Left 4 Dead Left Me Feeling Underwhelmed

This zombie survival game has been getting a lot of praise. It's hovering between a high 8 and a high 9 as far as number ratings go. On top of that all of the gaming podcasts that I listen to are praising it as well. Before I go into my thoughts on Left 4 Dead I should probably let it be known that I've only played the split screen co-op mode with my nephew for a total of about 3 hours. I figure that's enough play time to give some opinions on the game.

You start out by being able to pick one of four characters. From what I could tell the characters were all pretty much the same and didn't have strengths that the others didn't have. Basically it doesn't matter who you choose. That to me is kinda lame. I would also have liked to have seen more characters to choose from.

The weapons are pretty standard. You get pistols, shotguns, machine guns, and a scoped rifle that I totally don't understand why was even put in the game. Combat is close and in your face all of the time. If a zombie is far away you definitely don't have time to bust out a scoped sniper rifle to shoot it. I'm also finding that using a shotgun for melee attacks is usually better than using it to actually shoot zombies. You can clear out rooms of zombies just using melee attacks with your gun.

It's also a rather short game with only four levels to beat. Id this were a 40 dollar game I'd have no issue with it being short, but it's a 60 dollar game. Sure you can get a lot of gameplay out of it by playing co-op, but I see myself getting bored with only four levels to beat. This is where DLC will come in. Instead of shipping the game with 6 or 7 levels we'll no doubt have to shell out cash for extra downloadable levels.

I'm not saying this game is bad. What I am saying is that it's overpriced and doesn't wow me graphically. It's an ok game. If you plan on buying Left 4 Dead I would personally wait untill you can find it for about 40 bucks. More levels would have probably made it worth 60 bucks.

Things I'm Thankful For Video Games & Robster Craw Style

It won't be long before we're all stuffing our faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie lots of glorious glorious pie! While sitting here trying to decide just what the hell to blog about I decided I'd give a list of things I'm thankful for. I'm not going to give that long boring "I'm thankful for my health and my wife" and all of that bullshit list though. I'm going to give you what the title of this blog suggests.

I'm thankful that the new NXE update didn't "brick" either of my Xbox 360 consoles.

I'm thankful that I didn't have to pay shipping costs for my second Xbox 360 to be sent out to Texas for repairs.

I'm thankful that even though Xbox 360 consoles are basically junk they do have a lot of good games to play unlike my PS3.

I'm thankful that my PS3 still works even though their aren't really shit for games to be played on it. It probably works so well because I rarely use it.

I'm thankful that my Nintendo Wii still works...wait does it actually still work? I wouldn't know because it's sitting in my living room collecting dust because I never use it!

I'm thankful that the guys at ThisXboxLife.com have decided to STOP talking about music games on their podcast though they were smart asses for a bit on episode 15. HaHa!

I'm thankful that FALLOUT 3 has given me way more than my money's worth. I've put in 60 hours now. That's a buck an hour, and I still have a long way to go before I finish it.

I'm thankful that my wife has decided to show an interest in my hobby of gaming by playing Little Big Planet with me no matter how bad she stinks at it. It's headache inducing to play games with her, but at least she's trying.

I'm thankful that Sac has picked up an Xbox 360, so that he too can feel the pain of having it break down on him right after he bought it.

I'm thankful that Phil still swings by here to read the random bullshit that I blog about. I swear to you Phil we will play some co-op of some game one day on the PS3.

I'm thankful that I'm still stuck in the 80's and can recite REVENGE OF THE NERDS word for word while watching it...that goes for FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH as well.

I'm thankful for streaming Netflix movies on the Xbox 360.

Right now I'm thankful that I finally ran out of things to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving Video Games & Robster Craws readers! CHOW DOWN! I know I will.

Another One Bites The Dust

I shipped out my second Xbox 360 for repairs today. The idiot thing that I didn't do was put my return address or repair # on the box. My return address is on the UPS shipping label though. Also my console is registered and Microsoft knows it's being shipped because they sent me an e-mail. Of course they sent me the e-mail well after I had already shipped the box. The online instructions they gave me were to print out the UPS label and tape it on the box. I did, and sent it out. Hopefully all will go well and they'll send it back to me repaired. From what I've read online I'm not the first person to do this, and I'm sure I won't be the last. I guess it just makes it easier on the repair center if they don't have to go looking up your serial number and info in their computer. Oh well, what's done is done. I'll track the box online. If it takes them forever I'll call customer service. This is my second Xbox that has had a dvd drive take a dump on me. Luckily my warranty isn't up untill the middle of December. Man these consoles are junk, but the games are awesome.

The New Xbox Experience Is Here

I got the update today just like millions of other Xbox 360 owners. I played around with it for a little over an hour. Here are some first impressions...

I loved the opening intro. Very cool, and nice to look at.

The total time for the update took about 3 minutes for me. Quicker than I expected.

I spent about 20 minutes making my "Avatar". I tried to make him look as close as possible to what I actually look like. Of course the Avatar looks better. HaHa! I noticed that other people's avatars that I know really don't look like them, but I guess some people don't want their little dudes looking like them. I guess myu only complaint with avatars is that there just aren't enough clothing options right now. We all know that will change in the form of DLC that we'll have to spend space bucks on err I mean Microsoft Points. Hey, if they offer me Iron Maiden shirts for my Avatar or a Dallas Stars jersey I'm all over it.

I did have a couple of issues while messing around with this new interface. I decided to check out my friends list. After I was done looking at a friend's profile my Xbox froze up for about 40 seconds and then went back to the main interface. I've already read online about this happening to other people, but others have actually had to shut their Xbox off and then on again. Microsoft will need to patch this if it's a widespread problem.

The other issue I had was a dirty disc error while installing FALLOUT 3 to my HDD. I of course ejected the disc to check it out even though I was 100% sure the disc was totally clean. I then tried again and it installed just fine.

I plan on getting Netflix, so I'll blog about that in the future, so I can tell you just how good or not so good that will work as far as streaming to my 360 goes.

My favorite feature is definitely installing games to the HDD. There are a few reasons why. I'm directing this part to anyone who thinks this feature isn't important. Forget about tghe few seconds faster that a game may load during certain sections. I couldn't care less about that. Forget that it makes your 360 pur like a kitten because that disc drive isn't working overtime. How about the fact that an installed game will save wear and tear on your already crappy disc drive. Believe me I know they are junk. I had top send my first 360 in because of a faulty disc drive. On top of that your 360 shouldn't get as hot and red ring because your disc drive doesn't have to spin for hours on end while you're gaming. While I do feel kinda sorry for you people without the 120 HDD I gotta say that I'm happy that I bought one the week after they released. It was a steep price, but hey a hardcore gamer has do what a hardcore gamer has to do. At this point if you still have a 20 gig HDD I really think you're a fool if you can afford to spend the money on a 120 gig HDD and don't.

Low Blow Sony, Low Blow

I know a lot of Xbox 360 owners are excited about being able to stream Netflix movies with the New Xbox Experience update. It's just too bad that Sony has decided to play hardball by not allowing Xbox 360 users to stream Sony's Columbia Pictures movies. I'm not surprised, but man does Sony suck ass for this!

Here's the story from joystiq.com

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/18/nxe-netflix-streaming-queues-suddenly-gimped/

[Original headline: "NXE Netflix streaming queues suddenly gimped"]

Our Netflix streaming queues just got considerably shorter on the eve of the NXE launch. Acting on a tip, we popped into our Netflix account and sure enough, our "Instant Queue" had a new "Notes" column with an oft-repeated, red (nobody likes red!) notice: "Not available on Xbox." Logging onto Xbox Live (with an NXE account) confirmed that these titles were no longer available for streaming on Xbox 360.

We've reached out to Microsoft for a full explanation -- so keep your fingers crossed that this is just a launch period mishap (like someone flipped the wrong switch ... or something). We're betting on licensing issues, though, which could further cripple the service. Currently, there's no way to tell if a title is excluded from Xbox streaming until it's added to the Queue (reminder: this can only be done from a separate computer). We're not much for statistics, but we can tell you that 13 of 110 items in our Instant Queue are now unavailable, all of which are feature films. The blackout seems to have hit a range of flicks, from: Superbad to Bad Boys; Drunken Master to the entire Karate Kid trilogy (that's right -- the entire trilogy! We don't count that Next Karate Kid noise). We'll update when we learn more.

Update: We've found a common thread! All of the affected titles from our Queue are distributed by Columbia Pictures. Columbia Pictures, of course, is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Microsoft rival Sony. Case closed?

Oddly enough, Sony Picture Entertainment movies (listed here) are still Xbox-enabled.

Update 2: It appears that the sudden yoinking of Columbia Pictures films from NXE Instant Queue access is a licensing issue with Sony after all. MTV Multiplayer pinged us with word that, on the rental service's official blog, Netflix corp. communications VP Steve Swasey writes:

"As watching instantly becomes a more prominent part of the Netflix service, our goal is to have all of our streaming content licensed for all of our partner devices. We're doing well in this area, but it will take some time before we fully achieve that goal. Today, titles regularly come in and out of license and there is a natural ebb and flow to what we have on license at any given point in time. In the case of Xbox 360, a few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console. Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers' computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they'll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly."

[Thanks, Mark]

Gripes About People That Play Music Games

First let me start out by saying that not all people who play Rock Band and Guitar Hero bother me. I'd also like to let it be known that I bought the very first GUITAR HERO game in late 2005 for the PS2. I was on board LOOOONG before it was cool and trendy like it is now. I also own GUITAR HERO 2 for the PS2. No, I'm not trying to act like I'm the shit because I owned them from the beginning. I'm just saying I'm not one of these bandwagon music game jumpers like most people seem to be these days. I have a few gripes, so let me get started....

After buying and playing GUITAR HERO I had a lot of fun. The song selection got old quick. A while later I picked up GH2. That was fun for a short time. Then it got extremely boring. This is the main reason why I haven't bothered buying any other music games for the Xbox 360 or PS3. It got old. That and the fact that the song selections mostly suck. It seems like the music games cater to people with really shitty taste in music. Yes, I realize that opinions on music differ, but I'm a bit of a music snob. I've been into music much longer than I've been into gaming. When the two mix you get a bunch of people who really have no idea what the hell they're talking about. Basically what I'm saying is gamer nerds shouldn't try and act like they know something about Rock & Roll or Metal when they clearly have no clue...

If you're reading this you know I listen to several gaming podcasts. Most of the hosts of these podcasts are gaming nerds who play music games. NOTE: I have no problem with gaming nerds. They are generally fine people, but hey they're nerds. Stick to being gaming nerds. Don't try and act like you know a thing or two about Rock & Metal when you don't. Recently I listened to a podcast where the hosts were talking about the Beatles music game that is supposed to be released next year. Two of the hosts ragged The Beatles saying their songs were old and boring. Then a question came up about what artists they liked and what songs they would enjoy playing in a music game. One of the hosts actually said Third Eye Blind! Are you kidding me!? Seriously!? You're going to sit there and rag an influential band like The Beatles and then turn around and say you want a music game where you can play Third Eye Blind songs? HaHaHa WHAT A FUCKING JOKE! One of the other hosts then stated that he didn't mind The Beatles stuff from the 50's. He didn't mind the music they made in the 60's though. Hey jackass, their first studio album wasn't released untill 1963! If you don't know what you're talking about please just shut up because you sound like idiots.

Another thing that annoys me is when I hear people say they actually felt like they were rocking out with a real band? Seriously? You felt like you were rocking out while holding a plastic guitar with a plastic strum bar? You feel like you're rocking out when you play a tiny plastic drum kit? Like whoa dude I feel like I'm in a real band when I'm playing ROCK BAND! Hilarious!

Don't get me wrong I know it can be fun, but some of you gaming geeks take it way too seriously. Do me a favor and at least get to know about the music you're pretending to play before you get on a podcast and make yourself sound like a complete tool.

Gears Of War 2 Second Impression

After playing alone and having a mediocre experience I decided to have my nephew come over and play it via local co-op. What a difference that made. GOW2 alone = boring! GOW2 co-op = FUN AS HELL!!! I generally hate playing games on co-op with a split screen, but it didn't bother me at all. Something else that surprised me was a certain giant worm swallowing you level that I've heard quite a few people say is lame. It's far from lame. It's one of the most awesome levels in any game I've ever played in terms of gameplay and graphics. Oh, and the graphics are are just breath taking. This is a beatuiful game to look at even though the color pallet is full of grey and black. I'm on board with GOW2 now. I figured I would be as soon as I started a co-op campaign. The only problem now is that I won't being finishing the campaign untill my nephew comes back for a four day Thanksgiving weekend. Oh well, I can wait, I still have a lot of FALLOUT 3 to go. Man, it's great to be a gamer right now!

One last thing, the flame thrower in GOW2 is THE best flame thrower in a video game ever. Finally a flame thrower that works! If you own a 360 you need to own this game.