And the word sh|zzle was blocked. Wut?

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Well for a start I got Killzone 2. It's quite the good game, nto very mad on the multiplayer, but it's good.

For the past 2 weeks I had a throat infection. It started as Tonsillittis but was later diagnosed as Herpes. I got 2 weeks off school, and it was fun, apart from the "you can't eat anything and your lips swell like mad and get all crusty" part.

In that time I read most of the CHERUB series, which is a great series of books, I recommend to anyone, even a 20 year old I know is reading it.

Also, I'm going to the Meteor awards, which is like a scaled down version of the MTV awards for Ireland. It's on St.Patricks day. It's me, a couple of guys and a couple of girls. Should be fun,.

What I'm more interested is what happened here whilst I was gone. Any major news, updates?

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Firstly, I leave my house and realise down the road 'Crap, I forgot my English and Science book!'. I rush back with no objections (my sister went back to bed) and ran back out. I though 'F*** I'll be late'. When what happens but my neighbour goes buy in his car, and asks if I would like a lift. 'Score!' I thought. I took it, and after acquiring some more-than-interesting history of my school, I got out 10 minutes from my school, and ahead of time at that.

School itself was a different story. Nothing worth noting for my first 3 classes. However, the next one's is where it all started. In health, our teacher caught a guy looking over a sheet of Irish (which we had a test on that day). Because health has no tests, and is a complete dos (very easy), he let us study in return for a lend of a newspaper (we were more than happy to provide).

After that,in Woodwork I fluked past my okay drawing with a Good, and English focused Obama speeches (she loves Obama). From there on, I had a major Karma Krash (spelt wioth a 'K' on purpose). My mind blanked during my Irish test, and she kept us in after the bell rang to go over a page, the B****.

Strangely, part of my English (remember I'm irish, so no alarms were raised) homework was to watch Obama's inauguration. I thought it was on at 5.30, not 5.00 (G.M.T time). I missed it, and pretty much 50% of all youtubers are hogging the one clip of it on the site.

In other news, I am addicted to U2's new song, 'Get on your boot's'. It is like Vertigo, only with more rock, and more alternative. It's a change, and I like it.

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Egonga: You study Irish? (x2)

Answer: Why yes, I do. It is taught from the age of 5, but the educational system is not on par with those of European schools. By 13, most fFrench kids could speak a conversation in English for a while. By 13, a Irish kids who knows the irregular verbs inIrish is lucky.

CamiKitten And Firsausage: What was Ireland up to in World War 2?

Answer: Well, throughout the war, we were neutral. We went through a period of rationing, and making sure no-one came through our back door.

And in terms of what's shakin', I handed up my history project (with a nice cover I made at 6.30 A.M.). I got all my results back and I am waiting formy report so I can get it over with (collectively). My school bag broke, so I had to settle for a Camouflage one, which isn't as good, but it's not too bad.

I made a bet with my Sister's boyfriend. The bet? No soda drinks for the rest of the year! A 20 euro bet may not be alot, but it's enough, as well a sthe fact I want to slim down. I am consuming glasses of flavoured sparkling water. Not as bad as soda's, I hope.

I picked up a book the other day. It's part of the CHERUB series. It's about a camp of orphaned children aged up to 16, who go on spy missions. I somehow managed to pick up the lastest one and now have to work back to the series' start. It was a damn good book.

I also did a review for World at War but unlike some people, I won't post a link and ask you to rate it.

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- Full Metal Jacket.

- Monthy Python Box set with 4 films.

- Rambo (in a neat bamboo style case).

- Independence Day/ Phonebooth (one of those boxes with 2 DVD's).

- Lord of War.

For a total price of *drumroll* 42 euro's. Really good considering it's actually 8 films. 42 divided by 8 = 5.25! WooHoo!

I also picked up Napoleon Dynamite (just because I really wanted it and Zavvi didn't have it) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber on Fleet Street (criminally underpriced at 4 euro) elsewhere.

I am actually swimming in DVD's now, and have a heap of them from Christmas too.

I started a new Fallout 3 game. I don't know why, considering I still have to complete Saints Row 2 and Prince of Persia.

The D'oh part is that I have a history project due for Tuesday, and I have most of it done, but not all of it! I didn't do it over christmas because, well, it's Christmas damnit! It's a really hard topic as well (Search 'Northern Ireland during World War 2' and see for yourself), so Iwill probably not do so well.

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I was a bit later than usual (crap, need the play, flip forgot my Science copy, and so on). To start the say, we got a new history teacher, Mr. Houlihan for three weeks. He seemed to be a student teacher, but he actually has some experience around his belt. He came in calm and was actually able to tame the class without shouting at us. A first in my time, Mr.Houlihan seems to have the right mentality for the job. Plus, I think his inner city accent helps (as opposed to a farmer or stuck-up accent).

I had Maths, which was easy as always, followed by English. In English, we were supposed t have read a play (the merchant of venice). 2 days before today, I read the summaries, so I know the story off. She gave us until monday to have it read, but no one will bother. \We hate our english teacher. Then there was science, which all we did was look over our exams. French was a mess as always, the teacher giving us results and then trying to cram in somevocab and stuff at the end. We had lunch (where I tried to text someone I liked, and got a response an hour and a half later).

Then, we had religion (easy as ever), Irish (exam results and the usually black-widow like Ms. Kelly) and finaaly Geography (exam results).

So, you're probably wondering ' Panda, what were you're cores?'. Bluntly, I got two Good ones and two crap ones.

French: 84% (B+)

Geography: 75% (B)

Science: 59% (C-)

Irish: 53% (D+) [BTW I was totally cheated on this, she gave us stuff we didn't even do!]

So, my exam results so far are okay. My Dad didn't give out, he takes a more hands off approach. Science and Irish are my worst two, so the others should be better.

I texted in class for the first time today. It was to a girl I like. I got the response about an hour later. I got no response after that. Crushed!

I balanced the accounts for a french homestay trip so I'm ddefinetley going to france now (unless the plane crashes, France shrivels up or I die of course)

In terms of gaming, barely any progress has been made. I have so much to do and no time to game. I really want to complete Fallout 3 and start a new game. It hurts so much!

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1. Uncharted 2

2. Killzone 2

3. Resident Evil 5

4. God of War III

5.Red faction: Guerilla

6. Godfather II

7. Infamous

8. Prototype

9. Heavy Rain

10.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Games that I might get:

- FFXIII

- This is Vegas

- Just Cause 2

- F.E.A.R 2

On another note, I have school tomorrow (bleh!). I had to read a play yesterday (i.e. read the summary at the end of each chapter). I have to do a project I cannot get any information on and that's basically it.

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The forum bit? Well, by accident I created a new forum game called Supreme High Ambassador of.... (note: Name is pending, but would ask you don not change it if setting up a similiar game).It only exists on Debate.com so far. It basically started when I was annoyed that everything I said was taken as if I'm american, not irish. So I declared myself supreme high ambassador of Ireland. What soon followed was people claiming other countries (I only allowed states to be claimed in America) and it's basically kicked off into this war game where people claim a country and battle each other and trade (mainly Irish booze for NYC hookers so far). If you want to check it out, click here. I'd like to see it kicked off in other websites, including here, so feel free to start it up anywhere, just, give a bit of credit my way !

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Well, it's the New Year. I', not really the biggest fan of the event and last night wasn't much different. My dad lit some fireworks but I didn't because A. I had nightwear on so I would have frozen to death and B. I am useless with a lighter.

So, I don't normally do the whole New Year's resolution thing, but I decided I need a change. I've set a number of reasonable goals. They include

- Get myself into a better shape (I'm not going to base it on weight). I've decided it's time to get more active and shed some extra baggage.

- Try to reduce my spots. My face has become a battleground between my fingers and those red vermin. I'm going to try and reduce these by drinking more water, washing my face better and reduce on my bad foods.

- Wean myself of gaming. This means buy games that will last longer i.e. they have a good online system and a decent enough story mode I WANT to replay. And also don't play as much.

- Get a girlfriend. This will likely come after the conclusion of the above goals, but I have my eye on a girl.

- Try to improve my studying. I've recently lagged down on studying and will try to improve since I have a big exam in 2010 that covers all my coursework.

- Write a piece. I have this bundle of creative talent and ideas but cannot compile them into a piece. I will try to do this in 2009. You may think this is self praise, but check out my Fallout 3 blog.

I will do a check up at the end of each month and see how I'm doing. I will post it on my blog. I have an idea of what I will do for each goal. There is no reward but self improvement for this list. This is half the battle however. The rest is maintaining it. Slacking on one may lead to a huge collapse on the other. For example, if I don't game as much, I have more study time and I'll lose some weight. This in turn will reduce my spots and get me closer to a girlfriend. You can see these are connected in a web. If one snaps, it will not hold for long. You moral support is wanted but you don't have to give it. I'm kind of the hermit type.

In gaming news, I completed Fallout 3, but intend to go back and get all the trophies. I got up 2 ranks in World at War. Nazi Zombies still won't work and the connection is still dodgy. I started Prince of Persia and it's just a beautiful game, and it's really fun too, if not occasionally frustrating, but the fact you can't die means you can't get frustrated.

Anyway, I have a history project to do (World War 2, bleh) and it has to be in on the 15th of January so I'm off to do that. Have a happy and eventful new year!

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Anyway, why is the title called those damn kids. Well, PSn and XBL have damn near the same problem: Whiny, 12 year old american kids. They don't shut up. I decided to confront one in a lobby. His name was sharkcityhustler, mine is I-am-a-panda. It strted when he said something and I said :

I-am-a-panda: No one cares

Sharkcityhustler: I care

I-am-a-panda: You american by any chance?

Sharkcityhsutler: Lolz I-am-a-panda what the heck kind of name is that!

I-am-a-panda: At least it's not Gay like sharkcityhustler.

Some random guy: Yeah, coz I-am-a-panda is soooo tough.

I-am-a-panda: Have you ever beaten up a panda before?

Sharkcityhustler: What age are you.

The waiting proceeds to the match load and I bring my finishing blow

Sharkcityhustler: Lolz he doesn't know what age he is

I-am-a-panda: My age didn't matter much last night when-

At this point we were cut off but I think you can see where we were going.

So that little piece of dialogue made me realise 12 year olds are a pest rather than a problem. Also me and Altair25 (also known as rangerd11) tried to play some nazi zombies, but we couldn't connect to eachother. More evidence of the shambolic connection system they have.

In toehr news, I've gone a bit further in Fallout 3 (let's just say it's been Paradise). I'm considering just blazing through the rest of the story in 6 or so hours just spo I can play Saints row 2 and Prince of Persia. Or I wil make a save now, complete the story and go back for all the trophies in the side quests. Seem's reasonable to me.

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My local Game-buying Hub has (like all retailers) sales going on. All the (well all the good) games have gone down in price. But that's not all. I received a 55 euro gift voucher from my Uncle, Aunt and Cousins. Aswell, when my phone broke I had to send it off to be fixed, and it got lost. I was compenstated with a tidy 80 euro gift voucher, and I got a new phone for Christmas! I traded in COD4, SW:FU and Far cry 2 for 37 euro's. I also recieved 50 euro's of my Grandad, which I will discuss in a bit. So, 80 + 37 + 55 + 50 + 30 (in my pocket at the time) = 250! I was technically loaded. So I decided o blow some on games, obviously. I picked up Prince of Persia for 40 and Saints Row 2 for 35. I haven't touched them because I want to complete Fallout 3 first and try the COD5 online.

So, that 50 euro. So, my Grandad needs a new fridge. the seal broke so stuff won't stay warm. His birthday falls not far after Christmas, so it's basically his Birthday present. We picked up the fridge, held it by bungie cords in the car and got it to his house. After some tedious lifting (no push against it, no the other, way, wait, no) we got it in. He was pretty happy with it and it's a snug fit. The problem now is disposing of the old fridge. He slipped me 50 euros in my hand as I walked out. I would have given it back, only he doesn't take no for an answer. He insists you take the money, you can't exactly put it in his pocket. I don't like to see my relatives as a means of making money.

In terms of gaming progression, I completed the COD5 campaign just there. The end is pretty climatic, for those who haven't done it yet. I haven't done the online yet, and a co-op try with my sisters boyfriend ended in shambles. He's a Resi 4 fan, maybe he'll be good at nazi zombies? Fallout 3 is coming along nicely, I'm unsure whether or not to post another Diary entry due to lack of feedback. Spoiler alert right here....... I capitalised on the game by finding my Dad's location through Doctor Li or whatever she is callled. 3 dog promised me a suprise for installing the dish, turned out to be a key to a weapon stash, which should be handy. I helped Diego and whats-her-face get wed in Rivet City. I got the Declaration of Independence (I killed the Button guy sadly, bad karma wtf??). Ghouls took over Tenpenny Tower ( I did it so the ghouls won't pester me anymore with my mask) and did the 'Those' quest (Bryan Wilkes is happy in Rivet City, and I killed the ant queen).

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Greeting's Wastlelanders. If you are reading this you have obviously been able to reach Megaton, or whatever it is now and have acquired my old house, or what's left of it.The reason for starting my Diary? I personally don't know. The wastleand is a tough world. I entered the Anchorage War memorial. Inside an office, I found a diary. It was in good condition, and that sort of thing must sell well at the general store. Well, no. Only 1 cap for it. Hell I thought, my emotional input is worth far more than 1 cap.

As far as I've asked around, no-one can remember their birth. I remember mind, not that I want to. It haunts me. All I remember is my Father looking at me, sound coming out, but I don't understand. The voices grow stressed and that's where it ends. In my sleep it play's over and over. I sometimes awake in a cold sweat, hitting myself to know I'm out of that hell. Fiortunatley, after that day my life was good, well by the standard's of the time, fantastic. Clean water, food plenty, ready available jobs, yes the vault was for the priveleged, a lucky few who descended from admittedly parents who were afraid of the outside world at the great war. But that's neither here nor there.

As a young child, I remember a book where it encouraged the charisma I have today. It gave me the skill to barter and smooth talk people, better than any amount of gun totting. At my 10th birthday, I got my trusty pip-boy. At the time, it was an inconvinience if anything, but I'm thankful for it now. I also got into a fight with Butch, who ended up being told off by Officer Gomez. Then I recieved a BB gun, with some help from a spring Butch 'misplaced'.When 16 rolled around, it was time to take the G.O.A.T. I didn't do it, I just told my teacher what I was intrested in; speaking, guns and lockpicking. An odd mix, but a practical one. I also got in a fight with Butch that day. When I knocked one of his boys out, he backed off,

So, how did I get out of the vault? My father eascaped firstly, then I had to high tail as they would probably have killed me. They thought I knew something, but I didn't. With Amata (my lady friend) and a pistol, I made my escape. I encountered Butch along the way. Quite reluctantly, I decided to save his mother. I killed the rad roaches and a sudden surge of power came over me. 'I have killed' I thought. I regret what I did to this day. In a blind rage, I turned the gun on Butch's mom, and shot her where she stood. Butch was shocked, but he pulled his knife on me. I took him down too. I reached the Overseer's office. They were questoning Amata. I killed the officer, and held the Overseer at point blank range. He killed Jonas, a good friend of mine. I never questioned what I did at the time. One quick pull of the triger and he died too. I took the key and was on my way. I got to the Vault control eventually. I escaped into the unforgiving Wasteland, to find my Father and find out what was going on here.

The first place I stopped at was the ruins of a place called Springvale. It was pretty desrted, except for a place that belonged to Silver, a local who used to work with Moriarty. There were some financial difficulties, so I said I'd bring Moriarty some 300 caps. Moriary never recieved that sum. I soon realised with ehr story, it was survival of the fittest out here. Luckily I found some grenades in a mailbox, of all places, and dusted her off. I took her pistol and various things. I felt extremely bad. I found a local school filled with 'Raider's, a group with the same idea of survival of the fittest. I swore I would never dwell amongst their ranks.

I founded the town of Megaton shortly after. The locals were friendly, except for a certain Mr. Burke. He told me to wire the Nuclear bomb ,which the town was built upon, to be detonated. I was aghast and solemly refused. Imet with the local sheriff, Lucas Simms. AFter informing him of Burke's idea, with decided to give him some 'Wasteland Justice'. I armed myslef with my laser gun and headed over to Moriarty's salon. After a conversation, Burke gave up. As we were about to leave, he shot Simms. I shot Burke where he stood. I took the apparel of Simm's and decided to don the guise of the sheriff.I also took what was salvagable of Burke, he wasnt' needing it where he was going. I met with Simm'sson. I now realisedthe consequences of our meeting with Burke. The kid said his Dad had stuff for me once I defused the bomb. With no one to pay me for detonating it, I briefly defused it.I recieved a deed to a vacant house and 100 caps, as if I needed a payment but always nice to have.

I found to owner of a local store called Moria. Turns out she wants to compile a 'Wastleand survival guide'. I've helped her cure radiation poising, found a way to spice up landmines, tested the food of a local run down supermarket, killed some mole rats with a stick, invaded the nest of some Mirelurker, crippled my leg and spent two days finding the history of a city. Well, she wants me to go out of my way by heading into a library and finding some books, but I'll do that later.

As I mentioned, I spent osme time in Rivet City. it's basically a boat turned into a home for people. It's extremely safe apparently. And it seems to be. During it, I helped free a slave. Which gave me a good feeling considering the bad things I've done. Whilse heading by the river, I found an old lady selling wares and waiting for her husband. I was low on supplies, so I killed her and took everything decent she had. I regret this, and now I've left a widower, who's probably blamed it on the Raiders, or Mirelurkers. They're bad people, yes, but that shouldn't be another thing on their name. ON my way tp rivet city, I found a scavenger selling wares and repairing items. The last scavenger I met wasn't so friendly, so I killed her too, and took what she had. i feel really bad about these things, butit's the Wateland, and what's complaining to a book going to do to solve it anyways?

I also found a dog I called dogmeat in the scrapyard. It's nice to have company around the wasteland, especially with man's best frind right??? Wrong. The dog picked fights left right and centre. Even with an enclave bot! I heard the enc;ave come down in a big flying machone if you attack their kind, so best not to ruffle their feathers too much. Eventually DogMeat was killed by MireLurkers, but good riddance I say!

So, back to my Dad now. After talking to the locals, I found that my dad headed for Galaxy news radio. I was told to head there. I headed into the Metro station, because I was told the metro line is the way to get there. After, 5 minutes, I jumped out. Feral Ghouls scared me. The closest I've come to a ghoul is Gob, but I like Gob. What I did notice is that the wasteland isn't all doom and gloom. Some pranksters must of been around here, because someone spraypainted 'General Warbuff' on the wall. It caughy my attention because of it's position at the entrance. \I asked one of the locals of this, they had no clue, but I feel something more is up than that about his man. They mentioned another man who escaped the vault a couple years back. He is suprisingly namesless. MAyb when we add two and two....hmmmmm....

Well, that's my Diary entry for now. I will probably have more to get off my chest in a while.

Ezekiel 7:25 - ''Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.''

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Well, it's over. No not Christmas ye thick! My exams. I had them from last Wednesday to today. Couped with my cold it was a rollercoaster. Here's how it went down:

Tuesday evening:

My illness is coming back. I have a minor headache and a hearty cough. Aswell, I shiver or over heat easily and I have a bunged up nose. My Dad told me if I don't want to do the exams tomorrow he'll write me a note, but I figure a fail at 35% is better than an automatic fail at 0%. I study but I don't intake much.

Wednesday:

The exams were harder than expected. First up was Irish. I had to write a letter (on stuff we didn't do), a conversation on a dirty room and something eslse. I forget. I did well in it I hope. Science was hard as my teacher merely copied pages out of the workbook. It was hard, and I'm not suprised if I failed it.I have Thursday off to study as well so I head home with a bit of relief. I study some English which doesn't really need much studying. In terms of my sickness, I now have a runny nose, but my temperature and headache has gone, and my cough has dropped considerabley.

Thursday:

I wake up and miracle. I almost have no symptoms less the runny nose. I feel today is going to be good. After 10 minutes I relaise my sister is also sick with the cold. Win-lose situation. She now lazes around the house instead of going t owork. She becomes annoying fairly quicky. Whilse studying I start to phase out a bit but absorb enough, I hope. The moral of this day ainkillerskick a cold's ass, cold kicks you ass if you don't.

Friday:

The first two off the bat were Geography and English. English was easy and so was Geography, less a few hitches (such as measuring a road with a ruler). I had a nice lunch of a chicken popcorn roll (like the stuff from KFC) and prepared for the wood work test.That too was easy. Pick 3 of 4 questions, and the fact I'd prepared for two of the topics in advanced went a long way. Lat year I topped Woodwork score-wise, but this year your project counts for 60%. On that note, I'll post a picture off my kitchen roll holder by tommorow.

Weekend:

Too cold to go outside, I spend the time playing Rune Factory, checking game news and studying. I knew Maths off, Business was 50% accounts and Religion was Islam. Easy, right?

Monday:

I panicked at the Maths test. My teacher had to make a test to accomodate 3 classes. Due to my press-the-trigger-before-aiming apporach, I did 3 question that we didn't cover. Ooooooh. I had to quit them half way and find the ones we did do. I goit 5 done in the end. Religion was straightforward and I aced it. I've always been good with the facts. After another satisfying chicken-popcorn roll, Ichatted with friends instead of studying Business. The Business test was just n account to fill in, and some question. All were easy. That night, my sister found a Buzz game her shop were going to throw out. A morality choice confronted me, study for the tests or play Buzz? We whipped out the PS2 and enjoyed some quiz-related fun.I ultimatley did some studying. Some.

Tuesday:

I got into the school and there was my vice-pricipal, dressed as Santa. Quite funny. He shook people's hands, not mine anyway. I got dragged with the crowd into the schoolMy French test was so simple it hurt. It was mere guess work. C.S.P.E (politicial stuff)is notouriousy known as the easiest subject and a quick A. Well, not today. The test was ridicoulously hard. She asked us stuff we didn't actually do. Miss, you cool, but that was bad. Anyway, we wrapped up with some History. I knew the essays I needed to know and I did good. When i got home, I started this blog.

Now one thing stand before me, Do I stay or Do I go. You see, I'm in The A class, and there's so many of us that they can't bring someone up without dropping on of us. Fail 4 subjects and you're guaranteed a shiny spot in the C class. Irish and English play big here, and I didn't fail either. |That said, A's aren't being given either. I say I'lll stay, there are some guys who don't seserve to be in the A class.

Well that's the update of my life.

Oh and Happy Christmas!

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Ok, so I have a list of drawbacks towards starting each game:

Fallout 3:

- Can take a while to get off the ground

- Open world gameplay becomes addicting quick.

- Patch required for trophies

- Longer install time

Call of Duty World at War:

- Getting sucked into the online is inevitable.

- Certain level's may be frustrating

- I may simply abandon the game altogther after the first day.

Obviously, the benfits to each are the opposite's to the others drawbacks. I can hop into Call of Duty's gameplay straight away without question and I can turn it off much easier.Fallout's advantage is that I will continue playing it after day 1, and with only one mode it may be ultimatley easier to put the controller down.

Now, want a truly want is feedback. What do you think? I want it to be a great Christmas, so what should I start with? Sink my teeth into some post-nuclear war goodness (side effects may include rad-poisining) or carve up some Nazi's( side effects may include love off communsim.

So post below, should I play Fallout 3 or Call of Duty World at War on Christmas morning? Or could there be a rouge 3rd in the pack? Should I maybe play that if luck fable's its hand upon me?

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I will give an example. Let's take the review of RuneFactory 2, which was given a 6.5, by Shiva Stella.

Runefactory 2 isn't even fitten for a score less than an 8. I'm in the middle of playing it and I'm astounded how good it is. I haven't even divulged into the best of it. I, personally, think there is a good reason why it was given a 6.5:

The reviewer. It is easy in some cases to just blame the reviewer for not understanding the how the game actually works.Well, this is one of them. The reviewer in this case was Shiva Stella. I have never seen her before on this website, nor her reviews. For the record, let's see who has reviewed past Harvest moon-based games of this current generation:

HM:Island of Happiness - Austin Light - 5.0

HM: DS - Greg Meuller - 5.9

HM: Boy and Girl - Lark Anderson - 5.0

HM: Tree of Tranquility - Austin light - 6.0

RF: Fantasy Harvest Moon - Ryan Davis - 7.5

The above reviewers are trested. Austin Light has reviewed 2 harvest moons, Greg Meuller (better known as Greg M.) is a regular, so is Lark Anderson and Ryan Davis was around until the Gerstmann fiasco. I don't know where Shiva Stella came from. Why she was trusted with a Harvest-moon based game, one of the most popular nintendo franchises, astounds me. I am dumbfounded. Ok, the fact the review has been released a couple weeks after launch date proves she's gone deep into the game , or Gamestop just didn't bother and signed her to it late on.

You'll probably be thinking ' Well, 6.5 is pretty high compared to the others' but when we compare to other scores, such as IGN's 8.4, 1UP's B+ and Gamezones 9/10 and you have to agree she isn't the right reviewer. Couped with the fact the average user score is 9.4 based on 58 votes, she doesn't understand the game and it's mechanics fully to get the most enjoyment of it.

The fact this reviewer isn't suited for the game is clear. She calls the combat 'button mashing'. Yet none of the player reviews I've read call it button mashing or anything like that. She also says its padded with dull fatch quests. For those of you who don't know, the game has a hub where you can accept quests from people asking for an object, or asking for you to talk. Again, no players mention repetitive fetch quests. I personally liked them because it made me feel closer to the in-game community. She mentions that as a good point, 'Interesting social simulation aspect'. Those 'dull' repititive' quests are a vital part of the community.

This isn't just venting my anger on Shiva Stella and declaring my un-restricted love for RuneFactory, it's just a good case example of where Gamespot needs to give better reviewers. Gamespot have let a few good reviewers go, and were left with the likes of Shiva Stella reviewing RuneFactory. I am in no way doubting Shiva's reviewing abilities, she is probably good at reviewing other types of games. It's not her fault, she has a job to do, she can't pick and choose what she reviews.Gamespot got it wrong by choosing her and in turn she gave a review that was from the view of someone who doesn't enjoy the RolePlaying genre.

The truth is this is purly Gamespot's fault. They chose her, and she got it wrong, because she wasn't right for the job. The review will damage Shiva's future, not Gamespot. People might say 'Gamespot gave it a 6.5!'. Most people will click on the review and figure out Shiva wrote it and immediatley discredit her.

Now the obvious defence of this by Gamespot is that 'We don't want to be the same as every one' and 'it's a matter of opinion'. True, you shouldn't be the same as everyone, but giving a 6.5 in a zone where the reviews are 8.0 -9.5 is ridicoulously out of place.A review is solely a matter of opinion, however, the opinion of people who specialize and particularly enjoy a certain genre normally conform to standard (E.G. People who like Halo are the obvious audience for Gears of War).

So, what can we do to fix this problem. Well, it's simple. pick reviewers for genres they are familiar with (E.G. Don't give a Guitar Hero Junkie Wii Music to review or a Mario super-fan Resident Evil 5 to review.) It's important to define the crossing line of genres, where the limit of what a reviewer can review is. For example, should someone who gave Halo a 9.0 be trusted with the Fallout 3 review. The are both Sci-fi shooters. But it ends after that. Fallout 3 is an RPG at heart, But that doesn't mean get the Final Fantasy guys straight away. You need to decide,what goes where. Would the guys from Final Fantasy who are used to team based tactics and swordplay really going to like shooting up mutants?

Let's not forget the Second Opinion. Why should one guy review a game? Why not a board of 5 guys all review a big release and give their reviews. The average is got and that is the score. 5 opinions have been taken in so you can't go wrong. But then what about the body of text? Well, there must be some agreement in there. Again, people who are fans of a specific genre normally conform to standard.

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When I was home free, I decided to blaze through some Rune Factory 2. I got it, but with no time to play it. I was on the 10th of the first month and, I succesfully blazed through about 2 in-game weeks. For those of you who haven't played the rune-factory, or Moon harvest series, that's alot. I got my cash from 4000G to 15000G. I did the flower festival (and found out the hard way you can only hit on 3 girls). I did the eating contest and won some fried veggies. I'm up to 4 hearts with mana, 3 hearts with Alacia and 3 hearts with Cecilia. That said, all other girls (minus Yue[ no, not you!], who I have no passing interest in) at 2 hearts. I'm at the end of spring. I've stocked up on summer plants because all the stores close on the first of the month, and I'm ready to roll.

In terms of skiving of school, it's a win-lose situation. It's a win because I (obviously) get off school. It's a loss because I can't get my science books to bring home to study (tests in 2 days!!)

Also, due to my illness, my sister gave me one of the DVD's she got me for christmas early. I discounted to 'cheap' looking ones (bear in mind they were wrapped), and picked out a bunch of late 1900's WW2 films, which I fell asleep not even halfway through. Turns out one of the 'cheap' ones was my favourite comedian, Tommy Tiernan.

So, it's back to school tomorrow. I have to catch up on Drawing's in Woodwork, have one night to revise about 10 science chapters (aswell as a boat load of Irish). I seriously doubt any teacher's gave us homework, being it's the week of exam's.

Well, that's the update of my life. Wish me luck (I'll post on the 23rd how I did!)

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I'm not going to sit here and idly rant, I admit to playing: American Conquest: Nation Divided. Simply put, it's not a great game, and the visuals are something to laugh over. But I bought and played it. i'm not afraid to say it. I've also played My French Coach DS, which is a lousy, repetitive game where I learned no French whatsoever.To add to the pile, The simpsons game. A really poor game in my eyes, I was shocked after I realised I'd asked for this as part of my Christmas list. So don't ye stand idly by either post below what embarasing games you have played, and admit to the truth.

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They're all sparkly and all. I was going to make a video and upload it, showing you my decorations, but I have to hold that off because my neighbours are playing obnoxiously loud music.

What I want to know is what are your chistmas tradition? Or is your's generic? How much sparkle do you do on christmas? Or do you do no sparkle at all? My tradition is that we get our presents on the Couch's (sofa's) on Chirstmas morning. We also visit the neighbours to spread the joy, and get bloody selection boxes or socks.

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Ok, this sounds like a cheesy advertisement, and it is. This is basically a website for debating, but it's more than that. The forums are a place to talk about topics you wouldn't go near on here. You don't necceserally have to debate. Its good for your english. Alot about it is political stances, whether you're conservative or liberal, left wing or right wing, etc.

The reason I'm doing this is that our community is rather small. We need a boost, and if I tell 3 people and if they tell three people, and so on, we get 12 people maximum. Hooray! Tell me what you think of this. If you do join, my name is I-am-a-panda, not the panda.

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Will 'Soap' come back?

More than likely, I doubt he will come back. I think there will be reference to him ( A guy got hit by a blown up oil truck, and you know what he did next? Shot down 3 terrorist with a pistol!) He might be your squad leader at best, but I think we'll see fresh blood to play as.

The story:

Likely to be about some warlord in Africa or South America, who poses a threat to America and Europe.

Who will you play as:

Wait, what was that? yes, who will you play as in ther game. What guarantee is there the S.A.S will come back? Maybe will have the french foreign legions, or the German secret service. They are all options in this game. They have a clean slate and are smart. I presume the American marines will come back.

Online:

Shall they introduce vehicle based warfare aswell? Only time shall tell. The tank feedback from COD5 was so-so, mostly negative, saying that the levels with tanks were too big for foot troops. What about helicopter though? Or artillery? This would remove the strength of the kill steak perks, such as an airstrike or the chopper. But what about the hounds?

Weapons:

Were likely to see some new guns. I'm thinking the M416 will make an appearance. It is the gun set to replace the M4's and M16's for the American's. Also, the FAMAS could make an appearance if they go all european secret service. Or the G36c could be the standard gun with ze Germans. I think guns such as the Steyr AUG, which are popular but didn't make the cut, will be on this game. Or the Ak 74, a lighter, better version of the AK 47 and still in service amongst the Russian army.

More desctructability:

Adding this will probably be essential. I don't want to have to chase a guy around a building to knife him. I want to use my Grenade launcher to blow up the building, and rush in with my M416. This would also be vital with tanks and other vehicles. It was done well in battlefield: Bad company, and made the game!

Take Cover!:

It's possible they'll give us a cover system, since all your buddies got to take cover in COD4, and you had to crouch behind the dumpster. Oh, the luxuries of the AI!

If you have any possible speculation about this game, feel free to add with a comment below!

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