Xbox 360 Fanboy

Welcome to the first installment of Ask X3F in the year 2009. We'd like to tell you it's extra special because its the first one of the year, but it's totally not! Nope, It's completely ordinary and mundane. All we do in answer some questions as best as we can. Nothing special about that. Still, if you insist on reading it, you should know that we discuss VGA backwards compatibility problems, Saints Row 2 issues, Faith and a .45, and an assortment of other random topics. Click forth and read like it's 2009. Because, well, it is.

Got a question for Ask X3F? Maybe you have a story or some information you'd like to share? Send it all to ask [att] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.

Happy New Year, fanboys, and happy first Xbox 360 Fancast of the year 2009. We thought we'd start off the new year by catching up on some fanmail, so that's exactly what we did. Yup, this show is nothing but fanmail. Gasp, as we discover that Canada does in fact have 1-2 flush toilets. Thrill, as we discuss hackneyed gaming conventions. Become confused as we discuss the mysterious pleasure of creating spreadsheets. It's all in this week's episode. Download ... and discover.

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Hosts: Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM), Dustin Burg (SuperDunners), Alexander Sliwinski (Sli Xander)

Produced by Richard Mitchell

Music: Intro/Outro: "Electromooq" by Uma Floresta, "She Won't Look at Me" by The Simple Carnival.

For fans: Xbox 360 Fancast Facebook group

It's totally 2009, fanboys! Happy New Year and such! We're all off enjoying the festivities of a new year. More specifically, we finally have time to play all the games we just haven't gotten around to. Well, most of us, anyway. Read on to see what we're all playing at Fanboy Towers. As always, don't forget to tell us what you're playing in the comments.

Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM): I picked up both The Club and Virtua Fighter 5 for $15 (thanks Blockbuster 2-for-1 sale!), so I'll hopefully be spending some time with those. I'm also digging into Mega Man 9, which is as tough as nails but wonderful. I got a chance to play Little Big Planet, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I'm also just starting Far Cry 2. One of its playable characters is from my hometown, Tulsa, Oklahoma, so I'm assuming it's the best game ever. One of these days, I'm determined to beat the last level of Bionic Commando: Rearmed on the highest difficulty level.

Dustin Burg (SuperDunners): Dustin is off gallivanting about or some such, so let's just say he's playing Gears of War 2.

Xav de Matos (Snypz): It's been (nearly) nothing but a Fallout 3 marathon for me while I spend some more quality time with my pick for Game of the Year. The only other game that's spinning in my 360 is Call of Duty: World at War, which I'm finally getting around to. Might go back to Gears 2 to finish Horde ... can't go wrong with a game where a gun 'what-got-a-chainsaw' on it -- well, most of the time.

Leaderboards:
Xbox 360 Fanboy Leaderboard
Xbox 360 Fanboy Leaderboard Mk. II

What were you playing? (WRUP archive)

The last XBLA game we will receive in 2008 is Merv Griffin's Crosswords. We're not exactly sure what to make of that, honestly. Hopefully, you can figure out what to make of it by watching our latest installment of XBLA in Brief. Whatever you think of this week's offering, just remember that an entirely new year of Xbox Live Arcade goodness begins tomorrow. Here's hoping 2009 is even better.

Download the trial version of Merv Griffrin's Crosswords from Marketplace.

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[M4V] Download the M4V directly.

In less than a week over 100,000 votes have been tallied across all 15 categories to vote for your favorites and most hated titles of 2008. Some surprises are in store and tears may be shed but in the end we will look back fondly at 2008. It was the year that reignited our fear of the zombie apocalypse, Cliff Bleszinski became a man, X3F TV exploded and everyone disagreed about Mirror's Edge.

Oh, 2008 you will be missed and 2009 you sure have your work cut out for you!

Ask X3F returns this week with a new batch of questions sent in by you, our loyal, information starved readers. This week, we've got questions about the Xbox 360's power usage (hint: it's a lot), rhythm game instrument compatibility, and yet another email about the profoundly bad behavior found on Xbox Live. We've also got some new info for folks out there looking for good splitscreen games, which we were asked about last week. Click onward and enjoy.

Got a question for Ask X3F? Maybe you have a story or some information you'd like to share? Send it all to ask [att] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.

Update: Voting is now closed for the reader Game of the Year poll. Results will be revealed on December 30 in the afternoon.

Have you voted? You haven't?! C'mon, you don't even need to register for this vote! By now you've already seen our top games of the year and tomorrow we'll reveal your picks. Voting ends at 12:01am EST on December 30 -- which is really soon (according to our watches).

As a quick recap here are our picks for Game of the Year:

Richard
XBLA Game of the Year -- Braid
Xbox 360 Game of the Year -- Left 4 Dead

Dustin
XBLA Game of the Year -- Geometry Wars 2
Xbox 360 Game of the Year -- Gears of War 2

Xav
XBLA Game of the Year -- Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Xbox 360 Game of the Year -- Fallout 3

This is it, folks. This is the last Xbox 360 Fancast of 2008. The next time you listen to a new show, it will be the future. Being that this is the last show of the year, we're discussing our picks for the best and worst of 2008 (our official picks are up on X3F proper now as well). Hear us claim our winners (and argue about Castle Crashers) by downloading the latest episode below.

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in Zune Marketplace (MP3).
[RSS MP3] Add the Xbox 360 Fanboy Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[AAC] Download the enhanced AAC directly.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Hosts: Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM), Dustin Burg (SuperDunners), Alexander Sliwinski (Sli Xander), Xav de Matos (Snypz)

Produced by Richard Mitchell

Music: Intro/Outro: "Electromooq" by Uma Floresta, "Black Pepper" by Little Plastic Stars.

For fans: Xbox 360 Fancast Facebook group

Another year has come and gone bringing with it a pile of quality titles. Instead of throwing the three staffers here at X3F into a room without food or water until we agreed on one absolute game of the year winner, we've opted to pick our own individual favorites. What stood out to the staff of X3F? Here are our picks for best (and even some of the worst) of 2008.

Another year has come and gone bringing with it a pile of quality titles. Instead of throwing the three staffers here at X3F into a room without food or water until we agreed on one absolute game of the year winner, we've opted to pick our own individual favorites. What stood out to the staff of X3F? Here are our picks for best (and even some of the worst) of 2008.

Another year has come and gone bringing with it a pile of quality titles. Instead of throwing the three staffers here at X3F into a room without food or water until we agreed on one absolute game of the year winner, we've opted to pick our own individual favorites. What stood out to the staff of X3F? Here are our picks for best (and even some of the worst) of 2008.

It's the end of the year and everyone has disappeared! Richard is off with family and Dustin is plowing through marathons of Gears of War 2 and the like. Taking over for this week's super late edition of WRUP, due to our rad FanPoll'08 end of the year fan voting feature, I'm stuck guessing what everyone is playing. And here ... we ... go ...

Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM): When last we spoke, Richard was addicted to Team Fortress 2 and Peggle on his Mac via CrossOver Games. According to Xbox.com the last Xbox 360 game he played was The Force Unleashed ... wait, maybe he isn't with family. Maybe playing the latest Star Wars travesty made Richard turn to a life of crime and now he's on the run. Yes, it's that bad. Well, actually Rich told me he liked it but I still think it was pretty boring. Sorry, kids.

Dustin Burg (SuperDunners): Oh yeah, this will be hard. Geometry Wars 2, Gears of War 2 and Halo 3? Sure. Let's just go with that. Actually, for fun let's check Xbox.com. Oh look, GeoWars2, Gears 2 and Halo 3. Wow. I should play the Lotto.

Xav de Matos (Snypz): Finishing up Fallout 3, Dead Space and Fable II. Nearly finished my personal Game of the Year selections. Picked up Halo: Combat Evolved during the deal of the week and started that up. Still really dig it years later. Other than that, I'm playing the blogging game! I'm trying to solve that game tape. Now, back to work!

Leaderboards:
Xbox 360 Fanboy Leaderboard
Xbox 360 Fanboy Leaderboard Mk. II

What were you playing? (WRUP archive)

There are lots and lots of puzzle games on Xbox Live Arcade, but this one, Puzzle Arcade, is a real puzzle game. That is to say you actually put together jigsaw puzzles. If you just can't piece that together, check out the latest episode of XBLA in Brief. We'll help you puzzle it out.

Download the trial version of Puzzle Arcade from Marketplace.

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[Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon).
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[M4V] Download the M4V directly.

Ask X3F is back once again with loads of questions from you, our lovely, talented readers. This week, we cover questions about Lips (en Español), the hard drive data migration kit, license transferring and more. Sit back, get cozy, grab some cocoa, and enjoy. As always, we invite you to give us your feedback, and don't forget to lend a hand in the comment if you have a better answer than we do (which you probably do, considering how lovely and talented you are).

Got a question for Ask X3F? Maybe you have a story or some information you'd like to share? Send it all to ask [att] xbox360fanboy [dawt] com.

It's about that time. This week, it seems like everyone around Fanboy Towers will be spending some quality time with potential Game of the Year candidates. It's getting down to the wire and it's time for us to start making our choices. Or maybe we'll just put it off for another week. Who knows? Anywho, you can find out what we're playing below. As always, don't forget to tell us what you're playing in the comments.

Richard Mitchell (SenseiRAM): I'll be playing Left 4 Dead if I can find the time and some friends. Force Unleashed is on its way from GameFly, as it's the only game on my queue that isn't 'low' in availability (imagine that!). I also recently installed CrossOver Games on my Mac and got Steam working. As a result, I'll be playing Team Fortress 2 (the one with updates) and far too much Peggle. Also Chrono Trigger on DS when I can. With any luck, maybe GameFly will ship Mirror's Edge, Prince of Persia, Fallout 3 or Far Cry 2.

Dustin Burg (SuperDunners): On top of my traditional gaming diet of Gears of War 2 and, well ... that's about it, I'm proud to announce that I'll be playing the critically acclaimed XBLA game Braid! Yes, I was lucky enough to win a copy and will be playing through it, going back in time and playing it again. Gears 2 and Braid, that's what's on my plate.

Xav de Matos (Snypz): This week I've been going back to the library to play through all of the potential Game of the Year candidates. That means I'm spending time finishing off Dead Space, Fable 2, Fallout 3 and putting more time into Burnout Paradise, NHL 09, Gears of War 2, Prince of Persia and Left 4 Dead. Still throwing down with Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and a few other potential XBLA GOTY's (Braid and GeoWars 2, specifically) and firing up my DS with Chrono Trigger and Disgaea DS. That's a lotta games!

Leaderboards:
Xbox 360 Fanboy Leaderboard
Xbox 360 Fanboy Leaderboard Mk. II

What were you playing? (WRUP archive)