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)