Bioshock 2 recently came out, and while I am playing my way through the game as we speak so I can put up our official review, it has made me think about the next installment. Bioshock 3 was officially announced before the second game came out, and some are reporting that the third one will drop when the Bioshock movie comes out. Hit the jump to see what I want in Bioshock 3.
If you have been to gametrailers.com in the past few months, you may have seen the advertisement for pre-ordering Battlefield: Bad Company 2 at GameStop. I think I can even say the entire ad from memory, "Pre-order Battlefield: Bad Company 2 at GameStop and unlock Rush Mode 30 days before everyone else..Power to the players." Do I even have to explain why this is so ridiculous..oh I do. Okay, well follow me inside and I will tell you.
It's finally here after months of development. We have finally launched our brand new website and I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's our best design yet! We've worked countless hours on it and we still have much to do to get the site as accessible and as sophisticated as we had planned.
So what do you think? Is the new style modern enough for you? Perhaps you can see areas of the site where we can improve the design. We still have much to do, but the site is completely usable. Some things that we do have planned:
- User pages - Forum - Facebook style wall-posting
and so much more.
I'll be sure to keep you updated, but I truly hope you do enjoy everything we've done!
Hello old friends. How are you doing? I feel like we haven't spoken in a long time. How was your holidays? Was it filled with a lot of gaming? I played a lot of video games this break. I played a lot of games of FIFA '10, a lot of Modern Warfare 2, and finally got Left 4 Dead 2, which is awesome. Although I am having problems with my Xbox. It is having problems reading the discs! This would be the fourth time I'd have to send my console to repair, and the last time I sent it to repair I got a refurbished console back. That was this past September, and my warranty is already expired. I think I need to give a call to Microsoft. It is really starting to get annoying. Anyway, post in the comments what you guys did this break. Make sure to stay tuned to Baxy-z, we have a lot of exciting things coming your way. I'm extremely excited about what is going on behind the scenes, and you guys should be very anxious to see what is coming with the site. I hope all of our readers had a great holiday.
In about 5 hours time, Christmas day will finally be upon us. After the long and cold winter nights, the guy with the sack in red will be dropping into our chimneys and hopefully leaving the game we want this Year.
2009 has been a great year for Baxy-Z. We officially launched in February and we've grown stronger and stronger and bigger and bigger. I would like to thank everyone that's helped with the site. Of course, first and foremost to my right hand Myles. He's obviously been there from the start and he's helped to post a great amount of content in the last 9 month. He's also a very loyal and great friend.
Even though 2009 had a lot of great games come out, and a lot of great games were announced, there was still some very disappointing things that happened in 2009. I've compiled a list of what we feel is the 10 most disappointing things that happened in the world of gaming in 2009. Lets get this list started...
10: No Hitman Announcement in 2009
This one is more of a personal disappointment for me. I love the Hitman games, with the last one being released in 2006. I figured we would hear something this year, considering Square Enix announced that a new Hitman game was being scheduled for a Christmas release...Christmas of 2008. Hopefully we will hear something next year.
Even though Baxy-Z is a Xbox 360 site, we don't turn away from other things happening in the gaming world. We know that Uncharted 2 is amazing, as Myles told us in his review. We also know that PC gamers are really mad about the upcoming version of Modern Warfare 2. Why, you may ask. Well, for starters the game is going to cost $60. Xbox 360 games cost $60, big whoop right? Wrong. Big budget PC games normally cost $50 when they are released. The first Modern Warfare was $50, Call of Duty: World at War was $50, so why this price hike? Activision really hasn't said, but I am assuming they increased the price because they can. They know a lot of people are going to buy it, so why not get $10 extra out of everybody. This is the first thing that is messed up with the PC version.
Go inside to see what else is wrong with the PC version
Some videos are popping up all over the internet of people who have gotten their hands on an early copy of Modern Warfare 2. This is no surprise, as big game releases usually get leaked before release day. But one video has caught people by surprise. While it was only on the internet for a short time before Activision had it taken down, many people feel that this opening is pushing it a little to far. Since we can't host the video, I'll describe the video to you.
The opening level is the airport terrorist attack that you have seen in the trailers for MW2. But you don't take the spectator role in this level. You play as an undercover CIA agent working with the terrorist cell, and you participate in the airport massacre, mowing down innocent civilians left and right. A couple of a times a wounded civilian would be crawling on the floor, only to be shot in the back. After you make it through the airport and a couple thousand bullets, you have to square off with the police outside of the airport. It is a horrific scene, but in all honesty, I think this is the perfect way to start off the game. It is a very intense, eye opening level, and that is the kind of intensity Infinity Ward is going for. After watching the video, I'm even more excited for this game. If we find the video somewhere on the internet, we'll make sure to post it for you guys. If you have seen the video, what did you think about it?
UPDATE: We have found the video. It is after the jump. Watch it if you want, but it is kind of a spoiler. If you do watch it, tell us what you think.
UPDATE 2: It looks like Activision asked Destructoid to take the video down, so we no longer the video up.
It isn't everyday that we post fan trailers on Baxy-z. But when you come across such a high quality video like this one, you can't help put publish it. This fan trailer comes from Marius Hjerpseth, and it showcases Christiano Ronaldo's free kick skill. This should also hype up all the North American readers for FIFA '10 tomorrow. We'll have our official review for FIFA '10 later this week. Enjoy the video!
Immersion in gaming is an aspect that many developers miss, but not the developers of Resident Evil. Throughout each instalment in the zombie shoot ‘em up – whether in dimly lit hallways, in luscious outside environments or in gritty industrial plants – the cast of enemies the games pit you against are about as morbid as it gets. Perhaps not as creepy as ones found in Silent Hill, but certainly more disgusting and just as nightmarish; these creatures are truly the greatest part of immersion in the franchise, which partly claims its fame due to claustrophobic level design and awkward controls, bringing in fans time and time again only for them to stutter in shock of scares that are always waiting around each corner. Yes, they’re that good, so why not have a top ten?
Resident Evil has no limit in great enemies in terms of design, difficulty and effect, so we’re just classifying this as the ultimate or “best” list. We’ve avoided cliché spots such as the generic zombies, hounds or crows; this is the crème de la crème of monsters...
David Rutter, Producer of the FIFA franchise, was able to take a couple minutes out of his schedule to answer a few questions about FIFA '10.
David Rutter, Producer, FIFA Soccer 10 on Xbox 360 and PS3
Baxy-Z: FIFA '09 was not only one of the best soccer games of all time, but one of the best sports games that I've ever played. What did you guys do to make sure that FIFA '10 still feels fresh to the long time fans?
David Rutter: This year we spent a lot of times cruising the forums and talking to people. We even flew a bunch of guys over from our main fan websites and played early builds with them for a few days. Generally we find what matters most to our hardcore fans and focus on these elements. This year in FIFA 10 we added not just a heap of improvements to the gameplay based on this feedback, but a raft of features too. A practice arena and match, major improvements to manager mode being the two biggest. We also focus on innovating new features in the game so you see unexpected features like Create Set Pieces and Virtual Pro.
With the release date announced for the next Dashboard update slated as November 17th, people are starting to get excited to be able to tweet or update their status through their Xbox's. But if begs the question, will it really benefit the Xbox 360?
Facebook, Last FM and Twitter were all announced at this year's E3, and I admit, the ability to listen to streaming music on the 360 sounds great; and being able to view my friend's statuses is also a pretty cool idea. But is it really helpful? I'd say no. My Xbox is right next to my computer, and to be honest, it would be a lot quicker and easier to use my PC as opposed to the Xbox. The on-screen controller (without the QWERTY keyboard add-on) is very time consuming, and conventional typing is a lot easier.
Obviously, that's just me, but I'm sure the same can be said about the rest of you, too.
Many phones, PDAs and iPods can now access Facebook and twitter almost instantly, from pretty much anywhere in the world. You can update your status anytime, and anywhere, and probably a lot easier than it would be if you were trying to do it on the 360. Remember, the Xbox 360 isn't portable, and in most cases, the Xbox is bound to be in the bedroom; which is likely where your computer or some other piece of technology is likely to be.
However, it's still very cool to be able to update your status whilst in game, and be able to have the ability to access your Facebook through Live whilst ripping through locusts in Gears of War.
When Nintendo first shown to the world, back in 2005, what their ideas of what gaming should be about, everyone in the world pointed and laughed in their faces. Claims that it would be "gimmicky" and that it was quickly dismissed by many gamers. However, fast forward a little bit and gamers, as well as developers, finally saw the potential of the strange little device.
Yet, even with people now warming up to the Wii remote, developers, gamers and publishers were uneasy by the trend Nintendo had suddenly taken. Of course, being rival companies, both Sony and Microsoft bashed Nintendo for their radical change in prospective. They were all like "we have better graphics so people will hate your console" (they were very child-like about it in my opinion), yet I'm sure that both companies knew Nintendo were on to something.
The Wii was finally released, and then the potential was finally realised, and Nintendo were rolling in the cash. Sony and Microsoft both wanted in.
Fast forward about 3 years and E3 2009 took place. Rumours had been flying around about the two other companies about the direction they would take in terms of gaming, and out of the two, Microsoft shocked crowds more than Sony did with their little stick.
Project Natal was finally announced and, to be quite honest, made the world stop and listen. The new premise was something new and exciting. It may of started out looking like Sony's Eye Toy, but it soon became apparent that it was so much more.
Microsoft demoed the new device using various tech demos, and it shown gamers a brand new dimension of gaming. The idea of the Wii remote to help immerse yourself in the game by doing the actions on screen in real -life, but Microsoft went even further: they made YOU part of the game.
To help break down why I believe (remember, this is my opinion) Project Natal will be better than the competitions, I've split it into 2 sections: "Project Natal Vs. The Wii Remote" and "Project Natal Vs. The PlayStation Motion Controller".
Yes, I know all three are very different in what they do and how they change the way that we play games, but I still think that Natal will better them all.
Someone, somewhere out there actually thinks that this is possible for Project Natal to do their homework. How do I know? Well, according to our website tracking feature we have set up, someone Google'd it, and somehow found our website.
Yeah, that was just a bit of fun, but I really think Project Natal will be great. Why? Because of the numerous things that it will enable gamers to do.
So for the stuff we know it can do...
We know that it detects all motion through the camera, and your entire body can be used to control the game. We also know that you'll be able to speak into the bar as it comes equipped with speech recognition.
However, the most interesting aspect of it for me is something I don't think too many people has properly picked up on yet. And no, I'm not on about Milo. I'm on about the ability to scan certain objects into games and using them as actual items in-game.
I think that's where the inspiration came from regarding the search about Project Natal doing homework. I think the person took it too far and presumed it could literally scan the sheet, read it, and then do the homework.
Whatever it was that motivated them to search such a thing, it still holds a lot of possibilities. Imagine having a game like Scribblenauts (recently released for the DS) using Project Natal? It would be a lot more complex, but imagine the idea of being able to scan any item into the game and using it to reach a certain goal. I think the possibilities would literally be endless.
At a hefty 560 Microsoft points, one would think it a given that Valve's latest L4D downloadable content was a worthy addition to the somewhat small roster of campaigns. It boasts to add ten achievements, features from the game's sequel such as dynamic item spawning and all the modes present in the free update given out months ago for the game. However, if this update is any sign of the quality of Left 4 Dead 2, we are in for a disappointment.
For starters, this DLC is wildly overpriced given its length. The campaign is no longer than any of the other four present in the original. It will take little more than half an hour on the easiest difficulties, with much needed additional time on expert. Considering, though, that this pack only features one campaign, it is still a remarkable failure in terms of longevity and value. Despite Valve's claims of new features, nothing is particularly more interesting than any L4D map...
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