New Xbox in the house as of today. I hooked it up and my son played a little Call of Duty. I noticed it is a lot quiter and also noticed it has a lot more vents. The black looks nicer than the white IMO. Now hopefully it lasts more than two years. BTW, I picked up the 4 GB one, my son doesn't save much so it seemed the better way to go. Happy gaming!
New Xbox in the house as of today. I hooked it up and my son played a little Call of Duty. I noticed it is a lot quiter and also noticed it has a lot more vents. The black looks nicer than the white IMO. Now hopefully it lasts more than two years. BTW, I picked up the 4 GB one, my son doesn't save much so it seemed the better way to go. Happy gaming!
Glad you're back in business Barry. Sounds like you got one of the new Slim models. They are a lot quieter and run cooler due to their consolidated chip design. They also seem to handle games better as I've noticed that cinemas run much more smoothly on them compared to the old hardware. Hopefully you'll get a lot of mileage out of it.
By the way, if you have any of those USB thumb drives lying around that hold at least 1 gigabyte you can use them as removable storage. Just plug one into the 360, go to the system section of the dashboard, select memory and then follow the prompts to format the thumb drive. Keep an eye out for sales on 8gb or 16gb thumbdrives and you'll have all the space you'll need.
I've been playing thru a few games the past few weeks:
Star Wars: Force Unleashed II: Fun game with great visuals and nifty force powers (using the Jedi mind trick on your enemies never gets old). The only knock is that it is a relatively short adventure, but there are lots of challenges that extend its replayability.
Fallout: New Vegas: The follow up to the enormously successful Fallout 3, New Vegas is an RPG/first person action hybrid where you play a mysterious character wandering around the remains of a post-apocalyptic Nevada. Lots of quests to undertake and characters to interact with, this is the kind of game you can lose yourself in for weeks.
Fable 3: Peter Moylneux's third entry into his Fable series gives us a story of a young man who must become a king to save his lands. It's a more whimsical kind of adventure and the gameplay isn't all that difficult. Another one of those games you can just wander around in and lost track of time.
Aliens vs. Predator: This game got some bad writeups but I managed to get a copy for $20 and have had a lot of fun with it. There are three campaigns: the colonial marine, the predator and the alien. I've played thru the marine campaign and parts of the predator campaign and have enjoyed them a lot. All of the hallmarks of the films such as the pulse guns, motions trackers, predator vision, etc. are here and while each campaign isn't particularly long overall there is a lot to see and do. A great deal at $20.
Tron Legacy: Just started this prequel game to the new movie. Again, the reviews have been lackluster but I'm having a lot of fun with it. The game mixes platforming with on foot third person and vehicular combat. The controls can be a little touchy (especially the vehicles) but it's a visually striking game.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood: Bought this a few weeks ago but have only played it briefly. It picks up pretty much where Assassin's Creed II left off and Ezio now gets to run, jump and assassinate his way thru medieval Rome.
Anyone else played Dragon Age 2? The combat mechanic is vastly improved from DA: Origins, and that was the first 360 game I seriously fangirled. Having a fully VO'd PC makes a huge difference, and I love the revamped dialogue system where the aggressive actions are assertive, rather than parroting a Bond villain-type. I was also really impressed by the storyline - it may be one of Bioware's darkest, politically contemporary ones yet, on par with Mass Effect, and each of the companion characters is strongly written. The choices you make earlier in the game feel like they matter, and many do have consequences in terms of what options you have available in certain critical situations (ex. the Feynriel questline, the Arishok). If you haven't played it yet, I highly recommend it; I'm definitely replaying this game a few times.
Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying.
I played the demo to Dragon Age II and was a little disappointed by it as it. Graphically it looked great but the action in the demo seemed too linear and repetitive and I was also a little disappointed that the game apparently isn't so much a sequel to the first Dragon Age (which I played and enjoyed quite a bit) but more an independent story that runs in parallel to events from the first game. I was expecting the child of Morrigan and the hero from the first game to factor into Dragon Age II but apparently this doesn't happen either. I've also read that nearly all of the game takes place in one city. I was also very confused by Flemeth's appearance in the demo. I'll definitely pick it up at some point, but I don't think it warrants it's current $60 pricetag and I'll probably wait for it to drop to the $30 range before picking it up.
Speaking of Mass Effect, the final piece of DLC for Mass Effect 2 was released last week. The Arrival sets the stage for Mass Effect 3 and places Shepherd in a solo mission involving a rescue of an earth agent with information on the Reapers. Things are not always as they appear however and Shepherd must make some tough decisions and confront an old, familiar foe before the adventure is over. The DLC has gotten some mixed reviews, in large part because the emphasis is on action rather than exploration or conversation, but I enjoyed it. Visually, there are some very interesting areas and fans of the series will experience some pretty dramatic story twists and powerful moments.
I do understand where you're coming from TonyDP, and I think it's a good idea that you're waiting to buy it as the XBOX360 version is REALLY buggy and sorely in need of a massive patch. There are some massive bugs that prevent you from doing critical quests. DA2 had a really short development cycle (16 months, which doesn't allow for much bug/usability testing).
Re: DA2 as an original storyline rather than a sequel: From a developer's perspective it doesn't make sense to focus too much on Morrigan's child and the Hero of Ferelden in DA2 because that could invalidate other endings that players chose for Origins. Let's say that the Origins player chose to sacrifice the Warden and never underwent/didn't allow Alistair to undergo Morrigan's ritual. Importing that save into DA2 would require a different storyline to logically mesh with DA2's storyline if DA2 was all about the consequences of Morrigan's child. That said, the Witch Hunt DLC is pretty good at resolving the Morrigan plotline. And there's more to Flemeth than we see in the DA2 demo - you'll just have to play to find out more about that
I and most of my friends who've played DAII liked that most of the story takes place in one city; you do venture to other areas outside the city for various quests, but there's enough to keep you occupied in Kirkwall. My one big pet peeve is the blatant reuse of template locations; once you've gone into one cave/mansion, all subsequent quests that take place using the exact same location template save for a few doors blocked to force you to use different entrance/exit paths. You memorize the layout really quickly.
The ending leaves fans really divided; while I personally loved the storyline overall, DA2 does feel like a set up for DA3, where hopefully larger plot questions will be resolved. Each of DA2's acts feel somewhat disjointed, and the Anders character arc also elicits mixed feelings, especially if you played DA: Awakening. Still, I can assure you that the action does get more interesting (at least as a warrior; I haven't played rogues or mages much) later in the game once you aquire more abilities.
Flattery will get you nowhere, but don't stop trying.
Went with my son to Best Buy last night to pick up Gears of War 3 and a one year subscription to Xbox Live Gold, if you bought the game for $59.99 you got the one year subsciption for $39.99 which is a deal. Best Buy also offered 40% extra on any game you traded in, so my son gathered up a number of old and no longer used games and off we went. The total purchase price with tax was $105.00, we received $68.00 in credit for the games we traded in, my son had a Best Buy gift card worth $10.00 and I had a Best Buy rewards coupon for another $5.00, so after all the credits we walked out of the store with the game and the one year subscription for about $22.00. Dad was happy. Game will be played today so I will give feedback on that later.
One more thing about last nights trip to Best Buy. As we were driving to Best Buy, my son asked if I remembered when we bought the first Gears of War, I replied I did not. He then told me "TonyDP told you the game was good, so you mentioned it to me and we went and bought the game, good thing Tony told you about the game." So thanks to Tony for having a lasting impact on my son. )
Best Buy delayed the shipping of my Gears of War 3 Limited Edition pre order! I am pretty annoyed that I payed for the release day arrival and then it didn't come... And it still isn't coming today.
One more thing about last nights trip to Best Buy. As we were driving to Best Buy, my son asked if I remembered when we bought the first Gears of War, I replied I did not. He then told me "TonyDP told you the game was good, so you mentioned it to me and we went and bought the game, good thing Tony told you about the game." So thanks to Tony for having a lasting impact on my son. )
) It's good to be remembered. Hopefully it will have been a positive impact.
I hope to pick up Gears of War 3 in the next couple of days; in addition to all the usual bells and whistles, the game also has a 3D mode so I'll be curious to see how that looks.
By the way Barry, Halo: 10th Anniversary Edition will be released in November. It is a remastered version of the original Halo, now with next-gen graphics, widescreen support and even a 3D mode. I've seen a few videos and the game really looks beautiful. The original Halo is still one of my favorite games so at $40 this will probably be a must buy for me.
As there is a lot of buzz about Gears 3 at the moment, I decided to go back to Gears 1 as I've never really played it properly.
It hasn't grabbed me at all. I find if a game is similar in terms of gameplay to a lot of other games I've played, then it must have a decent story to pull me through and the story here is dull. I just don't find it compelling in the slightest. With the cover based combat it reminds me a bit of Uncharted, and I find the story in Uncharted a lot more interesting so that pulls me through the game. I think the combat is more solid in Gears though. That alone isn't enough for me. It looks fantastic and I can fully appreciate the love it gets but it's going to be put back on the shelf I think. In short, I can see the merits of the game but it just bored the life out of me.
Im a little frustrated with myself about Gears. I think if I'd played it when it was first released I would have loved it. But now I'm late to the party and I've played a shed load of 3rd person shooters before I got to this so it doesn't feel as exciting.
1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 2- Casino Royale 3- Licence To Kill 4- Goldeneye 5- From Russia With Love
I've played all three Gears of War games. I share some of your feelings about the first game; there was too much of an emphasis on the cover based combat and not enough variety in the gameplay (other than a couple of levels where you pilot a vehicle). The gameplay and storytelling improved as the series progressed. Gears 2 introduced more variety and a better selection of weapons and Gears 3 pretty much perfected the formula - its interesting to play the first game again and realize how much more responsive the controls have gotten and how much better your AI partners perform over the years.
Still, the core mechanics - cover based action and precision reloading are pretty much the same. The color palette and architectural style are also pretty much the same from game to game. As such, if the first one left you cold, I very much doubt the subsequent games would win you over.
My son has mentioned he is interested in Batman Arkham CIty, anyone have any feedback. I saw a YouTube clip and it looked cool.
It is being hailed as the best use of a license in a game ever, and I must agree. It is fantastic and has my absolute favorite combat and animations for the characters. Great voice acting, exciting story, and one of the best game worlds to explore. Very fun, and amongst critics it has received universal acclaim. Fantastic and absolutely one of the top 5 games I have played this year, and one of the top 20 I have played on consoles ever.
My son has mentioned he is interested in Batman Arkham CIty, anyone have any feedback. I saw a YouTube clip and it looked cool.
I picked it up last week; it is a very well made and absolutely massive game. In fact, my only potential caveat is that there is so much to do and Arkham City is so large that the game can be a little off-putting at first until you get a handle on the controls and how to move around. The dialog can also be a bit cheezy and juvenile, even by comic-book standards.
If your son never played the first game (Arkham Asylum) you can probably find that at a good price as well. It is, in my opinion a more focused game than Arkham City and easier to get into and get a hang of.
By the way, Amazon.com has a buy 2 get 1 free promotion going on thru November 5 and Arkham City is one of the games featured; I believe Target has the same deal going on right now as well.
Comments
Glad you're back in business Barry. Sounds like you got one of the new Slim models. They are a lot quieter and run cooler due to their consolidated chip design. They also seem to handle games better as I've noticed that cinemas run much more smoothly on them compared to the old hardware. Hopefully you'll get a lot of mileage out of it.
By the way, if you have any of those USB thumb drives lying around that hold at least 1 gigabyte you can use them as removable storage. Just plug one into the 360, go to the system section of the dashboard, select memory and then follow the prompts to format the thumb drive. Keep an eye out for sales on 8gb or 16gb thumbdrives and you'll have all the space you'll need.
I've been playing thru a few games the past few weeks:
Star Wars: Force Unleashed II: Fun game with great visuals and nifty force powers (using the Jedi mind trick on your enemies never gets old). The only knock is that it is a relatively short adventure, but there are lots of challenges that extend its replayability.
Fallout: New Vegas: The follow up to the enormously successful Fallout 3, New Vegas is an RPG/first person action hybrid where you play a mysterious character wandering around the remains of a post-apocalyptic Nevada. Lots of quests to undertake and characters to interact with, this is the kind of game you can lose yourself in for weeks.
Fable 3: Peter Moylneux's third entry into his Fable series gives us a story of a young man who must become a king to save his lands. It's a more whimsical kind of adventure and the gameplay isn't all that difficult. Another one of those games you can just wander around in and lost track of time.
Aliens vs. Predator: This game got some bad writeups but I managed to get a copy for $20 and have had a lot of fun with it. There are three campaigns: the colonial marine, the predator and the alien. I've played thru the marine campaign and parts of the predator campaign and have enjoyed them a lot. All of the hallmarks of the films such as the pulse guns, motions trackers, predator vision, etc. are here and while each campaign isn't particularly long overall there is a lot to see and do. A great deal at $20.
Tron Legacy: Just started this prequel game to the new movie. Again, the reviews have been lackluster but I'm having a lot of fun with it. The game mixes platforming with on foot third person and vehicular combat. The controls can be a little touchy (especially the vehicles) but it's a visually striking game.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood: Bought this a few weeks ago but have only played it briefly. It picks up pretty much where Assassin's Creed II left off and Ezio now gets to run, jump and assassinate his way thru medieval Rome.
Ah the holidays. So many games. So little time.
Speaking of Mass Effect, the final piece of DLC for Mass Effect 2 was released last week. The Arrival sets the stage for Mass Effect 3 and places Shepherd in a solo mission involving a rescue of an earth agent with information on the Reapers. Things are not always as they appear however and Shepherd must make some tough decisions and confront an old, familiar foe before the adventure is over. The DLC has gotten some mixed reviews, in large part because the emphasis is on action rather than exploration or conversation, but I enjoyed it. Visually, there are some very interesting areas and fans of the series will experience some pretty dramatic story twists and powerful moments.
Re: DA2 as an original storyline rather than a sequel: From a developer's perspective it doesn't make sense to focus too much on Morrigan's child and the Hero of Ferelden in DA2 because that could invalidate other endings that players chose for Origins. Let's say that the Origins player chose to sacrifice the Warden and never underwent/didn't allow Alistair to undergo Morrigan's ritual. Importing that save into DA2 would require a different storyline to logically mesh with DA2's storyline if DA2 was all about the consequences of Morrigan's child. That said, the Witch Hunt DLC is pretty good at resolving the Morrigan plotline. And there's more to Flemeth than we see in the DA2 demo - you'll just have to play to find out more about that
I and most of my friends who've played DAII liked that most of the story takes place in one city; you do venture to other areas outside the city for various quests, but there's enough to keep you occupied in Kirkwall. My one big pet peeve is the blatant reuse of template locations; once you've gone into one cave/mansion, all subsequent quests that take place using the exact same location template save for a few doors blocked to force you to use different entrance/exit paths. You memorize the layout really quickly.
The ending leaves fans really divided; while I personally loved the storyline overall, DA2 does feel like a set up for DA3, where hopefully larger plot questions will be resolved. Each of DA2's acts feel somewhat disjointed, and the Anders character arc also elicits mixed feelings, especially if you played DA: Awakening. Still, I can assure you that the action does get more interesting (at least as a warrior; I haven't played rogues or mages much) later in the game once you aquire more abilities.
One more thing about last nights trip to Best Buy. As we were driving to Best Buy, my son asked if I remembered when we bought the first Gears of War, I replied I did not. He then told me "TonyDP told you the game was good, so you mentioned it to me and we went and bought the game, good thing Tony told you about the game." So thanks to Tony for having a lasting impact on my son.
I hope to pick up Gears of War 3 in the next couple of days; in addition to all the usual bells and whistles, the game also has a 3D mode so I'll be curious to see how that looks.
By the way Barry, Halo: 10th Anniversary Edition will be released in November. It is a remastered version of the original Halo, now with next-gen graphics, widescreen support and even a 3D mode. I've seen a few videos and the game really looks beautiful. The original Halo is still one of my favorite games so at $40 this will probably be a must buy for me.
It hasn't grabbed me at all. I find if a game is similar in terms of gameplay to a lot of other games I've played, then it must have a decent story to pull me through and the story here is dull. I just don't find it compelling in the slightest. With the cover based combat it reminds me a bit of Uncharted, and I find the story in Uncharted a lot more interesting so that pulls me through the game. I think the combat is more solid in Gears though. That alone isn't enough for me. It looks fantastic and I can fully appreciate the love it gets but it's going to be put back on the shelf I think. In short, I can see the merits of the game but it just bored the life out of me.
Im a little frustrated with myself about Gears. I think if I'd played it when it was first released I would have loved it. But now I'm late to the party and I've played a shed load of 3rd person shooters before I got to this so it doesn't feel as exciting.
Still, the core mechanics - cover based action and precision reloading are pretty much the same. The color palette and architectural style are also pretty much the same from game to game. As such, if the first one left you cold, I very much doubt the subsequent games would win you over.
It is being hailed as the best use of a license in a game ever, and I must agree. It is fantastic and has my absolute favorite combat and animations for the characters. Great voice acting, exciting story, and one of the best game worlds to explore. Very fun, and amongst critics it has received universal acclaim. Fantastic and absolutely one of the top 5 games I have played this year, and one of the top 20 I have played on consoles ever.
I picked it up last week; it is a very well made and absolutely massive game. In fact, my only potential caveat is that there is so much to do and Arkham City is so large that the game can be a little off-putting at first until you get a handle on the controls and how to move around. The dialog can also be a bit cheezy and juvenile, even by comic-book standards.
If your son never played the first game (Arkham Asylum) you can probably find that at a good price as well. It is, in my opinion a more focused game than Arkham City and easier to get into and get a hang of.
By the way, Amazon.com has a buy 2 get 1 free promotion going on thru November 5 and Arkham City is one of the games featured; I believe Target has the same deal going on right now as well.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_358009902_1?ie=UTF8&plgroup=1&docId=1000741821&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-5&pf_rd_r=1E9KN2KZWNKSFDNJBQVJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1328275962&pf_rd_i=409566