Just as in the first Modern Warfare the game starts with a bit of training and gets players unfamiliar with the franchise or FPS’ in general used to the controls. But soon after the meat and potatoes of COD:MW2 rise to the top. I don’t know if much graphical improvement has been made over the last Call of Duty but the characters look a little sharper and colors pop a little better. Even though the graphics aren’t a huge leap forward the fact that Modern Warfare 2, unlike the first, is set in a more organic setting brings out more color due to trees and other natural pieces of eye candy.

Now I try to write spoiler free but I’m sure a great deal of you have heard by now that Modern Warfare 2 has a very controversial scene early in the game in which your character murders civilians. I’m here to tell you that before the game even starts the folks at Infinity Ward put in a disclaimer that tells you about it and you can decided to do the mission or not. I obviously wanted to do it and this may make me sound like a mass murder but *giggly voice* “IT WAS FUN!” The mission is not just murdering civilians there is a great piece of the story in the scene as well but I would be lying if I said mowing down civilians wasn’t fun. Why? I don’t quite know.

But my favorite mission so far has to be the highly anticipated “Cliffhanger” mission that takes place on top of a blizzard covered mountain. It is a little reminiscent of the sniper mission in Modern Warfare 1 where you are required to be stealthy. But stealth flies out the window when snowmobiles come crashing through. Now I myself have never had the opportunity to ride a snowmobile, let alone be chased by AK-47 wielding baddies that want my blood to stain the snow, but CODMW2 sure made me feel like I was. Being on the edge of your seat in just the first few missions of an FPS is what Infinity Ward and the Modern Warfare series are known for.  And they don’t disappoint, so far.

But I don’t see Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s fun factor dwindling any time soon. At this point, 4 hours or so in, it’s a 9 out of 10 in my opinion. Stick to OCG to see what this “professional” has to say about the Modern Warfare 2 in the coming days and or weeks. If you have MW2, and I’m sure most of you do, I ask you this: Why aren’t you learning all this for yourselves? Better yet why am I writing this when I could be pulverizing Russians with a MP5?

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When I first heard word of an FPS with RPG elements and 80 million guns my ears perked up like a cute little doggy. Although I am neither cute nor a dog, but that is beside the point, this game had my interest from day one. Now Borderlands has gotten a little lost amidst the hype of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the slew of top notch titles of November but nothing has held this puppy back. 2K Games is reporting shortages all over North America, it seems not even the games publishers knew how big this thing could be. All around the web gaming sites are giving Borderlands strong reviews that are for the most part 8.5 and up. But is that high enough? I can answer that!

It seems like almost every First Person Shooter - or FPS - these days is the same. The same dull and drab worlds filled with warehouses and military bases. The same typical guns we gamers have seen time and time before, and the same tired old story about either a rouge soldier trying to end a corrupt enemy general or a squad of Army men debunking a dictator’s quest for nuclear holocaust. In a time of redundant shooters Borderlands is a cool breath of fresh air.

Borderlands takes place on Pandora, a planet on the edge of the galaxy. Colonists are drawn to the planet in search of a better life and the legend of the “Vault”, a mythical fortress which contains unspeakable treasures. After finally arriving, the colonists discover that the planet is apparently barren of anything of significant value other than deteriorated alien ruins scattered across the land. You take the role of one of four treasure hunters in search of the fortunes of the “Vault”.

One of the great gameplay features of Borderlands is each characters skill sets. There’s Brick who is basically an Abrams Tank with skin. This guy can take an insane amount of damage. His skill is going “Berserk” and pounding people into the ground with his fists. Then there’s Lilith the Siren whose skill is the “Phase Walk” where she goes invisible to sneak around enemies. Upon releasing the “Phase Walk” she lets out an explosion of the gamers’ choice to damage nearby enemies. Mordecai the Hunter is best with snipers and pistols and his skill is to release a bird named “Bloodwing” that can kill multiple enemies at once. Finally is Roland the Soldier who releases a massive turret that both shoots at enemies and creates cover for players.

With all these characters there are three different skill classes to upgrade every time you rank up to a new XP level and receive 1 skill point. You can make Brick into an unstoppable force or you could can upgrade him so he is tops at exploding everything in the way.

Everything about Borderlands just screams originality and pure joy. Right when you start the game you will notice that it supports Single Player campaign, Split screen campaign, and online co op. You can even invite friends to help you with a tough mission mid game. But the fun doesn’t stop there. The folks at Gearbox took a normal games graphics engine and made every thin black line overly bold giving Borderlands a comic book look. The colors and textures of guns, land, and characters pop out at you. From the intro - which by the way is one of my favorites all time due in large part to a song I love (Aint No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant) - to the closing credits the colorful world of Borderlands wont bore you like just about every other FPS out there. In fact it’s so fun to look at you might find yourself giggling at the amusing world around you.

But it isn’t the graphics that make this game stand out: It’s the guns. The millions of guns, yes millions. Due to a fantastic “Weapon AI” system Borderlands produces new guns all day every day for you to find and use. It’s like an NRA (National Rifle Association) member’s wet dream. Every gun is different; whether it’s a purple sub machine gun with a 3x scope and bullets that burn flesh or a green shotgun that causes about as much damage as a bomb. Even the grenades have variants like one that explodes into 3 grenades. All these awesome weapons mixed with each characters abilities will keep you leveling up and searching for loot for hours on end. I enjoy RPG’s but this may be the only one where I found myself just looking for hours for cool stuff to use and make my character better. All of your guns, health packs, grenade mods, and upgrades are in your “Echo Log” screen. When the player presses select a screen appears that displays the map of the area that you are in, all the missions you are currently working on and have completed in the past and everything the character has on him/her like health packs and guns. The “Echo Log” is very useful and simple since everything you need is in one place.

Each characters skill upgrades, the mass of weapons, and the other RPG elements of Borderlands keep it incredibly fresh. But what’s the downside to this epic FPS/RPG: The story.

Cut scenes in Borderlands often consist of 5 second videos introducing a character or boss every few hours. There is hardly any story in this game other than the fact that your characters mission is to find the pieces and key to open the “Vault”. That’s it. There is literally nothing else to the story. The missions do, in a way, tell you what’s going on but you will mostly just keep doing mission after mission while an “angel” in the corner of your screen occasionally appears to tell you that you’re closer to your goal of reaching the “Vault”.

-POSSIBLE SPOILER HERE-

The story doesn’t really improve as the game progresses. Borderlands contains one of my least favorite ending sequences of all time. It isn’t as bad as Gears of War 2 (could that have been any less exciting?) but it was un-eventful. I’m not going to say whether or not you get into the “Vault” but I will say that I am sure there will be a sequel, and if there isn’t than we will all e-mail Gearbox (makers of Borderlands) and ask them what the hell happens next.

-NO MORE POSSIBLE SPOILING OF YOUR FUN-

Another awesome feature of Borderlands you will notice comes when all your health is depleted. You will fall to a knee and you have a short amount of time before you die. During this time you can kill an enemy to get a “Second Wind” which gets you right back into the action and depending on your character and upgrades you get a considerable amount of health back. “Second Wind” will be like a godsend to you between the XP levels of 10 and 20 (where the game for whatever reason is the hardest) and, if you enjoy this game, in the second play through.

Speaking of the difficulty in Borderlands it is extremely un-balanced. You will uncover that bosses, at least in co-op, are too easy to kill (especially in the latter parts of the game) and the guys you fight throughout the game are the more difficult to defeat. This is especially true when your XP level is in the teens. I don’t know why this is but the enemies are more challenging during these XP levels about 4 or 5 hours into the game than any other time.

Now for my critical gamer side to come out. A lot of times in Borderlands you will find yourself on the brink of death and desperately needing a health pack. But if this problem occurs in spilt screen mode you are royally screwed. I can’t tell you how many times while playing with this game I had health packs to use but because the game doesn’t pause in split screen while you pull up the “Echo Log” you will get killed trying to regain health.  All of this would be solved if they just mapped one of the buttons on the controller to use a health pack that you have but sadly they missed that at Gearbox.

With the millions of guns in Borderlands you think they would give you a multitude of vehicles to drive around Pandora but they don’t. You can spawn 2 vehicles at a time but each vehicle is essentially the same other than the fact that you can put either a turret or a rocket launcher on them and they come in 8 or so different colors. This was a downside for me. I thought as I progressed through the game I would get a new, faster, better equipped car but sadly there is nothing new.

Despite the lack of a strong story, good background for your character, and a few other downsides to Borderlands the game still maintains a great deal of fun and joy. I recommend playing through the entire campaign with a friend, be it online or split screen I am sure it will make the game much more fun. Other than the weapons and killing folks of Borderlands the true enjoyment lies in taking out waves of foes with the friend next to you.

If you share weapons and mods I’m sure your group will be sticking a brute with a 101 damage explosive sticky grenade mod, shooting him in the face with a 380 damage 2.5x optical zoom sniper rifle that corrodes skin and punching that brute in the face with Bricks berserker skill for a quick and easy kill.

Lastly I recommend purchasing Borderlands as opposed to renting it because this game is a blast every play through because it has new game plus and if you are like me you will want to max out your characters XP and that’s going to take another time through the epic FPS/RPG fun that is Borderlands.

 (Note: I no longer review games on a out of 5 system. I found that to not be as accurate as I wanted. Fail on my part, haha. Also, I no longer give a grade to each section and average it up. Its just the out of 10 overall score now. Thanks for understanding)

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Gratuitous Space Battles is the new game from UK developer ‘Positech Games’. It’s a strategy / management / simulation game that does away with all the base building and delays and gets straight to the meat and potatoes of science-fiction games : The big space battles fought by huge spaceships with tons of laser beams and things going ‘zap!’, ‘ka-boom!’ and ‘ka-pow!’. In GSB you put your ships together from modular components, arrange them into fleets, give your ships orders of engagement and then hope they emerge victorious from battle (or at least blow to bits in aesthetically pleasing ways).

 gratuitousspacebattles.com

The Independent writes - “Gratuitous Space Battles is a new PC game inspired by famous space adventure films, science fiction novels, and distracting, compulsive web-browser games. It can run on both desktop and laptops and those who pre-order the game before its mid-November release benefit from not only a $3 discount but also immediate access to an upgradable preview version of the final build.

Having cut his teeth at Lionhead Studios, makers of big hits Fable II and The Movies, Cliff Harris went solo and garnered praise with the innovation and originality of recent games Kudos: Band Legend and Democracy 2. He then became curious about what would happen if the popularity of ‘tower defense’ games was crossed with the monumental battles of big-screen science fiction.

The tower defense subgenre has been a surprise hit in recent years. Having started off as a fan-made modification of niche strategy games, it then went mainstream in 2007 with popular web-based versions such as Desktop Tower Defense.

Typically, players have a set time in which to place a series of automated projectile weapons before waves of enemies attempt to rush from one side of the game area to the other.

Exactly as its title implies, Gratuitous Space Battles takes the tower defense concept and flings it into the excitement and chaos of a full-on intergalactic conflict packed full of explosions, forcefields, gigantic roving space cruisers, nimble fighters, and mighty superlasers. Having set up a fleet of starfighters, the ensuing onslaught is somewhat akin to a personal firework show.

Players issue orders in an interesting mix of strategism, spaceship design, and frenetic action results in an immense Hollywood-style space battle. Fleet designs can be swapped and matched up against other players online, and positive early feedback combined with frequent improvements puts this very firmly on the radar. The official YouTube channel and website allow viewers to see just how far the game has come in the last eight months and to comment on design and gameplay tweaks.

The full game is due to be released by November 16, if not before, so those intrigued by the concept are advised to get in now while the getting’s good.”

Release date: Mid-November, worldwide download Pre-order price: US$19.95 Full price: US$22.99

I don’t cry anymore but I’m often still disappointed. Although I love the system of trading in a couple old games I don’t play for 30 bucks or so towards a new one. I like how GameStop gives deals on trade-ins towards pre-orders and such. But still most of the time I feel when walking away from trading games that I got the raw end of the deal. My beef is not often that GameStop, EB Games or whatever other gaming outpost I’m at has not given me enough for the game but that I traded it in at all. Have you ever realized that only once the game is out from between seasons of Family Guy and your burnt out copy of Call of Duty 4 and on the used shelf of a GameStop that you really want to play it? We’ve all had that trade we wish we didn’t make. Countless times I have found myself a week after trading in a game for a new one wishing I had the old one. The worst trade I ever made was GTA4 and some other title for UFC 2009. UFC 2009 is an okay game and I was done with and not playing GTA but UFC wasn’t worth giving up Grand Theft Auto. I still to this day wish I hadn’t made that trade because of the DLC for GTA.

Now here I am again in the same situation contemplating trading in some good games for new stuff. I need a new hard drive because I have used up all the space on my 20 GB one, which by the way I hate. I despise that it is so small. I have a first generation Xbox 360 and we weren’t lucky enough to have 60GB HDD’s back then so I’m stuck with a 20 that’s really a 13. I also need a new headset because the one I have, as you might know if you listen to the podcast, is pretty shitty. I also want a new game, but there are so many good ones coming out soon it’s hard to choose. So I’m trying to muster together as much trade in credit as I can and save my wallet some hardship; But what to trade in? Some of the best value games I have are Madden 10, Call of Duty 4 and Red Faction, but I don’t know if I want to part ways with them. I might find myself wanting to play COD4’s single player followed by CODMW2’s single player to get the full experience all at once. I also really enjoy Madden 10 and it’s a fun game to go back to and I haven’t even finished Red Faction. So this is the tricky part: How to decide what to trade in. What is most important: new games, new hardware or the games I have and love?

Many gamers never even consider swapping games in fear of that sinking feeling of missing a game you once owned, that overwhelming “What the hell did I do this for?” moment. Many of us have had it but some haven’t and I’m starting to think I should go to their side. Maybe never trading games is the best call. Yes, it saves money but often we find ourselves wishing we had paid full retail price so that we could revisit old favorites. It’s a question every gamer must ask themselves: Is saving 30 bucks worth losing a game I thoroughly enjoy? And that is the ‘Trading Game’, the toss up of toss up’s. We all want a bang for our buck and as I said in one of my first podcasts trading games is becoming more and more important with the fledgling economy. Even though some say they have never or will never trade a game in I’m sure they will at some point. Because at the end of the day getting a brand spanking new game for some old ones you don’t play is a damn good deal. The hard part is knowing what to give up.

This year’s holiday lineup in the video game world is one I’m sure we will all look back on as the best in quite some time. Not just because of the number of blockbuster titles but the quality of them. Already we’ve seen likely one of the best PS3 games ever in Uncharted 2 and other fantastic titles like Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time and Forza 3. Still to come are two titles-NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2-that’s predecessors have a history of outstanding review scores and sales. Also, two sequels-Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassins Creed 2-that are looking like they will take their franchises to the next level. But wait there’s more:

The God of War collection for the Playstation 3, which is God of War 1 and 2 together on the PS3 in HD hits on 11/17. The Saboteur, a game who’s protagonist is just an average guy trying to kill a Nazi officer in German-occupied Paris, from EA and Pandemic coming to us on 12/08.  And the newest title from a series trying to regain its off-road supremacy: MX vs. ATV: Reflex releases 12/01.

All these hits are coming to us in just the next 6 weeks. It’s clear to see why many gamers are trading a trip to the grocery store for a trip to GameStop these days.

The fun doesn’t stop when the holiday season passes though; oh no it’s just getting started. In the first 40 days of the New Year MAG, Mass Effect 2, Gran Turismo 5 (as of now) and Bioshock 2 are all on tap.

The stores will be jam packed on two days in particular over the next few months. Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassins Creed 2 both release on November 17^th. This date should be renamed Day of the Dead and Killer of the…not… dead. Creative right? I for one will be milking my bank account of 120 bucks (if they are that cheap, damn you high Canadian prices!) on 11/17 and you should too. On January 26^th MAG, the massive FPS with 256-players online, and Mass Effect 2, sequel to one of the top new RPG’s on the market, will delight gamers with their presence.  

NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are the ‘alpha males of the pride’.

Modern Warfare 2 gets players into the movie like FPS action on November 10^th. The highly anticipated sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is going to blow you away with stunning visuals, quite possibly the best multiplayer around, a single player that seems ripped from the big screen and for the first time ever in a video game one of best composers of our time, Hans Zimmer, is providing the soundtrack.

Then On November 15^th NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii is landing and doing something that Nintendo fans and developers alike have been waiting to play in a Mario game for a long time: simultaneous multiplayer. Now players can navigate the side-scrolling worlds alone as before or invite up to three others to join them at the same time on the same level at any point in the game for competitive and cooperative multiplayer fun.  

Week after week these titles are going to top the charts and feed the gaming population what it craves: great games. This holiday season is truly the year (or latter part of a year) to be a gamer. Get all your affairs in order, because with so many captivating games on the way don’t plan on leaving the house this winter.

According to gameinformer.com Sony has really got a surprise waiting for its fans come Christmas time. On December 29th, 2009 the Blu-ray copy of District 9 comes out and it will have a demo of God of War 3 packed in it. District 9 in and of itself was a highly acclaimed movie that you can be sure many were already going to get. But Sony just sold everyone on the Blu-ray version by packing in a God of War 3 demo.

“Blu-ray functionality has long been a differentiator that separates the PS3 from other home entertainment systems,” says Peter Dille, senior VP of marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA.  “Through this collaboration with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment we’re able to create a unique experience only available on the PS3 system that blends two of the most popular entertainment options available, watching District 9 and playing God of War III off the same disc.”

The Blu-ray package also includes a digital copy, interactive map and other great features. It hits store shelves December 29th for $39.95.

Also, the “God of War Collection”, which is God of War 1 & 2 in HD, comes out on the Playstation 3 November 17th.

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The notion of finding a fun and addicting game on a console for under 10 bucks is something people aren’t used to. But ever since Indie Games appeared on Xbox Live a year ago you can occasionally come across an enjoyable game for just a few bucks. But I know a game that is just one dollar that will keep you playing for hours. I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 (yes that’s how it’s spelled) is not a new game and many of you may have heard of it but for those of you that have never heard of this or ever played it be prepared for a game that is actually worth every penny; all one hundred of them. So many games have outstanding graphics or kick ass physics but lack in what’s most important: gameplay. I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 doesn’t though. The game uses a view (overhead) and controls that are becoming so incredibly popular lately: move with the left stick, shoot with the right stick. It is simple and easy to pick up yet effective and fun.

So what makes I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 better than the rest? 3 things: the humor, the substance, and the price. The games creators clearly know how to make people laugh. The soundtrack is a man singing ‘I made a game with zombies in it…’ and when you first hear it if you don’t crack up there isn’t a funny bone in your body. With the ability to have 4 zombie vanquishers playing at once this game is a blast with friends. Bunches of unique weapons and different kinds of enemies with constant changes in the music and display keep the replay value high. Zombies, fat zombies, things that resemble the snake from snake, and even boogers that burst into tinnier boogers keep the enemy ever challenging. And all this can be yours for just one buck. It is a great deal of fun and you don’t really need me to tell you that it’s good. I mean go to Xbox Live look it up, it’s the highest rated Indie game and it’s just one dollar so trying it out won’t hurt your wallet much. And I guarantee you that you will be going back to it again and again when nothing else gives you as much of a thrill and laugh as I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1

 (Update: A much needed patch has been announced for NBA 2K10)

Sports games I find are difficult to review. The reason? They are basically the same thing every year with minor tweaks. A portion of rating a sports game is based on past titles from the same franchise and comparing it to games from other companies of the same sport. The two major sports game creators, EA Sports and 2K Sports, each have the sports that they dominate. EA Sports owns the football market, not because it’s better, but because its the only football game. And with 2K Sports owning baseball rights that basically leaves two sports that the companies compete in: hockey and basketball. I’m here to talk about the latter.

Well, more specifically 2K Sports’ NBA 2K10. This is the 10th anniversary of the 2K Sports series of games. I remember when 2K was owned by Sega and NFL 2K1 was on the Sega Dreamcast. I loved that game by the way. But I digress. The NBA 2K series has for years now been the pinnacle of basketball games. While NBA Live 10 from EA Sports has it’s ups and a good following it just doesn’t measure up to NBA 2K for sheer gameplay and overall presentation.

NBA 2K10 continues this legacy with another good installment in the franchise. I got my hands on the Xbox 360 version of the game and from a sheer presentation standpoint the game looks and sounds great. For a couple years now the graphics engine in NBA 2K has amazed me. Players sweat, clothes flutter, and camera men get run over. The commentary team of Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg return and this year they took it to another level with the introduction of NBA Today. All the real world match ups, news and stats are automatically streamed right into your game providing dynamic commentary and presentation elements based upon what is happening in the real NBA. And it’s so well done, especially during games in season and The Association mode. The commentators talk about upcoming games for both teams and discuss stats by particular players from past games. It really makes you feel like your watching a game on tv.

The controls and overall gameplay arent as outstanding as the presentation. The controls havent changed from last year but post moves and shooting at time feels wonky. And it is way, way to easy to drive to the basket. I’ve found that scoring is nearly automatic on the middle difficulty levels by simply sending a player running towards the basket and passing it to him. But if you play on All-Star difficulty and higher scoring is much more challenging.

There are so many things to do in this game. Season modes, online leagues, slam dunk contests, games of 21 and so much more. Including my favourite game mode, My Player. This is NBA 2K10’s version of a be a pro mode. You start out with an overall score that would make even your mother cry but each and every game gives you skill points to use to better yourself. In the beginning you are working to get on a team by competing in summer games and a team of your choices training camp. But be careful here. Underperform and you will get cut and sent to the NBDL, The NBA’s development league, to work your way back up. After you get noticed by a NBA team you then have to work you way up to become a starter. This mode is truly addictive and will keep you entertained for a long time.

Now the problems with the game. There are bugs and glitches in the game which there often are in sports games. Here are the ones I noted whilst playing:

presentation overlay covers screen during game (at one point the announcer informed of upcoming games for the opposing team. after the sequence was done the overlay stayed on the screen for the remainder of the play. it cost me a possession)

game display claiming a foul was committed but the game continues on.

game frame rate slows down. i noticed it a lot when playing the my player mode when there were a lot of players under the basket.

The one you will notice most often is the frame rate slowing and the game getting sluggish. It mostly occurs when there is a whole lot going on on the screen. As I said I see a lot during My Player mode when the camera is behind the goal and there are a lot of players going to the basket.

These bugs and glitches don’t take too much away from the game. It looks and plays great. The televison-esc presentation is out of this world and if you’re like me it will make you smile with how much it feels like you are watching a real game. That plus the mass of game modes and things to do will keep you coming back for the entire season.

(Notes: For sports games the Story section of the Quick & Critical Final Word is changed to game modes, Judging how good a sports games season modes and other game modes are. The game cover is for the Xbox 360 because I reviewed the 360 port of the game.)

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It seems like every week there is an article on he web complaining about the fact that Microsoft charges for the use of Xbox Live and multiplayer. And now there is word that they will begin charging 100 bucks to play online on the 360. So there’s a lot of talk about needing Free Xbox Live, but where is the action?

In my last article, Will you Abandon Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2?, I talk a good deal about petitions and what they can do. In the article i discuss how about 140,000 gamers are boycotting the PC port of Modern Warfare 2 because of the fact that their will be no dedicated servers.

After writing the article and reading the influx of comments both here and at n4g.com something came to me after reading a comment on the site from someone that did not leave a name:

i beg to differ. this kind of attitude that allow them to swing around gamers, may i say like when the first time chargeable xbox live was introduce. everyone was into the “greatness” of the new system that end up making gamers pay for the service for years until now. imagine if everyone boycott the paid service since the first day. Sony prove that it unnecessarily needed to be a paid service for a great online console experience. yes gamers will play MW2, but not when it release, not when it doesnt allow the freedom we use to get. dont you think if the first week they gonna sell like under 10k copies, they shouldnt want to change their mind and follow what the real audience wants? 

Now despite this commenters inability to use the letter “d” at the end of words he or she makes a good point. Why does Live cost money and would Microsoft and Xbox consider or give free Xbox Live if we the fans all signed a petition?

So I searched the Internet for a petition for free Xbox Live or something close, and found a few. There is this one:

XBox Live Games Should Remain Free with XBox Live Subscription. With the recent news release that Phantasy Star Online will require an additional 8.95 to play it online, and the XBox Live starter kit JUST to be able to play it, even offline, I am starting a Petition to stand up against Sega and Microsoft.

But that’s not what I’m looking for. So I looked again and there is actually one up right now on petitions online for Free Xbox Live. I looked at several different places and it seems this one has the most signers already, a whopping 56 (including me) That’s just sad. We need to get names on this petition.

So listen up! All you gamers out there. Whether you have been playing Xbox since Halo one hit shelves or you are a Sony fan that despises the 360 we all need to sign this petition. We as gamers need to stick together against what can sometimes be a cruel and money hogging industry. So I ask you to please sign this. Will this change Microsoft’s mind and make them give us free Live? Probably not but if we get 100,000+ signers like the CODMW2 petition did then maybe this will start an uprising and maybe, just maybe, someday we Xbox 360 owners will have free multiplayer. Don’t let them charge us outrageous amounts for what is free on the other consoles.

Sign the petition for FREE XBOX LIVE

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After all this came out a petiton was started, at last count 139,990 people have reportedly signed it. The petition is as follows:

Infinity Ward have announced that they won’t be providing dedicated server files with their latest upcoming title “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2″.

This will directly impact Gameserver Providers around the world, loosing out on thousands of their local currency each year.

Instead of using direct connections to servers, Infinity Ward will be implementing peer-to-peer connections, very similar to the xbox360 which means you won’t be able to host your clans gameservers, etc.

This will directly impact both the consumer and the businesses that staff members make a living from providing such services.

So its clear to see that the signers of the petition have a great case. Dedicated servers are a big business and a lot of people make money hosting them. Along with the petition many are calling for PC fans to cancel their pre-orders of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. One site, gamernexus.net, took it a step further:

1. Cancel your pre-orders immediately, do not buy Modern Warfare 2, do not recommend buying Modern Warfare 2.

2. Kotick likes publicity - good or bad.  Cease all participation on the Infinity Ward Forums.  Abandon them like they abandoned us.  Do not even flame, just disappear.

3. Do not talk about Infinity Ward, Activision, or Modern Warfare 2 unless it is referencing this boycott.

4. There’s no need to kill the messenger, but we could at least load him (FourZeroTwo) with loads of messages to take to his King.  Wouldn’t it be funny if hundreds of thousands of gamers emailed FourZeroTwo a personal boycott message?  Just saying, you can find his email address on his site…

5. Don’t buy future Infinity Ward publications until we receive what we want: what we’ve always had.

6. Use one of our collected IW Boycott Signatures in all forum accounts (found on the IW forums, credit due where it is deserved).

Number 1 is the one I’m concerned with. I know that the PC fans are angry about all this but is it really worth not getting to enjoy a great gaming experience like Call of Duty: MW 2 is sure to be?

I’m sure there are those of you out there that are saying, “Well so what? PC gaming isn’t even all that relevant. IW and Activison will sell those canceled copies and then some and not think a thing about it” This is where many of us gamers, console gamers, are ignorant. PC gaming is a huge industry. The PC Gaming Alliance, backed by Microsoft and Epic games (developers of Gears of War 1 & 2) did a study last year and discovered that there are over 250 million PC gamers. And that’s just online, not including the millions of others that only play single player. With that big of an audience companies, like IW and Activison, would be for lack of a better word fucking retarded to not appease to PC fans every whim.

Signing the petition and canceling pre-orders is a great idea on the basis of getting IW’s attention. Chances are with all this buzz around the issue and the mass of names on the petition that they will fold but what if Infinity Ward sticks to its guns and all this is for-not. What will those of you out there that didn’t get CODMW2 be doing when everyone is standing around the proverbial water cooler talking about shooting enemies whilst hanging off the back of a snowmobile? You will be sitting at home wondering why you didn’t just get it.

Don’t get me wrong I’m on the PC gamers side here. Although, unless you are someone that depends on the money you make from selling subscriptions to dedicated servers to feed yourself than you should be getting this game. Even if you don’t buy the PC version than purchase or hell even rent a console version.  It is clear that IW pulled a dick move by dropping the dedicated servers but like ive said countless times dont let that ruin a fun game for you. Please, for your sake, at least rent it.

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Billboard.com writes - “The music game genre experienced a much-needed lift in September on the backs of new releases “The Beatles: Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero 5.”

MTV’s Beatles game, released Sept. 9, won the battle with total unit sales of 595,000, according to the NPD Group, making it the third-best selling game of the month overall behind “Halo 3: ODST” and “Madden NFL 10.” Activision’s “Guitar Hero 5,” released Sept. 1, ranked fourth overall for the month with 499,000 in sales.

Both totals are on par with that of first-month sales for the flagship music offerings from both companies last year. Activision’s “Guitar Hero World Tour” had first-month sales of 534,000 units last year, while “Rock Band 2″ sold just over 238,000 copies its first month.

From a revenue standpoint, the Beatles game raked in the second-best totals for the month, driven primarily by the fact that the average game sold for 130% more than other games. This was due to the many different versions of the game that sold with more expensive custom controllers, such as the $250 premium edition that included replica versions of the Fab Four’s instruments. Neither NPD Group or MTV would release specific figures on bundle sales.

Combined, however, both “The Beatles: Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero 5″ drove a 72% increase in revenues for the music game genre over September 2008. From both a revenue and unit sales standpoint, the results represent good news for a music industry with vested interest in the continued popularity of the music game genre.

Year-over-year revenues for the genre had fallen 46% this year through August, sparking speculation that the category was a passing fad. However that decline was likely more a function of fewer and cheaper music games hitting the market this year over last until last month’s dual unveilings.

And more help is on the way. Activision will release the much anticipated expansion of the music game genre into hip-hop with DJ Hero on Oct. 27, as well as the teen-oriented Band Hero on Nov. 3.

On the heels of these sales figures, MTV released the first full-album downloadable content update for “The Beatles: Rock Band” in the form of Abbey Road. For $17, owners of the game can download the songs not already included in the shipped version as a sort of “complete my album” purchase, or buy a select few tracks from the album individually for $2. Those tracks include “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” “Oh! Darling,” and “Because.”

MTV said the first downloadable single made available for “The Beatles: Rock Band”-which was “All You Need is Love”-has been downloaded 100,000 times. All proceeds for the sale of that single via the game will go to the charity Doctors Without Borders.

Overall, MTV says it now has 900 songs available to download to the Rock Band franchise, with plans to reach 1,000 available songs by the end of the year. It says about 60 million songs have been downloaded in the lifetime of the franchise.

Meanwhile, Microsoft unveiled plans to add a special section to its Xbox Live Marketplace dedicated exclusively to the purchase of downloadable music for games like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and other rhythm-based titles. Gamers will be able to sample the tracks from directly within the Xbox Live dashboard.”

Guns, girls, platforming and ancient treasure what else could it be besides Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Follow the link to see what I have to say about this great game…

Let me first say, wow, just wow. This is truly the PS3’s killer app.  Now I have heard many wonderful reviews and comments about this game over the past week or so and I’m here to say they were right… mostly. Some feelings, like Adam Sessler saying ‘this is the greatest single-player experience I have ever had’ were not felt by me but its damn close. Without a shadow of a doubt Uncharted 2 is the best looking game I think I’ve ever seen. The dynamic and rippling water trickling down expertly textured rock faces while Nathan Drakes clothes become dampened makes you stop in awe of the awesome power of the current gen of video games. Things explode nearly every object like crates and bottles and chairs will break move or shatter as you come across them. Light fixtures shake and buildings break all around you, and in one dramatic scene nearly on top of you. This was likely my favorite part of the whole game. The true graphical power of this epic thriller comes through in this scene as desks roll down a collapsing floor in a building falling down. The lights quiver and papers fly everywhere as you have to uncover what to do next. In that moment uncharted 2 among thieves became my favorite Playstation 3 game ever. And quite possibly the best game Sony has ever released. From epic moments like that to strong platforming this game delivers on many, many levels. But let’s talk bare details here…

The story is right out of national treasure Indiana Jones lore. You take the role again of Nathan drake a young treasure hunter that always seems to have enemies on his tail. The treasure? Marco Polo tried to find it… without giving anything away the treasure is a lost city and a certain treasure is keeps hidden. But I doubt it’s the one you’re thinking of. Drake goes through ups and downs in his quest for this sought after piece of history. But you know me I have to be critical, it’s who I am. Much like the first uncharted the story can be predictable at times. I hate when I know I’m walking into to something… sometimes games get to obvious but… yes there’s a but, it in no way hinders the game or single player experience. Because twists and turns and the occasional et tu brute will keeps u guessing. I had heard that drake was made more human in this game because of morale choices. At times I realized this and thought yeah that makes sense. But one time made me laugh hysterically and don’t worry this isn’t a spoiler. Early in the game I’m given a tranquilizer gun, thinking it’s a real gun drake says he doesn’t want it because he doesn’t want to kill the guards. They are not actually his enemy just people, civilians I guess, in his way. A few moments later u r forced to kill one of the guards by tossing him plummeting hundreds of feet to his death… I laughed because what happened to drakes ‘oh no I don’t wanna hurt the guards’ speech just moments before?

Now on to Uncharted 2’s presentation. I really don’t think I have ever seen a game done so well… down to every little detail. Firstly the voice acting is suburb. Out of this world. I wish half the games I played had half as good of voice acting as uncharted 2 does. not only the cut scenes but when characters are talking during game play is when u get a true feel for both the characters and how much work was put into this. The sound effects and noises of the world around drake make u feel as if you too are hanging from a brick on the side of a mountain. I think I may have wet myself once, haha, joking aside though rarely do I see such attention to detail. One of the small, totally UN to do with the game details I noticed was in a jungle. I was firing at an enemy and hit a monkey and he jumped away. Not just disappearing behind a tree but climbing up and swinging away… I was flabbergasted to say the least. Who does that? Who puts that much work into a game… that much work into something that most people would never notice. Hats off to naughty dog for such minuet details. Obviously as I said the game looks amazing. The snow powdering up around your ankles was a terrific touch. Another attention to detail moment. A child’s soccer ball was near me and the game prompted me with the triangle button to kick it back to them. Awesome I loved it. Another astounding thing is the camera angles. When the scale of what you’re doing needed to be seen to create dramatic feel the camera knew it, when you’re squeezing through a tight spot the camera comes in close. The programmers out did themselves here. Its things like that that keeps the gamer smiling throughout. On the critical side, sometimes when treasure hunting moving the damn camera was tedious.

Playability is basically gameplay and game mechanics in my book. For the most part this is great in this game. The controls are strong and the cover system works fluently. But at times you will get angry or have a good laugh at the games mechanics. Something I really noticed the folks at Naughty Dog had improved on over the first game was the array of enemies. There are guys holding shields, and guys with more armor on than a tank. Even a guy with a turret the size of a small house. The different kinds of enemies add a demnsion to Uncharted 2 that Uncharted 1 didnt have. On the critical side one thing I noticed was when you’re crouching against a short box, one that hardly covers u in a crouch and an AI is standing at the end of the box looking in your direction. Now in the real world he would see u because u r below him and it would be in his peripheral vision. But I guess the programmers didn’t make the AI have a different reaction to nearby players around a short box because I sat there and moved around making noise and he didn’t even notice. Also at times because of the save system, which saves like every minute, id get pushed ahead in the level. One time I didn’t even know how I got there. I guess I crossed an invisible line and the game loaded me at this new destination.  But that’s being quote un quote overly critical haha. another minor annoyance was during a boss battle when I rolled through a wall to my death… it only slightly angered me cause I had died at least a half dozen times before that cause I suck at boss battles. But overall it has great playability because it’s a very linear game. Games with cover systems and platforming elements often are and this isn’t any different. Now it’s not as bad as some might say because I noticed times when you could take different paths… well not paths but use different areas… you’ll see what I mean but it isn’t much. For the most part you’ll be doing the same thing as every other person playing this and following the same path.

The multiplayer in uncharted 2 is shall I say fantastic. There are a bunch of modes like deathmatch, capture the flag, defend the flag and a co op mode that is ripped from gears of war 2 (basically horde). But it all comes together nicely and I love the multiplayer. The amount of work that went into the co-op mode’s is awesome. Buddying up with a friend online and playing through this story like mode is a great deal of fun. The mp in Uncharted 2 rivals Call of Duty 4 and other big time online games. There is a very nice ranking system and you’ll find yourself delighted to see you’ve won more money to spend on new characters and boosters. The Boosters are copy pasted from Call of Duty 4 and they are things like bandolier for more ammo and hip fire for better free firing.

So in conclusion I think it’s obvious what you should do. If you own a PS3 buy this game. It’s likely the best game that will ever be on the Playstation 3. Enjoy it!

Wanna know how I rate games and what all that above this means? Click here

Gametrailers, Sony Fanboys and ANGER OH MY!!!

You guys, my listeners, know me as an Xbox 360 fan first. At the same time though i am always keeping up with news going on on other consoles. With my Xbox broken i have a new found interest in the Playstation 3 and games for it. Especially Uncharted which i just finished. Now the sequel: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is out on Tuesday, October 13th and i am very excited. I absolutely fell in love with Uncharted one. The game looks amazing and that’s the first thing you will notice as you pop the disc in. But soon you realize how great the gameplay and story of the Indiana Jones-esc thriller really is and you would be a fool not to love it. There’s only one problem: Uncharted is not very original. It uses old games innovations and devices to make itself great. For those of you that haven’t played it imagine taking the platforming from Prince of Persia, the cover system that you could draw back to Gears of War and douse that in TRUELY next gen graphics and as i said an Indiana Jones story and you’d have Uncharted. And as you will see in this article the fact that the sequel to Uncharted isnt very original is why Playstation fans are crying foul at Gametrailers.com (GT) and its review of Among Thieves.

For a long time Sony fanboys have complained that GT is biased towards the Xbox and Wii. But lately its mostly because of the review of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves handed out by Shane Satterfield. Satterfield has received a lot of gripe for calling Uncharted 2 “un-original”, Even though he gave the game a 9.3 out of 10 Playstation fans are still pissed. I’ve been so kind as to include the review here so you can see for yourself.

After this review hits the webbernet Playstation fans got their panties all in a tussy over how Satterfield calls it “un-original”. Satterfield quickly defended his review with this statement on some other podcast that isn’t mine so why would you listen to it?

As far as people’s criticisms of the review are concern, what I saw the most was people were upset that I dinged it so much for it not being original. And that’s the comment I saw the most on message boards and our comments. And the truth of the matter is it’s not original. It doesn’t really do anything that hasn’t been done in other games.

And people say: ‘oh well, you compared it to Gears of War, why did Gears of War get a higher score?’ Gears of War 2 was released a year ago. The original Gears of War was released way before that. So the expectations change over time. You can’t just create a ‘me too’ game where you grab all the best features from all the games that are over a year old and expect to get the same score a year later for those same features.

Now, honestly, there was nothing original in Uncharted 2. To be perfectly honest with you, the 9.3 that game got is about as high a score as a game like that is ever going to get on GameTrailers and that’s the bottom line.

When we review games, we put an extremely high emphasis on originality. Why do you think Super Mario Galaxy scored so high? It’s because it did tons of things that no game had ever done before. It’s platforming upside down in that game. I was platforming around round levels in that game. There’s nothing like that in Uncharted 2.

And again, I’ve said it a million times, the game is freaking incredible. The last line in the review says: ‘go buy the game. If you have a PS3, go freaking buy it.’ What more can I say? But at the same time I cannot sleight the other games that did go above and beyond and did take a risk.

And that’s what Uncharted 2 doesn’t do. There are no risks associated with that game at all. They played it completely safe. They took things that they knew were accepted and people loved and build it into one game. And that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that. But you can’t expect a score of a 9.8 or a 9.5 and higher if you’re doing something like that

The portion of Satterfields defense that sticks out to me the most is where he mentions that Gametrailers.com puts a high emphasis on originality and he says Super Mario Galaxy got a very high rating because of its originality. I am so glad that he said that because hes stating the facts like it is. Simply this, Gametrailers looks for originality there isn’t any in Uncharted, END OF STORY. But Playstation fans and game lovers alike aren’t like me and cant get what hes saying as well. All of this hating towards the review is just a new way for Sony fanboys to bitch at Gametrailers for so called biasedness towards the Wii and Xbox.  Justin D. writes for a website that isn’t as good as mine so don’t go there but heres the site so you can read the whole article he wrote. And i chose this mans article because he seems to be one of the most angry towards GT.

My favorite paragraph is this:

GameTrailers has a history of not being kind to the PS3. Take the switch up controversy surrounding the recent Wolverine game that came out. They showed a 360 clip on the PS3 side, and then when called on it, did a quick stealth edit of the video and then claim that they did nothing wrong. That goes on top of the many other issues surrounding the side-by-side comparison videos. From the alleged sabotaging of the PS3 version side to not running the PS3 version at the same resolutions as they run the 360 side. This coupled with the Dblock issue is reason enough to see where the suspicions are rooted from. It would’ve been nice of Satterfield brought some of this stuff up, but sadly, he didn’t. Maybe as little as some reassurance that no bias was shown here would’ve been enough.

Now I’m not saying what this guy is claiming isn’t true but this just sounds like a man that loved the PS2 and got a PS3 thinking it would own the generation like the PS2 did and hes upset cause he hasn’t got his moneys worth. But then again I’m a Xbox fan, although i used to be a Sony fanboy. That was before the PS3 came out and i saw it had nothing for it and was way to expensive so i got a 360 and fell in gamer love. hardy har har. But to me this just sounds like same old same old. There bitching at Satterfield cause they think there’s some huge ass conspiracy of ha towards the PS3.

You know what? i cant speak for Gametrailers or any other video game site other than my own but i will say this, if GT or any other site likes the Xbox or Wii better can you really blame them? I mean lets be perfectly honest here folks, the race for best console stands as follows: 1. Wii - 2. Xbox - 3. PS3 (and that’s just consoles, i dint think id be crazy to say the DS is doing better than the Playstation3) Lets just look at facts the Wii has sold 50+ million units. The Xbox 360 has sold 30+ million units and the PS3 has sold 24+ million units, and if it wasn’t for the Xbox’s shitty numbers in Japan the Xbox would have a lot more.

The stats look even worse for the Playstation 3 when we compare games sales numbers according to vgchartz.com. The Wii obviously comes in first selling 24.3 million copies of Wii Play. Now i don’t count Wii Sports as its top (with 48.2 million in sales) because it comes with the Wii. The 360 comes in second with its highest selling game, no surprise here, Halo 3 selling 10.2 million copies. And wouldn’t you know the PS3 comes in last. Its highest selling game isn’t even a PS3 exclusive, its GTA4 selling 5.8 million copies. Its highest selling exclusive game is MGS4 selling 4.2 copies.

So its plain to see why, if, video game websites prefer the Xbox 360 and Wii, its because they have better games and at this point and time are just better consoles. So to all you angry Sony fans out there getting mad at the review of Uncharted 2 and just mad at Gametrailers my advice is to get over it. Because game sites are gonna like the competitors until Sony steps up and delivers. And that’s what there trying to do with the Uncharted series but as Satterfield says and i agree, its not original. But remember this, even though he said that he still gave the game a freaking 9.3 so stop whining. And hey, listen to the mans advice in his last line of the review:  ‘go buy the game. If you have a PS3, go freaking buy it.’

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves releases exclusively (sadly) on the PS3 on October 13th and is sure to kick ass!

This has been a critical and fairly biased article by the one and only…

Jeff Gates