Category: Games

Xbox 360

xbox360_mtv_snapshotA sneaky shot from the MTV shoot (which has revealed a November release in the USA) – I guess more will leak out before the program on Thursday. Rumours include:

  • Tivo like functionality
  • DVD writer
  • Media centre aware – will work with media centre pc’s (and others?)
  • Wireless controllers – crap – batteries? Shortcuts via the xbox logo in the centre (numbers around it)
  • Comes with camera – won’t be able to scratch my balls while playing Live
  • Web browsing, instant messaging – always online no matter what you are using it for i.e. playing music, watching dvd’s
  • Skinnable – buy different exterior finishes for your Xbox
  • Also plays games – allegedly. Perfect Dark Zero was one of the demo’s thats been played. Talk of Halo 2.5 and PGR3 also.

    • The new pad looks pretty good – at last there are four shoulder buttons and we’ve lost the black and white buttons which were always awkward to get to. The console is also finished in a mac white but I’m sure this is to emphasise the skinning possibilities which I’m guessing will end up being a pretty big market not just for M$ but all the third party manufacturers. New movies coming out could produce skins for the Xbox and I’m sure there will be loads of folk wanting Star Wars, Matrix and Lord of the Rings skins. I wonder if there will be something for Batman Begins? Anyway – some more leaked shots to finish off.
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    UMD’s Cracked

    The PSP UMD’s have been cracked and the iso images of three games have been uploaded to the net and newsgroups. While this in itself is of no threat as there’s no way to burn the iso to a UMD disk, how long before someone figures out a way of executing a game from the memory stick in the same way that the firmware upgrade can be executed? Also interesting that the iso’s are so small – around 150Meg. Could fit a few games on my 1 Gig card.

    XBox 360?

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    There’s still three weeks before the MTV Xbox 360 announcement but a few sites are saying this is what the 360 will look like. Interesting. Two versions apparently as well with the higher spec one more like an XBMC 360 with a removable hard drive, web browsing, instant messaging, media player/sharing all in one device. Out this year, in Europe too. Time to start saving the pennies. More can be seen on Team Xbox.

     

    Gamics

    Stumbled on gamics.com at the weekend – comics made from game engines. At first I thought the quality would be fairly poor…typical home-brew type affair but I was wrong. The strips are great, look very cool and some of the writing is far better than I expected. If you like comics it’s worth a try. PHWComics is also worth a try – based on the Half-Life 2 engine so quality is top notch.

    Cheat Free Halo?

    From Monday Halo2 will be patched. Hopefully online play will now be glitch free. Like most online games at the moment cheaters spoiled the game for the average player. From Monday most glitches will be patched or there advantage removed. Next rankings will be reset with some new maps to follow at the end of the month. Can’t wait to get back playing this.

    PSP Games

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    Having great hardware is all well and good but you need great games as well. You only need to look at the Gamecube (stunning hardware spoiled by having a few great games) to see what I mean. At launch of a new platform there is always a wide mixture of good and bad games, usually down to time pressures and lack of familiarity with the new platform. That being said the PSP has a couple of cracking games out from day one with some more to follow soon.

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    PSP Hardware

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    I finally have my hands on a working Playstation Portable and thought it only right and proper that I post my views after a few days use. I have a fair bit to say so I’ve split this post into three. The first will deal with the hardware and the value pack that Sony supply’s. Next will be the multimedia elements of the PSP and the final post will talk about games. Don’t know why I’m doing it – just feel the need.

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    PSP Update

    I’d planned to do a massive review of the PSP, the good bits, the bad bits, what Sony should be selling etc etc but it will have to wait. I’m getting it replaced as it developed some ‘dead pixels’. Graham got a new one shipped this morning which looked great which convinced me that I should swap mine while I can. Hopefully have it back by next Tuesday.

    I’ll start putting the review together as it’s a great gadget which should appeal to multi-meeja lovers as well as gamers.

    Arrived

    Well….the PSP arrived this morning. Well – 2 arrived as I’d ordered one for Graham as well. Unfortunately one (thankfully not mine – no conspiracy theories allowed) had 11 dead pixels. So it has been returned, but mine is fine. The screen is gorgeous, it really is the most difficult thing to keep clean and when I sort out my 1 gig memory card videos on the go will be a joy. I’ll do a fuller post over the weekend as it’s not without flaws, but it’s still highly recommended.