Well, it's been awhile since I updated this blog and many, many things have happened since then. But the thing on my mind right now is the breaking of my Xbox 360. This is the second time I've had to send my xbox in to get it fixed. A pain in the ass in it's own right, but this is even worse. Why? Because I'm in the middle of GTA IV. It sucks so much that I'm gonna have to wait a month to finish it. Man, I was contemplating on weather to get the 360 or the PS3 version. I guess I choose the wrong one huh? :(

I finally, after months of waiting(not really) pick up a Wii at the local Walmart. You can sort of say it was an impulse buy. While I have been wanting to buy a Wii for a while, I really didn't put much effort into finding one. I would sometimes check online retailers to see if I could find one, but to no luck. So it really has been at the back of my mind for a while.

So anyway, I walked into Walmart yesterday to pick up Hot Fuzz and 300(both awsome movies) and what did I happen to see? A whole rack of Wiis just sitting there. I could'nt believe it because these things fly off the shelfs pretty quick. So on pretty much impulse, I bought one along with a extra nunchuke and remote. I am pretty happy with this purchase. Now, how long before anyone can get one from a store without luck?

May I present to you another sensationalized, prime-time news story to scare the hell out parents.

http://www.myfoxmilwaukee.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2311167&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1

I nearly broke out in a fit of laughter after watching this video.  The fact that pictochat can be labeled as a gateway for child molesters to creep into your child's life is amazing.  The way the video starts off is just priceless.  You get the cute little kids hanging around playing with their DS'.  Talking about all the "graphics" in the games.  Showing Reggie tout the DS as influential as the ipod.  But then, the music stops and the horrifying truth of Nintendo's two screened hand-held comes out.  Anybody with a DS can talk to your children(cue dramatic music). 

Parents are schocked to hear about pictochat.  "It's not advertized on commercials."  Why don't they tell us that the DS is such a threat to our children's safety?  I love the smart-ass way the reporter explains the process of using the DS.  It's like "see that Nintendo, I know how to use it too."  Granted he probably had a station intern show him how right before the piece.  "It's that simple," damn hes right.  Who would have thought a device made to appeal to children would be simple to use.  That one is just mind boggling. Simple, who knew.  Of course, niether of my parents could work the damn thing if their life depended on it, but hey; whatever.

Now this ones a doozie.  "The fact that someone could possibly communicate with him without me knowing never crossed my mind."  Oh, so I would assume you're with him 24-hours a day? Going to school with him even?  Man, you are one awsome parent to be so protective of your child, good job.  I like how he starts to send messages to the girls and they start to answer his questions.  The mom is completely schocked over this.  Even though they met right before the chat session.  "Hey melony, this is Jim; he's with the local news station and wants to do a piece about the DS."  "Ok mom."  Then he starts to send messages.  What the hell is the girl suppose to do?  I would like to think that the girl wouldn't give out that info if it was a stranger, but if they just met to talk about the DS?  What would you do.  The fact that it can reach up to 300 ft is just cool to me.  More room to chat. 

The car on the freeway scenario is just great.  That someone would chat on the DS while driving is scary in and of itself.  I'd be more worried of a 5-car pile up than a child molester.  The parents didn't read the manual? Well that's just stupid.  You buy your kid a new electronic device and your not even going to read into it?  OK.  The last great thing is the poilce officer saying that it is a "Communication tool."  How many people actually use the pictochat function?  Maybe i'm the only one that doesn't.  And finally, now the children know what to do when confronted by a stranger.  The world is safe for children once again.  The Milwaukee news deserves a medal for this one.  I solute you sestational jounalists and your heart-attack inducing stories on the horrors of the world.  Don't forget to tune in next week when they explain the dangers of going outside.

(I hope everyone relised I was being sarcastice throughout this blog). 

This story is just plain stupid. Yes, all parents are afraid of their children being harmed, but this is just a laughable scenario.  The DS being used by child molesters never even crossed my mind.  Now, this type of journalism is not uncommon.  Every news station has the " Can your car explode while driving it?  Find out at 11" story.  Whenever I see these types of stories I just ignore them, but this one is just blatently trying to use fear to get ratings.  I just hope everyone doesn't take this story too seriously.

A few days before Christmas I was shopping at the local Fry's electronics. When I got to the check out counter, I was extremely surprised to see no less than 30 Playstation 3s stacked up in their hardware "cage" behind the check out counters. Is this Sony making good on their promise to restock PS3s quickly? I was under the impression that these things were hard to come by.

I don't know if this was a freak occurrence or not. I would think that if a retail store received a 30+ shipment of PS3s they would be gone in a heartbeat. Or is the demand for the PS3 not as high as I thought? Needless to say I didn't buy a PS3. I probably would have, but I didn't have $600 dollars to spend at my leisure. To come across such a big cache of PS3s so soon after the release and so close to Christmas has to be strange. It's not like the Xbox 360 which has been out for more than a year. I would have expected to see the Wii instead of the PS3. But there were no Wiis to be found. Im just saying that this is weird.

Maybe I’m making more of a big deal out of this than is necessary, but damn; 30 PS3s just sitting there. I'm pretty sure they’re gone now see as it is more than a week later. It just goes to show that you have a better chance at a major electronics store than at a purely gaming retail outlet. Although, this was a Fry's electronics and their not as abundant as Best Buy or Circuit City. But if Sony is cranking out the PS3s at a record pace then all the better.