Do NOT Use Third Party Hard Drives in an Xbox 360 August 19, 2011

This is just a quick warning for everyone who visits this site for its technical information.  It turns out that since it’s so easy to build a hard drive for an Xbox 360 Slim, people have been selling third-party unofficial drives through methods like Amazon and eBay since they’re cheaper than what Microsoft is charging for them.

Recently, I got a comment on my Xbox 360 Slim Hard Drive installation video from an Xbox Slim user who could not play Halo 2 even though he had upgraded it with a Hard Drive.  I was troubleshooting for this poor guy for several days, and we could not get the game to run on his slim no matter what he did.

Finally I did some research into the problem and found the solution.  It turns out generic, homebrew and international drives are not properly formatted to Xbox 1 specifications.  Xbox had a specifically partitioned hard drive which its games made use of.  This was in lieu of having only 64MB of RAM, game developers created a pagefile in the hard drive to make up for it.  Since the 360 is backwards compatible, all Microsoft made drives have this partition in place so Xbox 1 games can make use of it.

If the drive is not properly partitioned and formatted the way an Xbox 1 game expects, the game will throw an error and refuse to load.  It turns out the idiots who are making these drives and selling them on the cheap are not aware of how to properly partition the drives they are selling, and while they are working fine for Xbox 360 storage, without the Xbox 1 partition in place in the hard drive you will not be able to play any of the Xbox 1 games that are backwards compatible.  This is a problem even if the game was downloaded through Xbox Live, it still will not play.

In short, they’re a plague, avoid them as such.  Be aware of what the Xbox 360 Slim HD packaging looks like, and be wary of any deals you might be getting on them.  If your drive is not able to play an Xbox 1 game, return it immediately and get a refund.

UPDATE:  This video might help.  This is what actual Xbox 360 Hard Drives look like.  If your drive does not look like what is featured in the video, you likely have a fraudulent drive.

Playstation 3 Price Drops to $249.99 August 17, 2011

Sony has made an unscheduled shift in the console war and dropped the price of the Playstation 3 by fifty dollars.

The Playstation 3 usually has two models out at any given time, one with a lower end hard drive capacity and another with a higher capacity hard drive.  These sizes will change on a regular basis as new models are continuously phased in and out, but the price has remained the same.  Today, that changes.  The lower end Playstation 3 currently at a capacity of 160GB will now cost you $249US, the premium model  PS3, which has a capacity of 320GB, is now $299US.

If you were on the fence about buying a PS3, now would be a good sign to buy one as the price drop is immediate and should be honored by all retailers.

This is not unheard of in the PS3 lifespan.  The first Playstation 3 price drop was done in order to phase out the initial 60GB launch models so they could sell new 80GB units at the 60GB launch price.  Once the 60GB model sold out, Sony replaced them with Playstations with smaller hard drives and less features, particularly they took out Playstation 2 compatibility (which still has not returned).

Currently the PS3 is in last place in this generation of the console war.  Nintendo, even though they are going to launch their next generation console first with the Wii U, has such a far lead ahead of Sony and Microsoft, nobody expects them to be overtaken.  However, Sony does has the chance to take second place from Microsoft before the console generation ends, and this could be a preemptive strike for them to overtake the Xbox 360 in sales by Christmas.  The PS3 is still the only console with a Blu-Ray player, and with HDTV’s market getting larger than it was at the console launch, could make it a good deal for new HDTV adopters.  Plus, a ton of PS3 exclusive major releases are coming this November, as well as third-party cross-platform releases.

With the Playstation Vita handheld coming just around that time, this could very well be the start of the most exciting holiday in the history of gaming.

Bungie App Updated August 16, 2011

Bungie has updated their iOS Application, which allows anyone who downloads it to track their statistics in Halo Reach, as well as gives away special in-game goodies from Bungie.

Bungie has announced that version 1.1 of the app has been released to iTunes, which adds in Private Messaging and allows you to access to your Xbox Live Friends Status, two features that will enhance the functionality of the program pretty well.

Also, you Android users will be happy to know that the app has just been announced for the Android, so you can expect to get some love from Bungie too.

The Bungie App is free and can be downloaded through iTunes Store.  An Android version is coming.

Borderlands 2 Announced August 16, 2011

The sequel to Gearbox Software’s highly popular sleeper hit of 2010 has been announced!

Borderlands took gameplay mechanics from other games that came before it, and put it’s own spin on those, with an art style all its own.  It’s popularity increased tenfold when the Game of the Year Edition of the game was released, which bundled together the four DLC packs of the game along with access to the Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club at a reduced price.

The teaser trailer for the game doesn’t show much, but Gearbox has said they plan to do away with the random gun pickups of the original, and instead will have guns with set statistics from various manufacteres in the sequel.

Borderlands 2 is coming in 2010.

Mr. Freeze is Coming to Batman: Arkham City August 16, 2011

Add another to the list of Batman’s rogue’s gallery!  Dr. Victor Fries is coming to Arkham City in the guise of his alter ego, Mr. Freeze!

The appearance they’re going for him this time around is different than any design I’ve seen for Mr. Freeze in the past.  Mr. Freeze has appeared in a few Batman video games in the past.  He appeared in Batman: Vengeance (multiplatform), voiced by his original voice actor from Batman: The Animated Series.  He also appeared in Batman: Dark Tomorrow (PS2 and GameCube), which is only worth playing for the cutscenes.

His suit almost has the appearance of a walking tank, instead of life support armor, as he normally wears.  This is not unheard of, if he intended to go into battle with Batman, he would wear something like this.  I also really like how he can turn on and off the infared light in his goggles, making him seem more human when he’s not ready to fight, and lose that humanity when he is ready to fight.

Batman: Arkham City is coming October 4th, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Final RAGE Behind the Scenes Video Posted August 15, 2011

The sixth and final episode of RAGE Behind the Scenes has been posted up on Bethesda’s YouTube Channel.  This episode focuses specifially on the sound aspects of the game.  Interesting tidbits in the documentary include the notion that sound can be just as important to good gameplay as visuals are.

They also say why John Goodman was chosen as a voice actor in the game, I knew he had done voice roles in the past (He played the killer robotic Santa Claus in Futurama) but actually he was chosen because his in-game appearance matched closely with his character appearance in a popular film he did.

Just be aware some very minor story elements early on in the game get teased.

RAGE is coming for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 October 4th, 2011.

Resistance 3 Multiplayer Beta Test Schedule August 14, 2011

Resistance 3 has started its multiple phase multiplayer beta test.  The third entry in one of the first exclusive launch properties for the Playstation 3, Resistance: Fall of Man has been a killer app for the platform, and it’s multiplayer component has been widely successful in getting people to sign up for the Playstation Network as it was being launched.

Anyone who currently has a copy of SOCOM4 will be able to download and play it as we speak, but forutnatly, they will not be the only people granted access to the beta test.

Starting August 15th (tomorrow) and going to August 19th, people who pre-ordered through Amazon.com will be granted access to the beta test.  Access codes should be sent out in e-mail to anyone who ordered the game.

Between August 22nd through August 26th, Playstation Plus subscribers will be granted access to the beta test.  You should be granted access to download it through the Playstation Store.

Finally, the beta test will be opened to the entire Playstation Network userbase between August 29th and September 4th.

Resistance 3 will launch September 6th, 2011 exclusive to the Playstation 3.

RAGE Release Details August 13, 2011

In the aftermath of Quakecon 2011 some important information about RAGE has been released, particularly about the game’s release details.

The PC version of RAGE will use Steamworks.  A lot of people think this is just used as a Digital Rights Management system, but in truth Steamworks offers the players a DRM that enhances functionality opposed to traditional DRM, which takes those rights away.  Unlike DRM, Steamworks games by default do not have an installation limit.  You will be able to install games on as many systems as you wish for as long as you want.  Heck, you can lose your original CD/DVD AND your install key and still be able to install and play the game on any computer with an internet connection.  Other Steamworks features that are possible for the game’s release but not confirmed for RAGE include cloud saves which can be shared across computers, in-game achievements, and a multiplayer browser.

New copies of RAGE will also come with unlock codes for sewer transit.  Sewer transit is a feature of the game separate from the main plotline.  Without a download code, you will not be able to use this functionality, and could possibly have to purchase it through your platform’s marketplace.  This is in a similar vein to putting in arbitrary restrictions in copies of the game to prevent used sales.  Most of the time they remove access to the multiplayer component of the game and charge extra for people who purchase used copies of the game to regain that access.  They said they chose to remove sewer access because it was a feature most people didn’t use in testing, and didn’t take away from the main plotline.  Still, this anti-used campaign in general has been a really bad idea across the board and I really wish publishers would stop doing this.  If they want to promote buying new copies of games, the best option is to do what Remedy did with Alan Wake and offer free advance download codes for upcoming DLC bundled with all new copies of a game.

RAGE will release for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 in October, 2011.

Playstation 3 Firmware 3.70 Released August 10, 2011

A required firmware update has hit the PSN this week. Not much extra has been added unless you’re a Playstation Plus subscriber, but they did add support for 3D photo display on 3DTVs.

If you are a Playstation Plus subscriber, you’ll be able to auto sync your trophies and sync your gamesaves online so they can be used on multiple systems.

Am I the only person who thinks the playstation plus service is a waste? Trophy AutoSync and cloud gamesaves are two features that should’ve been added to all PS3 owners. Portal 2 for PS3 supports cloud saves (and it works just fine), and the Xbox 360 has no need to sync achievements.

If Sony wants the Playstation Plus service to work, they have to offer new services their competition doesn’t already offer for free. Autosyncing of Trophies alone should’ve been added when the feature was released two years ago! When Portal 2 came out, Cloud saving was a feature that Sony could hold over Microsoft to peg the PS3 version of Portal 2 as the superior version of the game! This was pegged as a discount service for DLC and downloadable games. Keep it as that.

Sony Buys Sucker Punch August 7, 2011

In a suprising move, Sony has bought out Sucker Punch Studios, who have been an exclusive Playstation 3 developer for several years now.  Recently, they were responsible for creating the inFamous series, which was Sony published as a Playstation 3 exclusive, and Sly Cooper, which was a Playstation 2 exclusive.

The inFamous games, first released in 2009, could be considered another one of the important exclusive series to the Playstation 3.  When it launched just before E3 that year it was a huge boon to the Playstation 3 market, which wouldn’t have another major exclusive release until that fall.  With Sucker Punch now Sony owned, all further games they develop will remain Playstation exclusives.

In honor of the event, I will include this video clip from inFamous 2, which I consider to be a perfect analogy to this news.