backdraft123's space

In case you need reminding of who SUPERGHOST is, you can find his previous interview here. I catch up with the man they call SUPERGHOST and talk games.

Remind the viewers where you acquired the infamous "SUPERGHOST" gamer tag.

"SUPERGHOST" goes back to my Dreamcast days. Every time I tried to pick a cool login name it was taken.So, in a moment of inspiration 'SUPERGHOST' popped into my head. I like ghosts, and I am super! Been my handle for nearly 8 years!

There have been some great games on the Xbox 360 so far. Which one would you say is the most over hyped and why?

I would say Guitar Hero III, clearly it has been a huge financial and critical success but, to me it is being overshadowed in nearly every way by Rockband. I think both can co-exist, but the bar has clearly been raised! Also, GHIII is being overexposed,did we really need 2 GH's last year? And where is the DLC? Oh its on Rock Band!

Are you still gaming on your 30'' Samsung HDTV Wide screen?

Yes I am. I have tweaked the settings to the point where I am still quite satisfied with the picture, but I would be lying if I did not want to upgrade to a 1080p LCD monitor in the 37 to 42 inch range. But money is always an issue.  I did upgrade my sound to the Pioneer 5.1 system licensed exclusively for the Xbox 360! It is pretty cool!

You've played quite a few games. What would you say gave you the most challenge to complete?

Each game has its moments, but I will go back to my classic Xbox and talk about Panzer Dragoon Orta. When I finally beat that game on the normal skill level, I got up and did a dance!  True story.

Last time we did an interview, you said Halo 2 was your all time favorite game. Does this still hold true?

I would say no, so many great games and gaming experiences have happened since then. Gears of War, Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, Portal, Oblivion, Call of Duty 2 and 4, Bioshock, The Darkness. I could go on and on, but picking just one, I don't think I could.  Just like trying to pick a game of the year in 2007.  Not so easy. I would add one thing, so much is being made of PS3's Little Big Planet, but we already have Forge on Halo 3. Think about that one!

BD: "You tell 'em Ghost!

Are you a supporter of making Xbox Live free or do you believe its worth every penny? Much has been said about Sony PS3's "Home" feature and how it's supposed to rival Xbox Live, and it will also be free of charge.

Good question. On one hand free is good, on the other I do not mind paying for a service that is offering a great experience. Should PS3's service rival or surpass Live as it is today, MS had better have an excellent counter. Wether it be servers or some other top secret project. I believe competition in this case can only be a good thing for both services, and in the end, the users like ourselves.

We are 3 years into this generation of gaming. It wont be long until we start discussing the next generation consoles. What would you like to see in Microsoft's next Xbox?

Well, I hope I don't have to see anything for at least 4 more years. But, what  I would like to see is Microsoft continuing with their overall connectivity mantra. I want user-created content to be available from day one, not just a good promise for the future. Also I would like to see the 360 community to continue to evolve and grow the service and truly make it our own! (and Halo 4).

What do you like to do besides gaming?

Well I have two young children so I like to spend time with them and my wife. I enjoy walking, and reading, and the occasional 'social call' with my friends. Gaming is pretty big deal for me though, I have been maintaining my Xbox blog for nearly 3 years now, before that it was Bungie.net, now I am dabbling with twitter and a space at 1UP.com.  I also take insurance courses and have been working my way towards my designation in that industry.

Many thanks goes to SUPERGHOST for taking the time to answer these questions. As mentioned above you can find his Windows Live Space here, his Twitter here, and in case that isn't enough and you want to be an uber stalker, visit him on 1up.com.

--BD

In my previous entry you can see that I have been enjoying my dose of Mass Effect. Oblivion being my last RPG played, I found that Mass Effect was a breath of fresh air from the normal games I play. A little slow to start, but once when the ball got rolling, it didn't stop.

The storyline of Mass Effect takes you on a wild ride through many planets and systems that will leave you wondering where you will be heading next. Of course the highly touted dialogue system was very interactive and innovative in many ways. Sometimes I found myself handling situations in the game how I would in real life. I tried my best to think of what I would say in certain scenarios and how it would effect the outcome of the game. I picked the closest answer and hoped that the dispute didn't lead to me being shot.

Since the game is pretty open ended and doesn't force you to follow any beaten path, you can be as adventurous as you'd like. Hundreds of side missions kept me very busy and helped me level up my character from a level 1 to level 41. On my first time around playing, I pretty much ignored these and just played through the game. The 2nd time I didn't make that same mistake.I thought it would be best if I explored the worlds a bit and completed some of the more odd missions out there, which then helped me become a better player in the game and create a more dynamic group of allies.

I actually didn't realize just how MASSIVE Mass Effect really is. As you get missions you open up new planets and clusters for you to explore. Which would then lead to more missions on different planets and so on. After getting bored with that, I would just continue the main plot and see where that took me. The fun factor of it all was a pretty steady ride of being excellent, with small dull moments in between which acted as a break from the intense game play.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has a lot of armors and weapons for you to collect. Mass Effect really reminded me of that and my treasure seeking tendencies that I would sometimes have. Although, you normally have a mission to do in Mass Effect when you go hunting for those things, you will almost always come across something you don't already have. New armors, new ammo upgrades, new armor upgrades, weapons, medi-gel, grenades, and much more. The major problem I had with this is that I would normally only keep the best and turn the rest into omni-gel. Sometimes I'd find very valuable things and sometimes I'd just get ammo upgrades.

What is a storyline without a great environment? Useless, in my opinion. A game such as this needs to make you feel like your truly there in the game. The dialogue system already makes this "your game" but the environment is what adds to the effect of realism. It has very wide range of different habitats that you'll think your playing a different game. You will notice that each planet has it's own unique environment and terrain. I came across a snow covered planet and then moved to a very dry and dusty planet in a matter of minutes. Luckily you have your clunky Mako to carry you around and defend you against enemies.

However,I did find it upsetting that the storyline just ended when you completed the main story. No going back and doing side quests. You can start the campaign all over again with the same character, but it's sort of upsetting that you cant pick up where you left off in your side missions. Oblivion did a good job of this, allowing you to continue to play and make it pretty much a never ending game.

Mass Effect is truly a great game. It might take some time for the more casual player to really get into it, but overall it's a game you'll want to have in your collection.

Pros

• Great storyline and side missions
• Game play functions are very linear and fun to play with
• Character customization is very solid

Cons

• Minor hiccups in the graphics
• Game play ends when the main plot is finished.
• Can the Mako be any harder to control?

Overall Score

9.0/10

-BD

First appearances are not everything. Speculation around the net told me that Mass Effect was one of the best games for the Xbox 360. Of course, this is all speculation and other people's opinions. I began playing and wondered what the hype was all about. Creating my character was fun, choosing my class and all that jazz reminded me a lot of Oblivion. And if it even was half the fun as Oblivion was/is I'd be pleased.

I start the game and wonder to myself "Why is my screen all grainy?" Thinking there is something wrong with the game itself, I restart only for it to do the same thing. Just deal with it, I tell myself. So I continue and complete the first part of the mission. After playing about 2 hours of the game itself, i wondered what the hype was all about. It has a grainy screen, slow game play, and my characters have to level up? Maybe I missed something here, but I thought i was supposed to be playing a GOOD game.

As i said before, first appearances are not everything. It appeared to me that everyone on the interweb was wrong. It appeared to me that I would be taking this game back for something else. I finally figured out how to turn off the film grain effect which i so kindly slapped myself in the forehead, as that was dumb of me to not think of it before. However, i still had a major beef with the game. It wasn't all that fun. The graphics take some time to load in some areas and I've come to ignore that and just get over it. After playing and completing a couple missions, I really just got bored with it. Which also could mean that Call of Duty 4 was slowly sucking my soul away.

Now I'm back to playing it again, and amazingly, I'm addicted. After such a slow start i got the ball rolling and started to figure things out. I have to come appreciate the dialogue system and the fighting system. The latter part, isn't where it shines though. Nonetheless, it's effective. The infamous romance plot was rather interesting and I think I'll try and continue it further to see where it goes. Obviously Mass Effect isn't a game where you dive right in and run straight into action. You need to have some type of tactic and plan to carry on through the game.

So, to anyone that is still on the fence about this game, I say to rent it. You NEED to put time into the game in order to fully understand it's capabilities and the level of fun it can achieve.

--BD

Lately, I've been answering questions on Yahoo! Answers in the Xbox section. Many questions are asked that I can answer easily without having to look up a lot of info. But a reoccurring question, that seems to bug me every time. "Which is better? Xbox 360 or PS3?" I've read through countless answers debating which one is best and which one is not. And I've come to the conclusion that the Xbox 360 is still the best console on the market today. Ok, let's keep in mind that I've NEVER touched a PS3 in my life and I'm a hardcore Xbox 360 fan, but I'm going still going to state what is wrong with the 360 and what is right with the PS3.

The failure rate of the Xbox 360 is probably the biggest and strongest argument that these guys have. Every other person I know is either on their 2nd or 3rd console and getting frustrated more and more every time they have to put their 360 in a coffin and wait nearly a month for the return process. No Red Ring of Death for me as of yet. It's been rumored that it's up to nearly 35%, but Microsoft has only mentioned 5% a long time ago. Wow, 35% huh? That's rather high for such an infamous company known for its great technology. But I wonder, just where are these figures coming from? Retailers. I dug around and found that many of those statements were made by retailers around the world, which is rather high. They are not taking into consideration that many people don't bother with taking their console back, rather just calling 1-800-4my-Xbox and sending it away to MS. So if one retailer sells 50 consoles and 25 are returned that's 50% return rate at one store. Let's say another store sells 500 of the 360 and only 100 are returned that's only 20%. Some store might have a higher number than that, some might have lower. Heck, they could sell 1 360 console and have it returned making it a 100% return rate. I'm saying that these numbers are not reliable and doe's not take into consideration the number of people that a.) did not have a problem, and b.) did not take their console back to the store for a return. Can Microsoft be trusted? Well no and yes. Ever since they mentioned that it's only at 5% return rate, they have been mum about it ever since. Why is that? Because their a business, and dishing out figures like these is less than appealing to any consumer.

I'll acknowledge that the PS3 hasn't had any major issues yet and that its return rate is significantly lower than the 360's. However, they have a $500 console, so I hope that they were able to put a decent cooling unit in there to cool down the insides.

This next issue gets me all the time. When people compare they like to throw in added things such as wireless networking adapters, wireless controllers, HD-DVD players, and so on. In order for the 360 to even compare to the PS3 of course you'd have to add those in there. But here's the thing. None of these accessories are required to play an Xbox 360. I don't have a wireless network adapter and play perfectly fine on my 360. Heck, i even have Media Center set-up on it. I might not have a generic six-axis controller that allows me to control movement but I do have a wireless controller that allows me to shoot people in the face, throw a winning touchdown, or score the winning basket. The HD-DVD player is an add on and I'm not courting one of those either, but i still play regular DVD's perfectly fine. Ok, so the PS3 has the six-axis controller, along with Wi-Fi and a Blue Ray player but again, look at its price. "The PS3 has free online! And HOME is coming!" Are you talking about the online play that ANYONE can hook up too? Including those loners with dial-up? Though, if you can afford a half a 1k console you should be able to afford at least DSL, right? From what i hear the PSN is nothing special. Lag seems to be the biggest issue, and though i haven't experienced it myself on a PS3, i cant say any other problems. But hey it's free. Xbox Live has more than 6 million users. the Xbox Live Marketplace has thousands upon thousands of content downloaded everyday with the press of a button. It's $50 a month, but its worth every freaking penny.

Moving into the graphics category, there is no doubt that the PS3 is a beast. On paper, it's better than the 360 in almost every division, but on the games you can't tell. Let's run a little test here. You go out and buy a game for the PS3 that is known to have great graphics. You think "awesome! This will look good on my 62'' HDTV!" Take it home, pop it in and your stunned. Then you start to play. It's Barbie Horse Adventures, and though it has amazing graphics, your still playing a ridiculously retarded game with horrible game play. The point being made here is that it is not about graphics. It's about game play. You can only be "wowed" for so long when looking at graphics before you start to think "heh, this game blows. There's nothing to do here!" If the PS3 wants to get into a fist fight with the Xbox 360 and debate who has the better games, the fight wont get out of the first round. Clearly the 360 has some of the best games out as of right now. Some are multi-platformed games, others are exclusives. Bioshock, Halo 3, Gears of War, and Mass Effect. What does the PS3 have? Kill Zone 2 and Metal Gear Solid and it's amazing ability to have more CGI pumped into it then a freaking Pixar movie. One day, the PS3 fans will finally realize that their library of games in the future will never stack up to what the Xbox 360 has done and what it is doing now. So, please continue to argue that the Xbox 360 is more expensive in the long run, or that it cant survive an entire year before tanking. But KNOW one thing. It's about the games, and as of right now, the Xbox 360 has better games now than what the PS3 will ever have.

--BD