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.