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August 09 Do you want to come to the Bungie dev tour? Plus I'm on the moveAs everyone is pretty much aware of now two of Bungie's finest will be here next Thursday and as a reader of my blog you will get to see all the behind the scenes action but one lucky reader will be able to attend the event!! I will be moving my blog to the more concise address and completely customizable location of pidgeo.com on Monday and to celebrate the launch of my full site I will begin with a competition to win the invite.
You will need to check back then to get the exact details but the prize is a single person invite to the Halo 3 Developer Tour event in Sydney so if you want to enter and you live outside of Sydney you will need to arrange your own transportation and accommodation. Remember to check pidgeo.com on Monday!! August 06 Windows gaming weekend and Bungie dev number twoI hate cleaning. It has to be one of the most boring activities in human existence so for me to actually enjoy cleaning on a Friday night was bizarre to say the least. However my cleaning efforts had a definite purpose - squeezing in my beast gaming machine into my study to work with everything else in there. At 8pm on Friday my mission was accomplished which meant step two of my master plan for the weekend could commence - play some old PC favourites.
Diablo II is one of the best games ever my in my opinion. When I first went through it I played it on a laptop and controlled it using the touchpad. Absolute lunacy.... but I was poor. This time however I am playing it on a Samsung 226bw monitor and the awesome combo of Microsoft Habu and Reclusa which makes an already great game that much more enjoyable. I am up to level 23 and I've just started Act III so I've still got hundreds of hours to go. I also install Rise of Nations Gold and it still is one of my absolute favorite RTS games. I need to arrange a mini-LAN at home so I can enjoy the multiplayer in its element.
Step three of the plan was to reconnect an Xbox to my setup. I have two PC's, Xbox 360, MegaDrive, SNES, N64 and Dreamcast hooked up but didn't have an Xbox. In honour of the occasion we played some Rugby League. For such a dreadful game in the traditional sense, it is amazingly fun to play multiplayer!! I just don't get it. Stu managed to destroy me in every game so I might have to sneak some practice in before our next battle. August 16 is getting closer and in anticipation of the Bungie developer tour I can announce the second developer that will be coming Down Under! Don't forget to check back often for details on how you can have a chance to be a part of what will be an awesome event.
Name: Frank O’Connor Title: Writing Lead
· Time at Bungie: Four years · Bungie Work History: In the past I’ve worked on lots of Bungie.net stuff, IP projects like the graphic novel as well as script and combat dialog for Halo 2. · Current Role at Bungie Studios: I still participate in the items above but we are a bigger “department” now with more focus on the writing needs at Bungie for Halo 3, IP projects and upcoming secret stuff. I continue to work on the website, game manual and we oversee the “Halo Story Bible” to ensure consistency throughout the Halo Universe across all projects. · Personal / Background Note: I was born and raised in Scotland, worked as a video game magazine journalist for ten years and moved to Seattle because someone told me it was really sunny. August 03 Bungie visitor number one revealedWith the visit of two of Bungie's finest on August 16 I have been very busy working with PR to make sure everything is ready to go when they arrive. I cannot wait for them to arrive so I can ask them a few hundred questions about the glorious triumvirate that is the Halo trilogy. Right now I am able to reveal who one of the two developers who are flying out to visit Australia with a little background info. Don't forget to stay tuned to this blog to find out more details on the visit, as well as details on how you could have a chance to be involved!!
Name: Lars Bakken Position: Multiplayer Designer
· Time at Bungie: 1 ½ years · Bungie work history: Halo 3 is my first project at Bungie · Current role at Bungie Studios: I’m one of two multiplayer designers on the game. My fellow designer (Tyson) and I are responsible for speccing out the game engines (Slayer, King Of The Hill, VIP, etc) setting up the MP maps; which includes weapon placement, player spawns, object placement, and the general gut check on if the level is fun.
Working with the MP artists to design the flow of the maps. Playing the hell out of multiplayer and iterating constantly to make the game plays well is a huge part of our job too. I am also responsible for gathering feedback from the team on how the game plays. I also run the daily playtests where I grab people from the office and play the latest things we are testing to gauge how our decisions are panning out.
· Background/Personal Note: I grew up in Iowa, and moved out to San Francisco with my wife to try and make our way in the world. I was set on making games for a living, and everyone told me I was crazy, but somehow we made it work. Hanging out at the local EB game store in the Embarcadero finally paid off when I met the QA manager at Eidos, because that’s where he bought his games.
Prior to Bungie I worked as a QA Tester at Eidos, and also did a brief stint in PR - also at Eidos. From there I moved into development at a little company called Digital Eclipse.
I have a dog named Scout and I make it wear a bowtie and a diaper. It’s adorable! August 02 Interviews finished and XBLA notesI just finished the second of two interviews for today. The first as mentioned was with CyberShack radio which will air next week about the upcoming Shadowrun PC vs Xbox battle at World Cyber Games in Sydney. I am representing the Windows gamers against the Australian Halo 2 Champ, Dean Loaney and we're playing in a boxing ring!! We also have cheerleaders and even entrance music. As a self confessed "Nature Boy" Ric Flair fanatic I am going to come out to the "Dawn" section of Also sprach Zarathustra (Flair's long time entrance music with a WOOOOOO at the beginning) which many people will also know from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It will be one unique gaming experience. The second interivew was for OzBoxLive.com which is an Aussie site dedicated to podcasting what's going on in the Xbox community locally. I jibbered on a bit too long so it will either be a two part interview or cut down to eliminate my nonsensical ramblings hehehe. Mark and his team are doing a great job with them so I hope the community gets behind their efforts. I have no idea what brought this on but I am really enjoying playing Zuma again. Its simple, basic but bloody challenging. Catan still rules as well. I do need to download Marathon this weekend and give it a solid go. August 01 Site vists for Bungie tour, 2-0, interview prep and rowingToday was a very busy day and I loved it. My new job is just awesome
 I conducted a site visit to ensure everything that is required for the Bungie tour will work at the proposed venue. I am happy to say that it will and from a tech side of things its all systems go. I have to say I cannot wait for the two developers to arrive just talk Halo with them. I still remember the very first Microsoft event I ever did back in February 2003 was a developer tour which included Brian Reynolds who heads up Big Huge Games. He was out here for Rise of Nations (still a favourite of mine) but the biggest thrill was to be able to talk about Civilization II with him as he was the brains behind the greatest turn based strategy game ever in my opinion. Getting to do the same with the guys from Bungie will be awesome and I will have the exclusive behind the scenes footage right here. Also stay tuned for a huge announcement about the Bungie dev tour that relates to this blog so make sure you keep visiting to get involved.
I also had to do the prep work for two interviews for tomorrow. One is for a LIVE interview with OzBoxLive.com which should be online next week and the other is for the CyberShack radio show. Hopefully I will sound alright but it should be good fun in any case.
We had the first FIFA challenge at home in almost two weeks and I am happy to say that I won the series 2-0 with two 3-0 victories. As Stu had been playing a lot of the single player stuff I exepcted a closer battle but he was just unluicky with a number of post hits and a few freakish goals from me.
As today is the first day of the month it means that its a new rowing month. The goal for August is 60kms and I had a good start today with 3510m during interval training. It not even close to hardcore yet but if I take it slow, consistently doing a few thousand meters a day I should be feeling good at the end of the month. Already I can feel a big difference and its only the beginning of the journey to uber-fitness. If you want to know more about indoor rowing, go to www.concept2.com.au. Another great part of rowing is that I take Tiger for a walk before hand to warm up which he loves. The big fella needs lots of walks so this is the perfect excuse to take him.
July 31 Back from NZ with a new job, Bungie are coming to town plus Bioshock CE detailsIf I were a billionaire I'd live in Queenstown. What a beautiful town it is and its close proximity to the snow fields and hiking trails makes it paradise to me. We were meant to be there for two days of work conference and one day of skiing but we ended up doing the reverse (I love our leadership team hehe) to celebrate the kick off of our financial year and Microsoft Hardware's 25th birthday. On that note we were all given a MS Hardware branded Oakley ski jacket which made this gear freak one very happy camper!
The best part of the trip though was the announcement of my new role as the Community Evangelist for the Entertainment and Devices Division in ANZ. In my new role I will be doing a lot of things I am very excited about, including working with many great community sites out there and helping them run more game tournaments and competitions. I will also be giving you all a glimpse of what it’s like to be behind the scenes at Xbox events and game launches through video written coverage, and also expanding the team of moderators in the Xbox.com AU and NZ forums to help continue to make them a great place to talk Xbox. I will also be working on Games for Windows and all of the other products in our division's line up. I am unbelievably excited about this new challenge and will be blogging like mad as I will be behind the scenes at so many events and launches that are coming up in the next few months. August will be a huge month as TechEd is on, Bioshock is launching but for me the huge one is the Bungie developer tour on August 16 in Sydney. I will be all over this event as I am looking after the tech setup so if you're a Halo fan in ANZ then make sure you check back then! - An authentic Big Daddy figurine July 23 0-4 for the weekend, giving away a car and Queenstown is tomorrow!!Football - Japan 1 Australia 1 (Japan wins 4-3 on penalties) Not a single result went my way on the weekend. Its always the way when you load up the eski, cook up the carcass and put the big screen up with some good mates around, everyone loses. The only thing I did manage to win was the FIFA Challenge with 4-3 and 2-1 wins. Is it just me or is the West Coast Eagles victory song by far the worst in the AFL?? I think I'd rather the boss music in Blue Dragon!! I was slightly inebriated so I didn't take any decent pics of the tech setup which I apologise for. Just a few minutes ago I was involved in giving away a beautiful Xbox 360 branded Holden SS Commodore. The winner of the big comp that we ran a few months ago came to take delivery and he was almost speechless and understandably so. He also got an Xbox 360 and 10 games. Here are a few pics of one very lucky bloke and his new beast!! I love my 2004 Holden Monaro CV8 but these new Commodores are awesome. I think I want the HSV GTS or even better, the 385kW 7.0l M5-eating HSV GTS-R that is on the cover of Motor this month. Then again I could just be semi-sensible and not spend any more a month on a car when the current one more than suffices. Tomorrow our ANZ team is off to Queenstown in NZ for our financial year kick off and many of us are staying a few extra days for some skiing/boarding. I love the snow and can't wait to be back on the skis and carving down the slopes in a mediocre fashion. More importantly a few announcements will be made and one in particular concerns me and a new role which I can't wait to get into. Stay tuned on Wednesday for that one. It also is a decent length of a flight to give the Zune a workout and watch the final few episodes of Enterprise which I have really enjoyed of late. July 20 New code + new XBLA game = happy PidgeoToday has been a good day. I've been given Blue Dragon review code, downloaded PGR4 E3 Hands On code, given a code for Bomberman Live and also got to test some code of something that I can't give a name to (no it wasn't Halo 3).
My RPG CV is fairly decent - Bard's Tale II, AD&D Gold Box series, Diablo II, Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance I and II, Eye of the Beholder I and II etc but only one game on my list of completed RPG's can be classified as a JRPG (Mystic Quest Legend) and many hardcore Square fans think that its the black sheep of the family, so loading up Blue Dragon is going to be a very different experience than what I'm used to. So far though, it has definitely kept my attention. All the graphical benchmarks (in-game, cut scenes etc) are just top shelf and the combat and advancement system is excellent. My only gripe so far albeit a hilarious one is the music for the boss battles..... oh my it is DREADFUL. It's that bad it's funny - horrible Japanese Rock in English. It's a minor gripe really for a game with hundreds of hours of playability but worth a mention regardless. I'll probably only play through Disc 1 due to the fact that gaining achievements on a debug console is a fruitless endeavour, and I want to hit 30k soon. Blue Dragon is out in ANZ August 24.
PGR4 as many of the press that attended E3 have stated, looks great and feels great for what it is trying to be - arcade racing with a semi-realistic edge. The weather effects are just awesome and I don't know what it is about power-sliding a bike through a corner at 180km/h in the wet that is so alluring, but it is. Also, flying along doing wheelies and endos is smooth and seamless, alllowing n00bs that know nothing about bikes (like me) to control it quite easily. It easy access racing at its finest.
Bomberman.... it's one of those games that just has something that draws you back but you don't know what it is! I mean realistically its a simple, basic game with plain graphics for this generation but it is so hard to put down again reaffirming my personal belief that gameplay maketh the game. To me its what XBLA is all about - instant fun at a great price. I will have to have a few battles with people on my friends list over the weekend so if you're on, send me an invite!!
I can't wait for tomorrow night's sport fest of DOOOOOOM - with BBBQ and Bourbon. Should be a great night and I wonder what my trifecta is paying (Panthers - Wallabies - Socceroos)? Might put a lazy 10 on it. I'll make sure to take some pics and blog on my setup which shows why Media Center Extender = goodness. July 19 I think I found my new laptopI have done some searching and with my impatience I could not be bothered waiting for Alienware and Toshiba to bring their beasts out here so I'm going to go with a Dell Inspiron 1720 maxed out. It's the best DX10 laptop I've found in Australia so far. If a SLI beast arrives I'll get that and make this the demo loan machine for the division.
17in UltraSharp screen with 1920x1200 resolution 4Gb DDR2 667Mhz RAM
NVIDIA 256Mb GeForce 8600GT
Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 SoundBlaster AudigyHD It has a full keyboard with numeric keypad which is essential and is DX10 enabled. Now to get the boss to sign off on it hehe July 18 Revenge was sweet and looking forward to SaturdayJust like the 4-0 scoreline in the Australia-Thailand game, my 5-2 victory last night in FIFA 07 was flattering especially considering it went to extra time!! At the end of regulation it was 1-1 but then in the first minute of extra time, Paul Scholes boomed a typical Scholes long range bomb from 25 yards into the top left for a 2-1 lead. Saha got two additional goals from cheap deflections off long shots to take it to 4-1. Consolation goals to Kuyt for Liverpool and Rooney for Man U ended the game with 5-2 and more importantly a 2-0 series win. Overall I'm ahead 27-12 since we started the Lounge mode. This Saturday is going to be good fun. My best mate is coming down from the Blue Mountains to join Stu and I in a sports fest of doom. Stu is a die hard Dragons supporter, my mate Dan played reserve grade for the Panthers and I also follow them and we always get together to watch the Panthers/Dragons fixtures. That game is on a 5:30 AEST so that's going on the InFocus IN76 HD projector. On the LCD next to it I'm going to put the Bledisloe Cup decider on mute so we can follow the score as it's also on at 5:30. At 7:30 the Australia-Japan game starts so that also will be on the projector then at the completion of that Stu and I will more than likely have what Stu terms "a long gentleman" which is a 20 minute halves game of FIFA. The "title" can be decided on the longer games so they're always close games. Stu and Dan are BBBQ masters so there will be lots of cooked carcass to eat and as we all enjoy copious amounts of bourbon we should be roaring after the end of the Asian Cup telecast. July 17 Messenger Kit long test, Aus v Thai, Getting Revenge and Rowing an Imaginary Boat4-0 was flattering in the Australia v Thailand game but the job was done. The two Sydney FC boys did a great job and hopefully did enough to hold a spot in the team for the huge quarter final against Japan. Kewell and Cahill were sublime when they came on and Viduka looked strong in the second half. Not the most convincing performance but the goals that were needed were scored and the team got through to the second round. They know what is required against Japan so I'm confident that a win is on the cards, although I could do without the heart stopper like last time
 Prior to the kick off of the Asian Cup game Stu and I started a game for the undisputed cahmpionship of the universe and as noted in previous blogs I was out for revenge after my 2-0 series loss in the last title fight. Both team started slowly but I was able to put enough pressure on a back pass for Rooney to swoop in for an easy goal in the six yard box. Liverpool hit back quickly with a booming 30 yard strike from Xabi Alonso put the ball in the top right for a 1-1 scoreline. Just before half time I was able to get the ball to Saha and in a very Viduka-esque move held strong and turned for a low shot off the left boot for a 2-1 half time lead. Our first half ended as kick off began in the Aus-Thai game so we put off the second half until half time in the real game. Saha went on a rampage in the second half, scoring two goals off rebounds for his hat trick. There were another goal for each team before the end to give a 5-2 Man Utd win. Unfortunately the title is decided on a best of 3 format in 6min/half games so the rest will be played tonight.
The rowing is going well as I've rowed 11,900m of imaginary water in the last week. My goal is to get to 50,000m a week but since its been a LONG while since I was uber-fit I will be taking my time and building up to that kind of distance. I feel a little better but I have definitely noticed that I have needed more sleep of late. As long as I stick with it I will hopefully get the rower's body.... just a little shorter (I'm 180cm/5'11" and 72kg and most top rowers are huge - Five time Olympic Champion Sir Steven Redgrave is 6'5" and 100kgs). Good thing for me is that I qualify for the lightweight division (<75kg) but I'm still two minutes off the lightweight 2000m world record haha. Still, it's good to have lofty goals.
Now to the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit long test. I kept it attached while I played FIFA 07 as it didn't affect my play at all, considering I put five goals past Stu's defense!! I still could feel the slight raise at the join but it doesn't hinder play at all. I also started multiple Messenger conversations at once to see how easy it is to switch and let me tell you it is a breeze. You can either have the Chat and IM blade open to see the full conversation list and more of the dialogue, but they way I liked using it is bringing up the dark grey chat box in the bottom part of the screen. It's not overly intrusive so its perfect for chatting while watching stuff in Media Center. To switch between conversations, you press the green button on the pad and an arrow to cycle. The best thing I found though was the fact that the keypad is backlit and the Messenger button flashes orange when you get a reply. It's a thing of beauty. I have no excuse now to not reply to text messages from Live friends hehe July 16 Xbox 360 Messenger Kit just arrived on my desk
I just got given my Xbox 360 Messenger Kit which I must say I'm quite excited about as typing and responding to Live messages is tedious at best with the controller. I also gave the typing a quick test and I really like the responsiveness of the keys, like a brand new phone feels when you SMS. The layout is great and anyone who has used a QWERTY keyboard (i.e. everyone) should feel like a master after a few seconds. It also comes with a wired headset to fit the connection on the pad itself, but works flawlessly with the wireless headset for those who have one.
Less than 2k to go to 30000As noted in my last post I gave Call of Juarez some more time and ended up finishing it on Medium. It was quite enjoyable but I don't think I'll give it another playthrough for awhile. The points gained have tipped my gamerscore to just over 28k so I do have far to go to my goal of 30k.
I have started the campaign of Overlord and I have to say that it is a good original game spoiled by the insane decision not to allow the player to control the camera view. I understand that the right stick is used to "sweep" your minions around the map but I'm sure a button-stick combo could have been implemented to save the frustration of the camera not getting in the right position quickly enough. I am enjoying it enough to continue but I have a feeling the camera issue may get my frustration to boiling point.
Last night I also had another installment of the FIFA home battle against the brother in law (Stu). I play as Manchester United, not because I'm a fan as I don't care who wins the Premier League but because Rooney in FIFA 07 is awesome. Stu plays as Liverpool which adds to the rivalry. The first game was an open game with both defenses looking like they had caught the "Kisnorbo Virus". We traded goals back and forth with Rooney slotting the 4-4 tie at the 88th minute but then my defense got caught out on the left by Kewell who put a magic cross to Gerrard two yards out for the volley in the 93rd for a 5-4 victory. The second game was a lot tighter with goals to Rooney and Kuyt for 1-1 at the beginning of stoppage time. I then watched as my back four and keeper blundered the clearance into the back of the net for the 2-1 loss. Not happy and will be looking for revenge tonight. July 14 I'm concentrating on gaming......... because the Aussie press will say all that needs to be said on the Asian Cup
 I'm hoping that they can turn it round from the brink of a huge dissapointment and it can be done, but we'll wait and see.
OK back to gaming - after 15 odd years I FINALLY finished the gaming icon that is Sonic the Hedgehog. Admittedly, its main competitor back in the day was the masterpiece that was Super Mario All Stars so that got my time back in the day, but it was nice to tick that box and get the achievements along the way. I also got through Golden Axe without continuing to gain the "Perfect Win" achievement which crept me a little closer to a 30k gamerscore.
I've started playing a little Call of Juarez and its not too bad, although so far it hasn't grabbed me like Gun did. Still I'll give it some more time to grow on me.
The BC list for Xbox 360 was updated this week and two games really stood out personally - Morrowind and Pro Evo 4. As a big western RPG fan its almost criminal that I haven't gone through Morrowind considering how much I've enjoyed Oblivion so it will definitely get a workout. PES4 is one my all time favourite soccer game as the pace and feel of it was almost perfection so I'll have to do a search and find it. My future brother-in-law is also a huge fan so we'l have to include it in our weekly soccer battle rotation. July 13 A good morning of work - Cybershack filmingThis morning I was part of the filming of a segment of Cybershack talking about PC vs Console gaming at World Cyber Games. I got to preview the awesome new Samsung 275T monitor that is just unbelievable!! 27in, 1920x1200 @ 60Hz and 6ms refresh with a picture that is mind blowing. Halo 2 Vista looked amazing on it. Spruking that and the Microsoft Habu mouse and Reclusa keyboard really isn't hard as they are awesome products. Also looking amazing was the host of Cybershack TV and the person who interviewed me, Erin McNaught. There are many worse things I've had to do for work than be interviewed by a former Miss Australia
(Dean, Erin and I - Next to her Dean and I are horrendous haha) I had to do a little sledging of console gamers for the segment which hopefully people won't take to heart because I love games on both Windows and Xbox 360 and it made for good TV, especially sledging my old mate and Halo 2 Australian Champion Dean Loaney who was talking up the console side of WCG as a former champion and I'd bet will be right up there for Halo 3. The episode should be out before WCG August 25-26 @ Luna Park July 12 Home turf battlesI know a few people who think gaming isn't a social activity. For me, some of the best moments now and growing up were the games played with a few mates around the TV. Mario Kart and NBA JAM on the SNES.... GoldenEye, Mario Kart 64, FIFA RTWC 98 and WWF No Mercy on the 64.... Gran Turismo 3 on the CS2 and of course Halo, Halo 2 and Pro Evo 4 on the Xbox.
On the 360 there's only one game that is played in my house and its FIFA 07 against my soon to be brother-in-law. FIFA's lounge mode allows us to keep track of every game, for and against and how many times Stu (B-I-L) has to resort to cheap shot cards! We usually just play it in the "MAN ROOM" (which will get an article soon enough) but on occasions when a big footy game is on, we get the InFocus IN76 projector, hook a 360 up to it and use it as a Media Center Extender to get the HD TV feed from my Vista Media Center outside in the BBBQ area. After whatever game is on its FIFA time on 92in of HD glory!!
I'm looking forward to this tomorrow night for the Australia v Iraq Asian Cup game. Put some carcass on the BBBQ, get a bottle or two of bourbon and have a football fest! I'll post some pics of the setup. P.S. The "CS2" and "BBBQ" are intentional  XBLA and Arcade stick = goodnessWith the huge news/release of Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe on XBLA, I dusted off the Dead or Alive 4 arcade stick to play the classics and I have really enjoyed playing these games with an arcade stick, especially Golden Axe. All I need now is NBA Jam to somehow find its way to XBLA and I'll be one very happy man. July 11 New Xbox 360 Accessories details
The Xbox® platform of hardware and accessories is thriving with American consumers spending more money on Xbox 360™ than on any other next-generation platform. At E3, Microsoft unveiled several new additions to the hardware and accessories lineup for Xbox 360, all available this holiday season:
Halo 3 Special Edition Console Details
In anticipation of this year's largest blockbuster game launch, Microsoft will offer the Xbox 360™ Halo® 3Special Edition Console in September 2007. The console features an exclusive "Spartan green and gold" finish and comes bundled with a matching Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, 20GB Hard Drive, Headset, Play & Charge Kit, and exclusive Halo 3 Gamer Pics and Theme (available via Xbox LIVE® download).
Join the Halo Nation with the Special Edition Console. Look for this new console in September. This new Special Edition contains these components:
Please note that pricing has not yet been announced. | |||||||||||||
