TXPaladin on Live: Blog

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 plays to win

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:48:22 GMT

Well I finished the story mode in Co-op last night and loved it by far. I had my brother over as part of the Team Six and in the role of Knight, he had a grand time as well. I think he has the Xbox 360 Fever too now.

It must say something for a game, that when its all over and he's ready to go through it all over again too. I think we'll have to go at it in Realistic mode next time, but for this run through and on Normal, it was very entertaining for sure, I can't see ever playing it on Casual.

Graphically I thought it was really good, its not a photo realistic look and feel along the likes of CoD4, but I found it visual and entertaining and I was drawn into the atmosphere that Ubisoft had created for Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

I'll have to see what the AI do on Realistic, because when a fire fight breaks out in a room, shouldn't it bring those Terrorist from the next room into the battle. But if that was my only small quirk in the game, then I'm very satisfied with the whole package to say the least.

We still need to try the Terrorist Hunt modes and look at some of the online play for the game. But for what I've seen so far and in the squad based style & play for Co-op, this game is tops and I haven't had so much fun with a game for quite some time. I'd say it was when I finished CoD4 story mode and they wouldn't even let me tell the team members what an where to go in that game.

Speaking of telling them where to go, the voice commands are kind of a cool feature for sure. Just remember that on Split Screen Co-op to have your team mate wait a few seconds so the other two can execute the command given, otherwise its funny to watch Knight trying to go Rambo on the whole room on his own.

Fable 2 Collector's Edition changes announced

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:41:39 GMT

The following was released over at Lionhead Studio's in a blog and it appears that some items will no longer be available in the Collector's Edition and that a price change has been made as well. Sounds pretty good to me all in all and I'm still looking forward to this set. Not to mention giving one of these away in the Power of 360 Fund Raiser on October 20th all of this Live on LAGtv.Com.

I'm happy to see that this blog post confirms that the Spartan style armor has been included and that even a tribute to the Halo Energy Sword is also apart of the Collector's Edition. To see what the energy sword looks like you can view a clip of in game footage and look close at the sword on the Heroes back and when he enters a darker area of the game too.
I think its cool to see these small overlaps and tributes between the games and for fans of both lines of games. The blog post has been added below for you to view here.
We are happy to announce the Fable II game is in manufacturing and confirmed for Oct-21 in North America and Asia, Oct-24 for Europe.
However, due to supply chain issues**, we are revising the Fable II Limited Collector’s Edition and the estimated retail price will be reduced from $79.99 to $69.99* USD in North America or as applicable in your market. *These are estimated retail prices; actual retail prices may vary worldwide. ** we are gutted
The premium box, five printed fate cards, and Hobbe figure will not be available as part of the Limited Collector’s Edition. We apologize for any inconvenience.
The Fable II Limited Collector’s Edition will now include the following content at this discounted price:
•Fable II game disc
•Bonus DVD with new ‘Making-of’ Feature
•Bonus in-game content (requires Xbox LIVE®)
◦‘The Hall of the Dead’ Dungeon
◦‘The Wreckager’ Legendary Cutlass Weapon
◦Spartan armor and energy sword
To further show our commitment to the faithful fans, we have created a special Fable album for free download for a limited time! This includes a wonderful selection of Fable 1 music and 3 brand new tracks from the upcoming Fable II soundtrack.
Go to http://www.sumthingdigital.com, and enter “FableCollection” promotion code. This will be available beginning October 6, 2008 @ 9am PST.
[UPDATE: By a suggestion made in the comments of this entry, we're going to release the Fate Cards as a downloadable PDF for you to print, plus we can also confirm the new LCE version will have the original LCE artwork).]

The ODST are coming in Hot!

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:32:57 GMT

Video: Keep it Clean

Bungie released a teaser video on the 1 year annivesary of the launch of Halo 3. Titled Keep it Clean and with a message at the end stating Prepare to Drop, it pretty obvious to any Halo fan what was in store for all, well to a degree at least. What you see is vehichels that the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers use to get down to a planets surface to launch attacks and become the first wave.

The ODST are known as Hell-jumpers and the reason is its one hell of a ride down and extremely hot and they make a huge impact to say the least. These are not Spartan super soliders here and they don't have the protective Mylar Armor. So I was really excited to see the teaser and learn a bit more about their upcoming project to say the least.

It was rumored that Bungie was working on an ODST FPS game and this looks to be closer to the truth with a tie into to Halo 3 now. Buzz also has this as being more of a squad based game along the lines of a Ghost Recon meets Gears of War type of game and with all the blood. It appears this is being rolled out more as an expansion to the Halo 3 campaign than a separate game, but as to how big of an expansion, how it will drop to us, and the cost of the new content, it's yet to be known. If you watch some of the clips though and pay attention near the end, you'll see a Jan 09, 09 date flash really fast. Now the clock is ticking again in my mind at least.

Talking about Avatars in the new Xbox experience

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:39:06 GMT

This came out last week from Major Nelson and I'm really liking all of the new features and options. I still think this is going to be great and its not going take away from the gaming at all. I know my kids will love this as well and as they grow older. Watch the end of the clip and you'll see a button for Gamerpics too. Makes me wonder if we'll have an option to put our Gamerpics on the shirts or something like that.

Video: Avatars in the new Xbox experience

Zune 3.0 Update launches with big updates

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:35:20 GMT

Yesterday the Zune 3.0 update was released and with a huge list of improvements and features. What I really love is the fact that a lot of this came out with the news about the new 120GB & 16GB players. At least the new features are available on the old players and your not forced to upgrade. So what all do you get with the new players or the 3.0 update then?

A cool thing I love is the built in radio tuner and they have now setup the ability to tag a song that is being played and purchase it later from the marketplace. If your near a Wi-Fi Hotspot, you can download it direct or simply sync back with your main PC and download it when your connected. It was also announced that a partnership with McDonalds for free Wi-Fi access to the marketplace is now available.

The installation of games for the Zune is another cool feature now and you get hooked up with a copy of Hexic and Texas Hold'em to play. I don't think they could have picked two better games to give us. I'm looking forward to downloading more of the free games to try out for the Zune now as well. I'm even looking to learn more about XNA programming and creating some games myself.

Audiobooks for the Zune are available with a partnership between Audible.Com and OverDrive.Com now. The OverDrive feature works with a lot of the public libraries and allows you to check out audio books for a limited period of time for free. Audible.Com is a pay service for their collection of books.

A free 14-day Zune Pass trial is now available, giving you access to the wide selection of Markeplace music titles all for free as well and the new Dynamic Channels, allowing you to subscribe to these much like a podcast and providing various playlist collections and updated artist information.

So if you’re a Zuner like me, then make sure you get the new Update and if your not, then what are you waiting for?

The Experience is coming soon to an Xbox near you

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:30:27 GMT

It was announced at this years E3 and shown off at PAX08 recently, now the guys at Gamerscore Blog will ramp up with more details on a weekly basis and keep us updated as the launch approaches. I have to say looking at the new screen grabs I'm impressed even more than ever now.

At the start, most people didn't like what was coming and felt this was nothing more than copying the Wii Mii concept. I actually think this really takes on the Mii avatar idea and Sony's future Home in one strike. What we are really going to have here is a different way to look at our friends and the information about the games we all love to play.

The biggest hang up seems to be with the old themes and gamerpics we downloaded or purchased. Fact is that stuff is still available under the Xbox button, that's right everything your seeing now will be one button click away from gameplay now. Here's a cool idea, maybe they could come up with away to allow us to put our gamerpics on the avatar Tee Shirts that we select in the New Experience.

In the end none of this is going to take away from your game play or interact with your friends. In fact I think the additions of interaction with friends are going to jump leaps and bounds with features like 8 person live chat and partying up and remaining that way no mater what game or games your playing. I can't wait to check out the new Experience.

Rockband 2 releases next week

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:10:33 GMT

I knew this game was going to be a must buy for me an the family and after seeing this commercial last week I was hooked for sure. Probably my all time favorite AC/DC track and what I consider to be the perfect anthem song for any rocker or at least wanna be rocker.

Now I just need to come up with a plan to fund this game and all the other games coming out between now and the end of the year. Until then, Let there Be Rock!

Microsoft gives Ensemble the Axe

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:40:41 GMT

Microsoft has decided to close Ensemble Studios after the completion of the Halo Wars project. This is shocking news before the launch of an upcoming game release.

At least when Shadowrun launched it was 4 months later when they pulled the plug on that company. Problem with that is people had already bought the game only to find out no additional content or upgrades would be available.

With this news, you can only expect that sales will suffer at the start and keep people away. They already know the project is done and now no more updates or changes more and likely. Perhaps I'm wrong and maybe Microsoft will do something else and develop this project further in house, I have to think that is not going to be the case though.

I'm still looking forward to this project and checking it out, but it slides down on my list of instant buys a bit more now with this news. I can wait and perhaps pick this up at a reduced or used price later now. We'll just have to wait until the game launches and see what its like and how it does in spite of their Game Over sentence being handed down.

Too good to be true, but we could dream still

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:10:11 GMT

I came across this at Xbox360FanBoy.Com and just had to mention the rumors going around about the Xbox 360. Now I've seen some pretty tall ones and from time to time I've even seen these come true, but this really is a tall tell worth of the best if you ask me.

The rumor is that Microsoft is planning a massive New Xbox Experience blowout later this month and its tied to a five hour long G4TV "console re-launching" event, said to be full of new Xbox 360 game announcements.

Rumored to be announced during the event is free Halo 3 DLC, new Mass Effect DLC, the first of two chunks of GTAIV DLC and info regarding Portal. In addition to all of this is six Xbox Originals being released for free.

Microsoft will announce a Sirius Satellite Radio partnership, a new music download service and something called "Mad Lib". Even more from Microsoft with the announcement of twelve new game titles exclusive to the 360, rumored to be Assassins Creed 2, Mass Effect 2, a new Conker title, a new Rare shooter and two new Halo games.

Like I said its a Fable like you couldn't imagine in your wildest dreams and fun to dream about. I have to say this is got to be a crazy dream that will not happen and I'll be surprised if it does come true. Oh well thanks for the cool story just the same.

Pinate Egg Hunt is set to begin on Friday

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:36:17 GMT

Microsoft recently announced that a treasure hunt for Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise will go live from Friday across Xbox.com. Pinata heads can find and collect the various cards to scan and drop Pinatas into the latest game from Rare.

When you mouse over the little egg a Pinata will will be released and allow you to click to open a PDF of the Vision Card. You can save and collect these to print or simply use your vision camera if your near the computer and scan directly into the game.

25 piñata cards will be hidden on Xbox.com and an additional 25 will be scattered around the Xbox Community Network. The Viva Piñata community site has also gone live and allows gardeners the ability to upload photos of their gardens and their Piñata Vision cards to a website and share them with the world.

To blog & podcast is the real question

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:14:10 GMT

I was listening to the replay of the PAX08: Gamercast Network - Podcasting The New Media Panel, as they discussed a number of topics about Podcasting and maintaining community sites. The panel was moderated by Chris Paladino [Xbox Community Manager, Gamerscore Blog] and was made up of Jeromy Adams [Founder & Co-Host, Sarcastic Gamer], Chad Hantak [Webmaster & Co-Host, Video Game Show], Danny Pena (Godfree) [Founder & Co-Host, Gamertag Radio], Natalie Sousa [Co-Host, Achievement Junkies], and Jay Van Beveren [Editor in Chief, Talking About Games].

This marks about the 3rd time I've actually listened in on topics like this. In one of the earlier podcasts it was mentioned that bloggers are nothing more than fan sites and that their are way to many of these and more keep coming all the time. So the real challenge is how to gain more exposure and to make sure you know why your doing it.

Some of the major sites bringing us lots of information and in the end are mainly community fan sites on some levels, but they also bring a lot more than your average blogger/community site. In fact they are more journalistic in nature and do report valid information even though they don't get paid to do any of this for a living.

For me, I blog about the things I love and enjoy and I feel at times I take a journalistic approach in how I report those feelings. I don't have a desire to make any of this bigger than what I do. My only thought is that someone might see something I write or listen to one of my podcasts and perhaps value my opinion. In the end it is my opinion and how I feel about the subject. I'm not paid to do any of this and only write or review things that I experience or learn about.

The thing about these days is everyone can have a blog and or create a podcast, but that doesn't mean your going to get a lot of fans or free stuff. It's not why I do this at all, I buy my games or at least make sure I get a hold of a demo or copy before I give my review or feedback. I write for myself first and then my friends or visitors that find my site next. I love playing games and I love to write and that is why I choose to write about my gaming experiences. If you like what you've read here on my site, then I'm happy you found this place and I welcome you to come back again.

Xbox Live Rocks the Vote

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:29:14 GMT

In my younger days I use to attend lots of Rock Concerts and it was fairly common for me to see Rock The Vote setup at these events. So I'm not surprised at all to see them move into the gaming world like they have now and find it really cool to tap this market and encourage younger people to register and vote.

So when your fire up your Xbox and head on to Live, look for the Rock the Vote Ads and register to vote, grab the gamerpics, check out all the Videos, vote in the Presidential polls and then go out to the forums provided by Microsoft. "To realize our goal of registering 2 million young Americans by this fall, we need to go where young Americans are, and there's no doubt in our minds that many are on Xbox 360 and Xbox Live," said by Rock The Vote director Heather Smith.

It’s a different world we live in now and people find their news and information, fast a furious from a number of sources. Even outlets like Jon Stewart & Steve Colbert provide some of the only news and information through humor for some people. It can be hard to get the attention of younger voters and expose them to current events. So at least Xbox Live gamers have an area to find out some of this information now and can take part and engage in some discussions perhaps.

It will be interesting to say the least in some of the game lobbies when people start sporting some of these gamerpics. Hopefully in the end it will help sign up some people to vote and at least inspire them to look further for more information and then actually get out and vote.

"If Xbox Live were a state, it would rank as the country's seventh largest, giving it approximately 20 electoral votes," said by Microsoft. Could we vote twice then? How interesting would it be to call Xbox Live your primary residence and cast your vote with gamers.

I'm looking forward to all of this and seeing what people have to say and hope to see Xbox Live and Rock the vote continue to work together like this in the future.

Dallas XNA Community Users Group & Houston Area Game Developers Group

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:37:26 GMT

When I think back to the first time I heard about XNA games, it was at the Halo 3 launch event here in Dallas and I was introduced to Chris Koenig from Microsoft thanks to Deacon and Unscripted360.Com. Chris was talking to us about creating games with the XNA Developers Kit for Windows and even deploying these games to our Xbox 360s. Right then an there I knew I wanted to learn more and try this out for myself.

The old saying, "Seek and you shall find" comes to mind here as I started to look for more information on XNA and how to get started. The best place is at the source itself in a lot of cases. The XNA Creators Club can point you in all the right places for the tools you need and give you tips on how to get started. It’s a must for anyone that really wants to get into learning about XNA and creating games for Windows, Xbox 360, or even the Zune.

All great stuff, but I was looking for more and that is when I ran into Chris a few months later at a DDNUG meeting and he mentioned a local XNA Users Group was forming here in Dallas. I suddenly found myself at ground zero and helping with the formation of the group. Users groups are another great source and allow you to meet people with the same interests and learn about their experiences together on certain topics.

The Dallas XNA Community User Group has plans to meet on the third Tuesday of each Month at the SMU Guildhall. Our goals are to bring in some Game Developers to speak and share their experiences with the group. We plan to start off small and cover all the basics of game design - from concept & design and then the creation & coding of a game. We plan to look at simple 2D games to start with, move on into side scroller games, then up to 3D style games, and finally First-person Shooters. Hopefully we'll even look at what it take to create some games for the Zune.

So if your interested in creating games with XNA, check out all of the information that is available and look and see if a User Group is in your area. If one is not available, then see if you can find enough interest and try to form a group. Here in the Dallas & Houston areas of Texas, feel free to check out the Dallas XNA Community User Group or the Houston Area Game Developers Group for more information. If your in the area then come on out and see what we are all about.

DallasXNA Up Coming Meetings:
August 19th, 7:00-9:00pm
September 16th, 7:00-9:00pm
October 21st, 7:00-9:00pm

From Pub to Fable II an back again

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:29:24 GMT

The Pub games for Fable II are now out and it sounds like its winning the hearts of many as well as some gold for the future release of Fable II. The effects of this remain to be seen and people will say its cool, while others will disagree with having all this gold at the start.

One thing that has not been addressed until now and thanks to Eurogamer, we now have a better understanding about the process of Gold from Pub games to Fable II and then back again. Starting with the Pub games, you first select a gambler from Lynch, Poe, Maya, Daphne, and Mongo to represent yourself in the Pub games. You can stick with the same one of move between them in fact.

The next part is where the work kicks in, you gamble like crazy and hopefully win big now as you wait for Fable II to come out. From what I hear its well worth the wait and you get to listen to some of the sounds of Fable II once again and earn achievements along the way.

Jumping ahead to the release of Fable II and you've created your hero now, its time to find one of the gamemasters and start a game variation. Once you start a game the option to merge your hero with your gambler will become available to you now.

You can merge multiple gamblers with your hero now and you can go back to the Pub Games with your merged Hero and game funds. What you can't do is undo the merge between your Hero & Gamemaster or Gamemasters.

I'm looking forward to trying these games out later today and hopefully keeping all my gold. One thing I haven't heard is what happens if you loose all your gold in the Pub games. I sure hope its not a long wait for Fable II and finding a job to earn more gold. Win or loose, I'll have fun all the same.

PLATFORM NATION ANNOUNCES CHARITY GAMING MARATHON

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:11:09 GMT

Podcast Community Prepares Playapalooza ‘08 in Support of Child’s Play

Seattle, WA – August 5, 2008 – Platform Nation has announced a unique charity drive, dubbed Playapalooza ‘08, to take place August 14th, 2008. Playapalooza—a 50-hour gaming marathon—will be conducted in support of nationally recognized children’s charity, Child’s Play, which provides video games to hospitalized children throughout the world.

Participants in Platform Nation’s Playapalooza ‘08 will play a series of games in timed 30-minute increments, with the gameplay streamed live on Ustream.tv. Each segment will feature text overlays with information about the games and their donors. Games to be featured in the event have been donated from a number of prominent publishers throughout the industry. The event will last for 50 consecutive hours of play and feature as many as 100 games.

At the close of the event, all donated games will be collected and the proceeds given to Child’s Play during a public event at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington.

Here is the link to the live stream along with some more info and a donation button where 100% of what you give will be given directly to those at the Child’s Play Charity.

About Platform Nation:
Platform Nation is a collaboration of several gaming podcasts committed to sharing their efforts and resources for the betterment—and entertainment—of gamers worldwide. Together we have a larger voice and influence in the industry, which we strive to use in order to represent the views and concerns of our friends, the gaming community. We share the same forums and the same listeners. After all, we are a community—not a network. Platform Nation. United We Game.

Dates set for Pub Games and Fable II

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:19:06 GMT

This is my must buy title for 2008, out of all the games coming out this year for the Xbox 360, its Fable II that I'm looking forward to the most. I'm not saying that I don't care for any other games, but this is the one I've been looking forward to the most. So on October 21st I should be in line with other Fable fans waiting to pick up the game.

I've actually reserved two copies of the Limited Edition, one copy of the game is being given away with Fable: The Lost Chapters and Lionhead has donated a signed artist print of the Hero & Dog for the Power of 360 Ultimate Hero Prize Pack. I'm helping my wife raise money for Breast Cancer Research and decided I would purchase Fable & Fable II to giveaway to one of the Heroes helping us with this cause.

The Pub games are releasing tomorrow for those who have pre-ordered a copy of Fable II and I have both sets of codes. I'm planning to give one away tomorrow to someone who has already donated to this cause. The Pub games are a set of three games that allow you to earn gold early and then transfer this to your Fable II Character.

The Pub games will be included in the full game at release or you could purchase the pub games for 800 MS Points if you didn't reserve your copy of Fable II. Pub games will be available on August 13th from Xbox Live.

Fable II Collector's Edition
In addition to the standard retail version, Fable II will be available in a Limited Collector's Edition through participating retailers and will feature:

Bonus DVD : Includes new "Making-of" feature with Peter Molyneux and the team at Lionhead Studios and concept art viewer.
Bonus in-came content (requires LIVE account): Includes "The Hall of the Dead" Dungeon, "The Wreckager" Legendary Cutlass Weapon, and Otherworldly Bonus.
Collectible Hobbe figure with accessories: From the Qee Collection comes this one-of-a-kind Hobbe figure. Nasty, brutish, and short, he roams the countryside, preying on travelers and spiriting away the children of the unwary.
48-hour Xbox LIVE Gold Trial Card: With Xbox LIVE Gold, show off your individual hero by inviting friends into your unique version of Albion, or visit your friends' Albion, and earn additional gold, experience, and renown to take back into your own.
Five printed Fate Cards: These five beautiful cards foretell the Hero's great destiny to journey across all of Albion, encountering deadly enemies and enigmatic allies. The path leads to a choice that will change the world forever.

Power of 360 Leaderboard

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:29:59 GMT

Your all number 1 in my book

I created the Power of 360 Leaderboard on MyGamerCard.Net as another way for us to see who all has donated. It also ranks you based on your gamerscore as leaderboards normally do. But the truth here is someone will be on top and people will climb and fall on this list over time, but for me your all number one for getting behind this cause and helping support & fight Breast Cancer this year.

The Power of 360 is joining us together with a goal of finding 360 donors by the launch of Fable 2. So far we have 37 donors and we've raised a total of $564.32 so far out of our goal of $2,203.20. The donations are helping my wife raise money for the Breast Cancer 3-Day, a 60 mile walk being held here in Dallas/Fort Worth Texas on November 7-9th.

After all is said an done, it will be nice to look back here at the list who've helped and see how our gamer scores have increased as we unlock more achievements. Thank you all for signing up to be a hero and visit www.edithowens.com/power360 to learn more and see how we are doing.

Power of 360 gets a Power Up

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:26:40 GMT

Well we've been busy working on getting the word out and updating the site with more prizes. People have powered up the prize packages for this event. So in addition to the Ultimate Hero Prize Pack, you now have a chance at 10 more items from various Companies, Communities, and fellow gamers. Thank you all for your support and help here.

XBLRadio has been awesome and working on getting the word out to those who listen. If you've never listened to their show, then let me personal invite you to check them out. Some of the best information is available from communities like XBLRadio and those on the Platform Nation. They've stepped up with a 1 yr Xbox Live Gold Card and a number of them have donated to the cause as well.

How about some Microsoft points for some lucky winners. TheMonkeyFather has given up two 1600 MS Point cards. Prize Check Please! He e-mailed me back thinking a mistake was made and ordered them again. No mistake though and so we now have four 1600 PS Point Cards to giveaway. That's right he doubled up and feels it was meant to be. I really can't express the feelings I have about those believing in this.

Checkout the AVG Gamer site and if you’re a Zuner like me and want some info on playing games on the Zune look at the links he has available. When I get a free moment I plan to load my Zune up with some stuff. Thanks to him for giving up some XBLA games in the form of Warlords and Elements of Destruction.

Who is this guy? Areacode, a new friend of mine now has brought Rare into the Power of 360 with some very cool items. Cover Art posters of Kameo & Perfect Dark Zero have been signed by team members and are now available as Power of 360 Prizes. In addition Rare has added a very cool set of Vision Pack cards for their upcoming Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise, these shiny cards were made for the developers and have their names on them. Its hard to run a fund raiser and I'll keep Areacode in mind for any future Power of 360 Events.

The Pub Games are set to come out next week and I think I might give away one of the game codes to someone that has donated to the cause. I've purchased Fable: The Lost Chapters and in a few months it will be joined by Fable 2 the Limited Edition. Artwork is ready and signed, but my contact might have a little something more. I'm working on those details and will update when I hear back. As much as I'd like to say what it is, I just can't until its official. Sorry Fable Fans, you'll have to wait a little longer now.

So many cool prizes to give away, some fans will really enjoy the chance at these items and all for a simple donation of $6.12. We have a lot of Heroes to locate between now and the launch of Fable 2. Please keep us busy and make a difference here, remember this money goes direct to help fight Breast Cancer. My wife is walking for all of those that have been effected by cancer.

What's that in your hand Soldier? Not just for games anymore...

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:24:07 GMT

Soldiers from the Future Combat Systems, Evaluation Brigade Combat Team, employ
an unmanned vehicle to clear a road during an exercise and live demonstration Feb. 1
at Oro Grande Range, Fort Bliss, Texas. (Photograph by U.S. Army)

I came across this video clip from GamePolitics.Com and thought it was rather cool. The US & British are using Xbox 360 controllers to control UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and robots for numerous tasks. You can also read more about this in a piece that ran in Popular Mechanics as well.

Its only natural that the military would use or leverage the gaming industry in this way. Most of these games are very realistic in their creation and look & feel. My only thought is can you not skin the controller pictured above so it doesn't stand out as much? At least give them an Elite controller or is that for Special Forces only?

Wiimarkable little console that packs loads of fun

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:13:43 GMT

So we finally got a Wii and I have to say it’s a great system for the family and kids. When all was said an done we spent $347 to get it up an running and I think that is pretty much the bare minimum for anyone. I suppose we could have just bought the extra controller and nunchuck an shaved a bit more and skipped on Wii Play, but my kids are loving those games. That price point is really close to an Xbox 360 by the way.

Speaking of games, more and more titles look an appear to be very kid friendly on the Wii and I'm happy with that most of all. I've already loaded my Gamefly up with some Wii titles to test out. Nights Journey of Dreams was the first and it was pretty cool, a bit more challenging for my daughter at this age an time, but she liked most of it.

I can clearly see why this is a great choice as a 2nd console for us or even a first time console for some families. We have some friends that own a Wii and they also own a PS3 for Blu-ray. I think Nintendo has hit on something here and making huge numbers with first time buyers looking for family friendly titles and I think owners of the others consoles are clearly looking at the Wii as a 2nd choice over each others brand.

In the end we are family having fun learning and playing games together and that's what is important. The Wii is sure to be a blast in more ways than one. Perhaps the wireless motion stuff will get old. I just hope they keep on looking at family friendly titles like Animal Crossing. I'd also like to see the numbers on how many Wii owners actually own other consoles, I can't help but think they have some large numbers of bi-console fans.

XBL play & win for a chance at 100,000 MS Points

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:11:12 GMT

Prizes, Prizes, and more Prizes just for playing games. Starting tomorrow you can get a chance at winning a weekly prize of 4000 MS Points and just for playing some of the arcade titles. Best of all you don't even have to buy the game right now, you can simply play the trial version to secure your entry for that week.

I love the fact that you can download trials an demos and think this is really great to have a sweepstakes and allow you to simply play a trial version. So with Five games lined up and an entry for just playing at least once, I think its well worth the time to download and try. Not to mention a chance at winning 100,000 MS Points is not to shabby as well. Take a look at the list of games and make sure you download them and give them a try at least and if you like the game, spend a few points and add them to your collection to keep.

July 30 - August 5 - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
August 6 - August 12 - Braid
August 13 - August 19 - Bionic Commando: Rearmed
August 20 - August 26 - Galaga Legions
August 27 - September 2 - Castle Crashers

We all have the power to help

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:09:34 GMT

So I came up with this idea around the first of the year, shortly after my wife announced that she would take part in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, a 60 Mile walk in November. If its one thing that my wife has always done, its been very generous and always giving of herself for others. Out of anyone I've ever known, she has always lived by the rule its better to give than receive.

If you haven't heard of the Breast Cancer 3-Day, its put on by the Susan G. Komen foundation and those who walk agree to raise at least $2,200 to walk. Most try and raise more than that, but still you have to raise at least that amount in order to walk. So I decided I would work at helping her raise those funds and came up with an idea.

So what I came up with, I called the Power of 360 and I wanted to focus on the gaming community for Xbox Live. My thought was dividing the $2200 by 360 Xbox Live members, you would only need to donate a total of $6.12 each. That should be a very easy and small amount to sacrifice, about the cost of a daily Lunch or say an Xbox Live Arcade title.

Now some people could very well donate much more and with out even thinking twice. Xbox Live is made up of members from all kinds of backgrounds, but hopefully most of us can at least afford to donate $6.12 for a very worth cause. The fact is Cancer can strike anyone and at anytime. That is pretty much why my wife wanted to support a cause like this and to help out others.

I've done what I can this year in helping out a few other worth causes and this is my latest. I did say its better to give than receive and I'm hoping I can reach a few others willing to help support and give. I've created what I like to call the Ultimate Hero Prize Pack for those willing to help us.

Lionhead Studios has donated a signed print of the Hero & Dog for starters. In addition to this I've purchased a brand new copy of the original Fable: The Lost Chapters and I'm also purchasing the Limited Edition of Fable 2 to round out this package. I've also made a donation myself and I'm not eligible for any of the prizes. That means 1 out of 359 will be selected to win this prize pack. Now I'm going to see what I can do to round up a few additional prize packs for a few others and will update the site with what I find. All I can do is try, but rest assure, one of you will win the Ultimate Hero Prize Pack.

Thank you for your time and support, thanks for believing in this cause and in the journey my wife is about to take. Thanks for believing in the Power of 360 and making a difference.

Bungie not happy at the moment

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:07:33 GMT

When you visit Bungie.Net your greeted with a few different pages it seems. The latest is a message from Harold Ryan and expresses the disappointment or some recent events at E3. You have to admit it was a bit strange to not hear from Bungie at all. Granted its not like they have an expected game, but it was rumored they had something special to talk about and that something in the lines of a Halo 4 was coming down the pipe. The Microsoft Press event came and gone and no sign of Bungie. Here is what I found when I went to the site a short time ago.

From: Harold Ryan
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 7:00 PM
Subject: E3 Announce

For the last several months, we've been building toward a reveal of something exciting that Bungie is working on. We were looking forward to sharing that with our fan community during the week of E3. However, those plans were just changed by our publisher.

We realize that many of our fans are disappointed by this turn of events; members of the Bungie team share that disappointment.

When the right time comes, we look forward to sharing this exciting announcement with you. Until then, we appreciate your continued support and patience.

Harold Ryan
President
Bungie LLC

What is rumored to have gone down was a last minute change & announcement about Final Fantasy XIII coming to the Xbox 360 and this news forced Bungie to sit this conference out, in order to get the word out. It was a huge surprise to hear FFXIII would be on the Xbox 360. What ever has happened, fans are forced to wait until the dust clears and things return. A few days are left for E3, but will we see something during that time? Your guess is as good as mine.

E3 Live coverage July 14-17th from GTR

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:33:43 GMT

Unscripted360.Com to host Live discussion on July 14th 8:00pm CST
GamerTagRadio.com is Live and on the front lines with streams from this years E3. Tune in this week here or visit their site to see first hand what is coming down for gamers. Watch on July 14th at 10:30am Pacific as Microsoft gives their Live Press Conference. Then on July 15th at 9:00am Pacific you can see Nintendo Live and later at 11:30am Pacific Sony will give their Live Press Conference. But that's not all... through out the whole show Gamertagradio.com will provide more coverage from various Gaming Companies at E3.

Tune in later this evening at Unscripted360.Com to listen in and discuss some of the coverage with fellow gamers at 8:00pm Central Time. I'll be back later in the week with more news and information, but until then enjoy the coverage courtesy of GamerTagRadio.Com

Are you done Yet?

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:17:30 GMT

Something I've heard from time to time through out the gaming community is, "Are You Done Yet?" So I'm not the only one who hasn't finished a game all the way through. Some people get started and along the way they loose their way and do something else. It can be a number of reasons, but my intentions are to finish the games.

One of the big blockers in finishing a game for me is all the new releases that come out. So many new games come out and they call you for attention. Not to mention the network of friends you have adding to this draw, "Oh look, everyone is playing CoD4...", so you'll make the switch.

Playing Live with your friends I think is the biggest draw and biggest block to finishing a game. With a small number of games having Co-op and most being straight Team Slayer style, its no wonder people get distracted and never seem to finish a game. Match after match of some of the most fun you'll ever have will come from playing on Live, but its not going to help you beat and finish the game.

So what is the big deal with finishing the game. By all means if you don't have the patience or care to do that, its fine with me. Still I feel your missing out on an important part of the game. Some of these games have a really great story to tell and its an interactive story you take part in. Sure you can wait and hear all the spoilers and know the story with out playing, but that's not really the fun way to do things.

I'm guilty for sure, but with good intentions... so I have a nice list of games that I need to work on and finish. Now in finish I mean the story myself, I'm not talking about getting every single achievement available. That's a fun quest too, but its not something I have to do. So here is a list of the games I'm wanting to finish and need to set time aside and do.

HALO: Combat Evolved
HALO 2
Fable
Bioshock
Assassins Creed
GRAW 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 episode 1
Half-Life 2 episode 2
Portal
GTAiv

Some people might look and this and wonder why I haven't finished these and say its a short time to complete these. Well for someone who has 8 hours a day to set aside and just play games it might be, but my time is limited and to late evenings for most of these games. I don't play these when my daughters are awake really. But I have my list of games to at least attempt and finish the story lines now and at least for the experience of what the designer had in mind.

If you build they will give

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:32:34 GMT

I know your thinking its too good to be true. But it is True! I'm not sure why they are doing it, but I really don't care. Fact is for visiting the site and playing with some online design tools, you can earn MS Points for registering, submitting a design and rating cars.

You get 100 points just for registering on the site and then you can earn additional points daily for rating cars or designing a car. But I can talk about it over and over, but there is no catch and you don't have to give any credit cards or buy anything. You just have to play designer. Trust me, its FREE Points and you should get them while you can.

Click on the first car I played with and rate it. I'll try and share more designs later as I learn to prefect the online editor. Sure would be cool if this was a full blown Forza 2 editor. But I'm not going to complain when I can earn free points. Its a concept car, yeah that's the ticket.

GTR will stream live from E3 next week

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:32:58 GMT

Starting on Monday July 14th, Gamer Tag Radio will stream live coverage from various events at E3. You can view this from their web site and others next week. I'll have the feed embedded on my blog here starting on Monday and keep it up for the whole week of coverage. I hope to have a few items posted over the weekend, but check back next week and see what things are going down at E3. Way to go Godfree & Gamer Tag Radio and thanks for being there on the front lines for us gamers.

Fable II Pub games available in August

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:46:18 GMT

The day is getting closer and closer for the release of the much anticipated Fable II. In earlier news about the upcoming game, a set of XBL Arcade Fable II Pub Games would become available and allow you to earn gold before Fable II is released and that day will come in August now. The Gold you earn in the Pub games can then be accessed in Fable II.

The really cool thing is you don't have to buy these Pub games. They will be apart of the officially released versions of Fable II and if you pre-order the game you will get a code to download these Pub games in August. If you don't want to pre-order, you can purchase these Pub games from Live for only 800ms points.

So check with your favorite retailers about placing a pre-order and see what steps they have in place for you to get your code. I've already reserved a copy of the Legendary Collectors set with Game Stop and they have the following instructions listed on their web site for those who are pre-ordering:

Pre-order Fable II and receive the Xbox Live Arcade Fable II Pub Games. While supplies last.
Online / In-Store Pickup Customers: Codes and instructions for Pub Games will be emailed to you. Please provide valid email address at time of order.
Store Customers: Code and instructions for Pub Games will be provided at time of reservation.

This is the games I'm really looking forward to for 2008 and I think will go over really well. I hope to have a lot more on Fable II as the release date draws closer.

Happy Bungie Day 7/7

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:22:17 GMT

It's back once again, July 7th or 7/7 is happy Bungie Day and they are giving away free stuff to all of the Halo Faithful again. What is cooler as a give away other than a free Map called Cold Storage? I can't think of anything cooler than this re-imaging from the Halo Combat Evolved multiplayer map.

You can also pick up the Legendary Map pack for a nice price point of only 600 MS Points and that is well worth that price point. In addition to Map offers, you can get Gamer Pics and a Dashboard Theme. Thank you Bungie, makes me look forward to July 7th more and more. I have a feeling a lot of people will be playing Halo 3 tonight and over the next few days. But don't wait, a lot of these offers are only available for 48 hours, so snag them up fast.

Its Co-op Nights on Live

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:15:15 GMT

Xbox Live and Co-Optimus.Com are bring you Co-Op game nights once a month over Xbox Live. Xbox Live will select a particular game and night each month for you and your friends to gather online and battle as a team together.

I'm really excited to see this being promoted and its a feature of gaming that I've been interested in the most. Games with Co-Op modes and team based fighting sound like a blast to me.

I hope to give this first game session a try with GTAiv being selected to kick things off. Hangman's Noose, Bomb Da Base II, Deal Breaker, and Free Roam are some of the Co-Op game modes you can take part in tonight with your friends over Live. I look forward to these and many more like it.

Co-Optimus is a site dedicated entirely to co-op gaming, pertaining not only to events such as these but to news regarding all kinds of co-op games across all platforms. Get the latest news about the co-op features of your favorite co-op enabled games!

Getting In touch with your inner Wii

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:15:06 GMT

So yesterday I finally got to try a Wii something different for a change. My brother-in-law has a Wii and had it at the in-laws over the weekend. So I finally saw one up close and got to put it through a little action. I started out as an observer and find that is always best... gather some Intel... you know what I mean here, right?

I watched my daughter play a few rounds of bowling and then it was my turn to give it a try. I said alright, but I'm not sure what to really do here. They told me what to click pretty much and with very little effort (rather lame) I threw a strike right off the bat. I lost the game in the end, but it was fun to try and play. My daughter loves it and is really good at it. If I get on a Wii bowling league, I want her on my team for sure.

My fave of the Wii Sports package is Boxing by far. I had a really great time with this game. My first fight I was awarded all three rounds and won in the end. I went on for another 5 fights after that and won all of those with KOs in the 2nd or 3rd rounds. My last fight was the first fight for me to experience a knock down, lucky for me I came back and finished him off.

Now this morning I'm sore like you would not believe. It wasn't until this evening that I really felt how sore I was. Amazing that moving from left to right and jabbing and punching for 6 fights, almost a total of 18 rounds, can get you that sore when your done.

Next to Boxing would be Bowling as a fave and then its a toss up between Golf and Baseball. I found out today that I can actually change my pitches in Baseball and that I should really take a few practice swings in golf before each stroke.

Tennis comes in last, but that is just me and I've had a harder time with it is all. I think with a little more practice I could get better with it and enjoy it more. In the end I'm impressed with what I've seen out of the Wii. Graphics are not near the Xbox 360, but its geared towards different gamers all together. Still a blast and really amazing as to what it can do and how much it reacts to your motions. For me this is hands down the best Boxing in a game I've played and really gets you into the game. All that is needed is a third party vendor to make a sensor that inflicts pain at every punch. That's a joke, please don't do that.

I'm looking forward to learning more about the Wii and could see getting one for the family at some point for sure. Wii fit will be high on the list and other games like this will be cool. I wonder if they have Wii Karate or something like that. All they need is some special shoes to place the other controller and nun chuck in right?

I'm also interested to see how well it can help in getting someone into shape. I sure hope after a few sessions of Boxing I'd begin to get use to it and not be as sore. If not, I'll need to look at Wii doctor or some Wii rehab I suppose.

Cod4 FTW once again

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:59:55 GMT

Double Points Weekend Too

Major Nelson has posted the Live Activity for the week of 5/26 and based on the numbers for Unique Users on Live, the game of the year for 2007 has regained its top spot once again. That's right Call of Duty 4 is at the top of the list among live users playing the game.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 GTA IV
4 Guitar Hero III
5 Gears of War
6 Rock Band
7 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
8 FIFA 08
9 Forza Motorsport 2
10 GRID Demo

Infinity Ward has to be happy about this victory, take note of the number 3 spot. How quickly the might can fall these days. At release my friends list was full of people playing GTAIV solid and now I'm lucky to see a single user in Liberty City these days. GTAIV is interesting to see, but in the end its not going to stack up to the like of CoD4 & Halo 3 and all they have to offer.

Speaking of offers Infinity Ward is hosting double points for all maps this weekend. So here's a good time to get into some live action and level up. I'm closer to reaching that 55 and need to take advantage of this weekends double points and try and get there. Then I can decide if I want to start things over again, I'll at least do that once I think.

Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode One demo

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:52:30 GMT

Penny Arcade creators Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins have joined with legendary game designer Ron Gilbert and veteran producers Hothead Games to bring you Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One. This first installment of the episodic role-playing adventure game series is set in the highly stylized 1920s universe of New Arcadia filled with bizarre characters, outrageous combat, and adult humor.

So if I can try something out first before I buy it, as well as give something a look before I pass judgement or opinion on it, I prefer to do that. So I gave the demo a try and have to say that its very interesting and feels like a comic book coming to life for starters.

At the start of the game you can create your own character and I had the most fun with this portion and found it really cool. I like how you can do stuff like this in games and find your creation show up with in the games you play. Lets move on to the game and the type of play then.

The story has adult humor for sure and all though most of the action and what goes on is not as drastic, its the little things that will cause kids to ask, what's that robot doing? If your little ones know how to read, then you might have a hard time explaining what a certain word is too. Thankfully this is something I tried out after they went to bed and I avoided all of this.

Game play, is simple and turn based action. Move your character along and then mash a button. Repeat and progress along. You run into parts where you can interact and make choices, in the end your still going to reach the same result and progress the story along. The story is funny and I like the setting, colors, and comic feel of the game.

Bad news for me and not being a huge fan of Penny Arcade or having read much of their work is the cost of this title. Coming in at 1600 pts ($20) is a bit steep if you ask me. That is a lot to spend on an interactive comic from a couple guys that I haven't really read much. Maybe I'm in a minority here, but I need to be a bigger fan to even think about that kind of price point.

In the end, the demo is well made and presents you with what your to expect from the full game. Its not my type of game though. I'm more of an FPS and do what I want type of player in most cases. I'm not a fan of mashing buttons and you have to go here to progress the game. Yes most games have you do an objective, but I prefer to select which paths I want to take and how I want to accomplish that goal in most of the games I play at least. This doesn't take away from what Penny Arcade is, its an interactive story, but one you have to stick with to get to the ending.

Battlefield: Bad Company demo on June 5th

Fri, 30 May 2008 14:09:46 GMT

Dice is now preparing for the release of Battlefield: Bad Company and has a demo slated for June 5th on Xbox Live, in anticipation of their retail releases on June 25th in North America and June 27th in Europe. The Battlefield: Bad Company beta has since come and long gone now for this game, but now its time to ramp those servers back up again and get some game on via a demo.

If you've followed any number of Podcasts and gaming sites over the past couple days then you more and likely saw them giving away codes to get in before the public date of June 5th. This is what I call a soft launch and a controlled demo release.

But come June 5th, you can expect to see larger numbers of fans playing the demo and working their ranks up. Its nice to see Dice giving these codes to the masses of Podcasters, Bloggers, and Indie game reporters to give away to their audiences. After all this was the same groups that spoke out about the micro transaction ideas, discovered from the beta, to unlock certain weapons in the game. This was just what a beta was suppose to do, the unexpected feedback helped change those portions and have now provided ways to unlock those weapons with out any extra costs.

So mark your calendars for some gaming action and take a look at what Battlefield: Bad Company has to offer now. Here is what you have in store when you get in to the demo on June 5th.

Demo includes:
Single player
· Early look into the quest for Gold with Bad Company

Multiplayer
· Play the all-new Gold Rush mode on the Oasis map, featuring land, sea and air vehicles.
· Reach rank 4 in the demo to unlock an exclusive in-game weapon

Lets talk about XNA, lets talk about games Baby...

Wed, 28 May 2008 19:28:28 GMT

Don't just play games when you can create the games now. That's right, if you would like to create your very own games for the Xbox 360, Microsoft has the tools for free to let you do just that. Towards the end of last year some games were released during a trial period on Xbox Live Marketplace and these were created using the XNA tools. Now Microsoft has launched the XNA Creators Club website for those interested in building games using the XNA Game Studio 2.0 platform.

XNA Game Studio 2.0 enables hobbyists, academics, and small, independent game developers to easily create video games for Windows and the Xbox 360 console using optimized cross-platform gaming libraries based on .NET. Combined with an active membership in the XNA Creators Club (available from Xbox Live Marketplace), you can also create, debug, and play games on your Xbox 360 console.

This is all good news and I'm looking forward to getting the tools and learning about games creation for the Xbox 360. In fact I'm already looking at the XNA Game Studio CTP 3.0 and building games for the Zune even. Later this year its expected that XNA 3.0 will begin to work with Visual Studio 2008 and allow the creation of games for the Xbox 360. For now you still have to use XNA 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 to create your Xbox 360 games. I'm also helping out with the formation of a local XNA Users Group and looking forward to this getting off the ground soon.

With all of the possibilities out there, I don't see a shortage of games anytime soon. Who knows, maybe I could have a game on Live for others to try or perhaps I could be playing a game that you've created.

Everybody was Kung Fu Panda fighting

Sun, 25 May 2008 16:08:48 GMT

Love that song... Fun, Fun demo for me. My oldest loved watching me play this game and had quite a few Hi-yas to throw in as I took on the enemies with my best Panda style Kung Fu. The game from Luxoflux and Activision is based on Dreamworks upcoming Kung Fu Panda film. I'll be taking my daughter to see the flick for her birthday when it comes out.

As for the demo and the game, its a lot of fun to say the least. My only draw back is I'm afraid it might hype my daughters up some and get their aggressions going a bit. This is something I need to work on with my oldest and sit her down with a few games to see how she really does and talk about them. I'd tried another game earlier for kids and found her telling me, "Kill em Daddy, Kill em.." I just want to make sure she doesn't get too wound up and pretends to go Panda style on lil sister after playing.

But back to the demo and what I think of the game. A blast and very well made in my opinion. Its a third person and my Panda only looked goofy a few times getting turned around. I think that helped confuse my attackers and added to me finally beating them. There's a limited selection in games geared really for kids these days and most seem to be tied to a movie or TV show of some sort. Talk about the money machines for stuff like this.

Anyway give the demo a try for yourself and go check out the movie too. Yes you'll see the same things in the movie, the thing with a game is your pushing the buttons and a part of the action more and for little ones they can get sucked into that a lot more. Like I said, my only concern is what effects the fighting will have on my kids in the end.