Dust Collector

Peering over at my book shelf that holds books, cds, and video games, I see the dust collecting. Books and cds have always collected dust, but its my game collection that worries me. Xbox games, I don’t really care, but the 20 Xbox 360 games is what is getting to me. With hit titles such as Forza 2, The Darkness, NCAA 08, Madden NFL 08, and Bioshock all released between the months of June and August, it’s hard not to collect dust on some of the older but still great titles. The sad thing is, I’m having trouble creating some time to get into these games. The Darkness was a quick rent that I THOUGHT I could beat in 5 days, but between working 40 hours a week and helping my significant other move out of her house and into her dorm, it was hard finding time to do that. Forza 2 is another game that I was really enjoying, but put away after I picked up NCAA Football 08 a couple weeks later.

 

                                             

                                                              3 great games. 1 great console. So little time.

 

Now that I’ve also added Madden 08 to my collection Forza 2, NCAA O8, & Guitar Hero II have all taken the backseat. Bioshock is out tomorrow (August 21st), and after that I see Halo 3 as my next purchase. I’ll break out the Pledge and go to work on the 1 inch of dust that is building up on my shelf soon, but until then I’ll continue to play what fuels my gaming need.

 

–backdraft123

Post E3: The Good, The Bad, and The Insane

                                                                           

Kicking back at 11:30 PM last night, I watched as 4 teenagers from some unheard of city in Illinois played a remarkable piece from the Halo series. I thought to myself, "here comes the HUGE Halo 3 announcement!", and I waited. Peter Moore takes the stage and talks a little about Halo 3 and its upcoming release, which is just 11 weeks away. Then he goes and plays MTV Studios’ "Rock Band" with a few other people. Guitar Hero killer? I think not, but looks interesting enough. Next up was the statistics. Mind boggling really, but I then remembered that the 360 has a good 1 year head start on the competition, if its not leading in every category, there is something wrong. Basically, he stood up there and handed out information that any obvious minded person would have known. Me being one of those, I never really said "wow" at any of the stats, but rather said "ok..enough stalling, tell me the good stuff!" It came in the form of a game that I never played before but looked really really cool. You all remember the popular TV/Board game "Scene It", correct? Well, it will be making its way to the Xbox 360 along with a BRAND NEW CONTROLLER! The game itself will come with not 1, but 4 of these controllers to play some good fun movie trivia that will also include High Definition clips from movies.

Why cant there be more games like this for the 360? I really believe these party games would be good sellers on the 360 especially with its capabilities with Xbox Live and Games for Windows. Imagine playing a game of Monopoly with a couple people over Xbox Live and a few more over Windows. Board games, card games, just any standard party game would be a great hit on really, any console. I was particular excited to see the Xbox Live Arcade montage during the Press Briefing when I got a glimpse of Spyglass Board Games which showed quick shots of chess and checkers.

Moving onto Games for Windows, which I particularly have no interest in, Gears of War was officially announced to be coming to the PC later on this year. With 5 new multiplayer chapters and more exciting game types, it will look to continue its success as one of the best shooters of all time. The notorious Cliffy B., made an appearance on stage to show off Gears of War running on Windows Vista. If you remember last years E3, he played the first level in the campaign, and this time he demoted a never before seen chapter, along with a friend. New achievements, maps, and content will be made available for the PC version of GOW.

Also shown off was a Halo 3 limited edition Xbox 360 that will be available this September. The console sports an authentic Spartan green and gold finish and comes with matching Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, 20GB Hard Drive, Headset, Play & Charge Kit, HDMI Port, Component Cables, and Halo 3 gamer pictures and themes. Sold separately is Halo 3.

                                                                

The Xbox Live Marketplace is the HUB for everything that has to do with gaming and entertainment and it just got a little better. Now available on the Video Marketplace you will find over 30 videos from Disney Studios. From all time classics such as Alice In Wonderland (a personal favorite) to The Waterboy. More videos are sure to come from such an well known studio. Staying on topic with the marketplace, be sure to keep a lookout for high definition movie trailers and demos. Go and nab the *FREE* E3 2007 gamer pics and theme also. Gotta love free stuff!

–backdraft123

Now in HD: backdraft123

The long journey has come to a conclusion. I am now playing in 720p HD goodness. My dad bought me a 26” Vizio HDTV for my 18th birthday, which will come on July 3rd. Of course its not the top of the line TV, but so far I’m liking it. It has VGA inputs & HDMI inputs. I was planning on saving up for a TV and buying one for Christmas, but I no longer need too. Maybe upgrading in size late down the road, but for now I’m loving all my games in HD. I’ve been going back and checking out some games that graphically impressed me with standard S-Video. Games like Fight Night Round 3, Gears of War, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion are all noted for having some of the best graphics on the Xbox 360. I revisited all those titles and enjoyed just looking around and I would have to say that Gears of War is one of the best looking games ever. The blood splashing on the screen really looked the best.

Here are a few pics of my new entertainment center.

 

 

–backdraft123

Alive and sorta kickin

No, I didn’t vanish from the face of the earth. Truth is, I’m slowly crawling back into the gaming world. To be honest, I don’t really know what the deal with me and video games is, as of late, but I’m not liking at. It seems to me that every game I look to get I talk myself out of it. Example, Forza 2. The game looked awesome and I was stoked about it. I see at Best Buy, I have the money to buy it but I don’t. Why? Not really sure. My only explanation is that I’m not big on racing games. Wait, there’s more. I played the demo of Shadowrun one morning and sort of enjoyed it. I started making tabs on the things I dislike about the game and it reminded me a lot like Counter Strike simply because of the way you purchase weapons and magic. Granted, it was a demo I played I wasn’t all that impressed. I thought it was a tad complicated for me to really get the hang of so I decided against that also. Why oh why am I being so difficult? While I was at Best Buy I saw a couple kids playing Guitar Hero II. THERES MY ANSWER! I sucked at the PS2 version of the game, but thought that my girlfriend and I would both enjoy this. Of course BB doesn’t have any on the shelf! WHY!? Bummer, it really is.

It looks as if I’m being picky about the games I play now. Not really sure why, though. I could easily pop in Gears of War and start playing that again. Maybe give Crackdown another run with its new updates available. But, Madden 07 stays in my 360. The only game I feel like I’m rather good at though I never play it online. Just not my cup of tea I guess. Any suggestions for this illness I have? Quit being picky and just pick a damn game, I tell myself. I know for sure I’ll be picking up the next titles in NCAA Football and Madden when they hit the shelves, which should be sometime in the next couple of months. Such a sad story, huh? Ok, not really.

–backdraft123

Halo 3 Beta: First Impressions

What a great surprise it was to see that I had a message from the bungie.net team regarding the Halo 3 beta. I haven’t been around my computer or the gaming world in general the past couple of days so it was relatively new news to me when I found out that I had been selected to participate in an early Halo 3 beta. I had already purchased by ticket with Crackdown and was planning on that as being my way in, but it’s not going to be needed here.

After putting in my entry code and waiting about 10 minutes for it to download to my hard drive I was ready to go. I met up with another Windows Live Blogger, THE Minor Celebrity, SuperGhost. Keeping in mind that this is just a taste of what is to come, I was impressed by the ease of menu navigation and the functions that they had available for use. It’s funny how I’m having trouble recalling my first actions in the game, but luckily there is the nifty tool of being able to save your entire game footage. Of course I’m going to save my first game, simply because it’s comparable to a baby getting its first haircut, or a teenager getting his first car. Yes, it was that enjoyable.

The map is Highground, already well known by its numerous screen-shot appearances on Frankie’s Bungie.net updates. I see a teammate take off in the Mongoose as I walk around enjoying the scenery. What a lovely picture it paints for only being a beta and for only having a tube TV. Running into the action, I grab the redefined battle rifle and get to work. The entire time I’m laughing at myself because I’m saying stupid things like "oh, I almost fell off this rock," and my favorite, "oh, check out the bubble thing." Yes, I’m ashamed because I don’t know every name of every weapon, gadget, or vehicle, so you can laugh all you want. 

               

I’m leading the team early in kills with 7, which later turns into 20. All the years of playing Halo 2 seems to be showing for being my first time out with the game. I still had trouble adjusting to the controls and the numerous amounts of grenades and other things like mines, shields, energy absorbers and things of that nature. The common thing to do so far is to go for the battle rifle and the sniper rifle on each map. You can find the BR’s scattered around each map, but the sniper rifle is usually found in just one location, unless your playing on a larger map such as Valhalla, which has 2; one at each base.

The question of the night seemed to be "how does it play?" Well, its different. I like it though. I like the different weapons and things you can do with each one of them. Everyone has their style of play, some of us go in Rambo style guns-a-blazin’ and grenades going off left and right. I’m a more reserved player, using mid-rage tactics like grenades and my trust Battle Rifle. You can only tell so much by a Beta version of a game, and I can tell you that Halo 3 is geared up to be one of the best games of it’s time.

–backdraft123

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/GameStatsHalo3.aspx?gameid=6251&player=backdraft123

Prom & Clifty Falls Photos

If you haven’t already noticed, my Xbox 360 is being severely neglected by me. Well this past weekend was my girlfriend’s prom for her school. Saturday was spent with my mom in the afternoon then at night with the girlfriend. We had a ton of fun that night, everyone looked really nice, she did especially, we danced…if that’s what you want to call it, had some superb food and just had a really memorable experience.

Then on Sunday, the 29th, we headed down to Clifty Falls State Park located in Madison, Indiana which is about 5 miles away from the Ohio River and Kentucky. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was absolutely lovely. I’ve put together a slide show for all of you to take a look at it, and if you have a myspace you can also view the larger photos on there. But you will have to add me as a friend and be sure to include a message stating who you are so I don’t deny you. http://www.myspace.com/bdspace/

It took us around 2 hours to get down there. We found a parking spot, got out and hiked around the trails for awhile. Hiking about 3-4 miles away from where we parked, we decided to start heading back to go grab some lunch around 2:00. We found a little cafe located right there in the city, which served one of the biggest club sandwiches I had ever had. She had the same, and we were stuffed afterwards.

Heading back into Clifty Falls I thought it would be a great idea to head to the observation tower to see out over the state park. When we got up there, about 75-80 ft up in the air, you could see out over the park and part of the Ohio River. Here are the pictures taken when we were up there.

               

               

                 

As you can see, the weather was fantastic. The Ohio River is seen in the last picture with some very unattractive coal reserves. Not pictured are two HUGE smoke stacks that I’m guessing are about 100-200 feet tall. If you close enough you can see either a barge or a ferry boat also on the river. The second photo, is probably the best one I took. It really shows a good draw distance and of course it makes a great desktop for your computer.

After we hit the observation tower, we found another trail. By now, we’re sort of drained from hiking on these trails. We really didn’t plan out which trails we were going to go on, rather we stumbled upon them and took them. Not once getting lost, which is easy for me to do. Below you’ll see some pictures that I took of the waterfalls that we saw when we first got there.

                

               

               

The waterfall that you are seeing in these pictures is called "Big Clifty". Its actually the third biggest waterfall in the park, the other one is around 80 ft tall. We passed it while driving around the park, not much water was coming out of it, so it was basically a big cliff with trickles of water. Finally, here are some other pictures of my girlfriend and I, along with other pictures that I think are worthy of being posted.

              

              

              

              

              

I forgot to add the last photo up there with the rest of the ones that were taken while at the Observation Deck. You cant really get a good idea of how high up we were, but I was looking down trying to get as much as the trail in I could.

Overall, it was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had. We had a great time at both the prom and Clifty Falls. If your ever in Indiana and happen to get great weather, stop by this state park and enjoy some hiking and picture taking. Now, I shall return back to my regular gaming blogging schedule. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the slide show can be viewed by following this link. http://flickr.com/photos/19027464@N00/show/

 

–backdraft123

Review: Boom Boom Rocket

The Xbox Live Arcade was not looking so attractive to me. I think I need to be a gamer of the older generation to really appreciate the "classic" titles that are being released onto the arcade. Mainly because, they bore me and I cant convince myself they are worth it. However, when I read about this Boom Boom Rocket game, I became interested again.

With the release of Guitar Hero II at the beginning of the month, I toyed around with the idea of going ahead and getting it. I’m sure its a great game, but I cant bring myself around to paying $90 for a plastic guitar with a game included. Just days before the release of Boom Boom Rocket I learned that Guitar Hero III will be coming to an Xbox 360 in the fall. Now, I have a reason to not purchase GHII.

Getting to the point, Boom Boom Rocket is a lot like the Guitar Hero series. Of course you don’t tap buttons to a rhythmic beat with a Guitar. Instead, you use your controller, with some classical hits that have a pinch of techno in them. You’ll recognize many of the tunes, but at the same time, you pretty much have to if you want to be good at this game. If you can keep a beat and match it to the song, you’ll do fine. If not, enter the practice mode and help yourself out.

                 

The thing I really enjoy about BBR is the multiple modes you have to choose from. I would’ve loved to see multiplayer online for this game, which has been slimmed down to you and a buddy on the same screen going at it. There are still a lot of ways to enjoy the game though. Endurance mode allows you to pick any song you want, set your difficulty and play the song over and over until your fingers cant keep up. The more "laps" you complete the faster the beat will go.

Standard game mode allows you to find a song, pick difficulty and then beat it. Unlock all the special fireworks to gain an achievement, which is rather tough. Or try getting a ranking of "A" on medium difficulty..another toughy. Then there is a practice mode, as mentioned above, and another mode where you just press the corresponding button that you see on the screen. Nothing special about it, but the text does say "great for kids".

Now here is the "I don’t care that this is in the game, but its cool" mode. You can select a track from your hard-drive or MP3 player and the fireworks will go off with the sound of each beat on your screen. You don’t do anything but sit there and watch it, but its still neat to see things work like that.

Pros

+++Fun, addictive gameplay.

++Multiple game modes

+Leaves the option open of Downloadable Content

Cons

—No online play

–Needs more music tracks

-Repetitive gameplay after about 2 hours of play

Overall

8.5/10

–backdraft123

Not quite mainstream

I’ve been an avid gamer since I was about 4 years old. Picking my first controller up and staring at the screen for countless hours has evolved into talking to friends from across the world and wondering what they thought of the newest hit title just released. How are video games, which is the 2nd largest industry in the world, not yet mainstream?

You may argue, and say they are. But finding a gamer in real life, is about as hard as finding Anna Nicole’s daddy (which was just revealed not too long ago). I talk to people from time to time about how I play video games and the majority of the time I get an awkward stare back at me. I’m either labeled as a dork or a nerd who has no life. Since I do play games, and take them seriously at times, I can see how that assumption can be made. But why are video games taking so long to be accepted into this world? The gaming community as a whole, is a rather tight knit group. Sure, there are fanboys of one certain console or game, but when it comes right down to it we are all gamers. We need to stick together and show that all video games are not evil, and show that we are all not the nerdy no life losers that we commonly get labeled as.

                                                                    

                                                            The Grand Theft Auto series is receiving much of the blame

I’m noticing video games become more recognized, but they are not being recognized for the right reasons. You have people like Jack Thompson and Hilary Clinton who are very outspoken about violence in video games. They believe that video games today, are the source of teenage violence and a lot of the violence in schools. Have they ever stopped to think, that it could be the actual stuff that is shown on TV or shown at the movies, the source of this violence? No, of course not. Since the tragic shootings at Columbine, people have not been the same. Yes, there have been shootings before this time, but since the kids that committed those awful acts played video games, they all believe now that video games are causing this.

This is where I disagree. Its the parent or legal guardian’s responsibility to control what their kids play, watch, and listen too. Kids are going to be kids, and if they want to watch or play something bad enough they will find a way. But it does start with the parents. I have nothing against parents who let their kids play violent video games, but I do believe monitoring the child at all times would benefit the child. I’ve been playing violent video games since my N64 days. Since then, I have had no desire to go out and commit any of the stuff that I see in these games.

Is this the thing that is stopping video games from going mainstream? I believe so. Games today, are much more realistic and much more gory than they where 10-15 years ago. As technology expands, so does the potential to make the gamer feel like they are in the game playing as a certain character. I feel rather unique, being a gamer. Since video games are not completely mainstream yet, I feel like I’m experiencing something that not everyone else is experiencing. We’ve all listened to music and watched movies, but not everyone has sat down and played a good 3 hours of video games. It makes me want to laugh and say "I’ve got something that you don’t! UNIQUE-NESS!"

–backdraft123

A VISION of disaster

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Vision Camera has been on the market since the middle of September. Since then, gamers across the world have been popping themselves on screen for games like Uno, Hardwood Spades and even some Backgammon. Oh and lets not forget the ever so hit title "TotemBall". What has become of this sleek little camera since its release?

As I sat at my desk pondering this great question I began to wonder what exactly, is Microsoft planning to do with this? I myself, personally have not used it one bit for any type of video chat. First off, none of my friends want to see me and frankly I’d rather not stare at them either. I then remembered that I have the ability to create my very own custom gamer picture. Score 2 points for the home team on that one. Er, maybe not.

                                                               

                                                               Does Microsoft have a Vision of success?

While scrolling through the dashboard I also realized that I can see myself in the background of the dashboard. WOW…yeah, no biggy. I guess its kind of cool but other than that, my mind is not blown. The only HIT game to use the vision camera is Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Vegas. Face mapping, I believe, is truly next-gen. Unfortunately for the guys over at Ubi, they had to be the stepping stone to get this ability going. It’s rather lackluster mapping abilities left me frustrated and with a horrible neck ache trying to get my head positioned in a perfect 90 degree angle.

Who can really benefit from this? The folks over at EA can of course. With control over many of the sports title,they can take the "create-a-player" option to a whole new level. Think of the ability to map your face onto a beefed up LB for your favorite team. How about REALLY playing centerfield for your beloved baseball team? Lets take it a step further and knock some punk out in the next round of Fight Night. Come on EA, EMBRACE THE VISION CAMERA!

When it comes down to it, I’m really questioning what Microsoft plans on doing. Sony didn’t have a problem using their Eye-Toy for motion sensing. I’m not all too sure they used the face mapping ability to its fullest extent. With today’s hardware and software capabilities MS could take the Vision Camera above and beyond greatness.

–backdraft123

Review: College Hoops 2K7

Many sports gamers out there are still frustrated at the fact that EA has control of many of the licenses for sports. We got one of the best football franchises taken away from us in NFL 2K series. However, they where not able to control the College Basketball license thankfully.

                                                                           

After delivering a sub-par performance last year with College Hoops 2K6, 2K looked to bounce back with 2K7. The college atmosphere is something that I myself have not experienced yet, but as I watch college basketball games on TV i notice the crazy fans, the noise level rise, the constant chant of "Ohhh" every time the opposing team has the ball. They did a really nice job of implementing all of that into 2K7. You can hear the fans chant for better defense, the cheerleaders getting the crowd going, and the pin drop silence when the home team is getting beat like they stole something.

Immersive game play isn’t what i look for however. I’m looking for a college basketball game that plays like a college game. I actually want my players to go on cold streaks from time to time so i have to work around that player and get him back into the game one shot at a time. The players shooting motion and the way they drive to the hoop is still in an arcadey feel. They are able to literally slice through defenders and make incredible shots. Shooting motion varies from each player and some actually have a great follow through.

In college basketball it takes team unity for a team to play really well. In the game you’ll notice from time to time your team unity bar will gain or lose an extra tally for each critical play that they make. Maybe you’ll sub in some players that don’t really have great team chemistry and you’ll find that the turnover column will quickly rise. Every starter needs their rest, so its important when to sub in and sub out each player in the game. If your up by 40 with 8 minutes to go in the game, give your starters a rest and let the bench players finish out the game. Not only will this give them some playing time it will also help improve the teams overall unity. As the season goes on, the team chemistry and unity will steadily rise according to how they play every game.

               

I’m a fan of this series, but i found myself always messing with the controls. The default controls required me to practice a lot more than i wanted too, and I’m sure anyone who is willing to practice with them will be an overall better player. Luckily, they put in a practice arena for you to practice on your shots, your free-throws, and a whole mess of mini games that will help you improve your overall mechanics. And if you have time to take 100 free throws, i suggest checking out the achievement that you gain doing that.

Different game modes will keep this game fresh. I’m loving the ability to create-a-team and create-a-player, which EA has gladly screwed us all over for the past couple of years. Take over a struggling university and attempt to bring them up in the spotlight and potentially a Cinderella team in the NCAA Tournament. Scroll through the list of over 200 collegiate teams and find your favorite and coach them through the season to the National Title. Both game modes are really enjoyable and will provide a challenge for anyone.

The most innovative thing that i found in the game was the option to create a chant. I myself have never seen this before, and started messing around with it instantly. I’m not liking the fact that you have to load the chant that you want and its not automatically saved with your default profile when you load that up in the beginning of the game. Apart from the chant creating, i enjoy playing my own Pontiac NCAA tournament and seeing if i can last in the field of 65.

Pros

+++ Immersive college atmosphere

++ Creative game play features

+ Online tournaments

Cons

— Graphic hiccups are not pleasing

— broadcasting needs some work

– Menu navigation is tricky compared to the other games

Overall Score

8.1/10