Welcome and thanks for making another appointment with The Doctor's Prognosis!

I wanted to clear something up real quick about my name. DrCLos, or Dr. C-Los as I refer to myself, is pronounced "Doctor See-Los" and NOT pronounced as "Doctor Close" or "Doctor Claus." Many people get this wrong so I felt I should clarify. Not that it won't happen again. :(

Anyway, sorry for not being on much lately but I worked a lot over the weekend and also partied a bit due to a couple birthdays.

GameSpot's E3 Studio Experience

So it's been almost a whole week since I went to the GameSpot E3 Studio and it was quite exciting. I met with Jody, the GameSpot community manager, in the hotel lobby. She was very friendly and took me to the studio. When I walked in I was quite surprised. The stage is just a green screen which makes sense but I guess I never thought about it and just assumed it would look like it did in the videos. :P

Anyway I was introduced to some nice ladies when I walked in who offered me soda, beer, or wine. I took some water. One of the coolest things about this little trip was being able to see how everything worked backstage. Seeing them do the live stage demos for like 10-15 minutes and then a taped segment for another 10-15 minutes. During the taped segments they got ready and set up for the next live segment so it all worked out.

Now they had this area set up for "guests" like me, and fellow GameSpotters Jediskilz173 and DouglasBuffone who were also in attendance at the time, including bean bags and a swank HDTV for viewing the live stage demos. This TV looked incredible and really helped sell the games better than watching the demos over the net.

However, I opted to sit near the opening for a good while before sitting in the guest area because that way I got a better view to observe how things worked around the studio. Like how everyone interacted and how much work goes into the show.

Also, being near the entrance I saw many people from different developers come in and announce what company and games they were there to represent to the ladies that offered me drinks. It was especially cool to see Koji-san of Castlevania fame come in with whip in tow.

Seeing the games on the big HDTV really helped sell some games to me as well. What a sucker I am. The stage demos that got my attention were Darksiders: Wrath of War and Dead Space. I wasn't very interested in these games before but their awesome demos got me keeping an eye on things as they develop. And this is why stage demos are important! They get people excited to play your games and maybe buy them!

Another game of note was Soulcalibur IV. Seeing it in action got me excited for it's impending release. Seeing Yoda flipping around with his light saber cemented my want for the 360 version. Nothing against Darth Vader, but I loved Yoda's fighting sty|e.

I also saw the new DS Castlevania game, Order of Ecclesia, which looks great. The Wii fighting game, Castlevania Judgment, didn't look that good but I may pick it up for two reasons: it links with the DS game and it has AWESOME music featuring some of my favorite tracks from the series. The DS game is a sure buy though.

The day ended with a great stage demo/performance of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" featured in Guitar Hero: World Tour. Everyone got into it as they rocked the stage. Man am I happy that it will be compatible with Rock Band's instruments. Now I don't have to spend another $100+ on new peripherals.

After the show ended I got to talk to my fellow GameSpotters a bit and thanked Jody for everything before heading out to have dinner with friends to celebrate a birthday. It was fun and exciting to see the inner workings of the GameSpot studio and the staff was really nice and accommodating. They even fed me the same stuff they fed the great Koji-san. No doubt giving the Doctor what he deserves. ;)

I have a great respect for what the GameSpot people do. There are so many people working on the show it really is incredible. Behind the stage and my seating area, there were rows of computers and GameSpot staff doing what they can to help with the show and the site.

Anyway I want to thank Jody and the GameSpot staff again for helping make this happen as it was a fun and enlightening experience. It also made me consider another line of work. Game journalism could be fun and it's definitely something I'm passionate about. And believe me, I got plenty of opinions I wouldn't mind sharing.

Cosplayer of the Blog

I wanted to write a review for The Dark Knight but this is running long and I'm tired so let's just end with the real reason anybody visits my blog.... Hardcore nudity!

Wait... what? I can't post nude images? Well okay then here is my second best ploy for readers! An attractive cosplayer! :)

:| Uh..... Let's try this again...

Yeah! That works! And this one's for the ladies.... or guys that are into that sort of thing!

Thanks for making another appointment with The Doctor's Prognosis with Dr. "See-Los." Next time I will have a review for The Dark Knight so keep an eye out.

See you next time! :D

Welcome once again to another edition of The Doctor's Prognosis with me, Dr. C-Los!

E3 is upon us and has waved it's mighty hand towards the path of destiny! :P

What I really mean is that E3 sure is exciting isn't it? Well I have a few thoughts but let's start with my impressions on the recently released demos....

Too Human

Well this is one I have been waiting for as I was a big fan of Eternal Darkness on the GameCube which was also made by the same developers, Silicon Knights.

This story basically retells Norse mythology if I am correct (and please correct me if I am wrong) as you play as Baldur. In this game he is like a soldier but you can customize him based on how you want to play. For example you can make him a Berserker which forgoes defense for all-out, dual sword-wielding offense. Or you can focus on healing as a Bioengineer. In this demo, you can only choose the Champion cla.ss which is a well-rounded way to play. You get guns, swords, and balanced offense/defense.

The gameplay is simple but fun. This is basically a dungeon-crawler as you take on hordes of enemies. But dispatching them is easy as you use the right analog to attack. Simply point the analog in the direction you want to go and Baldur slides around hacking and slashing. Much easier than endlessly clicking like in Diablo, which wouldn't work in a console game. You can also launch enemies into the air and either finish them off with your guns or jump up and slash them to death in the air.

As you defeat enemies, you can find bounty (which I wasn't clear in the purpose... maybe to purchase stuff later) and loot such as new weapons and armor to equip. Some of the armor can only be worn by certain cla.sses and can also depend on Baldur's current level.

As you level up, you gain skill points that you can use to spec your character the way you want such as making your gun shots stronger or adding fire elemental damage to your sword. You can also add Runes to your weapons and armor so that you gain extra stats such as strength. So you can customize in many way according to the way you want to play.

The voice acting and art design was also impressive. I felt like the game had quite a bit of polish and that it had more depth to it than the demo allowed me to see despite the easy to pick up combat.

My prognosis: I remain optimistic about this game for it's final release and I recommend 360 owners to try it out as I was very impressed.

Too Human is scheduled for release on August 19th.

Tales of Vesperia

I understand that this game is one of the most wanted in Japan despite being only on the 360 so I was looking forward to trying it out.

The art design is very much like Eternal Sonata as is the level design. Crisp cel-shaded graphics along with a very simple linear map with some branching paths. No random battles is also nice as you can see all the creatures on the map.

Combat is a little different from Eternal Sonata however. They are all in real time as you control the main character Yuri (I think it was) while your party members heal and attack as needed. The combat was simple but fun. I could see it getting a little tedious but leveling up could yield more interesting attacks. I am not sure if you could control the other characters but I couldn't figure it out if it was possible. Someone please let me know so I can try the demo again.

My prognosis: I think that if you liked Eternal Sonata, you will probably like this game. I thought it was pretty good and warrants a look from RPG fans.

Tales of Vesperia is scheduled to release on August 26th.

E3 Conference Impressions

Well I finally caught up with the Big 3 conferences and I felt that Microsoft's was the most impressive and here is why....

They had the most stage demos. They came one after the other and I felt this was very important because it showed off what the games would play like which is the most important thing about a game.

I am now more excited about Gears 2, and Fallout 3 suddenly jumped up on my wanted list. Resident Evil 5 also looked very good.

MS also did a good job appealing to more casual fans with their announcement of Netflix, Avatars, and more casual games like Lips. Not really anything I would be interested in but it will gain attention to a larger audience.

So I felt they had the best combo of hardcore games and stuff casual gamers would be interested in. Plus their big surprise announcement of Final Fantasy XIII on the 360 helped make their conference the best in my opinion.

I felt Sony had the second best showing. I felt the best thing they showed was the Little Big Planet stage demo that also served the purpose of talking numbers and 3rd party support. It really showed off what the game can do and it remains my most wanted game on the PS3.

After that I felt that Sony didn't do a great job. They showed some cool trailers like DC Universe. But they should have showed more stage demos. Sony has a history of making promises of things we won't see for a long time. Some of those promises end up not coming true like all those "exclusive" games they promised that are now on the 360 or will be coming soon. I felt they needed to show more actual real-time gameplay footage to get people excited.

I am happy that they officially announced God of War III. But once again, all we got was a promise and no gameplay footage or release date. Come on Sony! Show us something to get us excited!

Now for Nintendo, I think they had a great show for the casual market. They officially announced Animal Crossing for the Wii but that wasn't really a surprise. They also showed off some nice stage demos like the Wii Music game. A lot of people seem to be hating on this game but remember that you play the Wii Music game withoout any EXPENSIVE peripherals and without any real skill. I think this will appeal to their demographic and will sell pretty well. Not really my thing but I can appreciate what they're trying to do.

The main thing missing from Nintendo's camp was a surprise announcement of a big game and I was disappointed by the lack of hardcore games. I just wanted one game that I could get excited for. Maybe in the coming months. :(

Cosplayer of the Blog

Eh I'm feeling lazy... I don't know who this is supposed to be but she's got a nice look. I'll try harder next time. :P

Anyway, tomorrow is the day that I get to visit the E3 GameSpot Studio! I will let you guys know how it went on my next blog.

Thanks for making another appointment with the Doctor's Prognosis!

See you next time! :)

Welcome to another addition of The Doctor's Prognosis! I am your humble host, Dr. C-LOS.

Well I have a little surprise... Some of you may have heard that if you live in the Los Angeles area, GameSpot is letting you attend their E3 studio. They had limited seating and time frames available however so I will be visiting this Thursday from 2pm to 4pm. I won't actually be at the real E3 show but watching it live from the studio should be a fun experience. And who am I to miss an opportunity for a new experience? I love it.

I will let you all know how it went on my next blog or at least after the next one.

No new movie watching since Hellboy II but I will probably have a review for the Dark Knight after the weekend as I am sure many of you will have your own thoughts. Aside from that there was one big thing I wanted to mention.....

Final Fantasy 13 on the 360!

So far E3 seems like it's off to the right foot with Final Fantasy 13 officially announced for the 360 in the U.S. and in Europe. Great news for those without a PS3. I will have to wait to see which console it's better on before purchasing. But if it's basically the same then I will go for the 360 version.

Let's hope we see more nice surprises like this announced throughout the event.

My Car: Experience and Tips Part 3

The Yo Yo Scam

Ok so last time we left off with how I negotiated the price of my car and the financing scam they were trying to pull off on me. In the end, I pulled it off and took off with my car. And it seemed it was all over until........

The next day they called and said financing fell through! I had to go back and renegotiate! This is a tactic called the "Spot-On Delivery Scam" or the "Yo Yo Scam." They let you go home with the car and get emotionally attached and then call you to break your heart that the car isn't yours and that you need to renegotiate. The whole point is to get more money out of you.

It is important to know that they may not be lying if your credit isn't good enough. You may need a cosigner or to get a loan from a seperate bank if you don't want to deal with their financing. My credit score is great at 792 and I was only financing a small amount at 6,800. There was no reason for me to be denied. My credit history goes back almost a decade with no bad marks which is also good.

Anyway, my brother was pissed as was I. My brother came with me this time and he pretended to be a law student. You have to see what you can get away with as they do the same to you. ;)

We went back and let them know that I was willing to return the car if we didn't keep the same deal. They suddenly changed their tune. Now instead of saying that I didn't qualify, which is what they said over the phone, they were now saying I did qualify but that they just needed a pay stub for proof of employment. That would still require waiting a few days and they might still say that I didn't qualify.

Now I actually had anough money to outright buy the car. Most people don't have that option and have to let themselves get bullied. It's a nightmare. One option is to get a loan from a bank that won't make you go back because the "financing fell though." That way you can just buy the car with a check and still build your credit. You won't have to deal with any financing nightmare with the dealer.

Anyway, so if I wanted to finance I would have had to give the pay stub. Since I didn't want to wait to see if they would call me back again for more BS, I paid off the rest in full. This ended up biting them in the butt. Because they had a different incentive if you bought the car in full.... a rebate of $1250.

So I ended up getting the car for $26,550! And on top of that, the dealer didn't make any kickback money for getting me to finance with their bank. You see, dealers make extra money by getting people to finance with Nissan's bank. This money is referred to as "kickback." They didn't get their kickback.... I won! :D

I hope my experience helps some of you in the future. Though with the way the economy is going, my car buying tips may be obsolete in a future where no one is driving them due to costs.

For those of you that want to see what my car looks like, I don't have a real picture of it but you can see what it looks like here.

If you want to read the previous parts to my car buying blog, check out Part 1 and Part 2.

Cosplayer of the Blog

And the winner is...... us! :P Tifa is here to welcome 360 players to the world of Final Fantasy. No better welcome than that!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to make another appointment with the Doctor's Prognosis!

See you next time! :)

Welcome and thanks for making another appointment with the Doctor's Prognosis! I am your host Dr. C-Los.

Last time I reviewed Batman: Gotham Knight and talked about finding my car. Well this time I got a little review on Hellboy II and I will let you in on how I negotiated for my car. Let's begin!

Hellboy II

I saw this one last night with a couple of my friends and we all ended up liking it. I should warn that it starts off a little slowly but once the action starts it gets pretty fun. One of my friends actually looked like he fell asleep in the beginning for a few minutes. :P

The visuals in this film were the highlight for me. It looked like Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, and a TOOL video meshed together. Very good imagery and definitely the kind of stuff that can inspire.

If you liked the first film well this one is better so no question on if you should see it. If you didn't like the first one, well this is a fun film and very entertaining so you should give it a chance. Big thumbs up from me.

My Car: Experience and Tips Part 2

The Real Deal

Anyway, now back to my crazy car buying tale..... Last time I let you in on how I found my car and this time you will see my entire negotiating ordeal.

Ok so the dealer, named Chris, sat down with me and my family to talk numbers. Here is another tip: bring as many people as you can with you. Dealers try to intimidate you and you need the back-up. My family didn't do any talking but having them there is good because now instead of me against the dealers (a losing battle), it's me and my family against the dealers which is an easier battle.

Second, NEVER negotiate the monthly payments of the car. Only negotiate the PRICE of the car itself. The reason is because it is much easier to negotiate the price of the car than monthly payments. If you negotiate monthly payments, it can get complicated with the dealer changing the amount of the months you will be financing which can become confusing. Once you agree on the price of the car, the monthly payments are easy to calculate.

Anyway, Chris started at $30,000. I told him that was too high and he came down rather quickly to $28,000. The fact that he gave a second number without me having to give him mine yet showed that he really wanted to sell and put me at an advantage. I knew I could get more out of him.

I then told him what I wanted the car for.... $26,000. I lowball on purpose knowing that I can't get that price because you have to think that we are going to meet in the middle. He left to "talk" to his supervisor or whatever they pretend to do and came back with $26,900....... but AFTER rebates.

He included the $1000 financing rebate and a $500 graduate rebate because I have a college diploma. I told him that he raised the price. Chris was confused because he insisted that $26,900 was less than $28,000. But then I pointed out that if you add the rebates back into the price, it came out to $28,400! So he actually raised the price and tried to make it seem like he lowered it. He then "realized" his mistake and made the appropriate changes. But the problem is that Chris seemed unsure if he could get me the graduate rebate so I refused the rebate. You might think it is stupid to turn away $500 but the truth is that if it fell through, I would have to go back and renegotiate and you NEVER want to go back to renegotiate if it can be helped.

Anyway, it seemed as if Chris wasn't going to move from $28,000. So I told him that 28,000 was the highest offer I had been given. He asked what was the best offer I was given. I lied and said 27,800. He asked why I didn't take it and I told him the other dealer didn't have a car to show me. So he said that he would give me the car for $26,800 after the $1000 rebate. In all honesty, I would have taken 28,000 but I just wanted to see if I could get him lower. In the end, I got him lower than all the other dealer quotes I got. Done deal!

Or you would think!

Financing

Chris brought along a friend with the monthly payments at a whopping $277 a month! He had added extras like extended warranty and such. I told him I didn't want that and then lowered the price to $232/month. I already knew my payments should be around $175. I told him that I didn't see the car price on the paper he was showing me and I didn't know where he was getting his numbers.

After some arguing he left and came back with $196/month. He said he did something wrong on his computer and apologized. I told him that it was still too high. And I would prove it by pulling out my cell and going to Edmunds.com and showing him the numbers. While I was doing this he said that the numbers were right and the deal was over.

My family and I were about to walk out when suddenly Chris stopped me and asked what my numbers were and how I got them. The fact that they stopped me told me that they didn't want me to leave. Them saying that the deal was over was an intimidation tactic to get me to cave in to their numbers. But I knew I was right because I did my homework.

Anyway, I explained and showed Chris my cellphone with all the numbers as I put them in. Chris said he'd show me his computer to show me his numbers. I agreed to look and we got stopped by a third employee. He asked me what I was financing and what I thought I was supposed to get. I told him and he left and came back with a piece of paper. He said $174 a month. Deal!

Then Chris and his financing buddy came back and said they don't know what happend to the computer but that I was right. The computer messed up.... yeah right.

So I ended up leaving with my car much cheaper than anticipated. $26,800 with $173/month! I put my address as my mom's house so my monthly payment came out cheaper by a buck because tax is cheaper in her area.

I was pretty happy and you think this would finally be all over.... It wasn't.

What could possibly happen more? I will go over that on my next blog with Part 3, the final part, of my car buying experience. If that isn't enough to tune in then I also have a bit of surprise announcement for next time that deals with E3! What could it be? I will tell you next time. ;)

Cosplayer of the Blog

Another blog, another hot cosplayer. If I don't find these then who will I ask? Today we got the lovely Princess Leia in slave garb. Wouldn't you love her helping you out at home? I know I would. I do it enough at work that I don't want to do it at home. :P

Thanks again for making another appointment with the Doctor's Prognosis! Next time I will have the 3rd and final part to my car buying experience and an announcement about E3 and.... me? Find out next time! ;)

Welcome to another edition of The Doctor's Prognosis! I am your host Dr. C-Los.

Let's start off with a review before getting to my car buying experience.

Batman: Gotham Knight

I picked up this Blu-Ray on Tuesday (along with Batman Begins now on Blu-Ray as well) and watched it right away. There are six stories of Batman and each is told in a different sty|e. But I would say that not all of them are great.

There is one tale in particular that I did not like as much as the others. It focused on Batman using a new tech to deflect bullets. I think the story does a pretty good job of reflecting on what Batman is about. But actually, the main thing I didn't like about this tale is the character design. You see they got Kevin Conroy, the guy that did Batman on the Fox animated series of the 90's, to reprise his role which I think is great because he's my favorite voice for Batman. The problem with this tale is that Bruce Wayne looks like he's only sixteen years old! Couple that look with the deep mature voice of Kevin Conroy and it becomes distracting.

Other than that, I enjoyed this feature quite a bit. There isn't as much action as the commercial wants you to think but I think that's a good thing. A couple of the tales focus more on who Batman is on the inside. Though there is still some action that isn't always the focus. So I think that not everyone will like all the stories in this feature as some are a little slower than others such as one tale which focuses on Bruce Wayne dealing with his pain (both external and internal).

I also feel that since this feature is really six stories put together, it doesn't feel as focused as the previous WB animated releases. But they did an admiral job as this was a pretty ambitious task.

The extras are pretty nice with a look at Batman's villains and the life of Batman creator Bob Kane. Also, there is a sneak peak at the next WB animated feature, this time focusing on Wonder Woman. Keep an eye out for that one. And they included a few episodes of Batman: The Animated Series which is nice too.

Overall I feel that it was a great feature but I felt a little disappointed because I think I expected something a little different and maybe more action-packed. I think the point they were trying to make was that there are different facets to Batman and who he is, and I think they did a good job. They tried something different and I applaud them for that.

I still feel that Batman is great in anime sty|e and there are some great moments in this feature. What they have here is great and I recommend it to Batman fans. If you are not really a big Batman fan or anime fan then rent it first. Either way, Batman: Gotham Knight gets a thumbs up from me.

My Car: Experience and Tips

The Decision

Ok so now onto my car buying experience along with some tips along the way. I should say that deciding on a specific car took me a long time but it is crucial to decide what exact car you want and what extras you want in it before going to buy it. The reason is because if you go in and say you want a certain car, assuming you did your research, you will know how much money you're putting down, about how much you can get the car for before rebates, and the monthly payments you will make based on APR. If they don't have what you want then they may try to sell you on a car that doesn't have all the features you want and you won't know exactly what you're going to be paying and thus get taken for your hard-earned cash.

Anyway, I originally was going to buy a Lexus but with the way the economy and gas prices are going, I thought it smarter to get luxury items in a non-luxury vehicle that was better in gas mileage. So I settled on the Nissan 2.5 SL. Now there is one problem with my decision. Luxury cars are a bit easier to negotiate because based on my research their margin is higher and finding out their "invoice" price is easier. Let me explain.

You see there is a lovely little website called Edmunds.com where you can find car prices on all makes and models and even older cars if you are interested in buying or selling a used car. According to this site, you can find the MSRP, or sticker price, on all the currently available cars. The sticker price is a mark-up so the dealer makes a profit. The invoice price is the hidden price on these cars that the dealer supposedly pays on these cars. This is not entirely true but the dealers will use this lie to make you think that the invoice price is the lowest they can go and that they are giving you a great deal. The luxury cars' invoice price is still above what the dealer actually pays and so are the invoice prices of non-luxury cars. The difference is that the luxury car margins are greater on their invoice price so when a dealer gives you the invoice price on a non-luxury car, they probably will not go any lower than that because they are giving up too much profit as the margin is already pretty low.

Now here is where it got a little difficult for me, Edmunds.com doesn't have the invoice prices for non-luxury cars available. They have them only for the luxury cars. This means that I had no idea how high the mark-up was for the Nissan 2.5 SL when I went in to negotiate. In other words, I am negotiated blindly and just trying to see how low I could get them.

My brother bought himself a luxury car, an Infiniti. Since Edmunds had the invoice price available it made it easy for him to negotitate a little below that and get what he wanted at a low price. He ended up with his car below the invoice price. Now let me tell you that there is no way a dealer is going to let you buy a car without them making some profit. They use that kind of verbiage into making you think they are offering the best deal, often at the sticker price! That is why it is so important to do your research and know what you can get for it.

Anyway, I chose my car and the trimmings on the Nissan website to find my car had a sticker price of about $30,000. I sent out e-mails to dealers that I wanted the car for $26,000. I then went to a dealer to negotiate a price. I broke a rule about buying cars and negotiated on a car they said they had but wouldn't show me until we agreed on numbers. A big rule is to never negotiate on a car you haven't seen. After all that wasted time they will say they sold it or can't find the car and then try to sell you on something else. But I did this anyway because I wasn't going to buy. I just wanted to waste their time and see how low they would go on the price of the car. Thanks to the trip to the dealer, and the e-mail responses I got from other dealers, I figured out that the relative price that dealers wouldn't go below was around $27,900. Now I had a price to go by!

Finding the Car

So now that I had a price to go by, I could negotiate the car's price pretty confidently. Through Edmunds.com, I knew that there was an "incentive" for the car. Incentives are basically deals they use to get you to buy such as low APR and rebates. I wanted to put down $20,000 and finance the rest. They had an incentive for financing at a 3.9% APR with a $1000 rebate. Which means I could get the car at around, $26,900 and thanks to Edmunds.com's financing calculator, I figured out I could get the monthly payments at around $175 per month for 60 months. I had the numbers in my head so I was ready.

I had to go to five or six different dealers to find the car I wanted. Now here is the problem. Like I said earlier, never negotiate for a car they haven't shown you. I went to some dealers that lied and said they had the color I wanted, but wanted to negotiate first before showing it to me. Don't fall for this. I would have been willing to deal for another color if they had been honest and just told me that was all they had. But since many dealers lied to me about having the car only to say it was an hour away, I walked away. Now here is another tip: if you don't like the tactics they are using, walk away. Don't give them your business.

Anyway, I found one spot that was honest about what they had and I decided on a silver one. Not the original color I wanted but the color wasn't that important. Always have a few colors you can live with in case they don't have your top choice. Now the "fun" began...

This is becoming very long so I will stop here for now and continue with Part 2 for the next blog. I will go over the entire negotiating process.

Cosplayer of the Blog

After that rather long-winded tale, it is time to relax with the cosplayer of the blog! Today we got a rather curvy Morrigan. Curves are always nice. :P

Thanks for making another appointment with the Doctor's Prognosis! I hope you enjoyed today's departure from the normal blog.

See you next time! :)

Welcome to another addition of The Doctor's Prognosis! I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July whether you live in the U.S. or not. :)

A little news on me.... I just got a new car! It took me like 2 weeks to find the deal I was looking for. I ended up getting a Nissan Altima 2.5 SL fully loaded with sunroof, Bose stereo, Bluetooth, leather seats, XM radio free for 3 months, the works! All for $26,550! That is a little more than $3000 under the asking price. I was able to do that because I did my homework.

I'm thinking to do my next blog or at least an upcoming one on my car-buying experience and also give some tips on how to buy a car. It's just that if you go in there without any knowledge on what you're doing then you WILL get taken. What do you guys think? Should I do the car-buying blog?

Anyway, today I am taking a break from games and talking about films. Let's start with some films I have recently watched.

The Incredible Hulk

This is one of the bigger films of the summer. After Ang Lee's iteration, many filmgoers wanted something less artsy and more smashy. And this film delivers on that promise.

The Incredible Hulk stays closer to it's television roots with the wandering Bruce Banner trying to make sure he doesn't lose control over his other side, afraid of what he might do. But the best part is how they include the Abomination, a monster whose threat is worse than even the Hulk's. This of course leads to a great fight scene between these behemoths which was far more satisfying than the confusing ending to the last Hulk film. Furthermore, there are a few cameos and little fun surprises for Hulk fans to find.

While I don't hate Ang Lee's version of the Hulk as much as everyone else seems to, this new film is one I think we all can enjoy. Big thumbs up.

The Happening

Now I have to give one of my most scathing reviews ever. Warning: Contains Spoilers!

I will just tell you straight out that I hated this film. Usually, I can find some merit in Shyamalan's films but this one was pretty ridiculous. Furthermore, there isn't even a twist ending like all his other films.

They explain half-way through the film that the plants are probably the ones releasing toxins into the air causing people to kill themselves. At first they thought it was terrorists.
Anyway, this leads to ridiculous scenes where characters are actually trying to outrun the WIND in open fields.
So the whole movie I was like "Well there's going to be a twist and it will explain everything because plants is a really stupid explanation leading to people running away from the wind which is impossible."

The twist never came. The ending was stupid.
The plants just suddenly stopped letting out those toxins and everyone lived happily ever after. Until in some European country the events start happening again. THE END

The thought was that man has to change so that they can continue to live. It's an environmental film.
I guess it sounds good on paper but the execution was horrible.
That's Shyamalan for you. Good ideas but horrible execution.

Huge thumbs down.

Justice League: The New Frontier

This is a straight to DVD/Blu-Ray release. Don't let the happy, kid-friendly look of the character design fool you. This is actually a pretty adult-oriented tale. A part of the film even features someone getting shot in the face, resulting in the shooter going into a mental ward.

Anyway, you might think that having so many characters in a film would cause this film to turn out pretty bad. Actually, the film tends to center on certain individuals the most. So the film doesn't really feel uneven as all the characters eventually come together to battle a common foe.

The animation is top-notch, and the voice acting is great. Warner Bros. has almost always done a great job with their animation (let's forget Superman: Brainiac Attacks ever happened) and they don't disappoint this time either. Pick this one up for sure.

Batman: Gotham Knight

In case you didn't know, I am a huge Batman fan and for me, The Dark Knight is THE film of the summer to watch. But Warner Bros. is here to give us a little extra to hold us over until the release and it is called Batman: Gotham Knight and it takes place after Batman Begins but before The Dark Knight.

So what's so great about this straight to DVD/Blu-ray release is that it isn't in the traditional Warner Bros. sty|e of DC animated films/programs. It's actually an anthology of six tales and all are done by 6 different anime directors in 6 different anime sty|es.

Another tidbit about myself is that I am a huge anime fan. A Japanese animated Batman is something I have dreamed of for a long time so this was like a dream come true. While I haven't seen this film, I really feel like this is a can't-miss for Batman/anime fans.

Batman: Gotham Knight is set to release on July 8th so that's this coming tuesday. Make sure to keep it on your radar.

Cosplayer of the Blog

Keeping in the theme somewhat, here is a hot superhero (sometimes villain). This time we got Black Cat of Spider-Man fame. She can catch me any day. ;)

Thanks for making another appointment with the Doctor's Prognosis. See you next time! :)

Well it has been a really long time but I finally decided to do this again. I think the trick will be to make shorter blogs so I don't let everything out at once and feel like I don't have to do another one in ages. Plus finding good working pics to put in my blog was somewhat time-consuming.

Anyway let's start with some games I have finished during my hiatus.

Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga

Wow I started it back in 2003 when it came out but stopped playing for whatever reason and picked it back up a couple months back. Great game and I wonder why I never finished it. Very fun RPG. Since you are actively trying to do more damage or counter your enemies' attacks, you are more involved than the average turn-based RPG. Big thumbs up. I gave it a 9/10.

Sonic Rush Aventure

One of the more recent games I actually finished. Sonic Rush Adventure is actually a little more forgiving than the first Sonic Rush where I felt like I was dying just because of some cheaply placed death traps. So I died a lot less in this sequel which I felt was a good thing. The only things dragging this one down were the lame story elements and long cutscenes. Just went a little overboard with those but still a very fun game. There is a lot more to do in this game than the first. You can take on extra missions to unlock extras so there is a lot of replay value even after you finish the game. I didn't really bother with this very much but those of you who always want more Sonic action will be pleased. I gave it an 8/10.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Oh man now talk about your old games to finish. I played the original SNES game but got stuck somewhere and never finished it until this year on the GBA. How many years is that? More than a decade!

So what can I say that hasn't been said about this game? Awesome game for it's time and is still a blast today. My only gripe would be that it can be quite difficult to find some hidden items. But of course this is a minor gripe. I can't believe it took me this long to finish such an amazing game. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try out the Four Swords since I am playing this on my DS. I give it a 9/10.

Playing Now

I've picked up Bioshock again after months of not playing it. I don't know why I keep putting off finishing this game. I'm almost done and whenever I pick it up I play for hours but finishing it has eluded me. Hopefully before the summer ends. :P

Also I now have a PS3 along with a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4. I was never a big fan of Metal Gear and thought the series was a bit overrated. But this newest iteration is so great. I really think it deserves the praise it's getting. Even the cutscene are better with some interactivity. I haven't played MGS3 so sorry if it was in that one too. This is my first MGS4 since the 2nd one that I never finished. I got turned off by the cutscenes. MGS4 has a great story, high production values, and it's a blast to play which is always great. Get this game if you have a PS3 as it's the best reason to own one outside of playing Blu-Ray movies.

Street Fighter IV

OK so this was the main thing I wanted to talk about. The more I see of this game, the more excited I am for it's impending release. Even if it is released in Japan first, I know a place about 45 minutes from my house that I can go to play an imported version so I hope it's released soon.

So let's look at the new fighters.

El Fuerte

Funny that I really wanted a Mexican wrestler in this newest iteration but I didn't really like El Fuerte's design at first. I thought he should look a little flashier (like maybe Rey Mysterio) and I hated that pineapple hair thing he's got going. I've never seen a real Mexican wrestler with silly hair like that.

Once I saw him in videos, however, I started to really like him. He jumps around a lot like a Mexican wrestler would. He really does have quite a bit of personality from what I have seen. His design has grown on me as well. I think he will probably be the first newcomer I try.

Crimson Viper

Probably my least favorite newcomer. Her moves look just okay to me. Nothing really stands out about them as a unique fighting sty.le except that she has both electric and fire type moves that are based on gadgets rather than "ki" like most characters. Her electric moves reminded me a little of Benimaru of King of Fighters fame and she even looks more like an SNK character than a CAPCOM one. Plus her name sounds like a generic Cobra soldier from G.I. Joe.

Well her positives are that she does look unique and maybe a little like Angelina Jolie (which may be negative to some). I still feel like she doesn't quite fit in though. I will definitely want to try her out but she is the least interesting to me. I prefer martial artists to something like a sexy spy.

Abel

I think that Abel fits into the SF mold really well. He has a unique moveset as an MMA fighter which was another type of character I wanted to see.

Some may argue that he looks too generic. I think he has a unique look but keeps in the designs they were going for with the original characters.

Rufus

I really hated Rufus when I first saw pictures of him. He's really ugly and looked a little ridiculous with his all yellow outfit.

After reading more about him, he has grown on me. Rufus is basically an American that taught himself some Kung Fu and now thinks he's the greatest fighter. He apparently takes it upon himself to make Ken his rival. I dunno but I think that he sounds pretty funny. Especially seeing his concept art eating from a bucket of popcorn and his stage is apparently outside a Diner. Just funny stuff to me. Maybe he could be the new Dan. Anyway, I like him now and will look forward to playing with him.

Seth

The new boss of the game bears a resemblance to Urien and Gill of Street Fighter 3 fame. His moves in all the circulating pictures of him look straight out of their fighting repertoire. Perhaps he is also an elemental of sorts. Originally, Gill was supposed to be light/dark elemental. But apparently they were unable to implement the kind of graphics they wanted for those powers so they went with fire/ice instead.

Perhaps Seth is going to be the light/dark elemental they meant Gill to be. He even has a rotating yin yang symbol in his gut so it makes sense.

What I have read though is that Seth copies moves of other fighters so maybe he will be the Shang Tsung of Street Fighter in a way. As long as he doesn't copy Gill's resurrection technique I guess I'm okay with that.

Cosplayer of the Blog

The return of the Prognosis features the return of the Cosplayer of the Blog! And keeping with the theme, here is a nice Cammy cosplayer. Holy Jeebus!

Anyway, thanks for making another appointment with the Doctor's Prognosis! Hopefully I can schedule another appointment sooner rather than later. :D

Welcome to another addition of the Doctor's Prognosis! And it didn't take me a whole month to do it! :P

Anyway let's get right into it.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

According to 411mania.com, Nintendo leaked 3 previously unrevealed characters from Brawl and they got some proof!

So stop reading this section if you don't want to know.

*BEGIN SPOILERS*

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The leaked characters are Lucario, Jigglypuff, and Ness!

Apparently, the Japanese Nintendo Wii website has a video showcasing many of Brawl's features and shows a section with the stickers and, although very small, one can see which characters the stickers are usable with. Remember that some stickers can only be used on particular characters.

Well one of the stickers is a character from the Mother/Earthbound series and it clearly shows Lucas and what appears to be Ness as the characters that can use that sticker.

The next image is similar but shows Pokémon specific characters able to use a Pokémon themed sticker. This time you can see Pikachu, Pokémon Trainer, and the unannounced Jigglypuff and Lucario.

I'm not exactly excited but I know this is great news for fans of Ness, Jigglypuff, and Lucario. Once the game comes out in Japan, expect a more complete roster leak.

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*END SPOILERS*

Sonic Chronicles

Some more pics thanks to The Magicbox.

Bionic Commando Rearmed

I thought this was really cool.

If you haven't heard, the original Bionic Commando is being remade for XBox LIVE Arcade. Obviously they will make some nice additions to the game including some nice graphics and even some two-player cooperative play.

Here is the announcement trailer if you missed it.

[video=IiM3lzf95bwJuT_b]

Cosplayer of the Blog

And now the Cosplayer of the Blog!

And the winner this time is....

Faye Valentine!

What's that? Too small to see?

Okay here you go!

O_O

I guess some things are better far away. :P

Make sure to make an appointment with the Doctor's Prognosis again!

See you next time! :D

Hello and thank you for making another appointment with The Doctor's Prognosis. I am your host, Dr. C-LOS.

Well I have been very busy and it is my first blog of the year. So I apologize for not being able to comment or check out my peeps' blogs very often. Anyway I hope to make up for it with a HUGE Cosplayer section so look forward to it at the end of the blog.

My Newest Film

So I have finally uploaded my second film and first ever documentary. It is a short doc based on magic. I did all the interviews and camerawork myself. The only footage not mine is from Criss Angel's MINDFREAK program. Please watch and rate it. I hope you enjoy it.

[video=IiY0kDGt5bwIvjHf]

Street Fighter IV

Ok so this is old now but in case you haven't seen it here is a link to actual gameplay footage of Ken vs. Ryu in Street Fighter IV thanks to 1up.com

Check it out here.

Here is an edited version of the gameplay and trailer...

[video=KiA6lzXw5bwIvDLW]

Now for some NEW info thanks to The Magicbox.

This is a new character for Street Fighter IV named Crimson Viper. She is supposed to be a detective that is speedy and has hidden weapons all over her body

Sounds cool. Don't know about that name though. And what country is she from? I really hope they have a nice diverse roster from all over the world because I really feel that was part of the charm of SFII that made it so popular. Anyway I hope we hear more about Crimson Viper and other characters soon.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Well unfortunately the game has been delayed again. It will be appearing about a month later on Sunday, March 9th. I'm actually okay with this since it gives them more time to polish the game and more time for me to finish the games I have now.

On a more positive note, while I have not played a Pikmin game, I am glad to see Nintendo exploring more unique characters by having Captain Olimar playable. I am even interested in playing with him despite never playing a Pikmin game before just because he seems like such a different type of fighter.

And the new Pikmin stage looks incredible. A lot of detail went into it and this is the reason why I am not complaining about the delay. Let them have time to put all the little Nintendo touches they want.

Sonic Chronicles: Dark Brotherhood

Well Sonic RPG's real name was finally revealed in the latest Nintendo Power magazine. Here is some info I scrounged up from the net...

-Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Amy, Big, and Rouge are revealed characters

-Water color/hand drawn look to graphics

-11 party members total

-Full stylus control similar to Phantom Hourglass

-Rings will be used as money in the game

-Characters each have their own specific abilities, team attacks also possible

-Customizable attributes when you level up

-Simple dialogue trees

-No random battles, enemies seen on-screen

-Turn-based fighting

-Special attacks play out like Elite Beat Agents

-"Fatigue Points" instead of MP

-2 Acts: Sonic-themed areas and a darker world

-Fully animated cut scenes

Here is a summary about the game's story thanks to Go Nintendo: Sonic is on vacation from defeating Eggman 2 years ago. Gets a call from Tails that Knuckles has been kidnapped by a group called the Marauders, and that 6 chaos emeralds are missing. Eggman not the main villain. But Bioware wants to make him a creditable bad guy again. Something about a "twist" between Eggman and Sonic that goes back to the earlier games.

Here are a few photos I found. Sorry about the bad quality.

Also, a new character named Shade is introduced. It is unclear what role Shade will play. Hmmm.... Did the name have to be so similar to Shadow?

The graphics look really nice and the character designs look great. I think the art direction is well done.

Check out this video I found featuring more scans.

Sonic Chronicles Scans

Hopefully more information comes soon.

Cosplayer of the Blog

And now it is time for the Cosplayer of the Blog!

I just recently finished watching Death Note and it was a great anime so that is the theme this time around.

And the winner is....

Misa! Well I thought she was a bit annoying at times on the show but this girl is too cute not to win.

Here are some more shots of her plus other great Death Note cosplayers.....

What's with those arm blade things? I don't remember that from the anime?

Again with the blades.

Oh no don't write my name!

Anyway let's move on to L and the others!

Freaky eyes.....

Very well done. Even the mannerisms.

Light and his Death Note

Shinigami Ryuk... Really well done outfit.

This Ryuk is pretty cool too.

This was cool because of the cool Shinigami Rem outfit.

Fear the Death Note and its.... um... song and dance number!

Chibi Death Note!

And one of the best Shinigami ever..... MacDeathGod!

Anyway thanks for dropping by and visiting the Doctor's Prognosis! I hope you enjoyed today's installment.

Make sure to make an appointment to visit again! :)

Thank you for making another appointment with The Doctor's Prognosis. I am your host Dr. C-LOS.

About Me
Not much news to go over so I decided to tell you a little about me.
About my nickname... first let me remind you why they call me Dr. C-LOS.



So of course I am the one dressed like a doctor. The two girls are Nina and Liana. I gained my nickname at this party. People often call me C-LOS as a nickname to Carlos. But after this party they started calling me Dr. C-LOS. The name has stuck ever since. This party was in San Francisco and was taken about 2 years ago. I was visiting my good friend up there and he throws great parties. Fortunately he moved back to Los Angeles.

For a more recent pic.... Here is another pic of me at a Halloween party in Hollywood.



This was a fun night. I got to get in for free and got free drinks because my friends are "in the biz" so to speak. VIP treatment all night. Check out the VIP tag around my neck. Automatic play wearing that. :P
The two girls in the pic are Asha on the left and Christina on the right. Asha is supposed to be "Greed" of the Seven Deadly Sins since she is holding a "valuable ruby." Christina is supposed to be "Sloth" since she is holding a pillow.

My Reviews
Since I started at GS, I have written two reviews.
Check them out and let me know what you think.

Dragon Quest VIII review

Jump Superstars review

My Film

Also don't forget to check out my first ever film if you missed it last time. It is a short chase film I made for my cinema course. Please watch and let me know what you think.

[video=dSM7wWD65bwOsj_d]

Game of the Year
I just wanted to quickly chime in on what I consider to be my game of the year.
With so many great games it really was a difficult decision but came up with the one I had most fun with.

And the winner is.....



I just had the most fun with Super Mario Galaxy. I felt it was the best package of fun gameplay, excellent music, and amazing graphics.

Some notable games from this year include....

Bioshock
Call of Duty 4
Halo 3
and God of War II

I should note that I only include games that I have played and own. All these games are amazing and should not be missed by anyone.

And now it is time for....

Cosplayer of the Blog!
And our winner today is.....



Metal Gear Kirby!

In the spirit of Christmas, first runner-up is....



Santa Claus is one lucky man. :)

Anyway thanks for making another appointment to see the Doctor's Prognosis! Happy Holidays to all!