Video Games & Robster Craws

Yaaaawn There Have Been Better Video Game Holidays

2010-12-05T20:52:00.001-08:00

I'm kinda irritated about the limited amount of quality triple A video games this holiday season. I realize that a lot of games got pushed to early next year for good reason, but I'm still irritated. I played and finished Fallout: New Vegas. It was good. It wasn't nearly as good as Fallout 3 though. I wouldn't call it a triple A title. I had a bunch of issues with it actually. I'm not going to get into those issues though. On a 1-10 scale I'd rate it an 8.

I just recently started playing Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. Supposedly a triple A title. Don't get me wrong...it is good, but not great. That's just my opinion though. It's getting good/great reviews. I honestly think I had a better time with Split Second and Blur earlier this year though. The first few hours were really fun. Then all of a sudden the difficulty ramps up out of nowhere and I just find myself getting frustrated. On a 1-10 scale I'd rate it a 7.5.

Today I just started playing Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. After playing Assassin's Creed 2 I was kinda burned out on the Assassin's Creed gameplay formula, but I had to get this because I played and finished the first two. On top of that I'm hearing nothing but really good things about Brotherhood. I don't have an opinion yet. I'm only about 40 minutes in. I'm just hoping that this game feels like a worthy triple A title.

On the back burner I have Fable 3 still in shrink wrap. I thought about playing that, but I'm hearing a lot of negative things about it. One thing that I keep hearing is that it's a step down from Fable 2. Not a good sign, but I'll play it after I finish Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood...maybe. I have been getting some great deals online for other games. Just ordered Splinter Cell: Conviction for 10 bucks as well as Just Cause 2 for 15 bucks.

I really hope that the games I'm looking forward to early next year deliver because so far the only games that I've been impressed with are Call Of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer and Halo: Reach multiplayer. There is still hope though. Maybe Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood will get it's hooks into me.

Yet More Fallout New Vegas Thoughts...Also Games On Standby

2010-11-10T22:33:00.000-08:00

At this point I am about 55 hours into Fallout: New Vegas. In the beginning I really wasn't entirely into it. Certain gameplay aspects as well as bugs/glitches were pissing me off. Now that I'm a level 26 things are going well, and I'm having fun with side quests. Below is a list of my pros and cons.

Cons:

Glitches galore. I've had at least 12 hard freezes. I've also gotten stuck on certain objects in the environment several times. I definitely didn't have these issues with Fallout 3.

Enemies all over the map that kick your ass early on. In this world there are just places that you cannot go when you are a low level character. There are MANY places you can't go early on. It's really frustrating!

Lack of stimpacks. In Fallout 3 stimpacks were everywhere. Now you have to rely heavily on food that heals you over a period of time.

Many locations are pointless. I've come across many locations that serve no real purpose. I've even picked locks to get into certain places to find absolutely nothing but empty shelves with no loot to speak of.

Pros:

It's a lot like Fallout 3. It's the same engine. It's basically a huge expansion pack for Fallout 3 in a new location with a few tweaks that were added.

New enemies along with old enemies. Some of the new enemies did piss me off early on, but at least they added some new ones.

Weapon mods. Adding scopes and silencers to guns is definitely cool.

With all of the problems this game has it's still a really good game. Hopefully future patches fix all of the problems.

While my addiction for Fallout New Vegas continues FABLE 3, Rock Band 3, and Call Of Duty: Black Ops sit on my shelf. On top of that I just pre-ordered Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, and I'm also ordering Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. I did play Rock Band 3 for a few hours, and the tracklist is the best yet for any Rock Band game. After that I think I'm done for the year. Of course it all starts again early next year with a few more games I'm looking forward to...

Proof That Video Games Don't Need To Cost 60 Bucks

2010-11-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

I'd like to send praise and thanks to Amazon.com for all of their video game deals. There simply isn't a better place to buy new games. In this shitty economy I need to save as much money as I can. Yes, I realize that buying video games isn't saving me money, but hey a guy has to live a little. Amazon helps me do that. Their discounts are kind of insane. It's unheard of to buy a game and get a twenty dollar discount on your next game purchase. It's unheard of unless we're talking about Amazon.com. The past two years I've saved a lot of money by taking advantage of all of the 10, 15 and 20 dollar discounts on games. Thanks to "tough times" gamers win if they are smart enough to know where to shop. These days every retailer needs to fight hard to get you to spend your money with them. Some retailers are fighting harder than others. Best Buy also has some really good deals from time to time. In my opinion Amazon is still the smartest about it. The consumer gets a great deal on their next game purchase and Amazon gets you to come back and spend more money. If you are really smart about it you can continue to buy every game for 40 bucks plus same day shipping for just a buck now. For example I bought Halo:Reach for 61 bucks total and got a 20 dollar credit for my next game. I used that credit for Fallout New Vegas at a total cost of 41 dollars. With Fallout New Vegas came another 20 dollar credit. I then picked up Fable 3 for 41 dollars with that credit. Of course Fable 3 also has a 20 dollar credit, so I put that on Call Of Duty Black Ops. Of course COD Black Ops has a 20 dollar credit as well. I'll probably put that credit towards the new Assassins Creed. Bottom Line = Amazon rules.

There is also a backlog of games I still want to play that I haven't bought yet. For those games that I want, but didn't feel like I had to have right away I wait a few months and pick them up on Half.com for 20 bucks or less. I also keep an eye on http://cheapassgamer.com

As long as people keep paying 60 bucks for games we will keep getting charged 60 bucks for games.

Fallout New Vegas Thoughts & A Channel Called Hub

2010-10-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

It took a while, but I'm finally digging Fallout New Vegas. I was getting my ass handed to me by just about every enemy you can imagine. I was obviously in over my head and going in the most deadly places on the map. I figured I explore and look for some side missions. After getting my ass kicked by just about every enemy you can imagine I ran into a Deathclaw and finally said fuck this. I decided to try and just follow the main quest until I level up a bit. I'm glad I wised up and decided to do that because I'm having a good time with the game now. Some of the new creatures are no joke. The Cazadors were really pissing me off. It's pretty clear that some of the creatures in New Vegas just weren't meant to be messed with until you've reached a higher level. I don't remember it being this way in Fallout 3, but of course this isn't Fallout 3 no matter how much it feels like it is. My other issue with New Vegas is the lack of stimpacks. It seems like it's all about other health items that raise your health over an amount of time depending on what you ingest. I've mostly been using Sunset Sarsaparilla. That seems to be the most effective way to replenish health.

There have also been some bugs here and there. The game only froze on me once. That was 37 minutes in. Probably the most annoying thing for me is how sluggish things can get while you are walking through the wasteland. It stutters here and there while the game is loading new environments. I've also witnessed creatures clipping through walls. Once when I was fighting two Fire Gecko's I shot one and it flew straight up in the air about 100 feet and just hovered there. Honestly though I expect glitches and bugs in a video game world that is this vast. Things have gotten better with the latest patch though. I'm having fun in New Vegas. That's all that really matters.

Now a heads up to anyone who likes old tv shows from the 70's and 80's. I just discovered a channel on Directv that I didn't know existed called HUB. At the moment I'm watching a GI JOE cartoon from 1984. Before that I caught the end of an episode of Transformers. Other notable shows are Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Doogie Howser M.D, The Wonder Years, Batman, and Fraggle Rock. Hopefully they continue to add different shows from the 70's and 80's. http://www.hubworld.com/

Vicodin Induced Ramblings

2010-10-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

I've had an awful headache all day, so I popped two vicodin. This blog entry could be scary. I'm feeling a bit fuzzy. I feel so fuzzy that I've decided against playing FALLOUT NEW VEGAS tonight. Instead I'll blog about some random bullshit.

Speaking of FALLOUT NEW VEGAS...I'm about five hours in and enjoying it. I hate those damned monster praying mantis nymphs though. Creepy bastards. I feel like I haven't played enough to really comment on a whole lot, but I will say that the FALLOUT game have some hot video game chicks. In the last game it was the Nuka Cola chick. She had a nice little ass. Now it's Sunny Smiles that I'd nail to the sheets. There really needs to be some hot bedroom action going on in the FALLOUT universe.

Still deciding if I'll buy ROCK BAND 3, FABLE 3, CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS, and ASSASSIN'S CREED BROTHERHOOD this year. The plan was to buy all four, but I may just buy a couple instead. I plan on milking NEW VEGAS for all it's worth anyway.

I had planned on seeing Cannibal Corpse, Vital Remains, Dying Fetus, and Devourment in November, but I'm thinking maybe not. I'm not sure I can deal with that much Death Metal in one concert. If this was the early 90's I'd be all for it. I'm also probably not going to see BLS, Clutch, and Children Of Bodom.

I can't believe it's almost time to throw the snow tires back on the Mustang. I love this time of year, but the snow is annoying.

We added another pet to our family. We decided our ferret Delilah needed a friend, so thanks to Craigslist we got another ferret that looks just like the one we have as well as a huge cage that they both share now. The lady was charging a "rehoming" fee, but ended up giving us the ferret and cage for free. Once again this ferret was owned by someone who didn't want the ferret after they bought it. We renamed our new ferret Daisy. She's quite a bit smaller than Delilah. Delilah beats up on her. She also beats up on our cat. She has a bit of a mean streak. She's likes to bite sometimes.

Just found out the other day that my boss was offered an early retirement from my place of employment. He's been a damn good boss for the past 16 years. Who knows who the hell I'll have to deal with now. I hate change. He'll be gone in three weeks.

Anyone else looking forward to PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2? I know I am. I thought the first one was really good. Here's hoping they don't fuck it up.

My DALLAS STARS are now 5-1 to start the season.

My daughter just turned 16. Holy shit where does the time go? I'll be dead before you know it.

Jagermeister Music Tour - Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax Review

2010-10-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've been to a concert. I used to go to concerts regularly. Once upon a time there were a lot of great shows here in Kalamazoo. Now you have to drive an hour north of where I live to Grand Rapids or three hours to Detroit to see a decent metal concert. Last night me and a good friend drove the one hour drive to Grand Rapids to see three of the "big four" thrash metal bands. This isn't going to be your typical concert review. I have quite a few thoughts and some funny details to share though, so here goes...

We arrive at the show and immediately have to go back to the car because my friend Steve had a laser pointer. If we had read the sign on the way in we would have known that, but really who reads those signs? Not us. No big deal. I was thirsty anyway and had a bottle of water in the car. We head back in to get frisked. We are good to go. We were both told to go get over 21 years of age bands at the next table. Not that I was drinking, but whatever. To one side they were selling beer. To the other side they were selling liquor and lots of Jagermeister. Go figure. To the front they were selling t-shirts...lots of t-shirts. They were selling more t-shirts and other merchandise than I've ever seen at a concert. It was literally a huge wall of stuff. I brought enough cash to buy quite a few shirts, but decided to show some restraint and only bought two. Shirts were 35 bucks a piece. Remember the good old days when shirts were only 25 bucks? I could have easily bought 6 or 7 shirts, but didn't. BTW holding on to shirts for an entire show sucks, but you do what you gotta do. Next up I had to piss which took forever because I had to stand in a long ass line because the bathrooms were rather small...just as I got done I could hear Anthrax starting to play CAUGHT IN A MOSH...

Anthrax played a very short set consisting of just seven songs. This was my second time seeing Anthrax. The last time I saw them they opened for Judas Priest for Priest's ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION album. I've only ever seen Anthrax as an opening band which kinda sucks because I'm a a pretty big fan of Anthrax. Though their set was short they played some classics. It's too bad more people weren't there early because I'm sure the pit would have been more intense for INDIANS...WAAAAAAR DAAAAAAANCE!!! Anthrax kicked ass and got a really good response from the crowd. Scott Ian is intense on stage. He looks like he's in his own world when he's playing. He was just totally into it as were the rest of the band. Joey really is a great front man with a ton of stage presence. Man, Joey is looking old! I guess that's because he is. Though he may have looked old he was still running around like he was in his 20's. At the end of their set Scott Ian thanked us all and told us there would be a new Anthrax album next year.

Next up was Megadeth, but I had to piss again. Yes, I have the bladder of a little girl. I also had to get a water. While getting a water a guy said "you are from Kalamazoo aren't you". I was like yeah. He said "I recognize your face". I said "Is that a good thing or a bad thing"? he laughed and then pointed at my Overkill shirt and said he recognized me from the in store meet and greet they did here at that store. He couldn't think of the store, so I immediately told him it was called Sounds Unlimited and that autograph signing they did in Kalamazoo was back in 1989. They played later that night in Grand Rapids with Wolfsbane, and Dark Angel opening. I told the guy I was surprised he remembered me because I am now 21 years older and had a lot of hair then. We both laughed and I took off. I get this all of the time at shows. I must have a really recognizable face or something. Now here is where I let you all know that we weren't supposed to be on the floor seeing the show. Those tickets are more expensive than the tickets I purchased. Nobody was checking wristbands when we first got there to see Anthrax. When I came back from the bathroom there were people checking wristbands. We decided to go into the stands where we were supposed to be. The plan was to wait until the lights went off before Megadeth hit the stage and slip through the guard rails in the stands. We did. Rules be damned! I wasn't about to pay 10 bucks more a ticket to be on the floor.

Megadeth hits the stage and the crowd freaks out. This was my third time seeing Megadeth. I saw them on the Rust In Peace tour back in 1991 opening for Judas Priest. I also saw them headlining on the Countdown To Extinction tour with Korn opening. Of course I didn't watch Korn though. Megadeth were top notch. They ripped through every song on RUST IN PEACE from beginning to end. If ever there was an album for Megadeth to play straight through this is the one. I am so glad I got to see them play this one. I think my only complaint is that they weren't loud enough. They were using the house system with no Marhall stacks like Slayer. I'm not saying I wanted to be deafened, but louder would have been better. The crowd was drowning out Dave's vocals. I don't think I've ever heard a crowd sing every song the way we did or as loud as we did. Shit, we sang that album straight through from beginning to end. When they had finished playing RIP they broke into TRUST. Really? Trust? The posers seemed to like it though. LOL I'm probably being a bit too harsh here, but that was a radio friendly song. It really felt out of place after playing all of RIP, but whatever. It was mostly the young kids and chicks who went ape shit over it. They really need to take that song out of the set and play IN MY DARKEST HOUR or WAKE UP DEAD instead. The also played HEAD CRUSHER which I also thought was weak as hell. The finished with PEACE SELLS. Megadeth owned it for sure. They got the best crowd response of the night. In my opinion they should have played last. They were better than SLAYER. Judging by crowd response Megadeth stole the show.

Once again another piss break and once again I snuck back onto the floor. This time while the lights were still on. I must admit that knowing what to expect as far as a setlist goes kinda ruins it. I knew what Slayer's setlist was going to be. I like SEASONS IN THE ABYSS. It's a great album, but it's no REIGN IN BLOOD or SOUTH OF HEAVEN. SEASONS IN THE ABYSS is really not a good album to here straight through live. It just isn't, and it showed just by how the crowd was reacting. The pit was even sluggish and slowing down during certain songs. That's unheard of at a Slayer show. I really thought that even the band knew that SEASONS doesn't really work all that well live. It just lacks the energy that RIB and SOH have. Just as an example as soon as the crowd heard the opening for SOUTH OF HEAVEN it was like a wake up call. Everyone erupted and it was crazy again like it was when they started the show with WORLD PAINTED BLOOD. Hands down the best response they got all night was for RAINING BLOOD. Slayer was good. I just think playing all of SEASONS was a bad idea.

Various thoughts and happenings at the show.

Some chubby metal chick needed to get by me at the show, so I moved and smiled at here. She then smiled at me and rubbed my bald head as she walked by.

This is something I'll never forget. A guy needed to get through all of us. He was leaving the pit. To get people to move he covered his mouth with both hands with a sick look on his face like he was going to barf. The crowd parted like Moses parted the red sea. Then when he was through the crowd I saw him smiling and laughing about it. Hey, it was effective. I'll use this in the future if I need to.

Jim Florentine from THAT METAL SHOW was there as the MC I guess. He told some lame jokes and also asked us all if there was another band added to the big four to make it the big five who would we want added. He threw out Testament, Exodus, and Overkill as bands. I shit you not Overkill got the loudest reponse. I was kinda shocked by this, but thrilled of course.

Saw a chick I hadn't seen since probably 1998. Seeing her made me feel old.

Got quite a few Overkill comments because I was wearing an Overkill shirt, of course. One skanky metal chick even decided to touch my back saying fuck you over and over again because my shirt has fuck you written on the back a bunch of times. Yeah, that's right I get the fat chicks rubbing my head and the skanky ones touching my back flirting with me. Of course the hot chicks that were there paid me no mind. lol

I took a ton of pics. Too bad my phone fucked up on me for some reason and none of my Megadeth and Anthrax pics were saved. I do have some Slayer pics though. They aren't very good shots though. Oh well.

It was a great show. There were only a handful of idiots that I encountered. Most people were really nice though. One guy even passed a joint my way. I don't high though, so I declined. Remember my last blog post about metalheads being the worst music fans? I've changed my mind. There are a lot of good people in the scene. I think it may have helped that a lot were my age and not snotty little kids.

Here's a link with a lot of great pics from an earlier show on this tour. I'd love to post my own, but my phone decide to be a whore! http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2010/10/slayer_megadeth_4.html

Are Metal Fans The Worst Music Fans?

2010-10-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

The reason I ask the question are metal fans the worst music fans is because I was recently deep in thought about the next concert I'll be attending. Ok maybe I wasn't deep in thought, but some things crossed my mind when it comes to the fans of the genre of music that I mostly love. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't really care for most people I meet. I'm not big into crowds. The only way crowds work for me is if I don't really have to interact with them on a personal level. This is why hockey games and concerts are doable for me. At the same time concerts aren't an entirely enjoyable experience for me.

As much as I love metal music I pretty much detest most "metalheads". I find them more annoying than your average music fan. I'm not saying that every metalhead is an annoying twit. I do find that concerts bring out the worst in a lot of people. Concerts are full of juvenile idiots who chain-smoke,drink too much, scream too much, and try way too hard to be tough guys. Years ago none of this really bothered me except for the smoking part. There's nothing like waking up the morning after a concert with your sinuses feeling totally destroyed by cigarette smoke. It's because of all of this that I don't go to many concerts anymore. I just feel like I'm way out of touch with these people. I feel like the only thing I share with these freaks is the love of the music. These days for me to go to a concert it has to be a band I love. Friday I'll be seeing Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax. I'm driving 40 minutes, and dealing with all of the idiots for these three bands.

With all of this being said diehard metalheads are also the best music fans. All idiocy and juvenile behavior aside metalheads are the most passionate music fans you'll ever find. We'll defend the bands we love tooth and nail on message boards and face to face. We'll also point out bands that we think suck endlessly. This isn't always a good thing, but it's also done with passion. We're also ready to talk metal 24/7. One of the greatest things about being a metalhead is to talk about bands you love with like-minded people. We have spent and will continue to spend a ton of cash on cds, vinyl, t-shirts, and concert tickets. We wear our favorite band t-shirts with pride and honor. I can't go anywhere without someone telling me they like the band shirt I'm wearing.

While there are things that I hate about the genre's fans I have to respect them for certain things as well. I just don't enjoy being around them at a concert. This Friday I'll do my best to block out all of the morons and just focus on the music. HORNS UP!!! SLAAAAAAAAAAAAYER!!!!

Why Don't I Enjoy Horror Movies Like I Used To?

2010-10-09T15:08:00.000-07:00

In the 80's I couldn't get enough of of the horror movie genre. Of course it was all new to me back then. Many things were new to me in the 80's. Obviously there are a lot of firsts when you're growing up. The very first horror movie that I can remember seeing (sort of) was a movie called 'Tourist Trap'. The problem was that it was so scrambled on our satellite dish that you couldn't make out what was happening all of the time. I remember getting a bit creeped out by the craziness that was going on. I couldn't get the full effect of it thanks to the signal being scrambled. I knew I liked the feeling I was getting though. I was a bit scared. This was 1981. That makes me a 9 year old boy with an imagination. I found that when I went to bed that night my imagination was worse than anything that movie could have showed me. It definitely helped to kick start my imagination though. In the same year that I saw this scrambled mess of a movie my elementary friends were talking about a movie that premiered entitled "The Exorcist". I don't remember any of the details they talked about, but I remember the look of genuine fear on their faces. These are second graders we're talking about here...maybe third graders. Now that I think about it I think who in the hell would let a kid that young watch this movie? My mom didn't. I remember her making me go to bed when it came on. It would be another 3 years before she would let me watch it. I wasn't even ready then.

It wasn't until 1984 that I was in full on horror movie mode. My Dad had just passed away in February of that year. My Mom basically did all she could to get my mind off of his death. If I wanted to watch horror movies or teen sex romp movies like "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" that was fine with her. My Dad never would have allowed it. I hadn't even seen a rated R movie until after he died. Months later my Mom met a guy who is still my step-father. Around this time all kinds of mom and pop video rental stores were popping up all over town. I would always wander over to the horror section and stare at all of cool VHS covers. We'd rent a couple and bring them home. At first these movies seemed so cool. After a while you discovered that it was the same old slasher flick over and over. This was cool the first 10 times, but then it just got old. What I needed was something that would stand out above the rest. I needed ghosts and demonic possession! Yeah, that's what I needed! I needed THE EXORCIST! After pleading with my mom that I could handle it she let me rent it. She warned that it would scare the shit out of me. I told her over and over that it couldn't be that bad. Oh, how very wrong I was!

Nothing could have prepared me for just how freaked out I would be after seeing THE EXORCIST. I remember not even wanting to walk down the dark hallway to the bathroom after it was over. My mom had to walk down the hall with me. Yeah, I was that scared. I slept with the light on that night. After that I plugged in a nightlight and slept under the covers for at least the next five nights. Talk about being scared. This movie still freaks me out today, and I'm 38 years old. You couldn't pay me enough to watch THE EXORCIST in my basement in the dark. I wouldn't do it. I told this to a friend of mine a while ago and he laughed at me. Call me a pussy, but at least I'm being honest. The only other movie that has scared me as much as THE EXORCIST was THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. That one also did a number on me. The thought of a family like that existing just fucked with my mind. These two movies for me are the most notable in terms of having a lasting effect. There have been moments here and there in other horror films, but nothing touches those.

Now all of these years later I generally dread bothering to watch a new horror movie. I feel like I'll just never be scared by a movie again. I'll admit that the very end of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT had an affect on me. I just found that last scene very disturbing and unsettling. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY had an affect on me as well. I thought what they did with that film was done well. To me it was creepy. I hyped myself up a bit before seeing it at midnight in the theater as well. Of course I'm also freaked out by paranormal things like ghosts and demonic possessions, so that may have helped. We're dealing with things in our apartment that can't be explained right now, but that's a story for another day.

I guess I'm just older and desensitized now. There are just so many "horror" movies being made that make me question why anyone would waste the time, effort, and money to make them. If anyone has any suggestions for movies that might actually freak me out I'm all ears. Until then I'll just have to watch THE EXORCIST alone in my basement on blu ray.

Top 5 Games You Need To Be Playing This Fall

2010-10-06T21:54:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again! It's time to kiss your cash goodbye if you're a gamer. Your wallet will be sad, but your fingers will be happy when you're hitting those buttons on your controller. Quite a few good games have been pushed back to later release dates. That's actually a good thing. Here is a list of the top 5 games you need to own/rent before the end of the year.

1) FALLOUT NEW VEGAS (If you're a FALLOUT 3 junkie like I am you've probably already pre-ordered this. If you haven't then what the hell are you waiting for? Get your ass over to Amazon.com right now!)

2) Fable 3 (Fable 2 was definitely a top notch game. I expect an even better sequel this time around. I'm sure Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios will deliver a triple a title worth owning.)

3) Call of Duty: Black Ops (Sure it's not Infinity Ward this time around, but I'm sure Treyarch will be releasing a great multiplayer experience. Besides that I've seen some gameplay videos and it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. It's going to have to be to get people like me to stop playing Halo Reach or even Modern Warfare 2.

4)Medal Of Honor (Yep another modern day shooter! I'm a sucker for shooters what can I say?)

5) Rock Band 3/ Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (I couldn't make up my mind here. It's the third Rock band game. It's the third Assassin's Creed game. I must admit that I did get a little tired of AC, but I'm curious to see what changes will be added as well as what the multiplayer mode will be like. Rock Band 3 will include keyboards this time around. While I'm not thrilled about that I do like the track list a lot. In my opinion it's better than the two games before it as far as songs go.

Music You Should Be Listening To In rOCTOBER

2010-10-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

It's my favorite time of the year. Summer is gone. Thank You!!! Everyone who digs metal or hard rock should be cranking evil heavy metal or at least creepy tunes. Not that it all needs to be creepy. Some of it is just kinda fun Halloween stuff. Now let me suggest some appropriate rOctober music.

1) Alice Cooper! Just about anything Alice has released will do, but there are some choices that are better than others. Welcome To My Nightmare is a good place to start. I'd rather pinpoint specific songs though. You can't go wrong with songs like Dead Babies, I Love The Dead, Ballad Of Dwight Fry, Welcome To My Nightmare, This House Is Haunted, and many more.

2) King Diamond (All of it really. It's King's specialty. I prefer THEM to all of his albums though. Not much is creepier than old people. Just ask G-G-Grandmaaaaaaaa!)

3) Misfits (Lots of good stuff from the Danzig era. Songs like Die Die My Darling, Horror Business, London Dungeon, Ghouls Night Out, Skulls, Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?, and Death Comes Ripping should get anyone into the mood for Halloween.

4) Wednesday 13 (Transylvania 90210: Songs of Death, Dying, and the Dead was my first introduction to Wednesday 13. I'll sum up their sound like this: Take Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Misfits catchiness, and throw it all in a blender. Wednesday 13 is what you get, and this album rules.

5) Rob Zombie (Hellbilly Deluxe is a great album to play in rOctober. It's catchy as hell and the songs reek of every b horror movies Rob has ever seen.

6) Obituary ( Cause Of Death and Slowly We Rot are both great albums for this time of year. COD also happens to be my favorite Death Metal album ever.

7) Manimals (Horrorcore is a fine Halloween time album. Search out this album.

8) Bronx Casket Co. (This is DD Verni's side band when he's not tearing it up in Overkill on bass. I recommend the following songs: Little Dead Girl, Sherimoon, Bleed With Me, Mortician's Lullaby, Sewing the Dead, Dead For The Moment, Creeperia, Who Lives Forever, and their cover of Metallica's Jump In The Fire.

9) Helloween ( You gotta listen to Halloween. AAAAAHHHHHHHH IT'S HALLLLLLOOOOWEEEEEN!

10) Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells anyone? You couldn't get me to listen to this one in my basement in the dark for any amount of money.

11) B.O.C. (Don't Fear The Reaper. It's a classic. It's still got this underlying creepy factor to it.

12) Dokken ( Dream Warriors. I always associate this one with this time of year. Well that and Freddy Kruger

13) E.L.O. ( Fire On High. That may seem like an odd choice, but give it a listen alone in the dark.

14) Black Sabbath (They have a few like Black Sabbath, Electric Funeral, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Black Sabbath the song takes the prize though. It's creepy!

Part 2 coming soon....

Holy Crap It's Been A Year!

2010-10-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

No updates to speak of for over a year. The sad part is not much has really happened in a year. It's groundhog day every day in my life. Wake up. Get on treadmill for 30 minutes. Take shower. Go to work. Come home. Play video games. Go to bed. Repeat for 5 days. On the weekends I do the same minus the work part.

Obviously a lot of video games have been played over a one year span, but I won't bore you with all of them. Halo Reach has been dominating my Xbox 360 for the past few weeks. Bungie has finally made a multiplayer mode that I am good at. Halo Reach goes out the window as soon as FALLOUT NEW VEGAS arrives. That is definite.

As far as my listening habits go...I still listen to most of the same old stuff. I've decided that there will never be any great new metal bands. There are some decent new bands, but nothing I'm going to waste my time on. I'm still cranking all of the old thrash metal and some death metal here and there. I really don't listen to death metal like I used to though. I'm also listening to lots of 80's tunes as usual. I still say one of the best bands outside of metal is The Hold Steady, but even they have let me down with their last two albums.

I just turned 38 last month. I'm having my mid life crisis now. That started when I decided to take another mirror and use it to look at the back of my head before shaving it which I've been doing every four days. I have a big bald spot shaped like the number 8 back there. Yeah, I don't deal well with physical changes that make me feel older, so I had a day of depression over that one. Still trying to deal with it all. Not trying to be overly dramatic here. It's just how I am when it comes to aging.

It's hard to believe that I've been online since the spring of 1999. It all started with good old Webtv. I used to get on various discussion groups and flame people constantly. If I could go back in time and smack myself...well I probably wouldn't. I still have a few issues online with people I don't like. Not nearly as many as I did 8-11 years ago, but still I do.

I may just start this whole blogging thing again if I can actually come up with interesting tidbits. So far I'm not off to a good start. I guess the reason I stopped was because I stopped having fun doing it. Facebook may have also had something to do with my stopping of the blog. Facebook is evil. I'm back now bitches! So the two people reading this...you've been warned.

Vacation Time Again...Various Crap On My Mind

2009-10-02T11:37:00.001-07:00

I'm off for ten days. I still have one more week of vacation after this one that I'm taking the week before Christmas. I plan on doing the usual crap for the most part. I'm sure I'll make a trip to the movie theater at least once if not twice. Zombie land looks promising. I may even end up seeing Surrogates with Bruce Willis. Last week I went with the fam to see Pandorum. Didn't really like it. It was barely ok. Besides movies I also plan on finishing the Halo ODST campaign as well as playing a bunch of firefight with friends online. Speaking of video games I got a chance to play the Brutal legend demo. Loved it! It's a day one purchase. Can't wait to hear all of the podcasts I listen to talk about this game so I can roll my eyes when they start talking about metal in general. I always cringe when gaming podcasts start talking about music because they generally have no idea what they're talking about. Stick to talking about video games, PLEASE! Once the conversation goes to bands and songs from rock band or guitar hero it becomes clear how little most gamers know about music. I find myself correcting them out loud. Yes, I realize I sound like an ass saying that, but I know a shit ton about music in general. End of rant.

The NHL season starts tonight! The Dallas Stars play their first game tomorrow at home against Nashville. Can't wait!!! GO STARS!!!

Some games that I'm buying on day one.
=========================================
Uncharted 2 (PS3) Oct 13th
Brutal Legend (360) Oct 13th
Borderlands (360) Oct 20th
Forza 3 (360) Oct 27th
COD Modern Warfare 2 (360) Nov 10th
Assassins Creed 2 (360) Nov 17th
=========================================

The next Rock Band game really should be KISS Rock Band! I want it, and I can't imagine KISS not having their own music game at some point. Especially if Gene $immon$ has anything to do with it.

Halo 3: ODST

2009-09-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

I haven't been excited about this game. For some reason I finally became a bit interested in it. The main reason is probably because all of the people on my friends list will be playing it. I know I'll feel like I'm missing out if I'm not playing it as well. Today I broke down and pre-ordered it from Best Buy. I'll be headed to Best Buy to stand in line in about 25 minutes. When I went earlier today around 7:30 there were already two chuckleheads waiting in line sitting in comfy lawn chairs. I asked them how long they thought the line would be. Their response was we don't know that's why we're in line right now. I expect the line across the street at Game Stop to be much longer. I say that because I remember the line at Game Stop the night Halo 3 was released. To say it was a long line would be an understatement.

Honestly I'm expecting a really good game. Thus far I've seen a ton of great reviews, so I basically have to buy it.

Californication Rocks!

2009-09-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not talking about that terrible Red Hot Chili Peppers song. I'm talking about the incredibly awesome show on Showtime starring David Duchovny. Holy shit is this a great show. I'm just now discovering it thanks to Netflix instant streaming on my Xbox 360. I don't have any of the the premium movie channels on Directv because it's a waste of money for me. I'm only two episodes in, but if the first two shows are any indication of how good this show is then count me in as a fan. I found myself laughing out loud several times. I also enjoyed the eye candy. Quite a few super hot naked women in the episodes I watched. Wow! Definitely a show for men. The world need more shows like this one! If you have a penis you need to watch this show.

It's been awhile...

2009-09-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

Man, it's September already? I haven't blogged since August. I'm neglecting my blog. I suck!

My latest addiction is Mafia Wars on Facebook. Never thought I'd get sucked into a game like this, but holy shit it's addictive as hell. A friend of mine requested that I start playing and be a part of his mafia, so I decided to give it a try. If anyone reading this besides Phil is playing let me know and send me a request to join your mafia.

I'm soooooo glad school has started again. My daughter just started high school, so she's out of my hair (does that work even though I'm bald?) and not driving me insane in the early hours of the morning.

I picked up The Beatles Rock Band. Great game IF you are a fan of the band, and I am. I was raised on their music from birth. My parents listened to The Beatles on 8 track and vinyl all of the time. It's part of my dna. I'm having fun singing all of the songs and watching the beautiful visuals. Definitely a 9/10.

I've been watching a couple of tv shows. Lately I'm addicted to Wife Swap for some reason. I love watching two totally opposite families have to deal with one another or at least a new mom. I've also been watching Hell's Kitchen. I've been watching this since season one though. This has been a really funny/good season though. Gordon Ramsey is the man. The guy cracks me up. Can't wait for the new season of House. It starts on the 21st...which id my birthday.

Speaking of my birthday...I'm having a cavity filled that day. Yippee!

Influential Albums

2009-08-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

I know most people who are into music like I am (especially metalheads) have a number of albums that they would point to that shaped their listening habits today. My focus of this blog post is to recall the albums that got me into metal and it's sub genres.

KISS - Alive II (Back in 1980 my mom used to babysit some kids at our house. One day they brought this over on two cassettes and let me borrow it for a while. I remember not listening to the live portions. I was only interested in the studio tracks at the end. Those studio songs are still some of my favorite KISS songs to this day. This album was a small stepping stone for me. I wasn't quite ready for hard rock just yet. It took another three years for that to happen.)

Quiet Riot - Metal Health (This was THE album that got me into metal. In late 83 and 84 I would listen to this endlessly. I loved it and wanted more. I can still listen to Metal Health and get all nostalgic. Saw em live once. RIP Kevin Dubrow.)

Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil (My mom actually bought this for me on vinyl for Easter because I asked for it. Motley Crue quickly became my favorite band. I practically wore the grooves out on this album. Besides most of the Overkill albums there probably isn't an album I've listened to more than Shout At The Devil.)

Ratt - Out Of The Cellar (Yet another huge album from the early/mid 80's. This one got heavy rotation in my cassette deck in 1984. I've even seen Ratt live three times. Lack Of Communication is still one of my all time favorite songs. It rocks! RIP Robbin Crosby.)

Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry (I played the holy hell out of this cassette. During the summer of 1984 I probably watched the We're Not Gonna Take It video 500 times. It never got boring to me.)

Dokken - Tooth & Nail (This to me is a perfect hard rock/metal album. There isn't a weak song on this album imo. I still listen to this album, and all the albums I'm mentioning for that matter. Saw them live once.)

Def Leppard - Pyromania (There are so many great classics on Pyromania. Then of course things went to hell when they released Hysteria which to me is mostly terrible minus a couple of songs. Talk about watered down pop metal. Blah!!)

Tesla - Mechanical Resonance (This is another album that to me is flawless. It's just a great rockin' album full of good memorable songs. Saw them live once.)

Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance (Perfection. This is one of the greatest metal albums ever created and easily my favorite Priest album. Electric Eye is Metal personified. I've seen Priest live three times.)

Iron Maiden - Powerslave (I bought this on cassette in 1984 when I was 12 years old with birthday money. I couldn't get enough of 2 Minutes To Midnight. What a great song. What a great band. What a great album. Saw Maiden live once.)

W.A.S.P. - W.A.S.P. (Great debut album that they never matched in my opinion. Talk about an album that appealed to angst filled teens and pre-teens.)

Grim Reaper - See You In Hell (I first saw the video for the title track on Mtv late at night and was blown away. Hey I was only 12 so give me a break. Great album though.)

Metallica - Master Of Puppets (I heard the title track on one of our local rock stations and went to the mall that day and bought this on cassette. From 1986 until 1988 Metallica was my favorite band. Then a mighty metal band changed all of that for me.)

OVERKILL - UNDER THE INFLUENCE (Thanks to an ex friend of mine I'm a huge Overkill fan. From the moment SHRED blared from the speakers I was in awe. I was fucking blown away. This album will always have a special play in my heart. It's THE album that made Overkill my favorite band. They still are obviously. I've seen Overkill 14 times live and have met and talked with the band several times and have various things autographed.)

OVERKILL - THE YEARS OF DECAY (This remains my favorite album of all time. This was also the album they were touring for when I first saw them live in December of 1989 with Wolfsbane and Dark Angel opening in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Exodus - Fabulous Disaster (I've seen people in metal circles rag on this one, but those people suck because this is a solid Bay Area Thrash album from start to finish.)

Sacred Reich - The American Way (It actually started with the Surf Nicaragua ep, but that's not a full album. I love the guitar solo on the title track. This is a fine album.)

Part two coming soon....

Games, District 9 & Total Randomness

2009-08-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm not renting from Gamefly I'm renting games from Hollywood Video just down the road from where I live. At least this way I can go in and actually choose a game that I want that they have in stock instead of getting a crappy game down at the bottom of my list from Gamefly. Last week I ordered The Godfather 2 the video game on half.com for 22 bucks. I decided to buy it after renting it for five days. It's 40 bucks in stores right now, so half price was a good deal. In the meantime I needed a game that I could play and beat in a short amount of time. Wanted: Weapons Of Fate is definitely that game. It's not an incredible game or anything, but it's fun. It's just a mindless fps with stupid ai enemies. I've put in a couple hours a night for the past couple nights and I'm almost done with it already. I feel sorry for anyone who paid 60 bucks for this game. Definitely worth a rent though.

I'm taking my third week of vacation out of five next week, so I'll be gaming as much as possible during my vacation. I'm sure The Godfather 2 will arrive by then. At least it better!

If anyone reading this hasn't seen District 9 yet you really need to. It's the best sci-fi film I've seen in a very long time. Definitely a different spin on alien movies. I pretty much loved it. 9/10

As much as I think Sebastian Bach is a doucher his solo cd entitled "Angel Down" really rocks. Axl Rose even appears on some tunes with some vocals. Definitely a good old school mixed with modern sounding rock album.

I Guess Those Albums Aren't That Bad

2009-08-21T00:13:00.001-07:00

Lately I've been really bored with listening to the same albums all of the time. I think we all have a bunch of stand by albums that we listen to. I decided it was time to go back to those albums that I've ragged on and give them another chance. I started with Nevermore's "Dreaming Neon Black" and "Dead Heart In A Dead World". I must say that I enjoyed "Dreaming Neon Black" quite a bit. It's not like I'm new to this album. I picked it up on cd when it was released. I remember thinking at the time that it was alright. It's been well documented by yours truly that I can't stand Warrell Dane's vocals. They are actually pretty good on DNB. I even hear a bit of his old school Sanctuary vocals at times. Not often enough though. "Dead Heart In A Dead World" is decent. I did get bored after about song 7. I must say that their cover of "The Sound Of Silence" is terrible. I don't mind when bands cover songs and make them their own, but man this is just bad. Eventually I'll listen to the rest of the Nevermore catalog. I'd also like to mention that I do enjoy Jeff Loomis's guitar playing.

As I type this I'm listening to Savatage's "Streets: A Rock opera". For years I've been saying that anything after "Hall Of The Mountain King" is weak. I still believe that after once again listening to "Gutter Ballet" and "Streets". It's not terrible. It's just not the Savatage that I want to listen to on a regular basis.

44 Of The 45 Songs Slated For The Beatles: Rock Band

2009-08-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

Singles
=======
I Want To Hold Your Hand
I Feel Fine
Day Tripper
Paperback Writer
Revolution
Don't Let Me Down

Please Please Me (1963)
=======================
I Saw Her Standing There
Boys
Do You Want To Know A Secret
Twist and Shout

With the Beatles (1963)
=======================
I Wanna Be Your Man

A Hard Day's Night (1964)
=========================
A Hard Day's Night
Can't Buy Me Love

Beatles For Sale (1964)
=======================
Eight Days a Week

Help! (1965)
============
Ticket To Ride

Rubber Soul (1965)
==================
Drive My Car
I'm Looking Through You
If I Needed Someone

Revolver (1966)
===============
Taxman
Yellow Submarine
And Your Bird Can Sing

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
============================================
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
With a Little Help From My Friends
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Getting Better
Good Morning Good Morning

Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
===========================
I Am The Walrus
Hello Goodbye

The Beatles (White Album) (1968)
================================
Dear Prudence
Back In the U.S.S.R.
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Birthday
Helter Skelter

Yellow Submarine (1969)
=======================
Hey Bulldog

Abbey Road (1969)
=================
Come Together
Something
Octopus's Garden
I Want You (She's So Heavy)
Here Comes the Sun

Let It Be (1970)
================
Dig a Pony
I Me Mine
I Got a Feeling
Get Back

Love (2006)
===========
Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows

For the most part I like this set list. Of course there are some I like more than others. There are also some I think are missing. I mean seriously...where the hell is "Hey Jude", "A Day In The Life", "Strawberry Fields Forever"...you see where I'm coming from? Actually I know where they WILL BE, dlc. I'll shell out the cash for these songs and others too.

All Things Rock Band

2009-08-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

Not a lot going on in the video game world...well nothing that exciting to me anyway. I'll have more to talk about as soon as September hits. I'm so picking up Beatles Rock Band on day one. Yes, I've been sucked into Rock Band 2 lately. For a while I was playing drums, but now I've decided I'd rather sing. I can so nail "Don't Stop Believing: by Journey on expert on vocals as well as "Take It On The Run" by REO Speedwagon. I'm ranked 200 and something on one of those songs on the leader boards. I also purchased Screaming For Vengeance. It's fun screaming like Halford. I also purchased Cannibal Corpse's "Hammer Smashed Face". I figured that would be a bitch on vocals, but it's easy. Other than that I haven't been playing much. I've gone back to Left 4 Dead even though I said I never would. For some reason it drags me back. I'm also playing my second season in be a pro mode in NHL 09. Can't wait for new games to start hitting the shelves.

Playlist.com Owns Me, But Mothership Zeta Really Doesn't

2009-08-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

This could actually be a first. My daughter got me hooked on a site. That site is playlist.com. It's probably a site most people know about already, but it's new to me. You search for songs you like and put them on a playlist where they are saved for you whenever you want to hear them. If you ask me this is the future of music. All the music you want online stored on another server that you don't own. I like this idea. I'm addicted to it actually. Check it out if you haven't already.

I've been playing the latest dlc for Fallout 3 entitled Mothership Zeta. I'm not all that impressed with it. It's not terrible or anything. It's just not wowing me. It's good. It's just not great. I enjoyed Point Lookout much more. BTW anyone looking for a cool FPS set in space with aliens should check out PREY. You can get that game for a song now.

Lately I've been watching seasons 5 and 6 of Penn & Teller's Bullshit. I've loved this show since day one. I don't get Showtime anymore, so I haven't seen them all. The episodes I have seen I downloaded online. Anyway, great show with lots of boobies!

It's official. I cancelled my GameFly account. I will now rent games down the street at Hollywood Video and buy games dirt cheap on half.com. Of course I'll also buy a few games at full price.

MMA At The Speedway & Bye Bye GameFly

2009-08-02T20:30:00.001-07:00

As some of you know I enjoy watching my nephew race at the local hillbilly race track in Galesburg Michigan. There usually isn't a night where a fight doesn't happen in the pits there. Saturday night was no exception. Only this time I was sorta involved. Generally what happens is someone gets pissed off because they didn't win a race or got bumped by another car on the track or even get in an accident. Well my nephew was in the lead for quite a few laps after the lead car got black flagged for going under his time. Anyway my nephew was leading and this guy that we all thought was our friend was also racing and getting severely pissed off because my nephew was just a bit faster and not letting this guy get past him. At one point this guy actually hit my nephews car on purpose. After that this driver actually got hit pretty hard by another driver which really damaged his car. The race ends and my nephew takes third place. I then hurry back to the pits because I just had this feeling things would get out of control...

This pissed off driver who we know well and talk to every day gets out of his car and starts yelling at my 18 year old nephew. Mind you this guy is at least 50 and starting shit with a kid. I thought to open my mouth when he was going off, but just then my brother-in-law starts raising his voice a little telling the guy to chill out. Before you know it this guy is freaking out and grabs my brother-in-law by the throat and slams him on the hood of my nephews stock car. I'm trying to get to this guy to get him off of my brother-in-law, but the guy's friend who happens to be a big fat woman is inbetween me and him tell me to back off. I'm like I don't think so. When this is going on I see my nephew looking on the ground. (later he tells me he's looking for a rock)I then see him with his driver's helmet over his head looking pissed. He then slams the helmet down on the guy's head at least three times while the guy is choking his dad and punching at him. I finally get a hold of the guy's arm before he can punch at my brother-in-law again and yell his name really loud in his face and tell him to get the fuck off of him. He does. Why I have no idea, but he finally did.

Later on things got heated again and this time I was actually involved and so was my wife and my brother-in-law's wife. This time it was with a friend of the driver who hit my brother-in-law. Both my wife and his wife were going off because of what happened earlier. The friend said some shit to my wife that I didn't life so I told him "Don't talk to my wife like that you fucking asshole". (This guy is yet another guy we've all known for years. He's in his and has a couple heart attacks, but still thinks he's king shit)The guy then tells me he'll beat my fucking ass and then pulls off his flannel and starts to walk towards me. At this point I've had it and I'm ready to beat this guy's ass. My wife then jumps in front of me and tells me "Don't". Then about five security guards come and break it up before anything happens. Later I ask my wife why she said don't. She then tells me she said don't because she knew if he walked over I was going to punch him first, which I would have for sure because I was livid. I would have went to jail for sure if he had made it over to me. Believe me I was ready to hit that guy with everything I had. Next Saturday at the races should be interesting. LOL

With that out of the way I've decided to drop Gamefly. They suck hard lately. It's not worth it to me anymore. The last straw was having 30 games in my q and having them still not send me a game even after they received my last game three days ago. I've had it. I'm sending my final game back to them. When they receive it I'm cancelling my membership. I'll be buying games on half.com or renting down the street where I can get the games I want when I want them for basically the same price with no late fees.

Sick Of Being Overweight

2009-07-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

I'm at the point in my life where I'm sick of being overweight. I'm not morbidly obese or anything, but I need to be 20 lbs lighter. Diets just don't work. Well, they do work, but not for very long. Atkin's works. It's just a very limited diet in terms of things you can eat. My body needs fiber. I don't get enough of that with the Atkin's diet.

America is overweight because of easy access to convenience foods and lack of exercise. The laziest people in the world are Americans. My problem is that even though I power walk at least five days a week for 40 minutes I stay at the same weight. My diet is to blame. I eat too many processed foods with empty carbs. I don't eat nearly as many as I used to, but I still eat too much of those junk foods. Of course I also never stop at one slice of pizza either. No, I have to eat an entire pizza. At this point I've changed my diet to more protein as well as fruits and vegtables. I'm also drinking tons of water. It's a no brainer that I'm feeling better and have more energy. This is the diet for life. I really need to stick with it. I don't like feeling lethargic and crappy. That's the way I felt when I was eating tons of processed foods.

Eating 5 or 6 small meals a day is also helping with cravings. I never really feel hungry. I think all of the water I'm drinking also helps. I've cut my calories down by about 500. I will slowly but surely lose weight. My goal is to be at 180 by the beginning of November. I weighed in at 195 when I started.

Don't get me wrong with this blog entry. I'm not preaching. I love high carb foods. I'm just sick of having an ugly gut, feeling lethargic, and I'd like to hit old age without having a million health problems.

What's On My Mind

2009-07-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

I've been busy playing Infamous lately. Man, what a great game. If you only own an Xbox 360 or a Wii you're missing out big time! Game of the year so far for me. It's a blast, and my current gaming addiction.

I'm no longer blogging for ThisXboxLife. I've had some things going on lately. I'm better off blogging about a wide range of things here on my personal blog. Blogging about only Xbox related news felt limited. No hard feelings whatsoever to the crew at ThisXboxLife. You guys still rule.

It's time to start thinking about putting in pre-orders for games I definitely want to buy. Beatles Rockband and Modern Warfare 2 are two of those games I'm definitely buying. Amazon will be getting my cash for those.

Bought a new Laptop this past weekend. Windows Vista isn't that bad, but man is it a resource hog. I still prefer XP for sure.

I finally created a facebook account. I've been tired of Myspace for ages. Facebook basically feels like a Myspace for adults who can spell and don't act like a bunch of ghetto morons. Bye Bye Myspace.

I'm thinking about picking up a scanner so I can scan some old pics of me as well as my father. If anyone knows of a good scanner at a good price let me know.

Hockey season starts in a little over two months. Can't wait to see my Stars in action starting October 3!!! GO STARS!!!

Found a pretty cool site for streaming music last night called Slacker.com. Pretty decent selection of music.

Latest food addictions = Swiss Miss Fudge Bars, Fiber One Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Steamed Broccoli, and Fresh Pineapple.

If I was still the fast food junkie that I was years ago I probably would have eaten at the Sonic that arrived in town late last year. I still haven't eaten there yet. These days I eat at decent restaurants with real food. If I do eat fast food I always pick Qdoba or Culvers.

My Saturdays have been free lately due to a blown motor in my nephew's stock car. I always have stuff to do, but being at the races is fun.

I'm still enjoying my Mustang, but it's dirty at the moment. I can never wash the damn thing because it seems like rain is always in the forecast.

Too Many Game Sites, Reviewers, & Podcasts

2009-07-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

Now that every Tom, Dick, and Harry thinks they are a "hardcore gamer" we have an oversaturation of websites and podcasts devoted to gaming. It really needs to stop. There are so many terrible websites and gaming podcasts out there now. It's gotten to the point where any idiot with a pc and an opinion can have his/her own site and podcast. Having an Xbox 360 and an opinion doesn't make you an authority on gaming. I'd also like to add video game reviews on youtube to this list. I don't know how many video reviews I've seen for games with total stumps doing the review. I mean shit at least learn how to form a complete sentence before you decide to do a video review for a game. People really need to stop embarrassing themselves.

I think the main problems I have with independent gaming sites are terrible spelling errors and a lot of copying and pasting of news stories that they found over at IGN or Kotaku. There is such a thing as spell check. USE IT! This is exactly why I will continue to ignore all the wannabe's and go to the bigger sites like IGN. They actually have site editors who get paid to make sure they don't look like a bunch of half-witted morons who can't spell. I realize that not all independent gaming sites are bad. Heck, there are some good ones out there. It's just that the bad ones far outweigh the good ones.

Another issue I have is all of the terribly boring game reviews out there now. I think I'd probably rather pull my fingernails out one by one with pliers than read another game review. If I want a game review now I'll either watch a video review on Gametrailers.com or IGN.com. If you only have a written review of a game chances are I won't be reading it. I just don't want to take the time to read a review that's going to bore the shit out of me.

I'm also listening to only a handful of gaming podcats now. There are just too many braindead morons creating podcasts.

I know I sound negative, but hey someone has to tell it like it is.

DEFINITELY A PEEVE!!!

2009-07-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

I see random words misspelled all the time. I'm not saying I have perfect spelling or anything, but some words I see misspelled just irritate the shit out of me. Ready for the word that I see misspelled all the time that is my new peeve?

D-E-F-I-N-I-T-E-L-Y!!!! That's how it's spelled folks! I usually see it spelled "definately". THAT'S WRONG!!!!

Again, I'm not perfect. You would think people could spell DEFINITELY the right way though. Just sayin'!

Top 10 Most Famous Cars

2009-07-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

Through the years we've seen tons of cool cars on television and movie screens. Some of them don't seem as cool now that I'm almost 37 years old, but the memories still remain from my childhood. I've always had a love affair with cars. I generally like a car that looks sexy and goes fast. It speaks volumes about the car I drive now. As usual this list isn't in any order. It's just a list of 10 of the most popular cars that I dig.

1) 1969 Dodge Charger aka "The General Lee" from The Dukes Of Hazzard. (Like a lot of kids I loved this car to death. I even have some pics from 4th grade posing in front of it at a car show.)

2) 1974 Ford Gran Torino aka the car From Starsky & Hutch. (I barely remember anything about this show because I was really young when this show was on. I do remember the car though.)

3) 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am aka the car that Burt Reynolds drove in "Smokey & The Bandit". (Once upon a time I owned a Firebird. Mine wasn't the cool 1977 Firebird though. Mine was like the one Michael Knight drove. The 1977 Firebird is/was badass!)

4) 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am aka the car in Knight Rider. (It doesn't do much for me now...probably because I drove one just like it for a few years. Same color too. Now my brother in-law's wife owns it. It's a rust bucket piece of junk now. It was decent when I drove it.)

5) 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe aka the car John Milner drove in American Graffiti. (Man I fell in love with this car and Milner's Deuce Coupe when I first saw American Graffiti back in 1982. Waht a sweet street rod.)

6) 1979 Ferrari 308 GTS aka the car from Magnum P.I. (Never cared for the tv show, but damn I wanted to drive that car.)

7) 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 fastback aka the car fron Gone In 60 Seconds (Man, I'd give my left and right nuts to own this car. Shit, i'd even give up sex for a year for this car.)

8) 1968 Ford Mustang 390 GT aka the car from the movie Bullitt. ( I have yet to see this film, but it's qued up for instant streaming via Netflix on my Xbox 360. I hear the chase scene in this film is still the best ever.)

9) 1978 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 aka Forrest Whittaker's Camaro in Fast Times At Ridgemont High. ( This movie is full of great scenes. Two of those scenes involve this car. It's a riot when Mike Damone is told "DON'T FUCK WITH IT"! Of course there's also Jeff Spicoli declaring "I can fix it" after wrecking it.)

10) 1948 Ford Deluxe aka the car from Grease. (Very cool old school ride. I'm not big on convertables, but this one os sharp even with those crazy lightning bolts...afterall IT'S GREASED LIGHTNING!

Worst Band Ever

2009-07-10T01:38:00.001-07:00

I'm not even joking with that blog title. I've heard some bad bands in my 36+ year existence, but the band COMPLETE easily wins worst band ever category. What's sad is they seem to take themselves seriously. I discovered this band a while back on a message board I used to post at. I was reminded of them again because someone posted a video for their song HOOGIE BOOGIE LAND. It's just bad. I mean it's terrible. If anyone has heard worse I'd love to hear that band.

This is really bad. You've been warned!

Early Game Of The Year & MST3K

2009-07-07T21:43:00.000-07:00

If anyone finds it odd that I haven't been on Xbox Live in a couple of days now there is a damn good reason for it. That reason is Infamous on the PS3. It's been well documented on this blog that my PS3 is used for a blu-ray/dvd player. Sure I own a few games for the PS3, but they never get played because they just aren't all that great. I only buy exclusives on the PS3 because I play cross platform games on my Xbox 360.

I'm about 6 or 7 hours into Infamous now, and I'm having a blast playing it. I don't know what it is about third person action games, but I just love the hell out of them for some reason. For me Infamous is the best thing since Crackdown. I'm finding myself getting lost in the gameplay just having a ton of fun with it. I haven't had this much fun with a game on the PS3 since Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. This game is so good that if I didn't already own a PS3 I would honestly go out and buy one just for this game. It's that good. I recommend anyone with a PS3 to at least rent Infamous. It's early and there are a lot of games that are coming out in the fall, but so far this is easily my game of the year.

While I'm not playing Infamous and other games I'll be watching Mystery Science Theatre 3000 dvd's from Netflix. I used to watch this on Comedy Central when it was on. I really had no idea just how many episodes there were untill I did some research online. I've got a lot of episodes to rent from Netflix. Too bad I can't instant stream them though.

MST3K SHORT

iPhone...Do I Really Want One?

2009-07-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

Everyone in my family has the same cell phone. For about the first four months the phones worked great. Now they are basically junk. We text a lot. The keyboards on our phones work sometimes. My wife and daughter have replaced their phones a coup[le of times now. I still have mine. I've just been living with terrible stopping and slowing down while trying to text. I'm sick of it at this point, so I'm thinking about buying out of our contract with Alltel, and getting iPhones. My question is how much can I expect to pay? Right now we pay just under $200.00 per month for unlimited texting as well as a bunch of minutes that we don't need because we have "my circle" which allows you unlimited minutes to the people in "your circle". We also have unlimited internet access. If we can get a decent plan for about the same price per month then I'm all for getting iPhones. Obviously I'm going to have to do some research, but any input from people reading this blog would be appreciated.

inFAMOUS Impressions

2009-07-05T01:46:00.000-07:00

I finally went out and bought inFAMOUS for the PS3. I simply couldn't wait for GameFly to send it to me. By the time they send me a copy all of my hair would be gray.

The opening intro to this game is one of the best I've seen. The graphics are really nice especially for an open world game in a city with a lot going on. Climbing buildings is easy and fun as well. So far I'm also digging the moral choices that you have to make which are either good or evil. I'm playing through on good first. Later I'll try and tackle evil. My only complaint with the game is that the "Reapers" on the rooftops are highly talented snipers who can easily put bullets in your body. I started playing on normal mode, but decided on the fly to play on the easy difficulty mode until I get the hang of it because the "Reapers" tear you up on the ground and in the air. So far I can see this as my go to game. I'm only an hour in, and I'm having a lot of fun with inFAMOUS. It looks like my PS3 is finally going to get some use other than being a dvd/blu-ray player.

Songs About America...Well Kinda

2009-07-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I'm driving my American made Ford Mustang today thinking about songs that are about America or at least have America in the title. I came up with a few. Some are worthy. Some are not so worthy.

James Brown "Living In America" (Right away I'm reminded of Rocky 4 when I hear it. Apollo Creed looking cheezy in his top hat and tails all decked out with stars and bars. I can get down to this song though. It's good. I FEEL GOOD!)

Night Ranger "You Can Still Rock In America" (You definitely still can, but most new rock bands sure can't. Somne would argue that Night Ranger can't either. Whatever though because I like Night Ranger in all of their cheezy 80's glory. This is a good guitar rock tune.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers "American Girl" (I've been a fan of Petty for years. The guy can write a catchy song. I love catchy sing along songs. "American Girl" is no exception. It's a great song that was also part of the Fast Times At Ridgemont High soundtrack.

Neil Diamond "America" (I love this song! Yeah that's right I love it. I believe it was back in 1980 that this song was really popular and on the radio all the time. Neil has this reputation for being a dork or whatever...at least with my generation, but this guy was awesome. He's a great songwriter/performer. To me "America" is majestic and even epic.)

David Bowie "Young Americans" (I guess you could say this is Bowie's interpretation of young america back in the day? It's an ok song. I can take it or leave it.)

Kim Wilde "Kids In America" (I love this tune. It's one of those 80's tunes that stands out to me. Kim was hot back in the day too.)

David Bowie "I'm Afraid Of Americans" (Yet another Bowie song about Americans. I like this one enough that when it came out I downloaded it and burned it to a cd-r. Good stuff.)

Kid Rock "American Badass" (OK i'll admit this. I like this song. Years ago when it was released Mtv played the crap out of the video and for some reason I liked it. Maybe it was because he sampled "Sad But True" in the background? "Sad But True" is the only song on Metallica's "Black Album" that I like because it's the only heavy song on that album.)

Bruce Springsteen "Born In The U.S.A." (I own this on cd. My mom owned it on vinyl. Not really a big fan of the song. I do like how it doesn't shine the greatest light on America though. Too bad Reagan had no idea of that.)

Hulk Hogan & The Wrestling Boot Band "I Am A Real American" (How can you not get chills when you hear this song? Say your prayers & eat your vitamins, BROTHER!)

Don McClean "American Pie" (I hate this song with a passion! It's too long. It's too boring. It sucks!)

Grand Funk Railroad (We're An American Band" (God, I hate this one too. I mean holy shit how many times do they have to tell us in one song that they are an American band? OK, I get it already. You're an American band. Now shut up!)

The Guess Who "American Woman" (Great song. This one rocks. Lenny Kravitz's version does not!)

Styx - "Miss America" (Yep, this one rocks too. I like it. I don't love it, but it's good.)

M.O.D. "U.S.A. For M.O.D." (Tasteless and funny as hell. I like it!)

Anthrax "American Pompeii" ( It's Anthrax, so of course I like it! John Bush owns you, Sac!!!)

Def Leppard "Hello America" (It rocks! Back when Def Leppard ROCKED!)

Dio "Dying In America" (Blah, RJD was once the man, but not the album "Angry Machines".)

Gwar "America Must Be Destroyed" (For me GWAR is hot or miss, but mostly miss.)

Lawnmower Death "Kids In America" (I actually like this cover. Great band actually. If you have never heard "Satan's Trampoline" you need to!)

Motorhead "America" (It's Motorhead. You either like them, or you don't. This one is decent.)

Nuclear Assault "My America" (This is a band that I don't listen to nearly enough these days. Good song, and "Game Over" Rules!)

Pantera "The Underground In America" (This one is off of "The Great Southern Trendkill" which in my opinion is an incredible album and highly underrated.)

Pro-Pain "American Dreams" (One of my favorite bands, but not one of my favorite songs. It's ok.)

Sacred Reich "The American Way" (I love this song. I love this album. I love the guitar solo on this tune.)

WASP "Goodbye America" (WASP's best days are behind them. Once in a while they put out an album with a few good songs, but Blackie should really pack it in. This one is decent at best.)

Michael Jackson Dead At The Age Of 50

2009-06-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Back in 1983 I became a huge Michael Jackson fan. I would listen to "Thriller" pretty much ever day for months. I was only 10/11 at the time. I can remember my Grandpa and some other family members giving me grief over being an MJ fan. I won't even get into some of the racist crap I heard from them. There was just something about MJ that was magical to me. I guess I was just a young impressionable kid. Later in 1983 heavy metal music came into the picture and I pretty much forgot about Michael Jackson.

There's no denying that he was/is an icon. When Fred Astaire compliments your dance moves you're basically a stud. I still believe that there was no greater entertainer than Michael Jackson. I also believe that there never will be. He was larger than life. He was the Elvis of my generation. I have nothing bad to say about him even though thousands of people on message boards are already ripping on him with jokes that are in bad taste. Even in death he can't be left alone.

In the 80's nobody was a bigger star. Not even Madonna. He had talent. He had massive stage presence. He made girls scream, cry, and even pass out. I don't care what anyone says. In the 80's Michael Jackson was THE MAN.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

6 Bands That I Can't Stand

2009-06-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

A few of these bands actually have ONE song that I enjoy with the rest of their output being a steaming pile of monkey shit.

1) U2 (The very first band that comes to mind! They may be the most overrated band ever! When I hear songs like "With Or Without You", and "Where The Streets Have No Name" I puke in my mouth a little. The weird thing about bands that I hate like U2 is that they do seem to manage to create one song that's actually worth a shit. That song is "New Years Day".)

2) Lynyrd Skynyrd (I never could stand this band or 99% of Southern Rock. It's just terrible. "Free Bird" makes me run to the radio to turn the station. It's just so boring to me. I've heard one song from this band that I do like. That song is "That Smell". Again, a band that I can't stand that has one good song.

3) Pearl Jam (I hate this band. I hate the "grunge" genre. I can't stand Eddie Vedder's voice. There has only been two songs where I like his vocals. I like the song "Not For You". His vocals still aren't great, but at least they are tolerable. The other song isn't even a Pearl Jam song. The song "Hunger Strike" by Temple Of The Dog is basically his only great moment.)

4) The Who (Yet another overrated band. It may actually be Roger Daltrey that ruins this band for me. Then again a lot of the music is just bland in my opinion. Again, the one and only song by The Who that I actually like a lot is "Eminence Front".

5) Voivod (If ever there was music that should be played as a form of torture it should be Voivod's music. They suck! As long as I live there will never ever be a song by this band that I enjoy. Come to think of it this band should be in the number 1 spot...not that these bands are in any real order.

6) Nevermore (Anyone who has ever seen me post on various Metal message boards in the past ten years knows that I cannot stand Warrell Danes's vocals with Nevermore. He just ruins the band for me. He has to have the most boring voice in metal. Skip sleeping pills when you can't sleep. Just listen to a Nevermore album. BTW the image above is the talentless idiot Warrell Dane. Note: He was once a good vocalist for the band Sanctuary. What the hell happened is anyone's guess. If this band had a different vocalist they would probably be a decent band.

Kids Drive Me Nuts!

2009-06-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's Father's Days. I have a beautiful 14 year old daughter who along with her other dippy teenage friends drive me crazy. Nobody ever told me that when you have a kid you also adopt all of their friends who stay at your house every weekend. They are loud. They are obnoxious. They pretty much only care about their fun no matter how loud they are or who it annoys. Oh, and they eat you out of house and home. Bill Cosby was right when he said all children have brain damage. Things are only going to get worse now that it's summer. I was just sitting down in the basement at my PC getting ready to come up with something for this blog when I hear what sounds like furniture being moved as well as laps being ran. Mind you it's almost midnight and my wife is trying to sleep so she can get up and go to work tomorrow. I go up the stairs to ask my daughter and her friend what the hell they are doing. I tell them it sounds like they are running laps around the living room. They then demonstrate some goofy dance. I tell them we aren't running a dance club and to chill out. I wasn't too nice about it probably because before that my daughter comes to me and announces that she has friends stopping by to stay hi to them. I'm like bullshit it's almost midnight! I'm 36 years old and I don't even have friends stopping by that late.

Happy Father's Day to me and all of the other stressed out dads out there. Fatherhood...it is what it is. Next stop, the looney bin!

The Blog Post With No Special Title

2009-06-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

It's time again for random thoughts by yours truly.

I've come to the conclusion that while I like video games that aren't triple a titles I really wish every game was a triple a title. You're probably saying well no shit Sherlock! I feel like some of the games I've been playing lately are just time wasters. While they are mildly entertaining they just leave me wanting more. You have no idea how bad I want fall to hurry up and get here!

Speaking of fall...I'm struggling with the idea of storing my Mustang for the winter and buying a beater to drive. Snow tires for the Stang would cost about $200 a piece. For a little more than that I could just go buy a decent enough car to get me through the winter. I haven't made up my mind just yet. If I do drive the Stang I'll be running it through the car wash weekly. I wouldn't even be driving it all that much to tell you the truth. As it is I only live a half mile from work and drive a few miles away to the bank every other week. In an average week I drive about 5-7 miles. I'd also have to pay to store the Stang as well or possibly my Uncle would let me park it in his garage. Eh, who knows?

Anyone remember the show The Greatest American Hero? Well, of course you do. Is it sad that I bought all three seasons on dvd a few years ago and only watched the pilot episode? I just listened to one of the latest podcast episodes of Stuck In The 80's with an interviw with William Katt. He seems like a really nice guy. I guess there is a Greatest American Hero movie in the works right now. Not a good idea if you ask me.

Lately I've been playing The Club. I like it for what it is. It's an arcadey shooter that's actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Definitely worth a rent in my opinion or even worth 10 or 15 bucks if you can find it that cheap.

I'm finding that I'm really digging the Mtv True Life reality shows lately. I just watched the episode where girls go on and on about how they hate their big breasts. One girl didn't really even have anything to bitch about. She had double D cups, but they weren't shit compared to the other two girls who had way bigger boobs. One girl had a size F!!! Of course the other two girls were overweight. Lose some weight = lose some breast size. It's not rocket science ladies! I also enjoyed the porn addiction episode. I feel their pain. One guy who was married had to get out of his house because his wife was so pissed off that he looked at porn. This woman was a bitch. If she was my wife I'd rather watch porn and spank the monkey than do her.

Red Faction: Guerrilla Is A Snoozefest

2009-06-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

I generally enjoy open world "sandbox" games. RFG is that type of game, but man it's not doing anything for me. My major complaint is how dull the environment is. You play as a miner on Mars. Now think of just how boring the landscape on Mars is. They nailed it. There's nothing exciting to look at. It's boring. Another complaint I have is that the game feels very reptitive. I don't mind doing things over and over in a game if the things I'm doing are fun. I'm just not having any fun with the missions. Another problem I have is that your enemies are sharp shooting maniacs who are relentless and just keep coming no matter how many of them you kill. These guys could shoot a penny from 100 yards away. Basically you have to go to an area complete your objective and then get the hell out of there as fast as you can because if you stick around to fight them all you will die. Maybe I just suck at this game, but I found myself dying often. Needless to say this game is going back to Gamefly tomorrow.

I'm also playing Turok. I'm far from impressed. That may be going back soon as well. I'm at the point now where I'd rather use my Xbox 360 to stream Netflix movies than play games. I feel like I've played just about every good game there is to offer on the 360.

No Time For Games Only Time For Driving My New Mustang Really Fast!

2009-06-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

So I finally did it. I found that Ford Mustang that gave sent chills up my spine. I knew this was the one. The pic above is my baby! It has everything I was looking for. Color black CHECK. Black leather interior CHECK. A V8 with 300HP CHECK. A rear spoiler CHECK. Power seats, locks, and windows CHECK. Low miles for a pre-owned car CHECK. This is not your grandma's car unless she's the little old lady from Pasadena.

After driving a crappy little Ford Ranger that putts along as well as a little Kia Rio that my wife drives I wasn't ready for the power of the 4.6 liter V8. I'm still getting used to barely touching the gas and having it take off. I'm speeding without even realizing it. I even feel out of place in this Mustang. I feel like this car should belong to someone else. Almost like I'm not worthy. Shit, maybe I'm not. Don't get me wrong. I love love love this car. It's just that I'm not used to driving something this nice. I've owned a lot of cars in the past 18 years. None have been this nice or fast. I once owned a 1984 Pontiac Firebird that was quick, but not this quick...not even close.

I'm also noticing that it's an attention getter. When I'm driving down the road and I stop at a red light people stare at it. Of course people also want to get beside me and try to get me to get on it. Yep, the short time I've had it it's already happened twice. I love driving fast, but I don't want the speeding tickets that go with it. I haven't had a speeding ticket in 11 years and I don't plan on getting one now.

I'm also wondering if I should drive it in the winter. I only live a half mile from work so it's not like I have to drive far. I also plan on washing it at least once a week. Of course I'll need snow tires all the way around as well. Michigan winters can be harsh.

I'm just glad I finally pulled the trigger and bought one. You only live once. I'm a firm believer in doing things that make you happy if you can manage it.

Killzone 2 Not All That & A Bag Of Chips

2009-05-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

After spending a few hours with Killzone 2 I'm just not impressed. To tell you the truth I'm not even driven to play it anymore. I have a few problems with the game. First off I'm playing on the medium difficulty and it's barely a challenge. I'm actually finding that it's incredibly easy to not shoot enemies and just walk up and melee them in the face. It's also a bitch to aim with the reticle. I have the sensitivity way up in the options and it's still not helping. When you use the right analog stick to aim it kinda hesitates and pauses. This is annoying as hell. If the controls were better the game would probably be really fun. I'm not thrilled with the weapons either. I've ended up using the one shot rifle because the other guns have so much kickback when you shoot them that you end up shooting way above the head of your enemy. I have a feeling I'll be sending this back to GameFly either tomorrow or Monday. It's a mediocre shooter with some issues. When I play a FPS I want precision from my weapons. I don't want to have to fight with accuracy. I've played C grade shooters on the Xbox 360 that handle better than KZ2. What a shame. I thought I had finally found an exclusive game on the PS3 worth playing. I was wrong. I hope INFAMOUS ends up being that game...

Motrin...What A Joke

2009-05-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks I've been having some terrible headaches. Monday I had the worst headache of my life. I haven't really felt like doing much of anything and that includes playing video games or blogging. I've managed to play a few games when my head isn't pounding and my brain isn't trying to escape from my head...at least that what it feels like. I've been playing The Bourne Conspiracy on the 360 and Killzone 2 on the PS3. TBC has a ton of quick time events, but I'm finding that it doesn't bother me like I thought it would. So far it's a much better game that I expected. It's far from being perfect, but it doesn't suck either. Killzone 2 is better than average so far. I've played a lot of shooters. KZ2 isn't showing me anything I haven't already seen before. It's good. Too bad it's not great.

Karma must have really caught up with Earl this time. My Name Is Earl has been cancelled. It's one of the few scrpted sitcoms that I actually enjoy watching these days. I don't even watch it regliously or anything, but I watch the episodes that my wife dvr's. She'll be bummed that it got cancelled. I just like it because it makes fun of rednecks.

My Mustang search is still on. I have my eye on one that was just reduced by almost 1K. It's a 2005 with just under 24K miles. I'm not to thrilled with the color. It's sonic metallic blue with white racing stripes. I may go test drive it on Saturday if my head cooperates.

50 Cent, Matt Hazzard, Killzone 2, Infamous, & Ford Mustangs

2009-05-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

50 Cent Blood On The Sand had been on my GameFly GameQ since it was released. Gamefly never shipped it to me, so I went to my local Hollywood Video and rented it. Sometimes I wonder why the hell I bother with Gamefly. I had heard nothing but good things about Blood On The Sand. Mostly I had heard and read that it was fun. Having fun is the reason to play games. Am I right? So far it's been a blast. It's a lot like Gears Of War, but better. Yeah, that's right. It's better.
Any game where you click on the left stick to swear err taunt your enemies is a good thing in my book. HaHa no not really. If I was 12 it would rule the world though. The dialogue in this game alone is enough to crack you up. The story is just bad, but that makes the game even more fun. All the cheezy dialogue and story aside this game is a really good shooter. I'm just glad I had the option of turning the background music off.

I also rented Eat Lead: The Return Of Matt Hazzard. I purposely started playing this first because I figured it would be pretty bad. It is pretty bad, but something made me keep playing it. It was probably all of those achievement points that kept popping up. You know those achievement points that I said I didn't care about. This could have been a good game. Maybe if they had spent more time on some of the control issues like getting into cover it would have been a lot better. I stopped playing it after a while to play the 50 Cent game, and I'm glad I did. I may spend more time with this though...eventually.

It looks like my PS3 will actually get some use. I'm getting KILLZONE 2 from Gamefly and I may even go buy INFAMOUS. Man, that game just looks incredible. I watched Greg Miller's video review for INFAMOUS and not only does it look amazing, but it also looks like a hell of a lot of fun as well. Right now it's my MUST play game. It looks CrackDownish as well becuse you can climb a city of buildings. Right now the average score is a 9 on gamerankings.com

So far my search for a Ford Mustang is going slow. I'm not seeing that Mustang that is perfect for me. I'm scouring the pages of Autotrader.com. I'm seeing cars that are missing one or two options that I want that aren't there. For example I'll see a bad ass car then I'll see that the interior isn't leather. It will be cloth. I'm also finding a lot of Mustangs that are sweet, but have manual transmissions. I can drive a stick, but I don't want one here in suburbia. I need to see that Mustang that makes want to run out the door and go test drive it. I'll just keep looking at Mustangs online impatiently I guess.

VACATION TIME!!!

2009-05-17T22:51:00.001-07:00

Well, I just started my first week of vacation! I get four more after this one plus I have some Fridays in July scheduled as well. My plans are to go pay off my car and truck loan and then go shopping for a slightly used Ford Mustang or MAYBE a new Mustang. It all depends on what I find and which one floats my boat. I'm not jumping on the first one I see though. It's gonna have to give me chills or I'm not buying it. Some may say I'm crazy to pay off both vechiles only to get another car loan, but you only live once and I want a Mustang so bad it hurts.

I've been playing a lot of FALLOUT 3 lately. I finished the main quest in BROKEN STEEL and now I'm blazing through THE PITT. BROKEN STEEL added about 17 hours of gameplay and I still have some other things I can do in that expansion. I could go on playing in this world for as long as Bethesda wants to release new expansions. I really hope they do!

I also finished QUANTUM OF SOLACE which was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Now I'm playing Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard. Which isn't great, but it isn't terrible. I'm also gonna dive into 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand pretty soon. I'd talk about my irritation with GameFly, but I just don't feel like it.

Soft Drinks With Real Sugar!

2009-05-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

Many of you probably already know that you can get a few soft drinks without corn syrup right now. Pepsi has released Mountain Dew Throwback as well as Pepsi Throwback. You can get both in plastic bottles or in cans. I've only seen them in plastic bottles so far, and have purchased both. Dr.Pepper has also released a few drinks with pure cane sugar and no corn syrup. The Dr.Pepper bottling company has totally done it right though. Their drinks come in 12oz glass bottles.

Being the nostalgic pop culture junkie that I am I just had to try these. Let me just tell you that soft drinks without corn syrup are incredibly delicious. Yes, you CAN taste the difference. Not since the early 80's has Mountain Dew tasted so damn good! I don't even drink many regular soft drinks these days. If I do I generally drink diet. Once in a while I'll drink a regular Coke. I gotta say though if Dr Pepper and Pepsi keep making drinks minus the corn syrup I'll be drinking more of it on a weekly basis. Cavities and a growing waistline be damned!

Out of the pure sugar drinks I've had regular Dr.Pepper, A&W Root Beer, and Mountain Dew. I have a couple bottles of Pepsi still in my fridge. The thing that I like about these old school soft drinks is that you aren't overwhelmed by sweetness. You actually notice the fizz more than anything because it seems like there's more fizz than in the corn syrup variety. It's just a much better taste as well. Drinking the Mountain Dew brought me back to when Mountain Dew tasted great. Once upon a time it was all I drank. It's too bad Pepsi didn't release it in glass bottles though. Either way I'm just glad soft drink companies are ditching corn syrup even if it for a short time. Hopefully enough people will buy these and corn syrup will be a thing of the past. I don't expect that to happen, but at the very least they could make both...oh and how long before Coke follows suit?

Broken Steel Is Broken

2009-05-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

I get home tonight looking forward to downloading the new BROKEN STEEL DLC for FALLOUT 3. I decide to look around the net for impressions and possible reviews. After cehecking out a few game blogs and message boards all I see are news stories and complaints about broken DLC. Apparently achievements aren't unlocking for the Xbox 360 DLC and PC users get the following message when they install the DLC "Not a cryptographic message or the cryptographic message is not formatted correctly. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8009200D)".

To say this news sucks is an understatement. FALLOUT 3 is my game of the year for 2008. I spent 106 hours playing it. For Christ's sake Betheseda get your goddamn act together. Bethesda had issues with DLC for The Pitt as well. Looks like I'll have to wait to play Broken Steel now, and I'm not happy about it!

Rock Band Not So Bad

2009-05-03T20:11:00.001-07:00

OK, Rock Band is actually a fun game WHEN YOU PLAY WITH OTHER PEOPLE. Me and my daughter played Rock Band today for like five hours. I played bass. She played guitar. We kicked a bit of ass. I was struggling to come up with a band name so of course I picked parts of three death metal bands that I enjoy. Our band name is Napalm Angel Corpse, and we DESTROOOOOOY! I'm irritated that my band member's name can't be shown on Xbox Live though. What's wrong with Jack Azz? This is Rock Band for piss sake. Maybe I should have went with Corpse Fucker instead.

I also stopped by my local GameStop today to pick up a guitar. I couldn't believe how many used guitars they had there. I wasn't about to buy one though. Who knows how many little boogery fingers were on those guitars or how many hours they were used. I opted to go to Sam's Club and buy yet another copy of Guitar Hero 3 w/guitar. That means I have a new copy of GH3 that I'll need to get rid of. Sac, if you're reading this and you're interested in this game at all just let me know and it's yours for free.

Rock Band Impressions

2009-05-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

I realize this game isn't new, but after playing Guitar Hero 1 and 2 on the PS2 when they were released I was beyond tired of music games. Rock band is definitely a better game than any of the Guitar Hero gamnes I've played, but the track list is just crap in my opinion. I know music is in the ear of the beholder, but man these songs just aren't fun to play. At least the modern songs aren't. I'm going through the solo career on vocals right now and I have to say that I'm really not having fun with most of these songs. It's no wonder there's a ton of DLC. There would have to be for anyone to wants to keep playing Rock Band. I'd have say that I don't care about 85% of the songs included on the disc. I'm guessing it would be more fun playing with other people even if you're playing a song that you don't like. For me to enjoy Rock Band I'm pretty sure I'd have to shell out a ton of cash for DLC. As tempting as buying Judas Priest's 'Screaming For Vengeance' is I can't bring myself to do it because I don't plan on buying Rock Band. At this point it's just a rental from GameFly. If I owned it I would definitely buy 'Screaming For Vengeance' complete because it's one of my favorite albums ever. I'd also pick up Megadeth's 'Peace Sells...But Who's Buying'. That's yet another one of my favorite albums.

The best thing about Rock Band vs Guitar Hero is that you don't fail out of a song when you're royally screwing the pooch. I definitely like that aspect of the game. On the flip side I'll take Guitar Hero for the songs. The GH games just seem to be more suited to my musical tastes. Which reminds me that I need to put Guitar Hero Aerosmith on my GameFly GameQ...

For me Rock Bands fails only because I don't like most of the songs on the disc. When Bon Jovi's 'Wanted Dead Or Alive' is a welcome song to sing vs most of the songs you know there's a problem.

My Mind Is A Total Blank...

2009-04-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

...Nothing new really as far as my mind being a total blank. I've got nothing going on in my head for blog posts here or over at ThisXboxLife.com. I'm in a major rut. I think it has a lot to do with my crazy new sleep schedule. I'm up a few hours before I have to go to work. Then when I get home I'm up for a few hours. Then I'm off to bed. I've even contemplated quitting blogging altogether because I feel like I don't have much to say for whatever reason. I guess I'm just going through an uncreative stretch. I can talk about a couple of things though.

I've been watching a lot of South Park lately. I have the first six seasons on dvd as well as season eight. I just watched all of season seven on Netflix on my 360. I'm sorry, but this show is just genius. OK, maybe it isn't genius, but it sure does crack me up.

As far as games go I've been playing Fracture. I'm on the end boss right now, and he's really pissing me off. I will defeat him though. Look for a future review of Fracture on ThisXboxLife.com

As far as music goes I've been listening to 60's Garage Rock thanks to a thread on a message board that I no longer post at. I still lurk there though. I decided to download Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 box set. Lots of good stuff so far. I'm only on disc 1, but so far I'm really digging this stuff. 60's Garage Rock is supposedly responsible for the punk rock movement. I can buy that I guess.

Anyone else excited for the new FALLOUT 3 DLC on May 5th? I know I am! Should be fun.

Kiss Me Deadly?

2009-04-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Anyone who reads my blog knows I'm stuck in the 80's. You also know that I love my 80's music. Today at work was 80's On 8 XM Radio day which I live for. Anyway Lita's 'Kiss Me Deadly' was on and I was thinking just how tired I am of that song. I'll admit that when I was a teenager I liked the song. It hasn't aged well though. For that matter Lita really hasn't either just judging by how she looked when I saw That Metal Show on VH1 Classic. I'm sure I could sit here and come up with tons more 80's songs that haven't aged well and this just happens to be one of them. I do own the self titled Lita album that 'Kiss Me Deadly' appears on. I even listen to it probably twice a year or so. There are actually songs on that album that I still enjoy like 'Back To The Cave' which is much better than 'Kiss Me Deadly'.

The second part of my thought about this song is just what in the fuck does 'Kiss Me Deadly' even mean? How in the hell do you go about kissing someone deadly? Does that even make a lick of sense? I realize that songs don't have to make sense, but this song really takes the prize for not making sense. I'll take no part in being kissed deadly or kissing someone deadly...whatever the hell that means.

Entertainment Doldrums

2009-04-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't been this bored with video games, movies, television, and music in a long time. I've actually been digging into the past for my entertainment needs. I've been watching old (but new to me) episodes of South Park on Netflix as well as older movies that I never got around to watching. The other day I watched Michael Keaton in 'Clean & Sober' which I thought was pretty good. I've also been renting games that I never got around to playing like Too Human which I finished and enjoyed. I started playing Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, but sent it back to GameFly after only playing it a few hours. I just didn't care for it. Now I'm playing 'Fracture' which is a good game. I'm finding that I really like third person action adventure games.

So basically I'm looking to the past for my entertainment needs. Other than that I don't know what to say besides BRING ON SOME AWESOME NEW GAMES, MOVIES & MUSIC!!! I'm getting bored...really bored.

I'm Eating My Words

2009-04-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year I made a blog entry about how many games I was looking forward to and how this would be a good year for video games. My outlook has changed. There are really only a handful of games that I even care about now. Unless Microsoft and Sony make some huge announcements at E3 I think this year is actually going to be quite lame. Obviously I plan on playing a bunch of new releases, but it's not like I'll be dying to play most of them. There are still plenty of games I can go back to. There are even older games I still haven't played yet. Right now I only see one AAA title worth getting excited about and that's Modern Warfare 2. In case that title looks a bit strange it's because the Call Of Duty tag is being dropped. I also have high hopes for Brutal Legend mostly because it's a fantasy game based on Heavy Metal. Still no word on when that's being released though. I'm also looking forward to INFAMOUS and PROTOTYPE. I also think FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 3 could be promising as well. I'm just hoping that some announcements will be made for some other big games this year.

Round Two Of Torture

2009-04-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

In my last blog entry I talked about how Grace Is Gone destroyed me emotionally. Well, if Grace Is Gone destroyed me I'd say the movie "My Life" starring Michael Keaton killed and buried me. If you must know I cried like a baby especially at the end of the movie. My sinuses are totally destroyed now. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment lately. My friend Repro/Phil had said that this movie was the saddest he had seen. It now ranks as the saddest I have seen as well. This movie really brought back some terribly sad memories for me. Life isn't fair and this movie shoves that right down your throat. I obviously didn't need "My Life" to tell me this, but it's good to be reminded just how precious life is. There are no guarantees here on earth. I learned that early on in life. Bad things happen to good people. It sucks, but that's life. After watching this movie I felt as if it was a bit theraputic. Sometimes you need to let it all out.

Definitely a great movie. Thanks for the recommendation, Phil. :)

Winter Weather Causes Me Computer Headaches & Grace Is Gone

2009-04-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

We got nailed here in Michigan with a ton of wet heavy snow. Our power went out briefly a couple of times. Then the next day I couldn't get online. I think the power surge fried my router or something. I guess you really don't realize just how much you depend on being online untill you can't get online. Being online is now more important than being able to watch television. Actually neither is important, but in my mind they both are. It is good to get away from being online for a couple of days, but after that I need my online fix. Sad but true. Of course I also need to be online for Gamefly and Netflix. Speaking of computers I think it's time I went out and bought another one. This one is four years old now and has a few issues. I just don't want to spend the money on one.

Ever watch movies that make you cry? I rarely ever cry because of a movie, but man the movie Grace Is Gone really destroyed me. John Cusack was great in his role as the father of two young daughters who lose their mother to the war in Iraq. It was heart wrenching. Of course it also hit home for me because I was very young when I lost my father to cancer. I think this may have been Cusacks's best performance.

I'm Done With Video Games

2009-04-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

I've been beyond bored with games. Just about everything I've been playing sucks. It's gotten to the point where I'd rather just watch old 80's sitcoms. I may just sell both of my Xbox 360's. I'll be keeping my PS3 for blu-ray movies. With that being said I'm gonna have to come up with a new name for this blog as well. If you believe any of what you just read you're either an idiot or you didn't know it was April 1st.

Actually I just started playing Too Human, and I'm having fun playing it. I really should have ignored all of the bad reviews and negative comments about this game because early on I don't believe it deserved the crap it received from some reviewers and podcasters.

It's Worth A Rental

2009-03-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

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.

I REALLY NEED A WORTHY GAME TO PLAY

2009-03-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2009-03-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

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.

Three Arcade Choices & MJ Sells All Of His Arcade Games

2009-03-18T22:54:00.000-07:00

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

Playboy Should Be Renamed Playboring

2009-03-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

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!

Achievement Points: I Think I'm Finally Over Them

2009-03-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

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!

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

2009-03-10T00:40:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2009-03-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

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.

What The Hell Is Wrong With Me Lately?

2009-03-04T00:01:00.001-08:00

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.

The Girl Next Door

2009-03-03T00:59:00.000-08:00

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

Classic Album Of The Week

2009-02-27T23:43:00.000-08:00

Slayer's South Of Heaven was actually the first Slayer album that I heard in it's entirety. I remember thinking how trippy that last long note at the end of South Of Heaven was. I still listen to this album a few times a year. It never seems old or dated to me. They obviously slowed down a bit after Reign In Blood, but it's still a really heavy album. Not that playing super fast equals heavy because it doesn't.

South Of Heaven is one of the greatest title tracks in the history of Metal. I love that erie beginning riff and that classic line "Before You See The Light You Must DIIIIIIIIIIIIE!"

Dave Lombardo was the man back in the day. Sometimes when I listen to South Of Heaven I concentrate on just the drums. Dave had so many awesome drum fills on this album.

Standout songs: South Of Heaven, Behind The Crooked Cross, Mandatory Suicide, Spill The Blood.

Most underrated song: Read Between The Lies

Shortly after hearing this album I became obsessed with a little song called Angel Of Death off of Reign In Blood. I played that song over and over before listening to the whole album. Once upon a time Slayer was a great Thrash Metal band playing some really creative music. In my opinion their last good album was Divine Intervention. Since then I haven't heard anything worth a shit.

Top 5 Peeves

2009-02-26T23:10:00.000-08:00

There are many many things in this world that people do that irritate the shit out of me. Here are just a few things that I consider to be the things that irritate me the most.

1) People that don't wash their hands after using the restroom. I'm sure we've all seen it before. You're in a public restroom and some guy who has just walked out of the shitter after grunting and groaning for probably a good 10 minutes flushes and then walks right out of the restroom. Of course this scumbag had to touch the door knob/handle on his way out with his shit and dick germs now all over that door knob/handle. I don't want your butthole or dick germs, scumbags!

2) People who stare. This happens all the time at work. We have a security guard on site at all times at my place of employment. Why is it that when I happen to have to go outside on the forklift every guard that we've ever had sits in the guard shack staring at me while I work? Maybe it's because guards have no concept of what real work is all about, so they're trying to figure out just what in the hell I'm doing. Security Guards = the laziest most unhealthy people on this planet.

3) Adults who smoke and cigarettes in general. I can't believe there are actually adults out there who inhale cigarette smoke. With everything we know about what cigarettes can do to the human body people continue to smoke. To me that's just pure idiocy!

4) Having to pick up after lazy people at work. I could give you a million examples of all of the shit I have to take care of after a certain asshole at work is done with his shift, but I'll spare you the boring details. I wish an anvil would fall out of the sky and hit him in the head.

5) People who think they know everything. You know the type. They know it all, and they're never wrong about anything. If they are they come up with bogus excuses. A few of us know a guy in Maine like this. Yeah, if you're reading this you jackass from Maine you can kiss my hairy white ass because you know nothing. Oh, and Obama owns you!

Obviously I could list a ton of irritations, but I'll stick with five for now.

Great Idea For A Judas Priest Advil Commercial

2009-02-25T21:01:00.000-08:00

So I'm listening to Judas Priest's PAINKILLER on my mp3 player tonight at work while I'm doing my 30 minute walk. Yeah, that's right I'm getting paid to exercise. That's how I like to look at. Anyway I got to thinking how great the song PAINKILLER would be in an Advil commercial. First you see Priest jamming on stage playing PAINKILLER. Then Rob Halford grabs a bottle of Advil. He then screams THIS IS THE PAINKILLER while pointing at the bottle of Advil. Genius isn't it? Almost as genius as a new ROCK OF LOVE with Glenn Danzig. I smell bullshit on that one, but I can dream can't I!?

Did You See That Penis?

2009-02-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that you get to see full frontal male nudity in the new The Lost And Damned DLC for GTA 4. I haven't seen it. I may go look for the video so I can post it here. I guess all of the middle school kids are filling up message boards about how they aren't going to play it because you see a dick in the game. OMG A COCK! I'm just wondering how long (haha how long) it will be before the media goes ape shit over this. BTW Phil I'll save you the trouble by saying ROCKSTAR GAMES you FAGGOTS! LOL

What's Been Going On...

2009-02-23T23:00:00.001-08:00

In between dealing with having a stomach ache every time I eat something, and trying to finish F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin I haven't had proper time to add anything to the blog. I did however get a chance to write a review for F.E.A.R. 2 for Thisxboxlife.com which should be up over there soon...I hope. I definitely enjoyed playing it. I gave it an 8/10

I also got a chance to check out the movie QUARANTINE which I really enjoyed. It's the best virus/zombie type movie I've seen in a while.

I tried to watch some Pink Panther cartoons from my Pink Panther classic cartoon collection on dvd, but my Pioneer receiver is freaking out upstairs, and I didn't feel like watching it in the basement.

Just watched my Dallas Stars outplay the San Jose Sharks, but still end up losing 1-0. Nothing pisses me off more than to see my team outplay another team and still lose. Hats off to Nabokov though. If not for him the Stars could have won it 6-1 easily. Sharks players should be blowing him in locker room after the game for his netminding.

Final thought: Blaze Bailey sucks! What was Iron Maiden thinking when they recruited this guy to sing. Anyone who thinks this guy can sing needs a really strong hearing aid!!!! That means you KING FOWLEY!

Rat Skates: Born In The Basement

2009-02-15T19:54:00.001-08:00

Shame on me for finally getting around to watching this fine piece of OVERKILL history. Man, what a great documentary! Usually when people think of Thrash Metal pioneers they always think Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth. Just to be totally clear here, OVERKILL should be mentioned in the same breath. They were banging it out in the early days right along with Anthrax. As a matter of fact Danny Spitz was in OVERKILL before he was in Anthrax! People seem to either forget that or just plain never knew it.

"Rat Skates" paints a picture of fun and hard work in this documentary. He comes across as a super nice and intelligent guy. He isn't one of those bitter old Thrashers who acts as if the band he left behind owes him the world. With that being said the current OVERKILL lineup owes their existence to Rat Skates. This band was his and D.D. Verni's child. Mostly though it seems that it was Rat who put in the majority of the ass busting work creating elaborate stage sets, creating merchandise, creating the band's logo, booking gigs, and just plain making sure everything worked. It's really too bad that in the end he just realized that he wasn't cut out for touring. Being on the road just wasn't for him.

Obviously the band continued on without Rat, and thankfully so. Whether or not people want to acknowledge it OVERKILL were a huge part of the early 80's Thrash movement, and dare I say forefathers of Thrash Metal. Even if you're only mildly interested in Thrash Metal you really should watch this documentary. If anything just watch it to see some early live OVERKILL footage with the band wearing "scary" makeup as well as BLITZ wearing a cape! HaHa!

F.E.A.R.2 Impressions, & Iron Maiden Is Owning Me Lately

2009-02-14T13:27:00.000-08:00

Gamefly shipped F.E.A.R.2 Project Origin to my homestead yesterday. I've been waiting for a true sequel to the FEAR franchise since I finished the first FEAR game. It was worth the wait. Why FEAR Files was even released is beyond my comprehension, but this sequel makes up for that borefest of a video game. Though I do plan to go back to FEAR Files one day.

The two or so hours that I spent with FEAR 2 was definitely a fun time. I really don't have many complaints about it so far. The one thing that really stands out is how easy it is on normal mode. I'm a seasoned veteran with shooters, but I'm not incredible. This game is a breeze on normal difficulty. In two hours of gameplay I haven't died once. I only came close to dying once. The first FEAR was nothing like this in terms of difficulty on normal mode. I found the first FEAR rather challenging. The first FEAR also had a very tactical feel to it where the sequel seems more run and gun. Not that you can really run in tight corridors, but it feels that way. Of course you can also slow down time just like in the first FEAR game, but in my opinion you actually needed to slow down time in a lot of sections just to save yourself from getting killed over and over. This time around slowing down time just looks cool when you shoot an enemy in the face because you get to watch the blood fly in slow motion. Oh, by the way if you love blood you'll definitely enjoy this game. I feel like I should have started playing on the hard difficulty, but with two hours in I'm not starting over. I truly hope the difficulty ramps up as I go through the game, but I'm not really counting on it. Oh, and one more thing. I actually did find myself freaked out a couple of times. I won't spoil that by telling you why though. Based on two hours of play I would definitely recommend renting FEAR 2.

Every so often I go through a period of time where I can't get enough of a certain band. I've been a huge Iron Maiden fan since 1984's POWERSLAVE album was released. Lately I just can't get enough Maiden. Throw a couple of Bruce's solo albums in the mix for good measure as well. This band is easily one of the best bands in the history of music. Yeah, that's right I said it. The history of recorded music. Maiden is just so damn good at what they do.

Cause Of Death Reigns Supreme As My Second Classic Pick

2009-02-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

As much of a Thrash fan as I was back in the late 80's I really wanted something heavier. In 1990 me and a friend of mine were both having the same issue. We were huge Thrash Metal fans, but we wanted something more. I really didn't know much about Death Metal, but I was definitely interested in hearing more from the genre. The album that really kick started it all for me as far as Death Metal goes is Obituary's "Cause Of Death". From the opening track "Infected" to the last track, "Turned Inside Out" I was just blown away by what I heard. There wasn't a bad song to be had. There wasn't even a a single song that I would consider "filler". I think the thing that really did it for me was the guitar playing of James Murphy. This guy's playing to me is just incerdible. To this day he is still my favorite Death Metal guitarist. James Murphy was obviously on a lot of other people's lists as being an incredible guitarist because he played with several other bands in the Death Metal genre.

I've listened to a lot of Death Metal albums since 1990, and I don't hold too many of those albums in the same reguard that I hold "Cause Of Death". There are a few that are in the same league, but most pale in comparison. This album just has a great vibe that I can't even describe. One of the things that I love about Obituary is that they don't feel like they have to play 100 mph to be heavy. To me they have one of the heaviest sounds you'll ever hear. On top of that the songs are memorable. You don't feel like the next song on the album that you're listening to sounds like the one before it. This batch of songs actually have their own identity from song to song. This is a problem that would later plague the Death Metal genre. You'd have band after band pumping out albums where every song would sound like the one before it. If you ask me it's what has killed the genre. That and the fact that after a while every DM vocalist started to sound the same. That's something that cannot be said about John Tardy. He had his own style for the most part. Yeah he had the gutteral voice with unintelligible vocals most of the time, but he delivered them in a way that was different from the rest.

This album definitely belongs in the top 10 all time best Death Metal albums list. For me it's probably at the very top. I may also feel this way because it was one of the first DM albums I ever heard, but without hearing this one in the beginning who knows how I may have felt about the genre. What if my first DM album had been something by Oppressor or Broken Hope? I may have ran screaming back to Thrash Metal.

If I had to pick just one track as my favorite it would be tough to do, but I think I'd have to choose "Chopped In Half". It's a face ripper from beginning to end.

Great album. Great band.

Chopped In Half

My First Classic Album Pick

2009-02-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

While listening to the self titled Danzig album I decided that I'd start blogging about classic albums. That is albums that are classic to me. They may not be classic to people reading this, but that's ok. I figure I'll just pick albums that I love and give some thoughts on them. People who know me probably figured my first pick would be an Overkill album. You can count on seeing Overkill albums being blogged about soon enough. Right now it's all about the incredible self titled Danzig album, so let's begin.

I first heard this album from my at the time best friend who was about three years older than me. He was actually a huge influence on my musical tastes. If not for him I might have missed out on quite a few great bands. He was also the person who turned me on to Overkill. Anyway, the first time I heard this I was at my friend's apartment. I was like what the hell is this crap? His reply was of course Danzig. I'm thinking who in the hell is Danzig? Now keep in mind that it was 1988 and Mother hadn't been in heavy rotation on Mtv yet. The first song that I heard was the first song on the album. That song being "Twist Of Cain". I remember not liking it very much. I actually made fun of it by singing "Twist Of Cain-o Snort Some Draino". My friend would just shake his head and or roll his eyes at me. He had this habit of playing a certain number of songs over and over again on albums he liked. That's exactly what he did with this album. After hearing "Twist Of Cain", "She Rides", and "Mother" over and over again I was absolutely hooked. In my mind this Glen Danzig character was pretty damn cool.

I must say that to this day I still feel like there isn't one song on this album that is a "filler" song. From start to finish it's just a great album. It's rare when I don't feel like skipping a track or two on an album. 21 years later I still love this album. God, typing that made me feel old. It's crazy to think that I was just 16 years old when the self titled Danzig album was released.

Standout tracks for me would be TWIST OF CAIN, SHE RIDES, SOUL ON FIRE, AM I DEMON, MOTHER....man, they all rule. I was about to list just about every song as a stand out track.

Go watch the video for SHE RIDES. Holy crap that woman can move it. So hot! Actually I'll post the youtube vid.

I've seen Danzig live three times with the original lineup. Every time I saw them at the Kalamazoo State Theatre. They were awesome every time. I really wish the original lineup would reunite.

I still own the original copy of this on cd. I should see if there's a remastered copy out there.

Danzig happens to be the band that almost dethroned Overkill as my favorite band.

The beginning of POSSESSION still creeps me out. Listen to it on headphones where you can hear someone chanting the word "incubus". Very cool. Very creepy.

This album is a classic, and it's not the only Danzig album that deserves be called a classic.

DANZIG - SHE RIDES

What I've Been Playing & Future Blog Ideas

2009-02-02T22:55:00.000-08:00

Not much going on in my brain lately to be creative enough to post anything worth a crap on this blog or over on This Xbox Life. I'll just post some thoghts on games I've been playing.

First up is STAR WARS THE FORCE UNLEASHED. Man, it's fun to play as Darth Vader's evil apprentice! Using the force to pick up harmless little Jawa's and smash them into walls has got to be one of the funniest video game moments I've ever encountered. Electrifying countless Stormtroopers and doing various other harmful things to enemies is so satisfying. I really don't have much that's negative to say about this game so far. It's fun.

Prince Of Persia is a beautiful game. There have been some frustrating sections mostly due to the controls at times when controling the prince matters the most. The good thing about this game is that you can't die. It also happens to be the bad thing about this game. There are no consequences. Before I try wall walking and jumping to the next section I'm never stressed because I know I can't die. I do know exactly why you can't die though. You fall a lot. You will fall many many many many times. If you died every time you fell nobody would ever want to play past the first fertile land. Right now I'm renting this. I'm in no hurry to get back to it. As Axl Rose would say "All we need is just a little patience". I just don't have the patience for this game most of the time. It's a fun game, but I can only play it in one hour chunks before I start to go mad. I'll buy this when I find it for around 20 bucks.

I also played Viva Pinata Party Animals just for achievement points. UGH! This game is mind numbing. It's so boring. I played it with my wife. She said she was offended by the fact that I chose to play this simple minded game with her. In my defense she's not good at games, so I figured she could handle this one. The fact that I beat her every time we played this should tell you something about how bad she is at games.

I also have Eternal Sonata on standby. I'll probably dig into that RPG world when I finish Star Wars.

While listening to a certain cd the other day I decided that I'll spend some time blogging about albums that I think are classic picking a different album and commenting on it here. Most will be Metal/hard rock albums that I just don't think I would want to live without. Basically albums that I worship. Look for that soon. I plan on getting back into the swing of blogging a hell of a lot more often.

Great Killzone 2 Reviews Are Rolling In

2009-01-29T23:25:00.000-08:00

It looks like the PS3 finally has that killer FPS that has been missing. I know some people would say that the Resistance games are worthy, but to me (and I've only played the first one) they are average at best. I feel like I'm qualified to say that after playing many shooters on consoles. I don't think Resistance is a bad game. It's just not great or incredible. Obviously I haven't played KZ2 yet, but it's getting some great review scores, and it looks amazing graphically. This might actually be a buy eventually. If it were on the 360 it would be a buy right away just for the multiplayer modes. Sony just hasn't figured out how to give gamers the perfect online multiplayer experience yet. Untill they do I probably won't be buying many games for the PS3. The 360 has spoiled me as far as online games go.

Watch The IGN.com KIllzone 2 Review

You May Want To Know...

2009-01-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

If you like/love the Resident Evil series the demo for Resident Evil 5 is now available to download on Xbox Live to gold members. Silver members will have to wait a bit longer. I just downloaded it, but haven't played it yet. You get the first two levels of the game to play through. I've already looked at some comments on some gaming message boards. I've read quite a few comments from people saying they found the levels difficult. I have no idea the skill level of these people, so I guess I won't know what to think untill I play it. Part of me doesn't want to play the demo because I want the game to be a total surprise when it is released. The other part of me says play it now because I've been waiting forever to play it. RE4 is one of my favorite games ever, so I'm thinking that OH HELL YEAH I WILL BE PLAYING THIS DEMO TONIGHT!

More Random Thoughts From Yours Truly

2009-01-22T21:32:00.000-08:00

After streaming unlimited Netflix movies to my HDTV for a small fee of about 9 bucks a month I see no need to ever visit a video store ever again. Of course Netflix doesn't have every new release movie streaming, but they do have over 12,000 to choose from, and that enough for me. How long before dvds are obsolete and consumers download all of their movies? It might be sooner than we think.

I beyond thrilled with Gamefly. I really should have signed up a long time ago. Gamefly is going to save me so much money it's unreal.

Speaking of saving money...I've been putting all of my extra cash in the bank instead of mindlessly spending it on bullshit. This is a new concept for me. It's weird to look at a bank statement and actually see money in my account. Of course I'm only saving it for my mid life crisis Mustang, but that's besides the point.

I've been getting kinda burnt out on posting to this blog. It doesn't help that I'm blogging for thisxboxlife. I feel like whatever I create for that blog has to be a million times better and way more creative. In reality it's probably not though. HaHa
I'm just a gaming nerd with too many opinions.

Man, I hope Sony gives me a reason to want to turn on my PS3 and actually play games on it. Killzone 2 could be that game. I really hope that's the case. Right now it's just a blu-ray player that doesn't get used very often. Which reminds me that I need to watch RAMBO one of these days. I saw it in the theatre, so I'm in no hurry.

NHL All-star weekend is approaching, but I really don't care. I never really have. I'm happy that Mike Modano is a part of it as well as Stephane Robidas, but beyond that I couldn't care less.

Never Was Big Into Rap Music, But...

2009-01-18T01:19:00.000-08:00

Back in the 80's and very early 90's there were some rap songs that I was into. I'm big into Metal and 80's pop music, but here and there I do like some old school rap tunes.

Back in the day I was really impressed with some of the music that RUN DMC was creating. Sure it was rap music, but it also had some killer rockin' beats and heavy guitar. I've bought very few rap albums in my life and "Raising Hell" and "King Of Rock" were two of those albums. I currently own "King Of Rock" and "Ultimate RUN DMC" on cd. Songs like "Rock Box", "King Of Rock", and "Raising Hell" are all classics in my opinion.

I also think that the Beastie Boys "Licensed To Ill" album is a really solid album. The songs are catchy as hell, and way back when everyone I knew was playing this on cassette. I'm sure most people would say it sounds dated now, and it really does, but there are still a few songs I can listen to now that are on this album.

Another favorite of mine is 2 Live Crew. I was digging these cats before they were "banned in America". When you're 14 years old songs like "We Want Some Pussy", and "Do Wah Diddy", are comedy gold. Their lyrics were over the top perversion, and damn it I liked that about 2 Live Crew.

A few other rap songs that I dig are as follows...

Tone Loc - Wild Thing
Young MC - Bust A Move
Wrexx N Effect - Rump Shaker
Naughty By Nature - O.P.P.
Positive K - I Got A Man

There may be a few more, but you get the idea. Some of the old stuff is good to my ears. I was never big into rap, but there were a few songs that made me take notice.

This one cracks me up. It's 2 Live Crew's "Hoochie Mama"

Songs That Remind Me Of Winter

2009-01-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

Here in south west Michigan we're getting hit with an artic blast. It's beyond cold. You can feel your nose hairs freeze when you inhale. That's cold! The other day I was thinking about how certain songs remind me of winter. Songs that remind me of winter are generally songs that I was listening to during winter time. Here are a few songs that come to mind that remind me of freezing cold days.

West End Girls - Petshop Boys
Land Of Confusion - Genesis
In A Dream - Tiamat (Basically the entire album "Clouds" has a winter feel to it)
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley (RICK ROLLED! No seriously it does.)
Walk Like An Egyptian -Bangles (This video was on Mtv a lot during the winter)
For Whom The Bell Tolls - Metallica
Tom's Diner - Suzanne Vega
Consequences - Iced Earth
Electric Crown - Testament (As well as all of "The Ritual")
Love Song - The Cure
Nothing Compares To You - Sinead O'Connor

I could probably think of more if I tried hard enough. What songs remind you of winter?

IN A DREAM!

The Wrestler...What An Amazing Movie

2009-01-11T22:19:00.000-08:00

I don't generally throw around the word "amazing" to describe things that entertain me. I probably don't because I don't find many sources of entertainment amazing. "The Wrestler" is definitely in the amazing category though. Often times I'll watch a film and will find a bunch of things that flat out just don't work or are just too far fetched to be believed. "The Wrestler" is the story of a "washed up" wrestler starring Mickey Rourke who has seen better days. This isn't one of those over the top cheezeball wrestling movies that makes you roll your eyes and reach for the remote to turn off your television. This is a film that even if you know absolutely nothing at all about wrestling or just plain don't give a shit about wrestling you will enjoy it anyway. Rourke's portrayal of Randy "The Ram" Robinson is perfection. Not once did I think I was watching someone who was trying to act like a wrestler. I saw someone who was a wrestler. Rourke nailed it! During the course of this film "The Ram" goes through so many roadblocks. At times it was gutwrenching to watch. I just felt so bad for this guy. He was alone. His body was broke down. He didn't have anything. He didn't have anybody. The only thing he had was wrestling and the few fans who cared about him. I think this is a film that anyone with half a heart needs to see. It's dark. It's depressing. It's one of the best films I've ever seen.

The Wrestler Trailer

SLY OWNS YOU, NANCY BOYS!

2009-01-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

Opinions are like assholes or so I've heard. According to many people I apparently have bad taste in movies. Hey, in my opinion I don't have bad taste. I just have my taste. I was at work listening to a gaming podcast where they started discussing movies. The hosts were ragging on the lastest RAMBO movie saying it was one of the worst movies ever created. Have these people ever watched the Police Academy series or Shakes The Clown with Bobcat? It's obvious to me that I have a lot of years on these people or they just haven't watched many movies. I'm not saying RAMBO is a masterpiece because it's not, but it's far from being one of the worst movies ever created. I saw RAMBO in the theatre and enjoyed it. It was a guy movie. There was blood and guts with heavy artillery and not much of a plot. What the hell do you want from a Sylvester Stallone movie anyway? I like Sly. I always have. He's done some great action movies, and really in my mind not much can touch most of the Rocky movies or Rocky Balboa the character. The same goes for John Rambo. I'm starting to to think that the generations of "men" after my generation are just a bunch of pussies. It's simple to me...if you have testosterone you like ROCKY and RAMBO. If you don't like either you're a momma's boy who should be named Nancy while wearing a skirt. CASE CLOSED!

It's Official I'm Done With Left 4 Dead

2009-01-07T01:16:00.000-08:00

This game is cheap. I'm pretty friggin' irritated with this game. I get to the very end of one of the levels and get destroyed by a "tank" and a horde of zombies. I was irritated even before that because I went to shoot one of those puking zombie bastards and my gun didn't go off. I just don't understand why so many people love and praise this game. If anyone reading this wants a copy of Left 4 Dead I'll sell it to you for half of what I paid for it. The first 30 bucks takes it. Maybe someone out there will appreciate it. I know I sure don't. This is the most overrated game of 2008. If I don't sell it I may just use it for skeet shooting practice. PULL!
I'd rather play E.T. on Atari 2600!!!!!

Movin' On Up Like George & Weezie

2009-01-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

I definitely enjoy blogging about video games and old pop culture junk. Now I'm going to be blogging here and over at http://thisxboxlife.com
Obviously I'll be submitting articles and reviews based on everything Xbox 360. I'm looking forward to that. I've been listening to the This Xbox Life podcast since the beginning, and well before when they were doing another show. The hosts of This Xbox life are nice down to earth people. I think it's really cool that they asked me to be a part of their blogging community. If you like what you read here make sure you check out the This Xbox Life site as well.

Gamefly, Mercs 2, Saints Row, Wii, Sony, & Xbox 360

2009-01-03T21:40:00.000-08:00

Today while I was updating my Gamefly Q there was a little message asking me if I wanted to upgrade my account from 1 game to 2 games for less than 25 cents a day. I swear I have no willpower. I of course had to upgrade. No matter how you look at it it's a damn good deal though. For 23 bucks a month I can rent two games at a time and have them untill I'm done with them. At my local Hollywood Video it costs me 8 bucks for five days to rent just one game. That's 48 bucks a month for one game plus late fees if I bring it in late. On top of that their selection isn't nearly as extensive as Gamefly's is.

The first game I got from Gamefly in the mail was Mercenaries 2. I had already rented it a while back and even had some fun with it. This time around I just wasn't enjoying it at all. It's going back to Gamefly Monday. Mercs 2 is basically a JUST CAUSE clone. JUST CAUSE is actually more fun to play. As far as "sandbox" games go it's just not that good. I also think that after playing SAINTS ROW 2 it just made Mercs 2 feel like a really bad game. Strange how a "sandbox" game like SR2 can make Mercs 2 seem like a really bad game.

Speaking of Saints Row 2...I actually went back to play the original Saints Row. When I bought it it kept freezing up on me constantly. I decided to see what would happen if I installed it to my Xbox 360 HDD. I'm happy to report that I haven't had a single problem with it after many hours of game play. If you ask me the best feature on the NXE is installing games to your HDD. I've already had two dvd drives die on me, so this should save my dvd drive. On top of that my 360 is so quiet while I'm playing a game from the HDD. It's also not even getting warm after being on for 5 hours.

I thought about firing up the Wii today. That thought came and went quickly though. After owning a Wii for close to a year I just don't understand why these things are STILL flying off the shelves. It's a mystery. It's also a mystery why I can't just bring myself to sell it. Though my wife and daughter use it once in a while, so I guess it does get some use in my house.

You know what else doesn't get much use? My PS3 doesn't get used much. I've played some Little Big Planet. I'm really not finding that game to be all that fun. If the controls were precise and not floaty the game would probably be really fun. I find it more frustrating than fun though. I find it especially frustrating playing local co-op. This game was so not made for local co-op. It's a headache. I mean it's an actual headache. Playing this game with another person gets so irritating that it seriously gives me a headache. Can you say overrated? This game is. Getting back to the PS3...I've only bought a handful of games for it. Of those games I've finished one. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune happens to be that game. It's great game that every PS3 owner should play. I also own a handful of blu-ray discs. I just can't bring myself to pay the prices that blu-ray movies are going for. I know there are deals out there, but I'm not even willing to pay for sale priced blu-rays. Now that I have instant streaming on Netflix I don't even want to buy movies on dvd or Blu-ray. I am however looking forward to using my PS3 this year for a few exclusive games. It may get some use yet. Of course I'm sure I'll have to blow the dust off of it before I start it up. After that there is sure to be an online update that will take forever to download and then install. Let's not even talk about HOME. Sony, will you ever get it right? If they ever do get it right I'm afraid it may be too late.

Meanwhile I have nothing but good things to say about the Xbox 360. They gave us a brand new dashboard with a bunch of new features that actually work. They also continue to pump out amazing games and give us a great reliable online service. Hell, the red ring of death problems may even being a thing of the past for the most part because of the new Jasper 65nm chips.

Plenty Of Games To Look Forward To This Year

2009-01-03T02:15:00.000-08:00

I've been listening to podcast after podcast with hosts talking about there not really being many games to look forward to this year. That's nonsense! There are a lot of games to look forward to. Here are a few games I'm looking forward to in 2009.

RESIDENT EVIL 5 (I've been looking forward to this game for a long time. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations.)

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (I really enjoyed the first F.E.A.R. game, and from the previews I've seen of this sequel it looks like it will be even better.)

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (Sure it's only DLC, but it should be fun to go back to Liberty City.)

Street Fighter IV (I'm a pretty big fan of the early Street Fighter games. This is a game I definitely want to check out.)

Killzone 2 (It looks like the PS3 will FINALLY get an incredible exclusive FPS. This game looks beautiful.)

Madworld (This might be the only Wii game that I'll care about this year. This looks really good. Lots of blood and unique black and white art style.)

Infamous (The PS3 gets another exclusive that looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. It looks like 2009 could give PS3 owners something to finally cheer about.)

These aren't even all of the games scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2009. These are just the ones I'm most looking forward to at this moment. By the looks of it gamers will still have plenty to look forward to this year...and that's only the first quarter of the year.

KILLZONE 2 (Beta) Gameplay Footage

Are Video Games Worth 60 Bucks?

2008-12-30T21:34:00.000-08:00

Face it nobody likes to pay full price for anything. For years I've wasted tons of cash on things that entertain me. I spent thousands of dollars on music, movies, and video games alone. Don't even get me started on how much I've spent on all of the electronic devices that enable me to entertain myself. It's sickening. If I had saved all of that money I could be living in a decent house or be driving a kick ass car. To day I started thinking about the money I've spent on games in the past couple of years and thinking that a lot of those games weren't worth 60 bucks. For some reason I always feel the need to buy games the day or the week they are released instead of waiting for the prices to drop. I have puchased quite a few games used at Gamestop, but even those games were a bit too high priced.

There are definitely some games that I feel are worth the 60 dollar price tag. I know that a lot of people won't even buy a game these days unless it has online multiplayer modes. I'm not a huge fan of online multiplayer games unless I can play with friends or cool people. Playing with decent people isn't the easiest thing to do on Xbox Live though. I know that there are also people who base the 60 dollar price on how many hours of gameplay they'll get out of a game. I've often payed 60 bucks for very short single player campaign games. As fun as some of them were in the end I must say that I felt cheated.

I must say that out of all of the games I've ever bought I've never felt cheated with hockey games. I've always had a ton of fun with an 82 game schedule plus all of the playoff games. I also feel like I get my money's worth with most RPG's that I've played. FALLOUT 3 and FABLE 2 are both great examples. Both games were lengthy and totally addictive. At the opposite end I've played some FPS games where I finished the single player campaign in 7 hours. While I enjoy shooters I find that 7 hours of gameplay doesn't justify a 60 dollar price tag. I want to support game developers, but at the same time I don't want to spend 60 bones on an experience that only lasts 7 hours.

I don't see myself never buying a game again, but I also don't see myself buying 30 games a year anymore either.

Saints Row 2 & Some Christmas Gifts

2008-12-29T23:09:00.000-08:00

It's funny how certain games pull you in when you never expect them to. I own the first Saints Row game, but it's so buggy that I stopped playing it. For example I'll be driving down the road and my car will disappear while my guy sits there like he's holding an invisible steering wheel while floating in mid air. Then of course the game locks up. This pissed me off enough that I quit playing it. Recently I rented Saints Row 2 expecting to play it for a few hours and declare it a shitty game. That has NOT been the case. Saints Row 2 is sooooo fun. I like pretty much everything about it. With side missions where the object is to drive a sewage truck spraying crap all over buildings to cause thousands of dollars in damage the game definitely doesn't take itself seriously. This is a good thing. After renting and re-renting SR2 I should really just go buy it. I'm definitely addicted to playing it. I'm not Fallout 3 addicted, but addicted nonetheless. I gotta say that I really do enjoy a good "sandbox" type game like this. This one is worth a rent at the very least, so check it out.

I'm calling Christmas 2008 the Christmas where my wife finally got it right! This was an awesome X-mas in the gift department. She bought me an officially licensed Dallas Stars jersey (pictured above) with my favorite player's name and number. That player is of course Mike Modano. I already own several Stars jersey's, but this one is by far my favorite. I also got a Stars calendar, license plate, license plate frame, static sticker, flag, stars logo wave suction cup thingamabob for my truck, a Marty Turco puck, and Rambo on blu-ray and regular dvd. It was a Dallas Stars Christmas!

'Tis The Season To Play Games & Watch Movies

2008-12-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm on vacation right now. I really haven't done much though I still jump on my treadmill so as to not be totally lazy. I've been playing video games and watching some movies on Netflix. Oh, and I even started a Gamefly account.

The first game I finished while on vacation was CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR. It didn't take long to finish, and I knew it wouldn't because I have heard from several sources that it wouldn't. I think there might have been about 6 hours of gameplay or maybe 7. There were times where I found myself getting bored with the game. There were also times where I was having quite a bit of fun. I loved the sections of the game where I was able to use the flame thrower and mortars. Watching enemies scream in pain while on fire was a blast. That's sounds sadistic, but I'm just being honest. I also enjoyed manning the machine guns while on the fighter plane to take down enemy ships and other planes. This was easily the best looking WW2 game I've played. The graphics are just beautiful. There were some frustrating moments in certain sections, but that's to be expected. I don't want a shooter that's a walk in the park. I found myself having to take breaks after playing for an hour or so. Then when I came back refreshed I had an easy time getting through irritating parts. I already mentioned how the game is short, but I really didn't mind that because I felt like I had played all that I wanted to when it was over. That's not really the sign of a great game, but whatever. It's a fine enough game. It's just that I've been in the WW2 genre for too long. I'm tired of it now. I haven't played any multiplayer, and I don't think I will either. If I want my multiplayer shooter fix I'll go play COD4 or FRONTLINES: FUEL OF WAR. I can't recommend this for a buy, but it's a definite rent if you're a fan of shooters. I rented it because I knew going in that it would be a short experience. Just based on the single player campaign this game is worthy of a 7.8/10

I'm also playing SAINTS ROW 2. It's a poor mans version of the GTA series. At this point I'm renting it, but depending on how I feel after putting some time into it I may end up buying it if the price is right. I'm definitely having some fun with it, but my attention span isn't the greatest, so who knows how long it will keep me entertained. Right now I'm doing a bunch of side missions like spraying sewage all over buildings and doing tons of property damage with various cars and rocket launchers. It's all just mindless fun really. It also has it's fair share of bugs that can be really annoying such as getting stuck on objects and console lock ups. Not a bad game so far.

As I said earlier I finally signed up with Gamefly. I chose to only get a game at a time. I figure I already have a bunch old games to play that I own. I also don't want to be renting two games at a time and having to pick between the two. I'll just play the one game they send me and finish it if I like or send it back if I don't. Of course this may change later on. I'll probably end up wanting two at a time. By the way they are sending me Mercenaries 2 which I have played, but haven't finished. It was probably the fifth game on my list, so I'm not thrilled about that, but I do want to play it more. It would have been nice to get Prince Of Persia or a couple of the PS3 games that I wanted above it. Oh well.

Finally, I watched a couple of movies through Netflix on my Xbox 360. First I watched NOBODY'S FOOL with Paul Newman and Jessica Tandy. I've been in the mood for serious dramas lately. Anyway I really enjoyed it. Paul Newman is/was an incredible actor. 8/10

I also watched THE BASKETBALL DIARIES which I've only ever seen bits and pieces of. For some reason I just love watching movies where people are destroying their lives with drugs. It's fascinating to me how addiction can take over a person and make them do insane things. Damn good film. I enjoyed it. 8.5/10

Legendary Not So Bad, And An Old Dinner Sauce

2008-12-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

From all of the game reviews for LEGENDARY you'd think the game was absolute crap or even broken. It has a total metacritic.com score percentage of 49%! 49%...seriously? Did the guys who created this game over at Gamecock Media piss a bunch of people off or something? I really don't get it. I'm not alone on this issue either. I decided to check out this game based on some comments that "Shipwreck" made on his CAG FOREPLAY Podcast. I feel exactly the way he does. This game has gotten a bad rap. With that being said I'm not saying this game is perfect or even close to a 10. I think it probably hovers around a 7 rating though. I think one reason why this game got such terrible reviews is the time it was released. It was released at the same time that a bunch of triple a titles like GEARS OF WAR 2, FABLE 2, and FALLOUT 3 were released. Is it as good as those games? Hell no it's not, but it's definitely not a 4.9 either!
I will say that some of the gameplay is dated and linear, but it's a good time imo. It's not breaking any new ground and it's not as pretty as all of the triple a titles that were released this winter, but it's worth a rent or even 20 bucks in the bargain bin.

Now for something totally unrelated. Today before work I was thinking about what I'd eat for dinner that night after I got home. I decided on having chicken. Then I broke into that cheezy commercial jingle for Chicken Tonight sauce. It just goes to show you how deep in your brain an old jingle can bury itself.

Life After Finishing A Great Game

2008-12-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

As you know I finished FALLOUT 3 recently. I've commented on how it's one of my favorite games ever created. I pretty much worship it at the almighty video game altar. OK, so I'm laying it on a bit thick here, but damn was it incredibly fun. Now the dilema is finding a game that is as fun an experience as FALLOUT 3. I don 't think it's going to happen for a while. I know that this is the time of the year for all of the best triple a games, but I just don't see myself having the kind of experience that I just had with FALLOUT 3.

Yesterday I took a trip to my local Hollywood Video to rent a couple of games. I went in with at least 6 games in mind for possible rentals. I picked up two games because I had a coupon to get two rentals for the price of one. One of the games that I picked up was not on the list in my mind. That game being LEGENDARY. I've heard mostly bad things about LEGENDARY, but of course I have to see for myself. If I listened to what everyone had to say Overkill wouldn't be my favorite band. Anyway, I haven't played it yet because at the moment I'm playing the other game that I rented. That game being DEAD SPACE. DEAD SPACE has gotten tons of good/great reviews. It currently has an average review score of 89.1% at gamerankings.com. Thus far it's a good game, but it's not wowing me. It looks nice. The gameplay is good, and the story isn't bad so far. Compared to the high that I just got from FALLOUT 3 it's weak though. It's kinda like that rebound g/f you end up with after a bad breakup with a girl that you loved with every fiber of your being. The new g/f is hot and all, but you just don't have that deep connection that you had with the girl before her. I'm sure I'll get over the fact that I'm done with FALLOUT 3 in time. I know a lot more video games will come and go, but none of them will equal the greatness of FALLOUT 3. I will have a few more flings with FALLOUT 3 when dlc is released next year, so at least I have that to look forward to.

"Home" Could Be A Good Thing For The Right People

2008-12-14T01:38:00.000-08:00

I checked out Sony's HOME last night. Right now it's basically a virtual chat room. I could see how a certain group of people would like this. I'm not in this group, but again I could see how certain people could like it. To be honest I didn't really do a whole lot even though I probably spent an hour and a half screwing around. In this virtual world what I noticed was a lot of people walking around aimlessly, virtual guys chasing after the very few virtual girls, and tons of dancing. Right now HOME is a total sausagefest. I think the guys to girls ratio is about 100 to 1. I noticed that when a girl character was around about 10 or 15 guys would make a beeline to that girl. These guys would either type dirty things, say dirty things through their headsets, or just try to pick up on said girl character. The funny thing is that sometimes a girl character would actually be a guy messing with the other guy characters. I must admit that I was having a fun time just laughing at all of the idiocy going on.

I also checked out the virtual mall where a bunch more people were hanging out and being just as stupid as they were outside the mall. I went into a few stores where you could buy (with actual money that gets charged to your credit card) outfits for your character and furniture for your house. I saw stuff as cheap as $.49 and I believe as high as $4.99! Who in their right mind is going to shell out money for virtual clothing and furniture? I think the only half way decent thing I saw in the virtual mall was a huge screen where they were showing promo stuff for the PS3.

There were other things you could do in HOME, but I honestly had no desire at all to bother with the rest of it. I'm just surprised that it took Sony this damn long to release something this lackluster. I'm not sure Sony will ever get with it for the PS3. Maybe they'll get their shit together when they release the PS4.

I can't see any diehard gamers enjoying HOME, but I can see a bunch of juvenile potty mouthed kids loving it.

An Injured & Struggling Dallas Stars Team Beats The Redwings!

2008-12-12T20:37:00.000-08:00

I'm sure not a single person reading this cares, but damn it I do! Anyone who has known me longer than a month knows I hate the Redwings with a passion. Going into tonight's game I predicted a 5-1 Stars loss. I was thankfully proven wrong. It's been a shitty season to say the least mostly due to injuries to top Stars players. Tonight an overconfident and cocky Redwings team got beat by a hard working Stars team who probably had no business winning. It's quite impressive when you can beat the Redwings with a team with 1/3 of your players belonging in the minors. Turco played exceptional tonight. This is something that he pretty much never does against the Redwings. The final score was 3-1 and I couldn't be happier. EAT IT REDWINGS FANS!

Various Crap Floating Around Inside My Head

2008-12-11T21:56:00.000-08:00

First I'd like to give a huge kiss my ass to the holidays. I really hate this time of year. A long time ago when I was a kid I loved it. Of course I did. I got tons of upon tons of presents from Santa and my parents. These days I couldn't care less if I got a single present from anyone. My wife will be irritated if she reads that sentence or any of this part of the blog. She loves Christmas. The holidays were fun when my daughter was younger. She's 14 now. She opens her gifts and disappears into her room. At least I think that's what she did last year. Who could blame her? I'd like to disappear on that day as well. Now where was I? Oh yeah my hatred of the holidays. It's basically one huge cash grab for big business. I hate how the holidays try and make people feel obligated to buy a bunch of people a gift. Of course I don't feel obligated because well...I just don't. I hate the ordeal of shopping for people too. I never have a clue what to buy anyone. I never know what to buy my wife. When asked what I want for Christmas I usually say that I don't want anything. When I want something I go to a store and buy it myself. I honestly think my dislike for the holidays goes much deeper than gift giving though. That's a place I'm not willing to go right now though.

As much as I hate new years resolutions I plan on having one, though I would never call it a new years resolution. I'm going to start saving a shit ton of money next year for a down payment on a new Ford Mustang. Maybe it's midlife crisis time? No, of course not. I just like the look of later Ford Mustangs, and I want one. I want one bad. Real bad. For the past year I've been driving people crazy talking about it. I obsess over it actually. Mark my words I will have one. I'm paying my truck off in 2009, so I figure either late 2009 or early 2010 I will be the owner of a Ford Mustang.

To save money means to stop buying games and start renting them. That's where Gamefly comes in. I really have no idea why in the hell I've never signed up for Gamefly. Actually I still haven't, but I will very soon. I'm beyond tired of paying 60 bucks a pop for new games. I'm sure I'll buy a few games, but I'll make sure I get a deal on the games I buy.

After finishing Fallout 3 my gaming life feels empty. I still have a bunch of games I need to finish, but I know that none of them will be quite as good as Fallout 3. It looks like I'll be finishing my NHL 09 season as well as killing a bunch of zombies in Left 4 Dead.

Remember how I talked about how much I hate the Holidays? Well, there are a bunch of Christmas songs that I like. That's kinda odd isn't it? I love all of those cheezy Christmas songs that normal people hate with every fiber of their being. Here are just a few examples GRANDMA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER by Elmo & Patsy, WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME from Paul McCartney, CHRISTMAS IN HOLLIS by RUN DMC, BLUE CHRISTMAS by "Porky Pig" Bob Rivers, CHRISTMAS IS A TIME TO SAY I LOVE YOU by Billy Squire, and JINGLE BELL ROCK by Hall & Oates just to name a few. I really am one screwed up individual.

P.S. THE GRINCH AND SCROOGE RULE IT!

It Only Took 106 Hours

2008-12-10T23:13:00.000-08:00

Last night...no early yesterday morning I finished Fallout 3. This was the most addicted I've probably ever been to a video game. Well, it ranks high on the list anyway. It may not be as massive as Oblivion, but it sure felt like it. I haven't played every newly released game this year, but I feel safe saying that this is definitely my game of the year as well as my favorite game ever. It ranks up there with other favorites of mine such as Super Mario Bros 3, Resident Evil 4, Shadow Of The Colossus, Manhunt, Super Punch Out, and Crackdown just to name a few. As far as RPG's go I've never played a better one. I can't even imagine the man hours Bethesda put into creating this game. They did everything right with this game. I honestly don't have a single complaint EXCEPT for maybe the way the game ends, but as good as this game is I can overlook the ending. I found the exploration to be incredbly fun. The lock pick mini games were fun and addictive. The computer hacking mini games were a bit strange, but even that got addictive. The creatures and enemies were great. Bethesda could have thrown in a few more different enemies, but that's a minor complaint. The dialogue between your character and others was really good, and funny a lot of the time. I really enjoyed most of the side quests. I even had fun with the collection side quests. Collecting all 20 bobbleheads was a challenge, but felt rewarding after I got that last one. I definitely didn't mind finding all of that Nuka Cola Quantum for that hot little blonde chick with the nice little ass.

I thought about reviewing this game properly, but I just have so many things to say, and not enough time, so my above comments will have to do. Fallout 3 is a perfect 10 out of 10. It was well worth the 60 bucks I paid for it and then some. If you own a 360, PS3, or a decent PC you really need to play this game.

At Least Microsoft's Customer Service Is Top Notch

2008-12-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Just about anyone who has ever owned an Xbox 360 and played it for a long enough period of time knows that the console is far from perfect. Last year the dvd drive in my first Xbox 360 died. Instead of jumping on the phone and dealing with Max I decided to just use the online support by telling Microsoft what the problem was by typing instead of talking. They sent me a "coffin" for my Xbox straight away. I think it was gone for a couple of weeks. Then they sent it right back to me with a free month of Xbox Live as well. The day I sent out my first 360 I went out and bought a backup 360. Well, a few weeks ago I was having issues with that 360, so I sent that one in. I was getting dirty disc errors and freezes. It was even giving me dirty disc errors when I was trying to install games to my HDD. On top of that my 360 was also having a tough time interacting with my controller on start ups. I went the same route this time as well as far as the way I dealt with customer service. Again it was smooth sailing, but this time Microsoft replaced this console with a new one. Of course they also gave me another free month of Xbox Live.

I've heard horror stories about having to wait on the phone and having some dumbell run you through all of the steps to figure out what's wrong with your 360. I refuse to go through a trouble shooting rundown with someone from India who barely speaks english. No offense to anyone from India, but damn at least learn how to speak english before you decide to be a customer service rep.

Again, it's not the 360 console that's incredible because it's far from it. It is honestly the worst piece of electronic hardware I've ever owned. It's the great games and superior Xbox Live online service as well as customer service that keeps me using this piece of junk that Microsoft has named Xbox 360. Here's hoping that the Xbox 720 doesn't have any of these issues!

Holiday Season Blahs

2008-12-07T23:45:00.000-08:00

Let me just start by saying that for some reason depression and the blahs always hit me this time of year. I have no idea why, but it happens every time this year. I generally just try to keep my mind off of the holidays by playing video games, watching movies, or whatever. Fallout 3 is doing a decent job at keeping me busy. I am now 96+ hours into it. I figure I have about 5-10 hours left to play. Not really sure. I'm glad to report that Sac (net friend and blog reader) also seems to be addicted to Fallout 3. I check out his progress on my friends list often. The last time I checked he was a level 10.

I think as soon as I finish Fallout 3 I'm going to sign up for Gamefly. There are a ton of games I want to play that just aren't worth buying for 60 bones. Truthfully I should have signed up a long time ago. Going to my local Hollywood Video to rent a game for 8 bucks for 5 days is just a ripoff.

Now for some food discussion. Food is basically my favorite part of the holidays. There are two things I plan on checking out. The first thing I want to try is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake Bread from The Great Harvest Bread Co. Sounds delicious! I also need to try Bubblicious Candy Canes. There's real gum in the center of the candy cane!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm happy to say that I'm on vacation the week of X-mas. Maybe I'll get to try some of those candy canes that week.

Movies I Should Have Watched, But For Some Reason Haven't

2008-12-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

There is this small list of movies that for some reason or another I should have seen by now, but haven't. I'm not talking about recent movies. I'm talking about older classics...or at least movies that everyone has seen a million times. A few of these will probably shock you.

Ghost Busters. Yeah, That's right Ghost Busters. I've seen bits and pieces, but have never sat and watched it from beginning to end. With that being said I've never watched Ghost Busters 2 either. This really makes no sense to me either. I'm a big Bill Murray fan. I've seen pretty much everything he's ever done. It also makes no sense because 1984 was a big go to the movies year for me, but for some strange reason I never went to see it in the theatre that year. I vow to watch this movie soon via Netflix.

A Fish Called Wanda. This movie gets glowing reviews yet I've probably only ever watched about 15 minutes of it. No idea why. I just haven't seen it. This is also getting added to my Netflix queue.

Blazing Saddles. It's probably a crime that I've never watched it. I haven't even watched bits and pieces of this one. You can add YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, and HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1 to this list.

There are also a couple of Monty Python movies that I haven't seen like LIFE OF BRIAN,and THE MEANING OF LIFE.

Robocop. I wouldn't call it a classic, but again it's a movie that I've only seen bits and pieces of.

I realize that most of these are probably movies that I should have seen already. I plan on watching them all before I kick the bucket, but you never know. Oh, and I just remembered that I do have a dvd-r copy of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

Ghost Busters Video In All OF It's Cheezy 80's Glory

A Few Random Thoughts

2008-12-02T23:03:00.000-08:00

I just watched IGN's video review for the new PRINCE OF PERSIA game. One word that comes to mind is WOW! This game looks amazing. I love the art style they chose. It's a beautiful looking game. For a game that wasn't even on my radar this looks like it's worth a buy. It's getting some really good reviews too. As soon as I can tear myself away from FALLOUT 3 I'll probably pick it up.

Speaking of FALLOUT 3 it's been a while since I've enjoyed a game this much. I'm 75+ hours into it and I'm still left wanting more every day. At this point I gotta say it may be my favorite video game ever. I've played a lot of games, so that's gotta tell you something.

Well, the New Xbox Experience is now the old Xbox experience. I'm finding that I'd rather just hit the guide button to do everything versus looking through all of the panels or whatever the hell they are called. It's a bit of a pain to cycle through all of your friends with the panels as well. Let's not even talk about avatars. I don't hate em, but I don't love em either. For me the best features of NXE are installing games on my HDD and Netflix.

I've watched a few movies through Netflix on my Xbox 360 now. I haven't had a single problem with streaming. It's been flawless. So far I've watched Dan In Real Life, Cool Hand Luke, One Crazy Summer, Cashback, Comedians of Comedy: Live at the El Rey, and the first episode of The Office. If you like movies with quite a bit of hot naked women you should probably go watch Cashback. One of the most beautiful women I've ever seen is in this movie. Just watch the for the scene with the Swedish exchange student who walks up the stairs after getting out of the shower. That's all I'm gonna say.

My Thanksgiving holiday was enjoyable for the most part. I got a lot of gaming in. I finished Gears Of War 2 with my nephew. See Phil, I do finish games. :)GOW2 is one of the best looking games I've ever seen graphically. It was a lot of fun as well. Horde mode is also a blast, but with only two people it's a bitch. Me and my nephew couldn't get past wave 18. If we had a couple more people playing I'm pretty sure we would have gotten much farther.

My Dallas Stars are having a crap season mostly due to injuries to top players. I'm talking top line players here. Injuries suck. What the hell can you do though? It looks like they may be turning things around though because they've won their last two games.

Watch This Review For Prince Of Persia

Left 4 Dead Left Me Feeling Underwhelmed

2008-11-30T13:29:00.000-08:00

This zombie survival game has been getting a lot of praise. It's hovering between a high 8 and a high 9 as far as number ratings go. On top of that all of the gaming podcasts that I listen to are praising it as well. Before I go into my thoughts on Left 4 Dead I should probably let it be known that I've only played the split screen co-op mode with my nephew for a total of about 3 hours. I figure that's enough play time to give some opinions on the game.

You start out by being able to pick one of four characters. From what I could tell the characters were all pretty much the same and didn't have strengths that the others didn't have. Basically it doesn't matter who you choose. That to me is kinda lame. I would also have liked to have seen more characters to choose from.

The weapons are pretty standard. You get pistols, shotguns, machine guns, and a scoped rifle that I totally don't understand why was even put in the game. Combat is close and in your face all of the time. If a zombie is far away you definitely don't have time to bust out a scoped sniper rifle to shoot it. I'm also finding that using a shotgun for melee attacks is usually better than using it to actually shoot zombies. You can clear out rooms of zombies just using melee attacks with your gun.

It's also a rather short game with only four levels to beat. Id this were a 40 dollar game I'd have no issue with it being short, but it's a 60 dollar game. Sure you can get a lot of gameplay out of it by playing co-op, but I see myself getting bored with only four levels to beat. This is where DLC will come in. Instead of shipping the game with 6 or 7 levels we'll no doubt have to shell out cash for extra downloadable levels.

I'm not saying this game is bad. What I am saying is that it's overpriced and doesn't wow me graphically. It's an ok game. If you plan on buying Left 4 Dead I would personally wait untill you can find it for about 40 bucks. More levels would have probably made it worth 60 bucks.

Things I'm Thankful For Video Games & Robster Craw Style

2008-11-25T22:10:00.000-08:00

It won't be long before we're all stuffing our faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie lots of glorious glorious pie! While sitting here trying to decide just what the hell to blog about I decided I'd give a list of things I'm thankful for. I'm not going to give that long boring "I'm thankful for my health and my wife" and all of that bullshit list though. I'm going to give you what the title of this blog suggests.

I'm thankful that the new NXE update didn't "brick" either of my Xbox 360 consoles.

I'm thankful that I didn't have to pay shipping costs for my second Xbox 360 to be sent out to Texas for repairs.

I'm thankful that even though Xbox 360 consoles are basically junk they do have a lot of good games to play unlike my PS3.

I'm thankful that my PS3 still works even though their aren't really shit for games to be played on it. It probably works so well because I rarely use it.

I'm thankful that my Nintendo Wii still works...wait does it actually still work? I wouldn't know because it's sitting in my living room collecting dust because I never use it!

I'm thankful that the guys at ThisXboxLife.com have decided to STOP talking about music games on their podcast though they were smart asses for a bit on episode 15. HaHa!

I'm thankful that FALLOUT 3 has given me way more than my money's worth. I've put in 60 hours now. That's a buck an hour, and I still have a long way to go before I finish it.

I'm thankful that my wife has decided to show an interest in my hobby of gaming by playing Little Big Planet with me no matter how bad she stinks at it. It's headache inducing to play games with her, but at least she's trying.

I'm thankful that Sac has picked up an Xbox 360, so that he too can feel the pain of having it break down on him right after he bought it.

I'm thankful that Phil still swings by here to read the random bullshit that I blog about. I swear to you Phil we will play some co-op of some game one day on the PS3.

I'm thankful that I'm still stuck in the 80's and can recite REVENGE OF THE NERDS word for word while watching it...that goes for FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH as well.

I'm thankful for streaming Netflix movies on the Xbox 360.

Right now I'm thankful that I finally ran out of things to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving Video Games & Robster Craws readers! CHOW DOWN! I know I will.

Another One Bites The Dust

2008-11-22T16:29:00.001-08:00

I shipped out my second Xbox 360 for repairs today. The idiot thing that I didn't do was put my return address or repair # on the box. My return address is on the UPS shipping label though. Also my console is registered and Microsoft knows it's being shipped because they sent me an e-mail. Of course they sent me the e-mail well after I had already shipped the box. The online instructions they gave me were to print out the UPS label and tape it on the box. I did, and sent it out. Hopefully all will go well and they'll send it back to me repaired. From what I've read online I'm not the first person to do this, and I'm sure I won't be the last. I guess it just makes it easier on the repair center if they don't have to go looking up your serial number and info in their computer. Oh well, what's done is done. I'll track the box online. If it takes them forever I'll call customer service. This is my second Xbox that has had a dvd drive take a dump on me. Luckily my warranty isn't up untill the middle of December. Man these consoles are junk, but the games are awesome.