One thing I hate about things releasing on Sundays is that the mall closes at 5 p.m., and I usually don't finish work until an hour after :|. Needless to say, I was working at warp speed, and had to do a lot of favors to step out of work for at least half an hour and pick it up (Monday wouldn't be a good day either...another long day :x). So...was it worth it? Hell yes! Although I really can't pass judgment until more games come out (so far, I only picked up Street Fighter, which was the only "good" game on sale at the moment).

Street Fighter is, well...Street Fighter. I mean you either like this sort of game or you don't. Personally it's one of those games that I'd buy if there's nothing else out there, but if, say...Resident Evil or a GTA title were there, I'd pass up on this one. The 3D is...well, another thing I can't really judge because I'm a little light-headed after a minute of exposure :?. Granted, 3D movies do the same for me, so I doubt I'll be using the feature as much as playing games :P.

Aside from that, Street Fighter 3D is something I'd recommend for someone who doesn't have the dexterity to pull off combos with a d-pad or joystick, because the touch screen is there for simply pulling off the moves without the effort (in short, I'd call this Street Fighter for Dummies :lol:.). Of course, it plays just as good as the PS3/360 version, and I had no problem pulling off Hadoukens or Shoryukens with the d-pad (joystick wasn't great for this, at least for me :P).

To be clear, I didn't buy the 3DS for a 3D experience in my pockets (or duffel bag :P), but the awesome games coming out :D. It's really hard to tell if it's a day one investment when the launch titles were pretty mediocre (like I said, there was only one game on that day that looked appealing), and I probably won't know until the massive list actually releases in the next few months. All in all, I'm satisfied with having to cram my day's work in a matter of three hours, sprinting to the mall and back, and make it in time to send out the pies. However, asking me about my impressions isn't going to do much, considering the only thing I did was test out the 3D (which looks great) and playing a single game (which all I can say is a faithful adaption of the console game). Things like the "GameCube graphics" and "downloading games" I have to save for later because I haven't experienced it yet (I've got faith that this thing will have some mindblowing games in the next few years ;)) and I've heard the online store won't be available until the next couple months anyway. Still, I walked away pretty wowed, and unlike that CNN rookie gamer, I'm not going to full on praise the game nor unprofessionally bash it until I've got more hands on time with it, which like I said, won't happen until the anticipated games come out.

I guess it would've helped a lot if I actually told you guys I was going to be away for a while, eh? :| Anyway, one of my cousins just got married in Kauai (a shot out to Lisa and Justin...congratulations, and may that smile they had at the wedding never dim :D). It was a blast being in Kauai, although I never really did much except eat overpriced meals and tour no more than 10 miles of the island, but it's nice to have met a lot of people I haven't seen for over 12 years. Had a few drinks with some family members (and friends of family that I never met until now), and the wedding ended in the most epic fashion: a duel between the bride and groom on Guitar Hero, playing Crazy Train on Expert :shock: (and the amazing part was, they were damn good at it!). Anyway, I'm finally home, and more than eager to finally hop on my computer and smoke in the house now :D.

In my eyes, gamers are the most ungrateful consumers compared to that of any other media. As a gamer myself, I find it rather pathetic that others who share my passion for the hobby can be so ridiculously demanding, always insisting on hoarding all the good stuff for themselves, then throw a fit when the outcome favors more than just a few select die-hard fans. I can see people getting pissed because a great game isn't being made for all platforms, or one version is inferior to the other(which is a gray area for me, personally...how are we going to know one version of a game is bad without actually reading a review or playing both versions...if not for that, then we'd just assume it's ordinary and will be patched soon, much less have no choice if we want to play it if we only own one system), but to actually become angry over former-exclusive titles being made available to others is just downright pitiful.

But you know what gets on my nerves? When a game comes out that was so great on one platform, and the studios decide to share the love and let everyone, regardless of what system they own, to play this game. Then you see how ugly gamers can become...if a game doesn't look on par with the best PC hardware, it's "consolized." If it's just simply a disappointing sequel, no one seems to care that it wasn't that far off from the original's rating, no...you hear some of the best studios in the business being lashed, faith of their quality is gone, and they act as if a city's hero just turned to the Dark Side. Kind of makes me wonder if they actually PLAYED the game, or just basing this off what they hear :?.

Most recently, it's Dragon Age 2 getting some serious flak. I'll admit that the game is disappointing compared to the first, which was a perfect masterpiece in my eyes. I mean, the story isn't as captivating or desperate as Origins was, and there's a few flaws that really stick out (some really calm acting over tragic moments, the combat has been seriously simplified, and there's really not much in terms of bonding with your teammates like previous Bioware games were praised for). Still, it's a great game. I can look past this, because DA2 delivers in every other aspect. It's not perfect, and I doubt I'll be giving the game a solid 10 after I finish it, but I'm still having a lot of fun with it.

Now, my point is, gamers are impossible to please. You make a sequel to a great game, the reactions are split: you keep the core game as it is, and alter very little of it, people will complain and call it a rehash. If you go to the drawing board and create a game that at least tries to do things differently, longtime fans will balk, and throw a fit and assume that it alienates its original userbase (all the while, without even playing the game :roll:.). I'll admit that I've played a lot of the best games that never did stick with me (could never get into the Killzone or Resistance series, much less Starcraft or any other RTS), but at least I can say without s***ing anyone that I've experienced these games, and don't even bother giving these games my personal score (I don't think it'd be fair to judge a game that I couldn't get into, much less didn't finish). But I do find it a sad day when a game is a complete failure just because it didn't live up the the massive hype that no one but gamers decided to create. I mean, with that mindset, a college student should automatically fail his course if his second paper wasn't as captivating as his first one, or a respected boxer should be forced into retirement if he didn't win the championship bout :|.

I'm not saying that ALL gamers are like this. It's perfectly fine to be vocal about things you don't like about a game, because it leaves room for improvement in the future. But when you deny yourself a good game, assuming you enjoyed the previous ones, solely because of what you hear about it, then what kind of gamer is that guy? I mean to condemn an entire company just because of a fluke that wasn't even that horrible to beging with...I'm not just talking about one game either. It happens all the time. People hype a game to impossible odds, then don't even try the game when it fails to meet such fantasy standards. I do believe that studios can rush a game, cash in on previous success...I mean, they aren't exactly saints, and there are times that a lot of hard working top quality game developers decide to take the easy way out. I do believe in flawed games, but I'm willing to look past flaws if I enjoy what they offer. Some will say my words hold very little weight because I have pretty low standards for the most part. But I'll say that I mean every rating I give a game, and if I enjoyed a game that much, then in my eyes, these studios did their job.

You know, the disc-scratching flaw the 360 had? The funny thing is, I didn't even move the 360. I was at my desk, spun in my chair to grab something, my leg hits the side, and all of a sudden I hear it going crazy...yup, my brand new Fight Night Champion I had for a whole two days is unplayable now :|. I'm more pissed that I JUST started my legacy mode, and was going to hop onto it this morning :x. Now I have these giant circles on my disc, and can't even play the game (disc is unreadable...seriously, I've watched movies and played CDs that were more hashed than this and still played perfectly :|). Well, my return to the console gaming side of life was sure brief :cry:.

Anyway, I managed to finish the story mode last night, and the last match to win the championship was pretty epic. Imagine the fight between Rocky Balboa and Clubber Lang (with the strategy included, that you're forced to do...although I didn't completely hate this one, because it actually made sense because this guy was a friggin' beast!) and it was a pretty awesome fight. I'm a little bummed that I can't play the game anymore, but at least I got that done. Anyway, from what I did get to play in the Legacy mode, it was just as good as any Fight Night career (although I didn't get too far...about two pro matches after ameteur). At least here, I had free reign to go all out Rocky style in my matches and win (first thing I always upgrade is my chin and heart) :P. Then I had plans to scrap my career and create Apollo Creed, but well...now I can't :(. I'll probably end up buying the game again, but not for a while...lots of great games coming out soon, and I just don't have the money for it right now. I guess I'll go play Round 4 all over again.

So I've been playing Champion for...oh, about six hours now :lol:. I'm on the very last bout in the story mode, and I've had some serious vibes of both movies. While the story is interesting (in a way, since Fight Night never did have a story :P) I can't help but dub some moments as "screw overs." In one match, you're specifically ordered to KO someone, or not get hit a certain amount of times in a round, or win a round with a specific punch (for spoilers sake, I'll leave the reasons out ;)). Which I'll admit is interesting, but isn't always fair on the player's behalf (and when I say "screw over," I'm not kidding...just like how wrestling videogames play out at key moments, I could've had the match in a bag, until an opponent becomes invincible for some reason, and when I inevitably bite it, a cutcene plays, thus making the bout pretty useless in my eyes...sort of like a rigged match, if you'd say :?).

Aside from that, the prison flashbacks are pretty cool. The prison fights you play in have a pretty brutal feel, and I liked these the most because it's pretty straightfoward: no referees, no time limit, just knock the fool out. When I played regualr bouts in the story, I got pretty sick of it...with so many rules on how I should win my own match, it hardly felt like I was in total control over it. I mean, the only responsibility I should have is win the thing, but I'm ordered to do it in a specific manner :|. It's not too hard to do them, but not exactly an achieved win when I'm basically forced to win the match that's not even my preferred playstyle.

Control-wise, I'm a little mixed. I miss the haymaker (where you wind the joystick back to wind up...which in turn, made every punch feel realistic), and instead use a button modifier for stronger punches (the RB button and whatever joystick direction you want). Blocking is so simplistic it feels like I put on a handicap mode (all you do is hold the block, and everything else is automatic...from face punches to body shots, there's no real strategy for blocking anymore), and bobbing and weaving is pretty straightfoward as well. I'll have to say I hated the new punch modifiers, though...at least when you wind up on the joystick, you pretty much felt the power, and the risk VS reward scheme that came with it. On-screen, a heavier punch doesn't quite pack that kind of power on screen (I'll be damned I even threw a hard punch until one of the announcers said so...what can I say, I really, really miss the wind-up animation for the haymaker).

In short, the story mode feels too cinematic for my tastes. While at one point or another you'll face odds that you've seen in just about every boxing drama on DVD, it doesn't make for a good game, especially if you like to play your bouts the way you like (personally, I'm the "nothing but KO's" kind of boxer in the story) and forced to swallow a unanimous decision because that's how the story plays out. And don't get me started on the all but worthless training excercises in the story :|. It's nothing more than just hear your manager rabble on about something while you input punch commands on the heavy bag (if there's a deficiency for sucking at these, I haven't seen it). For story's sake however, I'd say it's as good as the ones I have in my movie collection (the best I can describe it is a modern day Cinderella Man). Keep in mind that there's a lot more the game offers, but so far, I've only played the story mode (if it's anything like the past four Fight Night titles, the gameplay will be top knotch, as always :D). And, don't ask me about the multiplayer, because I got the game on the 360 (since someone wanted to borrow it after...yes, I passed up on the PS3 version for the sake of brotherly love :cry:.) and I don't plan on getting Live just for this. If I sound confused wheter I like or hate the game, it's because that's exactly how I feel. No doubt EA's trying to make the game more accessible, but in doing so, they left out the charm that made the titles as legendary as they were before. I'd hate to say it, but Round 3 is STILL the best boxing game I've played so far (but, this is just my personal opinion :P).

No matter how awesome your game is...I have to ask some studios WTF they were thinking when it came to giving a name to their masterpiece. I mean, this applies to cars too...imagine owning a Honda Element, and telling a bunch of people how awesome your ride is...it'll sound more like you've taken an interest in skateboarding than bragging about your new vehicle.

Resident Evil: In a game about fighting off hoardes of the undead and other biological horrors, the name sure implies the idea that you've moved into a new house next door to a group of noisy neighbors. At least the Japan version was called Biohazard, which at least makes sense, given the plot. Now, it's established enough where people don't even think about it, but still...when I played the game for the first time, I figured this mansion is where evil resides...I did crap my pants when I fought a zombie for the first time with a knife (give me a break...I was 11 at the time :lol:.) but I thought the final boss would have me taking on Satan to liberate the universe.

Kane & Lynch: who are these guys, and why should we give a damn? :| I mean, when you have a game starring two bozos that you've got no clue who they even are, it just screams generic. I can see if they were famous actors, or some top tier athlete, but for a series that has yet to prove itself (personally I dig the game, but the world doesn't :P) the title seems like nothing more than a couple of cocky second-rate celebrities trying too hard to wow us.

Killzone: Let's be honest...the name sounds more like a slasher flick than a game about fighting one of the best wars ever imagined in a videogame. It also doesn't help that the people on your team LOOK like they just broke out of a prison either. I mean, with that kind of title, it'd be more fitting to replace the Helgast with drunk teenagers, and I doubt anyone would argue about the title (much less plot :P) making no sense at all.

Halo: Maybe it's just me, but when I hear "halo" I think of fairies, angels, rainbows and all that girly stuff. I don't think of the bad-ass Spartan squad or an epic war. I know what Halo refers to, but having that name as the selling point? :lol: For mythology's sake, naming ANYTHING a halo reminds me of a bunch of 1800's pilgrims who stumbled on something foreign, and had a limited vocabulary of what to call it, so they stuck with simple words...no wonder the Covenant is so pissed off. If I made one of the best death metal songs in history, and someone deemed it the "Justin Beiber," people will die for that.

F.E.A.R.: As "simple" and "anticlimactic" as the title implies, it's even lamer when you find out what it means (First Encounter Assault Recon), it STILL makes no sense when it's a game about a group of paramilitary soldiers specializing in paranormal activities (it sounds more like fending off an alien invasion). I dig the concept of a gory Ghostbusters scenario, but when I can't help but think of that Mark Walberg suspense flick, there's a problem. True, the game had some pretty horrifying encounters, but naming anything FEAR just screams B-Movie, or the name of some scrawny goth rocker that sold out to MTV. (don't get me started on F.E.3.R. Now WTF is THAT supposed to imply? That the studio didn't realize that 1337 5p34k isn't as cool as it was in the 90's?)

Left 4 Dead: Tell me not...doesn't it sound like an action flick starring has-been gangsta rappers trying to stay relevant in the media because no one gives a crap about their music anymore? :lol: Putting a number to replace a simple word can go a long way to confusing someone, okay? I was expecting hip hop to start blasting when I started the game. Seriously, I imagined I was in the 'Hood with some gats, and these zombies were nothing more than rivals the local family snuffed that somehow rose back from the dead to reclaim their turf (did I say that right?). And don't get me started on Francis...WHY would you name the most bad-ass character in the game after that annoying broad who starred in The Nanny? (seriously...I shot my own team mates whenever they called me "Fran."):|

Mortal Kombat: As legendary as the game is, I can't help but poke fun at the obvious flaw: who the hell thought it would be "cool" to misspell the title? I mean, yeah...you got an iconic series worth billions, die hard fans jumping for joy at the thought of a new release coming out soon, and quite possibly one of the most violent games that put UFC to shame. But somewhere in this world, there are more people like me secretly laughing at the idea that someone in the studio can't spell, and it's forever etched in stone. I mean, forget concerned parents watching their kids play a violent game, they should be more concerned about how many kids will fail spelling bees from this game alone. It's as laughable as the people who try to berate me using big words, and have a hard time pronouncing them :lol:.

Painkiller: is it a game about fighting hoardes of evil entities to redeem yourself back into heaven, or is it merely something that countless celebrities are addicted to? Believe me, when I get a migraine, I take enough of these to actually see demons tear a open a rift to our dimension and pour out like clowns out of a small car when I'm at work. Maybe the devs came up with the title based on experience :o. The world may never know...

Truth be told, I kind of flipped out that New Vegas' first expansion was a flop (I mean, no way could an add-on for one of my top games be THAT bad, right?). So of course, I rejoiced when a PC release finally came out. Well, first, I'll list the good parts: the build up to getting to the casino has the whole El Dorado vibe to it (sort of like how Uncharted pulled it off, in a sense that there's something sinister behind the whole story). I mean, the story is one of the few things going for it. Then, there's the raised level cap which is a nice bonus, and I did like how creative they've made the companions (everyone's got a story behind it, and it's not until the ending that you find out the truth behind everyone). And what can I say...even the casino itself has a dark history that was pretty shocking to discover. That, and I did find a new craftable weapon, although I've yet to actually make it (where the hell do I find hot plates in this game? :?)

Aside from that, this is my most hated Fallout expansion to date :| (seriously, I even tolerated Mothership Zeta, which I did actually enjoy). Heck, I actually found the quest area weeks before the expansion came out (it's the abandoned BoS bunker, and at the time I was wondering why the hell it was locked, much less how to open it...man, f*** me :lol:.) The first couple hours are pretty bearable, because all you have to worry about are enemies that don't actually die (although I figured that hitting them when they're down to the point of dismemberment does the trick), the red mist that slowly kills you when you enter it, and the odd radio that sets off your explosive collar (and believe me, breaking these damn radios were frustrating...sometimes your collar goes off, and you don't see a radio until you're in the next room...yes, plenty of trial and error here :x).

No, it's when you finally do enter the casino that I almost gave up on the game, if it wasn't for the fact that I couldn't leave the place until I finished the quest. Here, you also have to worry about holographic sentries that pack a lot of punch as well as can't die (as in, you can't directly shoot them...no, you have to hunt for the generator that keeps these guys running, if there's any at all), as well as these evil radios, and to add insult, some of them also can't be destroyed directly (no, some of them require you to shut down security :roll:.).

I really didn't mind the whole "scratch my back I'll scratch yours" when you set up the heist with your companions, because they were pretty brief and not too hard to figure out. No, I hated the game as soon as I stepped foot in the casino...here, you're dodging sentries MGS style, hoping you know exactly where the hell a radio is before you die, and hunting for keys...yes, can you believe that? In this day and age, an expansion actually has this age old annoyance that has 90% of the doors locked, and you have to hunt for keys, either by finding them yourself or by meeting up with companions (I'm trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible, so I may be leaving out a lot of key moments here :P he heh..."key moments" 8)).

I'll admit that the more I got towards the ending, the more epic it felt...if it weren't for the same annoyances I've described earlier. But there were moments in the game that had me pausing the game, staring at my monitor, and screaming "WHY!?" out of pure frustration. And if that wasn't enough salt on the wounds...well, when I managed to finish the game, when I exit out of the Sierra Madre expansion...I can't even get back to the place, even for memorie's sake :|. That's right, the game asks you if you want to exit, because this is the last time you'll ever see the place again, so made sure you've got all the stuff you need there :|.

If anything, I was happy the game was over, but I sure wasn't happy playing it. It's nice I got some neat goodies and all, but $10 for this just makes me feel like I've bought XP potions and a sword I could've acquired from grinding an MMO if the only thing worthwile was 5 more levels under my belt (with some new perks) and a couple new weapons that I'm way above in my current level (much less a security armor that's basically a repainted version of the Vault security armor, and some...dress). For story's sake, it's interesting. I'll give it that, because that's just about the only shining moment in this expansion, and it's nice to actually see how bats** insane Father Elijah is (he's been mentioned in the game before..either by the BoS, or from Veronica, I can't remember). Other than that, it's not something I'd recommend to anyone, no matter how much of a Fallout fan they are...I'm just hoping the next few New Vegas expansions won't blow this hard (then again, I really doubt they'd recycle the explosive collar and annoying holograms, so it can't possibly get any worse than that...hell, I'd take platforming gameplay over having to do this all over again :|). Oh, and did I mention I hated this expansion? I mean, this thing has officially given me a phobia of radios as of now :x.

A little (just a little :P) over dramatic, but I finally got the iPhone :D. I mean, I'm living proof that there are people loyal to their phone carriers that they wait YEARS for something, even if they're not even sure it's going to come out :lol:. Anyway, I'm really digging the phone. I've had an iTunes account for about four years, so I'm not exactly short on apps or music :P. Anyway, first thing I downloaded was a ringtone maker, and been going nuts with the Hatebreed and KMFDM songs :lol:. I actually like the idea of making my own, instead of downloading user content (because most of the ones were pretty bad), or *gasp* buying them! :o (believe me, I've always hated Verizon's "selections" of ringtones that were either ridiculously short, or started at the wrong time, or just didn't have 'em).

Anyway, great phone. I'm actually suprised with the apps that can actually run this time (I had the very first iTouch model, and it was pretty archaic as hell compared to the newer ones :P) without having that message that basically says "you've got a dinosaur iPod...buy a new one or suffer! :|" I was just suprised that my worst expectations were the opposite: instead of worrying about the 32 gig being sold out, it was the 16 gig that was :?. My iTouch was already almost out of memory as it is, so I was planning on getting the larger one anyway (which wasn't too expensive, just $100 more than the 16 gig model). Anyway, yeah...my "smoke breaks" at work just got a little longer now :lol:.

The way you glide through space with your thrusters, or the way Isaac's helmet wraps around his head convinces me that Dead Space 2 was inspired by said hero (which isn't a bad thing...I mean, Iron Man's awesome). Anyway, I finished the game a couple days ago, and I'm thinking about publishing a review after my second round. I mean, I played 85% of the game using the plasma cutter, and once in a while using the pulse rifle (which I have to add...having a grenade launcher as an alt fire beats the weird ass "shoot upwards" in the first one :?). And only now did I realize how much the javelin launcher kicks ass :shock:. I mean, if I don't actually kill something in one shot, the shocking alternate fire does the trick pretty well (and this is with no upgrades either :o. I'm collecting nodes on the way to beef up this bad boy, and see how awesome the special is...and since my saves carry over, and I've been stashing any spare ammo that's not plasma rounds, I've got a few hundred javelin rounds to abuse :twisted: ). I mean, this does wonders for those that necromorph that poops out those annoying small green...things if you don't kill it right.

Anyway, great game. You unlock riot armor after you beat it, and it's pretty cool in the sense that I can tank my way through the game and not worry about dying anytime soon (you won't believe the amount of health packs I've got in my inventory...I mean, I literally have to stash it to save space for ammo :lol: ). Still, I think the Advanced armor looks the best (and more Iron Man-like :P), and offers the best perks out of all I've got so far (50% better stasis recovery...beats having perks that grant bonuses to the contact beam or pulse rifle..you know, guns I don't even use :|. Or the other one that gives me 10% off the marketplace...and seriously, I'm never hurting for cash in this game...although I'll have to admit the vintage suit does resemble the prototype Iron Man costume from the first movie). I'm a little disappointed that the military armor never made it (the stormtrooper armor from the first game after you beat it). And like I said, great game...you know it's great if I'm playing it a second time (I usually never do this in most games :P). So, until Dead Space 3 comes out (I mean, this is EA we're talking about. If they strike gold with an IP, you know this spells "never ending franchise" :lol: ).

*sigh* Here goes (only for you, minimme! :D)

1. Passing up on Dead Space: Believe it or not, I almost had no interest in this game! :o Yes, the game that's one of my personal obsessions, I nearly never bothered with. Just imagine how foolish I'd be right now had I not said "aw, what the hell" and picked up my copy :P

2.Doing the impossible: you know how they say Achievements can't be erased? Well, at lauch, I made the horrible mistake of playing a couple games tied to an offline account, then a week later decide to get Live...so, if you were to check up my profile, you'd see games like Condemned have some weird time paradox, like halfway through the game, I've got Achievements dated back to 2005, and the first half of the game dating around 2008 :o.

3.I erased the Recycle Bin: believe it or not, I actually did (not sure if it should be a 8) or a :oops: ). I was toying around with some mods for a game, and at the same time my launcher for a game I was loading up started to crash...so what do I do? start uninstalling files, while trying to light a cigarette, and somehow ended up deleting the shortcut to the Recycle Bin. To this day, my Asus laptop is...Recycle Bin free. It's unique!

4.I actually cheated Microsoft: I decided to buy Gears of War for PC a while back...call it coincidence, but as soon as I went through that groan inducing process of converting money into Microsoft Points, the damn thing was down for maintenance, so I couldn't download it right away...the next day, I checked up again to see if I didn't get ripped off. Well, while I was waiting for the game to download, I noticed my account still had $20 left in it (which was the amount I converted to buy the game) :o. I was a little paranoid for a few weeks, since I really don't want my account to get banned because they'd assume I cheated the system, but so far so good, and that money's still in my account :D.

5.Losing faith in Steam: around the time Dead Space 2 and Dragon Age 2 were announced, I kept waiting for Steam to announce the game on their program...thing is, Dragon Age 2 has a deadline to be bought if you want the free goodies with the game, and EA's download manager was the only program advertising the game. So, I caved in and purchased both games off EA's site...a couple days later, Steam offers Dragon Age 2 for pre-order, with the bonuses :|. A week later, Steam announces Dead Space 2 for pre-load :|. Learn from my mistakes: never, ever question Steam's authority as PC gaming's messiah, because the whole process to play a game off EA's manager blows :cry:.

Anyway, I tag ClearDagger, Nexus2012, deathtarget04, and matastig :D