The Pensive Gamer

Posted 05/22/2007 @ 08:45:38 PM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Accessories , Xbox 360 , Xbox Live Arcade

I just returned from the Gamerscore Blog Road Tour stop here in Toronto. The location was great and there were a good number of stations to try what was mostly unreleased games.

Here are my quick thoughts on what I saw.

Xbox Live Arcade Games

Track and Field seemed to be a favourite with many folks, though retro games just aren't my thing. I was shocked to see the 360 controller survive the abuse it was receiving. It certainly looked like it played similar to the original title.

I had some good fun with Mad Tracks. The dynamic of monitoring and controlling the spring that allowed the car to move was a nice twist and there was some nice variety in the game types. This felt like a fun quick game to play with friends.

Undertow was not quite my game. It is a 2D scrolling arena shooter in a 3D environment. I found myself dying all too often (against enemy AI) and sometimes it was hard to tell where you could move about on the screen (though familiarity is probably key here).

I didn't get to check out Carcassonne, though someone was always playing it. Regardless, this is an instant buy for me. I love this trend to add board games to Xbox Live Arcade.

Full Disc Games

I played a fair amount of Forza 2. It was the release version of the game, so for those curious, no the graphics are not improved from the demo. The gameplay was solid, different cars behaved and sounded very different, and yes there was damage. Anyone who likes racing games will definitely find this a solid purchase.

Shadowrun was constantly in play both on the 360 and the PC. The graphics seem improved from the beta and the gameplay, from the little I did both here and on the beta, seemed roughly equivalent. But I didn't get enough game time to truly test it. I'm curious to see how well this one sells.

While I didn't get to play Project Sylpheed, it did look like fun. I definitely want to check this one out more.

In addition there was Halo 2 for Vista and Guitar Hero II. I didn't try Halo 2 at all (I have my Halo fill via the Halo 3 Beta). While I didn't try Guitar Hero, it was, not so shockingly, in constant use.

The Chatpad

As reported yesterday over at Gaming Nexus, the Chatpad is indeed a nice piece of hardware. It snapped into place snuggly, never really got in the way and felt nice and light. While obviously I didn't have a prolonged gameplay session with the unit, it does seem like something that can be left on a controller. I didn't see nor have a chance to check the associated headset, but the Chatpad definitely had a different connector. The Gamescore crew could not confirm a price, nor a date (other than summer).

People

The Gamescore Blog folks were a great group of people; very social and engaging. They were having just as good a time as the rest of us. It was also great to have them answer our questions and listen to our feedback. No they wouldn't let out any secrets except something about a 'teabagging' achievement in Shadowrun ... I didn't ask any additional questions.

The folks from the community were also a good jovial group. It is interesting to meet the folks behind other blogs, such as one of the fellows behind XBLArcade.

Posted 05/21/2007 @ 07:30:59 PM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: Site News , Wii , Xbox 360

Post Delays

Another long delay between posts; sorry folks. At scanR we have been working diligently to finish our latest upgrade to the service, which we released at the end of last week. If you are curious about what I do and if you have a mobile phone with a camera I recommend you check out the service. There is both a 'PC' site and mobile site.

With the release done I have a little more time to complete my XNA Thread series and Console Evaluation series, so expect some posts soon.

Gamerscore Road Tour

This week I'm up with the development team in Toronto. This happened to coincide nicely with the Microsoft Gamerscore Road Tour which I'll be attending tomorrow night. Should be a good time and I promise to report on the evening's festivities.

Console Shopping in Toronto

Today I spent some time looking to purchase an Xbox 360 for the Toronto office. I went to both an HMV and an EB Games and I noticed a few interesting things:

• The price of a Premium Xbox 360 was $500 CDN while the Elite was $550 CDN. The Premium did come with a game but the game was uninteresting (in my opinion).
• Non-bundled 360 Premiums were not offered for sale.
• The 360 Elite was sold out at both locations.
• HMV actually had a couple of Wiis, the EB Games did not.

Forcing a bundle seems a bit ridiculous and meant I went to the hotel empty handed (I would have taken an Elite if available mind you). The fellow in HMV said the Premiums came that way though he had no idea if Microsoft Canada or the store's HQ were forcing this.

Not allowing stand alone console sales or choice of games forces the consumer to make a decision which may result in no sale. Obviously if the price is right a bundle will get bought. When I was up in Toronto this past Christmas I bought my in-laws a 360 Premium with a full game and some Arcade titles for only $400 CDN. These kind of deals were pretty common at the time (before and after Boxing Day). It is pretty disappointing to seem them raised $100 CDN.

Posted 05/01/2007 @ 12:00:35 AM by Joseph Molnar Filed under: News Picks , Xbox 360 , Xbox Live Arcade

There was some coverage on sites Ars Technica and Kotaku today talking about how Xbox Live Arcade games are not fully transferable to the Xbox 360 Elite. This was mentioned on the Gamerscore Blog last week.

This has to do with a form of digital rights management (DRM) on the 360. The DRM allows:

• Any account to play the full Arcade title on the original Xbox 360 that the game was purchased on. Meaning: The whole family or visiting friends can play the full version.
• The original purchasing account to play on any console, as long as that account is logged into Xbox Live. Meaning: You can play full versions when visiting friends.

But, if your 360 is replaced or if you buy an Elite and transfer the titles over then all Arcade games previously purchased will require you to be logged into Live. No Live connectivity then the game plays like a demo.

Obviously not ideal. But listening to Major Nelson's latest podcast they state they are going to fix the licensing issue (approx. 21 minutes and 10 seconds in). Major said:

'Yes, we know the licensing isn't perfect. We know that. We are working on it.'

Given the bold lettering from the Gamescore blog and Major's podcast comment, they clearly knew this was going to upset some people. It is good that they are going to address it. I have a few arcade titles that require me to sign-in to play.