Some time over the past month I went from turning my nose up at the thought of a guitar rhythm game to being totally stoked on it. I really don’t know what the turning point was, but the past few days leading up to the release of Guitar Hero 2 have been torture! I was […]
We’re nearing the end of our third week with the Nintendo Wii and it’s seen a fair bit of use. There have been stretches of 3 or 4 days in a row that it hasn’t been touched, though. I can’t say I’ve gone longer than 24 hours without turning on my Xbox 360 in the […]
There were a few games I had planned to review, but after losing all my progress when I deleted my profile and having pretty much made the decision to ditch the formal reviews, I just never got around to them. Over the next week or so, I’m going to roll out a bunch of posts […]
I know for a fact that my buddy Andrew is already laughing at me. I've always mocked fantasy based RPGs and those that play them. I just never really got into the whole fantasy thing early on and as much as I love sci-fi, it just seemed far more "geek" to me. Like this barrier that I dare not cross. Well, when Oblivion hit and that's all anyone talked about for months on end, I had to find out what all the fuss was about.
Some big news was announced a couple days ago in the land of video games. The former PC/PS3 exclusive Unreal Tournament 2007 is now headed to the Xbox 360 and has been renamed, Unreal Tournament 3. Wait, what? Now, it's been a while since I've been in school so my math skills are a little hazy, but doesn't 3+1=4? I've been a fan of the UT series since it's debut and have all current releases sitting next to me as I type this. All 3 of them - Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Tournament 2004. Notice, there's no Unreal Tournament 2 in that list and there's also 3 of them.
I couldn't tell you how many times I've referred to myself as "idiot", "moron" or "tool" tonight. First off, let me preface this story by reminding you that I moved at the beginning of the week and have been spending every day since getting our new place up to speed. That's meant lots of late nights and hours on end of un-packing and settings things up. Needless to say, I'm totally wiped and physically exhausted. We're in good shape now, but it's definitely been a tough week. Regardless, I'm a total idiot and I wish it was physically possible to kick myself in the face. Here's why...
I'm extremely happy to announce the "top secret Xbox related site" I've been working on for the past few months is up and running! Dashboard Themes is the first and only site that allows you to preview Xbox 360 dashboard themes as they appear within the dashboard before dropping any coin on them. The current state of the Xbox Live Marketplace doesn't give you an option to preview content before you pay and Microsoft's online components for Marketplace content don't do much better. I came up with an idea to fill this gaping whole, and along with my good friend Andrew McTeer, made it happen.
Things have been so hectic lately, and yet I feel like I'm hardly moving in any direction at all. I've definitely been feeling like I'm living to work, as apposed to the opposite which I much prefer. It truly is a hard cycle to break - one that I've not even begun to figure out. It's one of those "you know what needs to be done but can't seem to bring yourself to do it" situations. And all the while I've been telling myself that I'm almost there. Just about in the clear when I can have my evenings and weekends back.
All in all, I think THP8 is the best the series has seen in many years. Although some areas fall short like character customization, the other additions truly make up for it. Once you've played for a while, be sure to check out the leaderboards and see how you stack up against the rest of the world and your friends. It covers everything from your scores on every single goal in the game to how many feet you've manualed. Pretty awesome stuff!
Overall, NFS Carbon is probably what you're expecting from another NFS game. It does get pretty frustrating when you're completing event after event and no cars are being unlocked. But once you get into the fourth quadrant, they start flowing pretty quickly. It's just a shame that you don't get to use them all that much.
So, I've been playing Rainbow Six Vegas lately. I'm just about through the second mission which is the first that actually takes place in Vegas. I couldn't help but notice that everyone in Vegas drives a Dodge. Maybe that's because the streets are laid out like dealership showroom, littered with the latest Dodge vehicles. Even while fighting through a series of super intense, close quarter gun fights, you'll find the brand new Dodge Ram pick-up shimmering and shining as the city around it is burning and being blown to shit. I mean, I'm all for realism, but couldn't they be a littler more subtle?
Unless you're really hurting for something to play (which is hard to believe considering the onslaught of awesome titles that just hit over the past few weeks), I wouldn't bother picking up COD3. It's a worthy rent, but I think I'm going to trade mine in for a copy of COD2. Suddenly, I have this urge to rekindle the flame of COD greatness.