I got Walmart to exchange my Halo 3 Collector's Edition with another one without a receipt! :D

I brought my 360 over to Josh's yesterday to play some Halo 3 with him. Well, I stupidly placed the console vertically. I even said to myself after I put the console down "Maybe I should lay it down horizontally...nah, too lazy." Well, later, we realized the TV he had had component inputs, but when we went to plug the components in the back, the cable pulled the 360 to the ground while the console was on and reading the disc. >< So, now there's this huge circular scratch on it.

But the game worked fine the rest of the day. And today, I just beat the campaign. But now I can't play the game anymore because the game fails to load maps in both the campaign and multiplayer.

But I bought the Collector's Edition, which came "pre-scratched." Microsoft is replacing these discs for free. Granted, I made the circular scratch, they would've ended up replacing my disc anyway since mine came pre-scratched as well. So I'll be sending mine in soon. It'll probably take a few weeks to come back, but whatever. If I keep the disc, I still won't be able to play the game anyway if no maps will load.

Despite the fact that I hate this map, me and my team pwned in it (I learned in previous matches in this map, people just camped the top floor...so I applied that strategy in this match. :P)


I'm uploading a video of some more ownage...I'll post it later.

One of the biggest problems with Halo 2's matchmaking system was that it didn't have a similar functionality for Custom games. If players wanted to play a particular map or a custom gametype and couldn't get enough people in the room, there was no way for players to find that game. It segregated Custom Games and Matchmade games, completely. In Halo 3, that's changing. While Matchmaking and Custom games are still completely separate (ranks will only increase in the confines of Bungie's matchmaking service), for players who just want to play Custom Games, Bungie has created XBL Public.

XBL Public is where players can advertise their custom games and then players will be able to seek out modes, maps and gametypes. If a player is looking for a Team Slayer match on High Ground, he'll be able to find the ones that are available and they'll be sorted by how good the connection to the match will be.

Source: 1up.com

Okay, WTF? This feature isn't even in Halo 3, and it pisses me off that I have to play a bunch of lame-ass games that matchmaking makes me play. I want a 16-player free-for-all Slayer, damn it! I don't wanna play the same damn maps over and over in matchmaking (seriously, I played on this one map 3 or 4 times in a row). No more random "Swords only" matches! >=[

Also, Halo 3 has the same VGA display problems on a 1280 x 1024 5:4 monitor that Gears of War had...man, WTF? Why is it that all these highly-anticipated games always have these small, but very annoying problems? Games like Dead Rising and Crackdown didn't have this problem. These games weren't super popular and highly-acclaimed, yet they could render an the game at 1280 x 720 and letterbox the image on a 1280 x 1024 monitor! But "GOTY material" games like Gears of War, Oblivion, and Crackdown don't support my monitor like they should (well, Gears EVENTUALLY did, after several months of waiting for a patch). This is pissing me off.

Uhh...probably not very well. But let's see...

I got loads of food in my pantry. I guess I could just load up that stuff on the roof.

As for weapons, no guns, but my dad's got a bunch of tools and stuff. Shovels and chainsaws, lawn mowers, plus he's got machetes and stuff for when they're choppin' up piggies to eat.

My neighbor's got some livestock, though...so I'd probably have to go against some zombie cows and goats. And we've got chickens. Zombie chickens...

But...I dunno...maybe I could live a couple of days.

'course, Paris is a small town, so I'm not sure how many zombies I'd be seeing if I stayed on the roof of my house.

Okay, you guys all know of the Nintendo news blog GoNintendo, right? Well, every weekend, they choose some reader-made banner for their site. I've made a couple (2, actually), but none of them have been chosen.

Usually they choose a banner that has to do with a game that recently comes out. So with MySims for the Wii coming out (or already out...I dunno), I decided to make a banner for it two weeks ago. I created this:



Looks good, huh? I looked at all the banners that had been submitted through the forum, and mine looked much better than the others.

So, today's the weekend. Guess what game they picked for the banner. MySims! But guess whose banner is up at the top! ....not mine. >=[ Check it out:



Ick...I'm not particularly fond of it. In fact, I think it's pretty ugly. I mean, that looks nothing like the MySims font! At least mine tries its hardest to emulate it without having the font. Now, there are two reasons why they probably chose this entry instead of mine: 1) It's in Flash. 2) He sent it in 2 months ago.

I'm not gonna start making Flash banners. I think Flash banners are annoying and unnecessary. All he did was make the diamond change colors and move around. I don't think they even do that in Sims games unless the Sims are having sex! I guess the logo is having sex.

I guess I better start working on my Duke Nukem Forever banner. I'm gonna have to make them 2 months ahead of time. =[

Well, Snake was "announced" last night on the Super Smash Bros. Brawl website (Awesome...for everyone but Tori :P).

But the big news here is now there's a piece of music that doesn't sound like ass. Let's have Konami do all the SSBB songs from now on! Now, I doubt that this piece of music is orchestrated, but it's kinda hard to tell, 'cause the quality of the instruments are so good. If it is orchestrated, awesome. If Konami can do it, why can't Nintendo? If it isn't orchestrated, awesome. If Konami can do it, why can't Nintendo?

But, WTF, seriously, why is it an MGS4 song? That's pretty lame. We don't have Old Snake here. This isn't the Playstation 3...unless...MGS4 FOR WII CONFIRMED.

Haha, just kidding.

Meet the DualShock 3. Announced recently at TGS 2007.

I'm not gonna be one-sided with this. I'll point out the not-so-obvious changes to the controllers...obviously, they added analog sticks and rumble to the DualShock 1 (though the right stick was never used for anything, really). DualShock 2 added analog functionality to all the face and and shoulder buttons. 'course, the fact that these buttons were shallow and really had no depth made it so that it was very difficult to use in anything but a racing game. Seriously, MGS2 and 3's controls sucked 'cause of the pressure-sensitve buttons. Then there's the wonderful SIXAXIS tilt controls that brought us masterpieces like Lair... Oh yeah, and the rumble went away, too, but at least it's wireless (and not that proprietary bullcrap that Microsoft pulled). And uhh...they changed the second set of shoulder buttons into triggers...cool I guess? Then the DualShock 3 comes along and brings back rumble. HUGE innovation. I'm sure other companies will copy it!

But the button layout has remain unchanged. Yeah..., you know what they say, "Don't fix what ain't broke." Well...first of all, that's not grammatically correct. Second of all, the DualShock is already "broke." Fix the damn analog stick placement, Sony. >=[

'kay, I just finished Halo 2's single player campaign, and I can say for sure that it is a WHOLE lot better than Halo 1's. Some areas still repeat over and over, but at least these areas are prettier, and there's new stuff and weapons to pick up in each area. So it's cool.

So anyways, there's not much else to say about Halo 2, since it's essentially more of the same from Halo 1, but better. But let's get on to the story, the main reason I played through the game. SPOILERS, if you haven't guessed that by now.

So...the ending...hmm...yeah, I heard people say it sucked, and yeah, it pretty much did, but with Halo 3 right around the corner, I don't have much to worry about. ^-^ But the last boss fight was just so...stupid and glitchy. When I killed the boss, I didn't even know he died...I don't think even think I killed him. I was thrown to another area of the level, and the boss, off screen, somehow died, because the end cutscene started playing. WTF? Also, sometimes the boss would get stuck somewhere, and wouldn't move, and there was no way for me to kill him 'cause he had a shield. >< So stupid.

Funny, after I beat the game, no credits were shown. Probably a glitch having to do with me playing this game on XP or something. Whatever. 'kay, I think I'm ready for Halo 3 now.

Oh, a score? Uhh...7/10 for the single player campaign, I guess.

Here it is. But I'm gonna be cynical and point out the bad things about this: no voice chat, presence of friend codes, and Sakurai has to apologize for the lag before the game even comes out.

Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games...sounds pretty cheesey, huh? But watch the TGS 07 trailer up there, and listen to the music. The music makes the game seem epic. Now, imagine if it was just a normal "MIDI" video game track. It would be as cheesey as the title.

Now, of course, the music isn't the only thing that does it. The visual presentation is also there, but the music just adds so much! Still, even though this trailer is awesome...I doubt I'll get the game. :P

Sometimes I do something blog worthy, but don't bother to blog about it 'cause I'm lazy or I forget. So since I just got done writing a long entry about Halo, I don't feel like giving these topics their own entries...I might come back to them later, but don't count on it.

September 3rd

I beat Metroid Prime 3 with 91% on Veteran in 15 hours and 30 minutes. Too much ire from Daniel (not really, I guess, but he made an effort to point out), I did not beat it 100%.

September 4th

I beat Metroid Prime 3 with 100% on Veteran in 15 hours and 44 minutes (first time I ever beat a Metroid game with 100% and "in your face", Daniel, who beat it at 71% in something like 17 hours on Normal)

September 15th

I miss Harvey and Lauren's wedding 'cause my parents didn't bother to wake me up for it. -_- Also, a party occurred that night which involved many drunk people and a bunch of annoying kids. I also go to hang out with JL, a childhood friend that I hadn't seen in a while.

Since school started
I hate my Design class.

With Halo 3 just around the corner, I decided I'd play Halo 1 and 2, just so I know what the hell is going on in Halo 3.

So I've had Halo 1 for PC for quite a while now. I picked the game up at Blockbuster for 10 bucks new (I didn't even know Blockbuster sold PC games). But anyway, I bought this game for the online multiplayer, 'cause I thought it was fun. I gave the single player campaign a small whirl, and I got bored quickly...but multiplayer..online..yeah. That's worth 10 bucks.

But years later, I decide to play through it so I could understand what the Covenant was, what the big deal was with the Flood, and find out what's so horrible about The Library. Well, now I know. (obviously, SPOILERS)

I can accurately describe Halo 1 with one word: repetitive. Jesus moose, this game's single player campaign is one thing over and over. In fact, as I've heard many people say, but didn't fully understand before, this game's last half is just the first half backwards. It's true! I'm like, "WTF?"

But yeah, the worst offenders of repetitiveness are the levels Assault on the Control Room and The Library (and also Two Betrayals, because it's Assault on the Control Room backwards). Assault on the Control Room is basically one room over and over, and a few hallways connecting them, with like, one or two open snow areas after each section of rooms. Seriously, that one room over and over is not an exaggeration. This room, this grey, boring, and geometrically simple room is gone through at least 10 times (and then 10 more when you have to go back in a later level). The only difference is the enemy layout in each room, but if you're just get tired of it like I was, you'll just run for the exit almost every time, 'cause that exit is always in the same place...Seriously, before I played the game, people would always tell me "The Library" was the worst part of the game due to its repetitiveness, and during Assault on the Control room, I was thinking, "Is this the Library?" Then I got to the actual Library and I was like, "Oh..THIS is the library...shit."

Yeah, the Library. God, that place was stupid. I thought the Flood would be cool, 'cause they're essentially space zombies, right? And killing zombies is fun? Hell, I loved Dead Rising, and all that was was basically killing zombies. But the Flood? TERRIBLE. Annoying. Especially those exploding ones that appear out of nowhere and you get to close to them, and when they explode, they detonate all the plasmas grenades on the floor and you die and have to start that whole section of the Library all over again? And you can't just run through the level like I tried to do the first few times, 'cause the Flood will overwhelm and kill you, and the game won't set a checkpoint until you kill them all. GAH.

And then Two Betrayals, like I said earlier, is just Assault on the Control room backwards. Horrible.

And then you end up going back to the first level of the game, even! Gah! Did they really get that lazy? If they wanted to re-use maps, they should've just thrown some multiplayer maps in the single player campaign.

But yeah, Halo's single player is boring as hell, and I really don't get how it was rated so high. It was probably because of the multiplayer, 'cause that's really fun. Though I guess I'm being a little unfair, because this game is OLD, so my standards for FPS single player campaigns might be a little higher..but still..

The one thing that Halo did seem to "excel" at is the combat...I guess that's what "Combat Evolved" means. The AI is really good in this game, even by today's standards, I think. The enemies will go to cover and stuff, and even try to move behind you to get you. But no, they're not crawling under tables like in FEAR (are there even any tables in Halo?). And I guess 95% of the time, you're shooting something...but once the Flood get involved, the AI just goes away, and combats not fun anymore because they're super space zombies.

I really just didn't have that much fun with Halo's single player campaign. So Halo's single player gets a 6/10...or something like that. Whatever score says "single player is boring and repetitive, but the AI is good.

Anyways, now I'm playing Halo 2, which I got to work on Jessica's computer running Windows XP. Neato. So far, Halo 2's single player is kicking Halo 1's ass all over the place. But is Halo 2 kicking ass in general? Find out when I'm done playing it and decide to write a blog entry about it.

And its fate is not a happy one. There's a wedding tomorrow, and this piggy will be roasted and on a table for that event.

I went outside to go get something out of my car, when I saw this poor animal locked in a cage, and tied up. Obviously, I had to take pictures.

My dad and his friends are going to kill him and cook 'em soon...It's so sad. =[ I normally don't eat roasted pig, but I might have to, just to make it so that this pig did not die in vain.

'course, today, Xbox Live was supposed to go down for maintenance. It did...and them it came back up...but I was having problems. My NAT kept saying "strict." Apparently, very few people on GameFAQs had the problem, so I thought the problem was on my end. I did some frustrating networking, and checked the official Xbox Live forums. Surprise! The problems are on Microsoft's end. Maybe 'til around...6 or 7, my NAT status finally switched to "open." ...but I still can't connect to games! No COD4 beta for me today, apparently. According to the forums, MS still hasn't fixed it. I did have a chance to play three rounds of Bomberman Live recently, though...but then I got disconnected and it doesn't work anymore.

And what pisses me off is that not everyone is having this problem, so when someone asks about it on GameFAQs, people are unaware of the problem, some all act like its the person's fault, when it's really Microsoft's. Then conversely, on Microsoft's forum, people are bitching out MS and whining and crap. Yeah, it's pretty lame on both ends. I just want this fixed. ><

http://www.gamespot.com/event/codes/call-of-duty-4/

Go get one so I can own you. Or you can own me. Whatever.

As some of you may know, I got into the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer beta. When they held the first lottery, before public release, I won an invite! ...but I didn't really start playing it until after the beta went open to the public (you still need an invite, though, but they might be easier to obtain now. I dunno).

Anyway, I started out sucking really really bad. The game rewards you for being good at the game, so it pissed me off at first, 'cause newbies get owned all the time, as higher-ranked players get new weapons, attachments, and perks. But now I'm on a bit of a more even level with other players, so I'm not doing THAT bad (usually). I'm usually in the middle of lists at the end of the game...sometimes I'm at the bottom. Rarely, I'm at the top...but watch this video of me playing to see how well I did this time. :D

With nothing to do right now, and after watching a Heavenly Sword video review, I decided to write up a list of video game pet peeves I have. You know, stuff that bothers me in games. Stuff that people normally wouldn't take notice to, either.

Screen Tearing

The reason I even considered writing this entry was because of this. I was watching the Heavenly Sword review in Gametrailers, and I'm not sure if it was their capture equipment or the game itself, but there was an awful lot of screen tearing going on in that video! The game looked beautiful for the most part...great animation, great art, nice camera angles, but...UGH, the tearing made it look so ugly.

If you're not sure what screen tearing is, it's like whenever the image kinda...splits for a second. I think it has something to do with the refresh-rate of the image or something. I don't know what really causes it. In some games (especially PC games), there's usually an option to toggle Vsync off or on. Leaving it off usually causes a more stable framerate, but it also causes more screen tearing. I used to leave it off to preserve frames, but I just can't stand screen tearing anymore and I usually turn Vsync on now.

Inconsistent/slow Framerate

Shadow of the Colossus, I'm talking to you. Some people, oddly, do not notice drops in frames like I do. Some of my friends swear that there was no slow-down during the fight with The Fury in MGS3. I noticed, and it made the game less enjoyable.

Shadow of the Colossus's framerate problems were a little less noticeable during boss fights (and that's pretty much the whole game), because the slow-down seemed intentional, 'cause you're fighting this huge monster, and time just seems to slow down to make the battle more epic...but then when you're suddenly running around some empty space at 60 or 30 frames, and then it drops down to 10 frames the next minute...you notice the slowdown, and it just seems to drag. Lame.

And Elebits? Yeah, you were fun at first, but in the later levels when the game began to drag at 10 frames or less....yeah, not fun anymore. I was thinking about keeping that game until that happened. Once the frames dropped to unbelievably low levels, I instantly said, "I'm trading this in."

Stiff Animation

I'm talking to Oblivion now! The Elder Scrolls IV looks gorgeous in screenshots. People have held this game in high regard when it comes to graphics...I guess they only look at the screenshots. In motion, this game is ugly because the animation is so stiff and last-gen. I mean, look at how your guy walks in third person. He doesn't even have an animation for walking diagonally. It's ridiculously silly-looking. First person animation isn't that great either. Combat felt very stiff in the game because sword swings felt weak like there was no energy behind them.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic got first person melee combat right, both gameplay and animation wise...too bad the rest of the game wasn't as great.

Overuse of Ragdoll Physics

Ugh, I've seen this in way too many 360 games. Saints Row, Crackdown, Tony Hawk, and even Skate. Ragdolls are cool when your character dies an amazing death, but if your character goes ragdoll when he falls out of a car or falls off a skateboard, it is WAY overdone. When that happens to someone in real life, they don't just lose all movement in their bodies. They try to resist the fall. When you're dead, it's okay, 'cause you no long have control of your body. Seriously, that just kills any realism the game might've tried to present.

Come on...in Crackdown, you're a freakin' super hero with super strength, yet when you're hit by an explosion, you go flying with no control over your body and have to wait 30 seconds for your body to hit the ground and regain control.

Though it is entertaining to botch a trick in Tony Hawk and go FLYING across the whole map.

It's known that I'm not a big fan of the music that has been released for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, mainly because it's not orchestrated. But some people are calling me nitpicky, and claiming that they can't tell the difference between orchestrated music and the computer generated music on the website.

Well, I made this to create what is hopefully a clear contrast between the two.


Can you still not tell the difference?

If I had money, I would buy the following things:

iPod Touch - $299

Just announced today. Essentially an iPhone without the phone. That means multi-input touchscreen. HELL YEAH. This 299 version would be the 8 gig version. Though if I had even more money than what we're talking about, I'd go for the 16 gig version at 399 dollars. But let's be a little bit more realistic. I'd go with the 300 dollar one. I don't think I have 8 gigs of music I listen, too...but videos...heh. But yeah, this thing is awesome-looking. I want it so bad. I don't NEED it, I mean, I already have an iPod, but I don't NEED anything on this list...


PSP Slim - $199

Had a PSP before. Sold it 'cause the d-pad sucked, pretty much (it sucked, but then it broke and got worse). Well, they fixed the d-pad with this version! Also, it's slimmer! I always love slimmer. And it comes in white. Woo! Also: Dracula X Chronicles and Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Homebrew? Uhh..maybe, if the hackers can have their way with the redesign. :D


GP2X F-200 - $dunno

Speaking of homebrew, I want this mofo. This is the ultimate portable homebrew gaming system. Loads of emulators available and lots of media-playing capabilities. But, the reason why I got a PSP for homebrew instead of the original GP2X was because the lack of a d-pad (the PSP d-pad sucked, but at least it had one). Well, the new version has a d-pad! And a touchscreen! (I don't think it's multi-input, though). And it also comes in white! Awesome.


G6DS Real - $65

Yeah, let's say I do have money. I'm still a pirate at heart! And the convenience of having a bunch of DS games on one card is just really...convenient. I guess with more money, I'd get a higher capacity, one, but "realistically" I'd go for this 1 GB version.


120 GB Xbox 360 Hard Drive - $180

I've got like...1 or 2 gigs of space left on my 360...I like to keep demos. I need more space.


Sony Playstation 3 - $500

I need some way to play Unreal Tournament III with a keyboard and mouse. Also, uhh...MGS4? FFXIII?


HDTV - $lots of

Duh.


IGN Insider Account - $20

I just think it'd be cool. :P

They just announced, right this very second (okay, maybe a minute ago) a new iPod nano. DO WANT. I will post pics when they are available.

Nevermind, it's ugly...but it's got COVERFLOW BUILT IN! ..and..video.



Damn it, Apple! This is cool and all, but where the hell is my multi-input touchscreen iPod?

Oh wait..there it is!



ZOMG, built-in WiFi and browser! It's pretty much an iPhone without the phone! I WANT I WANT I WANT.

299 US dollars for the 8 gig version...GAHH. I NEED MONEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.


Wait...what's this? "iTunes WiFi music store"? FINALLY. I won't be using it, though...if I even get an iPod Touch. :P

"MISSION COMPLETE." *Samus gives a thumbs up*

91%, Veteran Mode
15 hours and 30 minutes.

Now, just gotta find 9 more items and I'll start the game again on Hyper Mode. :D

Lair has been getting really shizzy reviews...which means it must be a shizzy game, right? But some people swear that they love the game and the controls work just fine. I'm a little confused here. Are these people just fanboys? I thought so, until I read this topic.

This guy is basically saying that the controls suck because Lair was meant to work with a bluetooth firmware update on the PS3, but the update wasn't available at the time for reviewers. So the controls ended up being crap or something. But this guy has no proof, and would they really overlook a huge problem like that (then again, would they release a game with crappy controls like that? :P). Also, if this really happened, it'd be all over the Internet by now, but it's just on some GameFAQs board. But yeah, I don't know what to believe here.

This is one of those times I wish I had a PS3. I want to play Lair. Not because I hear it's good, but because I hear it's really bad! I wanna know how bad it really is...'cause Gamespot gave Bomberman 64 a 4.6, and I love that game. :P

So...why don't any of my friends own a damn PS3!? Oh right, 'cause Sony sucks...but still! I need to know how much they suck without purchasing a PS3!