The Banks Blog

A Call of Duty MW3 Clan – GeezerGamers [GezR] - Xbox360

2012-01-01T20:22:00.001-08:00

Do you like playing video games, multiplayer games, but dislike “Timmy?”

Then you just might enjoy sitting back and reading some of the forums on GeezerGamers.com. I started to frequent this website because I wanted to have conversations about video games with like minded folks. One of the forums I frequent happens to be for Call of Duty, you can view it from this link: http://ow.ly/8fjmU

This is when I found out one of the members had started a Clan for CoD. So I joined the clan and have since started to manage it. Now CoD:Elite has yet to start “Clan Operations,” but from everything we’ve been hearing from Activision, they are hoping for sometime in February 2012.

Currently we have 15 members in the clan, the clan is named GeezerGamers and the clan tag is [GezR]. In order to join, all we ask is you take a look at the GG website and see if you like what the site is about and become a member (it’s free). Then head on over to Elite website and request an invite or email a request for an invite to GeezerGamersClan@comcast.net.

You need to have an Elite account, it doesn’t matter if you have the “free” version or “premium.” We have discovered that you’ll only see the “invite” if you are viewing your Elite membership through the website. You won’t see the invite should you use the Xbox Console version of Elite.

Anyway, I hope you take a look at the GG website and if you find you might like this sort of thing… request an invite from me and get in before the Clan Operations begin.

Our motto: “Where everybody is welcome… except Timmy!” If you’re an older/mature video gamer, then you probably already know what a “Timmy” is, but if not… read the second entry in the Urban Dictionary here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=timmy

Call of Duty: MW3 (playing Army)

2011-12-05T21:10:00.001-08:00

I’m only writing this because of something I was reminded of recently. My Dad was an aeronautical engineer and a pretty bright man (very inventive). Decades ago (1965-66) we had driven by a large department store that had gone out of business. My Dad talked about, how he’d love to open that store up and put in fake trees, grass, dirt, buildings, in that empty space for kids to go to, to “Play Army.” Basically a life size diorama.

That’s what I grew up on as a kid, playing Army with my friends in the back yard. Mattel toy guns, rifles, dirt bombs, even had a shopping cart we’d put a buddy in with a cardboard box over the top and a croquet mallet sticking out the front. That was our tank. Anyway my Dad thought it’d be a safe environment for kids to play in.

In my opinion… my Dad’s idea was the beginning of what later became Laser Tag, Paint Balling, and even today’s FPS games. If he where alive today to see the progress of technology from Pong to CoD:MW3 he’d be as amazed as I am.

I was a late comer to the FPS (first person shooter) genre on gaming consoles. I've only really gotten into it over the past year with CoD (Call of Duty: Black Ops) and now CoD:MW3.

Before this, I did enjoy playing these games on the computer. Medal of Honor series being my favorite. I felt so much more in control when I played these games on the computer. But that’s a lack of having proper hindsight. When I was playing those games and grinding my way through the campaigns, there was only AI shooting back at me. And the AI back then wasn’t great, but good enough to keep me involved and sitting on the edge of my seat.

The first FPS I played on a console was probably Halo (while visiting my son and his group of friends at University of Denver). I hadn’t played any games until years after that when my son bought me an Xbox 360 for Christmas.

For the large part I didn’t like the FPS games because I felt as though I had not one ounce of control in what I did with the joysticks on the controller. Yes I am guilty of doing the helicopter spin of death while trying to shoot someone.

Well today it’s not much different… there are occasions where I get caught off guard in a MP (multiplayer) match on Xbox Live and just start spinning with guns blazing in hopes I hit something/someone. But all-in-all my game play has improved and I feel that while my game has improved, I’m still not progressing as well as I think I should. I see these guys in MP and they are so damn fast, I just keep wondering how is it they are achieving what I can’t? So you end up trying out every firearm and gun under the sun in an attempt to find (literally) the silver bullet.

Then you start thinking it’s the controller, and end up trying wired vs. wireless to see if there is any lag. Change your games “look” sensitivity (joystick sensitivity). But in the long run it’s just a matter of practice [unless the other guys are using modded controllers, and there really is no hope for me], no different from me playing a race simulation game at first and sucking so bad, only to find myself years later playing with a certain level of confidence and precision.

I think I’m good enough to finally beat my son at Mario Cart…

Alexander Banks interview with Gamespot…

2011-10-27T16:01:00.001-07:00

Yes, my kid is awesome! :-)

Alex Banks Interview (PlayStation 3) Posted Oct 27, 2011
Ubisoft's digital day featured a new ATV racer, Haste. Find out what Alex Banks had to say about it.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/driving/haste/video/6342567

Xbox and Hulu Plus Complaints Start…

2011-05-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

The newest “Let’s complain about this…” campaign waged by Xbox fans and non-fans is all about Hulu Plus coming to Xbox. Well it’s here, it works very well, and yes you have to shell out $8 a month to Hulu for the privilege.

The rants go something like this; “You mean I have to pay for Xbox Live Gold, and pay for Hulu Plus?” “These should be available to me for free, I shouldn’t have to pay for them.”

“I have to pay for Hulu Plus, and I have to pay for these limited commercials!” “I’m not paying for commercials no matter how limited…”

Get over yourselves, businesses are in business to make money. Ever since man has exploited the airwaves with radio and television, you have had to put up with commercials. Before you were born one had to buy a TV, maybe bought an antenna (to get better reception) but that was it. You received free programming in exchange for having to watch commercials. This model still holds true today, if you don’t want to subscribe to satellite or cable, you can still catch the airwaves for free.

Paying for commercials, get real. You’ve paid for commercials before… satellite, cable. Now all-of-a-sudden you’re up in arms over having to see short commercials in your Hulu Plus programming.

My son recently decided to forgo having cable TV (kept high-speed internet) at a significant savings. So now any content he wants, he has the internet, Netflix, and Hulu Plus. All of this at a great deal of savings compared to cable.

Here’s the bottom line folks, if you think it’s too much money to pay… don’t pay it! You have Xbox Live Free (formerly known as Silver), you have Hulu (non Plus) on the internet for free. Does free get you much, no… but that’s what you get for free.

Why I said goodbye to LinkedIn Xbox Group…

2010-11-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

I’ve been following Xbox group on LinkedIn for quite a while. Early on I enjoyed it because some folks would actually come in and ask questions that were pertinent to the group e.g., “My son has an Xbox and I want to know what size hard drive I should get him?”

Once in a while members would ask about games and their popularity, game play, just to get a sense of whether or not they should buy the game they’re asking about.

But all of the above became lost somewhere along the line. The group has 700+ members, yet there is very little activity. Especially activity in the form of member to member questions, comments, and general banter.

The group does have one person who writes for an online internet news provider. Their specialty is writing about Xbox related news. After a while I noticed articles that where more and more skewed toward complaining about Xbox than just reporting on it e.g., “Kinect only costs MS $56 to make… Will Kinect be a flop?, Xbox this or that is broken…”

Now granted, Microsoft and Xbox don’t do everything correctly, but I own and play the system. I joined the group to share the fun and joy I get from the gaming system. So now take the absence of regular group members participating (mentioned in the first three paragraphs) in regular discussions, the group became this sounding board for one person to, in essence… “sell” their articles written for another company.

Now this is fine in my opinion, I have no problems with you touting or linking folks to your articles that you are paid to write, but… when this is all I see/read in the group (because members are not contributing) and the trend is to put MS or Xbox down for what they do (in a business model), I get tired of it. As I stated in my closing comments to the person, I just grew tired of the negativity.

I have an Xbox 360, I buy games, I have a Kinect. I’m very happy with my entire Xbox system. I don’t need to read about all of the negativity. In short, I wish the group/members were more participatory.

Maybe I’ll revisit the group in a year.

Homemade Kinect Sensor Stand!

2010-10-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well I ordered the Kinect Sensor, for a few reasons;

•The technology is very cool
•I love the idea of being able to do “Minority Report” style computer swiping
•I got it on sale, Microsoft/Xbox emailed a $50 coupon a while ago good for anything through the MS Store

So the TV I have is a more modern rear projection TV. Meaning, it doesn’t stick out near as far as a CRT TV, yet a little more than a Flat Panel (LCD/Plasma). The other issue is the space under the screen would put the Kinect too low in my opinion.

There is a company making three different stands for the Kinect, just do a search for Kinect TV Mount, Kinect Wall Mount, or Kinect Floor Stand. Typically that search will take you to Amazon. All of these devices are made by a company named PDP. The TV mount I think is brilliant, but it won’t fit the depth of my TV.

So I embarked on a few ideas and finally came up with one that won’t put undo stress on any of the TV’s frame/plastic. Behold… the homemade Kinect stand.

So as it stands right now, this device does not block any of the TV’s vents, it’s level, and Velcro’d in two areas and rests on the TV stand itself. So if this works out (which it should) I’ll give it a coat of black paint and be done with it.

I hope this idea helps someone who has my dilemma, if you come up with different ideas for your situation, let me know… I’d be interested in seeing your creativity.

SBanks

Dead or Alive?

2010-08-12T16:01:00.001-07:00

The answer is, Red Dead Redemption is ALIVE (with imagination and beauty)!

This is not a game review, there are already plenty of those to go around. Just my observations from playing the game.

It took me a while to buy this game, mostly due to the fact that I did not like the enormous sandbox design of GTA IV. To this day I always feel lost when trying to play that game.

RDR is the most involved game I’ve played in a while. Involved in the story sense. The story line kept my interest and held onto my imagination forever. The timeline 1910 – 1911 is a smart twist. You’re entering the West just when things started to change. Horseless carriages, automatic weapons, start to find their way into the game as it progresses. The game evokes emotion form you because you see this so called “progress” enter the game and it makes you wonder if this is the right way for man to go.

The side missions, strangers, and the mini games just added to the intrigue and kept things non-linear just enough.

The landscape graphics are nothing short of the best in any video game I have played. The subtleties the designers threw in from clouds with hints of pink, purple, amber hues are just drop dead gorgeous! If you’ve ever been to Montana in the summer, you have experienced the thunderstorms moving in over the plateaus everyday at 3pm. The thunderstorms and lightning in this game are real.

At night when you look up at the sky, you don’t see just white dots… you see red, blue, pink, yellow wavering, glimmering stars. The graphic designers really did think of everything in this game from those little tidbits to some very smart lighting effects from the sun.

The sound effects are great also, snow crunching under your horses hoofs, crackling of your campfire, the background music is perfect for every location. The song (with lyrics) that accompanies you as you go into Mexico for the first time feels current, but has the “south of the border” feel. I need to find that song in its entirety outside of the game.

While driving around in GTA IV was no fun for me (even though I am a racecar game fanatic), riding the horse around the expanse in RDR is always a fun experience for me. The muscleclature of the various horse breeds are magnificent!

The verbiage from strangers to townsfolk can be humorous at times. The conversations as you ride your horse for great distances with a fellow rider offer great insight to the characters during the ride (so I suggest not to “skip to destination”).

All of this combined made me feel as though I was not playing a game as much as I felt I was in a movie with me staring as the lead role.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but the games ending (only in storyline) is mind blowing! A lot of people think the story ends at this one specific point, but in actuality… it continues to a much different conclusion.

I still have lots more game play left, but WOW… what a story! I doff my hat to you Rockstar Games, you made a winner!

Toy Soldiers (Xbox Style…)

2010-03-17T23:31:00.001-07:00

Growing up, I played with small plastic toy soldiers. Loved it. Never got into GI Joes (too much like dolls for me).

I remember getting the bag of plastic soldiers and getting them all assorted ready for action out in the back yard. I even remember some of them had separate attachments like silver helmets, gun belts, rifles, handguns, and more (I called those bags of Army men the "special ones").

The effect of hurling dirt bombs at those little guys was “epic” in my childhood mind, it played out just like the movies!

I remember seeing pictures of more realistic dioramas of toy soldiers (below right), but those were reserved for the adult hobbyist (the only ones with the patience to paint them).

Well a small company here in WA named Signal Studios came out with a game recently, named Toy Soldiers for Xbox. It is more inline with the dioramas I mentioned earlier. The screen shot (below left) gives you an idea of the games visual setting. The premise of the game, you are protecting your Toy Box! Plain and simple.

When you read reviews of this game everyone mentions that it is a “Tower of Defense” game. Well if you never played a tower of defense style game, you wouldn’t know what they mean. If you haven't played one before, it takes time to figure out what it is you’re supposed to be doing. The instructions are OK, but again they are going by the fact they think you’ve played a tower of defense game before.

This is a classic British vs. German strategy game. The cut scenes are styled after the movies and news clips of that era, muted and grainy on purpose. Signal Studio is so proud of what they’ve done, there are rewards within the game that unlock black & white scenes instead and the same scenes in sepia tones (I think that approach is ingenious). The music is from the same era, so the visual and audio combined really does have the ability to take you back in time.

While you’re playing it, you almost forget it’s a game. That’s how immersed I get when playing it. It is not a gory game though, they keep it light with comical, if not cartoonish style characters running back and forth and charging embankments. Even in the starting video as the game is loading, there are soldier figures running around a globe (styled after WWII news shorts played in theaters), well one of the guys keeps tripping as the globe spins around. Small thing, but it illustrates Signal Studios humor. There are more things like this in the game.

One thing I did notice that many people may not. If you've ever played Fable II... you had to go up against the 50 Gargoyles. You knew they were there because they shot Scottish insults at you as you passed by. Well from time to time, I hear the same Scottish accent in the game. I can't pinpoint what they are saying, but it's the same voice used for Fable II. If any one can come up with a confirmation of this, it'd be nice. Reminds me of a notable "Wilhelm scream" that has been used in movies throughout the years. The same scream which is very indentifiable, is used by Foley guys worldwide.

You have mechanized weapons at your disposal also, which you buy with money from defeating your adversaries. So you can set up barricades of wood and barbed wire, then set up machine gun installments, Howitzer installments, tanks (you can drive) and even airplanes. The airplane combats are fun, you get to shoot down bi-planes, Fokker's, even Zeppelins with your Sopwith Camel!

The game runs 1200 MS points, roughly $15. This is a fun game, I have to say that Signal Studio did an excellent job with this game. Just do a search for Toy Soldiers to view some of the trailers. If you've ever wondered "How much are MS Points worth?" go to the converter here.

Why I’ll Never Buy LCE for Xbox Again…

2010-03-05T13:59:00.001-08:00

OK, so first this might need some explanation. LCE stands for Limited Collectors Edition.

Typically, a software developer will try to create marketing buzz along with pre-order sales by creating an LCE. Many game titles have done this e.g., Halo, Modern Warfare, Forza 3, etc.

These LCE’s can have additional content in the forms of hardware (limited edition controllers, faceplates for the Xbox console, additional maps, key rings, duffel bags, etc.) There is no limit to what the developer can do.

I bought an LCE of Forza 3 by Turn 10 Studios. This LCE included a nice case, 2 GB flash drive, key ring. More importantly, it also included additional cars and tracks for the game and… a VIP membership that entitled the purchaser to additional free cars throughout the coming year (free).

Well it seems as though not enough people were smart enough to buy the LCE and complained about how much free stuff the VIP members were getting. They felt they should have an opportunity to “buy” the VIP pack and everything that came with it.

This week Turn10 Studios in all of their infinite wisdom made the LCE content available for download. In a lame attempt to get by all of the flak this would create for people who bought the original LCE, they are making donations/proceeds go to “Help Haiti” foundation.

I think this was a cheap move. If Turn 10 Studios wanted to help Haiti, they could’ve done this through the development of one or more cars with a Red Cross - Help Haiti theme. Sold those for “x” amount of MS points or dollars to help the cause.

It’s bad enough when a retailer manipulates the rules and offers content or hardware that are not theirs to sell (items given to them to entice pre-sales), but when a developer tells you, yeah you ordered a Limited Collector Edition, but guess what… we’re going to take away the “limited” part. I didn’t buy the LCE for the key ring or flash drive, believe me.

I had an LE Harley-Davidson Road King, #203. Imagine if after all the LE were sold, H-D came back and said, “We’re going to make 1k more.” Limited is limited”, anything less is, well… normal.

Geeky Sweet!

2009-08-09T11:56:00.001-07:00

O.K., growing up as a kid in the 60’s, I had all kinds of toy guns. That was back in the hay-day of Mattel. I had 45-Colts, 38 Snub Nose, Johnny Seven machine guns… you name it.

I went as far as to have a plaque above my bed with hooks on it and all of the guns displayed with honor. Then I had some other geek stuff too. Depending on your age, you might remember Man from Uncle attaché case, the 007 James Bond attaché case, with exploding notepad, shoulder stock for the handgun. Secret Sam schtuff!

Man from U.N.C.L.E. (above)

Contents of 007 Attaché Case

I loved that stuff. I can still smell the Greenie Stick-em Caps going off, followed by the small wisp of smoke.

Well enter ADULT GEEK!

If I had these night vision goggles as a kid, our night time war games would have been so kick-ass! I would still prefer to play outside with my Mattel guns and this night vision goggles instead of playing on Xbox.

Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition.

Enjoy!

Xbox NXE Dashboard Beta Preview – What’s New?

2009-08-05T17:46:00.001-07:00

Well I’ve been testing the new Xbox dashboard for a few days before they release it officially August 11th, 2009. One of the things I was most disappointed in had nothing to do with the beta software at all… but with the lack of an official forum for us to post questions etc. via the Xbox.com website.

Anyway to get to the point. This was a minor release in my opinion. I think they are doing these releases for upcoming dashboard improvements in sections or “waves.”

This wave was mostly Netflix enhancements. Ones that we’ve been waiting for for a long time. Let me list some improvements here:

The ability to select from Netflix library right on your Xbox! No need to go to your desktop or laptop to browse movies, select then go back to your Xbox to view.
Netflix “categories” are now carried over from their website e.g., Comedy, Drama, Suspense, etc.
A Netflix “Movie” party. Haven’t figured this one out yet, but seems simple enough. You just watch a movie with your friends, maybe chat or text while watching. Rate movies for your friends too I believe.

Avatars are getting new clothes and props. But… they’ll cost ya’! There are different themes for some of the games, like pirate clothing, Halo clothing. Props like a huge Q-Tip cleaner, go figure? A Warthog R/C car from Halo, water spray bottle, and more.

I think the additional clothing and props are going to go over bigger than people expect. You have a lot of big tough guys who say… “I ain’t buyin’ no clothing…” But when you then tie in the option of winning clothing and props from your video games as achievements… that’s a different story.

Imagine this scenario, you are playing EA Madden 10. You’ve just kicked serious ass as the Seattle Seahawks five times in a row in online play. You get a free Seattle Seahawks Jersey! How many macho guys wouldn’t want to sport their favorite team? Win a division and get a Seattle Seahawks helmet! See what I mean. This is going to be bigger and more popular than people expect I think.

This update, none of the biggies we were hoping for yet such as, Facebook, Twitter, and Last.FM. They’ll probably make it in the next release.

Lastly Xbox has rating system just like Netflix for your games. So for me PGR4 gets a big 5-Star rating while a game that kick my ass halfway through like Dead Space might get a 2-Star rating.

As always, you can download games from Xbox, but what is different is you will be able to delete the games (hard drive space limited?) to make room for new games, then download that old game again. Pretty slick.

Let me know what else YOU find… ciao for now, Banks

Xbox & Addiction

2009-05-24T00:32:00.001-07:00

A confession.

I didn’t realize I had an Xbox addiction until… until I had to send my Xbox in for repairs. For about a week, I kept getting “Open Tray… Close Tray” alerts when popping in a DVD to play. Then I’d get an occasional, “Clean Disc,” alert.

Finally did a bit of Google-ing to find out I had an issue with the DVD drive.

So I followed all of the Microsoft Knowledgebase steps to help determine if it really was the DVD drive and not the PC or HDD portion of the console.

I went online and entered in all of my information concerning the issue. Was granted a service ticket, and issued a UPS label to send the unit in.

Did that… sent the unit in on May 11th. I will be getting a refurb back on May 27th. Not a bad turn around… but DAMN! I do miss my Xbox!

Feel like a kid waiting for Christmas day to arrive. The addiction is bad folks… a well aged adult poised in front of the computer following UPS tracking damn near religiously. On the 27th I expect to be pacing in front of my windows waiting for UPS man to show up. “What can Brown do for you?” Bring me my damn Xbox! That’s what Brown can do for me! Stupid, absolutely ridiculous!

A grown man reduced to childish behavior.

Well at least for two weeks I have gotten some good housework done, some reading of books I intended to finish, and some outdoor time.

I need to look into becoming a beta tester. :-)