OMG! I can't login! The forums look different! Settle down, read this.
Apparently some people are still having problems logging in. If you're Slash, it's because you can't friggin read, so I doubt this will be helpful to him. Anyway, if you're having issues logging in, try to request a password. If your email address is up to date, you'll get a password. If not, contact an administrator. If all else fails, just make a new account - it's easy.
Yeah, really! Check out the Official Announcements in the forums for details and you could win them. Put them towards clothes for your avatar or something useful like the Resurgence Map Pack. You have until July 22nd to get signed up!
Anandtech is running a story about the hardware of the new Xbox 360. They took it completely apart and looked at its guts. The rundown is: it consumes less power, makes less noise, and has much better cooling hardware.
One question has been answered (sorta): There will be no more RRoDs with the new one. I say that because there are no red indicator lights on the front; the green lights flash when there's a problem.
If you really want to see the guts, see the story at Anandtech.
This was Microsoft's keynote announcement at E3: a new slimmer 250gb Xbox 360. This means the fat Xbox 360s are cheaper and the Xbox 360 Arcade's days are numbered. This is all in preparation for the release of Kinect (formerly Project Natal). The slimmer Xbox 360 has a dedicated port for Kinect that supplies power and signal to the peripheral, but you can still use the original Xbox 360 with Kinect but you have to plug it in to power.
I have to say it's a damn sexy device, but I'm wondering why they left out Blu-Ray. Oh, that's right: Microsoft is so pompish to think physical storage is going out of style and we're all going to download movies. I don't have that much faith in my broadband. Nintendo was so stubborn with the move from cartridges to CDs, but they turned out doing good in the end even though they moved to CDs late in the game.
Ok, the goods on it: it's quieter, it has more storage, and Microsoft got their heads out of their asses and put integrated 802.11n on board. Here I am wondering how I'm going to run CAT-5e to my Xbox in my new house, when I could just get a new Xbox 360 (or not). Apparently the buttons are a bit different, but I heard the indicator lights are kind of dim. Combine that with the quieter console and sometimes it's hard to tell it's even on if you like to play with the TV turned off.
I'm sure everyone has it on their mind: are all of the cooling issues fixed with the new Xbox 360? Is the RRoD been fixed? Time will tell.
The online television-on-demand service Hulu has been announced to come to Xbox 360, iPad, and other devices. This is a real game-changer for the television providers as many people would surely give up their cable service and pay for Hulu so they can watch pretty much whatever they want. Add that to Netflix and... who the hell needs cable? Sadly, cable companies still boast the fastest internet speeds available (besides FiOS), so it makes DSL sound not as appetizing when it comes to viewing those movies/shows in HD.
The official announcement is expected to be made at E3 June 15-17.
What's become a gaming platform in its own right, as highly expected, Apple announced the next iPhone: iPhone 4. Steve Jobs said it has over 100 new features, but only discussed 8. In the gaming world, it will come with 6 axis accelerometer control and a very crisp 324ppi display. The 324ppi goes beyond what your eye is capable of seeing so it's as smooth as it gets. A forward facing camera for video conferencing and the usual camera on the back. Jobs said they didn't want to get into the megapixel war like most phone makers are battling, they pursued the dynamic element of photography: low light, crisper images, etc.
It will be available June 24th, preordering starts June 15th. $199 for the 16gig model, $299 for the 32gig model and that's new 2-year contracts with AT&T. AT&T is supposed to be working on a deal for current iPhone owners. Take it from an iPhone owner by a couple years, get the 16gig model as I haven't made a dent in the storage on my 16gig iPhone 3G. If you really like retro tech, the iPhone 3GS is now $99. iPhone 3G is officially retired.
As we've never really talked about gaming on the iPhone, here are some I recommend:
- Xplane Extreme
- Sim City
- Rubehouse
- Wolfenstein 3D
- Doom
- Defend Your Castle
- Sheep Launcher
If you ask me, it took too long to get the first DLC for Modern Warfare 2. They've made up for, however, the release of the Resurgence map pack soon after the first Stimulus Package. I feel sorry for Infinity Ward since this is the second DLC for MW2 where things didn't go completely smoothly. It wasn't until nearly 2pm that the map pack appeared on the Xbox's main screen. I had to go through the market place, look for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, realize it isn't listed as Call of Duty, then look for Modern Warfare 2 under "M", and find the map pack there. For 1600 Microsoft Points (about $19.99 when you buy 2000 points) you get 5 new maps.
Here's the skinny:
- Trailer Park - a very tight, maze-like map with interconnected house trailers and oddly enough (WTF moment) airplane fuselodges and jet turbines. There are 3 main thoroughfares on this map: one on each side of the map and one through the middle. Other than that, you have to know the map pretty well to get through it with all the twists and turns.
- Carnival - a rather large map. It's pretty randomly laid out like most carnivals, but the landmarks are all unique and easy to make callouts.
- Strike - A flashback map from COD:MW1 with a couple of changes. First, there is a backdoor to the building by marketplace and I'm told, although I've only seen it blocked off, you can get on the roof of flower shop. There is also a mortar launcher on flower shop, but I doubt you can use it.
- Fuel - This is the largest map of the game. It demands all styles of play: wide open areas, indoors, and very close-quartered combat.
- Vacant - one of my favorite maps from COD:MW1 and another flashback. This is an old Soviet office building with a couple changes. The big one is the caged entrance to the office area will be open on certain game types.
If you don't have it yet, are waiting for it to download, or can't afford it, then you can check out the video here. See you guys online!
Never got into Gears, but I know a lot of you guys have. It's my understanding there's never been social matches (WTF???) until now. Catch is, you have to shell out the catch to buy the new multiplayer maps. Leave it up to Gears to turn game components into whores. You spend millions to make a game only to make millions more off of it and the franchise it creates, then you can't give the people something they should've had in the first place for free? Sounds like swallowing a horse and choking on a fly later.
But business has taught me you have something people are addicted to (like so many people in my friends list) you can charge them whatthehellever you want and they'll gladly shell it over.
That's enough spewing about a game I've never played. I'll go back to waiting for the new Modern Warfare 2 maps.
