XBOX updates on News and Views on games and more from a personal view
The more I read about this game the more I want to buy it now! It is a becoming a very popular game and it may even break a few records when it goes on sale at the end of the month. I cannot it believe it has reached over 2 million downloads and it is now only a couple of weeks to the release date of the full game.
Will you be buying it?
OK so we have heard about the new XBOX control system but when will it be released? Will it be before SONY bring out their version?
Playstation lost a lot from not being out the PS3 before Microsoft brought out the XBOX 360 and to top it off the price of games on the XBOX were much more appealing to the consumer.
Will XBOX bring out something before SONY?
In my opinion XBOX has become a little stale in the ideas department and pushing the games console forward. SONY now have Home and what does XBOX have? I have posted before about questioning the new avatars that are being used but what for they don’t seem to have much of a use.
Reading tonight I cam accross this article: Rumor: Xbox 360 To Get USB Storage Support which would mean you could download your arcade games. More importantly it would mean you can backup the drive which up till now is near on impossible or such a pain to do it just doesn’t seem worth the effort.
The problem with this is that yet again Microsoft is behind what the PS3 can already do. The Playstation already ships with usb capability and a inbuilt backup so you can plugin an external hard drive and back it up with ease. Why has this not been available for the XBOX?
Yet another copy is that they may be planning to create a slim version of the 360 can they not think of their own ideas?
After playing Just Cause 2 on the Playstation 3 I wanted to play it but unfortunately it is not out until the end of March. I had a quick look on Ebay and found that the original Just Cause is on the XBOX 360, it was on the Playstation 2 but i gather he PS3 was not out when it was released.
I was hoping ti was going be a bit like the new version and it is in some ways but the free roaming is not the same on the old game.
You do get to go just about anywhere but the game is more mission based forcing you ti undertake missions, travelling around the map and doing side missions.
While this is fun it is just no where near as fun as Just Cause 2, I cannot wait for it to be released.
I have always wondered if XBOX is going to do something like Home on the PS3? Th Avatars just seem to be a bit useless?
On first look, Microsoft`s New Xbox Experience is an aesthetic evolution of its former, more mundane self. On closer inspection, however, this entirely new platform is the launch pad that will fire the Xbox Live community into the next generation of interactive gaming. Key to the New Xbox Experience is the personalisation of gameplay, which is ushered in with the introduction of fully customizable avatars.
According to Microsoft, an avatar is the “virtual you in the New Xbox Experience”. Almost all avatar features are customizable, from height and weight to eyes and hair – your `virtual you` can even be blinged up (or down)! Naturally, gamers will not always create avatars in their own image – in fact, much fun will be had by all in devising the most ridiculous or hilarious virtual characters. As a nice little side feature, which will no doubt be developed further in future generations, friends lists are populated by animated avatars which do various things according to their respective user status – for example, an avatar of a friend who is available to play a game will cheerfully wave and smile at you whereas a friend who has fallen into his Friday night beer and pizza coma will quite rightly be shown asleep. In short, Microsoft`s aim to inject added interactivity into the Xbox Live community cannot fail to miss and promises an exciting new trend for future
developments.
In many ways, the New Xbox Experience is like a game in itself. Aside from endlessly tweaking avatars, Xbox live users will experience an entirely different graphical interface to navigate. The old style menus are still present at the core of the interface but layered upon these are many visual and functional improvements. Inside Xbox, for instance, still provides access to exclusive video features and the latest marketplace content but with the addition of a content-saving archive. Additionally, the new Spotlight section provides users with an instant hit of the most featured content, including the most sought after new game demos and video releases. Marketplace has also had a significant makeover, which makes browsing significantly more user-friendly.
Finally, one feature that may be easy to overlook in the excitement of creating an avatar or downloading the latest marketplace offering, is the My Xbox channel (home page) itself. This section provides links to gamer`s favourite and most played games, but significantly there is also the facility to install disk based games onto the Xbox hard drive, which reduces loading times and considerably reduces disk access noise! Such a facility has the potential to kill two birds with one stone – cut down a little on in-game lag while keeping the other half happy…
Xbox Live gamers have been enjoying the revolutionary New Xbox Experience since the 19th November 2008, so ask yourself what video games you want to play tonight and get in on the action – your `virtual you` is just a few clicks and about a thousand edits away!
I’m a fan of Gears of war and this is the same kind of game with a 3rd person view.
From the start it is very aparent that you have to work as a team, no running off on any kamikaze missions in this game as you are bound to be killed. It begins with a very hands on tutorial kinda throws you in there and you don’t really take any of it in you just do it. I found myself trying remember how to do everything in the beginning, but i got there 
In easy mode (Recruit) it didn’t take long to complete the game but it is addictive! And ive already begun the next level.
Achievements are hard to come by there are a few for buying certain guns and for having agro on for a full minute.
I’ve yet to go on line against any others i’m not confident enough to do that yet plus it will be better once one of my friends catches up with me and we can then go on line as Army of Two
Some of the quirks i expected from the teaser videos released last year have been toned down but there are some fun things you can do like smacking your partner over the head and high fiving them when you want to congratulate them. Oh and if you remember Bill and Ted then you will like the air guitar playing
I’m a big fan of this game it is easy to pick up has a small plot which is easy to follow with some fun bits thrown in. I like the fact you have to work as a team.
I recently bought Forza Racing 2, after playing it with a friend for so long i decided to buy it myself and start the career.It is a great game which takes a bit of getting used to driving as it is not a usual arcade racing game.
You must follow the lines as a beginner to find the right driving path and breaking distance for each corner.
When you get the hang of it you can up the level and it removes the help on the road.
As i had been racing with a friend on his XBOX for some time i had my own car on his machine so he gifted me the car so i could have it on my own game. This was very good as i was already used to racing the car.
Part of the game is to buy other different cars to race in different car classes such as the light weight class so you can’t get to used to the same car but for many of the races you can use your favourite car.
I’m getting into this game the more i play it. At first i was put off as i didn’t feel like i could take control of the character. I have always been a fan of Prince of Persia which gives you almost free reign of the character. Assassin’s Creed lets you move the character around but you don’t necessarily make the jumps etc you just point him in the right direction. Once i was over that then the game begun to look really good.
The game is set in the future with the story line in the past… confused?
OK without giving too much away basically you are being held captive and forced to use a achine that reads memories. They want some information from your ancestors that you have in your memory. It is a bit like the film Minority report where you can jump in and out of memories.
As you progress through the game then you enhance the characters memory as to begin with you are not able to access everything because you don’t remember. By doing things such as climbing high building to “View Points” you enhance the memory which in turn lets you see more on your map.
As the game goes on you learn how to use certain weapons such as the sword and the hidden blade. You will also learn to interrogate and to pickpocket they do seem to of worked a lot on the way th characters behave. I won’t go into the story too much as if you are going to buy this game then it will take away some of the fun. I have read on some other sites that some don’t like the story but i quite like it, it makes it interesting.
This has to be the first game especially this type of game that i have ridden a horse, it is pretty funny at first but thank goodness they are in the game as you would have a lot of walking to do else!
Right now i am about to choose which city to go to which i believe is memory block 3. I wasn’t sure if there was a better city to go to first so searched for a walkthrough to give me an idea i found these which seem to all indicate that it doesn’t really matter but they all go for Acre so i may as well do that.
http://www.lunabean.com/guides/assassins-creed-walkthrough-4.php
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6182618/index.html
http://uk.faqs.ign.com/articles/837/837411p1.html
They maybe useful to you if you are playing the game I will let you know hw i get on with the rest of the game.
BUT if you want this game get yourself down to Tescos! they are selling this game at the time of writing this for £23.00 it is a bargain!
I am glad i got it as well, the graphics are superb and it is just a fun classic rally game that will be fun on single player, XBOX Live or with your mates.
One question i do have though is there any difference in the different cars you can pick from?
It seems that some cars a faster than other but i am not sure. Can someone clarify that for me?
There are 4 main types of racing Championship mode which is racing different tracks against computer cars which is where you get to race fst on rally circuits and learn to master the power slide.
There is the time trial mode where you get to race times that have been set by others around the world. ( i think it is live from XBXO Live but i could be wrong as i’ve only had this game for a few hours)
Then there is quick play which lets you jump right in a test your driving skills on a few tracks.
Finally you can logon to XBOX Live and go head to head against others who are online.
For £23.00 it i great and well worth it.
After reading an article here: http://news.filefront.com/study-reveals-importance-of-xbox-360-achievements/
I couldn’t agree more that the achievements help to make the user want to play more but i would never buy a game purely based on the fact the game has more achiements for me to get.
I have never reviewed a game to see what achievements it has that just seems silly to me.
I do feel this is one area that the PS3 is lacking in.
The whole PS3 on line experience is in my opinion totally rubbish at the moment. that is not to say the XBOX Live is much better but out of the two i do prefer XBOX Live.
