99 Continues

Yes, I met the man some call, Ben Stein.

2009-03-18T01:03:00.003-04:00

I'm going to try and update this as much as possible. Been slackin' lately.

Tomorrow marks the first time I'll be signing up for a racquetball tournament. It's for beginners I believe at LA Fitness. If I do well, I may step up training. If I fail horribly...well, I may just step up training.

The wife and I are looking for houses, and of course the closer we get to that, the more it seems that the housing market may be getting stronger. I'm hoping that's just a slight growth until we can move in.

Update after my LA trip. I did in fact meet Ben Stein. He's honestly the nicest person I've met. Incredibly down-to-earth. And for someone in Hollywood and prominently displayed in the media, it's nice to see someone so adamantly sharing his belief on Intelligent Design. I just so happen to agree with that belief.

He arrived pretty early to the convention as our keynote speaker. As he was waiting, I decided I'll just introduce myself. Not 20 feet away, four other people surround him and decided to talk to him as well. I just stood a ways off pretending to fix my camera while I waited. Meh...

Well, his time before his speech was spent with those four, so I decided to wait until the photo op. He was a little under the weather. Apparently, he traveled back to LA just before his speech and was drinking tea throughout the speech.

Anyway, during the photo op, my turn came at last. When I walked up to him, Ben asked for my name. I proceeded to tell him that his documentary, Expelled meant very much to me as a fellow ID believer. His eyes opened a little more and he began to talk of evolution not explaining anything like the theory suggests. It only raises more questions. I agree, but I won't get into that on this post. Maybe on later posts since I'll be focusing less on games...

We briefly discussed that, took our photo and he was again sucked into other conversations since he wanted to leave and rest. Fifteen minutes went by, he walked to the exit for his driver. At the exit, he looked at me and yelled over everyone, "Thanks for the kind words, Kyle."

Pretty cool that he was able to remember my name. And, I'm glad that I was able to offer any encouragement I could. I can only imagine how much flak he receives for his belief.

Sad.

That was my first meaningful brush with a celebrity. I do hope to speak with him again sometime in the future.

If I could meet 10 people, I'd like to meet the following:

1) Ben Stein - DONE
2) Denzel Washington
3) Seth Rogen
4) Will Ferrell
5) Kirk Cameron (after Fireproof, I just had to put him on this list)
6) Ben Stiller
7) Mel Gibson
8) Michael Cera
9) Steve Martin
10) Mathew Fox (and the cast of Lost)

I'm sure I'd exchange a few of those for someone else, but those are the first 10 that I thought of. No women. Funny. Honestly though, I don't think I have a favorite actress.

Yikes!

2009-01-26T12:00:00.002-05:00

It's been over 20 days since my last post. Crazy.

I had my second 360 die this past week. That's nothing compared to some other people I know. Eight times? I'm not sure if I'd be that patient.

Having that die, I realized I should probably evenly distribute the games between PS3 and 360. But...but those achievements! Seriously, Microsoft totally knew what they were doing when implementing that simple idea.

In other worlds, my wife and I are about to take part in Buckhead Church's version of Greek week. Since we are married, we'll be going to this event on Friday night to mingle with other married couples and find a "group" for a weekly or biweekly Bible study.

I'm not sold on this event. Seems a little too hectic and stressful. When you hear stories of past events with people trying to have a conversation and one person's eyes are darting around the room searching for someone else to talk to, that seems disheartening.

Should I go in wearing a shirt with my likes on the front and dislikes on the back?

Likes: Games, Movies, Trivia nights with friends, Racquetball
Dislikes: Babies, Hippies, Global Warming lie

Would that work? Now that I read over what I wrote, I may just do that.

2009. Yay.

2009-01-02T11:51:00.003-05:00

It was a pretty relaxing holiday at the end of '08 and beginning '09. Lazy is another good word for use here...

Met some new people via old friends for New Years. All were surprisingly cool since I was feeling a little antisocial before the night began. Does anyone else feel like you're proving you're not a weirdo when meeting new people? That was the first night the thought ran through my mind when driving two of them to dinner. I had to try extra hard since the car smells like sulfur, almost running over a pedestrian and driving on a one way street all in that one trip to the restaurant.

Meh.

In 2009, I've set a goal for myself. It's a fairly high goal, and I'm currently 70% or less sure on how to achieve it. Win the state championship for racquetball. Like I said, it's a high goal, but I feel like I have enough talent to compete.

L.A. Fitness has a small tournament coming up next week that I'll be entering. Should be a good indication on how much improvement I'll need.

- Games I'm playing now: PS3 - LittleBigPlanet and Crash Commando / 360 - GH World Tour and World at War

- Movie recommendation: In Brugues

Video musings.

2008-12-09T23:11:00.003-05:00

Video is intensive.

Meaning, there is work to do in videography, editing and effects.

Like, it's not as easy as people think.

I'm not sure why people think my profession is easy. Maybe it's the availability of soccer mom cameras. Maybe it's Youtube and the ease to publish your crappy as crap videos. Again, I'm not sure where this typical thinking began, but it needs to stop.

Do they not know the difference in quality from their videos measured against professional quality?

It's appalling and it's disrespectful.

I'm venting here, but this occurrence happens frequently.

In the past, I've received scripts that are pages long. Pages. That's not abnormal. Scripts are, generally speaking, pages in length. BUT! When a script is, say, 3 pages and you say it's supposed to be 30 - 60 seconds...

That's. Not. Happening.

Getting the girl into gaming.

2008-12-09T22:45:00.002-05:00

Does the following ring true for you? (If you're a dude.)

Dude is gaming. Girlfriend / wife enters room, flustered. Dude's tongue is hanging out 'cause he's focused and obviously havin' fun.

Girl: Can you focus on me and not the games?

Dude: Sure. Lemme just get to the next save point. (Does not show any indication of quitting.)

Twenty minutes later.

Girl: Ummm. Stop playing, please.

Dude: Almost there.

Girl: Okay.

Girl gets up, walks over to the console nonchalantly and hits power.

Dude thinks to himself, "Whore."

Okay, maybe not quite as bad, but maybe your girl isn't into gaming, which leads to less game time for you. First of all, is it really that important? For me, it's relaxing. In the past, I'd watch movies rather than game. That became too time consuming after graduating college, so I slowly went back to gaming.

Now I prefer gaming to movies. Luckily, I introduced my wife to gaming in a good way.

First, it was the DS. For her graduation, I bought the DS with Clubhouse Games and Elite Beat Agents. Two games that are fun and cooperative.

Then she noticed UNO on the 360. Not only are most girls familiar with playing UNO a lot when they were younger, but it requires no clean up and you can play together or by yourself along with others through Live.

Another thing happened as she played on my profile for the first time. It was a sound we all know and love for 360 owners.

The achievement blip.

"What was that?" she asked. I told her she accomplished a challenge in the game. Achievements sucked her in. Now she plays Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Halo, Madden and most recently Left 4 Dead.

Yeah. Left 4 Dead. She hates horror films, but loves LOVES shooting zombies cooperatively. She even had a blast playing multiplayer as well.

Mostly, make it a rewarding experience for her. Don't just hand her a controller, and definitely don't shut her out entirely either. She may just enjoy it, which will also guarantee more game time for you too.

If you own a PS3, LittleBigPlanet is a huge draw for her as well. I believe we have our most fun gaming with moments like swinging from one ledge to the next as she is clinging to my character for dear life.

Twilight was...

2008-11-22T19:44:00.002-05:00

Surprisingly not bad.

I know.

Shut up.

I think it helped entering the theatre with no hope. No. Hope. Whatsoever.

As the reel began to spin, I couldn't help but be intrigued by the story. Yes, it had cheese at times, but not much. Some of the actors seemed a little too serious at times, but it was better than being lifeless.

I hate admitting my fondness for the film, but I'll be willing to see the next three. With it's smashing of the box office right now, it will surely have a better budget. That's good. Hopefully there will be a new director too.

Excited.

2008-11-22T19:29:00.003-05:00

So, take that and this:

And, somewhere between the two is my excitement level about this. It's been a while since I've made a personal video. Throughout the week, I'm in front of the computer hammering out graphics, animations and videos for work. It's fun since I love to do that. But, it's for work.

A friend of mine and I, along with some other people, have been creating something behind the scenes. (per se)

Along with that something will be a few videos. One will be the straight forward video. The others will be...more fun. (per se) Especially the commercial. It will be reminiscent of an 80s commercial. That's all I'm sayin'.

Netflix.

2008-11-19T14:18:00.003-05:00

I am addicted. A-D-D-I-C-T-E-D.

Before the Next Xbox Experience update, I knew I'd be switching from BallBuster's service. BB continues to be a headache. Every few months, BB changes their terms of service and / or increases the monthly charge.

Netflix allows an unparalleled service. Streaming on the 360. Right now I have almost 15 or 20 movies queued and ready to stream instantly. I'd say it's infinitely better than getting one movie in the mail and exchanging one in-store. Most of the time, the movie you want in the store at BB is unavailable.

Like, Ghostbusters.

Surprisingly, standard definition looks good on a 56" HDTV. It's not great, but on par with renting a standard def DVD.

HD streaming is where I am really amazed. I queued Heroes (hate the show) to see what it looked like. It's strikingly similar to HD quality from DirecTV. It's a little compressed, but very very good.

Here's what you do.

2008-11-11T09:00:00.003-05:00

There's a lot of discussion these days about the used sales in gaming. I'm not sure how game developers think they are different from other products, but used product sales is a way of life. You buy it, you can sell it...because you own it.

Ebay wouldn't be possible if you couldn't sell your used merch.

Anyway, devs are implementing new strategies to reward (i.e. punish) the consumer. One way is offering a one time code to download in-game maps, weapons etcetera. That's good. The other way is making the end boss as downloadable content for used game purchasers.

You can imagine where it goes from there.

When purchasing the Guitar Hero World Tour guitar bundle, I noticed the game does not have a barcode. In it's place is the simple phrase, "Not for Resale."

What a simple solution that is. No more gimping games. Developers need not waste extra time and cash on extra maps or features. Make it a one time sale.

Ebay will still flourish with used games, but Gamestop will not have 100 copies of Kameo either.

Or, here's a radical solution:

Make a game people love to play.

Suck my gears.

2008-11-10T09:22:00.002-05:00

Gears 2 is bigger, badder and more bad a. But, what is not mentioned is if it's good. No. It's not. The campaign that is...

Multiplayer is fun along with the super-fun horde mode. Four players taking on 50 hordes of Locust enemies is a great way to waste late hours of the night.

The campaign. Ugh. It wouldn't have bothered me as much as it did if Cliffy didn't put emphasis on hiring a film writer to help flesh out the story. You would think it would be fantastic. Heck, maybe even the story would be a little deep. Nope! Incredibly predictable with absolutely horrible dialogue.

Just recently, Cliffy complained about gamers not taking games seriously enough. Well, Gears 2 doesn't help the situation.

It has been 6 days since last use of a nightlight...

2008-11-03T15:33:00.005-05:00

Officially back from vacation. The cruise was great fun besides the dreadful night with 50 mph winds hammering the boat. And yes, it was affecting me mentally. Big Time.

I'm pretty good on boats. Never had any problems and no seasickness. No fear.

Being in a massive boat, flipping through tv channels and seeing the scene in Titanic with all the dead people in the sea and having winds rock the boat from left to right frightened me just a little bit. It was enough to make me feel claustrophobic, and at some point that night I lost the ability to breathe. That was until I turned on a nightlight.

Pansy.

Anyway, I get home and realize I have six games on my plate to finish and adding one more this Friday.

Here's the list:
Fable 2, FarCry 2, LittleBigPlanet, Dead Planet, Fallout 3 and Penny Arcade Episode 2. Friday brings Gears of War 2. Not to mention Left 4 Dead next week...

We return at 5:30pm.

I put in Rock Band 2 with wife at 6 something. Then Fable 2 with her soon after that.

She goes to shower and I put on the Mirror's Edge demo. Wonderfully amazing and intuitive. First person experiences will change after that game.

FarCry 2 goes in for an hour. Fallout 3 goes in for an hour. Penny Arcade goes in for an hour.

Head asplodes, and I decide to sleep.

I've decided to make a schedule on which games to play on which days at what time and for how long. You'd think I was dealing with a monumental crisis.

I am.

"You think your mom cares about that?"

2008-10-22T16:14:00.005-04:00

As funny as Penny Arcade is, it really offers insight on what might come to fruition. Take their recent comic here for example.

Personally, I'm fine with Sony taking out the song in the game. Granted, this could have been handled differently. Instead of recalling the game and delaying the release, Sony could have the song patched and replaced with another remotely through a mandatory update. This is apparently going to happen with the copies that have leaked into the open anyway...

Back to the comic. PA touched on something important here. Remember the Mass Effect incident? News outlets overreacted to the brief "sex scene." It was hardly gratuitous. It showed nothing.

Grand Theft Auto 4? That was an even bigger phenomena. I remember watching one Glenn Beck broadcast stating players could use a chainsaw to decapitate policemen's heads. No chainsaw in the game. No decapitating. Overreactions galore.

Now we have a seemingly sweet video game, Little Big Planet. It's fully devoted to user generated content. Within a week of the beta, we see some amazing levels. Then we see the idiots creating levels based on 9/11.

Do you think the media will overlook this? No. It will be sensationalized because it makes a "good" story. You can bet it will be exaggerated too when similar levels are created. How much ya wanna bet the phrase, "user generated" will be left out?

Entertain me, please. [That camera is not a soapbox.]

2008-10-17T14:03:00.010-04:00

Seriously. Since when do we care what you think politically? Vote or Die failed miserably. It was one of the worst turnouts for younger voters in 2004. Even one of the famous spokespersons, *cough* parishilton *cough*, didn't vote!

Now they're at it again with the 2008 election. Television shows, late night talk shows and variety shows are overwhelmingly biased. It's annoying. I feel like I can't escape reality, be entertained and relax. Instead, these people intend to preach to us daily. This isn't something that blindsided me. I saw it coming. But, I didn't think it would be this terrible.

With the way current media is, it will die a slow horrible death. Local news and 24 hour news will slowly fade away. It's not well informed, and it's found to be false time and time again. Do we ever hear when the news is wrong? Rarely. It's all about ratings. Updates and apologies for errors are never present or found as a small headline buried in a long forgotten cavern within a website. Soon, we will tire from it's current form. Right now, most media outlets are frothing at the mouth for the first Black President. Ratings would go through the roof. That's guaranteed. How much would the first edition of Time magazine's cover be worth in the future? Whatever they can do to ensure that victory will be done. Love the new age politics by the way. Has it changed?

Why do you think games are becoming more popular? Yes, gameplay is making significant improvements. But, does it have anything to do with people tiring from current media? Maybe. That would be an interesting study. I for one play more games because the current media is less entertaining and more about preaching. Go green! Vote Obama! Maybe there are mindless drones that follow these messages. I'm not sure...

Anyway, this is what I'm getting at. The media and Hollywood types have become so poor, so terrible lately that I hope McCain wins by a landslide so they STFU. And then, hopefully, they will go back to what they do best. Entertain.

Resisting two aliens. Star Trek rumblings...

2008-10-16T22:43:00.004-04:00

Thirty versus thirty multiplayer sounded good. In reality, not so much.

Insomniac made a few major sacrifices to pull that feature off. Unfortunately, those sacrifices are important to me, and I will be opting out of that purchase. I'm glad these Betas exist, but I'm sure they're also hurting sales. More on that in a moment though.

One of the glaringly obvious sacrifices is the visuals. Not good. Not even remotely good. I'm sure the single player campaign will be fine, but multiplayer is ugly. To me, that's unacceptable. I can deal with the standard 16 versus 16 multiplayer if that guarantees a more polished game.

Now, a word on these beta tests. I can't see how these are good for the developers anymore. Out of the five recent betas I have played, one has kept my interest for a purchase when it's released. I've canceled the other four orders. It's sad, but my wallet is thanking me...

Honestly, I can't be the only one who plays the betas and canceling a purchase. These were games I was planning on buying on release day too.

Meh.

Star Trek. I was never a HUGE fan. My oldest brother was, and I passively watched it. I was never excited for it...

Check out the pictures here. Personally, I hate the actor playing Spock. I despise him in Heroes, and I can't stand his presence anywhere else. He seems like he's trying a little too hard. Definitely looks like Spock though. But, he's an awful actor.

I trust anything JJ Abrams puts his hands on though.

World at War Beta! Myeah!

2008-10-15T10:47:00.004-04:00

Or, you can call it Call of Duty 4.5 Back to the Future III. It's okay. All the spit and shine is present from 4, but the future is just so much more appealing than the past.

For the first few hours, I had fun with the beta. I love 4, and this is the exact same experience only set in WWII. That's where I began losing the fun. It's WWII...again. Besides, a $60 mod doesn't bode well with me...

Once I realized that I actually preferred Modern Warfare, I turned off the beta and put 4 back in the 360. If anything, the beta helped me find a new fascination with 4. I'm playing it nonstop.

If you want to know specifics, here goes. CoD4 with WWII weapons. Perks are there, mainly adding a bayonet or a type of scope. There are tanks, which is a good addition. Each player can have an added vehicle perk. This would make the cool down for overheating faster, faster canon rotation, etcetera.

With kill streaks, you receive radar support with 3 kills, 5 kills nets you an artillery strike lasting far too long and 7 kills releases the HOUNDS! I have no opinion on the dogs. I both loathe and like them.

Anyway, I'm glad I have a new appreciation for Modern Warfare. I'm enjoying it far more than I did in the past. Thanks, Treyarch! I guess...

In a week where one is shat upon twice...

2008-10-10T17:11:00.004-04:00

Yep. Twice. Both are mysterious. Saturday at the USC game, I look down at my new jacket's sleeve and see mushed poo with a little on my palm. Yuck. Not sure where it came from. Then, two nights ago. Something smelled of rotten stanky fish. Just thinking about it makes me want to vom a little in my mouth. Ugh. Nor, did I see from whence this came.

Mystery poo. Is there anything worse?

It turned out to be a decent week though. Upon arriving back to the office on Monday, I was greeted with my new Mac. 'Tis the sweetness. No random crashes. No spinning beach balls of death...

The LBP beta has been fun, and it's a shame it ends on Sunday afternoon. A buddy of mine got on last night and we came to the conclusion the beta's a little broken. On my end, he was doing some weird actions. It wasn't making any sense. He'd walk to the left and begin thrusting the air. Or, he'd just hang from a tree while I was trying to find access to an upper portion of the level. Apparently he saw me doing the same thing as he was trying to get access to the upper portion as well. Weird.

There's a user created level based on Ninja Warrior, which has been my favorite to mess around with. It's challenging.

Penny Arcade discussed a cooperative level with a blimp, and I couldn't find it. Sounded like fun. Hopefully I find it before it ends.

But, I have the World at War beta to look forward to beginning tonight!

Well, not tonight. It's not game night. I hope Baby Mama is decent. That's the movie we received from the BallBuster queue. If not, we'll do the usual and drive right to BBuster for an exchange.

Why am I rambling? Prolly because I'm beat and waiting to go home.

ooooooo. The secret project is shaping up nicely! Shouldn't be too much longer!

Billy Mitchell!

2008-10-04T11:13:00.003-04:00

No one knows who he is! I only know him from King of Kong. After you see that documentary, it's quite difficult to forget that guy. His name maybe, like I did, but not the man himself.

Some might say that the film portrayed him in a bad light to make it a pure good vs evil story. Nope. The guy actually has that personality.

Long story short, I met the guy. Cap'n and I sat on the plane just waitin' for stragglers to arrive. Lo and behold, I see a tall skinny guy with incredibly bad 80s hair with beard! OMG IT'S THAT GUY! I'm pointing and telling Mike who that guy is and the nice Jewish man [insert loves Arrested Development here] next to me was asking who he was since I was geeking out.

Couldn't remember his name, so I proceeded to tell the entire movie. No one knows the guy, but he walks and talks like the world is bowing before him.

As he passes, I wink (not in a gay way but like in a, "Hey. I know you man. You're that guy" way) and then thrust my hand to his for the handshake.

What an awesome way to start the trip.

I think I fingered it out.

2008-10-02T20:05:00.002-04:00

Sorry, I meant figured. Maybe you're wondering why Harmonix included So Watcha Want. Most likely you're not, but flow with me here.

It's there for your wife or girlfriend to sing. I'm minding my own business in the kitchen as my wife fires up the 360. After the afterburners calm down to a slight roar, she's in the Rock Band 2 menu choosing our Band World Tour. Beastie Boys is one of the songs on the playlist. She starts rapping. Now, you may not know my wife. Quiet, collected, calm and QUIET are some words to describe her.

If I get a chance, I hope to post a video of it sometime. Now that she'll read this, she'll make sure it's a song she never does again.

Hopefully I'll catch it soon. It's the funniest cutest thing I've seen her do.

New subject!

I'm heading out to L.A. tomorrow for the weekend with Cap'n. Supposed to be a business trip, but I'm only there for photography/video during the tailgate party at the USC game. Terrible, I know. Should be fun. We're hoping to get there in time for Leno's taping tomorrow.

Real Life.

2008-09-27T18:19:00.003-04:00

My wife and I went with a friend to play some tennis today. Tennis isn't something I took seriously growing up. Yeah, I know that's a basketball picture, and I'll get to that in a second. I suck at tennis.

We borrowed a guy's basketball since he was waiting to play tennis. Basketball is something I took seriously growing up. It took 27 shots before I put the ball in the net. Twenty-seven shots. It's really frustrating because I was actually a very decent player. Now, I'm driven to buy a ball this week and begin playing again.

Mega Man 9 is Redonkulous!!!

2008-09-27T18:12:00.003-04:00

Its not available on XBLA yet, so I downloaded the demo on the PS3. At first, I thought Mega Man 9 was a stupid idea. Well, I say, "at first" and I still believe it's a stupid idea. I like some retro games. A few weeks ago, I found myself playing through Blackthorne on my DS...

Off the track for a bit. It's funny. As I played through Blackthorne, I arrived at a certain part of the game where I couldn't progress. It hit me like a ton of bricks. When I was 10 or so, I was stumped at the exact same point...

Anyway. Back to MM9. The demo is the hardest level in the game apparently. It's called Concrete Man. Wonder if they meant to do that...

Not sure if I'll buy the full game. I don't see myself spending my allotted game time on retro games. If it was available for the PSP though...

About that EOS 5D Mark II...blah.

2008-09-23T15:26:00.004-04:00

I'll get the obvious statement out of the way. The visuals (ie colors) are gorgeous. Like, really breath taking.

However, the quality resembles a glorified home movie. Why?

Because it only offers 30 frames per second. Not a good choice if you want the gorgeous visuals with a film look. If you want that, you need to look elsewhere that offers 24fps. No matter how well this camera handles lighting at night, or any visuals for that matter, it is not the best choice to make your short films or videos. But, it does pave the way for better video cameras down the road. If Canon chooses to put this tech in their video cameras, it'll give Canon the boost it needs to jump ahead of Panasonic.

I really thought this camera would be the all encompassing perfect missing link for me. Why Canon chose 30fps is beyond me. It should know by now that lacking 24fps was a main reason it fell behind Panasonic in the first place. Same with Sony...

Here's a little history lesson and lesser known fact:

24 frames per second is the least amount of frames in a second before the video looks like a still picture slideshow. Filmmakers chose 24fps for their films because it was the most cost effective way to make a movie. You're using less film stock shooting at 24fps compared to 30, 60 or higher.

After all these years, it remains standard to use 24fps because we've been conditioned to think it's the "professional" quality. It looks better than say 30 or 60fps. If you get a chance, you can watch the video shot by the 5D Mark II via the link above and also open an HD movie preview from here. You'll notice a slight difference with motion.

Anyway, the point is this: If you want a professional movie quality look for your videos, you need to make sure the camera can shoot 24 frames per second. Anything higher starts to look like a homemade soccer mom movie.

I get it, and I like it.

2008-09-16T15:19:00.003-04:00

There's really nothing to get. Coming from a guy who was responsible for the best and most successful television sitcom, it only makes sense that the commercials resemble the show. It's about nothing.

Some people like Penny Arcade and my wife don't like the commercials. "It's like they're trying to hard to be funny," says my wife.

I can see that. But, I am probably a Seinfeld fanatic. These commercials make me laugh, and it doesn't make a promise about any features. It does however plant the seed that something new is in the works. Could be true. Probably not true. I just like the commercials. Getting Seinfeld back on television in any form makes me happy.

For one thing, they're better than the Mac ads. I'm tired of those. They don't make me think Macs are cooler. Instead, they make me think Macs are elitists or snobs. Meh.

I'm strictly a Mac user by the way. Love 'em. I'll never go back to Windows. Ever. Unless Seinfeld proves to me that Windows will become more like a Mac. Even then, what's the point of that?

Anyway, I just don't see why these commercials are getting lambasted for being about nothing. That's the point in my opinion. Otherwise, it would be a whiny commercial about Microsoft being cool like a Mac. It's just good seeing that Gates and Microsoft has a sense of humor.

For all the Pub Games glitchers.

2008-09-16T10:34:00.004-04:00

I'm a little worried today. Yes, I'll admit it. I'm a Fortune's Tower cheater.

Molymuandstuff said the glitch is in fact not a glitch. Pub Games records whoever uses the "cheat" and the player will be in for a "surprise" when loading Fable 2.

What does that mean? I haven't a clue. Maybe a hired tough guy is sent after you for cheating in the casino. That could be fun.

Maybe you lose everything and you're required to perform community service.

That could suck.

Political advice from a former street break dancer? No thanks.

2008-09-10T17:41:00.004-04:00

Personally, I hate arguing about politics. It's a lost cause. People will have their differing opinions, and that's fine. They're entitled to that.

But, please educate yourself on your opinion. Please. Maybe when you're asked, "Hey, why do you like _____?" you will have an answer besides, "Because he or she offers hope." Or better yet, "He or she will change things for the better."

I'm writing about this because of Matt Damon. Sometimes a great actor. All the time, an idiot. If one were to ask him why he thinks Obama is prepared or what Obama's plan is, he probably wouldn't answer. Well, he wouldn't without using clichéd phrases. Damon also brought up Palin's religion as an example of why she is unfit to be Vice President. I don't necessarily believe what he refers to, but that's not stopping me from thinking she's qualified. Compared to Obama, she's more qualified.

There's a ton of information available. If you're objective, you'll find nothing of significance on Obama's accomplishments. Well, nothing that merits him being treated as the second coming of Christ.

Please be true.

2008-09-07T22:26:00.003-04:00

From Aintitcool, there's been some huge developments on a Ghostbusters 3 film.

First, the game was quickly taken off of every retailer's list for pre orders. A lot of gamers are still left in the dark wondering if this game will see the light of day. It's definitely a popular game. And, that's even before it releases!

Anyway, I think it's getting delayed for the upcoming film. Either the game will have to be totally rewritten, or it will release with the movie as a tie-in. I say rewritten since Aykroyd wrote the game as the sequel to the second film.

Now, there's evidence of the film going into production. What's better? Apatow's involvement. Some of the writers from The Office are scripting the movie and purportedly Seth Rogen and company.

If that's true, and they are still following the formula to have the original cast make way for a younger group of Ghostbusters, then that could very well mean we'll see Rogen and some of his buddies appear as the younger group!

Just think of having the three from Pineapple Express as the younger Ghostbusters.

Seriously. OMG.

I'll pass on that bowl of meh. Thanks anyway.

2008-09-04T11:04:00.004-04:00

Mercenaries 2 is not bad, but it's not good. I'm really glad I didn't waste money.

It's basically a war themed GTA. And, I'm not trying to say the story for GTA was great, but at least I wanted to experience it. On the first mission, it resulted with me skipping every bit of the story. It just doesn't resonate with me. Maybe I've seen too many of these games or too many movies.

The gameplay isn't special either. Nothing really feels heavy. Everything lacks weight. It definitely looks kinda pretty, but that's just not enough. Two missions and I'm already sending it back to GameFly.

Meh.

On a side note, Letterman might put the long feud between he and Leno to rest soon. After Leno loses his position to Conan in '09, Letterman extended the invite for Leno as a guest. I'd watch that.

In this article, Letterman said he thinks Leno has greater appeal in regards to losing the decade long ratings battle.

I'm not sure if that's the case, Letterman. I think your problem is this:

Uncomfortableness.

2008-09-01T21:02:00.003-04:00

Have some easy to follow advice. Pay attention. Always. Just be aware of your surroundings. If you do that, maybe you will avoid uncomfortable situations.

My wife and I had her sister and bro-in-law in town for the holiday weekend. On Saturday, we chose to take them to The Flying Biscuit. The actual location being here.

Saturdays are fairly busy. Like a 45 minute wait busy. Wife sees a book store and suggests that we go look around during the wait time. Sounds good.

But, not. Not really.

Walking in, there seemed to be a plethora of gay and lesbian adult books. Gay and lesbian sex books! I, still thinking it's just a normal book store that just happens to have an abundance of homosexual sex books, decide to ask the clerk if they had a Dean Koontz novel available. As she walks me back to the corner, I finally realize that it's not a normal book store. Obviously, they didn't have the book. I quickly turn around and gather everyone else who were still a little oblivious.

Upon exiting the store, we turn to face the sign just to see what it really is.

Yeah. How the crap did we miss that! Sheesh! Now I know I can't blindly follow my wife.

Braid, after the eighth star.

2008-08-30T15:59:00.002-04:00

So, I actually attained the eighth star today!

Nothing happened.

Absolutely. Nothing. Happened.

This game is driving me nuts! And, that's not a bad thing. I just don't want to get too obsessed. I already am. But, I can't help but think that I missed something here.

If you get the stars, you'll notice there's a constellation outside the house. There's a lamp post and a garage underneath the constellation too. I was thinking the garage would open if you get all eight stars, which didn't happen.

Jonathan Blow is a genius, and Braid just blows my mind. Even if there isn't anything I missed, he's made a simple fascinating game that makes me want to find everything. That's a huge compliment from me. I'm not the type of person that plays a game inside out. It's different with Braid. I'll be checking back with that game soon.

You know...

Just to be certain I didn't miss anything...

...maybe there's an incorrect way and a correct way to get the eighth star...

Family time and Dragons.

2008-08-29T13:58:00.004-04:00

Wife's sister and our bro-in-law are heading down to Atlanta today from St. Louis. Should be a fun time.

Having a busy week and all, I really didn't put much thought into what we can be doing this weekend. It's DragonCon weekend in Atlanta!

Never been before, and I think we're gonna check it out. We'll stick out in the crowd though as the only ones NOT in cosplay.

Maybe I can get a picture made with Freddy Kruger...

I'm not sure why that appeals to me, but it does...

Rain of Madness.

2008-08-27T14:58:00.005-04:00

Tropic Thunder was an amazingly funny film. If you haven't seen it, you must. Honestly, that should be at the top of your to do list!

Rain of Madness is a mockumentary for the making of Tropic Thunder. The site is funny, but the actual 30-minute movie is available now...for free...

It's a little reminiscent of what was done with Apocalypse Now...but funny.

via iTunes here.

. . .

2008-08-26T23:00:00.002-04:00

...wow...

I mean...just wow. I'm not touching that one. Literally.

Political work snafu!

2008-08-26T16:17:00.003-04:00

If you don't know me, mellow or apathetic are two pretty decent adjectives. So, believing my vote doesn't matter wouldn't surprise anyone.

It sure as heck surprised some coworkers. For the rest of that lunch hour, I was trapped. Literally. I always sit on the far side of the table, and it would have been rude to leave suddenly. So, I sat and listened to their arguments for the importance of voting.

I wasn't swayed. None of their arguments really made sense. A few were actually in favor of my opinion, which stopped them short.

What I came to realize was this:

Elections are becoming more and more about branding. What's the better brand? Obama or McCain? They're not sitting down and describing remedies for our problems. Instead, these candidates are using advertising 101 to get votes. Repetition. How many times have we heard the word, "hope" from Obama?

Can we please have a reason for why we should believe in this thing called hope?

No. It's complicated.

Anyway, back to my voting thing. I'm not against it. Obviously, nothing would happen if everyone felt the way I feel. In order for my vote to count though, I would have to literally recruit thousands of nonvoters to vote. I don't have that kind of time.

Now, if everything was equal and everyone voted, then yes, it would matter. Please, spare me the, "there are people all over the world who would give an arm and a leg to vote," shpeel. Good for them.

Besides, I'd write in Colbert anyway. That's at least giving in to my right to vote.

...then those coworkers would tell me I'm throwing my vote away...

Still amazed.

2008-08-25T16:40:00.003-04:00

I haven't played Braid for two weeks. That doesn't mean I stopped thinking about it. What's its true meaning? I have my theory, but I would love to know the dev's true meaning.

Surprisingly, he's timid. Any question on the meaning, he's quick to shy away from that topic and quickly moves to the next. Why? Confusing, especially when he's been open about disliking games that leave players to their own interpretations. That's a contradiction in my opinion.

Anyway. My reasoning for this post is star locations. I was unaware of their existence until this weekend when I listened to an interview with him via Destructoid.

Again, Blow outwardly expresses his disinterest in answering anything about the stars. I love the game. That's pretty obvious. But, I'm not sure about the dev. He's coming off a little odd.

Love the game though.

If you've finished Braid and you're wondering about these stars, check here and here.

Congratulations! Your new voting facility is your Xbox!?

2008-08-21T15:10:00.004-04:00

Wow. I really wouldn't have seen this coming, but it makes a lot of sense to me.

Rock the Vote has joined with Microsoft to bring some interesting new functionality to the 360. Surprisingly, I'm leaning on the side that thinks it's a good idea.

As it stands now, people will be able to register for the upcoming election, participate in polls and "voice" opinions. Okay. The last two things I couldn't care less about. But, registering to vote? On your 360? Honestly, I think it's a good idea. Why not be able to do that? If you can't do it online already, you should be able to. That's the one thing that kept me from voting last election because, yeah, I'm a little lazy.

I don't want to go out of my way to register and to vote. If you can vote from your 360 in the future, or online for that matter, I'll vote. Something about going out of my way and standing in line for a long time to vote doesn't appeal to me.

Especially when my one vote really really doesn't matter.

via Gizmodo

Vivid Dreams: Wargames.

2008-08-18T18:51:00.005-04:00

I've been known to have an overactive imagination. In high school, I wouldn't just daydream in class, I would actually watch my favorite films from my imagination. Entire films from opening credits to closing. The Matrix was the first film I was able to do this with. Now I'm trailing.

There are nights I have dreams. Vivid dreams. Almost all of these within the past year are reminiscent of a Cuban Missile like crisis, or at the very least, Wargames. Yes, there are missiles. And yes, there are explosions. Sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat because of pure realism.

Maybe it's CoD4 or Bad Company. Maybe it's from when I was young watching Wargames and the theme scared the bejeebus out of me. I don't know.

All I know is, in the dream it's a war being fought on our soil. I'm on the run. Sometimes, the wife is with me. Sometimes Biscuit is in my backpack. Yeah, it's crazy. And every time, it ends with an explosion in a city and waking up without knowing my outcome.

I don't know anyone having dreams like mine. The only dreams I can remember enough to write are these warlike situations or horrific nightmares. It's like Tarantino and Guillermo del Toro directing a horror film in my head while I'm sleeping. Thanks a lot guys.

Embarrassed to be a gamer? Still?

2008-08-15T16:47:00.002-04:00

I remember a time in college when I was semi-embarrassed about playing video games. This was back in '01 until around '03. I got over it officially when Halo 2 arrived. Why? Everyone was playing it! Even the girl I was dating at the time played it...decently too!

What I'm getting at is this: In an era with Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Wii, hasn't gaming become mainstream? It's hard for me to find someone that doesn't own at least one of those games and/or system. Why would someone be embarrassed about doing something entertaining?

I started thinking about this during the Rock Band tournament a few days ago. Walking around the restaurant with a buddy of mine, we were asking the restaurant patrons if they have played Rock Band. Two tables pointed at one person. Those people said they didn't have the time. That's fine.

When I asked two other tables, people pointed at the Rock Banders. These Rock Banders looked up at me in fright and denied they played! Why? Is it embarrassing to acknowledge games are fun? No. Probably not. They still feel like it's socially unacceptable to game.

I remember gamers being viewed as loners. People pictured us ranging from nerds to the morose. This was difficult for me to understand. I game. And, I have a social life. I'm also a Christian. One might say I'm pretty normal and healthy.

Anyway, I hope this dies soon. I hope people can admit they play games. In a culture where these social games are becoming increasingly popular, that needs to happen now.

I almost went back to being embarrassed. That is until I realized these people who refused their gaming hobbies were now, "socially unacceptable."

Tropic Thunder and Bigfoot.

2008-08-13T17:17:00.005-04:00

The movie foursome experienced Tropic Thunder last night. And, I really mean it's an experience.

Funny as hell? Check. FanFREAKINGtastic action? Check. Tom Cruise? Yeah? Yep. He's totally redeemed himself here. I promise.

Without giving too much away, this is a movie everyone should see. It's smart, over-the-top and incredibly gut wrenchingly funny. I wept. I wept because I was laughing harder than I can remember laughing in a movie.

Make sure you don't go with the mindset, "Oh, nothing happens in the first 15 minutes. I can be late." No, you need to get there early and sit your butt down. You need to see the fake ad and movie trailers for the characters in the movie.

What I loved most was Stiller's ability to build upon his jokes. They weren't just funny one liners. These jokes build with great payoff. And of course, Tom Cruise. You'll quote him for life. Just wait until he tells you to take a step back.

Now, if you're protesting this movie because of the mentally disabled fiasco, you're an idiot. Sorry, but that's what you get for taking things out of context and not giving the movie a chance. It's not humiliating the disabled. Rather, it's humiliating the actors in those roles.

See it. See it more than once. This is our generation's comedy that sets the bar higher. I thought Pineapple was good. Man, this was pure comedy bliss.

Oh, and Bigfoot was apparently found in north Georgia. There's a conference being held Friday with video, pictures and a DNA test. Craziness.

Wowzers! Halo 3 will be back in the game tray soon.

2008-08-12T08:32:00.003-04:00

You may not have seen this yet. And if you have seen it around, you may have glanced over it since it's just an acceptance speech for their recent award for innovation.

Or, is it?

If you watch the video, you'll notice something odd. It shows all the characters from the game will be available in the new editor. What does this mean? Will we be able to play as these characters too?

Most likely, we won't be playing as them, but we could be making some incredibly detailed and dynamic multiplayer maps. With bots perhaps? Maybe we'll have the ability to make new single player/cooperative maps. Who knows? We could possibly be making the maps and have the ability to play as these characters too.

The other interesting thing was quickly shown at the end. You'll see the MC standing in a tron like area. That's huge! We'll be able to make these maps completely from scratch!

Bungie definitely knows how to handle DLC. Can't wait.

Drum Corps International...Yayee Yay!

2008-08-08T13:42:00.006-04:00

I totally know what I'm talking about, and I know everything there is to know about Drum Corps.

With that said, it was fun. Actually, a lot of fun. Some of the corps, see I know what I'm talking about, had incredible themes.

The crowd favorite, and looking at some other blogs, people were in agreement about Phantom being the best. Sparticus story with the color guard acting as slaves. Fantastic. It was fun to watch, and it was the only group to end with overwhelming applause. Besides the visuals, the actual music was pretty epic too.

The judges didn't really agree. There seemed to be two honest people that had Phantom as number one, but the others chose the Blue Devils. Hardly memorable at all. I turned to my friend next to me and said, "I don't even remember what Blue Devils did." He told me they were the last group to perform.

Yeah. If you're the last group to perform, and I still couldn't remember what your theme was, it wasn't good enough to win. Then again, I have a short attention span.

Now to the point of that graphic. The video crew sucked! Camera angles were poorly chosen at awkward times. Blurry focus. Oh, and don't get me started on the, (what do you call them?) announcers. Absolutely horrid.

Coughing on camera, awkward silences incredibly lame and stupid questions. With tickets apparently doubling from last year, I wouldn't expect to go back unless the production changed.

Oh, and what's up with George Hopkins? I have a good idea! Let's mix drum corps with theater! We'll put a tiny stage in center field and have equal focus on a narrative and music. But, let's have members of the corps record some incredibly lame dialogue to act out!

Who wrote the narrative? My cousin could write it better. Here's some short background info for you: My cousin is three and likes to eat his own poop.

Seems like George needs to be around some people that say no more than yes.

Updated impressions.

2008-08-07T14:04:00.006-04:00

I had a chance to play Braid for quite some time last night. Four hours straight, and enjoying every second.

The art direction is what will impress you the most. What the style reminds me of is the paint effects from What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams. It's absolutely stunning, especially on an HD set.

To describe the game briefly, it's a fairy tale platform puzzler. Your trying to save a princess who is your true love, which is told through a series of story books before you enter the next stage.

Throughout the game, you will collect puzzle pieces, and figure out ways to obtain these pieces that are just barely out of reach in some areas. Each of these situations will scale in difficulty as you progress. And if you're like me, you will get frustrated only to realize you over thought the situation. Try not to over think. Be logical. Think simple thoughts.

There is a gimmick in the game, and it works wonderfully well. You manipulate time. Not only will you rewind time when you die, you must rewind and fast forward time to reach your goals. For example, you may have a puzzle piece to collect that is over spikes and behind a wall that moved downward blocking your path. Looking closely, you may see a glowing platform that is unaffected by time manipulation. Meaning, if you rewind or fast forward time, the platform adheres by its scripted rule instead of your control.

If you stand on the glowing platform, you yourself are unaffected by time manipulation. At this point, you can rewind time until the wall moves up and you can progress to get the puzzle piece.

That's just one example from an early stage.

Yeah, it's $15 in Xbox monies, but it's worth it. In my opinion, this is the best title on XBLA.

That is until this.

And, I'm sorry to say that Braid beat out Penny Arcade's Precipice, which was my favorite until last night.

Braid (XBLA)

2008-08-06T17:33:00.004-04:00

Anyone that owns a 360 should [must] purchase Braid for XBLA today. It's a great platformer, and it's absolutely addictive beautiful game that revolves around time manipulation.

Instead of becoming monotonous through repetitive gameplay, each level brings a new challenge or new aspect to the gameplay.

Check out Destructoid's 8 reasons you need to buy this.

Or, you can watch the nerdy 11 minute dev walkthrough.

nerdy.

Shufflepuck.

2008-08-06T01:10:00.004-04:00

A friend of mine had his app approved tonight. Check out the Shufflepuck if you're interested in good games on the iPhone or iPod Touch. It boasts a multiplayer mode as well. Pretty cool.

In other good news, I think Lola the cat is okay. Why do cats lose control over bleach like it's catnip?

Weird.

Cucumber Express.

2008-08-04T22:13:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I know it's Pineapple. But, a friend of mine referred to it as Cucumber, and it stuck.

I went into this movie expecting a great action buddy comedy. What I received in return was much much more. I absolutely hate talking up movies because it almost certainly lets down people who go in thinking too highly. Too bad. I'm gonna talk it up.

First of all, let me write what kinds of comedies I've liked. I can't remember all of them, but here are some of the one's that I enjoyed most:

Anchorman
40-Year-Old Virgin
Ferris Bueler's Day Off
Step Brothers
Talledega Nights
Old School
Road Trip
Animal House
Fletch
Superbad
Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Those are just a few. And if you liked any of those, chances are you'll enjoy Pineapple Express.

For me, everything hit me perfectly. The relationship between Seth Rogen and James Franco was perfect. I don't want to give much away because I myself stayed away from every trailer and clip possible.

This is definitely worth checking out.

How does a ninja rate a movie? 5 backflips and a roundhouse to your face? Maybe something like that. I'll figure it out.

Rules for the tournament soon.

2008-08-03T23:59:00.002-04:00

I'm getting close. It's more difficult than I thought it would be to make it as fair as it can be for all instruments.

After looking at the highest possible scores on every song, it seems vocals get the most points followed by drums, then guitar and in last place, bass.

So, do I choose different songs for each instrument that are on par score wise? Or do I just make everyone play a certain instrument?

I'll probably have two sets of rules, and I'll decide which set to use depending on the amount of people that show up.

If you're an extremely casual player, I still urge you to come. I'm not expecting anyone like this kid to show up.

(I like the over enthusiastic crowd.) WOOOOO, that kid can shred some plastic!

It'll be fun.

One mummy was okay, two was pushing it and three...well...

2008-08-02T00:58:00.003-04:00

I was not impressed, and if it wasn't free, I would have walked.

Poor dialogue, no Rachel Weiz and an awkward son role just to name the top three problems.

Ugh. Don't get me started on Jet Li's character. An indestructible immortal all powerful character that hardly uses his powers to his fullest potential.

Don't see it. Don't rent it. Forget it exists.

Rock Band Tournament!

2008-07-26T10:39:00.002-04:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was in talks with a local grille to host gaming tournaments in Atlanta. Well, it's finally happening.

The first tournament will be Wednesday August 13 located at the Cheyenne Grille. You can find the Google Map location here.

Right now, I'm thinking of two different types of rules, and I have to narrow it down. It's really going to depend on the turnout. Since it is Rock Band, I want to incorporate all the instruments and let the participants choose what they want to play at the beginning. I'm assuming most will choose guitar and that will make it a TON easier. But, if some want to do the microphone, they can until they run out of microphone opponents. When that happens, they'll have to switch over to another instrument.

That's just one way I'm thinking about. I may do idea number two.

Idea two is to do a score based competition. This will allow any of the participants to choose the instrument he or she is most comfortable with and retain that instrument throughout the competition. The only thing I have to do is research whether certain instruments get more point values. It wouldn't be fair if the microphone only gets 80,000 on a song where the guitar can get 100,000.

I'll research this when I get back from this wedding...

E3 Shmee Three

2008-07-16T21:07:00.002-04:00

As a gamer, I think Microsoft's conference made the most impact.

What I loved was the update to the dashboard interface. Very Apple-esque. Avatars and the scheduled competitive games are a great idea. That's something I foresee my wife and I spending hours upon hours participating in.

Oh. NETFLIX! Finally! With all the survey's from Netflix asking users if they would use a service that streamed movies to a 360, it has finally been made official. Thank you.

Now I can say good riddance to BallBusters online service and their almost monthly increase in price. Yuck...

Nintendo...nintendo. Do they really care anymore? I don't think so. Penny Arcade summarized the whole conference with three panels. Yeah, I'd say they don't give an eff. When Reggie was actually confronted by a game journalist, he was asked why Nintendo didn't announce any major games. He retorted, "We announced Animal Crossing for the Wii!"

Wow! I somehow don't care! Reggie thinks I should.

Nintendo really has left the core gamers and are actually focusing on the people who don't even know what E3 is. Great job. Once the novelty wears off, I see the Wii tanking fast.

Sony. It was decent. Wait. I take that back. Nothing came from their conference either. Too many promises that have been already broken in the past. Why should I believe them now?

MAG? Massive Action Game? This is coming from a company that has delayed Home 723 times. MAG is something we'll see touted at future E3s. I just felt like we were listening to Sony's 2007 E3 conference again.

Oh, well. Back to some Puzzle Quest while my wife watches Project Runway.

Just two dudes sniping.

2008-07-11T10:33:00.002-04:00

I've played my fair share of games on Live since it was first established back in 2003. Games have had their exhilarating moments. Halo in particular, but nothing quite matched what happened last night.

At first I sign on since I was a little late for my scheduled Halo match with some Le Mediocrity folk. A little being 45 minutes, but who's counting when they're playing Halo, huh? Turns out, the games were rather lame. The people are cool, but the customs were boring. It's not good when you'd rather switch an input and watch your PS3 download bar inch along until it's 100%.

Then I saw my salvation. A buddy was actually on playing Bad Company!

I've taken the game for a spin online the first day it arrived from Gamefly. Fun. Even though the hit detection is a little off at random times, it's still fun. But, I didn't have any friends that had the game. So, I joined up.

What took place was pure bliss. Two dudes sniping.

On each map, we'd find a perfect spot with a great view of the map. Both of us crouched side by side looking in different directions. I'd spot some enemies trying to hide in their "perfect" location across the map. Each time we'd pick them off.

Nothing's better than hanging out with a bud, chillin' and poppin' heads. (Like, head shots because that sounded kinda...weird...)

Game Master of Atlanta.

2008-07-10T15:30:00.003-04:00

Well, it's looking like a little dream of mine could become a reality pretty soon.

For the past two weeks, I've been "in talks" with a local grille in Atlanta to promote and host local video game tournaments.

This is incredibly exciting for me, and I hope it all works out. Our first game will most likely be a Bum Rush tourney with Wii Bowling.

Bum Rushes are one night only tournaments rather than a 2 or more week tournament. Whoever wins that night wins the grand prize, which is yet to be determined. Most likely it will be a gift certificate to this particular restaurant/bar.

Depending on a few successful turnouts, we should be moving on with the Halo 3, COD 4, etcetera soon after that.

All of this might mean that 99 Continues may or may not go through a name change. We shall see. I think I like 99 Continues as the name.

The Last Guy.

2008-07-10T14:56:00.002-04:00

I. Want. This.

The Last Guy is a PSN title that is apparently available tomorrow on the Japanese PSN. From all the screenshots, there seems to be an english translation.

So, if you're sneaky, get on your Japanese PSN accounts tomorrow and download it!

Here's the gist:

TLG is a topdown game and uses real-time Google Earth imagery. With this topdown view of any location on EARTH, you are trying to find and draw the best possible escape routes to save people from zombie attacks.

Pure. Awesome.

If it's available tomorrow, I'll write about it.

Has it really been almost a month?

2008-07-10T14:47:00.002-04:00

Since the last post, I've run through Battlefield: Bad Company and currently smashing Federer...er...in the face while still getting crushed by Roddick in Top Spin 3.

Bad Company is actually a good game. Yep. It has EA stamped right on it, but I'm starting to trust EA more. DICE is a good developer, and BC was honestly a good time. Is it a great story? No, it won't change your life. But it's funny. And, that's what they were going for.

If you've seen The Three Kings, then you pretty much no what to expect. Just add Matt Damon to the cast so it equals four instead of three. Your in a group of four guys who find gold and decide to go after that instead of fighting the war. In the meantime, you stumble upon another type of war...

The controls are tight, it's a beautiful game and it's a blast to play online.

As for Top Spin 3, I'm loving it. The controls are near perfect, it's easy on the eyes and I'll even say it's one of the best sports games period. The satisfaction you get when beating Federer or Roddick with your created character is great! If you like sports games, do yourself a favor and try it out.

I really REALLY don't get it.

2008-06-17T11:11:00.002-04:00

It seems like Tycho from Penny Arcade and I are the only ones that were not impressed by MGS4.

Every online and magazine review has given the game a 9.3 or higher rating. If I believed in rating a game with a score, I'd give it a 6. Maybe 7. If I could rate it based solely on the gameplay element, I'd give it an 8. Aiming has always been a little too loose in the MGS series. But I can't. You have to take all the story and cutscenes into account because that's the primary element of this game.

It's the story that ruins it for me. No, it's not an intelligent story. You've heard it before. Contrary to what everyone seems to think about it, it's quite a mess. In fact, it's incredibly silly and almost embarrassing. This is why I'm glad MGS4 is [hopefully] Snake's last game. Kojima needs another story and another character to make a better game. If it isn't, the next game will almost surely be a 9 hour cutscene where you the player get limited control of the camera. That's it.

Okay, picture this for a moment. Just think about sitting in a theater and watching this story unfold in movie form. Well, live action since you pretty much do this throughout the game...

I guarantee most people would walk out. Honestly, I don't get the reviews on this game.

I figured it out!

2008-06-13T14:55:00.002-04:00

Hideo Kojima is actually George Lucas in disguise!

This is one tedious game to sit through. It's a shame. With the gameplay being nearly perfect, it's sad to see the cutscenes, story and script keep it from being the greatest game made on consoles.

I can't help but compare this to Lucas' Star Wars episodes 1-3. Someone should have stepped in or talked to Kojima about making the script more concise.

Kojima, we don't need to be spoon fed. It's like he's treating us as we're vegetables on life support.

Did I mention the gameplay is excellent though?

What's a metal gear?

2008-06-11T16:39:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow's the big day for many gamers. We will finally be able to play Metal Gear Solid 4.

No longer will it be delayed.

No longer will our hopes and dreams be thrown about like some...well, I'm not going to go there.

I've said this a bunch already, but I don't think I will turn the 360 on for quite some time after June 12th. Not only will the gameplay take forever, Metal Gear Online will be taking my focus off of Live for a while.

And with all this excitement, I'm feeling a little down. Why are there two 90-minute cut scenes among the rest? It could potentially total over 3 hours worth of cut scenes. Kojima couldn't edit his story to be more concise?

Sure, die-hard fans will enjoy it. Or rather, they say they'll enjoy it. You won't. There's a point where parts of stories become superfluous. No matter how much you loved Lord of the Rings, that ending grew tiresome. Especially tiring when you are at the midnight showing...

Anyway, no story should be total three hours or more. I'm not talking about gameplay here though. Gameplay can last 8 hours or more for all I care. However, it is possible to tell much of the story through gameplay. I love Metal Gear Solid. The story is decent. I think everyone believes it's more epic than it really is.

I'm afraid this will be tedious.

but, i'm excited....

Underwhelmed.

2008-06-10T17:28:00.007-04:00

I wanted to wait a day. Wanted to sleep on all that info before posting. And yet, I'm still underwhelmed.

Meh. That's how I felt after the WWDC. I guess I was expecting more. Maybe Cliff could have come out and said how much more Bad.A it is. Nah. Still wouldn't have helped.

If you're not a developer, there wasn't much at the WWDC that would excite you besides the 50% off red tag sale. Heck, even then you still have the $100+ bill with AT&T if you want all the features.

What about the games? Ha! The iPhone won't be a good platform for a while. That is, if you take your gaming half seriously.

I had a conversation with a buddy of mine last night at our trivia game, at which time I said I was underwhelmed. His eyes became embiggened with rage! "Underwhelmed!" he gasped. Yes.

You see, the difference here is that he's a programmer and developer. I'm not. To me, Apple is playing catch up with our expectations. Usually, it seems, Apple is ahead of expectations. Leading the pack. Yesterday, it wasn't.

With time, this will seem absurd. Yes, there will be a time that the iPhone and the apps will be extraordinary. Maybe generation 3 or 4. More likely 4.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, so what if I can look at a crappy game and use the accelerometer to steer or drop balls through holes? I'm currently not impressed. I was waiting to be wooed. For the time being, I'm happy with my jailbroken Touch and all the free apps and soon to be ripped apps.

CoD 5: MOAR WWII!

2008-06-09T10:19:00.003-04:00

Are you surprised? Because, I'm not. It was assumed Treyarch would be developing a CoD title every other year, and this one in particular would be back in WWII.

Personally, I'm not a fan of WWII games anymore. We've liberated those places enough. However, Treyarch appears to be handling the subject well, and it has peaked my interest.

Check out the scans here. It's looking good. You had me at, "melting faces."

There are a few things that I'm looking forward to besides the new enemy being in the Pacific. Swimming. It's so simple! Adding new and better ways to sneak up on the enemy is great for me.

Count me in as being surprised excited.

Blending television and gaming.

2008-06-02T13:34:00.002-04:00

No, it's probably not what you're thinking. And trust me. It's much better.

Let me give you an example of what Sci-Fi channel wishes to accomplish and set forth among us in 2010. For this exercise, we'll pretend Star Wars is a television show.

Tuesday night, you're sitting on the couch eatin' some Doritos while Han Solo gets captured by a bunch of Storm Troopers. Bear with me since I'm not the typical Star Wars geek. Meaning, I might get some details screwed up. That's not the point though...

So, Han gets captured! The cliff hanger is Han held captive while an impending battle to save him begins. Only, it's the audience that holds the outcome of the battle and Han's life.

At the end of the show, viewers are told that the battle will take place on Thursday at 9pm Eastern. You, the viewer, logs on to the MMO (if you own it) with your friends and fights the battle.

Maybe you want to fight on the Storm Troopers side. Maybe you want to help save Han. That's up to you which side you choose. Whatever the outcome is in the MMO, the television show's story reflects that experience.

Purely awesome and highly interactive.

Hopefully this is handled correctly and the production value is high. If so, I would be bold enough to say that Fox, ABC, CBS, etc would follow suit.

Imagine something like 24 or Lost having something akin to this.

Why do you game?

2008-05-31T14:05:00.002-04:00

For me, it's sheer entertainment and therapeutic.

It started when I was three or four-years-old. Growing up in Virginia, it wasn't the greatest area one could grow up. My family was poor. Our neighborhood was old and cheap. The newer houses were beginning to be built by the time I left, which were taking over the cheap poor houses.

Anyway, my point is this. Besides pretending to play War, my friends and I gathered together to play Atari, Nintendo and Sega. We, like everyone else, forgot about Atari when Nintendo and Sega hit the streets. My best bud got his hands on a Sega, but I begged and pleaded for the Nintendo.

I finally got one after months of my parents paying off the layaway at K-Mart. It was SO worth it.

Now instead of pretending to play War, we pretended to be Mario or Mega Man. Hey, we even pretended to be Snake!

We spent hours upon hours playing Joe Montana Football on the Genesis along with Mutant League Football and trying to beat the ridiculously hard Battle Toads on the NES. Did anyone actually beat that game? I don't believe you. Oooo. And I cannot forget Maniac Mansion. That game blew my mind when I was a kid.

Then something unexpected happened. I lost my father at nine-years-old. Now, I don't remember much after his death. If I try to think about anything from age nine until twelve, it's black. Or, I start to get a migraine. It's crazy.

What I do remember is playing video games to help me through the difficult process of losing my father. The game I was playing that day was...well, I can't remember the title. It was a game where you were a werewolf. It's killing me that I can't remember the name now...

Games helped me cope with that loss. It also brought me closer to my friends. Who says gaming isn't social? We would get together at each other's houses and either play the games together or do the old school way:

Take turns playing each level. OR, take turns every time someone dies if the level was too long.

When I got to college, gaming helped me bond with my roommates. I sold my PS2 when I saw an Xbox ad. Nope, I didn't see an ad for Halo. Just the system. I arrived PS2 in hand and received about $80 worth of in-store credit and purchased the Xbox. The game: Halo. Like I said, I didn't see an ad for it. I bought it solely based on the back of the box information. It was a risk. Turned out to be a great risk.

My buddy down the hall and I skipped two full days of class to play co-op campaign two times! That weekend, we put our money together to buy two more controllers and started holding Halo tournaments. Losers of the first match bought pizza.

Now, gaming is something I do as a part of an online community and with my wife. Yeah. I'm one of the lucky ones that met a girl that actually was open to gaming. She actually likes it a lot now. Jeez, she's actually paying for her own Live account and she's a little obsessed with her gamer score. Ha!

That's why I game. It's entertaining and therapeutic.

Gears of War 2 Rumormill.

2008-05-29T14:13:00.002-04:00

Here's a rumor that seems to be coming to fruition.

GoW2 will have a saved picture mode with scoring. That means, you the player will be able to take pictures of in-game action. These will be uploaded to a site (reminiscent of Bnet) and will be scored on the action surrounding the player.

This is good news. It's even better when they alluded to a saved film feature...

When a dev was playing through the campaign, it was noticed that he was watching a film.

I really hope this turns out to be true. Since my hobby and career is around making videos, this will make me a very happy panda.

I'll be able to finally make other funny videos not centered in the Halo universe.

Thanks, Cliff! (I still think you're a douche.)

Music DLC. And, WTFIUW Aerosmith Guitar Hero?

2008-05-22T14:16:00.003-04:00

Let's get it out of the way. I love Rock Band, and sorta...sorta like Guitar Hero. (Although, GH4 is looking better every day.) RB and GH has given me an appreciation for the Rock that I never had, nor I ever cared to acquire. It is solely because of these games that I listen to a different radio station along with different songs on the iPod.

So here's my deal. I can only tolerate so much of the Rock. I like it, but I want more popular songs. Coheed is a good start, but they only have two songs. One of which isn't even a master track! Linkin Park (a good song would be nice) or something more recent would be fantastic.

My main problem with these games, as you can tell, is the DLC. It seems like there is one or two songs every few months that I would actually enjoy listening to and playing. I can't be the only one that feels this way, right?

A friend of mine went with me to Gamestop after lunch one day. We took a little break to play some RB, and he said he couldn't wait to get more Pop songs on RB. My reaction was something short of appalled. Pop? On Rock Band? No thanks.

Now, I find myself agreeing with him. Maybe not the pop that he wants, but definitely the more popular modern rock songs. I was surprised when they offered American Rejects. That's a fun song to play. It's been too long and too few songs that are similar.

At the very least, get the songs that were actually popular in that era.

Off to Aerosmith. Does anyone really want to buy a full game based solely on Aerosmith? Sure, it will sell, but of all the bands...

Count me out.

Precipice of Darkness.

2008-05-21T17:53:00.003-04:00

Penny Arcade's game is now available on XBLA, PC and Mac.

Pick this up, now!

I hail from the camp of turn based RPG Haters. That was until today. Precipice has quickly changed my mind on these turn based RPGs and has quickly become my favorite XBLA game to date.

For me, everything about Precipice is golden. The story, dialogue and narrative are all hilarious and well written. If you're a fan, you know Tycho has a knack for words.

In Precipice, you create your character and quickly get tossed into the action after a giant robot stomps your house into the ground. Literally. From that point, you take your rake and join Gabe and Tycho on a journey to kill the robot...so far...

Haze. That title actually makes sense...

2008-05-20T18:42:00.004-04:00

...but, not how Ubisoft intended.

Before the demo, I was pumped about Haze. I was under the impression that this would be the FPS that I actually liked on the PS3. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Resistance. It was flawed though...and back to Haze.

Only seconds into the demo, there was already a problem. It was too dark. Not the story. HA! The story is awful along with the dialogue. No, the picture is too dark. If your viewpoint is a tad over the horizon, forget about seeing. Everything pretty much turns to black. And that's not the only problem either. Bright areas are too bright! Yes, I could adjust the settings. I did. Still didn't make a difference.

The second problem is the dialogue mentioned above. God. Awful. I think they handed a pencil to the developer's 12-year-old nephew and said, "Here, Jimmy. Write something you kids find awesome nowadays."

Jimmy didn't do that. Not even close.

Here's the point. Don't waste your money.

Haze, easily forgettable.

Underrated Game of the Month.

2008-05-19T19:42:00.002-04:00

Technically, this released a while ago, but I'm just now digging into it.

Viking: Battle for Asgard is one of the most underrated games on the 360. Granted, the graphics are last-gen, and the controls can be a little off, but it's still an enjoyable bloody game.

To me, it more closely resembles God of War. It's just a hack 'n slash with missions. If you're in the mood for a mindless easy game, pick it up. Kinda like a sorbet between GTA IV and CoD 4 sessions.

Besides, if you're an achievement whore like me, Viking is an achievement playground. I received over 200 points without trying last night.

Madworld looks awesome. BUT...

2008-05-19T10:04:00.002-04:00

Am I the only one that had my initial thought process go something like this?

[During the Trailer]

Me - Wow! This looks amazing! Ooooo, blood....can't believe this is on the Wii!

(A beat.)

Me - Why do they waste their time with developing this for the Wii? It would look SO much better on the 360 or PS3! It probably won't even sell well on the Wii. Son. of. a . whore.

[fin]

Seriously though. I own a Wii, and the only action game that I've enjoyed is Resident Evil 4. Still haven't finished it though. You know why?

Because I'd rather spend that time playing something on the 360 or PS3. My Wii is for party games only. heh. Whenever I think about this game or see coverage on it, I can't help but think how much better it would be on another system. Will that change? I hope so, but I doubt it.

Grifball. The Sport for Winners.

2008-05-16T17:07:00.004-04:00

Double XP weekend is back with Grifball! If it wasn't for this ingenious creation by the Red vs. Blue gang, Halo 3 would be my dust catcher.

Scratch that.

It has been since GTA IV...nevermind.

IT'S BACK! Now that I have completed GTA, I can finally get back to Halo. Have you played this fantastic game type yet? If not, check out Grifball's site. You'll find the necessary videos and such to get caught up.

Last season, my team started off bad. Like, really bad. We were known as the most improved team by the end though since we almost won our last game against first place in our division. Instead of being last, we tied for third.

Here are the basics:

The game is based off the assault game type on the Foundry map. In the middle of the map, you'll find the bomb, and each team has a goal on opposite sides of the map. When the match begins, you try to get the bomb and place it on your enemies goal.

Kinda like EVERY SPORT EVER.

Players have swords and hammers. Bomb runners, people who pick up the bomb, get an overshield with an added speed boost. Hammers alone will allow players to perform incredible stunts like super jumps. Play it or watch the videos and you'll know what I mean.

Team coordination and communication is key.

Try it out. It's a must if you have Halo 3. Oh, and forgive me if this becomes a Grifball blog when the next season begins.

Yeah, I'm that obsessed.

Chump noise.

2008-05-15T17:38:00.004-04:00

If you own a DS and you have no idea who that is to the left, you should.

The World Ends With You is, in my opinion, the best DS game on the market. It's incredibly intuitive...even if the story can get quite silly with emo teenagers. Surprisingly, it's pretty dark.

The main attraction for gamers is the combat. What sets this apart from other games is simultaneously controlling two characters in battle. Your stylus controls the bottom character, whereas the direction pad controls the top. After 30 minutes, you should be very competent with this control scheme. (If you're a lefty, you can use the face buttons to control the top character!)

Its RPG elements has depth as well. As you fight, you can earn money and pins, which give you your special abilities. Some pins allow you to use fire against enemies as you draw lines, while another allows you to slash objects propelling them towards enemies for damage. And that's just the beginning 30 minutes of the game.

As you progress, you'll earn another ability which actually allows you to earn PP (pin points) for the time your DS has been in off mode. Yeah. Me likey.

There are a couple of multiplayer modes as well. I'm not too familiar with those yet. One of which is mingle mode. This will allow you to sell and trade items with others.

I'm positive this game won't leave my DS for a very very long time.

Monster Camp.

2008-05-15T10:35:00.004-04:00

Maybe I'm dense. But, I didn't know this existed.

Yes, I'm aware people dress as their favorite characters for gaming conventions and comic cons. A buddy of mine and I pulled a Snake and did some sneaky sneakersons to see a gaming convention in Florida two years ago. Meaning, we snuck in.

It was...surreal.

This may be taking LARPing too far for my taste. From the preview, here, I can get a sense of why these people would want to partake in this activity. To them, it's an escape from reality. For us, it's games. Don't forget that the media looks down upon us too for our hobby.

It's physically acting out an RPG. Mainstream finds that weird. That's obvious from the very beginning of the preview with the "normal" couple. I'm just glad they have something to look forward to instead of falling into depression. Friends having a good time...in a different way.

I'll go see it.

Shocking...really, it is. No really.

2008-05-14T09:59:00.004-04:00

Game Infomer's new issue has a lot of information regarding Guitar Hero 4. First off, it doesn't say whether or not you'll be able to use your RB drums or your GH4 drums for RB. I'm guessing NO is the answer.

This makes me very conflicted. I'm really digging the wireless 5 piece drum set, but I don't have another hiding place for a second set. Jeez, my RB set isn't very well hidden anyway! It's right behind the side table in the living room.

However, if they spent more time on instruments and not the game, then I don't have to worry. GH3 was terrible compared to RB.

Guitar Hero 3 lacked customization and was overly difficult to the point of frustration. I'm sorry. I just want to relax and have a good time with my games.

BUT, if GH4 is actually fun...I'm in trouble.

Niko has stolen 35 hours of my life...so far...

2008-05-13T16:02:00.002-04:00

And, I don't regret it.

I was one of the millions that stood in a line for the midnight launch of the game. That night, I put in 5 hours. Some most likely put in more than that, but I'm married. If I wasn't, I would have double those hours so far.

After playing for two weeks, I'm still pretty obsessed with GTA IV. I find myself at work eagerly anticipating my game night so I can continue my havoc upon Liberty City. My alarm is going off two hours earlier during the week for early morning sessions.

I. Am. Obsessed.

It does get repetitive at times, but for me, the missions are handled in a completely refreshing manner. Some games will have you make one moral choice, a la Bioshock. However, it's the same choice throughout the game. Save or kill the little sister. Your moral choice will begin to lose it's effect. This is what helps expunge the repetitive gameplay.

GTA handles moral choices differently. They're sporadic. You never know if your choice is going to come back to haunt you or reward you. That's the point. Otherwise, it's not really a moral choice...or a choice at all if there isn't a reaction somewhere down the road.

This morning, I spent 15 minutes having a silent debate with myself with a moral dilemma. I'm not going to give that portion away though. That's the first time I've felt invested in a game and its character.

Bring on the next 30 hours.

On a side note, my wife and I had a "discussion" about the violence in video games. The point being, she didn't understand how I could have fun with something like GTA. I understand her opinion. Some people can't separate game violence from life violence. She knows the difference, but her mind can't separate the two. Both are equally bad to her and make her uneasy.

Until she began watching me play the game. Here's a direct quote from her the other night as Niko walked out of the apartment to steal the first car of the morning.

Her - "Did you see that guy at the ATM?"

A pause.

Her - "Go back over there and beat him up to get his money."

Me - "Good idea."

I think she's coming around...

On a more POSITIVE note...

2008-05-13T09:42:00.003-04:00

Yes, please! Paul Thomas Anderson is currently interested in adapting the Metal Gear Solid game into a movie or series of movies. If you're not familiar with his work, he most recently directed There Will Be Blood. He's incredibly talented. Not necessarily known for action, but neither was John Favreau...

It seems like game movies are heading in the right direction. First, Verbinski adapting Bioshock, and now this. I hope this pans out.

via Kotaku

Uwe have to stop. Pleaze.

2008-05-12T22:09:00.004-04:00

See what I totally did there?

Uwe Boll, our favorite director, has decided that he is the best candidate to make a GTA movie...Yep. I wouldn't worry. Rockstar wouldn't let Boll buy a copy of the game let alone have the rights to make a crapfest movie.

It's times like these I wish someone worthy would challenge Boll to a fight and knock him unconscious. You know, since that's the only way for him to "prove" himself these days.

People wonder how he is able to continue his profession...or rather, noobfession. Well, it's people like you that rent his movies which actually accrue enough money for producers to fund his next project. DVD rentals are just as important as box office success.

Stop renting and he will disappear.

When Stupidity and Irony Meet.

2008-05-12T17:55:00.006-04:00

If you are not familiar with Mrs. Clinton's politics, one thing you should know as a gamer is Hillary actively fights against the gaming community. Obviously, she does this because she believes a majority of voters are against it. She'll easily sway to the other side when her opinion changes.

Anyway. There was an 11-year-old that sold his game collection and gave the proceeds to Clinton's campaign fund.

Great. Idea.

He's gonna be upset if she loses.

"What do you want for Christmas, Johnny"

[Looking angrily at Mom]
"What the hell do you think?"

Story via Game Politics

Maybe he owned a Wii...

GoW: More Bad.A?

2008-05-12T15:46:00.000-04:00

It's the first post for 99 Continues, and I'll let you wander over to the profile to find out more about me.

Let's get into it, shall we?

I'm sure most of you have seen the new Gears of War 2 (or, GoW: 'More Badass') footage. If not, clickee below.

My response is simple: Really? What stands out that's different and more Bad.A? Good. Cliffy included some enemies that should have been in the first one. Check.

Now we have dueling chainsaw fights? Sure, it looked pretty cool the first time. I'm sure it's going to get frustrating rather quickly when it happens more frequently than it should.

Anyone else get frustrated with the dueling swords in Halo 3? My point exactly.

Don't get me wrong though. GoW was a great game. It's one of the few that I played through a second time. But we're not being handed sequels. These are more like $60 expansion packs. It will be a good game. I'm sure of that. Now, what would I like to see? I'd like to see more customization. More maps. Bigger battles on Live, and yes, more in-game capturing utilities.