So I know some of you out there are late on the get go, heck I’M ALWAYS late on the get go. I’m speaking to those of you who just now managed to be on the adequate behavior list, and ole Santa went and decided to drop you a Xbox 360 down your chimney last week. Now you have all that cash that your Aunt Edna and Uncle Willard passed on to you since they found out that you wern’t a Jonas Brothers fan, and bought you the boxed set last year…ahh what to do with all that fat dough.

Well I thought that I would convey on to you some vital info, since we do mingle some games around here with our busy lifestyles. Yes, we are awesome, and yes we occasionally get to fire up a console now and then. That being noted, I’d like to compile a few ‘must haves’ for new Xbox 360 owners out there. We know, since you’re here, you understand our BusyGamer Theology, and may not have, nor want to take risks on game titles that (a) you know nothing about; (b) may have the potential to just suck, and really suck; or (c) cost too much to risk beer money on.

So here below are some definite titles to consider, I’ve also tried to keep the genres varied (to cater to your playstyles). But these are games that I refuse to vendor back to my local resale shop, hence the fact I always come back to them. Kinda like bad girlfriends, only less pricey.

RANDOM CHAOS GAME
Grand Theft Auto IV – No questions asked. They should ship this to you when you buy an Xbox 360. You’ve seen it, you’ve heard the controversy in it, and yes, it’s all what they make it – AND MORE. For a 2007 game release, it is still one of my favorites that does not lose any thing on replay. It’s always fun running down pedestrians, chasing criminals (and the law), jacking a new Ferrari because you scratched yours on that old lady crossing the road, or taking over the local Burger Shot at gunpoint with my friends online, to see how many cars we can pile up in the lobby.

ROLE PLAYING GAME
Mass Effect – As much as I write about this game, and anticipate the sequel coming January 26, no surprise that I would put this on a list. And for someone new to this console, a $19.99 game that is well rounded, fun, surprising, beautiful, and well deserving of a play through with a new character type, this is a steal. A Science Fiction, RPG, third person shooter, with action reminiscent of Starship Troopers meets Star Trek meets Space 1999, hell I’m sold. AND a great story to boot!

FALLOUT 3 – Can you say HUGE? Let’s add a few DLC’s and then HUGEAMOUS! Yeah, this game is big. Not too good on the staying busy with your normal life, but a fantastic RPG game set in a post-nuclear-fallout environment. This game makes me feel like a character out of Road Warrior, mainly because my armor never matches and I’m always out of ammo. Guns and melee weapons are great, tons of quests, playthroughs will guarantee new things to discover, and if you think you’ve seen it all – just download some new content episodes, available online via the Xbox Live Store.

SPORTS GAME
Madden Football – Since one comes out every year just pick one. If you don’t care about the new rosters, and you plan to create all your friends on your hometown team, then buy one that is 2 years old. They all offer pretty much the same thing, and seeing my name on the back of a Texans jersey is damn exciting in my book. They all play great, and football video games are good party starters, plus injuring your friends for the season is fantastic too. Madden Football + beer + bowl of Doritos = win, no matter how you look at it.

FIRST PERSON SHOOTER
COD:Modern Warfare 1 or 2 – Like a story where you (the heroes) get to shoot the terrorists (the enemies) in a third world country? We do. Like a game that boasts an arsenal of real military weapons that you get to test drive, in a world where that would be impossible to the general population? We do. Like a game that offers hours upon hours of online multiplayer gameplay, with so many unlockables, that they themselves have wikisites dedicated to them? We do too. And again some could argue that the Halo series overpowers this, but I vote no, (my article, my rules), and lets add even more varied teamplay to the dish, better maps, and well executed co-op missions to challenge you and your war buddy.

STAR WARS GAME (yes it gets it’s own category)
Star Wars : Battlefront II – One thing that makes the Xbox 360 superior to other consoles, is BACKWARDS COMPATIBILTY! That brings this Star Wars title (from the original Xbox) to the table that won’t get pawned at the store. As much as I love the Star Wars franchise, a majority of the serious Lucas games are a big fail. Most of them. Not this one, BFII is still kicking butt at my house from a ‘console ago’. If you need a blaster fix, this is your game. The story starts at Episode III and goes on into Episode VI and beyond, even includes the fan based cosplay club, the 501st, in the story line, /WIN!

There you have it, these are all great games (my all time picks). And they most ALL have won awards for how bad a$$ they are, in their respective categories. As for the older titles, well it’s a bonus – because NOW they are discounted, and can be readily found at your local “previously-played shops”. So get to it, their are plenty of old worlds to fight battles in, and all in all, these worlds definitely deserve being saved again, and again, and again….

We played a lot of games at PAX ’09 that made us want to play more. We also just happened to come across one game that wasn’t playable that made us wish we could just play it for a few minutes. That game was APB (All Points Bulletin) and it’s looking to be the newest bad kid on the block. Published by EA Games and developed by Realtime Worlds, it is going to be impossible not to compare to Grand Theft Auto and harder so because of its origins.

Yes, it is the brainchild of David Jones, creator of the original GTA and yes, there’s the criminal aspect, taking missions to increase your ranking in the criminal world, driving cars haphazardly over pedestrians, and getting bigger, badder weapons to take out your enemies. That might be enough to compare it to GTA but APB throws a curve at the audience.

You can play as an Enforcer, the police in the world of APB. As an Enforcer, you take missions to safeguard businesses from the criminal element, also in order to increase your rank so you can get to the bigger and badder weapons and vehicles. You’ll follow criminals from a discreet distance in order to catch them committinga crime at which time you can choose to arrest them or put them down for the count with a well placed gun shot.

Still not convinced there’s a difference?  Imagine all of the above but in an MMO. Yes, now you’re on to something.

While the creators of APB are hesitant to call the game an MMO, there’s some of the best aspects of MMOs for flavor. You can group up with friends to wreck things as the Criminals or protect and serve as the Enforcers. Each group has its pros and cons but ultimately, it’s the gameplay that’s the draw.

The video we viewed showed actual gameplay footage. As the programmer gave a guided tour of the city, we saw firefights burst out in the street, we drove under an Enforcer and a Criminal opening fire on one another on a catwalk high above the street. We even saw one ill-fated group of criminals ran over as the demo began.

As the scenes unfolded, we witnessed gorgeous backgrounds, beautiful vehicles, and intense fights. As the programmer parked the car, another vehicle drove up next to him. The other vehicle had the radio on and as it pulled away, we could feel the bass of the track they were listening to vibrate our tailbones.

The missions we were privvy to as the game played out were varied. There was an armored car mission with two Enforcers driving to different locations to pick up the items to be delivered. As the last item was loaded into the truck, the Enforcers were attacked and split up as the Criminals tried their best to steal the cargo. One gunned his way back to the armored truck while the other ran to the street and commandeered a vehicle. Able to meet back up on the road, the two fought to stay on the road to the delivery point while the Criminals engaged them in vehicular combat, trying to run the armored truck off of the road.

Once at the deivery point, the two jumped from their vehicles and a firefight broke out on the street. While the combat was short, it was savage. The Enforcers emerged the victors and managed to deliver the cargo to its destination.

We also watched as the Enforcers responded to a call for backup. Driving up, there were various Enforcers shooting it out with Criminals. Our two heroes jumped into the fray and shortly after, were able to assist their fellow officers in securing the area while arresting or killing the Criminals.

After the video ended, we were able to ask a few questions about highlights of the game and discovered the following:

-There will be “PvP” servers called Chaos servers where it’s every man for himself. Criminals can interfere with any Enforcer mission, attacking and even killing the Enforcers. The same holds true for the Criminal missions so it’s not a one way street.

-There will be no levels per se, only ranks achieved through the amount of missions completed and time spent in the game. No more level grind.

-Higher level weapons will become available to each of the factions as they progress through the ranks. The fights won’t be a matter of who brings the biggest gun to the party but a matter of tactics and numbers.

-Initially the game will only be available for the PC but there is more than a little work being done to bring the game to to consoles relatively close to the PC launch.

While it’s too early to tell if APB will be a hit with the masses, we can certainly say the Reckon Crew was impressed. We’ll be waiting patiently for our chance to trash some baddies, or goodies, when the game launches.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

(Gamespot) – Over four years after the “Hot Coffee” scandal rocked the game industry, Take-Two Interactive has settled the matter once and for all. Today, the Rockstar Games parent announced that it has reached an out-of-court agreement with the members of a class action suit stemming from the hidden sex minigames in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

“Oh, no. I’m not falling for that ‘Wanna come up for some coffee?’ line again.”

The class action is different from another settled in late 2007, when purchasers of the sex-minigame-tainted version of San Andreas were offered a partial refund or a cleaned-up edition of the game. The suit settled today also addressed accusations of stock-option backdating, over which Take-Two paid the Securities and Exchange Commission $3 million in April without admitting any wrongdoing.

“We are pleased to have reached this settlement and put this historical matter behind us,” Take-Two CEO Ben Feder told analysts during a post-earnings release conference call.

In exchange for the plaintiffs dropping the suit, the New York City-based publisher will put $20,115,000 into a fund to dole out payments. Of that, $15,200,000 will be paid by Take-Two’s insurers and $4,915,000 by the company itself. The publisher said it had saved up its part of the settlement during “several quarters” before April 30, 2009. Ironically, it was during that month that Take-Two settled another class action suit filed by shareholders after the company refused to be bought by Electronic Arts at a hefty premium in 2008.

Today’s settlement ends a chain of events that began over four years ago. In summer 2005, hackers unlocked hidden sex minigames in the PC and console editions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. As a result, the game was rerated AO for Adults Only, forcing Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive to edit and rerelease the game at an estimated cost of over $50 million. By the end of that July, the Federal Trade Commission had launched a now-concluded investigation.

(G4TV) – The first downloadable content for open-world, urban sandbox game Saints Row 2 will be available April 16th on the 360 and PlayStation 3. Called Ultor Exposed, this is the first of three add-on packs that are coming for the homeboy-centric game. No word yet on details or release dates on the next two chapters of the game.

Ultor Exposed will feature three new missions, a competitive co-op “metagame,” new vehicles, new weapons and new maps. Also: The DLC will grant you a new homie. While we would have chosen legendary hip hop star Biz Markie to be our money-grip and/or homie, the smarter people at THQ picked pornographic actress and all-around sizzling hottie Tera Patrick as the player’s companion. Tera will come complete with a new car, The Temptress, described as “probably the most balanced performance car in Stilwater.” She will be on-call and available in all co-op missions.

The DLC’s competitive co-op mode allows players to cooperate and compete at the same time: You earn points for destruction while working together to complete missions. At the end, scores are tallied and one player is rewarded cash for having won. The single-player missions will last approximately two hours.

It might not be fair to always compare Saints Row to Grand Theft Auto; the two game franchises have obvious and much-discussed similarities, but with marked differences, as well. Saints Row has always been more about ridiculous fun, especially given the way GTA IV moved the series in a serious, almost somber direction. So tonally, this DLC will likely be very different from The Lost and Damned. But Rockstar have set the bar exceptionally high with their add-on. The Lost and Damned DLC is huge and fascinating — practically another game — and while we appreciate any addition to Saints Row 2, we gotta wonder how this content is going to stack up. We’ll see on April 16th when it comes out.

[Read the full article at G4]

Exclusive Xbox 360 download for GTA IV sets record

(Gamespot) – Given that Grand Theft Auto IV has sold more than 5.2 million copies in the US alone, there was little question that its first expansion would be a hit. Sure enough, today Microsoft declared that Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned has “eclipsed first-day revenue for all previous downloadable content on Xbox Live.” Microsoft also mentioned that the game was the “highest reviewed downloadable content ever from Rockstar Games,” although many sites declined to grade it as a full game.
 

However successful the expansion, it will need to sell quite well to recoup the amount Microsoft paid for its exclusivity. In a conference call last June, Take-Two Interactive executives said that the software giant had paid $50 million for two 360-only expansions for the open-world crime game. The second 360-exclusive expansion is due later in the year.

The first of two down loadable packs for Grand Theft Auto IV hits Xbox Live February 17, and the reviewers over at G4 are saying it packs a good punch. From what we can dig up on this most anticipated release, it appears that you will be stepping away from Niko and taking on the role of Johnny Klebitz, biker and second-in-command of The Lost motorcycle gang from the “Blow Your Cover” mission.

What can you expect? The DLC will run you a steep $20 on Live, but if you’re fans of rampant anarchy and carnage (like us at BusyGamer) then you get just what you asked for, MORE GUNS AND EXPLOSIVES! Some hitting the list are a pipe bomb, a sawed off shotgun, a combat shotgun, a machine pistol and a grenade launcher. Heck yeah, more civilian casualties for our late night free roam sprees!

Also noted are new cut scenes, new voice work, and new banter on Liberty City’s radio stations all boasting about +20 hours of gameplay.

But you had me at pipe bomb.

[Source]

-Crutchboy out

 
Since I was little, I remember GTA being a major selling platform for the Gameboy way before Sony was able to get its hands on it. The new GTA: Chinatown Wars is making its way to the DS and I’m actually really interested to see what it’s going to offer. I’m curious as to how the touch screen is going to work for it and how hands-on this game will be.

It’s based in Liberty City (SURPRISE) and includes locations with which we’re all too familiar viewed from the classic top down camera angle. From what I’ve seen, the environments are a bit flat but the graphics look fairly decent. The good news is, from what I’ve gathered on it, that as enormous as the city is, you’ll never bump into one of those pesky load screens. Thanks, progressive game streaming! I’ve also read pedestrians have their own individual AI routines and when following them around you’ll be able observe them heading to and from work, eating hotdogs, and getting into fist fights with total strangers on the road. Sounds pretty cool but I’m still not thoroughly impressed.

As hinted by the title, it’s about Asian crime in Liberty City. Rival gangs fighting for turf control and all that good stuff.  Your character is Huang Lee, the son of a syndicate boss who dies during a Triad power struggle. As Huang,  you will navigate your way through the streets and uncover the truth behind an epic tale of crime and corruption within the Triad crime syndicate. Controls are handled using the face buttons. X will let you enter or exit vehicles, B accelerates, Y reverses, and the right shoulder button locks up the handbrake to perform tight turns. The D pad is used to steer. When you’re on foot, the A button shoots your selected weapon (chosen by opening a submenu on the touch screen), which can also be fired while inside cars for drive-bys. The right shoulder button locks onto targets.

All in all, I can’t really base any opinions on the game until I’ve tried a demo or seen more videos on it. I’m very excited to hear more news on it and may just reserve it since I love my DS so much.

That’s all I have for now! Thanks for reading!

-Mina Rose