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How To Play Xbox Against "The Hills" Hottest Couple

Posted 2/11/08 5:04 pm EST by in Burnout, mtv, Television, Xbox 360, xbox live


hillsburnout.jpgThis one is for all you "Hills" fans out there in our MTV neck of the woods. Seriously.

And it's for those of you who still need to find a way to combine Valentine's Day with valid video gaming activities.

Worlds are colliding, as EA is teaming up with "Hollywood's most talked about reality couple" (otherwise known as Heidi and Spencer from MTV's own The Hills) for a little pre-Valentine's Day gaming in paradise … "Burnout Paradise" that is. Watch out for that Spencer… I hear he's a maniac at "Centipede."

If you're interested in spending your night with the couple from The Hills (and some other surprise celebrity guests) read on to find out whom you should send your friend request to. For everyone else, tomorrow night also offers you the chance to crash their favorite ride into "Burnout Paradise"'s producer, Craig Sullivan.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like another famous MTV couple Totilo and N'Gai weren't asked to partake in the event. Maybe next time.

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EA Says You'll Experience 'Burnout Paradise' DLC -- Even if You Don't Buy it

Posted 2/6/08 4:59 pm EST by in Burnout, DLC, ea, Online gaming, Xbox 360


Burnout Paradise"Burnout Paradise" fans gaming with an Xbox 360 Core or Arcade system have found themselves pulling on the short end of the stick this week when it comes to online multiplayer.

While Multiplayer was researching how online retailers handled informing consumers about the hard drive requirement, Criterion Games issued a response to address gamer chatter. In doing so, we noticed they seemed to reveal a new approach to distributing downloadable content. We were right.

Publisher Electronic Arts confirmed to Multiplayer today that "Burnout Paradise"'s additional content allows gamers who choose to opt out of engaging with new content to still see the new content in-game while playing online. Additionally, EA says the content will be a combination of pay-to-play and free.

On Monday, Criterion Games released a statement that explained technical reasons "Burnout Paradise" required the hard drive online. After explaining issues related to data streaming without the add-on, the studio said this:

"Crucially we also didn’t want to split the playing community between those that have updated data and those that don’t. We saw this as vital in maintaining simplicity to all online users; different players having different content packages wouldn’t be able to play online with each other."

As we said before, note the bold. It appears Criterion's post-release strategy relies heavily on diversifying the universe with downloadable content. Our question, then, was how Criterion and EA would manage this expansion when downloadable content has always an optional upgrade for the consumer, not a requirement.

"It's our intention to extend the life of Burnout with additional DLC in the near future. As mentioned, we don't want to split the online community between those that have content and those that don't. Our intention is to offer both free and paid for DLC in a way that enables everyone to 'see' the content, even if they have not paid for it," said an EA representative in an e-mailed statement.

EA wouldn't elaborate on how they intend to execute this approach to downloadable content distribution, but we're anxious to see it revealed. Their intentions come at the cost of a percentage of Xbox 360's user base, however. Do you think it was worth it?

Did You Remember to Read the Back of the Box for 'Burnout Paradise'?

Posted 2/5/08 5:11 pm EST by in Burnout, Online gaming, Xbox 360


"...I'm talking about my Xbox 360, and I solved it, I need to buy a TWO HUNDRED ******* DOLLAR HARD DRIVE! SO I CAN PAY TO GO ONLINE TO PLAY WITH ******** TWELVE YEAR-OLDS! So I'm prolly going to return my 360 and do something more useful with my money, like throwing it off a bridge"

-- gamer LordD2, posting on Electronic Arts' support forums for "Burnout Paradise"

Burnout ParadiseXbox 360 Core or Arcade unit owners who picked up "Burnout Paradise" last week found a surprise waiting for them upon connecting to Xbox Live, if they weren't careful enough to scope the back of the box ahead of time.

You know that streaming, seamless, revolutionary open-world gameplay that's one of "Burnout Paradise"'s biggest bullet points?

Access denied; without a hard drive, "Burnout Paradise's" online play is crippled. Players without the extra hardware can compare high scores, but they can't share the roads of Paradise City for online Freeburn play.

Technically, this is mentioned on the box. But, is a note on the back of the box enough? We've reached out to both Microsoft and Electronic Arts for some additional commentary. When we hear back, we'll let you know.

But first we've got some stuff to show you, facts to consider before anyone else starts pointing fingers and who the "Burnout" bad guy is.

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Vs Mode Final Round -- Off The Rails And Going Into Crash Mode ('World Of Burnout' Considered)

Posted 2/1/08 5:25 pm EST by in Burnout, LittleBigPlanet, Racing Games, Uncategorized, VS. Mode


burnoutparadiseN'Gai Croal and I have been trying to discuss "Burnout: Paradise" all week in this very special can't-stay-on-topic edition of Vs. Mode.

In Round One we did talk about the game: why I went from like to dislike to like for the game, and why N'Gai knew since the day he was born that "BP" would be awesome.

In Round Two we didn't talk about the game as much. I wound up explaining why I think "Paradise" is a better "Animal Crossing" than "Animal Crossing" and soon stopped talking about the game. But then N'Gai got us even further afield. He even proposed that this game points to some sort of nutty One Game Future.

Except that he didn't call it nutty. He left it for me to decide if it was, which I do at the top of today's concluding installment, Round Three. After my letter comes more Mr. Croal, who writes about the possibilities of a "World of Burnout" and a "Little Big Burnout."

Read on for the final letters. And soak in what may be the final drips of sanity we're going to ever pour into a Vs. Mode, given the direction these things are going in...

(These exchanges are mirrored on N’Gai’s “Level Up” bog.)

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Is 'Burnout Paradise' The New 'Animal Crossing? Would That Be Bad? (Vs Mode Round Two)

Posted 1/30/08 4:55 pm EST by in Animal Crossing, Burnout, VS. Mode


Animal CrossingThis is "Burnout Paradise" Vs. Mode Round Two and we're about to go off the rails.

In Round One, I admitted to Newsweek's N'Gai Croal that I was a tad mistaken about "Burnout Paradise," which I had loved, kind of loved, kind of loathed and then changed my mind about again.

He pointed out he had been on board all along and sang the virtues of a proper sequel-making.

None of that was too crazy. But now comes Round Two, in which I basically say that "Burnout Paradise" is a better "Animal Crossing" than "Animal Crossing."

And N'Gai backs me up!

Read on to see how we got to that point. And really, can you disagree?

(These exchanges are mirrored on N’Gai’s “Level Up” bog.)

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Croal And Totilo Tackle 'Burnout: Paradise' -- Vs Mode Round One

Posted 1/28/08 12:01 am EST by in Burnout, PS3, Racing Games, VS. Mode, Xbox 360


burnoutparadise.jpg

For the first time in 2008, Newsweek's N'Gai Croal and I are locking horns for one of our Vs. Modes. For the unitiatied, these are unapologetically long debates between me and N'Gai about major video games.

The game up for debate this time is "Burnout Paradise."

When we signed up for this exchange we had two very different views on the game. As I state in my kick-off to today's Round One:

Over the last month, you have been identified as N'Gai Croal, champion of "Paradise." You have been declared as someone who gets it by none other than head "Burnout" developer Alex Ward in a worldwide pre-Christmas address to "Paradise" demo fans and skeptics: "'OMG The Crash Mode suXXors," Ward parroted his demo's critics as saying, before countering, "Hmm, again, none of you have played it yet. N'Gai Croal at Level Up seems to like it."

I am Stephen Totilo, enemy of "Paradise" ...

Reaction to the game has been sharply divided. So not surprisingly, we had some things to hash out. But there's a big twist in this first round.

Read on to see how this one starts out.

Or just scan down to the very last paragraph to read N'Gai take a shot at me. Round Two will be published later this week.

(These exchanges are mirrored on N’Gai’s “Level Up” bog.)

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I've Got A Chubb Lane 'Burnout Paradise' World Record And A Complex Chart Of 'Devil May Cry 4' Secrets -- My Gaming January

Posted 1/15/08 11:49 am EST by in Burnout, mtv news, PS3, Racing Games, Secrets, Video Game Journalism, Xbox 360


Burnout Paradise(Below is the beginning of my latest GameFile column. For the full thing, check out MTVNews.com)

My video game January is not like anyone else's video game January anywhere on the planet. And to prove it, all I need to do is look at the map and find Chubb Lane.

Chubb Lane is a stretch of road in "Burnout Paradise," the open-world racing game that is coming out January 22. The game's publisher, Electronic Arts, sent me an early copy of the finished game last week. It was in a box, in shrink-wrap. I popped it into my PS3, made sure that my console was hooked up to the Internet so that all my records would be saved onto the worldwide leader boards, and I started driving.

I think it was on Friday when I drove over to Chubb Lane on the western half of Paradise City. I drove from one end of the road to the other in 52.10 seconds. Then I activated the "Burnout" Showtime mode, which sent my car hurtling through traffic, racking up points, in dollars, for the amount of damage I caused: $2,647,250 to be exact. My speed and damage performances were new world records. More oddly, they were original world records, displacing ... nothing. I set them first, as if I were Neil Armstrong setting the long-jump mark on the moon. And several days later I still have the records. I think that's because no one else is driving on Chubb Lane. Not yet.

The gaming life of a video game reporter is a bit strange. You get games early. You play them when no one else is around. You have to play by some odd rules. And while nothing about it is painful or worth complaining about, it is odd in ways that many gamers probably don't realize.

Check out the rest of this column at MTVNews.com

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