I don't know about you, but the gaming industry has some major quirks that need to be fixed, and while I don't know if that will happen, or even if it will escalate into the destruction of what we consider holy, one thing's for sure, the madness has to end!  So, now begins the countdown to the salvation of the gaming industry.

#5: In-game advertising

While a few ads here and there in sports games and other games that are actually supposed to have ads in them are okay, it gets downright despicable when games like Scarface are plagued by Bodog online casinos ads when Bodog wasn't even around in the 80's.  Also, another time paradox seems to take place in Battlefield 2142, where Pepsi and Intel plaster the battleground, and while I don't know if they will still be around that far ahead in the future, one thing is for sure, it's just another case of in-game advertising gone awry, and it has to be stopped.

#4: Paying for content that is already on the disc (unlockables)

Why would you pay $60 for a game that isn't even entirely there unless you shell out more cash for it?  The answer is plain and simple: you wouldn't.  This is yet another trend that needs to be taken out into the woods and shot.  I mean, you go to the store, pay what you think is all of the money you need to spend for the game in question, only to bring it home and find out that your pocket book will be hurting yet again.  Very sad indeed.

#3: False release dates

Nothing gets you more down in the dumps than the promise of the next best game to come out right in time for Christmas, only to find out that it's been pushed back 4 months.  This is yet another flaw plaguing the gaming industry.  When developers know they can get you excited about their new game by setting up an earlier than expected release date that they don't even know they can meet, they will do it in a heartbeat despite the fact that it probably won't happen, and I must say that is downright mean.

#2: Release day dearths

Just when you think you can get your hands on the next generation console of your dreams, with the promise of huge shipments looming over your head and dotting your dreams with the premonition that you will be able to walk right into a store on launch day casually and pick up your long-awaited reward, but instead you're left walking out of your house into sheer chaos, where if you happen to get one of the very few consoles out on the market, there is the the chance that you could be robbed or even shot for a gaming console that was once thought to be in large supply.  Launch day madness is only one spot below the apocalypse.:wink:

#1: Wasting funds and producing poor games

If you are a developing company, then you need to hear this one.  If you don't have the team, the time, and the tenacity to spend at least a good year and a half or two on your next game, then don't make a game; it's that simple.  If there's one thing that will drive this industry into a hole, it's the production of poor, glitchy, buggy, and flat-out bad games.  Come on developers, we know you have the ingenuity to make a game that will bring smiles to the faces of gamers and your company riches, so why don't you take the time to produce a good game that will actually sell?

I don't know what it is, but I haven't gotten off many blog entries as of late.  Normally, I write off at least four before the end of the month, but whether it be a lack of a topic to write about, or a classic case of blogger's block, I regret to see that I haven't kept up with my....ahem, "quota".  So, while there's nothing worthwhile to write about at the moment, I guess I can still keep you entertained with some unorthodox, miscellaneous junk.

So, as you may or may not know from one of my previous entries, I've been making "The mother of all reviews!", but sadly, I won't be able to post it until about March.  However, I suppose I can say that it is a review for a PS3 game, and it's going to be a great game.  Can you guess what it is?:P

Also, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to throw some more miscellaneous junk in for good measure, so below are some nice music videos of various things that you might or might not enjoy in no particular order (most likely being the former).

P.S. Some of these videos may contain innapropriate content or spoilers.

Hellsing - Fireproof

Hellsing - Stricken

Metal Gear Solid 3 - Best of You

Fullmetal Alchemist - It's Never Too Late

Kingdom Hearts 2 - A Better Version of Me

Resident Evil 4 - Down with the Sickness

Bleach - Hand of Blood

Bleach - Attack

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII - Redemption

Scryed - Overburdened (Make sure you watch this one!)

Naruto - So Far Away

Naruto - No Giving Up

Now that all of the next generation systems have been out for awhile now and we've seen the launch titles for each one, I'd say it's about time to take a look at the future potential for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, or namely, their greatest potential offerings.

PS3 Potential

Metal Gear Solid 4

With the Metal Gear Solid series growing and becoming bigger at a phenomenal rate like a tree that had a little more than just water poured into it's roots, it has been going strong for quite awhile now, and it seems as though it might just end at number 4.  On the horizon in a not-so-distant future (in 2007), the game that so many gamers have sought after ever since TGS 2005 will come to stores with guns blazing, and that's Metal Gear Solid 4.  A game promising innovations of stealth gameplay, beautiful graphics, and one of the main franchises in gaming backing up it's name, this title is like a gamer's wet dream.

Xbox 360 Potential

Halo 3

If you're a gamer, then I'm sure you've heard of this franchise before.  What is arguably the most hyped gaming series ever created, Halo has been noticed as Microsoft's trump card franchise ever since the very first Halo was released, and as such, it had to spawn a sequel; no, make that a trilogy.  With Halo and Halo 2 being such smash hits on the Xbox, the logical step for Microsoft when it was prepping it's next generation console was to re-invent this franchise and give gamers even more of the masterpiece series.  Halo 3 is coming.  With the promise of beautiful graphics, even more fun and fine-tuned gameplay, and the hype of a behemoth franchise like Halo fueling it's rocket to the 360, the only way this game's launch could go badly is if it didn't launch at all.

Wii Potential

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Without Super Smash Bros., I don't know where fighting games might have gone.  With it's inventive fighting system of knocking people out of the area to kill them, and tons of famed Nintendo characters to choose from and beat the stuffing out of, how could this game sound anything short of pure fun?  Well, it is pure fun, so we won't have to worry about that.  So, after the first beat-em up fest took off, it released a sequel, and that was a great game too, but it doesn't end there.  Super Smash bros. Brawl is on the horizon, and it looks like it will be even better than the last two, and with a next generation backing it's ambitious future, nothing can go wrong.  Brawl will likely provide gamers with the good old fun of beating up Nintendo favorites, but with better graphics, more fun-filled gameplay, and even more Nintendo favorites to beat the living crap out of.  Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Recently, I was lucky enough to score an early Christmas present.  While my computer may be crappy, that doesn't mean it's screen has to be too!  I recently purchased myself a nice little 17 in. LCD computer monitor, and it was pretty cheap for what it is too!  It was only $210 (it was on sale), and here is a link to it's page on the website to the store that I bought it at.

Sorry there's no picture of it.

LG 17" Flat-Panel LCD Monitor

P.S. Nice specs huh?

Well, the PS3 and the Wii have been out for a while now, Launch Madness won't be around anymore (at least the Launch part), and the lucky few who could make their way out of the pile of rabid gamers have had their taste of next generation goodness, but what about the people who don't have any luck?  Well, you already know (we're balling in our rooms and waiting for the next shipments), but let me put things into perspective for you.

The launch of the PS3 and Wii each saw sales going into outer space, and they each pretty much sold out everywhere they were being sold, but about how much of each were actually out on the market?  Well, not a whole lot.  The PS3 made it's way into the homes of a select few who waited in line a week before launch with bodyguards and cattle prods, and the Wii was a little more available than the PS3, but some poor saps waiting for it were left out in the cold also, only to look into warm houses full of decadent and delicious food and a fireplace roaring warmth through every orifice of the cozy abode (nice metaphor, huh?).  So, if you were one of the unlucky ones out there, in the legendary words of shrinks all over the world, "How does that make you feel?".  Well, I don't suppose you have a grin on your face, do you?  Sony and Nintendo each let many of us down and deprived us of our sought after systems, and until the next shipment, you probably won't even gaze upon a system not behind bulletproof glass in a kiosk.

Also, now that I've got you down on your knees and all depressed, let's take a look at the side of this launch that was even uglier than a gamer left out on the street without a console: A gamer that actually got a console, only to have it ripped from his/her hands with no refund.  Yep, that's right, theft.  As I'm sure you've heard of already, thugs and crooks out there have had their eyes on the unsuspecting groups of gamers out there who were waiting in lines for a console like a tiger gazing into a group of wildebeest, and some have brought down their prey.  With fights breaking out, criminals breaking into cars, and even shootings taking place, this was one ugly launch.

Not only that (yes, there's more), but real gamers are being pushed aside by money-hungry ebay bidders and users weaseling their way into lines during shipment unloadings, only to steal away the true gamer's chance to get the console that he or she has been waiting for for years.  Also, they sell these things for quadruple what they're being sold for in stores.  The horror!

So, keep these things in mind the next time you want one of these crazy things, as you may be in for more than you can chew.

How can you resist?

As I do every time I get a new emblem bar added to my profile, this is yet another blog post to celebrate my new stylish blank row, so feel free to gawk and stare at the astonishing feet that is my lack of a life.:P

Now, lets break out some champaign!

Hey, it's officially Thanksgiving, and I'm sure you'll be doing something for it (sitting down and eating gargantuan proportions of turkey and other various foods perhaps?).  So, I'll just be having a quaint Turkey Day feast with the family.  I'm not really doing anything special, but what about you?

P.S. I got a Turkey Day emblem for some unknown reason, so if you know how someone gets it, please solve this mystery for me!

[EDIT] Nevermind, I found out how I got it.

Well, I'm sure by now Launch Madness has subsided, the dust has cleared, and what do you know, I came out empty handed!  But, what should I have expected?  The PS3 was bound to sell out with crowds of people still begging on there knees for the elusive PS3, and if you saw some of the pictures of this phenomenon, I'm the guy behind the millions of other people left depressed and wanting.  So, the only hope left is in wishful thinking.  Will Sony make good on it's promise for a large shipment before the end of the year?  Probably not, but I'm still hoping for a make-up shipment for the dearth that was the 17th of November.  So, I guess I'll just hope for the best, and that one day I will be able to gaze upon the glory that is the PS3.

In other news, I've been working on perhaps my largest and most in-depth review yet!  However, it won't be available for viewing until Q1 of next year (can you guess what it is?), so just be patient and look forward to a review that is at the very least 3,000 characters long!

P.S. My Resistance review is nearing 100 user recommendations, so be sure to read up and show your support.

Well, with Sony's killer app out there in a land far, far away, it would seem as though Gamespot has finally reviewed it, and so have I.  In fact, I had a pre-prepared and very well-thought out review of it on hand, so I just so happened to be the first user on Gamespot to review the PS3's first killer app.  So, while I'm happy that I was the first to give a cohesive and very fine-tuned review of this game (also, the first time I flexed my reviewing muscles since August!), I'm likely going to be taking a lot of flak from angry Xbox 360 fans, but hopefully, my Sony bretheran will be there to back up my review.  So, when my review turns up on my profile (for the lazy people out there), be sure to read it and be sure to tell me what you think!

P.S. It would seem as though I'm right about that "Xbox 360 fan flak", so please don't be biased and recommend my review if you wholeheartedly liked it and thought I did the game justice.

P.S.S. Hashim91 and L3FT-3Y3D have plagiarised my review, so untill the mods can delete them, please don't think that their reviews were from their own effort.  I spent a lot of time and effort on my review, so like I said before, untill the mods delete them, please don't let them get any credit for their plagiarism.

Well, for all of you stat tracking nuts out there like me who don't want to go to the trouble of going to a website and getting an ugly black bar with numbers on it to tell you how many people have visited your profile, well, now you don't have to!  Gamespot has recently added a new feature to profiles showing how many visits a user has received since (I would assume from mine) 10/13/06.  So, I guess I will still be able to do my Popular Count blog posts without having that annoying black bar that I used to have on my profile showing me how many visits I've been getting.  But, from what I can see now, I've been getting frequent visits that number in the thousands, so be sure to read my blog posts and gawk at my awesome blog header from time to time to keep my count soaring!

P.S. It would be so easy for Gamespot to make an emblem for this.

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In other news, I enjoy listening to anime and good video game music (Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy, etc) from time to time on my computer, so if you like to do the same, then all you have to do is visit the websites below!

Video Game Music

Anime Music (You have to register, but it's worth it!  However, if you don't download using the right click "Save As" function, then your download might not work.)

Currently listening to:

Anime

Cowboy Bebop - Memory

Eureka Seven - Get it by your Hands (Very good!)

Scryed - Tabidachi no kane ga Naru

Scryed - All I Need is Love (Favorite anime song!  Please check it out!)

And much more........

Video Games (Mostly themes)

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Axel's Theme

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Dearly Beloved

Kingdom Hearts 2 - One-Winged Angel

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Organization XIII

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Sacred Moon

And much more also........