There's more to come on the 360 fall update then just a pretty dashboard.

First off, the 360 will now be able to INSTALL GAMES TO THE HARD DRIVE. This will not only reduce loading times by 30% but will also vastly reduce the sound caused by the disc drive. The installation technique is also faster then that employed by the ps3, with install times taking half the time. Not only this but the entire game will be installed on the hard drive meaning that the disc will possibly be no longer needed. This could be a problem with piracy so you may still need to keep the disc in unless Microsoft intoduce a PC type serial I.D. confirmation system.

-There is also a nod to full game download online purchases in the screens that have been shown, nothing has been confirmed on this point yet.

MEDALS WILL FURTHER ADVANCE THE CURRENT ACHIEVEMENT SYSTEM. As a more accurate depiction of a gamers skill; medallions will be awarded to reflect the toughness of achievements earned and the difficulty of games completed on.

AVATARS CLOTHING TO BE UNLOCKED IN GAMES like achievements. As well as clothing that comes pre loaded with the update, clothing specific to games could be unlocked also. So for example you could wear Sonic's famous red sneakers with the black leather jacket from Alone in the Dark complimented with a Marcus Phoenix Bandanna.

Other updates made on the fall update since the Microsoft E3 press conference:

Themes and gamer pics from the current 360 dashboard are compatible as shown with the photo above with the Limited edition Gears 2 theme currently available on marketplace.

-The XMB will be replaced with a 'blades' like menu.

A 'Primetime' section on the dashboard will host game shows. '1 vs 100' was just one example shown, there will be many hosted in this section. Real prizes to be won including cash sums.

Up to 8 users will be able to link together online whereby they could go into voice chat, view a photo show, or even watch a film together.

The 'Community' section will have a visual representation of what each gamer on your friends list is doing, such as watching a film or playing a game.

With all this in mind here's looking to this Autumn and what is quite simply the best update ever. On anything.




Written to whilst listening to: Coldplay- 'Lovers in Japan', Elton John- 'Can you feel the love tonight' and Tracy Chapman- 'Fast car'.

Where to start off first. How about, the once ps3 exclusive Final Fantasy XIII is now on its way to the Xbox 360.

In what will probably be remembered as one of the most memorable ends to an E3 conference, Microsoft revealed today that the A list ps3 exclusive FFXIII will be making its way to the Xbox 360. This co-insides Microsoft's frontline attack on Japanese rpg's and inherently the Japanese gamer base.

The 'New Software' Dashboard/ Avatars

The aging dashboard of the 360 is finally receiving an overhaul, and it's going to be more then a few new blade sound effects. Whilst I am going to miss the 'blades' dashboard, the 'new software' update looks really smooth. So smooth in fact, that I am quite impressed with how they have completely overhauled it. Even down to the photo viewing capabilities. If 'Blades' were Windows XP, then the new one could be compared to Vista. The avatars and link up system seem like a fantastic evolution also, a great way to further characterise the 12 million online.

Gears of War 2

Taking Gears to a new level of 'epic'ness is probably the best way to sum this up. Or in a non-pun evasive manner; it looked great as in 'best game of the year' quality. 5 Player co-op 'Horde' mode sounds intense.

In The Movies

What a great idea for a camera enabled game. It almost makes you wonder why it has not been thought of earlier. This looks set to be a real family/party game, that you will actually want to buy even if you have no friends, or a family that secretly hates you.

Portal still alive

Sequal to the cult hit of Orange Box pack, hits Live arcade exclusively. I have to admit, when I heard her voice I was hoping they were going to say that she would be part of the new dashboard and work as an a.i. guide...

Lips

The fact that you can hook up your own mp3/ iPod and load up your own songs to this 'singstar' wanabe is quite impressive. The only thing missing thus far is the live camera support, but hopefully they will work that in by release as its a no brain-er. Also props to Duffy for waving the mic in front of her mouth to prove that she was actually singing, because I didn't believe it up until that point.

Fable 2
Whilst this game's themes had looked a bit tiresome on first glance it's instant online switching and general online attempts seems really inventive and quite ground breaking.

Exclusives on third party games

Exclusive Rock Band 2 and Fallout 3 download-able content.

Arcade games you actually want

The original Banjo Kazooie, a South Park game, Galaga 2, Geometry Wars 2 and 1 vs. 100; a high concept games show that takes place on Xbox live where you can actually win prizes.

Disappointments

I guess the fact that the motion sensitive controller ending up being a tambourine mic, but maybe there still is a 360-mote on the way alongside considering the way other 360 rumors have turned out.

There are also the as of standard perfectionist wishes one would have that are usually never lived up to, but thankfully this time there weren't so many; a blu-ray add on and a free multi-palyer silver account.

Good show Microsoft. Oh and a lesson to further games confrence'ers, never pause for applause, games journalists are soulless people.

-From page 2 of the Max Payne game manual 2001.

Well it had taken them long enough.

Max Payne Movie trailer - Staring Mark Whalberg

It looks great, but I can't help but feel as though they have chosen the wrong Mark to play the part.

- Me as Max Payne

Imagine it. Driving through Shibuya crossing at night, neon lights leading your way, with some J-rock blasting in your Mitsubishi Lancer as your being chased by the police for yakuza turf war crimes. Armed with a katana, a sub machine gun and some Pokey in the glove compartment; you and your gang head back to your Kyoto apartment with nothing but the mist and the 'rising sun' in your horizon. Pause.

Whilst GTA IV had an incredibly detailed city, it was still set in the spoof Americana that had been saturated in the previous gen endeavours. With it's Eastern European themes and characters, the question arises as to why was it simply not set in Eastern Europe or yet even better; Russia. A country with Soviet Union history, Russian mafia stories, KGB and foreign interest, some what so, it would seem obvious to anyone to make a GTA game based there.

And if that was not enough there is an actual tv game show in Russia where real police men chase game contestants across the country and the contestant's have to escape to win; police car chases, spike traps, the full force of the Russian police is enforced. In fact, I could be wrong about this, but I do believe that the contestants are actual criminals that could win their freedom.

In Vice City, one of the main attractions was that it was based in another era. The game itself served not only as a next gen 3D sequel GTA game but as a portal to the 80's. It's music, cars, fashion, even the menu sound effects were 80's inspired. It expanded the experience made present on GTA III more so then its addition of motor bikes but instead with an engrossing and very enjoyable theme that almost worked as a 80's cheese satire contrast to its GTA context.

There is alot of context and stlye that can be aquired from different era's or environments to arouse the gameplay proposed. It's not so much that it would directly improve the core gameplay however, more so that it would enhance the experince and extend the interest in what is arguably becoming a tiresome series/genre.

So for the next instalment I propose GTA Tokyo Nights. Unpause...

Rain pours in Blade Runner town, arcade games to be played played in Akihabara, Kareoke bars to be sung at,interactive Purikura Boothe's that workwith your Xbox live cam, Tokyo Drift inspired multi player street races, haunting derelict villages in Kyoto, Yakuza honor, Tokyo fashion/cos-play,crazy Japanese tv shows, cool Japanese radio music, narrative take on the conversion of Imperial Japan to modern Japan, peaceful temples and cherry tress, Hallo Kitty, robots, a vending machine car garage, ninja assassin missions, toilets that clean your bum, narrative involving the pop culture craze and Buddhism, geisha girls, multi player football mini game on a skyscraper roof pitch, cutting edge gadgets e.g. the mobile phone menu in GTA IV would have a tv in it.

-You probably thought I was making the 'football pitch on top of a skyscraper' up. Wait until you see the vending machine car garage.

Essentially, my international GTA idea could work with other countries, each game could progress on a different Continent. I have side stepped my Russian intro, as after GTA IV it would be proficient to move towards an alternate setting.

Japan for me specfiaclly, may just be in an effort to feed my Japanophile needs, but it is also a country with obvious eccentricities that would work in GTA's well known satire telling. Or at least to have a game that has Pokey as a helath pack.

And guess what it has nothing to do with the cut scenes. Not even the incessant un-understandable installing procedure. In point of fact the cut scenes are mostly my favourite parts of the game, which leaves the other thing. Game play.

GAME PLAY SPOILERS

It comes down to a number of things, but lets start off with the lack of new moves. With the exception of a new laid down grab the CQC is pretty much identical to MGS3. Actually, there are even some moves missing from MGS3 such as the 'interrogation' move.

Now MGS3 snake eater was a great game, easily the second best next to MGS. So it's not a terrible thing that it's core game play moves are based on that.The basic throwing and disarming moves present in MGS3 worked really well and opened up the combat and stealth execution of the gameplay. Even though the moves themselves were basic it was an expanding leap in the right direction from MGS2. But during the cutscenes in MGS3, they showed some amazing CQC/ judo moves that I'd hope you would actually be able to implement on further MGS games. And yet 3 years later the moves have not been advanced, which is a real shame.

I was thinking along the lines of executing moves with a specific CQC context sensitive button; whereby if you pressed it whilst facing the enemy you would enter a CQC/ disarm move and when you pressed it behind the enemy you would enter the regular grab move that is already part of the CQC found in the current game. As with the regular CQC grab that is present in both MGS3 and MGS4, after executing the grab there would be a number of optional moves linked to it; such as found in the grab move, e.g. 'throw down', 'use as body shield'.

With my front CQC attack idea Snake would be able to link moves in a similar manner, where for example holding the CQC button (R1) whilst pressing CIRCLE Snake would dismantle the enemies gun in a split second (as accomplished by BOSS in that MGS3 cutscene). Holding R1 whilst pressing SQUARE would gouge the enemy in the eye, and timing a second press would neck jab them leaving them temporarily blinded, speechless and stunned. Tapping X could perform a quick neck break and TRIANGLE could be used as a counter attack button, whereby Snake could side flip or do another judo type evasive move if attacked by an enemies CQC(as shown in the final battle between Naked Snake and Ocelot in the plane fight in MGS3).

And of course all of these moves could be used in combo's.

Next is the intensity of the game. With games like COD4 raising the bar of in game intensity MGS4 has a lot to compete against in its similar war torn environments and unfortunately it barely if ever reaches that level. MGS4 could of gained more from COD4's intense scripted moments or by a larger a.i. population on the battlefield. The intensity that the Geckos provide is pretty imense, but unfortunately its often far too short of a scripted sequence. If the Gecko's arrived during alert phase at any point of the game however,that would be fun.

And ultimately the whole action side of MGS4 just doesn't work as well as do the stealth components. Even though it offers the choice, MGS4 is STILL a stealth game foremost. As an action game it can be quite drab and too easy. With access to explosive weapons early on and a fairly unlimited supply of ammo; you'll be mowing down enemies without even looking at your health bar once. Especially on ACT 2 where you are thrown into the thick of an action orientated level with limited stealth options.

To reference back to MGS3, there were other things that, that game did which MGS4 once again does not build on. With the camouflage system for example; the strategy of creating the right camo for the right environment has been simplified in MGS4 by the Octo camo. And even though there is a manual setting, the default auto setting is too obvious a choice for the average lazy gamer, and the enjoyment of creating the perfect camo is therefore redundant.

How could I make it better once again. Maybe this would of been a time to use the Six Axis controls whereby the right tilt in the middle of the camouflage procedure would result in a varying level of success in how well Snake camouflages with his environment. And possibly the use of an upgradeable camouflage systemwhereby certain camo's can only be achieved as they are unlocked through out. By touching against the surface thereby collecting them and the possible mixing of camo patern's to acheive the best effect.

The stamina gauge in MGS3 has been replaced with the psyche gauge, which is supposedly indicative of Old Snake's age, however it plays far to similar to its predecessor except once again missing the fun factor of MGS3's implement. In this case; the task of hunting and eating wild animals to keep the stamina level up. The bosses stamina gauge in MGS3 also opened up opportunities to feed them rotten food, or poisonous animals.

Snake's old age rarely ever felt noticeable unless his psyche was completely out. I did like how his back would lock up but once again this was only when Psyche was low, which is'nt often. He could of had natural poor eyesight which would of been improved through the Solid Eye, or his 'Fox Die' attacks could of happened randomly whilst playing rather then just in the cut scenes.

Kojima moments. In MGS there was a reference to a codec number at the back of the disc which you as the player would have to look at and then call. I can't think of any moments in MGS4 that were like this, but then again maybe I'm being to specific on this point as none of the other prior games reached this level of 'Kojima moment' either, but then again this is the final part of the saga.

I miss the constant atmosphere background soundtrack from MGS1 and MGS2. MGS4 is in the vain of MGS3 with its silence only risen due to alerts or in game cutscenes. In MGS3 music was optional via the radio, which on MGS4 has been replaced with the iPod. In both circumstances music had to be collected so the concept of choice in listening or not is limited to what music has been unlocked.

The boss fights lacked the effort required in previous games. Vamp for instance was marginally easier then his bout in MGS2. MGS1 and MGS3 have some of the best boss fights, not only in the MGS series but in any game. Whilst MGS4 bosses are fun, their fairly weaker then all the games previous to it and not only in difficulty.

And as for online play, well there's a reason why no one mentions it on their game review, put it that way.

After all that writing though, I think I am going to end this rant on a few positives.

Overall MGS4 is a good game. I could say that it is comparable to MGS2 in enjoyment. The cutscenes are the best directed video game cut scenes I have ever seen. And the use of the six axis in them is intelligent. On one occasion at the end of act 1, I had shaken the six axis as snake could be seen in the reflection of Liquids sun shades and you could see the camo reset in the reflection. That was cool.

The story is a spectacular end to the series which impressively wraps up all loose ends; even down to Vamp's ability to run up walls on MGS2. (I was really satisfied with the story so much expect another blog in the coming week or so that goes through it.)

The Graphics are some of the best to be shown on the ps3, second to 'Uncharted'. And the sound as with the cut scenes is the best I've experienced yet in the video games medium.

So with all these good points, can everything I've mentioned before it really matter. Well to me it can. For if this were just another sequel in the line of MGS games I would have been satisfied with its all too familiar MGS3 game play. As it's the last in the series on a next gen platform however, I expected the best MGS ever. By that it would have been different; as MGS was different from Metal Gear 2 (Solid Snake) or even the differences between MGS3 and MGS2. And I guess as it is the last game, in that sense, it left me disappointed as I expected more. The things I could of expected more I wrote down, so this is not just another mindless rant, but rather the expressions of a passionate gamer. Whom whislt disappointed for the record still regards the MGS series as the best there is.

Tonight see's the last episode of this seasons 'Dr Who' and what a cliffhanger to be resolved after last week! In a complete twist surprise, last episode saw the Dr begin the regenration process. A process by which when the Dr is dieing, his genetic coding is transformed in order to re construct his body and keep him alive; thereby handing the time travel lord baton to the next up and coming British actor.

It would appear however, that even though the phrophecy declares of someone dieing the Dr is seen as the most unlikely by fans and casual viewers alike. This all comes down to the secrecy of it all. If the Dr were to be replaced by another, surely the media would of exposed this by now. After all, the weeks leading up to Christopher Eccleston's regenration process was riddled with media knowledge on the transformation to Tennant.

Well until tonights episode no one can know for sure what's going to happen next, so for now let's look into who could fill his 1950's police phone box the best.

Rumored up for the role are actors- Hugh Laurie, Micheal Sheen, Bill Nighly and Richard E Grant.

-My personal favourites are James Nesbitt at 6/1

And the one that keeps poping up time after time; Alan Davis-

To re iterrate on the unlikely chance of the Dr dieing due to the alternate universe which he dies in, plus the lack of media hearsay. Whatever happens tonight one thing is certain it's going to be a spectacular finale in this 65 minute special seeing a host of spin off characters return to face off the Dr's arch nemeis the Daleks in a last ditch attempt to save the galaxy.