Got Saint's Row 2 for Xmas, and while it's an unashamed rip-off, it's also great fun so I heartily recommend it.

On another note, I hope 2010 is a better year for Xbox owners than 2009 in terms of exclusives. I find myself coveting PS3 owners, and I can't think of any forthcoming exclusives that are going to change that.

Unfortunatly Im finding myself wanting to convert to the PS3 but rumor are going around that PS3 will start charging for the PSN

I don't play online, so that doesn't bother me so much. The main thing making me think twice about changing is price, then the fact I'd have to purchase and play through several games again (Fallout, Tekken, Street Fighter etc) which I can't really afford on my student budget.

But then there's the attractive exclusives such as Uncharted 2, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, LittleBigPlanet and the like. 360 has nothing attractive round the corner as far as I can think, Project Natal certainly doesn't do it for me, and the new Fable complete with its microtransactions makes me want to burn my console.

Sony are not going to charge for online play, they released a statement last week saying that some of the free exclusives that you get on PSN may well become pay only in the summer but standard online play will remain free of charge.

Yeah I really enjoyed Saints Row 2, its ridiculously fun. I am deeply immersed in Fallout 3 again, in fact I'm only just having a quick break to have a drink and some lunch. I'm playing the good guy role this time through and already I've had a much different experience to my last play through. I'm just about to do the first bit of additional content, Operation Anchorage.


As far as exclusives in 2010, there isnt a whole lot so far. Mass Effect 2 and Halo Reach are the only ones that come to mind, but I'm probably forgetting others.

I hate you JLM. I hate you right in the groin. I succumbed to the years gold subscription with my Xmas money only to play 2 games on FIFA and them quit early on me because I'm all good and that. If I wanted to play people who quit early and have a hissy fit then I would play against my son. FOR FREE!!

Why did I bother.

because of the smug sense of satisfaction whan you send said quitter bad feedback, along with the message: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKKEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I didn't tell you to get a Gold account. The opinions expressed by Mr. Torvalds are his own and do not necessarily represent the opinions or beliefs of JLM enterprises. Complaints, queries or other correspondance intended for Mr. Torvalds can be sent to [email protected] This affects your statutory rights though. It affects the CRAP out of them. Your statutory rights will be statutory raped.

"Happy new year Mat, what's that? You got three new 360 titles titles to play over Christmas. Well now you can open our present then, we've gotten you a red ring of death, merry christmas."

- Microsoft

Unlucky man, same thing happened to me Saturday before Xmas 2008, except I got the fatal e74 error which isn't covered like the RROD. I think my current incarnation of xbox is also on it's way out, the laser keeps failing to read disks as if there's nothing in the drive. If it bites the biscuit just before Mass Effect 2 is out I may just go on a killing rampage.

I've had my 360 for ages now, so I'm living in fear of it dying at any given moment. Getting a disc out of it is a reet pain in the arse these days too.

If you ever can't get a disk out, under the faceplate directly under the drive on the right hand side (I think) theres a little hole for manual release. Stick a straightened paperclip in there and it'll open. If you already knew and do this, fair play, just thought I'd mention it if anyone else gets fucked off with it.

Shit, I just clicked on the wrong bit and found out that I have nearly 200 more posts in this thread than the next nearest top poster which is Ralphy. So it seems if I'm not playing games I'm talking about them on here, what a brilliant advert for my life.

Cheers, I'll bear that in mind if it becomes more of a persistent problem.

my 360 makes a strange noise on startup if there isnt a disc in the tray, like its hungry or something :S

Does it make me a bad person if I buy a cheap 360 arcade and transfer over the decent hard drive from my dead elite? I'm assuming there's no problems with doing this? The good hard drive (and lovely blackness) is the only advantage of the elite right?

Thats what I did, no problems.

Add making them to that, and you've probably described me. Embrace your inner geek!

Oh my inner geek is fully embraced, in fact the only thing I don't do is make the fuckers. Add all that to being an avid Star Wars, Star Trek and Sci Fi fan, comic and graphic novel reader and big collectable collector and there's not so much inner about it. I don't dare post in the "geekiest things you own" thread. It's a good thing I'm a good musician, decent looking, have money, car and a job, have a long term girlfriend and a lot of friends or I'd be fucked.

push gently on the disk tray, should then release.

I thought the double Modals were meant to be less powerful now? I don't know how good they were, but since getting them 2 nights ago, I easily get at least 20 kills a game now, and on my first go with them I unlocked All Pro which is killing 2 enemies with headshots with 1 bullet

I can easily see why people loved using them so much, and I can also see how they get on peoples nerves

What does this even mean?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXTAQCYwPt8

Ah cuntin hell, mine passed away on sunday.

Anybody know where I can get it fixed? (prefereably within the Yorkshire region.)

I got the 3 red rings. It's out of warranty, and I'm not paying £80 for microsoft to do it!

Smaller computer shops usually do it for around 50 quid, if I were you I'd let microsoft do it for the extra 30, gives you more chance of it being fixed rather than "towel it, x-clamp it, done"

I forgot to mention that I was talking about Call Of Duty haha

What are the double Modals?

I'm guessing it's the akimbo shotguns that you see loads of people wandering around with...??

I should have explained myself better and actually spelt the name of the gun right.. DOH.

Yeah the model 1887's are the shotguns that are very powerful, you can just sprint round with them, shotgunning people from a distance and watch as your score rises
People complained about them being too powerful, so Infinity Ward apparently released a patch that makes them less powerful, but they are still godly, I started using them about 3 nights ago, and they are just so awesome! Hell, even using a single Model shotgun is so powerful

I think MW2 has suffered from over-complexity. A lot of the "bugs" are a result of combinations of perks that apparently IW didn't think of. I find that hard to believe, as rigorous playtesting should eliminate such problems, but it seems to be the case.

It must be incredibly hard to properly balance a game with this many permutations, and I personally don't think the perks system really adds much fun to the game. 1943 was awesome and you basically had three guns. If Bad Company 2 follows that process of simplification and gets the balancing right, it could well piss all over MW2.

Thats why i prefer cod4, simple and fair (mostly)

thinking if buying an xbox but now confused with elite vs super elite and how long will it be before uber super elite+ will be released?

I really like the perks system. I think one of the things they've done well in this version is getting the right items under attachments and the right ones under perks for a real cool breadth of customisability for weapons classes. You can come up with some pretty individual classes; I like it.

You'll never stop the nerds being nerds and working out what is mathematically the best system and sticking with it or whatever, but I don't really give a shit. I'm having a lot of fun fiddling around with all the different combinations as I play.

Tell me about it.... I've been playing since launch week and despite being distinctly average and not really playing much fps before, I'm having a blast doing my own thing. Just seen my kd ratio take a complete raping in the last few days as I attempt to master the art of sniper and for the life of me I cannot get it. I aim and then miss, gun recoils way off and by the time I set the sight again I've got a bullet in the head ( No RATM reference intended).

Horses for Courses I guess. Bear in mind I hate sniping of all persuasions, and it's more about tactics and squad play and the thrill of battle for me, so I couldn't care less about the stat battling/upgrading side of things. As long as when I put the cursor over the guy's head he dies, that's all that matters, and that's where 1943 was so consistent. In MW2, even if you see him first and have a tactical advantage, if he's stuffed to the nines with the right perks or has exactly the right range weapon you'll always come off worse.

Isn't that precisely what makes it even more tactical? That different members of your team can specialise in different things and if you can work together as a coherent unit then you'll get the drop on the opposing team?

What do you mean by "even if you have the tactical advantage"? I don't think I understand what you're getting at...

I'm in cover and have the drop on a guy coming round the corner, and the moment he hoves into view I let loose, but he's carrying double shotguns and speed perks that make him faster than the frame rate, you're probably going to die. I think that's pretty unrealistic. I also think being able to knife someone from about 6 metres away is pretty unrealistic particularly if they're carrying an automatic rifle.

It's just too fussy, it feels like an RPG with all the juggling of +1 weapons and +3 armour and the like to get the right combination to have fun in any given level. Your squad starts to resemble a WoW party. I prefer being thrown onto an island with a rifle and a grenade and having to work out the best tactical approach to take the fort.


EDIT: I also take pride in, you know, not dying. I'd rather get 8 kills and 2 deaths than 25 kills and 15 deaths. I feel a good soldier doesn't take one in the neck every 30 seconds.

I've just started playing MW2, and I have to say that from what I've played of the campaign so far, this game is immense. I'm not sure if I'll venture online with it. I might give it a go until I become frustrated and ship it back to LoveFilm. I'll finish the campaign before I do that though.

Has there ever been a 24 game? I've started watching it for the first time (from the begining, I'm on the last disc of season 5. Five seasons in 2 months is good going imo), and thought it could make a great game. Guaranteed 24 missions and it could easily work and flow like episodes do. Thoughts?

There was one on PS2. It was ok, only really enjoyable for fans of the show. Some of the missions are really bland and clunky though. I always thought they should make one for the current gen of consoles.

You should play Hardcore; it's certainly more realistic and in situations like you've described it pretty much does come to down to who sees who first; who is quickest on the draw; who is the most accurate with their aim; who is best covered, etc..



I agree that maintaining a good ratio should be rewarded more. It bothers me when I go like 25 and 6 and get beat by someone who has gone 27 and 30 because he's been running around like a headless chicken.

Yeh I was really disappointed by that game, a couple of cool missions (the sniping and interrogation ones especially) but a lot of it was extremely dull, none more so than having to play as Michelle or Kim.

Maybe if they just re-release Arkham Asylum but with a Jack Bauer skin I'll be happy.

Infinity Ward's scoring system encourages that though. It rewards kills but doesn't punish deaths. That makes a bit of a mockery of the Team Deathmatch final scores, where as you say someone who's died 20 times and therefore given away the most points to the opposition can top the chart if he's also killed 22 times and therefore accumulated a lot of points.

It's exacerbated by the points-mean-prizes levelling up system which again pushes people to run around amassing kills without caring about strategy or dying.

I may have to try Hardcore - maybe it's more my cup of tea! However I'm worried that with the limitations of scanners and so on there'll be even more idiots with knives circling the same block of scenery at top speed.

Hardcore mode is about camping and sniping and hiding. You run around with the knife even at full whack your fucked. Be warned you must be on top of your game, quick, a brilliant sharpshoot or your fucked also. So good news there for you there Loki. I had no interest in having a game that was only 95% completed and sold it broke even .

As mentioned drop back to COD4 or for more fun get COD5, Nazi Zombies, COOP storymode.

Not sure if this has been posted already, but the EA Sports MMA game has an official website with a few videos on it.

The game looks immense in my opinion.

it looks good but with anything new with EA they always fuck it up it takes then several years to get the simplests of things right and still sometimes its still awful.

UFC Undisputed is an amazing MMA and UFC 2010 in May looks better. THQ will trounce EA.

There is absolutely no doubt that i'll end up buying both to be honest.

I'm interested to know what kind of roster the EA game is gonna have... Is the THQ license exclusive? Will they get any UFC guys? Will they work around it with fake made up names à la Pro Evo?

The roster thus far;

Fedor Emelianenko
Randy Couture
Frank Shamrock
Jay Hieron
Gegard Mousasi
Renato Sobral
Nick Thompson
Hidehiko Yoshida
Shinya Aoki
Brett Rogers
Jake Shields
Muhammed Lawal
Jason Miller
Cung Lee
Gilbert Melendez
Robbie Lawler
Ronaldo Souza
Matt Lindland
Scott Smith
Josh Thomson

Cheers. The game engine better be pretty damn good if they're hoping to beat THQ without the star power of the UFC roster.

I hope Jason Miller has one of his trademark OTT ring entrances..

Mass Effect 2 is £29.99 on Amazon - thought it might be worth a mention seeing as a few people on here are looking forward to it. Save yourself a tenner!

Here!

Based on Alone in the Dark not getting too good a review, I changed it for Resident Evil 5.

A very wise decision, resi 5 is mega!