What is with the lack of updates?
For my class, IST500, we have to write a posting atleast once a week, and I have been laking. It is not because I am lazy. I have published multiple posts here at this blog for a couple of years, with the high end being near 2-3 a day. I haven't been writing, because I haven't felt there is anything to add.
To me, having a blog is a great way to get information out, but it should be something that is either good for the community or stirs some sort of conversation. And, frankly, I feel like I have failed that here. I have published opinion pieces telling large companies how they can do better (Microsoft and F1), I have given a sort of exclusive with some games (playing gears early and creating a rough [very rough] layout schema for a map that no one else saw, three months before the game came out). Ive written how community members can get some hardware to transfer content from one HDD to another.
I can make lists for a while. But, in reality, there has not been much that I can add. You can get more exclusive info quicker via Larry Hyrb and his blog (majornelson.com), as well as Joystiq and Xbox.Joystiq.com.
Maybe its time to change content. Because…ill be posting more.
Twitter: twitter.com/matt_gerlach
Xbox Live: Mastaglach820
My Two Hour Session with Gears of War.
CliffyB was there at the NYC session and that can only mean one thing. Gears of War. I was introduced to CliffyB by Godfree (Gamertagradio.com). We talked with Clif, who is an amazingly down to earth guy, for a couple of mins. He asked if we would like to see the E3 demo that he played. I, obviously, obliged and we sat while he played through the game showcasing alot of the features.
Disclaimer: Couple of things. I work outside alot, so I was fairly tan from that. Couple that with the immense heat inside the studio, and me being irish, I showed up very red. Also, do not take the graphics on the TV as the game, because cameras never do justice.
Now on to the Multiplayer:
Wow. It was that simple. That is the way I felt after I completed the 2 hour session (got about a good 90 minutes of playing in).
To be straight out of the gate, it was only multiplayer (system link) on 1 level. But damn, this level was BEAUTIFUL. I believe they called it Mansion. We had a 4v4 session of the multiplayer game from 4pm-6pm.
Ok, not to the actual gameplay. It freakin ROCKED. Heres a little list:
- You can easily cycle your weapons with the D-Pad. We had a pistol (down), the assault rifle/chainsaw (right), smoke grenade (up) and the shotgun (left).
- Get close to a wall and press A You will slam into coverage.
- The Roddy Run Rocks! You can hold down A, you guy crouches and begins to run. The camera changes to a different view, regarded to by CliffyB as “the CNN Camera view”. It really does look like a journalist running behind your character, as it is off center (to the right) and shakes as you run.
- If you run towards a wall during your Roddy Run, keep holding A, and you will slam into coverage.
- While in coverage:
- If you hold the right trigger to shoot your weapon you will shoot while staying in coverage. It lacks accuracy, but you can control the direction they spray.
- If you hold down the left trigger, you will go into a zoomed 3rd persion view. It gives you the accuracy, but takes away from your coverage.
- If you are at a corner, you can lean your guy. Again, just pressing the right trigger shoots, but holding the left will give you the accuracy.
- If you hold the right trigger to shoot your weapon you will shoot while staying in coverage. It lacks accuracy, but you can control the direction they spray.
- You can revive your teammates. If your teammate goes down (and are still on their knees), and are not officially dead, you will see a red circle with a way point. It will direct you in the direction of your teammate. If the circle becomes 100% filled with red, your teammate dies. This could be from you taking too long, or the enemies finishing them off. If you are to get there in time, just run up and press “X” and you will revive them. My team was pretty good at that.
We were setup to play 4v4 matches. I forgot the game type, but everyone had 1 life, and the remaining team one. It was up to 9 rounds, with it going to the first to 5. After struggling at first, my side made a run and won a couple of games. We went into a funk again, until later in the session. I moved over to a different 360. Godfree and S4Lee joined my team, and we went on a run of atleast 4 consecutive wins. We were so good, that at points, the other team didn’t even kill us.
One of the rounds that we won 5-0, the other team had 2 total kills. It was great. In the game, CliffyB decided to join for 2 of the rounds. On the first round, I was shooting a man atop the staircase (actually situated in the center oval, between the 2 staircases), and I heard CliffyB yelling for help. I was poking out of coverage and shooting him. It gave me the kill, and I then turned and looked, and CliffyB has just died. I killed the man at his own game. It was the highlight of my session.
Overall, this game will be amazing. It will have a big battle to fight, not just again the locust, but agaist the PS3 this coming November 12th.
CliffyB is into posing for images now. We all said “OK”.
Xbox360’s Holiday 06 Unwrapped
Microsoft held an event here in NYC the past 2 days (August 2nd and 3rd). It was a showcase for the games that will be selling before or during the holiday season.
I took the railroad into the City and headed over to the place where the event was held. It was held in a studio in Manhatten. I got up there and met my MVP and Xbox’s Online PR Community Manager, Tony Hynes (aka Bastelyon). He gave Godfree, DirtyDiva, S4Lee and I the rundown of the event. They were going to showcase some Games for Windows, and Xbox360 games. For the Xbox360 games (Sorry if I missed one), they had:
- Test Drive Unlimited (There should be a 2nd demo)
- Tony Hawk’s Project 8
- World Series Poker: Tournament of Champions
- Crackdown
- Dead Rising
- Saint’s Row
- Splinter Cell: Double Agent
- Madden NFL 2007
- NBA 2k7
- Smackdown vs Raw
- Gears of War
I am pretty excited about this game. I love racers, and what they are offering is pretty amazing. I was told that the game (with in game and post release download content) will feature 45 different manufactuers totalling 150 cars and bikes. With that you have the seamless play from Single player to Multiplayer. Ooo, take a left there and go to MP rounds, or take a right and continue with single player. It is definetly an awesome system they have with “M.O.O.R” (Massive Open Online Racer). I was talking to the game representative there, and talked about how sweet MOOR is. He then instructed me to drive through these different paths just to see how stunning the environment is. Yes, it is stunning.
We all know the Tony Hawk series, and we are now on the 8th iteration of the game (I didnt even realise). What initially caught my eye was just how good this game looked. So, I sat down and decided to see whats up. After the rep gave me a run through with the game, showcasing the cool new features, I gave it a little try. Simply, it plays just as well as any Tony hawk game has ever played. A is your Olly, B is your grab tricks, X are your flip tricks and Y is for your grinds. A new feature (if I remember correct), was called “Hit the Trick”. As you Olly, you click one or both of the tricks (sorry cant remember), and it goes into a zoomed mode of your board, where you control your right and left left with the joysticks, respectivly. It is a little difficult at first, but when you get it, it is definetly something cool. You can also go into “focus” mode, at any time in the game, when you click the right joystick. It slows the game down for you to nail everything.
Now for terms of story. There was always “do this trick” and “do that trick”. But, now they all have levels. Lets give an example. You have to grind this rail to complete the objective. BUT, there are now 3 levels, Amateur (ama), Professional (pro) and sick. To achieve th ama status you have to grind 25 feet, the pro you have to grind 50 and the sick level, you have to grind 100 feet. It is definetly a cool system, and he said that for “sick”, they wanted to make it hard so it lived up to its name. This new system is definetly cool and a great addition to one of the top 5 best selling franchises of all time.
World Series Poker: Tournament of Champions (Xbox360
I am not going to lie, I am not an avid poker player. I play with buddies, and in a friendly tournament every once in a while, but I am in no way close to my brother. He plays multiple times a week with his friends and if he isnt playing with them, he is on FullTilt Poker. But, to play poker online (for fun), this game is going to be good. It uses the Xbox360’s Live Vision camera to mask your face onto your character. Seeing the examples they did in front of us, with the right lighting, it looks pretty freakin close. Couple that with the fact that the camera shows you decided what to do with your cards on your turn, makes it very very fun.
This is a fun third person shooter. I spent about 5-10 minutes with the game (finished off the level), to get a feel for it. They are encorporating the cell-shading type graphics. I was talking with the Project Manager for the game, and I was discussing how this was just a fun shooter. It was a very run and gun shooter. If you are looking for a pretty fun game, make sure to check out crackdown.
Fun. Its a simple as that. It is fun and funny. The concept is that you are in a mall and have 72 hrs to complete the objectives, which relates to about 12 hrs in real time. But, this game is a game, like GTA, where you can play just to kill the zombies. You can pick up many objects that can become your weapons, like bowling balls, sickles, dumbells, and much much more. The games finish is depended on what you can complete. You can pick up the demo now on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
I did not play this game at the event because I have been playing the demo that has been available on the Xbox Live Marketplace since earlier this week. The game is similar to Grand Theft Auto, but has its own signiture feel. I haven’t played it enough to make a decision on it though, but make sure you download the demo to get your own impression.
You are still Sam Fisher…but a different Sam Fisher. You are now a rogue agent. The gameplay was very similar to the 3 previous Splinter Cell games, and that is good. The gameplay has been really great across the whole series. The one big different with this game is that there is barely a HUD. It is good, like Fight Night Round 3. It lets you see more of the environment, and just has that “cool” feel about it.
This is another version in the most popular sports franchise to ever hit the gaming world. It has distintive features for the 360 include the mini camp, where you can train your athletes. Check for it in stores soon.
These are two games I did not get to sit down and play. NBA 2k7 (watching and listening to others) was another great iteration in the series. The graphics look a bit more realistic, and the gameplay is still good. The wresting game, looked very well, but not being a wrestling fan, it did not truly interest me. Again, basing it off what I have heard it is a pretty good game.
Finally, you read all that. Wow. What I saw/played was that. You can find my impressions inthis post.
Edit: Fixed some grammar.
Edit 2: Swapped “HUD” in for UI in the description of Splinter Cell Double Agent.
Me, My Blog, Why I haven’t Blogged, and Rock Band
Wow…it has been a WHILE since I have blogged. There are multiple reasons why:
- School just takes up time
- I don't want to blog unless I contribute at least an opinion, or if I give a heads up that not many will see. I am NOT here to post press releases. To me…that is pointless, I'll just head to the gamerscore blog for that.
- I kinda got tired of it. I was at the point where I felt the NEED to blog. It got to the point where I didn't want to. So I didn't.
- Swimming. I swim here at Syracuse. Coming back from practice all tired and such, and then having to do work was…too much.
Do I want to contribute more? Absolutely. Do I hope people at least kept me near the feed list? Yea, I hope they did. So here goes. This is something that has been on my mind since I read about it last week.
Rock Band and Nine Inch Nails: More Content to Come
Be Aware that the videos embedded below may contain profanity. I am 99% sure the profanity will not be in Rock Band.
First off I am a pretty big Nine Inch Nails fan. I own all (need to check that) 5 major releases from 1989's Pretty Hate Machine to 2007's Year Zero (with songs from Broken, The Downward Spiral (full), The Fragile (full), and With Teeth (full)). So to hear that February's OXM has news about a new Nine Inch Nails track pack I was extremely happy. That is probably going to be the first pack for Rock Band that I will purchase. But…I still have issue with the song choice. Note: It is guarenteed that I am buying these tracks the minute they release.
- March of the Pigs: There will need to be alot of vocal editing for this song. Will they utilize a radio-friendly version that may be in existance? I would hope because in the explicit album version there are many foul words. Also, there aren't always heavy instrumentals. Yea, near the end there is but…the song seems a little unbalanced.
- The Collector: This song will probably be good for the average person to like. It has more of a mainstream sound…but isn't that pre-fab Fallout Boy material. My issue is that it kinda lacks guitar. It has a nice base and drum track but the guitar seems stale. It may be different when playing but I feel there are better songs. More on that later. The video will showcase how the song is going to be played. You get a clear view of the drummer (Jerome Dillion) as well as Trent singing and playing guitar, with Aaron North also playing. Playing Bass is Jeordie White (aka Twiggy Ramirez with Marilyn Manson).
- Perfect Drug: This song, I feel, may be the hardest for people to get used to. It has a unique sound, which I like. The song is catchy, im just not sure how it is going to play. It will be a little weird. Take a look at the video to get an understanding.
What I think Should have been included:
- Getting Smaller (With Teeth, 2005) - It is a face paced song with a good balance of guitar, bass and drumming. A good amount of vocals as well. The unofficial video (Fight Club dubbed with "Getting Smaller") can give you an idea as to what the song sounds like).
- Last (Broken, 1992). Overall a good rock song. Again, a good balance of the 4 parts. Video again is unofficial with the song dubbed over. Quality of the video is…meh.
- Head Like a Hole (Pretty Hate Machine, 1989). The Live version would be even better, since the original has a bunch of synths but still a great rock song.
These are just a couple of ideas for me. Hopefully, ill be posting a bit more.
Some little tidbits about the new dash.
If you are on my messenger list, you have have seen me on messenger on my 360. A couple of things I've learned:
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How do I sign in?
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Click the "Chat and IM" button on the Live blade, or hit the guide, and press the "Chat or IM button":
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For first timers, it will list the associated Live ID that you have, and will ask for your password. Follow directions to sign in.
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For people beyond their first time, if you save your password you can just click the "Sign in button".
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How do I prevent the Auto Sign in?
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The option is placed in the same location as the auto sign in with your Xbox Live account. Click on your gamertag, then proceed to "Disable Auto Sign in". There you will see two options, one being for the 360 and one being for your Live ID/Messenger account.
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How do I show all my contacts?
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Proceed to your friends list and press Y. That will show all of your contacts, Xbox Live and Messenger.
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When Contacts are hidden: it will only show your Xbox Live Friends. If your Xbox Live friend has a messenger account, it will show their gamertag and their status (if only on the PC Messenger) as being "On Messenger". Their status (busy, away, online) will be shown next to where it says "On Messenger".
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When contacts are Shown: Contacts and XBL Friends will be shown in an alphabetical order. Online friends/contact will be alphabetical on top, with offline friends/contacts assigned alphabetically below the online friends/contacts. A persson that is not on your XBL friends list (or has a different Live ID with their gamertag), will have their Messenger message where it says their status, with a picture of a PC on the right side.
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How do I start a new conversation?
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Click "Chat and IM" on either the Live blade or the Guide.
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Go to the right tab, labeled "Messenger".
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Click "New Conversation"
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Select the contact you will like to talk to.
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How do I get that cool overlay that I saw with Major Nelson talking to Trixie (as seen below)?
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Since the Text Input Device has not been released as of the release of the dashboard, you are required to use the keyboard. Any USB keyboard will work with the 360.
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You need to start a conversation with a contact.
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Then press "[Windows Key] + M". That will create the new overlay.
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If you have multiple coversations (can have up to 6), "Ctrl + right" will cycle through the conversations.
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You can close the conversations with the ESC button, the Windows Key [acts as the guide button], and "[Windows Key + M"], via the keyboard.
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Does "[Windows Key] + M" do anything else?
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Yes, actually it does. If you do not have any current conversations, "[Windows Key] + M" will get you straight to the messenger area of the 360.
Thats a good amount of info to get you started with the new Xbox 360-Messenger integration. If you would like some more info, please do not hesitate to contact me, send me a live message, or leave a comment.
You guys and girls, will be enjoying the new dash. I am.
Xbox360 news straight out of Germany.
Was reading Trixie’s post about the news out of Germany regarding the Xbox360 and Games for Windows.
Microsoft announced that they will be expanding into Eastern Europe adding 4 countries (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland) this Autumn.
Microsoft also announced pricing and availability of some accessories for your Xbox360 console. Taken from the Press Release:
Xbox Live Vision camera for the Xbox 360 system
Chat via video, send photo messages, put your own face in a game, and customize your gamertag on the Xbox Live network. The camera will be available in the U.S. on Sept 19 and in Europe on Oct 6 in two packages:
- Xbox Live Vision: This package includes Xbox Live Vision camera, one-month Xbox Live Gold Membership, Xbox 360 Headset, and free* downloads of two full-version Xbox Live Arcade games: the popular UNO® card game and TotemBall, the new 3-D platform game from Freeverse and Strange Flavour Ltd. that is a mixture of platform skills and puzzles (estimated retail price (ERP) $39.99 U.S.).
- Xbox Live Video Chat Gold Kit: This package includes the Xbox Live Vision camera, a 12-month Xbox Live Gold Membership, an Xbox 360 Headset, free downloads of three full-version Xbox Live Arcade games—the popular UNO card game, TotemBall and the classicRobotron 2084 action shooter—and 200 Microsoft Points (ERP $79.99 U.S.).
Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel
For true racing enthusiasts who demand unparalleled driving realism at home, this innovatively designed wheel combines form and function with the latest technology in wireless and force feedback. Purchase the wheel and get a limited-edition force feedback version of Project Gotham Racing® 3 while supplies last (ERP $149.99 U.S., available in November).
Xbox 360 Wireless Headset
Providing the ultimate wireless experience, this headset integrates seamlessly with the Xbox 360 console to provide wireless voice chat capabilities, stylish design and superior voice quality over the Xbox Live network (ERP$59.99 U.S.**, available in November).
Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows
By plugging the compact receiver into a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 port on a PC, use Xbox 360 wireless accessories on your Windows-based computer (ERP $19.99 U.S.**, available in late December).
Xbox 360 Faceplates
Customize your consoles with one of three new special-edition faceplates featuring images from your favorite games, including the Halo® franchise,Viva Piñata™, and Forza Motorsport™ 2 (ERP $19.99 U.S.**, available in early November).
Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 releases on September 5!
Just got this from Microsoft:
Microsoft announces the global retail launch of new Xbox Live Arcade compilation for Xbox 360 gamers
Microsoft today announced the worldwide launch of Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1, a new disc compilation of hit Xbox Live Arcade games plus a free 1 month Xbox Live Gold subscription and downloadable Xbox Live Arcade demos. Priced at $39.99 Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 arrives in stores worldwide on September 5, 2006.
Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged provides a taste of the Xbox Live Arcade experience for gamers everywhere, with a great collection of new and original casual games that are fun, engaging and easy to learn and pick up and play.
Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged Volume 1 includes:
· 6 Xbox Live Arcade hit titles:
1. Geometry Wars® Retro Evolved
· One of the most popular games on Xbox Live Arcade, Geometry Wars Retro Evolved is a space shooter with a frenetic, high-definition twist
2. Wik: Fable of Souls™
· Wik’s beautifully mysterious world of fairytale charm unfolds as you swing by your tongue through 120+ single player levels and 7 modes of play, including same-console multiplayer!
3. Outpost Kaloki X™
· Solve challenges, entertain visiting aliens, and rake in the money in Outpost Kaloki X, the light-hearted space station tycoon game
4. Bejeweled® 2 Deluxe
· With awe-inspiring planetary backdrops, explosive new gems and dazzling special effects, Bejeweled 2 is more wildly addictive than ever before!
5. Hardwood Backgammon
· Play a game of classic Backgammon against the computer, against a friend on a single console, or against on online opponent over Xbox Live
6. Texas Hold ‘em
· This poker title simulates the tournament setting right in your home, and with Xbox Live Vision, you’ll feel like you are in Las Vegas
· Free 1 month Xbox Live Gold subscription
· 3 downloadable Xbox Live Arcade demos:
o UNO ®
o Marble Blast® Ultra
o Feeding Frenzy™
With the accompanying free 1 month Xbox Live Gold subscription Xbox Live Unplugged gamers can sample all of the benefits the world’s largest online gaming and entertainment network has to offer. Connect to Xbox Live and join more than 3 million gamers across 24 countries across the globe; enjoy free game demos, movie trailers and music vides and get together with friends to play in fun, new ways.
Check out Xbox Live and Xbox.com for continuing updates on exciting new Xbox Live Arcade content available to Xbox 360 gamers.
My Two Hour Session with Gears of War.
CliffyB was there at the NYC session and that can only mean one thing. Gears of War. I was introduced to CliffyB by Godfree (Gamertagradio.com). We talked with Clif, who is an amazingly down to earth guy, for a couple of mins. He asked if we would like to see the E3 demo that he played. I, obviously, obliged and we sat while he played through the game showcasing alot of the features.
Disclaimer: Couple of things. I work outside alot, so I was fairly tan from that. Couple that with the immense heat inside the studio, and me being irish, I showed up very red. Also, do not take the graphics on the TV as the game, because cameras never do justice.
Now on to the Multiplayer:
Wow. It was that simple. That is the way I felt after I completed the 2 hour session (got about a good 90 minutes of playing in).
To be straight out of the gate, it was only multiplayer (system link) on 1 level. But damn, this level was BEAUTIFUL. I believe they called it Mansion. We had a 4v4 session of the multiplayer game from 4pm-6pm.
Ok, not to the actual gameplay. It freakin ROCKED. Heres a little list:
- You can easily cycle your weapons with the D-Pad. We had a pistol (down), the assault rifle/chainsaw (right), smoke grenade (up) and the shotgun (left).
- Get close to a wall and press A You will slam into coverage.
- The Roddy Run Rocks! You can hold down A, you guy crouches and begins to run. The camera changes to a different view, regarded to by CliffyB as “the CNN Camera view”. It really does look like a journalist running behind your character, as it is off center (to the right) and shakes as you run.
- If you run towards a wall during your Roddy Run, keep holding A, and you will slam into coverage.
- While in coverage:
- If you hold the right trigger to shoot your weapon you will shoot while staying in coverage. It lacks accuracy, but you can control the direction they spray.
- If you hold down the left trigger, you will go into a zoomed 3rd persion view. It gives you the accuracy, but takes away from your coverage.
- If you are at a corner, you can lean your guy. Again, just pressing the right trigger shoots, but holding the left will give you the accuracy.
- If you hold the right trigger to shoot your weapon you will shoot while staying in coverage. It lacks accuracy, but you can control the direction they spray.
- You can revive your teammates. If your teammate goes down (and are still on their knees), and are not officially dead, you will see a red circle with a way point. It will direct you in the direction of your teammate. If the circle becomes 100% filled with red, your teammate dies. This could be from you taking too long, or the enemies finishing them off. If you are to get there in time, just run up and press “X” and you will revive them. My team was pretty good at that.
We were setup to play 4v4 matches. I forgot the game type, but everyone had 1 life, and the remaining team one. It was up to 9 rounds, with it going to the first to 5. After struggling at first, my side made a run and won a couple of games. We went into a funk again, until later in the session. I moved over to a different 360. Godfree and S4Lee joined my team, and we went on a run of atleast 4 consecutive wins. We were so good, that at points, the other team didn’t even kill us.
One of the rounds that we won 5-0, the other team had 2 total kills. It was great. In the game, CliffyB decided to join for 2 of the rounds. On the first round, I was shooting a man atop the staircase (actually situated in the center oval, between the 2 staircases), and I heard CliffyB yelling for help. I was poking out of coverage and shooting him. It gave me the kill, and I then turned and looked, and CliffyB has just died. I killed the man at his own game. It was the highlight of my session.
Overall, this game will be amazing. It will have a big battle to fight, not just again the locust, but agaist the PS3 this coming November 12th.
CliffyB is into posing for images now. We all said “OK”.
Xbox360’s Holiday 06 Unwrapped
Microsoft held an event here in NYC the past 2 days (August 2nd and 3rd). It was a showcase for the games that will be selling before or during the holiday season.
I took the railroad into the City and headed over to the place where the event was held. It was held in a studio in Manhatten. I got up there and met my MVP and Xbox’s Online PR Community Manager, Tony Hynes (aka Bastelyon). He gave Godfree, DirtyDiva, S4Lee and I the rundown of the event. They were going to showcase some Games for Windows, and Xbox360 games. For the Xbox360 games (Sorry if I missed one), they had:
- Test Drive Unlimited (There should be a 2nd demo)
- Tony Hawk’s Project 8
- World Series Poker: Tournament of Champions
- Crackdown
- Dead Rising
- Saint’s Row
- Splinter Cell: Double Agent
- Madden NFL 2007
- NBA 2k7
- Smackdown vs Raw
- Gears of War
I am pretty excited about this game. I love racers, and what they are offering is pretty amazing. I was told that the game (with in game and post release download content) will feature 45 different manufactuers totalling 150 cars and bikes. With that you have the seamless play from Single player to Multiplayer. Ooo, take a left there and go to MP rounds, or take a right and continue with single player. It is definetly an awesome system they have with “M.O.O.R” (Massive Open Online Racer). I was talking to the game representative there, and talked about how sweet MOOR is. He then instructed me to drive through these different paths just to see how stunning the environment is. Yes, it is stunning.
We all know the Tony Hawk series, and we are now on the 8th iteration of the game (I didnt even realise). What initially caught my eye was just how good this game looked. So, I sat down and decided to see whats up. After the rep gave me a run through with the game, showcasing the cool new features, I gave it a little try. Simply, it plays just as well as any Tony hawk game has ever played. A is your Olly, B is your grab tricks, X are your flip tricks and Y is for your grinds. A new feature (if I remember correct), was called “Hit the Trick”. As you Olly, you click one or both of the tricks (sorry cant remember), and it goes into a zoomed mode of your board, where you control your right and left left with the joysticks, respectivly. It is a little difficult at first, but when you get it, it is definetly something cool. You can also go into “focus” mode, at any time in the game, when you click the right joystick. It slows the game down for you to nail everything.
Now for terms of story. There was always “do this trick” and “do that trick”. But, now they all have levels. Lets give an example. You have to grind this rail to complete the objective. BUT, there are now 3 levels, Amateur (ama), Professional (pro) and sick. To achieve th ama status you have to grind 25 feet, the pro you have to grind 50 and the sick level, you have to grind 100 feet. It is definetly a cool system, and he said that for “sick”, they wanted to make it hard so it lived up to its name. This new system is definetly cool and a great addition to one of the top 5 best selling franchises of all time.
World Series Poker: Tournament of Champions (Xbox360
I am not going to lie, I am not an avid poker player. I play with buddies, and in a friendly tournament every once in a while, but I am in no way close to my brother. He plays multiple times a week with his friends and if he isnt playing with them, he is on FullTilt Poker. But, to play poker online (for fun), this game is going to be good. It uses the Xbox360’s Live Vision camera to mask your face onto your character. Seeing the examples they did in front of us, with the right lighting, it looks pretty freakin close. Couple that with the fact that the camera shows you decided what to do with your cards on your turn, makes it very very fun.
This is a fun third person shooter. I spent about 5-10 minutes with the game (finished off the level), to get a feel for it. They are encorporating the cell-shading type graphics. I was talking with the Project Manager for the game, and I was discussing how this was just a fun shooter. It was a very run and gun shooter. If you are looking for a pretty fun game, make sure to check out crackdown.
Fun. Its a simple as that. It is fun and funny. The concept is that you are in a mall and have 72 hrs to complete the objectives, which relates to about 12 hrs in real time. But, this game is a game, like GTA, where you can play just to kill the zombies. You can pick up many objects that can become your weapons, like bowling balls, sickles, dumbells, and much much more. The games finish is depended on what you can complete. You can pick up the demo now on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
I did not play this game at the event because I have been playing the demo that has been available on the Xbox Live Marketplace since earlier this week. The game is similar to Grand Theft Auto, but has its own signiture feel. I haven’t played it enough to make a decision on it though, but make sure you download the demo to get your own impression.
You are still Sam Fisher…but a different Sam Fisher. You are now a rogue agent. The gameplay was very similar to the 3 previous Splinter Cell games, and that is good. The gameplay has been really great across the whole series. The one big different with this game is that there is barely a HUD. It is good, like Fight Night Round 3. It lets you see more of the environment, and just has that “cool” feel about it.
This is another version in the most popular sports franchise to ever hit the gaming world. It has distintive features for the 360 include the mini camp, where you can train your athletes. Check for it in stores soon.
These are two games I did not get to sit down and play. NBA 2k7 (watching and listening to others) was another great iteration in the series. The graphics look a bit more realistic, and the gameplay is still good. The wresting game, looked very well, but not being a wrestling fan, it did not truly interest me. Again, basing it off what I have heard it is a pretty good game.
Finally, you read all that. Wow. What I saw/played was that. You can find my impressions inthis post.
Edit: Fixed some grammar.
Edit 2: Swapped “HUD” in for UI in the description of Splinter Cell Double Agent.
Backward compatibility update…Come on (and) down(load)!
*Cue Price is Right Music*
The Backwards compatibility update includes not 1…but 21 titles that everyone will see. But wait…theres more! For those gamers in Japan, there is an extra bonus of 6 extra games!
*End Price is Right Music*
Peter Moore promised it, and here it is.
June 2006 Back Compat titles added:
1. 4×4 EVO 2
2. Amped® 2
3. Bad Boys 2
4. Big Mutha Truckers
5. DOOM 3®
6. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
7. Fatal Frame™
8. FlatOut™
9. Grabbed by the Ghoulies™
10. Intellivision Lives
11. LEGO® Star Wars®
12. Minority Report
13. MLB SlugFest 20-04
14. The Punisher™
15. RalliSport Challenge
16. Silent Hill® 4: The Room
17. Spawn® Armageddon
18. Spider-Man
19. Star Wars Battlefront™
20. State of Emergency
21. Zapper™
Additional Japanese-only titles:
Bistro Cupid 1
Flight Academy
Othello Seminar
Igo Seminar
Shogi Seminar
Mahjong Seminar
Thanks you to Major Nelson for the list. You can find his full post here.
Top 10 Best Selling Games
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