September 20, 2007 – 2:38 pm
To start off with I know what everyone is thinking that the genre of WWII games has been dragged out as far as it can possibly go and the horse has been beaten to death, but EA decides to take another stab at it with Medal of Honor Airborne. I was pleasantly surprised by the game so far, on normal difficulty the game is no push over and the presentation is awesome. In 5.1 surround sound the games explosions and gunfire pull you in, but more importantly the jumping out of planes element really got me excited.
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So with all the hype comes great scrutiny and we here at Loot Ninja are no different, we take Forza, flip up it’s hood and poke around until satisfied.
Presentation and Graphics: The game supports 720p graphics, which looked very crisp on a high definition display. The game runs at 60 fps, which is impressive, but unfortunately does suffer from some jaggies like the demo. (but this can be overlooked when you look at the beautiful backgrounds) The presentation of the game is terrific and the car editor functions are outstanding. You can fully customize any car in the game from aerodynamics to engine to pure paint job. I also like that your current car is displayed in the main menus as you choose races. Forza 2 does great as far as presentation goes. 4.5 of 5
Sound and Music: The music in Forza is decent, but I typically just mute the soundtrack, plug in my iPod and turn up the FX sounds. Nothing beats a nice engine rev in 5.1 surround sound with a little bit of Jay Z going in the background. You can actually here the fans cheer as you rev by them. 4 of 5
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There’s a new update available for the HD-DVD addon drive for the Xbox 360 today. Most notably, it improves compatibility with newer titles that are using advanced copy protection schemes, such as Digital Video Essentials, which didn’t play in the 360 drive until today.
You can now also select 2 channel linear PCM as an audio output option if you’re using the Elite. Great, but why give up surround sound for a movie so you can hear crystal clear sound from only 2 speakers?
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So here is our latest weekly installment entitled the rumor mill, here will be the grand hall of speculation and rumors, so sit back and enjoy the conspiracy theories.
We will start off with a biggie, there are some rumors flying around about a World of Warcraft game hitting our next gen consoles some time in 2008. It is also rumored to be an entirely different game than the current versions made solely for the consoles titled World of Warcraft: Azeroth Adventures. That means this game will not be a PC port of Burning Crusades or the original and will be made from the ground up to utilize a controller as the main input. Think of the potential of having Azeroth played in HD, on your flat screen, in 5.1 surround sound over Xbox Live. This would fit in nicely with the newly developed and imminently launching keyboard input device.
How sweet the sound of a rogue in stealth ganking a noob on your 360. Blizzard why do you mock us and not release this already? This game could single handedly change the face of MMORPG for the consoles. Or you could just skip WoW and make us a Starcraft MMORPG for our consoles(giggles like a school girl!).
I spent a whole lot of time yesterday with Guitar Hero II on my Xbox 360. Enough time that the 360 was crying, and my fiance was yelling to make it stop. I have to say, I absolutely love this game!
The graphics aren’t the strong suit here. And let’s face it, they don’t need to be. They do look worlds better than the PS2 version, but you honestly hardly ever look at the graphics when you’re playing. You just don’t have the time. You’re one focus is that fretboard in the middle scrolling your notes to play.
The sound is fantastic. Having the game in 5.1 Surround Sound is great too, with the crowd cheering behind you and such. The soundtrack is terrific. I’ve unlocked a good portion of the songs and can’t wait to play some of the others.
What else can you say about the gameplay… it’s spot on. The guitar controller feels great in your hands. There have been some reports of bad whammy bars on the guitars, but I don’t see that on the one I have. I also played a bit with the standard Xbox 360 controller so I could rock out to some co-op gameplay. I can’t justify spending another $60 on a guitar for the occasions when friends are over. I can deal with the controller. Surprisingly, the controller is very easy to use. The notes are mapped to the shoulder buttons, triggers, and A button, with no strumming required. I think the no strumming part is what makes it easier. Not sure I would recommend using the controller for lead guitar on Medium difficulty or higher. Hitting the notes fast might be tough, since you can’t use any hammer-ons or pull-offs.
Overall, I give the game a 9.5 out of 10. One of my favorites so far this year. I still semi-suck at this game, but I’ve gotten a lot better. I average 95% or more on Medium difficulty now. I thought it would come easier, since I’ve been playing guitar for over 10 years, but no 
January 22, 2007 – 6:26 pm
So I spent the past 2 hours getting everything setup with my Bose Acoustimass 10 system with SL2 wireless surround adapters. I have to say… WOW. It sounds amazing! The wireless works flawlessly. It’s based on a 5.8ghz signal, so it doesn’t interfere with my 802.11g signal, and my cordless phone uses a different channel in the 5.8ghz spectrum.
It’s honestly like all new games and stuff! I’m watching tons of trailers and things on my 360 right now. Checked out a couple movies too. FINALLY! That’s all I can say
January 22, 2007 – 12:51 pm
So after the debacle that was my surround sound wiring issues, my wonderful fiance decided she would treat me by buying me a Bose Acoustimass 10 system with wireless rear speakers. She’s a good egg. Yeah, people are going to say “It’s Bose. It’s overpriced crap.” I know, I know. Yes, it’s overpriced. Yes, you can get better speakers for the same cost. But no one else offers a viable wireless solution. These actually work, as I’ve heard them a few times as friends’ houses and such. They’re being delivered today. I can’t wait to hook them up and watch some movies and do some gaming in surround sound.
I currently have my 2.1 setup hooked up to my new Onkyo TX-SR604 receiver. I honestly forgot what deep bass sounded like. I put on the trailer for 300 from the Xbox Live Marketplace, and almost jumped off the couch when the bass hit 3-4 times right at the beginning. One of my cats shot into the bedroom and wouldn’t come out from under the bed for an hour. Ahhh the joys of surround sound. I’m looking forward to hearing some uncompressed 5.1 PCM tracks from the PS3’s BluRay over HDMI.
January 13, 2007 – 3:45 pm
So after about 3 years of not having surround sound, I’m finally having the wires run today. I had surround sound while I lived in Delaware, then when I lived on Long Island I didn’t even bring my stereo up. Then we moved upstate, and couldn’t run the wires in the house we were renting. Now that we own a condo, I’m having the wires run today. I would have done it myself, but the moldings in here are literally so fucking intricate that I don’t want to touch them. The molding around doors is literally 10 pieces of molding for each side. I shit you not. The level of craftsmanship is insane. But anyway, we came up a couple ways to get the wires run so we don’t have to see them. So by the end of the day, I’ll have my surround sound speakers wired up. GIGGITY GIGGITY GOO!
[Update] So after pulling the floor molding off, we found that the people who built this place fucked up in how the installed the molding, meaning I can’t run speaker wire that way. FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK. I’m beyond pissed. Has anybody used any wireless speaker systems or any of those simulated surround systems? I need something. Anything at this point. FUCK
