Eckyman.com

After holding Farm on the Laguna Alta map for the majority of a conquest round, the opposition sent 6 players and 1 tank and captured the base. Thanks to a lucky respawn on a still standing squad member, I managed to get two RPG shots off on the tank…

…both missed by a mile, BUT, managed to take out the remaining two walls of the farm building causing it to collapse, killing the 6 opposition players in one glorious demolition kill!

Incredible game. More to follow soon.

I’m interested. You have my attention. Now, let me say, I’m not entirely sold on the concept.

Do I want to wear 3D glasses at home when I’m gaming? Not so much. If it enhances gaming enough, I’d consider it but I cant see it being comfortable at all. Also, let’s not forget gamers who already wear glasses. I can’t see the prospect of wearing two pairs of glasses to game in being a very attractive one. In fact, I already know it isn’t from talking to people who wear glasses.

I am pretty excited about the possibilities 3D gaming + Natal could provide but I can see the obvious problems. Glasses, lack of force feedback, to name only a couple. When they sort it out so it works minus the glasses, or finally pull off holographic displays (and not using the curved mirror tricks of the 90’s), I’ll jump on board.

Till then, I’m filing this in the pile marked “Temporary Fad”

THIS is just idiocy!

Aside from the main fact that you cant tell much about the gameplay from the footage released so far (to judge it this early with so little shown is just laughable), buying Sonic 1 is still going to give SEGA money! The whole idea as it stands is lunacy. If you don’t like a product and you are going to threaten a boycott, the first rule is not to give the boycotted company any money.

Voting with your wallet will always be far more effective than starting some online petition (because they are always successful, just ask the L4D2 boycott group /sarcasm). It’s called Market Forces and it works folks. If you don’t like the way a product is going, the clearest message you can send is to simply not buy it.

These internet shit-storms never go anywhere and only serve to make a large portion of the fanbase look like dicks to everyone else.

Jim Sterling over at destructoid has a great article up on this exact subject, and why fans should shut up about everything.

I heartily agree with him. I can relate to his viewpoint when I think of the stink made over Capcom deciding to release Monster Hunter Tri on the Wii instead of the PS3 or Xbox360. A franchise that has only seen one console release in NA and EU, that only made it’s ground on the PSP and even then was pirated to hell and back… it made very little money, received poor reviews (although I could argue and provide solid evidence this was the fault of the reviewers not the game), and is most popular in Japan.

True fans should be glad the game is even getting a western release! The console it releases is on is irrelevant. If you are a fan of a franchise, you should be happy to see someone working on it and trying to push it forward.

If you cant afford a Wii to play the game I can understand that, but you should still be pleased the series is receiving attention. I wouldn’t  mind but half the people moaning that they don’t want to buy a Wii and it should have been made on the PS3 wouldn’t give a damn if it were PS3-bound and Wii owners had to buy a PS3. Someone will always get the shaft when it comes to exclusive releases no matter what and arguing which console owners should have got the shaft is pointless.

If you are a fan of a franchise but they do something in a way you don’t like, be happy they are at least doing something with it and understand that not everyone is going to look at it the same way as you… plus, the alternative could well be the death of that franchise forever and no ‘fan’ of anything should want that.

Cant wait to get hold of this tomorrow…

Managed to stick to my guns and didn’t buy MW2. Judging by all the accounts of glitching, modding, and cheating I’ve read about lately I did the right thing.

In preparation for BC2 I started playing the first Bad Company game and was reminded just how great the Battlefield series has been. I bought it about a year ago preowned and only did the first couple of levels for some reason that I cant remember now.

(SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST – Eckyman)

By now I’m sure most people have heard of this clown, iTz LUPO. If not, go catch up

*sigh*

Some kid mods his Xbox to cheat in MW2, admits it in game in front of a moderator, then proceeds to tell said moderator that he f*cked his grandma and various other insults only people under 15 think is cool. He gets banned and in the blink of an eye, changes personality to a regular guy, doing nothing wrong, who is being crushed by the mighty weight of corrupt Xbox moderators!

So, he then goes on to create a heavily edited video of his banning, taking great care to remove him admitting to cheating, and also removing the insults towards the moderator, making it look not only like he was banned for nothing, but as though the moderator was out of line…. and a bunch of idiots fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.

The comments on this kids youtube channel defy logic and reason. Most posters have obviously checked their intelligence and spelling ability at the door, and instead are currently drooling on their keyboards, banging heads against monitors in outrage that someone could be banned for being an obnoxious, mouthy, little cheater.

The most common comment I have seen from his supporters regarding this.

“He paid for his Xbox, he paid for his game, he paid for Xbox live.. therefore he should be able to do what he wants with it”

Right, right… only, a lot of other people paid for their Xbox, MW2, and a Live subscription so they could play online without people glitching, cheating, and modding. See how that works?

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.. if you want to cheat on the equipment you bought, go ahead and do it offline or in a LAN game where you don’t affect the games of people who also paid and expect a fair game. It’s really not that hard kids. You wont get banned, you wont piss anyone off, and you can muck around with cheats till your little hands cant hold a controller any more.

UPDATE:

Seems iTzLuPo has admitted to lying about everything. Deleted his Twitter account, removed his modding videos from youtubte.. all references to cheating/modding have gone.

Turns out, this has come about as a result of someone posting his personal details online.

While I will never condone cheating (if you are going to do it, take it offline where it does not bother any paying Live subscribers), posting peoples personal details online is pushing it too far.

I sincerely hope nobody takes it as far as to harass the kid or his family over this. He admitted he was in the wrong, I’d imagine he’s feeling pretty worried at the moment. Time to move on guys. Internet bullying is no solution to anything.

Clocked the Alien missions last night.

Turns out I was almost at the end when I last saved it. All I had to do was weaken the Elite Predator and harvest him to create a new species. The last cutscene for the Aliens shows the Queen dying (Part of the Marine campaign), then Number Six is captured and taken offworld. I wont spoil the full ending, but I enjoyed it and it set the game up for a sequel (please let there be a sequel!). Just the Marine campaign to finish off now.

Although the individual campaigns feel a little short, together they make up a lengthy story told from various different viewpoints. Each species has different goals and visits different areas, with the occasional crossover “Heey, I was just there as the Marine!” moments. The game is getting a lot of flak for its length but I think it works very well in this case. I can run through Portal in no time at all but it’s still one of the best games of the last decade. Likewise, Team Fortress 2 does not even have a single player mode and still has a large following.

The three AvP campaigns added up, clock in at more time than Dante’s Inferno does. People need to really think about what they say in reviews imo. Metacritic shows some low scores for the game and has reviewers claiming all sorts of guff, ranging from bad graphics (lol), to short singleplayer (see above). How 1UP can give it a D (D=Bad / F= Don’t play) I’ll never know.. They rated Dante’s Inferno higher which is 100% a God of War clone and has a shorter campaign than AvP. Go figure. Anyway, I’ll store up my bile towards “professional reviewers” for another post as I have a lot to say on this matter.

I also spent some time on the multiplayer last night. After playing the Alien campaign I had learnt a few tricks I was confident in using during the match. When I first played the demo I kept to the floor and only used right trigger to transition to walls. The way to do it is to hold left trigger, point at the surface you want to be on and hit jump. The Aliens maneuverability is unmatched by the other two species and should be taken advantage of when possible. Keeping to the ceiling gives you an edge on other aliens who will have to transition surfaces to get in range of you, whereas you can hold left trigger and range attack them from above, plus, you can catch out a lot of players who have not adjusted to checking above them yet. Ranged attacks work well to close the distance on your prey but make sure you follow with a few weak attacks. I tried ranging from roof to target and following with a heavy attack but it’s too slow to wind up and leaves you open, following with a weak attack keeps them staggered to a degree.

Still a lot to learn and get used to, but really enjoying the game so far. More to follow after I complete the Marine campaign.

Back to regular gaming this week thanks to the new Xbox.

I’ll mainly be playing the following…

• Aliens Vs Predator (Xbox 360)
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (PC)

I still have a few missions to mop up on AvP but will be playing multiplayer to death this week. Rebellion really nailed this one in my opinion. With three different species providing three different play styles there is something for everyone here. The game is loaded with tension and atmosphere, and graphically the game is superb.

Jedi Academy is one of those games I’m kicking myself for not having played when it first came out and there were more people online. The single player, while good fun, pales in comparison to the online mode. A third person Jedi game that actually does lightsaber combat well, built on the Quake 3 engine? How can you go wrong?

Will post some more on these two games later this week after I get a good run at them.

MS wanted £81 to repair the faulty DVD drive in my Xbox. Argos were charging £99 for a brand new one + 1 years warranty.

Needless to say, I went with the Argos deal. Screw paying £81 for a refurb when I can get a brand new one + warranty for an extra £18.

…mostly XBLA games.

Third Xbox drive has bitten the dust so only games from HD right now.

Loderunner. A new look on an old classic. Lots of fun, frustrating multiplayer action, lots of levels… how can you go wrong?

N+ A fun little platform/puzzle type game. Levels are simple in theory, get to a switch/switch opens door/get to door/next level. In practice it’s a running, sliding, wall jumping, frustrating (but fun) experience. Originally a flash title (I think?) and now on XBLA, grab the trial and give it a whirl.

Souls. A game from the indie section on XBLA. Simple gameplay, frustrating to master. Reminds me of those old ‘test your nerves’ machines where you guide a metal ring over a twisty wire. Any contact between the ring and the wire sounds an alarm and ends the game. Souls works on the same principle. The player must guide the soul of a deceased person (presumably to heaven, I have not completed it yet) through corridors and elevator shafts, avoiding demons that appear from walls/ceilings/floors to try and swallow you.

At only 80 points it’s worth checking out. I could live without the repeated ’scare’ moments though.

Other than the occasional Trials HD session, that’s about it till I get the drive replaced.

Following up on my previous post about the problems with saving, I’d like to continue this with a look at the way a few games handle the various issues that can occur.

Read more…