The Full Circle 360 News Report 12.12.08
Posted by Joe Roche on 12.12.2008
As you check the clock on your computer, counting down the minutes until 5 o'clock check out the newest edition of The Full Circle by everyone's third favorite Xbox 360 themed writer/attorney Joe Roche. This week we're going to talk about a bunch of Gears of War 2 stuff, plus some rumors on a possible Gears 3, and we've got hackers, NPD numbers, and tiny collector's edition figurines all inside TFC.
Welcome to another Friday edition of The Full Circle, now with 100% less talk about my new job. I do have a non video game related thought though that came to me while watching Monday Night Raw. The last time the WWE did the Slammy's was in 1997 which was only significant because of Owen Hart. Seeing the Slammy Awards again really got me thinking about Owen who was so spectacular following the '97 Slammy Awards that I can't think of one without the other. No real relevance to this rant but it was on my mind. In somewhat related news, that '97 Slammy awards also featured the Best Newcomer Award won by Rocky Maivia, who beat out Steve Austin, Mankind, Marc Mero, and Flash Funk. Who is more out of place in that lineup Mero or Funk?
Not much to talk about on the video game front – played a lot of NHL 09 and not much else. So instead of getting bogged down in that lets move forward with The Full Circle.
3 Million Marcus' Can't Be Wrong
In a surprising twist of fate I have both good news and bad news for Gears of War 2. This week it was announced that Gears 2 had surpassed the 3 million units sold mark according to Epic Games Mark Rein, and Edge Magazine. This is a pretty impressive feat when you take into consideration that the game has only been on retail shelves for 4 weeks. In comparison it took the original Gears of War (which sold a total of approximately 5 million units) ten weeks to reach the 3 million mark.
On the down side it appears as if the online component of Gears 2 hasn't been helped much by the 3 million gamers who have purchased the game. According to the most recent online numbers as provided by Major Nelson himself, Halo 3 has returned to the top of the online food chain, followed by Call of Duty: World at War, with Gears 2 coming in third. I'm not terribly surprised by this as I love Horde mode, but outside of that I don't find much to bring people back to the multiplayer. I think Epic really dropped the ball by not having level up rewards (ala COD, Halo, Rainbow Six) to entice people to keep playing the game. With all of the things Epic did right with Gears 2 this is the one area that I'd say they really dropped the ball. Hopefully they take this into consideration when they bring out the drawing board for Gears 3 in order to give the game a longer shelf life with online players.
What Economic Collapse?
Hey remember that economic collapse that we've been going through? Well apparently nobody told the Xbox 360 buying populous during the month of November because Microsoft had a very strong month according to the most recent NPD numbers. It appears as though the Xbox 360 moved 800,000 units in November marking a 3.9% increase over the same time period last year. A lot of the increase can probably be attributed to Gears of War 2 which sold roughly 2 million copies in November, but Gears 2 wasn't the only big winner.
- Call of Duty: World at War sold 1.4 million copies.
- Left 4 Dead sold a respectable 300,000 copies.
- The Xbox 360's 800,000 units sold was more then double the PS3 sales number of 375,000.
- The lone black spot on the month was Mirror's Edge, a title with a lot of hype and some interesting features that failed to crack the Top 10 in games sales for the month.
Hacked for Dead
One of the joys of PC gaming has always been that after about ten minutes with a game someone has devised a way to hack into it and give themselves an unfair advantage. Well if you felt deprived of this rite of passage because you're a console gamer; rejoice because your day has come. Apparently someone found a way to hack the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead. One of the most alarming reports comes from someone who was attacked by 40 witches and 2 tanks while in a safe room. That sounds a lot like how my wedding day began, only with more Jack Daniels. So if you're playing Left 4 Dead online (and honestly who is playing it offline?) and you notice a giant lumbering towards you wielding a shotgun, it's not the mushrooms it's just a hacker. (Caution: if the Giant is outside your window, and not in your TV it might be the mushrooms)
Enjoy the Crimson Vampire
Perhaps it's because Capcom ordered too many Crimson Vampire figures, or maybe they just hate the 360 population in general if you're a fan of Street Fighter, and are looking forward to the bad ass Street Fighter IV Collector's Edition you might want to hold on to your hat. Apparently the CE which will ship for the lofty recession proof price of $79.99 will come bundled with the game, soundtrack CD, strategy guide, costume DLC, and a bonus disc with a Street Fighter anime movie, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will be getting different figurines in their respective packs. The 360 version, as already mentioned will come with the Crimson Vampire figure (whoever that is), while the PS3 will get Ryu. I have no idea what the Crimson Vampire is, but wouldn't this deal make much more sense if the Xbox 360 got Ken and the PS3 got Ryu? Also why would the console with the larger base get the crappier figure? First Soulcalibur did it to us with Yoda over Darth Vader and now this…ah well, it's still Street Fighter IV, so that makes up for a lot of the complaints.
Superman that Console
When people all over the United States started singing that Soulja Boy song I felt like we were on the slippery slope to the destruction of this nation. I might not have been completely right but since that time, we elected a black guy President (and it wasn't Morgan Freeman), the stock market crashed, then rebounded, then crashed again with the biggest swings in the history of the world…and it happened on a global scale, and the price of gasoline went from $4.00/gallon to $1.50/gallon without anyone blinking an eye. I'm not saying that this all Soulja Boy's fault, but go look up what his song is referencing, and then try to contain yourself as your 14 year old cousin sings along. Apparently in his effort to completely wipe me off the face of the earth Soulja Boy is hinting that he will be releasing a video game for the Xbox 360 in 2009. I guess in a world where 50 Cent has two games, Soulja Boy should be allowed to have, I mean at least he is an avid gamer.
Fable II GOTY?
Is Fable II the Game of the Year? They are if you ask G4's X-Play which handed their GOTY to Peter Molyneux and the Lionhead the other night. I will admit that I have not played Fable II yet. I have heard some good things, but with some of the other games that came out this year like GTAIV, Fallout 3, and Gears 2 (which didn't win anything G4) I am a bit surprised that Fable II was able to pull off this honor. We have entered the time of the year where everyone and their mother will be releasing GOTY lists but nobody can take this check mark away from Lionhead even if they don't top another GOTY list this season.
EndWar DLC, title update
Speaking of games that I have to plead ignorance on, apparently EndWar is going to be getting a title update and some downloadable content. Actually that's not entirely true, EndWar already has had a title update and DLC because that was all released on December 11th. The EndWar Escalation Pack costs 800 MS points, and includes a few new maps, three new unit upgrades, ten additional achievements worth 220 Gamerscore, and a new Jimmy Buffett themed karaoke update, and only one of those things is not true. I guess if you've been anxious for some new material to voice activate destroy you're having a pretty good day today.
No Undertow Redux
If you're an Xbox Live lover then I am sure you do not need to be reminded about the Christmas 2007 fiasco. You remember the one, when the entire system burned to the ground and we were left with a consolation prize of one free Undertow download. Well Microsoft has committed to not letting that happen again, which is nice to hear, although I wonder what it says about the company that they even need to make a statement that – this year their system will work.
- We promise to try not to let this happen again.
Gears 3 in 2010?
Ok file this one under I'll believe it when I hear it from someone else. According to some rumor mongering going on at EGM, Gears of War 3 is going to be ready for Christmas 2010 and will utilize five player multiplayer co-op. Of course the source of this rumor might just be that it took two years between Gears 1 and Gears 2, so lets just assume that the same thing will happen this time around, make up a date (since both Gears games released on the same day in November), and then run with the story as if we know something secret. I wish this was how I was allowed to write this column every week. In a related story Madden 2010 is going to release in August of next year. See how easy this whole thing can be?
The Hot Button
This week: Your Game of the Year
Alright folks the time is now. Next week will be the final Full Circle before we say goodbye to 2008, and hello to 09. I say this because I am sure that following Christmas I will not be anxious to write a column (although there will be something) so let assume for purposes of this column that next Friday is the final TFC of 2008.
Instead of writing a full column this week I just want to pose a question (that I will also throw out to the forums), which is basically this – what is your Game of the Year from 2008? In interest of fairness I won't even suggest anything. If you've played a game this year then you already know what your GOTY is with or without my help. I will throw everyone's comments into the last column of 08, I will tally the votes, and we will announce the official The Full Circle: Fans Game of the Year, as well as my own personal GOTY which you should all already know will absolutely NOT be Sonic Unleashed.
So there it is – you have a week to throw out you nominations, make your vote and state the case of one game which you believe deserves to be 2008's TFC: Fan's Choice Game of the Year.
It's a good point about GoW2 not having some sort of perk system or other leveling up method for online, aside from Achievements. I didn't really think about it, but I guess that is something that - like saved replays and screenshot ability - almost every FPS game should have now.
I still wish they did their screenshots differently - the camera makes it tough to get cool shots consistently.
Left 4 Dead was already patched by the way - turns out it was a modded 360 enabling PC console commands. Fixed by just disabling console commands in matchmaking games, though private games still allow them. Apparently they'll patch that in the future, though I don't see the point. If people want to be able to screw with the game, and it's limited to private games...who cares?
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on December 12, 2008 at 12:26 AM
"One of the most alarming reports comes from someone who was attacked by 40 witches and 2 tanks while in a safe room."
Wow, I'd probably pay for footage of the reactions on the faces of those who had to deal with that.
Posted By: Sinful Glory (Guest) on December 12, 2008 at 12:43 AM
Braid and Fallout 3 get my nods for Game Of The Year.
Posted By: spacefight (Guest) on December 12, 2008 at 10:54 AM
You should do an award for worst game of the year as voted on by the readers of TFC.
My vote would be to TNA Impact.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on December 12, 2008 at 11:07 AM
That's Crimson Viper by the way.
Posted By: Dude (Guest) on December 12, 2008 at 03:19 PM
My game of the year... I'd go with Prince of Persia. Fantastic game.
Posted By: m8 (Guest) on December 12, 2008 at 03:37 PM
As much as I am sure that people will come at me with flaming swords for my choice of GOTY, I am going to give my vote to Sonic Unleashed. Definately the most fun I've had with a game this year.
Posted By: Emperor Brett (Guest) on December 12, 2008 at 07:46 PM
Gears 2 just needs a good patch to make matchmaking better and get rid of all the lame ass glitches that cheaters like to use. plus i dont see how they cant add more ranks. but my problem is i still dont even have my gold bars yet. truly annoying
Posted By: Jake (Guest) on December 14, 2008 at 09:47 PM
