I hope you’ve got ten dollars.

If you’ve played COD4 (and if not for the love of God go buy it) then you fall into one of two categories: 1) You’re playing it habitually, working your way up the addictive prestige ladder 2) You’ve played it to death, find the maps stale, and are eagerly anticipating new content.

Which makes my critique of the new Variety Map Pack unnecessary. You know you want it, you probably have it, and are having a blast with it.

Ten bucks will net you four new maps, currently playable via the three newly added Variety Pack playlists, set to enter rotation next week. As incentive to play these new maps Infinity Ward has introduced the 360’s first double XP weekend, so if you’re new to COD4 you’ll blaze through ranks and unlock weapons and perks with ease.

Broadcast: If you’ve played the single player campaign (Charlie Don’t Surf) then this map should be instantly recognizable. As the name implies the combat zone is a TV broadcast station, featuring mostly close-to-mid-range indoor battles. Close quarter spray-and-pray battles occur in the winding stairwells and offices, while ranged combat takes place in the open foyer and parking lot. As opposed to Vacant this map is multi-tiered, adding an interesting dynamic to objective based games. For example: when playing Domination control point B is located at ground floor, while two balconies overlook the capture point – both usually occupied by opposite teams, creating a very frantic “tug of war” scenario. This map offers good variety, and while decent fun in Deathmatch, really feels tailored towards Headquarters or Domination.

Chinatown: Probably my favorite of the new maps, it’s a remake Carentan. Admittedly I didn’t instantly recognize it despite having played countless hours of COD2. The fact that the map is darker and at night, while the original was brightly lit, seems to have shortened the field of view, eliminating a lot of sniping that plagued the original. Of course, the fact that you’re no longer walking around (you can run now) with outdated WW2 weapons, and can shoot through walls, completely modify the original’s game play.

Chinatown, with neon signs and walls littered with Hong Kong action movie posters, is stylistically very different from every other COD4 map. If a complaint were to be made about COD4, it’s that every map has a very war torn Middle Eastern brown/dark green look. Chinatown is a very welcome change. Don’t get me wrong, Chinatown is still dark and decrepit, but the minor color pallet tweaks go a long way in differentiating it. IW gets bonus points for not reusing locals from the single player campaign – although you could argue that they’re reusing a map from COD2.

Creek: This “U” shaped medium/large map takes full advantage of a sniper’s abilities to blend in with foliage. Creek offers players a rocky tiered ridge overlooking an empty basin. The empty space is large enough where a sniper’s scope can easily cover the entire map, but not large enough to render the red dot or acog scope useless. There isn’t much cover to duck behind (a couple tree trunks and boulders are strewn about) but there is more than enough concealment, via bushes, tall grass, and trees, to successfully flank an entrenched sniper.

When playing objective based games teamwork and communication are vital, especially in bomb planting/defusing game types. If you enjoy playing as a lone solider, Ramboing in to plant the bomb and then heroically defending it, you’ll find your attempts futile. I played a couple matches were everyone was too shy to talk, leading to 20 wasted minutes as both teams sent one lone solider to their deaths. The map is too open and exposed for one-man teams.

Killhouse: An expanded and modified version of the campaign’s training course, Killhouse is currently a Free For All mode exclusive map. This close quarters map has little dead space, and instead focuses on keeping the action intense. Virtually the entire map is composed of wood planks, offering no cover against heavy weapon fire. The facility is open aired, giving air strikes and helicopters free reign to destroy and demoralize.

Unfortunately this map is currently only available in Free For All play, a mode I rarely touch. I understand that 12 players in such a tight confined space would be utter mayhem, but Killhouse is larger and offers more concealment than Shipment (a map I abhor), and would be welcome in regular ranked team-based matches. Hopefully this map will be patched into regular rotation. Still, if all you play are FFA matches, then you’ll find this map a great addition.

While $2.50 a map might seem pricey (considering that COD4 shipped with 16 maps), the competition is charging more. Halo 3 charges ten for three maps, Warhawk eight for one map and content, Turok should pay you to play it, so the price point falls in line with current standards. If you plan on playing more COD4 online, there is no reason not to get the maps. Highly recommended.

Images taken from http://www.geekpulp.co.nz/2008/04/05/cod4-variety-map-pack-impressions/

Who’s happy? I’m happy.

How excited am I about this? Incredibly. Twisted Metal 1 and 2 consumed hours of my life. Twisted Metal 3 and 4 were…pretty damn bad. Twisted Metal Black was a return to form for the franchise.

While no details were announced about what features this new Twisted Metal will include, or when it will be released, a very important detail was included: David Jaffe will be taking the wheel. So it’ll be great.

My wish list:

• 16 player (at least) online play.
• Every character from Twisted Metal 1 and 2 included.
• 4 player (at least) online co-op, with a satisfying co-op ending (none of this Twisted Metal 2 no co-op ending crap).
• Dedicated servers (which may be a reality, given Sony’s track record), with extensive stat tracking.
• Include redone maps from Twisted Metal 2, especially Paris and Rooftops.
• More civilians to run over, with plenty of blood.

I can’t wait for this. If I’d have to guess it’ll be 2009.

Sometimes life has a nasty habit of getting in the way, and keeping you from the things that really matter. Like updating the site, and putting out another show, of course. The good news is that we’ll have another show for you tomorrow. The bad news is that it’s one we recorded a bit ago, so some of the info might be a bit dated at this point. But don’t despare! We’ll have another one soon after, and more to come on a regular schedule.

Until then, how about you sit back, relax, and test your skills at Untangle.

This incredibly addictive, challenging puzzle game offers 17 stages that test your skills and patience. The objective is to “untangle” the picture by dragging the dots, and positioning them so that no lines overlap. Simple, yet complicated. Enjoy.

Purchased a PS3 at launch? Then you own Resistance: FOM (a.k.a. The game that carried the PS3 during the barren spring months). Lucky for owners, it was a pretty damn good game, and had a rock solid online multiplayer as well. Now, in 2008, Insomniac looks to bring us its latest installment in the Resistance franchise.

Gamestop’s favorite magazine, Gameinformer, brings exclusive details on Insomniac’s Resistance 2. Hold onto your butts:

• Nathan Hale’s campaign continues against the Chimera (hopefully with a good ending this time).
• A separate co-op campaign that can be played either 2 players offline, or 8 players online. (Basically a second campaign? Nice.)
• Online multiplayer featuring up to 60 players online (with totally kick ass, lag free even-if-you’re-in-Italy-and-playing-with-people-back-home-4000-miles-away-in-the-USA dedicated servers).
• Newly implemented class system (heavy, special ops, medic) in online play.
• Partially randomized geometry in certain level spots (We’ll see how this works out. Has the potential to be either great or horrible.)
• Stat tracking on MyResistance.net (I’m assuming what Bungie does.).

Are you excited yet? Well, if you liked the original Resistance, and still play it online from time to time, you should be. 60 players online at the same time? That is insane. The maps must be gigantic. Is that a record for a console game? I think so. And are they basically including 2 different campaigns, one single player focused and the other for up to 8 people at the same time? Potentially awesome, just hope that they don’t feel like the GRAW co-op missions (tacked on and mildly fun).

Wow, all these great features, I wonder what Sony will charge us monthly to play this game online, since they’re giving us dedicated servers? (Psst, here’s a hint: nothing.)

Insomniac might be my new favorite developer.

Short recap: Rock Band and Guitar Hero don’t play nice, don’t let you use each other’s guitars on their game. They’ve had well over a month now, and no solution. And what’s worse is that Rock Band guitars aren’t available separately. Enter third party peripherals, created by Nyko.

Announced at CES, this 3rd party guitar will support both games (via a very inelegant switch), let you rock out wirelessly for 80 hours on 3 AA batteries, and will include all the features included in the Rock Band guitar (effects, tilt for star power, hopefully not terrible buttons).

Great, so a solution is on the way, right? If Activision and Harmonix don’t ever resolve this problem, then at least we have an alternative. The problem is that this 3rd party band-aid won’t be available until March. It’s January now. Rock Band came out in November. This is ridiculous. Hope you’re willing to wait a couple more months to play this with friends.

I’m happy I got the 360 version. Activision, Harmonix…you really messed this thing up.

Recently the Xbox 360 released Metal Slug 3 on Live Arcade, charging 800 points (10 bucks). If you’ve already picked it up, love it and want more, or have held off picking it up because of its high price point, then this is something that might interest you.

For 40 dollars (roughly 3600 MS points after taxes) you can get a collection featuring 7 Metal Slug games including Metal Slug 3. This collection, available for the PS2, PSP and Wii, is the perfect alternative/addition to Microsoft’s offering.

If the Wii version interests you, keep in mind that you’ll need to have a Gamecube controller handy. The game, oddly enough, doesn’t support the classic controller, and using the included wiimote configuration is guaranteed to drive you insane.

If PSP is your choice, then keep in mind you’ll be facing a couple mind-numbingly long load times (sometimes a full minute). The PS2 version has some load times as well, but not near as long (6-8 seconds). Still, if you’re willing to sacrifice online multiplayer and achievements, want to use a functional d-pad, and want a hard copy of the game which will never disappear when/if your 360 breaks/breaks again, then this is a route you might want to take. For the price of 4 Metal Slug games, you can get all 7.

Well, you might be able to. It looks like Sony might be announcing Skype support for the PSP at CES 2008, in Las Vegas next week.

If true, I can’t help but ask…how will this work? Via bluetooth headset? Because simple texting would be quite a chore using the PSP’s predictive text.

If true, I can’t see myself using this much. In an age where everyone carries cell phones, having to find a wi-fi spot in order to access Skype seems like too much of a chore. Sony, please, where are our friend invites, where is Home, where are our trophy rooms? We’re grateful you keep adding features, but please get to the ones we’re asking for.

An interesting addition nonetheless.

With a new year comes a fresh start, and a chance to make change. Since I’m practically perfect, this is a list of things I’d like to see others change in ‘08 (in no particular order):

1. No more Xbox 360 failures. 2007 was a terrible year for me, and having to call MS support 6 times was beyond ridiculous. No one should be fearing red lights every time they turn their console on. The 360 had an excellent gaming line up this year, but was seriously marred to the tune of 1 billion “oh shit we screwed up and made a guaranteed to break console” dollars. I don’t care if you call it falcon, eagle, hawk…find what the problem is and FIX IT, and make sure it stays fixed.

2. Give a final date, and release HOME. The more they delay it the more expectations will increase, and if this continues Home is guaranteed to disappoint. The PS3 needs an all encompassing online layout, which is simple to use and functional. Sony is so close to delivering Xbox Live quality online (surpassing it in some ways), yet a year later the key features are still missing. Get Home out, fix the problems, and let’s all be happy.

Extra credit: Redesign the PSN store. It needs an upgrade…just don’t make it as convoluted as Xbox Marketplace.

3. A quick end to this writer’s strike! As someone who watches quite a bit of TV (sadly), I’m not looking forward to what this spring will bring. There are plenty of garbage reality shows already, the networks don’t need more. Give the writers what they deserve, which literally amounts to pennies on every DVD sold. Want to know what television would be like without writers? Watch season two of Heroes (zing!). I want more episodes of House, Pushing Daisies, Friday Night Lights, Heroes (it can’t get much worse, right?)…

4. Lower the prices of high definition movies. Blu-Ray and HDDVD movies are overpriced. The Simpson’s Movie costs 35 bucks at Best Buy? Are you out of your f’ing mind?! Who in their right mind would pay that kind of cash? The price needs to get lower, much lower than the current 25-35 dollars being charged, if either of these two formats hopes of going mainstream. Speaking of formats…

5. End this goddamn format war already. I’ve currently signed up with the blu-ray camp (for many logical reasons), have invested quite a few dollars on blu-ray movies…but would be willing to repurchase every single disk on HDDVD if the format war ended tomorrow. There is nothing more infuriating than seeing Batman Begins or Battlestar Galactica on HDDVD, wanting to buy it, but can’t. Since when are movies “exclusive”? End the feud, throw one of these two out, and let’s move on. (For the record, blu-ray has movie “exclusives” as well, but I don’t complain about not being able to buy those.)

6. Stop bitching about “major” gaming sites being biased. There is nothing more infantile than running to message boards, creating pointless threads about IGN, 1Up, or Gamespot giving good/bad scores because they’re wearing money hats. Especially threads that start “I just went to…and saw that they gave this game a…”. Here’s some info: These sites make money off traffic. If you really want to “stick it to the man” then don’t go. And do me the favor of not bitching.

There are plenty of sites out there that give different gaming coverage. Find one that you like, and stick with it. Going to a major site is nothing to be ashamed of. The people that work at the IGNs and 1Ups are people, not dissimilar from myself, that really like games and covering games. The only difference is that they’ve decided to devote their lives, and incomes, to it. Find a reviewer/site you feel you can trust and stick with it. (Hopefully you’ll pay attention to the PN sites as well.)

Extra credit: If I had a nickel for every site that claimed to be “unbiased”, or be the only source for “truth”, or not controlled by “the man” then I’d be pretty filthy rich. Words are cheap, prove your worth with actions.

7. If you’re going to post on the internet, get a dictionary (or at least correct the words that are automatically underlined by your computer). How about we just kill all internet/gaming lingo as well. Teh, powned, n00b, and w00t are not words that should proudly be said/typed. Unless you’re a 40 year old virgin still living in your parent’s basement. Then by all means, pown teh n00bs. It’s probably all you have left.

Extra credit: Adding 420, 69, xxx, 187 to your gamertag is tired and old. If you live in the ghetto, go ahead, throw it on. But if you’re a (usually) white, middle to high income resident, live in the suburbs, then throwing those in is just sad. Unless you’re 40 and live with your parents. Dawg. (Add that word to the removal list.)

8. Check out PSHRadio’s show from time to time. Who would I be if I didn’t self promote?

Hope 2008 is a good one.

Hopefully you’ve finished all your shopping, are now sitting at home enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate, and enjoying time with your friends and family. That’s what the holidays are for.

PSHRadio wishes you a happy holiday, hopes you get everything you asked for, and have a great time spending a day or two away from the office.

See you next year.

Sorry, lots of text and no pics.

As someone who’s had 6 red rings in one year, I’ve earned the right to be angry at the Xbox 360. I love the games, the online service, and the experience it brings…but can’t stand the console. Calling it one of the worst designed pieces of tech is being too nice. It is straight up trash.

Like a crack addict, or in this case achievement whore, no matter how bad it treats me I keep coming back. I wish I didn’t have to, I wish that there were other, less abusive alternatives, but against my better judgment I always come crawling back, hoping that my 360 will change. It doesn’t.

It’s no secret that the 360 over heats, and that this causes a 4-6 week vacation from gaming. And since Microsoft isn’t capable of finding an acceptable solution to their problem (I’ve had my 360 return, only to brick again), I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands.

With the help of some insane tech head friends of mine, who basically did all the work while I supervised (I’m the last person you’d want messing with a screwdriver, much less an open and exposed naked 360), we ran some temperature tests to see how best to tackle this issue.

Please note: I’m sure that these are not 100% official MS approved measurements, but we did the best we could to get untainted results.

For our little test we used four separate Xbox 360s. We let them run for an hour, in a completely open space, each running a copy of PGR 4, and then measured the GPU’s temperature using a multimeter, which should have given us precise readings. Why the GPU? Because that is what over heats and causes the RROD. And is also why the new Falcon boards, with smaller and more efficient CPUs, may end up dieing in droves. I digress.

In these tests we ran one 360 as is out of the box, one with the cover removed (lying horizontal, all the goods exposed), one closed and with two internal after market fans (the “Whisper Fan” and the “XCM Add-On“), one exposed with the same fans. How did we get the internal temps of the closed 360s? The cover was snapped on, not screwed, which allowed us to quickly remove it and take the temp before precious heat was lost.

Xbox 360 setup and GPU temp after one hour:

• Stock 360, no added fans: 80 C
• Open 360, no added fans: 70 C
• Stock 360, whisper fan + xcm add-on: 54 C
• Open 360, whisper fan + xcm add-on: 44 C

We were surprised that after only one hour (and who only plays one hour?) the temperature was so high. Add dust, enclosed entertainment sets, and prolonged use to this and suddenly all those red rings make sense. Horrible design confirmed. The additional fans were quite successful in lowering the internal GPU temp, meaning less/no more red rings. It should be noted that the fans, despite being advertised as “whisper quiet”, are anything but. Thought that the 360 was loud before? Try adding more fans to it.

So what’s the point of this very long write up? If you’re tired, like me, of MS support spending more time with your 360 than you, then tossing in a fan or two might be a good idea. That is, if you know what you’re doing, since cracking that thing open voids the 3 year warranty.

I feel like I wrote a science report.