(This is in regards to Halo 3 winning FPS of the year on GameTrailers.)

"Ooh look at me! I'm going against the grain and saying Halo 3 is bad! I'm so alternative and anti-mainstream! I'm going to rate the game a 1!"

Message to those who haven't even bothered to play Halo 3: Shut up. Just because it won the best FPS of the year doesn't mean you're picketing is going to get the title removed from it.
It DESERVES FPSGotY. It (nearly) completes an epic storyline, combines intense action both online and off, is fun to play, and is overall the best selling game ever: over $240m. So why is it so many of you hate it if so many of you've bought it?
Why is it you retards let everyone elses opinion of the game affect yours? If you haven't played it: SHUT THE HELL UP!
"It's the hype, we don't like hype. Microsoft made Mountain Dew and Doritos..." Shut it noobs. It's called marketing, if you don't work in marketing then you don't understand.
And some r'tard had the nerve to post: "GT = Microsoft's b*tch." Well then leave. No one's making you come to this site. I don't think we need a repeat of Gamespot's Gerstmann debacle. No company is forcing GT to give good reviews.

And another thing: Why isn't Crysis nominated?
Can you even play it on full graphics on your PC without it lagging? Can you even play it on lowest graphics without it lagging? It was a problem and that's why it was left out. Don't get me wrong, Crysis is a GREAT game, I want it. But I'm not going to shell out almost a thousand/over a thousand for a computer that will run it. Not to mention it ends. No more storyline, no more expanding.

I just thought of something: World of Warcraft has millions of players. Right? And there's not many bad things said about it. Right?
So why is it Halo 3 is hated by many when it too has millions of players?

My cousin dropped off a ton of old computers and parts that he found while scrapping metal. One's a Dell with a P4, and wouldn't you know it I need RDRAM. I think he said he took the RAM out of it, I hope he did, then I'll have a good computer for a change.
I currently have my friend's old computer. Right now 384MB RAM, a Creative AWE64 16-bit soundcard (not bad, gets the job done), and a Cirrus Logic video card (that's not doing anything right now).
I found a P4 in one burned-out computer mobo, it doesn't look like it's suffered any damage. Might sell this to the right people and get something for it.
I almost had a Dell Optiplex going but none of the harddrives worked. When I tried my first one it kept restarting after trying to install something new. I might take out a part and try it again, that might work.
My cousin wants me to build his kids a computer so they can ruin it instead of his. I'll need the correct parts, a working hard drive, and a decent mobo. Not to mention a little cash for doing it.
I've still only got one disc drive right now. Which means music and gaming will have to wait. However I can connect my mp3 player and "stream" the music from it. Better than taking up space by ripping from CDs.
With only one working harddrive it makes my options barren. I don't want to submit it to too many of the mobos because it'll take in what each has, install new software, and possibly be ruined.

Also it turns out I won't be able to complete with top 20 list. There are too many games that I like and I've left some of them out by accident. Someday I'll post just my top three. That should take care of things. Right?

Stupid fricken' Gamespot won't let videos from GT be posted. So here's the link. Copy and paste since I doubt it let me use HTML properly: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/121212.html

Below GreenTeaAddict posted this: "If a clerk is caught selling this game to a minor without parental supervision, they should be fired and have legal action taken against them, just as they would with any other type of "objectionable" media (films, magazines, etc). That is all there is to it!"

So after watching this video and having a few minutes to think I came to this conclusion: if a kid (let's say 12-13 years old, sex doesn't matter) walks into a gun store and wants to buy a rifle and some ammo, they're not going to let him. But if that kid walks into Wal-Mart and buys Manhunt 2, they'll let him.

Why is that?

The gun store employees are trained (not to mention have enough common sense) to NOT SELL WEAPONS TO KIDS. But the employee turn out in Wal-Mart is so astronomical that they won't care WHO they're selling the game to (because they won't be there next month). Neither will the head honchos of this place because it's money to them. I've been carded everytime in the past few years when I bought an M-rated game from EB or GameStop. K-Mart? Nope. Wal-Mart? Nope. They're not trained in this area, they're not told to ask for ID's.

And what about a few months ago when that kid shot up his school. Where did he gets the guns from? His mom bought them FOR HIM. She didn't recognize what was going on in her son's life that would lead to that debacle.
In the same way some kid's parent will buy them the game and not even pay attention to the rating or how the kid will play the game or how it will affect them. My cousin has two sons and he practically lets them do what they want and watch what they want. They'll run around in the front yard yelling "I'll you! I'll kill you!" They did this BEFORE they played GTA3 for the first time. (A side note: the fact that my cousin let's his two kids play GTA is a testament that he's pretty retarded.)

A few years ago there was a RollingStone magazine with Britney Spears on the cover in her underwear, being interviewed about her home life. The FCC criticized this BUT the magazine still sold well. So what about this piece of "objectionable material"? I'm pretty sure lots of 13 year old boys bought that issue.

Jack's problem with "the industry" resides only in the M- and AO- rated games alone. He doesn't go after Medal of Honor: FPS war games with just as much violence in them as, say, Halo. Probably because it's rated T and has no blood. He doesn't go after Shadow Ops: Red Mercury: rated M with no blood, but still has plenty of gunplay and explosions.
Is it because these two are too old, or is it that they are involved with the miltary? Which is it Jack?

The man's only there to get his law firm into the limelight. And in a few months this will pass and he'll be back in the shadows, waiting for the next game to come out so he can raise another ruckus.

I hate to keep posting, but this deserves it.

A few hours ago I came home from Judgment Journey. A church in LaGrange, Ga puts it on each year. It takes you through the Apocolypse and beyond. It's not just a Left Behind sketch with bad actors.

They first show you two movies: the first being the comets hitting the Earth. The second being the rapture.

The first scene you walk through is a road with wrecked cars everywhere, cars on fire, people dead and dying, ran over, kids dying, babies disappeared, and medical personnel struggling to help.

The second scene introduces the Four Horseman, four guys actually rode out of the woods on horses and described what would happen.

Next they take you through a shanty town. At this point food is scarce, violence and drugs are everywhere, people begging for just one thin slice of bread, teenage girls whoring themselves out for food.

Next they introduce you to the military camp: soldiers with guns, people getting food and medical attention, and you hear kids begging their parents to take the mark so they can get food. They put you in a meeting with several people who have chosen to take the mark. At this point two planted actors (a mother and her daughter) start walking out. The commander and her argue, the soldiers take hold of the mother and drag the daughter out behind the curtain and you hear gunfire, from a real gun. I know that sound from playing too many video games. They used live ammo for that moment. The woman breaks down crying and accepts the mark.

Next they take you to a room with soldiers yelling at you face to face, saying you can leave, but they'll find you. You can cry out to God, but He's not going to hear you. They take two girls out of the crowd (actors) and with light projected on a curtain, they showed them being hung with their shadows.

They escort you out while still yelling they'll find you. A few moments later a flashbang hits you in the middle of the woods. Suddenly your surrounded by soldiers demanding to see your mark. Nowheree to run, nowhere to hide. They'll find you.

Next your taken to see God's judgment on people. He first sentences Satan to die in the Lake of Fire. Then two girls (actors) are pulled out of the crowds, both are condemned.

It hits hard. Real hard. And it just hit me now, I'm crying about it. I don't know whether I'm crying for me, my family and friends, or those who get left behind.

I was going to stay up and get the UT3 demo, but I can't focus right now. Ever since the first video of the comets I've been on edge. Been shaky and woozy since that flashbang. And the half of the sub sandwich I ate is making me feel sick.

There's a lot of things I have to change in my life right now. And time after time I've tried. Again and again I fail. Not this time. I can't take that risk.

I'm just going to shut up now and go to bed.

I just read this from Gamespot, it was a front page blog from ShenlongBo, some guy who'm I've never heard of until last night. In summary he describes how Epic and Microsoft have duped people out of cash. He paid $100 for extra content for Gears of War. Then they announced that all the content that he paid for was going to be readily available for the PC. Same thing with Guitar Hero 3. I'm sorry, III. Guitar Hero III (God forbid I don't spell it right, fanboys). Content will be readily available for download the same day it's released. It's basically content that the companies decided to cut from games so they can charge people for it later.
I responded to his blog with this: Agree with what you're saying. And PCs aren't getting cheaper either. You'd have to constantly update the Processor, RAM, video card, etc. if you want to keep up/ahead of the top games. And the top prices of these things can cost as much, if not more, than an entire console + games. It no longer seems to be about gameplay and graphics, but about playing online. And I'm sure you'd agree with me: retro is looking better now than this gen's games (not remade versions, REAL old school).
I underlined that one line because it's true: these companies are screwing people out of money for an extra level. I'd go as far as to say that some companies want the LIVES of their players. You get an achievement, award, or something for spending so many hours playing a certain game or getting a certain high score that it could take hours or days out of your life. Go out, buy points/whatever, and spend them to get closer to unlocking something else to spend more time playing.
Im not even done with my current Xbox games, and you know what? That's fine by me. I'd rather take my time, actually PLAY the game, get to know it rather than just flashy graphics and then it's over. Besides: I can't play multiplayer games because I don't have the money to. And most of today's games are aimed at online play, somehting that gets worse everyday due to cheaters, spammers, and squeakers.
He really opened my eyes up to something here.
And now with EA buying up Pandemic and BioWare, it's official: EA will soon own your soul. When will they realize that they are the ruination of the gaming industry?

I'll keep the intro short but the list long: These are MY top 20 favorites of all time. If you've got beef with'em: I don't care!

20. Test Drive Off-Road 2 (PS1)
__Hours spent: 80+
One of the 5 games on the list that I've never owned. It was my brother's. It was just one of those games with trucks racing through locales and wrecking into things. The AI was completely stupid, the obstacles were flat, there were cracks in the level design, and some of the vehicles just plain sucked. But it was so consistent and interesting that you HAD to keep playing it. Roaring through the desert at 70+ mph in a Dodge T-Rex had it's appeal back in the day.
19. Metal Wolf Chaos (Xbox)
__Hours spent: 0 Another game that I've never owned. In fact: one that I've never really played. The reason I know about it is from a demo from Xbox Magazine. After one play through I was completely stunned by it. Sure it was subtitled in Japanese with (bad) English voice actors and never really released in the USA, but the game has a massive appeal about it. Mainly due to you playing as the President of the United States and whooping terrorists in your mech. Big boss in the way? Click the right thumbstick and he'll be gone soon.
18. Tetris (various)
__Hours spent: lol+
Tetris: the granddaddy of all puzzle games. The once proud elite Nintendo game turned into a byproduct of THQ. Once they acquired the license for the game, it all went downhill. The original is the only one that I care about these days. Tetris Worlds is good if you need something to do while using the bathroom.
17. Metroid 2: Return of Samus (GB)
__Hours spent: 35+
The only GameBoy game that I still have in my collection. I'll never get rid of it. It took the original Metroid on the NES and cranked it up by 5. The graphics surpassed the NES original and that blew people's minds. A massive adventure set inside a tiny cartridge. And don't worry about having to start over: the battery save function prevented that.
16. M.U.S.H.A. (Genesis)
__Hours spent 25+ (Thumb wear: 90%)
I bought it in a pawn shop for $4 (I think). After playing a quarter of the way through the first level, I hated it. I wanted to return it. But my mom said no. So I kept playing it. Four months later it was one of the only games I cared about. A 2D top-down shooter, it was beyond any of the others I had ever seen. The ability to get side guns and adjust their position was something you had to watch out for, they could be destroyed and eventually you'd have none left. The secondary weapons got more powerful with each pickup, of course. But they were so powerful it got to be ridiculous. The blue shield was the best way to go: nothing hit you and it launched it's own weapon. As for mentioning Thumb wear: it takes a lot of holding down the fire button and avoiding enemy fire. By the end of the game you can barely feel either of your thumbs.
15. Breakdown (Xbox)
__Hours spent 5+
Only 5 hours? This game made me break a controller, that's how mad it made me. At some moments it was way too easy and you knew instantly what to do. At some points it was ridiculous and the answers so vague you'd have to look online for a FAQ. The last moment I played this game I was up against 5 enemies that shot lasers, had shields, and kicked my rear so hard it made me wonder if I had the difficulty set too high. There is no difficulty setting. So why is it #15? Because of the innovation. First person action with mirror reflections, interactions, punches, kicks, guns, and amazing graphics. The gameplay was awesome, but it was presented so poorly that you couldn't help but cringe while playing. If the creators had put more thought into the game it would be higher on my list and on others.
14. Ikaruga (GameCube)
__Hours spent: 20+
One of the two 2D shooters that I've got on my list. Ikaruga was something flying under the radar and by some odd reason I picked it up one day and bought it. Never regretted it. The formula is simple but with a twist: shoot everything that gets in your way and collect what they shoot at you so you can shoot back. The ability to switch between positive and negative polarities is something that makes this game unique. A sequel is something that is desired out of anybody who has ever played this game.
13. Dark Reign 2 (PC)
__Hours spent: 40+
The first and only PC Real Time Strategy (RTS) game that has made me interested in the entire genre. An overlooked semi-epic that could seriouosly have had a sequel if not for games like Warcraft 3. The only way a sequel could be made today is if there were a third faction for the player to choose. Not a problem: The JDA took prisoners during riots and transported them off-planet. Make them the third choice, easy. A dark tale of the future with two sides opposing one another to make it off of Earth which is tearing itself apart. It's the JDA vs. the Sprawlers. Each side has strengths and weaknesses: JDA is actually stronger but Sprawlers are cheaper to create and can mass easily. As long as I can install this on Windows XP I'll keep playing it.
12.Twisted Metal 2 World Tour (PS1)
__Hours spent: 80+
It's Twisted Metal 2. Really. Need I say more? Okay fine. Taking the action out of Los Angeles, TM2 went from Paris to New York, Holland to Hong Kong, and others. Destructible environments were unseen by me and my brother before this game. A collection of awkward cars with drivers made the game more interesting. In truth, I think this was one of the few games that turned me into a gamer.
11.Vectorman (Genesis)
__Hours spent: 30+
One of the few Genesis games that was almost 3D. I completely forgot the storyline but all I know is you went from level to level shooting and blowing up anything that got into your path. The sequel, however, was too bland and too... tiny. There was a planned third game for PS2 but was cancelled for some reason. If it had been made though I would have ran out and bought a PS2 immediately.

Be on the lookout for Part 2. Coming as soon as I can write something about each of them.

How many more rice burners are going to be wrecked before people realize that street racing sucks?
Drifting: What a nice way to wear your tires out! Now go shell out $250 more for four more only to do the same thing two weeks later.
Circuits: This is not the Fast and the Furious. You cannot go 230 mph in a Civic and your friends are not going to put up roadblocks so you can race.
Drag: Please, leave this for the muscle cars. That's what they're made for.
All the preppy guys got bored and saw some Japanese guys drifting and thought to themselves "Let's do that!" 3 wrecked cars later they're saying they're going to salvage the parts, rebuild, and go FASSTER!
"I hope you die in a fiery, horrific car crash with a head-on collisions to a semi, you over-anxious retards."
Get your pissed off lawnmower with it's loud-@$$ muffler off the road, graduate high school, and forget your dreams of being a "pro." You're a ricer, not a racer.

Buh-buh-buh my Nissan can outrun your $#!%%y Corvette any day.
Yeah after major upgrades. Corvettes are ranked among Ferraris.
FERRARIS. World c|ass GT racers. A type of racing that doesn't leave muffler and tire smoke in your lungs.
Speaking of which: I said Corvette! Did I hurt your little Mustang-loving ears? Get over it.
Corvettes pwn, and Mustangs putt along.
But honestly, don't get me wrong. I like the original and 07 Stangs. And that's it. Only because they are muscle cars.
What're you driving? Vanilla Ice's Mustang? And you wanna race against a TrailBlazer? Nice one genius. I wonder who's going to win that one.
And GO!
Oh look, the cop right behind you is nice enough to let you get a 10 second head-start before he turns his lights on and pulls you over.

This entire blog is spurred off of the latest NFS "Pro" Street videos. How many more street racing games are they going to make? It's about ricers burning tires and wasting gas. I can already guess the storyline to it (if there is one): You're the new guy in town and you're going to make it to the top by proving your skills... stop me if you've heard this one. Oh! That's right! THE LAST THREE NFS GAMES.

It feels like I am the last person left on earth.
Everyone on my IM lists ars either asleep or not on.
None of the 260 friends on MySpace are on.
No one.
But me.
Why do I even stay up this late? No one's on since school is in.

Wow. *echoes*

Added some pictures today and changed my banner. Some of my life and some screenshots. Go check'em out and leave me some comments
Wow. Did I just sound like a MySpace whore? My apologies. But none of you have ever seen me or the pictures I take, so I have an excuse to say it.

What do you want me to write about?
Yes I'm still alive and I didn't die in a horrible fiery crash such as the newspapers would claim.
Things have been going and stopping since the last blog.
The yard sale we had could be considered a flop. The teen's cla ss (it won't let me put the whole word for some reason, stupid GS) made around $220. And a lot of the teens didn't even show up. The one's that did show up barely sold anything. Most of the selling went to the other people who had brought stuff. And it was horrible trying to pack all that stuff up for the Valley Rescue Mission. I had found this yellow button-up shirt that looked excellent on me, fit me and everything, very stylish. I threw it on the floor off to the side and wouldn't you know it? Somebody bagged it up. I want to go looking for it because it was that good of a shirt.
The Kids Crusade went well. Even though we had to X the backdrop because it started ripping. I had the idea later that night that we could have cut it back into separate strips to prevent it from ripping. D'oh! The idea came too late. The kids really enjoyed it though, een though we only had a few new kids show up, the usual Sunday morning crowd was there almost all the time. I've had many compliments from parents about my chracter and how much they loved it and how much the kids loved it. Well I love it also.
My old internet friend found out the sex of her kid today: it's a boy! They're naming him Aiden. I like it, it's original. Like I told her: I know too many kids named Josh. Seems like parents name their kids that when they don't care what name they're giving them.
Er... still no luck with a job, although today I've seen a white guy working at KFC/Long John Silvers. *gasp!* A white guy working at a KFC? That's honestly a first for me. So I CAN get a job around here. Now I just have to find a place that's hiring.
Ummm... Grant started up The SPARC: Students Persuing A Real Calling. It's a student leadership team for our church and it's something we need badly. We may also have a few more people joining the puppet team. We've also got our drama team back up and running, which we also needed.
Not much else going on outside of church. Right now I guess the youth group is my life. I've been playing games every now and then, but not as much as I used to. A little Counter-Strike Source Zombie Mod and some Deathmatch every now and then. I don't really play Guild Wars now. I missed the Eyes of the NOrth preview week. I downloaded the updates and the new start screen looks good. I can't wait for the GW2 honestly.
That's about it. Goodbye for now.

The yard sale is going on right now. I had to wake up at 6 to get here at 6:45 and open up.

The night before was my twin friend's birthday party. They got money and watches. That's it. Near the end of the thing their friends came over and they started fighting. Not arguing, but fist fighting. They're "training to be UFC fighters." Good luck to'em. Hope they like broken ribs and noses.

There were two girls that stayed until 11 and I had to watch over them. I'm not about to leave two girls alone with five guys. One of them, you could tell had anger issues, possibly from home. She wanted to fight and I mean fight. She wanted somebody to hit her while she hit them. The other just stayed off to the side and we talked for a few minutes. I hope I convinced her to convince her parents to bring her back to church on Wednesday nights.

I'm not participating much in the yard sale, I was the first person to help two customers, but that's just it: it's the TEEN's mission's yard sale. I'm not a teen. I don't even go to Sunday school anymore. I just do the puppet thingy and go, to put it shortly.

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but next week is crunch/hell week. We've got to get more paint for our backdrop, more thing donated, flyers passed out, more volunteers, and do this all with possibly very little sleep.I'm gonna be dead on the 14th.

Whether I like it or not, I have to be at the yard sale right now to support things. I think I'm going to bed at 6 PM tonight.

Later.