What should our new web address be?

Hey all, we are in the midst of picking out a new web address for our site and want to know what you think would be best. We would like to incorporate EFM or Play This in the name some where in some manner so if you have additional suggestions throw a comment in!

Xbox 360 ‘Ring of Death’ can’t defeat Play This

Ring of Death

editor@playthismag.com                                                              http://www.playthismag.com

The most infamous of issues that have become known about the Xbox 360 has finally directly affected (or attempted to affect) one of our writers while reviewing Fallout 3.

This heavy set game, which uses quite a large amount of memory and processing speed had temporary caused the Ring of Death, or the three red lights, which basically means you need to send it back to Mircosoft for your free repair.

This is not your friend

Here are your options upon getting the Ring of Death:

Trash:

If you have tinkered with your Xbox before (modded it) or broke the Microsoft seal on the actual console you might as well throw it out now or try selling it for scrap metal on Ebay.

Back to Microsoft:

If you have never messed with your Xbox 360, Microsoft has decided to do a free repair on this issue alone; however it takes supposedly three weeks at the max.

The Towel Trick:

Another suggested idea is that by wrapping a towel around the Xbox 360 while on, that for some magical reason it will become functional once again. Here are the steps and suggestions required of this, as it has now become a proven temporary fix.  It can fix the Xbox for a few hours up to a weeks worth of additional play.

What is required: 30 minutes of waiting time while on, 15 minutes of cool down time and two or more towels (must be completely dry). It would be ideal to also have a fire extinguisher handy.

-WARNING THIS IS A FIRE HAZARD-

First step:

Remove everything from the Xbox (hard drive, network cable, wireless network adaptor, controllers, etc…) everything except the faceplate and power cable.

Second step:

Place the Xbox on one towel and turn it on. Wrap the towel all the way around it and continue to wrap the other towels around the system.

Third step:

Wait 30-45 minutes for the system to temporarly overheat.

MAKE SURE YOU WATCH THIS SYSTEM IT CAN CAUSE A FIRE

Fourth step:

Unwrap the system, turn it off and let it cool down for 15 minutes. Do not place it in your freezer as the moisture could cause serious issues. You can place this near a window as it’s currently Winter and it may cool down faster.

Fifth step:

Turn on the Xbox in well ventillated area and it should work until the next meltdown.

That’s should have you up and running again, but remember this is only a temporary fix so we do suggest that you send your system back to Microsoft.

This issue is due to poor circutry in the console and by super heating it, it causes the conductors to weld together a bit stronger, but with each towel repair it’s bound to cause long term damage.

LG phone wristwatch is the talk of CES – Bond tech meets modern world

The Iphone Killer

editor@playthismag.com                                                                                                                                           http://www.playthismag.com

For those of you still out of the loop on this years Consumer Electronics Show (CES ’09) many new items will be hitting the market, but none has recieved the same hype and attention of the new LG wrist watch cell phone. There have been cell watches in the past but none have shown the potential like that of LG’s future tech phone.

Although there is no cement release date and many of the phones features are still under wraps, Play This has the scoop on what can be currently done with this Bond style watch, sorry Omega.

Features:

• 3G speeds but no network has currently claimed the watch.
• May have the ability to go across most common cell phone carriers.
• A tiny camera on the face of the phone is designed for video conferencing.
• Touch Screen, with tempered glass on the front. Not meant for fat fingers though.
• Mp3 player included.
• Has most common cell features at the moment, including video.
• Bluetooth enabled so you can use head sets instead of speaking into the phone.
• Has a great speaker phone.

Play This game: Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead is like being in a Zombie film

editor@playthismag.com                                                         http://www.playthismag.com

Zombie games usually get great reviews (Resident Evil) or flop (Evil Dead: Fist full of boomstick [Regeneration was bad ass though]) all due to how the story line is dropped on it’s user.

Left 4 Dead is just shy of perfection and with some simple updates it could easily have hita perfect score. Left 4 Dead is unlike any other Zombie game as it practically throws you into the middle of four different Zombie film types. Any where from Zombies chasing you through corn fields to a hospital filled with evil reincarnates seeking to eat your flesh.

The replayability of this game is just plain sick unless you can’t deal with the harder difficulties, where some gamers may get fed up and turned off from the game.

Boomer is like the drunk girl you picked up at the bar, he loves to puke on you.

The breakdown: Left 4 Dead

Graphics & Cinamatics:4/5

Sound FX & Music:5/5

Replayability:5/5

Multiplayer:5/5

Achievements: 5/5

Overall: 96% Left 4 Dead receives 5/5 Burritos

Graphics & Cinamatics:

Unfortunately this is the department where Left 4 Dead loses some points. There are some relatively annoying bugs in the game that cause you to become stuck in a position, only to await the next on coming horde of Zombies. When closing a door you can become pinned again an area and some reason you can not shot the door up enough to destroy it and move yourself. There are several other instances like this, but aside from these the graphics are supreme and you can tell the creators put a lot of love into this game.

They go as far as creating a commentator section, where you can go through the game and see what the creators were thinking and how they created it. They went as far as making movie quality lighting and matching music to the situation you are in. The over all graphics of the game are next generation material and look great on HD.

Sound FX & Music:

The true zombie film material is plastered all over this game, which can best been seen in the music and sound effects. The game is impossible to predict on the difficult settings, but sound and music cues help you navigate safely to your destination. All in all the music does a great job of not only helping you stay alive but build suspense and add a creepy feel.

Replayability:

Left 4 Dead is 100 percent replayable as the AI in the game has no set spawn points, spawn times and you can play in various locations. The only major downside is the minimal selection of weapons and there is no chainsaw! The VS mode shakes things up and lets you become the Zombies, which has got to be one of the coolest features to hit a Zombie game.

Multiplayer:

Multiplayer in this game is a must as you can play with up to seven other people in VS mode or three other friends in the regular campaign. The best thing about the online multiplayer… the long since forgotten two players on one console is back! You can play in any mode with you and another person on your console without having to have a second Xbox live account.

The versus mode can be one of the best things to hit zombie games, because it lets you become one of four special zombies to thwart away the survivors. Sadly if you do not use team work and are stuck with relatively inexperienced people, chances are you will not do very well. The basic idea is to wait till the survivors are separated and strike with everything you’ve got.

Achievements:

If you are looking to rack up another 800 achievement points, Left 4 Dead is the game for you. A majority of the points can be achieved relatively quick with the exception of some specialty ones that require a ridiculous amount of game play, if you can put this game down after your points that is.

Overall:

If you are any type of zombie fan this game is almost required. Don’t rent this bad boy it’s surely worth the purchase.

**Editors note

This is one of the most bad ass experiences you will get from a game, forget COD World at War, this game just drop kicked it in the face! -EvO

For Left 4 Dead cheats check out CheatCC.com

Achievements for Left 4 Dead

	Helping Hand	20
	Revive 50 incapacitated Survivors.
	Field Medic	20
	Heal 25 Survivors with a first aid kit.
	Pharm-assist	20
	Give pain pills to 10 Survivors.
	My Bodyguard	15
	Protect any Survivor from an attacking Infected 50 times.
	Dead Stop	10
	Punch a Hunter as he is pouncing.
	Cr0wnd	30
	Kill a Witch with a single headshot.
	Untouchables	30
	No Survivors take damage after contacting the rescue vehicle.
	Drag and Drop	20
	Rescue a Survivor from a Smoker’s tongue before he takes damage.
	Blind Luck	20
	You or another Survivor take no damage after being vomited on by a Boomer.
	Akimbo Assassin	30
	Survive an entire campaign using only pistols.
	Hero Closet	10
	Rescue a Survivor trapped in a closet.
	Hunter Punter	10
	Shove a Hunter off of a pinned and helpless Survivor.
	Tongue Twister	20
	Free yourself from a Smoker who has grabbed you with his tongue.
	No Smoking Section	15
	Kill 10 Smokers as they are pulling helpless Survivors.
	101 Cremations	20
	Set 101 Infected on fire.
	Do Not Disturb	20
	Sneak past all Witches in a campaign without disturbing one.
	Man vs Tank	30
	Single-handedly kill a Tank.
	Tankbusters	20
	Kill a Tank without it dealing any damage to a Survivor.
	Safety First	30
	Play an entire campaign with no Survivors taking friendly fire damage.
	No-one Left Behind	20
	Beat a campaign with all 4 Survivors.
	Unbreakable	30
	Finish a campaign without ever being healed.
	Witch Hunter	20
	Kill a Witch without any Survivor taking damage from her.
	Red Mist	20
	Kill 1000 Infected with a mounted machine gun.
	Pyrotechnician	20
	Blow up 20 Infected in a single explosion.
	Zombie Genocidest	20
	Kill 53,595 Infected.
	Dead Giveaway	10
	Heal a fellow Survivor when your own health is below 10.
	Stand Tall	20
	Survive a campaign without being incapacitated.
	Zombicidal Maniac	30
	Survive any campaign on Expert.
	What Are You Trying to Prove?	35
	Survive all campaigns on Expert.
	Nothing Special	30
	Survive a campaign with no Survivors taking damage from Special Infected.
	Burn the Witch	10
	Light a Witch with a Molotov.
	Towering Inferno	10
	Light a Tank with a Molotov.
	Spinal Tap	10
	Kill an Infected with a single blow from behind.
	Stomach Upset	20
	All Survivors complete a campaign without being vomited on.
	Brain Salad	15
	Make 100 headshot kills.
	Jump Shot	20
	Headshot a Hunter while he’s leaping.
	Mercy Killer	15
	Survive the No Mercy campaign.
	Back 2 Help	20
	Leave a safe room to save an incapped teammate and bring them back safely.
	Toll Collector	15
	Survive the Death Toll campaign.
	Dead Baron	15
	Survive the Dead Air campaign.
	Grim Reaper	15
	Survive the Blood Harvest campaign.
	Ground Cover	30
	Save another Survivor from a Special Infected while on the ground.
	Clean Kill	10
	Shove a Boomer and then kill him without him splashing on anyone.
	Big Drag	20
	Drag a Survivor 100 feet with your tongue.
	Chain Smoker	20
	Constrict two Survivors in one life as a Smoker.
	Barf Bagged	20
	Cover four Survivors with Boomer bile at once.
	Double Jump	20
	Pounce two different Survivors in one life as a Hunter.
	All 4 Dead	30
	Kill all four Survivors in one life while playing as a Tank.
	Dead Wreckening	20
	Dole out 5000 total Survivor damage as a Special Infected.
	Lamb 2 Slaughter	20
	As an Infected, incap a Survivor who has entered and left a safe room.

-Source http://www.xbox360achievements.org

Microsoft gives up on Vista and EA servers come crashing down

editor@playthismag.com                                                         http://www.playthismag.com

Steve Ballmer Chief Executive Officer

During the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show, a keynote speech provided by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has given the official word of Windows 7 (beta) being released this Friday. Thus ending the terrible days of Windows Vista and the more awkward Mojave commercials that have been eaten alive by Apple.

[Play This stands with Apple’s being designed for those artist type people who enjoy editing video/audio and not having a wide array of video games. While Windows is for the common man who just enjoys Web surfing and games. Linux is it’s own breed and you can make of that as you wish.]

A few editions of Vista has been or has been attempted to be sold to the public with failing efforts due to Apple’s ad campaigns against them and the all around terrible quality. Windows 7 is not new news, but the official word does give Microsoft some promising outlook to it’s future aside from gaming consoles. After a short fall in Microsoft stocks yesterday, after the news of Windows 7 it has been on the rise.

Get Windows 7 Beta here http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx

EA games coming back online

EA forgetting about their fans?

EA servers have been on the downfall for the last week and nobody seems to know why, and EA returns evassive responses. In early December EA games had announced roughly 1,000 employees would be cut between now and March, which very well may be why maintenance to the servers have been going down.

When Play This contacts EA their terrible support team misunderstood any type of question and forwarded us to their forums to ask fellow gamers why the situation was failing. Obviously nobody had been aware on the forums as well, but for those playing most EA games in the previous weeks have noticed a massive drag in amount of games you could access and the terrible connection to them.

As of last evening some servers have been added and some of the connection speeds of once again increased, but no official word or news has been posted by EA for this lapse in proper maintenance. So you PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers can rejoice as your games should now be working or will be working again in the next few days.