XCL Halo 3 Holiday Tourney Results
Posted by Jaken Bear in Community, XCL Event on December 16th, 2007
Great games everyone! I have never scored like this so it was interesting to see how it turned out. When I first designed the scores I forgot that I cannot have 16 people playing in one large rocket race. So therefore the score bonuses for the rocket races were essentially doubled and this has skewed the results some what. I thought about halving the bonus but I didn’t think I should take any scoring liberties after I basically put them in the rules. Winning both rocket races (for example Jake and MVD did) does skew your results somewhat. That being said MVD still did great and congrats to him. Additionally Team Ghost struggled in the team games and Ic0n was getting by far the largest penalty due to his EXP so that explains the lower scores.
The final adjusted score placings are:
1. Master Von Dorf - 163.1 - GOLD Medal
2. PimpGangstaPoet - 159.1 - SILVER Medal
3. Jaken Bear - 142.7 - BRONZE Medal
4. Krossroad - 141.2
5. Ophidion - 131.1
6. Havoc Smurf - 128.4
7. Geekess - 125.2
8. Ikaruga65 - 120.8
9. Captain Carson - 110.0
10. Chaos Smurf - 107.7
11. Night Chicken - 106.7
12. Ancient Dragoon - 102.4
13. Hitman Inc. - 98.2
14. The Ic0n - 51.4
15. LX Xtreme - 46.0
16. Skeleton73 - 27.6
I had a great time and thanks to everyone for showing up, participating and having fun. In the last round we all went to the beach on Last Resort and posed for an XCL tourney pic. Check out either of the two that Ophidion snapped on the 14th here
Thanks again all. Another XCL tourney success!
Some more pics from the Group Photo
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- Night Chicken
Mass Effect Community Day Wrap up
Posted by Jaken Bear in XCL Event on November 9th, 2007
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 Bioware was nice enough to invite some community members to their evil lair (nestled away nicely in Edmonton, Alberta) for an early chance to play Mass Effect, tour the studio, and meet some of the creative people behind what I predict will be game of the year, perhaps even the of the decade. After spending a day immersed in the world of Mass Effect, the only thing bad I can say about the game is that “I’m not playing it right nowâ€.
When my time was up, and they came to collect the controllers I didn’t want to leave. I was right in the middle of an engrossing story line that grabbed me from the start and that I won’t be able to stop thinking about until I get the game back in my grubby little hands when it launches November 20th.Let me cut to the chase. Mass Effect is fantastic, glorious, beautiful, immersive, and even from the brief few hours I had a chance to play I can tell you this is the real deal. Is that enough hyperbole for you yet? Well it’s all true. Of course, none of this should come as any surprise when you look at who is behind the game; those wonderfully talented frozen game doctors at Bioware. Enough well deserved praise though, let’s dig into Mass Effect. Before starting on your journey, you need to choose or create your character. A default male and female option are available for use, but it’s a lot more fun to take the time and dive into the game’s many customization options. As mentioned above, you can choose to play as either a male or female “Sheppardâ€. The last name is locked, but any first name is fair game. My favorite during the morning demo was of course “German Sheppardâ€, followed closely by the great and powerful “Awesome Sheppardâ€. Your choice of sex will have an impact on a few of the romance plots, as well as the obvious things like being addressed as him or her. The facial creation system is fairly robust as you can modify and tweak a variety of things such as eyes, cheeks, nose, moth, hair, skin tone and much more. Just be sure you’re happy with what you create because once you start the game, it can’t be changed. Speaking of the faces though, the facial animations and lip synch work on all of the characters is excellent. Not only that but during dialogue the camera will change angles giving everything a cinematic feel.
Once you are happy with how you look, its time to choose your character’s background history. The three options were spacer, colonist and earthborn. As a spacer, you have existed your entire life on a starship, and being in space comes as second nature. The colonist knows the difficulties of trying to establish a life in space, while the Earthborn was raised in the slums on earth and will have a mean edge to them. During the game, certain subplots may or may not be available to each type, and certain characters will show bias or favoritism towards you. On top of your background history, you can also choose your characters “psychâ€. The psych profiles have more to do with a major event that has shaped your military career so far. It is basically what defines how you will behave or react to a variety of military situations, and as with your background, certain characters will either praise or resent you for what you’ve done in the past. The “ruthless†psych has to do with a past military event where you famously went to far, beyond the limits of normalcy, and enacted or took part in an act of revenge outside or normal protocol. The “war hero†psych means you were instrumental in securing victory in one of humanities greatest victories, and people revere you for those acts. The final option, the “sole survivorâ€, has you having survived against all odds in a great battle where most perished.
The final choice you will have to make before starting the game is your character class. Among the six you can choose from are Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel, and Vanguard. Depending on what you choose you will specialize in certain areas such as weapons, tech, or biotics. For instance, the Engineer class is a tech specialist, and excels at things like repair, decrypting security systems, and modifying technical equipment. On the flip side they are limited to using only light armor, and can only level up their pistol skills. If you want to focus on weapons, the soldier is probably the class you will want to use. A soldier can specialize in assault rifles and pistols, as well as wear heavy armor. As someone who enjoys shooting first and asking questions later, this is the class I chose. As Mass Effect is a class based action RPG, the importance of balancing your squad out becomes important. Using my soldier class as an example, I will want to seek party members who specialize in biotics, and probably keep an engineer around to open those tricky doors. The developers even mentioned that one of the classes (Vanguard I think) is heavily focused on hanging back in battle and providing support for your two other squad mates rather than engaging directly. The coolest thing I saw was that once in game and choosing your party members for a mission, it will let you know how your party ranks overall in weapons, tech, and biotics. So what you choose for a character class will have a great impact on how the game plays out. This adds enormous replay value that will have you playing through several times.
One of the best things I found out about was how the save system works. In previous games such as KOTOR, if you wanted to play multiple characters at once, you had to keep track of what game saves belonged to what character. I can’t tell you how pissed I was when I overwrote my 40 hour evil Jedi save with my 10 hour good Jedi campaign. In Mass Effect, the concept of “careers†is introduced. Each career is where you keep all of a particular characters game saves. As an example, when playing as “Jake Sheppard”, when I go to save my game I will only be able to see all of those character specific saves. That way, when I am off killing mindless aliens as Lauren Sheppard, I can’t impact or accidentally overwrite any one else’s save files. The save system also allows you to save anywhere except when you are in combat. I’m not sure if scary music plays just before ambushes in this game, so to be safe, save early and often and you should be fine.
With all of the house keeping out of the way, its time to actually start playing the game. It’s a testament to Mass Effect’s design that even in the character creation screen you have already been role playing and learning about your version of commander “Sheppardâ€. The game opens with a gripping cinematic score and right from the start you know the journey is going to be something special. After a brief introduction to some key characters and a bit of back story, you are sent out on your first mission. During this intro section of the game, you are able to converse with several characters and get a bit more information on the story so far. There is also an informative codex in the menu screen that keeps and catalogues important information. The thing that really grabbed me right away is just how natural the conversation system really is. Every line of dialogue is spoken, so unlike in previous titles such as KOTOR, everything has a more natural flow too it. And rather than choosing from a set of predetermined lines when responding, you actually choose the type of response or what the general emotion you want to convey is. So for instance, if you are getting fed up with someone, rather than choosing a full line of dialogue like “Ok I’ve had enough it think its time I goâ€, you instead choose something like “Shut Barney Upâ€. It is very dynamic and engaging to direct a conversation this way, and really means you have to role play your character like never before. It’s actually kind of fun to react how you would in a real life situation, and see how the story plays out. Later in the game you can even increase your charm and persuasion skills, and this unlocks further dialogue choices you may not have had before. One of the developers even mentioned that a few key plot elements could be solved solely by working through a conversation tree in the correct way, and a battle could be avoided altogether. It will be hard to go back to the old way of conversing in an RPG; because the way Mass Effect does it just feels so natural.
The combat system has seen several iterations during development, and has been shown in various forms over the past few years. I remember a few years back seeing the ability to pause combat, and strategically place squad member destinations on the map like a chess game. All of that is gone now. You can still pause the action by bringing up the combat or tech wheels (LB or RB), but this just allows you to switch out weapons and ammo types without any penalty or losing your edge in combat. The direction Bioware finally settled on for combat was an action / strategy hybrid with a fairly decent cover system. At times you will feel like you are playing a solid third person shooter, while at other times it will feel more like a tactical action game where flanking is the key to victory (think Full Spectrum warrior only you are pulling the trigger). Since you do have unlimited ammo, when you are in cover there is no blind fire as we’ve been seeing in a lot of game recently. Popping in and out of cover works really well, but if you don’t use cover expect to die more often than you survive. Rushing headfirst into a combat situation is not the recommended approach, even as a soldier. To combat the fact that you never run out of ammo, each weapon can overheat. This prevents you from just holding down the fire button and spamming an area with bullets.
You have several options at hand to dispatch the many enemies you will be facing. There are the traditional weapons such as pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles. Throughout your adventures you can find variations and different weapon models, and they can also be modded and upgraded. If that’s not enough, there are also various ammo types you can find such as armor piercing or explosive. Combined with your player class abilities, you can really focus in on what works best for you in a particular situation. As an example, in some combat I decided to try out some sniping. Being that I was playing as a soldier, and that my character was very low level, the sights bobbed up and down rapidly. With a lot of effort I was still able to line up my shots, but it was less than optimal. If I had a class focused on sniper skills, eventually I would be able to greatly improve my aim and steadiness with the long rod. Once again, Mass Effect is all about customizing the game how you want to play it, and focusing on the combat choices that you enjoy. It’s a testament to Mass Effect’s design philosophy that two different play throughs of the game could be so varied and unique. If shooting and blowing things up is not your style, you can focus more on technical skills and biotics. Biotics are akin to magic in a way. You can do things like throw an opponent across the screen, or disable their weapons ability to vent heat, making them into harmless fools.
After spending some time on the first planet, and then getting to the sort of hub world of the game know as the Citadel, one thing became very apparent; there are a ton of missions and side quests in Mass Effect. Everywhere I went I was presented with an opportunity to help someone out, or unravel another morsel about the story. I can see easily being distracted and just losing my self in the world Bioware has created. The galaxy map on your ship, the Normandy, is simply one of the coolest maps I’ve ever seen in a game. If you want to talk about seeing some epic adventure laid out before you, taking one look at this galaxy map will do the trick. While the developers we met with never discussed exactly what it would be, they did say that Mass Effect would support post release downloadable content. My guess would be things like new weapons and armor, as well as new planets to explore. Nothing confirmed on that front. What they also talked about was Mass Effect 2 and 3, and how they really wanted a way for you to take your character from the first game, over onto these sequels. They wouldn’t actually specify how they were going to accomplish this, but did mention the team had a Eureka moment and once they do reveal those plans that we would be satisfied with the solution they came up with.
A few more things I want to mention before I go back to my perpetual state of dreaming about playing Mass Effect again. Graphically, the game is gorgeous. It is by far one of the best looking games I’ve seen up and running on the 360. The art design, and the overall feel that this is a living breathing universe is fully realized. One thing I noticed was that a “film grain†feature is on by default, as well as “motion blurâ€. You can turn these on or off in the menu options if you like, but I found they gave the game a really attractive look. The character models and facial animations are breathtaking. Having a conversation plays out as if you were directing your own sci-fi adventure. While certain creatures borrow here and there from space lore such as star wars and star trek, for the most part the Mass Effect universe and the species that inhabit it look unique.
In a few short weeks, the rest of world will finally be blessed with the chance to play Mass Effect. They will get a chance to create their own version of the Commander Sheppard story, and dive into what has to be, at least in my opinion, one of the most ambitious games ever made. |
Project Gotham Racing 4 Interview
Posted by Jaken Bear in XCL Interviews on October 2nd, 2007
XCL recently had a chance to chat with Ben Ward, Community & Web lead over at Bizzare Creations, about the recently released Project Gotham Racing 4. Not content with resting on their laurels after the critically acclaimed PGR3, Bizzare seems set to once again innovate and deliver a knock out punch to the racing genre. With the introduction of super bikes, along with dynamic weather and more cities than ever before, there is plenty of racing goodness to satisfy. Take it away Ben.
PGR2 innovated in the online racing space on the original Xbox. PGR3 launched the Xbox 360 and continued the innovation with an integrated online career mode and Gotham TV. How is PGR4 set to innovate and leave its mark on the genre once again?
I think it’s going to be a combination of features which allow PGR4 to leave its mark. We haven’t really got one single super-killer feature which we’re putting all our eggs into – we’ve got several. Motorbikes, dynamic weather, new online modes, a stats web site, an iconic vehicle set, a brand new career mode, photo mode enhancements, etc. etc. We’re hoping there’ll be something for everyone to like in PGR4, regardless of whatever “your thing†is.
Can you talk a little about the dynamic weather and how it affects gameplay? What are the different types of weather we can expect?
So you might start a race in overcast conditions, with plenty of clouds brooding in the sky. Half way through the race you might see the rain start to fall, and after 2 or 3 laps it’ll be a full blown thunderstorm. Of course this affects your vehicle dynamics, meaning that you’ll have to adjust your driving style on the fly. The types of weather are pretty varied – we have rain, fog, snow, storms, ice, etc.
PGR4 is introducing bikes into the mix this year. How have you balanced the bike vs. car mechanic to ensure a fair game experience for all?
It takes a lot of time to balance the two vehicle types. We’ve got a dedicated dynamics team, and a dedicated test team. Both of these are in-house, and they’ve both been working on car to bike collisions for many months now. The process is one of iteration, just balancing them again and again until they feel perfect to race with.
How many different types of events will we find in career mode?
Errmm… lots! There are championships (a series of events one after the other), invitationals (special one-off invites to unlock vehicles), and majors (huge end of season events which you face off against the rest of the racing world). Each of these types contains different game modes, like Hot Lap, Street Race, Superstar, etc.
In PGR3 driving for Kudos typically resulted in worse times. How will this be balanced with the new focus on Kudos?
We’ve played with the Kudos system a little to allow different styles of gameplay to shine through. Getting Clean Line Kudos now helps people rack up scores for getting the perfect racing line through corners. However, the game still encourages the player to find that balance between speed and style… that’s a focus in PGR and one which gamers tell us they love.
Gotham TV was a big hit in PGR3? How has that concept evolved in PGR4 and what community sharing features can we look forward to?
It’s evolved into PGR On Demand – a brand new service which allows you to upload and download a variety of content including ghosts, replays, and photos. You access it directly through the main menu of the game (just pick “PGR On Demandâ€), but it also pops up from time to time in other places too.
The service itself is run by a new technology called the “Content Serverâ€. PGR4 is the first and only game to use it so far, but considering the tech is now part of the overall Xbox Live spec you can bet that other titles will follow our lead in the future (just like you saw with Photo Mode uploads, Gotham TV, online tournaments, etc.). The content server itself allows players to upload and sort various pieces of content, and then recall them in a way they see fit. For example, want to see a replay of Enzo Ferraris racing in Macau? No problem? Want to see a photo of a Kawasaki in a snowstorm? Just search for it.
Can we save and share replays with friends?
Sure can – that’s the beauty of PGR On Demand!
Will you be able to race with guest(s) online?
Yep!
Thanks for your time and see you on the track! Any final words for all of the Project Gotham Racing fans around the world?
Thanks for listening! If you’ve got any more questions, pop over to www.bizarrecreations.com . Several of our dev team regularly haunt the community forum there, and are happy to be chatted to.
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Jaken Bear’s X’07 Top seven
Posted by Jaken Bear in XCL Event on September 20th, 2007
Recently Xbox Canada hosted their annual fall media showcase event. Typically a press only affair, these last two years the event has been opened up to the gaming community. Those lucky enough to earn a golden ticket were given a rare chance to check out and get hands on time with the games that will comprise the most amazing holiday line up in video game history. Overall the event was a great success. The venue was perfect, and the set up was a gamer’s dream. And despite some unforeseen power outage issues, the organizing team came through like champs and made sure everyone still had a good time. Generators were flown in via drop-ship (or so they said), power was restored, and it was game on. Below you will find my top 7 favorite things about this year’s X’07 event.
7. The XNA games - Everybody wants to make games in their basement right? Well these guys are actually doing it. Thanks to Microsoft’s amazing XNA initiative, games are being made my passionate gamers that can actually be played on their own Xbox 360 consoles and shared with other members of the creators club. There were several titles on display for the community to check out, including War Pong, and the recent winner of the XNA dream, build, play contest, Blazing Birds. Blazing birds can best be described as a one on one badminton game with robots and some amazing visual effects. As someone who has dabbled in XNA game development, I can tell you that what these guys have done is truly amazing. Making games is a difficult endeavor, but at the same time can be very rewarding if you put the effort in. Again though, the coolest part of XNA is that you get to play games you’ve made yourself on your beloved Xbox 360
6. Viva Piñata Party Animals - “You like Piñatas?” you ask? Well, I am man enough to admit that yes indeed I do. The original Viva Piñata provided hours upon hours of entertainment in our household. My girlfriend even ascended to the upper echelon of piniata-dom and reached the highest level possible - level 108. That basically meant she grew every plant, bred every animal, and spawned every variant. VP party animals takes all our favorite stuffed candy vessels and puts them in over 40 mini games. You will find your self powering sail boats with belches, racing down steep slops, and collecting candy all while battling up to three other piñata players. So far it looks like this could be a hit with a wide range of gamers, and the 360 lineup is definitely short of these type of party games. Give it a chance when it launches this fall, and you may be surprised.
5. Project Gotham Racing 4 – The PGR franchise has always taken the lead in innovating the genre. This year’s version introduces two new features to the series. For the first time you will be able to take high powered bikes out on the track, and even race them against their four wheeled brothers. Then again, this is no moto-gp, and the bikes handle in a very “arcade” manner. Trust me though, this is a good thing. The last thing you need is to be sent flying by some jerk in a Ferrari. The second thing added this year is an amazing dynamic weather system. I never thought I would get the chance to race a high powered Porsche through the streets of Quebec City in a blizzard. And if all of that wasn’t cool enough, the game is set to explode in the online space with something called Project Gotham Racing live. You will be able to share videos and pictures from the track, as well as watch the top racers or friends battle it out for road superiority.
4. Mass Effect - The most amazing looking game I’ve ever seen. Seriously. The characters look so lifelike and react to actions you can take at any time while conversing. Think of it as an interactive movie, where you drive the direction of the plot. Unlike past Bioware titles such as Knights of The old republic, you only get to choose a general direction to take the conversation in. There is not canned sequence of responses to choose from anymore. The best part is that you can interrupt people in mid conversation. So if that Krogan is really ticking you off, choose an aggressive response mid sentence, and watch the fun unfold. Add to this some pretty unique third person squad based combat that unfolds in real time (you can pause it if you like for more tactical responses) and this November is going to change how we think about RPG’s.
3. Halo 3 Forge map editor - Most people at this point have seen a ton of Halo 3 coverage. Be it by participating in the beta or reading an exclusive in a magazine, Halo 3 is out there and in everyone’s mind. So it was really cool when Bungie gave a live demo of their new map editing tool: Forge. To understand what Forge is, think of it as a giant sandbox that you can play in with your friends. Only instead of toy shovels and beach balls, you get to manipulate giant warthogs and fusion cores. The possibilities are endless, and on top of what is looking to be an amazing single player campaign, the multiplayer feature set is going to keep us playing for years. It’s kind of a disservice though to call it Halo 3 “single player”, since the entire game can be played through via live or system link with three other friends. You can even save movies of your exploits, and share them for the world to see. September 25th can’t come soon enough.
2. ROCKBAND – This fall, you may as well call this game the “create a rock superstar in a box” game. Get together with four friends, either over Xbox Live, or in your living room and let the good times roll. There really is nothing else aside from being in a real band like the satisfaction you get from creating music and feeling like the next big thing. X’07 was my first chance to play the game, and I immediately felt right at home rocking it out to “Tom Sawyer” with Microsoft VP Jeff Bell on vocals and Knuckles Dawson from Xbox 360 fanboy on guitar. We had a drummer, but he has since been kicked out of the band. We are currently looking for a replacement if anyone is interested. It’s a testament to Rockband’s fun factor what a set of plastic instruments can make people do in front of a large group such as was present at X’07. I even had a chance to try out vocals for a few songs and let me apologize to anyone’s ears I might have hurt in the process. Seriously though, I was awesome (in my own mind, and that’s what counts).
1. The Canadian Community - The best thing about X’07 was the amazing Canadian Xbox community members. Despite having had a few problems with power in the area, generators were brought in just in time for the kick off of the community portion of the event. Because of this a choice had to be made: use the Power to run the Air conditioning or use the power to run the games. Well the latter choice won out and gamers couldn’t have been happier. Despite extreme conditions though everybody I saw was having a blast. Rather than complain about the heat the community did their thing and checked out all of the amazing titles at the show. Getting together with friends is what Xbox 360 is all about, and never was this more evident then at this year’s event. Thanks to everyone who showed up and I hope to see you all next year at X’08!
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Medal of Honor Airborne: Multiplayer Summit
Posted by Jaken Bear in Community on September 1st, 2007
Last month EA invited Xbox Addict along with a bunch of other journalists, podcasters, and community members to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to take a look at their upcoming 360 WW2 shooter, Medal of Honor : Airborne. While they could have taken the easy road and hosted the event at a posh air conditioned hotel, EA decided to go the extra mile and immerse us fully in the culture of the 82nd Airborne division. With temperatures soaring well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, this was a community day like no other. Even while journeying to the base from my home in the great white north, there was a sense this would be an experience not soon forgotten. Not only did we get hands on time with the multiplayer, but there was also some time for some sessions with the excellent single player.
This preview was originally published on Xbox Addict and appears here as part of a partnership between XCL and XBA. Check out Xbox Addict for more great content.
Medal of Honor Airborne is really taking a risk releasing a World War 2 shooter in what has of late become a stagnant genre. A lot of gamers are craving a new war to fight. Fortunately, MOHA has taken this fact to heart, and the passion and innovation put into Airborne should help elevate it above the WW2 stigma. So what makes the game unique? Enter the Airborne, and the ability to drop into the battlefield rather than spawn at preset locations. The multiplayer is 12 players 6 vs. 6 Axis vs. Allied fare, only the Allied have the ability to drop out of the sky, where as the Axis have the ability to shoot their opponents as they drop onto the battlefield. You would think this would give the Allies a distinct advantage, but there is actually a nice balance between the two sides. Dropping into the battlefield as Allies, you are able to choose a strategic location (say perhaps a contested flag), and really dictate how the battle unfolds. However, as the Axis, you are able to shoot your opponent out of the sky as they drop in and often times you can get a jump on a paratrooper who botches a landing (it takes them a few seconds to recover) by looking for the freshly falling chute. It really does feel balanced overall, and you should be able to enjoy playing as both sides. At first airdrops seem like more fun, but once you snipe a few allies out of the sky you should change your tune.
We were able to check out 6 maps and as of now that is what will ship with the game. Six maps may not seem like much, but if you consider how many variables the designers needed to take into account when creating these environments, it’s actually not that bad. Since the allies can literally drop ANYWHERE into the map when they spawn, you end up as the axis always having to look up as well as watching your back. This really opens up the battlefield unlike a lot of shooters that have come before. Roof top to roof top battles are common (yes the axis can get up on the roofs too — they just have to climb), and don’t be surprised if you look up only to be fragged by the boot of an incoming paratrooper.
MOHA has implemented a fairly robust weapons upgrade system this time around. Basically, the more you play with certain weapons, the more you are unable to unlock. These include upgrades such as pistol grips, better accuracy, and grenades you can launch further. The character you use in ranked games will level up in a persistent way, so the more you play, the more powerful you get. This shouldn’t lead to too much imbalance though as you seem to be able to earn the upgrades fairly quickly. In unranked play, the host is able to choose what types of upgrades are allowed, and even give every player in the match upgraded weapons by default. There is the expected variety of weapons you would expect from a World War 2 shooter. Machine guns like the Garand and Thompson, sniper rifles, pistols, and my favorite during my visit: the anti-tank rocket. While there are no tanks to shoot your rockets at, let me just say that in human vs. rocket battles, rocket usually wins.
As for the controls, the gameplay feels really solid. There is definitely some weight to your character, and this becomes especially obvious when you botch a landing and end up face first one the ground with your hands in front of you. One unique thing I noticed is how you are able to use cover in a very organic way. Clicking in the left trigger pulls up your iron sights, and from there you are able to click in the left stick to pop or down. Additionally, while having the left stick clicked in you can lean to the left or right to peak around corners. You can even move while in this cover mode. This really allows you to use cover how you see fit, and helps you “stop and pop” your enemies while staying relatively safe. It definitely feels more realistic than having to strafe out of cover and expose your entire body.
MOHA ships with three multiplayer game modes. The first is named objective airborne. In this mode, three flags are placed on the battlefield. Typically, one flag is placed near the axis spawn, one is placed in a neutral location in the middle, and the third is placed at the opposite end and owned by the allies. The goal is to take control of all three flags. While the flags on either need only one soldier to stand in place and capture it, the middle flag requires at least two soldiers, so is usually a large area of contention. It seems like a fairly standard territories mode until you consider the following: the Allied squad drops into the world from the sky rather than respawn at set locations. This instantly changes the strategies both teams need to use to accomplish their objectives, and you are never truly safe from having someone land on your noggin. Alternatively though, you could also drop into a hornet’s nest of axis soldiers, and find yourself back in the drop plane fairly quickly. The other two modes are Team death match airborne mode, where flags are forgotten and its all about kill count. Lastly, you have the standard team deathmatch, which forgoes jumping out of a plane altogether. While the last two modes still proved to be fun, it was the airborne objective mode that I see having the most legs.
As part of the community day, we also had a chance to experience life at Fort Bragg as a lot of the airborne troops do. We were able to stay in military accommodations, experience the food at the mess hall (it was actually really good), and the highlight of the trip - jump from a 34 foot paratrooper training tower. We really were welcomed with open arms by the troops, and you would be hard pressed to meet a more genuine, respectful, and honorable group of people.
Can’t wait until the game launches? Well head onto the Xbox Live Marketplace right now and download the single player demo. With this 972 meg download you can experience for yourself the first four objectives of Operation Husky. You will be thrown right from the plane and into the fury of an axis fortified stronghold. And for even more Medal of Honor : Airborne fun be sure to keep your eye on Airborne’s LIVE Launch on September 7th - 9th! More info can be found by following this link.
NBA LIVE 08 Community Event in NYC
Posted by FiftySPEED in Community, XCL Event on July 23rd, 2007
When you think of basketball players, one tends to think of Michael Jordan. When you think of basketball cities, one first comes to mind: NYC. Home of the Knicks, NYC is also the home of the NBA Draft. Every year, we’re able to witness a new beginning for amateur college players who are about to leave the books and classrooms behind for luxury mansions and Escalades. We wanted to give some of our top community leaders for NBA LIVE the opportunity to share this experience with us, while also having them in here for a preview of NBA LIVE 08.
The guys attending the event were:
Bryan Wiedey aka “Pastapadre” - http://www.pastapadre.com
Shawn Drotar - http://www.5w-g.com
Mario Drake - http://www.nbalive08.com
Andrew Begley - http://www.nba-live.com
Rick Thomas aka DJ Rhude - http://www.vetzvirtualballin.com
With such a mixed group, we were sure we would get feedback from every aspect of the NBA LIVE community. One thing I’d like to stress is that these guys were not NBA LIVE fanboys. Although they want the franchise to succeed, they also are quick to point out its flaws if the game isn’t up to their expectations. This was crucial for us in the building process of NBA LIVE 08. We feel comfortable about our game, but we’ve seen it for quite awhile and needed some fresh, critical eyes to give it a look.
The first day, after the community leaders flew in anywhere from Australia to Seattle, we took them to the EA SPORTS pre-draft party at Rub BBQ in downtown Manhattan. Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Durant both attended the event as our community leaders got the chance to live it up a little EA Sports style! Although they saw the game, they didn’t play it because they knew a lot of game time would be had throughout the week.
The next day was more focused NBA LIVE 08. The 5 community leaders were given the opportunity to play the game for 6 hours in a conference room while going through presentations, feedback sessions, a tournament and a final Q&A with producer Brent Nielsen. “It really makes a difference when the producer already has notes based on what we had concerns about throughout the day.” Bryan Wiedey said. “It shows us that they care about what we have to say.”
In the NBA LIVE 08 tournament where the community leaders got a chance to let out their competitive spirits as Mario Drake took home the championship along with a signed Kevin Durant, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Brandan Wright, Julian Wright, and Al Horford jersey. He went against the grain taking the Phoenix Suns to the championship while the other community leaders all used their favorite teams. “I just wanted to win that jersey!” Mario proudly said.
The third day was draft day for all of us. We were all anxious to see who would be picked where. Bryan Wiedey was excited about the possibility of his Sonics taking Durant and what else might come from Seattle. Before we headed to MSG for the draft, we first took a tour of the Garden. After the MSG tour, we went to the DIME magazine offices where the staff was on-hand to play some Fight Night, talk basketball, and give us a tour of their offices. The basketball Mecca was truly a delight for the guys. They learned about the startup of DIME and what it takes to run a magazine based on your passion. They left the office with a 1 yr. subscription to the magazine. Andrew Begley was excited to learn that they do send their magazine to subscribers in Australia!
The only thing left for the Community Event was the NBA Draft. None of us had ever been to the NBA Draft before, and we weren’t too sure what to expect. All doubts about the draft were put away when we got seats right in-front of the ESPN crew. Stephen A. Smith and co. was there, and we knew this would be a night to remember. Aside from Bryan’s excitement for Kevin Durant, he was also very nervous because he heard during the day that there was a chance that his favorite player, Ray Allen would be traded. Of course, this happened, leaving a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth. The future was in Seattle, but a fan-favorite was now gone.
Overall, the event was a hit with the community leaders. They came away from the event saying that NBA LIVE was coming back. This was a great sign for the game and the direction that Brent and his crew were taking with NBA LIVE 08.
XCL Gamer Awards: 2007
Posted by FiftySPEED in XCL Gamer Awards on July 20th, 2007
Here we are again folks. Its XCL’s 4th anniversary and its time once again for our annual XCLGA announcements! This year, we tried something a little different and focused less on game oriented awards and more on the community oriented awards. We also chose to not give descriptions of each category and to leave each one open to interpretation by the voter. Needless to say, there were some interesting responses. Thanks to everyone that provided feedback. The rest of you can kiss my non-whipped ass! Let’s get on with the show!
BEST GAMERTAG: I Am Bumgravy
This one wasn’t even close. Heck, I think only one other name (maybe two) was even voted for! One voter mentioned it as a source of embarrassment when they’re watching movies with their parents and the name pops up. Another wondered what exactly is “bumgravy�
MOST HARDCORE XCL’ER: Fifty
I think the people that voted should probably by default by up for Biggest Ass Kisser. I’ll respect confidentiality but both of you automatically each get a vote for that category. Other vote getters deservingly were Jake (“no one pimps XCL better than this guyâ€), Diefuel (“for his perfect XCLE attendance recordâ€) and a begrudging vote for Icon (“because no one quite combines partying and gaming like he doesâ€). I do have to laugh at one reason for throwing a vote my way: “…because he’s chubby, drinks wine and if he wasn’t married, he’d be picking up chicks on the internet like David Hasslehoff picks up German grannies at his concerts!â€.
GRUMPIEST XCL’ER: NinjaRay / DylanH (tie)
What can I say boys? I just tally the votes.
SEXIEST XCL’ER: NinjaRay
Now before you let this go to your head Ray, you need to understand that several of the votes cited the same reason which is summed up best by this quote “the sheer number of balls that touched Ray’s forehead at XCLE this year must be proof of his sexinessâ€. Honourable mention goes to Buggo and dark-horse candidate The Outcast because “cause the chub is the new sexy. He alone brought the sexy backâ€. Sounds like you got an admirer there pal!
SOREST LOSER: The Outcast / LX Xtreme (tie)
Wow, this one was close with several votes citing reasons that I daren’t include in this article!! Outtie places by virtue of a vote for himself because “I hate losing to Peach cause he has my fucking number. That little bastard, but meeting him in real life at the expo has allowed me to handle the anger a bit betterâ€. Come to think of it, LX voted for himself too (even though some might think that’s “horseshit!â€).
XCL’ERS MOST LIKELY TO GET MARRIED: Geekess and The Icon
Aside from the obvious vote for Kirbydb (who actually should have gotten more consideration for Most Hardcore XCL’er for getting married TODAY on XCL’s anniversary; congrats bro!), this was a landslide victory for Icon and Geeks with reasons such as “they’re the only one’s bumping uglies at the moment who aren’t hiding it… †(yikes!). Someone else asked if this category was meant to freak Icon out. Oh… I don’t normally name sources but this is an exception. Poptart voted “Ray and Fiftyâ€. Why? “Seriously.. They fight like husband and wife. I’ll let you decide which one’s which.†Enjoy the chopping block pal! 
MOST LIKELY TO END UP IN THE DRUNK TANK: Garrett S
19 years old and wins easily. Garrett’s been with us since the early days (you do the math about his age back then) and quite possibly has never been sober online. Some voters even mentioned they thought it improved his game! Now that’s admirable. Mad Plumber got a little recognition for this excellent, all-weekend-long performance at XCLE this year!
MOST WHIPPED: The Icon
As someone put it, “he might think he created the bang bus but its Geeks that’s in the drivers’ seat thereâ€. Is there really much more to say?
BEST/SCARIEST PICTURES:
This one definitely wins as the scariest. Rumour has it this is Ray (left) and Cujo (right) at XCLE. Seriously, this has to be one of the most disturbing, yet funniest, pictures that’s ever been posted!
Pokeroo won for best picture in a landslide. Here he is doing what he did best!
THE “MERCURY†ADMIRATION AWARD: Mercury
Sorry little buddy but you’re idolization of Icon extends beyond the online realm and warrants recognition through an annual award. Whether its tailing him around or talking in pseudo-Italian jibberish, your love for the man with a small penis is unmatched and worth of recognition. Wear the title proud!
THE “KROSSROAD†STRAIGHT UP SELF ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: tehflakes
This award is traditionally for the person that votes for themselves the most for the XCLGA’s. Flakes, you easily outclassed the field this year with no less than five votes for yourself including one for Best Gamer (which automatically defaults you from consideration!). What the fuck does “teh†mean anyways?? Straight up!
XCL’S BEST GAMER: Blizz20
Since XCL isn’t necessarily all about skill, we changed things up a bit this year by combining two categories and factoring in who people liked to play with along with overall skill. That’s not to say Blizz isn’t skilled because he kicks some serious ass in all types of games! Congrats dude! Honourable mention goes to a very, very close second placing DrJMac. These two ran away with the majority of the votes this year.
Xbox Addict Review - Forza Motorsport 2
Posted by Jaken Bear in Reviews on June 1st, 2007
Car lovers rejoice! The ultimate car passion simulator has been unleashed onto your Xbox 360. Take a love of cars that lies deep inside us all, mash it up with a need to collect and customize those cars to your heart’s content, and throw in one of the most advanced and realistic driving engines ever conceived, and you get a small sampling of what Forza Motorsport 2 offers. Following up on the heels of critically acclaimed 2005 hit Forza Motorsport 1 for the original Xbox, this true next gen sequel really delivers on the promise from Turn 10 studios to harvest what they like to call “car passion”. It goes above and beyond by offering a little something for everyone, and by making itself accessible to the masses while at the same time challenging the hardcore.
This review was originally published on Xbox Addict and appears here as part of a partnership between XCL and XBA. Check out Xbox Addict for more great content.
The star of the show in Forza Motorsport 2 is the cars. There are over 300 rides from almost 50 manufacturers to choose from and each one feels unique in its own way. While you won’t have access to every single one of them when you first start, a big part of the fun is earning and unlocking the cars as you progress through the game. A big part of what makes each of them unique is the innovative Performance Index (PI) system. Basically cars are divided into several classes based on their performance characteristics. You go from the lowly D class cars, up to C, B, and A. Above A class, is the S class cars, followed by 4 race classes (R4, R3, R2, R1), and then mighty U class (these are hard to keep on the track). These letters have a 3 digit number associated with them and that goes up to 999. For instance, take a D346 class car, tweak it a bit, add a turbo charger and some racing slicks, and it gets reclassified to a B521. Upgrading your cars is all about finding the right balance, and those looking to add raw power to cars that can’t handle it will see the results as they end up in the side wall. It is totally possible to take a D class Lancia Delta, mod the crap out of it , and have it get up into the S class amongst Ferraris’ and porches. This is all well and good, but it may not always be the best approach. A Lancia Delta after all, is basically a tin can on wheels. While it can get a similar PI value with lots of tweaking, it is probably going to find a better home in the B or A class. The good thing is that unlike most driving games, you can really take those starter cars from early on in your career, and not want to throw them to the curb once you unlock some of the more traditional big boy race cars. Tin cans, when paid the right attention, can race amongst the high end metal beasts.
Once you have all the upgrades you wish on a car, there’s additional depth you can achieve via tuning. Tuning includes such options as adjusting the front and rear downforce, tire pressure, camber, and whole bunch of other high tech car wizardry that mechanics dream of at night. Again, as with the rest of the game, Forza 2 wants to teach you about cars and doesn’t presume you are an expert. Each tuning option available is clearly explained as you make the tweaks, and a handy benchmark tools shows you results at a glance. Real gear heads will want to take the car out on the track to really see the benefits. From within these tuning runs, you can even make on the fly adjustments with a few button presses. This is almost a mini game in itself. Finally, you can save out your different tuning configurations, as certain tracks will benefit from vastly different setups. None of this is necessary if you just want to race, but the level of depth it provides is a welcome addition to the game.
Once out on the track (there are 12 environments with 47 ribbon configurations), the excellent Forza driving physics engine takes over. Turn 10 was not kidding when they talk about being physics obsessed, as the game makes 360 calculations and measurements per second. One only has to pop open then handy in game telemetry screen (race data) to see all of the variables at work. The coolest thing about the telemetry screen is that you can pull it up at any time: live during your race, on your replays, and even while watching friends live games while waiting in the lobby. If you want to dig deep and pay attention to all of the details they are there for you to do so. If you just want to race and not worry about the details, you will still be amazed by the amazing feeling you get from each and every car you take to the road. The best aspect of driving the cars though, is how accessible the game makes it for beginners all the way up to driving pros. Even if you are not the best racer in the world, you are given a variety of assists and driving aids to help you along and to teach you the game. Making a return is the ever popular driver line, which is a dynamic line that turns red, yellow, or green depending on your speed and lays out the optimal driving line. You can also choose such things as Stability Control, antilock braking, and traction control to help you around the track. Having all of this help at your side really is a welcome addition and should help those intimidated by “sim racers” get into the game in ways they never thought possible. Online though, your mean pro race driver friends have the option of forcing certain assists on or off, so pay attention to the host if you rely on certain assists in order to survive races.
For those fans that enjoy spending time smashing into walls, the damage modeling on the cars will not disappoint. If you take a turn too fast, slide off the track and smash into a cement wall, a sickening thud of crunching metal along with a part of your car falling off will usually result. And depending on if you have damage set to cosmetic, realistic, or simulation, it may spell the end of the race as well. Again, the option is yours how you want to handle damage, but at the simulation level you really have to watch how you race. Highly damaged cars will veer off to the left or right, and smoke pouring from your engine will confirm the reason why you can’t get the car into 5th gear anymore.
The real meat of the single player game can be found in career mode. You start off by choosing one of three regions (Asia, North America, or Europe), and are given enough cash to buy one starter car. From here you race in a series of “proving ground” races on various ribbon configurations of the fictional test track. Win a few races, earn some cash, and you can add a car or two to your garage, or spend the money on upgrades for your existing ride. What drives your career forward is the concept of Driver level. Each race you win earns you credits. As you continue to earn credits by winning, you level up your driver. You can also earn reward cars by as you level up, as well as by winning race series. A lot of times, you can take reward cars, and that unlocks various other races you are eligible for. There is a constant sense of reward as you advance through your career. Variety is another big factor here too. Races series are divided into events usually comprising of a series of races on various tracks. Examples of the type of events you will race are specific engine class battles, various class showdowns and championships, non aspirated engines only, manufacturer specific series, historical showdowns, Regional championships, and even grueling 30+ lap endurance races. Needless to say, career mode will keep drivers busy for a long time, especially those who want to reach level 50 and collect all of the cars. If that wasn’t enough, the car stable you build up in career can be taken online to challenge friends, and you can then race online to further line your pockets with career dough. The concept of reward is present throughout career mode too, and as you climb the ranks, you unlock new discounts on parts and cars from certain manufacturers. You are even rewarded for loyalty to using a favorite car, and just like your driver levels up, cars can level up too.
A lot of time will be spent rubbing fenders with the AI drivers. The brilliant part about them is that they really do know the tracks, and you really do feel like you are racing against a smart and savvy opponent, rather than a dummy that only follows a set racing line. (ahem , PGR3). One would expect nothing less though of a neural network learning system developed by Microsoft’s advanced AI research team in Cambridge, England. Let’s just hope Turn 10 locked down the learning capabilities, because the last thing we need is sentient Forza 2 AI’s taking over the planet.
As for graphics, the level of detail Turn 10 has delivered to each and every car model is insane. Each car has been meticulously recreated down to the brake light and brake pad. The detail is that deep and impressive. As you lap around the tracks, dynamic dust accumulates on your car. Parts that have been knocked off of cars in all too common “turn 1 crashes†remain littered on the track. Light and dynamic reflections shimmer and shine off the cars. Bringing this all together, the game runs at a rock solid 60 frames per second and never stutters. While the graphics may not look 100% photorealistic, this is as close as it gets. Minor graphical quibbles aside, only picky racers should find themselves complaining for too long because one you hit the track, you are immersed in driving heaven. Sound wise, there is a real variety of detail between each and every one of the cars you’ll take out on the pavement. You can tell a clear difference when you upgrade the engine or drop in a turbo charger. Crashing has never sounded so good, as crunching metal on metal collisions result in some sickening sounds. And unlike Forza 1, the in game’s in menu music is actually decent (good bye crazy guitar riffs).
If all of the above were not enough, Forza 2 pushes innovation over the edge and brings to the table a host of community options that will keep this game alive for years to come. One of the gripes in Forza 1 was that while you could design and make some amazing cars, it was hard to share them with friends in the community. Sure you could take cell phone pics and post them onto forums, but Turn 10 has solved all of this with the inclusion of photomode. In fact, photomode in itself could almost be its own game. You can take pictures of your cars at any time, including in a nice showroom like user interface, or on the track. Pause the game mid race, position you camera, and snap away. You can even take photos from saved replays of online races. The results can then be saved to your hard drive or memory unit, and even better, they can be uploaded to Forzamotorsport.net. From there you can log in with your passport Id and grab the latest 5 shots you’ve uploaded to do with as you please. Finally, you will be able to show your works of art off to the masses.
As for paintjobs, there is almost no limit as to what can be accomplished. The Livery Editor has been fully blown out for the sequel, and there are thousands upon thousands of layers you can use to paint the car of your dreams. There are gamers who will probably spend a majority of time creating unique works of art and selling then on the new Online Auction house. Selling and buying cars online has never been so fun, and addictive.
Online play is here of course, and up to 8 players can race over Xbox live or system link. Even if you don’t have a full room, a cool option this time around is that you can fill the rest of the slots up with AI racers. The host of the room has a plethora of options and can restrict things such as car class, driving line, and even force certain views. This should prevent that typical online jerk from coming into your D class room with his souped up S class Honda and ruining all of your fun. Turn 10 will also be hosting weekly online automated tournaments you can qualify for and race against the best in the world.
For the achievement fans, there are a few low hanging fruits to pick off (like reach driver level 1), but a lot of them will be gained by progressing through the lengthy career mode. Many of them can be gained by collecting all the cars in a certain region, and other are focused on reaching certain driver level milestones.
So has turn 10 succeeded in delivering the ultimate racing sim? Between the gigantic career mode, the deep 360 Hz physics, hundreds of insanely detailed cars, the beautiful livery editor, the auction house, online tournaments, and an integrated online community site, it’s hard not to say they have. Casual fans and hard core gear heads alike will find something to love about Forza Motorsport 2. See you at the finish line and remember to always brake in a straight line when you can.
The Sandbox goes Vertical: Crackdown
Posted by Jaken Bear in Community, XCL Event on March 7th, 2007
Early Last year when I first heard about Crackdown, my initial thought was, “Here we go again, another Grand Theft Auto Clone is on the way.†The fact that the creative mind behind the first two GTA games (David Jones) was leading the charge, only served to re-enforce my initial assumption. Fast forward now to my trip to E3 2006 this past May, and I could point to that event as the date I started to realize Crackdown was something much more than what it would initially have appeared to be. Dare I say, It was the first time I thought to myself that this could be something special. Sitting there is a posh poolside hotel Suite watching David Jones and one of the developers demo the game for journalists, I noticed that both of them had huge grins on their faces as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop unleashing absolute mayhem onto the criminals and citizens of the fictional Pacific City. It was absolutely impressive and left me wanting more.
Last month, Jade and the Xbox team graciously invited me and some other lucky fools to the CN tower in downtown Toronto, for an early look at the final game, and also gave me a chance to sit down and chat with Crackdown Lead Designer Billy Thomson.
The setting for the event was perfect. What better way to show off a game that relies as much on verticality as it does on exploration, than to host it on top of one of the worlds tallest freestanding structures. The game stations were set up around the edges of the windows, so as you were playing you could glance out and see the sprawling city lights below. Having played the demo every night for a week straight before this event, I caught myself staring out into the cityscape thinking to myself that if I just had enough agility I could leap from the top of this tower over to that building, catch a ledge on the way down, and springboard myself across to a bank building across the way. And therein lives the real “magic†of Crackdown. The link between this emergent gameplay of “do anything at anytime to anyone and get rewarded for doing it†has started to take over my real world thinking. Just the other day I caught myself scanning rooftops for agility orbs, and checking under subway cards for hidden ones. Sitting down to talk to Thomson was great. Discussing the game and its roots over a pint with the lead designer, I was able to gather what a labour of love Crackdown really was. The game itself has taken over 4 years to bring to market. From concept back in 2002 to now, it took about 6 to 9 months to get Microsoft Game Studios on board and get the green light. The 360 was targeted as the platform, since the game was way too ambitious to have ever brought out on the original Xbox. Thomson also talked about the great support they got from the Microsoft team throughout development, even going so far as to say that legendary game guru Ken Lobb (goldeneye / Killer instinct fame) had told them that Crackdown was one of the best games he’s ever played. No pressure there, but it’s a nice compliment coming from an industry veteran who has seen and been involved in his fair share of quality games.
Another thing that makes Crackdown unique is its intuitive targeting system. Up until now, shooting in 3rd person games has always been a pain. Crackdowns system allows you to “lock on†target with the left trigger, and then individually target specific areas with the right stick. You are able to pull of headshots, disarms, leg takedowns with relative ease. Thomson revealed that the targeting system has been in the works for over two years, and went through much iteration to get to where to it is today. The system applies to targeting vehicles as well, including honing in on gas caps, and creating moving fireballs out of cars, trucks and busses. A tip Thomson gave is that you can lock onto a speeding vehicle BEFORE leaping out of it. Why would you want to do this you ask? Well, strap some Limpet charges (effectively mines you can detonate on command) to a vehicle, hop in, and drive it towards a group of enemy gang members. Find a jump so you can assault them from above. As your car careens towards its target hold down the left trigger, then press Y to vacate the flying time bomb, then at the same time flick right on your right stick, effectively targeting your gas cap. Just before contact is made, unload a clip from your gun and watch the fiery fun unfold.
Attention to detail was important to the development team from day one. It essentially becomes a game of if you can think of something, the game world they designed will probably allow you to do it. This type of focus from the start is what has allowed such diverse and emergent gameplay to be what Crackdown is really about. Yes, there is a story running in the background, and yes there are side missions such as races and beating up on your friends via co-op, but at the heart of things it’s a game about solving problems any way you see fit. They really wanted to create a playground and let you tackle missions how you see fit, rather than tying you into a linear story. Thomson talked about how the game, from a technological point of view, is pushing the 360 more than one would think. The unique and gorgeous art style art allows you to really interact with objects in the world in ways you’ve never seen before. Everything can be shot, picked up, thrown, and destroyed. Examples are things like tires from exploded cars, bricks, bags of cement, car doors, lamp posts, cement mixers, poles, people, and of course EXPLODING barrels.
Speaking of exploding barrels (a video game staple as you know), one of my favorite things about Crackdown has to be the insane explosions you can create. I have never had so much fun blowing things up as I have playing this game. The system is entirely by design as well. Thomson explained a bit how the explosions work in the game and why people have been able to create such crazy and sub nuclear reactions. Explosive objects have a radius of effect, as well as power rating. Once you start getting multiple objects in a small space, these explosions start to daisy chain into each other, and their radiuses start to intersect. So one small grenade can set off a blast so big you may not even be expecting it and end up getting yourself killed in the process. I asked how many cars he thought I would be able to get into a pile before the game would start deleting them. His answer was well over 40! Add to that some explosive barrels, some mines, and the results are devastating. Explosions in crackdown are the gift that keeps on giving, and a good way to take out large groups of enemies is an added bonus. The amount of fire and debris that reins down from one of these multi-car pile ups is truly next-gen, and something I can’t see ever getting sick of.
Other things I learned from talking to Thomson included :
- They at one point had developed a female Agent Skin, as well as the corresponding animations. At the end of the day, they just didn’t have the memory space to include it. Look for this as a possible Download though.
- Speaking about Downloads, they have plans to support this game well into the future. Thomson hinted at agent skins, a possible new island, new game bosses, and new vehicles. While none of that is confirmed, he did confirm to be on the look out for some fancy new agency gadgets that they may not have been able to include in the game, but are perfect candidates for the marketplace.
- There are only 900 achievement points out of the box in Crackdown, and they plan to watch how the community is playing the game to decide on how they want to allocate the last 100 points.
- The demo was designed to give players a taste of what to expect from the full game but not give away too much. The advanced skill progression in the demo is an example of how they solved this problem and was internally debated over for many months. A demo though was important to the team though, because playing is believing. The buzz the demo has generated is proof of that.
- If all goes well, they would love to see “Crackdown 2†in store shelves in a few years. The foundation for a great franchise has been built, and there are many things they would have loved to include but just didn’t have the time to for this release.
- Initially the team was apprehensive about having their game tied into the Halo 3 beta, but at the end of the day they realized it could help get the game into the hands of people who otherwise may not have tried the game out to begin with. Thomson’s prediction was that a lot of these people would really enjoy the game, so it’s a win-win situation in the end.
Overall, the event was a great experience and it was nice to have a chance to chat with one of the creative minds behind what I predict will be one of the best selling titles of the year. Do yourself a favour, and don’t miss out on this game. Give it a few hours of your time, and I predict you’ll be hooked.
- Jaken Bear
Banging in San Andreas: GTA 3-Fiddy Style
Posted by FiftySPEED in XCL Humour on January 1st, 2007
“Back To The Ghetto”
A call from my bro Sweet. A call no son wants to get. Bad news. Moms is dead. Murderred. After getting away from all the gang banging of Los Santos where I grew up, I find myself arriving home from 5 years in Liberty city. One of my homeys is waiting at the airport and we make the sombre trip back to the hood in his sled. Oh shit, what’s that? Red and blue lights in the rear view. Two cops. One white, one black. Next thing I know, I’m in the back of their car and they’re going on about me killing a cop or something. All I know is that I didn’t do shit. This is a freakin’ setup.
To make matters worse, when they’re done trying to put the scare into me, they drop me off in the worst of places: a rival gang’s hood. I gotta act fast. Looking around, I spot a kid on a bike and before he knows what hits him, he gets the Canadian Crowbar and is lying on the ground while I’m off on his bike. People are starting to notice me, a few comments are made, racial slurs, etc but nothing I can’t handle. I haven’t ridden a BMX in years. I realize my skillz from my youth are still intact. I can endo, wheelie, even ride the pool bowls at the skate park I spy across the street.
Its getting kinda sketchy so I make tracks towards my hood and thankfully come across a couple old friends. We’re chillin on our rides on a street corner when buddy yells, “Get down! Driveby!!!”. Bullets start whistling past us. None of us get hit. We’re outta here and the chase is on. My two buddies are long gone ahead of me. I might know how to ride a bike but its been a while and I’m outta shape. These bangers shooting at us keep pulling up alongside me. Its amazing how bad of shots these guys are!! I take a couple of grazing shots but all my major organs are intact. To add to my troubles, I must have taken a spill off my ride at least three times. Walls are particulary unforgiving. Good thing I just missed that speeding train. Mental note: next time while crossing the tracks heed the warning lights.
We make it home safe. My bro Sweet is not super happy to see me. He’s got his ideas of what happened to Moms but is unwilling to share them with me at this time. Frustrating but its obvious he’s sore at me for taking off to Liberty City for so long. Thinks I ran from my problems and left him hanging. But he’s my bro. I’m home now and I’m going to prove to him how important he and my family are to me.
I get set up in my old room. Cool. The regular boys are chilling outside, bragging about bitches, swapping the malt liquor. Ahhh, good to be home. There’s nothing left in my closet. I fool around with some combinations of what to wear and ultimately decide that if I’m going to be a badassed chocolate covered almond gangsta, I need to be proud of who I am. So, I do the first thing that comes naturally, strip down to my tighty whiteys, pull ‘em up to nearly my chest and head outside and cruise.
I’m surprised at how many people accept my appearance. No shirt, no shoes, only my underwear. Man, these shorts are big! Some passerby shouts a comment about underwear being overrated. He’s right. If I could go nude, I would have. I get my hair cut first. The barber does a wonderful job of “volumizing” my short, short hair into a wonderful ’70’s style NBA afro. I grab 3 large pizza’s which I have no problem eating and head back to the hood.
My bro’s starting to warm up to me a bit more. We do a few things, grab some guns, hustle some people, drink some malt liquor, you know, typical small scale gangsta stuff. I’ve noticed that I can take a beating though, that’s good. And when I get shot up, I always wake up in the hospital, no matter if I’m riddled with bullets or run over by a car. Cool. Sweet sets me up at the gym. So, for the next few days, I cruise around and work out. The boys want me to gain some weight. So, I pump some iron and can already see the results. I gots me some pipes now. No Balco for me homey, I’m straight up natch.
I’m feeling particulariy adventurous and begin to explore outside of my regular hood. I’ve realized that for the first few days, I’ve hardly been a few blocks from my house. I have a handy map in my pocket that highlights where I’ve been and I am amazed to see that I’ve hardly touched the geography of the local area.
I first head north towards the glitz and glam of Las Venturas. WTF? The bridge is closed off due to some “road construction” or something. That’s dumb. So, I turn around and head back towards home. I keep cruising and see a sign for the Los Santos airport. Hmmm! Airports are fun. Let me see what sort of trouble I can find there. After a few minutes of driving (it looked closer on the map!) I’m there. Its an ok airport, nothing much to see. I wanna get onto the tarmac. We all know that’s where the real fun stuff is. No way in though. So, I pull my car up to a wall, get out, hop on top of it and scale the wall. I feel like the Great American Hero finding out all these new abilities I have. I jump down and start walking across the tarmac. Holy crap! I nearly get run over by a runaway taxi being chased by an unmarked police car. How’d he get in there? I keep going, this time looking both ways. Ooh, what’s this? A Dodo! Last time I tried flying one of these it didn’t stay off the ground for more than 5 seconds. I hop in, start it up and it works! Flys nice too. I tour around the airport and see some Learjets. I land, get out and try the door of the Learjet. Its open. KILLER. Let’s rock. Forget the turboprop shiznit, I want me some jets. After taxiing to the runway and taking off like a seasoned pilot, I gently bank left and head west to San Fierro. The cruising is beautiful. I can see soooo far save for the occasional cloud. I am coming up on another bridge. The bridge to San Fierro. I can see that bridge is closed like the first one but no matter, there’s nothing to stop me up here! I continue on, no loading screen (nice!) and…. wait a sec! What the hell? Suddenly I’m a wanted man! And not just one star wanted. I’m talking instant four stars!! What the hell!?? What did I do? Apparently I’m not welcome outside of Los Santos… at least not yet.
I figure, “who can get me up here in the wild blue yonder?”. Then I see a army helo fly past. He’s got nothing on my jet and was soon dust. I keep cruising. What’s that new sound I hear? I check my six just in time to see a Harrier launch a missle at me. Its a dead hit. Engine one flames out but I’m ok. I’m over San Fierro now. Damn, another missle hit. I’m in real trouble now as the second engine is on fire. Can’t find a place to set down. Another missle hits me… I’m in deep shit here. Instruments are dead. Plane’s smoking something fierce. I know if I don’t ditch, I’m a dead man. The planes in a shallow dive and I bail out. Uh oh, I’m still really high. Falling with no parachute. Oh crap. Thankfully, I hit water, swim to shore and notice two police vans do headers off a cliff as I scramble up to the road. Some silly person is rubbernecking so I jack his car and head to down. I’ve got helicopters, cop cars and SUV’s hunting me down. I won’t last long on the ground. I’m quickly coming to the understanding that my end is near. I spot a burger joint. May as well wolf down a couple of Beef Stack combos and have an impromptu last meal. Awfully nice of the police to respect my wishes and wait outside….
“Cruisin’ Downtown In My Six-Fo”
Nothing like hearing the blissful notes of Eazy-E after jacking my first car upon my release from Los Santos Hospital. Patched up after having my lunch rudely interrupted by a hoard of police and military personnel, Fiddy’s got the mono radio cranked and I’m ready to start some hardcore bangin’ again.
I’m thinkin’ its ’bout time get back to the business at hand here. I’ve made a few friends along with my regular crew (Sweet, Big Smoke and Ryder) including one of the craziest mofo’s I’ve met. A cat named OG Loc. This guy is flat out whack. He thinks he’s a rapper but Loc’s got no skillz on the mic and he rhymes like shit. I’ll occasionally meet him out back of his gig at the burger joint for a blunt. Loc’s old school Grove Street so even though he’s whacked, I still gotta watch out for one of my homies. We’ve rolled a bit together. Somehow, this “original gangsta” gets me wrapped up in stealing someone’s lyrics! So, there I am, up in the hills of Los Santos sneaking into some grand rap masta’s mansion to grab these lyrics. Its here where I get to show off my stealth abilities. Using shadows, dark rooms and a sharp knife I get the lyrics. Man, I must have slit the throats of five or six of that punk’s bodyguards. I’m developing a real taste for ‘da bloodshed. I especially like this stealth stuff. The hunter and the hunted… The feel of the warm blood rushing over my hands as I slide my blade across the supple skin of my prey’s throat is envigorating. And with the lyrics in hand, I’m gone as quiestly as I came. As I leave I notice a for sale sign. When I make it big, this place is mine.
I’ve decided to change my image a little bit. I’ve grown my hair out and dyed the ‘fro blonde. Got me some new threads as well. Looking a bit mo’ gangsta now and proudly sporting Grove Street colours. 4 life now, ya hear!? Holla! Stopped going to the gym for a while. I find that my everyday activities are keeping me super lean, even when I eat 11 pizzas in one sitting then doing the technicolor yawn at the front counter of the pizza joint. Word.
Back in the hood, I’ve noticed a few new faces around. Unwelcome faces. So, one day, I go up to this cocky looking guy to see what his gig is. Turns out he’s dealin’. You don’t deal on Grove Street turf unless you are Grove Street. 4 LIFE! He offers me some and I’m given a chance to reply. Damn, back in Liberty City if someone spoke to me, I could only communicate with my fists. This is nice. I’m offered a choice between responding positively or negatively. I tell this mofo off. Dude pulls a Gat but before he can pull the trigger, I’ve squeezed off one round, right in the forehead. Down goes thedealer!! Two things happen next. One, I realize how much money drug dealers carry (so I pick it all up, a few K’s worth). And two, I realize that, with practise, my proficiency with a gun increases. Hehehe.
I am beginning to notice a real de-sensitivity to killing as the days progress. It takes less and less to “flip my switch” so to speak. Walking down the street and some guy bumps me. BLAM. Make a comment I don’t agree with? BLAM. I see a guy that looks like Wil Smith? BLAM. Fresh Prince this… nerd! Cops come and go, nothing I can’t handle. That said, all this senseless killing still leaves a void in me. This void wasn’t something I could put a finger on… until I met a girl.
I can’t remember her name now (too many ho’s, too little time) but she was special. Turns out she’s a Grove Street girl herself and just lives down on the corner. Anyways, who cares about that, this gangsta just wants to do some ballin’. I pick her up for our first date hoping to score quickly. We head out, not really sure what we’re gonna do. Fast food, pizza, fancier restaurants, bars, you name it, we can go and do it. So, thinking with little Fiddy, we head to the bar. She loves it. We pound a couple of 40’s of LS’s finest malt liquor. Good times. She says, “take me home”, I’m thinking, “this playa’s in there.” We get to her place, out she gets without even a kiss!!! WTF??? “Ok, ok, playa, keep it cool,” I’m thinking. Next time it’ll happen. We set up a date to go out again. A couple of days later, I pick her up. On my bike this time. She hops on. I think about going back to the bar, it seemed to work before, but decide to cruise around a bit. The next hour of my life not only surprised the hell out of me, it also impressed the hell out of me.
So, we’re cruisin’ and suddnely my ‘ho brandishes a piece and tells me she wants to do some drive by’s!! So, off we go to Balla territory. There we are, doubling on my crotch rocket bike, she shooting left, me cappin’ bustas right. Was this meant to be or what? After a few laps of the neighbourhood and several capped Balla’s, she’s ready to head home again. Pizza? No thanks, she stayed on the bike. So, home we go. About halfway’s home, I get notified that our hood is under attack by some Balla’s. Gotta represent so we take a little detour before dropping her off. We roll up on the action, I jump off and start cappin’ these punks and protecting my turf. In the middle of the action, I look over and notice my ‘ho ain’t just waiting on the bike, she hasn’t run off but rather she’s in the middle of the melee shootin’ and bangin!! This could be love!!! We handle this attack quite easily. I’ve got my fingers crossed, this could be the night little Fiddy comes out to play! we get back to her place and once again, FUCK, Fiddy gets denied. In she walks. I wait in the driveway for a short bit, frustrated. I honk my horn to get her attention. No reply. (I’d knock if I could). Fuck it. I leave. On my way home, I have a brilliant idea. No way this homey’s gonna get dissed like that and sit there and take it! Drop the bike. Jack a car. A car with a big back seat. I roll up to a hooker, she asks me if I’m looking for a good time and hops in. I park the car right in my ex-ho’s driveway and me and this hooker go to town. The car’s a’rockin, she’s screamin’ and I’m loving it. Right in my now-ex-girlfriend’s driveway. Take that bitch. Next morning, the ex still isn’t around (she might not be up yet, its still early and I don’t care) so I get me another hooker and park the car out back of her house this time, right under her window. This time we’re extra loud. That’ll teach her… ’til next time homeys.
“Out of My Element…”
Aside from previously stated issues with my now EX-girlfriend, things have started to get a little weird around my hood and in Los Santos. For reasons that I will not explain to you XCL honkeys (and partly cause now this game’s coming to ‘da Box), I figured it best to split out of town for a while. My buddy Caesar hooks me up with his cousin up in the countryside north of Los Santos.
BUT, before I leave, I should probably mention a little something. Playin’ the ponies at the local betting joint. I have a few thousand to my name. I don’t handicap but rather I bet by name. You know a horse is gonna be a winner when they’re named things like “Bearded Clam” and other colorful descriptions. I bet on average odds horse2 (4 to 1, 5 to 1, that sort of thing) but no luck. Before I lose it all, I figure one last $1000 on the 12-1 long shot. I figure I can always roll some dealers and random crack whores or burgle some homes for some $$ anyways. Sure enough, my pony comes in and I make a cool $12000. Thank you very much!
I’m surprised when I find out that Caesar’s cousin is a girl. I was expecting a guy. But after a while, she goes freaky and I end up seeing her a few days later joined at the hip with a very familiar face from years past… Where do I know that face from?? Liberty? I wonder… Damn guy must be mute or something…
Anyways, to be honest, the countryside isn’t really all that exciting. I’m more of a city guy myself. I buy myself a trailer to bunk down when need be. There’s quite the assortment of country bumpkins out there. Plenty of trailers, tractors, rednecks and plenty of gun shops. But I yearn for the city. In my spare time, I head back into Los Santos but have to tread lightly. While back home, I get my hair cut into a really sharp Elvis coif and buy a beachfront condo. This’ll be fly with the ladies. I’ve heard rumours of clams on the beach but can only confirm the bearded variety.
I’ve finally established some contacts in the city of San Fierro, so it looks like its bye bye time for the countryside for me. It couldn’t come any sooner. However, I am still impressed by the size of the “state” that I live in. Some of the drives between towns are quite long. You can easily get lost if you’re not paying attention to turn offs and such. On my way to San Fierro, I grab a dirt bike and find some dirt trails leading up a mountain. Up and up I’m going finally coming to what appears to be the summit and a clearing. There’s a couple of motor homes around, a mountain bike and… what’s this??? A backpack? NOPE. A PARACHUTE!!!! How convenient, right across this clearing is a lookout point over a sheer cliff. And to make things even more convenient, there’s a small bike ramp. Hmmm… if I could get enough speed, I could clear that fence… Anyone up for some basejumping?
Never having done this before and having a full health bar and full armour, I figure what the hell? Hop on the bike, equip the parachute and I’m off. I clear the lookout railing easily. HOLY SHIT, its a long, long ways down. I quickly realize that the parachute just doesn’t work on its own. And I’m still on the bike. I struggle with the bike and before I know it, the ground is right there. SLAM!! Amazingly, for some reason, I ride away unscathed. Further to this discovery of mine, it turns out I can get onto the roof of the tallest building back in Los Santos (its really easy to find). I figure I can try basejumping here and not have to deal with the bike. First attempt? I don’t jump off the building but rather just step off and splat myself all over a ledge not even a 1/4 of the way down. Second attempt? Road pizza on the highway. Third attempt, I actually meet my maker on the roof of a moving car. Finally, on the fourth attempt I figure out how to deploy my chute and make a nice landing on a nearby building. One problem though, how do I get down from here now?
After recovering from multiple fractures, I’m back on track on establishing myself in San Fierro. I figure new city, new look for myself. So, no more gym, no more running and always ten combos at the local fast food joint. I’m going for the Heavy D look this time ’round. Catch y’all at the Fat Albert premiere!