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Facebook, Twitter, and Zune Marketplace Coming to Xbox Live

Josh Salem — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:33:28 +0000

That’s right, this coming week your TV will transform into so much more with social networking, music, and movies come alive on your Xbox 360. Facebook, Twitter, and Zune video will launch November 17th, on Xbox Live.

Most exciting is instant-on HD video from Zune to be available to Xbox 360 consoles. “We’re delivering some truly exciting social entertainment experiences to our members,” said Marc Whitten, Xbox Live general manager. “Xbox Live’s differentiator has always been our community, and we’ve already seen a tremendous response to these features in our public preview.”

As well, Xbox Live will be debuting a music games store specifically for games such as Lips, Guitar Hero, and Rock Band.

I am excited!

Game Review: NFL Madden 10

Josh Salem — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:12:43 +0000

The pig skin never looked so good

I’ve never been a huge fan of football (American football for those reading overseas). I never enjoyed playing it in the real world, I never enjoyed watching it. But playing it digitally was always a blast. My first Madden experience was on my original Gameboy in 1996, and would you believe it spoke? Like real audible words!

Now, before I dive into the game, I wanted to point something out. Madden 10 is not for someone who doesn’t understand the finer details of football. You can get by with basic knowledge, and with the help of the Madden quiz, practice, and the virtual trainer included in the title, you can pick it up very quickly. Just don’t expect to buy the game, read the manual and kick ass online.

As the game evolved with technological advances and thanks to EA’s talented abilities, the graphics grew astronomically. From legs jittering, yards moving by slowly and other players moving frame by frame towards you to full motion captured pretty movements from all over the field, Madden 10’s attention to detail were just astronomical. The fluid movement in each player as they hurl forward, deke in a hundred different ways, and look around for openings give players an eerie feeling that they are actually controlling real people in some alternate universe of god-like power. The texture of grass, fans chompin hotdogs and tossing towels, and even the detail of each stadium; from the biggest effects like weather to the smallest details like seat arrangement. Madden 10 raised the bar yet again for graphical quality in a football game. Just as long as you don’t mind seeing freakishly odd shaped facial features of the players up close. My favourite graphical aspect? The shakey cam as players run for a touchdown. What I didn’t like graphically? The sponsored replays, granted it does make things more realistic, but for the amount I’m paying for a game I don’t want sponsored ads in my face. What’s next to increase the realism, commercials in between plays?

Sound wise, while Madden 10 boasts Hammond and Collinsworth’s commentary. I understand it’s hard to have good commentary in a game people will play for hours on end, over and over again. I just wasn’t feeling it. They tried, I feel the effort is there, but otherwise it just seemed a little unpolished, especially compared to the graphics. Again, the commentary at times sounds like it was just random words pieced together after the fact, not smooth and realistic in the forms of speaking to say the least. While the commentary is varied and often times customized and useful, after a while you begin to hear the same phrases and comments time and time again. In terms of the sound track, I would have to admit that while I first expected many frat anthems, after playing through and taking a look at what the game had to offer, I think this may have very well been my favourite sound track in a sporting video game. Music from 2Pac, Alice in Chains,Beastie Boys, Mastodon, System of a Down, and Nirvana, just to give fans out there a feel for what’s available. As always otherwise the smashes, tackles, and whistles all sound realistic and well done. EA is good with these kinds of noises by now.

In terms of gameplay, there is just so much depth and detail to every aspect of Madden 10 that I would be here for months writing about it all, and you for weeks reading and soaking it all in. For the sake of both time and sanity I’ll just provide you with a rundown of ALL the modes of play and the feel of gameplay itself, and trust me, there’s a lot to discuss. To start off, let’s talk about what’s new and all the talk about Madden 10 over Madden ‘09; Online franchise mode allows up and coming NFL manager types to take the franchise mode they loved, and play it online, much in the same way one could play it offline in ‘09, this is again souped up with things like The Extra Point a little segment that summarizes what had happened in the week before. As well, aspects throughout the game have been somewhat tweaked (some times well, sometimes not so well) as the passing system and feel have been improved to new levels as well as the tackle system which provides gamers with new and more innovative ways to bring the pain to their competition. Other aspects new to the game also include more realistic gameplay including pile-ons, fumbles, and a somewhat slower – less arcade like speed to simulate real life. My favourite new feature in Madden 10 may have to be the small details they added in, like Superbowl patches to the jerseys during, well… The Superbowl. Actually playing the game gives a lot of power to the player, being able to tweak nearly every aspect of Madden and having access to so many plays, variables, and being able to alter all of these gives fans nearly endless possibilities… That is, IF you know what you are doing, which takes time, research, and practice for those new to the Madden world. For those that are new to the game, again, there are methods to get you up to speed, but for those who are seasoned pros – the difficulty levels are there for them. Personally, I found Madden 10 to be challenging, hard even, on the easy difficulty… But then again, I found NHL 10 to be just as hard, and I’m a bigger hockey fan than football. The control layout for Madden 10 has been perfected year after year, and from what I can remember from last year’s title, they have remained the same, an aspect myself (and I hope many others) appreciate. The controls are set up perfectly for this football romp and from controlling the QB to audibles, the flick of a joystick or click of a button is all that is needed to score that hail mary touchdown. Like I said before, there are A LOT of game modes and options; for an overall feel, check out our Madden ‘09 review which can be found here, otherwise just play the game and see for yourself, I think you’d like it – especially if your a football fan.

Overall like most sports titles, lasting appeal is never an issue. You can play against computers over and over again, play against your friends until you go blue in the face. If you get too good for the game you can always up the difficulty, choose teams with lower stats, or play with one hand tied behind your back. Beat everyone you know, all the computer settings and used every team out there? Madden 10 boasts one of the best online modes available from single games to leagues to online franchise mode. While I enjoyed playing (and getting beaten severely) playing online, I did experience quite some lag while playing my opponent, both of us located in Canada, and both with broadband connections.

Madden 10 is exactly what you would expect from the leading football developers who launch a new title every year. Some new features, some improvements, some aspects that still need work (but mostly all improvements in themselves). If you’re a football fan you owe it to yourself to pick up Madden 10, if however you are on a budget and can’t afford a new title, Madden ‘09 can still do what you need it to do and enjoy on a regular basis. You just won’t get the best of what’s available without Madden 10.

Graphics: 4.0 / 5.0
Gameplay 4.0 / 5.0
Sound 3.5 / 5.0
Lasting appeal 4.5 / 5.0

Outer Panel Haven 16

sarge-ak47 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:40:42 +0000

Alright, time for another award winning comic!
I’ve been busy warping up Metroid Prime Trilogy and have spent close to 90 hours on the entire set. Well worth it if you ask me so expect my review to go up shortly after this comic!

We all know ODST hit stores nationwide so it’s obvious that I had to do a Halo comic.
Seems like no matter how bungie tries to promote the game, it just isn’t the same without ol’ 117. Not to say it’s a bad game just … we miss Master Chief.
As always click on the image for the full screen glory!

Halo 3: ODST on andPOP

Josh Salem — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:22:47 +0000

Jordan had the opportunity recently to preview the latest big name from Bungie as he took out covenant scum with some of the best in Halo 3: ODST exclusively for the Xbox 360 out now. I guess dropping into hell feet first ain’t so bad.

Game Review: NHL 10

Josh Salem — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:55:27 +0000

There are two things I have never done. 1) I have never gotten so into a sporting event that I yelled for (or at) a team or player. 2) I have never gotten so into a video game that I jumped up, yelled at the screen, and swore. NHL 10 for the Xbox 360 made me do both, and I have to admit, I liked it.

I’ve never been an emotional gamer, and I’ve never been that much into sports (then again, as a Canadian, I feel there’s a default certain level of national pride we all share with hockey), but when playing as the Toronto Maple leafs and winning 2-1 on game seven against Ottawa for the Stanley Cup and with less than 1 minute left in the third period you can’t help but get a little into it when Ottawa scores the tying goal with seconds left on the clock. Yes, I jumped up, yes my voice got loud and shrill, and yes I did say some things that would make a sailor blush. I think this was the most rewarding aspect of NHL 10, that after 17 past NHL titles, EA still has what it takes to make a casual hockey fan into a raving sports fanatic, and I didn’t see it coming.

Basically what’s new from last year to this beyond some new features such as playing the boards, first person fighting, and last ditch attempts at shots is the focus of the game, which now has a much stronger scope on the intensity and fierceness of playoffs and winning the Stanley cup.

For those new to video games, NHL 10 is a hockey simulator (more so than a game as each year passes) in which you are presented with a myriad of gaming options beyond just playing a game of hockey (oh Blades of Steel, how I miss you). How many game modes you ask? well there’s: Battle for the Cup Now Mode in which you are sent straight to the finals of the playoffs, Playoff Mode where you can take part in any type of post-season play from any of the leagues available (NHL, OHL and more), Season Mode in which you choose a league type customize your season preferences and decide if you want to take part in a fantasy draft with all new full roster control mode. We are also given one of my favourite features, Be A Pro Mode in which you create your own character and control only that player as he is drafted, trained and even sent back to the minors based on your personal performance. I found this mode to be extremely interesting as it seemed to be the most realistic, heck, if you get a penalty you have to sit in the box and watch from the side as you feel shame (Slapshots reference anyone?). Performance Tracker Mode shows off your hockey cards (bonuses and achievements… kind of), stats, and milestones related to your profile career. Tournament mode allows for 8 or 16 teams in a world tournament to see what country is the best, and apparently the Montreal Canadiens Centennial team is the one to beat. Create a Play mode allows you too… well, create a play, Practice mode gives you a minimal tutorial (sure it shows you how to play, but no matter how much I practice, I still suck at the game). Online play mode allows for multiple online variations of the game including league play, My NHL 10 mode allows you to create your own custom player, manage rosters, deal with media via the media hub, and more. My Pro mode allows you to go into the hockey shop and buy new equipment, track your performance, and edit attributes. Finally my favourite mode in the game, Be a GM Mode.

Rock'em Sock'em Hockey!

Now, as you can see, there are ALOT of ways to play NHL 10, and as my favourite is the new Be a GM Mode I guess you can decipher that I’m just not that good at the actual hockey playing. I can hold my own (in rookie mode), but for the life of me I rarely ever score goals. In comparison to other sports GM modes however, I found NHL 10’s to be lacking, aside from making trades with your Blackberries (the higher your rank, the more Blackberries you get to use) and drafting there really isn’t much more else involved, you can increase your employee stats but from what I found in the 5 years of being a GM, it doesn’t really make a difference. The good news though, is that if I become the GM of the Maple Leafs, they will win the Stanley Cup in 2014!

We’re not here to read all about the different modes and what I thought of them though, we’re here for hockey! so lets talk about how it actually plays out. The default controls are intuitive, left stick controls your skates, right controls your stick for easy deking and aiming shots. If it gets a little complicated there are many other control schemes to choose from, my alternative favourite being NHL ‘94 mode with the only buttons being B to shoot (or check) and A to pass (or switch players), simple. Now otherwise the only other control schemes I think worth talking about in this review would be the wall play and fighting. Wall play if you have the puck and are near the wall push Y and you brace yourself against the wall so that you may kick the puck to a teammate. Alternatively if you are near someone doing just that, you can force a player onto the walls and steal the puck from them. Now fighting is by far my favourite part of actually playing the hockey game, first person fighting, after the whistle action, instigation, it’s all improved in such a way that you can fight almost whenever you want. When fighting you’re brought into first person mode: left stick moves your body, right stick aims your fists of fury; as well you can tug on your opponent’s jersey, perform upper cuts and if you want to chicken out, you can pull both shoulder buttons and turtle.

Graphically NHL 10 is superior to NHL ‘09, but then again, isn’t that always the case? Smooth animations, motion captured skaters, reflections and now especially crowd interactions (banging on the windows, swinging team colours around during playoffs and whatnot). This is EA Sports, the annual NHL title, it’s got to be the best of the best, the most polished out there and as such it has a lot to live up to. I’m here to tell you that it does live up to it’s expectations, amazing realistic graphics and not a single glitch to be found.

Dragon Force just screams hockey anthem, doesn't it?

Music is another story. While NHL 10 has a number of big songs from the likes of Green Day, CKY, and Dragon Force; and they’re all great songs, I found they didn’t really mesh with the game. Especially when playing in non-hockey modes like Be a GM the heavy strong songs just keep playing over and over and while I enjoy the tunes, songs that pump you up for a game, kind of confuse you when negotiating a trade. Grunts and whistles are standard fair but what I feel most players are interested in would be the voice commentary? Is it annoying? Does it repeat often? Luckily the answer to both is no. As Gary Thorne and Bill Clement come back from NHL ‘09, NHL 10 has similar banter from great voices in hockey and there are enough specific commentary calls to keep players interested in what they have to say time and time again.

Overall if your a fan of hockey games, you probably already own NHL 10, however, if you’re like me and haven’t really gotten into a hockey title since NHL ‘99, this year is as good as any to dive back in due to the many options in terms of difficulty and control. However, I have to warn you, there is quite a steep learning curve for those new to the title, trust me, I’ve been playing for a while now and I still suck (yes, I guess it could be that I just overall suck but… let’s not go there). With a plethora of options, game modes, and online play (I was just invited to an online team for online league play) this title will keep you busy for a long long time… or at least until NHL 11 comes out. Hopefully then the GM mode will expand to something more in depth, more in line with other GM modes like Madden and other GM specific titles.

Gameplay: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Replay Value: 5/5

P.S. I’ve never given a game Editor’s Choice before, congrats EA Sports!

Sneak Preview – EA NHL 10

Josh Salem — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:07:11 +0000

andPOP was given a special opportunity to have a look at EA NHL 10 which comes out very shortly. Jordan and Josh spoke with Patrick Kane and John Tavares about being on the cover, and also had a quick play of the game. What we can say is it’s the best EA NHL game yet!

Game Review: Transformers – Revenge of the Fallen

Aaron Cappe — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:06:31 +0000

Less Than Meets The Eye

Normally, video game tie-ins to blockbuster movies suffer rush-to-release, loosely-based-on, terribly-voiced products. In all of these categories, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen excels. Once the disc starts spinning up, you get the standard “voice-over to bring you up to speed” cinematics. Which would be tolerable, except Peter Cullen sounds completely bored out of his mind, and is just waiting to see the recording light in the studio shut off so he can go home. Not the best way to get the player into the mood for what follows. Although, it is an honest measure of things to come.

From a technical standpoint, Revenge builds on the original Transformers game, itself a tie-in to the 2007 film. There were numerous issues with the original, from poor environment detailing, shoddy controls, boring missions and a general lack of feeling like you are controlling a 30 foot mechanical behemoth. In Revenge, you have much better looking character models, almost identical in scale and detail as their movie counterparts, and you have decent enough environments to play around in. The most inconvenient thing is that you are always forced to remain within the confines of a pre-determined “action zone”, and there is simply no way to escape it. See a neat skyline in the background of Shanghai? Forget it – you’re stuck in the same quarter-mile block of identical buildings, fighting identical looking robot drones.

Controls haven’t improved much either. In fact, they’ve taken a few evolutionary steps backwards from the original. You are now forced to use the right trigger to transform – and hold it down to remain transformed. This wouldn’t be such a big issue, except that this is also your acceleration function. So once you transform, you’re always moving. And if you want to brake? Well, don’t take your finger off the trigger, or else you change back to your robot form. Sure, you’re saying, that’s not so bad. Okay – but the same button also controls you’re primary weapon in robot mode. I lost track of the number of times I would fight to target an enemy, lock on, and then ….. change into a truck and drive straight into a wall. All the while taking potshots from enemies the camera refused to allow me to focus on.

Now, I’m all for head-scratching controls. But combined with boring, tedious, and worst of all, repetitive missions, it feels like the game was specifically designed so you would scream at the top of your lungs “Yes, I actually like the movie better!”. Escort missions where characters fail to appear where you need them, or appear and disappear once you arrive at their destination; Protection missions where your allies are completely useless and will head straight for new enemy fire while you are still attempting to recover from the last blitz of generated enemies; pointless race missions where you never feel like you can control your vehicle, mostly because when you need to take a quick turn, you’ll inadvertently transform into your robot mode.

Bumblebee, Flame on!

To add even more salt to this wound is the atrocious voice acting. Megatron and Optimus Prime are voiced fairly well, although both Peter Cullen and Frank Welker seem to have had a lot less fun with this round of studio time than the last outing. The rest of the Autobots and Decepticons however, leave a lot to be desired. For the most part it seems as if their volume controls were somehow lost during post-production, or their robotic sound effects modules are cranked past eleven. The human voice-overs are even less tolerable, which is good because they only show up every now and then.

Something very odd, and very off-putting, I found during the cutscenes between missions where your current leader will tally up your bonuses and mission objectives, was that Optimus Prime seemed to be a lot harder on his troops than Megatron ever was. I’m not afraid to say that I actually felt put down when I was told I needed to start finishing more secondary objectives or we would lose the war. And then I felt mad for the designers thinking that they could ever force people to keep playing this disaster of a game.

The only time this game has a chance to actually shine is in the multiplayer component. This is quite simply, the games most redeeming quality. It’s not amazing, but it’s much more fun to fight against actual people than the shoddy A.I., and the modes are all generally fun. There’s classic Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, along with a Transformers version of Capture the Flag, where you need to capture five pieces of the All-Spark. There’s also One Shall Stand mode, where the goal is to take out the other team’s leader; and Control Points, which is something very similar to what you find in Unreal Tournament III. Working together with other people to take down the enemy leader is actually quite a rewarding experience – as long as the game doesn’t freeze mid-session.

Don't forget the DLC packs for new Transformer skins.

Overall, I have to say that this is a game only the most die-hard of die-hard fans can enjoy. There are a number of unlockables, such as classic Generation 1 television episodes (S.O.S. Dinobots, Fire on the Mountain), as well as G1 single- and multi-player skins for some of the robots, and you can start accumulating enough points to unlock things within the first few missions. However, the presentation, controls, repetitiveness and general lack of polish simply make this another quick-release money-printing vehicle – wait until this one ends up in the bargain bin.

Gameplay: 2/5

Graphics: 3/5

Sound: 3/5

Replay: 2/5

Xbox Live Update Preview

Josh Salem — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 18:35:37 +0000

You’ve probably heard that an Xbox 360 Live update was coming, if you knew when or what it entailed is another story. We’re here to set the record straight by discussing a few of the new updates coming to Xbox Live this August 11th.

Avatar expansions

Your virtual character in the Xbox world will be getting a massive update with plenty to styalize and customize your character. The avatar marketplace will open to allow gamers to purcahse premium outfits and accessories.

New props allow your avatar to character items that bring custom animations to your friends channel page.

New brands such as Adidas, Quiksilver, and Roxy allow you to show off your brand awareness clout.

New styles such as Steampunk and Recessionista allow your characters to have themed outfits.

New awards for your avatar just by playing games such as ‘Splosion Man’.

As well, your favourite games from Halo to Star Wars will have themed avatar costumes and accessories to enjoy.

Direct Download Xbox 360 titles

I’m not sure what EB games and Gamestop will be doing this coming year as coming August 11th, you have almost no reason to venture into these stores and drop cash for games. The reason is due to Games on Demand.

Launching globally with 30 Xbox 360 titles for direct download straight to your Xbox 360 hard drve. Gamers will be able to purchase these games either with their credit cards (thanks to PayPal), or through MS points.

With new titles being released every tuesday and available for download 24/7, theres no reason to ever leave your house again! Canada’s starting line-up includes:

Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft)
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts)
Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft)
BioShock (2K Games)
Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios)
ridge racer 6 (Namco)
Burnout Paradise (EA)
Meet The Robinsons (Disney)
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games)
Call of Duty® 2 (Activision)
MX vs. ATV Untamed (THQ)
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (SEGA)
Viva Piñata 2: Trouble in Paradise (Microsoft Game Studios)
Need for Speed Carbon (EA)
TEST DRIVE: UNLIMITED (Atari)
Fight Night Round 3 (EA)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2K Games/Bethesda Softworks)
Prey (2K Games)
Viva Piñata (Microsoft Game Studios)

Movie growth

Netflix is expanding their services on Xbox (sorry, NOT AVAILABLE IN CANADA) with a number of new features due to the overwheleming sucess of movie streaming on consoles (game consoles are the most popular devices for bringing web-based video to the TV). New features such as the ability to update your Nexflix queue from your couch and the choice to watch with friends having your avatars in the front row via Xbox LIVE Movie Parties.

Other new features include the ability to organize your Xbox dashboard as you see fit and search for whatever you need, Xbox Live Marketplace user ratings, and much more! Time for more Xbox for this gamer.

G-Force The Video Game Pops Out At andPOP… In 3D!

Josh Salem — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:07:29 +0000

Jenn had the opportunity to take the brand new G-Force video game for a spin on the Xbox 360 in 3D! While enjoying this guinea pig infested preview we spoke with THE G-Force expert about 3D functionality, Jerry Bruckheimer, the plot behind this game and much more.

Taking Control of team lead Darwin and his surveillance spy Mooch, you are the last line of defense against appliances turned evil robots bent on death, destruction and the end of civilization as we know it. Don’t worry, it’s a Disney game / movie… in 3D!

NBA 2K10: Draft Combine Screenshots

andPOP Staff — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 23:58:06 +0000

2K Sports has announced NBA 2K10: Draft Combine, a download only game for basketball fans to have some fun with the pre-season. The game drops in September for Xbox (400 points) and PS3 ($4.99).

NBA 2K10: Draft Combine will allow fans to create their own custom player with the utmost detail and, for the first time in the NBA 2K series, begin their career by experiencing the on-court life of an NBA hopeful going through the NBA Draft Combine at the world-renowned, ATTACK Athletics gym in Chicago.

We’ve got some screenshots from the game.

Features of NBA 2K10: Draft Combine include:

Building custom players by working with a mentor, the 2K Insider, and increasing their NBA stock through a variety of challenging basketball drills and 5-on-5 games.
Over 300 different signature customizations, including player-specific shooting animations, dunk and dribble packages and more to allow each created player to have his own unique personal style.
Ability to strengthen all parts of the created player’s game with a variety of drills, such as shooting, post offense and defense, attacking the basket, dribbling, challenging shots, boxing out for rebounds and more to progress through the NBA Draft Combine.
Organized games that will allow players to gain valuable skill points and offer a variety of specific in-game objectives that will need to be accomplished in order to gain them. At the end of each game, a full analysis will be available for gamers to review their player’s performance and strategize their further improvement.
All players created in NBA 2K10: Draft Combine will wear a special patch on their uniform throughout the rest of that player’s career to denote that they have completed the NBA Draft Combine.
Online leaderboards to track the highest ranking custom built players, and where a player stacks up against the competition.
Opportunity to unlock special achievements on Xbox 360 and trophies for PLAYSTATION 3 system.
Fans can take their custom built players from NBA 2K10: Draft Combine and use them in the all-new My Player career mode in NBA 2K10 launching this fall, allowing them to continue their journey of becoming an NBA legend.

More information is available on the 2K Sports web site.