XBox 360 Rally

So, I finally played GRAW 2 on my 360, and I have to say… I don’t know why I’ve been shying away from this game for so long!

The demo itself was fairly short — took me about fifteen minutes to get through once I figured out the somewhat complicated control scheme. Suffice to say, every button does something that, quite frankly, looks pretty good. When you jump into the game, the first thing that you will notice is that the game looks gorgeous, even in this early demo. I let myself get smashed by a mortar round just to watch it fly.

But the game itself is also fantastic. You take control of former NFL Quarterback-turned-Special Forces soldier Scott Mitchell, and you are given the basic mission of “Kill the bad guys before they kill you.” You’re given a slew of weapons in which to kill with and spend most of the demo by yourself as you ice the baddies. Strange, considering that Ghost Recon had always been about team control (to my knowledge, at least) and tactics. Eventually you DO get to group up with three other soldiers and get to play with the team controls for a short period.

There were quite a few things I liked with the demo. The recon drone is a pretty cool feature. If you hit the RB, you can use the recon drone to scan over your immediate surroundings for enemies or objective points, and it helps to plan strategy to most efficiently ice those heffers. Another thing that really impressed me, as a soldier, was the teammate AI. In the brief period I had them, I saw that the programmers at Ubisoft did a most excellent job in programming your teammates to, again, efficiently ice those heffers.

Another feature that I hear is new is the MULE. Basically, the MULE is where you replenish your ammunition and health, and should the situation arise where you’re being hogged down by enemy fire, the MULE works as a pretty good shield. Believe me, I know.

I wish they had come out with a multi-player demo, but the single player demo is certainly worth a few go-arounds. Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter 2 is due in stores on March 6th.

Oh, by the by… the ACUs look freakin’ awesome.

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The single-player demo for Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter 2 is here, and on the Xbox Live Marketplace for you to download. I’m currently downloading it right now, though at over 600 MBs, this could take a hot minute.

To pass the time, let us all share in the GRAW 2 Dev. Diary, shall we?

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I still remember the great feeling of dread when I heard that EA Sports had bought the exclusive rights to the NFL, back in 2004. I remember the even greater sense of dread I felt when EA Sports bought the exclusive rights to the money-grubbing whores that is the NCAA. Hell, I remember the sense of… well, ok, I didn’t give a crap when EA bought the rights to Arena Football. But with Arena Football, EA Sports had officially created a monopoly on American Football sims.

Until now.

2K Sports, who in 2004 retaliated by getting the exclusive 3rd party rights to MLB, is throwing their hat back into the Football ring with All-Pro Football 2K8. In an announcement released earlier today, Take-Two and Visual Concepts didn’t say too much about details, but they did say that All-Pro Football 2K8 should be out sometime this summer.

Football fans rejoice!

(Note: If you listen to All Games Interactive, you knew about this for some time, now. This news broke on AGI at least a month ago.)

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I come bearing good news, people. There is going to be a new slew of games coming to the Xbox Live Arcade, including a few sure-fire classics. Those ten, in no particular order, are:

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Paperboy
Worms
Root Beer Tapper
LUXOR 2
Alien Hominid
3D Ultra Minigolf
Catan
Band of Bugs
Eets: Chowdown

A somewhat impressive line-up. When they’re coming to the Arcade is not yet public knowledge. But we at least have confirmation that they ARE coming.

I love Best Buy, because they always have great deals with Xbox 360 titles, and now they’re doing it again. If you go to Best Buy right now, and pre-order Halo 3, they’ll give you 1,600 Microsoft Points for a mere $5.

On a side note, I guess it’s now official that Halo 3 is going to be released on 11/15/07, if the Best Buy page is correct.

Best Buy’s Halo 3 deal

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Ok, I didn’t want to talk about this, but since everyone else is making a big deal out of it, I’ll throw in my two cents as well. But first, in case you haven’t seen it on Kotaku, Gamespot or some other real news site, Unscripted 360 is reporting that, referencing a “partially torn document,” Microsoft seems to be in the planning stages of starting a program in which all those worthless Achievement Points may actually add up to something tangible. But only to a select number of gamers.

Gamespot, always being the curious folk that they are, essentially asked Microsoft “…what’s the dillio?!” (Again, I am SO white) While Microsoft didn’t say it was true (giving their typical “no comment” answer), they did not deny it either, going on to say:

However, what we can tell you is that Xbox is always exploring ideas for how we can reward our loyal customers. As soon as we have anything new to share, we will definitely let you know.

Now, I actually like this idea. The idea of Achievements equaling free swag for a lucky few gamers is great. But I see a problem with this, and in keeping it fair. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say it would trump “farming” on WoW 10-fold.

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Ok, folks, we have a slew of new games coming out for the Xbox 360 this week — most of which are on the XBLA.

Battlestations: Midway
This World War II title will put you square in the middle of some of the biggest naval battles of the second great war. Controlling both destroyers and aircraft carriers, you will be able to control the tides of battle through both sea AND air. As the… um… you know what? I can’t keep this crap up — the game bored the hell out of me when I played the demo. If you like WWII, you may like this. If you like piloting sluggish aircraft and steering sluggish battleships, you may like this. If you like your games to have a pace that is on par with a slug stuck in sap… you may like this. Me, though? I’ll pass.

Fusion Frenzy 2
Remember when the Xbox first launched in 2001? Fusion Frenzy was one of the launch titles; a darker, grittier take on those party games started by that damn plumber over at Nintendo. Boasting over 40 mini-games across seven different worlds, if you like sitting down with a few friends and cranking a few quick mini-games out, you will love this game. Great for parties… thus the “party game” title, I suppose.

Xbox Live Arcade
With the Xbox Live Arcade releases, we are being given some of the Arcade classics that many of you probably grew up with. My being a SEGA Genesis baby, they were already labeled as “classic” in my book.

Asteriods
Battlezone
Centipede
Millipede
Missile Command - Maybe now Mr. Awesome will stay at home! (Inside reference for the AGI listeners)
Tempest
Warlords
Worms

…if you have marketplace points, this is sure to be a great week for you. Otherwise, it’s… it’s either party games or really sluggish, really slow WWII maritime combat.

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Gamespot (I envy those guys) reports that Electronic Arts is ready to release the single-player demo to “Def Jam: Icons.” The demo will feature Big Boi and T.I., and will let you two slug it out as only gangsta thugs can (I am so white.)… at a gas station. While you two are slugging it out, two tracks, “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors… oh, wait, no. “Kryptonite” by Purple Ribbon All-Stars (feat. Big Boi), and “Top Back” by T.I. will be playing while the matches themselves will be on a timer.

I’ve never played a Def Jam game. I admit this proudly. Everyone I know has told me to try it at least once, but in the end they just never interested me, although I must admit that Def Jam Records has an ingenious advertising department. But, for the sake of you, the reader, I’ll give it a shot. Just this once. If it sucks, I’m going to come after you guys.

The demo should be on the marketplace Thursday.

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451 Press, the company that gives my sorry self employment, is currently looking for new talent. If you are semi-literate, can construct sentences and have an undying passion in any subject you want to write about, go to 451Press.com/apply and put your application in.

Personally, I think we could use a beat writer for the PS3 (We need to complete the “Rally” trilogy!), PC Gaming and the TV show “Boston Legal.”

Peter Moore, seen here showing off one of his fake tats (At least, I hope they’re fake) has stated in an interview with IGN that Microsoft is committed to making the Xbox 360 in Japan a success.

When asked if Microsoft needs to change their approach towards making the console a viable success in Japan, Moore stated:

I think we need to continue to be a competitor as aggressively as we have been since the day we launched [in Japan]. Little things make your day a little better. This morning when I woke up, seeing Gears of War as one of the top ten selling games in Japan, on top of Blue Dragon’s success over the holidays, is vindication of a company that understand what it needs to stick to the task. I think we are seeing progress in Japan. With Lost Odyssey still to come, I think we feel real good about our ability to compete and compete aggressively in the Japanese market. It’s not easy, let me make that clear. It’s not easy. But we’re not going to back down just because it’s not easy.

And when asked if the 360 was setting the stage for the next Xbox, or if they were going to try to win it right now, Moore told them:

No, I think we need to compete in Japan [now]. I think there’s a tremendous amount of benefits, both direct and indirect, of being a good partner. Whether it’s the sale of consoles themselves to what is a very rapid fan-following; whether it’s our ability to work very aggressively with the publishing and development companies in Japan, and I think we’re seeing the fruits of that with games like Dead Rising and Lost Planet; whether it’s [learning] about how to really structure game mechanics and our teams on the ground in Japan provides a lot of inspiration for what we do around the world. There are a myriad of different things that provide benefits for us for being a competitor in the Japanese videogame market and that’s something we’ll continue to do.

So in short, Microsoft is sticking to their guns with Japan. Which is good, because they had a huge hit not too long ago with Blue Dragon. Slowly, but surely, it seems Microsoft is “getting” what Japanese gamers like, and what their tendencies are. If you have a free minute, I suggest you read the whole interview.

Read the Interview

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A minor update to the GRAW 2 Demo “in the near future” post from back on the 23rd. The single player demo for GRAW 2 is on it’s way to the XBL Marketplace, and I imagine that we can see it in the next few days.

For those of you who have never played a Ghost Recon game, or have otherwise been living under a rock, the Ghost Recon series is one of the most critically acclaimed military simulations on the market. It’s kind of like the US Army equivalent of Rainbow Six. As for the upcoming game in the series, Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter 2 will follow “The Ghosts,” an elite force comprised of the best, of the best, of the best. In 2014, Mexico is thrown into a full-scale civil war that spills across the border, and it’s up to you and the rest of your team to fend them off.

And on a side note… as a Lions fan, it’s nice to see someone named “Scott Mitchell” do something with his life that mattered. But I digress.

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If you were one of the unlucky souls who downloaded the Call of Duty 3 “Valor Pack” map pack… well, it sucked to be you. But now, if you still own CoD 3 (and why wouldn’t you?), you’ll FINALLY be able to play on the new maps.

The Call of Duty team gave us all the news at the Xbox Forums that the Valor Map Pack’s issues have been addressed, and the addition is ready for download. But that isn’t it, oh no. They also took the time to address the issues people had with the ranked lobbies and matches.

Finally, for you sorry saps who downloaded it back on the 18th… you get it free. Congrats.

You know, in the hoopla that accompanies news about Halo 3 and whatnot, we sometimes forget about the business side of gaming. Sure, it’s fun as can be, but it’s first and foremost a business, with companies vying for your hard-earned (or not so hard-earned, you pushers) dollar.

Case in point, while every site (including this one) was breaking the news about the inclusion of Halo 3 in every copy of Crackdown, a lot of people, (again, myself included) skipped over this bit of slightly disheartening news.

This past Thursday, Microsoft slashed it’s Xbox 360 shipment forecasts for the 2007 fiscal year, in an attempt to ensure that Microsoft’s gaming division turns a profit. Unsold inventories had been cited as the reason for the drop in expectations. In a statement, Chris Liddell stated that Microsoft intends to ship twelve million units by the end of the fiscal year (30 June), instead of the previous 13-15 million.

Personally, considering that the Xbox 360 is leading the console race by a fair cushion over Nintendo (Never thought I’d say THAT again), and has already shipped 10.6 Million consoles (numbers curtesy of NexGen Wars), I wouldn’t get too worried over a minor drop in shipment numbers.

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NOTICE: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
NOTICE 2.0: Language Advisory: If you’re young, there be curse words here. You have been forewarned.

You know, for as long as I can remember, I have been a hardcore gamer. When I was a young boy, I remember going out with my Uncle Bucky to yard sales just after I had bought my first Sega Genesis, looking for just the right game to break into gaming with. That game, the first game that would send me down a path that, some thirteen years later still has me throwing down, was EA Sports’ NHL ’95.

Sure, NHL ’95 didn’t have a story-mode, and is therefore disqualified from this group, but I thought it was a nice story to tell so I told it anyways. Screw you if you didn’t like it. This list, that is certainly unofficial, is to serve as a warning to all new gamers, and old gaming vets alike – just because a game has a kick ass story, with kick ass visuals and kick ass acting, doesn’t mean it can’t drop a gigantic turd on you. So without further adieu, I present to you the worst video game endings of all time…

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Remember that scene in Titanic, when just after the ship hit the iceberg you see all the 3rd class passengers walking down one of the corridors following the rats? Yeah, I think Capcom is following their own rats off the sinking ship that is the Playstation 3. In another blow to Sony, rumor is spreading like wildfire that Capcom may bring it’s last great “exclusive” franchise to the Xbox 360. Who’s spreading this rumor, you may be asking?

The Official Playstation Magazine (actually, PSM, which is equally reputable with it’s Sony news). Ouch. First brought to our attention by Xbox360fanboy.com, apparently Sony is convinced that Capcom is going to bring Dante and his clique to the 360.

Jonah tipped us off on the contents of his official Playstation Magazine (yes, the same one with the Gears ad). Inside, there is an article discussing the future of Devil May Cry 4 and whether it will remain a PS3 exclusive. PSM is reporting that Capcom will be showing some more Microsoft love and will be bringing the series to the Xbox 360. We’ve all heard this rumor before, but we’re starting to feel a little more giddy by the day. Are you guys interested in Devil May Cry 4 coming to the 360 and do you think it’ll help with console sales?

God, I hope this is true.