Thursday, April 27, 2006

You say you want a revolution, well you know...

Wii all want to change the world! (with apologies to the Beatles)

Or rather, Nintendo does with it's brilliant marketing team who managed to convince them that "Wii" is a good name for a console. I just read about this, and my first thought was "How the fuck do you even pronounce that?" Is it like "Why" as in "Why the hell is Nintendo changing the name of it's new console from something great like Revolution to something shitty like Wii?" Or is it like "Whee" as in "Look at us, we're Nintendo, we make great games but know exactly fuck-all about marketing hardware, wheeeeeeee!"

According to their website, it's like "We" as in "We like to play games" or some shit. Frankly, Nintendo, I had some high hopes for you this round of console wars, but after this shitty name change, and some of the other decisions you've made recently, I think you're done. Nintendo will go the way of Sega, and personally, that's fine with me. Nintendo's really all about the games anyway, so I don't care if I have to play them on my next-gen Xbox or Playstation, as long as I get to play them. Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Monday, April 24, 2006

I love new stuff

Remember those speakers I posted about a while ago? And how I couldn't wait to hook up my 360 with them, and now that I have, I'm friggin' loving it? Well, I've been saving up to get a new PC at the end of the year/beginning of next year, and I was already half way there. I had been waffling on whether or not I should get a cinema display to go along with the new PC and of course, the 360 (since I hooked that up to my PC monitor, along with the speakers).

So I was perusing Newegg, just to see what was out there, and I saw this. The first thing I noticed is that it was a good 350 bucks cheaper than the 23" Apple cinema display, which is obviously top of the line and very stylish. But the 100% positive reviews for the HP model blew me away. I knew then I had to have one.

It should arrive on Friday. I'll be sure to let you know how awesome 360 games, PC games, and DVDs look on it. Shit, man, once I get my new PC with a TV tuner card, I'm not even gonna use my TV anymore.

Of course, this means I have to start saving for my new PC all over again, but no biggie. I'm got my Xbox to keep me company this winter.

EDIT: Almost forgot. I rented Fight Night. For all the problems, it's still a lot of fun. It looks great, too. Justin and I were trading off with our created boxers in career mode, until he got to an UnderArmor sponsored title fight that he claimed was fixed. I didn't really believe him until I tried that fight in my career, and I couldn't win either. Bullshit! Maybe the fight was fixed, maybe it's just that fight that the game decides to change the rules so we should have changed our strategies. I doesn't matter what the reason is, after I lost, I turned the Xbox off and said I was done with the game. I haven't picked it back up since, and I probably won't before it goes back to the video store. Bill Harris just wrote a post today about his lack of patience with bullshit like that, and I agree with him. Anytime I stop having fun with a game, I stop playing it. There are too damn many other choices out there to choose to wade through bullshit.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Tomb Raider: Legend

You might notice another icon over there on my gamer card. Ms. Croft and I were just recently formally introduced. Unlike the hoardes of other red-blooded American males, I never found the buxom heroine enticing enough to pick up one of the Tomb Raider games and play it before. But then the 360 came along, with it's downloadable demos, so I figured I'd give the latest Tomb Raider offering a try.

As it turns out, the demo was half of the first level in the game, and damn was it bad-ass. Puzzle-solving, platform-jumping, and blowing people away in style. Plus, the environment was gorgeous.

So I rented the full game from Blockbuster today, and after playing for a few hours and finishing three levels, I think it's safe to say that this game is awesome. Probably not worth a purchase, since it looks like there are only 7 levels, so I should be able to finish it by tomorrow. Then there's a time-trial mode, which might be fun, but other than that, once I'm done with a game, I'm done with it. I'm not going to play back through it to collect all the hidden shit, unless it's something like GTA, where doing the side missions actually enhance the gameplay experience. I'll have to check a walkthrough once I'm done and see if any of the hidden stuff unlocks anything cool, or if it's just concept art and 3D models.

As I said, I won't be buying Tomb Raider: Legend, but it was definitely worth the rental. It really is a great game, it just doesn't seem like there's enough of it. I'll certainly be waiting for the next entry into the franchise.

Two More Things

I discovered this a few days ago, and it's hi-larious. Let's Ask a Ninja!

And Virtual Firefly is back with the start of Season 2. Awesomeness all around!

On a personal note, I lost my voice today. This is the first time this has ever happened to me, and I'll be damned if it isn't one of the strangest things I've ever experienced. I'd like to say something, but my vocal cords won't allow it. Whee!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Various Things

It's been awhile since I've made a post, and a couple of things have happened worth blogging about.

First, you may notice I put up my Xbox Live Gamer Card over there. It's pretty self-explanatory, except for the game icons. The "pi" looking symbol there is for Oblivion, which I've already talked about. Not a bad RPG, and worth the money, I'd say.

The "PGR" is for Project Gotham Racing 3, which I didn't think about buying until I noticed it was on sale for 38 bucks. I enjoyed PGR 2, so I decided to pick it up. Not dissappointing. The single player tournaments are a blink and you'll miss them kind of deal, but I think the real draw of the game is the online racing. When you go online, you're given a "TrueSkill" rating that is based on how many races you've had, how many wins you have, and how those wins stack up against the TrueSkill of your opponents. Beat someone with a higher rating, your rating rises quickly. Beat someone of the same or lesser rating, your rating goes up just a little. So far, I've participated in about 10 online races, and have either 3 or 4 overall wins (first-place finishes). I'm number 7 hundred something in Rank 96, which means of all the PGR3 players online, I'm behind the 96,700th guy, but ahead of the 96,800th guy. So I've got some work to do.

The skull icon is for Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Of all the games, I've logged the least time with this one, but man is it awesome. The single player campaign is virtually seamless. Even though there are specific missions, the game leads you through them one after the other, so unless something changes later on, the whole campaign takes place in one day. If I had no self control, I could have easily kept on playing from when I first booted it up until I finished it. I haven't checked it out online yet, but I bet that's sweet, too.

Oh, and if anyone reading this has a 360 and PGR3 or GRAW, hit me with a friend request, cause I don't have any yet. :sad panda:

It was my birthday last Wednesday, so that was cool, but I had to work, and I'm still recovering from the flu I caught last weekend, so that sucks ass.

I heard talk (and that's all it is for another three weeks, talk) today that the Raiders could end up in a position to take Vince Young with the number 7 pick, or they could move up to take him. If that happens, and I surely hope it does, the Raiders are going to be a serious contender next year.

Finished watching the first season of Justice League on DVD. What a great show. I can't wait for the second season set, which is coming out later this year, I think. There's also going to be Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, The Tick, and Darkwing Duck this year. Hot shit!

Finally, I spotted a link to this story on Bill's blog. Wow.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Sweet

Guess what arrived today? My X360, that's what. It was waiting for me when I got off work, so I set that badboy up and got to playing some Oblivion (that had been sitting on my shelf for 2 weeks, waiting to be played). It's so much more fun playing Oblivion with no lag due to an aging video card.

Ghost Recon hasn't arrived yet, in fact, it just shipped today. I can't wait for that, though, especially online. I activated my free one month Xbox Live Gold subscription today, so once I get GR, it's time to own people online in the face. I also need to pick up a copy of Fight Night Round 3, so Justin and I can beat the shit out of each other in stunning HD. That should be fun.

Oh, and the wireless controller? Kick ass. I thought the S controller was one of the best controller designs ever, but the 360 controller has it beat. It's got the same design as far as the analog sticks, D-pad, and four buttons go, but the back and start buttons are moved up to the center (where any old school gamer know they should be. Remember Select and Start on the old NES pad? Of course you do), and the black and white buttons have been eliminated. Instead, there are two additional shoulder buttons (called "bumpers") in addition to the standard triggers. The size is perfect, it fits nicely in my hands, and it isn't too heavy or too light (even with two AA batteries). Kudos, Microsoft.