Results tagged “xbox 360” from Birmingham Mail - Technobabble

Thousands of gamers have been barred from playing Xbox Live by Microsoft in an attempt to clamp down on piracy.

The US computing giant said it had banned consoles because owners had modified the equipment to play games without paying for them.

People whose Xboxes have been blocked will have to buy new machines if they want to connect to Xbox Live.

The internet service allows the 20 million gamers signed up to compete against each other via the web.

Wheelman
XBox 360
Midway
£39.99

GRAVEL-voiced baldy Vin Diesel has been ubiquitous on the Freeview channels recently plugging this driving fest, delivering the line "I'm Milo Burik. I'm a Wheelman." as if he's gargling napalm.

Not exactly famous for costume dramas, Diesel is associated with the Fast and the Furious franchise, and is himself a keen gamer.

Set in the unusual location of Barcelona, the 'plot' involves infiltrating the local underworld to gain information about a huge robbery which is set to take place in the near future.

Unsurprisingly most of the detective work involves driving sports cars as fast as possible (I don't remember Miss Marple taking the same approach).

A new ultra-unrealistic move called the 'airjack' involves somehow leaping from your car, hundreds of feet, landing in an enemy vehicle and taking over.

A bit different to Grand Theft Auto's yank open the door and pull the driver out, and not, I would say, any improvement.

There are some amusing glitches whereby you can plough straight through a brick wall but get stuck on a cardboard box.

It's a competent big dumb driving game, but doesn't really bring a great deal new to the genre.

71 per cent

Lord of the Rings: Conquest
XBox 360
Electronic Arts
£39.99

THE LATEST offering in the Lord of the Rings game series is by far the best I've played to date.

Having been a fan of the games since the first one I played on the Playstation 2 I was worried that I was just in for more of the same with Lord of the Rings: Conquest.

To an extent that's true, but the polished graphics, enhanced gameplay and the chance to take part in evil storylines instead just good ones meant that it didn't matter.

In this latest version you get to play as either a warrior slashing his way through hoardes of orcs, an archer who can fire explosive or poison arrows, a scout who can turn invisible and sneak up on enemies or a mage who can wreak havoc on enemy lines while defending your own soldiers.

Each have their own pros and cons but in true LOTR style whichever you choose there'll be no shortage of gore. Probably the best tribute I can give to this game is that my flatmate - who could best be described as a gaming Philistine - sat playing it for about an hour with obvious enthusiasm when I brought it home.

There are plot points in the game which will annoy some Rings fans and it is admittedly a bit on the short side - you could finish it in a day easily - but it more than surpassed expectations.

91 per cent.

By Will Oliphant

Rise of the Argonauts,
XBox 360
Codemasters
£39.99

A CROWD of bloodthirsty Argonauts on a rampaging mission for the golden fleece should make for a brilliant game - or at least you would think.

The basic idea is fine, following Jason's mission to find the fleece to save his wife who has been killed in an attack by mysterious magical enemies the black tongues.

Unfortunately as soon as you get into the first fight scenes it starts to go wrong. Initially there's no flow to the battles and it takes quite a long time before you're given the option to string together moves and get some fluid action.

The game camera also follows your character far too closely and it's incomprehensible why in a game where you have to search maps to find missions and characters to talk to, the makers have decided not to include a compass on the game screen.

The result is you have to keep going back into menus to access the game map, which is time consuming and irritating.

One of the saving graces is you the very satisfying way the camera slows when you finish off enemies and the ability to develop your player with god powers as the game goes on, but it can't make up for bad graphics, poor gameplay and boring interaction between characters.

55 per cent.

By Will Oliphant

Silent Hill Homecoming
XBox 360
Konami
£39.99

WHEN it comes to the skin crawling chill factor it's fair to say the Silent Hill franchaise has it sown up - and that's certainly the case with the latest offering, Homecoming.

And the game, now the sixth in the series, is bang on the money on that front and shows a return to form for the Silent Hill which had seen flagging sales in its fourth and fifth installments.

This time you take on the role of special forces soldier Alex Shepherd who has come back from a tour overseas to find his father and younger brother have gone missing.

As the game unfolds in characteristic Silent Hill style we find that Alex has what we would politely call "family issues".

At this point cue a riddle-filled and action-packed gameplay which follows on from what was started by the Resident Evil boys so many years before and features those unsettling but slightly sexy zombie nurses.

There are improvements to this game which haven't been seen before such as the dodge function which allows for more involved fights. Simply pummelling away with a knife or gun won't be enough to stop you from taking lethal blows this time.

Unfortunately the controls are still a little clunky.

You don't feel as in control of the character as I would like. Also irritatingly on the version I used the option to invert the view didn't work making it extremely hard to play. But once I got past this it was certainly enjoyable.

68 per cent

By Will Oliphant

Sonic Unleashed
Sega
XBox 360
£39.99

IS there really a place for pure arcade action any more in the days of ultra polished and realistic titles?

After all the reason for the unrealistic look for most games was that the technology simply wasn't there to do a better job.

To be fair, I think that people expect their 'arcade' games to have this kind of colourful appeal now it has become the accepted norm for this genre.

Sonic Unleashed at first seems to provide what this series is all about - blistering high speed, stripped down platforming and breakneck collection of items.

Visually it looks great - loads of primary colours, and although it's cartoon-like, the graphics are complex and clearly utilise the latest rendering methods.

Unfortunately the Werehog part of the game is a bit like wading through treacle after the excitement of the traditional bit, and certainly doesn't add to the experience.

So, one part excellent traditional arcade action, one part tedium.

65 per cent

Prince of Persia
Ubisoft
PC, XBox 360
£39.99

IT'S saving the world time again in Prince of Persia, another game which is the latest in a long line of sequels.

According to the blurb, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness.

Something about a god of light, needless to say, his brother who is the god of darkness, an ancient tree of life which has been destroyed, and the battle to save the earth from doom.

OK, so the plot doesn't exactly go beyond every fantasy novel ever written, but as ever in a Prince of Persia series, it's all about the gameplay.

I remember the original set new standards for what a platform game ought to be when I used to play it on my Commodore Amiga years ago.

And it would be fair to say that this latest incarnation is absolutely brilliant at the fluid acrobatic action which the series is known for.

It does feel a touch repetitive at times, the controls will have you nutting the TV screen and it's a bit short, but Prince of Persia is pure gaming, and great fun.

****

Need for Speed Undercover
EA
XBox 360
£39.99

IS NEED for Speed a franchise desperate for some kind of makeover?

It's certainly been going for some time now, with the same old high speed cop dodging and racing against rivals.

And there's a whole host of rival titles too including Project Gotham, Grid, Midnight Club and even the Grand Theft Auto series at a stretch.

The story, such as it is, and illustrated with some fairly poor cut scenes, is some nonsense about racing other drivers and avoiding police while going undercover to bring down some international crime syndicate.

Tri-City where the game is based, features 80-miles of roads, including a large motorway section.

The city is all very generic, albeit nicely realised, although it suffers from the unrealistic looking problem of skyscrapers popping into view from nowhere in the distance.

Undercover is an excellent racing game, make no mistake. It's fast, furious, competently put together, and has licensed a good many of the hottest cars around. It just doesn't get the excitement levels up as much as it should - possibly because it doesn't really do an awful lot that's new, in what is a crowded marketplace.

***

THEM console thingies are getting more and more popular according to figures released today.

ELSPA (the Entertainment Leisure & Software Publishers' Association) has revealed barely creditable figures that the 'installed base of consoles' (whatever that means) in the UK has doubled from 8.8 million in September 2007 to 17.3 million in September 2008.

The figures do not include sales for older second generation systems such as PlayStation 2, so they are pretty staggering (and don't include 'in the back of the wardrobe' systems).

Whilst Sony and Microsoft have added a million installed users in the last 12 months, Nintendo has proven to be the biggest winner with an increase of some 2.5 million Nintendo Wii consoles and 3.3 million Nintendo DS handhelds.

From September 2007 to September 2008 the Nintendo Wii installed base has risen from 1.1 million to a staggering 3.6 million, while the Nintendo DS has soared from 3.8 million to 7.1 million. By comparison, PlayStation 3 unit sales have risen from 0.4 million to 1.4 million and the Xbox 360 from 1.3 million to 2.3 million. Sony's PSP handheld showed a comparatively moderate increase from 2.2 million to 2.9 million.

All figures were provided by High Street retail chain The Game Group.

Michael Rawlinson, Managing Director of ELSPA, said: "There can be little doubt that video games are now one of the major forms of entertainment in the UK. Not only that, our industry is proving to be remarkably recession-proof when even major banks are failing.

"The reason is very simple - games can offer terrific value for money. I appreciate that it is only violent or controversial games that tend to garner tabloid headlines but the truth is that the overwhelming majority of games sold in this country are for all players of all ages - and that is why the Wii with games such as Wii Sports and Wii Fit are proving to be amongst the nation's enduring favourites."

Below - two typical XBox 360 gamers (Glenda and Roberta) joining the 2.3 million other users.

Microsoft has announced big price cuts for the XBox 360 in the US, Japan and other areas.

But would you just guess, in Blighty prices will remain at their current level.

The cuts mean that the Xbox 360 Arcade will drop to $199 (£112), the standard Xbox 360 to $299 (£168) and the Xbox 360 Elite to $399 (£224).

This will take the Arcade even cheaper than the Nintendo Wii.

A quick look on Amazon shows that UK gamers will have to fork out £150 for the Arcade, £190 for the standard version, and £250 for the Elite.

Microsoft have also made the statement: "Pricing is handled on a region-by-region basis. We do not have a price drop in this region [theUK] to announce."

Thanks guys!

Below - an XBox 360. As this pictured one is from the UK it's inherently more valuable than rubbish foreign ones...

SO the latest 'next big thing' has arrived - and already Grand Theft Auto IV is making the news.

The BBC reports that it has already smashed through all sales records.

Not only has it beaten any previous video game with UK sales of £24 million on the day of release, but it's already been critically acclaimed with huge review scores.

I've been off work this week - but hopefully on my return a review copy will be waiting!

Mind you, there have also been many reports of faults - suggesting Rockstar might not have tested things propertly before going to release.

Some PS3 owners haven't been able to install it on their hard drives, with others revealing crashing problems on the same system.

It's not confined to the PS3 either - on the XBox 360 a 'faulty batch of disks' (according to Rockstar) mean that it freezes every time you leave the base apartment.

The slightly ironic thing is that now that consoles can connect to the internet, they're getting the same half-finished releases that PC gamers have been putting up with for years - after all why test something properly when you can get it in the shops asap and then cure the many bugs with a host of 'patches'?

One more thing - games are still somewhat ghettoised. Compare the sales of GTA IV to many cinema releases.

The simple fact is that games are bigger business than films these days. But if you look at the coverage in newspapers you would still think it was the other way around.

My own games review column in Saturday's Birmingham Mail is dwarfed by the film coverage.

But consider this - in the link it shows that top UK opening WEEKENDS(not days) for films as of 2001 was Harry Potter £16.3 million, Fellowship of the Ring £11 million, and The Phantom Menace £9.5 million. For a more recent update Spider-Man 3 took £11.5 million on its opening weekend.

GTA IV's £24 million puts it all in perspective - and shows how what used to be a genre for nerds and children is now for the mass market.