Well I'm shocked over how bad the Microsoft reveal was. I never thought they would flat-out fail like that.

Granted, it had more energy than the Sony conference, due to Microsoft planting people who would cheer at the right moments within the crowd to *force* energy in it. Microsoft also did alot of tropes and BSing and saying a lot without saying anything at all.

I can't do it. I can't have their console. They just failed. I will be saving for the PS4. I already have a WiiU, so it'll be Sony and Nintendo's time here, for this generation. Microsoft just shot themeselves multiple times, and not just in their foot. I can't believe how bad this next console is going to be. It's like they are trying to show us how NOT to do a console.

My entire library, save for the Wii, is useless now. No backwards compatibility for the PS4 or the Xbox One. But the PS4 isn't screwing us over with fees or the buzzwords M$ threw around the conference.

Microsoft, it's over between us. You screwed the pooch. You will not be getting my money.

#dealwithit

Hard to believe that it's been over 3 years since my last update.

Anyway big news today, uh, Duke Nukem Forever has been taken over by Gearbox - the link should be on the front page of Gamespot.

As I've said in a comment on that story, that game will be in development hell for 14 years by the time it comes out in 2011. That's a long time. Now, think. This game started in 1997. Some of you guys weren't even born then. But what can be expected from this game? I mean, as Yahtzee said in his "review", and said by other gamers waiting for this game, for this long of a wait, can anything other than pure perfection be expected for such a long development time? I mean, we get some good and great games for 2, 3 year developmental times such as Mass Effect 2 and the like, and pap at very short times, such as the shovelware for movie based games. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, like Vice City's short time in development. It's just that there is a kind of...logic, if you can call it, at the back of our minds. Longer development times =better games.

And...then we look at Too Human. Oh I'm sure some of you liked it, but really, it didn't really impress anyone. And Prey, while being in development for a long time itself, was quite underwhelming and didn't really make an impression. It had some good things, but did it really come in with a bang like we see with Call of Duty games? Nobody really talks about it anymore. And those two games were in development for a while, Prey for a long time. Did we not expect great things from them?

It's just that this mindset of longer development = better games is engrained in our minds. And with good reason. If Infinity Ward actually took the time to beta Modern Warfare 2, we wouldn't have had, or had as many glitches in the multiplayer, we wouldn't have had such frustrating moments in the multiplayer when dealing with exploiters.

I just don't know what to think about DNF. I mean, yeah I had fun with Duke Nukem 3D, and it's offshoot Duke Nukem 64, but that was long ago. None of the other Duke games have caught my attention, or were that good in the first place. So what can we expect? We read in that article that 3D Realms wanted to make the game too great, which is why they went so behind. Then again, didn't Too Human and Prey go down those paths? What can we expect for this? THE longest game in development (that I know of at least), what should we expect? Perfection? Some people can't expect any less for the long time it's been in development.

But then we have to remind ourselves about the rest of the games we've played that we've closely followed with excitement and ultimately been disappointed by. This game, Forever, may just be underwhelming and forgotten within a few months after its release, which would be asad end to such a long process.

Unless they pull the impossible and make it get 10's across the board. It would be a nice cap to such a long, sad history.

Just want to have my say on a few things here.

Jack Thompson declined an audience that would maybe listen to him? Shocker! JT was invited to PAX to talk, and he turned it down. Why? I don't see any Rockstar games releasing in the next month and a half *cough*Oct 16th*cough*...although I do see one in two months. Maybe he's preparing for another go at Bully when it re-releases later this year, another game I'm looking forward to. It's almost a year old, and it's still one of my top 3 fave games. But anyways, JT didn't show up at PAX, so who showed up? Uwe Boll.

Uwe Boll? WTH? Where does he get off on saying that the reason his films are bad are because of the subject matter? You know, I'm sorry. I didn't know that video games can reach out into the movie industry and make Uwe Boll make bad movies. I may just be a film minor, but I thing I do recall reading in an obscuretext book somewhere that states this silly concept that the movie is only as good as the director makes it. The director decides how a film is to be shot, with what emotion, what is acceptable, how many takes to get it right, how the editing goes, everything. Last time I checked, Uwe Boll is the only one who decides how "good" his movies are before he releases them to the public. He is responsible for his screw ups. He and he alone.

Speaking of being responsible for screw ups, Rockstar is gonna release a toned down Manhunt 2 on Halloween, which is a great idea. After the Hot Coffee incident, among other incidents, Rockstar got put down by the ESRB when the AO rating got slapped on MH2. As we play it, we would only wonder what did they cut out as we slip a plastic trash bag over the head of yet another hunter. I enjoyed the first MH. I really did, and I got disappointed when it didn't release this summer. But I guess a Halloween release is better. Nothing beats being scared on that night. But in order to recoup their losses, Rockstar may have to poke JT with a stick and get him riled up so he can give them even more free press. Things are starting to look bleak for Rockstar right now, but they usually deliver on their games, so come March, this should be nothing but a bad memory for them. *knock on wood*

Well, I did it. I sold my soul to Bill Gates yet again. This is my first time having an Xbox console, whether it be the old one, or the one I have now, the 360. Got Dead Rising for it, and IT KICKS ARSE. Ever since Dead Rush was cancelled quite some time ago, I have been looking for a good zombie game. And this looks to be it, ladies and germs. Of course, it has it's bad moments, but it's over ridden by some good zombie gaming. Anywho, the real reason of why I got a 360 is way down the road from now. How far down the road? October 16th. Yep, GTA4. I shall await thee, but first, of course, I have to await Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Seventeen hours.  Seventeen hours of waiting in the cold in front of Best Buy on Saturday evening, night, and Sunday morning for the Wii.  It was a cold, miserable night.  The 7-Eleven in the parking lot would not let those waiting in line use their restrooms during the middle of the night, so we had to get...creative where we had to relieve ourselves.  Being really sensitive to the cold, it was really harsh on me.  Not even two layers of jackets, being wrapped up in two blankets, or all those layers of clothing stopped the cold from getting to me.  I tried to go to sleep, but only managed 3 hours total of off and on unconciousness.  I was number 21 in a line of 100 (the maximum amount of Wii consoles the store could give us), and there were only 90 copies of Twilight Princess at that same store, so I was pretty much guarenteed that magical combination of walking away with both Zelda and a Wii. 

In the middle of the night, some people would drive by us, PS3 enthusiasts, I suppose, and tell us that we s*ck, that the Wii s*cks, and that the PS3 rules all.  Another guy came by around 1:20 am and tried to get us in front of the line to leave.  He said that we should go to Toys R Us, since "they still have some consoles left" and that we would not get the 100 consoles, since the "manager here at Best Buy is corrupt and already sold all his units out the back by now".  And I gave him the one-finger salute and he drove off.  Another person came at around 2:00 am and wanted to sell his 20 GB PS3.  He said that he had both the 20 GB and the 60 GB PS3's, and wanted somebody's place in line for the Wii.  Nobody took him up on that.

After all that oppression, after all that suffering of the elements, after the sleepless hours, after the physical exhaustion, was it worth it?

Was it worth it for the Wii and it's new control scheme?  Was it worth it for this new Zelda game that was pushed back?  Was it worth it for it all?

Hell yes.

 Here it is, Thursday, the 16th of November.  And we all know what's coming tonight - people awaiting the midnight sales for the PS3 launch.  However, as we all know from what was posted up in Gamespot a while ago (the Japanese PS3 launch), not everyone that lined up got a PS3.  So I'm expecting the same here in America.  The next 24 hours will either bring people in harmony or into tears.  Of course, VGCats touched on this a while back - http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212 - but then again, there might be a reason why the companies (Microsoft and Sony) release so few consoles at launch.

I mean, think of it this way - it's pretty much the testing phase.  Microsoft and Sony consoles don't have a history of standing up against abuse, wear and tear, or other accidents like the track record of the Nintendo consoles.  Releasing such a low number at first can help in recalls should something fail in the first batch of consoles.  Because they can only test it so much, whereas out there in the hands of the gamers, is where the true test of strength lies.  As we've seen with some XBox's, they CAN have a flaw (roasted carpet, anyone?), so I tend to think of the small release as a testing phase, to see if the consoles can truly stand up in the hands of even the more skeptical gamer.  Of course, later, the companies will make more consoles for the rest of us when they see that their construction was indeed a success.

Then there is the Wii.  There are more units of Wii than PS3's, yet I heard that online pre-orders of the Wii all sold out within 3 hours.  That's amazing, when you think about it.  However, that has prevented me from attaining a pre-order of my own.  The Wii is coming out on my birthday, so I'm in a sort of a rut about it, that I don't have a guarenteed Wii console to depend on.  On the vote today, I did indeed vote that I will be waiting in line for the Wii.  As to where, well, that depends.  But what really gets me is all these people who pre-order consoles, buy them, turn around on e-Bay, sell them for more than they're worth, and turn profits out of it, while us gamers who just want the dang console are suffering for such actions.  I know a few people who are doing that.  That's what I fear is happening to the Wii.  Since the PS3 is ridicolously priced at $500 - $600, there may be people who are just using the Wii to boost their own PS3 fund.

Thankfully, Gamestop and EBGames have limited Wii sales to 1 per person/household.  I don't know if this will result in many pre-ordered Wii's being up for grabs, but I hope it does.  I would like to have something really nice on my birthday.

Just my thoughts.

-SD9