Halo Master Chief Collection’s matchmaking issues have rolled into day two unfortunately. After I got off work and got done at the gym it was nearly 8PM (MT) and I fully expected Halo’s issues to be ironed out by now, but alas matchmaking is still not running smoothly. I was met with the error message above (“The matchmaking process was not successful. Please try matching again.”) after about 30 seconds of searching for a Team Slayer match.
The most recent update by 343 was posted nearly two hours ago (another update should be coming rather soon):
Hopefully things will work out soon. Until then we wait. I guess I’ll check out Sunset Overdrive for now and maybe get back into Destiny if things aren’t up and running by this weekend.
Master Chief Collection is live today, but not without some issues. The game is currently suffering from matchmaking issues making it hard to find and get into multiplayer matches (I’ve been sitting at the screen above for 5 minutes trying to find a Halo 3 match).
We're aware of issues some have been having with matchmaking and we’re working around the clock, alongside the Xbox Live team, to address.
So far I’ve been able to play a handful of matches, however I’ve also noticed some of the matches have less than the maximum number of players in them (my last Halo 2 Team Slayer match was 3 vs 2). When it works the game is a blast. It’s been awesome getting reacquainted with the maps and nuances of each game and switching between the 4 Halo games with a touch of a button.
The menus are well designed and are incredibly quick and easy to navigate. You can select any of the campaigns (and any mission) in seconds or switch over to multiplayer with a flick of the analog stick and choose between a large variety of playlists spanning the four games.
There are playlists that just focus on a single game in addition to playlists that will switch you from game to game between matches.
There are also campaign playlists where you can choose to to play through a series of missions (or all of them) with friends.
I can’t wait to sink hundreds of hours into the four campaigns and hundreds of multiplayer maps! Hopefully the matchmaking issues get worked out soon, until then I’ll probably just play more of the campaign missions.
I had never flown an RC helicopter before but recently had the urge to do so, so last night I visited the local hobby shop and purchased the Ares Chronos CX75 and CX100 RC helicopters. The CX100 immediately caught my eye because it comes with an onboard camera that can shoot video and take still photos (a 2gb SD card is also included). Both helicopters are ready to fly right from the box after their batteries are charged.
Last night I flew the CX75 indoors to get used to the controls, and it wasn’t incredibly difficult to get the hang of flying it (I could fly it, just not necessarily well). I also flew it outside in the dark which was fun (it has a bright light on the nose) though I almost landed in on the roof of the house.
Earlier today I took the CX100 outside and flew it for the first time. It’s a bit more difficult to fly, but there are also many more modes on the transmitter and I only skimmed the manual before I started flying. In mode 4 it controls like the CX75, however for whatever reason I found it hard to control pitch. It wouldn’t fly forward and backward as easily as the CX75, it seemed like it was slower to respond. I assume this may be because I was flying in the ‘low’ control rate setting which is recommended for beginners which limits control authority for smoother flying. I may try out the ‘high’ setting on a short flight to see if that will make it more responsive (though I imagine I’ll probably crash it more often).
I wasn’t flying in a very wide open space so ultimately I crashed the CX100 about 15 feet up in a tree and had to knock it down with a tennis ball. Luckily the helicopter didn’t suffer any damage. Initially the propellers were blocked by the branch, but I was able to hit it so that it fell and was only hanging by its tail and from there I was able to fly it out of the tree. After that it wouldn’t take off anymore, but I believe the battery drained during the 5 minutes it was in the tree.
The video I was able to capture with the CX100 is pretty cool. The quality is higher than I expected from a camera included with a $70 helicopter. I also didn’t expect it to have sound which is a neat addition, although all you really hear is the buzz of the rotors. So far I’m having a blast flying the CX75 and CX100 around. Both say they’re intended for indoor use only, but I find most of the fun comes from flying them high in the air outdoors. I’m excited to learn to fly them both better and get some cool video with the CX100.
The Ravens are playing as I write this, but for once I’m taking a break from watching them struggle to survive the season. I’m still wearing my Flacco jersey, but rather than sitting at home screaming at the TV I’m savoring a Salted Caramel Mocha Frapuccino while sitting in a comfortable chair under a heat lamp on a cool early November morning.
I love the crisp blue of the Fall sky and the sound of cars passing by on the busy street. I’m enjoying the soft sounds of coffee house music floating down from the ceiling and mixing with the sound of everything around. And of course I love the coffee!
I think I love enjoying a coffee while lounging in the outdoor seating at Starbucks so much because I don’t have a porch to relax on. Sure there’s a stoop, and I’ve enjoyed my fair share of coffee sipping mornings on it, but I long for a place to sit outdoors and take everything in while reading the NYT. Someday I’ll have an outdoor space of my own, but until then I’ll continue to enjoy these mornings at Starbucks.
I’ll give Carl’s Jr. some credit, they have some pretty interesting ads. One of their latest features a woman trying to entice passengers on a plane to join the “mile high club”.
I usually don’t eat Carl’s Jr. however today I happened to be with a group of people who chose to have lunch at one, so I figured I’d give their latest attraction a taste.
I tend to prefer local burger joints over fast food in the first place (Boise’s West Side Drive In is my favorite), so I never expect much from a fast food burger anyway. The mile high bacon thickburger, however, was more disappointing than expected. The burger was small, sloppy looking and incredibly bland. There was nothing special about it, there was no taste to it. It was ugly, boring and quite gross in the long run.
If there’s anything to be said it’s that clever advertising continues to work, even if the product isn’t worthwhile. Against my better judgement I chose what I assumed was the ‘new big thing’ over the more sensible choice of a grilled chicken salad. Hopefully you’ll resist the advertising if you ever happen to have to eat Carl’s Jr., the burger is not worth trying.
I wasn’t initially planning on picking up Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, but after seeing the early reviews and looking at some gameplay I decided by the end of the day yesterday to buy it. That turned out to be a wise choice. I’ve been having more fun with Advanced Warfare than I have with any shooter in quite awhile. The multiplayer is much more fast paced than recent Call of Duty games and it’s quite refreshing. If you take the best parts of Titanfall and the best of Call of Duty you end up with a game that feels nearly perfect, and that’s Advanced Warfare.
I want to say more, but don’t have the time just yet. I can say I played the first two campaign missions and enjoyed them much more than Ghosts and Black Ops II’s missions. I’ve played a handful of multiplayer matches and have had an absolute blast. Everything feels just right and the pace of matches is much improved over Ghosts.
Yesterday I played my first two Kinect games on the Xbox One. That’s not to say the Kinect hasn’t been useful, I love using it for voice commands, streaming, logging in, switching / snapping apps, changing channels, the list goes on and on. I just haven’t used it to play a Kinect game yet (I have used Kinect features in games and enjoyed it). Last night I downloaded both Just Dance 2015 and Dance Central Spotlight and enjoyed both quite a bit.
I had never played a Just Dance game before, but right from the start I was impressed. I really love the sleek and quick menus and the collection of songs available is quite enjoyable. The game features about 40 songs but you can buy more for $1.99 a song (we bought a handful including PSY’s “Gangam Style” which is so fun to dance to I’m surprised it wasn’t included in the game).
A look at the menu on Xbox One. You can navigate either with hand motions, voice commands or with a controller.
The dancing in Just Dance 2015 is simple enough to make it accessible to just about anyone, but it can be challenging in a fun way with some more complex moves (some even requiring you to get down on the floor, or hold another dancer). At the end of the song you’re presented with a highlight reel edited by the ‘autodance’ feature which will make you look as good as possible (but still quite goofy if you’re me).
You can choose to share your highlight reel with the Just Dance community and even Facebook if you like. At the moment, however, the Facebook functionality in Just Dance 2015 is not working on the Xbox One for many users. Once it launches the IE app to connect to Facebook there’s a URL redirect error. I’ve e-mailed Ubisoft support (as have many other users) but I haven’t seen a response yet.
My highlight reel from “Gangam Style”. Not the best dancer, but hey there was alcohol involved!
There’s some multiplayer functionality available in Just Dance 2015 as well. You can compete with other dancers by adding challengers and you’ll see their scores alongside yours throughout the song. These are pre recorded scores you’re competing against but it gives you an incentive to up your game. I’ve also received challenges in my Just Dance feed from other players. I assume the game is curating these challenges rather than being issued by the players, but I haven’t played enough to know for sure. You can also compete against live dancers in the World Dance Floor mode, however I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. When I was playing last night there were on average 25 dancers online in World Dance Floor mode at any given time throughout the evening.
Dance Central Spotlight is Harmonix’s dancing game available as a $9.99 download on Xbox One. As opposed to Just Dance which bundles 40 songs into a $50 package, Spotlight charges a minimal fee for the game and throws in a small sampler of songs (10 songs) and then allows you to purchase only the songs you want for $1.99 a song (some bundles are available for $3.49). I actually like this business model of charging just for the content you want. There are quite a few DLC songs available for download already with more to come (I picked up “Turn Down for What” and “Party Rock Anthem” so far and plan to pick up a few others).
Dance Central focuses more on a core set of moves and incorporates those moves into the various songs. The game wants you to learn those moves and master them as the difficulty raises and more and more moves are introduced. From my experience Just Dance has unique dances for each song and doesn’t reuse any routines, however this can lead to quite a bit of chaos (which can also be fun). Once you learn the moves of Dance Central it’s easy to nail routines and feel like you’re not just flailing limbs around like what tends to happen in Just Dance.
So far I’m enjoying both games quite a bit and they have me wanting to check out Harmonix’s Fantasia Music Evolved as well. I may end up picking Fantasia up in the few weeks to experience some more Kinect content. If you’re looking for some fun party games that make use of the Kinect I highly recommend checking out Just Dance 2015 and Dance Central Spotlight on the Xbox One.
Every morning I wake up and tune to CNN to get a quick look at what’s going on in the world. Sure CNN isn’t the best quality news, and I quickly tire of it and head to The New York Times to get a better look at the news, it’s easy to tune to first thing in the morning.
Today, however, I was met with a message saying that “Turner Networks has removed this channel from your lineup” because of a contract dispute. Other channels missing include Headline News (HLN), Cartoon Network, truTV, TCM, Adult Swim, Boomerang and CNN en Espanol.
I hate how this always seems to happens, and don’t understand why these things can’t get settled without all the finger pointing and putting the customers in the middle of the fight. I don’t doubt the channels will return in a timely manner, I just feel like it’s a childish move.
So if you were looking for CNN this morning on DISH Network I recommend Aljazeera America as an alternate. I feel like they offer the least sensational presentation, and they’re more focused on investigating the news rather than trying to capture viewers.
Clash of Clans became popular quite awhile ago, and I’m not even sure if many of those who first started talking about it still play it. I had always known very little about Clash of Clans and had convinced myself it probably wasn’t worth my time. From what I could tell it was just another take on the Simpsons: Tapped Out model where you’re trying to construct a cool town and the more you play the more you’re tempted to spend money on the game to expedite the building process (there’s not much to do while waiting for tasks to complete).
Yesterday for some odd reason I decided to finally download Clash of Clans on my iPad. Now I’m once again stuck in the mindset that if I’m not constantly putting my builders to work upgrading my town (camp? not sure what Clash players refer to their home base as) I’m essentially throwing away time and leaving my home unprepared for a siege.
A notification from Clash of Clans that’s 30 minutes old. That’s 30 minutes that builder could’ve been put to work doing something else!
So far the game is enjoyable, more so than I expected it to be. I’m a “noob” in every sense, I’m just getting my feet wet, but basically you build up your town and upgrade facilities that collect resources (elixir and gold) which you then use to upgrade more facilities, build new buildings or defenses and train troops.
It will take one hour and 1400 gold to upgrade this elixir collector to level 4, increasing its production rate by 200 per hour.
You use your troops to complete single player objectives where you can raid encampments in order to steal elixir and gold, and also earn stars based on how much damage you do before all of your troops are killed (3 stars if you completely destroy everything). You can also raid other player’s camps, however if you do so within your first three days of gameplay you also become vulnerable to invasion by other players (for the first three days you have a shield which prevents you from being attacked. You can also purchase additional shield time with gems).
I haven’t seen any of the player vs player combat yet since I’m still within my first three days of gameplay, so I can’t really comment on that, but I presume that’s where where real fun begins. I’m also not eligible to join a clan yet, so that’s another area of gameplay I can’t comment or speculate on.
My humble little home
I’m interested to learn more about the game, but for now I’m just working on upgrading my town as much as I can to prepare for the moment I become vulnerable to invasion in two days. I’ll admit I already spent $4.99 on the game to purchase 500 gems which were required to receive a third builder. Builders are what you use to construct and upgrade your facilities and I felt too limited with just the two builders you start out with. You can earn gems without spending any money, however it will take patience which I don’t quite have.
A look at Clash of Clan’s in app purchases
Do you play Clash of Clans? Have any advice for a newbie? How about the Star War’s version, Star Wars: Force Commander?
After an exciting, though ultimately disappointing game (for those rooting for the Irish) last night between Notre Dame and Florida State, I’m reading hoping for a better result between the Ravens and the Falcons. So far it’s been pretty positive with Baltimore leading 7-0 early in the second quarter, however just as I began to write this Flacco threw an unfortunate interception in the endzone.
I’m glad to be back in the United States where I can watch football live on Sunday, rather than having to catch games on NFL Rewind (which I subscribed to while I was in Korea). It’s nice to be able to catch all the action as it’s going on, as I juggle games on my MacBook (Ravens), the TV (Seahawks) and my iPad (NFL Redzone / NFL Mobile).
I love how technology has made keeping track of gameday easier than ever. You no longer have to rely on half time updates or tickers and you can access the information you care about when you want it. With apps such as NFL Mobile and NFL Now you’re able to curate your own information (drive charts, highlights, scoring plays, stats, roster information and so on) with a few taps and swipes.
In addition to the mobile apps there’s also the NFL app on Xbox One which you can use in snap mode to keep an eye on other scores and also view stats and highlights in real time. I’ll usually snap the NFL app every now and then to get a quick look at everything assuming I’m watching the Ravens game on TV, otherwise having my iPad up next to my MacBook makes it easier to glance over at the NFL Mobile app in-between plays.
Gumballs Plays Games 