The Full Circle: 360 News Column 10.02.08

Posted by Joe Roche on 10.03.2008

It's a busy Friday in the Full Circle as Joe Roche talks about Gears 2, Fable II, Bionic Commando, Dead Space and some international sales figures that might just surprise you. Plus with it being October now we're going to close out the week with the Full Circle holiday buyers guide Top 10 games of the Christmas season.



It's Friday and that can mean only one thing – it's time again for The Full Circle. It's the first Friday of October and we are now officially ready to launch the video game holiday rush. In the next few months some major titles are going to be dropping and I for one can't wait.

- As I continue to kill time before some of the highly anticipated winter games are released I'm catching up on some titles that I had meant to play but ignored for whatever reason. This week I spent a good deal of time with Lost Odyssey. Not enough time to give a full run down of the game, but thus far I've enjoyed the dream sequences and the story telling, although the main plot is a bit obscure and some of the game play techniques (sneaking around the White Boa) are downright aggravating.

- I know this might sound like blasphemy for someone who admittedly loves the 360 as much as I do, but I also picked up Halo 3 this week. I understand that I might be the final person to ever get my hands on the game, and after playing through a little bit of the game I must admit that I made a huge mistake waiting this long. I'm not going so far as to proclaim it the best 360 game because I have my preferences but it's pretty damn good as far as first person shooters go.

When you combine all that game play with the Xbox Live downtime this past Monday it's been a pretty eventful week in the Roche Casa, but it's Friday now and we're on the precipice of the weekend so let's kick it off in style as I take you around The Full Circle.

Fable Co-Op Issues



One of the biggest stories this week is the news that Fable II may, or may not have online co-op play available at launch on October 21st. This news item has been tossed back and forth all week with the story originally breaking through the Gamerscore blog, and then being refuted by Peter Molyneux himself at a keynote address at the Video Game Festival in Paris, France. However, as of my writing this column the newest update from Molyneux says that he is "ambitious" for a day one patch that will allow for online co-op play but he can't make any concrete promises as of today.

Gears 2 Impressions



One of the great things about non disclosure agreements is that the moment they expire the internets become flooded with loads of information that we game fans have been anxiously awaiting. This past week the veil was lifted on some new Gears of War 2 information, including some media impressions of the first act and I for one could not be more excited for November 7th. I could give a complete rundown of each different perspective on Act One but I think the one universally agreed upon fact was that the dual chainsaw staff wielding Skorge has peaked everyone's appetite to continue the war against the Locust.

There has been an announcement made that the Skorge will be playable online, with some modifications to keep things fair, naturally. Furthermore, everyone seems to agree that the game plays amazingly well, looks great, and feels like the frantic warzone that it proclaims to be. All of this news is good – the only downside is that we're still over a month away.

Final piece of information that has leaked a bit involves some DLC that might be available at release. You can file this under speculation but there is some rumbling that if you purchase a new copy of Gears 2, inside the package you will be given a redemption code for a map pack that will include five reworked Gears 1 maps. These maps are supposedly Gridlock, Subway, Canals, Mansion and Tyro Station. Again I'm a bit up in the air about this news and whether I believe it or not, but if it's true then count me among those who support this move by Epic.

Euro Sales Gloating



A few months ago there were comments going around (and I remember who was saying them), that proclaimed the 360 dead in the water. Well what a difference a price cut makes, as it is now being revealed that following the European price cut our favorite console is outselling the PS3 two-to-one in that particular market. Over the past two weeks 360 sales have increased 214%. When you combine this with the massive increase in Japanese sales of the console you're suddenly looking at Microsoft making a strong push for a strong second place standing in the global market, and expanding past their previous American centric point of view.

I'm actually a bit surprised by this turn of events. I mean the Japanese up-tick could be explained through the price cut and a sudden addition of games that Japanese buyers tend to flock towards (Infinite Undiscovery, Tales of Vesperia). However, that doesn't seem to be the case in the European market, as apparently the only thing holding the 360 back in that particular region was the price.

Skywalker Unleashed



The sales figures for The Force Unleashed have been better then I anticipated, and with this latest announcement from Lucas regarding upcoming DLC for the game I am sure that more people will pick up a copy of the game. Apparently LucasArts has announced that they will be releasing some downloadable skins to TFL which will allow players to act as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Kit Fisto. Along with the ability to play as Luke, you'll also be getting a new playable mission in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where the Apprentice will learn about Donald Trump's vision of a new casino in Atlantic City…or more about his father, and battle inner demons while traversing through some rubble – either way it sounds like some good stuff in support of The Force Unleashed.

Live Bundle Clearance



If you're in the market for a cheap way to get a 12 month subscription to Xbox Live, along with a Vision camera, wired headset, two XBLA games and 200 MS points then you're in luck. That exact bundle has been popping up at places like Circuit City, and Best Buy for the now marked down clearance price of $49. It seems as if this is a move to clear out space for the new PGR4/Chatpad bundle that is rumored to be hitting shelves for the holiday season. Either way I am just doing my duty to pass the savings on to you.

Dead Space Gold+



The space horror gorefest from EA, Dead Space has officially gone gold and will ship to retailers on October 14th. This isn't really much of a news item because I don't remember there being much talk of Dead Space being pushed back, but I am excited to hear it because this is one of the two October games that I am anxious to get my hands on (the other being Fracture). Obviously Dead Space will be running into the giant that is Fallout 3, and Fable II – but I'm confident that this game is going to deliver, or at least I'm hopeful that it will.

In related news for you early purchasers EA is going to make available to you, for two weeks following the release of the game a nice downloadable alternate suit. There is no word on whether or not this will become something you have to pay for once the two weeks is up, or if it will just vanish into thin air but if you're someone who wants the "Elite skin" for free, you're going to need to buy the game within two weeks of release.

Bionic Commando Box Art



I needed something to close out the news this week and here it is – we've got the official box art for Bionic Commando: Rearmed and it's all pretty looking and junk. When you purchase the game you'll be given a code somewhere within the package to play as a skin of the original Nathan "Rad" Spencer. This is important for people who just can't find the love in their heart for this version of Nathan "Dredz" Spencer.

THE HOT BUTTON

It is the first weekend of October, the Red Sox have a 1-0 lead over the Angles, the weather is starting to get cold and the leaves are changing in my backyard. All this means one important thing to me as a gamer – namely that it's time for the holiday rush of games. I did this with the summer slowdown season and I'm back again with my Top 10 Games of the winter season countdown.

In the summer we had a few games that turned out pretty well (Battlefield: Bad Company), and some that were more sizzle then anything else (Too Human). As we approach the beginning of the madness that is the holiday rush we've got a bunch of games on the horizon. This list is a Top 10 that relates to yours truly alone so if you disagree with anything I say here, you can go screw.

10. Fable II (October 21): Possibly no online co-op at launch? That's a shame, but not enough to get me too discouraged about Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studio's opus. It is low on my list because I'm not the type of person with hundreds of hours of patience and as such I worry about the shelf life that I'd find with this game.

9. James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace (November 4): The shots that I've seen of this game make it seem like a more suave version of Gears of War, if Marcus wore a tuxedo and drank martini's. That's not a bad thing, and we might finally have a solid 007 game on our hands once again.

8. Damnation (December 12): Vertical shooter set in the old west? This game is one of the more mysterious entries on the list because it's still a few months off but I'm hoping that this will be a nice Christmas surprise.

7. The Last Remnant (November 20): I like to play one RPG per season. I am currently backlogged because I haven't finished Lost Odyssey so don't even talk to me about Infinite Undiscovery, but Last Remnant looks to be the JRPG of Christmas. Many people tire of the Square formula for RPG's and with Star Ocean out there somewhere this might get lost in the shuffle.

6. Call of Duty: World at War (November 11): This one needs no explanation. When you're following up one of, if not the best game on a console you've got some huge shoes to fill so I'm interested to see what happens with World at War.

5. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 (November 9): Call me a sucker if you want, but I'm a WWE fan and I will be getting this game. The revisions to the Road to Wrestlemania seem interesting even if I'm a bit let down by the limited number of superstars you can choose from. After the abomination that was TNA Impact SvR doesn't have direct competition yet, but let's hope they've made some progress.

4. Fallout 3 (October 28): A game that is on the list because it will be one of the biggest games of the Christmas season, not necessarily because I am anxious to get my hands on it. I realize this might be blasphemous at this stage but nothing I've seen from Fallout 3 has made me feel as though I need to wait in line at midnight for this game.

3. Fracture (October 7): Before the demo this game was somewhere between 8 and 12 on my list. After the demo I am counting down the days until its release. It's a US civil war over the environment that looks like Halo and has innovative new weapons. Yes, please.

2. Dead Space (October 14): Not that long ago this game was being touted as the little engine that could. Now Issac might wind up being a juggernaut of the holiday months. Dead Space looks horrifying, it looks entertaining, and it looks beautiful. If it wasn't for the number one game on my list this would be my choice pick of the winter.

1. Gears of War 2 (November 7): As if there was any question about this one. I enjoy multiplayer features as much as the next guy, but the campaign mode is what sells me on a game. The fact that Epic has spent so much time on the campaign mode this time around makes me happy in places the government won't let me type about.

PUNCHING OUT

The 10th Hour by Derek Robbins. The Top 10 Final Fantasy characters of all time are...a great column.

Achievement Unlocked by Rod Oracheski. Rod talks a moment to talk about Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, Cabela Dangerous Hunts 09, and the new Halo update.

Coming Attractions by Drew Robbins. My friend Drew is hyped for Sonic: Dark Chronicles and Silent Hill: Homecoming this week. I agree with him about one of those two.

Fact of Fiction by Tommy Coloma. Coming at you this week with Owain Brimfield, and Dan Hirsch. I mention this because next week, Mr. Joe Roche will be doing a fact or fiction I do believe.

PC Centric Extravaganza by Chris Evans. Chris takes a page out of my playbook and has a shorter then usual column this week because of a myriad of issues.

The Hall of Shame by Vincent Chiucchi. The Gizmondo…I had no idea what this was before I read this column.

The Import Scene by Tommy Coloma. Look kids it's a brand new column from Mr. Tommy Coloma.

The PC Spotlight by Chris Vicari. Wait we have two PC columns, and this one is talking about Alan Wake? What year is this?

The Working Title by Jordan Williams. The real GTA killer is going to be Rockstar trying to make their games longer and more watered down.

Beyond the Report by Drew Robbins. Kojima needs to talk MGS5 because Sony is losing ground worldwide and it's the only weapon they've got left.

Nintendophiles by Theo Frasier. By today we all know whether or not Nintendo has announced anything for the hardcore gamer, and this has nothing to do with Theo's great column this week.