Netflix 4OD No Sound Xbox 360 LG TV - Fix

So, ever since Netflix and 4OD came out I've been having this odd problem whereby the minute you launch any video - ALL - the sound on the Xbox stops working completely (until a re-boot).  Before these apps I'd never had a problem at all, all games and apps have worked flawlessly and Netflix was something I'd been really looking forward to trying out.  I'd tried various things to remedy the situation - fiddling with the audio and display settings on the Dashboard and playing with TV settings, even trying different resolutions and TV settings, turning the TV off and on after playing the video (that just made matters worse - causing a fatal playback error on the app when the TV came back to life).  Thankfully, yesterday I found a solution, on my LG TV at least - so, to fix the issue -

1. Go into the Netflix or 4OD app and launch the video you want to watch as normal (starting off silently as usual)
2. On the TV remote control hit the "Menu" button
3. Use the arrow keys and the "OK" button to choose the "Picture" option from the list
4. Do the same to choose the "XD Demo" option
5. Hit the right arrow or "OK" to launch the XD Demo
6. Hit "Menu" to close the XD Demo and enjoy the video with the sound working  (if you don't have XD Mode on your TV try changing the picture mode to "Standard" and then back to "Dynamic" - should do the same thing)!  Note - When you want to watch another movie/TV show you'll have to repeat the process, but at least the apps are now usable!

Yay! Thanks @danferdinand

...for my spiffing free Plants vs Zombies game! ;)

So sweet...

...but so annoying, on my birthday (Dec 23rd) the *only* way we could get Thomas to stop stomping around the room stropping (when I started to play my new Xbox game) was to get the high chair, pop it next to me and give him the spare Xbox controller, then he was good as gold...just wanted to join in with what Daddy was doing... ;)

Bioshock Infinite Teaser...

...WOW!

Thomas playing Xbox 360

Well that didn't take long...walk into the kitchen to check if his breakfast had cooled down to a baby-friendly temperature, hear his cute little squeal of delight and enthusiastic shuffling noise as he crawls towards (unseen by me) target at warp factor 9 - the next thing I hear, which spooks me considerably, is the series of booms and crashes that signifies the Xbox 360 is booting up, flexing it's muscles through the surround sound system...

Thomas has found my wireless controller, and then managed to hold the centre power button for long enough to start up my games console...clever boy... ;)

Don't think Daddy will be leaving that laying around again...

A pox upon EA Games!

Those *idiots*...here we have a lovely environment, where it's easy, practically free and extremely quick to get hold of demo versions of new games (thus practically removing any incentive for casual piracy and boosting sales for genuinely great titles) and EA-bloody-Games suddenly decides that it can make a fast buck by charging for *demo* content...*sigh*...

No-one charges for demo content - if you are *paying* then it isn't a blooming demo, it's a commercial product! The only problem is, there are shower of fools out there prepared to splash out their hard-earned for something *useless* (who obviously do exist - because otherwise you wouldn't be able to buy stupid DLC like "Horse Armour") are either going to ruin it for everyone else by souring the pudding or push everyone back into the arms of either the aforementioned pirates, or the second-hand market, neither of which are going to help Tiny Tim, the cheerful but crippled programmers son, get his Christmas goose...

The other thing is, demo content is often released with a caveat something along the lines of "this is a demo and doesn't represent the finished product (blah blah)", so what is the story going to be here? Will we *pay* to become beta testers now? Or will EA wait until the game has gone Gold, sell a crippled version of it until people have stopped paying and then, when the game has been perfected, *finally* release the full version? What a mess... >8(

Oh and don't even get me started on Bioshock II including the first bit of DLC on the *game disk*, Bioware...what were you thinking? *Tut*...

Update - don't look now...EA are considering legal action against "South Park"...! It's just win after win after win for those guys...

Xbox Goodness

Just realised I forgot to mention this (tut!)...when the box arrived from Frankfurt, bearing my Xbox 360 (repaired), it didn't actually contain my xbox at all...instead, it was a brand new one, complete with extended warranty and a free Xbox Live voucher!

Heard something very nasty about Sony the other day (after the "day the earth stood still"), turns out, if your PS3 has the "yellow light of death" and is out of warranty, they charge you £119 and send you someone else's old reconditioned console... :(

Microsoft 1 Sony 0

So near, and yet so far...

Oh how maddening is this? My Xbox left the UPS office in Brussels at 9am this morning and arrived during lunchtime (at 12:56 to be precise) in Barking - so basically, if I look out my window I can probably see the depot where it is currently sitting...I suppose there's just a *chance* they can get it Redhill today, but most likely it will be tomorrow... :(

Xbox Fixed!

Wowie! My Xbox only set off to Frankfurt (to Xbox hospital) at lunchtime on Monday and it's already on it's way back, all better (and with an extended warranty for bonus points)!!

Can't wait! :D

(UPS tracking page - Excited tapping of F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5 etc.) ;)

Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death

Wah... :(

It's been happening for a while now, slump down onto my bean bag and poke the power button anticipating a nice bit of batarang action around Gotham City or perhaps throwing a few chain lightning bolts around Stonehelm and instead of the boot up routine three of the little lights around the power button flash annoyingly at me in a dismal red...I tut and hit it twice again to turn it off and back on and after a heartbeat the greens merrily cycle and the Xbox starts up normally (happy mayhem and evil cackling then commencing)...but Saturday last saw the end of my goon bashing and the suspension of my channeling the awesome power of mother nature...after at least twenty attempts, my pout getting bigger and bigger as my crest fell I was finally forced to accept that my Xbox had finally and fatally succombed to the infamous "Red Ring of Death"...

After an uncomfortable half an hour (trying to keep Thomas happy while) struggling to remember what ancient email account I twinned to my gamertag (and what the password was), I finally managed to register my xbox (about 4 years late), and wincing as I submitted my repair request (on a screen showing in a familiar red colour the words "Warranty Expired") to Microsoft in anticipation of a large bill...What popped up on the receipt page was both a shock and a very pleasant surprise - the amount they were going to charge me for the repair was (*gasp*) 0.00 GBP.

From there on, things only continued to improve (yes, odd I know, considering this post is about a broken gaming console) the email that arrived shortly afterwards told me to box up the Xbox not in it's original packaging (for some reason probably to do with dishonest appropriation with the intent to permanently deprive the original owner) slap on a return label (also sent on an email) and call UPS to arrange for (wait for it) FREE SHIPPING to the Xbox hospital for poorly consoles (which is in Frankfurt, just in case you were wondering)!

It turns out that Microsoft has taken this issue so seriously that in 2006 they put aside One Beeeeeeeeelion Dollars to combat the problem (or just enough for either $100 worth of shipping and repairs for every single Xbox 360 ever made, or to completely replace 1 in 3)...

Cherry on the top? My next door neighbour is going to stay with his Gran for half term and she has a Wii, so he's not using his Xbox... ;)

Amazing Xbox 360 line up for 2009!

So after the awesome Christmas line-up we have just enjoyed for the Xbox 360 (which I am working my way through as quickly as I can), what do we have to look forward to in 2009? There has been some suggestion that there is going to be a bit of a drought of talent, but I've done some digging and it really looks like there is a *huge* amount to get excited about!!

For convenience I've broken them down into three categories, starting with titles that I am very, *very* excited about (and why) -

Bioshock 2 - Sea of Dreams - Need I actually say any more? The continuation (although there is some speculation that it is likely to be a prequel) of this "spiritual successor" to the System Shock series has already got me shuddering with anticipation (and fear)...oh and Bioshock 3 has been announced too, timed to be released at the same time as the upcoming Bioshock movie, so lots to look forward to!

Ghostbusters - Even though it was pretty terrible by today's standards, back in the 8-bit era one of my favorite games was Ghostbusters (even with it's attribute clash and almost indistinguishable digitised speech) and that is probably the real reason why I'm so excited by this prospect (i.e. actually seeing some justice done to the franchise)...Despite the project being juggled like a hot potato, it does finally have a distributer (Atari at last check) and features members of the original cast including Ramis, Aykroyd, Murray and Ernie Hudson who have reunited to do the voice acting...equal measures of humor and scares are promised, as well as (familiar and new) weapons and gadgets to try and save New York City once again, and yes, you do get to set fire to Mr Stay Puft and that's got to be worth the price of admission alone...!

Beyond Good and Evil 2 - Very little information has emerged about this sequel to one of the most incredible games ever made (and sadly overlooked by most people), but the name alone is enough to justify extreme excitement for me...If you never played the first one, I can't recommend it strongly enough...incredible storytelling, one of the most believable worlds ever created inside a video game, genuinely compelling puzzles, clever and satisfying combat...if this game is anything like the first one, we are in for one hell of a ride!

Banjo-Tooie - An odd inclusion you might think, as this is penciled in at the moment as an Xbox Live Arcade title, but it seems to be shaping up into what I was really after from "Nuts and Bolts", i.e. a true sequel to the original N64 titles...Gruntilda is back (blah blah blah) and you still solve problems, do time challenges and jump around a lot collecting jiggies, however it's little exciting twist (there had to be one) being the ability to play as various other characters (including Mumbo, a submarine, a washing machine and even a dinosaur)...so let's all cross our fingers and hope it's a RARE hit (rather than miss... ;)

Just Cause 2 - Even though I never actually managed to liberate *all* the settlements on the original (it was *huge*) I'm still looking forward to seeing exactly what completely ridiculous acrobatics Rico Rodriguez is going to be capable of this time (my favorite of the first game being to drive at 100mph then jump out onto the car roof and deploy my parachute, soaring into the air over the jungle...that was just awesome)...hopefully some of the annoyances of the previous game will have been ironed out (less grinding would have been nice - I got royally sick of stealing shipments of cigars), and a better story line pumped into place (they have Far Cry 2 as a benchmark now, so the stakes have been well and truly raised)...oh and it's set in South East Asia this time (so that's the last time you have to hear that annoying "Policia!" sound bite (thank God)... ;)

Chronicles of Riddick: The Assault on Dark Athena - If you ever played the first Chronicles of Riddick game, you will *know* why this one is in this section - Vin Diesel *GETS*games - it's as simple as that...he understands exactly what is going to work, what is going to excite and surprise and he works his arse off to make sure that any project he is involved in is immersive, feels realistic and is extremely engaging. The movies were a bit...odd (IMHO, no matter how much I tried to like them)...the games (if the second one is anything like the first) are classics...

Alan Wake - Last, but not least, a game where the hype engine has certainly been cranked up to 11...You play a horror novelist (of the same name) who finds himself trapped in the nightmarish town of Bright Falls and in order to escape must solve a terrible mystery. It's a go anywhere/any time affair, as you uncover a story of suspense, with outrageous plot twists and fascinating NPCs, take care exploring during the hours of darkness though, as the demonic foe are more powerful at night! I want to say "Hurry up", but actually guys, don't...just take your time and release the game when it's *perfect*...

- next, we'll check out a few titles that stand a very good chance of being "must have" titles (and certainly merit keeping a careful eye upon) -

Splinter Cell - Conviction - The last time we saw Sam Fisher he was on the run from Third Echelon, a changed man...quite how this one is going to shape up is unclear, the levels I liked the least of the previous games were the ones where you were stripped of your equipment, and guess what? Being a fugitive means all that kit got put on ice...the key to survival now is improvisation, your environment becomes your inventory...In a nod to the "Hitman" series it's going to be possible to blend in with crowds to avoid detection or cause panic to distract enemies, multiplayer features too with players able to take opposing sides in the battle rather than facing AI enemies...I'm watching with interest!

APB - Right, this one is in here for one reason only - Back in the days of GTA I and GTA:London (on the PC at least, oddly there was no option on the PSOne even though it had a link cable) it was possible to link together loads of computers and play GTA with all your mates - and it was *extremely* fun...! What on earth the developers thought they were doing when they lost sight of that leaves me feeling stunned and slightly hurt every time I think about it...This game seeks to fix that blatant -if you will forgive me- crime...So pick a side, be it Cops or Gangs, and do your thing in a world full of human opposition, it's even got a (background) skill matching system to keep things fair and interesting (well, we'll see how well that works in practice)...no word yet on a single player mode, but it doesn't sound likely...

Street Fighter IV - The original Street Fighter cast is dragged kicking and screaming out of retirement (yet again) but this time not for a super-duper turbo special edition of an existing engine...this is a "from scratch" sequel, which you can't ignore - not only is it *gasp* -3D- (with dynamic camera), it's also adopted an extremely stylish cel-shaded look (a la Jet Set Radio, although a little less stylised), it hasn't abandoned the classic side scrolling gameplay though, never fear...There are a light dusting of new characters (including an MMA expert) and there are the obligatory new special moves which include focus attacks, super combos, and (with a nod of the head towards Nintendo) Ultraaaaaaa! Combos...it certainly *looks* amazing, we'll see if the gameplay is still as accessible and fun as it used to be...

Resident Evil 5 - Chris Redfield (how is he still alive?) goes to Africa! Combine the classic T-Virus zombie/mutant zombie threat with an army of Resi 4's Ganados, expect constant swarms of infected, including foe larger than ever seen before in the series...thankfully, in order to combat this imbalance, Chris is not alone - in a new twist, local or online co-op is the order of the day (although single player is still an option) player two taking control of newcomer companion Sheva Alomar (who is thankfully just as handy with firearms as Mr Redfield)...This is also the game that is supposed to tie up all the loose ends from the complicated ongoing story that began with Resi 1...so could we actually be looking at the end of the Umbrella Corporation? Don't hold your breath (while the series is still making money)... ;)

Wolfenstein - Raven (the development house) are back in action (which is a good thing), coding the latest run-and-gun adventure set in the world of Wolfenstein...so it's back to that scary vision of Germany where Hitler successfully harnessed the power of the supernatural to give the Nazis an unfair advantage in World War 2...very much looking forward to that, but a nice plot this time will be required to get me really frothing at the mouth... ;)

Aliens - Colonial Marines - Single player or co-op (with up to three pals) don the body amour Players take on the role of a member of the United States Colonial Marine squad in a terrifying new chapter of the Aliens story. Arm up with classic franchise weapons - pulse rifles/flamethrowers etc., as well as brand new technology against the Alien hive...bring it on!

- and finally, the ones that could be awesome or could be lame -

Dungeon Hero - Co-op or single player dungeon slash, smash and zzap(!) - it's just too hard to say at the moment, but this might be the kind of thing that really floats my boat, certainly looks like it allows a lot of enemies on the screen at once (so you can practice your big fireballs)... ;)

Blood Bowl - Well, this takes me back! Set your wayback machine to 1987, when in a leap sideways from traditional table top wargaming (specifically the Warhammer/40K/Epic series) the partners in battle "Games Workshop" and the model makers "Citadel Miniatures" collaborated to put out an interesting twist on Rugby/American Football featuring Elves, Orcs and Dwarves who will do literally anything to get the ball into the scoring zone at the other end of the field (including wiping out the opposition)...the dice-and-paper game did actually get turned into a DOS title in 1995 (maintaining the turn-based nature of the original board game)...this remake could go one of two ways, I'm not into sports titles myself, but I might be tempted to if I were able to tear an opponents head off...we shall see!

Alpha Protocol - Fable II-type flexible character development based on moral decisions meets Splinter Cell -looking very pretty at the moment, could be a winner in the making when agent Michael Thornton steps up to the plate to stop an international crisis escalating out of control, his every action having consequences for both his and the world’s future...a mashup of a couple of good ideas, it could result in something special...

- so that's actually about as far away from a drought of good titles that you could possibly get! In fact, it's rapidly shaping up into another financial severe dilemma! Bah... ;)

Christmas Update

So we then had a few days off, including my Birthday (unfortunately had to work on Christmas Eve, but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes) got an absolutely huge number of games (including everything I wanted from the Chrismas releases for the 360 - most played of that little lot so far are probably the most recent COD (which is like the older ones rather than COD 4, which is a bit of a shame as COD 4 was rather good) and Fable II (which has completely absorbed me to the point of stopping my replay of Fallout 3) although I've nearly finished that already with all the hours I put in over Christmas)...!

Christmas morning (after enjoying Midnight Mass at St Peters in Tandridge where we got Married earlier in the year) -

- we awoke at home (for the first time ever) to presents under our tiny live Christmas tree -

- rather later than intended (don't think we woke up until about 10am!) and had a lazy breakfast of four minute eggs with soldiers -

- before heading over for a fantastic meal of roasted goose at my parents and even more piles of pressies in the afternoon (very spoilt)! ;) Boxing day was another roast dinner (beef this time) at Flyingpops folks and then with barely a chance to catch our breath we were busy packing the car ready for an early start to begin our New Years break in Cornwall, first stop over was to go and visit Flyingpops' friend Dawn (who has recently moved to Okehampton) about an hour away from where we would be staying...

Fallout 3 - Perfect starting character

So worth the wait...It...is...*Awesome*...! Oh and despite what anyone else says, it is "Oblivion with guns" (which is exactly what I was hoping it would be - Hurrah!)...So here are just a few reflections based on my starting character (I got about 8 hours in and then realised I could have made a rather better go of things, luckily I had a convenient save to return to)... ;)

Stats - firstly, when it comes time to allocate your SPECIAL stat points, make sure you put your intelligence as close to 9 as you can - that means each time you level up you get a *lot* more skill points to allocate (don't put any stat at 10, as later on you will find bobbleheads that give you a +1 to each stat, which would otherwise be wasted)...oh and two things you must do at the start - at your birthday party make sure you read the comic book you are given as one of your presents, it is a permanent boost to unarmed skill you won't otherwise be able to get, and in your next phase make sure you pick up the bobblehead on your Dad's desk (another one shot, permanent boost to medical skill)...

Skills - when you take your career exam, just answer all the questions at random and then when you get your results hit the reset button and choose your skills yourself - of all the skills probably the most useful to me initially was melee (three good reasons - ammo is in fairly short supply at the start, all foe will rush you (only one creature has sniped me, and it did wussy damage), and most enemies will die with 2 or 3 hits, even with a weak melee weapon)...a great strategy is to wake a foe up, then hide behind a pillar or tree, wait until they run up and then wallop them with a sledgehammer using VATS...Other skills - don't neglect small guns (fire ants don't play fair, it's best to take them down at a distance), science and lockpick (there are a *lot* of goodies hidden in locked/hackable places)...you may also want a reasonably good explosives skill, oh and paying other people to repair your stuff is very expensive, so that's well worth it too...again, don't deliberately boost any skill above 90%, as there are skill books (same as Oblivion) that boost each skill by 10% just laying around the place (easier to find than Oblivion too)...my favorite skill? I'm personally loving sneak, it's tantamount to having an enemy detector, if any foe comes into range the nice green "Hidden" message at the top of the screen changes to a bright red "Caution" allowing you to stop and scan the horizon, perhaps even getting a free critical hit/easy kill with a rifle (rather than just suddenly getting killed by a grenade or bitten in the arse by surprise), very useful skill indeed...

Perks - pick whatever you fancy but there are some absolutely must have ones - "Intense training" lets you boost SPECIAL stats (up to 10 times - makes up for having to put all those points into Int), "Educated" (boosts skill points per level even further - at level five I got 22 points - which is 105 extra points over the course of the game!), "Comprehension" - although if you save up the skill books (put them somewhere safe) until after you have a convenient moment to buy this perk then it can wait..and definitely don't bother with "Swift Learner", you will level up quite quickly enough without it...

I'm about 14 hours in now, not even done one bit of the main storyline and already seen and done some incredible things (been shopping at the super-duper mart, drank some radioactive water, made friends with some vampires, been set on fire, killed numerous people with spiky hair, saved a village from a science experiment gone badly wrong and disarmed a nuclear weapon (earning me a free house with robot companion), not bad for a days work)...can't seem to find the dog I was promised though...hmmm...(although he might be part of the main quest I guess)... ;)

Anyway, here's to the next 56 hours of play (if I ever get round to starting the actual game... :)

Update - Started the main quest now (fully explored about 50 areas before doing so and cleared them out, bringing me to level 12) and I am *so* pleased I took Melee - there are an awful number of very claustrophobic indoor areas where it has been completely invaluable, combine it with the Shishkebab and a high Strength (mine is now 9) and I'm flooring Super Mutants in 2 hits when they come around the corner...killed six (two of which had miniguns) outside the museum without drawing a gun! Hehe... ;)

Right, time to get definitive - Further update - I have now finished the game and have started it again as an Evil Character, this is my updated starting guide (it takes about an hour but is so worth it) -

When you are born choose an Intelligence of 9 and quite a high Strength and Agility (don't put any stat higher than 9 though, because of the bobbleheads you will find as you progress), read the book given to you as a present on your birthday (find it under Aid), and grab the bobblehead on your dad's desk in medical (do this now as your next chance is much later on in the game) - make sure you select Melee as one of your SPECIAL skills (see note above)...as soon as you get out of the Vault go to Megaton, get to the craterside supply store (down the slope and then right half-way up the ramp before the two headed cow) and accept the quest to help research the book, specifically the shopping one (super-duper mart), then go to Moriarties Saloon (up at the top at the back of Megaton) and find Lucy West, accept her quest too...next make a mad dash to Rivet Town (a huge aircraft carrier in the bottom right of the map) trying not to level up (sneak and avoid enemies - saving often), get to the Science lab (door on the left past the guard and all the way at the end) and on the table you will find the Intelligence Bobblehead (taking you to Int 10 - the maximum), find the bed in the common room where you can sleep for free (restoring all health) - you can now fast travel back here each time you are injured (a big help at this stage in the game)...

Note - (at some stage you are going to inevitably make it to level 4, as you can't avoid foe all the time, when you do, make sure you take the "Educated" perk, this will add a further 3 points to skills each time you level meaning at the earliest possible moment you are going to get the maximum - 23 - this makes an enormous difference to how powerful you are going to be at later levels)...

Collect all ammo along the way (it doesn't weigh anything) and keep your eye open for a Chinese Assault Rifle (the top small gun and my favorite weapon)...it will crop up randomly on enemies...

Now, fast travel back to Megaton, get into Lucas Simms house (the door is unlocked at certain times of day, or you can pick his pocket, or even kill him to get his key - make sure no-one is looking if you opt for the latter two options though ) and grab the Strength Bobblehead from his desk on the second floor - next make your way to the Super-Duper mart (switch quest and follow the map marker) and sneak all the way round to the back of the store (or complete the shopping sub-mission now by killing everyone and grabbing food and medicine if you like - you can now level up freely) and from behind the counter in the middle at the back grab the motorcycle gas tank and the motorcycle hand-break (they are next to each other by the broken floor cleaning machine), then fast travel back to Megaton, get back to the craterside supply and choose the Minefield subquest, make your way to minefield (following the map marker) and very carefully make your way through town (sneaking and disarming all the mines - watch out for the sniper too) until you see a lawn-mower, open the lawn-mower and pick up the lawn-mower blade), now pop into any of the houses and search the oven, making sure you grab the Pilot Light...(there is a good reason for all this, I promise)... ;)

Now, switch quests to "Blood Ties", complete that mission (convincing the leader of the gang to protect the residents of Arefu) and get the Shishkebab Schematics, fast travel back to Megaton and go back to the craterside supply, go to the work bench on the left on the ground floor near the grumpy bloke and build Shishkebab - You now have the most powerful melee weapon in the entire game - go to Arefu and tell them the good news, completing the quest, then fast travel back to the vampire den, talk to the leader again and ask him to teach you how to be a vampire, you will then be able to get 20 health back by drinking blood packs (which are quite plentiful and otherwise useless)...

90% of enemies will rush you, even ones with guns, so employ a tactic of hiding behind rubble or trees and waiting for them to come running over, then use VATS to slice them in half and set them on fire with Shishkebab...(hehe)...or sneak and backstab for double damage - this tactic is best in the "dungeon" areas but can work in the wilderness if you are careful, otherwise stick to the Chinese Assault Rifle (again trying to get sneak attacks)...always aim for the head or torso...

Fast travel to Megaton and save the game...now you are ready to begin the game properly with absolutely the best starting character...leave this save intact on the hard drive as you can use it for a replay (the game begs to be finished at least twice, once as a good character, once as an evil character, so this will save you a lot of time!) ;)

Moving forwards from here I personally boosted sneak/small guns/science/repair/lockpick/melee (but don't boost any skill above 90 until you have found the Bobblehead/skill books, as no skill can go above 100), best way to make money is to repair unwanted items yourself, then go to a trader (craterside is fine) get the sales lady to repair all your stuff and then get all your money back by selling your unwanted repaired items along with unwanted ammo (there will be lots you won't use - e.g. energy cells, 10mm rounds)...

I SO don't want to be in the office...

...right now...I *knew* I should have taken the day off!

Roll on home time!

Oh, the links are just below this post if you came here hoping to fend off Friday afternoon boredom...think of me, dreaming of exploring a post-apocalyptic Washington DC while I do the accounts, won't you... ;)

Xbox 360 Christmas line-up 2008

Just had a quick check of the Christmas release schedule and there are a truly horrifying number of games that I really want (even though I still haven't completed MOH:Airborne from last Christmas (but that's largely because the minute I start playing anything with a lot of banging noises I end up getting an earful from Flyingpops)...it's odd, because there has been such a *lack* of decent games for the 360 for soooooo long, suddenly to be facing (caveat - final reviews/demo play aside - as there could be some unexpected lemons) *seven* "must-have" titles this festive season it's just scaring the (financial) willies out of me...so let's run down the (amazingly impressive) list without further ado -

24th Oct
Fable II (*loved* Fable, despite it not living up to Peter's dream hype, both the times I played it, can't wait to do the same this time - eh chicken lovers?)
Far Cry 2 (sounds like the saving system might have spoiled this one a bit for the console versions, but still rabidly anticipating my trip back to the perfect tropical archipelago, even though it is unfortunately populated by the raving offspring of Dr Moreau...yep, this one is going to annoy Flyingpops no end... ;)
Dead Space (Well...maybe, I'll have to check the reviews, but it's been a long time since I've forced Flyingpops to actually get out of the bath to find out what I have been screaming in terror about - a certain room in Doom 3 - in fact)...

31st Oct
Fallout 3 (YAY!!!!!!! The latest and greatest from the perfect coding team at Bethesda Softworks, it almost makes me want to get Oblivion out again, but I fear that I wouldn't have a wife any longer if that did happen... ;)

14th Nov
Call of Duty - World at War (looking *really* good, if it's anything like as polished as COD 4 then we are in for a real treat, unfortunately it's another bang-bang game though)
Banjo Kazooie - Nuts and Bolts (RARE...well, what can I say - it's not just "hit and miss" with that lot, but "total classic and doggy-do-on-the-shoe" so only time will tell)...the last (proper) Banjo Kazooie I played was back on the Nintendo 64 and if it's *anything* like as good as that...put it this way - Christmas will certainly have come early, although not for Gruntilda)...

21st Nov
Tomb Raider Underworld (Formulaic? Yes...Cliched? Yes...Unmissable? Damn it...yes! Please leave out the silly motorbike sections this time though!)

So all in all we are staring into the primed double barrels of total total gaming joy! In fact, probably enough joy to take me through the whole of next year without needing any other games at all! The down side? If I bought all of this lot on release day it would end up costing me almost £280...! So it's either trade-in time (luckily I have a big of a pile of "completes" at home), fingers crossed for Christmas presents (although with the "global financial crisis" that's actually (this year) probably a non-starter as we all tighten our belts), select a couple of prime titles and be happy with those, or just wait until the prices come down...although with the quality of this seasons offerings that's not going to happen for a *long* time...

I'm pleased...I really am - it's been so long since there was actually a choice in the matter...but "want want WANT"!!!

Honestly, I've not felt like this since I was young enough to early adopt console hardware! Damn it... ;)

Weekend update

So, the weekend is over (again), but we have a long one coming up next weekend thanks to Timmy and Gayle's wedding being on Friday, so that's something to look forward to... ;)

This weekend was pretty busy, saw Jinx (for about the first time since my wedding) on Friday night (we played games and caught up on what we had been up to in the meantime)...Saturday morning Flyingpops and I were just in the middle of making the house a bit more child friendly when our hairdresser arrived (half an hour before we thought she was supposed to) which led to a procession of hour-long hair colouring and cutting (in preparation for the aforementioned wedding) for various female members of the family, punctuated only by little Emily and Oliver crashing into me, smearing me with half chewed/melted (insert food-stuff here), or getting dirty or into trouble in unexpected ways in the garden - a pleasure to see them, but I think we should cut down on the high-sugar snacks they get as a treat when they do come round...oh and we ploughed through about 4 loads of washing (the sun was bright but quite weak, which meant the last load came in still quite wet and got hung around the living room to finish off drying)...

Saturday night I made pasta (bolognese with lots of garlic and herbs), and managed to overcook Flyingpops' pizza (she didn't mind), and then we watched "The Other Boleyn Girl", which was very enjoyable apart from the fact that the plot line follows almost exactly the same thread as "Carry on Henry" which made my mind sort of hop between the very serious subject matter (start of the Church of England/beheading etc.) and "Bom boooom"/"Do you want some more cream? My jugs are on the table" sort of comedy...

Sunday morning I went and did the shopping (so Flyingpops could have some extra shut-eye), got very frustrated with Mr Tesco as he had shuffled the fruit and veg aisles (for no good reason that I could see), the stuff for a roast dinner is now in two different ones, instead of all neatly together...Flyingpops said it might be in preparation for Christmas, but I dunno...the rest of Sunday was spent helping Flyingpops to get ready for her 2 night trip to Geneva (starting tonight flying out from London City Airport with Swiss Air), playing Splinter Cell on the 360, cooking up a roast dinner and then catching up with the week's action on "The Restaurant"...

Oh and this morning on the way in to London I managed to break Flyingpops' coat (which had got stuck down beside her seat on the train) - I broke one of the studs from the cuff pulling it out (which made her rather annoyed), but as her suggested alternative would have been to just leave the coat there, I think a coat with one stud missing has got to be better than no coat at all...and I can't have her getting cold in Switzerland!

Weekend Update

Where did the weekend go? It seemed to vanish waaaay too quickly...Saturday was largely eaten by the heaps and heaps of washing that seems to have accumulated over the last couple of weeks (thanks to me being away/Flyingpops entertaining guests last weekend)...well, I say vanished - apart from an exciting time when we tried to find the source of a rather unpleasant aroma in the back of the Golf, discovered that the carpets had got very damp (somehow?) and some deer food (that had obviously slipped under the seat during our trip to Longleat!  How long ago?) had started to go mouldy and smell (not surprising)!  So we vacuumed the entire car out, then sat there with two of Flyingpops hair driers (in the middle of the road) blasting the carpets until they were dry-ish - at this point I thought it might be an idea to run the internal heaters for a while (just to be on the safe side) but having run them for no more than five minutes with the doors closed - when Flyingpops tried to start the car to get it out the way of the neighbours drive we discovered we had managed to flatten the battery...(which *can't* be right)...

So, Colin to the rescue -  drove him next to the Golf and discovered that his leisure battery was flat as a pancake too...bah...finally, with a real stretch (thank goodness we bought the most expensive, longest jump leads in the world) we managed to connect him up via the main battery and get the car to start so we could at least move it from blocking next door's drive...I mean, we don't drive the Golf a whole lot - it's just popping to and from the station each day (about 5 minutes each direction) so I guess the battery doesn't get much chance to charge, but I was rather suprised to kill it with 5 minutes on the heaters...oh well...!

Saturday night was Tim's Stag do Part 2 (the revenge) which involved much beer/football, some arm wrestling and then a rather good Thai meal...Tim and I got the train back to Redhill and then took separate cabs home (where I fell asleep on the sofa until about 4am when I decided to go to bed and wake Flyingpops up with my snoring...sorry babe)...!

To make it up to her I went and did the Tesco shopping on my own in the morning, we then watched the F1 (very good race) and then I popped Flyingpops over to (and from) Fanny's Farm Shop (I kid you not) for Gayle's hen do (sandwich/tea/cake and Cava in a tree house), during which time I played a bit of Bully on the Xbox 360 (really enjoying it, about half way through now but a bit stuck on "Lola's Race" - my arm gets too tired tapping the dash button and I loose it on one of the last couple of corners - it's about a 5 minute long race, stupid! Think I'm going to have to cheat and do it using a moped or something)...and then Sunday night I cooked a roast but Flyingpops was too full of sandwich and cake to eat much of it (oh well, more for me!)...then we watched Wife Swap (typically inflamatory pairing of a gay pair and two homophobes, but it actually worked out much better than expected)...then bath and bed...

Fallout 3 - Not long now!

Wow, absolutely can't wait for Fallout 3, the next in the pipeline from Bethesda - the crew who put out the Elder Scrolls games (the absolute classic "Oblivion" among them)...it seems like an age since I watched that first (incredibly atmospheric) teaser trailer and now here we almost are - European release date is the 31st of October! I almost feel like taking that Friday off and paying for Flyingpops to spend the weekend at a Spa...(and before you get excited, I did say *almost* sweetheart... x ;)

Best news of all, initial (disappointing) reports were that the game was going to be pretty small and very quick to complete (30 hours or so, which after all this development time would have been a bit of a shame), latest news is that (the map at the very least) has now grown to roughly the same size as the Oblivion map (i.e. absolutely colossal) and there are now around 200 possible endings, dependent entirely on player actions throughout the game...not only that, but they have managed to continue with their tradition of employing extremely fine voice actors (Patrick Stewart playing the King in "Oblivion") - Fallout 3 has Liam Neeson voice acting the part of the main characters father...oh come on and hurry up October!!! Not been this excited about a game since (the terrible let-down that was) Thief 3...

Weekend update

Well, had a pretty busy weekend (apart from managing to find a few hours on the Xbox 360 - Dark Sector and Bully at the moment, Bully being much the better game but Dark Sector has it's moments)..Saturday morning/lunchtime saw brother and sister in law (plus kids) come over to join in having mass hair cuts (and push cars full of barbies/Action men around)...Sunday morning, after doing the Tesco shopping, was spent nipping into South London (dodging speed cameras) to visit Grandpops and Hazel to fix some problems with their firewall (and install them some novelty Tomtom voices)...

Mustn't forget to mention that we have had a marriage proposal (and acceptance!) in Canada (very many congratulations to Sal and Jas!) which you can read about on their blog here (they are going to be flying back to Blighty soon so I imagine there will be some sort of celebration to be conducted upon their return)...then *this* coming weekend is another long one (for me anyway) as we are going to spend four days down in Cornwall to help Timmy celebrate his stag do, I am being picked up from home at 10am on Friday to begin the process of collecting all the attendees from around the South East (must remember to pack my stuff)! In fact, when Flyingpops was looking at the calendar yesterday morning, she announced that we don't actually have another completely free weekend now until October...!

Busy busy busy!

Xbox 360 - Oblivion - Easy way to max out Stealth

Okay, this is how to max out your stealth, the easy way... ;)

Go and find the location that your girlfriend/sister/mother/hippy friend keep their hair bands (you'll want a thin one, the kind used to hold a simple pony-tail in place), here is where I knew to find one (tut)...

Speed travel to the Imperial City Merchant's quarter and find the stunningly imaginatively named "Merchants Inn" (walk up the stairs ahead of you, turn left and it's the first tavern on the right), then simply push in the left thumb stick to start sneaking, loop the hair band around the left thumb stick and pull it towards the bottom left controller handle, again looping it around (like so) -

- your character will sneak into the corner and onto a box, but you will notice that instead of movement stopping, the camera will continue to bob (indicating motion), but all the time staying stuck in the corner of the bar...this is perfect, make sure the sneak eye indicator in the centre of the screen is pale (indicating you are hidden, if not, take your characters shoes off and try again)...then just watch for a minute or two, just to make sure your character stays in the corner of the bar (bobbing up and down and hidden), then turn off the TV (gasp!), and go out and enjoy the *real* world for a few hours (take your PSP in case of withdrawal symptoms ;) and when you return (might need to do this a couple of times as the "Journeyman", "Expert" and "Master" announce screens will pause the game, but depending on your skill when you start) - 100 sneak will be yours... ;)

One small caveat here though, if you are playing any class with Sneak as a major skill, don't do this, seriously consider making a custom character class (with all the other skills you fancy, but omitting Sneak), when I got around to sleeping on my initial character I shot up about 10 levels in one go, but still armed with terrible weapons and armour and got my arse kicked (prompting me to have to start all over again)...