The Special Edition version of Bungie’s EXTREMELY anticipated game Halo 3 comes with a variety of extra features, including a theme only available on the Special Edition disc. One of these features is a exclusive theme which I found while browsing Xbox.com’s marketplace section so click the link below and take a peek at this theme.
A blockbuster employee in the UK, who at this time has requested not to be named, has reported that a new Xbox 360 SKU has been listed in their computer system. This new SKU, titled “Xb360-console (20G) (b4j-00110)” is still listed alongside the original Premium system which has been changed to the “xb360-console (20G) (b4j-00004)”. A google search for “b4j-oooo4″ does come up with results for the Premium, while a google search for “b4j-00110″ comes up with nothing. The rumored “Just Play” SKU is supposed to have a memory card so this new SKU could either be the Premium’s with the HDMI port included or a completely different SKU.
For a long time 360 players were asking for a XBLA board game and they finally got it with the release of Spyglass Board Games. Spyglass was released at the beginning of this month and contains 4 board games; Reversi, Mancala, Checkers and Chess for 400msp or $5.
You can play either against the AI or do some multiplayer, but not locally, which makes no sense since none of these games require the other player to hide their cards or pieces like UNO. But the other features this game has, while kinda throwaway, are neat. Spyglass integrates achievements into the game by unlocking a new piece set for each achievement you unlock. And it also offers customization of the board and the background so you can find a look you like. But the biggest thing is the video chat included in the game, and this isn’t a dinky little window like UNO or the Hardwood games. This is a huge window so now you can actually see the person you’re playing with. And it also lets you cycle through the default camera effects on the fly as well as some new ones designed just for this game.
Some people say that there isn’t enough innovation in our games today, that all the games we play are the same, that all first person shooter’s are the same shooter, that all RPG’s are the same RPG. Well, I’ve got to say maybe having lots of innovation isn’t always such a good thing.
Games are criticized for not doing anything new, that there just clones of another game and they need to innovate. But is too much innovation a bad thing? Look at the Wii. Motion controlling hasn’t been done on a home console before and I think it’s a little too much. I don’t want to wave my arms to play a game. It just doesn’t work that well. We’ve been using normal controllers to play games for decades and maybe there is a reason for that. Most Wii games are minigame collections. Is that because motion controlling isn’t a good idea? And so far, none of the consoles FPS’s have been impressive which is surprising since motion controlling would sound great for them. Is innovation just a buzz-word? Is there such a thing as too much innovation?
With console games, innovation is a lot harder to find then with PC games. It’s easier for an indie developer to release a game on PC. Lots of games doing completely new things are released on PC all the time. Rag Doll Kung Fu was a fighting game released a couple of years ago where you controlled all your attacks by dragging you mouse. But, unfortunatly, it received mediocre reviews for getting boring quick and being a pain to control, a real pain. After playing for 30 minutes or so your hand felt like someone had smashed it with a bowling ball. A couple of months ago another game where you control attacking with mouse movement was Penumbra which was also given average reviews due to the fact that it was hard to control.
Is innovation something that actually works in games or just something we think we would like? Now I’m not saying there should be no variation in games, but maybe its only good in small doses like the Gears of Wars cover system. But I don’t think that its something we want to use all the time in games.
Welcome back to the 2nd part of the comparison. This time were looking at the multiplayer and the extra/other features so I hope you kept your seatbelt buckled. If you missed the first part you can read it here.
Multiplayer
This is where Forza simple destroys DiRT in every way. DiRT only has one mode online-play mode and it’s a dismal one. You and up to 99 other players race at the same time! But, each on your own track competing for lap times on a limited amount of tracks. Now I don’t understand why they couldn’t include real racing with multiple cars on the track in this game; but, according to Codemasters they were too busy making the single player portion of the game. I would have preferred the game to be delayed then ship with this horrible online play. And along with that comes horrible voice chat, think about private chat but set up by the game where you invite 1 other person to talk to them. Now I understand 100 people talking would not only be laggy but extremely loud. But why limit it to only one? A better option would be to choose a channel system (like in PDZ or Solider of Fortune 2). I’m disappointed to see the online play so limited in this game as I think that often gives the bulk of the replay value. But hopefully DLC will be released containing full multiplayer or DiRT 2 will have it.
Read the rest of this entry »
With the recent release of two big racing games, here is an in depth look on which game is a green light to buy. In this two part article, we’ll examine these racers in three categories: single player, multiplayer and extra features. So strap on your seatbelt and let’s take a ride through the 360’s latest top racers.
Forza Motorsport 2 is a simulation racing game offering extremely accurate physics with extensive upgrading and tuning. In this simulation racing game, you are allowed to visually upgrade your car with body kits, an extensive unique vinyl system and performance upgrades. In FM2, developed by Turn 10 Studios, performance upgrades are stepped up from the first game allowing you to change surpassing details of the ride, including the drive train. You can modify your car by changing every little detail, like down force, camber angle, tire pressure and of course fine tuning the engine like a real street mechanic.
Since Forza is a sim racer its damage modeling is extensive, but more in the performance area then visual. Most people, including myself, are disappointed in the visual damage which has set levels of damage offering much less then advertised. On the other hand you can completely ruin your car, performance wise, breaking or damaging each part. The Physics seem to be worse than the original over-stressing the effect of driving off road and sometimes seeming to extreme or almost random. The lack of a cockpit cam is rather disappointing but perhaps understandable considering the 200 or so cars in the game.
DiRT is more of a arcade racer and has some of the best graphics I’ve ever seen on the 360 and more forgiving performance damage but better visual damage where every crack and bump affects you. This game is a much different than the previous Colin McRae game that is much more arcade like and lacks some of the things most rally games have including weather effects which is surprising, and while it has hill climbs there are no descents which would easily have been added in by reversing the climbs. DiRT offers more camera angles giving you two cockpit cameras with one allowing you to looks all around the inside which sadly is the only cam you can do that with. I had though a completely controllable camera where you can rotate 360 degrees around the car was a standard feature but apparently Codemasters doesn’t think so. I don’t know the exact number of cars in the game but its around 50 with various types of cars. There are normal rally cars, CORR Buggies, Rally raid T1 and T4 cars which are huge trucks and SUV’s. Read the rest of this entry »
My 360 died a couple days ago, finally. I always thought i was lucky, that my 360 wouldn’t die but it finally has and now that its happened, I’m not too surprised.
It was purchased early January 2006 and while it wasn’t in the launch batch that had an extremely high failure rate it was the 2nd batch of 360’s. I never had to deal with customer support because this is my first console that has died and i can say now that there’s noting worse than calling up only to hear that you must pay $140 to fix a console that broke because of manufacture error. And even though i quoted reports saying failure rates where 30% and explaining the basics of why the 360 breaks i was unable to receive a free repair because “we have repaired to many 360’s for free” but i did get a 25% discount bringing the fee down to only $100.
Now Ive gotten over the anger of having to pay the fee, but i have not gotten over the fact that Microsoft knows they can give the $40 discount. And they refuse to do so without a little hassling which us not fair to a normal person who has a 360. If you’re not active in forums or read news sites and you’re just a guy who owns a 360 to play Madden once in a while you wont know that you can get the discount and i think its unfair that they have to pay the extra $40. Microsoft needs to help their customers not cheat them. Something needs to be done to protect the gamers and that something needs to be done quick.
Hello everybody I am Racingfreak92. You guys might know me from my appearances on Live on Live or in the forums. But now you will see me on the front page of XBLRadio as a writer. So before i start posting news and such i felt you guys should get to know a little bit about me.
Im a hardcore 360 and PC gamer, I also have a DS but i don’t play that as much. As of now i don’t own a PS3 or Wii and I have no plans to get one. Started gaming when I was very young on a DOS computer and continued to play PC games until the Xbox came out which I purchased as my first console.
As you can tell from my name I’m a big fan of racing games and most other genres and the only types of games i don’t like are sports games and platformers. I spend most of my time playing games on XBL or on Steam where you can find me playing under the name Racingfreak92. While I enjoy the Xbox 360 I’m not a fan-boy and will call them out when they do something wrong. I’m known on the forum for “hating everything” but that’s not true i just generally enjoy less main stream games that people don’t talk about as much. My biggest pet peeve in gaming are series that are sell out (like Rainbow 6).
So there’s a little gaming history about me and expect posts from me mostly on Sunday but if I feel like writing, my posts will show up on other days of the week. See ya guys on XBL or on the forums.
Racingfreak92 signing off