01
Dec
09

Threecast Episode 51!

I hope you all cleared your schedules for the week, because this podcast clocks in at just a shade under six hours, folks. Wait, did I say six? I meant two. Now that we’ve cleared that up, grandma dishwasher gatorade duct tape. No one ever reads this.

This week is all about Assassin’s Creed II, Star Trek, Left 4 Dead 2, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and our much-disputed Top 25 Games of this Generation list.

Musical Guest: Sigur Rós

Subscribe via iTunes
Download the .m4a file directly. (with pretty pictures)
Download the .mp3 file directly. (just the audio)
Listen streaming:

01
Dec
09

Cheapskate: Gamefly Deals, Today Only


via CheapAssGamer

Gamefly is selling a few used games for some great prices today only. I picked up both Riddick for the 360 and Killzone 2. Riddick is selling for $25 at GameStop and Killzone 2 is going for $30 on half.com, which makes the prices below quite the deal.

Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena $9.99 (X360/PS3)
Silent Hill: Homecoming $9.99 (X360/PS3)
Call of Duty: World at War $19.99 (X360)
Resistance 2 $17.99 (PS3)
Killzone 2 $17.99 (PS3)

30
Nov
09

Pictures: You Sneaky F—ing Russian

Via TMBO

30
Nov
09

Threevue.com’s Top 25 Xbox 360/PS3 Games List

From the outside, this may seem like just an innocent list of our top 25 Xbox 360 and PS3 games so far, but behind the scenes at the Threevue HQ, putting this list together almost tore our family apart. Screaming and yelling, alliances bound and broken, dozens of passive-aggressive emails, and more hair pulling than a Ricky Martin concert. But, after all that, we present you with this: the final, definitive, last stop, nothing else matters, get-on-your-bikes-and-ride list of our top games of this console generation (what’s a Wii?).

Here’s how we got here. Each of us submitted our individual top 25’s, added them up according the reverse numerical order in which we ranked them (#1 = 25 points, #2 = 24 points, and so on), and crowned the highest scorer as champion. So here you are. Read them. Digest them. Enjoy them. But above all, agree with them.


25. Assassin’s Creed 2 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2009)
Assassin’s Creed 2 proves what the original promised, as well as fixes its shortcomings. Actually, I would say it is the biggest improver of this generation. Every facet of gameplay has been retooled to make it easier for you to become that deadly assassin, serving dish after dish of cold revenge. (Giang)


24. Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360, 2008)
4 survivors – thousands of zombies. With the Left 4 Dead series Valve has made the best zombie games to date. The common misconception about L4D is that you can just blast your way through the game without regard for ammo or allies, but on the harder difficulties players see that it takes just as much strategy as any military FPS to successfully make it to the safe-houses. All of this along with the revolutionary A.I. Director make for a game that will no doubt be emulated far into the future. (Tyler)


23. Call of Duty 3 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2006)
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: Call of Duty 3 got an undeserved bad rap. This came out when people were starting to figure out the differences between Treyarch and Infinity Ward, and because it came from the former, it didn’t get its full respects. I loved it simply for the fact that it had split-screen online multiplayer, which is something we haven’t seen in a COD since. (Mark)


22. Mirror’s Edge (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
Coming in on the heels of a game like Portal, Mirror’s Edge was the right game at the right time for all of us out there who knew there could be more to the FPS genre than headshots and sticky grenades. Not that there is anything wrong with those games, Mirror’s Edge just broke out of the rut by being a game where you needed to outrun instead of outgun. The gorgeous visual style and the fresh, addictive, time-sensitive puzzler nature of the title earn it a place on our list. (Tyler)


21. LittleBigPlanet (PS3, 2008)
This is most probably the cutest game ever made. You play as this adorable Sackboy in these beautifully and meticulously created levels. You can also create your own beautiful and meticulous levels with the fully-abled level editor. You then have the ability to share those beautiful levels and play with your adorable Sackboy friends. It’s a small, small patchwork world, where everything is miraculously held together by string and glue and Stephen Fry is the voice of God. (Giang)


20. Halo 3 (Xbox 360, 2007)
Rounding out our top 20 is Halo 3, the game that fans love to love and everyone else loves to hate the fans. All bickering aside, this is a polished FPS with a butt-ton of features, even if we couldn’t figure out the storyline. To this day, it’s one of the most fully featured games available and easily worth its admission price. (Russ)


19. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3, 2008)
Metal Gear Solid 4 closes out the story of Solid Snake in true this-gen fashion: more graphics, more gadgets, and more awkward localization. This is a game only fans of the previous games can truly appreciate, and being that we’re all fans of the previous games, it worked out just fine for us. In the end, it never addressed some of the fundamental issues with the series, which we both respected and were annoyed by, and we can’t wait to see what Hideo Kojima works on next. (Russ)


18. Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
Another modern-day war FPS which provides an alternative to Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.  Whilst this game has a solid – and humorous – solo campaign, the real draw is the multiplayer, which despite only having  two different game modes, is deceptively deep and extremely replayable. (Steve)


17. Battlefield 1943 (XBLA/PSN, 2009)
The arrival of BF:1943 was like someone had gone into my brain, learned exactly what kind of game I wanted, took out a few features I was hoping for, and sold it to me at a reasonable price: a download-only, multiplayer FPS for only $15. I feel a few more maps, weapons, and features would have put it a little higher on our list, but I still love it for what it is. (Mark)


16. Call of Duty 2 (Xbox 360, 2005)
Call of Duty 2 was that first “wow, so THIS is next-gen” moment for a lot of us here at Threevue, and it still holds up well as a solid WWII FPS four years after its release. I think we all most fondly remember the blistering difficulty of playing through the campaign on Veteran and the sweltering sense of satisfaction with every reached checkpoint. Hell, I’ve still got half the game to finish on Veteran, and I’m looking forward to the pain/elation it’ll bring. (Russ)


15. Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
A racing game for people who hate racing games.  Burnout Paradise is a robust, well-featured, open-world arcade racer with tight, responsive controls that make it as appealing to newcomers as it is to veterans.  This game combines a beefy single-player component, a ridiculous (both in terms of scope and imagination) online experience, a (mostly) friendly, teamwork orientated community, and a ton of DLC - a significant amount of which is free! (Steve)


14. Peggle (XBLA/PSN, 2009)
Peggle was #3 on my personal list, a frankly, I’m disappointed to see it drop all the way down to #14 on this one. Everything about this game was just pure fun, it made me feel good when I played it, and the addition of online multiplayer made it infinitely replayable. I love you, Peggle! (Mark)


13. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3, 2007)
This is a game that has a spirit and exuberance that you don’t find in many games these days. You just can’t help but fall for the dreamy Nathan Drake and get caught up in his escapade for his ancestor’s treasure. Along the way you encounter the roller coaster of any classic adventure movie, but the game escapes any clichés. There may be a thousand pirates standing in your way but that’s not going to stop you from playing this through and through. (Giang)


12. Dead Space (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
Personally, I had Dead Space a few spots lower on my list, but that’s not to say it doesn’t deserve to be much higher. This game looked beautiful, was terrifying, and gave us all we ever wanted out of a good third-person survival horror game: the ability to move and shoot. I think if we all went back and played this now, it would be higher on the list. (Mark)


11. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
GTA IV came out in the middle of a crazy year of crazy-good games, and was subsequently buried on most GOTY lists. I think there was a lot of backlash after this game came out for being “just another GTA” when we were expecting so much more from all the hype (it got more perfect 10’s than Larry Flynt). When I really think back to playing, though, I remember that it was a huge, very well made game, and probably better than it gets credit for. (Mark)


10. Mass Effect (Xbox 360, 2007)
Whilst Mass Effect may not have been the first FPS/RPG hybrid in existence, it certainly strove to revolutionise the genre when it released.  It may not have been perfect, but Mass Effect’s real strengths lay in its compelling story, its in-depth dialogue system, haunting moral quandries, and its convincing, well-realised universe. (Steve)


9. Rock Band 1&2 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007/2008)
The Rock Band series is less a video game and more a music experience – its balanced implementation of four different instruments offer everything from a DIY drum training module to the perfect excuse to party with music-minded friends and a little sauce. And with its constant stream of DLC (1,000 songs and counting), it’s the gift that keeps on giving. (Russ)


8. Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007)
When I hear someone say that there is no more originality in today’s games, I point them directly to Assassin’s Creed. This game was so unique on so many levels that most people were able to overlook the negative components, like the flags, repetition of missions, and the goddamned horse riding. (Mark)


7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2009)
COD:MW2 took everything that we love about the first Modern Warfare and cranked it up to 11. The multiplayer specifically was beefed up, and even the single player was taken to a higher level of radness that I didn’t know existed. I gave general preference to the first games of a series in my personal list, though, and part one came out a few spots above. (Mark)


6. Braid (XBLA/PSN, 2008/2009)
Just when the deluge of games that were “gritty”,”real” and “X-treme” was reaching the tipping point, gamers everywhere were treated to one of the sweetest, most compound and refreshing games to come along in years. Without much heralding, Braid made its way on to the 360 and instantly earned its place in the hearts of every gamer. From the first tutorial level to the twist ending, Braid provided a perfectly paced, thoroughly enjoyable game vignette about a boy, a girl and temporal manipulation. (Tyler)


5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007)
Like I said, generally I gave preference to part 1’s instead of part 2’s in my list, because I believe that even though later games may be technically advanced, they wouldn’t be where they are without their father games. Saying that, COD4:MW changed the way we look at military FPS’s. After this game, there was no excuse for any more crap on store shelves. Single and mulitplayer, this was revolution in game design. (Mark)


4. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3, 2009)
Uncharted 2 is just as good, if not better, than most Hollywood action movies. It has the good-looking leading man; the chase sequences that will leave you exhausted in your couch; the unfolding history/anthropological/archaeological mystery and even the femme fatale. A great deal of it lends to the superb voice-acting and motion capture, injecting so much chemistry with every line (and in-between) and its graphical accomplishments. There are so many nuances about this game, but they all culminate into an engaging, polished and very fun adventure. (Giang)


3. BioShock (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007/2008)
This is a game where everything in the world works in such unison and grace (the Art Deco architecture, the radio sound bites, the demented populace)  that it becomes so credible and convincing. At the time of its release, Bioshock was one of the best looking games around, and will continue to be due to its unique style and gusto. Of course there are the solid gameplay mechanics at its core, but it’s everything else that has been perfectly curated and designed (by a mastermind/madman) that will engage you from start to finish. Its story told will be one for the ages. (Giang)


2. The Orange Box (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007)
I am still, to this day, amazed by the amount of A+ content in the Orange Box. Half-Life 2 alone has a metacritic score of 96, yet coupled with it you get the mind-bending Portal (90), Team Fortress 2 (92) and both the Episodes for Half-Life 2. (E1-87, E2- 90). For only $60 you can get your hands on arguably one of the best FPS experiences in history, a deep puzzler that breaks all convention and one of the premier team-based, multiplayer shooters anywhere. I’ve said before, there are few companies out there that I implicitly trust, but Valve is definitely one of them. (Tyler)


1. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
Fallout 3 is compelling; so much so, that it should come with a health warning.  In much the same way that World of Warcraft and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion have virtually destroyed peoples’ social lives, Fallout 3 will draw you in with its vast, open world, charm you with its deeply black humour and memorable characters, and snare you with its promises of XP and loot.  And the worst part?  You’ll be too busy exploring, finishing quests, and exploding heads to notice or even care. (Steve)

Honorable Mentions: (most-voted to least-voted)
BATTLEFIELD 2: MODERN COMBAT, BEATLES ROCK BAND, PORTAL: STILL ALIVE, WIPEOUT HD, PIXELJUNK EDEN, GEARS OF WAR, GEARS OF WAR 2, GUITAR HERO 2, STREET FIGHTER 4, RATCHET AND CLANK FUTURE: TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION, SHADOW COMPLEX, ‘SPLOSION MAN, ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION, BRUTAL LEGEND, CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR, FLOWER, BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM, FAR CRY 2, INFAMOUS, PUZZLE QUEST: CHALLENGE OF THE WARLORDS, DEAD RISING, TALES OF VESPERIA, GEOMETRY WARS 2, VALKYRA CHRONICLES, BORDERLANDS, CRACKDOWN, FAT PRINCESS, PRINCE OF PERSIA, RED FACTION: GUERILLA, RESIDENT EVIL 5, PACMAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION, THE SIMPSONS, HEAVENLY SWORD, MONKEY ISLAND SPECIAL EDITION, STAR WARS: FORCE UNLEASHED, GHOSTBUSTERS, KING KONG,
PIXELJUNK MONSTERS, TRIALS HD

Continue reading ‘Threevue.com’s Top 25 Xbox 360/PS3 Games List’

28
Nov
09

Don’t buy me (or anyone) an eBook reader for Xmas


MacWorld has an interesting article that details seven reasons why an eBook reader is a lousy gift. Some of the points are that Apple will inevitably release a tablet PC and render eBook readers (and netbooks) useless, that everyone that wanted one already has one, and that they aren’t discounted enough. Most importantly, you can use an iPhone for reading eBooks; hell, it even has a free Amazon Kindle app.

I just thought it was ironic that an electronics-minded website was telling people not to buy electronics.

28
Nov
09

Threevue Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Giang:
The original Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare quickly became the pinnacle of the FPS genre. Its inevitable sequel, while arriving in a midst of anticipation, expectation and a little controversy, delivers a package that packs a punch and is a blast to play. The campaign may tangle itself under its own narrative but improvements to multiplayer and the addition of Spec-Ops should resonate to the masses.

Going through single-player is an engrossing experience for many reasons. Gunplay is as smooth and rewarding as ever, allowing enemies to be dealt with utmost efficiency. The game looks beautiful at being horrific and the persistent sound of war coupled with a sweeping soundtrack underscores the authentic blockbuster experience. Modern Warfare 2 constantly emphasizes spectacle rather than emergent gameplay, which is probably my biggest gripe with the game. Mission briefing screens are convoluted and an inelegant narrative device. When their purpose is to string missions together into a single narrative thread, they fall flat and conversations go over your head. You’re quickly dropped into the field ready for your mission at hand. A little story telling could have gone a long way here, but the game seems intent on delivering you nonstop conflicts.

The finesse and subtlety of the original Modern Warfare is gone and is replaced by a constant bombardment of frenetic action. While that’s great for your eyeballs, the game doesn’t quite reach the emotional zenith that the first game had. You can throw out the idea of plausibility because you’re constantly making these leaps of logic around the plot holes. A lot of it has to do with the pacing – it’s intense and turbulent, oftentimes on the brink of manic. It’s unfortunate that the game happily puts you in the backseat as the constant observer. There’s a distinct disconnect between your avatar and your surroundings and it’s a rare occurrence that you feel that you’re interacting with the environment – unless you count shooting at it. Case in point – the “No Russian” level. They build up the idea that you’re sacrificing a part of yourself to do this horrible deed, when in reality you have no idea who this character is and never will. The scene hits at a gut instinct level but will always feel incongruous to the main story and shallow in execution.

Multiplayer hasn’t been revamped by any means, but refined to make it more accessible, more strategic and essentially more satisfying. If you have a strong partner who is willing to communicate and work as a team, Spec-Ops is a uniquely fun experience. I’m glad Infinity Ward didn’t opt for another take on Hoard mode as the variety of gameplay and level of tactical engagement is a fine example of Infinity Ward’s skill as a level creator. Classic multiplayer has been restructured to give you plenty of load-outs – in terms of weapons and perks. All these changes lead to a very customisable experience and a more varied battlefield.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a force to be reckoned with. Its aggressive single player campaign may leave you dazed and confused, but where it deserves most praise lies in its unrivaled multiplayer. This game will have you playing for a very long time – at least until the next Modern Warfare hits.

91/100

Mark:
At their very core, game reviews should answer the following question: “Should I buy this game?” For COD:MW2, the answer yes, you should…and no, you shouldn’t.

There is no doubt that this is an amazing game. It looks great, it plays great, it feels great, and there is very little that is actually wrong with it. The single player is an intense campaign that sheds the fat of all the military FPS’s before it, and inserts you directly into the heart of the beast. However, a single playthrough yields only about 6-8 hours of game time with little replay value. The multiplayer is almost RPG-ish in its depth and customizeability (new word, just go with it), and offers a vast array of intense battles, and for who is into that sort of thing (me), has endless replayability (two new words invented in one sentence. I feel ol’ Bill Shakespeare).

So, the only way to get a full $60 worth out of this game is to be able to dedicate at a minimum 20 hours to the multiplayer, and even then you are barely scratching the surface of what’s available. If you’re not prepared to do that, save yourself fifty bucks and rent it, because it is definitely worth experiencing at least once. Whichever you decide to do, just make sure you play that damned thing. It’s great.

97/100

Russ:
Two weeks into this game, and the only thing I can think of is the fact that I hope they don’t come out with another Call of Duty game for three years. There is a two-year gap between Modern Warfares, and in that time Infinity Ward was able to make a too-short, too-shallow, epic singleplayer game, an excellent new co-op feature (Special Ops) and the best FPS multiplayer game I’ve experienced.

There are a lot of issues with the single player, but it boils down to just one false idea: that a great story comes secondary to great gaming moments. The singleplayer element of this game feels like it was pieced together after they had decided on all its climatic scenes, leaving the player shouting, “That was awesome! What’s happening!?!” more often than not. More development time and some help with the writing could go a long way, and I think that enough of the fans’ cries about the shallow storytelling will go a long way over at Infinity Ward’s offices.

When it comes down to it, few games can receive the praise of being a solid experience without any “buts”. BioShock was incredible but it was too short. Halo 3 was fun and had a lot of content but it also suffered from a loosely concocted (and confusing) storyline. Braid lacked multiplayer (just kidding, that game was nearly perfect). When it comes down to it, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 falls into that same trap, but its highs seem so much higher than its lows that I’m willing to forgive it, just like many games before. I was hesitant to give this game the same chance I’d given Call of Duty 4 (what can I say, I’ve disliked every Treyarch-produced Call of Duty and the whole thing has left me a little bitter), but I’m glad it turned out so freaking fun.

95/100

Steve:
If you read our impressions piece, you already know that our initial thoughts on Modern Warfare 2 were really quite positive.  Have my thoughts changed after finishing the solo campaign and spending more time with the multiplayer?  The answer to that question, is yes.  And no.

This contradiction indicates the kind of confusion I felt after playing Modern Warfare 2.  On one hand, the games set-pieces are stunning, leaving you with that ”oh my god I can’t believe I just did that!” feeling of exhilaration, yet the story itself is confusing, muddled, and a little bit silly.  Some sections of the game pair you up with an NPC partner to covertly take down entire groups of enemies, which makes you feel both tactical and powerful.  However, other sections leave you on your own with little indication as to how to reach your next objective, which forces you to resort to trial and error.  This usually results in multiple unfair deaths; dying repeatedly because you don’t know what you’re supposed to do makes you feel less like special-ops, and more like special-ed.

This confusion even extends to the multiplayer, which, whilst still addictive, and definitely the games biggest selling point, is still as unbalanced towards novices as Call Of Duty 4 was, and doesn’t bring a whole lot of new features to the table; whilst the new maps help to keep things feeling fresh, there are a couple of which are flat, empty, and devoid of any real distinguishable features, which makes them almost no fun to play.

However, these are all relatively minor gripes, and whilst I have a few small problems with the game, I certainly have no major objections with it.  Whilst I think it’s possibly fair to say that Modern Warfare 2 isn’t quite as good as it could have been, it’s also fair to say that it’s still a great game, it’s still far better than most of its competition, and the multiplayer is definitely going to keep me coming back for a long time to come.

91/100

Tyler:
Can you imagine what an amazing place Infinity Ward was in just before launching CODMW2? The last COD4: MW was a run-away success and that momentum (read: money) could do nothing but make their next game better– so long as they follow along the same lines as the last title. But what it seems like IW did was follow a little too close to the beaten path this time around, inevitably reaching the end of the road and stepping in the same pile of “slow motion,not-really-a-quick-time-event-but-kinda-sorta-is, only time for one more last-ditch effort to kill the bad guy”. There were too many times (twice) in this game where I actually had to ask myself, “Wait, am I playing a level from COD4?”. This is mainly the fault of the guns-before-narrative nature of the COD game-line, illustrated perfectly by the lazy use of loading screen voice overs for plot progression.

But what do we really care about? Where will you be spending the vast majority of your time with this game? That’s right– online. The complaints I had about the multiplayer side of Modern Warfare have all been addressed in one way or another with MW2. Split-screen co-op has been givin in a round-about way with Spec-Ops splitscreen. The general clutter of the HUD has been clean up considerably for the online matches giving a very clear frame in which to display the ’splosions. Extreme Rapings happen far less with the implementation of death perks and the rebalanced array of regular perks.  More levels, guns, teams, equipment… the hit it out of the park in respect to multiplayer. That’s it… man, I hate going last, all the good talking points are taken.

92/100

28
Nov
09

The Good, The Bad And The Cosplay – Captain Price Edition


It is now a well established fact, accepted the world over, that Captain John Price is the baddest motherfucker that ever was.

  • I heard that Genghis Khan used to wake up from nightmares in a cold sweat shouting, “NO PRICE, NO!”.
  • I heard the French market chain “Monoprix*” was named after Price gave every woman in Paris mono from a month-long makeout sesh.
  • I heard the original monologue for the MW1 teaser was “50,000 people used to live here… then Price showed up.”
  • I heard Vincent Price was going to turn down doing the voiceover for Michael Jackson’s Thriller until he got a call from Captain Price telling him “Dewwit. Wot koind ofeh moppet ah yough?”
  • I heard that Price wasn’t in the gulag with the Sptetsnaz…. the Spetsnaz were in the gulag with Price.

That being said, I have a hard time even looking at the above picture of some girl dressed up as England’s greatest hero without puking all over my laptop in disgust. How dare anyone attempt to copy the swagger of C.J.P.?

I don’t even think I need to fully critique (Price invented the word critique, btw. Look it up.) this attempt so I’ll just put up this picture of Captain Price eating the Kremlin.

What do you folks think?

*prix means Price in French.

28
Nov
09

Okay world, you have 22 hours to convince me not to buy City of Heroes


Steam is selling City of Heroes Architect Edition (which includes City of Villains) for $10. The sale ends in about 22 hours. Should I try it out? I’ve never played an MMO anything, and it looks like something to try for a bit. Apparently the game’s site offers a free 14-day trial, so that may be a better bet.

I don’t think I’ll really like it that much, but I’d feel better making fun of MMOs if I had actually tried one out first.

27
Nov
09

No More Heroes: More Heroes Edition!

As reported recently on Joystiq,  former Wii exclusive No More Heroes is currently receiving an HD makeover so it can be ported to the Xbox 360 and PS3.  The port, entitled No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise, is set to release on both platforms sometime in 2010.  After seeing some of the screenshots, it’s difficult to deny that the game looks good in HD, especially given how grainy and jaggy (albeit deliberately) the Wii’s visuals were.  However, is porting this game to the Xbox 360 and PS3 really necessary?

Given how poor the sales figures have been for most recent hardcore Wii titles, there is definitely logic behind this idea; to create a relatively inexpensive port of a well received game, in order to bring the game to a much wider, and more receptive, audience.  However, this idea seems flawed, in that the type of gamer interested in this probably already owns a Wii, and so has probably already bought or played the game.

Also, part of what set No More Heroes apart from the crowd on Wii was the inclusion of motion controls.  Without them, No More Heroes is essentially a button-masher; whilst these may be rare on Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 users already have far better examples of this genre available to them.  As such, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand who publisher Marvelous are trying to target with this game.

26
Nov
09

Big Black Friday With Pearly White Savings


Pretty much every store in existence that has something to do with video games, brick-and-mortar or otherwise, is having some big-time Black Friday deals starting tomorrow morning. I, for one, have enough games to last me for the next few months, so I don’t think I’m going to be standing in line outside GameStop at 6am (although, Ben 10: Alien Force for the DS is only $9.99…).

I will tell you, however, that if you still don’t have a PS3 and have maybe been waiting for a better deal to pick one up, your wait is over. GameStop’s PS3 bundle comes with a 120gb Slim, and three awesome games: LittleBigPlanet, and God of War 1 and 2 for only $299. You can’t beat that with even the largest of beating sticks.

So hows about it? Anybody taking advantage of some sales? Don’t forget that online retailers and download sites like Steam are offering some major discountages, too.

26
Nov
09

Happy Thanksgiving!


Enjoy your Turkey!

25
Nov
09

Found Sound: Pinback


It’s not often that I’m dead wrong when it comes to my gut instinct about music. I’m a snobby motherfucker most of the time, and I know what I like and what I won’t like. And for some reason, I got it in my head that the band Pinback wasn’t for me, even though some of their first releases were on a record label I deeply respect (Absolutely Kosher Records) and they’ve always received favorable reviews.

It wasn’t until the other day that I even gave them a shot, and I was surprised and annoyed by how much I liked them. I didn’t expect catchy music; in fact, somehow from seeing the Offcell EP cover about six years ago I had surmised they were a math rock band (you know, because the cover has a graph on it!) and figured they made lo-fi, angular and dissonant music, which is the exact opposite of the truth. Their songs have a distinctive aura of progression about them, while still maintaining a comfortable, catchy quality to every track. Overall, the songs remind me of a young, mopey Death Cab For Cutie. I was mostly annoyed because now I have like six albums to go through. So far, I’ve liked nearly everything I’ve heard, and the only time I reach for the “skip” button is when they make something super-poppy with fake drums, which is probably 10% of the time.

All I can say is that I’m dumb, and shouldn’t jump to conclusions with music so much. Then again, being skeptical has saved me from making some horrible purchases as well, so who knows.

25
Nov
09

Gadgetronic: Netgear XAVB101 Powerline Ethernet Adapter Kit


Great in theory, shitty in practice.

I bought the Netgear XAVB101 Powerline Ethernet Adapter Kit based on what someone had told me – that you connect one of the adapters to your router and plug it into the wall, and then plug the other one into the wall somewhere else in the house and then into your computer and BAM! you’ve got a 200mbps, secure LAN without any wires strewn across the house. Bet you didn’t know you could route the internet through your electrical system, huh? You can connect up to 16 adapters in one house, which means you could have super-fast gaming (it doesn’t require drivers, so it would work on the Xbox 360 and PS3) as well as internet downloads aplenty. The only thing stopping you would be your internet speed.

I picked this kit up because I thought it would be a great way to secure my iMac and keep the internet blazingly fast. On wireless, I was getting pretty good speeds, but not quite at what my ISP says I should be getting. After setting everything up, I tested the internet speed, and it was 1/3 the speed of my wireless LAN. I don’t know if it has to do with my house’s electrical wiring, but needless to say I was disappointed and took the thing back. Hopefully others will have better luck with it than me, but as it stands I can’t recommend it to anyone.

25
Nov
09

…Once More With Feeling!

Almost as if coming out in sympathy with my crazed Twitter account and my broken Xbox, my iPod has also decided that it has had enough, and has decided that now would be a great time to die.  I, unlike Russ, didn’t opt for the extended warranty on it, so it looks like I’ll be paying for the repairs myself.  Sigh!

Throughout this whole debacle, the one question I’m left with is; why does technology hate me so much?

24
Nov
09

Threecast Episode 50! Whoa!


Last podcast before Thanksgiving, people. We here at Threevue would be honored if you would think of our podcast when you fade in to a food coma this holiday. Just plug those earbuds in to block out the violent arguing of your family as you slip in to the blissful slumber oblivion… What, is that just my house?

This week is all about Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, God of War Collection, The Prisoner, Dolphin Olympics 2, and Steamy games.

Musical Guest: Grandaddy

Subscribe via iTunes
Download the .m4a file directly. (with pretty pictures)
Download the .mp3 file directly. (just the audio)
Listen streaming:




Archives

meet the staff:


Mark Hill:
Russ Crandall:
Tyler Miller:
Steve McKay:
Giang Cao:

RSS our tweets

  • An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.

People like us. We have

  • 321,254 visits

this many people are totally into threevue.com right now:




web tracker

official threevue twitter