Ok, so as some of you may know, my PS3 recently got its own version of this:

Fact of the matter is: Yellow Light of Death can get anyone. It's a matter of time, not a matter of how well you take care of your PS3, because I treated mine like an infant, so you can very well assume that this was a slap in the face.

Not only that, but right after the day I reserve Modern Warfare 2. Awesome right? Now there's an unopened MW2 in my collection.

So, because of this, I've been spending a lot of time with my old PS2 games that, even with backwards compatability on my 80GB PS3, I never played; in particular, this game:

It was from playing through this game that I realized how utterly JRPG deprived I've been this gen, despite having Valkyria Chronicles. (I love the game, but SRPGs just isn't my thing.)

I first got this little gem when I was about 12, and as far as I was concerned, Sin = bad guy; that was all there was to it. There are a lot of themes and relationships in it that I couldn't understand back then, but I can truly appreciate now, especially Tidus & Yuna. You could probably blame this on anime.. if it wasn't for anime, I wouldn't be into this kind of drama.

Point is: I was able to get emotionally invested with the characters this time around because I had the mental capacity to understand what their motives were and their relations with the people around them, thus making the game a much, much more enjoyable experience.

My next goal is to go through Final Fantasy X-2 and find out if Yuna finds him, because I never beat this one. I remember Jak II had come out around the same time, so FFX-2 was pushed to the side.

Anyway, FFX has renewed my interest in JRPGs, so you can color me hyped for FFXIII, and possibly Vs. XIII.

_______________________________________________________________________

So yeah, I'll be getting a job sometime soon, then I'll get a PS3 when I get around to it. I'll still be getting the collector's edition of Bayonetta this Christmas, regardless of whether or not I have a PS3 by then.

It'll just give me another new game to open with my brand new PS3 Slim, no?

Lesson: There's always a silver lining.

Tune of the Week: Gym (C)lass Heroes - New Friend Request

What you're reading: a personal review of Borderlands without all the details, just the main points.

Why: I want to talk to you about the game, not put you to sleep.

Ok, the bad:

• No, not "87 BAZILLION GUNS!" More like "20-30 GUNS WITH 87 BAZILLION STAT VARIATIONS!"
• The open world is actually divided into sections, separated by loading screens.
• Loading screens can be anywhere from 15 - 45 seconds long.
• RPG elements are bare bones compared to other established games in the genre.
• No armor to collect/sell/modify, only energy shields.
• Level cap of 50.
• Minor, minor text and skills glitches that Gearbox needs to fix.
• BROKEN ONLINE THAT GEARBOX NEEDS TO FIX.

Now the good:

• 20-30 GUNS WITH 87 BAZILLION STAT VARIATIONS!
• Not all of the RPG elements are somewhat lacking - the skills actually affect your performance.
• Open world.
• Lots of side quests.
• Good sense of humor.
• I-don't-take-myself-seriously-but-I-can-still-kick-your-ass sense of st yle.
• Art st yle is very nice. Think moving comic book, not cel-shading.
• FPS gameplay feels spot on. Guns are fun, "CRITICAL HIT!" shots are satisfying.
• The way Lilith laughs when you score a headshot.

So yeah, that's it.

I didn't have money for this game, so in order to get it, I had to trade Super Mario Galaxy, Prototype, a caseless Resistance 2 and a caseless Uncharted, all games I got for free from a friend. I got $37 from that, plus the "Trade 4, get $20 extra" which put me at $57, and I was able to buy Borderlands for $2.45.

So yeah, $60 game for $2.45. Deal of the century, amirite?

Anyway, I'm not doing much other than that. Just playing the game in single player, waiting for a patch from Gearbox and my Bayonetta merch to get here.

Tune of the Week: DJ Champion - No Heaven

(Hah, like that? The original song from the first few Borderlands trailers.)

Everything Else-

Let's get something out of the way now: Dexter is awesome.

(Look at him - badass. The guy rocks Vans for Christ's sake.)

Call me late, but it's a real piece of work that I only discovered recently. Excellent script-writing, compelling characters (especially Dexter), twists & turns - it's nothing short of a triumph. I always knew what it was about, but I was never interested until I decided to download the free pilot episode off the PSN store.

I became attached to Michael C. Hall's character, the anti-hero; someone that you normally would want to see put in prison, but because of how much the show focuses on him, and the rules of his moral code, you understand his motives and why he does the things he does.

I'm currently working my way through Season 3 (episode 3 right now), readying myself for season 4.

Gaming-

No new video games, unfortunately. Remember when I said I was gonna grab Operation Flashpoint 2, Uncharted 2 and Fallout 3? Well, that plan never came to fruition, unfortunately. A couple days ago we got a letter from my sister's school saying that she needs to see an eye doctor for prescription glasses, so we did that.

I decided to set aside my wants for her needs, as her grades were slipping because of her eyesight.

We had a little bit of money left over, and I would've bought those games, but they were out of stock online and in-store (bad luck follows me everywhere), so I decided to get the next best thing: Bayonetta 150 song, 5 CD OST and an 80 page artbook.

I know, obsession. Kamiya's a genius for creating a character this awesome, and he's got me hooked. I've been playing the demo non-stop since it came out. It's addictive as hell. I've never played any of the Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden games, but now I know why they're so God damned popular: action games are fun.

Looks like it's time to dust off that old copy of Ninja Gaiden Sigma that my friend gave me a while back.

Anyway, this stuff ships out November 4th, when the soundtrack drops in Japan. I'll be sure to give each a nice, thorough review for those of you interested.

Anime-

Nope, too much Dexter.

Tune of the Week: Ore Ska Band - Hana no Ska Dance

Saw these guys at the Warped Tour last year at St. Helens in Oregon.

It was magical.

Gaming-

Uhh.. N/A.

Oh wait, BUY 2 GET 1 FREE AT TOYS R' US IN THE U.S., OCT. 11th - 17th!!

I shall buy:

Free:

...and that's about it. Haven't had much time for video games lately. Well, honestly, I'm just bored of them.

Oh! So I just got back from blowing my nose (I'm sick) and I saw a Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 commercial on TV as I passed through the living room. See that? A real-time update. Wasn't that cool?

Now it's like you're right here with me, breathing in all the microbes that I've sneezed into the air the past 10 minutes.

Anime-

Recently Started:
- Chocotto Sister
- H20: Footprints in the Sand (Which, might I add, looks great.)

Recently Finished:
- Ai Yori Aoshi seasons 1 & 2
- Rosario + Vampire 1 & 2
- Shaman King
- True Tears
- They Are My Noble Masters (No, it's not what you're thinking, and it was better than I expected.)
- Strawberry Marshmellow
- Nabari no Ou (Horrible. My uncle made me sit through it because he was convinced that main boy would stop being an emo little fairy and man up to his responsibility, but nope.)

Onegai Teacher is officially my favorite romance/drama ever to come out of Japan, Myself; Yourself in a close, close second.

I also watched Shaman King for old time's sake and realized that they edited a lot of things out since the version I watched on FoxBox as a kid. (Remember Saturday morning cartoons? Yeah, Pokemon, Yugioh, etc. Everyone watched anime at one point or another. For the record, Fox Kids > Kids WB > FoxBox > 4Kids or whatever came after that.)

Still, I liked it a lot, and it was every bit as fun as it was back in 5th grade, especially because I understand a lot more now. My uncle thought it was cool too. He watches these shows with me on random occasions, such as if he isn't busy or he just wants to chill. He enjoys Bleach as well.

Everything Else-

Not cool bro, not cool. Like my nasal's plugged up tighter than the Hoover dam and my head feels like Rosie O'Donnel's ass on thanksgiving - heavyyyyyy. It's that time of the season, I guess.

In other, less painful news, I finally foung Something Missing by MiChi that appeared in that live action Bayonetta commercial. I was pretty happy this morning, despite being so close to death. If you want it too, the download link's in the video description of the first link.

I also got a super new monitor:

...which is why I've been gone, because my old monitor was like aging or something. It wouldn't turn on, and I did everything I could, so I just got a new one. Full 1080p and all that crap, even though I couldn't game on this PC ever, because it's got a graphics card that's even less capable than a TV screen tied to a rock.

But whatever, everything's nice and crisp looking.

And uhh, that's it..

Oh yeah, been listening to Jay-Z's new album, The Blueprint 3, and I gotta say, it's not bad. Better than Blueprint 2, but nowhere, nowhere near as good as the original Blueprint.

Anyway, whatever.

I'm gonna go downstairs and rest, I'm really exhausted from this cold and my heads going to burst open, I swear..

Tune of the Week: Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind.

Gaming--

Instead of starting with anime, I'm starting with gaming because I've just gotten my first platinum the other day and it was for WipEout HD. Very, very fun to do. I tfeels even better because it's one of the platinums that people complain about most, along with Killzone 2 and SOCOM.

I wasn't much of a trophy whore to begin with, but I can certainly see why people like that exist. I still feel like the only games that I should get platinum for are the ones I really like, so I won't be playing Hannah Montana or Terminator Salvation anytime soon.

I also managed to get the 8th fastest time in the world on the Amphiseum track on Flash in a Single Race event... but enough of my e-peen stroking. I'm done bragging for now, lol.

If I had my own mountain top, I'd yell about this platinum.

___________________________________________________

Anime--

Recently Started:
- Ga-Rei Zero
- Hatsukoi Limited

Recently Finished:
- Birdy the Might Decode ***
- Zero no Tsukaima

* (WHAT THE HELL WAS UP WITH THIS CRAP? THIS WAS SUCH A GREAT SHOW THEN THEY DRIVE IT INTO THE GROUND NEAR THE END. I was so disappointed. I went through the whole show watching Birdy and Tsutomu's relationship develop THEN SHE FALLS FOR SOME "Jumper" WANNABE? And what's up with not showing Nagasuki and Tsutomu's reunion?! God, LAME.)

* (I EVEN HAD THE OPENING THEME SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD FOR THE PAST WEEK.)

* (But God damnit, the fight scenes in the show are incredibly delicious to watch.)

This ^ is me going through a rollercoaster of emotions.

___________________________________________________

Everything Else--

A friend and I have decided to write a story together.

We were talking on MSN recently and she said how she wanted to meet a mafia guy one day and be his friend, then I made a joke about a fake trailer that, for some reason, got her more interested:

What if you didn't know anything about the only person you could trust?

(boom, bang bang bang, other various onomatopoeia)

What if the only person you had was the person you sought revenge after?

"No! No, please don't kill me! Plea-aaggghhh guuuurrrrggghhhh fjrlearefgrfrwfqr..."

What if the only person who cared for you ruined your life?

"Hi, my name's Mina. What's yours?"

"Get lost kid."

This summer, witness the heartwarming tale of how a sinner harboring a dark past finds retribution through a young girl...

"Here... it's my grandmother's. Don't lose it or I'll kill you."

"Wow! You're giving this to me?"

...and how his dark past catches up to him.

"No! You don't have to do this anymore, Vincenzo! I know you! You're a nice person!"

"NO! I'm nothing but a murderer... JUST GO OR YOU'LL DIE TOO!"

From the acclaimed director of "Down the Hall, Last Door on Your Left" and "Who Used My Toothbrush?" comes the latest addition to the "The F in Mafia Stands for Fun" series...

(boom boom bang zip pow onomatopoeia explosion car chase scene blah blah blah craziness shouting)

"We Lied, Being in the Mafia Isn't Actually Fun."

(bang boom zip sex scene gun shot)

(silence)

What do YOU think 'F' stands for?

(June 2015)

___________________________________________________

Totally awesome, right?

Tch, I know. It's going to be a book, then when (if? lol no, when.) it becomes a New York Times best-seller, they'll make a sweet movie that won't do the book justice.

Afterwards, I'll probably be elected president.

Anyway..

Tune of the Week: Billy Talent - This is How It Goes

Including me.

But before I go into that, anime:

Recently Finished
- Higashi no Eden (bang.)
- D. Gray-man (Best shounen ever.)
- Asura Cryin' (Needs season 2.)

Recently Started
- Zero no Tsukaima (Harry Potter's incredibly stupid, but this show's great.)
- Birdy the Mighty Decode
- Xam'd (Again... I tried buying it on PSN a while ago, but nothing on the video store is worth the money.)
- Needless
- Heroic Age (Not as stupid as it sounds.)
- Solty Rei
- Claymore

My Rant on 3.00
So firmware update 3.00 has landed on a PS3 near you. The problem?

People hyped it into the ground and then beat it senseless with a really, really hard stick. Holy crap does this update suck. And where is the promised voice messaging option?

This is why I hate Sony, they give us a bunch of crap we don't NEED. The whole "What's New" thing is completely POINTLESS.

"Hey! I know! Let's put up a section that shows what they recently played so they can launch their game from there INSTEAD OF PRESSING THE LEFT D-PAD BUTTON A COUPLE TIMES AND GOING OVER TO 'GAME' TO LAUNCH BECAUSE THAT TAKES WAAAAAAAAAAAY TOO MUCH TIME!"

:|

Whatever.

Gaming Progress
In other news, I'm close to the WipEout plat. After the 3.00 update, I magically went from 64% to 74%. For any of you pilots, I've only got Bling Brigade and Elite Campaign Legend to do and I've got platinum. Elite Campaign Legend is coming along nicely... I've got elite gold medals in every cell except for 5 or 6 of them in the Meltdown event.

I also hear that 1up did a new preview on Bayonetta and apparently the PS3 version was blurry and has horrible framerate issues. This frightens me, it really does.

When I read it on the Bayonneta GFaqs forums, my heart sank. It pretty much ruined my day.

1up says that there's still time for Platinum Games to fix it before the January 2010 release here in the states, but I don't know... regardless of its problems, it's still my most anticipated game above all else.

If I get only one game the rest of my life, Bayonetta is it.

...aaaannd that about wraps up everything.

Oh, before I'm done, random picture and tune of the week:

(This picture will only matter if you care about Bayonetta)

Tune of the Week: The Suicide Machines - Look Before You Leap

[The video's really lame, but it was the only video of that song I could find on youtube.]

First up, I wanna get anime out of the way:

Recently finished
- Clannad & Clannad After Story (# 2 favorite anime of all-time.)
- Love Hina + 3 OVAs
- Spice & Wolf (# 4 favorite series of all-time.)
- Kannagi

Just Started
- Hayate no Gotoku (Combat Butler)
- Spice & Wolf II
- GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Cl -ass
- Haibane Renmei

Ok, so because nothing has been happening to me the past week, I'm just going to list some things about me so maybe you can get to know me better.If you're posting in my blogs, though, chances are you know me pretty well, but whatevs.

Aboot Me
- I have a recently discovered phobia of random holes. Like barnacles. They freak me the hell out.
- I like music a lot.
- I don't like stupid people - there's a difference between acting stupid and being stupid.
- I'm really loud in person. I like to keep a calm and collective persona on here because what you write is your image.
- I once shaved off all of my pubic hair at the request of a female.

- As a kid, I almost choked to death on a peppermint. Haven't eaten hard candy since, except lollipops.
- If you say/do something and I don't like it, I'm going to tell you, regardless of where our relationship stands.
- I started gaming at 5. My parents got me into it, I never asked for a Playstation.
- I like brunettes and chicks with glasses. My second to last ex had both, but she was also boring as dog****.
- I don't dig capitalism, but I don't dig communism either. There should be some middleground.

- I go to Church, but I'm not religious.
- I've done ecstasy a few times, but drugs isn't a path I want to travel in life.
- Despite owning only a PS3, I really hate Sony's attitude towards the market. They're so full of themselves.
- My favorite colors are Mint Green and Magenta, but not together.
- I'm a graffiti artist. If you go through my blogs, one of them features old art I did during high school.

Kudos if you managed to get this far without skipping over any.

Tune of the Week: The Eagles - Hotel California

Also, random picture for the sake of having a picture:

A piece by TOTEM2 of the TATS Cru of New York City. He's been favorite artist since middle school and the most influential to me.

Ok, super duper short blog.

I might edit it if something comes up today or tomorrow that's worth noting, otherwise it's going to be a small update, tune of the week, and a request from you guys.

~UPDATE~

So that chick... hasn't called me yet. I only regret this because she probably thinks I'm hurting or something... frankly, I don't really care at this point. She's gone but I'm still having a good life, so whatever.

This is almost, almost the same way I feel about my ex, the catalyst behind all this. Ironic, no?

Anyway, so we can consider that episode over.

Tune of the Week: The Smashing Pumpkins - 1979

BUT WAIT! DON'T LEAVE YET!

This is where you come in.

I've noticed that all I put as my tunes of the week are electronic songs from different sub-genres. For this reason, I need you, the reader, to post, along with your comment, your #1, all-time most favoritest song ever composed and performed by human hands.

Youtube links are preferred, but not necessary.

Thank you for broadening my musical horizons.

Don't really know what to talk about, and sorry if my blog header misled you into thinking that I would be writing about something interesting this time because... lol, surprise!

I gotta get you in here somehow, right?

Uhhhmmmmm.... oh, I guess I should do this since I *****ed about it in my last blog:

~UPDATE~

Remember that one chick who got all anal about how I was being dead at her little shindig? Yeah, that one. Well I called her and, sure enough, no one picked up. As eggmcmuff suggested, I left her a message that would require her to make the next move... and well, she hasn't called back yet.

It's been two days.

Maybe she didn't get it... oh well... I'll try again tomorrow.

Oh, and Stacy is back home in my garage where she belongs. (I named my truck... so what?)

ON TO THINGS YOU'RE PROBABLY LESS APATHETIC ABOUT!

Because it's my blog, right? And you're dying to know about what happens in my life, or something...

Anyway just finished Toradora! and Minami-Ke, but I'm going to post a picture of Toradora! because I liked it better. I don't like having blogs with just words because words are aesthetically boring.

Ahhhh, what else, what else...

Oh yeah, if you have a PS3 and need a good place to stream anoomay, animefreak.tv is the best place to do it.

Some of the videos are such good quality that even enlarging the video is basically as good as watching it on cable/satellite/antennae.

Also, I have a lot of flies in my house. I'm looking at the ceiling in the office right now and there's four, as well as one on the door.

Every other hour I'll go on a fly killing spree and run around my house like an idiot. They're annoying. They land on your face and limbs and food with absolutely no regard for personal space.

What's the point of flies anyway? If God exists, why would he create something so unessential?

Egh... I digress...

I've taken a keen interest in WipEout HD too, if you haven't noticed. The game's rich with history and manages to blend my favorite genre of music with an artshtyle that mimicks my own: futuristic, technological, etc. I'd show you what I mean but I don't have any of my drawings done yet, as I'm busy trying to get platinum for this game. I got Zone Zeus easy, it's just the Beat Zico trophy that's breaking my back. It'll come with time, though, right?

This will have to do:



[Photorealistic, much?]

Mmmm... and with that, I bid you all.... adieu.

Tune of the Week: DJ Fresh - The Pink Panther

(In regards to the tune: I don't care if you don't like Drum & Bass, just listen to it for the sake of hearing the guy rip up that flute. It's ****ing intense.)

I'll start out with pictures.

I just finished Welcome to the N.H.K.! at the recommendation of hazelnutman.

Amazing tale of an idiot who goes through several losses before he realizes what he wants is right in front of him. Real tear-jerker near the end.

Now starting on something I accidentally stumbled upon: Kannagi. It's cute & stuff.

Yeah, I'm slowly, steadily turning into an Otaku... so what? Bite me.

But... that's not the point of this blog. I need to vent.

[[EVERYTHING IN GREEN IS JUST LAME DRAMA, SO SKIP OVER IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT, THANKS.]]

Just recently one of my friends moved to Texas... now I'd be ok with this if it weren't for the circumstances under which we left our relationship.

We were really close, almost like siblings. She was constantly asking me for advice and stuff like that on how to deal with my other friend, the breakdancing kid and her "love interest." (If you wanna know who he is, look up StepRoc on youtube. He's the short kid.)

Well, she throws a going away party thing and it turns out, she decided to invite one of her best friends, my ex. At this point I'm like "Oh God damnit..." Usually I'm lively and talkative, but nope. Not that night. I was just kinda... there.

You know the feeling of being in a crowded room of people, yet you feel like the only person on Earth? Yeah, that. So, after it was all over, most of the people had left and I stayed because she wanted to talk to me.

Talk? lol.

She got mad at me and started yelling (exaggeration) at me about how I was "really funny and loud at Renea's" graduation party but I'm a killjoy at hers."

I'm not sure if she was jealous or just mad that I didn't enjoy myself... it isn't my fault my ex was there, because she knows how much I hate her.

Well... it turns out, she left a couple weeks ago. Worst part?

No Goodbye. Not even a courteous "**** you."

She talked to everyone but me before she left. I didn't find out until yesterday that she was gone. Now I'm listening to More Than Words (tune of the week) and it's making me all super depressed.

I mean, we weren't in love or anything but the song is just... saddening.

I could call her but... I don't know, it's just not the same.

On top of all that, my car was repo'd, but that's really a matter of "lol owned." I can just pay off that bill and get the car back.

If only relationships were that easy...

Tune of the Week: Extreme - More Than Words