Looks like there has been a recent uproar at the news site N4G (News 4 Gamers) that is angering many Xbox 360 users, specifically those who purchased Gears of War 2. Users on the aggregator site have taken it upon themselves to write fake stories that actually contain the ending to the Gears sequel. Many are speculating that this is the work of some PS3 fanboys, but I more believe that it is just the work of some jerkoffs that have nothing better to do than ruins people’s fun. Not only have fake stories been written and posted up with the plot spoiler, but the users have gone even as far as messaging users with the info. So bottom line is if you want to experience Gears of War 2 without the plot being spoiled, you may want to steer away form the web for a little bit.
Nintendo announces their Wii speak accessory and gamers yawn collectively as this news is released, seeing as this is nothing new to the PC, PS3, Xbox 360 or any gaming console. Welcome to the new millennium Nintendo, nice of you to join us, we also have cell phones now.
In case you did not know, the Wii Speak will allow for chatting now and can be purchased separately for $30 or with Animal Crossing for $70. Nintendo is also creating a new channel for users to sit and chat with each other aptly named the Wii Speak Channel. Look for this in December.
Fable II is the obvious sequel to the original Fable title and does some nice things to build upon the original’s success, but does have a few shortcomings. The world of Albion in Fable is one where you can influence change by being good or evil and making decent or unjust decisions. As the main hero of the tale, you begin as a child with your sister and a series of events unfold that quickly lead you down a path of vengeance.
For the first hour of gameplay and development, you are cast as a child and you are already embarking on small quests which will help to shape both you and the town’s futures. Once you have left your childhood behind you, it is time to work on becoming a full-fledged hero and every move you make, person you speak to, job you take and even food you eat have some type of bearing on your character.
The job system is a simple one where you can take on different occupations and upgrade your skill at doing them to earn more money. The jobs range from wood cutting, to serving beer, to being a blacksmith, but are all based off the same mechanic of timing a button press to achieve the desired effect. This can be a good source of income in the early offset, but in reality it should only be used in the early part of the game as you can buy properties in Albion and rent them out for a lot more money. You can choose to be a slum lord and buy apartments and then jack up the rent to make even more income and increase your evil rating.
Yes I have officially ripped Lego Batman on my Xbox 360 a new one by completing 100% of the game and getting all 1,000 gamerpoints. What does this get me? Absolutely nothing, but it was fun while it lasted. I actually played through with my wife and she was the one that became obsessed with beating every inch of the game and so we did. We battled through every Lego filled level, collected every single piece we could and unlocked every character. For the most part the game is extremely fun but at times very frustrating form the perspective of freezing issues or the game just not allowing you to finish a board because it glitched itself. I almost sad to stop playing the game as it provided a ton of hours of good coop play, but then again it was standing in my way of Fallout and Gears.
I salute you Lego Batman for making me care enough to play you to 100% and now making me never want to look at a Lego piece again. I now consider myself the foremost authority on this game and will accept any and all questions.
Minor spoiler - When you achieve 100% of the game you get the opportunity to purchase the final character in the game - Ra’s Al Ghul, from the movie
Xbox Live Activity is a little misleading this week where Fable II is in the top 3, though not a traditional multiplayer game. World at War beta is also on the list making both Call of Duty games in the top 10. I have a feeling that next week, we might see Gears 2 in the top 2, if not THE most played game.
Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based onUU’s) 1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 Fable II
4 Gears of War
5 FIFA 09
6 World at War Beta
7 Saints Row 2
8 GTA IV
9 Madden NFL 09
10 Fallout 3
How many times have your now-gen consoles kicked the bucket? I’m on Xbox 360 number 10, so I know how it all goes when the dreaded RRoD shows its ugly head. Luckily, my launch 60GB PS3 is still going strong, as is my launch Wii. One aspect of the Xbox 360 and PS3 that has a chance of dying is the hard drive. Because of the many moving parts, hard drives are prone to failure. With the rigorous usage we put our consoles through, it’s not out of the picture for one of these to go to the land of dead hardware.
Sony has a 10 year life span projection for the PS3 and Microsoft looks to keep the Xbox 360 on the market for at least 5 years. In that span, it’s safe to expect some sort of hard drive failure. How many of you have had a PC hard drive die? I see it happen everyday with drives from a year to 5 years old. With dust collecting in and around the electronics, ball bearings and drive platters can easily wear out and stop working.
I just embarked on the journey of Fallout 3 and I have to say that the game is so large and so open ended that I find myself lost at times. Fallout 3 makes no attempt to hold your hand and instead throws you into an apocalyptic nuclear fallout equipped with a BB gun and a dream. The opening starts you as a child in the Vault where your civilization has hidden from the nuclear fallout, but quickly some events will transpire and you will be set loose into the world to fend for yourself. There are choices that need to be made very early on that will help shape your style of play and your moral character.
As you set foot outside of the Vault, you see a large world that has been decimated and you embark on a quest to locate your father. Good luck fending off rabid dogs, giant bugs and the occasional wasteland raiders. It is no secret that Fallout 3 has been dubbed “Oblivion with guns”, but after playing Oblivion, Fallout 3 makes that game look linear. Fallout also makes no attempt to teach you how to succeed, as it is entirely up to you to master how to use weapons, where to locate food and how to survive. I learned the hard way that if you get hit in the head, you will get dizzy and the screen will black out on you. Everything you carry has a weight associated with it, so carrying two tons of empty coffee mugs may not be helpful for your questing as you will be slowed down by the extra weight.
I SWEAR TO CHRIST IF I HIT ONE MORE FRIGGIN’ ROCK…..
I’ve always been a fan of the Far Cry series. The first one was gorgeous and engaging. Instincts had a great feral ability setup and a great cover system. And Predator was…well, like Instincts but less interesting. I suppose every series has to have its blemishes.
And now we have Far Cry 2. And if two words can be used to describe what separates this game from the others, they would be wide open. Good lord this dense jungle is friggin’ huge.
We have more Next Xbox Experience news rolling in today. Gamerscoreblog has a rundown of some of the games that will include your newly created avatar along with some of the features that go along with the avatar system. They also hint at a newly created Xbox Live Arcade title that will incorporate fully playable in-game avatars, whatever that’s supposed to mean.
The XBLA titles that will include avatars are: UNO!, Bomberman Live, Hardwood Hearts and Hardwood Spades. In addition to these titles, Microsoft’s own Scene It? Box Office Smash will also incorporate in-game avatars. The game will get a title update on the NXE release date, November 19th that will allow all of this to take place. Now go watch Major Nelson interview the crap out of Stacey Law and Scott Brodie, Microsoft’s avatar program managers.
Do you like Battlefield Bad Company? Do you like free? Do you like free stuff for Bad Company? If you said no then stop reading, if you said yes then you are in luck because there are some free maps and if you have the PS3 version some new shiny trophies coming your way. Read on my fellow free content chasers.
Official Press Release:
Battlefield: Bad Company players can download the ‘Community Choice Map Pack’ via PlayStation Update starting today and via Xbox LIVE™ Marketplace starting tomorrow. Included in this pack are four brand new conquest multiplayer maps, gameplay enhancements and PlayStation 3 Trophy support – all for free!
We're like Spaceballs... we're making Loot Ninja everything. Coming soon we'll have hats, shirts, hoodies, possibly banana hammocks if one Editor has his way...
Check out the shirt prototypes here and the hats here
