The black Xbox cases

With the announcement of the special edition of Fable 3, i've begun to notice a trend with the special Xbox editions of games.

On one hand the black case shows you spent the extra money to get the special edition goodies rather than just the game. Alan Wake and Halo Reach are also retailing a black case with their special editions, possibly this is only available for Xbox Exclusive games. Only time will verify if that is true.

However, being that Microsoft is not one to manufacture for novelty, this black case offers a possible hint toward the future of Xbox. Since the special editions with this black case cost more, the special editions have been called into question as a test of how much people will pay for a game. Indeed when the next generation started, the game case design was changed and raised from $50 to $60 retail.

Going back to the fact that Microsoft doesn't manufacture for novelty, it's a possibility that the black case is what the next generation of games for the new Xbox console will look like.

Think about it, Nintendo only made a red case for the New Super Mario Brothers. No other game, Nintendo does make special cases to manufacture unique items, but that definitive Mario title has now called for the successor to the Wii. Microsoft on the other hand, if they don't release a slim xbox 360 this year, is making these black cases for a reason. All the different versions of the Xbox just have a different harddrive, redesigning the whole xbox would help the red ring of death issue. But Microsoft is content with a universal design for its line of gear, and won't change it (even if the controller's D-pad is disliked very much).

So when I saw the black case for Halo Reach, it surprised me Microsoft would make special cases for the game. However it is the last Halo title for Bungie, so Microsoft may have gone for significance in this move. Lets be honest, they aren't that far into their own products. When Alan Wake and now Fable 3 showed this case, it shows me Microsoft mainstreamed this black case. Why?

Perhaps the larger amount of Special Edition purchases, incentivized by this black case now represents the arrival of the next generation. The next xbox line will have these black cases, and since we had no problem paying over retail for the special editions, these black cased next gen xbox games (for whatever they call the next xbox) will be $70.

That's just my theory, to me it makes sense.

X10: Fable III didn't really piss me off

Peter Molyneux said before X10 rolled around that what he was showing about Fable III at X10 would get people "super pissed"

Kind of a bold statement to make about your game. If you're making a game that people are going to be pissed off about, then how could it possibly be good? I mean, it was obviously just a marketing ploy for people to check out what he was showing at the event, but instead of getting pissed off I found myself more interested in what he did end up showing.

The first thing he showed was a set of six new screenshots:


The game is set 10 years after Fable II, with you taking the reins as the son of Fable II's main character. Save data from Fable II could be imported to change the game slightly, but Molyneux went on to say it wouldn't be necessary, and the changes wouldn't be incredibly significant.

About halfway through the story, you will become the ruler of Albion, and this will play a much bigger role in your relationship with the town. Followers will become your new form of currency, and you will have to face many tough choices, which will leave you with either many or little followers.

There's also a new "Touch" system that people have been comparing to ICO, and I can definitely see the similarity. As you progressively become more comfortable with a character, you will be able to go from a handshake, to a hug, to a kiss, etc.

Another thing Molyneux talked about was the weapon morphing system. Over time, depending on your actions in-game, your weapon will change over time, becoming more accustomed to your character and it will change, just like your character has changed in the past two games.

All of that seems great, but I think we're missing the part that's supposed to make us super pissed off. Well, Fable III is NOT AN RPG! Apparently there will be no XP, no glowing orbs, no leveling up no health bar, no red edge-of-the-screen effect to show you're about to die, none of that! In fact, Molyneux has stated that there will be no HUD elements in the game. Honestly, I'm not really pissed off about it, and it's hard to imagine many people being super pissed by it. This is quite surprising, and definitely turns the game into something much different, and something much better in this writer's opinion.

Overall, I'm pretty excited by what Fable III has to offer, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops in the following months till the game's release in Q4 2010. Until then, I'll watch the new set of Lionhead Developer Diaries. You can find the first one Here, just be sure not to get too pissed off about anything while watching it.

X10: Dead Rising 2: Case Zero Announced

Earlier today at Microsoft's X10 event, Capcom announced a very interesting piece of news. A prequel to Dead Rising 2, donned with the subtitle "Case Zero", will be released before the release of the full game, as an exclusive download on Xbox LIVE.

This sounds like a relatively interesting prospect, but I'm left wondering how the game will play. Will it play like Dead Rising? Will you play as Frank West? Will it work as DLC for the game? If it's coming out pre-release, how will it access the second game's on-disc files? Will it be a downloadable add-on for Dead Rising 1? The truth is, we don't know too much about the game yet. The one thing they have said is that it will bridge the gap between the first game and the second.

That seems like quite a bit of story, and it makes me wonder exactly how long the game will be... I'm guessing since it's downloadable, it won't be incredibly long, but a nice solid length for a prequel. My prediction, 2 hours.

So far pricing and a release date have not been announced, but Capcom has announced the release date for the full-version of the game as well as going on to say that it will have a simultaneous release on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Be sure to look for Dead Rising 2 on store shelves this August 31, and get ready for some kickass zombie hacking and slashing, muthafuckers!

Arc vs Natal

The motion control wars was supposed to start this spring with the Sony motion controller getting a 6 month or more head start over Natal with Arc. Arc is a suggested decision on the name of Sony's motion controller if you didn't already know.

Well I was curious to see what people would say about Arc, but Brutal Gamer brought to my attention that this has changed.

“We have decided to release the Motion Controller in fall 2010 when we will be able to offer an exciting and varied line-up of software titles that will deliver the new entertainment experience to PS3 users." -Kaz Hirai

While I don't agree with Brutal Gamer's article that this kills any chance for Sony to outdo Natal, it is a loss of a good head start for them.

Speaking of Natal, Brutal Gamer also lets us know about a possible November 2010 release (early birthday present 4 me?). They also speculate on this article from MCV about the supposed price and shipping details.

so after sifting through all those articles, i've let it sink in. 50-80 dollars for Natal?! Holy crap, what a good price. Almost a dirt cheap price when you think about it, and if it's just a little better than it was at E3 those 5 million units will disappear FAST!

So now you will have to decide if you have both consoles which to buy first, and single console owners will have yet another piece of hardware for the fanboy flame wars.

Razer's Xbox 360 Controller

Kotaku's Brian Crecente was drooling over Razer's new $50 Xbox Controller, a modified design with the start and back buttons being placed on the bottom. The D pad was also supposedly improved, I clicked the article thinking to myself there is no way I would b-



.....

W-Wow, I actually like this. It's wired, which seems like a step back but dang it reminds me of the original Xbox controller look. I might actually consider grabbing one of these when it comes out.

Microsoft talks Project Natal at CES 10

This year's Consumer Electronics Show has gone underway, and what a way to start off the year of 2010 (which I am now just going to be calling "the future") than with a presentation about the most futuristic piece of hardware coming out, Natal.

I watched a few different videos that you can take a look at below:

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

I really appreciate them diving more into the technology front in their explanations, even if they didn't dive too deep. It's understandable, however, since they don't want other companies like Sony or Nintendo stealing their technology. at the very least not until theirs is released. Which is something else that he announced at the keynote speech. The release date for Natal is this Holiday, 2010.

I'm personally very excited for Natal, even though I am still a tiny bit skeptical. It definitely seems like they've been working on smoothing things out since E3, and if nothing else works as good as it should, I'd at least like to be able to navigate my Xbox's menus using my hands.

Here's to you, Project Natal, and here's to the future of gaming, and really, entertainment.

Tech Review: Windows 7 Ultimate

Hey guys, it's rare I do a tech review on this site but for once I have something to contribute in this area. Two weeks ago I had nabbed a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for sixteen dollars as a student of Stony Brook University. Lucky me.

I'll be honest, my computer is not 100 percent compatible with Windows 7. I may have a wonderfully working NVIDIA 8800M GTS Graphics Card, but it doesn't quite work with some of the media and visual features of Windows 7. I am also not tech savvy, so some features have gone unused and I am basically going for a performance review.

I own a Gateway P series FX with a 250 GB hard drive, 3 GB of Memory RAM, and a miserable 1.66 GHz Intel Core Two Duo Processor. So on the processing side my computer might seem weak, but it turns out that it worked well with Vista Premium and works FANTASTIC with Windows 7.

With Vista Premium, page loading time on Google Chrome took two point seven seconds on average. With Windows 7, it takes one point four seconds. That, is a very big speed increase, and my computer scored big on the windows index test.

Granted be, the thing scores one out of seven because my Gateway laptop lacks video capabilities for some of the features. But if you take the video parts out of this loophole for the scoring, my computer scores a four point five out of seven. On Vista, my computer had scored a five point five out of ten. So scoring four point five out of seven is very very good, the performance of this computer with Windows Seven is remarkable. The CPU meter shows only a fourteen percent use of my CPU and twenty percent of my memory. Vista used a little more than twice as much for both, so my computer is literally on steroids with Windows 7.

In terms of compatibility I will say this, update your drivers because video and audio seemed a bit clunky until I went to the Gateway website and re-downloaded them (With the help of fellow author Mark). Programs that worked for Vista WILL work for Windows 7, but my Adobe Premier Elements Four program is not working correctly. I bought that in December 2007, so it could be too old to use. It might be that my project was done in Vista and I just have to start over too. Every other program converted to Windows 7 just fine.

Power management has many customizable features. Be a bit careful in this area because it allows control of cooling, cut offs for hard disk and battery level, and yet it doesn't have the screen brightness settings available in Power Management. I messed up the first time doing the settings, and had a weird result. Keep tabs on how your power management behaves and adjust it occasionally. There isn't MUCH of a battery life improvement, but it certainly can be lengthened in this version of Windows better than Vista.

Unlike Windows Vista, the bottom icons fit all the different windows into one icon on the task bar instead of mashing together in seven to eight different three inch windows just for Google Chrome. This provided much less hassle for me, and I also have an easier time limiting the amount of icons on the task bar that can provide notifications for its program.

Having heaped all this praise, it was a pain to put on and I don't recommend it for two year old computers, Windows Vista was not so bad. I kind of wish I had stayed with Vista since my Adobe editing program doesn't work that great with Windows 7 for an unexplained reason other than it could be too old. If you are so inclined to do it anyway like I did, you will have a decent upgrade of power on your computer.

Remember, I am no expert on tech. I merely did this because it was such a bargain to go from Vista Premium to Windows 7 Ultimate for sixteen dollars. I applaud Microsoft for their latest Operating System.

Halo Reach Trailer Impressions

It's long overdue, but I felt that better quality videos of this trailer needed to seed youtube before I actually posted one. So before you even consider my opinions on this matter, check out the trailer:



When viewing this trailer, I was pretty excited. The graphics/visuals are good, and Bungie stressed the importance of the cinematic scenes being on the in-game graphics capabilities. Good idea Bungie.

Visuals are all nice and everything, but among the ODST soldiers I did not see a single Spartan. True, Spartans like to act alone but seeing one would have been nice. Having said that, the encounters with the characters were entertaining at the very least. I noticed how different each ODST was dressed, i'm a fan of more customization for your character during online matches.

(rant)The helicopters in the trailer excited me, but for a different reason. Many Halo fans wish to drive the pelican, but i'm willing to forgo this in favor of aerial firing. It would be really satisfying to have a mission, where thousands of covenant litter a valley. Your Spartan/ODST would have to "spray" the field, then get down there and finish all of the rest. That is wishful thinking by me, and merely a rant.

For the most part the trailer was good, but there are clearly dissenting people who think the trailer was nothing special. Sure I would like to see gameplay, but it's quite unnecessary since we are getting a beta in Spring 2010 (at least that is what I have heard).

The Halo franchise brought me into gaming, Halo: Combat Evolved was the very first game I played on Xbox. So this early adoption of the Halo franchise makes me biased in many ways, and I get into arguments regarding Halo 3 and Halo: ODST many many times. Halo Reach is going back to the beginning of the fight, the brutes that dominated Halo 3 don't work with the covenant quite yet. So we're going to get more elite combat action, something I feel the lack of made Halo 3 and Halo: ODST disappointing.

So maybe the franchise has fallen in popularity with some, but would gamers truly consider a Bungie made game bad? No, they are a company who has made good games. We can hope Halo Reach is truly magnificent as a game, but we need to calm down when analyzing the trailer. It is just a trailer.

Pets coming to Xbox Live Marketplace

Have you always wanted a Dog, but don't wanna clean up its messes or pay for its grooming. Well now you can get one from a variety of choices on XBOX LIVE.

Starting on December 3rd, you can have the pet you always wanted and avoid the frustration of having to interact with an actual pet. With limited animation gimmicks, you'll be able to know how your pet is feeling after the 23 time he does that same trick. Purchasing a pet has never been more affordable or carefree until now with these $3 animated pet avatars including:

Large Dog, Pug Dog, Dog in Bag, Cat, Siamese Cat, Long Haired Cat, Goldfish, Guinea Pig, Pony, Monkey, Bird, Snake.

*end sarcasm*

Oh, you thought I was really promoting this?

Microsoft Files Interesting Patent

It's become customary for gaming sites to report on patents filed for specific functions being done exclusively for one console. Most patents hardly interest me, but 1UP posted a patent by Microsoft called "User Created Game Guide".

Siliconera reports that the company's game platform strategy director Andre Vrignaud has filed a patent for user-submitted game guides over Xbox Live. According to the patent, the system detects where a player is stuck, and accesses a database with user-made tips for that section.


So an Xbox Live feature that replaces all those starter guides people buy for games, to help you get out of a situation you're approaching the wrong way or unsure what to do. Sounds pretty cool, but wait THERE'S MOOOORE:

The authoring features allow users to capture screenshots and video clips, and to use a digital pencil to mark them. It also may allow for audio commentary and tags, and developers can submit their own guides that will take precedence over user-created guides. There are obvious problems to be ironed out.

So if you're a gamer and you are a big shot with a certain game, you could help others. Just the thought of some random gamer recording audio commentary saying "Alright stupid ass, here's what you're supposed to do" sounds funny and potentially cool for some people to do. I welcome this interesting feature.

Although there is a concern it will make games too easy for people and discourage the "hunt" many go through for achievements and/or progressing through the game. Is the feature innocent enough to avoid abuse by cheap gamers?

Xbox 360's flood Craigslist

Take heed for those wishing to get a 360 on the cheap if they don't have one, or had enough with their RROD'd version. Avoid Craigslist.

Icrontic made me aware that due to the oncoming ban for modded 360's, you might notice more cheap 360's on craiglist

Selling for as low as $90 may be tempting, and if you have no intent on playing on Xbox Live be my guest. But if you want to connect to Xbox Live, cheaper does not always mean good value in this case.

More Bragging Rights for Natal?

Project Natal is eagerly awaited for what it could hold in motion control technology, especially with the fact that there is no controller. It's you. That's the mantra it has been selling since its introduction at E3.

Major Nelson posted news regarding a new achievement of Natal in TIME magazine.

It is a great accomplishment to be honored in TIME magazine, even with concerns over how well Natal will work. People are cynical enough to probably down this achievement since testing of Natal has been limited, so take it with a grain of salt. Sure, I will personally see if Natal deserves the recognition or lives up to the hype, but Microsoft clearly wants Natal to be as good as they proclaim it to be. This award is sure to solidify their credibility in technology...

*thinks about Red Ring of Death*

...Or maybe not. haha.

Halo Waypoint Review

Halo Waypoint, you're probably wondering what the hell it is. Well unlike the suave, cool sounding description you'll get everywhere else. Here's the short and sweet version from yours truly.

Designed in a heartbeat with very little at launch, Halo Waypoint awards Halo fan boys who bought every game and spent every moment playing them with avatar awards. It also excites you by offering a Halo Legends episode weekly even though the series is sub-par and will likely make fan boys cry with the large deviations in the material. In addition it holds Halo news, fanmade content, community screenshots and everything else that makes a Halo fan boy quiver with happiness.

So while there is potential in whatever they add, it offers very little to entertain you for more than 20 minutes.

Halo Legends "The Babysitter" Review

Halo Legends has been a subject of controversy on Geeksquisite, TJ especially cringed at the post production pics where you can see a teddy bear on the ground near a spartan in one picture. Teddy Bears may have been "useful" when killing people in Fallout 3, but what were the animators thinking putting stuff like that in Halo Legends?
*end rant*

On Halo Waypoint the premiere episode of Halo Legends was available, and future episodes will be viewable every saturday. Despite my concern with how Halo would translate into anime, I decided to analyze the episode carefully.

Overall Design in the animation is a mix of good and bad, but the freedoms the animators took are specific. Vehicle Designs are pretty spot on and very cool as far as I am concerned. Especially with the Phantoms, oh my those looked great. Weapon designs and interface on the anime was pretty good too, they had a sniper rifle zoom in moment that looked pretty nice and reminded me of the game.

When it came to the character designs, this is a much much less good side to the anime. Humans, ODSTS, all look okay, but of course the main character and focus of episode 1 had spiky overdone hair. This is why I was worried about Halo Legends as an anime, anime style is a difficult adaption for existing character design in the Halo franchise. Would the army EVER let someone have such crazy looking hair? NO. The spartan for this episode is horribly designed. I can't describe it too well but while the ODST's look okay in their armor, the spartan looks chubby in his armor and is an insult to the Master Chief's design burned in my head (very minimalistic too which means they aren't doing the spartan's justice). As for Brutes and grunts, they seemed okay. Elites, oh man they looked awful, they really messed up on the elites. The prophet they had was okay, but in a nutshell the non human character designs are pretty half assed.

Story and voice acting, that was okay. I am happy to say that they kept this good for the most part. One thing regarding story they did for this episode felt like a breaking of an old Halo tradition regarding spartans.

SPOILERS

They made the spiky haired kid a hero and made the Spartan take the beating from a brute with a hammer for the kid, killing her. That's right, I said HER. the ODST's removed her helmet revealing her bloody long white haired face, okay first of all...

One of the biggest things about Spartans is their mysterious identities, this Spartan kept quiet as she should but they made it so easy for the ODSTS to rip off her helmet. Spartans remain extremely mysterious and rarely allow removal of their helmets in public, or so the novels seem to indicate. It felt wrong that they unmasked a spartan, but that's not the worst part. It also drove me crazy that she got so emotional in the moments she was dying, i've read the novels and spartans shouldn't be "tell all" as they are dying. Or at least, they should have put less human interactions between the spartan girl and the ODSTS. Spartans make emotions take a backseat much of the time, so it felt like they messed up there. BIG TIME.

So for the most part Halo Legends is quite a departure from the designs and story arcs we are familiar with. The main flaw is lack of creative control that is so clearly not there with the death of the Spartan woman. In the beginning of Halo 3, it's clearly established that soldiers don't tend to a spartan that way. In fact, watch that part with the unmasking in Halo Legends, and then watch Johnson and the Chief in the beginning of the first level of Halo 3 and tell me which scene was better. I'm betting the cinematic video game scene looks better, and thats mostly because the chief is not treated like a non human/alien like in the anime.

Set your bar a little lower because it has depreciative qualities, I will hope in future episodes it isn't as bad.

Microsoft Announces Natal Partners

Here is the list

On that list, I note possibilities I want to see.

EA: Right now the only game published by them that I care about is Valve's Left 4 Dead, I want EA to give a Natal development kit to Valve. Wouldn't it be awesome as hell to motion control claw at people you smoke or hunt, I'm liking the idea. And since Left 4 Dead is only on Xbox (yeah yeah PC too), it's likely they will try Natal.

Activision: *hate this company* Well let's see, will they make Modern Warfare 3? If they do, it'd be nice to throw a knife at someone by motion control. Or throw a grenade, or pretend you have a satchel detonator in your hand. You guys get the idea.

Disney: Hold a Mickey Mouse doll in front of Natal and get an acheivement. Lulz.

MTV Games: They are involved with Rock Band, how about having the avatar mimic how you react while holding the guitar?

That's some of my ideas but take the news as you will of who's involved, including Hideo Kojima.

Take a Look at This Ugly-Ass Xbox 360 Controller

I originally saw this posted over at Kotaku, and I just thought I'd share it with you all. Look at this awful looking Xbox 360 Controller they're releasing:



Not only does this thing look like Spiderman and Venom had creepy disturbing sex and popped this thing out, but it also seems like it has some sort of texture on the black parts but not the red parts. That makes me think holding the thing would be kinda awkward.

What are they asking for this montrosity, you ask? It comes bundled with a Play & Charge Kit for $70!! Kind of outrageous, if you ask me.

Tech News: Get Windows 7...for 30 bucks

Proof that this is no hoax

Windows Vista has been crapped on endlessly, and personally, aside from power usage I don't get the "hyped negativity" over Vista. However, for 30 bucks I get the newest Windows software including the better power management and more of my memory ram free? Count me in, I'm sure my college will offer it at some point.

Of course compatability issues make me hesitate to want it, I'd really like to have all my stuff working again. So maybe i'll pass on this because I simply haven't had problems running Vista besides the power usage.

It's good to give everyone a heads up I would say.

Tech Review: Microsoft Office 2010 (Mostly Word)

So I finally got my Technical Preview copy of Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview. It runs so much better than the previous version. The first thing that will pop out to you is the new loading screen (installation stayed the same). Also it loads a lot faster.

After you load it up you can automatically tell that the colors on it are different and so are some of the buttons. The format is also easier to use, so you can create anything from one of those long essays for school or invitations for a party. You can add effects like Shading, Reflection and a 3D look. Also with SmartArt, you can add cool diagrams to your work. Also a new feature is called Backstage view which is a menu that you can set permissions, share, print and more. Printing is easier to do now that you can do it all from one window instead of many.

I think Microsoft has done a great job with the new Microsoft office, though there are a few things that need to be fixed (like some of the buttons don't look good). I cannot wait for it to come out so I can get my copy.

You can watch the video here: http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/6fc5abb1-d943-44ec-9b53-934e9b1cca0e

Xbox 360 outselling the Atari 2600..So?

the significance of John Lucas's words

I recently came upon this article and really understood the significance of it, but to put it at face value the Xbox outsold or will outsell the Atari 2600 and be the biggest selling American born console.

the Atari 2600 hasn't been made since 1992, and Atari is defunct except as a publisher. So the comparison seems pointless, considering that Atari sold a similar amount of consoles in 4 times the amount of years the Xbox 360 has existed. Many reason that because there are more gamers, and gaming being a mainstream, that is nothing to celebrate about. Indeed, Nintendo has dwarfed Xbox 360 even though it isn't an American born creation, and the Xbox 360 is built in China anyway.

The Atari 2600 is Taiwan made, so what makes the Xbox 360 any less American than say Sony's PS3 is to its loyal fans and roots in Japan? Nothing because Japan sees a loyalty to the PS3 even though its also made in China. We should never consider manufacturing as the roots of a product, merely as an effigy of the designs. I have grown to be insulted by the comment of being a fanboy, and in this I am not really a fanboy as I am a loyal American to buy into the gaming market of Xbox from Microsoft. I won't pretend that the 33 percent failure rate and Red Ring of Death misery to Xbox owners doesn't hurt the console's image, especially considering that Atari 2600's almost never failed to work. But as technology grows, this comparision seems extreme since the current generation is more failure prone than past generations.

This being said, the highest selling American game console is also currently leading the console wars with Sony extremely close behind. It is amazing that a console with bad history in terms of its overheating problems will likely be cemented in history, and is still trying to make history with Natal. Something that may detail its epic presence in the face of its flaws.

Shadow Complex Release Date

Proof

Hooray it turns out there was a release date I didn't know about for Shadow Complex, the game will release on August 19th!

Perfect timing i'd think, people wait till the last minute to grab their school stuff and in my case college stuff. What better way to salute the end of summer than by playing one of the most anticipated games of E3. Shadow Complex is also the first of E3's promises for new gaming entertainment that hasn't gone the route of many games pushed to 2010.

Sad thing is, people have been hyping how the game CAN be beaten in under two hours. Why would you want a single player game to be over in just two hours? Why do people have to ruin the game by hinting at shortcuts that make us feel more dumb for taking longer to finish the game. I regretted blowing through Ghostbusters as fast as I did, thankfully still having professional difficulty to replay it in.

Enjoy this game, because it is sure to be a blast.