post #153/360 on the xbox 360

we're like...five days from the launch of the xbox 360. this is newsworthy.

that being said, after the release of many 360 launch title reviews in the past couple of days, my opinions have changed slightly. not on the system itself, and in fact i may be even more drawn to it's raw sexiness as a piece of hardware than ever. but the launch games have been moderately adjusted. this is how it goes down.

- Kameo

i can't tell you how disappointed i am to hear how short, and generally unchallenging this game is. the first attempt i had at the demo was shit. it was awful. i couldn't have been more turned off. but, like i said in the post about it, i went back and played it all the way through and was turned right around. after a full play through of the demo, all of a sudden the game had so much possibility, so much charm, and mostly, so much fun.

turns out the game clocks in at around 15 hours, if you're retarded. 10-15 seems to the general consensus. that's awful, and pretty fucking unexcusable for a game that's been in development for three generations. we're talking like, 8 years now that this game has been alive. come on rare, what the fuck?

that alone is a turn off. i tend to really only look for games that are gonna give me over 20 hours, at least, in the single player. unless of course it's got a super deep and fun online component that's worth playing. kameo does not. a co-op of the same game. now trust me, if i'm gonna play this game, it's gonna be co-op w/ a buddy. there is absolutely nothing wrong w/ co-op, and it should pretty much be in every game. but it's not gonna make me want to play the game again and again, day after day.

it also turns out that "powers" kameo has tend to be worthless. or at least some/most. it seems that unless you're forced to use a certain power to do something in the game (such as climb an ice wall), you end up sticking w/ one character that ends up being more powerful, or easier to use than the rest. i could see this happening in the demo. the rock dude kinda controls like shit, the ice guy should be strong but really isn't, and going underground w/ the flower, popping up and punching was much cooler. if the dinosaur was in the demo, well, i'm sure that wouldn't have been much of a contest. the dinosaur is in the actual game. who, oh who, will i play w/?

none of this is to say the game isn't beautiful, cause it still is. or that it's even a bad game. if i'm a teenager, on the younger end, a kid or a parent of a kid, then i'm absoluetly picking this game up. it's just what the doctor ordered, or some less stupid saying. it's zelda-ish, which is always good, but it is far from zelda, which is not. but the kids don't know, and it's not too difficult. so pick it up for the kids and never worry. but goddamn, if i'm dropping $600 to pick up the system, 2-3 games and at least one extra controller and a charge and play kit, then i want to make sure i'm gonna get my money's worth from my software. and that leads me too...

- Call Of Duty 2

hot damn. playing this demo all the way through was fantastic. exciting, well paced, diffcult enough, and just immeasurably playable w/ the 360 controller. a button for everything, and every button in its place. or something. turns out, it's the game to beat at launch according to the reviews. which would be hard to argue from what i played, and knowing it's got a big, beautiful online aspect.

i'm assuming the graphics have been cleaned up a bit since the demo, and even if they haven't, they were still pretty great. again, the smoke being a real highlight. but the gameplay was so intuitive, and the scenario was so fucking frantic and just flat out crazy, it was a real fucking good time. now take that, put it in your house, w/ all the levels, online play, and (if you've got a 5.1 setup) what is apaprently the best sound in any 360 game, if not any console game, well that is good stuff.

not much more to say here except that call of duty moved up from being "probably" purchased to an "absolute must have." so far it's looking like call of duty 2, project gotham racing 3 (i'd chat about it, but there's nothing more to say, it's fucking awesome) and perfect dark zero. i do find it odd that there are ZERO reviews of perfect dark so far. everything else is out and in reviewers hands, at least the big stuff, and perfect dark has yet to be heard from. i'd also like to see condemned reviewed shortly.

sadly it seems all the sports games suck. and by suck i mean, not worth paying more for on the next gen hardware when you can get a better version of the same game on the current consoles. not only that, but you throw those regular xbox games into the 360 and you've got a better looking version of the game instantly. are the 360 graphics really worth picking up an inferior game, that's about 20 bucks more expensive for? i don't think so. that is of course my buddy picks up madden or live, and wants to play online all the time, and refuses to play call of duty or project gotham because i keep handing his ass too him. he'll learn all too soon the same happens in madden...or live. so slow...

have i mentioned my beard?

i know some baseball stuff has happened this week, but i'll hold off on it until the sox write up i'm gonna do either thursday or saturday. so don't you worry about that.

let's do this weather man review. bottom line...awesome. i love nic cage and michael caine, so it would seem a no brainer, and it really is. it's not as good as the other black comedy/dramas/off beat movies, specifically american beauty (the best movie of this generation?), or even this years jarhead. but it is really worth seeing. great performances all around in this one, and a really good, realistic, and enjoyable (to me at least) story. i like to keep from ruining things, so i won't go too in depth, but there are some really strong laughs in this movie. it is really funny in that everyday oddness sort of way. and it's also extremely touching, w/o feeling like it's being cheap and trying to pull on you. it's just a portrait of a man, going through a tough time in his life, dealing w/ it horribly, but trying his best at every turn. the more i think about it, the better it is too. i highly recommend it to anyone, though i'm sure plenty of people will pissed that nothing explodes and it tells a story. if that's not you, don't worry, go see it.

shopgirl on friday.

i seem to be running short of ideas at this point. which is too bad because gooddamn, i could have sworn i had far more to chat about. i do know that (fingers crossed, and i hate even saying it right now because fuck my ass, i don't want to jinx it) i may have some pretty big/great news in the coming week or so. hopefully. friday should be a balls out, 2 the limit edition, so tune in! it'll be awesome! later!

stahl