I own an Xbox 360 and You Should Too.
by Mike Agnew Jr.Growing up there was always a huge gap in my video game system lineup. It was either Christmas of '88 or '89 when I was blessed with the original Nintendo power set which included the powerpad and zapper. My house was filled with the repeating Super Mario Brother's theme throught the holiday season. I was also the only kid on the block with the power pad and that made my house the place to be. I even charged girls kisses to give it a go at World Class Track Meet. My original NES taught me about business, popularity, and that I was the fastest man alive. But all that would soon fade. 
Soon 16-bit systems became all the rage. Sure, Game Genie helped me breathe new life into the console but, even that, would lose it's luster and die.
A classic story: I had my NES on for about a week straight. I was playing Zelda with GameGenie and had several cheats turned on to be sure I would finally see the ending of the game. In Zelda you can only save when you die. It was the first game to have this save feature. However, since the cheats were on I could not die and, hence, could not turn off the system. I had finally made it to Death Mountain on a nice summer day. Jon was over and getting bored of watching me play video games. He decided to check out my baseball card collection. As he crossed in front of me, his foot caught the controller cord. It all happened in super slow mo. Jon landed hard on the floor. I was also yanked forward and fell to the right. We both looked up at the same time to see a flashing screen. Between the flickers of black and green screens we could see our hero, Link, about to walk through the doorway to face the final boss, Gannon. He would never get there, though. Stuck in that spot for all eternity, a cartridge glitch hell. I leaned over and released him from his pain. Once the system was off I realized that the NES would never be the same again. I still tell this story to the children of my town who run around carefree with their wireless controllers and Digital game DVDs. That, my friends, is how my Nintendo died. It would be 5 long years before I would eventually face that doorway again this time for real, with no cheats. As the goblin guarding the door his precious meat, I bowed my head, said a little prayer, and pressed the up arrow. I would slay Gannon that day, but not without first remembering the horror of that day.
.
It wasn't until I was in college that I owned my next system, a Nintendo Gamecube. I got it cheap and hacked the crap out it. It helped pass the time and was a big hit senior year among my roommates. Post Graduation, I fell victim to getting a Wii and a stack of gamecube games never finished. I bought it on whim while returning a printer to best buy. I thought everyone was just waiting for the store to open. Once I realized I was in line for a Wii, I figured what the hell. This brings me up to last summer when I bought an Xbox 360. Now I bought the system for one reason and one reason only: Batman Arkham Asylum. It was worth every penny.
Since I now had the Xbox I also went onto Amazon.com and bought a bunch of old games for $5-$10 bucks each. Two games I would definitely invest in is Crackdown and the Orange Box. In Crackdown you play a superhuman cop who "cracks down" on the gangs and mobsters that live in his city. It's kind of a mix between Spiderman and Grand Theft Auto. Orange Box is actually 4 games in 1: Half Life 2.0 and 2.1, Team Deathmatch, and game called Portal. Portal was just kinda tacked on at the end, but it is by far the best game in the pack. Portal gives you a gun that....aw hell just watch...
Well the Xbox has been a great investment for me. I use it as a media hub for watching downloaded movies and TV, streaming Netflix movies right to my TV, listening to music on last.fm, checking facebook, and even downloading new game demos. The Xbox will soon be coming out with its new Kenect system that is like Wii without controllers, plus voice and face recognition, so basically big brother in your living room. Jon, I have posted the only video that matters to you concerning Kenect, lightsabers. They also just released two new models of a "slimmer" Xbox 360, a 250 gig model for $299 and one with 4 gig of internal memory for $199.
But the real reason to get one is because there is both a Batman Sequel (Christmas maybe) and a Portal Sequel (Feb 2011)coming soon. Once you get on Xbox Live, my Gamertag, as always, is BigRedSign. See you there.
P.S. - To all the PS3 fanboys...your system is cool too, but I chose XBOX.
Orisinal Games is the best….tru dat…double true
by Mike Agnew Jr.
Boatload of Games to Choose From...
This is a site I stumbled upon a few years ago. I think there was a segment on G4’s attack of the show about free games to play on the Internet. I have had the bookmark for this site in my Firefox at work some time now. Yesterday I decided to reorganize my bookmarks in different categories when I came across the link for Orisinal Games once again. As I clicked the dusty link I was worried that the site would not longer exists. WHEW! It did. This collection of games is fun, diverse, and very addictive. Most of the games use just your mouse for movement and clicking, some other use the spacebar as well. All of these games were made in flash and have this amazing fuzziness to them. The author, Ferry Halim, has created a world of bunnies, bugs, puppy dogs, and pandas that can only be described as the cutest things alive. Go ahead…tell me I’m wrong.
Bunnies, Bells, and Birds
.
My favorite is the first one I played. Winter Bells. Where you are a little bunny rabbit whose only goal is to jump as high as possible. He jumps from bell to bell (and sometimes birds) to reach a higher altitude. This game as many of its siblings have open ended game play. Therefore you will be taking your high scores and displaying them on the fridge or possibly screen-capture emails to your fantasy league.
My Madden 10 Review
by MattAs a self-titled Madden connoisseur, I believe I am the only Agnewsmind.com staffer that can write a complete review. While I have not been playing Madden since the beginning, I feel that Maddens from pre-2000 are irrelevant. My Madden debut came on the Super Nintendo in 1994 with Madden 95.
- First Madden....Christmas 1994
Yeah, this was first one that incorporated a license from the NFLPA AND the NFL. This was a BIG deal back in the early days of video games. Otherwise, you would be playing as the Eagles but with made up players....like in Madden 94. In addition, the big new features were: high stepping and selectable end zone celebrations.
No need to analyze these old, crappy games. One funny note to point out is Madden 96, EVERY player is African American -- even the kickers and punters. There's nothing like playing San Fran vs. Dallas and watching Troy Aikman and Steve Young as African Americans in the prime of their career.
- Every player is African American(not that there's anything wrong with that)
Fast forward to 1999. I bought a Sega Dreamcast on 9/9/99 -- it's much publicized launch date. With this system, debuted the NFL 2k series which was meant to battle with the Madden franchise. In the beginning Madden was not available for Dreamcast so you were forced to get NFL 2k if you wanted to play a football game. As a next-gen system, the graphics blew away anything I ever played. The game play was near flawless.
- My first next-gen football game
NFL 2k was the first football game to simulate a football game presentation rather than an actual football game. Yes, so in other words, it was the first game to try to imitate a football game on TV and you had control. For the first time ever, commentators seemed real. They actually sounded like they were doing the game you were playing instead of saying the same 5 things over and over again. PLUS, STATS!! Yes, I love stats during a game. I love seeing that Donovan McNabb has thrown 5 interceptions in my game and a graphic on the screen telling me that.
The following year Sega put out the best football game I have played (I mean the most fun) NFL 2k1. This game had it all ...almost. More stats, more animations, special moves and an easier running game. Ironically NBA 2k1 is also the best NBA game of all time.
- I had the most fun with this game....
Fast forward a few years.... the Dreamcast died due to lack of third party support. Remember they didn't even have Madden? What a shame. The NFL 2k series continued as Sega continued to put out games and eventually locked up an ESPN license (prior to their involvement in broadcasting NFL games). In my opinion the Dreamcast was like Billy Gunn in 1999. Got a great push, destined for greatness, but the timing was off. I took a leave of absence from video games 2001-2003. Let's just say they were not a priority at the time. In 2003, I had a Playstation 2 and wanted to make a return to the Madden series. I heard great things about the upcoming Madden 2004 and decided to give it a shot. I bought it the day it came out.
- First Madden with Owner Mode
Being a SimCity fan, I loved the new Owner Mode. For the first time, you were responsible for the accounting of your favorite NFL team. Not only did you have to re-sign and sign free agents, draft college players, hire coaching staffs, and execute on the field, but now you had to make enough revenue each year to keep the payroll high. You could control how much parking on grass vs. parking in a lot was. Also, if you were an owner for the Eagles you controlled how much cheeseteaks cost. In Green Bay, the merchandise shops sold cheese head blocks or whatever. For the first time ever, you could save your game and pick up right where you left off. Never before had that been done.... awesome. No more quitting, saving your franchise, and having to replay what you were doing. This year marked the first year you could relocate your team! Yep, if the Eagles fans were giving me crap, I would look at the list of who wanted an NFL franchise and I built a stadium from scratch and designed my uniforms. I can't tell you how many times I relocated the Eagles to Mexico City.
- Madden 04
Madden 2005 was the SAME exact game as 2004 with the exception of the Tony Bruno's radio show now showing up in print form. You could review the headlines of the USA today for NFL stories or the Philadelphia "Examiner" for stories relating to the Eagles. This was cool since players would demand trades or contract extensions. This also marked the year of 2k dominance. The buzz in the video game world was that finally Sega's NFL 2k series had finally beaten Madden with NFL 2k5 -- regarded as the best football game ever by many.
In a Vince McMahon twist, Madden bought an exclusive license to put out the only NFL game creating a monopoly. Madden 2006 was born. Hopes were high. Of course if they knew their history, they would realize that no competition does not lead to better games. Look at Vince. The new "QB vision" was met with hate even though you could disable this feature (idiots)
So now, it's 2005 and I have Xbox 360. The first system that has HD capability adds another element to the Madden franchise. The graphics were insane. I remember playing it at Agnew's house on the 100-something inch TV. Wow. Of course, since it was a launch, it was a brand new engine and in a sense was starting over. All the little extras were GONE. You were lucky they put in a franchise mode....barely. All the bells and whistles were gone. While it played nice and looked incredible. All the other things that made the game fun for me were gone. There was a lot of room to "grow into" the next gen system. GREAT. Glad to know that they are starting over on the SIXTEENTH Madden game. People who still had PS2 and Gamecube and the old Xbox had a completely DIFFERENT game. It was like, yeah I got the best game, but I'm missing out on the party. The older gen's had all the franchise options that the new one was missing.
I barely remember Madden 07. I think I downloaded it or something. Not much better. Madden 08 was horrible...but only because I had the Wii. Possibly the worst game ever.... just because of the graphics. Ironically, I read that it is the best next-gen Madden yet. Of course.
- Can't they get anything right?
Madden 2009 marked the return of my Xbox 360.. my fourth one...due to my bootlegging. It was pretty good. It was the first time John Madden would not be featured in the game as a commentator across every platform. Chris Collinsworth and John Hammonds take over and do a great job. Come to think of it, I don't think Madden has been in the damn game for the last 3 years. Who knew? Anyway, it was better than the first 2 Maddens I played on the system so I loved it. People said it was a step back from Madden 08 but I never played that one so it was great to me. People complained about the rewind feature. Yep, you throw a typical McNabb pick? Rewind. If you are playing on Rookie Mode, you could rewind that play and do it over. Hahaha. People hated that. I also hated the challenging in this game. You sometimes could not challenge otherwise challengable plays. If that wasn't F'ed up enough, when they show you the replay during the challenge, they'll show you a replay 50 yards away for from an angle that doesn't make sense. Great. I'm challenging if my guy was inbounds and the camera angle is from a lineman on the ground at the conclusion of the play. They did improve the snow conditions. No more are the days when you play in the snow and it just looks like a dusting. Now you see a good amount of snow and having flurrying during the game with the yard lines dug out. Cool.
Oh yeah, so here's my Madden 10 review:
- First time ever... two players on the cover
When I first played this, I thought it was one of the worst in the series. The commentary is almost exactly the same with Collinsworth and Hammonds.....but yet got worse? How? It's choppy and doesn't flow together. Initially, the game play was choppy and slow. The graphics looked horrid. This year they cut in with cut scenes in between plays. The coaches will yell at you if you did something wrong.
- ahahahhahaha
The QB will yell at his WR if he throws a pick. Those graphics are not the best. I'll take it. I'd rather have that than nothing. FINALLY bells and whistles added to the Franchise Mode. We get a weekly video show that highlights the games of the week and upcoming games. Also, they announce the players of the week and where your team is in the standing. Sure, it's awkward and sometimes redundant but it's a start. After reading all the negative stuff online, I admit it's not that bad. I enjoy it. I played the game 6 more times. After adjusting the sliders and even losing a game against Agnew (he cheated with codes) online, I've changed my mind. It's possibly the greatest football game ever. I mean that in the sense of realism. The running game is realistic... including the up to 9 man gang tackles.
- New technology...
The commentary still sucks like I originally thought and the kickoffs freeze up. I love the stats and graphics on the screen. The passing AI is way more intelligent than any other Madden I played. Add in close yardage measurements, CORRECT challenges and good camera angles, flags, red flags, and cool pregame/postgame action scenes. All the online reviews HATE the halftime show... I like it. It's the extra things that sucker me in.
My Top 3 Football Games Of All Time:
1. Madden 10
2. NFL 2k5
3. NFL 2k1
I can't wait to play another game... oh yeah, I can't, my power has been out since 7:30 last night.
By the way, this game does NOT include Britney Spears, Megan Fox, or Erin Andrews NUDE!
Agnew’s Mind = Watered Down?
by MattPosted By: Matt The Actor -- Yes, shocking that this blog software didn't display my name.
Agnew's Mind has gone downhill.
Yes, it's true. What once was a prominent website has now been turned into a pile of rubbish. He should be updating this ... with invisible tables and anchors. Ever since he changed to this new blog software to host his site, Agnew's Mind has jumped the shark. From its impossible-to-use Log In GUI to its awful console page to compose new posts, Agnew's Mind has jumped the shark.
And you know we should all take take some ownership here and do a better job posting, updating, and checking the site.
And another thing: when Agnew made the transition from the old service to this awful new one, it didn't pull through my previous log-in info. But when I tried to create a new one, it already "had" my email on file. So Agnew creates some log-in for me, with a name I don't like - it's boring, and now I can't get the password. After 4 emails back and forth with Word Press, I now have a password....in Hebrew mixed with Hex.
That was easy.
And this editing tool sucks. I'm typing this now trying to avoid sub-menus and little pop ups getting in the way of this dialog box. Weird.
Face it. Agnew's Mind has sold out and gone corporate, mark, watered down, mainstream, corporate, EUROPE, whatever you want to insert here.
Super Smash Brothers Brawl……absolutely amazing
by Mike Agnew Jr.I'm usually not attracted to games sexually however....I would like to take this time say...it's never been so easy to not have a girlfriend. I put this game in tonight around 6:30....I thought I would just be able to play 5 minutes just to check it out. If my dad didn't yell at me to break me out of my trance I would have been down there all night.
I started off with the solo (which actually you can play as a coop too). It was awesome. Each level starts with a series of cinematics...that actually are pretty funny at times. The gameplay is great. And I already got my friend code ready for those of you who wanted to battle.
Do you have a Wii? No you don't have a Wii. Get a Wii! Until then keep agnewsmind on you at all times. Also someday a crazy, wild eyed scientist or a kid may show up asking about this game and if that ever happens...go buy Smash Brothers and play it with them while I steal their flying delorean.
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