I noticed this date while posting a comment on the GeForce 9800 GX2 feature.

It has since corrected, but it made me wonder what it would be like to bring that kind of graphical processing power back to 1969. How different would today be?

If you don't know I've been on a points aquizition fest recently. I have quite a number of games I know are horrible on my Gamefly Queue, but there is one or two I put on there because I actually wanted to play the game for the game (and the points). One of those games was Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. I know some of you might dismiss the game right off as being a repetitive button masher with hoards of brainless enemies, you'd be right, but for some strange reason I always enjoy the series and with this specific iterration they added a well placed Gundam licence. Being a pretty big Gundam fan, its almost like they made this game for me.

The game features a good selection of characters from Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. There are two modes of play, Official Mode and Original Mode. The Official Mode follows the characters' official story from the shows while Original Mode is a new story original to the game. For Fans, the storys are presented well and all your favorite characters are there. The voice acting is true to the english versions of the show too, Domon Kashuu being the only exception I noticed. The action is just like any other Dynasty Warriors game but with the exception that your over-the-top mobile suits and pilots could believable take on over 1000 enemies. In the original mode there are some interresting mash-ups. I had to take on Heero in his Wing Gundam as Char in his Zaku II. I still won somehow. Can we say owned?

So, as I expected I really like the game. It is a perfect blend and a great move for the somewhat aged dynasty warriors fanchise. Anyway, if you like the Gundam and you like Dynasty Warriors then this game is an obvious choice. If you don't like either you might skip this one. Personally I'm hoping for more like this in the future. Maybe the next one we will see is Dynasty Warriors: Dragon Ball Z. Who knows?

For those of you who don't know I'm a shooter fan. It hasn't always been that way, but maybe it is my maturing game tastes, or just the ammount of great shooter that have came out recently that have changed that. Anyway, one of the highest objectives for game developers working on shooters in Balance. When playing a multiplayer match a player needs to be skilled to win. That is different than say Run to the rocket launcher and whoever gets it first wins. Every weapon needs to have advantages and disadvatades so that a skilled player can deafeat any other player with the correct strategy. The same is true for game modes. No one wants to play on the losing side on an obviously one sided match. It is not any fun.

One of the most balanced FPS I have ever played is Halo 3. It has to be the best designed game when it comes to balances maps, weapons, and game modes. When I play, I normally stick to matchmaking because I like getting experience and rank, but I've noticed a lot of my friends switching to custom games. I'm not against custom games, and I'm very glad bungie gave players that ability, but for some reason every custom match I ever join sucks. Most are using custom map modes in custom game modes that favor one player or one team.

There are many ways that games can be tilted in favor of one side. One of the most common games modes that is set up one sided, on Halo 3, is infection. Players who spawn as the zombie by default are given an advantage as there is only one of them and the only weapon they have is a sword. The zombie player can only score points by infecting other players and turing them into zombies. Players who do not start infected have the ability to score an unlimited number of points by defending off powerful zombies until they are inevitably defeated. For too many players this is boring and the Zombie is not powerful enough so they do things like make them move 5x faster than other players or have 3-4 overshields while taking less damage and being invisible. The advatage is now given to whichever player is randomly selected to spawn infected. You can see how it is incredibly stupid.

Now the tendance to create totally unbalanced matches isn't exclusive to Halo and I find it is especially prevelent in almost all First-Person shooter, should you experiment with playing them online at all. It seems like people not only want to win, but they want to totally eliminate the possibility of losing. They will chage the settings for a match and if possible they will cheat to gain an advatage. These people are better of playing against bots, or better yet, playing a game like Spiderman Friend or Foe where the possibilty of losing is completely eliminated for them. Wanting to win is one thing and to players who are really great at a game a totally descimate their competition with skill, I commend you. To the people who purposly rig an online match, JUST QUIT PLAYING! The world would be a better place. Oh and definitly don't invite me to your custom games.

This Review is about the online Service Gamefly.com:

Gamefly.com is a website that allows US Resident to rent and buy video games online. Similar to Netflix a member builds up a queue of wanted titles and they are shipped out with the titles at the top having priority. It is an option that seems a lot cheaper than continually buying games, but it depends on your usage. I have been using the service for about a month now and can give a pretty good impression of what it is all about.

The biggest concern any perspective user might have about Gamefly is the cost and it is fairly reasonable. The price is 22.95 a month to have two games out at any one time. If that is too much there is a one game at a time plan for $15.95 per month. You can exchange your games as much as you want durring that month period. For that reason, the service is most valuable to a gamer if they are constantly wanting to try out different titles. This would be a problem if the games you wanted weren't availible, but Gamefly has a large selection of games on a variety of platforms. It shouldn't be hard for new members to build queues larger the 30 titles (see for yourself on their site). If you find yourself wanting to keep a title for over 3 months, you would still be better off buying it, but for rental addicts, it seems Gamefly has better pricing and better selection the any retail store I've been to.

For those who do like buying games Gamefly has you covered as well. If you find yourself with a rented game you just can't seem to part with, you can usually "Keep It". "Keep It" is availible on most titles, and for around $20-$25 Gamefly will ship out the next title on your queue along with the instructions and retail box for your rented title. You can also purchase a variety of games from the site, but the selection is limited to only titles they're clearing out. As a bonus every three months Gamefly adds $5 to your account which can be used towards game purchases. After 6 months as a member, you get 5% off game purchases. That gets bumped up to 10% after a year. The effort is probably to sell more title using "Keep It", but no one says you have to use it and you could, in theory, continue to save your rewards until you get a game for free.

While there is lot of good things about Gamefly the service isn't perfect. Shipping times is the biggest problem I've found. I will mail them back a game I have recieved and have to wait 3 days for them to send out the next game on my queue. Then, it is another 3-4 days before I recieve it. In total, thats a 6-7 day turn around. There needs to be a faster way of exchanging games, like Blockbuster's in store exchanges for movies. Another problem is the plan options. There are only the two choices. I don't know if it would be cost effective for most people, but I'm curious about how much they would chage for a 3 game at a time package. I share games with my family and although I spend all my time on the 360, they tend to prefer the Wii. If I could have a game out for them while still getting mine, I'd be pretty happy. The third problem I have is a limited selection on older titles. While Gamefly does pretty good at getting the new titles out to you, some of those you've always wanted to play and never got to might not be availible. For example, I've been wanting to get my hands on the easy achievements in NBA 2K6, but since the game continuously shows "low availibility" I'm pessimistic about recieving it any time soon (if at all).

So, Gamefly.com is a great option for gamers who are wanting a cheaper way to continually play a variety of games. If you're always dieing to get your hands on the latest title, Gamefly should serve you well. If you're a 360 points addict, Gamefly is essential. If you're just bored a lot, you owe it to yourself to try Gamefly. It will breath new life into your gaming hobby. However, the service isn't perfect with long turn around times and limited plans, but I really don't see very much competition for it. I'm going to keep my membership for the forseable future and hope for it to improve over time.

Final Grade:

B+

Edit_______________

Since I first wrote this blog Gamefly has improved their service. In some areas games are sent out faster. They haven't added new shipping centers but they have formed an arrangment with the United States Postal Service. When they recieve notice from the post office that a game is comming back to them they will send out the next game on your queue. For me this only betters the turn around time by one day, but others might see a greater improvement.

Also, Gamefly is now offering 3 and 4 game plans at 29.99 and 36.95. They are still offering the one and two game plans at the same price. I don't see how even the most active gamer would need more than 4 games out at a time and this addresses one of my original concerns.

In today society Obesity rates are at an all time high in the US and it seems every American is on some sort of diet and trying to lose weight. That being the case many people find it the greatest compliment to be told they look skinny. Well, personally I hate being called skinny, even if it is ment as a compliment. Let me explain a little but more and I hope you, my readers, can underestand.

When I was in grade school and junior high I was fat. I weighed 220lbs in 6th grade and probably got to around 230 or 240 in junior high. The reason I say around is because I never weighed myself because I was ashamed of how heavy I was. After my fresman year of High School, I got sick of being fat and decided that I had to lose weight, so that summer, I basicly went on a starvation diet and lost 100lbs in a little over 3 months.

Well, you would think that losing all that weight would have made me feel pretty good, but it didn't. My weight dropped to 135lbs and since I'm 6'2" that is grossly underweight, almost anorexic, and I really didn't know how to change it. To lose weight I had restricted myself to less the 1000 calories a day and had started doing some cardio. Once I lost the weight I really stuggled with how to eat a healthy ammount of food and. When I saw myself in the mirror I thought I looked like a walking skeleton and I hated it.

So, after struggling with establishing healthy eating habbits for two years I finally broke down and joined the local YMCA in our town. I had been doing a small ammount of weight training at home and liked how things were going and wanted to get more involved. At that time I weighted around 140lbs, still. I was set up with a free weight program by one of the trainers and after a YEAR, A WHOLE FREAKIN' YEAR, I finally was able to stabalize my weight at an acceptable 160lbs.

That was all four years ago. Now, I'm pretty happy with myself. I've got strong arms, strong shoulders, a strong chest, strong back, strong abs, and strong legs. I personally think I look pretty good (maybe I can get some pictures). Anyway, I've evened out at a nice 170lbs now and still have my 29" waist and 42" chest and 16" neck. So, I'm not skinny and I've worked hard to be that way. Yesterday, I walk into the YMCA and a perticularly puddgy guy in the locker room makes a point of telling me that I'm skinny. I thought about replying with a, "AND YOU"RE FAT!" but restrained myself and just went to the weight room without saying anything.

Just to let you guys know, the Olsen twins are skinny. WoW addict who skip meals to sit in a basement staring at a screen all day are skinny. I'm not skinny, I'm healthy. I wouldn't even mind being called thick, or big even. Of corse I'd like to be called strong the most, but I don't expect that from everyone (especially not from people who are stronger than I am). Anyway, I hope that people can learn that skinny isn't a compliment. It ignores all the work I put into not being skinny. Skinny is an insult.

While I'll admit the possibilty of Microsoft releasing a Blu-Ray add on for the Xbox 360, it is totally ridiculous to suggest they might be releasing games on Blu-Ray in THIS console generation. There is a small possibilty of Microsoft making an Xbox 360 with a Blu-Raydrive built in, but I personally doubt it. Even if that is the case the games will still be on DVD. There is no reason Microsoft would abandon their large install base unless they're moving into the next generation console.

For those who don't know, a Blu-Ray add-on to play games is a horrible idea. Their are already serveral work-arounds if a DVD does not have enough storage for a game. One is compression, which I'm sure has been used in different ways already on the 360 and compression technology, like all technologies, continues to improve. There is always the option of multiple disc too. Lost Odyssey is on four discs, and that doesn't detract from the game in any way. Another option is using space on the hard-drive for the extra content, but this one probably will only be used for additional downloadable content (not included in the retail version). Beyond those reasons, there is always the video game truth: ADD-ONS FOR GAMES DO NOT WORK! The Sega CD is probably the most comparable idea; it added storage without changing the processing power of the system. For those of you who have no idea what the Sega CD is, look it up on wiki. For the poor few of you who, like me, actually owned a Sega CD, you have my pity.

Check your history before making silly accusations. Blu-Ray games on the 360 is NOT going to happen. Maybe in the Next Xbox, but maybe not. As much as I'm sure that Microsoft games is hard at work at the next system, they're still wanting to milk as much money as possible out of their current model. The way they'll be able to do that is continue to release great games for at least a couple more years. So far it doesn't look like they'll have any problems doing that, even though they're using the "horribly outdated" DVD medium.

As a kid who grew up on what are now considered classics like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII, I naturally have an affinity for a good RPG. Lost Odyssey is just that. As a game that rewards exploration and conversation, LO is reminicent of old school RPGs like Final Fantasy VI. The likeable characters and intruiging story do a great job at pushing a player through the game. It is hard not to get sucked in.

One thing that really sells me, that too many games lack, is character development. Kaim is a great lead character and as you learn more about him through storyline it is easy to understand what he is going through. As the player we are able to share in the emotional ups and downs that Kaim's long life has brought him. Few other RPGs have devolped the personalities of their characters this well.

Now, there are some problems. That battle system is quite limited and feels like something out of the 90s. Even though the visuals are great, there are often annoying framerate slowdowns when a battle starts. Also, as much as the character skill system is promoted, it is an extremely simple system that I don't find overly compelling.

Even with its problems LO has to be one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in a long time. The game is fun and worth a look. I'm sure not everyone will enjoy it, but if you love stories about great characters Lost Odyssey should be a good fit. I know I'll be playing it for a while now.

Spider-Man FoF is one of those games your six year cousin will tirelessly enjoy playing, to the point of annoyance. That isn't to say it is not fun. While playing through your first time, you're bound to have at least a few hours of entertainment. However, after a while the repetitive enemies and levels will wear down even the most dedicated gamers.

The game consists of several stages where your characters are blocked by a door and you have to defeat all the enemies to open the door. Repeat that about a hundred times and you have the entirety of the game. To break up the monotony there are boss fights which are usually fun and some "secrets" to collect. These secrets are usually placed right in the open and can be picked up in your first run through without any dedicated searching.

There is also some character leveling. In each stage you'll earn points that can be used to make your characters stronger or buy new moves. As you progress in the game, Spider-Man will unlock access to helper characters. Some are fellow heroes and some a villains, but either way they don't have many complaints about joining your team. In a single player game you can switch to the helper with the Y button. In two player mode the second player always controls the helper. The helpers each have their own move set and some are more useful than others, but none of them get the variety of abilities that Spider-Man has, so in single player they're not that useful.

There are some things I really like about this game. The graphics are surprisingly likable. The backgrounds and characters are all quite colorful and that keeps the game's atmosphere fun. The character attacks are also animated quite well. The game is also set up for an arcade sty1e join-in/drop-out system for the second player. Since the game is most enjoyable with two people this is pretty helpful. The games narration in the story is also quite enjoyable, even though it is a little childish at times.

The bad parts of the game mostly consist of the repetitive nature and the extremely easy difficulty. It is only possible to die in a boss fight. In the game's stages if you run out of health or jump off the stage you just respawn with a little less cash. If you run out of cash you just respawn, no penalty. Fighting in the game can be reduced down to simple button mashing. Also, there is no online support for second player and surprisingly this game is limited to only two people at a time (no local 4 player).

Overall, the game is a good rental and a simple way to spend a weekend. Easy Achievements might be enough to draw some people, and I had fun getting them. I had a friend play though with me though. If you're looking for younger kids this might be just what they're looking for. Don't blame me if you get bored watching them kill the same enemies over and over again.

7.0
Good

Click here for Thumbs up/down

I've officially sunk to a new low of Xbox 360 fanboyisim. I'm using my Gamefly membership to send me games with easy achievements so I can puff up my Gamerscore. Yesterday I got Peter Jackson's King Kong and Spider-Man Friend or Foe. I think King Kong is actually a horrible game, but it doesn't matter. I'm still going to play it through for the 1k points. I've got 14 more games waiting in my queue for the same reason. If you don't believe me check my facebook. I fully expect to be over 10k achievements in the next few days and I'm having fun getting there despite the low quality of the games.

It is nothing serious, but my wife is mad at me. When my Xbox 360 broke they sent it back with a free month of Xbox Live. Instead of using adding it to my account I made my brothers silver account gold for a month. Not wanting to waste my subscription time, he and I have been relentlessly persuing higher ranks in Team Doubles on Halo 3. We're at rank 20 now and well capable of making 30 at our current skill level. Also, I got my copy of Lost Odysse that I orded a while ago. I managed to get in 4 hours on it over the weekend. Of course I decided to start that Gamefly membership too, and I should recieve my firt two game sometime this week. Well, that doesn't leave much family time and my wife doesn't like it. Of course by quiting for a while I'd just be letting my brother down. We've been planning this Halo thing for about two months (since my 360 broke). I guess I'll just have to take the games easy this week and thats all there is to it.