Everyone's special. Or not?

I have recently heard a rumor about the Xbox 360's upcoming firmware patch. The rumor I heard was that you can install games and run them without the discs on your 360. Of course, this is Microsoft we're talking about, so there is going to be some kind of copy protection. It might be something ridiculous, or just a CD code. Maybe you'll have to register your "gaming library" to your 360, not letting you trade in games or borrow them from friends. Sound familiar? Unless you have been living under a rock, this is like the PC gaming storyline these last few years. These two worlds are getting closer, and closer, and closer, to the point that at this rate in 3 years, you'll be shopping on Newegg.com for an nVidia 16000 for your XboPC. Not cool? Or is a good thing? It seems like a good thing to me, as it makes everyone's hardware reflect their surroundings and personality. If you know what I mean. On the PC side, we have been getting closer in the software world rather than the hardware world, and I don't just mean 360 Ports. Take wake-on-LAN, for example (although a rather bad example it is) which let's you turn on your computer from any thing plugged into your computer's network card, similar to the way one would turn on their Xbox. I am using an Xbox 360 controller for quite a few of my games. It can't be too long until the 360 and the mother of all platforms become one!


The PS3 is pretty much a combination of the PS2, Wii, and the PC. SIXAXIS motion controls, otherwise standard controller layout, and beefy hardware. The sleeknes comes from the PC too. The Wii is the only special thing out there (besides the PC) and it is currently lacking on the visual and online side of things. Everything else is in between. I don't know there the PS/Xbox controller comes from though. Hmm. Maybe it's the wake-on-LAN thing. If I bored you or offended you or spelled bored wrong, I'm not really sorry. This is just my opinion!



What I'm playing: Company of Heroes
Games I'm into: Mass Effect, Beyond Good & Evil

Company of Heroes: How not to lose, and how to deal with it!

Company of Heroes for the PC was named E3 '06 best of show, and best strategy game of '06 and it's stand alone expansion (Opposing Fronts) had similar praise as well. These are both great semi-hardcore strategy games for the PC.
You can buy them on Steam, Valves digital distribution program for you who know not, for 19.99 (Original game) and Opposing Fronts for 29.99. Or you can save yourself 9.99 and buy them in a "Golden Edition" for 39.99. This is what you want if you're gonna buy this game, 'cause once you get the original and play online with the OF users, you're gonna die to have it yourself. So download those and continue reading this article.
Anyway, I was noticing while playing the game today, a lot of my opponents had very...low...strategic skill at this game. One of the biggest mistakes they made was not moving up enough in the first 2 minutes of the game. This is where the game is ultimately decided. The players who move up and capture and hold key points in the very beginning usually win. Another mistake that is made very often is the player moves up, and stays put without meeting any resistance. When this happens, your enemy is usually building up his(hers) force and preparing to take the map with an army. When this happens and you are just waiting around in your territory, you can't be building because your attention is on you borders. If you press and punch through with a group of engineers and totally cut off supplies, they can't build an army. You do this and you have already won the game.
MID-GAME: It seems you're in a deadlock, fighting over the middle control points (unless it's a Control Points game, those are over faster than Annihilation games) you have two or three options. As follows for each commander tree: Infantry: get some howitzers! These guns can make the game for you if you have two or three of them. Unfortunately, this doesn't work unless you have an ally or two. And keep pounding there base, soldier! Airborne. Do a recon of an area via plane then drop a squad of paratroopers and an AT gun behind enemy lines. Keep adding to them and cut off the enemy's supplies. This will stop them dead in their tracks. Now just punch through their line and rescue the para forces while defending the points you took. Armor: This is the hardest tree to use right. (Airborne being the easiest) The tree on the right is best used in the beginning and mid game, where the tree on the right is expensive, so you either have to suck to use this tree, or be really good because of the cost. I can't tell you much, except your Calliope Launcher is really nice and can be used for punching the crap out of your enemies invading force when used right.
END-GAME: If you're winning right now, sit tight, defend your points, and build up your armor. Then crush them! Muah-haha!
If you're losing, well, you're losing and unless your enemy makes a huge blunder walks into your minefield that you forgot about. Or your King Tiger/Pershing tank goes on a rampage in their base. Anyways, as we all know, defeat tastes like soggy Graham Crackers in your mouth, and there's nothing you can do about it except make it as frigging HARD AS POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO WIN. This tactic is also really fun. One of the best ways to do this as the Whermacht is build bunkers in random places all around the map. It'll take them a long time to find them. Booby traps are fun put in them as well, such as mines, people, tanks, and artillery strikes. As the American's, you can make lots and lots and lots of engineers and send them throughout the map to die. Or just keep them repairing your base from the back. That's really annoying too. But the best thing of all to do in this situation is use your off map reinforcements to hassle them around. Infantry battle groups are the best because there's so many dang things to kill! But you have to face it some time, that you are going to lose the game and eat those soggy Graham Crackers. Eww.


Check out this great article about what we learn from gaming on 1Up.com. It's really cool.

What I'm playing: Company of Heroes: Ecstasy

Battlefield: Heroes

Battlefield what? Isn't that that lame Team Fortress 2 Knock-off? Uh, no it's the most incredible and coolest game so far this year. And it has the music to go with it! A lot can be said (silently, I'm using a metaphor here) for the next installment of the Battlefield series, and probably it's popularity is on the list of what can be said. Right in between "Amazingly Awesome" and "Free". Still with me? Yeah, it's 100 % FREE. Go to their site, click the big button that says "Play Now" (it's yellow, bye the way) and let it download, then play. Yeah. But it's not out yet, so no big yellow button for me just yet. The beta is coming up I hear, so I'm gonna be in that if it's the last thing I do.

Still wondering what's so insanely cool about this game? Well, first of all, it's got that awesome cartoon style, (it IS a "cartoon shooter) it's all about balance and crazy things like 5 minute fire fights, you can sit on the wings of airplanes and blow yourself across the map with dynamite. *breath* This game is the most insane thing ever! Nothing is lethal, everything takes time to kill someone, this adds another layer of accessibility, and you can customize your character's everything! Well, everything appropriate anyway. I can't say anymore as I haven't even scratched the surface of this game, but I am giving you a video of it.





What I'm playing: Company of Heroes: Hard Market, Garry's Mod

Viva Pinata 2: Trouble in Paradise

It has been officially announced this morning that Viva Pinata 2: Trouble in Paradise is real! Wow! And it's got nothing to to with trouble in paradise (as I understand anyways) but has lots to do with awesomeness. It has a crapload of new features, including two new enviroments, (Dessert Desert, Pinarctic) and a whopping 32 new pet thingys. It also includes this crazy cool new feature, that I don't quite understand yet, but what got out of it was: You can take pictures of animals or trees or weather and put them on some kind of cards that also work on iPods and Zunes(?) and then you can put them into your game and it makes them.....real. Yeah. You tell me.

Another cool thing is that nothing is unlock able. Everything is already unlocked. I don't know how that is going to work, but that sounds good to me. Not to steal a quote or something, but Viva Pinata 2 sounds just like the Viva Pinata Special Edition. It's getting a second chance to be great! The only bad thing is that it probably won't come out on PC for a long while, if at all. I guess I'll just stick with my cool PC games.

In other news, somebody has to convince Zaputh that he's missing a ton of games on the 360. We couldn't name of any when we thought about it, so a true console gamer needs to bust in and tell us that we are wrong and that we rock too. Yay.


UPDATE: Yes, it IS coming out for PC simultaneously as the 360 and (?) PS3 (?) versions of the game. As you can imagine, I am uber exited for this game. There is an awesome article about things we learn from gaming at 1Up.com. Read it right now. (no link 'cause I found out it was illegal to link to Ziff Davis Media Publishing Corp. content with some other...stuff...or something.....?

Bye for now-Loshon


What I'm playing: Company of Heroes: Remember the Poplars, Garry's Mod, Team Fortress 2

Happy Mother's Day

Wuhh, Happoy Mudder's Daoy! Non drunk version: Happy Mother's Day everyone, I hope you give your moms (or mums) a cookie! She deserves it! Unless of course you're a snotty dolt who lives in some city somewhere. Or, you can send her these great flowers I made for your enjoyment. Yes, I know, they're SPACE flowers. Planted and raised by the Covenant Council of Cool flowers, an underground alien organization by the elite race, also know as the Elites. Or Sanghelli. Whichever language you prefer.


Larger here. (1024x960, click to enlarge)

What I'm playing: Battlefield 2142, Company of Heroes, *Mirror's Edge (in my mind)*