XBox Solution » Editorials

FIFA Soccer 08 Community Day Event Wrap-up

Rich Reed — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:08:00 +0000

Recently Xbox Solution was invited to Vancouver BC for the FIFA Soccer 08 community event. I attended last year’s event and was looking forward to see the changes for the Xbox 360 version. This is a little different than our normal Community Event coverage since the review will be up soon.

Read on to see the full event coverage...

FIFA 07 Xbox 360 Community Day Wrap-up

Jason Rybka — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 17:15:43 +0000

Last week XBS was invited to Vancouver BC to attend the FIFA Community Event at EAC. In case youâ€™re not used to the lingo, EAC is simply Electronic Arts Canada and itâ€™s the largest studio EA has. Heading off I saw they had a full schedule for us at the event. I arrived at the Sutton Place Hotel, a 5 Star Hotel that is way out of my league. I soon met up with a few others including Daylon, from http://www.unscripted360.com/, and Kyle, from http://www.gamefreaks365.com/. I also met DJ from http://www.gamingtruth.com/. We got there a bit early on Thursday and had a few hours to kill so soon we were playing Mario Kart to pass the time. Later that night we had a great dinner at Earlâ€™s where the main action was the Mets game. We hung around talked and got to meet Rob and Clive from EA as well as a few of the other team members of the game. It was a nice group and we all got along great joking, laughing and talking about our personal favorite games. We also talked about the worst game ever made for a console, which I have to admit was not as easy but still fun. Since the flight was very long, the first night was over pretty early and we headed back to the hotel since we had a full day ahead of us.

Changing E3 Expo 2007 – A Huge Mistake

Jason Rybka — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 01:21:35 +0000

Okay, in case you have not heard the rumors the past few days, it is official. The ESA has announced that they are changing the format of E3 for 2007. While they announced some of the changes, it ended with more information at a later date. Having attending E3 and going through their press credential process just to prove I am worthy of getting the plastic Press Badge holder, I think they are making a huge mistake!

XBS Offers Thoughts on the Microsoft Press Conference E3 2006

Jason Rybka — Thu, 25 May 2006 09:07:18 +0000

The Tuesday of E3 2006 Microsoft held their press conference at the Mannâ€™s Chinese Theater. Since I arrived in LA on Monday, I already heard plenty of rumors about what was going to be shown and announced. While the journalists and others were trying to be helpful, I wanted to go into the conference without any pre-determined expectations. The theater was packed with journalists, press and c

Need For Speed Most Wanted Community Day Event

Jason Rybka — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:13:41 +0000

What you are about to read are the events leading up to and through the 2 day event held by Electronic Arts to help give community sites like Xbox Solution a better feel for what they have in store for gamers with the upcoming Xbox 360 game release of Need For Speed Most Wanted. We have another write up that is just a Hands On Preview of Need for Speed Most Wanted on the Xbox 360; but I wanted eve

Inside Xbox 360 – Interview with Jeff Henshaw

Jason Rybka — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 17:29:08 +0000

Over at Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows, you can now read an indepth interview with Jeff Henshaw the Executive Producer for Xbox Digital Entertainment at Microsoft regarding the new exciting features we can expect from the Xbox 360. "Jeff: The first place that we start out is called the Home Blade. The Home Blade is for both online and offline gamers. It's kind of a thumbnail, top-level vie

Is the Media Over-Hyping the Affects of Violence in Videogames?

Jason Rybka — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 17:39:24 +0000

Do Video Games Alone Impact Your Child's Behavior? Anyone who listens to the news or reads the newspapers, without being in the videogame industry, will probably have a negative view on videogames and their affect on children. We have all heard the reports of a child learning violence from a videogame title, or a crime being blamed on videogames. Even the politicians have entered the arena, and a

Are Developers Going to Realize the Potential for Co-op Games?

Jason Rybka — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 19:11:26 +0000

I was just sitting here wondering why more games don't have the co-op option on Xbox Live. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of games out there like Rainbow Six 3, Rainbow Six 3 Black Arrow, Ghost Recon IT & GR 2, Phantasy Star Online, DOOM 3 and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory to name a few, but there just aren't enough. I don't know the specifics in regards to stats on what people play the most

Life in the Old Dogs Yet!

Jason Rybka — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 09:15:27 +0000

Editorial by: Agent SmithAs the months pass by, more and more speculation is dug up concerning release dates for Microsoft and Sonyâ€™s next generation consoles. I have observed that many people believe (probably late) 2005 is the likely release date. While that may be possibility, I find myself questioning the need for these next generation consoles to actually make an appearance at this stage. The

Gaming? As Good As It Gets?

Jason Rybka — Sun, 09 Jan 2005 13:44:10 +0000

Take a look at any list of upcoming titles to be released for the Xbox (among other consoles) and you could be forgiven for muttering the words, â€œThere has never been a better time to be a gamer.â€ While these words are true to a certain extent, in reality there really has â€œnever been a better time to be a gamerâ€ whether the year was 2005 or 1995. Over the years, weâ€™ve seen the game

Halo 2 – Get Your Butt in Gear!

Jason Rybka — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 06:16:53 +0000

If you haven't already pre ordered the most talked about game in history, then what are you waiting for? No doubt this game will be sold out by the time you make it off your couch and to your local EB store.Of course if you haven't already guessed, I am talking about Halo 2, November 9th, 04 (or for us poor European folks 11th November 04) will forever be tattooed on our minds; it will be the dat

First Person Shooters – More Than Just Shooting Games

Jason Rybka — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 22:31:31 +0000

First Person Shooters is one of the oldest genres as old as video gaming itself and has evolved from pixilated 2D monsters in the original Doom to spectacular light shows in Unreal 2004. Easy to get into hard to master, quick reflexes and knowledge of every corner of the map is a must to stay on top of the scoreboard at the end of the round. However while FPS could break out into in

That one Game – Looking Back on the Memories

Jason Rybka — Wed, 30 Jun 2004 05:42:41 +0000

Written by: Mr UnderscoreI have spent one year of my life playing that one game, and when I wasnâ€˜t playing it I was thinking about it. It consumed all my free time. I would feel excited to get back home from work because I knew I would get to play it. I donâ€™t know what was so special about it but I just got so hopelessly addicted to it. I began playing it because a good friend of mine kep

Downloadable Content: To Pay or Not to Pay

Jason Rybka — Mon, 07 Jun 2004 11:51:01 +0000

Xbox Live has finally grown so much, that if a game does not include at least a downloadable content gamers think twice about buying it. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? The good news for Xbox gamers is that now most games are enhanced by online playability, scoreboards, downloadable content, Live awareness, etc. But when you create a product, you create a demand, and this is what

A Female’s Perspective On the Evolution of Gaming

Jason Rybka — Sun, 15 Feb 2004 16:10:12 +0000

When I was a little girl my parents used to go down to Atlantic City and gamble. I recall sneaking into the casino (us Jersey kids have a streak like that) and playing the slot machines and getting thrown out for being underage. There were about 10 of us, we called ourselves "The Casino Kids." After some time had passed, the hotel decided to open up an arcade, this was in the late 1970's and the v

The Elder Rants Part 3: I.D. Please! – Politics or Parenting?

Jason Rybka — Thu, 05 Feb 2004 05:00:00 +0000

Howdy Gamers! It's been a while, but your old pal Elder is back with a tired refrain, Why is it that some folks Continue to blame videogames for the violent behavior of some of today's youth? The answer, because it's easy! In this election year, more and more of our elected officials have jumped on this hot button issue and drafted legislation designed to protect our Children from the dangers

It’s the Little Things That Make Xbox Live Number One

Jason Rybka — Tue, 13 Jan 2004 08:25:00 +0000

Now that our beloved Xbox has seen its second Christmas, I have just about settled down with my machine. I have become familiar with the way it works, the controller setup, I've even become used to getting my ass kicked when enjoying a great game on Xbox Live. All of this has become accustomed to me, and I like it. But when I stopped and looked back on it, I was floored with my cons

LAN Parties are Evolving the Way We Game – and Interact

Jason Rybka — Thu, 08 Jan 2004 21:17:14 +0000

As all good things, evolution is bound to happen. Recently it has been console gaming that has begun a sudden evolution from the standard system with 2 player capabilities, to the online gaming powerhouse it has become. Contributing the most with its online service has been the Xbox Gaming Console and its Xbox Live service. The addition of online gaming to the offline closed off world

Are Mainstream Games Diminishing Quality for Hardcore Gamers?

Jason Rybka — Thu, 08 Jan 2004 12:42:00 +0000

Video game sales reached more than $10 billion in 2002, surpassing the movie industry by $1 billion. So obviously with video games sales going through the roof, video games have moved from a small group of hardcore gamers into a more widely accepted group of casual gamers. So the question that remains is; "Is this a good thing for the more hardcore gamers among us?" The first response

Networking: Wired vs. Wireless – You Decide

Jason Rybka — Tue, 02 Dec 2003 09:22:43 +0000

The age of the internet has brought through some of the most important innovations in terms of convenience of accessing information, transferring information around the world, and more importantly, being able to 'head shot' someone from the other side of the globe (in games of course). It has created entirely new genres of games, programs, and services. The speeds we access this inform