What Are You Playing

[Dio]

Kirby Super Star Ultra!

[neolego]

What is that for Dio? Wii??? neo

[Trekker 42]

What is that for Dio? Wii??? neo

DS.

[wallbreaker2.0]

Gears of War 2 360, Gamertag: wallbreaker2

[Nestlé]

First off, it's official that the update is mandatory and you will not be able to use the current version of the Dashboard.

However, everything that you have now is found when you press the guide button.

Overall I think it's great. I think it looks sharper and you can browse faster. I'm totally satisfied with it so far and can't wait for it Wednesday!

That's what I meant when I said you could still use the current setup.

Alright, so I'm going to talk about Rock Band a bit more.

I just downloaded the 20 free tracks for buying RB2. Some interesting stuff to note here: While I didn't take a good look at the list there are some very surprising bands in the mix... Like Kutless. Most of you won't be familiar with the band, since it is a christian group.

Also, I NEED to point outhow great HArmonix is to it's fans. Before I was ALLOWED to download the new songs the made me tell them which bands I thought they were missing that they needed. I chimed in with Hedley (my favorite band) and Relient K (Kutless is there, why not?)

band) and Relient K (Kutless is there, why not?)

Edited November 18, 2008 by Nestlé

[neolego]

Yeah, I'm actually glad to see Kutless in there. So far thats 2 Christian groups (Kutless and Flyleaf). If they get any more I may actually have to buy this game, lol. We'll see. I'd really like to see some Third Day, Reliant K, Steven Curtis Chapman, and MercyMe. Not holding my breath, but it would be sweet! neo

[handsomedevil]

I found No More Heroes (Wii) on clearance at Target this past weekend for $7.48. I tried it last night and it's pretty cool. I definitely dig the cel-shaded graphics. There's a ton of blood and adult language so I can't recommend it for everyone (sorry, neolego).

I'm really "kurious" about Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Did anyone pick it up? If so, how is it?

[Trekker 42]

I found No More Heroes (Wii) on clearance at Target this past weekend for $7.48. I tried it last night and it's pretty cool. I definitely dig the cel-shaded graphics. There's a ton of blood and adult language so I can't recommend it for everyone (sorry, neolego).

I'm really "kurious" about Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Did anyone pick it up? If so, how is it?

Hmmm... I'll have to check Target. I want No More Heroes.

[neolego]

Well - - - Welcome to the NXE People:

Avatars are a bit limited, but I like it! The NXE is even better than I imagined, Xbox 360 has now officially become my favorite console of all time! neo

[drgnrbrn316]

Xbox 360 has now officially become my favorite console of all time! neo

Yet I continue to shun it like the plague.

[neolego]

Xbox 360 has now officially become my favorite console of all time! neo

Yet I continue to shun it like the plague.

Sounds like personal insecurities!! neo

[Dan]

I'm not that impressed with it, I'm sorry to say. Atm it all seems too confusing, and totally unnescessary. I liked the old dash, it was easy to use. This one seems over complicated, like they cared more about flashy shows that accessability.

The avatars to me seem almost gimmicky. I mean some of the haircuts are stolen directly from the wii, and the eyes not having whites in are weird and stolen. Granted I like avatars better than Miis.

I guess I'm gonna have to get used to it, but atm I'm not happy or impressed.

[Shup Dude]

System I'm currently playing: Wii.

I sold my DS, so... yeah. Wii's my only system.

Game(s) I'm currently playing: Guitar Hero III, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wii Sports, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. I have other games, but lost interest.

On Christmas, I'm getting Guitar Hero: World Tour and Animal Crossing: City Folk, so I'm really excited.

Other than those two games... I'm getting a lot of Minimates.

[neolego]

Well, I picked up both "Lips" and "You're In the Movies" yesterday and took them for a spin. Here are some initial thoughts for those that care:

Lips: Is a musical game in the vein of "Karoke Revolution" and "Sing Star"

-So far I'm having fun with this. If you've seen Sing Star you will know how Lips plays. It's basically the same formula down to the same color (Red/Blue) for the vocals. However, there are some really cool things that stick out about Lips. The first is song selection. There are a lot of varied songs. It's hard NOT to find something that you will like. From the classics like "Stand By Me" and "ABC" to Taylor Swing and County to Nirvana and Queen. Again, it's very diverse so almost anyone can find something they would like to sing! On top of that, you have the ability to import your own songs. You can do it from the Harddrive, a PC (connected through media share), or an MP3 player. So far it works pretty good. Obviously, you can't have the Lyrics to those songs due to licensing issues. But, the game will acknoledge the "pitch" of the song being played and score you on matching your pitch. So you can actually get "Good" and "Cool" and "Bad" even on custom songs. And, honestly, if you have the song in your library you should know it by heart anyway . One final note to mention, the microphones are simply amazing!!! They look and feel great. They are completely wireless, run off of 2 AA batteries which are included. I had my 2 year old daughter up there singing and she was having a blast. You can shake the mic at times to trigger bonus points (Think Star Power) and they even light up to mimic the song being played. So far so good, if you are a fan of the Karoke genre, this is probably the best console Karoke game I've ever played. I've only had one night so as I get more into I'll give some furter details, but so far so good!

You're In the Movies: Puts you in front of the Camera to create your own movies to watch and share!!

-OK, I only played 1 round, late last night, by myself.......so I'm going to try not to be negative until I get to play some more. The first major problem is the camera! It was too dark and it was picking up TOO much from my background. The whole time, half of my face was missing. Now, I think that if I turn a few more lamps on or even play in the day time with more light it's going to be better.......or at least I hope, lol. HOWEVER, the game is actually really fun. You do a series of rounds where you do minigames and they record your actions. For instance, one had my runing as fast as possible. The screen then goes to a big pair of pants running left to right. I turn sidways and it takes me from waist up. The quicker I move my arms the faster he runs. There was also one where I had to act as if I was holding something really heavy. They showed weights and I had to pose for like 8 seconds. There was also one with a rope holding a treasure chest. I stand sideways and pull the rope up to get to the chest. At the end of the 5 rounds. They took all of my footage and put it into a little 2 or 3 minute trailer. It's simple, but honestly a lot of fun....if you don't take it seriously. I was making all kinds of funny faces and bug eyes and such. I showed my wife this morning. She cracked up at first......then looked at me with disgust and walked out of the room shaking her head.........she know's she hit a gold mine when she said I do . Anyway, I feel very confidnet once I get the camera working and get some friends together, this game is going to be a blast! I also hope there are ways to share your videos online, but I'm not sure if there are or not right now. I'll have to investigate furter.

Anyway, these are MS's attempts to rip off Sing Star and Eye Toy, but for Xbox Fans that's not a bad thing. I love party games like this (remember, I was a Nintendo fanboy, lol) and I have groups over at my house all the time. Scene It has been used a lot, so You're In the Movies and Lips will join that kind of Social environment easily. It's not for everyone but MS does a great job of giving us quality products that will get a lot of reply for parties! neo

[TM2 Dinobot]

A friend lent us his Game Cube, so my sister and I are playing Twilight Princess. Old news, I know.

I love playing with her. We make the perfect team. Even in a VG she's directionally challenged, and I can't fight to save my life. We have complimentary skills. So I tell her where to go, what to do, to get health and remind her to save. She blows through badguys like butter and is much better at freehanding everything (she hardly ever locks on)

It's like this in everything really.

Midna's SOOOOO CUTE!!!!! I want one! XD

Edited November 20, 2008 by TM2 Dinobot

[Dan]

Did anyone ever beat all 50 rooms in the Gerudo Mesa? I managed to do 41 before i was killed. I used up a fairy, and a red health potion, and 600 rupees+ on magic armour and still lost.

I was thinking earlier that Star Wars games could do with some love. I haven't picked up Force Unleashed yet, but there are some old Star Wars games that could do with sequels.

Rogue Squadron 4- I was a huge fan of the others, but imagine it in next gen graphics, with ace combat style controls. I think that this game could be brilliant, and the multiplayer could work really well too.

Battlefront 3- I don't think I even need to sell this one. The first two were huge sellers and massively popular. The multiplayer would work perfectly on xbox live. Imagine ship to ship combat with a team of 16 each. That would be awesome, to have the big cannons blasting chunks out of Star Destroyers while a boarding party flies across to take the command centres and dogfights rage in the skies!

KoToR 3-or at least a game in the style of KoToR. These were also some of my fav games, and I think would be popular. the only change they'd have to make would be to make the combat more like Mass Effect than the original KoToRs.

I would love all three of these games.

[Trekker 42]

Did anyone ever beat all 50 rooms in the Gerudo Mesa? I managed to do 41 before i was killed. I used up a fairy, and a red health potion, and 600 rupees+ on magic armour and still lost.

I was thinking earlier that Star Wars games could do with some love. I haven't picked up Force Unleashed yet, but there are some old Star Wars games that could do with sequels.

Battlefront 3- I don't think I even need to sell this one. The first two were huge sellers and massively popular. The multiplayer would work perfectly on xbox live. Imagine ship to ship combat with a team of 16 each. That would be awesome, to have the big cannons blasting chunks out of Star Destroyers while a boarding party flies across to take the command centres and dogfights rage in the skies!

Actually I did beat the Cave of Ordeals. It was a bitch, but I finally won. It was amazing. And I used everything I had on this plus some rare chu jelly that I got in the cave. The final battle of the cave was epic. TWO Darknuts (remember him from the Temple of Time? the guy who guarded the Dominion Rod) plus some Magic Armor and a bottle of rare chu jelly and fairy tears and I actually won.

And I really want Battlefront 3. I'm almost getting bored on BF2 and Renegade Squadron. I may end up getting a PS3 and that's probably what it will come out for. I need that game.

[neolego]

Wow, I had a pretty packed out Gaming weekend (and still haven't even cracked the seal on CoD:WaW, lol). Some good things and some bad. Just thought I'd give you guys some highlights!

Lips - This has been a plesant suprise. I got it because my wife is really only into very casual stuff. We don't play Rock Band/GH because we don't like that sort of music, but LIPS allows you to stream your own music from your "Shared" computer or MP3 player. Now, this doesn't work as great as I'd like it to. You basically get points for singing, they is some pitch recongnition, so you are getting more points based on how close your pitch resembles the song being played. The problem is, you can sing the whole song off key and off time and you will still get SOME points. While it is a flawed system, to have that ability is still cool.......plus there's always "Stand By Me" .

You're In the Movies - This is my pick for Holiday Party game of the year! The past two years that honor has went to Wii Sports, but we played YITM about 3 hours yesterday and had a blast. I had my Brother, Mother and Sister-In-Law, even my Grandmother and my 2 year old daughter. It's not a perfect system, in order to really make the game shine you have to have a SOLID backdrop. My goal this week is to build a portable, PVC Background for the game that I can store in the Garage. While the game was super fun, a lot of times we got crappy recordings because there are several pictures and such on my back wall so it would sometimes confuse the camera and you get a very grainy, pixelated recording. HOWEVER, even with the lack of polish we still had a great time and it's only going to be increased by a true "GREEN SCREEN" effect!! Also, you are able to save your movies to your HDD but I'm disappointed that you can only watch them from the game. I with they would have made them available in your Video Library or even on a MS website where you could email and share them. Some are pretty funny and I'd like to be able to show all of you, but unfortunetly that is not an option. Too bad!

I did also play a little Portal and some Castle Crashers and some Quantum of Solace. All in all it was a good weekend and I got a lot of gaming in. We were on the verge of starting a Co-Op campaign in CoD but decided to wait for Thanksgiving so we'd had more time to play and try to beat it in just a day or two. So, that is on the table for this coming weekend.

Finally, I wanted to mention the NXE. The more time I spent with it the more open I am to seeing the shortcomings (Happy Dan ). I will still defend the Avatar system and I believe it is the most important new feature of the NXE. You have to look at this as a business marketing ploy. I mentioned above, the past two years our "Family Holiday" time was spent with Wii Sports. The Xbox was a scary word for anyone in my house other than me and my brother. This year, however, we didn't even turn the Wii on at all. With the inclusion of more casual games (Scene It, YITM, LIPS, and even Smarter Than a 5th Grader) added with a new look and the cool, casual avatars makes the system seem a little more approachable. My wife sat down for about 40 minutes over the weekend and let me create her an account, get her a silver membership and create and decorate her Avatar. So, while the hardcore fans might look at MS as "Wasting Time/Space/Whatever", they are doing exactly what they need to do. They are beating Sony but don't hold a candle to Nintendo. So, from a business perspective this was a great move. And I love it, I like having a gamer pic with my Avatar's picture. In fact, I wished years ago that I could somehow get my Mii only so I could use that as a Message Board Avatar pic. It's a great feature and I think it was needed. The save to HDD feature is nice, even though it's mainly for Elite owners with a good HDD. Also the Netflix streaming not only caters to that casual crowd, but hardcore fans who love movies should be feeling great about that too. It's a HUGE addition to already multi-use combo. People that don't stream to their Xbox and doen't use Media Share are really missing what the Xbox is really good for. Let me paint you a picture. I have a high powered, Media Center computer. When I watch TV I watch through Media Center on my Xbox. I don't have a DVR in the house, but the 360 serves as one. So, I can record shows to watch and I can pause and rewind live TV. At the same time, I can stream all of my downloaded movies and TV shows right to my dashboard. I can stream over 1300 songs to my living room and play through my 5.1 surround sound theater. And I can also stream every picture of my daughter that we've taken in the past 2 years.........and there are a lot of them. You can also Rent moves from Marketplace or buy TV shows in HD. Oh, and you can also play games, lol. Now, with Netflix they've added just one more addition to that huge media library. If they made an Xbox with a projector built in I wouldn't even need a TV . But, I said all of that to say I do agree with Dan that there is too much clutter!! Alot of the Advertisements and Promotions are just annoying. I wouldn't miss the "Spotlight" or "Community" sections at all! But, all in all, I still think it's strengths totally outweigh it's weaknesses.......for now . neo

PS. Anyone up for CoD: WaW, that's my Thanksging game and I'll be on it alot this whole coming weekend. That's a welcome invitation to anyone that wants to get plastered......especially Timbo!

[Dan]

Its quite funny neo, as now I've begun to warm to the NXE. I think I still prefer the old layout, but I admit I did have fun messing about with making avatars. I haven't gotten completely used to it jusy yet, but it is growing on me. When I get my xbox back in a couple of weeks I'll be glad to see the NXE dashboard. Hell I'd be glad to see anything as long as I have my xbox back.

A question for 360 owners. Are cooling fans good? I thought that overheating was the problem with my xbox and managed to pick up a decent cooling fan for just 97p in a clearance sale. This essentially acted as a life support for my xbox for a week before it broke completely. The woman I spoke to from microsoft said not to use a cooling fan as it was a third party piece of equipment and actually caused the 360 to overheat more than cool down.

So are they good or bad? Should I attach it when my xbox is back?

[neolego]

First - - - - FABLE II Downloadable Content in December!!!

Source: BIG NEWS - Fable II DLC

And to Dan, let me address the last part of the question first. There were several fans early that used a "Pass-Thru" to power the Fan. While it's a good idea in theory, it actually caused some damage to the Fan and Xbox and Power Supply. However, I know that Mad Catz has just released a new one that has it's own power supply and I'm told that it works like a champ.

Now, let me address the first part. I don't feel that a Fan is worth a purchase unless you keep your Xbox in a super tight place. The Xbox is made to handle the heat of a disc as long as it's got some breathing room. If you keep your Xbox in a cabnet that it's touching or almost touching the sides with nothing but a mouse hole out of the back I would for sure look into getting a fan. Other than that, just leave the door of your entertainment center open when you play and you shouldn't have a problem. Also, if you have a good HDD (60GB or 120GB) I'd recommend that you rip all of your games to the HDD. You still have to have the disc in to play the game, but at least it limits the disc spinning and will therefore run a lot smoother and cooler! neo

[Nestlé]

DO NOT BUY A COOLING FAN!!!!!!!!!

I am CERTAIN I've posted this somewhere a year or 2 ago.

They are a HORRIBLE sytem that actually DESTROYS 360s.

I have LITERALLY SEEN SEVERAL 360s get a RRoD from cooling fans.

I can tell you stories if you want, but at this point I will leave it with: DO NOT BUY!!!!

[Dan]

Well at 97p, I couldn't see any harm in buying one. My only worry is that I have had two broken 360s in a year, and I can only see that it is down to overheating. it sits on practically it's own shelf with about 40cm of air at the back and clear around all other sides. Its about 10ft from the window, so it doesnt get much cool air. My years warranty will run out in a couple of weeks, and after that microsoft will only repair it free for RRoD.

Man I love my xbox, but really wish it was more reliable.

[neolego]

Well, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Anyone do any Gaming ?!?!

I actually played through CoD: WaW over the weekend Co-Op and beat the game. However, it doesn't seem to unlock all of the acheievements or Zombie mode playing Co-Op, so now I have to go back and play it again. That's cool though, the game is amazing! I actually prefer it to CoD4, but that's just me!

We also played some more You're In the Movies and Lips. Right now now, I've working with Movies because I don't have a good backdrop so the camera keeps cutting thru my picture. I'm in the process of building something to help, but not sure when I'll be able to finish it.

Anyway, it's kinda funny. The holiday rush is over. I still can't believe everything that we've been delt this holiday season: Resistance 2, Little Big Planet, Fable II, Fallout 3, Call of Duty: World at War, Gears of War 2.......and those are just the headlines, you also had stuff like Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, Street Figher II HD, Chrono Trigger, and more. It's been an amazing holiday season......now comes the time to sit back and relax and enjoy the games! neo

[NINTENDOwii]

Well I just finished Fable 2 for the 3rd time over the weekend, ad I realized how short it was. It took me about 4 days on the first play-through, 3 weeks on the second, and about 15 hours on the third. 15 HOURS FOR AN RPG! For my opinions, that is wwwaaayyy to short for an rpg these days. But if you make the game last and don't rush it like I did for my second pay-through, then the game is very worthwhile and memorable.

Oh, I'll prolly be getting Gears 2 for X-mas, so look for me on live. Gamertag: Rustlegg

[neolego]

That's funny, I've been playing Fable consistantly since day one and I still haven't beat the game yet. I just get too involved with buying everything and side quests and stuff like that. I have a blast playing and I'm OK taking my time. Sure, you can probably beat the game in 15 hours and that may be "short" for an RPG, but what makes RPGs great is to become part of another world and explore and grow with your character. So, I think Fable II is more than adequate enough.....but that's just me!

I am going to pick up Chrono Trigger this weekend. Of all the games that I've played, I've never played CT so I'm really looking forward to picking it up on the DS! neo