- FernandoDANTE
- Level: 40 (12%)
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- Member since: Jan 18, 2004
- Last online: 12/19/09 5:30 pm PT
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The Experience
I've been keeping this Journal (now called a "Blog" by Gamespot) since January 2005. No matter how awfully glitchy this site turns out to be, I keep coming back, mostly because of my passion for writing, and the other people who read, write, and comment around here. While that passion has definitely diminished, I still write from time to time, whenever I find something that thrills me enough to write.
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14Jul 09
Three years later, I no longer have braces on my teeth. Feels very good. About ******* time, if I may add.
Also, I'm now writing for Antiquiet, which is an awesome music website that you should totally check out:
Cya later, Gamespotters!
- Posted Jul 14, 2009 1:14 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 1 Comment
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9Feb 09
Almost six months, I reckon! Probably the longest I've stayed without updating here. So, here's the deal, no b*******: Last time I posted, I said I'd post here "occasionally". No, not anymore - just too lazy. So, thinking of that, I thought it would be nice to link my twitter account here:
http://twitter.com/FernandoDANTE
I update it regularly, and would be very pleased to see some of you tracking me over there. I would also like to track you guys.
Anyway, a lot has changed in my life:
-First of all, the last time I posted here, I had a job at the Roads Department of my city, as a Law School intern. In October, I got fired from that job, seeing as there was really no need for me to be there - there were two interns, and almost no work to do, so they cut me. While the pay was good, I wasn't really learning anything there, so it turned out to be a good thing to get fired. The reason I say that is because, 20 days later, I got an intern position at a Law Firm;
-This new job at the Law Firm doesn't pay as well, but I am learning lots of things I wouldn't ever learn inside a ****oom. And that's the main thing to worry about when you are an intern: learning;
-I flunked one subject in College. Out of 160 sophomore students, 60 flunked on said subject;
-I was going to see Nine Inch Nailsin Brazil, but they canceled. Now, Radioheadare playing here in March, and I'm seeing them;
-I am totally hooked on Steam. Playing lots of Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2. If you wanna play some time, add me on Steam (username FernandoDANTE), we'll talk;
-I reviewed Bioshock! First review in just over 2 years. Wow, huh?
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
PS: GameSpot still hasn't fixed the whole problem with the words "****" and "****"? That bug is, what, 3 years old? Way to go. I couldn't even link my review to Bioshock on this post. Just scroll down to the bottom of my profile and check it out.
- Posted Feb 9, 2009 5:04 pm PT
- Category: Other
- 4 Comments
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17Aug 08
I won't even try to apologize for taking so unbelievably long to update here. I said I'd be back soon, but I didn't do that. I know, I've been lazy. But the thing is, I don't have that much of a reason to post here anymore. As you know, I fell out of love with Gamespot after Jeff and Alex left the staff. Also, I started having more of a social life in College, which means I had more people to talk to. This led me to finding out one of the things I loved so much about this place: it was one of the best ways I could talk to people about things going on in my life. Now, I have the chance to do that in person, with many people. Of course I still like you guys, but the urge to write on this blog just isn't there anymore. Yes, I will post occasionally.
So, anyway, here's what's new:
1- I saw Muse live! I went to Săo Paulo on a bus ride with a bunch of other Muse fans, and it was a fantastic experience. The concert was awesome. Here's a video, and a couple of pics:
2- I had a great birthday today, with one of the best cakes I've had in my life. I got a nice watch from my uncle, and a trip to see Nine Inch Nails in October from my parents.
3- I'm going to see NIN live!!! Here's a sample of what I'll be seeing.
Well, I hope to see you guys soon. I'm not making any promises, but maybe this new look GS just got might be a reason to post here. OR, I could go to blogspot, something like that, and start over. Would you still follow my blog if I did that?
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Aug 17, 2008 9:15 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 4 Comments
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1Apr 08
Wow. I think I'm breaking a record here. My last entry on this blog was posted on February 2, almost two months ago. That's a lot of time without posting. Trust me, I did have a lot of things to post about - but, as usual, couldn't bring myself to actually writing it. I'll fill you in on the big stuff, not going into too much detail:
-First of all, my Summer Vacation was awesome. What I usually enjoy the most about vacation is staying up until (very late), all by myself in my room, doing one of three things: playing games, listening to music, or talking on MSN. The first of those things was made extremely pleasurable by The Orange Box; the second was improved by my iPod; and the third was a very enjoyable experience thanks to a certain friend who would, on several occasions, login around midnight and talk to me til 5AM, never running out of subjects. Overall, I had a fantastic time, and it had a perfect closure...;
-...because Deep Purple played in Curitiba again, on the last Saturday of Summer Vacation. I was at the same hotel, and, as I've told you before, I'm friends with Don Airey, their keyboardist. I'll have to summarize the story, but the concert was fantastic, and I had one of the greatest experiences of my life, just talking to those legendary musicians. The highlight was probably after the concert, back at the hotel: the band went to the bar, and this great Eric Clapton DVD was playing on the TV. It was cool to see how much attention they were paying to the DVD, trying to figure out who all the musicians were (when the credits were rolling, I heard someone saying, "I know that bass player, I played with him before!"). I had a great talk with Don about bands he's played in, and Brazilian artists he's into. I almost felt ashamed that he knew Elis Regina much better than me. Don is just an amazing guy to talk to. Slowly, they started going up to their rooms, and the last ones on the bar were me, mom & dad, and Roger Glover. Roger sat down with us and we had this fantastic, philosophical conversation. I had no idea he was so nice, and so awesome. Sunday morning, Don asked the band to take a picture with the three of us. The whole experience is still kinda unbelievable for me;
-I got a job! My very first job! I work as an intern at the DER (Departamento de Estradas e Rodagens), which I guess I could poorly translate as "Traffic Department". Since I'm a Law student, I have to register the lawsuits that go through the place. It's a nice job. Not too hard;
-I bought Audiosurf, and it was worth every penny. What a wonderfully addictive game! And it feels so good to dethrone people! My username is FernandoDANTE - if you play it, add me to your friends list, will ya?;
-College is doing pretty good. I've got 5 subjects this year (as opposed to the 7 I had last year), and none of them seem to be "useless" (as opposed to two useless subjects I had last year);
-The Black Keys are releasing their new album today, which I've pre-ordered. The Raconteurs released their new album last week, and it rocks. Nine Inch Nails released their new album recently, and it's amazing;
-Juno is a perfect movie. Not the best movie ever, but a perfect movie.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Apr 1, 2008 7:14 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 4 Comments
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2Feb 08
So, I finally beat Okami. The word "finally" should be highlighted with as many colorful markers as possible.
It's not just the fact that I started playing this game in 2006, and went through a long hiatus, only to start playing it again this summer. It's the fact that, once I picked it up again, I expected to finish the game in less than a week or so. As it turns out, it took me around 2 weeks of extreme playing, from midnight until around 4, 5 AM, almost every night. When I came back from the beach, I had played the game for 20 hours, and figured it would take another 20 to beat the game, as I recalled some reviewer saying that it would take "over 30 hours to beat Okami". That's because I like to take my time with games.
In case you don't know, Okami is an action/adventure game, and that type of game usually doesn't last very long. Anything over 20 hours is very generous for an action/adventure game. However, Okami proved to be much longer than the 40 hours I expected it to last. The game took me 90 hours to finish it. That's really, really long. Longer than a lot of RPG's I've played in the past.
I have to say, I was quite pleased with the game - and its length. While the game does take around 20 hours to pick up and actually become entertaining, the quest is consistently surprising after that. Based solely on gameplay, sound, and graphics, I'd say Okami is a good game - not great, just good. Once you get past the novelty, it's still amazing, but just not as amazing as you may have expected. Fortunately, those 90 hours turn this otherwise-good adventure into a fantastic, epic journey. Okami earns points by sheer longevity, something you rarely see in games these days. The fact that it just keeps going on, and on, and on is what makes it great. And it's not tiresome like Dragon Quest VIII.
After that long game, I figured it would be nice to play something shorter, more action-oriented. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay was the way to go. I'm sure you've all heard great things about it, but you have to play this game to find out just how amazingly awesome it is. Some say it's short - I think it's just the right length. Probably took me about 15 hours to beat it, and every one of those hours were just delicious.
So, beating these two games brings me to new conclusions about the longevity of games. I learned that dragging on a good game for a long time can turn it into a great game, as was the case with Okami; while I also found out that not extending an awesome game can work for the best - it's like an album with no filler.
Anyway, onto KOTOR.
Cya later, Gamespotters.
- Posted Feb 2, 2008 5:56 pm PT
- Category: Editorial
- 13 Comments
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26Jan 08
Alex Navarro, one of GameSpot's best, is no longer working for this website.
He was an awesome writer. What more can I say? Why should I waste your time with my words when you could be watching the action-packed video review for 24: The Game? Better yet, go have a look at Alex Navarro's insight into the process of writing a review (for a really bad game). Also, I bet you haven't seen the Big Rigs video review enough times.
Oh, he also wrote, like, 700 reviews here. If you visit this website often, it's impossible that you haven't seen at least one of Alex's reviews.
And no matter how much I disagree with them (about 95%), the man deserves a lot of credit for his year-end top 50 albums lists - and top 100 for 2007, which is even more impressive.
So, Alexis Alexander Navarro (if that is, indeed, your real name), I wish you the best of luck on future endeavors. While it is very sad that this website is left without yet another of my favorite reviewers, it's not like you're disappearing forever. I'll make sure to follow your blog.
Now, without Greg, Carrie, Jeff, and Alex (and these are just the ones I care about the most), the only reason for me to keep coming back to this website is my blog and the GS community. While I still have belief in this website's editorial team, it's not the same anymore. Sure, I'll still read stuff around here, but I think it won't be half as fun as it was before.
Yes, that's Navarro on my avatar.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Jan 26, 2008 12:23 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 9 Comments
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15Jan 08
After 4 days, I'm back from the Barra Velha beach. It was an ok week, and I'll give you a quick summary of each day:
Friday: We arrived at the apartment before noon. It was a hot, sunny day. After unpacking, we traveled to Laranjeiras, a fairly nearby town with a beach much, much better than the one in Barra Velha - the water is clear and calm. I'm not a big fan of beaches, but I figured that I had to take at least one swim during this trip, so the Laranjeiras water was the one to go for. After that, it was off to the also nearby town of Camboriú. Camboriú is a highly developed city, which caused the beach to become somewhat overpopulated. However, the rest of the city is still great, even if you just want to walk around. Not to mention the beautiful women that pass by. We happened to find this great lobster restaurant, and ordered a shrimp course, which was absolutely fantastic. Never before had I eaten such large shrimp (especially not in such great abundance). I bought The Mars Volta's Frances The Mute at the mall. It was something of an impulse buy, but I don't regret it. Dad got Deep Purple's Fireball. As we headed back to Barra Velha, it started raining. The weather was still very warm, despite all the rain. I spent the night listening to Frances The Mute and some other stuff on my iPod. The night was hot and unpleasant.
Saturday: Now, I'll be completely honest with you: I don't really like Barra Velha as a whole. While the apartment we get to stay at is really nice, the beach and the city don't have that much to offer. As you may remember, the last time I went there, I spent most of the time inside my room, enjoying a combination of Resident Evil 4, the sound of waves outside, and Queens of the Stone Age's Lullabies to Paralyze playing in my head over and over again. It was a really good match, especially at night. While it may sound insane to go to a seaside apartment and spend all the time gaming, it's something I enjoy very much. And the less heat, the better. If you take that into consideration, than this was a most pleasant stay for me, because Saturday was a day filled with rain and very strong wind. I finally got back into Okami and listened to more music on my iPod - thanks to the PS2's USB port, which I used to recharge the iPod.
Sunday: Just about the same as Saturday: lots and lots of wind and rain, I played more Okami, listened to more music. Mom & dad were doing crossword puzzles, and sometimes I joined in. While I was enjoying myself, I was sad because my family wasn't able to properly enjoy the beach, and there was hardly anything else to do. We were having fun together, though. Dad considered leaving a day later in order to get at least one sunny day, but thought the weather just wouldn't get any better, so we started packing.
Monday: The day we left turned out to be the sunniest of all 4 days. Ha! Anyway, we went to a mall in Curitiba. I bought Mark Lanegan's Bubblegum, dad bought Rainbow's Live In Munich 1977 DVD. Now, here's something about me you probably don't know: for me, going to the mall is an exercise in being lonely as ****. Whenever I'm at a mall, whether it's at the movies or just walking around, I always see cute couples, which reminds me that...well...I'm not in a couple. And when there are no couples around, I remind myself that I'm not approaching girls to ask them out. It's not a very pleasant feeling, especially when I go to the mall alone, in some sad attempt to try to prove that I'm ok with not having a girlfriend. Anyway, while I was at the arcade, I saw this very cute redhead walking around all by herself. The time seemed appropriate, so...I invited her to play air hockey. She accepted. We played a nice game, we laughed...damn, she was so beautiful...*ahem*, the match was tied at 4x4. I was playing it easy, but somehow I won. After the game was over, I approached her, and asked something like "so, you wanna play anything else?" She replied with a polite "No. But thanks!", smiled, and walked away. Just like that. Do I feel bad about it? No way! If only because, a few seconds later, I saw her walking around with someone who probably should've been there the whole time. You see, she was now holding hands with her boyfriend.
It was an ok trip. Well...sorta. I'm finally beating Okami, I got a couple of great CD's, and I reaffirmed the fact that I have a supernatural ability to find girls who already have boyfriends - only I'll be the last one to notice it.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Jan 15, 2008 7:09 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 5 Comments
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10Jan 08
I just wanted to tell you that my family & I are going to the beach tomorrow - Barra Velha, to be more specific -, and we'll be staying there for the weekend; Monday, we spend the day in Curitiba. You probably wouldn't even notice, since it's just a few days, but this means I won't be posting any comments on your blogs until Tuesday.
On a side note, I recently beat Half-Life 2: Episode One. It was fantastic, and some portions of it arguably surpass Half-Life 2. Too bad it's so short. Anyway, I started playing Episode 2, but it was running very slow on my PC. I guess my 512 MB of RAM don't hold up that well with the most recent games. Time to get an extra 1 GB?
(If you wanna know what the title of this entry is about, read the Barra Velha article).
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Jan 10, 2008 1:47 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 5 Comments
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7Jan 08
So, I got my GeForce 6800 XT last Thursday, and I've been playing The Orange Box ever since.
Am I the only one who thinks this is one of the greatest deals in the history of gaming? I could see Valve easily releasing all the new content (Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, Portal) and asking 50 bucks for it - but no, they decided to include Half-Life 2 and Episode One!!! Does it get any better than this?
Anyway, I beat Half-Life 2 after 4 days of some rather extreme gaming. I can hardly express just how amazing of a game it is. It's like a really long, really excellent sci-fi movie that you get to play instead of watch. I also beat Portal in one sitting (took me about 4 hours). Next up are Episodes One & Two. My Internet connection can't handle Team Fortress 2 properly.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Jan 7, 2008 7:32 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 7 Comments
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30Dec 07
Don't worry, I shall post no self-indulgent, excessively long retrospective this year.
I just wanna say that 2007 was fantastic. My freshman year at Law School was a very pleasant surprise. I met some awesome people, made new friends, and had a great time. I look forward to the next 4 years of College.
Unfortunately, I didn't spend much time gaming throughout 2007. Early this year, while I was still on vacation, I did play a good amount of Guitar Hero I & II, and an obscene amount of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Later, I played the game that I consider to be Game of The Year, God of War II. Ok, so I haven't played current-gen games in 2007...but that doesn't take away from the fact that God of War II is a masterpiece, one of the greatest games ever released for the PS2. The other "big" game I played on my PS2 was Guitar Hero III, which was ok - superb tracklist, but too hard. Once I got my new PC, I started playing old games that were on my backlog. Those games were: Freedom Fighters, System Shock 2, Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Knight, Half-Life (and its two expansions), and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. All of them were fantastic.
As for music, I'm very glad I saw Roger Waters playing The Dark Side of the Moon, and I think the album of the year one of these three: Queens of the Stone Age's Era Vulgaris, Nine Inch Nails' Year Zero, and Radiohead's In Rainbows. I can't bring myself to rank them, sorry. Oh, and The White Stripes' Icky Thump was very good as well...but I didn't like it as much as those other three albums. I also became further addicted to Muse. And I recently discovered just how good The Smashing Pumpkins were.
Movies? Well, nothing too special this year, but Beowulf was a lot of fun, Superbad was really funny, The Bourne Ultimatum felt like the best one in the series, Flags of our Fathers was dazzling, and Tropa de Elite is probably the best Brazilian movie I've ever seen. I know I'm forgetting something here...
Anyway, this was a good game here at Gamespot, mostly thanks to you guys, my great friends. Thank you very much for your friendship, I appreciate it very dearly. If it weren't for you, I would've left after all the crap that happened to this site in 2007 (mostly the stupid score system and Jeff being fired). It's been almost 4 years since I joined this site (3 years since I started blogging) and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.
I wish you a fantastic 2008. May you have a wonderful year with health, happiness, success, and all that is good.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Dec 30, 2007 9:52 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 9 Comments
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26Dec 07
Nearly 10 years after its release, I have finally reached the end of the original Half-Life. I started playing this gem a couple of times a few years ago, but only went as far as halfway-through. Now, I have a PC that can actually run the game in 1024x768 resolution with great quality, so it was a very rewarding experience, seeing as this is an absolute cla$$ic.
After beating the first Half-Life, I moved on to Blue Shift, the last expansion pack released for the game. Boy, was that a disappointment...very lame expansion. It's short, it has all the same weapons as the regular game, and it fails to excite in any significant way. But then I played the first expansion pack, Opposing Force. Wow. I'm spoiled. If I expect this level of detail from any average expansion pack, I'll probably be disappointed, since Opposing Force is one heck of an addition to the Half-Life franchise. Overall, the entire experience was excellent.
So far, I've finished 3 games in one month of summer vacation, which, to me, is pretty good, considering I beat so few games this year. Those 3 games were System Shock 2 (which I started playing a few months ago), Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, and Half-Life (+expansion packs). All masterpieces to some degree. Earlier this year, I also beat Freedom Fighters on the PC, which is a game I got for my old PC a few years ago, but it wouldn't run. It feels good to catch up with the excellent PC games that I missed out on throughout the years. Next up is Max Payne 2, which I also started playing a few years ago, but never actually beat it.
EDIT: I just bought a GeForce 6800. Now I gotta wait for it to arrive.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Dec 26, 2007 11:59 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 3 Comments
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25Dec 07
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I'd just like to stop by and say,
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
May your wishes come true, and I hope you have a wonderful end-of-year season.
Santa came around here. I got some new clothes, a belt, and sunglasses. Plus the money to get myself a new graphics chip set for my PC. Anyway, here's some lolcats to spread the holiday cheer:
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Dec 25, 2007 6:46 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 7 Comments
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17Dec 07
How ******* ridiculous is this? Activision (or RedOctane), of all people, should know that the damn name of the band is MASTODON.
The actual article is here, but I think it won't be long before someone at Activision who actually knows something about metal looks at the text and corrects all three mispellings of the band's name. At least I hope so.
****, I don't even like metal, and I know the name of the band is Mastodon. If they're putting the band on Guitar Hero 3, they should know that it's Mastodon, not Mastadon.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Dec 17, 2007 6:23 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 5 Comments
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16Dec 07
Yup, the Christmas tree is set. It has been for about a week now, actually. As usual, no lights, as they would probably end up corny.
I'm trying to get new graphics chip for Christmas. After doing some research, I'll probably get a GeForce 6800. However, a GeForce 6200 would be about 100 bucks cheaper, but I don't know if it's worth it. Anyone out there could fill me in on the differences?
Anyway, do you like Anthony Bourdain? Then watch some of the best parts of his Christmas special. Yes, I'm posting that link just because it contains Queens of the Stone Age.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Dec 16, 2007 5:47 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 8 Comments
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13Dec 07
*after installing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, it would not run*
There is a great disturbance in the System Requirements Lab.
These aren't the system requirements I'm looking for. I felt a great disturbance in the graphics chip, as if millions of pixels suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.
I am altering the graphic configurations. Pray I don't alter them any further. For my ally is the Pentium 4 processor, and a powerful ally it is.
*still doesn't work*
I find the game's lack of faith in my graphics chip disturbing.
...
Ah, screw this, I can't find quotes good enough. And I'm sleepy.
Anyway, I settled for Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, which is an awesome, spectacular game.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Dec 13, 2007 7:44 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 9 Comments
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6Dec 07
I've waited one week to write this Entry. Now that the dust is settling on the Jeff deal, and a lot of my friends here seem to have given up on the idea of leaving this site, I think it's safe to finally change the subject and go about our regular blog posting.
Last Friday was the last day of classes for the first year of Law School. That's right, Summer Vacation!!! Fortunately, I passed on all subjects with an average score above 7.0, meaning I didn't have to take the dreaded Final Exam on any of them. I didn't get a surprisingly high average on any subjects, but I'm very glad with what I got, taking into consideration the amount of time I spend studying everyday (uh...very little).
I enjoyed my freshman yer very, very much. It was wonderful to come out of High School and find a completely different pace in College. I'm very thankful for the great people I have around me, as I've made some very good friends this year. I could go on and on about how wonderful College is, but I'd probably bore you. It's just fantastic, and those who've been to College will probably know that. Anyway, here's a pic of me and some friends of mine:
I'm the one standing up, and next to me is Oswaldo. Sitting on the bench, from left to right: Vinícius, Leandro, and Paola. On the ground, from left to right: Thais, Reshad, and Paula.
Anyway, I beat System Shock 2 today, and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. For a game released in 1999, it holds up very well. I think it's one of those games that can be qualified as art. Not to mention how unbelievably scary it is. I recently got Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for the PC, so I shall be playing that.
I have some plans for this Summer Vacation, but not many hopes of acomplishing them. After all, vacations are about not doing stuff. I will, however, try to post more around here, as usual, seeing as most people have decided not to leave.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Dec 6, 2007 7:43 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 14 Comments
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30Nov 07
On the whole "Jeff Gertsmann got fired" deal, I see two possibilities:
1- He got fired because he deserved it, for whatever reason it was. Stealing office supply, sexual harassment, disrespecting deadlines, setting fire on the xerox machine, working under the influence of alcohol...you name it. We might never know. In this case, Jeff will be missed, Gamespot will lose one of its coolest reviewers. That is all.
2- He got fired because Eidos pressured CNET to do so, thanks to the Kane & Lynch review. In this case, Gamespot's journalistic integrity becomes inexistent. If they will go as far as firing one of their best reviewers for something like this, just forget everything you've ever read on Gamespot, as it might've been biased. If there's bias here, it's quite possible that there was bias in the past, and that there will be bias in the future.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Nov 30, 2007 2:43 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 10 Comments
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15Nov 07
Again, some issues have stopped me from updating this blog for a certain time. It's not I didn't have time or anything like that - I have spent many, many hours on this PC since my last blog post. I just didn't feel like updating. I've had some health issues that kinda put me down for a while. I won't go into details, but I had to go through a couple of unpleasant exams (like taking an X-ray of my bowels), so I had some rather unpleasant days. Thankfully, I already got the results from the doctor, and it turns out that I have a minor issue that can be easily solved.
College is doing good, even though I recently got one of the worst scores of my life (3.5 out of 10 on Introduction to the Study of Law). But then again, everyone got horrible scores, so I'm just below average. Next week, I've got one test, and on the following week I've got 4 tests in 3 days. All finals. Things should be busy during the next two weeks, but I'll try to write a few entries.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Nov 15, 2007 7:05 pm PT
- Category: N/A
- 5 Comments
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3Nov 07
I got Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock on Monday, and I gotta tell you: it's an awesome game. However, after playing it for just a few days, I'm afraid I've exhausted the game for me. First of all, let me tell you about the things I really like in this game.
The tracklist is unbelievable. Not only is this the best tracklist on a Guitar Hero game so far, but it's also the best game soundtrack I've ever seen, as far as rock soundtracks go. It's that good. Sure, it starts out slow (Story of My Life has to be the most boring song ever put on a rhythm game), but it picks up very well after a few tracks. After The Who's The Seeker, the quality of the songs just keeps going uphill, with a few exceptions. For me, an absolute standout track is Sonic Youth's Kool Thing, which is probably my favorite track to play in the entire game. Overall, the soundtrack is sensational.
However, much like U1, I am quite disappointed at how the difficulty progresses in this game. I started playing on Medium, even though I already knew the songs are slightly "dumbed down" for that difficulty level. I didn't want to hit a brick wall by starting out on Hard, so I thought Medium was the way to go. Unfortunately, the songs were much easier than I thought they would be, sucking out a lot of fun from them. Beating the game on Medium was a total breeze. I think I failed just a couple of tracks throughout the entire tracklist, and had to retry the Slash boss battle about 15 times. Ironically, I beat the final boss battle on my first run.
Anyway, since Medium was so damn easy, I started playing Hard afterwards. And it was also easy. I actually wondered, "hey, is this easier, or have I gotten really, really good at this?" I don't know what it was, but I just rushed through the tracks, all the way to the 6th tier, where I failed Tenacious D's The Metal, but soon got the hang of it. Other than that and the boss battles, I failed no songs. That's 29 songs without one fail. Then I reach the 7th tier...
7.Live In Japan
"Before I Forget" by Slipknot
"Stricken" by Disturbed
"3's & 7's" by Queens of the Stone Age
"Knights of Cydonia" by MuseI spent one hour trying to beat Before I Forget, and it was just impossible. Then I tried 3's & 7's, one of my favorite tracks, and I could barely get past the bloody riff. Stricken beat the crap out of me. Then Knights of Cydonia, also one of my favorite, had those ridiculously fast sessions, which seem to be dead bent on breaking my controller (or my fingers).
What. The. ****? How come I was easily able to beat all songs all the way to the 7th tier, but suddenly hit a brick wall once I got there? In my book, this is poorly balanced gameplay, and it's pretty sad.
Anyway, it sucks that I kinda gave up on a game that I got 4 days ago. Sure, I played it for many hours, but it's still a short period of time. I'll give it a few more tries, play on co-op, etc., even though I probably won't be able to get past those songs. Overall, it was a very sweet game while it lasted.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
- Posted Nov 3, 2007 12:31 am PT
- Category: Games
- 9 Comments
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28Oct 07
I noticed some of you have asked me about College in recent blog entries. To be perfectly honest with you, I was waiting for a good excuse to write an update. Such excuse would likely come in the form of a test score, but I've been waiting for such score for about a month now, delaying this entry over and over again. Fortunately, I recently got another score that is blog-worthy, so here it goes:
My least favorite subject in Law School is Sociology. It's not that I hate the subject itself - I just don't like the teacher and her ways of teaching. She spends two months talking about rather silly things on class, and when the tests roll in, she asks us about stuff that wasn't mentioned on class. My hate for these tests has resulted in a downward spiral of scores: 7.7, 5.6, and 5.2. Those last two are below average, and to make up for that, I'd have to get a 9.5 on the last test - otherwise, I'd be in for the "final exam", which can be somewhat humiliating. I had no idea how I could get a 9.5, so I pretty much considered myself doomed, as if I was already signed up for the final exam.
However, the fourth test wasn't exactly a test, but a group project, which had to be presented in front of the class. Fortunately, I got into a very good group, and our fearless leader just happened to be one of the smartest girls I know. Admittedly, we procrastinated a lot, all the way until a few days before the presentation. However, our leader, Paula, simply decided to do the research work by herself, and just handed us our lines. Luckily for us, the group decided to make up for that with an ouststanding presentation.
I gotta tell you, it was just beautiful. We talked about a documentary, Ilha das Flores, spreading out and discussing many of society's issues. We reached out and touched many of our country's problems, and that got the attention of everyone watching. Eventually, this erupted into something of a debate, which was excellent, since now both sides were talking. Not only that, but everyone on my group proved to be a better speaker than I was expecting. Great speeches all around.
To put the icing on the cake, Paula got really enthusiastic when she started to talk about our Constitution, and how it is not representative of our reality, and that it's so bad, we might as well throw it in the garbage can - which she did. She actually picked up her Constitution from the table and threw it in the garbage can, to immense applause from everyone.
Overall, it was an awesome day. And after the presentation was done, I asked the teacher about our score. She said, "Well, I think I'll have to give you a 10". That 9.5 seemed so impossible to attain, but it was now surpassed.
Cya later, Gamespotters!!!
PS: I don't think throwing your Constitution in the garbage can is an actual way of fixing things. Our Law is functional, even though it's not making us equal the way we should be. I think the real problem lies within the people who use the Law in ways that corrupt its functionality.
- Posted Oct 28, 2007 8:15 am PT
- Category: N/A
- 6 Comments
