Xbox Review Summary

As part of the critical approaches unit, we have had to summarise and compare two reviews of the Xbox 360 Console.
Hit the jump for summary and the two original reviews.

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Review 1

Microsoft - Xbox 360 review
High-powered games console (06/12/2005)
IT Reviews
Taken from: http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h852.htm

Blurring the lines between computing and console gaming more than ever, the Xbox 360 is far more than a games machine. Some may cynically observe that it's a device that's allowed Microsoft to bring all manner of non-gaming, Microsoft-branded services and media functions into the living room (replete with tie-ins to Windows Media Center Edition and XP, naturally), but there's still no denying it's a capable beast.
Initial observations are that it's slightly smaller than the original Xbox, and heavier. The huge power pack takes us back to the days of the Spectrum +3 - and then some! - and the controller is far better than it looked on paper.
We should point out that it's the Full edition we're looking at here, replete with in-built 20GB hard drive and wireless controller. A 'Core' edition is available without these and a couple of other items for £70 less. There doesn't seem much point in opting for that, though, as a hard drive is pretty much a necessity here. That said, you can add a drive later, and with the various USB ports there's significant upgrade potential.
After a solid weekend with the machine, several pros and cons emerge. Certainly the power packed inside is immense: Call of Duty 2 was playing easily as well on the Xbox 360 as it had done on our test PC the week before, and looking the business too.
We'd also managed, with consummate ease, to get the Xbox 360 connected to a network. We tried both wired and wireless connections and in both cases we were up, running and taking advantage of a shared broadband connection in little time at all.
And that sums the Xbox 360 up to an extent. The things it does well, it does exceptionally well. Its interface is clean, it's as simple as you'd expect to set up, and we even managed to buy and download a small game from Xbox Live Arcade in a matter of minutes. Smashing stuff.
Sadly, our boxed review copy of Project Gotham Racing 3 exposed a flaw or two. Namely, the machine kept crashing. Now we couldn't replicate the Web-reported cases of the machine overheating (although given the cooling system inside, we were inclined to give the machine a little space), but when a launch title crashed four times in the first hour after being taken from a previously shrink-wrapped box, we weren't impressed.
In fact the launch line-up looked better on paper than it appears in reality. Perfect Dark Zero was a slight disappointment, Kameo we didn't warm to at all, and ironically it was a PC game that we'd played the month before that we enjoyed the most. That said, in spite of the hype, it's rarely the launch line-up that defines a console, and we expect lots of better games in 2006.
Other mild grumbles? We can see that 20GB hard disk filling up quickly for anyone who uses the online functions, and we wonder long term whether a DVD drive will be ample (perhaps Microsoft is looking for upgrade sales there). And it would be nice if a console manufacturer could one day make enough units to satisfy demand from the start.
Yet the Xbox 360 is a strong and important console, with plenty up its sleeve. Clearly technically superior to the Xbox and PS2, its real challenge is still cloaked in a degree of secrecy, with Sony's PS3 still months away at the time of writing. Thus we can only conclude that in the Xbox 360, Microsoft has delivered an astonishingly competent machine at a price that - if you tried to replicate the technology in a PC - looks an absolute bargain.
Now if you'll excuse us, it's Call Of Duty 2 time again...

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Review 2

Xbox 360 Review
Paul Thurrott
November 8-22, 2005

Taken from Winsupersite: http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/xbox360.asp

Like a child on Christmas morning, I greeted the arrival of Xbox 360 in my home as a magical and unforgettable moment. The day was the culmination of 30 years of video gaming, from my earliest experiences with video arcade titles like "Pong" and "Space Invaders" to the recently completed "Quake 4," which I played at 1920 x 1200 resolution on my hopped-up PC gaming rig. Between these events, I've logged uncountable hours gaming. There was my first video game system, the Mattel Intellivision, with its amazing sports titles and quirky controllers, the Commodore 64 with hundreds of arcade, action, and flight simulator games. There was the Apple IIGS, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and, yes, the Amiga, with the majesty of "Shadow of the Beast," "Wings," "Defender of the Crown," and so much more. Id software's "Castle Wolfenstein" proved that PC gaming was viable in the early 1990's, and I've spent much of the time since slogging through id-created and -inspired shooters such as "DOOM," "Quake," "Unreal Tournament," and "Call of Duty." And of course, I've logged numerous hours on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, PSP, and Nintendo GameBoy Advance and DS, as well as various retro game systems like the Atari 2600, 7800, and Jaguar, Nintendo 64, and Sega Dreamcast. If it's a video game, I've probably played it.
But the Xbox 360. My God, the Xbox 360. Let's be frank for a moment, shall we? As good as its predecessor was--and still is--Xbox 360 is the holy grail of video gaming. It supplies HDTV resolutions with video-quality graphics. Surround sound. A triple-core Power PC processor. I mean, seriously: A CPU with three dedicated processing cores. All wrapped up in an elegant white and gray case and accessed via wireless controllers. Nerdvana in a box. That's Xbox 360.
I've spent a good part of this year figuring out how I would cover the Xbox 360. I knew that I could make a logical argument that the device's Media Center Extender (MCX) features would merit at least some coverage on the SuperSite for Windows. But really, the decision to go all out and treat Xbox 360 as an equal to Windows, Windows Server, and Office on this site was an emotional, almost religious decision. Xbox 360 is going to change the world, I think, in the sense that it will legitimize video games as a top-tier entertainment experience. And I can't leave it to the bozo video game sites to communicate why that's the case. Too much of the video game-related content out there reads like it's aimed at children, with annoying pseudo-cool language. I can do video games right, I thought, something that adults would like. So I'm giving it a shot.
And here we are. With the official launch of the Xbox 360 upon us, Microsoft has given me permission to start publishing reviews and other information about the shipping version of Xbox 360, its peripherals, and software. My first major effort is this product review, which primarily covers the Xbox 360 console itself, but also touches on the various accessories and games that are available at launch. In the coming days, I'll have a massive wave of additional content that will delve more deeply into the games and other products that out in support of Xbox 360. But this is my love letter to you, the video game fan. I'm serious about Xbox 360, and will remain so throughout its life time. So grab something hot to drink and settle in, because we have a lot of ground to cover.

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My Summary

Review 1 gives both the good and bad points of the xbox360,, taking into account its multimedia capabilities and improvements over the original. The second review however seems only to praise the xbox360 as the be all and end all of computer gaming.
In review one, useful information such as price and SKU’s are considered, along with ease of use and setup. However, the bad points are also considered, such as machine crashes “…, the machine kept crashing…”, game line-up and Hard drive space. The review sums up the xbox360 as and improvement over previous generations “…Clearly technically superior to the Xbox and PS2…”, but makes the point of Sony’s PS3 having not been released yet as its main competitor “…Sony's PS3 still months away…”.
In review two, the reviewer only talks about the xbox360 as the ultimate gaming experience …” But the Xbox 360. My God, the Xbox 360…”, comparing to everything he’s ever played, “…I've logged numerous hours on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, PSP, and Nintendo GameBoy Advance and DS…”. Pointing out all of its good features and hyping them into obscurity, without considering any of its downsides.
In summary, Review one is fair and balanced, while review two is biased and inaccurate in places.

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Advertising for the Female Gender

Second part of that advertising research, focusing on females advertising. Hit the jump for the advertising goodness. Hit the titles for links. Boris Johnson unrelated, but awesome none the less.

Herbal Essences "Intensive Blends" Print

This herbal essences advert, promoting a new 'flavour' (for lack of a better word) is clearly aimed towards women as it uses the tagline - "Until now, you've only fantasized about it being this intense". This is a pun on female orgasms in reference to the enjoyment of washing your hair (!?).





Diet Coke Hunk 2008

Keeping in theme with their famous advertising of years gone by, diet coke have released a new advert featuring another hunk and aiming at fashion and diet conscious women (In response to declining sales for men the Coca-Cola company released Coke Zero).

Aero Chocolate Hunk 2008

In the vein as the diet coke advert, this Aero advert uses an attractive male to appeal to women.

Sheila's Wheels Advert

The product is aimed towards women but the advert is just plain annoying according to EVERYONE i know. But still, its pink.

Dove "Beauty has no age limit" campaign

A little to big to embed and shrink so hit the link for it. It is and advert aimed towards all women, be it old or young.

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Animating a City

As part of the video production unit, i've moddeled and animated a camera zooming in on and traveling around a city. I had a few problems doing this, mainly with lighting which has been left largely untouched in tutor sessions, so i took me a while to nail it. I'm pleased with the result though, and thanks go to Mark, Bod and Whyte for their expertise.
I'm going to use this as part of my music video, when i get round to filming the live action parts then i can get properly stuck into it. This is of course in between playing copious amounts of GTA4 and going out doing damage to my liver. Hoorah!
Also, still need to get round to finding a host...

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Animal Movement

As part of our 3D animation unit we've been asked to reasearch animal motion, so we can replicate it using standard primitives in 3DStudioMAX. Follow the jump for links and the like.
Once i find a host for the flash animation stuff ill upload my Channel 4 Ident and Personal Ident.

Pigeon
I thought i'd start with some thing simple, the humble pigeon. Nothing to complex, one foot in front of the other, with a head bob for each. Will move in random directions to get somewhere, very rarely walks in a straight line. For now, have a youtube link, but seeing as im carrying my video camera everywhere for the Video Production Unit ill try to remeber to film some in town or on the way to college.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_H5rUF6EYk

Rabbit
More complicated this time, the rabbits front "arms" move froward, follwed by as push of the back "legs". Reminds of when cats leap. No one owns a rabbit as far as i know, so heres a bad youtube video. Unfortunately rabbit walk cycles gennerally incolve humaniod rabbits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPOCaPs7oek


EDIT 29/4/08
I've since started animating a scorpion instead, for they are made of win and multiple legs.

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Work Update

Okay so its taken a while, and i still havent got some of my sketch books back, so ive rounded up all the digital copies i can find and uploaded them to this Blogs Picasa account. You view all my work to date (minus the Flash animation - need to find a host) after the jump. Also removed the slideshow widget from the sidebar, hopefully ill try to remember to update as i go.

3D Moddeling



Digital Graphics



Concept Art

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Lost Odyssey Review

I've always been a fan of RPG's, ever since i can first remember gaming on my old SNES. After being dissapointed with Mistwalkers previous 360 RPG, Blue Dragon, i was unsure of how to approach Lost Oddyssey. I'd heard good things, but the same could have been said about Blue Dragon, so i was a bit apprehensive about dropping £40 on this game. Nevertheless, i hadn't played a good RPG in a donkeys age, so hit up PLAY.com and within a few days it was on my doorstep.

Upon loading up Lost Odyssey, i was treated to a pretty awesome opening FMV which seamlessly rode into the first battle. It was fairly standard affair, with a system akin to Final Fantasy X's CTB system. After the introductory battle, the game slowly eases you into its mechanics, the most prominent being the Ring and Immortal system. The ring system is a reflex mechanic that allows you to deal extra damage, inflict status or even mug (all dependant on which ring you have equiped) enemies with a well timed hold-and-release if the right trigger. It makes the battles that much more interactive, with out making it an action RPG. The Immortal element of gameplay is like a constant auto-life on some of your characters, which means provided at least one person in your party remains alive, within a few turns any immortal characters will be revived! it can be quite handy in those optional boss battles.
Of course, the heart if any RPG is its story, and this a cracking one. I wouldnt want to say anything to spoil it, so ill leave it at its not a worn out rebel vs empire, or light vs dark story, its a fresh and excellent concept.
The game was desgined to be anti-grinding (except for optional bosses), so you are always proceeding, never hanging around trying to get those few extra levels to beat the next boss, which is a welcome addition in my book.
It really looks the part too, although sometimes this did cause a bit of stutter. Having said that, my 360 did RRoD about 50 hours in, so that may be why. It was a shame really, because all i had left to do was get a few acheivments then defeat the final boss. By the time i got my 360 back i had forgotten what i was doing and what was going on. Alas, i finshed it anyway, and despite the hicup, i was pleasantly suprised at how much i had enjoyed the game. This is an RPG, though while not as good as classics like Chrono Trigger or FFVII, is definately the best RPG ive played on this or the previous generation.

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Game Log

Game Title	Lost Odyssey
Platform	Xbox 360
Other Platforms possible	-
Dates Played	3/3/08 - 16/4/08
Number of Players	One
Release Date	29/2/08
Developer	Mistwalker
Developer Loacation	Japan
Brief Overview	Deep RPG woth fresh twists on worn out concepts
Primary Game Genre	RPG
Secondary Game Genre	-
Tertiary Game Genre	-
Single Player/Multiplayer	Single Player Onlye
Typical Duration of Game	60 Hours +
Out of 10	9/10
Target Audience	Young Adults, RPG Fans
Out of 10 for Audience	9/10
Is it a Success	Yes
Why	Has flipped turn based RPG's on their head with and enagaging story and great battle system

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Advertising Geared Towards Gender

As part of our new unit "Critical Approaches to Media Products" we have been asked to find examples of advertising geared towards a specific gender. Follow the jump for five examples of advertising for Males (Females to come later)along with a short background and explanation of the advert. Ill also upload all that concept art and flash animation stuff when we get our sketch books back.

Click on titles for links to the adverts.

Male Advertising

LYNX - Click

The first piece is a Lynx advert, as part of there promotion of their new annual fragrance "click". It features Ben Affleck as he goes about his day, using a clicker-counter to count how many women check him out. And the end of the advert, a not as attractive male shows him his own counter, significantly higher than Ben's. It is also shown that this male uses "Click" as a fragrance and thus is more attractive to the opposite sex because of this. Clearly aimed at single men, this advert was shown in 2006 to promote the yearly fragrance, which was preceeded by "Pulse", and has been followed by "Vice" and the current "Chocolate"

Noitulove - Guinness

The Noitulove (Evolution backwards) adverts was a critically acllaimed advert for Guinness in October 2005. It features 3 Males who are shown to have wait for the entire history of evolution for a taste of Guinness, after having tasted muddy water in the beginning of theire evolution, following the "good things come to those who wait" campaign. This was aimed at men trying to draw them away from faster pouring lagers. Several variotions were later shown, including a variation for Guinness ice cold featuring a slighty different ending where the muddy water freezes the 3 bugs.

Budweiser - Wassup

This advert was aimed at students and aired between 1999 and 2002 and features the now cult slogan "wassup?". It depicts several young adults holding a fairly pontless conversation, and intergrating Budweiser as part of their life style. It appeals to the target market as it has comic value and the slogan has even been parodied in movies.

Durex - To all our Competitors I have been unable to find any information on this ad so it may be a photoshop hoax, but it is still an advert aimed clearly at sexually active men, playing down their competitors abilities to prevent pregnancy as well as Durex can. Features the slogan - "To all those who use our competitors products, Happy Fathers Day"

Setanta Sports Tv Spot

An advert aimed at sport loving men, featuring the attractive Thaila Zucchi and the sporting icon Des Lynam, it features straight to the point facts appealing to Men for its simple nature and appealing content.

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