Jay's profileThe FNG-SpotPhotosBlogListsMore Tools Help

Xbox Live GamerCard

FNG
Xbox Live GamerCard
Rep:
5/5 stars
Score:
74000
Zone:
Pro
Modern Warfare® 2TEKKEN 6DJ HeroRock Band 2LEGO Rock Band

RSS: My Xbox 360

Loading...Loading...

RSS: Xbox 360 Achievments

Loading...Loading...
No list items have been added yet.


The FNG-Spot

Always Ahead of the Game!
February 19

Street Fighter IV

It's finally here.... but does it live up to the hype?
 
To celebrate the release of this long awaited sequel, I picked up the "Round 1" set of NECA Street Fighter IV toys......
 
I also picked up a copy of the Street Fighter IV "Collectors Edition" for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, an Xbox 360 "Street Fighter IV Arcade Stick" by MadCatz, and the strategy guide. (I don't really NEED the strategy guide, but I thought I'd pick it up anyway... Yes, I'm that much of a Street Fighter fanatic!)
 
I have friends who own the PlayStation 3, friends who own the Xbox 360, and a few other friends who own both consoles. Since I wasn't sure which of my friends were going to be playing on the PS3, and which would be playing on 360, I decided to pick up BOTH versions.
 
PS3 vs Xbox 360:
 
  • Visuals / Graphics -  The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Street Fighter IV are nearly indistinguishable. Both games are gorgeous and the overall artistic "cell-shaded" look definitely bring this 2D fighter into the new millennium.
  • Load Times -  This is where the differences between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are really noticeable. Out of the box, without installing the game to the hard drive of either console, the Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter IV blows away its PlayStation 3 counterpart.

  

Load Times Test 1: Load from DVD / Blu-Ray Disc:

  • Xbox 360 ........ 5.3 seconds
  • PlayStation 3 .. 21.3 Seconds

Load Times Test 1: Load from Hard Disc Drive:

  • Xbox 360 ........ 8.5 seconds
  • PlayStation 3 .. 8.4 Seconds

    • Controls - This one is a tough call. The controls in Street Fighter IV are excellent; wether you're a seasoned Street Fighter player or it's your first time takin' it to the streets, you'll be pulling off supers and ultras in no time. So the in-game controls are pretty much spot-on, so why is it a "tough call"?

      The downfall isn't with the game, it's with the controllers used to play the game.  The direction pad (D-Pad) on the Xbox 360 controller is horrible, while the L2 / R2 triggers on the PlayStation 3 controller are just as bad. (Yes, this is my personal opinion... but then again, this is MY blog.) So, if you don't own an Arcade Stick, you may find yourself enjoying the PS3 version a bit more.... if you own an arcade stick for either console, there's really not much difference.

[ more to come]

November 19

The New Xbox Experience - Available Now!

 

October 17

SC IV: Vader & Yoda Confirmed DLC?

Dengeki.com posted the following infomation regarding Darth Vader & Yoda being released as downloadable content for Soul Calibur IV on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
 
The bablefish translated article states that Vader will be unlocked on the Xbox 360 for 400 Microsoft Points, and Yoda will be available on the PlatStation 3 store for roughly $5.99 on October 23rd..... I guess we'll all just have to wait and see if it's true. Hopefully NAMCO will reconsider charging customers for the content; Vader and Yoda have already been proven to be on every retail disc.
 
400 points / $6.00 for something we already paid for??? Shame on you Bandai / NAMCO!!
July 28

Soul Calibur IV - Yoda vs. Vader

I know every Soul Calibur fan out there is wondering which console has the better version of Soul Calibur IV; PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360... I say get the version you feel you'll play the most & stop worrying about PlayStation 3 having Vader and Xbox 360 having Yoda.... I believe BOTH consoles have BOTH characters playable, and here's why. 
  1. We've seen videos on YouTube of Vader vs. Yoda.
    (They could be from an early version of the game, but I doubt it.)
      
  2. Character locations in the character select menu.
    (Based upon screen captures on Sony's website & seeing the Xbox 360 version in action)
    • Character Slot 1 - Yoda (Xbox 360)
    • Character Slot 1 - BLANK (PS3)
    • Character Slot 2 - BLANK (Xbox 360)
    • Character Slot 2 - Vader (PS3)
    • Character Slot 3 - Apprentice (Xbox 360) - Unlockable via completing Arcade Mode
    • Character Slot 3 - Apprentice (PS3) - Unlockable via completing Arcade Mode
  3. Pics.... Who knows, these MAY be photoshop jobs of the french version, but I can't be 100% sure.
    NOTE: Darth Vader is translated to Dark Vader in the French version.
July 23

When real life gets in the way...

Hello everyone. I thought I'd take a moment and apologize for the lack of updates on my MSN Space.
 
I don't mean to make excuses, but I do have reasons for not posting as frequently as I used to.... The first and foremost reason I haven’t been posting is simple… “real life”. I have a great deal going on at the moment and it doesn’t seem to be calming down at all. Between finding, meeting with, and hiring an attorney to assist me in maintaining custody of my son, dealing with day-to-day chores, and work, I try to spend my down-time with my wife. When I do find the time / get the urge to post something useful, I’m immediately reminded that I now have to post a blog entry on Codejunkies.com. ( us.codejunkies.com/blog to be more specific.)
 
Hopefully, once the ‘personal issues’ have been resolved and I take care of the stack of work sitting on my desk I’ll feel a bit more motivated to post here and play on Xbox Live.
 
Until then, take it easy!
 - Jay "FNG"
May 23

Demand & Ye Shall Receive!

I recently heard some wonderful news.... this news finally went from rumor to "semi-official" as of yesterday. (I only say "SEMI" official because it was only confirmed in an interview & I haven't seen anything on Xbox.com yet.) In an "exclusive interview" posted on next-gen the general manager of Xbox Live, Marc Whitten, explained that there will be a tool released next month that will fix games & content purchased through Xbox Lvie Marketplace to be DRM'd to a new console.... this is EXCELLENT news. If this is true, Microsoft will have finally redeemed itself in my eyes & I will once again proudly (and shamelessly) tell everyone I meet & speak to that the Xbox 360 is the best gaming machine on the market right now.
 
"Next-gen.biz: Last year Xbox 360 owners got a spring dashboard update in early May. It's now late May and you still haven't announced anything regarding this year's update. Should 360 owners be holding their breath for it?

Marc Whitten:
We have taken a different approach this spring and spent a lot of our time and resources of building the proper infrastructure and scale for the service not just today but also into the future. So while most users will not notice any significant changes to the dashboard this spring, I can tell you that the team will be releasing a new digital rights management (DRM) tool next month that will allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox and allow you the freedom to be able to play your content both online and offline.  
 
Next-gen.biz: There have been some high profile complaints on the web about how difficult it is to transfer things like XBLA game licenses to replacement 360s in the wake of an under warranty hardware failure. Would these changes to DRM policy address these issues, letting people who have experienced such failure re-license their purchases on their new Xbox so they don't have to be connected to Live to play? Are there any other sorts of changes to DRM policy being made here that would affect the end-user experience?

Marc Whitten: Yes, this new tool will officially launch next month on Xbox.com and will allow you to be able to consolidate these licenses onto one box so you can access things like Xbox LIVE Arcade games and TV show you have downloaded even if you are not online.  Because this involved allowing users to re-download licenses for content that belongs to our partners it has taken some time to work out the agreements with them to allow this, but we have heard the concerns from folks about DRM and are happy to announce that everything is nearly in place to roll this out in June."
 
Source: "MS to Delist XBLA Titles" - next-gen.biz
 
 
  

    - Jay 
April 29

GTA IV is officially Here

 It's finally here... well, it's finally "officially" here. Many gamers have been playing GTA IV for several days now due to advanced sales & leaked pirated copies, but today anyone 17 years of age+ can get their hands on an officially released retail copy of GTA IV. (If you're got the extra coin, and you want a safe place to keep your M rated games, I suggest picking up the Special Edition.)
 


Here's an early image of what the Special Edition would come with:

GTA IV Special Edition - What We Got:

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Box

GTA IV Special Edition - What's In The Box:

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Lockbox

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Duffel Bag

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Audio CD (not entire soundtrack)

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Art Book

Grand Theft Auto IV: Special Edition - Game Disc & Key Chain

 

I checked my Xbox Live Friends List at one point last night and there were 19 out of 95 people online; 19 of those 19 people were playing GTA IV!! (This is going to be so much fun!!)

 
 
Loading...

Xbox Live Recent Games

Modern Warfare® 2
Achieve:
22/50
Score:
345/1000
TEKKEN 6
Achieve:
31/50
Score:
510/1000
DJ Hero
Achieve:
29/50
Score:
430/1000
Rock Band 2
Achieve:
33/50
Score:
595/1000
LEGO Rock Band
Achieve:
17/49
Score:
240/1000
Thanks for visiting!
Please wait...
Sorry, the comment you entered is too long. Please shorten it.
You didn't enter anything. Please try again.
Sorry, we can't add your comment right now. Please try again later.
To add a comment, you need permission from your parent. Ask for permission
Your parent has turned off comments.
Sorry, we can't delete your comment right now. Please try again later.
You've exceeded the maximum number of comments that can be left in one day. Please try again in 24 hours.
Your account has had the ability to leave comments disabled because our systems indicate that you may be spamming other users. If you believe that your account has been disabled in error please contact Windows Live support.
Complete the security check below to finish leaving your comment.
The characters you type in the security check must match the characters in the picture or audio.
Rhyswrote:
Hey nice blog.  Love your dedication to our Box and to Live.  I know what you mean in your quote.  My parents never supported my video game habit either - and now I make my living in the biz too. I sometimes have trouble believing I get paid to do what I do.
 
rhys
Dec. 13
Magejutsuwrote:
Dude ty for helping me get the skulls ^_^. We need to play again sometime. Your my hero dude, cya Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Oct. 7
Scottwrote:
hey i love what ya do ;) anyway im a uk resident and i really really really want your weeds to bell code for the AR. but it doesnt work for me as my animal crossing is european. how can i get a working code to turn my weeds to bells? is there anyway you can help me? any advice should ur code work if i copy the code and put it into the european animal crossing file of code junkies? i just would really like your help ...
Aug. 24