My first recollections of Pac-Man were from inside a dark arcade. A little yellow character eating dots being chased by ghosts, all the wile being encased in a soft, blue glow from the maze pattern. Even until this day, when I see that blue glow I instantly go back to the early 1980s. Thankfully I have an original arcade “cocktail” machine, so I can pretty much get my fix anytime I want. You can find out more about my Pac-Man machine and the restoration I performed on it. I don’t know which was more fun, playing the game or fixing it.

Without A Thought For Tomorrow

When I was a kid back in 1982/1983, I was a total Pac-Punk. I had the stickers, cereal, Mac & Cheese, video game, slippers, and countless other Pac-Paraphernalia. And don’t forget about the cartoon! It wasn’t until The Transformers about a year later that I gave Pac-Man a game over. But I never really forgot about him. Besides my arcade machine, I have Pac-Man on both my iPhone and my iPad. The iPad version is really nice. However, you can’t hide in a “T” anymore. Don’t know what that means? You’re probably too young. For a great Pac-Primer, visit The Virtual Pac-Man Museum.

Being only a few years older than Pac-Man, I’ve literally grown up with him. I was lucky enough to be the first generation where video games were standard household fare. Many my age can measure their life not in years or decades, but what video game systems they had during any particular era. I can break my life up into segments– Atari 2600, Colecovision, NES, Sega Genesis, Playstation(s), N64, Xbox, etc. I don’t know what you were doing in 1990, but I was playing my TurboGrafx-16 system with CD-ROM unit! Six years later, the Nintendo 64 was king.

As complex and involved as games are these days, it goes to show that a simple and fun game can be just as satisfying. Pac-Man got the fire started in 1980 and the rest as they say is history. Here’s to another 30 Packy.

And now for some interesting Pac-Phacts.
Information courtesy of Pacman.com.

• PAC-MAN was released in 1980.
• The name “PAC-MAN” comes from the sound paku-paku, which in Japan, represents the sound one’s mouth makes while eating.
• Guinness World Records has awarded the PAC-MAN as “Most Successful Coin-Operated Game” in 2005. In addition, Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2010 notes that PAC-MAN is the best known of all videogame characters and is recognized by 94% of American consumers.
• PAC-MAN was designed by NAMCO employee Toru Iwatani.
• The memorable title chosen by Bandai Namco Games for their popular character, PUCK MAN appeared for the first time. With simple rules which are easy to understand and cute characters, the game attracted a lot of people, and created a craze all over the world, which included Japan of course.
• It was released in the US in October 1980.
• It became a huge hit worldwide.
• Sold over 100,000 a year.
• Each of the 4 ghosts has its Japanese and English names. In Japan they started as Fickle, Chaser, Ambusher and Stupid. Their English names are known as Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde.
• PAC-MAN became an economic term. When a company that is about to be acquired instead takes over the hostile company that was attempting to acquire it, it’s called the “PAC-MAN” defense. The name was coined after the role reversal that occurs when PAC-MAN eats power cookies.
• First released as PUCK-MAN, the name was later changed to PAC-MAN.

Presentation

The game’s interface is not slick or polished and features one of my biggest pet peeves. So my question… why do all games that show some type of computer display on-screen, and as part or the GUI or in-game experience, show a flickering screen with scan lines? Hello? CRTs have been dead for years. There are no scan lines in LCD screens, which obviously is the equipment depicted in the game. Seems this game is trying to capture the realism of displays 15 years in the past. Enough already. You can also see scan lines when you are connecting to server, deploying to your missions, and a few other places within the interface.

The interface looks dated– badly.

Gameplay

Of all the areas of the game I’ve commented on, this one I’ve had the least amount of time to consider, as I’ve been unable to get in many games due to technical issues on “their” side. What I have noticed is that movement feels clunky. Also, when using the sights on my rifle, the screen doesn’t zoom gracefully, it sort of “pops” into zoom. Very jerky. It would also be nice if the world map was in the lower left portion of the screen instead of the upper right.

The weapons seem very weak. It appears to take a lot (of time/bullets) to kill people. At least every other close-quarters battle I’ve had involves me and the other guy doing a “noob dance,” just moving around in a circle trying to shoot one another. The firefights don’t seem to be too much fun. Also, every bullet seems to have a tracer, not good if you have a silencer… sort of defeats the whole purpose of not wanting to be noticed.

Environment

The maps in this game are big just for the sake of being big. However, the area you are dealing with feels small and crowded, despite the overall large footprint. In all the maps I’ve played, you can’t really walk 20 or so feet without bumping into something, whether it be a tree, fence, rock, or other obstacle. Things seem to be randomly cluttered around the map, if only to provide cover to some camper waiting for you to walk by. There are no wide open spaces with nothing in-world to give you the sense of scale. The world doesn’t look like it could actually be a locale in the real world, and that takes away from the user experience. Trains look like toys and bridges look like walkways.

Because of these flaws, the environment feels to take place on a 2-D plane. Almost the entirety of the game takes place on flat ground, offering no high vantage points for snipers. You can barely get into the 3rd dimension, often not being able to jump or walk over very small obstacles, but rather have to go around them. Objects you would think you have access to you don’t.

The colors and lighting are not very realistic. Colors are cartoony and shadows are jaggy, darker shades of the regular color. Actually, the graphics are quite bad. The game feels like a FPS lost the World of Warcraft environment with less creative content. There are no physics to speak of and everything seems rigid and not fluid. Poor explosions, no destruction, and the lack of being able to shoot enemies through thin in-world materials makes gameplay really suffer.

MAG lacks the freedom of other games, even though it’s supposed to be grand in scale. With no open spaces, the world is just too cluttered with polygons. In one map there is a train yard. This should be a nice vast expanse of land, however the area seems to be only about 50 feet across, cluttered with objects strewn every 20 feet. It’s as if you are playing a game with Battlefield sized maps, and with COD gameplay… but without the fun of either game.

Audio/Sound Effects

The game really suffers in this area. The music is cheesy and the in-game effects don’t feel realistic in the slightest. For instance, BFBC2 beta had unbelievable sound, and that was just the beta. At least it would have been nice if the audio took away from the poor graphics but this game suffers badly in both departments. I guess it can’t help much that I’m getting static sounds from the music during the beta.

The music sounds like it’s straight out of some redneck bar down south. My apologies to rednecks.

Gimmicks

This is a gimmick game– the gimmick being that 256 people will be in the same “world.” Having said that, if this were the same game that supported say 24 or 32 players max, nobody would be talking about this game. The amount of players is the hype. That’s what gets people talking. It’s certainly not the graphics, gameplay or overall user experience. Other than the perception “this game rocks with 256 players,” there is nothing else redeeming that would make this game be a winner. It’s really average and mediocre in most areas.

Verdict

Too much ambition and not enough product. If the tone of this sounds too harsh, there are a couple reasons. First, I’ve been trying about 20 minutes to get into a game and I wrote the draft of this review on a crappy Windows PC. I was too lazy to go into the other room and get my MacBook Pro. God, PCs suck and Windows is a nightmare.

The game gets 2 out of 5 stars.

Test 1, Test 2, Test 3

The bottom line is that the vast majority of PS3 players DO NOT have headsets. The ones that do end up sounding like transistor radio broadcasts, and it’s usually the noobs who are talking anyway. It’s as if voice communication was an afterthought. I blame Sony for this as they don’t pack a headset with their system. Microsoft included headsets with their Xbox Live subscription kits. Sony, unlike Microsoft who has a pay online service, offers theirs for free– and it shows. My advice to Sony: charge a fee to use the online service, and take some of the profit and include headsets with your system.

Do You Hear What I Here?

Communication is key in online games, especially if you’re playing with people you don’t know. You must be able to communicate to play effectively as a team. After all, that is what online multiplayer is– teamwork. If nobody is talking, how does anyone else know that one class is over-weighted, and that people need to switch to another class? You don’t. This means that for games that require good teamwork, it often comes down to the team with the most “friends” wins. And, they probably have more players with headsets too!

What Did I Do To Deserve This?

It’s too bad, as I was just getting used to the PS3 controller and I purchased a couple downloadable titles– Battlefield: 1943 and Fat Princess. Fat Princess is an unbelievably fun game… if you actually could communicate with your team! You can have up to 16 players on your team (90% of whom have no headsets) and in this game teamwork is the only way to win. You can’t go at it alone. But you have to.

I’ve seen posts in the PS3 forums where people are putting together lists of people who actually have headsets in hopes they can play an effective game, not just running around solo. Although the game is fun, creative, and a breath of fresh air, it’s just unplayable without communication. You’re better off sticking to the single player mode. At least there your computer buddies will actually follow your commands.

A Sucker For Punishment

I’m sure I’ll try to play a bit more and see if my experience changes for the better, but I’m not holding out any hope. Battlefield is playable and enjoyable even without communication for me, as I’m pretty handy with a rifle. But the experience would be so much better if I could storm a base with my team, everyone on the same page as to what’s happening next. As for Fat Princess, the bugs and glitches aside, I just can’t have fun playing this game for long. Considering, with communication this could be arguably the most fun I’ve ever had in an online multiplayer. Sadly, this is a PS3-only title, so I won’t be able to play this properly on the Xbox 360.

Guess I’m going back to Microsoft, hands out, begging to be forgiven.

I have finally rid myself of this horrible excuse for a video game system. Yes, I now have an eXbox 360! I sold it on eBay for $335.01, which was a very good price, considering I didn’t think I’d get $150.00. Of course, I paid $800.00 for it, so I lost my shirt on that deal.

In other news, I sold my iMac and an AirPort Express. I still have two Macs, so don’t get the idea I’m jumping ship.

Nintendo today announced partnerships with Sega and Hudson to offer 1,000 classic Genesis and Turbografx games for download on the Revolution’s Virtual Console!

read more | digg story

Wow! The Nintendo Revolution looks like it’s getting better and better with every press release. With the sad state console gaming is in right now, I hope Nintendo can go retro, and actually make it work. I’d rather play tried and true, time-tested games I know I loved rather than spend $60.00 on an Xbox 360 dud!

I’ve always said for some time that Nintendo needs to do a hardware-based “game library” of all their best titles. I don’t think that will happen any time soon, but the Virtual Console is the next best thing. I think this could work and make millions of people very happy.

In May 2000, I was lucky enough to purchase a Pac-Man cocktail arcade machine. The machine was in working order, and the outside of the machine was in remarkable condition. The inside however, did show its age. Overall, the machine was a beauty, and well worth the $1,699.00 I paid.

From 20 years of dust, smoke and grime, the inside was like a nightmare. The wires were brittle and dirty. The transformers looked horrible. Solder joints looked like they would fail any moment. In short, the inside needed some work. But it wouldn’t be until some four years later that I actually did the complete re-wire.

Insert Quarter Please

Starting from May 2000 to July 2000, I slowly started restoring the machine. The first thing I did was fix the test switch– it was wired wrong. After that, I sent out the control panels and coin door for powder coating, purchased new reproduction molding, sanded and repainted the corner wooden edges, and sanded the tabletop, filling in some gaps in the wood.

Inside Cabinet (before) [+ View Larger]

I also had to purchase new reproduction control panel overlays. The overlays adhere to the black control panels on either side of the machine, and feature artwork, such as characters as well as listing the player 1 and 2 button locations. These were really high quality overlays costing $50.00 for the set of two. The glass underlay was also purchased for $50.00. This underlay sits on top of the machine, under the glass. The original Pac-Man cocktail machines had the artwork printed on the underside of the glass. These would be too costly to reproduce today, so they use a styrene underlay, which is the same artwork as the original. Under a clear piece of glass, you really can’t tell the difference.

Most of the work I did early on was cosmetic, and related to the exterior of the machine. I figured since the outside is what you look at most, I didn’t need to worry about the inside. The monitor that came with the machine did work, but had severe burn-in from years of constant play. I eventually replaced that in 2004. Wiring it was simple, and I’ll get to that later.

I probably spent about $300.00 on various parts to get Pac-Man the way I wanted it. It looked great. I probably would have stopped there, but something happened one day that ushered in a new round of restoration. This was the final restoration.

Inside Cabinet (after) [+ View Larger]

Power Everywhere, But Not A Drop In Sight

One day I turned on my Pac-Man only to find it wouldn’t start. I opened the unit up, and looked for what could be the problem. The first thing I tried were the fuses. They were not blown. Next I checked the wires for the power switch. They looked good. What could it be? I then saw some mouse droppings inside the cabinet, and concluded a mouse must have eaten through a wire. But which wire? Those damn mice!

I then decided I needed to do a complete re-wire. This would take some investigating on my part, as I’ve never attempted anything of this magnitude. After opening up the cabinet, and seeing like 60 wires, all leading to various components, switches and boards, I was a bit taken aback. These wires were each like 5 feet in length, running all around the machine. But after looking closely, there was a harmony about it. The wires were all going somewhere, and it ended up being logical.

Now I did have the schematic to work with, but I couldn’t read it. I mean I could, but really couldn’t make heads or tails. So what I did, was manually cut and trace the starting point and ending point of each and every wire. Yikes! Talk about a job. I must have spent a good three hours cutting, tracing, then drawing on paper the paths of the wires. I still have the booklet of all the original drawings.

Assembly Board (before)

So after all that work, I felt confident I could wire it back up the same way I found it. It wasn’t until I looked at my drawings with all the line tracings, then looked at the schematics, that I found out my drawings were identical, just not in a methodical, organized way as the engineers at Midway drew out. I was at least happy I could look at the schematic and actually read it. That helped out later on.

I Go To Pieces

I had literally about 100 pieces of Pac-Man on my floor. I grouped the pieces depending on location, like the PCB (printed circuit board), coin door, assembly board, speakers, etc.. I’ve always been good putting things back together, so I kept no record of how the pieces went back together, other than for the coin door.

Now, all I was left with was just the Pac-Man cabinet. Nothing in it. Just bare wood. Now it was time to order all the parts I would need for the restoration. Luckily for me Bob Roberts lives on planet Earth. This guy has been fixing and selling parts for these things since they were in arcades in the early 1980s. I mean he had anything you could think of relating to this machine. Without him, I don’t think I could have done this, at least not as easily.

So I placed several orders, and finally have all the parts I needed from him. I also ordered from TwoBits.com, where I purchased a couple new wiring harnesses. I purchased two so I could have extra wire. Turns out, I needed the extra wire for the joysticks. I also purchased a fan, although I don’t use it, as they are loud with them.

Assembly Board (after)

The New Beginning

Ironically, the final restoration started in July 2004, four years to the month I finished my initial restoration. The wiring took only a few days, working about 4-5 hours a day. I was sure to go slow and get everything correct on the first go. I didn’t run into any problems wiring the machine. I was so surprised it went as smoothly as it did. It was also so much fun. This was the most fun I ever had working on something. I would have done it over again without hesitation.

Before I finished the wiring, I ordered a new monitor from TwoBits. It was a bit costly at $329.00, but it was almost “plug and play,” or as close to PNP as you can get. I did have to remove the metal frame and adjust it to fit to the original. I had to drill some new holes through the metal. That was no problem though. The timing was right. The monitor arrived the day I was scheduled to finish the wiring.

Lights, Camera, Pac-Action

On August 12, 2004, at 11:05 PM EST, I turned Pac-Man on for the first time– it worked! I was so happy. I couldn’t believe I got it right the first time. I figured I’d have a hiccup here and there, but nothing. It was truly a great experience, one that I will never forget. It was perfect.

Control Panel (player 1)

Perfection, however, has a cost. And it was quite large. Besides the parts for the machine, which ended up being about $500.00, including the monitor, I had to buy some power tools to manufacture the wooded base, as the original was shot. The base sits under the machine, and houses the legs. Needing to “do it right,” I bought a power mitre saw, drill press, and router– all for a piece that costs about $6.00 in parts. But I had to be authentic. I made the base almost exactly as the original, only making it a bit higher. I even reproduced the rounded corners. I managed to sell a few of them on eBay too, so that was nice.

I also purchased a second PCB (the game board) on eBay, and had that repaired for like $180.00. After all was said and done, I probably sank close to what I paid for it, but it was worth it. The machine lasted 20 years up until that point, and it will last another 50 now that I’ve restored it.

Pac-Man (finished)

Here is a sampling of the parts list. Some items, like power tools, and extraneous items are not included.

(2) .093 Plug & Receptacle (2 pos.) – $2.00
(1) .093 Plug & Receptacle (3 pos.) – $1.25
(1) .093 Plug & Receptacle (12 pos.) – $4.00
(2) .093 Plug & Receptacle (9 pos.) – $6.00
(1) .156 Housing w/pins (3 pos.) – $0.25
(1) .156 Housing w/pins (6 pos.) – $0.50
(5) 1N4007 – $1.00
(1) AC Line Cord – $3.00
(1) AC Line Filter (.25 tabs) – $5.00
(1) AC Power Distribution Block (.187 tabs) – $2.00
(1) BX 161 Lamps – $2.00
(1) BX 1813 Lamps – $2.00
(1) Cable Clamps (3/8″) – $2.50
(1) Cable Ties (4″) – $2.00
(1) Coin Switch – $5.00
(1) CP Bolt Set – $4.00
(1) CP Molding $10.00
(1) CP Overlays – $50.00
(1) Crimpers – $20.00
(1) Degaussing Coil – $40.00
(1) Fan – $35.00
(8) Fiber Leaf Switches – $24.00
(1) Fuse Blocks w/Fuses – $29.00
(2) Fuses – $8.00
(4) Lamp Holder (161) – $6.00
(1) Lamp Holder (1813) – $1.50
(1) Molex Pin/Socket Extractor (.093) – $20.00
(1) Monitor – $329.00
(1) Pac-Man (PCB) Repair – $190.00
(1) Powder Coating – $60.00
(1) Smoked Plexi – $10.00
(1) Speaker (shielded) – $12.00
(3) Speaker Grills – $27.00
(1) Spiral Wrap (5′) – $3.00
(2) Start Buttons – $22.00
(1) Table Molding – $12.00
(1) Underlay Artwork – $50.00
(2) Wiring Harness – $70.00
(1) Wooden Base – $40.00

Update: 03.24.06 – I just installed a coin switch I purchased from Bob Roberts. For whatever reason, the one I had stopped working. Put the new one in and it’s working perfectly now.

I purchased World of Warcraft, a MMORPG played by thousands and thousands of people all across the world. It’s basically a virtual world, where people can go and do quests, battle, or group together to accomplish tasks– mainly killing things.

The game cost $49.99, but that includes your first month of play. This is a subscription-based game. Thereafter, you must pay $15.00/month to Blizzard Entertainment in order play the game. The monthly cost may seem high or not worth the price, but the “world” is constantly being updated and new things are always being added.

A Point Without An Edge

I might as well get to the point. This game reminds me of Zelda– without the fun. Running around for hours talking to people and killing animals isn’t my thing. There is so much to do, which in part may be a bad thing for me. There is too much to do. I like games that are structured, not to be all linear, but provide a good understanding of story and theme. WoW is just too bloated for me.

I’ve never been an RPG fan, but I’ve played a few RPG games that I’ve loved. Pagan : Ultima VIII was probably the most fun of any RPG game I’ve ever played, and that was back in 1994-95. I used to prefer the action/adventure, or the quasi role playing games. Now, I really only enjoy first person shooters.

MMORPGISNOT4ME

I knew WoW wasn’t for me, but decided to give it a try. My suspicions have been confirmed– this game isn’t for me. I have almost one month remaining on my trial period, but I doubt I’ll even load the game. The odds of the game being removed from my Mac within the next few days are pretty great. I’d take that bet!

A Cool World

Although I don’t like the game, I’m not taking anything away from the look and feel. The environment is great, and the worlds are big and vast. The game was well thought out and the worlds have been created with users in mind. This is just not something I get into.

So my foray into World of Warcraft is now over. I finish my WoW career at a solid LVL 9. I was a Rouge. Aside from these few memories, and being put on a West coast server with high latency, I won’t miss WoW, and probably won’t ever think about it again.

My final score: 1 out of 5 stars.

Update: 03.13.06 – I called up Blizzard and officially cancelled my account. The game was removed from my computer on 03.08.06.

Sony’s next-generation PlayStation 3 video game console might not appear in key markets this year and could cost the company $900 per unit to produce initially, according to Merrill Lynch analysts quoted in the Financial Times on Sunday.

Sony has indicated a spring launch for its console in Japan and the industry is not expecting a North American launch until November, the FT said. But Hitoshi Kuriyama of Merrill Lynch in Japan said there are reports that the PS3 could be delayed by between six and 12 months.

Merrill Lynch analysts estimated that the initial bill of materials for the PS3 could approach $900, dropping down to $320 by three years after launch.

The Price Of Leadership

If it costs Sony $900 to make the PS3, how much of a loss do you think they are willing to take selling it to us? Even if the PS3 retails for $699.99, that’s still too much for a console here, and it’s too much of a bust for Sony, in terms of cost to manufacture each unit.

It seems Sony is between a rock and a hard place. If the PS3 is delayed, in hopes of dropping prices for components, Sony risks falling too far behind Microsoft and the Xbox 360. If they rush too early, they run the risk of losing a truck-load of cash on every system sold.

The Kitchen Sink, And Then Some

Part of the problem with the PS3 is the lofty goals Sony set for itself, most notably 1080p support and Blu-ray discs. They are trying to make this the “end all, be all” of consoles. The problem is that people aren’t going to be able to take advantage, for the most part, of all the bells and whistles Sony is adding. What’s more, game developers probably won’t be taking advantage of all the PS3 can potentially offer.

Do we really need 1080p support, when you can barely buy a TV that supports that resolution? Do we really need Blu-ray discs for games that work perfectly well on standard DVD discs? Are developers going to take advantage of the full power? Hardly. It seems Sony is pricing themselves out of the console market with the PS3.

The Dumbing Down Effect

Compare Sony with Nintendo, who announced that their upcoming next-gen system, the Revolution, won’t even support HDTV! I guess they feel their customer base is happy with S-Video and composite video. Hell, Nintendo should just add the RF-Adapter for us old school gamers and make everyone happy. Nintendo has it’s own problems, which will be fully addressed in the future.

Sony is in a position to deeply hurt the PS3′s chances of competing with the Xbox 360. It seems Microsoft found the perfect mix of technology, price, and gaming fun. Sony is determined to push the envelope of the technological side of the PS3, which may in turn hurt the fun side, and in doing so, hurt the overall sales and impact the PS3 has in the United States.

Stay tuned, this saga is surely not over. (…and don’t call me Shirley)

Call Of Duty 2 for the Xbox 360 is the worst on-line experience you could ever wish upon anyone; friend or foe. Mere words can’t describe the trials and tribulations one must go through just to get the chance of playing in a game. Just the chance that is, as getting in a game is not the same thing as being able to play a game.

Infinity Ward, developer of the Call Of Duty franchise for the PC, and now Xbox 360, slapped this game together from what looks like rough pieces of computer code, salted with a nice soundtrack.

Oh, The Humanity

There is barely an on-line multiplayer aspect to speak of. It really consists of you choosing ranked vs unranked (which are really one in the same), and then choosing your game type. After that, dig in your pocket and pull out a coin, and flip it. And the odds aren’t even that good that you’ll actually play. At least with a coin, it’s 50/50. With COD2, it’s often about 10%, and even less at times.

Finding a game is the hard part, but being able to play without lag is often harder– which is something of a surprise, seeing that only a maximum of eight players (without glitching) can be in any game at one time. Infinity Ward just blew this game at every turn.

The game does have good aspects, like the fun gameplay when you do finally get in a good game. But those are few and far between, and even that fun doesn’t make up for the poor package this game presents.

Celluloid Heroes

I’ve included a movie I made today which can show, more than words, what happens when you try to find a game. It’s only 3 1/2 minutes in length, but it could easily have been an hour.

Download the movie below. The file is over 60MB, so be sure to save it to your hard drive, otherwise you’re in for a long wait in your browser window.

COD2.mov (right-click to save)

My impressions of Perfect Dark Zero for the Xbox 360 are mixed. On the one hand, it’s a nice departure from the torment of a Halo 2 hell. On the other had, the few things it doesn’t do right are glaring and need to be addressed.

I Walk the Line

Movement is slow and the character response when turning, even with the settings set to 100, they still seem too slow. Also, since there is no auto-aim, to prevent your reticle from flying across the screen, you’ll probably want to lower the Y axis sensitivity, which makes looking up and down even slower.

Hit or Miss

The melee attack is also very slow and totally clumsy. Get close and you may hit a guy, but most likely you’ll be too far away, or he’ll get hit and then turn or roll. Since the movement is so slow, by the time you see him and go to melee him again, he’ll be on the other side of your screen. I thought Bungie could have toned it down with melee lunges, but Rare needs to ramp it up and create a buffer for melees, so you actually can hit more than you miss.

The Noob Dance

The noob dance is back folks. Since bullets register almost no damage, and Rare has used some crazy kind of health meter than can replenish itself, the noob dance is back and out in full force. More often than not you’ll find yourself rolling, ducking, reloading, and running in circles around your enemy (well, he’ll be doing the same, so you really don’t run around him, you really move in a sort of noobified orbit).

All the while, you will be unloading all your allotted ammo, then frantically running at him to try and beat him down with your fists. The first lesson you will learn is where all the ammo is located.

Is That a Bird, or a Plane… no it’s a Jet-Jerk!

Jet-Packs are gay. Period. I’ve only played in a few games with them, and hated them all. Since people are getting frustrated shooting a gun, they thing the jets will help them kill people. They may, but they are still totally gayz0r.

Aside from the problems mentioned above, the game is fun, and I’m sure I’ll like it more once my aim and skill increase. Unlike Halo 2, this game rewards you for practicing and skill. A skilled player will all-o-ways kill a noob. No contest. You’ll tell the veterans right from the start, as they’ll be killing all the little Halo 2 converts who just found out you actually have to aim your weapon now on the guy, rather than the vicinity of the guy.

What PDZ and the Xbox 360 worth $900.00? No. But I think with time, and some updates and patches, PDZ can be a much better game than it is now.

Update: I have come to like this game much more than before. It still needs to be updated to fix major health/damage issues, but Dark Ops (Sabatoge) is a real joy to play. So I do like this game much more than I did when I wrote my review.

It’s almost that time of year again. The leaves are changing color. The skies are getter darker sooner. The holiday season is fast upon us, with Microsoft getting ready for a new console launch– this time it’s the Xbox 360.

In the second quarter of this year, Microsoft released pricing details for it’s new console. Two units will be produced– one for serious gamers and the other for less advanced gamers called the “core” system. The prices for these units will be $399.99 and $299.99, respectively.

The $399.99 option will come with a 20 GB hard drive, a wireless controller, a headset (used for talking with other players online) that stylistically matches the Xbox 360 and, for a limited time, a remote control allowing users to more easily access the machine’s multimedia functions. Both machines are capable of on-line play over Microsoft’s Xbox Live! service.

The $299.99 option is bare bones, with only wired controllers and standard A/V cables. For many players, this may be the perfect option. Although, if you are planning to upgrade with accessories which are found with the deluxe model, you will end up paying a good amount more. If you eventually want the hard drive and wireless controllers, just go ahead and get the $399.99 unit now.

The Truth and Nothing But the Truth

For some people, these prices seem fair for a next-gen system that can do a whole lot more than play games. For other’s, it’s a downright steal. However, don’t be fooled into thinking you are going to get a way with only dropping $400.00 for some fun.

Microsoft has already said that they will be producing more of the $399.99 units. This should be good for the consumer, as they will be able to get the better model on release. However, many on-line retailers are snagging as many as they can. Some brick-and-mortar stores are also selling them on-line, taking pre-orders.

Herein lies the problem. These retailers are not selling the $299.99 and $399.99 models alone. They are doing what the industry has been doing for several years now, and “bundling” the console with accessories, games, and generally things you probably don’t want to buy with your system. In short, they are making more money. Because they are not offering the stand-alone system, you have to pre-order one of the more expensive systems if you actually want to get your hands on one at launch.

This has to be the biggest bunch of sh@t I’ve ever come across in the retail world. Bundles should be available for people who wish to splurge and own every title at launch. They should not be the only option for people who just want to buy the new system to play a couple titles. If that’s not bad enough, the bundles are starting at $699.99 at some stores, and going as high as $1,999.99. These are retail prices, not inflated secondary market offerings.

Greedy B@tches

Case-in-point. Amazon.com was pre-selling both systems at regular MSRP prices. Thousands of people placed pre-orders. Out of the blue, Amazon cancelled all orders, stating they didn’t have enough product to fulfill shipment. That’s it. With one broad stroke, all orders were cancelled.

Amazon and Toys “R” Us have a partnership where the toys department is basically an arm of Toys “R” Us, nestled within Amazon’s site. The real reason isn’t known why Amazon cancelled orders, but maybe Toys “R” Us relayed the info to Amazon that they could be making more selling bundles. One thing is for sure, if you see Amazon selling bundles within the next month or so, you’ll know that greed was indeed the reason they didn’t honor their pre-orders.

And that is just bad business. I really like Amazon. I do much of my on-line shopping there, but this will make me think twice about doing business with them. If a company will just disregard the agreement the customer made to purchase an item from said company, and then turn around and re-sell that item at a higher profit to another individual, well, that is just plain wrong.

I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Bundles

I won’t buy anything from EB Games or GameStop, as they are two of the worst offenders when it comes to outrageous game bundles. As a matter of fact, I’m not pre-ordering anything. When the time comes, I’ll walk into a store and pick up a $399.99 Xbox 360. I’m not going to be pressured, or forced is the better word, to spend $1,000.00 just to play a few games I may end up liking.

These retailers are going to price themselves out of the market. Parents are just not going to spend $1,000.00 for their kids on a game system. They’ll wait for Nintendo’s offering next year, which will be less expensive, and easily available.

And if Amazon did what I think it did, I look forward to a big class-action suit brought against them. Justice must be served– in Halo 3 as well as in the courtroom.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) must take another look at how they rate games, and how ratings should be applied to games. Thus far, it’s not working at all.

For one, I’m all for lowering the ratings for all games that are rated ‘M’ for mature gamers of 17 years or older. Obviously, the ESRB has gotten it wrong.

Hell No, We Won’t Go

Parents groups of the 1980s and 1990s lobbied everyone from Congress to the Pope to stop the video game industry from corrupting the minds of America’s youth. They argued that video games with excess violence, sex, and vulgarity were a bad influence on their kids, and if played too much, could even teach kids to become serial killers and murderers. What, were the kids going to pull the trigger with their thumb? And if they did, wouldn’t they just be shooting themselves, and not hurting any innocent victims, thus not adding to the murder rate?

But the parents forget one small component of video game ratings– that they must actually “parent” and know what games their kids are playing. After all, how many 12 year olds can drop $50.00 a pop, week in and week out on games?

Fright Night

Spend a night on the Xbox Live! service and you will quickly find that games that are rated for mature players 17 years or older are routinely, and constantly played by children 10, 11, and 12 years old. I’ve seen younger. If parents don’t know or don’t care what their kids are playing, how can ratings help? Just because a kid can’t walk into EB Games and buy Halo 2, doesn’t mean his parent won’t.

And don’t let a 10 year old fool you. Some 10 year olds are more vulgar and nasty than anyone on Xbox Live!, and often they will insult you with a broad range of foulmouth tirades. These kids are far worse than the content within the game. Xbox should rate them!

What we have here is one of two situations– parents don’t care, and are oblivious to the ratings, or parents know better than the ESRB and deem these games not to be properly rated. Which means either parents are neglecting their children, or the ESRB has to go back to step one.

All in Session

Now, enter Congress. With the recent news of the “Hot Coffee” mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Congress is again back into the video fight. Senators such as HIllary Clinton are outraged at the “sex scenes” in the game. Mrs. Clinton is outraged at sex scenes, but she doesn’t mind one bit that you can run around with a shotgun and blow someone’s head off for no reason at all– and that’s one of the least violent things you can do in San Andreas. And like Hillary knows a game mod from a mod squad. She may be qualified to be president, but I doubt she’s ever held a game controller.

Rockstar Games, makers of San Andreas, has admitted to adding the code, though unused, to the San Adreas game disc. It took an end user to find this out, and create a mod, or modification code, to unlock the hidden code so you can see alternate “Hot Coffee” missions. Rather than hearing moaning and groaning, you now see the fruits of your work.

Murder Inc.

Big deal. As I alluded to, you can run around the city with a rocket launcher, blowing up cop after cop. This game is so violent, you get bored after slaughtering an entire police force, and then look to rid the streets of kind pedestrians. The language in this game is also over-the-top. You will here more four letter words per minute in San Andreas than all The Sopranos episodes played simultaneously.

Someone has got it wrong. Congress, parents, ESRB? I say it’s a little of all of them. Congress should stick to topics of national security and the welfare of it’s citizens. Parents should actually look at what their kids are bringing home when they give them $50.00 to go off to the local mall. And the ESRB should tell parents that if they aren’t willing to care for their kids, the ESRB certainly isn’t, and will make all games rated ‘E’ for everyone, as parents have universally agreed no game is too bad for their kids.