“The next time you sign in to Xbox LIVE, be sure to check out the new winter items just released for your avatar. All of the items are completely free, so try them all on for JUST the right look.
Tip: It is easy to tell what is new when you are in the avatar editor, just look for the gold star. Any item of clothing with a gold star is new since your last sign in.” -Xbox’s Major Nelson
Fortress Tip: Just look for the stuff you’ve never seen before, it’s the new stuff.
So Microsoft has decided to bless us with some new fashions for the holiday season. Word on the street is that there is not enough, and nothing matches. What do you think of the new selection?
Recently added to our GeekFortress online store is this beautifully created RROD shirt. What inspired me to make a shirt such as this? Well we’ve just passed the three year anniversary of the Xbox’s release which means some of you are undoubtedly becoming increasingly worried about a possible Red Ring scenario. If you do, you can now let the world know.
I suppose getting the Red Ring of Death is ultimately a horrible thing, but one could theorize that the entire Xbox Live community has been brought together by a collective frustration with the product they love so dearly…. Just a thought.
Anyways, the shirts available. For just under $20 its not too terribly expensive, and its always nice to help support the site. I’ve already got mine on the way
GamesRadar.com took the liberty of creating some of your favorite celebrities, game characters, and politicians in avatar form. Its hard to imagine MJ would make his avatar look exactly like that but who knows. The real question is, what would his gamertag be?
Everyone I know loves building things. Whether it’s Sim City, The Sims, or their favorite RTS… Everyone I know plays something where building plays a large part in the success of the player, it is a small part of all of us that loves creating things. Even your new Xbox Experience Avatar, you probably spent like a half an hour on it didn’t you? Yea that’s right. You did.
This game is all about creation. It is literally all you do, build things so you can build more things. You unlock more advanced blueprints as you complete lower level buildings. For a ten dollar game there really are quite a few buildings to construct. But even still, you’ll probably find yourself finishing this one before you’ve gotten your fill.
In the meantime however, you’ve got your Keflings. These little guys are brilliantly stupid, like a dog they learn what you show them. You can task them on various resources in the kingdom which you will use to erect various types of buildings. The great thing about the Keflings is that they will always do what you tell them to, forever. That is also a bad thing though, because that can mean standing there for ten minutes waiting to be told what to do if you’re not paying attention.
If the Keflings ever get out of line you can always discipline them. How does one discipline a digital little person? Well we have now come to the point in the review where I get to cover my favorite part of the game. Kicking Keflings. This might not make the game worth playing, but it sure makes the game that much more fun to play. This video Kefling Kick montage should explain everything.
If you thought that looked cruel? Don’t worry, you don’t have to kick the Keflings. Although you should think about going on at least one rampage **cough** Achievement **cough**
Their is also a multiplayer gameplay mode to this game. It adds a lot or very little, depending on the friends you keep. I have plenty of friends with this game so it has been a beautiful thing, we work together to construct towns. Splitting up tasks, one person in charge of Keflings while another makes the buildings themselves appear all over the kingdom. I have however heard the Xbox Live community is real big on tearing down eachothers villages. So beware if you let strangers into your town.
Overall, this game is a must buy if you have any interest in town building or midget managing. Kicking keflings is an amazing thing that will probably never get old. The multiplayer aspect is great if you can get your friends on board. If you can’t, no worries because it’s a great game by yourself as well. The only question is replayability, which will hopefully be solved by some future downloadable content *crosses fingers*
For those of you not familiar with the name, Peter Molyneux is the mastermind behind the Fable games. Back in the day when “Project Ego” (Fable’s original title) was announced I couldn’t contain myself while waiting for Christmas 2001 to open my Xbox…which would end up being my gateway to Fable. I was turned on to Fable far before the Xbox was released and had been the deciding factor in my choice of the Xbox over the PS2 that year. As my parents were my only form of income, I hope you appreciate the severity of this decision. Now, I was promised a game where if I favored one sword arm over the other it would get stronger, if I cut down a tree and came back a year later it would be a sapling coming to life from the ground. Sure those are minor things, but it seemed like the world Mr. Molyneux spoke of could completely redefine what we think a “great game” is. What I got was a game with power orbs… This is not a bad idea in practice, but it’s not what I ended up waiting FOUR YEARS for. If you’ve not played the game, you get a red orb for magic, blue for sword play, and yellow for bow or ranged attacks; you can then apply these towards leveling up those skills. Even at the young age of fifteen, that system was far too simple to keep me entertained for long.
I like the idea of creating a player in my image, instead of cookie cutter character in a linear story line. However, the ideas initially brought forth failed to show in the final product. It played like a game that was rushed onto the market much like Treyarch’s “Call of Duty 3″, when in reality it had been YEARS in the making. All along the way we were told this is going to be the greatest RPG ever and at no point did they delineate from this statement. The character customization was completely lame. You were either young or old and weathered looking, massively bulky or scrawny, bald or had flowing locks of hair. Worst of all is that I bought the limited edition of Fable and the strategy booklet. I was about 5-6 hours into the game when I realized I was two-thirds of the way through the guide. Needless to say I was glad when everyone else shared my rage and the game received mediocre reviews at best.
If only it were this glorious
So here we are, it’s almost 2009 and Fable 2 has just been released giving Molyneux 9 years since the first announcements of Fable to finally get it right. I am not going to say Fable 2 is a bad game, not by any means. The problem is that it’s still not what I was promised so many years ago. The orbs are still around, leaving the leveling system with much to be desired. You STILL have horns and scars which are far too easy to acquire, causing your character to become very ugly very quickly. The weapons and clothing choices are poor at best, your only chance to be unique is different colored dye. I will say the graphics are phenomenal as was the case with the first installment, and there are several more side quests to extend the gameplay beyond 10 hours. I have noticed issues with the game, while performing jobs I’ve noticed several times my axe or hammer have glitched out and remain hovering in one position while my body continues the wood cutting or smithing actions. This game is far from ground breaking, but it has kept me entertained. If you’re looking for something with depth along the western style RPG line the Elder Scrolls series has always been much better. Go pick up Oblivion for $20, you’ll get hours more enjoyment and it feels much more like a fantasy life simulator, where you have to worry about things like armor and there are more than 4 types of swords. If you have to have the game of the week or have already beat Oblivion, Fallout 3 was just released courtesy of Bethesda (the same creators of Oblivion) and I have yet to hear a bad review about it. In closing it’s yet another mediocre game from Peter Molyneux and I am glad my brother bought the game so I did not have to drop $60 on this title. You shouldn’t either.
My buddy Jake has been on me forever to pick this game up. Every time we talk on the phone he’s like “Hey man, you get burnout yet?”
“No man not yet.”
“Dude you’d totally like it, it’s no Call of Duty 4 but the multiplayer is great I swear.”
Well Jake, you are right. You’ve always been right, I just didn’t want to believe. I tried to convince myself saving my sixty dollars for a rainy day was a better plan. But as REO Speedwagon used to say, “I can’t fight this feeling anymore.”
There are so many reasons to pick this game up it’s ridiculous. The Burnout series has always brought the best arcade driving there is to the table, and with an expansive open world experience this is surely the best so far. Whether it’s single player or multiplayer that floats your boat, you’ll find what you’re looking for here.
While able to roam anywhere your heart desires from the moment you put in the disc, you have to work to unlock all the events and vehicles. And with a Criterion QA record for 100% completion currently sitting at over 17 hours (trust me, it’ll take you twice as long) the game obviously has a ton of content. The disc has around 75 vehicles, add that to the older DLC and the new bikes expansion (They are FREE!!!) and you’ve got a garage full of gasoline burning heaven on a raceway stretching as far as the eye can see.
The game has reached 1 million online users which shows what a multiplayer haven it’s become. Online competitive and cooperative racing modes add continued playability to a game that is already an ass to couch magnet. Add all of this to the four future downloadable packs recently announced by Criterion and you’ve got a game you may end up playing all the way up to your mid life crisis. If you’re lucky, it may even help you resist the urge to go out and buy a new sports car…
According to an article by tech news site Xbit Labs, Microsoft has teamed up with Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology Corp. to produce an external add on Blu Ray reader for the Xbox 360. The target price range is 100 to 150 dollars, assumedly to compete with the PS3’s console/Blu Ray player price tag. The unit is apperently ready, however the release date is unclear. It will most likely be released this Christmas season to take away the PS3’s Blu Ray advantage, or early next year at the Consumer Electronics Show to steal the spotlight with its new add-on.
All this seems a bit like a dream. Especially with Toshiba having stated several times that they aren’t going to be making Blu Ray disc players and Microsoft having said publically that they don’t plan on it either. It would however be a dream come true for yours truly.
“I know that many of you are excited to get your hands on the New Xbox Experience, which will go live all Xbox LIVE regions wide on November 19th. Well, we’re just as excited to as you are so I am happy to announce that I’ve been working on a little project that I think may interested you.
Once you do that, you need to fill out the “Xbox 360 Fall Flash Preview Sign Up” survey in order to be considered for receiving the Preview System Update. We’re asking a few questions about where you live, your home network, ISP connection and a few other pieces of information. We are looking for a good cross-section of our members in order to get the best feedback we can.
The LIVE Service team will then review all of the applications and if you’re selected we’ll send you an email notifying you of your acceptance in the program. A couple of points before you head off to register:
We’re looking for a few thousand participants, so your chances of making it in are good
This opportunity is open to all Xbox LIVE Members in regions where Xbox LIVE is available
Just completing the survey does not automatically get you access to the NXE. We’ll be making final selections from from the completed surveys.
Xbox LIVE Gold and Silver members can sign up. Priority will be given to Gold members in the selection process.
If you are accepted, you’ll hear from us in about a week. Make sure your information on Connect is updated so we can email you.
