Danny

I've greatly enjoyed Battlefield 3. However, I have not spent a solid hour in single player or multiplayer. The full release was much better than the beta, although I did not find the beta as "awful" as all the people who complained did. A beta is called a "beta" for a reason. It's unfinished.

Gameplay-wise, BF3 is lightyears ahead of most other FPS's, especially on consoles. The only thing that really holds the game back, in my opinion, is that so many people do not know how to properly play as a team. People love to hate levels like Operation Metro, which is a fairly easy and fun level to my friends and I when we play. It just takes some strategy and coordination. Taking out choppers and jets using a recon and engineer guy, who both have to lock on to a target simultaneously, also takes a bit of strategy. So, if you get in with a group of people who know what they are doing, the gameplay possibilities in BF3 are far beyond what other console FPS's are capable of. So, with the complexity of the game in mind, I'm fine with DICE taking a bit longer to get the maps out.

The maps also come with new assignments and weapons, which makes them a bit more worth the money too.

Still, while I'm fine with them taking a while to get things right, an earlier release date, even April or May, would be nice.

The rumor on the internet is that Alan Wake 2 is being developed for the next Xbox. OXM even had an article where the "crystal ball" section said that there was no Alan Wake being developed for "this" console generation. If I remember correctly, they even had it in italics, which tends to imply that it's for the "next" console generation. I read this on the internet, and then I saw it in OXM, so I'd say that the odds that a full blown sequel is in the works for the next Xbox are pretty good.

Also, in this month's issue, OXM's "Crystal Ball" section said that Project Gotham 5 is under development for the next xbox.

Sigh...Apple.

1. Itunes wants to delete the entire contents of my phone when I try to import a ringtone that was not purchased through iTunes. Do they still do this?
2. iCloud = $20 a year for 10 gigs of space for music and documents. Amazon Cloud = $20 a year for 20 gigs of space and UNLIMITED space for music (that's the offer that they have going right now.
3. No expandable memory on iphone. So, an extra 16 gigs of memory will run you $100 for the next model up. Meanwhile, on Android phones, I can get a SanDisk 16 GB microSDHC for $9 from Amazon. ...so...$100 for 16 extra gigs vs $9 for 16 extra gigs...
4. In general, mas have vastly overpriced hardware.

Sure, the interface and usability of Apple products is nice, once you get over getting screwed in every other possible way.

I actually have the original disc of this game. It was a pretty fun rts in it's time. fairly hard, too.

First, initial beta/alpha dev kits are usually slightly less powerful than the actual consoles themselves. This is because the graphics setup, amount of ram, etc are still being optimized and finalized. Early beta/alpha dev kits are supposed to represent the MINIMUM requirements until the final specs and production design are maximized.

Also, this card will not be a stock 6670. The 360's video card, for example, is highly optimized to provide tons of memory bandwidth and the ability to do AA without taking a huge performance hit.

Therefore, while a 6670 is a bit disappointing, I am not entirely convinced that this rumor is true. If it is true, I suspect that the actual design that goes into production will be a highly optimized and advanced form of the 6670.

On the bright side, if true, this means that the console will launch at a decent price point and the red ring/hardware failures of the past will likely not be a problem. It should run fairly cool at launch.

I'm more curious about the amount of ram and the memory bandwidth of the console. A highly optimized 6670 with 4 gigs of shared system ram doesn't sound so bad to me.

The six player co-op is probably for some sort of Horde mode like Gears of War 3 has.

The campaign is probably 2 player co-op, like Resident Evil 5 was.

I thought both Resident Evil 4 and 5 were both great games, and I greatly enjoyed the co-op in RE5. The co-op AI partner was crap, but if you played it with a friend, it was extremely fun.

The 8 player mode is likely for PvP mercenaries mode.

I drive a pickup, and I drive it almost every day of the week.

It smells like an office...cause I've got new office furniture.

You can buy a physical copy of the game and install from dvd, and bypass Origin completely. You never have to install Origin to play or buy the game. I play the game every day, so I know.

The game is great. Too bad all the WoW burnouts feel compelled to bash it 24/7 because it doesn't "innovate" enough.

I'm going to draw Mario. :)