d0rkorg

I’ve finally caved and traded off my unmodified Xbox. This was the green, limited edition Halo version that I bought a year and a half ago. I traded it for a Dell Axim X50v with this guy. I’ve kept my modified v1.0 Xbox because it is just too damn useful.

I wish I would have made the decision to buy the 360 a couple weeks ago, so I could have actually bought one on the launch day. Instead, I’m stuck waiting for retailers to best decide how to make the most money out of the little stock they’ve got. JC Penny for example is only going to sell the premium version for $799 and give you about $50 worth of accessories in the “bundle”. I suppose it is pretty tempting for the retailers to gouge customers when they see the eBay prices of late.

I’m guessing that my best chances to get one will either be at Best Buy (which I go to every Tuesday already anyways) or at Wal-Mart (which I very infrequently visit). I’ve subscribed to BensBargains.net’s Xbox 360 Tracker but that looks like it’ll be mostly useless in actually buying one. That is, at least until this initial craze dies down.

In the meantime, here’s my totally sweet gamer card:

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I recently read that Wal-Marts had started putting up Xbox 360 displays. So, I went and investigated today. The local store here had in fact setup a display and I got to play around for a little while. I like the new controller. It has two extra shoulder buttons like the PS2 does, while keeping the analog triggers they borrowed from the Sega Dreamcast. The Xbox Live button will be nice - supposedly it works from anywhere in any game to bring up your friends menu and whatnot. I played the Call of Duty 2 demo and was a little underwhelmed. After playing Doom 3 and Quake 4, the graphics really weren’t that impressive. Sure, they were better and everything was smoother than say Halo 2 for Xbox, but still it wasn’t quite as high of quality as I was expecting. I suppose it really isn’t fair comparing consoles to PC’s, but I was just disappointed at what I saw. That was the only game I got to play (I didn’t feel like standing there for very long) so I haven’t really made any judgements yet. I’ll have to wait and see what other games have to offer… I’m not a big fan of Call of Duty anyways. Apparently the only other playable game on the displays at Wal-Mart is Kameo so I’ll have to see if Best Buy, CompUSA, or maybe EB Games get better kiosks.

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Well, Smith is a bastard. I met him for lunch today and we then went to Best Buy. Quake 4 hit the shelves today and we wanted to check it out. We looked all around the store and there was not a copy to be found. They had F.E.A.R. on the shelves so I knew that they had to have recently received new games.

So, just as we finish the final pass and we’re about to walk out I ask Smith “why don’t you just ask somebody if they’ve got it?” Then, as if by some crazy magic, every blue-shirt suddenly vanishes. A couple minutes later I found somebody and asked him if they had any copies. He says that they had in fact just received some, but they didn’t put them on the shelves yet. At this point I go from not really wanting a copy to needing one.

I ended up walking out with the special edition.

I’ll post some first impressions of the game later tonight when I get a chance to play it.

First Impressions:

Single Player

Unimpressed. It’s Doom 3 with different weapons and a flashlight that you can use while using your gun. It really does feel more like Quake 2 and the beginning starts up right where Quake 2 left off (you work from Quake 2 is mentioned in the movie-like intro sequence). So far it has been interesting I suppose, but I abandoned Doom 3 quickly and I could see the same thing happening here. Reloading in Quake feels odd, but I guess that’s the norm for FPS games these days.

Multi-Player

Fun. This is nearly Quake 3 Arena style shoot-em-up. There weren’t many good servers up yet, but I found a couple that my ping was okay on. I’ll have to reaquaint myself with the rail gun now. No reloading in multiplayer games… I think this makes the game more fun for people who just want to run around and kill things and don’t care about arbitrary clip sizes in fictitious weapons. Though I’m not really familiar with the maps yet the two I played feel a little cramped. I suppose coming from endless hours of Counter-Strike and Battlefield 2 nearly anything will feel cramped. I’m not giving up UT2k4 for quick, fun FPS action just yet.

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I recently picked up Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, being a huge fan of the 2005 version of the same. I’ve played the game since the 2003 version (which until recently I actually played weekly at my brother’s house) and I think the 2005 to 2006 jump is probably the biggest jump in gameplay.

First off, the new putting system is unreasonably difficult. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you definately need to develop a touch for the putter. You can no longer just aim to a specific spot on the green and let it rip with a full swing. You need to adjust your backswing length to fit how far you’d like to putt the ball. The elevation guide and grid on the green seem pretty worthless for this. I’ve left it short as often as I’ve blasted it 6ft past the hole. Not once did I have a 3-putt in prior versions of the game, but I didn’t care for the caddy tips style of putting either.

The money amounts have been tamed down in this game as well. It used to be amounts under $50k were like nothing in the game. To buy a new driver, it might have cost $100k, which is just silly. Now the amount of money you get from sponsors and you win with trophy balls is much, much less and more in-line with reality.

Fade and draw shots are easier to hit. You just hold the right analog stick to adjust where your club will hit the ball. I never used to play a fade/draw in prior versions but I have quite a bit in this version. I’m more likely to play shots like you would when you’re really on the golf course instead of playing a shot firing directly at the pin because you know its going to land exactly where you’ve aimed.

The ballstriking in this game seems much more realistic too. Last night, a friend I was playing with tried to go for a long par 5 in 2, using his driver on the second shot. He ended up topping the ball, as I’d expect would happen often hitting oversized drivers off of tight lies. In 2005, every single time you’d connect with the ball on the fairway, it would be a crisp hit. I’m glad to see this bit of realism was added - maybe some par 5’s will really only be reachable in 3 (with lightning fast greens I actually rolled it over and OB with my second shot with a 2-iron).

While some parts of the game are still a little annoying, I think this version is a net improvement and a welcome upgrade for me.

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I can summarize my feelings of the ending of Halo 2 with the following statement:

(expletive deleted)

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Oi!

Half-Life 2 is set to be released at 12:01am (PST) on Tuesday, November 16. I know what I’m doing this holiday season…

Right on the heels of Halo 2, I’m going to have a tough time deciding which to play. I’ve preordered the gold package for Half-Life 2, and last night I went home to find a box of goodies waiting on my doorstep. All-in-all, the stuff was pretty lame and I already wish I would have just done the silver package… the hat is cool though.

Damnit! I get to wait again as Half-Life 2 is now unlocked at home. Also, it is downloading Half-Life: Source, which could be fun. Early reports of Half-Life 2 so far have said that it does indeed live up to its reputation. *drool*

Wow. There really isn’t anything else like this franchise — melee attacks with a crowbar are so satisfying that not even a chainsaw can compete. It has been so long since I’ve played this game I’ve nearly forgotton what it was like. Thank you Valve for the nice reminder.

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Do you have any idea how hard it is to concentrate at work while you know you’ve got a copy of Halo 2 just sitting out in your car waiting to be played?

…

omg. This game is sexyfun.

Wow.

It looks like my order from eCost is going to make it to my house after all. They had canceled my order last week like assholes (I pre-ordered on July 7^th), but now it’s back on. One catch, its $39.99 for the limited edition now instead of the $32.99 that I had originally pre-ordered it for. Oh well, beats $55 I suppose. I’ll end up selling this copy to make my copy that I bought at BestBuy cost me less.

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News from id’s CEO: Doom3 has gone gold!

Update 2004-07-15 9:20 am: here’s the press release from id.

7-14-2004 11:52 AM CDT

IT’S DONE!!!!!!!

Yes, this is the official word that DOOM 3 has been code released and has been approved for manufacturing! It won’t be long now until the anticipation ends and the PH34R begins ;-) We literally just hung up with Activision and have confirmed that our latest release candidate has been mutually approved and is finally GOLD. Thanks to everyone for their patience (yeah right! =) and for everyone at id, Activision and our numerous partners for helping us create what I believe is absolutely the best game we have ever made.

So, the next question is release dates. Retailers in the States will be allowed to pick up games starting at 12:01 AM on August 3rd. The official street date is actually August 5th in the U.S.A., but some of your favorite stores will probably have it early for those of you who have to have it first. Check with your local retailer for that information.

Internationally, the game will take a few more days to make it to the store shelves. The UK will probably get it first, on or about August 6th. Everywhere else will probably be Friday, August 13th (que Twilight Zone Theme) or close to that date, with just a few exceptions (e.g. Russia and Poland). This isn’t because we don’t have love for you folks outside the U.S., but the localization and manufacturing process takes a bit longer outside the U.S. where we will have JVC run 24/7 to get the units built. I guess the European manufacturers prefer to give their employees nights and weekends off. Go figure!

The champagne is flowing here at id and smiles abound!

I’ll update again with some DOOM 3 preparation tips (not what hardware to buy - you’ll have to wait for a programmer for that sort of thing). In the meantime, I want to see those “DOOM 3 GOLD!!!” threads set new records for swamping message board servers, destroying productivity, and post counts ;-)

Recapping today’s headlines….DOOM 3 GOLD!!!

This is great news for id. With this news and the recent announcement from Valve Software that there will be a public beta test of Counter-Strike: Source, it looks like any free time I might have had is going to be spoken for.

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I’m sure anybody who enjoys playing first person shooters is well aware that UT2004 was released this week.

As a die-hard Counter-Strike fan, it has been hard to imagine that anything will replace CS (except maybe CS2 for Half-Life 2). I bought a copy of UT2003 last year, but was a little disappointed because it just got boring after a while. Sure, the new bombing run mode was fun, but it was best played on LAN IMHO.

So, the UT2004 demo came out. I hadn’t heard anything about the demo yet, but I decided to give it a try. I’m not sure how many weeks ago that was, since time has mostly lost meaning for me since playing the game. Onslaught may be one of the best ideas in first person shooter games ever. I haven’t even thought of Counter-Strike since I first played the UT2004 demo, and that’s a big deal for me.

This week, my pre-ordered copy of the UT2004 Special Edition finally arrived (buy this copy if you can find it, it comes on a single DVD and bonus DVD instead of _6_ CD’s). I’ve been playing online every chance I’ve had. I can’t get enough of the new Onslaught maps. They even brought back the classic version of Facing Worlds (the CTF map that I’m sure you’ve played if you have ever played UT CTF). For those that are completely unaware, the Assault mode was brought back, and they gave us a modified Sniper rifle (not quite as good as the old one), and an AVRIL to lock on and destroy vehicles encountered in Onslaught gameplay. I have to say, it will be very tough for the upcoming Doom III and Half-Life 2 to take my attention away from Unreal Tournament 2004.

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The release of the (very) long awaited Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is finally at hand. I’ve been waiting for this game for the past couple *years*, so it’s exciting to see that it’ll finally be released in a couple weeks.

Another interesting thing about this release is that it is the first game to be released through Steam, Valve’s content delivery network. You can pre-order the game for a nice discount of $10, making it $30. I’ve decided to go ahead and pre-order, to see how smoothly this whole process works. It looks like you are required to verify your email address, then you just give your billing information. Steam will already ‘trickle down’ the update, so even if you decide to buy it on the day of the release, you’ll already have everything you need to play it right in your Steam content directory.

I’ve always thought that purchasing games over the internet like this was a very good idea. It saves on the delivery time and cost, the pressing of the cd’s and manuals, and you never have to worry about the game being in stock on release day. Hopefully Valve got it right and this won’t be something that I’ll regret.

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