xbox 360 Archive

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Fez’s Last Puzzle

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on May 3, 2012Posted in: Video Games

A poster going by gregSTORM on the Xbox 360 Achievements forums was the first one to cross the finish line. He used a program to generate a list of all the possible solutions, and after entering around 1,300 of them by hand, to his great surprise… he managed to open the monolith. It was just before 3pm PST Wednesday, roughly five days after the game’s release.

This is exactly the biggest problem I have with Fez’s codebreaking “second game.” If I have to code a program to brute force solutions to your video game puzzle, something’s definitely wrong  with the design of the game.

(Or maybe that was Polytron’s point. Either way, I think it’s pretty silly to make the most interesting parts of the game so obtuse that the vast majority of players won’t even get to see, much less solve.)

via Ars Technica.

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The Xbox 360 Is Still Selling Well

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on November 29, 2011Posted in: Video Games

From The Official Microsoft Blog:

· Xbox 360 sold more than 960,000 consoles in the U.S. alone, with more than 800,000 sold within a period of 24 hours.

· More than 750,000 Kinect for Xbox 360 sensors were sold in the U.S. – standalone and bundled.

It’s amazing that a 6 year old console can still do these kinds of numbers, though keep in mind that that 24 hour sales period spike was undoubtedly due to a $100 price cut on the 360/Kinect bundle for Black Friday. The 750k quote for Kinect sales is also a little tricky as it includes sales from said Black Friday bundles too.

Nevertheless, with numbers like these, why would Microsoft need to rush out an “Xbox 720” next year?

via The Official Microsoft Blog 

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Child Of Eden Cannot Come Soon Enough

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on April 7, 2011Posted in: Video Games

I was immensely disappointed when I learned that Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Kinect title, Child of Eden, was delayed from its late March release date. Out of all the announced titles so far, It’s pretty much the only Kinect title that’s looked like a true killer app.

Ubisoft’s released a new trailer for it, so I guess we’ll have to just be mollified by this thing until the game finally releases in June. I am totally pumped to wave my arms around and make pew pew noises at my tv while feeling like a total boss.

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Crysis 2 Demo Available For Xbox 360

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on January 25, 2011Posted in: Video Games

I’ll give this a shot, but Crysis to me has always been about the unbelievable visuals more than anything. The fairly open world gameplay of the single player campaign is what’s made the series stand out.

That being said, Nanosuit deathmatch could be interesting…

Aliens are decimating New York City, with a full invasion force bent on the annihilation of mankind. Neither paramilitary law enforcement nor the might of the US military can stand against the invaders. Only you have the technology to survive: with the unique Nanosuit 2, tackle the alien menace in ways a regular soldier could only dream of. • Nanosuit 2: Customize your Nanosuit and weapons then adapt your combat tactics in real time using Stealth, Armor and Power abilities. • New York, New York: Crysis® 2 is set to redefine the visual benchmark for console and PC platforms in the urban jungle of New York City. • Amazing Aliens and AI: Lethal enemies employ best-in-class AI with unique group coordination and behavior for realistic, challenging responses to your actions. • Multiplayer: The next big leap in multiplayer gives you nearly unlimited ways to approach the dynamic combat environment

Add the free demo to your Xbox 360 download queue

Demo: Crysis 2 – Xbox Live’s Major Nelson.

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Xbox Live Arcade ‘House Party’ Games Releases Start February 16th

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on January 10, 2011Posted in: Video Games

I get all tingly whenever Microsoft does these Xbox Live Arcade release events because it means that there’s a slew of good games coming out soon.

Personally, I’m the most excited for Hard Corps: Uprising because it’s a brand new prequel to Contra: Hard Corps, and I love me some online Contra co-op play.

If you haven’t played Beyond Good & Evil or Torchlight yet, you will need to rectify that immediately when they come out. BG&E is a great action-adventure game that put the team behind Assassin’s Creed on the map while Torchlight is one of the best dungeon hackers released since Diablo.

I could do without the casual games, but will reserve judgment until seeing what other people think first. Full House Poker could be fairly interesting as a spiritual successor to 1 vs 100. It’s a massively multiplayer poker game utilizing our Xbox Avatars that works cross platform with Windows Phone 7.

Not that I have a Windows Phone 7, though. But if I did. Ohhh boy.

Beginning Feb. 16 with “Hard Corps: Uprising,” a new game will launch every week bringing ongoing fun to you and your friends. New titles will also include “Full House Poker,” the gem-matching action of “Bejeweled Blitz Live,” fan favorite “Beyond Good & Evil” and action role-playing game “Torchlight.”

via Torchlight coming to Xbox Live Arcade with new content for House Party series | Joystiq.

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Xbox Engineers Explain How The Kinect Works

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on January 6, 2011Posted in: Technology, Video Games

Fascinating article by Microsoft Engineers on how the Kinect actually tracks your body and how they came up with the interface that they did. It’s a must read if you’re interested in the technology behind the magic.

At the heart of the skeletal tracking pipeline is a CMOS infrared sensor which allows Kinect to perceive the world, regardless of ambient lighting conditions. Think of this as seeing the environment in a monochrome spectrum of black and white: black being infinitely far away and white being infinitely close. The shades of gray in between these two extremes correspond to a physical distance from the sensor. The sensor gathers each point in its field of view and forms it into a depth image that represents the world. A stream of these depth images is produced at a rate of 30 frames per second, creating a real-time 3-D representation of the environment. Another way to think of this is like those pinpoint impression toys that used to be all the rage. By pushing up with your hands (or your face if you were really adventurous), you could create a simple 3-D model of a piece of your body.

Read: How You Become the Controller – Xbox.com.

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PlayStation Rewards Program Quests

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on December 8, 2010Posted in: Video Games

As silly as these “Quests” sound, I found myself reflexively mentally sorting out which tasks I could do easily. Something about “Quests” or “Achievements” or “Badges” just gets my goal-oriented brain going.

Unfortunately, there’s no metric for tracking what exactly you get for completing each quest – we’re supposed to just trust that their completion helps some arbitrary progress bar fill up and that we will be somehow rewarded at an unspecified time.

At least these tasks seem more novel than Microsoft’s own Xbox Live Rewards program. Their idea of rewards only apply if you buy stuff that generally is cheaper elsewhere. (Seriously, if you’re paying full price for an Xbox LIVE renewal, you’re not doing enough shopping on Amazon)

Completing Quests isn’t mandatory to earn progress, they’re just another way (on top of the existing ways) for you to have fun with the program.  Stay tuned because we’re rolling out new Quests on an ongoing basis. And most importantly, go have fun.

Here are the Quests we are starting with:

Speak Your Mind – Review 5 games on PlayStation.com

Share the Play – Place your portable ID on 5 websites

No Place Like Home – Go to PlayStation Home and visit the Central Plaza

Demo Down – Download 5 game demos from PlayStation Store

Check Your Pulse – Download PULSE in HD on your PS3 system

Read it and Reap – Read 10 emails from PlayStation

Click It – Learn more by clicking through in 5 different emails from PlayStation

Movie Maniac – Rent or buy a movie from PlayStation Store

Move It – Play any eligible PlayStation Move game (see FAQ for list of eligible games)

Read: Announcing Quests – PlayStation.com Forums.

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December Bonus with Hot Arcade Games 400 MS Point Rebate

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on December 2, 2010Posted in: Recommendations, Video Games

Microsoft is offering 400 MS Points ($5) back if you buy any two LIVE Arcade games they have listed. It’s a decent deal if you’re looking for some games to play.

Here’s my picks (with genres):

  • LIMBO – single player puzzle platformer
  • Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light – 2 player co-op action/puzzle
  • Super Meat Boy – single player challenging platformer
  • Monday Night Combat – multiplayer online team shooter/tower defense hybrid
  • Shadow Complex – single player 2D adventure (like Metroid/Castlevania)

There’s more titles, but these are the ones I’ve played through and can whole heartedly recommend. Be sure to follow the directions in the link, you need to download a Gamer Pic before you can take advantage of the discount.

Read: December Bonus with Hot Arcade Games – Xbox.com.

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Fable 3 Title Update Released For Xbox 360, Fixes Crashes

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on December 1, 2010Posted in: Video Games

It’s pretty ridiculous that games are shipping on consoles with egregious bugs still at large. Fable 3 was released around October 18th and it took 6 weeks for this patch to come out. I’ve held off playing this and Fallout: New Vegas because I don’t want any part of hard lockups, especially in a long game.

Read: http://lionhead.com/blogs/fable_2_development/archive/2010/12/01/patch-notes-fable-iii-title-update.aspx

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Video Review: New Xbox 360 Silver Controller With Transforming D-Pad

By
Andy Yen
– Posted on November 5, 2010Posted in: Features, Reviews, Video Games

**Updated 11/11 with fix for the mirrored video from the previous embed. Plus a neat little title!

So you may or may not have heard that Microsoft is putting out a new controller for the Xbox 360 on November 9th. It’s got a nice silver finish and has newly contoured joysticks and a magical transforming d-pad that will help you pull of shourykens a lot better.

I got my hands on one last week and have put together a mini-review video below.

TL;DW – It’s a nice improvement and worth the money if you were planning on getting a new controller or need one with a good d-pad. It’s not a ZOMG BUY THIS NOW purchase, but you won’t want to go back to the old one once you’ve gotten it.

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