December Gaming

I have recently been playing Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 (DOAX2) and Viva Piñata. My 10-year-old daughter has discovered the Piñata game and enjoys it quite well. She loves the cute animals.

I'm enjoying the cuteness in DOAX2, but it is, of course, a completely different sort of cuteness.



The achievements in DOAX2 are quite daunting, and I find it slow going, particularly due to my limited playing time. I made very good progress while the casino cheat was available, although I'm getting quite good at the Wave Race minigame now, and the money is not too bad.

Short Update

Well, it's been nearly 2 years, and I have a great deal to say about the interim. Alas, it must wait for now.

I have an XBox 360, am still playing World of Warcraft, and am still using my original modded XBox.

Details to follow.

Cenarion Circle

I've now been completely sidetracked into World of Warcraft, so I have started a blog to cover events as they unfold. Don't worry, I will be returning to XBox Land eventually.

In the mean time, come visit Cenarion Circle.

Sidetracked by the PC!

I've barely turned on the XBox lately, as I have been pulled into World of Warcraft. I won't submit my opinions on that here, as this is an XBox blog, but I'm sure you can piece together the clues.

My 5-year-old son tried Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and was quickly frustrated. I believe it is a bit above his level for now.

My son & daughter each played with Sonic Heroes with a bit more success.

I played some old-school emulated games with DaftApeth the other day; nothing to write home about, but quite the nostalgic trip.

First Impressions: KotOR 2

It took me somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 to 50 hours to finish the first Knights of the Old Republic, so it is with a bit of trepediation that I have embarked on a return journey into the same world, in the form of Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords. I'm sure that some will snicker at my KotOR playing time, so let me state now that I am a leisurely player. I like to explore the nooks and crannies, seeking ways to improve my character and uncover the secrets and surprises left by the developer.

I am now about five hours into KotOR 2, and in a position to deliver to you my first impressions.

First off, it is not surprising that the preponderance of the game interface is more or less intact. There are a few minor enhancements, but as this is a follow-on to Bioware's smash hit, developed by another party (Obsidian), I was not expecting any major changes. Sith Lords is basically an expansion pack.

And this is a good thing. The UI for KotOR was very functional for an RPG, and easy to use.

The first difference that I have noticed is that there are frame rate issues. These may have existed in KotOR, but I did not notice them then. These issues are especially obvious in area where there are force fields.

The audio is definately not as good as the first game. Some times the critical dialog volume is much lower than it should be. The voice acting is, at times, subpar. Some passages of dialog within the same conversation were obviously recorded at a different time as other passages, and the effect is a bit jarring if you pay attention to such things. Each of these issues serves to remove the player from the submersion into the game.

This last item can be viewed as either a good or bad thing, depending on your outlook. My thought is that it is more good than bad.

Whereas the plot in KotOR was very adept at pulling you along to the next stage, each section was pretty much distinct. In Sith Lords, the plot progression is very smooth, and there is less distinction betweek sections. This leads to a pronounced "Just One More" (JOM) effect, causing me to stay up far later than I really should.

The JOM Effect was one that I first noticed as such in the original SimCity and has been present in the Civilization games and every Sid Meier game that I have played. The effect is that I get pulled further into the game, minute-by-minute, until it's suddenly 4am and the next day is wrecked.

Although it appears that there is a lot of bitching here, I am enjoying the game and look forward to many more hours of whacking things with a sword of light.

More from the Ghost

After hearing a large number of favorable comments about Ghost Recon 2, particularly the online play, I have purchased a copy. I will be playing through some of the Single Player missions before going online.

In other news-worthy items, my wife has taken the LSAT, so the pressure is off for now in the picking-up-the-slack department. We'll see how that factors into the whole free-time issue.

More soon.

Really.

Can't Stop the Golf

As nuts as this sounds, and after waiting in line to buy Halo 2 at midnight last week, I have only played a little.

I could blame this on the fact that I am studying for my MCP test, or that my wife is studying for the LSAT and I have to cook and take care of the kids (both true), but the honest fact is that I am mired in Outlaw Golf 2.

It is a challenging game, and a rather addictive one at that, and I just find that it is easier to try to get past the next 9-hole challenge rather than go through the hassles of trying to find a Halo 2 game on XBL.

I'm sure the phase will pass quickly, especially after I finish the game (OG2, that is).

The New Halo

Of course, it rocks, and rocks hard.

I played a couple of games online and got my ass handed to me, as expected.
I'm not really what you'd call serious competition.

I'm better at team play rather than full-on fragfests.
I'm not really a twitch gamer.

But!
I was able to get on at about 1:00am (one hour after release) and create a clan, snagging the name that I wanted (Justice).

Gotta go - Earth Needs Me.

First Impressions: Outlaw Golf 2

I picked up Outlaw Golf 2 the other day, and I have to say that it is quite a bargain. For $20, I have the best golf game I have played in the XBox.

OK, it's the ONLY Golf game I have played on the XBox, but it's still quite fun.

It is rather challenging, but entertaining and motivating. There are many, MANY unlockables, possibly too many. For example, there are 15 challenges on the practice range, and only 2 of them are initially available. Of the 10 playable characters, only 4 are playable before unlocking others.

Still, there is a lot to this game, numerous modes and much challenging golf to be had. I am actually surprised at the price of this title, but I guess that's a decision the distributors made. It is rated Mature, so I don't think you'll be playing this one with the tots.

I am eager to try out the multiplayer modes, both single-box and via XBox Live!

Modding Complete

I started out Monday night with my soldering iron in hand and the patient disassembled before me. It took 30 minutes for the soldering, and another 30 minutes to get all of the hardware connected together. My version 1.3 XBox now has a Xecutor 3 mod chip, a 160-GB hard drive, and a larger case to accomodate the new hard drive (with space for another). Worked perfectly right off the bat, no troubles (save the Xtender 1-3 cable swap problem).

The software went pretty smoothly as well. About 30 minutes to flash the BIOS (would have been faster but I couldn't get it to work via disk) through the network, 30 minutes to back up my original drive, another 30 minutes to install EvoX, XBMC, Avalaunch, and some other applications.

After that, I started ripping my games to the HDD for ease of access and longevity.

I am very happy with my new box and will be updating as new features come up.

First Impressions: Magna Cum Laude

I played a good number of the old Leisure Suit Larry games and was moderately amused by them. The latest incarnation is somewhat of a departure from the old style games, and not necessarily in a bad way.

The ladies are fair-to-hot and the mini-games are easy-to-bloody-difficult. The game can be quite frustrating at times, and quite a lot of fun at others.

Load times are awful, but the blow is cushioned by numerous images of the various in-game babes in various states of undress. I should mention that the load screen girls are both rendered girls and photographs of their real-life counterparts as well.

I am fairly close to the end of the game at this point, so I will provide a more thoughtful posting once I am done.

Mod world, here I come!

Somehow I came to the decision the other day that it is time to mod my XBox.

I have ordered the parts, and soon I will be adding a mod chip and support for additional hard drives.

Updates will be available as things progress.

Belated Update

Busy, busy. I have been lax in my bloggage.
After finishing Fable, I loaned the game out to Chosen1.
I am playing around with The Sims 2 and have not spent any time with my XBox.

My daughter (seven years old) did manage to complete Story Mode in DOA3 with one of the characters. I was very impressed - this is not too easy a feat, particularly for one so young.

My copy of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude should be on its way to me now, and I will hopefully be playing it this weekend.

Let's see, what else...
I've preordered The Bard's Tale, but I don't know how much I will be able to play... you see, it comes out November 2nd, just a week before Halo 2. If it ships on November 3rd, I may be able to get it by November 5th, or on the 8th.

I'm picking up my copy of Halo 2 at 12:01am on November 9th.

Fable Complete

I finally finished up Fable, with right around 17 hours put into the game. I did a fair number of side quests, but definately not all. And I did putter around a bit, getting married three times and buying any building I could.

Over all, I found it to be a very fun game. As testiment to this, I have started again as an evil spell-slinger.

Norty Fable

I've made scads of progress in Fable. I've completed the Arena and gone through the Prison section. Now I must get to Hook Island, which I'm pretty sure is nearly the end.

I really got sucked into the game last night, finally getting to bed at 4:30am, which is not something I've done with any other game. There's definately some "Just One More" syndrome going on here.

I was actually hoping to get in some Halo, but that Evil, Bad, Norty Fable kept me in its iron grip.

Maybe once I've finished Fable.

Or maybe after I've played Fable again as an evil wizard...

Triple Play

I had a full weekend of XBoxage, and three games to cover, so let's get to it.

I am now deeply into Fable and not disappointed. Three of us have bought it (myself, DaftApeth, and OrpheusSail) and I am certain that all of us are having a great time with the game. They are certainly welcome to chime in here and speak up if they like.

DaftApeth & I started back into Halo, with every intent (at least on my part) of playing through the game, in preparation for Halo 2. We covered the first two sections in about an hour but then got sidetracked onto Fable.

The Guy Game is going to be the divisive one, I think. We have played the first four episodes in 3-player mode now, and I still think it is a fun, harmless drinking game. I will hold off on speaking for the other two, but I'm pretty sure one generally agrees with me and the other thinks it's a wasted effort. I'm pretty sure we all enjoyed the embedded arcade games (BallzOut, BallzIn, BallzShots) though. Rather similar in playability to Fuzion Frenzy.

More later - I have to get back to my Fable!

More on Fable

I've been able to get in a couple more hours of Fable, so I'll relate what I have done and learned.

First off, let me retract one of my complaints. There certainly is the ability to assign expressions to the D-Pad, by Shifting (using the Right Trigger). This certainly helps.

So far, I'd have to call Fable "Linear but Free-Roaming". Parts of the story are certainly very linear, but there is also the ability to do as you wish. I just wish I could tell the Guildmaster to bug off and stop nagging me about quests.

I have bought a house (I've not decorated it yet) and rented it out. I'm not sure what sort of income I am getting from the rental, but I guess I could figure that out if I poked around a bit.

I've also bought a huge sword that I cannot use yet - it's too damn heavy! However, I am still allowed to Equip and Wield said sword, and this yielded the most humor I have seen in the game so far.

I'm having a great time so far, thrashing bandits and beetles alike. I'm on the verge of beginning the Darkwood quest, where I imagine I will encounter Balverines for the first time.

As far as my character goes, I am emphasizing Strength, as I seem to be mainly using the sword with a little bit of Magic and an even lesser amount of Archery. Morally, I'm just following my heart, not specifically going for Good or Evil, but just doing what I would do in the situation. I don't know where my alignment currently is.

Short-term goals: Finish the Escort mission, decorate my house.
Long-term goals: Buy every house in Bowerstone. I'd love to be able to do this without killing anyone, but I don't know how feasible this is. I don't know if the people in town die off or if they have to be killed by the "Hero".

Of course, I will provide updates as I progress.

First Impressions: Fable

Sometimes I really hate Blogger. This is my second time doing this FI, so it is going to be a little bit shorter than it was.

I finally picked up Fable and was able to squeeze in two hours of play. I got through my Guild training, killed the Wasp Queen, and explored the first town a little bit.

Overall, I must say that Fable is Great. Not Awesome, but a solid Great.

Once again, it seems that Peter Molyneux's reach has exceeded his grasp. There is so much here in the game, and so many greater things hinted at but not realized.

In certain situations, there are framerate issues. In one case, these issues actually impact your ability to complete a quest (the 50-second running quest). Additionally, there are some UI consistency issues. And I really wish there were a way to perform more interaction than the severely limited menu.

But these are all niggling little issues. The game itself is great fun so far, and I look forward to more very soon.

I will provide a full review once I have progressed through the game significantly.

Of Release Dates

Today is the day for Fable.

I know my countdown is counting down until tomorrow, and this post is to discuss such things.

Usually when a company announces a release date, that is basically the Ship Date. Stores will typically get the game either late that day or fairly early the following day. That is why the dates on the right-hand sidebar are one day after the "Official Release Date."

Apparently things are a bit different for the AAA titles. Yesterday I called the EBGames where I had preordered Fable. The clerk told me that they are expecting Fable at around noon today, and today is the Release Date. I read some stories online about store managers personally driving to the warehouse to pick up their shipments.

The thing is, I consider Fable to be a AA title, not a AAA title. If this level of devotion is for Fable, I truly wonder what we should expect on November 9th for Halo 2. Chosen1 has guessed that sales will begin at 12:01am on the 9th, and I must say that I think he is probably right.

More in the Way of Jumping and Shooting

Well, I have played through a few more sections of Prince of Persia and I am pleased that the game is not flagging or becoming monstrously difficult yet. It is a very entertaining platformer with some tight spots, but nothing that I can't overcome.

I also managed to get in some co-op Halo as well, introducing a noob to the game. He definately enjoyed it. My kids tried as well, with limited success. I think the dual-thumbstick controls are just a bit too complex for ones so young. Maybe I'll just have them stick to platformers for the time being.

Limited XBox time this weekend, as I was Beta testing World of Warcraft (WoW) for a significant part of both Saturday and Sunday.

2 days until Fable!