Posts Tagged ‘xbox’

Entry 0267

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Recently, I’ve been playing a lot of Fallout: New Vegas on the Xbox 360. Like, a lot a lot. Like, far more than I probably should be. Like, enough that it occasionally gets in the way of my sleeping. Like, too much.

Which is not the point of this post. At least, not directly. Nor are the “bugs” in the game – bugs which the reviewers are quick to point out, but the internet has been strangely quiet about.

No, the point I’ve been rapidly running away from, only to circle back upon when it was least expected is: I’m willing to say that this is the Game Of The Year.

At least, that’s what I was thinking a about an hour ago. Then I began to wonder which games were actually released this year, and how it compares against them.
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Entry 0218

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

An Open Letter to Gabe Newell

Gabe Newell, Director of Game Development - Valve Software

Gabe Newell, Director of Game Development - Valve Software


Dear Gabe Newell,

Hi, how are you? I’m fine. The weather is finally cooling off, which is nice – won’t have to run the AC as often, which in these harsh economic times means I might be able to save a bit of cash.

But, enough small talk – this isn’t a social call. No, I’m actually writing you (or pretending to write to you via my blog) in order to register a formal complaint on the latest DLC for Left 4 Dead on the XBox 360.

This product is, sadly, buggy and not at all worth the seven dollars you are charging for it. Oh, I’ve read the sob story that Microsoft forced you into charging for the content, that you wanted it to be free but Microsoft made you charge for it… And that’s fine, that’s understandable, I suppose. They want you to charge for it, well… charge for it. But a whole seven bucks? For a level that takes less than half an hour to complete, and is full of bugs? I’d expect this from Bethesda, but not you. You made Portal, one of my favorite games of all time, and the Half-Life series of games, which are astounding.

And you also made… This. This pile of crap. (more…)

Entry 0145

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

I recently expressed my desire to write up another State of Gaming Address – but as I was attempting to write it out, I started to question the need for a long post discussing the many nuances and distinguishing factors between the three home systems.

Then I realized that I don’t really need to spend as much time detailing everything – it’d be better for everyone if I just summed stuff up, and moved on to a new post.

So, here’s the short version:

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Entry 0136

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Dunny0 - XBox Avatar

Dunny0 - XBox Avatar


Yesterday, Microsoft launched what they are calling “The New XBox Experience”, or NXE for short. It is, at the core, a system update to your existing XBox 360 that drastically changes the menu system, and adds support for Netflix, ripping games to the hard drive, and “Avatars” – their version of the Mii.

The Avatar on the left is me… As you can see, it’s a slightly more sophisticated version of the Mii. As of right now there are a few (three) games that will allow you to play as this little bugger. Creating one isn’t too difficult, and once done you can spend some time playing dress up too. Right now the clothing options are a bit sparse, but I’d expect that to change quickly as game devs jump on the bandwagon and offer branded shirts for your little guy to wear.
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Entry 0106

Monday, August 25th, 2008

There are a few things on needs before being able to use the Netflix Watch Instantly feature on their Mac:

  • A copy of Windows
  • Patience

Which of those two do you suppose I am not known for having?

Other than a few mild issues with the quality of the video due to buffering and home-network issues that seemed to be resolved by simply allowing the movie to play for a few minutes, and a few technical problems caused by not having Windows updated correctly because I use a fucking Mac, I didn’t have any major issues getting this working.

What I managed to take away from this is a renewed enthusiasm for the Netflix service, and a burning desire for the damn XBox update to happen sooner.