Xbox LIVE Discontinuing Original Xbox Support


We can’t play Halo 2 online anymore? NOOOOOOOOO!

As of 12:00AM on February 5, 2010, it has been announced that Xbox LIVE will no longer support the Original Xbox or it’s games (even the ones playable on the Xbox 360). Their excuse is that this will make way for bigger and better things for the Xbox LIVE experience. The date of discontinuation is April 15, 2010. It is also rumored that the 100 friends list cap is due to the support of the Original Xbox, so we may see an increase on that in the near future. Major Nelson says, “We did not make this decision lightly, but after careful consideration and review we realize that this decision will allow us unprecedented flexibility for future features.” In all honesty, I assume that he didn’t have much of a part in the decision and that it wasn’t a tough one to make for that matter.

I for one I am quite disappointed in this. I already shared my disgust for this change. I loved playing Greg Hastings’ Tournament Paintball online. Shockingly, that was one of my favorite online games ever. The population died somewhat and only has glitchers now, but it was fun for it’s time. I can only hope that they make something good out of this painful change. Please leave a comment below expressing your opinion on this big change that Microsoft has issued.

Colouring AMV


Video by: ZorinBlitz2

I thought this was one of the best AMVs that I’ve seen in a long time and just had to post it. Be sure to rate it 5 stars for awesomeness ^-^ Rock on Zorin!

Submit Your Own Review!

Have a video game you really enjoy? Want to write a review and have it published on a website? Then here’s your opportunity! We here at DUSTxDEVIL.com are taking user submitted reviews and all you have to do is email your review to me here. In order for you to have your review submitted, you will need to have an account here (Click Here for help) on the website and please include your username with your email. If reviews do not meet certain requirements or just aren’t good enough, they will be rejected and an email will be sent notifying you as such.

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I hope to see many of you take advantage of this opportunity.

Total Kickass Game Awards of 2009

Game of the Year – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Best 360 Game – Halo 3: ODST
Best PS3 Game – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Best Wii Game – New Super Bros. Wii
Best PC Game – Killing Floor
Best PSP Game – Final Fantasy: Dissidia
Best DS Game – Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Best DLC – Fallout 3: Broken Steel Expansion
Best XBLA Game – Banjo-Tooie
Best PSN Game – Resident Evil: Director’s Cut
Best Downloadable Game – Battlefield 1943
Best Beta – ModNation Racers
Best Soundtrack – DJ Hero
Best Cast – Batman: Arkham Asylum
Best Male Lead – Mark Hamill as the Joker
Best Female Lead – Claudia Black as Chloe Frazer
Best Developer – Bioware
Biggest Disappointment – Resident Evil 5
Best Sequel – Assassin’s Creed II
Strongest Story – inFamous
Best RPG – Dragon Age: Origins
Best FPS – Modern Warfare 2
Best Singleplayer Game – Batman: Arkham Asylum
Best Multiplayer Game – Borderlands
Best Multiplatform Game – Modern Warfare 2
Best Protagonist – Cole MacGrath from inFamous
Best Antagonist – The Joker
Best Remake – Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
Best Simulation Game – Forza Motorsport 3
Best Rhythm Game – The Beatles: Rock Band
Best MMO – WoW: Wrath of the Lich King
Best Horror Game – Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Best Sleeper Hit – Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Best Racing Game – Pure
Best Fighter – Marvel vs Capcom 2 (XBLA and PSN)

The above list was compiled by Dusty and Manorly and is based on their own opinions.

Movies with Mano: Monsturd

I’ve made December a type of unofficial horror movie review month. So, while writing this Monsturd review, I decided that it would be awesome if during this final week of December, I decided to give you one last article on horror flicks while we head into 2010, with my 10 favorite horror flicks of all time. This is set to be published on New Year’s Eve so keep an eye out. Without further ado, though…I give you the review of the no-budget 4321 Productions introduction: Monsturd.

What do you get when you combine two guys, a movie pitch about a killer piece of feces, and an endless supply of crap jokes and puns? What happens when you give this movie no money backing? Well, first of all, you get a movie which could primarily end up as its beast does at the end of the flick. However, does Monsturd deliver where other horror movies have failed? Read this review to find out.

Filmed in a course of two years by writer/directors Dan West and Rick Popko, Monsturd stands out from the masses of other horror movies that the audience has encountered in the past. Where really horrible movies try to take a serious approach with their off the wall creatures, Monsturd knows that it’s going to end up being a joke horror flick, and embraces the nature. Opening with a scene filled with rain, a doll house, and toy truck intended to be our storyteller’s humble abode, the audience is given prior knowledge that the movie had little to no budget backing. By the end of the movie, it seems that this could be easily mistaken as a college student’s final for a film class.

However, with no budget and a free cast, Monsturd delivers really well. With a somewhat comedic story and pun-filled script, the movie progresses through its eighty minutes quite well. At some points, the audience will question why they’re wasting their time with a movie about killer dookie and want to turn it off, but the comical seriousness of the film will have them captivated until the end credits roll.

So what about the story? Monsturd surrounds a serial killer named Jack Schmidt (played by Brad Dosland) who escapes prison and is chased into the sewer, only to fall into Dr. Stern’s strange acid that was dumped only a few hours before. Jack is seemingly disintegrated and left for dead by the police. However, there were particles of feces in the acid which bonded with Schmidt’s DNA to make a giant killer number 2. The story gets more farfetched from there, going through some mediocre character developments and comical situations, and leading to a hilarious final confrontation between the people of Butte County and our killer colon cannonball.

Though the film has no financial backing or acting talent, and West and Popko have no cinematic experience, Monsturd delivers as a comedic effort. Unfortunately, if you’re not someone who can sit through a poorly made movie and have the patience to appreciate what was put into the flick, this movie wouldn’t be recommended. In fact, if you aren’t a film student, I wouldn’t recommend this movie to you. However, this isn’t about what you’ll think of the flick.

So, in closing, I give Monsturd 7 black bananas out of 10.

Final Verdict:

7/10

Joey’s Christmas Gifts

What I got for Christmas was:

Fight Club (Blu-ray)
Ghost in the Shell (Blu-ray)
Ghost in the Shell: Season 1 (DVD)
Ico (PS2)
Persona 3: Collector’s Edition (PS2)
Odin Sphere (PS2)
Resident Evil Wiimake (Wii)
Resident Evil Zero (Wii)
Metroid Prime: Trilogy (Wii)
Okami (Wii)
Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)
My 2 front teeth. :D

Dusty’s Christmas Gifts

Well I felt like making a list that I can link everyone to when someone asks so here it is.

Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition for PC
Mad World for Wii
Dragon Age: Origins for 360
MagnaCarta 2 for 360
Okami for Wii
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne for PS2
Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Collector’s Edition for PS3
God of War Collection for PS3
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles for Wii
Metroid Prime Trilogy for Wii
Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines for PSP
RC Helicopter
Razer Lycosa Keyboard
Two Rice Steamers (lmao)
Audio Mixer
Microphone
2000 Wii Point Card
Two Kingdom Hearts t-shirts and a System of a Down shirt
Gamestop and Play N Trade gift cards

Well that’s about it.
Comment below with your list, I’m really curious to know!

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Movies With Mano: Joy Ride 2

In 2001, Clay Tarver and J.J. Abrams teamed up with John Dahl to invent a monumental horror flick. Starring Steve Zahn, Paul Walker, and the beautiful Leelee Sobieski, Joy Ride took off, and set itself as one of the last amazing horror movies to be made. Unfortunately, every horror movie has a potential sequel. Joy Ride was no different. In 2008, Bats director Louis Morneau teamed up with James Robert Johnston and Bennett Yellin to bring Rusty Nail, our antagonizing trucker back to life.

There are many things I can say about this movie that I say about a lot of other horror movies. Fortunately for Morneau and crew, it would not be that this one is a waste of time, although I can’t say the movie was much more than mediocre. The script was well done, and the cinematography was far from disappointing. The direction itself was amazing with the budget that the crew was given. However, these things are only the foundation of a movie; the real test is in the execution.

Nicki Aycox picks up the role of Melissa, a young woman thrown into a horrible situation after her fiancé, Bobby (played by Nick Zano) is kidnapped by trucker Rusty Nail (portrayed by Mark Gibbon). Together, Melissa, her sister Kayla (Laura Jordan) and Kayla’s MySpace lover Nik (Kyle Schmid) must complete objectives given by the seemingly omnipotent trucker in hopes of saving Bobby.

The story pans out really nice, flowing smoothly and keeping the attention of the viewer. However, fans of the horror genre in general will find themselves staring down clichés from numerous other films, and will be guessing the progression of the story with ease about the time the one hour mark rolls around. As I said, the story is good, however, Johnston and Yellin went way off course with this movie. Where the majority of Joy Ride (Roadkill in some countries) took place with full speed, adrenaline-inducing car chase scenes, its sequel moves slower, and the only scene that catches the predecessor’s feel is incredibly short.

The character development in the film is good in some aspects. We begin to see an evil side to Melissa as the story unfolds, and our bad boy Nik begins to crumble near the end of the film. Unfortunately, for fans of Joy Ride, Rusty Nail has changed. There are scenes where he goes as far as torturing two of our main characters, where in the previous film, he had a Lecterian character about him, making it all a game. This literally killed the movie for me, and is bad on our script writers, who should have taken the mentality of our antagonist into mind when thinking of scenes like this.

Overall, Joy Ride 2 is a film worth watching on a rainy day. The casting was superb, the story itself unfolded well and was easy to watch, and the cinematography was up there with some of the better movies of this decade. Unfortunately, its lack of closure and character development stunts what could possibly be an unbelievable film. This movie isn’t a waste of time, but I’d suggest saving it for a rainy day.


The Verdict:

5/10

XBL Holiday Rush

Major Nelson announced earlier this week that MS would be holding XBL deals starting Dec. 18 – 21. Keep an eye on your dashboard every day for the next week to see if you can snatch anything worthwhile. Today’s holiday deal is the 2010 glasses for your avatar, and can be obtained here: http://bit.ly/6I3s6t

The Army of Two: TFD Demo dropped yesterday, and my friends list is lighting up with potential buyers. Check the review section later this week to see my review of the demo itself, and my speculations for the outcome of the game.

Next week is going to be a big week for XBL Games on Demand, they’re dropping some big titles onto the marketplace including Lost Planet: Colonies Edition, and Devil May Cry 4. Gears of War will join the lineup December 29, just in time for the new year.