When I first added this whole ‘Next Generation’ section to the website I had a few random comments from friends, ranging from ‘why bother‘ to ‘who cares?‘.

Well …me! Me cares!

Having studied film and television, being a writer and director I have always had a love of the medium and just find technology keeps feeding that crazed love. With all the rapid developments in digital film that have allowed things like the website Channel 101 (check it out!) to come into creation, the media realm becomes more diverse and interesting.

Now you can be a fanboy all you want (actually don’t, it’s kinda sickening), and scream that one console is better than the other, but so far this is one of the more fun elements that could have some major reprecussions in the long run to come out of the new wave of consoles.

The Xbox LIVE Originals contest.

I’ll let the PR hype stuff speak for themselves.

Xbox 360 has partnered with the New York Television Festival to host a contest for aspiring television producers to create a pilot that could be chosen for the first original series developed specifically for Xbox LIVE. This marks the first time that user-created entertainment content will be available to the Xbox LIVE community of more than 6 million people worldwide.

The contest is open to aspiring producers from around the world including Canada. Winning entrants will receive $100,000 (U.S.) budget and an opportunity for a six-episode commitment to air the television series on Xbox LIVE. To participate in the Xbox LIVE Originals contest, entrants must produce and submit a short comedy pilot running between five and 15 minutes long. Submissions will be accepted from April 16 through June 29, 2007 and the first episode will premiere at an exclusive event at the 2007 NYTVF in September.

People can not only play games and watch premium entertainment content on their Xbox 360™, they can now create content for it, too. Microsoft Corp. and the New York Television Festival (NYTVF) today announced the Xbox LIVE Originals contest, granting aspiring television producers the opportunity to create a pilot that could be chosen for the first original series developed specifically for the Xbox LIVE® online gaming and entertainment network. Microsoft will award the winning entrant a $100,000 budget and an opportunity for a six-episode commitment to air the television series on Xbox LIVE, the largest social network in the living room. The pilot episode of the winning series is scheduled to debut this fall at the third annual NYTVF, the industry’s first showcase for independent television, before being featured exclusively on Xbox LIVE, home to a community of more than 6 million people worldwide. This marks the first time that user-created entertainment content will be available worldwide for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE.

“Not only can aspiring TV producers from across the globe try their hands at creating new TV shows, but because of Xbox LIVE Marketplace, they can now win a chance to have more than 6 million people worldwide see their work,” said Bill Nielsen, Senior Director of Xbox LIVE. “This is an incredible opportunity for us to participate in the festival and we are thrilled to be able to bring community-created TV content to the Xbox Community for the first time.”

Xbox LIVE is already home to more than 1,500 hours of full-length films and TV series in the United States. This contest will showcase the user-created content alongside films and TV shows from many of the top networks and studios in the entertainment industry.

“The New York Television Festival has always strived to give artists opportunities to get their voices heard in the industry, and we think that showcasing their work on the Xbox 360 will give our artists unprecedented exposure,” said NYTVF founder Terence Gray. “The Xbox LIVE Originals contest acknowledges that new technologies are enabling artists to tell their stories in innovative ways, and Xbox LIVE Marketplace, one of the top digital distributors of online entertainment content, is a great place to showcase the talent that takes part in the NYTVF. The NYTVF is proud to join with Xbox 360 on its groundbreaking initiative to create and provide original programming.”

To participate in the Xbox LIVE Originals contest, entrants must produce and submit a short comedy pilot running between five and 15 minutes long. Submissions will be accepted from April 16 through June 29, 2007 from contestants in any of the 25 countries currently supporting Xbox LIVE. A group of selected finalists will be shown on Xbox LIVE Marketplace’s video-on-demand service in July, and a winner will be announced at the end of the month. The creators of the winning pilot will receive a budget of $100,000 and an opportunity to produce six additional episodes of the comedy series for Xbox LIVE, and the first episode will premiere at an exclusive event at the 2007 NYTVF in September.

Click here for the Official rules to the Xbox LIVE Originals contest.

I, being me, personally…think this is tres cool.

After all the hype about its recent success in the Euro/Aussie launches it is a tad surprising to see Sony dropping the PS3 20GB model from it’s SKU’s aftera mere five months.
However, if you follow the logic that most of the consumers of said machine have decided to shell out the extra coin for the larger hard drive, then really, is it worth it to have two SKU’s as one sits on the shelves and the other sells?
Honestly, probably not.
Especially with the more expensive model having wireless.

While I think Sony will eventually straighten out its problems, I don’t believe having the smaller, cheaper SKU should be a priority…
And in Japan, where it will still sell, it isn’t…and it wasn’t even offered during the Euro launch.

So again, I am at a loss to follow the Sony logic…

Some more good news out for the Xbox 360 today.

Gears of War is providing a title update (set to hit Xbox Live - April 9 at 7:00 p.m. EDT).

According to the release there will not just be small arms fire but there will be a new multi-player mode called Annex.

From the press release:

In Annex, gamers seize victory by keeping control over key map locations, or objectives, long enough to collect a winning number of points. Every map contains two to five identified objectives available for capture, with one objective active at a time. Objectives are based on map weapon-spawn locations and have a potential value of 60 points toward either team’s score. Teams collect those points by maintaining ownership of an objective until all 60 points have been distributed. Every second that a team controls an objective, the team gets one point. When an objective falls to zero points, the next objective is selected at random. 

Other adjustments/upgrades to the game include:

- VGA Cable Support: Monitor resolution widths greater than or equal to 1280 now render as letterbox. In particular VGA users running at 1280×1024 will now see the game in full 720p (1280×720) resolution in letterboxed form.
- Adjusted Assassination Multiplayer Gametype: Leader no longer has to unlock weapons and now has to be executed to die.
- Adjusted Boomshot: Splash damage to be more effective rendering targets down-but-not-out
- Adjusted Hammer of Dawn: Aiming will be more forgiving of moving targets
- Adjusted Roadie Run: Reduced frequency of accidentally grabbing cover while running
- Kill Message Ticker: Ticker can now be seen while down-but-not-out and spectating
- General: Addressed a number of possible exploits in multiplayer.

I’m sure for the loyal Gear-heads, or whatever name they have come up with for themselves, all of this is highly anticipated!

If you have the habit, as I do, of checking your email and perusing the regular video game sites you may have seen the rather odd looking keyboard/controller heading our way from Microsoft. You may have also been a tad dubious of the whole. Well, here’s the official word…it’s all real and below are just a few of the perks from the May 7 spring upgrade.

Beginning the week of May 7, users of Windows Live Messenger on Xbox 360 will text chat using the virtual keyboard accessible on Xbox 360, or by connecting a USB keyboard to the console. This summer Microsoft will launch a QWERTY text-input device, a new accessory that will connect directly into the Xbox 360 controller to support text and instant messaging.

Beyond Windows Live Messenger, the Spring Update for Xbox 360 includes hundreds of new features and enhancements including the following:

• A richer Achievement notification pop-up will showcase the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value without needing to leave the game to check the Achievements list.

• Enhanced family settings features for Xbox LIVE communications enable different defaults for video chat and voice chat.

• A new Xbox LIVE Marketplace blade lets Xbox LIVE members access the content they seek — whether it is game content or TV shows and movies (available in the United States) — from one place on Xbox LIVE.

• Updates to Xbox LIVE Arcade allow owners to quickly see which Xbox LIVE Arcade games their friends are playing and join in the fun. Xbox LIVE members can also compare progress of leaderboard scores and Achievements directly with all friends on their friends list. Expanded Tell a Friend capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.

• A new option in Auto Downloads provides faster access to the entire collection of free, trial-version Xbox LIVE Arcade games.

• New progressive download controls provide easy access to optimal viewing options by letting people fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume as their video is downloaded from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

• Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete.

Ok, this was one I picked up for my girlfriends birthday for two reasons…

Well, sadly, the first was, it looks so damn cool, and I know she’s gonna love the look of it.

The second was the mystery novel aspect of it. And for those out there who have bashed the game, I am guessing you either like RPG’s or Shooters but that is no reason to slam one of the nicest looking and innovative games I have played in a while.

Although some of the game play can be a tad frustrating as you wander back and forth looking for clues and speaking to people, but at the same time, the further you sink into the game the more rewarding it is. However it the task of reading and thinking seems too arduous for you, may I suggest avoiding this one so you can go back to your button mashing happiness?

Why? Why am I hooked on this game?

In my mind I give myself the reasoning, it’s like Chess…with Worms. And Banana Bombs…but I know the real reason…detonating sheep. That amuses me to no end.

And despite some of the Xbox Live online problems I have had…I mean I have joined a lot of games only to have them crap out before they start or get seconds before the end only to have the game say it is no longer available. Very frustrating.

But aside from that frustration I am continually playing it. I love deploying worms with some form of strategy to beat some guy who has named his own worms after character from the A-Team. (I’m not much better. Mine are named after film directors: Kubrick, Gilliam, Kurosawa and Scorsese).

All this for only 800 Microsoft points. However, I hope they don’t start adding weapons and maps for all sorts of micro-transactions, but time will tell.

After playing the demo all weekend, I was afforded a chance to sit and play with a ‘relatively’ final version of a game that is a must in my collection (probably two musts as one will be for the second 360 to be system linked).

Before getting into the nitty gritty of it all I want to start with some of the more inane comments I have perused on the interwebs.
Such inane things as…
A) this title must stink because of the open invite to the Beta version of Halo 3 that comes along with it.
B) Where’s the (now seemingly standard) deathmatches, capture the flags, vs, matches?

Starting with A) Well, bollocks to that, this game can stand on its own. It certainly doesn’t hurt the inevitable sales that the invite comes with it…but that’s a perk.

As for B) Almost every freaking game has those elements to it…Crackdown (like the tri-million and counting) Gears of Wars has a co-op mode where you can play alongside a friend…and in myopinion that’s where these games are really juicing the fun. So go to the plethora of other games and blow your friends…up. Personally I am loving the option of playing alongside a friend in a full version of these games…bloody brilliant in my opinion, and feel free to keep creating them.

In terms of a bit more detailed…the gameplay.

I was having some solid issues with the demo…targetting was a tad rough, and didn’t always respond to the controller. Some crazy glitches like floating through the ground, which has never happened to me in real life but I do hope it does, just once. Would make for a great photo op.

However, with the hands on of the final code, I didn’t run into these issues…not to say that they were cleared up or magically fixed…just saying that compared to the demo, everything else was running fine. That implied fineness however does not change the fact that a patch has been released for this game before it has even hit the stores. That does give me pause for concern…not about buying the game but about the QA that these games are being put through. It’s almost as if they no longer ‘go gold’ but ‘go good enough’ and patches are a part of the danger.

Hope I’m wrong on that.

Crackdown has half of the title right…to me it’s Grand Theft Auto on Crack, from the side of the law…such as the state of the law is. And yet, it gets better…as you build your character through the game, building strength, etc. the gameplay becomes even crazier. The ability to kick a car down a street builds to lifting it over your head, and eventually even allows for people and car juggling (blowing a car up well into the sky and keeping it there through fire power). Come on man, car juggling…you know you want to!

The storyline, such as it is, is the mixed blessing…to be honest…sure I ran around I did take out of the few main villains as part of the objective, but to be honest it was a blast just tooling around town with my pal, blowing up anything and everything and leveling my character up.

So far I am giving it a 9 for sheer fun…and only a 7.5 for storyline…but I look at it like an Adam Sandler comedy…one of the good ones like The Wedding Singer or Happy Gilmore…it’s not going to change your mind about how games are played, nor is it going to ever win a slew of awards…but man, it was flat-out fun and that alone is worth the price of admission.

(To Be Continued in more depth when I have one on my console)

I used to love Paperboy in the arcade…why? No idea honestly…I really sucked at it and could never seem to match the game maker’s version of “3-D’ with my own and as a result hit bushes, dogs, cars all with the thoughts that I was totally safe.

So, while I love the game, I have it on a collection for my PSP…and owning one version of it is enough…although I would love to get the 200 achievement points.

It is tempting for the multiplayer aspect though. I wonder if you can bean the other player with a copy of the Sunday Times!

According to the pr release:  

“Paperboy” will be available worldwide for 400 Microsoft Points.  Rated E for Everyone; Mild Animated Violence.

Game Features
- Seven stages (one for each day of the week) and 3 levels of difficulty – “Easy Street,” “Middle Road” or “Hard Way”
- New Xbox Live multiplayer: The standard multiplayer mode involves two player co-op play which can take place on the same console or over Xbox Live
- High scores are tracked on the Xbox Live Leaderboard
- Earn up to 12 Achievements and 200 Gamerscore points.

Crank up the hype machine. It’s what the corporate world does, even when something as inconsequential as a name change comes around. The point being Buena Vista Games is now officially called Disney Interactive Studios giving it a wider berth for which to toss us such games as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Cars.

So by adding this to the site, are we not buying into the hype and giving free word of mouth to the minutae of the corporate? Well…yes…so, here endeth the article.