Winter Weather Causes Me Computer Headaches & Grace Is Gone

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!