I just called the hotline twice just to get confirmation and it seems the 360 will be shipped for the next three Saturdays starting today! Be on the look out for your systems
So now that F.E.A.R is out which game has the more scare and fright factor between System Shock 2 and F.E.A.R?
Honestly, after playing a few hours of FEAR I can atm say that SS2 is still the King at least for me. I remember having to stop playing SS2 cause of the fright factor, but I haven't had many of those moments with FEAR. I've had some," Oh, SHIT!" moments, but overall I'm not scared when I play.
Replaying Morrowind partly cause I never finished the first time and because I really want to finish the main campaign before Obilivon releases.
So I am looking for a good house mod. I know there was one that put a house in Balmora. I don't either x-pac so I need on that is compatible with the original game. Also, if you can recommend some good armor mods and weapons mods I would appriciate as well
I also post at the Elder Scrolls forums, and those guys had a thousand questions for me, so I’d like to report that I got through about 1% of everything they requested, but this preview will probably be more thorough than the others. Let me start by saying this is the first game I tried to play after the initiation with the console. However, they only had two stations set up with this game, and I was too slow. But I eventually came back to it, and I got to spend about two hours with this game. I’m an Elder Scrolls virgin. This is my first ES game, but luckily there was a dev there (like a retard, I’ve forgotten his name), but he was really helpful and guided me along and answered many of my questions. Be warned, you’re about to read a few things that might upset you, but know that this is going to be THE best RPG to own for the 360. You can tell it’s shaping up nicely.
I asked the dev what version of the game this was. According to him, this was the same build from X05. In this version, the self-shadowing and such was turned off. However, he assured me that it was currently being worked on. Also, he’s 99% sure that Oblivion would be a Day One launch title, but of course, there’s still that 1%, and you never know. Graphically, as most of you have seen, the game looks very nice.
*Deep breath* Okay, here it comes. There are no spears in this game. There. Happy now? Does that mean you won’t buy it now? If that’s the case, you’re retarded. Here’s why. Firstly, you should have gotten your pals to use and like spears more to begin with. The dev said that from internal polls, they discovered that spears were one of the least utilized and liked weapons. Secondly, and more importantly, this game was a blast to play, and from the short time I was with it, I could tell that it’s going to be a deep, fulfilling experience. So if the lack of spears is going to prevent you from getting this, you probably weren’t seriously going to buy it anyway.
It all starts with the character creation. As most of you know, there are ten playable races (you can choose both male or female of any one). And before you ask, there’s no nudity. Both genders have little brown loin cloths, and the females have cloth covering the breasts as well. I didn’t play Morrowind, but I heard people thought the bodies were ugly. The Oblivion bodies looked fine to me. The characters weren’t perhaps the most detailed ever, but that’s understandable considering there’s so much going on in the game. It’s not like a sports game where there are only a couple characters, so they can be extremely detailed. Honestly, out of my approximate two hours with this game, at least an hour of it was just playing around with the character creation.
I already dropped the no-spears bomb on you, so before I get to all the good things, here’s another thing some might see as a negative. There are no modeled beards or facial hair in the game. Before you riot, yes, there is facial hair, but it comes in the form of facial hair shaders. In other words, your beard will appear as a darker spot on your face, that gives the appearance of hair. I was talking with my brother afterwards (he works for another game company), because I didn’t ask the dev specifically, and he imagines that fully modeling the beards most likely caused problems with their lip synching and mouth animations, so they probably chose to have the game serve a practical purpose instead of a cosmetic one. In my tests with this, the effect was sufficient on some of the fairer skinned folk, like an imperial. It created a light beard or 5 o’ clock shadow look. However, on the races where the skin was already colored or dark, like the orcs, the effect was less noticeable.
Enough negatives. One cool thing was the age slider. While the age slider doesn’t affect the gameplay mechanic (as in an older player won’t be able to swing a weapon as effectively as a younger one), it is a cool cosmetic effect. The two extremes are as follows: you can create someone that looks about as old as the Emperor, or as young as someone that I’d say was about 17-18 years old. It was hard to judge. Also, I played with age with the Argonian (snake-like, lizard man). At the oldest setting, the Argonian was almost completely red. However, as he got younger, there were more green highlights in the face. Contrary to popular rumor, age is the only factor that plays into Argonian color. In other words, your mood won’t change your skin color. Complexion can be adjusted just as much. With the imperial, I was able to adjust the skin color to where he was ghostly white. The other extreme left him indistinguishable from a Redguard. So if you liked the look of the Redguard, but liked the race perks of the Imperial, it’s cool to know it’s possible to come up with a happy medium.
While most of the character creation is sliders, you have to be careful. There are so many sliders (I’m not sure, but I’d guess at least 100, perhaps more) that messing up one can lead to drastic effects on the face that are really hard to fix without starting over, so be careful. Also, one part that isn’t controlled by sliders is the hair. There are about 10 or so set hairstyles to choose from (honestly, I didn’t check all the female hairstyles, but I’m sure they had their own set to choose from as well). Perhaps there are more as the game goes along, but I doubt this, although I can’t deny it. However, since you can’t change any other parts of your appearance throughout the game, I think that stands a good chance of being true. In the end, if you suck at all this slider stuff, once you choose one of the ten races, you can select “random” over and over, and within that race, it will keep changing it up until you see something you like. Quickly, while mentioning adjusting sliders, I’ll say that it seemed you could adjust the length of the Argonian snout by about 3-4 inches. The dev told me that they had to keep it at a certain length so the lip synch would still work. While playing with it I gave my Argonian a pretty prominent overbite, and it looked like someone whacked him in the nose with a shovel. Like I said, you really have to be patient with this game.
And that’s one reason why my preview of this game isn’t better. This is a game that takes your total concentration, and full attention. However, this is challenged when there’s music blaring, there’s people all around, and you can’t really pick up clues involved with sounds or vocal hints. The gameplay was good. It wasn’t boring. I was trying to check out a lot of the technical details. The Havok physics stuff seems like it plays a pretty big role in the game. I moved the chains and bones around, and shot the bucket with arrows, and like I’m sure everyone’s seen, when you remove the arrows, the bucket reacts to the change in physics. There’s also some cool physics related boobie traps and such. The dev said that while not every dungeon has a trap, the majority do. I was creeping around one dungeon, and I had the opportunity ( I missed it) to shoot a trip wire with an arrow, thereby setting off the trap, and killing the goblin so I didn’t have to deal with him.
Also, shooting arrows is heavily affected by gravity (physics). I remember shooting at a goblin, and my shot pretty much missed the mark. A better marksmen may have gotten a hit. However, all you marksmen (like me) can rejoice. The dev told me that in the build that they are working on, testing revealed that shooting arrows needed to be improved and balanced a little more, so they are currently making the marksmen skill a little more powerful and useful.
I played with the stealth mechanic a bit. Technically, there are no “instant stealth kills” in the game, a la Splinter Cell. However, (and I hope I explain this right), by using the stealth, you may raise your skill level high enough to where striking while in stealth would give you a bonus, so perhaps eventually you could get something like a stealth kill, if that makes sense. In stealth mode, and eye appears on the cross hairs. If it’s full, the enemy can see you. And moving slower helps you to be more stealthy. Also, lighter armor is better than heavier armor (or boots, specifically) for stealth. In one instance, I snuck up on a goblin, and was able to stand behind him and watch his idle animations for about 2-3 minutes (I was talking to the dev in this time) before he then suddenly turned and attacked me. And please put away your torch if you’re trying to be stealthy.
Ah, that reminds me. The game has pleasantly be streamlined a bit, and it more user friendly. So instead of having to go back and forth from equip/unequip screens constantly (although there is quite a bit of that. It is an RPG, after all), if you had your torch equipped, and you equipped you sword as your weapon, as long as you didn’t equip your shield, even when you armed your weapon, he would hold out the torch. Equipping the shield would, of course, remove the torch. Pressing and holding Y at the equip screen allows you to map things to directions on the D-pad, and that certainly comes in handy. And please, remember, if you equip your bow, it’s not much good if you forget to equip your arrows.
Birth signs are here again, and they offer specific bonuses, and for the life of me, I can’t really remember them. I think one was like, 60% more athletic for a certain time, or the ability to get better deals from people on a certain day or something. I remember thinking that they were a little more specific than I expected. I was thinking they’d be a little more general. However, it may have been like this on the last game as well.
Random thoughts: - Punching the Emperor seemed to upset the guards. However, I couldn’t really tell the extent of their anger, because a scripted fight broke out in which one was killed (and you get your first weapons). - The rats that were bounding up the slope in the video were doing it for a reason. They weren’t just running around like crazy like that for nothing. And it wasn’t “dumb AI,” as some have claimed. There was a zombie around the corner that just ate one of their friends, and they were fleeing. They didn’t even stop to attack me, and I just stood there to see if they would. Although upon playing through again, I was attacking the zombie, and one of the rats was confused who to attack; the zombie or I. - The word tree (or whatever you call that thing you choose your dialog from) had more than just one phrase every time, like in the video. However, it had only one or two choices a few times.
Combat: Seems fun to me. I guess it’s a personal preference, but I thought it was more than just a hack and slash or button mashing affair. In fact, I often waited for the enemy to attack so I could block the attack first (there’s a slight recoil there, so if gives you a little time to attack). I actually like blocking with the weapon instead of the shield, because the shield sort of blocked my view a bit. However, the shield blocking was more effective. Those damn giant rats were annoying though, because it was hard to gauge their attacks. Pushing a direction + the attack seems to do a different attack move, at least with the power attack move.
Now, as you can see I wrote a lot, but I honestly never got out of the first dungeon. I died the first time, and maybe even the second. I finally got the hang of it, and got towards the end, and was fighting an orc mage or something, and a stupid rat/goblin combo got me from the back. Then, I made it to the same point again, and I was better prepared, and the damn game froze (don’t be alarmed, this happened a few times on every game present except for Call of Duty 2. Remember, these games still have some bugs). However, I didn’t really get to see any of the Speedtree in action (what I was really looking forward to). However, I asked the dev for something specific about the Radiant AI that I could bring back for you all. Here’s the story.
It was written in the code that every day at 3 pm, Man 1 would rake leaves and Man 2 would sweep. This all seemed fine and dandy until the devs gave Man 1 the broom and Man 2 the rake. Man 1 ended up killing Man 2 so he could get his rake so he could do what he wanted. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.
If it seems like I avoided talking about magic, that’s partly right. I suck at using it, so I don’t really remember much about it. I wasn’t very good, so I did the things that I was more accustomed to doing. However, in the first dungeon, I did have a fire ball spell that I used on the orc mage (to little effect). And I have a healing spell too, that came in handy a bit. Like the weapons, spells can be mapped to the D-pad for easy access. And a side note for those that are so sure there won’t be a levitation/telekinesis spell in the game. Well, if it’s not in the game, the dev sure was singing its praises when it came to the Havok engine.
Anything I didn’t like? The frame rate still seemed to be an issue, but I’m confident that they’ll have that taken care of. Besides, I doubt Microsoft would allow them to release it otherwise. Also, there were a couple of transition animations that seemed missing, and the characters stuttered a bit, but that’s a minor thing.
I’m sure there are lots of other things people want to know, and there are things that I’m leaving off, so if I didn’t answer your question, feel free to ask. Just know that this is one of my “must have” Xbox 360 titles. It seems like it has the re-playability (all the different races/ joinable factions/ side quests) seem to make this a long game that you can enjoy for a long time. And for all those crying that this is no longer an RPG, rest assured, it’s very much a role-playing game that is heavily stat based. It just has an awesome action component now as well.
This was a post made on the XBox360 forums by someone who had sometime with the 360. He has 2 massives post on the boards.
If the link doesn't take you directly there you might need to use your MS passport ID to view the forums
Project Gotham Racing 3 Kameo Madden NFL 06 NBA Live 06 NBA2k6 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 Need for Speed Most Wanted and FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup Full Auto
Coming Christmas 2005
Amped Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Perfect Dark Zero Call of Duty Dead or Alive 4 Quake 4 Gun King Kong Test Drive Unlimited
I really wanted to like B&W 1 but the micro management killed it for me. Once while I was off doing something I come back and my city is deserted. iIt seemed that everyone died off from starvation, cause I wasn't there to constantly feed them. Is this sort of micro management still present in b&w2?
Xbox 360 Launch Lineup Announced Developers commit to the success of the next-generation console.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Oct. 4, 2005 — Today at X05, the Xbox® brand experience for the games and entertainment industry, Microsoft Corp. unveiled an incredible lineup of games for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system as it gears up for launch Nov. 22 in North America, Dec. 2 in Europe and Dec. 10 in Japan. A series of special guests, including Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer for Epic Games Inc., Todd Hollenshead, co-owner and CEO of id Software Inc., and Gerhard Florin, executive vice president and general manager of International Publishing for Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), joined Xbox executives Robbie Bach, J Allard, Peter Moore and Chris Lewis on stage to talk about their new titles for Xbox 360.
Titles that will form part of the impressive Christmas holiday portfolio include these:
Kameo™ (MGS-Rare Ltd.). Renowned game developer Rare introduces Kameo: Elements of Power™, a mystical action-adventure game available exclusively on Xbox 360, in which the ability to morph into unique and incredible warriors allows Kameo to search out and battle ever-present evil. Boasting impeccable next-generation graphics and innovative gameplay, “Kameo” shines as a giant leap in game development. Continuing its legacy of creating dynamic puzzles, immersive combat and enormous environments, Rare fuses multiple genres to create a strikingly fun gaming experience destined for widespread appeal. Perfect Dark Zero™ (MGS-Rare). Joanna Dark returns in the Xbox 360-exclusive Perfect Dark Zero, the prequel to the international award-winning and multimillion-selling first-person shooter Perfect Dark® from famed game developer Rare. A secret war has begun between shadowy corporations bent on world domination. Joanna Dark and her father, Jack, are caught up in the fight for the planet’s future. A routine bounty-hunting mission rips open a global conspiracy that will change Joanna’s destiny — forever. Project Gotham Racing® 3 (MGS-Bizarre Creations Ltd.). The popular PGR® franchise zooms onto the Xbox 360, expanding many of the Project Gotham Racing features that gamers have grown to love. PGR 3 creates the ultimate roster of the hottest supercars in existence, introduces them to the high-definition era, and drops them into a completely new gaming world, where style rules the road. Racers define and create individually customized gameplay, and can race each other — online or offline. The Project Gotham Racing franchise is designed by Bizarre Creations, a long-established independent games developer, based in Liverpool, England. Bizarre is focused on producing high-quality, playable games that make the most of the advanced technology for which they are designed. Bizarre Creations can be found on the Web at http://www.bizarreonline.net or http://www.bizarrecreations.com. Other great games announced or shown at X05 included these:
Crackdown (MGS-Real Time Worlds). Crackdown pushes the action-driving hybrid genre into the next generation with the introduction of the first truly 3-D persistent playground, highly innovative cooperative gameplay, and an extensive prop interaction system all while taking place in a massive and highly stylized urban center. All strategies and tactics are acceptable provided players clean up the streets. Players roam a virtual city built to encourage and allow the full width, depth and height of the space to be explored and exploited. “Crackdown” will offer free-form gameplay, over-the-top action, and, for the first time in this genre, online cooperative play. Gears of War (MGS-Epic Games Inc.). Blending the best of tactical action games with the best of survival horror titles, “Gears of War” is the first game developed by Epic Games exclusively for Microsoft Game Studios and Xbox 360. Gears of War thrusts gamers into a deep and harrowing story of humankind’s epic battle for survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. Too Human (MGS-Silicon Knights). In Too Human, players are treated to a nonstop barrage of action powered by the seamless integration of melee and ranged firearms combat and fueled by breathtaking visuals previously not possible thanks to a powerful combination of Xbox 360 and the Unreal Engine 3. Battles unfold in awesome scale as players engage in spectacular battles with vast numbers of enemies. Mass Effect (MGS-BioWare Corp.). Set 200 years in the future in an epic universe, Mass Effect places gamers in a vast galactic community in danger of being conquered by a legendary agent gone rogue. A spectacular new vision from legendary developers BioWare, Mass Effect challenges players to lead a squad of freedom fighters as they struggle against threatening armies to restore peace in the land. Mass Effect is the first in a trilogy of games with an overarching story, where the real conflict between organic beings and artificial intelligence comes to life in startling clarity. FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup (Electronic Arts). EA celebrates its new exclusive FIFA World Cup interactive entertainment partnership with the release of“FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup, a game that immerses players into the emotional intensity of the next-generation football. Utilizing the power of the Xbox 360, fans will be able to revel in the world’s most sophisticated representation of football ever. Experience a newly enhanced gameplay engine that delivers extremely responsive controls and greater level of depth. New physics and animations mean that players will now react more realistically to every tackle, shot or pass of the ball. For the first time you’ll see and feel the joy, anguish and pain of 90 minutes of soccer in a videogame. Through the power of high-definition technology you’ll see how the detail of the players is accurately recreated in fine detail. The power of the Xbox 360 truly brings to life 80,000 chanting fans in a stadium and immerses you in the emotional intensity of FIFA World Cup football. Saint’s Row (THQ Inc.). Under threat from rival gangs and corrupt officials, the 3rd Street Saints must conquer the city of Stilwater or face destruction. From the spectacular opening battle to regain control of the local hood, Saint’s Row offers an unparallel level of freedom to explore this living, breathing city. Players are free to engage in the multitude of different activates at their leisure, all while building up respect in a gameplay-rich world. Build enough respect and the 3rd Street Saint’s lieutenants will trust the player with more dangerous missions. Full Auto (SEGA Corp.). Combine fully-automatic, weapon-equipped vehicles with highly detailed and interactive urban environments and you have Full Auto, the most destructive racing action ever experienced in a video game. This racer allows players to choose from a wide selection of unique vehicle designs and arm them with any combination of machine guns, cannons and other deadly weapons. The rules of the road don’t apply in this high-octane, no-holds-barred competition. And once players have honed their skills against computer opponents, they can jump onto Xbox Live® and take on real players in both destruction-heavy lap courses and last-man standing arena matches. Condemned: Criminal Origins (SEGA). Condemned: Criminal Origins allows players to experience a heightened level of psychological tension as they use their instincts, forensic tools, and melee/firearms combat to track serial killers and bring them to justice. Gamers will play as Agent Thomas, a detective in the FBI’s Serial Crimes Unit, whose pursuit of relentless serial killers leads him through gritty, life-like environments filled with sociopaths lurking on the brink of humanity.
Franchise titles that will make their debut on Xbox 360 were also announced, including these:
Superman Returns: The Videogame (Electronic Arts). Superman Returns: The Videogame, developed by Electronic Arts-Tiburon in Orlando, Fla., in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics, features storylines from both the movie that will be released in 2006 and more than 60 years of comic book content. “Superman Returns: The Videogame” combines strong creative vision and compelling new technology to deliver a powerful and emotional gaming experience to consumers. Gamers will experience a real sense of flying while mastering Superman’s unrivaled superhero powers to save Metropolis. Call of Duty 2 (Activision Inc.). The sequel to Infinity Ward’s 2003 Game of the Year, “Call of Duty 2” delivers an unparalleled portrayal of the cinematic intensity and chaos of battle as seen through the eyes of ordinary soldiers fighting together in epic WWII conflicts. The sequel offers more immense, more intense and more realistic battles than ever. Call of Duty 2 features stunningly lifelike graphics, advanced AI technology, dynamic sound effects, the most authentic squad combat and astonishing action in new historic campaigns. Castle Wolfenstein (id Software). id Software’s newest chapter in the legendary “Wolfenstein” series will deliver players deep behind the enemy lines of a war-torn Germany, where Nazi experiments with technology and the supernatural threaten to turn the tide of World War II. Utilizing a revolutionary new graphics technology targeted specifically at next-generation hardware, this new Wolfenstein experience will draw players into a world of unmatched exploration, action and espionage. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda Softworks LLC). Oblivion is the quintessential role-playing game for the next generation and another leap forward in gaming. Step inside the most richly detailed and vibrant game world ever created. “Oblivion” is the latest chapter in the epic and highly successful “Elder Scrolls” saga and utilizes the latest next-generation video game hardware to fully immerse gamers in the experience. With Oblivion’s powerful combination of free-form gameplay and unprecedented graphics, players can unravel the main quest at their own pace or explore the vast world and find their own challenges. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 4 (Ubisoft Entertainment). Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell 4 will thrust players into a new breed of gameplay that promises to innovate and revolutionize the Splinter Cell franchise. Ubisoft is taking the saga of Sam Fisher into entirely new territory, expanding the story and depth of his character. Quake 4 (Activision, id Software and Raven Software Corp.) is the sequel to the award-winning and historic Quake II. In a war for Earth’s survival, against an unrelenting enemy, the only way to defeat them is to become one of them. Built on id Software’s revolutionary Doom 3 technology, Quake 4 also features fast-paced multiplayer competition modeled after the speed, feel and style of Quake III Arena. MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology (URT) 2006 (THQ). MotoGP URT 2006 takes the franchise to the next generation as the only official game of the MotoGP Championship on Xbox 360. Developed by the same team behind the award-winning MotoGP URT 3 and created exclusively for the Xbox 360, MotoGP URT 2006 looks set to create a new definition of high speed for racing fans looking for the fastest thrills on the fastest console. Commenting on the announcements made at X05, Peter Moore, corporate vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Publishing for Xbox at Microsoft, said: “The biggest and the best names in publishing are committed to the success of Xbox 360, and looking at the titles we have announced tonight we are very excited. From exclusive titles to debuting the next installment of some of the world’s best-loved franchises, Xbox 360 will redefine gaming and entertainment. The high-definition era of gaming starts now.”
okay, i messed around at some sites and this is a contest for Europeans
Going to put this in spoiler just in case someone wants to figure it out on there own
Spoiler for Hiden:
its a european only competition.
someone posted this in the LIVE forums::
"Its not that hard to work out, European only, competition, X05 is what, next week, closing date 27/09/05, the competition is to win tickets to the invite only X05 in Amsterdam."
sounds pretty plausable to me.
Actually, Origen is the U.S. (remember, they launch first) and the price is for a ticket to the U.S. launch. And yes, this is only for the Euro countries listed below.
Origen Terms & Conditions
Entrants must be residents of the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal or Greece and aged 18 or over. Winners may be required to provide proof of age and address.
Two prizes will be awarded across entrants from all of the participating countries. The two prizes consist of a one person trip to an event celebrating the launch of Xbox 360 in the United States for three nights in November 2005 (valued at approximately £3,000/€4,500). Exact dates to be confirmed by 1 November 2005.
The two prizes include return economy flights to the city hosting the event, three nights' accommodation, meals and transfers to and from the airport and to the event. The prize does not include insurance or other expenses incurred by the winners
I fooled around with it some this morning. I really think this has something to do with International sales of XBOX 360. Notice on the tree the US flag is not represented. I clicked on the UK flag and it took me to some sort of quiz. Will play around with it more this evening when I am home
Few more impression. The AI in the gamne is pretty brutal at normal which is nice. They seem to react well to your play calling and adjust quite well. Example, I am playing as the Baltimore Ravens had over 100+ yds rushing against the Colts and Jets. Currently, I'm at half time vs the jets and I have a grand total of 38 yds rushing. The Jets have shut my rushing game down and I have to resort to passing. Pretty freaking awesome \.
Anyway, I think I ran into one bug with the kicking portion. Twice I went to punt and the kicking meter never showed. I had to call a timeout and reenter the play again to get the meter to show. Anyone else run inot this?
I still recommend this game. Heh, I was playing this a lucnh and had a crowd around me in the cafeteria. Most was impressed with the game and graphics
WOW! I don't know how I miss this thread, but I recently staeted playing again as a LG Cavalier. I finished the game as a NG Ranger. I will be playing this in spurts.
Last night after being released by Imoen. I set Minsc and Jaheria free. I just cleared the room with Duergar and camped outside room where you get the key for the Djinni room
Congratulations you are the winner of the 09/19 - 12:40 Xbox 360 sweepstakes brought to you by Mountain Dew. You will receive your Xbox 360 before it’s available in-stores and will need to provide a signature when it’s delivered. The Xbox 360 is being released later this year in 2005, once the delivery date is confirmed we will post it in your account history so please check back periodically.
In the meantime, during the next few weeks be on the look out for a Party in the Box package from Mountain Dew and Xbox, which includes Hats, T-Shirts, coupons, invitations and more.
Congratulations and Thank you for participating in the Every 10 minutes sweepstakes
Don’t forget you can still use your codes for Collect to Get Gear.
Note: If you would like to change your address, please call 1-877-xxx-xxx and refer to the number below. Reference #:xxxxxxxxx
Well, when I played I believe it was like 452pts not sure as I was entering codes during some a rare downtime at work. Man, I am pretty freaking happy at the moment. My coworkers keep glancing at me. I guess I should thank them as I recieved at least 3 of my caps from coworkers
4 pts . I am hoping that I don't jump the gun, cause official confirmation isn't in my account and I haven't recieved a email, but the winner board is showing my initials, city and state for the drawing the I entered
Baltimore Ravens fan here. The Ravens will rise or fall depending on the Defense. Kyle Boller hasn't looked spectacular and I honestly don't expect him to last very long as QB.
Btw, does CG have a fantasy football league?
Just wanted to add I hate all things Deadskins, Stoolers, Clowns and Bungles...
A blood war rages between the Quel'dorei Exiles and the Sunstrider Legion as they battle to the death to claim sources of ancient magic buried beneath the vast Azshara Crater. Destroy all opposing strongholds with mighty siege weapons to declare victory in this epic 40v40 battleground!
--Grubstone Cookoff
Simmer Grubstone sponsors this savory contest held in the town of Everlook in Winterspring. At the start of each week, participants will be given a series of increasingly difficult recipes to cook and brew. The best chefs in Azeroth will receive a lifetime supply of malt, an official Grubstone mug, and more fabulous prizes!
--Goblin Gizmo Gauntlet
Assemble robots to do battle via remote control against other players for engineering glory in this explosive event in Gadgetzan. Sign up for daily tournaments to win new parts to upgrade your invention! No engineering experience necessary.
--General
New Auction Houses in Stormwind, Darnassus, Thunderbluff, Undercity, Booty Bay, and Everlook are open and ready for business! Ask the guards in each city for directions. Auction Houses are now shared within a faction - Alliance, Horde, or the Steamwheedle Cartel. Extra heavy security in the form of Goblin Bouncers has been added to Auction Houses in goblin towns to put a stop to any"¦ bidding wars. A debuff prioritization system has been put into effect. Certain debuffs will now have priority (e.g. they cannot be overridden) over weaker or triggered debuffs when the number of debuffs on a mob reaches the maximum limit of 16. Quickness (Night Elf Racial) - Now increases agility by 5%. Escape Artist (Gnome Racial) - Casting time reduced to 0.5 seconds. Now has a 2 minute cooldown. System performance when enabling the full screen glow effect improved. Buff/debuff tooltips will now be correctly updated from talents. Tauren can now ride wolves if they learn the wolfriding ability. Attempting to cast a spell on a friendly target below the minimum level of the spell will now automatically cast the highest eligible rank. You can no longer communicate with the other faction through mind control. The effects of +healing and +spell damage items will now be shown in the tooltips of spells they affect. Class buffs such as Arcane Intellect and Mark of the Wild are no longer dispellable. Hearthstones can no longer be used while invulnerable. Critters can no long resist spells. Pets that enter combat will no longer flag their master for combat. Talents that provide mana regeneration while casting will no longer fail to function after being logged in for a period of time. Shapeshifting will no longer cancel a daze effect. Spells that are cast on a target but have no effect due to the target's death will no longer be reported in the combat log. Warlock/Hunter pets can no longer break out of fear. Fixed a bug that caused players to sometimes slide when walking. Buffs that provide a bonus to resistance now stack with other resistance buffs. Enemy spells cast before you die will no longer hit you when you are a ghost. Players will no longer be randomly flagged for combat when not participating in combat. Fixed a bug where creatures were sometimes able to parry attacks from behind. It is no longer possible to break disarm by immediately switching your weapon.
--Macintosh
Fixed lag resulting from certain UI mods.
--PvP
Honor System You will now receive some honor for restoring health to allies during PvP combat. Dishonorable Kills will now apply only to the players responsible, rather than to their entire party or raid. There is now an option that shows estimated honor points over enemy corpses after an Honorable Kill.
Battlegrounds You can now exit a battleground from an option on the scoreboard at all times. Siege weapon combat has been introduced to the Alterac Valley battleground. Civilians can no longer fight. NPCs in battlegrounds can no longer be mind controlled. Feign Death will no longer make the flag graphic disappear for other players in Warsong Gulch. Fixed several terrain exploits in Warsong Gulch. You can no longer interact with tower banners and flags through walls in Alterac Valley. Commander buffs are no longer removed when shapeshifting. Fixed an exploit where Mind control and Fear could be used to send opposing players out of a battleground instance. Fixed a bug that caused players who died in Frostmane hold in Alterac Valley to be ported to their faction's entrance. You can now enter the queues of multiple battlegrounds simultaneously. Once you become eligible and choose to enter a battleground, you will automatically leave the other battleground queues. You can now see the number of players from the other faction in a battleground queue. All players can now chat in the WorldDefense channel. All debuffs resulting from a duel are now removed immediately after the duel ends. Fixed an exploit that allowed players to reach Thrall in Orgrimmar without guard interference.
--Druids
Due to significant talent changes, Druids will have all talent points refunded and can be respent. Your base damage in Bear and Cat Form is now determined by the DPS value of your equipped weapon (Note: your attack speed remains static at 1.0 in Cat Form and 2.5 in Bear Form). This change has been deemed necessary to provide Druids with a larger number of viable weapon choices at all levels, and a more straightforward method of improving feral damage beyond the maximum level cap. We believe that the increased damage of Druids in Cat Form (from wielding high DPS weapons) is acceptable, given the form's damage dealing role. In our testing, however, we felt that Bear Form was dealing too much damage with certain weapons when taking into account its high damage mitigation and survivability. After considering a variety of solutions, we have decided to implement a flat 10% reduction to Bear Form's base damage - which keeps the form in line with overall game balance, while resulting in greater damage potential. You can no longer switch weapons during combat in shapeshift form. Cat Form - Ability no longer purchased from a trainer. There is now a quest to obtain Cat Form. Travel Form - New icon. Graphic also been replaced to look fiercer and have markings similar to other Druid forms. Druids have learned to dance while shapeshifted. There is now an animation for skinning and herb gathering in Bear and Cat Form. Female Druids in Bear Form no longer sound like males. Demoralizing Roar - Tooltip updated to display area of effect (in yards). Entangling Roots - Now interrupts spellcasting. Feral Charge - This ability will now port you even if the target is immune to the effect. Ferocious Bite - Fixed a bug where combo points were lost on miss/dodge/parry/block. Maul/Swipe - Tooltips updated to indicate the additional threat caused by these abilities. There have been no changes made to the amount of threat caused. Moonfire - Now causes Nature damage instead of Arcane damage; initial damage decreased and damage over time increased. Starfire - Now causes Nature damage instead of Arcane damage. Nature's Grasp - Special attacks (e.g. Heroic Strike, Eviscerate, etc"¦) will now allow the spell to root the target. Improved Moonfire - Design changed. Now increases the damage over time of your Moonfire spell by 20/40/60/80/100%. Swiftshifting - Design changed. When leaving a shapeshift form, your next spell has its casting time reduced by 0.5/1/1.5 sec. Omen of Clarity - Can now proc in shapeshift form. Is now a prerequisite for the Inner Balance talent. New Talent (Balance): Improved Faerie Fire - Tier 3 talent; Faerie Fire has a 50/100% chance to reduce your target's Nature resistance for the duration. Improved Thorns - Design changed. Now increases the damage done by your Thorns spell by 50/100/150%. Moonfury - Removed and replaced by the new talent Nature's Fury. New Talent (Balance): Nature's Fury - Increases your spell damage and critical strike chance by 1/2/3%. Nature's Grace - Design changed. Nature's Grace is now a passive ability that causes all nearby party members to be healed for 10% of any spell damage the Druid deals. Is now a tier 4 talent. Weapon Balance - Removed and replaced by the new talent Inner Balance. New Talent (Balance): Inner Balance - Increases your maximum mana by 2/4/6/8/10%. Veangence - No longer requires the Nature's Grace talent. It now requires the Nature's Fury talent. Hurricane - Replaced in position by the new talent Dreamstate. Is now a targetable spell and a tier 5 talent. New Talent (Balance): Dreamstate - Enter a Dreamstate, increasing your Nature damage by 15%, and increasing your mana regeneration while in shapeshift form by 100%. However, you may not cast healing spells while in this state. Improved Demoralizing Roar - Removed and replaced in position by Primal Instinct. Improved Prowl - In addition to reducing the chance of detection, this talent will now increase your speed while prowling by 3/6/9/12/15%. Blood Frenzy - Is now a 3 point talent that gives your critical strikes from Cat Form abilities that add combo points a 50/75/100% chance to add an additional combo point. Primal Fury - Is now a 2 point talent that gives you a 50/100% chance to gain an additional 5 rage anytime you get a critical strike while in Bear and Dire Bear Form. Improved Shred - Talent removed. Predatory Strikes - Design changed. Predatory Strikes is now a tier 6 talent that gives your Cat Form finishing moves a 50/100% chance to interrupt spellcasting and silence the target for one second per combo point. Faerie Fire (Cat) - Talent removed. Faerie Fire (Bear) - Talent removed. New Talent (Feral Combat): Intimidation - Tier 5 talent; increases your threat while in Bear Form by 15/30%. New Talent (Feral Combat): Feral Endurance - Tier 4 talent; increases your total health while in Bear, Dire Bear, or Cat Form by 2/4/6/8/10%. Thick Hide - Design changed. Thick Hide now increases your armor value from items in Bear Form by 2/4/6/8/10%. Is now a tier 2 talent. Feline Swiftness - This talent no longer increases your movement speed while prowled. New Talent (Feral Combat): Alertness - Tier 5 talent; increases your defense skill by 4/7/10 in Bear Form and your chance to hit by 1/2/3% in Cat Form. Strength of the Wild - Design changed. Strength of the Wild now increases the strength and agility of all nearby party members by 15% while the Druid is in Bear, Dire Bear, or Cat Form. No longer requires the Predatory Strikes talent. It now requires the Feral Endurance talent. Improved Ravage - Removed and replaced by the new talent Fury of the Wild. New Talent (Feral Combat): Fury of the Wild - Your next special attack has a 15/30/45% increased critical strike chance when entering Cat Form. In addition, you have a 20/30/40% chance to gain an extra rage point when damage is taken or dealt in Bear Form. Improved Pounce - Removed and replaced by the new talent Primal Resilience. New Talent (Feral Combat): Primal Resilience - Causes Frenzied Regeneration to covert each point of rage into an additional 0.2/0.3% of your total health and reduces the cooldown by 30/60 sec. Primal Instinct - Is now a 5 point talent. The mana cost reduction of shapeshifting has not been changed. Replaced in position by the new talent Shapeshifting Mastery. New Talent (Feral Combat): Shapeshifting Mastery - Grants the Druid the ability to shapeshift directly from one form to another at the cost of 25 rage from Bear Form, 50 energy from Cat Form, and the full mana cost of the Druid's next shapeshift form from Travel and Aquatic Form. When shapeshifting from Bear to Cat Form, each additional 25 rage present adds 1 combo point if a target is selected. Combat Endurance - Is now a 1 point talent that allows 25% of the Druid's health regeneration to work in combat. Improved Tranquility - Removed and replaced by the new talent Improved Rebirth. New Talent (Restoration): Improved Rebirth - Reduces the cooldown of your Rebirth spell by 5/10 min.
--Hunter
Specialized abilities have been added for the following pet types that did not receive them in the previous content patch: Bears can learn the Roar ability, which lowers the attack power of all nearby enemies by a flat amount. Turtles and Crabs can learn the Tough Shell ability, which gives them a chance to increase their armor value when hit. Spiders can learn the Web ability, which immobilizes nearby enemies. Distracting Shot - New icon. New Pet Ability: Free Master - Causes your pet to free you from any snare or frost-based movement impairing effect. Mend Pet - Range increased to 30 yards. Pet happiness will be restored correctly to the full amount when resurrecting in a battleground.
--Mage
Arcane Missiles - Fixed a bug where occasionally no missiles would appear and no damage would be dealt. Blink - Now reports the correct error message when attempted while sapped. Blink - Fixed a bug where the spell incorrectly or failed to teleport the player.
--Paladin
Judgement of Fury - Design changed. Now forces the target to attack you. Blessing of Salvation - Design changed. Now causes a friendly target to generate no additional threat for 10 seconds. Consecration - Fixed a bug where the spell sometimes did nothing if cast in rapid succession. Sanctity Aura - Design changed. Now increases healing done by 10% for party members within 30 yards. Holy Shock - Cooldown reduced to 6 seconds. Improved Blessing of Salvation - Design changed. Now increases the duration of your Blessing of Salvation by 2/4 sec.
--Rogues
Poisons will remain intact after you teleport, enter/exit an instance, or travel between continents. Eviscerate (Rank Cool - Damage increased.
--Shaman
Totems are no longer immune to area of effect damage. Shamans will no longer lose weapon skills after respeccing talents. The tornado graphic from the Windfury Attack will now play consistently. Combat Endurance - Now allows 25% of health regeneration to work while in combat.
--Warlocks
Improved Drain Mana - This talent can no longer have a critical effect. Howl of Terror - This spell is now instant cast. Improved Drain Soul - You will now receive the talent buff as long as Drain Soul is channeled when your target dies. Shadow Mastery - Fixed a bug where the talent was not providing a bonus to Curse of Doom.
--Warriors
You will now retain up to 15 rage points when changing stances. Tactical Mastery - This talent now increases the amount of rage retained when switching stances by 2/4/6/8/10. Improved Shield Block - Fixed a bug where this talent was not providing additional block. Whirlwind - Cooldown reduced to 4 seconds. Death Wish - Fixed a bug where the skill sometimes did not break fear while used under the fear effect. Bloodthirst - Tooltip updated. Charge/Intercept - These abilities will now port you even if the target is immune to the effect.
--Items
Sets Equipping more than five pieces of the Felheart set will now correctly give the Warlock's pet the Demonic Ally buff. The Cenarion Raiment set bonus that decreased the cooldown of Tranquility has been removed; a new set bonus has been added in its place that causes the Druid to automatically cast Rejuvenation (Rank 10) for free after casting Healing Touch. The Lightforge Armor set has received a texture update. The Rogue PvP reward sets have had their Strength removed and Agility increased. The Judgement Armor set bonus that increases the radius of the Paladin's Auras is now working correctly. You can no longer lower your stats by equipping and un-equipping set bonus items. The Lobotomizer will now proc correctly. Tier 2 epic items now have new set bonuses and improved stats. Many of these items also have updated textures. Reaching officer rank in the Honor System now grants you access to a new set of superior-quality weapons. Judge's Gavel can no longer be used to force players to drop the flag in Warsong Gulch. The Gnomish Death Ray will no longer fail to cast from more than 20 yards away from the target. Cruel Barb is now unique. Cloak of Warding's armor has been reduced, but an additional Stamina bonus has been added instead. Orb of the Darkmoon now has an additional +9 Intellect bonus. Pages from the Green Hills of Stranglethorn novel are now Bind on Pickup. The Brushwood Blade item tooltip has been updated to indicate that it is a two-handed sword, not one-handed. The Dartol's Rod of Transformation obtained as a quest reward from the fourth part of Raene's Cleansing is no longer useable. Enchants will now function correctly on weapons that morph into other weapons. Fixed a typo in the item tooltip of the Darkmoon Card: Twisting Nether. Corrected art and textures for various items.
--Professions
It is now possible to retrain your specialty type for Leatherworking, Blacksmithing, or Engineering for a fee by speaking with a master trainer of your profession. Plans for keyrings that hold multiple keys have been added to Blacksmithing. Formulae for necklaces, rings, and new trinkets have been added to Enchanting. Disenchanting now requires Expert Enchanting for rare items, and Artisan Enchanting for items of epic quality or higher.
--Quest
You can no longer accept the other faction's quests. A Druid Cat Form quest is now available at level 20 from Dendrite Starblaze in Moonglade. It is no longer possible to receive a Dishonorable Kill from killing Private Merle after completing the Patrol Schedules quest. More Gibbering Ghouls have been added to various Scourge strongholds for the Heroes of Darrowshire quest in Eastern Plaguelands. The Deep Ocean, Vast Sea quest in Darkshore has been toned down in difficulty. Fixed grammatical errors in The Missing Diplomat quest line.
--Raids & Dungeons
Mobs around Goraluk Anvilcrack in UBRS will now path correctly. It is no longer possible to pull Majordomo Executus' minions without pulling Majordomo himself. Fixed a bug where Jammal'an the Prophet would ignore a mind controlled player after the party wiped in Sunken Temple. Keys will no longer dissappear when the keyholder dies and releases his or her spirit in Dire Maul. The loot tables in Blackwing Lair have been revised slightly.
--User Interface
Meeting stones no longer search for party members. Instead, joining a meeting stone for a dungeon now adds you to a viewable list of players looking for a group. Groups can be formed by contacting players from this list. Custom chat channels will now save after logging out. There is now a separate tab in the Armor section of the Auction House listings called "Accessories" , which includes trinkets, rings, necklaces, and items held in the off-hand. The Miscellaneous tab has been removed. The mouseover UI for Ranged Attack Power will now take into account your total ranged attack power. Unique key bindings can now be saved for each class. Resolved an issue where certain UI mods caused the honor tab to be aligned incorrectly with text. Quest levels now appear in the quest log. The ACTIONBAR_UPDATE_COOLDOWN event will no longer cause a lockup when a spell or skill interrupts a school of magic. Logging out after joining another zone's channel will no longer place you in a separate channel that is difficult to leave.
--World Environment
Closed several holes in the world. Booty Bay is now flagged as outdoors. There is now a warning sign that points to the cave where Vagash dwells in Dun Morogh. The guards in Lakeshire have received promotions; they are now level 45. If you die near a zone you have not discovered yet, you will no longer be ported to graveyards in that zone. Instead, you will be sent to the nearest known graveyard. Fixed a bug where players sometimes appear in the incorrect graveyard after death
Yes, I have the itching to play these game and for some reason I can't seem to find my copies.
Anyway, I have tons of old stuff that I can trade for it:
Tex Murphy: Over Seer Heavy Gear I & II Independence War Sacrifice Privateer 2: The Darkening Deluxe Edition Icewind Dale Red Faction Star Trek: Star Fleet Command 1 & 2 Commandos 1 & 2 Ground Control Myth: Total Codex Close Combat 3
And other games not listed. Too tired to list them all
Personally, I don't regret my PSP purchase. I am using it as a MP3 player and have watched movies on it. Are the games lack luster at the present? They certainly are. I just think that like the DS the PSP library will get much better. Honestly, there is nothing on the horizons that I want badly. I am going to pick up Namco Museum just for Galaga,Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man, but this isn't a must buy just something to occupy my time.
Ymmv, I just think the PSP will be the better system in the long run
The DS is just now considered coming into its own, but it was initially launched most called the system shitty. Give the PSP time to get some games out there before we declare a winner
Hackers Attack Via Chinese Web Sites U.S. Agencies' Networks Are Among Targets
By Bradley Graham Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 25, 2005; Page A01
Web sites in China are being used heavily to target computer networks in the Defense Department and other U.S. agencies, successfully breaching hundreds of unclassified networks, according to several U.S. officials.
Classified systems have not been compromised, the officials added. But U.S. authorities remain concerned because, as one official said, even seemingly innocuous information, when pulled together from various sources, can yield useful intelligence to an adversary.
"The scope of this thing is surprisingly big," said one of four government officials who spoke separately about the incidents, which stretch back as far as two or three years and have been code-named Titan Rain by U.S. investigators. All officials insisted on anonymity, given the sensitivity of the matter.
Whether the attacks constitute a coordinated Chinese government campaign to penetrate U.S. networks and spy on government databanks has divided U.S. analysts. Some in the Pentagon are said to be convinced of official Chinese involvement; others see the electronic probing as the work of other hackers simply using Chinese networks to disguise the origins of the attacks.
"It's not just the Defense Department but a wide variety of networks that have been hit," including the departments of State, Energy and Homeland Security as well as defense contractors, the official said. "This is an ongoing, organized attempt to siphon off information from our unclassified systems."
Another official, however, cautioned against exaggerating the severity of the intrusions. He said the attacks, while constituting "a large volume," were "not the biggest thing going on out there."
Apart from acknowledging the existence of Titan Rain and providing a sketchy account of its scope, the officials who were interviewed declined to offer further details, citing legal and political considerations and a desire to avoid giving any advantage to the hackers. One official said the FBI has opened an investigation into the incidents.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - World of Warcraft Client Patch 1.6.1 (2005-08-02) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General - Spell casting is no longer interrupted when leaving combat.
Warriors - Improved Shield Block - Fixed a bug where Rank 3 of the talent was not granting the extra block. - Bloodthirst - Damage bonus increased to 40% of attack power.
Items - The Oil of Immolation effect is no longer affected by bonuses to spell damage from items.
Raids & Dungeons - Blackwing Lair Several encounters in Blackwing Lair now cause the front gate to close, preventing players from zoning out or joining an in-progress battle. The Razorgore encounter has been changed slightly to make it less "random". The spawning should be more consistent throughout the fight. The timer for Vaelastrasz the Corrupt is now more persistent. You can no longer reset the one-hour time limit for beating him by leaving the instance. Also, Vaelastrasz the Corrupt will not respawn for 12 hours if he has not been beaten when the timer expires. The drakes in Blackwing Lair will no longer leave the lab. - Maraudon Lowered experience values for Creeping Sludge.
Macs - Increased the maximum number of sounds which can be played simultaneously. This will fix problems where some sounds could be dropped in very busy situations. - Fixed WoW Error Reporter so that it doesn't crash under Mac OS X 10.4 when trying to send an error report. - Worked around an issue where you would lose your Expose/Dashboard preferences if you crashed or asserted while in fullscreen mode on Mac OS X 10.4. - Fixed the "blockWidth", "srec", and "bitnum < m_numBits" assertions bugs that would crash the game. - Fixed a bug involving corpses near the player that could result in a crash ("BusError").
I just checked my email and I go this little gem from Gamefly:
Quote
Dear XXXX,
Due to the ESRB's new AO (Adults Only) rating for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, GameFly has decided to temporarily suspend rental and purchase of the current version. You may leave the game in Your GameQ, but we will skip over it when checking to see what to send you next.
We are currently working with GTA's publisher to get access to an M-rated version that cannot be modified. We will pass on additional information as it becomes available. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience.
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