I was wondering if any of you kind souls out there has enough free time to waste on making me a new banner? I would do it myself but it would end up looking like crap and i would like something of the same quality as what i already have. I dont want anything complicated, just something exactly the same as my current banner but with an added XBOX360 taking its place as the dominant console of my collection. The same font would be cool too if anyone knows what kinda font that is? EvilTab made my current one months ago but since he is busy moving and such i doubt he would have time to bother making me one right now so i was wondering if anyone else could? It would be very appriciated!

Well i have finally been able to tear myself away from playing Gears Of War just long enough to post this blog and show you some pictures of that VW Beetle i worked on. Just to refresh your memory here is what it used to look like: Before: After: Came out alright didnt it? My dad and I did a really good job of that if i do say so myself so hopefully it will enjoy many more good years of motoring looking like this. Here are some more pics of the finished car: Let me know what you think? :) As far as gaming goes i have been mostly playing Gears Of War and i finally managed to hook up with some fellow Gamespotters such as AndyWilliams24 who played some co-op campaign with me the other day and helped me out of some tight spots. We was only playing the game on casual as we arent die hard L33T gamers here but it was still LOTS of fun! Thanks Andy! I have also been enjoying alot of online multiplayer with him as well as other cool peeps such as Darrogamer06, Jimb0, eightbitwarrior and many others whose names i cant remember right now as my mind has suddenly drawn a blank and alot of people have different XBL names to their GS user names. (like me, so sorry if i forgot anyone) So yeah i have been having a ton of fun and i have finally begun to get good at the game and actually score some kills. Earlier i got an awesome 3 frag-tag kill but i died in the process but it was well worth it as that has been my coolest kill yet! I wish i had caught it on video or something cos that was sweet! Anyway i cant wait 'till the next Gears' bash or just for the next time i manage to hook up with these cool people on multiplayer again. Theres just something about playing with friends that makes it so much more fun, i guess its because they are your mates for a start and you arent argueing with some 12-year old whose vocabulary seems smaller than his own.....well you know what i mean? :P Ok so thats it for now, lemme know what you think of the car and i will see you all around i guess. ^-^ Later.

SonRay85 is my gamer tag, ADD ME! :p Seriously, this is just a quick "heads up" to make sure you all know i am on XBL as Jimbo recently suggested that many of you on here still dont know that i have a 360 now for what ever reason despite all my fanboyish gushing-babble that i have been posting on here for the past few days. So if you have XBL, a copy of Gears Of War or PGR3 then send me a message and we'll hook up and have a chat and play some games sometime. While i am here i might as well mention that my wife bought herself another wireless controller for the 360 as she said she wanted to play with me on PGR3! I was really surprised since she really isnt into gaming that much and i always hoped shed play with me more (in a totally non-sexual manner, get your heads outta the gutter people!) so it was great to hear that she wanted to start playing games with me finally. I have to go easy on her though at the moment, she is a woman after all and women are notoriously slow drivers so i kinda have to feather the accelerator button when we play together right now but shes getting the hang of it. :) :P So yeah thats it for now, i will post another blog soon with pictures of the completed VW Beetle i was working on, it looks sweet now! Anyway later doods!

Next-gen console gaming on the cheap? I didnt think it would happen for at least a year or two more but i was wrong! Today i was at my local Tesco store (for you Americans its like our version of Wal-mart, minus the evil) and while i was at the DVD section to pick up Clerks 2 for my wife i took a quick look at the few 360 games they have there and i found a brand new copy of PGR3 for under £23! I thought this was a great deal since the game store i like to shop at and where i got my 360 from (Gamestation) charges £25 for a USED copy of the exact same game. So of course i picked it up since it was on my original list of games to get with my 360 and im glad i did. :) I had played the demo that came pre-loaded with my 360 and i loved it so that just made me want it even more so i was well happy that i picked it up so cheap! Looks like they are releasing a "classics" collection of games for the 360 just like the PS2 had the "platinum" collection, although i hardly call a game that is 14 months old as a "classic" but there ya go. I am pleased about this though as it brings the price of next-gen gaming down significantly especially since the new hardware costs so much at the moment. Anyway moving on to my first impressions of Dead Rising and Gears Of War. I would have done this earlier but i havnt had the chance as ive been playing my 360 so much but here we go... Gears Of War is unsurprisingly amazing! I simply cannot think of enough words to describe how awesome this game is as i was simply blown away by it! The graphics, the sound, the gameplay, the blood, THE CHAINSAW! Its all just perfect! This is a truly next-gen gaming experiance and if Microsoft can continue to get exclusive games like it on their system then all i can say is that Sony is in serious trouble! Im not that great at it yet and i have hardly scratched the surface of the campaign mode since i have been mostly taking the game online and playing the standard team deathmatch modes (called something else in the game but i cant remember what it was) and i usually die....ALOT, but its still insane fun regardless. :P Dead Rising isnt quite as good but i wasnt expecting it to be, however i do think it is a great game and a really unique experiance. I have never seen so many characters on screen at once, the level of detail and the amount of different ways you can kill zombies is simply mind blowing! Not to mention the raw, visceral, satisfying feeling you get from killing so many zombies in so many different ways, and i havnt even got to the third case file yet! (Gears' online has been hogging all my 360 time ya see :P) I know i am gonna get crucified for this but i think this game is miles better than RE4. *hides in a bunker from the incoming bombardment of opinionated artillery that is inevitably going to come from saying that* :P And finally my first impressions of PGR3 are quite high as well incase you couldnt already tell. The game looks awesome, it has some of the most beautiful and powerful cars known to man and its driving mechanics are alot of fun! It has a great sound track too, the cars all sound like their real-world counterparts and little details like the photo mode really make this game stand out. Its not a boring, pointless photo mode like in GT4 either, you can actually make your cars look awesome in this one. :P So all in all i couldnt be happier with my first little batch of 360 games, and the console is just as great too. I love the amount of things it can do, most of which are probably old to previous xbox owners but i have never owned an xbox so having a built in hard drive, the ability to download game demos, chat with your friends over xbl and make custom sound tracks is just a fantastic experiance for me. Not to mention the wireless controller is a real innovation to me since i have never used a wireless device in my life...EVER. Not to mention being able to turn on and off, open and close the disc tray with the controller is quite a cool feature IMO. Its the little details that make me happy :P What i just mentioned is alot of fun with my cats though as it freaks em out every time they see the disc tray open and close without me being any where near it, its so cute and funny! But i will stop gushing now, i hope to see those of you with Gears' and Xbl online soon! 'till then, take care. ^-^

...has become my XBOX 360, hence why i havnt been active on here for a couple of days because i've been too busy Gear-ing it up on Xbox Live. Yep, i went and took the plunge for a month since i could'nt figure out how to activate the free trial, which i ironically found out how to do by talking to someone during a game of Gears'. Figures but i guess when this month runs out i can just go back and activate the free trial now i know how. Thanks Microsoft for not giving any instructions on how to activate the free trial! :P I have been downloading game demos like mad and i have been able to play almost all of the great games i was planning on getting for the system like PGR3, Rainbow Six Vegas and GRAW, the latter of which is bloody hard to play if your not used to tactical shooters like me! I also played a couple of demos for some games i would never have thought of buying that are simply awesome! Games like Fight Night Round 3 and Def Jam Icon, games i would usually never give a second glance but since they was playable i downloaded them anyway and found them to be a lot of fun, not to mention they look simply amazing! So thus far i am really loving the system, and i must have had it on for over 15 hours yesterday, non-stop and had only one lock-up which happened during a downloaded demo of Rainbow Six, so i didnt think much of it since all systems lock up from time to time and it hasnt happened since so i guess it was just a fluke. Unfortunately theres no pleasure without pain so i wont have as much time to play on Live this coming week as id like, but if you want to add me to your friends list with the chance of meeting up on Live sometime then my gamer tag is SonRay85, but i might change that as soon as i have enough achievement points as im beginning to get bored of that name already. :P So i might see ya on there sometime.

Wow! Just...wow! I got my premium 360 today with Gears Of War and Dead Rising and to put it lightly i am amazed! I cant beleive i have held out this long to get a 360, what an idiot! Every doubt i ever had has been put to rest about next-gen gaming, and thats saying alot as you all may know i had many MANY doubts. I simply cant think of enough words to describe how happy and impressed i am by this system! That video blog will have to wait as im having too much fun! Sorry guys, but a gamer has to do what a gamer has to do! :P I'll type a more in-depth blog some other time once ive managed to calm down a bit and drag myself away from Gears' long enough to write something interesting in here, lol.

Until i get my Xbox 360! As Sir. Isaac Newton said "every action has an equal and opposite reaction", what this has to do with me getting a 360 you ask? Well, the VW im working on is almost complete but still has a good two days work left on it but the owner of the car has decided to pay the rest of money for the work that was due early. Thanks to this i can get my 360 a whole week or so earlier, BUT the downside to this is i have to sacrifice the extra two games i was going to get as part of the "2 for £40" deal i was gonna get due to some unexpected financial problems. No big deal as im still getting the 360 premium pack and the play and charge kit with the two new games which will be Gears Of War and something else which i havnt fully decided on yet but i think i might go for Dead Rising as it should provide me with a long single player experiance. If anyone has any better suggestions though please let me know. I want Gears', thats set in stone but im just not sure about the second choice. I really want Dead Rising but i want to be sure to get something thats going to give me many many enjoyable play hours since i had to sacrifice the other two games. Any ideas or shall i stick with Dead Rising? Anyway, if all goes to plan i should be the proud owner of an Xbox 360 tomorrow afternoon, YAAY! :p

Dead Rising's save system? GS made it sound like it almost ruined the game but they was pretty vague in their description of what was wrong with it, i didnt quite understand what they was saying, maybe im just stupid? (it wouldnt surprise me :P) Are there any Dead Rising owners here that can explain to me what the problem is exactly as this will pretty much be the deciding factor if i buy it or not with my 360. Which, in case any one is curious, will be soon....very soon! :D I was thinking of doing a video blog when i get it with my traditional sense of wierd and wacky (stupid) humour and copious amounts of swearing, but i will only do it if there is a demand for it, so yay or nay people? ^-^

I know this might turn out to be a rather sensitive subject given the legions of fanboys we have around here BUT, this has been bothering me a little bit so i have to get it off my chest. Now im not being biased here, im not trying to flame the system or its owners since i have been enjoying Sony games products for the past 7 or 8 years but i just cant help but feel like the PS3 has become the new Cadillac Escalade. Let me explain, in "popular" american "culture" rich, talentless hacks such as rap stars and various other "music artists" buy this huge, expensive, gas guzzling american piece of automotive trash and "pimp" them out with 40 tv screens, 80 inch chrome rims with spinners and other crap to make what was already an ugly car even more monstrous to behold. The aforementioned "stars" often go about posing and showing off in such vehicles in an attempt to show their un-earned wealth off to the whole world in the most shameless manner possible, and legions of sheep-like fans copy them with sub-par imitations on their own cars. You all know the type so you get what im saying, right? Now am i the only one who feels like the PS3 has become just a new piece of "bling" that everyone has to have to feel "cool" or "trendy" or am i just being totally unfair here? I mean one can hardly blame me for thinking this way, what with every new PS3 owner flaunting their new "super console" around and up everyones noses like its some gold-plated new born child and with eyes made out of rubys, but with Sony's attitude through out this new generation of games they as well as their hardcore fans do little to disuade me from thinking otherwise. I mean lets look at the facts, the PS3 isnt as powerful as the 360 in many areas, it has next to no good games out for it now and has nothing that appealing coming out for it in the near future that isnt multi-platform. The only thing i can think of that is exclusive is MGS4, which even now is beginning to look a little boring. The console costs over £500, thats half a grand! Why? Who really wants Blu-Ray that badly? Who really cares? Its not a very practical piece of kit with such a high price point and next to no worthy games to justify that price, but then again, IMO, no game is worth that much money. So just like these inpractical, overkill SUV's that stars like to pose around in and try to look cool with the PS3 really just feels like something someone would rather wear as a new piece of "bling" than a dedicated gaming system. I know this is probably totally unfair to think this way what with the console still in its infancy but i cant help it. Does anyone else feel this way? I mean it wouldnt be the first time, since studies show that many british young males use their mobile phones as a means of impressing (or trying to impress) females....yeah, you read that right.....i will give you a moment to let that sink in. Maybe im just putting too much thought into it (or maybe not enough) but i feel better now i have gotten that off my chest and id like to know your thoughts on the matter. Finally i will say it again im not trying to flame anyone here, im not saying that all PS3 owners are overpaid posers or kids with rich parents (more often than not the latter is the case around here :P), if you own a PS3 then good for you but this is just how i feel. So no flaming please as i know it must be tempting but lets keep things civilised for a change eh? (you know who you are! :P )

I finally completed God Of war! So thats backlog game number 4 down! I must say this is a great piece of programming but it does have its fare share of very VERY frustrating moments. I hope they fix these things in the sequel as they almost ruined the game for me in some spots but i managed to get through them and still have some fun. I will be buying GOW2 when it comes out though as these games are truly epic and cannot be missed even if your not usually into this genre (like me). Thats all for now, short but sweet :P