For anyone interested in hooking up on Super Smash Bro Brawl, here is my friend code.

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See you online!

I was interested in this game, but wasn't sure how it would be pulled off. But I'm sad to see another X-Box MMO get canned. That leaves us with the supposed exlusive (to the PC and 360) Square Enix non Final Fantasy MMO in developement (that is a mouthfull), Age of Conan, APB, and Huxley as the only MMO's still on track for the X-Box 360. Of those, I'm most interested in APB and Age of Conan. Since nothing is known about the Square Enix MMO, and the fact I wasn't a fan of FFXI, it is hard to get to excited about that one. And Huxley is more or less a FPS with MMO qualities, which is cool... but not exactly what I'm looking for.

One of the reasons I'm getting a PS3 this summer is The Agency. And though APB may have some similar concepts behind it (only more cops and robbers online than secret agents), it is still so far away that very little has been seen of it. And it was stated that Age of Conan would release on PC first, then 360... that leaves The Agency as the only MMO (though in a non traditional sense) to be released any time soon (more than likely by the end of 200.

I'm a big fan of X-Box Live and will continue to support its typical multiplayer fare (such as Call of Duty, Rainbow Six and such), but I will be spending time on the Playstation Network once The Agency hits. If Microsoft was smart (a questionable description at times), they would put more effort in securing the console MMO space. That is one area Sony's online could end up dominating in a year or so.

Lastly, don't take this as Microsoft bashing. I am a huge fan of the X-Box brand, and have been since the start. If I've been critical of any company it has been Sony. But I am a gamer first and foremost, and I like to own all relevent platforms so I can play any game I am interested in. Therefore, I would have eventually purchased a PS3 eventually (Metal Gear Solid 4 alone would lead me to that purchase). But I've been an owner of both the X-Box and X-Box 360, not to mention an X-Box Live subscriber, since they launched. And I feel that X-Box Live is the best online service out there. It may not be free, ala the Wii online (what little there is of it) and the Playstation Network (though it has the potential to catch up to Live, but time will tell if that happens), but in a since, you get what you pay for.

So before you flame me for bashing MS, keep all of that in mind.

This leads to sort of an explaination as to why I said that calling MS smart is at times a questionable statement. I feel they have done a lot of things right. But going forward, I'm of the opinion that they will be in trouble without some changes being made. Sure, Sony has struggled thus far, but that ship seems to be righting, and 2008 looks to be their year game wise. If you discount cross platform releases (such as the next Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, Madden, GTA4, Mercenaries 2, Army of Two, Battlefield Bad Company, the next WWE game and so forth), Microsoft seems to have very little as far as first party, second party and exclusive software hitting in 2008. Granted, I'm taking nothing away from Too Human, Fable 2, Alan Wake, Banjo 3, Halo Wars or Lost Odyssee. But looking at those games, Fable 2, Alan Wake and Banjo 3 have a good chance of being pushed to 2009, according to most analysts. And Too Human, though it is top on my most wanted list for this year, is a risky new intellectual property, in that is not a sequel or well known franchise, it is a mix of gameplay designs and it has had a shakey relationship with the gaming press so far. And Lost Odyssee is another unproven franchise and is in a genre that hasn't been very successful on the X-Box brand yet.

Put this up against Nintendo, who will be releasing Super Smash Bro Brawl very soon (which will likely be a big seller all the way thru the holidays, as was the case with the last game in the series for the Gamecube), plus Mario Kart Wii, a series that has always sold well, Wii Fit, which is unproven in the United States, but has sold like crazy in Japan, not to mention the rumored Animal Crossing for Wii and Super Mario Stadium (the sequel to Super Mario Baseball)... plus a slew of exlusive third party Wii games and the momentum the system has... and it looks like Nintendo fever isn't going away anytime soon.

Now look at Sony. They have a more favorable price point now, and lots of rumor of another price drop by years end. They have a built in hard drive which is already showing to give the system a slight edge over the X-Box 360 (oddly , this was an edge that the original X-Box had over the PS2 in the last generation...) when you look at the possiblilities of games like Little Big Planet and Unreal Tournament III's user created mods. You need hard drive space for those things, and with the 360 not having a hard drive in every system, developers may start looking to the PS3 in the same way the looked to the original X-Box before to take risks on things requiring a bigger storage device. Also, as recently as the release of Devil May Cry 4, the PS3 is able to do an initial instal of some of the games data making load times all but go away, while the 360 version has been taking a hit by the critics in a system comparison for it's somewhat lengthy load times. And some fear this may prove true with the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 4 as well. But that remains to be seen.

Then there are the games. This year will finally see Metal Gear Solid 4 hit on the PS3. There are some predictions of that game selling close to 1 million copies in the first 24 hours if not the first week of release. Beyond that game, we will see Haze from Ubisoft, Killzone 2, Resistence 2, The Agency, Little Big Planet, HOME, Final Fantasy XIII, Socom, Gran Turismo 5, Infamous, and possibly the next Tekken and God of War games. Compare that to the list of first party games coming for the 360 this year, and not only is it a bigger list as far as number of games, but in variety of genre as well.

So this may be the year that the X-Box 360 starts to loose some momentum. If nothing else, they will see much stiffer competition from Sony. And with so many questionable moves being made on Microsofts part in the past few months (the loss of Bungie as an in house developer, the loss of Bizzare Creations to Activision, Rare not being able to live up to their legacy as far as sales go, canning Marvel Online, the continuing hardware issues such as the red rings and overheating, X-Box Live getting buggy during the holidays, their continuing struggle to build a strong first party line up to match Nintendo and Sony's, not making the hard drive available in all versions of the hardware, and support for HD DVD failing rapidly, the poor pricing structure for their X-Box Originals program, and possible delays for major first party titles looming in 2008...), you can see where they have some serious challenges to overcome.

And if anyone wants to see them succeed, it is me. Call me biased if you want, but I just like the idea of an American made, American run console doing well. I love Japanese games and was practically raised on Nintendo and still have Nintendo fever... but I have really loved what the X-Box brand has brought to the table since the X-Box launched so many years ago. Even my taste in games have changed since the X-Box came out. I never loved First Person Shooters much (besides the occassional Goldeneye or Perfect Dark), but now it is one of my favorite genres. Japanese ****RPG's used to be may favorite type of game. But once games like Elderscrolls Morrowind and Oblivion, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Fable came out, I now have a hard time getting into those more traditional ****rpgs. The Western RPG has become my favorite genre. I was never imagined myself enjoying playing with people over the internets more than having a few buddies on my couch... but with X-Box Live, I'm spoiled with the concept of having the whole screen to myself, not to mention the idea of things like downloadable content, gamerscore, gamertags and gamerpics... So as you can see, I want X-Box to succeed. But as a realist, I see the need for some changes to ensure this happens.

If I could pick a handful of things for Microsoft to do, here is my short list.

1. Do everything in your power to secure a stronger first and second party lineup.

Halo is great. But you cannot live on Halo alone. And now that there is serious competition like Call of Duty, Bioshock, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Unreal, Gears of War, Haze, Resistense, Socom, Quake Wars, Farcry, Crysis, Battlefield and the upcoming Tiberion (just to name a few)... the FPS genre is more crowded than ever, and with a level of quality never before seen. Not to say every shooter out there is of the same quality as Halo. Turok, Blacksight Area 51, Call of Juarez and a few others may have not been AAA quality, but the ammount of quality FPS versus lackluster has really jumped in this generation. And with Call of Duty 4 and Bioshock beating out Halo 3 in several Game of the Year/Shooter of the Year contests, not to mention CoD4 besting Halo 3 in XBL activity at least once... the mighty Halo doth not stand alone anymore. And though Halo Wars has great potential, console strategy games are still in their growing stage as far as quality goes... and though the developer is very experienced in the genre, they haven't proven themselves much on consoles. And as this being the first true Halo spin off into a different genre, it is still yet to be seen if the franchise has legs outside of the FPS market.

Then you have Fable. It is probably my favorite Microsoft first party game. And I couldn't be more excited for its sequel. But concidering the first game did meet with some critisism and had a mixed reception (I know as many people who loved it as I do people who were not impressed with it), coupled with the length of time it takes to get a new installment of the game out (the track record so far seems to be one game per hardware cycle, though they could possibly change that with the X-Box 360, but that seems unlikely), and Fable becomes a strong game to have in your exclusives bank, but not as strong as say, Final Fantasy has been for Sony.

Forza and Project Gotham games are fantastic. I love them. But they have yet to meet the sales of the monster known as Gran Turismo.

Perfect Dark has all the potential in the world, but though the Perfect Dark Zero had good sales numbers, most agree it did not live up to the legacy of it's Nintendo 64 original.

Kameo was a fun game, but it wasn't a blockbuster critically or in sales numbers.

Viva Pinata is another one of my personal favorite first party games... but if failed to take off sales wise, despite most critics liking the game, dashing most hopes for a true sequel (no, Viva Pinata Party Animals doesnt count).

Alan Wake looks promising, but mostly in the graphics department, since little else is known about the game outside of some screenshots. Thus fueling speculation that the game may not release until 2009.

Too Human, though I am very excited about it, as I stated before, is an unproven franchise with a shakey history with the press. But in my opinion, if developer SiliconKnights can pull off their vision, it could be just what the 360 needs, a strong exclusive that isn't a FPS.

Mass Effect is another one of my favorite exclusives for the 360, and it proved to be a big seller and critical darling as well. But with EA now owning the developer, the continued exlussivity of the series is in question. Most signs point that it will stay on the 360, but it ultimatley comes down to EA's call. If the PS3 were to really take off this year, there isn't much to keep EA from making it go multiplatform. If Microsoft could have bought up anyone to help build up their in house games, BioWare Pandamic would have been my first choice... but they let it slide to EA. Too bad.

There are others I could get into of course, but as you can see, of the series I listed, some are strong first party franchises, others either need work or my disappear altogether.

Microsoft has some strong titles that have yet to see any real commitment to this new generation, but if I were them, I'd get moving on them. Crimson Skies. Conker. MechAssault. Black and White. Age of Empires/Mythology. Shadowrun. RallySport Challenge. Amped. Any of these titles could go a long way, given the proper support and the quality being there, to bolstering Microsofts first party game lineup in this current generation. Even titles that haven't done great in the past, like Shadowrun, if given to a developer who could breathe fresh life into them, they could really turn things around. Make Shadowrun an action RPG of some sorts, which is what the fans wanted in the first place. That would be a start.

All that said, the next best thing Microsoft could do to bolster it's lineup is purchase a majority stake in another big development studio or two or three. Microsoft has the money. They have made a massive investment in the X-Box brand. Even if it were costly to buy into more dev studios to guarentee exlussivity, it may be neccessary to keep the brand viable in the long run.

My suggestions of who to concider purchasing?

Well, Bioware Pandemic were my first choice, but they have already been purchased by EA. My next suggetions would be Bethesda, thereby making the ElderScrolls series, as well as Fallout and any other number of games the studio has under its wings exclusive to X-Box (and PC). This would go a long way in keeping quality Western RPG's safe on the X-Box 360.

My next suggestion would be UbiSoft. Now granted, I know that the presidents of Ubisoft have stated over and again that they want to remain independent... but the fact is that reality may not be possible. EA already owns a large stake in the company, and have made several attempts to buy out the majority stake... even one of the heads of Ubisoft stated recently that they may eventually have to give in to such a buyout. So if it is going to happen, it would be in Microsoft's best interest, despite the cost, to make a move on them. Think about it, few other game developers/publishers (besides EA, Activision, Konami, Capcom and Square Enix) have such a long list of successful franchises. If Microsoft could buy up Ubisoft, in one big swoop they would own all of the Tom Clancy games such as Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and Endwar. They would also own Farcry, Crysis, Rayman, Raving Rabbids, Prince of Persia, Assassins Creed, Might and Magic, Brothers In Arms, Lost, Blazing Angels, Naruto, Silent Hunter, America's Army, Haze, the Petz series, CSI, Enchanted Arms, Myst, ChessMaster, Beyond Good and Evil, XIII, Drakenguard, And 1 Basketball, Heroes of the Pacific, Red Steel, Monster 4X4, Cranium, not to mention all the license franchises UBisoft has like Rocky, Dukes of Hazzard and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes... lol. That is a lot of franchises to bring into the X-Box fold, and a good portion of those are super strong titles that would go a long way to making the X-Box brand more attractive.

My last pick I will make, not that there are not other great developers, but this is turning into a book, will be Eat Sleep Play. That is right. David Jaffe's new independent dev company. Sure there are bigger companies I could have named like Capcom or Square Enix. But I have tried to make these suggestions realistic. I tried to pick companies I think Microsoft actually could buy. The two I picked before this one were chosen as much for the games and licenses that they would bring to the X-Box as much as the talent. But with Eat Sleep Play, it is more about the talent, as Sony owns most or all of his created franchises (such as God of War, Twisted Metal, Warhawk and Calling All Cars). What I think Jaffe would bring to the X-Box is a vision for games outside of the FPS space, which Microsoft is known for. Jaffe has created blockbusters in the past. Nearly every game associated with his name is a hit, both critically and in sales numbers. Yet they are games in genres such as action adventure, car combat or small downloadable titles. Microsoft really needs some first party games that fall into other genres than FPS and racing. I think someone like Jaffe, who has a strong creative vision as far as both gameplay and story telling are concerned, would be a great addition to the X-Box first party team.

2. Fix the hardware problems fast. Along the same line, phase out any hardware sku that doesn't include the hard drive. You can't go back and make all the people who purchased the X-Box 360 Core or Arcade buddles buy a hard drive, but you can make sure going forward everyone who buys a 360 does have one. And get rid of the small hard drive all together. Make the 20 gig the standard, if not a bigger one at that. And to entice those without a hard drive to buy one, lower the price to a reasonable ammount. Everyone agrees that $170 for a 20 gig hard drive is gouging the customer. That is rediculous. And get clan support and user generated content that was promised long ago, and the Sony is about to deliver on going before you get left behind in that area.

3. Lower the price of the X-Box Originals. It is a good idea, but the fact you can buy most of these games used for anywhere from $3 to $10, selling them for $15 with no improvements, in fact, at times with glitches, is just gouging again. A fair price would be $10. And make sure their online features like multiplayer or whatever still works. Throw in a few games that haven't been made backwards compatible yet for extra incentive, such as Metal Gear Solid 2.

4. Go after more original, quality software for X-Box Live Arcade. How about getting Rare to release an X-Box Live enabled collection of Conker's Bad Fur Day old Nintendo 64 multiplayer games. It was great to get a remake of Conker's Bad Fur day for the X-Box, but I was saddened that the multiplayer games from the Nintendo 64 didn't make the cut. So how about bringing them back with some polished graphics as an X-Box Live Arcade collection, and maybe toss in a few new games to sweeten the deal. How about bringing Perfect Dark and Goldeneye (the originals) to X-Box Live Arcade, as has been rumored for ever. How about commisioning Konami to design a brand new 2D Castlevania adventure (like the ones being made yearly for the DS) exlusively for X-Box LIve Arcade! Just a few things like that would go a long way to keep Sony's Playstation Store and Nintendos upcoming Wii Ware from overtaking XBLA.

5. You tout customization as a big deal. Well how about this. How about making sure those of us who pay for X-Box Live Gold and pay to buy themes for our dashboard can actually see the pictures by removing some of the clutter and giant ads from our screen. Keep ads in thin banner form in the lower area of the screen, and either get rid of the big square box on the left or make it clear with text, so we can at least see our picture. We did pay for those themes after all. Or even better, make a seperate blade for news, updates, advertisements and annoucements, so our themed blades are clutter free.


Those are just a few suggestions that I think could help Microsoft and the X-Box brand going foward, with my #1 suggestion being the most important.

Thanks for reading.

Tis the season to kill terrorist. Fa la la la la la la la la

King Bowser will meet Mario's fist. Fa la la la la la la la la la

Don we now our Raving Rabbids. Fa la la la la la la la la

Explore space in Mass Effect. Fa la la la la la la la la

Ok, enough of my bad attempt at poetry. I'm very medicated today.

But I did want to right a bit about one thing extra great about this holiday season. Of course there are loads of things to love about the holidays. Family. Friends. Food. Gifts. Giving and recieving. Cool weather. Snow. Well, we can dream of snow, it doesn't really snow in East Tennessee anymore. I think we used up our snow quota during that blizzard years back. But anyhow, to my point.

This may be the best holiday season gaming line up to date. Let me give you a list of the games that are on my radar. Granted,I can't afford to buy them all, and not every one of them will live up to their potential and be great. But they are the games that are appealing to me, and their numbers are great.

I will start with the must haves for me:

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare for the X-Box 360 (and PS3/PC/DS)

This one has already garnered 3 scores of a perfect 10, and the reviews have said it rivals Halo 3 in both single player and multiplayer. I beta tested the multiplayer and I have to say I'm more excited for this game than I was for Halo 3.

Mass Effect for the X-Box 360

Game Informer magazine scored Mass Effect a 9.75 I believe, and made statements like "easily one of the best games to come out this year and possibly one of the greatest games of all time". They also said that "not since Star Wars has a sci fi universe been so fleshed out and so full of potential... they could fill countless books, comics, movies and games in the universe of Mass Effect... it is a major breakthru in storytelling... never have I taken so much time to ponder my choices in a game... what you choose to do really does impact the world around you and change the shape of the story/game..." That, plus this game comes from the developers of two of my favorite games of all time, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. So I am so there.

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for the Nintendo Wii/DS

The last Raving Rabbids game introduced us to the adorable but slightly homicidal Rabbids. I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard in a video game. And the mini game assortment was a blast, some of the best on the Wii. With the sequel they look to improve upon the formula by making most of the mini games playable by up to four people at once, with less taking turns. Plus, you can customize your Rabbid with various costumes that reflect pop culture. There are costumes of Spider-Man, Captain Jack Sparrow and a football player, just to name a few. Raving Rabbids looks to be a good time for all.

Super Mario Galaxy for Nintendo Wii

It is hard to believe it has been since 2002 since we have seen a full fleged console adventure for my man Mario. Sure there was the very well done New Super Mario Bro for DS not long back, but it fit in the more traditional side scrolling design. Mario hasn't tried to rescue Princess Peach in 3D since about six years ago. And this time, he is going all out as he travels to outer space in search of his beloved. Using the Wii's motion controls in a 3D Mario adventure is also a first. And while some companies have struggled to make Wii games with dead on control, Nintendo has proven themselves more than able with Metroid Prime 3 and The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. And with Mario being their main man, I expect no less than amazing gameplay with spot on control. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games for Nintendo Wii/DS

When I was a kid, you had to take a side if you were a gamer. Few could afford to own more than one console back then, well, that and there never felt as much a need to have more than one at that time. So for the most part you were either in Mario's camp with Nintendo, or Sonic the Hedgehog's camp with Sega. (for the record, I had both systems, but I was the only one I knew who did). It was so bad, that me and a friend used to prank call the Sega Game Tips Hotline and ask them questions about how to do this or that in Super Mario Bro, and they would argue that it wasn't a Sega game, and we would keep on naggin. I know, very childish, but that was cool. I was a child. Anyway, Sega got out of the console game and became a straight up publisher/developer. So I thought I was in the twilight zone the first time I saw a Sonic the Hedgehog game on a Nintendo system. But that is nothing compared to this. Sonic and Mario and their best pals squaring off in the Olympic games. (Next year, Sonic will also appear in Nintendo's Super Smash Bro Brawl) With around 20 different sports to choose from, and the lack of a sequel to Wii Sports, this may be the new hottness in party games on the Wii.

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword on the Nintendo DS

I love Ninja Gaiden. Have since I was a wee lad. lol. And now he is coming to the DS in a full blown, 3D action game that lets you control all the action with the stylus/touch screen. And from what I've seen so far, it is impressive. If it turns out, it could be one of, if not the best action game on the DS to date. I had my doubts about using only the stylus to control everything, but after playing the recent Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass, I'm sold.

Assassin's Creed for the X-Box 360/PS3

This game is amazing looking.And it was near the top of my radar months ago, but recent play tests by the crew at Electronic Gaming Monthly has me worried. They said the controls take a lot of getting used to. So this may turn out to be a rent before I buy, but I am hoping it turns out as good as it looks. It is from the team who brought us the recent Prince of Persia games of the last generation (of gaming hardware), so I know they have it in them to make a great game.

Ok, those are the games that are top on my list and are likely must haves.

But there are others that are worth at least looking into. I won't go into detail, but if you are interested, look them up or get with me and I'll fill you in.

Other Potentially Hot Games of Holiday 07:

Soul Calibur Legends for Nintendo Wii

Mario Party DS for Nintendo DS

Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings for Nintendo DS

Harvey Birdman for Nintendo Wii/DS/PS2

Blacksite Area 51 for X-Box 360/PS3

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 for X-Box 360/PS3/Wii/DS

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for Nintendo Wii

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker for the Nintendo DS

Scene-It Lights Camera Action for the X-Box 360

Contra 4 for the Nintendo DS

Geometry Wars Evolved for Nintendo Wii/DS

Godzilla Unleashed for Nintendo Wii/DS

Medal of Honor 2 Heroes for Nintendo Wii

Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles for Nintendo Wii

Rock Band for X-Box 360/PS3

(note: I didn't rate any PS3/PSP games cause I don't have either at the moment...)

So that is most of it. An amazing list of games, and 2008 just keeps looking better with games coming out next year such as Mercenaries 2, Too Human, Alan Wake, Super Smash Bro Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Stadium Wii, Metal Gear Solid 4, the new Unreal game, Resident Evil 5, Left 4 Dead, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicals, Fable 2 and many more...

If I left off a game for this year that you are excited about, let me know!