Have you ever screamed at your hero in a video game? Sure you have. Not because a gang of baddies rolled up on them and "popped a cap", but for doing something extrremely stupid. I was just playing Tomb Raider Anniversary and I realized that Laura Croft is about damn dumb-tarded. I went to jump a simple gap and she wouldn't reach out and grab the ledge. What's that all about? Laura, sweetheart, we need to talk...you've already jumped this ledge before, but you couldn't sem to grapple the hook and fell to your death. Now why do you feel the need to continue falling to your death at this ledge you passed 5 minutes ago? Do we need too take a break? Is there something I need to know? Really...what is the world coming to when our protagonist can't perform the same task multiple times? Practice makes perfect...not complete idiots.

We've all had scenerios like this...our hero or heroine just can't seem to make a jump, ran out of bullets in their favorite machine gun, or performed some other brilliant maneuver that has you cursing worse than a Wu Tang Clan concert. I love playing third-person shooters and targeting someone across the field and another opponent walks up and smacks you in the back of the head. I'll always enjoy watching a character continue a combo move when the first hit lands, knocking the enemy off to the side, and the rest of the combo is flailing in the air, all the while the bad guy is laughing at you and waiting for that moment to shoot you in the back. This is where most scream "turn around idiot!". Then there's always the sports games...no matter what sport you play, someone on the team cannot pass. You go for a touchdown pass in Madden and the ball lands somewhere in the bleachers, the left-fielder throws to home instead of second base, or your goalie tosses right to the opposing team. Aren't these guys paid thousands to pros? So why don't they play like it?

So here's my proposal...Hero University. It''ll be the next great "sim" game where you take your favorite hero back to school to learn how to do the job he or she is supposed to do. Teach Simon Belmont to swim and Niko Bellic how to drive. I'm sure there are more than a few of you who would love to take Master Chief back to school to learn how to make more efficient head-shots. And who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks? Mario and Laura Croft could use a little refresher in long-distance jumping, and Pac-Man could build a little speed on the outdoor track. It would all be available in Hero Universty. Choose a certificate program in target shooting, high-speed chase driving, fencing, spelunking, martial arts, item/inventory management, TV/VCR/DVD repair, sports efficiency, or get a degree in strategic warfare or accounting. Once your hero or heroine is outfitted for the right job, load them back into your favorite game and enjoy more precise controls and greater success all courtesy of Hero University...training your heroes to be their very best.

I'm p!$$ed. There's no other way to say it. I just got back from seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and all I can really say is..."wow, I just wasted a bunch of money!" Well, that's all I can say without dropping some major spoilers. So, I'll try to do this without ruining anything for those who haven't seen it yet.

I looked past the spiritually-supernatural events in previous Indy films...things like the Arc of the Covenant wiping out a group of Nazis, pulling out a man's heart, and the power of the Holy Grail...but the major plot of this new adventure was just so out there, I thought I was watching the new X-Files movie. There is a point where you can go beyond lore and into the realm of rediculous.

As a child of the late 70's and early 80's, I grew up with Indy, Star Wars, Star Trek, and all the other great films that lead down the road of geekdom, and it's horrible to see that filmmakers are so ready to cash in on an idea that they completely ruin what the series was all about. Lucas screwed up with the Star Wars prequels (Hayden Christiansen and Jake Lloyd were bloody awful!) and Spielberg hasn't really put together a good film since Schindler's List, so what was I expecting? A bloody miracle is what I wanted obviously.

So what do we have to look forward to from these two powerhouses in the film industry? A bleak future I'm sorry to say. Eagle Eye and Transformers 2 are all I see on IMDB.com for Spielberg (and he seems to have a strong liking for Shia Labeouf), and Lucas looks to be satisfied with rehashing the Clone Wars. And why the hell does anyone care if the son of Jabba the Hutt is kidnapped? Did he really write that or was that trailer just a joke? If you haven't seen the trailer I speak of, go check it out right now...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

So, do we really need this? I was content with the animated Clone Wars that came out before Episode 3. Hell, I was content with 3 Indiana Jones movies. What I'm trying to say is, leave these timeless films alone and let them be what they are. Don't try to cash in on their popularity if you aren't going to stay true to the characters and the story formula. Which means, DON'T DO JURASSIC PARK 4, STEVEN! (Yes, it's on the list on IMDB for 2009)

Oh, and apparently you can survive an atomic blast if you jump inside a lead-lined refrigerator. Just keep that in mind for future reference. Cheers!

As a follow-up to my last blog, when do you get to a point in a game where, no matter how much you want to like a game, you can't tolerate the faults any longer? I'm slugging my way through 24's (PS2) not-so-precise controls and really enjoying the storyline. I looked past Luminous Arc's (DS) some-what questionable voice acting and found myself opening up to a whole new genre of gaming. I can usually find enough good in a game to outweigh the bad. But what about those titles that make you cringe just at the thought of playing it again? I'm having that problem now...

Last night I decided to start working on MegaMan StarForce (DS). I picked it up the day it came out with the intention that I would have the Leo version, my girlfriend would have Dragon, and her daughter would have Pegasus. That way, we could all have a different one and could link up and battle. Trouble is, it doesn't quite work that way. In fact, I have yet to figure out how to link up with anyone and I've already put 3 or more hours into the game. Now comes the really bad part...each version of the game is exactly the same. There is no change in the storyline between versions of the game. The characters and story are identical in every way except that each version has a different "StarForce power". This wouldn't be a problem if the game were tolerable to begin with. I love the battle system, but damn...the characters are so obnoxious and the story is even worse.

The game begins with you taking control of some emo-looser who's been ditching school for a while since his dad disappeared in space with a satellite. No one likes him and he's a bit of a wanker to boot, plus, he's been "chosen" by this cosmic being to save the world. Things are looking grim for the good guys, I'll tell you that for free. I just can't seem to get into the game because of this blubbering prat. I really like the gameplay, but you can't enjoy a game when you can't identify with the characters. And of course I mentioned that the story was p!$$-poor. It's a fairly decent looking game with some interesting ideas, but as I like to say, no matter how much you try to polish a turd, it's still $#!t.

So, I think I'm off to trade it in towards something a bit more appealing. No clue as to what I'll be looking for, but I'll see what catches my eye. Oh, and to add to it, my girlfriend was the one who suggested we trade them in when I first made a complaint about the story...she despised the battle system and didn't want to play it either. She was just trudging through it to have a game we could work on together and didn't want to hurt my feelings since I had bought it for her. Got to love a companion like that, eh?

Anyways, cheers for now...

Let's discuss for a moment one of those vices we all have but never talk about. As the title suggests, I'm talking about guilty pleasures. They may be in the form of "chick flicks", bad 80's music, or some other form of entertainment that you would be absolutely embarrased to have your friends find out that you enjoy (I'm not talking about hentai you perverts!). I'm writing this because I've been partaking in quite a few guilty pleasures in the past few days, but most notably licensed video game tie-ins.

Oh, they are sooooo bad aren't they? But let's face it, you've all gone out and tried at least one movie-based video game right? If you say you haven't, it's a good chance you're lying. Of course, there are a select few titles that hold up to the calibur of their movie counterpart, such as Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers and Return of the King (PS2, GC, Xbox) and Goldeneye 64 (N64), but we all know that for the majority, tie-ins are just above the bottom of the barrel when it coms to gaming. But that doesn't mean that they aren't fun.

I found a used copy of Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (PSP) a few days ago and I grabbed it up. I was thinking to myself "this is going to be aweful and I know it". Sure enough, the Predator was clunking around like he had arthritis and the Aliens looked like cardboard cut-outs, the story was very loosely based on the film, and even went so far as to omit the main draw to the film, the hybrid Pred-alien (it was replaced by a "boss" battle with a helicopter on the hospital roof???). So why did I keep it and play through the entire game? When I went into the first level and switched to the Predator's thermal vision, I got goosebumps. That part they got right. And that's all it took for me to play through. Maybe I've got a little hidden fan-boy in me, but I enjoyed every painful mission in that game.

And speaking of painful missions, I'm currently working on X-men: The Official Game (Xbox 360). Exactly how many times can you kill the same 3 or 4 soldiers over and over and over again? And let's take a moment to point out how bad the boss battles are in this title...I thought I would never kill off Multiple-Man with Nightcrawler. But I keep playing because there is some part of me that just loves to beat the crap out of endless hordes of clone soldiers as Wolverine, and I'll admit, Nightcrawler is probably the coolest character in the game (they got the teleportation ability to work! Not perfectly, but it works!).

Now I'll step away from movie tie-ins, and over to television tie-ins. 3 games in particular: X-Files (PS1), X-Files: Resist Or Serve (PS2), and 24 (PS2). When I found out about the new X-Files movie, I pulled out the season 9 DVDs and decided it was time to finally finish the series before the film hit the theaters. A few days later, I was in a used book shop and they had a copy of the original PS1 X-Files game. Of course, I already had Resist Or Serve, but I still haven't finished it. But now seems to be a good time. I've also recently found time to watch season 2 of 24. Some of you may already know that the game takes place between seasons 2 and 3, so a part of me wants to play through the game before I start watching season 3. For all three titles, I really don't care what the reviewers think of the games; I just enjoy being able to take control of some of my favorite characters for a little while. Of course it would be nice if they got things right in the gameplay, but that's exactly why I wait until I can get a cheap copy.

So, who else is going to join me and share their guilty pleasure titles? Don't be shy...maybe we'll form a support group for people who enjoy those titles that get critically mediocre reviews. And for my testimony: "Hi, I'm Will and I play mediocre games...I've recently added New Zealand Story Revolution to my collection, and I had a lot of fun playing Garfield's Nightmare, Snoopy Vs. The Red Barron, and Brave: The Search For Spirit Dancer." Tell me all about your guilty pleasure games...in the meantime, I'm getting ready for the Duran Duran concert tonight. Seriously...pictures will be posted.

Cheers!

Today is a big "housekeeping" day...lots of little things to take care of that I usually don't have time for. My cell phone was damaged, but was under warranty so I was able to get a replacement, but transferring all the pictures off of it has been a pain in the rear. However, I've got lots of new music to listen to. The brand new Filter album, Anthems For The Damned, came out yesterday. I'm a huge Filter fan, so I ran out and grabbed it. While I was at the store, I realized the new Theory Of A Deadman album, Scars And Souvenirs, was available as well. Some of you may not be familiar with Theory of a Deadman...for those of you, they had 3 songs featured on Indigo Prophecy. I'll provide some YouTube links if you care to check out some of the new tracks...

Filter - Soldiers Of Misfortune

Theory Of A Deadman - So Happy

Otherwise, not much going on in my world. I'm looking forward to getting my housework done so I can properly access my computer and PS2. At the moment, there is such a pile of junk on my desk, I can't do anything but get online and check my email. I've got a music project I've been working on for years and I'd like to get back to it, but I have no room to hook up any of my equipment to do the recording. The PS2 is buried under there somewhere as well, and I've decided that it's time to start working on Okami...considering I've had it since the day it was released for the PS2 and I've never started it proper (i.e. I turned it on and watched the opening 20-something-minute-long video), I think it's time to get to work on it. Glad I resigned from the game store otherwise I might not have time to do ANYTHING. :D

Seriously though, I do need to find a job now that I have finished my college courses. It's my turn to start making some money now and help pay off those shiny new next-gen systems that I don't have time to play anymore. It's a catch-22 isn't it? You work harder to pay for more stuff that you have no time to enjoy because you're working too much. I have devised a plan though...I have purchased just about every game I want for my collection for now. I've made a promise that I will not buy any more games until I finish a few. And when I say "a few", I mean some for each system. I'm currently working on Luminous Arc for the DS, Alien Vs. Predator for the PSP, and Assassin's Creed on the PS3. I want to start on Okami on the PS2, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes on the GameCube, Lost Odyssey on the 360, and Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii. If I continue to play just these games on each system, I'll get through something. What I really want to do is catch up on some RPGs. Once I finish Luminous Arc, I'll put in another RPG, but on the PSP, and then move on to the 360...that way, I'm always working on an RPG, but I'll have something a little less time-consuming in another system if I don't have time to get involved in a gripping story. Somehow, I'll get through a few games and maybe get to enjoy them instead of just looking at them collecting dust on the shelves.

So, off I go now to get some things done...and enjoy some new music at the same time. Now, if I could just figure out when I'm going to watch 5 seasons of 24, 3 seasons of Millennium, countless Doctor Who DVDs, and plenty of unopened movies...

Cheers!

As the rest of the gaming world sinks their teeth into Grand Theft Auto 4 and Mario Kart Wii, I have become enamoured with Echochrome and other puzzle games. Typically, I play a video game to relax and sink into a virtual world of mindless distruction and/or brainless fun. However, I've been searching out more titles to expand my mind rather than to dull it. Echochrome has done a fantastic job of making me think in abstract ways. I'm also looking for a copy of Crush, a really cool title I let go of several months back when I needed cash. It recently came down in price, so I think I'll grab it up before I lose my discount. I've also been hunting down copies of RPGs like Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth and Silmeria. This morning I started on Luminous Arc for the DS, and I was thrilled to find out that the second one is being released in Japan in the next week or two. Long story short, I'm starting to lean more towards titles that are going to keep me occupied with a great story, abstract puzzles, or intriguing gameplay. Of course I haven't turned my back on the standard run-n-gun games (I picked up Alien Vs Predator: Requiem for the PSP today along with VP: Lenneth), but I've really got a taste for more mind-bending, strategy-oriented, story-driven titles. So to all of you out there with a PSP and a PS3, grab up Echochrome and enjoy something (dare I say?) wholsome.

Until next time...cheers!

This one will be short and sweet...

The assistant manager at the Gamestop I work for has resigned from the company leaving the position open and of course, I was offered the position. I was more than happy to take the job for the extra hours and pay increase.

But that was yesterday.

Today, I had a falling out with an employee and realized exactly what I would be getting myself into. I called my manager and told him to talk with our district manager and tell him (in these exact words) "thank you, but I am giving my two weeks notice". Yes, I have had more than enough of retail sales and with my graduation on Tuesday, I think it's time that I start acting like an adult and make some serious decisions about my future and look towards a career; not just a job. So, with that, I am 2 short weeks away from leaving retail, for good, after 16 years.

More details later...

Clinicals are now over and graduation is Tuesday! :D And to top that off, I'm leaving right after class today to go pick up my daughter for a week. I know this isn't much of a blog entry, but damn, I'm excited and want to share with everyone.

In the meantime...I'd like to share a song from one of my favorite bands, Alabama 3 (otherwise known as "that group that does the Soprano's theme song"). Sing along now...this is "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash".

To start things off, here's what you really came here for:

Another REAL X-Files 2: I Want to Believe trailer

Now, for those of you who are still around, my plans to sit home for my birthday playing Mario Kart didn't quite go as I hoped. In fact, the game is still sealed. What I did get into, however, was a beta-test of the upcoming video game based on the Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson (author of the Alex Cross series titles including Along Came A Spider and Kiss the Girls which also became movies). It was an interesting way to spend 4 or 5 hours of my day, but in all I had fun going through what they gave me to work with and offering my input. Now I get to sit back and wait for the final product to hit the shelves or be available for download (don't know when that might be) and see if they took any of my advice. I doubt they will though because I simply told them it was a fun game, but didn't really have anything to do with the subject matter. It would take far too long to explain so I'll leave it at that. Anyways, I'll be looking for a night of Mario Kart and it's back to work tomorrow for my final week in clinicals. All the best everyone and thank you to those who sent the birthday wishes!

Cheers

I'm not one for getting older. Hell, I think I'm old enough as it is, but that time of year seems to roll around again and again. Well, it's a helluva lot better than the alternative right? (For those of you who have no idea what I'm babbling on about, I'll be 31 tomorrow...Sunday for those who read this late). I'll be avoiding mirrors (so I don't have to see any gray hairs), scales (so I don't have to think about how out of shape I feel), and people in general (because I don't want anyone making a big deal out of it). What I will be doing is playing Mario Kart Wii all afternoon. Sure, the family wants to grill out, but I want to sit in my comfey chair with fully charged wii-mote batteries and racing wheel. I don't care if anyone joins me, but I'll be gladly taking all challengers as I waste the day away. The only thing I'll stop for (besides tastey meats from grill) would be to watch Doctor Who. Yes friends, it will be a lovely day. And you never know, I may throw in an X-Files episode as well...I mean, really, I've gotta get ready for the new movie right? I haven't seen all of season 9 yet so I need to get caught up...

So everyone have a great weekend and know that I'm having one too...and if you feel like it, grab up a Mario Kart title of your choice and toss a Koopa shell for me.

Cheers!