Is Unscripted 360 fit for a King?  We’re about to find out as another UK Showcase is ready for the world. 

Ladies and gentelmen, don’t call him Elvis…

Care to share with the world what the life is like for a GrandHolyKing?

Hmmm, tough one to answer that….I live in Northern Ireland with the lovely Mrs GrandHolyKing (She’s reading this) and our 2 children. I also work full time nightshift in retail which can be pretty interesting at times. It’s pretty good that I work nightshift though as I get to spend some more time during the day playing games and bugging my buddies on msn while they are at work..ha ha. I can’t complain too much as my wife actually approves of my “hobby” and actively encourages it. She’s under the impression that I don’t get enough “me time” and who am I to argue with that!

Hey no arguments there. What was the process in selecting your Gamertag?

I actually have a nickname that played a big part in creating it. At work, there are a lot of people with my first name so we all got nicknames instead. Mine was Hollywood due to a running joke that some of the guys kept telling the “new” guys. They actually managed to convince them that I was a child actor for pampers adverts and could have made it to Hollywood. Obviously Hollywood was taken so I scrolled through the suggested names when setting up my first live account back in 2003 and there it was, smiling back at me shouting “Ooh, Ooh…pick me!”…Not very interesting, but that’s the height of it. It took some getting used to at first but I wouldn’t dream of changing it now.

Ok Hollywood, how has the Xbox 360 experience been for you and when did you jump in?

Working in retail allowed me to pick up my 360 on the day of release without having to queue up like a lot of people had done, so I got it on the 2nd December and still loving every minute of it. I love the Achievements as they make you want to play the games you have, even beyond the initial completion in order to unlock them. I only got into the whole Achievement thing as me and a few guys in work decided to see who could get to 10,000 first. It’s that little “pop” sound that makes me come back for more….I’m addicted I tells ya! I think the Xbox brand has come a long way from the early days and the continuing evolution of Xbox Live has astounded me with what can be achieved in building bridges and reaching out to gamers across the world.

‘Achievement Unlocked’ Have you decided what your favorite 360 title is yet?

I would naturally have to say Oblivion as the team at Bethesda really did a sterling job in creating it. There are many good games out there (also many rubbish ones) but none of them compare to the sheer size and scope of this game. Most 360 games last for around 15-20 hours at most and don’t hold your attention for any length of time. Oblivion on the other hand lasted me for over 100 hours but sadly, me being the achievement addict I was at the time meant it was shelved while I continued on my quest for more points and set out on the journey of spiritual enlightenment.

Which one did you say to yourself ‘what a waste of a purchase’?

I’m lucky enough not to waste money on crappy games as I rent them from an online company instead. If I rent a game and like it enough to warrant the purchase I will go out and buy it. That pretty much guarantees that I only buy the games I will ultimately play for longer than a few hours. But, the worst game I have played would have to be Fifa 06 RTFWC as it was such a poor game, unresponsive controls and typical of EA to release such tat…Always releasing a game with little or no enhancements from the last incarnation, and that game highlighted the point perfectly. It could be argued that it had no other game to compare to on the 360, but unfortunately it probably still sold a lot of copies as it was the only football game available for the system at that time. Shame on anyone who enjoyed it, shame on you all…

For those unfamiliar with the territory, which gaming stores are most purchases made from in the UK?

Ah!, The age old question…In Northern Ireland, we only had GAME to buy our games from at launch but gradually more companies started to sell the games a good deal cheaper than them which is good for us. Tesco sells the most recent 360 games at around £39.97…We’re pretty good at voting with our wallets so I buy my games from Tesco if I find one that I like. As I said though, rentals are the way to go if you want to get a feel for certain types of games before you buy them. I personally prefer to shop online for any games I intend to buy….There’s many a bargain to be had by doing that.

If you can remember, what was the UK launch like?

If I remember correctly, there were queues of people outside game stores across the country anxious to get their hands on a system in case they sold out, which they did. It was pretty poor that a lot of people took advantage of that fact by exploiting them on Ebay. I had it easy getting my system as previously mentioned, but I was a little worried walking home past the queuing people with that distinct white box under my arm and their glaring eyes just waiting for me to fall over..Hee Hee. It wasn’t that bad of a launch and I feel Microsoft did an excellent job in getting the console out to shops as quick as they possibly could especially considering the time frame they were working with. Releasing a console in the major territories in such a global scale couldn’t have been easy, which was proven with the shortages.

What’s been the best feature in your opinion?

That’s an easy one, and a feature we all cried out for from the beginning. It is of course, background downloading. It was bad enough having to sit for a few hours watching that little progress bar slowly creep along, thankfully the active downloads eliminates the need for this anymore, giving us more time to play the 360….Yay!!. I would also have to say the new Xbox forums and the integration with Gamercards, marketplace, being able to see what types of games people are playing and matching up with those that have the same interests. There are just too many new things added, it would be impossible to talk about them all but kudos to Microsoft for implementing them all so well.

Yeah the Active Download thing was nice. Speaking of the Spring update recently, was there anything left out that you anticipate having with the next update?

There seems to be a need for people to have a 360 version of Msn messenger as it’s a hot topic on future updates, but I would liked to have seen the ability to have group voice chats or a dashboard lobby to be able to talk to more than one person at a time without muting one to talk to another. I can only assume that will be sorted out once the camera is released. But I have no need to complain at all, I have faith in the Live Team as they have definitely delivered more than I had hoped for when bringing my 360 home for the first time and gazing lovingly at it before deciding to turn it on.

Looking at the Xbox 360 sales across each country, what can the Xbox 360 do, in your eye, to totally dominate the UK territory?

The console should be given away free in Microsoft branded cereal boxes with little edible versions of Peter Moore and Bill Gates, now how cool would that be! I think it has the advantage at the minute as it is the only “next gen” console out there, but I think the prices of the games definitely need to be lowered in order to entice more people to buy the system. I believe it doesn’t have to do anything to dominate the UK market as it was the fastest selling home console despite the stock shortages following launch. I’m looking forward to the release of Sony and Nintendo’s products as it will most likely result in a pricing restructure for the 360, and that’s a good thing for the consumers put off by the current price.

Are you excited about the new peripherals coming up soon…the Vision Camera…the Wireless headset etc?

Is there anyone out there that isn’t excited about those? I for one will be snapping up the Vision Camera, Wireless headset and HD-Drive in order to maximize my gaming experience. The camera is what I’m looking forward to the most as the possibilities are almost endless to what you will be able to do with it. Playing the upcoming Texas Hold ‘Em arcade title combined with the camera could yield some pretty interesting results. It seems that the new peripherals will only enhance the whole Live experience to a level never experienced before, I for one can’t wait for them to arrive.

There has to be one title that you’re waiting for anxiously. Which one is it?

In terms of Arcade titles, Streetfighter 2 is high up there on the anticipation list as it was the only game I had on the Snes for over a year and I played it non stop trying to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of it. If we’re talking about full 360 games, Gears of war is probably the title I’m most looking forward to, the demo shown at E3 blew me away in terms of gameplay and graphics and I can’t wait to try it out for myself.

What do you play for…Gamerscore or Achievements?

If you had asked me that question a few months ago, I would have said both….But, I prefer to play for fun now as getting wrapped up and playing rubbish games just for Achievements and points really made me step back and remember why I play games in the first place. Fun is what gaming is all about and should always be that way, if it’s not fun anymore then it’s time to move on….and I’m not prepared to move on anytime soon.

One game. One shot. You against Ron Artest. Who wins and what are you playing?

Ha Ha, I actually had to Google that name to find out who he was. I only selected that Gamerpicture as it had a slight reference to my Gamertag. I let him choose the game (stupidly) and he picks NBA Live 06 for some strange and unknown reason and thrashes me 64 – 3…..I still can’t figure out why he’s so damn good at it.

Any parting words from the King?

*Wipes a tear from his eye* Thanks to anyone who managed to trundle through this Showcase and learn a bit about me you may not have known, and thanks to the people who make the Xbox brand what it is today….I salute you! Happy gaming!

Thanks for spending a minute on U360!