GOAL, GOAL, GOAL, GOAL, GOAL, GOAL, GOAL!!!!!! :D

 Just a short blog from me today. On Tuesday evening my Football team, the great Manchester United, "battered" AS Roma of Italy 7-1 at Old Trafford in the Quarter Final 2nd Leg of the Champions League.

We had lost the 1st Leg of the tie 1-2 in Rome, so needed to score in order to progress into the Semi-Finals. A 1-0 score line would have put us through on the "away goals" ruling, but in the end, we didn't need to go through by default.

It's at that time of the Season at the moment, were every game feels like a cup final. I was nervous as usual, as the build up to the game began (I always am, especially were the later stages of European Competition is involved). This was mainly fuelled by a sense of excitement and occasion, as after watching the 1st leg, I knew we stood a good chance of turning the tie in our favour. Despite being down to 10 men in the 1st leg for an hour, due to the early dismissal of Paul Scholes for two bookable offenses, we still managed to give them a really good game, and were even on level terms at one point at 1-1. So knowing that we were at Old Trafford (The Theatre Of Dreams) with the home crowd behind us and 11 men on the field, I had the feeling that a tense encounter was ahead. HOW WRONG WAS I?

We actually walked it in the end, we were 6-0 up at one stage in the game as we totally played the Italians off the field. The football we played was excellent, fast paced and attacking, a joy to watch! :D

It has since been confirmed that we will play another Italian side in the Semi-Finals (AC Milan), but on Tuesday nights performance, we fear no team!! 

Hey Everyone,

Just to start off, a quick point. I finally reached Level 21 here on GameSpot. FINALLY!!!!!!

I predicted when I first started on Level 20, that I would have if finished by April 1. I managed it, with a good few hours to spare. :D

Next up, just a quick mention about Gears Multiplayer. The new multiplayer game mode goes up on Xbox LIVE later on today, so am looking forward to downloading that and playing some more Gears multiplayer over the next few weeks. Hopefully soon, I will start to achieve some of the multiplayer achievements (of which I currently have none). I think the first one I get will be the "Host 50 Ranked Matches", I don't think I'm too far away from that one now.

Staying on the topic of Gears, I purchased the Collector's Edition of the game on release and have only just got around to watching all of the extras on the 2nd disc. I have to say that although opinion is often split on him, I couldn't help but like Cliffy B. I just liked the way the guy stuck to his guns over the inclusion of the Chainsaw, even when he had Microsoft pressurising the company he worked for, for it to be removed. And I think us as gamers have to thank him for that, Cliffy B I salute you. (Plus he seemed to be a generally good guy).

Finally a quick description of my Easter Holidays. Despite having 4 days off from work, I only managed to play 2 hours of games. I was just so busy over the weekend that I didn't get much time to sit still, never mind play any games. :(

BUT, when all that has been said, I still had a great time, and the weather was fantastic, which was another major bonus. I went to play some Crazy Golf on Easter Sunday and ended up with Kym Marsh and Jack Ryder behind us on the course. For those who don't know who they are, they are both soap stars from over here in the UK. Kym used to be the lead singer of a band called Hear'say, who were the first winners of the "Pop Idol/American Idol" show, before that made the reality format so popular.

Anyways, to finish, I haven't done too much from a gaming perspective as I've just been too busy, but I'm still enjoying things.

Till Next Time!

IT'S HERE!!!!

I am on the cusp of Level 21 here on GameSpot. The long, hardous journey known as Level 20 is nearly over and only them who have been through it before me can truly understand what i'm talking about.

It's taken an age to get through it and I use the site at least once a day. I belive that it's made this way to split the men from the boys and it sure does that.

I predicted when I first moved onto Level 20 that I would reach Level 21 by April and I have 24 hours to get the last .80%

Not a bad estimation in my opinion!! :D

All I can say to finish this blog is that I'm glad its finally over and GOOD LUCK to all those who have yet to go through it.

Hey Guys,

I went to watch the 300 last friday and boy did I enjoy this film. The action set pieces are amazing, the choreography is fitting and well implemented, whilst the visuals require a cinema-sized screen to be fully appreciated.

Whilst the story strayed away from historical accuracy, I felt this benefited the movie, as the production team could just concentrate on delivering a ton of action, and thats exactly what they did.

Some critics have given disappointing reviews of the film, but for this type of movie, that just made me want to watch it even more. The guys/gals who are criticising the movie I think are just missing the point of it. It isn't supposed to give us an insight into the human psyche or deliver a harrowing historical account of the actions of some beefed up geezers from thousands of years ago. If I wanted that I would do the "proper" thing and go read about it in a book.

Anyone who is a fan of action movies, or Gladiator, or Troy, or Sin City, or big half-naked muscle men (you know who you are ladies :D ) should definately check it out.

I also went to see the comedian Jimmy Carr do a live stand-up gig and I don't think I have laughed so much in ages. I don't know how "well-known" he is outside of the UK (he appeared in Confetti and Alien Autopsy, both released last year) but you should definately check out his previous stand-up shows which are available on DVD.

I own all of his previous work and he never disappoints. I was pleased to see this show live as this is his new tour which isn't due to finish until the summer and won't be released on DVD until this Christmas. Therefore, all the content was new material, meaning I didn't know what to expect. Laugh out loud funny from start to finish.

What was especially good about the show, was that afterwards he hung around having a few drinks in the bar and I got a chance to go over and speak to him. It wasn't like the usual celebrity "autograph" sessions. I got to speak to him for a few minutes we had a bit of laugh and he signed a few things in the process. I now have the signed poster hung on the wall at the side of com. :D

From a gaming perspective, I have just started to play through the Single-Player Campaign of Gears of War on Insane difficulty with a friend. Not too much to say other than, it's good.......very good!

Till Next Time!

Is it possible that Microsoft are planning an Xbox 360 Blu-Ray player as an additional peripheral?

On the UK version of http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6474045.stm is a story regarding UK consumers waiting in-line to purchase a PlayStation 3.

The story goes onto to say that Sony believe that the addition of Blu-Ray playback capabilities are one of the major selling points for the system and that this alone could convince many consumers to pay the £425 ($599) price tag.

Further from this, the article carries a response from Xbox UK chief Neil Thompson, who says that choice for the consumer is Microsoft's main focus and "WHICHEVER FORMAT WINS IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY WE WILL OFFER A SOLUTION."

Could this mean that should Sony finally buck the trend of their history with proprietary formats and the Blu-Ray wins over HD-DVD, that Microsoft will be releasing a Blu-Ray alternative?

GUTTED!! :(

Yesterday I decided to have a quick go on "Free Skate" mode on Tony Hawk's Project 8.

After a few minutes I have unlocked the achievements:

Combo 500,000+
1,000,000+ Point Run

The game then asked me if I wanted to save my progress? I said yes and the game duly saved.

Having unlocked the achievements I decided to move on and try to make further progress in my Career.

Upon trying to load my progress it became apparent that by saving the high scores I set in "Free Skate" mode, I had overwritten my Career file.

GUTTED!!

My Career Progress was as follows:

Goals Completed 90%
Ranking 5th
Time 16Hrs 30mins

I have now lost all of that progress and have had to start a new career from scratch!!

:(

News just in (well last nite actually).......My Xbox Gamerscore finally broke the 5000 point barrier.

After a few days of no point "gainage", I finally garnered a further 40 points from Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Won the D2 League in Master League Mode).

All I need to do now, is connect to Xbox LIVE so that my Gamercard will update with the new score.

Current Gamerscore now stands at: 5010

A rather small blog by my standards today!

Firstly, I watched 2 movies over the weekend. The Holiday and The Departed.

As you could probably guess, The Holiday was chosen by my Girlfriend and The Departed was my choice.

Now I would have to say that I was suprised by The Holiday. I thought it to be above the standard of the usual "Chic Flick" movies the lady friend usually makes me endure. This was on the whole wasn't too bad.

I have to say that it was weird watching Jack Black play a love interest to Kate Winslet, but it brought me some laughs, so it must of worked on some level.

More importantly, The Departed. Martin Scorsese FINALLY won a Best Director Oscar for this piece of work and well deserved AGAIN I must say. The film was really a good and I recommend ANYONE who enjoys a good story to check it out, even if you didn't like his previous outings (e.g. Gangs of New York). £13 well spent for that 2-Disc DVD set!!

Finally a quick note on my Xbox Gamerscore which now stands at:

4970

I believe!

So close to reaching the 5000 point milestone. Points have been scarce for me lately, largely due to the fact I've really only got the "long distance" ones on my games remaining (e.g. Number of multi-player games played, number of frags etc.).

Heres hoping it will be passed in the very near future!! :D

Hello Everyone and welcome to the latest blog from.....me!

I'd like to begin by talking about The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the Xbox360. Now I apologise for the misleading headline, but I wanted to put a headline that nobodys probably read before regarding this game.

Now let me put the record straight! The only sentence which would rightfully contain the words "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" and "Rubbish" is the following:

"The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is in NO way rubbish!"

This game is fantastic, I can just about see the faint glimmer of my other 360 games on the horizon, as Oblivion (as many predicted) has taken up nearly all of my game time.

If there is anyone left out there who owns an Xbox360 and hasn't tried this game, then you MUST do it immediately!! Even if you don't like RPG's, this is still one worth checking out.

So as you can guess from the above, the majority of my game time has been spent in Tamriel, but when reading about games and not playing them, it came as a HUGE shock a few days ago, to learn that the PS3 that I will see on my local high street, will not have the full backwards compatibility, that my American and Japanese cousins consoles will have.

Now I will say it again. I am not under any circumstances a fanboy of any of the consoles and I catergorically do not "HATE" Sony, but I'm really starting to feel like one. It seems that all we hear lately is bad news regarding Sony's offering, and after a while it starts to get a little down-heartening.

I remember a distant time ago, when I was really excited about the PS3, but that seems like a lifetime ago now.

So not only have us consumers in the UK had to wait 6 months longer than others, we have to pay more for it and get a watered down version (NO EMOTION ENGINE).

Does anyone know of some good news?

Hello Everyone,

Todays blog post is a special one for me as it marks my 22nd Birthday.

:D

First may I ask everyone where were all my cards and gifts from you guys/gals? HaHa, Only Joking.

Well the big news in terms of gaming is that I received not 1 but 2 Xbox360 games as gifts. I was expecting 1 (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion) but had no idea about the 2nd game, Tony Hawks Project 8.

The reason behind this being such a BIG suprise is that I have a bit of a rule with my family in friends, which goes as follows:

"Do NOT buy me games as gifts, unless, I am either with you when you buy it or I have explicity told you which game I want and have written it down and/or pointed it out to you in a shop!"

Now this I know might sound a little harsh, but it was born out of getting loads of rubbish games as gifts when I was a child and thus don't trust people to know a good game when they see one. It may also sound a little selfish but I am really doing them a favour, as I would not like for someone to go out and spend around £50 on a game which I won't like and most likely won't play.

Anyways, it turns out my girlfriend had overheard me telling a friend that it was one I wanted to buy in the not too distant future and also that I used to play alot of Tony Hawk's Underground 2 when I used to own a PS2.

So there we have it, 2 brand spanking new Xbox360 games to get my teeth into.

Currently I have played about 3 hours on Tony Hawks and around 2 1/2 hours of Oblivion and both of them are top notch so far.

In terms of celebrating my birthday. I share a close birth date to a friend of mine, so we had a joint party and then we all went to a few clubs after that.

I also got tickets to watch Manchester United vs. Reading in the FA Cup as another gift, which despite drawing 1-1, was a great afternoon out!!

All in all, a fantastic birthday weekend!! :D

Gamerscore Update: 4675