So, after my 360 broke I was lucky to spend a week at my parents house for the Christmas season. The nicest part was spending time with my family. However, the nicest 'tech part' of this was playing PS3 and 360 on my brother's 32 inch HDTV. After about thirty seconds I figured out why I should get an HDTV.
My brother (the nicest guy in the world) let me borrow his 360 after Christmas to play my new games and such. However, when you get back home after playing video games on an HDTV you will realize what exactly HDMI capable televisions are needed for.
1) Your eyes don't hurt!
2) They are just so damn pretty!
3) You can actually see what you are playing or watching!
I finally got the chance to play Call of Duty 4 on both consoles for an extended period of time. I must say, this is the most perfect example of Microsoft and Sony needing to combine networks and allow gamers to play the SAME game online.
The PS3 may be more powerful on paper (and in practice at times) but there is a point where you have to ask, what good is this powerful hardware if it only has a couple of games that will ever really flaunt it.
The 360 is a piece of junk, lets just be honest. They break on nearly 50 percent of the consumers (I was a victim on December 7). However, when the 360 is working it is an extremely impressive machine.
The only true advantage the PS3 has is only important if you own a decent HDTV. BluRay has won the "Format War". BluRay playback is all it is cracked up to be...as long as you have a decent HDTV.
If you are a gamer that either doesn't have the money or the mommy and daddy that will supply an HD System to their little wonderful brat. You are in the some boat as me.
Each console has it's perks and drawbacks. However, when you look at what really matters to the average gamer it is "Do I enjoy the game with whatever I have?" My answer is YES I DO! The HDTV is the best thing you can do for your gaming experience. The only trick is finding the money or the nerve to focus on getting one.
Happy Holidays, enjoy your new games and HDTVs! I will be enjoying my borrowed 360 and waiting for my broken $400 system from Microsoft.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Death of My XBox 360 (and My Warranty Woes)
E-74 Error... Just as I watched Call of Duty 4 enter my console I received this message on my screen.
This error means that your cables aren't hooked up properly or (in my case) the Video Encoder is fried. Microsoft refers to this as the ANA chip.
After trying their trouble-shooting ideas to no avail, I decided to call Microsoft and get some support. The person on the phone was professional, however, she also let me know that it would cost me over $100 to get this fixed.
I know some of you are thinking "What about the 3 year warranty?"
Well, that only covers the "3-Red Lights" or "Red Ring of Death" (RRoD). In this case, I only had the lower right quadrant light up as Red. This is where you start to wish that you had the 3 red lights.
After ignoring her offer to fix my $400 console for a quarter of the cost I called in my extended warranty with Overstock.com. It was during this phone call that I was told that I would have to pay for shipping my console to be repaired. This is one key point... Repaired, not replaced with a new or refurbished console but repaired. This means that my 360 will be dismantled by a mystery company in Pennsylvania and hopefully returned in one piece and in working condition.
Not only do I have to send my 360 in, but everything I got with it. This includes my Hard Drive and controller. (I have since made small markings with a sharpie marker that only I will know to look for). This is in order to make sure that I am receiving my xbox in the same state I sent it.
I loved my 360. It was a solid machine for over a year and just as I thought I was in the clear...Poof! It breaks and I am without a console for the holiday season.
My advice to anyone that is looking to get a 360 or PS3 is to get it at Best Buy and purchase the $100 replacement plan. This will allow you to simply get a new 360 or PS3 when/if yours breaks. The plan is worth the extra money and avoiding the hassle involved with dealing in online warranties and retailers such as amazon.com or overstock.com. If you find a great deal online you are usually better off avoiding it if the product is an expensive one like a 360 or PS3.
Overstock.com is making me pay $30 shipping (on top of my $35 Protection Plan) so that makes it $75 and I am beginning to wish I had just gotten my 360 at Best Buy.
Fight the online urge... just get it at a physical retailer and buy the replacement plan.
This error means that your cables aren't hooked up properly or (in my case) the Video Encoder is fried. Microsoft refers to this as the ANA chip.
After trying their trouble-shooting ideas to no avail, I decided to call Microsoft and get some support. The person on the phone was professional, however, she also let me know that it would cost me over $100 to get this fixed.
I know some of you are thinking "What about the 3 year warranty?"
Well, that only covers the "3-Red Lights" or "Red Ring of Death" (RRoD). In this case, I only had the lower right quadrant light up as Red. This is where you start to wish that you had the 3 red lights.
After ignoring her offer to fix my $400 console for a quarter of the cost I called in my extended warranty with Overstock.com. It was during this phone call that I was told that I would have to pay for shipping my console to be repaired. This is one key point... Repaired, not replaced with a new or refurbished console but repaired. This means that my 360 will be dismantled by a mystery company in Pennsylvania and hopefully returned in one piece and in working condition.
Not only do I have to send my 360 in, but everything I got with it. This includes my Hard Drive and controller. (I have since made small markings with a sharpie marker that only I will know to look for). This is in order to make sure that I am receiving my xbox in the same state I sent it.
I loved my 360. It was a solid machine for over a year and just as I thought I was in the clear...Poof! It breaks and I am without a console for the holiday season.
My advice to anyone that is looking to get a 360 or PS3 is to get it at Best Buy and purchase the $100 replacement plan. This will allow you to simply get a new 360 or PS3 when/if yours breaks. The plan is worth the extra money and avoiding the hassle involved with dealing in online warranties and retailers such as amazon.com or overstock.com. If you find a great deal online you are usually better off avoiding it if the product is an expensive one like a 360 or PS3.
Overstock.com is making me pay $30 shipping (on top of my $35 Protection Plan) so that makes it $75 and I am beginning to wish I had just gotten my 360 at Best Buy.
Fight the online urge... just get it at a physical retailer and buy the replacement plan.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
The Xbox 360 Best of 2007
Game of the Year-
1) Call of Duty 4- Best Game Ever?! Just 'google' the game and read for yourself.
2) BioShock- Creepy... Yeah creepy amazing gameplay, graphics and story!
3) Guitar Hero 2/Rock Band- Took over college dorms on the XBox 360, crazy fun!
Sports Game Of The Year
1) All Pro Football 2k8 - A sign from the football gods that there is still hope!
2) NBA 2K8- Fantastic game with great graphics and game play. But it is still just basketball.
3) Madden 08 - A patch five months in the making was too little too late!
Best FPS-
1) Call of Duty 4 - Best Game this year. Online is amazing, the story is like a movie...The Best FPS...period!
2) BioShock- Intriguing story with great graphics and a simple interface. Great game!
3) Halo 3- Halo 2.5 is what this should be called. The numbers don't lie... A lot of people love this game, but I don't.
Best Deal-
1) The Orange Box - Four Games for $50-60!
2) All Pro Football 2K8 - Started too high, but is now only $20 at your local retailer!
3) NFL 2K5- If you want good NFL Football get this game for XBox/360 for $2!
1) Call of Duty 4- Best Game Ever?! Just 'google' the game and read for yourself.
2) BioShock- Creepy... Yeah creepy amazing gameplay, graphics and story!
3) Guitar Hero 2/Rock Band- Took over college dorms on the XBox 360, crazy fun!
Sports Game Of The Year
1) All Pro Football 2k8 - A sign from the football gods that there is still hope!
2) NBA 2K8- Fantastic game with great graphics and game play. But it is still just basketball.
3) Madden 08 - A patch five months in the making was too little too late!
Best FPS-
1) Call of Duty 4 - Best Game this year. Online is amazing, the story is like a movie...The Best FPS...period!
2) BioShock- Intriguing story with great graphics and a simple interface. Great game!
3) Halo 3- Halo 2.5 is what this should be called. The numbers don't lie... A lot of people love this game, but I don't.
Best Deal-
1) The Orange Box - Four Games for $50-60!
2) All Pro Football 2K8 - Started too high, but is now only $20 at your local retailer!
3) NFL 2K5- If you want good NFL Football get this game for XBox/360 for $2!
Mass Effect Review
The story is great, the graphics are great... the game is okay.
I must admit, I was sucked into believing I could explore worlds openly and simply 'be' much like in Oblivion. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Mass Effect will impress most gamers with it's graphics and voice acting. The storyline is compelling and keeps you interested. However, the gameplay and overall presentation feel a bit clunky.
I was under the impression that it was a FPS (First Person Shooter). Once I started playing I realized that it was more like Resident Evil 4 or Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence. That isn't necessarily a bad thing... just a surprise when you are expecting something totally different.
The game starts off decently enough by throwing you in the middle of a time of crisis. You are gradually given background on what is happening. Then you are thrown into combat. This is where the game lacks any real FPS feel.
You are in command of 2 other party members. Your commands are given by using the D-Pad. This means you have four options. Okay, that is simple enough. The problem comes when you realize that to throw a grenade you have to press the 'Back' button. Since when is this button used for anything more than a "Time Out" in Madden? It is very awkward to say the least.
Then you fire your weapon using the right trigger (Typical). The game begins to feel like Halo more and more. And that is a bad thing. When firing your weapon it feels like you are firing blanks. You never see any blood or damage down to your enemy, they simply fall down when they die. When aiming your weapon you have a light blue aiming point that turns orange when on an enemy. This goes along with a radar that shows the location of almost every enemy in the area (unless they have radar jamming).
The biggest disappointment comes when you try to explore. It isn't as deep as most people want to believe. You are destined to get bored with driving your vehicle over terrain, staying away from 'liquid hot "Magma"' and NEVER flipping it over. All in all, the game is just not what I had hoped it would be. Maybe I should play it a little longer. However, it is hard to do that when there are other games to be played.
If you want a number rating I would give it a 8.5/10
Bottom Line-
If you love RPG's and have the patience to deal with learning awkward controls and team management, you will probably enjoy this game. If you like to pick up a game, play it, know it and have fun use your money on Call of Duty 4.
I must admit, I was sucked into believing I could explore worlds openly and simply 'be' much like in Oblivion. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Mass Effect will impress most gamers with it's graphics and voice acting. The storyline is compelling and keeps you interested. However, the gameplay and overall presentation feel a bit clunky.
I was under the impression that it was a FPS (First Person Shooter). Once I started playing I realized that it was more like Resident Evil 4 or Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence. That isn't necessarily a bad thing... just a surprise when you are expecting something totally different.
The game starts off decently enough by throwing you in the middle of a time of crisis. You are gradually given background on what is happening. Then you are thrown into combat. This is where the game lacks any real FPS feel.
You are in command of 2 other party members. Your commands are given by using the D-Pad. This means you have four options. Okay, that is simple enough. The problem comes when you realize that to throw a grenade you have to press the 'Back' button. Since when is this button used for anything more than a "Time Out" in Madden? It is very awkward to say the least.
Then you fire your weapon using the right trigger (Typical). The game begins to feel like Halo more and more. And that is a bad thing. When firing your weapon it feels like you are firing blanks. You never see any blood or damage down to your enemy, they simply fall down when they die. When aiming your weapon you have a light blue aiming point that turns orange when on an enemy. This goes along with a radar that shows the location of almost every enemy in the area (unless they have radar jamming).
The biggest disappointment comes when you try to explore. It isn't as deep as most people want to believe. You are destined to get bored with driving your vehicle over terrain, staying away from 'liquid hot "Magma"' and NEVER flipping it over. All in all, the game is just not what I had hoped it would be. Maybe I should play it a little longer. However, it is hard to do that when there are other games to be played.
If you want a number rating I would give it a 8.5/10
Bottom Line-
If you love RPG's and have the patience to deal with learning awkward controls and team management, you will probably enjoy this game. If you like to pick up a game, play it, know it and have fun use your money on Call of Duty 4.
Metal Gear Solid 4 - A Victim of Corporate Stupidity
NOTE- Both release dates referred to in the blog were later changed and pushed back further...
So, according to Ryan Payton (the Producer of Metal Gear Solid 4) "The PlayStation brand has always been good to us, and we're pretty bullish on the PS3", the producer said. "We're telling our fans that if you want to play Metal Gear Solid 4, you have to buy a PS3."
Sorry Mr. Payton, but you have it the wrong way around. The right thing to say/do would be this:
"We're telling our fans that we want them to be able to play Metal Gear on either console, the PS3 or the XBox 360. This is simply because Sony out-priced themselves on their new console at launch and there are many more owners of the XBox 360 out there to help us make a profit off of this game."
Konami, it is time you understand that by delaying Metal Gear 4 you have allowed yourself to miss out on more people caring about the release of your game. Bottom line, you are releasing Metal Gear 4 on March 1, 2008.
You should look at your calendar more closely and see that Grand Theft Auto 4 is coming out on March 3, 2008. Good luck selling 1 million copies on the PS3 alone. At least Microsoft released their over-rated and over-appreciated Halo 3 before Christmas and set media sales records. Metal Gear Solid 4 will go the way of Metal Gear Solid 2- 'Big in Japan, but no where else'.
So, according to Ryan Payton (the Producer of Metal Gear Solid 4) "The PlayStation brand has always been good to us, and we're pretty bullish on the PS3", the producer said. "We're telling our fans that if you want to play Metal Gear Solid 4, you have to buy a PS3."
Sorry Mr. Payton, but you have it the wrong way around. The right thing to say/do would be this:
"We're telling our fans that we want them to be able to play Metal Gear on either console, the PS3 or the XBox 360. This is simply because Sony out-priced themselves on their new console at launch and there are many more owners of the XBox 360 out there to help us make a profit off of this game."
Konami, it is time you understand that by delaying Metal Gear 4 you have allowed yourself to miss out on more people caring about the release of your game. Bottom line, you are releasing Metal Gear 4 on March 1, 2008.
You should look at your calendar more closely and see that Grand Theft Auto 4 is coming out on March 3, 2008. Good luck selling 1 million copies on the PS3 alone. At least Microsoft released their over-rated and over-appreciated Halo 3 before Christmas and set media sales records. Metal Gear Solid 4 will go the way of Metal Gear Solid 2- 'Big in Japan, but no where else'.
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