first of all, i can't change my font size and use bold in my blog anymore, can anybody help me out? thanks in advance :)

wow, i've finally managed to post my first blog entry since august. i've been away for quite some time, mostly because i moved and didn't have access to the net up until now.

i am so glad that this time is over, it's so hard to have no internet connection if you are used to have broadband for two years. well it doesn't matter anymore :D

i've got some used games last week, mostly because i wanted to play something on my 360.

unfortunately, i had almost no money left so i bought the cheapest games the shop had to offer (besides PDZ).

Call of Duty 3 (Xbox 360)

i know the general consensus (of CoD fans) about this title but i think it is a really good game especially if you consider that it's two years old. i played CoD4 and it was great but CoD3 is still a solid game an it's fun to play.

Peter Jackson's King Kong (Xbox 360)

i've played the game for about half an hour and the only thing i can say up to this moment is that it looks like ****. the gameplay is okay but nothing special.

Conclusion: CoD3 is worth the money, Peter Jackson's King Kong isn't as far as i've played it.

NOW THE INTERESTING PARTS - PRE-ORDERS / EBAY

it really seems like my ps2 will dominate my ps3 and 360 til the end of the year.

as a rpg-addict, the ps2 is still my console king and i am so happy play the following games.

i pre-ordered:

Eternal Poison + Pre-Order Bonus

Persona 4 + Pre-Order Bonus

yep, persona fans rejoice;)

the best thing is that i only paid 55 bucks for both games (yeah importing is awesome).

...and last but not least i finally completed my collection of Persona games with purchase of:

Persona 2: Tsumi (aka Persona 2: Innocent Sin)

yes yes yes i have now all games of my favourite gaming series. persona is soooooo awesome!!!

here is a nice website for those who want to know what this game was like in english ;)

Tsumi Translation

hey guys,

i wanted to purchase Geometry Wars 2 on XBL yesterday so i entered my credit card information. the shock came right afterwards when i tried to delete the information from XBL but i don't even have an option to do so.

what is m$ thinking? why the hell can't i delete my own credit card from XBL? i mean i can effortlessly do it on PSN why not on XBL?

is there really no option to delete the information? help is highly appreciated, thx in advance guys.

yeah so i finished fable...well to be honest i already finished it two days after i started playing it and that's probably the only problem (well besides all technical issues) about the game at all. the game itself is great, it is fun from start to end but it is really a major letdown to have a main storyline that only lasts for 15 hours. it probably doesn't last that long because i also did some sidequest (lady grey anyone?).

well i won't complain cause the game was only 14 bucks and so quite affordable.

i really hope that they will improve on that fact in fable II. does anyone else feel that way?

After buying my 360 something unexpected occured which forced me to spend the money i saved up to buy some 360 games.

so i basically had a 360 without any games which obviously isn't of any use so i decided to spend some of my remaining cash on a used xbox game which i already set an eye on.

Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee

So here's one game of a franchise i never had the chance to play because i couldn't find the games, i didn't have the system to play it on or something else (yeah the world is cruel). well i knew that not every xbox game will be playable on the 360 through software emulation so i checked the official list on the xbox website and this is what i got.

as you can see i've highlighted the most important info i need to have to play the game on a 360 and that would be that it is BC.

horray, the game i am going to get is actually officially compatible to play on the 360. so i went out to my local game store and bought the used copy for 7 bucks. i am hell of lucky guy, ain't i? well not exactly because

reality hit me in the face quite hard when i realized that i obviously have no sound or at least it is so faint that even after setting the volume to max on my tv set, you still can't understand anything. well done m$ telling me that this sound is BC but i shouldn't complain cause you just confirmed that the game is PLAYABLE, you didn't assure that i would be able to hear any sounds, voices or anything else. sorry m$, my bad. unfortunately a franchise like Oddworld loses most off it's charm if you don't have the audio. after playing for 5 minutes i quit the game, went out again to get another game...

Fable

After my first major dissappointment with the BC of the 360 i said to myself bad luck, 'i just have to get another game' and after all the hype on the forums about Fable 2 i really considered buying the first one to get some impressions on gameplay, graphics, story and so on. i have to say that i usually don't like or play WRPG's, instead i love JRPG's. I didn't like Morrorwind which i stopped playing after 30 minutes but i love for example the Persona series which games i've played for several hundered ours. Well anyway i went out and bought the game which was about 14 bucks, still an okay price for a xbox game considering that they still sell it as an xbox original on XBL for 1200 points unless i am mistaken. before i tell you about my experience with the game i think i should mention this...

yes, again i checked the backward compatibility list and as you can see, the game is on that cursed list. i guess as you can tell by now, this game isn't running as it is supposed to be.

the first thing i noticed was that the game was stuttering when it played the intro movie which is even before you have access to the menu. after starting the game and actually having proper sound (for now) i was happy until i got control over my young character. the game has such framerate issues i can't even recall playing another game that has such problems. after browsing the net about some information i found out that obviously this isn't a problem that occurs on the 360 only but is a issue in general. i just can't figure out the problem with the stuttering cutscenes, but then again they are all in-game so if the game runs poorly why not the cutscenes.

so it's bad enough that the game has massive framerate issues but it's getting 'better and better'. you also have sound problems which aren't permanent like i mentioned in Munch's Oddysee but it still is annoying. sometimes the sound completely vanishes and weird noise is setting in which only lasts for 1-2 seconds but it is still bad enough.

the biggest problem the game has are the load times. they are really breaking the flow of the game because you run for 2 minutes and have a loading screen that lasts for 10 seconds or more. this is also a problem that isn't connected with the 360 (probably, don't know it for sure).

Even despite all of this, i've been playing the game for over 10 hours up until now, which should be an indication that the core of the game is good or even better than that! it's in all honesty the first WRPG i actually enjoy which means a lot in this case. Remember i am playing a game that has problems that would usually make me stop playing the game after the first 30 minutes. It seems like that i am now one of those that can't wait for...

FABLE 2

if they can get rid of the issues that fable suffered from, then it's definitely a game to get. judging from the trailers and gameplay videos the game is looking good, even fable still looks good IMO especially for a last-gen game. i guess i am going to track fable 2 and will wait and see how it turns out but as i said, i am quite impressed from its predecessor so it's definitely getting a place on my list for games-to-buy-in-2008.

---

well this blog post is heading in an unexpected direction TBH. back to what i really intended to talk about, the **** backwards compatibility of the 360. the only thing that can describe how i feel is this...

they never promised the system to be 100% BC but you should at least can rely on their BC list they have put on their official xbox website.

it's really sad that so many people are bashing sony for introducing software emulation or releasing the 40 gb model which isn't able to play ps2 games at all but at least you know what you get. i am also sad that my 60 gb launch model isn't 100% BC (european model) but i haven't had a single problem with all the ps2 games i own.

---

So guys, i hope you can give me some advice on original xbox games that worked fine when played on the 360. do you have also problems with the games i mentioned above or are they just running fine?

i also want to know if fable: the lost chapters is also running poorly when played on the 360? did they improve on the framerate issues or are they still present?

thx for reading:)

update: i guess i forget to mention that the game (FABLE) also freezes, had the problem quite a few times which is annoying because it mostly happens during cutscenes or finished quests (great...doing the quest all over again...)

finally the day i've longed for has finally come...i am now a proud 360 owner like many others:P

i honestly never thought the day consider buying a 360 would come but it seems like i was wrong...oh yeah i was.

after my first day with this little box, i can give an early verdict: A-W-E-S-O-M-E

well, one thing at a time.

so the package arrived around 11 am which i ordered from amazon.de two days ago.

i guess i am not alone but i really love unboxing new things. okay...i liked the box so much that i starred at it for minutes :P

everything looks nice and clean. compared to the box the ps3 comes in, this looks definitely better (and this comes from a sony fan ;) ).

so here is finally the most important part of all, THE box itself.

here are the manual and probalby the warranty stuff. i didn't take it out of the foil though.

everything else that comes with the box, controller, headset, cable and so on. everything is very well packaged and sealed with a cellotape.

also this seems like the better solution compared to the ps3 packaging. you had to tear the plastic foil apart because the foil was fused.

here are the controller, component cable and so on. i am especially pleased with the component cables, not only doesn't sony include them with every ps3 but also doesn't look and feel the 360 ones cheap like the ps3 ones. all in all i am quiet surprised, i didn't think that these would seem to be of such quality.

i don't know what m$ thought when they developed the 360. wtf is this supposed to be? i can't remember seeing a power brick of that size in my whole life. but i won't complain about that because it doesn't matter anymore after you have found suitable spot to place it.

---

Powering Up The Beast

as you can already guess from the crappy pictures above i didn't use a good camera, in fact it was the built in webcam of my laptop.

i thought i'd take some pictures additional pictures from the tv starting up my 360 but it's not really necessary because all of you know it buy now.

the first thing i noticed when i booted up my 360 is that this thing is almost setting itself up. unlike with the first start up of my ps3 i didn't even had to configure my network settings, the 360 did all the work by itself and i had instant access to everything the 360 has to offer (excluding xbox live gold).

after creating my gamertag i started to download some demos which was just as fast as doing it on my ps3 (i didn't have any problem with the download speed on my ps3 despite many people say so). the real surprise came after the download was finished and the demos were instantly playable, respect!

i almost forgot that i had to update but even that took only seconds. i really fell in love with the system the second i pushed the xbox button. just everything feels right about it, from the whole interface, the easy navigation and xbox live.

the first demo i've played was bioshock (already played the same demo on my pc but it was a kinda rough ride) and it was brilliant. i guess it will take some time to feel as comfortable with the 360 controller as with the ps3 controller but i already quiet like it.

the biggest shock however was to find out, that my 360 is running more quiet than my ps3 :shock: how can this be? okay many people say that their ps3 is almost completely silent but i can agree with it. after a few minutes, the fans of my ps3 kick in and it's far from being silent.

the 360 isn't silent at all but it is quiet confortable. well seems like there is something wrong with my ps3...

---

so how did you feel after unboxing and starting up your 360 or ps3 for the first time?

well it's been quite some time since sony released a few demos i really looked forward to but it seems that time has come, even so just for the north american audience (yes we europeans are screwed:? ).

so here are my first impressions of these games:

---

Lego Indiana Jones

to be honest, i have never really played a lego video game aside from lego star wars which i only played for 10 minutes in co-op.

first of all if you expect one of the greatest looking games the ps3 has seen you will be obviously dissappointed. i am not going to say that this game looks terrible because it really doesn't, it's just that this game probably doesn't look much different on the ps2. i guess you just don't need such a powerful console for a lego game (no offence).

the gameplay itself doesn't differ much (or not) from what i can remember regarding lego star wars. it's solid and easy to pick up, you don't need to study the button configuration because it's pretty much self explanatory.

my complaints about the game are that it doesn't seem to have evolved in gameplay since lego star wars which could be a little bit of a letdown for fans. another thing is that it is simply to easy, which leads to the fact that i won't consider buying this game.

---

Pixeljunk Eden

there has been a lot of praise for this game before it was even released and after playing the demo for like half an hour i can only whole-heartedly agree. this game is simply awesome from an artistic standpoint as well as its simplicity and addictive gameplay.

this is definitely a game for everyone and i guess i can even pursuade my absolutely non-gamer girlfriend to have a gaming night playing this game. it just looks amazing it's almost like somebody is painting a picture in front of your eyes. i haven't been touched like this after seeing LBP for the first time.

i guess everyone knows what this games all about so there is no need to explain what you do an why do it ;)

this is a definite must buy!

---

Facebreaker

this is going to be really short. after playing the game for 30 seconds i quit so i guess there is nothing more i need to say about this game :|

2 hours ago i've placed my order on amazon. i finally did what i never thought i would do and i am so excited right now!

the package will hopefully arrive within the next 2 days so i can't wait to unbox it.

i guess i am going to document the process of unboxing my 360 when it arrives.

anyway can anybody tell me some good games besides the usual suspect like halo 3, cod4 and gears?

There's roughly only one week left until GT5P will be released in Europe. Surprisingly we Europeans will finally receive a game before North America which is rather unusual. Can't remember the last time that happend.

[video=6182506]

the game has been a hot topic in the forums for quiet some time. while most people are already highly impressed with the game, some others just seem to have nothing else to do than bash it. while few say that the visuals aren't impressiv which i can't comprehend because GT5P is probably the best looking game found on the ps3 if not the best looking console game overall, some others argue that it would be a rip off because it's not the full game. i have to admit that it is true that it's nothing near the complexity GT5 will have but it's nothing near a rip off. the game will retail for 39 bucks in europe while "full" games cost about 69 bucks. people like to call it a "demo" but honestly a demo is something you play for 10 to 30 minutes. i don't think with the following features, you can call it a demo.

Key Features:

* The first ever Gran Turismo title with online racing: drive online against up to 16 other Gran Turismo aces
* Race a total of 71 stunning cars:
* Race the Eiger Nordwand, Daytona International Speedway, the London City Track, Fuji Speedway, Suzuka and the High Speed Ring - then race them all in alternative layouts
* All-new physics engine means true next-generation vehicle handling
* All-new and improved opponent AI for a nail-biting race experience
* Access to Gran Turismo TV : a world of great motoring TV programming online including the BBCs Top Gear
* In-game museum featuring the history and heritage of the top car manufacturers
* My Garage - a personalised homepage feature with calendar, clock and map & weather of major race circuits worldwide
* Quick Tune facility allows you to adjust power, tyres, suspension and more
* All in stunning High Definition at 1080p

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Additional Features for Europe:

* Drift Mode – The player's drifting technique is measured based on drift angles, racing lines, and speeds within evaluation zones located at various turns on the course.
* In Depth Car Tuning – Players have the ability to adjust the vehicle's performance, including power, tyres, suspension and the ability for quick tuning whilst racing.
* Two-player Split Screen Racing – Allows players to race head-to-head offline.
* New Race Events – Online racing fans can join in on a new set of scheduled events and time trials.
* Track Guide Videos – Watch them to master the tracks.
* AI Difficulty setting – Adjust the difficulty of the competitor cars you race.
* Driving line – To help you take the best lines around the tracks.
* New Opening Movie

while it won't contain everything that GT5 will offer GT5P is what it is: a Prologue

there are people out who state that they will wait for GT5, which legitimate, many fanboys just flame because they seem to have nothing else to do. don't know if it is jealousy or whatsoever but why do they have to spam threads even so most of them aren't even interested in the game?

it is nothing new in the history of GT to release a Prologue or Concept game before the big one. Many GT fans appreciate the fact that there is a game that shortens the wait for the final product. i don't care about spending 40 bucks, i rather play GT5P for the rest of the year until GT5 will hit the shelves in early 2009.

what's really impressive so far is the fact that it already got over 1 Mio. pre-orders...in Europe alone, which makes it an instant platinum game. we also shouldn't forget that this goes only for the blu-ray release for it will be also available through the PSN store. i honestly didn't think that this game would be the first really big title for the ps3.

what else should i say? probably the only thing left to say is that i will definitely get the blu-ray release next week and hopefully when i have saved up enough money this monster:

this will bring the GT5P experience to a whole new level :D

it will be really interesting to see how this game will do in North America. Europe already made a statement by making the game an instant platinum despite the fact that it's not the most popular genre out there.

it's been a while since the last interesting demo made its way to the PSN store but now a demo of Condemned 2: Bloodshot is available through the PSN store.

after playing the demo twice i can give you a quick summary.

please note that i haven't played the original condemned.

the first thing that will obviously catch your attention are the visuals. environments, weapons and enemies, all are looking great.

the weapons (you are using things found in the environment like pipes, stones etc.) are really detailed and affect your attacks.

for instance you can use stones that are merely useless for hand to hand (don't ask me why) but good throwing at your enemies.

the pipe is a pretty good weapon for short range attacks because it's obviously more powerful than using your fists. crutches are useful for midrange attacks but there are many more things you can pick up and use for combat. that's one thing i really liked about playing the demo. another nice element is the fact that your weapons wear off as you use them. you won't be able to play the whole demo or game using a single pipe for example which i think is a really good addition to the gameplay.

the overall gameplay is good and i didn't experience any slowdowns during the demo like other people mentioned.

however i've experienced some minor sound problems when kicking or running over some barrels. the sound of the rolling barrels didn't fade away until a few seconds after they actually stopped but all in all the sound effects were good.

unfortunately, the demo was rather short and i didn't get to play with some firearms which would have been really nice to see how the actual aiming is like. nonetheless the demo was entertaining and i will probably give it a try, even so only a rent because i normally don't play these games and i won't spend 70 bucks on a game that i am not sure to finish.

all in all i can only recommend playing the demo and judge for yourself. for all you pal users out there that still use a SDTV like me and have an us account, i should mention that you are able to play the demo even if your tv doesn't support ntsc.

oh well, we all hoped that FES would make it to north america but we actually feared a disappointment.

even though there were rumours about the NA release and tiny bits of information slipped we just didn't know if this would come true.

in the end it did and the only thing i can say is that i love ATLUS for bringing yet another awesome game to north america.

well i don't think that someone related to ATLUS will ever read that but i will write it nonetheless!

ATLUS you rock major ass and kick every other companies butts. thank you for bringing us all these rpg gems and for your continuing ps2 support.

:):D