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  • Lionheart08
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  • Member since: Mar 27, 2005
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Brutal Legend 7.5
Chrono Trigger 10
Final Fantasy IV 9.0
Final Fantasy VII 9.0
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Lionheart08's Blog

Lionheart08's Journal: The corporate fat cats and the moderators continue to try and silence. Apparently the truth is to much for them to tolerate. Fanboys turn against me because I refuse to conform to any group. I'll let them have it there way, I'll take my influence away from system wars. They can continue to fight amongst themselves, eventually getting banned one after another. Then the fanboys will look up and shout "Save Us," and I'll whisper "No."

  • 22Dec 09

    Top Ten Animated Series from the Past Decade: #6

    The Venture Bros.
    2003 - Present

    During the Boondocks Entry, I mentioned that there is a total lack of decent animated series on Adult Swim. Now in days, we get a bunch of crappy shows like Tim and Eric's Awesome Show, so outside of a few Anime Series, there's not a lot about Adult Swim I like anymore. That is, except for The Boondocks and The Venture Bros. Venture Bros. in particular caught my attention by satirizing elements from old Hanna-Barberacartoons and Comic Book series.

    The first thing I thought of when I first saw an episode of the Venture Bros. was Jonny Quest. Shortly afterwards I started laughing uncontroably because how sharply it lampooned the series. The interesting thing aboutThe Venture Bros. is, while itstarted off as a parody of Johnny Quest and other adventure shows of the same line, it ended up gaining it's own identity as time went on. The characters, who once epitomed the ideal of failures of their archetypes; Hank and Dean being failures as "Adventurers", Dr. Venture fails as a Scientist, and the Monarch at killing Dr. Venture) ended up developing past these traits. While the show still has it's over the top humor, you actually begin to relate to the characters for their short comings. So in short, in my opinion, Venture Bros. is a show, which while starting out good, ended up developing into something much more better series.

    • Posted Dec 22, 2009 7:12 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 4 Comments
  • 21Dec 09

    Top 10 Animated Series From the Past Decade: #7

    Star Wars: The Clone Wars
    2003 - 2005, 2008 - Present

    This decade saw the conclusion of the Prequel Trilogy to Star Wars. To say the least, it the Trilogy wasn't really good. Cheesy acting, a really bad romance story between Anakin and Padme, and poor story pacing really led to some poor movies. Despite that however, there has been some pretty impressive adaptions of the Trilogy that made me more and more interested in these previous stories. These came in the form of the two series; Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

    The first series (the traditionally animated one) consisted almost entirely of 2-5 minute shorts (though the third season would have 15 minute episodes)and was animatedby the guys who also created Samurai Jack. Perhaps my favorite thing about the serieswas the thedevelopment of Anakin. Despite it's short length, it perfectly illustrated Anakin's descent into the darkside far better than the movies ever did.The Series also saw to the introduction of General Greviouswho is easily my second favorite Prequel Character (second only to Count Dooku.)

    The second series of the same name kickstarted last year when the pilot movie was released to theaters. Although it got off to a shaky start (the pilot movie was meant for TV afterall) the series has become the best thing from the Prequel verse. The series puts more emphasis on fleshing out some of the side characters, while continuing to build up Anakin's character even more (making his downfall in the third movie that much worst.) The episodes tells very well written stories, especially the episode rookies, which tells a story of Rookie Storm Trooper who have to withstand an invasion from Droids. Ultimately, both series rank among my all time faves.

    • Posted Dec 21, 2009 8:18 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 4 Comments
  • 20Dec 09

    Top 10 Animated Series From the Past Decade: #8

    The Boondocks
    2005 - Present

    The Boondocks is a special case because I just didn't know exactly where to rank it on my list. I had not known about the comic strip until the I watched the show, and after reading and watching both, I have to say I love both. The comics served more as Aaron Mcgruger's Political Soap box and his cyncism towards common popular trends. The show however, entirely because it can't keep up with current trends like it's comic predecessor, essentially lampoons both "Black Culture" and everyone's views of Black Culture.

    The Boondocks is arguably one of the few good things left on Adult Swim. With shows like Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hungerforce becoming increasingly more sex driven comedy it's refreshing to see a show that's just plain funny. As I said previously, because the show is not as up-to-date as the comic (case-in-point, there was an episode about Hurricane Katrina in 2007) much of it's humor comes from lampooning Popular Black Culture. Whether it's mocking the homosexual undertones in Rap Music, immitating kids who try to idolize the gangster life (in the form of Riley), or just simple things such as the profuse use of the "N" Word, the humor is always on point. Perhaps the most thought provoking thing about the show is it can also make you think. Behind all the outrageous humor, the show can you make you realize some of the racism that still remains in the world and even make you question whether Martin Luther King Jr. would truly act the way he did in one particular episode if he saw the current state of the world.

    • Posted Dec 20, 2009 9:22 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 5 Comments
  • 17Dec 09

    Top Ten Animated Series from the Past Decade: #9

    Phineas and Ferb
    2007 - Present

    For my ninth pick I decided to go with a show I just recently go into my self. At first, it seemed unfair to rank it in my top ten since I really only started watching the show over the summer, but the more I think about it, the more I realized how much I've come to love Phineas and Ferb. Similar in pattern to Animaniacs, Phineas and Ferb is one of those few shows, while created for a younger demographic, ended up becoming insanely popular with the older crowd. And because of my own like for the show, I had no choice to go include it in my list.

    The show typically follows the same story archetype every episode; Phineas and Ferb (the two boys pictured below)turns whatever idea pops in their head into reality while their older sister Candace attempt to "bust them" while their pet platypus Perry is a secret agent who attempts to stop the villainous plots of Mad Scientest Doofenshmirtz. Yeah, sounds stupid the way I described, but the show succeeds because it's very aware of it's cliches and actually turns them into running gags. The humor is similar in styIe to Family Guy, with a lot of pop cultural references and self-referential humor. Add to it that the cast of characters, especially Doofenshmirtz who essentially steals the show, are incredibly likable, and the songs are just so freakin catchy, it's really hard not to like it.

    • Posted Dec 17, 2009 9:09 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 3 Comments
  • 16Dec 09

    Top 10 Animated Series From the Past Decade: #10

    Watching old cartoons on my laptop last night, I suddenly got inspiration for my next set of blogs. Between discussions with my friends and even threads on GUFU, everyone has came to the consenses that cartoons from the 90's on back were the high point of the Animated Age. While I agree that my nostalgia rush tends to get the best of me, I honestly have to say the the mass really underrate some of the new series that have premiered this past decade, so now I'll be creating my top 10 list of animated shows that debuted this decade (2000-2009). So for my number 10;

    Batman: Brave and the Bold
    2008 - Present

    It's hard to please comic book fans when it comes to adaptions to the original material. It has to follow it faithfully while at the same time finding it's own source of originallity. So there's only a handful of series that manage to get full approval from fans. For many, it was Batman: The Animated Series. Ever since then, every single comic book adaption has been compared unfavorably too it. The Batman ultimately did not live up to the hype of the original, but Batman: Brave and Bold, has done a better job.

    The premise of the show is Batman essentially teaming up with various superheroes from the DC Universe. One episode may have him fighting arm and arm with Green Arrow while another will have himon a adventure with Aquaman.The thing where Brave and the Bold exceeds at is it doesn't take itself too seriously. The show is episodic to the core, with storylines rarely spanning out past an episode. The show also benefits from it's rotating it's roster. Similar to theJustice League Unlimited structure, the episodes focus on Batman teaming up with various characters from the comics Mythos. Unlike it's JLU counter part though, it focuses more on characters you may not have gotten a chance to know, like The Blue Beetle, Guy , and Plastic Man (Pictured Below behind Batman.) Another interesting aspect is thereimaginingof some ofthe characters; Aquaman in particular. In this series, Aquaman is protrayed as an extremely over the top Ham, and I never loved the character more. And even with the large amount of guest characters,the shows stays true to thespirit of Batman's mythos.Short and simple, the show is fanservice, pure and simple, and anyone who has love for DC Comics will no doubt like the show.

    • Posted Dec 16, 2009 6:28 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 7 Comments
  • 14Dec 09

    Time For Some Updates

    Well, the fall semester of my Sophmore year is over, so I suppose it's about time to post a blog again. I had my Final Last week. Long story short, I aced 3 out of 4. The only one I didn't do good on was for Calculus. Calculus sucks; not as much as Chemistry but it really sucks if you don't pick up on the class early. For chemistry, I got lucky because my teacher gave a massive curve, but no such look this time around. So yeah, I'll be retaking Calculus next semester. Not that it's too horrible, at my college we're given grade forgiveness so if you fail a class, you at least 3 chances to replace the grade, and this will be my first, and hopefully only, time using it. So yeah, I should get an A next semester easy.

    Outside of that, my gaming did remain pretty strong. I left my PS2 and DS home this semester, so my 360 got my full attention. This semester alone I played through GTAIV, The 4 Sega Genesis Sonic games, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Brutal legend, and Blazblue: Calamity Trigger. Batman: Arkham Asylum has definitely been the most standout game this year for me. Being a comic book fanboy, I can easily say this was the best comic book adaption for a video game. My only wish was that Two-Face made an appearance (though he'll be in the sequel.)

    Speaking of gaming, this semester also reminded me how my time is starting to become scarce. I honestly just don't have the time to carry around multiple consoles anymore. So, similar to leaving my Gamecube, I'll now be passing on my Nintendo DS. Instead of selling it, I'm giving it to my sister since she really wants one. It also gives me an idea on what to get her to christmas since she's been talking about for the longest on how she wants to play Brain Age.

    That aside, I will be doing a more indepth on my year in review for the systems this year. Even through my top ten maybe.

    • Posted Dec 14, 2009 8:21 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 7 Comments
  • 7Nov 09

    History Major FTW/Calculus Blues/360 Lovin'/First Motivational Poster

    So yeah, it's been a while since I last posted a blog. My overall activity on Gamespot has started to lower because classes have been a pain in the. I'm currently taking Calculus (hopefully my final math class) and three history classes this semester so it's been a major time consumer. So far I seem to be doing pretty good...in everything except Calculus anway lol. Right now I'm kinda on a pass or fail where my next test will determine whether I'll pass the class or not. To make matter worst, since I've switch from Engineering to American History major, I don't even need Calculus. "But Lionheart, why didn't you just drop it?" that's what you're probably wondering. Well, I have a scholarship called Bright Futures, and they recently added this stipulation where you have to pay the grant back the money if you drop the class after the first week. So yeah, I'm just toughing it out.

    In other news being a History major totally rocks. Honestly, I highly recommend it to anyone who has a passion for history although it's a lot of reading. After talking with my advisor I learned to graduate, I have to complete a whooping 30 credit hours of electives. Essentially that means I get 30 hours of ANY type of class I want. So if you have any recommendations for interesting classes I'm game because now's my chance to broaden my horizon.

    Despite classes though, I've fount plenty of time to get my game on. I haven't been able to buy new games but my campus has a Game Fly module so I've made use of it and did a couple of rentals. I've played through both Batman: Arkham Asylum (which I loved) and Brutal Legend (which was okay). So far I've also managed to beat all my games except for some Arcade titles and Lost Odyssey. I'm thinking for Christmas I'll get Episodes From Liberty City since Gay Tony looks so cool.

    Also if you haven't noticed lately, system wars has totally losted it rocker, more than normal, especially after Ballad of Gay Tony got reviewed. In honor of System Wars new found insanity, I've made my first ever Motivational Poster:

    • Posted Nov 7, 2009 1:39 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 7 Comments
  • 16Oct 09

    Holy Schizz I've Been tagged

    And the misery continues. So apparently I have to provide some facts about myself as per, tag rules, and then tag some other people, so here are some things I've thought up on the spot.

    1. I'm African American
    2. I'm a Sophomore in College majoring in American History (and possibly minoring in Africana Studies).
    3. My favorite video game is Metal Gear Solid
    4. I'm the only male among my siblings
    5. My Favorite movie is Finding Forrester
    6. My Favorite Color is Blue
    7. I'm a Christian
    8. My favorite genre(s) in music is Rap, R&B, and Hip Hop
    9. I'm a major Coldplay Fan
    10. I'm a bit of a comic geek
    11. Math is my worst subject
    12. I don't like Sylvester Stallone (this is a GUFU in-joke)
    13. I'm currently undecided on what I want to do after graduate
    14. I've never gotten a Speeding Ticket (cautious driver FTW!)
    15. I love bowling

    So now it's time to tag some pople. The general gist is, I tag you, and you post a blog listing at least five things about yourself:

    HyruleanLink
    Shinobishyguy
    Mitu123
    enterawesome
    IronBass

  • 7Oct 09

    A Vote for Lionheart08 is a Vote for America!

    The following blog is endorsed by Bandit Keith

    As far as system wars goes, and in general, I'm a pretty laid back poster. I'm not really the instigator type, everyone once in a while I'll make some lulz, but for the most part I tend to only be the quipster on the sidelines....but want an award this year darn it. That's why I'm officially entering the campaign for best U.S. Poster. Seriously, I'm an American Icon in the making. I'm ready to join the esteemed rank of great Americans such as:

    and of course

  • 29Sep 09

    FFXIII Avys For Everyone!!!!!!!!!!

    Normally, I'm not the most image manipulating savy person, so when it comes to making avatars but, to my credit, I am pretty darn good at cropping so I made a load of FFXIII avys. Some you may have seen before, others may be new since there's definitely been a lack of Sazh.

    Anyway, at this point, FFXIII is my most anticipated game, especially after seing the latest trailer, so in honor of that I made a load of avys. Feel free to use them if you want.

  • 13Sep 09

    9 Semi-Movie Review/Change of Major/Bought some more Arcade Titles

    So I went and saw 9 at the beginning of this weekend and long story short...meh. I normally try to form my own opinions when it comes to movies but this time but I can't help but fully agree with the critics of the movie. I'm surprised though since I'm actually a Tim Burton fanatic, with Edward Scissorhands actually being one of my favorite movies of all time. Of course, I have to laugh a little though because the media really hyped up his role as Producer, when truthfully outside of the Art ****it feels nothing like a Tim Burton film. To be honest the story just wasn't that good. It was poorly pace and extremely short so there was no real time for the characters to truly developed. If you really enjoyed the short film that came out a couple of years ago, you may like the theatric version, but if you're going in with "Nightmare Before Christmas" expectations you'll be extremely dissapointed.

    This weekend I also decided to change my major in college. Originally I was a Computer Science major but after joking around with friends I actually decided to change my major to History after a lot of thought. While it started off as a joke, I started to realize just how much I love history. Heck, one of the reasons I thoroughly enjoyed God of War was become I liked the mythology story. So what I'm thinking of is the Major in American History and actually go on to become either a historian or a History Teacher (though they don't get payed that much).

    And just an hour ago I decided to buy some more points for Xbox Live. I probably shouldn't have but I figured if I didn't buy them now, I would have in a few weeks anyway so I figured I'd go ahead and get it out of the way. On Amazon.com they have it where you buy the points and you get the code immediately afterwards so I had my points within minutes without having to leave my room. I decided to buy Braid (because I heard nothing but good things), Sonic & Knuckles (one of my favorite platformers), and the two original Banjo games. So between this and my previous purchases I should be satisfied until the end of next month when GTA DLCs come out on disks.

    • Posted Sep 13, 2009 2:51 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 4 Comments
  • 5Sep 09

    Yay, new games!!

    I always love this time of year. It's the time of year where we college students get back financial aid and scholarship money we don't spend in the form of a nice check. I got mine yesterday, so I figured why better to do than buy myself a couple new games. Of course, much to my own surprise, I should a considerable amount of restraint while I was in Gamestop. You see, since I lack a job I have to stretch this check as much as I can this semester so I decided only to buy one game (and some microsoft points to download some games) so at the end of the day I got:

    • Blazblue
    • Marvel vs Capcom 2
    • Sonic the Hedgehog 2

    I've also decided not to buy a Gold Live Card yet. As much as I like playing online, I'm not that adicted to it, and just the same I have much more fun playing with friends next to me.

    • Posted Sep 5, 2009 1:53 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 7 Comments
  • 14Aug 09

    The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard - Review/Rant

    Well I just got back from seeing "The Goods." I know what your thinking, why see this when GI Joe is playing and you still haven't seen that. Well the thing is, I'm still planning to see GI Joe with my family, and members of my church wanted to see it tonight so i choose to go to a seperate movie with my sister so I picked "The Goods" (since Half Blood Prince had a ridiculous showing time.) Long story short, it was a pretty good movie, I had a lot of laughs, but honestly way to perverted for my tastes. Now, I'm no prude, movies like 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and even Superbad I all enjoyed with no real problems, but for me, "The Goods" (the first 20 minutes of it anyway) was way to much overkill on sexual scenes and gay jokes.

    Outside of that though, I really thought the movie picked up around the half way point. The main cast were all very funny though I'll admit Ed Helms (better known as Andy from The Office) completely stole the show IMO. Without giving too much away, his character as the antagonist was easily the best part of the movie because the way he delivered his lines were so awesome. I also loved Craig Robinson's protrayal as the Psychotic DJ.

    Overall it was an okay movie. It really all comes down to your tolerance. The Sexual Scenes were really too much for me, but we all have our own tolerance. Other than that, it was a funny movie after it picked up the pace. 6/10 in my book.

    • Posted Aug 14, 2009 7:53 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 9 Comments
  • 4Aug 09

    Life So Far With the 360 - Pretty Sweet

    So, I've owned my 360 for about 2 or 3 weeks and so far it's been pretty freakin sweet. I beat Gears of War within days. It's campaign is only like 7 hours in length so it only took me two days. Long story short, I loved it. I think I can honestly say Gears of War is now one of my favorite video games. I literally haven't had this much fun playing a game since I played God of War.

    I also just finished my first play through of Mass Effect today. I clocked in thirty hours, doing the main story and a good chunk of the side quests. Overall the game was pretty sweet. I got a good half of the achievements on my first playthrough (ones I'm most proud of would be Charismatic and Completionist.) Although now that I finished I'm a little ticked. I finished at level 49, one level short of getting another achievement.

    Mass Effect was pretty good. I loved the main story, and this is the first RPG I played where it really felt like you shaped out the way the story would go. I decided to be a "Boy Scout" on my first playthrough so I decided to go for the nice ending. I think for my second playthrough (I'm thinking either Vanguard or Biotic) I'm going to be an A-hole. There were a couple of weak points to the games; glitches and repetitive side missions (going into the compounds, they all had the same layouts). Outside of that, I liked the dialogue choices and the gameplay so I can't wait for Mass Effect 2.

    Well, next up is Lost Odyssey.

  • 22Jul 09

    Beholdeth and be Transfixed

    Yes, it's finally happened. After talking and blogging about it for over a year, I've finally jumped in to this gen. As a last minute split decision I opted to buy an Xbox 360 instead of a Playstation 3 (my belief is since I attend on owning both, I'd be better off buying the system that was $100 cheaper and offer majority of the same games). So, as you can see, I bought a 360, a second controller, and 3 games. The games I bought last weekened when Gamestop had their buy 2 get one free deal (so I got Mass Effect for free, which is SWEET.) Sadly, I won't be buying a Gold Membership until next month (when I go back to school).

    Of course with every purchase comes an interesting story. I can honestly say now I understand why everyone hates Gamestop. When I went to Gamestop today to buy the 360 the employee ringing me up kept pressuring me to buy the store warranty because of the RROD issue. Of course, I already knew Microsoft offers a 3-year warranty for said issue, so this just didn't add up, so I called him on his error, and he kept swearing up and down the RROD is covered for a year. So basically I kept saying no to the store warranty (which would've been an extra 40 bucks) and he decided to be a smart ass and tell me I'd probably get a rrod after the first year. Soon as I get home, sure enough I turned out to be right.

    That annoyance aside, I've finished hooking my 360 (though I'll be changing my screen name) so I'll hook up with you guys on XBL next month. Til then, I'll be playing some Mass Effect.

    *Edit*

    Got my first achievements today and after doing some research (after being questioned about it) I do indeed have a Jasper.

  • 27Jun 09

    Ten Things You Need to Know About Transformers 2 (Spoilers May Ensue)

    Rather than give a normal review I decided to try something new so I will present you with ten things you need to know about Transformers 2. Overall I thought it was an okay movie, could've been a lot better. But I decided I'm going to roast this movie on most of it's negative traits. Warning though, the final three points contains spoilers, so read at your own risk.

    1. Shia LaBeouf has mad acting skills. Yes the dude seriously has a strong lung based off all the yelling he does in the movie. Considering a good 50% of his lines is yelling "OPTIMUS" or "BUMBLE BEE"
    2. Optimus Prime is one bad MOFO. With more actions scenes, we got to see how much of a beast Optimus Prime was in a fight. There were 2 big fights for Optimus in the movie, in the middle and in the end. Of the two, the fight in the middle definitely took the cake for the best action scene. It was a little too bad since the final fight ended up being underwhelming in comparison.
    3. Apparently Continuity Means Nothing. Remember at the end of the first movie, y'know when Bumble Bee is fully repaired and is able to talk like a normal person? Yeah, he's back to having a damaged voice and using songs and interviews as his voice. Why exactly? All part of Bay's master plan to turn this into a comedy movie.
    4. Character Development with the Transformers is still noexistant. Even in the sequel which contains more action scenes, the character work for the Transformers are still pretty much non existant. With the sole exception of Bumble Bee and Jetfire none of the transformers have any personality. Infact, outside of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee we hardly see ANY of the autobots.
    5. Mudflaps and Skids are the Jar Jar Binks of this Movies. You may have over heard this over the past few days but yes, not to be out done by George Lucas, Michael Bay has created some questionably racial-charicatures in Mudflaps and Skids. Buckteeth and speaking in stereotypical "Black Language." The two serve as the comic relief of the film (I'll be getting to the comedy in the next section) but the two become pretty close to becoming offensive. I wasn't bothered myself (hell I found them funny at times) but I can perfectly understand if people are offended by them.
    6. Too.Many.Freakin.Jokes. Having jokes in an action movie can be needed at times. It helpso relive the tension. But too many jokes and it becomes a border line comedy. About 80% of the movie was one liners or sex jokes (an additional 10% was Labeouf's aforemented screaming). I mean, it was hard to feel fear for the characters lives when there was sure to be some joke following it. Yes, I found some of the gags funny; I think Sam's parents are hilarious and Leo Spitz was my favorite character of the movie, but I really think Bay should've cut down on the jokes.
    7. Ramon Rodriguez FTW! Rodriguez as Leo Spitz (Sam's conspiracy theorist Roommate) stole the show in my honest opinion. Now, I may have complained that they overkilled with all the okes, but Rodriguez was funny in every scene he was in. Too bad he couldn't be the main character since he was acting circles arounds LaBeouf, and Megan Fox for that matter.
    8. Megatron is a Joke. What can you say when the chief in charge of the decepticons is no longer the head chief in charge? Megatron is a proud and tyranical machine that takes orders from no one, and here in this movie that's all pretty much stripped away in favor of a new, dull villain (who wants to destroy the world just because he can.) The point is really pushed near the end when Optimus bats him away to fight the true villain. At least he still beats up on Starscream.
    9. Explosions cannot cover up cliches. Trust me when I say this; the final 20 minutes of this film follows one of the most cliched paths I've seen in a movie in years. Deus Ex Machina saves the day, surprise, surprise. Bad Guy sneaks away to set the next sequel into motion. OMG. A character noblely sacrifices his life. Who Woulda Thought?
    10. When all else fails; rinse lather and repeat. The ending to Transformers 2 is essentially the SAME ending to the first one. (save for this time instead of Starscream turning tail on his own, Megatron also runs away with his tail between his legs.) So yeah, third movie is a given. Expect it in line 2011 or 12.

    Now like I said, this a roast. I did like some of the movie, I really enjoyed the action scenes and I did find the jokes funny. Although this time I simply can't give Bay a free past for allowing the Transformers to go under developed again. the first movie was the origin, so it was about bringing them to Sam. I can respect that. But enough LaBeouf already. We see Transformers to actually see the Transformers. So I think I can honestly give this movie a 6/10.

  • 26Jun 09

    Rest in Peace Michael Jackson

    Well the past two days I've been buzy. The Youth Program I'm part of went on an over night trip to Orlando to go to the FAMU Law School and Islands of Adventure. Long Story short, these kids really craze me. But even with all the crazyness even I was aware what happened yesterday. I'm really sad to hear Michael Jackson died. I'm not as big as a fan as others, but he was an extremely talented artist and in my opinion, the single most important figure in modern music culture. He broke the cultural barrier, making it possible for artist of all races and ethinicities possible to strive in the business.Sure he's had his faults, stuff that made him a source of mockery at times, but in all honesty, positive and negative traits, no one can deny the impact he's made in the world. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones, and I hope his kids manage to find a permanent and stable home.

    To honor his passing, I figured I'd do a count do of my favorite songs of Michael Jackson;


    5) Rock With You

    4) Thriller

    3) Beat It

    2) PYT (Pretty Young Thing)

    1) Billie Jean


    Rest in Peace King of Pop.

    • Posted Jun 26, 2009 3:46 pm PT
    • Category: N/A
    • 7 Comments
  • 22Jun 09

    New Avy/Summer Plans/PS3-Activision/Pokemon Platinum

    It's been a while since I've gone this long without posting a blog. Seriously, i've been finding a lack of interesting things to talk about but my the time inbetween some stuff has gone down. Today I decided to retire the Sora Avatars. After a friend of mine made a point of me changing avatars at a frequent rate I decided to settle with the Sora Avy. Today I figured I'd move onto a game I'm extremely amped to play; I've finally jumped the band wagon and got a FFXIII Avy. Lightning is pretty smexy.

    Since the last time I posted a blog, I got a job at a summer youth program, Bethune Cookman's Male Explorer's Program. I went to it back when I was in middle school so they hired me as a mentor. The program is half way through. Personally this is making me realize that me and teenagers aren't exactly a perfect mix, but it has helped me to realize how to approach younger kids. Reasoning with teens suck, but hey, it's helping them and helping me so I won't complain. They're killing me in chess though.

    Also, my opinion on this recent PS3/Activision fallout. Personally I'm meh on the matter, I could care less since I'm not big on their games but I won't deny this would definitely hurt Sony if Activision went through with cutting support on the PS3 and PSP. Hopefully Sony can manage to answer with some form of price drop, because $400 is still alot of money to throw down on a console.

    If some has noticed, I haven't been very active on Gamespot in the past few weeks. It's because of my latest addiction; Pokemon Platinum. Such an awesome game. I know, some think Pokemon is played out and rehashed but I still love the series. Although I think the devs totally overkilled the amount of Legendaries in this game. WAY too many for my taste. It doesn't help that my lil sis lost her DS so some pokemon I really want (Like Porygon-Z and Scizor) I can't get because you need to trade.

  • 2Jun 09

    E3 Conferences Rundown

    Okay, another E3, another three conferences from the big three. After the lack luster performance across the board last year, I can say all three really stepped up their game this year. Unlike 2008, there really was no defining announcement the shocked the gaming world, but nonetheless it was a pretty good showing from all three companies. So, like last year, I'm going to do a rundown for each company.

    Microsoft:
    Microsoft's conference will probably be best known for the unveiling of the Natal Project, which in my opinion, looks like it's going to put the Wiimote to shame. Nintendo opened up the door to motion control innovation, and Microsoft just ran off with it. The new motion control looks fantastic, with you only having to use your body to navigate menus, etc. On the gaming front, it felt Microsoft put it on the back burner somewhat. Games like Crackdown 2, Forza 3, and the new Splinter Cell were finally showcased. We got our first gameplay glimpse of Alan Wake (or Resident Evil Wake as I'll be calling it for now on), and perhaps the biggest news; Metal Gear Solid: Rising. One of two of Kojima's games will be on the 360 (apparently it's also multiplat for the record). Outside of that, perhaps the next biggest announcement was a new Halo for next year based off of the popular prequel novel.

    The conference itself was pretty solid. There was a surprisingly lack of appearance from Rare. I'm personally not that amped for the new Lionhead game (looks overambitious IMO), and Epic's "big annoucement" turned out to be a XBLA. Overall I'd say Microsoft had a strong showing. New games, XBL enhancements, and the killer looking motion control looked real impressive. My one complaint though is the conference kinda feel apart at the end with overly focus on the casual side.

    Final Grade: B

    Nintendo:
    You know, Nintendo came VERY close to making a repeat performance of 2009 E3. The first hour (of the hour and 15 MINUTE conference) was a very weak showing. Nintendo opened up with a new Mario game for the Wii. For the first time it was a mulitplayer Mario Platformer where up to 4 people can play together. The problem, it's a Wiimake of New Super Mario Bros. from the DS. I like the concept but I wish Nintendo had put more effort into creativity with this game. What followed up was more casual stuff we all know and love. Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, Motion Control Plus, none of it was that interesting. The DS however was strong as ever, with it getting release dates for Mario & Luigi RPG 3 and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. And perhaps the best announcement for the DS; GOLDEN SUN. Although surprisingly enough despite being mentioned, there were videos what so ever for Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

    Overall I was about to put the "Fail Stamp" on Nintendo but they delivered at the last minute with 2 announcements. The First being Super Mario Galaxy 2. Yes, that's right, for the first time ever Nintendo is releasing a second 3D Mario Platformer for their console. And then megaton to end all megatons, A team ninja developed METROID: Other M. Metroid, which has became a FPS series since Prime on the Gamecube, is now once again an action-adventure game. And it has Voice acting. And it has a Story! Hat Trick! So Ninty's conference went from meh to pretty good right before my eyes.

    Final Grade: C

    Sony:
    I feel for Sony. In any other scenario their E3 would've been amazing for me, but a lot of their big announcements ended up being spoiled by leaks. Despite this, even without links, a lot of the big announcements ended up having some wind taken out of their sails. Sony spent a little too much time talking about sales, I personally would've like that time to be devoted to games like Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time (which surprisngly wasn't even part of the conference!) Though Sony did make some pretty good announcements that went under the radar most notably; Final Fantasy XIV (which is a MMO), Agent (a new IP from Rockstar), Resident Evil PSP, and Modnation Racers. And even with the leaks, trailer for The Last Guardian (formerly known as Trico) and God of War 3 was very impressive. Oh and Uncharted 2 looked phenominal and the gameplay was incredible.

    One of the biggest announcments was PSP Go!, Sony's new upgraded digital only handheld. The design is hit or miss, but it does seem like a pretty solid upgrade. Although the $250 launch price has sucked out ALL of my ethusiasm. While talking of the PSP, a lot of the new games like Gran Turismo, Assassin's Creed, and Jak: The New Frontier has been confirmed for release THIS YEAR. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was also announced, and in the words of Kojima, is the next true Metal Gear Solid Very nice showing for the PSP. Also, not to be outdown by Microsoft and Nintendo, Sony unveiled their new prototype Motion Controller...which was fugly as hell. Yeah, Sony wasn't ready to show it off yet, but Microsoft bascially forced them to play their hand. Despite that, I'd say the motion control itself is pretty accurate (despite it looking like a complete rip of the Wiimote). My overall gripe with Sony was I was expecting more new PS3 announcments. lack of Price Drop or new games kinda lowered my ethusiasm.

    Final Grade: B+

    And for your viewing pleasure, he's my Conference Superlatives:

    Best Conference: Sony

    Best Announcement: Metroid: Other M

    Best New IP: ModNation Racers

    Best new Peripheral: Project Natal

    Best Gamplay Vid: Alan Wake

    Best Trailer: The Last Guardian

    Biggest Surprise: Final Fantasy XIV

    Biggest Dissapointment: No PS3 Price Drop

    "No Show" of the Show: Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

    Wackest News: PSP Go! with $250 Launch Price

    Funniest Joke: Kaz on the PSP Go! "Now, for the worst kept secret of E3"

  • 29May 09

    You will be missed Gamecube...

    For a while now I've been debating whether or not to sell my Gamecube. Ever since starting college last summer I hardly played it, infact I left it home when i went away to College and gave it to my little sister. When I got back I learned that she had it collecting dust is our back closet (which pissed me off more that she actually went and deleted all of my Wind Waker data), so after thinking about it, I decided to go ahead and trade it along with my remaining cube games into Gamestop.

    Despite not getting nearly as much play time as my PS2, I can honestly say i really liked the system. Some of my favorite games were on the system, so since I've made Sony-centric blogs in the past, I've decided to count down my top 5 favorite Gamecube games of all time.

    5: Super Mario Sunshine

    4: Tales of Symphonia

    3: Super Smash Bros. Melee

    2: Metroid Prime

    1: Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

    Overall, I really did enjoy my time with the system, but I decided it was best to trade off since I was no longer actually playing it, and my sister had to intention of even using it.

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