XBox 360 Rally

Turok. At one time, it was a badass FPS franchise that made the N64 the system to own… ok, not really, but it was still pretty bad ass. Either way, after a few substandard sequels, and an attempted relaunch on the Xbox that can only be described as abysmal, Turok has returned looking manly and absolutely BAD ASS!

Apparently this time around Turok is a Government Bad Ass with a Mohawk and a taste for death. I haven’t seen anyone this manly use a bow since I saw Rambo: First Blood part II… the only film to make me weep.

This game feels like Splinter Cell, Killzone, and Jurassic Park had a disgusting, deformed Flipper baby. The idea of mowing through a series of commandos just to be pounced on by a velociraptor hiding in the bushes… hot. Simply sexy.

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Here I am, coming to you LIVE from my couch! Here I am, ladies and gentlemen, ready to pass along the latest news from Microsoft on to YOU, the reader! …because apparently you don’t realize it’s on G4… or 1UP.com… or Gamespot… or Lord knows where else… EITHER WAY, let’s DO IT! Watch the Conference HERE!

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The guys at IGN have been happily receiving extra hits on the site lately because of their hands on preview of Rock Band, but also worth noting is they now have played Turok as well. Here are the cliff notes of the finer points made about the games.

Rock Band:

• Guitar is larger and more realistic (compared to the very toy like Guitar Hero guitar, which I personally was fine with, but having a larger guitar definitely would have been nicer)
  Buttons feel stiff, but Harmonix pointed out that IGN was still using prototypes and that final versions are still being tweaked out.
• Guitar effects such as reverb, delay, and phase are being experimented with.
• Vocals are handled similar to that of Karaoke Revolution.
• Drums are similar to the guitars just doing the beat/color matching.
• If one person in the band is doing poorly, the other players can “rescue” them by keeping up the groove.
• “If you can play the drum parts on hard, you can pretty much play the drums.” - Harmonix Rep

• Whew, that last one about the drumming has to have someone other than myself intrigued. Full Rock Band 3 page preview here, it makes for a pretty good read.

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Today brings to a close one of the greatest cock tease demo of them all, the Halo 3 Beta. Now with my cousin out of town, I was able to nab his 360 and hook up my hard drive to get some more game time in (see: Red Ring of Death). Though I didn’t get to play the full time the beta was available, I actually feel I got to play enough of it, didn’t touch custom games, but I was already getting sick of playing the same levels over and over, good levels mind you, just annoying after a while.

Well, since I still had this working 360 over this weekend, I did manage to nab the new demo’s available. I can’t lie, I am very impressed so far. Check the rest of this entry for my thoughts on the new stuff.
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CVG had the opportunity to sit down with this game and gave a pretty good preview of what is to come. Some selected quotes:

” This level of interaction with the characters, and not just the world, is something that BioWare is really hammering home. We don’t think Pixar will be off to the job centre any time soon, but it’s obvious the people at BioWare have buckets of talent behind the camera. The game’s intro sports the kind of cinematic flair and attention to detail Kojima pours into the Metal Gear series.”

” This nearly-finished build delivers on its promise of “digital actors”, who gesture and fire off their lines with realism unseen in games before.”

“Combat plays more like a Ghost Recon game than any of BioWare’s previous RPGs. Heavy weapon and character customisation is what keeps strategy in the combat. “

[Read about the full hour here]

From Wikipedia: Haze is a first-person shooter video game developed by Free Radical Design, which was debuted at E³ 2006. It will be published by Ubisoft.

The game is currently scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2008 for the Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Windows platforms.[1] According to Free Radical, Haze will have a ’serious’ tone unlike Free Radical’s TimeSplitters games which provide a more comical and laid-back gaming experience. Additionally, Haze will not include a mapmaker feature and will allow your character to jump, more departures from the TimeSplitters tradition. Online modes will include co-op and multiplayer.

I am a huge Time Splitters fan, and it makes me sad to admit that this game looks so Halo/Counterstrike generic. But, I am going to still put faith in Free Radical and check it out as soon as I can.

So what are you waiting for, onto some screen shots: (more…)

The guys at TeamXbox had not only a nice review of the device, but even got to get an interview with “Xbox Live’s Group Program Manager”

Some highlights:

• “While we are sure that game developers will implement this keyboard into their titles down the line, this peripheral was created to make text chat and IM over the Xbox 360 easier and more convenient. We are excited to see how game developers use this accessory in the future, but games were not the primary reason for its creation.”
• “..the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device wasn’t specifically developed because World of Warcraft will play better, but it’s only a matter of time before we see game info data reading “supports keypad”. We would loved to have reported to you all that the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device makes playing Phantasy Star Online much more enjoyable”
• “..the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device will essentially make your sticks into one uber-device. In fact, we bet you forget that the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device and the controller are actually two separate pieces due to how well they both fit together.”
• “Typing messages seemed easier with the Xbox 360 QWERTY Keypad Device than any keypad-based cell phone that we’ve tried. The keys are as large as possible for an integrated device (which helps the fat-fingered)”

I never really thought past the notion that this would be for just instant messaging friends family or what not, not consider the functions of using it with games sounds great. Also, seems to be a quality product as far as it feels with the controller.

[ check out the full 4 page article at TeamXbox here ]

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Eternal Sonata is a game that has got my attention right from the first screen grab. Then after hearing the storyline revolves around pianist Chopin on his death bed being inside his head. That is a really short version of what the game is about, there is a bit more to it.

Now on to the Demo review; the game starts off with no thrills, getting right into “New Game” start screen and seeing how the controls are (very basic btw).

Now onto my first goal I have to accomplish. I don’t even know my characters name yet, this is fast paced so far… which is good because I have been wanting to play this game forever. Going back to having a goal to accomplish, well, after playing a while, I think that the only true goal is to keep moving forward.

The game itself, movement smooth and fluid, graphics…. gorgeous. Colorful and so detailed. Still screens don’t do the game justice.

Ah, now time for my first battle. Wow, very nice battle system. You have three characters, and 5 seconds to make a move with each,.. ie one of your guys takes a stab, now he has to wait 5 seconds, but you can still use your other two characters while he is on his 5. In a weird way, I was reminded of Quest 64, but not in a bad way. The animations for the attacks are good enough, and there is a variety of attacks you can use. Enemies do get a little repetitive, but who knows how many more types of bad guys that aren’t in this demo (cause im sick of fighting these turnip gangs)

I can hardly write this review while playing, im already sucked in. this is the Chrono Trigger type RPG i have been waiting for (but doesn’t seem to be as free roaming), to me, its real easy to compare, you have very lush detailed backgrounds, a fixed camera system, and such a unique look. When going to new areas, load time is near non-existant. There is no other word to describe this game other than ‘beautiful’ .. it just looks and feels great, with a classic rpg feel. Classic to the point, of get ready to read a bit of text, which I felt was actually light.

Before I end this review, I want to say the word.. “Earthbound” ..in no way is Eternal Sonata like Earthbound in gameplay, but it hits that originality factor character wise mixed with the slightly enhanced fight sequences. Remember to re-arange your life schedule, this feels like an RPG that you’ll want to keep playing to level up and live the storyline. Which, let me add at the end here, I played for about an hour, and when I finally just put it down, I still wasn’t sure the storyline. Maybe Japanese Demo’s have a different take on how demos should be done.

[If you do not know how to download demo's made for non-americans, click here]

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You know, growing up in rural Michigan, I never had a lot to do. I remember spending countless summer nights with my friend Shanon at the local BP Gas Station, feeding quarters into the Area 51 arcade machine they had in the back corner. There used to also be a King of Fighters machine (one of those red Neo Geo cabinets), which was replaced later on with an RoadBlasters machine. Shanon and I got so good at Area 51 that we could get through the entire game–twice–on a single quarter. When they finally took the machine out of the BP, we had 9 out of the top 10 scores maxed at 999999. I challenge anyone to top my streak of 176 consecutive kills on 176 shots. Go on, you can’t do it.

So naturally, you can imagine my hesitation when I hear that they’re planning on releasing a sequel to Area 51. Or to be more specific, the sequel to the remake of the arcade classic. But, after playing through the demo, I have to say… I have hope.

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Found via xbox360fanboy they posted it in a positive light. This is surprising for games based on tv cartoons, I think the only good ones have been Rescue Rangers and Duck Tales (both on NES ..8-bit baby)… and maybe that Duck Dodgers on SNES.

Just finished watching the trailer myself, and I must say I hope at the least they get a demo out of this game so I can check it out (I can’t be embarrassed and go to Blockbuster to rent such a thing). They games graphics are on spot, and the gameplay looks like a good cross between what platformer should look like, as well as having that Looney Tunes humor.

So check out the video, leave a comment, and also check out the thoughts left on Xbox360Fanboy

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Well, half a review. If you do not know, my 360 is working when it wants to, “towel tricks” working multiple times.. and blah blah, lets get to review already… Halo 3 Beta.

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Halo 3 Beta

Love, Bungie

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Halo 3 Beta

Love, Bungie

Yes you have to go through that little text on a black screen until you get to the feeling of excitement as the menu screen pops up:

Before starting a game, I actually take a second to explore, hitting the start button to see what “Profile” offers.. thinking this was to customize my characters, ended up was a bunch of stuff i had no time to try and understand at the time (please, someone comment on what all that stuff means)
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Well, there it is. The first Xbox 360 Elite commercial. There really is nothing I can add to that. My opinion of the advertisement is… less than stellar. But of course, that’s because I watched the commercial and went “duh” to just about everything. Perhaps my opinion is tainted by the fact that all we talked about here for two weeks was that damn Elite, so I pretty much know that console inside and out.

Regardless, you can expect to see that on TVs everywhere pretty soon.

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Double Dragon on Metacritic’s not so good.

Some quotes from various reviews:
“Double Dragon succeeds in delivering the same action as its NES predecessor, but it’s bogged down by its total lack of difficulty and the pitiful emulation job.” - Team Xbox

Double Dragon can be fun, but it under-delivers. This is a five-dollar game. You deserve more than a crap framerate and lingering bugs. The fact that co-op is so difficult due to the slowdown sucks most of the joy from Double Dragon. - IGN

Maybe this might be a game you should think twice before jumping in. Play the demo for at least a week or something.

1up.com does a little video preview review, as I watched one big thing I got out of it was… “it terms of style, in terms of just general beauty, it just comletely blows away Blue Dragon.” Then I notice a lot more Blue Dragon comparisons come up. It is understandable, but I’d like to think that much like SNES had and then PS2 later, Microsoft could get a good hold on a lot of various RPGs without having to compare them when they have very little similarities.

Just check the video for a lot more info from the guys plus lots of footage, walking and fighting, the battle system will be something to experience. In the end, this may be looking to be a kick ass game for RPG fans, and if you aren’t an RPG fan, this might not be for you. But so far, this game is looking beautiful.

I haven’t heard of Chair Entertainment before, but thats okay, I like to know there are still new up and coming developers. Their project is called “Undertow” .. it will be brought to you via Xbox Live Arcade downloading (meaning cost effective fun!). The big run down:

•Using the UNREAL 3 Engine(yes, the most overused engine, but you have to admit it is good)
•16 person Multiplayer!
•15 level one player campaign, solo or co-op!
•”.. best described as Geometry Wars meets Battlefield.” - Erik Brudvig of IGN

Ive wrote enough, lets roll the clip, click —> (more…)