Wrestlevania

If it supports VGA input, the Xbox 360 can output to 1360 x 768 natively. Couldn't tell you if that's through upscaling[1] or simply with borders[2]. Upscaling Uses a simple 'nearest neighbour' technique like many HD TVs do: Borders Standard 720 signal, positioned centrally, with borders out to 1360 x 768: Those aren't going to be 100% accurate representations because a) every HD supplier's technology is different, and even at 24-bit colour depth the PNG file format isn't bomb proof. Still, I think that comparison gives you a good idea of what to expect. And the smearing in the upscaled example gives me convulsions...

Come on--this is obviously a race issue!

Heard about this a few weeks back on TWiT, and I've been keen to see it ever since.

OK, how about (from the intro)...

It's not on the list, but it is definitely worth picking up before it disappears into obscurity. I hear nothing but absolutely glowing praise for that game, so perhaps it'll be included in the next round of BC updates. I feel horribly embarassed about yesterday's blog rant now, though.

Get your order from Tesco Jersey quick!

I've watched extracts from one earlier; rambling, heavily cliched twaddle of a very sad - and extremely introverted - individual. And no, I don't agree with the news agencies airing the footage either--because that appears to be what the killer wanted more than anything else; notoriety, perhaps even some distorted sense of revery amongst similarly-minded individuals.

If it gets taken notice of, it'll become a badge of honour for morons. "Duh, look a' me!" I can't help feeling it'll have the same effect as slapping oversized age rating stickers on games though, i.e. none whatsoever. And that still wouldn't keep this sort of material out of the hands of anyone who really wants it. What could the government do--test every single person and then categorise what they can and can't have? I appreciate what you're hoping to achieve with this scheme would be a change in attitude, but I just can't see those susceptible/responsible for events like the Viginia Tech shootings suddenly having a lightbulb moment. Nor the people responsible for their welfare (or lack thereof).

It's also worth noting that Jack Thompson has named Microsoft as the guilty party in all this: Also, I'm still trying to comprehend how JT's managing to cite Super Columbine Massacre RPG! in this and still keep a straight face. But I did love the way he hastily blurted out SCMRPG! and Postal as he realised the interview was wrapping up. (I wonder if he suddenly thought, "Fuck--I forgot GTA!" once the cameras had stopped, too.) I think Chris Kohler has the right idea at the end of his Wired news story:

It's just become available here in the UK for the equivalent of $28 US, so that's what piqued my interest. I've completely blown my "funny money" budget this month already though...

On the few widescreen CRTs I've played with in the past, this was compensated for using a selectable "Smart" screen mode. Which means the TV automatically detected any borders/letterboxing in the signal and scaled the image up or down--whichever meant the screen was filled with picture. Automated cropping basically, but it wasn't very intelligent in my experience. Fascinating - thank you!

It's commonly known as "a number 1".

What's the consensus on Ninety-Nine Nights? N3 definitely sounds like it might scratch my Near-Mindlessly Bashing Stuff Over the Head Until It Falls Over (or NMBSOHUIFO for short) itch on 360, in a way that the Dead Rising demo didn't quite (personally speaking). Forgive my ignorance if this was already covered last year on Thumbs, but I wasn't interested in Xbox 360 gaming so much then. And it's always nice to know how people feel once the dust's settled.

Quality! Likewise, but I'm waiting until I've finished moving house and gotten the new place decorated before saving up for an LCD.

I disagree; I just think sometimes you regret the approach you take in making your case. To be honest, it's not often that I empathise with your point of view. But I still respect it all the same.

I'm not ashamed to say I've got my 360 hooked up to a 3yr-old Sharp flat screen 24" CRT. The only serious gameplay drawback is that the on-screen text in Xbox 360 games is typically so small, it can be difficult to read. Fortunately I have excellent eye-sight (for now) so it isn't a problem for me. I'd go for it, Thrik, especially with the ludicrously good value bundles currently available. With the really high contrast ratios coming to more reasonably priced units nowadays, this shouldn't be so much of an issue. You can get a decent 800:1 (or better) contrast ratio on many sub-£400 panels right now for example.

Oh absolutely, but I didn't include it in the original thread because there was a definite "anything but more running around with guns!" sentiment. Crackdown is a brilliant game, especially in co-op--eljay and I have been having a blast with it. I was going to write a (much needed) blog post about this, because it's so much fun to just wander around the world and mess about with it. For example, the other night eljay and I were on our way to kill a boss who's secreted inside a mountain cave. eljay knew a shortcut which required us to shimmy along a tiny overhang where the Pacific City circular (4 lane superhighway) emerges from said mountain. As we started out in the centre of the city, we ran around for a bit before I highjacked a car. As we couldn't get up onto the motorway easily - and eljay's character was significantly beefier than mine, eljay simply picked the car up - with me inside - and jumped up to the motorway. Then he jumped in the passenger seat and we sped off up the wrong side of the motorway, dodging oncoming traffic and generally causing mayhem without even firing a shot. Once we got around to the secret entrance of mountain hide-out, I swerved the car across three lanes of the motorway and we jumped out. The ensuing carnage as the traffic emerged from the tunnel at highspeed - and from around a blind bend - was simply brilliant; NPC drivers trying to swerve to avoid the sudden obstacle in the road, failing and hitting it head on. The pile-up was incredible, especially when some really big trucks came ploughing into, and subsequently over the already-burning wreckage was hilarious. Some of the later vehicles even jumped so high off the wreckage that they flew clear of the safety barrier and down into the sea below. And that was just 20 minutes of us fucking around without even firing a shot. The mess we created once some gang members crashed into the carnage was a whole other story. I can't recommend this game enough. Even in single player it's brilliant fun as the difficulty curve is very good, and the fun you can have (as Miffy's mentioned in the past) just jumping around finding all the collectibles is pretty much limitless. And then there's the Achievements which, for example, reward you for climbing to the top of the tallest building in the game, then again for successfully base-jumping into the water below. NB: I've not been playing Crackdown in the last couple of weeks, because I'm focussing on getting Gears done and out the way. Then I'll be back to Crackdown indefinitely.

Why not? I'm thinking I might download it again and give it another chance, after I deleted it in a fit of rage the first time.

Crap! My recent PaRappa the Rapper diversion on PS1 saw me flumoxed by just the training level on "Normal" difficulty. On the flipside, I aced the first 4 levels on "Easy" first time, so my excuse would be it's horribly imbalanced in terms of difficulty (and I'm sticking to it!). Not that I didn't have a blast playing it, but still... Guitar Hero on 360 is very tempting, but I'm looking at moving house in the next couple of months which means I guess the majority of any spare cash will be ploughed into painting and decorating. We still play GH2 on PS2 co-op and versus in the office though on some Fridays and it's not lost any of its shine. I'm interested to see what songs come out for the 360 version on download over the coming months, too, as I recognise so few of the original GH and GH2 playlist tracks it's embarrassing. More from The Police and Nirvana I say!

And all becomes clear... I know exactly what you mean now and now I understand what you mean it's something I was worried about before buying my 360. In fact, I deliberately didn't go for Microsoft's "AAA" bundle here in the UK (Gears of War, Crackdown and GRAW2) because it was just so over-bearing in terms of similar themes and content. I don't think there's any getting away from the fact that Xbox as a brand has been cited as "hardcore" pretty much as soon as it was established, but I hope the range and diversity of games - and themes - continues to grow. Even if Viva Piñata has been considered a sales flop by many, MS aren't stupid and would have known that it wouldn't have sold like Halo. On the flip side, Miffy's example of Rockstar Games pres. Table Tennis illustrates that the software dev-co's are interested in doing more on Xbox than just FPS titles. And, more importantly Table Tennis is a) huge amounts of simple clean fun, and rightly sold by the truckload. (I'd definitely recommend it as a rental--if not an outright buy.) As for what's on the horizon and getting away from marauding through city streets wielding guns, Blue Dragon should be pretty good once the translation's complete. And, whilst I've never been interested in JRPGs since Chrono Trigger on SNES, I'm really intrigued by Lost Odyssey. Plus Capcom have just announced brand new HD versions of Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and Super Street Fighter II (with the character art being completely redone by Udon!).

Tried the demo on Xbox Live at the weekend and just couldn't get into it; either it's a shitty demo or VT3 isn't my sort of game. I'm somewhat reticent to believe it's the latter point though, as Table Tennis wasn't typically "my sort of game" until I tried the demo last year. And I played the shit out of that game as a result.

My point of view was that I'm having some of the best gaming fun I've had in months on my new 360. And it's not because I've got the "new console blinkers" on -- I've owned far too many games machines now to suffer that any more. I just think it was an unnecessary comment.

Absolutely: I'd rather pay 200 points for individual songs I wanted, rather than be forced to buy packs of three at 500. My inner cynic also insists the packs are so the publishers can keep the music fat cats interested and happy, because it generates more revenue across a wider spread of their back catalogue.

That's because you're in Tim's World now, and it took me a little while to get my head into Tim's World. But the music and characters made for excellent lube and so I've not regretted pushing that little bit harder to fully get in there. As it were. I've still not finished it, mind. But it is bloody fantastic all the same.

Well, screw what you lot do or don't think: See this film! Alpha Dog is brilliant and I'll be surprised if I see better this year. It's a thunderous emotional ride of a film, enjoyable throughout, and loaded with tension which bubbles just below the surface of the purveying feel good vibe. The acting is nothing less than excellent, with Justin Timberlake turning out to be extremely capable, rather annoyingly (is there anything this guy isn't genuinely brilliant at???). He's used to great effect giving life to his likeable, "wrong place / right time" character Frankie Ballenbacher. The rest of the cast are equally enthralling, and special credit should go to Ben Foster who plays unhinged - and often comic - addict sociopath Jake Mazursky with chilling brilliance. However, somewhat unsurprisingly, both Bruce Willis' and Sharon Stone's casting is completely forgetable and entirely spurious to the central cast. Seriously, please go and see this film. I'm worried it'll fly straight under most people's radar here in the UK, as, not only is the film's central theme based around a story most UK people won't have heard about, it's released after the crucial Easter holiday fortnight (on 20th April to be exact). But please, please, please go see Alpha Dog!