Xbox Living

The Heroic Map Pack, which had been selling for 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live Marketplace is now available for free. The change was made at 2:00 pm Pacific Time today.

The good news for those who already paid for the maps is that (a) there will be more games on these maps, and (b) you got a head start on finding your way around them. (Yes, I feel a little cheated too.)

The next set of maps, the Legendary Map Pack, will be released on April 15. This one won’t be free — at least, not at release time. Expect to pay 800 Microsoft Points if you want to play on the new maps.

Being a huge fan of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, I got excited when I heard about Frontlines: Fuel of War. After all, much of the Frontlines development team came from Battlefield projects, so they must know what they’re doing. 32-player online battles in a third world war over depleted oil reserves? Where do I sign up!?

So I did. I got the game, and went to Xbox Live. Quick match, because I want to play quick!

Something happened quick. But it wasn’t play. It was my good old friend, the ‘this game is no longer available’ message. I remember these from a rash of network problems that Battlefield 2 had. I thought it was over. I wanted so much for it to be over.

“Why is this happening?” I thought, as my controller fell to my side and I curled up into a little ball on my couch, sobbing amidst the high-definition glow of a perpetual loading screen.

Okay, it wasn’t quite that dramatic. I believe just swore at the thing and moved on to custom matches. They proved to be a little more promising, as I could generally get into every one in five that I tried. When I did get into a game, I would find myself in two possible situations:

• The game would play out normally.
• The game would lag tremendously.

The second happens way more. Headshots to a still target from a sniper rifle turn out as misses and opponents move around like they’re in SNL’s Lazy Sunday video.

When the network glitches are resolved, it looks like this game will be a lot of fun. The features and combat style are highly reminiscent of Battlefield 2, and the single-player campaign is surprisingly enjoyable so far. The game seems to feature some of the destructible environment that the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company promises, albeit with smaller scope.

Just, give it some time.

After my recent run-in with the Red Ring of Death, I’m happy to report that I received my Purolator package today with my Xbox 360 inside. Actually, it wasn’t my original Xbox 360 system but a ‘certified’ replacement console. In any case, I’m happy to have it back.

It was Friday, November 30 when I first got red-ringed, which means it took 12 days to get back to me — much less than the 3-4 weeks I was originally quoted. (A replacement obviously takes less time than a repair.) I put that in the win column.

So here’s the timeline of the whole ordeal:

• Friday, November 30: I get the red-ring and call in at about 9:40 PM.
• Wednesday, December 5: Purolator delivers an empty box to my door at about 1:30 PM.
• Still Dec 5: That afternoon I place my Xbox 360 inside and just make it to the local Purolator pick-up location (4:20) to drop off my Xbox 36o. I actually hand it to the guy who delivered the box to me, and he puts it on the truck and drives away before I do.
• Monday, December 10: Apparently, Purolator attempts to deliver a package to my door during the one hour I’m away that day. (I work at home, but was out for lunch.) They leave no notice.
• Tuesday, December 11: Purolator calls me to let me know they have my package and will be delivering it the next day.
• Thursday, December 12: My package, containing my replacement Xbox 360, arrives at 1:30 PM.

So, it took 12 days to get my Xbox 360 replaced, but it would have been even less if my system had failed during the week, rather than Friday night, or if I hadn’t missed the delivery on Monday. If the timing was better, it would have been a mere 6 business days.
And as promised, my free month of Xbox Live Gold membership was also delivered in the form of a prepaid card. It seems a little less cheap since the console wasn’t gone for that long.

Now, I’m off to slap in my hard drive (at least I got to keep that!) to get back in action. The red ring is an annoying problem, but I’m pleased that they were very quick in replacing the console.

It finally happened to me.

Anyone who’s familiar with the Xbox 360 console knows that it has a few technical problems. Chief among them, is what’s infamously known as the ‘Red Ring of Death’. Occasionally, this occurs when the console is overheated or when the power supply is faulty — but this also occurs as a result of unspecified hardware failures within the system itself.

And today it happened to me. Suddenly, my Xbox 360 stopped functioning, and displayed the red ring (which starts off as a full ring, but quickly turns to the “three flashing lights” variety.) It took about a minute of the standard troubleshooting tips to determine that I would need to part with my console, as it would need repair (or replacement).

For those of you who haven’t gone through this, here’s the drill: Microsoft will send you an empty box via courier. Once you receive it, you place your console (sans hard drive or accessories) in the box, and ship it back to them using the prepaid labels they provide. They’ll then send the repaired console back to you, unless they discover that you’ve tampered with your system — in which case they send it back without repair. According to the agent, this process will take about 3-4 weeks in total.

My console isn’t under normal warranty anymore, but Microsoft has provided an additional 3-year warranty only for the red-ring problem. This is my first encounter with the red ring, but this will be my second time sending my Xbox 360 in. About a year ago, my console recognized all games as DVDs and refused to play them. That repair process (which I believe was simply a replacement) took about one week.

The main frustration for me is that I had just moved on to the final level of Mass Effect. I’ve been enjoying that game, and now I’ll have to postpone its finale until the end of the year. This also means I probably won’t have my Xbox 360 for the holidays.

Microsoft is compensating me with a free month of Xbox Live Gold…. an incredible $9 value. Yippee.

I’ll try to use this new free time for good (getting work done, maybe writing some reviews for this blog) and not evil (buying a PS3).

Ok, here’s one for the books. A Halo 3 player has now popped the big question to his girlfriend in an Xbox Live match. The aspiring groom, whose Gamertag is “Moviesign”, invited his girlfriend, Gamertag “furtive penguin” to a Slayer match he’d made using a map he’d customized using the game’s Forge studio. In there, he led her to an area where he’d spelled out “Marry Me?” in weapons.

furtive penguin accepted the proposal, and the two are now engaged to be wed. They haven’t set a date for the wedding — “We’re waiting to see what the release date is for the next Halo game. We don’t want any conflicts.”

This kind of thing happens in MMO games like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XI all the time — I indeed know of some couples who play these games together quite often, and some who have had in-game weddings in FFXI. But in a shooter? This is something new.

From Xbox Community.

Bungie is celebrating Halloween in Halo 3! From today until about 3:00 am Pacific Time tomorrow, a new playlist will be available on Xbox Live — “Living Dead”

Anyone who’s played Perfect Dark Zero will recognize this game mode: Infection. Essentially, this is a team match with a few players beginning as zombies. The rest will be normal players on a single team. The goal is to survive — the zombie players must infect (read: kill) the normal players. There are three variations of this game style on the playlist.

Check out the FAQ on Bungie’s site. I think this is a very cool extra, and word is that Bungie has several more goodies like this up its sleeve for future occasions. Be sure to jump on today before it’s over!

Ah, Gamerscore. The whole concept of Achievements is marketing gold, really. It’s enough to get anyone with some free time or obsessive-compulsive tendencies renting games or playing longer to earn achievements.

Yes, it’s just a number. No, it won’t do much for you. But let’s face it, it’s fun.

There are basically two ways to get achievements. Option #1 is to play games and earn them. Option #2 is boosting.

Boosting is basically conspiring with friends, using a second controller or doing anything else that allows you to get Achievements without legitimately completing their requirements (at least, their intended requirements). I’ve expressed before that I’m not a fan of boosting, and I’m not going to help you do it. Boosting makes your Gamerscore meaningless and makes you a lying hypocrite if you ever brag about it. Anyone can stand around in Halo 3 blowing up their friends, or beat their unused second controller at a sports game. It takes effort, practice and/or skill to earn achievements legitimately.

But of course, some achievements are easier than others. And that’s the purpose of this post — how to earn some quick Gamerscore without resorting to cheating or boosting. The following list presents some of the games that yield the most Gamerscore for the time you put in:

• Amped 3: This game gives you nearly 500 Gamerscore just for playing through the main game, which doesn’t take long at all.
• TMNT: This game is easy, and gives you the full 1000 Gamerscore just for playing through.
• Prey: Over 600 Gamerscore are yours for finishing the single-player game. Very early into this game, you gain immortality, so it’s quite easy. It may take 5-7 hours to complete, though. The game is OK, so play until you get bored. You’re not likely to get the online achievements anymore.
• King Kong: Notorious for being an easy-Gamerscore title. King Kong gives you the full 1000 Gamerscore just for playing. It’s a crappy game, though. Your call.
• Fight Night: Round 3: Get all 1000 points for punching through the single-player fights. Doesn’t take too long but you might need to practice a bit to win.
• Lego Star Wars II: This game is quite easy, although earning the entire 1000 will take some time as you’ll need to replay some levels.
• X-men 3: A pretty easy game that will get you access to the full 1000 if you complete it and collect items on your way through. Some levels may require a few tries on the hardest mode, which is required to unlock everything. You won’t get many achievements in the beginning, though — nearly all of the Gamerscore is unlocked towards the end.
• NBA 2K6: Very easy — the achievements will pile up as you play just a few short games.
• NHL 2k6, 2K7: 2K6 only has five achievements, which won’t take long to get through. 2K7 is easy enough if you adjust the difficulty in your favor. Dynasty mode achievements can take more time, unless you sim your way through.
• NHL 07: Most of the achievements are pretty easy, if you give yourself enough time and practice to pull them off. If you make some good trades you can sim your way through most of the dynasty achievements without playing many games. I find actually playing more fun, though. If you want the 10-year achievement, you’ll do lots of simulations.

Put in a decent run with those games and you can get around 7000 Gamerscore without too much effort.

Slower, but enjoyable

These games will give you a good shot of Gamerscore if you play them through. They’re not quick but they’re fun enough to keep you playing.

• Halo 3: Getting the full 1000 means playing through all the levels on Legendary difficulty, finding a hidden skull in each level and playing some co-op rounds. You’ll also need to spend some time earning rankings in multiplayer. Not quick, but very fun. The single-player campaign yields a decent number of points just for playing through on Normal, though. There’s a very good chance you own this game already.
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Oblivion earns you a full 1000 for completing the major quest-line as well as several side-quests. An additional 250 Gamerscore is yours if you purchase and complete the Shivering Isles expansion. You can adjust the difficulty to make the quests insanely easy if you want, but expect to spend dozens of hours just the same.
• Bioshock: Bioshock takes a while to complete, but most of the Gamerscore is earned as you go through. Collecting tape recorders as you go through the levels is important for one achievement — otherwise you’re stuck going back to look for them. This game is excellent, so you won’t mind putting in the time.
• Crackdown: It takes a while to get through everything, and many of the time-trial achievements are a challenge, but this is a very fun game.
• Viva Pinata: The achievements take a while to get, but they’re easy. If you like this game, though, you’ll be addicted anyways.
• Two Worlds: This game is a lot like Oblivion, although maybe not quite as good. The achievements are easier to get, and will take less time, though.

Bad for Gamerscore

Longer games, such as RPGs, will not give quick Gamerscore. Enchanted Arms is a good example — this game takes a long time to complete, although it does give the full 1000 Gamerscore for getting through. Unfortunately, it’s not a great game.

Some shooters can require lots of skill or online play to get much Gamerscore. F.E.A.R. and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat are examples of this. Call of Duty 2 put 800 of its points in its Veteran difficulty, which is quite difficult. Call of Duty 3 did a better job of providing more accessible Gamerscore, but completing Vetran difficulty and playing an insane number of online games is required to get the full 1000.

The absolute worst game for fast Gamerscore is most likely Final Fantasy XI. To earn all the Gamerscore, you need to level every job in the game up to 75. It can take a couple of months to a couple of years to get your first level 75 job, depending on how much you play. The remaining achievements come from doing long quest lines and difficult battles. I’ve been playing FFXI for about three years (although somewhat infrequently), and I’ve earned a total of 140 Gamerscore from it.

So there you have it — a few games you may have missed that will help you get your Gamerscore fix, all without resorting to boosting or glitching (which really destroys your Gamerscore completely). If you have any other Achievement/Gamerscore tips, let us know!

I’m playing Two Worlds right now. This game is fun, but quite glitchy.

For those of you playing it, save often. I’ve had this game freeze my Xbox 360 after an hour of unsaved play, and when you’re playing an RPG, that’s a pain.

It’s also important to save before you get achievements. This is especially true with the elements. Before you pick up each element for your relic item (this becomes clear in the storyline), be sure to save your game in front of it. Various people have reported not getting achievements when they collect an element item.

I picked up the Air Element (by the Drak’ar Desert and Dead Forest) and didn’t get the achievement for doing so. Unfortunately I hadn’t saved for some time, so I couldn’t just reload the game and try again. Instead, I had to start a new game and make a run for it. Two Worlds is friendly on easy mode, though, since you can easily outrun any enemies you aggro along the way.

This kind of thing makes me pretty nervous about that “Visited All Areas” achievement. There’s a huge time investment in exploring everything, even if you are having fun doing it. With only three people with the full 1000 Gamerscore for Two Worlds on MyGamerTag, I’m concerned it might be glitchy as well.

Oh well, I’ve managed to get all of the achievements I’ve earned so far, and I’m now saving compulsively, so I should be OK.

Call of Duty fans got a chance to win something this past weekend by playing lots of Call of Duty 3 online.

Playing for 0-5 hours got you an entry to win some Microsoft Points, 5-10 hours got you a shot at even more points and some Activision games, and then 10 hours or more got you a shot at a trip to Normandy.

The problem: all through Friday night and Saturday, I couldn’t get onto any ranked games. If you’re like me and prefer those over Player Matches it kinda sucked. Sunday I was finally able to play some… but really, I have better odds in other trip contests that don’t take 10 hours to enter.

It would have been nice if there were more chances, or some special element that added to the gameplay.

Ah well, it was still fun to break out CoD3 again!

The count of Xbox Live subscribers has hit six million! That’s quite a few players in our little online world. I feel like they’re all on my list.
I’ve found my Friends list growing lately, especially every time I play Texas Hold’Em poker online. There are some fun, and funny, people on there - and I almost always get some adding me. I have mixed feelings about that. While it’s cool to stay in touch with people you get along with, it can be distracting getting game invites and online notices every 2 minutes while playing a game. I suppose I could turn those off, but I do like to have them when my real-life friends come on.

The average Xbox Live player has 23 friends on his or her list.