Xbox 360 Game News, Reviews, and Columns - XboxFocus

The Xbox Links: Part Uno

by Steve Wysowski May 21st 2008 12:50 AM CDT3 Comments

Once a week, The Xbox Guy will present The Xbox Links; a showcase of links, videos, podcasts, and whatever else he can find that can help satisfy your Xbox gaming needs. What is included can vary from some cheats, glitches, achievement tutorials, some cool videos, captures, funny clips, and anything else he believes is worth your time. So in a nutshell: expect the unexpected.

So I've had a rough month as far as my real life is concerned, which has effectively put this feature I had planned for quite some time on the backburner. Now that I have finally found some room to fit this into my schedule, I'd like to say welcome to The Xbox Links: Part Uno. I think you're going to enjoy this feature, as like most of you, I too aimlessly surf the internet, hoping to find some diamonds in the rough that can offer me some entertainment or information. So as the caption above states; once a week I'll bring you some interesting links and videos from across the web; offering the tips, shocks, and laughs that may be going around the Xbox community. Hope you enjoy, and I'll try to bring you some rather varied crap over the course of feature's life span.

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While I was originally watching this video below; all I could think was "Wow, the dude who made this needs to get a life". Then after I watch the video a few times in a row, I realized, "Who gives a shit? This guy actually made something pretty damn awesome that millions people enjoyed. Kudos." A video like this takes some creativity and some solid thought; I doubt many ever thought thought of taking Call of Duty 4's stellar sound effects and realigning them to a beat.

Those who have had their Xbox 360 die on them know how painful it is to send your box back to Texas for repair (well, wherever you have to send it for your rea). It's a cringe-worthy experience, and this video captures in a humorous tone what I, and many other gamers have went through. Pretty well made by handful of college kids, but warning: this will definitely bring back painful memories for those who have gone through the experience.

For those who don't know, I'm a BIG closeted Nintendo nerd (shit, the cat is out of the bag). So if you're like me (hiding your Wii behind your 360 when friends come over), you probably have imagined what it would be like to see how the two gaming worlds would mesh. Check out this Halo 3 machinima that came out last week, capturing some of Nintendo's signature franchises onto the world of Halo. The beginning is kind of slow (the Majora's Mask parody doesn't really make much sense), but the video becomes totally worth your while if you wait for the finale; a fully parody of World 1-1 from the original Super Mario Brothers. That is absolutely hysterical.

It's hard to get such a high level of quality of filmmaking from Machinima as seen in the video I'm about to show you. This video will either make you feel sad, make you laugh, or just make you think (and isn't that what movies are supposed to do?) about some really lonely people "living" in the world of Second Life.

Entitled Molotov Alva And His Search for the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey, this documentary is an eerie adventure into the brain of a second life gamer (if you can dare call one who plays second life a "gamer"). It's a truly dramatic experience, and it's quite sad to see how a Second Lifer get's warped into this fake, Internet-based world as if it were reality. The video is really well produced as well, and although it may be hard to take the characters or the world itself serious (SL might have the worst framerate of all time), the elaborate set pieces and props truly render this video as stunning piece of machinima art. Cinemax picked it up, so if you're a subscriber with the cable service, you can see all of the documentary's dispatches synched together in one nice package. But if you don't you can check it out on their website.

I'm going to wind up posting a good podcast every week or so, and rather than giving Major Nelson some extra spotlight, I'll try to find some underground personalities you've probably never heard of. Today I came across NoobToob.com and their podcasts, and I have to say I was quite surprised. They have some zany disc-jockey voices, and have a goofy, yet uncharacterstically dry, sense of humor. I found their Grand Theft Auto IV episode particularaly funny, and seeing them spoof some of the parental control freaks that are flipping out about this game is definitely worth your time. Plus, some of the Asian guy's expressions are priceless. Take a look at their page here.

I'll make sure to post up more Arby N' the Chief videos as they come flying in (the show is currently my favorite Machinima despite some "meh" voicework and the fact the creator is a dick on his blog), but since it's on a small hiatus, I'd figure I'd go and post up my favorite episode that has been released thus far. There are some great characters in this series, and while the Chief may come off as a computerized Homer Simpson, his immaturity always guarantees a few laughs (well, maybe it's just Microsoft Sam's voice saying some really perverted stuff). The Curb Your Enthusiasm music in the background is also a great touch. The video will also teach you all you Halo fanboys how to "haz recon armur" incase you've been trying to find out how to get it. Warning: it involves stealing the Millenium Falcon and sneaking into Microsoft's evil lair in Cloud City.

Yesterday, as I continued my obsessions with Call of Duty 4 (don't do drugs kids, but always remember trying to get your ratio on COD4 over 2.0 is much, much, more addictive), some crazy shit happened. I was on Showdown, taking cover in a circular formation around the map's center statue when I got picked off. Nothing really interesting it would seem at first; pretty stupid move on my part to plant myself in such a retarded position. However, when I got a chance to view the kill cam I was taken back a bit.

Apparently some bastards have figured out how to get to the top of Showdown as seen here. The glitch's makings also seems to suggest it's not fixable, as you can reach it through some "leap frog" jumping with a partner. Hope Infinity Ward can figure something out for these glitches; as ones like these can really screw up the game's quality. Check out the tutorials for the glitch below.
Alright, so that's it for this week. Somethings to look foward to for next week; some analysis on some Resident Evil videos, the new Arby N' the Chief, and whatever else I can find.