Blog Archives
Verizon Fios on Xbox 360? Yes, thanks Microsoft
Microsoft has finally made good on its E3 pledge for live TV via your Xbox Live. Verizon Fios was download and we will have a full review later today. Standby..
Microsoft Xbox 360 gets new media content providers; HBO go & more
Microsoft has struck deals with over 30 content providers on the Xbox 360. The full list of companies that Microsoft has brought together are leaders in the entertainment industry. Here’s a short list of those that stand out right away:
- Comcast: Only Xfinity On Demand
- Clear Channel: iHeartRadio will be the only digital radio service on Xbox Live, complete with Kinect support. So Last.Fm going away?
- HBO: A new version of the HBO GO
- NBC Universal: Content from Bravo, SyFy and more.
- Manga Entertainment: Very big catalog of streaming anime.
- Crackle: Sony Pictures Entertainment backlog of movies
- EPIX: MGM, Lionsgate and Paramount catalog of movies.
- UFC: Streaming fights and interactivity like ESPN.
- Verizon: 26 channels from the Verizon FiOS
Microsoft’s existing content providers AT&T, ESPN, Netflix, and Hulu Plus. Microsoft also made friends with some International content providers as well such as BBC (UK), Canal+ (France/Spain), MediaSet (Italy), and SBS On Demand (Australia).
Gears of War 3: The best shooter since Call of Duty? Yes it is, find out why in this review.
Gears of War 3 is not a game that warrants the purchase of an Xbox360. In this day and age you should already have one. That said it is one of the main features to use the Xbox 360 for more than just Netflix & ESPN. Gears of War 3 takes off where it last left off. It is a in your face violent and bloody good time. The conclusion to a very well made series.
You are Marcus Fenix and your goal is the same as it always is; to end the Locust sum that you have been fighting since Emergence Day. As if the Locust were not bad enough, now you are fighting Lambent. They are the worst. They go after human and Locust. That does not mean that the Locust are going to help you. What it means is that you are going to have to load up on some more ammo to kill everything that isn’t human.
Taking cover, aim, fire and repeat is what this game is all about. It has not changed since day one so don’t expect it to change in this final round. That is not a bad thing this game works very well. They are the one that started it off. Mass Effect took to a new level as well as adding a role-playing feel. Gears of War 3 on the other hand is not having any of that RPG stuff. It’s Michael Bay action scene after scene. Chainsaw enemies, lots of fire fights and just pure over-the-top violence.
The Horde mode returns again in this version of the game. You can do it all by yourself or team up with up someone over Xbox Live. If you do go solo the game’s AI does will back you up. If you for some reason never played Gears of War 3; stop go play it and come back to this review. Still here ok fine. I will explain Horde mode. In a nutshell you need to survive 50 waves of enemies. Each wave gets harder. So pretty much it’s like a tower defense game in a shooters body. Beast mode is Horde mode only in reverse. Instead of humans you play as the Locust or the Lambent.
Gears of War 3 is one of the best looking games on the Xbox360. It pushes what this old system can do right to the max. The Uncharted series still has nothing to worry about but Xbox 360 does give it a run for its money. As far as your game play executions go. It should not be different then they were for Gears of War 2. The cover system is unmatched by anything out there with the Mass Effect series coming a close 2nd. That means nothing has changed under the hood and it should not. This is a great game and you should pick it up. Is this Medal of Honor or In Call of Duty but it is the best shooter for now.
Infinity Field: The best iPad game out right now and this is why
Although I used to consider another Infinity game unmatched it seems it has met its match. Infinity Blade by Chair has great graphics and good controls. Angry Birds is fun but it too suffers from the same issue I had with Infinity Blade. They were very repetitive. Note to Angry Birds and Infinity Blade; adding more levels of the same stuff is not good enough. Enter Infinity Field. This game is addictive, has great graphics and most of all the action is random. Surprisingly it is published from the makers of Angry Birds. The developer is Martínez-Almeidais a high school student from Valladolid Spain. He just 14 years old. This was not what I was doing at 14.
To start out with you have the option of Survival or Campaign. Survival mode gives you the option of picking different ships to start out with. As pictured below, the ship is not the only thing that changes. The way you play differs based on what ship you pick. You can play solo or with a friend. At the moment you can only play a friend head to head on the same device. There are plans to offer true multiplayer in the future. For now you are teased with a message of “coming soon” rather than being accessible. Never the less this game still holds up against all. Game Center integration has your high scores as well as friends and leader board kings.
One of the best features in the game is called auto pause. That means if you lift your fingers from the game at any moment the game will pause as pictured below. While this is a great feature. I do not know how well this is going to work once multiplayer does come into reality.
IGN said “I confess. I initially judged Infinity Field by its cover and assumed it was a clone of Geometry Wars: Touch, a rather good twin-stick shooter for the iPad. But that was selling Infinity Field short.” I could not agree more. This is a great product that is good enough for the Xbox arcade or PSN. I can’t wait to see more from this wonder kid.
Pro: The app has auto pause, deep campaign and inviting survival mode. The graphics are on or over par with everything out there. Very good controls that work well with the iPad’s big touch screen.
Con: The only con is no multiplayer. It is coming soon so hang in there.
Cost: $1.99
Aye/Nay: This is a Aye. This game has big budget polish and Independent detail to what the player wants. $2 is worth it.
iTunes Link: Infinity Field HD
Sony PSP & PSP Go are gone (The latter won’t be missed); Sony says hello to PlayStation Vita
This is the way the PSP should have been from the start. With one small exception. The Dives is called PlayStation Vita which means “Life” bit it may be a short lifespan for this device. Sony has decided to go with AT&T as the provider for it’s new device. If the same issues that plagued the iPhone follow the Vita. Gamers are not going to stand for that. A drop call can be redialed. Its a bother but never the less you can start the call over again. If you drop out of a multi player FPS game because of t he network there is no do over. That being said, the system is a great update.
The system will have a 5-inch OLED touch screen, a touch pad on the back, as well, two cameras, one on the front and one out back. The system will also have the always requested two analog stick setup in front. The system will be $249 for Wi-Fi and $299 for 3G. There are 80 games in the works for it right now.
It is too soon to know how well this system will do matched up against Nintendo 3DS. High technology has not helped Sony in the home or portable market. As Nintendo ruled the portable marker even though PSP and PSP Go were technologically stronger systems. The same thing happened in the home market. Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox both are in the lead. Let’s hope Sony gets the clue this time. It’s the games that make the system not the tech unless it is used to enhance the games.
Wii U: Giant remote for Wii or a new way to play games?
I say it’s a little bit of both. One thing Nintendo has always been is forward thinking. Everything they do is not for the sake of what people want but rather to answer the question; “How do we make great games.” They were the first with a 6 boutton controller on the SNES. Everyone soon followed their lead after seeing the advantage. (I say thanks to Super Street Fighter II but that is just me) They were the first to have analog controls on the N64. Everyone followed that as well. Then Motion came into play with with the Wii. It took a little time but soon Play Station with the Move and Xbox wiht The Kinect followed like ducks. To be fair Nintendo may be first but the others always come and make it better. The only thing lacking is game quality at times.
Nintendo has done it again. The Nintendo Wii U is a step in a new direction but if you know your game history something similar has been tried with the Saga Dreamcast. Although Nintendo has taken it to a whole new level. Though Nintendo calls it a system its more like a controller that happens to have a 6″ screen. This thing has the works. It will have a microphone, a gyroscope, dual analog controls, two shoulder buttons, two triggers, a front-facing camera, a stylus, and a touchscreen. Now keep in mind this all going to in your hand. People were saying that the first iPad was too heavy to hold for a long time. Just think what they will say about this.
I will say that Nintendo did beef up the specs to 1080p and with the new controller has jumped off the map. However that is something they like to do anyway. It will just be a matter of time before we know if they are leading on the way or off that path.
Hulu Plus vs. Netflix: There can only be one
Lets start this with some facts. I do my facts with Pros vs. Cons list. It helps me see the bigger picture.
Pros:
- Hulu Plus has a great list of shows and movies from top networks and studios. (More shows than Netflix)
- Hulu Plus cost only $7.99 (Same as Netflix)
- Hulu Plus works with Xbox 360, iPad & PS3 (when Sony is not down)
Cons:
- Hulu Plus has this little thing called commercials. (Netflix has no such annoyance)
- Hulu Plus content does not all work. There are web only content that only works on, well the web
- Hulu Plus is not on nearly as many devices as Netflix yet
Three cons may not sound like a lot but if one pays for a services than there should not be commercials. That is the whole point of paying for the new age of media content. It’s so you can control your own content. It is because of that single reason I will let the free week of Hulu Plus run out. It just takes away from the experience when a commercial pops up that you can’t skip. I feel like I am in the stone ages. When put up right next to Netflix Hulu Plus is not a winner here. Not yet anyway.
Only Xbox Live Gold members who pay the $60 yearly subscription fee will be able to use it. They’ll also have to subscribe to Hulu Plus at a cost of $8 a month. While PlayStation 3 users can use Hulu Plus for free. It’s a better deal than Microsoft’s offer. On iPad it’s a free app that works very well. Back to the Xbox 360 it seems that the implementation of a full controller-free Kinect future is just that. In the future. The motion controller can only be used to browse through a small selection of “popular” shows on Hulu Plus. You can’t search or view your queue using the Kinect. You will find that adding to your queue will be best done on the PC.
When it comes down to it Hulu Plus is a great service. Although since it is a paid subscription service, only the web site should be supported by advertising. My shows and movies should not be interrupted by frequent commercials.
First with some help Redbox took out Blockbuster. Now it’s after Gamefly. They’re starting $2 per day game rentals in June
PSN down and information taken? Xbox about to get another update… Will PSN recover?
With PSN down Microsoft is taking advantage of it. They have started to formally let removed Xbox members back on the Xbox Live. Also Hulu Plus is on it’s way to the constantly updated system. We hear as soon as April 29th. With the edition of the Kinect it seems that Xbox has some life left in it past the normal shelf life of old systems. Although we will see the new Nintendo system at E3. The new Wii system will come out next year. Will Xbox 360 be able to compete with it if it is really HD. Nintendo is know for there innovation.
Compromise of personal information is no joking matter. Passwords, emails and credit card information were all taken by whom ever. It’s no wonder Sony went after GeoHot with so much force. They knew that the system was not safe but no one had a clue that it was this wide open for hacking. One also wonders if the firmware keys released by GeoHot is not to blame for this recent break.
