XBox 360 Rally

Hi, kids. I wanted to talk to you all about Iron Man for just a moment. As you may or may not know, the demo was recently unleashed on us gullible comic book fans. I’ve had the chance to take a few rounds with Iron Man, and have come to this conclusion: It ain’t bad.

If anything the demo is short. Really, truly, ridiculously short. However, it’s a pretty fun little demo that lets you experience the most basic of what Iron Man has to offer. The only complaint I had was with the control scheme — there is a lot going on with the controls. No button is left unused, and if you’re like me (inverted = life), you’ll have to fiddle with the settings for a minute. Ultimately, though, it’s a fun game that may do the film justice.

Which is good. No offense to gaming, but video games based on movies based on comic books aren’t necessarily good. Maybe Spider-Man 2 breaks the mold.

Maybe.

Iron Man comes out this week, but you all won’t care — you’ll have GTA IV. Just like me.

Hi, boys and girls. It’s just me, your friendly neighborhood JW, here to remind you all that we’re currently looking for people to replace us here at Xbox 360 Rally. All you have to do is go HERE, fill out the form, and wait to hear back. It’s really not that hard.

So, get to it already — so Paco and I can get to the NEW site!

Unlike the very terrible terrible (terrible) demo of Crash Bandicoot’s “Crash of the Titans” (that was released on the holy Halo 3’s day of birth), two very good demo’s have hit the marketplace today, both hitting opposite sides of the gaming spectrum so you will probably be at least downloading one of the two. Let me once again let you know, Crash of the Titans is horrible, the graphics, the game play (still staying away from true 3D gaming, fools!), just don’t waste your time at all unless you have a child under the age of 10 or so (seriously).

A game I have been waiting for, Jericho however, is going to be making me turn on my 360 in literally a few minutes so I can try any part of this (click for some video goodness). The demo for this game weighs in at 885.17mb.

NHL2K8 demo is out, I am still on my ban of 2KSports games (link), however, so you know, the demo is here and is just over a gig. Be happy 2K isn’t charging for this demo (those bastards).
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Clive Barker, Jericho, NHL 2K8, 2KSports, Demo, Crash Bandicoot, Codemasters, Xbox Live Marketplace, Xbox 360

Wow, I Could have about a million things to say on this, or I could just let the image to the right do the talking by just throwing a big “Stupid” stamp on Crash Bandicoot’s forehead. I will try and meet somewhere in between. Crash Bandicoot, what I remember as the mascot of sorts back when it was Nintendo (N64 with Mario of course) vs Sega (Saturn with Sonic) vs Sony (PS1 with Crash), it was a mildly fun platform type game. Though it was 3D, it was no true Mario 64 3D game.. but I digress, I am not here to crash the Titan’s party, so I won’t insult Crash himself. Just the fact that whoever at *quickly Googles whoever publishes Crash*… whoever at Sierra Entertainment, must not keep up to date with what is going on in the video game world. Halo 3 just got released today! C’mon, is this really the time to release a demo!?! I mean, I wish the best for the game, but in a couple of months when that new Halo smell wears off, will the Crash demo still be listed on the Live Marketplace in the “New Demo” section, where I assure you that will be the only place people will even have heard that this game is coming out, let alone they have a chance to play some of it (other than us gamers who keep up with this sort of thing, but even us will easily forget about it, who out there is a true Crash fan?! Exactly!).

Sorry, anyways, I will stop short on a rant, I need sleep, you see, I have been playing Halo 3 for a little over 10 hours (with one food break). Haven’t even touched the campaign, all multiplayer for me baby! But hey, that will be coming up in my next post, where I will bring you a great picture of the midnight madness that occurred when I had to secure not one, but two copies of Halo 3, without pre-orders (my little brother calls me and said he needed a copy too, he had school today, ma won’t let him stay up so I have to be the good big brother and help, again though, I digress, I am tired). What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, this is Crash of the Titans time to shine, demo out, download it, only 530.76MB so you shouldn’t have to delete anything off your hard drive if you want to try it out.
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Crash Bandicoot, Sierra Entertainment, Radical Entertainment, Xbox 360, Demo, Mascot, Crash of the Titans, Halo 3 Halo 3 Halo 3

For just the cost of under one gig of your hard drive, you can be the proud owner of a demo for Viva Pinata Party Animals. This complete Mario Party rip off game looks pretty damn good (Overlord ripped off Pikmin and that was fine and dandy by me). To see what you are getting yourself into, check a little video of some game play below:

Also note, when you did fire up your ol Xbox, there was a system update. Keep in mind, this is not the huge system update we are all waiting on, this is all about that big-button controller preparation, in fact, Major Nelson makes sure to point out “no new features beyond this big button pad support are included in this update and, once again, this is not the ‘fall dashboard upgrade.’ When I have firm details on the next major update, I will share them”
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Viva Pinata, Party Animals, Rare, Rareware, Microsoft, Demo, Update, Xbox 360

Ok, people, here’s the deal — Paco and I are on our way out. We’re taking over at 1PStart.com in an effort to restore it to it’s former glory. …that, and I just plain want to write about another game every once in a while, is that so wrong?!

Anyways, here is what we’re looking for: A competent, capable writer with a love for all things Xbox. Now, by competent writer, we mean someone who spells “you” correctly, and knows when to capitalize. If you can do that, you’re a shoe-in. So, CLICK THIS DAMN LINK, do the required stuff, then get paid to play video games and write about stuff.

…hell, Mike and I did the hard stuff already, and YES, the GTA4 Banner contest will continue, and I will still give you a copy of GTA IV… or something. So, hop to it.

Xbox 360 Rally, JW, Stuff, Job Openings

I have been keeping up with this game since I first heard the announcement. Well it was written it was coming mid-September, and now the time is nigh!

Coming in at just 700mb, its time to see, is this the game that will kill Forza and at the same time put to rest Project Gotham Racing (note: I think people have already forgotten about Gran Turismo). I am about to boot up my 360 to find out if my comparisons to this game and Beetle Adventure Racing are true, check it out yourself!
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First, thanks to all who entered! So many replies, most good reads (including my mother doing an entry it seems), but since the comments do nothing (”My eyes! The goggles, they do nothing!”), it is all up to random.org, here is the results, with the winning comments because you weird people took the time out to write this stuff (not the first guy, but you other two!):

-”Yeah, I do not think I that I deserve the beta more than anyone else. But if I did get it, I would definitely get the most I could out of it, so it would not go to waste. Only less than 2% chance so far.”



-”count me in its one of a few reasons that will get me away from my responsibility’s and kill ,kill kill,reload and kill,kill some more.I absolutely love military games and this is worth my wife bitching at me after about 6 to 8 hours of brutal assaults…..Hoorah!”



-”I deserve this because it hurts when I pee, I need some relief.”

As a bonus, I am sending all three of you friend requests (Is this really a prize), catch me online and we’ll play some Beta and I’ll catch you up on some tips and strategies (more likely though you can help me because I wouldn’t call myself the best). Hey, are you already in the Beta?, leave comments on things you like and don’t like about the game so far, any comments you want on it, and who knows, we here at the Rally may just take those questions/concerns/etc to Infinity Ward themselves.

Thanks for playing folks, sorry we didn’t have a couple of thousands of invite codes to give away (ala GameSpot.. those bastards!), but we do what we can to get some free swag to you!

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Call of Duty, Call of Duty 4 Beta, Invite Code, Winners, Comments, Xbox 360, Xbox Live

I can’t say I am excited about all three, but, hey, I never say no to demo’s, I download all, no joke. Juiced is coming in with an 8 player online demo, so that should be fun, I am particular on racing games, but I am willing to give them a shot (even though I haven’t found the time to play the one player demo which I have sitting on my hard drive). This is running 1.37GB.

Spider-Man Friend or Foe had me turned off from the first screens and demos. The concept of the co-op with villians is so so, but, again, I will download anything, plus this is running in at only 431mb)

Though I am no ‘futball’ fan, EA just released some FIFA screens, and they are HUGE, but you can see such awesome detail, that even if it isn’t a game you are into, you can appreciate the eye candy of it all. (Demo runs in at 702mb btw) Check the screen below, I left them original size, EA hooked it up with these pics, I must remind you again, they are HUGE (4856×2731 resolution):

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Xbox 360, Spider-Man, Juiced, FIFA, Soccer, Screenshots, Demos, Xbox Live Marketplace

Boot up the ol’ Xbox this stuff up for grabs today. Download your FREE Halo 3 Themes and Pics (courtesy of Best Buy, I am going to go ahead and assume their logo will be put in somewhere).

After you set that to download, get to downloading that Tony Hawk demo (Runs about a gig). Now is the time you can finally compare it with Skate, which ended up being not too shabby.

While that is downloading, you can ponder over whether you are going to purchase Sonic 2. Well, it is only 400 points, and I know I own the first one myself, but the second was always my favorite. I think I just might pick it up.

From what JW had confirmed and now I am reading from hahauk.com, it seems people are using the below method to get extra people in and selling beta’s on eBay. I think you know how we feel at The Rally about selling things early on eBay (if not, you are an idiot, don’t support this sort of crap!). Well a nice guide has been made for you to not go and become one of the retards who put bad things one eBay, this is a guide for you to get your friend into playing the Beta with you! Your only requirements is the GamerTag and Pass of the friend in question and a second controller, easy enough so far:

1. Plug in 2 Controllers.

2. Sign Controller 1 into the shared account (the one with the Beta)

3. Leave Controller 2 signed out

4. With Controller 1, go to ‘Account Management’ under the Marketplace Blade then ‘Download History’

5. With Controller 2, press the Guide Button then A to access profiles

6. With Controller 1, select YOUR account and sign in

7. Press B on Controller 2 (to exit the guide) then unplug Controller 2

8. Select the COD4 Beta onscreen, then press ‘Confirm Download’

9. The Beta will now download with YOUR account and once done, will work with your account

At the time of me typing this, I hope this still works out for you! Just remember you are doing this at your own risk

The moment awaits, I AM FOURZEROTWO has made the report that the Beta site is back up and running. I am currently trying to log in and it is laggy as a *bleep*. Click this link to get to the sign up page ASAP, Here is what is said from FourZeroTwo

“We already have sign-ups coming in, so I can see the site is working well for a group of you. If the site is going slow or not loading for some of you, be patient. We are doing this 24-hour roll out so that everyone doesn’t have to hit the site at once.

I’m hand holding on this one and monitoring everything so if things go south, I’ll we have a back-up in place to still take sign-ups, don’t worry guys.”

Before making this post I was attempting to go through the slow ass process, well, I guess I made it!! (A chance that is!!!):

Your name will now be entered into a random drawing for Tokens into the Xbox 360 Multiplayer Beta. At 7pm PDT tomorrow, Tuesday August 28th, we will be drawing names for entry into the Beta. Within 72 hours of this Drawing, we will contact you via email with news on whether or not you were admitted. Even if your name is not chosen in the random drawing, there will be more ways to get into the Beta, and we will continue to update you on the details as soon as they’re finalized!

If you are selected in the Drawing, please be patient and wait until you receive your token. We will be sending out Token Codes in batches to ensure the Xbox Live servers are ramped up at a safe pace.

If you use an email client such as Yahoo, G-mail, or Hotmail, please be sure to check your junk mail folder for news on whether or not you’ve been selected. Also, please add Cod4beta@infinityward.comto your address book. This will ensure that you don’t miss out on any of the action.

Check back into Charlie Oscar Delta for Updates, and don’t forget: this is a Beta! You can send us your feedback at betafeedback@infinityward.com as well as post your thoughts on the Charlie Oscar Delta Boards. We’ll be reading your Feedback, so please let us know what you think!

It only took you guys eight minutes to reserve all the Call of Duty 4 Beta Tokens. Eight minutes. You go to the page now, and this is what you get:

Although Charlie Oscar Delta’s Token Codes have been reserved, there will be many more opportunities to get into the Beta! Check back into SITREP often, as we’ll be updating the site with information as soon as it’s finalized.

In the United States and Canada, we are working with GameSpot and GameStop on two new ways to reserve a spot in the Beta. Our International users will be excited to learn that plans to get into the Beta are moving along quickly, and we’ll have updates for all the countries listed in the FAQ soon!

WAI 2 GO!!11!!!!!1! First y’all crash the site over, and over again for two days, then you vultures suck up ALL the tokens in freaking EIGHT MINUTES!

…I’m impressed. I would post a screenshot, but alas, I can’t get on the page.

UPDATO MAGNIFICO!
NEW HOPE! If you go to FourZeroTwo, you can learn how to get back in on the BETA goodness! There will be an open registration for twenty-four hours starting today, and everyone who signs up will have an equal chance at a token!

Oh, happy day!

[CoD4 Forums]

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Infinity Ward, Call of Duty 4

Ensemble Studios Exec. Producer Harter Ryan has revealed in an interview with Gamespot that a demo for Halo Wars will be available tomorrow (Monday)!

Even though I am not a big fan of console-based RTS titles, there have been a notable few that haven’t completely fallen flat: Command & Conquer 3, Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth and Starcraft 64 immediately come to mind. If Ensemble is able to do with Halo Wars what they have been able to do with their Age of Empires franchise for a long time, I will be happy.

UPDATO MAGNIFICO!
Guess what, people! We have reason to believe that it is a video of the E3 demo, not a playable demo. Sorry for the mix-up… and on a personal note… clarify next time, Mr. Ryan. Or I’ll slap you. With a trout. Covered in tobasco.

You may not think much of that now… but have you ever felt a tobasco-covered trout slap your face? It scars a man… scars ‘em…

Microsoft, Xbox 360, Halo 3, Ensemble Studios

If you missed out on Maddenoliday the other week and still haven’t got to try this glitchy game, the demo is here for you to try. Coming in at just a little over 800mb, it should give you just enough of a tease to let you know whether you want to take the plunge on this very aging franchise.

Next demo up is the Medal of Honor demo, clocking in a just under a gig, get ready to get in a war plane and fight some epic battles in a WWII setting, something that no game has ever done. (Italics = sarcasm).

I just personal downloaded the Skate demo, but haven’t even touched it because I am working hard on Bioshock (on the hard level setting, damn im tough!) I think I am going to have to quit my job to keep up with all these games coming out.