AnonymousBroccoli

Halo Wars demo is up: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/of...00-00004d5388ba

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119004

Those trials only let you play online multiplayer, I believe. They don't give you full Gold privileges.

Free Bruce Springsteen 2-pack for XBL Gold members, for a limited time. So go scoop it up now before it costs. http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/of...00-00004156081a

It's in the original Guitar Hero, yep. What I assume is a re-recording--"Ace of Spades '08"--is also on the Rock Band 2 disc.

Oh, 49 songs total. That's not awful, I guess. But it is still a step back from the core games, which give you in the 80s. And odds are, it'll end up being $65-70 in Canada. I will say that "Stacked Actors" is one of those songs I'd really like to play.

North American demo (might be the same as the Japanese one) is on Xbox Live now. http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/of...00-0000434387f2 Should be on PSN in a week, I believe.

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117163

Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball? Or maybe Age of Booty? (I don't know what the Pirates game is.) I can't speak to full games, since I don't have any, other than what's on the XBLA Unplugged disc. And I've only put any extensive time into Bejeweled 2, Texas Hold 'Em, and Geometry Wars. All of which are decent enough. I'm sure you'd know whether you want to spend money on Bejeweled or poker. You'd might as well just head to the link below, check out some games, and add a bunch of trials to your download queue. http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/catalog.aspx?d=6

I <3 "Typical" First, I'll just say that this is a favourite song of mine, generally speaking. After I got my cheap HDTV last summer, was the first thing I cued up on the DVR. And I happened to really like it. Actually went through all 4 parts consecutively, which I don't think I'd done before. All Expert, too. First drums, which is SWANK. I'll lose my right stick on occasion in mid-play, but I think this one set a distance record. I was having way too much fun. There's some tricky bits that I didn't pull off, which is standard for me. And I'm not a big fan of hi-hat sections that fast, but they're not too long, so I can deal with it. Got 4 stars. Second was guitar, which I found really fun, just for the main riff. It's not all that complicated, and I'm sure anyone in practice should handle the chord changes pretty well. Then there's a lovely final solo that'll put your strumming hand to the test. I only got 4 stars, since I'm way out of shape on guitar. Next bass. Very cool. No dull strumming to the beat for the whole song, which'll automatically put it above a good chunk of bass lines. The rhythm during the guitar solo is pretty fun. I got 4 stars again. Could probably pull off 5 the next time. Finally, vocals. Having watched/listened to the afore-linked YouTube video several dozen times over the past year and a half, I know the lyrics pretty well. Managed to swing a 32-phrase streak to start, then missed a few at the end when it gets funky. Got 5 stars on Expert, which is pretty decent, since I'm usually on Medium vox. It was an easy pickup for me, and I'm glad it's as fun as I'd hoped.

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115222 Yay Mute Math.

Since I apparently hate variety in my video games, I'm thinking I might trade one of the various titles I got in December for this. I doubt I'll play it as much as Rock Band 2, but oh well. I play Guitar Hero III once in a while, even though it makes me feel dirty.

I don't know how you're supposed to strum some of that guitar stuff on expert. If the song were half as long, I'd like the drum part. At 6 minutes, it gets a little tedious. "Well Thought Out Twinkles" is one of those songs I keep meaning to download, but haven't, for whatever reason.

http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113359

For what it's worth, GRAW isn't especially fast action, from what I played of the demo. Seems like it'd be more tactical. Rainbow Six: Vegas might be worth considering for something quicker. #1 should be cheap, with #2 coming down a little bit. Maybe down to $30 new. There's a demo for #1.

For The Dark Knight, if the black bars seem bigger than usual, it's because it uses a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. A lot of movies and TV shows use 1.78:1 (also known as 16:9). 2.40:1 is wider, hence the bars are bigger. For some editions of the DVD/Blu-Ray, you might get certain scenes of the movie in a different aspect ratio, because they were made for IMAX screens. And I guess they may have replicated that somehow on the disc releases. inFamous at #85 is weaksauce. F.E.A.R. 2 at #93 is weird too. Meanwhile, Splinter Cell: Conviction is #15.

Both GRAWs are supposed to be very good. They're probably dirt cheap at the right place, and there's demos for both. As long as you're not expecting a shooter, or a hardcore RPG, Mass Effect should be good. (It's somewhere in between.) I haven't played the game yet, but I read the first novel, and liked the way the universe was set up. Gears 1 & 2 are both very good. I don't LOVE them like some people do. Might as well rent the first for single player, and if you're going to do multi-player, get the second. There's a code for a 5-map pack of re-done Gears 1 maps that you can only get if you buy Gears 2 new. I bought Fable II at launch, but haven't played it yet. X-Play gave it their Game of the Year, for what it's worth. Here's a couple of related videos that I thought were interesting to watch. There might be a not-too-major, fairly well-known Fallout 3 spoiler in the second one. About http://www.g4tv.com/thepile/hdvideos/35452...s_Fable_II.html http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/theloo...f-the-Year.html

If you're planning to get Oblivion and its expansions, just get the Game of the Year edition. Buying both Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles on Xbox Live runs 3,200 points, which is about $40 at standard US point prices. And you don't get the option to re-sell there. Though if you've got Fallout 3, that'll probably be plenty of Bethesda RPGing for a good while. Left 4 Dead and The Orange Box are better overall on PC, assuming you can run them. The Orange Box is only $20 on 360 around here, though, which is a pretty great deal for 5 excellent games. Left 4 Dead might be worth a rent first. A lot of people seem to play it through once, and then they're sick of it. Others get a group of 4 together and have a blast going through again and again. A lot of people love Call of Duty 4, and are still playing it over a year later. So if you're into multi-player shooters, I imagine that'd be an ideal buy. I think it still retails at $60, though. And while the Game of the Year edition included a code for the Variety Map Pack when it was first released, it doesn't seem to anymore. (Activision dick move #39184) If you think you'd only do the single player, that's supposed to be great, but short. Finishable within a rental. I love GTA IV, and you might be able to find it used on Craigslist for $30-40. It handles differently than the PS2/Xbox generation of games--especially the driving--but I like it. If you played the older games, and had fun just screwing around, get into Party Mode online with some friends with headsets, and you'll have a blast. I need to do this more often, frankly. What I've played of BioShock is awesome. It's probably about $30 new now. There's a demo on Xbox Live that'll let you play the first 40 minutes or so. It's not supposed to be that long either, though. Might be able to finish it within a week.

The Steam sale is likely to end soon, in case anyone was waiting. I nabbed Blue Shift and Opposing Force, Heavy Weapon Deluxe, Luxor 2 (pretty much a Zuma clone), Reaxxion (Breakout clone) and Trials 2 for about $9.40CAD. Trials 2 is pretty swank. Simple in its control scheme, but complex in its physics. For $2.49, it's absolutely worthwhile. There's a demo to try, if you feel the need. http://store.steampowered.com/app/16600/

Just noticed you're in Australia. I don't know if any of these wouldn't be available there. And any comments about cheapness and/or release dates would be for North America. 360: Gears of War (1 & 2... though 1 is on PC) Halo (3, Halo Wars, and Recon Fable Mass Effect (also on PC, now owned by EA, so sequels will probably be multi-platform) Forza Motorsport (2 available now, 3 possibly coming) Project Gotham Racing (3 & 4 available now, and probably cheap) Left 4 Dead (also on PC, may get a sloppy PS3 port at some point, like The Orange Box) Rare's lineup of good, but not spectacular games (Viva Piñata, Banjo-Kazooie, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero), most probably available pretty cheap Dead Rising (Wii version, and I think a PS3 port might be coming) Crackdown (sandbox superhero type game, probably pretty cheap now) Ninja Gaiden II Dead or Alive 4 A lot of downloadable games on the Xbox Live Arcade: Braid (coming to PC, possibly PS3 if they'll have it) Geometry Wars (1 & 2) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1 classic) Rez HD (trippy shooter/music game originally on Dreamcast & PS2) Castle Crashers (old-school beat-'em-up with 4-player co-op play) Ikaruga (punishingly difficult old-school shooter) Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace to browse, if you feel inclined PS3: Metal Gear Solid 4 (exclusive for now) LittleBigPlanet Gran Turismo (5 Prologue out now, full 5 possibly in '09) God of War (3 possibly released in '09) Resistance (1 & 2 available now) MLB: The Show Killzone (2 out in February) Ratchet & Clank (Future: Tools of Destruction on Blu-Ray, Quest for Booty on PlayStation Network for download) Uncharted (1 out now, 2 possibly in '09) inFamous (probably in '09) MotorStorm (1 & Pacific Rift out now) Heavy Rain (an ambitious-looking adventure game... possibly in '09) Valkyria Chronicles (a lauded strategy game, available now) Lair (dragon action game... might be decent now that you're not forced to use motion controls, thanks to a patch) Heavenly Sword SingStar Some PlayStation Network games--not as many as Xbox Live Arcade, but still some good stuff. Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with most of it: Super Stardust HD Wipeout HD Everyday Shooter flOw echochrome The PixelJunk series

As of Rock Band 2, and Guitar Hero World Tour, all instruments should work with all games on PS3 and 360. I haven't kept up with things all that well to know if that's actually true. If he wants to stay on the safe side, the Guitar Hero (RedOctane) guitars are generally more compatible, since it was mainly GH publisher Activision pitching a fit about cross-compatability in the past. I think most people prefer the feel of the GH guitar controllers anyhow. Here's Joystiq's chart: http://www.joystiq.com/Instrument-Compatibility-Matrix/

10%-75% off everything on Steam~! http://store.steampowered.com/holidaysale Includes BioShock and Portal for $5 each, the Valve Complete Pack for $75 (includes Left 4 Dead--considered a pretty solid deal even at $100), and a handful of dollar games, including some of the old Dooms, and Half-Life 1 expansions (to go with the previous 98¢ 10th anniversary sale on HL1). Check it out!

I thought it was pretty much perfect for one of those rare young'ns whose parents won't let them play GTA.

Bully would be a maybe for me too, since I've already got the PS2 version. I really liked it, though I never finished it. There's also the 360 version, which I saw for $20 new today, but I've read that the port for that kinda sucks.