360 Price Cut Official… Be Careful!

Further illustrating Microsoft’s inability to keep anything quiet, the long-rumored price cut for the Xbox 360 has been formally announced.  You can read the press release here on Xbox.com

• Arcade - $199 (From $279)
• Pro - $299 (From $349)
• Elite - $399 (From $449)

The drops are larger than I would have expected from Microsoft.  The drop on the Arcade (which comes with five games and a memory card) makes it the cheapest current-generation system available right now.  No doubt that now the mythical $200 dollar barrier has been breached, sales are going to rise this holiday season.

The one problem with this price drop is the Pro.  There are currently two Pro system packs available-the current 60gb and the clearanced 20gb.  Even though most 20gb systems have been sold already for reduced price, there are still some floating around in the retail ether.  If you’re planning on buying a Pro system, make sure you get a 60gb.  The  boxes look pretty similar and may lead to more casual purchasers not realizing there is a system superior to the 20gb for the same money.  Microsoft should have dropped the 20gb to $250 to help retail empty its supply and limit customer confusion.

RIP GFW

Jeff Green, editor-in-chief at Games For Windows Magazine, announced today on his 1up blog that the magazine has shut down production.

From his blog post:

For me personally, the closing of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine is not just a business decision (though, obviously it?s exactly that in reality), but feels more akin, in fact, to the passing of a loved one. Drama much? Well, you can scoff if you want, but the fact of the matter is that I have poured my heart and soul into this magazine, month after month after month, for over 10 years now. Every four weeks for 10 years I have done my best to get a quality magazine out the door, and the fact that I don’t have that deadline now is not in any way, despite the temptation to go for gallows humor, a source of relief. It feels like a giant gaping hole in my life.

I have been reading GFW (well, Computer Gaming World) off and on for almost ten years.  Over Spring Break I had the opportunity to read the latest (and last) issue, and it was one of the best magazine issues I’ve ever read.  The articles were especially well written and insightful, which are things that are hard to find in the enthusiast press.  It’s rather sad to know I’ll never get another GFW magazine  But, on the bright side, GFW will exist as an online entity.  It seems most writers will stay at 1up, and the amazing podcast should continue.

It’s strange how bummed this news makes me, but I can’t imagine how bad the great writers who work on the magazine must feel right now.   You guys made a great product, and it’s a sign of your skill and dedication that many people are just as bummed as I am.

Good luck with the future, GFW crew!  I’ll be reading and listening.

No More Heroes (Wii)

Two months ago, I beat No More Heroes. It took me about 10 hours to complete, and I haven’t touched the game since. So why has it taken me this long to write about the game?

The simple answer is that I do not know how I feel about this game. I was hoping that taking time away from the game would help refine my opinion and give me the ability to, at the very least, recommend it to someone or not.

It didn’t. I am still just as torn as the day I ejected the disc.  At the risk of sounding overly negative, this game is objectively terrible.  Looking past No More Heroes‘ myriad of problems is a requirement to gain any enjoyment from the game.

Peaches?

This is more than tangentially related to video games, I promise.

Uncharted (PS3): How to Ruin a Great Game

Until about 75% through Uncharted, I was a huge fan of the game. I was wholly prepared to write a glowing recommendation for developer Naughty Dog’s masterpiece. I was read to tell anyone who listened that the PlayStation 3 finally had it’s own exclusive game that would be the first triple-A must-have experience. In other words, a true reason for buying the PS3. I thought that Uncharted was going to do for the PS3 what Gears of War did for the Xbox 360 last fall.

That all changed during the last quarter or so of the game. Spoilers (and an incredible amount of disappointment) below.

A Brief Public Service Announcement

If you own an iPod capable of playing games, you must go purchase Peggle from the iTunes iPod game store.  The game is 4.99 and is a great deal.  If you’ve missed out on Pegglemania,  now is the time to try it.  The PC version, Peggle Deluxe, is on sale on Steam for 9.95.

For those who do not know, Peggle is a puzzle  game in which you must shoot and bounce a limited number of balls into orange colored blocks in an attempt to make all the orange blocks disappear.  It may sound dumb or simple, but the addition of special powers to use adds to the strategy of getting the highest scores possible.

I have played through the PC version and enjoyed myself through the entire campaign and still fire it up from time to time.  Today,  the iPod version was released, and I have played the first few levels and it is a capable port.  There are minor bouts of slowdown, and the scroll wheel isn’t as accurate as the mouse.  However, this is the first portable version of Peggle I have seen, so it gets an automatic buy and recommendation from me.
Go buy it. PC or iPod, it is a fantastic game.

Why Arkadian Warriors’ Online Play Is Broken

In my impressions posted a few days ago, I wasn’t very positive about Arkadian Warriors, the newly released Xbox Live Arcade Guantlet/Diablo/Untold Legends clone. I have continued to play it, and have almost completed the game. Today I had the opportunity to play some of the game online, and I really wonder what they were thinking in regards to the way the online portion plays.

Impressions: Arkadian Warriors (Xbox 360)

I have to admit I have an odd fondness for mindless old-school experience-grinding loot-grabbing hack-and-slash games, regardless of quality. When I heard about Arkadian Warriors being released this week for the Xbox Live Arcade, I was excited. The 360 is rather sparse with this particular genre, so the $10 price made this game an automatic buy for me.

I have only played the game for a few hours, but while I have enjoyed it so far, the game has enough issues that I have a difficult time recommending it to most people.

Impressions: Marble Blast Ultra (Xbox 360)

One of the less noticed additions to the new Xbox 360 dashboard update yesterday is the new “Arcade Hits” section in Xbox Live Arcade. The section isn’t really anything special, it’s basically the “Platinum Hits” for XBLA games, where the games are offered for discounted prices. The initial batch of games are Zuma, Small Arms, Lumines Live!, and Marble Blast Ultra. Of those games, the only one I didn’t own was Marble Blast Ultra, so I went ahead and spent 400 points and proceeded to try the game out.

Xbox 360 Fall 2007 Dashboard Update

I just downloaded the new dashboard for the 360, and have had some time to play around with it. This is by no means indepth, just a few things I have noticed.