Game Etiquette
Today is a magic day. It's un-official Newbie Day. Tens of thousands of completely novice video gamers will sign on to Xbox live for the first time with their freshly unwrapped video games ready to take on the minions of veteran players who wait for their latest victims with some apprehension.
Sure, we can score hundreds of easy kills in a matter of hours, catapulting us to a new skill level after just a few games, however their is also plenty of frustration that occurs because of these encounters.
It's all about game etiquette, being cool, something that seems to be lacking more and more from XBOX Live game play.
Here are Bob Narley's Top 10 guidelines for "Game Etiquette:
- Never quit a game in the middle of a match, no matter how bad your loosing. Finishing a game to the end will only help your learning curve. Plus, it can earn you respect from the more advanced players. Many times I have learned more from loosing a game than I have from winning. Take your beating and come back for more, you'll earn respect and gain skills.
- Read your manual and know the basics. You'll save yourself, and your team, a whole lot of frustration if you have already gone over the basic skills and controls associated with your new game. Their is nothing worse than watching one of your teammates jump up and down in the corner trying to figure out what's going on. Every player needs to have his head in the game in order for the team to win.
- Please don't use voice masking. As a rule, most of us find the voice masking feature extremely annoying and hard to understand.
- Chime in! When you enter a new game lobby for the first time, it's considered very cool to give a quick "What's going on?" or "What's Up?". It lets everybody know your alive and ready to play.
- Congratulations! It doesn't matter if you won or took the beating of a lifetime, giving out a "Good Game" is always a cool way to exit, even if you don't really mean it.
- Turn down your stereo. We don't want to hear your latest CD purchase blaring through our headphones while we are trying to communicate with our team members. Remember that your microphone can pick up room noise if it's loud enough.
- Quit complaining. Nobody wants to hear your constant complaining throughout the whole game. We realize it can be frustrating when your having a hard time dealing with more skilled players. A better option would be to try and communicate with your team on a new strategy that might improve your chances of winning.
- Communicate. In team battles, communication is key to winning. Talk to your teammates, let them know what your going to do and what you see. Pick a strategy and try and follow it. Sometimes it's better to surrender to the idea at hand that force what you think is a better idea unto the team. The team with the best communication almost always wins the match.
- Refrain from using unnecessary swear words or racist comments. Gamers who continuously abuse fowl language and find the need to shout out racist remarks always come across as sounding ignorant. Abusive language ruins the game for everyone. Seriously, it's totally unnecessary and un-cool. I realize that hearing expletives is inevitable in any open forum these days, however your choice of wording in these situations is a clear indication of your character and skill. XBOX LIVE will permanently boot players who continuously receive negative feedback or cheat. You can send negative feedback on any player via your friends menu.
- Help. Be helpful to other players who could benefit from what you have learned. Everybody loves a hot tip or trick that they could use in the future. If a new player asks a questions, it's considered very cool to simply answer the questions or at least point them in the right direction. We were all new once.
For more information on the Xbox Live Code of Conduct: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/codeofconduct.htm
It's all about being cool and having fun. Be cool to your fellow gamers and you will create a game environment that is more fun and competitive for everyone.
Bob Narley
http://www.bobnarley.com
What is XNA?
XNA
Simply, XNA is a new development platform from Microsoft that will dramatically simplify the process of creating a game, improve the audio and visual quality to a near movie like experience, and standardize the interfaces that we use to play games.
Here's how Microsoft describes it:
Microsoft XNA is the catalyst for a new ecosystem of interchangeable, interoperable software tools and technologies from Microsoft, middleware and game development companies. By integrating software innovations across Microsoft platforms and across the industry, XNA forms a common environment that liberates developers from spending too much time writing mundane, repetitive boilerplate code. Instead, XNA frees game creators to spend their time where it matters most -on the creativity that differentiates their games.
XNA is the future of gaming. You better believe it. It will improve games not only on the XBOX, but also on your PC and future mobile devices.
Here's how:
The XNA development platform will provide the functionality to make it easier for developers to create the same social, unified online gaming experiences on Windows that game players have come to expect on XBOX. XBOX Live has long been my choice for online gaming because of it's hack-free multiplayer gaming, and ease of use. PC games have always had more features and pioneered the online multiplayer gaming communities, however nothing is worse than playing against someone who has rewritten the games code to cheat. If I wanted cheating I could always move back in with my ex-girlfriend.
Besides overall gameplay, the two areas that most influence my opinion about an individual game are the graphics and the audio. With XNA, many tools such as PIX (an analysis tool) and XCAT (an audio authoring tool - previously available only to Xbox developers), will now will be available on Windows. Likewise, new innovations from Windows such as "High-Level Shader Language" or HLSL, will now come to the XBOX. Basically, these tools and technologies will allow game developers to create movie-quality graphics with dynamic sound tracks for all of the platforms.
Click Here for an example of XNA at work
As far as controllers and input devices, Microsoft will develop a common controller interface and unify input API's and button standards across multiple platforms. This is good news for several reasons. You will be able to interchange controllers for you PC and XBOX and manufacturers will now be able to design a whole new wave of input devices.
Note: Somebody please make an acceptable joystick and flight controller for the XBOX. Am I the only person wanting this?
It makes sense, by eliminate the mundane and time consuming process of writing the same boring code over and over, developers will now have more time for working on the creative side of things. I'll bet a lot of code monkeys are smiling at that idea. What? A social life? What is that?
I speak as one of the most experienced hard core Vidiots alive when I say that Microsoft has done a great job of taking video games and multiplayer gaming to a new level of excellence with XBOX and XBOX Live. I'm excited to hear of new technology that will take these advancements to an even higher level in the not so distant future.
Way to go Microsoft!
Now, lets talk about the Bob Narley Video Game..
Bob Narley
http://www.bobnarley.com
Halo 2
Halo 2 is out, and it Rocks!
All other video games pale in comparison! All hail Halo 2! Let the carnage begin.
Anybody who has played the Xbox knows about Halo. In fact, Halo is the reason that many people own an XBOX today. It's the game that set the standard for first person shooters, and in my opinion, one of the best video games ever made. From the very minute you finished Halo, you started thinking about when the talented crew at Bungie would release Halo 2. That's when the wait began.
With so much hype, and a bar set so high, how could the Halo team possibly beat the original?
The original Halo had it all. The best live action, a great story, phenomenal graphics, and a multi-player option that couldn't be beat. The only thing missing from Halo, was Xbox live.
So we waited. and we waited.. and we waited.
Meanwhile, those vidiots at Bungie were working magic, taking the game to a whole new level. Their philosophy was smart, take what works, and build upon it.
Halo 2 is everything you loved in Halo times 100.
You get to play both sides of the game now, the action is intense, the sound track perfect, it's the most worthy video game purchase you can make, but that's not all. This sequel includes many of the features players have been asking for, including new graphics, new environments and locations, new weapons, and cool new vehicles. They have added some cool new features like dual-wielding of weapons, destructible environments, and my favorite, vehicle boarding.
Not only is Halo 2 a great looking game, with all kinds of awesome features, but the Artificial Intelligence has improved. Your enemies will move smarter, using their environment for cover. They are more cunning and tactical in their attempts to blow you apart. The humans are smarter too, they point out trouble and know how to take cover. You'll find many improvements in the AI throughout the game.
The real star of Halo 2 is the multi-player, more specifically, the XBOX live. While I thoroughly enjoyed playing the campaign, the Halo 2 XBOX Live experience is by far the best online multi-player game, period. You get all the classic multi-player games including; Capture the Flag, Oddball, Race, King of the Hill, and Slayer. In addition they have added some new modes, including Assault and Territories, and every game is fully customizable.
The online multi-player menu allows for easily contacting your friends, even during match making, and a neat feature that I love is the Clan Administration and Party System. The party system will allow you to create or join a group of up to 16 players, who can then stick together all night as one solid unit. The party leader can decide on the rules, maps and weapons, or simply lead the party into an online game against other players or parties. Players can leave at any time, and if the party leader quits, those duties are simply transferred to another player.
The matchmaking feature puts players of the same skill level into matches with each other. You or your teams performance during a match will help or hurt your skill level and ranking.
Can you say "No Lag". O my god, it's been done. A game with virtually no lag. I have played with teams from all over the globe, and have yet to experience any notable lag during game play. Thank you Bungie!
Bungie took their time and made a great game. Their skill and effort has not gone unnoticed. I can only hope that other developers learn from their example and give us as much game as HALO 2 has for our money.
I love this game, and I bet you will too.
Bottom line: Buy it! But it now! Get XBox Live! and I'll see you in Halo 2.
Bob Narley
http://www.bobnarley.com
Online Hints:
- Learn how to play the many different multiplayer games in practice mode. This way you can suck and it won't hurt your skill level and rank.
- Form or join a party or clan. Playing together with the same guys, as a team, will improve your chances of winning. In team competitions, you all win or loose together. Teams that play well together always come out on top. Winning is key to improving your skill level.
- Watch your radar. Watch your radar, even in a major firefight. Your radar is a great way to see where your enemies and teammates are in relation to you.
- Mix up your weapons in duel wielding. Try different combinations of weapons when your duel wielding, using two of the same weapon is not always the most effective. A great combination is the plasma rifle and machine gun.
- Wait to lock on the sword. The sword is a powerful weapon in the right hands. Hold the target on your enemy until the red light locks on and you can jump across the room and split them in half.
- Drop the ball. Don't be afraid to drop the bomb, or the flag, and go to your guns to fight. If you backup is dead, running around with that flag isn't going to help much if the enemy is shooting at you. Drop what your carrying and fight. You can always pick it back up when your done. Smacking your opponent in the head with what your carrying works well in close quarters.
- Learn the maps. Learn the maps by creating your own private party and exploring the terrain without enemies. This is a great way to learn where the weapons and hiding spots are.
- Watch your Communication. Communicating with your teammates is essential for co-coordinating attacks and defense, however if your enemy can hear you, it won't help. Make sure to use the white button on your controller to talk to your teammates privately.
Bob Narley XBOX LIVE Name: Captain Kona
The Original Vidiot
I am the original vidiot!
I'm the true video game addict.I have played almost every video game known to man, and still quest for the ultimate video game experience.
Sure, I played the old home versions. I remember drooling at my friends futuristic Magnavox Odyssey, think "wow, now we can play PONG at home". We played Intellivision until the little controllers were completely destroyed.
I am that kid that spent his entire allowance at the arcade in the attempt that I could set a new high score on Space Invaders and type in my 3 letter mark GOD.
I flew Red Baron, and had blisters on my thumb from Defender. My friend Chris Schaffer and I would play Mattel Football until his mom would freak out and take it away. Chris was unstoppable, and still owns that same hand held game to this day, and it still works great.
I was the original video game test pilot. Bally and Midway would come into my favorite arcade "Galaxy Games" in Palatine Illinois, and have me test their latest releases. Some where cool, some where not. What a life.
I hated Dragon's Lair, but Gorf and Tron ruled. Why did all the chics love Centipede? Was it that cool new track ball. Star Castle was a favorite.
You name it, I owned them all. I had the Commodore, the Nintendo, playstation, and even game systems that nobody had like NEC Turbo Graffix, which was way ahead of it's time. They actually used a credit card cartridge for the game and it also played in their full color hand held version. The graphics on the hand held were superior to the new Game Boy Advanced, and that was 10 years ago.
In my opinion nobody can beat the XBOX! XBOX live has taken multi-player gaming out of the arcade and into your living room.
My goal here is to provide an honest critique of the latest releases for the Microsoft XBOX gaming console, with a focus on XBOX Live enabled games. If your into video games and love to play online, than you have found a great source of information.
Greetings fellow vidiots!
