neyo

Ok, so whilst i’ve been ‘offline’, there’s been a few things I would of blogged about, that I haven’t been able to.

Xbox 360 – Despite a strong winter line-up, well arguably some might say, with ‘Gears Of War’, ‘Viva Pinata’ and ‘Rainbow Six:Vegas’, I can’t help but feel bored with them all.

‘Vegas’, despite being an all round good game, just feels a bit boring to me really. I do like the idea of it, but it doesn’t feel so varied. I cannot describe why it is I don’t play it, in all my free time, but something about it doesn’t grab me… Like GRAW does. I will still put many hours into it I am sure, but over time…

‘Viva Pinata’, this is a totally different game altogether, as you know, and I have to be honest, i’ve not really given it a chance. The first ‘session’ I had with it, I played it for many hours straight and enjoyed it. It was, and remains very very addictive with every event spurning off new events. Yet since that initial play through, i’ve not actually touched it since. Why? I think I am afraid of it, actually… Yes you may grin, but hear me out here! See, I know when I put it on, it’ll grab me, and I’ll be STUCK playing it for hours upon hours. Now I know that is a bit of a waste of time and that is why I haven’t jumped back in… I think. I will do, it’s a nice ‘alternative’ game to have, but again, it doesn’t leave me wanting to spend my free time battering it! (…I Think).

‘Gears Of War’, it did live upto it’s hype. The hype machine has been on for the past year, with regards to interest in this title and it did deliver I feel on what it promised. A solid, visually stunning 3rd person shooter that was enjoyable to plaly through; with seamless Co-Op to boot. Let’s face it, we all bitch about the multiplayer and how stupidly crippled it is, in many aspects. But how many of us really expected the multiplayer to be AAA standard, or how many of us even bought it more for multiplayer, than the single player story. I know I didn’t and initially I was very pleasantly surprised by the online play. I cannot deny that the host options are stupid, or that fact there’s no ‘party’ system, or that ranked matches, are played solo, in teams of 4. It’s fair to say that’s highly ironic, given that Gears appears to require teamplay, alot more than your average shooter, where you ‘can’ get away with a more rambo like style. So why does Gears not grab me? Simply really. I’ve played the story mode through on ‘Hardcore’ and recently ‘Insane’ and I don’t really have an urge to do it anymore. There’s little incentive to do so, and with the multiplayer crippled in many ways it’s hard to be enthusiastic about it.

So yeah, as it stands, I really find Xbox 360 a little stagnant at the moment, maybe it’s me, maybe I am losing my enthusiasm for it, or something.

Going off on a slight tangent though, I picked up a HDTV just before Christmas. Play.com were doing a ‘sale’, and I picked up a 27″ Samsung for £400, a tidy price I do believe for a good quality TV! It has made me realize how many games (Apart from Gears!) look massively better in 720p rather than their old <480p output. Rainbow Six:Vegas and Ghost Recon being the most notable advances! I’m tempted to pickup the VGA cable too, so I can make use of the snazzy ‘Picture In Picture’ mode the TV has. Any reasons to avoid VGA?