Project NATAL

Introducing Project Natal, a revolutionary new way to play: no controller required. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips or speak you and your friends can jump into the fun -- the only experience needed is life experience.
Following up on its successful E3 press conference earlier today, Microsoft held a special hands-on event at the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles this evening. Besides showing off the latest versions of games like Halo 3: ODST, Forza Motorsport 3, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Shadow Complex, Microsoft also had special "behind closed doors" demos of two of its more secretive projects, Project Natal and Alan Wake.

I'll admit that I was eager to try out Natal specifically to see just how real the onstage demo from earlier today truly was. After all, what Microsoft showed onstage -- not counting the incredibly long ultra-saccharine marketing video -- was pretty impressive. As Steven Spielberg alluded to in his surprise speech at that very press conference, a camera that could act as an "invisible controller" for hardcore and first-time gamers alike really would be a defining moment for the next generation of videogames.

Here's the amazing thing -- I played with the Natal for all of 5-6 minutes, and I have to say, it actually works.

The first demo I tried was what Microsoft was calling "Burnout Natal." Though it isn't a real game in development, the mixture of Burnout Paradise and the Natal camera was meant to provide proof that you could use the device's technology for practically any genre or software. How quickly I was recognized into the Natal's body identification system (just a few seconds) was surprising, and in a matter of moments I was controlling Burnout paradise with my feet and hands.

Most of the people around me during the MS press conference were groaning when they showed how a racing game would control with Natal in the aforementioned marketing footage, but truth be told, it's a lot more fun than it looks. Though I did miss the bit of resistance that a controller or steering wheel normally gives me, I was shocked to see how natural it felt to drive a car without actually being in one. How easy was it? To accelerate, I simply moved my right leg forward; to brake, I moved it backwards, and to pop it into a neutral position, I just stood straight up (or as straight as my spine would allow me to stand after 12+ hours of E3 spelunking). Driving was just a matter of pretending that I had a steering wheel in my hands, and every subtle movement I made was picked up by the camera allowing me to drive pretty well (and pretty straight) for the few minutes I got to try it out. As an added bonus, the motion for going into Burnout mode was an appropriate Top Gun Volleyball fist-pump. The whole experience was surprisingly fun and I walked away with nary a bad thing to say (which is quite an accomplishment, because normally I complain a lot).

My second go at the Natal was with the game highlighted specifically in Microsoft's press conference by former Fight Night father, Kudo Tsunoda, known as "Ricochet." Admittedly, Ricochet isn't my type of game. I'd rather sit on the couch hitting remote control buttons instead of virtual dodgeballs (which probably explains why I've reached the point where I get winded doing simple things like chewing and talking). Nonetheless, Ricochet provided a small dose of fun as I did my best to break targets with an increasingly-prolific supply of balls. The response here didn't seem as sharp as it did with Burnout -- but to be fair, there did seem to be a small learning curve with the aiming system. Though again, it's not my type of game -- but the good news is that, when speaking with Tsunoda about things in the works down the line, that there are plenty more games -- much more ambitious ones, in fact -- in development that we're going to see in the near future.

All in all, I found Project Natal to be quite refreshing. It's nowhere near the gimmicky device I originally took it for and the fact that it works already on a retail Xbox 360 (Burnout was running on an "out of the store" model, no debugs or special systems required) says a lot about its current stage of development.

To say that I'm anxious to see where Microsoft, and it's horde of third party developers, takes his next is an understatement.

Forza Motorsport 2

It's the best racing sim on Xbox 360, but is that really saying much?

Burnout is about speed; Project Gotham Racing is about looking cool; Forza Motorsport is about cars. No game has yet to take all three of these fundamental elements and merge them into one brilliant package. Though hopes were high for Forza Motorsport 2, it fails to give the sensation of blazing speed and there's almost no cool-like-the-Fonz elements in this $60 package. Like its predecessor, Forza 2 is about cars and in that area it does exceedingly well. So if you're a car nerd, prepare to have your tires popped by what Forza 2 offers.

If you love cars, you will likely love Forza 2. And if you're a wide-eyed child in the world of automobiles, Forza 2 may actually inspire a newfound appreciation for cars. With more than 300 cars included (and more likely to come through downloadable content), Forza 2 has a great variety of vehicles. Each class of car has its own unique feel, so that you can instantly tell the difference between racing in a muscle car or putting pedal to metal in a high-end plastic sports ride. There's a car for everyone.

So Forza 2 has brilliant physics, great customization options, and solid online play. So why isn't it earning greater esteem from IGN? As I said early on, a racing game is about more than just the cars. Much like its predecessor, Forza 2 lacks soul. The only personality you'll find in Forza 2 are the custom skins created by fans. While it's certainly an enjoyable and well-made game, it just doesn't have the spark of energy and excitement found in almost every other racer.

Left 4 Dead Downloadable Content Free on Xbox 360 and PC

The recently announced Left 4 Dead Downloadable Content (L4D DLC) will be delivered to Xbox 360 and PC gamers free of charge. Due for release this spring, the DLC for 2008's best-selling new game property on the PC and Xbox 360, is dubbed the L4D Survival Pack and introduces a new multiplayer game mode entitled, Survival, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode (Death Toll, Dead Air). A Critic's Choice Edition of the game will be heading to retail stores this spring, and will include access to all the content introduced in the L4D: Survival Pack.

Left 4 Dead is a survival action game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games. Released in November of 2008, L4D has earned over 25 industry awards from outlets around the world.

For more information, please visit l4d.com.

NXE (xbox 360)

The NXE is a great improvement over the old "blade-style" dashboard for the Xbox 360.
It has a totally new layout with quite a lot of options added . The best thing about this update is that it let's you install games to your hard drive which reduces the load times considerably.
However you still need the disk to be inserted in order to play the game but the good thing is that it doesn't keep spinning all the time which reduces the load on the ROM, meaning that it won't heat up the 360 and it'll last much longer.
Another great addition are the fun looking avatars which you can customize to your liking with a number of different clothes, accessories and other stuff. Here are the screens:

Xbox 360 Elite

Here's my 360 elite which was bought in July 2008 . The reason for getting the elite version was due to the fact that it has the biggest capacity hdd . It looks cool in black and due to the fact that elite's have the lowest rrod rate . I'd have to say that it has a huge selection of games and almost all of them are very good . For me forza 2 would have to be the best game on the 360.
Here are the pictures of the box itself and some games on it being viewed on an HD screen :