Change has arrived

I mentioned it in an earlier post, that I've been trying something different for a change and that my blogs here would be changing back to the non gaming issues. So from here on out, you'll need to look at TXPaldin on Live for those posts and anything gaming related. Just about everything else will show up here. Looks like I'll need to get busy writing more now.

Script Frenzy Finishline
Only a few days left and I'm still on target to complete this contest of sorts. I'm sitting at 17,354 words to my script and 3 days to hit the 20000 mark. Once again, the contest is more of an exercise in completing the task and not so much on quality. In other words its really expected to be very rough and I have not intentions on quiting any of my day or night time jobs. It has been a really cool learning experience and I'm using this as a warm-up for November and the NaNoWriMo contest. I'll attempt to write a 50,000 word Novel in only a month, same idea, write as much as you can and just let the creativity flow.

I've enjoyed the Script Frenzy so far. I was a bit scared at first, trying to come up with a good story for a movie and 2 hours at that. So I decided to jump all in and just go at it and much to my surprise I got into. My only goal is to make it to the finish line, later I can look it over and play around and see where I can improve it. It's amazing all the work that goes into the making of a movie and it all starts with a script. If you ever thought about writing, I'd recommend doing something like this or checking out the NaNoWriMo event in November.

Cool It Now!

The 'Red ring of death' problem should become a thing of the past for owners of troubled Xbox 360's and hopefully newer units and the latest Elites will have these new upgrades installed already.

The new Elites have already been modified somewhat to help keep things cooler and with an expected 65nm processor in the near future, these upgrades should help as well. But in the meantime, it appears a new Heatsink is the much needed answer to the dreaded 'Red ring of death'.

Reportedly, Microsoft is now taking returns of consoles which have suffered from the red ring of death and has upgraded them with a new heatsink. The service has been confirmed by French and Czech users and some American gamers are reporting upgrades as well.

From photos taken, the added heatsink seems to be an additional second heatsink and heatpipe combo which is running without a fan directly attached and which is cooling the 360's GPU.
With any luck then, the 360 modifications will continue smoothly on a worldwide basis and will go a long way to making the Xbox 360 a cooler, more stable platform.

Oh, Oh, It's Magic!

From the creators of Red vs. Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles, comes a new series called 1-800-Magic, the latest machinima project created with the newly released Shadowrun game for the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows platforms.

Rooster Teeth Productions is an award-winning production group out of Austin, Texas that specializes in the creation of machinima, or films created using real-time, interactive engines from computer and video games.

Halo fans have really enjoyed this highly popular Red vs. Blue series and have found the shows well written and really funny. With the new series out, I'm sure they will enjoy what Rooster Teeth has in store and the game should provide a lot of possibilities to entertain us. Check out the show online and give Shadowrun a try as well, you'll be pleased with both of them.

Top 5 Must Buy titles

With the original Xbox system, Microsoft originally planned on gamers purchasing at least 4 to 5 game titles. So the real money is not in the selling of the systems as much as the selling of the additional services and the games created for them. So for every game sold, a small amount of the sale goes to Microsoft and with the additional services from on-line gaming in Xbox Live and the Marketplace, Microsoft has a very successful business model in place.

With all of that being said and the steps I'm about to take towards getting into the console market. I've come up with a list of my Top 5, Must By titles for the Xbox 360. These are not necesarily the Top 5 games of all times on my list, but they are the Top 5 that I want to buy for sure. My main reasons for selecting the Xbox 360 is for the games offered and all of the online abilites that are in place. So here we go!

#5 GRAW 2 - Another Ubisoft title and once again the game play is incredible and this was the second Xbox 360 game I actually had a chance to play at a friends house. The Co-Op features and team based play is a key selling feature in my book and the game looks incredibly realistic.

#4 Assassins Creed - I saw some video footage of this upcoming title from Ubisoft and I'm impressed with all the features and storyline. The AI interactions are incredible and with the option to more or less do as you wish in taking out your target, plus it adds a change of pace from all the run and gun shooters out on the market. I also like the looks of Tenchu Z and will keep my eye on that title too.

#3 MotoGP 07 - I'm a huge motorcycle fan, I love to ride and I couldn't see letting a game like this sit on the shelf. The first time I held an Xbox Controller was at Best Buy and MotoGP 06 was loaded. I was hooked an sold for sure on both game and system. I'll download the demo or rent MotoGP 06, but holding out on the release of 2007.

#2 Viva Pinata - I really want to play games with my daughters and I'm hoping to find more kid friendly games or at least converted Xbox original games for them to play. Viva Pinata is a clear favorite to get them started and they already love the Cartoon show. I'm sure I'll find some XBL Arcade games for them down the road and I could even see them dancing to some DDR.

#1 Halo 3 - The Halo title was the one title I thought would be cool to play, but at the launch and with a small number of games. I just didn't see the big picture, I had no clue they had Xbox Live in the works and I was a solid PC gamer. Since then, I've been playing catch up on a borrowed Xbox and playing Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2. From what I've seen an heard about Halo 3, this is a clear winner for any Halo fan, old or new.

These are the games that I'll be looking at purchasing fairly soon. I'll be starting out with Shadowrun and Forza 2 Motorsport, both are titles that were given to me as gifts and would have made my Top 5 to purchase, but I lucked out in that area and that means I'll have easily 7 games in my collection, a huge step from someone who last played an Nintendo NES and only bought 1 or 2 games for that system.

360Zine - Halo 3 Edition

In the spirit of all things Xbox 360, todays entry is none other than a cool & free e-magazine titled 360Zine. The guys & gals at Gamerzines.Com have really put together a very well made digital magazine. Did I mention its FREE?

Each issue is packed full of great game reviews & feature stories, along with compelling images from the games we love to play and multimedia clips to help support the stories.

In addition to all of the above, each issue normally has free contest giveaways. This month's issue has a chance to win Halo 3 Legendary Edition, The Darkness, and Forza 2 Motorsport. It's free to download, great content about the Xbox 360 & Games, and free contest giveaways. That's what I call a No Brain'er in my book, if you ask me.

Win Big in the Halo 2 Challenge!

Just in from XBox.Com...
Master Chief wants you! Dust off your needlers, fuel up your warthogs, and recharge your overshields because the Xbox LIVE® Halo® 2 Challenge is here—with two new never-before-seen maps and two ways to win! Register and start playing for your chance to win an Xbox 360 Elite prize package!



It's time to prove yourself worthy of the title Master Chief. Before you start dual-wielding weapons, you need to register. Registration starts on June 7 and ends on June 25, 2007.

Win with the sweepstakes or in the online tourney.
Need another reason to register? There are also two new maps available. Download "Desolation" and "Tombstone" for only $4. Start playing them now through the Halo 2 game.

Halo 2 Challenge Tournament
First, compete in the Online Tournament from June 11 through June 25, 2007. After a 15-day leaderboard qualification round, the top 64 ranked players on the "H2 Challenge" Rumble Pit playlist will advance to the live bracket round. Matches during the tournament will be played on the new maps, so get them now and practice.

First place prizes: Top three finalists with the highest scores after Grand Final play will receive an Xbox 360 Elite game console with an accessories package including an additional Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (black) and two Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kits.

Runner up prizes: The remaining five finalists not eligible for a Grand Prize will receive a 12 month Xbox LIVE Gold Membership subscription.

Play & Win Sweepstakes
Second, enter for your chance to win through the Halo 2 Play & Win sweepstakes. Register now and get one entry for every day that you play Halo 2 online between June 11 and June 25.

Grand Prize: Two winners will receive an Elite Pack (console, 120GB HDD, wireless controller, headset, HDMI cable, Xbox LIVE Silver Membership, and One-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold).

Second Prize: Five winners will receive 12-month Gold Subscription Cards to Xbox LIVE.
Third Prize: 25 winners will receive 3-month Gold Subscription Cards to Xbox LIVE.
The Play & Win promotions from Xbox.com are an easy way to jump in and interact with the growing Xbox LIVE community. It's easy to enter and you could win some great prizes. Look for more exciting Play & Win promotions in the future.

And now for something completely different

The line was often spoken by John Cleese and used in just about every show of Monty Python's Flying Circus and will serve as my inspiration for the next month.

I'm stepping into some new shoes so to speak and trying something, well... completely different for a change. I've been thinking lately about writing more and trying to do something along the lines of writing a book or movies. Funny how reality FOX's show the Lot is now out too, I had this in mind before seeing that show.

June 1-30 is Script Frenzy month, a contest of sorts for writers & aspiring writers to challenge themselves in writing a full length script in only 30 days. Huh? That's right, I'll be stretching the boundaries of imagination and creating characters, scenes, hopefully a plot, writing dialog, and trying to move a story along a path and towards a goal of 20,000 words. Nobody will judge it really and only a word count will verify that I hit my mark.

It's more of an exercise in the whole process and at the same time I'm learning a lot more about something I truly enjoy, that being movies. So after 30 days I should have a very rough draft of a story and it's more about quantity and reaching the goal than quality. Sure I could write the same line over and over, but that wouldn't really do me much good.

Well if you made it this far and your seeing that I wrote something that doesn't involve what you've been reading in the past. Don't Panic... a line from a favorite author of mine. I still have a passion for the other, I just wanted to share something completely different for a change.

Forza Motorsports 2

It's more than just another racing game... It's the next big Online Community for Speed Freaks & Car Enthusiast alike. Forza Motorsport 2 is a racing simulator that not only allows you to select from more than 300 cars, but allows you to fully trick them out as you play through the game. But it's not just about winning races, it's more about building & collecting better cars, while learning more about cars as you play and win races.

When you first start out in the career mode you need to select either North America, Europe, or Asia as your region to hail from. Then as you race you earn and unlock rewards and discounts from that region. This means you can upgrade cars in your region at a decent price, but it could cost you more in collecting European Cars, when you've selected to come from North America. Cost me more you ask?

That's right its a Pay to play and another feature of the game allowing you the ability to collect cars through the Marketplace Online Auctions and use some of those credits you've earned in racing. That's right you can take your fully upgraded & tricked out ride and auction the car off to the highest bidder or purchase that next ride to add to your garage. Everything that is done to the car is included in the sale as well, now that's a true winner take all feature.

Skinning your car allows you the ultimate in personalization, from selecting a very rad paint job to adding custom decal graphics. This game will allow you to make your car a true one of kind machine to show off.

Forza Motorsport 2 is now set to burn things up in more ways than one and should become a huge favorite for car racing fans. I had a chance to see this game up close at the GSB Road Tour in Dallas and this game should have hours upon hours of fun. I hadn't thought much about getting the Wireless Steering Wheel & Pedals, but I can really see how something like that might be fun to play with now. Look for Forza Motorsport 2 in stores or try and download the demo and check it out for yourself.