The Full Circle: 360 News Report 04.11.08

Posted by Joe Roche on 04.11.2008

Does power lie in the hands of the gamers? The internet speaks and someone listens. Plus meet the new Gears of War, somewhat similar to the old Gears of War, and Microsoft tries to bring a product that their fans want to the 360 and gets called pathetic for it, what gives? Finally we'll wrap it up with a little love for the forums and your chance to kill terrorists with The Full Circle.



So after last week very little was brought to the table, then Microsoft goes out and released Ikaruga on the XBL Arcade to make me look foolish. This week we're still pretty light on games but I've been able to catch up on some stuff that needed to be finished so it hasn't been all bad. Within this weeks column I will make a Paula Abdul reference and on at least one occasion try to bash the PS3. Only one of those items deserves the scorn, and the other one did a music video with MC Skat Kat.

EA Good Company?



Hey gamers, someone is listening to you. Or at least they're listening to IGN by way of Sarcastic Gamer, which is good enough. After the proposed Battlefield: Bad Company boycott due to EA releasing weapons as DLC (which you would then have to purchase), the company that wants to rule the world stood down. DICE and EA didn't completely give in, but they will now provide those who purchase the Gold edition of the game with 5 extra weapons which will be unlocked from the beginning, which the rest of you will have to rise to level 25 before they become available. This seems like a relatively rationale response from the company – reward those who buy the more expensive package, but don't punish those who don't, shocking.

However, the bigger story in my eyes is the fact that this was done on the ground floor. If gamers didn't make noise EA would have gone along with this plan to milk people for DLC money, for something that should be available when you purchase the game. We as gamers are being charged a significant amount of money to buy these games, and to then load them up with DLC (which is already on the disc, but cannot be unlocked until you purchase it from XBLA or the Playstation Store) is an abuse of a company's power over the dedicated fan base that they've cultivated.

Don't get me wrong – I don't think for a second that EA giving an inch here is a sign that they've changed their ways. The entire announcement came with a very ominous warning about "You have to do the marketing programs that we're going to announce further ahead" (huh?) before you can get the guns." Umm…so what does that mean exactly? I think there was mention of some type of newsletter that you have to sign up for to unlock one of the weapons, are you kidding me EA? Is this system any better? Is forcing me to do an internet questionnaire, or signing up for a Battlefield: Bad Company newsletter really going to change my thinking that this is a desperate cash grab by EA? While I am very proud that the gaming community was able to band together to get something accomplished, I am fearful that in the immortal words of Paula Abdul we've taken two steps forward and one step back, except in this case the one step back was into a huge pile of spam email every week.

Gears of War 2 Details



One of the early week big stories was that Game Informer had a bunch of new information about Gears of War 2 which would be great; if most of the information wasn't that the game will have a lot of similarities to the original. It isn't really news when you're telling me to expect what you gave me sixteen months ago (I'm not looking up how long it's been just use that number to mean, awhile). Cliff Blezinski gives us an inside look of what to expect some of the highlights include:

- "We have creatures that make the Brumak look like a baby panda bear."

- "We hear hints of all sorts of new multiplayer features, from dramatically expanded co-op modes to multiplayer content that takes advantage of Unreal's new ability to deliver huge numbers of the Locust horde at one time, but confirmed details will have to wait until a later date."

- Different difficulty settings for each player in co-op. One person can play on Hardcore, one on Casual.

- COG Centaur Tank (Monster Truck + Tank) There's a dedicated level where you get to pilot one.

- Drop in/drop out co-op, with a fourth, easier, difficulty.

- Forced walking scenes replaced with a dynamic conversation camera system (which is skippable).

- Hundreds of Locust troops, all acting independently.

- "Gorgon burst pistol and poison grenades, both of which can become part of your arsenal if you play your cards right"

I live by a pretty simple rule – if you put something called a Centaur Tank in your game, I will play it at least once. In that fashion I am a simple man. So what do you all think – we've been reassured since the Game Informer issue dropped that this is just a small taste of GoW2 has in store for gamers later this year – should we start getting excited now?

Codename: Newton



At this point everyone is relatively aware of the whole Microsoft project codenamed Newton which is supposed to be the Xbox 360 Wiimote knockoff. The rumors center on a post at Joystick that the prototype is complete and includes some software technology from Gyration (the team behind the Wiimote). Of course you have to take the rumors with a grain of salt since they are from a source named "Jake" – although 8bit Joystick was correct about the Bungie/Microsoft split when nobody else had heard anything about that so there is some precedent to think that the information is correct.

I've heard some people calling this low on the part of Microsoft, and I've heard people complain that they're ripping off Nintendo but I have to disagree. This is a pretty brilliant move by Microsoft to capitalize on software that people have a high demand for, and that a lot of people can't get. I mean why should Microsoft not produce a product for $50 that will give you the Microsoft customer the same experience that you'd have to at least $250 for a whole new console to experience otherwise? People complain about Microsoft having a Blu Ray player, but somehow the Wiimote is off limits? I just don't understand that logic.

There is also no guarantee that this remote will be very appealing either. I mean let's not be so quick to discount the Sixxaxis, that was supposed to revolutionize gaming with its motion sensor technology also and I think everyone can agree that it was an utter failure. But I'm going to have to side with Microsoft on this one, they are bringing something to their system (supposedly) that people have a desire for and I'd be hard pressed to criticize them for that.

DLC Achievements for the Forums



I'm sending this one out to the forums because there has been a pretty good debate about achievements going on over there this past week. Even though the Lost Odyssey DLC has only come out in Japan, and most of the achievements remain locked until you accomplish them – the cat was let out of the bag concerning one of the achievements.

It turns out that you will get achievement points simply for visiting the dungeon which is opened up through your download. In other words, you're going to get an achievement just for downloading the content. Somewhere right now Drue Phoenix and Ogre from the forums are throwing JRPG boxes around their rooms with this one. I'm pretty relaxed about achievements but I have to admit that getting one for just going to the place that you opened through downloading the content seems like a bit of a reach. I'll be interested to see what the forums think of this one.

Call of Duty 4 Play to Win Sweepstakes



Since next weeks column won't go up until this contest has already started I'll put it here for you all to file away in the back of your mind. Microsoft is presenting a Call of Duty 4 Live Fire Weekend starting April 18, 2008 at 12:01 AM EST and running through Sunday April 20, 2008 at 11:59 PM EST. Basically this is going to be your chance to jump CoD4, play against the developers of the game, and MMA Fighter Jens Pulver (Saturday night) for a chance to win hourly prizes throughout the weekend. The grand prize is an Infinity Ward autographed Elite console and Limited Edition Call of Duty 4 faceplate.

If you want to get involved Jens gamertag is COD4JensPulver, and the rest of the Activision and Infinity Ward team is listed below, I'd love for someone in the 411mania Nation to win some prizes during this thing so make me proud kiddies.

Fourzerotwo
COD4Chance
COD4Justin
COD4Ed
COD4David
COD4Neel
COD4Geoffrey
COD4Jon
COD4Jeff
COD4Drew
COD4Ryan
COD4Todd
COD4Joel

For more information on the Live Fire weekend visit: www.xbox.com/livefire/

THE WEEK AHEAD

Another nothing week from our friends at Microsoft except for what I am sure most people have been waiting for.

04.15.08: Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack



Halo 3 is still the second most popular online game for the 360 (behind CoD4) so it hasn't become stale to anyone, but those who wish to freshen things up a bit with some of the classic maps from Halo days gone by will really enjoy the Legendary Pack.

Closing Credits

Wanted to take a second to note that I was given a copy of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 by my boss this past week and I've been online basically every night playing through some Terrorist Hunts. If you've always had a dream of playing R6V2 with the guy who writes one of the Top 10 columns on 411mania's Games section my gamertag is jdroche and I'd be happy to kill some terrorists with you.

Also I am completely incompetent when it comes to providing links in this section but check out everyone else on 411 Games because there are some really great articles being posted here daily – except for that one about the PS3 that thing should be in the Movies section since the console is just a glorified DVD player.