Just finished up my review for Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando. And if you notice a big wall of text towards the end, that's not my fault, glitchspot won't let me space those paragraphs.

Anyways, nothing much has happened in terms of gaming. Except starting on Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, I sure love those platform games, huh. Also, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence was one of the other games I forgot to mention in my blog about the last batch of PS2 titles that I intend to buy and play before I completely move on to what is now called current gen (X360, PS3, Wii). I've heard that MGS3 is really good (Better than MGS2) so no way I would be able to pass that up. So, Is their any other PS2 games that you guys think I might be interested in? My main genres are Shooters, Racing, Action/Adventure, Plaformers (excluding The Jak series) and Action RPG's (Very picky about that genre though). Btw, where the hell is my Gears emblem!?

Lastly, I would like to give my condolences to the friends and families of those who died at Virginia Tech. A devastating tragedy felt throughout America and I wish a speedy recovery to the wounded as well. It really pains me to see such vicious and reckless acts of violence committed like this. Just goes to show that some people have deadly intentions on their minds, and that your life could be cut short in a instant, so never take it for granted. Until next time, Good bye folks!

Disappointment and a bit of frustration was on my face when my team was eliminated from the 3 vs 3 Gears tournament yesterday. Everything started out fine and I, somewhat nervous/confident going into to it, until early in the match one of our teammates dropped out. I couldn't believe it, and from then on anything went downhill. The funny thing is, we were actually holding our own pretty decently against the odds (Sorta like "300" in a sense) and if we would've had that 3 person, I'm quite positive a victory was at hand...maybe. I guess receiving an emblem (Which will probably come after the tournament ends) for participating is my "console"lation prize, but I so badly wanted a better shot at the $1000. Next time, if their is a next time, I will join a team of people I know. And for whatever reason he left I hope it was a good one...like an accidental disconnection or something.

You know about the original Xbox (which I mentioned a few blogs ago) that I was dying to sell for some extra cash? Well, it's been done. I asked one of my friends if he wanted to buy it, and he said sure. I also had a second Xbox (Totally non-functional and served as a giant paper weight) that needed the boot as well. I sold everything for a total of $40...that was the price he was willing to buy it for, and I know that isn't much but I really don't care.

In other news, didn't get a chance to show off my skills in the Gears of War Tournament yesterday. Mainly because the opposing team failed to show up, so that meant we automatically advanced to the preliminary round starting on Wednesday. Speaking of Gears, theirs a new game mode that just came out called "Annex". It's a king of the hill type mode that's actually pretty fun and involves more teamwork then the other modes. It's an update you have to download through the game itself. The update also fixes some of the known glitches too.

As far as games go, I'm having fun with Marvel Ultimate Alliance that I rented a couple of days ago. The co-op is especially enjoyable with 4 players. The graphics are reasonably good on the 360, but not a HUGE leap over X-men Legends 2. Who knows, I may review it after I'm finished...not sure yet.

Yes, I realized I talk alot about the 360, and not my other consoles. So that brings me to my PS2. God of War II, Sly 2 & 3, Ratchet: Deadlocked, Okami, Rogue Galaxy and maybe Bully are just some of the PS2 games that I want to acquire before discontinuing my use of this system. But with my 360 getting all of the attention, it's hard for me to play both equally. What am I to do?

One more thing: Guitar Hero III confirmed? If true, maybe I'll wait to get that instead of GH2. Plus it gives me time to decide if I really want to pay that much for it too. Well, See ya later fools!

I finished Crackdown not so long ago, and here's my Review.

So yeah, I registered for my first GS tournament. Gears of War is the game, and I hope to get far enough perhaps into the finals. Wish me luck! 

Attempting to sell my original Xbox (and you probably know why I'm doing this) for some quick and easy store credit, I stopped by Gamecrazy. Also sold some of the few Xbox games I have left like Jade Empire: Limited Edition, Fable, NBA2K6, Max Payne 2... and included, my DVD remote and adaptor. Unfortunately, their was a problem that occurred with my console after giving it to the sales clerk. The system works and all, but for some reason the disk tray wouldn't open. The clerk said that he wasn't going to take it unless I could figure out a way to have it open and close in succession without hitting it constantly.

Now in order for me to get rid of this "dead" machine, I must take it apart and mess around with the tray itself to get it working again. Quite frankly though, I'm just too lazy to go through all that. Plus I don't want to run the risk of damaging it even more. So I think I'll do one of 3 things. Either sell it to one of my friends so they can get it fixed, sell on EBay, or just go to another game store.

On the gaming front, I purchased Dead Or Alive 4 yesterday and Rockstar's Table Tennis weeks before that. Both games are fun to play but like usual Gears of War is taking up most of my game time. I was hoping to get Marvel Ultimate Alliance as well, but after buying DOA4 I found myself broke once again.

And one more thing, I would like to hear your thoughts on the newly/truly confirmed Xbox 360 Elite and why some people are upset about it. A black 360 (something I wanted from the beginning), with a much larger hard drive and HDMI support is great, but I have no need for it... yet, so why all the madness toward Microsoft? The only thing I can think of that would possibly make people mad is the price range. It's a little steep I know, but not by much and it's offering a lot more then what the premium version did. Only time will tell if this was a good or bad move for Microsoft, but until then, I'll be enjoying the 360 I have now.

Racism, terrorism, or just blind ignorance of any kind. These are all some of the things I and I'm sure a lot of people can't stand. Sure, these issues have been around for centuries and may not stop for all I know, but you'd think in today's world with advanced technology and a more modern society (compared to generations ago) that stuff like this would be a little more contained, which has, but not nearly enough as it should be. I've noticed over the years that not all people are bad, nor have the intentions to destroy one's chances of happiness and/or success. It just extremely irritates me that some (not all) have so much hostility towards each other that we can't even see the wider spectrum of what it really means to treat others with respect or have regards for one's life.

Also early today I was watching a TV special about Autism. While watching this program I felt deeply saddened by the fact that these people can't really change their situation of not being fully developed mentally. As many of you don't know, I have 2 autistic sisters. They're both adults now, and I've been helping my mother take care of them since I was 8 and still am. I've come to grips with this but sometimes it's hard to deal with them unable to communicate. When I was younger I used to pray that they would become normal and talk one day, but as it stands, their is no natural cure for Autism. That being said, this is a subject that I'm very sensitive about, meaning I tend to get frustrated if anyone even attempts to make fun or blatantly disrespects someone with this disorder.

Well, that's all I have to say for now, I hope you got something important from this read. Until next time, good bye and God speed.

 

 

Would've posted this earlier if Glitchspot didn't strike my PC like a 50 ton nuclear bomb...man, that would do some major damage. Did any of you have this same problem? It effected blogs for the most part.

Anyways, finally went to see 300 last night, and color me impressed. I was greatly satisfied by this film's God of Warish visual density and cinematic battle sequences. But one of the issues I had with the movie was it's length, could of been longer and characters fleshed out a bit more. Overall, a rock solid film. *Prays for an extended edition DVD release and a Frank Miller & David Gaffe collorabation*

In other news, if anyone is up for TMNT just hit me up on Live, though I need to put some money on my debit card so I can buy some Microsoft points...I'm all out of them.

Last night with a friend, I finally completed Gears of War on Hardcore, being the first story based 360 game I've finished. Man, it was intense, it seemed like each chapter got better and better. The ending definitely opens up for a sequel which has already been confirmed...I think. Now I'm not really inspired to go through the other difficulty modes because one, my brother earned all the achievements on casual for me somehow, and two, most of the time I'm usually not interested in beating a game twice unless it's possible to beat it in multiple ways. So I guess I'll be playing a lot of the online portion. And if anyone is anticipating a review, consider it done when I have the time to write one.

As far as rentals goes, Crackdown and Rainbow Six: Vegas are the ones being chosen today. Yes I know both of these are more like purchases than rentals, but at the moment I really can't afford to buy them yet, but eventually.

Question: Does anyone think I should change my avatar? This one doesn't expand like some others did after the change that occurred yesterday. I know some people recognize other users by their icons and that's why I'm a bit conflicted about making this decision, but the way it looks right now, I'd rather have an avatar that fills in the whole 80 X 80 without looking all blurry. Perhaps Gamespot should of made the sizes around 65 X 65, that would've been perfect, not too big, not too small.

Every great magic trick consists of three acts.

The first act is called The Pledge, the magician shows you something ordinary, but of course, it probably isn't. The second act is called The Turn, the magician makes this ordinary something, do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret, but you wont find it. That's why their is a third and final act called The Prestige, this is the part with twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before. ~ All courtesy of Michael Caine from the actual movie and trailer.

A pure masterpiece of suspense and psychological film making at it's best. I recommend The Prestige to anyone who remotely has a thinking brain...whatever that means. I tell you, this movie had me going bonkers with crazy thoughts after I saw it last night. Just like the DVD box cover says, "You want to see it again the second it's over." And that's exactly what I did...not really, but this morning. Simply Mind Blowing! Buy or rent this movie NOW!!

In other news, I heard us Gamespotters might be finally getting the bigger avatars that we've been begging for since the redesign. So that must explain this apparent glitch we're experiencing with all these different avatar sizes and such.

It took me longer than I expected but I finally reached 1000 achievement points...must. not. become. an addict. And If you didn't notice in my now playing section, I also bought some more games to help me in the points department which includes, Fight Night Round 3 and NBA 2k7. I'm having a lot more enjoyment out of Fight Night than I thought, and 2k7...well I'm a fan of the series so it was a no brainer for that purchase. Rainbow Six: Vegas and Viva Pinata are still on my list of 360 titles (What isn't by now), but for some reason I can't find any used copies of Vegas anywhere, I wonder why? Ah yes, because it's so damn popular and nobody is compelled to trade it in.

Changing subjects of consoles, my PS2 needs some newer games before it goes out in a blaze of glory. One of those games would be God of War 2, who's looking forward to it? I sure am. More of the same is never a bad thing as long as it's done right which this sequel seems to be doing. Another recently released game that has me intrigued is Rogue Galaxy from Level 5 studios. Now normally I don't play many Japanese RPGs especially the slower turn-based ones...can't stand them, but as a real-time combat RPG, Rogue Galaxy is more to my liking. Plus the art design looks cool...very Dark Cloudish.