By Pat McKinney

Ever since the release of the next-gen consoles, Microsoft has been among the top pimps in the gaming industry.  When you have beauties like Halo 3, Gears of War, Fallout 3, and Mass Effect roaming the streets, its easy to see why this analogy makes sense.  These whores, errr… games, are what keep gamers, all around the world, coming back for more.  But it seems now that XBox is getting desperate.  While the Wii is still the best selling console, Microsoft is raising its cane and pimp slapping Nintendo’s hottest street walker, as if to say “You’re ours now b***h!”  According to GameSpot.com, Microsoft is coming out with their own rendition of the “Wiimote”.  And to say it’s “their own” is a little far fetched… take a look.

Developed by Performance Designed Products (PDP), the “Gametrak Freedom” seems just a LITTLE bit like the Wiimote.  Here’s what GameSpot had to say about it:

“The Gametrak uses a 3D ultrasonic transducer and a three axis accelerometer to detect motion. You’ll also find a trigger on the under side, as well as the 360’s familiar four button configuration and a D-Pad.”

“Unlike Nintendo’s solution, which uses one point of detection, the Gametrak uses two sensor bars that sit on opposite sides of the TV. Up to four wireless Gametrak’s will work with the sensors. PDP claims that the added sensor in conjunction with the Gametrak’s motion sensing technologies give the Gametrak accuracy to within 2mm of movement.”‘

Now why can’t Microsoft just be original for once, is that too much to ask?  First, their HD DVD idea flops and rumors about a Blu-Ray player start to surface, and now they’re jumping into the pool of wireless motion sensing technology.  It’s already bad enough that they make us pay for wireless adapters and XBox LIVE (although XBox LIVE is far superior to any other console’s online gaming experience).  Every other console has their trademark.  Nintendo’s Wii has the Wiimote, Sony’s Playstation 3 has the Blu-Ray player (and a pretty damn good one for that matter), what does XBox have, XBox LIVE?

So here’s a message for Microsoft, just because your hookers, I mean… games, look, and play nice, that doesn’t mean you should sell out and start copying ideas.  Nobody wants your sloppy seconds.

Source:

http://www.gamespot.com/hardware/blogs/hardware-insider/909185655/26825798/pdp-unveils-the-motion-sensing-gametrak-freedom-controller-for-the-xbox-360.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=picks&tag=picks;title;3

Guitar Hero Drum Fix

In the words of a Lemming… YIPPEE!!!

Hey, this is James’ friend, Pat.  I’m one of the many angry people that purchased this game soon after it’s release.  Well, I should say that I WAS one of the angry people because I have figured out how to fix the drum pads.  If it’s your cymbals that aren’t working then you’re more than likely screwed (unless you plugged it in wrong) because I didn’t have a problem with the cymbals at all.  If your cymbals aren’t working, here are a few things you can try:

- Make sure they’re plugged into the correct jack.  If they’re not, turn off the set, plug them in accordingly, then turn it back on.
- Try switching the cymbals to see if either works in the other jack.  This will let you see if it’s the port or the cymbal itself that isn’t working.
- If you’re adventurous you could even open it up and see if there are any wiring problems.

Speaking of wiring problems, I guarantee this is 90% of people’s problems with the drum pads themselves (not the cymbal).  I’d classify myself as an adventurous person, so I actually unscrewed the back of the drum set and took a look inside (I figured it couldn’t hurt and I actually own two metal Dance Dance Revolution pads and had to rewire them a few times. So this adventure wasn’t totally without experience).  The first thing I noticed was that they used some sort of silicone glue to attach the wires to the sensor.  It became obvious to me that this was clearly interfering with the drum’s reception so here’s what I did (I encourage people to try this too, although I AM NOT AT FAULT if you screw yours up):

1. Unscrew the back of the drum set and SLOWLY remove the back piece.
2. Use some sort of sharp tool to remove the glue from the sensor. (I used a small knife)
3. Clean off the glue if you want, but there are two parts to the 3 sensors.  There is the inside circle and the outer ring. (Make sure you remember which wire goes to which, because you have to reattach it to the same one of your set wont work.)
4. Strip down the wire a little bit so that there is more of the wire for the sensor to read.
5. Use electrical tape to tape down each wire to the appropriate part of the sensor. (While doing this, it is good to connect it to the Xbox to see if the drums are working properly. You’d hate to screw everything back in and find out something didn’t work right.)
6. Finally, be careful that you reattached everything properly and then screw everything back in.
7. Connect your controller and drum away!

I promise you that this worked for me.  This is definitely much better than sending it back in and waiting 2-3 weeks for them to fix it and ship it back.  If you think about it the wiring problem makes A LOT of sense.  I’m sure they didn’t think this would happen and they weren’t careful when gluing each wire to the sensor.  Yes, this is a small project that we SHOULDN’T have to do, but it’s definitely worth it.

I will answer questions if people have any, just leave a comment and I will check them and answer to the best of my knowledge.

Guitar Hero World Tour drum set

Me and my friend Pat waited until 12:14am for the midnight release of Guitar Hero: World Tour for the Xbox 360. There were only two (2) Xbox 360 band sets available, and we were able to get one!! After speeding home, we set up the drums and were ready to play.

Immediately, Pat noticed that the red drum on the set was not responsive. If it did respond at all, it was delayed. At first I thought he just didn’t have any rythm, then it was my turn on the drums. I was experiencing the same problems! Well, it turns out that there really is a defect with the drums, and we are not the only ones who are experiencing the problem.

So if you bought the game, or are planning on buying, SAVE THE RECIEPT!!! If you’re having any other problems you can visit Activision customer support. Thanks for reading.

Not all gamers like RPG’s (Role Playing Game). I used to think that I was one of them. I considered myself a hardcore online warrior. That all changed one fateful vacation. I was trapped in a desolate state called Vermont, and I had no internet to play xbox live. I was going through withdrawal, and I needed my gaming fix. Luckily there was a place to rent xbox games (I think it was a log cabin or something). I decided to rent Fable, since I had heard such good things about it.

This was my first time really getting into an RPG. I loved how my character developed before my eyes, and the gameplay was good enough to hold my attention all the way through the storyline. Because Fable was such a good game (in my opinion), I believe that they can’t screw up Fable 2…..or can they?

Many people were dismayed when Fable was initially released. Not necessarily because the game was bad, but because there were some features that many people expected to be in the game, but were not implemented. This time around, Peter Molyneux and the people at Lionhead Studios are going balls out (so to speak) to include as many new features as possible.

One feature in this game is a dog (mans best friend) that you CANNOT control directly. You can however, control the dogs actions through the way you interact with it. The reasoning behind not letting the player directly control the dog was to try to create a feeling of love or companionship between it and you. I think that this was a good idea, because I have heard of people becoming emotionally attached to their pikman to the point of restarting the game if they lose too many in a mission. This feature will definitely add depth to the game.

Fable 2 will also have ONLINE multiplayer. Players can play through the story together, and the main hero (I’m assuming player one) will determine how much gold/exp that player 2 will get. You can play coop, then immediately take the same character you were playing online coop with, and play single player.

One major issue I have with the game is the one button combat system. Most of your attack will be delivered by pressing one button. I fear this can lead to repetitive game play, even if there is an abundance of animations. For example: you press X standing behind an enemy, and you do a sweet attack that destroys the back of his head! Cool animation! But honestly, I believe that the novelty of a variety of animations cannot make up for a one button combat system, but I will reserve my judgment until I play the finished game. Also the spells have changed a bit since the first Fable. There will be spells (fire based and lightning based for example) that you can use in two different ways. You can do a direct target attack, or and area of effect (AOE) spell. The AOE will do damage to enemies all around you, while the direct attack only hits one target. They have also done away with the spell menu from the first Fable.

Overall I would still say I’m pretty psyched for the games release. It comes out in the US on October 21, 2008. I hope this entry helps you decide if you would like to try this game out.

Bungie, the creators of the “Halo” series, have just released more information regarding their latest project. They have released a new teaser video (Link is below) that gives us some small insight about the game. The title of the game is “Halo 3: Recon.”

In the trailer, it shows a pod crashing into a metropolitan area. After the pod crashes, and a marine fitted in ODST armor steps out. The soldier remains inside of the building, hiding from a covenant patrol that strolls by.

What could this mean about the plot? The trailer seems to take place in New Mombasa, which you might remember is the city that gets obliterated at the end of the Halo 2 level “Metropolis.” The story seems to be about a lone ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) left in the city to fend for himself.

What could this mean about the game play? Because the ODST chose to hide from the group of covenant, this game seems to be distancing itself from the conventional run and gun style of gameplay that the previous installments of the series had. Also, the gun he was wielding was equipt with a silencer. This leads me to believe that this game will be more of a COD4 (in a sense that one or two shots will kill the player) or maybe even a Metal Gear Solid type of game. It will be very interesting to watch this develop.

Halo 3: Recon Trailer

Hello everyone! I think its about time that I take this website live. I plan to bring you the latest news in the gaming and technology industries, as well as providing videos of gameplay of the newest games. Hopefully I will be able to get a press pass to go to events such as E3, MLG, QuakeCon, BlizzCon, and many more. I hope that you keep coming back to check for whats new. Thanks!