Starting TONIGHT, Friday at about 7pm, Ill be hosting a dedicated server in Rainbow 6 Vegas 2! As part of the Xbox Live Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Live Weekend promotion, and party (which is already underway as I write this) its 72 hours of giveaways -- that's one an hour for those keeping score.

You can find the dedicated server in Team Deathmatch listing when searching to join a match under my gamertag (ebstone). Ill also be jumping in and out of the game the entire weekend, so look for me as well.

Here is a list of some of the events going on this weekend :

• Frag Doll Friday -- The party starts @ 6 and ends @ 8pm
• Play & Win Weekend -- 3 days on non stop R6V2 action
• R6V2 Sweepstakes -- Dozens of cool prizes including a trip to Sin city
• PEC Contest -- Dress, Impress & Upload

See ya in the streets ...

Be sure when playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 this weekend to stop by the dedicated server I have set up under my Xbox Live gamertag (ebstone). It will be listed under Deathmatch & Team Deathmatch for you to join.

Game settings are as follows : All maps in the rotation, 16 players, unlimited respawns, 30 seconds in between matches, no restrictions.

The server will run from Friday night thru Sunday night (with the exception of my personal playing time being the only thing that will interrupt it).

I finally got a chance to play Rainbow Six Vegas 2 last night. In my opinion, it's awesome! Many may say its just like the first game, and in many ways, they would be correct. But, if your like me, and loved the first game, that's not a bad thing.

R6V was one of the few games on the 360 to this day, that had me truly addicted. Yes, up until 4am and sometimes seeing sundown, and then sun up without sleeping. There was many a night of falling asleep with the controller in my hand in team deathmatch. Good times people! And yes, about 11pm last night, after about 2 hours worth of playing the deuce, that same addictive feeling, -- returned once again -- and it felt damn good!

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has better guns, a new ranking system, as well as being able to design your character -- male or female (this time around), from the ground up. They start you off with some pretty sweet armor and colors, and you can unlock more as you move up the ranks in a variety of classes. Multiplayer maps are awesome, although those familiar with the rainbow series will notice a couple of remakes among the selection of maps, but just the same, added in the maps is the ability to penetrate the cover that your opponents use to be able to cowardly hide behind previously. To a certain extent, a portion of the environments are destructible as well. Try throwing a grenade at a pile of tires someone is hiding behind and see what happens.

Overall the game has been improved in many of the places fans of the first game wanted it to be. If it seems to many like they are playing an add on rather then a whole new game, then so be it, but this is Vegas, and just like its real world counter part, lets face it, no matter how many times you go back, the scenario may not change, but its still always a blast each and every time you return.

In my opinion, Burnout Paradise had to be one of the biggest sleepers in recent game release history. If you haven't played it, your missing one hell of a game. Don't go by the demo that you may have downloaded. It doesn't do the game justice. In fact, the demo doesn't show off nearly a 10th of what the game can do or does.

Just driving around the huge city, alone or with a group of friends is a total blast. You can free ride or do the challenges together to gain achievements. This version of burnout is MUCH different then previous versions in the series. I personally like it alot better. But for certain challenge and to get certain marks, you need a certain amount of players. That tends to be a problem. You see, only a limited number of friends on my list who actually have the game have been on at any given time. This poses a  problem when trying to get some of the achievements.

What I'm proposing is a "Burnout Paradise Rally Night". A night when all of us who own the game (and even those who want to rent it for the evening) can meet up and drive around the city together and get some of those achievements that a greater number of players are required to participate in the game. I know and I have spoken to several of you -- and each has expressed that you wished that there were more people on your friends list that owned the game, so I figured if we set aside one night long enough in advance, that would give everyone enough notice and people could plan for it, thereby making the night a success.

If interested in such a night, drop me an XBL message.

Due to release this week from Ubisoft Studios Montreal is Rainbow Six Vegas 2, the sequel the one of the best Xbox 360 shooters, and one of the most anticipated releases of 2008.

For those who played the first game, more then likely they never stopped playing it. With its deep storyline, and action packed online multiplayer modes, along with two of the most awesome downloadable content map packs available on the Xbox Live Marketplace, gamers continue spending time in Sin City.

With the release of Rainbow Six Vegas 2, there are no signs of anyone packing their bags and going home anytime soon. New character customization, 11 new weapons, along with new maps, new co op, and a whole new storyline, its sure to keep gamers busy for quite a while.

Ofcourse you can expect that in the months to come there will be plenty of gamer nights and special events devoted to Rainbow Six Vegas 2 organized here at the FOEB. Actually, there is no time like the present to start planning them. So, here is this weeks schedule:

Monday March 17th @ 9pm : Warm Up, and go green on St Patrick's day with us & Rainbow Six Vegas. Perhaps your a bit rusty and out of practice? Haven't played the game in a while? Well then your going to want to make sure to show up for this event to sharpen those skill, as to not be embarrassed when the new game is released.

NOTE : Be sure you have BOTH the RED and BLACK map pack add ons for the game as we will be playing ALL MAPS available.

Wednesday March 19th @ 9pm : Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will be out, you'll have had a chance to get use to it a bit, and now its time to test your skill against some live players in the new multiplayer maps. Join us and see how you fair against some competition. We hope to see you there.   

Unreal Tournament 3 Fans (of the PS3) rejoice! Its the weekend. That can only mean one thing. Its time for some Unreal Tournament 3 PS3 dedicated server deathmatch fragging.

Starting at approx 6pm est tonight (Friday) Ill be starting up my PS3 dedicated server, in deathmatch mode for all to enjoy. It will be 16 player, with all default maps, on default settings. To get to the server, search deathmatch, and look for the server PSN ID ebstone as the server host.

The server will run throughout the weekend in deathmatch mode until Sunday night at approx 7pm est.

If you have any suggestions for what the server should be in the coming weeks as far as settings, gametype, map selection etc, just drop me a note over at the Playstation Network. My ID there is ebstone

Enjoy

If you're tired of Middle Eastern villages and Russian forests, take heart: Infinity Ward has some shiny new battlefields on the way soon ... [More]

I for one am glad to see that they are FINALLY coming out with some DLC for this game ... way overdue. I'm hopeful that the wait was well worth it, and by the looks of the game and how well its done since its release, if the new maps are anything like the recent patch release and fixing alot of things that quite frankly needed fixing, I'm sure the DLC won't disappoint.

No release date as of yet, so "soon" could mean next week, or next month ... All I know is I cant wait.

If your a fan, like I am, of the F.E.A.R. series, then you no doubt are looking forward to the impending release of the next chapter called Project Origin, hopefully due out sometime in 2008.

A bit confusing to many, this series has always been deep in storyline, and tough to follow if you look to closely to who actually makes the game as far as development and publishing. In fact, we aren't quite sure who owns the rights to the game at this point. All we know is it might be made by the same people, and if you take a look at the brand new trailer below, the game continues to have the same look and feel (which we are totally up for) as the previous chapters in the series.

Either way, and no matter what, by the looks of things, this is going to be (like past games) one sweet game! Check it out. 
 

Here is an update on the MLB 2K8 league that will hopefully be created, and get underway this coming week. We currently have 11 teams with owners. They are as follows :

• New York Mets : ebstone
• Boston Red Sox : Gamebreaker81
• Los Angeles Dodgers : Illmatica247
• Washington Nationals : Joe Da Fan
• New York Yankee : Vilehook
• Philadelphia Phillies : Arriba la rasa
• Kansas City Royals : Zito9420
• Cleveland Indians : Newman7575
• Minnesota Twins : Tattooed Peter
• Detroit Tigers : batt2rm
• Colorado Rockies : yankeepa 

That makes 11 teams altogether. We need an even number devisable by 2 (for playoff purposes), which means we still need a 12th team. Anyone who knows of someone on their friends list who might be willing to join the league, please drop me an XBL message to my gamertag (ebstone) and let me know their gamertag and team they want. Hopefully we will get this organized ASAP and get the league underway.

Thanks

Its tough not to judge a "game by its publisher". Not being a fanboy, some may see that EA logo and think, "hey, there is no way that game could possibly be any good".

But the trailers you downloaded from the Xbox Live marketplace, constant Army of Two talk around your favorite gaming site, and with one eye still on COD4, and the other looking on your local retail self for a purchase for something new to buy until GTA4 comes out in April, Army of Two is looking sweeter by the minute.

Originally delayed from the fall of 2007, Army of Two is a game that relies heavily on, and is all about, co op gameplay. You can play through the games campaign with the AI as a partner, or with a friend on or offline. The game also has a 2 vs 2 multiplayer mode. I have only played (and this review is based on) through the first few levels of the campaign and with a friend, Vilehook, online.

The game begins with taking you through a short tutorial that teaches you the basics of the controls, and flow of the game. Pretty straight forward, and perhaps more importantly, it begins to give you an indication of the kind of scenarios you'll be facing and what to expect. From the opening "This is combat. You can die in combat." You know you in for one hell of a game. After the tutorial you jump straight into action with your partner. The action is always fast and furious. You need to continuously think and work with your partner. Working alone or going off on your own, will certainly make this game both hard and over very fast for the both of you. Its made that way on purpose. The other thing that you will notice, and one of the more incredible things about this game is that the AI has this ability to learn how you play. Both as your partner (should you be playing with an AI partner) as well as the enemy AI. You are aggressive, the enemy is aggressive. You back away, the enemy starts to learn this really fast. You get good really fast at the game, the enemy gets incredibly good, incredibly fast. Quite unique in a video game. Many games claim this, Army of Two actually does it.

Each mission gets more difficult as you progress through the game, with a nice variety of objectives thrown in each level. For each objective you complete, you earn money. Its all about the money. With money, you can shop for better weapons, and of course, better combat masks. Its all about style as well. Style, money and the occasional, (ok more then the occasional) four letter word make Army of Two extremely entertaining and fun to play.

One thing that you immediately notice about this game is the graphics. Top notch. Frame rate is great, and the game that we played online was lag free. The action got heavy at time with many enemies coming at us from all directions, with alot of firepower going in off. The effects at some points were stop and say wow, and the character models were some of the best you have probly seen in a while. Its safe to say that when they decided to delay the game from last fall until now, it was probly worth it. Then there are the cut scenes, which help tell the story. These are by far some of the best rendered ones I've seen thus far on the Xbox 360. Its fair to say, even if your a person who would generally gets up to get a drink during cut scenes, you might want to sit and watch a couple of these.

Sounds and environments are awesome in Army of Two. The atmosphere and the maps you play in are all rendered and have a great feel to them. When you high up in the jungle you feel like it. When your 5 stories below ground and seemingly trapped, you know it. The feel of the game is genuine, in the presentation, right down to the controller when your dragging your partner, his weight is felt in the controller and mashing of the button to drag his body to safety and heal him.

The bottom line is this. After a rank of 55 COD4 becomes very repetitive. The challenge is lost on it, whereas Army of Two is a fresh and pleasant surprise to co op gaming, and something other developers could learn from in many areas -- including the way to implement co op in their games, to graphic development, and how to present their games and make them flow better.

There have been, in my opinion, alot of less then stellar games released in the past 3 or 4 months. I've purchased 1 or 2 that have gotten my 60 bucks and I have to say, I've regretted it. I've started to feel as of late that publishers and developers are getting lazy and releasing crappy games.That it might be time that we as gamers start putting a higher standards on the games we buy.

Army of Two is a great game. It was held back, and probly for good reason. I'm never a fan of delayed release dates, but when it pays off, as it obviously has here, its worth it. But it also great to see that a game can be made that actual thought was put into it and time was take in many areas, where we recently see developers cutting corners that are important to essential game manufacturing. I've only played it for about 4 hours, but it seems real stable and the experience was enjoyable, and that's been a rare statement as of late with a new game. But when you think of it, and the amount of money we all spend on games, shouldn't that be a more common feeling when we put down the controller at the end of the session?

Do yourself a favor. Take COD4 out of your 360 tray, and put Army of Two in for a bit. I'm not saying drop 60 on it (if you did though, I don't think you would regret it at all). Rent it. But at least give it a chance. Something besides COD4. I'm telling you. It just might be the most fun you have had since mid November ... LOL ...

Peace

This week, after 17 seasons, Brett Favre, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, retired from professional football. Probly a surprise to most, especially after the record setting year he had this past season.

I think each of us who watched Favre has our own memory of his career. I was fortunate enough to see him play live several times. But my fondest was just several years ago here at Giants Stadium. Jets vs Packers. Jets needed the win to get into the playoffs. We had great seats. Fifty yard line, seventh row, Packers side. Ill never forget it. Favre stepping back in the pocket and launching the ball. It actually whistled as it went through the air, and as it hit Donald Drivers hands, the cracking heard, you swore he broke his fingers, and we were 50 feet away from the sideline were he caught it. Simply amazing. Its one thing to see it on TV, its another thing to witness it live. I knew I was seeing greatness, and just to check myself I paid attention the next down when Favre did it again. One thing I know, without a doubt. That day I saw a one of a kind. I saw a legend. I'm never seeing that again. Just thinking about it now ... awesome.

The Jets won that day, and being a Jet fan, I still was amazed at Favre's performance, which was all I could think about. Not even that the Jets made it in the playoffs. Yeah, that amazing.

You don't see many like Brett Favre, nor will you ever again. There are many with skill, just not many that are legends. Farve had the talent, but he had so much more. He had the ability to pull a play from nowhere and make things happen on a field that others could not. He defied tradition, and many times he made something out of nothing. He entertained, and really, in the end, that's what made him a notch above the rest. Years from now, that's what will keep him many notches above the rest.

Favre played the game like he was out in the front of the house in between two telephone polls, or the schoolyard or dirt lot down the block. When everyone said you cant do it that way, Brett would probly answer why not? He played the game with a simple mentality. Get the ball in the endzone ... period. Sometimes, that was done in some pretty odd ways. Many times you had to take a second look and many times question what you were seeing, and then believing he made happen.

Desire. That is what fueled Brett Favre. It's what made him step on Lambeau Field in Green Bay each and every week. Its what made him play the night after his fathers passing, and to play 17 years in the NFL. That's a really long career. One that you, I and every football fan wont soon forget, nor would we want too.

The Brett Favre Tribute @ packers.com

Today, Friday, is the final day to get your team reserved for the online league I'm running for MLB 2K8. Below you will find a list of teams that are currently reserved and the owner of that team. In  a perfect world, I would like to create the league over this coming weekend, have everyone join immediately, and opening day be Tuesday March 11th, 2008.

This years game has a somewhat steep learning curve to it, due to the new control scheme as well as new pitching and batting stick control that everyone is forced to conform to online when playing in a league, so if the majority of players feel they need more time to get use to the game, I don't think anyone would be opposed to putting off starting the league a few days or a week. Let me know what you all think.

Here is the list of reserved teams and owners :

• New York Mets : ebstone
• Boston Red Sox : Gamebreaker81
• Los Angeles Dodgers : Illmatica247
• Washington Nationals : Joe Da Fan
• New York Yankee : Vilehook
• Philadelphia Phillies : Arriba la rasa
• Kansas City Royals : Zito9420
• Cleveland Indians : Newman7575
• Minnesota Twins : Tattooed Peter 

As you can see, there are currently 9 teams. We need an even amount, divisible by 2. That would mean we need one more team. At ten teams I will close and lock the league and then create it.

Proposed League Guidelines
After looking through the game briefly, I'm  putting forth the following guidelines for the league before we start. Anyone having any suggestions, Please contact me with your thoughts.

• Pro Difficulty
• 16 game season
• 8 Teams make the playoffs
• 3 Game Playoff series
• Trading On
• Injuries On

Let me know if anyone gets the 10th player and also if you have any suggestions as far as guidelines for the league structure.

Thanks