The Full Circle: 360 News Report 11.21.08

Posted by Joe Roche on 11.21.2008

It's another Friday of The Full Circle as Joe Roche returns with news about GTA IV DLC being dated, Fable II announcements being delayed, Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is coming, Fallout 3 in Google Maps form, and then we'll close out the week with some talk about the NXE.

It's been another fun filled week in Microsoft land with the major news obviously the almost flawless release of the New Xbox Experience on Wednesday. I plan on talking about the NXE in the Hot Button this week, but before we get to that we've got some other issues to deal with. However, first things first – let's take a quick look at this week in gaming.

- It was all Gears of War 2 all the time this week as I tried to play as much Horde mode as possible. The most aggravating thing about playing Horde with random people is that you're really taking your chances. My biggest pet peeve is the guy who gets through the first stage and then just logs off leaving a team of 4 for the rest of the game. Look Horde can take awhile, so don't sign in to play 10 minutes before dinner, you're really going to piss some people off. My other problem is with the run and gun type who populate the multiplayer. This strategy does not work in Horde, if you get killed on the opposite side of the map from your team base you're done for and it's your fault so please do not yell at me over your headset because I let you get pummeled to death.

- In a somewhat related note this evening at about 10:15 PM EST I will be logging onto Xbox Live to play some Horde, if you want in on the game I need four teammates so sign on, send me a friend request and be online when I'm trying to get the game started. It'll be the first of what I can only assume will be a long line of The Full Circle Horde matches.

I promise that I probably won't talk about Gears of War 2 for the rest of this article, so without further ado let's take a look at the news.

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"Lost and Damned" DLC Announced

Well after a couple of delays it appears that the episodic DLC for GTAIV finally had some substance behind it. According to USA Today (a source that I go to for all my video game needs) the "Lost and Damned" episodic DLC will be officially released for the Xbox 360 on February 17, 2009, which for those counting at home is a full 10 months after the release of GTA IV, and about 5 months after the DLC was initially scheduled to hit the Xbox Live Marketplace. According to those in the know, this DLC will follow main character Johnny Klebitz, who is a member of the Liberty City biker gang "The Lost." Dan Houser, the Rockstar VP says that Klebitz is a much different character then Niko, and the story will show you a side of Liberty City that you have not seen before.



SSFIITHDR Dated



For those of you without an advanced degree in acronyms SSFIITHDR stands for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and it appears that potentially on accident Capcom announced a release date for the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade game. As I'm sure you're all aware one of the nice new features included in the NXE was the short descriptions of XBLA games, and the one for SSFIITHDR clearly states that the game will be released on November 26th, 2008. So after you throw that 30 pound turkey in the oven and before you crack that first beer with the kids home from college why not fire up the 360 and download some SSFIITHDR.

Fable II Announcement…Delayed

Last week Lionhead Studios promised Fable II fans a huge announcement this past week. When the time came for the studio to make the big reveal they gave us…a theme pack! Well not exactly what we had in mind when being told about some super secret, great reveal but as it turns out that announcement has been put off until next week. Apparently someone at Lionhead thought better of making a big announcement on the same day that the NXE was released so they threw that baby on the back burner until the excitement over Avatars and snazzy new blade systems wears off. In the end it's probably a good idea, but it wasn't like Lionhead didn't know about the NXE so why they'd schedule their announcement for the same day in the first place still leaves me scratching my head.



Xbox 360, 1 Day Longer Lifespan

According to an interview with VentureBeat the King of all things Microsoft Shane Kim claims that the Xbox 360 isn't going anywhere. Kim specifically pointed to the short life span of the original black box of death Xbox, and said that the 360 would not befall the same type of fate. When asked specifically if Microsoft would move on to another console after the 360 Kim claimed that they intended to one up Sony by making the lifespan of the Xbox 360 "one day longer then the PS3." When you consider that Sony boasts a 10 year life span for the PS3 that seems like a pretty heavy claim by Kim, although again I love him sticking up for his system that way so I won't fault him.



Jack Thompson Pays Up

As a newly minted member of the legal community I find it impossible to pass up the chance to talk about Jack Thompson the former Florida attorney who made a name for himself as an anti-video game warrior. Part of the punishment handed out to former Attorney Thompson was that he reimburse legal fees to the court at a cost of what amounted to $42,525.27. Well according to Kotaku (and Jack Thompson himself) you can not ever let it be said that Jack Thompson would ever try to skip out on a bill. Sure the man might have been judged so unethical that he can't even practice the law in the state of Florida, but he did pick up that tab – even if the court seems reluctant to cash the check.

Dear Chief Justice Quince:

Please advise today what you and the Court have done with my check for $42,525.27 that was sent you on November 6 to be held in trust by the Supreme Court. I find today, in talking with my bank, that the check has not been negotiated. I'm not paying any interest on this amount. You all had it from me on the date it was due. Regards, Jack Thompson

Say what you want about the man, but in the end he's just an unemployed guy picking up a pretty hefty price tag for his lack of legal ethics.




Fallout 3 Google Map

If you've spent any time in the Wastelands of Fallout 3 then you undoubtedly know that one of the most enjoyable parts of the game is discovering stuff. After awhile you level up to the point where fights aren't that interesting, and the wooden character acting makes events like blowing up Megaton seem almost trivial. So when you need to take a break from some of that stuff you can always just walk around the Wastelands and try to find new stuff. If you're the type of person who doesn't enjoy that type of simulation though you're in luck because the fine folks at Planet Fallout have created a Google Map of the Capital Wasteland. Let me warn you though, this map contains spoilers so I suggest not clicking on that link if you want to be surprised.

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Reader Rants

Actually this week there wasn't much reader ranting to talk about. I will say that J-Bone was right on about the Gears 2 online matchmaking, it has been a bit of disaster. Do not fret though my friends because Epic has promised that a fix is in the works.

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The Hot Button:

Topic: New Xbox Experience

On Wednesday morning most people who weren't fortunate enough to gain advance access to it were greeted with the New Xbox Experience or NXE for those in the know. After a relatively short set up process (mine took about 4 minutes) we were all witness to a pretty bad ass welcome video, and then the exploration was under way. By now I can only imagine that everyone has had an opportunity to try Avatars, maybe download a game to their hard drive, and play around with some of the other new features. After spending some hands on time with the new interface I thought I'd give some comments about the things that I love, and a few things that I could do without.

Hit:
The look of the new interface is much better and more sleek then the old blade system. I know that there have been some complaints about older themes looking stretched or flat out bad, but overall I think the new interface looks crisper and cleaner.

Miss:
I'm not going to turn this into an endless rant about Avatars. What I will say is this…Microsoft has provided very little in the way of customizable attire. Everyone assumed when this service was announced that before long we'd be asked to pay for new clothes, and additions. However, what I didn't expect was a bare bones closet of clothes to choose from and immediate notification that Microsoft planned to add new items every other week for the next six months. Did I miss something about these additions being free, or am I expected to pay for those entire downloads? We also heard about new outfits being bundled with themes, which again was not unforeseen but I had hoped to have a few more options then one sport coat, and a Microsoft tee shirt on launch day to play around with.

Hit:
While the options are limited, and the attire closet is pretty bare – in the end Avatars aren't that bad. It is pretty entertaining to see what Avatar your friends have made, and I must say that some of the 411mania crew looks better in digital form then I imagine they appear in real life. Unlike yours truly who has an avatar that looks like a lesbian news talk show host, but in real life looks almost nothing like that.

Miss:
Downloading games to the HDD is an overrated function. I actually support the idea behind it, however since most games that are available for the 360 were made without this feature in mind there is a very minimal improvement over running the game from the disc. In fact some games, like Halo 3 actually run worse when you download them to the HDD. This will change over time I am sure, but for the time being there is very little benefit to downloading your games to the hard drive.

Hit:
While it might not make much difference in game play, not hearing the disc drive spinning GTA IV at a hundred miles an hour is an absolute plus in my book.

Miss:
Does anyone actually own one of those 120 GB hard drives? I'm sure that there is a huge chunk of the install base with the 20 GB HDD who have been completely left in the cold with the download feature. I guess the lesson here is that you shouldn't own the 20 GB HDD.

Hit:
Community games.

Miss:
S L O W D O W N. I can't be the only person who has noticed a significant amount of lag time since the NXE download right? I understand that there are about 14 million people trying to access this thing at one time, but yikes. How much longer will I have to see my friends motto bubble with no avatar before someone speeds this process up?

Hit:
My MVP of the NXE goes to the most insignificant addition to the entire update and that is the ability to delete 0 Gamerscore games from your list of games. For too long I've had to look at demo and trial versions of games with 0 Gamerscore, and finally as of Wednesday those times are over. Sure I could have mentioned Netflix but as I have yet to use the service I can't give the award to that – so congratulations 0 gamerscore deletion feature, you are the real MVP of the NXE.

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Punching Out:

Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser.

Hall of Shame by Vincent Chiucchi

Select and Start News Report by Vincent Chiucchi

The 10th Hour by Chris Lansdell

Achievement Unlocked by Rod Oracheski

Coming Attractions by Drew Robbins

PC Centric Extravaganza by Chris Evans

The PC Spotlight by Chris Vicari