XBOX 360 E User Guide
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66 Xbox 360™Han dbook Legends of unattainable achievements are rampant on the Internet. A few are true, but most are nothing more than jokes. Are any of the following achievements more than gaming lore? It remains to be seen. You might see one running in the wild of Xbox Live. In the meantime, check these achievements and judge for yourself. Did You Know? King Kong Kiosk Demo 6 Achievements, 0 Total PointsBefore it was released, the kiosk demo for Peter Jackson’s King Kong sported six achievements. When the game was patched, the achievements mysteriously disappeared into the Xbox 360 jungle, much like the gorilla the game is based on. Barbie’s Horse Adventure Achievements 30 Achievements, 1,000 Total Points Whether you are a Barbie fan or an equestrian enthusiast, your blood might have gotten pumping at the prospect of unlocking achievements in Barbie’s Horse Riding Adventure: Horse Rally . Alas, it was nothing more than a misguided joke put out by popular gaming Web sites. Zero Hour Achievement 1 Achievement, Zero Points (get it?) Before ushering in the next-gen era, Microsoft held a prelaunch event called “Zero Hour.” Certain lucky gamers and Xbox devotees were invited to the California desert to celebrate the birth of Microsoft’s new system. Those who attended were also granted one of the first achievements ever, the Zero Hour VIP Achievement. Since you had to be there to get it, it will never be attainable by anyone who wasn’t. Lucky! Xbox 360 Launch Team Achievement 1 Achievement, 0 Total Points, Infinite Bragging Rights Perhaps the mother of all achievements is one not just anyone can unlock. It is the one that came before all others and was available only to an elite few, the Xbox 360 launch team. Having created the very system that revolutionized the way you game, Xbox 360 launch team members were awarded with this rarest of achievements. As an alternative to the achievement solution offered in the Treit & True column, Hardcore’s Hardcorner lists some of the toughest achievements to get. If you’re a purist and you want your gamer profile to reflect your awesome skills, then head to this column on Xbox.com and learn the most arduous ways to boost your gamerscore. TIP Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.
67 Making Your Mark Gaming Résumés Completing a level or winning a game be damned! Xbox.com is full of gamers with outrageous gamerscores. These players pull out all the stops to pad their profiles by unlocking achievements and increasing their gamerscores. Talk about creating a whole new way to play! These players aren’t playing to beat games; they play to build on their gaming résumé. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!Reading a gamer card tells you a lot about another gamer. More important, reading another person’s gamerscore can tell you about the kind of gamer he or she is. Predominantly high gamerscores in first-person shooters, for example, reflect a player’s skill in that particular genre. Because many FPS games’ achievements revolve around online competition, a gamerscore built predominantly on FPS titles may indicate that the player is a skilled online competitor. While it’s not a guaranteed way to gauge another player, take the following into consideration when reading a gamerscore. > High FPS achievement count: Player likes FPS titles. Probably owns online. > High sports achievement count: Player prefers sports titles. Plays offline a lot. > Low gamerscore, but many sports titles on his gamer card: Player is a sports fan, but plays mostly online. > Mixed bag of achievements: Player is well-rounded, doesn’t much spend time with any one particular genre. > Gamerscore is more than 10,000: Player is an overachiever. > Gamerscore is at or about 5,000: Player plays moderately, but often enough. > Gamerscore is less than 1,000: The player either doesn’t play very often, or spends a lot of time online. > Gamerscore is composed mainly of Xbox Live Arcade titles: Gamer is fan of arcade-style gameplay. Short pick-up games are his or her thing. > High gamerscore, but not a single title’s achievements are completely unlocked: Player probably plays a lot, across different genres. Doesn’t stay with one game too long. Of course, the above is mostly conjecture, but you will find it to be true most of the time. Keep in mind that more games come out every month, so after the Xbox 360 has been around a while, the number of games available will increase the number of achievements available to unlock. Three years down the line, a gamer with a gamerscore of 10,000 might be considered a casual gamer. Achievements have also changed the way gamers buy games. When a title comes out for multiple systems, the Xbox 360 version auto- matically has more value added with its built-in achievements. More bang for your buck! NOTE Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.
68 Xbox 360™Han dbook How Will You Play? Instead of plowing through a game the way you’re used to, you now have a second layer of challenges. Best of all, they stay with you! Because they’re tied to your gamer profile, your achievements and gamerscore accom- plishments are part of your permanent record. The question now is: How will you play? Will you contin- ue to play for the credits screen or will you play to get the credit you deserve? Now take a break from reading this book, and go unlock some achievements! Achievement Name How to Unlock Snowbird Bound! Finish Act I of the story to unlock the Snowbird resort. Vamanos a South America! Finish Act II of the story to unlock Valle Nevado. Rescued Weiner Boy! Finish Act III of the story by rescuing Weiner Boy and gaining access to the secret C.A.I. area. Reunited...and It Feels So Good Finish Act IV of the story by rescuing the rest of the crew. Big Musical Finale! Congratulations! You defeated the Baron! Northstar Nirvana Impress the required number of bystanders in each area of Northstar to Own the Mountain. Snowbird Dawg Impress the required number of bystanders in each area of Snowbird to Own the Mountain. Viva Valle! Impress the req uired number of bystanders in each area of Valle Nevado to Own the Mountain. Laax Stock & Barrel Impress the required number of bystanders in each area of Laax to Own the Mountain. King of the Mountain Lab Impress the required number of bystanders in each area of DC to Own the Mountain. Sledding Merit Badge Earn 1,000,000+ points in sledding scores. Snowmobiler Merit Badge Travel 10+ kilometers on a snowmobile. Park Designer Merit Badge Build 200+ terrain park objects. Lesser Snow God Earn any Medal for all challenges and media callouts. Greater Snow God Earn a Gold Medal for allchallenges and media callouts. Points Added to Gamerscore 70 80 90 10 0 10 0 60 60 60 40 40 30 30 30 70 14 0 Tons of user-created websites out there are packed with information about achievements and how to unlock them. Sites likewww.achieve360points.com and www.xbox360achievements.com have tutorials, forums, and lists for the overachieving gamer. TIP If you’re still not entirely clear on achievements and gamerscore, check out the following example for Amped 3. NOTE Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.
Xbox 360™Han dbookThe Official User ’s Guide 06: This Little Gamer Went to Market Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited.
THE XBOX LIVE®MARKETPLACE Everyone, from the closet shoe shopper to the avid game enthusiast, digs new things. There is nothing like cracking open a brand new something. Xbox 360 gamers are no different. Perhaps that is why Microsoft created a virtual mall in the Xbox Live Marketplace.There, 360 owners can window-shop, try out new content, and purchase to their heart’s content. They can even see a trailer for an upcoming movie! The only difference is that while the local mall might be littered with mall rats and a food court, they can visit the Xbox Live Marketplace in the comfort of their own home (mall rats not included!). Better still, shoppers don’t have to search through aisle after aisle looking for what they want and then check out through some grouchy cashier hawking the company’s credit card. The Xbox Live Marketplace is a digital storefront where you can expand on the games you play, find new games to download, give your dashboard a dash of you, and even see what’s coming to a theater near you. In this chapter you’ll learn about the goods you can get on the Xbox Live Marketplace and what you need to go on a digital downloading spree. Microsoft Money—Microsoft Points To shop, you obviously need a method of payment. You use Microsoft Points ™ to purchase digital goods on Xbox Live Marketplace. Microsoft Points can be purchased directly on Xbox Live with a credit card. Microsoft Points can be purchased at retail outlets as well. The cards are available in increments of up to 1,600 points, and you use them as you would an Xbox Live Subscription card. After you buy the card, scratch the covered portion on the back to reveal a code, enter it into your Xbox Live account, and you’re armed for your shopping extravaganza. Not everything on the Xbox Live Marketplace costs points. There are hours of free content available for perusing and downloading. 70 Xbox 360™Han dbook Getting to the Xbox Live Marketplace is as easy as one...yeah, just one. Click on the Xbox Live Marketplace button from the Xbox Live blade, and you’re there. TIP To make use of the Marketplace, you will need a high-speed Internet connection, an Xbox Live Silver membership, a Passport or Windows Live ID, and a hard drive to store all your digital wares. You can use an Xbox 360 Memory Unit rather than the hard drive, but that will severely limit the amount of room in your basket. NOTE Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.
THE DEPARTMENTS Just like any other mall, the Xbox Live Marketplace has different departments to stroll through. You can window-shop through Games, Media, Themes, and even a Featured Downloads section. 71 This Little Gamer Went to Market To purchase Microsoft Points from the Xbox LiveMarketplace main menu (or any other menu) press 3. You have the option of buying 500, 1,000, 2,000, or 5,000 Microsoft Points digitally. Select an amount, then confirm your pur- chase. It will be charged to the credit card you have on file for your gamertag account. You can also select the Change Payment option before confirming your purchase. This will let you choose a different credit card or redeem a prepaid card purchased from a local retail store. NOTE Purchased Microsoft Points don’t expire. Onlypoints awarded through promotions have expiration dates. NOTE If you bought a Microsoft Points card, skip straight to the Redeem Code option on the Xbox Live Marketplace menu to activate your digital currency. TIP You will soon be able to use your Microsoft Points on other Microsoft properties. There are plans for transactions on MSN® Spaces, and for the Zune music service. The company has its fingers in many honey pots, so you can expect to find more uses for these points in many other areas of entertainment. Did You Know? Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.
The Food Court—Games The most novel area of the Xbox Live Marketplace is its game content section. Here you can purchase and download content that bolsters your play experience. Some of the content is like dessert (new costumes for your character), while others are meat and potatoes, like several hours of new gameplay (new maps and so forth) for a title you’ve already completed.Tired of the cars you have in Project Gotham Racing® 3? Or maybe you’d like some new challenges in To m Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter ? After picking up some new content on the Marketplace, you can extend the shelf life of your favorite game. Newly Released Downloads Make this your first stop, especially if you check in regularly. After clicking on the Newly Released Downloads option (the very first option on the Games menu) you’re taken to an alphabetical list of game titles. Not every game is represented on this list, only titles for which there has been a recent content release. If a new map pack or game-inspired theme has been released for a game, you’ll find it here. 72 Xbox 360™Han dbook Most items (no rentals) purchased on Xbox Live Marketplace are available for download again at no extra cost. Say you’re running low on hard-drive space and need to delete a fewitems to make room for some HD trailers. No problem! Get rid of a few themes, demos, and so forth. When you have more space, you can download them again for free. TIP Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.
All Game Downloads Ye s , allgame downloads. Every bit of anything that has ever been released for a game will be listed here. Click on this option to go to an alphabetical list of games. If something new was released recently for a game, it will sport the “New Releases” tag to its right. Not every game in the Xbox 360 library is here, however, only games that have benefited from digital content. That includes Xbox Live Arcade games as well. 73 This Little Gamer Went to Market This is obviously the best option for newcom- ers. After checking the Newly Released Downloads section, check in here for older stuff that you might not be aware of. TIP Lazy gamers, beware! Not everything releasedon Xbox Live Marketplace will be available for- ever. If you miss out on downloading a free game or demo that was available for a limited time only, you’re out of luck! CAUTION So what is the differ-ence between the first 12 genres and Xbox Live Arcade? The first 12 genres cover retail games you can purchase at the store; Xbox Live Arcade is for downloaded game titles exclusive to the Xbox Live Arcade. So if you’re looking to download content for Dead or Alive 4 check the Fighting genre. If you’re looking to download content for Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting check the Xbox Live Arcade genre. TIPGame Downloads By Genre Gamers who know what they want usually know exactly how to get it. This section has all game downloads organized by genre. If you don’t want to sort through every game title for a particular download, don’t! Come here, pick your preferred genre, and see what’s good for you. Genres include: > Action > Adventure > Family > Fighting > Other > Platform > Racing > Role Playing> Shooter > Simulation > Sports > Strategy > Xbox Live Arcade Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.
Xbox Live Arcade™ This is the same option as clicking Xbox Live Arcade from the Games blade. It takes you to the Xbox Live Arcade storefront, where your options to find games are Newly Released Arcade Downloads, All Arcade Downloads, and Arcade Downloads by Genre. Game Demos Whoever said nothing in this world is free was wrong. Game Demos serves up small chunks of upcoming games (and even past releases), absolutely free. Check out a game before you buy it!It may be only one level, or perhaps the demo will have only two characters unlocked, but Game Demos will always serve up enough to give you a real taste of the game. This section is also separated into Newly Released Demos, All Game Demos, and Game Demos by Genre. 74 Xbox 360™Han dbook Remember how Xbox Live Arcade was its own genre in the Games list? That’s because Xbox Live Arcade has its own genres! > Action Arcade > Bar Sports > Camera-EnabledGames > Card and Board > Coin-Op Classics > Puzzle and Word > Strategy and Sims NOTE Pay attention to the banner on the Xbox Live Arcade menu. It typically highlights a new game or fresh downloads. TIP Check out chapter 7, “Arcade Action, Zero Quarters,”for more information on Xbox Live Arcade. TIP Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.
Trailers and Game Videos If you’re not the try-before-you-buy type, or simply don’t want to make room on your hard drive for a game demo, download a free trailer or game video.These are smaller chunks of game footage for upcoming or previously released titles. These trailers range from bite-sized 480p resolution appetizers to 720p side dishes (the game demos are the real meal). Depending on the resolution you choose, their size will vary from about 15MB to upward of 100. 75 This Little Gamer Went to Market Not every third-party game will have a game demo, so don’t expect every title to be in this section. All titles developed by Microsoft, how- ever, will have demos on Xbox Live Marketplace. NOTE Remember, these demos are for retail gamesonly. If you want to try an arcade title before you buy it, download the free trial version of that game in Xbox Live Arcade. NOTE Because these are demos of larger games, they require more room on your hard drive. The demos range from a few hundred megabytes to more than a gigabyte—good- sized chunks of free gaming. Be sure you have enough room on your plate. TIP You can also get to Game Demos by choosing the Demos and Game Videos option in the Xbox Live Marketplace main menu. TIP Access your game demos by going to the Games blade and clicking on Demos. Easy as pie. Manage Your Media! This section isn’t just for game trailers. Thegame videos also cover trade show events, game-sponsored events, and things like in- game strategy created by your favorite games developers. NOTE You can also get to Game Videos by choosing the Demos and Game Videos option in the Xbox Live Marketplace main menu. U.S. users can also get to Game Videos from Media and Entertainment too! TIP Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading \ expressly prohibited.