Well, my 3-month free trial of Xbox Live Gold arrived in the mail yesterday so I can finally play Gears of War online and get back to playing some UNO. Also got 1250 points along with it, though I just bought a bunch of points two days earlier so not sure what I'll be spending them on. Got Pac-Man (which is great yet really frustrating at times) and Knights of the Nine. Also got Assault Heroes which was pretty fun though I'm sure it would be better playing cooperatively.

Times are certainly good right now. My last exam was yesterday so I've had plenty of time to play Dead Rising again (still looking to get more achievements) and been meaning to play more Gears of War. Waiting on the review for Metal Slug Anthology, which is pretty much the only Wii game I'm looking forward to until next year.

Well, thats all for now. Xbox Live Tag is Kraznor so I may see you online sometime.

Merry Christmas.

Like many others, I purchased Twilight Princess with my Nintendo Wii last month. Let me just say, Jeff was right about a number of this game's problems. Swinging the remote to attack gets old REALLY fast and in no way enhances the experience. And that speaker in the remote is TERRIBLE. In addition, the sound that fairy pointer makes is also annoying.

As such, today I purchased what will hopefully be the superior version of the game. Sure the graphics may take a hit, but the game was being developed for this system for years so I'm hoping it will be a finer tuned and more intriguing experience. I vowed not to play it until after I finished my history paper, however, so I better get to work.

UPDATE: Well, my history paper is now in the editing process and I managed to play Twilight Princess for a couple of hours. I am far happier with the Gamecube version of this game then its Wii kinsman. Sure, they are pretty much the same game but this one features better controls, first-person perspective while in tunnels(that means a lot to me, okay?), full camera-control and better sound. Whats really odd, however, is the whole game is mirrored. Its no big deal, really, but it was really disorienting having played the Wii version for a few hours. Still, once you get used to it its no big deal. Also, Link is a south paw again which he was since the dawn of the series so its more true to the other games in that regard. Anyway, everyone out there who hasn't bought the game yet, or if you have and you are disappointed with the Wii version, give this game a shot.

Thats right people, today was my last day of work at the local Co-Op (Its a grocery store, think A and E if you are American). Not only that, but due to school commitments next semester I don't have to work at all until May of next year!! Thank-you scholarship and college fund.

To celebrate, I got a Hulk cup of cranberry ginger ale and an evening of gaming ahead of me (likely Gears of War on hardcore). Tomorrow is my first Saturday off in quite some time. Perhaps I'll have a Star Wars marathon (the original, theatrical version on DVD!) or maybe more Gears, or Zelda. Its up to me! Woohoo, freedom is fantastic.

Well, managed to find a copy of Gears of War (it has been sold out at every store I've looked at for the past week or so) and beaten it on Casual difficulty. It definitely is a great game but since I don't have Xbox Live right now (3 months free trial still being processed over at Microsoft) I feel I'm kind of missing out on a fairly large portion of the game. Still, I want to get some more achievements in it and the gameplay is definitely fun so it should keep me occupied for awhile.

Also got the Wii to worry about, however, so all my gaming time isn't being consumed by the 360. Play Wii Sports every day (daily fitness test) and really should get further in Zelda sometime soon. The rest of my time is taken up by college (big paper due in just over 2 weeks and I haven't even started) and watching movies.

Planning to watch either Memento or Se7en sometime today and seen quite a few others recently (Mean Streets, Raging Bull, Elephant Man, True Romance, Silence of the Lambs) so thats been good. Popcorn is kind of expensive though but I may have to pick up a box to make the experience complete. Anyway, thats all for now. Got Psychology class coming up.

Yeah, so I managed to snag a Wii on launch day. I went be my local Wal-Mart last night to scope out the situation and discover how many consoles they were getting. I was told they'd be getting 32 (apparently it was actually 54 or so) and I'd noticed no one was lining up yet so I figured the best course of action would be to go to bed early, wake up around 4 AM and then drive down and get in line.

Thats more or less what I did. After that alarm rang at 4:20 AM I was up and out the door in about 10 minutes. Upon arriving there were about 20 people ahead of me wrapped in blankets and sporting lawn chairs and whatnot. I took my place at the back of the line and got ready for the long wait till 8 AM. However, despite the sign on the door, they actually opened at 7 so it was only just over 3 hours or so. Still, it was pretty chilly (about minus 2 or 3 degrees celsius, by my estimate) so standing around got to be kind of uncomfortable.

The others in line were pretty cool. Spent most of the time talking about games, the madness of the PS3 launch and whatnot. One chap was a big fan of the Metal Gear series (as am I) so we talked about that a bit. And this one mother was pretty cool. She was way into Guild Wars and apparently has played through the original and all the expansions. Much better at the game then me at any rate. Kind of strange, mothers that actually know and play video games. Thats a far cry from my mom who hasn't played a game since Pac-Man (well, other then Mahjongg).

Anyway, turns out I was number 21 in line. They were running low on copies of Twilight Princess but I still managed to get one. Also picked up Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz as I've heard its a pretty good multiplayer game. The system works fine and my initial impression is pretty good. Haven't gotten the system online yet, however, though I hope to soon. Well, mission complete I suppose. I have work today, however, so I won't be able to really sink my teeth into Twilight Princess until tomorrow.

Overall I'd describe the launch as being a pretty fun experience. There were no brawls or drive-bys and the crowd seemed pretty friendly, overall. And it is usually even colder this time of year so thats a plus as well. I've never gotten a console on launch day before but it was definitely worth the wait and provided a memorable experience.

Well, I had to check a couple stores before I found it but I managed to get Guitar Hero II today. Been eagerly awaiting this game ever since I got the first one last summer and I was glad it was in stock on day one. Granted, it was at the Best Buy across town but it was worth the drive. Also picked up the best Daft Punk (and therefore best electronica album) of all time while I was there so thats good as well. I am of course referring to "Discovery" which I had heard before (thank you public library) but never owned. Actually haven't played Guitar Hero II yet but I will after I've done some dishes and laundry. Still got to prioritize.

Just wanted to make note how disappointed I was earlier today when I discovered my "Serious Collectors" emblem was no longer displayed on my profile. It was a real satisfying moment when I entered that 200th game into my profile and earned that emblem (I am now well on my way to 250) but now I no longer hold that badge of honor. Not only that, but I checked the profiles of some of the Gamespot staff whom I know have much larger collections then I myself (Greg K with 350 or so and Jeff with well over 2000) and neither of them have the emblem either. Why has the one emblem that actually matters to me the one that was taken? It actually means something somewhat important. Will it come back? I can only hope.

Well, after watching "On the Spot" a few weeks back and seeing Rhythm Tengoku I quickly headed to ebay and bought a copy. It arrived two days ago and I've spent a good 8 hours or so on it and, I must say, its a really great rhythm game. The game is made by those crazy people behind the Warioware games and it is the first game I've ever imported. I'm not sure the game will come here in an english version but I hope that, if it does, they keep all the wonderfully wacky Japanese tunes that are in the original version.

Anyways, really great game and if you are a huge fan of Warioware you may want to consider importing it as well. The game is really easy to figure out even though all the menus are in Japanese and it features the same kind of weird humor found in the Warioware games. I'd also like to note that about 10 minutes ago I got another achievement in Geometry Wars. OH YEAH.

Well, finally got around to seeing yesterday's episode of "On the Spot" and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I won one of last week's prizes. The question involved the impending apocalypse and I must say the only reason I answered "Zombie" was I had Dead Rising on the brain having just beaten the game recently. I'm not entirely sure what I won as the audio went all glitchy when Rich was speaking but I believe its a dragon statue. Can't say I've ever really craved a dragon statue but I do like dragons and I don't own any statues so it will be much appreciated.

Thanks Gamespot, that thing must cost a fair amount to ship.

Well, I was on my home when I decided to stop by my local Wal-Mart to see if they had the new "Weird Al" album Straight Outta Lynwood. I was strolling through the store when I happen upon this big display of Xbox 360's selling for only 447.63 (CDN) with Project Gotham Racing 3 and NHL 2K7 included. At first I was like "No, resist temptation. Must stick to initial oath and beat five more games I already have" (See two blog posts ago). But after a trip to another mall where I did find the album (amazing album, by the way) I noticed there was an ATM there so I withdrew a barrel of money, went back to Wal-Mart and bought an Xbox 360.

I traded in NHL 2K7 right away as I've always noticed the relatively quick price-drops to bottom dollar that often occur with sports games so I figured best to get some value for it now. I traded it towards Dead Rising (pretty cool but dang frustrating game) and been having a good time playing it this past week. Planning to pick up Oblivion and Perfect Dark Zero sometime soon but kind of busy now. Yeah, so I'm in the 360 club now. Haven't been able to connect to LIVE yet (something about my IP being used by another device) but when I do I will be Kraznor.