I wrote a review of F.E.A.R. Go read it, and recommend it. Because I said so.

And man, was it cool. That ending was- man, that ending. I would put forth and adjective to describe it, but anything I could think of would give it away. Needless to say, you'll- Nah, I can't say it. Just play F.E.A.R., keep the lights on, and beat it. Then you'll know what I mean. I can't wait for the sequel, man...

I'm level ten. Don't mess with me, or I'll go all... ..."Phoenix Down"? I'm the item you use in RPGs when the whole boss battle is screwed? Come on! Level 10 deserves a better name...

This is kind of hard to write. I need to apologize to anyone that I've disagreed with about Tomonobu Itagaki. I just realized it while playing Ninja Gaiden (Goddamn you, Alma! Would Mission Seven end already?!), as Ryu, who I've now nicknamed "the most frickin' retarded video game character this side of Carl Johnson", and watching in stunned silence as he does such things as leap in directions I've never told him to, keep attacking when I press the jump button, and just generally look like a complete moron. I realize now that Itagaki saw after Ninja Gaiden that he can gain respect if he just makes his games really hard, as we see in Dead or Alive 4. DoA 3 wasn't a particularly difficult game- it was accessible, unlike DoA 4. If I hadn't gone about learning the game's intricacies, I would have despised 4. What I'm saying is, Itagaki needs to realize that he can't just make really hard games and stumble off into the gaming industry's hall of fame; he needs to make games that regular people can play. Now, I certainly understand the reasoning behind it- Ninja Gaiden certainly separates the men from the boys, but when I, going through the game a second time, still get completely stuck in sections of the game, there's a problem. And yes, I know that Ninja Gaiden Black has a Ninja Dog difficulty mode, but that was added far afterwards, and he did it begrudgingly. And, you know, this wouldn't be such a problem if Ryu controlled well. If I leave Ninja Gaiden alone for a while, the controls are such a shock because he's just so goddamn floaty. And the "super ninja" has a tendency to continue the combo he's in the middle of, instead of going along with the true buttons I'm pressing. Sure, I'm really glad that you've nailed that kick to a flip, Ryu, but do you mind moving just a little to, uh, not die? So, I guess, Ninja Gaiden goes to the back of my gaming bookcase for now. Because my computer works! The sound is restored, which is nice, and it appears to connect to the Internet just fine- but my computer doesn't know its own IP address, which could be a problem. If anyone has any suggestions, that would help, but I'm in no rush. F.E.A.R. is just so frickin' amazing. The plot is delivered well, with various psychic illusions coming around to haunt you whenever there aren't any bad guys around to wipe you out. You feel very trapped through a lot of the game, as if you're amidst many different factions, few to none of which with your good health in mind. A very effective technique for telling the story is how occasionally, a radio will be in a peaceful area that tells of comrades of yours in a battle elsewhere. To know that the terror you're experiencing is spreading causes a chill to run up your spine. Oh, and those gunfights are pretty cool, too. Gunfights aside, this is a very scary game we're dealing with, here. The entire game has a terrifying atmosphere, but now and then Alma (F.E.A.R. Alma, not Ninja Gaiden Alma) will reveal herself to freak you out- and, even more rare, she will pit you through sequences that seem designed to test your mental strength and resolve. Sure, it might be scary to see the door shut on you and the entire room go dark, but when you turn around and find that she's on the ceiling, stalking towards you? Really frightening, man. Anyways, you guys enjoy yourselves. I've got some bad guys to take out. -Agent Black out

Okay, so, after my favorite tech guy (named Willie) disappeared, and was replaced by a number of not-anywhere-near-as-competant dudes, I thought that my computer would be in trouble. I think that you should understand just how good Willie is. Willie is so good, that you can bring your PC over to his shop and within two hours he will have, at the very least, figured out what was wrong with your computer and how to go about fixing it. So, with these new guys, my computer was gone for a week. Or a few days, I'm not good at math. Anyways, these guys say that they've solved my computer problem, but I'm having issues with a missing sound driver and why, exactly, my PC won't connect to the internet (despite the driver that I put on it). But these guys say they've solved the problem, so at the very least I want my sound back. That way, I can play F.E.A.R. Also, yesterday I pre-ordered Black (for Xbox, of course) and I feel really anxious about getting my hands on that freaking game. Have you seen any of those gameplay movies? If not, go watch them right now. I mean it, it's a rocking game. In non-gaming news, I just recently filmed two webcasts for the Fairfield Theater Company, a theater in my area. I would put a link here to the webcast, but I really don't have the patience for that. Just know that they were cool as all get-out. The solo in "More Than a Feeling" is really easy to play. Oh yeah, I rock. -Agent Black out

Alright, I'm getting my computer checked out right now. It got hit with a virus a while back (thank you so much, Microsoft, for your flawless firewall), and had to wipe the hard drive. This, unfortunately, caused all of my drivers to get knocked out, somehow. I still had my nVidia GForce 6600 card's disk lying around, so I reinstalled that driver and then managed to find the driver for my Ethernet. Despite this, my computer still doesn't go online. Also, my sound card's driver is still missing, so, essentially, all I can do is play Battlefield 2 with the sound off. So, yeah, my computer's getting checked out, and I sent an E-mail to Blizzard tech support about my billing issues. All of my WoW-playing friends suggested this, so I'm hoping to get a prompt response. I want F.E.A.R., right freaking now! Come on! -Agent Black out

Well, this sucks. I've gotten myself really psyched about World of Warcraft lately, as my character was about level 35 and I've wanted to get my mount for a while. As luck would have it, I lost interest in the game for a long time and, as you would expect, my account was frozen for this time. So, a few months later, I reinstalled my copy of the game and went to access my account and revive it. There's only one problem- apparently, my account name and password are invaild. I know for a fact that I'm entering in the right information, but just to be sure, I looked up possibilities for getting my account name back. This requires the use of my E-mail address. So, I entered in my E-mail. Nope. Then, I put in my old E-mail, my Dad's address, and my brother's address, and not a single one worked. At this point, I was pretty certain that Blizzard had implemented some feature where an account that is inactive for a certain period of time is erased. All right, I thought, at the very least I can now switch to the Dark Iron server and play with Gabe and Tycho. Well, it turns out that I can't do that, either, because my Activation Key is only valid once, and that was used for my previous account. So, let's review: I can't access my account because it looks like my account has been erased, and I can't create a new account because my Authentication Key has been used already. So, since Blizzard decided to cancel my account, I now have to go buy a new copy of this game and pump more money into the account to get it running, just so I can redo those thirty-five levels and experience a game I already own. Thanks, Blizzard. You've managed to squeeze another (in total) $75 out of me. If anyone has any ideas what to do, please tell me- I need the help! -Agent Black out

I rented Need For Speed: Most Wanted (thank you, GameFly!) mainly because the cutscenes looked so incredibly funny. Now, don't get me wrong, they are everything you could hope for, but I was very surprised (hence the title) to find that what we have here is a very solid, very addictive racing game. The designers were very smart (unlike the writers, apparently)- you start the game out with an amazing car, and then you get it taken from you and have to get a Crapmobile. But, wait- suddenly, the more racers you face (the more cops you disable, the more money you make), your Crapmoblie starts to become a half-decent car. And suddenly, it starts to become a good ride. As you blow away more and more racers, it becomes apparent that you're crafting the ultimate vehicle. Trust me- every time you improve your car's speed in some way, hearing the new engine purr is a very satisfying experience. And this is coming from a guy who rarely plays racing games. In other news, my Good Taste medal ran away! Boo hoo! Ah, well, it was fun while it lasted. However, considering how hokey my account has been on here (on the forums, I can see a marker that I have 113 posts, but apparently I don't have any posts at all), I might have the medal back by the time I finish writing this. Go see Syriana! -Agent Black out

I'm currently engaging in the Systems War. Holy crap, man. I can't spend too much time in here, because I just started up a thread and have no idea how long it'll be before HQ gets blown to smithereens! If you see me on the battlefield, say hi. I'll be the one reminiscent of Switzerland.

I got a "Good Taste" medal. So, I guess you can start listening to my opinions now. I have got to check out that Fight Night demo...