Not Sure What's Wrong

I'm not sure what prompted the blog to go crazy during the last few days. I was away at UCD doing Summer Advising, and when I returned, the blog had suddenly rearranged itself into...well, some crappy layout.

Let me be clear: the changes you saw yesterday were not meant to happen. For the life of me, I'm not sure what the hell is going on. So, for the time being, I've reset the blog back to the "Classic" Style of Minima Black. Hopefully this well just be for a few days until I can get the code fixed. However, I leave for a week long vacation on July 21, so I don't have much time.

Until than, enjoy Frogger, because I am! Also, there is a rumor that an NCAA demo will go uo today or tomorrow; however, the two teams they picked suck, so not much to talk about here (Somewhere from some southern state called Florida...where the heck is that? Never heard of it before :) )

Summer Time Blues

It seems like the world has steped into a doldrum for this summer, and I'm getting pretty boared. Not a single Arcade game in 60 days, and the last game I bought was Far Cry...and tht was back in March! Prey is coming in a week, so that should help give us something to do, but still, where the hell is everyone?

In other news, I will be gone for most of the remainder of the month. On Saturday I leave for a 4 day trip up to visit Davis, and then that Friday I'm off to the beach for a week long stay. Luckily, I doubt I'll be missing much on the video game front.

Finally, as far as Halo: The Lost Man, I think I'll be uploading the JAVA version sometime this week, and the full source code shortly after. Stay Tuned, as if you care.

BTW...The Prey demo rocked, and anyone else who says differently is a complete fool who dosn't know what awsome is. I fully intend on getting this game the day I come back from Davis. I'm even thinking of pre-ordering it, but thats just not by style. Besides, what would I really do with a little pewter alien? No clue.

Until next time, which might be for a while (besides the aformentioned TLM Updates, and Audio),

star

AP Grades Are In

UC Davis just posted my AP grades (or, I just found my AP grades, might have been there before). Here's what I had hoped for (Posted back in May):

APCS: 3
Lit: 2/3 (Does not really matter for my college)
Gov: 5/4
Econ: 3

And here is what I got:
APCS: 4
Lit: 3
Gov: 5
Macro: 5

I am pretty schocked about all this. Mostly the 4 in APCS. I figured maybe a 3 might sneak by, but a 4 means, well, I geuss I actually knew something about what I was talking about. The Double 5's are also re-assuring. Poli Sci Major here I come!

Where's the Prey Demo?

Where is it? I have no clue...and apparently neither does 3D Realms:

"Again. If we knew something, we'd tell you. We're as much in the dark as you are, and we're not terribly happy about it. What the heck more do you want us to say? Do you think we're sitting on our asses doing nothing waiting to hear news? We're trying to find out, constantly. We're not getting any info."

Chromohounds Demo: NOT in US

A new demo of Chromohounds is up on the Marketplace; however, not in the greatest country in the world. Oh, well...don't want to play this piece of shit anyway!

Penny Aracade Rips UBI a New One

Here's something that will make you smile for today: Penn Aracade once again going after UBI, this time for the over-priced GRAW content.

LINK

And they should. I will NOT be paying $15 for this crap they call "New" Content. I'm not stupid UBI, so don't count on me falling in the same trap as other, less-educated, Live members have. I have better things to do with my money!

COD2 Map Pack This Thursday

The final COD2 map pack will hit the marketplace eariler than expected, and for less. The pack will consist of five NEW maps (not "re-lit" shit a la GRAW) and will go for only 800 MS Points. The content is supposed to hit the Marketplace sometime this Thursday, June 29, 2006.

In other news...Xbox Live will be down tomorrow morning from 2 AM to 6 AM PST for server updates.

Audio Post From Vegas

"Click" Review

Today I caught a showing of the new Sandler flick called "Click." Luckily, I don't agree with all of this. The movie was actually very funney, and I thought it did a good job of keeping me entertained. Sure, this is no Wonderful Life (which it tries to re-do), but I've certainly seen worse flims lately in the box office (Spanglish is one of them!).

Overall, it's a Sandler movie...so go in expecting that. If fart jokes and gential size worries are that big of a set-back for you, than this probably isn't the movie for you. The comdey here isn;t of the level of Sideways but more of Spongebob. But hey, it's still fun, no matter the age expectations.

If your looking to go see a move this weekend, and have alreadly exhausted Cars (which, on a side note, is not much better than this flick) than this is the one to go see. Sure, the man in red and blue will take over next week (I pre-ordered my tickets today for it!) as well as a devil in fashonable shoes...but for now, it works, and it works damn well.

Score: 3/5

GRAW Content Now Up

Chapter 2 content is now up on the Marketplace. It costs a whooping 1200 MP (that's $15). I'm not sure if the content is really worth it. On paper it seems like alot...but basically it is 4 new maps and 5 new weapons. Sure, there are new "faces" (who the hell cares) and 8 new "re-lit" maps (THESE ARE NOT NEW!!!)

UBI has a pretty made history of dealing with premium content, and that reputation has earned them the Worst Developer of the Year STAR award in the past. So far, they are of to a great start to reclaiming their award this year.

In other news, I've added a new counter on the top of the site that counts every day that has gone by since a new arcade game has came out. Today, it's at 44 days....and it only looks like it will grow. The last game to come out was UNO on May 9, 2006, so that makes 44 long days.

Let's all join in one huge, load corus of:

WHERE THE F*** IS SF2!?!?!?!?!

'Prey' Demo Slated for Tomorrow

The five level demo of Prey is slated to be released tomorrow on the Marketplace. Here's something interesting though: 3D Realms has gone on record stating that any hold up is entirly Microsoft's fault. So, in the likely event that it gets held up, all blame can be fowarded to one place.

I'm taking bets for the probability of a release tomorrow: 25:1 odds that it will hit before midnight tomorrow. I geuss we'll have to wait and see.

But on that note, I'm getting tired of waiting. the last aracde game to hit was UNO back in May, and before that, it was well into April that a title showed up. So much for the 2-3 a month talk, eh? I geuss Microsoft just wan't good enough. I sure hope they step it up, a handful of PC flashports won't be able to contend with the pormised Nintendo Network. Forget Street Fighter II...where are some orginal games to hit the aracade? So far, I can not think of one game that is exclusive to XBLA. That's just sad.

Sony To Rockstar: We Don't Need You

In yet another chapter of Crazy VideoGame Idiots, a Sony exec recently said that GTA has not helped sell Playstations "at all." Actually, it's much funnier if you read what exactly came from his own mouth:

From Team Xbox:

The interviewer asked Tretton if not having an exclusive on the next installment of the GTA franchise could hurt the PlayStation 3. Here is what Tretton said:

There's no question that having the Grand Theft Auto franchise helped us a lot and helped us sell some units, but I don't think the battle would be any different with or without Grand Theft Auto.

Just like you, the editor didn’t believe Tretton’s words and asked explicitly if Sony thinks that not having an exclusive on Grand Theft Auto doesn't hurt the PS3 at all; to what Tretton responded:

No, I don't think it hurts us. No, I really don't.

Back Compat Update

MSFT releaed a small Back Compat update today, which now allows Doom 3 and Lego Star wars to play on the Xbox 360. 19 other titles are also now back compat; however, MSFT managed to yet again find even more titles that no one cares about. And you said they couldn't do it.

TOP FIVE XBOX GAMES WANTED TO MAKE BACK COMPAT*:
5) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
4) Finding Nemo
3) Cars
2) Nick Party Blast
1) Shrek SuperSlam

*as seen by Xbox 360 Back Compat Dev team

With any luck, one or two of these great titles may become back compat within your lifetime! Yeah, BC!!!

BOTTOM FIVE FOR BC*
5) Forza
4) Conker Live and Reloaded
3) Counter-Strike
2) JSRF
1) RTCW

**again, as seen by MSFT dev team.

It's unlikely that any of these titles will ever become BC, because we, at this time, do not see the deamnd for an update. Besides, who cares about BC anyway?

Grad Day One: Final Day of School

Tomorrow, June 13, 2006, is my final day of school. 12 long years since I began my journey, I am now finally able to call it quits, and exit with my head held high. I offically graduate on June15; however, Wednesday and Thursday are simply rehersal days and such.

At thuis point, I'm not sure what to think My time at YHS has been great, and for that I am eternally greateful. I know that I have been bleased to have been surrounded by the best techers and the best of the best freinds. At the same time, I'm ready to move on with the next chapter in my life. I feel ready to head of to college. Sure, a part of me is sad that I will never see about 90% of these people ever again, and, if I do, everything will be deferant. But a large part of me right now thinks that that's OK.

So, as I sit here, waiting for the begining of the end, I can't help but think, "Bring it on." The past has been great...but I have higher hopes for the future.

Again, CR will serve to function as recording of my life. As such, events in my senior year are posted as I see fit. Stay tuned for daily graduation coverage.

Halo: The Lost Man Update

Here's an update from the fabled Halo: The Lost Man project.

Coming July 1, 2006, you will be able to download a demo of the full game. At this time, the demo will contain most of the full game, however, with some features missing.

The full game will be coming shortly therafter. In truth, this is more of a "beta" test, however, some fetures will be left out on purpose. The full game looks like it will be out four sure by July 31/August 1.

The hold up? The game right now is very, very, very close to being done, however, it is coded in Java. I think C++ will make everyone much happier (or at least me...it's too hard to code Java for open source, i.e. to run on everyone's PC. C++, on the other hand, automatically makes all files a .exe, so all I have to do is upload it). Right now, I'm simply transfering the code back and forth, which is pretty much a simply switch from:
System.out.println("Halo: The Lost Man.");
to
cout <<"Halo: The Lost Man\n";

Xbox 360 Dash Update Coming Soon

Several forums users found a few articles over at the main Microsoft help page that explains features of the new auto-update to the dash. The highlights:

• Update was supposed to go out May 23. Geuss that didn't happen.
• Update allows for downloading to take place in background. Will suspend download while online playing.
• Update allows to start-up right to dash, even with a game or DVD inside. This feature can be toggled off or on.
• DVD updates, including the above boot to dash. May include more, not postive.

Hitman: Blood Money Demo Now Up

There's a new demo up for "Hitman: Blood Money". It's pretty nice; it's of the first level of the game and serves as a training mission/ I'm now looking foward to this game with a little more "umph."

I think the game comes out May 30, 2006...but that's not offical.

Great E3 Story

Her'es a great E3 story that I'm not so sure will be told on to future generations, unless as a warning.

LINK

Rode "Tatsu" Yesterday

Yesterday I took a trip out to Six Flags Magic Mountain and rode the new coster "Tatsu." This thing is one crazy ride. First off, you get in a seat that resembles one of the likes of X or Scream, except for a double strap that goes over your chest (one soft and cushiony, the other solid steel) and a "holder" of sort for your feet. The seat is very comfortable, probably the best coaster seat I've ever been on. Fits perfectly. Then, right before the ride takes off, the entire sit rotates a full 90 degres, so that your head and cheast are nor hoovering above ground

You stay that way for the entire ride; however, it does not feel like your blood is rushing to your head or that your chest is under immense pressure. Instead, there's a feeling of flight, just like you would imagine Superman or batman must (or would, whatever) feel during their flights. The ride goes up pretty high (fear of heights: Do not ride) but there are no step falls, a la Golaith. Instead, there is a huge signature loop-type inversion that really puts pressure on your whole body. As my freinds remakred while waiting, it's hard to scream, and thus, the sound falls mute from riders during the big loop.

The ride is 'hella fun, and of pure coaster fun. This is my kind of ride. I'm not one into the big "thrill" type rides, such as the suspense of De ja vu. I'm much more into the 100 MPH coaster scene, with drops, inversions and barral rolls. Tatsu is sitted at the top of my list for favorite rollercoasters ever. It's hard to give exact numbers, but it's at the same point as X, Scream and Space Moutain.

If you head out to go ride, here's a tip: ride it early (run to start of line) and get in the front. The wind experiance, and the wide open view is well worth it.

Prey Demo Dated

The demo for Prey has been given a date of June 22, 2006. That basically means that by July 1, a demo will be out, give or take. The demo consists of both multiplayer and single player missions, 5 in total. No other information is currently known.

The game itself has a street date of July 10, 2006. I'm actually looking foward to this game, and it might be the only summer 360 game I buy. Seriously, what the hell else is being released? Battle for Middle Earth 2? Over G Fighters? Geuss I'll have to wait for September for hits like Splinter Cell and Viva Pinata to come out.

Console Prices

Amid reports of the high price for the PS3, some Sony fan boy created the above graph of all real prices of video games consoles (adjusted for inflation, which, by the way, he calls "relative"--now a real economic term).

He claims that the graph supports his theory that $500 and $600 are not high prices for a game system, however, anyone with half a brian can see otherwise. 9 consoles have lunched at $600 or above. 5 Of those 9, 5 of them were before the crash of '83, and were, in a lot of ways, responsible for the crash itself. 2 of them were the infamous neoGeo and 3DO, and we all know how well those turned out.

So, in other words, history proves that a $600 console is NOT a good idea.

Introducing: Wii60

In a response to both E3; as gamers take sides against the true evil, Sony; and to the recent comments by Peter Moore and some PS3 guy about buying both a 360 and a Wii, or a PS3 and a Wii, a new internet craze seems to have caught on, and it's creating some damn funny Photoshop images, like the one seen above.

Cheek out the site www.wii60.com for more pics and details. I for one totally support this movement of the two great consoles to band together and defeat the evil monoleth that is Sony and the PlayStation.

360 Voice Down

The website www.360voice.com is currently down. Eariler, it was disrupting the flow of the right side of my blog. I have since removed the coding from the blog to resotre full functionality. Hopefully, the guys over there can get the problems worked out, and I'll promptly put the code back in.

BTW--the creators of the site really are very cool. They did some nice work with their project, and continue to add new stuff to it. When the site goes back up, be sure to cheek it out. There will be a link to the right in my 360's Blog space.

EDIT: It's back up.

First Post

...and here we are.

This is the very first post on the new system. As you can see, the system looks newer, cleaner, and just plain better than the old one. I was also able to implement my GamerCard and Xbox 360's blog on the right hand side, without messing up the site style.

If you miss the old layout...don't fret. In the future, you'll be able to switch between blog themes on your own accord. Idealy, you should be able to press on button one time, and than forever on view CR the way you want to see it. Currently, I just have the "old" layour, this "new" layout, and a plain text view, ideal for cell phones. All this is coming soon, probably in time for the 2nd Birthday of this blog in August.

Everything else about this blog will remain the same, however. I still be the same person, and I will still blog along the same "randomness" that I also have. And, of course, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Halo will continue to dominate the posts in the blog.

The only thing that will change is the layout of the site. Just so we're clear, this is still open to change, and I'll be playing around with for the rest of the week. However, unless I find a cool 360 theme, this one will probably be semi-close to final.

Last Post

This will be the last post for this blog under the current system. Within a few hours, a new theme and motif will become the new look for the site.

So, get your valuables packed and ready, becuase it's time for a change.

A little history for you...Continual Randomness started in August of 2004, a few months after Major Nelson.com went up. From then on, it has been running on a standard Blogger theme, Minima Black. Since that time, Major has swithed themes three times, an entire new system has been released, and over 300 Xbox games have came and went.

The new look and blog should be up by 5:00 PM PST today.

Odd Happenings

The blog is currently experiencing some "growing pains" as I attempt to add and change some of the posting settings. Most notibly, the text size in almost all browsers are too large.

Stay tuned, and I hope to have all the issues worked out by next week. Untill than, posts may be fewer than normal...as I spend more time on working behind the scenes.

Finished AP Testing

As of today, I offically am finished with AP testing forever. I took my very last one, MacroEconomics today. It was more difficult for me than Gov was, but no where near as hard as Computer Science. Here's my hopeful grades:

APCS: 3
Lit: 2/3 (Does not really matter for my college)
Gov: 5/4
Econ: 3

E306: New COD2 Maps

Four new maps are available to download for Call of Duty 2 over the marketplace. One set of two is free, and the other costs 400 MS points.

There was also a slew of trailer releases this morning, including three compilation trailers for Windows gaming, 360 games, and 360 Aracade titles.

E306: Other MS Things

Here's a short list of some of the stuff talked about during the press conference. Note these are all off the top of my head...so names and details may change. I'll post a better, more collected list tonight.

1. UNO game added to XBLA
2. Trailer for Gears of War up
3. GTA IV coming to Xbox 360, maybe ahead of PS3
4. Fable 2 trailer, annouced
5. Forza 2 trailer, annouced
6. Wndows Live/Local--like an Xbox 360 on your PC
7. Play XBLA titles on your phone
8. Camera shown, new section on Martketplace
9. New demo of Dark Planet (the Mech game)
10. More games... cheek out Martketplace or GameSpot for full details of event.

E306: Finish the Fight in 2007

E306: Microsoft press conference.

Halo 3. Its true.I said it. Its coming. its here.

The trailer for Halo 3 is now up on the Xbox Live Martketplace. So is a theme and some gamer pics.

Bungie.net has changed to accomedate the new game.

2007 can't come fast enough.

MS has won the console war. Its. over. Period.

E306: PS3 Copies 360; Wii

E306: Sony Press Conference

During the Sony pres conference, the following was revealed about the next gen of Sony toys:

1. PSP titles will have a new "Greatest Hits" category
2. PSP will work with PS3 simultanously... shown as a rear view mirror for drving game
3. PSP will play emulated PS1 games
4. PS3 will lunch November 11 in Japan, Novemer 17 in US
5. Will cost $499 for 20 GB HDD, &599 for 60 GB HDD
6. Controler will have "motion capturing" abilites (JUST LIKE WII!!!!!)
7. Many games shown, including new EyeToy card game that I perosnally think is very cool. Many games are hack and slash, or driving games. One cool FPS set in UK after WWII (but, it didn't happen)
8. A Marketplace like system, like the 360s. (This is ironic, becuase, as Sony yells on and on about their system, I'm using my 360 to download a new demo of test drive.)

In essence, not a very orginal confernce, to say the least. If I was Nintendo, I'd be violently pissed off at Sony. Violently.

I'm rooting for Nintendo now. Sony will have a hell of time getting me to fork out 500 bucks for a copy cat system that offers NOTHING orignal.

I will continue to offer updates from E3 throughout the week. Nintendo's confernce is tomorrow morning, and Microsoft's is in the afternoon. I won't be able to post immediate thoughts on Nintenos (like this one, this post was started before the show was over :) ) as I'll be in the middle of AP Gov, but, I'll be front and center for the BIG show: Microsoft.

I'm rooting for Nintendo and Microsoft to shove it down Sony's face. Come on guys, show us the true next generation.

It's Coming

The next project from Bungie is coming. In what could be the shortest update ever, Bungie also released the most important news since, well, the new maps. Here's the most telling part:

It's really making progress in an exciting and fascinating way. And I can't wait to share that with you properly. The level of secrecy is every bit as oppressive and confining for us as it is for you. Much, much bigger update next week. See you then!

E3 starts next week. I offically can wait no longer. I must know. Do you think driving a semi through the convention sotry would count as illegal? (J/k....I know, I know, illegal. Please no cops at my door tomorrow)

Star Wars Day 2006

For the third stright year, we are going to have a Star Wars day.

This year, Septemeber 12, 2006 will mark the release of the orginal Star Wars on DVD. Each will be sold as its own special 2-Disc set, that will include both orginal and special editions.

Also on 9/12, Lego Star Wars II will come out, and it has been revealed that the game will be available on the 360.

Also annouced today...The Sopranos Videogame, devleoped by THQ. Should be cool, even if it's just to hear the theme song during the menu scene.

Remember to stay at CR for "Continual" (and maybe "Random") updates from E3 06.

Oblivion Rating Changed to 'M'

The ESRB has changed the rating for Oblivion from 'T' to 'M' today, after a response to the "Nude Mod" for the PC. The rating was also changed for the the Xbox 360 version, because of what looks like more violence and blood was found to be in the game.

This marks the second time in less than a year that the ESRB has reversed ratings on a game alreadly released. The first, of course, was the infamous GTA:SA, for the "Hot Coffe" mod over last summer.

AP Tests 2006

There were be even fewer posts than normal this week, to to my intense work on four AP Exams. This year, it's AP Computer Science A, which I took yesterday (can't comment on it untill tomorrow), English Lit, Government and Politics, and MacroEcon.

In other news this week...
PopCap annouces Heavy Weapon will debut on the Xbox 360 (Very cool game)
Verizion to offer free week of Live next week
UNO game coming sometime next week
Still nothing on SF 2, but I'd be shcoked if it doesn;t come out this week or next.

I'll be here on may 9th, however, to cover all of the glory of E3. Remember, CR is your best spot on the 'Net to get a round-up of whats happening on the show floor, from someone who isn't there.

My 360 Can Blog

This is kinda weird, but very cool. There's this site (www.360voice.com) that provides a blog that your 360 writes. Apparently, it looks at your GamerScore and games played to "blog" about your experience. Now that's some cool Java programming!

Here's a link to my 360's blog, however, it says it takes 2 days for it to gather enough info.

I Hate This Strikes Back

Time again for another installment of I Hate This. It's been awhile since I've made any posts in this category...but today I got pissed off so much, well, I had to blog about it.

I hate people that stop right in the middle of your walking path. You know what I'm talking about. Your walking along, going with the flow and trying to reach your destination, hwne the person in front of you just stops, usually to join some other group and chat. Your left with either making a quick turn to avoid them, which usually involves you bumping into someone else, or stop short and re-plan your main route.

I hate people that stop short, right in front of me.

Introducing: Wii

This is soooo funny, I don't even know where to start. I geuss the offical press release is good:
Introducing... Wii.
As in "we."

While the code-name Revolution expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer. Wii will break down that wall that seperates videogame players from everybody else. Wii will put people more in touch with their games... and each other. But you're probably asking: What does the name mean?

Wii sounds like "we," which emphasizes the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii.

Wii has a distinctive "ii" spelling that symbolizes both the unique controllers and the image of people playing it. And Wii, as a name and a console, brings something revolutionary to the world of videogames that sets it apart from the crowd.
So that's Wii. But now Nintendo needs you. Because it's really not about you or me. It's about Wii. And together, Wii will change everything.

And, of course, here's the immediate reaction that can only truly happen on forums. Here you have the intial WTF, the "I don't care" and the "wait...this could be cool." Here's an excerpt from the very first posts on the name from TeamXbox.com:


Apr. 27th, 2006 9:55 am
anthone
holy **** they just named it Wii and it has no definition. Talk about spelling "WE" in different letteres. HAHAhahaah This is funny . WEEEEEEEEEEE~!

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:55 am
rikkel
WORST NAME!!!!!!!!!!1 peridod

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:54 am
black metal
I like the 360 name; it is much better than X2 or Xnext..even though I hated it at first..

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:53 am
ebm62980
I dont care for the name either, it makes it sound like it's being dedicated to the Japanese market. I think they put too much thought into a name when it just needs to be something simple and not have complex meanings. Even the rumored "Go" name was better (not by much though).

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:52 am
black metal
Revoluti was much better imho

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:51 am
Water_Flea
Wii?... Wyy?

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:50 am
Dragon123561
someone please slap me and tell me I'm dreaming, I can't believe what I'm seeing, tell me this is just a joke right?

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:50 am
SarumantheWhite
in retrospect, do you guys still think 360 is a bad name?I think it's great. No one says "xbox 360", it's just "Check out this game for the 360" or "When's Halo for the 360 coming out?"I think xbox 360 sounded dumb at the time, but it is certainly better than xbox2 or Xbox Next, and I think the name has taken on an identity of it's own. It's "the 360"...so, you guys still think 360 is a stupid name?

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:49 am
XboxEmo
yeah...that name does suck. What are you going to do, be like,.."hey guys, i'm gonna go play with my wii" that would suck.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:48 am
SarumantheWhite
the codename was better, but I'm betting that Eastern markets will love the name...remember, Nintendo is, at heart, a company for kid's games. The kids will get this name, they will remember this name. It is what it is. Would Revolution have been better for the Western Markets (specifically the 18-34 year old male demographic?) Yes. But for the kid markets, Wii will work very well.All the same, let the perverted jokes begin...

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:48 am
BadVermin
WORST NAME EVER. It will be the butt of jokes for years."Want to play with my Wii?""My Wii knows when you move it up and down""Mom! Kimmy wont stop playing with my Wii!!!"

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:48 am
Shockwave
I think I'll pronouce Wii as "Why?"

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:47 am
Dragon123561
what the hell that is the most stupid name for a game console ever and everyone thought xbox360 was stupid.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:45 am
Frosty22
yikes... just yikes.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:44 am
boaman88
Should have stuck with the codename. I'm not impressed no matter how easy it is to remember or forget.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:44 am
ness
Wow they couldn't come up with something better than that? 360 and Wii are both crap names.

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:44 am
Oxygen52
Thats great..Wiipdii doo.anyways just read this at another zdnet"The main culprit is the game division, which Sony said would rack up an operating loss of $871.8 million this business year as it gears up to launch the PS3 in November, overshadowing an expected recovery by its core electronics unit.Sony said it expected to sell 6 million PS3 units by March.AND THE KICKER ----"We believe that we can lower costs dramatically (on the PS3) through chip shrinkage and by cutting the number of parts, but there is no way to avoid high costs in the first year," Sony Senior Vice President Takao Yuhara told a news conference."Cutting the number of parts....hmm...lets see...blueray...1 hdmi port....hard drive....what else....oh maybe they will make the ethernet port an addon accessory again!

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:43 am
chawboo
that name is as flacid as a three year olds wee wee

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:43 am
XboxEmo
that's a cute poem. But it reminds me of pee wee,...and that's not a bad thing. He's a pimp and i want pee wee's playhouse back on the air!!!

Apr. 27th, 2006 9:41 am
FreeParking
Whee! and awesome.

Now, as far as what I think: I think it's actually pretty cool. It's odd, yes, but I like it, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's becuase it's different, and I'm sick of seeing so much of the same boringness that videogames have become lately. Sure, you can go ahead and make fun of Nintendo for picking a name that rhymes with both pee and wee, but, can you really not appluad them for taking a risk at being orginal?

Wait...Looks Like I'm Not Alone

I must have been part of the "mass" that recieved the Diamond Card e-mail. So much for being an individual!

LINK

Far Cry is One Long Game

These last couple of weeks I've been going through Far Cry Instincts, and man, it's a pretty long game. It's good, and mildly entertaining for a FPS, but it has some serious flaws. In fact, out of the current FPSs on the 360, I'd say it has the most. And the biggest.

Cheif of my complaints is the gernade kills. They are impossible to avoid, and just plain suck. You ca be one kill from clearing a tough area, when all of sudden your laying dow on the floor, dead. There is no way to see them and move out of the way. You just die.

Another thing is how so much of the game is just searching for a blue dot. I'm serious, the game is set up so that for hours on end, your only real goal is reaching one place. It just gets boring after awhile.

And don't even get me started on the controls.

From this post, you might gather that I don't like Far Cry, but that's not entirly true. It's just not "as good" as I might have hoped.

Expect a review to come probably around May 1...by than I should be finsihed with both stories.

Late, But I'll Take It

I just got my e-mail confirming my Live card is on the way. It's been alot longer than 6-8 weeks... but I'll still take the thing anyway. Actually, it's been 16 weeks since I signed up for it, wayyyyyy back in December. If this is any indication, expect SF 2 sometime around July.

Here's the e-mail they sent me:
Welcome to the Xbox Live Diamond Card!Congratulations! This email confirms that your Xbox Live DiamondCard registration was accepted and that your card is now beingprinted. You will receive your personalized Xbox Live Diamond Cardin the mail within the next 2 - 3 weeks.Once your Diamond Card arrives, logon to www.xboxlivediamond.comto check out the cool discounts, view the complete list ofparticipating retailers and additional program information. To startenjoying the discounts, all you have to do is present your DiamondCard with the appropriate printable coupon (found onwww.xboxlivediamond.com) when shopping in person, or use the checkoutcode provided on the website when shopping online.LIVE. PLAY. COMPETE. CONNECT.Bring your game online. - The Xbox Live Team

GRAW Review Up

Youd can now read my full final review of GRAW over at TeamXbox, or by clicking here.

Anyone Miss the "Old" Major Nelson?

Recently, I've grown rather boared of Major Nelson's blog. When it first came out, in May 2004, the blog was more than a shopping list of DLC for the Xbox. In fact, it was more than just "insider" MS news. Remember the Vasaline story? That was interesting.

Ever since the site switch, and the release of the 360, Major Nelson.com has become less of a real blog and more of informational site.

Don't get me wrong--I like the Marketplace updates. They definatly are handy, and I don't know where else I would find the info. However, shouldn't the blog be alittle more than just updates to the martketplace.

If you don't see the problem, here some stats for you. In the last 3 weeks, 26 of the 54 posts were about Marketplace contents. 6 of those posts, by the way, we're the weekly Live stats and blogcats. Taking those out of consideation, that means that 54% of the posts have been solely about new content on the martketplace.

On the other side, there were only 3 or 4 rel "non-Xbox insider" news, depending on how you look at it. Thats only 8% of the total posts. As far as I'm concerned, that's too low to be considered a "blog".

Perhaps Major needs to rethink the way his blog works. I'm not saying he should take out the Marketplace updates, but perhaps he should try to post about some more random things. His blog is called Random Thoughts, after all.

Too Bad It Will Suck

EA releases the cover for Superman Returns today. In the words of the now infamous PKG (of teamXbox.com foum fame)... EA + Superman = Suck. And I'd have to say I'd agree. Plus, the recent target images are far from impressive. I suppose there is some hope, becuase as long as the game features the famous Williams soundtrack, the audio will rock.

The movie, on the other hand, looks great. I personally can't wait for this summer to roll around for all of the great movies coming out. As far as games go...the only gem hanging out there pre-E3 is Gears of War.

Final Push

Today begins the final push towards the end of my high school career. Just back from spring break 2K6, there are just 9 weeks left untill Grad Night. I'm really getting pretty excited.

Again, I've been accepted to UC Davis and will probably be going there. A few more weeks left, we're into the final push.

I'm Back

OK, so I'm back from my double San Francisco trip. First off, heres a recap of events in my life. From Thursday to Sunday, I was on "Band" Trip up to the bay area. We stopped off at Paramount's Great America, which has some pretty awsome rides for the size of the park, and Pier 39. Than, the next day (Monday) I turned around and headed right back up there to cheek out Cal and UC Davis. I liked the Davis campus a whole lot more, and I'm probably going to end up going there.

While I was gone, here's some of the news in the tech world:

• Oblivion content goes up, people revoult
• Tomb Raider: Legends demo comes out
• Price of PS3 leaked in Euro land: around $600 USD
• MS buys out "Big Mouth" Stuidios, aka Lionhead Studios
• Battlefield 2 demo comes out
• Kameo Online Co-Op pack released
• Apple OKs new Intel Macs to run Windows XP

Finished GR:AW

I finished the single player mode of GR:AW last night. It rocks! Expect a full review to come, probably latter (today...man it's late).

Not sure how many posts I'll have for the remainder of the week...I'm leaving Thursday for a San Francisco trip and I won't be "home" untill Sunday, only to leave and head back up there untill Wednesday. It's crazy, I know...but I'm actually looking foward to it. Unless the hotels have Wi-Fi, my posting over the next week will be skethcy. That said, I may try to do some uber-rare audio updates from my cell phone, but, I always feel retarded when I do them. So, maybe. Possibly.

In other news, I'm getting Far Cry for the 360 this week, although I, for the reasons above, won't have much time to play it. There were some big PS3 and Revoultion annoucments made last week, but none of them peeked my interest enough to post.

Oh, and I was wrong once again on a demo date, but this time it really wasn;t my fault. EA has gone on record stating it's all MS...so there. I still belive there will be wave of content out this week. There better be, if MS wants to save any face from this horrid Q1. In my entire life of videogames, I have never seen such a dull and lackluster quater. MS better get its head in the game before Novemeber if it wants to bet out Spony before 2010.

Quake IV Review Up

Cheek out my review of Quake IV over at TeamXbox today.

The game scores an 8/10 (OGS 80)

Burnout Revenge Demo Out

There's a new demo for Burnout Revenge out on the martketplace today. I think there's also a new GRAW theme and The Outfit gamerpics as well.

Expect to see the fabled GRAW demo out either this Thursday, or next Friday for the Free Live Weekend Deal. Also, expect Street Fight II and Texas Hold 'Em to come out "around" there.

GR:AW First Thoughts

While the game has been out for awhile, I haven't had a chance yet to get more than a few hours into it, so these really are my opening thoughts.

First off, the single player. This style of gameplay just isn't for me, but I can live with it. The graphics are nice, and the story is interesting. The controls are alittle cluncky, however. I'm just not sure if I'm going to end up liking this SP experiance.

The multiplayer, however, is great. Really great. Best Live experiance for 360 so far, maybe even best Live since Halo 2.No lag, tons of options, and great maps make this a sure-fire win.

Overall, my opening thoughts score is a 3/5. I'm impressed by the multiplayer, but a little put off by the single.

Prethoughts: 4/5
Opening Thoughts: 3/5
Clsoing Thoughts: Coming Soon

Battlefield 2 Demo 3/24

The demo for the EA game "Battlefield 2: Modern Combat" will go live on the Xbox MartketPlace on Friday, March 24, 2005. This has been confirmed by EA. However, the demo may not be release untill the following Monday, as seems to be common practice for MS.

Beware the Ides of March

No, don't take warning becuase of Ceasar's death; take warning because you might jyst be overwhelemed with all of the new info out today. Lucky for you, here's a Best Of Round Up, with nothing to fear:

• The Biggie: PS3 to launch Early November (11/11/06) in a worldwide manner. I wonder were they got that idea from. Blu Ray specs held it back.
• More Talk on the PS3 Online service. Only Talk.
• Viva Pinata Project Revealed: Rare's next crazy project for the 360. Has a TV tie-in. Think: Animal Crossing with pinatas.
• Feeding Frezeny out on Marketplace. Great download.
• Burnout Pics on Marketplace
• Top Spin 2 Trailer

Finished Quake 4

I just managed to finish off Quake 4 last Sunday night. Overall, it was pretty nice game. Some obvious flaws that I think most poeple have alreadly picked up on, but a good, immersive FPS nonetheless.

The odd thing about Quake 4 was the amount of walking invloved in it. Sure, there was plenty of Strogg to kill around most corners, but there was pletny of walking as well. To be fair, I played the game of "Nomal" level, so maybe there is less in the harder levels, but still, I found the amount of empty rooms and hallways a little odd. I'm not complaining, just commenting.

Expect a full review to be posted over at TeamXbox sometime this week.

Posted Before Major Nelson!

There is a new demo of Ridge Racer 6 available for download through the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Yeah for beating the insider!

Get GR:AW With a Two/1 Deal

/* Begin GameStop plug

OK, so usually I don't give out free advertising for game companies, but this deal is worth mentioning. Right now, GameStops across the country are offering a Two for 1 Deal with Xbox 360 games. It's simple...trade in two Xbox 360 games for 1 new 360 game. There appear to be some limits on the deal (No Pre-orders), but it's the perfect oppurtunity to get GR:AW, the highest rated Xbox 360 game so far.

Enf Plug */

DOA 4 Patch

A patch has been released for DOA 4 over Xbox Live today. No word yet as to what it fixes.

Look for a demo of The Outfit latter on today.

CR Scoring System Revealed

There seems to be some confusion as to how CR (this blog) scores the games it reviews. Here's how it all works.

• Reviews are spilt into three catergories.
• The first catergory is Pre-Thoughts. This is usually posted along the same time that the game goes gold. Basically, this explains why I am going to purchase the game, or why I am not. These graded on a 5 star scale. A 1 represents no interest at all, a 2 represents possible rent, 3 a possible gift/purchase, 4 a definite purchase, and 5 a pre-order. These scores are converted, as shown below.
• The second category is Opening-Thoughts. This is usually posted the day I buy the game, after playing for around 90-120 minutes, or unlocking 200 GamerScore, whichever is first. These thoughts are often focused on just raw emotion, and what my opinion is while I'm in the game. It too is graded on a 5 star scale. A 1 represents returning right now, a 2 represents a trade-in, 3 a let down, 4 a good game, and 5 a must keep in collection.
• The final step is the Closing Review. All closing reviews are posted on TeamXbox.com, with a link provided here. This is the closest part to a "normal" review, and takes a look at the game once I have completed it. Complettion standards are as follows: complete finish with Single Player on medium level, minium of 2 hours on-line play (if available), minium 200 GS. These part is rated out of 10, however, this score itself is never revealed. Parts of it are, and those parts do make an average score, but it is impossible to determine this actual score.
• The final score shown on the bottom of the TeamXbox review is the final score, taking into accoutant all 3 parts of the review. Star reviews are converted in the following: 5 Star = 100, 4 Star = 85, 3 Star = 75, 2 Star = 55, 1 Star = 15. The final score is a sum of the adjusted Pre-thoughts score, adjusted Opening Thoughts score, and double the Closing thoughts score. Thus, the Pre/Opening thoughts each accoutant for 1/4 of the final score, while the closing score counts for 1/2 the score. This sum, refered to as The Games Score, is than averaged (divided by 4) to get a score out of 100 (known as Games Offical Score). The decimal is moved over to convert to an out of ten score (known as Standard Score), however, this is just to fit on TeamXbox. The offical score is the one out of 100.
• These rules only apply to games released since 11/22/2005. Different scoring systems were used before that, and scores can not be compared between the two eras.

GR:AW Gone Gold

Probably the most anticpated Xbox 360 game to date, Tom Clancy's GR:AW has gone gold today. Expcet the title to arrive in stores 3/8/2006.

The demo for this game, as reported by CR itself, was supposed to go Live on Monday. Theres no offical word yet as to the delay, but it is likely that (once again) MS is holding the demo back.

The title itself looks to live up to the expectations presented to it. So far, I've been impressed by the media releases and the way the game looks. It has managed to score a "Buy" from me in the pre-weeks, earing a respectful 4/5 from me.

Remember, this score does go into my final review. See this post for clarification.

MS Portable Sorta Unvield

An update to a viral wbesite shows a new, year-old viedo of project code-named Origami. This very well could be the Xbox Portable. Sorta. More like Windows Portable, featuring Xbox. Not much is known, yet, but it looks like more may surface on Thursday. Here's the only pic from the video that gamers care about. Yes, thats a Covy shield, and a battle riffle.

The Response

I posted before about my angry email to MS Support. Here's the email I sent:

I have a concern over the Xbox Live Diamond Card program. I signed up on December 22, 2005 and provided complete information needed. The offer stated the card would arrive within 6-8 weeks. It has now been beyond 8 weeks, and I am worried about where my card might be. Please respond as soon as possible. Microsoft should be aware that these frequent delays are rather annyoing and hard on the consumer.

And, heres the response I got back:

Hello -----------,

Thank you for writing Xbox Customer CareWe deeply apologize for the inconvenience. It sounds like this has been a very frustrating experience for you. After careful review of your issue, we have determined that it is best that you call the Xbox Customer Support number for better assistance;United States and Canada : 1-800-4MY-XBOX (1-800-469-9269) International direct dial to US : 1- 425-635-7180Our phone representatives will assist you 7 days a week from 9:00AM -12:00 MN CST (Central Standard Time). Thank you for understanding.

Sincerely,

Rb
Xbox Customer Care Team

If the card dosn't come this week, and others start posting that they gt theirs, than I guess I'll have to call. But talk about poor customer service---what's the phone call going to do that this email can't. Wait a minute, heres a cool idea- call the number, and repeat the email exatly. Than we could see the real difference...

The Death of Next-Gen DVD

Here is the exact reason why next-gen DVD (both Blu ray and HD-DVD) will fail.

No, the HDMI requirments aren't the exact reason why it will fail--it's the movie studios new found protection war that will. This time, they have gone way to far. They need to remember that, in the end, they are trying to please us, the consumer. Without us, they loss their jobs and houses. The movie studios are in a critical point in history right now, and if they continual to pull crap like this, they are done, over. Gone. The music industry faced the same problem about 3-4 years ago, and they managed to get out of it alive, with alittle help from iTunes. If the movie industry can't pull off the same feat...than I expect a new wave of media by 2008.

This is sad news for everyone. HDTV owners now have lost hope for real HD Movies. PS3 fans may just have to worry about Blu-Ray. Movie fans have already lost the war.

At least the world can still take some comfort in the thought that DVD quality, as it is now, aint that bad at all.

8 Weeks and Still No Card

Well, it is now official: MS has let us down, yet again. The diamond card program was supposed to ship within 6-8 weeks from sign up. Geuss what? It was 8 weeks since I signed up last Wednesday. I have yet to recieve my card.

These delays are really, REALLY starting to piss me off. First, it's not like MS is open at all about revieilng any info to begin with. Than, whatever they do state turns out wrong. Take a look at the three phantom XBLA games to come out: Feeding Frezny, AstroPop and Jewl Quest. Each had a date of February 2006, yet each now is pushed back into March. Whats up with that? And, I don't buy the lie that the games are having probelms. garage Games was very open about their game, and showed the world that it was MS who held up the game FOR NO REASON. None of these games have problems, because none of them are really new. The hold up is al MS own idea: to spread out content so it seems like there is more of it. The reality is that right now, the 360 is in a really dead spot. March can't come soon enough for some REAL games (Yes, I'm talking to you COD2. Don't get too high on your great attachment numbers: it's only becuase you were the best of the worst. Once some real games hit, it's all over. GRAW should show Activison how a real multiplayer game is made).

Anyway, I emailed customer support at 6 PM PST 2/24/2006. I'll post back as soon as I get a real answer.

Finished FA Single Player

Last night I managed to get past the final three stages of Full Auto, thus unlocking 70 GamerScore points. The only level that gave me trouble was the "Pure Clutch" one. I even thought that the last one, oddly titles "The End?" was easier than that one.

All in all, no surprises at the end, and overall just more of the same. Now it's time to log on to XBL to get that Level 10 Achievment. Right now, I think I'm at Level 4...I've got some work to do.

Also, I'm pretty close to hitting the 4000 GS point mark. It's not as big as the 1000 moment, but still cool. I predict to be at around 20000 GS points by the end of this year, based on current speed and the fact that more games will be out by than. Imagine what it will be like when we reach the stage we're at now on the Xbox 1 with the Xbox 360....over 800 games, each with 1000 points, thats 800000 possible points, plus the XBLA titles. It will be very intresting to look at people's GamerCards once that starts happening. I can see it now: "It was my sister playing Barbie's Horse Adventure's 2, I swear! (But, hey, I still got 400 points from it!)"

Xbox 360 Camera Info, Date

A new article in the Offical Xbox 360 Hong Kong Magazine has shed some light onto the elusive camera for the 360. the article stats that the camera will support up to 640 x 480 video at a solid 30 fps. The camera will also be able to take 1.3 MegaPixel still images. It has a street date of May 2006.

The ad also included a picture of the fabled "Quick Charge Kit" which is similar to the play and Charge Kit, except that it holds two batteries and can charge without a controler. It too is expected in May.

Full Auto Review

I just posted my Full Auto review over at TeamXbox. Remember, the review system has three steps: pre-thoughts, first thoughts, and than full review. The two opening steps play a role in the final review.

FULL AUTO REVIEWED

Full Auto: First Thoughts

So, I just finished playing FA for about 90 minutes or so, and here are some thoughts.

First, the postivies, and there are a lot of them. The game plays much smoother than the demo, and boosts better graphics all around. There are plenty of cars and tracks to choose from, and some creative weapon choices, The game is challenging, but not hard to play. Xbox Live play runs without a hithc, and is much smoother than some of the other laggy games out there (caugh...COD2...caugh).

On the negative side, the game isn't very deep, and I could see how this could ware out pretty fast. There are some framerate issues (ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!) but overall it dosn't subtract too much from the game.

So far, Full Auto looks like a nice game with some solid potential. My opening thoughts rating is a 4 star rating out of a possible 5.

Stats on Cursing on Halo 2

Heres a link to an interesting study on the frequency of cuss words on Xbox Live's Halo 2. This is good stuff, although it's pretty easy to predict, no surprsies here. The Internet is full of normal people pretending to be morons.

LINK

Full Auto Ships

Full Auto shiped today. Cetris paribus, I'll be picking it up sometime tomorrow. The game recieved a 7.1 or so from both IGN and TeamXbox. However, what I cared about was fixed--the frame rate. I personally liked the way the demo played out, just was disappointed by the horrible frame rate.

Expect a first impression post sometime tomorrow about opening thoughts. I'm still playing through Quake 4 and PDZ, so I can't write a full review yet...however, as a "pre-review" so far PDZ is looking like an 8.5 and Quake about an 8. Both have fun multiplayer and an OK single player, but Quake 4 just misses the graphic boat, and PDZ has really bad level desgin, so much so that little arrows have to guide you through the level.

King Kong Demo Up

Sure, the movie isn't in cinemas anymore, and the Xbox 360 version was bad-mouthed by its own dev team, but we can beat a free demo. It's up now over at the Martketplace.

GW:AW Demo Coming 2/27

A demo of the up and coming Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfare is going to hit the marketplace on Monday, February 27, 2006.

In other news, Full Auto hits store shelevs this week. Full Auto is by far the most debated 360 game, as some love it, or others hate it. I personally will (probably) be getting it some time this week. The only that sucks is I have to buy it from Amazon to use my $30 gif card, and Amazon dosn't offer the free faceplate deal, which sucks.

CR Is On, MN.Com is Off

Despite some reports, this blog is still up and running just fine. Any crashes/downtime is mostly on your end, except for a few Blogger downtimes for maintaince, which, as luck would have it, starts tonight at 7 PST.

Majornelson.com is not as lucky, however. After the server seitch last Friday, his site has not been fully operational, and his Blogcast was very hard to download from the main source: his site. Currently, the enite blog is pulled down right now. Eailer, at around 1:30 PM, the site said it was going up in about 15 minutes, but than that message too dissappeared. Now a thrid message is here, with a more vague and less promising "Will return soon" warning.

Just a reminder: While the Major is down, the CR is still up. Cheek here for any news updates, as always.

COD2 Loser Patch Released

Infinity Ward released a patch for COD2 today that, unforunatly, did nothing to fix the online lag problems. Needless to say, millions got pissed off. And I belive they have a strong right to be. IW released a product they KNEW sucked, and they did it with a simile. Than they take more than 2 months to put up dedicated servers and a lobby? Thats just unacceptable.

The Xbox forums have been a haven for anti-IW sentiment lattly, and it's gotten so bad that IW themselves had to post an "apology:"

Hello everyone! Now that our first Title Update for Call of Duty 2 has been certified for release, we want to let you know what to expect. The update that was released today addresses a save game corruption issue that affected player progression for some people within the single player saved campaigns.
In addition, we are pleased to announce that we are testing a number of multiplayer enhancements to the community, including addressing the lag issues. We are working really hard on these updates. Development is a timely process and we appreciate your patience. Infinity Ward is excited about your enthusiasm and support for Call of Duty 2 and we look forward to speaking with you soon.

Just tell us you screwed us over and walk away from it, just as we all have walked away from this game.

Battlefront 2 DLC Out Now

I am downloading the content as we speak. it's up for those in the west. If you don't see it right now... just wait, and it should appear soon.

THAW Review Up

You can cheek out my full review of THAW over here at TeamXbox.com.

I'm truckin' through Quake 4 and Amped 3 right now...I'll be sure to post reviews once I finish them.

No 2006 Release for Halo 3?

This internal memo from GameStop seems to state that Halo 3 will not release this year. Seems fishy to me...but I alreadly suspected that Halo 3 will launch in 2007. But, expect full Halo 3 coverage at this years E3. I think Bungie will probably follow the same release strategy as they did for Halo 2, trailer first, weekly updates, than a release date and demo at the next E3.

Marble Blast Out

Marble Blast Ultra is now able to be purchased and downloaded on the Xbox Live MarketPlace. It costs 800 MS Points ($10) and is freakin' sweet.

Heres a tip: the first Easter Egg in the game is located in Level One. On the jumping part, you have to get to the higher level on the left. Do a RB and Jump combo (when full blue) to get up there, and than just carefully tread along untill the end.

Still no Full Auto demo, might be out latter tonight. I'll keep you posted.

Who Thought This was Cool?

OK...so now both Amped 3 and TAW do this thing where they "interrupt" your gaming session to switch camera views. Let me be clear on this: your going along, having fun, than bam! right out of nowehere the camera angle shifts, usually to a wide-angle zoom. I get the idea: tyrying to show you how cool the trick looks from a distance...but it does NOT work. At all.

Seriously...just leave my camera alone. When your driving in PGR3...the view doesn't just switch from first person to thrid just becuase your getting some air...so why should these games be any different?

Also....another rant on Amped 3....who the hell uses the X button to select things? Hello, thats what the A button is for dumbasses. I just majorly screwed up trying to quit a challenege and start agin by just pressing A instead. After 4 long years of Xbox gaming, Im pretty set on a few butoon comobs: X to reload, Y to grind, A to jump, R Tigger to fire, AND A TO SELECT MENU ITEMS. Seriously, it works just fine the way it is. If you want to go and be all "inventivie" in the controls, than why don't try doing something IN THE GAME (like, I don't know, using the damn Bumper buttons),

Just some grips. Otherwise great games though.

Dashboard Update + Texas Hold 'Em

So, the Internet and forums are abuzz over the rumored upcoming Dashboard Update for the 360. Heres my thoughts.

First off...people are making this much bigger than it will ever be. The update will probably add the camera, and fix some of the most noticable achievment bugs. Also, the update will probably do some behind-the-scenes fixes so that the cheating that took place on the XLA titles comes to an end.

But heres my big thought: MS has gone on record stating that the camera will apear both "sooner than you think" and when the first titles to make use of it become available. If the Dashboard update is a reality...and the camera is a part of it (and I realize these are big ifs) than I expect that the Texas Hold 'Em game is coming along with them. No other game currently in the window right now has any chance of supporting a camera. Maybe the Hopp Challenge game...but thats only becuase I have no clue what the hell that game is about.

So, while your reading the thousands of other rumors and theories out there on the Net...kep mine in mind.

Also...I heard somewhere that on the 25th the Full Auto demo will hit the MarketPlace, lets keep our fingures crossed.

Week In Review--1/20/06

Have not had much time to post throught out the week this week as, well, I was pretty busy. Here's a day-by-day recap.

Monday--Purchased FFXI beta and Quake IV. Finished installing FFXI.

Tuesday--Disneyland Trip--rode the new Monsters Inc ride (its great, BTW)

Wednesday--First day of new term classes. Re-log on to FFXI. Complete Child/Father Quest. Gain 200 XP. Play some Quake IV.

Thursday--Play some DOA4 rounds in time attack mode...still about 15 away from the final character. Finsh night with a breif FFXI time play and few rounds in Quake IV.

Friday--Post a recap of the week on a blog no one reads. Begin my weekend. Sleep.

Latter on tonight I will be uploading my THAW review...and perhaps posting a first impression of Quake IV.

Right now, here are some FFXI thoughts.

• Graphics are simiply unacceptable. Period. They suck. The worst on 360, hands down.
• Long and boaring set p that could and should be alot easier. Will alienate gamers who purchase the retail version of the game.
• Bad user interface...just bad.
• Lots of fun to play...but alot of work as well.
• Super Bunnies? How can I kill three bunnies in four hits and than get killed by one with one hit the next time? WTF?!?
• NO VOICE!?! How did MS let Square shove that up their ass?

Just Finished Installing

Almost two hours since my last post...and I just finished the final DL and am in the world playing. I choose basic classes and characters for my first run just to get the feel of the game, but latter on I want to learn some real magic.

I'll be on this and Quake 4 throughtout the rest of the week. See 'ya online!

Installing FFXI

As you can see at right...Im in the middle of downloading and starting the Final Fantasy XI beta. I'm about an hour into it...I think Ive still got a ways to go.

I'll post my thoughts on the supposdly long and stupid process when and if I finish.

Whats Up With TLM?

So, back in October I told the world that The Lost Man, my Java Halo Project, would be ready for the end of November. That came and went...and so did January 12...the expected release date. Than, in a little PPS update, I said it wasn't coming untill May 2006. Heres the full story.

TLM is still in devlopment. I'm still coding on it everyday. In order to make it the best experiance possible, I need more time to finsih it. Seriously, I get held up in Niovember and Decmber with the holdiays and Xbox 360...and IO have not even finished raw coding for the end.

I expect may will be the final release date for TLM...but nothing is set in stone. If I don't have a good hold on the game by March, I'll push it back again. Sorry, thats just the way it works.

I'll try to update more with WWWU and stuff to keep you posted, but there just really isn't a whole lot to comment on. If all goes well, though, I will have a MAJOR annoucment the begining of February.

Stay tuned...and get ready for The Lost Man to invade your PC this May.

COD2 Review

Just finished and posted my review of COD2 on TeamXbox. Enjoy.

LINK

House of the Dead 4

My secert favorite game series is heading to the Xbox 360...this is the game Ill be playing in secert for years...online support would be AWSOME! Heres a tight new screen. No relase date is currently available, but I think its coming Fall 2006.

Slow News January

I've been active for the last couple of weeks...but theres just nothing at all to report. The biggest news had come in the form of new screen for the March releases of Burnout, Battlefield 2 and others. Oh and the release of DOA 4...which is cool but sooooo hard.

I've manged to finally unlock the Spartan character in DOA 4....but man do I suck. It took me forever to manage to get the Plasma Throw Combo down. All in all....the game is cool, but hard. You can read my full review of the game over at TeamXbox...here.

BTW--heres some news, I am now commited to using TeamXbox's review system to write my reviews. I just finshed THAW and COD2...so I'll be writting up reviews latter on. I'll be sure to post the links here for all to read.

STAR Awards Part 2 (Other)

Here's the new part of he STAR Awards...the Non-Video Gaming Awards. Enjoy!

Best Acting in a Cineamtic Production
Tom Cruse (War of the Worlds)

Best Special Effects in a Production
King Kong

Best Orginal Score
Munich, John Williams

Best Movie, Drama
Rent

Best Movie, Sci-Fi
SW:ROTS

Best Movie, Comedy
The Producers

Best Cineamtic Production
Star Wars Episode III: ROTS

Best Directing
Steven Speilburg, Munich

Best Acting, TV
Charile Sheen, two and a Half Men

Best New Show
How I Met Your Mother

Best TV Show, 2005
Current (DirecTV Ch. 366)

Best Book, 2005 (TIE)
Freakonomics; Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Harry Poter and the Half-Blood Prince

Best Comedy Spoof
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Best News Coverage Channel
Current

Story of th Year
Iraq Death Toll Reaches 2000

Person of the Year
John McCain

HD DVD Add On for Xbox 360

By now I'm sure you've heard about the HD DVD addidtion for the Xbox 360 that Bill Gates just annouced during his CES Keynote. Not much else, incluidng date, price or real specifics, but there is quite a bit of info just from the annoucment.

First--it's an add on, externaly. No internal modification required. This is actualy realy important. On one hand, games won't want to require this drive as not all will have it, yet, some games, like MS ones, may require it just to sell the unit.

More to come latter, rest assured.

2006 STAR Awards

Here they are...the winners of the 2006 STAR Awards for video games. Tomorrow, the winners for all other areas will be listed.

RU Stands For Runner Up

Best Console
Xbox
RU: Xbox 360

Best New Device
PSP
RU: iPod G5

Best Online Game
Perfect Dark Zero
RU: SC:CT

Best Offline Game
Call of Duty 2 (X360)
RU: Half Life 2 (XBX)

Best Graphics (Current Gen)
SC:CT
RU:SOCOM 3

Best Graphics (Next Gen)
Dead or Alive 4
RU: Call of Duty 2 (X360)

Best Gameplay
Call of Duty 2 (X360)
RU: Battlefront 2

Best Controls (Current Gen)
Half Life 2
RU: SC:CT

Best Controls (Next Gen)
Kameo: Elements of Power
RU: Call of Duty 2

Best Star Wars Game
Battlefront II
RU: Republic Commando

Best PS2 Game
SOCOM 3
RU: Soul Calibur 3

Best GameCube game
Mario Party 7
RU: Mario Superstar Baseball

Best PC Game
Battlefield 2
RU: The Movies

Best Xbox Game
SC:CT
RU: Half Life 2

Best Xbox 360 Game
TIE: Perfect Dark Zero
Call of Duty 2

Best PSP Game
GTA: Liberty Stories
RU: Burnout Legends

Best Nintendo DS Game
Mario Kart DS
RU: Nintendogs

Game of the Year
Call of Duty 2
RUS: (In Order) Perfect Dark Zero
SC:CT
SOCOM 3
Half Lfe 2

Best Developer
Bungie

Best Publisher
Microsoft Game Studios

Best DLC
Halo Map Pack
RU: Live Aracade GeoWars 2

--------------------------------------
Worst Online Experiance
Call of Duty 2 (X360)

Worst Graphics
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (X360)

Worst Next-Gen"Ness"
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2006

Worst Game of the Year
Amped 3'

Biggest Letdown
MechAssualt 2
SW: Episode III

Worst Devloper
Valve

Away On Leave

There will prbably be fewer posts the next couple of days as I celebrate Christmas with my family. I'll be at home this year, so if I have anything to report I'll go ahead and post, but I doubt it. If I don't post again, Merry Christmas, Happy Kawanza, Happy Hanuka, Happy Festivus and any and all others.

P.S. Don't forget about the STAR awards on 1/3/06 and the Year in Review on New Years Eve. I'min the middle of finishing both of them for their releases.

P.P.S Halo: The Lost Man is still in development, and won't make a public appearance until May 2006. Sorry.

Marble Blast Ultra

This new Marble "sim" game comes out tomorrow over Xbox Live Aracde for 800 MS points. The title looks cool to me, and I'll probably end up buying the full version once I get a 1600 MS Point card from my brother on Christmas.

New Battlefront 2 DL Content

LucasArts annouced Monday that new DLC has gone out and is planned for BattleFront 2. This week, an update has been released to allow you to play Jedi-Free-For-All on Kayashk. A Premium pack is scheduled for January that includes favorite from the orginal, including Rhen Var and Bespin.

The Game That's Making Me Glad I Got a 360

...is Elder Scrolls 4. I've never played any of the orginals, but man this game looks good. So much action, so many different things to choose from. I'll go out on a limb and say this is the first game that will show off the Xbox 360'real potential for normal games. This is the next-generations alright. I might have to go out and preorder this title.

Nominees for STAR Awards Are In

Here are the nominees for the 2005 StarDrummer STAR awards. The winners will be annouced ina special post on January 3, 2005.

Best Console
Xbox
Xbox 360
PS2
GameCube

New Device
iPod nano
iPod, V5
Moto Razor Phone
PSP

Best Online Game
SC:CT
Perfect Dark Zero
SOCOM 3
Mario Kart DS
Battlefront 2

Best Offline Game
SC:CT
Call of Duty 2 (360)
Battlefront 2
Half Life 2 (XBX)

Best Graphics
--caption award

Best Gameplay
Call of Duty 2
Battlefront 2
Perfect dark Zero
Kameo: Elements of Power
Half-Life 2

Best Controls
--caption award

Best Star Wars Game
SW: Episode III (XBX)
SW: Battlefront 2
SW: Republic Commando

Console Bests
--caption awards

GOTY
Call of Duty 2 (360)
Perfect Dark Zero
SOCOM 3
Half-Life 2 (XBX)
SC:CT

Best Developer
Bungie (Halo Map Pack)
Rare (PDZ, Kameo)
Valve (HL 2)
Nintendo (Mario KartDS, others)

Best Publisher
--caption award

Best DLC
Halo Map Pack
Live Aracde: GeoWars 2
Live Aracde: Outpost Kaloki: X
Live Aracde: Smash TV
SC:CT

Movie of the Year
King Kong
March of the Penguins
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Star Wars: Episode III
Rent

TV Show of the Year
How I Met Your Mother
Two and a Half Men
CSI: Miami
Call for Help
Current

Acting: TV/Movie
--caption award

Awards listed as caption awards are individual awards that are looked at regardless of competition, thus NO nominees are ever made. Basically, all games are considered for this category at the same time.

Several awards are not listed here. The decsion has yet to be made about the list of nominees or the inclusion of the award itself. Please note that this is different than an ward stating that it is a caption award.

Robotron 2084 Out

Robotron 2084 has been released on the Martketplace. I'd say try out the demo, but it is REALLY short (less than a minute in length). If you want another top-down 360 degree shoter to join the ranks of Smash TV, GeoWars, Storm and others, than it's your title. If you, like me, think that 3 is enough, than you should probably hold out.

360 Launch Day: Part 2

It's offical: Best Buy's across the US will be releasing a second wave of Xbox 360's this Sunday, December 18. Here are the ad's and the insider memo to prove it:

(Click on Image for Full Size)

I might drive by my local Best Buy, just to laugh and make fun of those who are waiting for one. And yes, I do think you should camp overnight. Most stores are only getting around 24. Heres the list.

My store (#150) is getting 60 systems. On the 22nd, they had 97. You do the math.

Finished THAW Classic Mode

As you can see by my GamerScore, I finished THAW Classic Mode last night. I am almost to Tony Alva...and about half-way or so through the Story Mode.

Have bearly started PDZ yet...I'll save that for the next two weeks I have off.

Wik: Cool New Aracade Game

For those of you with a 360...go and download the new demo of Wik in the Martketplace. The game is pretty fun, in a werid way. It grows on you, and once it does your be hooked. Be prepared to dish out 800 MS Points pretty soon, you'll want this one.

Also, isn't that te coolest GamerPic thing yet?

What to Get: 2005 Edition

Here's an updated Amazon list for this year as I continue my quest to have the best items under the tree each year.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html/ref=wlem-si-html_viewall/103-3794184-9385453?id=1T33M25ZJ126N

AWOL Becuase of Xbox 360

I know I've been gone for quite some time now...but it's simply becuase I've been putting in all extra time to the 360, as you can see from my GamerScore.

So far, I've fully completed Madden, beat the SP of COD2 and I am about halfway through THAW (only 2 more Classic Goals!). Today I just got PDZ, and I've got mixed first reactions. The graphics are not that great, and the controls feel funky compared to COD2. The gameplay, hwoever, is pretty fun, and reminds me for some reason of Unreal 2. Odd, I know, but the premise is similar. That may, for me, be a good thing, as I actually liked U2.

I've also been playing around with a few Araca titles, and I've purhcased Geometry Wars 2, Smash TV and Outpost Kaloki X so far. I have trial versions of the others (Pool, and the new weird table games). I have to say that the MartketPlace is my favorite new addition to Xbox. The trailers, demos and content has got me hooked. I literaly have spent hours just going back and forth and seeing whats all their.

I've also manged to get a full 360 set-up between 3 Windows machines and a wireless router, all in under 10 minutes. Thank you MS, their is a God. The picture/song transfer thing is way cool, just wish I could play copy-protected mucis from iTunes.

Perfect GamerScore: Madden '06

Yesterday I finally finished 30 years of Franchise mode in Madden for the 360, and got a 1000 GamerScore for the Game (Don't belive me? Click on my GamerCard to the right!). Now on to Call of Duty 2. That game is freakin' hard!