The problem with dropouts and disconnects with Halo 2 have gotten worse in the last couple of months. Whether it is by a player leaving the game (they should be severely penalized) or if it is network problems, I don't know.

I hope when Halo 3 comes out, that they come out with a system to penalize people that continually quit the game because they are losing. Hell, the 4 of us that play at my house always stay in the game (I make them), because it is poor sportsmanship to quit just because you are losing.

And my friends are slowly getting better, because they know they have to play to the end. And sometimes they are winning the games.


Chris

I totally agree. I suck at games but even when I'm getting my ass handed to me and I'm ready to cry on LIVE, I stay till the end even when it's unranked matches.

Dropping out is chickenshit.

^ ditto. I played Halo 2 last weekend for the first time since before Christmas. There were games where we lost big and won big. There was one we were winning 35-15 and of course they all drop out. :mad: Fuckers. Take your beating like a man!

My Pac-Man review for those interested in today's Live Arcade release: http://videogametalk.com/read.php?ID=445

I finally played the Saints Row demo (just got a 360 this weekend). I must say even though it is a total clone of GTA, at least it's a good clone. A lot of the GTA wannabes want it both ways... they want to rip off GTA but they also try to be different. And usually the new elements end up hurting the gameplay. Saints sticks so close to the formula as to not risk screwing it up. On one hand I'm shocked at the blatant ripoff, on the other I'm excited to get a new (almost) GTA game for the 360 since the real one won't appear for over a year.

I like that the demo actually lets you take a deep look into the gameplay and elements. You can actually screw around for a long time to get a good feel, unlike the Dead Rising demo which cuts you off just as you start to get into it.

As for the game itself, there's no choice for me to compare it directly to GTA. As for what it gets right and what it gets wrong...

Pros:
- The navigation system is a lot nicer. The maps are easier to follow. I also love how they indicate 'targets' on the display at all times (and not just in a mission), whether they are friends, foes, or cops.
- The respect system is a lot more clear and meaningful.
- The fact you have to hit Y to trigger a mission or event when you step on the mark. I am always accidentally hitting those spots in GTA when I don't want to.
- The targeting system is more effective, at least for me. It works especially well in a vehicle. And shooting over your shoulder while running from the enemy is an especially awesome idea.
- The health regenerating system adds some level of strategy in that you can lay low when hurt. Seems better than frantically running into danger to find a health item when you are on your last bar of vitality. On the other hand those frantic runs are crazy fun if you're successful...
- The run meter is great. It works the same way as GTA, but gives you a better visual indicator.
- The gang recruiting system and partner AI are much improved over GTA. I actually found my recruitee to be useful, and I actually felt like he "had my back", whereas in San Andreas it felt like I was babysitting my gang members half the time.

Cons:
- The city seems large, but so far based on the area available in the demo it's sort of boring. I'm not sure if it is just a lack of variety or what... but so far it's not as fun to explore as even GTA3.
- Driving feels constricted a bit. I didn't get that feel on driving wrecklessly at top speeds with wild abandon, even with the fast cars. Maybe this was because of the area limitations, though. I suppose a residential neighborhood isn't the greatest place to let loose.
- So far there seem to be less in the way of side missions and fun 'extras'.
- The weapon selection wheel isn't as precise as I'd like. When in a gunfight I was taking a lot of hits just trying to switch weapons when I ran out of ammo. I sort of prefer the 'cycling through the weapons' method of GTA, at least for now.
- I can't attack cars? Hopefully that's just a glitch in the demo.
- The cops are too easy to evade. A lot of times I would cap 2 or 3 cops and a minute later I had no wanted level. It's nice not to be bothered by them, but in the long run it kills some of that manic energy of having to worry about rival gang members and the cops at the same time.

- Check out some of the videos over at Xboxyde. There are side missions like escorting politicians while they get serviced by hookers, bilking hostages out of more money while you terrorize them in your car, insurance scams, etc. Seems like there are more extras than GTA to me.

- You can attack cars, but you won't do much damage with a handgun. You can bust out glass and shoot out the tires. But if you really want to have some fun, buy some pipe bombs and watch one of those cars explode into several pieces.

- I agree on the cops and the gangs for that part too. I can only hope they put a cap on the number of stars you can get in the demo.

I was thinking more along the lines of stuff like the arcade games you can play, the basketball court, the DDR-ish stuff, tipping the strippers, etc. When I wandered around San Andreas for the first time it felt like I was discovering dumb little fun things everywhere I went. It's those random "easter eggs" that I'm missing on this one (or at least I haven't found them). Granted they're pointless to the overall story, and they all get old after awhile, but they all add to that "living world" feel.

I was talking just about going up and punching and kicking cars, Street Fighter 2 style. Of course, it's probably just a personal pleasure of mine - but I love just beating the hell out of someone's car while they're driving by in GTA. In the SR demo my punches just whiffed through the cars like I was punching air.

http://gizmodo.com/assets/resources/...xhddvdlive.jpg

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/periphera...dup-193142.php


Looking at the size of that drive, there is no way that thing is going to be around $200 or whatever the price was that was floating around.

Chris

I would expect it to be around the $250 mark. Still a good deal as long as it offers all the features of one of the stand-alone players (specifically upscaling DVDs to 1080i). I'm sure people will complain that it's almost as expensive as the 360 itself but it will still be a cheaper option for people who already own a 360. I don't think they're expecting people to buy this and a 360 just to play HD-DVDs.

theres a quote from the guy saying it will be the cheapest HD-DVD on the market when it comes out.

Is that before or after the $400 the Xbox 360 costs?

I wonder..

Would have to be before I assume. Since the toshiba HD-DVD player has an MSRP of $500.

No way the add on is less than $100 IMO.

This is why I was laughing at that remark they made about it being the cheapest. How could it possibly? I also see no way it will be less than a $100.

but still... the cheapest HD-DVD now is about $500. What will it be by December?

the specific quote was for xbox360 owners, it will be the cheapest player on the market

Then the PS3's BRD player is the cheapest on the market, since it's $0 to get one once you buy a PS3.

Quotes like that are stupid. It's just as bad as saying that BC was "overdelivered" or that there's "100" BRD titles out now.

Well technically, at $600, it is still the cheapest BRD player on the mark

There's a Bomberman Act:Zero trailer on the Marketplace. Looks fun. From the Xbox Live mode, it looks like there are 8 energy bars (8 players), but I never saw more than 4 on the screen at once. I'll have to watch it again to be sure.

So my NCAA 2007 is the first game that's given me a "dirty disc reset" more than a couple of times, and I'm getting worried about the lifespan of my 360. And now I'm deathly afraid of getting Dead Rising because of similar complaints, which is pretty ridiculous. I was wondering whether the recent update that allows you to download demos while you play perhaps can cause this. It seems like a lot of people are able to "fix" the problem by either taking off their HD or clearing it out, and I realized yesterday during a crash that the game was saving something to the HD at the same time a demo was downloading. Computers do it all the time, but I wonder if the 360 wasn't built like that.

Anyway, just idle speculation, and I really hope it's just a flaw in EA's game.

I get the dirty disc error on occasion, but I use & reuse d-skins. It actually happened earlier, once it starts happening a few times, I toss the skin and use a new one.

Here's a hand on preview of the single player.
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=473986

I'm beginning to lose hope that there is another XBLA game coming out next Wednesday (rumored to be Hold 'Em). You'd think it would be announced by now.

According to Major Nelson nothing is set in stone for next Wednesday, so take any rumors with a grain of salt.

Is it true watching dvds on your 360 will shorten it's lifespan ? My cousin said I should only play games on it since watching dvds will make the laser work harder.

I doubt it. With that said I've never used any of my systems for regular dvd viewing.

While I don't know for sure, this doesn't make sense to me. Aren't Xbox and 360 discs DVD media themselves? Or are they some specialized version?

I wasn't referring to the media, just the fact that playing dvd movies on the 360 might kill the drive sooner than later. You know just save the 360 for games. I really don't use it as my stand alone player just once in awhile when discs give me a problems on my regular player.

Then which piece of the 360 are we worried about failing? Certainly not the laser or drive if the media is the same. I'd think the HDD isn't used for DVD movie viewing. If anything I'd think movies would be easier on the drive since the data is viewed linearly for the most part. Unlike games where the data can be loaded from multiple points on the disc.

Again, it just doesn't make any sense to me. But I'd certainly be interested if there was some info about this.

Thats crazy talk. Time to put on the tin foil hats folks.

SEATTLE — Aug. 13, 2006 — In the 30 years of video game development, the art of making console games has been reserved for those with big projects, big budgets and the backing of big game labels. Now Microsoft Corp. is bringing this art to the masses with a revolutionary new set of tools, called XNA Game Studio Express, based on the XNA™ platform. XNA Game Studio Express will democratize game development by delivering the necessary tools to hobbyists, students, indie developers and studios alike to help them bring their creative game ideas to life while nurturing game development talent, collaboration and sharing that will benefit the entire industry.

During his keynote presentation today at Gamefest 2006, a Microsoft® game developer event hosted by Microsoft in Seattle, Chris Satchell, general manager of the Game Developer Group at Microsoft, announced details of the new technology, which will be broadly available this holiday season. XNA Game Studio Express will be available for free to anyone with a Windows® XP-based PC and will provide them with Microsoft’s next-generation platform for game development. By joining a “creators club” for an annual subscription fee of $99 (U.S.), users will be able to build, test and share their games on Xbox 360™ and access a wealth of materials to help speed the game development progress. This represents the first significant opportunity for novice developers to make a console game without a significant investment in resources.

During his keynote, Satchell talked about academic institutions that are lining up to include XNA Game Studio Express in their course offerings. Also showcased was the work of key XNA supporters Autodesk Inc. and GarageGames. Through the Microsoft XNA relationship with Autodesk, the leading provider of 3-D authoring software, game developers and enthusiasts can now more easily incorporate content into XNA Game Studio Express via Autodesk’s FBX file exchange format. Joining Satchell on stage was Mark Frohnmayer, president of GarageGames, who showcased ports of its next-generation Torque tools and technology over to the XNA Game Studio Express platform.

XNA Game Studio Express Opens Up Game Creation to the World

By providing an integrated, seamless development environment based on Visual Studio® Express and .NET that simplifies the integration and use of game content, XNA Game Studio Express makes game development easier to accomplish for smaller projects, strongly increasing the chance for great game ideas to make it out of the concept stage and into the hands of gamers everywhere.

The XNA Game Studio Express beta will be available Aug. 30, 2006, as a free download on Windows XP, for development on the Windows XP platform. XNA Game Studio Express will give anyone with a Windows XP-based PC access to a unified development tool that liberates the creation of great Xbox 360 and Windows XP-compatible games, providing a new alternative to the existing multithousand-dollar development kits that many console games require. The final version of XNA Game Studio Express will be available this holiday season.

“XNA Game Studio Express will ignite innovation and accelerate prototyping, forever changing the way games are developed,” Satchell said. “By unlocking retail Xbox 360 consoles for community-created games, we are ushering in a new era of cross-platform games based on the XNA platform. We are looking forward to the day when all the resulting talent-sharing and creativity transforms into a thriving community of user-created games on Xbox 360.”

Not only will XNA Game Studio Express turn the community into creators, but a second XNA toolset geared toward game development professionals is scheduled to be available in spring 2007, fundamentally changing the way commercial games are developed.

The Beginning of the Game Developer Revolution

From students at colleges, universities and high schools of the future to the proverbial “guys in the garage,” Microsoft XNA Game Studio Express will liberate anyone with a great game idea to create titles for Xbox 360 and Windows XP simultaneously. More than 10 universities and their game development schools — including University of Southern California, Georgia Tech College of Computing and Southern Methodist University Guildhall — have already pledged to integrate console game development and XNA Game Studio Express into their curricula for the first time, and Xbox 360 will be the only console at the center of all coursework.

“Great game ideas are incubating in the minds of students everywhere,” said Michael Zyda, director for Gamepipe Labs at the University of Southern California. “With XNA Game Studio Express, Microsoft is investing in these next-generation innovators, creating the canvas for dreamers to express their powerful game ideas. In incorporating XNA Game Studio Express and Xbox 360 consoles into our Gamepipe program, USC will be able to better provide game studios and publishers around the world with a newfound wellspring of talent and opportunity. It’s ingenious.”

In addition, GarageGames, technology provider and developer of one of the most successful Xbox Live® Arcade titles, “Marble Blast Ultra,” has migrated both its Torque Shader Engine and new Torque Game Builder 2-D visual game designer over to the XNA Game Studio Express platform.

“The GarageGames mission has always been to provide top-tier technology, tools and community to independent and aspiring game developers,” said Josh Williams, CEO of GarageGames. “We are excited that Microsoft is demonstrating leadership by taking the revolutionary step of opening up game development for Xbox 360 to hobbyists and students. In aligning our tools and technology with XNA Game Studio Express, we’re helping even more individuals with the creativity and drive to make video games bring them to life on both Windows XP and Xbox 360.”

Gamefest 2006

Microsoft leads the industry in helping game developers make amazing games for Xbox® and Windows. Today and tomorrow, Gamefest 2006 will feature nearly 100 sessions for game developers, producers and publishers to grow their skills, introduce them to new development techniques and deliver powerful tools to build the best games possible.

If this leads to more turn based strategy games i will do a little dance of joy. Things like Moon Base Commander.

Maybe we'll even see some classic boardgames like Settlers of Catan or Cosmic Encounter made available on Live. This is an incredible idea imo.

That article is too long and not bolded. What is it talking about? :lol:

Basically they are releasing a cheaper version of their XNA Game Studio software, which will allow you to create content for the 360.

This sounds like something that could be HUGE for the 360 and their online marketplace, as long as the tool kit is powerful enough. They do mention it is quite basic compared to the full tool kit, but hopefully you can still create some cools games with it. I also hope they allow you to import your own assets and actually write code, and that it isn't something like those "RPG Maker" titles.

Reading the article above, it does sound like it will be quite powerful.
While the Torque engine isn't a great engine, it still shows that XNA Express has big potential.

Apparently the HD-DVD will be $200

http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20060814A5023.html

XBOX 360 ($400) + HD DVD Drive ($200) = $600 = the same price with PS3. I think i go with WII for now.

I'll wait little longer for PS3 drop down the price or possible XBOX 360 new model includes hard drive + hd dvd drive. :)

While i understand everyone has different reasons for buy/not buying a particular console and i am behind the Wii wholeheartedly but it truly boggles my mind that the HD drive would be a sticking point for someone. The games aren't going to be put on HDDVD (so they have continued to claim) and if an introductory HDDVD player runs around 500$ and would most likely do a better job than the 360 drive then why is this even an issue. I see people frequently trying to equivocate the PS3 price to the 360 + HD drive extra and say they are both ridiculous. But i fail to see why an optional accessory (that i really wonder how well it will sell) would be added into the comparison with a system that forces you to buy the new movie technology.

Maybe i'm just taking for granted the number of people using these devices for movies over games. :shrug:

The difference is that MS isn't forcing HD-DVD down anyone's throat and that's the problem people have with the PS3's price.

I checked the Marketplace and saw new content for Lego Star Wars II. I got all excited thinking it was going to be the demo, but its only the trailer.

A $200 add on is still better than having to drop $500 for a machine. I might get it, depending on the specs.

Is there away to connect a wirless Xbox 360 Controller to your PC with the charging cable. I plug it into my pc when am not around to keep it charged, but my PC won't detect it as a gamepad. I even downloaded the drivers, is it because it's wireless that my PC won't read it ?