Hadn't done one of these for awhile and just thought I'd drop a line and wish everyone a Happy Holiday season! I've been spending alot of time with Black Ops online. If it weren't for all the cheaters (AimBot, Wallhack, ect...) in public matches it would be even better. Sorry but I think using those cheats in public matches is just sad I mean the person using them is owning no one the program is doing it for him/her. Also playing a little Battlefield: Bad Co. 2 and just ordered Vanquish and Arcania: Gothic 4.

As for the coming year: I look for Homefront to be truly epic I mean it's written by the same people behind Appocalypse Now and Red Dawn. Dead Space 2 is a no brainer. Bulletstorm looks like something I'm gonna love. Killzone 3 is another no brainer as I loved 2. Two Worlds II looks like a massive improvement over the first game. Deus Ex if it comes out anytime soon :( . Crysis 2 should be great. Also Hunted: Demon's Forge, L.A. Noire, and Mortal Kombat are all on my radar. As always too many games to get them all.

Anyway hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and gets all kinds of new games and gear ofcourse :P. Oh almost forgot I got a couple things early the newly designed 360 controller with the adjustable D-pad (love it) and a new pair of Turtle Beach headphones (awesome, although wired :( ).

Take Care All!

Well Mafia II comes out Tuesday and that's a done deal for me (although I'm still torn between PS3 or 360) and I can't wait. September's pretty cut and dried as we're (my son and I) getting the Halo: Reach Legendary Edition and calling it a month (Dead Rising 2 and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions will (sadly) have to wait. Ah then comes October and the tough decisions. The Fallout: New Vegas Collector's Edition is the only thing I'm set on for sure after that I'm left to decide between Fable III, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Two Worlds II (I was greatly dissapointed in the first but the sequel appears to be majorly improved), and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. Right now for me I've got them in this order:

1. Enslaved - This game looks very interesting to me. Interesting characters and world, varied combat/gameplay elements just looks like alot of fun and all pre-views have seemed very positive so far.

2. Fable III - Difficult to decide between this and Enslaved. I know I can lose alot of hours in the Fable universe and I like many of the new elements they've put in for this one such as the weapons being distinctive to you're character and how you play him/her.

3. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Looks amazing to me. Gorgeous, slick combat, fantastic story, and top notch voice cast. Wow, if I end up passing on this it will be painful for me.

4. Two Worlds II - This game looks miles better than the original so far. If most of what I've seen and read turns out the way it sounds this could be a great way to lose hours upon hours of my time. Can't wait to find out if it lives up to what the pre-views have been saying.

5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - I really had a hard time getting into the first for some reason which is why this is at the bottom of this list. Not likely I'll buy it unless I get it from Gamefly and love it enough to use the Keep It option. I love Star Wars but I seem to have a block against new canon ( at least in game form, go figure).

Well that's it. Thankfully my B-day's in October so I'm hoping to get two games from that list (at least) on top of Fallout: New Vegas. Finding the time to play them....oh who am I kidding I'll make the time :P . But seriously my 14yr. old son will probably "help me out" by swapping them back and forth (if he tears himself away from Halo: Reach long enough :P ). The months ahead have some similar "dilemmas" but I guess I'll worry about them once I get past October's. Game on friends!

Okay so I got tagged by DethSkematik so here goes. This is hilarious because some of these are eerily appropriate for the question, kinda scary :P and seriously I just hit next (ofcourse most make no sense at all).

Rules: Put your MP3 on shuffle and press next for each question and write the song title down as your answer then tag new victims :P .

1. If someone says, "is this okay?" you say:

High Enough - Damn Yankees

2. How would you describe yourself:

Rise Above This - Seether

3.What do you like in a guy/girl?

Renegade - Styx

4.How do you feel today?

Enter Sandman - Metallica

5.What is your life's purpose?

I Stand Alone - Godsmack (pffft....I hope not :( )

6.What is your motto?

Purity - Linkin Park

7.What do your friends think of you?

Somebody's Waiting - Keel

8.What do you think of your parents?

Back In Black - AC/DC

9. What do you think about very often?

She Talks To Angels- The Black Crowes

10.What is 2+2?

Burn It To The Ground - Nickelback

11.What do you think of the person you like?

Numb - Linkin Park

13.What is your life story?

Chinese Democracy - Guns N Roses

14.What do you want to be when you grow up?

Landing In London - 3 Doors Down

15.What do you think of when you see the person you like?

Never Too Late - Three Days Grace

16.What will you dance to at your wedding?

From Out of Nowhere - Faith No More (Now there's a great song to dance to at a wedding :P )

17.What will they play at your funeral?

Too Late For Love - Def Leppard(:P how appropriate)

18.What is your hobby/interest?

Born To Be Wild - Hinder

19.What is your biggest fear?

Nobody's Listening - Linkin Park (Hmmmm....less of a fear and more of a gut instinct :P )

20.What is your biggest secret?

Once Bitten, Twice Shy - Great White

21.What do you think of your friends?

Faint - Linkin Park

22.What will you put as the title?

She's A Beauty - The Tubes

I tag: bak1234567890, chocolate1325, Dimtri, Ifnot, ironcreed, HushRong, bigtimegamer413, manhunt420, WalkingP, andyencanwasu

Don't worry I won't hunt you down if you don't do it :P. But it is kind of fun to do, good for a laugh.

Well I've had Steam for a while now but hadn't really done anything with it. I've got what I'd call a low-moderate gaming PC GeForce 8400, dual core 2.6ghz processor, 4gb RAM. It fills my needs right now and it's doing great things for me since this Steam sale began. I've picked up the following games during this sale and I've hardly touched my 360 or PS3 the last few days. Oh and I'd like to thank my buddy DethSkematic for talking up Steam awhile back because that's what got me to finally sign up for it, I just wish I'd taken advantage sooner.

Gothic Bundle (includes Gothic II Gold and Gothic 3) these are the only games I'm having any problems with and since my PC exceeds the rec. specs I'd say it's a compatability thing. Hopefully I'll get it lined out.

Broken Sword bundle (include BS II and III): Not bad for point and click gameplay and cartoonish graphics but my son'll get more out of these.

RIP Trilogy: Once again more my son's type of games but ok.

Here's where I really went nuts:

The Witcher Enhanced Edition Director's Cut: I had wanted to play this for so long and finally picked it up for $13 during this sale and let's just say I'm not dissapointed. This is a very good RPG and I can tell it's going to take alot of my time. Geralt is a great charachter IMO.

Indigo Prophecy: Believe it or not I had never gotten around to playing this one until now. I got it off Steam for like $2-3 and that's a steal. The story and charachters are stellar especially for the time it was released. Easy to see how this was the spiritual predecessor to Heavy Rain.

Half-life 2, Half-life 2: The Lost Coast, and Garry's Mod: One of my all-time favorite games but I'd never played it on PC until now and let's just say my love affair with this game has been rekindled. For my money it's one of the greatest games of all-time and I'm enjoying it even more on PC. Garry's Mod I haven't done anything with yet but it looks like a total blast. Got all of these for about $10. An absolute steal.

And now for the reason I'm up so late tonight Thief: Deadly Shadows: Finally I get to play this game after hearing so much about it over the last few years. I got this one for $2.99. And let me tell ya' if you've never played this and you've got Steam there's no reason not to pick this one up. It was really hard to quit for the night but I was wanting to blog my Steam testimonial :P and I was getting a little bleary eyed. This game is phenomenal IMO and now I'm going to be chomping at the bit for the next one like so many others! The best buy I've found to date on Steam.

Well that's it for tonight. The current Steam sale is supposed to end tonight or tomorrow and it's probably a good thing, 'cause I've got enough to keep me busy for many, many hours! Take care my friends!

Well I haven't blogged in forever so I thought I'd just do a little update. First off my son has started taking Tae Kwon Do and is really loving it which is great (until he decides to practice on me :P ). I'm now on a 12 hour schedule at work and in this heat (mid 90's which means well over 100 degrees in the plant :cry: ) it hasn't been alot of fun. The good part of my new schedule is a three day weekend everyother weekend so a little more time for gaming.

As far as games go I've played some really good ones lately. Some quick impressions on some below:

Red Dead Redemption - I absolutely loved it. I'd wanted a wide open old-west type game for a long time and this definitely filled the bill. 9.5 :D

Alan Wake - I just recently finished it and now I'm going for the remaining achievements. IMO this game deserved much more love than it received. It's a great atmospheric survival horror game. 9.0 :D

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - I like it don't love it. It's fun and I'm enjoying it more than the last one though. Haven't finished it yet due to AW and RDR mainly 8.0 :)

Alpha Protocol - I had fairly high hopes for this one but lost faith when EVERY review was coming back bad and cancelled my pre-order. But then I had a chance to get a new/sealed copy for $35 and decided to give it a chance. I'm only slightly less dissapointed than the critics seemed to be. For every good thing (use of RPG elements) there are 2 or 3 bad ones (gun play, stealth mechanics, ect...). I guess Obsidian kind of just rushed this out at the end due to Fallout: New Vegas) 6.5 :(

I also picked up a few games on the cheap recently: Risen (standard technically flawed RPG but I like what little I've played so far), Tropico 3 (haven't touched it yet), and Dirt 2 (had rented it sometime back and really liked it so I jumped on it recently, probably my favorite racer this gen).

A few games I'm psyched for in the coming months (highlighted the definite day one buys):

Bulletstorm, RAGE, Max Payne 3, Crysis 2, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Fallout: New Vegas, Fable III, L.A. Noire, Mafia II, Killzone 3, Halo: Reach, Gears 3, Dead Rising 2, Dead Space 2, InFamous 2, Vanquish, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Homefront. The Agency, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Quantum Theory.

Wow, guess I need to put in some OT. And I probably missed some.

Well take it easy my friends and GAME ON!

Well it's been awhile I've been working alot (which is a good thing) and had little time for Gamespot and playing games (which is a VERY bad thing :P ). Anyway I just got the code for the Brutal Legend Demo for my pre-order from GameStop

and played through it last night. Simply put this game is going to be alot of fun. Jack Black is great and Tim Schafer's quirky story looks like it'll lend itself to some pretty cool gameplay moments. Don't want to ruin it for anyone so I won't give any specifics but I enjoyed the demo.

The next few months are going to be interesting for me in terms of gaming. There are alot of games I'm wanting Oct.-Dec. so I guess my overtime at work will payoff after all :D . Here's the list in order of how much of a "must have" each game is. I'm just doing Oct.-Dec. 2010 is a whole other list I'll hopefully do later.

The rest of '09 looks pretty awesome to me even though alot of games have been delayed 'til '10. That might be for the best
though, at least for my wallet! Good thing my b'day and Christmas fall in this time frame :) . Anyway here are the games that top
my list for Oct.-Dec. '09.

1. Dragon Age: Origins - Easily takes the top spot. Huge RPG by BioWare + top notch voice talent = win!
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - This is shaping up to be even better than the first. Unbelievable!
3. Darksiders - Joe Madureira art and story plus alot of very positive hands-on previews makes this a must have for me.
4. Borderlands - This game just looks like alot of fun to me. So many guns, tons of loot, the 4 player co-op....ect.
5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Loved the first one (just wish it had been longer) and they added multiplayer, looks awesome.
6. Assassin's Creed II - Looks more diverse than the original and I liked it so....
7. Brutal Legend - Jack Black and killer track list this game just looks like a good time to me.
8. Alpha Protocol - I love the Spy RPG angle on this one.
9. Rogue Warrior - Just found this one recently. Based on a real life Navy Seal Richard Marcinko (the story is fiction).
Mickey Rourke is doing the voice work. This tactical shooter looks promising.
10. God of War Collection - Ok so it's not a new game but I'm really psyched for I & 2 in HD on Bluray, can't wait.

Well the rest of this year is pretty full for me and 2010 looks even better. I'll try to do another list on next years games soon.

I've also been trying to (frugally) add to my Bluray collection. I picked up The Mummy and The Mummy Returns for about $27.00
new for both. So far the most I've paid for a single Bluray movie is $20 (for Iron Man). Heck I've gotta have money for games :P .

Here's my Bluray list so far:
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
The Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl
I Am Legend
Transformers
The Mummy
The Mummy Returns

The Punisher

The Fantastic Four

Daredevil

007 Collection

Spider-Man 3

Well I've been wanting to get a second 360 for a little while now since my son sold his Wii and bought a small HD TV for his room and I pretty much let him have the 360 (that's when I got a PS3). When I walked into GameStop Tuesday and was told about (and more importantly shown :shock: ) the Resident Evil 5 Elite bundle I knew I had to have it. Anyway I pre-ordered it and can't wait. Here's a pic of my new "baby" :P for those that haven't seen it:

I think it's absolutely awesome, and easily the best looking 360 yet. Anyone else getting one? Well that's it for now my friends I just wanted to share my good news, hope all is well with everyone. Take care my friends!

EDIT: Check this link out for even more good news about this new 360: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/digitaljoystick/archives/162803.asp?from=blog_last3

Well I just finished the Killzone 2 demo and let's just say I couldn't get nearly enough of it. This game looks like it's going to be everything it's been hyped to be. Breathtaking visuals and adrenaline pumped gameplay make me very happy with my decision to pre-order. The demo is pretty short but I played through it several times already trying to improve my time through the two stages. I like Gears cover system better but other than that this appears to be at least on par with the Gears franchise if the rest of the game holds up, and I've got no reason to believe it won't. In short friends this looks like it could easily be the best shooter on the PS3 in every category and should stack up just fine against the top shooters in the 360 library. If you've been waiting fo a reason to buy a PS3 and you love shooters your wait should definitely be OVER. Can't wait to get my hands on this and start ripping through some red-eyed Helghasts!

Well 2009 is looking like another great year for gamers. I thought I'd make a list of the top games I'm looking forward to in the
coming year and give out my "awards" for 2008. My list of most anticipated titles includes the system I plan to get each game on.
All of the titles that are must have/day one buys for me are marked with an *.

1. *God of War III (PS3): This game will be phenomenal and since I just recently beat the first game and I'm in the middle of the
second (way late to the party I know) I'm extra pumped for the third installment in Kratos' saga. I consider the first two to be
among the greatest games of all time and expect the third to possibly be the best game this gen, can't wait!
2. *Resident Evil 5 (PS3): Another game I expect to be one of the best of this gen. Everything I've seen so far has me super
excited for Capcom's fifth installment of RE.
3. *Batman: Arkham Asylum (360): This game looks like it could finally be the one that does the Dark Knight justice. It looks so
much darker and grittier than any Batman title to date, sweet!
4. *BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams (360): BioShock is one of my favorite games of this gen so far, I can't wait to see where they take this.

5. *Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360): Left this off originally because I didn't think it had been confirmed for '09 (even though I was certain it would be out in '09 given the series history). The first is one of the best games so far this gen. There's no doubt in my mind this game will be awesome especially sticking with the Modern Warfare theme.

6. Darksiders: Wrath of War (360): Joe Madureira doing this original story and art tells me this game could be a sleeper hit.
7. Alpha Protocol (PS3): Action spy RPG looks very promising.
8. Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (360): It's Riddick and the game looks like it could be awesome. Loved Escape From Butcher's Bay.
9. Uncharted 2 (PS3): The first Uncharted was one of the most cinematic gaming experiences of this gen and the sequel looks
like it could take the gameplay up another notch. Should be great.
10. Killzone 2 (PS3): Looks phenomenal but I'm kind of taking a wait and see as far as the gameplay. Probably won't get it day
one but won't be surprised to find myself buying it after I hear some feedback on it.
11. Bayonetta (PS3): With the director of the first Devil May Cry at the helm this stylized actioner looks fun.
12. Borderlands (360): Not hearing alot about it of late but the unbelieveable amount of customizable weaponry in it could make this game a surprise hit.
13. Heavy Rain (PS3): Seen alot of gorgeous video of this game and as more of the gameplay details become available and some
hands-on time reports come out I wouldn't be surprised to see this one jump up my list.
14. Prototype (360): This one looks like it could be a blast, can't wait to see more gameplay.
15. inFAMOUS (PS3): This one looks to really be shaping up and could end up being a buy for me soon after release.

NOTE: List editied to include Modern Warfare 2


Honorable mention: White Knight Chronicles, Beyond Good and Evil 2, Halo Wars, Wolfenstein, F.E.A.R. 2, Wet

Also here is a list of my favorite things from the world of entertainment for 2008. It was a great year:

Favorite Game of '08: Fallout 3, I just couldn't get enough of adventuring through the wastelands. This game is destined to be one of the best of this gen IMO. Great, great game.

Hon. Mention: Gears 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Dead Space, and Fable II

Favorite Movie of '08: The Dark Knight unbelieveable performances all the way around in this one. Ofcourse most notably Heath Ledger's phenomenal performance as the Joker (Rest In Peace Heath). Iron Man is a close second for me, I waited years for this movie to get made (Iron Man was always my favorite comic growing up) and when it finally came out I couldn't believe how good it turned out!
Hon. Mention: Hancock, Quantum of Solace

Well I guess that's it for now my friends I'm sure there's a game or two I'm forgetting and I'll probably do another list soon, besides a few of these games will be out before we know it and I'll need to update anyway. Peace people.

Well I hope everyone had a safe and blessed Christmas this year. And here's to the same for New Year's for you all. Thought I'd blog a little about my family's Christmas. We've had a great time together and I'll be off work until the 5th of January while my wife goes back on Monday but then will be off the 31st - the 5th, and my son will return to school on the 5th. Well I got several great gifts but even better my son (who's B-day is on the 22nd of December) got ALOT of very cool stuff. Here's the breakdown of everything he got including what he already spent his money on this morning:

360 Games:

Rock Band 2 (got the game disc from us, the drums from my parents, and bought the mic with his money)

Lost Planet Colonies Edition

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

Infinite Undiscovery

The Last Remnant

Project Sylpheed

Ninja Gaiden II

PS3 Game:

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm

Blu-Ray Movies:

I AM Legend

Transformers

DVD Movies:

Tremors Attack Pack (all four Tremors movies)

So he won't be bored anytime soon :) .

As for me I got the Blu-rays mentioned in my previous blog plus Batman Begins on Blu-ray.

I got Far Cry 2 and Prince of Persia CE for the 360.

I also won one fantasy football league and finished 2nd in the other for a grand total winnings of $320.

So I went to GameStop and bought a used PS2 for $49.99 then I got DRE (disc read errors) on it and took it back and just went ahead and bought a new slim silver model.

I had a PS2 a few years ago and sold it and have regretted it to an extent especially since there were several great games I never got around to playing. My PS3 isn't
backwards compatible so I decided to get another PS2.

Here's the list of games I bought for it:

Final Fantasy XII

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X-2

Psychonauts

Star Ocean: 'Til the End of Time

God of War

Resident Evil Essentials (RE 4, RE: Code Veronica X, and RE: Outbreak)

So I'll have plenty of fun while I'm off catching up on some great games many others have already experienced. And any suggestions for games for my PS2 (particularly RPG and Survival Horror since I really started getting into those genres after parting with my first PS2) would be appreciated.

On a side note God of War is absolutely everything I'd heard it was. Great game!
Have a safe and happy New Year my friends! And since my Packers were long ago eliminated from the playoffs GO TITANS!