Tips from the game pro on your new console
A whole lot of you bought video game consoles and software for the holidays, according to sales statistics and those painful hardware shortages. So chances are, you or someone you know has a new machine – or a new title – sitting in the remains of gift wrap, waiting to be used.
What now?
Here are my top four suggestions for what to do with your new present.
PlayStation 2: Get thee to the bargain bin at your local software store. Some of last year’s very best titles have been spotted there for $15 or less. Sure, there are dozens of hot titles from this year. But last year’s are, in many cases, just as fun to play and much easier on the wallet.
Xbox: Get online. If you have an Xbox and don’t have Xbox Live, you’re missing out on a terrific reason to play on the ‘box (besides frequently better graphics and sound). Live audiences tend to be more mature, more friendly and just more fun to play with than those on some PS2 titles, in my experience. Then again, your mileage may vary. Best bet: Buy a game with two free months online and decide whether you’re ready to pop for the annual fee.
GameCube: Get the Game Boy Player to go with your new console. If you have a GameCube in your house, chances are you also have a Game Boy Advance, as everyone and their dog seems to own one at this point. For about $50, you can play your GBA games on the big screen with a real controller using the Player, which is shockingly nice. The graphics don’t look bad, either. It screws on to the bottom of your GameCube.
PC players: Get voice. For those games that don’t support voice chat – and you are playing online, aren’t you, dear reader? – PC games were made to bring us together, in some cases so we can blow each other apart. But I digress.
If your favorite game doesn’t support voice chat, Ventrilo ( www.ventrilo.com) and TeamSpeak ( www.goteamspeak.com) are two excellent alternatives to let you talk to fellow players. I like Ventrilo better for quality and lack of interference with the games, but there are vocal advocates of both brands. Both are free for individuals to use, though you may have to find someone with a server you can piggyback on – or pay for one through the companies themselves.
Gaming notes
Also making news:
Nintendo advertised a bounty hunter position on Monster.com as part of a viral marketing effort for its space bounty-hunter sequel, “Metroid Prime: Echoes.” It received more than 90 serious real-life responses from ex-military types for the job.
Take-Two, the parent company that also owns Rockstar Games, bought out Microsoft’s Sports Studio. The studio’s future had been in doubt ever since the company had announced that it was discontinuing future annual sports releases for seasonal sports such as hockey.
Speaking of Take-Two, it posted a profit of more than $62 million for the fourth quarter, and more than $1.1.billion for the fiscal year, thanks primarily to “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.” Xbox and PC versions of the game are on the way.