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June 07 
"My ultimate goal is to connect people, turn gamers into car lovers but car lovers into gamers," says Dan Greenawalt, the lead producer of Forza Motorsport 3. 
From E3 2009, I witnessed particular games to become excited about. One of these video games is Forza Motorsport 3, scheduled to be released worldwide on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in October 2009. Although the cliché “definitive” was overused at the Microsoft Xbox 360 presentation, I thoroughly enjoyed and was impressed by what I saw and heard about Forza 3 at E3 on G4TV and on the Web simply because the game is fun. In case you slept though the E3 2009 media coverage, Forza Motorsport 3 is an upcoming racing simulator video game currently in development by Turn 10 Studio. It is the sequel to Forza Motorsport 3 and the third installment in the Forza Motorsport series. New additions to the game include an in-car driving view, one button assisted driving, and vehicle rollover. Also included will be the ability to create in game videos and upload them to the Forza Motorsport website. Forza Motorsport 3 emphasizes cars and therefore, is for car lovers. The vehicle list includes over 400 cars/trucks (you can race SUVs) from 50 different manufacturers. This includes Audi, Honda, Nissan, Ferrari, BMW, and several others. How many? Let’s try a recount because these are big numbers. Forza 3 packs in more than 400 "fully customizable and tunable" cars from 50 manufacturers and 100-plus real world tracks. New locations include the Montserrat region in Spain, the rugged Amalfi Coast in Italy, and the American Southwest. Forza Motorsport 3 now sports an in-cockpit view. 
User-generated content was a big feature of Forza 2 and it's going to have a larger role in the sequel. Of course, it wouldn't be Forza without an extensive customization tool. You get added ability to capture video, which can be posted on the Internet for other gamers to see, you can set up a home video arena with up to four screens: three for the track view and one for the rearview mirror, and you can control up to 9,000 variables in setting up your car, everything from gear ratios to tire sidewall flex. The game's paint editor will return. It allows you to decorate your cars using your own designs and put them up for auction online. There's also a video editor that grants you the opportunity to create these elaborate and choreographed clips. It will be easier to find awesome custom jobs for downloading. If art's not your thing, however, you can crawl underneath the hood and tweak and fine tune your ride. From reading articles on the Internet, I learn that the career mode is ridiculously large and thus, very improved. The new career mode features calendar-based seasons. These seasons are controlled by their own AI and are fully dynamic. A new single-player season mode will put you through a completely personalized racing calendar that includes more than 200 different events, including Circuit, Oval, Drag, Drift, and Timed Events. No two calendars will be the same. The game analyzes the types of cars you enjoy racing, the car classes you dig, your skill, and more to determine which races you'd like. It will take hundreds of hours to exhaust the dynamic scheduling. As for the season mode, it's timed to get you fully immersed with all cars, tracks, etc., after about 50 hours of driving time. I expect Forza 3 to “push the envelope” (speaking of clichés) regarding the Xbox 360’s technology and capabilities, particularly the graphics engine. Did you notice the beautiful, detailed backgrounds? A new graphics engine allowed the designers to create models that have ten times the polygons of the ones in Forza 2. You can expect fully functioning cockpits with working dials and other assorted features. Beautiful environments, like the mountain range and lakes that surround the Camino Viejo track, whiz by at a smooth 60 frames per second, and a variety of driving options ensure that practically anyone can have a good time behind the wheel. Forza 3 will be an easier ride. Turn all of the auto-assists on, and you can drive doing little more than hitting the accelerator and turning left and right. Auto braking makes a big difference. There is automatic suspension-setup tuning, an auto-brake can slow your car around the track so all you have to do is steer, and if all else fails, there is a five-second button that allows you to replay the five seconds before you crashed. One of the biggest additions, is Rewind. You will be able to rewind the action after you make a mistake or simply decide to tackle the game a different way. Rewind serves really well as a teaching tool. I remember holding a lead throughout an entire race, when I hit a car I was overtaking near the end, spinning out, and having my car damaged, which loses credits, and even losing the race. Rewind solves this. Of course, these assists can be turned off and gamers earn more money if they race without the aid of assists. However, the game doesn't penalize you for using them either, as players can still gain Achievements and experience everything Forza 3 has to offer even if they need some help. Turn them off and you'll find that Forza 3 offers a challenging and realistic driving experience that, if you're not as skilled behind the wheel as you think you are, might give you a great opportunity to roll your car and check out the impressive damage modeling. Each of Forza 3's vehicles takes realistic damage. Hit something hard enough and you'll scrape the paint, dent the body, shatter windows and even flip the car. The online multiplayer mode gains an all-new game rules editor. New Xbox Live scoreboards will display not only the greatest racers but also the most prolific car tuners and painters in the community. Forza Motorsport 3 will push the disc capacity beyond its limit, with the game to ship on two discs. Disc one is the full experience (and even disc one is bigger than any other racing game out there) and disc two includes a lot of extra cars, even a handful of tracks (i.e., cars and tracks that can be downloaded onto the Xbox 360's hard drive). Look a price of $59.95 or $79.95 for the collector’s edition.
Quote of the Day:
Their’s not to reason why, Their’s but to do and die...
--Alfred, Lord TENNYSON
Psalm 90:2,4“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. | June 06 Project Natal and the motion sensing controls will be my lasting impressions of E3 2009. But exactly how soon will this new generation of game controls become commonplace? It appears that the Wii will soon have the advanced motion sensing capabilities and that the PS3 motion sensing controls and Xbox 360’s Project Natal will be emerging in 2010. We’ll see. I’m not the most accurate prognosticator of upcoming technologies. No single console or platform dominated E3 2009. For me, Microsoft had the best press conference, emphasizing game play. Both Nintendo and Sony talked too much and became too philosophical at times. For me, the Xbox 360 still offers the best games and especially with Xbox Live, the highest quality gaming experiences. I also like a good number of the Games for Wii and DS but only a few for PS3/PSP. With Wi-Fi connectivity, at least Nintendo is making some effort in improving socially with their gameplay, especially with the Nintendo DSi. While Sony's PSN is free, the overall quality of PS3 online gaming remains inferior and the Home Beta experiment has been a failure because it has not largely engaged gamers.
Microsoft is now beginning to see profits from the 360. Of course, Nintendo dominates in terms of console sales with both the Wii and the DS. Did I hear correctly that Sony Corp. lost $50 million in profits in the last fiscal year?
In a weak economy, the PS3 is simply overpriced and while the the PSP is selling decently, it does not have the broad appeal of the Nintendo DS.
Is PC gaming making a comeback? We'll see. In the future, with the advancements and improvements of mobile games and Internet on cell phones, will that put a dent in the sales of handheld game consoles and their games?
Quote of the Day:
When you come to a fork in the road...take it.
--Yogi Berra
Ephesians 3:17-19“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. | 
Approximately 40,000 people are expected at The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, in Los Angeles, on June 2-4. There will be plenty of media coverage at the show. In previous years, I visited websites, read blogs, and conducted E3 search requests at Google (for websites, news, and blogs). In recent years, I’ve caught the televised coverage by G4TV (on channel 191 on my Dish Network) and Xbox Live’s coverage with my Xbox 360 console. During recent E3 conferences, I’ve also interacted online at G4TV’s website (including chat) and at forums (primarily the Xbox.com forums). And I have surfed at social media sites, mainly MySpace and Facebook, for E3 and video gaming information. And of course, E3 is all over the place at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=e3+2009. E3 websites which I visit include: Besides following E3 coverage on G4TV, at websites, and via Xbox Live (channel 191 on my Dish Network), on online blogs, articles, and podcasts at sites such as 1UP, GameSpot, IGN, Xbox.com,and on my Xbox 360 console via Xbox Live, I plan to follow E3 via Twitter. And there are websites hosting Twitter coverage of E3. For example: If you are unfamiliar with Twitter (www.twitter.com), Twitter is a free social messaging utility for staying connected in real-time. Twittering may be accessed with a PC or a cell phone that is Internet-enabled. Twitter has become a phenomenon in the Web 2.0 universe. Twitter is a social messaging and microblogging site for staying connected to people in near-real time. Users send “tweets”, text-formatted posts of 140 characters in length, to “followers”. Followers subscribe to these Twitter feeds, getting regular updates on their computers and smart phones. The social networking site has experienced a recent explosion of new subscribers with diverse backgrounds and using the service for a variety of different purposes. I enjoy using Twitter because it is a practical and useful way for me to keep informed. 
Basically, there are two ways which I will follow E3 updates on Twitter: (1) I will follow tweets from http://twitter.com/e3expo, http://twitter.com/majornelson, and from others: (2) I will follow updated Twitter search results, such as http://search.twitter.com/search?q=E3. At only one click away, “E3” is a saved search topic on my own Twitter “home” page. You are invited to follow by tweets at http://twitter.com/silverfox863. Clicking on my E3 search results is practicable me because it provides instant access to E3 comments and updates from everyone on Twitter who tweets about E3. Mixing an exciting E3 (back with 40,000 + people) and the Twitter craze will provided us with a most entertaining and very interesting week of E3 coverage. Quote of the Day:
Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.
--General Omar Nelson Bradley 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. | May 29 
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, kicks off in Los Angeles next week. E3 runs from June 2-4 and there will be plenty of announcements and products to show. The annual event is used by game publishers and makers of consoles and related equipment to show off new products for the coming year. Annually, E3 marks a big moment for the video game industry and its fans. The Electronic Entertainment Expo may be back on the upswing after two years of downsizing but that doesn't mean the gaming industry's once showy spectacle known as E3 is returning to its heyday of a few years ago. Although the video game industry is surviving the current economic downturn, expect them to adapt with price cuts of consoles and other “deals.” About 70,000 people flocked to the Los Angeles Convention Center to see the latest in video games back in 2005. While only 40,000 are expected next week, that's still far more than the 5,000-person guest list of recent years. One of the most exciting parts of the expo is the three first-party conferences held by Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony each year. You can expect some major announcements from each company about its game lineup and hardware plans for the rest of 2009 and 2010. Much of the talk leading up to this year's event have centered on new hardware, such as 3D motion-sensor controls and innovative handhelds, as well as possible price reductions for existing consoles. Returning are the splashy booths, where more than 200 exhibitors will attempt to build buzz for games. Among the most anticipated that are likely to be on display: a new "Rock Band" featuring The Beatles; a Tony Hawk game that utilizes a skateboard-shaped controller; the psychological thriller "Alan Wake" and the first follow-ups to such popular games as "Mass Effect," "Army of Two," "Assassin's Creed," "Modern Warfare," "Red Steel," and "BioShock." A wave of fitness games, an expanded lineup for Nintendo's popular Wii console and, possibly, hardware price cuts, are all expected to be major themes at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It is expected that the new PSP to be more iPod-like, ditching the UMD, and could potentially have tilt/motion input. After showing off the redesigned PSP, Sony will up the ante and show a slimmer, redesigned PlayStation 3. Sony should significantly reduce the price of the PS3. Microsoft is expected to reveal it’s 3D-motion sensing camera for the Xbox 360. As always, all three console makers will showcase games and more games. Yes, Nintendo will gloat with sales charts for it’s Wii and DS. But will Nintendo unveil new Mario and Zelda games? Now that Apple has a successful gaming platform with the iPhone and iPod touch, software designed to run on it will take center stage at next week's E3. The iPhone and iPod touch have both been phenomenal successes, especially since the debut of the App Store less than a year ago.
Quote of the Day:
I haven't spoken to my mother-in-law for eighteen months—I don't like to interrupt her.
--Ken Dodd Psalm 103:17-18“But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. | May 24 
After playing the demo for Tiger Woods PGA Tour demo on my Xbox 360 a few times, I can already inform you that in terms of game play and controls, the most significant change and upgrade is in the putting game. It is called Precision Putting. However, the general feel of the game, particularly drives, approach shots, and chips, are very similar to its predecessors of 09 and 08; even in the rain. The demo in the full game, supports dynamic weather conditions, a new commentary team and broadcast style introductions. Of course, rain, along with wind, adds to the realism and feel of this game. Over and over, on the replay, I enjoying watching the rain water “spit” and splash as my golf ball barreled its way for my birdie at Turnberry, in Scotland. However, I saw no caddy to hand me my golf umbrella afterwards. LOL :-) On the full version, we will be able to select the actual weather conditions for a course’s location via the Weather Channel or manually select our weather conditions for certain modes of play. The demo provides four holes from two of this game’s new golf courses: Turnberry (home of this year's British Open) and Bethpage Black (home of this year's U.S. Open). The demo also permits us to take part in a two hole practice round at these two courses. The demo also previews the new Tournament Challenge mode by offering the famous 17th hole at The Players Stadium Course - TPC Sawgrass, to play. In Tournament Challenge we can participate in a single challenge from this feature in order to get a preview of the mode. There are a number of feature preview screens for us to read about the other features in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. A demo is not the quality of a finished, published edition, but it provides a significant snapshot of coming attractions for me, especially in terms of controls. Playing this demo helps because for me, this old gamer, Precision Putting requires a learning curve in terms of both adjusting my reads to prepare for a putt and then actually executing a successful putt. In Tiger Woods video games from the past, the player had various putter options that needed to be selected depending on the distance from the hole. For example, a putt of ten feet could not be made with a putter of a fixed length of five feet and below. Of course, this scenario was very unrealistic in terms of the real game of golf. And the problem with a system like this is that feel suffers, since the user needs to be constantly aware of the maximum distance that the chosen putter can go and thus, adjust accordingly. With the new system, called Precision Putting, the player only carries around one putter that has a maximum distance of somewhere over one hundred feet. After a learning curve, we will get used to reading greens in terms of slope and weather conditions in order to choose the amount of force imparted on the ball, rather than having to do percentage-based math such as trying to hit, for example, 60 per cent of a ten foot putter for an six-foot putt. In the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 demo, my reads at first seemed as easy as previous editions, but the putts are somewhat more difficult to make, coming up a foot or five short. Determine a solid line in the pre-putt view takes more precision thinking and adjusting now. Yes, putts are more difficult to sink; so I am hitting more pars when I used to sink birdies and birdies when I used to sink eagles. I’ve had about five hole-in-one shots in 09 so far. Will these also be fewer and farther between on these beautiful par 3s? 
This demo is available for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. From playing the demo, I instantly noticed the different camera angles and broadcast presentation. The broadcast style of the game has also been tweaked to enhance that sense of playing in a huge match. ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt has been added to the booth to offer up his expert, pre-recorded opinions on the action. Camera replays have changed to seem more like we are watching it on television too, giving the game an overall feeling of playing a real golf match. I found an interesting note regarding this new commentary team, featuring Scott Van Pelt and Kelly Tilghman. Wasn’t Tilghman briefly suspended for making a poorly-judged comment about lynching Tiger Woods in January last year? New courses and competitions are on offer as well, with the US Open the big draw among the new options, but USGA rules and structure are also available. Among the 16 courses in the game, five will be new: Turnberry , Bethpage Black, Oakmont, Hazeltine, and Torrey Pines. The other 11 courses: Bay Hill, Firestone, Pinehurst No. 2, East Lake, Pebble Beach, TPC Sawgrass, Saint Andrews, Doral, Wentworth, Harbor Town, and TPC Boston. If the past is any indication, there will be more courses available post-launch as downloadable content, but only for those willing to shell out the money. The EA Sports Live Tournaments, the game’s biggest new feature, will be set to allow players to compete against one another in sanctioned competitions and even to go up against professional golfers. EA Sports Live Tournaments comes with three choices. There are daily tournaments, where we have to shoot 18 holes and can compare our scores on leaderboards. There are weekly tournaments, where you play for four days out of a week and also compare scores with other players. There are the Pro Tournaments, which are set to be special events taking place during real life pro tours. We will see the players compare their scores with those of the ones registered by real pro players.
Quote of the Day:
The degree of one's emotion varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts - the less you know the hotter you get.
--Bertrand Russell
Romans 12:10“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. |
Uno Rush brings a frantic, fast-paced feel to the Uno experience.
There are two major changes in the newest version that completely change the experience.
First, every player can see every other player's hand from the very beginning of the round. No more bluffing, no more cagey feints, just flat-out card throwing.
Secondly, our turn is timed, and we have precious few seconds to make our decision and play our card(s). The resulting experience is Uno at breakneck speeds.
The catch with Uno Rush is that we have about five seconds to play your cards and rather than actually selecting and playing a card, it is our job to properly sort your hand.
When our turn comes around, if a playable card is at the front of your hand, it automatically plays. If the next card combos with that first card, it plays, and so on.
While the game frantically moves from player to player, we are trying to organize our hand to combo away as many cards as possible while also keeping on eye on the other players in order to guess what color or number will be on top of the pile when our turn comes around.
The entire game is like this, frantic and hectic, but it does keep us thinking.
Concentration and anticipation are key in Uno Rush.
We may choose to slow down the game when playing with house rules but in normal games it is pretty quick.
We can arrange your cards at any point in a game but the challenge comes from being able to anticipate which cards will be played so we can arrange our hand accordingly.
Card arrangement is key in Uno Rush and being able to do it quickly and efficiently will allow us to come out on top.
There are full Avatar support, Xbox Live Vision camera functionality, Xbox Live Party support, online matchmaking, local multiplayer, and just about every other feature you could want from an XBLA game.
We can even create your own house rules by tweaking game modes, speeds, Command Card rules, penalties, and more.
The developers really went all-out to make Uno Rush a rich experience.
Quote of the Day:
It is not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog!
--Anonymous
Ephesians 1:7“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. | November 16
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Microsoft
Release Date: November 19, 2008
With the New Xbox Experience, or NXE as it's called for short, Microsoft is bringing quite a few changes to the Xbox 360 that you know and love. Some of the changes are minor, some are major, but all of them are permanent. Once you update to the NXE dashboard, there's no going back. Since the update is required if you connect to Xbox Live, it's time to say goodbye to the blades and get ready to embrace change.
The NXE update goes live early Wednesday morning, but we've taken an early look at the software so that you'll know what to expect. Unlike prior dash updates, the NXE requires external storage. This means that you'll need either a hard drive or a memory card (128MB or greater) attached to your Xbox 360 in order to properly install the NXE dash. If you own an Xbox Premium, Halo or Elite edition, you're good to go, as all of those systems came with hard drives. If you own an Xbox Core or Arcade system and haven't upgraded with a hard drive, you'll want to head over to the Xbox Storage Upgrade Program and take advantage of one of the upgrade offers.
Once you're set with the storage requirements, the only thing you need to do to get the update is wait until Wednesday morning rolls around and then connect to Xbox Live. When you connect, you'll receive the standard message about your console requiring an update to connect to Xbox Live. Accept the update, and it will download and install automatically. Unlike previous updates, however, the NXE install occurs in two steps. After the first part is applied, the system will reboot and then apply the second part. You'll know that the update is finished when a short intro video plays and the Xbox 360 displays the Welcome channel.
The Welcome channel highlights some of the new features of the NXE dash as well as introduces the new navigation layout. Instead of going side to side to switch blades as in the original dash, you'll move up and down to switch between channels and then left and right to choose between individual screens within a channel. Pressing the green A button drills down one level, while the red B button cancels as normal. For the hardcore who can navigate the current dash blindfolded, it'll take a little getting used to, but casual users will appreciate the new graphic-heavy interface. You don't always get as much information on-screen with the new dash, but the presentation is a whole lot cleaner.
With the new dash installed, it's time to log into your profile and create an avatar. Avatars are customizable characters that represent you while you're hanging out in the dashboard as well as in games specifically created to support them, such as Scene It?: Box Office Smash and Bomberman Live. Your avatar can also be used in a virtual photo shoot to create a custom Gamerpic.
The creation process starts with one of 10 randomly generated avatars, but if you don't like any of the options on-screen, just press a button to make them scatter, and another 10 will take their place. After making a selection, you can then tune just about every part of your avatar: clothes, face, hair, etc. The idea here isn't to make a photo-realistic mini-me, but rather to create something that represents your personality. You can save different outfits and are free to edit your avatar at any time. Although you have a good number of character options, the clothing selections were somewhat limited when we gave it a go. Hopefully more choices will be available down the line.
Among the NXE dash's most anticipated features are the new install-to-hard drive option and the ability to stream Netflix movies if you're a Netflix subscriber. To install a game to the hard drive, you simply put it into the DVD tray and bring up the game options, which reveals an "Install to Hard Drive" option. Clicking on that starts the process. Depending on the size of the game, a hard drive install can take 10-15 minutes, so it's not something to do when you're in a rush to play. Once installed, however, a game runs entirely off the hard drive, and you'll only need the disc when starting the game. This is done as a protection against piracy. Running from the hard drive saves wear and tear on the DVD drive, and it's also quite a bit quieter. If you've ever compared the Xbox 360's DVD drive to a jet engine takeoff, you'll appreciate the silence.
Setting up the Netflix streaming requires two things: an Xbox Live Gold membership and a Netflix subscription. If you have those two components, then it's simply a matter of running the Netflix application and syncing your Xbox 360 with your Netflix account. This is done by generating a sync code on the Xbox 360 and then entering that code onto the Netflix Web site. From there, you can stream your Instant Viewing queue directly to the Xbox 360. No computer needed. If you have a large video (or audio) library on your home computer, the NXE dash can play back the same content as the old dash. It also connects to Windows Media Center in the same manner.
Menu navigation speed has been noticeably improved, both on the local console as well as when browsing through the lists of arcade games and other online content available for purchase. You can now freely flip through pages and pages of listings without the associated "load lag" that was common on the old dashboard. Content can be sorted by theme as well as alphabetically. This allows for both general browsing as well as quickly grabbing that one specific item you know you want.
About the only place we really noticed any lag was when pressing the guide button. This brings up a "mini" version of the old blades interface and takes about a second to load. Once on-screen navigation is instantaneous, bringing it up will garner a small wait. The content on the mini-blades has been shuffled slightly, but for the most part, it attempts to mimic the old system. It's also available at any time.
Making its way to the Game Marketplace is the Community Games category. Publically tested nearly a year ago, the Community Games category consists of games developed with Microsoft's XNA Games Studio. These are games that are developed by gamers just like you ? hobbyists, students and the like. Instead of using a full Xbox 360 dev kit, Community Games are developed on a PC connected to a standard, retail Xbox 360. Anyone is welcome to give game creation a try, and the best peer-reviewed titles will make their way here.
One of the minor (but welcome) changes is the ability to delete zero Gamerscore titles from your played games listing. Try a game and decide it's not for you? Have a bunch of zero point titles taking up space in your list? You can delete them at will. No, you can't delete any game in which you've earned at least one Achievement.
The last change worth mentioning is the new Party mode, which allows you to create a virtual group of gamers who move from game to game as a group. Waiting for someone to join up? Kill time with an arcade game or chatting on the dashboard. Once everyone's together, the host can start the main game for everyone. Party mode also has support for a special photo-sharing mode, allowing you to plug in a camera or USB stick and let everyone see your shots.
Upgrading to the NXE dash is a big change for any Xbox 360 user. Microsoft hasn't simply added features with this update, but rather given the system a major overhaul. In some ways, it's like getting a brand new system. It still plays all the same games, but the community features have been greatly enhanced, and the system is a lot more accessible to casual gamers. Compared to the original launch system, the Xbox 360 has come a long way, and it keeps getting better.
WorthPlaying - Xbox 360 (X360) , PlayStation 3 (PS3), Nintendo Wii, Xbox, PlayStation 2 (PS2), GameCube (NGC), PSP, Nintendo DS (NDS), GBA, Windows PC - All about games !
Quote of the Day:
Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.
--Dr. Laurence J. Peter
Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. | August 07 
Thirty years after exiting pro football's coaching ranks, John Madden still knows how to execute a winning game plan. About to start his 29th year of network NFL broadcasts, Madden has developed a bigger-than-life personality — boisterously punctuating plays with "Bam!" and "Boom!" — and has earned 16 Sports Emmys. He bashed through walls in a string of Miller Lite TV ads in the '80s, and his career in commercials continues for Ace Hardware, Outback Steakhouse, Sirius Radio and "fast-actin' " Tinactin. PHOTO GALLERY: 20 years of 'Madden' MYTH OR REALITY: More on the Madden curse MADDEN MEMORIES: Share memorable moments from the game Then there's the product he's most known for: the Madden NFL video game. With more than 70 million copies sold, the franchise celebrates its 20th anniversary this year in high style. There'll be a "Maddenpalooza" at L.A.'s Rose Bowl with rock acts and video kiosks. And as usual, lines are expected (and workdays will be missed) when Madden NFL 09 hits retailers at midnight Tuesday. "We don't so much as launch Madden any more, we celebrate its arrival," says EA Sports president Peter Moore. Even today, Madden remains incredulous about the game's success and was skeptical from the beginning. "It's easy to say, 'Aw, yeah, hell I saw it coming,' " he says. "But I never did." In 1986, Trip Hawkins, founder of software firm Electronic Arts, asked Madden to help create a football game. Madden, then with CBS, taught a Football for Fans college course on the side. "I thought maybe I could use this tool, and high schools could use it," he says. For authenticity, Madden demanded each team have 11 players. It took nearly four years to achieve that technological breakthrough. "In those days, any kind of game was always three on three or four on four," Madden recalls. "I said, 'If it's not 11 on 11, it's not a real game.' It had to look like NFL football." The first edition of John Madden Football, with blocky, slow, Lego-esque characters, was designed for the Apple II computer. This year's versions, with high-def action and digital facial scans, arrives Tuesday for Xbox 360, Wii and DS handhelds and Sony's PlayStations ($30 to $60; collector's anniversary edition, $90). Madden helped build EA. "That whole idea of having Madden help design the game, that whole point of authenticity, gave birth to the brand identity for EA Sports," Hawkins says. The game has generated $2.4 billion in sales since 1995, when research firm NPD Group began tracking sales. "The property has been among the top 10 franchises each and every year, and most of those, it was among the top five," says NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "There are only a handful of elite properties that can claim that sort of success." Alternative rockers and hip-hop artists vie to be on the soundtrack, just as NFL players jockey to compete in the annual Madden Bowl tournament during Super Bowl week. The game even has a reality show, ESPN's Madden Nation (its fourth season begins next month), with top players competing for $100,000. The franchise also made John Madden a household icon, right beside Mario and Pokémon. With young teen males, the Madden game ranks with the GameBoy handheld, the Grand Theft Auto franchise and Microsoft's Xbox Live online network in terms of consumer likability, says Henry Schafer of Marketing Evaluations, which produces the so-called Q ratings measuring public affection. Madden the man rates even higher. His familiarity rating of 60% with the general public and above-average likability rating put him "in the company of Brett Favre and Joe Montana and not that far behind Tiger Woods," Schafer says. "The unusual thing is how pervasive he has become in and out of the sport. He's transcending his profession." Madden waves off any discussion of his finances. But Madden's Madden earnings, estimated by Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter at $2 million to $3 million a year, make up the largest portion of his income. His longtime agent, Sandy Montag of IMG, would say that Madden has sustained his client's marketability. "Arguably, John is known among certain circles more for his video game today than he is for anything else," he says. "He's almost had three separate lives: a coach, a commentator and video game guy." More juice Madden executes his daily activities from his studio east of Oakland, built in 1995. Notoriously opposed to flying — he's claustrophobic — Madden re-cords game video and commercials there as well as his Daily Madden 10-minute report on Bay Area radio station KCBS. Not on the premises: his tricked-out motor coach, the Maddencruiser, in which he travels the country. Madden comfortably moves into the role of storyteller, a tactic he uses in the broadcast booth, too. He says he has gotten used to NFL players' obsession with their portrayal in the game. "I go to practices, and some guy, you don't even know where it came from," he says, before bellowing in his familiar gravelly baritone, " 'Hey, Madden, I need more juice.' They all need more juice." Over the years, only one player has told him different: former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith. "I was at a Cowboys facility. They had been playing Madden in the locker room, and he was watching someone play as the Cowboys, and he was saying, 'I was watching me in the game,' and he goes, 'I'm not that good. You have me too good,' " Madden says. "But he was the only one." NFL players eagerly await the game because it's a popular pastime at preseason football camps — and to see how they rate. "You want to see how the guys who make the game view you," says NFL Network analyst Marshall Faulk, a former All-Pro running back and cover athlete on Madden NFL 2003. New twists Madden knew he and the developers had achieved their goal of making the video game seem as if players were controlling an NFL broadcast when he heard Fox Sports chairman David Hill say, "One of the goals (Fox has) is to make their game on television look like a video game," says Madden, who analyzed games on Fox for eight years. "I thought, 'We've gone the whole circle. We wanted to look like them, and then they wanted to look like us.' I'm proud of that." Each year, Madden adds new features, some for realism and others to feed fantasies. "At one time, it was just playing the game. Then there was ways you can change your roster, and then you can be the general manager and then owner and coach and player," Madden says. "That's what people want today. They want to be. There was a generation where 'I want to sit and watch.' Now there's a generation where 'I want to sit and do. Or I want to be.' " In one new feature, Madden appears, in a holographic effect, to administer a skill test when you start the game. You perform several drills (running and passing the ball, tackling and rushing the quarterback) in a virtual training camp. The game uses the resulting rating to adjust to your skills. "Now they get a grade, so they can see they have a number," says Madden, who also appears for pregame, halftime and postgame analysis. (In the past, he has also handled commentary, but this year Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond make their debut on the newer platforms.) The L-shaped wing that makes up his office has a replica of the Super Bowl trophy from the Raiders' 1977 win, Emmy statues, a bronzed shoe from his days as a Raiders coach and a Pro Football Hall of Fame bust. In a weird twist, the video game became part of the Hall five years ago — in its own interactive exhibit — three years before Madden himself was inducted. "It makes me feel the game has been accepted as a historical part of the history of pro football," he says. As John Madden would say, 'Boom!' His NFL game turns 20 - USATODAY.com July 31 With all the speculation currently surrounding Madden NFL 09 cover athlete Brett Favre and his pending return from retirement, EA SPORTS used Madden NFL 09 to predict how the future Hall of Famer would perform on a select group of NFL teams reported to be in contention for his services. Comparing the full-season simulated results between teams with and without Favre, the Minnesota Vikings stand to gain the most with Favre under center, while the New York Jets also went from missing the play-offs with their current roster, to making the post-season with Favre as their QB. Brett Favre is currently a playable character in Madden NFL 09, on the "NFL Greats" roster. In Franchise Mode, players can transfer Favre to the free agent roster pool, and pick him up on any of the 32 NFL teams for the 2008 NFL season. Multiple news reports have named four NFL teams that Brett Favre may play for this coming season - the Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings. Listed at News : Madden NFL 09 : EA Sports are the results of the 2008 NFL season simulated in Madden NFL 09, with Brett Favre starting for each of these NFL teams.  
 
Available nation-wide August 12, Madden NFL 09, the First Sports Game That Adapts To You, introduces over 85 new features and enhancements. Whether you are a seasoned veteran, or a franchise rookie, Madden NFL 09 will continuously asses your skills and adjust the gameplay to keep the experience both fun and challenging, all while training gamers to become better Madden players. Madden NFL 09 also includes a brand-new broadcast presentation package featuring Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond, online leagues, and the most realistic graphics in franchise history. News : Madden NFL 09 : EA Sports Quote of the Day: He who laughs last has not yet heard the bad news. --Bertolt Brecht John 1:12-13“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.”
Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved. | July 26 Game Informer dissects the overall performances of Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony at E3 2008. Personally, for me, this was the most unimpressive E3 as far as entertainment of the coverage, but there are some “funtastic” video games on the horizon on for each console. Microsoft
As far as the big three console developers are concerned, the general consensus is that Microsoft “won” E3. There’s no doubt that they had the most announcements, new features and even some surprises–an important component the other contenders sorely lacked. The Good
Live In-Game Footage
Microsoft gets extra points for showing live footage of their most anticipated titles–not simply showcasing pre-rendered footage and trailers. Watching Todd Howard give Fallout 3 a go, seeing Resident Evil 5 playable for the first time, and checking in on Fable 2 was a treat–even if the geniuses behind the games need to work on their aim. 
Co-op Resident Evil 5
How did Microsoft win the right to announce co-op for Resident Evil 5? Fable 2 Gone Gold, Introduces Orb System
When an anticipated game goes gold, it’s always good news. Peter Molyneux began his Fable 2 screen time with the announcement and then proceeded on to highlight a new feature integrated into co-op online play. Via floating purple orbs distributed in the Fable world, players can now instantly invite their friends to play at any point in time during the single-player campaign. Brumaks And The Horde
Sure, Cliffy didn’t spell it out for us, but at the end of our “live” Gears of War 2 demo, Dom and Phoenix implied that we’ll have a chance to mount a Brumak after taking out their pilots. Giggidy giggidy. We also learned of a new five-player co-op mode called Horde, which will pit players and their friends against unending waves of Locusts. Multimedia Partnerships
After playing the numbers game during the Microsoft press conference, Don Mattrick–senior vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business unit–announced partnerships with NBC Universal and Efflux. The partnership with NBC Universal allows users to download shows like Heroes, The Office and Battlestar Galactica via Xbox Live. Microsoft also announced that they have entered an exclusive partnership with Netflix, which will allow you to instantly watch more than 10,000 movies and television shows. The best part? There’s no extra cost if you’re already a Netflix Member. 
Interface Redesign
John Schappert–the corporate vice president of Interactive Entertainment Live–unveiled one of the highlights of the entire press conference. A new Xbox 360 interface will be hitting the console with the next system update. The redesigned and retooled interface does away with the current content blades, and instead opts for a simple/sparse tiered design. We wonder if the plan to delist Xbox Live titles will still go forward with this new announcement. Xbox Live Love
Microsoft also announced that Geometry Wars 2 will be making its way exclusively to the Xbox 360 next month and will support four-player co-op. Galaga Legions–a new version of the old-school shooter–will debut around the same time. Lastly, Microsoft also announced Uno Rush, 1 vs. 100, Portal: Still Alive and a new South Park title for XBLA. Rock Band 2 Tracklist
Not only are AC-DC and Bob Dylan confirmed to be on board the Rock Band 2 train, but this will be their first time ever appearing in a music video game. As one would expect, the two rock legends will be joined by dozens of other artists. During the press conference, the entire Rock Band 2 tracklist was revealed. Here at GI, the team is pretty excited about The Replacements and Modest Mouse, among others. Microsoft Scores Final Fantasy XIII
After showing off Star Ocean: The Last Hope and Last Remnant, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada dropped a bomb on us. Final Fantasy XIII will be coming to the Xbox 360. No longer a PlayStation 3 exclusive, Final Fantasy XIII will be releasing for both systems simultaneously. The Bad
No Halo Wars
With Halo Wars expected to come out before the end of the year, we figured it would make an appearance at the Microsoft press conference. Sadly, Halo Wars was missing in action. Combine that fact with the decision to halt Bungie’s big E3 announcement from surfacing, and there seems to be no love for the company that was once Microsoft’s bread and butter. What?
Avatars
If information about these avatars hadn’t been leaked a few weeks back, this announcement would have been much further out of left field. While the general consensus is that the new Mii knock-offs are fine in theory, the execution of them is up in the air. Lips
There’s no debate when it comes to Lips–the name is outright horrible. However, the game might not be so bad, if you’re into that kind of thing. Lips will allow players to plug in their Zunes or iPods and import DRM-free songs to the game. Lips will also use wireless mics equipped with LEDs and motion sensors to bring a whole new level of realism to the experience. During the press conference, the game was demoed for the first time live by the artist Duffy. You’re In The Movies
Evidently, you have to play You’re In the Movies to really enjoy it. We all agree that it looked pretty goofy on stage, but when tested out with our own GI staff it was decidedly more fun. The game uses the Xbox Live Vision Camera to turn minigames performed on camera into fake movie trailers. Simple, yet entertaining. Take note Nintendo. Nintendo
Well E3 has come and gone. One of the big talks of the show was Nintendo’s press conference sadly because of the lackluster job they did talking about their new line-up. The Good
Nobody Died
Nintendo’s press conference wasn’t a total bust. There were definitely some nuggets of info to take away. While they didn’t focus on it at all, there was an announcement of a brand new GTA title for the DS called Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. And that was it, nothing else was revealed. They also announced Animal Crossing: City Folk, which everyone will enjoy. It adds a new auction house for friends and a DS suitcase to bring your saved game in. It’s great that we get a new AC game, but it also leads us into…. The Bad
Same Game, Different Name
So while AC: City Folk is a new game, we could have never guessed. The game has no updated in graphics at all. Instead, we get a few new features tacked onto a game that’s becoming a Frankenstein. Sure the city is a new concept for the game, but besides adding the auction house all it really does is add new items, move/add a few shops and allow you to stick your Mii’s head on the main character through an in-game mask. If you’re a fan of the series, you deserve more if you’re going to be paying full price (again). 
Wii Music Out Of Tune
While Nintendo seem to put their biggest focus on it, Wii Music fell flat in front of an entire auditorium of press. It started out pretty cool with a guy ripping it up on a drum set using the Wii remote, nunchuk and balance board. They way he demoed it made it seem like you could just play like you’re at a drum set and the system would track where you hit and correspond to the right cymbal/drum on the set. As it turns out, it’s a convoluted control scheme that’s far from Nintendo’s “friendly” moniker, yet because it’s the Wii, anyone can sound halfway good. The game’s music selection is public domain, Nintendo hits and licensed tracks, and from what we can tell, there’s really no gameplay beyond flailing around to a metronome. It’s not hard to figure out why they made the title (a huge explosion in music games), but we doubt it has the depth or quality to keep anyone busy for too long. What?
Hope You've Been Saving Up
What’s up with the new peripherals? Wii MotionPlus works great, but it when we asked a Nintendo rep, he said consumers had to buy it with Wii Sports Resort or separately. New Wii owners will still have to shell out for something that should probably be packed in. Nintendo also left the entire third-party development community out of the loop. 
A Sound Investment?
The other new piece of hardware announced was Wii Speak. What is essentially a speakerphone for your console; it will bring Nintendo an inch closer to having some sort of structured online service. While we haven’t tried it out, it’s going to be tough to see how it will pick up a players voice from the TV without causing a lot of noise from game sounds and other player’s voices, not to mention any ambient sounds. Not Phony
The last item on the list was the conference itself. From where we were sitting in the Kodak Theater, we had a great view of both the stage and the rest of the press in the audience. Host Cammy Dunaway triggered a few snickers and a lot of perplexing looks as she regaled us with boring stories about breaking her wrist on a ski trip. At one point, we looked over and even saw the teleprompter telling her to “smile” while on stage. Sony
Sony’s press conference wasn’t all that flashy, in spite of what those banks of...flashy...Sony TVs might have had you believe. They showed off a solid lineup of games and features, but didn’t fill the event with too many “wow” moments. However, it’s better to take things conservatively and deliver than attempt to wow a crowd of jaded reporters, analysts and other assorted industry types and fail miserably—remember 2006? The Good
Movie Downloads
Sony finally rolled out its movie-download service, and it did so in a big way. Not only did attendees learn about how it worked—with partners including MGM, Disney, Paramount and Sony Pictures—but they also discovered that the service was going live just hours after the official announcement. With all the talk about the PlayStation 3 being a media hub for the living room, it’s great to see more features that support that philosophy. Being able to look at pictures from your digital camera only gets you so far. 
LittleBigPlanet Kept The Crowd Awake
During the obligatory “here are a bunch of numbers” section of the press conference, Sony Computer Entertainment of America President and CEO Jack Tretton invited Media Molecule’s Alex Evans onto the stage for a little illustrative help. As Tretton trotted out sales projections and other assorted figures, Evans guided LittleBigPlanet’s Sackboy through a custom-built level that was essentially a more entertaining version of the PowerPoint slides we’re all accustomed to. Not only did Tretton get to toot Sony’s horn, he did so in a way that virtually ensured that the audience was actually paying attention. PSP Gets Lots Of Love
Yeah, those movie and TV downloads are cool, but let’s face it—Microsoft got there much earlier. Sony wisely added support for its PSP, though, so users can transfer downloaded programs to the device. For those who like to keep their games and multimedia separate, there are a ton of new PSP titles on the way, including sequels to LocoRoco and Patapon and portable versions of Super Stardust and Resistance. As Tretton pointed out, Sony is the only company with three successful hardware lines, and it’s clear that it’s going to make the most of it. Say Goodbye To The 40 GB PS3
Sony’s phasing out the 40 GB core PlayStation 3 in favor of a new 80 GB version. While the additional space is already a good deal, better still is the fact that it’s going to sell for the same price: $399. It’ll come bundled with a DualShock 3, too. 
The Bad
Underwhelming Reveals
There wasn’t anything capital-b Bad about Sony’s press conference, but there were plenty of missed opportunities. We all knew God of War III was coming, but getting a quick glimpse at it through a teaser trailer was probably the most underwhelming way to reveal it. Seeing Jim Lee do one-armed pushups was impressive, though his entrance actually upstaged the lackluster footage he showed from DC Universe. We all know what Superman looks like—showing him walking on a street isn’t really all that compelling. How about showing off some of the user-created heroes? And while MAG (Massive Action Game) is a great concept, what with 256-player battles, that’s all we got to see—a video showing off a battle. How about some game footage? The WTF
Nice…Bundle?
We like to save money as much as the next person, but Sony’s family-friendly PSP bundle left more than a few of us confused. If you are on the market for a PSP and like A) Ratchet & Clank B) National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets and C) Echochrome, boy, has Sony got a $199 deal for you.
Quote of the day:
Crime does not pay ... as well as politics. - Alfred E. Newman Hebrews 11:1“[By Faith] Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
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