I'm gonna be posting my review of Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones pretty soon, as that ending was so freaking cool. Ahem. Also, I'm trying to build up the stamina to write an Indigo Prophecy review, as well, but thinking about that game makes me want to try another way of playing through it. Oh, and I would just like to make an announcement, that I think will tick off a lot of people. System of a Down sucks terribly. As a musician, I can tell you that my little 10-year-old brother, who has been playing guitar for two weeks, can play BYOB. And, after listening to that song, I kicked it out of my iTunes and told my brother to forget he had ever learned the song. I mean, the music doesn't even sound good. It doesn't convey any emotions, and it's incredibly a-tonal. When Green Day sounds like they have more skill with instruments than System of a Down, you know something's wrong. Oh, and a happy new year.

Well, I got Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (actually, I got two copies of it, it's a long story), Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (which is waaaay too addictive), Guitar Hero, and a medley of other things, but the one present that absolutely blew my mind was Indigo Prophecy. I'll be writing a full review later, but Indigo Prophecy is my game of 2005 simply because it does things no other game does, and then nearly perfects things that they have done. Sure, Resident Evil 4 was an amazing game, but when you come right down to it, you're still shooting zombies. The zombies may finally have some semblance of A.I., which I don't think everyone should be so incredibly proud of, but they're still zombies and you're still using high-powered weapons to blow them up. Indigo Prophecy tells an amazing story with only one FPS segment that pales in comparison to the rest of the game, and a number of timed button sequences that will test your reflexes. But did I mention the story? And the acting? And the animations? And the sound? And the freedom? And the fact that it singlehandedly became my favorite game and movie of 2005, possibly of all time? Maybe I'm just a sucker for a game that gets me emotionally attached to it, but remember- play this frigging game. Oh, and to everyone who's played it, happy Dead or Alive 4 day! I'll be getting my copy in about an hour. You know, Christmas trade-ins and such. Stay classy, San Diego.

...my blog posts are back! Yay! Anyways, a short post for just today- it's December 24th, so I wanted to wish everyone happy holidays and a ton of awesome presents (crossing my fingers for Prince of Persia...). Whatever holiday you celebrate- and I'm not going to list any, because I'll skip a few and tick off someone- enjoy yourself and have a Happy New Year. Woo!

I wrote a pretty-long review of Mercenaries because The Outfit got me thinking about it. I wonder if GameSpot will hire me if I keep writing reviews....? .... I'm coming, Kojima! MUHUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! .... Sorry.

Am I the only person who realizes that "The Outfit" is a sequel to Mercenaries? It's still total destruction-based combat, with different factions working against each other, and a few different player characters to choose from at the start. If you compare gameplay videos, you'll see that the camera angles are the same for most everything, and your characters do basically the same thing when they're jacking tanks, for instance. I mean, Mercenaries was cool, so I'm not complaining, but why hasn't anyone else seen this? You know. And that's what really grinds my gears.

I got it. My Dad was getting it shipped to his house while I was at my Mom's, so I was a little worried that there would be yet another day that went by without the device that, after a tricky auction on eBay, was rightfully mine. When I called my Dad after coming home from school today, all he said was, "I'm coming over right now. I'll be there soon." If you've read my earlier post, you knew that today was the day, as did I. I was filled with excitement after hearing such a thing, and my Dad, brother, and I crowded around the UPS package as my father sliced open the case with such violence that I'm surprised nothing was destroyed. And then, I saw the bright green of my Core System (who knows when the Premium will arrive) box, and I knew that everything would be alright. After a little bit of trouble setting up the wonderful system (how the heck do I set up my wireless controllers?!), which is cooler-looking and much lighter than the original Xbox, in more ways than one, I started up Perfect Dark Zero and fell in love. This is amazing. This is a revolution. After finishing the first level and moving over to my homework, which I should be doing right now, my brother tried out Call of Duty 2 and was blown away, just as I was. If you're waiting for your Xbox 360, staying faithful to your Best Buy or EB Games, you need to know two things: screw them. If you have the money, snag one off of eBay and don't be picky about Core Systems. You need to get your hands on this console. Second, if you know that you're getting your system soon, stop watching gameplay videos. I know they look pretty, but there will be nothing in those videos that compares to having the (very comfortable) controller in your hands. So have fun. And jump in.

The eBay seller, friendly man that he is, said that he was told the 360 wouldn't arrive after Wednesday. Well, today's Tuesday, so if a new 360 shipment hasn't come in to the local EB Games (I still have my pre-order active for a Premium, so I may wind up with two 360s), I'll have to experience D-Day and the year 2020 tomorrow. This feels like the frigging definition of "so close, yet so far away". Support is appreciated, as are comments and messages.... I mean it, I won't bite. Hard.

I just wanted to add- Look, Charlize looks hot, I agree, but you guys need to be warned. Aeon Flux is gonna suck. I don't really care what you think about the anime it's based from, or whatever "beliefs" or "messages" you think were important in the anime, it's about a hot chick in a near-skin-tight outfit who kills dudes. She's kind of a Joanna Dark rip-off, with less class. So, yeah.

Yeah, I love Star Wars. Don't you? Anyways, hope has returned (as the heading suggests), and my Xbox 360 should be coming next Monday or Wednesday. Or that day in between. ..... Who knows, actually? Well, I'll bet a UPS dude knows, but I don't know any UPS dudes. ..... Anyway. I went out and grabbed a 360 memory card and two wireless controllers today, so when it arrives I'll be all set. I'm also now a proud owner of Perfect Dark Zero and Call of Duty 2, which, unfortunately, are unplayable at the moment. Also, my Microsoft Passport account is all jacked up with my Xbox Live account (account in question also being GFreeman1998, by the way), so transferring my account to the 360 should be a snap. Told ya, hope's back. Isn't it great?

I'm saved, thanks to the bundles of fun that is eBay. While I did have to pay double the price for a Core System, I have my devious ways of making back all that dough. I'll tell you if that particular plan goes well much later. So, yeah, I'll be plopping down the extra $140 for two wireless controllers and a memory card, but it's totally worth it if it means I get my 360 in five days. Mmmm.... I heart Joanna Dark.