Wednesday, March 25, 2009

It's Worth A Rental


I just read a couple of game reviews for some new releases this week when something dawned on me. Are there any games being made that are worth a buy? It seems like all I see in game reviews anymore is "it's worth a rental". I'm not arguing that most games are only worth a rental. I haven't bought a new game since November of 2008. I buy a lot of games too...or at least I was buying a lot of games untill I realized that most new releases are only worth a rental. I found that I was buying a game for 60 bucks only to finish it in 8-12 hours. If the game has multiplayer that's good then the game has more value, but a lot of the games I was buying where multiplayer was in the game the multiplayer modes just felt tacked on. Publishers are scrambling to try and somehow stop people from selling their games after they finish them so that Gamestop can't make millions off of used game sales. My answer to the game publishers and developers is to make good games that aren't just worth a rental.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

I REALLY NEED A WORTHY GAME TO PLAY


I'm in mediocre game limbo right now. I'm renting game after game only to send them back to Gamefly soon after I get them in the mail. I'm pretty sure I've played just about every single AAA title there is on the Xbox 360. Now I'm going back and playing games that I was either mildly interested in or just plain didn't care about. It's hard to play mediocre games after playing so many great games. It seems like a waste of time. It probably is a waste of time. After playing GRID for a few days I'm already tired of that. I'll probably be sending that back tomorrow even though I've only invested about four hours into it. Maybe my expectations are just too high. Could it be that I'm expecting great things from every game I play? Could it be that I'm just burned out on games? I recall this same thing happening to me a few years back with new metal bands. There were just too many new bands that were bad to mediocre. I got sick of checking out band after band only to be underwhelmed or disappointed. That could be the same thing that's happening with video games. I really hope not. I haven't played an incredible game since I finished FALLOUT 3. I guess it was bound to be all downhill from there.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Transporter 3, Say Anything, Role Models...Oh & Peggle Too


Netflix sent me Transporter 3 in the mail. I've had it for a bit, but I was waiting for my nephew to come over to watch it with me because we're both big fans of Statham's movies. It pains me to say that Transporter 3 was not good. There wasn't enough action, and there was romance. Romance!? Ugh! His love interest played by Natalya Rudakova just wasn't convincing. I'm not into redheads either. She did kinda float my boat even though she's really not all that attractive. I can't even begin to explain why I found here attractive because the woman has freckles all over her face. Very strange that I'd even find her a bit attractive. Anyway to get back on track I just couldn't deal with romantic bullshit that was included in this movie. They didn't even pull off the whole romance angle either. It felt forced and unnecessary. A couple of the fight scenes were ok, but nothing special. There was one over the top car stunt scene that was kinda cool, but unblievable. I expect that though. This movie was a dud. Here's hoping the sequel to Crank delivers the way I want it to. 5/10

I finally got around to watching Say Anything with John Cusack. I've only ever seen small bits and pieces of this movie. Shame on me for not seeing it untill now being the 80's pop culture junkie that I am. It wasn't bad. It's a chick flick, so of course I wasn't blown away by it. Cusack is usually good in every movie he's in. This is no exception. 7/10

Role Models was pretty much everything I expected it to be. It was a juvenile comedy with a few cheap laughs here and there. Nothing special, and nothing I haven't seen before. The little black kid Bobb'e J. Thompson stole quite a few scenes. I also love how they threw KISS into the mix as well. 6.5/10

I really haven't been playing a lot of games lately. As I've said I'm kinda burned out on games. I did end up buying Peggle on Xbox Live Arcade. It's a casual puzzle game, but man is it addictive. I've already spent somewhere around 9 hours playing it. The short description of the game is Plinko from the Price Is Right, but it's so much more than that. It's really hard to describe. You have to play it to understand it. but once you do you'll be hooked. Peggle will also be released on the PS3 eventually.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Three Arcade Choices & MJ Sells All Of His Arcade Games


I'm stealing this idea from the In Game Chat Podcast. They asked the question IF YOU COULD PICK A TABLETOP GAME, A STAND UP GAME, AND A SIT DOWN GAME WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

It was fairly easy for me to choose. My tabletop game would be Ms.Pacman. I never really saw a lot of tabletop games back in the day, but the one I did see often was Ms.Pacman. My regular stand up game would be Punch-Out with Dragons Lair a close second. My sitdown game would be Spy Hunter.

Speaking of arcade games, Michael Jackson is auctioning off all of his arcade games. I'm envious of his collection. He's got a ton of games he's selling. You know they're all in great condition too. The auction will be held in Beverly Hills on April 24th. You can even bid online at Auctionnetwork.com Here's the list...

The Simpsons Pinball Party
Sports Shooting USA
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Megatouch XL
Street Fever Basketball
Jambo! Safari
Super Chexx Hockey
Hotflash Air Hockey
Popstar Pinball
San Francisco Rush
Crazy Taxi
Hog Wild
F1 Exhaust Note
Police Trainer 2 Deluxe
Crazy Taxi III
Star Trek (pinball)
X-Men
Indiana Jones Pinball Adventure
Terminator 3 (pinball)
Tokyo Cop
Dark Stalkers
Revolution X
Ms. Pacman & Galaga
Horse Ride
The Simpsons Bowling
The Simpsons (arcade game)
Fortune Teller
Grandmother Predictions
Sammy USA Sports Arena
Zoltar the Fortune Teller
Lethal Enforcers
Lara Croft Tomb Raider
War Gods
Jumbo
Print Club 2
Super Street Fighter II
Little Red Corvette
Sega R-360
NBA Hang Time
Harley-Davidson & L.A. Riders
Polaroid Photo Booth
The Portrait Studio
Galaxy Force
WWF Royal Rumble
Oscar’s Wild Ride Gumball Machine
Ziggy the Clown
Nintendo 64 (in a store display rack)
3DO (in a store display rack)
Sony PlayStation (in a store display rack)
Clown Around
Smashing Drive
Sergeant Major
Nintendo Virtual Boy (in a store display rack)
Blitz 99
Alpine Racer 2
Hip Hop Mania Complete Mix 2
Digital Thunder
Crazy Taxi
Ultracade
Mocap Boxing
Striker Xtreme
Time Killers
Saturn
Karate Champ
Super NEO 29
Cruis’n Exotica
Strike Fighter
Megatouch MAXX
Virtua Racing
Ripley’s Pinball
Austin Powers Pinball
Ultracade
NSM Jukebox
San Francisco Rush 2049
Eighteen Wheeler
X-Men (arcade version)
Sports Jam
Lethal Enforcer
Batman
Luigi’s Corner
Robovend
LAX Rotary Merchandiser
Guitar Freaks
Tekken 2
Star Wars Racer
Bucking Bronco
The Sands Slot Machine
Mills Blue Bell Hi Top Slot
Dig Dug
Crystal Castles
Soul Calibur
Sunset Riders
Danger Zone
Donkey Kong
Terminator 2
Aliens
NBA Showtime
Frogger
Cart Fury
Manx Super Bike
Atari Basketball
Pony Mark IV
Ms. Pacman
Mortal Kombat
Neo Geo MVS
Caveman Ninja
Super Mario Brothers
Beach Head 2002
Marvel vs. Capcom
Virtua Tennis 2
Top Skater
Super Nintendo (in a store display rack)
Dance Dance Revolution
Sega Genesis Game Display
Sega Dreamcast (in a store display rack)
Frenzy Express
Need for Speed

Monday, March 16, 2009

Playboy Should Be Renamed Playboring


In the 80's when I was just a teenager I enjoyed looking through the pages of Playboy whenever I was at my older friend's house. Back then I obviously hadn't seen a real live naked chick...well not untill I was 16 anyway. When you're hormones are raging and all you can think about is sex Playboy is a damn fine magazine or at least it was back then. Recently my wife decided to get a subscription to Playboy. She also subscibed about 10 or so years ago for me, and I guess for her as well. It's perfectly normal for women to read Playboy magazine. Afterall it's not like we're talking about Hustler magazine or anything. Playboy is known as a "gentleman's magazine". It's easily the tamest magazine you'll find that contains pictures of nude women on it's pages. Back in the 90's when I was reading and looking at Playboy magazine I remember it being half way decent. I could usually find some decent articles as well as some nice looking women to feast my eyes upon. These days I'd have to say that Playboy is a totally worthless magazine. We've recieved two issues so far, and both of them have been terrible. The articles are boring. The comics are unfunny, and the women are even boring and predictable looking. Playboy magazine and Hef are obviously out of touch with what's going on today. Either that or I'm out of touch with what's going on today. Maybe I'm just too perverted for a magazine that's this tame. Forget the fact that I want my women to look like real obtainable women and Playboy's bunnies are far from that. I can almost forgive Hef for having fake looking airbrushed women that anyone reading this would have no chance in hell with. I can't forgive Hef for turning Playboy into a snoozefest of a magazine. Hef ruined his magazine, but he can't ruin my 80's Playboy memories of hot curvaceous babes.
(Hustler > Playboy) Larry Flynt knows what's up!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Achievement Points: I Think I'm Finally Over Them


There are a ton of games that I had planned on renting from Gamefly that would give me easy achievement points. I had palnned on starting with Kung Fu Panda. I've played three levels of the game and I'm bored stiff. After the second level I realized I just wasn't having fun with the game. I thought to myself is it really worth playing a game that I don't like just to get some nerd points? My answer is hell no. I'm sending it back tomorrow. I refuse to give a shit about achievement points from this day forward. From now on I'm playing games on various consoles for fun. Achievement points and trophies be damned!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

One Of The Worst Games I've Ever Played, And The Thought Of Being A Vampire


I've had all I can stand from Silent Hill: Homecoming. I just stuck it back in the Gamefly envelope to be shipped back tomorrow. I tried and I tried to stick with it, but this game is just a steaming turd. Read my review over at ThisXboxLife.com

A question was posed from a listener on Podcast Beyond that had me thinking. The question was something like if you had a choice to be a vampire would you? My reply is hell yes! You could live forever unless of course you came into contact with direct sunlight for to long, ate some garlic bread, have holy water splashed on you, or have the dreaded stake driven through your heart. Of course I could be wrong on a couple of those. I'm not a vampire expert or anything. Living forever sounds awesome. Who needs a soul when you can live forever? The sunlight thing wouldn't bother me either. I spend most of the day sleeping anyway. Most of my "day" is actually at night. Another reason to be a vampire is because women seem to find vampires sexy. I'd bite hot women on the neck and have life long companions. If I got sick of them I'd just drive a stake through their heart.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Street Fighter IV, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, & A Great Fleetwood Mac Song


Picked up my nephew this weekend, so we could hang out and play some video games. I ended up renting Street Fighter IV for the Xbox 360 and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift for the PS3. It had been a long time since I spent some time playing games on the PS3, so I was kinda happy that I finally found a use for it other than using it for a dvd/blu-ray player.

I still own Super Street Fighter 2 on the Sega Genesis. I actually broke that out last summer and played for about an hour. I've never really been good at any fighting games. I can generally beat whoever comes over to play me, but that's not saying much. I play people who don't usually play video games. My nephew gave me a run for my money by kicking my ass repeatedly with Zangief in Street Fighter IV...untill I discovered how awesome M.Bison is. I ended up beating him 12 straight with Bison no matter who he picked. Of course he destroyed me using Zangief with every other character I picked. SF4 is basically just a better looking SF2. It's fun playing with another person on the same couch, but I can't see playing it alone or even online against other people. I probably won't even play it again before taking it back to the rental store. It's a really good game. I'm just not very good at fighting games.

Motorstorm: Pacific Rift was a really fun experience playing two player local splitscreen. The graphics are some of the best I've seen if not the best I've seen for a racing game on a console. Not once did I notice any frame rate issues. The tracks were all really elborate and really fun to race on. There was also a decent amount of vehicles and types of vehicles to choose from. This is yet another game I wouldn't buy, but it's definitely worth a rent.

Now for my pick for what is probably the best Fleetwood Mac song that most people have probably never heard. The song is entitled "Hypnotized". I think in all the years I've been listening to the radio I may have heard it two or possibly three times. Of course FM radio likes to play all of the Fleetwood Mac songs that everyone is sick of hearing. "Hypnotized" has this awesome vibe that is like no other Fleetwood Mac tune. It's from the 1973 album entitled "Mystery To Me". I have no idea if the rest of the album is any good, but "Hypnotized" rules. Check out the youtube video below for the song.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

What The Hell Is Wrong With Me Lately?


I'm kinda burned out on video games. I think it has something to do with not many new games that I care about being released. I'm just not excited about Street Fighter IV, Halo Wars, or even Killzone 2 for some reason. I am still enjoying Eternal Sonata though. Gamefly also sent me Silent Hill: Homecoming which is really annoying the shit out of me for reasons that I plan on getting to later. I'm thinking about having Gamefly just ship me every rpg I can possibly play on the 360. The turn based JRPG's seem to be right up my alley lately. JRPG's are definitely hardcore games, but are more casual as far as gameplay goes. At least compared to a shooter anyway. I used to love playing JRPG's on the NES and PS2. For some reason I just kinda stopped playing them. Now with this generation of consoles I'm enjoying them more mostly because random battles are basically a thing of the past and the graphics are much prettier. I guess I'm not really burned out on games. I'm just sick of playing mediocre games.

You know what also falls in the category of what the hell is wrong with me lately? I'm on a Little House On The Prairie kick lately. My Mother always watched this show when I was growing up. I generally just watched it because well I had no other choice. She controlled the tv. I never really cared for the show. Now here I am watching reruns of the mega cheezy show. God, help me! Now just to prove that I do have some testosterone left I'm also addicted to Top Gear. Man, this show is just entertaining as hell. I love fast cars and things that go fast. I also enjoy british humor. This show has both of those things. I'm not new to the show or anything, but lately I've been enjoying it more than I ever have. God, I can't wait for 2010 when I'm driving that Ford Mustang of my dreams.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The Girl Next Door


Talk about a disturbing film. Movies like this don't generally freak me out, but for some reason this one turned my stomach in a knot. I think the main reason was because the girl being tortured was only 16 years old, and far from deserving the treatment she received. Not that anyone deserves that treatment. This was based on the murder and torture of Sylvia Likens by Indianapolis housewife Gertrude Baniszewski. There were some events that were changed here and there which is why I'd like to see the other movie An American Crime which is also based on the same story though I hear An American Crime is nowhere as brutal as The Girl Next Door. The things that happened to this poor girl are sad and sickening. It's hard for me to believe that we live in a world where people would do such things to an innocent girl. I think someone over at IMDB.com said it best when they posted "a great movie that I'll never watch again".

Stephen King Quote after seeing this film: "The first authentically shocking American film I've seen since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer over 20 years ago. If you are easily disturbed, you should not watch this movie. If, on the other hand, you are prepared for a long look into hell, suburban style, The Girl Next Door will not disappoint. This is the dark-side-of-the-moon version of Stand By Me."

On the disturbance scale it deserves a 10/10
Overall I'd rate it a 9/10

Games I'm Playing:

Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360)







About Me

My photo
Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
I'm 38. I'm addicted to Xbox 360 gaming and Dallas Stars hockey. I make a decent living at a boring job where I run two autoclaves and do various other tasks. My escape from this boring as hell life is video games, hockey, and music. I generally listen to Metal music, but I also love 80's tunes as well as 70's tunes. I have an unusual love for the band Overkill. They do it for me for some reason. Blitz is GOD!

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