The Official "Console War" and Video Game Thread

[transfan80]

Not a racing fan, so Forza's out-plus I have the other two consoles. Any other features that may interest me?

[TheDeviot]

Not a racing fan, so Forza's out-plus I have the other two consoles. Any other features that may interest me?

Honestly, the game selection isn't going to be that different from what you're seeing on PS3, or Windows.

Outside of that (The main reason you buy a system to game on), while you have to pay for it, LIVE is going to be well organized, and an easy
to use interface. It makes keeping tabs on friends, and interests, as well as sorting your online purchases a snap.

There are a few titles on XBL you may prefer over the PSN, Wiiware, or Steam versions. I have heard some cases where XBL had the better version.
This can also be said for some of the retail releases. Netflix auto ques on XBL so if you watch a season of say, American Dad it will autorun all of the episodes
in a row.

If you're willing to invest in it, Kinect is proving more popular than the PS Move. I can say some of the dance, indie, and puzzle games on Kinect
are fun, and not possible on the other systems. The Gunstringer is probably one of the better ones imho.

Also the 360 can be used as a media slingbox if you have a Windows XP/Vista/7 machine, and the Live service is free on Microsoft's other platforms
This allows PC gamers to talk to 360 gamers, Mobile phone users to talk to the both of them, and so on. There aren't any real cross platform games outside
of Shadowrun, but it does show promise, as Microsoft seems commited to the idea of Windows 8 bridging all of their stuff together when it hits.

[Skullface]

Don't think this will ever happen, but I'd love it if it was done well....

**Please do not post links to sites with vulgarity in the comments. Thanks! **

[Toywolf]

I am a fan of Gears of War (and of He-man as well, obviously). I work at a "big software company" in Washington state in an IT group that supports Gears of War 3. I came across this article about Cliff Bleszinski on the Epic site. It portrays Cliff as He-Man on his "trading card". Article URL is below:

I thought it was an interesting combination of two things I enjoy very much.

**Please do not post links to sites with vulgarity in the comments. Thanks! **

I still do not see any vulgarity on the URL that I originally posted so here is a link to Epic's community page. The article I mentioned can be reached from there. You'll see a "CliffyB" version of He-Man.

http://epicgames.com/community/

[scroogemcd77]

Did anyone see the Simpsons arcade from 1991 came out this week on xbox live and playstation network just like i remember it now heres hoping with the Avengers and Spider-man coming this summer that those arcade games come out to joining Ninja Turtles and X-men arcade already out.

[TheDeviot]

Did anyone see the Simpsons arcade from 1991 came out this week on xbox live and playstation network just like i remember it now heres hoping with the Avengers and Spider-man coming this summer that those arcade games come out to joining Ninja Turtles and X-men arcade already out.

Yep. But that doesn't worry me. I still have my Commodore 64, and the apparently highly collectible 8-bit port!



And apparently there are many easter eggs cropping up in Choplifter! HD

Duke Nukem, and Super Meat Boy have been found.

Now Minecraft joins the fold in a final stage egg

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Huh... I never knew that there even was any past home console port of the Simpsons Arcade Game at all. Interesting. It's too bad we never got a port on NES, SNES, or Genesis.

But with the PSN/XBLA release, it's nice to finally have it available in an official capacity (I downloaded the PSN version, myself).

[Skullface]

A blast from the distant past coming back!

http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/121/1218720p1.html

WOW - This looks like it may actually get off the ground:

http://games.ign.com/articles/121/1218747p1.html

[Southzen]

Picked up Fruit Ninja for Kinect of XBLA; it is a blast. I loved the iphone and ipad versions, but it is SOOO much more fun to flail around like a fool. Having your friends and family do it too, just adds to the laughs.

[wolfsfang]

I just got Fruit Ninja for Kinect as well today tho I got it for free with The Gunstringer which is an awesome game

[GeologyMule]

Picked up Fruit Ninja for Kinect of XBLA; it is a blast. I loved the iphone and ipad versions, but it is SOOO much more fun to flail around like a fool. Having your friends and family do it too, just adds to the laughs.

Probably the best game on the Kinect IMO. Even my non-gaming girlfriend likes it.

[TheDeviot]

If anyone is remotely interested in it, RAGE is clearanced to $20 at Gamestop. This is the price for a NEW copy.
All versions. Windows/360/PS3

I have to say the comparisons to Borderlands aren't really fair outside of some of the motif.
It really reminds me a lot more of STALKER. It has a similar mission structure, NPC's that give
quests/sidequests, and while not the most original game it's different enough from id's usual
FPS games. There are less RPG elements than in BL, and the art direction is grittier.
I could see why some may think the game is overhyped (And it is), but it's by no means a terrible game
So far I'm enjoying it. One of the better games I've dumped $20 on as an impulse buy

Here's a couple of shots I took in Steam. I'm running @ 1680x1050 with texture cache set higher, and higher
texture quality. It doesn't seem to affect frame rate much but the engine scales the textures based on your CPU cores,
and how good your GPU is. As such I get slightly better than 360 performance because my 260 is getting long in the tooth

[wolfsfang]

this is pure awesome

[Epicasino]

Huh... I never knew that there even was any past home console port of the Simpsons Arcade Game at all. Interesting. It's too bad we never got a port on NES, SNES, or Genesis.

But with the PSN/XBLA release, it's nice to finally have it available in an official capacity (I downloaded the PSN version, myself).

I played the PC version at home:

[krosfyah]

Picked up Fruit Ninja for Kinect of XBLA; it is a blast. I loved the iphone and ipad versions, but it is SOOO much more fun to flail around like a fool. Having your friends and family do it too, just adds to the laughs.

I'm going tohave to check it out! I didn't because I'm not VERY interested in the android game, it's fine but I only played it twice (maybe I'll redownload it too)

[Dynamo of Eternia]

I have 2 PS3 Units. One is the 80GB 'Phat' Model with PS2 backwards compatibility, the other is a 120GB slim unit.

I'm looking into possibly upgrading the hard drive on both units, but definately the 80GB unit in the near future. I only have about 6 gigs of space left on it, and there's not much else that I can/want to delete to free up space. So, I'm only a couple/few new games away between the game data and DLC from being out of space entirely on that unit.

I'm looking to upgrade to somewhere in the neighborhood of a 250GB to 500GB hard drive. So, I'm looking for advice on compatible hard drives, and what the best, most reliable brand would be. I'd like to not spend more than I have to, but I don't want to sacrifice quality for savings. So, any advice is appreciated.

Also, are the same kind of hard drives compatible with both the 'phat' and 'slim' PS3 units? I just wonder because I'll probably plan to get the same (or a similar) hard drive for that unit later on down the road. It's not as urgent because I still have about 50 gigis of space on it.

[Skullface]

I have 2 PS3 Units. One is the 80GB 'Phat' Model with PS2 backwards compatibility, the other is a 120GB slim unit.

I'm looking into possibly upgrading the hard drive on both units, but definately the 80GB unit in the near future. I only have about 6 gigs of space left on it, and there's not much else that I can/want to delete to free up space. So, I'm only a couple/few new games away between the game data and DLC from being out of space entirely on that unit.

I'm looking to upgrade to somewhere in the neighborhood of a 250GB to 500GB hard drive. So, I'm looking for advice on compatible hard drives, and what the best, most reliable brand would be. I'd like to not spend more than I have to, but I don't want to sacrifice quality for savings. So, any advice is appreciated.

Also, are the same kind of hard drives compatible with both the 'phat' and 'slim' PS3 units? I just wonder because I'll probably plan to get the same (or a similar) hard drive for that unit later on down the road. It's not as urgent because I still have about 50 gigis of space on it.

The overall most universally praised brand for PS3 HDD replacement is Western Digital. Personally, I have a Seagate in mine, and haven't had any issues with it in my slim. The only advice I'd give is get a drive that operates at 5400rpm instead of 7200rpm for your phat model. On infrequent occasions, my old 60GB phat PS3 would have trouble booting with the 7200 rpm drive, as it's built to only handle 5400. (The drive would try to run faster than the system, causing startup issues) After 1 or 2 reboots, it'd start just fine.

Any 2.5" SATA laptop/notebook hard drive should work just fine - there's no difference between phat & slim models - the HDD is the same. Personally, I'd go w/a 500GB drive - it's always better to have more room than you may use as opposed to going w/250GB, and then possibly needing to upgrade again. Check the Fry's ads each week for sales, or check out drives on Newegg or Amazon. For a good quality brand 500GB drive, you can find them for between $60-$80, if you can hold out for sales.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

The overall most universally praised brand for PS3 HDD replacement is Western Digital. Personally, I have a Seagate in mine, and haven't had any issues with it in my slim. The only advice I'd give is get a drive that operates at 5400rpm instead of 7200rpm for your phat model. On infrequent occasions, my old 60GB phat PS3 would have trouble booting with the 7200 rpm drive, as it's built to only handle 5400. (The drive would try to run faster than the system, causing startup issues) After 1 or 2 reboots, it'd start just fine.

Any 2.5" SATA laptop/notebook hard drive should work just fine - there's no difference between phat & slim models - the HDD is the same. Personally, I'd go w/a 500GB drive - it's always better to have more room than you may use as opposed to going w/250GB, and then possibly needing to upgrade again. Check the Fry's ads each week for sales, or check out drives on Newegg or Amazon. For a good quality brand 500GB drive, you can find them for between $60-$80, if you can hold out for sales.

Cool, thanks!

Just one follow up question. I was just browing some of these and seeing different cache sized like 8MB, 16MB, etc. Does that make much of a difference?

[Skullface]

Cool, thanks!

Just one follow up question. I was just browing some of these and seeing different cache sized like 8MB, 16MB, etc. Does that make much of a difference?

From what I've read online, the difference is negligible, though I haven't personally made any tests myself to see if there's much difference. If it's a make or break situation, go with a larger cache.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Arrrrg.... So, apparently Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition came out today. From what I understand, it's just the existing game with all DLC included. Does anyone know if the "DLC" content is actually on the disc, or does it just come with vouchers to download the content? If it's on the disc, itself, then I may bite at some point and pick it up to have all of the DLC intact on a disc (and not on a hard drive which can crash). But I'll wait for a price drop because I'm not paying $60 to literally play the same game that I already have.

[Southzen]

The box art for Assassins Creed 3 is out. The Assassins are going to the American Revolution! IMO, this is the next best leap in history for the property. This will also be the last game to feature Desmond as a main character. Art released shows his tools of death as a bow w/ quiver, black powder pistols, and a tomahawk. He is wearing a period military coat in the Assassins style with leather chaps and leather moccasin boots.

Box Art: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/121/1219789p1.html

Leaked Art: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1219745p1.html

[markatisu]

The box art for Assassins Creed 3 is out. The Assassins are going to the American Revolution! IMO, this is the next best leap in history for the property. This will also be the last game to feature Desmond as a main character. Art released shows his tools of death as a bow w/ quiver, black powder pistols, and a tomahawk. He is wearing a period military coat in the Assassins style with leather chaps and leather moccasin boots.

Box Art: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/121/1219789p1.html

Leaked Art: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1219745p1.html

That sounds interesting, might make me take another look at the series

But outside SWTOR I am all about Mass Effect 3, a few days to go!!!

[TheDeviot]

A couple of quick tidbits from Steam

PAYDAY The Heist is free to play all weekend. It's a 4 player co-op shooter where you commit heists, and keep the cops at bay.
If you like it it's on sale for $10 or $30 for four copies.

Also on sale, SAINTS ROW 3 for $25
THQ is also bringing back WRESTLEFEST!!!!! The 2d Arcade wrestling game is coming to Steam with some added updates like current gen wrestlers
in addition to the characters in the original Arcade release. No price up yet but you should check out the visuals. They look pretty cool.

[Fendi]

A couple of quick tidbits from Steam

PAYDAY The Heist is free to play all weekend. It's a 4 player co-op shooter where you commit heists, and keep the cops at bay.
If you like it it's on sale for $10 or $30 for four copies.

Good news, I brought it, Let team up and steal some goods.

[MegaGearMax]

Nobody seems to buy strategy guides outright anymore. I collect them for the artwork, bios and stories. I remember when Soul Calibur 5 came out a month ago...I had a hell of a time finding a copy because the stores didn't order any! Now it's the same story for Street Fighter x Tekken!