15 Years of XBOX

The 14th of November, 2001, a year after Sony launched the PS2, 10 months since then-President George W. Bush took office in the White House, and two months after series of attacks on American soil. Microsoft's CEO Bill Gates thrown the gauntlet as he told the gaming world that Microsoft accepted their challenge to create their very own gaming console we know as the XBOX. The year 2016 marks the 15th anniversary of the XBOX console gaming as a whole and with the XBOX spawned three different generations from the first one, to the XBOX 360 of 2005, up to 2013's XBOX One, 15 years of progress have shown that Microsoft accomplished their goal to create a gaming console to up the ante in the console gaming revolution.

So, 15 years of XBOX, and as the world honors the XBOX's 15th anniversary with loads of memories of their favorite XBOX hits such as HALO, Forza Motorsport, Gears of War, Project Gotham Racing, and many others, rest assured that the original XBOX cannot be forgotten and let's investigate Microsoft's entry to the console gaming revolution, back in the time when the Dreamcast is fading away while the Gamecube and PS2 are surging like a power surge.

It all began with a project involving numerous laptops disintegrated into pieces following Microsoft's cooperation with SEGA to support Windows CE on the Dreamcast. After its cooperation with SEGA in terms of network connectivity to a short-lived console, the XBOX was born and its innovative features set a template to future gaming consoles to come.

Although the Sega Dreamcast is the first console to provide online connectivity, the XBOX pushed online connectivity further with a fee-based XBOX Live service launched a year later, allowing its subscribers to play multiplayer games and download new content via broadband connection. It was the first to offer an 8GB or 10GB HDD, which eliminates the dependent use of memory cards like what the PS2, the Dreamcast, and the GameCube do. Whereas the Dreamcast failed, the XBOX rose to prominence and such success was carried out to its successors such as 2005's XBOX 360 and 2013's XBOX One.

For the past fifteen years, the XBOX garnered 222,468,423 players, 100,539,390,670 total gaming hours, 29,000,304,183 total multiplayer hours, 32,667,582,157 achievements unlocked, 572,605,554,587 Gamerscores (with the highest gamerscore is a legendary 1,416,465), and 4,233,891,482 friends made. With hit XBOX greats like HALO and Forza Motorsport, there's more to celebrate 15 years of XBOX by whatever means necessary.

Cheers, XBOX! And here's for another 15 more years!

Report: http://news.xbox.com/2016/11/15/celebrating-15-years-xbox/

Forza Horizon 3: Tricolore

The Lamborghini Aventador, the Pagani Huayra, and the Ferrari F12. They are the three kings of the Italian exotic hierarchy and when these three Italian V12 kings face each other, they can all see their true selves. When it comes to measure its styling, performance, and how a driver behaves, it's everyone's guess because while these cars reign the supercar realm by its iron fist approach, what they differ is how they perform as a car made for the elite few.

Of course, I did record a little message about something regarding these three kings of the exotic realm. Shall I play the tape for your understanding? Time for a message playback on what I said about these three from a distant past.

(clicks button)

The F12 maybe the most powerful of the three but because the F12 is a class apart from these two, apart from the fact that both the Lambo and the Huayra are mid-engined royalties, it can't just storm in recklessly because despite its power advantage, its drivetrain is what confuses these two. Although the Aventador and the Huayra's V12 engine produces the similar power output, the Aventador is the most fun car to drive because its ancient engine sounds so natural to our ears (because it's naturally aspirated), its gearbox is so fun to shift than double clutches, and overall, it's so generous to drive even if you're not paying attention. The Huayra, though, even though it's a rear-wheel drive scaremonger, is just plain serious. Serious about getting the best lap times with its capabilities as a track weapon and a grand tourer in its own right.

Okay, now that you get the idea, let's translate these words into action and since this is FH3, a certain area from the Outback that was onced used for street racing purposes in mind was made to see how good these three are. As always, fastest time wins so let's hit these three kings on the outback roads.



And now, the results...

F12 - 2:29.383
Aventador - 2:25.779
Huayra - 2:23.577







It's amazing that even though the rivalry between the prancing horse and the raging bull is still as hot as Vesuvius, the outsider from Modena that is Pagani is still reigning as hard as a gladiator in a Roman coliseum, beating both the horses and the bulls. Sounds rhetorical but because no Italian supercar maker does it better than the hands of Pagani, the Huayra is a clear example why an exquisite underdog like Pagani can outlash the likes of the more established ones like Lamborghini and Ferrari. This battle between these three maybe over...







...but the so-called Holy Trinity of Italian supercar hierarchy got something special in store. So, what's it going to be? You'll find out later.

FIA Formula E 2016-2017: Marrakesh

As Marrakesh, Morocco held their annual Climate Change Conference, the second round of the FIA Formula E championship is using the conference's hosting city as an opportunity to promote the future of zero emission motorsport to the global masses and while using the climate change conference as a marketing ploy to promote the FIA Formula E Championship, the second round have been quite a blast for the racers and spectators alike, especially when two cars engaging on a close-quarters combat for the desired spot.

Sebastian Buemi from the Renault e.Dams team is the winner of this race while DS Virgin Racing's Sam Bird finished second and Mahindra's Felix Rosenqvist finished 3rd.

Highlights:



The next race will be set on Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the 18th of February, 2017.

Let's Do The News! (November 15, 2016)

- Danilo Concepcion, the dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law was named as the national university's president. The 11-member UP Board of Regents voted for Concepcion to replace Alfredo Pascual who will end his six-year team on February 2017. Concepcion is also the executive director of the UP Bonifacio Global City campus, which hosts graduate classes of various colleges.

- President Rodrigo Duterte gives a green light on the Philippine National Police to proceed with its firearms procurement from the United States. PNP chief Director General Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa said yesterday the President approved the deal during last week's Malaysian trip.

- Senator Leila de Lima admitted her relationship with her former driver, Ronnie Dayan, but denied other allegations linking her to the drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison grounds.

- US President-Elect Donald Trump's appointment of former Breitbart News president Steve Bannon as his chief strategist sparks fury as Breitbart news was known for causing conspiracy theorists and became the forefront of the "alt-right" movements. If that wasn't enough, Trump even gave thanks to the infamous conspiracy theorist and Infowars presenter Alex Jones.

- More quakes continue to rattle New Zealand following a powerful tremor struck the South Island. The magnitude 7.8 quake struck early Monday and triggered tsunami waves of up to 1.5 meters were observed about 40 minutes later along the coast of Kaikoura. Two people are confirmed dead as of this writing.

- After its global success, the first-ever Ford EcoSport compact crossover has finally arrived in the USA and it will make appearance at this year's LA Auto Show. The new EcoSport is powered by a choice of either a 1.0L three-cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost or 2.0L 4-cylinder engine, mated with a 6-speed automatic gearbox. Sales will commence in early 2018.

2018 Ford EcoSport

- Jaguar showcases its I-PACE electric crossover before its LA Auto Show premiere. Previewing its first ever electric car coming in the near future, the I-Pace concept features two electric motors that can produce over 400PS of power and 700Nm of torque.

2016 Jaguar I-PACE Concept

- New Pokemon Sun and Moon info on the radar! The starters' final evolved forms are getting their signature Z-moves, status moves giving Z-move special effects, Alolan Diglett and Alolan Dugtrio, new Ultra Beasts, and more! The full story will be out when the games will be released on November 18.

- The first trailer for next year's live action rebirth of Disney's Beauty and the Beast is now up. The film stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast. It's set to hit theaters on the 17th of March.



TTFN!!!

F1 2016 - Brazilian GP

Photo: Associated Press

Despite the heavy rainfall pouring in at Brazil's Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, the penultimate round at this year's Formula One season is just one of the most definite examples of the ongoing struggle between the aces of Mercedes-AMG, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, as the race to the championship title draws near until only one stands tall among the rest.

Scoring his 52nd win in his career, Lewis Hamilton survived the heavy rainfall and won the race while Red Bull's grassroots driver Max Verstappen, following his tire change, placed 2nd, and Rosberg's in 3rd place.

Despite his win, Hamilton's now 12 points behind Rosberg, making it too close to call, and the finale, set in Abu Dhabi within the next two weeks, will decide who files or falls from grace. Watch for it.

Forza Horizon 3: Ready Go, FR.

We already got our hands on the S14 Nissan Silvia as an event car back at last month's Forzathon event but the S14 we got was a "Zenki" S14 Silvia and fans from around the world demanded a late-model S14 Silvia, referred to as a "Kouki" S14 Silvia to be here in Horizon 3. They've been demanding this ride since the birth of the Forza franchise a decade ago and at long last, it's here and its ready to shred some tires.



The "Kouki" S14 Silvia, from Forza Horizon 3's Alpinestars Car Pack, is by no means one of the most demanded rides in the history of Forza and now that's finally here, fans can't wait to try out a car that remains a hit among speedo boys worldwide for its drifting reputation and its Frankenstein tuning that no one saw it coming.

Let me give you a quick story about how those Frankenstein creations to their JDM sportscars became a speedo boys' trend. You see a long time ago, speedo boys from Japan created a machine called a "Sileighty" which is an 180SX with a Silvia's front end on it. Thanks to the Sileighty, speedo boys from across the world are doing that kind of stuff and the S14 is no exception. If you went to a drifting competition a long time ago, you may have encounter an S14 with an S15's front face on it, which is a mashup between two different generations no one can tell the difference between those two, and what you see is a fine example of how speedo boys doing Frankenstein stuff on their sportscars not just for show but for their "bravado" manner as speedo boys who are good at drifting with their Asian sportscars.



For further explanation about how the S14 "Kouki" Silvia became a hit among speedo boys who can bend it like Frankenstein, there is a special Rocket Bunny "Boss" kit offered on this S14 Kouki and with this kind of body kit, the S14 Kouki's front face looks similar to American muscle cars while delivering a stance with a capital S. That will be enough to appeal speedo boys who love to drive the best 90's Japanese sports cars in history. You can thank Rocket Bunny's Miura-san for that later but for now, I'm off to some shooting with this car and it's time for the S14 Kouki with the Rocket Bunny Boss kit to do some action!

Ready Go, FR.



So, there you are. If you got an S14 Zenki Silvia from a special event and if you're unhappy with it, look no further than driving the S14 Kouki Silvia Down Under. The differences between them can be slight but as you keep enjoying with these two, you will know the real deal. If you like both the S14 Silvias, feel free to drive different Asian sportscars offered in-game and how you live it up to their reputations is up to you.

Until then, sayonara!

Forza Horizon 3: Showcase Me!

Ah, showcase events. The hallmark of every Horizon Festival masterpiece that traces back since the original Horizon in Colorado. It's about advanced challenges where one car versus a different kind of transportation be it by land, air, and sea, and here in Forza Horizon 3, this is like taking on a boss battle of some sorts.

In the beginning, you're driving The Cholla against a helicopter carrying an old Jeep, and as you gain more and more fans, you will be able to take on another showcase event after another. There are five showcase events occurred Down Under and since I already mentioned the first one, the next one involves a Camaro Z/28 versus a steam locomotive, a Trophy Truck versus jetskis, a Lamborghni Centenario versus a VTOL jump jet, and the final showcase involves a Polaris RZR up against a blimp.

I already cleared all of the events, although I forgot to film the whole action by myself. So what I'm doing now is to redo most of the events and film it so I can make myself a compilation of all five showcase events, which are indefinite proof that I am running the best festival ever.

Ready to check out my greatest hits? Roll the VTR!

Ah, clearing the final showcase in the game. I know that this may sound like a happy ending for me but I'm not done yet because while I already cleared the big finale, there are still roads to travel, cars to drive, people to meet, challenges to take on, and so on. Man, everything around Down Under really brings out the many personalities of me and with so much things to do in so little time, I feel like I am not resting down my laurels and keep moving forward to keep this show going on as long as I like.

For now, I would like to keep duck, dodge, push, and shove for more because things are about to get LOUD. So, whaddya say? Ready to hit the trail some more?