Child of Eden and The Gun Slinger Demo

Child of Eden is one of the games I got most excited about for Kinect.  I saw it at E3 2010 and said I would get it.  For the past few months I have put it in and been amazed by the graphics, music but not impressed with the game play at all.  I like the premise but the game is just difficult and frustrating.  Now before anyone sends me anything, remember I am not a FPS guy.  I am constantly going off screen and have a hell of a time with the motion controls (yes I calibrated Kinect... several times).  I get to the first end guy do about half damage he comes straight at me and death comes my way.  I got this game during Best Buy's BOGO sale earlier this year so it cost me about $25.  Let me just say that trade in value is $5 so it looks like I am not the only one who dropped this title.  Not very family friendly and all in all disappointing.

Oh yeah before you ask I did not try it without Kinect because the box says "better with Kinect" and if that's better I don't want to see worse.

Grade - C-

The Gun Slinger demo was 100% better then expected.  The puppet controls and the whole live audience have sold me on this game BIG time.  This is not just a shooter.  There was platforming and a little fighting but the presentation sells this game (no matter how bad the acting)  The folks at Twisted Pixel have nailed a great demo and this game will be going down on my list for games to get for Kinect.

Quick notes:

• Bought NHL 12 this week game play has not changed much but glad I can knock down the goalies.
• I bought a new Xbox 360 Slim (last one I can promise you that)
• Is there any games that are Sharpshooter enabled that you can play together against AI for PS3, Socom 4 is getting a little stale.

Castle Crashers - Just Good Fun

XBL was one of the last things to work on my "old new" Xbox 250 gb Slim (see previous post) so I finished Castle Crashers on it.  For those who are new to Xbox Live or PSN for that matter, CC is one of the highest selling XBL titles in existence.

The premise is simple bad guys take pretty girls, good guys follow in pursuit and action ensues. This game is button mashing fun with great pick and play ability.  It is classic button mapping: a button for strong attack, regular attack, jump and use item.  The 2d graphics are straight out of a comic book and the guys (and one pink crasher who is free on XBLA) are awesome.  The comedy in the game is hilarious (watch out for the pooping deer) and is very family friendly.  There is some blood but its "cartoony" blood if there is such a category.

The boss battles are a blast (my favorite was the corn, yeah I said corn).  These are old school boss battles with a health meter and a weakness.  Nothing that made me throw down a controller but I had to start from the beginning a couple times but the difficulty was casual.  After death if you have earned enough XP you can upgrade your attack, defense, magic and speed.  Nothing makes that big of difference but toward the end I could see some changes (mostly on speed).  Playing with some friends was great because you can play up to 4 people.  The animal side kicks are cute but felt a bit tacked on.  For those wanting achievement points there are some that are simple and some that will make you scream (running through the barn without getting hit upset me more then once).

Finally the length / value of the game is great.  Sure you could knock it out in a couple of days but the challenge boards and simple premise make this a game you can always come back to with friends and without.

Bottom line if you have played X-men Arcade, Double Dragon or TMNT arcade and liked them this game is for you.  The price of about $15 is great and well worth it.

Grade - A

A few quick hits:

• Started Prototype because Prototype 2 looks cool.  Plenty of cut scenes at the beginning (too many) and is it just me or did they make the buttons for the better moves straight out of SFIIV
• NHL 12 and God Of War: Origins are out today.  Kmart has the best deal but I foolishly ordered at Best Buy.
• Thinking about opening a game store, has anyone got one or had any real experience with it?

Xbox 360 Blinking Light of Death = RROD Round 2... My Xbox Slim 2010-2011 RIP

I have said before in this blog that I buy all of my equipment and this week that played out on Tuesday when my 57 week old Xbox Slim 250 gb died suddenly.  That's right I said Slim.  I got what can only be described as the "Yellow Blinking Light of Death".  My Xbox went from a vibrant shiny council to to a non portable PSPGo! that can only play games from the hard drive.  I love Castle Crashers and Limbo but (to quote Chris Carter from ESPN) "come on man".

Let me start from the beginning to set the stage.  I have been playing Castle Crashers on and off for what feels like 2 years but I know its not.  I finally get to the end and going through the 4 portals and "slim" turns itself off with a slight "pop".  I'm upset but it turns right back on.  I thought maybe I blew a fuse (little did I know I was about blow a fuse).  So "slim" turns right back on with a nice strobe light effect for the power button.  I see the yellow light blinking and think I better check with forum gods to find out what the hell this means.  I turn to the Internet and come to the conclusion: contact the good folks at Xbox support.  I call the number and we start to troubleshoot.  Power Brick - checks out ok.  Unplug and reset - still blinking light.  Take out HD and turn on - still strobing.  Finally he says "open the disc and try a game" and then nothing happens.   Diagnosis - "bad disc drive".  Here was the kick in the head.  Dante (maybe from Devil May Cry) says in his most evil boss battle boss "I'm sorry your warranty expired July 28th it will cost you $100 to send it in to fix it".  Have you ever played (insert your favorite game) on line and been winning then the other person leaves with no warning... that is how it felt.  I was 5 weeks out of warranty. I was crushed.  I felt I had been finally defeated when they told me that the repair comes with a 90 day warranty on that repair.  It was like so far on a board having to start the entire level over again (I'm looking at you Demon Souls).  I hung my head and the phone up.  I looked at my games on the shelf, the Kinect seemed to look away from me as if betrayed by it's own family.

I had the Xbox 120gb Elite and found someone to buy it.  I liked the fact that "slim" had a bigger hard drive and WiFi built in.  I liked the look of the new system.  The way it shined in the stores.  Now I have to decide new system or get it fixed.  Gamestop claims they will give me about $90 in store credit for the paper weight.  So I want to warn you readers if that white or non shiny  Xbox is working please let it stay on the shelf until he/she gives up the ghost.  I wonder if that guy who bought my Xbox elite is treating her right... she deserved better anyway.

As for Microsoft you may want to start to look into this problem because all the slims are coming are going out of warranty and with Gears 3 right around the corner it would be terrible if this starts happening all over again.  You have admitted fault before it may be time to raise your hand one more time.  The Halo ad campaign said "Remember Reach" my new slogan when I look at my Xbox games is "Remember the 57th week".