Happy Black Friday! How was your Thanksgiving? Well, mine was pretty good. I played some Uncharted (still trying to finish it) and played Rainbow Six Vegas with zeke2040. And dinner was awesome!!! The full Thanksgiving meal is my favorite! Unfortunately, I have to work today (Friday) which totally sucks. While everyone is off having fun, I have to help out at a funeral service! That's what kind of sucks about working in the funeral industry, you always end up working on off days and holidays. So, that's why I've been singing Tom Rundgren's "Bang On The Drum All Day" in my head.

In other news, Haze was delayed!!!! Which means that money that I saved to get it is going towards Guitar Hero 3! I wasn't actually going to get it because I have Rock Band but since I haven't heard anything about my replacement guitar, I'm just going to get GH3 and use that guitar. Too, doesn't GH3 look like some chemical or something, lol. Anyway, so I'll be picking that up next Friday.

ASSASSIN'S CREED - This game looks gorgeous! It's pretty fun but it's getting a bit repetitive. I have to say though that I'm a bit disappointed with it. Don't get me wrong, it's a great game but I think I was just expecting a bit more from it. I guess my problem with it is that you basically do the exact same thing over and over again. Assassinating people is truly fun, and you have some really interesting game mechanics but after the 3rd or 4th time, it gets tedious. The world is amazing though. It is truly alive with people chatting and walking around. It's a beautiful presentation of art in motion. The voice acting is supurb as well. Though, the reviews are right in stating that Altair is the weakest character. I didn't really feel attached to him either. Overall though, it's a good game and it's a great start to what looks to be an amazingly series. I give it a 8.5/10.

UNCHARTED: DRAKE'S FORTUNE - I love this game. When I played the demo, I have to say that I wasn't too amazingly impressed. But after playing the full game, I have to say it's a great game. Truly awesome. The story is both believable and fun. And I don't think I've ever felt so attached to a game character before. He doesn't feel like some super human that can survive anything. He runs like his life actually depended on it. When he jumps, his arms wave wildly and he always just barely catches a ledge. The really does look scared and stressed out when bullets get to close. Fists fights look like something from a bar scene rather than perfectly choreographed fights. The dialogue is actually believable as well. Nathan and the other characters really talk like real live people. I have to say that Uncharted has some of the best characters I've seen so far. As for graphics, all I can say is "wow". I don't even have a high def tv and it still looks like you are really there. Everything feels alive. As for the gameplay, I love it. It plays really well, I love how you can pop out from cover. There is a wide array of weapons for you to choose, all of which are very effective and fun to use. The addition of using motion control was well placed and it doesn't feel tacked on or a pain to use. I don't really see anything negative about this game. It is a bit short, but with hidden treasure to find and skill points to complete, there is some good replay value. Plus, just replaying it to see the sites is well worth it. I have to say, this is probably my favorite game of the year, beating out Ratchet & Clank, Oblivion, and Rock Band. A big 9.0/10.

ROCK BAND - I have to say, my arms haven't been this sore in a long time, lol. Rock Band is a really fun party game but I was really disappointed when I found out that the Band World Tour mode did not include ONLINE. So, you really need to have physical friends (which I'm lacking at the moment) to experience Rock Band to the fullest. Other than that, the Single Tour is quite fun though there are frequent times of silence as your virtual bandmates get their solos as well which is kind of well, boring. As for the instruments themselves, the drums are quite sturdy and the kick pedal is nice and springy. My only complaint with them is that when you hit them it sounds like you're beating on a trash can, lol. It also plays very well though I get the occasional drop out and it doesn't seem to pick up what I'm doing right away. The mic is pretty solid though you have to use a controller as well to navigate the menu. They should have just added a few buttons on the side of the mic to fix that. It's quite hard to calibrate the sound for vocals (or at least it was for me) but after I got it fixed, it worked really well, I think. I can't sing to save my life so I didn't do very well none the less. As for the guitar, well it looks like it works really well, lol. The stratocaster is a bit heavier than the old GH controllers and the flush buttons have a nice feel. Unfortunately mine doesn't work at the moment so I haven't had a chance to play with it fully. There was downloadable content right off the bat which was nice though the selection was a little sparse. I'm hoping the song selection gets better as time goes by. As for online, it works really well though you can only do Band Quickplay. There is no voice chat so you can't congratulate your bandmate for getting a perfect on his solo. It's still fun but it definitely lacks the closeness that you should have when you play in a band. Overall it's a good buy, I suggest though that if you want to pick it up, split it among your friends. By the bundle and give out the other instruments because it's really only fun when you play it with other people right there in your living room. So, it's a good start, and hopefully they will fix some of these problems in the sequel, 8.5/10.

This day started out wonderful! My good friend, zeke2040, sent me two early Christmas presents - Folklore and Heavenly Sword!!! I was so excited!!! Thank you so much!!!! I also got a call from F.Y.E. stating that my Rock Band bundle was in, yay! So, I go and pick it up, get everything set up, and then . . . the guitar is broke!!!!! There's something loose inside of it and it won't turn on!!!!!!! :cry: I AM TOTALLY BUMMED OUT!!!! So, I contacted EA and they are going to send me a replacement but with Thanksgiving being this thursday, I probably won't get it until next week!! :cry: Even though I'm totally bummed out, I'm still excited about the games that zeke2040 got me, domo arigato!!! I had a chance to play them a bit and here's what I think :D

HEAVENLY SWORD is beautiful!!!! It looks amazing and I love how realistically the characters move. As for the action, it's so much fun. I'm glad too that the main character is a girl, you don't get that much. I'm so used to playing a guy that I find myself choosing a guy even when there's a choice, lol. But yeah, this one is probably one of my favorite action games. Thanks so much zeke2040!!!!

FOLKLORE is another awesome game! I've been really wanting an RPG and this game fills the spot. Though, not a traditional RPG it has some great action elements to go along with a wonderful story. I love how they incorporate the use of motion with the Sixaxis as well. It's really fun to rip out the souls of all the monsters. They did some awesome character design as well. I also love the overall tone of the game, mysterious and visually entertaining. Thanks zeke2040 for the awesome game!!!

So, all in all it's been a good day. Thanks again zeke2040, I really do love the games. And even though my little Rock Band fiasco sort of put a hitch into things, my happiness hasn't been completely killed :P Hopefully though, I'll get my replacement guitar soon so I can get jamming! At least I'm the drummer in the band so it doesn't totally ruin everything. And once again, thanks so much zeke2040 for the great Christmas gifts. :D

That's right, Anaheim, because you're in Sharks territory now! With four wins and a shootout win, the San Jose are on a hot streak and at the top of the Pacific Division (4th overall in the league), woohoo! Last night's game against the Phoenix Coyotes was a killer! Captain Patrick Marleau earned his 500th career point and and two assists. Evgeni Nabokov picked up his second shutout against the Coyotes while Joe Pavelski heated up with two goals. Rookie Devin Setoguchi (Who is my pick for the Calder Memorial Trophy - Rookie of the Year) has truly been a desert dog killer with 4 goals total against the Coyotes. Unfortunately Milan Michalek who is one of the top scorers for the Sharks is out with a stained elbow. Marcel Goc, who is my favorite player, is out with back spasms. And to top it all off one of the top defensemen, Craig Rivet is out with a leg injury. So, this means the other Sharks really need to step it up for saturday's game against the Ducks. It's going to be a kickin' game since the Sharks and the Ducks have a really strong rivalry. Plus, last year's Stanly Cup winner, the Ducks, had a totally sucky start so they are playing catch up. Ranked 2nd in the Pacific Division and 13th overall, they are hard pressed to get some wins. Hopefully, this winning streak will continue until the December 8th game against the Sabres, which I will be traveling down to see!

In other news, I noticed a lot of people have been posting their Christmas wish lists so I thought I'd do the same but then I realized I don't have that much, haha. The only games I really want to get that I haven't are Folklore, Heavenly Sword, GrimGrimoire, Odin Sphere, and Crush. So, I'll probably just end up buying them after the new year. So, what about you, what's on your Christmas wish list?

I picked up Assassin's Creed as well, and I have to say "wow!". I'll let you know more about what I think after I get Uncharted and Rock Band. Other than those 3 games though, I'll probably only pick up Haze and that's it. I really need to work on finishing off some of my anime and manga series plus I haven't bought a cd in ages.

Well, I've seem to run out of things to write about so I thought I'd change subjects and talk about the music I both listen to and play. I pretty much like everything except country, can't stand it. But I listen to a lot of rock, hard rock, clas-sical, opera, international, odd local stuff, and other random music in general, lol. So, here's a break down of my top five.

Listening To

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife ~ I first heard this band with the song O Valencia! I really liked it and bought the cd just for that (I don't download music, I like having a cd collection, there's just something about actually having the disc in hand) and ended up liking all the other stuff a lot more :P And the blog title is the song I've been listening to the most from them.

Keane - Under the Iron Sea ~ One of my favorite groups! I absolutely love Crystal Ball and Nothing In My Way. I love how they use a piano in replace of a guitar too, that's an awesome sound.

Fireflight - Healing of Harms ~ Sort of an odd soft hard rock band, lol. The lead singer is also a girl, so it gives them a different sound. One of the few albums I can listen to all the way through without skipping a song.

Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory ~ I have the Minutes to Midnight album but I don't really care for it too much. I really loved the last two albums but M2M seems to be missing something. So, I'm back to My December and High Voltage, lol.

Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists ~ A friend of mine got me hooked on this band. I really like Decadence and Avarice.

As for other random stuff I'm listening to - Modest Mouse, Muse, Rush, Shadow of the Colossus Soundtrack, Modest Moussorgsky, Giovanni Gabrieli, 30 Seconds to Mars, Ace of Base, Fate/Stay Night Soundtrack, Regina Spektor, Beck, Manowar, Killswitch Engage, The Shins, Foo Fighters, Artic Monkey, Fall Out Boy, and some other random stuff, lol.

Playing

Unfortunately, it's the holiday season which means I get to play a lot of Christmas music. I used to like Christmas music but since I get asked to play the same exact songs every single year for like the past 17, it gets a little annoying after a while. Though I still like to play Carol of the Bells because I have an awesome arrangement of that song that I did myself. So it makes it a lot more fun to play (P.S. I've played the piano since I was 3 if you didn't know :P) plus it's a minor song which I enjoy those.

Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata ~ I started playing this again. I first performed this when I was 10 and haven't played it since, but I found the music for it while I was looking for my Christmas stuff and decided to start playing it again. It's a really long song and it's really tiring to play as well but it sounds so cool.

Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 ~ Another cool dark sounding piece of music. I sort of re-arranged this a bit though to make it a tad shorter, lol.

Kabalevsky - I've been playing a lot of his stuff, too many to name. I find his stuff really fun to play, even the simplier songs are actually really fun. Plus he's one of my 3 favorites.

Bartok - Another all time favorite. I've been playing a lot of his dances which have a really unique sound to them. Plus, they are short which is nice, I hate playing a song that lasts like 20 minutes, lol.

Satie - My all time favorite composer. An odd thing is, he died on July 1 1925, I was born on July 1 . . . weird. But he's a very, very, very odd person with some really odd music. I even wrote a couple of papers on him.

The only other stuff I've been playing is mine, lol. I don't really compose music, I just randomly play whatever I feel like right there and then :P But yeah, that's what I've been listening to and playing lately. What about you?

When I was little, people would always ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I always replied, "Napoleon." They would always comment with "Well, don't you know Napoleon lost at Waterloo?" My reply, "Yes, he did. But he accomplished what most cannot. He was a common man that became an Emperor and ruled the world." Yes, that was my dream job when I was little. Ruler of the world. I used to joke with my brother (whose name means"ruler")that all I wanted was North and South America, the rest he could have. Though, I haven't done much in my conquest of the world, I think I'm going to be picking up that little side hobby. I have found the perfect partner in crime and the perfect arena in which to start things rolling. zeke2040 is going to be my co-op partner for a bunch of games now including Haze and Army of Two! We are going to make an awesome team. We both think the same way, have a team spirit, and will be able to adapt to anything. And inspired by one of our favorite cartoons, we are going with the team name of B&P. So keep an eye out for B&P in the coming months as we conquer the world one game at a time.

In other news, I'm downloading the PS3 update 2.00 as I type. It's taking an amazingly long time, so hopefully I'll be able to poke around with it soon. I'm glad that we finally are able to make playlists for music and pics since I have over 5000 songs on there! It's annoying to try and search through them to listen to just one song. As for my wishlist of features I still want - in-game XMB, bigger friends list, share music and videos in chat room, in-game chat, in-game video, two players can go online at the same time from one PS3, and an audio recorder.

As for next week, Assassin's Creed comes out! Yay! I probably won't get it until the weekend if I'm lucky since nothing comes up here on time. But I'm excited to check it out and get to assassinating people. Also, Rock Band and Uncharted come out the following week. Excited about Uncharted it looks gorgeous. I'm looking forward to jamming with my bandmates as well. I wish there was some way that you could record your jam sessions to show to other people. That would be an awesome feature for Home, have your band play for your pool party :P

No, I'm not getting fired, lol. But you might, fired as my friend :P No, actually my PS3 friends list is almost full! So, I'm going to be deleting some people. My general rule for friends on the PS3 is that you have to talk to me at least once a month. I usually send out "check-up" emails to see how everyone is doing, and if I don't receive a reply in a month, I'll delete 'em. So, if you talk to me a lot over the PS3, don't worry, I'll still keep ya ;) But if you haven't talked to me in a bit, you might want to if you still want me as a friend on the PS3. So, you can post your PSN ID here and I'll make sure not to delete you. Also, those of you with multiple IDs, I'll be deleting your secondary accounts. So, let me know which one you keep as your main ID.

In other axing news, do any of you do the Gamer's Instinct poll survey thingies? I'm signed up but with every survey they always say "You do not fit the test group." I kind of wonder if it's because I'm a girl . . .or 20 . . . or live in California . . . or maybe it's because I already game a lot. But yeah, has anyone completed a survey yet? I sort of feel left out:( but I guess I could always file a lawsuit for discrimination if it keeps up :P

Other than that, it looks like we're going to start a new funeral home in a town that's just north of here. So, I'll be working full time in a few weeks or so, depending on how fast we get the new place set up. It's both a good thing and a bad thing. For one, I can't make over a certain amount of money because of my college grant which is going to be hard to do working full time. It also cuts into my gaming time as well. Anyway, the good thing is that I can put in a PS2 and bring my dog :P I'll probably just buy a new PS2, I wanted a silver one anyway, and I might pick up a silver PSP too.

So yeah, just a reminder, if you want to stay as my friend on the PS3, make sure to drop me a line on here with your ID or email me over the PSN :D

Happy Halloween everyone! Do you have any plans for tonight? I myself am just going to order pizza and watch a few movies. Here's a Halloween poem I wrote a while back, lol. Ironically, when I wrote it, I didn't even intend for it to be Halloween themed :P Well, anyway, goes to show not everyone is cut out to be a poet.

A knock at the door

A ring of the bell

"Who is that?"

I can't tell

I opened the door

And standing there

Was a cat

In frog's hair

He murmured three words

As I stood

Held out his hands

As far as he could

I slammed the door

And tried to flee

But my legs would not move

I was weak in the knees

I turned to my friend

Who was standing there

"Did you see the cat?"

"In frog's hair?"

She let out a laugh

As she turned to leave

"Don't you know?"

"It's All Hallow's Eve."

This is seriously doin' my head in!!! I can't post forum messages, I can't edit my posts, I can't read my mail, I can't track people, heck I'm not even sure I'll be able to post this blog!!! Really, GameSpot is going down the tubes! On the plus side the video tabs is finally working for me but that's about all that's working on here!

So yes, if you've sent me any mail or anything, I apologize but I won't be able to respond anytime soon. Especially since when I logged in today to check my mail, it was completely empty. I had a bunch of messages I was saving or I hadn't replied to yet . . . but they are all gone. Dissapeared into the Oblivion that is GameSpot.

Also, I can't do my "job" on the Eat, Sleep and Live Sony Union! I was working on an ongoing project with homefreak, but since I can't read my emails at all, I can't do anything, lol. This totally sucks too, because we were going to unveil some new stuff this week. Now, it's all been put on hold.

This really isn't my week, lol. What happened at GameStop and now this at GameSpot. I think their names aren't the only similarities.

In other random news,I was looking at my old, old, old blogs and noticed they were really short, lol. I barely wrote a paragraph. Now it feels like I'm writing a book :P I also noticed that my first blog I wrote was to wish my Cousin a happy birthday. Cousin, as in PSP, not a real cousin, lol. I name my consoles - Little Brother is the PSOne, Oniisan is the PS2, Cousin is the PSP, and the PS3 is Ani.

Other than that, not much going on. I seriously hope they get GS fixed though. Because it's really gettin' on me nerves :evil:

Wow, two blogs back-to-back, I must be sick . . . actually I am, haha! Anyway, well here's my update on what I think about the four new games I got. I finally got a chance to play around with all of them, so here's my thoughts. Just note, these are in no way reviews of any form. Just my opinions of the games, and remember I like sucky games too, so don't go buy any of these games on just my recommendation. Don't want you to get mad at me when you realize that you don't like 'em :P

1. The Eye of Judgment. First off let me start by saying I love tcgs even though I've never played a tcg. I've always only collected the cards never actually played the game. So, basically you get the EOJ game, a starter deck, booster pack, camera stand, playing mat, and the Eye for $69.99. Not bad considering the Eye is $39.99, a deck is $14.99, and a booster pack is $3.99 - so the game is only $11.02, lol. The stand is pretty easy to put together and it holds the camera well. The cards are well constructed too, just what you'd expect from Wizards of the Coast. The playing mat is actually made of cloth like a bandana, I was surprised at the level of detail it actually has on it. As for the camera, I was a little dissapointed with it. I was expecting it to give a clearer picture than it actually does. So, it's still below par with a standard webcam, though it does get the job done. You can tweak the camera settings which helps out a lot and makes the camera a lot clearer but it takes a little work to do. As for the gameplay, I found it very easy to learn. A few reviews mentioned that it's hard to pick up at first but I found it really easy, I didn't even look at the tutorials or manual (remember, I don't play tcgs either). Now because I'm OCD, I like to keep things in mint condition, so I put all of my cards in plastic protectors. The camera doesn't have any problems reading the cards with the protectors, which is nice. As for gameplay itself, I must say it's pretty fun and intuitive. The only thing I would warn you about is that the starter deck is very weak. So, if you just play with that, you'll be bored in minutes. So, if you plan on picking up this game, I suggest you pick up some boosters and maybe one of the other pre-constructed decks. Overall, I think it's well worth the price. It's both fun and unique. I think I spent 20 minutes just holding up my cards and reading the profiles. It's quite an empowering feeling and I even caught myself announcing the card I just summoned, lol. So, if you like tcgs, this is really a fun game. If you don't, I would suggest trying to borrow it from a friend considering the amount of money you'll have to pour into the game to make it really worth while. Like I mentioned before, you really need to invest in boosters and pre-constructed decks. Overall, I say it's about a 8.5/10 for tcg lovers and a 7.8/10 for a general game.

2. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. You should know by now that I'm a huge R&C fan. So I'll put this simply. It rocks, buy it now, don't complain. Really, it's a gorgeous looking game, it plays well, it's entertaining, and who doesn't love the groove-o-tron! As for the complaints that it's too easy, in a way it's an easy game but it doesn't mean that's a bad thing. It's amazing satisfying to blow hordes of robots apart with a tornado or making a bunch of space pirates break out in disco fever. Really, check this game out, there's no reason why you shouldn't already have it or at least have played the demo! Overall, I give it a 9.7/10 and I must say, this is probably one of my favorites of the series.

3. Skate. I'm a big fan of skateboarding games but I always felt like Tony Hawk games were missing something. Well, I found out what it is and it's the flick it system. Seriously, why didn't they think of that before. The left analog stick controls the body and the right analog stick controls the board. It's kind of like "duh!" should have thought of that sooner. But really, awesome gameplay mechanic that really should and probably will revolutionize skate boarding games. Though, it does have some downfalls. The camera perspective is similar to skate videos, where they record close to the ground, which means your character has a tendency to blot out everything except the sun! But I really enjoy the fact too that you can just skate around or if you feel like it, enter some competitions or complete some of the missions. Overall, I say this game is an 8.0/10. If you can get passed the stupid camera and the fact that places get crowded really easily, you should totally check this game out.

4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition. I'lll keep this one short. Oblivion, rocks! Don't have it yet, get it! The only thing that bugged me is that the manual is the original one from the first release (at least they could have changed it!), all the menus are the same (again, change it!), and when you play the game, your online profile still says "Oblivion" (at least they could have added GotY or something!). Other than that, great game, it's great to see Shivering Isles. Though I will say this, if you already have Oblivion, save your money and just pick up the $30 expansion disc that contains Shivering Isles. I found out 5 hours after I bought GotY that they are going to release Shivering Isles separate! So I paid $30 bucks for nothing! LOL, but yes, overall I say it's a 9.5/10.

P.S. I have to wish my oniisan a happy 7th birthday today!!! Though he's not the original, he's the slimed down version, I still can't believe that it's been 7 years! Happy birthday :D

I finally picked picked up the Eye of Judgment today. And let me tell you that sure was a feat! First off, I reserved the game months ago and when it came to launch day I went down to GameStop to check up on things. First thing they told me was they weren't going to get it. I was like "I reserved this months ago! You could have told me sooner your weren't going to get it." So they double checked and then told me they weren't going to get it until Halloween. So I said that was fine and that I would pick it up Thursday because I work on Wednesdays. And the stupid jerk told me that they couldn't guarentee that I got it since I wasn't picking it up right away. I'm the one that reserved it! I'm the one that paid for it in full! I'm the one who wants the stupid game!!! I was totally ticked at them. Well, I got a call theon Wednesdaytelling me that it was ready to be picked up today (Thursday). So I go down there to get it and the first thing the guy says, "You know this game sucks. You should really get a 360, it's a much better console." And then he goes on about how all the reviews are really low. So ok, yeah this game won't win any major awards or anything but it's really fun and unique. It's not for everyone, heck it's a card battle game, but it doesn't mean it's completely lousy. Also, most of the reviews have been around 8/10 or so. ARGH!!!!!!! I hate GameSpot!!! They seriously must be related to GameSpot considering they have the PS3 so much! But every single time I've gone in there to pick up games, PS2 or PS3, they always tell me how sucky they are and how I should get a 360. Oh, and here's the kicker, they told me that they aren't going to carry any cards for EOJ, so now I gotta find a new place to buy them!!! Whycarry the stinkin' game if you aren't going to provide the cards to actually play it!!!! GRRRH!!!

So, with that, I ended up buying two other games at FYE, lol. I really like the people over there, we're all on first name basis too, but the problem is that they don't carry that many games. Since they are sort of a general media store, they have a tendency to be weak on the games. But I ended up getting Skate which I really loved the demo for and Oblivion GotY which I had to get because I so love that game. So, unfortunately I probably won't be getting anymore games at launch date because 1. They never come up here on time anyway. 2. I'm never, ever, ever setting inside another GameStop. and 3. Even if I buy online, it still takes like two weeks to get up here.

Anyway, I'll let you know more about EOJ and R&C when I've played them a bit more.