The Gaming Gamer

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-06-17T02:09:00.001+01:00

I have to apologise for the lack of updates but a few months back I came into some money, not much but enough to catch up on some of the recent games I had missed, so here is my round-up of thoughts and opinions on some of this years bigger releases.

Dragon Age: Origins

All in all an excellent game, but like all role-playing games it suffers from perhaps being too large, especially considering the growing popularity of downloadable content as a way of expanding the life of games. I still have to finish Oblivion, the expansions for Fallout, Star Ocean, Final Fantasy XIII and all these games suffer from one thing, being a massive game which changes very little all the way through, instead relying on the story to drive the player to continue, but is that enough? Rating A-

Assassin’s Creed II

The first AC, while being a good-looking game, with some excellent gameplay mechanics and a good story suffered from being quite dull, I found my time with the game consisting of ‘kill someone – hide a lot – kill someone – hide a lot – kill a plot character – hide a lot’ and it’s the hiding that lets the game down, its fun running from trouble the first few times but soon becomes a pain in the butt. While ACII has lost none of the visual beauty, story or excellent gameplay of the original it still has that rather flawed ‘fight – hide – fight – hide’ problem. Somebody should send Ubisoft a copy of Hitman. Rating B+

Alpha Protocol

Alas, a game that looked like it might be a truly awesome Action RPG turned out to be a ‘maybe above average’ Action RPG with last-gen graphics and ‘why even bother’ character customisation. Not a bad game by any means but not one I’d advise anyone to rush out and buy. Rating C-

Alan Wake

This is a great game, graphics are superb, gameplay is superb and fluid, the story is excellent even the characters are mostly okay, if this was any other game I would give it A+. This isn’t any other game, this is Alan Wake, a game that has been in development almost as long as the 360 has been on shelves, if not longer, a game that has been hyped at almost all major gaming events. It’s a good game but considering the development time and the hype it is a total let-down because for all that it should be something far better, it should be something more and it isn’t. Rating B+

Red Dead Redemption

If you liked GTA you’ll love this, it’s GTA on horses. The game has been refined, tweaked and improved since GTA but at heart remains the same, and that is no bad thing. My only gripes with the game is that it lacks the depth that GTA had and all those fun side games i.e. poker, 5 finger fillet etc really should be playable in multiplayer. Oh yeah the ending sucks, but i won’t spoil that. Rating A+

Conclusion

If I had to rank these in the order I’d suggest you buy them it would be Red Dead, Dragon Age, Alan Wake, Assassin’s Creed II, Alpha Protocol

Who is the god of evil deeds?

2010-05-12T01:55:00.000+01:00

Are EA and Activision having a 'worlds biggest douchebag' competition and they just forgot to tell the rest of us?

You have Activision raping the Call of Duty and Hero franchises like they just found that strap-on from Se7en. The evidence is all there, you have the increased price for Modern Warfare 2, the increased price for the DLC, and the announced but not yet detailed Call of Duty 'action game' to extend the franchise. Then you have so many 'Guitar Hero' games I don't know which bands have a game and which don't. make Harmonica Hero and then I'm sold. Games, downloadable tracks, guitars, turntables, if I was a music game addict I'd probably have to spend a years salary just to have a complete collection.

Then you have then you have EA trying to put the pre-owned game business out of business by throwing $10 worth of shitty free content at us, a move they plan to extend into their sporting franchises. Let's be honest, the 'free' content for Bad Company 2 and Mass Effect 2, if it hadn't been free would you have bought it? If you didn't have it would you miss it? Sure you might miss the battlefield maps because the game didn't have enough maps to start with and still doesn't, and you might miss the free character and missions for Mass Effect because ... well it gives you something to do that doesn't involve the incredibly tedious mining, but was it even worth being free?

I must admit though I am looking forward too seeing what these two will do next and who will be first to drown a puppy.

Halo Reach Beta - Early Impressions

2010-05-04T01:08:00.000+01:00

Okay having played a little on the Reach Beta I think it's safe to say that Bungie have taken Halo's multiplayer, refined it, tweaked it, updated it and made it look better, while at the same time giving it a slightly retro kind of appearance. It's good, it's very good and it's making me quite eager for the full game. Try it out, If you like Halo you'll love it.

I do have one problem with it, it would appear that there is still no join-in-progress, having played a game in which 3 of the other team quit out it was rather annoying to find myself running round a map for 5 minutes trying to find the only enemy left to kill.

Please Bungie add join-in-progress.

WOW!

2010-05-01T01:25:00.000+01:00

Okay nobody saw this one coming, Activision signing Bungie is a big deal, Bungie created the FPS that created online shooters, and while if it hadn't been Halo another game would have done it, it was Halo and Bungie are behind it.

But is this a good thing?

Activision have suffered lately, finding themselves the villains in the whole Infinity Ward fiasco, if they weren't already, they have now been relegated to the same 'demonic power' status that EA hold. Rumors appeared in the past that Bungie were unhappy with the control MS had, the same kind of rumors that surfaced when Bizarre split from MS, Bizarre who signed with ... Activision, see a pattern here? Will they find Activision to be any less controlling?

Perhaps the biggest question, how will this effect Bungies support of the Halo franchise? Halo is without a doubt one of the strongest and best support console gaming franchises, Bungie have shown time and again an excellent level of support, but with Halo Reach looking to be the evolution of the Halo gaming experience will it be dropped and forgotten about once Bungies first Activision game releases? You only have to look at Activisions most successful FPS franchise for historic evidence. Modern Warfare becomes a massive hit, the DLC map pack is a massive hit, but World at War releases and suddenly support and maps for Modern Warfare vanishes. Three map packs later, all of which sell well and Modern Warfare releases, support for World at War vanishes. Ignoring the whole Infinity Ward fiasco everybody knows that Modern Warfare would have got 2 map packs, maybe a third perhaps, and then when Black Ops, the name for the next Call of Duty game, releases support and maps would end. It's a simple pattern Activision stop support and DLC for games once they been 'replaced' so how will this affect Halo?

Am I alone in hoping that MS have some kind of plan in place to ensure Reach becomes and stays the biggest game on Xbox Live?

Monkeys Talking Trash

2010-04-13T01:30:00.000+01:00

This story has been popping up online today, basically Richard Morgan the writer for Crysis 2 and some kind of sci-fi novelist apparently doesn't like Halo. I'm pretty sure just the other day the same guy was spouting about how he didn't like the story in Modern Warfare 2.

I enjoyed both games so I have to say I disagree with him totally but on top of that perhaps it's time somebody pointed out a few home truths. Lets start with the fact he is writing the story for Crysis 2, it's not going to win him any awards or recognition, lets be realistic he is writing yet another generic sci-fi shooter story. Should we also add that certainly on 360 Modern Warfare 2 and Halo are two of the biggest franchises with millions of players, loyal players, people who are going to try Crysis 2, realise it's nothing special and soon go back go what they were playing before.

If Crysis 2 is in the top 5 Xbox live games 6 months after release I will buy a hat, and eat it, guaranteed.

Why play the sequal?

2010-04-05T23:40:00.000+01:00

Over the past few weeks I have expanded my games collection with several new titles. I've purchased Just Cause 2, Left 4 Dead 2, BlazBlue, Aliens vs Predator and finally Way of the Samurai 3. For some reason I haven't rushed to purchase Bioshock 2, despite playing and enjoying the first game.

I played the first Just Cause demo, it was okay but nothing special to me, and yet I have the 2nd one, and it's pretty good for someone seeking a GTA fix. I played Left 4 Dead, enjoyed it and am enjoying the 2nd one, but Bioshock 2 just doesn't call to me to pick it up.

I have always believed that in games, if the gameplay works, and the story and characters are actually interesting and engaging then they could release sequel after sequel and I would play it, and maybe that's why I haven't rushed out for Bioshock 2, sure the gameplay was OK, and the story was good, but the character was ... well lacking character and so I find myself without a draw or a hook to pick up the sequel.

I wonder what it is that draws you guys back into games?

Where is my hidden package?

2010-03-30T02:08:00.000+01:00

I love open world type games, GTA is one of my all time favourites so having played the demo of Just Cause 2 it was certainly on my 'to get' list. It's good very good and I can't fault it in almost all respects but two, and these are inherrent to the genre not to this game itself.

If there is one thing I will never understand, it's why games developers insist on taking an open world and sticking as many of these stupid hidden packages etc in the world as they can. I appreciate they have spent a long time crafting every inch of this virtual world so perhaps it is well within their right to force you to scour every inch of it, but seriously could you not just do that with story elements? Why this perpetual need to force me to do these mundane tasks. I guarantee you its a small minority that ever find the 100% of these packages, so what is the point of even having them?

And so we come to the first part of Just Cause 2 that I don't like, the upgrade system which forces you to find these packages in order to upgrade your weapons, on top of hidden skulls, endless hours of mind numbing tedium coming up.

The second thing I hate, races, I didn't buy a race game, I bought a run everywhere and kill things game, so why am I being forced to race in pointless races that serve little purpose.

So, in summary, packages bad, races bad, lose them or cut them down, please.

The Bafta Video Game Awards 2010

2010-03-22T01:53:00.002Z

Well once again the Baftas have come and gone and all in all some well deserved wins and most of the games listed deserved the recognition of being considered for an award.

Action – Uncharted 2
Gameplay – Batman: Arkham Asylum
Family and Social – Wii Sports Resort
Sports – Fifa 10
Story and Character – Uncharted 2
Strategy – Empire: Total War
Best use of Audio – Uncharted 2
New Talent – Shrunk
Multiplayer – Left 4 Dead 2
Original Score – Uncharted 2
Handheld – LittleBigPlanet
Artistic Achievement – Flower
Best Game – Batman: Arkham Asylum
Use of Online – Fifa 10

The last one kind of threw me a little bit, 'use of online' is quite vague at best, but that said LittleBigPlanet surely deserved to win, with co-op gameplay, user generated levels and an imagination far beyond that of even the best games creators.

All in all it's nice to see video games getting the public recognition they deserve.

No Blu-ray 360?

2010-03-17T02:06:00.000Z

The big talk that goes back and forth between gaming execs never ceases to be amusing. Today its the turn of Microsoft's executives and the Blu-ray issue, this started with a post I read today on 1UP.com Before I continue I should add, I own both a PS3 and a 360, I had a PS2 and an original Xbox. I love them both equally, however the guys at Microsoft need to be corrected, so I will look at their points one at a time.

UK director of Xbox and Entertainment Stephen McGill in an interview with CVG said:

We have no plans to adopt Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment started last autumn when Xbox 360 became the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies.

A very good point, if you happen to live in a country that has super-dooper high speed broadband, but since the majority of users live in the US or Europe it's not so good. My connection, while fine for gaming, has to buffer most of the downloadable video content on the Xbox dashboard, having tried to watch a movie on the Xbox Sky Player I can tell you it didn't get past the credits without buffering. The console may have 1080P streaming, but the majority of users will struggle to see the benefit of it.

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg told Edge magazine that the 360:

"nearly twice" PS3's installed base - partly because its lack of a Blu-ray drive allows it to be sold at a more attractive price point." and "being $100 cheaper [than PS3] is part of the reason we're nearly twice their installed base".

Now this is a hard one because the figures here are a little prone to misrepresentation, for example how do Microsoft measure the install base? If they base it on 360's sold then the actual figure has potential to be much lower than they think. Of the people I play regularly on Xbox Live with, at least half of them have paid for 2 xbox 360 consoles since its launch, due to the first one breaking.If they base it on units shipped then I am on my 5th or 6th Xbox console, 2 paid for the others replaced by the store I purchased from. In contrast the PS3 has a much higher reliability and thus the number of consoles shipped and sold are going to be much closer to the true figure.

And now for my own comments. Microsoft may believe that the future is digital distribution, and that's good for them, the problem is the future is NOT now, the future is ... well it's the future. The lack of a larger disc may not be a problem in their eyes, but for me it is. Forza3 - 2 discs, Mass Effect 2 - 2 discs, Final Fantasy XIII - 3 discs, these are not the first 360 games to be multi-disc, nor will they be the last. Disc-swapping was cool when I played Final Fantasy VII, it was worth it, but today, in these times we live in, its not so cool. But don't worry because you can install the games to your hard drive, possibly the feature I love most in the 360 console. I love the feature, what I don't love, paying over £100 for a 120GB hard drive which wouldn't hold half my games collection and is more expensive than a 1TB drive for a PC. I foresee Microsofts 'downloadable' future costing me a lot of money.

I have a little dog nipping at my heels

2010-03-16T23:49:00.000Z

I've said before that I like Modern Warfare 2, and I like Bad Company 2, and at first all the 'smack talk', if you kids still use that phrase these days, coming out of DICE and EA was amusing, the odd snipe at COD in the videos was funny, it fitted with the humour of the Bad Company series.

Having just seen this, the latest Bad Company video which spoofs the infamous MW2 'grenade spam' video, the one that all the P.C. nuts got in a tizz over because it featured the acronym F.A.G.S. yes that one, well its all starting to get a little tedious. Yes EA & DICE we know you have every confidence in your game, we know you think its better than all the others, some people even agree with you, but please stand on your own merits and not on everybodys recognition of others.

I should add that while it is getting tedious, and almost like a fanboy argument, the video is actually funny, so do watch it, it's yet more proof that the guys at DICE have created a much better cast of characters than Infinity Ward, though they do create a mean mustache.

Modern Warfare 2 - Map Pack Pricing

2010-03-15T23:21:00.002Z

Okay the price for the Modern Warfare 2 map pack, called 'The Stimulus Package' has been announced, and its 1200 points. I had suspected 1200 and thought they may even try to go for 1600, but even so it doesn't stop me from feeling like I've just been mugged.

The main objections I have

It's a map pack for a first person shooter, it's 3 new levels, and 2 re-used levels from the last game, there are no new guns, perks, nothing, just 5 maps, overpriced is an understatement, I think the only thing that could make it worse is if they somehow found a way to make it free for PC gamers.
As far as anyone is aware, Infinity Ward, the people who created the game, have created the maps, the guys doing all the hard work have yet to receive the money owed to them by Activision. Stories range from no royalties being paid to bonuses not being paid, if this is true Activision are all but employing slave labour for massive profit.
The game is still terribly broken, shield boosters still plague search * destroy gametypes, glitches can still be found, matching-making is still not 100% and that nice VIP code I got with my game, has still done nothing since the game was opened.

Perhaps the most worrying thing though is that this will set a trend, and not a good one, because ultimately this will set records, this will be big and if they can do it once, they will do it again, and others will take note, before you know it you'll be paying £5 a pop for Spice Girls song's for Rock Band and £9.99 for Horse Armour.

Heavy Rain - Afterthoughts

2010-03-13T02:51:00.000Z

Having just finished Heavy Rain, I have to say it is definitely one of the best games I will play this year and have played for many years. From a gaming point of view the engine and mechanics of the game work very well, aside from the camera but in games like this the camera is always a hindrance. From a story point of view the characters are all lifelike enough, the story drives itself along at a decent pace and ends in just the way one might expect, and of course it has the obligatory twist at the end. I do have a few final points though.

In my opinion the game would be best played in one sitting, the game is an experience which is at its best the first time so to do it in one sitting and play the whole game in a day is a shame but I think the experience of the story is worth it, plus you can still have fun playing through again and making the different decisions.

The engine is really quite good and works very well as I have said, so it would be a shame not to see this used again, there are lots of stories that could be told this way.

Final thought, play this game. You won't regret it.

For the first time ever a game has left me speechless.

2010-03-09T02:21:00.002Z

I have played many, many games, I have killed aliens, soldiers, hookers and animals. It's safe to say that if you play games long enough you will have to kill pretty much everything, that ever existed, ever.

Never before can I recall ever having felt remorse, regret or even wishing I hadn't killed something.

Today that changed.

Please be aware this next section contains a spoiler for the game Heavy Rain.

There comes a point in Heavy Rain where you, as the main character Ethan Mars, have to kill someone, I don't know if it's the all round emotion the game brings out in me, or if its the actual scene itself, but I found myself stopping and thinking about a decision that in the past, in any other game, I would have made without pause or hesitation. I found myself wishing there was some way I could avoid having to do it.

But there wasn't, my current playthrough wouldn't allow it, so I pulled the trigger, and now I feel bad.

That is the effect this game will have on any half-decent human being.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

2010-03-07T23:50:00.002Z

I have to admit that this weekend I have had a lot of fun playing Bad Company 2, the game itself is a refreshing break from Modern Warfare 2, the single-player gameplay feels less scripted, the multiplayer has a much different flavour and it seems that for the moment you don't need to worry about glitches, cheats and hacks.

I have to wonder though, why it is that every time EA and DICE release one of these titles for the first week or two they seem to have constant server issues? Surely they learnt lessons from the past games and planned for the release of this one? So why is it that I am getting booted out of multiplayer games? sometimes right back to the Xbox Dashboard. Fortunately I can see the potential in this game, and while it's unlikely to take me away from Modern Warfare in the long term, for now at least it will provide a welcome distraction.

When it's working.

Is Call of Duty about to take a downhill ride?

2010-03-04T02:27:00.000Z

Months and months ago I told people that sooner or later Activison would turn the Call of Duty franchise into a money spinning cash cow, now it seems like that's coming true with developments that have taken place this week.

It started when Activision had the heads of Infinity Ward removed from their positions, Infinity Ward being the studio that really sent the game franchise into overdrive with its Modern Warfare series. This was followed by the announcement that a new company, Sledgehammer Studios, would be developing a new game in the Call of Duty franchise, an 'Action Adventure' title, most likely 'Call of Gears of War'.

Maybe this won't be so bad but the Call of Duty games have only become so popular thanks to the game engine Infinity Ward created, if they take that somewhere else the game would change totally and most likely not for the better, after all if their is a game engine out there that plays as well as Modern Warfare why aren't people playing it?

On top of that could Activision be gearing up to do the same thing with 'Call of Duty' as Ubisoft have done with the Tom Clancy name? It started with Rainbow Six and soon it seemed they were slapping the name on everything except horse and pony simulators, though 'Tom Clancy's Ride Hard' does have a certain ring to it.

If this is the start of a downhill slope for Call of Duty I have to say it's been a good ride and all good things really do come to an end. I guess we'll all know sooner or later

Big Business Big Bullies

2010-03-02T02:42:00.000Z

This story appeared the other day, it details how Activision, yes the same Activision who rakes in more money than god each year from loyal gamers eager to buy the next installment in their favourite franchise. Basically some fans of the Kings Quest series of games set about making their own sequel to continue the story. A rather noble and commendable project one which Activision quite supports and have ridden in to offer assistance to the people involved, sorry my mistake that's what any company with a heart would do, no Activision did exactly the opposite and slapped a 'Cease & Desist' order on the project effectively shutting it down. On top of that the order also forces them to shut down the forums they use and their fans use. Nicely done Activision, make sure you crush these people before they produce anything of value.

It's a shame when this kind of thing happens, and I'm sure all the decent gamers who have been around long enough to remember Kings Quest will wish these guys well and hope maybe their project can continue in some way.

Heavy Rain

2010-03-02T02:29:00.000Z

When I played the Heavy Rain demo, I have to admit that while I thought it was an excellent game, I didn't see it as anything more than a modern update of the old adventures like Broken Sword, you move around the scene activating certain hot-spots in the scenery to progress the story, albeit a Broken Sword with a massive graphical update and a much improved story.

Having started to play the full game, I am a big enough man to admit I was wrong. Yes it is a modern Broken Sword, yes it has better graphics and story, but it is something much more, Just as the one of the unlocked trophies suggests this is an interactive drama, possibly more so than any game before it. In fact if someone were to record themselves playing it, someone who knew the controls and story well enough to do it perfectly you could actually believe you were watching a movie.

It will be interesting to see, since this game has been in development almost as long as Microsoft's 'Alan Wake', and to a lot of people these games seem like some kind of direct competition for the other, which of the companies exclusives will turn out to be the better and more popular game remains to be seen.

Game closures

2010-03-01T02:17:00.000Z

News appeared this week that retailer Game have announced they will be closing a small number of Game and Gamestation stores, mostly in towns which already have multiple stores, in total they will be cutting 247 employees in 43 stores, though 25 of those are small concessions in Debenhams stores.

This news made me stop and look at my town. We have 4 dedicated games retailers, Game, Gamestation, Chips and an independent. We also have numerous other high street retailers who sell games, including HMV who have shown an interest into moving more into the game market, we are well covered for games, in fact you can buy games in more stores than you can music or movies.

I work in my local town, and I have to admit that since I don't work on a Friday I tend to buy my games from the local indie since he will sell them early and ignore most streetdates, after all the last thing I want to do on my day off is have to go back to town. I have to admit I can be influenced by price and pre-order offers, though I'm much more cautious now about some of them. I wonder if every town has a flood of game related stores?

Good, Evil or Indifferent?

2010-02-27T02:37:00.000Z

Having finished Mass Effect 2 with a rather virtuous Commander Shepherd, who on the whole was an intergalactic boy scout, and only straying toward the darker 'Renegade' path once or twice I have to say that one of the greatest game mechanics, if its classed as a mechanic, is the ability to play a rather distinct good or evil character in the same story.

I don't know when it was first used, or even which game has done it better but I do know it adds replay value. I actually want to play through the story again and be a total spacejerk, and I am, I am now playing through on insane with a Ms Shepherd character and she is a total spacebitch, she runs around insulting people, getting drunk and trying to sleep with her crew. The whole light vs dark thing is further improved by the Paragon & Renegade actions.

The first time I played chose the Paragon action each time and I was actually glad when it had a positive effect, this time not only am I choosing all the Renegade actions, but I'm also seeing the outcome of all those times I'm not choosing the Paragon action, like the plague victim I allowed to die, or the young man I allow to join a mercenary gang, and I take a little evil pleasure in these.

I have to admit it's things like this that make me want to play this story through again, some might prefer there to be more of a difference between how the good and evil paths play out but I like it this way, and as I said I get a little kick out of being evil... Does this make me a bad person? ;-)

Modern Warfare 2 or Modern Cheatfare 2

2010-02-24T23:45:00.000Z

Okay I never used to play multiplayer gaming, I had an Xbox and then an Xbox 360 both with a Gold subscription but I very rarely used to play online. And then a friend told me about how much he was enjoying playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I resisted at first because I was quite happy playing on my own, but after a few games of Halo 3 to test the water and seeing a few good trailers for the 'Perk' system in CoD4 I decided to give it a try.

Since then I've been hooked racking up 2-3 hours every night. Overall it was a solid game, lacking in decent support but good, after all 1 map pack and glitches that should have been fixed really tend to annoy. But that was 2 years ago, DLC wasn't quite as big a deal then as it is now, and by the time the bugs became really common Infinity Ward were likely working on Modern Warfare 2.

Then came CoD5: World at War by Treyarch, using the CoD4 engine it proved to be every bit as good or popular as Modern Warfare, well supported with bugs fixed, gameplay altered where it was requested, an online gameplay tracking system and playlists changed, playlists which included both a dedicated regular AND hardcore option, the Nazi Zombie mode also proved to be highly popular as an online game, an all round winner but in the end CoD4 won out and people slowly moved back.

Which brings us to its successor Modern Warfare 2, the maybe or maybe not Call of Duty 6 title, what a debacle that was first it was CoD6, then it wasn't, now it is again, kinda, maybe, is it?. Okay so some things are just a matter of game balancing like the Model 1887 shotgun that was so powerful it could be used to snipe across the map, and to their credit they have fixed a lot of the glitches people have used to cheat, but not all. The game is still plagued by people who play Search & Destroy to do the Riot Shield 'XP boost'. What really annoys me though is this. Boot up the game, go check out the leaderboards, look at the scores of the guys on the top, its full of members of the same 'modding' clans, people who have quite clearly cheated the game and the system, but they are still there, WHY? No attempt has been made by either IW or MS to clear the leaderboard, why even have a leaderboard if it just becomes a place for cheaters to try and out-cheat each other. And the topic of this post, the rampant cheating that occurs in MW2 and how it seems to go relatively unchallenged by both Infinity Ward AND Microsoft

All in all I have to say I am highly disheartened by the way MW2 has been handled, it is almost as if Infinity Ward have gone out of their way to prove they can make millions and annoy every single online player and get away with it. I have my code from the back of my manual that should get me access to the VIP area which has been 'coming soon' since the game launched, by now Treyarch had launched theirs AND improved it. Treyarch took note that people were fed up of 'pawn-to-spawn' 'n00b tubes' in the Search & Destroy gametype so they added a delay, they took note that people hated team killers so they added an auto-kick, yes MW2 has its Ricochet mode for Hardcore but not on Team Deathmatch? These and many more good features that should be in the game have been ignored.

Maybe I am being harsh after all this isn't the only online game to be hacked or full of cheaters and it won't be the last, and it isn't just MS and the Xbox it happens on PC & PS3, but I personally can't help but feel that given the success of the game, the hype, the popularity, its heritage, we all deserve more.