Halobox 360

Halo, on Xbox 360

2011-11-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

The Halo: Combat Evolved return and debut. It seems that this is going to be executed properly in that the game is true to the original and that the multiplayer maps are playable (with purchase) through Halo Reach. I am looking forward to the overpowered pistol and the real-time graphics swapping promised.

2001

2011

Other than that I hope to actually get back into playing some kind of Halo game.

Halo: Reach Limited Edition

2010-09-15T01:17:00.000-07:00

My first unboxing video. Don't worry, I did not review every single item in the box. It would have take for ever!

Halo 3

2009-02-22T22:13:00.000-08:00

This weekend and recently (since finishing Gears of War on Normal) I have been playing some Halo 3 matchmaking. It's fun in short bursts and I care not for the ranking system right now (it's good, just not in my interests). I am poised to get the Seven on the 7th achievement now. That is all.

Halo 3

2008-09-23T12:25:00.000-07:00

New maps, free maps, auto-update with new Achievements . . . so many cool and interesting things I just have to post.

That is all.

Free on XBLA: Undertow

2008-01-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

I'm posting, not to share this news, but to reflect on myself. Usually I send a message to all my friends on XBL to tell them about limited-period free stuff. This time, I heard about Xbox and it's penance to gamers who experienced a slowdown of service late in December and their promise of a free Arcade game. I posted at bungie.net about the gratuity of this game, but I didn't tell my friends.

This comes after the holiday season when so many friends wrote to wish me a Merry Christmas or Happy New Year. Usually I'm the one to send such messages. I loved getting these, and I saw why I sent them. It's great to receive well-wishing. It's great to receive news of something free that would normally cost your well-earned money.

I have until Sunday to spread the word. Let's hope no one misses out. Happy 2008!

Zune Social Card

2007-12-13T22:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a new feature of the new Social. This came after some downtime on the zune.net site.

Three to Four Weeks

2007-11-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

I called Xbox Support to report my hardware failure, and it sounds like I won't have my 360 working for about a month. Let's hope for a Christmas miracle that I get the thing back before the final holidays.

Boo! Ring of Death :(

2007-11-15T23:22:00.000-08:00

Just shy of two years since purchase, I have received the infamous three red lights. Crap. I just bought Guitar Hero 3 and rented Bioshock. Let's hope for the best.

Old Zune is Still New Zune to Me

2007-11-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

I was looking at getting a new mp3 player and came across this at costco.com

It's 30GB for $120 after tax and shipping. And it's supported by my Xbox 360. The content service even uses Microsoft Points for music purchasing. There is also some cross-over with my XBL friends list since the Zune Social site just launched. It appears that none of my friends have participated and shared any activity yet. I doubt any own a Zune. So it is clear that the Zune Social has a friends list so you can share your listening activity with your friends if you don't feel like sharing with the public. Ok, but as you know there is a 100 friend limit on XBL, so you can't have more than 100 friends between the two services. Lame, and I hear that the issue has been addressed. I also heard in the same discussion that most people don't have that many friends. The average is between 20 and 25. I have about 70, but anyone who is any kind of personality rides the 100 mark all the time and has to maintain their list.

I' not worried about these 100-frienders, but I do see a potential problem of the social aspect of Zune taking off but stalling because users can't add persons of interest to Zune friends. Maybe I want to see what XYZ musician plays and he only shares with friends or that the only way I can note his profile is to Add to Favorites. How archaic. Personally, especially now that I've thought about it, it doesn't seem like a very big deal, but a lot of people go crazy about these things.

Aside from Social, the Zune seems to be a very fine product. The interface is intuitive, although people complain about it because it's not iTunes. Hello? I have tried using iTunes for music organization and playing and I still can't figure out an easy way to rip, burn, or set music in a playlist. These tasks all seem to take one or two steps extra to complete and I usually have to re-figure out how to do them every time. Windows Media player is a bit messy, but at least what you need is easy to get to and there is quite a bit of freedom in organization. The Zune application is very clean, provides a lot of information and management options, and I had pretty much everything figured out in a short amount of time. I ripped CDs, set them up for syncing, browsed my content quickly enough to decide what I wanted on the player, set up podcast subscriptions with realistic download and syncing options, and perused the Marketplace. If I want to see what in my collection has been synced, or if I want to look at the content on the Zune, it's all easy on the brain and the eyes.

I don't care for the button-mashing navigation on the player, but that issue was addressed and corrected with the new models. I have to live with the old buttons, but I did get the new user interface that comes with the new models, thank you very much. The final caveat I might need to face is the DRM limitations the Internet is complaining about. I don't usually but music online, so I can't relate. As long as my 2000 songs play, I'm happy.

Here I am: http://social.zune.net/member/PWKWSFI

XBL Freeness

2007-11-13T12:14:00.000-08:00

In celebration of five years of Xbox LIVE service, Microsoft is handing out a free copy of Carcassonne (I need to look that one up, but I just heard something about it last night on some history show about Medieval France) to all XBL users. Note that South Korea users will get Hexic 2 instead.

Additionally, pre-register, then play online on the 15th to win prizes.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/events/liveis5ive/playandwin/default.htm

If you managed to be a member since XBL launched in 2002, you will also get 500 MS Points just because.

Sweet.

Microsoft Points

2007-11-06T11:11:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about all the MS Points I've spent in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and realized that I didn't pay for a lot of those points. I usually get the 1600-point cards at the store. Only once did I pay through my Xbox for points.

The first card I got was a gift for Christmas, just after the Xbox 360 launched. Cool. Then I found some cards at Target for only $14 instead of $20. I gave one away and used the other one or two (I forgot). The next Christmas rolls around and I get another card, only this card was one that managed to get out the door without costing the purchaser (honest mistake from what I heard). Recently, I ordered Halo 3 and a 1600-point card with a $15 discount when purchased together. I had some issues with a scratched disc and ended up walking away with a free card. Sweet.

I have also paid less than necessary for Xbox LIVE. I got my first year through Costco at a discount. My second year I used a 12+1 card I bought for $40 instead of $50. I then added about six months using several one-month cards I found. Honestly, I think $50 a year to access XBL is reasonable, but a lot of kids think it should be free. Oh well. I think I'd rather have free MS Points.

Halo 3

2007-10-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

Well. This game has kept me busy. It started with my pre-order at BestBuy.com. I ordered the Limited Edition and at 1600-point MS Points card at a discount ($5 instead of $20). I got my game on the day after launch and found the game disc was scuffed up as I expected from the internet noise. Additionally, the metal case was buckled along the edges and the platic sleeve was hard to remove. I took the game to a local Best buy store and tried to exchange it all. The customer service guy was helpful, but had a hard time since all his LE copies were scratched. He opened about 20 LE cases and they were all scratched to some degree. I took the one that was the least flawed. The other issue was that in order to exchange, I had to return my mail ordered copy and re-purchase a store copy, but my MS Points discount was lost on the return. After about half an hour of manager input and my pleading, I got the full refund on the order and left with free MS points. Sweet.

So. The campaign is awesome. I am playing Solo on Heroic, and Legendary with some friends in co-op, which is not too hard compared to the former. I like having all the Achievement options with skulls and medals, because otherwise I would not bother with them. I'm having a lot of fun, with campaign and with multiplayer. Bungie managed to fix the issues with Halo 2 and expanded the breadth of skills and strategies required to progress in MP. I love the shared screens/clips/maps/etc. options. In Halo 2 I would have had to explain my awesome kills and really no one cared and if anyone wanted to share maps settings and game options, I had to set it up myself. Now anything is provable, and I can download anyone's creation.

One other good thing about Halo 3 is that many of my friends are back online and willing to play that same game as me. Before H3, everyone played different games and didn't care to team up too often. Now, everyone's on at some time of the day and I'm making new friends.

I'm not nearly as active on bungie.net as I used to be. However, if I were, I could make some Halo 3 friends there, then have a better chance of getting the b.net-only medal Linktaclular. I like the ability to track my MP medals on B.net too.

What else? Forge is cool, but I haven't tried much with it yet. Customs games are in the same boat, mostly because I'm having fun ranking up and completing the campaign. Hopefully new maps will be available before next summer.

Check me out at Bungie.net

Your Order has Shipped

2007-09-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

Or at least been picked up by UPS, who will then route the thing through the USPS. Hopefully I'll see it Monday when I get home from work. But there will be no time to play because I have mad planz. Sweet. (Checkout the xbox.com site for launch party details.)

First to Play Halo 3 contest

2007-09-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Cool. I kinda won something.

Congratulations, you were one of the fastest to complete the objective. Your reward: The chance to be one of the first to play Halo® 3. You will need to bring a printed version of this page along with a valid ID for a chance to gain access to the Halo 3 First To Play event at San Francisco. Doors will open at 9pm on September 11, 2007.Invitations are non-transferable NO TRANSPORTATION TO EVENT WILL BE PROVIDED BY SPONSOR. All expenses in connection with the event, other than as specifically set forth herein, are the sole responsibility of the invitation recipient. Invitations may only be used once.Receiving an invitation does not guarantee you entry into the event. There are more invitations being made available than there are seats in the event. 2,500 invitations will be distributed per event, and a maximum of 200 ticket holders and their guests will be granted access into the live event. Entry to the event will be on a first come first served basis, for valid invitation holder (and guest) only. Guest of invitation recipient must be 18 years of age or older.

Thanks, Pontiac. Too bad I don't live near SF.

explanation: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/818/818479p1.html

Halo3.com Monitor

2007-08-05T00:40:00.000-07:00

Free 1600 MS Points with Guitar Hero II

2007-08-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

Order GH2 and get a free 1600 MS Points card for free. The discount is taken off the GH2 game and the card is automatically added to your shopping cart when you add the game. Shipping is free either by rebate or by using in-store pickup.

Check out CircuitCity.com before August 16th for this deal. I ordered yesterday after close of business and can go pick up today. Cool for me!

Excited about the Xbox again

2007-07-11T12:21:00.000-07:00

Since I got back into the workforce I have not had the time or enthusiasm I had before for gaming and news about games and the Xbox. I tried as much as I could to follow news about Halo 3 and the Beta, but I didn't get as involved as I would have given more personal free time like I had several months ago.

Things are changing, however, and it's not that my employment status changed. The annual E3 conference is now in session, in nearby Santa Monica. In a single evening there has been a big plop and splash of news and content related to Halo 3 and Halo Wars and even the Halo Xbox (it's Army green, eew).

I downloaded what I could this morning so I could watch it tonight. I grabbed an audio broadcast of the Major Nelson site to listen to at the gym. There will surely be more candy for me when I get home too. I wonder how the E3 pics & theme look. Probably not as good as the Bungie content release on Bungie Day. The last thing to mention it the non-Wednesday arrival of two XBLA titles: Golden Axe and Sonic the Hedgehog. Cool.

So, now that Bungie have opened their feedvalve (I'm not going to say food nipple) from a mere crack to a steady flow, I'm finding myself a little more engaged in gaming news. I recently bought Guitar Hero II, and playing such a fun game and getting some fresh Achievements is helping the situation. Hopefully I'll get some inspiration for good ranting here in the near future.

Buy H2V, get Shadowrun free (or visa versa)

2007-06-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

I don't understand it, but it's a good deal. Sunday's Circuit City ad listed this special and I wish I already bought Vista. (Ok, I get it now.) Go to the store and get the two games for about $40. Crazy.

Halo 2, now with achievements! (but not for me)

2007-06-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

http://notastute.com/2007/06/08/halo-2-now-with-achievements/

Someone on my friends list finally got Halo 2 Vista and gets Achievements and I'm green. I'm happy for him anyway. Let's see if he will give me some time on his PC so I can get in on the Unlockable fun.

That Makes Two Golden Tickets

2007-05-16T05:36:00.000-07:00

Extra Friends and Family Invite to Halo 3 Beta

I got an e-mail early this morning that looks identical to the PM sent to me at bungie.net that provided a code to download the Beta. However, this e-mail included a new code. The first I assume was intended for my Bnet profile, and the second I think is for my gamertag. Or maybe I'm supposed to share it with friends and family.

Anyway, if you are reading this and want to play the Beta without buying the Crackdown game and you couldn't get into the Beta test any other way, let me know. Leave a comment on this blog and send me a friend request (click here and I will make an effort to play with you). Remember, you have to have a Gold XBL membership to participate. If I don't respond, that means someone already got my code. (Update: Sorry, the code has been given away. Thanks for visiting!)

In other news, Bungie announced the release date for Halo 3. Tuesday the gaming site Kotaku announced the date as a rumor, but later Bungie confirmed the date. Very exciting times for Halo fans. Now is the time to buy a 360, for those of you who have been holding out for either Halo 3 or the price drop that never happened.

The Halo 3 Public Beta begins

2007-05-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

This post is overdue: I should have posted Friday night, when I got my invitation to play the Beta a few days earlier than most other people. Bungie's Friends and Family program allowed some active Bungie.net members and some other notable figures to enter a code at the Xbox 360 Dashboard then download the Beta Demo on Friday instead of Tuesday night.

I do log in to Bnet just about every day, I am a member in a few active Groups, I have my own Group as you probably noticed, and I also got into the Beta through the "Rule of Three" option instead of the Crackdown menu download. So I feel that I deserved the special treatment, except that I now do not have the time to play that I want. I played about five matches so far, so some might think it was a waste to give me a F+F code.

I heard that some people tried to sell their codes, and that one was on eBay going for $750+. It would be cheaper to find a friend on XBL who got a code, take a couple of days off from work, and travel to that friend's home to play the Beta. I can think of other alternatives, but it is pointless to try to talk sensibly to these people.

So far I have about six or seven friends who got F+F access. I expect at least ten more to play the Beta, but send me a FR if you want to play this weekend. Parties make the matchmaking process faster and the gameplay more fun.

The H3 Demo is fun. It has a Halo: Combat Evolved feel to it but with a larger armory. It looks and plays like Halo, but has been tweaked enough to make it a new experience. The pregame/postgame is beautiful, smart, and stylish (and responds to my every touch). Someone at IGN called the matchmaking process "eHarmony for crazy people." I like that. See for yourself when the Public Beta goes live this week.

Private Groups are back at Bungie.net

2007-05-04T05:43:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's been so long, but Halo on Xbox 360 is back. Too bad all the threads are old and therefore locked. I'll see if it's worth keeping the Group busy now. I had been looking into other chapters that were far more active.

Anyway, I don't have so much free time anymore so I'm going to take my time getting back into some kind of Bnet routine of reading new or interesting threads in four different Groups.

http://www.bungie.net/fanclub/halox360/Group/GroupHome.aspx

Some Halo 3 Beta footage

2007-04-23T21:37:00.000-07:00

It's a familiar Halo 2 map, but more lush and with some extra spaces and emplacements. It's obvious that the player is trying to showcase some new features for the viewer.

Thanks to Link62 for bringing this to my attention. By the way, I have Beta access, so look for me in a few weeks.

I'm going to put my comments down here so I don't ruin any surprises.

First of all, it's clear that Bungie took Zanzibar and made it a bigger map. The generator room is huge compared to its original version, and there are extra spaces (like under Frohman) and catwalks. At the beack, there is some extra growth and construction, and even better one of the Ghosts has been replaced with two Mongooses. This might come in handy for Big Team matches to get more players to the inner base quicker. The Bubble Shield makes an appearance, and the player shows that it can be bumped around after deployment.

In the pre-game lobby, we see that there is a veto system, as opposed to a ready system. I hope this will prevent a single annoying party member from halting the countdown. It looks like this match has been set up as a LAN or Custom game and not a Matchmaking game because if the veto message, but then again the game type is called Team Skirmish. This is even better because it should reduce the potential for parties to immediately back out after the match has started on the basis that they don't like the map or people in the opposing party, or when the party gets split up. However a majority is required to back out of the match, so not I am not sure if that is how it works. Even if a four-person party vetoes, the game would continue.

Pregame lobby player stats are available, and it appears that there is a military-style ranking system. Gameplay looks about the same, and I'm not going to comment scene-for-scene, but I do think the maps looks more alive now as "Last Resort" and I'm excited about playing it, even though I don't like Zanzibar.

Rewards Challenge Complete

2007-04-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it, and I only used King Kong for the last 380 points. How do I feel? Relieved, only because I was afraid I would get close and not make it for some reason, and that I should never had made any effort. But I'm glad I did. Now I have the nifty Old Spice logo as my Gamerpic and a copy of Contra to play with. I hope the cheat code works.

So, I am close to hitting 5000 Gamerscore (I am at 4720 at the time of writing this post), which means I could have achieved the Level 2 status on my own. Completing the Challenge gave me an automatic upgrade, but now I wonder if I had passed 5000 points then submitted my completion of the Challenge if I would have made it to Level 3. That means I would have earned 100 MS Points to play with and a different gamerpic. Maybe not. I can't worry about something so trivial, but I've come this far in my little obsession.

Anyway, at least I can say, "I did it!"
And you can say, "did what?"

Blastacular! The new Halo 2 maps.

2007-04-17T04:22:00.000-07:00

What an ordeal it was for me to download these guys to my 360!

At 2AM PDT, I went through the Halo 2 download area and looked for the new content and didn't find it. Fine, this happens, sometimes content will "roll out" to ease the load on servers. Between attemps to find the new maps I went to Bungie.net and checked the Major Nelson Blog for any extra information. There was quite a bit of whining at Bnet, but there were some interesting suggestions about adjusting the time zone on the 360 so that the new map pack would appear if it hadn't already. I tried this, but nothing changed.

Eventually I moved the 360 away from my LCD via VGA cable to the tube with the RCA cables, because there was a known issue with VGA cables and the PAL format, even though this didn't fully apply to me. I tried downloading to my old Xbox, but I was getting "Technical DIfficulties" messages when trying to access my account info from the dashboard. Huh.

After a while the content appeared for download. Yay. But when I tried to buy the maps I got a message that my account was not set up to purchase Premium Content. Yeah right, I know better that it is. I got frustrated about this one and poked around with the old Xbox some more until I got the idea to see if my derelict accounts on the 360 would work. "Aha, let's try that Silver account. If it works, I should be able to use the maps with my primary Gold account, no worries. If not, then oh well." So, I wasn't able to download (using Monkey Trumpets), although I actually had the option to try and fail and get told that I wouldn't be charged. But, I tried again with my main account (PWKWSFI) and what do you know? It worked. Yay. $4 and two hours well spent.

How are the new maps? Tombstone is sweet (because Hang 'em High was sweet), but there is more. It looks and feels like an old-school Quake map, except you move slower. I ran around the map for ten minutes, found areas that even felt like "hidden areas" and spotted an Easter Egg that had been mentioned at the Bnet forums. I can't wait to play this, especially since I never played anything other than one-on-one with this map in the original Halo.

The other map, Desolation, is based on a forgettable map, since I can't really remember playing the original Derelict. It kinda reminds me of Prisoner, maybe. Mostly it looks like Midship and Foundation had a baby and named it Warlock. The map is tiny, but has overshields and rockets and more, not to mention opposing (though divided) gravapults. I'm not as excited about this map, but it will still be fun on Live.

Congratulations if you got these loaded on your 360. Remember that these maps won't be available in Matchmaking right away, so you will have to set up custom games for a week or so to play with them.

As for the purchase and download issues, I expect Bungie to offer guidance or a fix sometime Tuesday proper (not right now at 5AM).

Important update: it appears I circumvented billing with my "fix" and now Bungie is saying that if anyone tries this as of April 27, they will be prevented from ever downloading the new content, so be careful and stick to the normal process, which should work now.

Dashboard Update Details

2007-04-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

I was going to describe the updates due the week of May 7, but instead I found a video that demonstrates the updates. Show, don't tell. It's pretty cool, and shows the new controller keypad add-on and how Windows LIVE is integrated into the Dashboard. You will have access to XBL Friends and Messenger Friends, all from the Dashboard or through the Guide as you watch movies or play games. Your presence will be handled separately between the two services, so you can appear online to XBL friends, but offline to your Messenger contacts, for example.

Marketplace will finally get its own blade (instead of spanning two different blades), and XBLA games will have more delivery options, including power-down after downloads have completed. Also, Achievement notifications will be more detailed. Hopefully this will keep me from hitting the Guide button everytime I unlock something. There are some other nice touches made here and there, but see for yourself.

Ok, here's the video.

April Fool's Day, or not?

2007-04-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

I got wise this year and set out to find hoaxes on my favorite web sites this year, because I knew they would be there. Bungie.net usually has a Pimps at Sea story, and other sites have joke news stories. There were a couple that might have been jokes but weren't.

Rooster Teeth announced on April 1 that its Red vs. Blue series is winding down and will conclude at the 100th episode. I was surprised to hear this, but I did catch the detail that it's The Blood Gulch Chronicles that is ending. So, there will probably be something else made from the Halo games. Maybe they are waiting for Halo 3, or even just the multiplayer Beta to start something a little different. Looking at the announcement thread, I can see how supportive the RvB community is because no one tried to claim this was an April Fool's day hoax.

The Friday before April 1, Bungie announced and identified their two new H2 maps. Yes, only two, and available to everyone, not just 360 owners. This means no Achievements as I had hoped. You can't even buy it through Marketplace. One week later, Bungie announced that H2 statistics will be reset. Wow. This was pretty necessary the last time when cheating was such a huge issue and there were nine new maps to play with. This time there will be an update to deal with cheaters and that will tell Halo that there are new maps on the hard drive. And of course rankings will be reset, which is like instatnt de-leveling for some people. I was a little delevel-curious, and now I get to see how fast I can rank up.

On April 1, HBO posted several bogus new stories, some about ridiculous versions of H3 and the Xbox 360. If you visit this teamxbox.com page you will learn about the 360 Brute edition, and find more silliness at the bottom of the page. I found another product this week at xbox.com that looks like a joke, but isn't. It's a QWERTY keypad for the 360 controller to support instant messaging via Live Messenger. I know that messenger worked through Media Center if you had the patience for the virtual keyboard, or a USB keyboard handy. Soon we can IM through the Dashboard, yay.

That last item could put me on a tangent to talk about the next Dashboard Update, but I'll save that for later.

Xbox 360 > Apple TV (AP Report)

2007-04-05T03:16:00.000-07:00

In an AP Technology review of the new Apple TV, the reviewer compares the device to the 360 and it's Media Center features. Kudos. But he also faults the Xbox for costing far more than the Apple TV without acknowledging the fact that the Xbox is also a current-gen gaming console. The Xbox also has a large amount of processing capability, which is why it has a power brick instead of a wall-wart. He writes:

I compared the Apple TV to Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 game console, which can more or less do the same things, acting like a bridge between a Windows computer and an HDTV set. After having my eyes gently caressed by the Apple TV's menus, the Xbox interface is like a slap in the face. It's garish and confusing, and you have to press more buttons to get where you want to go.

But the Xbox does your HDTV justice. Microsoft's Xbox Live marketplace
has some movies in HD, and these look absolutely stunning — better than most
broadcast HD, and almost indistinguishable from HD DVD or Blu-ray discs, which
provide the best video quality available to consumers right now.
Even the standard-definition fare on Xbox Live looks much better than iTunes movies, despite nominally being the same resolution. They look almost as good as
DVDs.

Xbox Live has two other advantages: the movies are downloaded straight
to your Xbox hard drive, with no need to go through the computer, and you rent
the movies for around $3, which is a lot cheaper than buying.
This is not to say that you should rush out and buy a $400 Xbox for use as a movie player. It doesn't connect wirelessly to your computer, nor does it include a video-style remote. Both these omissions can be remedied with some extra purchases, but
they'll push the cost closer to $500.
The Xbox hard drive is half as large as the Apple TV's, though that's less of an issue when you rent movies than buying them. (There's a $480 Xbox on the way with a 120-gig drive.) The movies can be watched only on the Xbox, while Apple's movies can be viewed on a computer or iPod screen as well. You only get 24 hours to watch an Xbox movie, which seems unnecessarily harsh.
The Xbox is also a bit of a brute compared to the Apple TV. It's noisy, and its power adapter really deserves being called a "brick" — it's as large as the whole Apple TV, which doesn't have a brick of its own. So neither solution is perfect, but I far preferred the Xbox. I didn't spend thousands of dollars on an HDTV to play substandard video on it, and I'm sure any new HDTV owner will sympathize.

Link to original story

Tetris Evolution Game Review

2007-03-29T23:03:00.000-07:00

Finally, a Tetris game for the 360, but it isn't on XBLA. It retails for $30 US and it might be worth about that much. Tetris is Tetris, but I had fun exploring the newer gameplay options that have evolved over the years since Tetris on the NES and GameBoy, or from the PC version seen in Office Space.

This was a bit of a blind purchase for me, because there were very few preview articles and no review articles for the title the week it launched. I did have a $20 gift card handy, so I felt I could afford the risk of buying a classic game for a current-gen console.

I'll talk about presentation, gameplay, and online play. And don't forget about Achievements.

Presentation
The first thing I noticed was the graphics (remember, I'm still thinking about the NES version). You can set up backgrounds and music before starting a game, however, the scenery stays with the one setting until you go back and change it, no matter how long you play. The video backgrounds are decent, but I would like to see some cycling or something. It's not a big deal: just find what you can look at for an hour and set up a custom soundtrack. Something else worth noting here is that you can set up some hand-holding with ghosts and the grid, but you can't toggle them on or off in-game. Overall, the game is easy on the eyes and the enhancements do not distract from your ability to play.

Gameplay
Tetris Evolulution supports 1-4 players (locally or on XBL) and contains several gametypes, which are described in the manual. What is Race? RTFM. What is Eraser? RTFM. What are Cascade, Hotline, Go-Low? I'm sorry, but if you are not up to date on the game types, you will need the manual to explain the game and how to strategize. The manual even includes a brief glossary for us modern Tetris noobs. I found myself looking to the manual even after reviewing the Achievements list. For extra help and clarification visit the Tetris Wiki (http://www.tetrisconcept.com/tetriswiki/Main_Page).

Basically, you need play until the screen (matrix) fills up and you can't play anymore, or you play within a time limit or score limit or line limit, with variations. You control the pieces(formally tetriminos, or just minos) with the left stick or D-pad and rotate with A or B buttons. There is some griping out there about the soft, unresponsive D-pad on the 360 controller, but it did not bother me. My right thumb gave out before the left one could get sore. There is also the handy feature of "holding" a mino. This is the answer to all those times you muttered "if I only had the long piece about now!" over and over. Well, you can hold the / or any other mino and swap it into play later. Thank you, whichever developer who added the feature.

Of course, in multiplayer mode, you still have the option to send lines over to your adversaries when clearing multiple lines. In set up, you can select to screw everyone, the player to one side or the other, or no one at all. Get a few tetrises back to back and you win! Unless you set up independent play, then no one wins but everyone gets to play until the last loser quits. There seems to be a lot of mercy built into this version of Tetris.

Online Play
You can play with strangers or friends over XBL. So far I have only run into Tetris freaks who hard drop every mino and block out my screen by the time I get my first tetris. Also, these hosts are all impatient and won't wait for more than two players per game. So, my rank is horrible so far. I'm still confused about setting up games. The online set up options are more limited than the local MP set up. I feel like I'm missing something here.

The game has leaderboards, but I can't find the option to filter scores so that only my friends show. I don't really care about the scores of people in my rank or who are in the top ten. I want to see my friends, and if I get good, be able to brag to a few of them.

Achievements
The list seems solid for this type of game: there are milestones set for various gametypes to motivate you to play something other than Marathon mode. Several of these are easy (I earned 115 points the first day I played the game, 30 the next day. See my gamercard here and look for the Tetris notes). The rest are a little harder without being too ridiculous, but will definitely require some skill.

Wrap-up
Upon concluding this review, I think that this is a solid, respectful game production, even if it feels a bit cheap at times, which it is. The Achievements are very motivating in improving your skill and experiencing the different game types (I liked Collapse because it reminded me of Dr Mario). The game would probably have made an excellent XBLA title. If THQ removed the high-res backdrops (static and video images) to downsize the game this would have worked out. While I was playing the game, a friend sent me a message asking how I got the game and that he couldn't find it in the Arcade. Hah. I did my research ahead of time, fortunately. FYI, Best Buy had the game in stock, and had several copies. Best Buy and Circiut City had the game available for online orders too. It looks like THQ is expecting the game to sell well, despite the lack of hype and reviews from gaming news sources, and especially from Xbox.com. Seriously, this game isn't even listed in the Catalog yet.

Tetris fans: buy it. Everybody else: play some older version free from the Internet (you find it yourself).

Frustration

2007-03-25T03:55:00.000-07:00

As if my Gamerscore didn't meant much to begin with, I found that my extra efforts to boost my score for The Old Spice Experience Challenge were for naught. I thought I had registered for the promotion in February, but after checking the site again to see if I could monitor my progress, I learned I had not registered. DohRLY?

My Score is at 3100 now, and at the time I though I registered I was at 2730, according to the stats at 360Voice.com. That's 370 points that won't count. Not that it matters too much, since I was aiming for an increase in 1500 points by April 22. I woud have to get really good at the games I already own, join Gamefly and grab a load of easy points from several games, or, as I have heard, get the super-easy Achievements in King Kong and Madden '06.

What's the reward for gaining 1500 Points, you might wonder? Meager. I would get a Level One Old Spice Gamerpic, a promotion to Level Two, a free copy of Contra on XBLA, and that's all. Microsoft just wants me to play more and buy more games, and I'm falling for it! Grr.

Update (4/4/07): Here's what really happened. I did regeister for Xbox Rewards, but didn't register for the Old Spice Experience Challenge, because at the time the site was down and I had no idea I needed to sign up for that too. Grr.

Related story at Xbox.com

COD3 for 40 USD

2007-03-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

Looking at another blog I discovered that Circuit City is offering Call of Duty 3 Gold Edition at a $20 discount plus you get the Valor Map pack for free. You can get $70 worth for forty bucks.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Call-of-Duty-3-Gold-Edition-Xbox-360/sem/rpsm/oid/172957/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

However, I'm looking at that page and it says it's unavailable online and in-store (locally).
Oh well.

While you're at it, look up COD2, which is listed for $13.99. Now that I have glanced around, I'm noticing more discounts. I think the 360 is starting to ripen enough to offer sub-$30 games now.

Original post at the Xbox360 blog (qj.net)

Disneyland prefers Xbox 360

2007-03-19T09:25:00.000-07:00

If you have been to Disneyland (California) in the past several years, you might have stepped into the Innoventions rotating hall of dizziness. Upstairs there have been some Playstation consoles set up with Disney games. Of course, they looked like crap and made the whole exhibition feel outdated.

I went to Disneyland recently and found that most of the units were replaced with Xbox 360 consoles and were running sports games like football and basketball. There was a even station with a larger screen running Fuzion Frenzy 2. yay.

Take that, SONY.

TMNT 1989 is the shortest game ever!

2007-03-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously. Don't get it unless you really want to play it. My friend said it was "rubbish" but I paid for it anyway and completed it in half an hour (and beat his score, haha). I might try it in MP just to say I did it. I'm hoping four-player co-op will be fun and redeeming.

If you want to learn about the game, play the demo (takes three minutes). There you have it, that's pretty much the whole game. No review necessary.

I saw you can get all three Buger King games for $6 total at one location. They are much more worth your money, even if you only buy one for $4 (USD).

This is not the worst game, however. There is always the free-but-not-worth-it Totemball to bottom out the XBLA collection.

TMNT on XBLA

2007-03-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Well, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is coming to Xbox Live Arcade this week (March 14). It's the game we played in the pizza joints more than ten years ago. It's only 400 MS Points, which is WAY less than the quarterage I pumped into the arcade machine to play through the game. I remember getting right up to the end of the game with three friends and running out of quarters then trying to break a five dollar bill in time to continue playing.

I might actually buy this game based on the memories. HOWEVER, I will try the demo first, because the experience changes over time. For instance, I loved playing Contra on the NES (up up down down left right left right B A start etc.) but found it annoying on XBLA.

If it works out, I'll post a review. How does that sound?

Halo 2 Achievements?

2007-03-07T00:18:00.000-08:00

Attention Gamerscore junkies!

There is an expansion pack due this spring for Halo 2 that will provide some new multiplayer maps. The maps are only available to Xbox 360 owners who will download the pack from Marketplace. I'm guessing the pack will cost 800 to 1600 MS Points, depending on the number new maps. So far four maps for games like COD 2 have cost 800 points.

What I am hoping will arrive with the expansion are Gamerscore Achievements to unlock, and here are some facts that give me that hope:

Halo 2 Vista will have Achievements (link for info)
The new maps are available on the 360 only
People at MS have said that they are trying to get full Guide access for Backwards Compatible games (like Halo 2, which runs in BC emulation)
There are new Acheivements rules for downloadable content for full 360 titles that allow add-on content to carry up to 250 gamerscore points, beyond the 1000 included in the full game.
H2 Vista players will not play with anyone on an Xbox, so the 360 Achievements will not conflict with the standard Vista set.

Maybe with firmware updates gamers can get that 250 points. It seems like an exception to the norm, especially since further expansions for old Xbox games is unlikely, but we have seen the rules change over the life of the 360.

The only word against this all happening is from the related news story at bungie.net, which says, "achievements - something that's new and exclusive to the Windows Vista version of the game" (emphasis added). Something else to think about is the Live Anywhere service. This lets you use the same gamertag either on Vista or XBL for games that are compatible (such as the upcoming Shadowrun, the poster title for Live Anywhere). Same gamertag account for all your Achievements, whether gained on Vista or Xbox. I'll have to figure out the details, but my last bullet point keeps me from dropping the whole idea.

Either way, I'll get the new maps.

Assault Heroes review

2007-03-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

This Xbox Live Arcade game is a top-down shooter that will play one or two players, co-operatively, offline or online. Move with the left stick, shoot with the right, and use face and trigger buttons for other weapons. This game is a lot of fun and looks great. It has lots of action on screen with enemy vehicles and weapon placements and ground troops and of course, bosses. You can get out of your vehicle to get weapon power ups and shields or to search underground bases. You will eject when your vehicle takes too much damage and have to gun on foot until a new ride arrives. This game has just enough depth and complexity to make the simple drive-and-shoot gameplay a bit more interesting.

The Achievements challenge you to alter your gaming style by trying to make better use of your ammo or to not use the powerful weapons. There are also Achievements for not dying and for playing through a zone in co-op mode.

The title doesn’t make sense, but Assault Heroes is a fun game to pick up and play for 20 minutes or for two hours. Don’t forget that there are leader boards so you can compare your skills with your friends. The cost is 800 MS Points, and I would say it’s worth it.

link to game info at xbox.com

Free Crackdown and registration cheat

2007-03-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

By cheat I mean register without watching all the preview clips to get the five necessary codes.

There is a promotion for the new movie 300 that includes a chance to win one of 300 copies of the game Crackdown. The contest involves you viewing preview clips of the film using your Xbox 360 and Video Marketplace. Each clip contains a code that you will need to enter the contest.

If you read the official contest rules page, you can find the code words listed for those without Xbox Live access ("No Purchase Necessary" clause).

Here is the link and the needed codes:

http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/all/us/sweepstakes/enter.jsp?sid=300_crackdown&show=SWEEPSTAKES

Xerxes
Gorgo
Leonidas
Shai Gen
Los Muertos

Fuzion Frenzy 2 review

2007-03-02T21:45:00.000-08:00

So, why did I waste any time on this game? Well, there is a Halo connection to this title: on the original Halo: CE disk, there are some playable game demos and Fuzion Frenzy was one. I enjoyed playing it with a friend, though I never bought the game. When the demo for FF2 was released, I got enough nostalgia to download and try the new party game.

For those who don't know, FF is a bunch of minigames to play alone or with friends, but without the depth of Mario Party. It is very flashy and noisy and the commentary is annoying and in no way tied to actual in-game action. However, the games are just fun enough to keep playing and feel that your skills in the different game types are improving. The controls are fairly responsive to keep away the cheap losses, and the points system is more intuitive than the first game's wager system that I never understood. I would never have rented this title without the Game Pass, and only played it for a day, but I now know that it is not a horrible game, just a little mediocre and annoying.

It might come in handy if you happen to have some kids at your house who need something to grab their attention for a few hours. Also, the Gamerscore points seem pretty easy to get if you put enough time into the game, which I didn't.

link to game info at xbox.com

More Game Reviews

2007-03-02T02:20:00.000-08:00

Blockbuster Video and Microsoft know how to get me gaming. First, I got a $9.95 Blockbuster Game Pass trial month that let me rent several games in one month (like Gamefly). That was fun, and it let me know that I don't have time to try out news games every few days. Second, MS and Xbox Live have issued the Red Zone Experience Challenge. The challenge is to increase my Gamerscore by 1500 points by April. To get points, I need to play games.

It's too bad the two events did not coincide, because I picked up quite a few points from the Game Pass games. Anyway, knowing that I could be awarded with prestige and an XBLA game no one plays, I was motivated to return to games I had not completed and to even buy two XBLA games so I could get more points! Well, actually I was on the fence about getting the games, but the promotion helped me make up my mind.

To help me feel better about investing the time into all the extra gaming, I have decided to briefly review the games I played so that I can reflect on my efforts and so that others can get the impressions of a Halo gamer.

Welcome to the Blog version

2007-02-22T01:45:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I'm not keeping a blog here, just archiving the Group. However, I find that this is pretty attractive and probably more appropriate for the content I have been trying to push.

Anyway, these postings go all the way back to January 2006, so some information is outdated.

Custom

2007-02-22T01:24:00.000-08:00

Cool things about the 360
You might not have heard about these cool features.

Sign up for Xbox Live Diamond for a discount card with your gamertag on it. See http://www.xboxlivediamond.com/
So far I have downloaded through my 360 almost all playable demos. It left me with about 1 GB of space so I started deleting.
Free Silver membership gets you one free month of Gold level membership. All you need is an MSN Passport. Hotmail accounts are free, so really you can have a lot of free months of Gold tier gameplay.

Warnings
You might want to know a few things about your Xbox 360.

DO NOT rotate the console while it's on. Your game disk will get scratched.
The headset for the 360 is not bad, but it sounds terrible while playing Halo 2 and it is impossible to record an audible voice message.
The Xbox 360 is very feminine. Proof: my g/f called it "girly" and the only available carry case looks like a ladies' purse.
The new console makes a nice space heater. It will keep your toes warm but will not quite roast marshmallows. Picture this: 160 watts. (Original was about 70.)

Links

2007-02-22T01:14:00.000-08:00

My Xbox 360's blog
seriously, my Xbox has its own blog, and yours can get one too
http://www.360voice.com/blog.asp?tag=PWKWSFI

Photos
of Gamaliel, on Yahoo! Photos
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pwkwsfi/my_photos

Custom Emblem Generator
Thanks EL for posting this. It might save you some time getting your emblem just the way you want it.
http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/h2emblem/

Attention all cheapskates: Free discount card!
Free discount card for Xbox Live Gold members. You have to make a gamercard at xbox.com first, and you have to live in the US, but it's cool to carry around such a sexy thing.
http://www.xboxlivediamond.com/

Get a good quality download of your Emblem
Using this link, you can get anyone's Halo emblem as a jpeg file, and you can set the size as you need (up to about 250px).
http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/emblemchecker.html

FAQ

2007-02-22T01:11:00.000-08:00

Group Standards

I'm not a super moderator freak, unless it comes down to it. So far everyone had been respectful and has kept the language family-oriented. I'll edit your post before I blackmail you, unless you are being blatantly racist or sexist or outright disgusting.

I'm hoping you all will post something that will help others with their experiences with the Xbox 360, since there are a few things that we have had to find out on our own and at a cost of time or frustration. And there are some perks worth sharing too, so if you know about something, please post. One example is MS's first Gold-membership weekend (March 30 through April 2).

Please also be mindful that several members are from countries other than the USA that might speak (or type) English differently than you do. If you don't understand something, just ask politely. And remember that internet forums are prone to typos and bad grammar and mass confusion anyway.

Thanks for joining and I hope you gain something from this group.

Ranks

Latest ranks, or more accurately, roles:

Windows Vista PC This is me, the admin.
Xbox 360 (moderator) can edit posts, blacklist, edit news and Resource entries
Xbox 360 Core (regular users) can blacklist on the short-term and can approve news submissions Xbox Halo Edition (people who contribute more) are just about as good as the next one up, I forgot the difference at the moment. Maybe you can directly submit news.
Xbox Original (people who post and contribute) can submit news and create Resource entries, and can also approve new members
Zune (shy members) can post in forums
Origami (non-members)

Basically, everyone can submit news for approval and create articles. Some will be able to post news items and approve members. Other than that, I will probably keep control of everything else until we have hundreds of members then I will need moderators.

News Items

2007-02-22T00:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome
Posted by Gamaliel at 1/24/2006 9:03 PM

Welcome to this yet to be supergroup. Check back in a while for content. I have ideas, just not time. Be sure to check all areas of this site. No, you don't have to prove you own a 360.
________________________________________
Personal testimony: I bought an Xbox 360, and most of the time I spend on it is playing Halo 2. And you?

Where's the content?
Posted by Gamaliel at 2/14/2006 10:48 PM

Content in Resources. See Articles and Custom.
________________________________________
I have had content there for a while. Just look around.

Links Posted!
Posted by Gamaliel at 3/16/2006 2:05 PM
Links Posted under Resources . . .

Check them out!
________________________________________
One link takes you to HBO to where you can search any gamertag and produce a jpeg of that player's emblem. The default image size is 90 by 90 pixels, but you can make it even bigger for your needs, whatever they might be. The quality is pretty good compared with trying to save the bungie.net representation of your emblem.

The other link takes you to Xbox Live Diamond where you can sign up for a free discount card. I'll be getting mine any time now, so I'll let you know how useful it is.

Content Index
Posted by Gamaliel at 5/1/2006 8:46 AM

I have posted an index of material found in Halo on Xbox 360 in the Forum.

________________________________________
I said in the Forum. :)

Xbox 360 Updates
Posted by Gamaliel at 5/27/2006 6:16 PM

Here's some news I found exciting that pertains to Halo on Xbox 360.
________________________________________
There will be some changes for the 360 dashboard that will improve user functionality and will free up your Xbox so you can play even more. The first is that content in the XBL Marketplace will be categorized by its media type. Trailers will be found in a separate place from game content, for example. That's ok, but even better is that once you have downloaded content, you can go straight to your demo or movie instead of going to a content list of what's on your hard drive and having to look for your new content.

Even better still, you can now queue and prioritize up to six downloads simultaneously. Which is a dumb idea because you will never get to play any games because your Xbox is too busy. Or is it? Holy cow! Now you can download AND play at the same time! What's the catch? It has to be an XBL Arcade game, and if you play it multiplayer your DLs will pause. There are a couple other things, like the ability to see the charge of your wireless controller (when you press the guide button) while playing a backwards-compatible game (like Halo 2), or like the ability to control your custom soundtrack in XBLA games without pressing the guide button.

Another bit of coolness is the option to 1) play your game or DVD, or 2) go directly to the dashboard when you turn on the Xbox. Yay, that will save me about 30 seconds, but a long 30 seconds.

So that's the news. I'm mostly excited about the new download queue. I've seen some friends start a DL just before bed so that they won't have to wait an hour or two to get a new demo. Now you can download all night long and the Xbox won't sit idle for most of the night. Don't forget to keep your Xbox in a cool breezy location because it will consume 160 watts all night with about half going to heat the room.

When will this update roll out? I have no idea! Soon, though.

Please discuss.

Xbox Live Vision
Posted by Gamaliel at 8/20/2006 11:01 PM

New accessory for the Xbox 360 looks cool . . .
________________________________________
XBL Vision for the 360 is a new accessory that is due to launch on September 19th in the US, and will cost about $40. I'm writing about it because I'm interested and because others will probably have questions about it. Most if what I know about the camera I learned from watching the latest IGN Weekly Video Report (#21, link at bottom of page). Download it and watch, but do yourself a favor and skip the pathetic demonstration of the equally pathetic PS3 user interface. The five minute XBLV demo starts at 4:20 and is worth watching, especially since there are a couple surprise features.

. . . features I am going to give away here: Well, you might have noticed something added a few months ago to the System blade called Xbox Live Vision. Go there, and find there are a couple adjustments for the XBLV camera. Whoopee. But the functionality of the camera is such that you can shoot a photo while composing a message to another player, or you can shoot a photo while changing your gamerpic and use the photo (oh boy) as your new gamerpic. You can even alter these photos to add effects (there are about a dozen options for this). The camera can be used in-game, and I don't mean Eye-Toy type games, but games like Rainbow 6, World Series of Poker, and UNO (only 400 MS Points). And, there will be video chat. It's like some kind of futuristic video phone with free international long-distance.

By now you might be thinking, "great, I get enough annoying voice messages already, but now I'm gonna get some nasty photo messages too." Well, there is potential for undesirable communications, but there is the XBL terms of service to abide by, and I can see a few players getting banned for transmitting photos of things that should be tucked into clothing. Pictures on the internet is nothing new, so I am sure MS had something in mind when fitting the camera in with its code of conduct. But you never know.

So, that all being said, I will probably get the new toy next month and I'll tell you about it. I'm not sure if any games or utilities will be included, or if there will be third-party products as well. C'mon, it's a freaking web-cam. But web-cams don't work, I tried with an old Logitech. See you all later (maybe, if you buy this thing, right?).

Link:
http://media.games.ign.com/articles/693/693580/vids_1.html

Xbox Live Gold Free this Week (UK)
Posted by Gamaliel at 9/25/2006 1:29 AM

Free XBL trial for players in the UK.
http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live/freeweek/
________________________________________

Through Friday, players in the UK can play online for free

have fun!

1UP Multiplayer Preview Online
Posted by EL at 11/8/2006 8:48 PM

Halo 3 multiplayer preview up on their site.

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3155028
________________________________________
Why are you reading this, go to the page that was linked! And be sure to check out the images too.

Mystery Update
Posted by Gamaliel at 11/30/2006 11:27 PM

There was a Dashboard update yesterday and I have no idea what it was.
________________________________________
Anyone else know?

Halo 3 Beta (Important Update!)
Posted by Gamaliel at 12/7/2006 11:49 AM

Old news: Sign up to participate in the Halo 3 public beta test. Go to http://www.halo3.com

Update: According to Bungie, they are taking the first 13,333 gamers who register AFTER logging at least three hours of Halo 2 online play From Feb. 1st to Feb 3rd.
________________________________________
Sign up to participate in the Halo 3 public beta test. Go to http://www.halo3.com

Outside the US, go to xbox.com and find news related to the beta.

Or you can get an automatic spot if you have the game Crackdown handy when the beta goes live.

Great website for Xbox 360 and Halo news
Posted by Gamaliel at 1/11/2007 10:38 PM

Check out this website for useful and fresh news about your Xbox 360 and Halo games in development (including new maps). I get XBL messages from the admins once in a while that doesn't always show up on bungie.net or xbox.com for a day or two.

here it is: http://allxboxnews.com/
________________________________________
that is all.

Happy Birthday to us
Posted by Gamaliel at 1/28/2007 9:28 AM

Last week Halo on Xbox 360 had its first anniversary as a b.net group.
________________________________________
Thanks to those who have stuck around or at least pop in every once in a while to see what's going on. I have some motivation for reactivating the group since there will be news about the Halo 3 Beta, the new Halo 2 MP maps, and other developments for the Xbox 360 (HDMI capability, Windows Live integration, larger HDDs, etc.).

I would love to get others posting too, but for now I will lead the way (and recruit some fresh blood in the meanwhile).

Rule of Three (aka Halo 3 Beta flaming hoops)
Posted by Gamaliel at 1/30/2007 9:26 PM

Just to clear up some of the details of how to qualify for a second round beta spot.
________________________________________
From xbox.com forums moderator: you will need three hours of game-play, ranked or unranked, or even custom games. I would go as far to say you could host a custom game for your friends then walk away from your Xbox for a few hours.

From halo3.com: It is a two-step process:

1. Participate in at least three hours of Halo 2 multiplayer sessions on your Xbox 360 console via Xbox Live during the three (3) day period beginning February 1st at 12:01 am EST and ending February 3rd at 11:59 pm EST.

2. After the three day window is over, head back over to www.halo3.com on February 5th and register. If you are one of the FIRST 13,333 to do this (and meet the above requirements) you will receive an invite notification in February to participate in the Halo 3 Beta.

Game-play window is based on EST (GMT -5:00) On the west coast we can start playing at 9pm Wednesday.

You only register after the three day period.

Halo 2 Achievements possible
Posted by Gamaliel at 2/3/2007 10:14 PM

There is some new information supporting my theory that the new set of Halo 2 maps will have achievements to unlock.
________________________________________
Gaming site IGN.com recently reported that Microsoft confirmed the allowance of additional achievements and 250 Gamerscore points for downloadable content provided for full Xbox 360 games.

Since the new Halo map pack will be available for the 360 only, I think that it is possible to tack on the achievements, even though Halo 2 on the 360 is actually run in emulation.

Another bit of info that helps the situation is that MS had planned to make the Xbox Guide accessible when running backwards compatible games. That would be nice too if it ever came to fruition.

Now, what kind of achievements would we see in the H2 Multiplayer Map Pack vol. 2?

Handy way to enjoy Halo news and podcasts on your 360
Posted by Gamaliel at 2/13/2007 9:06 AM

Read Xbox news and listen to podcasts with this handy tool.
________________________________________
Check out XB Stream, a download manager that will go to your sources of choice to download Xbox news and let you read it on your Xbox 360 through your photos folder. I've tried it and it rocks. You can also get podcasts, so you can listen to Xbox related news while gaming. Just play the track in the XB Stream folder on your PC. Yes, you have to stream from a PC; there are no downloads to your console, but that's ok because the HDD is so tiny!

Here's the link
http://www.xbstream.com/xbs/

Try it out and let us know what you think.

I recommend that you include The Online Nation

Articles

2007-02-20T01:15:00.000-08:00

Game Review

Condemned: Criminal Origins
by ReturnofAnnFrank

Just something i did on my last group and i saw that gamaliel already had an oblivion one...enjoy

Game: Condemned Criminal Origins

Story: You play as a forensic agent (FBI) in a city with a ton of serial killers on the loose. You start out going after a killer (matchmaker) who kills women via force and places them near male mannequins. Then it turns out that there is another serial killer stalking other serial killers and kills them. He kills 2 of your fellow officers and you are blamed for their death. Then you try and avenge your lose by trying to bring the killer to justice while you yourself are being stalked by criminals and fellow officers. That much I understand. Then the game out of no where start throwing out monsters that you have to kill and then crazy monsters that use Chinese martial arts weapons...needless to say that is where they lost me. Apparently there was a cult that you apart of at the end was causing it (?).

Single Player: The game its self very suspenseful. Running around in the dark with a forensics tool trying to find out where something is while having evil dudes trying to kill you can be suspenseful but it is very cheap and gets you saying obscenities. Darkness and melee skills are the key to this game. I prove that as long as you know how to block and strike you can beat the almost all of the AI with the back end of a pistol. However in the game you are required to find certain weapons to get through obstacles to achievements and your next destination. Another thing is that the AI have plans and strategy such as you might be chasing after a shotgun wielding manic when you get smacked across the face with a bathroom sign. This is exactly why the game is suspenseful because you are always getting

cheap shooted

. Light is another key to single player. If you can't see them then that’s too bad for you because they have mysteriously gained the power of night vision. You need to always be able to see the enemy and where they are going to ultimately be able to finish them off. Also almost everything in the game is a weapon. You can use desks, fire axes, signs, pipes, the good old 2*4, and whatever you can get your hands on. You can even use the backside of pistol the whole time (not recommended as pistol breaks). The whole concept of single player seems frickin' awesome until you get into the game play...

Game play: Repetitive. You run around in an area with a melee weapon and beat up baddies. You occasionally get a gun which has limited ammo and isn't really any fun to use. They are usually one shot killers but they still are not very fun to use due to the lack of ammo and the rarity of you actually getting a gun. There are occasional boss fights (fat butcher lady no I am not kidding...) but those are almost like the regular guys you fight only with more health. The last boss fight was sort of a let down because he was just so easy to kill (even on the hardest setting) and it just seems like it was just there to look cool. There wasn't even any real strategy to be used there. It is sort of like Doom in the sense that the baddies like to ambush you in dark rooms and corners to the point where it is predicable. One of the cool things is that almost everything is a weapon (nothing like beating some one up with a mannequin arm) and they don't break and allow different play styles. Such as one like fast low damaging weapons or large powerful weapons such as a fire axe.

Graphics: Nothing to go crazy over...the monsters look cool if you have looked closely at them. The environments are set up like Doom, dark, creepy, and suspenseful. Some of the scenes look pretty awesome other than that it was alright. Nothing like having an f---ed up gym teacher come at you with his arm missing and blood gushing out.

Sound: Again nothing to go crazy over...the music is usually either suspenseful or creepy haunted house music. The voices of the characters are all right (the drunks are practically fun in the beginning) the only really cool music is in the end. Again they just don't really exceed.

Replay: The only reason to really replay the game is for the Golden Melee Award. Other than that the game doesn't really offer much of a reason to replay the game at the end.

Achievements: You get achievements for finding dead birds, metal pieces, completing missions, using certain weapons, and the two game endings. The achievements are what sort of hold up the game from being a complete one time game.

Score 7.5

Comments: Though I might have been harsh the game was just a repetitive game. If they threw in some variety it would be decent but you can only hit people for so long before you get bored. I would rent it but other than that leave Condemned alone...

Game Review

Review of Xbox 360 game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

If you are unemployed or wish to be by not showing up for work then Oblivion is the game for you.

A little background about me: I rented this game using a free rental coupon (I also got a free pouch of microwave popcorn). I chose it because G.R.A.W. not available. I had played a bit of Morrowind and thought I might get Oblivion since someone had just returned it and all the other games available looked dumb. This title is a five-day rental at Blockbuster, so I played it about three of those days and thought the game was ok, but getting kinda boring. I even had a chance to play it on a 50" widescreen rear-projection HDTV (oh man, that was awesome!). It was due Sunday, but right now it is Thursday and the game is overdue and is more fun than ever.

Right now I am at a level three (almost 4) and have played for 19 hours (oh crap!). I started off playing the game as an FPS or rather a first-person Hack and Slash. Then I realized that I needed to pay attention to skills and attributes and all that other nonsense of role playing games. Ok. I think I played too many side missions at the beginning to really enjoy the game. Once I got into missions related to the main quest I began to have a blast. I found Oblivion gates and got my level up and got fame with the NPCs. Then I was good enough to advance in the Arena quite a bit and unlocked lots of Achievements.

Achievements. Yes, motivation to keep playing. Currently the majority of my Gamerscore is from Oblivion. I feel compelled to join Guilds, play Arena fights, and continue on the main quest, mostly because of stupid addictive Gamerscore Points. Oh well. Good on MS for implementing this system.

I was going to give up this game a day ago and start writing up a review, but after I let my character sleep a day, I was visited by a freakin' vampire and bitten and now I'm a freakin' vampire. It's cool in some ways, in that now I'm stronger and more agile and I have some increases to my skills and attributes. However, I'm more sensitive to fire attacks and I get damaged by being outside during daylight hours, unless I feed and get some blood the night before. Not too bad, as long as I don't get caught feeding.

So now I'm a vampire and I decided to play longer to get my level up and see what life is like as a creature of the night. I really need to return this game, even though Blockbuster has quite a grace period for returning rentals. Still, I need to get on with my life, and play some Halo.

Overall, the game is addictive and oh so pretty to look at and sounds wonderful. Its way better than anything I've seen for Final Fantasy XI. Really, it all looks so smooth and vibrant and next-gen. And compared to the last Elder Scrolls game, it is a major improvement in every way imaginable.

To expand on the game graphics: style, color, lighting, textures, nature, architecture; these are all very convincing and immersing elements. Ok, the characters look creepy when they talk, but I got use to reading the subtitles rather than watching the NPCs chew their own tongues. That aside, I felt a lot of effort went into the graphics. The wilderness is overgrown but flowers and plants of usefulness stand out just enough to be recognized as you roam. The daylight and weather change under smooth transitions. Shadows are cast or flicker, depending on the light source. The Oblivion gates burn with dancing, glowing fire and their vicinities change as you approach. The sky becomes full of black clouds that glow red like embers as you get close to a gate. And as you back away, the effect does not simply reverse with each step. BTW, the gates look like Stargates, but made of stone and fire instead of steel and water.

Clothing and armor move with the wearers. Long robes sway and armor articulates. Color and texture are very distinct: iron weapons can be distinguished from steel very easily, and fine weapons appear polished and shine in the daylight. There are a few times when the lighting became too bright, like during a conversation with a high elf with direct sunlight on her face. I nearly went blind. But that is rare, and brights are bright and darks are dark, but never muddied and indistinguishable.

All the NPCs have unique features that actually help you identify them without approaching to closely. And different characters will make their own gestures or have different fighting styles. This was apparent when I resisted arrest and fought an Imperial City guard. He would hack at me a few time with a sword, block, then spin around 360° and clobber me. The variety in attacks and blocks are even more apparent as you fight in arena matches against opponents of different races, weapons preferences, and abilities.

If you saw the preview for this game you might think the graphics are bland and washed out, but really there is a lot of detail in everything and very rarely will there be a graphical glitch, like a white line at a particular intersection of dark bricks in the sewers. Or my favorite, the two horses that bisect each other at 90°.

Other random observations: as you take damage you can see on screen or in the menu that an arrow is stuck in your shield or thigh, or that you look ill, or in my case, vampirized. Text type is easy to read (not so in Morrowind) even on my small TV. The music in the game is not going to get stuck in your head or distract for gameplay. On the contrary, music will aid you to let you know an enemy has noticed you and will engage you in combat. There is a decent draw distance so you won't miss anything important while roaming outdoors. All dialogue is voiced, but it seems like there were only a dozen voice actors available to handle every character.

I might write more on this, but I think I'm going to play some more before I return the game. Heck, I think I will actually buy this game.

Rating: 5 Scrib Jellies out of 5.

Game Review

Review of Xbox 360 launch title Call of Duty 2 - UPDATED at bottom of article

Here are my amateurish impressions of COD2.

Yes, this game is acronymn-ized as a type of fish. As was the first COD, but I have never played it. In fact, I have never played a military shooter unless it had space marines in it. Then I was killing aliens or monsters instead of Nazis and fascists.

In COD2 you kill lots of Germans. Germans are human, so they bleed red like the soldiers you play as. Covenant bleed other colors like purple and orange. What am I getting at? Halo 2 has a rating of M because of the gore and violence. Call of Duty 2 has a rating of T because . . . well, maybe because it's historical and therefore educational and does not encourage car jacking and hooker killing. It's all relative. But c'mon, even in Halo Multiplayer the humans you kill have mystery identities behind their moto-cross masks and respawn with no harm done. Anyway, that is another article, really.

So, is it fun? Da. Yes. Yeah. (You play as a Russian, maybe an Aussie, a Brit, and an American, so I need to translate.) The first person shooter is super-immersive, pretty, sounds so good you will duck your head down while you play, and keeps you going at a good pace.

Note to you Halo players: You will not charge and shoot down all your enemies. But you will also not spend all day hiding below a wall trying to pick off enemies one at a time. In fact, you will spend a lot of time on your feet finding new cover and getting flanked. The gameplay includes some vehicle-mounted gunning, tank piloting, and silo-top sniping.

I played at the second-easiest difficulty and found that the game progressed at a good pace. I did not rampage through the levels, and I never got too stuck and frustrated. I had fun, and that's what it's all about. I think I want to play it again, maybe even buy it this time.

But what is keeping me from purchasing? A couple things. Xbox Live multiplayer is the first. It doesn't work. The maps are good, in but every game I played other players lagged out or I lagged out. Also, I was sure that I was killed unfairly, and the evidence was in a cool feature called DeathCam, wherein you can view the perspective of your killer from about 10 seconds before your death. I watched a player walk in front of me and kill me, but I never saw it happen during the game. I will mention here that spectator mode is a fun feature (and is new to me since I don't play PC games) that lets you follow a player or lets you haunt the map freely, watching gameplay from any perspective.

The other problem is that the Xbox ate my game save. About 75% into the game I waited for the next level to load and ended up at the training mission. Hmm. Let me just check the mission selection screen . . . oh no, where is my progress? I want my time back! Well, I did get the Gamerscore points for completing training, but I was ready for the 150 points for completing all the missions. I almost had it. The game was due back at Blockbuster that day anyway.

Thusly, I do not own COD2 because I am bitter. Otherwise, I would actually pay for this game and play it through on the harder settings, and hope that the developers will iron out the wrinkles so I can get my achievements and connect to a good online game. I could also wait for more people to buy the game and get online since tried to play the game only two weeks after launch.

My rating? 4.5 codfish out of 5.

UPDATE:

Maybe I'm no longer bitter at my loss, but I have purchased the game. I also had a $10 coupon. Anyway, I tried the game again on a harder difficulty, and found it was even more fun, though a little more frustrating at times. The online issues are still in place, but I have heard that the developer is certainly working on an update to make a better online experience.

Something else worth adding is that the time spent between death and re-spawning at a checkpoint is relatively short. MUCH shorter than the wait in Quake 4 (see the other review). And while you wait, you get a war-related quote, so you have something to think about instead of watching a loading progress bar.

My rating still stands.

Game Review

Review of Xbox 360 launch title Quake IV

blah blah if this isn't done by next Tuesday it won't happen. BTW, I do not have an HD set, so I had to crank up the brightness just to see the game. Also, I had a better time playing Quake 2 on the bonus disc. Oh, the nostalgia. Hey, the online was fun, if anyone played it and if more maps are made available soon. More to come.

=============================================
Quake 4 is nice too look at, but the game play is a bit drab and monotonous. Especially if you get stuck at a difficult point and you have to load a checkpoint or gamesave. The loading times are long and often if you die a lot (well, duh). The story is original and a bit compelling, but really, since this game is not about tactics or team control, you will expect to ramrod through the levels and kill kill kill. But that is not the case. I found myself playing just to progress through the game and to learn the story. I never played Quake 3, but with Quake 2 the gameplay is more about progressing and finding secret areas and powerups. Q4 seems kinda pointless after a while.

Sure, the game was a rental, but I lost interest after a while and stopped playing. The campaign got boring and the multiplayer with all its potential was sad, since not very many gamers played online. I enjoyed the variations available during the game to man a vehicle-mounted turret or to pilot a tank, but the heart of the game is FPS, and the fun of FPS games was not available. The enemies were not interesting or challenging. I got stuck in an area where I kept falling to my death. I actually digressed in the game to get Achievements instead of progressing.

The game would be more worthwhile if more people played online and more MP maps were available. I enjoyed the Bonus Disc, but I could probably download Quake 2 if that's what I wanted to play.

This is another game that might be worth a rental, but not a purchase, unless you want to unlock all 500 achievements. I would like to know what happens at the end, but I would rather spend my time playing Halo 2.

Rating: 3.5 Red Key Cards out of 5.

Do not spam list

These people explicitly asked not to be PM'd again.

HaloThug187
spartakus14
Azathoth

PM Gamaliel or BootlegGiant if you would like to include any other users in this list.