So you have one day left before Microsoft drops their big motion gaming bomb on the world. Many of you have already ordered one, myself included, and many of you are still hanging quite perilously on the fence. You can’t decide if $150 buck investment is ever gonna pay off. Personally I am worried because as I sit here and write this I can see the box of my HD-DVD drive sitting atop a shelf, if memory serves right it was nearly the same price as Kinect. So will Kinect fall from grace as just another failed attempt to win our hearts, or will elderly people across America be shattering their hips with glee while trying to do the Roger Rabbit? Ask yourself these 4 questions and see if you can get your second leg over that fence.

Do you like Casual Games?

If the answer is no then you probably want to hold off buying one right now. Developers have had limited amount of time with the final build of Kinect and its gonna be another year at least until we see more hardcore games integrate, or be built around Kinect. It takes a lot longer to make “hardcore” games. At launch it is gonna be a casual game bonanza. There is one fighting game, but given how awful the PS Move fighting game was I doubt the first Kinect fighting game is gonna wow anyone. So if you are down with casual fun then by all means whip out that credit card. One area I think Kinect can shine is integration with XBL arcade games. There are tons of games on there now that could be retrofitted to use Kinect in many cool ways. Games with more depth are coming, but be prepared to wait a little while.

Are you a fatty?

If you are, then Kinect should probably make your fat ass fall right off that fence. The one thing that I can look at and see huge potential with Kinect is in the realm of fitness games. Wii Fit has been a huge success for Nintendo, but not everyone can use it because of weight restrictions for the board. Another downer of Wii Fit is that its on the Wii, a console with only enough power to render about 5 polygons on screen at a given time. Fitness games done with Kinect have the potential to blow away anything Nintendo has done. Then add on the functionality of XBL to these types of games and there is even more potential. I could see a game that allows you to hire a real personal trainer over XBL and you could workout together. I know that kind of thing does not appeal to everyone, but still an interesting idea…I think. At launch there will be some fitness games. Early word is that Your Fitness by Ubisoft is the best of the bunch.

Do you not mind looking stupid?

There is one comment that I hear over and over again about Kinect and PS Move. “You just look so stupid using it”. Ok, this is true. It’s really hard not to look a little ridiculous using these devices, but just think about the popularity of Guitar Hero & Rock Band. If you think you look cool playing fake drums or a plastic color coded guitar then you really aren’t a good judge what looks cool. Frankly if you are the kind of person who cares about something like not looking cool playing a game then you are pretty much the kind of person that no one wants to play with in the first place. So learn to relax a little, you only live once.

Do you have kids to entertain?

I often look after my niece and nephew and I have been trying to get them in to gaming, but there is problem that won’t go away for a while. Neither one of them can use a controller very well. I really want to play some games with them, but in this way I am limited. I tried getting them used to the Wii and PS Move, but even there it was too complicated for them to learn quickly enough. Frustration with kids quickly leads into scowls of “I don’t wanna do this anymore”. Kinect is a very simple interface that I hope will allow me and my kin to experience games together for the first time, instead of them sitting next to me constantly asking questions about what I am doing on screen…arhhhhhgggg!

If you answered yes to all 4 questions then Kinect may be a no brainer for you. You will still have to figure in cost and the risk of buying something unproven, but since when has that ever stopped an eager gamer huh? Even if Kinect fails at least you will be left with a nice XBL camera, voice recognition and other features. A small consolation I know, but its better then being left with a bunch of HD-DVD movies you never watch anymore….frak!

Obviously there are many other questions to be asked about Kinect. The next few days are gonna be very interesting for Microsoft. The one thing you can’t fault them for is the effort they are putting into the marketing of Kinect. The PS Move came and went with barely a mention in the mainstream media. Kinect has been showing up on home shopping network, news broadcasts, Oprah, Ellen, and many other television shows. Microsoft marketing has been working overtime. Now we are left to find out if Kinect is all marketing hype or if they can deliver on what they are promising. I will be waiting for the UPS man tomorrow with anticipation and dread…how about you?

If the news of paying 80 cents more a month for XBL is still making you mad (if it does seek mental help) then there is some good news. Microsoft is offering a full year of XBL for 39.95. All you need to do is go here and sign-up to renew at the lower price before the $60 price tag kicks in November 1st. The offer is only good for 1 year of service, but if you do the math it basically saves you the new XBL price for two years.

The only bad thing is that their servers seem to be exploding with people taking them up on this offer. I tried to sign-up myself but kept getting timed out. Once the servers cool down make sure to head there and save a little dough. You could also buy a cheap XBL subscription here as well.

XBL 39.95 Subscription

There is one thing that these press conferences are designed to do, get gamers excited about what is to come, and Microsoft definitely did this in spades. New games, new hardware, and Kinetic made for a great opening to E3. So just how good did Microsoft do this year?
So how do you grade something like this, well first you must let all your fanboy bindings float away into the ether and ask yourself, what did I see that made me happy:

Metal Gear Rising – This was not a surprise, yet the gameplay was very surprising. The new gameplay element allowing you to slice any enemy up into pieces just looked freaking awesome. Me and my friends about crapped in our pants over the gameplay footage. Imagine the hours wasted slicing watermelons!

Kinect – It is really hard this day and age to get a fair overview of an piece of hardware. Lurking in the shadows are B.O. ridden and virgin fanboys with the cry, “it’s just a Wii knock off”, or “it’s lame”. If you wade through the fanboy nonsense you can actually get a look at what could be a very cool way to game. Of all the Kinetic titles shown most were geared more to a casual crowd, which is awesome because I currently have a niece and nephew that always want to play but can’t, because the controller is too hard to play with for them. The so called “hardcore gamers” will cry foul, but all I have to say is Star Wars baby! If something like Kinetic does not get you at least a little bit excited about what it can do then you have lost all your childlike feelings towards games and you have become what you once despised…a bitter jaded gamer.

Halo Reach – With the beta long and done we all really wanted to see what the single player game looked like, and as a Halo fan I was not disappointed! Not only is it the best looking Halo game to date, the scale is impressive, and when we got a glimpse at the battles in space I about blew my lid. Sorry to geek out so much but Halo has been such a great franchise that anytime we get to see something new about it I can’t help myself.

Gears Of War 3 – Do I need to say anything else. The games looks amazing. It looks as if Epic has added a faster pace to the game with more big action moments. With an improved horde mode and 4 player Co-op….oh damn this game looks awesome.

Xbox Slim – While they may not have named it the Xbox slim there is no doubt that Gamestops around the country are getting calls asking how much their current fat 360 is worth. Wether you like the design of the console or not, you have to like added features, even if built in Wifi is late to the party, of course no self respecting online gamers uses Wifi. Probably the biggest thing is that fact that the DVD drive is now as they say “Whisper Quiet”. I have been contemplating the switch myself. I am not quite sure yet, but knowing that next gen hardware is probably not gonna surface for a while I might just make the plunge.

ESPN Integration – Can I get a hell yeah? Being the sports fan that I am I was really excited to see this coming to the 360. The streaming of live games will be awesome. They did not show this off too much, but with its Kinetic integration it looks to be another great addition to the 360. Helps to make up for the fact that we did not see Hulu make an appearance.

The above does not even cover everything shown at the press briefing. The Kinect hardware is very impressive, and hopefully we will see some more hardcore games as time goes on. We also have Fable 3, Crackdown 2, and Call of Duty Black Ops to look forward to as well, plus a few games that I can’t remember right now/ The rest of 2010 is gonna be awesome!

Final Grade A-

What did you think of the Microsoft E3 Conference? Let us know in the comments.

F*&K summer…that’s right you heard me correct. I hate summer. The sun has a lot to do with that, but mainly I hate summer because it’s the time of year when we see very few AAA games. Summer is the time for mediocre developers to show off their less then amazing skills. Sure we will see a couple real good games, but over the next 3 months it’s all we will have. So I say why not look back on what was possibly one of the best first six months of gaming in a long time. We had plenty of awesome games to keep us busy from January till June. If you were lucky enough to not play any of these games then your summer shall be far more fun then mine. So let’s see what cream rose to the top.

5. Alan Wake

Usually when a game spends an extremely long time in development there ends up being something really wrong with the game. Outdated graphics or an overdone story are things that come to mind. Fortunately Alan Wake stayed clear of all those traps and delivered an intense story combined with some of the best atmosphere seen in a game to date, and with an ambitious DLC plan fans will be playing this game for the rest of the year.

4. Splinter Cell Conviction

Splinter Cell is one of my all time favorite franchises of all time. I was really worried that the changes made to the core game mechanics would make it a whole different game, but to my and many peoples surprise it turned out remarkably well. It may have abandoned straight stealth for a more action oriented game, but it still felt like Splinter Cell, and those new core mechanics were fun as hell. The addition of a great set of multiplayer game types helped give it a lot of legs past what was admittedly a somewhat short main campaign. But with a great co-op campaign it was still well worth the money.

3. God Of War 3

To be honest I was never a big fan of the God of War series. It just never rang a bell for me. But I always give any series a chance to redeem itself, and for the most part GOW3  did just that. It is a great game that surprises you with it’s sense of scale and crazy boss battles. It is a game that is not to be missed. The only thing keeping it from being higher on my list was the less then interesting story and lack of replay-ability. But make no mistake that this is a game so worth playing through at least once, and I imagine that many people will find reason to play this game over and over. But for an ADD gamer like me once was enough.

2. Red Dead Redemption

Do I really need to say anything more then the title of this game. Yes it might just be GTA on horseback, but somehow Rockstar made this game much more then that. This game felt as close to watching old westerns as anything ever has. It has a great story that has an amazing ending, and gameplay that is fun and diverse. Then you factor in a crazy fun multiplayer, and you have a solid contender for game of the year. I just hope the DLC for this game comes fast and plentiful, because I want more!

1. Mass Effect 2

In my opinion there is no game yet this year that has surpassed Mass Effect 2. This is one of those games that has just so many amazing aspects that make it shine above other games. A brilliant story, great visuals, replay-ability, interesting characters, and a satisfying ending. To some extent each game on this list does one of these better then another, but Mass Effect 2 is the only one that does them all on a consistent basis. Something that is hard to do in a game with such size and scope. So obviously Mass Effect 2 has my vote for game of the year so far. Mass Effect 3 cannot come soon enough!

Honorable Mentions

Super Mario Galaxy 2 – I gave up on the Wii a long time ago, I sold mine rather then see it collect any more dust waiting for quality titles. So In order to play the latest Mario title I had to spend time with a friends Wii. While the new Galaxy game is not gonna make me run out and re-invest in another Wii, it did make me realize how much fun Mario still is to play. I wouldn’t call it game of the year material, but probably Wii game of the year so far. Tons of fun, if you still have your Wii.

Heavy Rain – I know many people feel very strongly about Heavy Rain, and I too have strong opinions on this game. The reason it is not on the list is because of the vast plot holes that reside in this game. If this was a normal game I could forgive such things, but when the game is basically all about the plot, it is unforgivable. You add on the fact that the first 3 hours of the game are a boring grind and Heavy Rain is in my opinion not a game of the year contender. I would however recommend playing it because it is a unique experience and at least worth one play through.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 – If Bad Company 2 single player was half as good as it’s multiplayer then Bad Company 2 would have easily made the top 5. To be fair the single player was not bad, it was actually much better then the first game, the problem is that it  does not compare to well to other similar games. If I was doing the top 5 multiplayer games so far Bad Company would easily be number one.

Biggest Disappointment So Far

Lost Planet 2 – I can’t say that I loved the first game, to me it was a decent game with solid visuals. It was the kind of game that if the developers took some time with a sequel it could have become a great franchise. Instead the developers decided to tinker way too much with the game and made a crappy paced episodic single player. While the Multiplayer side is more enjoyable, it’s still is very bland and forgettable. I doubt we will see a Lost Planet 3.

Still to this day Little Big Planet is the most played game on my PS3. Nothing else has even come close to the amount of hours I spent on that game. And then my save corrupted, and I lost everything I had spent all that time working to build. Well now I will get to do it all over again this holiday season. Little Big Planet 2 is now official, and will support some very cool new features. The above trailer shows of these new features quite well. Although the game pretty much looks exactly the same. I think the new tool set will be more then enough reason for another purchase.

There is no doubt that a lot of Xbox gamers fondly remember geometry wars. Some even said it was the best launch game for the 360. Even with all the outcry, we never got to see an iPhone version of this game or its sequel, but now all of sudden while I was stumbling around the iPad store I noticed Geometry Wars was staring me in the face. A face that then broke into a huge grin! The thought of having one of my favorite XBL games on my iPad made me so happy. I checked and it’s the real deal, no clone or copy from another company. The best part is that the game is already on the store which means it will be ready to play the second you get your iPad, after you lick it and shove it down your pants first of course. It will set you back $9.99, and how it controls we will have to wait and see, but this is a nice surprise knowing such a high quality game will be there at launch.

Check it out here.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the price of the upcoming Modern Warfare 2 DLC. Many are upset that the price is 15 dollars for what amounts to a few maps, two of which are from the previous game. So it boils down to wether or not it’s worth it to you. For me its an easy choice. I did like Modern Warfare 2, but the Multiplayer was basically the same as the first game, and then add on the fact that its been buggy and Infinity Ward has been slow to solve those issues. All these things combined made me stop playing, then Battlefield 2 came out, which is a superior game, and that just sealed the deal for me. I doubt I will ever play MW2 ever again, but obviously there are many who will for a long time to come.

Like anything though, that is just my opinion, anyone who loves MW2 can play till their fingers bleed for as much as I care. Ok now back to the main subject. Is this DLC a kick in the balls? Lately a lot of games have been offering free maps, and bonuses for being loyal. I can’t think of more blindingly loyal people then the MW2 crowd. Activision & Infinity Ward have made so much profit out of these two games, and yet to this date have they ever really given anything back to the community?  I am not saying they shouldn’t get paid for all the work they are doing, but in times like these when they are rolling in cash, and the general public is pinching pennies it would be nice if a game company could give the gamers a small deal every now and then.

So what would be a fair price for this DLC? Personally 15 bucks for 3 maps is a bit much. I am not counting the 2 maps from the previous game, they don’t count since they should be free anyways. Since I won’t be playing the game anymore it’s hard for me to put a price point on it, but I will say that 800 points sounds like a much more realistic price, and a lot more fair.

For those addicted to this game I know these new maps are like drugs, and Infinity Ward is the dealer. They know that they can charge almost whatever they want, and you are gonna pay it, even if you have to do unsanitary things to get the money. So just ask yourself if Infinity Ward deserves the support? If you think so then go ahead and purchase. If not give your money to something more original. At the end of the day it’s always one opinion against the next.

Gaming tattoo’s are not new by any means, many people have chosen to adorn their bodies permanently as an homage to their favorite game or game character. That said, you rarely see someone get inked before a game comes out. That is where my friend Jeff Threat comes to the party. Recently he decided to get himself a kick ass tattoo from Rockstar’s upcoming Red Dead Redemption. He had talked about doing it all last week while we played BF2. I knew he loved getting inked, but I really didn’t think he was gonna go through with it. Well he surprised me this weekend with a bunch of photos of his brand new tat. With his permission I decided to share them with our readers, and at the same time ask all of you what game would you get inked for? Check out all the pics of his tattoo below.

Jeff Threat
Reddington Shores, FL
Owner of Slaughter Beach Co, LLC
XBL – Zombie RoboCop
Tattoo Artist: Josh Hazel of State of Mind Tattoos, Maderia Beach, FL

Since the release of BF2 there has been a lot of back and forth about which is better. Even though in reality better is a meaningless word since its all about personal preference, but that won’t stop me from dissecting both these titles and seeing who stands alone as the best “Modern” war game. We are breaking this up into four rounds. Which ever game wins the most rounds is the grand daddy of war games.

Round 1  – GRAPHICS

These are two very good looking games. It’s really hard to look at both and pick a clear winner, but I picked BF2 and here is why. When I look at both of these games it is really hard to see too much difference between them. You can notice that MW2 does seem to be a bit sharper when it comes to some textures, and graphically it is obviously well polished and has more stuff going on. BF2 has more of a grainy hardcore look to it, and a few less colors. The reason that BF2 gets the nod is the fact that it looks so good but has a much bigger scale involved, and then you add in the fact that almost everything you can see is destructible…case closed. BF2 also has much better smoke and particle effects, and you get to see them way more often since shit is blowing up all the time. Neither game will disappoint your eyes, but BF2 is sweet destructible eye candy. I know this one is highly debatable, but at the end of the day I think that BF2 does a better job of using its visuals to create an atmosphere.

Winner  – Battlefield 2 Bad Company

Round 2 – SINGLE PLAYER CAMPAIGN

This is a tough one to call. I had so much fun with both campaigns, flawed as they both are. MW2 has a intriguing story, but it was told mostly in load screens and through dialogue, which is not a bad thing if done correctly, but in MW2 it’s not. Where MW2 does excel over BF2 is the variety in single player. There is a bit more to do, where as in BF2 most missions just rely on running around killing. That’s not a bad thing as it’s done very well in BF2, but MW2 still has the edge here/

I didn’t enjoy the first Battlefield’s campaign that much, the characters were enjoyable, but the pacing and story lacked a lot. With BF2 is seems they listened and stripped the campaign of most annoyance issues. The campaign is well paced, the humor has been retained, and it just felt way more focused then the first one. I would of however liked to see more of the gameplay revolve around the destruction engine.

Both these campaigns offer a lot of fun for gamers, and both give you around 6-9 hours of play time depending on the difficulty. It was a hard choice, but if stranded on a desert island with a Plasma TV, Xbox 360, Working Power, but no online. I would have to take MW2 along with me. Both campaigns are fun, but the variety in MW2 is what sealed it for me.

Winner – Modern Warfare 2

Round 3 – CONTROLS

Everyone knows it doesn’t matter how good your game looks if it controls like a drunk donkey…cough Killzone 2. You gotta have the gameplay to back those visuals up or the games online community will shrink quicker then your junk at the sight of Lady Gaga…ahem Killzone 2. Luckily for all gamers both these games control like butter. So how do you decide which one is better? That’s a good question because in all honesty I don’t really know either. I can’t really find any kind of fatal flaw in either control scheme. They do each have their own learning curve, but neither is hard to use or excessively complex. There is a lot more to control in BF2 since your class will have more accessories and items, but those blend right into the controls. So I guess all I can do here is call it a tie. Unless anyone of you can come up with a solid reason why one is better then the other.

Winner – DRAW!

Round 4 – MULTIPLAYER

Lets face facts, 90% of people who bought either of these games did so mostly for the online gaming. Each game could have released as online only and still sold quite well. So being the best in the online space is something both developers spent quite a lot of time on and it shows. Both games are amazing to play online. They are intense, and sometimes frustratingly so, but both offer hours and hours of your wasted youth sticking 12 year olds with knives. So how do I separate two awesome games and pick a winner? I will do so by looking at which one offers gamers a more feature rich experience.

Let’s look at MW2 first, basically you run around a map, or camp like an ass, trying to find someone to shoot. It’s the basics of FPS done very well. The variety comes from things like perks, gun selection, and every now and then raining death down inside of an AC-130. There are no vehicles, and the maps are fairly small, but that is what I imagine some people love about the game, because once you strip away all the extras its just a very well done point and shoot. Simple but amazingly fun. The problem with MW2 is that it lacks enough variety. Once you rank all the way up there is nothing really left to do, no motivation to go forward since running around shooting people does tend to eventually get old.

BF2 does all the things that MW2 does, but in the end it takes it to another level. Not only do you have perks and a bunch of weapons to unlock, but you also get so much more variety when it comes to gameplay. The Maps in BF2 are huge compared with MW2. This used to be a problem because you would spend forever running around a map looking for something to do, but in BF2 this is not the case. You are almost always in the action, and action is the right word. BF2 shines above MW2 in Multiplayer because it creates a sense of urgency and chaos that I never felt in MW2. The action in BF2 is so much more involved and intense that it hooks you from the beginning and doesn’t stop or slow down. Another aspect that puts BF2 ahead is team work. Team work in MW2 is basically supporting your friends and laying down fire. In BF2 the classes allow for so much more strategy it keeps the game interesting. One man can make a difference in a game, but it still takes the team to win.

I could write twelve more pages about how destructible cover enhances the game, and how this game may just be the best game to snipe in period, but if you play the game you already know. If you played the first BF and didn’t like the multi player then please give the new one a try. I did not like the first one either, but this one stands on its own as a masterpiece of online gaming.

Winner – Battlefield 2 Bad Company

Overall Winner  – Battlefield 2 Bad Company  3 to 2

I know the trolls will love to hate on this result, but remember that game developers one uping the competition is a good thing for all of us, it sparks innovation and will force Infinity Ward & Activision to evolve Modern Warfare 3, if they still own the right to the game come next year.