Games for Windows - Live - Articles - Zimbio

Sharing my addiction with the world

Tue, 9 May 2007 06:50:00 GMT

posted by Junipurr

Look, I play some pretty bad games...
I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I inflict pretty severe mental torture upon myself. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am strangely drawn to shitty games.

Of course, that's a discussion for another time. I'm just here to talk about Spider-Man 3 The Game.

Now, starting off. The game is (gasp) better than the movie. Just swinging around the city and beating up on random thugs provides it own levels of entertainment. Just wholesome mindless fun. Some of the missions are hit or miss. They do, however, introduce alot more of the characters from the Spider-Man comics that (more than likely) won't appear in the movies. Villains such as Scorpion and Kraven the Hunter provide button-mashing-boss-battling-goodness. However, for mission sequences early on the in the (I'm looking at you Apocalypse) provide boss battles that are so incredibly unbalanced that you have no choice but to leave that sad little mission marker on your over map until later on in the game. For ultra-obsessive types, this may be a point of madness. Now, of course, being as this is the game based off the movie, you do get a choice of playing as either the normal Spider-Man or the Black Suited Spider-Man. This option comes up later in the game when you have completed more of the main storyline. Also, for those who have picked up a PS3 and the collector's edition of the game, you get the additional choice of the New Goblin with his hover board. Unfortunately, New Goblin can't do normal missions like Spidey can, he has the very sucktacular option of only being able to take race mission (oh...how I hate race missions). Graphically, the game boasts amazing visuals of New York. Cars and People fill the city streets as you swing through the vast expanse of New York. But, the character models look like SHIT. Almost like something out of a Xbox 360 game (like Prey or Tony Hawk). Being that this is a movie based game, and we all know the history behind movie based games (and for those not in the know, here's a quick summary: Game based off Blockbuster Movie = Almost Guaranteed Crap.), it actually is fairly good comparing to others in the genre. If one does seek to play a GOOD Spider-Man game, hunt down a copy of Ultimate Spider-Man (PS2/Xbox/Gamecube) and play that instead.

Spider-Man 3 (Version Reviewed: PS3 Collectors Edition; Also available on PS2, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and PC)
ESRB Rating: T
Rating: 3/5

The genre of games I probably play far to often for my own good is either First Person Shooters and Fighting Games (Oh...and the occasional Guitar Hero binge or RPG marathon here and there.)

Jump! Ultimate Stars is the second in the series of Shonen Jump fighting games created by Ganberion and published by Nintendo. Oh...and go ahead and file this one under the category of "No chance in hell of ever seeing this game in anything but Japanese."

J!US takes a good smattering of characters from the Shonen Jump universe and smacks them right in the center of a fairly good fighting game engine. If it were to be compared to anything, the closest I could compare out be to Super Smash Brothers. There is, however, a twist involved. The method of choosing your playable characters and powering up those said characters is by creating a Deck using Koma (Comic Panels). A deck essentially looks like a page torn straight from a manga. By placing characters around your main battle characters, you give them boosts in stats or other abilities such as triple jumping, air dashing, or different resistances to status effects. Still with me here? It's definitely not as difficult as it sounds. The hardest thing to overcome is the language barrier and that can easily be solved with a FAQ. I believe there are roughly 100 playable characters with over 300 support characters. The game has standard single player story and tournament modes, but multiplayer is where this game shines. It features full Nintendo Wi-Fi Support with random battles you never met before as well as the option to collect friend codes and kick the ever loving shit out of your friends. It does also support voice chat (in games with people you actually know only) to talk trash before and after games. One of the nicer options is to save your opponents decks to your system to practice against a CPU controlled version of the deck. So while your not online having your ass handed to you by some teenager in Japan, you can spar with their deck to find gaping holes in their strategy. However, one thing to mention, there are some very overpowered characters in this game that probably could have used some more balancing. By far, this is the best fighting game I have played for the DS. It's a terrible shame we'll never see it State-Side or in Europe.

Jump! Ultimate Stars (Nintendo DS)
Rating: 4.5/5
CERO Rating: A
Import?: If you don't mind the moonspeak in the story mode, it is rather easy to pick up and start playing with the aid of a FAQ.

Microsoft Windows Live Local SUV’s Hit Tampa

Sun, 26 Nov 2007 13:05:35 GMT

posted by bhartzer

Was driving to the mall on Sunday and while sitting at a stop light I witnessed the passing of a rather odd SUV decked out with cameras and Windows Live Local decals. Seems the Windows Live Local team is hitting the Tampa Bay area for their StreetSide Origami project, even the Carrollwood suburbs.

Without camera in hand or the time to catch up to the driver to score an interview, I drove on to the mall, wondering how exciting the job must be to drive around city streets during a holiday weekend (with the windows down and what seemed to be Bad Company playing on the radio).

Furthermore, Microsoft’s usage of SUV’s (outsourced to Facet) for their project vs. the more economical Chevy Cobalts used by the Google Fleet.

Shadowrun: Vista & XBOX 360 united

Fri, 2 Jun 2007 02:17:00 GMT

posted by GAMES_CONSOLE

PC and console gaming changes forever today with the release of Shadowrun, the 1st cross-platform online multiplayer game. Up to sixteen players can take part in this sci-fi / fantasy "first-person shooter". PC gamers with Windows Vista can now interact & enter into combat with XBOX 360 players within Shadowrun's virtual worlds

Visit the official Shadowrun site

Shadowrun for Vista & XBOX 360

Welcome to our blog about Games for Windows - Live

Tue, 14 Mar 2007 16:31:32 GMT

posted by The_Zimbio_Team
This is our group blog, which is unique because any Zimbio member can post an entry to it. Some members blog about recent news and trends related to the portal topic, others recount relevant personal stories. You can also comment on and rate existing blog entries, to voice your opinion and to help the community identify which members and entries on the portal are must-reads. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this portal? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own blog entry!

Windows Live Comes Out Of Beta, Adds Capabilities

Tue, 7 Nov 2007 17:17:14 GMT

posted by bhartzer

Microsoft took the beta label off Windows Live Services, a mix of desktop and Web apps that are part of the company's "software + services" strategy to keep those promoting "cloud computing" at bay (e.g., Google). Reuters and eWeek have rundowns of the global launch, while Digital Inspiration complains about the launch of the Live Mail component. The suite of Windows Live Services includes mail, Messenger, Spaces, a toolbar, events, blog editing tool, security features, and several other services. We wrote previously about Windows Live Events here.

Click to continue reading...