Friday, October 5, 2007

Microsoft and Bungie agree to start seeing other people.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 5, 2007 — Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of the “Halo®” franchise, to embark on a path to become an independent company. Microsoft will retain an equity interest in Bungie, at the same time continuing its long-standing publishing agreement between Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie for the Microsoft-owned “Halo” intellectual property as well as other future properties developed by Bungie.

The critically acclaimed Xbox 360®-exclusive “Halo 3” achieved $300 million in global sales in its first week. Released on Tuesday, Sept. 25, “Halo 3” is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.

“Our collaboration with Bungie has resulted in ‘Halo’ becoming an enduring mainstream hit,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “While we are supporting Bungie’s desire to return to its independent roots, we will continue to invest in our ‘Halo’ entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the ‘Halo’ universe. We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through ‘Halo’-related titles and new IP created by Bungie.”

“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,” said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft® platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios; and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.”

Bungie Studios will remain in its current location in Kirkland, Wash.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

It's out. Go get it. Seriously, you won't be disappointed.

Time is running out...

The epic story of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker continues as Link finds himself lost and alone in unknown seas in a new adventure. Featuring intuitive touch-screen controls and innovative puzzles, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass offers new challenges for fans of the series and an easy-to-grasp introduction for gamers new to The legend of Zelda. But time grows short, and only the Phantom Hourglass can buy Link the minutes he’ll need to survive.


Here is an excerpt of the Gamespot review:

It's kind of shocking when you think about it, but despite the Nintendo DS's nearly three-year lifespan, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the first Zelda game to hit the system. The good news is that it was worth the wait. Phantom Hourglass is essentially a sequel to the GameCube Zelda adventure The Wind Waker. It retains the art style, surrounding world, and plot of that game, but it revamps the mechanics for DS use. The result is a game that is unmistakably Zelda, with its perilous dungeons, tricky puzzles, and engaging boss battles; at the same time, Phantom Hourglass is a unique and innovative entry in the series due largely to its exclusively touch-screen-based control scheme. Everything you do in the game involves taps and swipes of the stylus, from traditional fights and puzzles, to new and specialized functions that really change the way you think about playing a Zelda game.

Read the whole review here.


Monday, October 1, 2007

All Pro Football 2K8

Every year sports games come out and it takes weeks if not months to find decent slider settings. I don't know why companies don't just make Pro the best possible default setting for the game to be played. I really have no clue why the rookie settings are there. Seriously, if you suck that bad at playing sports video games that you need to play on rookie, maybe that genre isn't for you. The other end of the spectrum is usually called Hall of Fame (or All Madden) and is equally ridiculous in how the computer cheats to be competitive. I usually end up vacillating between Pro and All Pro depending on the game. What ends up happening is that there is no middle ground either I struggle to win at All Pro and have really low scoring games or I find Pro to be too easy. I have changed my outlook somewhat and decided that it is more fun to be able to move the ball and generate some offense than get into defensive wars that end up 6 - 3. With that in mind I have found some good sliders over at Operation Sports and so far they are working out quite well. Here they are: (sliders by NJPapi)

Human Blocking 70
Human Passing 50
Human Running 40
Human Catching 80
Human Coverage 70
Human Pursuit 50
Human Tackling 60
Human Kicking 60
Human Fatigue 50


Cpu Blocking 75
Cpu Passing 80
Cpu Running 90
Cput Catching 55
Cpu Coverage 100
Cpu Pursuit 70
Cpu Tackling 45
Cpu Kicking 50
Cpu Fatigue 50

Global Sliders
Injury 50
Fumble 100
Interception 80



I play 10 minute quarters for a good reflection of stats with accelerated clock

I use maximum passing

Game Speed is set at normal

No accelerated clocks unless you want to crank the time to 10 minutes

Performance EQ is turned off... this is to balance teams out

Auto Strafe Mode must be off


For those that want to use my custom camera here is the settings


Camera Custom

QB Pivot Mode (Home) On

Pass Play Zoom OUt (Home) Off

QB Pivot Mode (Away) ON

Pass Play Zoom Out (Away) Off

Camera Distance 54

Camera Pitch 0

Camera Angle 50

Camera Height 0


You may also want to try these Penalty sliders. There is a theory that they also affect game play, but I haven't verified that yet. Here they are: (penalty sliders by: Catcatch22)

nuetral zone infraction - 48
defensive pass interference - 65
offensive pass interference - 80
offensive holding - 100
defensive holding - 40
clipping - 100
roughing the passer - 0
roughing the kicker - 50
late hit - 50
ineligible receiver downfield - 55
face mask - 52