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!

360: First Thoughts

Putting the shortages and some console failures aside, heres my thoughts on Microsoft's new Xbox 360.

It rocks.

There realy is so much to say about it that by saying anything is limiting its pure power. But I'll try anyway.

The Guide is awsome...being able to access it no matter where you are is totally cool. The way it interacts between you, Live and the Internet is amazing. GamerScore is cool too, and provides a realistic back-up for trash-talking online.

The hardware itself is pretty nice. The controlers are sloids and easy to use for the mowst part. The HDD works fine...although it probably isn't being used as much as it should. The Play and Charge Kit (my current only accessory) works great, and really is a must have for all wireless controlers (it provides a warning as to when the battery will die...on screen!)

The graphics and games of course are the meat of the console...but words will not do either justice. You must play it to see what it is. If you didn't stand in line for 21 hours and wern't lucky enough to get one...than head to a kiosk now and set-up permant residence, or fly to Japan or Europe for their luanches (you still have time). There is no excuse not to be playing the 360.

I'm off to go finish Call of Duty 2 to higher my GamerScore! Have to break 1000 this weekend!

Xbox 360 Is Here

The era of next-gen gaming is here, and I am a part of it. After a long 21 hours outside of my local Best Buy...I managed to score the hottest gaming system in history. And yes, it is everything it is cracked out to be. The graphics are just something tobe hold. Currently, I have three 360 games--Call of Duty 2, Madden '06 and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.

I posted my GamerCard here before, and I will try to get it as a permanate feature of this blog via HTML. Stay tuned for more news and info as I get a second to tear myself away from the 360.

My GamerCard

EDIT: My GamerCard may now be seen on the right hand side.

Less than 24 Hours

Less than 24 hours before the US release of the Xbox 360...and I'm about to embark on a quest to find one. No, I did not pre-order one...and now I will seek one out using stealth, charm and smarts.

My first stop is Wal-Mart, who has about 150 available for sale at 12:01 tonight. I plan to head over there in about an hour and wait in line.

If I am not successful there, I shall head to Best Buy, which opens at 9 AM to get one there. If I run out of luck, Costco and Circuit City are next.

Expect audio updates here on the progress of my journey. It's gonna be a long day...

Unpacking Ritual

The guys over at Joystick have just completed most of their unpacking ritual of the Xbox 360. Definatly worth a look.

LINK

(P.S. Whats isnide the metal box????)

Happy 3rd B-day Xbox Live

Today also marks the 3rd Birthday of Xbox Live. The service was born on this day in 2002. Heres another round on me.

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to XBOX LIVE...
Happy Birthday to you...