I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I don't give two ****s if my entire account gets banned for this senseless rant I'm about to post. After the way I've been treated I honestly could care less how stupid I sound and where I do it, I have to get this off my chest. With that out of the way, let me just cut right to the point:

F*** YOU MICROSOFT!!!

Seriously, I have had it up to here with your BS. In less than three years I've gone through five Xbox 360's and now five Zunes. I have been treated like a moronic terrorist by those **** who keep releasing their defective **** for products that only contribute to ****ing over the economy. At first I was able to tolerate one or two defective 360's and Zunes but I've hit double digits for those **** filled bricks in four years. I don't care what anyone says and what defense they have, there is no reason I should go through even three of the same product in three to four years, let alone ten in that same time span.

All this time I've been a patient, tolerant customer who's only wanted convenience and tried to treat his products to the best of his ability (every time I got a replacement Zune I put it in a sturdy case and I would always try to keep them clean and avoid any physical damage to them). Yet if I had known I'd have gone through this much bull then I would've said, "I'm better off gathering a bunch of a people to parade down the streets saying, 'F*** MICROSOFT!'"

A big reason I'm very upset now isn't just the numbers showing how frequently these ****heaps have ****ed over on me, but because Microsoft had the nerve to send me defective replacements and expect me to just take it. That's right, twice they sent me replacements that were no better than the ones I had sent to them to be replaced or repaired (one Xbox and now a Zune). What's worse is that I could tell the Zune I received was broken right when I hooked it up because I could hear what sounded like twitching coming from inside of it. And while we're at it, I think I should also note that when I held the device outside of the case I bought for it I could actually feel it twitch whenever syncing or processing anything (like playing or shuffling songs). This is how Microsoft decide to treat a loyal, patient individual. This is how Microsoft thank a paying customer. This is what those lazy dip****s think of me and any other customer. If this isn't how they feel then tell me why it's bluntly happened to me ten times. I'd love to know a single reason why I should be given this kind of BS.

An Xbox 360 shortly after launch? $400. A Zune 30? $250. The Zune 80/120? Another $250 (Zune 30 warranty expired by the time it broke). That's just short of $1000 that those wealthy ****heads have cost me and for what? Four years of inconvenience with the longest stretch of good, legitimate fun being just short of a year (a year for the current record-holding Xbox 360 life and a year for the Zune 30 before getting defects). Similar to how a freshman boy in high school can only think about getting it on with the curviest girl in each class, all Microsoft seem to care about is masturbating to their cheap**** ways to milk money.

Just like one of the commissioners in the first live action Spider-Man film, nothing would be please me more than to see Microsoft out of business. Add dirt kicked to them, spitting in their faces and a stoning and I just might be inclined to say that justice is finding its way back to them.

Anyone can do or say as they will, I honestly don't give two ****s right now. Microsoft have only proven they're a bunch of low, greedy, despicable, lazy, corporate dip****s who have only gained my utmost disgust. To Hell with sending civilians to war, send the defective robots at Microsoft to war, at least then the right people will be out of the picture.

Since I've had to learn the hard way that Microsoft don't give a flying **** about me, I'm just going to take apart and demolish this wretched Zune they sent me, doesn't put me in any different of a scenario than I was before and, quite frankly, saves me even further inconvenience of sending another pile of **** back only to get the same dung-spawn back.

This college semester has proved to be cluttered, chaotic and basically overwhelming/over-demanding. The only class I'm taking that's fully enjoyable is Creative Writing, mostly since I enjoy writing stories for it (unfortunately, my drive to write stories down only comes when I take a class like this). Though Journalism is the degree I'm shooting for the class has been bittersweet mostly for the feature story we have to do (though it's not directly related to what I aim to do for a career). American History started off horribly with it being the first class I was failing since second grade (yeah...professor isn't exactly selfless or logical-60-70+ question study guides with branching questions on each one for 22 question quizzes), though I managed to pull of a 95 on our most recent so if I can keep that up and do well on our in-class essay I should pass it. Life Science has been a tease since our lowest exam grade is dropped and I've got a 72 and two 78's (back-to-back). I hate how one question kept me from a B twice in a row.

Then there's my Web Site Development class which might just be the most uneven class I've taken. One class I feel stressed and behind and the next is as if I'm doing perfectly fine. What sucks though is that my mother payed for the software (Adobe Creative Suite) which was $200 but since the trial for Fireworks wouldn't install since I had Firefox running I can't install it to our laptop (Dreamweaver came on fine though). We keep talking about getting another laptop but when we actually look it becomes a different scenario.

Fortunately, I've had experience with Dreamweaver, Photoshop and (to a lesser extent) Fireworks throughout high school (good times) so I still have the fundamentals. Though I've made some sites in the past I never got any published but since this has been emphasized continually by our professor mine should at least be updated weekly from now on. Since I love the music, it's on metal and, as of now, I've only got one semi-complete page and another that I'll need to update to come close to the home page (using blank template which is why it has a random bunch of text yet to be filled in). Here's the home page if you're interested:

http://student.irsc.edu/~K05003348

Oh, and if you're like me and you use Firefox, I am aware of the text on top of the banner (doesn't show up in IE though). If you're experienced with Dreamweaver and know how to get rid of this without screwing up the rest of the site I'd very much appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.

But yeah, just though I'd bring this to your attention in case you might be curious. The site isn't much now and though I don't think it'll be nearly as good as some other productions it's something.

Alternating between Easy and Medium on NFS: Shift has reminded me of just how atrocious the AI in some games are and has made me want to make a list of the worst game AI I've ever had to deal with. The sad part is that close to half the list would likely be NFS games. And knowing me (whenever I get the time), I likely will make that list. From the get-go I know that these are almost guaranteed inclusions:

NFS: Shift

NFS: Pro Street

Burnout 3

Midnight Club 3

DBZ Budokai 3

Come to think of it, I've only seldom played any games that have been legitimately challenging with frustrations being kept at a minimum. Halo, Halo: ODST (for what I've played), Uncharted, Forza 2, FEAR (speaking of which, I must be the only one who thought the sequel was just lousy-I didn't finish it but that's because it was so bland and unremarkable) and Call of Duty 2 are the only games I can remember playing that had AI that put up a legitimately tough but fair fight.

I guess that's a big reason I usually prefer goal-oriented games and modes like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and drifting in Underground 1 and (generally) Shift.

If only Rock Band 2 had the note detection of Guitar Hero...

If only Rock Band 2 had the amount of hyperspeed/Breakneck Speed options of Guitar Hero...

If only I wouldn't have to pay and swap discs to play other Guitar Hero songs...

If only current Rock Band/Guitar Hero guitar controllers were compatible with the first Guitar Hero games...

If only I could swap the Rock Band strum bar for a Guitar Hero strum bar while keeping the rest of the controller the same...

If only the fret buttons for all guitar controllers didn't suck (Rock Band for being too easy to wear out your fingers, Guitar Hero for poor press/hold detection)...

If only the games would tell you what you played compared to the actual note chart (to make it easier to do better and figure out what you did wrong)...

If only...

Yes, I'm having a Rock Band/Guitar Hero depression late at night while unable to sleep between a horrible college semester and a lousy job that actually feels closer to a vacation than my classes (save for Creative Writing and Journalism until the assignment we have now)...and I hate it!

Zombieland is the cure. My college schedule this semester has been ridiculous (for the first time since second grade I'm failing a class...this is going to **** my scholarship over), which has only translated to being stressed out and feeling horrible.

But set enough time aside to see a movie that looked like it would be a good time and that's what I got. Zombieland was the perfect counterbalance to my "college down syndrome" (if you will). Not much else I can really say except that I recommend it.

On a side note, I did visit University of Central Florida for a second time two weeks ago for the open house and I'm really hoping/looking forward to spending my second two years of college there (just get me a dorm room on the Towers on-campus and I'm a happy camper).

Wish me luck!

The recent release of the Zune HD made me further realize and finally say something to myself, "I can never trust hardware reviews."

I'm not sure how much readers have followed me and my frequently pessimistic blogs but for those who don't know I've had a bit of a shaky history with Zunes and Microsoft by association. My experience with them has ultimately been put to the test with the Xbox 360 and Zune. For the time my first Xbox 360 lasted I had a blast, but then of course I (like many others) got the dreaded Red Rings of Death six months after purchase. Fast-forward to today and I'm now on my fifth Xbox 360, with the longest one has lasted being about a year (which was my second one). Whenever I wasn't experiencing any defects I absolutely loved the system (though now I've realized it was the games I loved more than the system though, even though Xbox Live is a great plus that's still essentially a network/software mix, the system itself is a big fat "eh..."). But once those issues came in I couldn't have been more pissed off.

Unfortunately this hasn't been too far off from the history I've had with the Zune. I had followed this MP3 player ever since it was first announced and was one of the first in-line to get one (a Halo 3 Zune 30). For the time I had that device it was pure bliss, I honestly didn't care about the comments of how ugly it was, I thought it was a great player that would do me well for a while. Embarrassingly I don't recall what happened to that little Zune though something tells me a number of small defects built up and made the device eventually unusable. But since the Zune 80's were coming out, I went and got one of those. Too bad it didn't fare much better than my second Xbox 360. Tragically I go a while with no means of portable music (which made walking and riding my bike everywhere-this is before I got my car-less enjoyable) until I finally decided to get a maroon Zune 120 from Wal-Mart which held up for about as long as my first 360. I then send that baby in and get another replacement only to have that screw over three weeks later and now I'm waiting for the next one to come to my house any day now.

The predicament that I'm eventually trying to get at with the 360 and more specifically the Zune is that the reason I (personally) can't trust hardware reviews is because they're all judging products from a short-term standpoint. Yes, I loved my Xbox 360 when I first got it and likely would've said it's an easy 8.5-9/10 because of how fun it was but now that I've become a (frequent) victim I can't give the system itself anything above a 5.5-6/10 simply for the reliability concerns. Similar goes for the Zunes; I love the devices themselves and for the time they'd last and work well I honestly couldn't complain (save for getting rid of the original star rating system). But after going through four (five when I get my next replacement) of those mini bricks I can only look at the praise they've gotten and sigh in tragic contempt.

So far the Zune HD has (not surprisingly) gotten some positive reviews, and if I had the money I'd still probably come close to buying one. But since the storage for both models is disappointingly small and my experience with Microsoft has ultimately been a collection of anger, frustration and unanswered swearing/shouting I think it's easy to say I'm going to try my hardest to avoid buying another Microsoft hardware product simply for the so-bad-it's-not-even-laughable-bad reliability, insultingly frustrating customer service (seriously, if you're going to hire people who can't speak our language at least have them assist those who do speak the same language) and idiotic remarks towards those who've claimed to be victims of constantly failing products.

What makes this hard, however, is that despite how much I say this to myself Microsoft still keep on touting and releasing products that catch my attention and seem like perfect matches for me. This only makes me hate them and myself for my guillible-ness and stupidity even more.

It's tough putting down something you've stuck with for a while. A little short of a year ago I officially announced the Need for Speed franchise "dead" after playing the abomination that was Undercover and the news that three new games in the series would be coming out this year alone only made me further sigh and roll my eyes in despair and contempt. Even so, after I heard and looked a little bit into Shift, the only non-Wii console game of the bunch I got a little bit interested. Then, after some waiting, scores began coming in with IGN and GameTrailers being among the first, earning a 9.0 (US) and 9.1, respectively. After hearing this and finding out the game might actually be worth the money even after its two recent predecessors I decided to (once again) bite my lip and purchase the game (if after trading in three games to put towards it). So far I've played through a decent bit of events and what I'll say is that Need for Speed Shift is actually not all bad.

Yes, Need for Speed now has a current generation game besides Most Wanted and Carbon that isn't complete trash. But other than a few or some parts to it the game is just that-essentially a small step in the right direction but I must emphasize the word "small" here. On one hand, going back to the series roots by heading the simulation route makes for an intriguing experience, especially given the emphasized cockpit view which actually manages to help make the game engaging. However, this game still has issues that have plagued other recent NFS games and, as a result, finds itself in-between the games in the series for this generation so far (it's well ahead of Pro Street and Undercover, but still below Most Wanted and even Carbon).

Normally I'd get a little more in-depth but I'll save that for my intended review (not to mention it's late and I'm tired), so I'll leave you with what I like and don't like so far:

Makes Me Smile:

+ Visuals usually look quite good (especially the car models)

+ Cockpit view is really something else and gives the game a much-needed edge

+ Framerate mostly holds up with the sense of speed; meaning the game does have its fast AND fun moments

+ Career mode organization, design and means of progress is rather welcoming overall (really dig how you don't need to race or even win every single event, perfection isn't expected-which I REALLY like)

+ The driver level/style is a great idea

Makes Me Frown:

- The racer AI is still abysmal-at-best (eg. oblivious to your position, intentionally ram you off the track or shove you aside yet typically treat each other quite nicely, etc.)

- Glitches are still littered throughout the game

- Car selection is disappointing (no old school muscle; most of the selections are fairly recent models)

- Driving model isn't exactly approachable (no tutorial or practice to be found here if you want/need it)

- Drifting is annoying and not worth the aggravation and inconvenience (makes Pro Street's drifting model feel like Underground's)

-Customization options are disappointing and condensed overall

That's what I can recall right now. If I had to give the game a first impression score, it would likely be around a 65-75.

Has anyone else realized all the stuff coming out on September 15? Not just that, but toss in potential ongoings of your personal life and it's overwhelming. I mean, this coming Tuesday we'll be getting:

Megadeth-"Endgame"

Shadows Fall-"Retribution'

Need for Speed Shift

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Zune HD

And on a personal note, this is the same day I take my first American History exam, I'm hoping I got vacation pay so I can at least get some money added to my checking account, my best friend heads back up to New Jersey that day, it's a truck night at my job that day (but I don't have to work Tuesdays), pretty crazy if you ask me.

Sorry, had to get that silly post off my chest.

Now that the album is available to listen by streaming on their MySpace, I decided to post my review for the new Shadows Fall album Retribution on Sputnik and WordPress (take your pick, lol):

http://xenoraiser.wordpress.com/

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review_32370

This also brings me to a small favor I'd like to ask of anyone reading my blog. For my News Reporting/Writing class (technically a Journalism course) our professor is essentially having us write two blogs a week on to a select site; I picked WordPress (since he recommended it and most of the class did too-there are eight people in the class by the way). And long story short on Tuesday he told us that we want to try and reach a large amount of audiences, which you could say I and my fellow co-workers/writers on TalkXbox try doing as well. But my favor to ask is that if you happen to have a WordPress account (or know anyone who does and might be interested in my type of blog), I'd very much appreciate some feedback on my posts/blogs (they'll almost always be reviews for games, movies and albums), just keep any comments written decently please. ;)

Outside of that this semester of college has already turned into my busiest, most demanding so far, I'm having to make a trip up to my main campus (about 15 or so miles from my house) just to use the lab to work on my Web Site Development class (technology as always shows its love for me by not letting me install the trial for Fireworks CS4-one of the programs we're using). Though I've used Fireworks and Dreamweaver in the past to make several sites in high school, so I'm hoping I can get ahead during my time at the campus today.

On a side note, I'd like to mention that about a month and a half ago a Zune I bought completely broke down on me, I sent it in and got a replacement...it lasted 3 weeks before breaking on me. So I sent in that Zune the Thursday before Labor Day weekend (which I visited my grandparents in Point Lookout, which was very enjoyable) and now I'm waiting on my next replacement. What am I getting at? Once I get that next Zune I'll have gone through 10 Microsoft hardware products/replacements in less than 4 years (that's 5 Xbox 360's and now 5 Zune's-one 30, one 80 and now three 120's). It's sad really, not just my predicament but how Microsoft can't make anything even half-reliable (and to think they made the original Xbox, that thing was indestructible).

But there is a chance I might actually convert to Apple and buy my first product of theirs since my first generation iPod Shuffle. After toying with my friend's iPhone (which has a case that protects the screen but still detects touch) and hearing that the iTouch is now available in a 64 GB model I have become very enticed. The only problem is the price...$400 is rather demanding even when I have a job since it barely covers my car and gas payments. But since it has over 40 GB it's pretty much my only alternative to the Zune (since I really don't like the look and interface of the iPods). Though I do have some questions for iTouch owners. I've heard that Apple offer applications for both but allow iPhone users to get them for free while iTouch users have to pay (since iPhone users pay for the phone services already). So here are my questions in regards to that:

How frequently do they release these applications?

What are/included with/in these applications?

How much do they usually cost?

Are they overall worth the price?

Looking forward to (hopefully) hearing/seeing some comments.

I don't think I need to remind anyone at how low NFS has gone with just two entries. Since I'm one who hates to see a once favorited franchise continue to spiral downward (even if Shift manages to at least be decent), I decided to take the time and work on an editorial for TalkXbox on what EA should take note of in their time working with the franchise in the future:

http://www.talkxbox.com/editorial149.html