Xbox 360

If you are an avid Xbox 360 gamer, then you already have – without me having to even second guess – taken your gaming prowess to the next level by signing up for and using the all too popular internet medium that comprises Xbox Live. But let’s not be brash here shall we? Indeed, Xbox Live is a product of Microsoft, their servers and their defunct software. That being stated, we all know that it can be glitch-ridden and frustrating from time to time, or all of the time! So read on further to know why it sucks and how they could make it better!

Top Five Ways that Xbox Live Could be a Whole Lot Better!
1. No more freaking Xbox Live Points! This is a conundrum that really peeves me off! You already pay tons of cash to play the games, but now you have to pay to go Live? Please!
2. Real time servers that are updated! That’s right…how about giving us servers that can actually handle the intense payload that they are struggling to barely cover at the present?

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If you enjoy playing sports games on the Xbox 360 as much as I do then you already know what happens when you try to play your buddies online: the game play changes entirely and the experience is almost nearly never as fulfilling as a same console match up. Perhaps this is because of shoddy engineering. Or perhaps because of different internet connection speeds, who knows for sure. One thing that is prevalent – namely in games like Madden NFL 2009 and NCAA Football 2009 – is that most sports games really dwindle in their offerings once you take them to the online stage.

After having spent numerous amounts of gaming play hours jabbing the controller on a variety of different sports games online, I have come to the conclusion that most sports game blow on Xbox Live. But, to further my point I do present to you the Top Three Reasons Why Sports Games Are Never the Same on Xbox Live. And if you disagree, please feel free to comment in.

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Have you ever wondered what the future of video gaming consoles is going to be? What the next consoles of the future will look like and just what they will be capable of offering to us video game loving masses? If you have, then you may want to take a few moments to read this article and see what our thoughts are on the matter. You might be surprised!

Why Gaming Consoles are Actually Obsolete!
Think about it for a minute. Bulky consoles that overheat, have bad graphics cards and about a million and one issues surrounding them that cause them to be overpriced, when the answer is clearly the internet. If gaming console makers can realize this, they will all convert rather quickly to a purely online medium, as you are already seeing with Xbox Live. In the future, they won’t fret over consoles.

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I know that I am getting old as a gamer when I hear myself fretting about the always changing industry. However, there are some changes that simply don’t make any sense to me at all! For example, when games are radically different, and have spanned a series on the same console, and the newer versions offer less features than their predecessors did. Then what am I (or you) supposed to think? Why take more away and give us less and call it more? Why eliminate sought after features that made such games great? Let’s take a look at three culprits that have done this recently, shall we?

Far Cry 1 and 2
While both versions of this game are great, the first offered closed level boards. It offered an easy to use level builder and same console multiplayer. The second is a massive free-world board that doesn’t relate at all to the storyline of the first.

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The first thing that you will notice is the graphics are amazing on this game and look even better with a high definition television set at your disposal. But what is the most tried and true conundrum of any next generation video game: great graphics do not ever equate to the game itself having much to offer. So, with that notion in mind, I do present to you a graphically superb game that pretty much sucks big time in the end! You are Kamoe and must turn into any ten flora or fauna based alter-egos—like plants, fire and so forth…bored yet?

The game moves in and out of being a strategy based, puzzle thriller to a becoming a first person ass kicker with sloppy camera angles. And fast frame rates do not help you to be able to see what you are doing any better. Popular rumors relate that this title has actually been in the development box for the better part of the past twenty years? Not sure how much truth there is to any of those.

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If you are unfamiliar with the smash hit video game, Rock Band (and yes I know that the second version is already out and selling hotter than nearly any other game ever to be released) then you may not know why it rocks so hard! And for those of you who are familiar with this smash hit title, many of you are already haplessly hooked on its solid offerings and endless hours of interactive, multiplayer entertainment. However, I felt it entirely necessary, and with good reason, to laud and tout this game as it is one of the more enjoyable games that you can play, and for oh so many good reasons. Whether you are a musician or not, a rock star or a normal person: Rock Band Rocks!

Top Five Reasons Why Rock Band is the Shizzle!
1. You can form your own virtual rock band and take over the world of music. Even Guitar Hero is limited in this capacity.

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There is so much that is constantly going on in the world of video games that keeping up with it all can seem, well difficult at times. However, this is why we are always keeping our eyes peeled and our ears to the ground—just in case we hear something, even if only a rumor at first, all to bring it to you! So this time around, we would like to speak about a few upcoming free-world games, some that are expansions and others that are newer sequels that will literally blow your minds once they are released. And you already know that we are oh so fond of those large, open level free-world boards that offer endless possibilities. So when we hear about newer games coming out from this spectrum, we get all giddy inside!

Godfather II: The first game in this bunch was actually a decent game that was loosely based upon the hit movies.

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To begin with, the plot is very weak in the movie. The plot in the cartoon was lame as well. But there is clearly a difference between a cartoon for children that is aged and long since off the air, and a movie that goes big time box office bust. But the dudes over at Hollywood always seem to think that if you blow everything up a whole bunch of times, well then that will sell any movie you like. But contrary to this popular Hollywood notion, they forget that sex also sells. So where are all the hot babes?

In a nutshell, Transformers the Game is really lame! That rhymed! The controls will take a few minutes for you to realize that you can transform into some lame-ass vehicle, hover, fly and use two buttons (in most cases) to shoot things. Wow. In another review that I read about this floppy, sloppy game, the reviewer wrote that if you just set the gun to auto fire you could leave the room and come back in three hours and you would have won the game.

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Rarely do you see any Wild West shooters for any video game system anymore, or ever for that matter. Much less do you see them debut on the Xbox 360. But if you will take a trip back in time with me for a moment, let’s revisit one of the better, first person shooters to ever make its way to the next generation video gaming consoles, namely the Xbox 360, shall we?

Gun offers amazing graphics and a huge, Wild West free world that you could explore on foot or horseback. You are the son a hunter that becomes entangled in a conspiracy that threatens to derail peace with the native tribes and pit the west into another civil war. When your father is killed by thugs, you decide to embark upon a quest to clear his name and figure out just what the hell happened. Amazing graphics and a brilliant plot augment this classic shooter that is most certainly one of a kind.

The controls take a bit to get the hang of, namely with the shooting aspects.

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The lights dim. The crowd grows quiet in anticipation. Then, all of a sudden you are on stage, your shiny Gibson guitar reflecting stage lights, as you hail the massive throngs of eager fans who stand before you, waiting for you to strum that first chord of the monster rock hit you are about to perform. You don’t get nervous; you are a rock star. You can even be Slash for that matter. And, when your pick hits those shiny guitar strings, fire erupts from the sides of the stage, the lights crescendo, and the crowd goes crazy! You are a guitar hero – for the third time, and definitely not the last!

The newest Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero III, has much to offer fans and protagonists the world afar. Better battles, shredding wars, a multiplayer inspired battle mode where you can pit many friends against each other in both the same room and on Xbox Live.

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After playing and beating all of the games that are going to be presented in this article, as the editors we have to be choosy when deciding which games we should present as some of the best free world games of all time. That being stated firmly, there are only three games that can even hope to make this competition, as from our standpoint, a game needs to offer much more than just a free world and open adventure to qualify as the best of its breed! So, on to the top three, at least in our minds!

Elder Scrolls IV: The Oblivion
An Action packed, choose your own adventure, free world, role playing game that is literally the only of its kind. Your character has one of the largest free worlds to explore in video gaming history. Grow your character’s stats by learning skills. Enchant weapons. Create armor and swords, learn how to become a blacksmith, thief, sorcerer, villain, tyrant, vampire, and so on.

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About two months after the release of the long awaited and ultimately disappointing Fallout 3 expansion, Operation Anchorage, finally a newer and far superior expansion has made its way to the Xbox 360 console. And for all of you PS3 players out there, once again you get screwed, as Microsoft retains the exclusive download rights for all added content for Fallout 3 for the next generation consoles. However, if you own an Xbox 360 and you are bored of playing the game because you already have done everything that there is to do, then be bored no longer, this expansion is a hot commodity.

The Scoop
The Pitt is short for Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. A city that has been ravaged by nuclear winter and the aftermath of the world war, which has devastated the people, causing them to grow sicker by the hour and kindled a slave trader stronghold that is ruled by a ruthless warlord known as Asher.

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There are several reasons to spend about twenty bucks on the new GTA IV Expansion: Lost and the Damned. Amongst the highest ranking would be that of adding expanded content to your already boring GTA IV game—if you have already beaten it twice as I have, you will quickly realize that the only things to do afterwards are milling through pedestrians in your fancy, stolen cars, or playing online live play against other would-be thugs.

But, with this GTA IV Expansion: Lost and the Damned you also get improved vehicle handling physics, namely for the motorcycles. You also get more vehicles, and weapons. And you get twenty more missions and a few more side missions. So no worries about the price, the twenty bucks is well worth it!

The main premise is to lead a biker gang to victory. After the leader gets nabbed and jailed you become the leader. Then one day he is released from prison, and now threatens to break up your biker gang.

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So many games for the Xbox 360, so little time to play them all—and especially even less time to devote to games that suck! So, in order to save you time, money and frustration, the following three games are so bad that you don’t ever even need to rent them. Unless you are fond of wasting your own time and money and getting frustrated at shoddy games for the Xbox 360.

Destroy All Humans 2
Another game that touted the illustrious same console two player mode, only to be a big time letdown in the end! After plopping this horse apple into my Xbox 360, I was treated to the same monotony of the first game, which equally blows. Two player mode is terrible. You are confined to one camera angle and the excitement offered is paramount to singing folk songs for senior citizens at the local nursing home!

Two Worlds
How do you spell Elder Scrolls: The Oblivion rip off in nine letters or less? Easy: Two Worlds.

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Street Fighter fans rejoiced at the announcement of the long awaited return of their favorite fighting game to finally debut on the next generation video gaming consoles, namely, and for the purpose of this blog, the Xbox 360. However, I got my hands on a rental copy—as I always rent before I buy, and I rarely buy after I rent, if that tells you something at all—and I was impressed initially and disappointed greatly afterwards.

The game offers a few more characters, some that can be unlocked after you beat the game. The outfits and the graphics have been redone and offer smooth frame rates and transitions with fast loading times. However, they don’t scream high definition and are most certainly lagging behind the desired sixty frames per second of the best video games currently on the market.

The most frustrating part about this game is the controls.

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If you can think back all the way to original Xbox with me for a brief moment, there is a game that I wish to compare this awesome game to: Red Faction 2. Back in the heyday of the original Xbox, destructible environments were rarely seen. Then along came Red Faction 2, and by far, they changed the scenery of good Xbox games forever. So in that tried and true ambiance and tradition, I do present to you, what is perhaps the greatest destructible environment shooter of our day: Battlefield: Bad Company.

The game pits you in the shows of soldiers from the failed B Company—guys that are sent there for screwing up too much in special forces, but that are still highly trained and therefore are sent on clandestine missions to hunt down mercenaries and drug lords, and mostly to catch all of the bullets in their chest before the real pros go into action! The game play features much in-game banter, plenty of vulgarity and has a decent plot that will not leave you feeling too bored in the end.

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First and foremost, I want to make it very clear that I have been a fan of the game Civilizations for many years, ever since the very first game was released. That being said however, I also want to specifically point out that the game has never been without its flaws or abnormalities, of which most have been carried over to the games cross breeding between consoles, from the computer to the Xbox 360. In short: some games, especially turn-based, real time strategy and city builder games like this, are better left on the computer where they will offer far more intuitiveness with the menus and hotkey selections.

If you are not familiar with the game, here is the basic debriefing that you will need. You are a master of your own making. You can choose to lead several different people, at various points during the history of the world. Like most strategy games, you are responsible for guiding your people to greatness.

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I have to lament, and much to the dismay of many fans of the Halo series of video games that has wholeheartedly entertained us all for so very long, spanning three different version of the game, chronologically ordered 1 – 3. But this time around, it’s entirely different and in the same sense, what I found to be very disappointing. Why, you ask? Well, before I go off on this game and why I dislike it, here is a candid note to all of you Halo fans out there: Bungie sold the rights to Ensemble Studios, who totally mucked up what otherwise has been a very eventful, successful and invigorating franchise, up until this, newest version was released.

Think of both of the Incredible Hulk movies, or better yet, Jurassic Park 3, which was sold and not produced by Steven Spielberg, and you have the right idea in mind for how much a letdown Halo Wars truly is.

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Before I even get started here, don’t get me wrong: I have been an avid fan of the Soul Calibur series for many years now, dating all the way back to the Sega Dreamcast days, when Soul Calibur really crossed the boundaries from being an average, hack and slash fighter, over to video gaming greatness. In short: I love Soul Calibur. But I must say, that I think that I was expecting something a little bit more with this game. For instance, why the hell did they give us a crappy Yoda character for the Xbox 360 version of the game, when PS3 fans get to enjoy Darth Vader? And why could they not give us both, the same set of characters.

The, create your own character feature is promising and will yield you some fantastic results, if you are willing to spend the time, of course. Using Yoda, for the Xbox 360 version, pretty much sucks and is very unrewarding.

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There are a many people who are currently suing Microsoft Corporation in a class action lawsuit that claims that the company defrauded consumers by producing lousy systems that they knew to be prone to failures. Namely, the biggest culprit of Xbox 360 gaming consoles failing has become nostalgically known as RROD or, the Red Rings of Death. The Xbox has a power button on the front side of the creamy, white unit. When turned on, it will display four green circles and then light up, and leave on of the corners, or more, lit depending on how many controllers are plugged in at the time of system boot up (you can use up to four controllers simultaneously on the Xbox 360).

If there is a system problem that has occurred with your Xbox 360, upon booting up the unit, the rings that are green, will turn into the dreaded Red Rings of Death.

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If you are as avid of a fan as I am of the Simpsons then you will love the newest game that has finally made its way to the next generation video gaming consoles. The Simpsons: The Game is the latest foray of the animated and colorful family from Springfield, brought to you and to life on the Xbox 360 by none other than Electronic Arts. The game has a rather lengthy intro that looks nearly identical to the cartoon, meaning that the animations and the frame rates are about identical to those that you see on TV, and sometimes they are even better.

In the beginning Bart is caught playing a mature adult video game called Grand Theft Springfield – when Marge catches him and takes it away. Throughout the game, you will explore the lives of all of the lovable family, from Homer – where you are taken on an adventure in his dream about cakes, candies and marshmallows, to Bart riding around on his skateboard getting into trouble all over the place.

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A Creation of Yuke's Media Creations and THQ, WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 for the Xbox 360 is actually one of the best wrestling games that I have ever laid my grubby paws upon the controller over. The graphics are the best part of the game, by far, and are smooth, fluid, realistic and sick. The frame rates are fast, and the high definition vibes that the graphics exudes are simply hard to top, especially considering that this game was released in 2007. While the online play is glitchy and hampered by poor servers and the bandwidths of whomever you are challenging that day, the rest of the game is more ripped than Sly Stallone when he played Rambo.

You can play as any of your favorite wrestlers from the entire WWE roster, and this time around they don’t like plastic molds.

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This game was touted as the most expansive and inclusive soccer title ever, but in the end fails to delivered anything more than the lauded 259 teams that they boasted during the pre launch phases of this game. You will almost never hear this blogger bashing EA Sports because they tend to bring to use the best sports games ever made for the next generation consoles; Madden, NCAA, and so forth. However, with regards to UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 this is entirely not the case!

This game does have a few nifty features, however. You can choose from all 259 teams worldwide, and there are about fifty other side missions that you can complete in the team managerial modes. However, if you screw up too many missions, you will get fired and have to start all over again. The graphics are okay, but the controls need some vast improvement.

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This game I found to be very exciting at first glimpse. You are a famous Viking warrior and you must fend off hordes of the enemy and protect your people – pretty unique concept that does not seem to have been touched upon very much in recent video gaming years. Of course, leave it to Sega to bring us another reclusive game that may or may not make the headlines on the major gaming magazines. When it comes to Viking: Battle for Asgard, unfortunately Sega once again fails to entertain for long periods of time, and the game is not without its major setbacks.

You are pitted in the shoes of a Viking warrior and it’s your mission to hunt down the enemy and free your captured comrades from their prisons. The game features a semi free world. I say that because the terrain is rather limited. You can only walk and trod upon certain places, and others are restricted, and or are closed.

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