My friend and his little brother are over and they were playing Call of Duty 4 on my Xbox 360, when the little brother got his first kill of the game. Big brother acknowledged this by saying "Baby's first kill," like you would find on an xmas card.

I found that really funny for some reason.

(It's my shoe-in for the prestigious quote of the summer award, tied with, "You see, me and him are like Jesus.")

Not sure if this image is too irreverent but it is relevant if nothing else. In one of my last posts I confessed to being a gaming junkie. In this post I'm going to let you in on the dark side of gaming, from the perspective of a Christian gamer.

I grew up in a Christian home, went to church, and when I moved off to college I made the decision not to be just a cultural Christian but to be authentic. Tough to do sometimes, but still that's my everyday goal. During the past year of law school playing games was a way for me to let off steam, de-stress, and generally escape some of the narrow confines that legal academic thinking can sometimes lead to. Gaming is a fun hobby for the most part, but there are moments when it comes into conflict with my moral philosophy.

Some of the more superficial examples of this conflict that come to mind occur during online play.  Typically folks who play online are polite and don't resort to name-calling.  There are however two big exceptions:  Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3.  My online play is mostly limited to Halo 3, so I'll focus on it.  During the average Halo 3 multiplayer match (capture the flag, territories, slayer, whatever), there are a handful of 10-15 year old squeaky voiced punks who spout some of the worst language you never want your family to hear.  I've heard folks called (and been called myself) a "fag", "gay", and lots of other words that go beyond good natured teasing or verbal sparring. I can't understand how a kid can come home from school, get online to play Halo, and then spray f-bombs all over everything he says as if its' the adjective of choice and not get in some kind of trouble with his parents.  Still, I can take the language--they're just words spoken by anonymous mics, but it's the intent of the words that is so jarring.

There are lots of blogs dealing with the hate-speech of online gaming, and I don't really feel like rehashing those grounds. I do want to say that sometimes playing online is a very un-relaxing place, not because of the level of competition (I don't mind getting pwned in a fair fight) but because of the level of hostility. There's a church in Grand Rapids (Mars Hill Bible Church) that has a slogan, "Love wins" that I think is a great, simple way to keep the mind of Christ at the forefront in hostile situations, but I admit I have sometimes given in to the "dark side" of my feelings and tried to give little Tommy-ten-year-old a good talking to (which never works by the way).  It's generally an exercise in futility to exchange insults, but it's just one of the ways playing games has challenged me as a Christian.

One of the other challenges comes in the triple threat of fair play, communication, and patience.  The best example of this tension pops up, not during online play, but during co-op play when a friend is sitting next to me on the couch and he is totally a newbie, unable to even coordinate looking and walking (which admittedly can be a little complicated, but still, at least know whether you prefer to have your y-axis inverted!).  My friend Josh (who prefers to invert, and is not the generic newbie just described) and I are both in a "season of waiting" so I've had a lot of time to hang out with him. Sometimes we go out to do stuff, but often we'll wind up playing the ol' Xbox. Last time we hung out we tried to play Lego Star Wars on co-op, and let me tell you, that was the least fun I've ever had playing a game. Ever.  We had a really tough time getting through the levels, and I think I lost my temper once or fives when we both died and kept respawning on the edge of a cliff... True Jedi we are not. Anyway, that little debacle kind of shook me, at least to the extent a one-inch tall Lego Yoda can shake anything (the Force is strong in this one!), because I really wasn't being fair to my friend in light of all the circumstances; I was totally not WWJD-ing with him. As I'm sure you've noticed, there are lots of little things that try your patience everyday, but there's just something about playing a game together that brings out the best and the worst in our communication skills, our patience (and lack thereof), and our ability to integrate a fundamental sense of fair play in how we treat our good buddies. Huzzah.

Well if that last point didn't warm your fuzzy bunny slippers, this one is bound to knock them right off. Or not. So I think probably the biggest conflict between being a gamer and being a Christian is that being a gamer teaches a kind of twisted materialism, while the teachings of Christ teach that simplicity and trust are fundamental tenets to a solid relationship with God.  "Techno-lust" may sound like some kind of kinky trance-dance, but it is not. Techno-lust is that little green eyed monster that tells you that you will in fact be ill if you do not get a new 3G iPhone, and that you may very well come down with chronic diarrhea if you don't get a new Macbook within the year. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. And techno-lust is not limited to things made by Apple, oh no.  Techno-lust is a major part of what drives the video games industry.  I say "industry" because it is possible for an individual to play games, not for the status or technology they have, but just for the pure and simple fun, for the story and characters, or because of a mild case of ADHD. But even if you are this gem of a gamer, the techno-lust will eventually filter down from the industry behemoth to you. First you'll notice the ads for the next generation consoles--the Xbox 360, the Wii, the PlayStation 3. Then you'll see a really spiffy trailer for one of the games--like Metal Gear Solid 4, or Halo 3, games that have genuinely good stories, better than a lot of movies in theaters, and hey you like a good story right? And the console has some really amazing secondary features besides just playing games; did you know the PS3 is the cheapest Blu-Ray player on the market? Oh, and the Wii is definitely going to help you get off the sofa and do some physical activity... Right?

And so it goes, the techno-lust finds you, and you have talked yourself into spending at least three hundred bucks on either the Wii or the Xbox 360 (don't be fooled by the Wii's slightly lower price tag--they sell the controllers in parts, so you'll end up spending more on it than the 360...).  Now that you have a system, you'll need some games. Actually you'll need lots of games--or so says the techno-lust, as that one new game has really amazing features, the graphics, the AI, wow this game is going to revolutionize storytelling and entertainment as a whole; plus there's a huge batch of even better games just around the corner!

So you can see how this might be a problem for someone dedicated to living a life focused on the more important aspects of being.  I read Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline as a junior at FSU, and it changed how I think about a lot of things. One of those things is simplicty. Foster has a great quote in the introduction, where he says "Superficiality is the curse of our age. ... The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people."  I've been reading Donald Miller's re-release of Through Painted Deserts, and this theme is a recurring one for him, as he describes his frustration with billboards and commercials selling him more, newer, better, and how all of this stands in contrast to his growth towards a bigger, yet simpler existence.

I think all any person wants is a life of meaning. The problems crop up in how we define that "meaning" and who the "meaning" matters to.  There is a part of me that actually cares about my Xbox 360 gamer score--and I think I'm not alone in this concern. But beyond this pettiness, I want my life to be more than just the sum of days I spent in front of the TV--and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this concern either. It is a hard balance sometimes, to try to live each day on purpose and also not to become legalistic or pretentious when it comes to the value of entertainment (including what I used to consider "mindless escapism").  Christianity is a religion that teaches us that life is best when there is tension--tension between what we know and what we cannot know, tension between childlike innocence and putting away childish behavior, and the tension of living "in" the world but not being "of" the world.  At the end of the day being a Christian gamer is just one more example of this tension.  It's recognizing the tension, knowing when to pull back that keeps me centered.  And when it comes down to moral dilemmas, such as those faced during tough capture the flag matches, it helps to think "What Would Jesus Do For The Win?" :)

I'm pretty annoyed that I have to wait a month to but it, because I will probably be neck deep in essays and homework by the time it gets shipped to me. I guess this gives me more of a reason to get outside and enjoy the fresh air right now...

Un viernes más que llega (gracias a dios!) y luego de las tareas de la universidad o el colegio, podemos ver qué está sucediendo en la Games Convention de Leipzig (jeje) o prender nuestras consolas y ponernos a jugar.

En lo personal no he jugado mucho, pues me la he pasado aquí publicando lo más que he podido de la actividad en Leipzig, pero puedo asegurar que estoy cerca de tener una Xbox 360 en mis manos.

Así es, sólo unos cuantos días y compraré la consola junto con Grand Theft Auto IV y Call of Duty 4. Por cierto, antes tengo una duda, para el que me la pueda resolver: en qué se usan los 20 GB de disco duro de la consola? Si no hago muchas cosas online o guardo muchos archivos de música y demás, me aguantarán los 20 gigas?

En pocas palabras: en qué te gastas 20 GB de disco duro?

Bueno, y ustedes qué piensan jugar o qué juegos han ido avanzando?

Saludos.

I've been playing COD4 since christmas last year both on the XBOX 360 version and the PS3 version. Now if I'm correct they did release an update for XBOX 360 to fix the accuracy, but I had already switched to PS3. Activision left COD4 before they could do an update for the PS3 version. Over the past 9 months I have been playing this game I have realized how much it actually sucks. Believe it or not this game actually did amazing and is probably the most popular console first person shooter out right now. But now that I realize there was nothing really out at the time, except for Halo 3 which for some people were getting old. But Call of Duty 4 thrived on the Playstation 3 because there just wasn't anything other first person shooters. I mean this game isn't all bad, it did dominate all other shooters with photo-realistic graphics. So anyways lets get straight to the list of things that make this photo-realistic game horrible.

The List

1. Mass of people using RPDs aka light machine guns all the time.
2. When you lag you will not notice, except for the fact that it takes you extra long to kill someone.
3. Almost nobody uses teamwork, so your forced to play with friends to do good.
4. First time you buy the game you have a disadvantage, because you have to rank up to get better guns.
5. Mortardom, the perk that drops a live grenade instantly when you die.
6. Juggernaut, the perk that gives you extra health the second your health goes out.
7. Last Stand, the perk that allows you to shoot with a hand gun after you die for a short amount of time.
8. The unusual amount of campers on this game.
9. How the game allows the enemies to respawn right next to you.
10. The bullet penetration in this game is not realistic at all.

Thankfully Socom: Confrontation is coming out in about two months (Or Sept. 1st for everyone who will be participating in the Public Beta). The game that everyone calls, "The Real Tacticle Shooter." From what I have seen so far there are so many things that make me want Socom: Confrontation so bad. First off in ranked games there will be no RPGs and Grenade Launchers. Voice chat will be just like how it is in real life. Everyone uses teamwork in Socom. The ability to customize my character and choose the type of armor I wear. The type of armor you wear even determines how fast or slow you run. A headshot is always a one hit kill. Finally, knife kills will be one hit in the back, and it will take two hits in the front to kill. And there are many more things that makes Socom so realistic. So yea I can't wait to throw COD4 in the garbage once I get Socom: Confrontation. Oh and you won't see me going to the store to get COD5 either.

No Arcade, Bionic Commando: Rearmed está em primeiro, com Braid em terceiro e Geometry Wars 2 em quarto. No Xbox Original, Halo 2, Star Wars: Battlefront, Fable e Counter-Strike tomam as quatro primeiras colocações, respectivamente.

Top10 Xbox 360 (Usuários Únicos)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 GTA IV
4 Gears of War
5 Madden NFL 09
6 Rock Band
7 Guitar Hero III
8 Battlefield: Bad Company
9 SOULCALIBUR IV
10 Fable II Pub Games

Top10 Arcade (Versões Completas)
1 BC:Rearmed
2 Fable II Pub Games
3 Braid
4 Geometry Wars Evolved²
5 UNO
6 1942: Joint Strike
7 DOOM
8 SOULCALIBUR
9 N+
10 Worms

A lista acima é baseada nas versões completas compradas.

Top10 Xbox (Usuários Únicos)
1 Halo 2
2 Star Wars: Battlefront 2
3 Fable
4 Counter-Strike
5 Fable: Lost Chapters
6 Splinter Cell Chaos
7 Conker: Live Reloaded
8 Doom 3
9 Battlefield 2: MC
10 Call of Duty 3

I have always dismissed the usual complaints of World War II oversaturation. After all, without more games based on The War, we wouldn't have something like Company of Heroes. Who cares what the setting is, as long as the game is solid?

But do we really need a new version of Stalingrad every two years? How many times can we plant the same charges on anti-aircraft guns, and fire the same bazookas at scripted tanks, before we give up and start to root for the Nazis? Even the Hollywood cycle allows some time between genre exploitation. Sometimes you need a little Blackhawk Down between your Private Ryans.

Treyarch had the same thought. After finishing Call of Duty 3, the studio didn't want to do another World War II game. But after seeing the success of Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4, and admiring the level of polish, Treyarch wanted another crack at the genre--a chance to prove that it could take the Modern Warfare mold, fill it with Thompsons and Nazis, and justify the purchase of another trip to Berlin for burned out gamers.

And after getting my hands on the game, I have to admit--the designers... Read more

[Source Picture]
Created in Photoshop CS3 using various overlays and color edits.

• Επεξεργαστής: AMD 64 3200+ ή Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz ή ταχύτερος
• Μνήμη: 512MB για Windows XP ή 1GB για Windows Vista
• Χώρος στο σκληρό δίσκο: 8GB
• Κάρτα γραφικών: Nvidia 6600GT/ATI Radeon 1600XT ή καλύτερη (Shader 3.0 ή πιο πρόσφατης γενιάς) με 256MB μνήμης

Αναμφισβήτητα οι απαιτήσεις είναι αρκετά χαμηλές ακόμα και για ένα μέσο σημερινό σύστημα, γεγονός που θα χαροποιήσει αρκετούς χρήστες. Έχετε στο νού σας ωστόσο, πως πρόκειται για τις απολύτως "minimum" απαιτήσεις, που σημαίνει, ότι αν δοκιμάσετε να παίξετε το παιχνίδι με αυτές, θα απολαμβάνεται το "minimum" της... δράσης ή ακόμα και την απόλυτη... αδράνεια.

Here are the pics of the hot gymnast, Alison Carroll, whose actions and body will be used to help create the gaming version of Laura Croft. The game is said to have a very fluid feel to the controls and users will be able to really make her do some spectacular stunts and moves throughout the game. But for now gamers near and far can appreciate the girl who helped give our virtual Laura Croft her moves…pics

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition arms gamers with an arsenal of advanced and powerful modern day firepower, and transports them to the most treacherous hotspots around the globe to take on a rogue enemy group threatening the world. As both a U.S Marine and British S.A.S. soldier fighting through an unfolding story full of twists and turns, players use sophisticated technology, superior firepower, and coordinated land and air strikes on a battlefield where speed, accuracy and communication are essential to victory. The epic title also delivers an added depth of multiplayer action providing online fans an all-new community of persistence and customizable gameplay. The special Game of the Year Edition of Call of Duty 4 includes a token to download the Variety Map Pack, a series of four new multiplayer maps. The Variety Map Pack will also be available for download from Xbox LIVE� Marketplace April 3, giving you multiple ways to experience the newest multiplayer action from the blockbuster hit title.

Since its release in November 2007, Call of Duty 4 has garnered critical acclaim, securing more than 15 perfect score reviews and more than 50 combined Editor's Choice and Game of the Year awards.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition gives gamers the chance to experience the intense cinematic action of the original game while expanding the online experience of 2007's top selling game by offering gamers a free token for the Variety Map Pack - four new multiplayer maps that will thrust gamers into a hot zone of combat across a variety of intense multiplayer locales.

The Variety Map Pack takes players to:

• Creek - A wide open village ravaged by combat where concealment is the difference between life and death.
• Broadcast - Fight throughout an enemy communications building with confined corridors and wide-open parking lots
• Chinatown - A foggy downtown district, lit only by a full moon and the neon glow of the city.
• Killhouse - Featuring a desolate training warehouse filled with a variety of building mock-upsand soft and hard cover points.

The Game of the Year Edition includes a code that allows players to download the Variety Map Pack, a $10 value for free on Xbox LIVE.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year is available at Amazon for $59.99. To Order click here
Amazon Product Pages contain a lot of other details on this product as Customer Reviews, Sales Ranking, Special Offers, Alternate products that customers are going for and much more.Want to read these details? click here

Want to get some other Format / Binding / Version? You can search for them from here

Other Products of Interest

• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
• Xbox 360 Live 12 Month Gold Card plus 1 Month Bonus
• Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Black
• Assassin's Creed

Saw this really nice article about the up and coming new Batman game supposedly called "Arkham Asylum".

Game looks nice....go check it out here

[read more]

• PlayStation: Official Mag (US) 4 / 5
• Game Informer 8.2 / 10
• Gametrailers 8.7 / 10
• Cheat Code Central 4.4 / 5
• G4 - X-Play 5 / 5
• IGN 8.8 / 10
• 1UP A
• GameSpy 4 / 5

EA Sports' Madden Challenge Schedule Released

[go to]

These seem to be all the rage in the FPS world but which one is better its up to you to decide, post a comment with your opinion and thoughts. Crysis definitely wins in graphics, gameplay, mods, AI. In my opinion Crysis is the winner no contest, but what do you think?
See What Call Of Duty 4 is here.
See What Crysis is here.

•Plays Lacrosse, Basketball, and Cross Country

•Only 11

•Loves Xbox

•Dates Girls (hot ones)

•And is awesome at Call of Duty 4

Sorry I know that was stupid. I just had to add it. Ha ha. Our rival clan is "2 Cool 4 You" I hate them there all fuckers.

Now this is the last thing the rules for our clan.

•No racism

•No cursing at other clan members

•No glitching (unless your good at it)

•Always be assholes to the other clan.

And that's all.

Sincerely Drew,

CARMELIRISH,

Leader of NYEP

So, I need to find a new game to keep me occupied, but will anything compare to Call of Duty?

TODA LA INFORMACIÓN AQUÍ

Xbox Latino, uno de nuestros sitios amigos, está organizando un maratón de juegos a través de Xbox LIVE, este sábado 9 de agosto (mañana/hoy, dependiendo de dónde vivan), enfocándose en Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Grand Theft Auto IV y Gears of War.

Así que ya saben, si mañana quieren jugar Xbox 360 desde la mañana y hasta que el cuerpo (o la consola) aguante, participen en este maratón de juegos.

Suerte con la organización, y un saludo.

El Clan de Xbox Latino cuenta con una gran cantidad de miembros y es hora de un nuevo maratón para reunirnos y jugar, los latinos nos vamos a tomar Xbox LIVE por sorpresa, bajo una misma insignia: Se Habla Español.

Datos del evento:

• ¿Cuando? El sábado 9 de agosto, iniciando a las 10 A.M. hora colombiana y mejicana, 10:30 A.M. hora venezolana, 12 del mediodía en hora argentina y 4 P.M. en hora española. Si quieren ver la hora en su país, pueden visitar esta página.
• ¿Donde? Xbox LIVE por supuesto.
• ¿Cómo? Si ya te uniste al clan, tendrás una invitación esperandote cuando te conectes. Si no te has unido no te preocupes, puedes agregar a Jkrincon y participar, recibimos a todos los que hablen español!
• ¿Cuanto tiempo? Hasta que el cuerpo aguante, o en su defecto, el Xbox XD.
• ¿Qué juego? Debido a la gran cantidad de miembros del clan, vamos a enfocarnos en cuatro diferentes juegos: Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Grand Theft Auto IV y Gears of War.

Nos encontraremos todos en el clan, así conoceran más amigos y gente con la cual se pueda jugar hablando español. Con todas las personas que tenemos unidas va a ser una locura, no duden en venir. Los esperamos

The last two weeks have been a stressful time, but I feel that things may now be getting better.  I've had more time over the last 48 hours to consider more gaming time, and have spent that time playing several old titles and a new one.

I got invited back into my old Halo 3 posse earlier on in the week for the first time in months.  I really suck at that game, but it's nice to play with friends.  My brother on the other hand, is good.  He'd say he's competatively decent. but compared to me, he's a Halo god.  He and his three friends challenged my party of eight to a 4 on 8 match, and they wiped the floor with us.  Enough said.

I had a good time, even managing to survive a direct banshee ram from Evan, fragging him and stealing his banshee, only to get involved in a midair banshee fight with him when he respawned and took to the air again.  Good times.  There is another member of our crew though, who pretty much hates to lose.  If we start losing more than one match in a row, it's "goodnight guys" in a low grumble and then he signs off.  I wonder about people like that.

On the other hand, I jumped back into Call of Duty 4 with Chris, and immediately found that I could hold my own.  Chris has only been playing for two weeks, so he's still ranking up and unlocking weapons, but we managed to win all but two of eight matches.  I hate to say it, but if it weren't for my Halo playing friends, I would never play that game.

I finally got a chance to play with Aaron on Civ Rev last night, and we joined up in a team match against three computer players.  We must have been playing on some easy difficulty, because the match was a piece of cake.  In my single player games, I've been finding that winning on Deity is very hard in a normal game, but easier in most scenarios.  Civ Rev is simplified, but it's still a satisfying version of the game.

I expect more of the same this weekend.  Again, I'm debating whether or not to pick up Braid, after holding off on Geometry Wars 2.  It's 15 dollars...which seems steep.  The developer talks about it on todays 1up Show, claiming that because it's a niche title, he needed to price it there to break even.  I'm not so sure he couldn't have made more money by getting more people to buy it at an 800 space bucks price point, but I'm not intimately aware of the market strategies and such.  Penny Arcade has a comic today that puts forth their opinion on the subject though.

--WG

Let's start with a synopsis of my experience with Mile High Club on the veteran difficulty setting.  I'm already running when the lavatory door opens to my left, and a swift slash from my knife dispatches the poor goon walking out of it.  Quickly bringing my gun up I drop one of the baddies down the hall and sprint up to get into a position to fire on the swarm of hostiles that are about to flood through the door.  They do so.  As one of them dodges, deflects, and absorbs my bullets (presumably converting any absorbed rounds into undiluted wrath), he raises his mini Uzi on one of my comrades behind me, letting fly one single bullet on the way up that penetrates my skull and leaves gray matter somewhere on the opposite end of the plane.  He then continues to eviscerate the rest of my team.

So here's my first gripe: mechanically impossible difficulty.  Yes, I understand that veteran is the highest difficulty setting and, in general, the highest difficulty setting in any game is implemented solely to drive the player to insanity, but even at that point, a certain obstacle is surpassable with enough practice.  Unfortunately, no amount of practice can ever prepare you for that one invincible crack shot terrorist with a horseshoe up his ass to boot (his boots are filled with four leaf clovers as well).  There is absolutely no reason to create levels that are difficult in execution as it is, and then throw in impossible obstacles.  Like SuperRoboTerrorist.

Okay.  Let's try a different method.  Maybe I'll run past the guy in the lavatory and let my squaddies take care of him while I run up ahead and get a head start on clearing this room.  The level starts and off I go.  A yell from my left - the baddie spotted me.  Expected, but he won't be alive too much longer.  I draw my sights up on the target right in front of me, and - I get shot in the back.  With a 20 round burst.  What?  What the fuck is that shit?

AI seems to be smart only when it needs to (read: when it wants to get me killed).  In the above example, the terrorist was smart enough to give chase, while my three squadmates behind him were "smart" enough to calmly watch while he emptied most of his magazine into my spine and kidneys.  When my teammates aren't being entirely useless, they're usually standing in my way when I'm trying to get behind cover, or firing long, loving bursts of fiery hot lead into the back of my face.  Rarely do they inflict the same kind of damage on enemies, though those same enemies are both competent enough to realize that my buddies are useless and just disregard them all together, and skilled enough to fill my ass with long, hard machine gun bursts.

Well, after dealing with absurdly proficient enemies and absolutely useless friendlies, I've finally made it halfway, and with some time to spare.  This would be a good place to sa- oh right.  The game has no quicksave.  And this level has one checkpoint.  When you're finished it.

The first Call of Duty had quicksaves.  The second Call of Duty didn't, and everything just kind of rolled downhill from there.  I'm not entirely sure why they were removed, but it seems like a stupid idea, given that a lot of the checkpoints in the game are absurd.  On the final mission I kept respawning in some enemy soldier's stream of bullets, much to the dismay of my major organs.  Cut that shit out guys.

There was one instance where I did make it to the end of that level.  I had gotten lucky, my teammates weren't entirely incompetent, and none of the bad guys had taken their Invincinol that morning.  There was the head honcho, holding a handgun to his hostage's head.  All that was needed was a well placed pistol round in his face, and everyone could go home happy, except for the bad guys, of course.  But damn, that hostage is sure putting his face in the way a lot.  Maybe I'll just try to shoot over top of his head and hit the big guy right in the forehead.. damn, missed, maybe one more.. failed?  What the fuck?

Instant failure sequences.  Do this in this much time or else you lose, and you have to go back and do the same tedious shit again to get here, just so you can fail again.

Quick, Ctrl+D this page or else I'll end this blog right here!

Too late.

Mike