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Archives for : Games

Xbox 360’s New Dashboard (December Update) Review

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : November 26, 2011
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Category: Games

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Like the McDonalds commercials best say…”I’m lovin it”. The new features are great, the Kinect integration feels good, and the voice command options are solid. I am looking forward to what Microsoft comes up with next.

I’m thinking the system still needs a quicker way of reaching a list of online friends as well as a menu system that isn’t so lagged. It can be aggravating at times waiting for the main “x” (button) menu to popup or navigate. The dashboard is amazingly fast and accurate….its just the popup menu seems to never get any attention (outside of a few new options or icons).

I think the new UFC options will be a hit for a lot of MMA fans out there, bringing lots of behind the scene footage and interviews, as well as PPV features for live fights.

They have added additional support for the Xbox Companion Devices (i.e., Windows Phone 7 devices) that can interact with the system for reasons such as controlling DVDs or accessing additional information about what you have on the screen.

Microsoft Kinect for the Xbox 360 is Great

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : January 19, 2011
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Category: Games

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I got the Kinect in the mail today and hooked the lil guy up to the Xbox. It is actually pretty fun. I played a little of it at CES and got a kick out of it. Did some boxing with a Google exec, hot my rear handed to me and walked away saying….I need to get this.

So for all of you gamers out there with an Xbox, and/or those of you that love to watch Netflix, Zune etc on your Xbox….Go out and buy the Kinect for it! You won’t be disappointed, and there are a lot of nice games coming out. It comes with Kinect Adventures, but you should also grab a copy of Kinect Sports. That game is great with friends.

Well! That’s my review and thought of the moment. Enjoy 🙂

Easynews Tutorial – How to use news groups

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : January 10, 2011
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Category: Animevortex, Games, General, Movies/TV

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I have had the question asked so many times….”how do I learn to use news groups”. Well, I can recommend software and the advanced way of finding what you need, but some prefer to keep it simple.

Wikipedia shares: A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on the World Wide Web. Newsreader software is used to read newsgroups.

Despite the advent of file-sharing technologies such as BitTorrent, as well as the increased use of blogs, formal discussion forums, and social networking sites, coupled with a growing number of service providers blocking access to Usenet, newsgroups continue to be widely used.

Easynews has gone out of their way to create a nice video tutorial that will walk you through the usage of the very user-friendly service. Easynews acts as a one-stop-shop for using news groups, where you can login, search and download everything from one spot (without the need of external applications or bouncing between sites).

Click Here to access the video tutorial!

Visit easynews now and start off with a free trial. Take the time to dabble and see if they are a good fit for you:

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For a more advanced tutorial explaining further access to Newsgroups via desktop application, click here to view my full tutorial.

CES 2011, Day two…I was there, I survived proudly

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : January 8, 2011
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Category: Games, General

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Well, at CES there was a lot to see. A lot of great people to meet, a lot of great tech to drool over, and a lot of great information learned. I demoed the MS Xbox Kinect and got TKO’s in boxing by a Google employee heh. It was funny to see a Google employee having so much fun with a competitors product.

Out of the entire day, there wasn’t a person I regret talking to outside of the man showing off the Sony 3d camcorder. His words were kind of rude and insulting…I didn’t care much for that. I had asked him a reasonable question and he responded like I was an idiot. Now if the question was an idiot question…I would take full credit for it, but all I asked was what the highest resolution it shot in. He was a little sarcastic to that point but at that point he got a little aggravated and explained it shot in HD. Ok….there are various levels of “HD”….back down buddy…take a breather.

Anyways, the 3d TV’s look nicer (the LEDs at least). Very little to no flicker at all (LG was good), and clear as day with light glasses that didn’t bother you while on the face. Personally though I will still wait till it looks that nice or better WITHOUT having to wear glasses. Regardless….it was nice.

Viewsonic has a few nice monitors. Their latest series are LED but 2ms response time (2x the 1ms response time of their past LCD version). Made me want to snag one though….27″s of ……mmmmmm.

Hercules has a nice DJ/mixer usb combo that fell into a somewhat decent price, Triton/MadKatz had a nice 5.1 pair of Triton headphones for the Xbox/PS3, Skype’s on all the major TV’s and the AR Drones are back as usual. Audi has some nice cars to show off, pioneer has a new deck for the car coming out (Navi series) that looks fun, Sony has one hell of a widescreen 3d display for everyone to enjoy.

Did I mention the Kinect was fun?

Well that sums up a lot I think. I’d go deeper into detail and cover all sorts of things with images but this isn’t really a tech news blog. Go to CES!! It’s well worth it.

TheSa|nt

Xbox Lives Games are Showing up For Windows Phone 7

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : October 3, 2010
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Category: Games, General

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A few games are starting to pop up on Xbox Live for Windows Phone 7. Of course the phones haven’t been released yet so none of us can take advantage of them just yet.

I am just hoping that the Windows Phone 7 phones will still have a solid focus on the business and modder communities as well, who have given them their only popularity through the years thus far.  The games and special eye candy that brings it so much closer to being a competitor and crasher to/of the iPhone seem cool, but there has to be a solid foundation for business applications, remote server/desktop features, multi-tasking, file-system, etc.

Microsoft Natal coming in a few months!

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : May 17, 2010
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Category: Games

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Later this year Microsoft will be launching the new Project Natal, a device you can connect to your Xbox allowing you to play without a remote. Basically your body becomes the remote, and we have been waiting for a very long time for this to finally release.

Now it’s right around the corner and we will have a chance to try one at home. A disadvantage though is they might be asking for $200 for the device. Originally it was thought that it would be coming in under $100 but it’s already starting to sell via pre-order at Swedish retailers for $200. Is this just a way of trying to make some extra cash by letting people become “one of the first to have one”, or is it a sign that we will be paying a lot more than expected to get one?

Regardless, I know I can’t wait to see how accurate this device really will be. The promotional video that Microsoft released (I believe it was last year) made Natal look pretty nice, so lets hope it lives up to the hype!

Is Bungie Selling Out?

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : May 11, 2010
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Category: Games

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I really hope not, but Bungie announced that although the beta for Halo Reach is running on their own servers, the finished product will be launched in partnership with Activision. Does this mean they are heading down the same road as Infinity Ward?

The beta has been out for a week now, and so far it looks like we have a lot to look forward to (keeping in mind that what they are showing us now is only a taste of things to come). The finished product should prove to be a very interesting game. I just hope That they won’t ruin things like Infinity Ward by jumping over to Activision.

I guess we will find out soon (well, September at least)

Halo Reach Beta is Live!

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : May 3, 2010
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Category: Games

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Well, the day is finally here. We get to play Halo Reach…at least for the next few weeks. Sadly though by the time I get around to it, everything seems to be down ad not working. No one can get the playlists to load.

Someone posted a hilarious twitter about it:

SFX_KONA RT @microsoft_cares: Bungie is aware of the slow matchmaking times and inaccessible playlist. They are working on giving more No-Doze to the hamsters.

Anyways, looking forward to the experience once it actually gets working again. Hit me up! My gamertag is Animevortex and hopefully I will be playing a lot of it the next few weeks.

Video Games Cause Mean Case of the Munchies (Study)

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : April 27, 2010
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Category: Games, General

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I have always noticed that video games give me a major cause of the munchies. So I wondered, is it playing video games, or something else that causes it. Is it that fact that I am so drawn into something, that I don’t to watch how much of anything else I am doing as long as my mind is at peace. Maybe my hands are so busy that during times of having to wait (i.e., lobby waiting for the next round of online play), they don’t want to stop so they reach for snacks while I wait.

SO! I spent some time and asked a large group of random people playing online about their snacking habits. A total of 62 people to be exact (to make the sample large enough to count for something).

My selection was random and unbiased, and I asked each one the same questions. At the conclusion of things, I had the following information:

  • 21 out of 62 people said they prefer to have something to snack on while watching a movie.
  • 2 out of the 21 said that during a movie, if they ran out…they might get back up to get something more.
  • 1 out of 62 people said they almost always snack when watching general TV.
  • 0 out of 1 said that while watching TV, if they ran out…they might get back up to get something more.
  • 46 out of 62 people said that they prefer to have something to snack on while watching their favorite sport on TV (or live).
  • 29 out of the 46 said that while watching the sport, if they ran out…they might get back up to get something more (2 of which said only if the game was live).

Ok, well we see that Sports take the prize so far when it comes to snacking, so lets take a look at Video Games. A few extra questions were asked in this category to get the best idea.

  • 58 out of 62 people said they prefer to have something to snack on while playing video games.
  • 19 out of the 58 said they will (usually) only do it while playing online with other people, or have friends present.
  • 41 out of the 58 people said they would probably get up for more if they ran out.
  • 7 out of the 58 said they simply just do it. That they don’t really put much thought into it (as if it was a natural reflex).

Is it activities of high interaction that cause people to want to snack? This would explain why sports and video games have such a high rate of occurrences.

Regardless, this study proves that video games do indeed cause a mean case of the munchies! That’s 93.5% of the people admitting that video games cause them to want to get up to grab a snack.

So watch out when playing games (especially online with other people). Too much of this…may lead to obesity, or cause you to go mad if you run out of things to eat 🙂

TheSa|nt

Modern Warfare 2 – Random Post

Posted by :TheSa|nt On : April 26, 2010
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Category: Games

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I wanted to point out that Modern Warfare 2 is a great game for the Xbox 360 (and I am sure PS3 as well). What I don’t understand though is Activision wanting so hard to destroy its name.

They fire the top people behind Infinity Ward. Why? Because they guys asked for their promised cut of the profits that Activision wasn’t delivering. They also insisted that the direction Activision wants to take the product into..was wrong (Activision wants to squeeze the title for all the money it’s worth..vs bringing us games of rich quality). Some of the top MW2 designers followed the fired Infinity Ward leaders by resigning some time after.

Then they charge $15 for a map-pack expansion that only gives you 5 maps. No extra guns, missions or anything special….just maps. To make it worse, most of the suck. They are camp central, or allow it to be too easy for one team to spawn-trap the other…both scenarios that kill a game’s fun factor. At a price of $15, that makes this map-pack the most expensive on Xbox Live (I don’t know about PS3). The fact that it sucks…just makes it ever more then rotten.

So I say “SAY NO TO ACTIVISION” and start boycotting their games if you can. Hopefully the creators of Infinity Ward that were terminated, will get back up and start a new company. This way they can once again bring us games of high quality and in the customer’s interest (and not to nickel and dime you like Acitivision wants).

If you have the game already though, keep playing it because it is fun. Just remember that Halo Reach is about a week or so away so all this will become yesterday’s news anyways, as long as Halo Reach delivers what it promises.