Hmmm...been a while, but I'm at work and feel like adding to my profile. Benn playing tons of games lately, on the Wii, DDR, American Idol 2, House of the Dead, Mario Kart and Mario Galaxy...on the Xbox 360, Lord of the Rings Conquest, Halo 2 (my first time...LOL), Left for Dead, Burnout Paradise, etc, etc.

I've also bought a DS and been playing quite a few games, Mario Kart, Warhammer 40k, Brain Age2, and some of my GBA games...which made me break out the SP to play Link's Awakening and Super Mario Land. And it dawned on me. Why are there no Gameboy games on Wii Virtual Console? Metroid, Super Mario Land, Zelda, Castlevania, RC Proam, Pokemon Red/Blue, Yellow? Those are some awesome games and are becoming very hard to find, I've looked.

And while we're on the topic of Wii Virtual Console, why are there almost as many Turbo Graphix 16 games as SNES? Seriously??? I would much rather see more NES/SNES games, and perhaps a few more N64. But to not have any gameboy titles is a shame and they're missing a huge market I think.

In the meantime I'll cherish the few Gameboy games I have in the meantime until the boys at Nintendo wise up.

I got to go to the Expo on the climatic day 2. I just finished a 12 hour shift and was wiped. I contemplated not going, but said "Hey, don't bail on yourself dude.". With that I hopped the GO bus en route to t-dot.

When I got there it was pretty easy to find the convention centre, and made it there in about 1/2 an hour. Getting inside was a different story. I had to wait about 45 minutes to buy a ticket to get in, good thing I had my GBA SP to kill the time. After I had my ticket in hand I immediately made it for the door...nobody asked for my ticket and I just kept moving...to another queue.

To my dismay, there was a HUGE honkin' line to get in...about 1,000 people. And of course, I was behind some guy who kept cmplaining about the wait. Talking about getting Nimoy's autograph...blah, blah blah. I entertained him by contradicting him after every comment..."No, waiting's not so bad.", etc. I got in queue about 9 am, and got into the Expo around 11. It went by pretty fast, but really wish I had a drink on me...1,000 bodies create a lot of heat and there seemed to be no A/C.

Around 11 I got in, and at first I just stood in the door way. I had no idea where to go first. I was stupeifed for a few seconds and then delved head first into the anime section. Pretty impressive the selection they had, sadly...few rarities or true collectibles. The comic section had all sorts of golden age comics averaging $1,000 or so (no thanks). It was hilarious seeing comic fan boys ripping through the boxes of back issues trying to fill thier set. They seemed joyless and I actually saw a guy almost pee himself in distress over not finding a specific issue.

The video game demos were a joke. A couple of Wiis, a few DSis, 1 PS3 on a 56' tv, and a half dozen Xbox 360's. Funny enough nobody was really playing them, nor was there a line up. There was a demoof a guy who claimed to be the Street Fighter champ and you could play him for bragging rights, but he didn't seem that good...I think the first match I watched he lost...LOL.

Disney had the bike from Tron on display in neon lights...pretty neat. The horror section sucked. Anchor Bay and Alliance had a few posters and banners up, but that's the limit. Bunch of comics, but they were selling them...are u kidding me?

Ummm...what else? The autograph section was okay...but suffered due to the poor floor planning. You had to cut across seas of fan boys waiting for autographs to get to the food stands and washrooms...WTF? Lou Ferrigno and James Avery Brooks was all I saw...but I didn't go for autograps (bitter 'cause Tom Savini cancelled).

Best part??? In my opinion...getting my pics with Victor Lucas and Scott Jones from Reviews on the Run (had them sign my GBA SP...LOL) and all the cosplay. Would I do it again? Yeah, the shopping was fun and taking pics was exciting. Would I try to get VIP tickets or anything....vehemently NO!

Thanks guys!!!

August 28th to 30th is the Fan expo. It will have horror, comics, gaming, sci-fi and anime. Hell ya. I'll be going, but can't decide on what cosplay to wear. I figure either wear a comic shirt, or go all out and dress like a zombie. I'll post pics when i get back. I figure when I go I'll get ideas for nexts years cosplay...and if I can think of a good enough of an idea, I'll participate in the costume masquerade. BTW...the 501st batallion will be dressing like stormtroopers and marching in a parade...video for sure...wait and see.

10. NYX Quest - seeing a few videos and screenshots of this game, and browsing through the manual on the shopping channel has made me interested in this. Kinda looks like it will be like Prince of Persia. I can't quite tell how the graphics translate into playability, looks like some camera angles might be tough to deal with in mid-action, but unfortunatley there's no demos on the shopping channel so I have to spend the 1000 points to see.

#10. #9.

9. Virtua Tennis 2009 - I watched the review on Reviews on the Run and looks pretty good. I know I have a hard time playing just Wii Sports Tennis, but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun!

8.Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles - I normally would put a zombie game as number one, but seeing as how it is more arcade-rail shooting I'll put it higher up on the list. Looks like it has decent graphics, and game play pace looks exciting...not too keen on fighting giant spiders, crocodiles, etc.

#8. #7.

#7. World of Goo - Looks fun. Again, I saw the review for this on Reviews on the Run. The buzz is good for this game, and consequently in one of the only Wii Ware games going for 1500 points.

#6. Super Mario Galaxy - this game looks pretty amazing. I haven't looked into it that much, but when has a Mario game not been good (exception for SMB 2)? If it's anything like Mario 64 or Mario Sunshine I'm sure it'll be a smash to play...as long as I don't obsess over trying to get all the stars.;)

#6. #5.

#5. Dead Space: Extraction - This game is supposed to be the prequel to Dead Space for the Xbox 360. I want to buy Dead Space for the 360 more than I do for the Wii. They decided to make Dead Space: Extraction a FPS and have scaled back some of the interfaces (such as the HUD). If you rate this gamebesidethe 360 version, you still walk away with a pretty sweet horror FPS. I hope it is as good as the preview videos show it to be.

#4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl - I don't have much to say about this game. I've played the N64 and Gamecube version and have been happy about both. I'm glad there is a greater selection of characters, and I hope this makes the game longer than I've found the predcessors.

#4. #3.

#3. Wii Sports Resort - I love Wii Sports, but don't know if I am ready to buy another one. I don't know much about this one either, but see the commercial for it about 50 times a day so I'm curious. I will rent if for sure.

#2. Punch Out!! - Come on, it's Punch Out!! 'Nuff Said.

#2. #1.

#1. Rock Band: Beatles - I wanted to buy Rock Band anyways, but when I heard that they are releasing a 46-track Beatles version I was all over that. I've grown up with the Beatles and now I have a chance to ruin all of their songs with my singing! Awesomeness

I think it is becoming increasingly clearer that video game manufacturers are going to eliminate any form of piracy through product testing with DLC. Paranoid, consider this. Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 all began to offer DLC. Nothing strange, if anything totally awesome! But now here's the twist...PSP's new version only allows game transfer through PS3 or DLC...removing the ability to copy discs. Then the new DS, DSi...removes the GBA slot, and new firmware eliminates ALL flash card capability. On top of all that, DSi now introduce DLC through DS Points. Seems to me they are following the PSP's steps in eliminating hard copies of games for hackers to disect. Not that I am against any of this, but I'm not a fan of D/L games onto my Xbox or Wii...and soon DSi. Meh

I broke down and bought a Wii. My friend's kid brought it to the house and I played for about two hours and decided to buy. I played Wii Sports (boxing and Tennis), then some Mario Kart. That was all it took.

I am mostly writing this blog as my retraction that Nintendo is a sissy system and they are only making games for kids. I was wrong. I bought an Xbox 360 for Halo, GOW, Left 4 Dead, etc., nut whenI picked up my Gameboy Advance and started playing Metroid Fusion and realized that even though there seems to be little change in games from system to system (i.e. Super Metroid to Metroid Fusion...Smash Bros. 64 to Smash Bros. Melee), they are sooo much fun.

I guess there's enough of me (and my money) to go around.

Well, my NHL 09 went poo-poo (crack in the disc) so I decided to play Dead Rising again. This game may turn out to be my new Mario 64. I beat the game already, did the overtime mode and got the Zombie Genocide achievement. But I found my first way through I was simply going for the Real Mega Blaster and walked through with the FAQ from Gamefaqs. I am not complaining in any way cause it was a blast, but the game is really difficult without the Real Mega Blaster, and it's a heck of a lot funner. It was great my first time encountering Jim's Hunting Shack, with only two jugs of O.J., a katana, and a hand gun. I was getting smoked, decided to go over the counter and he picked me up and threw me back. Suffice it to say, he whomped my butt. I think I'm gonna lay off the FAQ's until the game is done (I'm playing Assassain's Creed & GOW now and a good chunk through both of them too),I'll worry about the achievements until I'm done them.

This is my piece to juxtapose two of the best Xbox games yet...Gears of War and Halo. Both have sold in excess of 5 million copies and have established a strong pressence in the gaming industry. Halo, being the system launch title of the original Xbox has gone on to spawn many sequels/prequels, novels and other media (toys, etc.), where GOW is new to the Xbox (Xbox 360 to be exact) and has only one sequel to date, and ambitiously making its way into other media.

I have done this piece to see where my alleigance lays, and to help you decide where yours may lay. This will not be exhaustive, but will touch on several categories...

Story: In Halo,humans are space-port jumping around colonizing the universe. You encounter a race of baddies called the Covenant, who decide you're bad for their religion and declare a jihad on your ass. In an attack by the Covenant, you blind space-jump and find a ring (or Halo) which is inhabitable. Upon landing, you quickly learn that the Halo has some sort of super weapon, which the Covenant (yes, they followed you) plan to get. Accidentally, the Covenant release a parasitic species called "Flood" and you have to escape and prevent their spread through the galaxy. A robot called Guilty Spark wants to activate the Halo to destroy the galaxy to ensure the Floods destruction, but is undermined by your effort. You escape, destroying the Halo by self-destructing your original space vessel, the Pillar of Autum...game over. In Gears of War, you're in prison...don't know why (something revealed about an unfair trial), and freed because the Locust have overrun the prison. You are ordered to find the Locust's underground location, deploy the resonator (to map out the whole network) and high-tail outta there. You get the resonator down there (after three chapter) just to find out it doesn't do the job. One of your team-mates realizes that at your father's estate there is a map of the underground network. You haul-ass there, get the data,fight your way onto a train back into that abyss, deploy the Lightmass bomb and BOOM. Full points to Halo here, I don't know about bugs who learn metallurgy, develop guns and live under humans without detection, but hey...no more likely than lizards who develop spaceships and colonize the universe I guess. But aside from the realism of the story, it felt like Halo had a very well thought out plot with firm character development. I was really interested during each cut-scene of Halo, whereas in GOW I couldn't skip through the cut-scene and was thoroughly bored through each one. POINT HALO

Gameplay: Both games have an element of you go where you're told. GOW tried to make it interesting by giving the player the option of left or right. Novel, but utterly useless as it doesn't really change what happens. One thing I really hated in GOW was that you couldn't skip the cut-scenes, as well as when there were transmissions you couldn't do anything but walk around talking into a walkie-talkie. In GOW, it was impossible to fall off ledges, which some may prefer, but I found it to be a little juvenille. For instance, when fighter Shriekers and they swarm you, you recoil trying to get a bearing on them...I think it would have added to the intensity if I also had to worry about falling off the edge. I like in both that there is a regeneration aspect (GOW'sI feel is better); in GOW you regenerate all health, in Halo you regernerate shields, having to pick up first aid kits for health. In Halo, there is A LOT of back tracking, in GOW though some areas may feel repetitive, they are not. POINT GEARS OF WAR

Control: I did not like the 3rd person aspect of GOW. I like my shooters 1st person (maybe that's just me). I like the weapons menu for GOW though. I found it easy to switch through all the weapons. I found the cover-method a little inconsistent, but thoroughly enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the removal of a jump button. I find jumping in 1st person shooters clumsy at best (not to mention the ridiculous translation into multiplayer matches). Also, I liked the "Y" button access to view where something has occured, as I also loved the reloading mechanism. POINT GEARS OF WAR

Graphics: Halo was pretty stunning for its time, and has aged well. But GOW is absolutely awesome. The water effects, fire effects, how bullets smolder in concrete, pretty thorough. I don't especially like the "Unrealesque" character models, but am willing to put up with it for the great graphics. POINT GEARS OF WAR

Sound: If it wasn't for Halo's theme music, the weapon effects would win it for GOW. POINT HALO

Online Content: Halo was barely able to be online-compatible. Times have brought the Franchise online, but barely. Apparently it's pretty tricky to do, involving a bit more than you're willing to do now, maybe a couple of years ago. GOW has maps, tourneys and more online. POINT GEARS OF WAR

Characters/Villans: Halo, the Covenant rule...then on top of that, the Flood enter just past mid-way in the game. You watch the Flood go after everyone...FREAKIN' AWESOME! In GOW you fight Drones, Shriekers, Boomers, Beserkers, Corpsers, and I forget the rest...zzz. I would give the point to GOW for the Shriekers, but Halo's Elite's, Hunters and Flood are too awesome to fight...and you don't need a Hammer of Dawn either (geesh - I'll explain). POINTHALO

Weapons/Vehicles: The Hammer of Dawn is a signal finder for a satelite which blasts the rocks off your opponents (after a few shots, really, imagine?). Instead of it being a plus, I found it to really interupt the gameplay, who doesn't want to fight a huge boss-like monster with their reflexes and accuracy...like fighting a Hunter with a standard-issue pistol? I don't like that you can carry only two weapons in Halo. I really like carrying two light, two heavy guns in GOW (then I can have machine gun/sniper, or machine gun/shotgun), I never like an ultimatum. However, that being said...I did not like the weapons of GOW. The sniper rifle was VERY limited, just one scope sighting, not the zoom of Halo's. The rocket launcher tea-bagged in GOW, as did the pistol and shotgun. I liked taking the Covenant's guns in Halo with the exception of the nigh-useless "Needler". I always found them powerful enough to take on prey, and in great supply (the overheating feature was dually appreciated). Of the four weapons of GOW though, one in grenade, one pistol, and two heavy. Therefore you really only get one extra gun, I felt I had to say that. POINT HALO

Looks like a tie. I think Halo was the bomb when it came out, and still is. But if these two titles came out at the same time, I think all the subtle differences of GOW would beat out Halo. I mean there is a lot more than what I have written, I did try to keep it short:).I recommend you play both (if you haven't already), and add your comments here to voice your opinion.

Hey all. Just wanted to share that I have finally bought an Xbox 360. I have been a die-hard Nintendo fan, enjoying years of Mario, Zelda, etc. But when I saw the graphics of some of the new Xbox games (Bioshock, RE5, Gears of War, NHL 09), I said enough! Not only have I found Nintendo's graphics poor quality and uninspired (most resemble Nickelodeon cartoons), but the physics are poor quality too, with collision detection being substandard. The only factor which I could not contest was the fun factor, but thankfully, after E3 that will soon too be a negative to Nintendo, and a huge plus to Microsoft. I bought my first games, Dead Rising and NHL 09. I have to say it has been the most pleasurable gaming experience in a long time. My last experience with Nintendo left a bad taste in my mouth, I had a flash card for the DS and had infinite amount of games to play...but felt zero desire to play another 90's RPG, or a shooter where I could barely make out what I was aiming at (COD 4). Desperate, I resorted to other avenues of emualation and felt bored, bored, BORED! Buying an Xbox 360 has brought excitement to my gaming again, with an expansive online community and resources for D/L (Bionic Commando redux...sweet), not to mention an extensive list of awesome games, which are more suited to my age (30). No more big, bright eyes and distustingly cute characters...GOW, Bioshock, Fallout 3, Assassin's Creed, Left 4 Dead, Dead Space...all so freakin' awesome!!! Thanks Microsoft, for making me love gaming again! Thanks Nintendo for the 20 years of friendship, but it's time to grow up and kick some butt!!!