Xbox Live Renewal

If the Xbox 360 was not good enough when it first came out, people would have been won back by the multiplayer feature, Xbox Live. This feature is not just another way to get more money into Microsoft's account, but it rather makes the multiplayer experience much smoother and enjoyable.

For example, Xbox Live lets you use one account - your profile, for every game and through your profile you can connect to friends and talk to them via a headset, or invite them to parties through which you can move together from one game to another with ease.

Its a rather hard job to find an Xbox Live membership in Jordan, due to the fact its not really supported by Microsoft. Instead I hooked up with a freelance modder for the Xbox 360, who turned out to be a great person who modded my Xbox and sold me a three month membership to Xbox Live.

The guy himself is a little younger than my father, and for some reason is a dad but mods Xboxs. I can now play on the Xbox online without having to worry about buying more games from abroad for high prices.

For those of you wanting to game with a fellow blogger, my gamertag is InboundSage. I use that one for online gameplay, but for offline gameplay and talking to friends I use the rather creative gamertag of NotAnotherBlog.

You'll find me playing either Call of Duty 5, Far Cry 2, or Sid Miers Civilization: Revolution. Sorry, but no Halo 3 people - I never liked the game and Call of Duty is better than it in multiplayer. Add any multiplayer suggestions to the comments!

Xbox 360 at E3 2009

“Today with cultural visionaries at our side and controller-free gaming on our horizon, Xbox 360 authored a new page in home entertainment history,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president for the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “For us, this E3 is about breaking down barriers — between generations, between games and entertainment, and most important, between video game players and everyone else — in a way that only Xbox 360 can.”

Microsoft continues to surprise and reward everyone who took the wise decision of buying the Xbox 360. Many new ideas and creations were unveiled but the most phenomenal would be Project Natal. As described by Microsoft, Project Natal is "a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required".

There are many uses of this device, like instant face recognition which logs you into Xbox Live, a microphone with a rather good voice recognition and understands emotions, and a three dimensional camera allowing rather cool models and understands gestures and objects.

This is in no way a rip-off of the Playstation Eyetoy or the Xbox 360 trying to get motion control like the Wii. To understand what I'm saying, watch the video below of painting with the Natal sensor. But the real video you have to watch is the one below that, an interaction between reality and the virtual world that "even science fiction hasn't thought off yet".

Xbox Live

Playing on the internet with other real people is something that has revolutionised the industry of gaming. These days, multi player functionality is a must when reviewing a game, and it counts just as much as the single player part of it.

Xbox Live delivers a rather unique experience of multiplayer gaming to the Xbox gamer, and is rather different from other networks. As Xbox 360 users have their own profiles, these are used as the gamers users and are carried from game to game without any configuration.

Friends can be added to parties and clans, and from here the player can move with his party from one game to another, all under the comminucation of the headset. Voice messages can also be sent to players even when they are offline.

When out of games, the Xbox Marketplace offers a wide selection of games, videos and expansions to choose from. Game demos are always available for free and other items are bought by Microsoft Points, although I haven't tried buying anything.

All in all, Xbox Live is one essential addition to the Xbox 360 that makes it superior to the other consoles. Although I may not agree with having to pay for it, I do look forward to renewing my subscription.

Army Of Two Review

I’m just about to finish a new game I got for the Xbox 360, called Army of Two, and I thought I might as well review it. Since Christmas is around the corner, this game could be a good one for your shopping list.

The third person shooter genre is quite a crowded one, and a new arrival of a game into the genre usually doesn’t go very well, unless it gives a new idea that hasn’t been done before. And this is were Army of Two shines, in that it throws at you the new idea of co-op play.

Army of Two really puts emphasis on co-op play, where both you and your partner will enter battlefields swarming with enemies, and use cover and tactics intelligently, to kill your enemies, complete missions and earn cash.

To get the most of this game, you need to play it split screen with a friend. This isn’t because the virtual partner in single player is bad, but because you’ll achieve more of what you want when your with a human.

There are two other things that the game implies. A new system called Aggro is basically when one player gains the enemies attention by firing at them aggressively, while the other player gains an advantage of being somehow ignored, and can move stealthy to perform skillful tactics.

The other point is the vast customization that Army of Two gives you to change around weapons to your liking. It isn’t based mostly on creativity, but is more of a ranking up system, with you purchasing new weapons and upgrading upon them. You can add stocks, grips, bigger ammunition, even a shotgun or a grenade launcher on the front as well.

This doesn’t mean the game is perfect. One of the main flaws I noticed was that the game was rather short, and a few things could be improved on, such as melee attacks and the controls, as well as the soundtrack. But, all in all, Army of Two is a game that you should try when you’re with a friend.

Picking Video Games

After almost three months of searching around the streets of Jordan for any solution for modding my Xbox 360, I have finally been defeated and have not found any shop at all. In the end, I had to go ahead and order original games for my Xbox from Amazon. I ended up spending my entire years’ savings on three games and a controller, for £150.

Before I go on and tell you about the games I chose to play for god knows how long, I’d like to give you some advice on how to choose a game. It’s a rather simple procedure that ensures you get the best game for your money and don’t end up getting disappointed you spent your well earned money on a pile of rubbish.

The main point you must always take into consideration, and is the biggest impact on whether the game is good or not, is seeing critics’ views. Looking up the game on a popular review website, like IGN or Gamespot, is the first part of choosing a game. As a general rule of thumb, even before reading the review, look at the games score. Generally, any game over 9 is excellent, and don’t take this easily.

For example, 8.9 is not excellent, and reviewers really do take into consideration everything to determine if a game really does make the point of excellence. Games over nine are the ones to go for first, but there’s nothing wrong in going for something over 8. Below eight, however, is a no-no.

There are things you mustn’t look for. One of the first is well awaited for sequels, or in other words a new release to a popular series. Just because the company did it right before it doesn’t mean that it’ll do it better again. In fact, sometimes it comes out worse, like Need For Speed Undercover. Another thing not to look for is over-hyped reviews, such as the ones from magazines, since they tend to give a perfect full score to anything they find seems good, which isn’t always the case.
Putting all of that into mind, picking a game is simple.

Even if you’re stuck on two similar games with just about the same score, try watching a video review. This shows you game play and also tells you what’s good about the game and what’s bad. It’s a two in one deal, and you’re sure to get out of it picking the best one.

Considering this all, I went ahead and picked three sequels to games that reviewers considered excellent, or above nine in the score. The first was Gears of War 2, a sequel to an already excellent game, with better stunning graphics the second time.

Next was Fallout 3, an RPG that wasn’t much heard of until the third made its way through and marvelled all critics. This is a game that combines graphics, with a good storyline and interesting styles of game play. Lastly was the latest sequel in the Call of Duty series, World at War. According to reviewers, even though this went back into the World War once again, it managed to keep its name and stay a brilliant shooter.

Enjoy.

Thy Will Not Mod

It’s almost a month since I got my Xbox 360. And the idea of not getting to play on it is killing me.

The problem is, it just won’t it3adel (become modded to play copied games). This is what many shops have told me and some other new 360 owners as well. I went from Al-Gardens to Amman Mall to Sweifieh. All of them told me the same thing, since it is a new version that can’t be modded at the moment and I’ll have to wait, maybe a week or month, till a method of modding comes out for these ‘new’ versions.

So I wait. I borrowed an original game that came with my friends Xbox, Forza Motorsport 2, but after a month of playing with it, it got a bit boring. I really am fed up at having to wait, maybe even more months, like another shop told me. One shop told me there was a chance of it never being modded. Of course I rejected that claim.

And now the Xbox is in my cupboard, above my desk, until something happens. Meanwhile, I have some other – maybe – plans to do if it still isn’t modded after a month. And that is the PC.
PC gaming has become rather popular these days. With the PC always being ahead of consoles, it always takes the lead – for those who have the money and the time of course. Building a computer is easier said than done.

My fellow friend, Yazan, reverted to PC gaming long ago. He had invited us over to his house, a few days ago, for iftar - mansaf, of course. Regardless of what we ate, I tried a go at his computer on a game well known to the gaming industry as Crysis.

Probably having one of the best graphics and a unique design and game play, Crysis turns out to be one great game. Now, the possibilities of me turning to PC gaming are rather good, but I will have to see if the Xbox can be modded or not, in the coming month.

For now, I’ll stick to other sources of entertainment. Oh, and studying, of course.

Thy Xbox 360

It is here. After eight months of waiting, and waiting - and praying and begging, the Xbox 360 that I blogged a few months ago about getting is finally here.

Quite a few months ago I ordered it from Amazon so my dad would pick it up while he was in London. The console it self comes in three versions, arcade, premium and elite. I went for the premium.

The 360 itself is not just an ordinary gaming console, it is a high tech computer by itself. Capable of twice the graphical ability of the Playstation 3, the Xbox 360 can generate images that will make you drool twenty litres a second.

In fact, when I was playing a racing game at 1080i on my TV, my grandmother asked me if the trees and the landscape were really computer generated. She could not believe it.

The 360 is now cheaper, in the US, than the Nintendo Wii, priced at $199. Considering that you get a console that is the best in the whole three next generation consoles, that is a bargain for your money.

But enough bragging. I will go, inshallah tomorrow, to a shop in Sweifieh called Boost, to 3adel the console. I will recieve it, according to my friend who did so as well, on Sunday. By then I will be able to play true next gen games.

I'm talking Call of Duty or Gears of War. :)

Thoughts Before Bedtime

Miscellaneous thoughts from this peculiar day of mixed good thoughts as well as bad thoughts.

Today, my good old neighbor told me of a new shop that opened not far from here, that sells DVDs and the like for 1JDs and has offers. I decided to go and see it.

The shop was great, its owner was friendly, he had Prison Break Season 3 for only 4JDs, he tested them all out for me on the 42” screen in his shop, which I have no idea where it came from with such a small shop.

He even gave me a fifth DVD free as an offer for buying 4 DVDs. Nothing more to draw me, I will be back to empty out your shop – mark my words.

In other news, I’m still pondering to think about the upcoming Xbox I’m getting in summer, and hopefully it’ll be quite soon. The days are creeping ever so closer, and I’m getting mixed up already.

Some thoughts lurk around in my mind. Well, more like questions without answers. Arcade or Pro? 50JDs more for a bigger hard drive and more accessories? HDMI cable or just stick with the HD AV that comes with the package?

I’ll have to answer those questions later. Now, one priority is nagging around my head.

Post, then sleep.

Of Ubuntu And Xbox's

I have an update on both my last two posts (1, 2), and surprisingly, they happened both today.

First off, Ubuntu.



I left off to Friday prayer while leaving the download running, which was at 72%. I came back to find it was canceled.

Who canceled it? No guessing.

Now I must resort to buying a CD of it here in Amman. Does anyone know a shop that sells a copy of Ubuntu?

And now, to 360s.



I made a deal with my parents this morning. One that was written on paper and signed by me, my dad and my mum.

I promised to do my chores around the house daily, help my brothers and sister, go to summer Quran club, and turn off the computer during end of semester exams, until the 5th of July.

At that day, I will in turn go and buy an XBox 360 from Swiefieh. My reward for waiting all those months.

I just hope I can keep up to those terms. Hopefully, I will.

Is There School Tommorow?

So here I am, sitting on the computer, peeling an orange and writing a blog post. But at the same time, I am thinking what will happen tommorow.

You see, the past two days have been a nightmare in terms of whether there is school and when the buses actually come to pick the students up. In short, it's a mess. Moreover, on snowy days few students show up. If the number of students goes below half, then the school declares the day off.

Now, as nice as this sounds, its rather fustrating for the student that has to decide whether to go the following day.

You see, if he went to school and found out he was the only one there, and was stuck there for another six hours, he'd do more than pull his hair.

Then again, its not as easy as it seems when you're choosing whether to go to school, or not to.

"To go to school, or to not go to school. That is the question."

Anyway, before we were interupted by these strange quotes, we were discussing what problems we face when choosing to go to school. The reasons for bunking a day of school are endless, like for example the weather, or an open day.

This time, its the "snow". And I put the quotes around the snow, because there is no snow. Its all gone and there is no reason to fear for your life and not go to school. All thats lurking in the streets are the piles of snow, that were left by the dumb bulldozers who have never heard of grit salt.

But, on the other hand, I have my mum who is forcing me to go to school tommorow, because she doesn't want me to stay in the house and make my eyes worse even more on the computer. Add to that the fact that I have stayed at home for the two previous days.

So, tommorow I'm going to board the empty bus and off I go to the empty school. Hey, maybe I'll find my friend and I'll go and play at his nearby house on his new Xbox 360 Elite. And, maybe not.

Wish me luck.