Weird Xbox Error

Sometime last year around September time I started having problems downloading content from the Xbox website. Whenever I downloaded something via the website the console would say that it was assigned to another console and not download it. Like most people, I have had several Xbox consoles so I just thought this was a DRM issue and the website was confused by my previous consoles. Several calls to Xbox support never got the problem fixed and it was forgotten about. When I got my new slim console last week I was still having problems transferring new content so back onto support who have called me today to say they have transferred all of my content to new console. However, it has not worked. I purchased Beyond Good and Evil on the previous console and when I go to downloads on the xbox after setting download via the xbox.com website it gives an error “Assigned to other console” and it doesn’t download. If I press A and try and continue it will let me continue but it will not download until I intervene. Now the second screenshot will make you want to pull your hair out. I just tried downloading the Saw 2 demo which I have NEVER downloaded on any console ever so its not assigned to any previous console or anything like that – gives the same error via the website – assigned to other console and download is stopped. Again If I tap through I can download it. So as you can see, this is a very strange problem. I have never downloaded saw 2 demo. Just to double check, I tried the PES 2011 demo and the same error. I can understand if its confusing content I previously purchased, but here is evidence that brand new content I have never downloaded before thinks I am on another console. How weird is that? So since September I have not been able to download anything from the website at all without it being interrupted by this error. If I download via the console, its not a problem and I don’t get the error. Now it is no major issue as I can download via console, but sometimes I do want to get stuff via the website but it does not like me. Has anyone got any ideas please on what the heck is going on?

UPDATE: Always ask twitter if you have problems and not Xbox support.

Issue fixed by this step from @jochta http://j.mp/lDr5Xn

Expensive Few Months

Autumn is that time of year where game developers want to release the decent games in preparation for Christmas. October and November are historically big months for game releases and this year is no different. You need very deep pockets to buy them all or you can use a rental service like Gamesfrenzy to rent the ones you are not sure about and buy the big ones you definitely want.

Below is a list of the games I am looking forward to in the next couple of months. Please note, release dates may change and they are UK dates. As you can see that is a minimum of 8 games over 2 months. How are we supposed to afford them all?

15th October – Medal of Honor

22nd October – Fallout: New Vegas

29th October – Fable III, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2

9th November – Call of Duty: Black Ops

12th November – F.E.A.R 3

19th November – Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

26th November – Epic Mickey

DeathSpank

DeathSpank (the capital S is not a typo) was released on Xbox Live Arcade last week for a mere 1,200 points. This might seem a lot for an arcade game but this game compared to other arcade games, is huge. The game description quotes 10-12 hours completion which is about right and is longer than many full price games which sometimes barely muster up 6-8 hours.

DeathSpank is an RPG with the usual elements of collecting items, levelling up, fetch quests and mini dungeons. Your goal of the game is to seek an artifact but in true video game style, your quest for the artifact is blocked by doing many other quests first for weird and wonderful people en route.

The graphics are cute and have a hand drawn 2D effect to them. Scenery look like paper cut outs and it really fits in well with the games design. I experienced no graphical glitches but there was the odd occasional screen tearing which never was a bother.

To help you along the way if you get stuck, you can collect fortune cookies and these unlock hints if you are lost and not sure what to do. My only criticism of the game is that there are not enough fortune cookies. A number of times the game does not do a great job in guiding you on what you have to do and the clues can be very vague, leaving you to possibly use up your fortune cookies too soon. There is no hand holding to tell you where you are suppposed to be heading so your only option is to visit the entire map looking for where you are supposed to be going, or to use these fortune cookies. I would liked to have seen an optional radar for those like me who needed extra assistance in working out what to do.

DeathSpank is an excellent addition to the library of XBox Live Arcade games and is a very good single player experience. For those unable to work alone, there is also local co-op mode as well and you can complete the game side by side with a friend. Some games are not worth 1,200 points, but this one definitely is worth your money.

EXCELLENT/10

Previously on Alan Wake…

The storyline strong Heavy Rain was released on the PS3 to critical acclaim a few months ago and a few days ago it Microsoft’s turn to release a storyline strong game – Alan Wake, which has been in development since the original Xbox was out. Both Alan Wake and Heavy Rain feature action aplenty with impressive storylines to carry the game through. Heavy Rain had the thriller but Alan Wake is a horror story with enough twists and screams to affect your nightly dreams.

Alan Wake your character is a horror book author who has writers block and decides to go to Bright Falls with his wife Alice to take a break and end his writers block. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned, Alice goes missing and he sets on a frightening tale trying to get her back. The world is twists, full of horrors, the darkness of evil consuming the population of Bright Falls. To remain spoiler free I will not mention the story further, only to say that I found myself questioning the storyline several times because it kept twisting – this is not a negative note, it is saying that I was kept on my toes trying to keep up with the twists in the story and at one point I had myself thinking I got the story all wrong, but it was the story playing with my mind.

Graphically the game has its superb points when the environments look polished with high detail. Unfortunately the game looks bad in places on my big 40″ TV. Sometimes the background appears a lower resolution so while you have Alan Wake looking good, the area in the background looks pixelated and like I say on a big TV this is evident. ON a smaller TV this may not be so noticeable. There is also an element of screen tearing at times when Alan is forced to walk places and follow people, it is no game-breaker but can be a tad annoying at times.

They have included some excellent songs in the game and the sound effects match the spooky atmosphere in the game. There is a big fail with one part of the sound though. When someone is talking as part of the story, sometimes you can hear conversations in the background so it plays two conversations at once and it can be hard to distinguish the two apart. Turn on the subtitles and it is even more of a mess. You end up with two lots of subtitles one above another with no indication as to which subtitle is which. If anyone has the sound turned down or is deaf and relies on subtitles this is very bad because there is no indication which are the storyline conversation words and which are the background conversation words. It is not very well implemented at all and they should have had it so when storyline conversations come up, the background conversations are muted. I would say this is the one thing that ruins the game sometimes and it is very distracting.

So for those obsessed with numbers, with the graphical issues and the sound/subtitles issues I have to mark this game down, I would have expected more from a game in development alledgedly for 10 years and it is a disappointment to have these flaws. However, whilst I would have knocked away 2 points from the score giving an average 8, I think the storyline has enough gusto to carry the game into a 9 score. Because the game is all about the story and you will find yourself gripped from the very beginning and emotionally driven to solve the mystery and find Alice – dead or alive.

GREAT/10

Alan Wake is available now on Xbox 360 only. Rated 15 years and over.

Don’t forget also you can download filmed episodes of the Bright Falls series on Xbox live marketplace. They add to the story of Alan Wake and are free to download.

Splinter Cell Conviction

A lot has been said on forums and blogs when the Splinter Cell Conviction demo was released, about how Ubisoft have ruined the series by taking the character Sam Fisher away from his comfortable spy role and having him as a civilian.

My personal opinion is that whilst I enjoyed every Splinter Cell game in the series, I felt that as each one passed, they were getting a little stale. I think something had to change and the changes in this game I think are for the better. Okay Sam is no longer a spy but a civilian but really in the sense of the game this is only a matter of how he looks. The main element of the game is still stealth based but with a few added extras like upgrading weapons and the execute system. I think the execute system is quite good actually, by performing hand to hand kills you get the ability with a single press to mark an enemy and with another press execute them from a distance in slow motion James Bond style bullet to the head. This can be very useful in situations where you feel there a too many enemies to handle or you cannot get to the stealthily. Some may not like it, but here is the news, you don’t have to use it! Apart from one section in the game later you can totally ignore the fact you have the execute ability and play the game like the old games.

The graphics in this game are excellent, not quite on a par with Call of Duty MW 1&2, but it is almost there. There is high detail in the environments and aside from a little tearing of the screen occasionally, it looks fantastic.

I think fans of the series who do not play this game because it has moved from it’s roots are doing themselves a disservice because this is every bit a Splinter Cell game with a few changes and Ubisoft fully deserve the No.1 spot it has claimed in its first weekend of sales in the UK. Well done to Ubisoft for having the balls to try something different on a tired old series and making a success of it.

Splinter Cell Conviction Demo

There is one thing in life guaranteed apart from death and taxes and that is that you can never please everybody. Splinter Cell Conviction demo was released today with a few new changes to the series and from reading the forums there are generally two camps – those who love the changes and those who feel it is too far away from the other games and do not like it at all.

The real problem as far as I can see was that the series was getting old. It was stale and none of the previous games really improved that much on the previous before that. In a nutshell it was the same gameplay, different location each time and very similar storyline. Splinter Cell Conviction throws away the old rigid rule book and starts afresh with a new set of rules. He is no longer an operative in a silly black outfit and donning night vision goggles but is working alone in civvies to his own agenda.

Gameplay wise, Ubisoft have now implemented an quick execute option so you can tag and kill multiple enemies with a couple of button presses. I like this option. I have problem with some games sometimes in that my reactions are a bit slow so creating a set piece for multiple kills I think is excellent. It is not a given right either, so not to make it too easy, the execute option has to be earned by close up kills. If anyone complains this makes the game too simple then the easy answer is do not use it. You are not forced to use the tag-then-execute option, it is merely there for those who do want to use it.

Personally I love the new gameplay. It is very fresh and I love the fact that they have moved away from the dry old black-clad-super-spy theme to give us something new. This may be the recipe they need to bring back gamers who abandoned the series before because it was getting stale.

Roll on April, I will now submit my pre-order.

My friend Cat hates the changes and you can read her well thought out rant on here

http://carocat.co.uk/2010/03/21/splinter-cell-conviction-demo/

Cat gives more information about the changes although I do not think they are all negative things. Two very polarised opinions

Missing My Xbox 360

My beloved Elite 360 has been sent to the retailer for repair. It is well out of warranty so Microsoft wopuld not repair it for free but I did remember I had purchased the extended warranty for it at the time.

It went on Wednesday with the hard drive attached (the retailer wanted to send both to test both) and now it is in the lap of the gods.

The problem was not the red ring of death nor the E74 error but it simply had a problem recognising discs – game was placed into the tray but instead of showing the picture of the game and option to play it only said “open tray”. 15-20 minutes of faffing around switching on and off and swapping discs and I was getting lucky getti9ng them to work but over a period of a few weeks it was just getting worse.

I don’t usually buy extended warranties but the 360 is such a fragile machine and has so many potential problems it was well worth getting the extended warranty for only £20 or so. A repair from Microsoft would have cost me £60.

Shall I start a book on how long it will take to come back to me and whether it will be fixed properly?

sprites & bites

Gaming, iPads and a few biscuits on the side…

Category Archives: Microsoft