The Full Circle: 360 News Report 03.06.09

Posted by Joe Roche on 03.06.2009

We're back on a Friday schedule and 411's Joe Roche is bringing you around The Full Circle. This week we're talking demos, demos and more demos, plus some news on Fallout 3 DLC, and I'll anger Beatles fans everywhere. All of that and more as we go around The Full Circle.

You ever have a week where you think everything is conspiring against you? Well that's what the past six days have felt like at the TFC headquarters. I can't pin down exactly why I feel that way, it just seems like every time I turn around I'm knocking over some priceless vase. Anyways to unwind after a hellish week I spent a lot of late nights gaming. I got my hands on Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard (of course), and I also spent some time with Prince of Persia, Forza Motorsports 2, and NHL 09. It was a relatively fun week of gaming if nothing else (review of Matt Hazard is coming soon).

This is the point where I'd usually spend some time talking about my week in gaming but other then running off the aforementioned list of games that I spent time with this past week there isn't much to say. It's been a slow week in the Xbox 360 kingdom but like clockwork I am here to take you around The Full Circle. (Warning: this column is going to sound really bitchy, it's been a long week)

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Play Halo Wars and Win
From March 6-9 Microsoft is hosting a Play & Win weekend with the newly released Halo Wars. To enter download this gamer picture, play Halo Wars online and then wait for the winners to be announced.

The fact that this story is leading off this week should give you a pretty good idea of how slow things have been. I'm not really sure if Halo Wars is any good. I didn't spend much time with the demo, and I have no desire to pick it up. It's not that I don't enjoy Halo, I just have never really attached myself to RTS games. That being said, if you're going to be playing Halo Wars this weekend anyways you might as well sign up for this "Play & Win" and have a shot at a 52' TV, a Halo Wars themed Xbox 360, and assortment of Microsoft points, and an Ultra Series 1000 Monster Cable. Seems like a pretty good deal for doing something that you were probably going to do anyways.



Riddick Assaults Xbox Live
On Wednesday March 4th a demo for Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena became available exclusively on the Xbox 360.

I am sure there are people who are excited about this game – which is why I mention the demo for those of you who missed it. However, right now it's tough for me to be too thrilled about another Riddick game with so many other quality titles coming across my desk. From a strictly cursory glance this game looks really nice - which is impressive since it also looks very dark. I appreciate what has been done with the Riddick franchise as it is the one movie/comic franchise that has really adapted itself well to the video game format. All of that being said I'm just not sure how much time (if any) I'll wind up spending with Vin Diesel this weekend (unless it's watching a copy of The Pacifier).



EA Set to Announce Army of Two 2
EA Montreal has invited local press to visit the offices of EA Montreal on March 12th to witness the unveiling of their next project. The gag order on the announcement will be lifted on March 14th when the world will find out what this next game will be.

Ok, so technically EA Montreal hasn't announced a sequel to Army of Two but c'mon I don't think I'm reaching that far to make that conclusion. Last month in Variety EA Games label President Frank Gibeau says that they had a plan for an Army of Two sequel, and then a game announcement (much like this one) is cancelled due to weather in February. Some sites (Kotaku) have hypothesized that they might pull the wool over our eyes with an SSX announcement but I think it's pretty clear that we're about to see some footage from the next Army of Two. Hopefully they don't go with Army of Two 2 as the name because the redundancy will make my brain explode. Might I suggest Army of Two: Army Harder?



Followers Rejoice: Beatles Rock Band Coming
Apple Corps., LTD., Harmonix and MTV Games have announced that Beatles Rock Band will launch for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii on 09/09/09. The "unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles" will allow players to tackle a cavalcade of culturally monumental songs via mic, drums and guitars, all included in a Limited Edition Premium bundle for $250 (all platforms) and "modeled after instruments used by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr throughout their career." Standalone guitars will also be available ($100), as will separate game discs ($60, all platforms) for those already surrounded by Instrument Protagonist equipment. According to the press release, The Beatles: Rock Band will be compatible with all prior Rock Band instruments and "other current music-based game peripherals."

The people who love me in my "real" life spend an inordinate amount of time telling me how stupid I am for not fawning over the Beatles. I'm not even kidding I was almost punched by a girl in a bar when I told her that the Beatles shouldn't even be talked about in the same sentence as Led Zepplin and the Rolling Stones – unless that sentence is "The Beatles aren't a rock band, Led Zepplin and the Rolling Stones were rock bands." With that being said I honestly couldn't care less about Beatles: Rock Band. Look I appreciate what they did for pop music, and I understand their historical relevance in music (particularly the British invasion of America) but be honest about something – the Beatles were a product of television and great P.R. They had more opportunities then bands that were actually rock bands from England (see: Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Rolling Stones, et. al) because of their clean cut image. Had John been as outspoken as he was later in life in 1964 the Beatles would be a footnote in history and someone else would be having a Rock Band game coming out on Sept. 9th. I appreciate some of their stuff as much as anyone, but I've never understood why it's so outrageous to say anything bad about what was in essence the first successful boy band. Oh and for the record George Harrison's "(Got My Mind) Set on You" set the record for my favorite video of all time when I was a youth – seriously go check it out and tell me it's not fantastic.



Demo Bonanza
Thursday March 5th saw the release of the demo for Wanted: Weapons of Fate, Wheelman and Legends of Wrestlemania on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Well combine this with the Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena demo that I've already talked about and it looks like you've got a pretty big demo playing weekend ahead of you. Of all these games I am ashamed to admit that I'm most interested in playing Wanted: Weapons of Fate. I love the idea of the Legends of Wrestlemania game, but to me the single player arcade feel of the game won't be the selling point so that demo doesn't impact me either way (you can play the Wrestlemania III match between Hogan and Andre). From what I saw out of Wanted: Weapons of Fate earlier last month I am a bit hyped to try that game out. Of all three demos available right now that's the one that could most impact whether or not I make a purchase when the full version ships later this month. I'd like to talk about Wheelman but I've got nothing – it's Vin Diesel week on Xbox Live apparently so if you love that bald headed goon feel free to indulge in both of his games available now.



Pittsburgh Looks Great
Three new screen shots have been released for the upcoming Fallout 3 DLC "The Pitt" and can be found here courtesy of Kotaku

I've never been to Pittsburgh, but I have a feeling that this picture of the Trogs isn't entirely far from what a normal Pittsburgh resident looks like (or at least feels like). Naturally I base all of my assumptions on cartoons, stereotypes, and Steelers tailgates but until someone proves me wrong I'm going to maintain that feeling. For those who care about Fallout lore, the Trogs were originally supposed to appear in Black Isle Studio's cancelled Fallout project and have been described as mutant hillbillies that holed up in caves when the bombs struck. Centuries of darkness and slow exposure to radiation changed them into yellow skinned creatures of the night.

This was added a bit after I posted the column but "The Pitt" DLC has been officially dated for March 25th and will carry a $10 (800 microsoft points) price tag.


-What no terrible towel?

New Laura Croft DLC
Crystal Dynamics has announced that the second installment of Tomb Raider Underworld DLC will see you step into the shoes of the Doppelganger, a clone of Lara Croft, with superior shadow powers, increased agility, and use of her ability to slow time to unleash devastating melee attacks.

Crystal Dynamics should just come out and say – download our second DLC and play as someone more fun then Lara Croft. I'm sorry that's not fair, but turning Lara Croft into the Prince (Prince of Persia) does seem like a good idea. I mean for the most part people agree that Lara Croft has started to decline in popularity (although I'd blame that on average at best games), so maybe throwing a wrench into her personality like this might be a good thing for her. I'm sure that people still playing Tomb Raider Underworld will relish the opportunity to try out the Doppelganger version of their favorite large breasted thief…erm, explorer/adventurer.


- This is how I prefer my Lara Croft

Set Hype Machine to ON
2K has begun viral marketing for Bioshock 2 at the sites mysterious website somethinginthesea.com.

This story doesn't have much else needed right? I anticipate as we get closer to the release date of Bioshock we're going to start seeing a lot of things like the picture below popping up. I need not discuss Bioshock here because it remains the #1 gaming regret that I have - mainly that I got half way through the game and just stopped playing. I fully anticipate going back to finish things up but I'm bidding my time until Bioshock 2 so I can go on a huge Bioshock playing rampage. So, let speculation begin - what will be included in Bioshock 2?

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Reader Rants

Leading off this week is David who had a couple comments that I lumped into one: "Obviously I have no misconception that this is going to be a long term trend, however for one week Microsoft is king* in Japan and that has to count for something right."

Heh. I wonder what will happen when FFXIII is an exclusive release for the PS3....? All kidding aside, I really think Japan should make this a multi-console game in Japan. It would make the most sense.....

About me enjoying the greatness of the PS3, I was just trying to put a silver lining on the whole exclusive DLC for GTA IV. It sucks that it was exclusive, which would force me to buy the game for a second time; so, I'm glad the PS3 is getting SOME love.

I can't argue with anything you said there David. I agree that making FF13 console exclusive in Japan probably doesn't hurt Square in the long run (because it's obvious their fanbase will just buy a console to play their games), but it does hurt Microsoft. Being able to pick up a cheaper console to play FF13 would have been a major coup in Japan for Microsoft, although it's still a pretty good move for them in America.

As for wanting to cling to something for the PS3's benefit – God of War III looks good right?

Apparently Drew Robbins has a problem with something I said: I'm everyone's fifth favorite Robbins? What is this bollocks?

Frankly Drew after finding out that you use the term "bollocks" I think it's safe to say that you're now everyone's sixth favorite Robbins and I'm not even including Mark Salmela who is personally my third favorite Robbins.

Adam wins the aware for dumbest comment of the week with this gem in reference to the video "Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing our Children for the Apocolypse?": I sure hope that wasn't a serious conversation about children and the apocalypse. If it is sersious its typical fear mongering american media.

Well as The Onion is widely recognized for their journalistic integrity Adam I can see where you might be confused. Honestly though, I love my readers, and I love that you guys are commenting but you might want to read/watch the snippet before throwing out an opinion. Oh and if there are readers out there who think the media might run with this story, or that it might have been a serious journalistic attempt by the news media to garner some attention then you're watching way to much FOX News and/or Keith Olbermann.

Of course Travis didn't want to give Adam the crown of dumbest post of the week without a fight: Oh Joe...
You silly, silly man. I am no PS3 fanboy, but even I see Microsoft's new found dominance in Japan as more of as "We sold more because everyone in Japan who wants a PS3/Wii has one." than "Japan loves the 360, we are winners!"

I appreciate Travis pointing out that this was a one week upswing for Microsoft due in large part (if not solely) on the release of Star Ocean 4….Oh wait, it was me that pointed that out in the news piece that I wrote. Perchance one day someone who bashes me will do so after reading the column. I do understand that I'm incredibly dull, and while I do dress like a professional the first draft of this column is done in crayon (laugh if you think I do more then one draft of this column) – so there's plenty of poke fun at, this unfortunately was not one of those times.

iron Knee tried to bring some sense into this argument:
Why are some people so emotionally invested in their consoles? It is aconsumer electronics product, not a philosophy or religion. If I own an X-Box and you own a Wii, then we merely own different gaming systems. Many commenters act as if their is some kind of holy war and that their console defines them as a human being. Stop and think about what you're typing. You'd never have comment page wars over food processors.

My Xbox is a reflection of my worth as a human being right?

Red drinks the Kool Aid: You, sir, have made me a rabbid Matt Hazard fan! I'm loving the synthesized voice in that tralier! *cowboys* lololol Cant wait to see those newfangled 3D polygons!

So Red – did you pick it up? "It's Hazard Time"

Some one who didn't leave a real name wants to point out that: WOW Joe, Ashish and Ramon must've thought your column was REALLY special. I see they gave you two spots for it. Nicely done :D

Well Guest when you display the high level of awesomeness that I have for almost an entire year (more on that next week) you come to expect certain things – namely that once ever year Ashish and Ramon will not realize that they've posted my column twice on the front page of the Games section. I have no misconceptions that the bosses thought I had done such a miraculous job that my column warranted the double exposure, though I thank them all the same.

We're closing down shop once again this week with Byzdalmyt who has some thoughts on Lost Planet 2: I hope you don't have to keep hunting down orange globs or whatever the hell they made you do in Lost Plantet 1. That ruined that game for me. Well that and some huge dinosaur bird looking thing that I could never beat.

Hasn't the process of hunting down glowing orbs now being reproduced in Prince of Persia? Also I love the idea of having to fight a giant bird looking thing and just reaching the point where you realize the game isn't worth the aggravation – that's not a great sign for a game developer when people weight their options and not playing is more rewarding then finishing the game. Hopefully Capcom does a better job with Lost Planet 2 which I think will bring a lot of good things to the table (based on the first looks that I've had).

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The Viewing Room

If I haven't already sold you on "Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard" this is the opening cinematic for the game and it reeks of awesomeness. The idea of "non violent, watergun based 3rd person shooter" is so fantastic, and the fact that the game pays it off – man just wait for my review. Until then enjoy the cinematic



Speaking of games that I've been hyping here (and in previews) here's the launch trailer for Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.



Here's a little Cheick Kongo cinematic from UFC Undisputed. I don't have high hopes for this game but you can't deny that it looks beautiful.



In honor of the upcoming release of Resident Evil 5 here is some in game footage including Chris doing some sniper action.

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The Hot Button

I had something for this week but I got completely swamped at work.

Quickie Hot Button: With news that N'Gai Croal was leaving Newsweek this week I'm wondering – what video game columnists do you regularly read?

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Punching Out:

Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser

The Release List by Tommy Coloma

Three Player Co-Op by Drew Robbins

B3yond the Report by Derek Robbins

411Games Top 5 by Todd Vote

Fact or Fiction by Ramon Aranda

Living LIVE by Trace Aber

Working Title by Jordan Williams

Legends of Wrestlemania Q & A by Ramon Aranda