Pack Rat Studios » Video Games/Systems

XBOX 360 Rockband gets unplugged

Grant — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:54:30 +0000

Finally its here, Harmonix has released a wireless guitar for Rockband. I don’t know about you but one of the nice things about the XBOX 360 is the wireless controllers. No cable mess, girlfriends complaining about you leaving your toys all over the family room and changing the devices that are plugged into your xbox = 1 pain in the arse. The new axe has finally shown up in the consumer jungle at local Best Buy stores and retails for about 80 bucks although bestbuy online has it for 59.99. If you can wait to thrash out, buy it online. Still doesn’t work with Guitar Hero!

Naruto for the PS3… Game or Anime?

Chris — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:01:01 +0000

Check out this great preview of what Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm will look like on the PS3. Besides Gran Turismo this game makes me want to get the Playstation 3 also! I thought I was watching the anime and not a game. Hopefully the gameplay will coincide with the graphics. And if you haven’t heard of Naruto, I highly recommend checking out the series. It has a decent story line and some thought behind the madness. I give it a 7 out of 10. Anyway, check out the PS3 preview and stop drooling already.

Research says Americans love video games. Well duh.

Chris — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:03:08 +0000

A recent study was done by research firm NPD group, found that 72% of Americans are hooked on the video game bandwagon and that number is growing. They are, however, unsure as to what specifically is causing the surge. Well that’s an easy one folks. It’s called the escape from reality. Why would you want to suffer the consequences of life, when you can reap the rewards of video games. (and those rewards are great even to the point of addiction)

Yes, there are rewards in real life also and those rewards can be plentiful, but think of the difference in effort between the two options. Video games constitute instant gratification with little effort while in life you have to work to achieve anything worthwhile. Why wouldn’t you take the easier option? And apparently a lot of people are according to the survey. First it was aliens taking over on the radio, then the couch potato was born, and now Video games… they are here to stay until something more gratifying and easier comes along.

Check out the study done here.

Look Out PS3 Xbox360 is breaking down your Door

Grant — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:08:49 +0000

We all know that Xbox360 sales have always been superior to Sony’s PS3 but Sony did have one slight advantage. Sony, since the release of the PS3, has been on the right side of the Blu-ray HD-DVD war, till now. Rumors say Microsoft will now produce 360 units with a built in Blu-ray drive. UH OH SONY, whatcha gonna do now? The only logical answer is that Sony will end up lowering the price on the PS3 console driving them further into the red. Sony hasn’t made money on their units to date and Microsoft is going into this venture with a less expensive box knowing that they will take a loss on the Blu-ray upgrade. Competition in the gaming world ROCKS. So if your in the market for a PS3, its my advice to wait a little while cause you probably will see the prices come down in the near future and if your desire is a blu-ray player, wait for the Xbox 360. In my opinion, its a far superior platform. Hey I said something good about Microcash. Funny.

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Keep your World of Warcraft addons updated with UI Central

Chris — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:00:18 +0000

If you are a wow fan like me, you have many addons for World of Warcraft, but after every patch that Blizzard throws at us, some of them break and need to be updated. Normally you have to go to the site you received the addon from and hope that it has been updated by the original author. Well that’s like running 3 miles when the goblin insta port replicator can do it instantaneously. (batteries not included and destination is never guaranteed) Behold UI Central.

This program looks in your addon directory of WoW and if there is a more current update than what you have, you can update all of them or the select ones you specify. Now you can play World of Warcraft, instead of taking 2 hours to see if there are newer versions of your updates. Here is what it looks like…

Get UI Central here

The top 5 best World of Warcraft Addons

Chris — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:00:02 +0000

World of Warcraft is one the the best games out there and even without these addons, it is still a very fun experience, but let me add some cocaine to your coffee. I love these addons and it makes playing WoW easier and much more fun. And the best part is, any class you choose can use them. Here is my list of the top 5 addons…

MobInfo-2, v3.60 (includes MobHealth) - MobInfo-2 is a continuation of MobInfo which shows you very useful information about Mobs (ie. opponents/monsters). This includes health, mana, resistances, drops and much more. Very useful info.

Atlas v1.11.0 - Atlas shows you maps for instances and boss locations in those instances. Enough said.

Extended QuestLog v3.7.1 – Unofficial - The extended questlog let’s you see up to 27 rows of your quests, instead of the defaulted 5. It also shows you the level of the quest, add your quests to the tracker automatically and it will auto-complete quests for you at the NPC when you turn the completed quest in. There is also Bayi’s Extended Questlog which is an continuation of the extended questlog, however I have not had a chance to check it out yet and it is still in Beta.

MetaMap - This great addon let’s you resize your map and choose the opacity of it. You can also see yourself on the map while moving. Very helpful when trying to find your way around.

Mobmap - I can’t say enough about this addon. Mobmap is amazing. It helps you locate NPC’s, quest objectives, mobs, drops, and recipes. It also integrates itself into your quest log by adding question marks and by clicking on them, opens up the database and lets you find what you are looking for.

There are many great addons for World of Warcraft and you might find other addons that are even better. If you do, let me know cause I am always looking for something better!

Also, keep your addons up to date by using UI Central which I review here.

Nintendo Wii Wheel $14.99

Grant — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:33:51 +0000

If you are a Mario fanatic then you probably already know that Mario Kart for the Wii will be released at the end of April. The game is said to be a package deal that will include the game and a wheel apparatus that your Wii remote will snap into giving you that NASCAR feel while smashing into the Princess and Toad. If one wheel isn’t enough, you can pick up another wheel at Gamestop for just 14.99. Tailgaters rejoice. You can have your own wheel and slam into your friends. Just remember that he didn’t hit you, slam into you or crash into your backend. He rubbed you, and rubbin son is racing.

Mario Kart Wii Wii Game Nintendo

Microsoft inks deal to distribute original content on 360

Grant — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:21:00 +0000

Microsoft signed a deal with a company headed by Peter Safran to produce original shows that will be distributed on the Xbox 360 network. This is the first step towards bringing IPTV to life on the 360 network. GREAT another bunch of garbage to clutter the servers that no one will ever watch. The first offerings are said to be scripted shows in the horror and comedy genres aimed at males 14 to 34. Personally I would rather play Call of Duty and have my butt kicked repeatedly by my brother as a horror show rather than downloading a 10 min b movie. Watch it if you want but I will be sitting in the lobby waiting for my next match.

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One more look before GTA IV is released.

Mike — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:52:42 +0000

Oh boy, oh boy. It’s now less then a month to the release of GTA IV and I’m already getting an itchy trigger finger. Life has been kind of stressful for me lately and I feel the need to take it out on the innocent masses. I guess I’ll just have to wait. In the mean time here is one more trailer.

If you haven’t ordered the game yet, head over to newegg.com and pre-order it for five dollars off with free shipping.

Grand Theft Auto IV Xbox 360 Game ROCKSTARFor a different opinion head over to games.uber.com.

Netflix streaming coming to the Xbox360. Maybe

Grant — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:32:53 +0000

Netflix, the popular movie via mail rental company, is doing research on whether or not to deliver streaming content to the Xbox360. A Netflix spokesman said they are interested in getting their content to consumers anyway they can. There currently is no word of any partnership between Microcash and Netflix. Netflix did ink a deal with LG electronics to develop a set-top box that could stream movies directly to your HDTV.