For those of you who aren’t aware, there have been rumors of a new XBOX 360 package. It was originally codenamed “Zephyr”, but it is now being called “XBOX 360 Elite Edition”. teamXbox.com had this to say:
“…this new Xbox 360 is rumored to have a built-in HDMI port and comes with a larger, 120 GB HD, and HDMI cable and a sexy black finish. It has been rumored too that all the new black accessories will be available separately.”
I’m thinking these are just photoshopped images but it would be cool to see some black accessories.
Since when is Snoop Dogg getting arrested breaking news?
He was almost convicted of murder about ten years ago and it’s common knowledge that THC will be traceable in his system for the rest of his life. But, the Swedish police thought it was necessary to arrest him and make a story out of it. Apparently he was stopped in a car (not sure if he was driving) and was arrested because the officer found him to be under the influence of narcotics. If he was high on crack, then ok, this is news only because rappers don’t smoke crack, they sell it. But, if he was high on anything else besides that, who gives a shit. I think I’ve even heard my grandmother talk about Snoop Dogg blazing “L’s”. The Swedish police made Snoop give some body samples in order to determine if he was in fact under the influence. The results are to be determined in two the three weeks. Now you need a lab to determine if Snoop Dogg was high? What the fuck. I’m going to go with my gut on this one and say he was.
If found guilty, he can face up to $280 in fines. Snoop Dogg will whipe his ass with $280 dollars, then smoke it, and get high from the amount of THC absorbed in his excrement.
Anyway, the first reviews of God of War II are starting to surface and the infamous GameSpot has posted its review. GameSpot is known for being very critical, but God of War II dominated their faces with a 9.2/10.
God of War I was an amazing game on a semi-outdated console and now Playstation 2 is completely in the shadows of XBOX 360 and the PS3 but the second installment managed to be described like this:
“Simply put, it’s easily one of the best action adventure games of the last console generation, and it even trumps much of what has been shown in the current generation. For fans of the first game, and fans of bloody, violent, exciting action in general, God of War II shouldn’t be missed.”
God of War II releases tomorrow in the United States and I’m sure anyone who owns a PS2 will be shelling out their last $40 they will ever spend on a PS2 game ever again.
Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway is Gearbox’s new World War 2 first person shooter. This is the most impressive looking World War 2 shooter I have seen since Call of Duty (the first release).
The physics look amazing and it seems very realistic.
Yeah, I’m 20 years old and I love video games, and I really don’t give a shit who knows.
NBA Street Home Court marks the fourth installment of the NBA Street series, which in my opinion are the best basketball video games ever created. The NBA Live series has sucked for a while now, and the 2K games just don’t do it for me either. To me, I feel like they don’t capture the atmosphere of the NBA very well. It might be just me but seeing players like ‘Melo and D. Wade on some beat up court in a random city just feels more appropriate. You get to show off and pull off moves that you would see in an AND1 mixtape and embarass your friends game after game.
I’ve had the demo for about a week now and the game seems to be coming along pretty nicely. The new moves are amazing and the graphics are obviously on par too. The only thing that I didn’t like thus far is that thye seem to have gotten rid of the ‘trick stick’. All moves have to be done with the ‘Y’ button and ‘RB’ button. I’m not sure if they aren’t planning on implementing the ‘trick stick’ for this release, but I hope they are.
Regardless, this game should be alot of fun. If you haven’t played a Street game, they are a bit more ‘arcadey’ but in my opinion they are alot more fun. The visuals are pretty nice looking too, especially when you get a ‘Game Breaker’.
Once I get the final copy of the game, I’ll be sure to post my impressions then.
The first computer games I ever began playing were the Command and Conquer: Red Alert series by Westwood. I was about 10 when I bought that game and I can remember being in love with it. Until one day I went over to my friend Joel’s house. He introduced me to Starcraft and I was immediately hooked. The graphics were amazing, the story line was great, and the gameplay was better than any Command and Conquer I had ever played.
After Starcraft became a little old for me, I heard about the soon to be released Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, a few years later. Once again, Blizzard had released another amazing strategy game. This time, it didn’t have anything to do with space or multiple races of aliens, but a different fantasy world that consisted of orcs, elves, humans, and the undead. I stuck with Warcraft III for a few years before once again, outdated graphics and the same maps and strategies began to bore me. Don’t get me wrong though, Reign of Chaos and the Frozen Throne were great games with amazing replay-ability, but after a while, you just get tired of the same setting.
When I heard the news that Blizzard was going to develop an MMORPG I was confused. They had no experience in that genre and I really thought they should just stick to strategy games. But, I knew that whatever Blizzard was going to make, it would be a great game regardless, MMORPG just isn’t my thing.
It’s been about two years now since World of Warcraft was released, and about five years since Warcraft III was released and still there are no confirmed reports of a Starcraft 2, or a Warcraft IV. There have been multiple interviews with Blizzard employees that hint at the possibility of a sequel or two, but nothing legitimate has surfaced.
I did however find this video. I’m not sure about its authenticity but it does show some 3D effects in the game. To me though, it just looks like an edited version of some Starcraft: Brood War replays.
I’m not sure how authentic that video is, but, it does seem like it could be real.
I understand that Blizzard is a business, and their purpose is to make a profit, but I just wish they hadn’t strayed from their loyal fan base and made a game to appease the cries of every nerd on the planet. Actually, it doesn’t bother me that they made WoW, it just pisses me off that it’s all they fucking care about now.
When you see a display of these,
next to the game, strategy guides, action figures, and t-shirts in Best Buy, you know something is wrong.
Epic is considering giving Unreal Tournament 3 platform interplay between the XBOX 360 and the PC.
Lead producer, Jeff Morris, said this:
With UT, I don’t want to have the PC players to play with just half of the UT players just because of the platform. There’s a real motivation to make it interchangeable with one big pool of servers out there that everybody can play in.
Although many people would say that PC gamers could have a blatant advantage over 360 players, I would be willing to sacrifice some skill if it meant that 360 players could get in on the same community that PC players could potentially build. I started playing PC games, and only recently began playing XBOX 360 online. I have to admit, I do like it, but my roots are in PC gaming and the communities there are definitely much stronger.
Nothing is set in stone as of now but Morris said that if Shadowrun does well (which I believe is going to have interplay), they will most likely implement this.
If you are interested in reading the whole article, go over and check out TeamXbox.
That’s right, it’s no longer PC/PS3 exclusive so if you are a 360 owner this is good news for you. I love the Unreal Tournament series and their new engine is amazing so I’m glad we will get to see this game on the 360, since that is what I own.
I know that UT2007 is supposed to be released this year as well, but I guess UT3 is the console equivalent to that. This is being developed by the same people who made Gears of War, so not only are they a talented bunch, but they also have some extensive experience with the Unreal engine. The screenshots and videos that are available are pretty impressive. I also heard that the single player campaign will be more in-depth and have an actual story. If you have played any of the Unreal Tournaments before, you know that the only single player mode available is deathmatch against bots.
Someone stumbled across a screenshot on 3D Realms’ website that has been confirmed as an in-game shot from Duke Nukem Forever.
I played the original Duke Nukem’s and don’t know exactly what the big fuss about this is. The game has been in “production” for about ten years now so no one but the people over at 3D Realms know what is happening with it.
The President of 3D Realms had this to say about it:
I guess I’ll reconfirm what I said last night. That’s an in game, real-time shot of Duke standing in a random hallway. It was really done as a small teaser for a job ad on Gamasutra.com. Nothing more.
Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business of Microsoft, issused a letter in which he talks about the future of gaming on Windows Vista, which is scheduled to release on January 30th.
Moore says that with Vista, gaming on a PC will be extremely easy, which I don’t quite get. I guess the graphics will be much better, but that’s pretty obvious, since to run Vista I believe you need a 256mb video card minimum. Moore also talked about LIVE and how they will intergrate it into the PC gaming environment as well. I don’t know if he means that XBOX 360 and PC gamers will face off against each other, but I’m guessing that’s not where he was going with that comment.
As for the rest of the letter, he just goes on about how easy it will be to organize your games and see all of your accomplishments in one place. Nothing seems too impressive here, but I guess if you love “Gamer Cards” and you don’t have XBOX Live yet, you’ll have it soon enough…if your computer can handle Vista.
If you are interested in reading the rest of the article, you can read it over at TeamXbox.com
Gabe Newell, the founder of VALVe, who brought you such titles as Half-Life and Half-Life 2 had some harsh criticism of Sony and the Playstation 3:
The PS3 is a total disaster on so many levels, I think It’s really clear that Sony lost track of what customers and what developers wanted…I’d say, even at this late date, they should just cancel it and do a ‘do over’. Just say, ‘This was a horrible disaster and we’re sorry and we’re going to stop selling this and stop trying to convince people to develop for it.
Coming from someone with as much experience in the gaming industry as Newell, these comments should not be taken lightly. As a former employee at Microsoft and the founder of VALVe, he has a pretty good grasp on this subject and knows what he is talking about. I followed the production and release of Half-Life 2 pretty closely and Newell is not one to open his mouth without being 100% behind any comments he makes.
I have owned a Playstation 2 since launch and was very happy with it, but with the $600 price tag and the lineup of XBOX 360 games that are available, I decided to go with the 360 over the PS3 when I bought my console about five months ago. Thus far, I’m very happy with the 360 and most other owners give it the same praise. As for the PS3, I am hearing mixed reactions. Some love it, some are doing everything in their power to get a full refund. The Blu-Ray player is very tempting but once other players come down in price, I’m not sure the PS3 will have as much appeal. Once that happens, if there isn’t a solid lineup of games yet, it won’t be as easy to rationalize actually buying one.
