The Full Circle: 360 News Report 02.20.09

Posted by Joe Roche on 02.20.2009

It's Friday and 411mania's Joe Roche is back to talk about The Lost and Damned, a Call of Duty weekend, a new Capcom game announcement coming, some Legendary cars being introduced in Burnout Paradise, and way more talk about Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard then you're prepared for. It's all inside, plus the Readers Rant, and more as we go around The Full Circle.

We have reached the end of what has felt like "Joe Roche Week" here at 411mania. At some point this week I posted a review (The Last Remnant), a preview (H.A.W.X), a news story (Death Tank to XBLA), and participated in a column (Three Player Co-Op). Needless to say it's been a busy week at TFC Headquarters but not busy enough for me to skip out on bringing you your Friday fix.

- A week in gaming without The Last Remnant? I'm just as shocked as you guys but I finally beat that game and feel pretty good about it. One thing that didn't make the review that should be mentioned is that the achievement list for TLR is horrendous. If you're the type of person who likes to play a game to horde achievements you will not be happy with that particular game. I spent the rest of the week playing a rotation of demos, Smackdown vs Raw 2009, and Prey (which I found for $7.99). I'll have my thoughts on Prey in Bargain Bin Classics in a couple of weeks.

- One related week in gaming note I finally got around to trying the Resident Evil 5 demo and I have two thoughts. The first is that it's a beautiful looking game. Capcom usually delivers in the graphics department and this title is no different. That being said the controls are really clunky. I don't mind the stand still to shoot thing as much as some other people, but I don't like feeling like the characters are carrying hundred pound bags over their shoulders. Not having peripheral vision in a game where zombies are running after you isn't exactly the most convenient thing for gamers. Not being a huge Resident Evil fan to begin with I probably wasn't going to buy this game as it was, but the demo didn't do anything to quell the fears that I had about the game to begin with.

Alright enough of that, you're all here to wrap up the week, T.G.I.F. and all that good stuff, but before you crack the first beer of the weekend allow me to take you around The Full Circle.

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The Lost and Damned Released
The 8-10 hour episodic addition to GTA IV starring Johnny Klebitz and The Lost biker gang released exclusively on Xbox Live Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009. The game adds additional missions, weapons, vehicles, and a story that stretches across Liberty City, all for 1600 Microsoft points.

It's been a pretty slow news week, but one thing hung over everyone's head – The Lost and Damned. You might recall this downloadable episodic content being talked about when GTA IV first released, and I believe at one time it carried a release date of October 2008. Needless to say there were some delays, but the amount of material contained within this reasonably priced DLC ($20) is staggering. The new music, TV shows, side games, story mode, and everything else that is included is incredible. Of course I say that having not actually purchased the content yet, but from everything I have heard – it's one of the best uses of DLC to date.

I bring up the release not because I thought you missed it but because of an interesting tidbit that I overheard on the Opie & Anthony show Tuesday afternoon. The boys had Lazlo on (a constant presence in Liberty City, and someone who works for Rockstar Games), and he mentioned how they've already begun work on the next piece of episodic DLC. So for those of you who thought maybe Rockstar would move on after The Lost and Damned into something else – you're wrong. It appears that there will be more GTA IV downloadable episodes somewhere in the future.

Oh and for all you Sony fans – don't cry just because the company you support didn't shell out the bucks to get you this content. As Lazlo said on the O & A show "Microsoft came to us with a bunch of money and said – develop some content for us." It's as simple as that, and Sony has nobody to blame but them for not getting the job done.



COD4 Weekend
Beginning Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009 the Variety Map Pack for COD4 will be available for 50% off the original 800 Microsoft point price tag. Also on Friday, Feb. 27 Infinity Ward will be offering a Double XP weekend, and that same night COD4's own Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling will be pulling an all nighter with a Hardcore Headquarters playlist for the Double XP weekend

I'm still amazed at how huge Call of Duty 4 still is on Xbox Live, but it looks like Infinity Ward continues to deliver for those loyal to their entry to the Call of Duty franchise. Honestly I'm not even sure this qualifies as news, but like I said it wasn't the most exciting week that we've had recently and I thought that there were enough Call of Duty 4 fans out there that this is probably pretty appealing.



Non Gaming Achievements?
An alleged Microsoft survey made it's way around the internet this past week which discussed some interesting achievement topics. One of the questions the survey asked was whether or not you would like achievements for non gaming uses of your Xbox 360.

This seems like the next logical step although I know there are some achievement lovers out there who will not appreciate this story in the least. You have to figure that with Microsoft continually stressing the non gaming uses of their console that the next frontier for achievements is offering people achievements for "Watching 5 Netflix Movies on Xbox Live," or "Organized Party of 10." Frankly I've never been one of those people to wear his achievements as a badge of honor so I don't mind giving people non gaming related achievements.

One question that I thought was interesting was "tracking progress towards achievements." This has been one of my major complaints with achievements that require you to do a specific number of things – mainly that if there is no counter how do you know when you're getting close? I hate "Kill 30 X with Weapon Y" achievements when you're not told how many kills you actually have (I'm looking you to some extent Gears of War 2). More then any other question on this list the thought of having a tracker on my achievements to show me how close I am to the goal piques my interest the most.



Meet Robot Same as the old Ensemble
Robot Entertainment, a development studio that rose from the ashes of Ensemble and includes many of the former staff – including Ensemble founder Tony Good has stated that they will support Halo Wars, and will also be working with Microsoft Games Studio to provide future content for the game. Robot will also be working with MGS on the Age of Empires franchise going forward.

Well this has to be good news for Halo Wars fans as one of the main concerns you had to have about a game that hadn't even released yet was whether or not there would be a company out there to support the title after its launch. It appears that Ensemble Studios has been reformed like Voltron into Robot Entertainment and will be moving forward with the support of the Halo universe RTS.



Microsoft Announces E3 Briefing
Microsoft has announced that they will present their E3 Media Briefing at 10:30 AM PST, on June 1, 2009.

You may be wondering why I'd be bringing up E3 when it's still three plus months away, but I thought this little announcement by Microsoft was an interesting one. From what I know about E3 the event is slated for June 2-4, which doesn't put Microsoft's event as the kickoff to the show (like last year), it actually puts the event prior to the E3 Expo's start time.

I'm sure most of you remember how Microsoft's E3 Keynote went down last year, they were the first out the gate and because of that a lot of people slated them as the "winners" of the event. After how things played out last year I could have sworn that we were going to get a different schedule of conferences this year (perhaps Sony kicks off the event), but instead Microsoft apparently will be taking to the stage Pre-E3. I anticipate some major announcements at E3 this year from Microsoft to set their holiday lineup. Most of the stuff coming out of Microsoft during the early portions of this year has concerned how they will not talk about games until they're almost ready for launch which leads me to believe that they've got something up their sleeves for E3 this year. Taking the slot before the Convention opens will allow them to set the bar that the other two companies have to try and match during the actual show.



Burnout Legendary Cars
On Feb. 19 Criterion released their "Legendary Cars" DLC pack which includes cars that resemble (if not straight up copy) ECTO-1, The De Lorean, The General Lee, and KITT from Knight Rider.

Someone asked a few weeks ago about when the Legendary Cars DLC pack was coming for Burnout Paradise, and well – the answer is it's out now. Check below for some video of the De Lorean and General Lee knock offs in action.



Matt Hazard RETURNS..sort of
D3Publisher is working on a retro style side scrolling XBLA (and PSN) action game intended to fill in the backstory of Matt Hazard, the lead character in Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard. The downloadable content has not been dated, but Eat Lead is slated to drop against Halo Wars on March 3rd.

Is it wrong that Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard is one of my most highly anticipated games of the first part of this year? Ever since I first started hearing rumblings about this game I've been anticipating it's release, and hoping that there would be some type of DLC released in conjunction with it that contained these "classics" that Matt Hazard had been the main character in.

For those who don't know the story of this game – apparently Matt Hazard is a "video game icon" and this newest game "Eat Lead" is just another in a long line of games that he's been the feature in. Of course the only problem with that premise is that he isn't a well known video game icon, and he has never been in a game before. I've seen screens of games that Hazard has apparently been in before and the fact that these mock ups might become real DLC is pretty exciting. I'll admit that while the idea might seem a bit hokey at first, it's a new idea (or at least newish) and I think it has potential. I will try to keep you up to date on Eat Lead as we get closer to its release.



Capcom Set to Utilize Xbox Live
On Monday Capcom is set to release information on their next game for the Xbox 360 via a trailer on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The trailer is set to go live the evening of Feb. 23 (Japan time) but no other information has been revealed at this time.

Let the speculation begin. I've heard some people suggest that Capcom is about to announce Super Street Fighter IV Turbo which I think would be the funniest thing that they could possibly do. Of course I'd put the odds of that happening at 100-1, and the only reason they're not worse then that is because it's Capcom we're talking about and would you honestly be surprised? The other rumor that seems to have some legs is Lost Planet 2, which I'm pretty sure everyone knows is coming it's just a matter of when the official word will come, and perhaps it'll be next week. Either way it should be interesting and if any of you want to make a plea for a new Mega Man please do so in the comments.

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The Viewing Room

Here is the trailer for Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard. Again, I cannot stress how much I'm looking forward to this game.



Will Arnett talks about his favorite Matt Hazard game.



Say what you will about the awesome "Legends" additions to Burnout Paradise but in my book nothing was cooler then The General Lee, and for that I have soft spot for the Cavalry Bootlegger.



Although even I can't deny the awesomeness of the Jansen 88 Special. Ironically enough I actually know a guy who owns a De Lorean, no word on whether or not it travels back in time.



A spot for Star Ocean: The Last Hope that includes game play footage as I start to build the excitement for one of my most anticipated games of the year.



Here is the official launch trailer for "Race Pro." If you're a racing game fan this is one to watch, but be forewarned – do not listen to the music in this trailer too loud or your office might break into a spontaneous rave.

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Reader Rants

Fellow 411games writer Drew Robbins leading us off this week with a question about a game near and dear to my heart: Hey Roche, you seem to share a similar opinion on games with me, how was Mass Effect?

I saw it for $20 on the PC at EB so I thought it might be a good idea to pick it up while it is at such a low price, before it leaves shelves.

I'll let S. Masters handle this one before I give my own two cents on the matter: Hey Drew, for the love of Gaming Gods, pick up and play Mass Effect. The story, and backstories, are so rich it's amazing the game is STILL under the radar. Take the time to read through the little things in the codex and journal, because that's where the game shines. Also, if you just go around doing all the side-missions, you get a good feel of the in-game zeitgast and where everyone stands within the galaxy. The story is like a great space-opera/sci-fi book that you see developing in front of you, where your actions change how people react to you.

The gameplay also has a good curve on it as well. It's an over-the-shoulder shooter at heart, but the biotics and tech abilities in the game are devestating after you get halfway through the game. The only downside of the gameplay is the Mako.

But seriously, all fanboy-rants aside, pick it up. It's not something you will regret. Ever.

I'm going to have to agree with S. Masters, Mass Effect for $20 is a steal. I haven't played the PC version but the Xbox 360 version remains one of my favorite games on the console to date. The biggest downside that I have with the game Is like S. Masters said – the Mako is pretty annoying, and most of the "side quest" planets look a bit too similar for my tastes, but when those are your biggest complaints you know you're dealing with a great game. The ability to play through the second time with your stats from the first play through still in tact is fantastic, and the rumor that your character will transfer over into Mass Effect 2 makes the game even more of a must have. Drew I am confident that if you can pry yourself away from Street Fighter IV for a minute you'll enjoy Mass Effect a great deal.

Tito has his own thoughts on Mass Effect, and he throws his hat in the ring on the Gears of War issue: Have to Agree with S. Masters. Fanboy ness aside ( which seeing as i've jumped on the ME train well after it came out) the quality, enjoyment and sheer replay value of Mass Effect is staggering. At 20$ you shouldn;t even have to consider that purchase.

Now, Telling us that Gears is goin to span 10 years is somewhat of a lofty statement. The first two games have done quite well for themselves, but I think its a little presumptious to say its still got another 7 solid years left in it. If the development team stays intact, then by all means bring on Gears 3 and 4, and a movie, and a prequel, etc. I'd love to see an RTS gears or even an MMO ( as dangerous as that is with WOW still around) Games that have lasted 20+ years didn't do it with a 10 year plan in mind. Do you think Miyamoto had SMB3 in mind while SMB1 was still in arcades. Ideas and format changes are all good in theory but the longevity of a franchise needs to be tested before making such statements, with the Devil may Cry series being a good example. First one was awesome, second one turned me off the series. To be fair though, i never did get around to 3 or 4.

And thanks to Joe, for the second mention in Full Circle news.

All good points once again Tito, and like I've said before as long as you contribute something worthwhile you'll always have a place in The Full Circle. I do agree with what you say about mapping out Gears over a 10 year span – it's too risky an endeavour to really do it because you run the risk of the game just falling off the map. The Devil May Cry series is a great example of how a game hits like Tyson when it drops and then slowly fades from view as the years roll past. I think if you look at how I had mapped out the arc over 10 years my plan was to wrap up the current story soon, and then build from there giving Epic the opportunity to weather the storm if for some reason they lose their grasp on the gaming community. Good stuff this week though Tito once again

Guest#3509 brings up a good question: Dear God, where do you find time to write a column this long while practicing law? Dont you have LOANS and a Westlaw password to pay for?

The answer is simple really – it really doesn't take that long to write this column because I piece it together throughout the week. There are times when I'm incredibly busy at work and this column suffers, but when you're at work for 10-12 hours a day, plus have an office in your home and work weekends you find that there tends to be down time. As for paying back loans and Westlaw well to the Westlaw thing we don't use that service at my firm, but they pay for that stuff anyways. The loans issue will become a bigger deal once I'm making enough money to be forced to pay them back. Thanks for the concern though.

Travis has a question for Value: Dear Valve,
Thank you for the L4D DLC, but where the hell is our Team Fortress 2 updates?

Yours truly,
Travis

Seriously, has there ever been any further news on it?

You know I thought there had been some news a month or so back, but since then I haven't heard much. I know that allegedly the updates will be coming to Xbox Live but until I can get more concrete answers I'll have to plead the fifth. I have sent word along to Valve and as soon as I get more information you'll know.

And we're going to let Byzdalmyt close it out this week: Screw the movie cash in EA, how bout a Battlefront type game with all the figures/vehicles from the classic series?!?!?

How about it EA?

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The Hot Button

Today's Topic: Nothing

No Hot Button this week guys – things just caught up to me. Just throw out your biggest story of the week and discuss. I'll be back next week with something on tap.

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Punching Out

Hero Never Pays by Jonny Richardson

Working Title by Jordan Williams

Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser

B3yond the Report by Derek Robbins

The Release List by Tommy Coloma

Three Player Co-Op by Drew Robbins

Fact or Fiction by Ramon Aranda

Living LIVE by Trace Aber

What I Hate About You by John De Large

The Gamer Girlfriend by Greg Bruno

The 10th Hour by Derek Robbins