New DLC for COD: World at War

The team has been very quiet regarding details of our DLC until now, and we’re so excited to let this content loose. DLC Map Pack #1 is due out in March of ‘09 for the (read on)

Arcade: R-Type Dimensions

I thought this was going to be a completely different story for the R-Type series. Once the download was available on Xbox Live Marketplace I was wrong.?
I am still very delighted that the game is a full on port and remake of the original R-Type and R-Type II classic arcade games. For a whopping 1200 Microsoft points you get a lot.
First off you get two full games, so that alone makes it worth the 600 MSP per game.
Secondly you not only get the classic 2D sprite version(s) but you also get the fully remastered 3D versions of the game(s).
I was having a tough time getting the 2D version onto the full screen because the visual options are deep? LoL

I do need to point out this small but totally new feature that this arcade title offers that I have never seen before, and it’s the fact that you can literally switch between 2D and 3D on the fly in real time with the press of the Y Button…..!  Yes you heard me right if you feel 2D play it in 2D not a problem. But if you all of a sudden feel like going full on 3D then tap Y Button and boom right then your playing in 3D. So Cool…!
You get to choose 2D full screen or wide screen, 2D with in a fully rendered 3D Arcade Machine. The 3D arcade machines controller stick actually moves to the same movement of the Xbox controller. Now remember I am still talking about the 2D graphics setting (3D arcade with a 2D screen on it for gaming) it’s quite amazing.

Now for the 3D settings. The entire game is rendered in 3D and the backgrounds really pop out giving you the seance of a new game and not just a rehash or port. Select normal camera mode for these settings. The second mode for 3D is just mind blowing (of course these are my opinions so please judge for your self with the demo). You select 3D mode and the crazy camera settings for a full on rotating from foreground to background 3D renders. Sounds crazy and in my opinion it is crazy, in a good way.

Thanks for visiting now go get the Trial already and see for your self.

Add the trial to your XBOX 360 download queue now.

Marketplace information:

The coin-op classics, R-Type & R-Type II, are together at last! Fight through all 14 Bydo-infested stages in original 2D or all-new 3D graphics – and swap back and forth on-the-fly. Both Classic and Infinite modes can be played as single player or multiplayer missions; either locally or over Xbox LIVE. Power up and strike down the evil Bydo Empire!! This game requires the Xbox 360 hard drive or the 512MB Memory Unit for storage. There are no refunds for this item.

Introducing the Crew of SxAxW

I have been on Xbox Live for many years now and from playing with plenty of strangers and gaming with random people across different types of games I have found a cool bunch of gamers that started gaming together all the time.

From the first crew members Ghost, Balz, and Matyr that decided to add a name to the crew (not a Clan), has now grown over time and as we get bigger and more rounded team the invited to join are starting to get harder if someone want to join in on our gaming habbits.

In my opinion I get along with everyone, but that being said it’s also becoming like a virtual gaming family were brothers argue from time to time but after a few games everyoe is happy again. LoL

Here is the list of the current active crew members on m list. There are a few more not listed here but it’s onl because they haven’t been online for a while and haven’t updated to an avatar as of yet. Now the list….

Here are the SxAxW Creators.

Ghost SxAxW

Balz SxAxW

Matyr SxAxW

Here is the rest of the Crew:

JorgieX SxAxW

Gurx SxAxW

J0k3r SxAxW

lil Ghost SxAxW

Limb SxAxW

Manolo SxAxW

Phantom SxAxW

Shadow SxAxW

SlayerX SxAxW

Unknown SxAxW

Violent SxAxW

Wiz SxAxW

So there you have it the people I most play online team battles with. Like I mentioned above there are a few more SxAxW members so I will add them once I touch base with the crew.

So who do you game with often? Do you think you should belong to a crew, clan or guild when you go online? Do you like to run solo and just get the help of a stranger and then part ways forver?  I thought I was doomed to travel XBL alone forever until the members of SxAxW excepted me into the ranks.

I had a blast on The Bitbag podcast last night.

I was invited to join in on The Bitbag show last night and had a great time discussing and debating game(s). The Bitbag has become a regular part of my gaming incite and rumor mill news. LoL
But in any case the podcast should be on the site soon. The podcast was recorded late late night or very early morning depending on how you see things after 12am EST…! Go check out the blog
and listen in The crew is real talk fellas and it not for the kiddies at all.

The Bitbag

New information on NXE…!

Over at the Gamerscore Blog they just posted a great update on the upcoming NXE update for the XBOX 360.

More information on Netflix with a little bit more details on the entire update. Check it out by clicking below.

Gamerscore Blog

Does the NXE enhance your Live! experience?

There were two main reasons Microsoft decided to totally redo the Xbox 360 interface: 1) to make everything easier to find and 2) making it easier for the Xbox team to make changes to the system on the fly (instead of having to wait for semi-annual updates).

After spending a little hands on time with NXE, I’m pretty convinced they’ve succeeded with that first goal (time will tell with the second). A whole slew of navigation options make it easier to locate anything from a recently downloaded demo to a group of friends playing Call of Duty 4 that you can party with. The Spotlight channel highlights whatever’s new in any channel (movie trailers, content packs, demos, etc.) and the actual game library (gasp!) has a details page that will display all the stuff you’ve downloaded for it. You can even see stuff you haven’t downloaded, like if there’s a new map pack, and jump from the detail page directly to Marketplace to buy the content.

So no more frantically scrolling this way and that, trying to find the Alpha Protocol demo I just downloaded or figure out where they put the Fable 2 trailer. Even better, the game detail page displays box art, screen shots, streaming videos – the kind of stuff you normally have to go to a website to find. So maybe we won’t need a web browser with NXE (and if we do, they can apparently add one with a quick updated that we don’t have to wait half a year for).

The big ticket item for me is the avatar system. It’s the only part of NXE that I’m skeptical about. I don’t mind that they were replacing the left-to-right scrolling “blades” with up-and-down scrolling “channels” (that are populated with “slots” – gotta love that 360 vocabulary). I also don’t care one way or the other that the visual style of the interface is more “casual-friendly” with a simple (if dull) layout and punched up movie/Netflix features.

I do mind that they’re spending money to make a total rip off of the Nintendo Miis. I mean, really, does capturing the casual audience really mean you’ve gotta have chunky people with big, bright eyes that wander around, doing nothing but sneezing, winking and waving?

As soon as I started making my NXE avatar, I had to stop comparing it to Nintendo. The system Rare came up with has more in common with the Sims than it does with anything else. There were more options for facial and body structure, color and decoration. I could have freckles, vampire fangs, or a mullet. There were ear piercings, soul patches and whacky skin colors (e.g. green). There are idle animations (my favorite is the guy one where he picks lint off his arm, grimaces and flicks it away), and hidden “treats” that the avatars react to (like when you zoom in too fast – you might bump your avatar in the head and knock him senseless).

It’s all very cute and accessible – the kind of thing I’d give to my grandma to get her to even go near the 360. But there’s also a larger goal that the avatars accomplish for seasoned 360 users: they give you a sense of personality.

“We wanted gamers to be able to express themselves,” says demo expert Albert Penello, Director of Global Marketing for Microsoft’s Xbox 360. “Like when you’re going into Friends to party with [strangers]… we wanted you to be able to look at a group of avatars and [automatically] know whether or not you’d like to party with them.”

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NXE dedicated page is up…!

We put up a dedicated Xbox Experience page to detail the functions and features that all connected Xbox 360’s will get come this November 19th. Information will be added as more become available. Please feel free to comment and leave any suggestions you may have. You can find the link to the NXE Page on the left under the Pages section.
Have a great day…!

1st no Netflix Party Mode, now NO PRIMETIME?

This morning I was looking over the usual major blogs and to my surprise I ran into this little bit of news on the Forbes website game shows for the NXE. I was really looking forward to this offering as well as the Netflix party stream mode but look like the only functional feature other than the ability to install me games is, creating a cool avatar. Why oh Why are we losing Xbox 360 losing all of the main functions stated throughout the entire marketing campaign?

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Potty Mouth XBOX Live users, Daddy is coming home…

I found a great article over on the Destructoid Blog. I always felt so powerless on XBL when ever I would get into a game and hear that complaining cry baby that would do nothing but bitch and drop F-Bombs all over the chat channel on Live!, well all I have to say is look out Microsoft is on the hunt for you sour apples on XBL..!

Rejoice…!  There is light at the end of the tunnel.

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Oct.15th – PS3 System Software version 2.50

PS3 System Software version 2.50

• Improved Official Bluetooth Headset wireless headset support, including an on-screen indicator that shows volume, battery charge, and mute functions.
• Bluetooth Headset  Wireless headset High Quality (HQ) mode, which utilises advanced wireless technologies and the headset’s dual-microphone design to enable clear and wide-band wireless voice communication with PS3 system.
• An in-game screenshot capture tool – titles that support the feature will be announced in the future.
• PS3 Trophies user interface enhancement – When players acquire a Trophy, the in-game notification will now include the specific Trophy icon created by the developer, while more intuitive options for comparing Trophies with friends have been added, including an icon to represent each Trophy level.
• Video – Video scene search functionality will provide thumbnails to help you find a particular scene in a video more easily.
• Information Board – The Information Board will be able to include direct links to PlayStation Store, making it easier for PS3 owners to download content that they read about on the Information Board.
• Power save – PS3 owners will have the option to automatically shut-off their console or controllers after pre-selected periods of inactivity.
• Flash 9 content becomes supported on the Internet Browser.

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Call of Duty World at War Beta…!

Well I have been playing around with the Call of Duty World at War BETA for the last couple of days now. What I’ve come to realise is that it is basicly CoD4 with WWII skinned on it. The perks are all there with the exception to the extra Perk for vehicles. You can still climb over object with the A button and you still have the same Barracks and clan Tag options after a certain amount of exp acquired.
The game is just as fun and the special abilities like after 3 kills you can call in radar to find your enemies and when you get 7 kills in a row you can summon a large herd of dogs..lol yeah instead of the helicoptor you get dogs that hunt down your enemies. It’s quite funny to see the hounds let loose. Nothing much to add, at least from this portion of the BETA. Right now the level cap is at 11 but I see this getting raised once more people are let into the BETA. I am already maxed out but that means nothing with out the skill involved in playing the game. One more mention this is a BETA on the 360. I am not sure or have heard any news about any future PS3 BETA. Bottom line is that the game is great just like you’ve come to expect from CoD4.

Playstation HOME…November 19th to compete with NXE

Today I started seeing website posts sating that the Playstation HOME will be launching on the same day that the XBOX Live Experience for the 360. November 19th 2008 will be a huge day for both platforms as both offer similar interaction with friends. But once the system update get into full swing we will all really see the true differences from the good to the bad. I personally can’t wait for both. I just hope the worlds internets can handle the multi-millions of users for both platforms downloading at the same time. Who knows…LoL

Netflix raise your premiums $1

If your one of the now many “Netflix” BluRay movie watchers and loved renting unlimited BluRay movies for the same price of standard DVDs. Then you need to look at this E-Magazine artical. The price is still worth the premium unless you do not have or use a BluRay player. You need to go into your account and Opt-Out of renting BluRay movies or you will automaticly be surcharged $1 every month on top of what ever plan you currently have.

Here is the entire Home Media E-Magazine….

Fable 2 let’s you be friendly-er?

I am not sure if you remember a week or so back the report was that Fable 2 was not going to ship with Co-Op play on disk, but would be given as a game update shortly after launch. Today I saw this on the Official Lionhead Studio’s website:

“Remember a couple of days ago (or was it a week) where on a blog it was mentioned that Fable II would be shipping ‘without’ Online Co-op? And remember we said we were busting our balls to get it ready in time for a ‘Day One’ release? Well – news folks! It looks like we’ve done it…for all of you who are connected to Xbox Live, when starting up your copy of Fable II (on 21st October in USA, 24th October in Europe and 18th December in Japan). So all of you getting upset and all, you wouldn’t even have noticed… Sort of. Well done to the team.”

“Taken into account we don’t fail certification!”

MS to offer NXE ’storage solutions’ to those who need it

“The new Xbox experience will require 128MB of free space. A hard drive is recommended for the optimal experience, to take advantage of some new features, and to be able to enjoy the great movies, TV shows and games available on Xbox LIVE. While we expect the majority of consumers to download the New Xbox Experience without a problem, a small percentage of Xbox 360 owners do not have enough memory to accommodate the update. To help ensure all Xbox LIVE members are able to download the New Xbox Experience and enjoy its new features, Microsoft will be offering storage solutions to the Xbox LIVE community. We are not sharing details of this offering yet. Be sure to check xbox.com for more details in the coming weeks.”

Continue reading……