MLG Dallas Predictions

Tonight is the 3rd stop on the 2009 Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Event in Dallas, Texas. Where top Halo 3, Gears of war 2, and World of Warcraft teams will be competing for a $20,000 first prize! After the last event in Columbus, there have been some drastic Halo 3 team changes; Team Carbon picking up Walshy, Instinct picking up GH057ayame and StongSide comes back to Final Boss. I feel that STR8 Rippin is coming into Dallas stronger than ever. These four guys live together and practice everyday. Snip3down is at his prime level going into Dallas, after watching his recent gameplay he has become one of the most skilled and diverse players on the circut. Also there are some up and coming AM teams that I have my eye on, such as, Under the Influence, which includes 4 very individually talented players; TalenT, TwYLighT, BaTMaYnE, and a Pure Gangster. I feel a top 16 placing for this team. I have been following BaTMaYnE’s gaming career because I have known him for a very long time from Shadowrun, and I know that he has the potential to eventually be on a top team.

Predictions:
1. Str8 Rippin (Tsquared, elamitewarrior, Legit, Snipedown)
2. Triggers Down (SK, Hienz, Hysteria, Pistola)
3. Final Boss (FearItself, OGRE 2, Victory X, StrongSide)
4. Carbon (ShocKWav3, Defy, Naded, Walshy)
5. Classic (Soldier187, Chig, Defy, Naded)
6. Instinct (Neighbor, Lunchbox, Roy, GH057ayame)
7. Status Quo (FlamesworD, Totz, Ace, Clutch)
8. Believe the Hype (Cloud, Demon D, Soviet, Sypher)

Gears of War 2 has experienced some recent changes that required adjusting to before Columbus. One of them being the transition from the hammerburst, to the lancer. I feel that the NSAN3Z are going to be on top in Dallas, they are a very strong and consistent team, and I feel like they are going to dominate the competition. Some of my favorites going into this event are, AmazYn (Arctic, Orange, Skyllus, Calinorth). I have known these guys since 2007 when I met them in Cincinnati at a local LAN. Another team I feel is going to do well is Team Infinity. Infinity has 2 very talented players; ZeroXceL and Genetix. I feel that the combination of these two is going to be ridiculous.

Predictions:
1. The NSAN3Z (Killa, Predator, NIckmercs, GoD6o3)
2. MbN: The Business (Prospect, JaeMercs, Zkiller, Prison)
3. Legacy (Jribs, Perfect Uno, Terror, Fallout)
4. AmazYn (Arctic, Orange, Skyllus, Calinorth)
5. Infinity (Genetix, Atmo, Requiem, ZeroXcel)
6. Raw Talent (Spawn, Deadly, Cubano, CrReam)
7. pT Retaliation (Bullet, Rain, Shocka, Drix)
8. vVv Vision (Puff, tSinc, Franchise, Mephisto)

Madden 2010 and Fight Night Round 4 for the Playstation 3 was recently added to the circuit for this event. There has not been a set player list that is competing at Dallas. All players that have a spectator pass will be able to play Fight Night Round 4. But I have a feeling that if Arctic, from Team AmazYn competes in the FNR4 tournament, that he will be the winner because he was a top player in Fight Night Round 3, competing at the top levels in WCG.

I am hoping that MLG Dallas is going to go down as one of the best events in a long time because of all the roster changes and new AM teams that I am looking forward to seeing. You can watch the event live tonight and the rest of this weekend on the Major League Gaming website.

Free Guitar Hero: Van Halen with Purchase of Guitar Hero 5

Activision's annual Guitar Hero game is set to come out in a couple of weeks and Activision really, really wants you to buy it. When Guitar Hero started, it was a simple guitar based rhythm game that had some great songs for you to rock out to. But the franchise has grown at an incredible rate and is cranking out a new title game almost yearly. But one of the biggest things the franchise has done is the creation of band specific titles in the series. It started with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for the PS2. This game let you play as the actual band and you played their songs and helped them reach fame. A few years passed and Activision busted out it's second band specific game with the highly anticipated Guitar Hero: Metallica. This game took off and sold many copies worldwide and is one of the most popular games in the series. Not long after Guitar Hero: Metallica was released, Activision announced it's next band specific title introducing Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

The internet and respective gaming sites have been buzzing about this game for a little bit now. The song list has been released and it is comprised of some of the best songs from the bands long, iconic career. But before the fans can get there hands on Van Halen they are going to have to look over and play through Guitar Hero 5, Activision's newest installment in the series. However, if you aren't really interested in GH 5 and just want to get your hands on Van Halen then you might want to pick up Guitar Hero 5 anyway. Why you might ask? Because if you pre-order Guitar Hero 5 or buy specially marked games in September then you can receive a free advanced copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen.

No, you heard me correctly, a FREE copy of the Van Halen installment in the Guitar Hero franchise. When this announcement first came out, it was unclear as to how long people would have to wait to get their free copies of the game. However, Activision has put the deal in perspective for us saying "This is a gift with purchase, so it applies to anyone who purchases the game before the set date. As long as you purchase the game in September (which includes all pre-orders, past and present) you will get a copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen. This is a mail-in offer that allows people the chance to get the game prior to it being available at retail. There is no cost associated with this gift with purchase offer."

So there you have it, two seemingly great Guitar Hero games for the price of one. Even if you are not a big fan of the upcoming Guitar Hero 5 the offer of a totally free Guitar Hero: Van Halen game should be prize enough for some of you out there. You can visit the Guitar Hero: Van Halen Free Offer Official Website to get all the details or to pre-order your copy now. Guitar Hero 5 officially comes out on September 1, 2009 with Guitar Hero: Van Halen debuting December 22, 2009.

Source: G4TV

New Xbox Live Experience Update

When Microsoft updated the Xbox and Live Dashboard a while back, they added some pretty niffty features, like Avatars, and made the whole experience better and more easy to use. Well now Microsoft has decided it is time to tweak the Dashboard even more. This new update, set to hit August 11, 2009, will have a ton of new features that hope to make Xbox Live that much better.

The list of updates for the Xbox Live Dashboard is intense. First off, the Netflix service on Xbox Live is receiving a big improvement. Now with Netflix, you have an Enhanced Playback Experience which allows you enjoy a smooth viewing experience when your internet bandwidth fluctuates. You can also manage your queue. You can browse around the Netflix Instant Watch video catalog. Check out all the popular and new movies and add them to your Netflix queue right from your Xbox without having to go to your computer. But one of the coolest things is the addition of movie parties. Now you and your friends can all watch the same show or movie via Xbox Live. You and up to seven of your friends will be able to watch a movie while you see your virtual avatars watch the movie in a virtual theater. You can watch your avatars watch the movie, flirt, eat popcorn or even throw popcorn at each other.

Another feature with the update is the addition of an avatar marketplace. Yeah, you heard right, now you can spend real money on virtual junk for your little you. But the these new things aren't just random articles of clothing. You can download branded apparel, like shirts from popular games like Halo or Gears of War. In addition to branded clothing you can now download props. Yep, little animated items that your avatar will carry around with them wherever they go. But, if you don't want to pay for shirts and clothing branded by your favorite games, don't fret, because now you can earn things like avatar clothing as rewards within games. So start getting better at your favorite game if you really need that Super Monkey Ball T-shirt.

Gaming on demand is one of the coolest sounding features for the newest update to the Xbox Live Experience. You will now be able to download full Xbox titles through Xbox Live whenever you want them. You can buy them using Microsoft Points, direct debit or a credit card. You can also download, view or print the game manuals for your downloaded games as well and after you download the game it is yours forever. The games do not take up hard drive space but instead are linked to your Xbox Live account. User Ratings have been added to help you find and rate games you like. You can now rate the game you like from the marketplace on a scale of 1 to 5-star system. The user ratings update also makes it easier for you to find through the Top Rated categories or by the Browse All category.

Everybody loves to party and it is no different on Xbox Live. The update has done some work on your parties and your party connection. If you are accidentally bumped from the party or you lose connection then Xbox Live will automatically reconnect you. Now parties are streamlined so no more going through multiple screens to get all of your friends together. Xbox Live has also made it easier for you to view all your entertainment in the highest possible resolution on your tv by way of HDMI connection.

There are also a number of just plain 'ol improvements. Now there are Gold member veterans which allows you to show off to other gamers how long you have been on Xbox Live. Xbox Live Community Games has been renamed to Xbox Live Indie Games. There is a new and improved Achievement browser which makes i easier for you to view your achievements while playing a game. It also lets you launch a game straight from the browser. There is a new achievement tracking feature that will allow you to view a summary of all your achievements for all your games as well as a list of all your completed games. There is new streamlined navigation which adds new entry points in the dashboard for redeeming codes, your active downloads, recovering gamertags and more.when recording a voice message, a message will pop up if there is no audio detected. A new friends list sorter has been added. You can now find and sort your friends based on activity, online status, or their gamertag by pressing the Y button while viewing your list of friends.

Account management features have been updated as well. There will now be messages that pop up when you sign into Xbox Live telling you if your Gold membership is about to expire or if your Windows Live ID has expired. There has also been an enhancement added to the account recovery process which makes it faster and more reliable.

While it sound like this new update has everything there are some big things not in this update that people were wanting. The features that will not be included in this update are the Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm support and also the Zune video and 1080p Instant On functionality. However, these features will be included in the winter update and future updates to the Xbox Live Dashboard. This new update has Xbox Live users in a buzz and looks to bring some really good improvements to our Xbox Live Experience. You can enjoy all the niffty updates, including Avatar clothing, August 11, 2009.

Source: XboxLIVE.com