I recently had the privilege of playing the Blur Beta on Xbox 360 thanks to snorkle256 being generous enough to pass a beta invite my way. All I can say is wow, is this game fun!
After playing for a few hours, I feel that it is a really nice melding of two great games: Need for Speed and Mario Kart.
Need for Speed has always had fast & flashy cars, cool terrains, and good graphics. Not to mention the need for the player to suspend disbelief when it came to plowing full-throttle into a brick wall and walking away relatively unscathed.
Mario Kart on the other hand has always been more laid back and fun, somewhat rudimentary, but always entertaining. The use of power ups was always the biggest draw in this game – there is nothing more fun than zapping the player in 1st place with lightning, or flinging a red, exploding shell at a nearby opponent. The formula was simple and fun, which paid of well in terms of replay value.
Blur has combined the best elements from these two games into one fantastic package. Filled to the brim with new, sporty cars such as a track version of the VW Scirocco, a Ford Focus RS, BMW M3, a Corvette ZR1, and many more, this game has something for everyone.
On top of the bevvy of cars, the game features six different power ups that the player can use to force other racers off track, to block attacks from other racers, or to repair the player’s car. These power ups range from homing bombs that flip over the opponent’s car to a “Barge” attack that pushes other nearby players off-course. This is where the game departs enough from Mario Kart to be unique – the power ups are always located in the same place on the track, and they regenerate quite quickly. Around each turn, you know if a power up is coming your way so you can use this predictability to help advance through the ranks.
The graphics are sharp and colorful – not at the same level as a Forza 3 or Gran Turismo – but you don’t need that sort of polish and detail here. You are buzzing around the tracks at such a ridiculous speed, with a flurry of obstacles flying at your car, that you wouldn’t even notice the difference. That is not to say that the game is visually lacking in any way – on the contrary, it’s quite the visual treat!
All in all, I have had a ton of fun playing the beta. There are some great multi-player features, such as voting between two possible tracks for each and every race, that really take into consideration what players want, and what other games have been lacking.
If you get the opportunity, get in on the beta – if you miss it, be sure to pick up the game when it is released, I don’t think you will be disappointed.
As of tomorrow, Sears and KMart are both offering $35 12-month Xbox Live Gold cards on their respective web sites.
I’m not sure how much they are charging for shipping, or if the “cards” are being sold as electronic codes (a la Amazon), but it’s worth a look either way.
The special continues through the 21st, so get ‘em while they are hot!
Best Buy is offering the Guitar Hero Les Paul guitar this week for $19.99 – that’s a whopping $30 off the regular price!
They drop the price down to $9.99 if you buy it along with Guitar Hero: Metallica.
Either way, it’s a price you simply cannot beat! As a bonus, they have the Wii and PS3 versions of the guitar on sale this week too.
If you are having a hard time getting your Xbox 360 DVD drive to open and close, odds are the drive belt is the problem. It seems that due to heat and general usage, the drive belt that is responsible for opening and closing the drive will stretch or accumulate enough dirt that it starts slipping.
One way to remedy this is to open your drive and clean the belt, but more often than not the problem will recur relatively quickly. After scouring the web, I have found what seems to be the consensus as far as which belt you can use to replace your existing drive belt. Most people opt to purchase a replacement that is smaller than the existing belt in order to ensure that there is sustainable tension for the long run. The replacement belt of choice has a 19mm internal diameter and is 1.2mm thick.
You can purchase a new belt at any of the locations below:
SBS2.6 Belt @ Studio Sound Electronics
SCX2.6 Belt @ Unicorn Electronics
To do the repair, simply open your DVD drive, undo the belt connecting the two points highlighted below, and then reattach the new belt in its place. You will likely need to use a small screwdriver or needle-nose pliers to attach the new belt as it will fit quite a bit more snug than the old belt. You may also want to limit the amount that you touch the inside of the belt surface as to reduce the likelihood of depositing residual finger oils on the rubber which may result in future slippage.
(Picture courtesy of Llama – www.llama.com)
K-Mart has the Xbox Live Gold 13-month card for $29.99 this week. If you are looking to renew your membership, I would pick this up ASAP!
I have been looking around for a couple of extra wireless controllers for my Xbox and found a great deal at Costco.
They are on sale in either black or white for $31.99 until the end of the month. It’s not the best deal out there, but if you want them today, Costco is the place to go. Pick up a few while you can!
It’s nothing new, but it is quite a convenience. If you have ever been stuck typing a message on Xbox Live letter by letter with the controller, you know how frustrating it is and how long it takes.
Enter the Xbox 360 Messenger Kit:
This kit has been around awhile, but I just picked it up recently as I needed a new headset for my 360. The headset by itself runs $20, but the headset with the chat pad can be found for only $10 more!
I picked mine up at Microcenter since I was in the neighborhood, but it can be had for a few dollars cheaper online. Depending on where you shop, the cheaper price will probably merely offset shipping costs, but your mileage may vary.
The headset is Microsoft’s standard fare, but is just fine for chatting on Live. I could have sprung for the wireless headset but the convenience just didn’t seem to justify the cost.
The chat pad itself snaps on to the bottom of any controller, wireless or wired, and fits pretty snugly. It was somewhat difficult to get on the first time, but that’s a good thing – you are pretty much guaranteed that it will never come off during play.
The chatpad is similar to a Blackberry keyboard, but just a touch bigger. The keys are easy to find, and for international users, there are plenty of options for foreign characters. All in all, it’s a good thing, and I like it!
If you own an Xbox 360 and happen to travel out of the country now and again, or spend time perusing some of eBay’s international sites in search of deals, you may have asked yourself the following question:
“Will a PAL game play on my NTSC Xbox?”
The short answer is yes, but the long answer contains a few caveats.
When playing an Xbox 360 over a hi-def connection using HDMI, Component, or DVI cables, the game’s encoding format really does not matter. However, if you are playing a game using a standard definition interface, the encoding does matter – you must buy the proper game for TVs used in your part of the world.
Additionally, to play a “PAL” game on an “NTSC” console, the game must be listed as “Region Free”. This means that the game has not been coded in such a way that it is locked to a particular part of the world. It also helps to ensure that the game contains the proper information for your language as well.
So in the event that you find a Region Free, PAL version of a game you really want, you are playing over a hi-def connection, and the game specifies that it has English language tracks, go ahead and buy that import disc – it should play just fine.
*Disclaimer: This is information that I have been told by reliable resources. Your mileage may vary.
I wanted to pass along a deal for anyone looking to renew or sign up for Xbox Live! gold service.
Best Buy has a 13-month XBL card available for $29.99 (that’s $20 off) through Saturday of this week. That’s 40% off the regular price, plus you get an extra month free. It’s a hard deal to pass up, so get on it!
I realize I should have posted this deal sooner, but what can you do?
I recently purchased an Xbox from eBay afflicted with the Red Rings of Death, in hopes of repairing it. While it ends up the console itself was beyond repair, I had hoped to at least salvage the DVD drive, if not other parts from the console.
I figured my hopes were dashed when I hit the eject button on the DVD drive and noth1ing happened, aside from a short whirring of motors. Upon taking the drive apart, I found that someone had drawn a big “X” on the drive tray with a Sharpie marker – at this point, I was pretty sure this broken Xbox would yield nothing useful but some spare capacitors.
Eventually, I noticed that a gear and belt was missing from the drive assembly, and I figured that this was the cause of the tray not opening. You can see the two missing parts highlighted in the image below (thanks to llama.com for the image)
The belt is connected to the motor at the front of the DVD drive, which is also connected to the gear that I was missing. This gear drives the larger tray gear on the left, allowing the drive to open and close.
I opened up a bricked hitachi I had laying around in hopes of pulling the gear and belt from that drive and transplanting it into this one. Unfortunately, the gear from the Hitachi drive was not only too tall, but a little different in design as well. It was pretty clear that it would not be a suitable replacement.
Looking around some more on Llama’s site, I found the image below as part of a writeup on Xbox 1 DVD drive disassembly.
As you can see, the drives are laid out in similar fashion, which would be expected as they are both manufactured by Samsung.
I dug up a DVD drive from an old Xbox I had lying around and took apart the drive. I pulled the gear and belt, but much to my chagrin, the gear was too tall for the Xbox 360 drive. So, I decided to go out to the garage and see what a hacksaw could do about that. I ended up cutting about half a centimeter off the bottom of the gear, then I filed it flat to ensure good movement in the drive. I popped the gear into place, put the belt on, and crossed my fingers.
Much to my surprise, the fix worked like a charm! The drive opened and closed smoothly, and I went from a complete loss to a working drive in just minutes.
I don’t know how often this sort of thing happens to people out there, but I figured it might help someone who took their drive apart and either broke something or lost some parts.