Best.Game.Ever

Oh boy, it's great to be the King...

(Via: 360 Fanboy)

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Bad Ass Gears Multiplayer Footage.

Nothing like a little curb stomping and chainsawing... Six day and counting get your copy at midnight on Monday (In the States... Sorry ;-).

(Via: 360fanboy)

For All Your Daily Tech News Check Out: All Day I Dream About...Tech

Halo 3 Scans breakdown

Ok. I've got an awful secret. I looked at the Halo 3 scans from the Swedish Magazine. Yes, I'm ashamed, but you looked at them as well, and you too. If there was a way for me to get hold of that magazine, then i would have, and paid for the privilege to do so. But there isn't a way, i don't have any contacts in Sweden, unfortunately.

So i bring you this, a post breaking down what was actually in those scans, with, gasp, smaller images cut from those scans so you know what on earth (yes, got the halo pun in) I'm talking about!

We'll start with the less obvious stuff, and probably less important also.

The Battle Rifle, in Halo 2 it was a terrific all round weapon, very effective in multiplayer.

I noticed in one of the scans that there was a Spartan quite obviously using a battle rifle, now i don't know about you, but from what i gathered from the E3 announcement, i had assumed (seems silly now, actually) that the battle rifle was not going to be making a return, apparently it is:

Next, I've read some talk about the “return of Zanzibar” which has made quite a stir, well, i can certainly see the resemblance in the pictures below, and frankly, they look beautiful, and to think this is without the bells and whistles which will be in the final game...

Oh yes, the Legendary Edition, i've seen much talk about what it's going to look like, what size it is going to be, and thus far, i've only managed to get this pic, its pretty poor, but i'm sure there will be a better picture up on somewhere official before christmas.

The Spiker, a new gun for the brutes. Now, you may, or you may not have picked up in the scans (those of you that have seen them) that these guns are in fact dual wieldable. And they each have 2 blades on the underside, BLADES BABY...sorry, but i love blades...anyhoo, here's the picture of them.(click to enlarge, as with all)

Penultimately, the Spartan Laser, a weapon which looks absolutely awesome. Similar to the fuel rod cannon in terms of size and how much it takes up of the screen. This weapon is said to be the go-to weapon for taking out vehicles, it 'tears vehicles apart'. If fires a red laser which looking at the scans, seems to go on for an infinite distance, but of course this will have to be tested and fully clarified once the full game hits...^_^

And finally, the mongoose, 'the mongoose!?' you say, ok, to put it another way, the ATV which was originally planned to be in halo 2, but unfortunately didn't fit in with the game play Bungie were aiming for, which is fair enough, as long as it makes it in the final build, I'm happy!

"Ha, screw you, you ain't getting this back"

And that's your lot, I'm done, I'm out of pictures. Hope you enjoyed the breakdown, nothing beats a good old fashioned bit of speculation about the next (gen) Halo game, am i right?!

On a final note i would like to say what you've just seen and read is entirely speculation and is not a definite to be in the final game, but, if Bungie does prove it to be true, after all nothing is confirmed unless Bungie confirms it, then i will be one VERY happy customer when Halo 3 hits next year.

Get Ready For Tech Tuesday.

Some of you know and some do not, beginning today (10-31-06) I (Jay) will be a host on a gaming/tech podcast every Tuesday. For those who don't know what a podcast is, it's basically a recorded radio show that you get from the Internet to listen to on your computer or portable media player (read: iPod... Get it "pod"cast). iTunes makes listening very easy as you can subscribe (for free) to any podcast you want to listen to, and every week, or day, or however often the show comes out, iTunes just downloads it for you. The show I'm on is called, All Games Interactive, and they have a great show that they do every weekday (live I might add) and they've asked me to be a part of it. The segment I will be doing is called, "Tech Tuesday" and every Tuesday I will have a segment in there show where I talk about the latest tech news, gadgets, and rumors. This weeks show is all about the Zune, Microsoft's attempt at de-throwning the iPod.

Just keep an eye on the blog for any updates, and please comment here if there is any tech that you would like me to cover in upcoming shows. If you want to listen to the show live (5:30 central time) go here: Link! If you would rather wait and get it on iTunes as a podcast go here: Link! But through iTunes, you'll get the show a day later... Also, I will be making a post every Tuesday when I do the show, I might even be able to post the show on my blog. Thanks for your support!

PS. If you would like to be part of the show, you can always join in through the chat client on the website. Link.

For All Your Daily Tech News Check Out: All Day I Dream About...Tech

X360 Fall Update.

From out of nowhere, comes the fall update for the Xbox 360's dashboard (read: interface). There is 85 "new" "upgrades" in the update so I am only going to cover major/cool ones. (Stuff in black font is ripped from Xbox.com...)

Software Info

Streaming Video - Previously, the Video area on the Media blade of the Xbox Dashboard only played back videos from your hard drive. No more! Stream video from a PC, portable device, or Memory Unit. So what does this mean to you? From day one of the box the 360 could always stream music and pictures from any computer (on your network) or any USB device connected to the 360. Previously, you could only watch videos if you had a Windows Media Center PC. Now videos work the same way as music and pictures; any computer or USB device will do the trick! The catch, only video encoded in WMV (Windows Media Video) or MPEG2 will play back. This is significant because these are the worst and least popular video formats. AVI and DivX are far more superior formats, but Microsoft says them won't support them (for now) because they are used mainly for "piracy" (true, but still...).


1080p - The highest in Hi Def, TV's that support 1080p are just starting to make it to the market. If you can afford one, the 360 will display your games and HD-DVD's (see below) in all 1080p Hi Def glory.


Xbox Live Arcade - Big improvements have been made here:

• The arcade games now load much, much faster (thank god).
  
• There is now an auto download feature so you Xbox will automatically download the trial versions of any new XBLA title.
  
• Now you can sort by "Recently Played" and by "Category".
  
• An achievement area just for XBLA titles, so you can look through just XBLA games.
• Check out the top ten leaderboards from your friends on any game.
• "Tell a Friend" send a message to a friend recommending a game... (Wins my vote for worst "feature")

XNA Express - Finally we come to XNA Game Studio Express, a way for all you budding game developers to create games for Xbox 360. You'll be able to access these games through the old Demos button, which has been relabeled, surprisingly enough, to Demos and More.

Random -

• Improved multiplayer host migration.
• Improved Xbox Live Vision support.
• Improved voice chat quality.
• Expanded Family Settings for unrated movies.
• New credit card validation (CCV) field in signup and purchase areas.

Accessories

Wireless Headset - Completely wire free, connects directly to the 360 via the same wireless protocol as the controllers. Headset has volume controls, mute, and four light to indicate what controller port you're sync'd to. Release date: October 31st. $60

HD-DVD Drive - Here's the HD DVD (roll your mouse over the pics) Drive for the X360, no it's not for games just for movies but hey that's ok. And for all the ppl whining that they're going to lose their USB port for the wireless adaptor, you won't; see the bottom screenshot with TWO USB ports and the section up top to hold the wireless adapter. So you actually gain a USB as a "bonus" with your HD DVD Drive. Release Date: November 7th. $200

Wireless Racing Wheel - The only racing wheel made by Microsoft. Completely wireless (not counting the wire from the wheel to the pedals) and will control any 360 racing game. It does also support force feedback but, for that it does have to be plugged in... Rumble, though, is supported wirelessly. Bonus: it uses the same batteries as the wireless controllers! Package includes PGR3 with an update for use with the wheel. Release Date: November 7th $150

Zune - Microsoft's dip into the iPod space. This is their music/photo/video player, you can wirelessly (Zune to Zune) transfer music and photo's, although music bought through the Zune Marketplace can only be listened to 3 times or for 3 days on the receivers Zune. Bonus: All your Zune content can be played on/through your 360! (but not wireless) and you can use Microsoft Points to buy songs (Same points you use to buy thing on the 360). Look for this to make a big splash until that fabled "True Video iPod" hits... Release Date: November 14th $250

(Via: Xbox.com)

For All Your Daily Tech News Check Out: All Day I Dream About...Tech

Dane Cook Done, Halo Style.

If you've never heard of Dane Cook you're missing out. His is the funniest comedian right now and one of my favorites of all time. Check out this other clip of his too, it's about 24 minutes long and some of the best stand up I've ever seen.


For All Your Daily Tech News Check Out: All Day I Dream About...Tech