Happy New Year!

Parts of the world are already in 2009 and I hear things are going well so far there in the future. Just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year before I head out for the night. I'll see you all next year!

That's it. Nothing else. Last post of 2008.

Games of the Year

We at XYBA decided that we couldn't let all the big blog sites have all the fun so we went cagematch style to determine our own games of the year. In the end, after a bout of bloody fighting(Josh fights dirty) we decided to just post all of our picks. Our choices after the jump. (Face, Charlie!)

Game of the Year:

Andy: Fallout 3
Charlie: Gears of War 2
Josh: Gears of War 2

Gears of War 2 gets the coveted XYBA Game of the Year award. Josh and Charlie love the Horde mode and are constantly playing it. Runner-up is Fallout 3.

Casual Game of the Year:

Andy: Scene It? BOS
Charlie: Rock Band 2
Josh: *Declined*

Probably the hardest category for us because we aren't big casual gamers. We're giving the award to Rock Band 2 with Scene It? BOS receiving the runner-up.

Co-op Game of the Year:

Andy: Left 4 Dead
Charlie: Rock Band 2
Josh: Saint's Row 2

A three way split! There were some good co-op games this year, online and off. I went with Left 4 Dead because this is a game that truly requires cooperative play to succeed. I tend to often go lone wolf on a lot of co-op games, but if you do that on Left 4 Dead, you're toast. Josh went with Saint's Row 2 because the co-op on it is so smooth and makes the game ten times more fun. Charlie went with Rock Band 2... no explanation given.

New IP of the Year:

Andy: Left 4 Dead
Charlie: LittleBigPlanet
Josh: Left 4 Dead

Our New IP award goes to Left 4 Dead. Valve did it again with a post-apocalyptic world where an unlikely group of survivors bands together to try and escape the zombie masses. The AI and the "Director" make the game different every time you play it, and the online versus mode guarantees you'll be replaying this game. We can't wait for more DLC or Left 4 Dead 2. Runner-up is LittleBigPlanet.

RPG of the Year:

Andy: Fallout 3
Charlie: Fallout 3
Josh: Locks Quest

Fallout 3 is our RPG of the Year. Bethesda did it again. They took a beloved franchise and changed it without fucking it up. The massive post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 3 is beautiful and deadly. This is a game we spent countless hours on and still went back for more. Runner up is Locks Quest on the DS.

Shooter of the Year:

Andy: Saint's Row 2
Charlie: *Voided*
Josh: Saint's Row 2

Charlie's vote was voided since he picked Call of Duty: Modern Warfare which came out last year. Our Shooter of the Year is Saint's Row 2. I don't know if this won awards from many other organizations, but we love us some Saint's Row 2. This game has what so many games tend to miss: fun! Saint's Row 2 is possibly THE most fun game I played all year. Much of the fun is from co-op, but the game stands without it as well.

Rant: I Hate Game Freezes!

I've had to deal with some game freezing on my Xbox 360 lately. It seems to be certain games and not the Xbox itself(hopefully). But it's very frustrating, especially when playing games without a real save system.

I picked up Call of Duty: World at War on sale at Best Buy last week. I beat the campaign playing split-screen co-op in one sitting. It seemed like it was going to freeze at one point but unfroze after a few seconds. I then played online multiplayer for a few days - no problems. I went back to play the campaign on solo(there's more missions and achievements on solo). The game has frozen on me a few times trying to go solo. So I stopped playing.

I instead moved onto The Incredible Hulk. Sure, it got some bad reviews, but I picked it up from Gamefly for like $9. I found out that I actually enjoy it. It reminds me of Spiderman 3 except that it's fun.

When I'm doing the missions and such, it runs fine. But I'm trying to get an achievement for destroying an entire New York neighborhood. I chose Spanish Harlem. Because it's the smallest neighborhood.

However, it's froze up twice while I've been on a massive rampage. Today I took my score from 900,000 to 2.9 million while on a level 8 rampage and destroying 69% of Spanish Harlem. Just as I was thinking I should start a mission or something before it froze up - it froze. I did get an achievement or two while on my rampage, but all the powers and such I unlocked will be back to locked when I boot it up again.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from the XYBA Podcast crew!!!

Gears of War X-mas

Here's a video that we put together over the past weekend. A little tribute to Gears of War during the holiday season. Enjoy.

Tabula Rasa is Now Free

Tabula Rasa is a sci-fi MMO developed by Richard "Lord British" Garriott, the father of MMOs having helped create Ultima Online. Last month was the game's one year anniversary and the announcement that Tabula Rasa would be shutting down at the end of February. At the time, they announced the servers would go free in January. Apparently, they've moved that time up because you can now download and play the game for free.

You can click here to download the game's client. Then you need to go to the Support Page of PlayNC to request a code for Tabula Rasa. And you'll need to use that code on your PlayNC account. When making your account, they will ask for a credit card, but they say you will not be charged.

I always thought this game looked good, and if anyone could have made a good sci-fi MMO, I would think Garriott would be the one. For some reason, I've noticed sci-fi MMOs tend to do worse than others. Plus, this game had a character pose for Playboy! (Go ahead, do a Tabula Rasa Playboy image search on Google, we'll wait.)

I'm going to try to get my PC back up and running just to try out this game. (It hasn't worked since June.) Too bad there's not a Mac version...

Remember the game will go offline February 28th so get your free playing in while there's still time. Or better yet, give the file and code to someone as a Christmas gift!

Rumors: Crackdown 2

Edge has some interesting information about a new Microsoft game developer team being created in Scotland. Apparently the team is made of members who created Crackdown, the sandbox game where you play as a supercop.

For now it is all speculation that the team will be working on Crackdown 2. It stands to reason that Crackdown will have a sequel since the first one was well received after players realized the game was tons of fun and not just a source to get the Halo 3 beta. And since Realtime Worlds is busy working on APB, which should be awesome, there is a need for another team to work on the sequel in order to get it out sooner.

I'm hoping this rumor is true because I love Crackdown. I would like to see them improve it by fixing the driving controls and maybe come up with some cool fighting combos, so I can really beat the crap out of people. I say steal the grab and throw mechanic from Saints Row II.

Free Avatar

Microsoft released an interesting little toy on xbox.com - Free Your Avatar. It allows anyone to make various pictures with Xbox Live avatars.

You type in someone's gamertag and it pulls up their avatar. You then drag the avatar into the picture where you can move it around and/or resize it. You can even drag in multiple avatars. You can also add in a background and a line of text.

But you can only add one line of text(in black or white). If you want to add other lines, you'll have to do it with a picture editor after exporting the image.



The weird thing about it is that you can use anyone's avatar. So you can make pictures with griefers and people you have problems with on Xbox Live.

Review: The Video Game Awards Show

I can't remember if I've ever watched an awards show before, but I watched Spike TV's Video Game Awards Show tonight. Some of it was entertaining, but a lot of it seemed stilted and vaguely uncomfortable like the actors had never seen their lines before.

Most of the musical guests were fine, but when the announcers and actors would be talking with each other nobody seemed to know what was going on. Jack Black did well most of the time, but there were bits when he also seemed confused. I like how Neil Patrick Harris had no idea who the winner of his award was. Awkward...

And who let crazy Mike Tyson come on with his crazy face tattoo?

Gears 2 Combustible Map Pack Available Tomorrow

It had been rumored before, but it was just confirmed on Spike TV's Video Game Awards - a new Gears of War 2 map pack will be available for download on Xbox Live tomorrow(technically midnight PST).

The Combustible Map Pack will include three new maps for use in multiplayer.

Flood is a map filled with imulsion which rises throughout your game, causing the safe areas to shift. Fuel Station takes place around a gas station. Gold Rush seems to have a lot of high ground/low ground.

No official word about the price of these maps, but rumor prices it at 800 Microsoft points.

Mercenaries 2 DLC Coming Tuesday

EA and Pandemic Studios are releasing a DLC pack for Mercenaries 2 on December 16th. One great thing about this content? It's free for the month of December!

The Blow It Up Again content pack contains four additional game modes and a few "patriotic characters."

I'm not exactly sure what the patriotic characters, but I'm definitely downloading this. Of course, it's free. But it will also motivate me to finally beat the game. I had a lot of fun when I first got the game but then got distracted by some other games...

Update: Apparently, this DLC is already live on the Playstation Network so if you have Mercenaries 2 on your PS3, go ahead and get to downloading!

Star Wars: The Old Republic - Video Doc #1

Bioware has released their first community update email that includes a link to the first documentary about the upcoming game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I've heard game journalist mention that they thought the game looked like garbage, but I think it looks good. They are definitely going with a cartoon look, but it looks clean and consistent. I loved KOTOR and KOTOR2, so I'm really looking forward to this. I just hope the rumors aren't true that I will have to pay an extra monthly fee to play the game online.

Wii Sold 2 Million in November

Nintendo is rolling in the dough and finally shipping more units to consumers. The NPD is reporting that the Wii hardware sales for November reached past 2 million units.

2nd place is held by Nintendo's very own DS hardware, which brought in 1.5 million units during November. No other company came close to even reaching half of the Nintendo Wii sales.

GTA IV DLC Release Date Confirmed

Microsoft has confirmed the rumors that the new DLC "The Lost and Damned" for Grand Theft Auto IV will be available on the Xbox Live marketplace beginning February 17th.

This addition will allow players to play the character of Johnny Klebitz, a member of the motorcycle gang The Lost. It will also introduce new multiplayer modes, vehicles, weapons and music.

No official word yet on the price for this DLC, but I wouldn't expect it to be cheap.

The DLC will be exclusive(at least for a time) to the Xbox 360. DLC is expected for the PS3 in the future, but it may not be the same. Microsoft paid to get the first DLC for GTA IV.

Rumor: Splinter Cell Release Date?

I ran across this release date the other week on Gamestop's website, but apparently it's starting to appear with other retailers as well. Splinter Cell: Conviction is being listed with a February 2nd release date.

Personally, I don't put much stock into this. I think there would have been a much bigger to do about the official release. And it doesn't fit with Ubisoft's fiscal plans. So I wouldn't bet on this rumor.

... Unless the game is beyond salvage and Ubisoft is going to quietly release it just to get it over with.

Opinion: Xbox 360's Avatars

I like the New Xbox Experience (NXE). It's slick and interesting. But I really like the Avatars. I don't know why I like them, but I do. I mess with my Avatar all the time.

Reactions to the Avatars have been interesting. Critics decry them as simply rip-offs of Miis. And they definitely are influenced by Miis. But they're so much more.

First off, the option of changing the clothing and having different clothes and such to choose from is one of the biggest improvements. People complain that in the future Microsoft will make money in microtransactions from selling clothing items and outfits on Xbox Live. And believe me, that will be coming. But if you don't like it, don't buy it! It's that simple. There's plenty of free clothes available and more on the way. (They just released some winter clothes as modeled by my Avatar.)

I, personally, will spend some money on such things if I find something I like, but that's what I do - spend money needlessly in order to help the economy.

I can also see the Avatars helping companies with pre-orders or limited edition sales. Include a code to download limited clothing items that pertain to the game? That would sell. Believe me, having my Avatar be able to wear a Gears of War outfit would be much cooler than a gold lancer(sorry, Charlie).

I also find the Avatars interesting because most people work hard to make their Avatar look like themselves. But some people just work to make their Avatar look like a freak. One thing I found odd about the Avatars is that you can't really make them that fat. My Avatar is as fat as they get, and he's not that fat.

I also like the way that you can take various pictures of your Avatar and use that as your Gamerpic. Of course, this makes the vast majority of the Gamerpics I've accumulated over the years worthless. Maybe they could make an option where I could put a cool Gamerpic on a T-shirt for my Avatar...

   

December Game Releases

It's been an avalanche of games the last couple months, but now that the weather's getting colder and Santa's looking over his lists, the games have begun to slow. But let's see what stocking stuffers we might find...
 

DS Titles
December 1
• Emma at the Farm
December 2
• Animal Boxing
• Dreamer: Puppy Trainer
• Mushroom Men - Rise of the Fungi
• My Fun Facts Coach
• Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
• Slingo Quest
• The Tale of Despereaux
• Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge
December 9
• Cate West: The Vanishing Files
• Drivers Ed Portable
December 16
• Candace Kane's Candy Factory
• C.O.R.E.
• Peggle
December 18
• Left Brain Right Brain 2
December 21
• Master of the Monster Lair
December 23
• Bigfoot: Collision Course
• Paint by DS
December 29
• Secret Files: Tunguska

PC Titles
December 1
• DQ Tycoon
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
December 2
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Shaun White Snowboarding
• The Tale of Despereaux
• A Vampyre Story
December 5
• Defense Grid: The Awakening
December 9
• Prince of Persia Prodigy
• Runes of Magic
December 16
• Rise of the Argonauts

PS2 Titles
December 2
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
• SingStar ABBA
• The Tale of Despereaux
December 9
• Persona 4
December 22
• Rock Band 2
December 31
• Fun Park

PS3 Titles
December 2
• Prince of Persia Prodigy
• SingStar ABBA
December 4
• Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer
December 9
• Sonic Unleashed
December 16
• Rise of the Argonauts

PSP Titles
December 9
• Dungeon Maker II: The Hidden War

Wii Titles
December 1
• Space Invaders Get Even
December 2
• Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun
• Family Party: 30 Great Games
• My Fitness Coach
• Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars
• Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek
• The Tale of Despereaux
December 3
• SPRay
December 9
• Bigfoot: Collision Course
• Fun Park
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure
• Rygar: The Battle of Argus
• Six Flags Fun Park
December 15
• Deadly Creatures
• Ultimate Shooting Collection
December 16
• WordJong Party
December 22
• Rock Band 2
December 29
• Secret Files: Tunguska
December 30
• Deal or No Deal
December 31
• Puzzle Kingdoms

Xbox 360 Titles
December 1
• Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon
December 2
• Prince of Persia Prodigy
• The Tale of Despereaux
December 3
• Banjo-Kazooie
December 16
• Rise of the Argonauts