Well this started out as a comment to my blog post from yesterday. But after mor than 5 sentences, I decided to make it official.

As you can see, I bought Forza 2 last night. I stopped on the way home. After picking it up and heading home, I thought to myself, Why did I just spend $80 on another game I probably will only play for about a month? I then proceeded to crank some tunes and just focused on getting home to play the game.

After getting home, throwing all my stuff aside, I booted up my 360 and slid Forza 2 in. Now I did try the demo, so I wasn't going in blind. But the demo was nothing compared to the full game. The graphics are excellent, as well as the presentation. The soundtrack is surprisingly also amazing! Which is one thing I was sure would be mediocre. Forza 2 definitely captured the spirit of Gran Turismo, I think, anyway.

So what I expected to be a fairly dull night turned out to be full of gaming bliss! I also dipped into my MS points and bought Pac-man:CE. After all the hype (check out the 1up show if you don't know what I'm talking about) I had to try it. I was never really a Pac-man fan, but for some reason this game is totally fun!

So in closing, I'll be doing a lot of gaming for the next while. I got FFXI for my long sessions, Forza 2 for my medium (or maybe long as well :)) then Pac-man:CE for my short bursts!

I also wanted to note that I finally finished HL2 and HL2:Ep1. I really enjoyed them as well. It's been awhile since I've had a good PC FPS experience. I'm eagerly awaiting The Orange Box now.

The second half of 2007 is going to be really busy.

EDIT- Adding Links for PAC-MAN:CE Hype

Aaron's Blog

1up Show Link

I know, they are both great games, and it depends on my likes/dislikes. But putting that aside, I'd like to hear from some of you! Preferably those that own both games.

As for my tastes, well I'm not a huge racing game fan. Really the only racing games I've played are the Gran Turismos. Which I did love though. I like the idea of starting out with crappy low end cars, winning races, getting money and souping them up. Eventually getting to the top tier crazyfast vehicles.

So yea, I'm thinking Forza 2. But I've also been hearing good things about Dirt. Also factor in that I don't have a huge amount of time for gaming anymore. Most of it is reserved for FFXI as well.

So I'll be heading EB after work (about 6 hours from now). You can check my collection later tonight or tomorrow to see what I ended up going with. Also feel free to add my to your friends list on XBL!

Well, even though I'm already broke, I bought a new PC!

Asus P5N-E SLI Mobo
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
2GB DDR2 Ram @ 800MHz
Geoforce 8800 GTS 320MB
250GB Western Digital SATA2 /w 16MB Cache
DVD SATA Burner

So yea, it's going to be awesome. Now I just need Hellgate London, Crysis and Starcraft 2!

I'm probably going to pick up Shadowrun (just waiting for GS review). So maybe I'll see all you PC and 360 users on Live!

Take care!

Hey all, time for another update.

As I'm sure you all know, the Halo 3 open beta has begun.
I purchased my copy of Crackdown at launch, not for the sole purpose, but mostly for this oppourtunity. Say what you will, I'm glad I did.

The game is amazing! I loved Halo 1, but I was never a fan of Halo 2. In fact I've still yet to finish it, and probably never will.
Halo 3 seems to be a mix of the first and second games. Which is what every third game in a trilogy should be, right?
The gameplay is smooth. Graphics look nice and crisp. Nothing spectacular, but I'm ok with that. Graphics aren't everything.

Other than some balancing issues, which I'm sure all the weapons will go through over the next 4 months or so until the games release, the game is awesome. The series is again going to raise the benchmark for the genre, mark my words. My personal favorite addition so far? The Party system.

I also started playing Star Wars: Empire at War last night. My friend picked it up, and since he really only plays games at my place, he just
left it around for me. It seems cool so far, but I'm not even done the tutorials yet.

Pokemon Pearl hasn't gotten much play in the last week or so, but that will change as I'm on afternoons for the next week.

My new car is back from the shop finally. (After a week) It needed a new ignition system. Total cost was $450, rough. Especially after just
buying it a month ago. My stereo system is now finally up and running in it. It's nothing too fancy, about a midrange system.

I will probably put a few pics up in my images section. Here are some more links:

http://www.grandamgt.com/forum/vbpicgallery.php?do=hall&u=14548
http://www.cardomain.com/id/xBlitzerx

Take care!

Hey everyone! Hard to believe it's already been over a month since my last update!

Anyway, the job is going great. I got the hang of things pretty quick I guess (according to my coworkers), and things are becoming routine, which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

As for gaming, I've made a decision to quit WoW, at least temporarily. My mage is 63 (very close to 64), but I just don't have the time it takes to play the game anymore. My bro bought both the new Pokemons today. I grabbed Pearl as my own, and am already 3 hours into it! (I love the slow afternoon shift) I finally started FFVI as well. Also with spring finally here, I'm hopeing to take advantage of the nice warm weather. 

Well I better get back to work!
Take care everyone!

....from WoW!

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd do an update blog, Let you know what I've been up to.

The new job is going well. I'm taking calls with a trainer listening now. By the end of the week the leash should be cut. I'm a little nervous, but I'm getting the hang of things quickly I think. I'm sure I'll be fine. I always have the glorious mute button and the others around to ask if I get a mind blank or am having a problem. You wouldn't think solving internet related computer problems over the phone would be that difficult with the knowledge I possess. Until you try it yourself. Man can people be dumb!

Anyway, on to gaming. I'm still addicted to WoW. My mage is level 57. I'm just working on some of the original endgame content, then it's off to Outland! I actually logged some time onto my 360 last week though. If you check out my gamercard, you'll see I played TMNT. What a classic! Definitely worth the 400 points. Then when I get home later today, I'll be downloading Castlevania: SotN. Can't wait, even though I own the PS version. I'm a huge Castlevania fan.

I'm also intrigued by EDF. I might pick that up, not sure yet though.

Hope all is well, take care!

What's new you ask? Well I've been making a lot of new characters (or toons) in Azeroth lately. I just can't seem to focus on only one. The guild I joined is awesome. We all have a great time. So yes, I think it's official, I'm addicted to WoW.

The newer thing is my job. I'm typing this now on my lunch. It feels so weird to be sitting at a computer all day, working. I took networking in college. I graduated last year, and am just now starting a job in the field. I work for an ISP doing tech support. I haven't actually started taking calls yet though. Just getting to know the new environment and whatnot. Things seem a bit overwhelming right now, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

It might sound bad but I'm not used to using my brain all day. My previous jobs consisted of general labour, so yea.

Anyway, I'm going to try to get on XBL again sometime soon. If you see me online, send me some convincing messages! :D

Later.

 You might (or might not) have been wondering where I've been lately. If you check my 360's blog, well she isn't too happy.

Azeroth is back. Yes, after The Burning Crusade came out, I was convinced to go back. I'm hating to love it right now. The game is great, but it makes me feel bad not to play any others. I'm hopeing this only lasts for awhile. Maybe till I hit 70? But well that could be a long time.

If you are on, and willing to change realms. My character is a level 30 undead mage named Manbie. The server is Kilrogg. Feel free to give me a /tell anytime.

See ya!

What is it that makes Gears of War such a great game? Is it the graphics? Sure they're amazing. Maybe it's the story? Well it's decent, but nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it's the weapons? Wait, chainsaws aren't exactly new. For me it's addition of a very well implemented co-op mode. Seriously, I don't understand why I should have to go through a game alone anymore. Online is here to stay, but I don't think we should be forced into deathmatches anymore.

The fact that you can host a game in Gears, and anyone can join is just insane. Think about it. Does it make the game easier? Possibly. I would call it more balanced, assuming the developers did it right. I believe that AI should take a sidestep for now. Why not let all AI controlled characters be controlled by us? Story sequences and dialogue can still happen. Don't get me wrong, I don't want bland levels with no story elements. Games without story don't have as much of a drive to me. Adding co-op mulitplayer would only stand to improve the overall experience.

If your not a fan of Gears; ok well if your tired of Gears. Let's look at Rainbow Six: Vegas. Another great example. It has a decent single player game, and yet there's no getting around that your default squadmates are morons. So you decide to hop online. There are several modes at your disposal there. Including Story mode, let the carnage begin. The lack of decent AI isn't tied to this game by any means. Other than a few gems, AI is generally bad, even with the power of our PCs and consoles these days.

I think the co-op trend is here to stay. If you've tried the Crackdown demo you might understand what I'm talking about. Here we have a fairly standard Grand Theft Auto type game. There are differences, but the just of the game seems standard. Now once you add a friend, or even a random person into the mix, things get really exciting. Shooting gang members, blowing stuff up, throwing cars around and jumping from building to building suddenly becomes a whole lot more fun. Now I only wish Saints Row had a coop story mode.

Actually I have been looking back lately on most of my games. How much better would they be if a coop mode were there? I hate to say it, but I think games like Zelda would benefit from this. Any 20 hour game really. Dead Rising is another great example. Think of the possibilities the already  great game would have. I'm not saying completely eliminate the single player, but the option of co-op should at least be there. Don't you think?

The possibility of Guitar Hero 2 on the Xbox 360 not having Live support is definitely not good news. It's also been confirmed that Bioshock, an excellent looking game will have no multiplayer whatsoever. I think these are terrible mistakes, and wouldn't be surprised if Bioshock sells about as well as the System Shock games did for this reason.

So with the industry on a level plane with AI, I believe including a co-op mode is a mandatory step to be taken, because playing with another person is always more fun.

My monitor arrived bright and early this morning, and really, I have nothing to say. These pictures really don't do it justice. It's just amazing. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back.

On a side note, I've been picking up a few original Xbox games I missed out on. Fable: The Lost Chapters and Ninja Gaiden Black have made their way into my collection. I also picked up Saints Row today.

Excited is an understatement.