NHL 09 Online Team

Check this video to find out something awesome about NHL 09...or just keep reading. According to the video you will be able to have your own team online in NHL 09. This team will be entirely made up of actual human players that each play their own player and have their own camera angle that follows that player. You'll also be able to create your own emblem and participate in leagues online.

An Idea for the Ages

I have spent several of the last 24 hours pondering the Xbox Live Community Games announcement. Personally I believe that, if it's done right, Microsoft could radically alter the entire video game industry. It's only a matter of time before there are hundreds of thousands of games on XBLC and people are going to need a way to find the one that's just right. XBLC will need an interface similar to Youtube with games having ratings and number of downloads info as well as a way to see them all listed by top rated or most downloaded. Also people need a way to follow their favourite new indy dev so dev's need their own profile pages with links to their own games. There should also be a comment system on each games page so people can write mini-reviews and give feedback to indy-devs as well as a way to search by title, genre, or keywords in game descriptions(ball-busting action!). None of this is novel and should be part of the service on day one. If it is and their are some true gems, like most people think there will be, then we could see a huge new source of revenue for Microsoft. The revenue generated by these games could easily match or outperform XBLA and even full-size games. This of course will lead to all consoles attempting it and shifting focus towards community developed games.

Now for the really novel idea. This ones for the guys in Cupertino. Apple should release GarageBand(the recording/mixing/mastering program) for free with all Macs(everything with OSX). Here's the kicker though, for the low, low price of $100 per year(to keep retards out) you can join the Recording Artists Club. What this allows you to do is take any recordings that your "band" makes and release them on iTunes for $0.50 a song. Apple would take $0.10 from every song and the rest goes out to the person/people who submitted it. Once again stealing ideas from popular community sharing sites and programs (like youtube) this idea could radically alter the music industry and allow some of the newest and freshest sounds to be found. One important feature that would probably be necessary is a quick song preview. People love to support grassroots/indy music and this would be an excellent way to serve it to them. I think it would be a serious winner.

XNA Community Games fulfills all my wishes!

At a press event in Seattle Microsoft confirmed that XNA Community Games will launch later this year. What is XNA Community Games you ask?

In 2006 Microsoft released XNA Game Studio Express, a full game language and pipeline built on C# that allows average programmers to make video games for the Xbox 360 and Windows, for free. In 2007 they upgraded to XNA 2.0 which allows online gaming and cross-platform gaming from Xbox to Windows. In 2008 they will upgrade to XNA 3.0 which will allow Zune games to be made.

At the Game Developers Conference Microsoft announced XNA Community Games. A service that will allow "average joe's" to make games using XNA for the Xbox 360 and then release them for download to all Xbox Live members. All games are rated by fellow XNA users before being put on the service.

The new deets announced today are as follows:
All XNA games will be either 200($2.50) MS points, 400($5.00) MS points or 800($10.00) MS points.
The games will be limited to 150 MB file size.
The games can allow players to play over Xbox Live.
All games will have a free demo.
All games will have trailers.
Games will not have achievements.
The developer of the game will receive up to 70% of the revenue (MS take is based on advertising and promotion, the more they promote the game -> the more money they take)

I already have the ability to make incredibly simple games like pong and breakout with XNA and honing my skills this year could see me making actual money in game development by the fall! How sweet!

Retrospectives

If you have absolutely nothing to due and need something to kill some time I highly suggest the video retrospectives over at GameTrailers.com. Basically they are recaps of all the games in a specific series. There are ones for Mario Kart, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Metroid and even Star Wars. I don't know who it is that narrates them but his voice is right up there with Alan Cross. Definitely check them out if you have the time cause they are an excellent read? watch? time...(I guess that works).

Halo Wars

I've been reading a lot about Halo Wars recently. For those not in the know, Halo Wars is an Xbox 360 exclusive Real Time Strategy game being developed by Ensemble Studios. (makers of Age of Empires and Age of Mythologies) It is set in the Halo Universe (obviously) and takes place before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Basically the big deal is that RTS games haven't really worked on consoles in the past. Mostly this is due to the fact that most RTS console games have been ports from the PC and are too complicated to map to the controller. Halo Wars is being built from the ground up for the 360 so it shouldn't have these same issues. Ensemble is working really hard to make sure that the controls work really well and allow for all the fast, micromanagement style gameplay necessary for a success in this genre.

Check out more at HaloWars.com.

KOTOR MMO Confirmed

According to This Post on Portfolio.com, EA has announced that LucasArts is collaboration with Bioware to make a Knights of the Old Republic MMO. EA chief executive John Riccitiello confirmed the news in an interview, saying "We've got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development,". The first of which is the new Warhammer MMO which we knew about but he had this to say about the second, "And the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about -- in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare, which is, I think, quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry at the point when we get closer to telling you about it." Now Joystiq mentioned that it seems Portfolio.com is the one to put two and two together to get KOTOR but the original article was update with this question and answer:

Does Riccitiello mean the oft rumored Knights of the Old Republic Online? "Yes," he said.

So there you have it! The greatest news I could have hoped for from E3 this year! I've never really been an MMO kind of guy but this is too good to pass up.

Deeply Disappointed

I just read on Joystiq that Bungie was supposed to announce a new project tomorrow morning but the announcement was canceled by Microsoft. This saddens me to my very core. I had been looking forward to this for quite sometime. Now I'll have to wait to find out about the Superintendent.

Microsoft at E3

Yesterday was Microsoft's Pre-E3 Press Conference and it was jam-packed full of megaton bomb-style announcements. I will try to list these announcements in order but I'm going entirely on memory so it may be sketch.

Fallout 3 will be awesome.
Resident Evil 5 will have online Co-op. March 13th release date.
Gears of War 2 will be awesome and have a new 5 person Co-op mode. Nov. 7th release date.
Fable 2 is finished and will launch in October. Online co-op confirmed.

Complete Dashboard refresh this fall.
Includes Avatars, Netflix partnership, Primetime gameshow games, Live Parties, 8 person group chat.

Community Games launches this fall.

Geometry Wars 2 next month.
Galaga Legions next month.
Banjo Kazooie original for XBLA.
Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts this winter.
Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise this winter with 100+ pinata species.

New Scene It game.
New Your in the Movies game with vision camera.
New Lips Karaoke game with strobe light microphones.

Infinite Undiscovery in September, 360 exclusive.
The Last Remnant this Holiday on 360 first.
Star Ocean 4 next spring, 360 exclusive.

Final Fantasy XIII day and date on Xbox 360 in NA and Europe.

Cold Storage?!? More like Cold Suckage!

Just played some of the Bungie Day Halo playlist on the new map. It was my first time playing Halo since I finished school this year. That may not seem like a long time to some of you but during school I played everyday. Also it turns out that if you don't use it, you lose it. I know because I sucked royally. I did win a round of swords but I've always been the master of swords and with Bumper Jumper on its not even fair for the other players. I'm pretty sure in that match I managed to kill two guys with one sword lunge. After that I played a round of BR starts and got smoked. It was kinda embarrassing. Getting ready for bed now cause I work tomorrow(insert farting sound).

Mood: Embarrassed due to lack of skillz(note the "z").

Superintendent?

I was just on Bungie.net, the website for the creators of Halo(where have you been?), because today is Bungie Day! Every year on July 7th (07/07) they celebrate Bungie day because Bungie loves the number 7. It's weird, I know. Anywho, there is come craziness going on in the forums because a new person has been posting over the last couple months with the rank of Superintendent and fancy green text. I know it seems weird but Bungie fans eat this shit up. So now everyone is trying to find new info on this guy and who he is. Some people think he may end up being a new character from a platformer they are working on. Others think that he is pointing to them re-making an old Halo 2 map called Terminal cause it had a subway and he frequently says things like "Your tax dollars at work" and things you can hear in the background of the Halo 2 map.

He also has a little picture showing up everywhere. It has appeared on Bungie Employee shirts, during videos made by Bungie, on the Bungie webcam, and other misc. places. I for one am very intrigued and I hope it turns out to be the platformer thing. That would be awesome!

Mood: Intrigued...very Intrigued(Insert thinking pose including chin scratch)

It Turned Out Alright

So today turned out to not be so bad. The weather cleared up and I got to go swimming. We couldn't get the Jet-Ski to work for some reason but I was allowed to take the Sea-Doo out all by myself. It was awesome.

My cousin drove us into town on the boat and we got ice cream. It was awesome. Also I visited my other cousins girlfriend at work. She is super nice and I really like her. She came over after we finished dinner and everyone asked to go home and get her Wii. I said I'd go with her and she let me drive her Pontiac Solstice. It's so pimp. I want to steal it.

Everyone is playing Wii now and of course it's a blast when there is lots of people. We have been having issues with controlling connecting though. It turns out I'm the only one who knows how to connect a wii controller to a wii. Weird...

Mood: Entertained

Up North!

I have arrived at my Aunt and Uncles. We brought my sisters stupid dog and it keeps fighting with my Aunts dog. The weather is relatively nice here and I'm hoping the water is excellent too.

On the ride up I watched "A Goofy Movie" on my computer. It's not quite as good as I remember but it was still alright.

Diablo 3 was announced this weekend. I've never played the other Diablo games but I'm definitely considering playing this one. Blizzard knows there stuff when it comes to RPGs.

Mood: Lackadaisical

Laid off...

So I found out that after tomorrow afternoon's shift I will be off for at least one week. In a way this is so totally awesome and I'm so glad that I'm laid off, but it also means no money for me. I'm not too worried if it's only for the one week but if it lasts any longer than that I might be screwed.

I'm going to my aunt and uncles house this weekend for the Holiday. I'm hoping the lake will be nice and warm because I love to swim. I'm also hoping to get some wakeboarding or jetskiing done. I'll probably take my laptop up with me too so I can get a start on making some of the games I've been wanting to make all summer. I figure I should make some crappy games and get used to the language and pipeline before diving into making my own epic masterpiece.

Mood: Conflicted

Sonic's Birthday

A couple days ago Sonic turned 17 and I never got a chance to say Happy Birthday. Sonic is the man(hedgehog?), unfortunately all the games he has been in lately have been suck-tacular. Recently announced is a new Sonic game called Sonic Unleashed which is looking pretty good right now and might mean a return to glory for the blue flash.

Also coming out soon is a Sonic RPG for the Nintendo DS. Developed by the one and only Bioware, makers of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, it looks to be an excellent offering that may actually leverage all the crazy side characters and put them to good use.

I really hope Sonic can turn things around because he is one of the greatest names in video gaming and if he isn't in a good game soon then he may lose his entire fanbase.

Mood: Nostalgic

20 Console Ads From 1977 - 1995

Just watched this hilarious video. Check it out.

Mood: Nostalgic

GTTV

There is an excellent TV show on Spike TV at 1 am on Friday nights. This is a ridiculous time for a TV show but luckily you can watch it on the internet anytime after it initially airs. It's called GameTrailers TV and is all about upcoming games and exclusive interviews. I think it's pretty pimp. You can check it out at GameTrailers.com.

Also of note at GameTrailers is a cool section where they do "retrospectives". The just finished doing a series of retrospectives on Metal Gear. They have also done ones on The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mario Kart, and they are in the middle of doing a Star Wars one which is really cool. Basically its a cool site to watch video game trailers and movies.

Mood: Unexcited by the prospect of going to work soon.

Spore Creature Creator

If you have never heard of Spore than shame on you, but don't worry because come this September everyone will know about it. Basically Spore is a game from the creator of SimCity and The Sims, and its pretty much a sim everything. Starting from the primordial ooze you create the first single celled organism and then help it to evolve into a powerful space faring culture. The game is due out in September and is expected to be huge.

In order to get the hype going for the game EA and Maxis have release the Spore Creature Creator. Spore has several creators that allow you to design your single cell, your creature, your vehicles, buildings, spaceships and many other things. The idea is that you get to design all of the content for the game which is pretty pimp. The creature creator lets you design your creature by molding the spine and body, picking arms, legs, hands, feet, mouths, weapons and other accessories for your creature and then painting it to look like whatever you want.

When Spore comes out you will be able to take the creature you built and import it into the game to use. Basically everyone should go to Big Download and give it a shot because it is totally awesome. I haven't played with it too much and my skills are a few notches below "Mad" but I was still able to make some pretty cool creatures. Lots of fun to be had here.

Mood: Entertained

My own blog?

I was randomly searching all over the internet looking at things like "how to make money online" and "get paid to take surveys" and other such junk, when I saw an ad that said you can get paid to write articles and stories online. Of course it turned out to be a scam which isn't that surprising but while I fantasized that it might be real I realized that writing articles, blog posts, and short stories might be fun. Also I thought that it would be good to write more often to increase my writing skills.

So here I am starting my own blog. I also thought it might be a better alternative to weekly e-mails that never seem to get sent out on time. I read many blogs, most about video games, and if I like this enough or turn out to be good at it maybe one day I might get a job working for those blogs. Here is a list of my favourite video game blogs:

Joystiq
Xbox 360 Fanboy
Wii Fanboy
Engadget

Take a look to see what I read pretty much every day on the internet.