GTA IV Postmortem (PS3)

Wow, that only took a month. After about 53 hours of play and 83% completion, I've finished the storyline of GTA IV.

Bottom line: if you have an Xbox 360 or a PS3, you need to own this game. Hell, it might be worth purchasing one of the systems just for this game (and Rock Band).

Easily the best GTA game, and probably the best game I've played this year. Great story, great voice acting, looks great, plays great, ton of stuff to do, just fantastic all around. And the endings, holy shit, the endings. Neither is what you'd call "good" and I can't really decide which one I like better. If any other game had only two endings, one would be "good" and the other would be "bad." In GTA IV, no matter how it ends, things get fucked up and Niko will never be the same. Again, fantastic is the word that comes to mind.

Next up: Metal Gear Solid 4. Rumors of 90 minute cutscenes have me wary, however.

Earthbound? No way!

Today I make a very rare blog post from work. Usually I don't post at work just because, but today there's some news that demanded I make a post as soon as possible.

Earthbound has been rated by the ESRB, and that usually means only one thing: It will soon release on the Wii Virtual Console.

I've avoided the Wii Virtual Console so far, mainly because there wasn't much worth paying 5 or 10 bucks for, and because I didn't have any Wavebirds (which is the only way to play VC games properly, as I understand it). But now that I have a couple of Wavebirds, the lure of Earthbound is far too strong, and I must have it when it comes out. I remember borrowing the game from a friend and playing it pretty much every day until I finished it. I can't wait to do it again.

I also hear there are some things like Punch Out! and Super Metroid on the VC. I'm thinking I might have plenty of games to keep me busy after GTA IV lets go of me...

GTA IV Initial Impressions (PS3)

My first thought after putting GTA IV in my PS3: Man, I hope this install doesn't take too long.

As it turns out, it took around 10 minutes, just long enough for me to wolf down my burger that I had gotten on my way home from work after picking up the game at GameCrazy (I no longer patronize EBGameStopWare Etc.). After reading some bad stuff on the net about freezing issues, I hoped that the intro cinematic wouldn't break. Luckily, it didn't, and Niko Bellic was in Liberty City soon enough, driving his cousin to his "mansion."

Without going into too much detail (I'd rather save that for a full review), the game is amazing. It looks fantastic, it plays pretty much like you'd expect it to, and the voice acting and sound effects are top notch.

In about 7 hours of play, I haven't done much of the storyline. I've done enough to meet some people, get a list of contacts in my cell phone (which is pretty much the hub for everything: missions, jobs, meet-ups, dates, etc), and see most of the sights on the starting two islands. The storyline is interesting, don't get me wrong, but I'm having just as much fun taking in the city. I haven't stolen many cars (except when I really needed to), because it's just as easy to grab a cab. That's right, you can hail a cab from any street corner (Liberty City is modeled after New York, after all), hop in the back, and be driven wherever you'd like to go.

That's assuming you'd rather go somewhere in an automobile instead of on foot. For the first time in any GTA game, I'm finding myself avoiding cars as much as possible. There is so much detail in the city that driving past it at 90 mph seems wasteful. Pedestrians all look different and they speak a multitude of languages. You can buy hot dogs from street vendors. You can get special missions from random people on the street. You can go out to eat, play darts, shoot pool, roll a few frames at the bowling alley, catch a cabaret show, patronize the local strip club, or get plastered at the bar down the street, and you can do any of these activities alone, with friends, or with a date. Niko is currently dating a lovely woman named Michelle. I suspect Michelle might be in some sort of witness protection, as all the things in her apartment are brand new, and she always changes the subject when her past is brought up.

Let me turn to what the media focuses on: the violence and criminal activity. Yes, you can steal cars, but I really don't feel the need to, as I already mentioned with the cabs and the walking around the city seeing the sights. Yes, you can solicit prostitutes, receive service, and then waste them to get a "refund." I don't know that anyone would make a habit of that, however, as the GTA games have always handed out money like candy, and if you're that hard up for digital porn, you would get much better results surfing the net. Yes, you can shoot anyone and everyone. But I've only shot bad people so far. Once, I pulled out a shotgun as I was standing on the curb, whipped around, and blew some poor bastard away. I don't why I did it, it's just something that I've done in past GTA games for kicks. The deafening boom of the shotgun was like a slap in the face, and as I watched the man fly backwards and smack sickeningly into the wall before crumpling to the ground, I was shocked. Shocked at the brutality of it, and shocked at myself for engaging in such wanton violence. I went to the pause menu and loaded my game since I had just saved 30 seconds prior, and I haven't shot anyone "just 'cause" since.

This has already gotten way too long, so I'll end it here. To summarize, after 7 hours of play, GTA IV is everything I thought it would be and much, much more.

GTA IV Tomorrow

GTA IV hits tomorrow. Actually, it hits at midnight tonight, but since I have to work in the morning, I can't get it until after 5 tomorrow. I say can't, not because I'm somehow unable to get it tonight, it's just that I know if I do, I'll stay up until like 4 in the morning playing it, and then not want to go to work, and that's just all bad. I have no self control when it comes to GTA.

So, the work day tomorrow is officially going to be the longest 8 and a half hours of my life. Wish me luck. I'll try and get impressions up tomorrow night (if I can tear myself away from playing after oh, about 6 hours straight, I'm guessing) but probably not until Wednesday or later. GTA IV, bitches!

I'm...Excited?

I don't talk about work, except when I do. Shit, I think I've used that line before. Oh well, fuck it, I'm too tired right now to care.

So I'm a Health Plan Service Specialist. When I first got the job, it meant I helped out the reps who had questions about whatever. That was awesome, because I didn't have to talk to the public (except for rare occasions), and I got to put my knowledge to good use (explaining things to the general public is not a good use of knowledge. It's wasted on them). But then, that changed, and I didn't get to take those calls anymore. Those calls went to the seasoned reps, and I got escalated calls.

You know what escalated calls are? It's the kind of call that starts with "I want to talk to your supervisor." The kind of calls that really shouldn't exist, because they only occur when a rep isn't doing their job properly or a customer is being unreasonable. Either way, they suck, because I was right back talking to the public again. And this time, every single call was a nightmare.

I contemplated quitting. I thought about stepping down and being a rep again. I thought about doing anything but having to take those damn calls ever again. Recently, I switched to a different specialty escalated queue, and it's better, but it still has the potential to be nightmarish.

However, now there's going to be some changes. Now, escalated calls are only going to take up half my day. The other half will be spent working with reps again, to help them get better. It will be spent working with managers to get things done. It will be spent actually doing management duties for the first time ever, even though I became "management" over a year ago. Plus, we're going to be negotiating for more money, which is always good.

Is it going to be perfect? No. Of course not. But I have the sneaking suspicion that I'm going to like my job again. I'm excited.

Weekend's Over

My weekend is, anyway. I've had the last four days off work, which was fan-fucking-tastic. I got to sleep in, play a shitload of video games (specifically, I finished off GTA: Vice City Stories on the PS2, and got absolutely hooked on Locoroco and Patapon for the PSP), hang out with my friends, and watch TV (Weeds is a great show. I Netflixed the first season on Blu-Ray, and after watching it bumped the second season to the top of my queue).

It was also my birthday on Saturday, and I got some great wishes from my friends, so I'd like to thank you all again for those. In celebration, we're going to go see Forgetting Sarah Marshall next weekend (mmm, Kristen Bell), so that should be awesome.

Finally, the Playstation Store should be updated by this time tomorrow. It would be a perfect opportunity to unveil the public beta for Home, I think. Because dammit, I want to see Sony's SecondLife/virtual MySpace. I'm not sure exactly why, but it intrigues me.

Updates

I got my refund for my printer, which wasn't really a surprise since I was dealing with Newegg and they kick ass. I also got my refund for those fucked up controllers, which was a bit of a surprise. I think it was my threat of filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau for false advertising that got them to break.

I ended up getting two Wavebirds off eBay for about a hundred bucks combined. That's more than I wanted to pay, but they're Wavebirds and they're great, so it's all good. The DVD binders arrived in perfect condition, so no problems there. And the new printer/scanner/copier I chose is fantastic. It's a Canon (the other one was a Lexmark), which I should have gone with in the first place because Canon makes rock-solid printers.

I finished Kane and Lynch, by actually completing the story line. Turns out all that was required to complete the "stealth" mission was to pop the sentry in the head with a silenced pistol so he couldn't run and fire a warning flare, and then proceed to open fire on full auto on the rest of the guys. Apparently only the sentry was smart enough to work the flare gun. :rolleyes: Other than that, though, the game was entertaining. Not worth playing through again (except the last mission to get the second of two endings, which was actually pretty good), but a solid game.

Finally, Still Alive will be downloadable for Rock Band once Sony finishes updating their store. For free. FTW.

Various

Some things.

I watched No Country For Old Men on Saturday. Good flick. Great performances and lots of things to think about.

I'm alternating between playing Smash Bros Brawl, Rock Band, and Jeanne D'Arc. All great games. I picked Kane and Lynch back up, too, since it's been sitting for like a month, but I think I might be done with it. There's a "stealth" mission that's pissing me off, so we'll see how many times I replay it before I want to snap the disc in half. I'm betting it's 3.

At the urging of a coworker, I slapped a layout on my MySpace page. I like it, but I had to spend way too much time trying to get it to look the way I wanted it to look. MySpace's built in editor is useless shit. It tries to be user-friendly, but it isn't. If they had just allowed me to look at and edit the code, I could have done it in no time. Instead, I had to find someone else's code and modify it to my tastes. I still think MySpace sucks, but what are you gonna do?

Finally, March is already over. That doesn't seem possible. Where have the last 3 months gone?

Rest In Peace, My Friend

I lost another of my best friends today. He was tough, and protective, and fiercely loyal. He didn't back down from anything, and he fought to the end. He'd often bring back spoils from his conquests, even if it was only just the feet or a beak. As I sit here thinking of him, tears running down my cheeks, I can almost hear him meow at me, asking if he could jump on my lap for a good scratching under the chin.

I hear you, buddy. I love you, and I miss you.

Goodbye, Cosmo. You were a hell of a cat.

Arrrrgggggghhhhh

Sent those shitty controllers back today. Only cost me 8 bucks to ship em, too, huzzah!

Emailed the folks at the online video game retailer (http://www.wherehouse.com, I urge you to check them out for your music, movie, and gaming needs), and they basically said, "It's cool, we'll give you your dollars back, yo." So that problem's been solved.

Then we come to the printer. Guess what? It didn't fucking work.

That's not entirely true, it worked for like 5 minutes, and then stopped working. So I sent that shit back today, too. Only 13 bucks shipped, fuckin a.

So after all that trouble with online purchases, what do I do? I order some DVD binders online, because I have far too many DVDs and not nearly enough space for them all. I expect to receive a box filled with smoking ash that is the remnants of the DVD binders, due to a horrible fire in the warehouse in which they were stored. That would be wonderful.

If It Wasn't For Bad Luck

I tell ya, I wouldn't have no luck at all!

I do a lot of shopping on the internet. I'd say about 90% of things I buy that can be purchased online, I do. And 99% of the time, those transactions are flawless.

This last week has been the 1%. First, do me a favor. It'll take 30 seconds. Google "dolabpl". See the first hit? It's a Nintendo WaveBird Wireless Controller Platinum. Check out the next hit. Same thing. Next hit? It's a Nintendo WaveBird Control Inalámbrico Platino, but that's just the same thing en espanol.

The fourth hit is the problem. It lists the correct part number (which is DOLABPL, or DOL A BPL to be exact, that's the manufacturer's part number for the Wavebird) but the picture is that of a cheap knockoff. Doesn't matter, because that happens all the time on the internet, the merchandise is often "not exactly as pictured" but the part number ensures you get exactly what you want, right?

Yes, that's right, and that's the way it is and always should be. Except, apparently, that "Etronicspal" seems to think that they don't have to play by the same rules everyone else does. You see, they marked a shitty knockoff (it's not even a third party, it's like a fifth party. There's literally no brand) with the same part number as a Wavebird, thereby misrepresenting the product for sale. Not only that, but they think that they can get away with only providing "store credit" for the return of their misrepresented product. Sorry, assholes, doesn't work that way.

I'll let you know how it all turns out, but here's what I expect to happen: I return their bullshit controller, and I get the charge reversed on my credit card (minus shipping and handling, of course, they won't refund that, even though I never would have had the product shipped if they hadn't misrepresented it, but whatever).

Second, I ordered some used games from a different retailer. They guaranteed all their used games to come with the original cases and manuals. Cool. Just one problem. I opened one of the shrink-wrapped boxes, removed the "Used" sticker slapped across the top, and opened the case to find: no disc inside. There was a manual, but no disc. Sweet! So now I have to try and convince them that their lovingly shrink-wrapped and stickered case was stickered and shrink-wrapped without the disc inside, and not removed after I opened it and claimed it was missing. *sigh*

Other than that, this week's been great. I've got a new printer/copier/flatbed scanner arriving tomorrow. Receiving it in multiple pieces would be the vomit-flavored icing on the cake made of shit.

Games

Played a bit more Kane and Lynch, and it continues to be kickass. It's like a video game version of Heat, which is an awesome flick.

Borrowed No More Heroes for Wii from a friend. It's unlike anything I've ever played. It's got a slight GTA feel to it, in that you drive around the city doing missions, but that's about where the similarity stops. It's incredibly violent (cartoonishly so, really, if cartoons had gallons and gallons of spurting blood. It's like Quentin Tarantino made a video game), extremely funny and irreverent, at times frustrating, but ultimately a whole lot of fun. If killing massive amounts of people with a laser sword is wrong, I don't want to be right. Favorite line so far: "It's open mic night in hell, old man. Sing all you like down there."

Finally, I picked up a PSP: the Daxter pack, to be specific. So I now have a silver PSP Slim, Daxter, The Family Guy Freakin' Sweet Collection on UMD, and a 1 gig memory stick. It's pretty sweet. Daxter is highly entertaining. I'm looking forward to adding some other must have titles to my collection (like Final Fantasy Tactics, which, unlike the DS version, is an updated version of the original PSOne game, which was the best turn-based strategy game ever).

This is why I'm not a sysadmin

Because I fucking hate networks. Remember how my router decided to stop functioning, so I got a new modem/router all-in-one from AT&T? Well, it sucks balls. I mean, having the all-in-one is a great idea, if it fucking worked. Wired connections work great. Wireless ones, however, don't work so great. In fact, they don't work at all. Well, that's not true. They work if there's no encryption on the network. Fantastic! My wireless network is akin to the ladies down on Wilson Way: all comers welcome! Fuckin A.

In other news, I rented Kane and Lynch for PS3 today. I've put in about 2 hours, and so far, I can't complain. I'm guessing there's some sort of gamekilling bug at some point down the road, because from what I've seen, I have no idea why it warranted only a 64 (of 100) from reviewers over at metacritic, and an abysmal 2.5 (of 10) from users.

Finally, I can't believe it's March 1 already. Smash Bros Brawl hits in 8 days. That means our weekly Rock Band parties will become weekly Smash Bros ass-kicking festivals. On the one hand, sad panda. But on the other hand, joy!

Leap Day

Yes, Leap Day, the one day that only happens once every four years. It all started back in 46 BC, the aptly named Year of Confusion, after which Rome adopted the Gregorian calendar that we all know and love. Hope you enjoyed the extra day, there'll be another one in 2012!

I used the opportunity to watch some Quantum Leap, which I've said before is an awesome show.

You may or may not have seen Sarah Silverman's "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" skit, and Jimmy Kimmel's follow-up "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" skit. Here's a parody called "I'm Fucking Seth Rogen." As if I had to say it, it's totally not safe for work, but completely hilarious.

Been A While

Since I've updated the blog. Had some shit going on, what with some family stuff, and catching the monkey flu that's been going around (still trying to shake that), and various other things that prevented the updating of the blog. Time for some news updates, rapid fire.

I recently rediscovered my Myspace page, and added a bunch of folks to my gallery o' friends. If you're one of those friends and is hitting up this site, add it to your bookmarks. I update this blog much, much more frequently than Myspace.

Rock Band kicks ass. I cannot say this enough.

Quantum Leap is an interesting show. Damn Netflix for not having every episode on Watch Now.

While I think Stardust was a bit overhyped, it was an enjoyable flick.

Hot Rod is at times completely hilarious, other times completely insipid, and always completely random.

Do not go see Jumper, whatever you do. I would demand a refund if I thought they'd give it to me.

My router stopped functioning last night. It just up and went, "I don't like that no more, I do this now!" and stopped working. Balls. Luckily, AT&T offers a router/modem all in one! Woot!

I got a book at work called "Leading Out Loud." It's awesome because now I have the cure if I ever get insomnia.

Finally, Maxim is a terrible magazine. They gave me a three year subscription for 10 bucks, and I still feel ripped off.

Super Bowl Ads = Win

My favorite ad from the Super Bowl right here.

2007 NFL Playoffs: Super Bowl Result

Giants 17, Patriots 14
I don't want to hear any excuses. I don't want to hear anything about Tom Brady's ankle giving him trouble, or any missed calls by the refs, or whatever bullshit the Patriots and their fans are going to come up with. I don't want to hear it, because I've been hearing about nothing but how the Patriots went undefeated all season, and were going to finish it with a Super Bowl win, and how Tom Brady would be considered the best quarterback of all time. I don't want to hear any of that shit. You know what I want to hear? I want to hear that Eli Manning and the New York Giants played a hell of a game on both sides of the ball and won the Super Bowl, because that's exactly what they did.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Hey, New England: Fuck you.

2007 Playoff Prediction Record: 5-6

Just for shits and giggles, I'll make my Super Bowl XLIII prediction right now: Colts 28, Giants 17

Rock Band? More Like Crack Band

Question: Does the awesomeness of Rock Band ever stop?

Answer: Hell no!

The Official Xbox Magazine just leaked a "tentative" DLC release schedule for the month of March. Check this out.

3/04 Thrash Pack
Blinded By Fear by At the Gates
Thrasher by Evile
Shadow World by The Haunted

A more appropriate name is "Death Metal Pack," but I'm splitting hairs. Given the niche market of a pack like this, I'm guessing it's going to be on the order of $2.50 or 3 bucks, and since a few of the people I regularly play with are actually in a death metal band, they'll be all over these songs.

3/11
Shooting Star as made famous by Bad Company
Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Message in a Bottle by The Police

Holy shit those are all made of win. Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with anything from Bad Company or Skynyrd, and Message in a Bottle is one of the classic Police tracks.

3/18 Nine Inch Nails Pack
March of the Pigs
The Collector
The Perfect Drug

I've never been a huge NIN fan, but Perfect Drug is definitely getting bought, at the very least.

3/25 Metal Pack
Wrathchild as made famous by Iron Maiden
Supernaut as made famous by Black Sabbath
Fuel by Metallica

Holy shit those are all made of win. You can't go wrong with anything from Maiden, Sabbath, or Metallica.

No clue what's coming out in February yet (perhaps a little Who's Next or Nevermind), but if Harmonix keeps releasing great tracks like these, they're guaranteed to get 10-20 bucks of my money every month.

On a completely unrelated note, Lost comes back tonight. Woot!

Weekend Movie Reviews (and a TV show)

I know, the weekend ended yesterday, but I had Monday off, so nyeh. I watched a couple of movies that I had never seen, and coworkers advised me I just had to see.

The Breakfast Club, rated R, starring Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. This is one of those movies from the 80's that passed me right by. I was too young when it came out, and by the time I was old enough to appreciate it, there were other movies to watch and things to do. I really liked this flick, although the seemingly happy ending pretty much came out of nowhere, and didn't fit the tone of the film at all. My favorite line is one of Bender's: "A naked blonde walks into a bar carrying a poodle under one arm, and a two foot long salami under the other. The bartender says to her, 'I guess you won't be needing a drink,' and the naked lady says...oh shit!"

Little Miss Sunshine, rated R, starring Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, and Steve Carell. This is one of those movies where you either like it or you don't, and I liked it. It's not really a comedy (or at least, not in the sense that you're given punchlines to laugh at), and it's not really a drama (although there are plenty of dramatic moments). I think what I liked most about it is that every single one of the characters felt real, and I completely bought their actions throughout the movie, and I never had that moment that's all too common in other films where I say to myself, "Oh bullshit, that just happened because it's a movie."

I recommend you check out both The Breakfast Club and Little Miss Sunshine if you've never seen them.

Finally, I started watching Sports Night, otherwise known as the show Aaron Sorkin did before he hit the jackpot with The West Wing. I've never actually seen The West Wing, but I did see Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (Fantastic fucking show, by the way, NBC is filled with dickheads for giving it the ax), and much like that show was not about a late night sketch show but about the people behind said late night sketch show, Sports Night is not about a cable sports news show but about the people behind said cable sports news show. It's also fantastic, but only got two seasons on the air. I highly recommend it, especially if you're a fan of Mr. Sorkin's work.

Burnout Paradise (PS3) Impressions

I've been playing Burnout Paradise for the past 4 hours or so, and it's awesome. It's the same kind of arcade racing goodness that was in the previous Burnout games, but this time you're given a fairly large city to freely roam around in. There are a shit-ton of cars to get (75 in all, although half of those are upgraded versions of each car), over 100 events (races, time trials, survival tests, takedown competitions, and stunt runs) to participate in, and a "best crash" and "best time" mode. I haven't even touched the last two modes, I've been having too much fun unlocking cars and breaking shit all over the city.

Did I mention the game looks amazing? It's the best looking racing game I've ever seen. Fuck Gran Turismo, Burnout Paradise is beautiful. The sense of speed is incredible, and the crashes are filled with nifty touches like super slo-mo and quick cuts to a camera "finding" the crash. Watching cars crumple and deform into so much twisted metal is fantastic, even after the 100th time.

Paradise has a huge and varied soundtrack, which is pretty standard for any EA game. There are a few misses here and there, but all it takes is a flick of the R1 button to switch to a new track. The DJ is annoying too, but thankfully he doesn't talk a whole lot once he's taught you the basics.

The only bad thing I have to say about it is that there's no option to quickly retry a race if you fail (you have to drive all the way back to the starting point, in fact, if you want to go anywhere, you have to drive there. No magic teleporting in Paradise), but failure doesn't happen too often (cause I'm pimp like that), and when it does, there are a multitude of other events in whatever area you end up in to just carry on like nothing happened.

Paradise seems like the kind of game that I can get a large amount of enjoyment out of in a week or two, and then be done with it. Not a purchase, but definitely worthy of a rental.