Happy New Year's Eve

Well hope everyone is going to have a great New Years I hope to get some gametime in and then on Saturday watch Arkansas win the Liberty Bowl. The best thing about the new year is the new games that will be coming out in January and February.

Bioshock 2 - Really enjoyed the first one and hope the second can match the atmosphere.
Mass Effect 2 - From what I've seen they have really improved on the shooting/combat aspects of the game and that was the one gripe that I had.
Darksiders - A mix of adventure and action that looks to have a dark tone.
Bayonetta - The demo is live and this action game looks crazy.
No More Heroes 2 - Loved the first game and it's coming to 360 soon so I'm really looking forward to the second one.

Not Many Games

Wow a long time between posts but it's the holidays. I should be back to normal posts now.

COD 2 (360) (Total Time: 100hrs)

Spent way too much time with this game and I can't stop playing. I went ahead and prestiged so I basically started all over but I'm up to level 22 with about 5 hours of play so I'm doing much better now. I had the best games last night, I was playing free for all and won about 4 matches and got 30 kills 2 times in a row which I've never done before and it's a great feeling.

Dead Space Extraction (Wii) (30 min)

I loved Dead Space on the 360 and they made this game a light gun shooter for the Wii and I'm back on the Immasura(something like that). The graphics are really good and the atmosphere feels like the first game.

Resident Evil Degeneration (Wii) (30 min)

Another light gun game and another great game.

AC2, COD 2, Conan, Borderlands

Well my projector bulb exploded on Saturday night so I'm glad I had one on order and will be here Tuesday. I had a lot of trouble getting the old one out though as I think that some of plastic melted together or it wasn't put in correctly when I bought it anyway I was able to force it out and hopefully the new one will go in without problems.

Assassin's Creed 2 (360) (6hr)

I finished the story on Saturday and I really enjoyed my time with the game. I may purchase the soundtrack as it had some great melodies. There are still things that I can do in the game but I'm not sure if I want to the 1000 achievement points. The ending was a little strange but did setup the next game so I hope they choose another great place like Italy.

COD 2 (360) (6Hr)

I got to level 70 on Saturday so that day was a big gaming day for me since I had to be signed onto the system at work. I will prestige but not until I get some more titles and emblems from leveling up perks.

Conan (360) (3hr)

For some reason I felt like a beat'm up last night and chose Conan. It is an okay game but has some awesome finishing moves. They have one move that splits an enemy in two and his guts are hanging out of one side it is gruesome but still cartooney as the graphics are okay. I hope to finish this this week as I'm trying to get through some games during the slow time.

Borderlands (360) (1hr)

Trying to get the full 1000 points is going to take some time. I am playing the new expansion and it has some cool creatures so that makes the time pass somewhat quickly. There is a lot of slowdown though when a lot of effects are going on that I really noticed last night but most of the time it works well.

Assassin's Creed 2

AC 2 (360) (5hr)

I am still not close to finishing. There are just so many little things to do in the game that I will probably end up putting about 40 hours into it. I do get a little frustrated when the character jumps off a building when I don't want him too but that is probably just me going to fast and not paying attention. I tried playing with
Italian as the spoken language with subtitles and it felt authentic but I had a mission where I was trailing someone as they were speaking and I missed the conversation since I had to keep out sight and keep from being detected so I switch back and the voice work is really good in either language. I continue to meet more interesting characters so I really can't wait for the next game in the series.

Assassin's Creed 2, Cod 2, RB2

I didn't stray too much out of the ordinary last night. I got my hour of RB in and then played my usual 2 games last night.

AC 2 (4hr)

I think that I'm almost finished but then again I keep meeting more and more people involved in the plot to kill my family so I "have" to go after them. I wish the game used stealth the way Batman does, it is decent in this game but it feels gamey. I pulled a guard off of a tower and he screamed and there were 3 other guards that should have heard him but just stood there.

COD 2 (4hr)

Wow time flies when you play this game. They added the patch to fix some glitches but added some new ones. Now your grenade launcher can have unlimited ammo so your screen constantly shakes as explosions are going everywhere. Then there is the glitch where you will be put into a private match. The other night we were trying to play team deathmatch and got put into a free for all match on Rust which is about 30 by 30 and was made for 6 people but there were 18 so people were spawning on top of each other and it was chaos. Once again they should have had a beta to work out these issues but they thought they were better than that and now they see they aren't.

Afrika, Pixel Junk Shooter, Dirt 2, AC 2

Afrika (PS3) (2hr)

I have been waiting for this game to drop in price but I was afraid that they didn't press many copies so that it would eventually get scarce and drive the price up so I went ahead and purchased the game. If you like animals, nature, and camera's then this is a great game. If you want to shoot things or play a great action game then look elsewhere. I am always looking for something different to play so I do pick up so strange and different games but I do enjoy them and haven't made too many bad purchases.

In this game you go around an unexplored part of Afrika taking photo's of the wildlife to send back to your home base for research. There are about 70 different types of animals that you must find and take pictures of and you are rated by how well the pictures turn out. It is also like an rpg where you do get better equipment and camera's that you can make manual adjustmetns too so it could make you a better photographer. You must sneak up on the animals to take the photos or they will run away or attack depending on the animal, it is a unique experience that I really like. I had just upgraded to a camera that could take 3 continuous shots which really helped when I had to photograph a cheetah chasing an antelope. It may not be the most action packed game but there are some tense moments when you want to get a great shot but not sure how close the animal will let you get to them.

Pixel Junk Shooter (PSN) (1.5hr)

This is the 4th Pixel junk game and to me it's their best. I really liked Eden but the controls frustrated me at times but shooter has a really good physics engine with simple and addictive game play. You fly around levels picking up lost workman while avoiding enemies and the environment. Lava, smoke, water, and snow are all used to move around the level with some great puzzle elements. Your ship can shoot enemies but also the men you are trying to save so you have to be careful, I've shot quite a few of them and feel pretty bad once I hear there screams.

Dirt 2 (360) (2hr)

I have my car setup in my extra bedroom right now, it's easier than moving my beanbag and playseat around and I have a 50' Tv just sitting there. I am about 50% through and it's the racing game for me. I have Forza 3 but I like driving out in the open more than on a confined track. The wheel works pretty good once you get it setup and is so much more enjoyable than using a controller. I do like the first Dirt a little more because it has more rally races, Dirt 2 has more races with all cars on the track and there is too much bumping for my taste.

Assassin's Creed 2 (360) (6hr)

I am in Venice now which I think is the last city but I have 20 more vantaga points to find. The story is really good in this game and the way they use real historic buildings and events makes it that more immersive.

Games, Games, Games

I can't stop buying games. Blockbuster is having some good sales and I got about 6 games at 6.99 a piece so if you have one in your area go and look and get some good deals.

Here is what I got: Burnout Paradise, Bully, Thrillville, Ghostbusters, Soul Calibur 4, Conan.

Burnout Paradise (360) (1hr)

I have the PS3 version but I like my racing games on the 360 and it just feels better. I only bought it for the PS3 when it came out to play with Don Harding but the Ps3 network was horrible then and we had a difficult time getting the chat to work so I didn't really play it that much. This is a great arcade crashing simulation, the controls are tight and you do have control but the damage modeling is outstanding and the open world is so huge it's just a huge game.

Saboteur (360) (1hr)

I am almost finished with the tutorials in this game as there is a lot of things to do so it shouldn't be too repetitive.


I am going to have to buy a 360 Memory card so that I can keep my profile loaded onto it so I can have live access on my 360's. I wish you could have your profile on multiple 360's but that isn't allowed which is a bother.

COD2, Saboteur

COD2 (360) (3hr)

I would like to play something else but it's hard to stop playing this game. It's taking a long time to level up now so it maybe longer than a week to get to level 70 since I'm running out of the easy challenges or use the sniper rifles which probably won't happen.

Saboteur (360)

I purchased this today but not sure that I'll open it. It's gotten mixed reviews but all of the Pandemic games are always fun but aren't as polished as they should be. It has a neat concept of the city being black and white and as you progress further the city turns to color. It is an open world game where you shoot nazi's and climb things.

Devil May Cry 4, COD 2, Raving Rabids

Devil May Cry 4 (360) (1hr)

After playing the Bayonetta First Climax demo it got me wanting a good beat'm up game. I played about 8 hours of this before but forgot just about everything in it so I started again and it's still awesome. There is a Capcom 3-pack for sale with this game, Lost Planet, and Dead rising for $40 which is a steal and a great buy if you haven't played any of these games.

COD 2 (360) (20HR)

I've put in about 60 hours and at level 62 so hopefully by the end of the week I will have reached level 70. I think I am getting better as I am placing in the top 3 most of the time so that does feel good.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 (360)

This isn't out yet but I really want to get in on the beta. It has a different feel than COD since you get to drive tanks and airplanes and destroy buildings so look for this one early next year.

Raving Rabbids (Wii) (1Hr)

Over half way done and still enjoying my time and they are keeping things fresh by having new twists on the game play.

COD 2, Isle of 8-bit

COD 2 (360) (5hr)

This game is dominating my life. I am at level 58 now and I had the best night ever last night. I finished in the top spot 3 times in a row and in the top 3 about 10 times. I was unstoppable except for needing sleep so I had to give in and go to bed to only dream of playing. The real fun stuff for me is going back and trying to find the person who got you and getting them back and usually for me they get me a couple of more times before i get them but last night I was on the other end and I got a guy about 6 times in a row. Each time I would move to a different corner and he always looked the wrong way, it is a great feeling and I don't really know why. Another case is when an enemy sees you and there is an obsticle between you and you fool him by going a different way than what he thinks you will go, its those little moments that make this game shine.

Isle Of 8-bit (Iphone) 4.99

This is a rouge type game by Tecmo. It has some nice graphics and a good interface. The only problem is there are no mid-saves or if you get a text or call while in a dungeon it kicks you out. Hopefully there will be a patch to fix this other wise go off adventuring.

AC 2, COD 2, Rabbid, Iphone

Just venting a little. Where I work they are trying to implement a policy that will not allow us to have our own monitors, keyboards, and mice because of some silly reasons. If our company kept us upto date with equipment then this would be a moot point but they are way behind plus we haven't got a raise in awhile and the company is tight on money so good for them to decrease moral like this.

AC 2 (360) (4Hr)

Still progressing through the story. I have opened up some new mission types so that is keeping the game from getting repetitive. I haven't made it too Venice yet but the lands and cities you explore are pretty large and they do a good job of making the city a living place.

COD 2 (360) (10Hr)

At level 55 and I was hot last night because of work and just wanted to kill someone and I was ranking in the top 3 for most of the night and was having a blast. It's going to take forever to get to lvl 70 but I am going to get there.


Rabbid (Wii) (1Hr)

This game is one of the funniest games I've played. Get this game if you have a Wii.

Iphone

Red Laser App $1.99
This app just got an update that makes it a must buy. The app lets you scan any item with a barcode and it will look up that item for you and give you the prices for both internet sites and local stores, before it was only internet sites.

IBlast Moki $1.99

A neat little puzzle game where you must get the Moki to a portal by blowing up bombs next to them. The bombs have timers that add some pretty good puzzle elements when you must use 4 or 5 bombs to get the Moki home. It controls well and has many levels.

Soosiz 1.99

This is like Super Mario Galaxy in 2-D. It controls perfectly so you can make quick and accurate movements.


JetCarStunts 1.99

Kind of like Trackmania where you try to drive through various obsticaled courses.


HR Battle .99

A home run derby game that has some neat concepts.

Steam

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

I spent that last part of mine buying about 50 games. Steam has some great deals going on this week. All of THQ's catalog about 20-30 games for $50 which includes all the Red Factions including the latest one. The same deal is for all of the Lucas Arts games. I picked up Grid for $8 so some good deals so go and check them out.

Borderlands, MW2

Borderlands (360) (30min)

Bought the new DLC for Borderlands and played for about 30 minutes and it is really good. The new section has a "spooky" atmosphere and the new enemies with varying attacks keep things fresh. I think they could really keep doing DLC till the next game
comes out since the game is broken out into areas already just keep expanding.

MW2 (360) (3hr)

Once again stayed up too late but it's too good not to play. They maybe adding some new play modes before the holiday that hopefully will come out.

MW2, RB2

RB2 (360) (1Hr)

Trying to keep my routine of an hour a day and I have started to see some improvements. I am trying some new techniques with double kicks in hopes it will
make them easier. I ordered a clamp and stand for my drums so that I can mount the
GH4 controller to my kit it was pretty expensive at around $28 but it should look nicer now.

MW2 (360) (7hr)

I had intentions of playing Assassins Creed 2 last night but Steven was on so I put in MW2 and never took it out. We had a good group with Joe, Steven, and Brad, we did have some trouble connecting but it was fun. I am getting better and finally got the ACR gun which I really like but I had to get to level 48 to get it. Brad quit at around 1 so I was going to play until 1:30 but I got in with a pretty good group of guys that liked to talk and I played with them until 3 which was late but I was doing well and usually in the top 2 players so it was hard to quit.

Raving Rabbids Go Home, Assassins Creed 2, MW2, Borderlands

Raving Rabbids Go Home (Wii) (2hr)

If you've played the previous Rabbid games then you know the insanity of the Rabbits in Ubisoft's world and in this game they are let loose on a new adventure that is not mini-games. The game plays sort of like Katamari Damacy where you have 2 Rabbids and a grocery cart and you are running over items in your quest to build a trash heap to the moon. The story is crazy and while there is no dialog the animations and gibberish they communicate really add to the comedic adventure at hand. The funniest part is that when you encounter humans you yell at them and it knocks there clothes off and they are left running around trying to hide, it is funny everytime it happens and the comments they make are hilarious. Pick this game up if you have a Wii and have a good time laughing.

Assassins Creed 2 (360) (6HR)

This game is really growing on me and it is constantly adding new things to keep you interested. I now have control over a small villa and a town to reconstruct. This generates money that you'll need to outfit and equip Enzio. If you buy art work it will increase your towns income and you get to choose different buildings, the first building I had rebuilt was the brothel, this is the biggest money generator. The combat is good but could learn some things from Batman but they do fine and there are some pretty squeimish death kills.

MW 2 (360) (10hr)

Level 45 and not tired of this yet if you want a game you can play all year then pick this up.

Borderlands (360) (4hr)

Finished the game last night with Donald and George. It's one of the best co-op games that I've played and was engaging all the way through although the final boss battle was weak. There will be DLC this week that I will be picking up so I can get to level 50 and pick up my final 2 achievements so that I'll have my first 1000 point game.

COD MW2

Modern Warfare 2 (360) (6hr)

So far I've spent about 40 hours playing MW2, saying that makes it feel like work but I'm enjoying my time with it. I finally finished the single player game last night and it was good but it could have been fleshed out better. The story jumps around a lot and since I didn't remember much from the first game I was basically just listening to some info then go and killing some people. I played 38% of the game on the hardened difficulty but lowered to normal because I wanted to finish so I could discuss some of the things in the game. I won't go into spoilers now but there are some scenes that do stick out and do cause some reactions. The normal setting is not that hard but there are sections that you will die and have to reload because of all the enemies and the advantages they have because of their positions.

On the multiplayer side I am level 39 with some cool things to unlock in the coming levels. The perks are well balanced and if you want to compete you do need to come up with different strategies with your custom classes. Some perks hide you from heartbeat sensors while other hide you from UAV's and other monitors. The gun you use also should dictate your play style. I am trying to unlock all of the perk upgrades and am pretty close now. They do take some time and my scores are lower when I am trying to get something but it's worth it to me. I'm not sure about the Prestige mode and what it gets you but I don't know if I'll go back to square one and start over.

Assassin's Creed 2, COD2

Assassin's Creed 2 (360) (2hr)

I played some of the first AC and really liked it but never finished it so I wasn't sure if I was going to play through the first but since I have so many games to play I just started it. I've always like the Prince of Persia games and the traversal of the levels but the newest Prince of Persia was too guided and easy as there was usually only one way to traverse the levels. In AC2 there is always multiple ways to traverse and it does require some thought.

I like the new setting and the historical facts add a nice layer to the game. I wish the controls were a little tighter as they feel a little floaty. So far I don't have any armor and only have 1 sword so the combat is simple now but you will get many weapons later on, it is fun grabbing enemies and throw them off buildings.

COD2 (360) (3HR)

I tried to finish the single player campaign last night but I wasn't as far along as I had thought. I cranked down the difficulty to normal but it still was tough. The game is too chaotic to me though like they are trying to overwhelm you all the time and it's not grabbing me like the first game did. I will plow through it this weekend but want to try and get all the stars for Spec ops which to me is the best part of the game.

I am close to level 40 in Multi and I have finally unlocked both of the speed perks, but I was a little disappointed with the pro versions. One you don't take damage from falls which is okay and the other you have a faster aim while running so if you want to really run and gun you can have both of these perks and fly through the levels but somehow the snipers will still hit you which is very upsetting. The lag is still there where I am getting shot at and I go behind cover but still get hit and die and when I see the replay I am not behind cover on his end, that is the biggest flaw in the game is that lag.

MW2, RB

MW2 (360) (6Hr)

MP time : 26 HR
The only problem I have with the game is that it breaks my internet connection. For some reason while playing this game my dsl connections gets broken and it takes about 15 seconds to get it back. I do reconnect but I lose all my points and have to start over which is really bad when you are having an awesome game.

RB2 (360) (1hr)

Trying to put in an hour a day on the drums so that I can get my right leg to improve on the bass drum. Setting the tension back on the bass drum has helped an now I just need to have more leg strength.

I picked up Assassin's Creed 2 so should have some impressions tomorrow.

Game Overload

Well after 100 postings I needed a little time off. I get 3 weeks vacation and still had almost 2 weeks so I had to use some and what better time then the November game rush. It could have been much worse but so many titles were delayed until next year that we get about a month in a half break from new releases.

So what did I do on my Vacation? For starters, I got the new Modern Warfare 360 bundle. I wanted the 250G hardrive and this was the only way, for now, to get it and I'm glad I did, but I spent a lot of time re-downloading all of my content. I had about 12G of RB songs and some other arcade games and even though you get a list of all that you've downloaded there isn't a button that will do this automatically so it takes time. The do allow you to queue upto 30 items which was a great improvement over the last limit of 6. I then had a problem of getting my save games over so I did have an arcade with built in memory so I had to use that and switch my HD around.

Once all that was done I finally played some COD2 and it is awesome. I am playing the campaign at the Hardened level and it's too chaotic, there is so much happening that it's almost not fun. A few of the missions are awesome but I may tone down the difficulty just to get through the game then go back and replay later.

The Spec op mode is really fun as it takes some of the best moments of the game and allows you to play that with a friend either split screen or online. I really like this mode and there are 23 challenges which should take quite a bit of time.

Then there is the online multi and it just added and greatly improved every area of the previous version. They have added more and more RPG elements from the weapons you unlock to different versions of the perks that there is always something that you will want to unlock. By doing different things within the game you will open up call signs and buttons that get displayed on the person you just killed. Another nice feature is the last kill cam that shows the last kill in slow motion.

I also picked up the Super Mario Bro Wii and it's platforming goodness.

Tomorrow is the release of Assassins Creed 2 which from what I've read should be a great game that I am looking forward too.

Mass Effect $10 on Steam this Weekend.

Borderlands, Vacation

Borderlands (360) (6Hr)

Delving once again into Pandora we embarked on a 4 man journey to find the lost vault. I have spent 40+ hours wandering, shooting, and dying trying to fulfill my destiny and cement my name being the first 1000 Achievement point conquest. It is a land filled with skags, soldiers, crabs, and flying RAAKS that relentlessly try and sabatoge our quest. But we will not fail we will succeed, we are the IT Crew.

Vacation

I am on a week vacation and glad of it. So many games to get played. I'm getting the MW2 360 on Tuesday so will be playing a ton of that. We'll see if the servers are able to keep up with the demand I hope they do but if they don't it will give me a chance to play the single player campaign. What will you play first?

Consolidation

Do you have too many hard drives? I can answer yes to this question. I am going through trying to consolidate all of my different data onto my 3 1TB WD HD Books.
I currently have my stuff on 13 different hard drives from 80G to 1TB so now I'm getting my data sorted out.

Why do I have all of this? I have Tv Shows that I've watched and will probably never watch again that I am keeping. It's hard for me to throw out real stuff so digital is the same way.

Dragon Age, Logitech G13

Dragon Age (PC) (2HR)

I'm still playing from my CozySac, different maker than SumoSac but same thing only cheaper, in the dining room and still liking it. I am having a problem reading red text though on the tactics screen. The text is already a little small at 1900X1200 but not too bad but for some reason reading the red text where you setup certain tactics are impossible to read and I'm not sure if it's the game or my color blindness and there's no way to change the color but not that big of a deal. I do like the character interactions but I do miss the Mass Effect dialog where you picked the text and he would say something similar but not exactly as the displayed text, there is no voice work for your character so you click an option and then the other characters respond.

The combat is getting harder and I died for the first time in normal difficulty but then I tried again with a different tactic and succeded although I did have to micromanage quite a bit as one character kept wandering off to fight enemies by himself which is bad plan.

Logitech G13 (PC) $55

I ordered this through Amazon and it should be delivered today. It's a keyboard peripheral that has 25 programmable buttons and a joystick and I hope it makes playing on the CozySac a little more comfortable as my keyboard is a little large and it doesn't sit well while I'm laying down. I'll have more impressions maybe tomorrow because I'll be playing Borderlands tonight.

Dragon Age, Lego Rock Band, Beatles Book

Dragon Age (Steam) (1HR)

I wasn't sure which platform to get this on. The reviews are saying that the PC is the better version with updated graphics, a streamlined control scheme, and a harder difficulty, but I do like to play on my SumoSac on the big screen. After a long debate I got the PC version and moved my PC to my projector so I should have the best of both worlds.

I put Windows 7 on my main machine and I really like it but I did have a problem with Steam. When I tried to run the old Steam from it's library it needed some service started and I let it run for a while and it didn't seem to work. I had to uninstall it but when you do it erases all of your game data so I just moved all of that to another folder and reinstalled then copied the games back and it was done. It wasn't too painful but took some time. I really do like steam and it's one of the best services out there for PC gaming.

I am playing a Human Warrior, there are 2 other character types with each having 2 unique starting stories so I may try others before going on the main quest. I set the game to normal at the start but then decided I wanted to experience the story and not worry about having to retry combat over and over so we'll see how easy it is and I may change it later but I've read that the difficulty is not consistant so we will see. I did have to turn on VSYNC to stop the tearing on the cutscenes. I have the game running max at 1900X1800 and not seeing any problems or slowdowns so it does run well. The voice acting is well done with a little humor added in and I am liking the story but I haven't made many decisions yet which is supposed to be a big part of the game.

Lego Rock Band (360) (30min)

I like the concept of this game but not a big fan of the music. The Lego integration into Rockband is good and the funny cutscenes that are in Lego games are here as well and they are really funny. There is one where a construction crew is trying to destroy a building but are unable too so he calls on your band to play outside of it using the loud music to destroy the building. As you are playing the song you see parts of the building crumble and blow up and it is entertaining to watch.

It has 45 tracks which can be imported into RB which I will do when I get my COD MW2 new 360. The starting songs are really easy as I was able to Gold Star about 8 out of 10 there are some tough songs so it's not to bad. I went to quickplay and took a quick listen of the songs and wasn't too impressed it had some good songs but not sure that is has enough to justify the price. It is $49 but costs $10 to import the songs so I may just do that then trade it in.

Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (Book) (2HR)

I needed a book to read and saw this on Amazon and I picked it up and it's very good.
My favorite books are autobiographies and this is the biography of a sound engineer who recorded the Beatles later in their career. It's a really neat book because he has some good technical stories about recording and some of the tricks they used to get certain sounds out of the instruments and vocals. There are some neat stories about the Beatles and does give some insight into the band. He was there when they brought in a session drummer for Ringo on their second recording session, and another when a mob of girls broke into the building where they were recording at and had to tackle a fan that was about to do who knows what to Ringo.

Uncharted 2, Borderlands, Trine

Uncharted 2
One of the best games I've ever played with one of the best stories in a game. This game will make you play it for marathon sections because it keeps on delivering. So if you have a PS3 go and pick it up.

Borderlands (360) (8HR)

I think I've put in about 40 hours so far and haven't even come close to finishing as I am always helping other people level up. I have 3 characters over 20 and now I'm working on my Hunter to get to level 15 for the achievement. I am getting all 1000 for this game.

Trine (PSN) (1HR)

It's a fun game playing co-op or single player but it gets tough and there are some tricky puzzles.

Trine, Uncharted 2, Borderlands

Trine (PSN) (1hr)

This is a 3 player puzzle game that is pretty addicting. You control 3 different characters with different abilities and must navigate jumps, enemies and puzzles. It's one screen only coop which stinks since it would be a great online game. The graphics are really gorgeous and the puzzles can get pretty tough. In single player there is only one character on screen and you switch out the characters based on the skill you need in multiplayer all 3 characters are on the screen. It is really fun and should be a must get at $20.

Uncharted 2 (PS3) (4 HR)

Finished the game last night and the whole game is awesome with the action ramping up till the very end. Also played the co-op multiplayer and it is a lot of fun. The AI is brutal and the game play is hectic with all the different enemies you encounter you need to use cover. The biggest difference of this multiplayer is the platforming you do to get to good vantage points so you very rarely stay in the same place very long. This is a must buy and play for all gamers.

Borderlands (360) (15hr)

Man have I put in a lot of hours of this game and I have 3 characters that are level 15 or above. I've played through the first missions about 6 different times and they have all been a blast. This is just my type of game, shooting and leveling up with awesome weapons. I do wish there were more customizations in the characters look but other than that pure fun.

Borderlands, Beneath a Steel Sky

Borderlands (360) (5 hr)

Can't get enough of this game, I am enjoying playing multiplayer and single player. I'm getting some pretty good weapons now that do some elemental damage which looks cool. Co-op is really fun but can get hectic with all the extra enemies that spawn.

Beneath the Steel Sky (IPhone) (5 min)

This is an upgraded version of an old PC adventure game and it has quite a bit of sound support.

Borderlands

Borderlands (360) (8hr)

Awesome game...Played from 6 to 2:30...had meetings from 9 till 3....tired....but
will play more tonight...

Uncharted 2, Hook Champ, New Super Mario Bro, Borderlands

Uncharted 2 (PS3) (3hr)

I'm on Chapter 23 of 26 so I am getting close to the end and so far it has not been disappointing and constantly ramping up the action so I can't wait for the finale.
It has gotten pretty tough and I can't imagine what playing on the harder levels will be for some of these fights.

Hook Champ (IPhone), (5min)

Plays like an old classic platform game with some nice graphics and an awesome swing hook mechanic.

New Super Mario Bro (DS) (30min)

I need to finish this game and will try to play for 30 min a night before I goto bed.
This is preparation for the new Mario game coming for the Wii.


Borderlands (360) (30min)

Picked it up at lunch and so far I really like it from the graphics to the light comedy of the characters plus the shooting feels great.
So come and play tonight if you can.

A Boy and His Blob, Uncharted 2, Brutal Legend, Demon's Souls

A Boy and His Blob (Wii) (45min)

This is a remake of an old game where you feed a blob beans which turns him into different items to help you collect 3 treasures which are hidden around each level.
It is a puzzle game with some light action events. I was a little confused at first as there really isn't a tutorial and of course I didn't read the manual. You feed your blob beans and, so far, he has turned into a trampoline, a hole, or a balloon.
The graphics look hand drawn and the lighting is well done.

Uncharted 2 (PS3) (5hr)

This game makes you want to play straight through with it's exceptional story. It is ten times better than any action movie this year and incomparable to the trash that was Land of the Lost. I am about 2/3 of the way through and there have been some really standout moments and some tough battles and I'm only playing the normal level and there are 2 more above that. I really want to try the coop and hope to this weekend with Joe and Jeremie. If you have a PS3 then you almost have to buy this game.

Brutal Legend (360) (2hr)

This game is losing momentum quickly. I really like the atmosphere, voicework, and music but I find myself not really having a lot of fun. I don't like the RTS part of the battles, I understand why they are there because it sounds like it could be fun building stages and merchandise booths and controlling different troops, but it just doesn't feel all there. I wish is was just a straight up action/adventure game.
It is worth renting and I wish I had done that.

Demon's Souls (PS3) (2hr)

Still plugging a way at this one and still dieing constantly but still enjoying it, wow, I could brew a lot with all of those stills. I have found a place where I can grind and level up so I should be able to gain a couple of levels within an hour. T

Uncharted 2, Brutal Legend, 30 Minute Hero

Uncharted 2 (Ps3) (2hr)

I went a little farther in the story. I'm trying to make this game last and not just play through to the finish and I am enjoying that. I tried the multiplayer last night and had a god time. I don't have a mike so I just played Deathmatch and got to level 4. When you gain levels you can open up basically perks when you start a match so I was able to unlock 2 perks. There are 3 other multi modes that I want to try when I can find the official PS3 Bluetooth headset.

Brutal Legend (360) (1hr)

Got a little farther but I am starting to see some minor things that could and should have been fixed. There is noticeable frame rate issues when you are driving around which bother me. When you start a side mission there is a little cut scene but it's the same dialog, if they could have changed the dialog for each one it wouldn't feel repetitive and you would look forward to them but as it is now you do get tired of it.

30 Minute Hero (PSP) (5 min)

This is a neat PSP game where you have 30 seconds to save the world. It is a full RPG where you level up and use weapons and have 30 seconds, you can gain time by praying, to find the enemy castle and defeat the boss.

No Games?

Wow I went a day without playing a game. What's wrong with me.

Uncharted 2, Brutal Legend

Uncharted 2 (PS3) (3Hr)

This game is awesome, from the graphics to the game play, this is another game of the year contender. Everything I liked about the game is still there and they made some small tweaks in the combat department that really makes this game stand out. The new stealth system is great, when I first heard of it though I was skeptical because most stealth systems stink, but this works well and I enjoy using it with all the special animations that occur. Buy, buy, buy.

Brutal Legend (360) (1Hr)

This game excels at atmosphere but the game play feels like something is missing. The voice work and music are all top notch and the story is funny. The combat is it's weak point as I just wasn't having that much fun playing. The combat is real time action but then it goes to an RTS style where you command units and I had a hard time using the system. It is pretty basic and I think that is what hurts it is you need a little more control than what you have. I bought it because I wanted to support the developer as he made Full Throttle which is one of my favorite games.

Painkiller, Risen

Painkiller (PC) (2Hr)

I bought the Painkiller 3Pack on Steam this week so I spent some time mindlessly shooting strange creatures. Sometimes you just want to shoot stuff and this game is perfect for those situations, little story, all action.

Risen (PC) (1Hr)

I am making my way to the first city and I've tried to explore some areas but I keep getting killed, I really need to find some armor. I am still impressed by the visuals as there are moments that really look awesome.

Toys R Us

Went to get my deals there and of course they didn't get their shipment in so no go there. This has happened to me every year and I don't like it. Why do they do this BB had 100 copies of Uncharted 2 in the store on shelves so I know that it shipped early but TRS knows this and does it on purpose.

New Releases

Remember Toy's R Us is having it's buy 2 get 1 free this week and I think it applies to Point cards so you can buy $100 worth and get $50 free.

Uncharted 2 (PS3)

I am really excited to play this one. The multiplayer demo is okay but I want to play the single player campaign.

Brutal Legend (360)

I want to support Tim Schaffer so I am getting this and I want to play a rock 'n roll adventure game.

PC Classics, Madden 10, Risen

PC Classics

For some reason I got an itch to go and play some old PC games and Steam has some really good ones that I couldn't resist.

Quake 2

This is the game that I remember running my first FPS tests against and I can still remember the test video. I also remember being Wow'd when the first enemy shot at you and you could see the trail of his bullet, it was awesome. I played through the first 2 missions and I remembered them all even though I hadn't played in about 10 years.

Return to Castle Wolfenstien

I beat this game on the original Xbox and so I remembered this game as well and it does hold up. Most of the ID games the resolution goes to 1600x1200 and the graphics still look pretty good.

Doom 3 & Doom3 RTE

As you can tell I bought the ID collection on Steam and I got around 20 games, I got tired of waiting for another deal and decided to spend the money. I beat the original Doom 3 but never the expansion so I put some mods on and it crippled my frame rate. They added some graphical tweaks and I may have to take it off to play without frame drops.

Hitman Series

I also picked up 3 Hitman games for $10, that's the problem with Steam sales it is too easy to spend money. I want to try and play the series from the beginning as I never really played any of these. The first one is not that great graphically but plays okay but I am stuck at the first mission.

Madden 10 (360) (45min)

Played my league game and since it doesn't use any sliders I am really not liking it as you cannot run and it's pass all the time and I don't like it. The IPhone app
is out now if interested.

Risen (PC) (1hr)

I finished the first area and about to go to the city. I haven't ran across any bugs yet and it's running better on Windows 7 than Xp which is strange. This game is huge and I hope I keep playing.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma, Risen

NG 2 (PS3) (1HR)

Well this version is easier than the 360 one but I am finally facing a boss that I can't beat. I guess I haven't figured out the pattern yet but after 5 tries I gave up and will try later.

Risen (Steam) (1 HR)

I'm almost out of the first area and I dialed down the difficulty to easy I wasn't having fun on normal. It is fair but I want to experience the story and not be bogged down by the combat. Easy it is still tough but more forgiving.

PS3 HD

I didn't get to play any games last night, I was really tired, but I did
upgrade my PS3 Hard drive to 250GB. For some reason though it was much harder than it should have been. I am not mechanically inclined, stuff just seems to happen when I try to do any manual labor.

I go to take out the current 60G HD from the PS3. There is one screw that holds the HD case to the system. It's supposed to be a phillip's head, the other screws on the case are phillps but my screwdriver didn't fit very well but after some pressure I finally got the screw out. I removed the HD case from the PS3 and now I had to remove 4 screws that hold the HD in the case. These screws were really in there and I finally got 3 out but one I stripped out. So now I have to go to the garage and get my Dremel and hopefully not ruin my old HD. Well for some reason that worked without any problems so I put in the new HD and wait hour and half to restore. If something can go wrong and it usually does, the same thing happens to my Dad so I guess I inherited it.

Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma, Wii Crossfire,

Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma (PS3) (2HR)

I saw good reviews for this game and even though I own it for the 360 and never finished it I rented it because there is supposed to be a lot more content and they were right. The first mission has a boss fight that is mission from the original and the big thing is the difficulty has been toned down so I can actually not die every 5 minutes. If you want a great action game with a lot of cool content, you can control the females character's breasts in cutscenes, then pick this game up.

Wii Crossfire (Wii)

Well I bought this Wii gun earlier in the month and it has problems so I will be returning it. Here is my amazon review:
I was excited to get this product because I really wanted more than just a shell for my Wiimote when I played light gun games. I put the batteries in and it took awhile for me to sync the gun to my Wii. For some reason when I hit the sync buttons it wouldn't connect but after about 4 attempts it worked. I put in and tested a couple of games and it worked great but I had problems where the Wii Gun would lose connection to the Wii and I would have to power on the Wii gun again, I did have full batteries so that wasn't the problem. Every game I tried I would eventually lose my connection. I really like the gun butmay have gotten a bad one so I am returning this one and waiting for
a revision to be made.

Risen, Splosion Man, Canabalt, RB

Risen (PC) (3HR)

I got to play quite a bit of this game yesterday and I like it, I think it's a bit too hard but other than that I recommend this game. The graphics are really nice and with the real-time weather/days I had some "Wow" moments. The combat is tough in this game as a couple of hits will kill you, now I don't have any armor on and that may be the problem but I haven't found any yet. You are able to block and parry but you do have to level up your fighting skill to use it even though the tutorial task said I could do it when I first started. The enemies have various attack patterns that you need to adjust to when you try to block. Overall it feels good but I had to turn the difficulty down to easy on some fights but all that did was increase the amount of hits I could take.

What I really like about his game is the story. It is well done with good voice acting and it can be pretty funny at times especially when you are talking to a drunk person. It was developed by 2K Czeck games so I was surprised to find that there it all works well and nothing like other foreign games where the voice work is suspect.

Splosion Man (360) (30min)

I finished the first set of levels and defeated my first boss. If you haven't tried this yet go ahead and get the demo it is funny and a solid arcade game.

Canabalt (IPhone) (20min)

This is a neat little game where you run to the right and tap the screen to jump to see how far you can escape a city that is being invaded. My top score is 4300 feet.
It is a simple game but has nice graphics and sounds good. So for 1.99 pick it up.

RB (360) (1HR)

As you can see with the 360 games I picked up an 360 Arcade machine till I get my other back and it is loud. It was build Jun of this year and does have a smaller power supply but the disk drive can be loud. I also will have to re-rip the games to the hard drive if I want to play them from there as you will get a message that you can only play games that are installed to the hard drive if you have the original HD and xbox where it was installed. You still have to have the disk so I really don't understand this.

Risen, Diablo 2

Risen (Pc) (30min)

Played the demo for Risen then when and pre-purchased from Steam. It's an action RPG from the makers of Gothic. I liked Gothic but the controls were not customizable and were not mapped very well and Risen let's you customize. The graphics are nice and it runs on a mid-level system.

Diablo 2 (PC) (3Hr)

Played with Mark and had a great time and we finished the first level.

360 RR

Still not able to print out my label but I will pick up an Arcade unit this weekend.

TRUS Sale

Well the Toys R' Us sale Buy 2 Get one Free is:
10/11 - 10/17

Just before Borderlands comes out but I will use it for Uncharted 2 and
Brutal Legend and something else.

360 RR, Bourne Identity, Tomb Raider Underworld, Shatter

360 RR (360) (0mn)

Went to play Rock band and turned on my 360 and I had one red light shining at me and then the screen displayed E74. So I go and register online and go to print my shipping label and the shipping label is just a box with a red x in it so no label. Ahrrggggg.... So I am out of the 360 gaming biz for a couple of weeks, maybe, I may just go and get an arcade version. I do want to buy the new bundle with the 250G HD so just bad timing on the error.

Bourne Identity (PS3) (1hr)

I had bought this awhile back and never really played it so I thru it in and had a good time until I hit a guy and then the sound cut out and it wouldn't come back and I didn't feel like reloading it so I switched games.

Tomb Raider Underworld (PS3) (1.5 Hr)

Sometimes I just like to climb and shoot stuff so I rented this and played the first level till I got stuck and got frustrated, seems to happen to me a lot lately. The game is pretty good it does have it's quirks but overall it's a fun game.

Shatter (PSN) (45mn)

I have about 2 levels to go before I finish this game. The soundtrack for the game is very good. I recommend this game to anyone who likes breakout.

RB 2, Halo ODST

RB 2 (360) (1hr)

I picked up the Breaking Benjamin songs, I've been waiting for So Cold to come out and glad I did as it's fun to play. I also picked up some other songs and my song count is way to large now, and I can't believe how much I've spent and will keep on spending. They did release a patch and it solved some of my gripes but not all. I do like that you can download songs in the RB store in the background instead of having to download each song individually so I did that last night. I wish there was a way to skip songs when you do the quick play because some songs are just too hard and you have to quit all the way out and pick a new set list.

Halo ODST (360) (1hr)

I wish I had started this on the Normal campaign because I just want to see the story and have a good time and playing on heroic is quite challenging and I started to get frustrated. The game is good overall but for me it's just a rental.

Stranglehold, Majesty Demo

Stranglehold (PS3) (1HR)

I have been playing this game for awhile and have about 3 missions to go. This is a great action game but does get tough in the later stages. It has some great set pieces and the slo-mo and other powers are done well. If you haven't tried it yet go and get it, it should be cheap now.

Majesty Demo (PC) (10min)

Tried the demo for Majesty 1, Majesty 2 just came out but I read that Majesty one was great so I tried it out. Majesty is an old game and the demo was pretty bad. I couldn't change the video resolution and it was at 800x600 so I had a hard time managing my city when I could only see one building at a time. There was no instructions but I could figure it out but I kept on getting attacked and losing my peasants and heroes.

Diablo 2, Rachet and Clank, Beatles RB, Tennis, Graw 2, Creed Live

Diablo 2 (PC) (3.5 Hr)

Had a good time on Sunday playing with Mary Catherine and Mark Boyd, we have one quest left on the first level. This game is still a lot of fun but it does need to be updated and I hope Diablo 3 will come out soon, it's projected to release in 2011 which is way too far off.

Ratchet and Clank (PS3) (1.5 Hr)

I finally finished this game last night and am ready for the new one to come out.
I've read that the new one will have more things to do because the first one just felt like the old games with a new graphical overlay and I have to agree. I want to see some more puzzle elements added but not with the PS3 motion controls. There is a part in the game where you have a puzzle that I thought required the motion controls and I kept failing and almost quit playing until the game asked if I wanted to use the analog stick instead of mc. That is a nice feature that a game will notice that you are having trouble and suggest something to try as did Batman.

Beatles RB (360) (1.5 Hr)

Played with Kathleen on drums and me on Bass and microphone and we played a lot of songs and had a blast. I got to try out the harmonies a little bit when you sing you can turn the harmonies on or off. It was hard trying to sing the harmonies when you don't know the words that well and your playing bass but we pulled it off until I hit my toe on my mic stand and then I was out.

Tennis (Live) (1.5 Hr)

I went and played some real tennis on Saturday night and had a good time, I need to do more of that.

Creed (PC) (2 Hr)

Watched the Creed concert live on Rockpit.com and it set the Guiness WR for the most HD cameras used to film an outdoor event with 270 HD camera's. The quality was great and it was pretty close to HD. I had router problems but the sound and video quality left me impressed.

Graw 2 (360) (30min)

Thought I'd give this a try and once again just not my game. I had one instance where I ordered my team to assault and one guy went behind a car and the enemy was on the same side of the car and he didn't even try to shoot him they just crouched and looked the opposite directions so I turned the game off.

New Demos

Forza 3 and Brutal Legend demos are out there.

I am looking forward to both of these titles so hopefully they are good.

Penguin Wii Gun, Halo ODST, Madden 10, Beatles RB, Metroid

Penguin Wii Gun (Wii) ($40)

This is a new Wii gun controller that is actually a controller and not just a shell to put your Wii controller in, I lost control of this sentence, sorry. It supports more rumble and a louder speaker than the Wiimote. I tried a couple of games with it and here are the results.

HOTD Overkill worked okay it has calibration setup but it was always a little off the the left but this was the case with just the normal Wiimote, but I was able to finish a campaign without the cursor on the screen and had fun playing. The guns speaker did have a problem or maybe it's just supposed to be this way but it made screeching noises the whole time I played it.

Ghost Squad worked about the same and it's calibration was a lot better and was almost spot on with the sights so I was pleased but at one point the Wii and the gun lost connection and I couldn't do anything until I turned the gun off then back on.

Resident Evil uses the nunchuck and it was hard playing with my other gun controllers because it uses buttons on the wiimote. The gun has all these buttons in easy access except for the + and - which are on the side and you must use your other hand to reach those. I did have problems switching my guns in the game, you use the C button on the nunchuck which is plugged into the bottom of the gun and it was like the button was getting stuck and I kept scrolling through my guns so there may be a problem with the gun and a nunchuck.

The Gun feels great but it has some minor hiccups that do bug me so I may have to return it.

Halo ODST (360) (1Hr)

I am playing on the heroic difficulty and I got frustrated yesterday because I was dying so much but I stuck with it and am enjoying the game now. I would like to play the firefight mode but there is no matchmaking for that so you have to play with friends which is nice but no one was playing that mode so I couldn't try it out.

Madden 10 (360) 45mi)

Played my franchise game against Brent last night and our connection dropped which is a first for me but there was noticable lag during the game so he finished the game against the CPU and I'm not sure of the outcome.

Beatles RB(360) (45 min)

I finished the Story mode and it's a great game with a cool video at the end. I am going to play through the story on Bass next.

Metroid (Wii) (1hr)

The save system in this game stinks and now I'm going to have to play through the same part 3 times because it's too tough and too long without a save. I almost quit playing because of this but I'll stick with it.

Halo ODST, Ghost Recon, Rainbow 6 Ravenshield, Metroid Prime

Halo ODST (360) (30min)

There is a lot of buzz about this game and I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it or not.
If you buy it at Toy's R Us you get a $20 GC and an action figure which isn't too bad, but I was lucky enough to rent a copy. So far it does feel like Halo but you can tell right away that you aren't Master Chief as grunts will make you use the environment as shields because if they gang up on you, you will be reloading from a checkpoint.

Rainbow 6 Ravenshield (PC) (30min)

Playing terrorist hunt with Rusty this weekend reminded me that I never finished Ravenshield on the PC, so I loaded it up and went through the first mission and the games feel totally different. It is going to take some getting used and even then I may just not play it.

Ghost Recon (360) (30min)

After the realization above I thought I'd try GR since I didn't beat that either but it is nothing like Rainbow Six since you don't even see your gun but just a recticle. It just wasn't the type of game that I wanted to play so I put it up as well.

Metroid Prime (Wii) (1Hr)

I got the Wave blaster after struggling to remember where I needed to go, I'm almost to the point of where I stopped playing the last time so we'll see how much further I play. The artwork and layout of the levels is still great and I hope we will see another Metroid game like this soon.

Upcoming Games

Here is a list of games that I am interested in for the rest of the year.

Dead Space Extraction -- 28-Sep Wii
My Sims Agent -- 29-Sep Wii
Uncharted 2 -- 13-Oct PS3
Brutal Legend -- 13-Oct All
Borderlands -- 20-Oct All
Forza 3 -- 27-Oct 360
Alpha Protocol -- 27-Oct All
Ratchet and Clank -- 27-Oct PS3
Dragon Age -- 3-Nov All
RB Lego -- 3-Nov All
COD 2 -- 10-Nov All
Red Steel 2 -- 10-Nov Wii
Assassins Creed 2 -- 17-Nov All
Resident Evil DC -- 17-Nov Wii

Murumasa Demon Blade, Top Spin 3, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Harbor Master, GD Swarm

Murumasa Demon Blade (Wii) (3HR)

If you have a Wii then you should pick this game up. It is a 2-D action platformer with some stunning artwork, if you've played or seen Odin Sphere then you will know what to expect. It has some minor RPG elements where you can cook and forge more than a 100 swords, but the main game is all fighting enemies and it works well. You can button mash some but later in the game you will need to have learned some of the other techniques as different enemies require different strategies.

Top Spin 3 (360) (45 min)

I watched a lot of the U.S. Open which got me in the mood for a tennis game so I picked this up for $20. It is pretty tough and has a hard learning curve but I think that it will be worth it as I am getting tired of Virtua Tennis arcade style. I have just spent time learning the mechanics so hopefully will start my virtual career soon.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360) (3Hr)

Played Terrorist Hunt with Rusty yesterday and that game is awesome and I'm not sure why we didn't play that more. The enemies in that game have some great A.I. and will do all sorts of things to stop you. So if you have the game and see us out there let's play.

HarborMaster (IPhone) (20min)

If you like making frantic movements with your fingers then get this game. You basically guide ships into port then take them out to sea without colliding with other boats doing the same.

GD Swarm (IPhone) (10min)

This is a tower defense game that is very tough and I couldn't get past the second mission so not sure about this one.

Powerline Adapter

If you need ethernet and don't want to run cables then get this product. It works perfectly although you can't get fast speeds if you plug this into a power supply, for the product to work optimally you must plug directly into a wall socket. I was able to stream HD video from Netflix on my 360 when I plugged in directly, when I tried the power supply I started in HD but the connection couldn't keep up and it kept downgrading my signal, but this should be expected so I have no problems with it.

Lode Runner, Batman AA, Dirt 2

Lode Runner (XBLA) (1Hr)

Played the journey and puzzles last night with Rusty and had a blast. The journey has some really intense maps and you have to make some quick decisions which we were not doing so we died a lot. The puzzle levels are tough and require some thinking and great teamwork.

Batman AA (360) (1HR)

Got the game from BB last night so I could beat the game on hard and get the achievements, plus I wanted to see the differences between the two but haven't
seen any yet.

Dirt 2 (360) (30min)

Played a couple of races but was too tired from the night before.

I bought Muramasa for the Wii today so hopefully I get some time tonight to play.

Crackdown, Lode Runner, Sacred 2, Madden 10

Crackdown (360) (1Hr)

If you've never tried this game I suggest you go out and buy it now it is really cheap but a good open world game. If you like collecting things then this is your game, if you like shooting guys then this is your game, if you like jumping high and running fast then this is your game, if you like transformers then this is your game(once your level is high enough when you enter a vehicle it will transform into a better vehicle with weapons. They have announced Crackdown 2 so I am going to try and finish this game and I am about 3/4 through so hopefully get this completed this month.

Lode Runner (XBLA) (3HR)

George and I played this till 2:30 last night and it was a blast. This game is 33% off this week, $10, and it is a great co-op game. We had a lot of laughs and one stage took us about 20 minutes or more to complete and it's only getting tougher.

Sacred 2 (360) (2HR)

Played with Mitch, MC(Mary Catherine), and George and had some good times although we couldn't beat the Kobold Chieftan, we spent about 5 minutes hitting him and did no damage.

Madden 10 (360) (45min)

Played against George and lost but we had a good match and I couldn't execute in my :50 drill. I also setup our franchise tonight so hopefully we will get some games in this week and advance the season.

Diablo 2

I didn't play much last night because of football watching but did register my
Diablo 2 and LOD keys on Battle.net and downloaded the game to play without using the CD and it works fine. Now I need to finish Diablo 2.

I did buy a dremel and used it to build a box for the GH4 Drum guts. This way I don't need the GH4 drums to hookup to my real set I just need this box and I can control it.

New Releases this Week

Need for Speed: Shift - I may pick this up as reviews are positive so far and the commercial look awesome.

Scribblenauts

Scribblenauts, Dawn of War 2, Batman, Killzone 2, Uncharted, Shadow Complex, Dirt 2, Beatles, RB 2

Well I was off on vacation for a few days last week and I got a lot of gaming in and actually finished some games.

Scribblenauts (NDS) (30min)

This is a new release this week and it's a great puzzle game. The hook to this game is that you solve problems by typing words then they come to life on the screen. Say you need to get an apple out of a tree, you can type ladder and then it will appear and you place the ladder on the tree then climb up or you can type chainsaw and then saw the tree down, there are endless solutions. I think the total word count is around 22,000 so pick this up for a different game play experience.

Dawn of War 2 (Steam) (1hr)

This is an RTS that does away with base building and limits the units you can use and it's awesome. It also plays a little like Diablo in that you get loot and upgrade your team members.

Batman AA (360) (3hr)

Finished this story of the game but I still need to get about 50 more riddles and finish the challenges. This was one of the best games that I've played in a long time, and I don't think I even saw one bug or problem. I really enjoyed the voice work and the story and thought it was well written and I hope games start telling better stories.

Killzone 2 (PS3) (1hr)

Been meaning to finish this one and got it done this weekend. The final boss took me 19 min and 21 seconds and I got a trophy for beating the boss under 20 minutes, he was really tough. I may go back and replay the game since they did tweak the controls and I finally got a handle on them. It wasn't a bad game but just not great.

Shadow Complex (360) (2Hr)

Finished the story of this game in about 8 hours, I still have some items that I need to finish in order to get a %100. I will go back and play it again and try
to get my guy to level 50 he's 25 right now.

Dirt 2 (360) (3Hr)

The graphics of this game are awesome and it plays really well with the 360 driving wheel. I do suggest that you install any Racing game to the 360 Hard drive as it really increases the loading times of races. The online play of this game is flawless even when you crash into a group of players there is no lag.

Beatles (360) (2Hr)

About 30 out of 45 songs in and some are pretty tough. I do like the game and do recommend it.

RB 2 (360) (5hr)

This game still rocks. I tried GH5 but the mix of the music is very different and just feels off. The songs in RB just sound and are mixed a lot better and that's because Harmonix are musicians.

WIPLN:Legendary, RB 2, Call of Duty 3

Legendary (360) (1hr)

Since I have the Block Buster Game Pass I will try bad games just to see how bad they are, so far this game isn't so bad. It starts off with a lot of action going on around you and you are escaping from a museum and bad things are happening. It is a first person shooter with magical creatures as enemies.

RB2 (360) (1Hr)

Bought Gasoline(Audioslave) and Kryptonite(3DD), both songs are fun to play. After getting my surround sound working on the 360 I was able to crank up the music and drum away. I walked outside to see how much noise the neighbors might be hearing and I could hear the bass a little but not too much.

Call of Duty 3 (360) (45min)

Finished one more mission with 5 more to go.


Beatles Rock Band and Dirt 2 were purchased today and I have Thursday and Friday off so it's Game time.

WIPTW: Dish, Condemned 2, Orbital, COD 3, Batman, GH5, Wolfenstein, Shadow Complex,

Wow I had a pretty busy Labor Day weekend with not much game playing until Monday.
I just had Dish network installed to watch football and man did I spend too much money. Don't you just love technicians who are real friendly to you and you know they are going to charge you extra. He did work about 6 hours but I did cut a lot of his time out by doing work arounds but still ended up paying him an extra $60.

I got my HDMI switch in and it works perfectly and this is without having to run power to it. I thought that I had a problem though as I was playing Condemned 2 and didn't hear anything out of my back speakers and my receiver just said Direct and I usually see DD. I thought my switch wasn't working so I plugged it straight into the receiver and same thing. Somehow my Xbox audio settings were digital stereo arghhhhh....

Condemned 2 (360) (2hr)

I bought this game a long time ago and played some but I restarted it last night so I could be creeped out, of course without my back speakers not working it lesson the effect but once I got that figured out creepiness insued. The combat of this game was giving me problems at first because I think the reach of the enemies is a little too much but once I calibrated I started doing better. If you want a cool and creepy game then pick this up. I did finish the first game and I hope to finish the second.

Orbital (IPhone) (10min)

Neat little game that the graphics remind me of Geometry Wars and gameplay like Drop 7.

Call of Duty 3 (360) (4hr)

I never really played this game and I wanted to just shoot some things so I put this disc in and am really enjoying it. The sound is very well done and satisfying.

Batman (PS3) (3Hr)

Getting closer I am about to fight Poison Ivy. This game does have some suprising moments and I'm loving it. It's going to take some time to find all of the Riddles but I am going too. The Scarecrow missions are awesome.

Shadow Complex (XBLA) (1HR)

Got past where I was stuck and it was a user error.

Wolfenstein (360) (1Hr)

This started off really good but once I got the special powers where you "switch" planes it turned me off because I just wanted to shoot stuff and not have to think so I will play this later but for now I'm going to return it.

GH5 (360) (1HR)

I just don't like a lot of the setlist so I am not having much fun.

Grid 2 and Beatles come out this week so there goes some more money.

RE 5, Batman AA

RE 5 (360) (3Hr)
Getting about half way through on this one and this is still a great game but must be played with a friend.

Batman AA (PS3) (2HR)
Half way through this one and it is getting more difficult in the combat arena. I will probably try this game on Hard once I've finished but they don't prompt the counter attacks so it gets pretty tough.

HDMI Switcher

I have this on order as I want to hook up my PC to my projector and am out of HDMI ports I found one for around $20 that is supposed to be pretty good and has auto switching.

Ethernet through Electric

I have been researching this and might make the plunge to try this out so I don't have to run wires anywhere. Anyone have any experience with them?

Guitar Hero 5, Resident Evil 5

GH5 (360) (1hr)

Another GH game, I've bought all the rest so might as well get this. I do like the new look and ease of getting into the game now. The game was playing a song in the menu screen so I turned on my drums and I started playing the song right then without having to go into any menus and it was great. The game play is the same but they have added some more detail to the graphics so the rockers don't look as robotic. All songs are open from the start which is another nice addition.

RE 5 (360) (3HR)

Played with Rusty last night and we had a great time. It did take us awhile to beat one boss as we were running in circles for about 15 minutes but we eventually burned him. I really like this game and I'm glad that I am playing it again. Steven has to get this game eventually so we can play co-op.

Wolfenstein, Batman AA, Rise of the Argonauts, Shadow Complex

Wolfenstein (360) (1hr)

After returning the awful Rise of the Argonauts they finally had Wolfenstein at BB.
I redid my subwoofer setup after noticing that the oomph was gone out of my sound so that took about 30 minutes, but wow the difference that made. The gun sounds in this game are really powerful, the single shot rifle especially. This game feels like an old school shooter and I like that. There are some neat special effects and shooting enemies while you and they are floating through the air is really fun.

Rise of the Argonauts (360) (15 min)

Bad and buggy game. I got caught on a doorway everytime I passed one, the hit detection is off just enough to cause frustration. The premise sounded good but I don't want games to frustrate me.

Batman AA (360) (2Hr)

This game continues to shine and has definitely kept my interest, as they change the fighting slightly and add new abilities. I really like trying to crack the electrical boxes. Get this game.

Shadow Complex (360) (10min)

I am stuck and not sure where to go. Arghhhhh.

WIPTW: Batman AA, Metroid Prime, Madden 10, HOTD, Mario Galaxy, Endless Ocean

Batman (360) (4Hr)

I'm about 30% through and have unlocked quite a few upgrades. I really like the writing and the story of the game it is very well written and at time quite disturbing. Some of the interview tapes that you find let hear from the inmates themselves and they are well told and at time do make me cringe.

Metroid Prime (Wii) (2Hr)

Madden 10 (360) (1hr)

Played with some more slider settings and I've finally found some that I can run on. I had a great match against the Eagles and I was down 4 with :58 to go and I came back and won with a touchdown pass. I had over 100 yards rushing and the holes where there and the eagles rushed for about the same. I'll post these sliders later, but they are Bill Harris from Dubious Quality, his V3 sliders.

House of the Dead Overkill (Wii) (1hr)

Playing through the directors cut that adds more enemies and more paths but only 3 lives, and I'm at the fourth level out of 6 so I am getting close.

Endless Ocean (Wii) (30min)

Great game for relaxing.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) (1hr)

I never finished this game but I only had 16 stars to go and I got 2 of them yesterday so I am inching closer.

I got a new Plasma TV for the Wii and that's why I played many Wii games, it does improve the graphics quite a bit.

WIPLN:Sacred 2, Madden 10, Space Invadersm BF1943

Sacred 2 (360) (45min)
We played a little of this, Donald's played a lot, since Steven has a bad internet connection.

Madden 10 (360) (1hr)
Played an online game against Steven and lost. I wish you could change more options in the online environment like sliders and speed but it's still fun. I hope to get the league setup this weekend and ready to start next week.

BF1943 (360) (20min)
Played a couple of matches with everyone.


Space Invaders (Iphone) (30min)

Haven't finished the campaign yet but still evolving so I am getting better weapons and extras.

WIPLN:Batman AA, Metroid Prime

Batman AA (PS3) (3HR)

I had some really WOW moments last night during some boss fights. This game has it all and I'm finally getting a lot better at the combat. Successful combat is in the rhythm of your punches so smashing on the attack button is not the thing to do, you need to time your punch till just after you hit one guy then hit attack to go to the next and then you will have true free-form combat and the different animations are awesome. I played through a challenge level last night where you fight 4 rounds of baddies trying to hit max combos and increase your score. There are other bonuses, not getting hit, kill all enemies in one combo, and clear the ring, which if you can hit the last guy over the rails you will get that bonus. The challenge maps are a great way to improve on your skills so do play them before you beat the game.

Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii) (1hr)

Trying to play both of these at the same time is getting a little tough but I will try and play for an hour before I goto bed and the game is still great after all these years. I have it hooked up to a 20' TV which is small but the graphics really shine.

WIPLN:Batman Arkham Asylum, Metroid Prime Trilogy

Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3) (1hr)

I bought this through Amazon for $47 and got it on the same day as release so that worked out pretty well. I didn't get to put too much time into it because of Wallyball but enjoyed my little time that I did get to spend with it. I got the PS3 version because of the Joker as an exclusive character to use in the challenge mode. There was an install of 1.3G but it did mention that I could install 3G more to make the experience faster but I didn't see where to enable or try that.

In the opening video as it was panning down on the city I noticed a couple of hitches in the frame rate which made me think uh-oh I got the wrong version but after those 2 small hiccups I didn't see it again in the first hour. The graphics are pretty amazing, there is a zoom function and I zoomed in on Jokers face as we were taking him to his cell and the lighting and textures were awesome. The voice work is also excellent I really like Mark Hamill as the Joker and his dialog was perfect.

The combat seems simple at first as there is only one button to punch and one to counter but the moves are devastating. On the final blow the action slows down and then you see Batman pummel the enemy which is very satisfying. You point the stick at which enemy you want to hit so you are flying around to different enemies and the animations are varied and fluid. I am very satisfied with the combat.

The detective skills are okay and it has a nice filter when you use it to see where the enemies are and if they have weapons. The sneak aspect and silent take downs are done well.

I definitely recommend getting this game.

Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii) (30min)

I've been wanting this game since it was announced, all 3 Metroid games using the new control style. I have all 3 games but only beat the 3rd one so I want to go back and play the others in order.

WIPLN:Space Invaders Infinity Gene, The Witcher, Shadow Complex, Demon Souls, Madden 10

My parents came to see the house this weekend and we had a good time but I did get to play alot of games this weekend.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene (Iphone) (30 min)

I have been wanting to buy this but I was waiting for a price drop but it never came so I went ahead and purchased it at $5. This is one of the best Iphone games that I have played as it fast and fun and can be played with one finger. I didn't really like space invaders but it takes the initial concept and mixes it with other shooters to create a new great game. I saw things that reminded me of Qix. It will also generate new levels based on your own music collection which is another nice addition.

The Witcher (PC) (4HR)

Hooked up my PC to the projector and playing it there now, this game is really beautiful especially at dusk the lighting is really done well. I am almost as far as the last time I played and I really need to push through and finish this game.

Shadow Complex (360) (1hr)

Getting farther but I'm having a little trouble aiming accurately but since you takes many shots to kill you it's not a big deal.

Demon Souls (PS3) (3HR)

Still getting farther and farther and finally beat a huge boss. Your weapon selection really matters in this game as some weapons do no damage at all plus you can put different effects on your weapons like fire, ice, magic to do more damage.

Madden 10 (360) (3hr)

Played a couple of more games against George and had a good time although he wasn't. He throws too many picks because he's trying to throw into double coverage and thats a no-no. I hope to get our Madden League started this week as well.

Batman Asylum is out this week along with Metroid Prime Trilogy which I am picking them both up so I should have some impressions tomorrow.

WIPLN:Shadow Complex, Splosion Man, Madden 10

Shadow Complex (XBLA) (1Hr)

I've been waiting for this game and it was the last one to come out of XBLA games of summer so was it worth it?

So far I am having a lot of fun with it. It plays like Super Metroid in that you are navigating a map with interconnecting rooms and doors that require different weapons to open. The graphics are nice to look at the and the animations look fine. You aim with the right stick which is a little touchy till you get used to it. I do like the fact that it keeps track of how close you are to getting achievements and it also compares you to your friends. I was really tired last night so I didn't get to play all that I wanted so hopefully I'll find some time this weekend.

Splosion Man (XBLA) (30min)

While waiting for Shadow Complex to load I played about 5 more levels of Splosion man. The levels do get tough but you feel accomplishment when you pull off some cool moves. I think I'm on level 1-15 and there are 50 of them so away to go.

Madden 10 (XBLA) (30min)

I also tried playing this while waiting for SC to download but since it connects to EA live you can't have anything download in the background and there is no way to turn that off, boo. I am still trying some sliders but I just need to play the game and have fun so hopefully I'll do that.

WIPLN:Madden 10, Trails HD

Madden 10 (360) (1hr)

I wanted to try a couple of slider settings for Madden, I tried Bill Harris's, from
Dubious Quality, and his was set to play on the very fast setting which I really didn't like. You also had to play on the wide camera which isn't that bad but it does take time to get used to. I did have a pretty realistic game but it wasn't much fun so I turned down the game to fast but that was still too fast for me, I tried the settings on normal and they didn't feel right. He is going to revamp them soon so hopefully I can find some to play on the slow or normal setting.

Trails HD (PC) (5 min)

This is on XBLA now and I had bought it on Steam about 3 months ago and so I thought I would try this again. It is okay but a lot of trial and error and I don't think it controls well using a keyboard so I need to try and hookup my 360 controller to my PC and give it a go again.


Shadow Complex is out today go buy it.

WIPLN:Madden 10, FNR4

Madden 10 (360) (2hr)

George and I played against each other last night online and had a fun time. This was his first time playing Madden 10 so I easily beat him. There was some lag but not too much and you get to see some cool camera angles of the stadiums while in multiplayer they you don't get to see in single player while your waiting for them to pick their play.

We then tried the new co-op mode where we played on the same team against the computer and it was okay but was very tough. The host is the only one that calls the play so the second person may get bored. Your camera is behind the player you choose like in superstar mode, I sure wish this was in the single player as it really looks and plays nice. Offense was pretty tough though. We completed some passes but the routes are hard to run.

FNR4 (360) (2hr)

George got his revenge on me here where he won 2 out of 3 matches. I didn't notice any slowdown while we played and we were moving and throwing quite a bit. I still don't like the knockdown/getup mini-game it just doesn't feel right. You are able to take created boxers against each other which is a nice touch and we had a good time even though he would knock me out in the 8th round.

Shadow Complex (360)

Shadow Complex comes out tomorrow on XBLA and it looks to be really awesome. I haven't read many reviews or watched too many videos because I don't want to spoil anything. It is like a mix between Castlevania and Metroid in a current day setting with an average guy as the hero.

WIPTW:The Witcher, Madden 10, Demon Souls, I Love You Man

The Witcher (PC) (3hr)

They just released the directors cut of this game about 2 weeks ago that adds some new content. I played this game before for about 5 hours but stopped and I'm not sure why. This is a great action/adventure game. It uses a heavily modified Neverwinter Nights engine and it looks great. I really like the music and the voice work. The lead character has a deep resonating voice which fits the character well.

It plays a little like Diablo where you point and click to attack enemies but there are different swords you must use on different enemies and there is a timing to the attacks. Instead of just clicking away the attacks are time based and if you mistime then you lose your combo. It really gives the combat a sense of strategy and I do really like it.

The biggest hook of this game is that the choices you make will come back later in the game. There is no black or white there is a lot of gray areas that you must choose and suffer the consequences.

Madden 10 (360) (10hr)

I haven't really liked Madden in the past as I was a NFL2K5 man but they have added enough features to remind me of NFL2k and I have played Madden more now than ever in the past. I remember playing Madden on the PC with one of my friends Brent, about 20 years ago. The guys were about 10 pixels apiece but we had a blast. Now with Madden 10 they have really upped the presentation which was really missing and should have been added long ago.

I am really liking the gameplay. I am using Myskill and as I am improving the games are getting better. I like the passing and I need to get better at running as I rarely break tackles. I am playing with the Cowboys and Barber is getting hammered but Jones has broken 2 long runs for touchdowns and I had my first TD Kickoff return which felt nice. I still see bad blocking by the full backs and some linemen which does bother me, one time my OL just turned and backed into the DL which did nothing and I got creamed. I have also noticed that defenders will sometimes turn around subsecond, I was running and the defender had is back to me but he turned around almost automatically and tackled me after watching the replay I was furious. Also they do cutoff the replays to I think 30 seconds so you may not get the full play which does stink. I do like the presentation except for the announcers I am hearing a lot of repeats so I may just turn them off, the crowd and stadium noise is well done though.

I may sound like I'm griping a lot but I really have enjoyed my time with it and now they just have some small things to fix for next year.

Demon Souls (PS3) (8hrs)

Man this game is killing me. You really have to experiment with weapon types to do well, so if you hit a guy and it does little damage change your equipment. This may sound easy but there is no pause and you can only equip 2 weapons/shields per hand so you have to be on your toes. I have progressed slowly but I am really enjoying this game it has a lot to offer and a lot of strategy to go along with the action.

I Love You Man (PS3) (2hr)

Rented this and watched Saturday night and it was a funny movie. I like the main actors and it had an entertaining story.

WIPLN:Wolfenstien 3d Rpg, Rockstar Ping Pong, Grid, Demon Souls, Rock Band

Wolfenstien 3D Rpg (Iphone) (30min)

This just came out for the IPhone yesterday for $4.99. You move around like a
first-person shooter but the combat is turn-based. The graphics have a nice cell shaded look that is impressive on the IPhone. You will hear some classic sounds during the game that should bring back some memories. For some reason chickens are big in this game and I'm not sure why but if you shoot them they will turn into roasted chickens that will give you a health boost.

Combat is turn-based and you have multiple weapons you can use. I really like punching enemies as it does a close up of their face and it made me think of Punch-out.

RockStar Ping Pong (360) (45min)

After playing some Wii Sport Resort Ping Pong I thought that I'd give the Rockstar game a go again after about 4 years of not playing it. Hopefully they will release a new version for the Wii that uses the motion plus because the analog sticks don't really feel right.

GRID (360) (30min)

I have Grid for the PS3 but I wanted to try it for the 360 since I could install it to my hard drive and it makes a big difference. It would take about 15 seconds to load a race and now it is only about 5 seconds which is a big difference when you are looking at a screen. I still am horrible at the game but it is a great racing game, the AI is really good as enemies will spin out in front of you and in one case I had earlier hit another racer and later they bumped me into a billboard so it really feels like you are racing real people.

Demon Souls (PS3) (3HR)

Most of my gaming time is going to this game and I am still dying like crazy. The soldier class is a lot easier than the wanderer and I was able to make it farther but the next big enemy I faced was HUGE and I'm not sure how to take him down so I need to experiment but it's not easy to get back to him when you die. I am starting to see that I am getting better and learning how to fight. I am used to rushing in and not caring too much about getting hit because other games help you out so in this you never want to rush. Every enemy can kill you and you need to react accordingly to their actions.

RockBand (360) (45min)

Finally got my drums setup to where I like them and I played a couple of songs. Still RockBand, still great.

WIPLN:Demon's Souls, Wii Resort, Netflix

Well I should be posting everyday for awhile now as I am mostly finished with my moving in and can enjoy being a home owner. I have my projector setup in the dining room for now so I am sitting pretty close to the screen but it will work for now.

Demon's Souls (PS3) (8hrs)

I got this game in on Friday but didn't get to play until Saturday so I was really excited to play it and I really like this game. It is basically a third person adventure/combat game. You have around 10 different classes to choose from and I read somewhere that they all play the same but I chose 3 different classes and they all feel different. I started out with a wanderer who is fast, agile, and could dodge roll out of enemy attacks. I then tried the soldier who is great at blocking but when you try to dodge roll he kind of flubs on his roll as he sits on his back a bit longer so the roll takes longer and isn't as smooth so I don't use that move too much but he blocks everything and will push the attacker away so there are differences on each class.

This game is tough and if you rush in even the weakest enemy will kill you so you must be on your toes and ready for enemy ambushes and traps which makes the game intense and more realistic.

Wii Resort (Wii) (2hr)

I have Tiger Woods and really like it but I only had one Wii motion plus and I wanted another so I got the game and really enjoyed what I played. My favorite so far is the table tennis, it is well represented in this game and I can put spins and counter spins on the ball and it react accordingly I hope Rockstar will put out a new table tennis game for the WMP. The sword fighting and archery round out my top 3 and they both feel and play great.

Netflix (360) (4hr)

The new update on 360 is supposed to make the Netflix streaming better and it has for me. I signed up again on Saturday and watch a movie and it did downsize the movie twice because of my internet connection. On Tuesday I tried again and it didn't happen at all so that was nice. I signed up for the 8.99 plan and I have unlimited streaming and they have a lot of older movies and shows that I want to watch so it is pretty cheap and I don't have to leave my Sumo Sac.

WIPLN:Killzone 2, House of the Dead

Well I re-setup my speakers so I had to rerun the auto setup function on my receiver. My Onkyo receiver is really nice and all of them now have the auto setup features. You just place a small microphone, it's included, where you will be sitting and it will calibrate each speaker for maximum performance. You can make changes to the setup if something is off but it measures the speakers distance and it is spot on. When it was calibrating my subwoofer is sounded like someone was downstairs banging on my door.

Killzone 2 (PS3)(30 Min)

Tried this again with the new setup and the sound is done really well. I finally got to a part where you pilot a mech and I really enjoyed it then I was back on foot and meh turned if off. I will eventually finish this game but I wish the controls felt better.

House of the Dead Overkill (WII)(30 min)

I setup my Wii on the TV in the Living Room and wanted to try it out to see how well it would play with my gun and it was pretty much calibrated and felt nice. I have beat the game so now I am on the Director's Cut and the missions are longer and much harder since you start all over and have to re buy weapons and upgrades. This game is fun but I wish you could turn off the vulgar language as I just don't want to hear it. I did notice more slowdown in the DC than in normal play but it doesn't distract too much from the experience.

I bought Wii resort today so I'll have impressions up tomorrow. I've heard a lot of good things about this game and I needed another MP anyway so hopefully I'll get to play some tonight.

I also imported Demon Souls(PS3) from Asia today but it has full English voices and text. It's a rouge like dungeon crawler where if you're not careful any enemy can kill you. It does have a neat multi player component where you can write hints on walls then other adventurers can read it and if it was helpful they are able to rate it and you can gain a little health bump which is a neat concept. It's coming out in the US in October but I didn't want to wait as it could get pushed back but it looks like a game that I have been waiting for.

WIPLN:Nothing

Wow nothing again what is wrong with me. Actually I was pretty tired already and playing wallyball was good exercise so I went to bed early and didn't play anything,
hopefully that will change tonight.

I was looking to see how much it would cost for my lawn to be totally taken care of for a year, which they would come by every week and the cost $3000. I think that I'm
going to pass on that for now and just man up and mow unless this one lead works out.

WIPLN:Red Faction

I finally got my video stuff setup and although I'm in a small room right now it is pretty awesome, I am able to shake the room and not worry about the neighbors. I watched a few scenes from some Blu-ray movies just to hear how well or poor the surround sound is and it's pretty good so I am happy and hopefully just have to stay
this way for a couple of months.

Red Faction

I set the difficulty down to Casual and then went on a rampage against some windmills. There were about 12 to take down and I wasn't careful on the first one and once I hit the base with my hammer I didn't run fast enough and if fell and killed me. From then on it was hit and run time and guards were coming from everywhere. I almost died a couple of times but it was a lot of fun so I may keep the casual setting just to be able to cause chaos and not a loading screen.

WIPLN:Nothing

I haven't posted in awhile due to moving and I am still exhausted. My hands and feet are swollen and my back is aching. Anyway I started to setup my projector again and should have everything up and running tonight hopefully.

WIPLN:FNR4

FNR4 (360)(2hr)

Didn't get a chance to play too much but there was some new DLC for Fight Night Round 4 that added some sliders and some new equipment so I spent some time playing with them. I first tried some sliders from OS and the fight was pretty good but a little to tough for me so I backed down a couple of settings and had some really good fights. I am starting to hear a lot of the same commentary which stinks. I wanted to fight at Sugar Ray Leonard but you have to pay 1.20 for him which I do not like charging for a single boxer. I tried out a few different camera angles and the ref seems the best to me with close a close second.

WIPLN:Fight Night Round 4, Killzone 2

Fight Night Round 4 (360)(3hrs)

I did go out and buy the game, it's $50 at Best Buy this week and I had some coupons and money left on my GC so the game was free.

I played quite a bit of this game and it is really good but my thumb got very tired and sore and it wasn't my right thumb. You punch with your right thumb and move with your left and moving is what caused the problem. If you are a good boxer and play like the real sport you should always be moving and if the person you are fighting is aggressive then be prepared to be moving back at all times.

I created my boxer and used the EA Game face and it didn't work well as my guy didn't really look like me, I'm going to try with a new picture later. They had my last name in their database so it does call me by my last name which is a nice touch. I started my career in the amateur tournament and lost in the first round, I think that as a professional I'm 2-0. They have a similar menu system like UFC and I wish there was a better way of doing the career mode, they need to somehow make it engaging besides just text. I played a couple of mini games and they are OK although I didn't know what to do on one of them.

Then I went to play online with my created player and they even out all the stats in the World Championship mode to make it even but I'm not sure about that. The first 2 matches I played were crazy as the guys would throw an unbelievable amount of punches and still have stamina. After 6 punches you should have to rest for a little bit but they would just punch and punch and I was getting frustrated. I lost a decision and I hit %80 of my punches but he threw 1400 and I only through 900 but he only landed %40 and I thought they rewarded accuracy. The third match I played the guy boxed correctly and we had a good match and I eventually knocked him out in the 9th round. Hopefully there will be a patch to correct this.

PS3 Trigger Pads

I am not really a fan of the PS3 controller and I really don't like the trigger buttons and I found and addon for these at Best Buy for $5 that really helped. They are hard plastic and snap over the existing triggers so you can easily remove them. It made the controller feel better and I don't worry about my fingers slipping off so go buy them they are worth it.

Killzone 2 (PS3)(1hr)

Since I got the new trigger pads I gave Killzone 2 another try and after a 130mb download I got to try with the new High Precision mode. It does feel "better" but it's still not what I want. I will eventually finish the game but as far as recommending it I would say just rent it.

Postings

I am going to change the way I post to include the name of the system and time played on individual postings that way I can see how much of my life I'm wasting.

WIPLW:Little King's Story, Shatter, Wipeout HD Fury, Fight Night 4 Demo, Madden 10 Demo, Call of Juarez 2

Little King's Story(Wii)(5hrs)

This is a game from the makers of the Harvest Moon series. You are a little king that must guide his small village and become king of the world. It is a town building, rts, action-rpg game. You control your townspeople by ordering them in different professions like gardner, soldier, archer, and many more. Then you go out into the world with your dynamic group and kill enemies, search for treasure, and expand your kingdom. There is a lot of varied stuff to do in the game and it keeps you busy with different actions. It feels like an upgraded Pikmin with much more to do and I am really enjoying my time.

Shatter(PSN)(30min)

If you like block breaking games then pick this up as it's the best one that I have played. The levels are varied and it has a nice soundtrack that you can buy separately.

WipoutHD Fury(PSN)(90min)

This is an addon for Wipeout HD that adds 80 new challenges, 3 new modes, 8 tracks, and 13 different vehicles. If you like Wipeout HD then this is a must buy. If you don't have this game then get it now as the visuals are awesome and it has some great sound as well.

Fight Night Round 4 Demo(360)(30min)

Finally tried the demo of this game and I will probably purchase it this Tuesday.
This game has the best commentary of any sports game I have played. The conversations flowed nicely and it wasn't overdone. The game play has been fine tuned and I really like the added benefit of blocking that nets you a window to
hit your opponent harder. The demo is only 3 rounds but it's pretty intense.

Madden 10 Demo(360) (1hr)

Played a couple of more games and the 1min version plays better than the 5 min one because it's a later build. I haven't seen some of the bugs that I noticed in the 5min one.

Call of Juarez 2(360) (30min)

I am through with this one. There is something about the aiming that is off and I don't feel like competing with it. The story seems nice and I like the voice acting but I'm not enjoying my time so off to BB.