After Hours Gaming Is Back Again

Wednesday evening, the usual time of 6pm, somewhere in Confetti. It would be best to meet in the cafe because I'm not sure which room has been booked.

I hope to see people there. Anyone from Confetti is invited, as usual.

:D

Nowgamer.com - An interesting article

Brand new website "NowGamer" recommended by K.V. is now live.

It's a "fresh" and "clean looking" video games news website, which gives you the ability to customise page layouts and see the games information relevant to you. I like it, so you might too if you haven't already seen it. Check it out. NowGamer.com

An interesting article that I noticed while browsing the website:
"UK Games Market Set To Overtake Japan"

Click the link to read more.

[Edit] I just found another article that's pretty interesting:
"Game Grads Can't Make Games"

Berlin Blog - All Days Logged

There is now an entry for every day on the Berlin Blog. Excluding Monday and Saturday in which we were travelling on the coach :P

Check it out by clicking on my profile, you'll find it under the list of my blogs.

It's called "GS8 in Berlin"

Goodbye British Isles, Hello Discovery

The coach for Berlin leaves tomorrow morning.

As some of you may know, this trip is my first abroad. Excitement is to be expected.

I've got everything I need and I'm getting my music collection together for the trip as I speak. Packing next, then sleep and an early start tomorrow. 6:30am should be early enough to avoid people traffic in my house in the morning. :D

Nathan, GS8-1 member Matt (who I spoke to yesterday) and myself will surely have a great time. I expect most of you GS8 people to save their pennies for the possible trip to Japan in the future. I don't want to be the only one who saves up and doesn't have the opportunity to go because nobody else can. A trip to Japan would be AMAZING. Think about it.

To all members of GS8, try your best, and have fun in class.

:D

Auf Wiedersehen.

PS3 Firmware Mock-Up Looks Slick

I found this while surfing the web, I thought it looked really cool. It's a mock-up of a future firmware update. If Sony actually implemented a system like this I would be very happy.

Here is the link to the web page with all of the images: Smashpad

After Hours Gaming - Success!

Yesterday's event was very interesting, with a bit of a shaky start after I found out that the Atrium is now non-existent. I soon sorted it out though with help from Les, the Technician and other staff at Confetti, as well as the fellow gamers. We managed to book out S205 upstairs at the last minute and we got the console and all of the necessary cables, so we were ready to play.

GS8-1 and GS8-2 united once again, with Calum/Callum from First Diploma Media. The GS8-1 members were quiet at first but we were all chatting nicely at the end of the night.

We played Soul Calibre for half an hour, but Halo 3 for the rest of the night. "Hammer-Time" was a major highlight of the night, but so many funny things happened that I can't possibly mention them all.

I strongly recommend that the rest of GS8 join in next Wednesday, with Bob leading the group while Nate and myself are in Berlin (hopefully if it's not too snowy to travel).

After Hours Gaming - Will You Experience It?

After Hours Gaming is back!

The ever-so slightly competitive evening is up and running, equipment is booked and everyone at Confetti is welcome to join in. Games will be played, jokes will be shared and a great time will be had by all, so be there or miss out!

Some highlights of last term were the matches against tutors, and the madcap antics of characters on Soul Caliber(Calibre) 4.

The evening runs every Wednesday in the academic calendar, from 6pm till 9pm. The games we have played in the past include first person shooters, sports games, and fighting games; or generally any multiplayer games. Any suggestions you have would be great! The only rule is: The game must have an age rating of 16 or under, otherwise some people can't legally play it.

The first evening is tomorrow the 4th of February, spread the word, and don't miss out!

Any queries, feel free to drop me an email. (craigo917[at]googlemail[dot]com)

Unit 19 - Computer Platforms and Technologies Research Task - Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 is a video game console designed and produced by Microsoft.

Release and Key Developments

The Xbox 360 was officially unveiled to the public on MTV in May 2005, in a special programme with celebrity appearances and live music. How fancy is that?

The Xbox 360 was first released in the US and Canada on November 22nd 2005. Two variants were released, the Core, and Standard (which is often called Premium/Pro). Both models were released without HDMI output, and the Core was released with a wired controller rather than wireless like all other variants of the console. The Core also lacked a hard drive and had no storage included. The later release of the 360 Arcade on October 23rd 2007 replaced the Core consoles on shop shelves. The Arcade had a HDMI port, plus 256MB of system storage and a wireless controller. The Standard models were released with HDMI ports after 2007. The standard model had a 20 or 60 GB Hard Drive and a headset to differentiate from the Core model.

The Xbox 360 Elite was released in Autumn 2007 and had a matte black paint finish and a 120GB hard drive to provide an alternative in storage capacity.

Functions and Interface


The original user interface of the Xbox 360 was called the "Xbox 360 Dashboard" which implements a tabbed interface of browsing through content on the console (see image above). Users could launch games on DVD Disc or games stored on their console's hard-drive (if they had one). They could also change settings, browse the Xbox Live Marketplace and download films, games, trailers, game add-ons and many more things. There was also an achievement system which allowed users to make a profile and earn points when playing on games. These points could then be compared with friends over the Xbox Live online service, which provided networking between players from all over the globe.

The Xbox 360 Dashboard was replaced in November 2008 by the New Xbox Experience ("NXE") (See image below). The "NXE" changed the appearance of the 360 interface, and also introduced "avatars" which are characters that Xbox 360 users can customise to be a virtual representation of themselves when communicating and playing games over Xbox Live.


Connectivity

All Xbox 360 models currently in retail have HDMI ports, but only the Elite is bundled with a HDMI cable, which can be bought separately anyway. The Xbox 360 Standard/Pro/Premium has a Component/Composite cable which can output in High Definition. The Arcade is not bundled with an Ethernet cable as the other models are.

The Xbox 360 supports wired or wireless Xbox 360 controllers, which have been released in a multitude of colours. This controller can also be used on a PC or laptop. There is a headset which can be used for chat or online gaming, which is not included in the Arcade pack. Other accessories include specific game controllers, e.g. musical instruments, guitar, a steering wheel or dancemat. The Xbox 360 also supports a webcam called the Xbox Live Vision Camera, which can be used to communicate over Xbox Live in webchats or it can even be used in games. The casing of the Xbox 360 can even be customised with interchangeable faceplates, often given away with games or in most cases, purchasable separately.

Limitations

"The Red Ring of Death"

The most obvious limitation is the reliability of the console. Technical problems are quite common and older consoles are more susceptible to failure. A test undertaken in February 2008, with 1040 consoles, estimated the failure rate at 16.4% (or one in six). 60% of these failures were general hardware failures. The most prominent problem is nicknamed "The Red Ring of Death" and when this failure occurs, three of the four lights around the power button flash red; this is a very clear indication that the console must be sent away for repair. Microsoft recognised the severity of this problem and extended the warranty of all consoles, but this only covers consoles affected by "The Red Ring of Death" issue and nothing else.

Another problem with the Xbox 360 is the disc capacity to play games. The console supports DVD, but not Blu-Ray like the other games console the PlayStation 3. Standard Dual Layer DVDs used to play games have 7GB of usable space for game content. Blu-Ray can store up to 50GB on a dual-layered disc. This may be a huge difference but game developers have yet to make the most of the extra capacity of Blu-Ray, and subsequently there is not much difference in the amount of game content being released in games for both consoles.

Craig Oatley ;D