Today is one of the happiest day of my life. Why? Cos I finally got my new XBOX360, replacing my old defective one. It's really great to have the Box back at home even though it's a brand new one. However, this new Box's power button doesn't seem to click when I push it but who cares? It's time to play some Gears of War!! Damn, this game's good!!!

But wait there's more. I also got myself a new iPod Classic with the storage of 80GB! This will replace my recent iPod Touch that's worth 16GB. It's an awesome tool, but when you're a music freak like me, then you'll agree that 16GB is not enough. I can't wait to start pouring in all of my CD collection to this baby.

Later!

I have send my XBOX360 to XBOX support center and within 5 working days, I will have my console replaced on the 27th. Yippee! The good thing is that my console is still under warranty so I don't have to spend a cent for the service. While waiting for the replacement, I also bought two new games: Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Plus and Gears of War for the 360. Yes I know, why haven't I played Gears of War, one of the most revolutionary video games ever? Well, to put it simply, I was just waiting for the game to have its price dropped. So yeah, it was a bargain. And as for the Ops Plus, it was on sale too.

I actually wanted to buy Soul Calibur IV after seeing a huge poster of Ivy "revealing" herself in front of the game store but I decided to get it probably next week after my XBOX360 is fixed. I'm kinda worried that my 360 will fry up again. Does anyone have any suggestions in how to avoid the Red Ring of Death? Aside from having a well vantilated area, does the position of the console has anything to do with it? Is it better to have it standing up or lying down or it doesn't matter how it's placed?

"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

Gamespot Beta has finally been uploaded to the world wide web. Seems promising so far. The tabs and buttons seem to be all over the place but I think we'll get use to it soon enough. What you guys think?

After years of trying my absolute best to avoid the hardware failure of the XBOX 360 (aka The Red Ring of Death), it somehow seems that I couldn't escape from it. As I was hooking the 360 into the power plug and ready to play Ninja Gaiden II, I was shocked to see the three red blinking lights flashing around the power button. How did this happen? Could it be some heating problem? But how? I've never played the 360 the whole day since online gaming isn't my thing. Normally I would play it for an hour or two and immediately turn the power off soon after. I never leave it on the whole time so why did this stupid problem have to occur?

Microsoft has really gone too far. First Windows Vista, and now this. What kind of crack were they smoking when they were making this pile of vomit? Who's to blame? Ballmer or Gates? Anyway, looks like I have to send my poor XBOX 360 to the XBOX center. For the experienced ones, what is the standard procedure? Do they fix the machine or the replaced a new one? I'm not sure if my console is still under warranty but let's just hope so. Is there any possible way to avoid the Red Ring of Death? Will a third party cooling system help to solve the problem? Some have reported that it will make it worse. I bought mine about two years ago so I'm assuming that Microsoft has made some improvement to the latest line of consoles. Am I right?

After all this time playing XBOX360, I never once connect the console to the Internet so I didn't have any clue what Marketplace and the rest was all about. But after reasoning myself to finally put the cable to the console, I'm shock to see what sort of goodness you can enjoy. I have lots of things to catch up on. The first problem I had was merging two of my gamertags, one is the offline which I made in the console and the other one (online version) which I created in Games For Windows. At first I thought merging these two gamertags is impossible, but XBOX.com said it is indeed possible. However, it involves a lot of shuffling with the gamertags in XBOX Live and you could risk losing it in the process. Also, not only you have to pay Microsoft Points to do that but you also have to use a new email account. In the end, I said forget it. I have no choice but to erase my offline gamertag and start playing all my games again on the online one. I played my games mostly on the offline gamertag and scored quite a number of score points, so it's a shame that I have to erase them but it's ok I guess. Some of the achievements are easy to score.

To be honest, I don't play online games but after watching the rerun of Microsoft's E308, I was excited to see the groovy contents XBOX Live has to offer. Guess it's time for me to start buying Microsoft Points and hopefully upgrade myself to Gold Level so I can play with you guys online.

I'm still disappointed that I missed this year's E3 because this one sure looks bigger and better than previous ones. So for those of you who watched E3 live, how was it? Did you like it? Was it better than before or just plain the same?

If I'm not mistaken E3 is live on the 14th of July which is a Monday, but I don't think I can make it. I have an urgent trip to attend to and I'll be so busy all day I might not be able to catch E3 live. This is not cool at all. I sure hope there's Internet connection over there so I won't miss both E3 and its emblems.

Psycho_Path

Hey guys, I'm back at Gamespot. It's been a long time since I last entered my blog a few weeks ago. I've been busy with my courseworks among other things and now I'm ready to go back into gaming. It feels good to finally get to play with my XBOX360 after months of absence. The new 360 game I just bought and finished is Condemned 2: Bloodshot. I played the first game on the PC version last month and it was awesome graphically and mentally. Generally, the game does feel a little short but you don't really feel it due to the greatness of bashing people with pipes, wood, sign boards and of course, guns. Condemned 2 is also a short game but again it's cleverly clouded by the forensic mini game, terrific cutscenes and disturbing atmosphere. After finishing the game yesterday, I'm convinced there will be a Condemned 3 coming soon and when that time comes, I'll be ready.

Ninja Gaiden II is the next game I look forward playing but it won't give me the same impression like the first game did knowing this is the last game by Tomonobu Itagaki, the creator of the DOA series and the genius who revived Ninja Gaiden. I was shocked to hear the tragic news from Gamespot. Having to leave Tecmo AND Team Ninja is such a drastic move made by the man himself. Itagaki is a game director and is known for being notoriously cocky when giving controversial views and remarks about other developers and titles, most notably the Tekken series. I really like his work and I totally respect that guy. Everytime I look at him, I always see him as a mafia, or a head of a Japanese gangster in the gaming industry. He's always so cool and calm with a frank attitude. Like most of the fans, I too believe that both the DOA and Ninja Gaiden franchise will eventually end up in smoke without the big boss' guidance and input. His departure is a sorrow for all gamers and perverts alike.

About two days ago, I bought the Halo 3: Legendary Edition. It cost me a bomb but it's worth it. But it's kinda funny too because I haven't played the first two Halo games yet so I have no idea what to expect in the third instalment. That is why I bought the first two Halo games and will start playing it before even playing the third one. The Master Chief's helmet is such a beauty, and it's an excellent replica.

I'm also going wild with my new PSP Slim and Lite. Recent PSP games I've finished are Manhunt 2, Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow and Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice. Currently playing would be Warriors Orochi, Medal of Honor: Heroes, Ridge Racer and Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. Lenneth is a real s**t bomb. Why? Because of it's insane difficulty. You have to be a real nerd to dedicate yourself into upgrading your characters, going places to places fighting enemies just to gain experiences and fight bosses that are just too hard. I'm now at the last part of the game where you're suppose to kill that sonnafa gun Loki but you can't do that. You have to kill his two minions first. The first monster, Bloodbane, is such a pain in the butt and this is where I'm currently stuck at the moment. Not only this beast blast your characters with merciless fire breathing blasts, but it can also heal itself. What kind of jerk created this game? I guess I'm not an RPG guy but still, this is unacceptable. I have restarted Lenneth like seven times just to get the gameplay and flow correct and now I think I have to restart it again because this game is being real selfish. Getting the A ending is a big problem too. Your every movement is so fragile and having to miss one part of the game means a whole lot of griefs to us. It's been almost two years now and I still can't finish this dumb game, so why am I still playing it? Because I got this game for my birthday and it just doesn't feel right if you don't appreciate something you got for free. If anybody knows how to defeat this idiot Bloodbane, do give me a hint. Deep beneath this RPG game lies a real evil disaster.

Speaking of disaster, I'm surprised there are still employees leaving Gamespot because of you-know-what. It's amazing how one guy gets kicked out is a result of a catastrophe to the other staff. Vincent Caravella has left too. Wow, this place is getting really dull now. That is why I now read and watch reviews, previews and news from other gaming websites because the Gamespot's charm that it once had is now gone, and it'll take years for them to recover. But having said that, I will always be a member of this website and I will always remember you guys from my friends list.

Well, that's it for now. I don't think I'll be putting a new blog for the time being. May you all will have a great gaming experience this summer.

Peace,

Psycho_Path

I'm having problems with my Bioshock (PC Version) lately. Playing "Games for Windows" games are truly an atrocious experience. Even if you have a high-end computer it will still fail on you. The first problem I had after installing Bioshock was that it kept crashing back to the desktop after the plane crash cutscene. I had to call 2K Support to notify the problem and they asked me to always right-click the Bioshock icon and play it as Direct9. It worked, then things just got worse.

I don't understand why the game lags so much even though I have the latest NVIDIA graphics card. I had to play the game with the lowest resolution and it looks horrible. What's the point in having to downgrade the resolution when these games are supposed to be all about graphics? I managed to play the game until the stage right after you killed Andrew Ryan and you are on the pursuit to kill the traitor. Suddenly, the game crashes like mad and I can't continue where I left off. Everytime I want to load at the Olympus Height stage, the game ceases to function and it brings me back to the desktop with an error message. I can only load the part before I killed Andrew Ryan and not after that. This sucks balls!!! I'm suffering from headache and stress because of this piece of crap!!!

It's a good thing I finished the game in the XBOX360 version last year, but I was hoping for this system to work but it sucks terribly. Kane & Lynch had the same trouble too. For those of you who haven't tried Bioshock, play in the XBOX360. Please, it will save your sanity.

Yeah, you heard right. I just found out that a GI Joe movie is in the works. No, it's not animated. It's the real thing! Here are some of the pics I managed to grab hold of:

Here we have Snake-Eyes (A fan favorite and mine as well) and Scarlett, two of the most common soldiers in G.I. Joe. For all of the noobs, G.I. Joe "is the code name for America's daring, highly-trained, Special Mission force. Its purpose: To defend human freedom against COBRA, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world." If you grew up watching the cartoon series in the late 80's then I'm sure you'll be as excited as I am.

I have been waiting for a G.I. Joe movie my whole life. I grew up watching cartoons and G.I. Joe was one of them. There was one actually: G.I. Joe The Movie in 1987 but it was a piece of crap and it's as bad as Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter movies combine. The movie had a great start but then it turned out to be a science fiction mumbo-jumbo than an action adventure genre. It didn't make any sense at all and it was so bad it was considered one of the worst movies ever made. I seriously hope this upcoming movie will not be a letdown and disappointment like Transformers. Everyone love that movie, but not me. I hate it so much.

G.I. Joe will be directed by Stephen Sommers, the guy who directed the two Mummy movies as well as the Scorpion King. I'm not sure if that is the right choice but I happen to like both Mummies so fingers crossed! These are the cast of characters:

• Channing Tatum as General Hawk
• Dennis Quaid as Duke
• Rachel Nichols as Scarlett
• Ray Park as Snake-Eyes
• Marlon Wayans as Ripcord
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Heavy Duty
• Saïd Taghmaoui as Breaker
• Karolína Kurková as Cover Girl
• Christopher Eccleston as Destro
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander
• Sienna Miller as The Baroness
• Lee Byung-hun as Storm Shadow
• Arnold Vosloo as Zartan

It looks promising, especially the guy who'll be playing Snake-Eyes. Ray Park was Darth Maul in Star Wars I, Toad in X-Men and the scary dude in Sleeping Hollow. However, I was hoping Monica Bellucci to play as the Baroness because I'm convinced that she could nail that part. But then again, I don't think Monica can perform crazy action stunts so oh well. Production of the film began in February 2008 and it will be released on August 7, 2009.

YO JOE!

PSYCHO_PATH