The Red Ring of Death

                Imagine you are turning on your favorite electronic (laptop, cell phone, ipad) and all of a sudden the screen just cracked. So you can imagine my feeling when I turned on my Xbox one day and there it was: the red ring of death (RROD). The red ring of death occurs when the power button on your Xbox turns red and the TV screen reads ERROR. I had obviously heard about it but it couldn’t happen to me. Right? Wrong.

                I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the summer of ’09 and the new Gears of War game had just come out. (Great game… You should definitely consider buying it) I was right in the middle of the campaign when I had to leave for my baseball game. When I came home later that night I turned on my Xbox and there it was. The shock hit me immediately. I tried to reason with myself. Let me just turn it off and then when I turn it back on everything will be OK. No matter how many times I turned my Xbox on and off it never went away. Say hello to three months without my Xbox.

                The red ring of death occurred due to inadequate testing before the console was released. It was later discovered that about 68% of Xbox 360’s released experienced the red ring of death. There was a huge lawsuit and Xbox 360 extended their warranty by 3 years in order to make up for their fault. Microsoft has never officially reported the reason for the error, but experts speculate that the RROD occurred due to faulty parts. The process for getting it fixed was long and tiresome. First you have to call the company and have them send you an appropriate box. They say it takes about 3 months after you mail it in but it came in about 2.5. The worst part was that they didn’t even send me my Xbox back. I received someone else’s old Xbox that they fixed and unlike mine, it was all beat up.

                Now that I look back on those sad days, it was a blessing in disguise. I’m not saying I was a couch potato but I really should have been playing outside more. All in all, that summer turned out to be a great one.

                PS Tip: Don’t forget to take out your hard drive when you send in your Xbox for repairs. They don’t return it or give you a new one.

 Some Funny Cartoons about the RROD

How Video Games Improve Athleticism

                Video games for the Xbox 360 have been known to have zero or even negative effects on your athleticism mainly because you are sitting on your couch not moving. What if I told you that video games could actually improve athleticism by decreasing your reaction time, increasing your hand eye coordination, and helping your overall sport IQ? Your response would mostly look like this “Paul, you’re crazy! Playing video games doesn’t do anything!” Here is where you would be wrong.

                Ever since sport games were introduced to the Xbox 360 they have included hundreds of different formations and plays. When playing FIFA13 (a soccer game), you are able to see the field from a bird’s eye view thus seeing where every position on the field is played. This definitely helps your soccer IQ in real life. More importantly, you are able to see each player’s off ball movement.  This helps tremendously in real life because one of the toughest things to learn in soccer is where to move when you don’t have the ball. On top of all that, you are also able to control formations and run set pieces. One of the greatest proponents of my argument is my old soccer teammate. He didn’t play a second of soccer in his life but played FIFA all the time. Senior year he played soccer and was able to fit right in due to the knowledge he gained from FIFA.

                Playing sports games can also help your reaction time, decision making, and even hand eye coordination. No matter what sport you play, these three skills will help. FIFA is another great example but NBA2K13 and Madden 13 are also great examples. Say you are running down the field with the ball (in the video game) and you cross it right in front of the goal. You only have a few seconds to react and in those few seconds, you need to know what button to press and at what time to press it. Practicing that one situation can easily improve your reaction time, decision making and hand eye coordination. So in real life when the situation presents itself on the soccer field or wherever it may be, you will be ready.

PS Tip: If you are debating whether or not to get a sport game, get an older one. They are significantly cheaper and very similar to the newer ones. If you like it, get the newer one.

Example: Buy FIFA 2009 for $7 and then if you like it buy FIFA 2013 for $48

PS Tip 2: Don't be afraid to buy these games on craigslist. Just like buying an Xbox, the games are cheaper and work just as fine as the new ones.

Get Your Sport Games Here!
Or get them at Gamestop!

                                Fifa 2013                                           Madden 2013

                                       MLB 2K13                                           NBA 2K13

The Truth behind Xbox Gamers

               What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word gamer? If it was nerd, geek, or no life, then you are mostly incorrect. Although you may be correct in some cases, people that play Xbox are normal people just like you and me. Kids that you would least expect play Xbox all the time. Maybe it’s the star athlete of the baseball team who is going to a division one school or perhaps the genius with the 4.0 GPA who, in your mind, studies all the time. Or maybe even the most popular kid in school who gets all the girls.

                People who play Xbox all the time get a bad rap. When people think of gamers, the first thing that pops up into their head is loner because they sit in a room by themselves and play Xbox. How is that any different from you sitting on your laptop on Facebook all day? The truth is that that kid playing Xbox is being more social than you are. He has the microphone on and is talking to his friends and people he has never even met before. He is actually being extremely social.

                On top of being more social, he is having fun. And stop lying to yourself. Sitting on Facebook all day is not fun.  Just because you see things happening on Facebook does not make you a part of them. You are actually being antisocial by stalking random people on Facebook and not commenting on their posts. So next time you hear the word gamer, stop, think twice, and remember what you just read. Because that gamer might just be the richest man in the United States. (Bill Gates)

PS Tip: If you have a crush on a gamer, buy yourself an Xbox because gamers love girls that play Xbox.

Your Stereotypical Gamers

 

Funny Video about Kid getting upset at his Xbox

The Call of Duty Series

            The Call of Duty series is by far the most popular and most selling series of all time for the Xbox 360. Each Call of Duty game (since Modern Warfare 2) sells more copies in its first day than most games hope to sell in their entire career. And all of the Call of Duties since Modern Warfare 2 have consisted of the same three game modes: Multiplayer, Campaign and Zombies. But why does each game continue to sell even though each game is practically exactly the same as the last?

The campaign game mode in each Call of Duty is awesome but it is exactly the same in each game. On top of that, you are only going to play it once. The majority of players don’t even finish the campaign. Although the story is different in each game, you basically do the same thing. You go around completing missions while killing mass amounts of people. It pisses me off more than anything when people say that the new campaign was awesome. IT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE LAST ONE!

Zombies, in my opinion, is the most fun and addicting game mode in each Call of Duty game. I have spent numerous nights staying up to 2 o’clock in the morning because I was in the middle of a Zombies game. Zombies has always been more of a side note to the Call of Duty games until the most recent game Black Ops 2 where they overhauled the whole gameplay and made it a huge aspect of the game, even showing it in their advertisements. This is why I bought the game.

In the multiplayer game play, you are put on a team and thrown into an enclosed map where you attempt to kill members of the other team. (See Video) This is by far the most popular game mode and except for a few minor changes in each game, has never really changed. So why do people keep buying it? The only answers I can think of is its hype and peer pressure.

Friend 1: “Dude, you gotta get the new call of duty game. Everyone has it.”

Friend 2: Giving into his friends demand, he answers “ok”

And that’s it. Friend 2 certainly isn’t going to play the old Call of Duty by himself. The hype for each new call of duty game is insane and it doesn’t make sense. Try to compare the pictures of Black Ops 2 and Modern Warfare 3 gameplay below. They are practically the same. They play their new game for maybe a few months and then they are done. The gaming company is now $60 richer.

                PS Tip: If someone says they are good at Call of Duty, ask them what their kill to death ratio is. If it is below a 1.0, they are full of it.

Modern Warfare 3 Gameplay

Black Ops 2 Gameplay

A Picture of the last 6 Call of Duties (There are 9 Total)

Why Xbox 360 is the Best Choice

Although Xbox 360 comes in third on the all-time sold gaming consoles list, it is slowly becoming the most sold gaming console just behind Playstation 3 and the Wii. In the past 2 years alone, it has been the most sold gaming console. But why all of a sudden is this gaming console, which is older than Playstation 3 and the Wii, becoming so popular?

1. Kinect. One major reason that the Xbox is making a comeback is because of the Kinect. The Kinect, which attaches to your Xbox, is a motion sensor that picks up your every move. You basically control an avatar (a 3D person that you create) using your body instead of a controller. Despite what many might think, it is extremely accurate down to the bending of your arms, knees and even fingers. I recommend Kinect Adventures. Even though it’s a kid’s game, it can be a lot of fun.

2. Xbox Live. Many people claim it is the Xbox live. In Xbox live, you are able to talk to and play with friends from all over the world. Although PS3 and the Wii have this as well, it just isn’t as user friendly or fast. Xbox 360 is known for having a low lag. When you play with people from all over the world and everyone is controlling somebody different, lag occurs. Lag is when the game isn’t able to process the motions of all the players at the same time and the game begins to well “lag”. An example would be you shooting someone on your screen but they aren’t actually there on the other person’s screen. Playstation 3 and especially the Wii are known for having a greater lag. Many people just give up on the Wii it can get so bad.

3. Cheaper. A used Xbox 360 costs $140, a used Playstation 3 costs $200, and a used  Wii costs $80. But honestly, who wants a Wii? Although many argue that price is not taken into account, it definitely is. Kids rarely purchase themselves a gaming console. They tend to wake up Christmas morning and see an Xbox 360 under their tree. And especially in these times, parents would opt for the cheaper choice.

           4. Popularity. I rarely hear anyone talking about playing Playstation 3 or Wii at school. I only know 3 people who own a Playstation 3 at Rutgers Prep: Dylan, Don, and Zaid. And I don’t know anyone at Rutgers Prep who owns a Wii. But plenty of people play Xbox. I can name 10 off the top of my head (try me). So if you don’t have a gaming console and you constantly hear your friends talking about that game of Call of Duty they played last night, you are going to want to get an Xbox 360.

                The choice is simple.

PS Tip: Buy a used Xbox 360 off craigslist. Although they are banged up, they are much cheaper and work just as fine as the new ones.

Buy Your Xbox Here!

Or Get it at Gamestop!