Okay….First off, the US sucks for a lot of reasons. In Asia video gamers are treated like kings, in Europe, video gamers are becoming Kings and enjoy a certain standing in popculture, kind of like rappers, here is a Europop vid that was posted that I absolutely loved that shows what kind of standing gaming has in Europe ( I believe this is Germany). This video clearly shows they have respect for gamers and make a video around it.
Thanks JOKR for kicking this off
A Gamer on halo3forum.com, KFOST a known montage maker for the site. Recently found out that a girl that went to his high-school actually became a playboy model. It gave some graduates reason to be proud ;).
I always thought she was amazingly hot, so did Hugh.
Google Shannon James for more photos.
Making our High School proud.
Enjoy!
MX vs ATV Untamed is bringing Rainbow Studio’s legendary Rhythm Racing physics engine to the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and Nintendo DS for the first time as players battle to own the off-road. Rainbow’s critically acclaimed physics have been supercharged with all-new improvements for next-gen action, featuring throttle based power-slides, near upside down whips and new scrubs at full speed, giving players more control than ever before while keeping the smooth, authentic feel not found in any other racing game. Players will compete in new event types, race with all-new vehicles and experience the ultimate X-Cross career mode, where they must master all eight vehicles, including the new ORV Sport.
Gamers that are here often need to help represent the site, more views will result in more content. So the people commenting often we thank you and ask that you use 360wtf.com signatures below on forums you post at.
I am no pro at Photoshop, but I tried.
Halo 3
Gears of War
Feel free to make 360wtf.com more signatures thanks!
This Tutorial will teach you how to setup a live stream or feed with your capture card.
[a live feed is like watching live tv it goes straight from your capture card to the internet so any one can watch it.]
Step1: Go to: Ustream.tv and click “Sign Up” at the top right corner of the site and make an account.
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Step2: Once you have made an account, log in. Then look in the tool bar and find/click my shows. Once your there scroll down a little bit and off to the right of the page you will see “Create New Standard Show” click that. you will then be redirected to another page, enter in all your shows info and click “Create Show” at the bottom of the page.Step3: You will now see your new show up in the list. next you click “Go Live” (the button next to your show that you want to go live.) Once you click that Note: Must have pop-ups allowed. another window will pop-up. it should look something like this,
Step4: You then click “Allow”. You will see that it is connected to your captureCard if not, then go into “Advanced Settings” and find “Video Settings” and select your capture card from the list. Now all you have to do is click “Start Broadcast” and your video will be streaming live for any1 to see. just goto the link shown under you show in the “My Shows” list.FAQ:Q: Why does the video seem so laggy?
A: Try changing the FrameRate so that it is higher or make the quality settings lower so it can process faster on your and other people computer.
Q: Why do i lag while my show is live?
A: It takes a high upload to stream video live so the more people watching the laggier your video might be. sorry but there is no way to fix this only if you buy/pay more for a higher upload speed.
In 2003, a game was released that heralded the arrival of one of the most important developers of our time. OK, maybe the hardcore gaming public already knew about Edmonton-based BioWare thanks to their work on the much-loved Neverwinter Nights, but it was the release of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic that changed everything. The Xbox game was lauded as one of the best console RPGs (and Star Wars games) of all-time and went on to win numerous year-end awards. Since then, fans have greeted each of the developer’s releases with quite a bit of fanfare, especially the wuxia epic Jade Empire. Naturally, everyone now has insanely high hopes for the company’s first next-gen release, the sci-fi RPG Mass Effect, but was BioWare able to deliver the goods? We’re happy to inform you that although the game is hurt a bit by some glaring technical issues, it’s the best RPG the Xbox 360 has to offer and is yet another must-have game in this already stellar holiday season.
Mass Effect casts the player as one Commander Shepard, a member of the Alliance Millitary. The human race is something of a redheaded stepchild in the galactic community, as they’ve yet to fully prove themselves to the other races that make up the universe’s governing body. Called simple the Council, this group keeps its collective finger on the pulse of the galaxy, responding and reacting to any emergencies that pop up. The Council uses a shadowy group of agents known as Spectres to take care of any particularly dirty jobs. As we all know, however, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and one of the agents goes rogue. Commander Shepard soon becomes the galaxy’s only hope against an ancient threat.
Create your own unique Shepard.
As a favor to you, our dear readers, I don’t want to ruin any part of the story, which is one of the best we’ve seen in…well, ever. We’re not just talking about the world of video games, either. Mass Effect’s plot and writing is better than that seen in most science fiction movies or TV shows, and is (we hope and pray) part of a planned trilogy of games. The folks at BioWare did an amazing job of creating and fleshing out this universe, populating it with interesting and unique races, each of which has a deep backstory. Each of the many planets you visit throughout your travels is made up of its on unique background that you can read before landing on it or by simply surveying the area.
Most of all, the writers did a masterful job of introducing and implementing some themes that typically aren’t seen in video games. Mass Effect touches on the themes of racism, sexuality, ethnic cleansing, biological weapons, terrorism, and a number of other subjects. It’s never too heavy-handed, and you actually don’t really need to pay attention if you don’t care. While you can skip through the dialogue-heavy segment and cutscenes, the strong writing and excellent voicework make them worth watching. We’ll talk more about that stuff later, but suffice it to say that this is one of the best story-driven games of the year.
While it’s got plenty of action and adventure elements, there’s no denying that Mass Effect is, at its core, a role-playing game. This is evident from the moment the game begins, when you’ll create a character by customizing everything from his or her background and military history to their combat style. The former elements change the way NPCs view you and interact with you, while the latter one dramatically alters the way you play the game itself. You’ll choose from six different classes, and while they seem to be pretty balanced, the ones that blend styles do seem to be a bit more powerful than the standard classes. For instance, playing as a Vanguard made the second half of the game a bit too easy, particularly once I maxed out one of my weapons and a few of my biotic powers. Still, the differences between the classes make playing the game multiple times enticing.
Finally, you’ll be able to create the hero of your dreams with a fairly robust character creation system. After deciding on a male or female hero, you’ll have the ability to change their appearance in any number of ways, from the various parts of the face to the hairstyle. Naturally, there are some looks that are better than others, and the ability to select from different preset templates definitely helps. Our biggest qualm with the character creation system is the fact that you can’t change your character’s voice or body in any way. While I can understand why this is the case, it would have been nice to truly have control over these things.
Right off the bat, you’ll notice that Mass Effect utilizes a unique dialogue system to progress the story. Essentially, you’ll begin speaking to another character, and a circular dialogue tree will appear at the bottom of the screen before they are finished talking. This allows you to queue up your responses so the conversation flows more realistically and naturally than in previous games. It’s a good system, although there were times that I accidentally chose my response while tapping X to get through some of the lengthier conversations. Make no mistake about it, this is an RPG in every sense of the word, and features some of the longest conversations in recent memory. I actually turned on the captions so I could get through them a bit faster, allowing me to move on to the next part with a simple tap of the X button.
Explore a lot of hostile environments.
As was the case in the previous BioWare RPGs, you basically be able to choose good, evil, or neutral responses when conversing with another character. The good is always at the top right part of the circle, while the bad ones are at the bottom right. During some of the discussions, you’ll have the ability to investigate more in order to learn more about the situation or the character that you’re speaking with. As we mentioned above, the writers at BioWare crafted an enormous universe with this game, and it will take your hours and hours to learn about everything. Thankfully, speaking with people will add entries to your codex and journal, both of which store relevant and important information.
Depending on how you treat your fellow galactic citizens, you’ll earn points in either your Paragon or Renegade gauges. If you want to be a jerk, you’ll quickly add points to your Renegade gauge, while being a nice guy will do the same for the other one. Unfortunately, the good/evil mechanic really doesn’t come into play at all, which will probably come as a disappointment to anyone who played KotOR or Jade Empire. You might be able to access a few more side missions by leaning one way over the other, but that’s pretty much it. People won’t cower in fear if you’re the baddest man in the universe, and women won’t throw themselves at your feet if you’re Mr. Nice Guy. Basically, the only decision that matters comes at the end of the game, making every decision that came before it feel a bit hollow.
Of course, none of that “shades of grey” stuff really matters when you’re in combat, which is where you’ll spend a good deal of your time. Unlike the previous BioWare console RPGs, the combat is in real-time, so you’ll have to rely on your third-person action skills as much as your tactical knowledge. It’s basically a third-person action game when you’re in combat, with the right trigger firing your weapon and the left zooming in your weapon. The interesting thing here is that certain classes are trained in the use of certain weapons and will be able to improve their skills (and unlock new ones) as they gain experience.
The experience and leveling system in Mass Effect is very straightforward and easy to use, as it’s all accessed through a single menu. You’ll be able to allocate your earned experience points to improve your character’s skill with his weapons of choice or improve the power or duration of his biotics. While you can auto-level your character or your squadmate, it’s a pretty quick and painless process just to do it yourself. One of the nicest things about the experience system is the fact that the rest of the men and women (and, um, “things”) on your team will earn experience whether they are in your active party or not. This makes mixing things up frequently a lot of fun, as it’ll give you a taste of the abilities of the other classes.
While you can make it through the game relying solely on weapons (this is precisely what the Soldier class does), it’s the ability to use biotics that really makes the combat a lot of fun. At any point during combat, you can hold down the right bumper to bring up the combat menu (pausing the action), target the enemy that you want to take down, then select the power you want to use. There’s a nice mix of defensive and offensive biotic powers, some of which are a bit too powerful (I’m looking at you, Singularity!). Overall, it adds a nice bit of variety to the proceedings, particularly if you use one of the hybrid classes.
Every space hero needs a lap dance!
You might have noticed that we haven’t really talked about the squad command system yet, and that’s because it’s really not very good. Yes, you’ve got the ability to tell your squadmates where to go and how to fight, but the weak friendly AI (thankfully the enemy AI is much better) makes it feel more like you’re babysitting them. They’ll fire on your foes and use their biotic powers from time to time, but it usually feels more like a one-man show. Your best bet is to hop into the options menu to set their Squad Power Usage to Active, as this gives them a slightly better shot at getting through combat alive. Still, there will definitely be times when they die stupid deaths, so we highly recommend building up that Unity power.
In addition to the main and side missions, you have the ability to cruise around the universe visiting different systems and planets. This is done through the Galaxy map, which is one of the coolest elements of the game. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for the planets themselves, which are a bit too similar for our liking. Most of them are pretty barren, differing only in their weather or environmental effects (some of them have poisonous atmospheres), and it seems like the designers used the same basic template for all of them. When you’re on the planet’s surface, you’ll spend your time looking for mineral deposits or ancient artifacts, grabbing them by getting through the same, easy minigame over and over again.
On the planet’s surface, you’ll spend the majority of your time in the Mako, which is essentially a six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle. While the Mako can jump into the air with the help of some boosters, it’s a lot more fun to mix it up with enemies rather than leaping to avoid them. There’s a mounted machinegun and cannon that will deal some damage to the baddies, some of which won’t go down without a fight. The only drawback to the Mako is that it can be a bit tough to control at times, especially when you want to avoid enemy attacks. It’s not quite as fun as driving a Warthog, but it’s definitely better than walking!
There are a number of glaring issues (more on those in a minute), but overall Mass Effect is a gorgeous looking game. The faces and character models are all stunning, especially up close during the conversations. I also loved most of the environments, particularly the ones that had lots of particles floating through the air like cherry blossom petals. There are some nice effects when you use your biotic powers, too. This is definitely one of the nicest looking Unreal Engine-powered games on the market, although I did notice some texture pop-in that was reminiscent of that seen in Gears of War.
Now for the bad part: Mass Effect is one of the buggiest games that this reviewer has played in quite some time. I had my system crash on me a number of times, and there were a bunch of clipping problems. My squadmates would get stuck in walls or seemingly disappear altogether, and don’t even get me started on the level that had to be completely restarted when my Mako fell through the ground over and over at the same point. Finally, the framerate is also quite problematic at times, particularly during combat or when you’re moving the camera around a lot.
Interact with interesting alien races.
On the audio front, you likely won’t find a better sounding game this year. The voiceover work is particularly strong, aided by the fact that BioWare tapped proven Hollywood talent to voice some of the most important characters. Seth Green and Keith David are particularly memorable, and I found myself wishing that I could have spent more time chatting them up. Oddly, there were times when Commander Shepard voice sounded flat and bored when he should have been more emotional. The score is also excellent. I found it haunting during the quieter sequences and was swept up when it ramped up during intense combat.
All of these elements (the audio, visuals, writing, etc.) combine to make Mass Effect one of the most cinematic games of all-time. We’ve heard that term bandied around for years, but this is one of the few times when you’ll actually feel like you’re playing a movie. It wasn’t surprising to learn that the development team consulted with a number of machinima veterans while making the game, as everything from the camera angles to the soundtrack feels like it was inspired by the movies.
Despite it’s flaws, there’s no denying that Mass Effect is one of the best games of the year, and is certainly the best RPG on the Xbox 360 (sorry Blue Dragon fans!). It’s also one of the most cinematic games of all-time, something that’s definitely helped by a fantastic story, great writing, movie-quality direction, and strong voiceover work. We can only hope that it really is the first part of a trilogy, as we can’t wait to see where the story goes next. We’ve heard people say that Mass Effect could be Star Wars for a new generation. If the first chapter is any indication of what BioWare has planned for the future, the sky’s the limit.
Platform:
Xbox 360
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Publisher:
Microsoft
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Developer:
BioWare Corp.
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Genre:
RPG
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Release Date:
11/20/2007
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Game Features:
Offline Players: 1
Downloadable Content
HDTV 720p Support
HDTV 1080i Support
Widescreen 16:9
Dolby 5.1 In-Game
Xbox 360 Exclusive
There’s an excellent blend of traditional RPG elements and third-person combat here, though we wish there were a bit more customization options. If only all the bugs were ironed out…
This is a gorgeous game, particularly when you take a close look at all of the little details. It’s hurt a bit by some framerate and texture pop-in issues, though they won’t really ruin the game for anyone.
From the voice work to the haunting score, this is one of best-sounding games of the year.
While a 30-hour RPG might sound short to some, it also help keep the game from getting boring. There’s enough variety to make it worth playing multiple times.
The dialogue system works extremely well, as does the “real-time” combat system that can be paused to call in biotic attacks.
Overall Score NOT an average
You may also want to check out the first hour of Mass effect (VIDEO)!!!
Click here to watch Mass Effect the video
Well, this month was a very, very close month for our contestants to win our prize, Project Gotham Racing 4. This month’s lucky winner is
Bizarre Creations announced today that Project Gotham Racing 4 has gone gold and is just a few weeks away from being in stores (2nd October in US, 12th October in Europe).
Project Gotham Racing 4 is the latest addition to the best-selling racing franchise from Bizarre Creations exclusively for Xbox 360.
To celebrate, Bizarre released the game’s full vehicle list, as well as four brand new screenshots.
Click HERE for the screenshots.
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The winner for 360WTF’s monthly contest number 2 will be announced on September 20th for PGR 4. And once the winner is announced, the announcement for next month’s prize will be posted.
Remember, you still have a chance to win Project Gotham Racing 4 by being very active on the site before September 20th!
Well, since we like to giveaway free stuff here at 360WTF, next month’s prize will be a full game! Yes, I’m not lieing. And by looking at the image above I bet you already know what it is. It’s Project Gotham Racing 4. Yep, we’re giving that game away when it releases on October 2nd. If you win, it will be at your house by the next day after it releases.
So, this week is even bigger so remember, the more you post replies, the more of a chance you have at winning Project Gotham Racing 4. Oh, and don’t forgot Geometry Wars: Waves comes with it! Good luck anyone!
“Project Gotham Racing® 4,” the latest addition to the best-selling racing franchise from Bizarre Creations exclusively for Xbox 360, was unveiled. “Project Gotham Racing 4” promises to continue the “Project Gotham Racing” pedigree of innovation by introducing exciting new experiences to racing fans worldwide.
Yes, after the posts filled up and news came in, o II SHoCK II o was one of the first 200 to post in the official “Welcome to 360WTF” and has been replying to almost every post here. So, congrats o II SHoCK II o you’ve won 360WTF’s 1st Monthly Giveaway. You’ve won the 12 month Xbox Live subscription card.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t win people. You still have more of a chance to win next month by replying to a lot of posts even this month. So, whenever you have some free time, etc try and get your chances higher by posting more replies.