FINALLY I got my 360 back, it dosen't freeze anymore, AND I got Xbox Live Gold for a year. Soon I will have all of the acheivments I can grasp, so look out everyone(I'm looking at you Carrie Gouskos......). Also, if anyone wants to play and has 360 Live, look out on Quake 4, Project Gotham 3, and NFS: Most Wanted for MoparDodge22739.

-Casey Cannon

Actually its been 50 days. I planned on haveing a job by now, but my plans have changed. I'm afraid you guys will have to wait longer for Mopinions to return. I will be on the forums more than I have been though. Other than that, I finally got a warrenty on my 360 and I sent it off to Microsoft to be fixed finally, free of charge. All and all, I'm pretty happy, but I'll be happier once I get to workin and makin tha moe-nay.

-Casey Cannon

Sadly(for thosewho actually read them), I've decided to put my blog on a hiatus for a moment. The reason? Well, I figured, "Casey, you retard, why not just post opinions in the damn comments below the page of each new storythat nobody reads?" . The reason for that is because I've yet again changed the purpose of Mopinions. Instead of posting opinions on new stories in my blog, I'm going to post my opinions/impressions on upcomeing games. The problem is, your going to have to wait till I get a job before that happens, which will probibly be 2-5 weeks from now, so that I may be able to purchase these demos. So, I guess for 40 days and 40 nights, this blog will be flooded and washed clean of its impurity and boredom, with new, exiteing content, Yay. See you when the rain stops.

-Casey Cannon

Well, here I am again, still pissed at my 360, writing another "Mopinions", of which got rave reviews... from the crickets that is... Originally, I thought I'd make a Weekly Mopinions based on The Hotspot, I decided to change that and make it daily, or at least everyday there's some news to talk about. Why the change you ask? Well, I find myself increasingly bored with the topics on the forums here lately, so to bide my time while I wait for new, exiting topics to pop up, I decided, why not, and use this to pass my time, even though I don't think anyone reads this... But on with the blog anyway!

                           Reservoir Dogs game banned in Australia
Eidos' interactive take on Quentin Tarantino's classic crime caper film is refused classification.

Let me tell you something, God Bless America. Sure, we have a backstabbing government that watches and listens to everything we say and do, sure we all have problems with money due to all this money going into the war that millions of good men and women have died for oil in, sure we have the largest crime rate of any other country on the planet, but by God, we at least have the right to play games those poor basturds in Australia are forbidden to have. The OLFC are worse than all the soccer moms in America put together, stamping out games that are sometimes good, sometimes bad. They're so afraid of sex and violence, they wouldn't even allow a game that you SPRAY PAINT in. But what they don't want to admit is that they too, like every other country in the world, have killers, rapists, thieves and every other type of criminal, just like America, the people they portray as a country of godless heathens. Sure, if you were to give a 3 year old GTA, it may cause problems later. Give a 13+ year old GTA, and there's about a 99.9-100% chance he/she will grow up just fine. In only ONE instance did 22 year old Devin Moore think he could do the things he did in GTA in real life by killing 2 police officers and a dispatcher in Alabama, of whom was sentenced to death October 7th, 2005. My take on that is, anyone who says "Life is like a video game; everybody has to die sometime.", clearly has mental issues beyond a video game that should and could have been prevented by the parents, or at least medically prevented as a child. My Final Opinion, games don't make you have kill people, have sex, do drugs or spray paint public property, YOU do that by yourself... Also, send Jackass Thompson to Australia please. He may feel better in a place where everyone, you know, hates him.

                                          Take-Two gets served by NYDA
Hot Coffee continues to percolate as lead Manhattan prosecutor announces investigation over hidden sex-game controversy.

Basically a no-news story, the NYDA wants to know everything thats gone on in the company since 2001 all in one report. It surprises me at how much our government looks at this and sees a problem to kids when allot of these kids brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins, aunts and uncles are fighting in the governments power munging lust for global supremacy and crude oil. Seems hypocrisy is mans greatest flaw nowadays. My Final Opinion, this is no news really, just that the NYDA wants to look at what Take-Two and Rockstar have been doing the past five years. Big deal.

                                                    Taito exec suite reshuffled
Square Enix CEO Youichi Wada to take the helm of recently purchased subsidiary.

Pretty much another no-news story. Square-Enix CEO and Taito Chairman Of The Board Youichi Wada is swapping places with Taito CEO Yasuo Nishigaki. What does this mean? It means Youichi Wada is going to be CEO of both Taito and Square Enix, while Yasuo Nishigaki goes on to be Chairman Of The Board for Taito. For those who don't know, Taito is the little-known company who've made mostly arcade hits like Bust-A-Move, Bubble Bobble, multiple flight games(including upcoming Over-G Fighters) and many Japanese-only games, the most notable Half-Life 2: Survivor. My Final Opinion, with a line-up of less than impressive games and very impressive games that are unfortunately only available in Japan, nobody really cares if Taito is going to be taken over by the much more reputable CEO of Square-Enix. I'd say, this is for the good of Taito.

                                                     ESA, EMA sue Oklahoma
Industry trade groups file suit to have game law overturned, accuse legislators of passing unconstitutional law.

It goes back to the Reservoir Dogs article, video games DO NOT, CANNOT and WILL NOT make you into some damn lunatic. I mean, I can understand having to take your ID to buy or rent a video game, but not even being allowed as a retailer to even show the games? Not even being allowed as a parent to say "My kid is a good, mature kid, he/she knows this stuff is fake" and buy it for them? I do believe, it is your duty as a parent to tell your kids what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s real, what’s fake and to take charge in what your kids view and do. I do not believe its any of some Oklahoma politicians damn business to tell you how to raise your kids. My Final Opinion, do we really even need Oklahoma? Send them all to Australia with Jack Thompson.

                      Microsoft PR rep: No 360 price drop this fall
Redmond-based internal publicist John Porcano uses his blog to report that the software giant will not reduce the price of its next-gen console in late 2006.

To me, this is a bad choice by Microsoft. Why? Well I'm glad you asked. Sony is selling their consoles $300-200 more than a Xbox 360, however Sony has always had a large fan base in America, Europe and Japan, insuring they will most definitely sell as much, if not more systems than the Xbox 360s launch. With no Halo 3 to counter it, Microsoft needs something to win over gamers this holiday. Many people won't buy them because of previous launch bugs, many will not buy them because of its price, but believe me, there will be many more sells of the PS3 than the 360 this holiday. Because if Microsoft doesn’t drop the price down to at least $250 for a core and $350 for a premium, they will lose the 4th quarter, while Sony will be counting the money of all those $500-600 consoles. My Final Opinion, better pull somethin out of your ass Microsoft if you want to stand a chance against the might of Sony.

Well, that seems like about it, I'll be seeing you guys later. To all the people in Australia and Oklahoma, sorry I said ass so much. Thank you and goodmorning because it is now about 5 am.....

-Casey Cannon

Like the sound of that, Mopinions? Mopar-Opinions, get it?..... Aw f*** you then.... Anyway here I am, its 3-ish, bored and pissed off about my 360 freezing.. Since I got nothing else better to do, I'll share my opinions of this past weeks hottest topics on the Hotspot.

                                                             DEEP FREEZE
                                                  Blizzards MMORPG Future?

As GS' own Carrie Gouskos said on this weeks The Hotspot Podcast, Blizzard has definitely thought about making a Diablo and/or Starcraft MMO, and to me there's about a 90% chance they will be made in the future, if not in production now. Blizzard knows people love Diablo and Starcraft, two of some of their most best selling products and they know, sense the release of their latest prodigy, World of Warcraft, it would be stupid not to grab the ball and run with it when making a new MMO. But, as they said, the games will not come out until the World of Warcraft craze is over, or at least slowing down. If a World of Starcraft were to be released, I too, would much rather play that game than a WoW, Guild Wars or Everquest, simply because it would be a Sci-Fi MMO made by the makers of the most appealing MMO to me, WoW. Although the Sci-Fi MMOs have been done, such as Anarchy Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Auto Assault and EVE Online, they haven't been done all to well, at least not as well as Fantasy MMOs, which would give Blizzard even more of a dominance over their competitors. Personally, I'd like it if the guys who made The Elder Scrolls series created a MMO, but that’s just a random thought. My Final Opinion is that I agree with the people here at GS, Blizzard will make WOS, and would be stupid not to. Just, not right now.

AUDI 5000
Bill Gates' Getaway?

Although this is a big topic, their really isn’t that much to say about it. Yeah, Bill Gates is leaving in 2 years to pursue a charity thing. Good for Bill. In my opinion, there's really no reason why Bill should quit, but there's really no reason why he shouldn't. Its his choice, he's just getting old and wants to settle down alittle. My Final Opinion, Bills quiting, big deal. We shall see Microsofts progress within the next 2 years before Bill makes the leap.

                                   EMULATING THE HUMAN MIND
                 Psychonauts to finally be Backwards Compatible?

Once again, another pretty much no-news story. I never played Psychonauts, so I can't say whether or not they should make it Backwards Compatible. However, since Microsoft did say it would be, the game deserves to be compatible with the Xbox 360. It will be though, give it time, Psychonauts received quite a few sales, so definitely, yes, eventually Microsoft will mess around until they get it right. My Final Opinion, it goes right back to things like Blizzards World of Starcraft, it will happen, just not yet. Good news is, I don't think you have to wait long for Psychonauts.

                                                                       DS JACK
                                           $2,000,000 worth of BS... I mean DS

Okay, now how, in the hell, can 15,385 Nintendo DS Lites suddenly disappear from Hong Kong? This isn’t clear, so I'm guessing either stolen from the shipping boats or from the actual factory, I'll start with the factory. No security systems, no guards, no video cameras, nothing? The only real way they could disappear is by multiple vans/trucks loading them. To do that, the drivers would need access cards/passwords to get past the gate. What’s that? No gate? Well isn’t that highly inconvenient. I'm sure they would have one, along with one of either 3 things; a Keypad, a little thing to swipe an Access Card or a Keypad AND a little thing to swipe an Access Card. In order to get in, they would either need to be an employee or a friend of an employee in order to borrow/steal the card and/or learn the code from. They could have hacked, that would explain the video cameras, however the hacker would need to take time in doing this, letting other cameras plainly see the vehicles license plate numbers. Not to mention, there would most likely be Security Guards. Bottom line, someone would have been busted by now if it wasn't an employee. Now I move onto the cargo boat suspicions. Most docks and cargo boats do have security cameras, putting this ajar too. Once again, many people would need to haul these items, quickly and quietly mind you, into multiple vans/trucks, all of which, also would require ID tags to prove they work for the docks, which brings back the suspicion this was the work of employees. My Final Opinion is that this is an interesting and highly complexed crime. I only hope the guys in Hong Kong are as smart or preferably smarter than a 15 year old guy in America who posts blogs on a video game website.

                                                        ORIGINAL LARA
                                                   Laras Tomb Raided again?

As a owner of the first Tomb Raider game, as soon as I saw this I thought to myself.... Wow.... I really need to play that game like at least once. Back when I bought it, I sucked at games and couldn't get past the first level. However, I do look forward to seeing a fully fledged remake of the game, instead of just some Collection of Tomb Raider 1, 2, 3 and Chronicles. I believe though, that this new game could be one of four things; a completely different Tomb Raider game with nothing to do with the original storyline, Basically the first Tomb Raider game with the same storyline except an alternate way to play(example: The game takes place in places completely different from the first, however basically the same storyline), mostly the first Tomb Raider game with some extras(Abilities, Extended/New levels, More weapons, etc, etc) or the exact same Tomb Raider game with better graphics. Its highly likely that Tomb Raider: The 10th Anniversary will be the third thing I listed, however I wouldn't count out the other three just yet. I don't think Crystal Dynamics would stoop to changing the game completely, as most hardcore Tomb Raider fans would not appreciate Tomb Raider to be something entirely different. That leaves three. Knowing Crystal D, a reputable game company in my opinion, I don't think they would just up and release a updated version of the game with the same storyline, weapons, abilities, ect, ect, without changing anything. That leaves but two. There is a high chance that the game is mostly the same, yet mostly different at the same time. Same storyline, yet a different way to unravel its mysteries. Same gameplay, yet a different way to control and execute Laras moves. So which will it be, Same old Lara with some new weapons and in some extended levels, or same old Lara in a completely alternative universe to unleash her large-breasted, tight shorted, acrobatic fury upon. My Final Opinion, for now, I can't say for certain, but it seems the new Tomb Raider has a high chance of being a budget game with updated graphics and afew new things in the mix. But I personally hope, its an alternate way to play.


MADSON JOINS YAKUZA
Isn’t he badass enough?

To me, Michael is a awesome actor, having played in a few of my favorite films Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs and the more recent Sin City, to name a few. Each time, he plays a badass role, mainly because of his rusty voice from smoking a few too many Marlboro Reds. His voice, though awesome, I cannot see coming from a fat Japanese crime lord. Nishiki, played by Michael Rosenbaum, I also cannot see being the voice of a young Yakuza gangster. Rosenbaum, to me, is a pretty bad actor, which when your on a second-rate sci-fi/mystery/action cable show on the WB, you really aren't the best actor in Hollywood in my opinion, and the same goes for the voice of Yumi, Elisa Dushku. The two voices I've seen so far though, look to me like they may work. Mark Hamil, from a little underground film named Star Wars, seems to be well placed as the voice of the madman Majima, along with Rachel Leigh Cook. My Final Opinion, I don't know how this english cast will fare due to its lack of talented actors an actresses in my opinion, however with names like Michael Madson and Mark Hamil, its hard not to be exited.

                                                             BEAUTY PAGEANT
                                        Danger: Hypocrisy and Brain Dead Logic Ahead

I posted this earlier on the official Hotspot 06/20/06 thread. I don't care about female gamers. They can kick my ass, I can kick their ass, we all get our asses kicked, then its fun. Just like anyone else. PMS and Fragdolls are stereotypical girl gamers that, as Carrie is mainly getting at, ruin the REAL girl gamers images. I do think this beauty pageant thing is quite stereotypical as well, but to say their going to make a Male Gamers pageant, it makes them look like abunch of hypocritical, braindead and overall completely ruining the girl gamer image. As Carrie said, your free to join any clan you want. All girl, all guy, mixed, whatever. The point is, have fun and don't do it to say "Hey, girls are gamers too!". PMS and Fragdolls are the medias face for girl gaming, and that face is ugly, due to the fact their hypocrisy knows no bounds. My Final Opinion, I don't care if your a dude or a chick, just lets get together and have fun.

Well, that’s it for today at least. Hopefully if people read this and like it they'll comment or send me messages or something. But eh, I might do one anyway just in spite of all the silence.

-Casey Cannon

Well, its 5-ish around here, the weather's a b**** and I'm half asleep. As many of you know(who would bother to read this), my name is Casey Cannon, male, 15, from Belmont NC, USA(course if you read the bottom right of the page, you'd know that...). I've been gaming since I was around 2 or 3 years old, can't even remember my first game. Despite my gaming at a young age, I haven't bought or even played that many games at all really, I'd say around 150 tops, mainly because I can't afford to buy or even rent games. However, that shouldn't suggest I'm still a noob. I admit, I'm not the best gamer in the world, though my skills I believe are adequate. I love the industry, I love everything about games, the realism, the graphics, the entire fantasy of being in these whole other worlds you can do anything in. And so I decided I would create my own rating system, to help people choose a great first game, and also to see if the hardcore gamers money will be spent wisely. Some of these ratings will not be agreed with by other gamers, so I'll tell you why some of your favorite games got low, or lower scores than you'd hoped.

My Ratings system works this way: Tally up everything that is GOOD about the game, give it a point(1) for each thing it gets right ; Tally up everything that is BAD about the game, give it a half point(0.5) for everything it gets wrong ; Tally up everything that is UGLY about the game, give it a quarter point(0.25) for everything some gamers may or may not like in the game.

Now that you have all your points tallied, Subtract the number of BAD and UGLY points from the GOOD points. Divide 100 from the GOOD points and times the outcome with the Subtracted number of good points.

Confused? Well, let me give you an example, and why one of the most popular games got a low score from me.

METAL GEAR SOLID 2:SONS OF LIBERTY[6.6]

THE GOOD:6
Nice Blend of Action and Stealth Elements

Very Complex Storyline

Large Amount of Items and Weapons that can all play their own roles in the game

Excellent Graphics

Outstanding Music

Good Voice Acting

THE BAD:1.5
The Camera can sometimes be an annoyance

Cut-Scenes are too many and too long

Some flaws within the Script writing

THE UGLY:0.5
For some, especially Metal Gear Solid fans, the addition of “Raiden” can turn some gamers away

The Storyline, while complex, is very confusing, which may not be every gamers cup of tea

Now, for the math.

6(GOOD)
-
2(BAD/UGLY combined)
=
4

100
/
6
=
16.6666666666666666666666666666667
x
4
=
66.6666666666666666666666666666667

Final verdict: 6.6

Basically, a game gets points taken away for things it does wrong. Too many times have I seen people list more flaws than good points in a game and still give it a high score. My rating system is basically a way to weed out through the massive sea of crap that has bad/unworthy games floating all around. I'm not saying Metal Gear Solid is a absolute terrible game though, I'm looking at the Hardcore gamer and the Novice gamer. For a Novice gamer, MGS2 would be a poor first game choice because of its Camera annoyances, the flawed script writing, the long cut scenes and the confusing storyline. Having to wade through all that would be a task that non-gamers would give up on after about an hour. However, it still got a okay score because for those hardcore gamers who have played games as hard or harder than this are used to it, and are free to enjoy it. Note that just because I give a game a 6, does not mean its terrible, it means its a fair game, an average game. Few other games strive to be as good or better. And also note, just because my Recommended score is for a game, does not mean it is the same as my PERSONAL score. Personally, I would give MGS2 around a 9.0. Why don't I go with my personal opinion? Because as a hardcore gamer and telling a Novice gamer that I'd give it a 9.0, telling them its excellent and all that will make them want to buy it. Then once the do buy it, they’d get it home, play it for about an hour, then give up because of its flaws. Bottom line, my ratings here(and soon reviews) are buying suggestions that I believe once people really think about it, understand my system, they'll kind of agree. I hope at least.

-Casey Cannon