Opinions please!
I'm already more than a little burned out about hearing about how amazing this machine is. Seriously, Sony gets ripped a new one about 3D (which I am NOT supporting, but using as a reference point), but when Nintendo throws it into a handheld it's fawned over like a new kitten! It's ridiculous and another example of people giving Nintendo a lot of leeway (sp) with their products.
I've read multiple times that the system can irritate the eyes after playing for a while and looking at the 3D. True, the 3D can be turned off to make it a conventional 2D screen, but I still just don't get the draw. I really liked my DS and then my DS Lite, but I never played it because I'd much rather play on a console.
Word came out yesterday that the 3DS will be priced at 300 bucks and launch in February of 2011. I also just read on MaxConsole that the president of Nintendo said they priced it there because of the huge joygasms everyone had over it and they realized that it could be sold at a high price point.
People have been going absolutely ape-shit over this thing since E3. It feels creepily similar to when Apple released the iPhone and iPod.
Thoughts? Will you be getting one?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
360 Problems
I know I've been on my high horse about the 360's lack of reliability, but as many of you know on this blog it's broken again.
My Best Buy warranty still has 5 months left on it so I'm swapping it in after work tonight. Good news is that I'll be able to get a sexy new "slim" 360, but the bad news is that it renders my currently way overprices HDD useless because it's incompatible with the new slims.
I've grown accustomed to taking apart the 360 and after doing so 5 times you learn a LOT about hardware. Surprisingly (at least to me anyways), they're not nearly as fragile as you'd think.
So tonight I'll be performing a labotamy on my old 360 HDD and transferring it the slim because the 200 dollar slim (the price of the arcade model I bought) only has 4gb of flash memory. It is confirmed that you can't even play Reach COOP without a drive and not even a thumb flash drive will do the trick.
Looking up some videos the process should actually be fairly simple and luckily doesn't call for me to break open the slim in any way. My problem is that I looked up my error code, E68, and this is what I found:
"E68: Hard Drive Error - Hard drive not DMA configured: It could be a problem with the Hard Drive itself or a problem with the internal connection to the hard drive, Try removing the hard drive and playing without it. Also this can be caused by a problem with the fans that make them draw too much power, it can also be caused if you have unnecessary accessories attached to the console like an external fan unit. Attempt to remove unnecessary accessories first, and then necessary components such as the hard drive and USB devices. If you have any case mods you may want to investigate those as well."
As you can see I may still be boned if this is strictly a HDD problem because putting it into a new box won't fix a damn thing. So I guess I'm saying....."wish me luck" because my heart can't bear much more and if nothing else one of you guys could be the owner of an incredibly lightly used Slim 360 for next to nothing!
My Best Buy warranty still has 5 months left on it so I'm swapping it in after work tonight. Good news is that I'll be able to get a sexy new "slim" 360, but the bad news is that it renders my currently way overprices HDD useless because it's incompatible with the new slims.
I've grown accustomed to taking apart the 360 and after doing so 5 times you learn a LOT about hardware. Surprisingly (at least to me anyways), they're not nearly as fragile as you'd think.
So tonight I'll be performing a labotamy on my old 360 HDD and transferring it the slim because the 200 dollar slim (the price of the arcade model I bought) only has 4gb of flash memory. It is confirmed that you can't even play Reach COOP without a drive and not even a thumb flash drive will do the trick.
Looking up some videos the process should actually be fairly simple and luckily doesn't call for me to break open the slim in any way. My problem is that I looked up my error code, E68, and this is what I found:
"E68: Hard Drive Error - Hard drive not DMA configured: It could be a problem with the Hard Drive itself or a problem with the internal connection to the hard drive, Try removing the hard drive and playing without it. Also this can be caused by a problem with the fans that make them draw too much power, it can also be caused if you have unnecessary accessories attached to the console like an external fan unit. Attempt to remove unnecessary accessories first, and then necessary components such as the hard drive and USB devices. If you have any case mods you may want to investigate those as well."
As you can see I may still be boned if this is strictly a HDD problem because putting it into a new box won't fix a damn thing. So I guess I'm saying....."wish me luck" because my heart can't bear much more and if nothing else one of you guys could be the owner of an incredibly lightly used Slim 360 for next to nothing!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
At It Again...
Every time this guy opens his mouth, it kind of shocks me that a grown, mature adult who is head of a very large company will say the things he does. From bashing Valve to IW to EA to pretty much everybody not Activision... Interesting read.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6279735.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B2
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6279735.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B2
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Eurogamer Expo
hey guys, off to this show next weekend, let me know of any games you'd like me to play and offer any insight on it, some quality titles on show as u can see. almost too many to play all in 1 day but i'll try.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Inevitable "HALO: Reach" Impressions Post
Post them here.
Controls are tighter than they've ever been.
Really glad dual wield is gone.
All gun revamps are awesome! Especially the sniper. DMR is my bitch lover.
SWAT finally plays as it should....with no Elites.
Assassinations are fun and stealing an assassination from a teammate, "Yoink!", is hilarious!
Slayer Pro is a good time, but the jury is still out for me on straight up Team Deathmatch with full armor and armor abilities.
Graphics are much improved!
Finally got us all playing the same game again!
Controls are tighter than they've ever been.
Really glad dual wield is gone.
All gun revamps are awesome! Especially the sniper. DMR is my bitch lover.
SWAT finally plays as it should....with no Elites.
Assassinations are fun and stealing an assassination from a teammate, "Yoink!", is hilarious!
Slayer Pro is a good time, but the jury is still out for me on straight up Team Deathmatch with full armor and armor abilities.
Graphics are much improved!
Finally got us all playing the same game again!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Court ruling could affect pre-owned game sales
Court ruling could affect pre-owned game sales
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Sep 13, 2010 11:12 am PT
Ninth Circuit appeals court disallows resale of drafting software due to EULA terms; PC, console games come with similar restrictions.
Pre-owned game sales account for a major chunk of GameStop's profits and have other retailers wanting a piece of the pie. However, a decision on Friday by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit could imperil sales of pre-owned games--or any other software with a particularly worded end-user license agreement (EULA).
The court overturned a May 2008 decision by the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in the case of Vernor v. Autodesk. The original decision stated that Washington resident Timothy Vernor was within his rights to sell a sealed copy of Autodesk's AutoCAD design software he got at a garage sale on eBay.
The 9th Circuit's decision may imperil sales of pre-owned games.
Though the copy of the software was sealed, Autodesk's EULA--which was not visible externally on the retail box--said that the software is only licensed to purchasers, not actually sold. It also said that the license cannot be transferred, so after purchase, the software had to be destroyed if not used.
The Western Washington court's decision upheld the idea that customers own the software they purchase, commonly referred to as the "You bought it, you own it" principle. The appeals court's decision, however, undermines that idea if the software has "license only" language in its EULA.
Tech blog Ars Technica pointed out that the EULAs used by Electronic Arts and many other publishers have similar language in their games. "This software is licensed to you, not sold," reads EA's EULA. "Access to the software requires software registration with the serial code enclosed with the software. Software registration is limited to one EA Account per serial code and is non-transferable."
The EA EULA is for a PC game, which typically requires acceptance of such terms to play. However, comparable wording can also be found in console game manuals, such as that of Take-Two Interactive's recent hit Red Dead Redemption.
"THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED, NOT SOLD," reads the license agreement on Red Dead Redemption. (Capital letters in original.) "You agree not to: (a) Commercially exploit the software; (b) Distribute, lease, sell, rent or otherwise transfer the software, or any copies of the software, without the express consent of the licensor." (Emphasis added.)
Inquiries sent to EA and Take-Two about the appeals court's decision were not answered as of press time. However, EA and other publishers have recently taken measures to deter pre-owned game sales, from which they earn no money.
In EA's case, it is enclosing single-use codes in new games to both award extra downloadable content and enable online modes. The latter applies to all of the Redwood City, CA-based company's sports games, which will charge buyers of pre-owned games $10 extra to access online modes. THQ recently adopted a similar model for the online modes for its wrestling and mixed martial arts games.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6275683.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B4
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Sep 13, 2010 11:12 am PT
Ninth Circuit appeals court disallows resale of drafting software due to EULA terms; PC, console games come with similar restrictions.
Pre-owned game sales account for a major chunk of GameStop's profits and have other retailers wanting a piece of the pie. However, a decision on Friday by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit could imperil sales of pre-owned games--or any other software with a particularly worded end-user license agreement (EULA).
The court overturned a May 2008 decision by the US District Court for the Western District of Washington in the case of Vernor v. Autodesk. The original decision stated that Washington resident Timothy Vernor was within his rights to sell a sealed copy of Autodesk's AutoCAD design software he got at a garage sale on eBay.
The 9th Circuit's decision may imperil sales of pre-owned games.
Though the copy of the software was sealed, Autodesk's EULA--which was not visible externally on the retail box--said that the software is only licensed to purchasers, not actually sold. It also said that the license cannot be transferred, so after purchase, the software had to be destroyed if not used.
The Western Washington court's decision upheld the idea that customers own the software they purchase, commonly referred to as the "You bought it, you own it" principle. The appeals court's decision, however, undermines that idea if the software has "license only" language in its EULA.
Tech blog Ars Technica pointed out that the EULAs used by Electronic Arts and many other publishers have similar language in their games. "This software is licensed to you, not sold," reads EA's EULA. "Access to the software requires software registration with the serial code enclosed with the software. Software registration is limited to one EA Account per serial code and is non-transferable."
The EA EULA is for a PC game, which typically requires acceptance of such terms to play. However, comparable wording can also be found in console game manuals, such as that of Take-Two Interactive's recent hit Red Dead Redemption.
"THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED, NOT SOLD," reads the license agreement on Red Dead Redemption. (Capital letters in original.) "You agree not to: (a) Commercially exploit the software; (b) Distribute, lease, sell, rent or otherwise transfer the software, or any copies of the software, without the express consent of the licensor." (Emphasis added.)
Inquiries sent to EA and Take-Two about the appeals court's decision were not answered as of press time. However, EA and other publishers have recently taken measures to deter pre-owned game sales, from which they earn no money.
In EA's case, it is enclosing single-use codes in new games to both award extra downloadable content and enable online modes. The latter applies to all of the Redwood City, CA-based company's sports games, which will charge buyers of pre-owned games $10 extra to access online modes. THQ recently adopted a similar model for the online modes for its wrestling and mixed martial arts games.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6275683.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B4
Monday, September 13, 2010
Power A Pro Elite and "GRIP IT" Reviews
If you love your PS3, but hate the controller then this is THE controller that will make you finally dump hours into your PS3.
I received mine in the mail last week and I absolutely love it. I've put around 7 hours on it already between MW2 and Assassin's Creed 2 so I have a very good base for my review. Since the controller is obviously a shameless ripoff of the 360 design I will compare the controller directly to it.
The controller is slightly "girthier" (had to use that word) than the 360 and it feels great in the hands. I could absolutely see people with smaller hands or all asians having a problem with this design. Which is probably why the DS is as small as it is.
The face buttons are all quite larger, flatter and require a more deliberate push to use. Where the 360 buttons are great I do enjoy the larger buttons on the Power A.
As much as well all bag on the DS one thing I do prefer on it over the 360 is that the joysticks (while slippery as hell) do seem to have a larger range of motion and this continues on the Power A, but without as much "looseness". The joysticks are tighter than the DS, but not quite as tight as the 360. All in all I still prefer the 360 resistance on the joystick, but prefer the larger range of motion on the Power A.
The sticks are also longer on the Power A which can arguably help with accuracy in shooters.
The triggers are top notch. I described them to Lead Salad as more of a "saddle" than a large trigger like on the 360. They are much shorter and wider and your fingers rest directly in them for more of a snug fit. There is a surprising amount of resistance on the triggers as well and I really enjoy the feel of them.
This is the most solid construction I've ever felt on a 3rd party controller. It feels absolutely solid. No creaks or squeaks when you squeeze it. Just a very well put together controller just like the DS and 360.
The Power A also has built in grips that aren't all that different from a pistol grip and it's awesome. On my 360 I installed a rubber cover years ago that really helps with marathon gaming, but without the rubber cover I def prefer the Power A for "feel".
I played "Flower" on the PS3 to test the SixAxis and it works just as it should.
All in all the controller is amazing and I recommend it to anyone that prefers the 360 design over the DS. It's arguably one of the best controllers on the market today and with a price tag that's cheaper than either the DS or 360.
GRIP IT joystick covers are my new lover and while they do look silly as hell they work very well. They install in seconds without glue and give you a ton more grip on the joystick. It does give a more "sure" feel while playing shooters and def adds more padding on the sticks for marathon gaming where jamming L3 for running in CoD can tend to bother your thumbs.
The set comes with 2 pair of covers so I have them on my Power A and on my 360 controller. Get them.
I received mine in the mail last week and I absolutely love it. I've put around 7 hours on it already between MW2 and Assassin's Creed 2 so I have a very good base for my review. Since the controller is obviously a shameless ripoff of the 360 design I will compare the controller directly to it.
The controller is slightly "girthier" (had to use that word) than the 360 and it feels great in the hands. I could absolutely see people with smaller hands or all asians having a problem with this design. Which is probably why the DS is as small as it is.
The face buttons are all quite larger, flatter and require a more deliberate push to use. Where the 360 buttons are great I do enjoy the larger buttons on the Power A.
As much as well all bag on the DS one thing I do prefer on it over the 360 is that the joysticks (while slippery as hell) do seem to have a larger range of motion and this continues on the Power A, but without as much "looseness". The joysticks are tighter than the DS, but not quite as tight as the 360. All in all I still prefer the 360 resistance on the joystick, but prefer the larger range of motion on the Power A.
The sticks are also longer on the Power A which can arguably help with accuracy in shooters.
The triggers are top notch. I described them to Lead Salad as more of a "saddle" than a large trigger like on the 360. They are much shorter and wider and your fingers rest directly in them for more of a snug fit. There is a surprising amount of resistance on the triggers as well and I really enjoy the feel of them.
This is the most solid construction I've ever felt on a 3rd party controller. It feels absolutely solid. No creaks or squeaks when you squeeze it. Just a very well put together controller just like the DS and 360.
The Power A also has built in grips that aren't all that different from a pistol grip and it's awesome. On my 360 I installed a rubber cover years ago that really helps with marathon gaming, but without the rubber cover I def prefer the Power A for "feel".
I played "Flower" on the PS3 to test the SixAxis and it works just as it should.
All in all the controller is amazing and I recommend it to anyone that prefers the 360 design over the DS. It's arguably one of the best controllers on the market today and with a price tag that's cheaper than either the DS or 360.
GRIP IT joystick covers are my new lover and while they do look silly as hell they work very well. They install in seconds without glue and give you a ton more grip on the joystick. It does give a more "sure" feel while playing shooters and def adds more padding on the sticks for marathon gaming where jamming L3 for running in CoD can tend to bother your thumbs.
The set comes with 2 pair of covers so I have them on my Power A and on my 360 controller. Get them.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Favorite game of the year?
I know we've still got 4 months to go, but I'm curious what everyone's favorite game for 2010 so far has been? I'm talking mainly about games that have been released in 2010, but if you've played an older one that you really liked, feel free to put that, too. I think a short explanation would be appropriate, too.
2010 game
Bayonetta - released in January, 3rd person action, over the top in every way, excellent combat with tons of weapons and combinations, huge bosses, excellent level design and variation. The only weak point is the convoluted storyline, but everything else is top notch so it balances that out in my opinion.
Older game
Prince of Persia (2008) - cell-shaded "reboot" that branches off from the Sands of Time trilogy, bright and sharp graphics, climbing all over walls, tons of fun. Combat is the weak point in this one - it's just kinda blah. Other than that, it was tough for me to stop playing.
I think it would be cool to do a post like this again shortly after we get into 2011 to see if anything changes, due to all the quality stuff being released this fall.
2010 game
Bayonetta - released in January, 3rd person action, over the top in every way, excellent combat with tons of weapons and combinations, huge bosses, excellent level design and variation. The only weak point is the convoluted storyline, but everything else is top notch so it balances that out in my opinion.
Older game
Prince of Persia (2008) - cell-shaded "reboot" that branches off from the Sands of Time trilogy, bright and sharp graphics, climbing all over walls, tons of fun. Combat is the weak point in this one - it's just kinda blah. Other than that, it was tough for me to stop playing.
I think it would be cool to do a post like this again shortly after we get into 2011 to see if anything changes, due to all the quality stuff being released this fall.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Honest thoughts and opinions please.
Sorry if you guys are tired of my constant up and down and bitching about the 360, but I'm really tired of Microsoft and let me vent just once more.
I was pretty okay with everything until I read Lead Salad's post on the price hike on LIVE and it's just kind of sent me into a spiral.
I know that it's only 10 dollars more a month and that it's not a big deal, but I'm just tired of getting nickel and dimed by M$. I'm well aware that I've spent well over a hundred bucks on useless themes and avatar crap, but this really bothers me. I "deactivated" my auto renewal of Gold Membership and it's up in July of next year so I'll see what happens, but I really feel trapped as a consumer by this machine.
I want to keep my 360, but I think it's fair to say that my 360 WILL break. It's not a matter of "if" as Amateria once said, but a matter of "when." They break. It's what 360's do. It's a shame that as consumers we've allowed ourselves to be okay not with a console that will just not function properly after 8 or 10 years or so, but a machine with such a huge fail in it that it just stops working at any time. It could be broke out of the box or 3 years from now, but it WILL break. I refuse to buy another machine when my goes out again. It blows my mind when M$ brags about sales figures because in my mind the numbers greatly skewed. How many of those sales have been from guys like us that had to purchase another machine because our 1st, 2nd or 3rd broke? I think you'd all agree that this revelation for myself leaves me in an interesting spot. Why put more money into a system that I know will break and that I have no intention of buying again once it does? Why buy more games if I know I can't play them in another year or so?
The other thing that has me trapped in is that my two brothers and my dad all have a 360 and they'd be really upset if I got rid of mine. For those of you that don't know my oldest brother is a missionary in Indonesia and playing Call of Duty 2 (the only shooter that can run decently on his terrible internet) with me is one of his few releases from a very stressfuly lifestyle.
I'd bet that I've had my LIVE subscription for longer than 90% of all LIVE members so I think I've been around long enough to form a solid opinion of M$ and LIVE.
Over the last 2 days I've matched and confirmed shipment on the rest of my 360 games that aren't 360 exclusive so I can pick them up on PS3. I'm left with the HALOs, Crackdown, CoD 2, L4D, Mass Effect 1, Tiger 09, Gears 1, Condemned (the sequel is on PS3 thank goodness) and my back catalog of old XBOX games, but an original XBOX purchase isn't hard to do.
What this post boils down to is HALO Reach. I'm really excited for the game and playing with you guys, but as this post points out I don't want to drop another 60 bucks on a game that I can't play in a year or so. We can hardly all find the time to play together as it is.
I think my frustration is justified and was just wondering if you guys would weigh in on it and tell me if I'm crazy or not.
I was pretty okay with everything until I read Lead Salad's post on the price hike on LIVE and it's just kind of sent me into a spiral.
I know that it's only 10 dollars more a month and that it's not a big deal, but I'm just tired of getting nickel and dimed by M$. I'm well aware that I've spent well over a hundred bucks on useless themes and avatar crap, but this really bothers me. I "deactivated" my auto renewal of Gold Membership and it's up in July of next year so I'll see what happens, but I really feel trapped as a consumer by this machine.
I want to keep my 360, but I think it's fair to say that my 360 WILL break. It's not a matter of "if" as Amateria once said, but a matter of "when." They break. It's what 360's do. It's a shame that as consumers we've allowed ourselves to be okay not with a console that will just not function properly after 8 or 10 years or so, but a machine with such a huge fail in it that it just stops working at any time. It could be broke out of the box or 3 years from now, but it WILL break. I refuse to buy another machine when my goes out again. It blows my mind when M$ brags about sales figures because in my mind the numbers greatly skewed. How many of those sales have been from guys like us that had to purchase another machine because our 1st, 2nd or 3rd broke? I think you'd all agree that this revelation for myself leaves me in an interesting spot. Why put more money into a system that I know will break and that I have no intention of buying again once it does? Why buy more games if I know I can't play them in another year or so?
The other thing that has me trapped in is that my two brothers and my dad all have a 360 and they'd be really upset if I got rid of mine. For those of you that don't know my oldest brother is a missionary in Indonesia and playing Call of Duty 2 (the only shooter that can run decently on his terrible internet) with me is one of his few releases from a very stressfuly lifestyle.
I'd bet that I've had my LIVE subscription for longer than 90% of all LIVE members so I think I've been around long enough to form a solid opinion of M$ and LIVE.
Over the last 2 days I've matched and confirmed shipment on the rest of my 360 games that aren't 360 exclusive so I can pick them up on PS3. I'm left with the HALOs, Crackdown, CoD 2, L4D, Mass Effect 1, Tiger 09, Gears 1, Condemned (the sequel is on PS3 thank goodness) and my back catalog of old XBOX games, but an original XBOX purchase isn't hard to do.
What this post boils down to is HALO Reach. I'm really excited for the game and playing with you guys, but as this post points out I don't want to drop another 60 bucks on a game that I can't play in a year or so. We can hardly all find the time to play together as it is.
I think my frustration is justified and was just wondering if you guys would weigh in on it and tell me if I'm crazy or not.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Power A PS3 Controller
A long while ago I remember reading about this amazing new PS3 controller coming out that rips off pretty much everything from the 360 controller and I couldn't have been more excited!
Well, it just launched and normally it retails for 50 bucks, but I just ordered mine for 35 on amazon! As much as I love my Afterglow, that Lead Salad found, the Power A is wireless and still packs in sixaxis control. User reviews are very positive and the several "professional reviews" I've read say it's a great controller and what 360 players have been waiting for.
I'll let you guys know how it goes when it gets here.
Well, it just launched and normally it retails for 50 bucks, but I just ordered mine for 35 on amazon! As much as I love my Afterglow, that Lead Salad found, the Power A is wireless and still packs in sixaxis control. User reviews are very positive and the several "professional reviews" I've read say it's a great controller and what 360 players have been waiting for.
I'll let you guys know how it goes when it gets here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
