Until June 28 Mcdonalds is offering the first Austin Powers movie as a free movie download in the Xbox Marketplace. I poked around looking to see if this was a US-only offer and didn’t see an official page from Mcdonalds or Xbox (anybody have a link to one?). I found the offer on the blade after logging in.
A heavenly day to celebrate at the Xbox Live Arcade today.
This is fast becoming a gaming week with Shadowrun on Vista on Sunday, access to the closed beta of Sword of the New World (MMORPG) on Monday. Last night picked up Halo 2 for Windows Vista (41 achievements available) and this morning Pac-Man Championship (12 achievements available). I can hardly wait for PS3 Thursday tomorrow.
Ever wish you could chomp more than 4 ghosts at a time? With Pac-Man Championship be prepared to chomp away. Also has mazes that warp and expand when Pac-Man chomps bonus fruit and other items (yes, even a binocular?!). Of the many titles in the Pac-Man franchise over the years, this is one of the more solid, genuinely fun releases. Well worth the 800 Microsoft Points ($10).
Championship was created with the help of one of the original Pac-Man coin-op designers Toru Iwatani. Pac-Man remains the bestselling coin-op in arcade history with over 100,000 sold the first year according to Pac-Facts. Also listed in the Pac-Facts I didn’t realize that the Buckner & Garcia song Pac-Man Fever was intended to be a spoof on Ted Nugent’s Cat Scratch Fever (really?). Pac-Man has been mentioned in 20 posts at Hmm with a few of them linked below and the rest available via search. It is also this author’s favorite classic arcade game.
Robotron is another personal favorite. I wasn’t much of a Pong or Space Invader guy, but enjoyed Asteroids and later Asteroids Deluxe. I also enjoyed Scramble and the lesser known, but played a ton of Star Castle at the local roller skating rink. Kids don’t go roller or ice skating in these parts much any more. Now the wheels of choice are skateboards, I guess.
How would you design an arcade in 2007?
It’s kind of sad that arcades aren’t what they used to be. A couple arcades have tried to start up locally for the kids, but with the arcade of the world — Xbox Live — I can see why they’ve failed. If one was going to open an arcade, I think it would be wiser to focus on organizing First Person Shooter (FPS) and other group game oriented tournaments surrounding the console games and perhaps offer a nice pinball machine selection and a few classic arcade boxes for Mom and Dad while they watch. To round out the arcade of today mix in an ice cream (Cold Stone Creamery, anyone?) and/or candy shop. Too hard to make it work buying or leasing expensive quarter-munching games.
The last arcade I was at had some games costing $1.00 to play. I understand why the proprietors want to charge that much, but you’ve got kids thinking hey, for 40 or 50 plays and we can own an Xbox game and play an unlimited amount of times with friends without ever leaving the couch. Tough competition.
Had some trouble getting today’s Hmmcast uploaded to Google Video so went with YouTube instead.
A week ago the first game — Shadowrun — that allows Windows Vista players to compete directly against or play with those on the Xbox 360. On launch day I was unable to buy it anywhere locally. The next day, we bought one of the last couple copies at Gamestop. I didn’t see the Vista version of Shadowrun until yesterday at the Fred Meyer in Lacey.
Shaky Shadowrun launch supply?
We’re used to shipping shortages and problems with game systems, but the games themselves are usually in plentiful supply. The stores in this area if they got any Shadowrun copies were picked clean.
I don’t know who to blame this one on, but it’s not just our area according to a post in the official Shadowrun forums:
My “town,” is roughly 40k in size…and the “town,” across the river is roughly 90k in size. I called both “towns,” and the shipping has been messed up in both…
If a game like Shadowrun is in short supply then heaven help gamers on September 25 when Halo 3 arrives. Maybe the Halo 2 launch day record isn’t in danger after all.
Steep Windows Vista system requirements
The Gateway Vista machine we bought earlier this year came with 1GB of DDR2 and an Intel Extreme graphics card. I needed to upgrade to a graphics car with 256MB RAM ($133 USD). On the Shadowrun box it says 2GB of RAM is needed but I found it ran fine with 1GB. No annoying error messages either.
I found a number of Shadowrun players excited to be playing with someone on Vista. Our son who has been playing the Xbox 360 version a lot over the last week tells me there aren’t that many Vista players. He thinks the graphics look pretty good even though I didn’t have it running with max graphics on the Vista machine.
For whatever reason when I plugged in the Xbox 360 controllers Vista wouldn’t recognize them (none of the five Xbox 360 controllers we have) so I also needed to go back to the store and buy the wireless Xbox controller with USB adapter for Windows Vista ($59.99). We can plug in Xbox 360 controllers on Windows XP problem.
Bottom line: even if you just bought your Vista machine, unless it’s a higher end machine ready for gaming, be prepared to pay at least a couple hundred dollars to play Shadowrun. The cost of the Vista Shadowrun ($49.99) was $10 less than the Xbox 360 game ($59.99) for our purchase. Maybe they expected most people would have to throw down more bones for the Vista experience. Hopefully now we’re ready for more games like this as they become available.
I showed the Xbox Father’s Day essay contest to our teens and at least the younger two didn’t seem that interested (sniff, sniff), but maybe some readers have gaming dads and would like to write a 250-500 word essay about your gaming dad. Our oldest who is the best writer of the bunch said he might be down for it.
Could also do your gaming husband, best friend, boyfriend or brother according to the essay contest page:
Your essay should be at least 250 words, but no more than 500 words, and must be received by 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time, June 9, 2007. Essays should be e-mailed to xlmail@microsoft.com, with the subject line “Xbox Dad of the Year.”
If your essay is chosen as a winner you will win an Xbox 360 and some other goodies. Seems like a nice Father’s Day gift for your brother, best friend, husband or boyfriend who’s a Dad or legal male guardian even if you don’t win the contest.
I’ve been listening to the new Ozzy album Black Rain for a few days now and today got the chance to buy the CD for $11.99 at Best Buy on sale. The packaging is a little plain, no jewel case, no lyric sheet, barely any credits. You don’t get more bare bones packaging than this. Doesn’t come with any secret tracks either, but does come with a secret code to enter on June 8 at 9pm EST at livenation.com/ozzfest while supplies last you might be lucky enough to get two Ozzfest tickets.
I told my wife that this will probably be worse than the cheap Xbox 360 consoles at Amazon. Remember that?
Gamepads — no matter how well designed — aren’t good for all games. Pac-Man, Frogger and a slew of fighting games are better controlled with a joystick than a D-pad. You can imagine my delight when today I saw the Madcatz Xbox 360 Gamestick bundle which comes with the stick and redeem codes for three arcade games: Astropop (800 points), Time Pilot (400 points) and Frogger (400 points).
Although I still have a few thousand unredeemed Microsoft Points, I don’t have many Live Arcade games on my Xbox 360 Elite yet. As mentioned last Sunday I’m still working my way through the surprisingly entertaining Viva Pinata. We’ve also rented and watched a few of the movies through the Live Marketplace.
I decided to purchase Pac-Man today (400 Microsoft Points) and try the Madcastz Gamestick out on that first. Pac-man is one of my favorite games of all time and one where I prefer a stick over the Xbox 360 gamepad. Response?
The joystick is too loose around the base forcing you to push it hard one way or another to get the desired movement. This had pac-man stopping in the maze and being easy prey for Inky and his buddies. I also needed to seat the joystick between my legs at sort of an awkward angle to get the best grip and response as shown below:
I prefer a gaming stick with stiffer response as opposed to having more play at the base. Not as hard as say the old Atari 2600 joystick but not as loose as this one. As far as price goes at $39.99 at Best Buy, it’s not that expensive with the three full arcade games which add up to 1600 Microsoft Points. $39.98 at Amazon for the Madcatz Arcade GameStick for Xbox 360 (affiliate).
I have to play with this longer to see if it works well with many (any) games including the pack-in titles (I don’t recall trying the puzzle game Astro Pop yet) but early impression is somewhat disappointed. If you like a joystick with a lot of play at the base — perhaps too much play — than you will really like thie Madcatz Gamestick. If you’re more toward having a closer to arcade feel stick then look around for sometihng else. Grade: C-
Day 3 of the navel gazing continues and this time I’m really digging the dirt by sharing what’s happening in my garden. Warning: there is some serious birds and bees action happening in today’s Hmmcast. Safe for work? Yes, but barely! Watch out for the poison ivy!
Mentioned in the Hmmcast
- The Firefox add-on Search Status new version 1.19 is useful for seeing the rankings of not only your own sites but third party sites for Google (green), Alexa (blue) and now Compete (fuschia) too.
Behind Hmmcast #116
Today’s episode didn’t didn’t quite make the 4:20pm launch time although the timestamp reads 4:20 for continuity, just FYI. I’ll be updating with a third party video viewer (Google Video or YouTube) as soon as that is processed. In the meantime, you can download the mp4 with the link at the top of the post.
One of the traffic building tips I’ve shared a few times is that bloggers should sign up for and try out at least 5 new sites/services/programs every day. The following are links to what I’ve checked out today. The links lead to the signup/registration page is used where possible and I’ve also shared where and how I’m using or thinking of using the service/product in brackets [sitename and/or purpose].
Add to your website(s) LineBuzz.com - add inline comments to your blog. We started testing already [VTOReality.com] and early comments bring out a disappointment that the comments aren’t stored locally and that any changes to the post (even a spelling correction) will wipe out all comments. The nice thing about this service for sites looking for more exposure is that any comment pushes your site to the top of the LineBuzz homepage.
Quantcast - third party tracking code, JavaScript to track traffic stats. After yesterday’s Hmmcast, the VP of Quantcast Mark Schulze dropped me an email. Said he’d like to talk to me on the phone today. Right on, call away, Mark. Chitika eminimalls - applied for advertising network with eMinimalls and will run non-contextual and if that goes well maybe try them in place of Adsense for a trial. Chitika has been around long enough now that we’re willing to give their program a chance (for those who remember my prior comments, time can bring an affiliate program more credibility). Chitika approved us before this post was done and now we’re contemplating a good place to place the eMiniMalls. [non-contextual trial]
Developer-related The Astrologer API - receive daily horoscopes through REST API (docs). My wife is a bigger horoscope junkie than me, but I’ll admit enjoying seeing how Libra fares for the day. This API gives me a few ideas. 5,000 max queries a day. [possible plugin or widget]
Downloads
[Xbox 360 Live] Aegis Wing - Free side scrolling arcade game today on Xbox Live, go get it! There has only been one other free arcade game on Xbox Live that I’m aware of (Texas Hold ‘em Poker was the other). Our family loves Xbox Live Wednesdays!
Halo 3 is hitting store shelves September 25, 2007. Limited beta testing for those who own (or have rented) the game Crackdown starts today and will last a couple weeks.
Learned via email this morning that a new special edition Zune coming out June 15 and Gamestop is taking preorders for $249.99.
Long time readers already know I’m not among the Zune bashing crowd. On launch day I bought the brown Zune and was willing to give it a chance. I liked it and while I don’t have an active Zune pass any more (just canceled last month), I still like it. Still don’t listen to it very much though, but I didn’t listen to my wife’s iPod either. Most of the time I listen to music I’m either in the car listening to MP3 (our car plays CDs with mp3 on them) or in front of my computer listening to iTunes or Zune through the Windows. I don’t care for earbuds or headphones from a comfort standpoint and also convenience because I need to use the phone here and there. So a portable device — any portable device — isn’t going to get much usage from me. As a portable device goes the Zune does most things I’d like it to do.
Do I wish the Zune had games on it like the iPod 5G? Sure. Do I think the whole “squirting” tunes thing is lame? Yes. I also think it’s a little strange that Microsoft is making a Halo 3 special edition Zune when they don’t have games on the Zune, but special editions, colors, shapes and sizes and have been a marketing boom for other portable device companies (Gameboy, iPod).
Would be nice to see some sort of Zune and Xbox 360 interaction beyond a special edition style.
I’ve been getting a lot of enjoyment out of the Xbox 360 Elite with Xbox Live and yesterday finally put the first game in the disc tray. Until then it’s been strictly Live Arcade games. The chosen game? Viva Piñata by Rare, the company who made one of my favorite games of all time: Donkey Kong Country.
You start with a garden full of junk and the goal is to turn it into a thriving garden filled with different candy-filled creatures called Piñatas. What I thought would be 15-30 minutes of playing around turned into a couple hours tweaking and retweaking my garden, this is almost as involved as an MMORPG. I went through emotions thinking the game was silly and stupid to interesting to fun. At the end of my gaming session yesterday I’d been deeded additional land space for a bigger garden and garnered six achievements.
This morning I checked out the Viva Piñata website and downloaded the emoticons. Anybody else been bitten by Viva Piñatas?
Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere. Time for me to take the mother in our family out for awhile. See you on the other side.
