Half Life 2: The Orange Box - Reader Review

The Orange Box was released on October 10, and is the greatest video game deal to date. the Orange Box includes, Half-Life 2, HL: episodes 1 and 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.

The Main Part of this game is Half-Life 2. Half-Life 2 is a 3 year old game from valve in which the player controls Gordan Freeman, the scientist that unleashed an alien world on the Earth in Half-Life. The game picks up a few years after the events in Half-Life 1, and has you in a desperate race to reach the citadel, when the main bad guy is controlling and negotiating with the enemy. You will receive multiple weapons through the course of the game including a shotgun, SMG, a Gravity gun, and a crowbar. The enemies you encounter range from simple pawns, to epic fights for survival. This portion the game will take you anywhere from 8 to 10 hours to complete, and can be revisited to unlock hidden and well placed achievements.

In Half-Life episodes 1 and 2, you continue off of the ending of Half-Life, desperately trying to end the alien menace, from destroying the rest of humans population. These episodes are more 'vehicle' based, but are a joy to play through. In Half-Life 2: Episode 2, a sense of humor is unreleased, and takes away the stress of some of your objectives. The 2 episodes will add another 8-10 hours to the already lengthy FPS.

Portal, is an interesting game, included exclusively in the Orange Box. In it you control a test subject, trying to experiment with seemingly inescapable situations. The game play is very smooth, and the voice acting is spot-on. It is a fantastic comical adventure, as well as a well creed First-person puzzler. the game take you through 11 chapters, consisting of 1 or 2 puzzles each. The ending is a surprise, and comes a little too quickly. The game can be finished in only about 3-4 hours time. However, you will have a blast every moment that it has.

finally, Team Fortress 2, the sequel to the grand-daddy of Class-based online FPS(es), is here. The game has taken on a very cartoony art direction, but does not take away from the pure enjoyment of the experience. There are many classes to choose from, including a scout, an engineer, a spy, and a heavy assault. The game only has 6 maps, and you will see everything, in a matter of 2 hours. But the pure addictive nature of the game, and the clever jokes put into the core game play are fun to see and experience.

Overall, the Orange Box, is the greatest deal you will find this year, and as something for everyone. If you are into puzzlers, first-person shooters, or online mayhem, this is defiantly worth a buy.

- Review by PawnagE

EA Fifa Soccer 08 Review

Its been a few days since Fifa 08 has been on store shelves, well at least in the States, and I am happy to report I have obtained a copy and have been playing non stop since. But I decided to drop the controller for a little bit to give our favorite readers a little review.

First off you will notice the same 'Arena Mode' from the previous installment, which is really fun I must admit. The same menu interface as the last series which was pretty sleek is still present. You will quickly notice though, that there have been many new game modes added such as Create a Tournament, 'Be a Pro Mode', and the Interactive Online Leagues. Speaking of leagues, EA has finally added a respectable amount of over 30 teams and a whole haystack of teams. The team squads are updated pretty accurately, and you can automatically update them with a download from the main menu through XBL if you somehow fall behind in the Transfer market. Although I admit I was disappointed with the absence of Denilson from FC Dallas' roster.

The game play has been completely revamped, and made much more realistic. Your shots become less accurate if you are sprinting, passes are tougher to complete if you are facing away from your target, player and ball physics have been fixed for the better. In addition to this, you can now pull off a plethora of 'freestyle' tricks by holding down the 'L Trigger' and moving the right analogue stick. This allows for some crazy combinations while dribbling in game.

Most of the things present in '07 are back this year, including Challenge Mode, Fifa Lounge, Online Play, Manager Mode, and the Fifa Shop. This years installment finally allows Fifa 08 to be the first true 'Next Gen' soccer game. Despite PES' efforts, I honestly Fifa has gotten the better of the franchise this year. I highly recommended game to all soccer fans, if you are still skeptical, you can try a rent first, you will definitely wont regret it.

Halo 3 Almost a Week Away

The game that everyone has been waiting for is just a few days away, with almost 2 million copies pre-ordered, Halo 3 has created the biggest buzz for a game to date. Almost all Halo fans are counting down 'till September 25th, the day the game is supposed to hit shelves in 3 different editions, Normal, Limited, and Legendary Edition.




Although many will be camping out to the get the game at exactly 12AM, some avid players report they have already got their hands on the game. Though it has been said a few have already been caught, and handed a ban until 9999. With this said, its obvious everyone is very excited, I am not the biggest halo fan but I was glad I pre-ordered... I'll see everyone September 25th, but until then I will be playing the Call Of Duty 4 Beta :P.

Its been a busy few weeks...

Hello everyone,
Both I and my co-authors have both been very busy over the last few weeks. I have struggled with the dreaded 3 red lights while my co-writers have both been busy moving homes. Just thought I would post another update to let everyone know whats going on. The 360 has a HUGE game line up for this fall, so we will be sure to keep you updated in the coming weeks. Lastly I am working on a complete Xbox 360 Repair Guide which will be used to help the many of you owners who don't want too/can't send your system in for repairs. Thats about all I have to say, have a great weekend.
- Baked

Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights coming to Xbox 360

THQ will be releasing their next up and coming game, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, next month. With the demo on the marketplace, we decided to check it out. The first thing you will notice is that the game is primarily focused at the arcade/street racer crowd. Simulation aspects are no where as deep as a racing game such as Forza. That being said, there is nothing wrong with the games style of play.

You can start out with countries from all corners of the world including Japanese tuner cars to good ole' American muscle. You can tune your car and add accessories and decals to customize to your liking. As you race you will go head to head with other racers, battling it out for respect, money, and of course each other's cars. The game takes a small fork in the path from the recently released Need For Speed games, but it will hopefully be exciting none the less. With other major racing titles coming out this year including PGR4 and Pro street, It will be interesting too see how everything turns out.

Ace Combat 6 Demo comes to Xbox 360

Last week Microsoft added the Ace Combat 6 Demo in the marketplace during E3. We decided to download it and check it out.

Namco has made a few noticeable improvements on the flight sim. Notably including better plan dynamics, realistic accelerating/decelerating, better damage recognition, and a camera tracker of your current target.

We started up the demo with the default given aircraft, an F15. A beginning cut scene showed the Protagonist's base/city being attacked by bombers. Then planes scramble into the air and you are briefed to destroy the enemy bombers and escorts... Typical AC Intro mission eh? Once you have destroyed all the enemy bombers (TGT) then you are greeted with a little fun surprise, a mission update.

Overall we thought that Namco has put a lot of hard work into AC6. Everything from the scenery detail, to the contrails of enemy aircraft, the way your missiles look real when they are fired, and who can forget the explosions.

We are very excited to see Namco's final product when it hits store shelves this Fall.

The Long Road Home

Thanks to all of our readers for supporting us for our first opening week! I have been really busy the last few days with packing and making final plans for my trip back home (which mind you takes more than a whole day until I get to the final destination). Anyways I will be leaving in about exactly a day from when I will post this article. I'll see everyone then, and my xbox 360 misses me... hope it doesn't have 3 red lights :/.

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x360n.com

Half Life 2: The Orange/Black Box [Game Details] Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC

The beginning to the popular series, Half-Life, was released October 31, 1998 for the PC and was considered one of the best games in it's time. 6 years later, the sequel was released and was also praised for it's awesome graphics and realistic physics followed by the next installment, Half-life 2: Episode One. And, on October 9th, 2007, Half-Life 2: The Orange/Black Box will be released for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

The box will include Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, and Half-Life Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Half-Life 2, Half-life 2 Episode One, and Half-life 2 Episode Two features former Black Mesa scientist, Gordan Freeman going through the ruined city of City 17, the wastelands outside the cities, and the infected city of Ravenholm. In the game, you will fight the mawmen (zombies), barnacles and headcrabs (headhoppers) from the original Half-Life along with new creatures such as ant lions, Combine soilders, poison headcrabs, poison mawmen, super headcrabs, and super mawmen. You fight with other members from Black Mesa and Alyx Vance. And yes, it has the Gravity Gun.

In Portal, an innovative puzzle game by Valve, you are a test subject in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. As a test subject, it is your job to, with the use of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, complete numerous tasks to get through obsticles. The portal gun can pick up items and has the ability to shoot out small portals in which you can walk or jump
through. The obsticles you face in Portal are machine guns, large gaps, and unclimbable walls.
The Portal gun is also used to manipulate other objects, such as cubes or flying spheres, to knock over or activate other objects.

• Here are some screenshots of the Portal

Team Fortress 2 is another game many are looking forward, too. With it's massive online play and many character classes, Team Fortress 2 might be one of the best online games for the Xbox 360. There are many enhancements to the other Team Fortress, such as ammo closets placed in

spawning rooms to restock on ammo and other items, critical hits, the ability to spectate game rooms, different survivability for different classes, and enhanced rules of play in capture the flag and control point match. There are 9 confirmed classes in Team Fortress 2, including demomen, engineers, heavy weapons, medics, pyros, scouts, snipers, soldiers, and spies. For more information about Team Fortress 2, be sure to check out the interview with Valve Engineer Robin Walker, Project Lead Charlie Brown, and Marketing Director Doug Lombardi.

The game has yet to be rated.

Also be sure to check out the Team Fortress 2 Interview on IGN Here.

- Article Written By HermieKrab

Xbox 360 Chatpad Messenger Kit Announced [Details]

After looking over a few posts on xbox.com, I found an interesting article about the Xbox 360 Chatpad Add-on. The mini keyboard attachment for the 360's controller was originally announced back in May, but now Microsoft has posted further details as well as a product page on its site which can be read here.

The Chatpad will be used in conjunction with the 360's Windows Messenger capabilities. The Chatpad will be bundled in the 'Messenger Kit' which includes a headset for $29.99 USD. Microsoft announced the bundle will go on sale starting September 4th.

Bioshock Xbox 360 Preview

Bioshock is an alternate reality, next-gen first-person shooter. Developed by Irrational games, and published by 2K games, the game is set after WWII, after the Eutopia of Rapture (built as a safe haven for many of the worlds leading scientists and artistic minds in 1946) collapses after genetically altered beings create a civil war within the Eutopia.

Bioshock is purely choic driven, and results in many possible endings. For example, the goal of the game is to collect as many samples of ADAM (the genetic mutation formula) while maintaining a moralistic nature. Little sisters contain a healthy supply, but increases the difficulty of "Big Daddy's" to kill. In addition, the AI adapts to the environment, making them
impossible to predict.

You are a plane crash survivor, lost in the ocean. you stumble upon a lighthouse that has a shaft that travels down to the utopia. As you travel throughout the Eutopia, you discover many bizarre civilians roaming the area. The Environment is fully destructible and can be used to the players advantage, i.e. smokescreen from a fire extinguisher, sparks from electrical units.

The weaponry in the games fully customizable and allows for specific advantages. As you collect ADAM, you have the ability to create certain shots for yourself that allow you to create organic weaponry, give you special powers like invisibility, and allows you to alter the environment.

There is no plan on multiplayer, but there are plans for downloadable themes, pics, and areas to explore. there are no set prices on these objects. finally a collector's edition available that will include a Big Daddy figurine, the game's soundtrack, and a "Making of" DVD.

The Game is Scheduled for an August 21st release and will be rated "M" for mature for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Sexual themes, and Drug Reference.

(Click preview image to open the actual full resolution screenshot)

(Image courtesy of IGN.com)

- Article Written By PawnagE

More Details Revealed about 'SKATE' for Xbox 360

We have got some new information on the realistic skateboarding sim 'SKATE' which is currently being developed by EA Black Box in Vancouver. The new game emphasizes on reality and will try deliver the feel of skating through innovative new controls, authentic cameras, and a fully active skateboarding city.

"The game will deliver all the style, fun, creativity and culture of skateboarding without the countless hours of practice, broken bones and hospital visits." - TeamXbox.com

When first playing the game, you might be quick to compare it to the Tony Hawk Series. Although a huge range of tricks are available, you should not expect to be able to perform 'special' tricks such as the ones on the Tony Hawk series. Being able to perform double backflips or keeping a 5 minute long combo will most likely not be present in SKATE.

The game takes an innovative path in its gameplay. Most of the tricks you perform will be done by using both analog sticks. You use the left analog stick to guide your skater's direction, while the right analog stick lets you perform tricks. For example, pusing down and then up quickly will allow you to ollie. You can use the bumpers as spin modifiers and the triggers for adjusting your tricks in mid-air. Finally the thing that stood out the most is how you propel your skater using the A button, and brake with the B button. A quick tap of the A button results in a speed boost, while holding it down along with shifting you weight using the left analog stick results in greater speed. With that said, it is a very new approach by the folks at EA.

The game will be based in a fictional city, known as San Vanelona (SAN fransisco, VANcouver, barcELONA). The city will contain many different objects/obstacles which you could use to your advantage. EA has informed readers that the city will be 'hustling and bustling' and full of life, which may allow many person to person encounters. In order to skate the streets you may choose between 18 different 'real world' skaters during the course of the game.

EA also will include a cool new 'Dynamic Camera' feature which will let you play and record your self in many different ways/angles. There is also a plan to allow you to share your recorded clips with you friends via Xbox Live/PSN (PS3) respectively.

The visuals in SKATE are absolutely amazing, when ran at HD the game seems to be one of the best games graphically developed so far on the current generation of consoles. The actual graphics will continue to become improved as time progresses, hopefully to turn out to a beautiful new skaterpiece. I know that was a bad example of humor...

(Click preview image to open the actual full resolution screenshot)

- Screenshots Courtesy of Gamespot.com

Watch new game footage here.

Microsoft Locked Region Based Xbox Live Marketplace Content

This is more of an older topic, that was caused by the Xbox 360 Spring Update, but I decided to bring it back up for a quick look over. Until last April, you could make a free XBL Silver account based in another country to access special region based content. Such as making a Japanese based account to download Naruto episodes, which cannot be normally accessed using an American account.

Microsoft decided to stop allowing people to do this, after they locked region based content via the users IP. This way, even if you were to set your 'country' to another place then where you actually live, Microsoft will IP verify the location as incorrect and would not grant access to the region specific content. Although its a bit of a set back to the marketplace, we believe we can still find quality content in our home region.

New Halo 3 Campaign Screenshot

Looks like we have an interesting update for all the Halo fans out there. A new campaign screenshot has been surfacing over the web, and we have uploaded it for your viewing. The game which will make its debut in September is anticipated to be Microsoft's biggest seller.

(Click preview image to open the actual full resolution screenshot)

New Madden 08 Info and Screenshots

Its that time of year again as EA's latest installment, Madden 08, will be looking to hit store shelves by Mid August. The franchise is heading into it's 18th year, and has genrated over 2 billion dollars in revenues. The games overall performance and appeal has fallen over the last few years as EA had bought out their compeititon, previously the NFL 2K Series. Now they are making a comeback, with All Pro 2K8. This will hopefully trigger improvements by EA on their new game, as they are no longer without competition.

New screen shots were also released for Madden 08 last week. Even for the Xbox 360, they are surely impressive to say the least.

• http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1710/1183748017.jpg
• http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1710/1181918799.jpg
• http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1710/full-res/1183748169.jpg

Be sure too keep checking our site as we will be there to reveal further details as they are released.

Microsoft Extends Xbox 360 Warranty to 3 Years

It seems like Microsoft finally decided to step up and fix some of the major problems that 360 owners have been complaining about. After recent reports showed the average console failure rate at 33% rather than Microsoft's originally stated 5%, the console maker stepped up by adding 2 years to its current 1 year repair policy for consoles which showed the dreaded '3 Red Lights' Error.

The company hopes this will strike a boost sales and increase customer satisfaction, as well as to stay on even grounds with the comfirmed $100 price drop on the Playstation 3. I am personally very pleased as a 360 owner, since I am assured a working console for the next 3 years. Despite, this, it was not all good news on Microsoft's part, as they will be ending up paying about 1.5 billion dollars to deal with the console repairs.

Original Article Below:

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13876/Microsoft-Extends-Xbox-360-Warranty-to-Three-Years/

"An open letter from Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the interactive entertainment and devices division at Microsoft, has just announced that the compnay is extending the warranty of the Xbox 360 to cover any console issues resulting in three flashing red lights, for three years from purchase. The company still denies there is a design flaw that causes the 3 RLOD. Regardless, it's good to hear the company will fix any console experiencing the 3 RLOD free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date.

Open Letter From Peter Moore To our Xbox Community: You've spoken, and we’ve heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we've not been doing a good enough job. Some of you have expressed frustration with the customer experiences you have had with Xbox 360; frustration with having to return your console for service after receiving the general hardware error message on the console. The majority of customers who own Xbox 360 consoles have had a terrific experience from their first day, and continue to, day in and day out. But when anyone questions the reliability of our product, or our commitment to our customers, it's something I take very seriously. We have been following this issue closely, and with on-going testing have identified several factors that can cause a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights on the console. To address this issue, and as part of our ongoing work, we have already made certain improvements to the console. We are also implementing some important policy changes intended to keep you in the game, worry-free. As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date. We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience. If we have let any of you down in the experience you have had with your Xbox 360, we sincerely apologize. We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience. This will take a few days to roll out globally, and I appreciate your continued patience as we launch this program. I've posted an FAQ that should address some additional questions, and we'll update it over the next few days. I want to thank you, on behalf of all us at Microsoft, for your loyalty. "

- TeamXbox.com

Welcome to the New Xbox 360 Network Blog

Hello Everyone,

This is X360N.com's first blog entry! We will be covering the latest developments involving the Xbox 360 as the time passes, including coverage on E3, aswell as updates on the latest big name titles coming out this late summer and fall. We are also running a forum for all you discussion savvy members, so go check out and post what your thoughts.

We would also like you to meet our blog team:

• BakEd (XBL Tag: II b4k3d II)

• PawnagE (XBL Tag: Pawnag3)

• HermieKrab (XBL Tag: HermieKrab)

Thanks for reading,
BakEd
X360N Staff