We Have Entered The World, of Warcraft
With the opening of the World of Warcraft Cataclysm Beta, we have opened the VGToday World of Warcraft Pandora's Box, beta. All joking aside, Max of VGToday has finally got his hands on vanilla World of Warcraft. And as comes with all new console purchases on VGToday, we start our reporting frenzy! We have also added a new section to the staff info images, a World of Warcraft Main section. All staffers will have their Main's name, realm, and faction available to your friend requests! Look forward to some reaction posts to WoW (Yes, we are 6 years late to the party), news, and our struggling with leveling!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
PS: I'm a Night Elf Resto Druid.
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XBLA Inventory Blowout!
There are still three more days left in the Xbox Live Arcade Inventory Blowout Sale! There are ten full arcade games with as much as 53% off the regular price. And we'd like to say, most of these games are some of our favorites! Hit the jump to check out all the sales.
South Park - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Super Street Fighter II HD Remix - 560 MSP - 53% Off
Defense Grid - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Rocket Riot - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Mad Tracks - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Track & Field - 240 MSP - 40% Off
Lumines Live - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Age of Booty - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Schizoid - 800 MSP - 50% Off
Wallace & Gromit episode 1 - 400 MSP - 50% Off
Get all the links to download these games here:
http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/04/01/xbox-live-arcade-inventory-blowout-sale.aspx
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Our New Schedule
Now that we're back, we need a new official schedule for our features each week! We have comprised a small list of special posts that will occur weekly, in addition to our regular daily news. Check them out!
- Monday: VGToday-cast! Starting soon, we will have our very own, weekly 30-min. podcast! We will discuss news from the previous week, what we've been playing, and anything else!
- Tuesday: Gamerscore Weekly! Yes, our popular Gamerscore Weekly video podcast will be returning to it's weekly achievement hunting!
- Wednesdays: Outside the Box! Every Wednesday we will have a featured article that does not directly relate to video games. It could be tech talk, current events, etc. that we find interesting and note worthy.
- Thursday: Rumor Thursday! Every Thursday we will investigate a popular video game culture rumor, and bust it or confirm it!
- Friday: Freebie Friday! Everyone's favorite day of the week! Everyone friday, starting soon, we will be giving away free prizes. These can range from Microsoft Points/WiiCash/PSN Credit to Full Retail Games!
We hope you all like the looks of this new schedule! So be sure to visit us every day for our exclusive content!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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1 vs 100 Prizes Teased
With the release of the Primetime feature and "1 vs 100" rapidly approaching for Xbox Live Gold Members, a new trailer has been released from the Microsoft Vaults. This particular trailer shows a sneak peak at some of the possible prizes. These prizes, as expected, are redeemable items on the XBL marketplace. For example some of the prizes shown include 40,000 Microsoft Points, 800 Microsoft Point Arcade Games, etc. Hit the jump for the video.
Here is a link to Joystiq's article on the prizes (With a video included): Click Me!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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A New Direction
Due to the recent lack of any blogging, VGToday is moving to the Audio Front. VGToday will not be doing weekly podcasts to replace the lack of blogging. We will have our first podcast in 2-3 weeks, if you're interested in being part of this podcast please leave a comment here with contact information!
UPDATE! Read Here
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Free Limited Editons
Participating Gamestops have now made all Limited Editions of games released before December 25th the normal price of $59.99. Limited Editions used to cost 10$ more than the normal game. Below are some great ideas for limited editions!
- Fallout 3 Limited Edition ($59.99 at Gamestop): Basically, a lunchbox with lots of neat collectibles in it. Including and awesome Bobblehead.
- Prince of Persia Limited Edition ($59.99 at Gamestop): Has the full soundtrack included, a Prima Strategy Guide, "Making of" videos, and much more.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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My Games of the Year
The year of 2008 is finally coming to a close, after a great year of gaming. Many great franchises have gotten their anticipated sequels, and some good, new IP has arisen. As most other gaming websites do, I'd like to present you with my personal Game of the Year picks. Note, these are my opinions, not VGToday as a whole. Kitsune will be posting his shortly. Now, without further adieu...
Age of Booty
Runner Up: Braid
Did he really...? Yes, I did. Braid did not win my top spot, as popular opinion has expected in most game of the year lists. The reason Age of Booty won was because it was actually fun, and complex enough to keep my attention past an hour or so (The problem with most XBLA titles). Braid was nice, "artsy", innovative, etc. But was it really fun? Did it pull you back to play time and time again? If you said no, then you're right. If you said yes, then just stop reading. In all seriousness, Braid is highly overrated due to its reliance of pulling users in by its art and innovation, rather than actual longevitable fun.
Best Studio
Valve Software
Runner Up: Bethesda Softworks
Valve gets the award for its game Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead, in my opinion, is one of the first games to actually make co-op, cooperative. Many games add co-op, but players normally do not stick together and just do their own thing. In Left 4 Dead, especially in the higher levels, players must stick together or the innovative AI Director will pick off the survivors, one by one. The AI Director is another reason for Valve's winning here. The Director makes the game fresh each play through, and challenges you. If it sees you surviving too easy, you will soon hear the noise signaling the dreaded Tank, or other special infected.
Biggest Letdown
Fable II
Runner Up: Fallout's Ending
What can I say except that this game has the typical Peter Molyneux problem. Too many promises, too little follow throughs. Molyneux once again promised that Fable II would be the hit game of the year, improving upon everything in Fable I. It fixed alot, but did not really "improve". The game still, to this date, has many game breaking bugs. Some include falling out of the map when jumping over certain objects. One major problem is the lack of main storyline, and the story it does have is "been there, done that". As for Fallout 3, when, and if, you reach the very end...you will understand why this made the list.
Best RPG
Fallout 3
Runner Up: Fable II
Fallout makes Best RPG of 2008 for obvious reasons. Some people call it "Oblivion with guns", I call it "Oblivion with guns, zombies, nukes, mutants, drinking out of toilets, etc." Fallout 3 is truly a landmark in RPGs, reaching to the ranks of such RPG giants as Final Fantasy. Fallout 3 does nearly everything right...except it's ending. Fable II was also fun to play, but did not make number one due to its lacking story and some gameplay elements that make it unenjoyable.
Best Shooter
Left 4 Dead
Runner Up: Gears of War 2
Left 4 Dead gets the rank of best shooter because of what I said above (See "Best Studio"). Gears of War 2 is held back from the number one for reasons I have already posted about. You can read the article here: Click Here. Since my picks have been mostly explained, that is all I am going to say for this section.
Best Strategy
Civilization Revolution
Runner Up: Age of Booty
It seems so long ago, when the big games coming out were Civilization Revolution and Battlefield: Bad Company. Not to be forgotten is Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, the (by far) best strategy game of the year. Many people doubted whether a Turn Based Strategy could work on a console. CivRev proved everyone wrong, it worked magnificently. The game has numerous civilizations to play as, and keeps you coming back for more and more. In fact, I am planning on putting this disc in later in the week.
Game of the Year
Left 4 Dead
Runner Up: Fallout 3
Left 4 Dead received this title for obvious reasons that I have previously stated in this post. It is fun, innovative, has great longevity, great cooperative play, and much more. I was going to make my GotY Fallout 3, and the runner up be Gears of War 2, but I finally put my Left 4 Dead disc in, and was "wowed". This is quite possibly the game of the past few years. If you have an Xbox 360, or a decent PC, and do not have this game you should not consider yourself a gamer until you play it. This is a must play title. Fallout 3 really missed the mark for me after I saw the ending, it was horrible, compared the Left 4 Dead's near flawlessness.
Notice that I missed Best Fighting Games, Action/Adventure, etc? Well, the titles in those category I have most likely not played, so it was not fair for me to judge a whole category if I only played one or two of the titles within it. Hopefully you will see the categories you missed in Kistune's GotY picks. Hope you enjoyed by insight, AND GO BUY LEFT 4 DEAD!!
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Your Holiday Shopping List
Still having trouble picking the right game, console, or equipment? Look no further, VGToday's Holiday Shopping Guide is here! Below we have our personal favorite titles for each console, along with what we feel the best console(s) and equipment are. Of course, these are personal opinions so you may have a different opinion than us, but we tried to make a wide variety for every kind of gamer (or non-gamer). Note, all links in the names on the game denotes there is a review or impression of the game on our site. Click on it to be directed to it. Roleplaying Fans Racing Fans Zombie Lovers (Horror Game Fans) Kid Friendly We hope this brief Holiday Shopping Guide helped you choose what game(s) are right for you, or the person you are buying for this year. If you would like to hear about a game not on the list, feel free to leave a comment and we'll get back to you!
Shooter FansGears of War 2; A great third person cover shooter brought to you by EPIC Games and Microsoft Game Studios. Gears 2 is an Xbox 360 exclusive and is one of the best, and most anticipated, games of the year for the platform. We gave this game an "A" because it's single player is great and the mutliplayer gives it great longevity. If you are a mature aged shooter fan, this is a must buy.
Enjoy!
The VGToday Crew
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Xbox Live Down
Xbox Live is currently down for a majority of it's users. So far Microsoft has released no details other than Major Nelson saying the following on his blog:
In the past few hours, the Xbox Operations Center noticed that large number of members were disconnected from Xbox LIVE, some more than once. Our Engineering teams are actively working to determine the root cause of this issue and to prevent it from happening again. If you are disconnected, you should be able to reconnect after a few minutes. Thanks for your patience as we work quickly to solve the issue.
That was posted earlier today, and as of now the problem has only gotten worse. Now you can connect to Xbox Live, but you cannot play any multiplayer games. This is shown in Call of Duty 4 having a mere 500 users online right now. Maybe it is not so bad, they might give us a free Arcade game like last holiday, but I doubt it.
EDIT: It appears as Xbox Live is back up. Post a comment here if you are still having issues.
Dark Kitsune:
Well Major Nelson has released another update.
From reading comments, I see that some folks are still having issues. The Operations center is investigating.I'm one of those unlucky people who are still having problems. This has throughly messed up my gaming weekend.
Edit: Another update! Though it isn't very helpful to me!
We’re noticing a few members are still having issues. We’re investigating. Thanks.
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Gears of War 2 Matchmaking
Epic Games released this statement on the multiplayer matchmaking issue on Gears of War 2:
This is an issue that’s affecting some folks, and [we] are...looking into it. I'll let you know more details as I have them. In the mean time, try to go back to the dashboard and use it to test the network connection. Re-sign in to see if you have better results. This has worked for some people for the time being.
Hopefully they can fix this issue, as many people have reported waiting up to 40 minutes for a single game. To help improve matchmaking times try these tips:
- Choose the "Player's Choice" or "Horde" matchmaking playlists.
- Go check your NAT, if it is not "Open" that may be your problem. Call Xbox Support at: 1-800-4MYXBOX
- Search for a game, wait 2 minutes, cancel matchmaking, wait on menu's for 2 minutes, resume matchmaking.
- Unplug, then plug in your router.
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Zombie Mode: CoD:WaW
Gametrailers just put this up on their website:
I am super excited about this game now. At first I was worried about the game being a redo of Call of Duty 4. This looks sweet, one of my most anticipated things to do this holiday season...along with Horde mode of Gears 2.
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Selling XNA Creators Club Code
I find myself with a spare 1 year subscription code to the XNA Creators Club thanks to the guys over at Microsoft. I am selling this code for 65$ (The code is valued at 99.99$). Make a comment on here or email me if you are interested. I take Paypal.
Email: lavathing@rochester.rr.com
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Xbox Live Returns
After one day (24 Hours) of no Xbox Live worldwide, it is back. Incase you didnt know what this update was, here is what Major Nelson said:
On Monday, 9/29/2008 from 12:01 AM PST for up to 24 hours, Xbox Live will be offline for maintenance. As a result, Xbox LIVE and the ‘My Xbox’ section of Xbox.com will be unavailable, and the Xbox forums will be in read only mode (you won’t be able to post.) The remainder of Xbox.com will be available with limited interruptions.
This service maintenance is in preparation for the new Xbox experience which will be available later this fall.
Let me reiterate: When the service returns, you will not have any new features and you will not have the new Xbox experience update. That will happen later this Fall.
So I will once again say for everyone that you will NOT be getting the new experience when you turn on your Xbox today.
Anyways, Xbox Live is back online and hit me up if you want to play, my gamertag is at the right.
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Welcome!
Welcome to my new blog. I have been in the "blogging business" for awhile now, and have blogs on Affiliate Marketing, and a blog on just general things I want to rant about. I closed those down so I could open up my own blog here and focus primarily on it.
This blog will contain reviews, previews, interviews (Hopefully!), editorials, and much more. I hope you will stick around and bare with me as I get some blogs up to start me off. I'd appreciate to have you subscribe to the blog, and/or even "follow" me, if you are a Blogger.com user.
That is it for my opening post, hope to write more soon. Until then,
Lava~
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