No one to tell us no or where to go or say we’re only dreaming.

     I can show you the world.  Shining, shimmering, splendid.  That’s right I went all Aladdin on you.  AND YOU LIKED IT!   No longer are those lyrics going to remind me of that Disney movie.  They are going to remind me of….

 

FORGE WORLD

So I don’t need to tell you I am a huge Bungie fan.  Yes, they make good games.  Yes they are extremely good at the hype train.  Yes there is about 1 million+  more people that are huge Bungie fans as well.  But they have seem to out done themselves this time.  Having looked at the live blog and watched the vid-doc as well as looking at the feed that was shown at Comic Con it looks like Bungie as completely retooled their map editor.  And for all of the reason’s I refused to experiment with Forge with Halo 3 it looks like they have fixed it for Halo Reach.  Everything from improvements to the user interface, the ability to fuse objects together as well as give them a soft nudge to the position that you want them.  If you follow the link about there is much more information as well as the vid-doc to get you into the loop.  The last thing about Forge World is, it is HUGE.  And I don’t mean huge in the sense that the new invasion maps are huge.  I mean huge as in you can take the entire geography of Halo 2’s Coagulation Map and stick into what seems like a tiny corner of Forge World.  It is literally a Sandbox game that you can make.  I’m really pumped to see what the Bunige Army can do with these new and improved tools!  

 

Onward and Upward,
J. Swanson

Background Check!

    To go along with the rebooted blog, I’ve decided to give you a little more in-depth knowledge about me.  I don’t know that it matters but my mother always said honesty is the best policy.  So I grew up in a small down in the Land of 10,000 lakes.  For any of you looking to vacation I recommend  it especially if you like the outdoors.  I was adopted as a baby and let me tell you it was very fortunate to be!  Now that didn’t mean growing up as one of the only 7 Black people in my town was easy it did present challenges but I don't’ know where I would be without the support of my parents.  I suppose that is what makes me a little unique is that my parents are white and I grew up in a town full of white people!  It gave me an interesting perspective on the world around me and also my life.  And I hope in my own why I can give you a little slice of that world.  I’m not going to stand on a soap box and preach about how Black’s are misrepresented in Video Games ect.  But I hope that when I talk about certain subject you might understand why I feel the way I do, or why I am saying the things I am!  I’m going to say it one more time.  This is a blog about hate or race or anything of those things.  So don’t use that comment section as a place to spew hate speech ect.  And I’ll try to do fair by you and not post things that I think you as a reader will take offence too. 

 

Onward and Upward,
J. Swanson

The Switcheroo!

 

   After a bit of a break from my blog…(I apologize) I’ve decided to head in a bit of a more focus direction.  Lucky for me it isn’t THAT big of a deal because I don’t have any followers as of yet!  I’ve mapped out the direction I would like the blog to take on papaer and I hope that I can translate for you.  It something that will probably morph as time goes on.  To start I’m going to make this more of a blog about my journy in a new place going trying to get into a new profession and one guys rather unique view on Video Games.  The one thing that will still remain the same is that the one console that I’ll talk about is going to be the 360.  But the information that I give about games that are being release ect will happen in-between that main posts.  Hopefully people read it.  Hopefully people like it.  And if you don’t, I don’t really want to hear about it!  Postive attitudes people!  There is enough negativity in the world.  Anyway, this is going to be a blog written by me for my enjoyment.  And if you want to come along on this journey, Great!  But strap yourself in because it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

 

Onward and Upward,
J. Swanson

How low can you go….?

 

 

     When you think of Limbo what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  A Luau? Hula dancers?  Roasted pigs and Pineapple?  Well if PlayDead has anything to do about it their game is what your going to think about every time your hear the word LIMBO!  The first game that is going to be released is was created by the fine folks over at PlayDead and let me tell you that it looks amazing.  For me it’s the hottest game that is going to be released this Summer on Live.  It’s a 2D puzzle platformer in black and white and shades of grey.  At this year’s IGF it won the award for Technical Excellence and is shaping up to be a great looking game.  It’s designed around the “trial and death” aspect, which means the player is going to die a lot.  I’m excited about the old school feel that more and more indie games are coming out with.  I do like my Call of Duty’s and my Bungie related treats!  But once and awhile it’s nice to sink your teeth into something a little bit more simple in a complex sort of way.  And from everything I’ve looked at Limbo is going to be a great introduction to XBOX’s Summer of Arcade!

Onward and Upward,
J. Swanson

Missed a day, but is Summer of Arcade!

 So I missed a day or.....two ...of blogging!  But at least I haven't abandoned my loyal readers!  Ohhh, that's right, I don’t have any loyal blog readers as of yet.  I’m working on it though.  Tomorrow is going to be a week of blogging and I’m thinking about throwing some sort of party.  It’s probably going to end up being a party of 1 but hopefully that won’t always be the case.  So, on to video game talk.  Starting the 21st of July the third annual XBOX Live summer of ARCADE!  ( I but arcade in all caps to show that I was yelling.  It would be awesome if I could get some sort of echo but that’s just not happing)  In the up coming weeks I’ll be posting about each of the five games as they are getting closer to their drop dates. As far as pricing goes on LIMBO I haven't been able to nail down a 100% sure price point but I’m guessing it’ll cost 1200 Microsoft Points.  The price points I can tell you loyal readers is that if you purchase all 5 Summer of Arcade titles you will receive a cool 1200 MP points back.  If you can only find 3 titles that you like you will get 400 MP points back!  And hey, in this economy money back is always a good option! 

Onward and Upward,
J. Swanson

The Hunt Begins…

 

So this is going to be the first "business” type post to this blog.  And it won’t be long being that I’m tired and it’s late.  So I graduated with a B.A. in Theater Arts.  And honestly, I wouldn’t change it for the world!  The things that I’ve learned and have been able to apply after college have been fantastic!  I’ve learned how to communicate with people, how to speak in front of large groups of people, and what it takes to work well in a team setting.  Unfortunately it didn’t teach me a thing about how the world of business works.  I have no idea what it takes and how to go about networking.  I try and do research on the internet and it feel a bit like drowning.  There is a lot of information and I have no idea how to sort through all of it.  It’s crazy!  At least that is how I feel about it today.  Maybe in the near future I will get better and with more experience it will be easier to navigate.  I think a great way to tackle this whole job search beast is to look at it like auditioning for a play.  And, as my brother says, “don’t look at the elephant and try and figure out how to eat the whole thing.  You have to eat it a bite at a time.”  Now all I need to do is figure out where to take the first bite,  But as for right now I think sleep is calling my name. 

Onward and Upward,

J. Swanson

The new Xbox 360

 

 So finally Microsoft has listen to its fans and released the “NEW” Xbox 306.  On June 14th at Microsoft’s E3 conference it was announced that the 360 was getting a make over.  It was boasted that the new XBOX would carry a built-in WiFi and 250 GB hard drive but also would be whisper quiet and have built-in WiFi.  Those are all features that the 360 fan base have been screaming about for years!  And Microsoft has delivered.  The best part for those people living in the U.S. the price tag remains at $299.  I would honestly have to say that the only thing that this new XBOX has against it is that face that most people already have an XBOX that has gotten the RROD and or purchased some of the peripherals for their consoles so they are able to connect wirelessly. I might be hard for some to pony up the needed cash for the new console being that they already have a perfectly good one sitting on their entertainment centers.  I look at it as a good option once mine decides to take the long road to the XBOX bone yard.  As far as the look of the console as you can tell from the picture above there is a nice hourglasses design to it.  It’s also primarily glossy black and appears to have more vents across the case for better heat dispersion.  I hope that means no more RROD for people.  But only time will tell.  As shown at the E3 event the redesign also can fit inside the old XBOX case if that gives you any idea how small it really is!  Honestly, I would have to say the feature I like the most at this point is the quite.  I love the idea of watching Netflix and not having to hear the whirring sound that my XBOX makes.  With all of this nice additions to the console I honestly think that Microsoft had done a nice job showing that it is willing to work with its fan base to release a product that doesn’t come with $300 of needed add-on’s to function like the buyer would like. 

 

Onward and Upward,
J. Swanson