Ok Microsoft. I love your system. I'm a rabid fanboy of your flagship Halo franchise. I've been subscribed to xbox live since 2005. I chose your next gen console over Sony's because it was a better value (at the time) and had all of the games I wanted to play (at the time). I have enjoyed every second that I have spent playing on my 360.
However, this generation I have devoted the least time to gaming that I have in my life. Why? Is it because I am in college? Or 'cause of jobs? No, those didn't stop me last year and the year before that. The real reason as to why my gaming time is so low this generation is because your console keeps shitting on it self and dying, right before my eyes.
Lets look at the official lifespan of the two 360's that I have owned.
Xbox360 #1
Purchased: June 2007
RROD: September 2007
Xbox360 #2
Delivered: December 2007
RROD: Febuary 2008
Xbox360 #2 (after repairs)
Delivered: Late March 2008
RROD: YESTERDAY!!!!!!
All the way up to this point I have been pretty civil about this, Microsoft. So far, you have been pretty good at admitting you made make a major whoops with the internal workings of th 360 and the free repairs and shipping is a hell of a relief on my wallet. However, the free repairs are only a relief the first time. This third time I find myself ordering a box to stick your ever failing product in, I am beginning to wonder if it's even worth the trouble. I am getting to the point where my passive "oh well, I'll just call microsoft again" is turning into a "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE FUCKING SYSTEMS!!!!!!?"
Now if you could excuse me I'm off to go find my strangling gloves.
I spent most of yesterday and today reading Chad Concelmo's completely awesome Memory Card entries and I was inspired to talk about one of my favorite moments in a videogame, which occurred in "The Darkness". As if I really need to say it, Spoilers ahoy!
For those not up to speed, The Darkness is a First Person Shooter on the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The main story is about an unlucky young mobster named Jackie Estacado who, on his twenty-first birthday, is suddenly betrayed by his Uncle Paulie then is possessed by an evil parasitic being called "The Darkness". Driven by revenge and The Darkness, Jackie muscles his way though the underbelly of New York City to find his Uncle Paulie and do him in.
In the beginning of the game you are introduced to Jackie's girlfriend, Jenny. She welcomes you into her new apartment and reveals that she has baked a little birthday cake for your twenty-first birthday. How cute. After idle optimistic chit chat (she doesn't know you are in the mob, or that you have recently become host to a horrible monster with very sharp tentacles) she beckons you over to her couch where you sit and she pokes around with you an then rests her head on your shoulder. The opening scene to "To Kill A Mocking Bird" plays on the flickering T.V while Jenny nestles and eventually kisses you (Achievement Unlocked WOOHOO! :D). Soon you have to leave, so you get up and Jenny curls up on her couch and goes to sleep. You leave this particular part of the game (at least in my case) greatly attached to Jenny.
Fast Forward several hours into the game. A bomb has gone off in an old orphanage, Jenny has gone missing and you suspect Uncle Paulie has something to do with it. You find yourself in the orphanage, apparently the same one that you and Jenny met each other years ago. As you navigate the hallways of this old building you see shadowy images of your former selves playing with each other. Fond memories of days long gone. It's not until you turn one last corner that you realize that something is wrong. Something is VERY wrong. The Darkness hisses "TOO LATE JACKIE, LOVE DIES" and wraps its tentacles around your arms, rendering you immobile. The Darkness then forces you into a room, smashing you up against another door where you see Uncle Paulie and Eddie Shrote (a dirty cop who aids Paulie in his wrongdoings) rough-housing your precious Jenny. You try to fight the darkness but you can't, he has you firmly planted against the door, your only option is to watch in horror. Uncle Paulie goes on a long tirade about how you had all this coming and that you hurt him and it time for him to hurt you, while Jenny sobs and pleads for her life. You continue to wrestle against The Darkness but to no avail. Uncle Paule then drags Jenny across the room, presses her head against the window and says "I loved you like a son, and you took from me. You stole my respect and you stole my trust, and when blood takes from blood someone always pays. So now I take from YOU". Paulie Presses the gun to the back of Jenny's head. Jenny whimpers "Jackie...this isn't your fault". Paulie pulls the trigger. Boom....
My jaw was dangling agape for the entirety of that sequence. It was simply horrifying to see Jenny get ruthlessly put down. By giving you that one brief moment with Jenny, the game had allowed you become very attached to her. You instantly understood how important she was to Jackie. How important she was to you. To make matters worse, she was completely innocent. Paulie could had easily just shot YOU in the face right there, but he decided to present you a fate worse than your own death. The death of someone you love.
It's a real shame that shortly after another shocking (but totally freaking awesome) moment occurs later in the game, the rest of the it just flies completely off the handle and cuts off at a fairly dissatisfying end. Regardless, this surprisingly powerful moment will always stick in my mind as one of the most shocking and memorable things I have ever been subjected to in a videogame.
A game I've been playing a lot lately is Mario Kart DS. So much so that I fear its sheer existence will keep me from buying the upcoming Mario Kart Wii. Quite honestly I am finding it very hard to discern any greater qualities in the upcoming Mario Kart game that aren't present in Mario Kart DS. Mario Kart DS already has everything that I could possibly want in a "kart" game. All of the great characters (R.O.B the friggen robot!!), tons of extra karts, online play, sugar sweet soundtrack, and courses from all of the previous Mario Kart games. From what I have seen of Mario Kart Wii (which has been quite a bit), the only bonuses would be motion control (which I am only slightly optimistic about), shoddy text communication, and amagad, BIKES! None of which really excite me at all or compel me to cease getting pwned to shreds by Japanese school children on my DS.
But then again, I could be wrong and for all I know my next post about it might say "OMFG MARIO KART WII IS AMAZING!"
You never know about these things.
What do you guys think? I cant' be the only one. Or am I just too attached to my shiny black hand held?
Well, I've been browsing this site for a while and I figured I might as well start an account. I shall fill up my tiny piece of the destructoid community with personal musings and contributions to my other blog Disk Read Error. Stay Tuned :B
