Touch Wood...

For a 360 site Editor and blogger, this entry has been a long time coming and probably features the millionth word written on the subject. Is my 360 about to die?

My 360 was built on the 19th of October 2005 and delivered to me on December the 2nd thanks to Microsoft's old PR company "Red" and it survives to this day without a single ROD incident.

In the last month it's been acting funny, I've had a few crashes, one disc-read error, some crashing during HD-DVD playback and my DVD drive seems to think it's open 50% of the time and reads "Close Tray" on the dash a lot of the time.

Of course, the fact I've got a perfectly fine launch console that's worked consistently for almost two years really does stick two fingers up in the face of the whole 'ROD' scandal and I've enjoyed posting this many times on BXB.

I might start a sweepstake on when it'll ROD on BXB and then congratulate Microsoft on sending me a peice of hardware, that by all records, should have melted itself about 12 months ago.

Rewards and Frustrations

We've secured more preview code now as well, this time in the form of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.

I see a pattern emerging, both games we've had code for have been from Lucas Arts via Activision and if you remember back to Leipzig we gave Activision and Lucas Arts loads of cover on BXB. Force Unleashed, Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero 3 got shining previews and video coverage. I was pleased to show what we could achieve on BXB given the time and the money to do so.

This has been duly rewarded with code, and while I'll admit to being a little slow with the Thrillville: Off The Rails review (due to personal problems), I'll be putting lots of effort into getting the Lego Star Wars review up on the day the review embargo is lifted.

Again and again the same problem keeps coming back. We simply don't have the time or the man power to make BXB the site it could be. The lack of consistency and comprehensiveness holds us back.

As you can see, our Editorial team is currently churning out reviews and we've even had to draw on voluntary freelancers to pick the slack up on that as well. News updates have been almost non-existant. It's frustrating.

On the plus side, I've just seen the results of Phase 1 of the development process on the new BXB and it's looking fantastic. It looks a lot more professional than the current front page and able to deliver larger amounts of content as well.

Thrillville: Off the Rails

Well, we finally got our first peice of preview code which I can now take advantage of being as I'm on the EMEA reviewer's kit list.

Lucas Arts very kindly sent over Thrillville: Off the Rails and I've been playing it all afternoon. I'm quite enjoying some aspects of the game, for example of the min-games are really fun and simple to play.

On the other hand, it's not like good old Theme Park where you have to literally place all the paths and the rides to create your own park. I miss that freedom. I'll be writing up a full review on BXB soon so keep your eyes on the front page.

It's good that I've finally got some preview code. While it's not exactly for a huge game and not massively before release, hence allowing us to get some great exclusive content up, it's a step in the right direction and that's what it's all about when you're running a fansite like BXB.

You have to wait a long time to take a small step forward, but it's worth it.

Independence...

Wow, I've not written on my blog for ages, probably because I've not felt like saying anything or having a good bitch. So, I'm going to have a good bitch as I feel confrontational today.

So, this blew me away. Microsoft allowing Bungie to return to being independent, allowing them the freedom to do what they want and in return Bungie have promised to keep making Halo games and support the 360 as their main platform. You scratch my back...

I'm independent. I have my own mind, my own ideas and I speak them and, man, has that landed me in some shit. At the same time it's also been really rewarding.

Here's an example of where me speaking my mind is good.

At the same time, me speaking my mind got BXB removed from the XCN and damaged our relationship with the company that produces the product we're dedicated to covering. Not exactly a smart move.

So, I have a lot of respect for Microsoft for giving Bungie back their independence but it's not been easy, now, has it? Bungie have shouldered the success of the Xbox and the Xbox 360 with the Halo trilogy and made literally millions of dollars for the company since the original console launched.

Independence comes at a price. The question I ask myself time and time again, is it worth it?

The Great Halo 3 Review "Sitch"

So, my personal anticipation of the release of Halo 3 is about to hit breaking point. I literally cannot get any more excited about this game without breaking down in tears and sobbing like a baby for hours at the mere thought of playing it.

The question is. How am I going to get it? Right now I'm having a “sitch” with Halo 3 as I'm not entirely how sure how I'm going to get my hands on the game. You think I'd have planned this, don't you? So, here are my options:

1)The Review Code: Ok, so Microsoft haven't let me down in the past on this front and I got Halo 2 a few days before release which gave me enough time to write a review up but as usual their always busy PR types are being silent on the matter and it's driving me up the wall. Literally every morning now I get up as the postman knocks on the door and doesn't deliver Halo 3 to me but instead some other video game shaped parcels.

2)Tesco at Midnight: Working for a major retailer has some perks. I'll probably be able to hold and read the instruction manual of Halo 3 sometime this week but they still won't sell me it because they won't break street dates. The only option is to head back to work at midnight next Tuesday and pick it up then (with a lovely staff discount).

3)The Alamo: Gameplay pre-order, this is probably the most reliable but, for some reason, the one I expect to deliver least.

The big question is, is there any actual point BXB reviewing the game? Getting a review up on day of release wouldn't be much of a coup on the grounds that everyone will be too busy playing the game to give a damn. Plus, the big sites will have their reviews up very soon and hence everyone will have read the reviews.

Of course we'll write a review of the game, it'd be silly not to, but I'm going to take my time about it.

Is that the Postie?

Exciting Stuff Ahead!

As if Halo 3 wasn't enough to get you excited, BXB will be bringing our users some of our coolest opportunities yet in the next few days!

Firstly, we'll be making Call of Duty 4 Beta codes available on the site and we hope that you all sign up from BXB to show your support for this great site.

We're also going to be giving away 12 months worth of games from Codemasters when our Community Awards return with a bang this month!

More details will be posted on BXB in the next day or so.

BXB: We rock!

Flirting with my Future...

So, a few weeks ago I applied for a community focused role for a major publisher.

My cover letter and CV were sent over as usual and the other day I was invited for an interview. Shortly after I was told that my salary expectations were too high and that having the interview was a waste of time.

I'd asked for 30k and the job was paying 19k.

I have to ask myself, surely, 19k in the south of the UK means I can afford to rent a cardboard box at best!?

And that there ended my flirtation with my future as a community guy for a major publisher.

Oh, well.