Gamers Forcing EA To Return To Old Ways

by dkpatriarch

© 2009 David Hilton

Remember the bad old EA so many of us gamers spent oodles of time criticising?

EA was the big time publisher that made huge amounts of cash off only releasing games from their pre-existing IPs (Intellectual Properties) like Medal Of Honor, Battlefield, and Burnout, their yearly sports ‘updates’, and off movie licenses like James Bond and Lord Of The Rings.

Most of the games were good, and some of them were bad, but what annoyed many of us the most was that they were being safe and not bothering to try and bring creative new gaming experiences, especially to consoles.  They had the money and the clout to try and be fresh and innovative, but they were just sitting back because they could.

Then they changed.  But now huge financial losses and a layoff of 1,500 staff may herald the end of their positive experiment into new IPs and innovation and a return to the old EA business model.

And it’s our fault.

While EA Games were changing their attitude and creating new IP games like Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, Brutal Legend, and The Saboteur, the other big publishers like Microsoft (Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Halo 3, Halo: ODST), Ubisoft (Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Assassin’s Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Avatar), and Activision (Wolfenstein, Modern Warfare 2, Shrek, Spider Man, X-Men) seem to have adopted EA’s previous philosophy particularly this year after the financial crisis.

Sure there are exceptions like Endwar by Ubisoft and Prototype by Activision, but on the whole the games have been sequels or film tie-ins.

But this problem is not just due to the financial crisis.

As I wrote last year, EA didn’t sell enough of either Dead Space or Mirror’s Edge, despite both games being critically acclaimed by the gaming media.  At the time I argued that their releasing the games during the busy end of year rush was to blame, with new IPs not getting a look in next to the better known titles.

While I still agree with that statement, with some exceptions like the original Assassin’s Creed, a lot of new IPs haven’t done so well this generation next to their sequel or movie tie-in counterparts.  And it hasn’t always been a question of quality.

The top selling Xbox 360 games so far are:

1. Halo 3 (8.1 million)

Big name sequels sell

2. Gears of War (5 million)

3. Gears of War 2 (5 million)

4. Grand Theft Auto IV (4 million)

5. Call Of Duty 4 (3.77 million)

6. Call Of Duty: World At War (3.35 million)

7. Forza 2 (2.6 million)

8. Fable 2 (2.6 million)

9. Halo: ODST (2.5 million)

10. Assassin’s Creed (2.28 million)

Of those titles, only the original Gears of War and Assassin’s Creed were new IPs.  The story is only slightly different for the 360’s major competitor, Sony’s PS3, which has Motorstorm, the original Uncharted, the original Resistance, and Heavenly Sword in their top 1o.

While many gamers demand innovation and new IPs, the reality is that it is a hit or miss risk for the publishers.  Ubisoft last generation released the wacky but highly praised Beyond Good & Evil, only to see the gamers shun it.

And this is why I say it is our fault.  We will happily fork out extra cash over usual retail price for Modern Warfare 2, but Dead Space, despite great reviews and price cuts soon after, was not attractive enough.  Mirror’s Edge, despite giving us the innovation many craved, scared off many gamers who instead forked out for Gears of War 2.

What chance has Brutal Legend got against MW 2?

Brutal Legend, also highly regarded by most critics, as of October 24 apparently has sold 370,710 copies on both consoles.

EA went out on a limb and tried to change its image and corporate strategy to expand its gaming philosophy beyond sequels, sports title rehashes, and movie tie-ins, and did we support that after all our winging?  No.

The situation is that the average gamer has limited funds and may not play as many games as the hardcore.  The casual gamer will buy whatever they know will give them the fix of fun they are after and don’t follow the updates and innovations of new IPs.  They see Mirror’s Edge or Dead Space and think- never heard of it.

The Call of Duty or Halo series on the other hand is not only well known, but is in a genre that is easy to identify and play and their friends are likely to also have it.

This gives big publishers who have the funds to create strong new innovative games less incentive to do so.  Creatively, I’m sure their staff would love to try new things, but the risk outweighs the potential benefits, especially now.  They are more likely to try mini new things within an existing franchise, like the upcoming Splinter Cell: Conviction is.

Which brings me back to EA going back to what they were before.

In January EA CEO John Riccitiello said:

I also believe that there is no inherent conflict between great creativity and achieving strong profitability – I believe they go hand in hand.

This is a business and much of our success will be measured with a calculator – sales, revenue, profit and improving shareholder value. There is also a qualitative aspect of our industry. Making games we can be proud of. Pushing boundaries. I believe the quantitative and the qualitative measures go well together.

However, he now looks to be saying that EA will be concentrating on known franchises, some to be released twice a year:

Electronic Arts has a core slate of games label and sports franchises that we will iterate on a either annual or bi-annual basis. And I think you know what those major titles are – all of them are selling or have sold in their most recent edition 2m units or more.

What does this mean for innovation in the gaming industry?  Well to me it looks like innovation will now be mostly focused within existing franchises and, increasingly, in the casual market where the big publishers expect bigger returns for less cost.

Innovation Future?

So for example Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s motion controller will seem to publishers as a safer investment in finding ways to innovate for a larger gamer and casual market.

Innovation will also come to gamers in smaller form like downloaded Xbox Live Arcade or Sony PSN games, and the even portable gaming like the Iphone and DSi.  Some of these might make a big enough name for themselves to get a bigger budget version for the consoles, but they would be sequels.

If it turns out to be true that EA and the other publishers shy away from new IPs in the future and we are still playing Call of Duty 15, really we only have ourselves to blame.

But then it seems most gamers are quite happy with their sequels, and so perhaps that’s fair enough.  For me, though, new upcoming IP games like Alan Wake and Heavy Rain seem more interesting, even if I’m still staying fairly cautious about them.

What do you think? Comment below.

© 2009 David Hilton

OXCGN’s Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition Unboxing

by Shadow Wave

© 2009 Ben Cadwallader

So Call of Duty 6, otherwise known as Modern Warfare 2, is out and it seems to be making a huge impression among gamers and news sites. There has been so much excitement, so much anger and so much controversy all over the same game.  But now it all boils down to this: it’s released and selling like hotcakes!

Fans of Modern Warfare 2 might be aware of the highly sought after Prestige version, and may be seen already outside at night using their new Modern Warfare goggles to hunt wildlife, pick flowers or maybe to buy a late night snack at the milk bar. (Ed- Or perving at neighbours?).

Even though I’m not the hugest Call of Duty fan, I was very excited to open this badboy up!

So let’s get into it!  – Click the images for high resolution photos.

1 - The box in all its glory, although it’s a little banged up thanks to EB games.com.au’s  extremely poor shipping and packaging.

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I doubt it would break, but the head is very small, like this is the head that would go inside your Halo 3 Legendary Edition Helmet.

Also note that I have number 240,369 of these ‘Highly Limited’ Prestige Edition’s… which seems like they are about just as limited as the Halo 3 Legendary Edition.

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Then there’s my Call of Duty 1 download code, and finally a piece of paper informing me of a possible typo in the manual lol!

Overall, I can’t quite say that it’s worth the $200 price tag. I personally think my Halo 3 Legendary Edition is more worthy of the price tag.  But the truth is the night vision goggles are fun, even if you do lose all sense of everything around you when you wear them.

They do work, (yet to try at night) but in my household the goggles got passed around the family and everyone had a bit of a giggle when using them. And if a bit of fun is what you want, then this could be a great package for you.

Just don’t expect to slip on your night vision goggles and start running through the forest because you will trip over or run into a tree.

Besides that, the Hardened Edition seems like it could have been the best choice, the artbook is nice,  and you still score Call of Duty 1.

Overall I think you can see why this is worth $200, but some may feel a little ripped off. And you’ll probably forget about it once you pop Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in your console anyway. So enjoy the thrill of the goggles while it lasts, and above all play the damn game and blow shit up!

© 2009 Ben Cadwallader

• Other games in genre at discount $’s for ALL OXCGN readers + Bonus Points

Lock & Load: Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition 360 Console Now Available

by dkpatriarch

© 2009 David Hilton

Huzzah! Those discerning commandos among you will be excited to know that the official Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Xbox 360 console has been released here in Australia.

Not just a new colour...

Interesting timing, with it being Remembrance Day here, a time to reflect on those soldiers who have fought for our country.

For AUD$599RRP you can get yourself (for a limited time, while stocks last etc. etc.) a custom Limited Edition Modern Warfare 2 decorated Elite 360 console with a huge 250 gig Hard Drive, two wireless controllers, a headset, and a standard copy of the Modern Warfare 2 game.

The last special edition Xbox console over here was the Halo 3 one a few years ago, unless you count the red Resident Evil 5 one (which I don’t), so it’s nice to have another one with a special design released for the fans.

So Modern Warfare fans: suit up, lock & load, and acquire the target objective.

You can also order it here from our friends at Gamesbasement, so contact them if you are after a PAL version.

Official Press Release:

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – November 11, 2009 — Xbox 360 has announced that the Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Console is now available from participating retailers. Priced at $599 RRP*, the limited edition console is the ideal addition for any fan of the blockbuster sequel to one of the best selling first-person action console games in history, “Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare”.

In conjunction with Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), Xbox 360 has combined a top-of-the-range Elite console, complete with a 250GB Hard Drive, two Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers and an Xbox 360 Headset with a standard edition copy of one of the most anticipated games of the year, “Modern Warfare 2”. The Xbox 360 Elite console also features a low-drag and battle-ready design which was influenced by the high-octane action of the thrilling “Modern Warfare” series.

Adam Pollington, Xbox 360 Category Manager for Australia & New Zealand said, “It’s exciting that fans of the hugely popular “Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare” are able to experience the excitement of “Modern Warfare 2” on an Xbox 360 console that has been specifically designed for them. It’s the biggest Xbox 360 console ever with 250 GB of storage space and we’re giving owners the chance to enjoy all their favourite games and Xbox LIVE downloads, including the first two “Modern Warfare 2” maps that will be available first on Xbox LIVE**.”

“Modern Warfare 2” is classified MA15+ and is priced at $599 RRP*.

• For more information, visit Gamesbasement’s Modern Warfare 2 page.

© 2009 David Hilton

“8.5/10

by GrathiusXR:

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos

FIFA 09 undoubtedly showed off exactly what a sports title representing the beautiful game should be all about: fluidity, great visuals, the enthusiasm of the crowd and the realism of the sport.

A year later we now have the latest iteration in the franchise, FIFA 10, and just when you think it can’t be done it’s improved in almost all areas from its predecessor and is an even more realistic representation of football.

Featuring full 360 control over the ball, improved dribbling, improved ball physics and much more realistic character models these are just some of the 50+ improvements that EA have made in FIFA 10 to ensure that it reins as the premier sports title in 2010.

It’s action packed with a ton of game modes sure to satisfy any football fanatic and will always keep you coming back for more. Manager Mode, Be A Pro, Lounge Mode, Online Leagues etc… You name it FIFA 10 has it.

Manager Mode is back and slightly improved over 09’s Manager Mode. As always you can choose any team of your liking from Chelsea or Manchester Utd in the English Premier League or Real Madrid, Barcelona from the La Lige or choose Sydney FC or QLD Roar from the Australian A-league.

It’s up to you as Manager, to take your team to the top of the league rankings and ultimately win the title at the end. Thus enabling you to buy new players as you progress, building your board’s confidence in you, as well as purchasing new players from other teams once the transfer market opens up.

So . . . what’s new then?

It’s the same old tried and proved formula that worked before…with some nice new additions.

What isn’t the same old formula though is FIFA 10’s online component. Classic Ranked match has had a visual overhaul now making it even easier for you to search and find a match over Xbox live.

Latency bars are now featured in the lobby when choosing a team so you know whether or not the game will run smooth or extremely badly, the amount of total players online playing the game and even searching for a match is now conveyed.

So you have more flexibility on who you wish to play in an online match, which is great, and the networking code is back and better than ever so as long as your internet connection is good playing opponents from say England, America, France and so forth won’t be as frustrating as 09.

It’s the little things that count

Yep, it’s the little features in FIFA 10 make it stand out above the rest.

Most noticeable is whilst in any match over the course of playing FIFA 10 is how the players now react in the match.

Players will now jump in front of strikers taking shots to block any chance they may take and in the last dire seconds of the match if they miss a perfect opportunity to equalize and miss, they will fall to the ground and start praying.

Many small fouls don’t require a full set up of a free kick just to pass the ball as quick free kicks have been introduced. Where any tiny foul is committed the free kick taker will run up to the ball and pass it trying to catch the opposing team on the counter.

It’s these new noticeable features that improve the quality and experience so much more than what was experienced with FIFA 09.

Oh dear, the niggles . . .

Unfortunately though, some niggly little things are still apparent in FIFA 10.

From time to time players will confuse themselves on the field and run into each other, passes will sometimes go to another player that was not the intended target, the keeper will sometimes come a bit out of his position and get caught off guard.

These aren’t major and don’t ruin the game at all but you do run into these problems from time to time and when you  need that winning goal they do make the game frustrating when nothing is working for you.

It’s graphically the same game with improved character models and some nice snow weather effects, an improved gaming experience with 50+ improvements to refine gameplay and features more games modes than you can name.

Live Season 2.0 is better than 09’s Live Season where everything from Injuries, Yellow/Red Cards, fouls- you name it- is updated for the league you have chosen to download it for. You have the option to turn these off so that when you go online your opponent if they have it will not be able to have their team updated.

You can buy Live Season 2.0 from the brand new FIFA Store which features content from Be A Pro booster packs, commentary in Spanish, French etc, as well as LS2.0 for almost every league in the game.

However, overall…

The package overall is superb and if you are looking for THE sports title of 2009 to tide you over till next year’s plethora of sport games FIFA10 is the choice of game here.

It’s an ever growing franchise that has only been improving with each new year and soon enough I have no clue if there will ever be anything to improve on.

If you haven’t played any of the FIFA titles beforehand then FIFA 10 is the best entry in the franchise to get started with.  Still, with Pro Evolution 2009 finally, after 3 years, stepping up to the game to try and be the best you will know that FIFA 2011 will be even better to continue its reign at the top of the league standings of this never ending derby, but for now…The World Game is FIFA 10.

Average press score accoring to TestFreaks: 8.7/10

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos

“9.5/10

• Other games in genre at discount $’s for ALL OXCGN readers + Bonus Points

OXCGN’s Massive Forza 3 Career Help Guide

by XboxOZ360

©2009 Grant Smythe – Oxcgn

Welcome to OXCGN’s Forza 3 Racing Tips #1

The afternoon glare stuns your vision

Forza 3 would have to have the biggest selection of races available in any known racing game to date.

With 730 races, (no, I have yet to work out exactly how many laps that is, but I’m working on it…that will be in Tips #2), which are spread over a massive 220 events from 10 different categories or series ranging from 50 different real life race circuits as well as fictional tracks based on real life locations in places such as Italy, Germany, France, Nth America, England, Japan and Spain. I think you’ll need a Tourist Visa!

What we will be doing here is hopefully help you go through and use the Events Listing which you can use to help build your Experience Level (XP) and thus gain more credits (CR), as well as win some more neat cars (Veyron). We will also discuss the various cars to use in the different classes that will give you not only a great chance at working your way through Forza 3, but help you enjoy the experience along the way.

Get all testie on the Benchmark High Speed Test Ring

We will also look at which cars to start off learning how to us “Assists Off” function, as well as the advanced Manual & Clutch gear changes which help gain you more credits.

By having most of the assists off, as some cars actually need them on to be tractable (drivable), you can gain an increase of your points of as much as 75% which certainly helps build those Experience Points (XP) up and also get those credits piling up in your account to start upgrading.

But like all things, you have to start – well – at the beginning, funny that, so let’s start with the different races and progress from there shall we. Naturally we’ll try and get as much stuff as possible in, but this will need to be spread across several postings and pages with updates, tips (OZ’s Forza 3 Tips), guides and general knowledge on the gameplay mechanics, some tuning tips and much more.

Download Image PDF

As you can see from the image above at the start of the page, (click to see full size) there are a great deal of events, and of course races. So I’ve made it easier for you by making a printable PDF available for you.

Simply click the image here on the right to have the PDF downloaded to your desktop, and print it out for further reference.

At the end of this particular information page, you’ll find a word doc that you can also print it out, that will have all the details below available for you. No other site does this for its readers,. But OXCGN is a site for the readers by gamers. And we want the same things you do. Information, help, assistance and above all else, the ability to simply have some fun and get into the games we play.

These printable items will help you check out the different classes and give you some idea of how the system works, and you can tick off the classes as you move ahead, and show your mates rather than have then having to view your stats on the 360, especially if you’re not in front of it right then.

I have found the Events List section very useful in getting races done and moving forward. I’m currently on Driver Experience Level 35/50 and my next is 40/50, yet only completed 15% of the career mode.

OZ’z first Forza 3 main tip – FPV

Close to windscreen view point - okay, but not the best.

First Person Viewpoint. I’ve always played the game, or any real racing game or semi-sim through the in-car view, or, if not available, the closest to the screen view as possible. – Why? – realism!

Many find it difficult, citing inability to see ahead properly (well dahh, have you driven a car), sun-glare (yep, that gives it more real-life effects), poor vision on corners (no, really?!), other cars location to you (you don’t say), and more often than not, the inability to see YOU racing in your nice shinny car (poor didums).

Racing isn’t about seeing what “you look like” – It’s about driving at your best without knocking everyone out of the way to get ahead, or seeing how much damage you can deliver to your car, and others.

The ultimate First Person Viewpoint - FPV the 'only' way to race

Anyone want to race me, and it has to be with in-car view locked, manual gears and most assists off, depending on car being used. while I’m not up at the top of the ladder, and probably never will be. But I am still in the top 1% of the leaderboard in Circuit in Class A, top 2% in Class S with varying % in other classes so far.

This is due mainly due to the fact I feel more in this viewpoint than I do in any other, I “focus” on what lays ahead, which is what a driver should be doing, and I can scope the road and track out behind and ahead of me, and have a better feel for the race in general, especially in longer races and Enduros.

In Drivers view (Cockpit or In-Car-View), the cars actually sound more realistic, the road sounds are more realistic, even down to the gravel crushing under tyres, track poles being clipped, rumble strips picking you up on corners, gauging ‘braking markers’, the sound of witches hats popping as you run over them (by mistake of course), and most importantly, the ability to use the engine and gear sound to determine the moment to change gears and the sense of speed needed in such a game.

The Lolly-Pop Viewpoint - totally 'un-real' - Oh look, lovely trees!

Try it, especially at the beginning with the slower cars so that you get used to it, and you’ll find it becomes much more natural, and much more responsive than in the 3rd person lolly-pop view, which always has a much more artificial feel and responsiveness to it.

Try it in both views, and see and feel the differences, you’ll be surprised.

Plus, think about this for a second – have you EVER driven a car flying on a magic carpet about the car – no – didn’t think so.

The ten classes in Forza 3

All of Forza 3’s ten different classes explained and listed with the number of races and points you can gain per race.

• 1 Testing:

Download Complete article

Designed mainly as an introduction to the various cars and style. You start out of course with the wonderfully responsive Audi R8 Quartro to get your skill level worked out, which the AI helps determine. You can still change this difficulty level, but the AI simply wants to see your skill levels, it then seems to work out the opponent difficulty for you, which helps a great deal. Your first main Test is then back into th “F Class” cars so you can work your way through the pack.

Testing:

1. Asian Open – 3 Races – 6000 points
2. European Open – 3 races – 6,600 points
3. All American Open – 3 races – 6,600 points
4. FWD Open – 3 races – 6,600 points
5. RWD Open – 3 races – 6,600 points
6. AWD Open – 3 races – 6,600 points
7. 2 Door Challenge – 3 races – 6,800 points
8. 3 Door Open – 3 races – 6,800 points
9. 4 Door Open – 3 races – 6,800 points
10. 5 Door Open – 3 races – 6,800 points

• 2 Amateur:

An area where you will build your experience with the different cars, working up the ladder towards the higher end cars. Do not be discouraged with these, or think that they are beneath you as a driver. A great deal of fun and most importantly, experience can be gained through constant playing of these classes.

Amateur 1:

1. FWD Elite Open – 3 races – 12,900 points
2. Asian Elite Open – 3 races – 12,400 points
3. French Elite Open – 3 races – 12,000 points
4. RWD Elite Invitational – 3 races – 12,700
5. Mid-Engine Elite Open – 3 races – 11,600 points
6. Nth American Elite Open – 3 races – 13,100 points
7. German Elite Invitational – 3 races – 14,600 points
8. British Elite Invitational – 3 races – 15,100
9. AWD Elite Open – 3 races – 14,100 points
10. Italian Elite Open – 3 races – 15,800 points

Amateur 2:

1. Super Mini Road Test – 3 races – 11,500 points
2. Coupe Road Test 1 – 3 races – 13,300 points
3. Saloon Road Test 1 – 3 races – 11,700 points
4. Hot Hatch Road Test – 3 races – 13,100 points
5. SUV Road Test – 3 races – 12,200 points
6. Coupe Road Test 2 – 3 races – 13,800 points
7. Saloon Road Test 2 – 3 races – 14,600 points
8. Coupe Road Test 2 – 3 races 13,200 points
9. Supercar Road Test 3 races – 15,400 points
10. Prototype Road Test – 3 races 16,100 points

Amateur 3:

1. American Muscle Showdown – 3 races – 11,100 points
2. Inline 4 Showcase – 3 races – 11,400 points
3. Normal Aspiration Runoff – 3 races – 12,500 points
4. Boosted Proving Grounds – 3 races – 13,500 points
5. Six-Cyl Fast & Furious – 3 races – 12,700 points
6. Ultralight Showdown – 3 races – 13,100 points
7. Executive Car Open – 3 races – 14,300 points
8. Eight-Cyl Supreme GT – 3 races – 13,600 points
9. Ten-Cyl Salute – 3 races – 15,000 points
10. Twelve-Cyl Flagship Trophy – 3 races – 14,300 points

• 3 Manufacturer:

Manufacturer 1:

1. Integra Owners Meeting – 4 races – 22,900 points
2. Hyundi Owners Meeting – 4 races – 21,100 points
3. Mitshubishi Owners Meeting – 4 races – 22,700 points
4. Skyline Owners Meeting – 4 races – 23,400 points
5. Subaru Owners Meeting – 4 races – 21,500 points
6. Honda Acura Owners Meeting – 4 races – 24,100 points
7. Mazda Owners Meeting – 4 races – 23,800 points
8. Fairlady 2 Cup – 4 races – 23,300 points
9. Nissan Infiniti Owners Meeting – 4 races – 24,200 points
10. Toyota Lexus Owners Meeting – 4 races – 23,700 points

Manufacturer 2:

1. Peugeot Racing Club – 4 races – 20,600 points
2. Sweden Racing Club – 4 races – 22,200 points
3. V.Dub Racing Club – 4 races – 22,300 points
4. Vahxall Racing CLub – 4 races – 24,200 points
5. Lotus Racing Club – 4 races- 23,400 points
6. SEAT Racing Club – 4 races – 23,300 points
7. BMW Owners Club – 4 races – 22,900 points
8. Audi Racing Club – 4 races – 25,800 points
9. Mercedes- Benz Racing Club – 4 races – 25,800 points
10. Porsche Racing Club – 4 races – 26,600 points

Manufacturer 3:

1. Firebird T.A. Track Days – 4 races – 22,400 points
2. Focus Track Days – 4 races – 22,000 points
3. Chrysler Track Days – 4 races – 23,300 points
4. Pontiac Track Days – 4 races – 23,500
5. Mustang Track Days – 4 races – 24,100 points
6. Ford Track Days – 4 races – 23,800 points
7. Chevrolet Track Days – 4 races – 26,400 points
8. Corvette Track Days – 4 races – 26,00o points
9. Dodge Track Days – 4 races – 25,900 points
10. Viper Track Days – 4 races – 26,400 points

Manufacturer 4:

1. World Sub-Compact Shoot Out – 4 races – 20,500 points
2. American Muscle Shoot Out – 4 races – 20,100 points
3. Euro Hatch Shoot Out – 4 races – 21,400 points
4. Lightweight Shoot Out – 4 races – 22,500 points
5. German SUV Shoot Out – 4 races – 22,400 points
6. JDM Imports – 990’s Shoot Out – 4 races – 21,800
7. Speedstar Shoot Out – 4 races – 23,500 points
8. Premium Sedan Shoot Out – 4 races – 25,100 points
9. Prestigious Shoot Out – 4 races – 23,800 points
10. Ultimate Speed Shoot Out – 4 races – 26,200 points

Manufacturer 5:

1. Civic V’s Golf – 4 races – 22,100 points
2. Celica V’s Silvia – 4 races – 22,300 points
3. Tarmac Rally – 4 races – 22,300 points
4. Mustang V’s Camaro – 4 races – 22,800 points
5. Supra V’s Fairlady 2 – 4 races – 22,600 points
6. German Sports Line Challenge – 4 races – 25,800 points
7. NSX V’s Skyline – 4 races – 24,900 points
8. Fastest Fleet Shoot Out – 4 races – 27,100 points
9. Ferrari V’s Porsche – 4 races – 25,800 points
10. Lamborginhi V’s Ferrai – 4 races – 26,500 points

• 4 Semi Professional:

Semi Pro 1:

1. Puma 150 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 42,700 points
2. Recaro 200 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 44,800 points
3. Bilstein 250 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 46,500 points
4. Toyo 300 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 49,300 points
5. Sparco 350 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 48,900 points
6. BBS 400 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 54,500 points
7. Stoptech 450 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 54,900 points
8. Bridgestone 500 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 50,700 points
9. Motul 600 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 55,800 points
10. K&N 700 BHP Run-Off – 5 races – 55,800 points

Semi Pro 2:

1. Class F Pre-’00 Asian Tour – 5 races – 41,600 points
2. Class F Post ‘00 Asian Tour – 5 races – 43,400 points
3. Class E Pre ‘03 Asian Tour – 5 races – 45,200 points
4. Class E Post ‘03 Asian Tour – 5 races – 45,800 points
5. Class D Pre ‘00 Asian Tour – 5 races – 46,500 points
6. Class D Post ‘00 Asian Tour – 5 races – 47,400 points
7. Class C Asian Tour – 5 races – 49,400 points
8. Class B Asian Tour – 5 races – 52,000 points
9. C;ass S Asian Tour – 5 races – 58,000 points
10. Class R2 Asian Tour – 5 races – 61,000 points

Semi Pro 3:

1. Class F European Tour – 5 races – 41,000 points
2. Class E European Tour – 5 races – 43,400 points
3. Class D European Tour – 5 races – 45,000 points
4. Class C European Tour – 5 races – 49,200 points
5. Class B European Tour – 5 races – 47,900 points
6. Class A European Tour – 5 races – 53,800 points
7. Class S European Tour – 5 races – 53,700 points
8. Class R3 European Tour – 5 races – 54,800 points
9. Class R2 European Tour – 5 races – 59,000 points
10. Class R1 European Tour – 5 races – 63,000 points

Semi Pro 4:

1. Class F Nth American Your – 5 races – 44,700 points
2. Class E Nth American Your – 5 races – 44,000 points
3. Class D Nth American Your – 5 races – 46,900 points
4. Calss C Nth American Your – 5 races – 47,200 points
5. Class B Nth American Your – 5 races – 53,000 points
6. Class A Nth American Your – 5 races – 56,000 points
7. Class S Nth American Your – 5 races – 58,000 points
8. Class R3 Nth American Your – 5 races – 63,000 points
9. Class R2 Nth American Your – 5 races – 64,000 points
10. Class R1 Nth American Your – 5 races – 66,000 points

• 5 Professional:

Professional 1:

1. Yaris S Trophy – 6 races – 68,800 points
2. MX5 Miata Trophy – 6 races – 72,000 points
3. ABARTH 500 ESSEESES Trophy – 6 races – 79,000 points
4. Mini John Cooper Works Cup – 6 races – 82,000 points
5. Hyundi Geniesis Coupe Tour Trophy – 6 races – 83,000 points
6. F355 Challenge Trophy Trophy – 6 races – 91,000 points
7. Murcielago LP640 Trophy Trophy – 6 races – 65,000 points
8. Porsche 911 GT3 Trophy Trophy – 6 races – 85,000 points
9. Ferrari F430 Trophy Trophy – 6 races – 90,000 points
10. FXX Trophy Trophy – 6 races – 101,000 points

Professional 2:

1. Aussie Touring Car Championship – 6 race – 111,000 points
2. Porsche 911 GT3 Showdown – 6 races – 111,000 points
3. German Racing Car Showdown – 6 races – 110,000 points
4. American GT3 Invitational – 6 races – 109,000 points
5. GT3 Invitational – 6 races – 109,000 points
6. GT2 Invitational – 6 races – 116,000 points
7. Japanese Invitational – 6 races – 119,000 points
8. Dream Machine – 6 races – 117,000 points
9. GT1 Invitational – 6 races – 119,000 points
10. LMP Invitational – 6 races – 116,000 points

Professional 3:

1. Class F World Tour – 6 races – 84,000 points
2. Class E World Tour – 6 races – 88,000 points
3. Class D World Tour – 6 races – 99,000 points
4. Class C World Tour – 6 races – 100,000 points
5. Class B World Tour – 6 races – 110,000 points
6. Class A World Tour – 6 races – 115,000 points
7. Class S World Tour – 6 races – 114,000 points
8. Class R3 World Tour – 6 races – 116,000 points
9. Class R2 World Tour – 6 races – 126,000 points
10. Class R1 World Tour – 6 races – 133,000 points

• 6 Speedway:

Speedway:

1. Class F Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 18,800 points
2. Class E Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 19,400 points
3. Class D Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 20,600 points
4. Class C Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 21,400 points
5. Class B Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 22,500 points
6. Class A Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 23,500 points
7. Class S Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 23,700 points
8. Class R3 Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 25,700 points
9. Class R2 Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 25,900 points
10. Class R1 Speedway Challenge – 6 races – 27,400 points

• 7 Drag Racing Heats:

Drag Races:

1. 250 bhp FWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 1,890 points
2. 300 bhp FWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 1,890 points
3. 350 bhp RWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 1,890 points
4. 400 bhp AWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 2,700 points
5. 450 bhp RWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 2,700 points
6. 500 bhp AWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 2,700 points
7. 550 bhp AWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 2,700 points
8. 600 bhp AWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 2,700 points
9. 650 bhp RWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 2,700 points
10. 700 bhp RWD Shoot Out – 3 races – 2,700 points

• 8 Closed circuit laps & races:

Closed circuit:

1. Fujimi Kaido Class F Series – 4 races – 38,400 points
2. Amalfi Coast Class E Series – 4 races – 29,000 points
3. Nurburgring Class D Series – 4 races – 38,400 points
4. Fujimi Kaido Class C Series – 4 races – 39,300 points
5. Amalfi Coast Class B Series – 4 races – 29,100 points
6. Nurnurgring Class A Series – 4 races – 38,400 points
7. Fujimi Kaido Class S Series – 4 races – 39,000 points
8. Amalfi Coast Class R3 Series – 4 races – 27,900 points
9. Nurburgring Class R2 Series – 4 races – 38,400 points
10. Fujimi Kaido Class R1 Series – 4 races – 38,700 points

Closed circuit – Lap Days:

1. Class F Lap Days – 3 races – 34,400 points
2. Class E Lap Days – 3 races – 34,500 points
3. Class D Lap Days – 3 races – 34,500 points
4. Class C Lap Days – 3 races – 34,400 points
5. Class B Lap Days – 3 races – 34,500 points
6. Class A Lap Days – 3 races – 34,500 points
7. Class S Lap Days – 3 races – 34,400 points
8. Class R3 Lap Days – 3 races – 34,400 points
9. Class R2 Lap Days – 3 races – 34,500 points
10. Class R1 Lap Days – 3 races – 34,400 points

• 9 Full-on Endurance Races:

Endurance:

1. 34 Lap Road Atlanta – 1 race – 72,000 points
2. 130 klm Circuit de Catalunya – 1 race – 74,000 points
3. 134 klm Twin RIng Mojetgi – 1 race – 83,000 points
4. 160 klm Silverstone Gran Prix – 1 race – 88,000 points
5. 32 Lap Mugello – 1 race – 92,000 points
6. 169 klm Suzuka Circuit – 1 race – 92,000 points
7. 31 Lap Sebring International Raceway – 1 race – 99,000 points
8. 128 mil Road America – 1 race – 110,000 points
9. 17 Laps Circuit de la Sarthe – 1 race – 110,000 points
10. 187 klm Nurburgring Nordschleife – 1 race – 110,000 points

• 10 Top of the Ladder Championships:

Championships:

1. Class F World Championships – 3 races – 18,200 points
2. Class E World Championships – 3 races – 23,900 points
3. Class D World Championships – 4 races – 36,600 points
4. Class C World Championships – 5 races – 53,000 points
5. Class B World Championships – 6 races – 82,000 points
6. Class A World Championships – 7 races – 106,000 points
7. Class S World Championships – 8 races – 157,000 points
8. Class R3 World Championships – 9 races – 216,000 points
9. Class R2 World Championships – 11 races – 314,000 points
10. Class R1 World Championships – 13 races – 428,000 points

Download Complete article

Make sure you come back for an even more detailed breakdown soon, we will have a downloadable and printable PDF for each set of races or class, so you can find out, the tracks, number of laps and points gained for each race.

Our next set of Forza 3 details will be dealing with various racing tips for each track, as well as some driving tips for the Novice, Intermediate and Expert drivers. Dealing with such things as Assists, Gears, slight changes to the Optimised Auto-Upgrades and several other great Forza 3 tips-n-tricks.

The main thing is to have fun, but also to hone your skills so that you get the best you can from not only Forza 3, but any decent racing game. Our aim is that you will walk away from the experience much more informed, and also with a greater respect for the game, and the work Turn 10 have put into the game.

Personally I’m looking forward to the next lot of Downloadable Content, and seeing the creations that come from the Forza 3 community. The game has its bugs, all games do. There’s no such thing as the “perfect” game or a game without flaws. They all have them. Forza 3 has its share, but they do not distract from the overall experience of the gameplay or the game in general.

©2009 Grant Smythe – Oxcgn

• Other games in genre at discount $’s for ALL OXCGN readers + Bonus Points

by dkpatriarch

© 2009 David Hilton

Movies made from video games suck right?  Even worse than games based on movies.

I'm the Prince of Posers!

That’s the general consensus among both film critics and gamers, though I myself have enjoyed a few of the films like Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Hitman and even Max Payne.

No, they weren’t paragons of classy cinema worthy of deep discussion or jaw-dropping amazement, but they were entertaining enough with at least some vague tributes to the source material they were using.

Soon we have Disney’s Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, based on the last-gen game of the same name, to be released May 2010.

Will this movie amaze us, mildly entertain us, or will it simply be another crappy attempt to cash in on a game’s popularity (though luckily Uwe Boll isn’t involved in this one at least)?

I’d say the fact that it is being made by Disney was already cause for concern, except that Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer also created a number of Pirates of the Caribbean adventure movies based only on a ride at Disneyland.

• Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time Movie

And the first film at least was good fun.  Of course the films have since been made into video games that were a bit less fun, but that’s another story.

Because video games don’t tend to have the narrative depth or characterisations that a good movie needs, the films based on games tend to either deviate dramatically from the source material or suffer terribly from poor storytelling and overly basic plots.

I'm the Princess to tame you young Prince

However, they are best when they replicate the sense of action and atmosphere that the games encapsulate.  This is where the Prince of Persia movie could work.

Already from the trailer we can see that filming in Morocco gives the movie the right atmosphere and there certainly seems like there will be plenty of that Prince of Persia jumping about and even a bit of the humour thrown in.  But there still needs to be plot, deeper characterisation and realistic sets and special effects.

Pirates of the Caribbean and other adventure movies like The Mummy worked because they didn’t take themselves too seriously and aspired only to be good old fashioned escapist action.  They had good dialogue and, especially in Johnny Depp, great characterisation.

That’s what the Prince of Persia movie should be aiming for.

• Prince Of Persia Sands Of Time Dev Discussion

This is what director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) could very well bring; that is if his cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) as Prince Dastan, Gemma Arterton (Bond: Quantum of Solace) as Tamina, and Ben Kingsley (‘insert tons of well known fims here’) as Nizam, can bring some refreshing dialogue and depth to their roles.

All too often movies based on games feel stilted or cheap in presentation and have very little sense of drama.

Mind you, the future may see movies based on games able to go beyond the ‘action adventure’ goal. 

WETA's Distric 9 defies critics

District 9, from Peter Jackson and directed by Neill Blomkamp, gave gamers a wishful thought about what a Halo movie could have been like under those two if it had gone ahead.  Could a game inspire such depth and attention to detail in the future?

Also there are the short web-films that Ubisoft are putting together for the Assassin’s Creed 2 game (see my review of the first film here).  The first one is stylistic, authentic-looking, and focuses on both plot and characterisation, even in the few minutes it lasts.  Could it have made a quality full film?  From what I saw it sure looked like it at least was heading in the right direction.

The Prince of Persia movie is focusing on the mystical dagger and time-rewind theme of the game but we will have to see if it has the style, characters and story to match.

I want to hail the movie as a prince among paupers in the game to film genre, but am worried I will instead be mocked with another Prince of Putrid.

What do you think?  Will this movie stink or smell of roses?  Comment below.

List of games made into movies:

• Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! (July 20, 1986)
• Super Mario Bros. (May 28, 1993)
• Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (July 16, 1994)
• Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (August 6, 1994)
• Double Dragon (November 4, 1994)
• Street Fighter (December 23, 1994)
• Mortal Kombat (August 18, 1995)
• Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (November 21, 1997)
• Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back (July 18, 1998)
• Wing Commander (March 12, 1999)
• Pokémon: The Movie 2000 – The Power of One (July 17, 1999)
• Pokémon 3: The Movie – Spell of the Unown (July 8, 2000)
• Shenmue: The Movie (January 20, 2001)
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (June 15, 2001)
• Pokémon 4Ever – Celebi, Voice of the Forest (July 7, 2001)
• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (July 21, 2001)
• Resident Evil (March 15, 2002)
• Pokémon Heroes (July 13, 2002)
• Pokémon: Jirachi Wishmaker (July 19, 2003)
• Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (July 25, 2003)
• House of the Dead (October 10, 2003)
• Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys (July 22, 2004)
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse (September 10, 2004)
• Alone in the Dark (January 28, 2005)
• Air (February 5, 2005)
• Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (July 16, 2005)
• Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (September 14, 2005)
• Doom (October 21, 2005)
• BloodRayne (January 6, 2006)
• Forbidden Siren (February 9, 2006)
• Silent Hill (April 21, 2006)
• Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (July 15, 2006)
• Dead or Alive (September 15, 2006)
• Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) (December 16, 2006)
• Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai (July 14, 2007)
• Clannad (September 15, 2007)
• BloodRayne II: Deliverance (September 18, 2007)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (September 21, 2007)
• Hitman (November 21, 2007)
• In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (January 11, 2008)
• OneChanbara (April 26, 2008)
• Postal (May 23, 2008)
• Like a Dragon (June 23, 2008) aka Ryū ga Gotoku Based on the first Yakuza Video Game
• Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior (July 19, 2008)
• Far Cry (October 2, 2008)
• Max Payne (October 16, 2008)
• Resident Evil: Degeneration (December 17, 2008)
• Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (February 27, 2009)
• Pokémon Diamond & Pearl Platinum the Movie: To the Conquering of Space-Time (July 18, 2009)

Upcoming releases

• Tekken (2009)
• The Legend of Spyro 3D (2009)
• Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva (2009)
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (May 28, 2010)
• The King of Fighters (2010)
• BloodRayne III: Warhammer (2010)
• Clock Tower (2010)
• Mortal Kombat: Devastation (2010)
• Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
• Dead Space (2011)
• Gears of War (2011)
• Army Of Two (2011)
• Uncharted (series) (2011)

© 2009 David Hilton

Modern Warfare 2 Released Early?

by GrathiusXR:

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos

It seems that over at the Australian Xbox.com forums there has been some speculation that Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 could be on the shelves as early as this end of the week according to some forumites. It seems that Big W has spoken to a few of their customers in store notifying them that they can stroll into the store as early as today (Thursday 5 November) and pick up their copy.

There’s much speculation as to this being real or not as their new catalog which starts Thursday 5th of November has the Standard Edition of Modern Warfare 2 at a nice price of $AUD82 which isn’t too bad considering the high retail price for this one, as well as the sale starting 5th of November and ending on the 11th which is the official release date of MW2.

A few forumites have already posted in saying that they have picked up their copy from Big W already yet gamertags on the Xbox.com website are yet to update to really prove that these people have indeed picked up a legit copy of MW2 just under a week away from its worldwide release.

I wouldn’t be too surprised if this actually turns out to be true to be honest.

This is mainly due to the fact that over the past few weeks leaked footage of third person gameplay has been released on Youtube.com, leaked footage of the Terrorist Missions was released on Youtube and to top that it seems that a couple of sites have already released video/written reviews of MW2.

Not to mention the fact that Halo 3: ODST was leaked and also sold up to 2-4 days before it’s release date, as well as Forza Motorsport 3 which was sold 1-2 days before its release. I know that isn’t much but still a broken street date regardless of how many days is still a broken street date.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one just in case some of these forumites are actually telling the truth and some actually manage to pick up their copy from Big W and/or other stores. If it does manage to break out and spread, hundreds of gamers will be storming their local store where they pre-ordered to try their best to hassle them to break as well.

With Activision on Media Blackout at the moment you can bet that questions will be asked and warnings will be issued much like with the release of Fable II last year in which K-Mart broke street date and were then fined $10,000 as well as being barred from selling Gears of War 2 for at least 2 weeks after its release date.

For the moment this is just rumour, but we’ll keep you updated.

UPDATE: Friday 6 November:  It seems Big W was issued with a big directive from Head Office not to release the game early.  This was apparently also the case at WOW Sight & Sound, which was also reported as having broken the street date today.  They were allegedly also instructed from above to stop selling them.  Other reports are that JB Hi Fi may also have let some slip by.  One manager at GAME was frantically running around my town trying to track down if the embargo had indeed been broken and if he could sell early.

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos

OXCGNs Dual Borderlands Review Debate

With Aaron & Arthur

©2009 Aaron Klein/Arthur Kotsopoulos:

OXCGN does new things all the time, and with Borderlands we’re doing a dual review discussion between two of the top reviewers on the site. There will be a special Borderlands Co-Op review a little later, once the team have given the game a solid workout, but here’s the guys with their views on Gearbox’s new IP, Borderlands.

Aaron Klein: The more I heard about Borderlands the more I got excited to check the game out. The tone of the press had been mostly doubtful, touching on how Gearbox was almost desperately racing to distinguish itself from a saturated release season populated with established gaming titans like Rock Band, Halo, Uncharted 2, Mario, Call of Duty and other anticipated new intellectual properties like Dragon Age: Origins and Brutal Legend.

A relatively late switch of gears in artistic direction to use hand-drawn textures, a controversial portrayal of a stylized suicide as cover art and the inclusion of a catchy, popular tune from Cage the Elephant in advertising trailers combine to illustrate just how badly 2K Games and Gearbox want you to pick up Borderlands.

• Borderlands In-Game Developer Walkthrough

• You want guns, we’ve got guns, Lots of BFG’s right here.

Arthur Kotsopoulos: Funny you should say that because before they changed the art style and serious tone of the game I also wasn’t interested. Sure, there were hundreds of thousands of variations in weaponry, but other than that the game offered nothing to really make me want to buy it

It wasn’t until they changed the graphical art style and started to post up viral videos with that comedic touch to them. From this point on I got interested in the game from reading previews, viewing screen shots to watching video walk through of game play, It was a marketing strategy that worked for me.

• OXCGN’s recent 2k Games/Borderlands gig in Sydney meets Lilith

Aaron: And none of this is bad. I agree the roll out has been a masterpiece of marketing and has been as successful as possible at carving out a niche for Borderlands to have success. The big question is whether or not the actual gameplay can capitalize off this attention.

Arthur: I wasn’t expecting much from this game other than it being unique. Having had time to dig into it, I have to say I am loving it! The chance that any weapon I find could be my new favorite weapon is great. You will never find the exact same weapon twice.

Sure the game starts off slow, but this just gets you comfortable with the basics to get you ready for the long journey ahead in the barren wasteland of Pandora in search of the Vault.

How are you in all finding the integration of game play, travel and missions within Pandora?

Aaron: The weapons are awesome, and that is a great observation. Your character is never totally optimized. There is always a better weapon out there somewhere. That keeps it interesting for the exact reason you stated: The next weapon you find on your ground could end up being your favorite.

I get a little OCD about the weapons, though. When new guns are so plentiful I tend to spend a lot of time tweaking my arms and making tiny decisions between the rifle with more power but less accuracy and the one with an increased firing rate but low power.

This is both good and bad. A couple of times I wanted to set the controller down just because this micromanagement was overly taxing. But then I realized, “hey, you don’t have to do this. Just run out there and shoot.”

Arthur: Exactly. It’s has enough RPG elements to keep you swapping out the weapons in your backpack as you level up. Yet at the same time not overly taxing to the point where you have to organize which weapons have this scope, barrel, handle and ammo capacity.

It’s an FPS that’s challenging, yet easily accessible. Borderlands blends the genres in a way I haven’t seen done so well since Bioshock. You have an open, sandbox world, a light RPG skill tree for each of the four character classes and hundreds of thousands of weapons with various stats and augments such as fire, electricity, poison and so forth.

My main gripe with this is the driving. It follows the Halo-esque driving controls except it doesn’t do Halo justice. If you clip a tire on the road or small rock the car just lifts in the air funny like it weighs barely anything. I tried to avoid the driving as much as possible because even when you do master it, it still becomes annoying.

• You want guns, we’ve got guns, Lots of BFG’s right here.

Aaron: I was worried about the driving heading into this game, and my worries were warranted. The driving is not very intuitive. Having the car go in whatever direction the camera is pointing means you can’t look off to your peripheral without driving off the road. Plus the vehicle gets hung up really easily on the environment. And when it gets stuck, it’s stuck. There’s no rocking it out.

Driving just tends to be a pain. Gearbox was already trying to do so much with the role-playing shooter dynamic. The vehicle was the darkest cloud over this game.

The map itself is laid out with different “levels” connected by a common area. It’s open, sure, but it’s also constraining because the map is mostly the land between canyon walls and not a wide open plain, like Fallout 3. I say this type of map is not conducive to the driving.

Arthur: Sure the map isn’t open like Fallout 3, but it is still massive. I’m currently only on my first play through, taking my time, and I have still to enter a few sections of the game. At the moment I’m in awe at how many areas there are and exactly how big each of them is.

Aaron: But you need to have some way to get around the world. And driving, as bad as it is, is still better than walking. And it is more interesting when you team up in co-op mode to have someone in the gunner’s nest.

Arthur: Yeah in co-op, especially four-player co-op, the game really shines. The game becomes much more fun. You receive better loot and acquire more experience points as enemies become harder.

Loot must be shared accordingly though, as any player can take any loot. That can make for frustrating times if you found an awesome weapon and someone nabs it from under your nose.

It is also very hard when you are levels apart from your co-op partners. The game can become quite brutal and unforgiving.

• Meet your characters that accompany you in Pandora – Borderlands

Aaron: I agree, the game is pretty solid as a single player title. But it absolutely shines in the co-op. I’ve been trying to put my finger on why exactly that is… and I think it works so well because the challenge and number of enemies ramp up to coincide with the number of players and their levels.

The fight for loot afterwards also contributes to the fun, as it gives everybody something to talk about. “Check out this sweet sniper rifle, does the Hunter want it?”

Plus, sharing XP and gold means players level up at relatively the same level.

A testament to the different ways to play the game: while you planned and shared the loot, when playing split screen with a friend we were having fun rushing to beat each other to the glowing gun on the ground, and even waiting to revive each other until the other had picked the battlefield clean of ammo & mods.

But I can see how that could be annoying when playing with strangers.

Arthur: Whilst it does feature a form of dueling in co-op with fellow teammates it’s a shame the game doesn’t feature online multiplayer.

I supposed it wouldn’t work seeing as not 1 gun is ever the same so having the ability to take in your weapons from single player to multiplayer would be greatly unfair.

Aaron: I have a co-op cautionary tale to share, too: Make sure any characters your friends build on your system are associated with a gamertag. My buddy was playing without signing in to one, and when we tried to continue the next day his level 11 Hunter was gone.

Luckily I had a level 20 Soldier, and we were able to power level his new character up pretty quickly, but not before he got tired of the game because he felt so underpowered against the enemies we were up against in the current missions

Arthur: Still, I believe co-op is where Borderlands truly excels. Whilst other reviewers think it doesn’t work as well as it should, I believe it works flawlessly as the enemies become more tough and much better loot is dropped.

It’s a battle of who can find the better loot, that battle is always fun, time and time again. What’s even better is the fact you can duel each other at any time by a simple melee attack to see who is the better of the Vault hunters.

It’s great fun to have your team mate bragging about an awesome weapon he just found only to have dueled you then defeated by your awesome level 30 combat rifle with corrosive damage.

It’s satisfying and enjoyable all in the one package and I feel Borderlands is probably one of the most fun and unique games to have been released in the past year.

Aaron: I agree. It captured the “one more level” draw of RPGs and has earned itself a place in my disc drive for quite a while.

• You want guns, we’ve got guns, Lots of BFG’s right here.

“8.5/10

• Other games in genre at discount $’s for ALL OXCGN readers + Bonus Points

by GrathiusXR:

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos

White knuckle racing from go-to-whoa

It’s been a frantic last couple of months for racing fans on the Xbox 360, with great racing titles such as Race Pro, NFS: Shift, Forza 3 and also Codemaster’s Colin McRae: Dirt 2.

The sequel to first iteration, Colin McRae: DiRT, which was released back in 2007, Colin McRae: Dirt 2 features the same great formula of DiRT yet expands even further on it with new features such as race types/styles, a brand new menu layout and a whole new scheme of interactivity in how the game plays  throughout the Career Mode.

This time around Colin McRae: DiRT 2 follows the more mainstream circuit style as visually represented by the easy to navigate menu layout accessed from within your own personal Racing Motorhome.

• Colin McRae DiRT 2 Video

Adoring fans watch on in your pit area

Everything from game options, achievement tracking, to all the various race events are all neatly spread around your character’s caravan in different locations which actually makes sense.

All the information regarding your vehicles, the upgrades and unlockable liveries reside outside the caravan in your own pit area, where the crowd of savvy fans are messing about behind the barricades.

At first I sat and thought I had seen this all before and it reminded me a lot of Need For Speed: Pro Street and how the racing scene was portrayed in that game.

Design your very own tats- or is that tarts… – whoohoo

Colin McRae: Dirt 2, however, takes the scenes of Pro Street and the menu layout of Grid and combines it into one, which strangely enough works very well and is a breath of fresh air in the genre.

All the menu layouts aside, I’m sure you are all wondering how the game actually plays in relation to the previous Colin McRae: DiRT, and from my point of view I’m sort of sitting on the fence with this one. I purchased and played Colin McRae: DiRT on the PC back in 07 when it was released and loved it.

Gettin' dirty for fun-n-money

The cars felt like they had weight to them, damage was superb and it didn’t feel as if any car was just going from start to finish like it was on ice.

With Dirt 2 however, especially in the 1st tier of races, I felt somewhat cautious to really let go and ‘gun’ it around corners, or have any sense of speed. This was due mainly to my car almost instantaneously spinning out the moment I drove into that area.

This resulted in some frustrating moments especially when I had used up my single Flashback already in a previous lap. It left me wondering if I had just had a memory blank and that Colin McRae: DiRT actually handled the same way. So I set about asking several fellow gamers who had recently played Colin McRae: Dirt 2.

Their responses were that it actually felt great to play, that the cars had a sense of weight to them and they had no trouble with any cars spinning out on almost every corner. So I took these answers with me into my next playthrough, thinking that maybe once I hit the faster cars and different races, it would change.

To my surprise it did! Money is of course required to progress, and it is extremely easy to build up a large amount of it. Especially when hitting the later stages of races in places such as London, Baja, Morocco, Croatia, and Malaysia.

Let's go bunny hoppin'

This all helps you upgrade the various cars you gain or buy during the course of the game. It wasn’t until I hit the better cars that I felt like they had some weight to them.

I felt that racing became more fun and challenging and it’s where the game picked up and became a lot more fun,  reminding me how enjoyable and different DiRT was back in 2007.

The sequel holds up its end of the bargain as well, which surprised me, seeing as how many sequels over the recent years don’t seem to do as well as their predecessors.

Colin McRae: Dirt 2 features a whole flurry of new race mode, such as Gatecrasher which sees you smashing small yellow polystyrene foam panels laid out on the track to accumulate more time to reach the finish line, the Raid events which put your trucks against fellow AI trucks.

Then there’s Land Raid, which is where you get to throw both your Baja Buggies and Raid Trucks around in an off-road racing environment.

It’s good to see some new race types and it definitely helps to accommodate the various tracks and scenery that are in Colin McRae: Dirt 2, many of which weren’t as present in Colin McRae: DiRT, but for me, it felt like something was missing.

Not only does Coln McRae: DiRT 2 not feature any Hill Climb events, I was a bit worried to see there weren’t as many Checkpoint races as I had expected.

Hmmm - looks like a hill-climb to me!?

I’m not a massive fan of Rally, nor do I watch every WRC event, but I know that checkpoint races are a dominant event in the rally scene and for it to not be as featured in Dirt 2 saddens me a bit.

It doesn’t ruin the game though, it just lowers my expectations of Colin McRae: Dirt 2 being the rally racer.

But nonetheless, it still is a good racer. The graphics department has had a nice update to the new more powerful Ego Engine, the environments and car models looks better than they ever have, with several of the damage features being carried over from Codemaster’s Race Driver: Grid, which is another good thing actually, because they work really well in the rally scene.

Some other nice new features which have been added is the ability to become friends with your fellow ‘real life rally racers’ within the game – [Ed: Now ain't that just cosy]. Such as Ken Block and Dave Mirra to name a c0uple. The more you race with them the more they throw across some friendly banter during races until ultimately wanting to become your “Life Long Friend”.

It’s a nice initiative but for me it wasn’t as fleshed out as I would have expected seeing as no matter how aggro I was in races, smashing, bumping and nudging, they will NEVER stop being your friend. So there is no real incentive to drive fast and carefully in every races to ensure the win- instead you can crash, smash and barge your way through each race.

• Ken Block gets all sideways at El Toro Gyhmkana

This detracts from the overall career experience as there is no real penalty to your actions, but in Multiplayer- well that’s a different story. Colin McRae: DiRT only featured a multiplayer in the way of limited Time Trials, which was one of the games main negatives with fans, but in Dirt 2 all that has been rectified big time.

Come fly with me, fly fly away ...

A fully fledged multiplayer option is now built into the game in which you can race up to 7 others on any track in any race type available in the game, which is always a blessing in any racing game.

Here is where you can do all the dirty driving you want and the only consequence is the negative opinion of your fellow racers and being known as the dirty cheat.  But then the game is called Dirt….

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos

“8.5/10

“Average press score according to TestFreaks: 6.9/10″

• Other Games in this genre with discounts for all OXCGN readers

Let’s Get Ready To Rumble!

by GrathiusXR:

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos

Ah, wrestling.  At one point in our lives, many of us may well have been glued to our television screen writhing in agony as we watch our favourite wrestler defend the title belt in a thrilling match full of high risk moves and more sweat that you can find on a footy field in summer heat.

However, after awhile the sport gets stale and story-lines get a tad predictable and boring- which is sort of what the Smackdown vs Raw franchise has been the last couple of years.

That isn’t the case with the latest in the franchise, Smackdown vs Raw 2010, and our good friends over at THQ decided to throw a little costume launch event to celebrate not only the release of the game, but also allow us to appreciate it, for the latest in the franchise finally rises above the rest and shows it can still perform.

On a warm Wednesday night competition winners from the Gamespot and PALGN forums ate and drank with fellow staff from THQ’s PR as well as various website writers from IGN AU and Gamespot AU and of course OXCGN.

With Playstation 3s set up running the latest title in the wrestling franchise Smackdown vs Raw 2010 and many wrestlers of old and new showing their faces as well, the night was filled with laughs and high risk maneuvers all round.

Note that when I mean wrestlers old and new I really mean attendees dressed up as their favorite wrestler.

We had Mankind, Carlito, Yokozuna as well as some originals, Mr. Australia, and many more.

The facepaint was also in full ’slip, slop, slap’ with myself getting some glorious blue/orange on my face in imitation of Jeff Hardy, Adam Johnson getting some Blue Steel happening, Golddust making some commotion and we even had The Joker spoil the party for a while.

As a prize for going through the effort to make a costume and/or get some facepaint everyone was treated courtesy of THQ to a free copy of Smackdown vs Raw 2010 the night before release as well as some excellent Limited Edition Tin covered items which goes nice with my fellow Collector Editions and a copy of the Smackdown 10th Year anniversary DVD, which is covered in 3 DVDs and features some of the greatest moment in Smackdown history over the past decade.

It was a great little initiative and a kind gesture by THQ giving everyone these nice little presents for attending the launch costume party. Not only did every one manage to nab a copy for themselves both the overall costume winner and facepaint winners nabbed something a little special as well courtesy of Sony- a Playstation 3 Slim.

Mr. Australia took out best costume and won a PS3 Slim and a gaming monitor LCD, whilst the best face paint Adam “Blue Steel” Johnson took home a nice PS3 slim also.

I just missed out to Blue Steel in the facepaint competition but I wasn’t worried. Why? Because I got to play SvsR2010 ahead of its release, got to enjoy dressing up and putting on facepaint and have a chat with the guys over at IGN AU, Gamespot AU and some of the promo girls that were wandering around on the night.

It was great to see almost everyone getting into the spirit of the sport and dressing up and just getting involved in the night’s festivities.I would like to give a big thanks to THQ AU for inviting OXCGN to the costume party, as well as giving away the free gifts and also to Sony for getting involved and providing the 2 PS3 Slims as prizes.

It’s great to see Sony do some more for the community and getting involved in doing a bit more promotional work for supporting the console here in Australia.  Again a big thanks to everyone involved in making this happen and I hope to see more events like these promoting the games.

Now that I’ve got my copy of Smackdown vs Raw 2010, I can see many sleepless Saturday nights staying in and having amazing competitions with my mates in Triple Threat matches, Fatl 4-Way and Championship Scrambles matches.

Stay tuned to OXCGN in the following days for our review on the latest and greatest game in the franchise!

[ED: A big shout-out to Paul and Candice at THQ, and especially the girls at Mango, Annabelle and Katlin for making us feel like we're part of the family when attending these events. They know how to work the room, deal with the events and make sure everything flows according to plan, yet still have a fun time doing so. Hats off a warm welcome also to Katlin, great to see you in the 'big-smoke', great stuff and enjoy the gaming industry]

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos

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Not every quality gaming experience comes from a full retail-sized video game these days. The new surprising breed of gameplay fun can actually come from a downloaded smaller and less expensive bite-sized game from Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), Playstation 3’s Playstation Network (PSN), or Nintendo Wii’s Virtual Console.

While we enjoy these downloadable games from all consoles (Flower is an amazing concept!), we will be looking at our staff’s most loved XBLA games. See if you agree with us, or if you have your own favourites and comment at the bottom of the article.

OXCGN’s Most Loved

Darkmurder

Geometry Wars 2: What’s not to love about seizure-causing graphics, awesome soundtrack and addictive gameplay? I could play this game forever and never get bored with it!

Braid: This game should have been simply titled Awesome- the graphics were so detailed and lovingly created that it was a feast for your eyes and lets not forget the bloody brilliant gameplay mechanics that were incorporated. This much quality from an XBLA game!

Shadow Wave

Braid: The sound track, the artwork, the story and the gameplay all compliment each other in such a way that just makes Braid a joy to play. While it may be on the short side, the game will be remembered for a long time as the most unique XBLA game to date.

Castle Crashers: This game is great fun solo or online with buddies (although it can be a huge downer if you both want to play as the same guy). It’s full of humour for all ages, and generally provides some highly addictive fun that will last many, many hours. Definitely worth the money.

Banjo Kazooie: The N64 classic plays and looks the best on XBLA. It’s a great way for fans to re-experience the classic game, but also lets the next generation of kids experience one of the definitive adventure games to date.

Axis of Reality

Shadow Complex: It’s always a good day when you wake up to a Live Arcade game with production values as high as a top retail game at a fifth the price. Shadow Complex shows the potential for highly polished games that are right at home in the current generation to live in Live Arcade instead of just streams of old ports.

Geometry Wars Series: What Live Arcade list would be complete without it? Geometry Wars is attributed with prompting services like Live Arcade after it appeared in Project Gotham Racing 2 and was an instant hit. Small games for even smaller prices?

Who wouldn’t like that? And we all have Geometry Wars to thank for pushing Microsoft to create a service that I can’t believe I lived without last generation.

Halfbrick Rocket Racing / Echoes / Raskulls: From a studio that was known for licensed handheld games to suddenly break out with some of the best games on Live all at once is a massive achievement. Halfbrick Rocket Racing, Halfbrick Echoes and Raskulls are all amazing independent games that demonstrate small studios don’t have to live under the boots of a big publisher but can free their creativity and experiment with innovative new gameplay concepts on their own with Live Arcade and use the earnings that go directly back to them to make even more.

Sutton Dagger

Braid: Without a doubt, Braid is my favourite XBLA game. Essentially a puzzle platformer, Braid weaves the tale of a flawed man trying to find his ‘princess’, into mind bending puzzle elements based around the manipulation of time. Though some may argue a it’s a short game, the experience you’re rewarded with is priceless.

Banjo Koozie and Tooie: They are another great addition to the XBLA lineup. Classic Nintendo 64 platformers given the HD treatment and missing interconnectivity, what more could you want. This bear and bird duo still have the classic charm we all remember, these two games are a must have for gamers who want to experience the nostalgia of the ‘good old days’ and new players alike.

dkpatriarch

Carcassonne: Having played this tile strategy game in its original corporeal form I was excited to discover that it translated perfectly to video game format on XBLA. It now does the math for you so players can’t argue over how much grass it takes to be able to link up built castles and therefore get more points. Well worth the play and can be very addictive multiplayer game for even casual gamer types.

Zuma: Okay this one is old and relatively simple by XBLA standards these days, but it still is a classic. I hated Tetris and don’t like Bejewelled or other repetitive shape games but this one got me quite addicted for longer than most. Challenging without being too frustratingly so, it really was a clever idea.

Age Of Booty: Everybody loves pirates- well except the game, music and film makers who don’t like the kind that find ways of getting their products for free, and except the cruise passengers off the coast of Africa who see modern pirates in mini-boats waving RPGs at them- but everybody loves the mythical eccentric Johnny Depp-like pirate and pirate ships of legend!

This game is my pick because it is great for the family. Unlike most the bigger releases these days, Age Of Booty allows multiple players on one console and one screen. You all are seeking to battle it out with other ships and conquer fort towns to collect booty and resources to upgrade your ship. Capture enough fort towns on a map, and you win. Even better, the game features a rudimentary map editor so you can construct your own ‘high seas’ to battle on.

GrathiusXR

Shadow Complex: For the price of 1200 MSP and the final Arcade released in this year’s Winter Of Arcade for Australia/Summer of Arcade For America, Shadow Complex takes a twist in the 2D platforming genre and adds a unique 3d perspective to it.

Whilst controls may be a bit annoying at first once coming to grips with them and finding new weapons and power ups the game shows itself at its best. With multiple ways to complete the game on each play through with either being able to finish it in under 2 hour or over 10 hours it’s a gem of an arcade game that not only rivals some full retail games in graphics but also replayability.

Battlefield: 1943: Another gem of a game that goes for only 1200 MSP takes what we all loved about BF: 1943 and makes it better. Now whilst it may be missing the Medic class which many so love to play as it still did offer a heap of fun and value for your points.

Its graphics, again like Shadow Complex, rivals many full retail games and its multiplayer triumphs over many games that struggle to keep a room of 8 people lag free. It was a multiplayer only games that had much to offer and now still keeps on giving.

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by ChiefJimbolaya:

©2009 Aaron Klein

“What do you do with a bunch of kids who don’t know how to do anything but bang their heads all day long?”

“We start a revolution!”

Perhaps no greater tribute has ever been offered at the temple of an entire genre of music than Brütal Legend. This game idolizes the power and energy of heavy metal, creating an entire world with metal as its central mythology.

The world of Brütal Legend is steeped heavy metal symbolism; with every scenic vista looking like it belongs on an album cover.

Brütal Legend is a game with a lot of star power. First, it bears the name of one of the most critically acclaimed video game developers: Tim Schafer.

Schafer spent more than a decade at Lucas Arts working on games like Maniac Mansion, The Secret of Monkey Island and Grim Fandango before founding his own studio, Double Fine Entertainment, and creating games like Psychonauts. He has earned the reputation as being one of the funniest writers in the industry.

The game’s second big name is Jack Black, who voices Riggs, and whose enthusiasm for rock music evident in movies like School of Rock and Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny made him a perfect advocate.

In addition, heavy metal icons like Ozzy Osborne, Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead and Judas Priest’s Rob Halford lend their voices to some of the game’s main characters. In another stroke of genius, Schafer secured the diabolical voice of Tim Curry as the game’s main villain.

Brütal Legend is a third-person, open-world action game where you play as Roadie Eddie Riggs. Riggs laments what passes for music nowadays, asking a fellow roadie, “Do you ever feel like you were born in the wrong time, like you should have been born in a time when the music was better?”

Soon enough he finds himself magically transported via his cursed belt buckle to a land of Nordic fantasy where demons have enslaved humanity. Only the power of metal–and Eddie’s superior organizational roadie skills—can save them.

In this world, Eddie can melt his enemies’ faces with a scorching guitar riff and allies can be healed with the soothing vibrations of a bass note from a steel string made from a giant spider. Eddie’s guitar launches special attacks, and behaves in a way similar to Link’s ocarina in the Zelda franchise.

The story lampoons various aspects of music culture. Eddie’s first roadblock, General Lionwhyte gets around by using his massive hair to fly, and represents the glitz and glam of corporatized hair metal in the 1980s.

Other enemies clearly mock the emo culture, as they don black clothing and mascara while saying things like, “you don’t understand my suffering.” These guys get their power by drinking from the “Sea of Black Tears.”

Eddie’s roadie skills particularly help in the massive “stage battles,” which are duplicated in multiplayer mode. Stage battles are a mix of third person action and real time strategy.

Here Eddie sprouts wings and soars over the battlefield, setting rally points and commanding his troops. Two opposing stages vie over fan geysers, which supply resources needed to build more and more powerful troops to take out your opponent’s stage.

Some RPG elements are evident in that Eddie earns flame tributes by pleasing the gods, which he can give to the Guardian of Metal (Ozzy) in exchange for upgrades to his vehicle and weapons.

Side quests are good ways to earn extra flame tributes. There are around a half dozen varieties, including ambush attacks, races, hunting wildlife and searching for collectibles.

If anything bad can be said about it is that it is too short. However, it could have just seemed that way because it was so much fun.

©2009 Aaron Klein

“8.5/10

“Average press score according to TestFreaks: 6.3/10″

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