MW2 spoiler discussion ("No Russian"):

No way, I don't want to be put in the Lunatic Fringe. :D

So I finished the single player phase of MF2 last night, and I noticed on the screen it only said 50% completed. Do I have to go back and play at a higher difficulty level or something?

Microsoft blacklisting 600K-1M users off Live. That's 3-5% of their total online users. Surprised that piracy is so frequent on that console.

Microsoft bans up to 1 million Xbox Live users - Games - msnbc.com

Why are you surprised?

You're probably right. I shouldn't be. I've honestly never considered any piracy on any consoles I've owned. I suppose the temptation is too much for some people. I used to copy old 5 1/4" disk games on my old Apple, but I was a dumb 7-8 year old kid then and didn't realize that what I was doing was illegal. I'm guessing that most of the people who pirate games on the 360 know it's illegal but do it anyway.

Well, if you read the article their scope is relatively broad as well. If you modified your XBOX to have a bigger HD, it is caught in this net.

I'm not sure they can really do anything besides an "all or nothing" approach, but it certainly catches some people with less nefarious intentions.

about the same.. I even let a few of the wounded live.. ;)

Why can't i find a demo for modern warfare 2 on PSN? I thought it would be out by now.

I don't think they released a demo.

No sympathy on this end from me.


(CNET) -- It's oh-so enticing: you find a copy of a brand new game like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on a pirate site and the temptation to download it is too strong.

Well, that temptation may have cost up to 1 million users of Microsoft's Xbox Live the ability to use that service. According to a report in InformationWeek, Microsoft has banned as many as a million players from Xbox Live for altering their consoles in order to play pirated versions of games.

This week, Activision's new Call of Duty was released, and InformationWeek speculated that because pirated versions of the game appeared on various sharing sites in advance of the release, the game's developer may have exhorted Microsoft to enact the bans.

"Xbox 360 consoles are equipped with digital rights management technologies designed to detect pirated software," InformationWeek wrote, "but some players have successfully 'modded,' or modified, their machines to circumvent DRM protections."

Even if someone has been banned, their Xbox will still play offline games, InformationWeek said. But it's not at all clear if the bans are permanent or if Microsoft will allow those who have been booted from Xbox Live to return at some point down the line.

In a statement Microsoft said: its "commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of the Xbox Live community remains a top priority. All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and modifying their Xbox 360 console violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live. We can assure you that if an Xbox Live member follows the Xbox Live terms of use, purchased a retail copy of Modern Warfare 2 and played the game on an unmodified Xbox 360, no action will be taken."

And on the Xbox support page, Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, has addressed some of the circumstances that could lead to a player's being banned.

"Players who find their Gamertags banned from Xbox Live have wound up in that situation due to violations of the Xbox Live Terms of Use," Major Nelson wrote.

"The Xbox Live team monitors players for not just cheating, but also for things like threats, racism, profanity, and just being an all around poor sport and ruining the game for others.

"When a Gamertag comes up as violating our policies for online behavior, the person who owns that Gamertag is punished by being banned from the service. Keep in mind, this isn't just a ban on a particular game. This is a ban on the Xbox Live service as a whole, so you won't be able to go online at all during your ban. Initially, you may be banned for a day, a week, or depending on severity, permanently! Kiss that $50 goodbye."

My take:

Umm i'm not sure if to pick MW2 for PC or PS3, i wonder which one will have more online players, PS3 probably (behind 360 that is no an option for me).

Last time I looked at the number of people on line playing MW2 on the PS3 last night it was above 200,000 at that moment. I would be surprised if it is not a record number of people playing MP on the PS3.

Amazon has $20 credit too your account when you purchase MW2... fyi

Two things about the post quoted below. First, I never even knew you could pirate console games through a digital download. Not sure why i never considered it possible but I hadn't. Second, they just ban the username so you can turn around and sign up again? Sure you pay some money, but it doesn't sound like the worlds worst punishment.

The console gets banned. Kotaku actually put a warning out for those buying used consoles to check and make sure it worked on XBox Live before the return on it is up.

Giant Bomb Quick Look: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Four player co-op/competitive looks chaotic and awesome, I'll be getting this on Sunday for sure. Single-player meets the standard set by the rest of the series from what I've read too.

I have to agree with your take especially with regard to that being a pretty out of touch reaction if for no reason so much as knowing that troops in the Middle East today play the COD series while in country, going to some lengths to set up LAN play so they can do multiplayer. Literally on patrol in the morning & playing COD by nightfall.

I'm not really sure how playing the games is that much different than watching any of the gung-ho war movies that tend to air on/around the holiday. It's entertainment that happens to have a combat setting.

I've been looking forward to this a bunch since I heard about it a few weeks ago. Can't wait to try it out.

I'm all over it, but I don't know if I'll snag it on Sunday or a few days later.

I don't have a problem with the games (I've owned the last 3 and bought MW2 this week), and I do know that soldiers play them. I just think it's kind of tasteless to release on Remembrance Day, like they did last year (and so close to it as they did this year). It seems to me that a bunch of kids will be home playing war instead of going to services or actually taking time to remember those that have fallen. I don't think that's an 'out of touch' statement, it's just a point of view. I'm not saying "jeez, kids these days with their video games... hey, get off my lawn!". I just think that the makers of CoD could stand to class it up a little and release the thing a week earlier or a week later so that they aren't essentially turning the holiday into "Call of Duty Day" instead of "Remembrance Day".

The thing is, they would be home playing another game if MW2 wasn't out.

These kids don't give a shit about Veteran's Day.

Ok, that is much better then and a real punishment I guess.


As for Modern Warfare 2, finished the story last night. 10 of game play for me, all of it very cool. Spec Ops will keep me busy for a while when I want solo play from here on out, that crap can get hard.

North American release date set for FFXIII. March 10, 2010.......

FINAL FANTASY XIII – The Time Has Come – PlayStation.Blog.Europe

February and March are absolutely stacked with releases at this point. God of War 3, Heavy Rain and Gran Turismo 5 are also scheduled in the same timeframe. Save those X-mas gift cards.

Awesome! It's chocobo racin' time!

Forgot about White Knight Chronicles also being released in that timeframe. Geez.

BioShock 2 on February 9th.

I think the Feb/Mar timeframe has become the defacto holiday season this year. There's been so many huge titles that weren't quite ready for the holiday season, so the next best time was to put those games at the start of 2010. Most gaming and electronic companies have a fiscal year that starts on April 1st, so they put their big games in the month or two before that to boost profits. It used to be that gamers didn't have enough $$$ to buy all of the blockbuster holiday season games. Now that has moved back three months beyond the holiday season.

Did anyone pick up New Super Mario Bros. today? If so, how is it? I know reviews are great but I tend to trust you guys more than the in-the-pocket reviewer that plays for about 3 hours.

I've beaten the first two worlds (just beating all the levels, going back and getting all the big coins will be a lot harder) and I'm enjoying it so far. I like the new powerups, the levels have had a lot of variety already, and it's pretty difficult by the second world. One of the few things I didn't like about Super Mario Galaxy was that it was too easy for the opening third of the game or so, this one doesn't ease you in as much. On the first stage of World 2 I triggered the Super Guide option (The eighth death on a level will activate a green block you can hit, after which Luigi will start going through the level and you can take over from the CPU at anytime. It's meant to help people get past difficult sections. I haven't activated it yet though.) which was pretty embarrassing. The handful of levels I played two-player were hilarious since the other person was not good at all but with enough advice and cooperation I was able to get them through most of the levels, I can't wait to play with a few people who know what they're doing.

The main annoyance for me so far is that I sometimes trigger the spin (done by waggling) when I don't mean to, it's hard to keep my hands still enough all of the time. The tilt control aspects work well but they are not very frequent, I'd prefer being able to use a classic controller (I also like that D-pad better than the smaller Wiimote D-pad) and tilt those platforms with L and R to avoid spinning when I don't want to but no such option exists.

Compared to recent Mario games I'd place it above NSMB on DS (which was still pretty good imo) and below Mario Galaxy so far but like I said I'm less than a quarter of the way through single-player and yet to experience multiplayer with a halfway competent gamer.

I'm a big fan so far, and I'm about halfway through world 2. I was playing two-player co-op the whole time with my girlfriend - a self-professed video game hater - and she was having a blast the whole time. She's pretty terrible, but managed to do some pretty impressive (read: lucky as hell) things. The co-op mode is a little difficult at first - it's odd to get used to bumping into someone, and that led to quite a few deaths on both of our parts when navigating some of the smaller platforms. I'd imagine with 4 players simultaneously the world feels incredibly crowded, but I'd also imagine it'd be fun as all hell. I'll also echo Big Fo - the difficulty ramps up CONSIDERABLY in the second world. It's still not "hard," I'd say, but it's definitely not mind-numbingly easy.

The game feels like they took Super Mario Brothers 3 (NES) and Super Mario World (SNES), combined them into one game, and then polished it up for the new system.

My wife was an a-hole and "forgot" to go pick up my copy today. I guess I'll go get it tomorrow.

I'm finding the game incredibly tough. Used the super guide on the water level in the first world. I'm so crap haha. Although just cracked the second world now, so lets see how I fair this time.

Started out earlier with the plan of going down and trading in Skate 2 and inFamous and grabbing one of the newer games out. Was thinking Dragon Age, Uncharted, or FIFA. After a couple stops for work I just came home. Can't decide what to get, none really stand out as THE ONE to get from those. I will give it a few weeks I guess.

Dragon Age is game of the year by a wide margin, IMHO.

You obviously haven't played Uncharted 2. Dragon Age may be GOTY, but the wide margin part is silly talk given the number of great games.

I have played it. It's an excellent game, but in my opinion, Dragon Age is much better. Dragon Age is a game of the decade type of game.

Wow. I'll disagree even more with the decade comment, but that's what opinions are for. Dragon Age would be 3rd best IMO for this year.

Edit: I should also note that I haven't played any 360 exclusives, so I may be missing out on a great game amongst that lineup.

I haven't played it yet but I cannot see how it maks it by a wide margin, if at all. Uncharted 2 gave me one of the best gaming experiences ever in a game.

FIFA - fun but not much more than a little extra pollish from last year

Uncharted 2 - A GREAT game which had a nice mix of platforming, fighting and puzzle solving. This is a rare game that makes you feel like you are playing through a great action movie. The cut scenes are well done and the interaction between the characters is very believable and I didn't see anything that seemed like forced dialogue.

Dragon Age - haven't played

I'm going to have to play Uncharted 2. I'm only three or four hours into Dragon Age, and I'm with Eaglesfan27 in that I think it's easily a game of the decade competitor. It's already one of the best games I've ever played.

So, uh, just to be clear.

When you rescue a Toad in NSMB Wii, you aren't supposed to throw him down the nearest gap. Right?

Kotaku just posted a very glowing review for Assassin's Creed II. It sounds like the solved a lot of the problems that plagued the first one.

Yeah, it's another big week for releases. Left 4 Dead 2, Assassin's Creed 2, new Tony Hawk game, God of War Collection, and Little Big Planet (PSP) just to name a few.

IGN gave L4D2 a 9.0, FWIW. Said it is better in every way over the original.

I haven't done the research on AC II, but If they haven't solved the repetitive game play then they haven't solved anything.

IGN says it's fixed. They actually said that if the series continues to improve the next will be on par with the GTA games.

According to the review I read, that's exactly what they solved.

It was clear to anyone who played the game for more than a few hours that the repetive game play was by far the worst issue with that game. I played it one night, saw the issue and became immediately bored by the entire thing.

Cool. Guess I'll have to pay attention to this one again. Loved the universe, fighting and general basics of the game, but that repetition.. ugh...