When I saw the name of this mission in Left 4 Dead, my thoughts turned to a last stand at an abandoned small town radio station, where the four Survivors must send out a distress call to anyone who would answer, while static rang through the building in defiance. With the onslaught of Infected raging outside the building, the Survivors slowly start to make peace with the fact that they might not get rescued this time after all. As the ammunition is consumed and the walls start to crumble behind the massive weight of encroaching Tanks, the Survivors take stock of the situation. They are about to die.

Except that’s not what happened. Apparently Valve was thinking about an airline staffed entirely by Infected. So we get an airport. A big, sprawling airport with an incredible scene involving a plane crash just in time for the final standoff. Which, as it turns out, is nowhere near as exciting as my little scenario. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of the mission wasn’t as exhilarating as those that preceded it.

Read the rest of this entry »

For the last three weeks, I have been completely absorbed by an XBox 360-induced euphoria. Getting this console was both the best and worst decision I made in 2008.

As if my current playlist wasn’t big enough, I now have at least five more titles to make my way through in the months ahead. Finding time for these new adventures and keeping up with my writing was a challenge, especially when the novelty phase was still underway. After many late night binges, I think I’ve finally flushed it out. I have regained my original focus and want to get back to posting regularly. Except now I’ll have even more to write about.

Spending time with this console over the past few weeks has resulted in the following (occasionally startling) revelations:

• I should have purchased an XBox 360 sooner. Like, in 2006.
• I can see why former PC-exclusive gamers have no problems making the 360 their primary game platform. Avoiding the hassles with hardware upgrades, compatibility, the process of installation and DRM are the obvious examples, but a lot of what the XBox 360 does can be compared to a media center PC. By including these features in one package, it can be considered an entire replacement for a the average PC dedicated to entertainment.
• I used to think FPS on the XBox 360 was impossible, especially for a person coming from a formerly PC-exclusive background. After playing the F.E.A.R. 2 demo, I am now thinking about getting Far Cry 2 for the 360 instead of sitting here wondering if I have to turn down all the settings for it to run on my laptop. I would have considered these thoughts forbidden a couple of years ago. It’s testament to the design of this controller, though I suppose only a few developers of this genre have been able to truly master it.
• XBox Live, while convenient as a method of online distribution and matchmaking, is still just a ruse intended to rob the consumer blind. There is no need for a tiered subscription system. Why I should pay extra to do something that the entire XBox Live system was originally intended for (and what I can do on the PC for free) seems like an insult. Even Sony has gotten wise with the PS3. I don’t care about Achievements and Gamer Points and a free online profile. I want to play my games online. Also, by separating “Microsoft Points” from actual money and creating denominational “Points Packages”, people think they aren’t spending as much as they actually are.
• XBox Live is also the reason why many indie and community game developers have reached a much wider audience, by making it incredibly easy to access and experience their work. This was a real eye-opener for me, as aside from the critically acclaimed titles of the past couple of years, I never would have thought to look any further into this entirely different, self-sustaining gaming universe. There is enough content on Live Arcade that you would never have to purchase a single packaged product for your 360 if you didn’t want to.
• I find it extremely disturbing that the release-then-patch process is in full effect on this console. It seems that every new Arcade game, demo or new physical media I introduce to my 360, there is a patch waiting for me. The attitude previously held by PC game publishers and devlopers has now made its way into this realm, and it’s extremely disappointing. What if someone never puts their XBox online? Not everyone has a network connection easily accessed near their TV, or are willing to drop $100 CDN on an overpriced Wi-Fi adapter. For some casual users, this will certainly be true. Will they be missing out on essential after-market support? It’s an interesting problem that was never encountered by the PC gaming industry, which was safe to assume any PC had some form of connection to the internet.
• I would rather download a demo on XBox Live than on my PC. It is a painless procedure that ensures that I will have a preview of a product in my hands that will simply work. The large selection of demos available out of the box and Microsoft’s commitment to getting early exclusives is also making rentals seem unnecessary. Like on the PC, most of the demos I tried gave a solid impression of what is contained in the full version of the game in order to make the decision to pursue it further or move on.
• The new XBox Dashboard puts Apple TV – and frankly any media playing aspects of Mac OS X – to shame. It is clean looking, organized, and seamless in the way it integrates other media on a home network with the standard features of the game console. Microsoft’s partnership with Netflix was also a brilliant move. I have used my 360 enough for music and movies now that I can’t see how we lived without it.
• I used to think the whole Achievements and Gamer Points framework was a ridiculous concept. Now that I’ve experienced it first-hand, I think it’s a brilliant strategy for building a game-centric community and providing significant replay value to existing titles. Though some games certainly do a better job of using Achievements than others. I don’t think we will see anything else come close to this system. Steam has tried, but they don’t have the same reach.

And just like that the XBox 360 has suddenly become an essential part of my gaming repertoire.