BURRRRRRRRRRRNNN!!!!

MLB2k8 - XBOX 360

Not sure what to think about this one. The gameplay is still pretty much the same and the graphics on the stadiums that weren't introduced this year were still pretty much the same. For instance they haven't included any of the improvements Fenway has made over the last two years. And they still have the attendance listed at 36,298 which hasn't been the case for a couple of years now.

I did like the gameplay though. It was going good. Then a couple of days ago I got the "three rings of death" on my second XBOX. I'm not sure I have a warranty on this one. If I can send it back that's great, but I think either way I'm going to try and get a PS3 before the year is out, if not just to have a Blu-ray player. I like the XBOX 360, but I can't keep replacing them every eight months or so.

jmart... the 360 is under warranty for the 3 RROD for at least 3 years... until Nov 2008. So, you should be all set as long as you have the 3 lights. 1 light = not covered, as I sadly found out too late to fry the sucker and get 3 RROD.

I'm probably jinxing myself, but I haven't had a 3 RROD in almost 2 years now. The newer ones seem to be doing much better. Heck, I left my 360 on for nearly 7 days straight last week... 24/7.

I was playing Forza and you could "hire" a driver to drive the endurance races for you. So, I'd hire one, and let them race. Every so often I'd check the Xbox, collect my points, and restart a race. I got to level 50 in about 4-5 days and then finished a few other things. I figured if it could play a game for about 150 hours straight, it might be safe from the 3 RROD.

My roommate rented Viking: Battle for Asgard. It's really the most average game I've ever played. It's not exactly bad - it's worth playing and beating - but only just. If he had paid for the game he would have been pissed (so would I!) but it's worth a $5 rental...especially since there is almost little replay value. You can get almost all of the achievement in one play-through (easy achievement harvest for those who like that kind of thing) and the game isn't interesting enough to play through a second time.

It's basically an average hack-n-slash with some pretty neat ideas. Unfortunately Sega botched the implementation on those, so the game is a bit tedious at times.

Do you need a receipt or anything? I still have the box, but if they need something more than that then I'm screwed. Otherwise I think I'm okay. I did a little reading on it and it seems like it's a quick turnaround (2 weeks is the shortest I heard). As long as I get it back though I'm fine. I get the feeling though that I'll be losing my Superman skin, won't I?

You won't need any receipt, jmart. I've sent mine in 3 times, never had to give them any information like where I bought it, when I bought it, let alone a receipt. They just need your serial number. Plus, your 360 has a manufacture date on the back which I guarantee you was less than 3 years ago it was made.

I have never ever got the same 360 back as the one I sent in, so I think you might be screwed with the skin, but you might want to ask.

But you keep all your controllers, harddrive, memory card, cords, etc... You just send in the console.

Thanks Tony. And if I have to lose the skin, I'll lose the skin. I can always get another one.

And now for the really dumb question: When you say harddrive, you mean opening up the machine and taking something out, or something much simpler? All I have for the 360 is the one remote, the box and the machine itself.

Do you use a memory card, or harddrive? If you bought an arcade pack and use a memory card, then you probably don't have a harddrive and don't need to worry about it.

If you bought a premium machine (with the silver disc tray), you have a harddrive. The harddrive is detachable and is on the outside of the console. It's on the end, and you remove it by pushing down on the button and lifting up. Here's a pic:

Oh, and just a quick note in case you do have the harddrive... the button is part of the harddrive. So, when you're lifting the harddrive up after pushing the button down, don't keep trying to push the button down or you'll never get the harddrive off as you'll be pushing against yourself. It's a stupid design, and that threw me the first couple times.

Oh okay, that's what I have. So I just take that out and then send the console in? Sounds simple enough. And I'll keep the button thing in mind.

Thanks again.

No problemo. Just get your serial number and call 18004MYXBOX. It's really painless. They get 10 million calls a day about the RROD, so they don't ask you a lot of questions or take up much of your time. They'll UPS you out a box to ship it in (they pay for all the shipping), and that also comes with instructions.

GTA IV: About 15% in, can already see a huge difference at least in the story department. It no longer feels like just a parody or an homage, but rather a stand alone story. Niko is my favorite of the 3 main characters who can talk. Though no one will beat the Mute from GTA III.

The cutscenes are really top notch, and I find myself much more engrossed into this GTA game's story than any other in the series.

I'm 25% in and just opened up Manhattan today.

I can not get over all the little details and new things I notice every time I play it. The level of detail is jaw dropping. I always liked the game from day 1, but it gets better and better as I go along, and I haven't even touched a helicopter yet!

F.E.A.R (the second time)

Yeah I decided to play this game after a long time again. I must say I guess its still the best horror shooter so far. Even though I played the game already once there have been some scary scenes for me cause I couldnt exactly remember.
Sure the graphics arent up to date but the AI still kicks the ass out of every other game.

I still give this game a 10/10

Its one of the most intense shooter experience I ever had!

I really disliked FEAR. It felt so damn repetitive... I was always in some empty warehouse or office building.

One of the few Xbox 360 games I ever sold. It has to anger me to sell it.

Besides actually agreeing, this might be the first time we're playing the same game at the same time!

I can't believe you never finished San Andreas! Why not? I must admit that I do miss a few things from San Andreas. I still think that environment was much more diversified - running through the desert, forrests, and 3 different cities was very cool. And it also had a ton more vehicles - 4 wheelers, dune buggies, planes, dirt bikes, jetpacks, etc... But I certainly don't miss the random gang wars! And GTA IV definitely has a more impressive environment, if not more diversified.

In regards to the morality, one odd thing I noticed was that Nikko seems conflicted about the bad things he did in his past, but when a drug dealer wants him to go kill some people, he doesn't think twice! He's conflicted sometimes, but not others. He might have some bi-polar problem?

I do know what you mean about SA. If you didn't like the theme, people instantly cried "racism", and I don't think that has to be the case. I didn't like GTA III that much... didn't care for the environment or characters in comparison to GTA VC - everything felt bland to me. However, nobody would ever accuse me of racism against whitey for saying that.

With SA, I was initially very turned off as I didn't like the thug life/gang atmosphere. They could have been all white or all Latino gang bangers (and some were)... race didn't matter... I'm just not drawn into that culture, and it's hard to get immersed in a game that can't suck you in.

However, I will say that as I played it more I got sucked in due to the environment. It ended up being my favorite GTA game. However, it's largely my favorite *despite* the theme, not because of it.

As I'm playing the GTA games, I'm finding that my like for the game largely comes from the environment. To me the environment is the largest 'character' in the game, which in GTA IV is more true than ever.

I don't think there is nearly as many "fuckity fuck fucks" in this game, compared to SA. But, I tend not to notice that stuff so much - so I could be wrong.

Finished Half-Life 2 Episode One. Now starting Episode Two. After Episode Two, Portal is next.

Storywise, I still think no FPS has beaten the Half-Life series.

I'm still primarily playing GTA IV - 50 hours into the single player and I have yet to find about 160 pigeons, complete the street races, or start working on the friend missions - but I am working in a few other older games for an occassional change of pace.

NFL Tour - This game is flat out terrible. It's an NFL Blitz/NFL Street type of game, but a little toned down. You can't play defense, and the games just come down to trying to score the last touchdown, clock management, or trying to score more 2 point conversions than the AI. The announcing is some of the worst ever. Graphics are bland. Not only does it play poorly, but the whole thing feels horribly outdated. I'll get some achievements out of it, but it's going far away after that. Grade: F

Virtua Tennis 3 - I'm still early in, but I think I prefer the Top Spin mechanic. But it looks like a solid game of Pong. Too early to grade.

Scene It - Still really enjoying this one. A big variety of movies and questions, and it makes me want to see more movies. A very fun multiplayer game. Grade: A-

Turok (on PC) (also available for PS3 and X360)

Well its a shooter with a lot of ups and downs .

The ups:
Gameplay: Well its a straight forward shooter with lots of ammo and lots of enemies. I actually cant remember where I was able just to pump the entire place full without be worried about my ammo.
The game on normal (there is no easy) is quite demanding. let me just tell....you will end a lot of times as a "snack" for the T-rex: I liked it cause its good for the heartbeat.
While the story is generic there is a bit an extra of a bad buddy storyline and the thing happening in a jungle world gives it some extras.
Also the animations and graphics of the frienly characters and dinos look very good.

The downs:
To bad the rest of the graphics isnt that next gen. Its supposed to run on UE3 but sometimes it really looks more like UE2.5. Despite the fact that the levels are ultra-linear some really look ugly.
There is a underground cave level where I really though somebody picked by mistake the level editor from Unreal Tournament (1999).
The AI isnt also not good. I can understand it for the dinos though the soldiers are also nothing more than cannon fooder.

What shall I say. Turok is fun. If you like a straighforward (goory and bloody!) shooter....well pick it up. Too bad some elements (some graphics and AI) didnt really arrive in the Next-Gen.

I give it a 7/10 cause I was well entertained.


As for the graphics

The good




The bad

I got call of duty 4 for the 360 and I have to say, it has probably the best control scheme for a console first person shooter i've ever played.