Downloadable Music – By far Rock Band has the most downloadable music (often referred to as downloadable content) in comparison to any other music game. Not only is the mass of DLC superior, but Harmonix also allows you to import almost all of your Rock Band 1 songs for play into Rock Band 2 for a $5.99 fee through the corresponding store (Playstation Store or Xbox Marketplace). Despite its dominance, Rock Band’s DLC can be improved. Recently Harmonix decided to expand its horizons and release a country pack and for the holiday season, a collection of Christmas songs were released. It would be interesting to see the sales on these items. I wouldn’t expect them to be best sellers. While downloadable music opportunities are restricted to an extent by the willingness of the record company to license the music as available, it might still be a good idea to allow user voting and then communicate more with the users as to what the status of the development is on these tracks.

Presale Previews – A very simple enhancement that might really help sales would be to put either audio or video previews on the Playstations Store and Xbox Marketplace. In some cases, the user may not know the song by title and artist but rather by listening to it. Even a short audio preview would accomplish this reminder. A video showing the song playing and how the notes are organized ingame might be even more useful.

Game Enhancements – While Harmonix may be hesistant to do this due to concentrating on getting more downloadable music and also wanting to leave some new features for future Rock Band releases, consumers no doubt would appreciate some game enhancements. Criterion who make Burnout Paradise have probably done the best job with DLC to improve the gaming experience. Criterion also made all of the enhancements free which Harmonix would not be required to do, but some specific improvements would really make game play better. Here is my wishlist:

• Countdown into game after pausing (this could be added as an option as it is in Guitar Hero)
• Ability to create your own tour (pick your own songs to be played on whichever level you want and construct your own custom tour which would add replayability)
• Song timer – add an option to include the time remaining in the song on the screen.
• More freedom in Quickplay with setlists – when making a setlist and choosing a difficulty level, the user is chained to placing all songs on the same difficulty level. As we know, some songs on medium as equivalent in difficulty to some songs on expert.
• Reward instead of punishment for trying higher difficulty levels – Despite your current status (on tour your user should have a # of stars and a noted difficulty level), you are punished by losing fans if you fail on a higher difficulty level. This takes away from a user trying out a harder setting. I would suggest not taking away any fans unless the user is already at the same or higher difficulty level than the setting they are currently attempting. For example, you have 5 stars on Hard and try expert and fail – no fans are lost. However, you have 5 stars on Expert and try a song on Hard, you would lose fans if you failed. This does not take into account that different songs vary in challenge depending on the song itself, but it’s a start.
• Better stats recording – Have a separate high score for each difficulty level. A comprehensive chart in the main menu showing all high scores for each instrument for each level would be a nice add-on.
• New High Score notification – this can be done on all modes. When a user attains a new high score, include a new high score notification once the song is done.
• Include an option to show how many notes are consecutively correct on screen during gameplay.

These are all ideas for enhancements that could be done via patching or even made available for a fee through the respective storefronts.

Will we see any of these improvements issued by Harmonix or are they too nervous to ruin a good thing as it stands or maybe they need to save features to help sell future Rock Band releases?

With all that said, many players have reported no issues whatsoever and I am one of them I am happy to say. (note – I did upgrade my hard drive in my PS3 so I am no longer using the stock 40GB).

The game itself is extremely well done for the following reasons (my comments relate to only a 5% completion):

• It’s easy to play: practically anyone can pick up a controller and go through the motions of advancing the game. When you are given a mission you will see yellow line on the map which you follow to your destination (this is quite doable unlike Burnout Paradise at times when you are going mach 10).
• Keep enough of the old and bring in the new: Rockstar didn’t forget why the GTA series was so popular so they made sure to keep it familiar to its predecessors but also incorporate new features. In this installment, you can get in just about any vehicle you want, drive motorcycles (including doing stunts), control speedboats and helicopters (training is provided). The game has a linear yet unrestricting feel. You can explore the entire city if you like just by driving around, but whenever you want, you can select a mission and receive detailed instructions on how to accomplish it.
• Although not all of the music is my taste, Rockstar did a nice job of including a great deal of tracks for various palates.  You can feel free to change the radio station as you are driving with a quick toggle of the directional pad. (Vagabond by Greenskeepers is definitely a standout for me)
• It all adds up: The plot starts out with Roman welcoming his cousin Niko to America under the pretense that Roman was a big shot and rich. Niko soon finds out that this is horse puckey but decides to find a way to make things work for himself. The storyline stays true to itself.
• Accessories: The game feels very feature rich and the attention to detail is incredible. You can turn the TV on in your apartment and watch seemingly endless shows and commercials which provide a nice satire to various real life experiences ranging from shaving implements to republican crusades. You can go buy new clothes, buy hot dogs and hamburgers from local stands or perhaps enjoy some activities like bowling, darts or visit a strip bar or night club.
• Integration of Six Axis: This is used for steering your boat, flying the helicopter, riding the motorcycle, bowling and a variety of other activities. It is clear that Rockstar thought about giving PS3 owners a ful experience.
• What’s in the box? Although I didn’t feel it was necessary to spend the extra $30 to get the included jewelry box package, the standard GTA4 packaging is quite enough. It is the only game I have bought so far that needed to place some of the contents on the outside of the plastic disc holder. You receive a full map of Liberty City and fully detailed booklets on the game and controls.
• Playability: Although I am only concentrating on the single player campaign right now, GTA4 does offer online play. The single player experience is quite good in the sense that the graphics are very good (but not jaw dropping) and the frame rate seems to keep steady. For the PS3 version, you are forced to copy about 3GB worth of data to your hard drive and for some this may seem like a lot, however; with a 250GB drive in my system, I don’t have any concerns about this as I know it will speed up the gameplay and make things smooth. For those who complain about this – please remember that you have the more premium system compared to an Xbox 360 and a Blu-Ray disc can hold up to 50GB of data while even a dual layer DVD maxes as just over 8. Something has to give.

Overall I was a bit surprised at how easy it was to start the game and get into it. I somewhat expected to start playing it and put it down after several minutes and move onto something else. After 3 hours uninterrupted, I finally decided to get some other things done. I fully expect this game to fulfill any expectations its consumers may have. We need to keep in mind that with the ability to DLC (downloadable content), the possibilities are endless when it comes to enhancements. This will be game of the year (at least of any game with a Mature rating).

Stop doubting! Believe the hype  – go and buy this game!

The last system I bought (not including my PSP) was an Xbox (not 360). In its original state, the Xbox was not extremely useful to me other than using it for games. The reason for me actually getting an Xbox was due to me learning that it could be used for more than just a gaming machine, if it was altered by doing a software modification and installing Linux on it. This would allow for homebrew apps to be installed and would also allow it to serve as a conduit between a home server and a TV in terms of streaming media files (movies, music, photos). It also had a built in weather forecast and also the ability to play non-original games (copied). Of course, I would never do such a thing, but clearly some users would consider this an advantage. Moving on to newer technology…

One of the major disadvantages of buying anything made by a large company is that they tend to restrict a lot of features on it due to property protection. While this is understandable, it really restricts the user at times. The following information discusses the PS3’s native capabilities. I have done absolutely nothing to change any of the stock items. All of these features are included out of the box! This is what really impressed me about the PS3:

Sony’s PS3 gives the user a lot of control and here are some examples:

• Easy to swap out hard drive. The PS3 comes with a serial ata hard drive which is easily accessible and also easily changed by the user if desired. If for example, you purchase a PS3 with a 40GB hard drive and want more space, Sony includes a backup utility for your files and also will prompt you to format the new drive when installed. From there, all of your previous files can be restored.
• Install Linux. Sony even has an option right in their menu that allows you to install any version of Linux you like as long as it is compatible with the PS3. What a great way to support open source!
• Play your media files across your network through your PS3. The PS3 firmware update 2.0 added support for the Divx codec (which was a huge reason for my purchase) so that most video files can now be played. I suspect that Sony will add more when requested in the future.
• Standard USB ports. Instead of inventing some odd input, Sony chose to use standard USB ports for connecting their controllers and accessories. Did I mention that you can connect a USB keyboard and mouse and use that to browse the internet with the built in browser? Also, you can plug in any USB external device (flashdrive, hard drive etc) and copy files to it.

The Playstation 3 is technologically superior to any other gaming system on the market.

• The 3.2Ghz processor boasts 8 cores so there will be no shortage of power anytime soon.
• The Graphics processor is also multi core
• Includes Blu-Ray for both games and movies. Recently Blu-Ray unofficially cemented its place in the future of media. The massive storage capacity allows for game content which means better resolutions on games and sharper movies.

The Playstation 3 offers many cost effective values to the user:

• FREE online gameplay. Yes, Xbox zealots will find some way to criticize the quality of this, but the mere fact that Sony made the effort on behalf of their customers to do this instead of imposing a monthly fee is a great thing in my opinion. In terms of the quality, I’ve used it for several games it it seems perfectly fine to me.
• The Playstation store is a button click away from loading which does have very inexpensive older titles for purchase as well as game add-ons. Also, you can download FREE Blu-Ray previews, game demos and movie trailers.

Sony cures Cancer!! OK, well, not exactly, but they are at least doing something to help — or allowing you the chance to help.

• Sony includes a built in option to use Folding at Home which is a way to use this incredibly powerful processor to do the work of complex computer equations that are helping to find the cure for many diseases. This again, is totally free. Over one million users are signed into Folding at Home through the PS3.

Someone recently asked me which system to get. I answered by saying that they are all good systems and I stand by that. It really depends on what you want to do with the machine. For example, due to the fact that the Wii and Xbox 360 have been out longer, they have a lot more games. Another factor is that the game developers will need more time to be able to use the power of the PS3. Since I am not a hardcore gamer, this is something I don’t mind waiting for. Having said that, I currently own four games: Tiger Woods 2008, Assassin’s Creed, Ratchet and Clank – Tools of Destruction and Burnout Paradise. All of these titles look amazing and are a lot of fun to play. Even the games I have downloaded are very engaging.

Ultimately it’s your choice to decide on whether you want one of these systems and also which one suits you best, however; it is very hard to beat the PS3 when you measure its all around usability.

Granted, it is still the first day and I am likely to get used to the expectation of viewing all of my geeky shows and such on a large screen, but it is nothing short of spectacular right now.  Gaming is phenomenal on it as well. I can now more clearly see even small aspects of the game such as fog, shadows and footprints which were an afterthought before.  I would highly recommend moving to the LCD technology. I went with Acer because they really have become solid in LCD technology. I already own a 19″ widescreen monitor for my main system which I have been impressed with since I hooked it up. Cost wise – I found a better deal at Tigerdirect but ended up buying it from The Source due to convenience mostly. I also managed to talk to the salesperson into giving me a comparable deal even though the policy is no price matching. I generally find that The Source has very competitive pricing but this one was $100 more expensive. In the end, I got a good deal and a 3 year extended warranty. Buying it from The Source also means I get in home service if ever required.

The game of the month for December is Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas. I really liked the movie and actually purchased the dvd. I have yet to play the game so I am not sure what to expect. I did however recently purchase Medieval – Resurrection for my psp which has been tons of fun to play and resembles the macabre atmosphere and setting of Nightmare. Those playing may start at any time! Enjoy!

Half Life 2 is the sequel to a very popular franchise that started on the PC and was heralded as one of the best games. Game ranking sites have this at around a 9 overall. I have played the first 2 chapters so far which are pretty straighforward. The third one appears extremely long in comparison. The save style seems quite nice offering players an opportunity to play ahead some without completely losing their entire progress. We will see how this new method goes. Happy gaming!

After some deliberation we have decided on Conker – Live and Reloaded. This game had a fairly good rating overall and is a bit different than any other game of the month we have played. A walkthrough is available as usual. Also available is the schedule.

We have chosen Ultimate Spiderman as the game of the month for July. This received very good reviews and I did play this a while ago although didn’t get very far. I really liked the uniqueness of the prevalence of the webswinging and the way the controls were mapped out, making it easy. There is also plenty of opportunities for fighting as there are many opponents on top of buildings that are set to battle. For those who are participating, feel free to register so you can add comments to this post. Good luck! I have provided the guideline for the sections we will be doing each week here!

If you are looking for a walkthrough, check out this one.

So me and a couple of other guys are going to do this really geeky thing – pick out one Xbox game per month and play it at the same time. Each of us has a ridiculous amount of titles and not enough time to play all of them. This of course means, that I don’t end up playing any of them because the thought of venturing into the myriad titles is just too overwhelming. Plus the idea of the same game alongside some other people that I know gives the experience a sense of purpose above and beyond the intrinsic progression through just another game. If you want to know more about the premise of the game itself, click on the image above which will open a link explaining the game.

Here is the plan. We use this walkthrough to pace ourselves so that one person doesn’t get too far ahead of the other. This way we can really ‘geek out’ about the same levels and such when we talk about the game. I have divided it into three areas using the table of contents. 1-13, then 14- 26 and 27-35. These will be done over the last 3 weeks of June. We are already done week 1 as of Sunday, June 11, 2006.

Synopsis so far.. in the beginning part of the game there are a lot of trainings and tutorials. Some of the useful things are the map which shows you exactly where you are and where your next destination should be (Start > scroll to the right to view the map). Also, there are numerous items you can go back and pick up to enhance your abilities and help to complete the game and these can be revisited without any penalty which gives the game more playability. The only thing I have found a bit unenjoyable was the repetitiveness of the last few levels of this section. You need to do what’s called a “Brain Tumbler Experiment” in order to earn a certain certificate. This is all well and good but you end up repeating the same type of level 3 or 4 times. You then need to face the boss which proves to be quite easy if you take the right strategy. So far the game is fairly easy but that’s what I want this to be. I don’t want anything overly challenging that requires a lot of replaying levels because this demands time that I do not have.

The next post will discuss the following section which begins with the Errands.