Awesome Game... nuff said.

360 Adventures!

well... maybe only 3 or 4...

So I spent the last 6 or so hours messing with my 360...the interface on the console is really nice.. and I love how you can access it at anytime, no matter what you are doing (playing a game, watching a movie, whatever). And the whole "blades" design is sharp looking (no pun intended). I received my Wireless Network adapter today so I plugged it in and began setting things up. The wireless connection was seamless... all I had to do was plug it in, and it was connected.. XBox Live came right up with no effort on my part. Very Cool. So then I needed to set up my account.. and I had decided a while ago to create a new Gamertag (my old one, Pondrepof, was always too hard for folks to pronounce and such and those too lazy to actually read the letters would think it said PowderPuff)) so I was faced with the conundrum of what to use for a new name? I went in with a list, in case my choices were not available.. my first was an old DnD character name.. Ambriel, but of course, it was TAKEN (a surprise to me though...) So after that, I thought I should use something Star Wars related.. but apparently so did everyone else... my list was mainly made up of creature names, planets names and such.. Dianoga - TAKEN, Mynock-TAKEN, Tauntaun -TAKEN, Gundark-TAKEN, Bantha -TAKEN, at this point I was getting a bit worried... but I pressed on... Tantive IV -TAKEN, InvisibleHand -TAKEN, Duro -TAKEN, Duros -TAKEN, Alderaan, Hoth, Veers -TAKEN, TAKEN, TAKEN..ug... but then I found one... that originally, I wasn't keen on.. but then it grew on me....simple, easy to say,easily connected to Star Wars, a city in the clouds... Bespin. Not too bad, eh? It grows on ya...


So with that taken care of.. I ventured into the online realm... lots to do there.. I went to the XBox Arcade and downloaded trial versions of Street Fighter 2, DOOM, Geometry Wars (which is awesome, its like an epileptic, high definition, Asteroids meets Galaga, with a billion colors on the screen at once), and a game called Small Arms (which has potential) Anyway.. I just got the demos for now.. but they are fun.. and free, and only took a minute or so to download. Eventually I'll need to buy some Microsoft Points (Microsoft's online currency)to get the full versions. And they have real 360 game demos as well as, movie trailers, and ..well.. whole movies and TV shows on there now... but I imagine they'll fill the Hard Drive up quick...


The Network Adapter also allows me to connect my 360 to my computer (since I own a Windows Media Center PC).. however.. after several hours.. I could not get it to work. The 360 Dashboard takes you through a few very simple steps, gives you a key-code and then says Go here on your PC and follow the instructions .. Then the 360 quietly waits for you to go to your PC.. so I did...went to the directed website and downloaded a required update to Media Center, some sort of Extender... then it restarted my PC, which then started back up with a continuous string of "Your system just recovered from a serious error".. ug... so I sent in the error report which then directed me to a solution/hot fix for the problem.. which then took me to an Intel page where I had to download an install some sort of Matrix Storage Manager...I am guessing that my body is somewhere in a pod being used to generate electricity now..so after that I restarted again, and all was well once again... so I go into the setup for the Extender... and the first time through (and many many subsequent times thereafter) I get a message that my Firewall is causing problems.. so I go to the help page..and follow the instructions for granting full access to all the required programs... go back.. and it says "Enable Ports" so back to the help pages again.. finally.. get all the ports opened.. doubled checked the Access... but still no luck... same message.. so I just plain Disabled my firewall and tried it.. no luck again. It said "No 360 Found, your Firewall or connection may be the problem..blah blah blah" I tried many times but have not been able to get them to connect... That was actually a feature of the 360 I was really looking forward to, so its kinda disappointing that I couldn't get it to work... after scouring through a bunch of FAQ's and support pages the only thing I managed to find that could be the cause is that my Media Center PC is not directly hooked to the router... so maybe the wireless "double jump" is causing the connection failure...? Oh well... no streaming of The Ditty Bops, Beth Orton, or Paul Simon for my Geometry Wars games...I guess I'll just have to get up, carrying my wireless controller, and walk the 5 feet to my computer and hit the play button on iTunes.. like a sucker...

So beyond the system itself I own one 360 game. Gears of War. An epic of man versus gross looking aliens... and it is quite awesome :P Its bloody and gory as all get out, an your squad all look like Arnold Schwarzenegger/Pro-Football wannabes wearing 40K Space Marine armor.. but this game is really fun. The aliens come in all sorts of varieties..big humanoid ones, little goblin-like ones that run on ceilings, and giant burrowing bugs who are really good at.. um.. blocking radio transmissions... Anyway.. its basically a string of really cool firefights after another, with good team AI, and tactics. Its all 3rd person view, no 1st person at all, not even for free looking around... and it has a really interesting "cover" system which lets you take cover behind any random obstacle on the ground, and you can blind fire over the cover or peek out to shoot accurately.. and the graphics are astounding.. even on my standard def TV...it must be jaw dropping on HD TV's... So far I've only gotten into the second level, which takes place in the same ruined, crumbling city as the first, though at night. And there are these bug/bird like aliens flying in the air in huge swarms and anytime you step into dark/shadowy areas they descend on you and kill you in like 2 seconds.. so you have to keep looking for ways to generate light as you go... shoot propane tanks, push burning cars, hop from streetlight to streetlight, etc... very cool. Next games up.. Perfect Dark Zero, Oblivion, and Viva Pinata!!


So that's what I've spent my past two days doing... and tomorrow, on my day off, I will do more of the same.

Bespin Out.

EDIT - Added my Gamertag/Gamercard to the blog! you can view it right below my profile and picture... you can see what games I am playing and what achievements I have earned... its a pretty cool feature...

Just a few more days..

So all of my plans for buying an XBox 360 have been crushed... but in a good way! I had been about it to my boss at work, mentioning how I was gonna buy one and so on.. and just this past Wednesday he comes up to me and says "Hey Karl, in lieu of giving you a Christmas Bonus this year... how about I just buy you your XBox 360?" And I wasn't sure what to say, it was so unexpected.. but then of course I just said.. "Yeah! That'd be great!" So my boss ordered it up on Best Buy.com and I should be receiving it early this week! Hoorah! Now I can spend some of the money I was saving for the purchase to get a few games, and all the accessories I need, and the rest can go towards Christmas presents! (and starting my second Hordes faction :P) Talk about having one of the best employers...

You guys go enjoy your PS3's and Wii's... I'm gonna play on 360!

Happy Thanksgiving All!

360 E.T.A. - SOON!

So I have been thinking about my upcoming venture back into the wonderful world of console gaming... and I am getting more excited by the minute... When I purchase my 360 I will have at most 2 games. But that doesn't bother me at all.. First off, I will have Gears of War... which in all indications, is amazing. And then, if I get some bundle deal, I may end up with another (Call of Duty 2 or Perfect Dark Zero) ;however, if I manage to get the Wireless Network Adaptor as well, then I will only need one game, for the world of the XBox Live Arcade and Marketplace will keep me satisfied...

The big problem I am having... is coming up with a new GamerTag... my old one Pondrepof was too hard for people to pronounce or understand and I got tired of explaining it to people.. (and got tired of being called Powderpuff)... so a new name is order for the next generation... but what should it be? I was thinking something Star Wars related.. or maybe something from a book/series... Terry Brooks or Neil Gaiman references? My other blog name R4-DKarl... which would be ok.. but not great... I don't want to just use a name from the movies.. or do the whole DarthMasterkiller550! or JediJoey333! or StarWarsPwner... so then... any ideas?

EDIT- came up with a few ideas... how about one of these?

• Modal Node
• Tantive IV (or Tantive4)
• R4DKarl (sadly, no hyphens allowed...)
• Red 2
• Veers

Those are all Star Wars related.. how about something WarMachine related?

• Winterguard
• Everblight
• Orboros
• Blunderbuss
• Scrapjack
  

??

Spiderman #3

I must say... I don't know how they do it.. but Spiderman seems to be avoiding the jinx that many comic book movies usually fall too... they get too ambitious and spend all of their money on crazy effects and big name stars and lose sight of what the story is all about. Spiderman seems to be doing the opposite, it keeps the focus on the humans, which is what makes it a grand story.. while still capturing that blockbuster feel that movies need nowadays... Seen the new trailer yet??
Go here now, download the nice big video of it and watch it!! Or watch on YouTube below...

I was worried at first that they are throwing in too many villains, and thought that maybe they were forgetting about Harry Osbourne.. but I was wrong. I need to learn to have faith...I can kinda see where the story may go.. Sandman shows up, and turns out to be too much for Spidey, Hobgoblin shows up, too much for Spidey, so whats a superhero to do? Take the aid of an evil alien symbiote..thats what!

Here's hoping they don't ruin The Silver Surfer (in Fantastic Four 2), and lets hope the reincarnation of Batman holds true as well when The Dark Knight premeires...

EA Sports... giving game companies a bad name

Wow... I knew EA Sports was into some shady deals.. but then to completely deny it.. geez. First they buy out the monopoly of the NFL video game franchise... which would then require any would-be sports gamer to only buy EA's games if they wanted to play a football game with real teams... which in turn gives EA the "right" to make their football games as good or as crappy as they want because they know they are the only game in town... Now, with the release of their newest iteration of the same damn game they have been selling for years (ok..I stand corrected, this year's game has an '06 in the title, so its not technically the same) they completely abuse the XBox Marketplace by charging for shit that, in other (non XBox 360) versions of the game are free. So if you want the full game, you have to keep spending money to get all the stuff that the PS2 players already have... and got for free when they paid the $60 bucks for the game! Now I am not a sports gamer, and prolly never will be, but this kinda of crap still pisses me off. This company is taking a really great feature, the XBox marketplace, and abusing it... (and then their Vice President goes on a radio shows and denies it!!) there are some really great things being done in the Marketplace, and several companies are making some really cool stuff available.. but this bull that EA is pulling is ridiculous... I guess this is the inevitable outcome of videogaming becoming mainstream... the companies get too big and powerful, and get too full of themselves *cough*cough*SONY*cough*cough*... oh well...

The guys at Penny Arcade do a better job of explaining it...in both blog and comic format...

Very Funny Penny Arcade Comic

This site has a slew of great comics...and their blog is also very enjoyable to read. They have some really interesting (and funny) insight into the games industry.