Who’s your friend? Me, that’s who. And who loves the Unscripted 360 crowd more than me? No one. I went through a lot of rebound drills, zone defense classes, and 3-point accuracy exercises just to get you an exclusive look at Electronic Arts’ next installment in the NBA STREET franchise, NBA STREET Homecourt.
You won’t find these screenshots anywhere and that’s because no one else took more elbows in the paint or wore more headbands than I did. And I did it all for you to enjoy these incredible screenshots! When the vault was unlocked and I unwrapped the package, all I could do was smile and say “Hell yeah…this is STREET next-gen baby!” EA Canada is definitely set to bring the noise. Thanks Jon for the grueling trials…the screenshots were definitely worth it. Enjoy everyone. (I know how Flickr resizes so I loaded a folder to view these bad boys in their original glory)
Original size screenshots here
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Canada
Release: 2007 February (tentative)
If you’ve logged on to Xbox Live today, you were more than likely prompted for an update. Those of you who haven’t signed on yet, the next time you do you’ll be prompted for an update. This should please those of you who have sent messages to me this morning. Hey, I like to get some sleep every once in a while so forgive the late response. lol
Here are the details of that update:
-Improved support for HD video output over VGA, including 1080p resolution
-Improved plug and play performance for wired headsets when being used with wireless controllers
-Changes made to recently played games list to improve accuracy
The high definition era is upon us. From television to gaming to movies, make no mistake that the high definition era is slowly but surely making its way into homes across the world. With that said, the ‘season of giving’ came a little early for me and it came with quite the assortment of gifts!
For those of you who really know me, you’d know that I’m an avid supporter of all things high definition or as some of you may recognize, HD. I have an RCA Scenium HDTV with all the HD programming from my satellite provider. There’s nothing like watching an NBA game in high definition, an NFL one and certainly nothing like playing some Gears of War in high definition. Many HD enthusiasts dream of the trifecta of high definition…games, movies and television. Well I completed my high definition trifecta the other day when the ‘season of giving’ brought the HD-DVD player for the Xbox 360 along with 7 high definition movies right to my doorstep!
I’m sure you all can imagine the smile on my face as I was moments away from seeing some HD movies. I’m here now to give you a review of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player. I’ve added some pictures throughout the review for a quick look at the player. Here is the entire set of Xbox 360 HD-DVD player photos.
Here’s the wind before the storm so to speak. For those of you who don’t know, Santa and his cute little helpers delivered the Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player to me Tuesday. I’ve had some very fun times with it already. You’ll know what I mean tomorrow when Episode #22 goes up. For now, you can check out the video to get a quick look into the setup process. This is for those of you who don’t have it or those of you who just generally wanted another look at it.
Inserting the direct video from YouTube is new to me but I’ll always provide the direct link as well for those who want to link it elsewhere and leave comments etc. Enjoy!
Recent buzz has circulated about certain Xbox Live accounts being banned. These certain Xbox Live accounts were rumored to be the additional accounts created by users to take advantage of content not available in their own region. So for instance, some users with a US account would make a Japanese account to take advantage of certain content only available in Japan. The news virus hit ofcourse soon after the Video Marketplace lauched and many were confused about whether or not accounts would being banned or would there be blocked content?
Here’s the official word concerning the recent change in Xbox Live security:
A recent security change to the Xbox Live service may have impacted users online purchase experience. Currently the video marketplace service and related content is only available to consumers in the United States. Although we will continue to work on providing content and rolling out the service in other markets, US Marketplace offers will be restricted to the US only. This means that the credit card associated with your account is required to match the billing address and country your account is set up in. Note that we are not banning any of these Xbox Live accounts, as they can continue to use pre-paid subscription cards and Microsoft Points cards.
Customers wanting to check the billing information on their account can do this on their console or by signing into Xbox.com with your account and then go to MY XBOX, MY PROFILE then to BILLING AND CONTACT INFORMATION.
We also realize that there may be a small number of international users that were impacted by this change that have a legitimate reason for why their billing location does not match their account location. We are working to deal with these exceptions on a case by case basis and are working on a solution for these consumers.
Bottom line…always wait for official word before you go jumping off that cliff. You may now resume your ordinary lives.
[Update] - May 17
For those of you who emailed me, here is the news concerning the trouble some of you had with obtaining the code card for the special map. Word from Capcom is that by this Friday, all Gamestops and EB Games should be on board with the appropriate information.
The tokens were shipped to GS in advance of Black Friday, however they were unable to move them from their distribution center to the store levels in time because of the holidays. I apologize profusely for that.
As of this Friday (most Gamestop stores nationwide should have it now, but let’s say Friday to be sure ALL stores have received the tokens) anyone who has preordered at any time should be able to go back into their Gamestop and pick up a token to receive the extra map.
In other Lost Planet news, Tina Wood over at on10.net posted a video with more news from the Capcom team about the game. I had a chance to meet Tina during the Lost Planet Summit and she’s A+ in my book. It was funny because only days before the summit, I had watched her refrigerator video so I had a real ‘hey it’s you’ moment.
Want to know what is being released tonight for Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays? Well, an update that’s what. A full-featured update to one of the most popular titles on the service, Texas Hold ‘em, will be released.
We’ve listened to our community and as a result, a host of features and improvements have been added to Texas Hold ‘em to speed up game-play, eliminate cheating and ensure proper competition. As a result, the online multi-player leaderboards will be reset to eliminate the inflated scores that currently appear. In a future update in early 2007, we’ll be adding Xbox Live Vision Camera support as well.
Below is a full list of the new features and changes in the Texas Hold ’em update:
-Game-play has been sped up
-Post the blind and play right away!
– Players can now, if they wish, start playing immediately when joining a table by posting the big blind, rather than having to wait for the blind to come to them.
-New ‘Away’ mode – Players can now set their status to ‘Away’. Hands will be auto-folded and blinds auto-posted until the player returns.
-New ‘Auto-boot’ mode – Players who continuously let the timer expire (more than three times in a game) will be booted from the table
-Faster overall pacing – Timers and messaging durations have been adjusted to speed up game-play among experienced players, but still allow novice players plenty of time to play.
-Improved blind structure – Initial blinds, as well as blind increases, are now more proportional to table stakes, ensuring more meaningful increases during game-play.
-Matchmaking improvements – Players are no longer matched into games they cannot afford
-Improved interface controls – Improvements to controls, such as increasing/decreasing stake amounts
-Leaderboard display – A player’s full winnings and rank are now properly displayed
-Art and text improvements – Game art and spelling issues have been addressed
-Online exploits addressed – Certain known exploits that enabled cheating have been addressed. As a result, the online multi-player leaderboards will be reset to eliminate inflated scores as a result of these exploits.
How much: Free
When: Wednesday, November 29, after 0800 GMT (1:00 a.m. PST).
So get ready for some Texas Hold ‘Em reloaded so to speak.
There’s a game based on the hit MTV series starring Xzibit and pimpin’ broken down cars. Seriously. Many of you probably raised your eyebrows on this but it is indeed true. You hit the streets of Pimp City (actual name) with Xzibit where bling is king and speed is everything.
I’m sure there are fans out there of the television show and well I thought it was just too interesting not to share. I’m simply amazed at there being a game out there like this.
Pimpin’ ain’t easy but it’s readily available for practice in Activision’s latest publishing, Pimp My Ride. It’s being developed by Eutechnyx. I’m not sure why you’d create a game like this but hey, if Barbie Horse Adventures exists then why can’t we have some good old fashioned pimpin’.
For your viewing pleasure, I’ve uploaded the latest Xbox 360 screenshots and the latest trailer as well. I’m not sure what platform the trailer is. Pimp My Ride retails for $49.99 and it’s available December 1. Ready to get your bling on and roll with Xzibit? Then head out to get your pimp on in Pimp City when this game hits.
What say you?
Well the holiday is over and it’s back to ‘normal’ as far as work goes. I hope everyone had a good vacation and was able to get some rest in. I know I did. But now it’s time to get back to the nitty gritty…the world that is the Xbox and Xbox 360.
I hope you all have at least checked out the Video Marketplace to see the potential there. I know there are ongoing problems and if you haven’t heard, the Video Marketplace team is working feverishly to handle all the issues. For those of you who don’t have broadband or Xbox Live, there’s a video on Unscripted 360 for you to check out about the Video Marketplace.
There are a host of hot topics running through the Xbox community including sequels, browsers, mouse and keyboard hoopla etc. For all you Zune owners out there, if you want to get Unscripted 360 on your Zune, head over to FeedYourZune! It’s a full featured RSS reader and Podcast Media Player. The first one to get U360 on the Zune, I want screenshots!
I got some goodies from EA this weekend, including Superman Returns, and I must say that the game was a surprise to me. Look for my review of that this week. It has its issues but is it still the best Superman game ever? You’ll soon find out…at least from my point of view.
I also want to let you all know that I’ve contacted Capcom about the issue some of you are having concerning the Lost Planet extra map and the code card from White Friday. I’ll post details on that issue hopefully today.
For those of you not connected to Xbox Live or broadband etc, I put together a quick walkthrough of how to access the Video Marketplace as well as some other navigating tips. I also want to note that for everyone experiencing issues, the Video Marketplace team is actively responding to several issues in the Xbox.com message boards. They’re working to get things situated for everyone.
I can imagine the thousands and thousands of people trying out the new feature so I may just wait until the dust settles before I head out to get Poseidon. Anyway, for those interested, head down below for the link to the walkthrough.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deZGOibrGow]
Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll try to track down any answers that you may not have been able to come across from the message boards.
... pens are numero uno any day of the year
