Hey all! Mark here with another blog update. How's everyone doing?

So, not gonna lie, this month has been a big pile of crap for me. I'm usually a "take-the-good-with-the-bad" kind of guy, but when everything's bad, that motto becomes a little hard to live by :P. First off, I've been sick with pretty much everything humanly imaginable this month. I came down with the flu a couple weeks back, which wouldn't have been that big a deal (I'm in my senior year of high school and have already been accepted to my local community college, so I couldn't care less about missing days at this point), except I missed my 2nd-degree black belt test at my karate. If that wasn't bad enough, this is officially my LAST month at karate, at least indefinitely. So I won't be able to make up the test for a long time, if at all. Leaving karate in general kind of sucks. I've been taking it for nearly 12 years, and made a lot of good friends there. But with new responsibilities like getting my license, finding a job, college, making time for my girlfriend, etc. it would just become a nuisance.

So what else sucked this month? Well, I had a full week of driving school over vacation. 30 hours of non-stop note-taking and lecturing and after-school specials, essentially. Wouldn't have been completely unbearable, if I hadn't been sick with some type of stomach virus the entire week. Let's just say this.........lots of d-aria. Ugh.

So yeah, I could go into further detail why this month should go hang itself, but I'll spare you. Anyways, enough about my pathetic life. Let's talk movies! When I was regularly active on Gamespot a half-decade ago, I'd post a list of my most anticipated movies of each year's summer. So, that's what I'm gonna do today. Here we go-

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Even with the Bryan Singer scandal nonsense bouncing around the media, my hype for this movie has not been extinguished one bit. X2 has remained one of my favorite superhero films of all time, and if Singer has brought that same kind of confidence and creativity to the table this time around, sitting in that theater will be heaven for me. Also, Jennifer Lawrence's blue boobies. Me likey.

2. Godzilla

I grew up watching the Godzilla movies with my dad, so going to see this one with him will probably evoke a lot of fond memories. On top of that, this movie looks legitimately GOOD. Bryan Cranston and Kick-Ass vs. The King of Monsters. Get me into that theater now.

3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The Apes reboot/reimagining/prequel that came out back in 2011 was a surprisingly great action romp, and this sequel looks like it'll be the same. I demand an Oscar for Andy Serkis already!

4. Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel's biggest gamble to date could go either way on the quality scale. I'm just hoping it tilts to the awesome side, because I think it looks like a creative blast.

5. How to Train Your Dragon 2

Don't judge me! The first one was great.

Well, that's all for today, folks. I'll posting again ASAP. See ya around!

So, it's been nearly six years since I made a Gamespot account. Saying that is really serendipitous.

Six. Years.

Where'd all that time go?

I'm no longer that naive little twelve-year old who hopped on the computer to make an account in 2008. Or, I think that I'm not, at least (lol). Things have obviously changed over the years for me, and it's gotten exceedingly tough to keep posting here on this website. A lot of the people that I used to chat with on here have faded away in that time. Hell, I officially quit back in 2010, only to come back once or twice to post a meaningless, forgettable rant of some sort.

Well, I'd like that to change. I'd really like to start coming back on here occasionally. Note the use of OCCASIONALLY. I'm on plenty of other social media as it is, and I feel like wasting time on another website would be........irresponsible. However, that doesn't mean I'm gonna stay away for good. I'd like to come around here and post something at least five or six times the rest of this year. Get back into the groove of things. Connect with more people.

So, that's it from me for now. To all who've followed me over the years and haven't bothered to unfollow me because of my absence, I thank you. I hope to get in touch with you all soon! Shoot me a message if you want, would be ecstatic to hear from you. Thanks, and have a great day.

-Mark

Let's rewind the clock about, oh, ten and a half years ago. A six-year old boy, typical of those growing up in the early-2000s, awakes on Christmas morning. He rushes over to the Christmas tree to find a pile of wrapped presents with his name on them. He tears into them. Some action figures, some clothes, some books......blah blah blah, been there, done that.

He's nearly through opening his presents when, all of a sudden, his father hands him a large cardboard box with something fairly heavy inside of it. "You're gonna love this one!", he remarks, with a twinkle in his eyes. The boy rips back the cardboard flaps. Inside of the box lies a gaming console. But not just any gaming console, mind you. It's an Xbox. A REAL Xbox. The boy never really had a brand new gaming system like this before! So high-tech! So hip! So next-generation! He jumps up, all excited, hugs his father and shouts,"This is the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!!!".

That boy was, of course, me. Over the years, I played that old Xbox constantly. After school. On weekends. With friends. With family. By myself. After a while, it wasn't so high-tech anymore. I played it until it literally broke down. Then, after that happened, I naturally upgraded to the Xbox 360.

Oh, it was a fine system, to be sure. It upgraded various things from the first Xbox console and added plenty of new features as well. The graphics were better. Online play wasn't nearly as patchy, and the controllers were *gulp* WIRELESS! How could it not affect me in the same way as the previous Xbox had?

Well, perhaps because I had gotten a little older. By the time I got the Xbox 360, it was already a three-year old console. I was well into my preteen years. Perhaps the fun of gaming had been lost in the complexity of the new system...........? But how could that be? Bigger is better, right?

Not necessarily. Xbox 360 was, technically, a much better gaming system than the original Xbox, but, and maybe this is my damned nostalgia speaking, it lost a bit of the fun. Xbox had always been a simple pick-up-and-play expierence for me growing up, and the 360 seemed a bit too lost in it's upgrades to really care if I was having FUN. Was it still a good gaming system? Damn right it was. But............maybe it was a little too good. Maybe it was a little too refined for that young, admittedly ignorant gamer who perferred splitscreen to online, the first three Call of Duty's to the Modern Warfare's, and playing with friends to playing with a headset.

With the Xbox One on the horizon, now nearly 17 year-old me is a bit worried. But I'm hopeful. I'm excited. As a lifelong Xbox defender, I'm confident Mircrosoft will release another commendable gaming system.

As long as they don't leave out the most important part- the fun

Hey guys, got a question for y'all: How's Bioshock Infinite? Can I play it without having played the other games in the series?

Hey guys. I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've chatted with any of you, and that I've only contributed one blog to this website in the past three years, but I'd like that to change some. Starting today, I'll be periodically updating this blog once every month. Feel free to comment whatever you like, I miss talking with all you guys!:)

Peace out (for now)

-Mark

It's been nearly two years since I've called it quits here.............I can't believe how bad Gamespot has become. The professional reviews suck, the homescreen is awkward, etc. It used to be such an awesome site

I'm getting a Facebook soon so I'm not gonna come on this cruddy website anymore. Bye to all my good friends. You know who you are. And no, this time I won't be coming back. Sorry I couldn't finish the Games Most Anticipated thing, but personally I thought it was real boring. So bye again guys.

Wishing the best,

Foomf11

Hi my GS friends. I'm putting my Games Most Anticipated thing on hold for now. I need time to think of the other games I'm putting on the countdown. I should get it started up again sometime next week. For now, here are some movie reviews.

Knight and Day

Knight and Day is one of those lousy midsummer movies that can't entertain gradually. You'll be wowed a few times, but most of the time you'll just be bored. The story is about an undercover spy (Tom Cruise) trying to protect a power source from a dirty agent. Along the way, a woman (Cameron Diaz) gets caught in the middle of the action and is taken "hostage" by the mysterious spy. And I bet you can guess what happens next. So the storyline is dull and predictable, the acting hit-or-miss, and the directing stale. There was one memorable chase scene shot in Spain complete with massive gunfire, exploding vehicles, and wild running bulls, but that is one of the only good moments in this movie. Overall, it's worth skipping.

4.5/10

Toy Story 3

When I walked in to the theater that was playing Toy Story 3, I was hoping I was in for a good time. After all, most of the other movies I had seen over the year were mostly disappointing or just OK (How to Train Your Dragon is an exception). I'll skip to the obvious this time: Toy Story 3 was a masterpiece. Everything from the story to the animation to the humor was sublime. The movie starts with Andy heading off to college and cleaning out his room. When he finds his old toys he decides to put them in his attic. All of them except his favorite Woody, who he plans on taking to college. Through a series of events the toys wind up at Sunnyside daycare, where they are basically ripped apart by out of control toddlers. That's when Woody concocts a plan to bust out of their booger-infested prision. All the way through this movie I laughed, jumped, and even got a lump in my throat at the end. But I'm a guy who won't give spoilers away, so I'll just end my review now.

10/10

This is the movie I saw yesterday. Overall, I thought it was really good. Christopher Nolan, the guy behind masterpieces such as The Dark Knight and Insomnia directed it. So Inception is basically about the world of the dream. It's really hard to explain and let me just say it was one of the most confusing movies I have ever seen. I won't give any spoilers away, but if any of you see it, be prepared for a headache afterwords. It takes a lot of brain power to keep track of the many plot twists. Other than that I only have positive things to say about this midsummer movie. The special effects are great, the acting is top-notch (Leonardo Dicaprio is great as the main character, Cobb), and the directing, as expected, is masterful. Once again, this is not a movie for everyone.

8/10

Halo: Reach

(Sorry the cover is like that)

I'm about to say five words that would get me beat up at a video game convention: I do not like Halo. I mean, what's the point? Your a guy who shoots aliens and tries to save the planet Halo. Please give me a good point! Then there are the useless prequels. So why do I put Halo: Reach as number 8 on my countdown? Two reasons. No 1. It's rumored to be the last Halo ever No 2. It's also rumored to be the best Halo yet. So I'd be hard pressed not to put it somewhere on this countdown. One thing I'm definetly looking forward to it the online multiplay. Halo has always done that great. Sp, it comes down to this: Will Halo: Reach really be the best Halo. Time will tell. One thing is for sure though: It's going to make waves when it releases this Fall.