House of The Juda.com

Something in RAGE seems eerily familiar...

2011-10-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

My Gears 3 Midnight Launch Experience

2011-09-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

So I went to the midnight launch at my local GameStop last night to pick up the limited edition of Gears of War 3. I was in line for 2 hours in the pouring rain, with no umbrella and just a hoodie. It was cold and wet and overall, just not a fun time, but thanks to the Global TV app, I did get to catch up on the first episode of Survivor. At about 11:30pm they finally let the first 20 or so people into the store to wait, which moved me to the door behind a group of 4 guys. I figured it would only take about 10-15 minutes to get through those 20 people, so I was looking at roughly another 40 minutes waiting out in the pouring rain.

As we were waiting there, a BMW pulls up along the curb, beside the 40 or 45 person deep line and sits there for a bit. After a few more minutes, it pulls over to the lot and parks in the handicapped spot. Not a big deal I figure since it was around 11:55pm and there's not going to be much traffic at that time. Then this short guy with gold chains gets out, walks over to the line and stands sort of beside and sort of in front of me. I look around and no one says anything. Okay.

I looked down at him and while he's avoiding eye contact I said to him "Yeaaaah, you're not getting ahead of me" and he goes "why don't you say that to these guys?" pointing to the four guys in front of me. My first thought was maybe he needed more help than just that parking space. I replied "because they've been in line for 2 fucking hours," slightly annoyed by his hubris and absurdity. Still not looking at me he said "Whatever. What are you gonna do? Push me out of line?" I looked at him and said "I'm not going to touch you, I'm just letting you know." Then he started mumbling "... tough guy..." and other wonderfully endearing terms. Two hours I had been standing there in the freezing, pouring rain, and suddenly this arrogant prick comes out of nowhere to insult me? What. The. Fuck.

After a couple minutes, he took a step behind me and waited there in front of two other guys who had been there for just about as long as I had. About ten minutes later, the employees opened the door to the store to let some people out and they let the 4 guys in front of me and myself in. We waited in the store for about another 10 minutes before the line moved at all, not that I minded, being out of the rain was nice. Once more than a few customers left, they opened the doors to let in some more folks.

When they opened the doors, I heard some yelling and of course, the guy pushed his way into the store while the employees at the door were telling him to go to the back of the line. He was all "Whatever, man" and lined up behind the two guys he was in front of outside. Whether they had eventually said something to him as well, I don't know. The employees then yelled to the two guys at the cash and said -while pointing- making sure everyone in the store looked right at him, "When this guy gets up there, don't serve him. He cut in front of everyone" and the guy had the nerve- or just the limited mental capacity to understand- and goes "No I didn't." No, of course you didn't, and the 40 people you cut in front of didn't see you do it either.

Standing in line, looking at him, I thought to myself, "No, you didn't cut in front of everyone. You didn't cut in front of me, you jerkoff." So I bought my copy and walked out of the store, saying thanks to the employees at the door- which was actually more of a "sorry you guys have to put up with shit like this" than anything else really.

When I left, the guy was still standing in line, looking at his phone as if nothing had happened. I seriously feel bad for the guys who were working at the GameStop last night. Why one self-entitled asshole like that has to ruin something that they are doing for everyone is beyond my comprehension. Are you that much an asshole that you're just going to try and piss off all these people so you can buy your precious videogame 20 minutes earlier? I wonder how many other times and places this crapweasel has pulled that stunt and gotten away with it. I'm guessing plenty since he is apparently still thinking he can.

Anyways. Gears. Hooray.

Streaming on Twitch.TV

2011-09-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

Vive La Resistance

2011-08-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today I had a chance to head downtown to check out the upcoming PS3 title, Resistance 3. The beta has been out for a week or so, but this was a chance to get some hands on time with the single player campaign.

There were about 12 or so TV's set up, each with different configurations for playing. Some had the game running in 3D with Move controllers, some in 3D with regular controllers, some normal with Move and some Normal with controllers. Having never used the gun peripheral for the Move, I gotta say it was more than a little awkward the first time. I opted out and went to find a station that had a regular controller.

Once I was settled on the grey footlocker that was laden with a spray painted "Resistance 3" logo, I was off and running, killing more Chimera than you could shake a stick at. The gameplay was fast, fluid, and furious, and having never played a Resistance game before - I know the gist of the story- I was impressed with how the game played over all. Mind you I did only play for about 20 minutes or so, but what I played, I liked.

After some talking to friends and watching a bit more of the gameplay, it was time to take off and head home, but not before grabbing this little ditty to add to my wardrobe. Christ this shirt is bright.

Killzone 3: The Helghast Edition

2011-08-15T12:58:00.001-07:00

I am a sucker for collector editions of games. I'll straight up admit it. Normally, if they offer something fantastic, I'll jump on them day one, but if it's a game I'm not particularly excited for, I'll wait for a price drop before I grab them. Killzone 3 was a game I wanted to play as it is just a phenomenal looking game, but I'm not big on FPS games on the PS3 due to the controller.

The Killzone 3 collectors edition is one I wanted to get from day one, but the price was just too much at the time. I do so love special editions that feature large items like the Halo 3 Legendary Edition and the Halo Reach Legendary Edition, which included Master Chief's helmet and a sculpture of the the Noble Team, respectively.

The Killzone 3: Helghast Edition came with a large Helghan Helmet and a smaller figure of a cloaked Helghan Sniper. Both pretty cool, along with an artbook, soundtrack, ingame items and so forth and of course, the game itself. GameStop has Daily Deals, most of which are usually nothing to write home about, but last week they had dropped the price on the Helghast Edition from $129.99, down to $29.99.

That's one hell of a deal and just too hard to pass on. So now as part of my collection, I have a pretty awesome looking Helghast Helmet sitting on my shelf and my only second PS3 game.

Less Chatter, More Splatter

2011-08-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I hit up Sgt. Splatters Paintball with a couple friends. In our group was Justin Amirkhani from Xbox.ca, Marissa Roberto from Electric Playground, her boyfriend Cisko, and Steve Tilley from Reviews on the Run.

I personally have never been to paintball before so I was under the impression you would need to bring a change of clothes in case you get shot and so forth. With my gym bag full of clothes, I took the two hour bus ride there only to find out that they give you overalls to cover your clothes. Oopsie scoopsie.

After we did the brief explanation of how the guns work and whatnot, we got our gear and headed to the field. We were put on a team with about 10 other people and went to it. I think we played about 5 rounds and then called it a day. It was seriously disgusting in the arena, with slime covering just about every surface, but all in all it was a fun time. Although I never shot anyone, at least not to my knowledge, I didn't get popped either, so I'll call it a win.

The Glowing Stars EP

2011-08-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I ordered the physical copy of my friend Lizzie Cuevas' band - The Glowing Stars- first ever EP release. Being a chiptune band that uses both vocals and Gameboys for their sound, it was only natural that they used old GameBoy cartridges is their platform for their inaugural album. Mine arrived a week or so ago, and I must say I am quite pleased with it. Nice job, guys!

House of The Juda on Twitch.TV

2011-07-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

If you feel like watching me do some work or just play games for shits and giggles every now and then, you can do so either on my Twitch.tv channel, or right here!

Watch live video from thejuda on www.justin.tv

Spring Cleaning Around the House

2011-07-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

Sure, it's more like Summer cleaning, but it's almost done nonetheless. On the left and right menus, I have updated each section with the articles I have done that were missing. The only section left to update is the previews, but that will have to wait. So, until then, hope you enjoy!

Checking Out Gears of War 3

2011-04-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday, I had a chance to join my fellow Toronto journalists in checking out the upcoming Gears of War 3 Beta at Microsoft Canada. It was a tournament of 8 teams vying for top spot and the prize of...well...I don't actually know what the prize was.

Suffice it to say, our team made it to the semi-final round and were then trounced out by the ultimate winners of the whole shebang. It was a pretty great time-that goes without saying- as Gears 3 is one of my most anticipated games of the year. I'll definitely be looking forward to the beta next week.

Dead Space 2: Severed Achievement and Trophy Guide @ Games Radar

2011-03-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

I put together a guide to help out you fine folks with the few new achievements and trophies found in the new Dead space 2 DLC. Some of the entries include video to show you the specifics of how to get them. You can find the guide here.

Hail To The Cheese

2011-03-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

Went out to Vegas to see Duke Nukem Forever. How was it? Vegas was awesome. The game? Not so much. But here are some pictures.

Mortal Kombat II Tourney at The TUC

2011-01-31T09:21:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, I took a trip downtown Toronto to take part in the Throwdown III at the Toronto Underground Cinema. The game was Mortal Kombat II ( on the PlayStation 3) and was played on the large movie screen. It was a good time with folks like Shaun Hatton from Electric Playground, Gar from A&C Games, Lori Dance from CultureGET, and even friends Francisco and Marrissa made the trip down to check it out.

Okay, here's where I make excuses. I haven't played MK II in god knows how many years, even though I have a copy of it for the Genesis. You would think that if I was going to participate in a tourney, I would at least give the game some time. Yea me too, but for some reason, I didn't. So anywhoo, we got in position, and I watched as the other competitors took down each other, one after another.

When my turn came up, I chose Raiden. Not because I wanted to, but because the time ran out on the character select screen. The first round I won using simple button mashing and so I figured, alright might as well use him again for the second. Thing is, I know Raiden's special moves, but for the life of me, I couldn't pull any of them off. I got my ass handed to me rather quickly, but ah well. All in all it was a good time and it's always fun to get beaten by those with some pretty awesome gaming skills.

Jumping the Shark Podcast #53

2011-01-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

I don't get a chance to appear on the GameShark Podcast too often, but this weeks topic was on violence in videogames and it was a discussion I didn't want to miss. I joined the usual cast of Brandon, Todd, and Bill as we talked about what level of violence is too much in games and how does violence in games affect the player.

We touched on Dead Space, GTA 4, Red Dead and of course Splatterhouse. It was an interesting discussion, not to mention, it had us laughing our asses off at times. You can listen the Jumping the Shark Podcast right here!

MMmmm Splatter Eggs

2010-12-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

I wrote up a guide over at Gamesradar for the recently released Splatterhouse which lists all of the Easter Eggs and Movie References- well all the ones I could find anyways. There are quite a few ranging from H.P. Lovecraft references to throwbacks to the older games.

Feel free to give it a gander and see what you may have missed.

Apparently I'm a Douche.

2010-11-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

According to David Vonderhaar, making videos of glitches in Call of Duty: Black Ops makes you a douche. Guess I'm a douche then.

David Vonderhaar is a Pot Calling a Kettle Black

2010-11-13T09:56:00.000-08:00

If you missed the wonderful comments from this article in which Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer design director David Vonderhaar had some choice words for the Call of Duty community.

Basically he calls people douches, nerds, and threatens bans in an Orwellian type of society.

In a word, this is Stupid.

Ban people because they exploit a glitch? How about you fix your shit instead of banning people. Players make videos to show people how to do it so that the devs get off their asses and fix it. If only a handful of people know about it, then who cares.

I wouldn't like people making videos of how my product wasn't up to par either, but I wouldn't say "oh you paid for it and found a bug? Well I'm not gonna let you play it anymore." Customers are doing your job for you, assbag. Be thankful they are making it public and there isn't just a group of dickheads out there keeping it to themselves and ruining it for everyone without telling anybody.

Games being released glitchy are becoming an epidemic and the ridiculous "oh we'll fix it after launch" mentality that companies have nowadays is bullshit. How about I pay you half of the $70 now and half when the game is working properly? Don't like that idea? Well I don't like paying full price for a game I can't play properly because you didn't QA it well enough.

How about instead of threatening your paying customers with bans, you fix the incredible problems that PC version of the game has. How about even addressing it or *gasp* even apologizing for it. I guess that takes too much effort or you feel you don't need to because you stated, you know much more about your game than we do.

Priorities. Threaten first. Fix and apologize later.

Hands on With Homefront

2010-10-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a chance to go on out to San Francisco to see THQ's upcoming shooter, Homefront. While there, we were treated to some rounds on multiplayer in a mode called Ground Control. I don't know why, but I want to keep calling it Ground War. I know Ground War is Modern Warfare 2 and yet I still keep calling it. I even had to change it after the article was online. Derp. Anywhoo. If you feel the urge, you can check out the article at GameShark.com. Enjoy!

While I was there I went to the Happy hour meet and greet THQ was putting on and finally met up with a long time friend, Lizzie Cuevas. I also had the pleasure of meeting Hamza from Destructoid, Brad Shoemaker from Giant Bomb and many others. It was a great time to say the least and a unique chance to talk to some people I have been fans of for some time.

How to PlayStation Move

2010-10-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

At the Sony Holiday Event, Justin Amirkhani shows his special technique in The Fight. Bravo, sir. Bravo.

San Francisco Trip - The Hotel Room!

2010-10-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know it's not all that exciting, but for some reason I love to show off the hotel rooms I stay in. This was my room at the W in San Francisco. Pretty nifty, except that everything had price tags on it.

Admiral Ackbear Says...

2010-08-25T11:17:00.001-07:00

Because I get bored sometimes and create shit like this, I need to post it so I'll be reminded not to do it anymore. Enjoy the Admiral.

Alan Snore

2010-08-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

After playing The Signal, the recently released add-on for Alan Wake, I am even more displeased with the game than I already was. While I was somewhat impressed with the full game's narrative, the action elements of the game were repetitive and annoying. The ending of Alan Wake left a lot of unanswered questions about what was happening and what the game was about and The Signal does absolutely nothing to answer these questions.

The entire Mr. Scratch thing was unanswered, what happened to Rose was unanswered and the add-on was nothing more than fighting more friggin shadow people and possessed objects through the entire hour and a half of gameplay.

The worst part of the full game makes up 90% of the add-on, so if you hated the combat, you'll hate this. They did decide to throw in a boss, which can be defeated in no time flat - and there's even an achievement if you do it in a minute and a half.

Some people have complained about the blatant advertising for Verizon in the add-on and while it is called "The Signal" (derp phone signal) and one of the opening lines has Zane ask Wake, "can you hear me now?" is just a full on kick in your balls.

Thankfully, I used the code that came with the game to get The Signal and didn't pay the 560 Points that some people would have had to pay. There is to be another add-on called "The Writer" that is to be released in the near future and I gotta say, I am really not looking forward to it whatsoever.

The Signal was a waste of time and I don't really feel like wasting anymore time with the game.

Thoughts on Transformers: WfC

2010-07-02T14:53:00.001-07:00

I'm not reviewing the game, but it was for the most part a pretty decent title. There were bugs and glitches - only one (geez, saying "only one" like it's ok to have just one) of which forced me to restart because I was trapped mid-jump - and it kind of had issues with the actual gameplay. Transforming into your other form was pretty much pointless if you were a car, since all it really did was allow you to get to places faster.

The jet transformations were pretty awesome, although many have complained that the jets didn't have the speed or maneuverability that they wanted. I thought the jets were just fine. I mean come on people, they were Cybertronian jets, flying through tunnels and shit, not Earth jets flying across wide open, blue skies. Some exceptions need to be made and some tolerances need to be acquiesced to.

The problem I had with the game was that its gameplay was generic enough that it could have been any game. Like I said, the transforming in the game really was not a big deal to do with anything - other than the few and far between missions where you needed to be in plane form because of the level design. In any other mission, you could have changed the Autobots to hell, I dunno, Munnis let's say, and had the same gameplay - albeit with a different story of course.

Speaking of the story, it is the saving grace of the game. For any G1 lover, the story pays fantastic fan service and, although it was always meant to be a prequel to the G1 series - it really shows a lot of how it all came to be. The game really does run right up to the beginning of the cartoon. Sure there are certain things that could have been done better like including more than 7 named Autobots. A whole planet of Transofrmers - a whole army of Autobots - and there are SEVEN that get names, and even less than that get named on the Decepticon side.

The boss battles - well the two that count - against Trypticon and Omega Supreme were visually stunning enough to give a pass even if the actual fight wasn't up there. Hmmm...it seems the boss fights pretty much sum up the entire game. Good to look at with a great story, but not much else.

Transformers: War for Cybertron Emblem Guide

2010-07-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

Not exactly sure how I forgot to mention this, but my Transformers: War for Cybertron Emblem Guide has been posted over at GamesRadar.com. The guide gives you the heads up on all 50 emblems that are hidden throughout the game - 25 Autobot and 25 Decepticon emblems. I cannot tell you exactly how long I sat there searching for one of the emblems, but it was hours. Thankfully, the way the game is structured, it gives you an idea of where the emblem was - assuming it was only one that you missed.

GamesRadar's Trailer Trash Theatre - Episode 1

2010-06-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

Lizzie Cuevas, a good friend of mine - but not good enough to come meet me at e3 - is hosting a new video series on Gamesradar where they take a look at the worst trailers released that week. It's got a MST3K vibe to it and makes for some enjoyable watching. The other hosts are Chris Antista and Bret Elston who join in on the shenanigans. Here's hoping to see more and hopefully a bit longer. Also dig the white room and white board. ;)

GameShark at E3: Day 1

2010-06-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

From flight to floor. As soon as I got there, I ran into my buddy from Toronto, Shaun Hatton from Electric Playground. I also ran into Jody Robinson, who has been a good friend for years, at her GameSpot booth. Both make appearances in the video!

GameShark at E3: Day 2

2010-06-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of E3 was much bigger than day 1, plus in the video, we have a special guest appearance!

Back From LA

2010-06-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Huzzah! I made it alive both there and back and even survived downtown LA during the riots of the NBA championships. I'll put up a post later on about the events, but for now, I need to get some work done.

Try Not to Fart = Best Game Ever.

2010-06-11T12:10:00.001-07:00

Rise From Your Grave....

2010-06-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

Welp the 360 is alive. ALIVE! Not too bad actually and pretty painless for the most part. The wife and I drove about half an hour to the spot to get the 360 fixed and after another 20 minute of searching for the address of the place we found it. I handed over my 360 and he told me to come back in 6 hours. I was not too happy with that so we negotiated it down to 2 hours.

Fast forward 2 hours later, he was just putting it back together and handed it over. Brought it home, hooked it up and lo and behold it worked like a charm. Mind you I'm still nervous turning it on. Once bitten, twice shy and all that, but I gave the Transformers: War for Cybertron demo a whirl and all went off without a hitch. Cheers to Carlos for fixing me up for just $35 and 2 hours.

And Once Again...Death Strikes

2010-06-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

It happened again. Well sort of. The 360 has died once again, but this time it's just from an E-74 error and not the full red Ring of Death. Not really sure what the difference is since they both have the same outcome. I can't play any damn games!

I blame Harry Potter. I downloaded the LEGO Harry Potter demo as I went to bed last night and when I woke up this morning, I went to download the Transformers: War For Cybertron Demo, and it failed me. Winking at me with its evil red stink eye. So yep, it's all Harry Potter's fault. Lightning scarred bastard. Even in LEGO form.

I did some looking around Denver and found a place that does repairs for red lights for $35. Other places were $45 so hey, why not. It also comes with a 30 day warranty so I know dude isn't just sitting there in the back room wrapping shit up in towels. Yea I know that trick too and it only works for a day or so at the most. So anywhooo...I'll take it in today and "Carlos" said it would be ready in a few hours. See you in Cybertron then.

And see you in Hell Harry Potter.

The Darkness in Denver

2010-06-08T12:32:00.001-07:00

BOOM.

That's what the wife woke me up for when I was napping yesterday. Seems there was an exploding something or other just a couple blocks away from us and it knocked out the power for us and a large area around us. Apparently, there were a couple of explosions at the power sub-station. This was at about 5:30pm and as the darkness rolled in, we remained powerless. At least as the sun went down, the blistering 34 degree heat went with it.

I'll take the trade off of darkness over unbearable heat any day. Thankfully, just as I turned in for the night at about midnight, I was awoken by the sound of my ceiling fan turning. Praise be, we had power again. According to the news stories, there weren't any casualties and all should be back to normal soon enough. Please Mr. power, don't leave us again for so long.

Reviews: To Finish a Game or to Not. That is the Question

2010-06-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

In the latest GameShark Podcast, the head honcho brought up a question that has been a point of debate for quite some time among game reviewers. Do reviewers need to play a game until the credits roll for an informed opinion of the game?

I wholeheartedly say yes.

To cut straight to the point, when you review a game, you are reviewing the full game. Not part of the game. Not 6 hours of an 8 hour game and not 15 hours of a 20 hour game. As a reviewer it is your job to review the full game - from beginning to end, and yes, that means until the credits roll. Note that this doesn't apply to all games of course. Sports games and most Strategy games are excluded from this, but Action and RPG titles certainly are not.

In my years I have reviewed some god awful games like Dead Man's Hand, Driv3r, 25 to Life and Clive Barker's Jericho and while I questioned the very existence of a god because these games even got published to time rape me, I sat there and played them from beginning to end - certainly not because I wanted to - but because that's the job.

For people who only play enough of the game to get an idea if it's a good game or not, I disagree with this practice. Much like I would disagree with someone at McDonald's only putting the bottom bun on my Big Mac. What's the issue? You have the bottom one, so you know what the top one will be like and therefore you don't need to experience it. Well I do want the top bun and I really want the top bun if plan on paying $60 for that Big Mac.

What if there was a game crippling bug at the end or a plot twist that made absolutely no friggin sense to the entire masterpiece you just played through? Would that escape your review because you decided long before that the game was already good and you felt you hadn't need to play anymore? And what if a game that wasn't all that great suddenly, in the last hour or so ramped up and became an all out balls-grabbing thrill ride that made you go "Holy fucking Wow! That just gave me an aneurysm!"? Hard to imagine I know, but what if?

The whole point is that as reviewers we review games. Not partial games. Do movie reviewers watch the first hour of Avatar and then go "Ok, that was good. Time to go home and make some noodles." Or do they review movies that were so bad they walked out on? I honestly don't know. That wasn't a rhetorical question. Do they? Before I digress too far, these are two different mediums of course, but the same principles still apply.

Some sites and some writers find it absolutely reasonable to review a game after they feel they have enough information to form an opinion on the game and while I do disagree with the philosophy behind that, they are free to make their own decisions and are free to do as they wish. Me personally, I'll keep going the way I always have and be sure to catch the credits at the end. I mean, even if I wasn't playing the game for review, getting to the ending is the whole point isn't it?

Improving The World For The Lazy Gamer

2010-06-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

I would like to see a 5 disc changer for the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

It could just be a small side attachment like the HD-DVD drive was - albeit hopefully a little more successful - and would allow you to place 5 discs in it, with one still in the console itself, so that deciding to change games did not involve having to get up from your comfortable position on the couch, opening a game case, having to take out the game, replace it, put the original game back in a case and then return to the couch and try to get comfortable again.

Instead, you could just choose which game you wanted to play from a menu- much like you do with XBLA games - while enjoying your perfectly formed couch ass groove and sipping on an ice cold beverage while ladies dance around applauding your genius decision to ~~waste money on~~ purchase such a device.

I await the day, but sadly I fear it will never come. It was a standard option on many CD players. Are game consoles that much different?

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Stars and Comet Medal Guides

2010-05-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here it is! After a brutalizing playthrough of Super Mario Galaxy 2, i finally have the guide to all 120 stars completed. I cannot believe I didn't smash the wii-mote while finishing this up. Some of the levels are down right aggravating not to mention rage inducing.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Stars Guide

Also, since I was doing the stars guide, why not add even more frustration and make sure I finished each level with the Comet Medal - which you need to get all 120 stars.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Comet Medal Guide

Enjoy!

When I Realized Gamers were Dicks

2010-05-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

Not my earliest gaming memory, but an early one regardless, was when I used to play Wonder Boy as a kid at a local hole in the wall pizza shop by my house. I was really good after spending so much time with the machine but could never make it to the end. There was boss after boss after boss and as far as I could tell the game would go on forever. I could sit there and play for what felt like forever on one quarter and it was great. However, my parents got a job out of the city so we had to pick up and move.

When we arrived and I took a walk around the block to see what was there, up the street from our new house was a donut shop that surprisingly had the table top version of Wonder Boy. I was ecstatic!

Since I literally had no friends and honestly knew absolutely zero people in this barren wasteland we had moved to, I would go there and play it to keep myself occupied. There were other players there, but none that were really all that interested in Wonder Boy, and when they did decide to play, they never lasted nearly as long as I did, so getting playing time was easy enough.

Since I had played it at the pizza shop for god knows how long previously, I could play for a long time without dying, much to chagrin of the other people who now wanted to play for some reason, because they thought it was easy after seeing how far I could get - I'm not really sure what suddenly made them all want to play it now just because I had been. There were even people there who though I was somehow cheating or had some idiotic theory on how I would pass certain parts with special moves.

After awhile, the other gamers realized that when I came in the shop, that they'd be waiting a while if I played, so they would start shoveling in quarters when they saw me walking up to the store. When I would drop in a quarter, I would have to sit there while the credit counter would slowly wind down from 15, if I was lucky, until the number I had dropped my quarter into arrived.

What came out of all this? Basically those other kids took away the only thing I had that made me happy in the shitty new town we moved to and after a while I just said fuck it and never bothered going back.

I think that was when I first realized gamers were dicks.

Halo Reach - Double Guard/Double Melee/Draw

2010-05-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

Not exactly sure how this came about, but I laughed my ass of when it happened. As you can tell from my wild flailing of bullets before reaching "Pizza Boy", I'm still not use to the movement in Reach so much. Regardless, this took place during the Games Radar Halo Reach playtime that was Broadcast on Ustream. I just happened to be recording it at the time. Glad I was!

Halo Reach Around

2010-04-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

After a long day of trying to get an early code for the Halo: Reach Beta, it looked as though it would end in utter failure. Each place that was giving them away, I managed to not be quick enough in securing one until about 9pm. I randomly checked twitter and Victor Lucas of The Electric Playground just happened to be giving away 3 codes. Somehow I managed to get one of the codes entered before anyone elses furiously fast fingers did.

I was never a huge fan of Halo 1,2, or 3's multiplayer, so why my desire to play Reach? Fuck if I know.

After playing through 6 or 7 games tonight, I begrudgingly have to admit, it was actually pretty fun. The same rules still apply for Reach as they did for all Halo games; shoot, grenade, shoot, and melee. Rinse and repeat for each enemy you face.

Unlike the previous Halo games, Reach has the addition of different classes and game modes makes a huge difference to the gameplay. Stealth shields that cloak you, guard shields that protect you, fast sprinting and jet packs are some new additions to your Spartan and each adds a different dynamic to the action.

Game modes I played were the usual CTF and Team Slayer, and a mode called OddBall, which was sort of like football. Kinda. Well, not really. Basically you grab a skull to use as a ball and the team that has possession of it the longest wins. Sounds yawn inducing but is pretty enjoyable, especially when you realize you can kill people with the ball by clunking them in the face with it.

Like I said, I did only get a few games in, but so far so good. Maybe because there was only a limited number of people online today and all the wonderful people that make up XBox LIVE haven't joined yet to ruin the experience. Regardless though, I will definitely be playing some more in the coming weeks until the beta ends later this month.

God of Gloriousness

2010-03-07T19:30:00.001-08:00

Last week I had a chance to go check out the upcoming God of War. Having played and loved the first two, I couldn't say no. Well, I could, but then I would be forced to kick myself in the balls.

So, not much a fan of testicular assault, I headed downtown and ran into the usual suspects when I got there. It's pretty awesome that at every event I go to, we always run into each other there and have a great time just shooting the shit. Well, I do anyways.

I got to play about half an hour of the game, up until I beat the snot out of Poseidon, the first boss you come across. As soon as he was dusted, a Sony rep came over and took the controller away from me like a child who was up past his bedtime. It's quite understandable though, because if he hadn't I would have sat there all day.

I'll have a preview write up about it on Gameshark this week sometime. I'll update when it's published.

An Awesome Xmas Without Being Xmas

2009-12-23T10:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not all that big into Christmas with the events of the previous years, but some good friends sure made this year an absolute blast. My friend Aaron and his girlfriend Diane dropped this over the other night. I just about shit a brick when I opened it. To say I was stunned would be a massive understatement. "Are you fucking kidding me?" was pretty much all I could say until I formed the words thank you.

Along with the Intellivision, there was also 12 games. All of them I recall from my childhood, especially Baseball and Astrosmash.

Not to be forgotten, a friend also brought me by one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time.

I love Mighty Muggs and bought Ventress back at the Fan Expo earlier in the year and even built shelves to display her and another that I was planning on getting some day. Until then it was occupied with a C3P0 Mighty Mugg.

Now it is called home by a fitting match to Ventress, The Emperor, complete with his fancy lightning. This has really been one of the best Xmases I can recall in many years and it's thanks to having some really awesome and special friends.

Being on the Radio

2009-10-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was invited to co-host the Got Game radio show on The FAN 590 by Zack Cooper and Bryan Calhouuuuuuun. I was must say I was flattered and somewhat scared shitless by the prospect. for those that know me, I tend to - say slightly would be an understatement - mumble when I talk, so I'm sure the last thing people would want to hear is me mumbling my way through a radio show. But when opportunity knocks, I tend to take it and so I did.

It was an awesome time and Zack,Bryan and Momin are three of the coolest guys I know. They made it painless as possible and let me know everything I needed to know before the show started. After a few minutes in, I felt pretty comfortable there and it was just like having a conversation with friends. Anyway, here are some pics of me doing my Bob McCowan impression and Zack and Momin.

For those that would like to check out my first ever radio experience, you can listen here. If you haven't checked out the show before, I suggest you do. The guys know their stuff and it's nice to have a Toronto perspective on things.

Busy Week O' Games

2009-09-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Finished up Batman, Darkest of Days and gave Rock Band: Beatles a go.

Batman was easily one of the best games this year I have played, but I still cannot get the hang of the free flow combat. It seems simple enough, but either my fingers aren't nimble enough ...or my brain isn't. Not sure which one, but otherwise, one hell of a game.

Darkest of Days is a FPS where you go back in time and fuck people up with future weapons - to put it succinctly. Good story and dialogue, but shoddy frame rate and gameplay marred the experience.

Beatles was ehhhhhhhh. Beatles aren't my bag and I knew this going in. Still, I played all the songs for whatever reason and after the first two concerts, I was stuck with songs I had never heard before, or at least don't recall. Nice to hear them, but also nice to be done with the game.

Alternate Ending for Shadow Complex

2009-08-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

I've always liked the design idea that games could have more then one ending, but only the one true ending would take place at the very end of the story, after defeating the final boss. Other endings would take place during the game, say if you chose not to do something you found morally wrong or you just didn't agree with.

The game would stop there whether you were a quarter of the way through or half or whatever. Shadow Complex actually gives you that option, although it's not too easy to discover.

If you happen across the Jeep that you and Claire arrived in, you can take off and leave Claire behind. Hilarious and of your own choosing to end the game there if you so choose.

Shadow Complex Done'd

2009-08-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

I was looking forward to Shadow Complex since they announced it at this years E3 and it turns out it was well worth the wait after all. The controls definitely takes some getting used to - being a 2.5D platformer - or a MetroidVania-esque style platformer (a term I despise to describe a game) but once you get the hang of it, it becomes quite enjoyable. The shooting baddies in the background remains a little tricky even towards the end however.

The use of different weapons, such as the Foam Gun and the Friction Dampener, to progress further is not a new game mechanic but it was well implemented, giving you the option of going back to previous parts of the complex to get upgrades if you so choose, or just use them to keep on going towards your goal.

The story is pretty much on the "blah" side - which is kind of a downer since it was scripted by Peter David - who is a writer I thoroughly enjoy from his days at Marvel. I almost pegged what would happen at the end of the game when I was only a quarter way through. I was off by a bit, but was still pretty close.

Another nice feature the game has, is that when you kill enemies by melee attacks and the like, a counter pops up and compares your score to the score of those on your friends list who also have the game. I can honestly confess when I saw I was behind in kills, I ramped up my spree.

For an XBLA game it is pretty solid. I'd definitely rank it up there with other great XBLA titles such as 'Spolsion Man, even though it pulls in at 400 Points more.

GameShark Extra Time

2009-08-14T02:57:00.000-07:00

Little something that I whipped up for the "Extra Time" videos over on our GameShark Video Channel. Kinda snazzy me thinks.

Splodin' All Over My Face

2009-08-12T23:55:00.001-07:00

My 'Splosion Man Review.

Werd.

GameShark's End Game Con't

2009-08-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

A few more game endings. As always, *SPOILERS* are included, so if you haven't played the game and don't want to see the ending, don't watch!

*Dead Space [Video]
*Dark Sector - [Video]
*The Darkness - [Video]

Congratulations

2009-08-09T17:50:00.001-07:00

GameShark's End Game

2009-08-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

To me, the whole reason for playing games is to see how it all ends. It's like the reward for spending all that time to reach the end and finally defeat the last boss. Mind you sometimes the reward is not a reward at all, but more often than not, it is a satisfying experience. Over the years there have been some games where the ending was fantastic and I wished I could go back and see them again. So I'm doing my part by creating "End Game" videos on the GameShark Channel which feature the last cutscene and endings of games. Here's a list of what I have added so far.

*Shadow of the Colossus - Pt.1 [Video] Pt.2 [Video]
*Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - [Video]
*Psychonauts - [Video]
*'Splosion Man - [Video]

There will be more on the way, some PlayStation 2 games like God Hand and Manhunt as well as some more up to date titles as they come out.

Games Out of the Closet

2009-08-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Chip Fried Eggs

2009-07-30T02:59:00.000-07:00

The other day I was cooking up some fried eggs and after adding the usual salt and pepper, I was looking for a little something extra to throw in. What did I find. chocolate chips. Sure why not. Tossed a few in, cooked them up over easy and gobbled them down. The moral of this story?

Chocloate chip fried eggs are pretty god damn tasty! whoda thunk it?

Next up...

2009-07-27T02:14:00.000-07:00

Well now that 'Sploding Man is over and done with (I still need 7 more levels completed to have all 50 completed though) it's giving me time to finish up some other older games. I still have Dead Rising I need to finish up that has been naggin me for years now. Every time I play it though I get stuck at the same chick on the motorcycle and can never get past her. Drives me nucking futz.

Or maybe I shall go back to Knot Hole Island. I bought the expansion so I could have my little doggy back, but never really did get to into it.

As for 'Sploding Man, seriously, one of the weirdest ending I have ever seen. Funny. But weird. Any ending that has a cute girl surprised by meat is a good ending though.

A'sploding!

2009-07-25T02:35:00.000-07:00

Been spending some time with 'Sploding Man on XBLA and I must say, it's not your typical game. For those not in the know, the gameplay is in 2.5D style that changes views ocassionally from the sidescrolling view that is the majority of the action. So far, you only have one move - which is to explode - causing you launch into the air. The levels are full of traps and tricks and is a lot like N+, just not so tiny. Most levels need you to hit a switch to turn off doors or to release barrels that you can explode on to send you flying higher and farther.

For the first little while the game is hilariously enjoyable, with 'sploding man doing all kinds of crazy antics and rabbling to himself incoherently, but once you get to about the 10th level or so, it starts to dwindle. I'm really hoping it does pick up and adds more to the game than has already been introduced and with 40 levels still to go, I think it's a safe bet.

So far so good though, well worth the $10.

Call of Juarez Walkthrough Videos

2009-07-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

It took a hella long time, but I have finally finished recording, editing, converting and uploading the Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Walkthrough videos. The videos are the complete game start to finish, although some of the cutscenes have been removed for time sake. If you were wondering if the Juarez prequel would be your cup o' tea, check 'em out and tell me what you think!

Link

Play Brains Called Me Old

2009-07-19T17:32:00.001-07:00

Geez, even PlayBrains calls me old. Fair enough, but this post over on their site made me crack up. Nice job guys. :D

Then Jeff McAllister from GameShark says that we make him “feel really old” by putting out this game. Well let me tell you something, Jeff McAllister from GameShark…you are really old…maybe. I actually have no idea how old you are, but you seem like a trustworthy fellow (you’re looking forward to our game, so you must be smart and talented, too), so I’m willing to take your word for it.

On the bright side, maybe it’s one of those Benjamin Button deals and you’ll end up looking like Brad Pitt one day. So you got that going for you, which is nice.

Finally...

2009-07-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

Yes I finally got around to redesigning my bloggity thing. Now I have links to all my articles and such. Well at least some of them. There's still an assload more to link up and will be doing so here and there.

Hope you like!

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 9

2009-05-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

5:00pm: Great now I have more people bitching at me to get moving.

5:01pm: Hrm...sure are a lot of RPG's in this next room.

5:07pm: Lots of RPG's to deal with the lots of terminators. And dealth with they were. Oh look wasps. haven't seen them in a while.

5:13pm: 6 terminators later and Conner does some fancy computer hacking to disable all the robots. O Rly?

5:15pm: well that's as big of a let down as there possibly is. To escape Skynet, you had to run past deactivated terminators and jump in a chopper to end the game. Whoopdie doo! No boss, no nothing. What about the Harvester at the beginning of the game. Christ, we could have fought that. Shit, fuck that, I want to go back and fight it. But guess what? 360 points for finishing the game on hard. Know what that all equals? 1000 GP. Tee hee.

5:30pm: Credits finished rolling. There sure were a lot of people that contributed to this piece of crap.

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 8

2009-05-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

4:36pm: We are still on our way to find this survivor that called us way back at the start of the game. Seems kind of a weird plot for a game doesn't it? Well maybe not for this game.

4:40pm: we now have three more people tagging along with us. Three don't make up for Angie! I miss her crazies :(

4:45pm: well they didn't last long. I was about to say that it's quite amazing how my squad can take any damage and still live. Apparently those three new guys however cannot. I raped them of weapons and am continuing on.

4:56pm: Room after room of terminators. Nothing to see here. Move along.

4:57pm: well that was kinda easy. The survivor gave me a hug. Awww that was ~~gay~~ sweet. What a way to end the chapter.

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 7

2009-05-24T12:32:00.000-07:00

3:32pm: Made it to the tower. "No robots." well that should make for an easy level shouldn't it?

3:35pm: What happened to no robots? oh that's right, you set off an alarm trying to pull out a hard drive that you even said yourself was redundant. well that was worth it now wasn't it?

3:50pm: An assload of terminators and spider bots just bit the dust. Can we have a moment of silence for the fallen?

3:52pm: now we need to escape the tower. I don't know why we aren't just running full tilt. I don't think I've ever seen those metal skeleton terminators run. How hard is it to get away from something that takes baby steps after you?

4:04pm: The onslaught has been repelled. On our way out Angie got trapped and we left her behind. Oops.

4:07pm: Seems we have a big tank or something that we hot wired and Warren has come back with his tail between his legs. Good timing there Warren. Why didn't you come back earlier so Angie wasn't left behind!?! Eh?? Bastard. and Geez... 9-2 Braves.

4:23pm: god this game sucks.

4:27pm: Had to drive the tank through 4 AA turret sections and try to avoid having your guns overheat. Not so easy but finally did it. Huzzah. "Conner, you're getting pounded!" I swear woman, if you yell that at me one more time, you're getting pounded. Oh and since the tank is getting a beating, Conner decides it's best to go in on foot. What? End of the Chapter btw. know what that means? yessir...80 GP.

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 6

2009-05-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

I stopped playing to watch a bit of the Jays game. Now I want a Blimpie. No idea what a Blimpie is but I want one.

2:59pm: "Robots don't sneak around" No Kidding. Because I can hear it stomping around from 50 feet away. More terminators and more spiders. Ho hum.

3:02pm: WTF you fucking game. How do I keep dieing when I have full health? GOSH!

3:09: Three "skin jobs" down, three spiders down and three areostat wasp things down. Lets roll! and by roll I mean walk four steps to the next wave of spider bots and skin jobs.

3:15pm: Why hallo thar! Found me a grenade launcher. Of course it outlived its usefulness in about 5 seconds with the massive amounts of ammo it had in it. *frownie*

3:19pm: The outdoor areas of this game are actually pretty impressive looking. Indoors, not so much. And yay 2-2 Jays and Braves.

3:25: 3 more skin Jobs and why for the love of christ can't Conner jump?!

3:31pm: "Here we go again!" You said it Barnes. And 80 Points for the end of the chapter.

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 5

2009-05-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Ok back at it again. I don't know why since there is a baseball game on at 1:30 I want to watch but we'll see what happens. Checking my email while it loads. lalala oh another follower on Twitter that I have absolutely no clue who they are. But she's cute. Anywhooo...

12:43pm: OK so we are still looking for that original survivor. oh boy! I hope we can meet more along the way! Not really, well sort of. They end up dying which is a blessing for them not to be in this game anymore. Oh look, the women are still telling me to get moving.

12:47pm: Ut oh. Angie is getting all reminiscent. I think she is going to wig out soon.

12:49pm: Hrm. Lots of RPG's and grenades lying around. Hope it's another boss fight because the last one was easier than anything in the entire game so far.

12:52pm: Angie is talking to Blair about people eating each other. Boom chicka wow wow.

12:55pm. well that was anti-climactic. Instead of a boss I found a group of resistance fighters that made me go all emo and cut myself.

12:59pm Oh noes! I've led the machines to the resistance camp. har har. That's what you get for making me cut myself. Now I have to hold off the machines so everyone can escape. Wut? Why can't I just run away like everyone else?

1:01pm: Oops...back to the grenades and RPG's to kill some robots. "Did you just call them robots?" Ace dialogue, I'm telling you.

1:07pm: Enter 9 more spider bots which have been easily taken care of by the women. Boobs and guns high five.

1:08pm: Annnnnd here comes 4 more. and a terminator. I have a sliver of health and I have managed to piss it off. Nice move Conner!

1:20pm: Fuck.

1:25pm: Another 2 terminators and two more spider bots.

1:36pm: Ok two terminators down. 2 spider bots down. Annnd here come more spider bots. Can you say "dragging the game out for the sake of making it longer"?

1:42pm: Wewt. All machines dead and Barnes' charges killed off the rest...that were in a cut scene. Way to help out when it doesn't matter. How about killing the ones that were, you know, killing us. BTW, Barnes looks like a skinny Suge Knight.

1:49pm: all aboard! Riding on a subway car while using a RPG with infinte ammo. Where were you 10 minutes ago? terminator motorcycles are chasing us.

1:52pm: well that was easy. This train is making stops to pick up survivors. *sigh*

1:54pm: Survivors loaded onto the train and it keeps showing angie curled up with her head down. She's gonna pop I'm telling ya. The crazies are going to let loose. I can feel it.

1:58pm: The train is back in motion and the motorcylce things are back. And super. 2-0 for the Braves in the second inning. Booourns. :(

2:02pm: So the train made it out of the tunnel and then derails and flips. That was helpful. Uhm...where are all the survivors we loaded onto the train? The only people who got off were the girls, barnes, the leader Warren and myself. Warren asked if everyone was ok and they all replied yes. I guess he meant if the people still alive were ok, because apparently all the survivors are dead. or they vanished.

2:06pm: Now I'M REALLY CONFUSED. We are driving in dune buggy type cars protecting a school bus which apparently is full of survivors. Maybe they are like Optimus Prime's trailer that would just appear out of thin air whenever he transformed and then would magically disappear when he turned back into a robot. the survivors magically appear when the game needs a plot device and they disappear when they aren't needed.

2:12pm: Huh. well I failed in protecting the school bus and watched it blow up, but apparently the game forgot that happened 5 seconds ago and is continuing on with the mission with the bus fully intact.

2:16pm: The bus made it to safety somehow and now Warren is telling me how utterly impossible my goal is. Thanks for the pick me up, dickhead. Barnes and Angie are coming with me and ditching Warren. Har. Now we have decided to go blow up a tower. What happened to that guy we were supposed to rescue? Anyways...guess what? 80 gamerpoints and onto chapter 6.

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 4

2009-05-24T00:33:00.000-07:00

Ok not sure how far I'll get into this chapter since it's 3:30 am but omg, the game is sooo good I can't stop playing! Ok, not really. But once I start something, I like to finish it. Let's get some coffee, a smoke and keep on rolling through the crap that is Terminator Salvation.

3:39am: Angie's giving me shit. Typical.

3:41am: So for the record, it's now Blair, Angie and me. If you stand still, to say...type or something, they both actually start bitching.

3:44am: Oh look more spider bots. Go get them my ladies while I chill behind this slab of concrete. muahahaha

3:45am: More wasp things. ladies, you know what to do. Conner is such a pimp.

3:51am: Conner has the goofiest animation when he runs from cover to cover. He runs in place for a few steps and then goes. Like he's building up speed lol

3:58: 3 more spider bots down and now the girls are arguing. Catfight!

3:59am: "It's a Trap!" no stealing lines from Admiral Ackbar there Conner. Oi, more terminators. "I'll take them out" says Conner. I'm sorry, I agreed to no such thing.

4:02am: Terminator punched me in the head. It's not bad enough that you have a friggin chain gun on your arm, but you have to humiliate me, not by shooting me, but by punching me.

4:08am: Terminators 0 - Conner's Girls 2.

4:15am: I swear to god, if you girls don't stop bitching, I'll turn this game around right now!

4:23am: The dialogue in this game is pure gold. When enemies come near the girls they say "leave me alone, I'm reloading", "don't come near me" and "no, help, wasps!" I shit you not.

4:30am: After 8 more spider bots and who knows how many wasps things, we have reached the tower. I guess that was our goal. I really wasn't paying attention.

4:32am: Ut oh. Lots of RPG's laying around. That's never a good sign.

4:37am: Wow. I really hope that wasn't considered a boss fight. The HK - Hunter Killer - took 3 rockets to kill it. I could see 6 RPG's on the ground from where I was standing. Not a hard battle at all. But now we are on our way to the subway. LA has a subway? Who knew?

4:41am: Another 3 spider bots and more areostats. Ho hum. But Angie is going on about having a shower. Puuuurrr.

4:48am: Huh. Fighting more spider bots and went to get some cover behind the fight and a warning came up NOT TO LEAVE THE FIGHT AREA. good gravy, man. What is with this game? I was like 20 feet away.

4:59am: Another thrilling showdown will more spider bots and aerostats. Did they have one guy designing the enemies in this game or what? One guy that was on vacation during the entire development?

5:02 am: I have reached Union station, which is apparently a hole in the ground. Meh, it could be a fat naked guys ass for all I care because it nabbed me another 80 gamerpoints and the end of the chapter.

5:03am: ok that's all the excitement I can take for one night. Time for sleep. I'll pick this up later today.

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 3

2009-05-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

I'd just like to get this out of the way right now. This is a horrible game. Grin, how do you go from Bionic Commando to this?

1:54: Blair keeps telling me to move it because I'm typing. Shut up woman, I swear to god.

1:55am: Walked out of the tunnel that I ran into like a scardy cat and a chopper called mayday as it was crashing. What the hell, now I have to go search for survivors there too?

1:58am: "alright! Let's move!" as I'm getting shot from every angle imaginable. How about no?

1:59am: Bloody hell.

2:03am: Thar be machines in them there fields. A whoooole shit load of them. But that doesn't stop Conner from saying we're almost to the survivors position. I beg to differ.

2:08am: The cover system is actually pretty neat.

2:13am: So the idea is to flank these spider machines so you can hit the exposed backside. Blair is on one side, so I run to the other. I'm sitting behind cover, waiting for the bot to turn towards her so I can shoot it. It's not turning. Why not? Because Blair is standing right next to me. *sigh*

2:16am: Another 4 spider bots down. Third chapter and there has only been two types of enemies that you can kill. Wooo variation.

2:20am: Text message from Amanda. Had to stop for a sec. Ok. Game on! Oo found me a big gun.

2:25am: Made it to the crash site. Aww Conner met a new fwiend.

2:27am: Correction about the cover system. It is pretty cool...when it works.

2:29am: Reached the survivors. Blair has a new friend too, named Angie. I think she has the crazies. Ut oh. More company incoming.

2:32am: Now they are yelling at Angie to fight. Dunno if thats a good idea. Oh look more spider bots and aerostat- wasp things.

2:40: Died again. *grumble* dammit Angie fight! lol that's right, I'm blaming her.

2:41am: Hrm. Well everything is dead and everyone is just standing around. Oh I see, I have to lead you all out. Bah.

2:43am: Oh shit. A terminator is on my ass. Run Forest!

2:45am: Know what would be helpful when trying to out run something? A run button. No matter though, one of our new friends got "the drop" on the terminator. Heheh the drop. Ah crap, another one.

2:24am: Wewt! Killed it! and then two more showed up. Come on!

2:55am: These guys are just kicking my ass. Who's idea was it to play on hard anyways?

3:02am: fuckity fuck fuck.

3:10am: Ok big WTF to this game. A terminator breaks through the wall and chases your ass up a set of stairs to where you need to hide behind cover and grab pipe bombs as they come to you. Three terminators enter that you have to kill. Each time I'm at half health as I reach the top of the stairs just from one terminator shooting me. Sometimes when I take cover I get my health back, sometimes I don't. Make up your damn mind!

3:15am: Ok seriously..WTF. I had half health and just fell over dead. zomg! Terminator has introduced the heart attack simulator to games.

3:29am: Geez about time. Of course once you kill the initial 3 terminators, 3 more show up. But hey, it's another 80 gamerpoints after the fight is over. well worth it!

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 2

2009-05-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

12:58am: Sorry had to get some coffee.

12:59: Ok, back on foot and through a very well lit tunnel for it being, you know, a tunnel. Up to the road and oh hello... boobies.

1:01am: "Roger that, Rogers" haha oh man. Where's Captain Over? Anyways more Aerostat things showed up and amazingly my M16 chews through them easier than the turret that was on the back of the truck did.

1:03am: Oops I think Rogers just bit it. Now I feel bad for laughing at him. The girl and I need to go behind the spider machine to flank it and kill it from behind. Apparently I really don't, because it died before I fired a single shot. Nice job team. Earn me those points.

1:06am: Good news everyone! Rogers is still alive. I however have died another 3 times because two more spider machines show up and mow me down. I find it much easier to just hide and let the squad kill them.

1:14am: Oo a grenade. And two more spider machines. Of course now they have fancy names but I don't remember it. Thanks to the trusty RPG on my back, they fall down go boom.

1:17am: Oh snap. Blair called an officer "Captain Crunch". BURN!

1:19am: Waiting on a evac. Dum dee dum. Apparently there's a fire fight going on outside and three minutes till evac. Went and got another coffee and I guess my squad killed the rest of the enemies. Good job.

1:24am: Oh noes! There's more survivors near by. John wants to get them, the commander doesn't. What will happen!? *bites nails*

1:29am: Need to clear the street for a copter to land. Suuuure. There's a turret on the building that seems to do fuck all damage to any of the machines. Four spiders down and the street is clear. Get to da choppa!

1:37am: After a banter back and forth I can now see that Conner looks absolutely nothing like Christian Bale. Of course the commander still doesn't want to go after the survivors and Conner does. Conner goes rambo and Blair joins. Good call because the helicopter just got blowed the hell up. Ha.

1:40am: Oo it's the return of the Iron Giant.

1:45am: Tough fight. really didn't think I was going to make it. Because you know...I just had to run past it. Another 80 points and the end of the chapter. Geez.

Terminator: Salvation - Colorful Commentary Chapter 1

2009-05-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

So I picked up Terminator Salvation and quite honestly, I have had no interest in the Terminator series or franchise, what have you, for a very long time. I never saw the third movie and never watched the TV show. Needless to say, I could careless about the game, but sadly my local Blockbuster sucks major balls and never has anything good in stock because they get one copy of each game, unless that game is UFC or Madden or Fiddy Cent.

So anyways, I'm bored to tits and it was either this or Fiddy, and since I refuse to play Fiddy on general principle, Terminator it is.

12:25am: So far I have learned the cover mechanics - which have a cool little feature that lets you choose which direction of cover you want to take and I have learned that the flying WASP things are sissies.

12:29am: Riding on the back of a truck and shooting WASP's with a gun that shoots invisible bullets. Hrumph. "One more close call like that and I'll have to change my shorts!" Really? That is some awesome dialogue. I hope it was pulled straight from the movie.

12:35am: Stop telling me to aim for its damaged engine. I know to shoot for the the glowing circle that is highlighted. Oh and I jumped a ramp and bounced off a flying HK thing. Not over it or under it. Bounced off it and then spun and landed on the road and kept on driving. OK.

12:40am: Entered a tunnel and then a terminator carjacked the other truck....and then the game crashed. Arrg. Fuck you for making me get up to restart the system.

12:46am: Interesting. The loading symbol is the same as the infinite ammo symbol from Bionic Commando. Nice to see Grin reusing their assets.

12:52am: After the tenth try, finally escaped the terminator car jacker and made it out of the tunnel. Wow 80 gamerpoints just for that? crikey. Well on to Chapter Two.

Sacred 2 - I've Fallen For Youuuuu

2009-05-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a looooong time since I've played a RPG title, let alone one that I wanted to play. I tried to get into Oblivion with no success and the same with Fallout 3. The games were just - boring - and not at all the way I used to remember RPG games. Sure I know that RPG's have taken a turn for the worst since Bauldur's Gate was released on consoles, but it still shouldn't be that hard to find a good, non JRPG, RPG to play on the 360.

Star Ocean, Last Remnant and Tales of Vesperia were all on my list to try out, but again, the whole JPRG thing turns me right off. So lo and behold, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel comes around and other than what I have heard from colleagues, I really haven't heard much at all about the game. I decided to give it a whirl and I am pretty torn about my decision. Don't get me wrong, the game is good - for the most part - it has its issues with map control and the UI - but it is also pretty damn addicting.

Remember how addicting Diablo was? pretty much the same thing. The only thing is, I don't understand why it is so addicting. There really hasn't been anything too exciting so far other than one giant boss baddie to deal with. The rest has been tedious fetch and escort quests. Still, finding loot, equipping the best, tossing the rest and making my high elf look as bad ass as possible has kept me hooked.

Now keep in mind, I don't play WoW as I refuse to pay $15 to play a game monthly and I know that this is how WoW goes and yes I'm sure it is a better experience, but I want a RPG that I can sit on my couch or in my lazy boy and just chill and relax while playing with 2 or 3 other people and not a whole gaggle of other people droning on and on about mundane crap that I could careless about while having to revolve my life schedule around when we are going to raid....but I digress.

Anyways, TL;DR.
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has me hooked pretty good.

The Force Unleashed - The Old Fasioned Way

2008-09-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Because I get bored every so often, I sometimes need to take a break and create wackadoo videos.

Such as this.

Dead Space; So Delicious

2008-09-18T22:46:00.001-07:00

From all the trailers and developer diaries that EA has posted for the upcoming space-horror game Dead Space, they look to be doing things right. They look to be anyways.

Before DOOM 3 was released, id Software looked to be doing things right as well, but unfortunately, it didn't turn out as was expected.

There were plenty of things shown and told in previews that would be in the game but ultimately never made it to the final version. There was swearing, nudity, over the top violence and yet none of it saw the light of day.

Dead Space seems to be using a lot of the same elements DOOM 3 had in the final version, albeit a little more the way DOOM should have done it, such as the lost of loved ones on the base, pretty sweet looking monsters and that same damn teal blue color all within a mechanical jungle.

Hopefully when Dead Space is released it will still feature all the things we have been shown and not be a major cocktease to get us to buy the game.

Also no monster closets or flashlights plz.

Now the real test

2008-09-16T08:21:00.001-07:00

From an actual phone. Survey says?!

Mobile Testing

2008-09-16T08:17:00.001-07:00

Well, lets see how this actually works!

911 is Ever So Caring

2008-09-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

So the other night I was sitting out on my balcony - 15 stories up - and not too far in the distance there were 3 quick explosions followed by a fourth. They made a huge "WHOOMP" noise and flames shot up into the air. After the third one, the power in my building, the surrounding buildings and the neighborhood below, went out.

I was like "holy shit. wtf was that?"

So, in case someone was hurt in the explosions, I gave 911 a call. I get an operator on the line and she asks what the emergency is. I tell her I just saw 4 explosions off my balcony and it has caused a blackout of a pretty large area.

She then asks me, "what do you want us to do about it?"

I was dumbfounded. I'm sorry did I call for a pizza? wtf. I don't know. How about "something"?

She then proceeded to tell me that I was the first to call and she hasn't heard anything about it yet. *boggle* I told her it just happened like a minute ago and she then told me it was probably nothing major and off she went.

uhm. OK, Thanks.

Metal Gear Solid 4's Rudest (?) Easter Eggs

2008-06-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

And what better way to spruce up the new place than a video done by a friend of mine who works for GamesRadar.com. Lizzie put this vid together and shows off some off the rather odd and somewhat sexy Easter Eggs you can find in Metal Gear Solid 4.

Bourne Conspiracy Demo

2008-06-27T17:59:00.001-07:00

Gave it a go today and holeee shit, it's just a tad on the violent side. Not that it's much different than the movies but the up close and personal face meets wall smashing is pretty intense.

First level of the demo was pretty fun, but the second licked my balls. Got shot and then run over by a train :(