First of all, yeah, I know.  I haven't blogged in forever.  It's just I'm reaching the end of my school year, I'm getting work dumped on me, and to top it, my Xbox Live connection has been wonking out.  :(  That's an interesting story actually.  I ditched my old wireless connection because it kept cutting out, and replaced it with a wired modem connection.  Then the wired modem connection kept wonking out.  I called Microsoft's and my ISP's tech support ungodly amounts of times, and neither one could help me.  It deteriorated into an age-old game of "It's their fault!"  :roll:  Then I sat down and thought it through...and realized I'd forgotten to install the filters that separate my phone lines from my modem line.  Double :roll: 

Getting back to the school thing, I typically have about an hour a day of free-time (before 7:00) and that was usually spent either playing on Xbox Live or trouble-shooting Xbox Live.  Fun.  Okay, I promise I won't mention the connection thing again.  On a brighter note, who remembers how much I love Splinter Cell? :)  I'm in love with Double Agent's online play, it's really different from anything else.  Playing as the spies especially is a blast.  It's one thing to sneak around AI-controlled bots, but it just takes exhilaration to a new level to sneak around real people.  It's great.  Anyways, I'll post again soon, and as summer quickly approaches it'll only get better.  Joy for summer! :D

Just when you thought I quit forever, I make a return!! :)  My computer crashed, hard drive and all, and it has just taken me this long to get another computer!! :D  Yay!! The last GSless month has given me an opportunity to become totally addicted to Gears of War;s online...but that's another blog!!!! ;)  It's great to be back!!! :D

I managed to put down Oblivion, and got Call of Duty 2 the other day, and have been playing away on its single-player. I haven't even touched its online yet. So far I'm done with the Soviet and British campaign on hardened difficulty, and am really stuck on the first American mission (the prerequisite D-Day mission). It's really good so far, and I'll definitely be testing its online waters in the next few days.

I downloaded my first Xbox Live Marketplace demo about an hour ago, the single-player Lost Planet demo (took about fifteen minutes to download). To be totally honest, I'm really happy I got Call of Duty 2 instead. It's not that I hate it, it just doesn't warrant any where near $60. Yeah, the graphics look good, but it's the same kind of third-person shooter we've been playing for ten years. It feels old. But my biggest complaint by far is the white. Every environment, excluding the occasional deserted parking garage, is covered by really bright white snow. It gives me a headache.

Lastly, I still have 1200 Marketplace points left, exactly enough to get Uno and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, both of which center around the online play. I'm really enticed by both, does anyone have any comments for either? Well, the Golden Globes come on in an hour, and Heroes better win best new TV whatever-category-it's-nominated-in, or I'll be mad. Good night everyone! :)

P.S.
If anyone looks at my collection list, they may notice one of the Burger King games on there.  Don't ask.  Just don't ask.

They cancelled it a year ago ago and I didn't notice!! :shock:  How could they do this, Frame City was one of my most-anticipated 360 games! :cry:  Nooooo!!!!!!  I guess I'll just have to subsist on BioShock and Assassin's Creed now...the humanity! :cry:

Now for the Oblivion update you all knew was coming.

I finished the Dark Brotherhood quests, really awesome.  I'm also really getting into alchemy, it's nice to be able to make your own potions and poisons. 

Another one bites the dust! :cry: Who's next, AlexN? MattR?  :cry: 

And just as a brief update, the reason I haven't been on very much lately is because Oblivion has officially consumed my life. 
 

Yeah, we all knew that Oblivion thing was coming. :P  Two days in, and I'm two-thirds done with the Thieves Guild quests! :lol:  But seriously, this game is a huge step up from Morrowind, especially the combat.  The combat in Morrowind was horrible, I mean awful.  You would have to pay me to be a warrior in Morrowind.  When you hit something they acted like nothing happened, the first feedback you got from Morrowind's combat was when the person died.  They artifically made the combat really hard by making you matgically miss over half of your hits.  All of these major oversights have been mercifully attended to. :)  Just on a side note, in three days I have done nothing but the Thieves Guild quests, and I'm not even done with those.  I haven't joined another faction yet, or started the main quest.  Just goes to show how huge the game is (though I can't wait to join the Dark Brotherhood). 

Thus far, I'm also hightly impressed with Xbox Live.  I seriously think I could stay entertained for monthes just playing the dozens of free demos you can download.  So far all I've actually downloaded is Geometry Wars, the Oblivion Mehrunes' Razor expansion (free until the 31st!), and the two Halo 3 production videos, but I look forward to doing a lot more.  The only game I've actually played online is Gears of War.  The only thing I can say about that is, wow does it sure blow Socom Fireteam Bravo's online on my PSP out of the water! :P  Anybody feel free to send me a friend request! 8)

I got pretty much everything I was expecting, which is long and by far good enough for me. :D  The only real surprises were 1600 XBL Marketplace points (I've only gotten Geometry Wars so far), a $30 Circuit City gift card, and Perfect Dark Zero Special Edition instead of just the regular one.  And here's the best part of everything: my XBL connection works great! :D  I probably spent two hours playing online Gears of War yesterday.  I've also put a few hours into Oblivion too.  The only thing I've really done other than explore the Imperial City is join the Thieves Guild and complete the first couple of their quests.  I'm sure you'll get to hear all about it in future blogs. :P  Remember when I posted about nothing but Morrowind for about a month? :P  I haven't even played Perfect Dark or GRAW yet.  And I think I'm going to cancel my HDTV plans.  The picture already looks great with an S-Video connection, and I just don't think the improvement would justify the large monetary investment.  I hope everybody else had a merry Christmas, if anyone wants to shoot me an XBL friend request feel free, my gamer tag is KIELW93; my gamer card can be found directly below where you're reading this.  :)
 

GameSpot has just awarded Gears of War GOTY, which makes it all the more sweet that I just found it used in near-mint condition for $45. 8)  Note that I'm also going to get $20 worth of XBL Marketplace points with which to get Geometry Wars and Oblivion expansions with (Bethesda giving away Mehrunes' Razor for free through the 31st is awesome).  It's kind of shaky whether or not I'll get Perfect Dark Zero at this point, but if I don't get it that won't be a huge loss.  I hear its single-player is horrible, and while I will finally be hooking up to XBL the thought of buying a game just for the multi-player isn't that appealing to me.  But we'll see.  I'm also starting my HDTV fund.  My plan is to eventually be able to afford a small 720p to put next to my bed (I doubt I could afford a 1080i if I saved up for five years).  I should have about $45 saved up by the end of Christmas, but the fruition of that idea is still a long ways off.  In past console generations there were so many awesome exclusives to each system I felt motivated to get every system, but the number of exclusives is dwindling quickly, and that drive has diminished.  Having three systems to keep up with, I've always felt I've spread myself to thin.  This time around I'm going to try to stick with just the 360 to focus on, and see how it goes; MGS4 is the only next-gen exclusive that looks the least bit appealing to me right now and no one game justifies a console purchase.  Especially a $600 console purchase.  The first step of my 360-Focus program is to get that HDTV for my room, as opposed to start saving up for a Wii or PS3.  I currently feel quite optimistic about the concept. :)
 

At this point I'm just waiting to get out off school and get my 360. Pretty much everything is finalized at this point, and although everything didn't work out perfect, I'm happy with it. On day one, I should have:

1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2. Gears of War
3. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
4. Perfect Dark Zero (hopefully)
5. S-video cables
6. An Xbox 360 wireless network adapter

I ended up having to sacrifice Dead Rising to get the network adapter so I can have XBL on day one, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. My last day of school is exactly one week from today!! Yay!! :D Have a merry Christmas everyone, I'm going to got back to jamming to Christmas carols. 8)

Edit:  This is awesome! :lol:  360 all the way!!!

I beat Okami a few days ago, overall it was a great game.  Does it probably take a few too many clear cues from Zelda?  Yes, but it's a stretch to call that a bad thing.  I for see it being to the PlayStation 2 what Valkyrie Profile was to the PSone.  Just look at the similarities: (1. They were both great action-RPG's. (2. They came out at the end of their console's life cycle.  (3. They didn't get much attention when they came out.  And it probably doesn't hurt that Clover shut down shortly after the game released.  Conclusion: buy this one before it's $150 on eBay!  You have been warned. Anyways, at this point I'm just doing anything I can to tide myself over until I get my 360 (nineteen days left!), which includes replaying Sly 2 for the fifth or sixth time.  Coincidentally, that's another game that doesn't get the reputation it deserves.  It fixed all the game play problems from the original (no more treasure keys!), and it doesn't have a really lame story like Sly 3.  Sly 3 was okay, but the game play was exactly the same as Sly 2, and the story wasn't as good I thought.  Sly 2 was darn near perfect.  The game play concept was just awesome.  Each level involves preparing something for a major heist at the end of the level.  Be it hijacking computer systems, or taking recon photos, all the levels really felt like something you had to do to accomplish your goal, not just busy work.  The story was also a good continuation of the original.  Did I mention that it also takes around 15 hours to complete each way?  Multiply that times the five or so times I've played through it, and then divide by the mere $20 it costs now, and you've got a lot of bang for your buck.  :)