Halo 3 Recon? Tekken 6 for the 360? GoW 2 details? Daiblo 3?! STAR OCEAN 4 MARCH RELEASE DATE?!!!

Woah.

Looks like 2009's not going to be any less exciting than '07 or '08. I can't say how thankful I am for TGS.

I haven't blogged in a while because life's been a bit slow for me.

1.) Where are the games? Fall is here, and I see no signs of Left 4 Dead, Gears 2, or Call of Duty 5. Fallout is due in 24 days, and there is a month and 14 days between me and my beloved L4D. I AM NOT HAPPY.

2.) Life is slow. LITERALLY. It's October, and summer heat still hasn't worn off yet. California's supposed to be a place with stable weather conditions, where it's never too hot and never too cold...where it's not hot today and really cold tomorrow.

3.) I need a PC upgrade baaaaaaaaadly. My amd processor is getting a bit outdated, and my uncle and I are planning to get me one of them Intel processors...quite possibly a quad-core processor. So with this year's Christmas money, my birthday money in February, and new year's money, I'll have enough for a full upgrade.

(I get to mooch off of my 5 aunties and uncles and my grandparents, so it's easy asking for 20 dollars from each person and having enough to buy myself some big gifts.)

4.) This only accounts for 5% of my misery, but I'll have to say it anyway: I am torn between which games to buy this holiday season. Christmas is in two months, and it's not a matter of choosing between my beloved L4D and some other worthy contender. No, it's not about choosing between 2 games. It's about choosing bewteen Fallout 3, L4D, GoW 2, FC2, Crysis Warhead, CoD 5, and many others. I'm starting to lose a little of my interest in L4D, and I don't know if it's "my game" anymore.

To be quite frank with you guys, I haven't had any urge to play video games this summer. The speed of cable internet gets pretty inconsistent when it's hot, so I haven't spent much time playing Team Fortress 2 or CS:S. Much of the time I've had was spent on volunteering at a local library and biking. And messing around with my computer. And surfing the web. And doodling in my notebook.

In all honesty, I am disappointed with myself for not doing anything productive this summer. I swore at the beginning of June that I'd learn something new and do something exciting, but as we busted through those doors and stormed past the Student Support office, I couldn't think of any specific activities that would keep me busy for the summer. I basically drew a blank and forgot it all by throwing a party at a nearby Hometown Buffet with my buddies.

July was when I really began thinking and getting ideas--most of which involved kids at summer school programs and libraries. The idea was that I'd do some some good for the community. And at the end of July, I'd become a volunteer at the San Gabriel Library. (Don't get excited; I was used for janitorial purposes for the first 9 days.) I also made other efforts to sort of "revive" myself and my summer break by trying to enjoy the Olympics, though this time around it was a little too dramatic.

And then we visited Canada and the northern states (of America). The tour was fun, and it took up an entire week. So, here we are now--August 31st. What can I say? I resume my studies this Thursday at Gabrielino High School. I'll be a normal high school student --one who takes a biology class, a foreign language class, and an English class. It's just figuring out my life that's scary.

Anyway, the next big game releases are only beginning to show up. Mercs 2 was released today and Infinite Undiscovery is coming in a little over a week. Gears 2 and Left 4 Dead are still pretty far away ('bout 3 months away), so I'm pretty bummed out right now.

So I was watching my cousins play Kingdom Hearts 2 today when it hit me: I've NEVER owned or played a good RPG on any of my game consoles. Yeah, big deal....right?

Sometimes, when I daydream, I daydream of adventure. I dream of journeys made through beautiful settings in fantasy worlds--all of which can only be accomplished by great RPGs. So I began looking up new rpg titles for the 360. (I'm sure you're all aware of the slew of JRPGs comin' for the 360 this year and in 2009.)

Most of the time, when I look at new and upcoming games that I want, I get disappointed at how far away they are from their release dates. I get really pissed when I find a good title that's still TBA.

Luckily, I found Infinite Undiscovery--which looks awesome. The good news is that I don't have to wait for another "TBA" release date, because it comes out on September 2nd.

It's got a Star Ocean/Kingdom Hearts combat system from what I've heard and seen. It looks interesting, and above all--it looks good. Speaking of Star Ocean though, I feel lucky to have the chance to play the latest SO installment (SOMEWHERE IN 2009!!1!) on my 360 next year (2009!). Guys, do you hear that? Something's yelling 2009 in my head...

The next season of RvB is up:

http://rvb.roosterteeth.com/archive/episode.php?id=280

I don't really take the time to choose sides in the current console war anymore, because I try not to be a fan of any game system. I am a spectator, one who will give you the cold, hard facts, and not just all of my own opinions.

But really, it pains me to see how so many of the PS3's exclusives are failing to live up to anyone's expectations. Now, I'm not trying to say that the PS3 is a bad system. But please, Sony, what is going on?? Heavenly Sword was called a mere copy of God of War with boobs, which isn't too bad when you think about it...

Arrrgh..! Anyway, Lair was a disappointment as well. It came with all of the little annoying downsides of any heavily flawed game. And before you make any comments on this, keep in mind that I DID play it for a bit, and the first thing I noticed were the horrible controls!

And now? Haze. Man, was I excited to hear about this game. The screenshots looked great, and the shooting looked great. Unfortunately, though, after watching its X-Play review and after reading its GS review, I can say that this game won't be a system seller OR Sony's "Halo killer."

In the GS review, there was almost an equal amount of cons as their were pros in the game. In the X-Play review? Well, they praised the multiplayer, graphics, and interesting story twists, but they complained about the confusing level design, required backtracking, and lame characters that bear the same old similarities from other stories/games.

I was thinking about getting a PS3 instead of continuing to upgrade my computer for newer PC titles and holding back on it for a couple of years, but I'm starting to lose hope for other PS3 exclusives.

So far, (honestly) all I've seen are interesting action games (most of which weren't as good as I hoped for) and a disappointing FPS from the PS3. And yet, I'm still not going to side with any system. I'm gonna wait and see if the PS3 ever "comes to life." Because quite frankly, it's not promising to be the console i's supposed to be.

Will I ever buy one? Well, seeing that so many PS3 titles have fallen, will MGS 4 or Killzone turn out to be good games? I dunno. So my answer is--right now, no. In a year? I doubt it. In two years? Maybe.

So I got gta 4 today. I was crucified by the amount of time that I had to wait for the Wal-Mart employees to find the keys to the closet that the game was in.

And even though it's the FIRST gta game I've purchased so far, I have to say...

IT IS EPIC. The story is insane and the characters are insane. Hell, I'm going insane just raving about it!!11!1

GET YOUR COPY OF THE GAME TODAY! Actually, GET IT NOW.

When I got my 360 in January of '06, I only worried about prices. I didn't care about all of the complaints about the red ring of death and other hardware failures. See, I come from a Chinese family. I like to consider my family as a "poor" one...meaning that I shouldn't be spending more than $15 on a Gameboy Color cartridge, let alone an Xbox 360 console. And keep in mind, however, that it isn't my parents who give me pressure. No, it's ME.

So I went for the cheapest version--the Xbox 360 Core Version. It came with the AV cable, the 360 (without an HDD) itself, and a wired controller.

This meant:

1. No headset.

2. No ethernet cable for connecting to Xbox Live.

3. No Xbox Live.

4. No Xbox Live.

5. You get the idea. I didn't have Xbox Live.

And I thought to myself: Oh well...who am I to complain about this?? I'm Chinese! I grew up without any luxury items and survived under horrible conditions and loud, yappy parents.

So there you have it: I DON'T HAVE XBOX LIVE.

The Gamestop clerk fainted when I told him the truth after he asked if I wanted to join the CoD4 beta back in September...:cry:

So now it's your turn to laugh! Go ahead! Throw stones at me and take all of my money! :cry:

So now, I'm thinking about signing up for Xbox Live when my 360 comes back. After 2 damn years I've finally decided to sort things out...

So after more than two years, my 360 finally got the RROD. I was never really worried about it, since I was fully aware that I was buying one of the first batches of 360s that were ever made.

(NOTE: I remember hearing about how the ones that were made in December were all somewhat defective. My 360's manufacturing date was somewhere in December as well.)

I noticed the RROD about a week ago. It was temporary--at first. I know that sounds weird, and it might not make sense. But anyhoo, I had been getting really rare freeze-ups and DVD drive problems. Occasionally, with some games, the game would eject itself, or nothing would show up on the screen in the first place when I turned the console on. And for some unknown reason, the console would smell like a burnt object whenever it was on.

And so it died this morning. And I called Xbox Support this evening. And to think that I even considered selling my games for a wii...pfft.

UPDATE:

So yesterday, I had one of the worst meals in my life.

We were heading to Hometown Buffet when we saw that HUGE line outside its door, so my dad asked us if we wanted to go to the buffet next door. It was called "Zen Buffet." Now, you probably wouldn't understand this unless you're Chinese, but all Chinese buffets (did I tell you that Zen was one?) are horrible in terms of their food's quality when you compare 'em to real Chinese food you'll find in normal restaurants and even homes.

I know, most Americans like to experience tasting oriental flavors ...but I am telling you, NEVER GO TO A CHINESE BUFFET. You don't know what the hell you're eating unless you have a good Chinese samaritan like me help. Anyway, if you go and look at what kind of food they're serving, it's usually meat, meat with mushrooms, meat with mushrooms and vegetables, vegetables and meat, or mushrooms. You get the idea. They'll give you greasy, everyday Chinese items. Then you look at their ice cream. It's not as creamy as normal ice cream is, 'cause if you look at it, you'll notice a weird color to it and a weird "skin."

And they'll try to add something to it, like, Mexican food or American food. Except there's only one type of American food and they only have enchiladas. See, they throw in something from another country of origin and call it a good buffet.

And then comes the quality. I'll try to explain this as best as I can: The fried rice is hard, not nearly as taste-ful as real fried rice. The cheap, everyday dishes are greasy, and they're EVERYWHERE. You'll be full in seconds, and you won't be able to enjoy the fancier things of a buffet, like crab or lobster. See, those everyday dishes will easily fill you up. You might not even go back for a second serving.

Ah, and the drinks...you have the normal array of sodas.