L33T Street

What to do?

2009-09-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

OMG..... I Fail.... Im gonna start using this more often or I'm gonna start a real website using wordpress...we'll see...

E3 09

2009-06-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

E3 09, This year at E3 has been quite amazing, with new things such as Project Natal: the motion controller for Xbox 360, a new Metal Gear Solid for Xbox 360, and live demos from games as Modern warfare 2, assassins creed 2, mass effect 2, and MILO. MILO is my favorite new thing coming to Xbox 360 along with Project Natal. MILO is an interactive virtual boy that can learn your emotion, face, voice, and body movements.

This years E3 has defiantly been the best one in awhile.

Keep watch G4 and going to http:www.kotaku.com for the latest news on E3 09.

Bioshock 2

2009-03-22T01:09:00.001-07:00

Bioshock 2 seems to be coming along quite well, go and check out the viral site for the game at Bioshock 2. I think I'm in love with this game! I absolute loved the first game and i even went back and replayed System Shock just see how the series has come. I have high hopes for Bioshock 2, so 2k Games better not disappoint.

XBLA: A Hat Trick for the Week.

2009-03-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

It's a triple play this week on Xbox Live Arcade, the addictive gameplay of Peggle, the strategic defense of Crystal Defenders, and new downloadable content for Twisted Pixel's The Maw.

Peggle is the tremendously addictive ball-bouncing game for the PC, ported to Xbox Live Arcade with 55 levels, 75 challenges, and multiplayer support via Xbox Live for 2-4 players. I am terrified to purchase it, since the last time I launched Peggle on Steam I disappeared for several days.

Crystal Defenders is Square's take on tower defense, using characters from the Final Fantasy Tactics series to defend your crystals against evil invading hordes of classic Final Fantasy monsters in more than 300 increasingly difficult stages.

Rounding up this week's Arcade releases is the second downloadable level for Twisted Pixel's The Maw, River Redirect, delivering a little more gameplay for a little more money.

Both Peggle and Crystal Defenders will run you 800 Microsoft points, with The Maw: River Redirect a steal at 160 points.

Live Arcade [Kotaku] Words are theirs.

64,000 Years of Halo 3

2009-03-03T08:07:00.000-08:00

Halo 3's got a somewhat popular online component, and has had one since it launched (hey, it's Halo). Ever wonder how many multiplayer games that actually equates to, though? Try over one billion.

Yup, Bungie's near-OCD obsession with tracking numbers means that we now know that at 18:36 PT on February 28, a four-player Infection match was the one billionth played since the game's release in September 07.

If your obsession with numbers is on the same level as Bungie's, it'll scratch your itch to hear that those one billion games took 2,023,153,340,764 seconds to complete. Which adds up to 64,000 years

Halo3: 1,000,000,000 Games [Bungie via Kotaku] Words are theirs.

What a Grab: XBLA's Braid

2009-02-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

This week I picked up the XBL arcade game Braid, and I must say, it was a lot of fun but also a good amount of frustration. The game is a platformer similar to Mario however, Braid allows you to rewind time at any given point. This makes for some seriously tough challenges and obstacles to over come from within the game. At only 800 Microsoft Points, this is a must have for the XBL arcade collection.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Screens Rise to the Ocassion

2009-02-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

Codemasters has released the box art and news screens for their upcoming sandbox shooter Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, due out this summer for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Codemasters seems to have stripped out the number 2 from the follow-up the 2001's Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis from developer Bohemia Interactive, perhaps in deference to the fans who still believe that the only true sequel could come from the original developer. Hardcore fans are truly curious creatures, because between these new screens and the developer diary we posted yesterday, Dragon Rising looks more than capable of following in the original title's footsteps.

Make the jump to see the screens here: LINK

Operation Flashpoint Screens [Kotaku]

Xbox Hackers on the Loose

2009-02-20T12:42:00.000-08:00

Are Xbox Live users taking out contracts against their opponents? Microsoft is investigating a rash of attacks on Xbox Live users by hackers using data flooding tools to kick them offline.

It's the same sort of attack that's been targeting PC users for years. Hackers get a hold of the IP address players use to connect to Xbox Live and then flood the address with information, knocking them off of the service. Some hackers are even running booting services, where players can pay to have their rivals knocked-off, so to speak. The BBC reports that services can be bought for as low as $20, setting up an attack that can be run any time it is needed.

"There's been a definite increase in the amount of people talking about and distributing these things over the last three to four weeks," said Chris Boyd, director of malware research at Facetime Communications.

Microsoft is actively investigating instances of players being booted off of Xbox Live in this fashion, but this type of attack is extremely difficult to track down, as hackers generally send the data from pools of hijacked computers, and don't technically have to access Xbox Live in order to initiate the process. From Microsoft's official response to the issue:

"We are investigating reports involving the use of malicious software tools that an attacker could use to try and disrupt an Xbox LIVE player's internet connection.

This problem is not related to the Xbox Live service, but to the player's internet connection. The attacker could also attempt [to] disrupt other internet activities, such as streaming video or web browsing, using the same tools."

What they are basically saying here is that there really isn't too much they can do. Hackers can access your IP address by routing Xbox Live through their computer to the console and monitoring traffic using a PC application, a method that doesn't intrude upon the service in any noticeable way. Essentially it attacks the user's internet connection directly.

Hackers target Xbox Live players [BBC News Via Kotaku]

Prototype: 7.1 doesn't sound all that bad.

2009-02-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

Through an interview with a Prototype developer, Games on Smash were able to confirm the Xbox 360 version of the game will indeed ship with 7.1 surround sound. This marks a first for an Xbox 360 title.
Xbox360 7.1 Surround Sound Explained: Prototype Gameplay and Interview
[N4G.com via KwiZiCul]

Xbox Community of the Week: My Dead Xbox

2009-02-12T08:55:00.001-08:00

This week's Xbox Community is My Dead Xbox. A great community that brings gamers together through the infamous RRoD and other 360 failures. MDX doesn't push people away from Xbox because of its failures, it brings them together in order to ensure gamers stick with Xbox. This is a great community of gamers that loves playing together. MDX founder Miltownkid360 is a great guy and knows how make a horrible situation (RRoD) a funny one.

Co-op Game Night: Tonight We're Left 4 Dead

2009-02-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

Xbox and Co-Optimus.com are teaming up to bring Xbox Live a Co-op Game night once a month.

Tonight is the night and the game is Left 4 Dead.

Look for Bystander SCX ( I'll be playing with my friend, Halure)

Gears of War Developer On Gears of War Ten Year Plan: WTF?

2009-02-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

Just because Gears of War 2 writer Joshua Ortega says Gears of War is "a ten year plan" and that in-game Lancer weapon is the new lightsaber, does that mean it's so?

Not really, apparently. Epic exec Mark Rein explains: "In this industry you can't plan games very far in advance. We appreciate the enthusiasm Josh has for our franchise but we don't have a ten-year plan. We always have ideas of where we'd like it to go but it's determined on a game-by-game basis and ultimately by fan support. Our focus right now is supporting the Gears of War 2 game and community."

But is the lancer the new lightsaber?

Epic boss: There is no 10-year plan for Gears of War [VG247 via Kotaku]

Rare Teases 360 Fans About User Created Avatars

2009-02-11T14:00:00.000-08:00

Rare's Dale Murchie says:

User-generated content is a huge area that would not have been done any justice if we had tried to cram it into the launch release of this project.

There may be features coming that open up the expressive potential of the Xbox community, but we're keeping quiet on that for now.

Rare's Lee Musgrave saw fit to add "Creativity is going to play a big part in the development of the Avatars".

Rare: User-generated content likely for Avatars [VG247]

CoD: WaW Map Pack Drops in March

2009-02-11T13:50:00.000-08:00

Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 1 hits the Xbox 360 in March with four new maps, including one for the game's cooperative Nazi Zombie mode.

Nightlife is a multiplayer map in war-ravaged Berlin.

Knee Deep will have you attacking fortified Japanese positions in a jungle setting.

Station takes place in a bombed-out underground subway station.

Finally, Verrückt (Zombie Asylum) expands the zombie-killing co-op mode with more weapons, new Perks-a-Cola machines, electroshock defenses and endless, attacking legions of undead.

No set price as of yet.

Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack Hits March [Kotaku]

Call Of Duty: World at War (Review) - Bystander SCX

2009-02-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

The lastest installment of the Call of Duty (CoD) series is finally out and has been seeing a lot of action. But how much of this game actually lives up to the hype that it got?

Single Player: The solo campaign of this game is just pure amazement. the visuals, audio, and ai are just flawless. Especially when playing on Veteran. The solo mode takes you through a few different tours of duty as an American PoW, a Russian Sniper, and then back to an American. Very similar to CoD 3's campaign, except you get to fight Japan now alongside of Nazis.

Mulitplayer: If you enjoyed CoD 4's multiplayer then your deffiantly going to enjoy CoD WaW's for the same reason. Thats exactly it... CoD WaW mulitplayer is exactly the same as CoD 4 except with different maps and different weapons. All your favorite perks are there like stopping power, three special grenades, and even your most favorite noob perk.... Juggernaught! If you spent countless hours playing CoD 4 online, you better strap in for CoD WaW since theres and achievment for getting 10th prestige!

Co-op Campaign & Nazi Zombie Mode: Co-op campaign is just that, it's the ability to play through the story with up to 4 people. Nazi Zombie mode is a small spin off of Left 4 Dead, kinda. You start out stuck in a room with 4 boarded up windows and only a pistol....(yea it already doesn't sound like fun). Slow Nazi Zombies start coming at you, they have to break through the boards and climb in before they can get you. You have to kill them and then repair the boards. Every shot and kill gets you points, also boarding up the windows gets you points as well. yo get better guns or to unlock more of the map, you walk up to the chalk drawing of the gun on the wall and purchase it with the points. This mode is alot of fun with friends and could easily be more fun than playing multiplayer.

Single Player: 9/10

Multiplayer: 8/10

Bystander SCX recommends: Buy

Get Ready For 10 Years of Gears - Bystander SCX

2009-02-10T21:41:00.001-08:00

Gears of War 2 writer Joshua Ortega spoke during a recent New York Comic-Con Gears panel: "You will not be disappointed in the next ten years...It's a ten-year plan. Gears is long-term. The lancer is the new lightsaber."

That would take us to 2016. Wrap your mind around that!

Also during the panel, Ortega spilled the beans that Gears 2 has some single player DLC on the way.

Post info courtesy of Kotaku.

The Lost and Damned - Bystander SCX

2009-02-10T14:11:00.000-08:00

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned is the groundbreaking new add-on episode with a plot that intersects with the main storyline of Grand Theft Auto IV. Featuring Johnny Klebitz, a member of The Lost Motorcycle Club, The Lost and Damned offers an entirely fresh way to explore Liberty City with new missions, multiplayer modes, weapons, vehicles, and a diverse soundtrack with additional music.

Join a biker gang in The Lost and Damned.

To celebrate the launch of this exciting new adventure in Liberty City, Xbox and Rockstar Games are bringing you The Lost and Damned LIVE Week, with exclusive contests and great prizes, plus the chance to experience the new multiplayer modes free of charge for all LIVE members throughout the LIVE week, including during the Game with Rockstar and Game with Fame events.

For more information make the jump to Xbox.com

Post info courtesy Xbox.com

Xbox 360 and Netflix - Bystander SCX

2009-02-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Recently my girlfriend purchased a Netflix account so we could get dvds and blue-rays sent to the house. With the Xbox 360 being a Netflix: Ready-Device it was almost obvious that I wanted to link her account to my Xbox 360. With a few clicks on my mouse and an actvation code entered on my Xbox 360, we were instantly streaming movies in no time! It's quite simple, first go on to netflix.com, then move on over to the Watch Instantly page and browse for movies you wanna watch. Once you know what you wanna watch mouse over the Play button to reveal another button that says Add To Instant, click on that and your all done. Now turn on your Xbox 360 and download or go to the Netflix section under the Video Marketplace, and like magic, your Instant Queue movies are waiting to be watched! I watch a movie everynight now.

If you dont have a subscription to Netflix you can always get a Free 14 day trial. But trust me, it's definatly worth $10 bucks a month!

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Demo Hits Xbox This Week - Bystander SCX

2009-02-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

A downloadable demo for Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. hits the Xbox 360 on Feb. 11, Ubisoft announced today.

The demo will include jump-in, jump-out co-op for up to four-players, two game difficulties, three planes and two missions.

Operation: Off Certification is a training mode that teaches gamers how to pull different maneuvers. Operation: Glass Hammer takes place in Rio De Janeiro and includes support of the Assistance On mode which allows your plane's computer to calculate interception courses, evade missiles or hit a ground target.

The three planes that will be flyable will be the F-16A Fighting Falcon, SU-35 Super Flanker and the AV-8B Harrier II.

Ubisoft says that the demo will also let players take on tanks, amphibious targets and dog fight in a "stunning panoramic boss scene."

Post info courtesy of Kotaku.

Left 4 Dead, Left Me In Awe - Bystander SCX

2009-02-09T23:55:00.000-08:00

OK, so I finally broke and bought Left 4 Dead. I knew I was gonna get it eventually it just wasn't one of those games that I would run right out to buy, you know? Anyways, I got to sit down and play L4D with miltownkid360, founder of Xbox community, My Dead Xbox. We played "No Mercy", the first chapter of the game. When we first took on the Witch, I totally freaked and almost fell out of my chair for how intense she was. The game is amazing and I cant wait to sit down and play it again. If you wanna play L4D with me my GT is Bystander SCX.

My Love for Gaming - Bystander SCX

2009-02-05T19:57:00.001-08:00

I LOVE video games. I play video games everyday, all day. I really started becoming more of a hardcore gamer when I got my Xbox 360. Before that i would play countless hours on my Dreamcast playing games like Shenmue and Crazy Taxi. Yea, I had an Xbox too but nothing compared to Dreamcast. Just like every other kid, I too had a gameboy( Original, Pocket, and Color) which like everyone else, had more hours of pokemon games logged than classics like kirby or tetris. I've alwasy stuck to my love for games and I plan on staying with it since i wanna become a video game artist in the furture. As of right now my favorite video games are:

1. Shenmue (Dreamcast)
2. Pokemon Red Version (Gameboy)
3. Bioshock (Xbox 360)
4. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)
5. Call of Duty 3 (Xbox 360) [CoD4 was cool, but just didnt do it for me. And CoD:WaW was better but it was CoD3.]