Another gap in posting I know, but Dante’s Inferno and Little Big Planet among other things got the best of me for awhile there. I suppose it’s better than spewing nonsensical things day in and out (even if it MIGHT be entertaining…at first). Quality over quantity, right? Either way it’s not the reason I’m making this post today.
I’m posting this today to talk about a great deal on web hosting that I just had to mention here and I couldn’t pass up myself (considering my rates at this current host will rocket up after this first year). 75% off all shared hosting plans for the life of your account at Stablehost with coupon code AREWECRAZY (be sure to select the US server, as this deal does not include the European server). Comes to about $21 for a year with the largest plan. Sure, it’s limited space and bandwidth but that’s not always a bad thing. By that I mean I’m sure they don’t oversell like some hosts. It’s still way more resources than I can possibly need for my sites and an ideal solution for most looking for quality hosting. Feedback about the host and service looks pretty positive, check out this thread at slickdeals if you’re not quite sold yet or google them.
Please use my referral link and help out my site if you decide to get a plan also: https://billing.stablehost.com/aff.php?aff=079 (or use the banner below)
Be quick though since this code is only good until friday!
(Don’t forget, coupon code AREWECRAZY for 75% off lifetime of the account!)
UPDATE (5/1/10) – The 75% coupon is over with now but you should still be able to get 50% off with coupon WHT (all in all still a good deal)
Ok, so if you hadn’t figured it out by now, yesterday’s Pennywise banner was part of my April Fools’ Day joke (as well as the project page updates, if you hadn’t clicked the link). Thanks to all those you visited the site yesterday and knowingly or unknowingly participated in my feeble joke. I like to participate in April Fools’ Day so I try to do something whenever I can. I put together this other banner together though with my limited digital art skills instead of going back to bannerless. Joke or not, I guess you could also look at that last banner as a “placeholder” since I didn’t actually whip up the new one until tonight. Hehe… 
One more thing, I can’t end this April Fools’ Day post without posting some of my favorite jokes from yesterday soooooooo…
For a few examples, anyone else have some favorites?
Also, Happy Easter to you guys and gals! Since I probably won’t have much time to post over the next couple days.
- DGM-payne
We were long overdue for a banner at The Riskening so I finally whipped something up.
I don’t know about you, but I think it’s pretty spiffy. There’s just something about Pennywise the Dancing Clown (link full size pic before bannerfication…alright, so it’s not a real word…be quiet) that just fits well with this site. 
On that note, more site updates…
Sorry about the even less than usual posting of last month but I was working on some new features for the site including forums, improving user feedback, and possibly a contest or two to also liven things up around the site. I won’t get into the full details here just yet but watch the Projects page for the up-to-date scoop as I start adding these (and further) features into the site.
- DGM-payne
The Xbox Live and Modern Warfare 2 communities are all abuzz lately with the release of the “Stimulus Package” map pack which arrived on Live first today (no word on other system release dates yet). It features 3 new maps and 2 redux maps from the first Modern Warfare for 1200 MS points ($15). Above is a picture from the junkyard map with a doghouse near the center. I watched the trailer last week and heard some commentary on the maps but I’m not quite convinced yet.
I did enjoy the game, having spent a good amount of time on the single player campaign and multiplayer such as Special Ops and the usual other online modes. I think the price is a bit excessive, possibly because all the map packs for World at War were 800 MS points each for the same amount of maps and most add-ons don’t hit this price either (Borderlands and Assassin’s Creed for example). Add up all the add-on content for Resident Evil 5 and you only get about half this price also, and added atleast several hours of gameplay. I’d rather spend the extra 400 MS points on an Arcade game or something similar.
I’m sure there’s plenty of hardcore online players out there that will fork over this cash to get it soon as possible which will make this a success per usual though as far as Modern Warfare goes. I guess I get more satisfaction out of the Special Ops experience, which I wouldn’t mind seeing a new mission or 2 there and maybe a few new achievements here and there but I digress. I feel the competitive side will always take favor in this case though, even though there’s more cooperative potential.
Whether it is the fact that I don’t think I’ll get as much use out of it as the Nazi Zombie maps of World at War (which I definitely yielded the most time out of it for the money spent), or the fact that I tire easily of the other online modes that carry over from Call of Duty to Call of Duty (or a little bit of both), I think I’ll be waiting this one out and seeing if I want to step back into the fray once it goes on sale (similar to what I did with the first Modern Warfare’s Variety map pack).
If you do decide to get it before this Sunday (or have already done so), then you’ll be able to get in on the double XP goodness if you have some ranking up to do.
- DGM-payne
You’ve probably atleast heard about Game Room which hit XBLA and Games for Windows Live today, or atleast you do now. It’s a pretty neat idea : being able to share your own personalized arcade with retro titles along with your friends or even compete in challenges in said games while all along seeing your avatar at the helm of the arcade cabinet. The initial download is free and you pay MS points to unlock full versions of each game (Konami, Atari, and Intellivision being game types at the moment, more game packs to come in the weeks ahead) or play timed demo versions using in-game coins (you’ll get 20 coins at the start and can earn more by visiting friend’s arcades). Besides unlocking games for unlimited play there is also the option of spending 40 MS points (50 cents) for a single play. Like some insanely easy achievements? There’s also about 7 achievements you can get before even buying a single game just by placing props, themes, and what not (for the gamerscore fiends out there). All those things said I like the concept but I have a couple little annoyances with the current state of the game…
- First, and probably one of the biggest breaking points for most people, let’s talk about prices. Right now it’s about $3 worth of points PER game. It may not be that much of a big deal at first, but if you add up all the current games it’ll be about $80 of MS points. So unless you’re a hardcore retro Atari/Konami/Intellivision fan you’re probably not going to be shelling out anywhere near that much dough. So you’ll probably pick and choose maybe a couple here and there and that’s fine, but I think it might have been better suited to offer some bundles at a discounted price. It’s an all around same price for each game too which I feel that not all are quite deserving of the same level, given the simplicity of some of the titles.
- Second, which is connected to the first, is the separate price to play on both XBL and Games for Windows Live. You have 2 options when buying a game : buy it for whatever you happen to be playing it on at the time or pay $5 and get it for both. Sure, it’s only an extra $2, but like many other things this could also add up to quite a bit of extra cash. I feel it a bit hosing to have to pay those extra points just to be able to play it on both. I’m guilty of trying this out on my first game that I bought and to be quite honest I kinda preferred the controls on the 360 anyways. C’mon MS, do you really have to drain this extra cash from us?
- I’ll finish up with a couple short ones, some areas lacking. I mentioned the avatars earlier but having a lack of free movement is a bummer though. Think about how cool walking around in the arcade with your friends in avatar mode and interacting with props and what not could have been. There’s also a lack of online multiplayer, only local 2 player multiplayer for select games. This would have been a pretty good incentive to pick up some of these (and future) classic titles…
Overall it’s a cool concept albeit a bit poorly implemented. If you don’t mind the prices I’d say go for it. There’s some pretty solid retro titles to be played. Here’s to hoping for some lower prices and even better retro titles in the weeks to come.
EDIT (3/30/10) - This post right HERE on the xbox.com forums pretty much covers some great improvements, many of which I touched on above. I also learned recently that they won’t be doing the weekly game releases until late April. Bummer…but hopefully they’ll iron out some issues in the meantime (we can hope).
- DGM-payne
