Above, you can see the view from the sitting area of the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica, one of many hotels hosting press events for E3. The chairs are comfy and the view is gorgeous. Honestly, could you think of a better place to blog? Sure, it's a lovely view. We can't argue with that. What's not beautiful is that there's no free WiFi for miles. The single E3 press room is a glimmering mirage far in the distance, located in the hotel farthest from all the others. Yes, at any given time, the press room (so far, the only location we've found with free WiFi [or internet at all]) is at least a 15 minute shuttle ride away. For bloggers like us, 15 minutes is a long time. Like, long enough for breaking news to become "so old."
The other day the Gamerscore Blog gang rolled into Miami as part of their road tour to spread Xbox 360 love around the world ... or at least in North America . Their pregame show involved such activities as visiting the beach, playing in the sand, and spying on the police from their hotel window. But they finally decided to make their way to the event and as you can see from their pictures, they had plenty of fun. Even more exciting is that, for the first time ever, we have video proof that these events actually occur and are not part of a staged Microsoft PR campaign. The embedded video above is courtesy of Gamertag Radio as Godfree goes deep within' the bowels of the Miami event to show everyone the fun that we aren't privelaged enough to have. Sidenote: Anyone thinking they could pwn all the attendees at Guitar Hero II?
We always knew Xbox fanboys were a creative bunch, but The Xbox Boys take it to a whole new level. Who are these Xbox Boys that we speak of? Well, if you must know ... The Xbox Boys are a group guys who reside near the Microsoft Campus, wear Xbox tshirts, color their faces green and white, and sing about gaming on their Xboxes. They're kind of a mix between geeks, musicians, and gamers. Get it? Well, we can't explain it any better, so without further adieu we present to you The Xbox Boys' latest video "x box live" after the break. And be prepared to rock out.
What is it with people demanding new gen consoles at gunpoint? A Blockbuster video in the UK was recently robbed. A young man held up the two female store clerks at gunpoint, demanding that they give him a Playstation 3. Upon informing him that they didn't stock the console, he settled for an Xbox 360 instead. He also swiped several Xbox 360 games on the way out as well as money from the register. No one was injured, though it took the police 20 minutes to arrive because they were directed to the wrong Blockbuster.
Frankly, we probably would have asked for a Wii. Seriously, those things are hard to find.
We've all come across them, we've all witnessed their impact, and now there is a guide to help you become one. Be what you ask ... be an online A-hole of course. The helpful crew over at GameAlmighty posted a comprehensive guide on how to become an A-hole on Xbox Live. With tips like "Curse Like a Drunken Sailor", "Blame Lag", and our personal favorite "Quit When Losing" you'll be an online A-hole in no time. Seriously, if you don't become the most hated scum of Xbox Live after reading this guide, then we're sorry to say that you're a lost cause doomed to being a respectable Xbox Live gamer for the rest of your life. So, make the jump and learn how to be an online A-hole. We believe in you.
Just hours after the initial airing of the Halo 3 "Starry Night" commercial, a deviant artist (from deviantART, natch) by the name of Rahll whipped up a super speedy painting that we featured right here on X3F. Hot on the heels of the Halo 3 beta announcement, Rahll has done it again, this time giving us the piece you see above, entitled "Volatile". It features the Chief displaying the business end of a needler to the nearest Brute (who doesn't look to happy about the whole situation). Sharp eyed fanboys will also pick up a Warthog and Scarab in the background. Of course, we would be remiss in our duties if we didn't remind Rahll that the Needler won't be dual-wieldable in Halo 3. Still, we'll grant some artistic license for work this nice.
Nice job, Rahll. Might we suggest something for your next work? Perhaps something with the X3F logo emblazoned upon it? Maybe something cool like ... a flaming 360 controller or something. That would be sweet.
Update: It has come to our attention that this isn't necessarily a speed painting, but really more of a regular painting. Still, it's much better than we could have done in the same amount of time, so it's fast to us.
You find the damnedest things cruising Flickr. Today we found this picture taken from Rainbow Six Vegas created by frasermoo. Yes, that is the face of an infant. The face of an infant mounted onto a lethal terrorist killing machine to be specific. While we can't argue the hilarity of such a juxtaposition, we do have to question the logistics of such an endeavor. What had to be done to keep this child still enough to capture his face this accurately? What nefarious harnesses were put to use for the sole sake of creating a humorous avatar? Hopefully, this baby has a penchant for sitting perfectly still and looking cute all the time.
Any Vegas players spot any other freaky avatars out there?
Xbox 360 Fanboy reader Jamie Guy sent in a little project he was working on for himself and a few of his friends. He decided to take the infamous "Skills for Kills" phrase from Crackdown and create some nifty tshirts. As you can see in the finished product above he even includes the Crackdown logo on the front featuring the phrase "Remember Agent ...". Nice job Jamie, and if you have a few extra you could always send them our way. Quick question though, if video game companies released more apparel for their games, at reasonable prices, would you be proud to wear your Bioshock or Mass Effect clothing around town or would you be a little too embarrassed?
A user at the Something Awful forums gets a sign from above every morning. Most people see things like the Virgin Mary in a sandwich or Abraham Lincoln in a potato chip, but Channel_F sees ... the Xbox 360 logo. The ring of light is created by a reflection off of his window into the backyard. Let this be a sign to Xbox haters. We're not saying the Man Upstairs prefers one console over another, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right? Of course, it means something entirely different if you see this instead ....
Swords have been drawn. Faces have been slapped with virtual gloves. In short, it's on. In Fancast 002, we made it clear our intention to smite the miscreants of 360 Arcadians Live with our glorious fist of justice. Or, at the very least, we figured we could beat them in a friendly match of Worms for the Xbox Live Arcade. Having heard this challenge, the 360 Arcadians have responded with a string of vicious schoolyard insults. They couldn't even remember Dustin's name! They just called him "the other guy." Don't worry fanboys, we're above such petty tomfoolery. We'll save it for the B-ball court Xbox Live. Perhaps we could throw in a few more tests of skill? Gears of War perhaps? Your move, Arcadian scum.
Joseph Molnar, who recently informed us of magical Video Marketplace downloads that don't expire, is back again with an interesting article on the current state of Xbox 360 homebrew. Posted on his blog, the Pensive Gamer, the article is the third in a series dedicated to the homebrew scene on each new gen console (guess which systems the first two articles were about). The piece, naturally, centers on XNA. Molnar notes that there are many things that make the Xbox 360 attractive to homebrewers, most notably that Microsoft itself is aiding the homebrew scene with tools like XNA Game Studio Express. As it stands though, the homebrew aspect of the Xbox 360 certainly isn't without its faults. There are a few quibbles about feature support, but the most obvious barrier to homebrewers is the price. In order to run code on a 360, you must have a subscription to the Creators Club, which runs at $49 for three months or $99 a year. Before 360 homebrew can reach a mass market and attain wide acceptance, Microsoft will have to address this and other issues, especially if they plan to deliver the oft promised "YouTube for games."
Remember folks, YouTube is huge for two reasons: it's user friendly and it's free. What would you like to see added to the Xbox homebrew scene? What could Microsoft do to improve it?
We have a few theories about the above images. Theory one: the Halo universe really exists, and the events in the games occurred eons in the past. A Brute Shot somehow managed to escape decay by being embedded in a tree and thus encased in petrified wood. Theory two (slightly more plausible than theory one): the uppermost image is a piece of driftwood miraculously worn down to the near exact shape of a Brute Shot. Perhaps the most amazing thing of all, this particular piece of driftwood just happened to be found by someone who recognized what it looked like. We ask you, what are the odds?
Anyone else care to share some 360 related found art with us?
The boys at Mega64 are at it again, this time with a real life version of Dead Rising. For those of you unfamiliar with Mega64, we have only one question: how's the view? You know, like, how's the view from underneath the rock that you live under. We keed, we keed. Seriously, Mega64 goes around harassing people performing skits based off their favorite video games. Some of their works include skits based off Resident Evil 4 (one of our favorites), Paperboy, and Katamari Damacy. Check out the above video, and when you're done with that, hit their website for more hilarity. Because watching funny videos is always better than working, right?
It was recently revealed that Blue Dragon takes up so much space that it will be shipped on 3 discs. Some people on the internets are already starting to chant the mantra that the 360's DVD format simply isn't big enough for next generation games. I fail to see the reason in this, apart from the annoying fact that you'll have to stand up to change discs (twice!) when you finally lay your hands on Blue Dragon.
However, I have a question: when did multiple discs become a bad thing? Back when CDs were introduced to home consoles, multiple discs were actually considered a value add. Saying a game came on four discs was a statement worthy of admiration, not condemnation. You didn't hear anyone complaining that they had to change discs during Final Fantasy VII. Same thing goes for special edition DVDs: more discs equals better product. Is this whole problem really a problem, or is it just in some people's interest to make you think it's a problem?
Let's just ask a question. As 360 games get larger and more advanced, it's possible that more and more of them will require multiple discs. Does this bother you at all, or could you not care less?
Halloween has come and gone, and now it's time for the results of costume contests to be posted all over the web. Pictured above is the winner of a $1,000 costume contest at a posh night club -- creatively named, the Posh Nite Club -- in Akron, Ohio. His homemade Mjolnir armor -- God help you if you pronounce the "j" -- was complemented by a needler. Looks suspiciously like the one on eBay a few months back. His creation won him 1,000 smackers (he won another $1,000 the next night with a Predator costume). The best part is that his winnings won him the adoration of all the ladies present. He even got one to wear his helmet. See the picture after the break.
It was recently 
