For the few of you who care, I'm essentially "quitting" Gamespot. I decided that I waste way too much time here lurking on forums and occasionally attempting to add to conversation which usually just ended up getting me into useless arguments with people anyway. I want to spend less time on the internet and more time playing guitar, listening to music, reading books, hanging out with friends, training in the martial arts, and maybe even do some studying :shock:. Quitting Gamespot is certainly a place for me to start. So to the few of you who even noticed my existence on here, I wish you well and hope you continue to have fun on here.

I leave you all with a final message:

I finally gave in and got a steam account. So those of you that also ahve one should add me on there. It's Vennligsinnet just as it is here and on Last.fm. First thing I did was buy Audiosurf, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition, The Penumbra Collection, Amnesia: Dark Descent, and Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth. So ya...add me on there if you've got an account, just be sure to let me know who you are.

So the voting has begun for the Gamespot Best of 2010 awards. Here is where I stand:

Most Surprisingly Good Game: Deadly Premonition

Best Story: Red Dead Redemption

Best Graphics, Technical: Mass Effect 2

Best Graphics, Artistic: Kirby's Epic Yarn

Best New Character: Francis York Morgan

Best Expansion Pack: Dragon Age Origins-Awakening

Best Downloadable Console Game: N/A

Best Downloadable Content: N/A

Best Atmosphere: Silent Hill Shattered Memories

Best Original Music: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best Sound Design: Red Dead Redemption

Best Voice Acting: Red Dead Redemption

Best Use of a Creative License: N/A

Funniest Game: Deadly Premonition

Best Cooperative Multiplayer: Halo Reach

Best Competitive Multiplayer: Call of Duty Black Ops

Best Original Game Mechanic: Rocket Sliding

Most Improved Sequel: Red Dead Redemption

Best Implementation Of User Generated Content: Halo Reach

Best Original IP: Vanquish

Best Boss Fights: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Most Memorable Moment: Deadly Premonition

Best UK-Developed Game: Fable III

Most Surprisng Game To Make It Past Aussie Censors: God of War III

Best Writing/Dialouge: Mass Effect 2

Best Ending: Halo Reach

Most Disappointing Game: Aliens VS. Predator

Flat Out Worst Game: N/A

Worst Game Everyone Played: Final Fantasy XIV Online

Best Game No One Played: Deadly Premonition

Least Improved Sequel: Final Fantasy XIV Online

Worst DLC For Good Games: N/A

Best Action/Adventure Game: Red Dead Redemption

Best Driving Game: N/A

Best Platformer: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best Puzzle Game: Professor Layton and the Unwound Future

Best Rhthm/Music Game: Rock Band 3

Best RPG: Fable III

Best Shooter: Halo Reach

Best Sports Game: N/A

Best Strategy Game: N/A

Best PC Game: N/A

Best Xbox 360 Game: Halo Reach

Best PS3 Game: Red Dead Redemption

Best Wii Game; Super Mario Galaxy 2

Best PSP Game: N/A

Best DS Game: N/A

Game of the Year: Super Mario Galaxy 2

I finally got a new router and with it my connection is strong enough to allow more than just my laptop on my wi-fi at a time so my PS3 is now connected. Feel free to send me a friend request on there but make sure to say who you are here on Gamespot. My PSN ID is benevolentbob216. I look forward to seeing you all on there!

Darth-Caedus tagged me so here goes:

1. Put Your iTunes (or other music player) on Shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write down the name of the song no matter how silly it sounds!
4. Put any comments in brackets after the song name.
5. Tag at least 10 friends.
6. Anyone tagged has to do the same, because fun pointlessness spreads like a virus.

So here we go....



1. If someone says, "Is this okay?" You say

Wings Of Blackening-Kalmah

2. How would you describe yourself?

The Shed-Rainbow

3. What do you like in a guy/girl?

Dead Fish-Rigor Mortis :?

4. How do you feel today?

Ballad of Sister Sue-Slowdive

5. What is your life's purpose?

The Mirrors of My Soul-Naglfar

6. What is your motto?

Choices-Vader

7. What do your friends think of you?

WorldWithoutEnd-Katharsis

8. What do you think of your parents?

Sucking Your Blood-Mercyful Fate :P

9. What do you think about very often?

Tsukamori NoTaiju-Joe Hisaishi

10. What is 2 + 2?

Stars And Stripes Of Corruption-Dead Kennedys

11. What do you think of your best friend?

Wrath of God-Mithras :lol:

12. What do you think of the person you like?

Black Moon Overture-Nokturnal Mortum :D

13. What is your life story?

Sons of Perdition-Deströyer 666

14. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Suicide Solution-Ozzy Osbourne :o

15. What do you think of when you see the person you like?

Phallic Litanies-Septic Flesh :lol:

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?

An Autopsy-The Faceless

17, What will they play at your funeral?

Drained-Hypocrisy

18. What is your hobby/interest?

Through A Trance Of Despondency-Xasthur

19. What is your biggest fear?

The Preacher-Testament :P

20. What is your biggest secret?

Louie, Louie-Motorhead

21. What do you think of your friends?

Enthroned by Dusk and Shwdows-Setherial


22. What will you put as the title?

Shadow Comet-Koji Kondo

A lot of these make no sense lol.

****WARNING MAY CONTAIN UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS****

Went and saw a late showing of Shutter Island last night and came away from it quite impressed. I have mixed views on Scorsese's films, I liked The Aviator and The Departed. I didn't like Cape Fear, and thought Goodfells and Gangs of New York were just alright. Shutter Island is definitely his best so far and probably one of my favorite movies of all time at this point. The cinematography is just plain stunning, you could be entertained just by watching what the camera has to show you, no plot, acting or action necesary. There is a great amount of detail in each scene along with some subtle visual cues that make up a compelling visual motif.The soundtrack is perfect, constantly building up tension and suspense. The entire cast does some really great and very believable acting. The story is well thought out, self reflecting, kept my attention all the way through, and is just plain excellent. There are a lot of mind games being played both on Di Caprio's character and the viewer throughout the film. At the end of the film you are left with two distinctly opposite and yet intertwined possiblities of what was really going on throughout the film. I honestly still can't decide which way was truly the way it happened. My only complaint is that the dialogue is a little akward at some points, but when it works it comes across as genius.

My overall interpreatation is that the whole film is an elabortae overarching analogy for human life. Shutter Island is our world, the insane asylum our society, and the crazy people are the citizens. The caretakers in the film represent our caretakers in life, government, religion, and so on. Sure they control us but we have no clue as to their intentions, and they could very well be insane themseleves, even convincing the world that it is insane and to hand itself over to their control, and there's no telling what they'll do to keep that control. The soon to be famous line, "You're a rat trapped in a maze." rings very true. In this analogy, we're rats in a amaze, trying to find an aswer to life, just as Di Caprio's character is trying to find an answer to his case. When we eventually find what we consider to be the answer tot his problem, it's often not the answer we expected or wanted, just as Di Caprio's character finds out in the film. There's also a strong possiblity that it's not even the real answer, which again is an extremely prevalent theme in the film. We can take this a step further and ask, "What is reality? Do we really know what reality is?". The rat would likely consider the maze it is stuck in to be its sole reality, not knowing the infinite universe awaiting it right outside. Di Caprio's character in the film is extremely sure of his reality until the last third or so in which he undergoes a transofrmation as a result from recent events that makes him question if what he thought of as reality was truly real. To go further into the pondering, in the end of the film it is clear which reality he chose, but how are we to know it was the true reality? Is reality what you choose it to be? Some of these people in the asylum in the film might try and argue this to be so. Is there even a single true answer for what reality is? Or a single true answer for anything for that matter? Just as in life there is no way to tell if Di Caprio's character makes the right decisions in the film, and again we go back to the question of what is right and if there is such a thing as right, is there one right answer? Not only does this film bring such important and potentially unaswerable questions such as these but also notes a few things about our society. There are several God references. The one that stuck out to me the most was when a psychiatrist asked Di Caprio's character if he believed in god, which he was unable to really answer, but it was obvious he had his doubts. Another reference to our society I liked was when a crazy man told Di Caprio's character he wouldn't want to leave the asylum if he could, because the real world is even crazier and more dangerous. There are also subtle nods to the potential effects of groupthink and knowing who your true friends are, but I won't ruin that for you. Without spoiling anything, at the end of the film Di Caprio's character says a line which has a basic and commonly understood surface value before making his final decision, effectively ending the story. Upon further reflection of the film you will realize that there's a lot more to the question he asks then some may interpret. Again, trying not to spoil anything here, but his question was a major existensial question about his reality and life in general.

I hope people take the time to go and see this film, because it's really truly excellent. I loved it and I'm goin to pre-order the dvd when it comes around. I hope you all enjoy it on a similar level as I did, and please come here and tell me what you thought of the film and my interpetation.

Finding Spiritual Honesty

My entire youth was spent growing up in a religious setting. My mom is Lutheran, her mom is Lutheran, and my dad's entire side of the family is Catholic. So it may come as some surprise to you that I am now a cynical agnostic. I had to face feelings of doubt, depression, and anger among other things from both myself and those around me. Having dealt with all of that, I feel now like I made the right decision.

I never really fit in with the church crowd. I never wanted to go, hated it in fact, but my mom always made me go. On some occasions I was even forced to carry the cross or pass out wine. I believed in Christianity all this time because it's what I had been taught but that didn't mean I wanted to participate. I also didn't get along with any of the youth at church. They all seemed to be mean, cliquey, or close minded. To add to this I had a pretty hard time agreeing with a lot of the church's seemingly arbitrary rules.

Eventually when I was old enough to decide for myself I stopped going to church. I still went for special occasions or to see my mom play in the bell choir but every time I went everyone would watch me as if I was an outsider. If I talk to one of them they act like they're too good for me or behave overly nice and try to get me to come to church again. These are both common signs of a cult, and usually a sign to avoid whatever community you're dealing with. I started thinking about god, and what that term really meant. I also began thinking about organized religion in general. I tried to decide if it had any credibility, and if it caused more harm than good.

I began to ask myself things like, why would god pick a favorite person to talk to? Why not declare yourself god in front of all of humanity so there wouldn't be any confusion? Furthermore, why give humanity free will if you just send them to an eternal pit of fiery despair when they disobey you? Is it some sort of test or game? Do I really want a god who makes bets with the devil and makes its most devoted followers go under immense suffering just to prove how devoted they are? If god truly does exist, and it behaves in the ways that men have described in the bible, then it truly did create humanity in its own image. No human is ever worth worshipping, and therefore god as described in the bible is not worthy of worship. If that god is real, then I don't want to follow it. I had completely lost the little faith I had.

Admitting to myself that I no longer believed in any form of Christianity was extremely tough. I had a feeling of widespread rejection that was even greater than the one I had felt before. I was all of the sudden very alone. It seemed like nobody understood my thoughts behind my decision or what I was going through as a result. I had immense feelings of betrayal, it felt as if everyone I knew had lied to me my entire life. Even feelings of depression swept over me for a period of time, because I had lost something that was incredibly important on my outlook on life and what happens afterwards. There were times I doubted my decision and wondered if I could be wrong, and I still have those moments. Those are something I'm going to have to live with. However I am set firm in my current view on religion because it feels much more right to me. I soon came to realize that many of the people I came across in life didn't accept my view and even responded with anger when I would tell them I did not believe in any organized religion.

One night at dinner, as it often done, the topic of religion came up. Feeling that I had nothing to hide I came forward with my newfound rejection of the Christian faith and organized religion altogether. My mom first responded as if I was an idiot, like I didn't even know what I was talking about. Then when it seemed to strike her that I was really serious she got genuinely angry, turning red in the face as she spoke snidely the same tired arguments, "you can't disprove the existence of god…that's just how god works." Whenever I brought up a reason as to why I didn't believe in god she would just respond "well I don't believe in that." Then she broke down and began to cry, truly convinced that her son had abandoned her god and savior and very likely doomed to hell. All the while I'm trying to stay calm. Finally out of frustration my mom shouted "Well what do you believe!"

I do not consider myself to be an atheist because I think it's foolish to completely rule out a concept that can neither be proven nor disproven until there is further evidence. Plus, if there's one thing life has taught me it's that nothing is certain. However, I think the term "God" is just a label we have given to whatever created us. I don't pretend to know what "God" is. I don't know if it's a male or female or both or even neither. I don't pretend to conceive its form and I don't even know if it's a conscious being. For all I know it could be a ball of energy that randomly gave birth to further energy. I like to think there's an afterlife of sorts but I don't think it's anything even remotely close to what anyone thinks it is, it probably isn't even conceivable by our minds. I realize the hypocrisy I've displayed by stating I believe in an afterlife and accept that, but this is why I call it a belief of mine, not a fact. I have nothing to back it up other than hope and some extremely loose understanding of biocentrism, which itself is just a theory.

My family has all reacted fairly differently overtime. My mom, while originally responding with anger and sadness is now questioning her own beliefs without my influence. Her mom, my grandmother, is very religious but tries to show me understanding. The rest of my mom's side of the family seem to view as just another reason to treat me as if I'm not equal to them. As if I'm somehow subhuman. My father's side of the family is mixed in terms of who is religious and who isn't, but for the most part they've all been very accepting of my decision.

I truly believe in what Socrates once said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."It is better to live life being true to yourself than taking anything at face value and wandering through your life blind. In essence I ended the lie that I was fed since I can remember, the lie that was making me walk around blind. Granted, I have other troubles in my life to work through and self reflection is a never ending journey but I feel like this was a large step in the right direction. Despite the fact that I may have upset some people and caused tension in the progress of things I feel like I am more true to myself and therefore a better overall person.

Author's Note: Originally written for my college English ****

83/100, Ov Hell delivers a great modern black metal record.

One cannot properly review this album without first acknowledging all of the craziness that preceded it. Gaahl joined Gorgoroth in 1998 and King shortly after in 1999. They quickly began changing the musical direction of Gorgoroth. Anyone who is familiar with fans of black metal knows that this was a bad idea, many black metal fans despise any form of change although most will try to convince you otherwise. As a result of King's increasing involvement in songwriting and Gaahl's unique vocals, the band carved out a sound that was truly their own. Most fans would say that this new sound was a lesser form of what used to be, while I am going to dare and say that it more evolved and progressed Gorgoroth's sound beyond what most black metal bands were doing at the time. Eventually it got to the point where Infernus, the originator of Gorgoroth, was contributing pretty much nothing to the band. King and Gaahl made the bad choice of publicly kicking Infernus out of the band that he had started (and of which he was the only remaining original member). Loyalty is a big thing to metal fans in general, and even though I see King and Gaahl's reasoning behind it I have to say it was stupid. If they were really that unhappy with Gorgoroth they should have just left and made their own band. Needless to say there was a whole uproar about it and a legal battle ensued. Infernus was given the rights to the name Gorgoroth by the Norwegian courts and King and Gaahl formed the band God Seed. Eventually it came out that Gaahl was a homosexual which of course was pathetically used against him in the pitiful fan wars, as if the fact that he was homosexual somehow changed his performance. For numerous reasons Gaahl quit God Seed and metal as a whole, causing King to freeze all activity with God Seed. After some time King joined forces with Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir to form the band Ov Hell. With the exception of the vocals this is the same lineup and same music as God Seed, just under a different name. This album was originally written for Gorgoroth, then was slated for release under God Seed's banner, and now finally sees the light of day with Ov Hell. Was it worth the wait?

Devil's Harlot-Opens with a riff that just screams King. I notice a strong death metal influence on some of the riffs here. 8/10

Post Modern Sadist-Get an interesting sounbite for an intro here, possibly Shagrath's doing. There's some really amazing riffs throughout and Shagrath's vocals really stand out. 8.5/10

Invoker-Another short soundbite intro, and some solid riffing with heavily raining cymbals courtesy of Frost. 8/10

Perpetual Night-Some wolves howling over the music, kinda cool. Some rather epic and heavy riffing. 8/10

Ghostling-Starts off with a slower tempo giving you a nice break from the moderate to fast paced speed the rest of the tracks were. Frost's drums sound like thunder. Very epic song 9/10

Acts of Sin-Yet another soundbite intro, sounds pretty familiar with the other song son the album. 7.5/10

Krigsatte Faner-Another heavy fast-paced song, but a great one at that. 8.5/10

Hill Norge-One last soundbite intro to end the album with I guess. The music slowly comes in then quickly speeds up. 8.5/10

It's obvious to me that King wrote all of the music, it has his trademark sound all over it. King is a good songwriter to have in your arsenal and integrates a good groove into most of his music, but when you let him have total control over everything you seem to get some repetition. Gaahl will always be my favorite black metal vocalist but Shagrath is plenty competent and performs well on here. Frost, one of my favorite drummers,does an amazing job as always. The guitar duo of Ice Dale and Teloch is a great one but something tells me they had little to no creative input. I really like how the production was done, clear but still black metal. This album is very consistent and my one gripe is a lack of variety in songwriting. Inevitably this is going to be compared with Gorgoroth's newest album, and I'll take this time to use the conclusion to show my stance. The Underworld Regime is better than Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt.

Brutal Legend, Demon's Souls and Dragon Age were the first games to come around in more than six months that I acctually cared anything about. Lucky for me when March comes around I'll be able to make two long awaiting gaming purchases:

Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes From Liberty City

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon

Oh and Red Dead Redemption in April is going to be amazing.