GamehistoryX's Blog

Bayonetta Xbox 360 Demo

gamehistoryx — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Bayonetta Xbox 360 Demo

Facebook on PS3 Update 3.10 Preview

gamehistoryx — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:58:00 +0000

Facebook on PS3 Update 3.10 Preview

Review: Modern Warfare 2

gamehistoryx — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:21:00 +0000

The Modern Warfare 2 Review

Samurai X3000

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is the most anticipated game of 2009. Before its release Modern Warfare 2 broke the record for the most pre-ordered game in history. On November 10^th of 2009 Modern Warfare 2 was released for the PC, Playstation 3, and the Xbox 360. It went on to become biggest launch in entertainment history by selling 4.7 million units and generating over $310 million on its first day of release, a title previously held by Grand Theft Auto 4 in 2008 and Halo 3 in 2007.

Now the question everyone is asking, does Modern Warfare 2 live up to the hype? Yes it does, this is the best game of 2009. The Modern Warfare 2 experience is composed of three different game modes consisting of the Campaign, Multi-player, and Spec Ops. For this article I will be mostly reviewing the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 2.

The Campaign: is the single player story mode, which follows after the events of Call of Duty 4. You see and play the story through the eyes of various soldiers and a terrorist. You fight in different events around the world in what seems to be the beginning of World War 3. I will not give any details on the locations or the events that take place in the campaign because it is something that is best experienced unspoiled.

Some hardcore gamers might consider the campaign to be short. I was able to complete the game in 6 hours playing in the regular difficulty setting. I have to say that it was one of the best 6 hours I had playing a video game in recent history. The gameplay is top notch with slight improvements over Call of Duty 4, with new weapons and vehicles available.

Instead on relying on cinematic cut scenes the story is told within the actual gameplay just like in Call of Duty 4, it plays like a high action Hollywood movie that never has a dull moment in the game. Hans Zimmer who is better known for composing the soundtrack for The Dark Knight composed the soundtrack for this campaign. This campaign rivals the best of Hollywood movies in creating an adrenaline rush while making you feel heroic at times.

There is a small short fall in this campaign, that is in between the levels they could have done a better job by adding some cut scenes to provide better storytelling for gamers that have been spoiled by the storytelling in such games as Halo 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4. Instead gamers are left to pick up the story from the events and actions that takes place in the gameplay through the eyes of the different characters that you play. Regardless this is still one of the best single player campaigns of this generation.

The Multiplayer: Infinity Ward has follow up on their great multiplayer experience of Call of Duty 4 which two years after its 2007 release is still one of the most played online multiplayer games out there. In Modern Warfare 2 they have added more maps, weapons, and character customizations to keep players coming back for more.

They have improved their matchmaking in very significant ways. I have experienced jumping from the game title menu into an online multiplayer game in less than 45 seconds here is a video clip. The multiplayer mode in Modern Warfare 2 is one of the best of 2009 and should remain that way for a long time to come.

The Spec Ops: Special Ops allows players to perform standalone missions either on Solo or with a friend via online or split-screen co-op. Different difficulty settings are offered for each Special Ops mission. Gamers playing in harder difficulty will be able to unlock more in-game goodies providing a lot of replay value.

Online multiplayer note: For gamers that own both a PS3 and Xbox 360 with Xbox Live Gold should buy the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 2 since it has been proven to offer better networking and matchmaking capabilities. The day after the release of Modern Warfare 2 Xbox Live reported having over 2 million players online playing simultaneous, which was the same day I recorded the video clip of matchmaking in less than 45 seconds. On that same day PS3 gamers were not able to play Modern Warfare 2 online on the Playstation Network because of servers crashing not been able to handle the high amount of players.

Infinity Ward has release updates for the Playstation 3 to fix some of the problems been experienced on PSN. Also the Xbox 360 version of Modern Warfare 2 has sold more than double the PS3 version, which you should consider if you plan on doing online matchmaking as you want to be playing the version with the most players online.

The Verdict: Regardless if you get the Xbox 360 or PS3 version of Modern Warfare 2, you are still buying one of the best games ever. Infinity Ward has created an outstanding package that significantly improves on their previous masterpiece (COD4) while offering a lot more options to keep gamers coming back to play this game over and over for a very long time. Expect this game to be nominated for game of the year by all major gaming publications and awards. This is the game you do not want to miss, I give it a 5 out of 5 stars!

Netflix Instant Streaming for PS3 starts on Nov.6 2009

gamehistoryx — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:02:00 +0000

Dear XXXXXXX,

Your free instant streaming disc for PS3 should arrive by Friday, Nov 06, 2009.

Meanwhile, movies to your instant Queue now so you’re ready to watch instantly when your instant streaming disc arrives.

-Your friends at Netflix

Netflix streaming for the PS3

gamehistoryx — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:57:00 +0000

Starting next month, U.S. PlayStation 3 owners will finally be able to stream high-definition movies and television episodes through Netflix’s rental service via PlayStation Network.

This is good news for PS3 owners who don’t own an Xbox 360. I own both game systems and I currently stream Netflix on my Xbox 360 and it is great. Watching Lost stream in HD is nice. I decided to order the Netflix disc for my PS3. Both systems are great and is really a matter of choice and opinion. I own a PS3 because of some of their exclusives and Blu-ray. But I do most of my gaming on Xbox 360 because I try to play all multi-platform games on Xbox 360 because they usually run and look slightly better and Xbox live is still a lot better when it comes to multi-player games. PSN is good and games like KZ2 and MGS4 play really well online and all the Sony exclusives.

My Xbox 360 will still be used the most because I do most of my gaming on it and Netflix streaming, I also got the early XBL update so now I got Facebook , Twitter, and Last.FM and the new Zune HD 1080P streaming.
Now for all the fanboys PS3 is still running in 3rd place when it comes to overall global numbers and the Wii as much as many Xbox 360 and PS3. Also the fact that the Xbox 360 has an 8.7 games per system attachment rate means that the Xbox 360 will still get more 3rd party support than the PS3 for sometime to come

I bought my Xbox 360 on launch date in 2005 and Microsoft has been able to evolve my Xbox 360 experience over the years. The PS3 is a great piece of hardware which I believe has great potential to be unlock but soon we will be entering the fourth year of this generation and Sony better start adding more features and games to keep their sales up.

Halo: The Fall Of Reach= Halo: Reach?

gamehistoryx — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:50:00 +0000

At E3 Bungie revealed Halo: Reach but did not give any other detail about the game except that is coming in 2010 and that there is a multi-player beta coming soon and that keys to that beta will be included in Halo:ODST.

Today rumors around the industry is that Halo: Reach will be based on the science fiction novel Halo: Fall Of Reach written by Eric Nylund in 2001.

Steven Spielberg, Lionhead, Epic & Bungie on Project Natal

gamehistoryx — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

Microsoft Games Studio has confirmed that Bungie & Epic game studios are currently working with Project Natal. Project Natal is the code name for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 motion sensing & speech recognition technology that was reveal at E3.

Lionhead Studios Peter Molyneux also presented a small tech demo of what his studio has been able to accomplish in the last four months with Project Natal. With Steven Spielberg also giving a small speech about Project Natal at E3, it is possible to assume that his production company is also tinkering with this motion sensing technology.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadows Revealed

gamehistoryx — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:23:00 +0000

Kojima Productions finally unveiled all the details behind the games on the countdown teaser site. The site showed clues such as Raiden and Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid, but a third mysterious clue was a mask. As must predicted one of those games is Metal Gear Solid: Rising(2010) feature Raiden which was announced at the Microsoft E3 Conference for the Xbox 360. The second game was Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker featuring Big Boss unveiled at the Sony E3 Conference for the PSP.

The third game(Mask)was unveiled today at the Konami E3 Conference as Castlevania: Lord Of Shadows(2010) for the PS3, Xbox 360, & PC. Castlevania: Lord Of Shadows is being developed by studio Mercury Steam under the supervision of Kojima Productions. This game is to be release sometime in 2010.

Modern Warfare 2 Maps 360 Timed Exclusives News

gamehistoryx — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:09:00 +0000

Keeping up the strategy of purchasing exclusive rights to the biggest games, Microsoft today used its E3 conference to confirm that two multiplayer maps will be timed exclusives on the Xbox 360.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising Xbox 360 Trailer

gamehistoryx — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:01:00 +0000