that we've posted so far as well as some that Joystiq posted while we foolishly slept.

Of particular interest, note the video above, which reportedly comes from an as yet unreleased Silicon Knights game entitled Crucible: The Evil Within. Looks like Too Human set in a more traditional fantasy realm, which is an idea we fully support.

• 'Avatars' are Microsoft's take on Mii's?
  
• First video of Silicon Knight's Crucible: The Evil Within
• Forza 3 will have 2 discs, 400 cars, more
  
• Guitar Hero 4 costs $179.99 w/ upgraded instruments
  
• 'Lips' is MS response to SingStar?
  
• Powers & Titans - multiplayer superhero game for 360, PS3, PC
• Spider-Man vs. Marvel Zombies creeping to Wii, 360, PS3
• Tony Hawk to get board peripheral on 360, PS3; new Spider-Man to use Wii Fit board
• Ultimate Band coming to 360, PS3, compat with Rock Band instruments; new trailer for Wii
• Xbox Live getting massively competitive social games - Jeopardy, Millionaire, etc.
• Possible COD5 box arts

Disney's Ultimate Band is reportedly heading to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. According to a screengrab from a now-infamous NeoGAF page of 360 leaks, the rhythm game is compatible with Rock Band instruments. It will cost $170 with instruments or $50 as a standalone game. A transcript from the screen can be found after the break.

Additionally, a trailer for the Wii version has been found (embedded above) showing the game being played "peripheral-free," which also reveals bubblegum covers of the White Stripes' "Fell in Love with a Girl" and The Who's "My Generation." Just a reminder: all of this is still a rumor, so don't get your hopes up until there's an official announcement.

With Guitar Hero DS apparently chasing the "Assassin's Creed Award for Puzzling Lack of Pre-Release Media or Any Information Whatsoever Really," it's been left to the DS's other upcoming music game to clamber up on stage and show us what it's got.

Disney's Ultimate Band, then. Developed by Fall Line Studios, it promises to let DS owners sing, and/or play the guitar, bass, and the drums to a selection of tunes that spans rock, alternative, popular, emo and indie rock music. According to the press release we received today, this will allow us to "realize [our] dream of becoming a rock legend," presumably without the suicidal tendencies, overdosing on recreational drugs, trashing of hotel rooms, and other bad stuff.

The two screenshots in the gallery below are the first for the title, and came to us in a quite ludicrous 512 x 768 resolution. One of them features what looks like a guitar selection screen, but the other is far more interesting, in that it seems to show gameplay, with little d-pad icons scrolling across the strings of a guitar. According to Hannah Montana aficianado JC Fletcher, this is the exact same gameplay that appeared in Hannah Montana: Music Jam. Fortunately, those sections were "pretty good," so there's still hope.


[Via press release]

Sure, you love Rock Band, but shelling out the $170 for the requisite game and peripherals isn't even an option if you're a Wii or DS owner. Enter Disney Interactive, who think they can bring peripheral-free rhythm gaming to Nintendo systems with Ultimate Band.

No, the Fall Line Studios-developed game won't feature Mickey, Donald or other familiar characters (unlike some other Disney-fied rhythm games) but it will feature a "deep song list, dynamic venues, and customizable characters" according to the press release. The Wii version will let players use the Wii remote and Nunchuk to play drums, guitars and "front man" while the DS version will also let players "create their own original songs ... and apply creative mixing effects." The portable version will also include support for Disney's DGamer online social network. Look for both versions by the holidays.

Also see: THQ's Band Mashups for the Wii

Disney has announced a new Wii/DS music game called Ultimate Band, developed by Fall Line Studios. The game is a Rock Band-style multi-instrument simulator that doesn't use any wacky peripherals (except, of course, for the supremely wacky peripherals both systems use by default). Both versions will allow players to play guitar, bass, drum, and vocals, and will feature "a broad selection of current hits and all-time rock favorites." Yes, many of those "current hits" will no doubt be the latest from Disney Channel stars.

Of the two, the DS version definitely sounds the most interesting: it is advertised as a "rhythm-based music game with a built-in recording studio" that allows players to record guitar, bass, drum, and vocal tracks for original songs and mix them in-game. We're slightly wary, having been fooled by promising-looking Disney music games before. Both versions will use Disney's Dgamer social network ... thing.

We foresee problems when Disney decides to start making sequels to a game they've already labeled "Ultimate." Although Square doesn't seem to have had any problems in that area.