It is extremely difficult for me to form the thoughts and words that I am about to write due to the raging inferno that exists inside on me right now. I will do my best.

Like many mindless zombies that have been conditioned to pre-order games based on the previous installment I picked up Madden 2007 for the Xbox 360.

Eager to throw some passes and start a franchise I opened the game case and loaded it up. Disappointment followed.

The situation is tragic. EA has decided to eliminate key features in order to make the game look better. Why? Oh I know because its suppose to be next gen right?

Next-Gen doesn't have to be about looks, but can be about innovation. This is where EA failed.

I could provide a laundry list of features and broken elements  that contribute to the failure that is the 360 version.

It took less that 5 hours for me to re-sell my copy and pick up some DS games.

Good going EA, you managed to kill the one sports gaming tradition I have been a part of since my childhood.

I'm not dead, Im alive. Playing Rise of Legends and just saw X-men3. I love my wife very much.

Title speaks for itself. I rarely do reviews but I will provide one shortly.

PS I loved the marathon session of Oblivion. Greg is frickin funny as hell. I hope he does another session like that in the future. It reminded me of those old school days when you used to get together at a friends house and stay up all night taking turns trying to beat MGS or Zelda.

So what have I been up to lately? Well beside playing a lot of Poker at the house, I have been catching up on PC games. I recently bought a new notebook and with it I got a few games. So I have been playing Civ4 and SW Empire at War. Both are great games. The lull of the 360 has really provided a nice relief from console gaming and afforded me the opportunity to play something new..........NEW FLASH, THIS JUST IN.... what reports are sketchy.... whats that? you bought GRAW? is it everything you hoped for? ONE WORD AWESOME! Multiplayer is sweet and the game looks fantastic. Looks like the PC games are falling by the wayside again.... maybe when I'm done with GWAR... oh yeah thats right.....and eventually PS3 will be out.

PS Thumbs down OSCARS.... Thumbs up Jon Stewart.

Jon Figanomatry

I ask this question because I have been bombarded with many opinions of this subject. Some solicited and some have been thrown at my like a 95 mph Roger Clemes fastball. As a 360 owner I can say that I'm a prime candidate for this discussion. So I would like to add my 2 cents to this topic.

First "next gen" implies a new chapter in gaming, something that you can't get right now. The 360 is "next gen" and it's not. The system is very capable of reaching that next level but the games that we have seen thus far a nowhere near "next gen". It is true that there are some great games available for the 360, contrary to what some people will tell you. Then there is this subject about HDD and Blueray. This is where the rubber meets the road for me. I think the 360 dropped the ball on this one. I should not have to buy another friggin thing for this machine. I mean I have spent a bundle on controllers, charge kits, battery packs, wireless adapter and games. No way am I spending $$$ on this drive, forget it. What will happen is I will either buy a seperate player or buy the PS3. So is the 360 "next gen", well lets call it "next gen-lite" for now.

Moving on to 2006 and the PS3 and Revolution. The first being the PS3 seems to be heading in the right direction with including a next gen drive, Blue ray. This gives me hope that I will get bang for my buck, if..... Blue ray takes off. If not I'm stuck with betamax 2.0. As far as "next gen" games on the PS3, I think it will be comparable to the 360, no better or worse. Online will hopefully be better but as with the 360 is great now and should only get better. Is it "next gen"? Sure lets call it "next gen-ish" Heres to hope.

And then there is our little special friend Nintendo. Oh yes, I'm and fully aware that gaming exists today because of the NES. I will give them that but what they have done to their brand, excluding gameboy, is practically killed it. N64, joke, Gamecube, why bother? The Revolution almost seems destined to fail. The controller seems like someone took a good idea and ran with it.... way toooo far. Ask yourself, would you use these gimmick features on every game, every day? I say no, and if you don't believe me I have some game mats and power gloves to sell you. Oh and how about a virtual boy, I can sell you that too.

Yep Nintendo is straight out of wack-ville and it almost seems that they are still trying to identify who they are, what they want to accomplish in the industry. Take for example the gamecube, ok the finally go to disc, great nice job in listening to your consumers, but no online capability hanstringed them. Just when you think the lightbulb is on, it pops. I will admit I don't have all the 411 on the Revolution yet, probably cause I don't care enough yet. Will the revolution be "next gen"? I don't know, let me smoke some crack first, play with the remote-controller-numbchuck thingy and I will tell you! Lets call it "next gen-wink,wink"

So with all that said, and all of my opinions being splattered on you like a five dollar whore, I challenge you to get out there and buy one of these systems, heck buy em all because gaming has never been so good. Enjoy the "next gen" fellas, cause it is what it is!

Jon Figs

This year I wanted to recap my favorite 10 movies of the year. Allow me to preface this list by stating that my second addiction, which often rivals my video game addiction, is MOVIES!!! I got to the movies every weekend and sometimes twice. I often go to the movies during the week if I fall behind. I love movies. I have a huge DVD collection. That being said I'm no professional critic. Without further delay, Jonny Figs top 10 movies of 2005.

#10 Hide and Seek

This movie was friggin awesome. That Dakota Fanning girl is straight up creepy. And who would of guessed...... nah I won't spoil it, but Dinero was great in this movie. Bonus tip: watch the DVD alternate endings.

#9 Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior

Can you say @ss kicking action with old  school subtitles. Do not, I repeat Do not watch this movie with the dubbed voice overs. You will turn it off after the first few scenes. If you watch it with the subtitles you will love it. I haven't seen stunts like this ever! Good movie for martial art fans. My mom even liked it.

#8 Hostage

One name, Bruce Willis. Yes thats right, the old Bruce is back in this movie that I feel was slept on by most people I know. The story in this movie is great and is a nice change from what was out this year. I loved the house they used for this movie, I want it. Bruce gives a great performance in this movie and you won't regret watching it.

#7 Sin City

This movie was the first blockbuster of the year if you ask me. It fits nicely on the list at number seven. The direction was stellar and the acting by Rourke was sweet. The all star cast (including Bruce hehe) was large and in charge. Do not miss this movie if you haven't seen it.

#6 Wedding Crashers

This movie was histerical! Vince and Owen are friggin great together. I don't know what was funnier the movie or the skit they did for the MTV movies awards based on their characters in the movie. This is definitely one of the funniest movies I've seen. Added Bonus: Shhhhh... guys, there is a lot of T&A in this one.

#5 Saw II

Ok ok, I know you are probably saying, wasn't one so so. Yes Saw I was asstatic in many ways, coughGlovercough, coughElwescough, these guys totally mailed it in for the first one. Thankfully they brought in a new cast with Donny Walberg, who is one of my favorites from Band of Brothers. This movies was 10 times better than than the first. The plot was great and had an even better twist at the end. I can't wait for Saw III if it ever gets made.

#4 Batman Begins

If you didn't see this movie then A) you aren't a movie goer or B) you don't like comic book movies. Everyone else should have seen this summer blockbuster. This movie rocked, period. Christian Bale is made to play Batman. I just hope they continue to stay dark with the tone of the next movie.

#3 King Kong

This movie was well worth the wait. For a December release this sure felt like a summer blockbuster. Peter Jackson is worth the hype. He did an amazing job on this movie. I know some critics gave it mediocre reviews but don't believe the "haters". This movie will go down as one of my all time favorites. P.S. Kong was friggin awesome!!!!

#2 40 Year Old Virgin

Well well well, this movie somehow ressucitated the adult comedy genre single handedly, well with some help from Wedding Crashers as well. Look foward to 2006 delivering more of these movies as studio execs try to ride this wave. This movie is so funny I think I swallowed a junior mint and shot it out of my nose. I can't tell you how hard my ribs hurt the next day. I felt like I went 3 rounds with Lenox Lewis. Great to be # 2 on the list, good job 40 year old virgin.

And the # 1 movie of the year.....................

Like you didn't see this coming,

Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith

If you are a Star Wars fan then you understand. If you liked Star Wars at anytime in your life, you probably saw this movie. If you go to the movies, occasionally, you saw this movie. If you weren't trap in a bubble or dead you should have seen this movie. This is was the final installment??? God I hope not, of the Star Wars Saga. I have to say thaat Lucas pulled it off, barely but he did. I hated episode I and that is hard to say. I loved Episode II but I didn't move me like I hoped it would. But somehow, someway, Episode III managed to tie up all the lose ends. It felt finished. Yes there are faults in the movie, and I do disagree with decisions Lucas made, but overall this movie lived up to the hype and my expectations as a SW fanatic.

While I'm on a roll, I would like to share my worst movie of the year.

The Ring Two.

Boy did this movie suck balls, jeez. Can you say, rip off. My eyes were bleeding after this cesspool of a film. I should have seen it coming but I didn't. Oh well, you should steer clear of this one at all costs.

My sleeper surprise pick this year was Walk the Line. I'm no fan of Jonny Cash but this was a good picture with great acting.

Well thats wraps up 2005. I hope you enjoyed this years movies. I can't wait for 2006. Can you say X-men III?

Jonny Figs

At this time I declare war on all the PS3 zealots. Ok now that I have gotten that out of the way let me provide some background. I love Sony products. I have a PS1 and a PS2. I even bought the redesigned PS2 when it came out. I own a PSP and love it. I have a Sony HDTV and a Sony Cybershot. I hope you get the picture.

Now let me get to my real point. I have ever growing doubts about the PS3. I do not like the design of the system nor do I want to own a batterang controller. This system looks like concept art gone bad. There is nothing astetically pleasing about the system. The specs sound great and the Bluetooth capability should be amazing but I just don't get the same feeling I got when thinking about the 360 before it came out. Call me crazy but I just don't beleive the hype.

There are a lot of fanboys out there screaming about how the PS3 is going to kick 360 butt. I'm not so sure. I found myself playing my Xbox more than my PS2 lately and when the PS3 comes out the 360 will be churning out mega hits. I'm not saying I won't buy the PS3, on the contrary I would even camp out for it. But I remain skeptical and reserved right now.

This weekend, on December 18, after waiting 18 hours I bought an XBOX 360. I have to tell you I haven't been this excited for a Christmas present, early albeit, in a long time. the 18 hour wait was fun as I shared the experience with my younger brother. For the record I'm 30 and my brother is 21. We grew up on games and gaming is probably something that we will do until we die.

As for the 360, I am very impressed with it. Yes the games out right now are not earth shattering improvements over the orignal Xbox but the system is sexy, sophisticated and just plain fun to use.

I bought COD2 and NBA Live 06. Both games are fun although NBA could have been better.

So far Im loving my 360 and wishing I would have saved more vacation time for the end of the year and some more 360 game time.

Ok I have had my PSP for a few days now. First I would like to say launch day was smooth. My local EB opened at 8am. I wanted a midnight launch but for some reason all stores in the area, EB and Gamestop banded together for a NO-MIDNIGHT boycott. Blah!
Now as far as the PSP is concerned. I love it! Not in that fanboi, I dont get out much and havent touched a girl other than my sister, way. I love it for its sleek, technological, set up. Its a great toy.
I bought 3 games on launch day. Untold Lengends, Metal Gear Acid and Twisted Metal.
I absolutely hated Untold Legend. I have to say the review that Gamespot gave that game was far to nice, 6.9 yeah right. Everything bad in the review could easily be worse. Stay far far away. The music was annoying after 3 mins, the character classes were as sterile as my dog. The camera zoom in and zoom out was aweful. You were either zoomed in up close and couldnt see crap beyond the 1 mob in front of you or you were zoomed out and the graphics looked like NES. The sad part is this is a SOE game and I would expect more from them. Truth is these are launch titles, and history has shown that 80% of them are always crap. The real games will be out for Q4.
My last comment complaint was the lack of accessories at the stores. Why is every accessory pack either sub-par or is missing 1 item that is in another pack. I like value packs for accessories but I havent seen 1 yet that made me go, wow I want it. So to all you MAD CATZ and Pelican people. Do your homework. Nobody wants a case that has the same funcionality as the one that came in the box. Common frickin sense!

Jon Fignowski..... and I'm out

Well it's almost time for the PSP launch, and I can't wait. I have my pre-order all set and now it just needs to be thursday. I'm going to get MGA and Untold Legends. I will also pick up a few accessories such as the USB cable. On another note I just finished Republic commado for Xbox. I liked the game play but hated the fact that it had zero cut scenes. It seems like they did't have enough time to finish the game. Also pathing for the AI controlled teammates was shady as hell. Some guys would get stuck and you would have to go through half a mission without them. Oh well. I'm looking foward to Lego Star Wars.

Til next time,

Jonny Figs out