School was on today. Most of the snow that has fell over the last two days is either melted, turned to ice, or is now reduced to the sort of slush you can't make decent snowballs out of. And the snowman in the back garden has suddenly found the urge to decapitate itself, and it now stands mournfully in the grass, headless and miserable.

 So... school... doubtless nobody wants to hear about my typical school day, but it was simply disastrous on the fun scale. We weren't even allowed outside during our break, so no apocalyptic snowball fights on the field. I'm telling you, last time we had our grounds converted into a snow-covered battlefield, it kinda reminded me of that huge battle in Halo (Assault on the Control Room) But, of course, without strange pink hovercrafts and maniacal little aliens with plasma grenades flaming at their skulls.

 P.E. was pretty good though - we did football/soccer on the pitch, and, granted, it was covered in snow. It wasn't really football either, it was filled with unprofessional play like throwing snowballs at people whenever they gained possession. It was quite fun really, caking people's face with snow whenever they were about to shoot.

 Nevertheless, I did indulge in a slush/snow/ice fight after school. It wasn't very fun at all, and I think I resorted to a hot water bottle just before I caught pneumonia.

 I played a little Midnight Club 3 today. I've started from scratch, complete with a crappy stock Mitsibushi Eclipse, and I'm giving it a thorough combing this time. Expect a full review of the game sometime this week, if you're interested in reading 1,000 words that I personally enjoyed writing.

 So, all in all, the day was pretty uneventful. I only wrote this to clarify the fact that my blog really is updated all the time. Hopefully they'll give you a bit of an insight into my slightly deranged life...

 Signing off.

 You know what, it's not often my town gets snow. I live in a stereotypical scumhole near the Wales-England border, and I can tell you, our most frequent weather is rain. Last week all we got was rain, and this resulted in many a school break spent indoors, staring at the soaked windows, and laughing at the people stupid enough to walk their dogs in such weather. Every hour we got away from the confinement of a lesson was a hollow reward, not to mention filled with eating.

 But now I'm going off the point. After all, what the hell does chicken burgers and dryness have to do with towns caked in snow? Last night there was a few flakes of snow here and there, and I marveled at the grace God had to give us a few stray specks of the white stuff. I said a prayer, switched off GlitchSpot, and wished there would be a blizzard overnight.

 So, has anybody ever seen that Simpsons episode where Bart honestly prays to God for a blizzard, so that he can relentlessly study to pass his doomed test? And the day after, Springfield gets the snow? Well that was sort of like today. I am personally shocked that my scummy little town is covered in such elegant white powder. So, I celebrated, played some Civilization IV, donned some gloves, hat and coat, and dived over my garden wall to participate in a heated snowball fight.

 And then, after about an hour, I came back inside, still in shock we got such graceful white stuff plastering the ground. And I'm telling you, hot drinks have never tasted better. I have the central heating on full blast and I'm revelling in the warmth, and identifying the feeling slowly spreading back into my frozen feet, and I think my blood vessels are finally flowing again.

 Whoever sent the snow, I must thank you. And whoever cancels school tomorrow (I hope to God), you deserve a GameSpot emblem embellished with the word "Messianic Figure."

 I didn't know a simple wireless router could cause so much irritation.

 So, let me rant on a little bit. After a hard day at school, or a day full of riding down an insanely steep hill on a woeful bike, I usually use GameSpot to fill the void called evening. But, these hours full of forumizing and reading articles are now being interrupted. Too much. And these many errors are as soon as I start to relish the peace and confinement of my bedroom.

 First off, the stereotypical wireless connection. Sure, wireless routers are always unreliable, but I'm being constantly cut from the line as though the connection has an eternal grudge against me. Honestly, I'm being continually kicked off for no apparent reason every 5 minutes. And, possibly due to my lack of patience, this usually results in an infuriated 15-year-old throwing his cat out of the window to vent his frustration. And that's not particularly fair on the abnormal teenager or the startled feline, is it?

 And secondly, here comes my equally stereotypical rant about GameSpot's many glitches. I wouldn't be surprised if I was suddenly hit by a wave of boredom one day, and I decided to make a thread chock full of GameSpot's numerous flaws. There is literally too many annoying gaps in this site to name, whether it's the lack of response in the forums, pages don't refresh properly, incessant page re-loading, or magically disappearing profiles... it's all the same and GameSpot really needs to rethink if it wants to hold the interest of its members. Me included.

 So, there's me spent. My daily snippet of typical life is fully released from my motorized typing fingers. I feel a bit better now that I've relinquished everything I wanted to say. Feeling the resulting relief of talking about a personally important issue is one of the greatest joys of journalism. And there's a hell of a lot of joys in journalism.

 My ToCA review is now finished. Well, the first draft is - I'm going to do some excessive editing in due course. Tell me what you think of the early build.

 Read the rushed first draft, if you feel so inclined.

 Well, second blog post today, this is just how bored I am. I just noticed I've been member at GameSpot for three months now. How I've leveled up so fast I don't even know. Level 13, 900 forum posts, 40-odd-reviews, my own fantastic Union, twice in ReviewSpotting...

 So, not a bad three months, even if I've got this far abnormally fast... let me just say I love this place, and, after all that talk I've seen about being unimpressed with GameSpot, it better not be dead. I've met some great mates here.

 I was getting tired of thousand-word reviews, and I thought I'd try something a little more creative this time. I've tried to do the entire review from the perspective of Ding Chavez, only a slightly edited version of everyone's favourite tactical soldier. It's nowhere near as in-depth as it needs to be, so it doesn't deliver all the facts about the game, but I've tried to recreate the feelings that I get whenever I play Rainbow Six 3. I think I've conveyed just how immersive the game is, and just how realistic it manages to be. I hope you enjoy reading the review!

 Read the thrilling tale/flimsy review  

 And oh yeah, ToCA 3 will be reviewed either on Tuesday or Wednesday. Whichever one comes first. :lol:

 I must say, after the slight disappointment I tasted yesterday, I've decided to put ToCA 3 back in the disc drive and make it an Xbox fixture for days to come. So sit back, relax, and read my more detailed take on this game, which is reasonably long and almost a review in its own right.

 First off, I must say, I've had an immense amount of fun with ToCA 3 today. To wear out some of my free time, I've been focusing on the Classics discipline of ToCA 3 in the Pro Career mode. The first few tournaments in this discipline are rallies, and it's on this diverse terrain I've been developing my driving skills and learning the basic principles of ToCA 3.

 The car I've been using, mainly, is the Renault A110 - a reasonably light car with some clean bodywork and nice handling. Still, it's pretty old, with some clunky gearshifting and steering response. Understandably, it's quite a test to get the A110 around the twists and turns of a rally track unscathed, and many times I found myself randomly hammering into trees and denting the front bumper in a firm wall.

 Nevertheless, with a brain full of determination and a lot of patience, ToCA 3 can be a very satisfying game. Drifting the A110 around the gravelly twists of a difficult rally track is a fun experience. When it actually comes to racing against the computer-controlled opponents, ToCA 3 gets even more intense. The AI, while well-designed and persistent, just don't have the determination they need, and don't put up the fight I wanted them to. Maybe it's because this is the early stages, but I found them to be pretty easy to beat.

 ToCA really has never been better. With the right amount of perseverance, it really can be a masterful racing simulator. Almost every element of the gameplay is spot-on, and touring cars have never been replicated better. And neither has the sport.

 Well I've just been playing ToCA 3 for about an hour and a half straight... and I am met with mixed reactions.

 On one hand, I am underwhelmed by the graphics. Even though these aren't everything, I found them to be nowhere near as shiny as Forza. Shadows are minimally detailed, the basic track features such as trees are poor, and the damage effects, to me, seem like flying coloured shards. Still, the tracks are recreated wonderfully, and the car models are also of a high standard, not to mention a smooth framerate.

 But on the other hand, ToCA 3's gameplay has astounded me. The handling is realistic, and there's a sense of exhiliration in the racing that gives it that edge over other simulations. It does a good job of replicating real-life racing and does so with barely any flaws. The different driving disciplines are different to each other and not one of them feels better or worse than the rest - they have all had their equal share of care and love, and each end up as simultaneously strong experiences.

 And there's no doubt this core gameplay engine could keep me addicted for a long long time, but the visuals certainly could have been given an overhaul. Yet still, ToCA 3 is redeemed by some truly great gameplay. Thoughts.

 I am officially getting Toca 3 on Friday! Monster trucks, rally cars, karts... I'm going to drown in an alternate automative heaven.

 Check my blog at random intervals to see my impressions of Toca 3, and in the end, my comments will be stripped down, glued together, and finalized in a full-length overblown review. Keep your eyes peeled.

 Check out my latest review, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. I may have judged the game harshly, but I was disappointed with the game, and it's a perfect example of how ambition can drag a game down to a low level.

 And by the way, it's a long read, but one I took much time and care on, and I hope you enjoy it. Post your comments, no matter how negative, in the designated comments section. (Obviously.)