Of the last few days a number of users have contacted us regarding the status of Xbox Live. Many, if not most, of our recent messages point to the service working as expected after the service was forced offline, Tuesday night.
We contacted Xbox Live's Major Nelson (aka Larry Hryb) regarding some of the issues a few of our readers have reported, today. Major told us the Xbox Live technical staff have fixed the issues Live was experiencing on Tuesday and nearly all problems have been resolved in relation to the service. According to Major and the Xbox.com support page some users may experience problems browsing the Video Marketplace but the team hopes to resolve the problem very soon.
We take the question back to the streets. How is Xbox Live performing for you as of right now?
Xbox Live is back online. You know, we know it. But how well is the service performing after its 26-hour downtime? Reports indicate that some services are not working as expected but some say the online service is working fine in all areas. Who to believe?! X3F has consulted billionaire scientists, NASA specialists and the world's best sandwich makers for answers and created this poll in response. Uh, the sandwich makers are only here because we're getting a little hungry though ... they aren't voting on this one.
The results are in and Xbox Live has selected the next President of the United States. It's Master Chief. In other news, a completely unofficial presidential election poll has been running on Xbox Live as part of the Rock the Vote campaign. The scientifically engineered vote was based on gamercard download numbers; download a specific candidates card and your vote is cast.
According to the team at GamerScore Blog, Obama-Biden nabbed a 12% lead over Republican rivals McCain-Palin. Independents and "Others" combined account 26% of "votes" in comparison to the Democrats 43% and the Republicans 31%. MS says more than 100,000 Live users have participated to date.
So, what's the point? The point is pretty simple, come November 4 put that game on pause and hit your local polling station. It is your right to vote and deciding to stay in your gaming lair perfecting your Barbie Horse Adventure speedrun isn't a vote. We're not being rude but if you don't vote you're not allowed to complain about anything for the next four years. It's a rule.
With all the hubbub surrounding Castle Crashers this week, we were eager to download our own copy this morning. After trying out the single player campaign it was time to try out some online multiplayer. And that's when the problems started. Try as we might, we simply can't get into an online game. So far, we've managed to get into one game, but that abruptly ended after about a minute with the message that the game was no longer available. We've been reading various comments about it on the web and we've decided to put together a poll to see how everyone's experience has been so far. Give your feedback below.
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
This week for Would You Rather we have a question in response to something we experience (and some participate in) everyday, the console war.
With companies merging to create larger studios, hardware manufactuers losing billions of dollars to maintain market awareness by undercutting consoles and exclusive games staying out of some hands because of our system selections where does it end? Are we heading into a one console future? Probably not. Or maybe. Well, it isn't our idea to judge -- it's yours! So this week we wonder, would you prefer a one console future and enjoy all games or do you crave the smell of napalm in the morning in this, the console war? Discuss.
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
This week in a late-night (oooh, sexy) edition of Would You Rather we're talking XBLA games. We've asked you in the past if you'd prefer smaller or larger games but this week we're looking at it from a different angle. In the beginning Xbox Live Arcade was hailed as a great gateway to your favorite arcade titles (when it launched as a disc based service on the Xbox), but then something interesting happened--independent developers looked at the platform as a new source of output. With the introduction of the Xbox 360 and relaunching of the service built into the console, independent developers were met with great success for their titles.
Sure, corporate companies released arcade hits as well but no one took the service as serioulsy as the independent teams did. Today, as XBLA has proven itself to be a strong platform, more corporate companies are releasing titles for the service while independent companies lobby for their games to make it online. In Would You Rather this week we ask, who do you want to see more of a focus from on the XBLA front? Corporate companies with the money and licenses or independent companies with a fresh outlook on game design? Discuss. Vote. Ask for a third option in the comments.
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... come in and check it out for free!
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
This week in Would You Rather we tackle the subject of game reviews. It isn't often that we review games here at X3F and when we do, we don't incorporate a number score at the end of it. All too often people focus on the number a game is given rather than the text review itself, and in the most recent case of Metal Gear Solid 4 getting an 8/10 from Edge Magazine [via Joystiq] ordinarily the number overshadows everything.
So, while kicking around the X3F office we wondered what you thought. If you could only have one or the other, which would you prefer. A review that was detailed and in depth without a final score at the end or a review that focused on the number with very few bullet points as to why a game received the score it did. Basically, we're trying to figure out if the text even matters to you or if you just check reviews for the final grade.
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... come in and check it out for free!
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
With his recent departure from Tecmo (well, technically he still works there until July 1), Tomonobu Itagaki has created the last Ninja Gaiden title of his career. It now appears to be obvious that his talk of Ninja Gaiden 2 being the last in the series stemmed from the knowledge of his future plans (aka quitting and suing parent company Tecmo). So, another Ninja Gaiden title is probably going to happen because franchises that make money don't disappear. The question is, do you think the folks at Team Ninja can do it without Itagaki?
We're sure they can, but ... would you want them to? So this week in WUR--a new Ninja Gaiden hits stores without Itagaki. What do you do soldier? What do you do? (Shooting a hostage is not an option).
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... come in and check it out for free!
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
This week in Would You Rather we're taking a look back at Microsoft Game Studios' 2008 Yearbook and wishing for a miracle. For a miracle to come. While the lineup looks rad, we're upset at the lack of info (or date!) for Alan Wake and Peter Jackson's mysterious Halo project.
So we got to thinking, if you had to pick one of them to hit store shelves this year which would you choose? The brand new IP from Remedy, Alan Wake or the "revolutionary" Peter JacksonHalo game?
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... come in and check it out for free!
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
This week in WUR we're tackling today's hot button issue. With downloadable games evolving we're wondering which titles you think should be the future of the service. While shorter (in terms of features and development time), smaller titles have been the lifeblood of Xbox Live Arcade since the origin of the service, larger more substantial games are gaining steam. But, as larger games ask a steeper price should developers shy away from a service with, seemingly, set price-points or hope they make an entertaining enough experience that the price won't be as big a factor?
Or, from a different perspective on the question, are developers wasting time creating larger games if the title demands a higher price and should they only focus on smaller titles, which is what some believe the service was bred for? Vote. Discuss. Or, you know, ignore.
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
This week in WUR we're taking a different approach. With so many demos playable at Mircosoft's press event for upcoming Xbox 360 titles, we wanted to know which one you craved the most.
If Microsoft was to release only one demo today for you to play, which one would it be? Remember, this list only includes items that were playable at Microsoft's San Fransisco event so Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 aren't options. While Ninja Gaiden 2 might be the favorite, we wonder who out there is anticipating more hot Piñata action.
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... take a look!
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
Assuming that when it's all said and done you'd spend the same amount on an entire season of content, which would you prefer? Purchase an entire season of content for a final total price and download each episode when they are available (akin to one of the purchase models of Sam & Max from GameTap) or purchase each episode/content pack separately like the current Xbox Live Marketplace model?
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We'll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather ... which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump ... steal this info!
Amidst reports that Grand Theft Auto IV is causing problems for owners of both the 360 and PS3 version, we'd like to poll our community on the subject. Most reports claim that the game freezes, forcing players to restart the game (reports also suggest that models other than the 60GB PS3 are not affected). Thus far, only one X3F blogger (me) has encountered any issues. When attempting to retry a mission, said blogger was greeted with an unending loading screen and forced to shut off the console.
We've set up a network wide poll that will be shared among Joystiq, PS3 Fanboy, and Xbox 360 Fanboy to get an idea of how widespread the problem is. Let us know if you've had any issues and don't forget to detail your problems in the comments.
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather ... a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
Now that we got that other game out of our system, we look to the future of sandbox adventures. Two titles stick out in our minds as potential GTA-killers but we're torn on which one to grab. Pretending you'd only get one of the following titles, would you go for the sequel to a pretty solid GTA-clone from look, feel and execution in Saints Row 2 or the sequel of a more original GTA-clone in the form of 1940s based Mafia II?
On Tuesday you'll get to know him better but for now we thought we'd make a quick introduction. Meet Niko Bellic, star of the upcoming Rockstar Games game Grand Theft Auto IV. Niko is, how do we put this, a bad man with a heart of gold? He knows what he's doing is wrong but at the same time he knows that it's the only thing he can do to survive. Feeling soulless, Niko wonders what his future will hold. Luckily he has an idea. Things will be different. Niko's about to visit Liberty City and start a brand new life. Wonder how that's going to work out for him.
Yeah. We know, you know who he is. But, we were wondering something ... how hyped are you for GTA IV this Tuesday?
